![African slave trade](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/African_slave_trade.png)
Slavery in Somalia existed as a part of the
East African slave trade
The Indian Ocean slave trade, sometimes known as the East African slave trade or Arab slave trade, was multi-directional slave trade and has changed over time. Africans were sent as slaves to the Middle East, to Indian Ocean islands (including Ma ...
. To meet the demand for menial labor,
Bantus from
southeastern Africa slaves were exported from the Zanzibar and were sold in cumulatively large numbers over the centuries to customers in
East Africa and other areas in
Northeast Africa
Northeast Africa, or ''Northeastern Africa'' or Northern East Africa as it was known in the past, is a geographic regional term used to refer to the countries of Africa situated in and around the Red Sea. The region is intermediate between North ...
and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
.
[Gwyn Campbell, ''The Structure of Slavery in Indian Ocean Africa and Asia'', 1 edition, (Routledge: 2003), p.ix] People captured locally during wars and raids were also sometimes captured by Somalis and
Ethiopians
Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts o ...
(mostly of
Shanqella
Shanqella (Amharic: ሻንቅላ ''šanqəlla'' sometimes spelled Shankella, Shangella, Shánkala, Shankalla or Shangalla) is an exonym for a number of ethnic groups that today reside primarily in the westernmost part of Ethiopia near South Sudan ( ...
),
Oromo,
Amhara and
Nilotic
The Nilotic peoples are people indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Among these are the Burun-sp ...
origin.
[Bridget Anderson, ''World Directory of Minorities'', (Minority Rights Group International: 1997), p. 456.] However, the perception, capture, treatment and duties of both groups of slaves differed markedly,
[Catherine Lowe Besteman, ''Unraveling Somalia: Race, Class, and the Legacy of Slavery'', (University of Pennsylvania Press: 1999), p. 116.] with
Oromo favored because Oromo subjects were not viewed as linguistically and culturally different by their Somali owners.
History
Origin
![Servant or slave woman in Mogadishu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Servant_or_slave_woman_in_Mogadishu.jpg)
Between 2500–3000 years ago, speakers of the original proto-
Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
*Black Association for National ...
language group began a millennia-long series of migrations eastward from their original homeland in the general
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
area of
Central Africa
Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo ...
. This
Bantu expansion first introduced
Bantu peoples
The Bantu peoples, or Bantu, are an ethnolinguistic grouping of approximately 400 distinct ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages. They are native to 24 countries spread over a vast area from Central Africa to Southeast Africa and into Souther ...
to
southern and
southeastern Africa.
[Toyin Falola, Aribidesi Adisa Usman, ''Movements, borders, and identities in Africa'', (University Rochester Press: 2009), p.4.]
The Bantus inhabiting Somalia are descended from Bantu groups that had settled in Southeast Africa after the initial expansion from Cameroon, and whose members were later captured and sold into the East African slave trade.
Bantus are ethnically, physically, and culturally distinct from
Somalis
The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒆𐒖, ar, صوماليون) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared ...
and
Ethiopians
Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts o ...
they have remained marginalized ever since their arrival in the Horn of Africa.
All in all, the number of Bantu inhabitants in Somalia before the
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
is thought to have been about 80,000 (1970 estimate), with most concentrated between the Juba and Shabelle rivers in the south.
[Encyclopædia Britannica, ''Encyclopædia Britannica, v.20'', (Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.: 1970), p.897] Recent estimates, however, place the figure as high as 900,000 persons.
East African slave trade
The
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
slave trade was multi-directional and changed over time. To meet the demand for menial labor, Bantu slaves were captured by
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
slave traders from southeastern Africa were sold in cumulatively large numbers over the centuries to customers in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
,
Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...
, the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, the
Far East
The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.
The ter ...
, the
Indian Ocean islands,
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
and
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
.
From 1800 to 1890, between 25,000 and 50,000 Bantu slaves are thought to have been sold from the slave market of
Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...
alone to the Somali coast by Tanzanian slave traders. Most of the slaves were from the
Majindo,
Makua,
Nyasa,
Yao,
Zalama,
Zaramo and
Zigua ethnic groups of
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
,
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
and
Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...
. Collectively, these Bantu groups are known as ''Mushunguli'', which is a term taken from ''Mzigula'', the Zigua tribe's word for "people" (the word holds multiple implied meanings including "worker", "foreigner", and "servant").
[Refugee Reports, November 2002, Volume 23, Number 8]
16th to 20th centuries
Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
*Black Association for National ...
and
Oromo adult and children slaves (referred to collectively as ''jareer'' by their Somali and Ethiopian handlers.
[Catherine Lowe Besteman, ''Unraveling Somalia: Race, Class, and the Legacy of Slavery'', (University of Pennsylvania Press: 1999), pp. 83-84]) were purchased in the slave market exclusively to do undesirable work on plantation with oversight from the
Arabian peninsula.
They were made to work in
plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
exclusively owned by Italian government (Eno & Leahman, 2003) along the southern
Shebelle
The Shebelle River ( so, Webi Shabeelle, ar, نهر شبيلي, am, እደላ) begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu, it turns sharply southwest, where it follows the coast. ...
and
Jubba
Thawb ( ar, ثَوْب "garment"), also spelled thobe or tobe and known by various other names in different regions, is an ankle-length robe, usually with long sleeves. It is commonly worn in the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East, North Afr ...
rivers, harvesting lucrative cash crops such as grain and cotton.
[Henry Louis Gates, ''Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience'', (Oxford University Press: 1999), p.1746] Bantu slaves toiled under the control of the Italian government.
The Bantus were conscripted to forced labor on Italian-owned plantations since the Somalis themselves were averse to what they deemed menial labor,
[Laitin, p.64.] and because the
Italians
, flag =
, flag_caption = The national flag of Italy
, population =
, regions = Italy 55,551,000
, region1 = Brazil
, pop1 = 25–33 million
, ref1 =
, region2 ...
viewed the
Somalis
The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒆𐒖, ar, صوماليون) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared ...
as racially superior to the Bantu.
[Catherine Lowe Besteman, ''Unraveling Somalia: Race, Class, and the Legacy of Slavery'', (University of Pennsylvania Press: 1999), p. 120]
The Italian colonial administration abolished slavery in Somalia at the turn of the 20th century. However, some Somali clans notably the Biimal clan opposed this idea. The Bimaals fought Italians to keep their slaves. Although the Italians freed some Bantus, some Bantu groups, remained enslaved well until the 1930s, and continued to be despised and discriminated against by large parts of Somali society.
Nilotic slaves
In the late 19th century,
Tanzanians also captured other ''jareer'' peoples from the coastal regions of
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
...
to work for them as slaves and clients. Referred to as the Kore, these
Nilo-Saharan Maa-speaking
Nilotes
The Nilotic peoples are people indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Among these are the ...
were later emancipated by British colonial troops. They subsequently resettled on the
Lamu seaboard as fishermen and cultivators. Like many Bantus, the Kore reportedly now speak the
Afro-Asiatic Somali language on account of their time in servitude.
Other slaves
In addition to Bantu plantation slaves, Somalis sometimes enslaved peoples of
Oromo pastoral background that were captured during wars and raids on Oromo settlements.
However, there were marked differences in terms of the perception, capture, treatment and duties of the Oromo pastoral slaves versus the Bantu plantation slaves.
On an individual basis, Oromo subjects were not viewed as racially ''jareer'' by their Somali captors.
The Oromo captives also mostly consisted of young children and women, both of whom were taken into the families of their abductors; men were usually killed during the raids. Oromo boys and girls were adopted by their Somali patrons as their own children. Prized for their beauty and viewed as legitimate sexual partners, many Oromo women became either wives or concubines of their Somali captors, while others became domestic servants.
In some cases, entire Oromo clans were assimilated on a client basis into the Somali clan system.
Neither captured Oromo children nor women were ever required to do plantation work, and they typically worked side-by-side with the Somali pastoralists. After an Oromo concubine gave birth to her Somali patron's child, she and the child were emancipated and the Oromo concubine acquired equal status to her abductor's other Somali wives. According to the
Somali Studies pioneer
Enrico Cerulli
Enrico Cerulli (15 February 1898 - 19 September 1988) was an Italian scholar of Somali and Ethiopian studies, a governor and a diplomat.
Biography
Cerulli was born in Naples, Italy in 1898. He wrote his doctoral thesis at the University of Nap ...
, in terms of
diya
Diya may refer to:
* ''Diya (film)'', 2018 Tamil- and Telugu-language film
* Diya (Islam), Islamic term for monetary compensation for bodily harm or property damage
* Diya (lamp), ghee- or oil-based candle often used in South Asian religious ceremo ...
(
blood money
Blood money may refer to:
* Blood money (restitution), money paid to the family of a murder victim
Films
* Blood Money (1917 film), ''Blood Money'' (1917 film), a film starring Harry Carey
* Blood Money (1921 film), ''Blood Money'' (1921 film ...
) payments in the Somali
customary law (
Xeer
''Xeer'' (pronounced ) is the traditional legal system of Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Somali Region, and the North Eastern Province in Kenya. One of the three systems from which formal Somali law draws its inspiration, the others being civil ...
), the life of an Oromo slave was also equal in value to that of an ordinary ethnic Somali.
[Catherine Lowe Besteman, ''Unraveling Somalia: Race, Class, and the Legacy of Slavery'', (University of Pennsylvania Press: 1999), p. 82.]
Freedom for Oromo slaves was obtained through
manumission
Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing enslaved people by their enslavers. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that t ...
and was typically accompanied by presents such as a spouse and livestock.
During abolition, former Oromo slaves, who generally maintained intimate relations with the Somali pastoralists, were also spared the harsh treatment reserved for the Bantu and Nilotic plantation slaves.
References
{{Human rights in Somalia
Slavery by country
Society of Somalia
History of Somalia by topic
History of slavery
Slavery in Africa
Human rights abuses in Somalia
Islam and slavery