Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An Historical Enquiry

by Bernard Lewis

  and from Koffra to Jalo is 8 days journey without water over a trackless desert. The caravans during this part of the journey are obliged to travel day and night, the guide alone receiving from sixty to one hundred dollars for the single journey.

  Jalo is the most important oasis in this group. Its population cannot number less than eight thousand. The inhabitants are a fanatical and intollerant [sic] sect of Berber origin retaining to this day in language and appearance it marked distinction from the surrounding Bedouin tribes.

  The oasis being the starting point and terminus of the numerous caravans to and from Wadai and Bornoo, is the centre of a large and valuable trade and the inhabitants are all well to do and many of them very wealthy. Last year a Maltese trader joined an Arab in a speculation to Wadai. They sent goods to the value of Two thousand Pounds and after fourteen months they realized Eighteen thousand Pounds by the sale of the ostrich feathers and ivory for which they bartered their goods.

  During the past four months six large caravans have left for Wadai and as the route becomes better known its difficulties will be more easily overcome and a corresponding development of this lucrative trade will doubtless take place. The trade is in the hands of the Arabs and its ever increasing proportions will certainly cause a relative increase in the traffic in slaves. If one or two good examples were made and the whole of the slaves seized at Jalo on the arrival of the caravan the Arabs would find out to their cost that it neither paid nor was safe to bring them and that ostrich feathers and ivory neither died during the journey nor necessitated an additional provision of water and maize and that in the end they yielded a much more certain profit than negroes.

  The caravans usually remain at Jalo for a month or two in order that the Arabs and Slaves may recover from the effects of their long journey. During the interval the slaves improve in condition, they are taught a few sentences of Arabic and receive an outfit of a Ma'raka or white cotton skullcap and a long blue cotton sourieh or shirt with long sleeves. Many are bought by the brothers at Jalo who send them on to Bengazi in lots of eight or ten at a time and thus are sent on to Egypt via Siwah. The greater number at present are brought here as the Egyptian Government act more energetically and has greater means at its disposal for checking the traffic than the Governor of such a remote Turkish province as that of Bengazi.

  I was fortunate enough to procure the names of the owners of the one hundred and eighteen slaves already mentioned as having arrived from Wadai and immediately on my return to Bengazi I handed the list of Forty three names to the governor who promised to take steps to capture them on their arrival here. Many have been smuggled into the town during the last fortnight but only three have as yet been captured and liberated. The difficulty when many are captured and liberated at [the] same time is what to do with them.

  It is impossible to turn the poor creatures out in the Streets to be again kidnapped and sold and I have hitherto maintained them at my own cost till I could find employment for them.

  The Turks as a rule treat them well; they are well clothed and well-fed and if torn from their own country they are at least removed from its idolatries and ignorance, as the first care of a Moslim (who in this respect is infinitely superior to his more highly educated and polished fellow of the Western Hemisphere) is to teach them a religion which assures them that there is a God and that men of all colours are alike his children and equal in his eyes. When I say this I do not mean that it in any way mitigates the horrors of the Slave trade or lessens the privations to which the slaves are exposed before reaching this comparative state of happiness. The Arabs on the other hand treat their slaves badly and no matter what obligations they may enter into to pay liberated slaves wages they take the first opportunity to sell them.

  I have had several long conferences with the Pasha since my return and we have agreed that the only way to check this traffic is to station a small military force which need not consist of more than one hundred men at Jalo; this would only be a temporary measure until the great changes which are taking place in the interior become accomplished facts and until a neighbouring potentate is in a position to check the traffic at its very fountain head.

  The Pasha informed me, verbally however, that he has proposed this measure to his own Government and expressed to me his belief that the Porte would at once assent to the proposal were it seconded and supported by Her Majesty's Ambassador at C[onstantino]ple.

  Sir H[enr]y Elliot is much more competent than I am to form an opinion as to the expediency of recommending this course, at present, and I only repeat the suggestion as it was put into my mouth.

  I would mention to your Lordship a circumstance which may probably be of some interest taken in connection with the slave trade.

  For some time past large quantities of gunpowder have been brought to Bengazi and there has been much speculation here as to its destination. I found out at Jalo that this gunpowder is being regularly and expeditiously conveyed to Wadai and the natives made no secret of the purpose for which it was intended.

  This purpose is one with which we can have no sympathy and it is remarkable that the local authorities here are tolerating the introduction of this powder notwithstanding the severe prohibitory laws and its being contraband by treaty.

  If I have been unable to altogether stop the traffic in slaves at Bengazi, I have at least succeeded in wresting the trade to the Levant out of the hands of the Arabs and this of itself is a step in the right direction because as I have before said the Turks treat their slaves far more humanely than the Arabs and although the trade is still carried on by the Turks it is not accompanied with the same cruelty nor I am glad to say to the same extent as formerly.

  I have put the local Gov' in possession of the names of the slavedealers, of the positions of the slave depots and in short of the whole particulars and organization of this trade to its minutest detail. I have now accomplished my by no means agreeable task and I venture to hope that my unremitting efforts may meet with Y.L. approval I have etc.

  signed P. Henderson

  Note

  1. An Ottoman term for an armed guard who escorted consular officials and other dignitaries.

  9. Instructions Concerning the Trade in Slaves (1936)

  Part I

  ARTICLE I

  Inasmuch as the provisions of the noble Shari'a preclude the enslavement or purchase of the subjects of countries in treaty relationships,' it is accordingly absolutely forbidden

  1. to import slaves from any country to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by sea

  2. to import slaves to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by land, unless the slavedealer has a government document attesting that the person imported was recognized as a slave in the country from which he was imported at the time when this statute was promulgated

  3. to enslave free persons in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

  4. to purchase or own any person imported or enslaved, in a manner in violation of the foregoing provisions, after the promulgation of this statute.

  Any violation of the foregoing provisions shall require the punishment of the perpetrator, as follows:

  1. the liberation and release of the slave

  2. the application of the current customs regulations to the smugglers

  3. severe imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.

  Part II

  ARTICLE 11

  The rights of the slave against his owner or possessor2 are that he (1) feed, clothe, and lodge him; (2) treat him decently and employ him compassionately and without cruelty; (3) care for him in sickness and pay the cost of his treatment; (4) in general he has the same rights as the man's family and household, as is laid down in the laws of the noble Shari'a.

  ARTICLE III

  If any slave complains of ill-treatment by his owner or possessor, both parties shall be summoned to appear before the competent authority. If the validity of the complaint is proven, on the first occasion the authority shall give the owner or possessor a warning and allow
him a period of grace not exceeding two months, to reconsider the situation of the complainant. If it is proven on a second occasion that the causes of the complaint are still present, the authority shall order the owner or possessor to remove the complainant from his ownership or possession, by sale or otherwise. If the owner or possessor fails to present the complainant to the authority within the period which it has specified, he shall be punished the first time with a fine not exceeding one pound. If he persists in this refusal, his fine shall be doubled; and he may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment for a period not exceeding one week.

  ARTICLE IV

  Any slave who can prove that he was born free, or that he was enslaved in a manner contrary to Shari'a, during the period that has passed since the establishment of His Majesty's government in the year 1344 [= 1925],3 has the right to claim his manumission. The competent authority must agree to examine the case and pronounce a just judgment.

  ARTICLE V

  While respecting any rights reserved by the owner or possessor in a manner recognized by the Shari'a and recorded in writing at the time of the marriage, the owner or possessor may not separate two slaves between whom a marriage has been contracted in accordance with the Shari'a, except as provided in the Shari'a.

  ARTICLE VI

  An owner or possessor may not part children from their mother before they come of age.

  ARTICLE VII

  A slave may request a contract to purchase his freedom from his owner or possessor, who must respond to this request. If there is a disagreement between the owner or possessor and the slave as to the amount, then the fixing of the amount and the dates of payment shall be settled with the knowledge of the competent authority. The existence of such a contract shall not be deemed to annul the application of the rules in Article III above.

  ARTICLE VIII

  Any slave born outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia shall, in the event of his manumission in accordance with the terms of this statute or in any other way recognized by Shari'a, have the right to choose his place of domicile.

  ARTICLE IX

  All existing slaves shall be registered in a special register to be kept by the competent authority; and every slave shall be given an identity document containing his description and, for males, a photograph. Identity documents shall be prepared in three copies, one to be kept by the competent authority, one for the owner or possessor, and one for the slave. The document shall record all transactions relating to the slave. The owner or possessor must complete the registration procedures within one year from the promulgation of this statute.

  ARTICLE X

  Any slave whose owner has not registered him as set forth in the foregoing article, may request the competent authority to give him a certificate of freedom.

  ARTICLE XI

  When slaves change hands, they must be submitted to a doctor of the public health department, for a certificate on their state of health.

  ARTICLE XII

  A slave may not be employed as an agent or broker without written authorization issued by the competent authority.

  ARTICLE XIII

  A special official shall be appointed for slave affairs. He shall be called the Inspector of Slave Affairs, and he shall have a deputy who shall be mobile as required.

  ARTICLE XIV

  The local competent authorities shall present a half-yearly report on the enforcement of this statute, containing a summary of transactions that have occurred. The halfyearly reports shall be submitted, with the observations of the Inspector of Slaves, to the Minister of the Interior, during the two months following the end of the six-month period covered in the report.

  ARTICLE XV

  The competent authorities mentioned in this statute shall be the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the capital and the governors' offices elsewhere. For the inspection of cases in accordance with the provisions of this statute, the competent authority shall form a body composed of its own representative, a representative of the police administration, and a member of the administrative council to examine the case and adjudicate.

  ARTICLE XVI

  This statute shall enter into effect from the date of its promulgation.

  Notes

  1. On the significance of this term, see EI', s.vv. "Dar al-'Ahd" (by Halil Inalcik) and "Dar al-Sulh" (by D. B. MacDonald and A. Abel).

  2. Literally. one who disposes of him." Islamic law, like Roman law, distinguishes between absolute ownership and possession with the right of use.

  3. In 1925, 'Abd al-'Aziz Ihn Saud was proclaimed king of Najd, Hijaz, and their dependencies. In 1932 the name of the kingdom was changed to Saudi Arabia.

  4. On the contract to purchase freedom, see above, p. 8.

  1. Al-Harin, Magamat

  Illustrated by al-Wasiti

  Ms. Arabe 5847, f. 105

  Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

  Previously published in W. Walther, Die Frau im Islam (Leipzig, 1980), p. 25., pl. 11

  2. Al-Hariri, Magamat

  Ms. Arabe 6094, p. 16

  Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

  3. Farad al-Din `Attar, Mantiq al-Tavr

  Add. 7735, f. 84a

  British Library, London

  4. Firdawsi, Shahname, in Turkish translation

  Treasure 1519, f. 141b

  Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul

  Previously published in Nurhan Atasoy, "1510 Tarihli memluk sehnamesinin minyaturleri," Sanat Tarihi Ara~nrmalari 2 (n.d.). p. 57

  5. Jalal al-Din Rumi, Masnavi

  Add. 27263, f. 29a

  British Library, London

  6. Shahanshahname

  B. 200, vol. 2, f. 82b

  Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul

  7. Shahanshahname

  B. 2(X), vol. 2, f. 83a

  Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul

  8. Shahanshahname

  B. 200, vol. 2, f. 146a

  Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul

  9. Vehbi, Surname

  Illustrated by Levni

  A. 3593, f. 173b

  Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul

  10. Vehbi, Surname

  Illustrated by Levni, ca. 1720-32

  A. 3593, f. 63

  Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul

  11. Firdawsi, Shahname

  Houghton, Shahname, f. 435v

  Previously published in Martin Bernard Dickson and Stuart Cary Welsh, The Houghton Shahnameh (Cambridge, MA, 1981), vol. 2, pl. 202

  12. Nizami, Khamse

  Or. 1363, f. 237a

  British Library, London

  13. Abu Tahir Tarasusi, Darabname

  Or. 4615, f. 29b

  British Library, London

  14. Abu Tahir Tarasusi, Darabname

  Or. 4615, f. 33a

  British Library, London

  15. Abu Tahir Tarasusi, Darabname

  Or. 4615, f. 33b

  British Library, London

  16. Al-Wagidi, Siyer-i Nebi, in a Turkish translation prepared by order of Murad III

  Treasure (Hazine) 1221, f. 377a

  Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul

  17. Al-Wagidi, Siyer-i Nebi, in a Turkish translation prepared by order of Murad III

  Treasure (Hazine) 1222, f. 194a

  Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul

  18. Al-Wagidi, Siyer-i Nebi, in a Turkish translation prepared by order of Murad III

  Treasure (Hazine) 1222, f. 263a

  Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul

  19. Mir `All Shir Nawa'i, Diwan

  Sup. Turc. 316, f. 447v

  Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

  Previously published in Basil Gray, Persian Paintings (New York, 1961), p. 131

  20. The Album of Mehmed 11, the Conqueror

  Treasure (Hazine) 2152-53 and 2160

  Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul

  Previously published in UNESCO, Turkey: Ancient Miniatures, World Art Series (Paris, 1960), pl. 10

  21. Abu Tahir Tarasusi, Darabndme

  Or. 4615, f.
118b

  British Library, London

  22. Jalal al-Din Rumi, Masnavf

  Add. 27263, f. 298a

  British Library, London

  23. Sa'di, Bustan

  Add. 27262, f. 129a

  British Library, London

  24. Fazil Enderuni, Zenanname

  Or. 7094, f. 12a

  British Library, London