Migrations | Privateering and captivity in the Mediterranean | Sub-Saharan African slaves

Privateering in the Mediterranean went hand in hand with the slave trade from sub-Saharan Africa.

Black African captives – enslaved in the wake of local wars among rival tribes or organised kidnappings – were brought in caravans to trading hubs on the shores of the southern Mediterranean. From here, they were dispatched to Europe, the Mediterranean region and the Islamic world to be employed as military personnel, domestic servants, agricultural workers or as crew members of privateering and other ships. Unlike the American system, slavery in those areas often allowed for improvement in slaves’ conditions. Many were accepted as respected members of the household, gained important military and political positions or even, on occasion, ruled. In the Ottoman Empire, as elsewhere, most black slaves were freed in the mid-19th century, as convictions that slavery should be abolished increasingly took hold.

Working NumberNameHolding MuseumDateMaterialsCurator Justification
FR 041Précis Historique de la Traite des Noirs et de l'Esclavage ColonialNational Library of France 1828Men, women and even children were forcefully taken from their homeland and marched all the way to the coasts of the Southern Mediterranean. Inhumane treatment such as that depicted in this image of black slaves in the French colonies was the norm.

TN 083Slave market Institut Supérieur d’Histoire Contemporaine de la Tunisie20th century PaperAfter arriving on the Southern Mediterranean coast, slaves were taken to the slave markets in a major trading hub, in this case Tunis. Most were sold into domestic service, their price depending on their age, gender, overall health and strength.

TN 110Letter from l’Institut d’Afrique in Paris, congratulating Ahmed Bey for having abolished the slave trade Archives Nationales1841In a climate of far-reaching sentiments and appeals with regard to the abolition of black slavery in the mid-19th century, the father of modern reformed Tunisia, Ahmad Pasha Bey, was one of the enlightened rulers to decree it as one of his fundamental social reforms.

TN 111Letter from the British residents of Gibraltar, congratulating Ahmed Bey for having closed the slave marketsArchives Nationales1841Ahmad Pasha Bey’s initiative to end the slave trade in Tunisia around the mid-19th century gained much recognition beyond his country. In this letter, the British residents of Gibraltar congratulate him on the occasion of his closing of the local slave market in Tunis.

TN 116African slaves working the fields Archives Nationales1800The trans-Saharan caravan trade brought thousands of black African slaves to the Regency of Tunis. Most of them were employed in domestic service rather than for production purposes.

Working NumberNameHolding MuseumDateMaterialsCurator Justification
TN 116African slaves working the fields Archives Nationales1800Some black slaves employed in the Islamic world led quite comfortable lives, being integrated into the extended household of their owners. This person in his fanciful dress was most probably employed as a domestic servant in a well-to-do household.