Slavery in the ancient world
The slavery is something associated with as old as human history. Starting from ancient Mesopotamia (Modern day Iraq), Sumeria (Iraq-Kuwait) to present day Somalia, it was brutally enforced over the underprivileged and marginalized people. The information about slavery, we can find it in the Mesopotamian Code of Hammurabhi (1800 B.C). However, slavery is very rare among hunter-gatherer communities. The wars were the source of slavery . The Byzantine-Ottoman wars, and Ottoman wars with Europeans resulted in the large number of Christian slaves. The Europeans, Arabs and West African Kingdoms played a huge role in the Atlantic Slave Trade.
Nearly 5 to 6 million slaves were sent to Brazil from Africa from 16h century to 19th century (1500 to 1870). In the same period more or less another 4 to 5 million slaves were sent to the United States of America.
Atlantic Slave Trade
The Atlantic Slave Trade involved the transportation of enslaved African people to North and South America. They frequently used the triangular trade route during 16th and 19th centuries. First these slaves were captured alive by their countrymen and sold to Western European slave traders. It’s not exaggeration to say the entire world economy is dependent on slave labourers.
Slavery in Ancient China
The earliest evidence of slavery in China traces to second millennium BC during the Shang dynasty. By some estimates approximately 5 percent of the population was enslaved.
Slavery in India
Based on the documentary evidence available from several ancient scripts, Slavery was practiced and institutionalized in India 200 BC to the 20th century. The modern day Zamindars (huge land owners) across India invariably practiced bonded an indentured labourers to their advantage by paying meager wages.
Despite a ban and several laws enacted slavery in most part of the world, the slavery is still practiced all over the world. The Global slavery index indicates that even today “An estimated 40.3 million men, women, and children were victims of modern slavery on any given day in 2016. Of these, 24.9 million people were in forced labour and 15.4 million people were living in a forced marriage. Women and girls are vastly over-represented, making up 71 percent of victims. Modern slavery is most prevalent in Africa, followed by the Asia and the Pacific region.”
To understand the slavery and why did Europeans Enslave Africans, the below-attahced video will reveal the truth.
It’s a huge and prevailing shame. At any cost, this should be stopped. Otherwise, we can’t create an egalitarian world.
By
Srini