Muslim Slave System in Medieval India c5.14

c5.14

The Prophet himself had made slaves in war and peace. Women and captives were sold as slaves in Najd. The Islamised Arabs started taking pride in keeping male and female slaves. The second Caliph, Umar, ordered that residents of Arabia were not to be enslaved since they had all become Muslims. This resulted in obtaining slaves from neighbouring countries. Prior to the Crusades, Muslims had kept black slaves imported from Africa. After that they began to obtain white slaves from Europe, not only through war but also by purchase -Rome and Mecca being the chief centres of this trade. The Muslims of the Barbary States (Morocco, Fez, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli in North Africa), also obtained white slaves by piracy in the Mediterranean.