Slavery in Africa - Slavery Practices Throughout Africa

Slavery Practices Throughout Africa

Like most other regions of the world, slavery and forced labor existed in many kingdoms and societies of Africa for thousands of years. Precise evidence on slavery or the political and economic institutions of slavery before contact with the Arab or Atlantic slave trade is not available. The complex relationships and evidence from oral histories often incorrectly describe many forms of servitude or social status as slavery, even when the practices do not follow conceptualizations of slavery in other regions around the world.

The best evidence of slave practices in Africa come from the major kingdoms, particularly along the coast, and there is little evidence of widespread slavery practices in stateless societies. Slave trading was mostly secondary to other trade relationships; however, there is evidence of a trans-Saharan slave trade route from Roman times which persisted in the area after the fall of the Roman empire. However, kinship structures and rights provided to slaves (except those captured in war) appears to have limited the scope of slave trading before the start of the Arab slave trade and the Atlantic slave trade.