PLANTATION SLAVERY ON THE EAST COAST OF AFRICA IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Abstract

In the early nineteenth century Arabs from Oman began to settle on the Island of Zanzibar and grow cloves with the use of slaves Imported from the African mainland. Subsequently, Arab and African Inhabitants of the mainland coast developed large plantations, producing grain and coconuts by use of slave labor. This dissertation examines that process of economic development and Its Impact on the slave system, focusing on variations in the economic and social structure of the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba and the mainland towns of Malindi and Mombasa. Before the development of plantation agriculture, there were no labor-intensive, large-scale industries in either Oman or East Africa. Slaves were more important as domestic servants, political retainers, and concubines than as productive workers. Above all slave’s ware members of their master’s entourage. Not only did their presence confer prestige upon their owner, but they added to the political and even military strength of his communal group. Islamic norms and laws emphasized the- subordination of slaves to their master, but -specified that slaves were members of the Muslim community and entitled to certain clearly defined rights. Slaves were part of a stratified social order