Dahomey: A West African State Built on the Slave Trade 

The Kingdom of Dahomey (c. 1600–1904) emerged as a dominant West African state after conquering coastal states such as Allada and Whydah. 

With access to the Atlantic coast, Dahomey became a major exporter of enslaved people, relying heavily on warfare and raids — often conducted by its militarized army, including elite female regiments — to capture human beings for trade. Many of these captives were sold overseas, while others remained as forced laborers within the kingdom.

Dahomey also maintained ritual institutions tied to royal and ancestral cults. 

In the annual "Customs" ceremonies, war captives, criminals, or prisoners were sometimes sacrificed in human-blood rituals, which served to reinforce the monarch's spiritual and political authority.

Under King Ghezo (1818–1858), the transatlantic slave trade became the central economic pillar. 

Despite pressure from the British to abolish slavery, Ghezo defended the trade as "the source and the glory of our wealth." Though Dahomey agreed in 1852 to end slave exports under a treaty, the trade resumed by 1857 — illustrating the kingdom's deep structural reliance on human bondage.

Slavery in America began because some Africans sold other Africans to European masters. And now they're making money from that history again - perhaps simply skilled businesspeople?

The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise

Since the eighteenth century Enlightenment, the critical construction of a diverse, tolerant, and happy Islamic Spain has been part of an effort to sell a particular cultural agenda, which would have been undermined by the recognition of a multicultural society racked by ethnic, religious, social, and political conflicts that eventually contributed to its demise -- a multicultural society held together only by the ruthless power of autocrats and clerics. This ideological mission would then be the ultimate reason for the tilting of the narrative against Catholic Spain ... In the past few decades, this ideological mission has morphed into "presentism" an academically sponsored effort to narrate the past in terms of the present and thereby reinterpret it to serve contemporary "multicultural," "diversity," and "peace" studies, which necessitate rejecting as retrograde, chauvinistic, or, worse, "conservative" any view of the past that may conflict with the progressive agenda. Thus, it is stupendous to see how some academic specialists turn and twist to downplay religion as the motivating force in Muslim conquests, and even to question the invasion of Spain by Muslim Arab-led Barber's as the conquest of one culture and its religion by another. Failing to take seriously, the religious factor in Islamic conquests is characteristic of a certain type of materialist Western historiography which finds it uncomfortable to accept that war and the willingness to kill and die in it can be the result of

someone's religious faith -- an obstacle to understanding that may reflect the role played by religious faith in the lives of many academic historians. This materialist approach has also generally prevailed in scholarly analyses of the Crusades."

~ Darío Fernández-Morera, The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise, Pg. 4-5 

The End of the Barbary Slave Trade: How a Young Nation Defied the Corsairs

In 1815, shortly after the conclusion of the War of 1812, the United States turned its naval might toward the North African coast to confront a crisis that had plagued the Western world for centuries. For generations, the Barbary States had operated a brutal system of state-sponsored piracy, capturing merchant vessels and forcing their crews into a vast network of white slavery.

While modern history often overlooks this chapter, thousands of Europeans and Americans were held in bondage across the Islamic world, where they were either sold into hard labor or held in dungeons for exorbitant ransoms.

Commodore Stephen Decatur led a squadron of ten American warships into the Mediterranean with a clear mandate to end this practice. His campaign was remarkably swift. After capturing the Algerian flagship and killing their top admiral, Decatur sailed directly into Algiers harbor. 

Faced with superior firepower, the Dey of Algiers was forced to sign a treaty that abolished all future tribute payments and demanded the immediate release of all captives. This intervention resulted in the liberation of hundreds of white slaves, including sailors and traders from Italy, Spain, Sicily, and Portugal, some of whom had been enslaved for over a decade.

This victory by a young United States shattered the long-standing European policy of appeasement.

For centuries, major powers had simply paid tribute to avoid the enslavement of their citizens, viewing the corsairs as an unavoidable reality of Mediterranean trade. 

The American refusal to submit demonstrated that military resolve could dismantle the slave markets of North Africa. This shift in doctrine inspired a coordinated Anglo-Dutch expedition just a year later, which further crippled the corsairs' power. Ultimately, Decatur's mission didn't just protect American commerce; it signaled the beginning of the end for a centuries-old system of Mediterranean slavery, proving that the cycle of ransom and human trafficking could be broken through decisive action.

The Viking Truth No One Talks About 

Genetic studies reveal a haunting truth: when Vikings settled Iceland, nearly half the female ancestry was Irish. That's not poetic, it's the legacy of slavery.Let's talk about something that rarely makes it into the Viking fanfare: the women who were taken. When we picture Vikings, we think longships, raids, and rugged warriors. But behind that image is a brutal reality, especially for Ireland. From the late 8th century onward, Norse raiders repeatedly struck Irish coasts, not just for treasure, but for people. And the most "valuable" captives? Women.These women were taken as thralls, the Norse word for slaves. Some were sold, others kept. Many were transported across the sea, eventually ending up in places like Iceland, which was colonized by Norse settlers in the late 9th century. But here's the twist: modern DNA studies show that while Iceland's male ancestry is overwhelmingly Norse, the female ancestry is about 50% Gaelic, mostly Irish and Scottish.That means the women who helped build Iceland's population weren't Norse wives, they were captives. Enslaved. Displaced. And yet, they became mothers, workers, cultural carriers. Their mitochondrial DNA, passed from mother to child, still echoes through Iceland's population today.It's a sobering reminder that colonization isn't just about conquest. It's about who gets taken, who gets silenced, and who gets woven into the story without ever being named. 

The sagas may glorify Norse heroes, but the genetic record tells a quieter truth: Irish women helped build Iceland, not by choice, but by survival. So next time someone romanticizes the Viking age, remember the women whose strength shaped a nation, without ever being asked.  

Slave shackle being removed by a British sailor, 1907. The son of the man who took the photograph wrote the following account of what happened:
"The pictures were taken by my father who was serving aboard HMS Sphinx while on armed patrol off the Zanzibar and Mozambique coast in about 1907. They caught quite a few slaver traders, and those particular slaves that are in the pictures were liberated while he was on watch. That night a dhow (sailing vessel) sailed by and the slaves were all chained together.
He raised the alarm and they got them onto the ship and got the chains knocked off them. They then questioned them and sent a party of marines ashore to try to track the slave traders down.
They caught two of them and I believe they were of Arabic origin. My father thought the slave trade was a despicable thing that was going on, the slaves were treated very badly so when they got the slaver traders they didn't give them a very nice time". 

The sketch that abolished slavery? Horrifying picture shows how British captain 'tortured girl, 15, to death on ship by whipping her upside down' before being cleared of murder

Empire/Power

Regions

Period

Led by

Victims ±

Remarks

British Empire 

Worldwide 

16th–20th century 

Elizabeth I, Victoria

10–35 million 

Transatlantic slavery, colonial wars, famines 

Mongol Empire 

Asia, Eastern Europe 

13th–14th century 

Genghis Khan 

20–60 million 

Slavery, mass destruction, deportations 

Ottoman Empire 

Middle East, Balkans, North Africa 

1299–1922 

Osman I, Suleiman the Magnificent 

1–5 million 

Slavery via Balkans & Africa, jihad, sharia 

Islamic Caliphates 

Middle East, North Africa, Spain 

7th–13th century 

Abu Bakr, Umar Ibn al-Khattab

1–5 million 

Slavery sanctioned under Islamic law 

Roman Empire 

Europe, North Africa, Middle East 

27 BC–476 AD 

Augustus, Trajan 

1–5 million 

Slavery as foundation of economy 

Spanish Empire 

Americas, Philippines, Europe 

15th–19th century 

Charles V, Philip II 

10–20 million 

Slavery, indigenous mortality 

Portuguese Empire 

Brazil, Africa, Asia 

15th–20th century 

Henry the Navigator 

1–5 million 

Early transatlantic slave trade 

French Empires 

Africa, Asia, Americas 

17th–20th century 

Napoleon Bonaparte, Louis XIV 

1–5 million 

Slavery in colonies 

Dutch Empire 

Indonesia, Suriname, Caribbean 

17th–20th century 

Jan Pieterszoon Coen 

1–4 million 

VOC/WIC slavery and plantations 

Russian Empire / USSR 

Eurasia 

16th–20th century 

Peter the Great, Stalin 

20–40 million 

Slavery, serfdom, Gulags 

Persian Empires 

Iran, Mesopotamia, Egypt 

From 6th century BC 

Cyrus the Great, Darius 

1–2 million 

Slavery (relatively mild) 

Chinese Empires 

East Asia 

2000+ years 

Qin Shi Huang, Kublai Khan 

10–30 million 

Slavery, serfdom, forced labor 

Macedonian Empire 

Greece to India 

4th century BC 

Alexander the Great 

1–2 million 

Slavery as war loot 

East Asia, Pacific 

19th–20th century 

Emperor Hirohito 

6–20 million 

Slavery, forced labor, comfort women 

Incas 

Andes 

13th–16th century 

Pachacuti–Atahualpa 

1–2 million 

Slavery, Mita system (forced labor) 

Aztecs 

Central Mexico 

14th–16th century 

Moctezuma II 

1–2 million 

Slavery and human sacrifice 

Assyrians 

Mesopotamia 

2000–600 BC 

0.5–1 million 

Babylonians 

Southern Mesopotamia 

1800–500 BC 

Hammurabi, Nebuchadnezzar 

Unknown 

Slavery codified in law 

Hittites 

Anatolia (Turkey) 

1600–1200 BC 

Suppiluliuma I 

Unknown 

Enslaved war captives 

Zulus 

Southern Africa 

19th century 

Shaka Zulu 

1–2 million 

Slavery, Mfecane (ethnic cleansing), domination of rivals 

Songhai 

West Africa 

15th–16th century 

Sonni Ali, Askia Muhammad 

Unknown 

Slavery as trade commodity 

Ayyubids 

Egypt, Syria, Palestine 

12th century 

Saladin (Salah-ad-Din)

Unknown 

Slavery permitted, regulated 

Belgian Empire 

Congo (Congo Free State) 

1885–1908 (private rule) 

Leopold II

10–15 million

Slavery, forced labor, amputations, rubber terror 

German Empire 

Germany, Africa, Oceania 

1871–1918 

Wilhelm I & II, Bismarck 

1–2 million 

Slavery, Herero genocide, forced labor 

Third Reich  Germany

Europe, North Africa (temporarily) 

1933–1945 

Adolf Hitler 

40–70 million 

Mass slavery, Holocaust, labor camps 

United States 

North America, Pacific, Caribbean, Latin America, Middle East 

18th–21st century 

George Washington to George W. Bush 

10–30 million 

Slavery until 1865, westward expansion (Manifest Destiny), wars (Mexico, the Philippines, Iraq), economic and military hegemony, annexations of Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Texas (1845) — followed by the incorporation of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and more. (That is the historical weight behind the Mexican saying: 'We didn't cross the border — the border crossed us.')" 

Serbian Empire 

Balkans (Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania) 

12th–14th century 

Stefan Dušan 

Unknown 

Slavery, serfdom 

Akkadian Empire 

Mesopotamia 

ca. 2334–2154 BC 

Sargon of Akkad 

Unknown 

Slavery, first known empire 

Egyptian Empire 

Egypt, Nubia, Levant 

ca. 2686–1070 BC 

Ramses II, Thutmose II 

Unknown 

Slavery, monumental construction using forced labor 

Byzantine Empire 

Eastern Roman Empire 

330–1453 

Justinian I, Heraclius 

1–2 million 

Slavery, "Christian" empire, heir to Rome 

Mughal Empire 

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh 

1526–1857 

Babur, Akbar the Great 

1–5 million 

Slavery, Islamic empire with cultural flourish 

Timurid Empire 

Central Asia, Persia, India 

14th–15th century 

Tamerlane (Timur) 

7–17 million 

Slavery, violent conquests 

Sassanid Empire 

Iran, Mesopotamia 

224–651 

Shapur I, Khosrow I 

Slavery, last major pre-Islamic Persian empire

Khmer Empire 

Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam 

802–1431 

Jayavarman II 

Unknown 

Slavery, forced labor 

Tibetan Empire 

Tibet, Central Asia 

7th–9th century 

Songtsen Gampo 

Slavery, religious empire with brief expansion 

Habsburg Empire 

Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Balkans 

1526–1918 (peak) 

Charles V, Maria Theresa, Franz Joseph I 

1–2 million 

Colonial slavery, oppression, serfdom, Catholic absolutism 

Vikings / Norse Kingdoms 

Northern Europe, England, Iceland, Russia 

Ragnar Lodbrok, Harald Bluetooth 

Unknown 

Large-scale slavery, pillaging, deportations

Italian Colonial Empire 

Libya, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia 

1882–1943 

Mussolini, Victor Emmanuel III 

Slavery, forced labor, gas attacks, concentration camps 

A Meccan merchant and his Circassian enslaved man. Picture taken in Mecca between 1887 and 1888.

This photograph offers a rare visual record of 19th-century Mecca, a period when slavery persisted throughout much of the Arabian Peninsula despite growing international abolition movements.

The image shows a Meccan merchant standing beside a young Circassian boy, identified as enslaved, whose pale complexion reflects the trade in captives brought from the Caucasus region to serve in domestic roles. Their attire—ornate robes and detailed embroidery—reveals both social hierarchy and cultural richness, but beneath that lies the stark reminder of human bondage. For historians, such images illuminate the global reach of slavery beyond the transatlantic context, revealing how systems of servitude connected Africa, Europe, and the Middle East for centuries.

Added Fact: The Ottoman Empire officially abolished slavery in 1889, only a year after this photograph was taken, but the practice lingered informally in many regions of the Arabian Peninsula well into the 20th century (source)

The Boy Who Scared an Industry: The Tragic Victory of Iqbal Masih

Iqbal's story shows that 'slavery' is not just something from history books of hundreds of years ago, but a monster we are still facing today. It reminds us that behind many of the cheap products we use in the West, there is often a hidden human tragedy.

The story of Iqbal Masih is one of the most heart-wrenching examples of modern injustice, but also of incredible human courage. Born in 1983 in Muridke, Pakistan, Iqbal belonged to a poor Christian family. In a country where the Christian minority often occupies the lowest social rungs, his family lived in a cycle of poverty that felt impossible to escape.

The tragedy began when Iqbal was only four years old. His father, Saif Masih, made a desperate and devastating decision. Needing money for the wedding of his eldest son, he took a loan of about twelve dollars from a local carpet factory owner. In exchange for this tiny sum, he handed over his four-year-old son as collateral. While the Bible teaches that a father must provide for his household, the crushing weight of systemic poverty led to a choice that would haunt the family forever.

For the next six years, Iqbal's life was a nightmare. He was forced to work fourteen hours a day, six days a week, tying thousands of tiny knots in expensive carpets. His mother, Inayat Bibi, was powerless to stop it. In their society, women had almost no say in financial matters, and she spent her days working as a domestic servant just to put a bit of food on the table for her other children. Iqbal was often chained to his loom, beaten for mistakes, and fed barely enough to stay alive. This extreme abuse stunted his growth so severely that at age twelve, he still had the body of a much younger child.

In 1992, everything changed. Iqbal learned that the Pakistani government had actually declared bonded labor illegal. At age ten, he escaped his captors and joined the Bonded Labour Liberation Front. Despite being a small boy who had lived his life in chains, he became a powerful orator. He traveled the world, telling audiences that "children should have pens in their hands, not tools." His activism was so effective that it cost the Pakistani carpet industry tens of millions of dollars in canceled orders.

However, standing up to a billion-dollar industry as a twelve-year-old boy is incredibly dangerous. On Easter Sunday in 1995, while visiting his mother and relatives, Iqbal was shot dead while riding his bicycle.

The official police report claimed it was a random accident involving a local farmer, but almost no one believed this. The investigation was full of holes, witnesses were pressured to change their stories, and the man arrested was eventually acquitted.

To this day, the "Carpet Mafia" is widely believed to be behind his assassination. No one was ever truly punished for the murder of this child. The ultimate injustice is that he was sold for the price of a cheap meal, enslaved for most of his short life, and killed just as he was beginning to taste freedom. Although Iqbal is gone, his legacy forced the world to look at the blood and sweat hidden in the fibers of handmade rugs, leading to new laws and protections that save children to this day.Here is the additional section regarding modern-day child slavery to complete your article. It focuses on current facts and specific industries where this injustice still occurs.

The Unfinished Battle: Child Slavery in the Modern World

While Iqbal Masih's courage brought global attention to bonded labor, it is a painful reality that child slavery did not die with him in 1995. Today, millions of children remain trapped in the same cycles of debt and exploitation that stole Iqbal's childhood. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), there are still an estimated 160 million children in child labor worldwide, with nearly half of them performing hazardous work that directly endangers their health and safety.

Modern-Day Examples of Exploitation

The "Carpet Mafia" that Iqbal fought still exists in various forms across different industries:

• Cobalt Mining in the Congo: Many of the batteries used in our smartphones and electric cars are powered by cobalt. Thousands of children in the Democratic Republic of Congo work in "artisanal" mines, digging in deep, narrow tunnels without safety equipment for just a few cents a day.

• Cocoa Plantations in West Africa: A significant portion of the world's chocolate begins with child labor in countries like Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. Children are often trafficked from neighboring countries and forced to use machetes to harvest cocoa pods, often under the threat of violence.

• The Fashion Industry: In the "fast fashion" supply chain, children are still found in spinning mills and garment factories in South Asia and Southeast Asia. They perform delicate tasks like embroidery or beadwork, much like Iqbal did with carpets, because their small hands are seen as "ideal" for the work.

• Brick Kilns in Pakistan and India: Entire families, including toddlers, are still found working in brick kilns to pay off generational debts. They live on-site in extreme heat, molding bricks by hand to pay back loans that—due to high interest—never seem to disappear.

Why Does This Still Happen?

Child slavery continues because it is profitable for those at the top and because of a lack of transparency in global trade. Much like the $12 loan that enslaved Iqbal, poverty is used as a weapon. When parents have no access to healthcare or fair wages, they are forced into "debt bondage," where the child becomes the ultimate price.

Iqbal Masih once said, "Children should have pens in their hands, not tools." As we look at our phones, wear our clothes, or eat chocolate, his words remain a call to action. The injustice he faced is not a thing of the past; it is a hidden part of our modern economy that requires our constant vigilance and voice.

Regions 

Period 

Led by 

Victims 

Remarks 

Kingdom of God 

Judea/Galilee (Roman province), global (influence) 

1st century AD 

Jesus of Nazareth 

None (himself a victim of state violence) 

No slavery, preached love for the other. No conquests — yet reached billions through compassion, forgiveness, and inner transformation.