Indian Ocean Slavery in the Age of Abolition

264 Pages·2013·1.68 MB·English

by  Robert W. Harms

Indian Ocean Slavery in the Age of Abolition
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edited by
ROBERT HARMS, BERNARD K. FREAMON,
and DAVID W. BLIGHT
Indian Ocean Slavery
in the Age of Abolition
New Haven &
London
Published with assistance from the Kingsley Trust Association Publication Fund
established by the Scroll and Key Society of Yale College and with assistance
from the Louis Stern Memorial Fund.
Copyright © 2013 by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Indian Ocean slavery in the age of abolition / edited by Robert Harms, Bernard
K. Freamon, and David W. Blight.
pages cm
“Published with assistance from the Kingsley Trust Association Publication
Fund established by the Scroll and Key Society of Yale College and with
assistance from the Louis Stern Memorial Fund.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN978–0–300–16387–2 (alk. paper)
1. Slavery—Indian Ocean Region—History—19th century. 2. Slavery—
Indian Ocean Region—History—20th century. 3. Slave trade—Indian Ocean
Region—History—19th century. 4. Slave trade—Indian Ocean Region—
History—20th century. 5. Slavery and Islam—Indian Ocean Region.
6. Freedmen—Indian Ocean Region—Social conditions—19th century.
I. Harms, Robert W., 1946– editor of compilation. II. Freamon, Bernard K.,
1947– editor of compilation. III. Blight, David W., editor of compilation.
HT1430.I532013
306.3'62091824—dc23
2013018793
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992 (Permanence
of Paper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Maps vii
1 Introduction: Indian Ocean Slavery in the Age of Abolition
Robert Harms 1
Part I. The Indian Ocean World in the Nineteenth Century
2 Servitude and the Changing Face of the Demand for Labor in the
Indian Ocean World, c. 1800–1900
Gwyn Campbell 23
3 On Becoming a British Lake: Piracy, Slaving, and British Imperialism
in the Indian Ocean during the First Half of the Nineteenth Century
Edward A. Alpers 45
Part II. Slavery, Abolition, and Islamic Law
4 Straight, No Chaser: Slavery, Abolition, and Modern Islamic Thought
Bernard K. Freamon 61
5 Islamic Abolitionism in the Western Indian Ocean from c. 1800
William Gervase Clarence-Smith 81
vvii Contents
Part III. Fighting the Maritime Slave Trade
6 “The Flag That Sets Us Free”: Antislavery, Africans, and the
Royal Navy in the Western Indian Ocean
Lindsay Doulton 101
7 “If You Catch Me Again at It, Put Me to Death”: Slave Trading,
Paper Trails, and British Bureaucracy in the Indian Ocean
Mandana E. Limbert 120
Part IV. Economic and Social Mobility of Slaves
8 Social Mobility in Indian Ocean Slavery: The Strange Career of
Sultan bin Aman
Abdul Sheriff 143
9 Deeds of Freed Slaves: Manumission and Economic and
Social Mobility in Pre-Abolition Zanzibar
Thomas F. McDow 160
Part V. The Changing Face of Slavery
10 Slave Trading, Abolitionism, and “New Systems of Slavery”
in the Nineteenth-Century Indian Ocean World
Richard B. Allen 183
11 African Bondsmen, Freedmen, and the Maritime Proletariats of
the Northwestern Indian Ocean World, c. 1500–1900
Janet J. Ewald 200
12 Slaves of One Master: Globalization and the African Diaspora
in Arabia in the Age of Empire
Matthew S. Hopper 223
List of Contributors 241
Index 243
Maps
Map1. Indian Ocean World
Map2. Western Indian Ocean