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Zanzibar is ninety eight percent Moslem, a legacy of the
island’s Arab influence, but the Cathedral Church
of Christ in Stone Town is a memorial to the work
of Christian anti-slavers. Tanzania suffered more heavily
at the hands of the Arab-dominated slave trade than any other
East African country and Zanzibar town is stained with the
blood of a nation of slaves.
History
British anti-slavers like Dr. Livingstone felt it their
Christian duty to oppose the trade. He observed the horrific
and inhuman treaty of slaves at first hand whilst in Zanzibar,
and when he got back to England he appealed there and urged
the group called UMCA to begin the university mission to send
volunteers to Africa. The crucifix at the Cathedral
Church of Christ is made from the tree under which Dr.
Livingstone’s heart is buried. The altar was built on
the site of the auction block, and the circle marks the point
where slaves were tied to a tree and beaten.
Nearby are the slave chambers. The tours are free
but its advisable to give a donation. This is a terrible place
where the slaves were kept before they were taken to the market,
and the site of one of the greatest human atrocities ever,
lasting a staggering one thousand years throughout modern
history. The Arabic slave driver would take over a hundred
women and children and pack them like sardines into a tiny
room. Most of them would die because of suffocation, it is
thought than only 6% of slaves survived from capture to market.
Ironically, the slave traders of those times said if a slave
could survive these conditions they are strong and in command
of a high price, but most of the slaves became weak as a result
of the lethal conditions and died later.
Close by at the House of Wonders, a former Sultan's
palace, under every column a slave was sacrificed.
Fate of a slave
After being captured, the Arab slave raider would put the
African slave’s head in long chains of 300 people or
more and walk them as far as Zaire carrying ivory. If you
tired on the way to market you broke the calibants, so the
slave drivers would behead anyone who fell.
The slave trade was in full swing before the arrival of Europeans,
driven by the sultanates of the Middle East who were trading
in slaves for over one thousand years, transporting African
slaves across the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf and Asia.
The slaves served different purposes, from becoming porters
of the ivory trade, labourers on clove plantations,
to women sold as sex slaves. The early Arab dealers
were small scale and sailed on dhows ships transporting
less than 100 slaves at a time.
The Europeans began operations in the 17th century when their
settlement on the Mascarene Islands increased demand
for labour. At the height of the trade around 15,000 slaves
were exported annually from Zanzibar, although many thousands
more were sold throughout Africa and millions died on the
way. Slavery caused chaos across East Africa, with people
fleeing their land from slave raiders and violence spread
throughout the region. The need to “pacify” the
region was the main justification for the European invasion
of East Africa.
In 1822, the Omani Arabs signed a treaty to criminalize
selling slaves to Christians. Despite British diplomatic relations,
the Arabs largely ignored the terms of the treaty and the
trade was to continue in private for another hundred years.
Caravans would travel from Bagamoyo either buying slaves
or simply capturing prisoners along the way. Bagamoyo literally
meant “lay down your heart” because it was here
that the slaves would give up any chance of finding freedom
in their lifetime. Being sold to African armies or European
plantations in the Indian Ocean was not a Zanzibar slave’s
worst fate; if there was a glut in demand for slaves the
Doe Tribe’s in the area would eat the “excess
supplies”.
In 1873, under British threat, Zanzibar was forced to end
the sea-borne slave trade and the market in Zanzibar was closed,
replaced by the Cathedral Church of Christ. However,
the trade was never completely stopped until the British took
over Zanzibar after World War I. Conditions changed little
for these slaves, they were simply used as low wage labour
in the plantations, but at least they avoided a cruel and
barbaric death. |
