06 - Debt bondage, History.

Debt bondage, History.  Asia.  The ancient Near East.  Severe personal debt was widespread in the ancient Near East. Debtors who did not pay up could become their creditors' chattel, as could other members of their families. The problem of debt bondage, in conjunction with the state's ability to levy serfs for labour, led many to flee their homes. Some of these fugitives formed bands of roving warriors called 'habiru-men', especially in the Levant of the late second millennium. (Although not himself a fugitive from debt bondage, the story of Idrimi suggests that these groups could be a considerable threat.) The consequences of widespread debt bondage caused many kings to annul debts on ascending to the throne.  From the 19th century.  In the 19th century, people in Asia were bonded to labor due to a variety of reasons ranging from farmers mortgaging harvests to drug addicts in need for opium in China. When a natural disaster occurred or food was scarce, people willingly chose debt bondage as a means to a secure life. In the early 20th century in Asia, most laborers tied to debt bondage had been born into it. In certain regions, such as in Burma, debt bondage was far more common than slavery. Many went into bondage to pay off interest on a loan or to pay taxes, and as they worked, often on farms, lodging, meals, and clothing fees were added to the existing debt causing overall debt and interest to increase. These continued added loan values made leaving servitude unattainable.  Moreover, after the development of the international economy, more workers were needed for the pre-industrial economies of Asia during the 19th century. A greater demand for labor was needed in Asia to power exports to growing industrial countries like the United States and Germany. Cultivation of cash crops like coffee, cocoa, and sugar and exploitation of minerals like gold and tin led farm owners to search for individuals in need of loans for the sake of keeping laborers permanently. In particular, the Indian indenture system was based on debt bondage by which an estimated two million Indians were transported to various colonies of European powers to provide labor for plantations. It started from the end of slavery in 1833 and continued until 1920.  Chinese-Moro mestizo historian Samuel Kong Tan wrote that on his home island of Siasi, the native Moro Muslims and Chinese had good relations. The Chinese sold guns to the Moros in exchange for marine products like shark fins, shells and pearls. The native Moros also took out loans from the Chinese creditors and with the Moros putting their women and guns up as collateral for the debts.  Moro Muslim parents from Cotabato in mainland Mindanao sold their children and slaves to Chinese merchants so the Chinese could later sell them in the Sulu Sultanate after Cotabato was hit by famine and smallpox in 1872. Jesuits stepped in by buying the children from the Chinese.  The Cotabato-based Jesuit mission lasted from 1862 until Spanish rule in Cotabato ended and during famine and disease epidemics they bought children from Muslim parents themselves or from Chinese merchants who had bought the children from the Muslim parents and placed them into a "ransomed slave children" orphanage. The Muslim datus sold their child slaves to the Jesuits during the famine in 1872. Thomas M. McKenna reported that he was told by Datu Adil that Moro Maguidanaons would send their slaves to schools instead of their own children in Cotabato when the Americans opened up schools so these slaves later became bureaucrats and teachers for the Magindanaons. In South Sulawesi in the Dutch East Indies, elite Toraja would also not send their own children to school and instead send their slaves. Wikipedia: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.This episode includes AI-generated content.