The Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean: Forgotten Captivity

While the Atlantic slave trade dominates popular memory, the Indian Ocean slave trade transported millions of Africans across the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean for over a millennium. This episode explores the little-known networks that funneled captives from East Africa to the Middle East, India, and the islands of the Indian Ocean. We discuss the Swahili city-states as trading hubs, the Portuguese and Omani incursions, the role of the Mascarene Islands, and the brutal sugar plantations of Réunion and Mauritius. Learn about the dhow ships, the monsoon winds that dictated voyages, and the lived experience of enslaved people who toiled in clove plantations, pearl fisheries, and domestic servitude. We also examine the Zanzibar slave market, the British abolition efforts in the East, and the lasting legacy of this trade in the diaspora of the Siddi and Sheedi communities in South Asia. #IndianOceanSlaveTrade #EastAfrica #Zanzibar #SwahiliCoast #Dhow #Monsoon #MascareneIslands #Siddi #Sheedi #OmaniEmpire #PortugueseEmpire #Abolition #SlaveTrade #History #WorldHistory #FexingoHistory #Réunion #Mauritius Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo