East African Coastal Slave Trade Network

Timeline

1. 900–1200Swahili Coast · Swahili CoastCoastal city-states marked by coral-stone buildings and mosques connected the Red Sea and Persian Gulf via monsoon sailing ships; slaves circulated as one trade commodity alongside ivory, amber, and ironware.
2. 1331Kilwa Kisiwani · TanzaniaThe Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta recorded the Kilwa Sultanate as one of the most prosperous city-states of East Africa, its wealth partly derived from control of interior resources and Indian Ocean trafficking; the slave trade was a component of the city-state economy.
3. 1698–1873Zanzibar · ZanzibarAfter Omani forces took control of Zanzibar, the scale of the slave trade expanded sharply; clove plantations depended on slave labor from the East African interior, and Zanzibar became one of the largest slave markets in the Indian Ocean until international bans in the 19th century.