Changes

Castration was a very dominant feature of the Islamic slave trade.  Specific cities in the Sahara were given to this practice as the Islamic caravans passed through.  Such "eunuchs" brought the highest prices, purchased by rich Arab kings and princes as security agents for large harems.  It is estimated that 70 to 90% perished in the ordeal of castration.<ref name="universityworldnews.com"/> Castration centers developed in the Mossi country; Damagaram in Niger; Borno in northeastern Nigeria; Kumasi in Ashantiland now Ghana; Kano, Nigeria (the largest—early British administrators wrote frequently about it); and Baguimi (also spelled Aaghirmi, in Chad Republic & along the Nigerian border—the best known).  Some African kings were already practicing castration of their enemies, but the Islamic slave trade institutionalized it.  This, along with the fact that any children born to slave women were usually killed at birth, is the reason there are few descendants of these slaves and little African diaspora in Arab Islamic lands.<ref>http://forums.eunuch.org/showthread.php?10192-Ottoman-Eunuchs</ref><ref>http://patachu.com/slavery-trans-Saharan-trade/</ref> Some early sources of direct evidence of the Islamic slave trade were al-Yakub, a 9th-century Arab writer; Ibn Battuta, a 12th-century eyewitness; Mansa Museh, 1324, and Leo Africanus, 1494-1554.

Castration was a very dominant feature of the Islamic slave trade.  Specific cities in the Sahara were given to this practice as the Islamic caravans passed through.  Such "eunuchs" brought the highest prices, purchased by rich Arab kings and princes as security agents for large harems.  It is estimated that 70 to 90% perished in the ordeal of castration.<ref name="universityworldnews.com"/> Castration centers developed in the Mossi country; Damagaram in Niger; Borno in northeastern Nigeria; Kumasi in Ashantiland now Ghana; Kano, Nigeria (the largest—early British administrators wrote frequently about it); and Baguimi (also spelled Aaghirmi, in Chad Republic & along the Nigerian border—the best known).  Some African kings were already practicing castration of their enemies, but the Islamic slave trade institutionalized it.  This, along with the fact that any children born to slave women were usually killed at birth, is the reason there are few descendants of these slaves and little African diaspora in Arab Islamic lands.<ref>http://forums.eunuch.org/showthread.php?10192-Ottoman-Eunuchs</ref><ref>http://patachu.com/slavery-trans-Saharan-trade/</ref> Some early sources of direct evidence of the Islamic slave trade were al-Yakub, a 9th-century Arab writer; Ibn Battuta, a 12th-century eyewitness; Mansa Museh, 1324, and Leo Africanus, 1494-1554.

== The Transatlantic Slave Trade ==

== Transatlantic slave trade ==

[[Image:Inspecting New Arrivals by Giulio Rosati 2.jpg|right|thumb|350px|New female arrivals at a slave market, by Giulio Rosati]]

[[Image:Inspecting New Arrivals by Giulio Rosati 2.jpg|right|thumb|350px|New female arrivals at a slave market, by Giulio Rosati]]

===1492-1865===

===1492-1865===