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Saqaliba (, singular ) is a term used in medieval Arabic sources to refer to Slavs, and other peoples of Central Europe, Southern Europe, and Eastern Europe. The term originates from the Middle Greek Sclaveni (Slav), which in Andalusi Arabic came to designate Slavic slaves.
The word was often used to refer specifically to Slavic slaves, but it could also refer more broadly to various other ethnicities of Eastern Europe traded by the Arab traders, as well as all European slaves in some Muslim regions like Spain and Portugal including those abducted from raids on Christian kingdoms of Spain and Portugal. Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery saqaliba&f=false The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery: A-K; Vol. II, L-Z, by Junius P. Rodriguez According to Sudár and B. Szabó, the word Saqaliba meant 'forest dweller', regardless of ethnicity.Sudár Balázs, B. Szabó János. Dentumoger II. - Tanulmányok a korai magyar történelemből – Gyula népe - Madzsgarok a 10. századi muszlim földrajzi irodalomban (2022). ISBN 9789634163039 pp. 136
There were several major routes for the trading of Slavic slaves into the Arab world: through Central Asia (Mongols, Tatars, Khazars, etc.) for the East Slavs; through the Balkans for the South Slavs; through Central Europe and Western Europe for the West Slavs and to al-Andalus.World History Encyclopedia 21: 21 Alfred J. Andrea Ph.D. p. 199 The Volga trade route and other routes, according to Ibrahim ibn Jakub (10th century), were serviced by Radanite Jewish merchants. Theophanes mentions that the Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I settled a whole army of 5,000 Slavic Mercenary in Syria who had defected from the Byzantine side in the 660s. After the battle of Sebastopolis in 692, Neboulos, the archon of the Slavic corps in the Byzantine army, and 30,000 of his men were settled by the Umayyads in the region of Bilad al-Sham.9783110166736, Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter.. ISBN 9783110166736
In the Arab world, the Saqaliba served or were forced to serve in a multitude of ways: as servants, harem concubines, , craftsmen, mercenaries, Ghilman, and as Caliph's guards. In Iberia, Morocco, Damascus and Sicily, their military role may be compared with that of in the Ottoman Empire. In al-Andalus, Slavic eunuchs were so popular and widely distributed that they became synonymous with the term Saqāliba, though not all Saqaliba were eunuchs. The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery: A-K; Vol. II, L-Z, by Junius P. Rodriguez Some Saqāliba became rulers of (principalities) in Iberia after the collapse of the Caliphate of Cordoba in 1031. For example, Mujāhid al-ʿĀmirī organized the Saqaliba in Dénia to rebel, seize control of the city, and establish the Taifa of Dénia (1010–1227), which extended its reach as far as the island of Mallorca.
Saqaliba originally was used to denote Slavs people, however later it came to denote all European slaves in some Muslim regions like Spain including those abducted from raids on Christian kingdoms of Spain. The Franks started buying slaves from the Slavs and Avar Khaganate while Muslims also came across slaves in the form of mercenaries serving the Byzantine Empire and settlers in addition to among the Khazars. Most Slavic slaves were imported to the Muslim world through the border between Christian and Islamic kingdoms where castration centres were also located instead of the direct route. From there they were sent into Islamic Spain and other Muslim-ruled regions especially North Africa. The Saqaliba gained popularity in Umayyad Spain especially as warriors. After the collapse of the Umayyads, they also came to rule over many of the taifas. With the conversion of Eastern Europe, the trade declined and there isn't much textual information on Saqaliba after 11th century.
Eastern Europe was the most favoured destination for importation of slaves alongside Central Asia and Bilad as-Sudan, though Balkan and Turkic slaves from Southeast Europe were also valued. This slave trade was controlled mostly by European slave traders. France and Venice were the routes used to send Slavic slaves to Muslim lands and Prague served as a major centre for castration of Slavic captives. The Emirate of Bari also served as an important port for this trade. Due to the Byzantine Empire and Venice blocking Arab merchants from European ports, they later started importing in slave from the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea.
The Saqaliba were also imported as eunuchs and concubines to Muslim states. The slavery of eunuchs in the Muslim world however was expensive and they thus were given as gifts by rulers. The Saqaliba eunuchs were prominent at the court of Aghlabids and later Fatimids who imported them from Spain and Portugal. The Fatimids also used other Saqaliba slaves for military purposes.
p. 256-257 and these slaves where often transported along the Black Sea slave trade route.Slavery in the Black Sea Region, C.900–1900: Forms of Unfreedom at the Intersection Between Christianity and Islam. (2021). Nederländerna: Brill. 3
People taken captive during the Viking raids across Europe could be sold to Moorish Spain via the Dublin slave trade or transported to Hedeby or Brännö in Scandinavia and from there via the Volga trade route to present day Russia, where slaves and furs were sold to Muslim merchants in exchange for Arab silver dirham and silk, which have been found in Birka, Wolin and Dublin;The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 3, C.900-c.1024. (1995). Storbritannien: Cambridge University Press. p. 91 initially this trade route between Europe and the Abbasid Caliphate passed via the Khazar Kaghanate,The World of the Khazars: New Perspectives. Selected Papers from the Jerusalem 1999 International Khazar Colloquium. (2007). Nederländerna: Brill. p. 232 but from the early 10th-century onward it went via Volga Bulgaria and from there by caravan to Khwarazm, to the Samanid slave market in Central Asia and finally via Iran to the Abbasid Caliphate.The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 3, C.900-c.1024. (1995). Storbritannien: Cambridge University Press. p. 504 This was one of the major routes of the Viking slave trade, alongside the Black Sea slave trade.Pargas & Schiel, Damian A.; Juliane (2023). The Palgrave Handbook of Global Slavery Throughout History. Tyskland: Springer International Publishing. p. 126
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Until the 6th and 7th century, the Balkans belonged to the Byzantine Empire, but was split by invasions of the Avars, Slavic tribes and other peoples. The new peoples populating the Balkans did not initially create any centralized state, which created a situation of permanent political instability on the Balkans. The various tribes conducted warfare against each other and took war captives. Due to the lack of a centralized state to negotiate for ransom, a habit formed in which war captives from the tribal wars on the Balkans were often sold to merchants from the Republic of Venice at the Adriatic coast. This developed in to a major slave trade in which Venetians bought captives from the Balkans whom they sold to the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Middle East, which contributed to the growth of Venice as a major commercial empire by the 11th century.The Cambridge World History of Slavery: Volume 2, AD 500–AD 1420. (2021). (n.p.): Cambridge University Press. 117-120
The slaves bought by the Venetians at the Adriatic coast were transported by the Venetians to the slave market at the Aegean Islands where the majority continued to Egypt.
The Duchy of Bohemia was a state in a religious border zone, bordering to Pagan Slavic lands to the North, East and South East. In the Middle ages, religion was the determining factor on who was considered a legitimate target for enslavement. Christians prohibited Christians from enslaving other Christians, and Muslims prohibited Muslims from enslaving other Muslims; however, both approved of the enslavement of Pagans, who thereby became a lucrative target for slave traders.Korpela, J. (2018). Slaves from the North: Finns and Karelians in the East European Slave Trade, 900–1600. Nederländerna: Brill. p. 242 In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Slavs in Eastern Europe were still adherents of the Slavic paganism, making them Pagans to the Christians and infidels to the Muslims and considered as legitimate targets for enslavement by both. Bohemia, being a religious border state close to Pagan lands, were thus in an ideal position to engage in slave trade with both Christians and Muslims, having access to a close supply of Pagan captives. The slaves were acquired through slave raids toward the Pagan Slavic lands North of Prague.
The Pagan Slavic tribes of Central and Eastern Europe were targeted for slavery by several actors in the frequent military expeditions and raids alongside their lands. During the military campaigns of Charlemagne and his successor in the 9th century, Pagan Slavs were captured and sold by the Christian Franks along the Danube-Elbe rivers, and by the mid-10th century, Prague had become a big center of the slave trade in Slavic Pagans to al-Andalus via France.
Prague was known in all Europe as a major slave trade center. The armies of the Dukes of Bohemia captured Pagan Slavs from the East in expeditions to the lands later known as Poland to supply the slave market, which brought considerable profit to the Dukes. Several sources from the 10th century mentioned how the Dukes were involved in supplying the Prague slave market and that the slaves normally came from lands corresponding to what later corresponded to Southern Poland and Western Ukraine.The Archaeology of Slavery in Early Medieval Northern Europe: The Invisible Commodity. (2021). Schweiz: Springer International Publishing. p. 165
The slaves sold by the Vikings via the Eastern route could be Christian Western Europeans, but the slaves provided by the Vikings to the slave route of Prague-Magdeburg-Verdun were Pagan Slavs, who in contrast to Christians were legitimate for other Christians to enslave and sell as slaves to Muslims; according to Liutprand of Cremona, these slaves were trafficked to slavery in al-Andalus via Verdun, where some of them were selected to undergo castration to become eunuchs for the Muslim slave market in al-Andalus.Herman, A. (2021). The Viking Heart: How Scandinavians Conquered the World. USA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 49
Traditionally, the slave traders acquiring the slaves in Prague and transporting them to the slave market of al-Andalus are said to have been dominated by the Jewish Radhanite merchants.Korpela, J. (2018). Slaves from the North: Finns and Karelians in the East European Slave Trade, 900–1600. Nederländerna: Brill. p. 92 While Christians were not allowed to enslave Christians and Muslims not allowed to enslave Muslims, Jewish slave traders had the advantage to move freely across religious borders, and supply Muslim slaves to the Christian world and Christian slaves to the Muslim world.Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, pp. 99-101. as well as Pagan slaves to both. Both Christians and Muslims were prohibited from performing castrations, but there was no such ban for Jews, which made it possible for them to meet the great demand for eunuchs in the Muslim world.
The slaves were transported from Prague to Al-Andalus via France. While the church discouraged the sale of Christian slaves to Muslims, the sale of Pagans to Muslims was not met with such opposition. Louis the Fair granted his permission to Jewish merchants to traffick slaves through his Kingdom provided they were non-baptized Pagans.
The most lucrative slave market was the Islamic slavery in Al-Andalus. The Arabic Caliphate of Córdoba referred to the forests of Central and Eastern Europe, which came to function as a slave source supply, as the Bilad as-Saqaliba ("land of the slaves").Rollason, D. (2018). Early Medieval Europe 300–1050: A Guide for Studying and Teaching. Storbritannien: Taylor & Francis. The Prague slave market was a part of a big net of slave trade in European Saqaliba slaves to the Muslim world. Ibn Hawqal wrote in the 10th century:
/ref>In Islamic lands, the slave market had specific requirements. Female slaves were used for either domestic or sexual slavery as concubines. Male slaves were used for one of two categories: either for military slavery or as . The latter category of male slaves were subjected to castration for the market. Many male slaves selected to be sold as eunuchs were subjected to castration in Verdun.Korpela, J. (2018). Slaves from the North: Finns and Karelians in the East European Slave Trade, 900–1600. Nederländerna: Brill. p. 36 The nature of the market for Saqaliba slaves meant that most Saqaliba slaves would have been prepubescent children when enslaved.The Archaeology of Slavery in Early Medieval Northern Europe: The Invisible Commodity. (2021). Schweiz: Springer International Publishing. p. 166
In Moorish al-Andalus, European Saqaliba-slaves were considered as exotic display objects with their light hair, skin and eye colors. White European slaves were viewed as luxury goods in Al-Andalus, where they could be sold for as much as 1,000 , a substantial price.Korpela, J. (2018). Slaves from the North: Finns and Karelians in the East European Slave Trade, 900–1600. Nederländerna: Brill. p. 37
The slaves were not always destined for the al-Andalus market; similar to Bohemia in Europe, al-Andalus was a religious border state for the Muslim world, and Saqaliba slaves were exported from there further to the Muslim world in the Middle East.
The Duchy of Bohemia and the Caliphate of Córdoba were both dependent on each other because of the from the slave trade; the Caliphate of Córdoba was dependent on enslaved bureaucrats and slave soldiers to build and manage their centralised state, while the new state of the Duchy of Bohemia built their economic prosperity in the profit earned by trading captives for slavery in the Caliphate of Córdoba.
The saqaliba slave trade from Prague to al-Andalus via France lost its religious legitimacy when the Pagan Slavs of the North started to gradually adopt Christianity from the late 10th century, which made them of bounds for Christian Bohemia to enslave and sell to Muslim al-Andalus.
Christian Europe did not approve of Christian slaves, and as Europe adopted Christianity almost entirely by the 11th century slavery died out in Western Europe North of the Alps in the 12th- and 13th-centuries.
The disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba in the early 11th century, which was completed by 1031, corresponded to a period of instability in the Duchy of Bohemia in parallel with the end of the slave trade between Bohemia and the Caliphate.
The Aghlabids of Ifriqiya was a base for Saracen attacks along the Spanish East coast as well as against Southern Italy from the early 9th century; they attacked Rome in 845, Comacchio in 875-876, Monte Cassino in 882-83, and established the Emirate of Bari (847–871), the Emirate of Sicily (831–1091) and a base in Garigliano (882-906), which became bases of slave trade.The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Middle Ages. (1986). Storbritannien: Cambridge University Press. p. 408 During the warfare between Rome and the Byzantine Empire in Southern Italy in the 9th century the Saracens made Southern Italy a supply source for a slave trade to Maghreb by the mid-9th century; the Western Emperor Louis II complained in a letter to the Byzantine Emperor that the Byzantines in Naples guided the Saracens in their raids toward South Italy and aided them in their slave trade with Italians to North Africa, an accusation noted also by the Lombard Chronicler Erchempert.The Heirs of the Roman West. (2009). Tyskland: De Gruyter. p. 113
Moorish Saracen pirates from al-Andalus attacked Marseille and Arles and established a base in Camargue, Fraxinetum or La Garde-Freinet-Les Mautes (888-972), from which they made slave raids in to France; the population fled in fear of the slave raids, which made it difficult for the Frankish to secure their Southern coast, and the Saracens of Fraxinetum exported the Frankish prisoners they captured as slaves to the slave market of the Muslim Middle East.Phillips, W. D. (1985). Slavery from Roman Times to the Early Transatlantic Trade. Storbritannien: Manchester University Press. Many of the enslaved "Frankish" Saqaliba in Al-Andalus were really ethnic Visigoths and Hispano-Romans from the Spanish March in northeastern Iberia, later to be known as the Catalan counties.Al-Eidi, Ekhlas Mohammad (2017). The Saqaliba at Bani Umayyad palaces. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science. p. 1
The Saracens captured the Baleares in 903, and made slave raids also from this base toward the coasts of the Christian Mediterranean and Sicily.
While the Saracen bases in France was eliminated in 972 and Italy in 1091, this did not prevent the Saracen piracy slave trade of the Mediterranean; both Almoravid dynasty (1040-1147) and the Almohad Caliphate (1121–1269) approved of the slave raiding of Saracen pirates toward non-Muslim ships in Gibraltar and the Mediterranean for the purpose of slave raiding.The Cambridge World History of Slavery: Volume 2, AD 500–AD 1420. (2021). (n.p.): Cambridge University Press. p. 37
From 1038 to 1041 Almería belonged to the Taifa of Valencia.
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