ons of Africa, slaves were simply “victims of kidnapping.” In addition, slaves were also acquired through trading as with the Imbangala. In these instances, people such as the Imbangala did not have to resort to war to obtain slaves. According to Lewis, in the Islam religion, there were basically four ways in which a slave could be obtained: Capture: Capture was a most important source. Frontier warfare and naval raiding yielded some captives, but these were relatively few and were usually exchanged. In later centuries, warfare in Africa or India supplied some slaves by capture to Muslims. With the spread of Islam, and the acceptance of dhimml status by increasing numbers of non-Muslims, the possibilities for recruitment by capture were severely restricted. Tribute: Slaves sometimes formed part of the tribute required from vassal states beyond the Islamic frontiers. The king of Nubia signed a treaty that included an annual levy of slaves to be provided from Nubia. The treaty stipulated that hundreds of male and female slaves be delivered annually. This treaty endured for ages but was disrupted when wars broke out between the Muslim rulers of Egypt and the Christian kings of Nubia. Offspring: The attainment of slaves through offspring appears to have been small and insufficient to maintain numbers. Several factors contributed to this difference. Because of the belief of a man’s freedom, slaves were often liberated. Usually this occurred when a slave was freed because she bore her master’s child. There were also other reasons for the low natural increase of 1. Castration. A fairthe slave population in the Islamic world. They include: proportion of male slaves were imported as eunuchs and thus precluded from having offspring. Among these were many who otherwise, by the wealth and power 2. Another group of slaveswhich they acquired, might have founded families. who rose to positions of great power...
