As
we move along the history, we will introduce the causes of slavery
that accompany with it, from the Ottomans and Islam period to the
European dominace that brought many political changes and to the
present Sudan. How have the factors that fuel slavery changed from
the past to the present? It is an interesting issue to examine.
Let us begin the journey with the Ottoman and Islam period...
Sudan
is one of the nations that has severely faced political instability
in human history. Although its background has dealt with colonists,
there is a great relationship between colonization and unstable
politics within the nation that has stirred up slavery in the past.
During
the nineteenth century, there had been many changes in political,
economic and social aspects due to an arrival of Egyptian influence.
We will look into a little more details why Sudan was victimized
by this particular nation, although it was surrounded by other countries
as well. As we introduced in the front page, the end of Ptolemies
has brought Egypt closer to Sudan. From the map, Egypt, which extends
its territoty along the northern border of Sudan, has an easy access
to control the northern Sudan, especially with the help of the British
colonist. Whereas, the northern area consists of large desert plains,
there are several mountain ranges in the east, west and south. For
example, the Matong and Dongatona ranges are the natural borders
in the south and the rugged Red Sea hills extend along the east.
The land scape also facilitates an influence from the northerner.
There
has been a long history beyond the Egyptian control over the northern
Sudan. However the battle of Pyramids in 1797 brought the rise to
power of the Albanian soldier. His ambition paved the way downward
to northern Sudan. This is not only the past passage of prosperity,
but also a today passage of tragedy. Muhammed Aly took control over
the northern region. Law and policies were created under his individual
conception of order. This is the first time that political entity
began in Sudan. For a creation of his stability, human labor was
required to form the armies and acquire resources. From the introduction
of Sudan, we may see the geographical difference between the north
and the south. The north consists of arid and unproductive lands
due to the regional climate, while the south is a rich area with
natural resources. It is not surprising to see the reason why controlling
the north could mean nothing than having an empty land in his hand.
Slaves
were created through an acquisition of wealth and power. The man tried
to maintain his power through controlling slaves and accummulate his
wealth through using labor. Thus, in the early slave history, slaves
were part of the national Army. Black people were recruited as labors
to cultivate lands. At the same time, Sudan was seen as the important
resource that fed Egyptian prosperity. An invasion to Sudan was to
search for slaves, ivory and gold to finance Egyptian modernization.
Trade and commerce were much engaged through economic exploitation
in Sudan.. Thus, the invasion in 1820 introduced social and economic
changes.
1.
Tax policies - the policies forced the northern sudan to supplement
their taxpayment in cash and agricultural products cultivated by slaves.
2.
The national Army - it is an effort made by the leader to creat his
armies to secure and maintain his power. Not only did the number of
soldiers represent the military strength, but it did indicate the
political status. It is said to believe that the more one controls
men, the higher he will be respected.
3.
Trade and commerce - An opening of Southern Sudan to economic exploitation
in the 1840's (a little bit later after a creation of slavery) vastly
introduced slave trade. There was a record of the collapse of other
legitimated trade, like ivory market. Slave trade became the viable
economic activity that brought much money. It was the first time that
human can be turned into money as a medium of exchange.
Slave
trade became widespread under the Egyptian ruler, whose government
did not belong to Sudan. Under such circumstance, people life, liberty
and security could not be protected and they lost to the hand of the
colonists. Muhammed Aly's agents in Sudan were paid to import negro
boys, girls and young women. Egypt opened up the large human market
where lots of blacks were imported. Khartoum, the capital city of
Sudan, became the central market for a huge slave trade.
Despite
the end of this leader, the practice of slave trade was not an easy
story to end. Abbas, the grandson of Muhammed Aly, was the successor.
He was a fundamentalist who stood up against the British. However,
his reign was short because the sattellites were not satified with
the management of the slave business, which was very huge during that
time. The whole region became a mess when armed bands were organized
and went out to capture slaves and sought loyalty from the local government.
The situation even made slavery more widespread and the practice became
more common.
Many
governments were set up and collapsed. The history kept repeating
itself in the failure of the government administration. Although,
there were some leaders who had a reformed mind and wanted to end
a dirty business. Their effort never come into practice. For example,
an inauguration of Mohammed Said (a brother of Abbas) has endured
only 9 years due to his dead in 1863. The position period would not
give him enough time to reconstructure the society. He was the first
reformer who forbade the slave trade. His effort failed partly because
at that time Egypt was heavily indebted to Europe due to the extravagant
predecessors. Slave traders enthroned in Khartoum and the civil service
of Sudan vastly corrupted. There was no strong legal enforforcement
on any illegal action.
The
situation brought another significant event after Ismail succeeded
Muhammed said in 1869. At that time President
Lincoln's proclaimation had decreed the abolition of slavery
in the United States. Ismail cought a message and order the abolition
of unpaid labor in Sudan. However, it was not an easy task. Why could
not we expect an end to slavery in Sudan since that period? As we
may see at the begining that the slavery practice does not only deal
with military strength (if it did, it would have been less difficult),
it also engaged in social and economic circumstance. The abolition
made a lot of damage to an economy that was slave-based. At the same
time, every household upper class Egyptian and in the Delta were dependent
upon slave services.
From
the Islam to the European dominace, Sudan had several governments
who were incapable of managing social and economic circumstances.
Some were highly self-interest and some were inexperienced. However,
the most important of all is that it never had its own government
and failed to have one at the begining. Thus, the policies and practices
that were created were conducted in a such a way that promoted oppression
and exploitation. It was not just power that kept slavery on going
in the past, but slavery has become part of its culture that continues
until today...
