Slavery in Iran

A History of slavery in Persia and Iran during various ancient, medieval and modern periods is catalogued by archaeological and historical records.^[1]^[2] Slavery in Iran occurred while it was part of various empires. A period of liberation occurred during Persia's "golden age" under Cyrus the Great as he allowed displaced peoples who were enslaved by former kings to return home. There have also been accounts (rumours?) of sexual slavery in modern Iran.

Medians

The Medes empire (625 BC – 549 BC) included slavery in a geographical area that included part of what is now the nation of Iran. Captured soldiers and residents of sacked cities were among those enslaved.^{[citation needed]} The Medians took people who were captured in battle and others after sacking and conquering cities. In 612 BC Cyaxares conquered Urartu, and in alliance with Nabopolassar (who created the Neo-Babylonian Empire) succeeded in destroying the Assyrian capital and taking many captured people as slaves.^{[citation needed]} This action made the Medians feared throughout the Middle East.^{[citation needed]} They also captured people from Iran such as the Elam and Parthians.^{[citation needed]}

Under the Persians

Slavery was abolished during Persia's "golden age" under Cyrus the Great and he allowed displaced peoples who were enslaved by former kings to return home.^{[citation needed]} It is said that he freed up to 40,000 Jews.^{[citation needed]} Cylinders found from period when Cyrus the Great ruled contain the a decree on the conquered non-combatant population calling for the freeing of some slave populations.^{[citation needed]} Slavery also occurred during Parthian rule and later during the Sassanid Empire.^{[citation needed]}During the rule of Cyrus the Great the Jews were freed from their long rule by the Babylonians.^{[citation needed]}

Slavery under Timur's Turkish rule

Timur the Lame (1336 – 1405), Turkic ruler, invaded Iran, Armenia and Georgiaand captured many Iranians and more than 60,000 people from the Caucasus as slaves. Many districts of Iran and Armenia were depopulated.^[3] In most of the territories he incorporated, Persian was the primary language of administration and literary culture. Thus the language of the settled diwan was Persian and its scribes had to be adept in Persian culture, regardless of ethnicity.

Arab slave trade

Historians say the Arab slave trade lasted more than a millennium.^[4]^[5] The Arab or Middle Eastern slave trade is thought to have originated with trans-Saharan slavery.^[6]^[7] Arab, Indian, and Oriental traders were involved in the capture and transport of slaves northward across the Sahara desert and the Indian Ocean region into Arabia and the Middle East, Persia, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.^[8]

Male slaves were employed as servants, soldiers, or laborers, while female slaves were traded to Middle Eastern countries and kingdoms by Arab, Indian, or Oriental traders, some as domestic servants.^[9]^[10]^[11] Some historians estimate that between 11 and 17 million slaves crossed the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Sahara Desert from 650 to 1900 AD.^[12]^[13]

Racist opinions occurred in the works of some Persian and Arab-Muslim historians and geographers.^[14]

Modern times

Slavery is banned in Iran. This is addressed in the first constitution. Modern textbooks have been found to ignore the subject of slavery in Iranian history which happened 3000 years ago, but cover Western slavery which happened up to recently.^[15]

References

^ "In the year 869, a group of slaves rose in a great rebellion against the Abbasid empire -- an empire whose territories now form Iraq, Kuwait and parts of Iran, Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia." http://www.textbookleague.org/35slave.htm
^ "Throughout the 15th century, Arab traders in northern Africa shipped African people taken from central Africa to markets in Arabia, Iran, and India." MSN Encarta Encyclopedia http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761556943
^ The Turco-Mongol Invasions
^ Islam and Slavery
^ "Know about Islamic Slavery in Africa"
^ Battuta's Trip: Journey to West Africa (1351 - 1353)
^ Slavery in the Sahara
^ A Legacy Hidden in Plain Sight (washingtonpost.com)
^ Islam and Slavery
^ Battuta's Trip: Anatolia (Turkey) 1330 - 1331
^ Chaman Andam, slavery in early 20th century Iran
^ Focus on the slave trade
^ The Unknown Slavery: In the Muslim world, that is -- and it's not over
^ West Asian views on black Africans during the medieval era
^ http://www.textbookleague.org/35slave.htm