Indian Ocean slave trade

E947826

historical phenomenon slave trade transoceanic slave trade

The Indian Ocean slave trade was a centuries-long system of enslavement and forced migration across East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and surrounding regions that profoundly shaped Afro-Asian societies and cultures.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
Indian Ocean slave trade canonical	5
East African slave trade	3
Persian Gulf slave trade	1
Zanzibar slave trade	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T11796269 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Indian Ocean slave trade
Context triple: [Afro-Asian communities, historicalContext, Indian Ocean slave trade]

A. Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade was a transoceanic system from the 16th to 19th centuries in which millions of Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas and sold into chattel slavery, profoundly shaping the economic and social history of the Atlantic world.
B. Indian Ocean trade network
The Indian Ocean trade network was a vast, centuries-long maritime system connecting East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia through the exchange of goods, cultures, and ideas driven by monsoon winds.
C. Lancaster slave trade
The Lancaster slave trade was the involvement of the English city and port of Lancaster in the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans during the 18th and early 19th centuries.
D. Dahomey and the Slave Trade
"Dahomey and the Slave Trade" is a historical study by Karl Polanyi examining the economic and social structures of the Kingdom of Dahomey in relation to the Atlantic slave trade.
E. Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade
Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade is an influential 1788 pamphlet by former slave ship captain turned Anglican clergyman John Newton, in which he condemns and details the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Indian Ocean slave trade
Target entity description: The Indian Ocean slave trade was a centuries-long system of enslavement and forced migration across East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and surrounding regions that profoundly shaped Afro-Asian societies and cultures.

A. Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade was a transoceanic system from the 16th to 19th centuries in which millions of Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas and sold into chattel slavery, profoundly shaping the economic and social history of the Atlantic world.
B. Indian Ocean trade network
The Indian Ocean trade network was a vast, centuries-long maritime system connecting East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia through the exchange of goods, cultures, and ideas driven by monsoon winds.
C. Lancaster slave trade
The Lancaster slave trade was the involvement of the English city and port of Lancaster in the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans during the 18th and early 19th centuries.
D. Dahomey and the Slave Trade
"Dahomey and the Slave Trade" is a historical study by Karl Polanyi examining the economic and social structures of the Kingdom of Dahomey in relation to the Atlantic slave trade.
E. Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade
Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade is an influential 1788 pamphlet by former slave ship captain turned Anglican clergyman John Newton, in which he condemns and details the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (95)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	historical phenomenon ⓘ slave trade ⓘ transoceanic slave trade ⓘ
destinationRegion	Arabian Peninsula ⓘ Indian Ocean islands ⓘ Indian subcontinent ⓘ linked to: South Asia Middle Eastern cities ⓘ Persian Gulf ports ⓘ Southeast Asia ⓘ
documentedIn	Arabic chronicles ⓘ European travel accounts ⓘ colonial administrative records ⓘ
effect	cultural exchange across the Indian Ocean ⓘ demographic changes in East Africa ⓘ formation of Afro-Asian diasporas ⓘ long-term social stratification ⓘ racial hierarchies in Indian Ocean societies ⓘ spread of Swahili culture ⓘ
endTime	20th century ⓘ
hasLanguageContext	Arabic ⓘ English ⓘ Persian ⓘ Portuguese ⓘ Swahili ⓘ linked to: Swahili language
involvedEthnicGroup	Africans ⓘ linked to: African peoples Arabs ⓘ Bantu-speaking peoples ⓘ linked to: Bantu peoples East Africans ⓘ Malagasy people ⓘ Persians ⓘ South Asians ⓘ linked to: South Asian ethnic groups Swahili peoples ⓘ linked to: Swahili people
involvedRegion	Arabian Peninsula ⓘ East Africa ⓘ Horn of Africa ⓘ Indian Ocean islands ⓘ Indian subcontinent ⓘ linked to: South Asia Middle East ⓘ Persian Gulf ⓘ South Asia ⓘ Southeast Asia ⓘ Swahili Coast ⓘ
legalStatus	gradually abolished in the 19th and 20th centuries ⓘ
mainPort	Basra ⓘ Bombay ⓘ linked to: Mumbai Goa ⓘ Kilwa Kisiwani ⓘ Malacca ⓘ Mombasa ⓘ Muscat ⓘ Sofala ⓘ Surat ⓘ Zanzibar ⓘ
mainRegion	Indian Ocean basin ⓘ linked to: Indian Ocean drainage basin
opposedBy	British abolitionist movement ⓘ local anti-slavery reformers ⓘ
perpetratorGroup	Arab traders ⓘ British colonizers ⓘ European colonial traders ⓘ French colonizers ⓘ Indian merchants ⓘ Omani elites ⓘ Persian merchants ⓘ linked to: Persian traders Portuguese colonizers ⓘ Swahili merchants ⓘ linked to: Arab-Swahili traders
relatedEvent	Atlantic slave trade ⓘ East African slave trade ⓘ linked to: Indian Ocean slave trade European colonization of East Africa ⓘ Omani Empire expansion in East Africa ⓘ Zanzibar slave trade ⓘ linked to: Indian Ocean slave trade trans-Saharan slave trade ⓘ
significantPeriod	19th century ⓘ early modern period ⓘ medieval period ⓘ
startTime	antiquity ⓘ
studiedIn	African history ⓘ Indian Ocean studies ⓘ diaspora studies ⓘ
typeOfLabor	agricultural labor ⓘ concubinage ⓘ craft and urban labor ⓘ domestic servitude ⓘ military service ⓘ pearl diving ⓘ
usedRoute	East Africa–India sea route ⓘ linked to: Indian Ocean trade network East Africa–Persian Gulf sea route ⓘ linked to: Arabian Sea shipping routes Red Sea route ⓘ linked to: Red Sea trade network Swahili Coast–Arabian Peninsula sea route ⓘ linked to: Swahili Coast overland caravan routes in East Africa ⓘ overland routes to the Red Sea ports ⓘ
victimGroup	enslaved Africans ⓘ enslaved East Africans ⓘ enslaved Malagasy people ⓘ enslaved South Asians ⓘ enslaved Southeast Asians ⓘ

How these facts were elicited