The Indian Ocean slave trade , sometimes known as the East African slave trade, involved the capture and transportation of predominately black African slaves along the coasts, such as the Swahili Coast and the Horn of Africa , and through the Indian Ocean.
The source of slaves was primarily in sub-saharan Africa , but also included other parts of Africa and the Middle East, Indian Ocean islands, as well as south Asia. While the slave trade in the Indian Ocean started 4, years ago, it expanded significantly in late antiquity 1st century CE with the rise of Byzantine and Sassanid trading enterprises.
Muslim slave trading started in the 7th century , with the volume of trade fluctuating with the rise and fall of local powers.
Beginning in the 16th century, slaves were traded to the Americas , including Caribbean colonies, as Western European powers became involved in the slave trade. Trade declined with the abolition of slavery in the 19th century. In the 1st century CE, Periplus of the Erythraean Sea advised of slave trading opportunities in the region, particularly in the trading of "beautiful girls for concubinage.
These shipbuilding activities go back to Babylonian and Achaemenid times. Gujarati merchants evolved into the first explorers of the Indian Ocean as they traded slaves and African goods such as ivory and tortoise shells. The Gujaratis participated in the slavery business in Mombasa , Zanzibar and, to some extent, in the Southern African region.
