The phenomenon of slavery and the position of the Sudanese kingdoms between the 11th and 16th centuries AD

Abstract:
 The African kingdoms located in West Africa south of the Sahara, known as the Sudan, whether pagan or Islamic, have known the phenomenon of slavery since the beginning of their contact with the peoples of the north, especially Muslims from North Africa and the Islamic Levant since the 8th century AD, as well as because of their contact with European explorers beginning in the 15th century AD. The positions of these kingdoms' kings, princes, and even their scholars differed on this phenomenon. Some of them allowed it and made it a profitable trade even at the expense of the freedom of enslaved peoples, while others fought against it and enacted laws to eliminate the phenomenon of slave trafficking.
    Some of these Sudanese kingdoms prohibited slavery and trading in slaves and based this position on humanitarian and political reasons, represented in the right of their peoples to a decent life and freedom and the obligation to protect it, while others based it on religious reasons related to the purposes of Sharia, which goes to denounce the phenomenon of slavery and the enslavement of Muslims. There are kingdoms that made slavery and slave trading a right and rightful order for masters over slaves, under the pretext of the racial superiority of some tribes over others, and both positions had consequences that were reflected in the economic, social, and even political aspects of the ancient African kingdoms.
     Therefore, I set out to address this section from a general question based on the following question: ‘What are the attitudes of African kingdoms towards the slave trade and the reference of their different attitudes?’ I relied on the historical method, by referring to historical texts written during the period of study, such as travel books, geography, tracts, historical encyclopaedias and biographies, trying to rely on the analytical approach to historical documents and texts, in addition to the anthropological approach.