Liberal Arts Faculty Books

Plantation Slavery in the Sokoto Caliphate: A Historical and Comparative Study

Title

Plantation Slavery in the Sokoto Caliphate: A Historical and Comparative Study

Files

Description

A work of synthesis on plantation slavery in nineteenth century Sokoto caliphate, engaging with major debates on internal African slavery, on the meaning of the term "plantation," and on comparative slavery A large-scale study of plantation slavery in West Africa with a focus on the nineteenth-century Sokoto caliphate, this book draws on diverse sources including oral testimony, Arabic material, and extant scholarly works about the caliphal state. Plantation Slavery in the Sokoto Caliphate: A Historical and Comparative Study offers new views on various fundamental issues including the definition of blackness in the Sokoto caliphate, the meaning of the term "plantation," the significance of plantation slavery in the caliphal state, and the role of slavery in the context of African states. Author Mohammed Bashir Salau analyzes key themes in the history of plantation slavery, especially plantation management and the acquisition, treatment, and control of slaves. Building on this analysis, Salau points to previously unknown ways in which the caliphal state prevented the development of serfdom, arguing that while social and economic factors played a role in the rise of slavery in the Sokoto caliphate, conscious political choice was the major factor for the rise and maintenance of plantation slavery. This study will be of major interest to students and scholars of slavery in Africa in general and in the Sokoto Caliphate in particular; in addition, through its comparative discussion it contributes to the literature on second slavery.

ISBN

9781580469388

Publication Date

11-15-2018

Relational Format

book

Department

Arch Dalrymple III Department of History

Publisher

University of Rochester Press

Disciplines

African History | Labor History

Plantation Slavery in the Sokoto Caliphate: A Historical and Comparative Study
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