Country: Ethiopia

Group: Amhara

Date Finalized: 11/17/20

Team: Rayna Castillo (lead), Abi Pentecost

Content Warning: slavery

Approximate Time Period: ?-1942

              Sources with a data quality score of a 2 provide evidence that the Amhara of Ethiopia were victims of forced labor, specifically in the form of slavery. While markets in Arabia and the Middle East created high demand for Ethiopian slaves, enslavement between Ethiopian tribes themselves was also prevalent (Ahmad, 1988; Levine, 2000). In the case of the Amhara, they were enslaved by a neighboring ethnic group, the Afar, while they themselves enslaved members of non-Christian groups to avoid enslaving fellow Christians (Levine, 2000). According to Ahmad (1988), slave raiders from northern Ethiopia— the region where the Afar reside— kidnapped Amhara children and sold them to slave merchants. Additionally, the Amhara also have a history of caste based social stratification, including a slave caste under the domination of higher-ranking Amhara (Hoben, 1973; Tuden & Plotnicov, 1970). This widespread slavery persisted in Ethiopia until the 1930s, and its effects remain on the descendants of slaves who are confined to similar social positions today (Levine, 2000).

Sources

  1. Ahmad, A. H. (1988). Ethiopian Slave Exports at Matamma, Massawa and Tajura c. 1830 to 1885. Slavery & Abolition, 9(3), 93-102. doi:10.1080/01440398808574964
  2. Hoben, A. (1973). Land tenure among the Amhara of Ethiopia (Vol. 4, Monographs in Ethiopian Land Tenure). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
  3. Levine, D. N. (2000). Greater Ethiopia The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
  4. Tuden, A., & Plotnicov, L. (1970). Social Stratification in Africa. Free Press