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A Forgotten Corner of the Indian Ocean: Gujarati Merchants, Portuguese

India and the Mozambique Slave-Trade, c.1730-1830
Pedro Machado

To cite this Article Machado, Pedro(2003) 'A Forgotten Corner of the Indian Ocean: Gujarati Merchants, Portuguese India

and the Mozambique Slave-Trade, c.1730-1830', Slavery & Abolition, 24: 2, 17 32

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A Forgotten Corner of the Indian Ocean:

Gujarati Merchants, Portuguese India and
the Mozambique Slave-Trade, c.1730-1830'

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PEDRO MACHADO

The slave-trade which developed in Mozambique from the mid-eighteenth

century owed its initial growth to French slavers who sought to satisfy
growing demands for servile labour in the Mascarene Islands. From the
1790s, Brazilian demand gradually became more important as Atlantic
supply centres for Brazil were increasingly threatened by British antislave-trade surveillance. So great did this demand for 'Mo~ambiques'
become that by the 1810s slaves had replaced ivory, gold and silver as the
mainstay of the export economy of northern Mozambique.
While the slave-trade from Mozambique to Madagascar, the Mascarene
Islands and Brazil during this period has been studied, the traffic in
Mozambique slaves to the Portuguese Indian territories of Goa, Diu and
Daman has been neglected. Although slave imports into Portuguese India
appear to have declined after peaking in the seventeenth century when the
Goan market supplied all Portuguese territories in the Indian Ocean, a
regular traffic in slaves continued well into the nineteenth ~ e n t u r yWhile
.~
examining the Mozambique slave export trade in general, this chapter also
focuses on the slave-trade to Diu and Daman from the late eighteenth
century to the early 1830s. In particular, it explores the activity of Hindu
Gujarati merchants from Diu, and to a lesser extent Daman, who started
trading to Mozambique on a regular basis from the end of the seventeenth
century. They dominated commerce in Mozambique and were prominent in
much of the western Indian Ocean until the 1820s when groups such as the
Kutchi Bhatias, Khojas and Lohanas began expanding their trade networks
to southern Africa. An analysis of slave-trade figures reveals the existence
of a market in western India for African slaves and suggests that traditional
estimates for slaves imported into South Asia need to be revised. It is
hoped that this study will also contribute to recent historical interest in the
African 'Diaspora' of the western Indian O ~ e a n . ~

18

THE STRUCTURE OF SLAVERY

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Indian Merchants and Slave Ownership in Mozambique

Indian Gujarati merchants on Mozambique Island traditionally owned small
numbers of slaves whom they employed on their boats. On an irregular
basis, they also shipped small numbers of slaves to Diu and Daman from the
1730s' but remained largely aloof from the slave export trade until the late
eighteenth century. While ivory remained their primary commercial focus,
they then moved from 'indirect' involvement in the slave-trade (as
providers of the cloth for which most slaves were exchanged) to 'direct'
participation, exporting slaves to western India and supplying credit to
visiting Portuguese and Brazilian slaver^.^
The Portuguese in Mozambique displayed general mistrust of nonChristians. In the 1720s, this was manifested against Swahili Muslims
whose presence on the coast was considered 'threatening'. Official rhetoric
stressing the 'nefarious' influence of Islam on the African population
disguised fear of 'Arab' and 'Swahili' commercial competition that led to
Portuguese attempts to curb Muslim ownership of, and trade in, slave^.^ In
the 1730s' this xenophobia spread to embrace gentios (Hindus), who in the
1740s were similarly barred from slave ~wnership.~
Indian merchants reacted by petitioning to be allowed to trade and own
slaves 'as they did presently, [and] to make use of them whilst they
remained on the island [Mozambique I~land]'.~
They argued that only
because 'other satisfactory goods' were unavailable did they accept slaves
in payment for imported Gujarati ~ 1 0 t hand
~ ' ~that the prohibitions should
not apply to them as, unlike Islam, theirs was not a proselytizing religion.
Indeed, they encouraged their slaves to attend Christian services, allowed
them to be baptized, and reassured the Portuguese that upon leaving
Mozambique an Indian would sell his slaves only to Chri~tians.~
Nevertheless, slaves had become so essential to Gujarati merchants for their
domestic and other labour requirements that should the Portuguese
authorities proceed with a ban on them holding slaves, they threatened to
remove themselves to another part of the East African coast.
Conscious of the potentially disastrous consequences this would have on
the local economy, the Portuguese in 1746 granted Indians permission to
own and trade openly in slaves in Mo~ambique.'~
Mouros (Arab and Swahili
Muslims) and Gentios were ordered to submit their slaves for instruction in
'Christian doctrine'," but the Portuguese lacked the power to enforce
compliance and moreover could ill afford to alienate either of these groups.
During the 1750s and 1760s, slaves continued to be used extensively on
Mozambique Island, chiefly as dock labourers serving vessels from Diu and
Daman, and as porters, carrying goods cleared at customs to nearby
warehouses and subsequently to markets in the interior.12 Slaves could be
cheap enough for even 'poor' Indians to purchase, but the average number

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THE MOZAMBIQUE SLAVE-TRADE, 1730-1 830

19

owned by Indian residents of Mozambique Island was two or three,

although a few possessed ten or more slaves. A 1782 inventory records that
the 49 Indian merchants of Mozambique Island, Mossuril and the
Cabaceiras (settlements on Makuana, the mainland opposite Mozambique
Island) owned a total of 1245 slaves, but this number almost certainly
included rnercadores volantes or patarnares, mostly free African tradingagents (often Yao and Makua) who distributed Gujarati cloth in the interior
in exchange for ivory. While some were nominally 'slaves', their status vis8-vis their 'masters' is often unclear.I3Indians also used slaves to cultivate
vegetables for domestic consumption on rnachambas, small land-tracts on
Makuana acquired through debtors defaulting on loan payments.14

The Mozambique Slave-Trade and Slave Exports to Portuguese India

In the 1740s, continued concern about non-Christian 'influences' is
reflected in the demand that the Governors of Diu and Daman 'record
precisely the slaves which are usually taken from Mozambique on the
vessels of those ports' and 'be careful not to allow them to go to areas which
are not Catholi~."~
This reveals that, although it is unclear when the trade
began, Gujarati merchants were by then exporting slaves to western India.
However, the numbers involved were small as the Mozambique slave export
trade only developed fully in the late eighteenth century. African slaves
brought to Daman were either absorbed locally or sent on to Goa, but those
sent to Diu were overwhelmingly re-exported to north-west India, notably
Kathiawar, where demand remained small until the nineteenth century when
markets also developed for them in Kutch and possibly even Sind. These
regions were relatively close to Diu, with which they had established
commercial ties pre-dating the Portuguese.I6 The Rana of Porbander
admitted that slave ships from Mozambique then touched at Porbander
'bound for other ports',17 while it was common for slaves to change hands a
number of times before arriving at their final destination.'* In Kathiawar,
African slaves were employed in domestic and 'ceremonial' service and in
the armies of local rulers, and in Kutch, which was sparsely populated due
in large part to high rates of male out-migration, as maritime labour.19Some
slaves imported into Diu were also transhipped to the French possessions of
Pondicherry and the Ile de France primarily, it would seem, through GO^.^'
Mozambique slaves retained in Diu were employed as deck-hands on
ships involved in the country trade, dock labour and domestic labour. Indian
vessels returning from Mozambique made landfalls at ports like Muscat and
Mocha. At the latter, some slaves may have been sold for work on coffee
plantations, while most slaves in the Persian Gulf were employed as
soldiers, household servants, sailors and dock hands, and pearl divem2' Diu

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20

T H E S T R U C T U R E OF SLAVERY

merchants also visited Mecca where slaves may have been sold for the
Arabian market.22
From the 1770s demand from the French Mascarenes led to an
expansion in the Mozambique slave export trade and of Indian involvement.
While recent work has explored aspects of the slave-trade to Muslim
countries in the western Indian Ocean,23studies of African Sidi or Habshi
communities in India have generally paid only cursory attention to their
origins in the slave-trade.24Jeanette Pinto's 1992 study of slavery in
Portuguese India is heavily anecdotal, and while Celsa Pinto (1994)
included some statistics on the slave traffic from Mozambique, only the
work of Rudy Bauss (1997) has revealed the overall dimensions of that
trade.25Nevertheless, as Bauss relied on Pinto's incomplete figures of 383
slaves arriving in Diu (1804-33) and 236 in Darnan (1827-33), he
underestimates total slave imports from M ~ z a m b i q u e . ~ ~
Bauss' estimate of 25 slaves a year entering Diu and Daman from
Mozambique during the 1770s is plausible.27These levels were probably
maintained until the late 1780s, when slave imports increased: 71 slaves
entered Diu in 1787, and 40 to 60 slaves were being annually shipped
annually from Mozambique to Diu by 1789, and half that number to Daman,
while possibly 100 to 150 were exported to GO^.^^ Figures fluctuated
considerably from year to year, peaks being reached in 1793 (106) and in
1800 and 1801 (258 and 386). Of the 177 slaves exported from Mozambique
to Daman in 1800, Indian vessels carried 107, the remaining 70 being
shipped by Joaquim do Rosario Monteiro, the most prominent Portuguese
slave merchant of the era.29
TABLE 1
SLAVE IMPORTS INTO D I U , D A M A N A N D G O A ~ ' FROM MOZAMBIQUE, 1770-1834

Year

1770-1786"

Diu

Daman

425
(25 average)

425
(25 average)

Total
imports

Mortality
rate a

Total exports
from
Mozambique

21

T H E M O Z A M B I Q U E SLAVE-TRADE, 1730-1 8 3 0
TABLE 1 (Cont'd)

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Year

Diu

Daman

Total
imports

Mortality
ratea

Total exports
from
Mozambique

1804
1805
1809
1810
1811
1815
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
Goa
1770-1830
Total

1227+
1211+
2438+
Bauss estimate: Bauss estimate: Bauss estimate:
1652
1636
plus Goa
total: 6288

2855+
Bauss estimate:
plus Goa
total:7398

Notes: a. This rate has been calculated from the following: The work of Martin and Ryan
which, by using Alpers' estimate of a 20 per cent death rate on a 40-day journey, and
the logic that 'transit mortality is an increasing function of travel time', calculated
mortality on crossings to the Gulf at 9 per cent for voyages lasting 17-20 days ('A
Quantitative Assessment', p.77); HAG, Correspondencia de Dam20 1067, Crew and
Cargo List of the Azia Feliz, Damgo, 24 Oct. 1820 which indicates that of the 96
slaves embarked at Mo~ambique,only 80 survived the voyage for a mortality rate of
around 17 per cent. We should note that it was not uncommon for slave deaths to be
high on vessels which were not specialized for the slave-trade because these failed to
provide adequate onboard provisions or living conditions as the slaves were not
necessarily considered the most valuable 'commodities' on the voyage. W.G.
Clarence-Smith, private communication, 3 Sept. 2001.
b. These figures are drawn from Bauss, 'The Portuguese Slave Trade' and represent
low-end averages.
c. This figure is based on 5-year averages on either side of the gap.
d. Indian merchants imported less than half (23) of this total.
e. This figure is based on 5-year averages on either side of the gap.
f. This figure is taken from Bauss, 'The Portuguese Slave Trade', p.23
Source: Compiled from the information contained in the HAG, Correspondencia de Diu
999-1 013, Alfandegas de Diu 4952-69, Correspondencia de Dam20 1055-70,
Alfandegas de Dam20 4836-49.

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22

T H E S T R U C T U R E O F SLAVERY

Increased slave imports to Diu and Daman should be seen in the context
of the opening of Mozambique ports in the 1780s in order to increase the level
of trade with Portuguese India and generate more revenue," and more
importantly, increased French and Brazilian slaving. Mascarene interest in
slaves from Mozambique and the Kerimba Islands grew from circa 1760 to
1795. The main focus of French slavers subsequently moved to the east
African coast north of Cape Delgado, but Mozambique slave exports were
sustained by Brazilian slavers who turned to east African waters from the late
1780s due to intensified British anti-slave-trade measures in the Atlantic.
Slave exports to Brazil grew spectacularly during the first quarter of the
nineteenth century, especially in the 1820s. While French slavers had concentrated on Mozambique Island due to restrictions on 'direct' contact with
the colony's subordinate ports, under the liberalized trade-regime ports such
as Quelimane and notably Inhambane emerged as important slave market^.'^
By the 1760s, Gujarati merchants had established direct contact with
Mozambique's southerly coast, especially with Quelimane, approximately
one week's sailing distance. However, only from the 1790s did such
voyages become frequent as Indians intensified their search for alternative
export sources. Slaves figured amongst Quelimane's exports in the 1780s,
but only from the mid-1790s did the southern slave export trade gain
momentum. Increased Indian involvement is reflected in the increased
number of ship passes issued to Indian merchants for travel to these ports."
While in 1781, three passports were issued to Indian merchants for travel to
Quelimane," in 1794 ten and in 1795 nine vessels, half of which were
owned or commissioned by Indian merchants, arrived there from
Mozambique Island." This pattern persisted until the late 1820s.'"
During this period, Quelimane exported to Mozambique Island
predominantly ivory, secondary exports including gold, silver, and foodstuffs
such as rice and wheat. Slaves, shipped initially as a supplement to ivory,
came to dominate Quelimane exports only from the mid-1820s.l
Nevertheless, some Indian merchants specialized early in slaves, primarily
by entering into partnerships with established Portuguese merchants. Two of
the most active were Laxmichand Motichand and Shobhachand Sowchand.'"
Laxmichand Motichand, one of the most prominent Gujarati merchants
in Mozambique, first visited the southern coast (Sofala) in 1781 and in 1785
sailed twice to Quelimane, establishing more regular contact with the port
in 1793 with his ship Minewa, manned by 22 lascars.'The Minerva was a
palla, a vessel widely employed by Indians for western Indian Ocean
crossings. An average of 200 to 250 tons burthen, 2 or 3-masted (lateenrigged), with uncovered decks, their manoeuvrability and speed made them
From 1793 to 1795,
ideal for the relatively short voyages to Mozambiq~e.'~'
Jose Henriques da Cruz Freitas, an experienced pilot and captain and 'one

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T H E MOZAMBIQUE SLAVE-TRADE, 1730- 1830

23

of the first great slavers of Mozambique'" travelled on the Minewa, which

in 1794 and 1795, alongside other goods, carried 96 and 154 slaves
respectively to Mozambique Island." He was accompanied on the 1795
voyage by Monteiro. While there is no evidence that they were partners, the
two took the majority of the slave cargo.4z
From 1795 to1810, Indian connections with Quelimane slackened due to
the danger of attack in the Mozambique Channel by French corsairs, although
those like Laxrnichand Motichand and Shobhachand Sowchand who could
afford the risk managed to continue trading for slaves." From 1800 to 1810 an
estimated 20,800 slaves were shipped from Quelimane, mostly to
Mozambique Island which over the same period exported 50,000 slaves."
However, slave imports into Diu by Indian merchants dipped in this decade to
approximately 220, possibly due to a reduced number of voyages to
Quelimane. Particularly low imports were recorded in 1802, and from 1804 to
1805 when only 13 slaves arrived, although imports increased thereafter to
reach almost 100 in 1810." By contrast, slave imports to Daman were high
from the start of the decade, numbering 287 in 1801 and 97 in 1804. Of the
slaves shipped in 1801, 118 were carried on Indian vessels, 99 on a Portuguese
vessel and 70 on an American vessel." The difference between the Diu and
Daman slave-trades reflects different commercial structures. Diu belonged to
the north-west Indian trading complex centred on Kathiawar, whereas Daman
was also integrated into a European nexus, being frequented by Portuguese
traders like Monteiro, who purchased slaves for Goa and Macao, English
merchants buying for the Ceylon market, and American slaver^.^'
In the 1810s, Mozambique Island trade with Quelimane recovered, 25
vessels being sent south by Indian merchants. Prominent amongst them was
the financier Shobhachand Sowchand, who in the late eighteenth century
even leased one of his vessels to the English East India Company for their
trade at Bengal.-'Vt the same time, he regularly despatched the 350 tonne
Conquistado and the 200 tonne palla Feliz Aurora to trade at the southern
ports of Quelimane, Inhambane, Sofala and Louren~oMarques, and for a
few years even shipped slaves to the Cape of Good Hope.''
Slave imports under the Dutch at the Cape came mostly from
Madagascar, India and the East Indies, but some were imported from
Mozambique, especially from 1721 to 1730 when a Dutch East India
Company (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie - VOC) settlement was
established at Delagoa Bay." Following the 1767 ban on the import of Asian
slaves by VOC vessels in reaction to the murder of a Company official by
Buginese and Sumatran slaves, the Cape relied on foreign, chiefly French
ships destined for St Domingue. However, some were 'Portuguese7,and their
number increased from 1797 to 1812, following the first British occupation
of the Cape." Chief amongst them was. Monteiro who in 1795 and 1799 sold

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24

THESTRUCTURE OFSLAVERY

the bulk of his cargoes (354 and 422 slaves respectively) at the Cape. Most
Portuguese slavers declared their destination to be the Brazilian ports of Rio
de Janeiro or, after 18 13, Bahia and Pernambuco. This allowed them to put
into Table Bay for water, provisions and/or medical assistance. While there,
they offloaded their cargo of slaves to local partners before returning to
Mozambique. The three-week Mozambique- Cape voyage involved much
lower risks and slave mortality and thus higher profits than the 90-day
Mozambique-Brazil voyage. In addition, the Cape market was attractive for
Mozambique-based merchants, who suffered from a perennial shortage of
currency, because payment there for slaves was in Spanish piastres."
At the Cape, Monteiro bought vessels and established commercial
relationships with importers Michael Hogan and Alexander Tennant that
endured until his death in c. 1812/13.'4 He also involved Shobhachand
Sowchand who in 1806 purchased from Monteiro the brig General Izidro,
which in 1804-5 had transported slaves to the Cape, specifically for his Cape
venture^.'^ Granted a passport to sail to the Cape 'laden with slaves7,and from
there 'onto any Portuguese port in South America', the General Izidro reached
the Cape in February 1806 and there sold its entire cargo of 242 slaves."
However, the British embargo imposed from 1806, after the colony passed for
the second time into British hands, resulted in a break-up of the SowchandMonteiro partnership after their final joint shipment to the Cape in 1807."
Nevertheless, Monteiro continued exporting slaves to Brazil, while
Sowchand, through Ricardo de Souza and Manuel Jose Gomes, other
Portuguese slave merchants, purchased two large (2-3 mast, 500-600 tonne)
ships at the Ile de France for shipping slaves from Mozambique.'* Sowchand,
one of the biggest financiers in Mozambique, recouped the cost of buying the
ships through using his vessels and others leased from the Portuguese, for the
slave-trade. In the process he also became, alongside Amirchand Meghaji,
another Gujarati, one of Mozambique's largest slave owners.'"
Like the karany (Indian) merchants who from the 1830s were involved
in the Madagascar slave-trade,") Sowchand rarely took an active role in the
actual shipment of slaves. However, his compatriots did actively engage in
the slave export trade from Mozambique to Diu and Daman as later they did
from Zanzibar and the Arabian peninsula to Kutch and Kathiawar.
Mozambique slave exports, sustained by demand from the Brazilian
sugar plantations, are for the decade after 1810 estimated at 62,000, and in
~'
'benefited' most from
1820 alone exceeded 10,000 per a n n ~ m .Quelimane
this demand as a port 'uniquely placed to supply large numbers of slaves7''
to which from 1811 Brazilian slavers could sail direct without first calling
at Mozambique Island.'' From 1811 to 18 15, slave exports doubled from
Quelimane where in 1817 a customs house was opened.'"~ the end of the
decade, over 90 per cent of the 16,400 slaves exported from Quelimane
were shipped to Brazil (Rio, Bahia and Pernambuco)."

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T H E M O Z A M B I Q U E S L A V E - T R A D E , 1730- 1830

25

The slave-trade to Portuguese India was small by comparison, on

average only 46 slaves a year being exported to Diu from 18 11 to 1820,
while in 1815 there were 52 slaves shipped to Daman."6 Working from D.
Bartolomeu dos Martires' figures for 1819, mortality at sea reduced the
number of slaves from Mozambique arriving in Portuguese India from 350
to about 287.67
The Mozambique slave-trade peaked from 1820 to 1835 when
Quelimane became the 'greatest mart for slaves on the east coast'," with
Inhambane emerging by the mid-1820s in another major slave market.
During the 1820s over 100,000 slaves were exported from Mozambique
Island, Ibo, Inhambane and Lourenqo Marques, with almost 50,000 more
slaves (averaging 10,000 a year by the close of the decade) being shipped
from Quelimane." Slave exports were in large part fuelled by Brazilian
demand, notably in the latter 1820s. The major Brazilian market for
Mozambique slaves was Rio de Janeiro, followed by Bahia, Pernambuco
and MaranhBo. From 1822 to 1830, an estimated 37,413 slaves entered
Brazil from Mozambique Island, and 24,394 from Quelimane. Most were
shipped in the late 1820s as merchants reacted to the Anglo-Brazilian
agreement to ban slave imports into Brazil from 1830.70
Increased demand from western Indian Ocean markets further stimulated
the Mozambique slave-trade, notably from Inhambane that from 1824 to
1826 exported an annual average of 3,500 slaves to the French islands. The
extent of this trade has led Gwyn Campbell to argue that 'so great did the
French demand for East African slaves become that, contrary to traditional
assumptions, the French islands were rivalling and might even have replaced
Brazil as the major export market for Mozambique slaves by 1830."'
Irregular trading relations existed between Mozambique and Madagascar,
the west coast of which was visited by Gujarati merchants from the mid1810s to the mid-1820s. By contrast, from the 18 10s, Khoja and Bohora Shia
Muslim merchants from Kutch established a significant presence as
financiers of the slave-trade in Madagascar where by the 1830s they provided
intense competition for the Gujaratis operating from Mozambique."
While continuing to fluctuate at comparatively low levels, Mozambique
slave exports to Portuguese India also increased in the 1820s as demand for
African slaves increased in western India. Thus in 1821 the ruler of
Bhavnagar 'hired [one of his largest vessels] to a merchant' who shipped
However, Mozambique slave exports to Diu
slaves from Mozambiq~e.~'
were sharply curtailed in 1830-31 due to British pressure and, although
slave exports to Daman peaked in 1833 at 69, slave imports into Portuguese
India from the east African coast had effectively ended by 1840."
Anti-slave-trade measures from the mid- 1820s increasingly impacted on
Indian commerce with Mozambique, notably on Gujaratis whose cloth trade

26

THE STRUCTURE OF SLAVERY

was inextricably linked to the slave-trade from the interior of

M ~ z a m b i q u eIn
.~~
1829, Diu stated despondently:

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The trade with the capital of Mozambique is the only way open to
make this island prosper but the news of the ending of the slave trade
has meant that most of the goods exported last year have not been
successfully traded; as a result the return has been very small, and has
discouraged the trade of the merchant^.^^
Whereas between 1792 and 1831, the African slave population of Diu had
increased from about 150 to 350, it had slumped by 1838 to 150 and by the
mid- 1850s no slaves were recorded on the island.77

Numbers, Sex Ratios and Prices

Efforts to quantify the east African slave-trade have proved difficult, not
least slave exports to South Asia. Sheriff's estimate of 3,000 slaves shipped
annually to markets in Arabia, the Persian Gulf and India during the first
half of the nineteenth century is close to those of Martin and Ryan (2500 for
1770-1 829) and Austen (roughly 2300 from 1700-1 8 15).78 Sheriff's
rejection of these authors' argument that slave exports to these regions
expanded after the Napoleonic Wars possibly underestimates the demand
for maritime, urban and domestic slave labour, notably in South Asia where
demand for slaves in agriculture was
The slave traffic to Arabia and the Persian Gulf was far greater than to
India, but Austen's estimate, that from 1800 to 1850 some 500 slaves were
imported annually into South Asia, appears overly conservative given the
evidence presented above which indicates that sometimes close to half this
number, and in some years possibly 350 to 500 slaves, were entering
.~~
if estimates that by the
Portuguese India from M o z a m b i q ~ eMoreover,
1830s annual slave imports into Karachi reached 150, and into Mandvi, at
the entrance to the Gulf of Kutch, 400 to 500,81total imports into South Asia
were possibly double the figure proposed by Austen. Clearly, further
research in receiving areas is necessary before definitive pronouncements
can be advanced, but the evidence for Portuguese India strongly suggests
that an upward revision in imports will be likely.
Sources indicate that adult male slaves were traditionally in highest
demand in India.82At Diu, the average male to female import ratio for adult
African slaves was traditionally 3:1, but by the mid- to late 1820s this
changed in favour of boys and women. Demand for boys, who were
considered less likely to flee than adult males, was particularly strong in
Kutch where they were used primarily as d e ~ k - h a n d sIndeed,
.~~
the import
of African boys continued well into the middle of the nineteenth century

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T H E M O Z A M B I Q U E SLAVE-TRADE, 1730-1 8 3 0

27

despite the British pressure.84Also by the late 1820s, greater numbers of

female than male slaves were entering Diu, possibly in the ratio of 6:4.85
Women and young girls were in demand in Kathiawar and Kutch as
domestic workers and concubines, and there are cases of Kutchi women
being sent to East Africa 'for the express purpose of purchasing young girls
to be brought up to prostit~tion'.~~
Some were also imported to become the
wives of African slaves, as in Mandvi where they were to be 'married to the
Seedhis now in K ~ t c h ' . ~ ~
As slave labour in Diu and Daman was used in essentially non-productive
capacities, slave prices were not dependent on commodity price levels as
they were on the cash-crop plantations of places like Zanzibar and Reunion.
Slave prices in Diu, which were generally stagnant in the late eighteenth and
first few years of the nineteenth century, grew by 50 to 100 per cent by the
l82Os, a rise confirmed by fragmentary evidence from Darnan.88

Conclusion
Indian merchant involvement in the Mozambique slave-trade reflected both
the existence of a market for African slaves in western India, and the
flexibility of those merchants in the face of changing commercial
conditions. Gujarati merchants dominated the Mozambique market for
cloth, manufactured in western India, that formed the primary commodity
of exchange for staple exports such as ivory and slaves until at least the
181Os, when firearms became increasingly popular.
This study, which focuses on Indian involvement in the MozambiquePortuguese India slave-trade nexus, describes the nature and provides some
idea of the size of this slave-trade during the eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries. It is suggested that, while comparatively low, estimates of
Mozambique slave exports to Portuguese India need to be revised upwards.
ABBREVIATIONS
AHU
ANTT
HAG
OIOC

Arquivo Hist6rico Ultramarino, Lisbon

Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Lisbon
Historical Archives of Goa, Panaji
Oriental and India Office Collections, British Library, London.
NOTES

1. Part of this article was presented at the workshop 'Reasserting Connections, Commonalities,
and Cosmopolitanism: The Western Indian Ocean Since 1800', Yale University, 3-5 Nov.
2000. I wish to thank participants for their comments, especially Edward Alpers, and Michael
Pearson who with Rudy Bauss, Richard B. Allen, and notably William Gervase ClarenceSmith also commented on the PhD dissertation chapter from which this material is drawn.

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28

THE STRUCTURE OF SLAVERY

2. Maria de Jesus dos Martires Lopes, Goa Setecentista: Tradiqo e Modemidade (1750-1800)
(Lisbon: Universidade Cat6lica Portuguesa, 1996), p.93; Rudy Bauss, 'The Portuguese Slave
Trade from Mozambique to Portuguese India and Macau and Comments on Timor, 1750-1850:
New Evidence from the Archives', CamGes Center Quarterly, 617, 1-2 (1997), p.21.
3. See, for example, Edward Alpers, 'The African Diaspora in the Northwest Indian Ocean:
Reconsideration of an Old Problem, New Directions for Research', Comparative Studies of
South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 17,2 (1997), pp.61-80; idem, 'Recollecting Africa:
Diasporic Memory in the Indian Ocean World', African Studies Review (Special Issue:
'Africa's Diaspora') 43,l (2000), pp.83-99; Emmanuel Akyeampong, 'Africans in the
Diaspora: The Diaspora and Africa', African AfSairs (Centenary Issue: 'A Hundred Years of
Africa'), 99 (2000), pp. 183-215.
4. Customs records indicate that ivory dominated the Indian export trade from Mozambique
until c.1810. Silver and gold also figured prominently. See HAG, Alfandegas de Diu
4952-69 and Alfandegas de Damiio 4836-49.
5. See J.H. da Cunha Rivara (ed.), Archivo PortuguEz Oriental (Nova Goa: Imprensa Nacional,
1857-77), Vo1.6, pp.286-7; Nancy Hafkin, 'Trade, Society and Politics in Northern
Mozambique, c.1753-1913' (PhD dissertation, Boston University, 1973).
6. AHU, Moqambique, Cx 5 Doc 27, Jorge Barbosa Leal to Governor, Moqambique, 17 Nov.
1734. This was strongly supported by the Catholic Church: See AHU, Cx 6 Doc 6, Bishop
D. Luis Caetano de Almeyda to King, Moqambique, 13 May 1741; Edward Alpers, 'East
Central Africa', in Nehemia Levtzion and Randall L. Pouwels (eds.), The History of Islam in
Africa (Athens, OWOxfordlCape Town: Ohio University PressIJames CurreyIDavid Philip,
2000), p.305.
7. Cunha Rivara, Archivo Portugui?~Oriental, Vo1.6, pp.467-9.
8. Ibid, pp.467-8; AHU, Cx 67 Doc 2, Letter to Governor, Sena, ant 3 May 1794.
9. Cunha Rivara, Archivo PortuguEz Oriental, Vo1.6, p.468.
10. Ibid., p.468.
11. AHU, Moqambique, Cx 18 Doc 60, Moqambique, 12 Aug. 1760.
12. ANTT, Ministerio do Reino, Maqo 602, Despacho do Coutinho Rangel, Moqambique, 9 Oct.
1821.
13. AHU, Cx 93 Doc 17,1802; ANTT, Mapa da Populaqiio de Moqambique, 1820; see also Fritz
Hoppe, A Africa Oriental Portuguesa no Tempo do Marqugs de Pombal, 175G1777 (Lisbon:
Agencia Geral do Ultramar, 1970), p. 182.
14. AHU, Moqambique, Cx 34 Doc 38, Vicente Caetano Maria Vasconcellos to Governor of
Moqambique, Moqambique, 10 March, 1780; AHU, Moqambique, Cx 40 Doc 4,
Representaqiio of vassals of the King at Moqambique to Members of the Senate of the
Camara de Moqambique, Moqambique, ant. 9 Oct. 1782; Francisco Santana, DocumentapTo
Avulsa Mo~ambicana do Arquivo Histbrico Ultramarino (Lisbon: Centro de Estudos
Hist6ricos Ultramarinos, 1974), Vo1.3, p.343.
15. Cunha Rivara, Archivo Portugugz Oriental, pp.468-9. The emphasis is mine.
16. HAG, Alfandegas de Diu 4960, and Correspondencia de Diu 1004, Manoel Jose Gomes
Loureiro to Governor of Diu, Goa, 17 March 1808.
17. OIOC, European MSS Eur E 2931125 (Willoughby Collection), 'Memo and Summary
regarding Slave Trade in Kathiawar and Kutch and its subsequent suppression (1835)'.
18. Thomas M. Ricks, 'Slaves and Slave Traders in the Persian Gulf, 18th and 19th Centuries:
An Assessment', in William Gervase Clarence-Smith (ed.), The Economics of the Indian
Ocean Slave Trade (London: Frank Cass, 1989), pp.60-70.
19. OIOC, European MSS Eur E 2931125 (Willoughby Collection); see also Gazetteer of the
Bombay Presidency, Vol.VIII: Kathiawar (Bombay: Government Central Press, 1884); H.
Wilberforce-Bell, A History of Kathiawad from the Earliest Times (London: Heinemann,
1916); Harald Tambs-Lyche, Powel; Profit and Poetry: Traditional Society in Kathiawal;
Western India (New Delhi: Manohar, 1997).
20. Teotonio de Souza, 'French Slave-Trading in Portuguese Goa (1773-1791)', in Teotonio de
Souza (ed.), Essays in Goan History (New Delhi: Concept Publishing House, 1989),
pp. 119-3 1, and idem, 'Mhamai House Records: Indigenous Sources for Indo-Portuguese
Historiography', II Seminario Intemacional de Historia Indo-Portuguesa (Lisbon: Instituto
de Investigaqiio Cientifica Tropical, 1985), pp.93341.

29

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T H E M O Z A M B I Q U E SLAVE-TRADE, 1730-1 8 3 0

21. HAG, Correspondencia de Dio 999; Ricks, 'Slaves and Slave Traders', pp.64-5; Ralph Austen,
'The 19th Century Islamic Slave Trade from East Africa (Swahili and Red Sea Coasts): A
Tentative Census', in Clarence-Smith, Economics of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade, pp.21-44.
22. See A.B. de Braganqa Pereira, 0 s Portugueses em Diu (Separata de 0 Oriente Portugu2s)
(Bastora, n.d.), pp.255-7; HAG, Correspondencia de Diu 995, Marquez de Tavora to
Castellan of Diu, Goa, 26 Oct. 1753.
23. William Gervase Clarence-Smith, 'The Economics of the Indian Ocean and Red Sea Slave
Trades in the 19th Century: An Overview' and Ralph Austen, 'The 19th Century Islamic
Slave Trade from East Africa (Swahili and Red Sea Coasts): A Tentative Census' in
Clarence-Smith, Economics of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade, pp.1-20, 21-44; Ralph
Austen, African Economic History: Internal Development and External Dependency
(London: James Currey, 1987), ch.2; Patrick Manning, Slavery and African Life: Occidental,
Oriental and African Slave Trades (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1990).
24. The major exception remains Joseph Hams. See, for example, The African Presence in Asia:
Consequences of the East African Slave Trade (Evanston: Northwestern University Press,
1971); 'A Commentary on the Slave Trade', in The African Slave Trade from the Fifteenth
to the Nineteenth Century (Paris: UNESCO, 1979), pp.289-95; 'The African Diaspora in the
Old and New Worlds' in B.A. Ogot (ed.), General History of Africa: Volume 5
(London/Berkeley/Paris: HeinemannIUniversity of California PressIUNESCO, 1992),
pp.113-36; see also Alpers, 'The African Diaspora in the Northwest Indian Ocean' and
'Recollecting Africa'; P.P. Shirodkar, 'Slavery in Coastal India', Purabhilka-Puratatva, 3,l
(1985), pp.27-44 and 'Slavery on [sic] Western Coast', in P.P.Shirodkar, Researches in IndoPortuguese History (Jaipur: Publication Scheme, 1998), Vol. 1, pp.25-43.
25. Jeanette Pinto, Slavery in Portuguese India (Bombay: Himalaya Publishing House, 1992);
Celsa Pinto, Trade and Finance in Portuguese India: A Study of the Portuguese Country
Trade, 1770-1840 (New Delhi: Concept Publishing House, 1994); Bauss, 'The Portuguese
Slave Trade' pp.21-6; idem, 'A Demographic Study of Portuguese India and Macau as well
as Comments on Mozambique and Timor, 1750-1850', Indian Economic and Social History
Review, 34, 2 (1997), pp.199-216.
26. Pinto's figures are based on customs records. HAG archives indicate much higher figures.
27. Bauss, 'The Portuguese Slave Trade', p.22.
28. HAG, Correspondencia de Diu 999, Cargo lists of Indian vessels returned from Mozambique
to Diu; Jeronimo Jose Nogueira de Andrade, 'Descrip$io Do Estado em que ficavgo os
Negocios da Capitania de Mossambique nos fins de Novembro do Anno de 1789 com
algumas Observaqoens sobre a causa da decaden~iado Commer~iodos Estabelecimentos
Portugueses na Costa Oriental da Affrica. Escrita no anno de 1790,' Arquivo das Colonias,
2 (1918). p.34.
29. HAG, Correspondencia de Dam50 1061, Cargo Lists of vessels returned from Mozambique.
30. The tentative figure for Goa is based on personal communication with Rudy Bauss who
believes that an annual average of at least 50 African slaves entered Goa over the period
1770-1830. It is possible, given the relatively high number of slaves present in Goa at the
beginning of the nineteenth century, that this estimate is conservative. Clearly, extensive
research is necessary in the records for Goa before we can arrive at more satisfactory data
for slave imports over this period. For a view that slave numbers in Portuguese India
(particularly in Goa) have been underestimated, see Timothy Walker, 'Abolishing the Slave
Trade in Portuguese India: Documentary Evidence of Popular and Official Resistance to
Crown Policy, 1842-1860', Unpublished paper presented at the conference 'Slavery, Unfree
Labour and Revolt in the Indian Ocean Region', Avignon, 4-6 October 2001.
3 1. See Alexandre Lobato, Histdria do Presidio de Lourengo Marques, 2 (Lisbon: Minerva, 1960).
32. For the Mascarene trade see Edward A. Alpers, 'The French Slave Trade in East Africa
(1721-1810)', Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines, 10,37 (1970), pp.80-124; idem, Ivory & Slaves
in East Central Africa: Changing Patterns of International Trade to the Later Nineteenth
Century (London: Heinemann Educational, 1975), pp. 151, 185-7.
33. AHU, Codices 1324, 1329, 1345, 1355, 1366 and 1376. Merchants leaving Moqambique
Island for any destination along the coast were required to obtain a ship pass in which they
declared their destination, length of time away from the capital, name and type of vessel,
crew members and reason(s) for undertaking the voyage.
'

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THESTRUCTUREOFSLAVERY

34. Govindji Gangadas, Laxrnichand Nemidas and Velji Ambaidas - AHU, Codice 1345.
35. The increase also reflected further relaxation of Portuguese controls over foreign trade - see
JosC Capela, 0 Escravismo Colonial em Moqambique (Lisbon: EdiqBes Afrontamento,
1993), pp. 135-6.
36. AHU, Codice 1355.
37. Capela, 0 Escravismo Colonial, p.148. For the most recent work on the Mozambique slavetrade, see J o d Copela, 0 Trcifico de Escravos nos Portos de Mogambique 1753-1904 (Porto:
ediqBes Afrontamento, 2002).
38. Other major Indian merchants included Naranji Danji, Giva Sangarji and Velji Tairsi.
39. AHU, Codice 1355.
40. Palla may have been a corruption of pahala, a vessel used along the coast of western India.
See Jean Deloche, Transport and Communications in India Prior to Steam Locomotion
(DelhiINew York: Oxford University Press, 1994).
41. Capela, Escravismo Colonial, p.138. A useful biographical sketch of da Cruz Freitas is
provided on pp. 172-3.
42. AHU, Codice 1355; AHU, Moqambique, Cx 68 Doc 76 and Cx 70 Doc 69, Cargo List of the
Palla Minerva returned from Quelimane, Moqarnbique, August 1794 and 27 April 1795.
43. See Capela, Escravismo Colonial, pp. 169-7 1.
44. AHU, Codice 1365.
45. Gerhard Liesegang, 'A First Look at the Import and Export Trades of Mozambique,' in G.
Liesegang, H. Pasch and A. Jones (eds.), Figuring African Trade: Proceedings of the
Symposium on the Quantification and Structure of the Import and Export and Long Distance
Trade in Africa 1800-1913 (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1983), p.463. See also Manuel
Joaquim Mendes de Vasconcellos e Cirne, Memoria sobre a Provincia de Moqambique, ed.
Jose Capela (Maputo: Arquivo Hist6rico de Moqambique, 1990), p.23-4; Antonio Norberto
de Barbosa de Villas Boas Tru20, Estatistica da Capitania dos Rios de Senna do Anno de
1806 (Lisbon: Imprensa Nacional, l889), p. 14.
46. HAG, Correspondencia de Diu 1003, Cargo lists of Vessels returned from Mozambique,
1802 and Correspondencia de Diu 1005, Cargo List of the Galera de viagem, Diu, 10 Nov.
1810; Alfandegas de Diu 4953.
47. HAG, Correspondencia de Dam20 1061, Cargo lists of Vessels returned from Mozambique,
1801 and Correspondencia de Damao 1061, Cargo lists of Vessels returned from
Mozambique, 1804.
48. HAG, Correspondencia de Damgo 1063, D. Joze Maria de Castro e Almeida to Viceroy,
Daman, 7 Jan. 1812.
49. AHU, Moqambique, Cx 166 Doc 102, RelaqBo das EmbarcaqBes em Moqambique, 1819.
50. He transported 35 slaves to Moqambique in 1812. AHU, Moqambique, Cx 140 Doc 33,
Cargo list of the Brig Santo Antonio Triunfo d'Africa returned from Quelimane,
Moqambique, 2 April 1812; see also AHU, Codice 1365.
51. See Alan Smith, 'The Struggle for Control of Southern Mozambique, 1720-1835' (PhD
dissertation, University of California at Los Angeles, 1970).
52. Robert Ross, 'The Last Years of the Slave Trade to the Cape Colony', in Clarence-Smith,
Economics of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade,pp.212,215 and 'The Dutch on the Swahili Coast,
1776-1779: Two Slaving Journals', International Journal of African Historical Studies, 19, 2
(1986), pp.304-60, and 19,3 (1986), pp.479-506; James Armstrong, 'The Slaves, 1652-1795',
in Richard Elphick and H. Giliomee (eds.), The Shaping of South African Society, 1652-1820
(Cape TownILondon: Longman, 1979, 1st edition), and Armstrong and Nigel Worden, 'The
Slaves, 1652-1834', in Elphick and Giliomee (eds.), The Shaping of South African Society,
1652-1820; Capela, Escravismo Colonial, p.170; Alpers, Ivory & Slaves, p.185.
53. See Michael Charles Reidy, 'The Admission of slaves and 'prize slaves' into the Cape
Colony, 1797-1818' (MA thesis, University of Cape Town, 1997), esp.pp.36-7.
54. AHU, Codice 1362; Reidy, 'The Admission of Slaves', pp.54, 56, 70, 93-4, 98-9, 101;
Capela, Escravismo Colonial, p. 171.
55. AHU, Codice 1365; Reidy, 'The Admission of Slaves', pp.114-22.
56. AHU, Codice 1365; Reidy, 'The Admission of Slaves', p.120.
57. See Reidy, 'The Admission of Slaves', p.72; Christopher Saunders, "'Free, Yet Slaves",
Prize Negroes at the Cape Revisited', in Clifton Crais and Nigel Worden (eds.), Breaking the

T H E M O Z A M B I Q U E SLAVE-TRADE, 1730-1830

58.
59.
60.

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61.

62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.

68.

69.
70.

71.

72.

31

Chains (Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand Press, 1995), pp.99-116; Robert C.H. Shell, 'Islam in Southern Africa, 1652-1998', in Levtzion and Pouwels, The History of
Islam in Africa, pp.32748.
AHU, Codice 1356.
ANTT, Mapa da Populaqgo de Moqambique, 1820.
See Gwyn Campbell, 'Madagascar and Mozambique in the Slave Trade of the Western
Indian Ocean 1800-18617, in Clarence-Smith, Economics of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade,
p. 172.
Liesegang, 'A First Look', p.463; Herbert S. Klein, The Middle Passage: Comparative
Studies in the Atlantic Slave Trade (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978), Table 3.2,
p.56; L. Bethell, The Abolition of the Brazilian Slave Trade: Britain, Brazil and the Slave
Trade Question, 1807-1869 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1970); Mabel V.
Jackson, European Powers and South-East Africa: A Study of International Relations on the
South-East Coast of Africa, 17961856 (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1967), p.63;
Alpers, Ivory & Slaves, pp.210-13; Leroy Vail and Landeg White, Capitalism and
Colonialism in Mozambique: A Study of Quelimane District (Minneapolis: University of
Minesota Press, 1980), p.17; Rudy Bauss, 'Rio de Janeiro: The Rise of Late Colonial Brazil's
Dominant Emporium, 1777-1 808' (PhD dissertation, Tulane University, 1977).
Vail and White, Capitalism and Colonialism, p.17.
Alpers, Ivory & Slaves, p.216; Capela, Escravismo Colonial, p.142.
Capela, Escravismo Colonial, pp.141-4. However, Malyn Newitt in A History of
Mozambique (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1995), p.249, states
that Quelimane got its customs house, and was made a separate captaincy, in 1812.
Jackson, European Powers, p.228; Liesegang, 'A First Look', p.463. Reidy, 'The Admission
of Slaves', p.95; Edward A. Alpers, "'Moqambiques" in Brazil: Another Dimension of the
African Diaspora in the Atlantic World7,unpublished paper.
HAG, Correspondencia de Dam30 1063.
D. Bartolomeu dos Martires, 'Memoria Chorografica da Provincia ou Capitania de
Mossambique na Coast d'Africa Oriental conforme o estado em que se achava no anno de
1822', in Virginia Rau, 'Aspectos Ctnico-culturais da ilha de Moqambique em 1822', Studia,
11 (1963), pp.151, 163; Bauss, 'The Portuguese Slave Trade', p.22.
Thomas Boteler, Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery to Africa and Arabia, performed in His
Majesty's Ships Leven and Barracouta, from 1821 to 1826 (London: Richard Bentley, 1835),
Vol.1, p.248. See also Lt. Wolf, 'Narrative of Voyages to Explore the Shores of Africa,
Arabia and Madagascar', The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 3 (1833), p.206.
Liesegang, 'A First Look', p.463; See also Capela, Escravismo Colonial, p.190; Allen F.
Isaacman, Mozambique: The Africanization of a European Institution - The Zambesi Prazos,
1750-1902 (Madison and London: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1972), p.92, table 8.
Manolo Garcia Florentino, Em Costas Negras: Uma Histdria do TrLifico Atldntico de
Escravos entre a Africa e o Rio de Janeiro (Skculos XVIII e XIX) (Rio de Janeiro: Arquivo
Nacional, 1995), pp.257-8: His figures suggest contemporary British estimates for slave
arrivals at Rio, cited by Alpers, Ivory & Slaves, p.216, were inflated by possibly 80 per cent.
However, for the years 1825-30 Klein estimates a total of 48,648 slave arrivals from
Mozambique, including 15,608 from Quelimane and 25,601 from Moqambique Island. See
Tables 4.1 and 4.2 on pp.76 and 77. From 1811 to1830, 'Moqambiques' accounted for around
20 per cent of all slaves disembarked at Rio. See Alpers, 'Moqambiques in Brazil', p.2; see
also Bethell, The Abolition of the Brazilian Slave Trade.
Gwyn Campbell, 'Madagascar and Mozambique in the Slave Trade of the Western Indian
Ocean 1800-1861', p.169; For a recent estimate of the illegal slave-trade to Mauritius and
the Seychelles from East Africa and Madagascar in these years, see Richard B. Allen,
'Licentious and Unbridled Proceedings: The Illegal Slave Trade to Mauritius and the
Seychelles during the Early Nineteenth Century', Journal of African History, 42 (2001),
pp.91-116.
Gwyn Campbell, 'Madagascar and Mozambique in the Slave Trade of the Western Indian
Ocean'; idem, 'The East African Slave Trade, 1861-1 895: The "Southern" Complex',
International Journal of African Historical Studies, 22, 1 (1989), pp.1-26; idem,
'Madagascar and the Slave Trade, 1810-1895', Journal of African History, 22 (1981),

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THE STRUCTURE OF SLAVERY

pp.203-27; Bartle Frere, Correspondence Respecting Sir Bartle Frere's Mission to the East
Coast of Africa, 1872-3 (Parliamentary Papers. 1873. LXI).
73. James Tod, Travels in Western India (London: WmH. Allen and Co., 1839), pp.2634.
74. HAG, Correspondencia de Diu 1010, Cargo lists of vessels returned from Mozambique, and
Alfandegas de DamHo 4839; Bauss, 'The Portuguese Slave Trade', p.23
75. HAG, Correspondencia de Dio 1011, Francisco de Mello da Gama e Araujo to Viceroy, Diu,
14 Nov. 1829, and Correspondencia de Dio 1010, Oficio, Goa, 7 Jan. 1830.
76. HAG, Correspondencia de Diu 1011, Joaquim Piedade Mascarenhas to Viceroy, Diu, 11 Nov.
1829. In anticipation of its future potential as an export, Mascarenhas suggested that opium
sent to Macao could revitalize the economy of Diu and raise profits for both Indian and
Portuguese merchants.
77. Pinto, Trade and Finance in Portuguese India, pp.31, 181-2 fn. 39; HAG: Correspondencia
de Diu 1011, Mapa da Popula@o actual da Fortaleza de Dio, Aldeas e Hortas pertencentes a
sua jurisdiqgo, 1829; Diu 2314, Mapa da PopulagHo de Diu 1838; and Escravos 2981,
Registo dos Escravos da cidade de Diu 1855; see also Lopes, Goa Setecentista; Bauss, 'A
Demographic Study', pp.199-216; idem, 'The Portuguese Slave Trade', p.23.
78. Abdul Sheriff, Slaves, Spices & Ivory in Zanzibar: Integration of an East African
Commercial Empire into the World Economy, 1770-1873 (London/Nairobi/Dar es Salaam/
Athens, OH: James CurreyMeinemann KenydTanzania Publishing HouseIOhio University
Press, 1987); Esmond B. Martin and T.C.I. Ryan, 'A Quantitative Assessment of the Arab
Slave Trade of East Africa, 1770-1896', Kenya Historical Review, 5, 1 (1977), pp.71-91;
Austen, 'The Islamic Slave Trade out of Africa (Red Sea and Indian Ocean): An Effort at
Quantification', Conference on 'Islamic Africa: Slavery and Related Institutions', Princeton
University, 1977.
79. Sheriff, Slaves, Spices & Ivory in Zanzibar, p.40; Austen, 'The 19th Century Islamic Slave
Trade'; Clarence-Smith, 'The Economics', p.7; Frederick Cooper, Plantation Slavery on the
East Coast of Africa (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1977), p.43.
80. Austen, 'The 19th Century Islamic Slave Trade', p.32; Alpers, Ivory & Slaves, p.192; Martin
and Ryan, 'A Quantitative Assessment', p.78; see also Henry Salt, A Voyage to Abyssinia.. .in
the Years 1809 and 1810; in which are included, An Account of the Portuguese Settlements
on the East Coast of Africa, visited in the Course of the Voyage.... (London: F.C. and J.
Rivington, 1814), pp.32-3; Rau, 'Aspectos Ctnico-culturais'.
81. Assistant Resident in Charge to Secretary to Indian Government, Bhuj Residency, 29 Dec.
1835 enclosed in OIOC, Residency Records, 18lN71; Leech, 'Memoir on the Trade.. .of the
Port of Mandavi in Kutch (submitted 1837)', OIOC, Selections of the Records, Vl231212;
'Extract from Lt. Carless' Memoir on Kurrachee dated 1st February 1838' enclosed in
OIOC, European MSS, Eur E2931125, 'Memorandum and summary regarding slave trade in
Kathiawar and Kutch and its subsequent suppression'.
82. OIOC, European MSS Eur E 2931125 (Willoughby Collection).
83. OIOC, European MSS Eur E 2931125 (Willoughby Collection). Maharashtra State Archives,
Political Department, Kutch, Slave Trade, Vol. No.1061990, Memorandum of 20 slaves
brought to Mandvi from East Africa, 1838.
84. Maharashtra State Archives, Political Department, Slave Trade, Vol.169 (1852), Political
Agent, Kathiawar, to Chief Secretary of Bombay Government, 8 April 1852.
85. These ratios draw on data from HAG, Correspondencia de Diu 995-1012 and the Alfandegas
de Diu 4952-69.
86. OIOC, Residency Records, 18lA.71, Political Secretary to Government of India, Bhuj
Residency, 18 Nov. 1836; Maharashtra State Archives, Political Department, Kutch, Slave
Trade, Vol. No.1061990, Memorandum of 20 slaves brought to Mandvi from East Africa,
1838.
87. OIOC, 18lN71, Slave Trade, Vo1.587, Letter from Assistant Resident to Secretary to
Government of India, Bhuj Residency, 29 Dec. 1835.
88. HAG, Livros da Alfandega de Diu 4952-69, and Livros da Alfandega de DamHo 483949;
see also Clarence-Smith, 'The Economics', pp.13-14.