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The study of slavery in the Mediteranean and the Indian Ocean is still in its early stages and I can think of no definitive or regularly-referred-to source that gives specific numbers for the trade. In my own experience as a researcher, I know that at the level of documents, that is, private records of slave owning/purchasing families, one occassionally gets a clear sense of who was bought, who brought them to the market, and how much they cost. From oral interview data one learns who is of slave descent and where they might have started. Specific numbers have yet to be calculated. Frankly, I do not see the point of the numbers. I understand the need for statistics if only to convince people of scales and why a given study is relevant or how a very particular political agenda can be met. I am of the position that says slavery should not have happened, and I fear that discussion of numbers (which I seem to remember from undergraduate studies) tends to pull attention away from the more critical matter of why and how people with power dominate or control those who have less power than they do. The nature of the institution, how people lived with one another, and how those relationships evolved over time is a much more interesting way of learning about slavery. I admit that this person's formulation of the idea "the pre-Atlantic" slave trade is a lot more palatable than many other discussions that break the discussion into East and West, or Muslim and Christian and who was more evil. These are very tricky distinctions that falsify more pertinent concerns. It is also a rather heavy task as, some people seem to realize, slavery has existed since time in memorial and one really does need to specify the periods discussed. Convincing people in the academic community that the Maghreb and North Africa are actually in Africa and therefore, is bound to have a few people who are "a darker shade of pale" was a big enough task which, fortunately, is now completed. People are now convinced. We will save the numbers for later.
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