Ch 3 - Eastern Intrusions: Slaves and Ivory in Eastern Africa

Eastern Intrusions (theme)

East Africa’s 19th-century transformation was driven by expanding slave + ivory trades tied to the Indian Ocean world, pushing inland via caravans and reshaping politics through militarized commerce.

Key contrast with Atlantic Africa

Atlantic slave trade declines in the 19th century while East African slave/ivory commerce expands; East Africa experiences intensified caravan penetration inland and trade-driven militarization.

Zanzibar (role)

Coastal commercial center that financed/organized caravans, exported ivory and enslaved people, and used enslaved labor on plantations (especially cloves).

Caravan trade (definition)

Long-distance inland trade expeditions (hundreds of miles) that functioned as mobile markets, armed forces, and political actors linking the interior to the coast.

Militarized commerce

Trade system where profit and power depend on coercion (raiding, warfare, firearms, “protection”) and controlling routes/markets.

Ivory trade (importance)

High-value commodity that encouraged deeper inland penetration as elephant supplies declined; helped purchase imports (including firearms).

Slave trade (importance)

Created raiding and warfare cycles; enslaved people were exported and also used locally (e.g., plantations), escalating insecurity and political reordering.

Trade frontier

The moving inland edge of caravan penetration, pushed further as demand rose and local supplies (especially ivory) depleted.

Nyamwezi (who)

Central Tanzania group crucial as caravan porters/guides/traders; their society experienced inequality and political disruption linked to trade expansion.

Kamba (who)

Southern/central Kenya group who served as important middlemen in expanding trade networks.

Buganda (who/where)

Great Lakes kingdom (north of Lake Victoria) that became a key base for traders and a major supplier of slaves and ivory; highly centralized and expansionist.

Great Lakes region (overview)

Interlacustrine/lacustrine zone around major lakes with fertile soils and higher population density enabling strong centralized kingdoms.

Lacustrine zone (definition)

Region around the Great Lakes where ecology supported dense populations and centralized state formation.

Interlacustrine (definition)

“Between the lakes” region (Great Lakes) with a cluster of kingdoms sharing political features like strong kingship and administrative chiefdoms.

Entrepôt (definition)

A trade depot/hub; in this chapter, inland bases set up by coastal/inland merchants to store goods and organize trade/raids.

Tabora (importance)

Major inland entrepôt in Unyanyembe; key caravan hub connecting coast and interior.

Ujiji (importance)

Major inland base on Lake Tanganyika; important caravan/trade hub.

Swahili coast (definition)

Network of coastal city-states shaped by Indian Ocean trade, monsoon navigation, and Islamic cultural influence.

Swahili city-states (examples)

Commercial towns such as Mogadishu and Mombasa that connected East Africa to Indian Ocean markets.

Monsoon winds (importance)

Seasonal wind patterns enabling regular Indian Ocean sailing routes connecting East Africa with Arabia and South Asia.

Portuguese disruption (late 1400s)

Portuguese conquest/attacks damaged earlier Swahili coast “golden age” and altered coastal commerce.

Omani resurgence (late 1600s)

Oman pushed Portuguese out of many coastal settlements; Omani influence expanded along the coast (except parts of southern Mozambique).

Omani suzerainty (definition)

Loose political overlordship (Oman over parts of the Swahili coast) that later centered on Zanzibar for commercial expansion.

Seyyid Said (who)

Omani/Zanzibari ruler who moved the capital to Zanzibar and expanded caravan penetration inland.

1830s (key date: Zanzibar)

In the 1830s Seyyid Said moved his capital to Zanzibar, strengthening its role as the trade empire center.

1840s (key date: inland reach)

By the 1840s caravans from Zanzibar reached Lakes Victoria and Tanganyika, accelerating interior penetration.

1856 (key date: Zanzibar/Oman split)

After Seyyid Said’s death (1856), domains split; Zanzibar and Oman became effectively independent.

1880s (key date: partition impact)

European partition in the 1880s undermined Zanzibar’s sovereignty and commercial-political dominance.

Tippu Tip (who)

Powerful merchant-warlord figure who built inland commercial influence (Tanzania–Congo) through armed trade/raiding networks.

Merchant-warlord (definition)

Trader whose power rests on armed caravans, inland bases, alliances, and coercion to control commodities and routes.

Islam (diffusion)

Caravan networks and coastal traders helped spread Islam and Swahili cultural influence into the interior.

Swahili language (diffusion)

Expanded inland as trade networks grew; part of broader “Swahili civilization” influence.

Clove plantations (where/why)

Zanzibar and Pemba plantations increased demand for enslaved labor and helped drive continued slave capture and trade.

Pemba (importance)

Island with clove plantations alongside Zanzibar; major consumer of enslaved labor.

1780s (key date: trade expansion)

From the late 1780s, East African slave trade expands rapidly with rising external demand and plantation economies.

1800 (slave export estimate)

Estimated ~6,000 enslaved people exported per year by around 1800.

1820s (slave export estimate)

Estimated ~20,000–30,000 enslaved people exported per year in the 1820s.

1860s (slave export peak estimate)

Estimated peak levels sometimes ~70,000 enslaved people exported per year in the 1860s.

British anti-slavery pressure (theme)

Britain pressured Oman/Zanzibar to restrict slave exports and used naval patrols, but trade persisted through loopholes and continued demand.

Moresby Treaty (1822)

Agreement associated with restricting Omani slave export; Britain claimed anti-slave-trade patrol rights in the Indian Ocean.

1873 (key date: legal status shift)

Slave exports for use on Zanzibar/Pemba were legal until 1873, after which legality tightened though illicit trade continued.

Suez Canal (1869)

Opened 1869; strengthened/accelerated European commercial connections, increasing ivory demand and intensifying integration with global markets.

Ivory demand shift (19th c.)

India remained important, but Europe and North America became major consumers of ivory over the 1800s.

Elephant frontier (definition)

The moving zone of elephant hunting; pushed deeper inland as elephant populations were depleted.

“Dead end” critique (chapter argument)

The slave + ivory export system was unsustainable: ivory depletion + rising European control made the system collapse and forced economic restructuring.

Railways (late-19th c. implication)

As coastal-style trade dominance waned, railways became crucial for linking interior production to global markets under new colonial economies.

Ethiopia (trade corridor idea)

Red Sea access points and commerce influenced Ethiopian highland politics; trade routes + firearms shaped consolidation dynamics.

Massawa (importance)

Red Sea port linked to Ethiopian commerce and slave exports; strategic access point in regional trade struggles.

Zeila (importance)

Key northeastern coastal access point relevant to regional commerce and political contestation.

Highland fragmentation (1770s–1850s)

Ethiopia’s highland empire ideal weakened; multiple polities competed over land and commerce during this period.

Oromo migration (impact)

Expanded south-to-north movement increased pressure on highland politics and society; many Oromo groups also assimilated into highland culture over time.

Tewodros (1850s)

Leader who reunified Ethiopia by force in the 1850s, laying foundations for later late-19th-century empire building.

Yohannes (late 1800s)

Ethiopian leader who helped consolidate/expand imperial power in the late 19th century after earlier reunification efforts.

Menelik (late 1800s)

Ethiopian leader who expanded and consolidated imperial Ethiopia in the late 19th century.

Ethiopian slave trade (pattern)

Less widespread overall than central-eastern interior slaving, but still significant and linked to Red Sea routes and regional demand.

Merchant class (Ethiopia)

Trade increasingly handled by Muslim merchants; highlanders often avoided hot lowlands, making specialized traders important intermediaries.

“Shankalla” (term)

Derogatory label applied to captives from western Ethiopian lowlands/eastern Sudan in 19th-century Ethiopian slave-trade contexts.

Ethiopian exports (examples)

Slaves, gold, ivory, skins, and spices moved outward through Red Sea-linked trade routes.

Ethiopian imports (key)

Firearms were especially important imports; access to guns could strengthen elite control over trade corridors.

Firearms (political effect)

Weapons traded for slaves/ivory increased coercive power; often intensified warfare and helped new leaders rise (and in Ethiopia could reinforce elite monopolies).

Centralization (Great Lakes)

Great Lakes kingdoms featured strong kingship, appointed chiefs, and administrative hierarchy sustained by tribute and military power.

Succession conflict (Great Lakes)

Kingdom succession could be violent; lack of obvious heirs led to imprisoning/killing rivals and intense contestation.

Kingdoms (Great Lakes list)

Buganda, Bunyoro, Toro, Ankole, Rwanda, Burundi (major examples of interlacustrine state formation).

Buganda (ruler title)

Kabaka.

Kabaka (definition)

Title of the king of Buganda; ruler with strong political authority and appointment power.

Bunyoro (historical root)

Linked to the earlier state tradition of Kitara (15th century) and earlier regional dominance.

Kitara (term)

Earlier state tradition associated with Bunyoro’s historical prestige and early power.

Buganda rise (why)

Fertile ecology + dense population + centralized kingship + military organization supported expansion and dominance north/west of Lake Victoria.

Buganda foreign policy (character)

Mercantilist and expansionist; war used strategically to control resources, trade, and territory.

Bunyoro decline (17th–18th c. shift)

Bunyoro loses ground relative to Buganda in the 1600s–1700s in regional power balance.

Bunyoro resurgence (1860s–1870s)

Bunyoro shows renewed strength/competition beginning in the 1860s–1870s.

Rwanda & Burundi (military states)

Highly militarized centralized kingdoms; Rwanda particularly expansionist and successful in the 1700s–1800s.

Soga (political structure)

East of Buganda: loose confederacy of small principalities rather than one tightly centralized kingdom.

Stateless societies (frontier zones)

North of Great Lakes: smaller, more fluid societies; trade/war pressures still affected politics even without large centralized states.

Tutsi (term in chapter)

Pastoralist elite identity in Rwanda/Burundi; associated with cattle-keeping and patron-client relations over agriculturalists.

Hutu (term in chapter)

Agriculturalist identity in Rwanda/Burundi; often clients under pastoralist elites in tribute/patronage systems.

Hima (term in chapter)

Pastoralist elite identity in Ankole (similar structural role to Tutsi in Rwanda/Burundi).

Iru (term in chapter)

Agriculturalist identity in Ankole (client position analogous to Hutu).

Identity hardening (key point)

These categories were not timeless “tribes”; they hardened into more rigid ethnic/tribal identities later (especially early 20th century) as politics and inequality intensified.

Ecology → state formation (argument)

Fertile soils and reliable rainfall support dense populations and surplus, enabling centralized kingdoms; poorer ecology/lower density limits state scale in many regions.

Lower-density interior (impact)

Much of Kenya/Tanzania had thinner soils and unreliable rainfall, limiting large centralized states, but trade still created powerful local nodes and violent competition.

Trade as kingmaker politics

Traders and caravans could back factions/claimants in local conflicts, shaping outcomes and increasing merchant influence in inland politics.

Unyanyembe (location)

Caravan “highway” region in central Tanzania; key hub area associated with Tabora and intense trade politics.