East African Slave Trade: Unraveling Post-abolition Slave coverts in the Interior of Southern Tanzania

Abstract

The East African slave trade used to dominate historical writings up to the 1970s when it went low both in research and in publication, creating an impression that the topic had been exhausted.  This has been a false image since the interior, from where slaves came, has received very little attention by professional researcher.  Employing oral, archaeological and documentary sources, this article attempts to reveal operations that took place in southern Tanganyika after the trade was med illegal in 1873.  With the focus on two slave coverts:  Mang’ua and Kikole, the article shows that between 1873 and 1906 this region entered into a ‘silent slave trade’, conducted under the cover of ivory trade.  The article further reveals the intricate socio-economic relationship affected the indigenous people:  the Ndendeule, the Matengo and the Pangwa.  Archaeological research conducted at Kikole, one of the slave coverts, shows that prior to the nineteenth century this place and perhaps the entire southern interior of Tanganyika was occupied by iron-working people.  High concentrations of iron slag and tuyere fragments are found in the north-central edge of the site, bordering the Mwangaza River (Mapunda  2003).  In addition to metallurgical relics, the place reveals scatters of local pottery and daub.