Eurasian and Transottoman Slavery: Actors and their Networks in the Translocal Slave Trade from the 17th to 19th Centuries

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

The panel will focus on the topic of slaves, slaveholders, slave traders and their interactions across Southeastern Europe, the Ottoman Empire and Central Asia. In the Ottoman Empire, most of the slaves were war captives from different regions like Africa, the Balkans, and the Black Sea. In the Venetian Empire, on the other hand, they were captured Ottomans and Ottoman subjects. The Central Asian slaves comprised Persian, Russian, Afghan and Indian captives. Panelists will deal with people involved in the slave trade during the 17th to 19th centuries. They will provide insights into the institution of slavery, the motives of actors, their networks, using approaches of translocalization and transculturalization and by analyzing a variety of sources concerning slaves.

Sub Unit

• Early Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, to 1800 

Chair

• Anna Vlachopoulou, U Munich (Germany)

Papers

• Saving Lost Souls or Doing Good Business?: Interactions at the Russian-Kazakh Frontier and Strategies for Freeing Russian Slaves in Central Asia in the Early 19th Century - Elena Smolarz, U of Bonn (Germany)

• Venetian Soldiers as Slave Holders and Slave Sellers in the 17th and Early 18th Century Wars against the Ottoman Empire - Andreas Helmedach, Ruhr U Bochum (Germany)

• Slavery in the Ottoman Empire and its Actors: The Role of Slaves, Slave Owners, and Slave Traders - Veruschka Wagner, U of Bonn (Germany)

Discussant

• Christoph Witzenrath, U of Bonn (Germany)