The Slave Trade in East Africa: Zanzibar and the Indian Ocean

The Atlantic Slave Trade: Empire Built on Human Suffering — Fexingo History · Apr 26, 2026 · 8m · transcript

While the Atlantic slave trade is well-known, East Africa's slave trade was equally devastating and lasted well into the late 19th century. This episode of The Atlantic Slave Trade: Empire Built on Human Suffering shifts focus to the Indian Ocean and the island of Zanzibar, where Omani sultans, Indian financiers, and European colonizers built a brutal trade network. We follow the rise of Zanzibar as a commercial hub under Sultan Said bin Sultan, who moved his capital from Oman to the island in the 1830s. The trade routes stretched deep into Central Africa, with slavers like Tippu Tip…