African Tribes Documented in the Slave Trade

BlackHistoryData.com · Volume 1 · Chapter 01

“An African Anywhere is an African Everywhere” · By Furqan Shabazz Mujahideen

WEST AFRICA

Senegambia · Sierra Leone · Windward Coast · Gold Coast · Bight of Benin · Bight of Biafra | Supplied ~70–75% of all enslaved people in the transatlantic trade

People / Ethnic Group	Modern Country	Role	Primary Capture Method & Notes
Wolof	Senegal, Gambia	Both	Internal wars and jihad rivalries fragmented Wolof Empire; both sold and were sold. Among first Africans documented in Americas (1500s).
Mandinka (Mandé)	Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau	Both	Mandinka traders were major slave merchants; also enslaved by Fulani jihad wars. Amistad captives were Mandinka.
Serer	Senegal, Gambia	Victim	Heavily raided by Wolof and Fulani slave raiders; resisted enslavement fiercely.
Fulani (Fula / Peul)	Senegal to Cameroon (wide range)	Both	Primary slave raiders of West Africa through 18th–19th c. jihad wars; also enslaved those who did not convert to Islam. Also victims of rival groups.
Soninke	Senegal, Mali, Mauritania	Both	Ancient traders; participated in trans-Saharan and transatlantic trade. Also enslaved through Fulani jihads.
Bambara (Bamana)	Mali	Both	Bamana Kingdom sold war captives; also themselves captured and sold by Moroccan forces and neighboring states.
Temne	Sierra Leone	Victim	Heavily enslaved through wars with neighboring Mande groups; passed through Bunce Island slave fort.
Mende	Sierra Leone	Victim	Enslaved through Mande and Fulani raids; many came through Bunce Island. Survivors of Amistad were Mende.
Kisi (Kissi)	Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia	Victim	Raided by Mandinka and Fulani slave traders from the interior.
Limba	Sierra Leone	Victim	Captured in raids by neighboring groups; sold through coastal forts.
Susu (Soso)	Guinea, Sierra Leone	Both	Participated in coastal trading networks; also enslaved through inter-ethnic wars.
Dyula (Jula)	Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Mali	Trader	Professional Mande-speaking Muslim traders; primary inland middlemen moving captives from interior to coast.
Akan (incl. Asante, Fante, Bono)	Ghana, Ivory Coast	Both	Asante Empire was the most organized slave-supplying power on the Gold Coast; sold war captives through Cape Coast Castle and Elmina. Fante also sold captives. Akan peoples also enslaved by neighbors. Called “Koromantis” in Jamaica.
Ga	Ghana (Accra region)	Victim	Enslaved during Asante expansion southward; sold through Accra.
Ewe	Ghana, Togo, Benin	Victim	Raided by Dahomey Kingdom; many enslaved and shipped through the Bight of Benin.
Mossi	Burkina Faso	Both	Initially resisted slave trade for centuries; eventually drawn in as both raiders and victims by 1800s.
Fon (Dahomey / Ewe-Fon)	Benin	Trader	Kingdom of Dahomey conducted organized annual slave raids on neighboring Yoruba, Ewe, and others; sold captives at Ouidah (Whydah). One of the most active slave-trading states.
Yoruba	Nigeria, Benin, Togo	Victim	Primarily victims of Dahomey and Fulani jihad raids, especially after collapse of Oyo Empire (early 1800s). Very large numbers enslaved — heavily represented in Brazil and Cuba. Orisha religion survives in the Americas today.
Oyo (sub-Yoruba state)	Nigeria	Both	Oyo Empire sold war captives; later collapsed and Oyo people themselves became mass victims of enslavement.
Igbo	Nigeria (southeast)	Victim	Enslaved primarily through Aro Confederacy raids and internal Igbo conflicts. Approximately 13% of all enslaved people in the Americas were Igbo. Heavily sent to Virginia, Maryland, and the Caribbean. Est. 60% of African Americans may have Igbo ancestry.
Aro (Igbo subgroup)	Nigeria	Trader	The Aro Confederacy ran a vast inland slave-trading network, capturing and selling Igbo and neighboring peoples to European traders on the coast.
Efik	Nigeria (Cross River)	Both	Controlled slave trading at Old Calabar port; also themselves enslaved through debt and war.
Ibibio	Nigeria	Victim	Enslaved through Aro Confederacy raids; sold through Bight of Biafra ports.
Ijaw (Ijo)	Nigeria (Niger Delta)	Both	Niger Delta middlemen in slave trade; also victims of raids.
Hausa	Nigeria, Niger	Both	Hausa states both raided neighboring peoples and were raided by Fulani jihad forces in the 1800s. Large numbers enslaved internally and some exported.
Kanuri	Nigeria, Niger, Chad	Both	Bornu Empire was both a slave-raiding state and a victim of Fulani jihad campaigns in the 1800s.
Chamba	Nigeria, Cameroon	Victim	Heavily raided by Fulani slave raiders; many sold through Bight of Biafra ports.
Bamileke	Cameroon	Victim	Captured in raids; sold through Bight of Biafra.
Duala	Cameroon coast	Both	Coastal trading middlemen; facilitated slave trade but also subject to it.

WEST-CENTRAL AFRICA (Congo Basin & Angola)

Modern Angola, DR Congo, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea | Supplied ~39% of all enslaved people — largest single regional source

People / Ethnic Group	Modern Country	Role	Primary Capture Method & Notes
Bakongo (Kongo people)	Angola, DR Congo, Rep. Congo	Victim	Kingdom of Kongo was destabilized by Portuguese-fueled civil wars; citizens enslaved on a mass scale. The Bakongo king wrote a letter of protest to Portugal. The largest single group shipped to the Americas. Many went to Brazil and South America.
Mbundu (Ambundu)	Angola (northwest)	Victim	Portuguese colonial conquest subjugated Mbundu kingdom of Ndongo; enslaved at rate of 10,000/year by 1612. Second largest enslaved group from Angola.
Ovimbundu	Angola (central highlands)	Both	Later period traders; also major victims as Portuguese expanded inland.
Imbangala (Jagas)	Angola	Trader	Professional warrior-raiders who built their entire economy on capturing and selling slaves; key suppliers for Portuguese traders in 17th–18th centuries.
Teke (Bateke)	DR Congo, Rep. Congo, Gabon	Both	Interior trading middlemen; sold captives to Kongo and European coastal traders.
Loango	Rep. Congo, Gabon	Both	Kingdom of Loango was a major slave-exporting port; also subject to raids from interior powers.
Luba	DR Congo (southeast)	Victim	Captured through wars in the interior; passed through long trade chains to coast.
Lunda	DR Congo, Angola, Zambia	Both	Lunda Empire raided neighboring peoples; also lost captives through wars with rivals.
Chokwe	Angola, DR Congo	Victim	Raided by Lunda Empire and Imbangala; enslaved in large numbers.
Fang	Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon	Victim	Captured through wars and sold to coastal traders.

EAST AFRICA & THE INDIAN OCEAN WORLD

Modern Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, Comoros | Primarily fed Arab/Swahili trade; smaller % reached Americas but documented — highest mortality route

People / Ethnic Group	Modern Country	Role	Primary Capture Method & Notes
Makua	Mozambique (north)	Victim	Most heavily enslaved people in Mozambique; their name became synonymous with enslaved people exported from northern Mozambique ports. Sold to both Arab and Portuguese traders.
Yao	Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania	Both	Yao traders built vast slave networks from Lake Nyasa to the Swahili coast; also victims of rival groups.
Marave (Maravi)	Malawi, Mozambique	Victim	Captured through Yao slave-trading networks; sold through Kilwa and Island of Mozambique.
Tsonga (Thonga)	Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe	Both	Ivory and slave traders in the south; also enslaved by Zulu and European forces.
Swahili peoples	Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique coast	Trader	Arab-African mixed coastal trading communities; major middlemen in the Indian Ocean slave trade moving East African captives to Arabia, Persia, and India for centuries.
Nyamwezi	Tanzania (interior)	Both	Long-distance traders who carried ivory and slaves to the coast; also victims of Omani Arab and Swahili raids.
Zigua	Tanzania	Victim	Raided by Swahili and Arab slave traders; sold through Zanzibar.
Zaramo	Tanzania (Dar es Salaam region)	Victim	Enslaved through coastal raids; sold through Zanzibar slave market.
Nyanja (Chewa)	Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique	Victim	Heavily raided by Yao slave traders; many sold to Arab and Portuguese traders.
Malagasy (various kingdoms)	Madagascar	Both	Merina Kingdom sold rival Malagasy groups captured in wars; Madagascar was both exporter and recipient of enslaved people. King Radama I banned export in 1819 after British pressure.
Sakalava	Madagascar (west coast)	Both	Coastal Malagasy kingdom that raided and sold rivals; also enslaved by Merina expansion.
Betsileo	Madagascar	Victim	Conquered by Merina Kingdom; many enslaved and some sold to European traders.
Oromo	Ethiopia, Kenya	Victim	Heavily enslaved through Ethiopian imperial raids and Arab traders; primarily went to Arab world but some reached Americas.
Afar	Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea	Victim	Enslaved through Horn of Africa Arab trade routes; primarily sent to Arabia and Middle East.
Somali	Somalia, Kenya	Victim	Enslaved through Arab trade networks; primarily Indian Ocean trade, limited Americas connection.

⚑ MOROCCO — Slave Ports of Marrakech & Safi (Previously Omitted)

Morocco occupied a unique dual role: it was simultaneously a destination, a transit hub, and an originating raider — connecting the trans-Saharan, Barbary, and early Atlantic slave trades. This section was absent from the original document and has been added in response to the correction.

Port / Location	Role in the slave trade	Peoples enslaved / trafficked through	Period active
Marrakech Inland slave market capital	Primary inland slave market at the terminus of the Timbuktu–Marrakech trans-Saharan route. Sub-Saharan enslaved people were bought, sold, and redistributed here to the wider Mediterranean world. Sultan Ismail ibn Sharif (reigned 1672–1727) kept an army of tens of thousands of Black African slaves, replenished annually by thousands sent from Timbuktu. Slave markets in Marrakech operated openly until the French Protectorate in 1912, with clandestine trade continuing into the 1930s.	Songhai, Bambara, Tuareg captives, Gnawa (enslaved sub-Saharans who became a distinct cultural community in Morocco), Haratin (descendants of enslaved people, primarily of Sahelian origin). Also held European Christian captives taken by Barbary pirates.	7th century CE through 1912 (formal suppression); clandestine trade to 1930s
Safi (Asfi) Atlantic port, southern Morocco	One of the earliest documented Atlantic slave-export ports. The Portuguese seized Safi in 1488 and built the Sea Castle fortress (1515–1517) as part of their Atlantic trading network. Enslaved Africans were loaded at Safi for shipment to Lisbon and early Atlantic markets — predating the West African slave fort network. By 1465 Portugal was already transporting over 1,000 enslaved people per year from southern Morocco, Mauritania, and Senegambia through Atlantic ports including Safi. This makes Safi one of the earliest points where the trans-Saharan and transatlantic trades intersected.	Berber and Amazigh peoples from southern Morocco; sub-Saharan Africans (Songhai, Soninke, Bambara) brought north via caravan routes; Moorish and Arab captives from Barbary coast raids; enslaved people marched from Mauritanian and Senegambian coasts.	Portuguese occupation 1488–1541; active Atlantic slave trade 1441–late 1500s
Salé & Rabat Barbary pirate republic	After 1609, Moorish refugees from Spain established the Salé Rover pirate republic. Barbary pirates operating from here enslaved Europeans captured at sea — by 1650 over 30,000 European captives were held across North Africa. The sultans actively encouraged piracy as state revenue. This was a separate trade from the sub-Saharan system but operated simultaneously through the same Moroccan ports.	Primarily European Christians (English, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch); also West African captives redistributed through the port.	1609 through early 19th century
Moroccan peoples enslaved Amazigh / Berber as victims	Morocco also produced victims. Berber / Amazigh peoples of southern Morocco and the Atlas Mountains were raided by Arab and rival Berber forces. The first documented Atlantic slave raid (1441) captured a Moorish Muslim couple from the southern Moroccan coast — the very opening act of the entire transatlantic slave trade.	Amazigh (Berber) peoples, Shluh (Tachelhit-speaking Berbers of the Atlas), Saharan nomadic Berber groups	1441 onward (Atlantic raids); trans-Saharan raiding centuries earlier

Sources: Wikipedia — Slavery in Morocco; PortCities Bristol; History of Islam (Prof. Dr. Nazeer Ahmed); Grokipedia — Slavery in Morocco; Wikipedia — Sea Castle (Safi); Wikipedia — Barbary Slave Trade; Research Gate — “Morocco: The Last Great Slave Market.”

NORTH AFRICA & THE SAHEL

Modern Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia | Primarily fed trans-Saharan Arab slave trade; some overlap with transatlantic through West African routes | See Morocco box above for Moroccan-specific ports

People / Ethnic Group	Modern Country	Role	Primary Capture Method & Notes
Tuareg	Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya	Both	Trans-Saharan caravan traders who raided sub-Saharan peoples; also enslaved by Arab forces. Slave status was hereditary in Tuareg society.
Songhai	Mali, Niger	Victim	Songhai Empire collapsed after Moroccan invasion (1591); people enslaved in mass numbers and sold north across the Sahara.
Zarma (Djerma)	Niger	Victim	Raided by Tuareg and Fulani slave raiders; sold into trans-Saharan trade.
Nupe	Nigeria (north-central)	Victim	Enslaved through Fulani jihad wars in the 1800s; many went into both internal African and transatlantic trade.
Tiv	Nigeria (middle belt)	Victim	Raided by Fulani and Hausa slave traders; sold through Bight of Biafra.
Nubian peoples	Sudan, Egypt	Victim	Enslaved through Egyptian and Arab raids for centuries; primarily fed trans-Saharan and Arab trade routes rather than transatlantic.
Dinka	South Sudan	Victim	Enslaved through Arab and northern Sudanese raids; primarily Arab trade route.
Nuer	South Sudan	Victim	Raided by Arab slave traders operating from Khartoum; primarily trans-Saharan route.
Amhara / Tigrayan	Ethiopia	Both	Ethiopian highlands peoples; imperial state sold captives through Arab routes; also themselves enslaved by rival kingdoms.

SOUTHERN AFRICA

Modern South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana | Limited direct transatlantic trade; primarily fed Cape Colony Dutch/British slave system and Delagoa Bay routes

People / Ethnic Group	Modern Country	Role	Primary Capture Method & Notes
Zulu	South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal)	Both	During the 1820s, Zulu amabutho (regiments) joined European raiders seizing women and children near Delagoa Bay, where French ships exported slaves. Zulu people were also victims of colonial and rival-kingdom raids.
Xhosa	South Africa (Eastern Cape)	Victim	Captured through colonial frontier wars with Dutch and British; enslaved through Cape Colony system.
Khoikhoi	South Africa, Namibia	Victim	Indigenous Cape peoples; subjected to Dutch colonial forced labor. Khoikhoi communities near Table Valley disintegrated within decades of Dutch arrival. Refused subjugation and led uprisings.
San (Bushmen)	South Africa, Namibia, Botswana	Victim	Hunter-gatherers enslaved through Dutch Cape Colony raids; also captured by Khoikhoi and Boer settlers for forced labor.
Ndebele (Matabele)	Zimbabwe, South Africa	Victim	Enslaved through Boer and European frontier raids in the 1830s–1850s.
Sotho / Tswana	South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana	Victim	Enslaved through Dutch Cape Colony raids and Boer inboekstelsel (child labor apprenticeship) system after formal abolition.
Shona	Zimbabwe, Mozambique	Victim	Enslaved through Portuguese traders at Quelimane and inland prazo system; many sold to Brazil.
Lozi (Barotse)	Zambia, Zimbabwe	Both	Lozi Kingdom raided neighbors; also victims of Portuguese-allied prazo slave raiders along the Zambezi.

Important notes: This list reflects documented historical records from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database (SlaveVoyages.org), Lowcountry Digital History Initiative, Britannica, South African History Online, and scholarly sources. The role designations are approximations — virtually every group was primarily a victim of European-fueled demand. The category “Both” acknowledges that some groups’ ruling classes participated in selling others, while their common people were simultaneously vulnerable to enslavement. “Trader” designations refer to ruling elites and military classes, not the ordinary population. Ethnic identities in pre-colonial Africa did not follow neat modern boundaries; many people had fluid or mixed identities. The transatlantic slave trade involved at least 45–50 distinct documented ethnic groups; the Arab/trans-Saharan trade encompassed dozens more.