Talk:Slavery in India

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I have added a great deal of information about the period 1000-the present. However It would be good to have someone who is more familiar with this subject clean up the page. 87.68.31.169 09:44, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Medieval Period

When I started the page, I had specifically tried to bring to the attention of the reader, the fact that there is a huge controversy about anything being said about slavery under rulers professing Islam. The medieval period has to be seen much more carefully, and with a much greater detail in supporting evidence not only just from so-called contemporary texts, but also from modern interpretations of textual representations or claims. Since there appears to exist two extreme schools of opinion, one which associates any mention of slavery under Islam as a right wing attack, and the other which associates any absence of such notions as a left wing attack, we need to put in a lot more concrete and balanced representation for this period. Dikgaj 12:00, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Added more material on the Turko-Afghan period. Edited the introduction, to point out that prior to the modern age, our assessments of slavery in India depend on interpreting textual claims on all sides. Added factors explaining both economic and religious motivations to enslave non-Muslim populations of India by Arab, Turko-Afghans and the Mughals. Will add Mughal period next.Dikgaj 12:25, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] user edit

Dear user 68.39.43.16, You have added one phrase at the end of the main body of the article, "no more slavery in India". It is not clear if it is an opinion, or a question, or a conclusion. As this is an incomplete phrase, and at the moment appears to be not self-explanatory. Did you mean that "slavery no longer exists in India" or that "slavery should not exist in India"? I would be happy to get your feedback on this line, pending which I am editing this out, as it does not read well with the previous material.

Regards, Dikga —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dikgaj (talk • contribs) 17:05, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Gypsies/ rom/dom

Anyone had any thoughts of including gypsies as early muslim owned slaves? That's a major theory for their migration.Domsta333 (talk) 10:54, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Gypsies

There is some material (relevant for slavery) connected to the supposed origins of the Gypsies. The major obstacle to the theory of their originating from enslaved Punjabi/Multani populations is the absence of any obvious remnants of Islamic beliefs/practices. The historical records for Islamic slave owners show that if they manumitted their slaves they typically did so only as converted Muslims. Similarly children born of enslaved non-muslim women resulting from cohabitation with their owners were typically freed as Muslims. There has rarely been reports of reconversion from Islam into previous faiths. Various factors, such as inherent suspicion by remnant non-converted populations, real or perceived atrocities committed while still muslims, or punitive dictats of capital punishment by various branches of Sharia for apostates, could perhaps be behind such non-reversion. A prime case study would be that of the post-Ummayid-Caliphate phase of reconversion in Spain, and its connections to the phenomenon of the Inquisition. I have collected material on this (about Gypsies), but as yet do not feel that the subject is ready for putting up on wiki. Dikgaj (talk) 23:30, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] What about European contribution towards Indian slavery?

After writing up most of the original material dealing with the pre-modern period, I had hoped others might feel interested in exapanding on the role of Europe in the Indian Ocean slave trade. Or are we still deferent to the myth of the Great European Liberator? There is significant recent work on this topic, especially about the activities of the Dutch and the Portuguese.

Dikgaj (talk) 23:30, 8 May 2008 (UTC)