9th Century Slave Trader

http://www.academia.edu/1764468/Dirhams_for_slaves._Investigating_the_Slavic_slave_trade_in_the_tenth_century

They are, however, amply attested in the urban literature of the bourgeoning cities of Iraq as domestic servants, concubines and eunuchs. To give an example, the works of al-Jahiz, a prolific writer from Basra who died in 868/9, are full of allusions to the Saqaliba. In his Book of Animals he describes, for instance, how to improve a Slavic slave:

“If there are two Slavic brothers from the same mother and father , even if one of them is the twin brother of the other, when one of them is castrated, he becomes a better servant and smarter in all kinds of activity and manual work. He will be more skilled in them and more fitting for them. You will also find him more intelligent in conversation – these are all his qualities. His brother will remain in his innate ignorance, natural stupidity and Slavic simple-mindedness; he will also be unable to understand foreign languages. His hand will be clumsy and he will not become skilful, because his intellect will not be trained. He will not be able to express himself freely and eloquently, nor to pronounce clearly. (…) The first result of the castration of a Saqlabi is the purification of his intelligence, sharpening of his acumen, strengthening of his nature and stimulation of his mind. ” 6 


This passage probably explains the shortcomings of my paper, but more importantly it highlights the substantial presence of the Slavic eunuchs in Basra around the mid-9th century. It would seem that trade in the Slavic slaves consisted mainly of high-value individuals, such as eunuchs and young women. This peculiar profile of the slaves imported from the Slavic lands may explain the apparent profitability of this very long-distance trade.