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Title: The Revolt of African Slaves in Iraq in the 3Rd/9th Century (Princeton Series on the Middle East) by Alexandre Popovic, Henry Louis, Jr Gates, Leon King, Alexandre Popoviv ISBN: 1-55876-163-2 Publisher: Markus Wiener Pub Pub. Date: January, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95

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Average Customer Rating: 3 (2 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: Grand Marronage in the Middle East
Comment: We are often informed that slaves who arrived in the Middle East were generally treated better than slaves in the West; however, Popovic's work sheds light on how harsh treatment in a situation similar to that in which slaves were often placed in the west led to a grand revolt not matched since Spartacus!

Popovic, relying on al-Tabiri and other writers, informs us that the Zanj were a people of eastern Africa. They were often taken in razzias from Muslim states such as Zanzibar (see Ibn Battuta in Black Africa). Many of these Zanj were taken to the Mesopotamian region of Iraq and put to work on giant agricultural "plantations" and in mines.

The Zanj were involved in a number of insurrections, all of which were failures - until they joined the uprising formed by Ali b. Muhammad, a non-Zanj, non-black Muslim. Although the Zanj made up a large part of the revolutionary forces, few Zanj (unlike the black leaders of Maroon colonies in Jamaica, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba and etc.) had any real power in the new revolutionary state. Still, their continuing adherence to the state (which, as Popovic tells us, included black soldiers who defected from the Caliph's and local leaders' forces) tells us that they preferred society under the non-black Ali's dictatorship to slavery in the fields and mines. On the other hand, as with many western maroon colonies, the Zanj and others had no problem taking goods and slaves from (and making slaves of
the local population).

The nascent civilization continued to grow for many years, until the Caliph decided he had the time and resources to make a concerted effort to destroy Ali b. Muhammad's young kingdom. Using a combination of force and amnesty, the official government quickly began driving Ali's forces back into the swampy areas south of Basra and eventually drove the remnants of the rebellion to the rebel capitol. Within a few years, the "Zanj" Revolt was over and Ali bin Muhammad was dead.

This historical, social and anthropological study of the Zanj Revolt stands with Price's MAROON SOCIETIES as an important study of the development of government, customs, and social status in societies generally - as well as a study of a rather interesting aspect of the black diaspora caused by slavery.

Rating: 2
Summary: Leaves a lot unsaid
Comment: Perhaps the main virtue of Popovic's work is that it remains the only significant scholarly study of its subject, the 9th-century revolt of Zanj slaves who worked in the marshlands of southern Iraq. Although the event played a key role in everything from the fall of the Abbasid caliphate to changes in trade routes throughout the Indian Ocean, historians have shied away from studying it because the only real source we have is the chronicle of al-Tabari.

Popovic has collected the fragments of al-Tabari which touch upon the revolt, and sought to provide some analysis. However, it is sometimes difficult to see the basis of his conclusions, and there are many issues which he does not explore, such as a possible ethnic connection between the African troops of the caliph who joined the rebels and the Zanj themselves. He also tends not to touch the broader impact of the revolt mentioned above. The religious ideology of the movement also needs further scrutiny.

Nonetheless, for a general reader interested in this little corner of history, Popovic can provide the details in a readily accessible form.