ABSTRACT
Slavery was integral to the medieval Silk Roads. Whilst numerous and easy to acquire in the vibrant Afro-Eurasian markets, slaves were hugely expensive status symbols. This chapter sets out first who they were, how they became slaves, what their experience was, and how they might escape it. It explores the historian’s understanding of “slavery” and the sources. Secondly, the Mongol period brought greater inter-connectedness to Afro-Eurasia trade. Conquered people were abducted and deployed within the expanding empire, again as domestics, sex slaves, and soldiers, but also to provide large-scale manual labour for the vast Mongol infrastructure. The Mongol category of “slave” will be explored. The chapter concludes with a case study relevant to the whole period.
