[Oman-L] Research on 20th century slavery in Oman

[sbd tuni]

Dear Susan,
I have been living in Oman for a relatively long time and  I am getting more 
and more fascinated by this country and its history.
As I was reading your reply to Olga, the idea of 'Zut' (can be translated as 
'serf', but not  the equivalent of it) and 'abd' (slave) puzzled me and I 
wanted to know more about the former. I know it is a quite delicate issue, 
but it is worth studying.  It was a form of social unjustice but it is 
likely to become a source on interest in the future due to the modifications 
in the social structure.
I was in Salalah last week and I was told that there is still a souq/market 
where the Zut and abeed used to (or still do) sell their things.  
Unfortunately, I didn'thave much time to know more about it.
I will be glad if you could inform me on the historicity of the issue and 
teh social status of these groups as well as their future situation.
Kind regards
Sami


>From: "Susan Al Shahri" <susan_alshahri at hotmail.com>
>Reply-To: "News and questions about Oman (Sultanate of 
>Oman)"<oman-l at oman.org>
>To: oman-l at oman.org
>CC: iris_earth at hotmail.com
>Subject: Re: [Oman-L] Research on 20th century slavery in Oman
>Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2007 19:12:37 +0400
>
>
>Dear Olga,
>
>I am an Omani  living in Salalah, the capital town of Dhofar, in the South 
>of Oman. I can generally estimate that over 10% of the population of this 
>town are ex-slaves or descendents of slaves. In fact (and sadly), many 
>people still call any dark person an 'Abd' (which translates into Slave). 
>They are still looked down upon by a large percentage of people.Things are 
>slowly changing, but still the influence of slavery is still very strong. I 
>do not know much about the history of slavery but if you're looking at 
>their 'current' situation, I'd be glad to answer any questions you may 
>have. It is a very touchy and delicate subject, and having done a lot of 
>'delicate social research' in Salalah,  I will try my best to answer your 
>questions.
>
>Best of Luck,
>
>Susan Al Shahri
>>From: Olga Andriyanova <misr_olga at yahoo.co.uk>
>>Reply-To: "News and questions about Oman (Sultanate of 
>>Oman)"<oman-l at oman.org>
>>To: OMAN MAILING LIST <oman-l at oman.org>
>>Subject: [Oman-L] Research on 20th century slavery in Oman
>>Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2007 12:31:09 +0000 (GMT)
>>
>>Dear all,
>>
>>Being a PhD student, I’m actually preparing a
>>presentation on the subject of slavery and slave trade
>>in Oman during the 18th and 19th centuries. It’s far
>>from being the principle subject of my research, but I
>>consented to do it. The subject will be presented
>>during the seminar on slave trades and slavery in East
>>Africa at the University of Paris-I.
>>I suppose many questions will be asked especially on
>>slavery in the 20th century and notably on the
>>destinies and careers of ex-slaves and their
>>descendants.
>>I understand that the question is quite delicate and
>>is not easy to broach.
>>As I haven’t yet been to Oman in person (the trip is
>>planned this year), I find myself in quite a difficult
>>situation. The only information on the 20th century
>>slaves I have comes from travel stories, some segments
>>of British archives and a couple of sociological
>>studies like those by U. Wikan and F. Barth on Sohar.
>>The major part of the scarce data I have refers to the
>>period before 1970.
>>I would be grateful to get any information on
>>ex-slaves, their descendants, their integration in the
>>society, their actual status as well as on any other
>>forms of dependency in Oman during the second part of
>>the 20th century. Or if you know any articles
>>published on the subject.
>>
>>Sincerely,
>>
>>Olga Andriyanova
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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