Maintaining Network Boundaries: Islamic Law and Commerce from Sahara to Guinea Shores.

One of the intriguing questions concerning the trans-Atlantic slave trade was why the West African interior did not supply more slaves to the slave trade than it did when, theoretically, the region had the capacity to fulfil the entire new world demand for enslaved labour. There have been numerous explanations put forth to explain this paradox. Using specific case studies, we argue that the combination of the policies of Muslim governments, Islamic commercial law and the workings of commercial diasporas limited the trade in enslaved individuals from the interior to the coast. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]