Africans who sold Africans into slavery

#slavery #transatlanticslavetrade #blackhistory Slavery and slave trading were already firmly entrenched in many African societies before their contact with Europe. In most situations, men as well as women captured in local warfare became slaves. In general, however, slaves in African communities were often treated as junior members of the society with specific rights, and many were ultimately absorbed into their masters' families as full members.
When the first Europeans arrived in the late fifteenth century, many inhabitants were striving to consolidate their newly acquired territories and to settle into a secure and permanent environment. Several immigrant groups had yet to establish firm ascendancy over earlier occupants of their territories, and considerable displacement and secondary migrations were in progress.
It is important to mention, however, that the supply of slaves was entirely an African thing. Although powerful traditional chiefs, were known to have engaged in the slave trade, individual African merchants commanded large bands of armed men, many of them slaves, and engaged in various forms of commercial activities with the Europeans on the coast of West, East and Central Africa.
Here are some notorious chiefs who where actively involved in the selling of Africans to the European merchants.