Introduction to Niambi Caccholi's Research Site
My name is Niambi Walker Cacchioli and I am a PhD student at Birkbeck College, University of London. I am currently working on a social history of black African slaves who served in Qajar Persia's (1848-1925) multifunctional and multi-ethnic slavery institution.
The ethnic category "black" does not necessarily have a direct parallel within the context 19th century Iranian demography. Here, I use the term in reference to individuals originating from Somalia, Ethiopia and interior East Africa's Lake Nyassa region. Men, women and children from these populations were regularly sold at the Zanzibar slave markets.
This research locates black African slaves as a small, yet vital component of royal and elite Persian households and, in certain instances, as labourers in pre-capitalist commerical activities. In this way, their conditions, their labour, and their social relations are viewed within the broader context of the period's social, economic, and political organisation.
Although the research centres on the social history of a relatively small phenomenon, it contributes to the growing international project of re-envisioning Iran's pre-modern era, particularly with regard to the country's constructs of ethnic identities, its formal and informal labour organisation, and its maintenance of ideals for male and female behaviour.
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The purpose of this website is
to generate interest in the topic and, likewise, to find other scholars performing similar
research. On the following page I have included a general background to the
topic and a brief overview of my research
methodology. You may also peruse my c.v.,which outlines my educational, professional and multimedia training. Lastly,
the links page lists online resources that I have found helpful in an variety
of academic and cultural interests.
Thanks for visiting my site,
Niambi Walker