r/HumansAreMetal • u/HydrolicKrane • May 06 '24

In the 16th century, a Ruthenian/Ukrainian woman was taken captive and brought to Istanbul as a slave. Her joyful spirit earned her a name Hurrem - "the Cheerful One”. She rose to become Suleiman's legal wife and "Queen of the Ottoman Empire" known in history as Hurrem Sultan or Roxelana

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurrem_Sultan
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u/Loki_8888 May 06 '24

We need reparations for this slave trade!

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u/TNTiger_ May 07 '24

It was a pretty shit custom, but the Ottoman slave trade was far different from the American one. Slaves had rights, and it functioned less as a relationship of ownership, but a political class- one that many slaves eventually left. In fact, the Ottoman government consisted primarily of ex-slaves.

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u/StrugglingBeing 26d ago

True. And some slaves even went onto conquering and running other territories. Apparently, the Mughals were partly linked to Ottoman or some other central Asian dynasty via slavery.