At the peak of the transatlantic slave trade, the Benin Kingdom supplied 3000 slaves every year.
Benin was one of the mightiest powers on the eastern Slave Coast and it was there that the Portuguese purchased their first large slave cargoes.
Before 1650, Benin exported slaves not only to the New World but also to Europe and the Gold Coast.
In 1506, a slave typically cost between 12 and 15 manillas (brass bracelets); by 1517, the price had risen to 57 manillas.
After the 1520s, cowry shells replaced manillas as the most popular “money” in the slave trade (in 1522, fifty manillas were equal to 6,370 cowries).
Goods such as hats, beads, etc. were also bartered for slaves.
From 1580 to 1690, Benin never sold its own citizens, but only female captives (including Igbo, Sobo, Ijaw, and others) captured in war or purchased from neighboring peoples.
In fact, the West India planters preferred the slaves of Benin to those of any other part of West Africa.
Source: HistoryVille
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