Glimpses of an Untold History of the Gulf: Notable Slaves as an Example

Although the history of slaves and slavery in the Gulf has been the focus of some research, certain aspects of this history have been lost in the dominant historical narratives. This paper focuses on an untold aspect of the local history: notable slaves. Despite the obstacles to researching this topic, the paper sheds light on a gap between local and foreign sources, whereby the local historiography of enslaved populations in the region since the 19th Century has been largely neglected. Giving a brief overview of local slave communities, the paper draws on examples from Kuwait, Najd, al-Zubayr and Hayil to show how certain enslaved individuals gained significant prominence, occupying a range of important positions within these emirates and sheikhdoms. In doing so, this article sheds light on a largely untold aspect of the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula’s social and political history between the 19th and 20th Centuries, which is scarcely documented, except in a marginal manner.