10. The Medieval African Slave Uprising
In 869, the Zanj (Arabic for “Blacks”) Revolt began in southern Iraq as an uprising by black slaves. The rebels were soon joined by other slaves and freemen, and the uprising morphed into a major revolt against the Abbassid Caliphate. By the time it was over, hundreds of thousands had been killed, with some casualty estimates running into the millions. The Abbassid Caliphate was fatally weakened, and went into a precipitous decline from which it never recovered.
For generations, thousands of African slaves had toiled in massive field projects to drain the salty marshes of southern Iraq. The work was backbreaking, the slaves were underfed and brutally treated, and jammed by the thousands into crowded labor camps. The inhumane conditions bred resentment, and the slave camps became powder kegs awaiting a spark.