Black Sea slave trade

The Black Sea slave trade trafficked people across the Black Sea from Europe and Caucasus to slavery in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The Black Sea slave trade was a center of the slave trade between Europe and the rest of the world from antiquity until the 19th century.

The Black Sea was situated in a region historically dominated by the margins of empires, conquests and major trade routes between Europe, the Mediterranean and Central Asia, notably the Ancient Silk road, made the Black Sea ideal for a slave trade of war captives sold along the trade routes. One of the major slave trades of the Black Sea region was the trade of the Crimean Khanate, known as the Crimean slave trade.