Finland silenced history: little boys and -girls was taken to "luxury slaves"
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HISTORY
In the Middle Ages, and even at the beginning of a new period of several thousands of Finnish were forced into slavery. Particularly sought after were blond hair, blue-eyed Finnish girls and boys. Throw ended up several hundred "luxury slavesi" of the Mediterranean Sea, Central Asia, or the great powers in the Middle East regions.
The fate of captured slaves was not the frames with potential, says a professor at the University of Eastern Finland Jukka Korpela.
Korpela has studied Finnish collusion slave trade in 1100-1500's. Article seised of the matter appeared this month in the prestigious American Russian history -tiedejulkaisussa.
- The first records of the slave trade were the Vikings 1100's, Korpela says a new Finnish interview.
- Latest kidnappings took place in the 1560's, when the Tatars captured some of the hundreds of Finnish.
Previously, the data against Finland in the slave trade have been flimsy. However, Korpela studied Finnish fates of Russian chronicles, war writings and the slave trade centers in the accounts.
Although the fate of individuals, there is no labeling, the slave Search journeys is known that stretched to Lapland in Finland and Ostrobothnia up. Most commonly, the slaves were captured in southern Finland and Russian Karelia.
Finnish-slaves were transported Korpela study shows that in most cases Novrogodiin and the Volga River in Kazan. At these markets the slaves were resold. A network of Russian and Central Asian slave trade reached as far as Goa and the Maldives until now.
Drifting arrived Finns were mainly children.
- Say, from Kemi to pay an inconceivably large amount of money to drag people to the other side of Europe. Then they had a special color and ended up luksusorjiksi, Korpela says.
- The slave trade was a profitable business. If Novrogodissa Finnish slave paid a few coins, the farther his price was more than one thousand times.
Korpela says slaves of displaced intra-caste-based. Forced labor were young men, exotic children, in turn, were classified as "luksustapauksiksi".
The slave's fate was not always hard
In the Middle Ages the role of slaves in Europe and the Middle East, and Central Asia was different compared to general perceptions of the cotton fields of forced labor toil Africans.
For example, in Persia and Central Asia societies based on clans. The rulers wanted to avoid the administration of dependence on local, so they acquire a slave market of slaves officials and military lead.
- In Persia, the military elite was in the Middle Ages slaves, says Korpela.
If Finnish young girl or -boy would actually reached Persia in the hands of the monarch, his life would be mullistunut - and not necessarily in the wrong direction.
- It would not have been a very bad fate of the slave. Finnish slave boy would have been expensive, got training and ended up in good positions. Girls, in turn, would have ended up in Persia harem wives sultans.
Unfortunately, the pages of history have faded slaves life stories. Korpela was unable to identify their sources and individual Finns slaves destination, even if proven slave trade chains extended the longest in Finland Chechnya.
Korpela is currently preparing an article and book on the history of Finnish slave trade
