Iranian Slaves in Wararud

With the end of the Iranian-origin Samanid dynasty in 999 AD and the rise of the Karakhanid Turks, waves of nomadic Turks migrated to the Khanates of Bukhara and Khwarezm, increasing the demand for agricultural and livestock products and thus requiring labor. Consequently, the Turkmen of the Kara Qom desert, living between this region and Iran, or by raiding Iranian towns, villages, and caravans, kidnapped thousands of Iranians and sold them in the provinces of Bukhara and Khwarezm (Khiva). Buyers, considering Shia Iranians as infidels and sanctioning their enslavement, treated these unfortunate people like animals. In the 19th century, as Russian Tsarist conquest intensified, the slaves hoped for freedom under complete Russian control. However, Russia, seeking a peaceful colony to expand commerce and approach British India, merely ordered local officials to ban new slave trading and to free existing slaves within ten years. Disappointed Iranian slaves launched a bloody revolt. Fearing the future, the Russians ordered emancipation. After freedom, some chose to remain in place, some were sent by ship to Astrabad, and thousands returned to Iran in groups. However, the Turkmen of the Kara Qom desert, driven by greed and hatred of Shia Iranians, killed them all on the plains. The Qajar government merely observed from afar, allowing this “great crime” to be silenced and forgotten.