Re: Talents and slaves

From: jeffrichard68 <richj_at_...>
Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 00:31:02 -0000

> >Assuming that there is some 150,000 Sartarites (give or take ten
> >thousand), the Lunars should be able to take a thousand or so
slaves
> >a year without too much difficulty. On the other hand, I think
that
> >amount of slaves taken fluxuates each year (although the trend
rises
> >from 1602 to 1625) and I doubt this is the result of some
> >intelligible policy. It is just that the opportunity
increasingly
> >presents itself!
>
> I expect most of the slaves are prisoners taken in the rebellions,
> plus the odd clan enslaved for too prominant a role in a rebellion
> or failing to pay their taxes. Of course if a slave trader picks
> up some of the beggers hanging round the cities no one's going to
> object. An average of a thousand a year seems pretty low for all
> that.

Maybe it is a little low - but then again, I doubt there were very many slaves (other than Maboder and Righteous Wind rebels) taken prior to 1613. IMG, the Colymar refused to pay higher Lunar taxes in 1610 and got away with it until the 1613 settlement. Personally, I don't think there were that many slaves taken during Starbrow's Rebellion - Fazzur was happy to extend clemency to most of the rebels. It was in the years following Starbrow's Rebellion that most of the slaves were taken - when clans and tribes failed to pay their (higher) post-Starbrow's Rebellion tribute, they were punished with extreme harshness. A thousand a year is probably low, two thousand a year is probably a little high. Three thousand is definitely too high.

Jeff