Final answer:
While exact figures are not available, estimates suggest millions of Africans were sold into the Arab slave trade, with yearly averages ranging from thousands to potentially eight thousand during peak times of the trade.
Step-by-step explanation:
Estimates of Africans Sold Through the Arab Slave Trade
The exact number of Africans sold through the Arab slave trade is difficult to ascertain due to the duration and complexity of the trade networks. However, Muslim Arabs significantly expanded the trans-Saharan slave trade, resulting in the capture and selling of countless Africans across the Sahara into North Africa, the Middle East, and as far as India and China. In West Africa and the Swahili Coast, African societies such as the Yao, the Marava, and the Makua played roles in capturing and selling each other into slavery. Estimates suggest that in North Africa, an average of six thousand enslaved Africans were received annually between 1700 and 1799, while the Swahili coast saw a significant increase in trade, with numbers possibly reaching up to eight thousand per year by the end of the seventeenth century.
Adding to the difficulty in determining precise figures, enslaved people destined for the Americas suffered a great deal during the Middle Passage, with mortality rates averaging around 12-13 percent. Notably, the arrival of Europeans transformed the African slave trade, shifting its focus significantly toward capturing Africans to sell to European traders for transport across the Atlantic. The triangle trade network alone accounts for at least ten million Africans enslaved and shipped to the New World.