Was Somalia involved in the slave trade?

Yes, Somalia was involved in the slave trade. Although the Somali sultanates played a minor role in the Indian Ocean slave trade, they acted as intermediaries between inland slave catchers and slave traders from Arabia, the Persian Gulf, and even Europe and the Americas. Slave raiding was prevalent in the hinterlands of Somalia, particularly in the southern regions.

The northern coastal towns, such as Zeila and Berbera, were significant slave trading ports, and Somali merchants were heavily involved in the trade, even owning and operating slave dhows. The demand for slaves from the Somali coast stemmed from the expansion of the Islamic Empires (particularly the Ottoman Empire) and the rise of plantation economies in the Americas.