The African Son of Peter the Great

Gannibal was born to a noble African family and was a son of a prince. His father owned many slaves and was in the business of trading slaves with the Ottoman Empire. In those days, African slaves were a big business in Europe and the Ottoman empire. At the age of eight, Gannibal’s hometown was raided by the Ottomans, and he was abducted and sent to Constantinople. Gannibal became a slave of Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III. He converted to Islam and was given the name Ibrahim. He was among the most clever slaves in Topkapi Palace. Gannibal stayed in service of the sultan for a year. In 1704, Russian Tsar Peter the Great was looking for clever African slaves for his courtroom. African slaves were famous in noble families around Europe as they represented power and influence. Russian spies looked for young slaves in Constantinople for their Tsar and got their eyes on Abram. They bribed palace officials and kidnapped Abram. Eventually, they smuggled him to Russia, where he was presented to Peter the Great. <a href="https://medium.com/@ancient.rome/what-were-the-beauty-standards-in-ancient-rome-bd559eb1192b">Website</a>