The Arab slave trade for most of it's history was a
trickle trade,which boomed in the 19th century. Prior to this period the trade between Arabia and Africa was more focused on iron, ivory and animal products. There is very little evidence in the
sources to support the claim that slaving was ever a major enterprise of any significance prior to the 19 th century boom.
Genetic evidence does however point to a 2500 year old female mediated gene flow from Africa to Arabia. This means that African woman have been part of the population of Arabia, especially Yemen..