The African Son of Peter the Great
By: Abdullah Safi
Tags: Russia, Ottoman Empire, Slavery, BlackLivesMatter, History

The African Son of Peter the Great

This portrait was initially believed to be of Gannibal but later proved otherwise — Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Throughout history, many enslaved people became notable personalities one such personality was Abram Petrovich Gannibal. Abram was born in 1696 in modern-day Cameroon though it is debated among historians. Some say his birthplace is the highlands of Ethiopia and some conclude that he was born in modern-day Eritrea.

Becoming a Slave

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.

Arrival in Russia

Peter the great was pleased with Abram’s cleverness and decided to educate him and keep him close. In 1705, he was baptized in Vilnius, Lithuania, as the Tsar’s godson. Peter the Great changed his name from Ibrahim to Abram Petrovich (son of Peter). Over the years, Abram would travel with Peter in his conquests throughout the Baltics and Northern Europe. Peter was fond of Abram and protected him from jealous royal family members.

Abram had a knack for education and liked mathematics and engineering. In 1717 Peter sent Abram to study in France. He stayed in France for several years and fought in the War of Quadruple Alliance against Spain. He rose to the rank of captain because of his expertise in engineering.

In battle, he gave himself the name of Gannibal, which is the Russian translation for Hannibal (the Carthaginian military commander). Abram got injured in battle and returned to France to continue his studies. He became famous in France because of his color and association with the Russian Royal family. He also made friends with some honorable people in France.

Banishment

In 1723, after completing his studies, Gannibal returned to Russia and continued to serve Tsar Peter. He tutored the Tsar’s private guards on military engineering. After the death of the Tsar, Prince Menshikov took power. The prince didn’t like Gannibal because of his African ancestry and exiled him to Siberia. Gannibal would spend the next six years in Siberia. During his exile, he built several forts around Russian towns.

Gannibal served his sentence until 1733 and came back to St Petersburg. When Peter the great’s daughter Empress Elizabeth took power, Gannibal became a trustworthy member of her court and rose to high ranks. Elizabeth made him an administrator of the city of Tallinn. He used his engineering skills to build defenses around the city. Empress Elizabeth allotted him an estate with more than a hundred servants for his loyalty towards the royal family. Gannibal, who was once a slave himself, became a slave owner. He retired to his estate in 1753, where he would spend the rest of his life.

Gannibal married twice in his life and had eleven children, all of whom would become nobility. He was the great-grandfather of the poet Alexander Pushkin, who is regarded as the father of modern Russian literature. Pushkin took pride in his ancestry and wrote a book on Gannibal: The Moor of Peter the Great.