 Moors have owned slaves for centuries.The slaves are traditionally called Haratin and "`Abid", and they were the lowest status endogamous castes, largely segregated oasis-dwelling black people, in the Moors society.The Haratin of Mauritania, states Joseph Hellweg – a professor of Anthropology specializing on West African studies, were part of a social caste-like hierarchy that likely developed between 1300 to 1500 CE because of a Bedouin legacy.