Ayuba Suleiman Diallo

Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, also known as Job ben Solomon, was a member of the Diallo Muslim merchant clan of the western Sudan. In 1730 when he was 29 years old, Diallo became a victim of human trafficking while he was returning to his home in Bondu from Senegambia where he was on trading mission. Sold to the British as a slave, he was sent to Maryland to work on tobacco plantations. There Thomas Bluett, an English entrepreneur, recognized his talents and education and took him to London where he was presented at the royal court. After he agreed to act as a partner of British merchants in African slave trade, he was able to return to Bondu and resume his life.

His lifestory entitled “Some Memoirs of the Life of Job, the Son of Solomon the High Priest of Boonda in Africa; Who was a Slave about two Years in Maryland; and afterwards being brought to England, was set free, and sent to his native Land in the Year in 1734” was reprinted several times in French and English.