Beginning in 1270 AH, the slave trade declined due to European pressure on the Ottoman capital to ban it, and Egypt signing a treaty with Britain in 1294 AH, which included a clause stating that 'the British government has the right to monitor ships in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula, and confiscate any slaves on board and return them to their homelands.'

The restrictions intensified with the treaty that the Ottoman Empire concluded in 1297 AH with some European states to prohibit this trade.

Afterwards, the slave trade moved from public to secret, and public auctions disappeared. This was aided by the fact that the princes of Mecca themselves, the scholars there, and some Ottoman governors were against banning it, so they resorted to covering up and concealing it, to avoid direct confrontation between traders and authorities or European consuls.

Moreover, some influential employees in consulates or government departments benefited from it, so they were keen not to ban it, and slave smuggling continued along the Red Sea coasts and fishing community areas, with some Europeans residing in Jeddah participating.

Added to this is another important reason for the failure to ban this trade: the general view among Europeans themselves regarding the prohibition decisions was tainted with doubt about the humanitarian sincerity of the ban, stripped of other motives. Even the orientalist Snouck Hurgronje said about this: 'The so-called slave liberation movement is not due to popular interest a noble cause, but is a dangerous fake game by major politicians for non-humanitarian purposes, so that the Christian world can take a false and fake hostile stance against Islam.'

Additionally, the Mamluks themselves rejected the offers of emancipation that some activists fighting this trade tried to present, who wanted to send them back to their original homelands. Moreover, freeing slaves imposed on the consulates that freed them the responsibility of securing livelihoods and jobs for them, a burden these consulates could not bear.

Perhaps this was one of the most significant difficulties faced by activists in banning this trade, so in many cases they resorted to returning slaves to their masters in exchange for the masters paying them wages for their work.

Therefore, slave prices began to rise, as traders started using new sea or land routes to be safe from the control imposed by the dominant powers over the Red Sea. They also began venturing deeper into Africa for the same reason, which cost them much effort and money. At the same time, transporting slaves over long distances and rugged roads caused them fatigue and led to their deaths.

That is, the slave trade became a kind of adventure trade, and slaves were confiscated before reaching buyers. For example, in 1290 AH, English ships in the Red Sea found a number of ships loaded with slaves coming from Aden, so they took the slaves and sank the ships.

In 1294 AH, the Sharif of Mecca issued an order to remove the slave display benches from Suwayqa Street, fearing their confiscation, but he ordered the traders to sell them secretly.

In 1296 AH, the deputy governor of the Hejaz province, along with the British consul, raided a house containing thirty Mamluks from the Zubayd tribe, deported them, and imprisoned the slave traders.

Amid the duality of decisions between banning and permitting sales, in 1303 AH, a group of more than eighty slaves arrived. The deputy governor of Jeddah received them, then the governor of Mecca took them from him and distributed them to his friends and high-ranking soldiers, without any opposition.

Also, many slaves began to flee from their owners and surrender themselves to one of the European consulates in Jeddah.

For instance, in 1309 AH, a group of slaves from the Sahaf tribe escaped and surrendered to the British consul, who sent them to the deputy governor of Jeddah, who gave them emancipation papers.

This caused a deterioration in the relationship between Sharif Awn al-Rafiq, the Emir of Mecca, and the Sahaf tribe.

This scenario was repeated with the Zubayd tribe, causing great confusion between the governor and the Emir of Mecca, and at the same time straining the relationship between the Sharif and the owners of the escaped Mamluks.

Egypt signed a treaty with Britain, granting the latter the right to monitor ships on the Red Sea coasts and the Gulf of Aden, and confiscate slaves and return them to their countries.