 During the 16th and 17th centuries Muslim slave traders began to raid the region and their captives were shipped to the Mediterranean coast, Europe, Arabia, the Western Hemisphere, or to the slave ports and factories along the West African coast.The Bobangi people became major slave traders and sold their captives to the Americas using the Ubangi river to reach the coast.During the 18th century Bandia-Nzakara peoples established the Bangassou Kingdom along the Ubangi river.