Al-Mujawir’s 13th century
chronicle, the Tārīkh al-Mustabșir may
be read cautiously for evidence of pre-modern conditions that led to the
success of commercial fishing and trading towns along the Arabian Sea. His Tārīkh or history provides detailed descriptions of the Arabian
Peninsula, its sea routes across the Indian Ocean, as well as accounts of his
visits to the Oman and Yemen coasts (Rentz, 2012). In one dream sequence, he describes the
verdant conditions of an imagined town around Sana’ā in Yemen, with prosperous
markets, irrigation and a place of learning (Al-Mujawir, 2008, p. 235). This passage is followed with a description
of an actual town where pottery was produced.
Al-Mujawir recounts that in 12th
century Aden, it was the practice to register crew member names while assessing
customs fees or duties on ships visiting from other Yemeni ports (Al-Mujawir,
2008, p. 253). The cloth trade was a key commodity of the late
medieval period and one may infer that local officials were taxing or assessing
charges to individual crew members who they assumed had a stake in the muḍārabah
system of speculative commodity buying and selling.
The 14th to 15th
centuries are a critical period of study for understanding the transformations
and resilience of the region as it underwent the aggressive absorption of the
commercial trade within the European empires.
While sources are limited for this period, a reading of Arabic texts and
sources of histories of the coastal areas as well as the towns of the Hijaz
offer insight into social conditions and economic life. From these sources it is possible to
appreciate the high regard for and status of women in the Arabian Peninsula and
particularly along the coastal seaport towns (Peterson, 2014).
In his Rihla, or travel
account his mid-14th century voyages, the famous world traveler Ibn
Batutta gives us a glimpse of social status in various towns. On his outgoing
journey he describes his visit to the Eastern and Southern Arabian towns in
1328. Ibn Battuta describes the rich merchants of the southern Arabian towns
and port cities of Yemen and Aden. In
his account Aden is a large town with a main reservoir but limited resources (Ibn Battuta,
2014, p. 55). Yet it is a town of rich merchants who trade
with the occasional ships that arrive from India[1].
Across the Red Sea and down the East
African coast he inserts a short description of a detour to Zanzibar. On his return to Yemen he describes the
interior town of Dhofar whose wealth is distinguished by a vibrant horse trade
and long distance shipping to India. Yet other towns are found to be in a state
of misery or infestation[2].
On his return from China after
twenty years Ibn Battuta arrives back on the Arabian coast in 1347. At Dhofar
on the Yemen coast he finds the son of the former ruler of Dhofar now in power,
a sign of dynastic succession (Ibn Battuta, 2014, p. 224). Moving north and west along the coast he
stops at Qalhat in Oman, where he describes the excellent condition of the
mausoleum and mosque complex dedicated to Bibi Maryam, a local noble woman (Ibn Battutah, p. 164).
In the Nejd region of the interior of Arabia
women were spinning cotton and working as weavers, selling and making clothes
of unbleached cloth (Al-Mujawir, 2008, p. 233). There is therefore considerable divergence
from these short accounts regarding the status, social and economic
participation of women in coastal economies. In the Haḍramawt region of Yemen, women
who were active in producing honey (Al-Mujawir, 2008, p. 252). One may assume these economic activites
extended to the coastal towns.
Several other accounts from the 15th
century provide short descriptions of the Arabian Seas and Indian Ocean ports
and islands. Notable among these are the
account of the Persian Ambassador Abd ar-Razzak in 845 AH / 1442 CE (Razzak, 1857), and the Russian
traveler, Athanasius (Anastasi) Nikitin in 1452. Both visitors stopped at and described Hormuz,
Muscat and Indian port cities in the mid 15th century (Nikitin,
1857).
No comments:
Post a Comment