He
was the author of a work describing the most celebrated kingdoms in Europe,
Africa, and Asia; but the details respecting Africa, India, and the lesser
Asia, are the most accurate and laboured.
The account we shall afterwards
give of the geographical knowledge of the Arabians, renders it unnecessary
to present any abstract, in this place, of the geographical part of his
work; we shall therefore confine ourselves to the notices interspersed
respecting commerce. The Arabians traded to nearly every port of India,
from Cashmere to Cape Comorin; and seem to have been protected and
particularly favoured in their commercial pursuits. In the year 877 a great
rebellion occurred in China, and the Arabian merchants had been massacred
at Canfn. According to Massoudi, however, in his time this city had
recovered from its disasters; confidence had revived; the Arabian merchants
from Bassora, and other ports in Persia, resorted to it; and vessels from
India and the adjacent islands. He also describes a route to China by land
frequented by traders: this seems to have been through Korasin, Thibet, and
a country he calls Ilestan. With regard to the Arabian commerce with
Africa, the merchants settled at Omar traded to Sofala for gold, and to an
island, which is supposed to be Madagascar, where they had established
colonies.
Of the geographical knowledge displayed by the next Arabian traveller in
point of date, [Ebor->Ebn] Haukal, we shall at present take no notice, for
the reason already assigned; but confine ourselves to his notices regarding
commerce. According to him, the most wealthy merchants resided at Siraf,
where they traded very extensively and successfully in the commodities of
India and China. Hormus was the principal trading place in Karmania; Daibul
in Sind: the merchants here traded to all parts. The countries near the
Caspian were celebrated for their manufactures of silk, wool, hair, and
gold stuffs. In Armenia, hangings and carpets, dyed with a worm or insect a
beautiful colour, called _kermez_, were made. Samarcand was celebrated for
the excellency of its paper. Trebezond was the principal trading place on
the Black Sea. Alexandria is celebrated for the grandeur of its buildings;
but its trade is not mentioned.
About the beginning of the eleventh century we derive our earliest notice
of the commerce of Spain under its Arabian conquerors. The port of
Barcelona was at this period the principal station for commercial
intercourse with the eastern nations bordering on the Mediterranean; and as
a proof of the character which its merchants held, it may be noticed, that
their usages were collected into a code: by this code all vessels arriving
at, or sailing from, Barcelona, are assured of friendly treatment; and they
are declared to be under the protection of the prince, so long as they are
near the coast of Catalonia. How much Spain was indebted to the Arabians
for their early commerce may be judged of from the number of commercial and
maritime terms in the Spanish language, evidently derived from the Arabic.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 231 of 524
Words from 120434 to 120941
of 273188
