Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T13:46:42.128Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Mercantile Community of Mecca during the Late Mamlūk Period

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2009

Richard T. Mortel
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The town of Mecca, in the Hijaz of western Arabia, in addition to its importance as the goal of the ḥajj, or annual Muslim pilgrimage, was a commercial emporium of great importance during the Mamlūk era (A.H. 648/1250–A.H. 923/1517). Approximately eighty kilometres to the west of the Holy City lies the port ofjedda, which had been under the direct control of the Ḥasanid sharīfs of Mecca since at least the fifth/eleventh century. During Mamlūk times, Jedda was a way station of gradually increasing importance on the maritime trade route connecting the ports of the western coast of India with the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt. The merchandise around which this trade revolved consisted almost exclusively of luxury goods and small-sized but high-priced commodities, destined for the markets of Egypt, the Levant and western Europe, and included – among other goods – both cotton and silken cloth, all manners of spices, but primarily pepper from the Malabar coast of southwestern India, camphor, musk, amber, sandalwood, Indian Ocean pearls, precious and semi-precious stones, such as agates, and materia medica from the Indian subcontinent, as well as goods trans-shipped from East Asia.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , April 1994 , pp. 15 - 35
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 For more detailed information about the commercial importance of Mecca during Mamluk times, cf.Mortel, Richard T., al-Ahwāl al-siyāsiyya wa'l-iqtiṡādiyya bi-Makka fi'l-'asr al-Mamlūkī (Riyadh, 1985), PP- 173–93Google Scholar; idem., “Prices in Mecca during the Mamlūk period”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, XXXII (1989), pp. 293–9.Google Scholar

2 Jubayr, Muḥammad b. Ahmad b., Tadhkira bi'l-akhbār 'an ittifāqāt al-asfār (Cairo, 1968), p. 96Google Scholar; Majd al-Dīn-al-Jazarī, Shams al-Dīn Abū 'Abd Allāh Muḥammad b., Tārīkh, MS Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Miṡriyya, no. 995 tārīkh, iii, f. 12Google Scholar; Badr al-Dīn, Muḥammad al-'Aynī, 'lqd al-jumān fi tārīkh ahl al-zamān, MS Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Miṡriyya, no. 1584 tārīkh, xxv, f. 415Google Scholar; Shams al-Dīn, Muḥammad b. ‘Abd al-Rahmān al-Sakhāwī, al-Tibr almasbūk fi dhayl al-Sulūk (Cairo, 1896), p. 19Google Scholar; di Varthema, Ludovico, The Itinerary of Ludovico di Varthema (London, 1978), p. 19Google Scholar; Thénaud, Jean, Le voyage d'outre mer de jean Thénaud (Paris, 1884), p. 64Google Scholar; de Crète, Emmanuel Piloti, l'Egypte au commençement du XVe siècle d'après le traité d'Emmanuel Piloti de Crète (Cairo, 1950), pp. 9–10Google Scholar; cf. also Wilhelm, von Heyd, Histoire du commerçe de Levant au Moyen-Âge, 2nd edn. (Leipzig, 1923), ii, p. 497Google Scholar; Labib, Subhi, Handelsgeschichte Ägyptens in Spätmittelalter (Wiesbaden, 1965), pp. 193–4.Google Scholar

3 Taqī al-Dīn, Aḥmad b. ‘Alī al-Maqrīzī, Kitāb al-sulūk li-ma'rifat duwal al-mulūk (Cairo, 1956–1973), iv, p. 276Google Scholar; Labib, , Handelsgeschichte, p. 381.Google Scholar

4 al-Maqrīzī, , Sulūk, iv, pp. 681, 881Google Scholar; Labib, , Handelsgeschichte, p. 378Google Scholar; von Heyd, , Histoire, ii, pp. 445–6Google Scholar; Darrag, Ahmed, l'Égypte sous le régne de Barsbay (Damascus, 1961), p. 200Google Scholar; ḥasan, Yūsuf Fḋl, The Arabs and the Sudan (Khartoum, 1973), pp. 80–1.Google Scholar

5 Taqī al-Dīn, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Fāsī, al-‘Iqd al-thamīn fi tārīkh al-Balad al-Amin (Cairo, 1959–1969), iv, p. 147Google Scholar; al-Maqrīzī, , Sulūk, iv, pp. 655, 656, 660Google Scholar; Ibn Ḥajar, al-‘Asqalānī, Inbā al-ghumr bi-anbā al- ‘umr (Cairo, 1969–1972), iii, p. 324Google Scholar; Jamāl al-Dīn, Abū'l-Mahāsin Yūsuf b. Taghrī Birdī, al-Nujūm al-zāhira fi mulūk Miṡr wa'l-Qāhira (Cairo, n.d.–1972), xiv, pp. 260–1, 263.Google Scholar

6 Bahā al-Dīn, Muḥammad b. Lutf Allāh al-Khālidī, al-Maqṡad al-rafi al-manshā al-hādī li-ṡittāat al-inshā, MS Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Miṡriyya, no. 21031 zayn, i, f. 154.Google Scholar

7 al-Maqrīzī, , Suhīk, iv, pp. 680–1Google Scholar; Najm al-Dīn, ';Umar b. Muhammad b. Fahd, Itḥāfal-warār Umm al-Qurā (Jedda, n.d.), iii, pp. 620–2.Google Scholar

8 al-Khālidī, , Maaṡad, i. ff. 154a–bGoogle Scholar; al-Maqrīzī, , Sulūk, iv, pp. 707–8.Google Scholar

9 Ghars al-Dīn, Khalīl b. Shāhīn al-Zāhirī, Zubdat kashf al-mamālik wa bayān al-ṭuruq wa'l-masālik (Paris, 1891), p. 14.Google Scholar

10 Shams al-Dīn, Muḥammad b. ‘Abd al-Raḥman al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍaw’ al-lāmi' li-ahl ai-qarn al-tāsi' (Beirut, n.d.), vi, p. 126.Google Scholar

11 Lapidus, Ira M., Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages (Cambridge, 1984), p. 128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

12 al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', x, p. 150Google Scholar; Abd al-'Azīz, b. Umar b. Fahd, Bulūgh al-qirā bi-dhayl Itḥāj al-warā bi-akhbār Umm al-Qurā, MS Riyadh: King Saud University Libraries, no. f73/I, f. 17a.Google Scholar

18 al-Sakhawi, , Daw', v, p. 144Google Scholar; 'Abd al-'Azīz, b. Fahd, Bulūgh, ff. 17a–b.Google Scholar

14 al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', xi, p. 164Google Scholar; 'Abd al-'Azīz, b. Fahd, Bulūgh, f. 17b.Google Scholar

15 al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', xi, p. 276Google Scholar; 'Abd al-'Azīz, b. Fahd, Bulūgh, f. 17b.Google Scholar

16 al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', iii, p. 317Google Scholar; 'Abd al-'Azīz, b. Fahd, Bulūgh, f. 18b.Google Scholar

17 Lapidus, , Muslim Cities, p. 128.Google Scholar

18 Shihāb, al-DīnAbū'l-‘Abbās Aḥmad b. ‘Alī al-Qalqashandī, ṡubḥ al-a‘shā fī ṡinā“at al-inshā (Cairo, 1910–1920), vi, p. 13.Google Scholar

19 Ibid., vi, pp. 69, 165.

20 Ibid., xiv, p. 138.

21 For the kārimī merchants, cf. Ashtor, E., “The Karimi merchants”, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1950), pp. 45–56Google Scholar; Fischel, W.J., “The spice trade in Mamluk Egypt”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, I (1958), pp. 157–74CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Goitein, S. D., “The beginnings of the karimi merchants and the character of their organization”, in Studies in Islamic History and Institutions (Leiden, 1968), pp. 351–60Google Scholar; Labib, Subhi, “Karim”, in the Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd edn.Google Scholar; Wiet, G., “Les marchands d'épices sous les sultans mamlouks”, Cahiers d'histoire égyptienne, VII (1955), pp. 81–147.Google Scholar

22 al-Fāsī, ‘lqd, v, pp. 195–6.Google Scholar

23 Ibid., v, p. 303.

24 Ibid., ii, pp. 200–1; Ibn Ḥajar, , Inbā, iii, p. 186–7Google Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', viii, p. 223.Google Scholar

25 al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', iii, p. 178Google Scholar; Bā Makhramā, Abu Muḥammad 'Abd Allāh al-Ṭayyib, Tārīkh Thaghr 'Adan (Leiden, 1936), ii, p. 69Google Scholar; mentioned by Ashtor, , “Karimi merchants”, p. 46.Google Scholar

26 ‘Umar, b. Fahd, Ithāf, iv, p. 276Google Scholar; idem., al-Durr al-kamīn bi-dltayl al-‘lqd al-thamin tārīkh al-Balad al-Amin, MS Riyadh: King Saud University Libraries, no. f19, f67aGoogle Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', x, pp. 112–13Google Scholar; idem., Tibr, p. 198.Google Scholar

27 al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', i, pp. 144–5.Google Scholar

28 'Abd al-'Azīz, b. Fahd, Bulūgh, f36a.Google Scholar

29 'Abd al-Karīm, b. Muḥammad al-Nīmdahī, Kanz al-ma’amj fi-inshā', MS Istanbul: Reis ül-Kuttap, no. 884, f203bGoogle Scholar. For the importance of the customs duties (‘ushūr) levied in Jedda on the finances of the Mamlūk kingdom, cf. Mortel, , Aḥwāl, pp. 183–92Google Scholar; idem., “Prices“, pp. 296–9.

30 'Umar, b. Fahd, Durr, f100bGoogle Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', iii, p. 214.Google Scholar

31 Ibn Taghrī, Birdī, Nujūm, xvi, p. 353Google Scholar; 'Umar, b. Fahd, Durr, ff 103a–bGoogle Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', iii, p. 127.Google Scholar

32 Cf. Mortel, Richard T., “Zaydī Shī ism and the Ḥasanid sharifs of Mecca”, International Journal of Middle East Studies, XIX (1987), p. 462 and note 36.Google Scholar

33 ‘Abd al-‘AzIz, b. Fahd Bulūgh, f53a.Google Scholar

34 ‘Umar, b. Fahd, Itḥāf, iv, p. 355Google Scholar; idem., Durr, f180b; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', xi, p. 193.Google Scholar

35 ‘Umar, b. Fahd, Durr, ff22a–b.Google Scholar

36 ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, b. Fahd, Bulugh, f53b.Google Scholar

37 Ibid., f22a.

38 Ibid., ff18a, 53a.

39 Ibid., f204b.

40 Ibid., f197a.

41 Ibid., f178b.

42 'Umar, b. Fahd, Durr, f152bGoogle Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', v, p. 240.Google Scholar

43 'Umar, b. Fahd, Durr, f132bGoogle Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', iv, p. 294.Google Scholar

44 ‘Abd al-‘Azīz, b. Fahd, Bulūgh, f5a.Google Scholar

45 Ibid., f25a; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', xi, p. 178.Google Scholar

46 'Abd al-‘Azīz, b. Fahd, Bulūgh, f25bGoogle Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', xi, p. 178.Google Scholar

47 'Abd al-'Azīz, b. Fahd, Bulūgh, f29a.Google Scholar

48 Ibid., f29b.

49 Ibid., f95a.

50 Ibid., f104a.

51 Ibid., f117a; Abū'l-Barakat, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Iyās, Badā'i‘ al-zuhūr fi waq'i‘ al-duhūr (Cairo, 1960–1930), iv, p. 317.Google Scholar

52 'Abd al-‘Azīz, b. Fahd, Bulūgh, f117b.Google Scholar

53 Ibid., f173a.

54 Ibid., f217b.

55 For the political situation in Mecca during the last two decades of Mamluk hegemony, cf. Mortel, , Aḥwāl, pp. 161–72.Google Scholar

56 'Umar, b. Fahd, Durr, f97aGoogle Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', xi, p. 150Google Scholar; father-in-law's obituary in ‘Umar, b. Fahd, Durr, f35aGoogle Scholar; idem., Ithāf, iv, p. 355Google Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', viii, p. 196.Google Scholar

57 al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', x, p. 53Google Scholar; Fahd, ‘Abd al-‘Azīz b., Bulūgh, f5a.Google Scholar

58 al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', iv, pp. 213–14Google Scholar; father-in-law's biography in Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, f35aGoogle Scholar; idem., Ithāf, iv, p. 362Google Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', viii, p. 201.Google Scholar

59 Fahd, ‘Umar b., Itḥāf, iv, p. 448Google Scholar; idem., Durr, f179b; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', xi, p. 86.Google Scholar

80 al-Qalqashandī, , ṡubḥ, vi, p. 13.Google Scholar

61 al-Fāsī, , lqd, vi, p. 229.Google Scholar

62 Ibid., vi, p. 230; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', v, p. 297.Google Scholar

63 al-Fāsī, , lqd, ii, pp. 200–1Google Scholar; Ibn Ḥajar, , Inbā’, iii, pp. 186–7.Google Scholar

64 al-Fāsī, , lqd, iii, p. 185Google Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', ii, p. 227.Google Scholar

65 al-Fāsī, , lqd, iii, p. 404.Google Scholar

66 Fahd, 'Umar b., Durr, f145bGoogle Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', v, p. 165.Google Scholar

67 The wayba was a standard measure of volume in Mecca equal to 15 litres; cf. Mortel, Richard T., “Weights and measures in Mecca during the late Ayyūbid and Mamlūk periods”, in Arabian Studies, University of Cambridge Oriental publication 42, ed. Serjeant, R.B. and Bidwell, R.L. (Cambridge, 1990), p. 178.Google Scholar

68 al-Fāsī, , lqd, v, pp. 337–8.Google Scholar

69 The mann was a measure of weight equal ℃ in this case – to 812·5 grams; cf. Mortel, , “Weights”, p. 181.Google Scholar

70 al-Fāsī, , lqd, v, p. 454.Google Scholar

71 Ibid., iii, p. 75; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', i, pp. 372–3.Google Scholar

72 al-Fāsī, , lqd, iii, pp. 23–4.Google Scholar

73 Fahd, 'Abd al-‘Azīz b., Bulūgh, f113b.Google Scholar

74 Fahd, 'Umar b., Durr, f124b.Google Scholar

75 al-Fāsī, , 'lqd, vi, p. 106Google Scholar. The Nakhla intended here is presumably to be identified with Wādī Nakhla al-Shāmiyya, an area of date palm cultivation lying to the north of Mecca, cf.Mortel, Richard T., “Masādir alt-amwīn al-ghidhā ī li-imārat Makka, 358n/969 – 923/1517”, Majallat Kullīyyat al-Ādab, Jāmi'at al-Malik Su'ūd, XII, No. 1 (1985), pp. 196–7.Google Scholar

76 Fahd, 'Abd al-‘Azīz b., Bulūgh, f58b.Google Scholar

77 Fahd, 'Umar b., Ithāf, iv, pp. 523–4.Google Scholar

78 Fahd, 'Abd al-‘Azīz b., Bulūgh, f189b.Google Scholar

79 al-Fāsī, , 'lqd, v, pp. 303–4Google Scholar; Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, ff12b, 21a, 22a–b, 41b, 79b–80a, 97a, 103a–b, 133b, 145b, 155b, 163b–164a, 164bGoogle Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', i, pp. 144–5; ix pp 115–6Google Scholar; Fahd, ‘Abd al-‘Azīz b., Bulūgh, ff12b, 18b, 28b, 35b, 36a, 205a.Google Scholar

80 al-Fāsī, , 'lqd, v, pp. 303–4.Google Scholar

81 Fahd, ‘Abd al-‘Azīz b., Bulūgh, f205a.Google Scholar

82 al-Sakhāwī, , Daw’, i, pp. 144–5.Google Scholar

83 Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, f41b.Google Scholar

84 Fahd, ‘Abd al-‘Azīz b., Bulūgh, f18b.Google Scholar

85 Ibid., f230a.

86 al-Fāsī, , ‘lqd, iv, pp. 348–9; v, pp. 279–80; vi, pp. 285, 286, 459; vii, pp. 300–1Google Scholar; Fahd, ‘Umar b. Ithāf, iv p. 489Google Scholar; idem., Durr, ff35a, 84b, 103a, 104a–b, 124a–125a, 126a, 133a, 134a, 136a; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', ii, p. 227; vi, p. 149Google Scholar; idem., Tibr, p. 276Google Scholar; Fahd, ‘Abd al-‘Azīz b., Bulūgh, f36aGoogle Scholar; Bā Makhramā, , ‘Adan, ii, p. 118.Google Scholar

87 al-Fāsī, , lqd, v, pp. 279–80Google Scholar; Bā Makhramā, , ‘Adan, ii, p.118.Google Scholar

88 al-Fāsī, , ‘lqd, vi, p.285.Google Scholar

89 Ibid., vi, p. 459.

90 Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, ff132b–133a.Google Scholar

91 Fahd, ‘Umar b.Ithāf, iv, p. 489.Google Scholar

92 al-Fāsī, , ‘lqd, iv, pp. 348–9; vi, p. 355Google Scholar; Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, ff22a–b, 35a, 70a, 84b, 103a, 106b, 145b, 163b–164aGoogle Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Tibr, p. 276Google Scholar; Fahd, ‘Abd al-‘Azīz b., Bulūgh, ff17a, 18b.Google Scholar

93 Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, f70a.Google Scholar

94 Fahd, ‘Abd al-‘Azīz b., Bulūgh, f17a.Google Scholar

95 al-Fāsī, , ‘lqd, v, p. 338Google Scholar; Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, ff103a, 124b–125a, 133aGoogle Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', i, p. 50 PP. 334–5; v. P. 240; vi, p. 149.Google Scholar

96 Cf. Mortel, , “Masadir“, pp. 203–4Google Scholar; idem., “Prices”, pp.291–2.

97 Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, f103aGoogle Scholar; for Dahlak, cf. Yāqūt, b. ‘Abd Allāh al-ḥamawī, Mu'jam al-buldān (Beirut, n.d.), ii, p. 492Google Scholar; Longrigg, S. H., “ Dahlak”, in Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edn. (Leiden, 1960–).Google Scholar

98 al-Fāsī, , lqd, v, pp. 102–3.Google Scholar

99 Ibid., v, pp. 302–3; Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, ff84b, 126a, 136a.Google Scholar

100 Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, ff84b, 103a, 123b–124a, 134a.Google Scholar

101 Ibid., ff123b–124a.

102 Ibid., f84b.

103 Ibid., ff135b–136a.

104 al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', i, p. 50.Google Scholar

105 al-Fāsī, , ‘lqd, v, pp. 279–80.Google Scholar

106 Ibid., iii, pp. 23–4.

107 Ibid., v, pp. 213–14; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', v, pp. 35–6.Google Scholar

108 Fahd, ‘Umar b., Ithāf, iv, p. 524.Google Scholar

109 al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', iii, p. 178Google Scholar; Bā Makhramā, , Adan, ii, p. 69.Google Scholar

110 al-Fāsī, , ‘lqd, i, p. 289.Google Scholar

111 Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, f222a–b.Google Scholar

112 Ibid., f180b.

113 ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, b. Fahd, Bulugh, f90b.Google Scholar

114 Fahd, ‘Umar b., Ithāf, iv, pp. 523–4.Google Scholar

118 ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, b. Fahd, Bulugh, f173a.Google Scholar

116 Ibid., ff157a–159a, 162a.

117 Fahd, ‘Umar b., Ithāf, iv, p. 606Google Scholar; al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', vi, p. 27.Google Scholar

118 Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, ff123b–124a.Google Scholar

119 Ibid., f145b.

120 Ibid., f21a.

121 Ibid., f40b.

122 al-Fāsī, , ‘lqd, iii, pp.23–4.Google Scholar

123 Ibid., iv, p. 606; v, p. 454; vi, pp. 106–7.

124 Ibid., v, p. 280.

125 Ibid., v, p. 338.

126 Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, f84b.Google Scholar

127 Ibid., f179b.

128 Ibid., f125b.

129 Ibid., ff104a–b.

130 Ibid., f90b.

131 Ibid., ff69a–b.

132 al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', i, pp. 266–7.Google Scholar

133 al-Fāsī, , ‘lqd, iii, pp. 24–25.Google Scholar

134 Ibid., iii, p. 167.

135 Ibid., iii, p. 42.

136 Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, f84b;.Google Scholar

137 Ibid., ff124a–125a.

138 al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', iv, pp. 283–5.Google Scholar

139 Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, f103b.Google Scholar

140 Ibid., f135b.

141 al-Sakhāwī, , Daw', iv, pp. 334–5.Google Scholar

142 Fahd, ‘Umar b., Durr, ff123b–124a.Google Scholar

143 Ibid., f164a.

144 Ibid., ff75b–76a.

145 Ibid., f103b.

146 Ibid., f123a.

147 Ibid., f35a.

148 Ibid., f76a.

149 Ibid., f134a.

150 Ibid., f35a.

151 Ibid., f76a.

152 Ibid.

153 Ibid., ff103a–b.