Rafi Samad

Author, Freelance journalist & News Analyst

Key words: Abbasid Empire-Province of Sindh-commercial metropolises-trade routes-trade goods

Trade and Commerce have been the forte’ of the Arabs since times immemorial. Omani and Yemeni traders in particular provided an effective bridge between the East and the West in pre-Islamic period. Persian Gulf States and Ethiopia were also quite active in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea regions. In the Mediterranean Sea region, Syria and Egypt provided the interface with South European States, Greece, Rome and Sicily. The major difficulty, which the Arabs faced, was absence of secure and reliable intermediate berthing facilities for their ships for trading operations with South and Southeast Asia and China. The conquest of Sindh by the Arabs in eighth century solved this problem ideally. Debal, the coastal town of Sindh on the Arabian Sea, provided a major boost for trade between Middle Eastern Region and the Far-East.

Importance of Debal in Maritime trade

The importance of Debal (Banbhore) had grown steadily since the time of the Kidara Kushans (around 400 C.E.), when Silk Route Trade between China and Rome (via Alexandria, Egypt) was diverted to the maritime route. In this early period, due to the struggle going on between the Sassanids and the Romans, Silk Route cargo to and from Chinese Turkistan and Central Asia was carried by boats plying on the Indus River from Taxila (via Attock) and Charsadda (Proclais) to Debal. From Debal ocean going vessels carried the goods westwards to Mediterranean ports via Alexandria.

The defeat of the Sassanians and the Byzantines at the hands of the Islamic forces in 7th century ushered in a new era in trade. Early in 8th century, when Sindh became an integral part of the Umayyad Empire there was increased focus on sea trade between the powerful commercial centres in the Arab Empire and South Asia and Southeast Asia. In this emerging scenario the commercial status of the premier port of Sindh was considerably enhanced. Debal was no longer just one of the several ports along the South Asian coastline; it now became the premier easternmost port of the powerful Umayyad Empire.

In the Abbasid Period, the importance of Sindh was further enhanced. With a view to extending and consolidating their trading operations with China and Southeast Asia, the early Abbasids beefed up the facilities at Debal. They totally revamped the harbour, providing appropriate facilities to enable several large sea going vessels to berth at Debal at one time. They provided extended facilities for maintenance and repairs of ships. They established warehouses where trade goods could be stored for a reasonable period of time before they could be transported and distributed inland or distributed in the neighbouring regions in South Asia, Iran and Oman. They established an industrial zone on the other side of the city (the side opposite the harbour), where goods for export were manufactured to customer’s specifications.  There was a strong presence of Arab officials and merchants in Debal, who maintained commercial offices staffed with accountants, clerks and store keepers.

Accounts of Arab historians and travellers indicate that the merchants of Debal were an extremely crafty lot. They were well versed in the tricks of the trade and indulged in a number of trading practices aimed at increasing their earnings from trade. Al-Idrisi notes that the Debal merchants were engaged in trade of a large variety of items and that they conducted their trading transactions with a great deal of intelligence. He implies that not all these transactions could be considered ethically sound. To illustrate this he mentions that some rich inhabitants of Debal buy trade goods in bulk from visiting shipping vessels and do not release the goods to the customers immediately, hoping to create artificial shortages. They wait for the existing stocks to be sold out and then as the goods become scarce, they release the goods from their warehouses and get good prices for them. He also mentions that the traders charge interest on credit extended to the distributors and direct customers for the purchase of their goods.

Maritime Trade Routes

In the pre-Islamic period the bulk of the maritime trade between Sindh/Makran and West Asia/Southern Europe was conducted through Oman and Yemen. From Omani and Yemeni ports camel caravans carried the goods to Gaza, Damascus and Alexandria for onward shipment across the Mediterranean to Greece, Rome and Sicily.

This position changed slightly after the capital of the Arab World was shifted to Baghdad/Basra from the Abbasid period onwards. From then on Debal and Makran ports were more intimately linked with Southern Iran and Iraq through Hormuzgan (Bandar Abbas), Bushehr and Shatt Al-Arab while Muscat (Oman) and Bahrain provided alternate connections to Shatt-Al-Arab, Basra and Baghdad and onwards to Damascus.

Towards South and East, Debal provided convenient connection to Surat, Malabar Coast, Serendip (Sri Lanka), the Indonesian Islands and China (Canton).

 The goods arriving at Debal by sea were carried inland on river boats up the Indus River via Nerunkot (Hyderabad) to Mansura and Alors and onwards to Multan.

From the Makran coast, one route connected Sonmiani with Bela, Khuzdar and Sehwan with onward connections to Mansura. Another route connected Pasni with Kech, Gandava (Qandabil) and Multan.

Debal’s Role in Overland Trade

Camel Caravans connected landlocked areas of Central Asia and Afghanistan through Debal with the thriving sea going trading activity. They also served as important channels for overland trade between Sindh and the bordering areas of Seistan, Zabulistan and Khurasan.

The increasing volumes of trade during the period of Arab rule in Sindh transformed a number of Caravan Resting stops along major trade routes into towns with sizable populations. These towns served as Mandis or Market towns, which were instrumental in spreading the benefits of trade to the surrounding villages. This significant movement towards urbanization is indicated by the accounts of a number of Arab travellers, who mention the names of a large number of towns in Sindh, Southern Punjab and Baluchistan. Some of these towns were abandoned during the later period of Arab rule in Sindh, as the pattern of trade changed due to new political alignments between various states in the region.

The sharp growth in volume of trade between Sindh and other regions of the vast Abbasid Empire led to expansion of trade networks and diversification of traditional trade routes in Sindh, Baluchistan and Southern Punjab.   Depending on the ultimate destination and the nature of the goods being transported, caravans followed different routes resulting in emergence of Mandi towns or Caravan stops over a much wider area.

Debal’s Role in Transit Trade

A feature of the trading operations of Sindh during the period of Abbasid rule was the relatively large contribution of Transit trade to the total volume of trade. Because of its favourable location, Debal played a key role in trade between three great trading regions – the heartland of the Arab Empire, the East Indies and China, and the landlocked regions of Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Trade Goods

The exports through Debal to various regions of the Abbasid Empire and to South and South-east Asia comprised of a healthy mix of manufactured goods, agricultural products and basic raw materials used in food, medicine, and textiles and in production of various types of decorative pieces and luxury items.

Debal acquired a high degree of skills in production of cotton textiles. There is evidence of sophisticated methods used for dyeing cotton fabrics at the industrial estate at Debal. Also copper cutlery, surgical instruments and decorative items have been found from Banbhore, the site of ancient Debal. All these goods were exported in large numbers. The Arab writers particularly mention the high quality of swords produced at Debal.

Leather and shoes, glazed ceramics, gold, silver and copper ornaments and carved ivory pieces were other important manufactured items regularly exported through Debal to Iraq and other countries in West and Central Asia.

During the period of Abbasid rule in Sindh several countries had mastered technologies for manufacture of a number of popular domestic items. Manufacture of textiles was   well established in places such as Kandahar, Basra, Cairo, Damascus and several other cities in the Abbasid Empire. Baghdad produced superior quality glazed ceramics and blown glass articles. Sindh exported textiles of particular designs, patterns and textures but it also imported muslin produced in Mosul (Iraq) and Syria, and silks produced in China. Similarly Sindh exported large sized glazed ceramics jars and thin-walled glazed ceramic bowls decorated with geometric and foliate designs in turquoise, green and yellow; and imported porcelain and stoneware from China, green glazed fritz ware from Iran and Syria and lusterware in hues of red, bronze and lime from Iraq.

With regard to agricultural produce, Sindh was favourably placed and was therefore in a position to meet the needs of the Arab world. Grains such as wheat and barley were exported in large quantities, partly in form of tax levied by the Arab rulers and partly through direct deals executed by private trading houses. Sindh also exported mangos and limes, honey, medicinal herbs and scented sandalwood to the Middle East.

A particular breed of camels indigenous to northern Baluchistan was very popular with merchants operating trade caravans on long distance overland trade routes across the arid deserts of the Middle East, Central Asia and Northern Africa. Other items exported by Sindh include gum exuded from acacia and other types of plants growing in the forests around Mansura, and indigo, also produced from plants in the same area, which was extensively imported by the textile and ceramic manufacturers for dying of fabrics and for painting ceramics.

Among the items, which were imported by merchants based in Sindh, stored in their warehouse and re-exported to the countries in the Middle East, were silks from China, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, cloves, coriander, chillies and other spices imported from the East Indies, Sri Lanka and Malabar, and red sandalwood an aloe wood from India.

Horses also figured prominently among the imports from Arab lands.

Medieval trade routes were extremely important in the development of society; they allowed cultures to combine and extract the superlative advancements in technology general welfare, forming an exchange of the best parts of each culture. Three cities are particularly good examples of how trade routes were integral to the advancement of the world. These cities are: Cairo because of its’ geographical position, Venice because of it’s power and abundance of tradable goods and commodities, and Constantinople because of it’s history.

Even though modern day Cairo is not a particularly wealthy city, medieval Cairo was influential to trade between eastern and western countries. It’s geographical position was perfect to help connect trade routes between the east and the west.

Throughout ancient times, Egypt has been one of the most important trade routes for the world and so it was from that, just as the archaic cities which proceeded Fustat, this new city also prospered from all manner of goods which where transshipped to wealthy markets in Europe. They also developed their own markets in spices, textiles and perfumes which were legendary throughout the world.

Two of the most popular traded items in Cairo were spices and silk, both of which came from the east. The Roman name Arabia Felix, or Happy Arabia was the trading center located on the South east coast of Arabia. There merchants traded Egyptian linens, Syrian glass, Chinese silks and the spices of Indonesia and all over the east. This is where most traders took port before Cairo and rested or repaired there ships and rejuvenated their crew. It was the last big city or stronghold before Cairo, so the crew made sure to really live it up just in case this trip was their last.

Spices were essential in the middle ages. the were used for flavor, for medicines, and for magic. They were so valuable that people used spices as a medium of exchange. The search for spices and the wealth and power that came with them encouraged many men to venture on journeys of exploration. Cinnamon came from China and Burma and was used not only for flavor but for cosmetics, drugs, balms, oils, and perfume. Nutmeg came from the Banda Islands. Cloves came from only two island; Ternate and Tidore in the Moluccas (south of Indonesia) which were also know as the Spice Islands. Pepper was grown only in India, although there were some poor substitutes found other places. Pepper was used extensively in cooking but was also believed to be a tonic, a stimulant, even as insect repellent and an aphrodisiac.

The spice route during the time of the great Mongol Kahns, was completely overland across Asia. However by the 14th century, the route had become unsafe from raiders and grazing for the caravan’s animals was unreliable. In 1368, the Ming Dynasty regained control of China and immediately emphasized nationalism and isolationism in an effort to prevent future invasion.

Without Cairo, Arab and East-Asian traders would have to trek all the way through the harsh desert to Damascus, a dangerous journey even without having to worry about the vicious thieves along the way.

Land travel in the Middle Ages was slow, uncomfortable, and usually dangerous. Today we can travel around 55 miles in one hour. In the Middle Ages, it would have taken a very fast horse over two days to travel the same distance. A few main roads in Europe had been paved by the Romans and remained paved with cobblestones during the Middle Ages. However, most roads were made of dirt that turned into a river of mud when it rained. The paved roads were full of pot holes where peasants had “borrowed” a stone from the road to patch up their homes.

Another travel option not involving Cairo was to forget the ships and send their precious eastern cargo of to the silk road. The Silk Road was one of the greatest trade routes of the world. It was a legendary caravan trail which brought the East to the West through a nest of pathways that began in China, snaked through Central Asia and ended in Rome. It transformed exotic luxury goods into household necessities for the avid consumers of the Roman Empire. In doing so it created the first mass market. This was bad for some of the traders, however, because they got a much smaller percentage of the profit than if they had used less middlemen. This is why so many merchants depended on Cairo and one of the reasons it became such an important city throughout the middle ages.

Venice was also an extremely influential city to all of medieval Europe, but unlike Cairo, this was not because of it’s geographic position, but purely because of it’s luck and it’s power.

The Venetian merchants who sponsored these trade caravans became very wealthy and influential. The cost and risk was very high but the rewards were great. It was said that a merchant could ship six cargoes, and lose five, but still make a profit when the sixth was sold.

Venice was the least typical of the Italian city-states of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. As opposed to it’s various Lords fighting amongst themselves to try and claim an extra mile of land, Venice’s leaders were developing a power city with a culture and society separate from that of the rest of medieval Italy.

Between 800 and about 1000, Mediterranean port cities like Genoa, Pisa, and Toulouse were doing very well. After the year 1000, the new port of Venice became increasingly powerful and therefore influential to the trade market.

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, The Crusades helped to increase the amount of trade in the Mediterranean. Europeans who had been to the Eastern Mediterranean on crusade met Arab traders there, and brought Asian products back to Europe to sell. At the same time, the Crusades led the kings of France and England to impose a new tax in money, called the Saladin tax, that also helped to re-establish a money-based economy. Fairs and markets became more and more important.

Throughout the 1300s, Venice was built on the knowledge of shipping and trade routes acquired during the Crusades of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries to develop an extensive commercial network stretching across the Mediterranean and even into the Black Sea and northern Europe. They also developed a mighty fleet of over 3,000 ships, the largest fleet of ships built in at least the past millennia. This abundance of ships gave them power and control over the Mediterranean trade routes as well as some parts of the silk road through the Black Sea and the Hanseatic Route in the north.

By the end of the fourteenth century, Venice had fixed her gaze outwards to her shipping lanes and stood as a world power almost completely isolated from Italian infighting.

Venice was not just well known for it’s abundance of money, but also for it’s abundance of commodities. Venice was the main exporter of gold, textiles, glass and slaves, as well as a major exporter of other luxury goods, such as salt, barley and wine.

Venice was one of if not the most powerful western civilization throughout the 1200’s and 1300’s and remains a powerful city in a remarkably wealthy country today.

Constantinople was located in modern day Istanbul and is one of the most fascinating cities in the history of the world.

After a decline following the breakup of the Roman Empire, European commerce expanded gradually during the Middle Ages, especially during the 12th and 13th centuries. Long-distance trade became safer once merchants began to form associations for the protection of travelers who journeyed abroad. The main long-distance trade routes were from the Baltic and the eastern Mediterranean to central and northern Europe.

From the forests of the Baltic came raw materials: timber, tar, furs, and skins. From the East came luxury goods: spices, silks and jewelry. In exchange for these goods, western Europe exported raw materials and processed goods. The English sold woolen garments, the Dutch offered salted herring, Spain produced wool, and France exported salt; southern Europe was also rich in wine, fruit, and oil. The Italian and German cities straddling these routes promoted and financed the trade.

Nonetheless, throughout the Middle Ages, commerce between Europe and Asia was limited, because overland transport was expensive and because Europe possessed little of value for export to the East.

Today we can travel around 55 miles in one hour. In the Middle Ages, it would have taken a very fast horse over two days to travel the same distance. A few main roads in Europe had been paved by the Romans and remained paved with cobblestones during the Middle Ages. However, most roads were made of dirt that turned into a river of mud when it rained. The paved roads were full of pot holes where peasants had “borrowed” a stone from the road to patch up their homes.

Since land travel was so dangerous in medieval times, Constantinople used mainly sea trade routes. Constantinople was also in a perfect geographic location to do this.

Constantinople was on the edge of both the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. It was also the in the middle of the silk road and close to Damascus. This was the absolute perfect trading position because it provided ample opportunity to trade with the far east through the silk road, the northern countries through the Black Sea, and the Western world through the Mediterranean.

Since Costantinople was in this position, Venice was close by and a lot of Venetian ships were the ones bringing commodities and various items to Constantinople. Because of this, Constantinople had to pay taxes to the Venetians because there was always a constant threat of a cold war.

Although in the end things did not work out in the end for Constantinople, they remained a remarkably powerful city for centuries all because of medieval trade.

Medieval trade is a fascinating subject that explains how civilized society itself began. It allowed countries to learn and refine each others creations and discoveries and advance technology farther and farther into the future. For more on the subject, look at any one of the books in the bibliography section or enjoy privately researching the middle ages. In closing, these trade routes were influential to society and provided vital technological breakthroughs to help push society into a new era: the renascence.