The Routes Muslim Merchants Used for Maritime Trade with China in the Middle Ages
İbrahim GüneşMaritime trade with India and China by means of Basrah and Suez, which had great importance during the Sassanid-Byzantine struggle, increased its importance with the birth of Islam. These trade routes used to surround the Arabian Peninsula in two routes one through Basrah and the other through Clysma (al-Kulzum) before coming together in Hormuz. Merchants then would follow this route to do their trade from centers starting in Hormuz and going to India, Sind (Indo-China), and China, bringing various kinds of precious stones, silk fabrics, patterned vases, porcelain, spices, and exotic fruits that were then sold in Islamic countries. Sources from the period noted these routes’ interconnections to be important points in the maritime transport that took place between the East and West. A great wealth of records are found on the subject in many sources of the period, especially in medieval geographical works, and Muslim merchants are understood from these records to have gone to China to buy goods and sell them in their own countries. This maritime trade actually experienced its most active period during the Abbasid dynasty (750-1258 CE), and allowed the Islamic world to encounter, influence, and be influenced by Indian and Chinese civilizations. This article the important routes of this maritime trade that had been actively used starting from Suez and Basra in the west and ending in the Canton region of China along the Indian coast in the east light of the data provided by authors from the Middle Ages. The records in the sources of the period have also been referenced here.
Orta Çağ’da Müslüman Tüccarların Çin ile Yaptıkları Deniz Ticaretinde Kullandıkları Güzergâhlar
İbrahim GüneşSasani-Bizans mücadelesi sırasında büyük öneme sahip olan Basra ve Süveyş üzerinden Hind ve Çin’e yapılan deniz ticareti, İslamiyet’in doğuşu ile birlikte önemini daha da artırmıştır. Bu ticarette kullanılan güzergâhlar, Basra ve Kulzüm (Süveyş) üzerinden iki kol halinde Arap Yarımadası’nı kuşatarak Hürmüz’de birleşirlerdi. Ardından bu güzergâhı takip eden tüccarlar, Hürmüz’den hareketle Hind, Sind (Hindi-Çin) ve Çin’e kadar devam eden ticaret merkezlerinden alışverişlerini yapıyor, çeşitli türdeki değerli taşlar, ipekli kumaşlar, desenli vazolar, porselenler, baharat türlerini ve egzotik meyveleri getirip İslam ülkelerinde satıyorlardı. Bu güzergâhların birbirleriyle bağlantılı olanlarına, doğudan batıya ve tam aksi istikamette cereyan eden deniz taşımacılığında önemli noktalar olarak devrin kaynakları tarafından dikkat çekilmişti. Konu hakkında da Orta Çağ coğrafya eserleri başta olmak üzere, devrin birçok kaynağında bir hayli zengin kayıt mevcuttu; bu kayıtlardan Müslüman tüccarların Çin’e gidip mal alarak kendi ülkelerinde sattıkları anlaşılmaktadır. Bu deniz ticareti, esasında Abbasiler devrinde (750-1258) en faal dönemini yaşamış, İslam dünyasının Hind ve Çin medeniyeti ile tanışıp birbirlerinden etkilenmelerini sağlamıştır. Makalede Orta Çağ müelliflerinin aktardığı veriler ışığında, batıda Süveyş ve Basra’dan başlamak üzere doğuda Hind sahilleri boyunca Çin’in Kanton bölgesinde son bulan ve faal olarak kullanılan bu deniz ticaretinin önemli güzergâhları incelenmiştir. Konu devrin kaynaklarında geçen kayıtlar bağlamında ele alınmıştır.
In the Middle Ages, maritime trade routes were an important factor in the development of trade. Trade has always occurred between the West and the East, in which China and Europe’s trade with one another was maintained on the Silk Road and Spice Road even before Islam. With the emergence of Islam, traders from many Muslim nations, especially Arab nations, started to form the main group in this trade. During the dominance of Islam from the Mediterranean to China, taking advantage of the maritime trade made there allowed the Muslim traders to start having a profitable occupation. For this reason, they paved the way for developing trade between China and Europe to the westernmost part of the Mediterranean. As most medieval Arab authors agreed, an international maritime trade route existed that started from the Suez (known as al-Kulzum or Clysma) and Basrah in the West and ended in Canton in the East. The western routes were divided into two parts: the Basra Road that started from al-Kulzum on the borders of Egypt from the south and stretched along the Red Sea, and the other road in the north that ended at Bansrah, Siraf and Hormoz along the gulf. Later, the ships coming from these two directions would join together and go to China along the coasts of India and Thailand, also known as Indo-China. This route was the most important maritime trade route connecting China and Arab countries in the Middle Ages. For this reason, many merchants on this route made great contributions to the economic revival of the period by trading with the largest ships.
Sea trade had started from China and continued westward through India to the Arabian Peninsula. It has been known to international traders since Antiquity and experienced its most productive period during the Abbasid dynasty in the Middle Ages. The success was so great that the maritime trade route, which started in two branches from al-Kulzum (Suez) and Basrah and went to China, was one of the most active commercial routes of the Middle Ages. However, the Zanj Revolt against the Abbasids in Basrah in 255 AH/869 CE dealt a great blow to Persian maritime trade. Despite the Zanj Revolt, transportation in the Persian Gulf, which was another important branch of the route under study here, made great progress during the Abbasid dynasty in the 8th and 10th centuries. This route was mostly maritime trade that was carried along the Tigris River through Baghdad, brought to Basrah and then stopped over at Siraf and Hormoz. The goods brought to Baghdad were sometimes transported by land, so much so that the Baghdad-Basrah road was one of the most important pillars of trade between land and sea. The goods used in maritime transport across the Persian Gulf were brought from Anatolia and Mosul then taken to the shore through Baghdad. Trade was carried from Mosul and Diyar Rabi to Baghdad, Wasit, Kashkar, Sawad, Basrah, al- Abelah, and Ahwaz where the ports and ships established along the Tigris River were located.
Another important starting point for the maritime trade that was maintained between China and the Red Sea in the West wasknown as al-Kulzum Sea in the Middle Ages. The Yemen, Arabian, Berber, and Abyssinian peninsulas were in the east, the Yathrip (Medina) and Tihame mountains were in the north, and the Indian Ocean was in the south. As the sources report, goods from Egypt and Syria were first loaded onto ships from al-Kulzum. The ships continued their journey northward through the strait where Yemen and Abyssinia converge, advancing along the Red Sea. Then after stopping by Aden and Socotra Island, they would come to Oman. Traders from al-Kulzum (Suez) and from Bahr al-Kulzum (the Red Sea) covered the area from here to Yemen and across the Tigris River, traveling through the Arabian land up to Abadan past the Persian Sea and then along the coast to Mahruban Port, They would also go as far as Bender Siraf. Traders would go behind Kirman and pass Hormoz, Dabil, the Sind coast, and Multan, which is considered as the end of the Islamic countries, after which they would go to China along the Indian and Tibetan coasts. For this reason, al-Kulzum was an important maritime trade center and was considered the port of Egypt and Damascus. Al-Kulzum was such an important maritime trade center that a significant part of the goods to be loaded from Egypt and Damascus to the Hejaz and Yemen were loaded onto ships there.
