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I wish to carry Persian saffron to China where I sustain any injury during the voyage or should
understand that it has a high price, and then take happen to die, the value of them should be paid
the dishes from China to Greece, Greek brocade from the royal treasury. It is related by authentic
to India, Indian steel to Aleppo, glass of Aleppo to writers, that in the reign of Atabak Abu Bakr,
Yemen, and the striped material of Yemen to 10,000 horses were annually exported from these
Persia. places to Ma'bar, Kambayat, and other ports in
their neighborhood, and the sum total of their
This testimony demonstrates very well the variety
value amounted to 2,200,000 dinars which was
of the products traded, the enormous distances
paid out of the overflowing ^revenues of the
travelled by the merchants, and the very particular
estates.... It is a strange thing that when those
way in which they traded their wares cn route horses arrive there, instead of giving them raw
during the Middle Ages. barley, they give them roasted barley and grain
It was also on the island of Qais that an illustri­ dressed with butter and boiled cow’s milk to drink.
ous family arose, which was to accumulate an They bind them for forty days in a stable with
economic power based on commerce, and a politi­ ropes and pegs in order that they may get fat; and
cal importance which resulted from their commer­ afterwards, without taking measures for training,
cial success. The founder of this powerful family and without stirrups and other appurtenances of
riding, the Indian soldiers ride upon them like
was called Djamalal-Din Ibrahim bMuhammadal
demons. They arc equal to Burak in celebrity, and
Tibi. The Persian historian Wassaf, who knew him
are employed cither in war or exercise. In a short
well wrote :
time the most strong, swift, fresh and active horses
he enriched himself on trade with China, where he become weak, slow, useless and stupid. In short,
himself had visited and he controlled in an exclu­ they all become wretched and good for nothing. In
sive manner the trade from India to the oceans this climate these powerful horses which fly swiftly
!
and seas of the Far East.... He had almost 100 without a whip (for whips are required for horses,
boats always in motion. especially if they are to go any distance) should
Wassaf described the commercial methods they happen to cover, become exceedingly weak
whereby Djamal al-Dm reserved the most and altogether worn out and unfit for riding.
interesting goods for himself and constantly There is therefore a constant necessity of getting
new horses annually and consequently, the mer­
increased his revenue :
chants of Muhammadan countries bring them to
Ma'bar.
when the merchandise arrives from the Far East
Besides being an amusing anecdote, this narrative
and from India, officials and agents prevent all
trading, and keep back for him (Djamal al-Dm) suggests that Djamal al-Din extended his com­
anything which is of interest. This they sent to mercial empire over many neighboring regions —
Qais in their own ships, and there too no one may the islands of the Iranian coast, Katif and Lahsa in
trade until after the agents of Malik al-Islam Arabia, Bahrain and Kalhat in Oman. His com­
(Djamal al-Dln) have made their choice, particu­ mercial empire did not stop there; he established
larly in stuffs. Afterwards they authorize other his brother Taqiu'd-Din AbduT Rahmanu-t-Tibi
merchants to purchase. as the minister of a prince of southern India, with
extensive powers. Little by little, Taqiu’d-Din ll
In the other direction, outward bound from the
became almost independent in certain cities on the
Gulf to India, the boats of Djamal al-Din trans­
Indian coast, virtual stepping stones to China,
ported a very special merchandise : horses. Wassaf
where the cargoes of the junks were re-embarked
described, not without humour, the conditions of
for destinations in moslem countries. He was able
this trade,
to exercise his office so well, that it was made
it was a matter of agreement that Maliku-1 Islam hereditary for two generations. The son of Djamal
Jamalu-d din and the merchants should embark al-Din, also, assisted his father in his politico-
every year from the island of Qais and land at commercial activities and was sent as ambassador
Ma’bar 1400 horses of his own breed and of such to China in the years of AH 697 - 704/A.D.
generous origin that in comparison with them the 1297- 1305.
most celebrated horses of antiquity, such as the _ Thanks to the fortune accumulated in trade,
Rukhs of Rustam... should be as worthless as the Djamal al-Din became superintendent of taxes for
horse of the chess-board. It was also agreed that
he should embark as many as he could procure Persia and the Islands in the name of the II Khanid
from the isles of Persia such as Katif, Lahsa, sultans. Somewhat later, he added southern Iraq,
Bahrain, Hurmuz and Kulhatu. The price of each together with Wasit and Basra.
horse was fixed from the old at 220 dinars of red In AH 696/A.D. 1296 on the occasion of a
gold on the condition that if any horses should banquet which he gave for the Sultan Ghazan,

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