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Djamal al-Dm gave him presents of 1000 gelded all reflect the evolution of Arab commerce
horses, pearls, Chinese and Indian vases. Among between the 8th and 14th centuries. During that
the many titles and honours that he received dur­ time the relative importance of the trading posts ■
ing the course of his life, Djamal al-Din received altered, with pre-eminence passing from Bas-
the title of Malik al-Islam, a title by which he ra/Obulla and Siraf to Qais and Hormuz, and
continued to be known by posterity. involving rivalry with Aden and the Red Sea ports.
These, then, are the personalities of some of the As yet, the part played by Sohar in Oman and u
merchants who in the Middle Ages sustained the Bahrain in this evolution is not clear. A parallel
busy commerce of the Gulf, the Red Sea, and the evolution can be seen in the role of the merchants
Sea of Oman across which move the trade goods themselves. From straightforward origins, they la
passing between the Orient and the West. The gradually rose to become financiers and politi­
places of origin of these merchants, their home cians, until by the 14th century this evolutionary
posts for those who had them, and the manner in process culminated in the domination of Hormuz
which they carried out their commercial activity, by a feudal and commercial aristocracy.

Translated from the French by ii
Joan Maclvcr and Tim Severin.

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