The Maritime and Continental Networks of Kīsh Merchants under Mongol Rule: The Role of the Indian Ocean, Fārs and Iraq
2019 ◽
Vol 62
(2-3)
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pp. 428-463
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Keyword(s):
Red Sea
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AbstractBased on a variety of literary and archaeological sources, notably the tariff lists produced in Rasulid Yemen, this study reconstructs the trade routes of the Kīsh merchants, demonstrating that the Persian Gulf route—between South and West India (Coromandel, Malabar, and Gujarat) and Iraq via the Persian Gulf—and the Red Sea route—between South and West India and Egypt via the Red Sea—were closely connected in the Mongol period. This not only manifests aspects of the proto-globalization in Mongol Eurasia but also argues against the supposed economic decline of post-1258 Baghdad and the economic centrality of Cairo in the post-Abbasid Muslim world.