Description
Book SynopsisDeals with the history of the sea trade of the Arabs in the Indian Ocean from its obscure origins many centuries before Christ to the time of its full extension to China and East Africa in the ninth and tenth centuries. This title comprises a brief but masterly historical account that has never been superseded.
Trade Review"All in all, this brief account is rich in the depth of its analyses and in the authoritative sources cited, both Western and Arab... It is not likely that this superb work will be superseded in the near future."--Digest of Middle East Studies "This reprint of Professor Hourani's elegant monograph forty-five years after its first publication is a tribute to the soundness of his original conception and the excellence of its presentation. Hardly a word seems to need emendation."--Asian Affairs
Table of ContentsIntroduction to the Expanded EditionPrefaceCh. ITrade Routes in the Pre-Islamic EraPrehistory and Geography3The East before Alexander6The Persian Gulf in Hellenistic and Roman Times13The Red Sea in Hellenistic and Roman Times17The Sassanid and Byzantine Empires36Appendix: Direct Sailing between the Persian Gulf and China in pre-Islamic Times46Ch. IITrade Routes Under the CaliphateGeneral Consequences of the Islamic Expansion51The Arabs on the Mediterranean53Persian and Arab Sea Trade with the Far East61East Africa and the Coasts of Africa79Later Times83Ch. IIIThe ShipsHulls and Their Equipment89Masts and Sails100Navigation and Life at Sea105Appendix: Four Sea Stories114Notes on Chapter I129Notes on Chapter II140Notes on Chapter III150Bibliography157Index179
