Economics and Trade of the Dar al-Islam and beyond of the 7th to the 14th Centuries

As I think this blog has made somewhat clear, before the Western and Northern Europeans began to dominate world trade and economics, the Islamic world was virtually THE major player in world trade. 'Old' World trade had roughly been an Eastern hegemony even before the advent of Islam.

Much of the valuable stuff of what arrived in the West of inventions and crops seems to have been first seen in the Middle East and much of that was even earlier seen in China. Paper is a classic example arriving in Europe via Islamic Spain but there has also been a trend of major food crops also moving in the same East-West direction. Citrus fruits were probably first grown in the East (in India and possibly also in China) before first being grown in the Middle East and then becoming almost a by-word for a Spanish crop and cotton, silk, rice, tea and sugar cane production also appear to have followed a roughly similar East-to-West migration pattern. Egyptian is still an epithet that at least since the 19th Century has described fine cotton. Coffee seems to have originated in the Middle East itself. The irrigation methods that the Arabs also ultimately imparted to the West were probably a combination of methods indigenous to the arid Arabian Peninsula with an influence from the engineering prowess of the Roman aqueduct builders from whom the Arabs learned.

I have previously mentioned the central position of Arabia in the 6^th Century when it came to major trading Empires. Although large scale industry was first seen in the Industrial Revolution in the West, significant trade and basic industry such as food and textile production has been a feature of the Middle East since well before then.

Trades were often taxed from the earliest times and provided major sources of income to Empires and the new Islamic Caliphate was a beneficiary of a successful and flourishing trading class once the initial disruption of the Early Islamic conquests of the 7th Century had abated.

While the Islamic world was essentially politically united for only around the period from 650 to 750, the succeeding and geographically vast if not completely united ‘Abbasid Caliphate became united in the heart of its diversity of residents by virtue of travel, religion and later trade. This continued with the Fatimid and Umayyad caliphates once the 'Abbasids completely lost political control of their territories. Especially in this early period of political unity under the Umayyads and earlier, there were linguistic and religious diversities which were, somewhat ironically, broken down as the political unity broke down over the centuries.

The Arabs were at the centre of all the trading networks and were thus able to play a key role in the transmission of ideas and culture. In the central Arab lands, certain tribal heads constituted a class of major land holders in a position to set agricultural and trade imposts due to the central location of their lands on all the major trade routes and the new political domination that Islam brought the Arabs.

Commerce was conducted in sophisticated trading arrangements by the Arabs in stages over the vast distances and many changes of transportation method often involved. Coinage had developed before the advent of Islam. The earliest ‘Islamic’ coins appear to date from the 690s issued by an Umayyad Caliph, ‘Abd al-Malik. An indication of their world-wide use is that Eastern 'Islamic’ coins dated from the 9^th to 11^th Centuries have been found in places as far away as England and Spain.

The Arabic language spread with its commerce and its credit methods first employed by especially Yemenis in their long-distance trade with relatives acting as agents in India and South East Asia. The word ‘cheque’ is thought to have its origins in the Arabic, ‘sakk’ used at this time. The Jewish inhabitants of the newly formed Islamic world were also significant traders in the new environment taking advantage of having a wide Diaspora community (the Yemenis had such a diaspora as I mentioned above but for different reasons, of course).

With commerce came the importance of various major cities. The Middle East and China originated the idea of the city in the so-called Old World and throughout this period the cities of the Middle East were larger and more numerous than in the contemporary West (and yet they were often more compact perhaps for some historical reason such as a special requirement for security). The earliest examples of cities created by Muslims appear to have been un-walled perhaps reflecting the sense of security felt at first by new converts. Walling of cities was usual at the time in other parts of the world. By the time Baghdad was being established, however, many previously un-walled cities were being walled. Nevertheless they tended to grow beyond their walls. Twelfth century Cairo is thought to have been the largest city in the world in that century (in terms of both area and population). The plague became common in city conditions and quarantine measures are mentioned in Hadith demonstrating advanced science for the 6^th century. Homes in the cities of Islam had piped water. The fortunes of a city depended upon both politics and economics in this period as they arguably continue to do. I think I need to add to this section but for now that's it on economics and trade (and the extra bit on cities).

In the next post and those following, as promised, I will begin to explain what science this economically successful and culturally diverse but in a major sense united but politically divided realm of Islam was doing in this period (and perhaps why it stopped doing it (if I can work that out)).

More on How Islamic Cities Worked and Work

Here, as promised, are some brief Islamic city profiles:

Baghdad and Iraq

Baghdad, of course, as the main ‘Abbasid capital, became the epitome of the cultured Arab Islamic city for the early centuries of Islam in the central lands. A history of the city survives from the 11^th Century. It was the first imperial Arab Islamic city planned and built more or less from scratch. It was built on the left bank of the Tigris near the existing al-Karkh marketplace, which was between two canals that each connected the Tigris and the Euphrates just to the north of a hairpin bend in the Tigris. The Caliph called it City of Peace but the name Baghdad, which preceded it, probably means Dad’s Orchard, Dad being someone’s name, not necessarily a father. It was also called the Round City (for its original shape) and the City of Mansour (for its founding Caliph). It was Islam’s first round walled city designed at first to be a court to the Caliph including markets towards the outside and the imperial court (including a large military guard element) and mosque in the centre.

It had replaced the nearby Persian capital of Ctesiphon (called "the cities" in Arabic presumably because of its great size).

Cities in Iraq and elsewhere often achieved prominence from their location near older sites like this. Najaf near Kufa is prominent in Iraq today because of its sitting at ‘Ali’s place of martyrdom. Kerbala (in Iraq) and Meshhad (the site of the holiest shrine in Iran) are also prominent due to being the site of major shrines. The ostentatious and golden (it virtually goes without saying, being a Shi’a shrine site) ‘Ali Mosque is therefore in the centre of Najaf (Kufa). It is also a tradition among many Iranian Shi’a Muslims (always prominent among the visitors to this Iraqi shrine) that Noah’s Ark set off from Kufa. The cities of Iraq were major centres of opposition and independent political and other thinking.

Basra and Kufa had been unwalled and relatively unplanned but were later walled and moated, as invading Arabs had experienced the benefits of these devices (from the other side of the fence, as it were). Kufa was briefly ‘Ali’s capital.

Within a generation, Baghdad had extended within and beyond the walls and even Caliphs had felt too confined by the walls and built a palace (called al-Khuld) on the outside for added security. As the city extended beyond the walls on all sides and to the right bank, the main neighbourhoods on each bank came to be called al-Karkh (on the left) and ar-Rasafa (on the right). The US’s “Green Zone” was set up in al-Karkh, and ar-Rasafa was walled off under US auspices and called a Sunni enclave. Two other neighbourhoods today are al-A’zamiyyah (named for the local shrine of al-A’zam, aka Abu Hanifa) and al-Kazimiyyah (named for the 7^th Imam).

Finally and in short order ‘Abbasid Caliphs (albeit haltingly) moved their capitals several times, partly for security reasons (first moving to nearby Samarra and then back) leaving a large potent city of their creation in which they had inspired the flourishing of Islamic culture to develop under relatively indirect rule before the Caliphs finally lost actual political control of even the seat of the empire. There is evidence at Samarra of great building works, especially the great al-‘Askari Mosque with its monumental spiral minaret that inspired many western minarets, for the next city of the ‘Abbasids.

Cairo

The other major city built by early Muslims was Cairo. For the French and British it was later especially strategically important for its proximity to the recently constructed Suez Canal but for the Arab world it has been a major city for centuries with other canals that suited its purposes. The neighbourhood south of the Fatimid city now called the ‘Old City’ actually existed before the Fatimids built their capital, Cairo. Nearby Alexandria had already for many centuries been a major world centre of learning and the land of Egypt produced one of the oldest great civilisations and several great cities.

Cairo began on the east bank of the Nile. This made it opposite and to the east and north east of the great pyramids at nearby Giza on the west bank before Cairo extended itself to the west bank also. Its natural eastern extremity is brought about by Mount Maqattam.

Such was its Mediaeval ‘world’ renown, we still have European drawings of the city layout from the 15^th and 16^th Centuries. Further drawing continued in the 18^th and later centuries for clearly more strategic purposes as first the French and then the English sought to dominate the land by controlling this city. The local Ottoman ruler, khedive Ismael Pasha, in whose reign the Suez Canal was completed, also began to take an interest in the planning of Cairo for similar reasons. The Napoleonic French wrote Description d’Egypte also for that reason.

The Cairo Trilogy of Naguib Mahfouz describes a relatively modern Cairo life in the mid 20^th Century before veiling returned to fashion.

Isfahan and Kashan

Isfahan expanded in the 16^th and early 17^th Centuries, along with many other flourishing Islamic trading cities in that era in competition, to be the largest. Venice was known to possess the great St Mark’s Square and Isfahan produced a larger one second only in the world today to Tiananmen. Having undergone several name changes it is now known to locals as Khomeini Square. Kashan is another great city of the region.

Istanbul

Istanbul straddles the south side of the Bosporus Strait (see the picture above) and thereby Europe and Asia. Much of the great Islamic building work that occurred there took place in the vicinity of the Hagia Sophia originally built for the Emperor Justinian on the south of the European side, which became a mosque but is now a museum. Ironically perhaps, it remained the Ottoman and then Turkish capital until the westernising Atatürk moved his capital East (to Asian central Anatolia).

Damascus

The old city of Damascus is now dwarfed in size by the modern Syrian capital, Damascus, which surrounds it. It is not dwarfed in beauty, however. The old city contains, for example, the Great Umayyad Mosque built in the early 8^th Century on the site earlier used for the St John the Baptist Church and probably earlier Greek and other temples. It also contains a great covered bazaar leading to and facing the Great Mosque as great covered souks (markets) often do in Islamic cities.

Amman

Amman, now the capital of Jordan (formerly called Philadelphia) and consequently a reasonable sized city, was a small town as ‘Abd al-Rahman Munif was growing up there in the 1940s from the age of 6 to 16. His autobiography and 'biography' of Amman describes how the city in a sense grew up with him. He also wrote critical novels of the 'lives' of thinly disguised Saudi Arabian cities and Beirut (and perhaps other Arab Islamic cities).

Beirut

Beirut has had special prominence in modern times first as a major centre of Arab publishing and also nationalist thought and more recently as the capital of an ailing and fractured anachronistically ethnic-based state structure. For a citizen, as with any great city, it tends to claim a piece of their heart wherever they may be forced because of the political situation. Qabbani, a noted lover of women, wrote that he would love Beirut eternally more than he could love any woman. Hanan ash-Shaikh also wrote Beirut Blues about life in Beirut and Edward Said wrote about 'her' in his autobiography, Out of Place. He also describes 'his' other cities there including Cairo, New York and Jerusalem among others. Hisham Sharabi wrote in a similar vein about Beirut and other cities in his autobiography written just before his death in 2005. Munif also wrote about Beirut in at least one novel.

Riyadh

The capital of Saudi Arabia has only recently become a prominent Arab city (since the exploitation of Saudi Arabia’s petroleum reserves from the 1960s). Very conservative standards apply there morally when compared with most other cities in Saudi Arabia. Correct behaviour is required in public which is not necessarily carried into the private behaviour of even its rulers. For example, alcohol is prohibited officially but in fact fairly freely available in Riyadh. Today residents have free access to satellite television channels from throughout the region and the internet. It appears from studying the internet contributions some women from Riyadh have made that women are more liberated there than one might imagine. Though the city is sex-segregated to the point of having separate university campuses for women, illicit liaisons apparently occur there (aided at times by the proximity of less segregated areas of Saudi Arabia to which to resort as required). Although Riyadh officially has no cinemas, there are ‘unofficial’ ones.

That hopefully gives a flavour of some of the cities and some of their histories. Please feel free to write about what interests you about your city (especially if you live in the central lands of the Arab-Islamic world). My next post will be a brief one about the 'Moors' in most of Spain and Portugal (called by them Al-Andalus).

The Role of Cities and City Life in the Central Lands of Islam

Thus Islam and the Arab language came to the central lands of Islam including modern day Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Arabia, Iran and Iraq. One thing that certainly predates the call from Muhammad was the fine cities of the Middle East, the so-called Cradle of Civilisation.

Within a relatively few years after the death of Muhammad, the political seat of Islam moved from Muhammad’s relatively recently settled city (but mother of all cities for Muhammad), Medina, to the long-established Damascus. The third holy city of Islam was another long standing city, al-Quds (Jerusalem), Mecca of course being the holiest.

Shortly after Damascus became the political city of Islam it was supplanted when the ‘Abbasids established the royal city of Baghdad. Both Damascus and Baghdad played major roles in the first 400 years of Islam in creating the civilised culture of Islam. The Umayyads expanded Damascus rapidly and built an administrative centre at Ramla (now in Israel) and the ‘Abbasids of course built Baghdad. Rusafa in Syria (near what had been the Christian centre of Sergiopolis), Wasit, which became the capital in Iraq, (named for being the midpoint between influential Kufa and Basra a la Canberra between Melbourne and Sydney) and ‘Anjar (short for ‘Ayn al-Jarr) in Lebanon were other important cities in the early Islamic epoch. Several Persian and Sindi cities also became important and central cities to Arab-Islamic life and various palace complexes were also built in Middle Eastern deserts.

Baghdad proved that Muslims could build imperial cities of importance as well as occupy major cities established by other civilisations. It was well placed, however, to benefit from the 'city knowledge' of the inhabitants of the Fertile Crescent and Cradle of Civilisation it occupied.

The Muslim conquerors built other new provincial cities from the beginning, essentially for their occupying troops, which later became important centres of both culture and politics such as Basra (in c. 638) and Kufa (in c. 638) in Iraq and Fustat (in 641-3) in Egypt (later Cairo was established nearby). They became influential cities in their own right essentially due to the nature of the lands they occupied and the indigenous peoples in their hinterlands. Other major cities were also established further to the West including in Spain and Tunisia (e.g. Qairowan in 670 by the Umayyads) that furnish prime examples of a fine new Arab-Islamic civilisation. Later Istanbul, which had been the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire as Constantinople, became the centre of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

At the heart of city life, of course, from the earliest times is trade in goods and ultimately in ideas, and Arabs found themselves major players in world trade simply because of where they were, geographically, and the size of their new empire. We know about both pre-Islamic and Islamic Arab city life from geographers and historians writing in Arabic in the early Islamic period. The geographers noted the difference between the ancient cities and the new, planned Islamic cities. City histories were a distinct and prolific genre in this period (as I will discuss in a later post) which tended to be about 5% early history and topography and 95% biographies of scholars and notables of the many cities so treated.

We also have records kept and manuals created by the administrators of various cities that reveal city economics and design and in some cases a particular interest in Roman city design. From about 780, Arab cities came to be usually governed by a muhtasib (City Administrator) responsible for producing these items. This ‘Abbasid position was an outgrowth from the Umayyad position of Administrator of the Souk (Amal ala Suq, c.f. the Greek agora nomos). Interestingly, as early as in the time of ‘Umar, one of these early administrators of the market was a woman. These were imperial rather than city technocrat appointees with a policing role and as such focused on suppression of local movements rather than their promotion. They came from the ranks of doctors, lawyers and scholars. As a result, today we have some detail from their reports of the nature of these problematic movements such as guilds. The muhtasib (or hisba) was responsible for the control of the market, schools, medical and pharmaceutical services and training, guilds, fire fighting, police, sanitation, waste disposal and mosques, as well as maintenance of the city’s other functions and the public probity of citizens. As you can imagine, a large public workforce was responsible to this manager of the city, who therefore needed the social skills required to manage the people of the city and its economy as well as technical knowledge such as knowledge of economics.

Creative literature (including poetry) also provides some of the information we have today about cities such as, for example, 9th Century Basra and 10th Century Baghdad (via al-Hamadhani in whose stories one can find female door-to-door merchants working at night in Baghdad). Archaeology and details of inscriptions including inscriptions on coins and other artefacts also provide evidence of the nature of city life.

We know that the early Arabs of Arabia were not completely unfamiliar with local cities. Apart from living near and trading with cities in the Cradle of Civilisation, there had been significant civilisations in Yemen (at, for example, San’a, Najran and Ma’rib) and other parts of southern Arabia that we know about from early poetry and archaeology. There were three significant towns in the Hijaz (Mecca, Medina and at-Ta’if). There were eastern Arabian cities such as Mushaqqar and including on the island of Bahrain. There were also central and northern oasis cities and the central cities of the Lakhmid and Ghassanid civilisations discussed earlier such as Taima’, Dumat al-Jandal, Qaryat al-Faw, Jabiya, Rusafa and Hira. The city of Hira is supposed to have also been the birthplace of the Arabic script.

Also in the Arab orbit but slightly to the north were the pre-Islamic cities of Petra, al-‘Ula, Jerash, Hajar and Palmyra (Tadmur) and other Nabataean cities influenced by the Romans.

The Arab word, Madina, for city or town really firstly meant place of central authority (c.f. the Hebrew word ‘madinat’ meaning state). The word is feminine and Arab authors and people often write and speak of cities as if the cities are actually women. ‘Abd al-Rahman Munif treats his childhood home, Amman, warmly in his Story of a City (Sirat Medina) and Nizar Qabbani and Naguib Mahfouz have also written in this way. Qabbani, in particular, has written that each city has a unique personality of 'her' own and expressed great and eternal love for Beirut, in particular. Munif writes rather anthropomorphically of cities being powerful and cruel to their inhabitants because their inhabitants are themselves cruel in his Cities of Salt series and in other works.

On the advent of Islam, Qarya could also mean anything from village to city. Just as in Greek the word metropolis means mother of towns or cities the new Islamic city and adopted city of Muhammad, Yathrib, which came to be called simply al-Madina, was also referred to as Umm al-Qura (mother of towns or cities). The Qur’an itself refers to cities at one point apparently referring directly to Antioch.

A city is also its people and Islam first flourished because of an agreement of the citizens of a city, Yathrib (Medina), to be governed by Muhammad. We know that Muhammad encouraged all Muslims to become involved in the life of this special city, Medina, and that, presumably partly as a result, the former Yathrib rapidly expanded in size; more or less exponentially, in fact. Hijra which had meant migration came to mean settling in a city as being Muslim became associated with living in a city. Maqdisi noted in the 10th Century that the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus contained separate mosaics depicting all the known cities in the then-known world.

We know Medina and other cities and many of their Muslim residents also became wealthy on the spoils of the first Islamic expansions. It appears to have been somewhat embarrassing. We know, for instance, that in the reign of ‘Uthman as Caliph wealthy prospective residents of Kufa and Basra were criticised for their ostentatious displays of that wealth by the construction of palatial homes. The Qur’an also discusses city versus country life.

Ibn Khaldoun developed a theory of the development of cities and the relations of cities with their hinterlands and other regions through trade and war. ‘Islamic’ cities are, in fact, as varied as local circumstances required, as suggested by Ibn Khaldoun’s theory. The centre of Mecca, for example, is the Ka’ba Mosque and the pre-Islamic centre of commerce whereas the centre of Baghdad is a strategic seat of government and a water source. Nevertheless Medina, too, and many other Islamic cities tend to have a Mosque towards their centres (in the case of Medina reflecting the location of Muhammad’s long-standing home). The idea of a religious centre being central to city life and geography is not specific to Islam, of course.

Some features of some Islamic cities but by no means all include narrow and crooked streets within enclosed ‘gated’ neighbourhoods and an ‘Islamic’ lack of external ostentation of housing which may however be internally richly and ostentatiously decorated. Many modern Islamic cities have wide, straight streets and quite externally ostentatious private houses. So that's a bit about the flavour of the early Islamic cities and also how they are today. I'll look a bit more at some specific cities in the next post.