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Back to Asia? South Asia and the Arabian Peninsula

Merchants without Borders: Quṣmân Traders in the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, c. 1850-1950

Marchands sans frontières : Marchands du Quṣmân dans le golfe arabe et l’océan Indien, c. 1850-1950
Mansur al-Sharida

Résumés

Afin de cartographier le réseau du commerce extérieur d’al-Qaṣîm et de démontrer l’impact de leur commerce sur al-Qaṣîm spécifiquement et sur toute la région en général, cet article suit les activités économiques des négociants du Qusmân dans le golfe Persique et l’océan indien pendant la seconde moitié du 19ème siècle et la première moitié du 20ème siècle. L’article constate que les Quṣmâns qui ont migré vers les centres marchands du golfe arabe et de l’océan indien ont commercé dans tout ce qui était disponible et rentable, comme les esclaves, les chevaux, les perles, l’or, la monnaie, les armes, les textiles, les tapis, les dattes, les épices, le riz, le sucre, le thé, le café et le parfum. Il conclut que, puisque les Quṣmâns pouvait trouver des marchés étrangers pour leurs produits locaux et apporter des marchandises et des devises étrangères dans leur région, faisant ainsi d’al-Qaṣîm un entrepôt du Najd, al-Qaṣîm montre le fait que Najd a été incorporé dans l’économie mondiale au XIXe siècle, voire un peu plus tôt.

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Preface

  • 1 For more details on globalization and the Arabian Peninsula see: Hopper Matthew S., Slaves of One M (...)

1In the early 19th century, Britain emerged as the master power in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf, especially after the Arab rulers of the Gulf signed the peace agreement with the British in 1820, which enabled Britain to control the trade between India and the Arabian Peninsula. The British authorities, moreover, provided local people of the Gulf with a sense of commercial security in order to enhance the regional economy. Also, in the second half of the 19th century, India became the chair of the British Viceroy, so all the British colonies and protectorates in the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean were ruled from India. Moreover, with the spread of steamships in the second half of the 19th century and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean were re-integrated in the global economy and local products, such as pearls and dates, found their way to the markets of Europe and North America while European and American products were sold in the markets of the Gulf ports.1

  • 2 I preferred to use the term “Quṣmân” not “Qaṣimîs”, although they both refer to people of al-al-Qaṣ (...)

2These changes enhanced the economic importance of India, making it the most attractive trading center in the Indian Ocean region. As a result, the trade between Arabia and India fully recovered, after it was cut with the arrival of the Portuguese colonizers in the early 16th century, and people from Central Arabia, also known as Najd, began to migrate to the Gulf ports, especially Kuwait and Bahrain. However, the Gulf ports were not the Najdis’ last trading destination. Rather, since most goods imported to the Gulf ports had come from the Indian ports, the Najdis traveled to India itself and resided in the major trading centers, such as Karachi, Bombay, and Calcutta. The Najdis associating with the Gulf ports, especially Kuwait and Bahrain, were known as ahl al-ḥaḍra or al-ḥaḍrat (people of downward). Thus, by the end of the 19th century, the Quṣmân2 (sing. Qaṣîmî, inhabitants of al-Qaṣîm, which is one of the three major districts of Najd) had established an economic network that connected their homeland, al-Qaṣîm, to many trading centers, such as Cairo, Damascus, Gaza, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Basra, Kuwait, Bahrain, al-‘Uqayr, al-Jubayl, Mecca, Madinah, Jidda, Karachi, Bombay, and Calcutta.

  • 3 For more details on the history of connections between Arabia and the Indian Subcontinent see: Abdu (...)
  • 4 For more details on the history of al-‘Uqaylât see: Pétriat Philippe, “Caravan Trade in the Late Ot (...)

3Of course, the Quṣmân were not the only Arab merchants who traded with India. Instead, they were a minority compared with Kuwaitis, Bahrainis, Qataris, Emiratis, and Omanis. People from these Gulf ports had a long history of trading with India.3 However, the Quṣmân trading with India were a majority when compared with their counterparts in the rest of Najd and the Hijaz. That is the main reason this article is solely focused on the Quṣmân. The second reason is that this trade represents the second major section of al-Qaṣîm’s two types of trades: al-‘Uqaylât and al-ḥaḍrât. While al-‘Uqaylât’s trade, which was mainly an overland trade exporting camels to Iraq, al-Sham, and Egypt, has been studied by several academic scholars, al-ḥaḍrât’s has not been studied sufficiently.4

  • 5 Valenti, “State-Building,” p. 7 and p. 13-15.

4Al-Qaṣîm’s external trade began approximately in the 18th century with the ‘Uqaylât’s travels to Iraq, al-Sham, and Egypt. This trade was extended by ahl al-ḥaḍra in the 19th century to cover most of the Arabian Gulf ports as well as the ports of the Indian Subcontinent. As Peter Valenti argues in his dissertation, since the Quṣmân could find foreign markets for al-Qaṣîm’s local products and brought in goods and foreign currency to their region, making al-Qaṣîm an entrepôt in Najd, al-Qaṣîm demonstrated that Najd was incorporated into the global economy by the 19th century, if not even earlier.5

5Therefore, this paper is focused on the Quṣmân’s presence in the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, which was phenomenal since it is not common for a desert people to engage in maritime activities. The Quṣmân did not only engage in such activities, but even became influential in the communities among which they lived.

  • 6 Altorki Soraya and Cole Donald P., Arabian Oasis: The Transformation of ‘Unayzah, Austin, Universit (...)

6As an internal area, al-Qaṣîm imported most of its supplies from neighboring trading centers, especially due to the fact that Najd was a very poor region with insufficient agricultural and industrial production. Every year, many commercial caravans left al-Qaṣîm for the port cities of the Arabian Gulf, to the trading centers outside Arabia, and to the holy cities of the Hijaz. Ahl al-ḥaḍra, connecting al-Qaṣîm with the Gulf ports, primarily brought commodities, such as clothes, rice, coffee, tea, sugar, cardamom, and kerosene. Although they sometimes carried ghee, ahl al-ḥaḍra often left al-Qaṣîm empty and returned from the Gulf ports loaded with these items. They usually made three to four round trips a year; a trip took about twenty days one way. In the late 1920s, the cost per camel was from 15 to 20 Maria Theresa Dollars. Each camel usually carried about 440 pounds, which equaled two large bags of sugar.6

  • 7 al-Bassâm ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. Ḥamad b. Muḥammad b. ‘Abdallâh, personal interview, Bahrain, July 26, 20 (...)

7In the Saudi ports, such as al-Jubayl and al-‘Uqayr, there were some Qaṣimî merchants who had connections with the other Quṣmân in Bahrain, who, in their turn, had links with the Quṣmân in India. Thus, those in India sent goods to their Qaṣimî counterparts in Bahrain who in turn reexported these goods to their clients in al-Jubayl, from which goods were transformed to al-Qaṣîm. An appropriate example of this process was al-Suaymî of ‘Unayzah (the two major towns of al-Qaṣîm are Buraydah and ‘Unayzah), who resided in al-Jubayl. Al-Suaymî received goods from ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. ‘Alî al-Bassâm who was one of the leading merchants in Bahrain. At al-Jubayl port, al-Suaymî unloaded these goods from boats and loaded them on camels before the caravan moved to al-Qaṣîm.7

8The Quṣmân who migrated to the commercial centers of the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean traded in anything available and profitable, such as slaves, horses, pearls, gold, currency, weapons, textile, carpets, dates, spice, rice, sugar, tea, coffee, and perfume.

The Slave Trade

  • 8 Doughty Charles M., Travels in Arabia Deserta, New York, Random House, 1936, vol. 2, p. 362.

9Najd, in general, was not a major trading center for slaves for two reasons. First, the Najdis were mostly not wealthy while prices of slaves were usually high. Second, slaves brought to Najd were usually used as soldiers, especially by Âl al-Rashîd (the rulers of Ha’il in Northern Najd), and private guards, often by Âl al-Sa‘ûd of Riyadh. Thus, there was no significant demand for slaves in Najd, especially in al-Qaṣîm, compared with some neighboring regions that were known as slave trading centers, such as the Hijaz, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman. Nonetheless, Qaṣimî merchants abroad worked in slave trafficking, not necessarily to Najd, but to the formerly mentioned slave trading markets. Doughty states that his friend ‘Abd Allah al-Khunaynî, whom Doughty met in ‘Unayzah in 1877, had traded in slaves, bringing them from Zanzibar, which was governed by the Sultanate of Oman.8

  • 9 Most of the information about Sulaymân al-Rawwâf was obtained from his son ‘Abd Allah by personal i (...)

10In addition to importing slaves from East Africa, Qaṣimî merchants also traded in Baluchi slaves. For instance, Sulayman b. ‘Abd Allah al-Rawwâf of Buraydah invested in such commerce while residing in Oman, which was the major market for the Baluchi slave trade.9

The Horse Trade

  • 10 The Arabian Horse,” The Times of India, June 14, 1894, 4.
  • 11 Burckhardt John Lewis, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys, London, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley (...)
  • 12 al-Salmân Muḥammad b. ‘Abdallâh, al-Aḥwâl al-siyâsiyya fî al-Qaṣîm fî ‘ahd al-dawla al-sa‘ûdiyya al (...)

11An article that appeared in The Times of India in 1894 proudly states that “the greatest foreign market for Arab horses is, and has for the last hundred years been, Bombay.”10 Indeed, the Swiss historian, geographer, and traveler John Lewis Burckhardt, who visited the Hijaz in 1814-1815, mentions that Arabian horses were sent to India, where their prices were considerably high.11 Also, the commander of the Egyptian forces in Najd, Khurshid Pasha, sent a letter on December 11, 1839, to Egypt in which he frankly states that “the British had been buying horses from al-Qaṣîm, and Najd in general, at any price through their agents in these districts since 1825.”12 Thus, we can assume that Arabian horse trade with India had already recovered at least by the end of the 18th century, if not even before.

  • 13 Pelly Lewis, “A Visit to the Wahabee Capital, Central Arabia,” The Journal of the Royal Geographica (...)
  • 14 al-Darura ‘Alî b. Ibrâhîm, “Tijârat al-khayl fî-l-Kuwayt,” al-Wathîqa, vol. 23, no. 46, 2004, p. 14 (...)

12According to Lewis Pelly, the British Political Resident in the Arabian Gulf (1863-1865), who visited Najd in 1865, horse dealers gathered their horses from Najd at the fort of al-Jahra, near the town of Kuwait.13 These dealers must have been agents for Kuwaiti merchants. Indeed, one source points out that there was a person in al-Qaṣîm whose job was to collect horses and send them to Kuwait.14

  • 15 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 389.
  • 16 Burckhardt John Lewis, Notes on the Bedouins, vol. 1, p. 211; Philby Harry St. John, Arabia of the (...)
  • 17 Lorimer John G., Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman, and Central Arabia, vol. 2: Geographical and (...)

13Qaṣimî merchants abroad played a notable role in exporting Arabian horses to the Indian markets. Doughty, who visited al-Qaṣîm in 1877, states that there was no breeding of horses in Buraydah or ‘Unayzah, nor in any town in Najd. However, horse-brokers purchased young stallions from Bedouin Arab tribes.15 Similarly, Philby, who visited al-Qaṣîm in 1918, emphasizes that ‘Unayzah had a special reputation as a collecting center (marbaṭ, pl. marâbiṭ) for horses that had been bought from the Bedouin tribes, such as al-Dafir, ‘Utaybah, Harb, ‘Iniza, and Mutayr.16 While talking about horse exportations from Arabia in the early 20th century, Lorimer emphasizes the importance of al-Qaṣîm as an outlet for this type of trade. In his words, “Najd or Central Arabia is the principal horse-breeding country in the Persian Gulf and the only one in the world, except the adjacent Syrian desert, where the genuine Arab is produced on any considerable scale. Here horses are most numerous in northern Central Arabia or Jabal Shammar, nearly all persons of consideration in that district possessing a larger or a smaller number; but the export trade depends largely on the more central district of Qaṣîm, where the towns of ‘Anaizah [‘Unayzah] and Buraidah are the principal markets.”17

  • 18 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 350 and 390-91.

14Doughty mentions that ‘Abd Allah al-Khunaynî, a forty-year old man who had gone in his youth from ‘Unayzah to Bombay and grown to be one of the most notable Qaṣimî merchants based in Basra, and Shaykh Nâṣir al-Sumayrî, one of ‘Unayzah’s merchants based in Jeddah, were partners in buying three or four young horses every year from the nomads in order to ship them to Bombay for sale. While in al-Qaṣîm, Doughty heard that some horses had been exported from Buraydah a few days before his arrival.18

  • 19 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 389-90.
  • 20 The Indian rupee is the currency most referred to in this monograph because it was the dominant cur (...)
  • 21 al-Darûra, “Tijârat al-Khayl,” p. 151.
  • 22 Tweedie William, The Arabian Horse: His Country and People, Edinburgh, William Blackwood, 1894, p. (...)
  • 23 Tweedie, The Arabian Horse, p. 4.
  • 24 Al-Darura, “Tijârat al-Khayl,” p. 152.

15Horses were often bought in the winter before the monsoon blew in the Indian Ocean, which signaled the next shipping season, so they were driven from al-Qaṣîm to Kuwait.19 Prices of horses in the Gulf ports between 1800 and 1945 averaged 300 Indian rupees (Rs) for a horse at the age of three years.20 According to the horse’s features, including color, height, tail length, and above all the pureness of its blood, the price increased. The care and feeding of a horse during the time of the trip from Kuwait to India cost about Rs. 200. In Bombay, a horse was sold for about Rs. 600-900, which was profitable for the horse merchants.21 The most famous market in Bombay for Arabian horses was the market of Byculla.22 In 1894, The Times of India described this market as follows: “There is no market in the world, however, for the Arab horse like our own Byculla.”23 Furthermore, the best kinds of the horses imported from Kuwait were often taken to Bengal, where a horse might have been sold for Rs. 1800-2500.24

16Although the effect of the First World War was harsh on the horse trade, the horse trade seems to have slightly recovered by the end of the war. In September of 1918, Philby saw in ‘Unayzah a batch of fourteen horses that had recently been collected to be taken to Kuwait for shipment to India. Philby mentions that this batch may have been the first to be sent to the Indian market with the end of the war.

  • 25 al-Zâmil Muḥammad b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Alî, personal interview, al-Khobar, July 26, 2018. Al-Zâmil left (...)
  • 26 al-Ḥarbî Ḥussa, Târîkh al-‘alâqât al-Kuwaytiyya al-Hindiyya: al-Mawsû‘a al-Kâmila wa-l-Muṣawwara, 1 (...)

17One of the Quṣmân who traded in horses in India was Muḥammad b. Ḥamad al-Shubaylî of ‘Unayzah, who went to India himself and sold a few horses there, two of which were bought by a senior British official. According to Muḥammad al-Zâmil’s account, members of al-Shubaylî family stayed in India for a while specializing in the horse trade.25 Although Muhammad b. ‘Alî al-Bassâm was a famous textile trader in Bombay, he had strong relations with the Kuwaiti trading house of al-Ibrâhîm that traded in horses. The Âl Ibrâhîm did not only export horses to India, but also participated in horse races in Bombay and won many times. Since Muhammad b. ‘Alî al-Bassâm was a friend and an agent of the Âl Ibrahîm, it is very possible that he was involved in the horse trade.26

Pearling Industry

  • 27 Lorimer John G., Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman, and Central Arabia, vol. 2: Geographical and (...)

18In the late 19th century, the demand for Gulf pearls in Europe and North America increased enormously. With the emergence of these new pearl markets, the value of the Gulf pearls skyrocketed. Thus, the pearling industry was the largest source of employment for people of the Gulf. The Quṣmân who worked in pearl fishing often had no capital to begin their own trade, so they were forced to enter the industry as workers. Although pearling did not attract a considerable number of the Quṣmân as they were not experts in dealing with the sea, there were some people from al-Qaṣîm who found no better choice than to work in pearling. As Lorimer emphasizes, the lower and middle economic classes of Kuwait were often hired as pearl divers.27 In fact, it was typical in all the Gulf region, not only in Kuwait, that lower economic classes found no choice but to work in sectors like the pearl industry.

  • 28 Altorki and Cole, Arabian Oasis, p. 48 and p. 57.

19According to Abû ‘Alî, who was seventy-two years old when he was interviewed in ‘Unayzah by Altorki and Cole, “the sons of the poor almost never had any chance to do anything except help their fathers and mothers. The only other opportunity the sons of the poor had in the past was to go to the Gulf—to Kuwait or Bahrain—to work as pearl divers there.” Abû ‘Alî’s statement implies that the number of the Quṣmân who worked in pearl fishing was not small, even though the Quṣmân are rarely mentioned in the references that study the pearling industry of the Gulf. This might be explained by the fact that since the Quṣmân were not a maritime people, they were not adjusted to spend days in the sea, were not good swimmers, and were not experts in pearl fishing. Most of them did not work as divers for long, but instead found another job or even quickly returned to al-Qaṣîm. According to another statement by Umm Manṣūr, who was then over sixty years of age, her father had worked as a pearl diver, but preferred to return to ‘Unayzah and became a sharecropper.28

  • 29 al-Bassâm Khâlid, Rijâl fî Jazâ’ir al-Lu’lu’, 2nd ed., Beirut, al-Mu’assasa al-‘arabiyya li-l-dirâs (...)
  • 30 al-Ibrâhîm Ya‘qûb Yûsuf, Min al-Shirâ‘ ilâ-l-Bukhâr: Qiṣṣat awwal sharikat millâha baḥriyya ‘arabiy (...)

20The best example of the Qaṣimî pearl merchants is Muqbil b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmân al-Dhukayr of ‘Unayzah, who was based in Bahrain. Al-Dhukayr entered the pearl trade around 1870, when the industry was rocketing. Although beginning with a humble budget, al-Dhukayr had become one of the leading pearl merchants in the Gulf by 1890.29 Like most pearl traders, al-Dhukayr bought pearls from the pearl market in Bahrain and sold them in India, especially when the prices decreased in the Gulf. In a letter dated 22 October 1912, sent to one of the Arab merchants in India, al-Dhukayr points out that the prices in Bahrain were not attractive and that he was sending some pearls to the latter hoping that he could sell them for more appropriate prices.30

  • 31 al-Lu’lu’ fî-l-Bahrayn,” Lughat al-‘Arab, Vol. 3, No. 8, February 1914, p. 448; al-Harbî, Tarîkh a (...)
  • 32 al-Lu’lu’ fî-l-Bahrayn,” Lughat al-‘Arab, Vol. 3, No. 11, May 1914, p. 615.
  • 33 al-Ḥarbî, Târîkh al-‘alâqât al-Kuwaytiyya al-Hindiyya, p. 66.
  • 34 al-Bassam, Rijâl fî Jazâ’ir al-Lu’lu’, p. 13 and p. 18.
  • 35 al-Bassâm ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmân, ‘Ulamâ’ Najd Khilâl Thamâniya Qurûn, 2nd ed., Riyadh, Dâr al (...)
  • 36 Philby, Arabia of the Wahhabis, p. 292.

21Nevertheless, a few months prior to the outbreak of World War I, pearl prices harshly decreased, which hurt most of the leading pearl traders in India and Bahrain, some of whom declared bankruptcy.31 In this year, 1914, the value of Bahrain’s pearl exports was Rs. 15,000,000 (30 million franc).32 The decline of Bahrain’s exports caused a depression in the Indian markets. Indeed, the famous Qaṣîmî trader in Bombay, ‘Abdallâh b. Muḥammad al-Fawzân (1861-1960), wrote a letter in 1914 and sent it to the Kuwaiti merchant, Muḥammad b. Bishr al-Rumî, in which the former complains of the depressed markets in India. He, also, points out that the pearl market was not an exception and that European pearl traders did not buy pearls at that time.33 Like most merchants and workers of Bahrain, some of the Quṣmân there could not overcome the economic challenges caused by the war. Consequently, some of the Quṣmân returned home during the war years. For instance, al-Dhukayr, who had once been known as Fakhr al-Tujjâr (Pride of Merchants), was bankrupt in 1917.34 He then decided to return home, where he lived for a few years before dying in c. 1922.35 Another example of the impact of the First World War on the Quṣmân of Bahrain is mentioned by Philby, who records that while in ‘Unayzah in 1918, he met a young man who had worked in pearl fishing off the western coast of the Arabian Gulf. Philby emphasizes that the outbreak of the war led to the decline in the pearling industry, which forced this man to leave Bahrain and to serve under the Sharif of the Hijaz for a while before returning to ‘Unayzah and working as a peasant.36

  • 37 al-‘Umayri Nuwayyir Mubârak, “Tujjâr Najd fî-l-Hind: ‘Unayzah Namûdhajan,” Al-Majalla al-‘Arabiyya, (...)

22Since Bombay was one of the most significant markets for pearls, the Quṣmân there did not stay away from this important commercial sector. Although the details about the Quṣmân’s trading in pearls in India are insufficient, the correspondences between them uncovered their engagement in such trade. For instance, ‘Abdallâh b. Muḥammad al-Fawzân, who was based in Bombay, sent a message in 1945 to Sulaymân b. Ḥamad al-Bassâm (1888-1949) in which al-Fawzân talked about the agricultural and commercial situations in India emphasizing the harsh decline in the pearl trade.37

The Gold and Currency Trades

  • 38 al-Ḥarbî, Tarîkh al-‘alâqât al-Kuwaytiyya al-Hindiyya, p. 87-88.
  • 39 al-Zâmil, personal interview, al-Khobar, July 26, 2018; al-Bassâm ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. Ḥamad, personal (...)

23After the harsh decline of the Gulf’s pearling industry, which had been caused by the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the spread of cultured pearls in 1925, and the Global Depression in 1929, many Gulf merchants shifted their interests to the gold trade. During these years, many international currencies declined and some vanished entirely. The value of the Indian rupee decreased in the Gulf, although it was still strong in India. Therefore, the Gulf traders bought gold, which was imported from Switzerland to the Gulf, for Rs. 50 and trafficked it to India where it was sold for between Rs. 100-120. Then, they bought sterling pounds, which equaled Rs. 28 in India and sold it in Kuwait and other Gulf ports for between Rs. 60-107.38 Thus, the gold trade between the Gulf and India was remarkably profitable since merchants’ interests were sometimes between 300-400%. 39

  • 40 al-‘Umarî ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. Ibrâhîm, Wathâ’iq ‘â’iliyya min Burayda: min Muqtanayât al-Wâlid Ibrâhîm (...)

24Although the British authorities prohibited exporting gold from the Gulf to India, Gulf merchants smuggled it. Because of the gold smuggling activities between the Gulf and India, the demand for gold in the markets of the Gulf ports increased. Indeed, in ‘Abd al-‘Azîz al-‘Umarî’s two-volume study, Wathâ’iq ‘â’iliyya min Burayda in which he has published his father’s collection of more than three hundred familial letters, the author shows several letters in which a Kuwaiti merchant frequently emphasized that he preferred to receive the value of the goods he sent to al-Qaṣîm in gold.40

  • 41 al-‘Umarî, Wathâ’iq ‘â’iliyya, vol. 2, p. 809.
  • 42 al-Bassâm ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmân, personal interview, ‘Unayzah, July 27, 2018.

25Qaṣimî merchants participated in exporting gold from Najd to the Gulf. According to al-‘Umarî, the ‘Uqaylât brought gold from the Hijaz, al-Sham, and Egypt to al-Qaṣîm.41 However, since the gold trade in Najd was not as prosperous as it was in the Gulf ports, its prices were lower in Najd than in the Gulf, which encouraged Qaṣimî merchants to export it from al-Qaṣîm to the Gulf. For example, ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmân b. Muḥammad al-Bassâm points out that his father had traded in gold and currency between al-Qaṣîm and the Gulf before settling down in ‘Unayzah and opening a trading shop.42

  • 43 al-Bassâm ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. Ḥamad, personal interview, Bahrain, 26 July 2018.
  • 44 al-‘Amîrî, “Tujjâr Najd fî-l-Hind,” p. 85.

26The Quṣmân of Bahrain also participated in trafficking gold from the Gulf to India. When large boom boats (the largest locally crafted vessels that traded within the Gulf, and between Eastern Africa and the Indian Subcontinent) began to be loaded with goods for export to India, the Quṣmân, and other Gulf inhabitants, hid gold in these boats. Sometimes, they would ask the nûkhidha to hide it in his boat and hand it to somebody upon arriving in India. Although it was very likely that this shipment would be discovered and seized by the British, people of the Gulf believed that it was worth an attempt. One of the Quṣmân who specialized in trafficking gold from Bahrain to India was Ḥamad b. Muḥammad al-Bassâm.43 Since Ṣalih b. ‘Abdallâh al-Bassâm of Bombay traded in gold and had a strong links with the Qaṣimî traders in the Gulf, it is possible that they exported gold to him. In addition to several other goods, al-Bassâm’s investment in gold was considerably profitable.44

  • 45 al-‘Amîrî, “Tujjâr Najd fî-l-Hind,” p. 85.
  • 46 al-‘Umarî ‘Umar b. ‘Abdallâh, Suwwar min al-araka al-Tijâriyya fî ‘Unayza, ‘Unayzah, al-Salmân li- (...)

27Furthermore, some of the Qaṣimî traders in the Gulf and Indian ports traded in currency. One of these traders was Ṣâliḥ b. ‘Abdallâh al-Bassâm, who made considerable wealth from such a trade.45 The nature of this trade was to buy a currency from a specific city or country and to transfer it to another where its value was higher. Under some circumstances, these traders had sums of a currency that began to lose its value, so they attempted to sell it off somewhere else. An example of this situation is clarified in a letter sent on June 21, 1928, by Ibrâhîm b. ‘Abdallâh al-Faḍil of Bombay to ‘Umar al-‘Umarî of Madinah. The letter indicates that al-‘Umari had sent 1,000 majidis to al-Faḍil via a third Qaṣimî party, who were Ibrâhîm and Sulayyim al-Zâmil of Bahrain. The one thousand majidis were sold in Bombay for Rs. 997.46 Al-‘Umarî seems to have deliberately avoided sending this sum directly from the ports of Yanbû‘ or Jeddah since exporting currencies to India was prohibited by the British authorities. Consequently, he sent it via Bahrain, which was a major outlet for trafficking gold and currencies to India. It seems that the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Saudi conquest of the Hijaz led to the decline of the value of the Ottoman currency, which forced local merchants to find an appropriate way to sell what they had of this currency or to tolerate a harsh loss.

The Weapon Trade

28The information about the weapons trade during the period under study is notably rare, a situation that is completely understandable since the British strictly banned the transportation of weapons in huge parts of the Indian Ocean, including the region of the Arabian Gulf. Consequently, there are not enough details about the engagement of the Quṣmân in weapons smuggling between the ports of the Arabian Gulf or the Indian Ocean. However, there are some pieces of evidence that indicate that the Quṣmân were engaged in such a trade.

  • 47 Philby, Arabia of the Wahhabis, p. 284.

29While in ‘Unayzah in 1918, Philby met Sulaym al-Sulaym, a member of the ruling family aged thirty-five at the time. According to Philby’s account, al-Sulaym and his father had at least once carried rifles from Muscat to Kuwait during the time of their exile from ‘Unyazah. This occurred between the defeat at the battle of al-Mulayda’ in 1891 (which resulted in the collapse of al-Qaṣîm by the hand of the Âl al-Rashîd, the ruling family of Ha’il) and the conquest of Riyadh by the hand of Ibn Sa‘ûd in 1902 that led to the returning of the ruling families to al-Qaṣîm within two years.47

  • 48 al-Rawwâf ‘Abdallâh b. Sulaymân, personal interview, Buraydah, July 8, 2018.
  • 49 al-‘Ubûdî Muḥammad b. Nâṣir, Mu‘jam Usar Burayda, Riyadh, Dâr al-thalûthiyya, 2010, vol. 8, p. 280- (...)

30Another example of the Quṣmân engaging in weapons trading was Sulaymân b. ‘Abdallâh al-Rawwâf of Buraydah.48 Sulaymân was arguably born in 1908, which was the same year that witnessed his father’s departure from the town. After leaving, ‘Abdallâh resided in Yemen for about sixteen years before moving to Oman where he spent the rest of his life in the town of Ju‘lan.49 In his late teens, Sulaymân decided to go to Oman in order to see his father. Between Oman, India, and Eastern Africa, Sulaymân spent about twenty years of his life before returning to al-Qaṣîm. It seems that most of al-Rawwâf’s time abroad was spent between Oman and India, since he, according to his son’s account, spoke Hindi. One of the commercial activities al-Rawwâf engaged in was weapon trading. According to his son, al-Rawwâf smuggled weapons from Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, to the western ports of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf. Ultimately, he was arrested and jailed by the British. The punishment for weapons smuggling from Eastern Africa could reach the death penalty. However, al-Rawwâf was lucky when somebody helped him escape.

The Textile and Carpet Trades

  • 50 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 348; Lorimer, Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf (Geographical), (...)
  • 51 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 438.
  • 52 Lorimer John G., Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman, and Central Arabia, vol. 2: Geographical and (...)

31As an internal region, al-Qaṣîm depended on the Gulf ports, particularly Kuwait and Bahrain, to cover its needs for imported goods, including textiles. While comparing commodities’ prices in Buraydah and ‘Unayzah, Doughty points out that clothes that were brought from the Gulf ports were cheaper in ‘Unayzah, whose trade was more connected with the Gulf ports than that of Buraydah which was more linked with the overland trade of al-‘Uqaylât with Iraq, al-Sham, and Egypt.50 At the time of his sojourn in ‘Unayzah in 1877, a caravan of 200 camels arrived from Basra. The share of one of the caravan merchants, Rasheyd, was seventeen loads (about three tons) of clothing bought from Kuwait.51 Although Buraydah’s trade heavily depended on exporting camels by the ‘Uqaylât, Lorimer reports that “Buraidah is partly dependent on Kuwait for food-stuffs and entirely so for cotton goods.”52 Therefore, Qaṣimî merchants who migrated to the Gulf and Indian ports were interested in trading in these types of goods. Later, some of these traders exported textiles, and other goods, from India to the Gulf ports, through which these goods were carried to al-Qaṣîm.

  • 53 al-‘Amîrî, “Tujjâr Najd fî-l-Hind,” 85.
  • 54 al-Bassâm ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmân, personal interview, ‘Unayzah, July 27, 2018.

32One of the Quṣmân who migrated to India and traded in textiles was Ṣâliḥ b. ‘Abdallâh al-Bassâm of ‘Unayzah. At the age of twenty-five, al-Bassâm arrived in Bombay in 1887. He made a considerable wealth from such trade, especially after 1928 when he became the commercial agent for al-Shimâgh al-aḥmar (the Red Kufiyya, which is now a traditional headdress worn by men). Although Ṣâliḥ al-Bassâm left Bombay before the Second World War and resided in Basra until his death in 1942, his nephew, Muḥammad b. ‘Alî al-Bassâm (c.1897-1985), and later his sons, ‘Abdallâh and ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, continued to develop the company, which became later Shimâgh al-Bassâm (al-Bassâm’s Kufiyya).53 Muḥammad devoted all his time to business. According to his children, he bought a house for them in Pune, about 90 miles to the southeast from Bombay, and visited them only on weekends.54 As a result, Shimâgh al-Bassâm continuously developed until becoming one of the best shimâgh brands. Even though Shimâgh al-Bassâm is not privately owned today by the al-Bassâm family, the brand is still one of the most famous for shimâgh.

  • 55 al-Bassâm Khâlid, Al-Najdî al-ayyib: Sîrat al-Tâjir wa-l-Muthaqqaf Sulaymân al-Ḥamad al-Bassâm, 18 (...)

33For another example, Ḥamad b. ‘Abd Allah al-Bassâm who resided in Bombay traded in Indian and British textiles. He exported textiles to the Gulf ports, particularly Bahrain, where his client Sulaymân b. Ḥamad al-Bassâm was one of the leading merchants. In a letter sent in January 1945 to Sulaymân, Ḥamad explains the policies of exporting the British manufactured cotton and wool from India to the Gulf. He also mentions that he is willing to help Sulaymân in choosing the good types and sending them to Bahrain. This letter indicates that these two merchants dealt with each other, which also reflects the strong commercial links between the Quṣmân abroad. We already know from other trading letters that Sulaymân also exported goods, mostly imported from India, from Bahrain to al-‘Uqayr. Thus, the Quṣmân from India through Bahrain and al-‘Uqayr to al-Qaṣîm, at least partly, controlled the goods exported from India to al-Qaṣîm.55

  • 56 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)

34Qaṣimî traders residing in Iraq also traded in the Indian textiles. Al-‘Assâfî trading house in Baghdad and Basra was a leading importer and distributor of Indian textiles. Al-‘Assâfî often dealt with the Qaṣimî traders in Bombay and Calcutta, although sometimes dealing with Indian merchants. As an example of the dealings between al-‘Assâfî trading house and the Quṣmân in India, one of al-‘Assâfî’s hundreds of commercial records, that are now preserved at the archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University in Riyadh, revealed that he wrote on January 3, 1899, that the six rolls of textiles that had been sent by ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-Muḥsin al-Bassâm from Calcutta had just arrived.56

  • 57 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)

35Although Qaṣimî traders in the Gulf ports often preferred to deal with their relatives, or at least other Qaṣimî, fabric merchants in India, sometimes they dealt with Indians. According to one of his records, al-‘Assâfî imported textiles directly from Ḥasan Bahay b. Fâtiḥ Bahay, an Indian textile merchant in Bombay. On December 15, 1898, al-‘Assâfî recorded the arrival of 187 rolls of the textile of Surat that had been sent by Mr. Bahay. Al-‘Assâfî immediately redistributed these textiles to the local traders of Baghdad. On December 18, al-‘Assâfî recorded that the merchants Shaul Zalkha, ‘Abûdî Ḥuqayl Ya‘qûb, and Khayyûn Isḥâq Israel had received a number of these textile rolls.57

  • 58 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)
  • 59 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)

36Al-‘Assâfî trading house also imported textiles from Europe. Several commercial records of Muḥammad al-‘Assâfî indicate that he imported multiple kinds of textiles from Manchester. One record dated May 20, 1884, shows that al-‘Assâfî had received 400 rolls of Manchester textiles.58 Another record dated October 18, 1884, uncovers that al-‘Assâfî had received woolen fabrics, some of which were spun in Bombay while others were spun in London.59 However, the latter seems not to have been shipped directly from Britain like the former.

  • 60 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)

37Al-‘Assâfî, also, targeted the internal regions of Iraq and Najd. The proof that al-‘Assâfî was a leading well-known distributor of imported goods, is that ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. Mut‘ib al-Rashîd of Ha’il appointed al-‘Assâfî to provide textile goods. According to his papers of February 2 and 3, 1902, al-‘Assâfî had bought hundreds of textiles and clothing pieces for the benefit of Ibn Rashîd.60 Since Ibn Rashîd frequently hired al-‘Assâfî to buy goods for him, therefore, al-‘Assâfî can be considered a commercial agent for the ruler of Ha’il in Baghdad. Ironically, Ibn Rashîd’s order of this large cargo of textiles came immediately after Ibn Sa‘ûd’s conquest of Riyadh, which was on January 15. Thus, it is highly likely that Ibn Rashîd wanted to distribute this cargo in kind of gifts to tribal chiefs and notable people to insure their loyalty.

  • 61 al-Mushayqi‘Abd al-Ramân b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, personal interview, Buraydah, July 23, 2 (...)
  • 62 al-Mushayqi Sulaymân, “Mishwar 60 ‘âman ma‘a al-Tijâra wa-l-waẓa’if al-ḥukûmiyya, wa-ḥadîth al-dhi (...)

38After Ibn Sa‘ûd conquered al-Aḥsâ’ in 1913, al-‘Uqayr became Najd’s main port, through which Najdis imported all types of goods. Therefore, many Najdi merchants resided in al-Aḥsâ’ and functioned as traders or agents for other Najdi merchants. For example, Sulaymân b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-‘Azîz al-Mushayqi, who was the commercial agent in al-Aḥsâ’ for his grandfather, imported textiles to the port of al-‘Uqayr and sent them to his grandfather’s shop in Buraydah before the outbreak of the Second World War.61 In an interview, Sulaymân himself mentioned that he once bought a large cargo of the Japanese textiles from Bahrain and sent them to his grandfather in Buraydah.62

  • 63 al-‘Umarî, Suwar min al-Ḥaraka al-Tijâriyya, vol. 1, p. 112.

39Moreover, the Quṣmân abroad traded in several kinds of carpets, which they bought in the Gulf ports and then moved inland to Arabian destinations, including al-Qaṣîm. They even shipped such products as far as to the Hijaz. A letter sent on August 5, 1929, between Ibrâhîm and Sulayyim al-Zâmil of Bahrain and ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmân al-‘Umarî of Madinah indicates that the latter had ordered from the former 40 large carpets (zuliyya) and 40 small ones (bisat). The Shipment was supposed to be received by the famous Ibrâhîm b. ‘Abdallâh al-Faḍil in Jeddah before it was transferred to Madinah.63 This letter shows how Qaṣimî traders in Bahrain supplied almost the whole of Arabia with carpets. It also shows that the Quṣmân always attempted to deal with Qaṣimî traders as all the names mentioned in this letter were originally from ‘Unayzah.

  • 64 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 341.

40These kinds of fine carpets, which were often imported to Najd and the Hijaz from the Gulf ports, were a significant feature in the houses of the wealthy classes. Indeed, when entering the house of ‘Abdallâ al-Khunaynî, in 1877, Doughty “found within a large coffee-hall, spread with well-wrought grass matting, which is fetched hither from el-Hasa … A Persian carpet spread before his fire-pit was the guests’ sitting place.”64

The Date Trade

  • 65 al-Bassâm ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. Ḥamad, personal interview, Bahrain, 26 July 2018.
  • 66 al-‘Amîrî, “Tujjâr Najd fî-l-Hind,” p. 85.

41The Quṣmân participated in exporting dates out of the Gulf, particularly to India. One example of these merchants who specialized in exporting dates to India is Ḥamad b. Muḥammad b. ‘Abdallâh al-Bassâm. His father, Muammad, and uncle, Sulaymân, left ‘Unayzah for Mecca roughly in the late 1910s or early 1920s. In Mecca, amad attended an Ottoman school where he learned Turkish. In 1925, Hamad went to India where he worked for his relatives as a record keeper and learned English and Indian languages. In the early 1930s, amad moved to Bahrain when he was hired by ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. ‘Alî al-Bassâm as a record keeper and assistant. In addition to his occupation, Ḥamad began to trade in al-sulûq (cooked and dried al-Khunayzî dates that were grown in al-Qatif, located in the Eastern Province of present Saudi Arabia). Al-sulûq was frequently exported to India whether via Bahrain or directly from al-Qatif.65 In India, some Qaṣimî traders, such as Sâliḥ b. ‘Abdallâh al-Bassâm, specialized in importing the Gulf dates. By exporting the Indian goods and importing the Gulf dates, al-Bassâm achieved considerable wealth.66

  • 67 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)

42Also, many of the Quṣmân who resided in Basra traded in dates. In addition to their participation in exporting Basra’s dates to India and other countries, the Quṣmân of Basra supplied the internal regions of Iraq. According to one of al-‘Assâfî’s commercial papers dated December 11, 1898, Sulaymân b. Nâṣir al-Shubaylî, who seems to have been an associate and a commercial agent of al-‘Assâfî in Basra, sent about 300 pounds of dates from al-‘Assâfî’s date-palm groves to Amarah, a town located between Basra and Baghdad.67

  • 68 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)

43While most of the dates exported from the Gulf went to India before being re-exported to Europe and other markets, al-‘Assâfî’s papers show that the Quṣmân in Baghdad and Basra exported the Iraqi dates directly to the Mediterranean. On November 1, 1901, for example, al-‘Assafi wrote that he had shipped 400 sacks of dates marked by the abbreviation of his commercial brand, which was SS, from Baghdad to Sulaymân b. Nâṣir al-Shubaylî in Basra, who would re-export them to Lebanon, Palestine, and Turkey. This cargo was divided as 150 sacks of dates were shipped to Beirut, 100 sacks to Jaffa, 100 sacks to Mersin, and 50 sacks to Haifa.68

The Perfume, Spice, and Rice Trades

  • 69 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)

44Since ancient times, Arabia has imported perfumes and incense from India. During the period under study, Qaṣimî traders residing in the ports of the Gulf and India continued to trade in the traditional Indian perfumes. For example, one of al-‘Assâfî’s commercial records dated June 27, 1899, reveals the engagement of Qaṣimî merchants in the perfume trade. Al-‘Assafi wrote that ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Abd al-Muhsin al-Bassam of Calcutta had sent to him six jars of perfume.69

  • 70 al-‘Ubûdî Muḥammad b. Nâṣir, Mu‘jam Usar ‘Unayza, n. p. vol. 10, p. 427.
  • 71 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)

45India also had exported spices to most markets of the old world. In the modern period, India retained its leading position as a spice market and the Quṣmân in the Gulf and India participated in exporting spices from India to the Gulf ports. For instance, al-‘Assafi trading house in Baghdad, which had been founded by Muhammad b. Salih al-‘Assafi and run later by his sons Hamad and Salih, was a major depot for Indian spices.70 Muhammad al-‘Assafi imported large quantities of spices and redistributed them in Iraq. One of his commercial records dated May 19, 1881, shows that he had received fifty-four sacks of black pepper. The document indicates that al-‘Assafi immediately redistributed some of these sacks to local Iraqi traders, whose shares varied from one to ten sacks. On May 26, al-‘Assafi also received 205 sacks of black pepper, which doubtlessly means that the al-‘Assafi trading house was a leading distributor of Indian spices at least in Baghdad.71

  • 72 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 362.
  • 73 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)

46Since rice was, and remains, the main food dish for people of the Gulf, most Qaṣimî traders abroad traded in it, whether by exporting this significant foodstuff from India, importing it to the Gulf ports, or reexporting it to the internal regions of Arabia. One of the earliest known Qaṣimî traders engaged in exporting rice from India to the Gulf was ‘Abdallâh al-Khunaynî of ‘Unayzah, whom Doughty met in 1877 and mentioned that the former had invested in the rice trade during his sojourn in Bombay. 72The other famous Qaṣimî trader, who was engaged in exporting rice from India to Arabia, was Muḥammad b. ‘Abdallâh al-Fawzân. Al-‘Assâfî’s commercial records show that al-Fawzân was a leading rice exporter who supplied the traders of Jeddah, in addition to his clients in the Gulf ports. According to one of al-‘Assafi’s trading papers dated April 14, 1884, al-Fawzân had shipped 1,020 sacks of rice owned by al-‘Assâfî from Calcutta to be sold in Jeddah.73

  • 74 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)
  • 75 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)

47Qaṣimî merchants residing in Basra and Bahrain also traded in rice. According to one of al-‘Assâfî’s commercial records dated April 17, 1899, rice cargo had been shipped from Calcutta to Bahrain. This cargo was owned by both Muqbil b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmân al-Dhukayr of Bahrain and Ḥamad al-‘Assâfî of Baghdad. Al-Dhukayr sold the rice in Bahrain, took fifty percent of the profit, and saved the other fifty percent as credit for al-‘Assâfî.74 The commercial records of al-‘Assâfî show that his share of the profit was often not sent to him in Baghdad. Rather, his commercial agents and associates kept the money for future purchases. Al-Dhukayr, for example, sent part of al-‘Assâfî’s profit from the sale of the rice cargo, Rs. 1151, to a Bombay merchant, according to one of al-‘Assâfî’s papers dated June 8, 1900.75 This amount of money might have been a payment of debt or a deposit for future purchases.

  • 76 al-Mushayqi‘Abd al-Ramân b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, personal interview, Buraydah, July 23, 2 (...)

48Not only those residing in the Gulf ports traded in rice, but also the traders who did not leave al-Qaṣîm had commercial agents in the Gulf ports in order to carry rice cargo back to al-Qaṣîm. One example of these kinds of traders is ‘Abd al-‘Aziz b. Ḥamûd al-Mushayqiḥ of Buraydah who, during the period before World War II, stationed his grandson, Sulaymân, in al-Aḥsâ’ as a commercial agent. Sulaymân provided his grandfather in Buraydah with many kinds of goods, including rice.76

The Sugar Trade

  • 77 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 362-63.

49Qaṣimî merchants abroad traded in sugar between the ports of the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. Some of the Quṣmân traveled to the countries where sugar was produced. For example, Doughty points out that his friend ‘Abdallâh al-Khunaynî of ‘Unayzah, whom Doughty met in 1877, “navigated for sugar to Mauritius.” Although Doughty does not give detailed information about this trip, it is very likely that al-Khunaynî benefited greatly from this trade for two reasons. First, the sugar trade, in general, was profitable for all merchants who had invested in it. Second, according to Doughty, al-Khunaynî was “the greatest merchant’s fortune in Aneyza [‘Unayzah] at £24,000.”77 It is significant to mention, however, that al-Khunaynî did not only trade in sugar, but also in rice, slaves, and horses.

  • 78 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)

50The trading house of al-‘Assâfî of ‘Unayzah was a major importer and distributor of sugar in Iraq. According to one of al-‘Assâfî’s commercial records, dated June 29, 1881, indicates that he received a large cargo of sugar, and in two days he distributed it to fifteen local Iraqi traders, which reflects his leading position as a retailer for imported commodities.78

  • 79 al-Mushayqi‘Abd al-Ramân b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, personal interview, Buraydah, July 23, 2 (...)
  • 80 al-Mushayqi Sulaymân, “Mishwar 60 ‘âman,” p. 4.

51In the later periods, al-Jubayl and al-‘Uqayr appeared as prosperous ports in Eastern Arabia. In addition to other goods, most of the sugar that was imported to Najd made its way through these two ports. Therefore, the leading traders in al-Qaṣîm stationed commercial agents in al-Aḥsâ’ whose job was to receive goods, including sugar, at al-‘Uqayr and al-Jubayl and send them to al-Qaṣîm. One of the local trading houses that imported sugar to al-Qaṣîm was that of the al-Mushayqi of Buraydah. According to ‘Abd al-Raḥmân b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-‘Azîz al-Mushayqiḥ, his brother, Sulaymân, who was the commercial agent for their grandfather, ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, in al-Aḥsâ’, was very interested in importing sugar to al-Qaṣîm prior to the Second World War. As ‘Abd al-Raḥmân emphasized, sugar was one of the goods that was very profitable for his family.79 Indeed, Sulaymân mentioned in an interview that from 1927 until World War II, he traveled almost monthly to al-Jubayl and Bahrain in order to buy goods for his grandfather. He claimed that he once bought ten thousand sacks of sugar from Bahrain.80

  • 81 Altorki and Cole, Arabian Oasis, p. 70-71.

52The biggest problem sugar merchants often encountered was unprofessional methods of storing and transporting sugar sacks. When the sugar loads arrived in al-Jubayl port, the jamamil (goods carriers) would carry them to al-Qaṣîm. Since they often operated during winter and spring seasons, the biggest problem they may have encountered was the rain. In the words of Abu Mish‘al, who was about eighty years old when Altorki and Cole interviewed him, “it was a big problem whenever a rain came. We had to build a tent as big as this room and then rush to pile all the sacks inside, especially the sugar. That was really a problem. I remember once a merchant took a jammal to court because he did not bring back all his sugar. The jammal said ‘the rains took it’ and the qadi did not pass judgement on the case. Also, sometimes the wadi would fill up with water and we would have to wait for days to cross.”81

The Tea and Coffee Trades

  • 82 al-Bassâm, Al-Najdî al-ayyib, p. 114.

53Some of the Qaṣimî merchants in India traded in tea, which was an extremely fruitful business. In general, those who resided in Calcutta often traded in tea since the city was the center of the trade. The al-Bassâm trading family of ‘Unayzah was one among those who traded in tea. The brothers Muḥammad and ‘Abd al-‘Azîz al-Bassâm did not only trade in tea locally, but also exported it to the Gulf region. For example, Sulaymân b. Ḥamad al-Bassâm, a leading merchant in Bahrain, was a client of the al-Bassâm brothers in Calcutta who frequently supplied him with loads of tea.82 In a letter, dated June 9, 1944, sent from Calcutta to Sulaymân al-Bassâm, the sender informs al-Bassâm that his orders of tea were shipped from Calcutta to Bombay. He, also, highlights the new policies of the export of tea from India. Although the sender’s name is missing, it is probable that it was the al-Bassâm brothers since they provided Sulaymân’s shop in Bahrain with tea.

  • 83 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)

54Furthermore, ahl-al-ḥaḍra of al-Qaṣîm traded in coffee in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Iraq, as well as transporting coffee from the ports of al-‘Uqayr and al-Jubayl to al-Qaṣîm. Also, those who reached India traded in coffee locally and exported it to Arabia. For example, Qaṣimî traders in Bahrain did not only import coffee, but also reexported it to al-Aḥsâ’. Muḥammad al-‘Assâfî’s trading papers indicate that the famous Qaṣimî pearl trader in Bahrain, Muqbil b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmân al-Dhukayr, was a commercial agent for al-‘Assâfî. Al-Dhukayr received coffee cargo owned by al-‘Assâfî to sell it in Bahrain. According to one of al-‘Assâfî’s records dated April 14, 1884, al-Dhukayr received 41 sacks of coffee and 30 sacks of black pepper. Al-‘Assâfî had informed al-Dhukayr that he should sell them in Bahrain if the prices were appropriate or reexport them to al-Aḥsâ’.83

  • 84 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)

55Ḥamad b. Muḥammad b. ‘Abd al-‘Azîz al-Bassâm and his brothers, who founded trading houses in Jeddah, Basra, and Bombay, traded in coffee while in Basra. Ḥamad al-Bassâm was a distributor for the goods coming to the Gulf ports, including coffee, not only inside Basra, but also to the internal regions, such as Baghdad. According to one of al-‘Assâfî’s trading papers dated October 29, 1898, forty-nine sacks of coffee beans that had been sent by Ḥamad al-Bassâm, whose commercial mark was HMB, from Basra, had arrived at al-‘Assâfî’s trading house in order to be delivered to a Baghdadi local trader.84

  • 85 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)

56Al-‘Assâfî trading house in Baghdad also traded in coffee. Their commercial agent in Basra, often Sulaymân b. Nâṣir al-Shubaylî, received the coffee cargo coming from India through the Gulf and would resend them to al-‘Assâfî in Baghdad who, in turn, redistributed the coffee to the local Baghdadi traders and beyond as far as Mosul. According to one of his commercial records, al-‘Assâfî mentioned on March 6, 1899, that the nineteen sacks of coffee he had sent to Mosul had been received there by a local trader.85

  • 86 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic Universi (...)

57Since most of goods imported to the Gulf came from, or through, India, including coffee, Qaṣimî traders in India traded in coffee locally and exported it to the Gulf ports. The presence of the Quṣmân in the Indian ports was a significant factor for facilitating the export of coffee to the Gulf. Therefore, the commercial records reveal that merchants in the Gulf were often clients for specific exporters in India. Such relationships enhanced the confidence between the importer and the exporter and secured a supplier for the consumers, and vice versa. To ensure the best prices and full services, some merchants in the Gulf went further than only being clients for other traders in India by sending their own relatives there also. For example, Muḥammad al-‘Assâfî mentions in his papers that his son, Ṣâliḥ, traveled to India almost annually. From there, he sent all the kinds of goods his father had required, including coffee. According to one of al-‘Assâfî’s commercial records dated July 11, 1884, 150 sacks of Javanese coffee and 84 sacks of black pepper, which had been sent from the Malabar and Bombay by Ṣâliḥ al-‘Assâfî, arrived in Baghdad.86

  • 87 al-Mushayqi‘Abd al-Ramân b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, personal interview, Buraydah, July 23, 2 (...)

58Since Arabia was then still underdeveloped, services for commercial transportation were not available. Therefore, the transportation of coffee beans from the ports to the internal regions sometimes encountered some difficulties. As in sugar transportation, the unprofessional storing and transporting methods were the biggest challenges in the coffee trade. When it rained during coffee caravans traveling from al-Jubayl or al-‘Uqayr to al-Qaṣîm, it was highly likely that the coffee was affected by humidity, which markedly decreased its quality. According to ‘Abd al-Raḥmân al-Mushayqiḥ, his grandfather, ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, was once lucky when one of his coffee caravans got hit by rain. While ‘Abd al-‘Azîz was thinking what to do with this eighty-camel-load of corrupted coffee, a letter from Ibn Sa‘ûd arrived, in which Ibn Sa‘ûd said that he wanted to give some notable Bedouins coffee beans and cardamom as gifts and asked al-Mushayqiḥ if he had any. Al-Mushayqiḥ then got rid of the load of coffee by giving it to the Bedouins.87

  • 88 al-Mushayqi‘Abd al-Ramân b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, personal interview, Buraydah, July 23, 2 (...)

59In addition to trading in coffee, the al-Mushayqiḥ trading house also traded in coffee utensils. The usage of glass utensils was uncommon in Najd before the Second World War. However, according to ‘Abd al-Raḥmân al-Mushayqiḥ, his brother, Sulaymân, who was the family’s agent in al-Aḥsâ’, imported glass coffee cups and sent them to al-Qaṣîm. Since these glass cups were rarely used in Najd before World War II, the al-Mushayqiḥ trading house benefited enormously from importing such goods. These cups cost Sulayman only a few halall (sing. halala, 100 halala equals 1 Saudi riyal). However, his grandfather, ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, sold them in Buraydah for 25 halala since the demand for them was extremely high, as they were newly introduced to the society. 88

Conclusion

60This story is a story of generations of Quṣmân. Poverty in al-Qaṣîm, and Najd in general, forced many people to leave home and family in order to seek livelihood. Their travels enabled them creating massive commercial networks that extended from Egypt to India covering Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Arabia. Many Quṣmân tasted the bitterness of both poverty and the absence of fathers. This hard life made them hard men, so they left their home country for tens of years to return proud of themselves. They did not only support their families, but also participated in establishing some of the leading massive companies in the region today.

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Bibliographie

Personal Interviews:

al-Bassâm ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. Ḥamad b. Muḥammad b. ‘Abdallâh, personal interview, Bahrain, July 26, 2018.

al-Bassâm ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmân, personal interview, ‘Unayzah, July 27, 2018.

al-Mushayqi‘Abd al-Ramân b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, personal interview, Buraydah, July 23, 2018.

al-Rawwâf ‘Abdallâh b. Sulaymân, personal interview, Buraydah, July 8, 2018.

al-Zâmil Muḥammad b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Alî, personal interview, al-Khobar, July 26, 2018.

Archives:

Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, Folders 4978 and 4979.

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al-Bassâm Khâlid, Al-Najdî al-ayyib: Sîrat al-Tâjir wa-l-Muthaqqaf Sulaymân al-Ḥamad al-Bassâm, 1888-1949, Beirut, al-Mu’assasa al-‘arabiyya li-al-Dirâsât wa-l-Nashr, 2008.

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Doughty Charles M., Travels in Arabia Deserta, 2 vols, New York, Random House, 1936.

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al-Ibrâhîm Ya‘qûb Yûsuf, Min al-Shirâ‘ ilâ-l-Bukhâr: Qiṣṣat awwal sharikat millâha baḥriyya ‘arabiyya, Kuwait, Sharikat al-Rubay‘ân li-l-nashr wa-al-tawzî‘, 2003.

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al-Salmân Muḥammad b. ‘Abdallâh, al-Aḥwâl al-siyâsiyya fî al-Qaṣîm fî ‘ahd al-dawla al-sa‘ûdiyya al-thâniya, 1823-1891, n. p., 1999.

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Al-Wuhaybî, ‘Abd al-Laṭîf, al-‘Uqaylât: Ma’athir al-abâ’ wa-al-ajdâd ‘alâ ẓuhûr al-ibl, 6 vols, al-Riyâḍ, al-‘Ubaykân, 2017.

Al-Ẓâhirî, Abû ‘Abd al-Raḥmân b. ‘Aqîl, Masâ’il min târîkh al-Jazîra al-‘Arabiyya. Riyadh, Mu’assasat Dâr al-Aṣâla, 1994.

Al-Ẓahrânî, Ibtisâm bint Ḥasan, “Juhûd al-tujjâr fî tawḥîd Najd fî ‘ahd al-malik ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, 1902-1921,” M.A. thesis, Jâmi‘at al-Imâm Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd al-Islâmiyya, Riyadh, 2015.

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Notes

1 For more details on globalization and the Arabian Peninsula see: Hopper Matthew S., Slaves of One Master: Globalization and Slavery in Arabia in the Age of Empire, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2015.

2 I preferred to use the term “Quṣmân” not “Qaṣimîs”, although they both refer to people of al-al-Qaṣîm, since the term “Quṣmân” should not be confused with the Âl Qaṣimî, the dynasty that has ruled Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah.

3 For more details on the history of connections between Arabia and the Indian Subcontinent see: Abdul Sheriff and Ho Engseng, The Indian Ocean, Oceanic Connections and the Creation of New Societies, London, Hurst & Company, 2014; Burrell Robert Michael and Cottrell Alvin J., Iran, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Indian Ocean, New York, National Strategy Information Center, 1972; Chaudhuri Kirti N., Asia before Europe: Economy and Civilisation of the Indian Ocean from the Rise of Islam to 1750, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2000; Chaudhuri Kirti N. Trade and Civilisation in the Indian Ocean: An Economic History from the Rise of Islam to 1750, New York, Cambridge University Press, 1985; Risso Patricia, Merchants and Faith: Muslim Commerce and Culture in the Indian Ocean, Boulder, Westview Press, 1995; Vohra N. N. History, Culture, and Society in India and West Asia, Delhi, Shipra Publication, 2003; Wink Andre, Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World, 3 Vols, Leiden, Brill, 2004.

4 For more details on the history of al-‘Uqaylât see: Pétriat Philippe, “Caravan Trade in the Late Ottoman Empire: The ʿAqīl Network and the Institutionalization of Overland Trade,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 63, no. 1–2, 2020, p. 38–72; Al-Ẓâhirî, Abû ‘Abd al-Raḥmân b. ‘Aqîl, Masâ’il min târîkh al-Jazîra al-‘Arabiyya. Riyadh, Mu’assasat Dâr al-Aṣâla, 1994; Al-Ẓahrânî, Ibtisâm bint Ḥasan, “Juhûd al-tujjâr fî tawḥîd Najd fî ‘ahd al-malik ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, 1902-1921,” M.A. thesis, Jâmi‘at al-Imâm Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd al-Islâmiyya, Riyadh, 2015; Al-Sharîda Manṣûr b. Sulaymân, Al-‘Uqaylât wa-Dawrahum al-tijârî ma‘a al-Ḥijâz, 1847-1938, Beirut, Dâr Jadâwil, 2015; Al-Musallam Ibrâhîm, Riḥlatî ma‘ al-‘Uqaylât, al-Riyâḍ, al-Jam‘iyya al-‘arabiyya al-sa‘ûdiyya li-l-thaqâfa wa-l-funûn, 1984; Al-Musallam Ibrâhîm, Al-‘Uqaylât, al-Riyâḍ, Mu’assasat Dâr al-Aṣâla, 1985; Al-Wuhaybî, ‘Abd al-Laṭîf, al-‘Uqaylât: Ma’athir al-abâ’ wa-al-ajdâd ‘alâ ẓuhûr al-ibl, 6 vols, al-Riyâḍ, al-‘Ubaykân, 2017; Valenti, Peter C. “State-Building in Central Arabia London: Empires and Regional Actors at the Crossroads of al-Qasim,” Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, New York, 2015; Alsharidah, Mansour. “Merchants without Borders: Qusman Traders in the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean, c. 1850-1950,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 2020.

5 Valenti, “State-Building,” p. 7 and p. 13-15.

6 Altorki Soraya and Cole Donald P., Arabian Oasis: The Transformation of ‘Unayzah, Austin, University of Texas Press, 1989, p. 68-71.

7 al-Bassâm ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. Ḥamad b. Muḥammad b. ‘Abdallâh, personal interview, Bahrain, July 26, 2018. He lives now in Bahrain and seems in his late sixties.

8 Doughty Charles M., Travels in Arabia Deserta, New York, Random House, 1936, vol. 2, p. 362.

9 Most of the information about Sulaymân al-Rawwâf was obtained from his son ‘Abd Allah by personal interview, Buraydah, July 8, 2018.

10 The Arabian Horse,” The Times of India, June 14, 1894, 4.

11 Burckhardt John Lewis, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys, London, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1831, vol. 1, p. 207.

12 al-Salmân Muḥammad b. ‘Abdallâh, al-Aḥwâl al-siyâsiyya fî al-Qaṣîm fî ‘ahd al-dawla al-sa‘ûdiyya al-thâniya, 1823-1891, n. p., 1999, p. 349.

13 Pelly Lewis, “A Visit to the Wahabee Capital, Central Arabia,” The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. 35 (1865), p. 182.

14 al-Darura ‘Alî b. Ibrâhîm, “Tijârat al-khayl fî-l-Kuwayt,” al-Wathîqa, vol. 23, no. 46, 2004, p. 146.

15 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 389.

16 Burckhardt John Lewis, Notes on the Bedouins, vol. 1, p. 211; Philby Harry St. John, Arabia of the Wahhabis, New York, Arno Press, 1973, p. 274.

17 Lorimer John G., Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman, and Central Arabia, vol. 2: Geographical and Statistical, Calcutta, Superintendent Government Printing, 1908, p. 2335.

18 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 350 and 390-91.

19 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 389-90.

20 The Indian rupee is the currency most referred to in this monograph because it was the dominant currency in the Gulf during the time of study. While Maria Theresa dollar was the dominant currency in the inner regions of Arabia, the Indian rupees began to dominate the coastal districts of the Gulf with the British dominance after 1820. In 1905, one Maria Theresa dollar equaled one rupee and five anna while one sterling pound equaled 15 rupees. See al-Qâṣimî Nûra Muḥammad, Al-Wujûd al-Hindî fî-l-Khalîj al-‘Arabî, Sharjah, Manshûrat Dâ’irat al-thaqâfa wa-l-i‘lâm, 1996, p. 128-29.

21 al-Darûra, “Tijârat al-Khayl,” p. 151.

22 Tweedie William, The Arabian Horse: His Country and People, Edinburgh, William Blackwood, 1894, p. 299.

23 Tweedie, The Arabian Horse, p. 4.

24 Al-Darura, “Tijârat al-Khayl,” p. 152.

25 al-Zâmil Muḥammad b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Alî, personal interview, al-Khobar, July 26, 2018. Al-Zâmil left ‘Unayzah to Bahrain for trading purposes in c. 1944. He is now roughly in his early nineties residing in al-Khobar, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

26 al-Ḥarbî Ḥussa, Târîkh al-‘alâqât al-Kuwaytiyya al-Hindiyya: al-Mawsû‘a al-Kâmila wa-l-Muṣawwara, 1895-1965, Kuwait, n.p., 2017, p. 206-07.

27 Lorimer John G., Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman, and Central Arabia, vol. 2: Geographical and Statistical, Calcutta, Superintendent Government Printing, 1908, p. 1053.

28 Altorki and Cole, Arabian Oasis, p. 48 and p. 57.

29 al-Bassâm Khâlid, Rijâl fî Jazâ’ir al-Lu’lu’, 2nd ed., Beirut, al-Mu’assasa al-‘arabiyya li-l-dirâsât wa-l-nashr, 2007, p. 11-12.

30 al-Ibrâhîm Ya‘qûb Yûsuf, Min al-Shirâ‘ ilâ-l-Bukhâr: Qiṣṣat awwal sharikat millâha baḥriyya ‘arabiyya, Kuwait, Sharikat al-Rubay‘ân li-l-nashr wa-al-tawzî‘, 2003), p. 104.

31 al-Lu’lu’ fî-l-Bahrayn,” Lughat al-‘Arab, Vol. 3, No. 8, February 1914, p. 448; al-Harbî, Tarîkh al-‘alâqât al-Kuwaytiyya al-Hindiyya, 66.

32 al-Lu’lu’ fî-l-Bahrayn,” Lughat al-‘Arab, Vol. 3, No. 11, May 1914, p. 615.

33 al-Ḥarbî, Târîkh al-‘alâqât al-Kuwaytiyya al-Hindiyya, p. 66.

34 al-Bassam, Rijâl fî Jazâ’ir al-Lu’lu’, p. 13 and p. 18.

35 al-Bassâm ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmân, ‘Ulamâ’ Najd Khilâl Thamâniya Qurûn, 2nd ed., Riyadh, Dâr al-‘Âṣima, 1999, vol. 6, p. 428.

36 Philby, Arabia of the Wahhabis, p. 292.

37 al-‘Umayri Nuwayyir Mubârak, “Tujjâr Najd fî-l-Hind: ‘Unayzah Namûdhajan,” Al-Majalla al-‘Arabiyya, No. 485, February 28, 2017 [online].

38 al-Ḥarbî, Tarîkh al-‘alâqât al-Kuwaytiyya al-Hindiyya, p. 87-88.

39 al-Zâmil, personal interview, al-Khobar, July 26, 2018; al-Bassâm ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. Ḥamad, personal interview, Bahrain, 26 July 2018.

40 al-‘Umarî ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. Ibrâhîm, Wathâ’iq ‘â’iliyya min Burayda: min Muqtanayât al-Wâlid Ibrâhîm b. Sulaymân al-‘Umarî Raḥimahu Allâh, Riyadh, Dâr al-Thalûthiyya, 2016, vol. 2, p. 809.

41 al-‘Umarî, Wathâ’iq ‘â’iliyya, vol. 2, p. 809.

42 al-Bassâm ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmân, personal interview, ‘Unayzah, July 27, 2018.

43 al-Bassâm ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. Ḥamad, personal interview, Bahrain, 26 July 2018.

44 al-‘Amîrî, “Tujjâr Najd fî-l-Hind,” p. 85.

45 al-‘Amîrî, “Tujjâr Najd fî-l-Hind,” p. 85.

46 al-‘Umarî ‘Umar b. ‘Abdallâh, Suwwar min al-araka al-Tijâriyya fî ‘Unayza, ‘Unayzah, al-Salmân li-l-ibâ‘a, 2015, vol. 2, p. 56.

47 Philby, Arabia of the Wahhabis, p. 284.

48 al-Rawwâf ‘Abdallâh b. Sulaymân, personal interview, Buraydah, July 8, 2018.

49 al-‘Ubûdî Muḥammad b. Nâṣir, Mu‘jam Usar Burayda, Riyadh, Dâr al-thalûthiyya, 2010, vol. 8, p. 280-81.

50 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 348; Lorimer, Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf (Geographical), 75.

51 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 438.

52 Lorimer John G., Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman, and Central Arabia, vol. 2: Geographical and Statistical, Calcutta, Superintendent Government Printing, 1908, p. 327.

53 al-‘Amîrî, “Tujjâr Najd fî-l-Hind,” 85.

54 al-Bassâm ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmân, personal interview, ‘Unayzah, July 27, 2018.

55 al-Bassâm Khâlid, Al-Najdî al-ayyib: Sîrat al-Tâjir wa-l-Muthaqqaf Sulaymân al-Ḥamad al-Bassâm, 1888-1949, Beirut, al-Mu’assasa al-‘arabiyya li-al-Dirâsât wa-l-Nashr, 2008, p. 107.

56 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, Folder 4978, January 3, 1899.

57 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, Folder 4978, December 15, 1898.

58 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, Folder 4979, May 20, 1884, 61.

59 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, Folder 4979, October 18, 1884, 71.

60 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, Folder 4978, February 2 and 3, 1902, 132.

61 al-Mushayqi‘Abd al-Ramân b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, personal interview, Buraydah, July 23, 2018.

62 al-Mushayqi Sulaymân, “Mishwar 60 ‘âman ma‘a al-Tijâra wa-l-waẓa’if al-ḥukûmiyya, wa-ḥadîth al-dhikrâyât ma‘a al-Shaykh Sulaymân al-Mushayqiḥ,” interview by Muḥammad al-Wu‘ayl, al-Jazira, December 4, 1987, no. 5545, p. 4.

63 al-‘Umarî, Suwar min al-Ḥaraka al-Tijâriyya, vol. 1, p. 112.

64 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 341.

65 al-Bassâm ‘Abd al-‘Azîz b. Ḥamad, personal interview, Bahrain, 26 July 2018.

66 al-‘Amîrî, “Tujjâr Najd fî-l-Hind,” p. 85.

67 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, Folder 4978, December 11, 1898.

68 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, Folder 4978, November 1, 1901, 121.

69 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, June27, 1899, 22.

70 al-‘Ubûdî Muḥammad b. Nâṣir, Mu‘jam Usar ‘Unayza, n. p. vol. 10, p. 427.

71 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, Folder 4979, May 19, 1881, 3.

72 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 362.

73 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, 4979, April 14, 1884, 59.

74 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, April 17, 1899.

75 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, June 8, 1900, 55.

76 al-Mushayqi‘Abd al-Ramân b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, personal interview, Buraydah, July 23, 2018; al-‘Ubûdî Muḥammad b. Nâṣir, Mu‘jam Usar Burayda, Riyadh, Dâr al-thalûthiyya, 2010, vol. 20, p. 68.

77 Doughty, Travels in Arabia, vol. 2, p. 362-63.

78 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, Folder 4979, June 29, 1881, 4.

79 al-Mushayqi‘Abd al-Ramân b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, personal interview, Buraydah, July 23, 2018 ; al-‘Ubûdî Muḥammad b. Nâṣir, Mu‘jam Usar Burayda, Riyadh, Dâr al-thalûthiyya, 2010, vol. 20, p. 68.

80 al-Mushayqi Sulaymân, “Mishwar 60 ‘âman,” p. 4.

81 Altorki and Cole, Arabian Oasis, p. 70-71.

82 al-Bassâm, Al-Najdî al-ayyib, p. 114.

83 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, Folder 4979, April 14, 1884, 59.

84 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, Folder 4978, October 29, 1898.

85 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, Folder 4978, March 6, 1899.

86 Daftar Tijârî, al-‘Assâfî’s Commercial Records, Archives of Imam Muḥammad b. Sa‘ûd Islamic University, Riyadh, Folder 4979, July 11, 1884,.64.

87 al-Mushayqi‘Abd al-Ramân b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, personal interview, Buraydah, July 23, 2018.

88 al-Mushayqi‘Abd al-Ramân b. ‘Abdallâh b. ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, personal interview, Buraydah, July 23, 2018.

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Mansur al-Sharida, « Merchants without Borders: Quṣmân Traders in the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, c. 1850-1950 », Arabian Humanities [En ligne], 17 | 2023, mis en ligne le 01 juillet 2023, consulté le 29 septembre 2023. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/cy/9521 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/cy.9521

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Mansur al-Sharida

King Saud University

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