Aden gateway to East Africa. Left a painting based on the map of Aden/Mombaza/Quiloa/Cefala

by Braun & Hogenberg 1572. Right a modern picture of the port.

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Abu Makhrama : Kiladat al-nahr
(Chronicle-biographical dictionary)(1521-2) from Yemen
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Abu Makhrama, Abu Muḥammad Abd Allah al-Tayyib ibn Abd Allah Ahmad alAdani (1465-1540). He belonged to a South Arabian Himyarite clan of Shafi'i (4) jurists and Sufis who lived in Hadramawt and Aden. Sickness prevented him from finishing his two main works: Chronicle of Aden: Ta’rikh Thaghr Adan and Kiladat al-Nahr fi wafayat a’yan al-dahr: Tabakat work, with historical supplement.

Taken from: al-maktaba.org كتاب قلادة النحر في وفيات أعيان الدهر

 

Vol6 p228

3983 - [Ismail Al-Qalhati]

Ismail bin Ahmed bin Daniel Abu Al-Zabih (19), known as Al-Qalhati (2), was originally from the country of Hormuz (1), and in it he was born in the year six hundred eighty-six (1297/8), and I understand to a man representing one of the companions of al-Baydawi (20), and other than the two entrants to Hormuz and Qalhat (2), he used to combine the two rulings of religion and the world; he has full knowledge of jurisprudence and grammar, language and hadith, logic and fundamentals, and he used to recite in the Abu Hanifa (3) school of thought as well: Faced with him; Otherwise, he is from the Shafi'i (4) school of faith, and there was a certain good understanding between him and the Sultan of Hormuz. When the Sultan was killed, he got out of Hormuz (1). Intending (to go to) Mekdhoh (Mogadishu), but the wind did not help him, so he went to Aden, and that was in the year eighteen and seven hundred (1318AD). And I was then staying in Aden, I met him, I found him to be fully worthy and knowledgeable, so I recited some of the « almafsala» (21), and he was an imam in literature, so when Al-Muiyid heard about him he asked him to Zabid (5), he was still at the door of the Sultan when Al-Muiyid and the Wali Mujahid died, then he took the opportunity to return to his country, he was given permission, and he went down to Aden. And he traveled from there to Hormuz (1), he stayed there until he died, and I did not know the date of his death.

 

 Vol6 p302-303

4102 - [Muhammad Ba'alawi, owner of turbans] ......

Ali bin Omar Alawi said: I traveled from Tarim (6) to the continent to search for the investigation of the new moon for some months, then I passed the cemetery, and the jurist Ibn Alawi was there, and he remained in it until I returned from the continent to Tarim (6) between them about three miles, and he used to say in the graves: Oh broad Forgiveness and mercy; Forgive us and have mercy on us, and have mercy on them, our parents and their parents, and make us and them among those who believed in what you revealed to your messengers. He heard that the jurist Ali bin Ahmed bin Abi Marwan had read “Al-Tanbih”, “Al-Muhthab”, “Al-Wajeez” and “Al-Wasit” in science, and he mastered reading each of them in a year. Such a thing does not happen to everyone!!! So he traveled to Maqdishuh (Mogadishu), and he read to the jurist Ibn Abd al-Samad these aforementioned books, reading it perfect. Every book in a year, and he got what he wished for, and he worked hard to read science day and night until he was burned by the fire of the lamp that is his light at night, about thirteen turbans (burned) when he fell asleep, and he became very awake, and if he became too sleepy again, he went out at night to the sea, studying what he read; Lest he fall asleep. And he read it with a group of people who benefited from it, and they became imams, including Sheikh Fadl bin Abdullah bin Abi Fadl, his companions, and he read about him in jurisprudence (=Fiqh), fundamentals (=Usul), hadith, interpretation (=Tafsir) and notes (=al-Raqiqa) with a decent study, and among them the scholar and jurist Sheikh Muhammad bin Abi Bakr bin Omar bin Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah ba Abbad. Sheikh Fadl said: The jurist Muhammad bin Alawi, may God have mercy on him, said: When God Almighty determined that I had to break my leg, and my family went to put the cast to force her, I fell with great doubt about the pain of casting, and my family entered for my sake in a great fatigue. When I reached the compulsion, I spent my thinking about the people of Hell and what they are in. And I did not feel the pain of casting. It is mentioned in the book of dignities in the sentence: He was one of the great working scholars and diligent asceticism, with tolerance of hands, he used to pledge to his neighbors and say: If you do not have anything, we will help, and give your strength; and when his brother traveled to Mecca and adjacent to it he made his brother's family stand up completely into the religion. He died on the tenth of Dhu al-Hijjah (7) in the year sixty-seven and seven hundred (1366AD).

 

Taken from: Notes on Migration between Yemen and Northeast Africa during the 13–15th Centuries by Tamon Baba.

 …..al-Malik Masud ibn al-Muayyad al-Ghassany (also called al-Malik al-Masud  Abu al-Qasim) (the last of the Rasulid sultans) (mentioned in the History of Kilwa) was compelled to escape from Aden. From there, he travelled to Ara (a port on the  southern  tip  of  the  Arabian  Peninsula), Haqra  (a place in the Tihama near al- Muha), al-Muha, Zayla and Barbara)(11). Others who resisted the Tahirid family (=new rulers) had been forced to flee from Yemen to Zayla and Barbara (11), as well. The ruined sultan al-Malik al-Masud met them there, and then went south to Kilwa seeking support, due to the friendly relationship between the Rasulids and Kilwa; however, he found little support in the city. Eventually he moved across the Arabian Sea to Kanbaya (Cambay) in India.

A first page from this ms.
A first page from this ms.

Abu Makhrama : Al nisba ila al-mawadi wa-l buldan from Yemen
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Taken from: http://islamport.com/d/3/bld/1/21/205.html#

النسبة إلى المواضع والبلدان by جمال الدين عبدالله الطيب بن عبدالله بن أحمد بامخرمة الحميري

 

P81

Al-Yawraz (14)(Baarwi): ……  An island on the coasts of the Zanj is of business works, and it contains the ribat of the jurist (fakih) Musa ibn Musa. ……….. Judge Masoud mentioned these in his book.

P87

Al-Barawi (8): relative to Barwa ….  A town on the coast of Berbera from the works of Mogadishu, and it has an anchorage intended for travelers from India and the Swahili of each town, mentioned by Judge Masoud.

P88

Al-Barbari (11): also relative to Berbera ….. a vast country from Mogadishu to the first country of Abyssinia, inhabiting a great nation which in which there are Ajam (17)(=non-Arabs) and non Ajam, and they are all Muslims, and among them is the speed of the gallop, and it was said that they did not feed on anything but milk and meat, and they are uncontrolled; from Judge Masoud's book.

P185

Al-Jib (26): ….. a place with Berbers from which a giraffe is brought….

P224

Abyssinian: Relative to Abyssinia ….. then a broad direction north of the Berber Gulf, south of which are Berbers, east of which is Zanj, and west of which is Beja (24). The place Abyssinia crossed to Yemen in boats when they ruled Yemen, and in the proximity of the islands of Dahlak (13) and from the coast of Abyssinia to the coast of Zabid (5) is three days ……from the book of Judge Masud ….  I met in the blacks ten characteristics: fluffiness of the hair, lightness of the eyebrows, wide nostrils, thick lips, defined teeth, stinky skin, chapped hands, and long penis, and a lot of rapture, all found in the book "Judge Masoud", and he mentioned ten qualities and counted nine, he said: But the rapture (=pleasure and joy) prevailed over them because of the corruption and weakness of their brains …..

P257

…… There is in Hirig (close to Aden) a harbour (bandar) where the people of Hind and Maqdisu (Mogadishu) come who in the season visit the people of al Sihr (9) and Hadramawt (10). From this port is transported incense (kundur), fish oil (sifa) to Aden, Barbara (11) and Gidda (12) and in all directions: mentioned by Judge Masoud.

P368

Al Zinji: Relating to the Zanj …... The country of Zanjan, Sudan. Abu Hamid Al-Qazwini said: Whoever enters the country of the Zanj, his soul invites him to war, and taking weapons is over.

P405

Siraf (25): The greatest luxury in Persia, and it does not have crops or udders, but rather it is a city of luck with castles and boats and their people exaggerate in their construction so that one of them spends thirty thousand dinars (22) on building his house, and most of them build them with teak (Balsay)(23), and it is brought to them from the country of the Zanj, which is very hot on the Sea coast …..

P537

Qamar: A place behind the country of Zanj, from which alqamari leaves (18) are brought. I do not think any of the alqamari leaves are good tasting.

P603

And Al-Maqdashi: …..  relative to Makdishu. It is said in the Qamus (15); A large country between the Zanj and Abyssinia.

 

Note: Judge Masoud; Qai Mas‘ud in L’Arabie marchande of Eric Vallet is mentioned by Abu Makhrama as Judge Masoud Abu Shakeel (or Shakil) (القاضي مسعود أبو شكيل ) was clearly an earlier author than Abu Makhrama; but not much is known of him. According to Al Sakhawi d1497 who was the older contemporary of Abu Makhrama; Abu Shakeel, Muhammad bin Masoud was a judge (qadi) of Aden and might have been Al Sakhawi’s contemporary or a bit older.

(1) Hormuz: is a city on the island of Hormuz off the coast of Iran; important in former times as trade center.

(2) Qalhat: The ancient port-city of Qalhat in northeastern Oman.

(3) Abu Hanifa: (d. 767), of one of the four schools of Sunni law.

(4) Shafi'i school: founded by Mohammed bin Idris Shafi'i: (767–820 CE) was an Arab Muslim theologian, writer, and scholar, who was the first contributor of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence. His legacy on juridical matters and teaching eventually led to the formation of Shafi'i school of fiqh.

(5) Zabid: town on Yemen's western coastal plain. It is one of the oldest towns in Yemen.

(6) Tarim: is a historic town situated in Wadi Hadhramaut (Valley of Hadhramaut) in South Yemen.

(7) Dhu al-Hijjah: is the twelfth and final month in the Islamic calendar.

(8) Barawa: Harbour south of Mogadishu.

(9) Sihr; coastal town in Hadhramaut in eastern Yemen.

(10) Hadramawt: eastern part of Yemen.

(11) Barbara: North Somalia.

(12) Gidda (Djedda) : town at the shore, close to Mecca.

(13) Dahlak: island off the Eritrean coast.

(14) Al Baarwi: Al-Barawi, meaning from Barawa on the East African Coast.

(15) Qamus: see my webpage Al Firuzabadi: Qamus al Muhit (The Ocean) (d1414)

(16) Albrawi: Al-Barawi, meaning from Barawa on the East African Coast.

(17) ajam: foreigners, someone whose mother tongue is not Arabic.

(18) Qamari paper: here should be Qamari leaves: Qumari leaves are mentioned by: Ibn al Baytar (1249); Kanz al fawa’id (14th); Al Firuzabadi (d1414); Al Qalqashandi (d1418). Alqmary: alqamary leaves: According to Hinrich Biesterfeldt in: Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety at the Table: A Fourteenth-Century ...p571 it must be qat or kat or khat. See my webpage:  Annon: Kanz al fawa’id (Treasure Trove of benefits)(14th). According to Ibn al Baytar it is Betel: Tambol means Betel in Hindi. However in:  Leaf of paradise?: the intricate effects of khat in Madagascar; L. Gezon, Lisa puts the qat arrival in Madagascar in the early 20th century. So as the Austronesian expansion to Madagascar brought the Betel to Madagascar I think Ibn Al Baytar must be right.

(19) this person is also mentioned by: Abu Makhrama (1521); Ibn al-Ahdal (1451); Al Janadi (1332).

Khoury, Ibrahim 1999 (‏سلطنة هرمز العربية :‏: ‏سيطرة سلطنة هرمز العربية على الخليج ... ) had the following to say about this paragraph: The people of Hormuz Faideh were divided, some of them stood against him (the Sultan). The jurist Abu Al-Dhabij Ismail bin Ahmad Daniyal, nicknamed Al-Qalhati, who was born in Hormuz in the year 686 AH / 1287 - 1288 AD, was almost killed because of his praise of Sultan Bahramshah. However, some of the people of Hormuz became disgraced to them, so their intercession was accepted, and he was forced to leave the country. He went to Maqdishu, and from there to Aden, and all of this was completed in the year 718 AH / 1318 AD. This jurist, despite his lineage to Qalhat, lived in Hormuz for at least a year 718 AH / 1318 AD.

(20) the most famous al-Baydawi at that time was Qadi Baydawi (d. June 1319, Tabriz) was a Persian jurist, theologian, and Quran commentator.

(21) maybe the the Mafs ' ala Sunnat of Ibn Sina (1037)?

(22) dinars: gold coin of one mithqal (4-5 gr of gold)

(23) balsaj: teakwood from East-Africa.

(24) Bagiah or Beggiah: Beja people from Sudan. The Egyptians leaving from Aswan;  the southern border town on the Nile; have to cross their territory to reach the harbours on the Red Sea.

(25) Siraf: was the harbour of Shiraz province of Persia; and the place of big trade with East Africa.

(26) Al-Jib: Djoubb (El Jub): a dug, non-masoned waterhole (according to Marcel Devic p70); the name still exists in the name of the river Jubba. Must have been close to present day Kismayo. Is mostly mentioned by Chinese authors: Yakut (1220); Al-Dimashqi (1325); Fei-Hsin (1436) has Giumbo; Xuanzong Shih-lu (1438) has Zhu-bu;  Zhang, Tingyu: Ming Shi (1739); Luo Maodeng (1597); Taizong Shi lu (1430). Some authors say the channel mentioned by al Masudi (916) is the Jubba: “…Zinj were the only ones who had crossed a tributary of the Nile (the Jubb) which flowed into a bay or canal, which in turn opened into the Indian Ocean…”.