Aden gateway to East Africa. Given is the top part of the famous map of Aden/Mombaza/Quiloa/Cefala by Braun & Hogenberg 1572
the start of the book in the ms, it begins in the middle of a page
Fasl fi marifat al matanim wa al asiqa fi al Yaman al mahrusa
(a royal crop register for the year 1372)
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Taken from: Varisco; Medieval Folk Astronomy and Agriculture in Arabia and the Yemen
The names of the months are taken from the Roman numerals. The Julian reckoning in the time of al Abbas was about 8 days less then in our modern calendar.
I. Kanun al-Thani (January)
II Shubat (February)
III Adhar (March)
IV Nisan (April)
V Ayyar (May)
VI Haziran (June)
VII Tammuz (July)
VIII Ab (August)
IX Aylul (September)
X Tishrin al Awwal (October)
XI Tishrin al Thani (November)
XII Kanun al Awwal (December)
Aden
The sailing called saih from Aden to Egypt is at XII:15. Those who sail at IV:7 to Egypt are called lahiq. The Indians leave for Aden at X:10, which is called; the first of the season (awwal
zaman). The dimani (wind in S-W direction) sailing from Aden is at IV:23. The last sailing of the Indians for Aden is at III:8, which is called; the last of the season (akhir zaman). The first of
the nayruz calendar (1) is at I:2. The Mogadishu (boats) sail from Aden at VI:7. The commerce in madder (fuwwa) in Aden is at V:1. The season for (commerce in) horses in Aden is at VIII:15
Left: the Madder plant.
Al-Shihr (2)
The Dhofari (3)(boats) sail to here on IV:17 and the Mogadishu (boats) at III:15. The last sailing of the Indians to here is III:8. The Adeni (boats) sail here at IV:24; the last sailing of the
Adeni to here is at IV:27.
Date palm: pollination at I:25; tax estimate in V ; tax assessment in VI.
the start of the book in the ms, it begins in the middle of a page
Fusul majmu'a fi al-anwa wa-al-zuru wa al hisad (collected materials on the Anwa stars, Planting and Harvesting) (a Rasulid Almanac)
(1376)
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Taken from: Varisco; Medieval Folk Astronomy and Agriculture in Arabia and the Yemen
The anonymous almanac was found in a manuscript from the library of al Malik al Abbas who died in 1376.
Tishrin al-Awwal (October)
1 (Equivalent to) 4 Babih
3 The east wind begins to blow
4 Last cutting of wood in Yemen.
5 Dawn rising of simak (4) and setting of batn al-hut (5), the naw (6) of which is four nights of rain. At this time is the naw (6) of asad. Planting of ishwi sorghum (7). Last of the lawaqih
days (which harm the face). Beginning of decline in water sources and the Nile. Egyptians plant.
6 Fleas are less abundant.
7 Cutting of wood in Syria.
8 Arrival of the Mogadishu (ships) to Aden. Arrival of the crane and wagtail in Egypt.
10 Season for planting clover in Egypt.
.........
Kanun al-Awwal (December)
........
14 The sun enters Capricorn. Shortest day and most intense cold. Then the daylight begins to increase. Entering of the winter season.
15 Evening rising of Sirius (8), which is (also called) alib. Planting of qiyad (wheat and barley) in the mountains.
16 Sailing of the Mogadishu (ships) from Aden. The humor of phlegm (9) is active. First inflorescence of date palms.
17 Season for crushing sugar cane.
19 First harvest of sabii (sorghum) in the coastal region.
20 water freezes.
.............
Haziran (June)
1 (Equivalent to) 7 Bauna (24). First presence of fresh ripe dates and peaches.
5 First sailing of the Mogadishu (ships) from Aden.
8 The Nile of Egypt becomes full of sediments. Last of the khamsin (10) winds.
Salwat al-mahmum fi ilm al-nujum (Rasulid zodiacal Almanac) (1376)
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Attributed to the Sultan al Malik al Afdal al-Abbas
Taken from: Medieval agriculture and Islamic science.
To transfer the dates given in the manuscript to present day dates add about 9 days
The ships left Mogadishu for Aden at 9th Libra (25 sept)
The arrival of the ships at Aden from Mogadishu 17th Capricornus (29 dec)
Departure of ships from Aden to Mogadishu 22th Gemini (11) (5 of june) and 30th Scorpius (12)(Nov 14th)
Start of the part of the ms mentioned under.
Manuscript of Al malik al Afdal al-Abbas 1372
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(This part of the manuscript has no title of its own)
Taken from : Jean-Charles Ducène : Les tables géographiques du manuscrit du sultan rasulide al-Malik al-Afḍal.
Al-Habasa, Nubie and what is between them
|
Name |
Longitude |
Latitude |
Climate |
Region |
Short general description |
|
Sufala of the Zang |
62° |
2° |
On the equator |
Zang |
The population consists of white skin
Muslims (13) |
|
Qanbala (25) |
62° |
8° |
It is the capital of the zang rulers, their country is hardly developed. |
||
|
Island of Lankuya (14) |
106° |
8° |
This is a big island that belongs to the Zang. Their merchants gather here. Its length is 8 parasanges (15). There are jungles and forests. Very fertile island. |
||
|
Bagga (18)land of Berbera |
55° |
12° |
I |
Al Barbar |
It is a people that belongs to the ahsana( ?). Their hair is very black. They are part of the Habasa with a resemblance to the Arabs because of the whiteness and blackness. They don’t have villages or fields and pray to idols. |
|
Aydab (16) |
68° |
21° |
II |
It is a locality of the beja (18) on the al-Qulzum (17) sea. It belongs to the Habasa. It is a big town and the residence of the beja (18) rulers. |
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This part of the
manuscript has no title of its own but is one page containing the titles of important people and rulers in the country and surrounding lands
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Taken from: Musa b al hasan al Mawsili et la correspondence des sultans…. By Eric Vallet
The last ones on the list are the rulers of Dahlak (19), Sawakin (20) and Maqdisuh (Mogadishu) called al-Sayh al Agall indicating that they are ruling only a limited amount of people.
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Arabic –Ethiopic Glossary (1347) part of the Glossary
---------------------------------------------
Taken from: The Arabic-Ethiopic Glossary by al-Malik al-Afḍal: An Annotated Edition with ...By Maria Bulakh, Leonid Kogan
Nothing concerning East Africa is found. Some examples of the text (3 pages long) are given.
| Arabic | Ethiopian |
| Al-ag: ivory | Qanda zhun: elephant horn |
| Al-ahdar: black skin | Tayym: black skin |
| Al gariyat: female slave | Gafh: slave |
Bughyat al-fallahin f al-ashjar al-muthmira wa-al-rayahin (Desirable Practices of Farmers for Flowering Trees and Aromatic Plants) Not part of the composite ms above ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taken from: Daniel Martin Varisco Medieval Agriculture
and Islamic Science
Medieval Folk Astronomy and Agriculture in Arabia and the Yemen By Daniel Martin Varisco
Max Meyerhof , Sur un traité d'agriculture composé par un sultan yéménite du XIVe siècle" in Bulletin de l'Institut d'Egypte .Volumes 25-26 1942
Major Rasulid agricultural text
A wide variety of tree crops, shrubs and fruits (total 34) are classified in the Bughyat ( f. 81r-129v)
On fol 118r a variety of banana (mawz) from Mogadishu is recorded to exist in Yemen, (others translate it as muqaddasi =Jerusalem)
(The grandfather of the author) Sultan Dawud had planted bananas in one of his gardens called: al-muqaddasi in the year 701 AH, and his father had seen in the garden of Saarag in 735 a bunch with 95 fruits from the Indian variety what is really remarkable, and another bunch of a local variety with 382 bananas. His father knew of a flour-variety in Ethiopia from which the women locally made a kind of bread.
……………………….
27th fruit tree: The tamarind
In the country of the Negroes it can become so big that thousand horsemen can stand under it. (According to Max Meyerhof this must have been the baobab tree).
In order to protect grape leaves from caterpillars and worms, (103v) recommended smoking the vines with a mixture of goat hooves, wastage from
working ivory, waste from pine-nut. (sanawbar) and lily of the valley (sawsan).
From a manuscript of Al Umari: Banana trees.
A page from the Bugyhyat
Al malik al Afdal al-Abbas: Al-ataya al-Saniyya 1372
Not part of the composite ms above
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Taken from: Notes on Migration between Yemen and Northeast Africa during the 13–15th Centuries by Tamon Baba
In this year (652/1254–1255), the shaykh, imam, and Hanafi jurist (21), Abu al-Rabi Sulayman ibn Musa ibn Ali ibn al-Gawn al-As’ar died (. . .). He was known as a person who despised bad deeds (al-munkar).When “the Saturday” (al-subut) was held in Zabid (22) and bad deeds (=alcohol) happened, he left for al-Habasa. He lived in the village called Run until he died in the year mentioned above.
In this year (741/1340–1341), the fair-minded jurist and imam, Abu al-Atiq Abu Bakr ibn Gibril ibn Awsam al-Adali died. He was a jurist, and fair-minded, generous, well educated, pious, and exalted. His family (ahluhu) in Sudan, is considered faithful, and often performs good deeds.
When talking about the second Rasulid Sultan: al-Muzaffar Yusuf:
He ruled over Mecca, its province, al-Taif (23) and its province…….. The Kutba (=sermon) was read in his name in Habash, in Aqab and Aydab (16) and Dahlaq (19). He build the great mosque in China: He established the minbar and had the kutba (=sermon) read in his name. He build the Gread Mosque in Hurmuz.
Note: If all this is true (it was written one century later) then the influence of Yemen in the Swahili world must also have been big. According to the present manuscript also: the Rasulids planned to send military expeditions to Zayla in 673/1274 and Dahlaq (19) Island in 750/1349, while Amin al-Din Ahyaf temporarily controlled certain cities, such as Zayla, from Zabid (22).
(1) nayruz calendar: Nayrouz or Neyrouz is September 11, this day is the start of the Coptic new year.
(2) Al-Shihr: coastal town in Hadhramaut in eastern Yemen.
(3) Dhofari: province in Oman.
(4) Simak: is the Chaldean mansion of Virgo. The stars for navigating are Arcturus then Vega.
(5) batn al-hut: Lunar Mansion 28, or The Belly Of The Fish.
(6) naw: dawn setting of a particular station in the west.
(7) ishwi sorghum: should read al-ishwi. This is a variety named after the evening rising of the Pleiades.
(8) Sirius: one of the guiding stars : brightest star in the night sky in the constellation Canis Major (the Greater Dog).
(9) humor of phlegm: phlégma, "inflammation", "humour caused by heat" is mucus produced by the respiratory system.
(10) khamsin winds: hot, dry, dusty wind in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula that blows from the south or southeast in late winter and early spring.
(11) Gemini: the constellation of Gemini.
(12) Scorpius: one of the constellations.
(13) Zanj people of white (or red) complexion: Several authors mention them: Istakhri (957); Ibn-Hawqal (970); Manuscript of Al Malik al Afdal al-Abbas (1372); Ahmad ibn Majid al-Najid (1462): Kitab al-Fawa'id. In all cases they speak of faraway lands, so not easily reached. My only guess here is the Afroasiatic people from the Horn of Africa who did indeed extended their habitat till the interior of south Tanzania in those centuries (pastoralists). Among their descendants in Tanzania (now farmers) there are still some (very few) very light skinned people (among the Wambulu or Iraqw tribe). Other information on this: When Hypothesis Becomes Myth: The Iraqi Origin of the Iraqw by Ole Bjørn Rekdal. As to Al Malik al Afdal al-Abbas (1372) his white people at Sufala of the Zang (in Mozambique) must have been Austronesian colonisers who had taken over Madagascar and also had some settlements on the coast and smaller islands. His white people among the Bagga land of Berbera; those are also Afroasiatic people. Ibn Majid (1462) sees them from the most southern point of Africa till Kanem in West Africa. He says: They are a white people to the south of the Sudan. These do not exist.
(14) Island of Lankuya: L.njwyh; Lunjuya (Unguja) = Zanzibar.
(15) parasanges: 1 parasangs or farsakhs = 2.8 nautical miles/ about 5km.
(16) Aydab; Aidab: Aydhab: medieval port of the Red Sea controlled by Egypt.
(17) al-Qulzum: located at the head of the Gulf of Suez.
(18) Beja: in N 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.
(19) Dahlak: island off the Eritrean coast.
(20) Sawakin; Suakin: or Sawakin is a port city in northeastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was formerly the region's chief port.
(21) Hanafi jurist: Hanafi school: is one of the four major Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). Founded by the 8th-century Kufan scholar, Abu Ḥanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thabit, a tabi‘i of Persian origin.
(22) Zabid: town on Yemen's western coastal plain. It is one of the oldest towns in Yemen.
(23) al-Taif: Just north of present day Yemen on the coast of Saoudi Arabia.