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Medieval Agricultural Texts from Rasulid Yemen ' 0Yi 1)Dnte/7\ | Lvldrlln^[ T Medieval agricultural texts from Rasulid Yemen ' 0yI 1)dnte/7\ | lvldrlln^[ t. Tvartsc0 7 Although the Arabiz.n Peninsulais seldom associated Ayyubid army of Turks and Kurds invadedthe coas- with agriculture. a long and successfultradition of tal region. At the head of the force. which contained cultivation can be documentedfor Islamic Yemen at impressivecavalry units. was Turànsháh,brother of the southwesterncorner of the peninsula.The lamous the famed Saladin. From their base in Egypt rhe Marib dam of ancientSaba. worthy of mentionin the Ayyubids were attracted to Yemen becauseof the Quran. madepossible a major irrigationsystem in the lucrativetrade route which passedalong its coast.The easternpart of Yemen.While irrigationwas practiced trade from India and Africa was an important econo- along the major wadis. there was also extensivepro- mic factorfor Egypt.Thus. control of Yemen.particu- duction based on dryland farming, both rainfed and larly the major sourhernport of Aden, was of high water runoff harvesting.Many of the traditional prac- priority. The Ayyubids rvereable to subdue much of tices can still be observedin the Yemen Arab Repu- the Tiháma (coastalzone) and southernhighlands, but 1. blic Fortunately,there are also a number of impor- they were not able to oust the Zaydr imams of the tant texts which describethe agricultureof Yemen. centraland northernhi-ehiands. The zenith of Islamic civilizationin Yemen came The A1'1'ubidd1,nast1'was shorr-lived in Yemendue about with the establishmentof the Rasulid dy,'nastyin part to resupplvdiÍhculties from Egypt. In 1220the from the l3th through the l5th centuriesA.D. Geo- last Ay'yubid monarch. al-Malik al-Mas'[d. con- graphicaily,Yemen was at the periphervof medieval quered Mecca and gave it as a Íref to a trusted emir 'Umar. Islamichistory. However. the Rasulidsultans ushered named N[r al-Dïn In eight years time this in an era of royal patronageand cultiration of the arts emir becameregent and by 1234hebecame recognized and sciences.Several of the sultiins\\ere accomplished as the legitimate ruler of Yemen from the Abbasid 'Umar scholars in such fields as astronom\. astrologl. caliphal-Mustansir. took the nameof al-Malik botany, medicine. veterinarv rnedicineand agricul- al-Mans[r. the first of the Rasulid sultans,who like ture2.The corpusof agriculturaltexts is probabll the the Ayyubids were originally'Íl-om central Asia. This most detailed description of a medier.,alagriculturiil did not stop the Rasulidsfrom consolidatingcontrol system for any part of the Arab World. Althou-shthis over most of Yemen and inventin-ea -{enealogywhich traditionhas only recentlybeen studied in an1'detail it includeda Yemeni connectiona.A1-Maiik al-MansDr offersa uniqueportrait of the full rangeof agriculture was murderedin 1249in rhe town of Janadin south- in its ecological,economic and historicalsetting. More ern Yemen. His son. al-Malik al-Muzaffar Yusuf can be known about agriculturein Rasulid Yemen ruled Yemen at its sreatest extent for a period of than for any other period in the countrv up to the about 45 years. During this time there was extensive present. building of mosquesand schoolss.The sultanswere This articlecontains an annotatedbibliography of great patrons of learningand the royal court attracted the major Rasulid texts concerning agriculture in scholars from around the known world. Numerous Yemen. There are undoubtedly a number of other texts were written in Rasulid Yemen. which became texts as yet uncataloguedand unknown outside the one of the major intellectualcenters of the period. The many private libraries in Yemen. However, the extant dynasty declined in later years and disappearedin texts cover a range of subjectsfrom general treatises 858i I 454. on agriculture and cultivated crops to tax records. A dynasty as important as the Rasulids was not This bibliography is based on researchby the author without its chroniclers.A number of important texts in Cairo (Dár al-Kutub) and San'à' (Great Mosque, on the period by contemporary or near-contemporary Western Library). as weli as texts available in maior authors have been published. The most famous his- 3. Europeanlibraries tory of the Rasulidsis The Pearl Stringsof al-Khazrajr (died 812 1409).a work which was edited and trans- lated (by J. W. Redhouse) at the beginning of this The Rasulid Era century. The history of the Ayyubids and early Rasu- lids is well coveredin the al-Simt al-Ghalï of Muham- The year 569/1173was a major turning point in mad ibn Hátim (Smith 1974-8). Other imporranr the political affairsof southernArabia. At this time an works on the period include Ibn Fadl Alláh al-'Umari Manuscriptsofthe Middle East 4 (1989) aqlTer Lugt PÍess.Donkersreeg 19.2312 HA Leiden,Netherlands. 1989 rssN0920-040r D.M.VARISCO. AGRICULTURAL TEXTS FROM RASULIDYEMEN l5l (1985),a work attributed to Yalryá ibn al-Husayn can be found in the Bughyatal-./allahrn of al-Malik al- 'Umára (1968), Ibn al-Dayba' (1971), (1976), al- Afdal (see I. C.). The text contains seven chapters JanadT(1983-9), and an anonymoustext (al-Hibshr dealing with the following subjects: (l) Times for 1984, Yajima 1914).There are many as yet unpub- Cultivation, Planting and PreparingLand; (2) Grains; lished texts, although surprisingly little researchhas (3) Legumes(qatanl; (4) Fruit Trees; (5) Flowering been done on this important period in Yemenó. and Aromatic Plants; (6) Vegetables;(7) Agricultural Pests. Virtually all the information is relevant for Yemen. A variant title of al-Malik al-Ashrafs text is The Rosulid Corptrso/'Agricultural Texts given in Ibn al-Dayba' (1971:2:51)as al-Tuf'aha/ï ma'rifat al-íilaha.The Yemeni historian. Muhammad This listing covers the known Rasulid texts which al-Akwa' (197174) claimsto havea copy of this. treat agriculturein someway. Information can also be obtained from the chroniclesand various biographical I.B. works. The texts are distinguishedaccording to (I) Title: Al-Ishara íï al-'inàru. General Agricultural Treatises; (II) Agricultural Author: Al-Maiik al-Mujáhid AII ibn Dáw[d (died Almanacs;(IIl) Tax Data Records;and, (IV) Miscel- 164i1362). laneousTexts and Excerpts. Comntents'.There is no known copy of this text, but it is quoted extensivelyby al-Malik al-Afdal in the Bttghyat al-.fallahtn. There is apparently an excerpt L GeneralAgricultural Treatises from this or Mílh al-malclhain the Ambrosiana (Ser- I.A. jeant1974:26). Tit le : M ilh ul-ntulul.tu nru'rilut ul-.hltll.tu. ./ï 'Umar Author: Al-Malik al-Ashraf ibn Y[suf (died I.C. 696 t296\. Title: Buglt.t'urul-fulldllírt ./ï ul-usltjar al-muthmira M.s.s. va-al-rurahtn. (l) Vienna.Glaser Collection. No. 247. 243 pp. Author'.Al-Malik al-Afdal al-Abbás ibn Ali (died The text is incomplete and breaks off shortly after 178i1376). discussion of the kádhi plant (.Pandanusodoratissi- Mss. ntus).Each page has nine lines in a clear hand. The (l) Cairo.Dár al-Kutub, Zirà'a 155.257pp, 23 lines harakat are often provided for plant names.There is per page. Incomplete copy. The text has been des- no colophon and the date of the text is uncertain.It cribed by Meyerhotr (1944).A hand copy was made of was probably copied after the Rasulid period. this ms. for Meyerhoffin 1931. (2) Yemen.Private Library. (2) San'á'.Great Mosque. WesternLibrary, Zirá'a Copy after 11721758. The text is incompleteafter l. 177 pp.Copied 1362i1943.This ms. is said to be discussionof the coconut (1rclra.jt|).An edition of this b1-'a certainYahyá ibn Isma'r1al-Ghassáni (sic), and ms. was published by Muhammad Abd al-Rahim this error is also found in the publishedcatalog for the Jázm in the journal al-Iklïl (San'á'),3 (1985):1:165-WesternLibrary. 207. This edition has a number of printing errors and (3) Tarim. Private Library. Copy from 1197i1782. editorial mistakes.Another edition was published by This ms. was copiedby R.B. Serjeantin 1953-4. Abd Allàh Muhammad al-Mujáhid (Damascus:Dár (4) Istanbul,Topkapi, Ahmet III. A. 2432,fJ. l77v- al-Fikr. 1987,176 pp.), but this is severelyflawed and 225r. Probably copied l00li 1592 by a Kurd at the should not be used. Al-Mujáhid did not examine the Turkish court. This text is not listed in the published original ms, but only used a handwritten copy by catalog. It is bound with a copy ol al-Filaha al- Jázm depositedat the Yemen Center for Researchand Rumíva of Qustls (CassianusBassus) and both are in Studies.To further complicatematters this latter edition the samehand. There is no mention in the text or the is full of irrelevant statisticaldata on current production title or the author's name. This is an incompletetext figuresin the Yemen Arab Republic.Since al-Mujàhid and full of copyist errors. The copyist clearly was not did not consult Jázm before pubiishing his version, a familiar with many of the Yemeni terms. lively debate ensued in the Yemeni newspaper a/- (5) Abridged version in Mixed Rasulid Ms. (San'á', Thatt'ra (12131i81,Thursday, No. 272) in which Private Library), 6 pp. This text was apparentlyowned Jázm noted the errors in al-Mujáhid's version and by the author, who has marginal notes in the ms. complained that his work had been plagiarized.The Comments'.This is a major medievaltext on agricul- versionof al-Mujáhid is without any scholarlymerit. ture with extensivequotes from CassianusBassus?, Comntents'.The reading Milh is the acceptedread- Ibn BassáI8and Ibn Wahshryae.In addition, the ing, although Jázm prefers Mulah in the senseof the author citesthe earlier texts of al-Malik al-Ashraf and plural of malaha. The term milh, however. with the al-Malik al-Mujáhid.The chaptersinclude: (l) Types figurativesense of science('ilm) fits the corresponding of Land and their Quality; (2) Fertilizer; (3) Water; usageof ma'rifa in the title.
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