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15 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXV N° 1-2, januari-april 2008 16

northwards, to the Îidjaz and Egypt, whereas myrrh and rassemale finished up in southern districts, in India and the Indonesian Archipelago. In addition to Indian, East African and Turkish merchants, the Dutch conducted some activities in this commerce. The profits aimed at, finally, could reach dizzy heights. Sandalwood yielded about 600% in one sea- son, eaglewood more than 2,500% and musk at least 4,000%! Benzoin in the bazaar of al-Mukha For one sweet-smelling product, the supply or transit, the cargoes, prices or profits were not discussed, i.e. benzoin. This is not because the documents keep deathly silent about it, but, on the contrary, because they abound in data, enough to justify a separate study. That very study, which is to be considered a continuation of the ‘frankincense’ research, is undertaken here. The period under the searchlight again runs from 1614 to 1640. During that quarter of a century al-Mukha flourished, transforming itself from a local fisherman’s village into an internationally renowned mercantile port. At the same time, the Ottoman eyalet was on its way to wrack and ruin, a series of increasingly powerless Îanafi Beylerbeyis, from Dja‘far Basha to ËanÒuh Basha, suffering defeats against the revolting Zaydi Imams al-Ëasim b. MuÌammad and MuÌammad b. al-Ëasim. The sources drawn from are again, in addition to some contemporary printed logs, the handwritten missives, reports, resolutions, bills of carriage, invoices and price lists which have come down to us in large numbers in the archives of the Dutch Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), i.e. ‘United East India Company’, a globally operating enterprise maintaining a semipermanent factory in the Yemeni port city CABESSA OR BARIGA and itself an actor on the benzoin market2). DUTCH DATA ON THE BENZOIN BUSINESS Successively, designations and usages, supply, origin and IN EARLY MODERN AL-MUKHA*) destination, varieties and qualities, weighing and packaging, pricing and taring, quantities landed and traded, sales prices C.G. BROUWER in al-Mukha and purchase prices elsewhere, turnover and price trends, profits and losses, commercial strategy, costs and presents will be dealt with. The results are summarized SEARCHLIGHTS ON THE MUKHAWI BENZOIN TRADE in a final section. For details concerning nomenclature, botany and usages, Al-Mukha: International market for aromatics not touched upon in the documents and journals investigated, In the early decades of the seventeenth century, ‘sweet- one is referred to the thorough treatises by Schopen and scented shipments’ regularly reached or left al-Mukha, a sta- Schönig, to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, and to the survey of ple port situated only a few hours sailing north of the straits trade products by Wennekes, covering the Yemeni, the Arab of Bab al-Mandab in the hot and humid Tihama. As Brouwer and the Dutch contexts, respectively. Unfortunately, demonstrated in a recently published essay on the Mukhawi Grohmann’s work on South Arabian economic history, a real trade in ‘frankincense and other aromatics’1), sandalwood, landmark, does not discuss the country’s benzoin commerce, sunbul and hing-asa were supplied by cargo ships from West- let alone that in early modern al-Mukha3). It goes without ern India and Sind. Musk came from Javanese regions, saying that the useful lexicons by Kooijmans and Schoone- whereas eaglewood, ambergris and myrrh were mainly veld-Oosterling — based on Stapel’s — and by Yule and shipped in from East African ports. Frankincense arrived, by Burnell are referred to when necessary. land or by sea, from the Îa∂ramawt, the rassemale landed Finally, the rare publications of a specific, local, regional was possibly carried from Suez. Only the origin of mastic, if or international nature examining the Mukhawi benzoin supplied at all, remained mysterious. It turned out that nowhere in the sources consulted was it stated that any of these fragrant products were actually sold 2) On the Ottoman rule over South Arabia (1538-1635/6), on al-Ëasim in the Yemeni hinterland, in Ta‘izz, Dham r or ∑an‘ ’. At and his martial sons MuÌammad and Isma‘il (since 1598), on al-Mukha, on a a the VOC (1602-1799), its activities in Yemen (1614-c. 1758) and the reflec- any rate, sandalwood, ambergris and sunbul travelled further tion thereof in documents, as well as its participation in the aromatics trade, see the secondary literature referred to in Brouwer, Shipments, cols. 67-68, sub nn. 17-18. *) The cooperation with Dr Julia Harvey (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen), 3) Grohmann, Wirtschaftsgebiet, vol. I, p. 115, n. 1 (ÌaÒi luban al-djawi who so competently corrected the English version of this benzoin essay, produced by the ∂arb tree in South Arabia is not, as Ritter suggested, iden- was both professional and companionable. Alf shukr! tical with Ibn Ba††u†a’s luban djawi originating from Sumatra). This is the 1) Brouwer, Shipments, especially the summarizing remarks in col. 87. historian’s sole reference to the product. 0993-8_BIOR_2008/1-2_01 21-04-2008 14:39 Pagina 11

17 CABESSA OR BARIGA 18

transactions at the turn of the seventeenth century have been Explicit references to such cargo vessels prove to be spo- indicated in the introductory sections of Brouwer’s frank- radic. According to an eye-witness from 1616, ‘merchant- incense essay cited above4). A simple reference, therefore, men’ hailing from Indian ports such as Neggena (Nagna), will suffice here to the studies by Terpstra (1918), Mac Promiens (Miani), Cadts (Kutch), Diu, Surat, Goga, Chaul, Leod (1927), Van Leur (1934/1955), Beckingham (1951), Dabhol, Goa, Cannanore, Calicut and Masulipatnam, as well Pirenne (1958), Davies (1961) and Brouwer (1980, 1982, as from Sumatran Achin, transported benzoin to Southern 1985, 1988 (twice), 1999, 2001, and 2006). In these four- Arabia. But from all of the ports mentioned? Probably not. teen contributions in book or article form — one tenth of It is most likely that only the ship owned by Aga Rasa (Agha the total number of checked publications—, without excep- Rasa), the Governor of Dabhol, was involved. This vessel, tion relying on Dutch source materials, a handful of words leaving Achin as usual in February, appeared in the roads of at most is devoted to benzoin, and that in ever-changing al-Mukha on 24 April with, in addition to spices and chi- contexts. In other words, in the secondary literature only naware, a batch of benzoin9). seldom is attention called to the fragrant product that so Five years later, in the monsoon of 1621, crafts originat- often appears in records and logs, and then only in passing. ing from Indian coastal cities — Nagna, Gingut, Diu, Surat, In the Yemeni coastal city benzoin was marketed by Indian Goga, Chaul, Dabhol, Cannanore, Cochin and Masulipatnam and Dutch merchants: this is the whole, not particularly sub- — provided the Red Sea port with the sweet-smelling item. tle, message5). But here again, was it all of these ships, some of them, or only one10)? We may assume, finally, that the benzoin which was for- THE BENZOIN BUSINESS IN AL-MUKHA, 1614-1640 warded to Masulipatnam by the VOC bottom the Schiedam at the end of September 1621 would reach the Yemeni port Designations and usages aboard a native craft in the course of the next season. In Among the aromatic substances traded in early seven- December, at least, the loading of the latter was in full teenth-century al-Mukha was benzoin, a sweet-smelling gum swing11). resin tapped from storax benzoïn (Port. benjoim, from Ar. luban djawi, i.e. ‘Javanese frankincense’). The spelling found Aboard Dutch freighters in the sources analysed can vary widely: from benjuijn, via Whereas the documents and journals examined keep silent benjeun, to benjuwijn. Once, in 1616, it is stated that ollij- about benzoin transactions by the English East India Com- van[nel] (read: olibanum, Ar. al-luban) is ‘known as ben- pany (EIC), it turns out that the data concerning the activi- sevins with the Javanese’6). ties of their Dutch competitors is both extensive and detailed. Unfortunately, nowhere is a hint given as to the use of the In 1616, the jacht (‘yacht’) the Nassau, under the com- product, neither in nor outside Yemen; the authors of mis- mand of the opperkoopman (‘senior merchant’) Pieter van sives and reports did not want to waste ink and paper on a den Broecke, sailed away from Bantam, entered the Bay of subject considered common knowledge7). al-Mukha on 25 January and brought the product ashore12). In the spring of 1620, Pieter de Carpentier and the Gover- Supply: Aboard Indian cargo vessels nor General Jan Pietersz. Coen, residing in Batavia, saw, on During the period at issue, benzoin was offered for sale on the authority of Van den Broecke, such a rosy future for the the Mukhawi market, presumably, in all successive com- benzoin commerce in Southwest Arabia that they encouraged mercial seasons. This can be deduced from the fact that the the massive purchase of the resin by Gerard Fredericksz. product figures in general price surveys covering 1616, 1621, Druijff and Cornelis van Nieuroode, merchants active in 1622, 1623, 1638 and 1640. No doubt it was carried to Ara- Patani and Siam respectively13). A few months later, at the bia aboard Asian freighters, although the lists referred to do end of August, the ’t Wapen van Zeelandt, a large schip not breathe a word about this8). (‘ship’) hailing from Jacarta, with the experienced Van den Broecke as its Commander, discharged a lot of benzoin in the port of Aden. The senior merchant Harman van Gill was commissioned to carry it, aboard Arab djalbas, together with 4) Brouwer, Shipments, cols. 63-67. 5) Consult Terpstra, Westerkwartieren, pp. 106, 116 and 124; Mac Leod, a cargo of spices, porcelains and other commodities, to al- Zeemogendheid, vol. I, p. 409; Van Leur, Trade, p. 76 (the original Dutch Mukha and to store it in a comptoir to be established there14). text dates from 1934); Beckingham, Dutch travellers, pt. I, p. 81; Pirenne, Découverte, p. 60 (cf. Birin, Iktishaf, p. 81 (al-luban)); Davies, Primer, p. 93. Furthermore Brouwer, Servant, pp. 104 and 118; Expedition, pp. 54 and 57; Eye, p. 48; Anchor, p. 205; Cauwa, p. 35; VOC, p. 274 (sub XIII- 9) H, 67 (Koopvaerdy-schepen; Neggena; Promiens; Cadts); 56, 207v; 6); and Trade, pp. 50 and 121. A, I, 100 (Aga Rasa), 174-175. Cf. Brouwer, Shipping movements, pt. I, 6) Benjuijn: for instance, 231, 58r; benjeun: 56, 207v; benjuwijn: 322, p. 132 (M41). 262, etc. Also benjuin (656, 146r), benjoin (67, 209r), benjewin (A, I, 100), 10) 232, 252 (Gingut). benjuwin (403, 761), benjamijn (204, 160r), benguwin (210, 6), benguijn 11) 259, 827-828, 829. (259, 829), benguiwijn (375a, 34), Benzor and Benzoe (R, II, 33 and 42, 12) 67, 209r. Cf. Brouwer, Profile, p. 408 (DM1). — Jacht: ‘Yacht’, respectively; Germ.). 56, 206r (Ollijvan[nel], berucht als bensevins bij de Dutch three-master of small dimensions with a maximum volume of about Javanen). 150 Dutch lasts (i.e. 300 Dutch tons of 988 kg each); see ibid., esp. p. 306. 7) Cf. Kooijmans & Schooneveld-Oosterling, VOC-glossarium, p. 19, 13) 153, 443r-v; 168, 689; 169, 692. s.v. ‘Benzoë’; Yule & Burnell, Hobson-Jobson, pp. 86-87, s.v. ‘Benjamin, 14) 180, 166r, 166v; 189, 573; 204, 160r; 232, 255. Cf. Brouwer, Pro- benzoin’; EI2, vol. V (1986), p. 786, i.v. ‘Luban’ (A. Dietrich); and Wen- file, p. 408 (DM2). — Schip: ‘Ship’, large-sized Dutch three-master with nekes, Handel, p. 404, s.v. ‘Benjuin’. On benzoin in the Yemeni context a carrying capacity of 500 lasts at most (1,000 Dutch tons); for details see see Schopen, Heilmittel, p. 22, s.v. ‘gawi’, and Schönig, Schminken, pp. 80- ibid., esp. p. 306. Djalba: One-masted (?) Arab sailing vessel of small 81, s.v. ‘gawi’. dimensions, operating in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, with a volume 8) 56, 206r; 363, 194r (concerning 1621 and 1622); 420, 23r; 665, 173; of roughly 25 lasts (50 Dutch tons); see Brouwer, Profile, esp. pp. 290- 698, 1314; and 705, 164v, respectively. 291(with references in n. 16). 0993-8_BIOR_2008/1-2_01 21-04-2008 14:39 Pagina 12

19 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXV N° 1-2, januari-april 2008 20

In accordance with Coen’s wishes, the ship the Samson Yemeni war came to an end. Obviously, Grijph’s two yachts and the yacht the Weesp, sailing from Jacarta under the senior did not carry the product19). merchants Pieter Gillissen van Ravensteijn, Willem Jacobsz. According to a statement by three brokers residing in de Milde and Jan van der Burch supplied a load of benzoin Surat, Wissendasnan, Seras and Bagesij, committed to writ- in al-Mukha on 3 or 4 July 1621, which had been transferred ing in 1633, the VOC would undoubtedly book ‘the highest from the Goede Fortuijne before Bantam15). profits’ in a short time if the enterprise wished to throw ben- The two ships the ’t Wapen and the Noort Hollant that, zoin on the Mukhawi market. Surati traders who returned having been detached from the joint Dutch-English ‘fleet of from the Red Sea port in October of the same year confirmed defence’ cruising off S. Brandan, came to anchor in the that opinion. Notwithstanding this, in view of the state of war roadstead of al-Mukha on 13 March 1622, had a lot of ben- prevailing in the country, the Dutch did not equip a ship for zoin in their holds. The strained relations, however, between South Arabia20). the Ottoman authorities and the Dutch trading office — as Not until 1640 did a VOC vessel, the ’t Vliegende Hart, a result of the violent raids by the Samson and the Weesp under the command of the onderkoopman Johannes Sigis- against Indian freighters returning home, and the reprisals mundus Wurffbeen, once again supply the gum resin in al- taken by the Beylerbeyi (‘Governor General’) Fa∂l Allah Mukha. On 5 June, this fluit (‘flute’), sailing from Surat, Basha, ending in the taking hostage of Company servants made anchorage there. In the future, the ‘junior merchant’ — prevented the Commander Jan van Gorcom from selling expected, high prices could be fetched provided that the ben- it. Only on 16 August, after long-drawn-out negotiations zoin were of good quality21). Paulus Croocq, however, the leading to a ‘firman of peace’ and a ‘contra firman’ acting Director in Surat, felt compelled to cancel the voyage exchanged between the SandjaÈbeyi of the port, Alij Aga to Yemen scheduled for 1641; the lots of benzoin, pepper (‘AliAgha) and Van Gorcom, was a modest quantity of ben- and other commodities already accumulated he resolved to zoin landed in return for the release of the merchants and sell on the Surati market. But this story, though interesting, seamen — among whom the hot-tempered senior merchant is outside the chronological scope of the research undertaken Albert Becker. At the same time, the factory’s chief De here22). Milde recommended not sending the product to Yemen again as it drew few buyers and in Egypt it was not in Origin and destination demand at all16). From 1618 dates an observation made in Achin that the The yacht the Heusden, placed under the command of the benzoin annually carried aboard Indian crafts from that port senior merchant François Lemmens and dispatched to Ara- to al-Mukha, whether or not directly, had been purchased bia by the Admiral Jacob Dedel from a position off Goa, from ‘Malaysians or Javanese’23). appeared on 12 March 1623 before al-Mukha, with, among A small part of the resin that in Jacarta in mid-June 1620 other goods, a cargo of benzoin. Unfortunately, the continu- was stowed in the hold of the ’t Wapen had been ‘seized’, ing Turkish-Dutch conflict made trading almost impossible, according to the ship’s manifest which has survived, in a vio- despite great efforts to that end made by the senior merchant lent action off Sumatran Tico, presumably from a native boat. Hubert Visnich17). Coen’s instructions of the same year to Druijff and Van Nieu- On about 20 June 1626, Herman van Speult’s impressive roode, the former in Patani and the latter in Siam, prove to squadron of seven bottoms cast anchor in al-Mukha’s roads be more precise: on the local market they should not let any having crossed over from Surat. Although these ships did not benzoin pass unpurchased, at least ‘as far as their capital deliver benzoin, the senior merchant Johan Carstensz, the might suffice’24). successor of Van Speult who had died in the Tihama port, From the summer of 1621, finally, data on the benzoin held the view that the Company could expect to earn profit cargo of the Samson and the Weesp has come down to us. on the aromatic resin in the future. At almost the same time, On 3 April, in the roadstead of Bantam, ship and yacht had Van den Broecke, in his function of ‘Director’ of the Com- transferred their lots, ‘as per instruction’, from the Goede pany’s main establishment in the Westerkwartieren or ‘West- Fortuijne. Unfortunately, where the latter ship had obtained ern Districts’, urged the Governor General Pieter de Carpen- its gum resin is not registered in the Yemen-related records25). tier in Batavia to provide him with the item in order to be We may infer that Sumatra and Java functioned at least as able to continue the trade therein to Arabia18). purchase regions for benzoin, whereas Siam and Malaysia During the commercial season of 1628, Job Christiaensz. were production areas. Grijph, who on 15 May called at al-Mukha with the Bommel What was the final destination of the benzoin discharged and the Weesp, anticipated that the Company would succeed and traded in al-Mukha? The merchant who in 1616 wit- in making good profits on benzoin as soon as the Turkish- nessed the arrival of the aromatic product aboard Indian ships

19) 613, 1495. Cf. Brouwer, Profile, p. 410 (DM8). 15) Coen: 208, 612; 210, 6. Samson and Weesp: 231, 768, 770; 232, 20) 662, 285r (Wissendasnan; Seras; Bagesij; de meeste advancen); 248, 255; 322, 263. See Brouwer, Profile, pp. 408-409 (DM3). 665, 173. 16) 325, 1001. Cf. Brouwer, Profile, p. 409 (DM4). De Milde’s recom- 21) 704, 399v; 705, 164v; 706, 146r; R, II, 42, 49. Cf. Brouwer, Pro- mendation: 322, 264. For the Dutch piracy and the Turkish reaction, see file, p. 410 (DM10). — Fluit: ‘Flute’, three-masted, round-sterned Dutch Brouwer, Servant, pp. 107-111, 114-118, 119. Firman and contra firman: cargo vessel, carrying 200 lasts at most (400 Dutch tons); see Brouwer, 321 and 323, respectively. Profile, p. 306 in particular (with n. 75), to be supplemented by Haalmeijer 17) 336, 229; 375a, 34; 459, 10r. Cf. Brouwer, Profile, p. 409 (DM6). & Vuik, Fluiten, pp. 41-51, and Ketting, Fluitschepen. On the tumultuous events during the visit of the Heusden one may consult 22) 708, 586v; 710, 487r. Brouwer, Servant, pp. 119-128. 23) A, I, 174 (Mallajers ofte Javanen). 18) 541, 303v; 656, 146r (though dating from November 1633, it 24) 180, 166r (verovert). Siam: 168, 689; 169, 692 (sooverre u cappi- replaces a purloined report from 1626). Cf. Brouwer, Profile, pp. 409-410 tael mach toereijken). (DM7). Van den Broecke: 542, 293r. 25) 231, 768; 232, 248 (volgens d’ordre). 0993-8_BIOR_2008/1-2_01 21-04-2008 14:39 Pagina 13

21 CABESSA OR BARIGA 22

— or at least aboard the Dabhol craft that came straight from the ’t Vliegende Hart in the Yemeni port was ‘extremely dirty Achin — stated that it ‘was in great demand here’, the major and nothing but waste’, in fact, ‘half of it [was] dust’33). part thereof being transported overland by Caffelas and across the sea by ‘the large King’s ship’ — originating from Suez Weighing — to Jedda, Mecca, Suez and Cairo26). In al-Mukha the size of the lots of benzoin was usually A few years later, in mid-1622, another observer confirmed determined by weighing, seldom by counting. The unit of that benzoin ‘was here in the country in small demand’. weighing used was the bahar, spelled in various ways: bhaar, Remarkably enough, however, the same merchant also bhaer, bahar, baer, and so on and so forth. The subdivisions claimed that benzoin ‘was not at all in demand for Missir’ thereof were utilized as well, namely the farasila and the (Egypt). No wonder that he did not succeed in selling the lot mann, appearing as, for example, frasle or frasla and men. of benzoin that he himself had landed in 1621; this lot was The unit of counting, only once met with in the documents not only of a low quality but it was ‘not in demand for studied, was represented by the pack34). [regions situated] higher up’, that is, for Egypt27). During the period at issue, one Mukhawi bahar comprised In 1640, a Dutch dealer visiting the Tihama coastal city 15 farasil of 10 amnan each. Up to 1638, the VOC equated 3 stated that benzoin, just like a large number of other wares the Mukhawi bahar with 393 ⁄4 Dutch pounds and from that supplied by the Company — such as textiles, porcelains and year on with 375 Dutch pounds. As one such pound was spices — was carried by ‘Mohammedans’, both by sea and 494.09 gr metric, a ‘heavy’ bahar weighed 195 kg, a ‘light’ 1 by land, to Mecca and Medina, where it was sold during the one 185 kg. Thus a ‘heavy’ farasila was equal to 26 ⁄4 Dutch annual fairs, or even transported much further, up to Suez, pounds, a ‘light’ one to 25, that is, ± 13 and ± 12.5 kg, 2 and from there by ‘various sects’ to Cairo and Aleppo. So, whereas a ‘heavy’ mann weighed 2 ⁄3 pounds, a ‘light’ one 1 35 this last observation is almost identical to the first one, 2 ⁄2, or ± 1.3 and ± 1.25 kg ). recorded a quarter of a century earlier28). In their internal correspondence and bookkeeping, the In conclusion we may say that the benzoin brought ashore Dutch participants in the Mukhawi benzoin business gener- in al-Mukha and sold there was mainly destined not for the ally used the Dutch pound as the unit of weighing, often Yemeni hinterland but for far-away markets both in the abbreviated as lb. (Lat. libra)36). The Chinese picol and the Peninsula and in the Mediterranean. Benzoin was actually a hundredth part thereof, the catti, are found as well, spelled transit item. as piecol or picol and cattij or cati. Always it is the Com- pany’s own stocks, both existing and striven for, lots pur- Varieties and qualities chased or presents of honour to Turkish dignitaries that are Two varieties of benzoin are distinguished in the source involved. At the time, the picol was fixed at 125 pounds, con- 1 materials examined, ‘big’ and ‘small’. Unfortunately, how sequently the catti at 1 ⁄4 pounds, amounting to ± 62 kg and strongly they differed in size is nowhere indicated29). ± 600 gr respectively in the metric system37). Two qualities are mentioned, too: cabessa (Port. cabeça, ‘head’) and bariga (Port. barriga, ‘belly’), in other words, a Packaging top class and a medium class30). It is slightly confusing that Benzoin arrived in the Red Sea port aboard Dutch vessels on one occasion cabessa is compared with ‘the best’ benzoin, usually packed in kists or casses, i.e. ‘boxes’ or ‘cases’, in whereas another time ‘the best sort’ proves to include both barrels of various sizes — leggers, varckens, aems and small cabessa and bariga; in a third passage ‘the best’ gum resin vaetiens — and, though seldom, in packs or ‘packs’38). Boxes plays a part without it being clear what exactly is meant by and cases, it turns out from two statements about one and the this qualification. Anyhow, the ‘fine white benzoin’ referred same cargo of benzoin, were synonymous39). to by a witness in 1628 is probably to be considered a first- How many bahars, picols or pounds of gum resin did all rate product31). of these means of packing contain? The opposing pairs ‘nice’-‘pure’ and ‘bad’-‘impure’ seem The 208 kists of benzoin involuntarily delivered in 1622 not, or not fully, to correspond with cabessa and bariga32). by De Milde to Fa∂li Basha weighed 122 Mukhawi bahars, The former, positive, pair is nowhere defined. The latter, 2 farasil and 6 amnan gross. Assuming that the resin was more negative designation, points to benzoin that has either evenly distributed over uniform boxes, this means that 0.59 ‘decayed’ or has been mixed with ‘wood and dirt’, or with ‘heavy’ bahar was found in each box, or over 231 Dutch ‘waste’ and ‘small pieces [of wood]’. Of course, this ‘bad- pounds — i.e. a little over 114 kg40). ness’ of the resin is a question of degree. Croocq, for instance, had to admit that the benzoin in 1640 unshipped by 33) 180, 166r (vergaen); 232, 255 (houdt ende vuijlicheijt); 704, 399v (gruijs; cleene stucken); 705, 164v (gruijsigh; houts); 706, 146r (seer vuijl ende niet als gruijs; wel halff stoff). 26) H, 67 (hier seer wel getrocken; Caffelas; ’t groot Koninckx Schip). 34) Per weight: 363, 194r (bhaar; bhaer); 362, 198v (pl. baharen; pl. 27) 322, 264 (hier in ’t lant weijnich getrocken wert; voor Missir gantsch fraslen; men); 402, 285 (baer); 698, 1314 (frasla). Per number: 67, 209r niet begeert), 263 (oock niet begeirt na boven); 232, 255. (pl. packen). 28) R, II, 42 + 43 (43: Mahometaner; allerley Secten). 35) See Brawir & Kablaniyan, Yaman, pp. 159-160, and 698, 1315, for 29) ‘Big’: 231, 768 (groote); 232, 248, 255; 415a, 202r; 322, 263; 375a, the conversion values in 1623 and 1638, so valid in the years before and 34; 420, 23r. ‘Small’: 231, 768 (cleijne); 232, 248; 322, 263; 375a, 34; after 1638. Metrological problems will be dealt with in a future essay. 420, 23r. 36) For example, 656, 146r (lb.); 705, 164v. In R, II, 33 and 49, Germ. 30) 705, 164v (cabessa; bariga). In 665, 173, capella is met with instead Pfund is found, also abbreviated Pf. of cabessa, either a clerical error by the pennist or ‘transcriber’ or a read- 37) 375a, 34 (piecol; picol); 361, 376r (cattij); 415a, 202r (cati); etc. ing error by the modern editor. 38) Kisten: for instance, 325, 1001. Cassen: 180, 166v; etc. Legger, var- 31) 665, 173 (de beste); 705, 164v (de beste soorte); 402, 285 (den cken, aem, cleen vaetien: 375a, 34. Packen: 67, 209r. Partjen in 180, 166r, besten); 613, 1495 (fijne witte benjuin). is probably to be considered a clerical error for vaetjen. 32) Schoon and suijver: 232, 255. Slecht: 180, 166r; 232, 255; 322, 263 39) 231, 768 (cassen); 232, 248 (kisten). (slechticheijt); 363, 194r; 403, 761. Onsuijver: 704, 399v. 40) 362, 198v (kisten). 0993-8_BIOR_2008/1-2_01 21-04-2008 14:39 Pagina 14

23 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXV N° 1-2, januari-april 2008 24

The 51 picols and 75 cattis of small benzoin transported Taring in 1623 to al-Mukha aboard the Heusden, were contained Was it unusual or norm that benzoin merchants in al- in 8 numbered leggers of slightly varying weight: from Mukha granted tare to purchasers who took a sufficient quan- 593 to 742 cattis each. This implies that one legger held tity of the fragrant product? The sources examined do not an average of almost 647 cattis of resin, that is, converted, answer this question. 2.05 ‘heavy’ bahars or more than 808 Dutch pounds — i.e. 1 41 At any rate, in September 1622, Fa∂li Basha forced the 399 ⁄2 kg ). chief of the Dutch factory in the city, on the basis of the ‘esti- Nothing in the above implies that kists or casses always mate in the forde’ (Ar. fur∂a, weighing house), to extend him contained 0.59 ‘heavy’ bahars of benzoin or that leggers held a tara of 1 farasila plus 6 amnan, that is, 16 amnan, per box the quadruple thereof, 2.05 bahars. The resin that in 1621 of 0.59 bahar or 88.5 amnan. De Milde, outraged, raised was carried by the ’t Wapen to al-Mukha, for instance, put in objections to this exorbitant demand of 18% discount, argu- 6 casses and 2 leegers, should have weighed, according to ing that, according to ‘our estimate’, the tare could not exceed these calculations, a fraction over 2,401 cattis. The ship’s 1 farasila or 10 amnan, so 11%. With respect to a lot of ben- manifest, however, gives a total weight of no less than… 42 zoin comprising as many as 208 boxes, this meant that 2,329 6,262 cattis )! reals of eight were demanded and 1,456 reals offered, a dif- Regarding the packs in which benzoin occasionally ference of no less than 873 silver coins. Presumably, the dis- reached the Yemeni port, in the season of 1616 a Syrian mer- count percentage suggested by De Milde was the one pre- chant observed that these were a part of the cargo of the yacht vailing in al-Mukha49)… the Nassau. Unfortunately, the man does not provide us with any indication of the weight per pack or that of all packs Quantities landed and traded 43 together ). Quantitative details concerning the supply of, and the trade In the records and logs investigated, finally, no attention in, ‘Javanese frankincense’ in al-Mukha can be gathered, too, is paid to the way in which the Asian competitors of the from the Dutch missives, reports and invoices, though not in Dutch packed their gum resin. Is it not probable that they overwhelming numbers. used boxes, barrels and packs as well? Agha Rasa’s cargo vessel, sailing in 1616 from far-away Pricing Achin, brought 5 ‘heavy’ bahars of benzoin. Unfortunately, the Ìadjdj Ibrahim in Aleppo, in the spring of 1617, when On the Mukhawi market, benzoin as a rule was priced per questioned about the cargo of the Nassau in the previous farasila; in rare cases a bahar price was added. The quota- season, could not remember how many packs of benzoin tion ‘per 25 [Dutch] lb.’, a veiled farasila price of course, is 44 laid stowed in the yacht’s hold. Van den Broecke estimated, unique ). Purchase prices in Southeast Asia were sometimes on the basis of ‘personal experience’ — though, no doubt, fixed per picol, very exceptionally — and implicitly as well 45 informed by local experts —, that the joint Indian and — per Dutch pound ). Dutch merchants could annually dispose of about 25 to 30 In which coinage was benzoin paid for? In al-Mukha it bahars of the (nice, big) product in the Arabian coastal was by and large in reals of eight. Such silver Spanish coins city50). were usually equated with 48, sometimes with 49 Dutch stui- In the first month of 1620, Van den Broecke, in the ranks vers. In 1640, Croocq, residing in Surat, only once translated of the Company acknowledged as an authority on Yemen, a Mukhawi price in reals into a maÌmudi price in order to be regretfully judged that although benzoin, just like pepper or able to compare the current sales prices in Arabia and 1 sandalwood, could yield high prices on the Mukhawi mar- Gujarat. At that time a silver maÌmudi was worth 10 ⁄2 stui- 1 46 ket, ‘the bad thing is that one cannot sell there a consider- vers, or over ⁄5 reals of eight ). able quantity’. Nevertheless, less than three months later his Understandably, purchase prices outside Yemen were superiors on Java urged their servants in Patani and Siam expressed by the Dutch mainly in guldens or converted into to stock as much resin as their purses could stand: thereof that currency. One Dutch ‘guilder’ — abbreviated f or fl., ‘not enough could be sent’, they stated, for what might from florin —, an imaginary unit of account only, was sub- exceed the demand in patria could be sold with substantial divided into 20 hard stuivers and was considered equivalent 5 47 profit in al-Mukha or on the coast of India. In the view of to ⁄12 reals of eight ). Obviously, brokers resident in Surat Coen, therefore, the size of the benzoin cargo of the ’t in 1633 provided purchase prices for benzoin in rupias; these Wapen, which departed in mid-June from Jacarta, was def- silver coins then represented a value of 24 stuivers, i.e. half 48 initely ‘too small’. Fearing that the yacht would not be able a real ). to approach the Red Sea port in time if he waited any longer for an additional cargo, he confined himself to shipping a small, seized, lot of 150 Dutch pounds of low-grade ben- 41) 375a, 34 (leggers). zoin — ‘very bad and decayed’, thus runs the ship’s mani- 42) 180, 166v (cassen; leegers). fest—, packed in one numbered partjen (read: vaetjen, 43) 67, 209r (packen). ‘small barrel’), as well as 6,262 cattis of, supposedly, a 44) Per farasila: 232, 255; 704, 399v; etc. Per bahar: 56, 206r; 363, more acceptable quality, contained in 6 casses and 2 194r. Per 25 Dutch pounds: 705, 164v (d’25 lb.). 45) Per picol: 180, 166v; 375a, 34. Per Dutch pound (lb.): 662, leegers. Which part of this resin cargo, weighing (0.38 + 285r. 19.88 =) 20.26 ‘heavy’ Mukhawi bahars in total, was 46) Price in reals: for instance, 56, 206r; 322, 263. Market value of 49 stuivers: 180, 166v. MaÌmudi price: 706, 146r. Conversion value of the maÌmudi: see Van Santen, Compagnie, pp. 81-83. 47) Expressed in guldens: 231, 768; 415a, 202r; etc. Converted into 49) 362, 198v (tara; gissinge in de forde; onse gissinge). See Brouwer, guldens: 180, 166v. Servant, p. 119. 48) 662, 285r. 50) 56, 207v, 206r (experiëntie); 67, 209r (packen). 0993-8_BIOR_2008/1-2_01 21-04-2008 14:39 Pagina 15

25 CABESSA OR BARIGA 26

landed in Aden and delivered in al-Mukha in early 1621, is 1621-1622 —, the combined Asian and Dutch merchants not revealed in the documents researched51). might expect annually to sell 40 to 50 ‘heavy’ bahars of In mid-January 1621, Coen ordered that ‘two-thirds of all (qualitatively good) benzoin in al-Mukha, in addition to of the benguwin’ available in Jacarta be transported to al- roughly 25 to 30 bahars of ‘bad’ benzoin54). Mukha and Surat aboard two ships. In the former city, ‘as Visnich, who called at al-Mukha with the Heusden in the much’ as possible thereof should be sold for good money. early spring of 1623, was of the opinion that the Company Shortly after, presumably De Carpentier and Dedel instructed would manage to sell about 15 to 20 bahars of ‘best’-qual- the transfer of 300 casses of big benzoin and 91 casses of ity gum resin, provided that the Ottoman-Dutch conflict was small benzoin from the Goede Fortuijne in Bantam into the over and all trade restrictions removed. This proviso, indeed, Samson and the Weesp. In fact, however, the ship took no was essential! None of the benzoin carried by the yacht could more than 42, the yacht only 135 kists of the product, and be landed. And the size of this cargo was really impressive: merely the small variety thereof. How much these 177 boxes 52 picols and 36 cattis of big benguiwijn, that is, 5,236 cat- 1 weighed is not mentioned. In any case, the entire stock of tis or over 16 ⁄2 ‘heavy’ Mukhawi bahars, packed in 4 benzoin present on 1 August 1621 in the Dutch warehouse casses, 5 leggers, 1 aem, 1 varcken and 1 vaetien, taken from in al-Mukha, including both the old remainder from the ’t the Noort Hollant off Goa, in addition to 51 picols and 75 1 Wapen and the lot newly delivered by the Samson and the cattis of small benzoin, that is, 5,175 cattis or close on 16 ⁄2 Weesp, amounted to 26,490 cattis or over 84 ‘heavy’ bahars, already charged in Batavia, so about 33 bahars in Mukhawi bahars. Incidentally, delivering was quite another total. Barely a couple of months later, at the end of August, thing than selling! De Milde did not succeed in disposing of the junior merchant Isaack Sallaert, a member of the comp- a lot of gum resin worthy of mention. The merchants, he toir’s staff, reported with disappointment that in the season wrote at the end of August, ‘feel very much annoyed’ at the rapidly hastening to an end ‘only a few or no’ products — product only just unshipped containing ‘so much wood and such as benzoin — had been sold; all hopes were placed, dirt’; the benzoin supplied earlier aboard the ’t Wapen he again, in the large Suez ship55). could not get rid of either. He placed all his hopes on the In spring 1626, Van den Broecke in Surat requested the arrival of ‘the ships from above’, that is, from Suez, which, managers in Batavia to provide him with 10 to 12 kists of ben- rather exceptionally, had not yet loomed up. What can be said zoin so that he could continue the Company’s trade to Yemen. about the activities displayed during that same season by the How many Dutch pounds precisely did he have in mind? Company’s competitors, the Indian traders? In the records Shortly afterwards, Carstenz, anchoring with his formidable that have come down to us, nothing more is stated than that fleet in the roads of al-Mukha, argued that the VOC should 52 1 they arrived with ‘some benzoin’ from Masulipatnam ). bring a batch of 1,000 pounds, that is, a little over 2 ⁄2 ‘heavy’ Halfway through August 1622, as a consequence of the Mukhawi bahars, though exclusively ‘on trial’, in order to agreement painfully reached with ‘AliAgha, Van Gorcom explore the market56). sent a small boot (‘boat’) laden with romps, mace and 40 kists Two years later, in 1628, the commander of the Bommel or casses of ‘bad benzoin’ ashore. How many Mukhawi and the Weesp expressed his expectation that a ‘reasonable bahars were involved here? And again, which part of the lot’ of gum resin could find ready buyers on the Mukhawi benzoin cargo of the ’t Wapen and the Noort Hollant did market, if only the product was of ‘fine, white’ quality. these boxes or cases represent? It is certain that six months Grijph stressed, however, that ‘peace’ was a necessary later, in January 1623, no less than 5,236 cattis of big ben- condition57)! zoin would be transferred from the latter ship — after its In the opinion of three Surati maeckelaers or ‘brokers’ con- return, via Surat, to Dedel’s blockading fleet off Goa — into sulted in 1633, the Company could take it for granted that it the Heusden. The information on the Company’s benzoin would succeed in selling in no time 812 Dutch pounds of deliveries to Fa∂l Allah Basha, on the other hand, prove to benzoin in the Tihama port, or 2 ‘heavy’ bahars. This was, be painstakingly precise. Well, deliveries? Right after the indeed, far less than the estimate by a group of dealers return- departure of the two Dutch vessels, ‘AliAgha, on the instruc- ing from al-Mukha to Surat in the same year: no less than tions of the Beylerbeyi and under the pretext of future pay- 4,000 pounds of the ‘best’ sort, or benijuijn capella (read: ment, had 208 kists of ‘Javanese frankincense’ dragged away cabessa), they thought, could be annually disposed of by the from the factory, weighing in total over 122 bahars gross… Dutch, that is, over 10 bahars58)… As for the benzoin business done in 1622 by the Asians in During the monsoon of 1638, the joint Asian traders did al-Mukha, finally, the documents analysed only reveal that not sell more than 100 to 200 ‘light’ farasil of benzoin in the 1 2 59 ‘some’ gum resin was supplied from Masulipatnam, just as Red Sea port, i.e. 6 ⁄3 to 12 ⁄3 ‘heavy’ bahars ). it had been in the previous monsoon. Could it have been for- In 1640, Wurffbeen managed to dispose of the whole lot 53 1 mulated in a vaguer way )? of 739 ⁄2 Dutch pounds of benzoin, or almost 2 ‘heavy’ According to an estimate by De Milde in 1622 — bahars, that his flute had brought ashore, even though the evidently based on the real turnover during the seasons of

54) 363, 194r (slechte). 51) 153, 443r-v (’t quadste is dat men daer sulcken quantiteijdt niet can 55) 402, 284-285 (285: besten); 375a, 34 (benguiwijn; cassen; leggers; geventen); 168, 689 (can der niet teveel gesonden worden); 169, 692; 189, aem; varcken; vaetien); 415a, 202r; 420, 23r-v (v: weinich ofte geen). 573 (te weijnich); 180, 166r (heel slecht ende vergaen); partjen), 166v 56) 542, 293r (kisten); 656, 146r (tot een proeve; this record dealing (cassen; leegers). with al-Mukha in 1626 dates from November 1633 and was drawn up 52) 210, 6 (tweederde van alle de benguwin; sooveel); 231, 768 by Cartensz. from memory, the original report being vervreempt ofte ver- (cassen); 232, 248 (kisten), 255 (stooten der zeer tegen; zooveel houdt ende duijstert, that is, ‘stolen or embezzled’ (144r)). vuijlicheijt; de schepen van boven); 527, 376r; 455, 195r (eenige benjuin). 57) 613, 1495 (een redelijcke pertije; vrede). 53) 325, 1001 (boot; kisten); 403, 761 (cassen; slechten benjuwin); 58) 662, 285r (maeckelaers); 665, 173 (beste; benijuijn capella). 415a, 202r; 362, 198v (kisten); 455, 195r (eenige). 59) 698, 1314. 0993-8_BIOR_2008/1-2_01 21-04-2008 14:39 Pagina 16

27 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXV N° 1-2, januari-april 2008 28

resin was ‘full of waste and mixed with a lot of wood’. The between 12 and 14 reals of eight a farasila, that for the 1 Commander recommended, when new voyages to Arabia small one between 7 and 7 ⁄2 reals, that is, converted, 1 were organised, taking 700 to 800 pounds of benzoin — a between 180 and 210 and 105 and 112 ⁄2 reals a bahar, little under to a little over 2 bahars—, be it understood resin respectively. It was expected that these prices would ‘rise ‘of the best sort’, both cabessa and bariga. Croocq subse- considerably’ as soon as the Suez ship — which, at the end quently collected 20 kists of resin, reserving these for the of August, had not yet shown up — should put into the har- 1641 expedition, but, as related above, not a single one bour65). thereof would ever reach Yemen60). A full decade later, in 1633, 16 reals of eight were paid for one ‘heavy’ farasila of the ‘best’ or capella (read: Sales prices in al-Mukha cabessa) benzoin on the Mukhawi market, which means 240 In 1616, during the months in which business transactions reals for one bahar. Another five seasons later, in 1638, a in al-Mukha were effected, one ‘heavy’ farasila of benzoin sales price of 15 to 20 reals prevailed for a ‘light’ farasila, 3 1 sold for 12 to 27 reals of eight. At the same time the bahar that is, 15 ⁄4 to 21 reals a ‘heavy’ one — equal to 236 ⁄4 price, comparatively lower, came to [150] to 300 reals61). to 315 reals a bahar. In 1640, Wurffbeen realised no more 1 3 In early 1620, Van den Broecke supposed that the sales than 6 ⁄2 reals for a ‘light’ farasila, i.e. 6 ⁄4 for a ‘heavy’ 1 price in the South Arabian coastal city would reach ‘about one — 101 ⁄4 reals for a bahar—, but here, as mentioned, the same height’ as it did in the homeland or even ‘higher’. an ‘entirely impure’ product was involved, full of waste and Unfortunately, he was noncommittal about the exact contaminated by small pieces of wood. If the Company in height62). future would ensure a supply of ‘the best sort’ of benzoin, Vagueness is also de rigueur in the instruction by the however, then no doubt 17, 18 or 19 reals a ‘light’ farasila Dutch Governor General dating from January 1621, to sell could be obtained for cabessa, and 13 reals for bariga, that 3 benzoin in al-Mukha ‘at a good price’. Luckily, more pre- is, 17 ⁄4, 19 or 20 reals a ‘heavy’ farasila for the former 1 1 cise statements have passed down from that same year as and 13 ⁄2 reals for the latter — so, converted, 266 ⁄4, 285 1 well. In August, De Milde noted with regret that he could or 300 reals a bahar for cabessa, and 202 ⁄2 reals for realise only a ‘low price’ for his impure benzoin, not even bariga66). 5 reals of eight per ‘heavy’ farasila — less than 75 reals the bahar—, if he succeeded in selling it at all. However, Purchase prices elsewhere if he had ‘nice’ big benzoin at his disposal, in other words The records and journals handed down state the prices at a ‘very pure’ product, then a farasila price ranging from 15 which some of the lots of benzoin that arrived in al-Mukha to 20 reals would be possible, which meant a bahar price had been or could be purchased in remote Asian regions. of 225 to 300 reals. Nonetheless, in a general survey of In 1620, the valuation price of the 150 Dutch pounds prices the same senior merchant mentioned 10 to 15 reals of inferior gum resin seized near Tico and shipped into per farasila of [‘nice’] benzoin as the sales price current in the ’t Wapen at Jacatra was 50 guldens or, converted, over 1 1621, 6 to 7 reals per farasila of the ‘bad’ product, with the 54 ⁄2 reals of eight a ‘heavy’ Mukhawi bahar. The remain- corresponding bahar prices of, respectively, 150 to 225 and ing benzoin, of a slightly better quality — although still not 90 to 105 reals — remarkably enough, without any dis- considered by De Milde in 1621 to represent the ‘nice’ big 63 1 count ). variety—, had cost 30 reals a picol, i.e. 94 ⁄2 reals a During the commercial season of 1622, the same sales bahar67). prices were in force as those just cited. Just as in 1621, De The purchase value of the 42 casses of small benzoin that Milde did not succeed in selling much of his stock, owing in 1621 were loaded in the Samson before Bantam amounted to its ‘badness’, not even when he offered it at ‘a consider- to f2,881:12:1, that of the 135 casses of the small variety ably lower price’ with the aim of getting rid of it. He nev- with which the Weesp was loaded f9,262:5:15. Unfortu- 1 ertheless sold the negligible number of two kists at 7 ⁄2 reals nately, the price per unit of weight, per picol or per Dutch 1 a ‘heavy’ farasila, or 112 ⁄2 reals a bahar. He charged Fa∂l pound, cannot be deduced from this, nor, by consequence, Allah Basha for more than 122 bahars of ‘delivered’ small can the bahar price. Apart from this, the bookkeepers of the benzoin at 7 reals per farasila, that is, 105 reals per Company estimated the cost price of the entire stock of bahar64). impure and/or small benzoin on hand in the Arabian ware- In the monsoon of 1623, following Batavian orders, the house on 1 August of the same year, namely 26,490 cattis — benzoin stowed in the hold of the Heusden was to be or over 84 ‘heavy’ bahars — at f14,168, which is the equiv- 1 sold in al-Mukha at ‘current value’. As related before, alent of 53 ⁄2 guilders a picol, that is, converted, more than however, nothing came of this at all. In the meantime the 70 reals a bahar68). sales price for the big variety fluctuated on the market In 1633, finally, the three brokers consulted at Surat esti- mated the purchase price of the lot of 812 Dutch pounds of benzoin which they thought to be saleable for the VOC in al- 3 60) R, II, 33, 49; 705, 164v (gants gruijsigh ende met veel houts ver- Mukha at 247 ⁄4 rupias, i.e. f297:6:-, equal to a little more menght; van de beste soorte; cabessa; bariga); 710, 487r (kisten). than 60 reals a ‘heavy’ Mukhawi bahar69). 61) 56, 206r. The minimum sales price of 15 separate farasil amounts to (15 x 12 =)180 reals; the bahar price should be substantially lower. The specification of 250 reals found in the document, therefore, is to be con- sidered a writing error for, presumably, 150. 65) 336, 229 (sooveele gelden mogen); 420, 23v (vrij wat opslaan). 62) 153, 443r (ten nasten bij sooveel; meer). 66) 1633: 665, 173 (beste; capella). 1638: 698, 1314. 1640: 704, 399v 63) 210, 6 (tot goeden prijs); 232, 255 (geringhe; schoonen; heel suij- (gans onsuijver); 705, 164v (beste soorte; cabessa; bariga); 706, 146r. ver); 363, 194r (slechte). 67) 180, 166r and 166v, respectively. 64) 363, 194r (slechte); 322, 263 (slechticheijt; om de hant te lichten; 68) 231, 768 (cassen); 361, 376r. vrij minder); 362, 198v (kisten); 420, 20r. 69) 662, 285r. 0993-8_BIOR_2008/1-2_01 21-04-2008 14:39 Pagina 17

29 CABESSA OR BARIGA 30

THE MUKHAWI BENZOIN MARKET 1616 1621 1622 1638 1 2 big benzoin 25-30 40-50 40-50 6 ⁄3-12 ⁄3 Turnover small benzoin 25-30 25-30 In the sources explored, as stated before, exact quantitative data on either the real or expected supply and sale of benzoin Table 1. Quantities of benzoin really or potentially turned over on the market of al-Mukha during the period at issue is scarce. by the joint Indian and Dutch merchants in al-Mukha, 1614-1640, As for the Indian deliveries of most likely big and quali- in ‘heavy’ Mukhawi bahars. tatively good benzoin, in 1616 Agha Rasa’s vessel brought 5 ‘heavy’ bahars ashore, and in 1638 the Asian merchants sold It should now be clear that these scant and disparate fig- 1 2 6 ⁄3 to 12 ⁄3 bahars of the product in total. No other figures ures do not allow us to draw any definite conclusions about are available. the annual volume of business throughout the research Regarding the VOC, the two cargoes of small and impure period. Nevertheless, the large supply by the VOC in 1620- benzoin that arrived in 1621 resulted in a stock of over 84 21 and 1622, its rosy sales expectation for 1623, the miser- ‘heavy’ bahars on 1 August. In the following year, at the end able lots that were either suggested or actually sold by its of August, after a cargo of 40 boxes of bad gum resin had servants or native advisers in 1626, 1628, 1633 and 1640: been added to that stock, the Ottoman authorities confiscated all of these circumstances seem to confirm the picture that 122 bahars thereof. In 1623, the Company expected to be able emerges from the business values for 1616, 1621, 1622 and to sell 15 to 20 bahars of good benzoin annually. In 1626, it 1638, namely that a modest benzoin turnover achieved 1 was recommended that 2 ⁄2 bahars at most be shipped to the during the second decade strongly increased, or even dou- Tihama port, in 1628 a ‘reasonable lot’. In 1633, it appeared bled, in the third decade, then shriveled during the fourth to some external experts that the Dutch enterprise could cap- decade to half of the original size or, worse, to a fifth part italize on 2 bahars, to some other specialists, on the other thereof. hand, on 10 bahars of the resin. Although all of these expec- Can we attribute the decline since 1626 — if it took place tations, recommendations and estimated quantities led to noth- at all — to the resumed hostilities between Zaydis and ing, in 1640 the Company actually sold 2 bahars. We may Ottomans with the resulting blockages of shipping and cara- conclude that in 10 voyages staggered over 25 years, the VOC van traffic? carried about 125 bahars of small and inferior benzoin to the Red Sea staple, of which it had to hand 122 bahars over to Price trends the Ottoman opponents without cashing one single ducat or In the sources utilized, sales prices in the Mukhawi aro- real. Of course, the lot involved was not withdrawn from the matics bazaar are given once for ‘nice’ or ‘bad’ benzoin, city’s market; instead of the chief of the Dutch factory, the another time for ‘big’ or ‘small’ benzoin, and also for cabessa Turkish Beylerbeyi took advantage of it, i.e. Fa∂l Allah Basha or bariga benzoin. However, as argued before, these distinc- rather than Willem de Milde. tions do not enter into fixed mutual connections: nice-big- Seasonal turnovers for which both Indians and Dutch were cabessa is not always opposed to bad-small-bariga. A com- responsible have come down to us with respect to four years plicating factor, moreover, is that of the two bahar prices only: 1616, 1621, 1622 and 1638. Although the totals for the from, respectively, the seasons of 1616 and 1621/22, the for- first three trading monsoons are valued totals, such estimates mer amount turns out to be including, the latter excluding a were doubtless based, by experienced and local brokers, on discount. In order to enable price comparisons, all farasila turnovers realised before. Never were the quantities involved prices have been converted in table 2 into discount-free bahar unfounded! The figures for the seasons referred to are prices paid for two categories of benzoin, nice-big- included in table 1: cabessa/bariga and bad-small.

1616 1621 1622 1623 1633 1638 1640 1 1 big benzoin 180-405 150-300 150-225 180-210 240 236 ⁄4-315 266 ⁄4-300 1 1 1 small benzoin 75-105 105-112 ⁄2 105-112 ⁄2 101 ⁄4 Table 2. Sales prices for benzoin at al-Mukha, 1614-1640, in reals of eight per ‘heavy’ Mukhawi bahar.

What can be concluded from the quotations for big ben- 1626 between the Beylerbeyi and the Imam? In addition, the zoin, covering seven commercial seasons only? Setting aside price fluctuations within the separate seasons were remark- the extremely high, probably incidental, bahar price of 405 ably large as well. In 1621, for instance, an amount of 150 reals of eight in 1616, the sales prices fluctuated between reals had to be paid out once for a bahar, another time 300 150 and 315 reals. However, whereas the maximum prices reals, twice as much. rose across the board from 210 to 315 reals, the minimum As regards small benzoin, the meagre number of four quo- 1 prices between the years 1616 and 1623, viz. 150-180 reals, tations range from 75 to 112 ⁄2 reals a bahar, the maximum 1 1 were situated on a level that was considerably lower than prices only slightly fluctuating between 101 ⁄4 and 112 ⁄2 1 1 those in the period from 1633 and 1640, viz. 236 ⁄4-266 ⁄4 reals. Capital differences between the seasons, evident where reals. So, over the course of the years big benzoin became the big variety is concerned, seem not to be present. On the more expensive. Had this to do with the decreasing supply basis of the source materials to hand, no doubt the most of the fragrant product, in other words, with its growing important observation to be made is that small benzoin was scarcity, possibly caused by the war that had broken out in priced twice or three times less than big benzoin. 0993-8_BIOR_2008/1-2_01 21-04-2008 14:39 Pagina 18

31 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXV N° 1-2, januari-april 2008 32

Profit and loss of small benzoin found there on 1 August of that same year, and the shipment of big benzoin that Surati brokers advised As stated above, the purchase prices paid outside Yemen in 1633 be dispatched to Arabia. Compared with the sales for three lots of benzoin actually or potentially supplied in al- prices pertaining in al-Mukha during the trading seasons con- Mukha by servants of the VOC have come down to us. They cerned, the real or possible gross profit or loss can easily be concern the ’t Wapen’s cargo of small benzoin that reached calculated. In table 3 the prices, profit, loss and percentages the comptoir in the Red Sea port in the early 1621, the stock at stake have been gathered together.

Purchase price Sales price Profit Percentage big b. 1633 60 240 180 300 1 1 1 1 1 1 small b. 1620/21 54 ⁄2-94 ⁄2 75-105 (L 19 ⁄2) - 50 ⁄2 (L 20 ⁄2) - 92 ⁄2 1621 70 75-105 5-35 7-50

Table 3. Purchase and sales prices as well as profit or loss for benzoin at al-Mukha, 1614-1640, in reals of eight per ‘heavy’ Mukhawi bahar (L: loss).

It goes without saying that general conclusions cannot be Costs and presents drawn on the basis of such poor numerical data. But should Which benzoin dealer in the Yemeni transit port, be he all indicative value be denied it? Indian or Dutch, would not have regretted that his gross prof- Firstly, it seems that big benzoin yielded significantly its were ravaged by a multiplicity of compulsory costs and higher profits than small benzoin. Losses were even suffered presents? In 1616, Van den Broecke spoke of ‘tollages and on the latter variety purchased at too high a price. In order to heavy costs’ combined with ‘large gifts’74). gain the same absolute profit, that is, an identical amount of Transport charges could not be avoided in al-Mukha. For silver or gold coins, a considerably larger lot of small ben- the transfer of boxes, barrels or packs of benzoin by sambock zoin had to be supplied and marketed than of big benzoin. (Ar. ÒanbuÈ) from shipboard to the alfandigo, and from this Additionally, the return on big benzoin did not reach the ‘tollhouse’ to the storehouse, the ‘workers’ entrusted with that levels of that on the best-selling fragrant items on the task by the local authorities earned 4 cabier Mochas in total Mukhawi market, such as sandalwood, eaglewood or musk, per collo. producing in 1624 maximum profits of 614, 2,520 and 70 Unfortunately, for the arriving merchants it did not end 4,153%, respectively ). with these Mukhawi kabirs. In addition they had to pay Furthermore, when payment failed to follow, profit, of waeggelt or ‘weighage’. They owed the wegers and schrij- course, was out of the question. In 1622, as related, almost vers of each of the two scales, that is, the ‘weighers’ and the entire stock of small and impure benzoin piled up in the ‘scribes’, an extra indemnity. For the permission to conduct Dutch warehouse at al-Mukha was removed by order of the their benzoin through the weighhouse, moreover, they had to Beylerbeyi. Afterwards, not a single silver coin could be pay poortgelt or ‘import tax’. Whether they were coerced to cashed of the outstanding claim of 12,810 reals. Instead of let the City Governor personally dip into each box, barrel or enjoying ‘substantial profits’ or ‘highest returns’, the Com- pack of gum resin to his own benefit — as he was used to do pany suffered disastrous losses on the odoriferous gum 71 with passing lots of spices or textiles, sandalwood or eagle- resin )! wood — cannot be deduced with certainty from the Commercial strategy sources75). Finally, it was common practice for foreign traders calling Is there any merchant who is not out to make a profit? The at al-Mukha during their sea or land voyages to pay their Indian benzoin trader aimed at gaining it as much as his respects to the SandjaÈbeyi. If arriving from southern regions Dutch competitor did. Yet there were differences. Whereas the present which they gave him on that occasion included, the former simply intended to ‘enrich’ his native country with 72 in addition to spices, chinaware and textiles, a choice of aro- the ‘large capitals’ collected ), the latter followed a more matics among which, sometimes, was benzoin. Five Dutch complicated strategy. The noble metal that he expected to 1 pounds of benjamijn, i.e. close to ⁄5 ‘heavy’ farasila of ben- obtain on the Mukhawi aromatics market in exchange for his zoin, for instance, was part of Van den Broecke’s gift of hon- benzoin would be used to help finance the Company’s tex- our to the Governor of Aden and the ‘city’s principal inhab- tile purchases in Gujarat; with these fabrics spices could be itants’, handed over during the audience on 22 August 1620. stocked in the Indonesian Archipelago that were suitable for Thereafter, Van Gill could go ashore safely, accompanied by the European market. So, the sale of benzoin in Arabia indi- his assistants and provided with commodities meant for al- rectly served, as Van den Broecke put it in 1620, ‘the great Mukha76). relief of the homeland’: the cash generated in al-Mukha helped dam the flow of precious metals from the Republic73). 74) 56, 205v (tollen ende sware oncoosten; groote geschencken). 75) 56, 205r (arbaijders; cabier Mochas; waeggelt; schijvers; wegers); 453, 265 (pl. sambocken; alfandigo; poortgelt). According to the latter doc- 70) See Brouwer, Shipments, col. 90, table 5. ument, the transport wages for the tollhouse to warehouse leg amounted to 71) 168, 689; 169, 692; 204, 160r (deftige proffiten); 208, 612; 613, 1 kabir per collo. 1495; 662, 285r (meeste advancen); 706, 146r. 76) 194, 4r (benjamijn; principaelste van de stadt). For such audiences 72) 656, 144v (groote capitaelen; verrijcken). and presents consult Brouwer, Profile, pp. 270-273. The Aden interlude 73) 153, 443r; 204, 160r (tot groote verlichtinge voor ’t vaderlandt). See is treated in id., Cauwa, pp. 35-36, and id., Expedition, pp. 57-58, 72-73 also, for instance, 210, 6-7; 225ED, 107-108; and 459ED, 132-133. (with n. 76); for an illustration see id., Rediscovered, p. 91 (pl. 13). 0993-8_BIOR_2008/1-2_01 21-04-2008 14:39 Pagina 19

33 CABESSA OR BARIGA 34

CABESSA OR BARIGA reals a bahar. Thus, big benzoin was twice or three times as expensive as small benzoin. It has been demonstrated only recently that in the early Unfortunately, a reliable picture of the profits gained or decades of the seventeenth century aromatic products such the losses suffered cannot be sketched as not enough sets of as sandalwood, eaglewood, ambergris, frankincense or prices are met with in the documents, that is, sales prices civet changed hands on the Mukhawi market. But were valid in al-Mukha and the corresponding purchase prices else- benzoin transactions also concluded? A handful of modern where. At any rate, gross profits of 180 reals a bahar could 1 publications have answered this question positively, but be gained on the big variety, and 50 ⁄2 reals on the small one. in passing only, in the margin, without the details wished In comparison with other sweet-smelling products, these for. returns should be considered low. As regards the VOC, its The research undertaken now, exclusively devoted to the initial dream of earning silver in the Mukhawi benzoin trade, benzoin commerce, based on contemporary records from the thus diminishing the export of noble metals from the home- VOC archives and some printed ship’s journals as well, estab- land, turned into a nightmare: the benzoin it offered for sale lishes that both Indian and Dutch freighters supplied the gum did not find buyers, whereas the Turkish confiscation of its resin in the Yemeni coastal city. The former sailed from ports stock was nothing less than a calamity. such as Nagna, Diu, Surat, Goga, Chaul, Dabhol, Cannanore, Needless to say, various unavoidable expenses signifi- Calicut, Cochin, Masulipatnam or even Achin, the latter cantly nibbled away at the benzoin profits gained or wished hailed from the Archipelago or Gujarat. for by foreign merchants: weighing costs, transport wages, The benzoin delivered was purchased at Achin from import duties and, last but not least, presents for dignitaries. Malayan or Javanese merchants, seized off Tico, or collected In early modern al-Mukha, we may conclude from the on the markets of Patani or Siam. The product, not much in Dutch data available, benzoin — big or small, cabessa or demand in the Yemeni hinterland, was mainly traded in tran- bariga, nice/pure or bad/impure — was among the main aro- sit to northern regions. Vessels — including the Turkish matics supplied and traded. From the same data we also learn ‘King’s ship’ — and caravans carried it to Jedda, Mecca, that the benzoin business in that Yemeni coastal city did not Suez, Cairo and Aleppo. always lead to trouble-free profit. Benzoin came in two varieties, big and small, and in two qualities, cabessa and bariga, and in two levels of purity, nice/pure and bad/impure. Naturally, the real first-rate prod- Abbreviations uct was big benzoin of cabessa grade, without pieces of wood A Van den Broecke, Azië or waste. Perhaps ‘fine white’ benzoin represented the Aanw. 1e Afd. Aanwinsten Eerste Afdeling (‘Acquisitions First absolute top. Department’), NA, The Hague In al-Mukha the gum resin was weighed in bahars, farasil EI2 Encyclopaedia and amnan, sometimes in packs; the Company’s servants EIC (English) East India Company used also Dutch pounds and Chinese picols among them- H Van den Broecke, Historiael selves. In the Tihama port benzoin was priced per farasila, NA Nationaal Archief (‘National Archives’, The occasionally also per bahar; the VOC, moreover, knew Hague, formerly Algemeen Rijksarchief (ARA)) pound and picol prices. Payments in al-Mukha were made in R Wurffbain, Reise silver reals of eight, in India in silver maÌmudis or rupias; SG archives of the Staten-Generaal (‘States General’) kept in the NA, Eerste Afdeling (‘First Depart- the Company often calculated in guldens. Whether tare was ment’) granted as a rule remains unclear; at any rate, it was required VOC archives of the VOC kept in the NA, Eerste Afde- — read exacted — by Fa∂l Allah Basha. ling (‘First Department’) Aboard Dutch vessels — and perhaps aboard Indian crafts VOC (Dutch) Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie as well — benzoin was transported in boxes and barrels, (‘United East India Company’) sometimes in packs, none of which corresponded with a stan- dard weight. The exact size of no more than one lot of benzoin sup- Dutch records plied by Indians is known, namely 5 bahars discharged in 1616. The stock of the Dutch factory in mid-1621, result- The documents nos. 56-665, marked in italics, have been derived ing from two separate cargoes, amounted to over 82 from Brouwer, Comptoir, vol. I; nos. 698-710 are provisional. bahars, in 1622 supplemented to 122 bahars; in 1640, the 56 ‘List of tollages in Mocha (al-Mukha)’, drawn up by Van den Company landed another 2 bahars. The total turnover, real Broecke, [before 1 Dec. 1616] (VOC 1063) or estimated, for four commercial seasons is found in the 67 Report by Hagi Abrahim concerning a Dutch ship in the Red sources. It jumps from 25-30 bahars in 1616 to 65-80 Sea, drawn up by Pauw, 28 March 1617 (SG 6891) bahars in 1621 and 1622, falling back to 6-13 bahars in 153 Van den Broecke to (the Directors), 29 Jan. 1620 (VOC 1638. 1070) The sales prices of big benzoin, passed down from seven 168 De Carpentier, by order of [Coen], to Druijff, 21 Apr. 1620 monsoons, fluctuated between 150 and 315 (incidentally 405) (Coen, Bescheiden, II) reals a ‘heavy’ bahar; the minimum prices were consider- 169 De Carpentier, by order of [Coen], to Van Nieuroode, 21 Apr. 1620 (Coen, Bescheiden, II) ably higher during the fourth decade than during the preced- 180 Invoice of the commodities shipped in the ’t Wapen van Zee- ing years. In addition, a significant difference in price was lant bound for Mocha (al-Mukha) and Suratten (Surat), 15 found between the two resin varieties. The small one, of June 1620 (VOC 1071) which prices from only four seasons have come down to us, 189 Coen et al. to the Directors, 31 July 1620 (Coen, Beschei- 1 knew a minimum price of 70 and a maximum one of 112 ⁄2 den, I) 0993-8_BIOR_2008/1-2_01 21-04-2008 14:39 Pagina 20

35 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXV N° 1-2, januari-april 2008 36

194 Resolution by Van den Broecke et al., 22 Aug. 1620 (Aanw. Dutch printed journals 1e Afd., 1984, no. 6) 204 Van den Broecke to Maiores, 10 Nov. 1620 (VOC 1073) Broecke, van den — Korte H i s t o r i a e l Ende Journaelsche 208 Coen to [the Directors], 8 Jan. 1621 (Coen, Bescheiden, I) Aenteyckeninghe Van al ’t gheen merck-waerdich voorgevallen 210 ‘Memorandum’ (memorie) from Coen to De Carpentier and is, in de langhduerighe Reysen, soo nae Cabo Verde, Angola, Dedel, 12 Jan. 1621 (Coen, Bescheiden, III) &c. als insonderheydt van Oost-Indien; beneffens de beschrij- 225 De Carpentier et al. to the Directors, 9 July 1621 (Coolhaas vingh en af-beeldingh van verscheyden Steden, op de Custe et al., Missiven, I) van Indien, Persien, Arabien, en aen ’t Roode Meyr: 231 Van der Burch to Coen, 20 Aug. 1621 (Coen, Bescheiden, Aldereerst (van wegen de Gheoctroyeerde Oost-Indische Com- VII/1) paignie) besocht, en opghedaen, Door Pieter ~. Haerlem, Hans 232 De Milde to [Coen], 21 Aug. 1621 (Terpstra, Wester- Passchiers van Wesbusch, 1634. — Universiteits Bibliotheek kwartieren) (cf. Coen, Bescheiden, VII/1, 771) Amsterdam (UvA), UBM 1804 E 30. [= H] 259 Sourij to Coen, 11 Dec. 1621 (Coen, Bescheiden, VII/1) 321 ‘Firman (ferman) of peace’ from Alij Aga et al. granted to the Dutch, 14 Aug. 1622 (Brouwer, Anchor) Text editions and translations 322 De Milde to Dedell, 16 Aug. 1622 (Terpstra, Wester- kwartieren) Brawir, K.Kh., wa-A. Kablaniyan / C.G. Brouwer and A. Kapla- 323 ‘Contra firman (ferman)’ from Van Gorckom et al. to Alij nian (eds.), Al- Y a m a n fi awa’il al-Èarn al-sabi‘ ‘ashar: Aga, 16 Aug. 1622 (Terpstra, Westerkwartieren) MuÈta†afat min al-watha’iÈ al-hulandiyya al-muta‘alliÈa 325 Van Gorcum to Coen, 19 Aug. 1622 (Coen, Bescheiden, bi-’l-tarikh al-iÈtiÒadi li-djanub al-djazira al-‘arabiyya 1614- VII/2) 1630. Ikhtiyar wa-ta‘rib wa-taÈdim wa-ta‘liÈ ~ / Early 336 Coen to Dedel, 28 Aug. 1622 (Coen, Bescheiden, III) seventeenth-century Yemen: Dutch documents relating to the 361 Calculation of the factory stocks in Mocha (al-Mukha) and economic history of Southern Arabia, 1614-1630. Sel., transl. Suratte (Surat), [1622] (VOC 1076) into Arabic, introd. and annot. by ~. Second ed. with minor 362 ‘Specifications (memories) of both the commodities corr. Amstirdam / Amsterdam 1989. 3rd ed. ∑an‘a’ / Sana’a delivered to Foddelij Bassia and the tare as estimated by 1998; 1st ed. 1988. him and the Dutch’, drawn up by De Milde, 1622 (VOC Broecke, van den — Pieter ~ in A z i ë . Uitgeg. door W.Ph. Cool- 1079) haas. 2 vols. ’s-Gravenhage 1962-1963. Werken uitgegeven 363 ‘Pricelist of commodities’ traded in [Mocha, al-Mukha] door de Linschoten-Vereeniging, LXIII-LXIV. [= A] in 1621 and 1622, as well as an estimate of the quantities Brouwer, C.G. (ed.), ’t C o m p t o i r Mocha: Documenten van now saleable, drawn up by [De Milde?], [1622] (VOC de Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie aangaande handel en 1079) scheepvaart in Jemenitische wateren gedurende de zeven- 375a Invoice of the cash and the commodities shipped in the Heus- tiende en achttiende eeuw. Uitgeg. door ~. Deel I: 1614-1637. den bound for Parsia (Persia), [(before?) 27 Jan. 1623] Amsterdam (forthcoming). (Dunlop, Perzië) Brouwer, C.G., ‘A stockless a n c h o r and an unsaddled horse: 402 ‘Extract-log’, kept by Visnich, 23 June 1621-20 June 1623 Ottoman letters addressed to the Dutch in Yemen, first (Terpstra, Westerkwartieren) quarter of the 17th century’, in: Brouwer, Encounters (1999), 403 Coen to the Directors, 20 June 1623 (Coen, Bescheiden, I) pp. 149-221. First published in 1988. 415a Extract from the ‘General Books’ (Generale Boecken), Coen — Jan Pietersz. ~: B e s c h e i d e n omtrent zijn bedrijf in Batavia, 6 March — 9 Aug. [1623] (VOC 1075) Indië. Verz. door H.T. Colenbrander en W.Ph. Coolhaas. 7 420 Sallaert to Van den Broecke, 25 Aug. 1623 (VOC 1082) vols. in 8. ’s-Gravenhage 1919-1953. NB Vol. VI (Colenbran- 453 ‘Description of Mocha (al-Mukha)’ by [De Milde?], [1623] der’s biography of Coen) has been included. (Van Dam, Beschryvinge, V) Coolhaas, W.Ph., J. van Goor, J.E. Schooneveld-Oosterling (eds.), 455 ‘Pricelist of textiles sold in [Mocha, al-Mukha] in 1621 and Generale m i s s i v e n van Gouverneurs-Generaal en Raden 1622’, drawn up by [De Milde?], 1623 (VOC 1079) aan Heren XVII der Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie. … 459 De Carpentier et al. to [the Directors], 3 Jan. 1624 (VOC vols. ’s-Gravenhage 1960-. Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën, 1079; ED Coolhaas et al., Missiven, I) Grote Serie, 104-. 527 Instruction from [De Carpentier] et al. to Van Speult c.s., 12 Dam, P. van, B e s c h r y v i n g e van de Oostindische Compag- Sept. 1625 (VOC 1085) nie. Uitgeg. door F.W. Stapel en C.W.Th. van Boetzelaer van 541 Van Speult to [De Carpentier], 5 Apr. 1626 (VOC 1090) Asperen en Dubbeldam. 7 vols. ’s-Gravenhage 1927-1954. 542 Van den Broecke to De Carpentier, 6 Apr. 1626 (VOC Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën, Grote Serie, 63, 68, 74, 1090) 76, 83, 87, 96. 613 Grijph to [Coen?], 18 Nov. 1628 (Coen, Bescheiden, VII/2) Dunlop, H. (ed.), Bronnen tot de geschiedenis der Oostindische 656 ‘Description of Mocha (al-Mukha)’ by Carstenzoon, attn. Compagnie in P e r z i ë. Uitgeg. door ~. Eerste deel: 1611- Lucas, 22 Nov. 1633 (VOC 1113) 1638. ’s-Gravenhage 1930. Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën, 662 ‘Memorandum’ (memorie) on the commodities which are 72. saleable in Jomenij (Yemen) according to Wissendasnan et Leupe, P.A. (ed.), ‘Stukken over den handel van P e r s i ë en den al. [1633] (VOC 1113) golf van Bengalen, 1 6 3 4 ’, in: Kronijk van het Historisch 665 ‘Description of Mocha (al-Mukha)’ by Carstensen, attn. Genootschap gevestigd te Utrecht, vol. 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37 RELIGION, ETHNICITY AND GENDER UNDER FATIMID RULE 38

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