THETHE PRESS GULF IN THE MIDDLEIN WO EASTRLD AND NORTH AFRICA, HISTORY1850 −1950 Arabia at the Global Crossroads Politics, Social History and Culture EditedEdited by ANTHONY by ALLEN GORMAN JAMES and FROMHERZDIDIER MONCIAUD THE GULF IN WORLD HISTORY Arabia at the Global Crossroads Edited by Allen James Fromherz Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutting-edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance. For more information visit our website: www.edinburghuniversitypress.com © editorial matter and organisation Allen James Fromherz, 2018 © the chapters their several authors, 2018 Edinburgh University Press Ltd The Tun – Holyrood Road 12 (2f) Jackson’s Entry Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Typeset in 11/15 Adobe Garamond by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and printed and bound in Great Britain A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4744 3065 4 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 4744 3067 8 (webready PDF) ISBN 978 1 4744 3068 5 (epub) The right of the contributors to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498). CONTENTS List of Illustrations vii Map of the Gulf x Acknowledgements xii List of Contributors xvi 1 Introduction: World History in the Gulf as a Gulf in World History 1 Allen James Fromherz Part I Gulf Cosmopolitanism 2 The Cosmopolitan Figure as Ethical Exemplar: Notes from a Tenth-century Gulf Encyclopedia 27 Richard McGregor 3 The Gulf: A Cosmopolitan Mobile Society – Hormuz, 1475–1515 ce 35 Valeria Piacentini Fiorani iv | the gulf in world history 4 From Jerusalem to the Karûn: What can Mandæan Geographies Tell Us? 56 Charles Häberl Part II The Gulf and the Indian Ocean 5 Merchant Communities and Cross-cultural Trade between Gujarat and the Gulf in the Late Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 91 Ghulam A. Nadri 6 The Banians of Muscat: A South Asian Merchant Community in Oman and the Gulf, c. 1500–1700 105 Abdulrahman al Salimi 7 Khaliji Hindustan: Towards a Diasporic History of Khalijis in South Asia from the 1780s to the 1960s 120 Johan Mathew Part III East Africans in the Khalij and the Khalij in East Africa 8 Africans and the Gulf: Between Diaspora and Cosmopolitanism 139 Matthew S. Hopper 9 East Africa, the Global Gulf and the New Thalassology of the Indian Ocean 160 Mark Horton Part IV Diversity and Change: Between Sky, Land and Sea 10 Astrology as a Node of Connectivity between the Pre-modern Mediterranean and Gulf 185 Michael A. Ryan 11 Ships of the Gulf: Shifting Names and Networks 201 Eric Staples contents | v 12 The Role of Indian Ocean Trade Inland: The Buraimi Oasis 219 Timothy Power Part V Recent Gulf Archaeology 13 Pearl Fishing and Globalisation: From the Neolithic to the Twentieth Century ce 239 Robert Carter 14 An Archaeology of Glass and International Trade in the Gulf 262 Carolyn M. Swan Part VI Heritage and Memory in the Gulf 15 From History to Heritage: The Arabian Incense Burner 295 William G. Zimmerle 16 Doha’s Msheireb Heritage House Museums: A Discussion of Memory, History and the Indian Ocean World 313 Karen Exell 17 Omani Identity amid the Oil Crisis 333 Lamya Harub Index 358 ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURES 1.1 Chinese dish set decorating the mihrab of Al-Masjid Al-‘Ayn 5 1.2 Stern of a Baghla at Dubai Creek, 10–18 May 1948 6 1.3 Kuwait archaeological excavations at Failaka Island 13 4.1 A map of the principal locations to be met with within the Mandæan literature 75 8.1 ‘Pearl Divers at Work’ (Persian Gulf, c. 1903) 142 8.2 ‘Men Pollinating Date Palm’ (Oman, 1912) 142 9.1 Map of the Indian Ocean with routes out of East Africa in the eighth–twelfth centuries 161 9.2 The world of the Cirebon ship, c. 970 170 9.3 Map of the Indian Ocean showing the route of an anonymous voyage to China in 850/1 174 12.1 Plan of a street and buildings from Early Islamic Hamasa 221 12.2 Ninth- and tenth-century Chinese ceramics from Early Islamic Hamasa 223 13.1 Pearl fishing settlements in the Gulf 246 viii | the gulf in world history 13.2 Pearling revenues in Bahrain, 1663–1949 249 13.3 Expansion of Doha, 1823–1937 252 13.4 Value of ceramics imports in Bahrain against value of pearl exports 256 14.1 Map of the Gulf, indicating the location of the key archaeological sites with glass finds mentioned in the text 267 14.2 Glass beads from Bronze Age contexts 268 14.3 Examples of Early Islamic glass vessels from the Gulf 274 14.4 Scatterplot of the trace elements zirconium vs chromium in glass samples taken from four Early Islamic archaeological sites in the Gulf 280 15.1 A glazed terracotta cuboid incense burner from a first millennium bce mortuary context at Nuffar (Nippur) 296 15.2 Four-legged sandstone incense burner from Ras al-Jinz, Sultanate of Oman (2250 bce) 298 15.3 Map of the types of incense burners made in the Sultanate of Oman 301 15.4 Modern-day circular-perforated incense burner for burning frankincense 303 15.5 Documented ethnographic steps (nos 1–6) in the craft production of cuboid incense burners in Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman 304 15.6 Documented ethnographic steps (nos 7–11) in the craft production of cuboid incense burners in Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman 305 15.7 A modern-day cuboid incense burner from western Dhofar 306 15.8 Crafting a modern-day cuboid incense burner using sesame seed oil by the hands of the potter Dallul from Mirbat 307 15.9 Explorations in the Dhofar Mountains, 1929 308 illustrations | ix PLATES Between pages 182 and 183 1 Book of Roads and Kingdoms by Istakhri 2 Abraham Cresques, Catalan Atlas, fourteenth-century pearl fishers in Gulf 3 Two small date-shaped flasks dated to the first centuryce 4 Map of the Indian Ocean, from the Book of Curiosities of the Sciences and Marvels for the Eyes 5 Part of the Phanom Surin shipwreck 6 Glass of Iranian origin, found in the Cirebon ship 7 Turquoise-glazed ware of Gulf origin, found in the Cirebon ship 8 Rock crystal pieces, most likely from Madagascar, found in the Cirebon ship 9 Plan of the Oases of al-Ain and Buraimi 10 A well-preserved house from the Early Islamic settlement at Hamasa 11 Geophysical survey showing overlaid Early and Late Islamic field systems 12 Late Islamic ceramics and coins commonly found in al-Ain 13 Late Islamic date press from the Bayt Bin Ati in Qattara Oasis 14 European ‘China’ from Muharraq excavations 15 Porcelains excavated in Muharraq 16 Nineteenth–twentieth-century expansion of Muharraq 17 Two small ‘Sidonian’-style mould-blown glass amphoriski with scrollwork designs 18 A modern-day cuboid incense burner being manufactured by a potter from Mirbat 19 Courtyard of one of the restored historic houses, location of Msheireb Museums, Doha ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Gulf in World History is the result of collaborations between scholars, staff, administrators, reviewers and editors from different parts of the planet. It has been a global project since its inception, involving scholars from around the world from differing academic cultures and perspectives. In this way, the book is a reflection of its thesis: the Gulf as a catalyst of global encounters. I can only attempt to mention some of those from around the world who made this book a reality. The germ for the volume came from a call for fellowships from the New York University Abu Dhabi Institute. It was its support, both of my application for a senior fellowship and of my sup- plemental application for a major workshop to be held at NYU Abu Dhabi, that provided the original impetus for the book. The Humanities Institute at NYUAD impressed me not simply in terms of its support for this pro- ject. Every week there seemed to be a major event, lecture or workshop on some topic related to Gulf heritage, history and culture. In my mind, the NYUAD Humanities Institute is at the vanguard of a new renaissance in Gulf Studies that has swept through universities, both established and new, throughout the Gulf in just the past decade. From Senior Vice Provost Fatma Abdulla to Vice Chancellor Carol Brandt to Dean Robert Young, who attended and presented at our workshop, providing important insights, xii acknowledgements | xiii there was support from every level at NYUAD. Specifically, I want to thank Reindert Falkenburg, Vice Provost for Intellectual and Cultural Outreach. His feedback on my proposal was especially helpful in terms of framing the larger significance of the Gulf as a ‘missing link’ in world history. Also, I enjoyed our discussions about Dutch masters Bosch and Breughel. I also want to thank the excellent staff at the Institute for their incredible depth of knowledge and support. Nora Yousif, Alexandra Sandu, Nils Lewis, Gila Waels, Antoine El Khayat, Manal Demaghlatrous, thank you not only for making sure everything ran smoothly and efficiently, but also for your friend- ship and your deep knowledge of the region. Martin Klimke, Cyrus Patell, Yousef Casewit, Giuliano Garavini, Matthew Maclean, Marcel Kurpershoek, Justin Stearns, Philip Kennedy and Michael Cooperson, thank you for your companionship and your many insightful suggestions. Michael and Philip, the library of Arabic Literature is a true lodestone for any scholar who works in the language.