SATTOLOGY सत्तोलॉजी Gurukul गुरुकुल

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ARABIC MANUSCRIPT: Accounts of China and India
851 AD, early 10th-century – Two Books

Recent discoveries and a fresh translation reveal 9th- and 10th-century India and China as witnessed by Arab sailors and merchants. Here are some surprises (🧵). Compare these to Leftist/Marxist narratives:

📗Background
1⃣Abū Zayd al-Ḥasan al-Sīrāfī lived in Siraf (Iran), the busiest port on the Persian Gulf in those centuries. Merchants flocked there, bound for India and China.
2⃣Abū Zayd was commissioned to write a book. He met many merchants who had visited, stayed in India and China.
3⃣Abū Zayd found an anonymous manuscript dated 851 AD. He called it Book 1. Between 905 and 925 AD, he added his own notes as Book 2. He drew on reports from travelers and consulted al-Masʿūdī.
4⃣A 12th-century copy survives in Paris as Bibliothèque Nationale as Arabe 2281 manuscript.
Reinaud published a flawed version and a flawed translation in 1845. He forced his translation into colonial prejudices.
5⃣Tim Mackintosh-Smith has now issued a new edition and accurate translation.

📗From Book 1 (851 AD)
1⃣Abū Zayd repeatedly calls entire Indian subcontinent as one country, one cultural whole. He calls it "al-Hind". This is not just the northwest Sindh or Indus valley. He names places from Kollam (Kerala) in south, Kannauj in the north to Multan as part of al-Hind. He also calls entire China is one cultural whole, called al-Ṣīn.
2⃣Al-Hind has many kingdoms. One, al-Jurz (likely Gurjara-Pratihara), is rich. Its king hates Islam and is enemy of Arab (Section 1.7.3).
3⃣Sarandīb (Sri Lanka) is part of India, says Abū Zayd.
3⃣Indians build their homes and buildings with stone, gypsum, brick, and mud. Chinese use wood for walls.
4⃣Rice is the Indian staple. Chinese eat wheat and rice. Indians do not eat wheat, says Abū Zayd (likely peninsular India!)
5⃣India is vast—several times larger than China. It has more kings. China is densely populated, more cultivated, one king.
6⃣Indians excel in medicine, philosophy and arts. China also knows medicine. Indian religion is in China.
7⃣No Muslims live in Indian or Chinese ports. Arabic is unknown there.
8⃣Indian kings do not pay soldiers. They summon men to fight for king and country. Warriors serve at their own expense. Unlike Indians, Chinese pay troops regularly like the Arabs.

📗From Book 2 (Early 10th-century)
1⃣Some Indian men burn themselves alive. The man who wants to die meets and seeks the king's permission. Then he marches with kin and drummers. Fearless, he enters the pyre. The book does not mention any widow sati.
2⃣Wandering ascetics (likely Shaiva sadhus) roam India. They wear long hair, are almost naked. They wear skull necklace. When desperately hungry, they visit homes. Householders feed them and count the ascetic's visit a blessing.
3⃣Kannauj (UP) is a large city in 10th century, with many philosophers and scholars. It lies in the rich kingdom of al-Jurz. Wisdom originates with the Indians, says Abu Zayd.
4⃣Huang Chao destroyed the port city of Khānfū in China, massacred all foreign merchants. This stopped China–Arab trade in 878 AD, crippling Arab ship owners and sailors.
5⃣Slavery exists inside 9th-century China (2.4.6, 2.9.1). No slavery inside Indian kingdoms.

📗Place Names and Voyages
1⃣The Persian Gulf is called the Sea of Lārawī. The Arabian Sea is the Sea of India. The Bay of Bengal is the Sea of Harkand.
2⃣Kollam in Kerala is Kulam Malī. Sri Lanka is Sarandīb. Much of Southeast Asia is al-Qamār (from Khmer?). Sumatra is al-Ramānī. Java is al-Zābaj.
3⃣The sea voyage in 9th-century took one month from Muscat to Kerala. Another month from Kerala to Malaysia.

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