Traders from Arabia travelled to and traded with Roman and Asian empires and this Nabataean Sea Merchants article. How far did Arabian traders travel - where was the furthest extent of their expeditions, particularly in Asia (or maybe Australia)?
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What centuries are you asking about? – Eugene Seidel Jun 14 '13 at 9:50
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4Am looking at around the 10th to 15th centuries – user2434 Jun 14 '13 at 10:09
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1It is often though that the legend of the roc was inspired by the sight of ostrich and emu, due to their resemblance to eagle chicks in appearance. – Pieter Geerkens Aug 16 '13 at 5:15
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It's not a full answer, but if you're interested by medieval Arabic travels, the unavoidable reference is Ibn Baṭūṭah. In his Rihla, he describes three travels he made during the 14th century :
- from Tangiers to middle-East, with a travel along the East coast of Africa, down to Zanbar and Kilwa. (map here)
- from Mecca to Beijing, and back, through Eastern Europe, Central Asia, India and South-East Asia. From the way you phrase your question, it's probably the travel which interest you more. (map here and below)
- from Mecca to the Mali Empire and back. (map here)
This text has been translated in many languages, so you probably can find a version in your preferred language. There is a French translation in la Pléïade, and a 19th French translation freely downloadable at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi; I haven't found (yet) an English translation available on the web.
He mainly used the commercial routes, but he probably didn't to "the furthest extent of [Arabic] expeditions. According to the wikipedia page on spice trade, the route went as far East as Molucca.
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1Hi Frederic, I am sure that you can find some useful references for Arabic travelers in Eastern Africa, i.e. Somalia, Kenya and South as far as Zanzibar and Madagascar (at least). I have remembrance of reading about Arabic merchant trading with these people when I studied Hanno the Navigator. +1 Anyways – astabada Jun 14 '13 at 14:42
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2By the way, traveling as far east as Khanbalik (=Beijing) was already possible Eastern Christians in the Middle Ages, who knew China as "Tzinitza". In fact, it was a Christian Bishop that helped translating the Buddhist sacred texts into Chinese. – astabada Jun 14 '13 at 14:45
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So you're saying that Ibn Batutah is a "canonical" reference point for this issue? +1 – Tom Au Jun 14 '13 at 17:10
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1This reference, particularly the map has answered one of the main queries I had in my initial question - about the outside possibility of visits to the Australian mainland, I can see how very unlikely this was. – user2434 Jun 14 '13 at 20:24
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2@TomAu I'm not qualified to say whether Ibn Battuta is a canonical reference point on the maximal extension of the Arabic trade route networks. All I know is that his travels are a classic of the Arab travel literature. – Frédéric Grosshans Jun 14 '13 at 21:25
