author
active 9th century Sulayman al-Tajir
A 9th-century Muslim merchant and travel writer, he is remembered for one of the earliest surviving Arabic accounts of journeys to India and China. Though little is known about his life, his observations helped preserve a vivid picture of Indian Ocean trade in the Abbasid era.
1 Audiobook
Voyage du marchand arabe Sulaymân en Inde et en Chine rédigé en 851 Suivi de remarques par Abû Zayd Hasan (vers 916), traduit de l'arabe avec introduction, glossaire et index par Gabriel Ferrand
by active 10th century Abu Zayd Hasan ibn Yazid Sirafi, active 9th century Sulayman al-Tajir
About the author
Active around the mid-9th century, Sulayman al-Tajir — "the Merchant" — is generally described as a Muslim merchant, traveler, and writer from Siraf, in present-day Iran. He is associated with a voyage account written around 850 CE that records travel to India and China.
His importance comes less from a detailed personal biography, which has not survived, and more from the travel narrative linked to his name. That work is often treated as one of the earliest Arabic descriptions of long-distance trade across the Indian Ocean, with notes on ports, rulers, customs, and commercial life.
Because the surviving record is so thin, many basic facts about him remain uncertain. Even so, the book connected with his travels has made him an important witness to the maritime world that linked the Abbasid caliphate with South and East Asia.