Islam Museum Islam Museum islam.museum
Search ⌕ ARENUR
Accessibility
Text size 100%

Saved on this device only — nothing is sent anywhere.

Yaqut's trading journeys for his master: Kish, Oman and Syria, c. 593/1197

أسفار ياقوت التجارية عن مولاه: كيش وعمان والشام، نحو ٥٩٣هـ/١١٩٧م

c. 1197 CE · c. 593 AH

Kish

His master Askar employed Yaqut on his trading ventures: he shuttled to the island of Kish, to Oman — most of whose people were then Ibadi Kharijis — and to Syria; one itinerary ran Baghdad–Amid–Syria–Baghdad in 593-4/1197-8 1 2. On these journeys he read and met scholars until a real scholarly temperament formed in him 2.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks
Region
Levant & Iraq

In time

1180119012001210 c.
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks

In space

Kish

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Summary

His master Askar sent him on trading voyages: he shuttled to the island of Kish in the Indian Ocean, to Oman, then to Syria 2; a documented itinerary ran Baghdad–Amid–Syria–Baghdad in 593-4/1197-8 1.

What travel earned him

Yaqut read while travelling and met men of learning until a considerable scholarly temperament was formed in him; his early education he owed to Askar's provision and then to a curiosity he turned to profit on the trade roads 2 3.

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
Yaqut al-Hamawi
Occurred at
Kish
During the reign of
al-Nasir li-Din Allah Ahmad ibn al-Mustadi'

People and things also explored

Yaqut returns from Kish to find his former master dead, and takes to the book trade, 606/1209· The Damascus affair: a debate that nearly cost Yaqut his life, and his flight, 613/1216· Yaqut flees Khwarazm before the Mongols to Mosul, then Aleppo, 617/1220· Yaqut manumitted and dismissed by Askar al-Hamawi, 596/1199· The draft of the Mujam al-Buldan finished at Aleppo, 20 Safar 621/13 March 1224· Yaqut presented to the vizier al-Qadi al-Akram al-Qifti at Aleppo, 609/1212· The child Yaqut sold in Baghdad to the merchant Askar al-Hamawi, c. 580/1184· The Fitna of the Hafiz Abd al-Ghani in Damascus in 595

Sources

  1. Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition (Leiden: Brill, 1954–2008), 13 volumes , vol. 11 p. 265
  2. Mawsu'at A'lam al-Ulama' wa-l-Adaba' al-Arab wa-l-Muslimin — Dar al-Jil / ALECSO , p. 277
  3. Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition (Leiden: Brill, 1954–2008), 13 volumes , vol. 11 p. 264
  • Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Yaqut's trading journeys for his master: Kish, Oman and Syria, c. 593/1197”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/yaqut-trade-journeys-593/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-09.

Improve this page on GitHub · Report an error · Help complete it · JSON

Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

Yaqut returns from Kish to find his former master dead, and takes to the book trade, 606/1209

His former master sent him to Kish as a mudarib; on his return in 606/1209 he found Askar dead. He gave the widow and sons their satisfaction, kept the remainder as his capital and travelled with it, making books part of his trade. Selling books in Baghdad drew him to rare manuscripts and introduced him to the leading scholars of the Islamic world.