Trade, Tolerance, and Turmoil

Historian Allen James Fromherz in ‘The Center of the World’ writes that the Persian Gulf did not enter history as a footnote, but as the headline. He presents a convincing argument as to why the Gulf was actually the centre of the world exchange.

The book is a civilisational reckoning and strategic meditation published by Sanctum Books, as the author does not follow trade routes, but rewrites the map of historical Islamic consciousness. Fromherz says that in the Islamic World, cosmopolitanism coexisted with conquest, while tolerance was often transactional, but trade endured.

The book starts with a strong statement -- world trade started in the Gulf, not in Venice, and Canton, but in that salt-pricked water between Arabia and Persia.

The Gulf, running on a northwest-southeast axis, was the hypotenuse of Eurasia-- the joining of Babylon with India, the Mediterranean with the monsoon, which Fromherz describes as the crossroads of the world.

Early chapters take the reader into the religious and political division, with the factors that sort of help in the creation of the region in the later part of the Islamic civilisation.

An example of this is the Battle of Siffin, which is not presented as a military conflict but as a theological breakthrough that split the House of Islam.

The Qarmatians, who robbed the Kaaba of the Black Stone, are analysed with the kind of forensic interest, and the dangers they posed to the Muslim world. Fromherz explores the ideological and logistical aspects of their uprising and demonstrates how they not only upset pilgrimage but also the symbolic order of the Muslim world.

Another turning point in the book is the fall of the Sassanid Persia. Fromherz write that the Justinian pandemic, along with other factors, was the reason which led to the fall of the Persian empire.

Another key strategic blind spot, which the author points out, is that the Persians never built a navy. This hesitation defined the initial naval relationships of the region as trade gradually developed in the region.

Interestingly, Caliph Umar, too, did not believe in maritime projects. “Tradition has it that Western caliph such as Umar, a nomadic Bedouin, opposed the use of ships, but the Muslim Arabs in Oman organised a navy almost immediately,” writes the author.

Basra comes out as a star in Fromherz’s story. A bit autonomous of both power centres, first Medina and then Baghdad, Basra was a city of both economic energy and intellectual force.

This Islamic city was exporting poetry, ideas, research and even grammatical rules. Arabic, Fromherz writes, was systematised in Basra -- not in the sacred city of Medina or in posh Baghdad.

Writes Fromherz, that the scholar who systematised the language was of Persian origin -- Sibawayh, presenting evidence of the cross-cultural boom that characterised early Islamic civilisation.

However, by the 10th century, the Caliph had weakened its hold. The power of religion moved to the Ulema, bringing an enormous change in the Islamic leadership. The author does not take this as a fall but as a redistribution of power in the Muslim world.

“The theological centre shifted from palace to pulpit, and the connotations were immense,” the author writes.

‘The Center of the World’ also mentions the port cities of Siraf and Kish, while there is also a separate chapter on Hormuz city -- how it was taken by the Portuguese and the city changed its western occupiers.

The ending of the chapter about the city of Siraf is an eye-opener, as it takes the reader through the historic fall of Baghdad, which the author has condensed into a few pages. And with the fall of Baghdad, the Abbasids are for historians and researchers to read and analyse.

A ‘jewel in the necklace’ -- Hormuz -- has been aptly described by its captor, Afonso de Albuquerque. The story of Hormuz being conquered by Albuquerque is narrated in a dramatic manner. To begin with, Albuquerque overpowers the Muslim king. Then, later on, the Portuguese rescued the same king when the Persians wanted to retake the city, perfectly bringing out the mess of alliances and betrayals that characterised the time.

Fromherz also compare Portuguese activities in Goa and in Hormuz, and demonstrates how the geography and local politics influenced the imperial behaviour. While they suppressed and dominated Goa completely, a more tolerant version of their governance was followed in Hormuz, which, the author says it was more due to the influence of trade at Hormuz than in Goa.

The book also details that the Portuguese empire at its zenith also had 244 large Indian Ocean ports.

The author also writes about the Ottoman admiral Piri Reis, who was a far greater threat to the Catholic House. The Admiral symbolised the naval rivalry that was extended from Lisbon up to Lahore.

Another point of reflection in the book is the campaigns of Nadir Shah. By capturing Hormuz and Isfahan, Shah indicated a new regional balance. “Nadir Shah had ambitions of Muslim unity - the dream, which had flickers but never ignited,” writes Fromherz.

‘The Center of the World’ is not a conventional history, but a cartographic correction. For the Indian readers, the book offers a mirror. The Indian Ocean isn’t a backdrop, but a stage. And the Gulf, as Fromherz proves, is its spotlight.

 Author is journalist based in New Delhi