The Abyssinian connection? Abyssinian-related scholars in the Yemeni and Medieval Red Sea environment (6th-9th/12th-15th centuries)
- Author
- Zacharie Mochtari de Pierrepont (UGent)
- Organization
- Abstract
- Under the Rasulid sultans of Yemen (r. 626-858/1229-1454), Abyssinia was famed for its gold, slaves and eunuchs, with a taste for imported cotton clothes and precious fabrics. It became an important partner of Yemen with the rise of the Walasma` Sunni dynasty (r. 684-966/1285-1559) in Ifat and their control of the port of Zayla`, the main Abyssinian maritime outlet to the Red Sea. But relationships between Abyssinia and Yemen were not only anchored in trade and political considerations: Islamic scholars also interacted together extensively. This article proposes a first assessment and analysis of the scholarly relations between Yemen and Abyssinia in the 7th-9th/13th-15th centuries. Despite the scarcity of historiographical narrative sources, it illustrates that, on the one hand, Yemeni scholars participated time and again in the spread of Islam in Abyssinia between the 6th/12th and the 9th/15th century. On the other hand, the importance of scholars from Abyssinian origin in Yemen itself seems to have been greatly overlooked, even though many prominent Yemeni MODIFIER LETTER LEFT HALF RINGulamaMODIFIER LETTER RIGHT HALF RING and mystical figures of the 8th/14th and 9th/15th centuries had Abyssinian roots and played a considerable role in shaping the local Yemeni and regional scholarly environment. In this dual process of interactions and migrations emerge a glimpse of the Red Sea scholarly circulations and their dynamism, an Abyssinian connection with distinct channels of knowledge transmission and specific networks maintained between the two shores of the Red Sea.
- Keywords
- Medieval Red Sea, scholarly circulations, scholarly networks, sainthood, Yemen, Rasulid, Abyssinia, Western Arabia
Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01K36P9CP7X36BN4GPYRWS2TYW
- MLA
- Mochtari de Pierrepont, Zacharie. “The Abyssinian Connection? Abyssinian-Related Scholars in the Yemeni and Medieval Red Sea Environment (6th-9th/12th-15th Centuries).” REVUE DES MONDES MUSULMANS ET DE LA MEDITERRANEE, no. 153, 2023, pp. 153–78, doi:10.4000/remmm.19536.
- APA
- Mochtari de Pierrepont, Z. (2023). The Abyssinian connection? Abyssinian-related scholars in the Yemeni and Medieval Red Sea environment (6th-9th/12th-15th centuries). REVUE DES MONDES MUSULMANS ET DE LA MEDITERRANEE, (153), 153–178. https://doi.org/10.4000/remmm.19536
- Chicago author-date
- Mochtari de Pierrepont, Zacharie. 2023. “The Abyssinian Connection? Abyssinian-Related Scholars in the Yemeni and Medieval Red Sea Environment (6th-9th/12th-15th Centuries).” REVUE DES MONDES MUSULMANS ET DE LA MEDITERRANEE, no. 153: 153–78. https://doi.org/10.4000/remmm.19536.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Mochtari de Pierrepont, Zacharie. 2023. “The Abyssinian Connection? Abyssinian-Related Scholars in the Yemeni and Medieval Red Sea Environment (6th-9th/12th-15th Centuries).” REVUE DES MONDES MUSULMANS ET DE LA MEDITERRANEE (153): 153–178. doi:10.4000/remmm.19536.
- Vancouver
- 1.Mochtari de Pierrepont Z. The Abyssinian connection? Abyssinian-related scholars in the Yemeni and Medieval Red Sea environment (6th-9th/12th-15th centuries). REVUE DES MONDES MUSULMANS ET DE LA MEDITERRANEE. 2023;(153):153–78.
- IEEE
- [1]Z. Mochtari de Pierrepont, “The Abyssinian connection? Abyssinian-related scholars in the Yemeni and Medieval Red Sea environment (6th-9th/12th-15th centuries),” REVUE DES MONDES MUSULMANS ET DE LA MEDITERRANEE, no. 153, pp. 153–178, 2023.
@article{01K36P9CP7X36BN4GPYRWS2TYW,
abstract = {{Under the Rasulid sultans of Yemen (r. 626-858/1229-1454), Abyssinia was famed for its gold, slaves and eunuchs, with a taste for imported cotton clothes and precious fabrics. It became an important partner of Yemen with the rise of the Walasma` Sunni dynasty (r. 684-966/1285-1559) in Ifat and their control of the port of Zayla`, the main Abyssinian maritime outlet to the Red Sea. But relationships between Abyssinia and Yemen were not only anchored in trade and political considerations: Islamic scholars also interacted together extensively. This article proposes a first assessment and analysis of the scholarly relations between Yemen and Abyssinia in the 7th-9th/13th-15th centuries. Despite the scarcity of historiographical narrative sources, it illustrates that, on the one hand, Yemeni scholars participated time and again in the spread of Islam in Abyssinia between the 6th/12th and the 9th/15th century. On the other hand, the importance of scholars from Abyssinian origin in Yemen itself seems to have been greatly overlooked, even though many prominent Yemeni MODIFIER LETTER LEFT HALF RINGulamaMODIFIER LETTER RIGHT HALF RING and mystical figures of the 8th/14th and 9th/15th centuries had Abyssinian roots and played a considerable role in shaping the local Yemeni and regional scholarly environment. In this dual process of interactions and migrations emerge a glimpse of the Red Sea scholarly circulations and their dynamism, an Abyssinian connection with distinct channels of knowledge transmission and specific networks maintained between the two shores of the Red Sea.}},
author = {{Mochtari de Pierrepont, Zacharie}},
issn = {{0997-1327}},
journal = {{REVUE DES MONDES MUSULMANS ET DE LA MEDITERRANEE}},
keywords = {{Medieval Red Sea,scholarly circulations,scholarly networks,sainthood,Yemen,Rasulid,Abyssinia,Western Arabia}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{153}},
pages = {{153--178}},
title = {{The Abyssinian connection? Abyssinian-related scholars in the Yemeni and Medieval Red Sea environment (6th-9th/12th-15th centuries)}},
url = {{http://doi.org/10.4000/remmm.19536}},
year = {{2023}},
}
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