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Under the Watchful Eye of Mimī Bin cAbd Allāh: The Voyage of the Dutch Merchant Pieter Van den Broecke to the Court of Djacfar Bāshā in Sana'a, 1616

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2010

C.G. Brouwer
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Extract

When on the morning of 4 May 1616, after having been received in state by cavalry, noblemen and citizens, Pieter van den Broecke descends from the splendidly caparisoned mount with which he has been presented; when his feet sink into the carpets of the audience-hall of the Castle of Sana's, then he realizes, striding along between two rows of dignitaries standing with crossed arms, that a crucial moment in his voyage to the court of the “Governor-General” of the Ottoman province of Yemen has come. Djacfar Bāshā is sitting enthroned on a platform, dressed as if he were “the monarch of the entire world”. The Dutch opperkoopman (”upper-merchant”), in his black suit, greets him with reverence, whereupon the beglerbegi commands him to sit down. What! Sit down, on the carpet, on the floor, he, Captain of the Dutch? What else could that mean, in this formal entourage, but his submitting to the wālī? Then his interpreter retrieves the situation: “Sir, may Allāh bless You! The Dutch captain cannot sit in the way we are accustomed to do …”

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Articles
Information
Itinerario , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , July 1985 , pp. 42 - 72
Copyright
Copyright © Research Institute for History, Leiden University 1985

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References

Notes

1. 65:I, 92-93; 64:Hlv-H2r (58-59); 22:7r; 23:83v.

2. Mimīs name explicitly mentioned: 65:I, 87 (“Minne”); 64:H4v (64) (“Mime”); 20:12v (“Mami”); 59a:137r* (“Mimij”); 60:19Ov (“Mijmij”); 61:216r* (“Mijmij”); Purchas, S., Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas his pilgrimes: Contayning a history of the world in sea voyages and lande travells by Englishmen and others, 20 vols. (Glasgow 1905–1907), III, 288, 289 (Downton) (“Mammy”), 378, 380, 391, 392, 396, 397, 399 (Saris) (“Mamy”, “Mamee”); Arabic seals: 20:12v, 13v, and Purchas, Hakluytust III, 380 (Saris) (“Mimī bin cAbd Allāh”). Voyage: 65:I, 87-92; 64:G4v-Hlv (56-58) (nojongen; 20 soldiers); dates are kept as mentioned in 65. Van den Broecke on horseback: see below, n. 35. Presents: 64:7r; 23:83v; 38:209r*; cf. 65: I, 94, and 64:H2v (60). Amān : 65:I, 89 (cf. 94) and 64:G4v (56) (“firman”); see below, n. 35Google Scholar.

3 Ships putting into al-Mukhā, 21 April-24 May 1616: C.G. Brouwer, “Non-Western shipping movements in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden during the 2nd and 3rd decades of the 17th century, according to the Dutch VOC records”, Die Welt des Islams (forthcoming).

4 Jacht: Dutch fast-sailing vessel of medium size, with three masts, well suited for exploration, transmitting of messages, patrolling. Cf. Beylen, J. van, Schepen van de Nederlanden : van de late middeleeuwen tot het einde van de 17e eeuw (Amsterdam 1970), 93–98Google Scholar.

5 Sanbūk: Arab or Indian shallow-draught sailing craft of small size, used for passenger traffic as well as freight-traffic in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Cf. Kindermann, H., “Schiff” im Arabischen: Untersuchung über Vorkommen und Bedeutung der Termini (Zwickaui. Sa. 1934),c43–45, andGoogle ScholarDarwīsh, al-Nakhili, Al-sufun al-islāmiyya alā hurūf al-mu djam (Al-Iskandariyya 1974), 70–71Google Scholar.

6 65:I, 82-83; 64:G3v-G4r (54-55); 22:7r; 23:83v; 38:209r*. For Anthonni Classen Visser at al-Shiḥr cf. 65: I , 42, 80: 64:F2r-v (43-44); 8:83v; 11:68r; 23: 83r. For sultan cAbd Allāh cf. 65:I 43-44; 64:F2r (43); esp. 63:nr lb (ann.).

7 65:I, 82, 83; 38:209v*.

8 65:I, 83-84; 64:G4r (55) (3½%); 21:9r. Cf. 30:205r.

9 65:I, 84; 23:83v.

10 65:I, 84; 66:73, 74; 6:350; 7:351. Cf. also 63:Introd., §4, and Bruijn, J.R., Gaastra, F.S. and Schöffer, I. (eds.), Dutch-Asiatic shipping in the 17th and 18th centuries. With ass. of E.S. van Eyck van Heslinga, … vols. (The Hague 1979-), II, 32 (nr. 175.1)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. As to size, armament, crew and cargo, compare this jacht with a schip like 't Wapen van Zeelandt: C.G. Brouwer, “Le voyage au Yémen de Pieter van den Broecke (serviteur de la V.O.C.) en 1620, d'après son livre de résolutions”, El-Sheikh, I.A., Koppel, C.A. van de and Peters, R. (eds.), The challenge of the Middle East: Middle Eastern studies at the University of Amsterdam (Amsterdam 1982), 1–2Google Scholar.

11 65:1, 71, 74, 78, 109, 111, 113, 120; 36:84v. Cf. Van Beylen, schepen,49.

12 65:I, 82-83, 84, 87, 95, 100, 109, 112, 114, 115, 118; 64:G4v (56) (“Arentsz.” instead of “Adrianssen”), G2v (52); 5:347; 6:350; 7:351; 8:84r; 13:155v; 14:21; 22:7r; 23:83v; 27:380; 28:429r; 29:137; 32:140; 33:140; 34:238; 37:386. The onderkoopman Wouter Heute was replaced, 14 January, at al-Shihr, by Visser; he will return on board on 15 July; cf. 65:I, 80, 83, 108, 109, 112; 64:G3v (54), I2v (68); 36:84v; 40:212r*.

13 Negroes and others, see below (with n. 16).

14 For ships cf. Brouwer, “Non-Western shipping move- ments”. Kindt: 16:168v; cf. 17:96.

15 Date: 65:1, 71; 10:75v (25 Sept.); 12b:21 (in Sept.); 23:83r (10 Sept.); 24:52r (in Sept.). Already in June 1615 Reijnst decided to send Van den Broecke to Arabia again: 4:123r. The two resolutions by Coen, 5:347 and 6:349-350, are the most important ones; the “instruction” has not been transmitted, unfortunately, but its purport can be reconstructed from other documents.

16 65:I, 77, 78, 79, 81; 64:G3v (54); 23:83v; etc.

17 Djalba: Arab sailing-vessel of medium size, used for the long distance transport of people and goods in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. C.F. Kindermann, “Schiff”, 19-20; al-NakhllT, Sufun, 27-29.

18 65:1, 27-38; 64:E4v-Flr (40-41) (“Hessen Aga” wrongly); 1:3, 5; 2:6; 3:85r-96r; 8:83r-v; 11:69r; 12a:46; 22:7r; 23:83r-v; 24:53r-v. Armament and crew: 66:74; etc. Cargo: 1:3-4, 5; etc.

19 For the Ascencion's activities in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea cf. The journal of John Jourdain 1608-1617, describing his experiences in Arabia, India and the Malay Archipelago. Ed. by Foster, W. (Cambridge 1905), 58–106 (Jourdain), 350-356 (Revett), 356-358 (Sharpeigh); Purchas, Hakluytus Posthumus, III, 65-67 (Jones). As to Radjab Āghā cf. 63:nr. 6a (ann.). For the English expeditions to the Red Sea one may consultGoogle ScholarFoster, W., England's quest of Eastern trade (London 1933, repr. 1966), 183–197; the account inGoogle ScholarMacro, E., Yemen and the Western world. (Since 1571) (London 1968), 3–6, is not entirely reliableGoogle Scholar.

20 Purchas, , Hakluytus Posthumus, III, 121-171 (Middleton), 211–245 (Downton).Google Scholar.

21 Journal of John Jourdain, 203-225 (Jourdain); Purchas, , Hakluytus Posthumus, III, 189-193 (Middleton), 280–292 (Downton), 371-403 (Saris; the Sultan's firmān: 383-385, cf. 382). As to Mimī cf. supra, n. 2. Cf. also 44:232v*Google Scholar.

22 64:llv (66); 44:232v*.

23 65:I, 83, 105; 64:llv (66), Ilr (65) (engraving by Adriaen Matham; see ill.); 44:233r*; 62:144r; 69:V, 262-263, 264; Journal of John Jourdain, 104-105 (Jourdain), 355-356 (Revett); Purchas, , Hakluytus Posthumus, III, 152 (Middleton), 377–378, 380, 400 (Saris)Google Scholar, IV, 551-552, 553, 559 (Heynes);c Yaḥyā bin al-Ḥusayn bin al-Ḳāsim bin Muḥammad bin cAlī, Chāyat al-amānī fī akhbār al-ḳutr al-yamānī. Taḥḳīḳ wa-takdīm Sacīd cAbd al-Fattāh cĀsfrūr. Murādjacat Muḥammad Muṣṭafā Ziyāda, 2 vols (Al-Kāhira 1388h/1968 m), II, 828. Cf. Macro, E., Bibliography on Yemen and notes on Mocha (Coral Gables 1960), 47–48, 51, 53 (not entirely reliable)Google Scholar.

24 Merchandise landed:40:232v*; 51:401; cf. however:65:I, 84. That the Dutch were trading from on board their ship is a wrong way of representing things: 46:272. Khwādja Ḥasan: 6:350; 9:130; cf. 49:315. Both Syrian merchants: 39:208r*; 40:212r*. Caravan: 65:I 85 (6 March); 64:G4r-v (55-56) (6 March); 38:209v* (16 Safar 1025/5 March 1616). Ships calling at al-Mukhā in the period 27 February-20 April 1616, numbering 19: Brouwer, “Non-Western shipping movements”. Competition: 65:1, 85. Climate: 64:G4v (56); cf. Journal of John Jouretain, 105, and Purchas, Hakluytus Posthumus, III, 164 (Middleton), 388 (Saris), IV, 551, 553 (Heynes). One may consult also Rode Zee en Golf van Aden: oceanografische en meteorologische gegevens/Red Sea and Gulf of Aden: oceanographic and meteorological data. [Uitg. van het] Koninklijk Nederlands Meterologisch Instituut ('s-Gravenhage 1949), 22-23, and Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Pilot. [Ed. by the] Hydrograpic Department. 11th ed. (London 1967), 36ff. (wet-bulb temperatures: 38)Google Scholar.

25 23:83v.

26 65:1, 93-94; 64:H2r-v (59-60); 18:llr; 22:7r-v; 23:83v-84r.

27 65:I, 94-95; 64:H2v-H3v (60-63). For the Dutch presents cf. supra, n. 2; although the transmitted sources do not allow us to determine their real composition, we may safely assume that they were not, as hādjdj Ibrāhīm says, for the most part made up of money (38:209r*). For such presents cf. Brouwer, “Le voyageau Yémen”, 10.

28. Date audience: 65 :I, 95. As to amān , Red Sea, ḥaram and imtiyāzat cf. Hatschek, J., Der Musta'min: Ein Beitrag zum internationalen Privat- und Völkerrecht des islamischen Gesetzes (Berlin usw. 1919), 14–24Google Scholar; Heffening, W., Das islamische Fremdenrecht bis zu den isla-misch-fränkischen Staatsverträgen: Eine rechtshistorische Studie zum Fiqh (Hannover 1925; repr. Osnabrück 1975), 15–57Google Scholar; Khadduri, M., War and peace in the law of Islam (Baltimore 1955), 155–161, 162-174Google Scholar; Schacht, J., An introduction to Islamic law (Oxford 1964; repr. 1966), 131, 206Google Scholar; The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New ed. … vols. (Leiden 1960-), I (1960), 429–430, s.v. “amān” (J. Schacht), III (1971), 1179-1189, i.v. “imtiyāzāt”, ii (H. inalcik)Google Scholar; Wansbrough, J., “The safe-conduct in Muslim chancery practice”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, XXXIV (1971), 20–35CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Krüger, H., Fetwa und siyar: Zur international-rechtlichen Gutachtenpraxis der osmanischen Seyh ülIslâm vom 17. bis 19. Jahrhundert under besonderer Berücksichtigung des “Behcet ül-Fetâvâ” (Wiesbaden 1978), 136–139Google Scholar; Peters, R., Islam and colonialism: The doctrine of jihad in modern history ('s-Gravenhage 1979), 29–32Google Scholar. Title of “Khādim al-haramayn”: Encyclopaedia of Islam, IV (1978), 899–900, s.v. “khadim alḥaramayn” (B. Lewis), andGoogle ScholarGroot, A.H. de, The Ottoman empire and the Dutch republic: A history of the earliest diplomatic relations 1610-1630 (Leiden 1978), 233–234. For the “capitulations” granted the Dutch in 1612Google Scholarcf. Horniker, A. L., “Anglo-French rivalry in the Levant from 1583 to 1612”, The Journal of Modern History, XVIII (1946), 293–304Google Scholar; Ernstberger, A., Europas Widerstand gegen Hollands erste Cesandtschaft bei der Pforte (1612) (München 1956); De Groot, Ottoman empire, 114-125, 233-246 (text), 247-260 (translation). DjaCfar's physician: 65:I, 95 (“barbier”); in 64:H3r (61) called a soldier (“Soldaet”)Google Scholar.

29. Djacfar as a pious and learned man: Yaḥyā bin al-Husayn, Ghāyat al-amānī, II, 796; Muḥammad bin Muṣṭafā al-Kanī, Kitāb bughyat al-khātir wa-nuzhat al-nāzir (ms. Leiden, Rijks Universiteitsbibliotheek, nr. Or. 2622; Voorhoeve, Handlist, p. 53), 190v. Arab and Indian Red Sea-trade: 52: 104v*; 54:322; 55:342. Cf. Meilink-Roelofz, M.A.P., Asian trade and European influence in the Indonesian archipelago between 1500 and about 1630 (The Hague 1962; repr. 1969), 222–226Google Scholar; Steensgaard, N., The Asian trade revolution of the seventeenth century: The East India Companies and the decline of the caravan trade (Chicago etc. 1974), 89–92Google Scholar; Santen, H.W. van, De Verenigde Oost-lndische Compagnie in Gujarat en Hindustan, 1620-1660 (Meppel 1982), 69–74. Fortress: 44:233r*Google Scholar.

30. Sālyāneli eyālet Gibb, H. A. R. and Bowen, H., Islamic society and the West: A study of the impact of western civilization on Moslem culture in the Near East, 1 vol. in 2 parts (London etc. 1950–1957), I/I, 147-148, I/2, 37Google Scholar; Encyclopaedia of Islam, II (1965), 723, i.v. “eyālet” (H. Inalcik)Google Scholar.

31 Al-Kānī, Bughyat al-khāṭir, 190r-193v; cĪsā: bin Luṭf Allāh bin al-Muṭahhar, Rawḥ al-rūḥ fīma ḥadatha bac da al-mi'a al-tāsica min al-fitan wa-'l-futū ḥ. Dirāsa wa-Taḥḳīḳ Muḥammad cĪsā Abd Allāh Ṣāliḥiyya. 2 vols. ([AlḲāhira] 1392 h/1973 m; Univ. cAyn Shams, Fac. of Arts (al-Ādāb), thesis nr . 19204-19205, typescript), II, 748-774; [Al-Ḳasan [sic!] bin al-Muṭahhar bin Muḥammad al-Djurmūzī], Kitāb al-nubdha al-mushīra ilā djumal min cuyūn al-sīra fī akhbār mawlānā… al-ManṣŪr bi-'llāh… al-Ḳāsim bin Muḥammad bin cAlī ([Ṣan cā'] s.d.), 316-433; Yaḥyā bin al-Ḥusayn , Ghāyat al-amānī, II, 791- 806; Tritton, A.S., The rise of the imams of Sanaa (London 1925), 50–70; Al-Muḥibbī, Khulāṣat al-athar fī acyān al-Ḳarn al-ḥādī cashar. 4 vols. (Miṣr 1284 h; repr. Bayrūt s.d.) , 485-488 (based on al-Kānī)Google Scholar. Cf. also Sālim, Al-Sayyid Muṣṭafā, Al-fatḥ al-euthmānī al-awwal li-'l-Yaman 1538-1635. 2nd ed. (Al-Ḳāhira 1974), 261–267Google Scholar.

32 Bribes: 44:233r*. Dāmād: 44:232r*. Policy of non-violence: 22:7v; 44:232v*, 233r*.

33 65:1, 95-97; 64:II3v (62); 18:llr; 20:12r; 22:7v; 23:84r; 34:238; 36:85v; 38:209v*; 39:208v*; 42:200r, and 43:354r (both affording wrong information); 44:232v*, 233r*, 233v*; 55:342. Cf. 49:257; 54:322.

34 65:1, 97-99; 64:H3v-H4v (62-64). Tax-reduction: 21:9r; cf. 59:296r*. Correspondence: 23:84r; 42:200r, and 43:354r (both wrongly suggesting that Djacfar wrote letters to the Sultan in favour of the Dutch).

35 65:1, 99, 100-107; 64:G4v (64). For a more detailed discussion of the three Spanish letters (18:llr, 20:12r and 21:9r), for the translation of which I am grateful o t Drs. H. Brouwer (University of Amsterdam, Inst. Spanish Language & Literature), cf. 67; see also 44:232v*. Quarrels: 29:137-138; 32:140, 141; 33:140; 40:212r*. The captain's letters: 22:7v; 23:84r; 36:84r; 35:210r*; 39:211v*; 42:200r; 43:354r. Concerning Prins riding on ass (65:I, 101): Non-Muslims in general were forbidden to ride on horseback; that Djacfar permitted Van den Broecke to do so, therefore, and even presented him with a horse, is to be considered very exceptional. Cf. Schacht, Introduction, 131.

36 Muḥammad: 65:I, 103. Composition of the cargo: 5:347; 8:84r; 9:130; 12b:21; 13:155v; 24:52r; 26:211; 34:237; 35:97r; 36:84v; 38:209r*; 40: 212r*. Value of the cargo:

Ad a: 75:308v; 19:87r, 87v; 8:84r (4.000 lb. Flemish); 9:130 (wrongly f 123.724); 10:75v ( ± f 25.000); 23:83r ( ± f 23.500). Ad b: 34:238; 36:84v; 26:211 ( ± 9.000 reals!); 29: 428r, and 58:369r ( f 9.000); cf. 65:1, 112, and 64: I3r (69). Ad c: 23:83v. Ad d: 26:211, and 31:218 (23.000 reals of eight; converted here at the rate of 1 real = 48 stuivers); 34:237, 35:97r-v, and 36:85r ( ± 23.000 r.) . Ad e: Estimated selling price (based on not entirely reliable data from 38 :209r*, 209v*) of the Selon: 750 reals of eight (f 1.800), of its cargo: 200 bales (“packen”) à [24] (in the beginning 27, later on 20) r. = 4.800 r.(f 11.520), making f 13.320 in all. Cf. also 38:209v* (total proceeds estimated at ± 70.000 reals of eight!). Coen 6:349; 26:211; cf. 9:130. Duties levied by Hasan: 21:9r; cf. 44:233r*.

37 34:238; 36:85v; 38:209v*; 44:232v*–233r*; cf. 64:I 3r(69). Date of departure according to 23:84r and 36:84r 10 July.

38 Dutch threat:44:233r*: 233v*. Hospitality: 26:211; 31:218; 34:237; 35:97r; 42:200r; 43:354r; cf. 17:96, and 25:181.

39 65:I, 104, 107-108; 64:I2v (68); 36:84r-v; 38:209v*.

40 65:1, 108-120; 64:I2v-I4r (68-71); 26:211; 31:218-219; 34:237, 238, 240; 35:97r-v; 36:84v-85r; 40:212r*; 57:428r; 58:369r.

41. 29:137-138; 32:140-141; 33:140; 34:238. As to Jan Ewoutsz. Prins, member of a Rotterdam family of shipowners, merchants, brewers, municipal administrators and “Directors” of the VOC, see Scheffer, J. H., Genealogie van het geslacht Prins (Rotterdam 1878), 6 (“Joan”), 18 and 63. His godchild Eeuwout, mentioned by Scheffer, is represented on a family portrait, in the style of Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp, dating from ca. 1635 (Rotterdam, Historisch Museum Schielandshuis, inv. nr. 11.105)Google Scholar.

42. 23:83v; 27:380; 31:218; 34:237; 36:85r, 85v; 45:404. The most detailed commercial report by Van den Broecke transmitted in the archives of the VOC is 30:2O5r-210r, from which Van Dam quotes some passages, 70:V, 261-262, 264-266, 267-268. It is remarkable that also Willem de Milde, later, almost entirely ignores the internal situation of the Yemen; cf. C.G. Brouwer, “Willem de Milde, Kānī Shalabī en Fadlī Bāshā, of: Een dienaar van de VOC op audiëntie bij de beglerbegi van Jemen, 1622-1624”, De Gids , 143 (1980), 734. About the reporting of the voyage of the Nassau in 1616 in general, cf. C.G. Brouwer, “Rediscovered after more than three centuries: Pieter van den Broecke's original Resolutieboeck concerning Dutch trade in North-West India, Persia and Southern Arabia, 1620-1625”, Manuscripts of the Middle East (in the press). Commercial “succes” of the voyage: 31:218; 32:211; 35:97r; 36:85r. New expedition: 26:211; 31:218. Firmān: 35:97v; 36:85v; 42:200r; 43:354r. Using of violence: 26:211; 27:380; 34:238-239; 36:85v; 47:380; 48:149-151.

43 Pauw, Hasan, etc.: 38:209r*-210r*; 39:208r-v*. 211r*; 40:212r*; 44:232r*-233v*; 49:V, 257; 51:402. Haga, Djacfar, etc.: 52:104v*; 54:322; 55:342; 56:413. Text of the firmān: 53:136-138.

44. DjaCfar, Mimī: Al-Muḥibbī, Khulāṣat al-athar, I, 488; 60:19Ov; 61;216r*. Some brief remarks about the historiography of Van den Broecke's voyage to the court in Sana'a may be appended here: In a great number of scholarly studies as well as works for the general reader concerning the history of either the VOC or the Yemen, the mission of the Dutch merchant is dealt with, concisely or amply, by Arab or Western authors. To give a few examples: Geschiedenis van Nederlandsch Indië. Onder leid. van Stapel, F.W.. 5 vols. (Amsterdam 1938–1940), III, 194–196; andGoogle ScholarShihāb, Ḥasan Ṣāliḥ, Aḍwā' calā tarīkh al-Yaman al-baḥrī. 2nd ed. (Bayrut 1981), 220–221. Only some few are relying on the original Dutch source materials, however; in that case they are confining themselves almost exclusively to Van den Broecke's printed log-book (64), in its Dutch or in a translated version, often even in Commelin's redactionGoogle Scholar. E.g. Beckingham, C.F., “Dutch travellers in Arabia in the seventeenth century”, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1951), 70–81, 170-172; andGoogle ScholarPirenne, J., À la découverte de I'Arabie: Cinq siècles de science et d'aventure (Paris 1958), 60-65. Apart from Coolhaas and Brouwer who added a great number of annotations based on the Dutch sources to the text of the manuscript version of the log (65:I, and 63), the only historian who made independent inquiries into the mass of documents that have come down to us in the archives of the VOC, isGoogle ScholarTerpstra, H.. At the same time his study, De opkomst der Westerkwartieren van de Oost-lndische Compagnie (Suratte, Arablë, Perzië) ('s-Gravenhage 1918), 55–60, 110-115, aims at reconstructing and interpreting the past events, whereas the other publications in general do not offer but paraphrases or even mere translations. One should realize, however, that Terpstra, as already observed by Brouwer, “De Milde”, 735, analyzes his sources from a narrow Dutch colonial point of view: the Ottomans, the Yemenite Arabs, Djacfar, Hasan, Minī, do not really exist in his account, they are, at best, but shadows, scarcely or wrongly observed. In addition to this he does not throw light upon some of the manifest weak sides of Van den Broecke's character and conductCrossRefGoogle Scholar.