Al-Masudi, the travelling historian of Meadows of Gold, in Multan and Mansura

In the early 10th century AD, a scholar of Baghdad set out from Basra for India and reached the cities of Multan and Mansura on the banks of the River Indus. He wrote about the rulers there, saw war elephants and described the rivers of Sindh. His name was Abul Hasan Ali bin al-Husayn al-Masudi (al-Mas'udi). His book "Muruj al-Dhahab wa Ma'adin al-Jawhar" (Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems) is still counted among the classic works of history and geography. Much of what we know about Sindh and Multan in the 10th century comes from this traveller.

"The Herodotus of the Arabs"

Al-Masudi was born in Baghdad in the last years of the 9th century AD (the exact year is not known). According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, he died in Fustat (Cairo) in September 956. In 1841 the orientalist Aloys Sprenger translated the first volume of "Muruj al-Dhahab" into English. In his preface he wrote that, just as Herodotus is called the father of history, al-Masudi deserves to be called "the Herodotus of the Arabs". Like Herodotus, he joined the affairs of nations and geography to history, and combined book learning with his own experience and the traditions he had heard. Sprenger also quotes the view of the noted historian Ibn Khaldun that al-Masudi made long journeys and saw almost every country himself.

At the start of the book, al-Masudi himself says he is writing it in 332 AH (943-944 AD) and that it is a summary of his two large histories, "Akhbar al-Zaman" and "Kitab al-Awsat". According to researchers, he also prepared a revised version in 956, but only the manuscript of 947 is available today.

From east to west, like the sun

Al-Masudi apologises and asks to be forgiven if the book has turned out brief, because the hardships of travel and the crossing of seas and deserts have sapped his strength. He writes that the purpose of these journeys was to quench his thirst for knowledge and to learn about nations by seeing them himself. He went to India and to Zanj, the east coast of Africa. At times he was on the farthest edge of Khorasan, at times between Armenia and Azerbaijan, at times in Iraq and at times in Syria. In his own words, "We went from one corner of the earth to the other, as the sun goes on its round."

He also made many sea voyages. He writes that he sailed the China Sea, the Mediterranean, the Caspian, the Red Sea and the sea of Yemen and endured many dangers, but found the sea of Zanj the most dangerous of all. In 304 AH he travelled from Qanbalu, an island in the sea of Zanj, to Oman on a ship belonging to two brothers of Siraf. They were later drowned in the same sea with their entire crew.

From the sailors of Siraf to India

Al-Masudi was a traveller of the same maritime world that we mentioned in the previous instalment in connection with the travel account of the merchant Sulaiman. S Maqbul Ahmad, who translated that book, writes that al-Masudi met Abu Zayd al-Sirafi, the compiler of "Akhbar al-Sin wa al-Hind", twice in Basra: once in 915, before Abu Zayd left for India, and again on his return. The two exchanged information on questions of geography.

On the west coast of India, al-Masudi went in 303 AH (915-916 AD) to Cambay (Khambhat), after which the embroidered shoes of that place were called "Kanbayati". By his own account, he travelled to Multan and Mansura after 300 AH.

Multan: the "House of Gold"

Al-Masudi writes that he went to Multan after 300 AH, when it was ruled by Abul Dalhat al-Munabbih bin Asad al-Qurashi al-Sami. According to him, the rule of Multan had long been in one family. Its army was strong and its frontier held nearly 100,000 villages and estates. He gives the meaning of the name Multan as the "House of Gold". He also mentions a famous ancient temple in the city, to which thousands of people came on pilgrimage from distant parts of Sindh and India, bringing fragrant aloes-wood and costly gifts. It may be recalled that the Chinese traveller Xuanzang had also mentioned a magnificent temple in Multan 300 years earlier.

Al-Masudi also drew a picture of the rivers of Sindh. According to him, the rivers coming from the mountains of Kashmir and the north join to form one river at a place called "Dushab", three days' journey below Multan. It passes through the region of Mansura, where it is called the "Mehran", then splits into two branches and falls into the sea about two days' journey from Debal. According to S Maqbul Ahmad, Debal was probably at Bhambore, east of Karachi. He adds that the Indus has changed its course considerably since that time.

Mansura: the capital of Sindh

According to al-Masudi, the distance from Multan to Mansura was 75 Sindhi farsakhs, each farsakh being eight miles. When he went to Mansura, it was ruled by Abul Mundhir Umar bin Abdullah, and al-Masudi came to know his minister, Riyah. He writes that Mansura is named after the Umayyad governor Mansur bin Jumhur. Mansura's dominion included 300,000 villages and estates, and the whole region was populated and covered with trees and fields.

The king of Mansura had 80 war elephants, and each elephant was accompanied in battle by 500 foot soldiers. Al-Masudi saw two of the famous elephants himself, whose names he gives as "Munkar Kalas" and "Haidara". He tells an interesting story. In a narrow street of Mansura, a woman suddenly came before the elephants and fell down in fear. The elephant walking in front stopped and stood across the street so that the elephants behind would not harm her, and signalled with its trunk to give her a chance to rise. When she had safely reached her husband, the elephant cleared the way and the column moved on.

A thousand years later

What marks al-Masudi's writing is that he wrote not only from books but also from his own observation. In one place he criticises a famous author, saying that he had not travelled himself and therefore did not know from which mountains the Mehran of Sindh rises. According to Sprenger, later historians kept citing his book.

A person who walks today through the streets of Multan and the remains of Mansura in Sindh, carrying al-Masudi's "Muruj al-Dhahab", finds a living picture of 10th-century Sindh: the sailors of Siraf, the shoes of Cambay, the bazaar of Multan, the elephants of Mansura and the Mehran flowing towards the sea.

Next instalment: Leif Erikson: the Viking sailor and "Vinland".