Accounts of China and India. Abu Zayd al-Sirafi

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      ACCOUNTS OF CHINA AND INDIA

      LIBRARY OF ARABIC LITERATURE

      EDITORIAL BOARD

      GENERAL EDITOR

      Philip F. Kennedy, New York University

      EXECUTIVE EDITORS

      James E. Montgomery, University of Cambridge

      Shawkat M. Toorawa, Yale University

      EDITORS

      Sean Anthony, The Ohio State University

      Julia Bray, University of Oxford

      Michael Cooperson, University of California, Los Angeles

      Joseph E. Lowry, University of Pennsylvania

      Maurice Pomerantz, New York University Abu Dhabi

      Tahera Qutbuddin, University of Chicago

      Devin J. Stewart, Emory University

      EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

      Chip Rossetti

      DIGITAL PRODUCTION MANAGER

      Stuart Brown

      ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR

      Gemma Juan-Simó

      FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM COORDINATOR

      Amani Al-Zoubi

      LETTER FROM THE GENERAL EDITOR

      The Library of Arabic Literature series offers Arabic editions and English translations of significant works of Arabic literature, with an emphasis on the seventh to nineteenth centuries. The Library of Arabic Literature thus includes texts from the pre-Islamic era to the cusp of the modern period, and encompasses a wide range of genres, including poetry, poetics, fiction, religion, philosophy, law, science, history, and historiography.

      Books in the series are edited and translated by internationally recognized scholars and are published in parallel-text format with Arabic and English on facing pages, and are also made available as English-only paperbacks.

      The Library encourages scholars to produce authoritative, though not necessarily critical, Arabic editions, accompanied by modern, lucid English translations. Its ultimate goal is to introduce the rich, largely untapped Arabic literary heritage to both a general audience of readers as well as to scholars and students.

      The Library of Arabic Literature is supported by a grant from the New York University Abu Dhabi Institute and is published by NYU Press.

      Philip F. Kennedy

       General Editor, Library of Arabic Literature

      ABOUT THIS PAPERBACK

      This paperback edition differs in a few respects from its dual-language hardcover predecessor. Because of the compact trim size the pagination has changed, but paragraph numbering has been retained to facilitate cross-referencing with the hardcover. Material that referred to the Arabic edition has been updated to reflect the English-only format, and other material has been corrected and updated where appropriate. For information about the Arabic edition on which this English translation is based and about how the LAL Arabic text was established, readers are referred to the hardcover.

      ACCOUNTS OF CHINA AND INDIA

      BY

      ABŪ ZAYD AL-SĪRĀFĪ

      TRANSLATED BY

      TIM MACKINTOSH-SMITH

      FOREWORD BY

      ZVI BEN-DOR BENITE

      VOLUME EDITOR

      PHILIP F. KENNEDY

      NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS

       New York

      Copyright © 2017 by New York University

      All rights reserved

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Sirafi, Abu Zayd Hasan ibn Yazid, active 10th century author. | Mackintosh-Smith, Tim, 1961– translator. | Ben-Dor Benite, Zvi author of introduction.

      Title: Accounts of China and India / by Abu Zayd Al-Sirafi ; translated by Tim Macintosh-Smith ; foreword by Zvi Ben-Dor Benite.

      Other titles: Silsilat al-tawarikh. English.

      Description: New York : New York University Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2016040524 (print) | LCCN 2016042538 (ebook) | ISBN 9781479830596 (pb : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781479862054 (e-book) | ISBN 9781479814428 (e-book)

      Subjects: LCSH: China—Description and travel—Early works to 1800. | India—Description and travel—Early works to 1800.

      Classification: LCC DS409 .S5713 2017 (print) | LCC DS409 (ebook) | DDC 915.104—dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016040524

      New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.

      Series design and composition by Nicole Hayward

      Typeset in Adobe Text

      Manufactured in the United States of America

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

       In memory of my aunt, Elsie Florence Harrison, who showed me the way that led to Arabia, India, and China

      CONTENTS

       Letter from the General Editor

       Foreword

       Acknowledgments

       Introduction

       Notes to the Introduction

       Map: The Lands and Seas of Abu Zāyd’s Accounts

       ACCOUNTS OF CHINA AND INDIA

       Accounts of China and India: The First Book

       The Sea of Harkand

       Maritime Commerce between the Arabs and the Chinese

       The Sea Route from Sīrāf to Khānfū

       On Tides, and Unusual Phenomena of the Seas

       The Chinese and Some of Their Customs