The Social History of the Karimi Trade Network (5 th-9 th/11 th-15 th) and the Role of Religious Diversity in Its Cohesion and Expansion

Document Type : Research Article

Author

History Dpartment, Shahid Beheshti University

Abstract
The Karimi trade was one of the most prominent commercial networks in the medieval Islamic world, flourishing between the 11th and 15th centuries CE (5th to 9th centuries AH) across regions including India, Egypt, the Levant, and the Mediterranean. This study, grounded in a social-historical approach, examines the structure of this network and the role of religious diversity in its long-term cohesion and expansion. The active participation of merchants from diverse religious and sectarian backgrounds—and the prioritization of customary commercial norms over the legal frameworks of any single religious school—played a central role in fostering intercommunal cooperation and a cross-sectarian social order. These mechanisms helped ensure the internal durability and practical efficiency of the Karimi network over several centuries. Based on the analysis of key historical sources—particularly documents from the Cairo Geniza—this research demonstrates how Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and Hindu merchants, relying on shared customary practices beyond religious affiliations, developed practical modes of cooperation that not only contributed to economic prosperity but also fostered a form of cross-sectarian social stability embedded within the structure of Karimi trade.

Keywords

Subjects


Bibliography
ʿAbd al-Qawi ʿUthman (n.d.), Habib Shawqi, Tijarat al-Muhit al-Hindi fi ʿAsr al-Siyada al-Islamiyya. [In Persian]
Al-Jazari, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim (1426 AH), Tarikh Hawadith al-Zaman wa Anba’ihi wa Wafayat al-Akabir wa al-Aʿyan min Abna’ihi, Beirut, Al-Maktaba al-ʿAsriyya. [In Persian]
Al-Maqrizi, Ahmad ibn ʿAli (1418 AH), Al-Suluk li-Maʿrifat Duwal al-Muluk, Beirut, Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya. [In Persian]
Al-Maqrizi, Ahmad ibn ʿAli (1427 AH), Al-Muqaffa al-Kabir, Beirut, Dar al-Gharb al-Islami. [In Persian]
Al-Nuwayri, Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab (1424 AH), Nihayat al-Arab fi Funun al-Adab, Beirut, Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya. [In Persian]
Al-Qalqashandi, Ahmad ibn ʿAli (n.d.), Subh al-Aʿsha fi Sinaʿat al-Insha’, Beirut, ed. Muhammad Husayn Shams al-Din, Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya. [In Persian]
Al-Qusi, ʿAtiyya (1975), “Adhwa’ Jadida ʿala Tijarat al-Karim min Waqiʿ Watha’iq al-Geniza,” Al-Majalla al-Tarikhiyya al-Misriyya, Vol. 22. [In Persian]
Al-Sakhawi, Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman (1412 AH), Al-Daw’ al-Lamiʿ li-Ahl al-Qarn al-Tasiʿ, Beirut, Dar al-Jil. [In Persian]
Al-Sarakhsi, Muhammad ibn Ahmad (1409 AH), Al-Mabsut, Beirut, Dar al-Maʿrifa. [In Persian]
Al-Tusi, Muhammad ibn Hasan (1387 AH), Al-Mabsut fi al-Fiqh al-Imamiyya, Tehran, Maktabat al-Murtazawiyya. [In Persian]
Ashtor, E. (1956). The Karimi Merchants. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.
Badkubeh Hazaweh, Ahmad (1380 SH), “Avvalin neshaneh-ha-ye nahad-e hesbeh dar sarzamin-haye eslami,” Tarikh-e Islam, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 125–136. [In Persian]
Badr al-ʿAyni, Mahmud ibn Ahmad (1407 AH), ʿIqd al-Juman fi Tarikh Ahl al-Zaman, Cairo. [In Persian]
Beaujard, Philippe, The world of the Indian Ocean: A Global History, Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp. 299-328.
ʿEbadi, Ahmad Mukhtar (n.d.), Tarikh-e Niruy-e Daryayi-ye Islam dar Misr va Sham, Qom, Markaz Tahqiqat-e Islami Qom. [In Persian]
Fu’ad Sayyid, Ayman (1400 AH), Dawlat Fatimiyyin fi Misr: Tahlil Jadid, trans. Esmaʿil Baghestani, Tehran, Ney. [In Persian]
Goitein, S. D. (1967). A Mediterranean Society, The Jewish Communities of the World as Portrated in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza, vol 1. Economiic Foundations, California.
Goitein, S.D., (1968), Studies in Islamic History and Institutions, Brill, 1968.
Ibn Aybak al-Dawadari, Abu Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allah (1422 AH), Kanz al-Durar wa Jamiʿ al-Ghurar, Cairo, Maktabat al-Mu’ayyad. [In Persian]
Ibn Fadl Allah al-ʿUmari, Ahmad ibn Yahya (1424 AH), Masalik al-Absar fi Mamalik al-Amsar, Abu Dhabi. [In Persian]
Ibn Furāt, Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahim (1970), Tarikh Ibn al-Furat, Beirut, Maktabat al-Mu’ayyad. [In Persian]
Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalani (1414 AH), Al-Durar al-Kamina fi Aʿyan al-Mi’a al-Thamina, Beirut, Dar al-Jil. [In Persian]
Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalani, Ahmad ibn ʿAli (1389 AH), Anba’ al-Ghumr bi-Anba’ al-ʿUmr, Cairo, Lajnat Ihya’ al-Turath al-Islami. [In Persian]
Ibn Iyas, Muhammad ibn Ahmad (2005), Bada’iʿ al-Zuhur fi Waqa’iʿ al-Duhur, Cairo, Maktabat Madbuli. [In Persian]
Ibn Khaldun, ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad (1408 AH), Tarikh Ibn Khaldun: Diwan al-Mubtada’ wa al-Khabar, Beirut, Dar al-Fikr. [In Persian]
Ibn Rushd, Muhammad ibn Ahmad (1431 AH), Bidayat al-Mujtahid wa Nihayat al-Muqtasid, Tehran, Al-Majmaʿ al-ʿAlami li-Taqrib Bayn al-Madhahib. [In Persian]
Ibn Sayrafi, ʿAli ibn Dawud (1970), Nuzhat al-Nufus wa al-Abdan fi Tawarikh al-Zaman, Cairo, Wizarat al-Thaqafa. [In Persian]
Ibn Taghribirdi, Yusuf (1392 AH), Al-Nujum al-Zahira fi Muluk Misr wa al-Qahira, Cairo, Wizarat al-Thaqafa wa al-Irshad al-Qawmi. [In Persian]
Ibn Zafer al-Azdi (1430 AH), Akhbar al-Awliya’, Cairo. [In Persian]
Keleş, Bahattin, “ Memlϋkler Dӧneminde Karimi Tϋccarlarinin Uluslararasi Ticareteki Yeri ve Önemi” , Turkish Studies, Cilt 13. 2018, pp. 81-96.
Khadim, Samir ʿAli (1989), Al-Sharq al-Islami wa al-Gharb al-Masihi, Beirut, Mu’assasat Dar al-Rihani. [In Persian]
Labib, S.  Book Chapter: (1970), “Egyptian Commercial Policy in the Middle Ages”, in Studies on the Economic History of the Middle East, Ed. M.A. Cook, London, 
Labib, S. (1952). Al-Tijāra al-Kārimīya wa-Tijārat Miṣr fi al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā.
Nissen, Fredrik (1393 SH), “Madkhal ‘Geniza’,” in Dāneshnāmeh-ye Jahān-e Islam, ed. GholamʿAli Haddad ʿAdel, Tehran. [In Persian]
Sato Tsugitaka, (2006), Slave Traders and Karimi Merchants during the Mamluk Period: A Comparative Study, Waseda University, Mamluk Studies Review, vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 141-155.
Tamil LexiconIndia (Madras), (1924-1936), University of Madras.
Udi, Sattar (1393 SH), “Madkhal ‘Radhaniyya’,” in Dāneshnāmeh-ye Jahān-e Islam, ed. GholamʿAli Haddad ʿAdel, Tehran. [In Persian]
Wiet, G. (1955). Les marchands d’épices sous les sultans mamlouks.

  • Receive Date 28 June 2025
  • Revise Date 09 October 2025
  • Accept Date 12 October 2025