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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
Map: The Lands and Seas of Abu Zāyd’s Accounts
Accounts of China and India: The First Book
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