A Traveller in Thirteenth-century Arabia: Ibn al-Mujawir's Tarikh al-Mustabsir

large 8vo [25 x 18 cm]; xix, 341 pp, frontis photos, illus, maps and plans, glossary, bibliography, index. original cloth, gilt stamped vignette on cover, gilt spine title lettering, dj (light crease), fine, clean, unmarked and unused. A picture of this book is available upon request by email. This is the first English translation of the Tarikh al-Mustabsir, written in the early thirteenth century by Ibn al-Mujawir. The text is a fascinating account of the western and southern areas of the Arabian Peninsula by a man from the east of the Islamic world, probably from Khurasan in Iran. His route began in Mecca and essentially ran south through the Red Sea coastal plan, Tihamah, down into Yemen and long the southern coast of the peninsula, Aden, the Gulf and returning home via Iraq. The author provides good observations of the people, customs, buildings, agriculture, food, history, etc. A unique source for social and economic history, written with humour and wit, otherwise unknown in the writings of medieval Islam. With an excellent introduction and annotations by G. Rex Smith.