Abstract: (ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)Hajj performance is one of the religious obligations for a well off Muslim. With the passage of time Hajj traffic in gained significance. The term Hajj traffic may apply to special business organisation on the occasion of Hajj pilgrimage. The present paper aims to bring out the major aspects that lay at the basis of its operation.As a matter of faith and to win reward in the next world, during the Mughul period (1526-1705) the members of royal families, aristocracy as well as the common Muslims in used to make generous donations for organizing Hajj traffic. They also sent alms to Makkah to be distributed among needy people. Gifts and grants as well were made to the custodians of Ka'bah and other religious places. In this manner a fairly good amount of money was thus sent from to Makkah. But in the course of the same pilgrimage trips immense treasure also found its way into India. In a single consignment in 1616 on their return voyage the pilgrim ships of Surat brought treasure worth £2,000,000; most of it in gold and silver.1 Edward Terry finds himself incompetent to give an accurate estimate of the flow of silver into from Europe 'by other means' (i.e. Hajj traffic). But he says that silver is like streams and is a sea. According to him all the silver of Europe comes to as all the streams fall into the sea.2During the Mughul period the royal ships, ordinarily used for trading purposes, were employed for Hajj traffic during the Hajj season. These ships were of greater tonnage and wider decks. Thus the Queen Mother's ship Rahimi of 1500 burthen sailing from Surat to Jeddah (waylaid by the English on 23 April 1612) carried cargo consisting of India and had on board 1500 passengers.3 Similarly there were ships owned by the Mughul princes and princesses who also made earnings by participating in trade and commerce. On the occasion of Hajj these ships were directed to Surat-Red Sea line to carry Hajj pilgrims. There were, for instance, ships owned by emperor Jahangir and prince Khurram carrying on this activity.4 The expenses on Hajj pilgrims and donations and gifts sent to the places in connection with Hajj through these ships were borne out by the state treasury. But, it appears that these expenses were more than compensated by profit gained from transactions at the Makkah international fair on the occasion of Hajj. Thus we have Tavernier's observation of the year 1642 regarding the arrival of a Mughul ship at Swally, a port of Surat, from Jeddah. What he says that the ship designed for carrying pilgrims to and back from Makkah, also carried quality goods for sale at Makkah to meet the expenses of those pilgrims. In these transactions at least the principal of Rs.6,00,000 (i.e. £67,500) was retained intact for purchases next year. Ordinarily profits on goods taken from Surat to Makkah for sale was at the modest rate of 30 to 40%. But some goods also yielded cent per cent profits.5The ladies of the Mughul seraglio and other members of the royal household as well made generous donations to the holy shrines in Makkah.6 In 1658 two royal ships, waylaid by the Portuguese corsairs off Surat, had on board mendicants, ladies of the harem and nobles. The ships' consignments mainly consisted of sequin gold coins, commonly current on Indian coast which were perhaps meant as presents to the holy shrines.7 There is another instance of a Mughul pilgrim ship returning from the Red Sea in 1695 being attacked by a notorious pirate' Captain Evory. The ship's cargo consisted of silver and gold. Besides other passengers there was a Muslim lady, possibly a member of the royal family, aboard the ship.8 It is said that the ship Ganj-i Sawa'i on every Hajj occasion made voyage to the Red Sea and having done transactions there brought back from there gold worth 52 lakhs riyals. Being among the bigger royal ships it carried large quantities of Indian commodities for sale to Mokha* and Jeddah. …
Publication Year: 2016
Publication Date: 2016-07-01
Language: en
Type: article
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