Views From the Edge Essays in Honor of Richard W. Bulliet ‘Neguin Yavari Lawrence G. Potter Jean-Mare Ran Oppenheim Editors ‘Consus Unsvensiry Pans "ie Mion East Istrrore, Cuan Ustvensiry New Yorwy COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS Publishers Since 1893 "New York ‘Chichester, West Sussex (© 2004 Columbia University Press All sights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging in-Publication Data ‘Views from the edge : essays in honor of Richard W. Bullet ‘Neguin Yavai, Laweence G. Potter, Jean-Mare Rest ‘Oppenheim—eeitors. jographical references and index ISBN o251-1372-X loth: alk: pape 1. Jslamie countries Civilization. 2. Islamic counties History. 3 Istamic counries—Historiography. 1 Bullet, Richard W. 1. Yavari, Neguin. mr, Potter, Lawrence G. 1¥. Oppenheim, Jean-Marc Ren. sas. 4.A2Vs4 2004 eee 2204052785 Colunbia University Pres books are printed ‘on permanent and durable acid-free pape. ‘Printed in the United States of America 1098765432! | | Contents Introductions Preface ‘Neguin Yavari, Lawrence G. Potter, ean-Mare Ran Oppenheim Doing It: Richard W. Bullet and Islamic Studies Fred Donner University of Chicago) Richard W. Bulliet: Personal Observations, Leila Fawaz (Tas University) Richard W. Bulliet: Bi About the Contributors Essays ‘Trading Diaspora, State Building and the Idea of National Interest Ina Baghdiantz-MeCabe (Tulls University) Palestinian and Jordanian Views ofthe Balfour Declaration Alexander Bligh (College of Judea and Samaria) Standards of Living in East and West: England and Egypt Before and AMier the Black Death Stuart J. Borsch (Assumption College) Ancient Iranian Ideas in a Modem Context: Aspects of Royal Legitimacy Under Muhammad Riza Shah Pablavi Jamsheed K. Choksy (Indiana University) ANote on Biblical Narrative and ‘Abbasid History Tayeb EL-Hibri University of Massachusetts, Amber!) Historical Patems of Higher Education for Women in Morocco Since Independence Patricia C, Glester Coates (Pace University) 7 45 63Contents Gee seseceeeee tear CESe ee ceeeees teen ‘Yet, in spite oftheir stark under-representation inthe mainstream of modern ‘slamie and African historiography, there is not a single example of an Islamaic count The Buja snd Mectoval samc Mago Munch 159 mappa mundi to be found without the words “al-Buja” (the Buja) marked tly astride the upper reaches of the Nile betwoon al-Habasha (Abyssinia) “Bilad al-Nuba” (Land/Terrtory of Nubia) Suiking isthe fact that these rarely heard of Buja are even accorded an additional stip of land between the Red Sea and the Nile, which is refemed to on many of the maps as the “Mafaza al-Buja” (i. “the deserts of the Buja”)2" In this double marking alone the Buja stand out as conspicuously distinguished from every other territorial marking on the Islamic world map. See, for instance, the close-up of the region from a fif teenth century Timurid world map.” (See Fig. 2) ‘This holds true even when the basic shape of the world map is significantly altered, (See Fig. 3) Even on a highly stylized roth century Mughal rendition, the illustrator allocated space to the Buja, While the specific location of their name on the map may luctuate within the prescribed area one thing is certain—over an eight-century corpus of world. ‘maps, their presence is rarely negated. All of this suggests that they were an important component of the medieval Islamic conception of the world and that their place on the world map was never questioned, not even in the seventeenth ‘century Iranian copies, nor the nineteenth century Indian ones.” ‘The question is why? Why would a place so infrequently mentioned in the historiography and, therefore (one would presume) seemingly insignificant historically, receive such a prominent, permanent berth on the Muslim world maps? Why would the Buje receive deliberate attention in deference to other better known locals in Islamic history, such as Ifrigiyya, which surprisingly is. ‘not marked on any medieval Islamic map? Who Were the Buja? ‘The Muslim geographers consistently locate them textually, as well as graphi- cally, somewhere between the Red Sea and the Nile.” Others tell us that the Buja occupied the triangle between Abyssinie, Nubia, and Eaypt2? Some writers present itinerant descriptions. Ibn Hawgal, for instance, instructs the readers to find the Buja thus: Starting from Quizum, in the occidental part ofthe [Red] sea, we touch an arid desert where nothing grows and one meets nothing but the islands ‘mentioned previously. In the middle of the spread of this desert live the Buja, who have tents made of hair. Their skin is much darker than the160. Istanbul, TKS Alrmet I [A] 2830, ft. 5a Figure 2: Close-up of "World Map,” Abyssinians, who resemble the Arabs. They have neither villages, nor cities, nor cultivated fields, and subsist from what is brought from the cies of Abyssinia, Egypi, and Nub André Miquel identifies two arms of Buje tribes. One in a west to east ditee: tion from the coast, along which lay the caravan route from Qus 19 Qift, which lead eventually to the mines of Wadi ‘Allagi and from there on to the port of Aydhab. In this arm he also includes the sraffie from Yemen and the Hijaz. Miquel identifies the other arm as going in a south to north direction ae Rescue "he Bua and Meckoval lame Mappa Mund 161 along the hollow of Baraka: beginning in the platcau of Eritrea, moving towards Aswan and Egypt As the recent map of Buja territories in 2000, shows,® they are still to be found today in approximately the same area that tthe Muslim maps mark them: off the Red sea, south of Egypt, east of Nubia, norih of Ethiopia. (See Fig. 4) Perhaps continuous Buja occupation of the deserts of the western littoral of the Red Sea is why even in the nineteenth century the copyists of the maps «did not question the place’s presence. Can we presume from this that knowl- edge of the Buja was never lost?162 ews fom the Edge: Essays in Honor of Richard W Bult Be The Buja and Mectival mic Mappa Mundt 163 The Bu and Medial slamic Mappa Muna cartographers’ selection we have to turn to their texts and the possible answers ‘contained within. The earliest mention of Muslim-Buja contact occurs in the context ofthe earliest Arab campaigns in southern Egypt, following the disas. trous encounter with the Nubians (31 a.#./651~652 Cx.) in which the pene- tration of the Arab forces was decisively stalled On the rebound from Nubian humiliation, “Abd Allah b, Sa‘d encountered some Buja tribes, but at thet point, it seems, in comparison to the mighty Nubians and their famous fold mines, Sad regarded the Buja as politically insignificant” It was not long before the Muslims discovered that they had a more easily exploitable {teasure trove sitting above the First Cataract of the Nile. At first Buja lands Were invaded to bring the upper Egyptian border under control as well as to exact ‘ribute from the chics* During the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham (ros a.11/724 Ce. and 125 a.tt/743 ct.) Ubayd Allah b, alkHab- hab negotiated one of the earliest treaties with the Buja.® Forays into Buj ter ‘ilory enabled the Muslims to rediscover the ancient mines of gold at Wadi ‘Allagi and emeralds at Qifl.® Precisely when this occurred is not clear and not siven by the sources. What i clear is that by the ninth century a major rush for ‘201d and precious stones was under way in Baja terztory.t In their territory, [Which lies) between Abyssinia, Egypt, and Nubia, there are emerald and gold mines. These mines extend from around Aswan-—at a distance of approximately ten stages in the territory of Egypt—up tothe sea, near a fortress named Aydhab. It is here that the tribe of Rabi‘a are ‘grouped—at a point name ‘Allagi, in the middle of the sands and flat ground, with a few hills scattered hotween this area and Aswan, The products of the mines are directed towards Egypt. They are mines of Pure gold without any silver, which are under the control of the Rabia, Who are the sole proprietors..2 ‘Simultancously (or perhaps preceding). the Buja iribes came to be viewed as a ‘pe soure of slaves, especialy forthe work of mining: What is clear is that by {he carly ninth century the Buja were geting restive, probably de to the impos? ‘ions on their and and people Thereon, at regular intervals, the Buja tribes began to break the teates, revolt atthe mines, and raid southern Feypt-going 28 far as Fustat, It seems that the Arab tribes of southern Arabia, who had come over in droves to take over, manage, and collect revenues on the mines, were the primary catalyst for Buja invitation One sympathetic Muslim observer, for instance, notes that:164 Vier ram the Edge: Essays in Honor of Richard W. Bullet ‘The Buja who live in this desert are not bad people, nor are they robbers. It is the Mustims and others who kidnap their children and take them to the towns of Islam, where they sell them.s© Could the discovery of gold and emerald mines in Buja territory, along with the fact that they were viewed as a good source of slaves, and the frequent ccurrence of their troublesome raids, have secured for them a permanent berth on the Mustim world maps? Perhaps. But there were other places (such ‘as Ghana and Kanem in West Aftica) renowned for their gold mines and Slaves that did not make it onto the Muslim world maps.” And, certainly, troublesome tribes were abundant in the Muslim lands and peripheries. Thus, I still ask: why the Buia? ‘Woy the Buja, when the Muslim scholars writing about them do not seem to have respected them at all? Sa‘id al-Andalusi, for instance, writing in the thirteenth century, does not mince his words: ‘The only peoples that reject these humane institutions and five outside hese rational Iaws [ie. royal decrees and divine Jaws) are a few of the inhabitants of the deserts and the wilderness such as the beggars of Bajah [sic. Bujal, the savages of Ghana, the misers of the Zinj [sic. Zan), and those resembling them.® Four centuries earlier, al-stakhri said something similar when he opened his tweatise on the Roads and Kingdoms of the World (Kitab al-Masalik wa al- ‘Mamalik) by asserting that he will not discuss the Buja and other such uncouth, inreligious people: ‘We have not mentioned the land of the Sudan in the west, nor the Buja, hor the Zanj, nor other peoples with the same characteristics, because the orderly govemment of kingdoms is based upon religious beliefs, ood manners, law and order, and the organization of settled life directed by sound policy (intizam al-mamalik wa al-diyanat wa aadab va hukum wa tagwim al-imarat wa al-siyasa al-mutagima). These people lack all these qualities and have no share in them. Their kingdoms, therefore, do not deserve to be dealt with separately as we have dealt with other king- ddoms, Some of the Sudan, who live nearer to these well known kingdoms, do resort to religious beliefs and practices and law, approaching in this respect the people of these kingdoms. Such is the case with the Nuba and the Habasha, because they are Christians, following the religious tenets EE ne ee Eee The Buja and Medtieval Islamic Mapa Mund 165 ‘of the Rum. Prior to the rise of Islam they were in neighbourly contact with the Byzantine Empire, because the land of the Nube borders on Egypt, and the Habasha live on the Sea of al-Qulzum (Red Sea)? Al-Istakhr even gocs on to mention the mines of Buja territory, yet he conve- niently forgets to mention the Buja. Between the country of the Habasha and the land of Egypt is a desert in which they are gold mines, and the Habasha are linked to Egypt and Syria by way of the Red Sea.®® An odd set of statements, given that barely fifteen pages later in his text, in the section on the Babr Fars (the Persian Gult/ndian Ocean), al-stakhri includes an ‘extensive passage on the Buja, cir mines, their characteristics and way of lif.*! If you go from Qulzum, the western end of this sea [i.c. the Red Sea, extending from it to the empty wasteland there is nothing until you arrive at the desert of the Buja. The Buja are a people of curly hair, ‘much darker than the Habasha [Abyssinians] who are similar to the Arabs. They do not have villages nor cities nor grain except what comes to them from the cities of Abyssinia, Yemen, Egypt and Nubia. ‘Their borders stretch from between Abyssina to Nubia and Egypt, reaching as far as the mines of gold. Going from these mines in the vicinity of Aswan, Egypt, until a fortress on the sea called ‘Aydab, it is approxi- ‘mately 20 marahil:® And the place where the people from these mines gather is called al-'Allaqi, and itis sandy land, flat without mountains, and the money of these mines is sent to the land of Egypt. And they are imines of gold not silver. And the Buja are a nation of idol worshippers ‘and what comprises thi. Then one arrives at the land of the Abyssinians Who are Christian and who are closer in skin colour to the Arabs, [i.c:] between black and white... ‘Ten pages iater, al-Istakhri mentions the Buja again. This time he describes the approach to Buja lands from Aswan instead of the Red Sea. And as for the mines of gold they are fifteen days away from Aswan. ‘The mines are not in the land of Eeypt, rather in the land of the Buja and they extend until ‘Aydhab. And i is said that ‘Aydhab is not of the land of the Buja, but that itis one of the citi of Abyssina. The land of166 ies rm the ge: ssays in Honor of Richard W Bullet 166 ets the dg: Essays in Honor of Richa 4 Bullet the mines is flat without mountains, rather sandy and dusty. And the place in which the people collect is called al-‘Allagi. And the Buja have no villages nor any prosperity nor any richness, rather they are nomads, ‘and they have nobles (among them. It is said that among the nobles there are none more lowly than theirs. Both their slaves and their nobles, and everything else in their land, reach as far as Egypt.>+ ‘The same pattern recurs in Ibn Hawqal’s Kitab Surat al-Ard. He begins his discussion of the Buja employing exactly the same words as al-Istakhri (quoted at the outset of this discussion).*° Then twenty-five pages later, in the section on the Persian Gulf Indian Ocean, Tbn Hawgal inserts one of the most extensive descriptions of the Buja to be found anywhere, comprising seven Jong pages of a detailed discussion of their lands, the tribal divisions, and the uprisings. In a significant departure from the norm, Ibn Hawgal devotes more ‘detail to the Buja, than he does to discussing Abyssinia or the lands of the Zanj, Albeit a more balanced appraisal, his discussion is still peppered with disdainful statements: ‘The Buja are the people of this land. They worship idols and other objects that they consider venerable. ... They are nomads who breed sheep... and their numbers escape all estimates. :.. Inthe incline of Baraka, live the [Buja] tribes known as Bazin and Bariya—people who fight with bows, poisoned arrows, and lances, but without shields. The Bariya are known for extracting their incisors and for clipping their ears. They live in the mountains and the valleys where they tend to live- stock and cultivate the soil. ‘The tenth century Palestinian scholar, Mutahhar b. Tahir alMaqdisi in his Kitab al-Bad? wa al-Ta’rikh (Book of the Creation and the History), echoes a similar sentiment when he deprecatingly notes that the Buja are so uncouth that: there is no marriage among them; the child does not know his father, ‘and they eat people—but God knows best” Is it possible then that itis was not the mines nor the potential for slaves that put the Buja on the Muslim world maps, rather the perception that they were ‘some sort of extreme other? Could the fact that they were perceived as @ group ‘of people with such strange mannerisms and a way of life so contrary to that ‘The Buja and Medieval Mlamic Mappa Mundi 167 which the Muslims know that their extreme alterity captured the Muslim imagi nation and propelled them right onto the world maps? Are they a signifier on the ‘maps of people who don’t have any laws or religion—“pays sans foi ni loi” as André Miquel puts it? Certainly this is what the curious passage in al- ‘Yarqubi's Kitab al-Buldan (Book of Countries) would seem to intimate: ‘The Buja live in tents of hides, pluck their beards, and remove the nip- pees from the breasts of the boys so that their breasts do not resemble the breasts of women (janza’una falaka thadai al-ghilman lalla yush- bi thadaihim thadai al-nisa’). They eat grubs and similar things. They ride camels and fight in combat on them just like they fight on horse- back, and throw javelins without ever missing.” ‘André Miquel concurs with this interpretation but goes on to add a most inter- esting spin of is own: Diun c6ié, des hommes qui mutilent leurs enfants ct suivent un systéme ‘résolument matriarcal, de l'autre un peuple accroché, tant qu'il le peut, ‘au nomadisme et au désert; un peuple qui “suit l'berbe" et transhume de a mer aux vallés intéricures; un peuple, enfin, qui, pas plus que I’ Arabie ne vivrait sans le chameau, véhicule de ia guerre et de la course, sacrifice toujours prét pour I"hote qu'une folle prodigalité se doit d'honorer. ‘The Buj are, fn eer wonds, no just an extreme manifestation of other thy are also a paradoxical manifestation of self Or, rather, one ofthe many “selv that make up the Muslim psyche: the “primordial” “nomadic,” “desert-based” ‘one whence Islam sprang. As Miquel intuitively points out, between the two coasts of the Red Sea one can perceive a kind of latent fraternity, in which Arabia finds reflections of itself. “La description du pays bedja fait voisiner ce qui, pour une mentalité arabo-musulmane, constitue autant de traits aber- rants, avec d'autres ob I’ Arabie se retrouve.”®! Or, as Ibn al-Fagih put it, “A piece of Yemen [on African soil].”*2 But the maps were not produced in southern Arabia by the Rabifa nor the Muar. Rather they are products of the political and intellectual centers of the ‘Muslim world, where the perceived affinities or extreme altrities between the Rabi'a and the Buja would not have had a significant effect on the prevail- ing conception of the world. Thus, I believe we must look farther to find an answer for the Buja presence on the world maps.168 Views rom the Edge: Ezay in Honor of Richard W. Bult Capturing the Imagination In ll of this there is one curious phenomenon: All extensive references to the Buja detailing their strange ways, their mores, their mines, their enslavement, and their raids, occur in treatises from the late ninth century onwards. AL Istakhri wrote in the early tenth century; Ibn Hawgall and al-Magdisi in the late tenth; Sarid al-Andalusi in the mid-thirteenth, The earliest extensive deserip- tion of the Buja comes from al-Ya‘qubi's Kitab al-Buldan, composed in 276 .1/889-890 C.x. The only other major account comes from the late-ninth/ cearly-tenth century historian al-Tabari who reports events involving the Buja in the year 236 a.1/ 850.8: Prior to the mid-ninth century, references to the Buja are extremely rare, if not totally absent. One of these rare examples comes from Ibn Khurdadhbeh’s Kitab al-Masalik composed in 232 a.1/ 846 C6. It is a brief, formulaic phrase referring to the bi-lateral trade agreement (bag) treaty made with the Nubians following the stalemate of 31 4.8 665-2 ¢.5. It only mentions the Buje tangentially: In uppermost Egypt are the Nubians, the Buja, and the Abyssinians ‘and ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan had reached a settlement with the Nubians for four hundred heads per year ‘The fact that there is no detail on the Buja in Muslim sources prior to the mick ninth century, suggests that they captured the imagination of the Muslim geo- _graphers and scholars belatedly. This is surprising since (as I demonstrated in the previous section) active exploitation of the gold mines in Buja territory ‘had begun as carly as the mid-eighth century. Why would it take so long for ‘the Buja to make it into the mainstream of Muslim thought? My theory is that the Buja were not known for their mines in the Muslim ‘centers of power and learning prior to the mid-ninth century. The exploitation of the Buja mines was, at least until the ninth century, @ localized, regional phenomenon not well-known beyond the immediate orbit of contact between the Arab tribes of southern Arabia and upper Egypt. If Lam right in reading initial contact with and knowledge of the Buja as localized phenomenon, then there is no reason why the Buja would make news in the center—where most of the arm-chair scholars and geographers were bbased—until something dramatic happened. It is to the drama that I believe propelled the Buja into the news, the chronicles, the geographies, and the ‘maps that 7 turn now. ‘The Buja and Medieval Ilaic Mappa Mund 169, In the first quarter ofthe ninth century, there were a spate of Buja uprisings and raids into Egypt and other Muslim towns, reaching all the way to Fustat ‘These raids became so scrious and frequent that they eventually came t0 the attention of the center, specifically the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil (t. 23247 Awl! 847-61 C.x.), who was forced 10 step in and take action to redress the situation. Tabari reports that: He fic. al-Mutawakkil] sought advice concerning the circumstances of the Buja. He was informed: They were a nomadic people, tenders of ‘camels and livestock. Getting to their territory was difficult, and it was inaccessible to troops, for it consisted of desert and steppe. It was a ‘month's joumey from the land of Islam to the territory of the Bujah, through wasteland, mountains, and barren country, lacking water, vegeta- tion, refuge, or a fortified position. Any government representative who ‘entered Bujah tertitory would have to be supplied with provisions for his ‘entre stay until he returned to the land of Islam. Ifthe extent of his stay was greater than estimated, he and all his comrades would perish, And the Bujah would simply overcome them without hostilities. Their land did not remit to the central government land tax or any other tax Is the series of events related (o official caliphal intervention in East A‘rica along with a dramatic visit by the Buja chief to Samarra that, I believe, cata pulted the obscure Buja into the imagination of the Muslim minds atthe center. ‘The events triggered a flash of acknowledgement that left an indelible samp in the form of dramatic narratives, fantastic descriptions and, ultimately, a nomi ‘ation on the world maps. Both the geographer Ibn Havqal and the historian Tabari, describe, with ‘mostly minor, but some major variations, the same series of dramatic events: ‘The start of the Buja uprisings and raids, the Muslim response, and the trip of| the Buja chief, ‘Ali Baba, to the ‘Abbasid capital, Samarra, (o meet with the caliph. The major difference between the two accounts is that Tabari pre- sents a terse view from the center of caliphal power, whereas Ibn Hawgal pro- vides an extremely detailed, localized account of the Buja uprisings, specific reasons for each one of them, and the various Muslim attempts to suppress ‘them, Tabari, for instance, only says that: “From the time of al-Mutawakkil’s reign the Buja refrained from delivering {their] tax for several consecutive years” and that the head of the Postal and Intelligence Service, Ya‘qub b. Ibrahim al-Badhghisi, wrote to the caliph to tell him that the Buje had broken the treaty between them and the Muslims and that:170 Views trom the Edge: Essays in Honor of Richard W. Bullet UO Views rom the Ele: says in Honor of Richard W Bult ‘They [i.e the Buja] advanced from their territory to the mines of gold and precious stones that were on the border between Egypt and the ter- ritory of the Buja. The Buja killed a number of Muslims employed in the mines for mining the gold and precious stones, and took caplive @ nnumnber of the Muslim children and women. The Buja claimed thet the ‘mines belonged to them and were in their territory, and that they would not permit the Muslims to enter them.” Ton Hawqal, on the other hand, provides an elaborate account of the stories behind the eariy uprisings. It seems the trouble began when in 204 A.J 819 x, a group of Buja abandoned the Muslim chiof of Qift, Ibrahim Qift, and Some of his companions, on their way to pilgrimage, in the desert, leaving them to dic of thirst, Ibn Havigal suggests that the rationale for this was because some of the Buja feared that Qifi knew their lands too well: “We dcf- initely must put to death this Muslim who knows our country so well, our ‘camping spots, our watering holes. We cannot trust himn.””” Word of the delib- erate abandonment of Qifti and his followers got back to the other Arabs in Gift and when the Buja chief, Muha, made a trip to town to buy supplies, with thirty notables, the locals enticed them down to one of the churches and mas- sacred the party. The situation kept escalating. According to Thn Hawqal, in 204 AL/ 819 C=, the Buja tribes retaliated by marching on the city of Qift, ‘aking seven hundred prisoners, and massacring many, which, in turn, forced the remaining inhabitants to flee to Fustat. There the petitioners had to wait seven years before their pleas were beard because the local officials were t00 ‘busy with other matters. Inthe end, their cause was taken up by a wealthy pri vate citizen, Hakam Nabighi of the Qais tribe, who in 212 Ast 827 CE. exc ‘cuted raids on Buja territory, taking prisoners. He succeeded in freeing the city of Gift from the Buja stranglehold. None of this quieted the Buja for long. ‘Twenty years later in 232 4.1./ 847 C-., the Buja attacked and occupied Onbu, «city in Upper Egypt.” This would have coincided with the Abbasid caliph al- ‘Mutawakikil’s ascension to power and itis possible that that is when he was first informed about the troublesome Buja. Tabari does not specify. All he ‘notes is that al-Mutawakkil—who was involved in a power struggle with local Turkish leaders at home**—did not respond immediately, hoping that Somchow the troubles with the Buja would die down. At this point, Ibn Hawgal presents a variation. He says that the influx of the Rabia and Mudar tribes to the area had increased dramatically following the invasion of Muhammad b, ‘Yasuf Okhaidir Hasani into Yemen, resulting in the mass emigration of local inhabitants to Egypt and Buja tetttory. This inevitably brought more clashes { ‘The Buja and Medieval ilumic Mapps Mundi 7 between the southem Arabian wibes and the Buja resulting in a series of fle ups. Ibn Hawgal says that one flare-up resulted in some Buja insulting the Prophet and that when this reached the ears of al-Mutawakkit, he Finally reacted: A brawl flared up between one of their men and one of the Buja, during Which the Buja insulted the Prophet (Peace be Upon Him). ALMutawakkil ‘was informed and he sent to the site a descendent of Abu Musa Ash‘ari, called Muhamunad Qummi, who was then jailed for homicide. The caliph provided hitn {Qummi} with the men and arms that he asked for and promised him his freedom.” According to Tabar, al-Mutawakkil refrained from responding at first, but as the situation worsened, and Buja attacks against the Muslims intensified “to the point that the inhabitants of Upper Egypt feared for their lives and for their children,” he appointed Muhammad b. ‘Abdallah —known as al-Qummi (ho Ibn Havgal claims was in prison for a homicide)—to take care of the troublesome Buja.”* From this point onwards, both texts begin to dovetail, Both concur on ‘Qummi'’s successful rout of the Buja and provide parallel accounts of the con- frontation. Apparently Qumuni was seriously outnumbered by the Buja and running short of supplies by the time he reached the heart of Buja teritory. He had collected about three thousand men, while the Buja were two hundred thousand men strong with eighty thousand dromedary.%S When the two armies first met, the Muslims panicked. Qummi urged them to stay and fight for their hhonor: “There is no escape, Fight for your life and honor and you will be vie torious.""* Then under the cover of night, Qummi, undaunted by being out- ‘numbered, devised a plan to thwart the Buja.” According to Ibn Hawqal, he surrounded his camp with a network of horses and drums and prepared a series of cloth banners wit gilded writing, which he fixed to the top of some of the spears. At day break he proclaimed: “Behold! Soldiers of the Buja, here are missives for you from the Emir of the believers.""* The banners distracted the Buja who had formed in groups for battle. Curious, some of them broke ranks to take @ closer look atthe banners, When this happened, Qumni ordered the camels upon which his banner-men were sitting to rise and indicated that the drums be sounded. Suddenly the Buja found themselves in the middle of a sea of banners with drums pounding, This caused a pandemonium and scat- tered the Buja forces in disonder. Qummi capitalized on this and routed the Buje army decisively, Many of them were massacred, Others, including the Buja chief, ‘Ali Baba, were taken prisoner”172 Views ftom the Edge: Essays in Honor of Richard W. Bult ‘Tabati provides a similar yet varying account. He indicates that at first the Boj chict was just harassing Qumami’s army, exhausting them, waiting for their supplies to ron out. ‘Ali Baba only launched an all out attack when he bbeard that a ship of fresh supplies had arrived from Baghdad. Like Tbn Hawaal, ‘Tabati also notes the use of noise to cause confusion among the Buja ranks during the battle, but he refers to the use of bells not drums and banners: Seeing this lic. the arrival of the ships with supplies), ‘Ali Baba, the Bujah chief, went on to do bate with the Muslims, rallying troops against them. The two sides clashed and fought violently. The camels ‘upon which the Bujah fought were unscasoned and tended to be fright- ‘ened and alarmed by everything. Noticing this, al-Qummi rounded up all the camel and horse bell: camp. He then attacked the Buj stampeded their camels with the clanging of bells. Their alarm was con. siderable. It drove them over mountains and valleys, totally splintering the Bujah forces. Al-Quinmi and his mea pursued and seized ther, ‘dead or alive, until night overtook him. This took place atthe beginning of 241 (855-58), Al-Qummi then returned to his camp and could not ‘count the dead they were so many:®” Both accounts do concur that the Buja were routed and that ‘Ali Baba was taken prisoner, forced to pay the overdue tax, and dragged off to Iraq for an ‘audience with the Caliph al-Mutawakkil. 1 is to Tabati’s dramatic account of this visit and its long-term effects on the imagination of the people (scholars, chroniclers, ete.) located close to the center of power that Iturn now. ‘Ali Baba appointed his son Lis as deputy over his kingdom. Al- Qummmi departed with ‘Ali Baba for the gate of arrived there atthe end of 24x (855-56). He attired this ‘Ali Baba with a silk brocade-lined robe and a black turban covering his camel with a brocade saddle and brocade horse cloths. At the Public Gate, along with 4 group of the Bujah, were stationed about seventy pages, upon saddled ‘cunels, carrying their lances, on whose tips were the heads of their war- iors who had been killed by al-Qummi. .. . Some(one) of [the respon- dents] reported seeing ‘Ali Baba with a stone idol in the shape of @ ‘young boy to which he prostrated himself ‘Stepping back from the texts, for a moment, to imagine the cities of Iraq, espe- cially Basra, Kufa, Baghdad, and Samarra, the new Abbasid capital, of the ‘mid-ninth century, through which ‘Ali Baba and his retinue likely marched, | | | ‘The Buja and Medieval Blamic Mappa Mund 173 ‘Imagine the throngs of people in the markets and the streets all rather conser Vatively dressed. Then imagine in the middle of this the sudden appearance of « bizarre procession wending its way from the port of Basra, perhaps through ‘Baghdad, towards Samarra, and eventually the central 2one of the palace with the Buja chief, ‘Ali Baba, elaborately dressed in brocade robes and finery fol Jowed by his retinue of Buja tribesmen with next to nothing on and, if we are to lake al-Ya‘qubi’s description at face value, with their nipples cut out, followed. by seventy of Qummi’s men with the severed heads of Buja victims at the end of their spears. Can one not imagine what a dramatic impact this apparition ust have had on the psyche of the people milling around, watching in won- der, no doubt, mouths agape. All this amidst the flurry of stories that must have begun to float around thanks to Qummi's soldiers about the amazing 0ld and emerald mines to be found in their lands, as well as details about their habits and living conditions. The Buja must have captivated attention and been the subject of many a lively discussion, long after they had come and gone. Or, perhaps, as thn Havgal suggests, they never really left, His ren- dition of the same story, places the dato of the visit of the Buja king 10 the Abbasid capital at a slightly earlier date (238 A.11/852 Cus.) and incorporates aan intriguing caveat. According to Ibn Hawaal, it was not only the chief of the Buja who was dragged off to Samarra but the Nubian king as well? where they were chastised and humiliated for their unruly behavior by being sold as slaves for paltry sums.* ‘Then, as a result of this imprudence, they [the Buja all perished—trode on by their camels, For them it was death or captivity. Ali Baba was taken prisoner: placed on a hill, after he swore not to move from there untess the hill disintegrated. After his capture, Qummi took him (Ali Baba and his booty to Aswan. There he sold everything for fifty thou- ‘sand ounces of gold. [Next] he sent an ultimatum to Yarki, the king of Nubia, who came to submit himself. He (Qummi] took all his men to Baghdad in the year 238 and presented the two princes to the caliph, ‘There they were put up for auction, The king of the Buja was sold for seven dinars and the king of Nubia for nine. They imposed on each one of them as punishment a daily labor equivalent to the sum oftheir sae, ‘Quinmi retumned to Aswan after having secured their agreement on this points If Tin Hawgal’s version of the outcome is not hyperbole, and the Buja chief and his followers stayed on in Trag as slaves, then the center would have had174. Views tam the Edge: Essays in Honor of Richard W Buliee the Buja in view for much longer than just the period of the procession, We ‘may also have an explanation for why the Buja revolted again so soon after Qummi’s departare as well as a significant fictional connection botveen the Bula chi and one of the most famous characters in xe One Thousand and One ‘Night: Poverty stricken ‘Ali Baba, the famous deceiver ofthe forty thieves ‘The later is pure speculation and would require further investigation of the ‘elationship between the (wo ‘Ali Baba’s—teal and fictonal-—to determine if incre is indeed @ connection between the two characters If T am right to {fake this connection, then we would have a powerful cxample ofthe effect that the Buja had on the medieval Islamic imagination such that. via ‘Alt Baba, they also found a permanent berth inthe fiction of the period. Be thie {he case or ot, what we can conclude from the visit tothe ‘Abbasid center of Power, was that it catapulted the Buja into the imagination of the populace and the scholars producing the geographies and, eventually, right smack onto the mappa mundi, icosheting in a Hosserlian way, the story speaks volumes ofthe fong- tenn elfects of extraordinary people and events on the imagination, such tha srgnions and reproductions proliferate inthe cultural products. Pariularly Stcking i the way in which accounts of the same event vary within the span Fr, century: from Tabac, writing inthe lat nally erly tenth century to Ton "Hawaal writing inthe late tenth, fn the late ninth century the Buja vere being zea Ieading up tothe visit to the “Abbasid capital, We also get a sense thet these were not just “wild people” out there somewhere, rather that they were closely linked to the Arabian mainland through the cbb and flow of imme Seals, The Way in which the details of the story of Qummi’s battle vary pre~ fonts another way in which retentions meoxph from the origin, influenced by reproductions from the present “sow” moment. In Tabat’s account Quand used bells (0 scare the unseasoned earmels of the Buj, whereas Ibn Hawgal ‘ports that elaborate embroidered benners and drums were employed to achieve the same effect. Why would bells change to embroidered banners and «drums over the span of a century of narration? Similarly, the maps and the way in which the nomination of the Buja vies on them can be viewed through Hussertian les, Fhctuaions in spatial allo: ations are the product of time warps and resonances (tetetions and repro, vetions) that can be viewed and understood through a spatio-temporal lens On the surface the medieval Islamic world map matrix appears tobe frozen in The Buja and Medieval lami Mappa Mundt 175 ‘ime, but close examination ofthe mutations of one site, reveal that history in fact resonates here, Conclusion Nommer reléve d'un véritable “exorcisme,” qui introduit la mémoire, le savoir, un repére stable, lot de sécurité dans Mocéan de V'indiférencié car innommé. La nomination est un mode d"appropriation symbolique ui donne une mémoire aux teres vierges, un quadrillage qui déposstde espace de son altérité et en fait un objet de discours, assujetli aux con- traintes de la référence linguistique, qui veut qu’a chaque lieu identifié corresponde un nom” ‘The act of “naming,” of cordoning off and assigning space, is, as Christian Jacob aptly puts it, an essential act of exorcising the ghost of the unknown, of ‘making vitgin lands conquerable, by providing a memory and a link in the iniddle of an ocean of unknown territory. Nowhere is this more appropriate than in the case of Aftica, which fooms large and menacing on the Islamic horizon. More often than not the large empty space of the most southerly regions stands in stark contrast to the sparse scattering of identified placcs. Within this sea of the unknown, indeed upon its periphery, the Buja reign ‘supreme—not only as manifestations of that “strange” other world out there in the wild yonder, but also, paradoxically, as a manifestation of self. For, if nothing else, the Buja are in eastern Aftica, at the height of the medicval Period, one of the final frontiers of Islam: a strange and quixotic ‘where pagan rituals mix with Istamie practices. It is here and notin Egypt that the true mixing of boundaries between Islam, Christianity, and paganism is to be found battling it out on the periphery of the unknown. As we know, Islam entually wins out. Conversion accelerates and moves through the region past Nubia and down to the Hor of Africa, But the stepping stone for East Africa ‘was the Buja lands and we need to re-remember this inthe history books, The examination of the Buja site on the Islamic world maps reveals the suprising Conclusion that what finds its way onto a map is not only the politi cally significant. Nor is it only about exorcising the ghost of empty, unknown space. Itis also very much about what captures the imagination. ‘What is involved, therefore, is a production—the production of a space, Not metely a space of ideas, an ideal space, but a social and a mental176 Views fromthe Edge ssays in Honor af Richarl W. Buliee space. An emergence, A decrypting of the space thet went before. Thought 4nd philosophy came to the surface, rose from the depths, but life was ecrypled as a result, and society as a whole, along with space, If one were of a mind to distinguish, after the fashion of textual analysis, between a ‘Senotype and a phenotype of space, it would be from this ‘emergence’ that ‘he genospatial” would have to be derived.®* ‘The “constraints” of space thus turn paradoxically into “production;” a pro- duction of space that is, on the one hand, self and, on the other hand, other, In between, the “real” and the “abstract,” the “thoroughly historical” and the “imaginary,” the “empirical” and the “absurd” dance confusingly in front of cour eyes. Endnotes 1. This article is dedicated to the greatest advisor inthe world with much apprecia tion for his many years of perseverance and patient training. Would that every grad ste stdent could be blessed with an aisor lke ours, This article is an excerpt from, ‘uy doctoral dissertation, “Ways of Sesing.3: Scenarios of the World ia the Medieval Islamic Cartographic Imagination,” Columbia Universiy, 2001. 1 would like to thank Richard Bullet, Cornell Feischer, Mokhtar Ghambos, Matthew Gordon, Andrew Gow, Jean-Marc Oppenheim, Adele B. Pinto, Dwight Reynolds, and Houra and Neguin Yavar for their expertise and assistance, Original work on the doctoral dissertation was made Possible by generous grants fom Columbia Univesity, the Social Seience Research Council, the Giles Whiting Foundation, and the Friends of J.B. Hatley. 1 would also like to acknowledge the on-going postdoctoral support from the Social Scienee and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Dept. of History and Classics atthe University of Alberta, Edmonton, 2. J.B, Harley, ‘Deconstructing the Map,” in Writing Worlds: Discourse, Tett and Metaphor in the Representation of Landscape, ‘Trevor Barnes and James §, Duncan, ds. (London: Routledge, 1992), p. 238, 3: Even the use ofan ethnonym ss opposed tothe customary toponym is unusual for medieval Islamie maps. 4. E, Husserl, The Phenomenology of internal Time Consciousness, (Bloomington Midland Books, 1966), cited in Alfred Gel, The Anuhyopology of Time, (Oxford: Berg, 1996), pp. 223-5 ‘5. Globes, of course, present a paradex for mapping. They appear to be three dimensional and yet they (oo fll ato the constraints of two-dimensional space. They ‘6 not fat but they are constrained by surface xea. In order to avoid this elena ono would have to create a 12 map of the world—Le. aa exact replica of the world, in ‘The Buja and Medieval Ilac Mappa Mundi Wz shape 8 wlan. Ad weedy know fom Borges aout te fat of hte Iii, mene sys int nove" ect cence’ nat Epi thecal of Caney atin sch eto th the Map of Single ne covered the apse of a ene Gig, and te Map of te Emp taf an ene Province. nth coe Tine, ae Een mie vee fun! sonctow Weng andvo te College of Cogs evolved Map ofthe Ei aso etme Scala he Enea tt coined with pon fo on. Less ate oe Sty of Cao, seeding Generaons eae tog 1 map of sch Meg te cumbsroms ad, nt wt Insvs hy sudo he igus of tun and Ran In be west Dest, ated agen of he Map lobe fond Shlesing a ceo Het r Regain ele Non we oe ec lef he Dipti ofGspapy” ug La Beg A wiverl sory of any Eaplah as NT Glovanal amondswons Penguin Bass 999 0.13 6. Nk Monrose How to Le wk Maps, (Chicago: avert o Chixgo Pre 55140 ". hat om, . AGW.IT isl pus iin Spatial For in Lire" The Langage of Inages ok Mites: Te Une of Chip rs 98), 24 "Tet is tar pl form se peep! fron ine ate ely cna “tlie” without te eaton yc. A cur tpord Inge contd wih spt igen we speak of ong” and "otis, of “ine” Ger, pce bee’, fe" a aera init metaphors wih ded on mi pce of ine ar actin" 9. or pot of hs pint ee Denis Wood, The over o Map, (New York Te Cade, 1952) 0. 1, 10, “Repedoton sng atonsslays ofp expsins oven cared ot fom the sandoit ofa membered or fansed recone “how I the pas “Reteon” eng the pepe vew of pst tase of experince rom eva Lge of he now monet which sli ora elon. is pps "1, Adicuion (Seplomber, 200) on teenie history of aarp cs sion soup mp rede tha nomena he pron ond fhe iy ofa tography vl ova, Men srl to i wo names ad even those women cnt inked te ral contactor of brown map Th st of my knowledge, worn ae mane sete contr in sae seogepc "Hom Hsin sus th wor! is an Anis eiton of th Bater a loin repo called TB oor ne Be is ite dierent tr thon n Eas a ha este! ons etter ‘Wha he elon bees he ro ental names til not ar Sex He Haim, The Bpire othe Ma The ise of he Find, English ns. Michael Donn 1 Bil, 990.99 "3 lbeneng Ts and cae lpia178 Views fom the Edge: Essays in Honor of Richard W. Bullet 14, The Hill and Sulaym odes ae ignomisiously credited with devastating and “bedotinizng” vas areas of Cental North Africa frm the mid-leventh certury onwards 15, Gerald Badress, An hnroduction to slam, (New York: Columbia Univesity Press, 1988), for instance, mentions neither West nor East Aftica, 16, Takcur was important for its export of gold and slaves to North Aftca, as well forts commitment to Islamic Jad, 7, Timbuktu (located in present day Mali) was an important center throughout the late medieval and ealy modem period for Must scholarship and learning 18, lea M, Lapidus, A History of lstamic Societies, (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni- versity Pres, 1988), p. 524 19. Abyssinia clearly captured and dominated the Muslim imagination asthe wltic ‘nate frontier of Africa, Nobody knew what lay beyond the lands of Abyssinia, Hence itis often cited as extending all the way to the Encircing Occan in the west and, some. times, even as far as the Maghrib. For more del on the mythical extension of the "ysttious and impenetrable Abyssinia in the Musi imagination, se, André Miguel, La séographie humaine du monde musudman jusqu'an milieu du 110 sdcte, (Pais Mouton & Co., 1967-1988), Val. 2, pp. 132-3. 20, The Zanj rebelled in 868-83 C. E in dhe swamps south of Basra, The black Slaves setup their own enclave, which lasted for twenty years unit the Abbasids were Sinally able to suppress the rebels, 21, Lapidus, op. cit, pp. 524-40. 22. Ibid, p. 524, 23, Bemard Lewis, Race and Slavery in the Middle East, (Oxford: Oxford Univer sity Press, 1990), p. 48, p. 525 Bemard Lewis, Race and Color in Islam, (Now York Harper and Row, Publishers, 1970, 1971). As far as I cat tell the texts ofthese twos books are vitally identical! 24. But even this is limited vo Lule more than a page. Sec, Jay Spasiing, “Precolo- ‘lal Islam in the Bastern Sudan," The History of Islam in Africa, eds. Nebomia Levitrion ‘nt Randall. Pouwels, (Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Pres, 2000), pp. 11-18, 25. Mervyn Hishet, The Course of Islam in Africa, (Edinburgh: Edinburg Uni- versity Press, 1994), p. 67 26. Yosuf Fadl Hasan, “The Penetration of Islam in the Eastee Sudan," in Fstam iy Tropical Afric, ed. lM. Lewis, (Bloonsington: Indiana Univesity Press, 1966, 1980), pp. 112-2, 27. On the Persian maps these deserts are referred to as “Biyaban.” Some maps abbreviate the entry o just “al-Mafaza” or “Biyaban.” 28, Some al-Idrisi maps contain three markings See. Konrad Miller, Mappae Ara bicae, Vol. 3, Part 2, (Stutigar: Setbstvetlag des Herausgebers, 1926-27), Section V. 29, For fll version of this map please refer to Keren Pint, “Ways of Seng. 3” ‘op. cit, Chapter 1; The Buyja and Medieval slic Mappa Mundi 179 30. In Fig. 3 the area is named in Persian “Zamin Biyaban-e Buja” (Lend of the Buja Desen). 31. See, for instance, Abel Fida, Zagvim al-Buldan, French trans. and edition J. Reinaed and Baron MacGluckin de Slane, Géographie d'Aboulféda, (Pati, 1840), Vol.2,p.157 32, See, for instance, aMas‘udi, Tanbih, Kitab al-Tanbih (Le Livre de Vaver. tissement et de la revision), French tans. B. Cara de Vaux, (Paris: A Vprimerie Nationale, 1896), Vol. 1, p. 226; bn al-Wanti, Kharidatal-ja'b, Arabic ed, (Caio: np, 1863), p. 6s. 38 In Hawqal, Kitab Surat al-Ard, (Configuration de la Terre), French tans. by J. H. Kramers and G. Wie, (Beirut: Commision Intemationale pour la Traduction des Chefs-d"Oouvee, 1984), p. 48. 54. Miquel, op. cit, Vol. 2 . 163, 35. Today there are about 2,000,000 Buyja spread out between Eeypt, Sudan, and rites, ‘The map is taken from a contemporary evangelist web site, “The Beja Project” of ‘ke Onkland Baptist Church (Virginia), who are on an uxgeat mission to convert the tsibes! The Joshua Project 2000 reports a similar “2000 Jesus Mission” in the region 36. Although Hasan suggests that Muslim contacts date from even earlier, He ‘mentions tha the frst Caliph Abu Bakr (632-g Cz) banished a group of Arabs tothe :egion of Aychab in Buja county. Unfortunately Hasan does not cite a soutee for this. See, Hasan, op. cit, p. 116. 37. P.M, Holt, “Bedja.” Encyclopedia of Islam, ana Faition (EI2), p. 1157. Ton Hawal presents a different version of this event, noting that ‘Abdallah went on com the Nubian defeat to conquer the city of Aswan in the year 31 A652 cx. In the process of this conquest, Ibn Hawa ells us Uat Abdallah also “subdued the Buja and ‘other Jord.” Ibn Hawgal also gives the name of the commander of Arab forees as ‘Abdallah b. Abi Sanh. See, Iba Hawg, Kitab Surat AL-Ad, (Opus geographicum.) ed, Michal Jan de Goeje. BGA, Vol 2. (Leiden: EJ. Brill, 1873: eeditedJ.H, Kramers, 1938: reprinted 1967), p. 48. 38. Tn Hawgal’s version is quite different. Instead of exacting tribute, he says that the Buja were actively converted to. Islam by force and outwardly adopted certain obligations. However, this would not have permitted the Rabia tribes to subjugate the Bj and use them as slaves in the mines, because conversion to Islam would have ‘automatically meant that they could not be enslaved. So, peebaps Ton Haga was con- flating a later phenomenon present during his time with the earlier Muslim forays in the region, Ibn Hawaal, op. cit, p48. 39. Holt, opel, p. 1157. 40. ‘The mines in the Buja deserts are mentioned by most ofthe geographers: See, for instance, al-Istakhsi, Kitab al-Masalik wa al-Mamalit (Viae renonam description ditionismoslemicae.) ed. Michael Jan de Goeje. BGA, Vol. 1. (Leiden: E, J. Brill, 1870;180 Views from the Edge says in Honor of Richard W.Butict reprinted! 1927, 1967; ed, Muhammad Jabir ‘Abd al“Al al-ini, Arabic ed. Cairo Nazarat al-Thagafa, 1961), pp. 31-335 al-Masudi, Muryj al-Dahab, (Les prairies Zon), French trans. and ed. C. Barbier de Meynard and J. Pavet Courelle Pars: 8 "Imprimerie mpétiale, 2861-77), p. 331, p34 p. 396; bn Haw, op. ct, Vo. p. 48-9: and Ibn al- Ward, op. cit, p. 65. 45. See fr instance, d-Yatqubi's, Kitab al-Buldan. ed. Michael Jan de Goxje, Bibliotheca seographorum arabicorun, Vol. 7, (Leiden: 8.1. Brill, 18a; reprint, 1267p. 336-7 discussion of active rade inthe region, Key for peng seth century ue 10 full blowa mine expotaton activity i the occurrence ofthe Bujaupssngs, ‘hich begin around the first quarter of the oth century. From this one would have re Presume thatthe penetration and take over of the mines in Bujatenitory by the Rabie tibes from the Arsbian mainland, must have begun sometime in the late eighth century even though exact dates of the incursion are not mentioned in the {exs.S. Hilleson and C. E. Bosworth, in their join work on the second part of the entry on "Nubia" in Ea p. go, say that bythe roth century the Raita had gained control ofthe mines at alAllagi and had imposed ther rule on the Buja with whom they had allied themselves through marriage. Hasan acts that proof for extensive Muslim contact ties in the fact that two Arabic treaties were translated in this lan, ‘guage, Bujawi. See, Hasaa, op, cit, p. 117, 42, Ibn Hawqal, op. cit, p 48 43. Spaulding, op cit, p. 118; Mique, op. cit, Vol. 2 pp. 163-4. The geographers Cited above in footnote a sso mention the use of Bua slaves for mining 44+ See, for example, ton Hawaal op. cit, . 48; Also, Miquel, op. cit, Vol. 2, p i6r-2. 45. The Buja raids and uprisings and refusal to comply with the requirements for {sbute imposed upon them are cited in numerous sources. See, fr instance, Arkell, Mistory ofthe Suan: From the Earliest Tes 1 1821, (London: Athlone Pres, 1968), 188; Spaulding, op ct, p. 118; Hol op. cit, p. 1158; and Miguel, op. ct, Vo. 2,» 163; as well as Ibn Hawa, op. cit, pp. 48-53, 46. Spaulding, op. ci, p. 118. Spaulding doesnot cite his source. He just notes ‘hat the comment was made by en Iranian inthe eleventh century. 47. There is one notable exception to this; Ghane, Kanem, Kuga, Awdaghost, and a Whole host of unidentitiable tritories in western Affica ace marked on the earieet ‘xtant word map of 479 A,./1086 cE. However, i isthe al-lstakhri mode! without the detail in west Altice that predominates in the later copies, while the desis ofthe Zoe Hawa! map is al but forgoten withthe exception of one Mamluk manuscript of an a-Istakri manuscript and sora confused elements that crep into the so-called Ton al Want maps. Sijilmasa, however, is never located on the world maps; it does, how: vet figure in the regional maps of the Maghrib, The Maghrib maps only shew the cost of Nox Aftica and Muslim Spin. They cut off sort ofthe Bu tery The ‘old mines of Nubia, onthe other hand, are never indicted on any map. he Buja end Medieval Islamic Mappa Monch 181 448, Satd al-Andalus, Science in the Medieval World: “Book of the Categories off Nations.” English trans, and ed. by Sema’an I. Salem and Alok Kumar, (Austin: Uni versity of Texas Press, 1991), p. 8. Bernard Lewis presents an altemate and much more severe reading ofthis passage: “The only people who diverge from this human order ‘and depart from this rational association are some duellers in the steppes snd inal. tants ofthe deserts and wildemess, such asthe rabble of Bujja, the savages of Ghana, the seum of Zanj and ther like” See, Bernard Lewis, Race an Slavery inthe Middle Bast, op. cit, pa. 49. Ablstakhr, op. cit, p. 16. Translation based on the rendition in Corpus of early Arabic sources for Wes rican history. English tan. by N. Levzion and J. FP Hopkins, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981), p40. ‘0. Thi. 51. Ablstakhri op. cit, pp. 31-2, Translation my own, Thn Hawgat begins his deseription ofthe Buje similarly, See eater citation, 52. A measurement of distance. 53: Aldstakhri, op. it, pp. 31-2. 54, Ibid, p. 42.1 thank Richard Bullet for his assistance with the last sentence of this translation and the confusing use of “najab” and “asi 155. An example of how the geographers often copied verbatim from each other 56. Tha Hawgal, op. et, pp. 48-53. 57. AbMegdisi, Kitab al-Bad* wa al-Tarrith, Freneh trans. and od. by C. Hoar (Paris, 1899-1918), Vol. 4, pp. 69-70. This passage is cited by both Mique, op. cit, Vol, 2, p. 161; and Lewis, op. cit, p. 52. 38. Miguel, op. cit, p. 161 : 59. AL-Yerqubi, op. cit, p. 336. Translation courtesy of Paul Cobb who is preparing ‘an English transntion of al-Yaiqub’s geography. Thanks also to Matthew Gocdon for bringing Paul Cobb's on-going work on this text to my aitention. The big question here | what exactly docs “falak” mean’? Nosmaly it has a tense of “round” asin “as round a celestial sphere,” which is also called fala I is also wsed to deseribe the ideal Female breasts, round like orbs, But no Arabic dictionary records a meaning of “nipple.” ‘Yet it is the only meaning that seems to fi in the context, since the removal of the “roundness” ofthe mate breast makes no sense. I this reading is accurate its likely the first recorded mention of the removal of male aipples! Presenily, the Buje axe not ‘known for this practice but, it sem, some Buja tribes in modem Sudan, ae sill knowa. for removing thie front teeth o that they do not resemble asses. Ancient Greek writers ‘sed to refer to them as the Colobi, meaning the “Mutilated People,” because the ‘women practiced nfibulstion andthe men had the habit of removing thie right testicle. 60, Miqucl,op. cit, Vo. 2, p. 164 61. Thi. 62. Ton al-Fogihal-Hamadani, Kitab al-Buldan, Arabic ed. MJ. de Goeje, (Lees: E.1. Brill, 1906), p. 252182 Views fram the Edge: Essays in Honor of Richard W. Bult 12s fam the Edge: says in Honor of Richard W. Bult. 63. AbTabar, Zrith al-rusul wa al-muluk, The History of al-Tabari Tavs. series Say Bisa Yar-Shater, (Albany: State University of New York Press, ongoing), Vol. XX, Incipient Decline, English ras. and anetaion by Joel. Kraemer, p12 4. ‘The phrase also occurs in precisely this formula in other texts, See for tstance, bn al-Faqih al-Hamadani, op cit, p. 76 6. Some versions of this manuscript say in the “uppermost Nile area of Egypt." (65. The text does not specity “heads” of what Cale, sheep, camels, or meg? 67. Al-Tebar, Zevith al-nasul wa al-muluh, The History ofal-Tabar, op. cit, Vo XXXIV, p. 142, 68. Although the sources don't specify one must presume that it is Samana because this is where the caliph Al-Mutawakkil was based 69, Tabari, op. cit, pp. 141-42. 770. Ton Hawaal, op. ct, p. 49, 7H These storis are discussed at length by Iba Hawgal op. et, pp. 49-52. (72, For more detail on al-Mutawakkil and his eoubles withthe Turks, se, Matthew §GomtnThe Breaking of A Thousand Swords: A History of the Turkish Miltary of ‘Samarra (AL, 200-27385~889 C.E.), (Albany State University of New York Press, 2001), 73, Tn Hawgal op cit, p. $1. 74, Tabati op cit, p. 142. 75. ‘The absorly arge numbers cited by Ton Hawa reftect the Fantasy that he was Projecting onto this event. See, Iba Hawgal op. cit, p. $2, 76. thn Hawqai, op. ct, p. 1. 77. Both Tabari and tba Hawgel epost this, except their descriptions of the plan vary, 78. Tn Hawgal, op. cit p. 51 79. Thi, pp. 51-2. 80. Al-Tabari, op. cit, p. 144. Br. Ibid 82, The latter certainly does seem 1 be a bit of hyperbote. 83. In Taber's version of the story, after the audience With the caliph “Ali Baba accompanied by l-Qumumi, returned to Bast Africa Ton Hawgol mentions the return of ‘21-Qummi tothe egion but not ‘Ali Baba, 84. thn Hawgal, Configuration de a Tere, op. ct, p52 Ss. There is a great dal of disputc over the authenticity of Alf Layla wa Layla {1001 Nighish Only the frst 271 lesser known stories aro confirmed by extant fragments, ‘The Temainder are considered later innovations possibly by the original French trans, Jo Anoine Galland (4640-1715). He played such an important pat in composing and popularizing the tales that some call him the “real author" Noe only di Galan freely embelsh his tanslaon, ope ofthe four Arabic manscipts he wai 0 longer extont adits theorized that be may have employed a second set of manuscripts tats no longer extsnt. Many ercite Orientals have worked to identify the “te” Nis The Buja and Mecovalletamic Mappa Mund 183 including Duncan Black Macdonald and, more recently, Muhsin Mahdi. It is Mahdi ‘who proposed in his new edition that only the frst 271 ales can be considered authen- tic based ona thirteenth century Syrian manuscript. Robert Irvin, however, disagrees, He suggests that, “the Nights are really more like the New Testarsent, where one can ‘ot assume a single manuscript source, nor can one posit an original fixed cannon Stories may have been added and dropped in each generation. Mahd's siemma suge ‘ests that there were very few thirtsenth-cemtury manuscripts of the Nights; for in the nd, the stemma narrows down to one single manuscript source. The references inthe Geaiza and in al-Magriz’s topography of Cairo suggest, however, that the work was ite well known inthe eleventh and weft centuries. sit conceivable, the, that only ‘one thistcenth-century manuscript served asthe basis ofall subsequent copies?” Robert Irwin, The Arabian Nights: A Companion, (London: Penguin Press, 1094), pp. 59-60, For in-depth details on he inesolvable dispute, see idem. pp. 1-62 85. Why is the chief ofthe Buja named Ali Baba’ It sounds lke en unlikely name fora pagan African chief, 87. Chistian Jacob, L'empire des cartes: Approche théorique dela cartographic d ‘ravers histoire, (Pacis: Albin Michel, 1992), p. 267. 88, Henri LefRbvre, The Production of Space, te. by Donald Nicholson-Smith, (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1992), p. 260.