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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The 'Banyan' or Indian Presence at Massawa, the Dahlak Islands and the Horn of Africa
Author:Pankhurst, RichardISNI
Year:1974
Periodical:Journal of Ethiopian Studies
Volume:12
Issue:1
Period:January
Pages:185-212
Language:English
Geographic term:Northeast Africa
Subjects:Indians
mercantile history
Ethnic and Race Relations
History and Exploration
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/44324706
Abstract:Trans-Indian Ocean contacts, dating back to the dawn of history, were accompanied by extensive commerce between India and the Horn of Africa. This trade was so extensive, and by most accounts, so lucrative, as to result in the establishment of small but crucially important colonies of Indian traders at the main commercial centres of the area. First reported at Massawa towards the end of the sixteenth century, the Banyans dominated the commerce of the port and played a vitally significant role as money-lenders for at least three centuries, during which time they also virtually monopolised the pearl fishery business of the nearby Dahlak islands. To the east and south the Banyans were likewise to the fore as merchants and money-lenders in the whole of the Gulf of Aden as well as along the Somali Indian Ocean coast. Extensive Banyan activity was reported throughout the nineteenth century at the great seasonal market of Berbera and at all the principal ports of the Mijertain and Benadir where Indian traders continued to hold sway until relatively recent times. Notes.
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