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Emissaries from the Western Region (西域, Xiyu) Visiting Ming China in the 15-16th Centuries

  • Juyeon LEE (Institute of Korean Archaeology and Ancient History (IKAA) at Kyung Hee University)
  • Published : 2025.06.30
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Abstract

This study examines how the Meccan merchants' commercial route extended to the Ming in the first half of the fifteenth century, as Mecca and its port, Jeddah, became a major port for Indian Ocean trade, and foreign trade activities became more active there. The Egyptian emissaries of 1441 in the Ming Shilu 明實錄 [Veritable records of the Ming Dynasty] suggest that the Mamluk Sultanate and its vassal state, Mecca, had established friendly relations with the Timurids and sought to engage in trade with the Ming through Timurid intermediaries. Relations between the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and the Timurid dynasty had been hostile, but in 1439 the two countries established friendship and expanded political, religious, and economic ties, with Timurids opening a land route to China for the Mamluk Sultanate. A 1441 Kashmiri emissary offers important insight into Kashmir's role in the overland trade with China. By this time, Kashmir had strengthened its ties with the Timurids and adopted weaving techniques from them, which contributed to the production of cashmere-one of the key tribute goods sent to China. With the Ottoman conquest of Egypt and Mecca in the early sixteenth century, the route through Kashmir evolved into a major overland trade corridor connecting China to West Asia. The route runs from the Arabian Peninsula through northwestern India, bypassing Iran, over the Hindu Kush Mountains, through the Taklamakan Desert oasis zone, and into the northwest frontier of China.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2022SIA5C2A01093269).

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