The merchant houses of Mocha : trade and architecture in an Indian Ocean port / Nancy Um.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Um, Nancy.

Series:

Publications on the Near East, University of Washington.

Publications on the Near East

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Architecture and merchants--Yemen (Republic)--Mukh--History--17th century.

Architecture and merchants.

Architecture and merchants--Yemen (Republic)--Mukh--History--18th century.

Mukhā (Yemen)--Commerce--History--17th century.

Mukhā (Yemen).

Mukhā (Yemen)--Commerce--History--18th century.

Mukhā (Yemen)--Buildings, structures, etc.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (285 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Seattle : University of Washington Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Gaining prominence as a seaport under the Ottomans in the mid-1500s, the city of Mocha on the Red Sea coast of Yemen pulsed with maritime commerce. Its very name became synonymous with Yemen's most important revenue-producing crop -- coffee. After the imams of the Qasimi dynasty ousted the Ottomans in 1635, Mocha's trade turned eastward toward the Indian Ocean and coastal India. Merchants and shipowners from Asian, African, and European shores flocked to the city to trade in Arabian coffee and aromatics, Indian textiles, Asian spices, and silver from the New World. Nancy Um tells how and why Mocha's urban shape and architecture took the forms they did. Mocha was a hub in a great trade network encompassing overseas cities, agricultural hinterlands, and inland market centers. All these connected places, together with the functional demands of commerce in the city, the social stratification of its residents, and the imam's desire for wealth, contributed to Mocha's architectural and urban form. Eventually, in the mid-1800s, the Ottomans regained control over Yemen and abandoned Mocha as their coastal base. Its trade and its population diminished and its magnificent buildings began to crumble, until few traces are left of them today. This book helps bring Mocha to life once again.

Contents:

""Contents""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Note on Transliteration, Dates, and Abbreviations""; ""Introduction""; ""1. The Mocha Trade Network""; ""2. The Yemeni Coffee Network""; ""3. A Littoral Society in Yemen""; ""4. Merchants and Nakhudhas""; ""5. The Urban Form and Orientation of Mocha""; ""6. Trading Spaces""; ""7. On the Politics of Inside and Out""; ""Conclusion: The End of the Mocha Era""; ""Appendix A: The Imams of Qasimi Yemenand the Governors of Mocha""; ""Appendix B: Archival and Museum Sources Consulted""; ""Notes""; ""Glossary""; ""References Cited""; ""Illustration Credits""

""Index""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9780295800233

0295800232

OCLC:

774398900