A Twentieth-Century Merchant Network Centered on Jeddah: The Correspondence of Muḥammad b. Aḥmad Bin Ḥimd

Abstract

ABSTRACT:This article examines a collection of merchant letters which arrived between 1919 and 1946 in the Red Sea port of Jeddah. Their recipient, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad Bin Ḥimd, was a merchant of Hadhrami origin, deeply embedded in the trade with grain, foodstuffs and other goods in the Red Sea area. Based on a survey of some of the documents, the article describes the merchant's network as well as the content of some sample letters to unlock their potential as an important source for the economic history of the region.