Ramisht of Siraf
Rāmisht of Sīrāf was a prominent 12th-century Muslim merchant from
Name and ancestry
A basalt plate near the Bāb al-Wadā‘ ("gate of farewell") in Mecca, dedicated in Ramadan, 529 AH (June/July 1135) records Rāmisht's full name as Abu'l-Qāsim Rāmisht ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Shīrawayhi ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Ja‘far. The same form is listed on his tombstone. A slightly different version of his name is given by the 14th-century chronicler Taqi al-Din al-Fasi, who refers to him in one passage as "Rāmisht, i.e. the elder Abu'l-Qāsim Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥusayn".[1]
Sources and business activities
An anonymous 12th-century abridger of Ibn Hawqal's added a note saying that he had met Rāmisht's youngest son, Mūsā, in Aden in 539 AH (about five years after Rāmisht himself died); this anonymous author wrote about Rāmisht's vast wealth, saying "I have heard of no merchant in our time who has equalled Rāmisht in wealth or prestige." Rāmisht is also mentioned by several chroniclers; his name is also mentioned in various business letters that have survived, and a transcription of his tombstone in Mecca has also been preserved (although the grave itself has not been found).[1]
Rāmisht's tomb inscription mentions him as a ship owner (nā-khudā), and Ibn al-Athir mentions that he was "one of the merchants who went to India and was very rich."[1]
Rāmisht also appears in several documents archived in the Cairo Geniza. For example, one letter from a Jewish merchant in Aden in Yemen wrote in 1135 that two of Rāmisht's ships had evaded an invasion by the ruler of Kish Island and reached port safely.[1]
Endowments in Mecca
Rāmisht donated a golden water spout to serve as the
Another of Rāmisht's donations to the Ka'ba was the kiswah, the cloth covering the Ka'ba. This happened after the kiswah was torn in 532 AH, or 1137-38 CE (during what Ibn al-Athir referred to as a "dissension mentioned above", although he apparently didn't mention this event beforehand). According to Ibn al-Athir, this cost Rāmisht 18,000 Fatimid dinars; according to an unidentified source used by al-Fasi, this cost 4,000 dinars instead. It's not clear which number is correct, but it's possible that they're both correct – al-Fasi refers to Rāmisht's kiswah as being made of "striped cloth and other material", and the "other material" may account for the discrepancy between the two numbers.[1]
Rāmisht was also known in Mecca as the founder of a
Another contribution from Rāmisht in Mecca, according to the 12th century traveller