Editing Radhanite

{{Short description|Jewish medieval merchants}}
[[File:Radhanites2.png|thumb|400px|Map of [[Eurasia]] showing the trade network of the Radhanites (in blue), {{Circa|870 AD}}, as reported in the account of [[Ibn Khordadbeh]] in the ''[[Book of Roads and Kingdoms (Ibn Khordadbeh)|Book of Roads and Kingdoms]]''; other trade routes of the period are shown in purple.]]

The '''Radhanites''' or '''Radanites''' ({{Langx|he|רדנים|translit=Radanim}}; {{langx|ar|الرذنية|''ar-Raðaniyya''}}) were [[early Middle Ages|early medieval]] [[Jews|Jewish]] merchants, active in the trade between [[Christendom]] and the [[Muslim world]] during roughly the 8th to the 10th centuries.
Many trade routes previously established under the [[Roman Empire]] continued to function during that period, largely through their efforts. Their trade network covered much of [[Europe]], [[North Africa]], the [[Middle East]], [[Central Asia]], and parts of [[History of India|India]] and [[History of China|China]].

Only a limited number of primary sources use the term, and it remains unclear whether they referred to a specific [[guild]], to a [[clan]], or generically to Jewish merchants in the trans-[[Eurasia]]n trade network.

==Name==
Several etymologies have been suggested for the word "Radhanite". Many scholars, including [[Barbier de Meynard]] and [[Moshe Gil]], believe it refers to a district in [[Mesopotamia]] called "[[Rādhān|the land of Radhan]]" in [[Arabic]] and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] texts of the period.{{ref|gil1}}

Another hypothesis suggests that the name might be derived from the city of [[Ray, Iran|Ray]] (Rhages) in northern [[Iran]]. Still others think the name possibly derives from the [[Persian language|Persian]] terms ''rah'' "way, path" and  ''dān'' "one who knows", meaning "one who knows the way".{{ref|gil2}}

Two western Jewish historians, [[Cecil Roth]] and [[Claude Cahen]], have suggested a connection to the name of the [[Rhône]] River valley in [[France]], which is ''Rhodanus'' in [[Latin]] and ''Rhodanos'' (Ῥοδανός) in [[Ancient Greek|Greek]]. They claim that the center of Radhanite activity was probably in France as all of their trade routes began there.{{ref|France}}

English-language and other Western sources added the suffix ''-ite'' to the term, as is done with [[ethnonym]]s or names derived from place names.{{ref|rhages}}

==Activities==
{{See also|Bukhara slave trade|Al-Andalus slave trade|Saqaliba}}
The activities of the Radhanites are documented by [[Ibn Khordadbeh]] – the [[postmaster]], chief of police (and spymaster) for the province of [[Jibal]], under the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] [[Caliph]] [[al-Mu'tamid]] – when he wrote ''Kitab al-Masalik wal-Mamalik'' ([[Book of Roads and Kingdoms (ibn Khordadbeh)|''Book of Roads and Kingdoms'']]), in about 870. The Radhanites are otherwise not attested.<ref>{{Citation |title=Byzantine Jews throughout the Mediterranean: fluidity and exchange |date=2009 |work=Byzantine Jewry in the Mediterranean Economy |pages=24–77 |editor-last=Holo |editor-first=Joshua |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/byzantine-jewry-in-the-mediterranean-economy/byzantine-jews-throughout-the-mediterranean-fluidity-and-exchange/C79F88AA8E61D8E810DDD94322F74545 |access-date=2025-05-28 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511691652.002 |isbn=978-0-521-85633-1}}</ref> Ibn Khordadbeh described the Radhanites as sophisticated and multilingual. He outlined four main trade routes used by the Radhanites in their journeys<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gil |first=Moshe |date=1974-01-01 |title=The Rādhānite Merchants and the Land of Rādhān |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jesh/17/1/article-p299_18.xml |journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient |language=en |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=299–328 |doi=10.1163/156852074X00183 |issn=1568-5209}}</ref>; all four began in the [[Rhone]] Valley in southern [[France]] and terminated on China's east coast. Radhanites primarily carried commodities that combined small bulk and high demand, including [[spice]]s, [[perfume]]s, [[jewelry]], and [[silk]]. They are also described as transporting [[oil]]s, [[incense]], [[steel]] weapons, [[fur]]s, and [[Slavery|slaves]].

===Text of Ibn Khordadbeh's account===
In his '''''[[Book of Roads and Kingdoms (Ibn Khordadbeh)|Book of Roads and Kingdoms]]''''' ({{langx|ar|كِتَاب ٱلْمَسَالِك وَٱلْمَمَالِك}}, ''Kitāb al-Masālik wa-l-Mamālik''), Ibn Khordadbeh listed four routes along which Radhanites traveled in the following account.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Abulafia |first=David |url=http://archive.org/details/greatseahumanhis0000abul |title=The great sea : a human history of the Mediterranean |date=2011 |publisher=London : Allen Lane |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-7139-9934-1}}</ref>

:These merchants speak [[Arabic]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Medieval Greek|Roman]],{{ref|Roman}} the [[Old French|Frank]],{{ref|Frankish}} [[Spanish language|Spanish]], and [[Slavic languages|Slav]] languages. They journey from West to East, from East to West, partly on land, partly by sea. They transport from the West [[eunuch]]s, female slaves, boys, [[silk|brocade]], [[beaver|castor]], [[marten]] and other furs, and [[sword]]s. They take ship from ''Firanja'' ''(France{{ref|France}})'', on the [[Mediterranean Sea|Western Sea]], and make for ''Farama'' ''([[Pelusium]])''. There they load their goods on [[camel]]-back and [[camel train|go by land]] to ''al-Kolzum'' ([[Suez]]), a distance of twenty-five [[parasang|farsakhs]]. They embark in the [[Red Sea|East Sea]] and sail from al-Kolzum to [[Medina|al-Jar]] and [[Jeddah|al-Jeddah]], then they go to [[Sindh|Sind]], India, and China. On their return from China they carry back [[musk]], [[agarwood|aloe]]s, [[camphor]], [[cinnamon]], and other products of the Eastern countries to al-Kolzum and bring them back to Farama, where they again embark on the Western Sea. Some make sail for [[Constantinople]] to sell their goods to the [[Byzantine Empire|Romans]]; others go to the palace of the [[List of Frankish kings|King of the Franks]] to place their goods. Sometimes these Jewish merchants, when embarking from the land of the [[Franks]], on the Western Sea, make for [[Antioch]] ''(at the head of the [[Orontes River]])''; thence by land to al-Jabia ([[al-Hanaya]] on the bank of the [[Euphrates]]), where they arrive after three days' march.  There they embark on the Euphrates and reach [[Baghdad]], whence they sail down the [[Tigris]], to [[al-Ubulla|al-Obolla]]. From al-Obolla they sail for [[Oman]], [[Sindh]], Hind, and China.

:These different journeys can also be made by land. The merchants that start from Spain or France go to [[Sus al-Aksa]] ''(in [[Morocco]])'' and then to [[Tangier]], whence they walk to [[Kairouan]] and the [[List of capitals of Egypt|capital of Egypt]]. Thence they go to ar-[[Ramla]], visit [[Damascus]], al-[[Kufa]], Baghdad, and al-[[Basra]], cross [[Ahvaz]], [[Fars province|Fars]], [[Kerman]], Sind, Hind, and arrive in China.

:Sometimes, also, they take the route behind [[Rome]] and, passing through the country of the [[Slavs]], arrive at [[Khamlij|Khamlidj]], the capital of the [[Khazars]]. They embark on the [[Caspian Sea|Jorjan Sea]], arrive at [[Balkh]], betake themselves from there across the [[Amu Darya|Oxus]], and continue their journey toward Yurt, [[Toquz Oghuz|Toghuzghuz]], and from there to China.{{ref|Khordadbeh}}

==Historical significance==
[[File:Menare.jpg|thumb|A caravan of [[dromedaries]] in [[Algeria]]. Much of the Radhanites' overland trade between Tangier and Mesopotamia was by camel.]]

During the [[Early Middle Ages]], Muslim polities of the [[Middle East]] and [[North Africa]] and Christian kingdoms of [[Europe]] often banned each other's merchants from entering their ports.{{ref|ban}} [[Privateer]]s of both sides raided the shipping of their adversaries at will. The Radhanites functioned as neutral go-betweens, keeping open the lines of communication and trade between the lands of the old [[Roman Empire]] and the [[Far East]]. As a result of the revenue they brought, Jewish merchants enjoyed significant privileges under the early [[Carolingian dynasty]] in France and throughout the Muslim world, a fact that sometimes vexed local Church authorities.

While most trade between Europe and East Asia had historically been conducted via Persian and [[Central Asia]]n intermediaries, the Radhanites were among the first to establish a trade network that stretched from Western Europe to Eastern Asia.{{ref|network}} They engaged in this trade regularly and over an extended period of time, centuries before [[Marco Polo]] and [[Ibn Battuta]] brought their tales of travel in the [[Orient]] to the Christians and the Muslims, respectively. Ibn Battuta is believed to have traveled with the Muslim traders who traveled to the Orient on routes similar to those used by the Radhanites.

While traditionally many historians believed that the [[History of paper#Paper in China|art of Chinese papermaking]] had been transmitted to Europe via Arab merchants who got the secret from [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] taken at the [[Battle of Talas]], some believe that Jewish merchants such as the Radhanites were instrumental in bringing paper-making west.{{ref|paper}} [[Joseph of Spain]], possibly a Radhanite, is credited by some sources with introducing the so-called [[Arabic numerals]] from India to Europe.{{ref|Joseph}} Historically, Jewish communities used [[letters of credit]] to transport large quantities of money without the risk of theft from at least classical times.{{ref|Josephus}} This system was developed and put into force on an unprecedented scale by medieval Jewish merchants such as the Radhanites; if so, they may be counted among the precursors to the [[bank]]s that arose during the [[late Middle Ages]] and [[early modern period]].{{ref|credit}}

Some scholars believe that the Radhanites may have played a role in the conversion of the [[Khazars]] to Judaism.{{ref|Khaz}} In addition, they may have helped establish Jewish communities at various points along their trade routes, and were probably involved in the early Jewish settlement of [[Eastern Europe]], Central Asia, China and India.

[[File:Dhow.jpg|thumb|Much of the Radhanites' [[Indian Ocean]] trade was via coastal cargo ships such as this [[dhow]].]]

[[Ibn al-Faqih]]'s early 10th century ''Book of the Countries'' mentions them, but much of Ibn al-Faqih's information was derived from Ibn Khordadbeh's work.{{ref|late}}

==Disappearance==
The activities of the Radhanites appear to cease during the 10th century. The causes may have been the fall of [[Tang dynasty|Tang China]] in 908, followed by the [[Khazars#Rise of the Rus' and the collapse of the Khazarian state|collapse of the Khazarian state]] at the hands of the [[Rus' people|Rus']] some sixty years later (circa 968–969).
Trade routes became unstable and unsafe, a situation exacerbated by the rise of [[Turco-Persian tradition|expansionist Turco-Persianate states]], and the [[Silk Road]] largely collapsed for centuries. This period saw the rise of the mercantile [[Italian city-states]], especially the [[maritime republics]], [[Genoa]], [[Venice]], [[Pisa]], and [[Amalfi]], who viewed the Radhanites as unwanted competitors.

The Radhanites had mostly disappeared by the end of the 10th century; there have been suggestions that a collection of 11th century Jewish scrolls discovered in a cave in Afghanistan's [[Samangan Province]] in 2011 may represent a remnant of Radhanites in that area.{{ref|century}}

The economy of Europe was profoundly affected by the disappearance of the Radhanites. For example, documentary evidence indicates that many spices in regular use during the early Middle Ages completely disappeared from European tables in the 10th century. Jews had previously, in large parts of Western Europe, enjoyed a virtual monopoly on the [[spice trade]].{{ref|spice}}
The [[History of slavery|slave trade]] appears to have been continued by other agents, for example, for the year 1168, [[Helmold von Bosau]] reports that 700 enslaved [[Danes]] were offered for sale in [[Mecklenburg]] by [[Baltic Slavic piracy|Slavic pirates]].<ref>Helmold von Bosau: ''Slawenchronik''. 6. Auflage. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2002, p. 377; Robert Bartlett: ''Die Geburt Europas aus dem Geist der Gewalt. Eroberung, Kolonisierung und kultureller Wandel von 950–1350''. Kindler, 1996, p. 366.</ref>
In the [[Black Sea]] area, slave trade appears to have been taken over by the [[Tatars]], mostly selling enslaved Slavs to the Ottoman Turks.<ref>Alexandre Skirda: La traite des Slaves. L’esclavage des Blancs du VIIIe au XVIIIe siècle. Les Éditions de Paris, Paris 2010, p. 171. Robert C. Davis: ''Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500-1800''. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.</ref>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*[[Amber Road]]
*[[Benjamin of Tudela]]
*[[Cochin Jews]]
*[[Kaifeng Jews]]
*[[Red Jews]]
*[[Caravanserai]]
*[[Eldad ha-Dani]]
*[[History of the Jews in China]] (The Kaifeng Jews originated from the Tang dynasty period)
*[[History of the Jews in pre-18th-century Poland]]
*[[Jews of Bilad el-Sudan]]
*[[Joseph Rabban]]
*[[Petachiah of Ratisbon]]
*[[Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks]]
*[[Trans-Saharan trade]]
*[[Volga trade route]]
*''[[Gentlemen of the Road]]'' (2007 Novel by Michael Chabon)
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{refbegin|30em}}
# {{note|gil1}} Gil 299–328.
# {{note|rhages}} ''Enc. of World Trade'', "Radhanites" 763–4
# {{note|France}} Bareket 558–560.
# {{note|gil2}} Gil 299–310.
# {{note|Roman}} That is, the language of the [[Byzantine Empire]], [[Byzantine Greek language|Greek]].
# {{note|Frankish}} It is unclear to what specific language Ibn Khordadbeh refers. The word ''"Firanj"'' can be used to mean "[[Franks|Frank]]" and thus most likely the language referred to is either the [[Vulgar Latin]] dialect that ultimately evolved into [[French language|French]] or the [[Germanic language]] originally spoken by the Franks, called [[Old Frankish language|Old Frankish]] by linguists. However, in the Middle Ages ''Firanj'' was a generic term used by Arabs (and Eastern Christians) for Western Europeans generally. It is possible that Ibn Khordadbeh uses "Frank" as a counterpoint to "Roman" ([[Byzantine Greek language|Byzantine Greek]]), indicating that the Radhanites spoke the languages of both Eastern and Western Christians.
# {{note|France}} Though some, such as Moshe Gil, maintain that "Firanja" as used in this context refers to the Frankish-occupied areas of [[Italy]], and not to France proper. Gil 299–310.
# {{note|Khordadbeh}} Adler 2–3; for alternative translations ''see, e.g.,'' [[De Goeje]] 114; Rabinowitz 9–10; Among the minor differences between the accounts is Rabinowitz's rendering of "Khamlif" in place of "Khamlidj" and his reference to the "Yourts of the Toghozghuz" as opposed to Yurt and Toghuzghuz as separate entities. Rabinowitz's version, translated, means "Tents of the Uyghurs". ''See also'' Dunlop 138, 209, 230.
# {{note|ban}} Bendiner 99–104.
# {{note|network}} ''See, e.g.'', ''Enc. of World Trade'', "China".
# {{note|paper}} ''e.g.,'' ''Enc. of World Trade'', "Radanites" 764.
# {{note|Joseph}} Adler x.; Weissenbron 74–78; ''see also'' ''Encyclopedia of World Trade&nbsp;— From Ancient Times to the Present '', "Radanites" 764.
# {{note|Josephus}} ''Antiquities'' 18.6.3
# {{note|credit}} Rabinowitz 91.
# {{note|Khaz}} ''e.g.'', ''Enc. of World Trade'', "Radanites" 764; ''see also'' Pritsak 265.
# {{note|late}} Brook 77; Schipper 116.
# {{note|spice}} Rabinowitz 150–212.
# {{note|century}} Shefler, Gil [https://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Scrolls-raise-questions-as-to-Afghan-Jewish-history "Scrolls raise questions as to Afghan Jewish history"], ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'', Jerusalem, 2 January 2012.
{{refend}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{refbegin|30em}}
* "China." ''Encyclopedia of World Trade: From Ancient Times to the Present,'' vol. 1, ed. Cynthia Clark Northrup, p.&nbsp;29. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2005.
*[[Elkan Adler|Adler, Elkan]].  ''Jewish Travellers in the Middle Ages''. New York: Dover Publications, 1987
* [[Elmer Bendiner|Bendiner, Elmer]].  ''The Rise and Fall of Paradise''.  New York: Putnam Books, 1983.
* [[Elinoar Bareket|Bareket, Elinoar]]. "Rādhānites". ''Medieval Jewish Civilization: An Encyclopedia''. Norman Roth, ed. Routledge, 2002. pp 558–561.
*[[Kevin Alan Brook|Brook, Kevin]]. ''The Jews of Khazaria.'' 2nd ed. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2006
* [[De Goeje, Michael]]. ''Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum''. Leiden, 1889. Volume VI.
* [[Douglas Morton Dunlop|Dunlop, Douglas.]] ''The History of the Jewish Khazars,'' Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1954.
* Fossier, Robert, ed. ''The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Middle Ages,'' vol. 1: 350–950. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1997.
* Gottheil, Richard, ''et al.'' [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=693&letter=C#2276 "Commerce".] ''[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]''. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906.
* [[Moshe Gil|Gil, Moshe]].  "The Radhanite Merchants and the Land of Radhan."  ''Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient'' 17:3 (1976). 299–328.
* [[Gregory of Tours]]. ''De Gloria Martyrorum''.
* [[Josephus]]. ''Antiquities of the Jews''.
* [[Louis Isaac Rabinowitz|Rabinowitz, Louis]]. ''Jewish Merchant Adventurers: a study of the Radanites''. London: Edward Goldston, 1948.
* "Radanites". ''[[Encyclopedia of World Trade]]: From Ancient Times to the Present,'' vol. 3, ed. Cynthia Clark Northrup, p.&nbsp;763–764. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2005.
* [[Omeljan Pritsak|Pritsak, Omeljan]]. "The Khazar Kingdom's Conversion to Judaism." ''Harvard Ukrainian Studies'' 3:2 (Sept. 1978).
* [[Itzhak Schipper|Schipper, Itzhak]]. "Dzieje Gospodarcze Żydów Korony i Litwy w Czasach Przedrozbiorowych."  ''Żydzi w Polsce Odrodzonej'', ed. A. Hafftka et al. Warsaw, 1936.
* Weissenborn, Hermann ''Zur Geschichte der Einführung der jetzigen Ziffern in Europa durch Gerbert: eine Studie'', Berlin: Mayer & Müller, 1892.
{{refend}}

[[Category:Asian Jews]]
[[Category:Jewish merchants]]
[[Category:Jewish Chinese history]]
[[Category:Medieval economic history]]
[[Category:Medieval merchants]]
[[Category:Medieval Jews]]
[[Category:Medieval Asia]]
[[Category:History of slavery]]
[[Category:Trade routes]]
[[Category:Slavery in al-Andalus]]
[[Category:Slavery in the Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Black Sea slave trade]]