From Tadri to Basra: The Journey of Khwaja Abdul Qadir as Recounted in the Waqai-I Manazil-I Rum

Abstract

The Waqai-i Manazil-i Rum is an important Indian document of the late 18th century. An incomplete account of Tipu Sultan of Mysore’s embassy to the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid I, it provides a fascinating insight into the travails of sea voyages of the time, as well as descriptions of local conditions along the Persian Gulf. Of note is its frankness in reporting the internal squabbling, desertions and difficulties endured by the mission. A reassessment of the text, in the context of recent scholarly interest in travel writing, reveals similarities with other Muslim travelogues. In addition, questions are raised regarding the diary’s authorship, in the light of Tipu’s recently translated instructions to his envoys.

Keywords

Muslim travellers Mysore Tipu Sultan travel writing Waqai-i Manazil-i Rum

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abdullah, Thabit A.J. (2001) Merchants, Mamluks, and Murder: The Political Economy of Trade in Eighteenth-Century Basra. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press .

Cole, Juan R.I. (1992/3) ‘Invisible Occidentalism: 18th-Century Indo-Persian Constructions of the West’ , Iranian Studies 25(3–4): 3–16 .

Digby, Simon (1989) ‘An Eighteenth Century Narrative of a Journey from Bengal to England: Munshi Isma' il’s New History’, in Christopher Shackle (ed.) Urdu and Muslims in South Asia: Studies in Honour of Ralph Russell (pp. 49–65). London: SOAS .

Edwards Philip (1994) The Story of the Voyage: Sea Narratives in Eighteenth-century England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .

Fierro, Maria Isabel (1992) ‘The Contact with the West of a Mauritanian Traveller: The Rihla of Ibn Tuwayr al-Janna (1245/1829–1250/1834)’ , The Maghreb Review 17(1–2): 103–123 .

Gellens, Sam I. (1990) ‘The Search for Knowledge in Medieval Muslim Societies: A Comparative Approach’, in Dale F. Eickelman & James Piscatori (eds) Muslim Travellers: Pilgrimage, Migration and the Religious Imagination (pp. 50–65). London: Routledge .

Hasan, Mohibbul (ed.) (1968) Khwaja Abdul Qadir: Waqai-i Manazil-i Rum: Diary of a Journey to Constantinople. New York: Asia Publishing House .

Husain, Iqbal (2001) ‘The Diplomatic Vision of Tipu Sultan: Briefs for Embassies to Turkey and France, 1785–86’, in Irfan Habib (ed.) State and Diplomacy under Tipu Sultan: Documents and Essays (pp. 19–65). New Delhi: Tulika .

Khan, Gulfishan (1998) Indian Muslim Perceptions of the West During the Eighteenth Century. Karachi: Oxford University Press .

10.

Kirkpatrick, William (1811) Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan to Various Public Functionaries. London: Black, Parry and Kingsbury .

11.

Laffan, Michael F. (2001) ‘Making Meiji Muslims: The Travelogue of ' Ali Ahmad al Jarjawi’ , East Asian History 22: 145–170 .

12.

Malik, Iftikar H. (2001) ‘Ireland, Orientalism and South Asia’ , Asian Affairs (Great Britain) 32(2): 189–194 .

13.

Metcalf, Barbara D. (1990) ‘The Pilgrimage Remembered: South Asian Accounts of the Hajj’, in Dale F. Eickelman & James Piscatori (eds) Muslim Travellers: Pilgrimage, Migration and the Religious Imagination (pp. 85–107). London: Routledge .

14.

Pearson, M.N. (1991) ‘Pilgrims, Travellers, Tourists: The Meaning of Journeys’ , Australian Cultural History 10: 125–134 .

15.

Pearson, M.N. (1994) Pious Passengers: The Hajj in Earlier Times. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers .

16.

Wasti, Syed Tanvir (1991) ‘Two Muslim Travelogues: To and From Istanbul’ , Middle Eastern Studies 27(3): 457–476 .