An excerpt from the Safar-nama of Nasir Khusraw:
“I performed the prayer of the Feast of Sacrifice in Cairo and departed by boat Tuesday the fourteenth of Dhul- Hijja 441 AH / May 9,1050 CE, bound for Upper Egypt, which is to the South and is the province through which the Nile flows before reaching Cairo. It is part of the realm of Egypt, and most of Egypt‘s prosperity derives from there. All along the banks of the Nile are too many towns and villages to describe. Finally, we reached a city called Asyut, an opium-producing region. Opium is derived from a poppy with a black seed. When the seed grows and forms a pod, it is crushed and a molasses-like syrup comes out. This is collected and preserved, for it is opium. The poppy seed is small and like cumin.
In Asyut they weave turbans from sheep’s wool unequalled anywhere in the world. The fine woollens imported into Persia and called Egyptian are all from Upper Egypt, since wool is not woven in Egypt proper. In Asyut I saw a shawl of sheep’s wool the likes of which I saw neither in Lahore nor in Multan. It was so fine you would think it was silk.”
Source: Thackston, W. Wheeler McIntosh, ed. trans., Nasir-i Khusraw’s Book of Travels (Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2010), 82-83.
Asyut, located 451 kilometres South of Cairo on the Western bank of the Nile, is the largest city in Upper Egypt. Since the early part of the 19th century, it has been the capital of Al-Sa‘id (Upper Egypt). The origins of the city are ancient, credited to its geographical location, in the centre of a wide fertile plain and its proximity to the caravan routes leading to the oasis and other points south. Under the Pharaohs, it was the capital of the 13th ‘nome’ (administrative division). The ancient name, Saut is carried over into its modern toponym. The population remained predominantly Christian until the 15th century but, over time, the settling of Arab tribes throughout Middle and Upper Egypt cast an indelible mark on the region as a whole.
Asyut in Medieval Period: In the medieval period, Asyut seems not to have played an important role in the Egyptian economy until the 14th century, when it began to rival Manfalut as a trade centre, possibly as a result of improvements in relations with traders in Central Africa. The plague of 1403 devastated the region and for much of the remaining century Cairo exercised little authority in the area.
Al Watwat al-Kutubi al-Warraq (632-718 AH / 1235-1318 CE) mentions the existence of mosques and madrasas in Asyut in his work Mabahij al-fikar. Asyut’s weekly market was held on Sundays and it attracted thousands of peasants. The main agricultural crops of the region were flax, beans, grains (wheat and durra), indigo and safflower oil. In medieval times, its production of sugar was prized. The local industries included woollen hats, linen cloth, pottery, especially pipe bowls, leather goods and embroidery on leather and velvets.
Asyut from 18th century onwards: Apart from being the centre of lucrative ivory and feather markets, Asyut became the site of the largest slave market outside Cairo. A new qaysariyya (public complex) was constructed in 1822 by Muhammad Bey al-Daftardar, which became the centrepiece of Asyut’s lively trade. Mosques were restored, the telegraph was extended to the city in 1850, the causeway linking the town to al-Hamra was renovated and the city’s markets remained the busiest ones south of Cairo. By 1874 Asyut was linked to Cairo by rail.
In the course of the 20th century, the centralisation of power in Cairo detracted from the fortunes of the city. Even so, the city’s population has grown by leaps and bounds and has spread out over the surrounding plain. In addition to a branch of al-Azhar University, the University of Asyut was established in 1957. However, sectarian and civilian strife centred at the university broke out in the wake of a growing Islamist movement in the 1970s and 1980s, which itself added fuel to the nascent Coptic nationalist movement. Asyut is no longer a major commercial or agricultural centre, its wealthy landowning class having long since departed for Cairo, Alexandria and destinations outside Egypt.
Citation:
“Asyut.” Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Brill Online, 2012.
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“Asyut.”, Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. (USA: Oxford University Press. 2001) .
“Asyut.” The Coptic Encyclopedia. (New York: Macmillan.1991).
Hoskins, George A. A Winter in Upper and Lower Egypt. (London: Hurst & Blackett Publishers. 1863).
Hunsberger, Alice C. Nasir Khusraw, the ruby of Badakhshan. (London: I. B. Tauris, 2000).
Walz, Terence. Trade between Egypt and Bilad as-Sudan 1700–1820. (Cairo: Archeolog Caire.1978).
Karim, Sayyid (ed). "The Villa: A Villa in Asyut for Georgy bey 'Abd al-Malik.’ Majallat al-Imarah: Vol. 1 (1939), Nos. 3 & 4
http://archnet-uat.cloudapp.net/publications/552 [accessed February 2014]
