When imārat and tijārat combined: The varied career of Taqī al-Dīn al-Tibi on the Coromandel Coast

Arab and Persian merchants were actors in the lucrative Indian Ocean trade, at least from the twelfth century until their expulsion by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. They did not remain as mere itinerant traders; instead, they incorporated themselves into state-building and faith-related networks. This article investigates Arab and Persian engagements on India’s Coromandel Coast, highlighting the varied career of a renowned expatriate Muslim merchant, Taqī al-Dīn al-Tibi, in ‘trade’ (tijārat) and ‘administration’ (imārat) during the early medieval period. It argues that the Muslim merchants who settled along the Coromandel Coast wielded substantial influence in the Indian Ocean trade, and that the notion of trade and administration was well established on the early medieval Coromandel Coast.