How Arabs brought luster to Sri Lanka’s historic pearl trade

A merchant weighs local raw pearls in the island of Dalma, off the coast of the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi, on Nov. 3, 2022. (AFP/File)
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Updated 16 January 2023
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How Arabs brought luster to Sri Lanka’s historic pearl trade

  • First Arabs arrived in Sri Lanka in the 3rd century B.C. and dominated its trade
  • Pearl fishing in Sri Lanka began to struggle in the 19th century, under British rule

COLOMBO/DUBAI: When Ibn Battuta arrived in northern Sri Lanka, the ruler of the Jaffna Kingdom greeted him with pearls more beautiful than any he had ever seen in his life.

The famed Moroccan explorer’s ship arrived in Puttalam in September 1344, and he spent a few days on the island, entertaining the king who was interested in his voyages, and visiting Adam’s Peak, a mountain venerated by Muslim pilgrims as the site of the footprint of the first man and prophet.

Ibn Battuta recorded the journey in his “Travels,” and gave a detailed description of it, focusing much of his attention on pearl reefs and pearl hunting — one of the main revenue earners for the Jaffna king’s coffers.

He wrote in his memoir that the gems he was gifted were “wonderful pearls, the biggest and most beautiful pearls in the world!”

But he was not the island’s first Arab visitor.

Those who arrived in Sri Lanka centuries before Ibn Battuta were the ones that developed pearl fishing, and who lifted the gemstone, formed by mollusks, into becoming the island’s most valuable aquatic resource.




The archival illustration from a German publication dated 1909 shows Sri Lankan fishermen processing pearl mollusks. (AN Photo)

Abdul Raheem Jesmil, development officer at Sri Lanka’s Department of Archeology, whose research focuses on the history of Sri Lankan Muslims, estimates that the first Arab visitors to the island arrived in pre-Islamic times, around the 3rd century B.C.

At that time, the trade with the island was entirely in the hands of Arabs who came mainly from the Arabian Peninsula and parts of Mesopotamia.

“They came in search of spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and white pepper,” Jesmil said.

“When they stayed here, they found that some parts of the island’s ocean were full of pearls ... They diverted their businesses to pearl diving.”

Pearl diving has been practiced for thousands of years and in many communities of the Arabian Gulf was the main source of wealth in ancient times. Men from these regions would spend months on expeditions at sea during the pearling season, while families awaited them on the shore and performed rituals for their safety.

When Arab traders reached Sri Lanka, they immediately understood the wealth of its pearl beds and explored the island’s northwestern coast.

Pearls were initially found mostly in oysters in the Gulf of Mannar, off the towns of Mannar, Chilaw and Kalpitiya.

They were highly valued among the aristocracy of ancient Rome, where chroniclers in the 2nd century A.D. recorded how they were brought by ships that chartered the Indian Ocean or by caravans.

As the industry grew in importance and expanded over centuries, divers also began to explore the areas south of the pearl-rich gulf.

“They found new places from Beruwala to Hambantota, which run from the western coast to the southern,” Jesmil told Arab News, adding that the industry was so lucrative that many of the Arab pearl traders settled down in Sri Lanka and married local women, mostly from the Tamil communities that were involved in their business.

While little is known about any remaining artifacts documenting the presence of pre-Islamic merchants from the Middle East, after the advent of Islam such evidence is abundant, especially as the Arab influence also entered the sphere of culture and religion.

“The first mosque in Sri Lanka was built by these Arabs ... Al-Abrar Mosque stands a monument of Arabian culture,” Jesmil said, referring to a mosque in Beruwala that was built in 920 A.D. It is the oldest remaining —and widely considered to be the first —mosque in Sri Lanka.

Later manuscripts by Europeans indicate that until the 19th century the gathering of pearl shells from the sea, processing of them, and trading were dominated by Arabs and Tamils, who were considered the best divers.

For one century, pearl fisheries were under the control of the Portuguese who entered a pact with coastal communities in Mannar. During that time, the industry reportedly employed some 50,000 people. When the Dutch expelled the Portuguese in the mid-17th century, they expanded it to 200,000 employees.

It was under another colonial power, Britain, which took over a century later, that pearl fishing began to struggle. The waters which used to be one of the most abundant sources of natural pearls in the world for more than two millennia, started to lose their oyster colonies.

After the British made a series of unsuccessful experiments in reviving the industry, in the 1920s it received a final blow with the introduction of the cultured pearl by the Japanese.

Some pearl hunting continued after Sri Lanka gained independence, but today it is nearly extinct.

While Sri Lanka is still a well-known jewelry producer, the gemstones that once gained its fame are no longer in the spotlight.

Rizan Nazeer, chief executive of the annual FACETS Sri Lanka International Gem and Jewelry Trade Show in Colombo, said that the pearls used by local artisans are hardly ever native ones.

“Pearl fishing is a dying industry in Sri Lanka, the gemstones have been superseded,” he said.

“We get pearls from Japan and Australia.”


Chad accuses Sudan of aiding rebel forces

Updated 4 sec ago
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Chad accuses Sudan of aiding rebel forces

LIBREVILLE: Chad on Friday accused Sudan of arming and financing rebel groups on Chadian territory with the aim of destabilising its neighbor.
Chad claims Sudan is aiding a rebellion by members of the Zaghawa ethnic group operating out of Sudan’s southwestern El Facher region.
“Sudan is financing and arming terrorist groups operating in the sub-region with the aim of destabilising Chad,” foreign affairs minister and government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said in a press release.
The Zaghawa rebels based in Sudan are led by Ousman Dillo, the younger brother of Chadian opposition leader Yaya Dillo Djerou, who was killed by Chadian military forces earlier this year.
In February 2008, a Zaghawa rebel group based in Sudan launched a lightning offensive in Chad along with other groups, forcing former president Idriss Deby Itno to take refuge in his presidential palace, before he was able to repel them with help from France.
In 2021, Idriss Deby Itno died fighting other rebel forces near the border with Libya and the army named his son Mahamat Idriss Deby as president.
Sudan’s government has accused Chad of meddling in its own civil war by helping to deliver weapons from the United Arab Emirates to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary forces, which Chad and the UAE have denied.
The Sudanese war, which pits the army against the RSF, broke out in April 2023 and has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million, including 3.1 million who are now sheltering beyond the country’s borders, monitors say.

Elon Musk joined Trump’s call with Ukraine’s Zelensky, media reports say

Updated 26 min 28 sec ago
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Elon Musk joined Trump’s call with Ukraine’s Zelensky, media reports say

  • Ukraine's President Zelensky called Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him on his election win, Axios reported
  • Trump reportedly said he would support Ukraine, without providing details, and Musk reportedly said he would continue supplying Starlink satellites

WASHINGTON: When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Donald Trump to congratulate him on his presidential election victory, Tesla CEO and Trump supporter Elon Musk joined the call, according to media reports on Friday. During the 25-minute call on Wednesday, the day after the election, Trump told Zelensky he would support Ukraine, without providing details, and Musk said he would continue supplying Starlink satellites, Axios reported, citing unidentified sources.
Musk owns SpaceX, which provides Starlink satellite communication services that are vital for Ukraine’s defense effort, but his statements have sometimes angered Kyiv since Russia invaded its neighbor in 2022.
Zelensky was telling Trump how important the satellites had been for Internet service during the war when Trump said Musk was with him and put the billionaire on the line, the Washington Post reported.
Trump and Musk were at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Palm Beach residence and club, when the call took place, according to the New York Times.
Musk gave millions of dollars to support Trump’s presidential campaign and made public appearances with him. Trump has said he would offer Musk, the world’s richest person, a role in his administration promoting government efficiency.
Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Trump campaign said it did not comment on private meetings.
Zelensky was among the first leaders to congratulate Trump, who has been critical of US military and financial support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Zelensky said in a post on social media platform X on Wednesday that his conversations with Trump should continue.
“We agreed to maintain close dialogue and advance our cooperation. Strong and unwavering US leadership is vital for the world and for a just peace,” the Ukrainian president said.


UK’s Met Police refers itself to watchdog over Al-Fayed probes

More than 400 women and witnesses have come forward alleging sexual misconduct by the former Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed. (AF
Updated 08 November 2024
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UK’s Met Police refers itself to watchdog over Al-Fayed probes

  • Two women have complained about the police's handling of investigations into alleged sexual abuse by the late Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed

LONDON: The UK’s Metropolitan Police on Friday referred itself to the police watchdog following complaints from two women over its handling of investigations into alleged sexual abuse by late Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed.
The complaints, referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), involve investigations from 2008 and 2013.
They revolve around the quality of the police response and, in the case of the 2013 probe, how details came to be disclosed publicly.
“In recent weeks, two victims-survivors have come forward with concerns about how their allegations were handled when first reported, and it is only appropriate that the IOPC assess these complaints,” said Stephen Clayman, from the Met’s Specialist Crime team.
“Although we cannot change the past, we are resolute in our goal to offer every individual who contacts us the highest standard of service and support,” he added.
More than 400 women and witnesses have come forward in the past six weeks alleging sexual misconduct by Fayed, who died in August last year aged 94.
The allegations follow the airing of a BBC documentary in September that detailed multiple claims of rape and sexual assault by the former owner of the upmarket London department store.
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group said it had received 421 inquiries, mainly related to the store but also regarding Fulham football club, the Ritz Hotel in Paris and other Fayed entities.
The Met said Friday that it was “actively reviewing 21 allegations reported to the Metropolitan Police prior to Mohamed Al-Fayed’s passing... to determine if any additional investigative steps are available or there are things we could have done better.”


India’s Naga separatists threaten to resume violence after decades-long truce

Updated 08 November 2024
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India’s Naga separatists threaten to resume violence after decades-long truce

  • “The violent confrontation between India and Nagalim shall be purely on account of the deliberate betrayal and breach of commitment by India and its leadership to honor the letter and spirit of Framework Agreement of 2015,” he said

GUWAHATI, India: An armed separatist group in a remote northeast Indian state on Friday threatened to “resume violent armed resistance” after nearly three decades of ceasefire, accusing New Delhi of failing to honor promises in earlier agreements.
The Naga insurgency, India’s oldest, is aimed at creating a separate homeland of Nagalim that unites parts of India’s mountainous northeast with areas of neighboring Myanmar for ethnic Naga people. About 20,000 people have died in the conflict since it began in 1947.
A ceasefire between the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), a leading separatist group, and Indian security forces has held since it was enforced in 1997 and the group signed an agreement with New Delhi in 2015 toward striking a resolution on their demands.

BACKGROUND

A ceasefire between the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), a leading separatist group, and Indian security forces has held since it was enforced in 1997.

But talks have stagnated since and in a statement Friday, the group’s chief, Thuingaleng Muivah, accused India of “betrayal of the letter and spirit” of the 2015 agreement.
India’s Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Muivah’s remarks.
In a statement, Muivah urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s federal government to “respect and honor” the 2015 agreement, which he said “officially recognized and acknowledged” the right to a sovereign flag and constitution for the separatists.
Muivah proposed a “third party intervention” to resolve the impasse, threatening that it would resume violence if “such a political initiative was rejected.”
“The violent confrontation between India and Nagalim shall be purely on account of the deliberate betrayal and breach of commitment by India and its leadership to honor the letter and spirit of Framework Agreement of 2015,” he said.
“India and its leadership shall be held responsible for the catastrophic and adverse situation that will arise out of the violent armed conflict between India and Nagalim,” he said.

 


Comoros arrests suspected key smuggler

Comoros Police officers and Comoros soldiers patrol in Moroni on January 17, 2024. (AFP)
Updated 08 November 2024
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Comoros arrests suspected key smuggler

  • The International Organization for Migration said on Monday that at least 25 people died after the boat was “deliberately capsized by traffickers”

MORONI, Comoros: Police in the Comoros said on Friday they had arrested the alleged leader of a smuggling network involved in the capsizing of a migrant boat that claimed around two dozen lives.
The boat sank on a well-known smuggling route between the Comoros island of Anjouan and the French Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte on Nov. 1.
“The smuggling ringleader who owned the capsized boat was arrested on Thursday in Anjouan,” Col. Tachfine Ahmed said.
“He admitted that he owned the boat and bought all the material needed for the trip,” he added, saying the 37-year-old suspect was a resident of Mayotte.
The International Organization for Migration said on Monday that at least 25 people died after the boat was “deliberately capsized by traffickers.”
The Comoros police said they knew of 17 deaths.
Fishermen rescued five survivors who said the boat was carrying around 30 people, including women and young children, the IOM said.
A survivor said the smugglers sank the vessel before fleeing on a speedboat.
Police confirmed the survivor’s account, saying the two smugglers escaped.
“We are actively looking for the two smugglers who got on another boat,” the colonel added.
In addition to homicide charges, the arrested suspect faces up to 10 years imprisonment for belonging to an organized criminal group as well as three years for illegal transport of passengers.
Anjouan is one of three islands in the nation of Comoros, located around 70 km northwest of Mayotte, which became a department of France in 2011.
Despite being France’s poorest department, Mayotte has French infrastructure and welfare, which makes it attractive to migrants from Comoros seeking a better life.
Many pay smugglers to make the dangerous sea crossing in rickety fishing boats known as “kwassa-kwassa.”