Comments for Al Rahalah

Comment on Western Desert and Oases by FAYOUM – PROVISIONS OF THE TRAVELLER | Wil Ya Wil

FAYOUM – PROVISIONS OF THE TRAVELLER | Wil Ya Wil — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:47:14 +0000

[...] of course, it’s to the beach! Recently, though, I had a friend who was planning a group trip to Fayoum and I decided it was time to go and experience it for myself. Doors are always open at Zad [...]

Comment on PIRI REIS (15th / 16th Century CE – 9th / 10th Century AH): CAPTAIN OF THE SEA by Kemaleddin Reis « An Unfettered Mind

Kemaleddin Reis « An Unfettered Mind — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:27:49 +0000

[...] Kemal Reis, I found a eulogy written by Piri by way of the introduction to his magnum opus, the Kitab-ı Bahriye . This poem was so lovingly contructed that even in translation one can [...]

Comment on Western Desert and Oases by FAYOUM – PROVISIONS OF THE TRAVELLER | Al Rahalah

FAYOUM – PROVISIONS OF THE TRAVELLER | Al Rahalah — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:25:13 +0000

[...] HomeAboutConnectionsDESTINATIONSEGYPTCanal ZoneEastern DeltaGreater CairoNorth CoastThe Nile Valley: Aswan and NubiaThe Nile Valley: Middle EgyptThe Nile Valley: Upper EgyptThe Red Sea: CoastThe Red Sea: Eastern DesertThe Sinai PeninsulaWestern DeltaWestern Desert and Oases [...]

Comment on CITY OF A THOUSAND MINARETS by admin

admin — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:37:16 +0000

You are most welcome…

Comment on CITY OF A THOUSAND MINARETS by priyanka paul

priyanka paul — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:56:47 +0000

oh wow ..this information is quite useful for my presentation on cairo’s mosques…thankyou very much…

Comment on The Red Sea: Coast by SURVIVAL – BEDOUIN STYLE | Al Rahalah

SURVIVAL – BEDOUIN STYLE | Al Rahalah — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:04:50 +0000

[...] CoastThe Nile Valley: Aswan and NubiaThe Nile Valley: Middle EgyptThe Nile Valley: Upper EgyptThe Red Sea: CoastThe Red Sea: Eastern DesertThe Sinai PeninsulaWestern [...]

Comment on ZHENG HE (1371-1435): ADMIRAL OF THE TREASURE SHIPS by admin

admin — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 09:41:06 +0000

Well said and very true.

Take care.
Islam

Comment on ZHENG HE (1371-1435): ADMIRAL OF THE TREASURE SHIPS by Romeu Francisco

Romeu Francisco — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:14:42 +0000

I have to admit that i didn’t know anything about Zeng He’s voyages before 1998. History is usually taught, in all the countrys i lived in, under a strong national perspective. So I guess a lot is either “forgotten” to mention (ex: a military defeat forgotten in the history books of the vanquished may well give birth in the history books of those that prevailed to epic tales). In the case of Zeng He, it was either “forgotten” (as it would cast a shade to the Portuguese discoveries), or just plainly overlooked, as i must confess that practically all non-European History demands a personal effort of investigation, or are mainly taught in Universities. The most unbelievable fact is the following: most of the times, a country’s population is completly ignorant of their neighbour’s history, with the exception of battles and political affairs that involved both.
Unfortunately, i don’t have a lot of time today, so I will just end with the following piece of info: Zeng He’s voyages came to my knowledge after having visited the China pavillion in an international exposition held in Portugal, Lisbon, in 1998. It was a very good surprise, and undoubtedly one of the biggest ever exploration fleets made by man. Take care.

Romeu

Comment on ZHENG HE (1371-1435): ADMIRAL OF THE TREASURE SHIPS by admin

admin — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:26:17 +0000

Very well written insightful comment Romeu. I don’t know where to begin responding to it.

The voyages were not just for exploration, it was a show of the might of China, and I think they achieved both objectives, as seen from the emissaries and from the colonies and trade they established with far away nations. The size of the flag ship has been debated for a while, but there are several documentaries by the BBC and History channel that proved they have been built to these massive dimensions. Agreed the larger they were the less manoeuvrable they were, however, a fleet that consists of 300 ships, many of them smaller highly armed and manoeuvrable ships, would have been enough of a deterrent to anyone who thought they might take them on.

By “discovering” the Indian Ocean, it is meant the discovery of lands and islands, otherwise I think the Indian Ocean has been around much longer than da Gama and Zheng He, and I am pretty sure lots of ancient civilizations navigated it in their search for new lands.

When one writes or discusses history, there is always an element of romance that inevitabley finds its way into the text, as long as it does not turn the text into a work of fiction, I think it is fairly acceptable. The purpose of this article and the others like it is to introduce otherwise unknown explorers to the west, who might have never heard of them before. I am not a historian, but if you would like to, go check the Saudi Aramco link at the bottom of the article, it might be more enlightening.

Thank you for your comment.

Comment on ZHENG HE (1371-1435): ADMIRAL OF THE TREASURE SHIPS by Romeu Francisco

Romeu Francisco — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:52:38 +0000

A very romanced point of view concerning Zeng He’s voyages. Although leaving a lot of clues hinting it, the author forgot to explicitly say that Zeng He’s trip, strongly diplomatic, was a show of power and strength, aiming to demand tribute to other nations. Of course exploration was a very important consequence of these voyages, but the main reason was trade. And to have trade (and better trades), you must have at least some sort of political/diplomatic agreement. I guess Zeng He achieved that, as proved by the envoys and officials he brought back to the Chinese court.
The first Europeans that entered the Indic Ocean were also led by trade. They also used diplomacy. They also did build comercial infrastructures. They did not seek conquest or military subjugation, although hostility against them was punished with cannonballs. Shortly after started the attacks on their trade fleets and trade infrastructures (1500, state of Kerala, India), war broke loose, though. The Mameluks and Ottomans got involved… and Venice.
By the way, the largest ship-of-the-line ever built was Ottoman, 57m long. The biggest they were, the lower their maneuverability. So, saying the admiral ship was 440 feet long (around 134m) is hard to believe. Moreover, I’d say just by the looks of it that it would sink pretty quickly, especially during a storm.
The armada of Vasco da Gama was made of 4 ships only (no need for more in a discovery trip, unless you already know exactly where you are going and if you are expecting to make war). A fleet of over 300 ships comes with huge logistic problems anyway. Vasco da Gama’s fleet: 2 Portuguese carracks, and 2 caravels. Not just caravels. “frail”: the canons worked well against the enemies they met in their way north. The admiral ship was a carrack of 27m long, São Gabriel. They never claimed to have discovered the Indian Ocean, like you said. They discovered the sea route to India, around Africa. 2 explorators (or spies)(Pêro da Covilhã and Afonso de Paiva) were sent a few years before by land, to map the Indic, the red sea, the arabic peninsula, the persian gulf, the horn of Africa and the Indian lands. They sent regular reports that proved to be very accurate. Vasco da Gama in fact did not hesitate very much during his trip.