ABSTRACT
After the rise of Islam, Persian navigation was not merely isolated between China and Sumatra, but extended to Ceylon and to the ports of the Persian Gulf. Persian navigation of early Muhammadan times was merely a continuation of Sasanian navigation and the Persians were the initiators of the Arabs in trade with the Far East. In 758 AD, the Persians in China were in sufficient numbers to bum a sea-port of the size of Canton and it is in 758 AD that the first record is obtained of Arab sea-trade with the Far East. When the Persian trader had exceeded the limits of the Himyarite and obtained his silk directly from China, the long coasting voyage had to be replaced, or supplemented, by a direct and open sea-route. For this reason, probably, a gradual recession took place in the headquarters of the trade with India and China.
