ABSTRACT

Sailors from the Gulf were trading with India and China when European sailors were reluctant to venture far beyond their native shores and the traffic in the goods of the East to the markets of the West went on through the ports of the Gulf over the centuries with few interruptions. Yet the wealth which passed through the hands of the Gulf traders over the centuries did little to enrich the population: only pearling in the waters of the Gulf itself provided much employment, with an annual influx from all over Arabia to fill the pearling boats during the season.