ABSTRACT
Women’s voices in narratives of historical transnational Indian Ocean travel and trade are notably absent in most histories, which has led to a common misunderstanding of the historical Indian Ocean as an arena of travelling men and stationary women. Documented histories demonstrate, however, that Muslim women from both Arabia and Asia travelled through the Indian Ocean for trade, family reasons, and as pilgrims for hundreds of years. In this chapter I focus on the topic of women’s historical hajj travel in the Indian Ocean from approximately the 13th century to the 17th century. Bringing together over 500 years’ worth of accounts of women travelling for hajj in the region, I organize evidence that helps us to better understand women’s roles in past networks of Islamic knowledge and practice, and show how reviving women’s voices in historical hajj narratives may challenge common conceptualizations about the spread of Islam in the region.
