Barbaria was the name used by the ancient Greeks for littoral northeast Africa. The corresponding Arabic term, bilad al-Barbar (land of the Barbar), was used in the Middle Ages.[1] The name of Barbaria is preserved today in the name of the Somali city of Berbera,[1] the city known to the Greeks as Malao.[2][3][4][5]
The first contact of the Greeks with Barbaria came in the 3rd century BC, when the Ptolemies set up bases for elephant hunting. These bases remained in use as ports for the export of myrrh and frankincense throughout antiquity. There were many smaller ports that exported tortoiseshell and ivory.[7] In the Periplus, Barbaria is said to lack central government and is ruled by local chiefs. Azania, on the other hand, is subject to the Sabaeans and Himyarites.[6] In the Periplus, the inhabitants of the first Barbaria, or the Barbarike chora (Barbarian region), include the eponymous Barbaroi (Barbarians, Berbers), but also Ichthyophagoi (fish eaters), Agriophagoi (wild beast eaters) and Moschophagoi (shoot eaters). These are probably the same people as the Trogodytes of other ancient geographers. The Moschophagoi may correspond to the Rhizophagoi (root eaters) and Spermatophagoi (seed eaters) of other geographers.[9]
Arabic sources refer to the coast as the Baḥr Berberāoral-Khalīj al-Berberī and its inhabitants as the Berbera or Berābir. They are the Somalis, distinguished from the Habash to their north and the Zanj to their south.[10] From Arabic, this terminology for northeast Africa entered Hebrew (Barbara), Persian (Barbaristan) and even Chinese (Pi-pa-li). Most of these usages are associated with Somalia.[2] The Chinese term, although probably derived from Berbera, refers to the coast and hinterland and not just the port.[11]
Guraza captures and subdues the Shah of Berberstan during battle
In the 6th-century Sassanid text, the Letter of Tansar, the third part of the world was designated the “Land of the Blacks” which stretched from the Berbers to India.[12] The Berbers in this context alludes to the city of Berbera.[13][14] The Persian Firdawsi in his epic, the Shahnama, refers to 'Barbaristan', which according to J. Darmester corresponds with modern-day Somalia.[15]
In the epic poem, soldiers from Barbaristan march upon the orders of their king, coordinating with Himavarin. Their forces capture renowned Persian warriors such as Giv, Gidarz, and Tus.[16] Ka'us, the epic's protagonist, responds by rallying his forces, leading them towards Barbaristan. The encounter is fierce, with Barbaristan's forces ultimately being overwhelmed. The elders of Barbaristan, recognizing their defeat, seek peace and offer tribute to Ka'us, who accepts and imposes new laws.[17]
Later, the combined forces of Barbaristan and Himavarin, consisting of over two hundred elephants and a two-mile-long battle line, clash with the Persians.[18]Rustam captures and subdues key figures, including the king of Himavarin, significantly weakening the coalition. Guraza, a key Sassanid figure, captures the monarch of Barbaristan and forty chiefs.[19]
The great Shah later unlocks his treasury to distribute lavish gifts, including jewels, crowns, finger-rings, brocade, and slaves adorned with earrings and crowns. Among these gifts were items from Barbar, such as a hundred steeds.[20]A host from Barbaristan and Rúm, led by Kishwaristin, joins the Shah's left wing, contributing thirty thousand strong in horse and foot to the left wing.[21] Afterwards, Caesar selects twelve thousand efficient and martial cavaliers from the men of Rūm, Misr, and Barbar[22]
^ abMichael Peppard, "A Letter Concerning Boats in Berenike and Trade on the Red Sea", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik171 (2009), pp. 193–198.
^ abDavid M. Goldenberg, "Geographia Rabbinica: The Toponym Barbaria", Journal of Jewish Studies50, 1 (1999), pp. 67–69.
^ abcLionel Casson, "Barbaria", in Glen W. Bowersock, Peter Brown and Oleg Grabar (eds.), Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1999), p. 334.
^Paul Wheatley, "The Land of Zanj: Exegetical Notes on Chinese Knowledge of East Africa prior to AD 1500", in Robert W. Steel and R. Mansell Prothero (eds.), Geographers and the Tropics: Liverpool Essays (Longmans, 1964), pp. 139–187, at 142–43.
