The Graves of Tarim: Genealogy and Mobility across the Indian Ocean

407 Pages·2006·2.03 MB·English

by  Engseng Ho

The Graves of Tarim
the california world history library
Edited by Edmund Burke III, Kenneth Pomeranz, and Patricia Seed
1. The Unending Frontier: Environmental History of the Early Modern World,
by John F. Richards
2. Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History,by David Christian
3. The Graves of Tarim: Genealogy and Mobility across the Indian Ocean,
by Engseng Ho
The Graves of Tarim
Genealogy and Mobility
across the Indian Ocean
Engseng Ho
UNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIAPRESS
Berkeley / Los Angeles / London
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University ofCalifornia Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University ofCalifornia Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2006 by Engseng Ho
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ho, Engseng.
The graves ofTarim : genealogy and mobility across the Indian
Ocean / Engseng Ho.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn-13: 978-0-520-24453-5 (cloth : alk. paper), isbn-10: 0-520-24453-2
(cloth : alk. paper)—isbn-13: 978-0-520-24454-2 (pbk. : alk. paper),
isbn-10: 0-520-24454-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Hadramawt (Yemen : Province)—History. 2. Hadramawt
(Yemen : Province)—Emigration and immigration—History. 3. Tarim
(Yemen)—Antiquities. I. Title. II. Series.
ds247.7.h33h615 2006
953.35—dc22 2005035585
Manufactured in the United States ofAmerica
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
ofansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper).
Dedicated to the Muwalladôn,
wherever you may be
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Note on Dates, Abbreviations, and Transliteration xv
Preface: Hadrami Society, an Old Diaspora xix
1. burial
1. The Society of the Absent 3
2. Geography, a Pathway through History 27
3. AResolute Localism 63
Conclusion to Part I: Making Tarim a Place of Return 92
11. genealogical travel
4. Ecumenical Islam in an Oceanic World 97
5. Hybrid Texts: Genealogy as Light and as Law 116
6. Creole Kinship: Genealogy as Gift 152
Conclusion to Part II: Local Cosmopolitans 188
111. returns
7. Return as Pilgrimage 195
8. Repatriation 223
9. The View from the Verandah 244
10. Evictions 294
Concluding Remarks: Names beyond Nations 321
Bibliography 329
Index 359
Illustrations
Figures
1. Diaspora in a genealogy, with location of places of death xvi
2. Community of pilgrimage 7
3. Silk-draped ark over the Adeni’s tomb in happier times 8
4. The Adeni’s tomb after the desecration in 1994 9
5. Community of cadres 17
6. View of the wadi 34
7. Grave of the Migrant 40
8. Umar’s rock 45
9. Tambourines and flutes of the “servants of al-Saqqáf” 52
10. Progress of the maníab of ªAynát into Hñd 54
11. Pilgrims at the tomb of Habôb ªAlôal-Habshô, Sayºñn 60
12. Graves ofTarim and their cupolas 64
13. Coªee implements at the grave of the Migrant 86
14. Texts in a niche by a grave within a dome 90
15. ªUmar al-Junayd’s mosque, Singapore 93
16. Ratios of local-born to immigrant male Hadramis
in the Netherlands East Indies 183
17. Steps to Habôb Nñâal-Habshô’s Indian-style
shrine, Singapore 196
18. Lineal genealogy beside the tomb of Habôb Nñâal-Habshô 197
19. Swimming pool, Tarim 252
20. Queen Elizabeth II knighting Sayyid AbñBakr al-Káf,
Order of the British Empire 290
21. Verandah of the sultan’s palace by the sea, al-Mukallá 292
22. Hadramis who were evicted from Kuwait after the first
GulfWar 308
23. Graves of socialist martyrs upended
by northern Yemeni army 315
24. Genealogical passport 325
25. Aname undone 326
Maps
1. Trade routes across the Indian Ocean xvii
2. Hadramawt 30
3. The Malay Archipelago 156
4. Diaspora in imperial space, 1914 246
Tables
1. The ªAlawôWay: Foundational Figures 38
2. Who’s Who: Engraving History 206