Every indulgence and encouragement was afforded by the laws to the Moorish cultivator. The independence so necessary to the successful prosecution of agricultural pursuits, he enjoyed to the utmost degree compatible with the maintenance of social order. For the most part, he himself instituted the regulations of husbandry, which were enforced by magistrates taken from his class and of his own selection. His taxes were not oppressive. The productiveness of the soil, the equability of the climate, never permitted his labors to go unrewarded. In Valencia, where each week yielded a new crop to the farmer, rest of the land, essential to the preservation of fertility elsewhere, was unknown. In Murcia, the wonderful vegetation had given to the country a name suggested by its resemblance to the luxuriant Valley of the Nile. The annual yield of oil by the Axarafe at Seville was two million one hundred and eighty-seven thousand five hundred gallons; every day during the olive harvest a hundred and twenty-five thousand gallons were brought into the city. All Africa, Asia, and Europe were supplied with this useful article of food by the plantations of Southern Spain. It was not without reason that the olive-tree—the source of such wealth, the emblem of peace—should have been regarded as blessed by both the Moslem and the Jew. Roses were so abundant at Cordova that twenty-five pounds of the leaves only brought two dirhems, and every one was at liberty to pluck all the flowers he desired from the hedges that bordered the highways or in private grounds, a privilege which was never abused. In localities unfavorable to cultivation the deficiencies of the soil were supplied by untiring industry. Walls of ponderous masonry supported terraces where the very cliffs were made productive, and where only a bush or a vine could be planted the narrow space was utilized. Not only water, but loam and fertilizing materials were brought from great distances.
The dimensions, the splendor, the opulence, of the principal cities amazed the foreigner accustomed to the crowded quarters and squalid wretchedness of the European capitals. All were surrounded by suburbs, themselves of vast extent, stretching as far as the eye could reach. The mountain slopes of Almeria and Malaga were covered with vineyards; in the plains were thousands of acres of sugar-cane; in the marshes, rice plantations. The gardens of Almeria extended for a radius of twenty miles north, east, and west from the harbor. The supreme importance of the agricultural interest as affecting the general welfare of a community was never more conclusively demonstrated than by the disastrous results consequent upon the expulsion of the Jews and the Moriscoes. These results have already been alluded to in these pages. The destructive policy which blotted out a great civilization brought with it its own punishment. Extensive regions, which under the Moslems produced immense revenues, are at the present day barren and uninhabited. The sole traces of former prosperity in districts now relinquished to the bandit and the smuggler are disclosed by mounds designating the sites of former villages. Where were once endless plantations of valuable trees are now dreary wastes destitute of all vegetation, incapable of supporting animal life, cursed with eternal drought and hopeless sterility. The cities have lost by far the greater portion of their inhabitants; the villages have dwindled to hamlets; the ancient hamlets have disappeared. In the Peninsula, under the Arabs, there were no uncultivated tracts except those covered by the forests; in the middle of the last century in Estremadura—not including the mountain regions which embraced one-third of the area of the province—there were two hundred thousand acres abandoned; in La Mancha forty-five thousand; in the district of Utrera thirty-one thousand. The only localities where agriculture still flourishes are those where Nature has distributed her choicest favors; where the necessity for arduous labor does not tax the capacity of native indolence; where the products of the earth grow in spontaneous profusion; where the systems of irrigation and tillage introduced by the Moors still prevail without substantial alteration, disclosing their unrivalled adaptability to the purposes of rural industry.
The great productiveness of the soil and the proximity of the Mediterranean naturally suggested the development of natural resources and the extension of commerce in Moorish Spain. With the ancient Arab, the predatory instinct alone took precedence of the mercantile propensity. That propensity received a tremendous impulse from the foundation of Islam. Encouraged by the precepts and example of the Prophet, who, as the factor of Khadijah, had visited the cities of Syria, the calling of the merchant soon came to be regarded by every Moslem as a profession of honor as well as of profit. The inhabitants of the Desert were, for the most part, divided into two classes,—those who organized caravans and those who plundered them. Centuries before the Hegira, a lucrative trade was carried on between the districts of Mecca and Yemen and the rich cities of India, Assyria, and Egypt. Little effort therefore was required for the establishment of profitable commercial intercourse between the seaports of the Spanish Peninsula and those which at frequent intervals dotted the shores of the Mediterranean. Almost coincident with the Conquest an extensive trade was inaugurated. The control of the sea by the navy of the khalifs extended immeasurably the facilities of mercantile intercommunication. The great markets of Christendom maintained the closest relations with the opulent houses of Almeria and Malaga; the wares of Constantinople, Venice, and Genoa found ready purchasers in the bazaars of Cordova as well as in those of the provincial capitals of Andalusia and Al-Maghreb. But the dauntless spirit of the Moorish Moslem was not limited to maritime trade; his factors were to be found in every country accessible to the influences and the enterprise of civilization; his caravans traversed with equal rapidity and perseverance the forests of Europe, the deserts of Ethiopia, the illimitable plains of Central Asia, the marshes and jungles of Hindustan. The mysterious perils of unexplored seas, the fierce aspect and savage manners of wild and barbarous tribes, the formidable obstacles presented by trackless wastes and pestilential swamps, were all forgotten in the thirst for gain and the excitement of adventure. The memory of the expeditions periodically despatched by their ancestors from the cities of Arabia, the sight of the enormous profits accumulated by the Jews, at once their instructors, their allies, and their competitors, stimulated the ambition of the Spanish Arabs, already predisposed to mercantile occupations, and whose extraordinary energy seemed to promise success in every undertaking. Mussulman legislation, so eminently favorable to the requirements of internal and foreign commerce, offered aid to the followers of the Prophet in a more effective manner than had ever been suggested by the founders of other religions. The duties imposed by the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina were intimately connected with the conditions of traffic. Long before Mohammed, the altar and the bazaar had been placed in a position of mutual dependence by the sagacious and thrifty traders of Yemen. The idolatrous shrine of Mecca looked for its support to the pilgrims who, allured partly by superstition, partly by avarice, at regular intervals swarmed within the walls of the Holy City. The Koran enjoins under all circumstances the strict observance of contracts and the practice of honesty, and menaces with the justice of heaven such as violate the principles of equitable dealing in business transactions. In addition to the general principles of Mohammedan law which promoted the intercourse of nations, the Ommeyade khalifs of Spain exempted from taxation many products of manufacture and objects of luxury,—among them weapons, armor, and jewelry,—aware that the increased wealth which must result from this privilege would enure to the benefit of the people far more in the end than the transitory advantage resulting from the imposition of taxes or duties.
The sea, as well as the land, was made tributary to the enterprise of the Saracens. Amber was thrown up in considerable quantities around Lisbon. The pearl fishery was an important occupation of the natives of Valencia and Alicante. In the neighborhood of Almeria quantities of exquisite onyx and agates were found. Rock salt was abundant,—a great hill of it stood near Saragossa. The mountains of Alhama were composed of gypsum, which afforded the finest quality of plaster. Deposits of lapis-lazuli existed at Lorca. At Macael were inexhaustible beds of white marble that rivalled in lustre and beauty the product of the Grecian quarries of Pentelicus. The mountains of Andalusia abounded with jasper. Carthagena yielded amethysts. Rubies were mined near Malaga.
Inland traffic was assisted by means of fairs,—those popular mercantile expedients which foster trade and at the same time develop the social instincts of humanity,—institutions especially acceptable to semi-barbarous nations and long familiar to the people of Arabia. Ease of communication, the most potent of civilizing influences, promoted this national interchange of both commodities and ideas. The disposition of merchandise, profitable as it was, while the ostensible motive, was by no means the most important object of these popular assemblies. Familiarity with distant communities, the conversation of strangers, the varying panorama of novel and interesting scenes, the excitement and bustle attendant upon the congregation of vast multitudes, are wonderful stimulants to the intellectual faculties. The literary contests for poetical supremacy which were said to have formed a distinctive feature of the mighty concourse of Okhad were revived in the fairs of Andalusia. While the latter were designed for provincial benefit, they, in fact, partook largely of a cosmopolitan character. Their fame attracted commercial speculators from the most distant countries. Articles of great rarity and value were exposed for sale in their booths. The transactions concluded within their limits were not inferior in importance to those which had created the commercial prosperity of Malaga and Almeria. The circumstances incident to their institution and surroundings offered representations of tropical life strange to the eyes of Christendom. The endless lines of plodding camels, loaded with precious stuffs; the splendidly caparisoned horses; the sumptuous litters enclosing the beauties of the harem; the sullen and ferocious eunuchs; the retinues of the nobles glittering with steel and gold; the swarming crowds in the white robes of the Oriental; the enchanting landscape, with its groves of palm, orange, and pomegranate, its rippling waters, its fragrant exotics; the narrow streets covered with awnings to exclude the sun; the gay pavilions; the strange costumes of luxurious Asia and barbaric Africa; the mingled accents of a score of idioms, manifested on highway, thoroughfare, and plain the foreign influence which, apparently established forever, had obliterated the Roman and Gothic traditions of the Peninsula. No such spectacle could be elsewhere exhibited unless in countries where Eastern customs had held sway from time immemorial. The effect of these periodical assemblies upon the commercial, literary, and social life of Mohammedan Spain was of the highest importance.
Great as was its internal traffic, it was necessarily to its foreign mercantile connections that the Moorish empire looked for its most profitable returns. Its geographical position was unusually favorable for the prosecution of maritime enterprise. The Mediterranean gave its traders ready access to all the most civilized countries of the world. But a few hours’ sail separated them from the ports of Northern Africa, where were amassed the rich commodities of that vast continent. The Bay of Biscay afforded a passage for their vessels to the harbors of France and Britain. According to Edrisi, they explored Madeira, the Canaries, and the Azores four hundred years before those islands were occupied by Europeans. Through the passes of the Pyrenees they could reach the markets of Northern Europe. Thus brought in contact with remote nations which had no other means of communication, the European Moors enjoyed peculiar commercial advantages which they were not slow to improve. The carrying trade of the Peninsula was largely in the hands of the Jews. The latter had been a lucrative source of revenue to the Goths, as they were subsequently to the persecuting Spaniards. They were the bankers, the importers, the carriers of the empire. They imparted a large share of their energy and enterprise to the Moslems, already envious of their success and their opulence. In the ninth century an extraordinary impetus was communicated to the intercourse with the Orient; in the tenth the merchants of Spain and Sicily practically engrossed the commerce of the Mediterranean. Every provision was made for both security and profit. Armed galleys patrolled the coasts and convoyed the fleets of merchantmen as they traversed the seas. The inland mercantile transactions of the Spanish Moslems were probably not inferior in importance to their maritime ventures. The discovery of innumerable coins and pieces of jewelry on the coast of Scandinavia and along the rivers of Germany and Poland indicates, more certainly than any historical record could do, the former presence of the adventurous traders of the Peninsula. The khalifs had consular agents in India, China, and Persia. They sent magnificent gifts to Oriental potentates. They negotiated treaties with the barbarian princes of Central Africa. Tribal hostility was forgotten in the mutual advantages arising from traffic with the Mussulman cities of Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, and with the settlements of the Indian archipelago. Policy as well as interest confirmed the friendship early established between the Moslem sovereigns of Spain and the Greek emperors of Constantinople. They exchanged presents, despatched special embassies, received the representatives of imperial dignity and hostile faith with every demonstration of honor and respect. The exclusive commercial privileges enjoyed by the merchants of the two empires gave them a vast superiority over all competitors. Colonies of foreign Christians who occupied quarters by themselves and were governed by their own laws were established in all the seaports and in many of the inland cities. The number of these in Granada at the time of the Conquest was twenty-five thousand, the majority of whom were Italians. The traders of the Bosphorus were frequently seen at the fairs of Castile; the great houses of Almeria and Barcelona maintained agencies in the Byzantine capital which controlled the rich commerce of the Euxine and the Baltic.
In the great markets of the East and West the choicest articles of luxury passed through the hands of the shrewd and enterprising dealers of Mohammedan Spain. From the borders of the Arctic Circle came the precious furs of the lynx, the fox, and the ermine, the least valuable of which was worth a hundred dinars; from Norway and Siberia stores of fossil ivory; from Arabia balsams and aromatics; from Germany honey and wax; from the countries of the Baltic mastic, storax, and amber; from China tea and porcelain; from Ethiopia gold-dust and asbestos; from Persia perfumes; from India spices and sandalwood; from Sweden and Finland female slaves with faultless complexions and flaxen tresses, whose ordinary price in the bazaars of Cairo and Cordova was a thousand pieces of gold. The Jews and the monks of France, adepts in an execrable occupation, provided the harems with white eunuchs. Timbuctoo and the districts of the Niger contributed blacks of gigantic proportions and ferocious aspect, to be enrolled in the body-guard of the khalifs. The hawks, so generally used in the sport of the Middle Ages, were for the most part bred or furnished by the Moslem merchants. They also imported from Africa wild animals, such as lions, giraffes, and leopards, for zoological collections and for sale in distant countries. A lion in the markets of China was valued at thirty thousand rolls of silk. The camel, easily domesticated in Andalusia, always commanded a high price as a beast of burden. The principal emporiums of mediæval commerce and international exchange, where were collected the most valuable products of a hundred kingdoms, all of which paid tribute to Moorish enterprise and wealth, were Constantinople, Alexandria, Malaga, and Palermo.
The great centres of manufacturing and mercantile activity were situated on the Mediterranean. Of these, Almeria was the most important. From the extreme East, from the Nubian deserts, from the coast of Guinea, from distant Britain, from the frozen regions of the North, traders crowded her streets and markets. In her harbor were to be encountered the ships of every maritime nation. Her eight hundred silk factories, employing more than eight thousand looms, sent forth gold and silver tissues, carpets, curtains, robes,—whose delicate texture and exquisite designs excelled the finest products of the Orient. The iron and copper utensils made by her artisans enjoyed an extensive reputation for durability and finish. The influx of strangers who contributed to her wealth and shared her hospitality may be conjectured from the fact that nine hundred and seventy caravansaries within her walls were registered to pay the excise on wine.
At Malaga, another great seaport, were situated the largest potteries in Andalusia, where was manufactured the porcelain whose surface of enamelled gold, silver, and copper was due to a process known only to the Arabs of Spain. The clay found in the vicinity was peculiarly adapted to the purposes of the potter, and had centuries before assumed the symmetrical forms of classic elegance under the dexterous hands of the Roman. The efforts of antiquity had, however, been surpassed by the Moors, who in time brought this industry to a perfection heretofore unknown. In other towns, such as Valencia, Murcia, Murviedro, and Calatayud, it was also pursued with great success. The resources of modern ingenuity have been taxed in vain to discover the secret which could give to a porcelain vase the peculiar finish which, while preserving unchanged the colors of the metals, increased far more than any burnishing could effect the lustre of its brilliant surface. In no city in the world, excepting those of China, was the fabrication of porcelain pursued with such skill and profit as at Malaga. Its exportation was one of the most lucrative sources of wealth enjoyed by the kingdom of Granada. With the people, this industrial pursuit was not merely a vulgar trade carried on for mercenary motives, but an occupation which permitted and encouraged the development of the highest scientific and artistic instincts of humanity. The vases of graceful form and exquisite decoration which came from the Malagan potteries were eagerly sought after by the opulent and luxurious of every land. The perfection of this branch of the ceramic art with the secret of the metallic enamel disappeared with the final conquest of the city. This fact is not in itself remarkable, for the advent of the Spanish domination was signalized by the destruction of many forms of useful industry; but it is absolutely unprecedented that a manufacture of such magnitude, whose extent and perfection were established by so many indisputable proofs, should not have left intact to posterity a single specimen of its excellence. There is not positively known to be a genuine piece of the famous metallic pottery of Malaga in existence. Some fragments have been found in that city, whose glassy surface displayed the brilliant lustre which excited the wonder of contemporaneous nations; but no European museum or private collection, it is almost certain, now possesses an article which exhibits this marked peculiarity, or whose origin, with any degree of probability, can be assigned to the greatest centre of the ceramic art in the mediæval world.
Not for the fabrication of silks and pottery alone was Malaga famous. Her glass and paper, her utensils of iron and copper, the complex and elegant labors of her cabinet-makers and joiners, also enjoyed a wide and deserved celebrity.