Cotton Cultivation System of the Islamic World

Timeline

1. c. -2500–800Indus River Basin to Persian Gulf · Persian GulfAfter cotton was domesticated in the Indus River Basin, it spread along trade routes during the Persian Sasanian dynasty and the expansion of the Arab Empire into Mesopotamia, Syria, and Egypt, becoming an important supplementary crop of West Asian agriculture.
2. c. 800–1050Nile Delta and Mesopotamia · Nile DeltaIslamic agronomy applied qanats, waterwheels, and seasonal canal irrigation to cotton field management; combined with spinning wheels and ginning techniques, intensive cotton cultivation models formed in Egypt and Mesopotamia, significantly improving yield and fiber quality.
3. 1060–1070Cotton-producing areas of West Asia and North Africa · North AfricaBy the 1060s, cotton was widely cultivated in West Asia and North Africa; cotton cloth from Egypt and Syria was exported via Mediterranean trade routes, and cotton field acreage and tax revenue showed it had risen to a core cash crop, supporting urban textile industries and long-distance trade.