Red Sea Trade Routes

Timeline

1. 1371–1380Bab el-Mandeb · Bab el-MandebShips from Malabar ports such as Calicut carried pepper, camphor, musk, sandalwood, Indian Ocean pearls, and transshipped East Asian goods through the Bab el-Mandeb into the Red Sea, sailing north along the western coast to Jeddah. By the mid-14th century, the volume of Indian Ocean trade reaching the Mediterranean via the Red Sea had significantly surpassed that via the Persian Gulf.
2. 1371–1380Jeddah · HejazSince the 11th century Jeddah had been directly controlled by the Hashemite sharifs of Mecca, and under the Mamluks it became an increasingly important maritime trade relay station. Goods unloaded at Jeddah were either transferred to northbound ships (sailing against the northerly monsoon) or carried overland along the Hejaz pilgrimage route to Egypt and Syria. The Meccan merchant community grew steadily wealthier during this period, mutually reinforcing the pilgrimage economy.
3. 1371–1380African Red Sea coast · Red SeaThe old African-side Red Sea relay ports of Aydhab and Quseir continued to decline due to insecurity in the Nile Valley and the difficulties of overland transshipment in Upper Egypt, and Indian Ocean–Mediterranean trade became further concentrated along the Jeddah–Mecca–Cairo axis. This pattern heightened the strategic significance of Mamluk suzerainty over the Hejaz and the management of the pilgrimage for trade.