Arab Merchants Flock to Indonesia in Search of the Plant Mentioned in the Quran
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - In Surah Al-Insan, verse 5, Allah promises that those who do good deeds will drink from a cup of beverage mixed with camphor water. The ulema interpret camphor water as water from the camphor plant, or capor resin. Do not imagine the camphor referred to as the small scented item known today. The substance now known is a chemical synthesis derived from naphthalene (C10H8). Meanwhile, the camphor mentioned in the Quran is a plant popular in the Arab world named Dryobalanops aromatica. This plant is notably fragrant and is said to be drinkable because it is healthful. However, Arab communities could not easily obtain it since it is not native to their lands. Consequently, they had to search for camphor plant centres and, to cut a long story short, brought traders to the eastern reaches of the world. That unfamiliar region is now known as Indonesia.
Camphor Plant Centre
Archaeologist Edward Mc. Kinnon, in Ancient Fansur, Aceh’s Atlantis (2013), notes that trade networks gradually informed Arabs that the centre of the camphor plant lay in Indonesia, specifically on Sumatra. More precisely, the location was Fansur, now called Barus. Arab traders repeatedly described Barus as an important port that transported commodities, among them camphor. Arab trader Ibn Al-Faqih, for instance, by 902 CE already referred to Fansur as a camphor-producing region alongside cloves, nutmeg, and sandalwood. The geographer Ibn Sa’id al-Magribi, who lived in the 13th century, also detailed that Fansur camphor originated from Sumatra. Moreover, if traced further back, the Roman geographer Ptolemy had mentioned Barus in the 1st century CE.
On this basis, many Arabs, especially merchants, flocked to Sumatra. They were willing to undertake long voyages from Arabia to obtain camphor. Historian Claude Guillot, in Barus Seribu Tahun yang Lalu (2008), notes that Arabs arrived in Barus via a direct voyage from the Persian Gulf, passing by Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and arriving on the West Coast of Sumatra. They typically carried large ships to transport substantial quantities of camphor to be sold at high prices in international markets. Over time, Arab arrivals to Sumatra increased as Barus camphor became high-quality, surpassing camphor from Malaya and Kalimantan.
At this point, Barus proved to be a camphor-producing region and had developed into an important port in Sumatra.
Emergence of Islam
The revelation of camphor’s location in Indonesia led many Arab traders to visit Barus to pause, and later settle. If they navigated to China, they would certainly stop first in Barus. However, their arrivals were not solely for trade but also contributed to spreading Islam. As a result, Islamisation occurred among the local populations at places where Arab ships docked, namely Barus (Fansur), Thobri (Lamri), and Haru. The earliest Islamic traces in Barus are thought to date to the 7th century CE. This is evidenced by the Mahligai ancient tomb complex in Barus, where a gravestone dating from the 7th century AD is inscribed.
From here, a theory emerged about the arrival of Islam in Indonesia, which remains a matter of debate. Yet the fact remains that Islam gradually spread there. Regardless of the veracity of that theory, Muslim traders in Barus successfully formed trade networks connecting the Arab world with Indonesia, making the archipelago well known from antiquity.