Arab Traders Travelled to Indonesia in Search of the Plant Mentioned in the Quran

In Surah Al-Insan verse 5, the Quran promises that “those who do good deeds will drink from a cup (containing a drink) mixed with camphor water”. Islamic scholars have interpreted camphor water as water from the camphor plant, known in Arabic as kapur barus. This should not be confused with the synthetic camphor used today, which is derived chemically from Naphtalene (C10H8). The camphor mentioned in the Quran refers to a plant popular in the Arab world with the Latin name Dryobalanops aromatica, characterised by its strong fragrance and health benefits when consumed.

However, Arab communities found it difficult to obtain this plant domestically, as it was not native to Arabia. This necessity drove traders to seek out the world’s primary source of camphor, eventually leading them to a region then unknown to them — what we now call Indonesia.

According to archaeologist Edward Mc. Kinnon in his work “Ancient Fansur, Aceh’s Atlantis” (2013), trading networks revealed to Arab merchants that the centre of camphor cultivation was located in Indonesia, specifically on the island of Sumatera, at a place called Fansur, now known as Barus.

Arab traders repeatedly identified Barus as a crucial port for transporting commodities, including camphor. The Arab merchant Ibn Al-Faqih mentioned Fansur in the year 902 as a region producing kapur barus, cloves, nutmeg, and sandalwood. The 13th-century geographer Ibn Sa’id al Magribi provided specific details confirming that Fansur’s camphor originated from Sumatera. Even further back, the Roman scholar Ptolemy had already mentioned Barus in the 1st century AD.

Motivated by these historical records, many Arab inhabitants, particularly merchants, flocked to Sumatera. They undertook arduous voyages from Arabia to acquire camphor. Historian Claude Guillot notes in “Barus a Thousand Years Ago” (2008) that Arab traders reached Barus via direct routes from the Persian Gulf, passing through Ceylon (Sri Lanka) before arriving at Sumatera’s western coast.

They arrived in large ships designed to transport substantial quantities of camphor for sale in international markets. Arab visits to Sumatera increased significantly after Barus camphor gained a reputation for superior quality, surpassing camphor from Malaya and Kalimantan.

At this juncture, Barus became established as a major camphor-producing region and developed into an important port in Sumatera.

The revelation of Indonesia’s camphor resources brought numerous Arab traders to Barus, who would either stop temporarily or establish permanent settlements. Those travelling to China would invariably stop in Barus first. However, their arrival was driven not solely by commercial interests but also by the mission to spread Islam.

Consequently, the local populations in the regions where Arab ships arrived — Barus (Fansur), Thobri (Lamri), and Haru — underwent Islamisation. Evidence suggests that Islam first entered Barus during the 7th century AD, as documented by the ancient Mahligai cemetery complex in Barus, where tombstones from the 7th century AD are preserved.

This historical situation has given rise to one theory regarding Islam’s arrival in Indonesia, though this continues to generate scholarly debate. Nevertheless, the historical record clearly demonstrates the gradual process of Islamic dissemination across the region.

Regardless of the validity of these competing theories, Muslim merchants based in Barus successfully established trading networks connecting the Arab world with Indonesia, establishing the archipelago’s prominence on the global stage centuries ago.