Very interesting questions you raise and I hope we will hear some insightful responses. Just a quick comment about trade with India.
In my travels to southern India in recent years I have asked often about the connections between that region and the Muslim world. Along the Malabar coast of southern India are very old immigrant populations of Muslims that probably date from the early origins of Islam. Their descendants became the Moplah. Trade between northern Africa and the old Indian cities of Calicut and Cochin was established before Islam, so I have no doubt that the import of wootz steel from India would have been quite feasible. Whether the Indian swordsmiths would have parted readily with their secrets is another matter IMO.
Ian.
|