Bilāl b. Jarīr al-Awḥadī
Description / Bio
The most prominent Muslim merchant in Aden, and later a general and ruler of Aden. As a merchant, together with Maḍmūn b. Ḥasan, he constructed a ship intended to travel over two thousand miles to Ceylon [Sri Lanka]. "Bilāl governed Aden on behalf of his master Sabaʾ b. Abū Suʿūd (see introduction to II, 51), who was called al-Awḥad, 'The Unique' (Kay, [Yaman], 50 [Arabic Text]), and whose son and heir was named Muḥammad. The latter married Bilāl's daughter and inherited his wealth (Kay, ib. 160)." (Goitein & Friedman, India Book, 374 n24) Bilāl died in 1151/52 CE according to Lambourn and Ackerman-Lieberman, "Chinese Porcelain and the Material Taxonomies of Medieval Rabbinic Law," The Medieval Globe 2, no. 2 (2016).