Barbaria (region)
[2][3][4][5] According to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a 1st-century travelogue written by a Greek merchant based in Alexandria, Barbaria extended from the border of Egypt just south of Berenice Troglodytica to just north of Ptolemais Theron.
From there to the Bab-el-Mandeb was the kingdom ruled by Zoskales (possibly Aksum), after which the "rest of Barbaria" extended to Opone.
Later sources (Cosmas Indicopleustes and Stephanus of Byzantium) place it on the African side of the Arabian Sea.
[8] The first contact of the Greeks with Barbaria came in the 3rd century BC, when the Ptolemies set up bases for elephant hunting.
[9] Arabic sources refer to the coast as the Baḥr Berberā or al-Khalīj al-Berberī and its inhabitants as the Berbera or Berābir.
[10] From Arabic, this terminology for northeast Africa entered Hebrew (Barbara), Persian (Barbaristan) and even Chinese (Pi-pa-li).
The text provides valuable insights into the geography, culture, economy, and unique fauna of this part of the world.
There is also (in this country) a wild animal called isii-la (但蝶); it resembles a camel in shape, an ox in size, and is of a yellow color.
There are many sorcerers among them who are able to change themselves into birds, beasts, or aquatic animals, and by these means keep the ignorant people in a state of terror.
The government has formally forbidden this practice.Every year countless numbers of birds of passage (飛 禽) alight in the desert parts of this country.
It is not known whence ambergris comes; it suddenly appears in lumps of from three to five or ten catties in weight, driven on the shore by the wind.
[13]In the 6th-century Sassanid text, the Letter of Tansar, the third part of the world is designated the “Land of the Blacks” which stretches from Barbaria to India.
The elders of Barbaristan, recognizing their defeat, seek peace and offer tribute to Ka'us, who accepts and imposes new laws.
[19] Later, the combined forces of Barbaristan and Himavarin, consisting of over two hundred elephants and a two-mile-long battle line, clash with the Persians.
[20] Rustam captures and subdues key figures, including the king of Himavarin, significantly weakening the coalition.
[23] Afterwards, the Caesar selects twelve thousand efficient martial cavaliers from the men of Rūm, Misr, and Barbaristan.
