Khoja Murad

Khoja Murad was a wealthy Armenian merchant who served the Ethiopian king on several trading and diplomatic missions. Born in Aleppo where he spent the first part of his life, Murad moved to Ethiopia around 1646 and entered the service of its king Fasilidas. It was not long before he began to dominate the greater part of the king’s export-import business. Every year he was sent to Mocha, on the coast of South Arabia, to sell a large number of slaves, and to purchase goods from India. Murad also served the Ethiopian king on a variety of diplomatic missions: to Surat and Delhi (1663-1664) and to Batavia, Java on three occasions between 1674 and 1697. These missions achieved the goal as Murad succeeded to establish contacts both with the Mughal Emperor and Dutch in Batavia.