Sulaiman al-Tajir

Sulaiman al-Tajir, was a 9th-century Muslim merchant, traveler and writer initially from Siraf in modern day Iran. He voyaged to India and China and in 850 wrote an account of his voyages.

During his stay in the city of “Khanfu” (now known as Guangzhou) he noted that the Chinese used fingerprint records to maintain the identities of newly arrived foreigners, charged extortionate rates for imported goods and that the route to China by sea was dangerous due to piracy and frequent rain. He mentions that the local Muslim populace of Guangzhou had their own Mosques, bazaars and a Qadi (judge), appointed by the Emperor who kept order and applied canonical law of Islam.