Radhanite

The Radhanites (also Radanites, Arabic الرذنية ar-Raðaniyya; Hebrew sing. רדהני Radhani, pl. רדהנים Radhanim) were medieval Jewish merchants. Whether the term, which is used by only a limited number of primary sources, refers to a specific guild, or a clan, or is a generic term for Jewish merchants in the trans-Eurasian trade network is unclear. Jewish merchants were involved in trade between the Christian and Islamic worlds during the early Middle Ages (approx. 500–1000). Many trade routes previously established under the Roman Empire continued to function during that period largely through their efforts. Their trade network covered much of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of India and China.

Etymology

Several etymologies have been suggested for the word "Radhanite". Many scholars, including Barbier de Meynard and Moshe Gil, believe it refers to a district in Mesopotamia called "the land of Radhan" in Arabic and Hebrew texts of the period. Others maintain that their center was the city of Ray (Rhages) in northern Persia.Cecil Roth and Claude Cahen, among others, make the same claim about the Rhône River valley in France, which is Rhodanus in Latin. The latter claim that the center of Radhanite activity was probably in France as all of their trade routes began there. Still others maintain that the name derives from the Persian terms rah "way, path" and dān "one who knows", meaning "one who knows the way". English-language (or Western) sources added the suffix -ite to the term, as is done with ethnonyms or names derived from place names.