Under the Watchful Eye of Mimī Bin c Abd Allāh: The Voyage of the Dutch Merchant Pieter Van den Broecke to the Court of Dja c far Bāshā in Sana'a, 1616

When on the morning of 4 May 1616, after having been received in state by cavalry, noblemen and citizens, Pieter van den Broecke descends from the splendidly caparisoned mount with which he has been presented; when his feet sink into the carpets of the audience-hall of the Castle of Sana's, then he realizes, striding along between two rows of dignitaries standing with crossed arms, that a crucial moment in his voyage to the court of the “Governor-General” of the Ottoman province of Yemen has come. Dja c far Bāshā is sitting enthroned on a platform, dressed as if he were “the monarch of the entire world”. The Dutch opperkoopman (”upper-merchant”), in his black suit, greets him with reverence, whereupon the beglerbegi commands him to sit down. What! Sit down, on the carpet, on the floor, he, Captain of the Dutch? What else could that mean, in this formal entourage, but his submitting to the wālī ? Then his interpreter retrieves the situation: “Sir, may Allāh bless You! The Dutch captain cannot sit in the way we are accustomed to do …”