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Farhan (fl. 1762) was an 18th-century Emir of Loheia (modern Al Luḩayyah, Yemen) A former slave who had risen to high office under the Imam Al-Mahdi Abbas, Farhan was the governor of Al Luḩayyah in the mid-18th century when a group of Danes visiting Arabia on an “expedition of observation and discovery”〔''Travels through Arabia and other countries in the East: performed by M. Niebuhr''...translated into English by Robert Heron (Edinburgh, 1792)〕 sought permission to travel through his territory:
Emir Farhan was open-minded and intellectually curious. As the Europeans he had previously met had been only traders he was surprised to learn the Danes had a doctor, a botanist and an astronomer among their party, and at once suggested they stay some time in his territory to pursue their researches before travelling on to their destination, Mocha, under his protection. As the Danes had previously met with far more hostile receptions from governors of Arab cities they were impressed with Farhan’s very different approach, and though their schedule did not allow a long stay parted from him after two months with strong regret. The account of their travels written by expedition member Carsten Niebuhr singles him out affectionately as ”the good Farhan” and mentions his particular interest in the scientific instruments the Danes had brought. The parting gifts they chose for him were a telescope and a watch. They also mention an improvement he had made to the fortifications of Al-Luhayyah and the success of his troops in repelling a raid upon the city. After Niebuhr's account was published in French,〔''Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, par C. Niebuhr''〕 the example of Emir Farhan was cited in anti-slavery literature to disprove racist assertions of the supposed natural inferiority of Africans.〔"Here then we have an African towering above the subtile Arabian; and shall his country, by European insolence, be still depressed in the scale of reason and human excellence?" ''An inquiry into the effects of putting a stop to the African Slave Trade...'' By the author of The Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies: London, 1784〕 ==References== 〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Farhan, Emir of Loheia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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