Arabia), Uman, al-Hind (India) and al-Sin (China)". Following the foundation of the Arab garrison town of Basra further inland, al-Ubulla declined in strategic importance but remained a major trade port until the Mongol invasion.

As indicated by the medieval Arabic geographers, al-Ubulla continued to be a large town, more populous than Basra, throughout the Abbasid era (750-1258). Yaqut al-Hamawi