Hashim Institutes the Winter and Summer Trade Journeys

A severe drought and famine once struck Makkah, so severe that families would prepare their own graves and wait for death, having no food left. Hashim, Qusayy's grandson through Abd Manaf, judged that something had to change, and hit on the idea of Rihlat al-Shita' wa al-Sayf (the Winter and Summer Journey): two annual caravans, one south to Yemen in winter, tapping goods that arrived there by ship from India and Africa, and one north to Bosra, near Damascus, in summer, connecting Makkah to the Silk Road passing through Syria and onward to Rome and Persia.

The Quraysh's standing as caretakers of Makkah's sanctuary meant these caravans traveled largely unmolested even in a lawless land; other Arabs regarded the guardians of the Ka'bah as too sacred to rob. Hashim is also said to have struck agreements with the rulers of Rome and Yemen securing safe conduct and favorable terms for the Quraysh's trade there. Makkah, sitting in the middle of this new lifeline between Yemen and Syria, prospered, and Hashim grew extremely wealthy. He used his wealth to feed the pilgrims (the origin of his name "Hashim," from the root meaning "to grind" (he would grind grain and provide bread)) and he was never known to eat a meal without inviting others to share it.