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I am not sure it isn't partially a coincidence, but there seems to me that there is a connection. Who feels they can look into it?
Rabat (r-b-t) as ancient Semitic word for fortified town (see for instance Rabbath Ammon, Rabbath Moab). The word was used in medieval times for faubourg, or suburb (used this way for instance for Ajloun Castle, Qal'at ar-Rabat in Arabic, understood as "the castle with the suburb", where the castle's suburb eventually became the town of Ajloun). A quick Google search confirmed what I remembered, and it's a reliable source: "Cyprus, Greece, and Malta" p. 150, Britannica Educational Publishing, 2013.
Ribat, the Early Muslim type of frontier fort. From Yumna Masarwa, FROM A WORD OF GOD TO ARCHAEOLOGICAL MONUMENTS: A HISTORICAL-ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE UMAYYAD RIBATS OF PALESTINE (dissertation, 2006): "Literally, the word ribat (as a substantive) means a place where horses were kept ready to be mounted for an expedition. In the Qur'an, the term (as a verbal noun) denotes the act of keeping the horses ready to be mounted for military expeditions. However, in the period of conquests that saw the establishment of Muslim power in the new territories of al-Sham (Greater Syria), the term ribat became associated with the idea of “going to the frontier.” It has not yet been determined when the term ribat began to denote an edifice that could take the form of a small fort, a fortress, a fortified city, or even a fortified caravanserai..." So maybe not related to r-b-t, just a phonetic coincidence that dissipates if one can read abjads and one of the three letters actually differ from rabat to ribat?
Robat, apparently the Persian (Farsi) variant/pronunciation for ribat. Dozens of places called "Robat-i XYZ" in the Persian realm.
Due to historical process, the transformation of ribats as frontier forts, into ribats as caravanserais/khans, or/and Sufi retreats: there are so many of them that it looks like a very important phenomenon with a large influence in the expansion of Islam, settlement, and trade. Arminden (talk) 11:57, 2 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
