Page 283 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

244 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [CH.

Island of Bahrein,—a distance of three hun­
dred and fifty miles. On the map, this portion

bears the designation of the Pirate Coast.
The history of these maritime robbers may
be traced back to a very remote period. Ibn

Haukal, in his version of the Koran, informs
us that before the deliverance of the children

of Israel from Egyptian bondage, the subjects
of a pirate monarch in these parts seized on

every valuable ship which passed. The pos­
session of a few ports within and near the
entrance of the Persian Gulf, where it is not

more than thirty miles across, enabled them
to perceive and sally out on all passing ves­

sels. Nor were their depredations confined
to this vicinity alone; the whole southern
frontier of Arabia, and the northern portion

of India, were not exempted from their ra­
vages. To the Portuguese during their brief

career in India, they proved quite as trouble­
some as they did in the latter part of the
eighteenth century to ourselves.

With these robbers the Imams of Maskat
have been repeatedly at war. In 1805,

Sayyid Sultdn, uncle of the present Prince,
encountered them near Lingar, and, after a