Page 190 - Records of Bahrain (1) (i)_Neat

180 Records of Bahrain

114 ARABIAN COAST ; HAS REKKEN TO JEZIRET BUb1y,(N. [cii. Till.

Nenr tho mosque, a fair is held every Friday, for the sale of horses, cattle,
fruit, &e., which is frequented by a large number of people.
Portuguese rort, called by the natives Jibliah (and oilier names) is
nearly 3 miles, W. £ N., from the She'ikh’6 house at Mnuameh. The Arabs
know nothing of its origin.* It is exceedingly dilapidated, and, within
the enceinte, stand the ruins of many large buildings (query, barracks,
governor’s house, factory, &e.). It stands in a gap in the date trees, 150
yards from the beach, its highest part being about 80 feet above the sen.
From seaward, it makes in three principal lumps of light colour ; quite
shapeless. Nearly 1 mile N.N.W. of the fort, is a small rock above
water on the reef, to which Capt. Brucks gave the name of lighthouse
rock, from a notion that the Portuguese had one on it.
The whole of the coast between this and Mauameh, which forms a bay,
is lined with thick date groves : on the coast, 1 mile from Manameh, is a
fishing village called Nayim.
Nearly equidistant between the fort and town, and 1 mile from the
shore, stands a large ruined mosque with two minarets.*)' These are useful
marks for the harbour, being seen over the date trees, until near the
inner harbour.
From the Portuguese fort, the coast of the island runs west 2£ miles,
and S.W. by W., 2\ more, when it turns to the southward : at the west
point, is a tower and little village called Bidia’. Off the west coast, about
4 miles S.W. of Bidia* point, is a large island, called Umm an Has&n ;
it is low, and has two small peaks on it. North of it are two islets ;
there appears to be no passage between these and Bahrein island.
The west coast of the island runs, in an average south direction, for 27
miles, according to the chart by Lieuts. Brucks and Rogers, and is little
known : about 10 miles south of Bidia*, is a village and fort called Zalak.
From the south point of the island, which is called Ras al Bar, the coast
turns to north-east and north, and is also almost unknown. About
12 miles from Ras al Bar, are some extensive ruins, called Yafi.
* The chief actually asked us for some information as to who built it, and when it was
built, &c. It is similar to the other Portuguese forts in the gulf. viz. a regular bastioned
fortification of the 16th century, with moat, &c., embrasures in the parapets, and ca6c-
mated embrasures in the re-entering angles of the bastions. It was probably built soon
after 1521, when the Portuguese made their first expedition against Bahrein. It has been
partly built of the materials of some other building, probably a mosque ; us a great
number of stones, in the south face, are covered with carvings and inscriptions in the
old Arabic, or Cufic (?) character.
t This mosque is quite ruinous, and probably of the date of the Persian conquest of
Bahrein, being a Shiah mosque, from the name of ’Ali being joined with that of their
prophet in the profession of faith, in some inscriptions there. The Persians are, as is
well known, all of the Shiah sect of Mohammadans, while the Arabs and Turks are
Stinnis and do not venerate the name of 'Ali.