Page 44 - Anglo Portuguese Rivalry in The Gulf_Neat

galliots, frigates and the like.1 Their cargoes consisted mainly of as he was called by the Portuguese, was at more or less open enmity
such goods as they had formerly imported into Persia via Ormuz, of with the Persians of Bahrein, and hence the alliance with the
which spices and fine cloths yielded the greatest profits. The most Portuguese, and the support he received from Ruy Freyre in 1627.
profitable investment in return was pearls, but many European goods All the local trade was in the hands of the Pasha or his sons, whose
could be secured, which came on camel caravan overland from monopoly had anything but a beneficial effect on commerce in
Aleppo. Bocarro estimates that nearly 500,000 xerajines were general. Nevertheless, the place was important on account of the
invested annually in this trade, though the profits varied considerably. fact that it yielded the finest Arabian horses which could be had for
He gives a very unflattering description of the inhabitants (in which money; and great profits were realised on the sale of these in India.
he is borne out by most other contemporary writers), stigmatizing The most expensive of them did not cost more than 200 patacas,*
them as being 11 very fat, white, weak and cowardly ” and “ much whilst some could be had for as little as 50 or 60. They were brought
addicted to sodomy despite the unusual beauty of their women.** down to Qatif from the interior by the Beduins. There were also
He admits nevertheless that the Portuguese were exceedingly well great quantities of seed-pearls from the Bahrein beds to be obtained
treated by the local authorities, and that the Pasha kept faith with at Qatif, since most of the pearl-fishers came from this latter district.
with them very well, save on some occasions when he was justly These horses and pearls were paid for by the Portuguese, with cloths
provoked by their own wanton misdeeds.1 He speaks very highly and linen from Sind and Cambay, and with silver money in the
of the excellent wine, grapes and fruits to be had, and particularly form of Iarins and abexins. A subsidiary export was that of dates,
commends the marmalade and dates. The Portuguese had two which although not so fine as those of Basra, made a better and more
churches in Basra, one of the bare-footed Carmelites, and the other lasting product when dried. Bocarro gives an interesting description
belonging to the Augustinians, whose congregations included many of the Beduins* marriage ceremonies, which included betrothal by
Armenian and Assyrian Christians, of whose rites he gives an account. capture. The exact amount of money invested in the Qatif horse
Della Valle, who was at Basra in 1625, has left us a not very edifying trade is not stated, but he admits that it amounted to many thousands
description of the behaviour of the Reverend Fathers towards each of cruzados or ducats, a year.
other. It is interesting to note that Bocarro speaks very highly of
the martial qualities of the Assyrian Christians, and states that the RUNG (Congo).
Conde de Linhares encouraged them to emigrate to Muscat, Ceylon
and other Portuguese settlements, where their fighting value would The Portuguese factory at Kung was founded by Ruy Freyre in
be welcome—an anticipation of our own Assyrian levies raised in 1630 under the circumstances related in the text, In accordance
1918. with the agreement made at that time with the Khan of Shiras, the
Portuguese were to enjoy a moiety of all Customs dues levied on
QATIF (Catifa). goods entering the port, in the same way as the English did at
Gombrun, but in both cases considerable difficulty was experienced
The importance of Qatif as a centre of Portuguese trade in the in extracting the amounts claimed from the Persians. Despite the
Gulf, likewise dates from the loss of Ormuz. The district was under continual threat of a Persian attack on Muscat, and the intermittent
the rule of an Arab Sheikh, who, like the Pasha of Basra, acknowledged state of war in the Gulf which continued even after the negotiation
a shadowy vassalage to the Ottoman Sultans. The Sheikh, or Pasha . of the truce in 1630, the Portuguese factory at Kung remained
unmolested by the Persians, and even attained quite a considerable
1For detailed descriptions of these types of sailing vessels, see Dalgado,
Glossario Luso-Asiatico, (Coimbra, 1919-1921). prosperity. In 1633 there was some talk of transferring it to a site
three miles from Gombrun, which would have had a bad effect on
•The terms on which the Portuguese were established at Basra, are to be
found on pp. 271-272 of Vol. II of the Chronista de Tissuary, (Nova Goa, 1Pataca in Portuguese, or Patacocn in English, was the old Indo-European
1867). Della Valle also gives a summary of them. The prosperity of the name for the dollar or piece-of-eight. Larin was Persian bar silver money,
Portuguese factory received its first check with the appearance of the English of which 5 Larins were worth one pataca. The Abexin (also written Abassi,
in 1640, who were followed by the Dutch six years latef. The factory then Abassee, etc.) was a kind of Persian silver money, first coined by Shah Abbas II
declined and was given up for some years, but was re-established in 1695. (whence the name) about 1600 and worth some 300 Portuguese reis, or
In Bocarro's time, the Pasha was named Ali.
sixteen pence of English money according to Herbert and Fryer.
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