Page 38 - Arab Navigation in the Indian Ocean (before portuguese)_Neat

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444 ARAB NAVIGATION
above) or some other nearby place. It occurs both in Sulaiman
■ i (Minhaj) and Ibn Majid (Leningrad Sofdliya).
Between Madraka and Ma§Ira the variation is even greater. The
‘Umda has j isba' between them with nothing at the interval of
9° P.S. and the Minhaj a whole i$ba\ The Minhaj has Hamrafun
0,ib> at 9i° P.S. and Ra's Sarab vlr- at 9£° P.S. The former is the
present-day Hamar Nafur (“wild doves”) close to Ras Siddara,91
the sea bird island mentioned by Ibn Battuta. The name Sarab
exists also today; for a low sandy cape with a village not far from
the present-day Ghubbat al-Hashish. Beyond this both of Sulaiman’s
texts have al-Hilmatain which according to Qutami is at the
southern end of Masira ('Umda 9i°, Minhaj 9J°) and which is
followed by Hi If Masira (9^° and 10° P.S.) ('Umda
Ijwl. ZjL- ^b) the northern cape of Masira island. From Khuriya
Muriya the route was NE to Masira or from the former to Madraka
: Momi of modern maps. The western end consisted of two capes,
'S NE by E and from here to Masira NE by N from Masira to al-
% Hadd was NNE. North of Masira the texts agree except for the
actual figures with Ghubbat Hanabil Jjtj- v at 9J° and 10^°,
Khanatil in Qutami); Ra's Sariq JjL ^b (Rays al-Sharik Internat.
1:1m) at 10° and 10^°; al-Khabba (Ra’s al-Khabbeh Internat.
1:1m) at 10i° and 10|°; and finally Ra's al-Hadd -d-l ^b at 104°
and 11°. In addition the present-day Ra’s Jibsh is probably men­
tioned by both authors. It would be written Jjfr, but is disguised
in the Minhaj as S/Sw ^b and in Ibn Majid as jUi ^b-92 Of these
capes Ibn Majid also mentions Ra’s al-Hadd, RaJs Sariq and of
I course Masira island. Ra’s al-Hadd (Cabo de Rosalgate to the
I Portuguese) although not the actual east point of the Arabian
$ peninsula, is the name given to the general high rocky mass on this
I corner of Oman. It is the most important cape in the whole Indian
M Ocean for our Arab navigators not only because it was the first
point of home on the return voyage, but also because it was the
f.
£>' confluence of two wind systems and two opposing currents and
f navigation there was extremely tricky whether one was rounding
it or meeting it when coming from India. Thus all sailing directions
I have a lot to say about it. It was also known as Rays al-Jumjumah
which is the name given to it by Hamdani,03 and occasion­
ally occurs as such in the texts.
91 It is possible that Shikar has slipped from 9° P.S. to an empty 8i° in the * Umda,
Sulaiman then replaced it with Hamrafun, keeping it by mistake in the
empty place below Madraka. Qutami sheds no light on this area at all.
92 Hammer, translating Sidi Qelebi, gives cru, JASB, Oct. 1837, p. 807, and
Qutami has
93 Hamdani, op. cit. p. 127.
w.
o f
THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE NAVIGATIONAL TEXTS 445
(b) Soqotra ;
The island of Soqotra JL or ^ might be regarded as part of i !
the Arabian peninsula, and at the time of Ibn Majid and Sulaiman i •
it was politically connected with the south coast.94 It was also an
important landmark on the routes from Aden and the Red Sea to N ’
southern India and Africa and is mentioned innumerable times by
both authors. Sulaiman also states that it was called al-Handam
but there is no other evidence for this. The main port of the
island was al-Suq (lit. the market) which is mentioned also by Ibn
al-Mujawir and which is 2} miles east of Hadhibu the present port
where an old Portuguese (?) fort exists.95 When giving bearings for
the coasts of the island Ra’s Hanlaf is probably meant for al-Suq i‘>
JjJ\. The eastern tip of the island according to the navigators was i:
Maml Soqotra ^ t/L (also called Ra’s Mam! i^L ^b); the Ras !:
'
the south-western one being Ra's Shar'ain ^-b which must be
that called today Ras Katanan. The north-western one was Ra*s I
al-Sha'b ^b which is presumably Ras Shoab of modern maps.
However Sulaiman’s bearings would tend to make it a more northerly
cape, Ras Bashuri, and as he says that the ancients put Ras al-Sha‘b i*
more to the north (5° P.S.) it seems certain that these two capes
were confused. Sulaiman’s shape for the western end of the island i
is very hazy, as the bearings for the island are E by S from al-Sha'b S
to al-Suq, then ESE to Ras Maml and then SW by W along the I I •
south coast leaving a gap at the western end unfilled. West of
Soqotra the Arab navigators place three islands from east to west. )!•
Daria ijj* or Ijjj; Samha l>^\ and cAbd al-Kuri V- These ii
still bear these names today, Darza and Samha being small and is
close together are called in English works “the Brothers”. ‘Abd al-
Kuri is larger and closer to the African coast. Sulaiman makes the ii;
Brothers 2 zam from al-Sha'b and cAbd al-Khuri 6 zamy with a f:
;{
passage for ships between it and the Brothers. West of ‘Abd al-
Khuri is a dangerous reef. Latitudes (Minhaj) are Ras al-Sha'b i
5|° P.S.; Maml Soqotra 5° P.S.; the southern point 4J° P.S.; ‘Abd
al-Khuri, Samha and Darza 4\° P.S.
!*!
(c) The Coast of Oman I
Beyond RaJs al-Hadd on the Oman coast only the ‘Umda gives ■
latitude measurements but now at \ i?ba' intervals, although the
!!-
94 Special sections are given in the *Umda and Minhaj on Soqotra, MS 2559 It
f. 23r-23v; 74r. The Hawiya also mentions the island on ff. I08r-108bis r.
95 Ibn al-Mujawir: Tarikh al-Mustabsir, ii, p. 267 and Serjeant: Portuguese, il
p. 158. Hamdani: op cit. p. 53.
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