Page 6 - Journal of the Cenral Asian Society (1960)

F-
7'2 SOME EARLY TRAVELLERS IN PERSIA
house was seen by him at tho mouth of the Hindijan rivor. Ho gives
an interesting description of Basrah and the river botweon it and
Abbadan, then, as now, Hanked on either side by deep palm groves,
amongst which, on either bank, stood the country-houses and castles
of local notables.
Dating from the twelfth century is another Persian work called
the Fars Namah of Ibn-ul-Balkhi, which describes this province most
minutely, and is invaluable as far as it goes.* Of Bushiro, under tho
old name, Rishahr, he writes : “ The climate here is extremely hot, ao
4
that men have, in summer-time, to wrap the inner rind of the acorn on
parts of the skin in certain places, otherwise it.would chafe into sores
by the excess of sweat and the heat engendered there. Further, they
have the habit of putting on many shirts, and they wear them very
long. The people have neither excellence nor strength of character,
being of a weak nature.”
The first-mentioned custom no longer holds, though it is an antici­
pation of the virtues of talcum powder; the custom of wearing many
shirts is certainly no longer a habit of the residents, though it is typical
of Baluchis to this day, and no one who knows the Bushiris would
agree with Ibn-ul-Balkhi’s estimate of them ; on the contrary, they are
by common consent the most energetic and businesslike community in
the Persian Gulf.
Of Ganawah, a fishing village north-west of Bushire, and a base of
operations, of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, under its old name
Jannabah, he writes : “ In Persian they call it Ganfah, which signifies
“ Stinking Water.” Now a city that has stinking water for its
name
must be described as of an evil stinking character, and there is no
occasion to speak of its condition.”
Here again, Ibn-ul-Balkhi, who probably never actually travelled in
this region, must still have been wide of the mark. His derivation
of the name of the place from the Persian Gand-ab is far-fetched,
and, as a matter of fact, the water there is excellent, and has apparently
always been so, for it is mentioned favourably in later chronicles,
notably in the logs and sailing directions of East-India merchantmen.
Idrisi, who wrote in the middle of the twelfth century, is of little
help to us, as he bad no personal knowledge of Persia, and his work
has come down to us in a very corrupt form.
Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, a Spanish Jew, who wrote in 1173, was
a contemporary of Idrisi; he visited Tadmor, Babylon, Baghdad, and
Susa among other places, and his narrative makes the first European
travel story that has come down to us since Arrian's narrative of
Nearchus and the scanty account of Trajan's exploits. Of Qatif he
writes that —
* See Le Strange's translation, Asiatic Society Monographs, xiv.,
1912.
73
AND THE PERSIAN GULF
“ It is a city with about 5,000 Israelites. In this vicinity the pearls
aro found : about tho 24th of Nisau (ie., in April) large drops of rain
are observed upon the surface of the water, which are swallowed by
the roptiloo, aftor this they close their shells and fall upon the bottom
of tho sea; about the middle of the month of Thishri (i.e., in October),
some people dive with the assistance of ropes, collect these reptiles
from the bottom and bring them up with them, after which they are
opened and the pearls taken out.”*
Ho.visited Wasit, Basrah, and Susa in Khuzistan, which was then
inhabited by 7,000 Jews. From Susa he went through Luristan to
Rudbar, and thus to Hamadan and Qazvrn, whence he returned to the
south, visiting Kish (or Qais) and Qatif, as already remarked, on his way
to India.
3
Coming to the thirteenth century, the period of the Mongol invasion
3 aud the fail of the Abbasid Caliphate, we have the voluminous geo­
graphical dictionary of Yaqnt, a compilation from earlier writers illus­
trated by the author’s own far-extended travels.
In the earlier partvof the fourteenth century we have the systematic
geography of Abu'l Fida, a Syrian prince; he, however, never visited
• H
Persia, and his work is accordingly of restricted interest to us. His
% description of Basrah and its canal system is very clear and interesting,
but he had obviously very poor information regarding the courses of
S the Karun and the rivers of Khuzistan and Fars. In his day Ahwaz
was the centre of a very extensively irrigated area. “ On its borders,’’
he writes, “ are to be found delightful spots and plains of immense
extent, planted with sugar-cane and other crops.”
Of the same date are the travels of Ibn Batutah, the Berber
3
(a.d. 1355), who rivalled Marco Polo in the extent of his voyages. His
book is written in Arabic. He visited Dhufar by sea, and sailed thence
up the Gulf of Oman into the Persian^ Gulf, touching at Masira, Sur,
Kalhat, and other places in Oman, .and later at Hormuz, Bandar
i Abbas, then known as Jeraun,* whence he travelled to Lar, and
Khunj, returning to Siraf, the modern Tahiri, and there embarked for
Qatif, on the Arabian'side. He gives an interesting account of the
pearl fisheries,! not, however, free from exaggeration, as will be seen
a from the following quotation :
“ DiverB differ from each other in the time they are able to remain
under water. Some can stay one or two hours, or even longer. When
the oysters are opened,” he says, “pieces of flesh are found inside,
which are detached with a knife;. as soon as they are exposed to the
air they harden and change into pearls.”
Taxation was heavy in those days—one-fifth to the Sultan ; then, as
now, the industry was run by merchants, who financed the divers, who
were generally in debt to them. *
* “ The Itinerary of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela.” Asher. Two vols., 1840.
t “ Voyages of Ibn Bafcuta.” French translation of Defreraery and San-
guinetti. Paris, 1914.