Page 107 - Arabian Studies (I)

Arabia in the Fifteenth-century Navigational Texts 91

monsoon wind. As 1 have stated above, in Ibn Majid’s poem
MiTarrabah and Sulaiman al-MahrT’s texts, bearings are given to Aden
from practically all the other harbours in the Gulf or vice versa. In
the tables of monsoons (i.e. seasons for sailing), the times for leaving
Aden arc given first and Aden is probably the name most frequently
mentioned in these tables.
Shihr is the next place along the coast to be mentioned in the
tables of sailing times. It was the home port of Sulaiman al-Mahrl
and times of sailing are given to the west coast of India, Malacca and
the African coast. Ibn Majid also gives times of sailing to Soqotra: in
fact Shihr seems to be the main port for sailing to and from Soqotra
and at times Soqotra was ruled from Shihr. In addition bearings are
given from Shihr to various ports across the Gulf of Aden and
Sulaiman al-Mahrl gives details of a route from Diu to Shihr. In the
neighbourhood of Aden, used as a landmark for Aden and Bab
al-Mandam, the navigators mention DarzTna which is a prominent
cape across the bay to the west of Little Aden. This is probably the
present day Ra’s Kaan. They also mention the mountains of Ihsan
and Shamsan as landmarks, and these are prominent peaks on Little
Aden and the Aden peninsula respectively. Ibn Majid’s MiTarrabah
also mentions Jebel Kharaz as a landmark for Bab al-Mandam.
Between Aden and Shihr the navigational texts mention quite a few
places but not in any great detail. Abyan is frequently mentioned,
bearings are given from MaqatTn and Barum across the Gulf. Mukalla
although mentioned does not seem to have been regarded as very
important in those days. The islands of Qana (Husn al-Ghurab) are
mentioned once, as a feature of the coast.
The next place of any importance eastwards along the coast is
HairTj. The name has completely disappeared from the maps but
according to Serjeant4 is still remembered as being on the west side
of the mouth of Wadi MasTlah, perhaps where the ruins of Sharkhat
are shown on the International 1:1 m. map. Hairlj is mentioned as a
starting point for India and appears as one of the main harbours for
departure for Soqotra. The only other place of note before Ra’s
Fartak is al-Mishqas which according to the navigators was a harbour I
but is shown by Serjeant to be the name for the region east of Shihr
past the mouth of the W. MasTlah.5 It is most likely the navigators’
equivalent of the port of Qishn which appears in contemporary Arab
and Portuguese texts but not in the works of the navigators. Fartak
itself was the most important feature on the south coast. This was
where the navigators left the Arabian coast to set out across the
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ocean for India and in most cases it was the first feature they were
t
to identify as they returned to their home shore. Ibn Majid mentions
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