Page 108 - Arabian Studies (I)

92 Arabian Studies I
that here was the boundary between the Kathirl Sultanate of Shihr
and the domain of Zafar.
? a far, like Mishqa§, was the name of a coastal region, but was
treated by the navigators as if it were a town or harbour. Presumably
the town was the capital of the region and was where the town of
Saliilah now stands. Seasons for leaving for India and Malacca,
Soqotra and the African coast are given and routes for India and
Africa described. Several places in the neighbourhood of Zafar are
mentioned in the texts including Taqah and Murbat together with a
few prominent landmarks round Jabal Nus. The islands of KhurTya
MurTya are then mentioned and Ra’s Sauqirah beyond.
The remainder of the south coast of Arabia as far as Ra’s al-Hadd
is confused in the accounts of the navigators. The latitudes for places,
given as altitudes of the Pole star, vary in the two texts of Sulaiman
al-Mahri, and Ibn Majid gives other variations. An attempt to fit the
coast into tables of these measurements is probably the cause of the
trouble.6 The Pole Star registers 8 isba' at Sauqirah according to all
the sources, but Ra’s al-Hadd shows 10Viisba' according to
Sulaiman’s ‘Umdah and 11 i$ba* in all other sources. The basic list of
place names should be ten at !4 isba' intervals along the coast
covering 2Vzisba\ The ‘Umdah gives nine and has a gap where the
Pole star registers 9 isba\ Sulaiman’s Minhaj shows a complete
variation of 3 isbcr‘ and hence needs twelve place names, three more
than the 4Umdah. Two of these are inserted where the ‘Umdah has
the gap of one interval and one inserted immediately after Sauqirah.
Fundamentally the order of places in all texts is the same, but when
compared with modern information, although the places can mainly
be identified, the order is completely different. The twelve names given
by the Minhaj are Jazir (immediately after Sauqirah), Ghubbat
al-Hashish, Shidar, Madrakah, Hamrafun, Ra’s Sarab, al-Hilmatain,
Hilf MasTrah, Ghubbat Khanatil, Ra’s Sariq, al-Khabbah and Ra’s
al-Hadd. In fact Madrakah is the next prominent cape to Sauqirah
although Jazir does come in between. Shidar, Hamrafun, and Ra’s
Sarab are all names resembling modern place names in the Gulf of
Ma§Trah north of Madraka. However they are not evenly spaced as
shown in the texts nor are they in the order shown. Finally Ghubbat
al-Hashlsh on modern maps is in the extreme north of the Gulf of
MasTrah and its latitude would be between those of the two ends of
I the island of MasTrah. The island of MasTrah is represented in these
Pole Star altitude tables by al-Hilmatain shown by Qutami to be the
southern end of the island and Hilf MasTra which is presumably the
northern end.7 Ra’s Sariq and al-Khabbah are in the correct order on
the south coast of Oman beyond MasTrah and in this place the texts