Page 60 - History of Portuguese in the Gulf_Neat

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T54 APPENDIX A.
Dram Ku, descended by old and direct succession from the kings
of Sabah, which is a province of Arabia, whereof she was queen
who came to see Solomon. This prince, wishing to increase his
realm (as is the usual desire of rulers), marched out of his own
territory, and overran and possessed those of his neighbours; not
ceasing until he came to the shore of the Persian Gulf, which is
that narrow sea which we now call in Portuguese the Strait of
Harmuz.1
Having got so far, he persuaded his folk to follow him across
the sea, with the promise of good luck on the Persian shore,
where he was minded to found a ba?idcl, that is, a port, which
should have more fame and trade than Soar.2 This is a port of
Arabia on the same strait, then much frequented; and though it
be now brought to little by wear of Time, yet still do the site and
ruins, as I saw them,3 bear witness that it was once an important
city.
After counsel taken, he and all his people went to Kalayat,4 a
port of Arabia in the Persian Gulf, near the Cape of Rocolgat.
;• Thence he embarked, with all his followers, and what they
required, and made his passage to Iasques,5 a well-known port on
ct scq.) is given a slightly abridged version of Turdn Shdh’s history,
A copied (though not acknowledged) from Teixeira. Sir Thos. Herbert
(Travels, 4th cd., 1677, P- 108) gives a very brief summary of the
P history of Hormuz, also apparently taken from Teixeira. Valentyn also
(Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien, deel v, p. 231) gives a very incorrectly-
! spelt list of the Kings of Hormuz.—D. F.
1 The particular waters meant are not the Persian Gulf in general,
but its narrow entrance, at and eastward of Hormuz, forming what we
now call the “Sea of Omdn.” [It is more probable that the Gulf of
Omdn is meant; for, according to the Dominican friar’s version,
■j
Muhammad and his company marched to Kalhdt, whence they
took ship to the coast of Persia. This is also stated below in Teixeira’s
*J, account ; so that the exact meaning of the above passage is somewhat
doubtful.—D. F.]
2 Sohdr. It has now 4,000 to 5,000 inhabitants (Persian Gulf Pilot).
; 3 Adam Olearius, in one of his annotations to chap. ix. of Man-
[See description in Comment, of Af. Dalb., vol. i, pp. 91-92. Cf.
also Imams of 'Oman, p. iii, n.—D. F.J
3 “ Y tal me parescio a my.” [In 1587, doubtless, after leaving
!• Mdskat for Hormuz (see Introduction).—D. F.]
i 4 Kalhdt, a little north-west of Rds-al-Had, the eastern point of
Arabia. It is now only “a little village,” with reported “anchorage
for small craft quite close in” (Persian Gulf Pilot). Its place has
been taken by Sur. But this part of the coast of Oman, with a good
position, plenty of water, and a bold and enterprising people, has x Hormuz ; but assuming as correct the date (1278) given for the death
always been more important than it looks on a map. [See description
! of Kalhdt in Comment, of Af. Dalb., vol. i, p. 66. See also Imams oj
1Omdn, p. 37, ; Yule’s Marco Polo, vol. ii, p. 449.—D. F.]
f
4 Jashk of the Persian Gulf Pilot. [See Hobson-Jobson, s.v. “Jask,
Jasques, Cape.”—D. f.]
!
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1
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KINGS OF HORMUZ. r55
the Persian coast. Thence coasting northwards, he entered
Kostek,1 another port of the same shore. Now, Xa Mahamed
had left in K&layat a son of his, with a wise wazir. that, if he
should have ill success over sea, he might here have safe harbour
and passage.
When he had come to Kostek, he disembarked his men, and
sought a convenient place for his settlement. Hearing that fur­
ther on there lay a place called Harmuz,2 very fit for his enter­
prise, he went thither with his force. On examination he approved
of the site, and established himself there ; laid out and founded
a city,3 allotted the land, which was ill-peopled, at his discretion,
and struck money, whence he had the surname of Dramku.4
He had with him a son of his, named Solcyman, by whose en­
deavours the city grew and prospered notably. And Xa Maha­
med dwelt and ruled there, in peace and with justice, and by
reason of his high character, wisdom, and valour, was held in close
alliance by his neighbours, the governors of Xyraz and Kermon.
He died some years after the foundation of Harmuz,4 and left it,
greatly increased, to his son Soleyman.
Turonxa’s alternative story of the rise of this kingdom of Har­
muz is as follows. The father of Xa Mahamed was a king in
Arabia, who, warring on another, was beaten in battle and fled;
and because he held himself in peril in Arabia, he passed over
1 Kohistug and Kuhistak of modern maps. [Barbosa (p. 36) calls it
“ Goxtaque.” See also infra, Appendix D.—D. K.]
2 The site of Old Hormuz has been for some time assigned to Khor
Minaw (=Minaw Creek), on the authority of Sir Lewis Pelly, accepted
by Sir Henry Yule. The port was later on represented by “Gom­
broon,” as that is now by Bandar Abbas, standing almost on its ruins
(vide Persian Gulf Pilots s. v., and Yule’s Marco Polo). [See also
Yule’s article on “Ormus,” in Encyclopedia Britannica, and Hobson-
Jobson,s.v. “Ormus;” and J. R. Preecc’s “Journey from Shiraz to
Jashk,” in Royal Geographical Society's Supplementajy Papers, vol. i,
pp. 423, 4-5- D. F.J
delslo’s Travels (see p. 13 of Bk. in. of English trans.), misquotes
Teixeira as saying that Mahmud founded the city of Hormuz on
the island afterwards called by that name.—D. F.
4 The possession of a mint and special coinage being a royal privi­
lege throughout the East, this was an assertion of independent sove­
reignty. The etymology given is correct. [See infra, Appendix 1).—
E>. F.]
5 No dates are given in connection with the first eleven rulers of
of the twelfth, and allowing to each of his predecessors an average
reign of thirteen years, the foundation of the kingdom of Hormuz
would fall in A.D. 1100. Yule {ubi supra) places the founding some­
what earlier ; and Valentyn [ubi supra\ on what authority I know
not, gives a.d. 700 as the date of the founder Muhammad.— D. F.