Page 64 - History of Portuguese in the Gulf_Neat

V
162 APPENDIX A.
fury of the Turks.1 When they had got shelter in the island, after
some days’ rest therein, Aydz set forth, in search of an isle,
amongst several thereabout, wherein he and his folk might settle.
1.'1 He came to one that was desert, two leagues from that of
!•; Queixome; on a point whereof dwelt an old man called Gerun,2
with his wife, who lived by fishing, and sold his catch to the ships
bound from India to Queis, or from Keys3 to India, receiving in
exchange rice, cloth, and other food and apparel.
This Gerun, hearing from Ayaz to what end he sought the isle,
Hi;
•. r gave him counsel to come thither, for that he would find none so
fit for his purpose. Ayaz surveyed it, and, being content there­
with, proceeded to ask for it from the king of Keys, who owned
it, and all the other isles in the Persian Gulf. Keys, so called of
the Arabs and Persians, but by the Portuguese Quays,4 is a little
isle in the midst of the Strait of Basora.5 It is well watered and
wooded, and was of old the chief place of a kingdom ; but now
desolate since the loss of its trade, for fear of the Noutaqui
and Nichelii robbers, two breeds of pirates that ever infest that
sea.6 It had once that sea-borne trade that Harmuz now has, but
all that is lost in the wars, and scarce can it keep its own name.
Neyn, who was then king of Keys,7 ruled also over Gerun, to
which, during Ayaz’s visit, there had put in a Mulah, or man of
religion, called Xeque Ismael, a native of a village near Lara,s a
i
1 Barros {Dec. //, Liv. II, cap. ii) and Couto {Dec. V, Liv. x,
i cap. i) both ascribe the founding of the kingdom of Hormuz in the
island of Jarun to “ Gordunxd ” or “ Groduxd,” and date the migra­
i tion of the Hormuzis from the mainland in a.d. 1273 and circa 1250
respectively. The Dominican, whose version of Turdn Shdh is given
I in Appendix D, below, attributes the transference to “Cabadim.” The
author of the Connnent. of Af. Dalb. says that he could not learn the
history of the foundation of Hormuz (vol. iv, p. 185).—D. F.
•I; 2 Barros {u. s.) also speaks of this old man “Gerun”: but the
Dominican, it will be seen, says that the island was called “ Jarun,”
on account of its desert condition. —D. F.
3 These two names undoubtedly refer to the same island, and 1 have
i: transcribed them and translated the passage literally, to show our
■r
author’s methods of spelling.
4 A third spelling, within one paragraph of the editio priticeps.
8 That is, the inner or proper Gulf west of Hormuz. Kais is far from
i
the middle, near the Persian coast, to which it belongs, and is now a
prosperous little island enough, though by no means metropolitan.
I The reader will have noted above that the dynasties of Kais and ot
.! the continental Hormuz were closely related.
0 Regarding whom, see supra, pp. 20, 21 D. F.
*|i 7 We shall, once or twice, find again this name of “Neym” in con­
i nection with “ Keys.” And it is worth while to remember that the
i “ Banu Naim” are still a great clan on the Persian Gulf.
! 8 For the name of this “village near Lara” see next note. From
I
I. the authorities there quoted it would appear that the Shaikh’s name
/ was Ddnidl, and not Ismail, as here given.—D. F.
1
1
i
0
KINGS OF HORMUZ. 163
city of Persia. This man was wont to come annually at a certain
season, on tour amongst those isles, to beg alms for himself, and
for the poor of his town. Ayaz, having conversed with him and
found him capable, thought fit to employ him to obtain that
island from the king of Keys, whether by gift or by sale, so that
himself and his folk might go thither. He promised the Mulah
a good fee for his trouble, and the latter managed so well that he
obtained the isle; and though it was offered as a free gift, yet he
would not take it but on fair purchase for cash. In memory of
this service, it remained the custom of the kings of Harmuz to
pay yearly to the descendants of that Mulah a certain fee, for
which I have myself seen them come more than once.1
Ayaz, having obtained possession of the Isle of Gerun, pro­
ceeded to settle therewith his people, and gave it the unforgotten
name of his own land, that is Harmuz.2 But the Persians and
Arabs yet commonly call it Gerun ; nor has the ancient Harmuz3
on Indian
■ the mainland lost its name, but retains it to this day.
navigators are wont to divide the Persian Gulf into two parts,
nai nely, the Strait of Harmuz, beginning between Guadel in
1 Barros (Dec.//} Liv. 11, cap. ii) gives a somewhat different version
of the transaction. He says that the King of Cdez was willing to sell
the island of Gerum to Gordunxd, but that several of his courtiers,
and especially his queen, strongly opposed the sale, on the ground
that the island was the key to the Strait. These objections led to strained
relations : but, through the intervention of a caciz (priest) named
Xeque Doniar, Malec Cdez, after an angry altercation with his queen,
let Gordunxd have the island. Barros, who states that bribes played
no small part jn the transaction, adds that, at his own request, the
caciz was granted by Gordunxd a perpetual alms for a house of prayer
on the island, “ which alms the kings of Ormuz who succeeded to this
Gordunxd at this present day pay to a mosque that this Arc/? built in a
district called Hongez of Xeque Doniar, near the city of Lara, which
will be some forty leagues from Ormuz.” Couto (Dec. V\ Liv. x,
cap. i) records the transaction briefly, ascribes the opposition to the
mother of Malec Cdez, and says not a word of any intermediary. The
Dominican’s account {infra^ App. D) is silent regarding any negotia­
tions whatsoever in connection with the migration to Jarun. In
connection with what Barros says of “Xeque Doniar,” 1 quote as
follows from Ibn Batuta’s narrative {op. cit., tom. ii, pp. 241-242):—
“ We left Ldr for the town of Khonjopdl : the khd of this word is
sometimes replaced by a lid (Honjopdl). It is there that the shaikh
Abu Dolaf dwells, whom we wished to visit. ... In his hermitage
is found the tomb of the pious shaikh, the friend of God, the saint
Ddnidl, whose name is famous in this country, and who enjoyed a
high rank among contemplativcs. This sepulchre is surmounted
by a high cupola, erected by the sultan Kutbuddln Tamahtan
(Tahamtan), son of Turdn Shdh.” The name of the place seems to
represent Persian khdnaga or hang&h — dervish monastery
pahlaw = saint.—D. F.
2 See Linschoten, vol. i, p. 46 and notes.—D. F.
1 See supra, p. 155.
M 2