CHAPTER X.

Hormuz — Harauna — Janja Bal — Kuzistan — Lar — Kaisa or Sir^—Fars — Pearl Fisheries

' Kosair and Hoair — El Kotaif- — Hajar or Hasa — Yemama — Fas Da'wair — Aidhab Esypt-—

Cairo — Syria — El Ramla — Tripoli — Jahala — Ladhilda — Koom — El Alayd.

From this place I went to Hormuz,* * * § which is a city built on the sea-
shore ; opposite to which, but within the sea, is ” New Hormuz. This is
an island, the city of which is called " Harauna. It is a large and beauti-
ful place, and here the King resides. The island is in extent about a day’s
journey : but the greatest part of it consists of salt earth, and of hills of
'' Darani salt.^ The inhabitants subsist upon fish and dates, the latter of
which is brought from Basra or Amman. They have but little water. The
most strange thing I saw here, was the head of a fish, which might be com-
pared to a hill. Its eyes were like two doors, so that people could go in at
the one, and out at the other. The Sultan of Hormuz was at this time
^ Kotb Oddin Tamahtas, son of ’’ Turan Shah, a most generous and brave
prince. Under his control were the pearl fisheries.

From Harauna I proceeded to * Janja Bal,§ for the purpose of visiting a

. al. ° ”

• JV ^ .nix al. ^

* See an excellent geographical article on this place in Asseman’s Biblioth. Orient., tom. hi.,
P. 2, pp. dcclvii-viii. ; also Sir Wm. Ouseley’s Oriental Geography, pp. 12, 88, 138, 140, 141,
&c. ; and D’Herbelot, art. Hormouz.

f According to the author of the Kamoos, this patronymic is irregularly formed, but refers to
i'lTjlo Darayydt, a town in Syria, vol. i. p. 6fA> ®dit. Calcutta. Jami tells us in the^^^l
that it is referred to Dara, one of the villages of Damascus : his words are : J jK . .

1^0 . See also Mr. Hamaker’s “ Liber de expugnatione Memphidis,”
&c., who derives it from Ijl .

J De Guignes has given a list of the Kings of Ormuz (tom. i. p. 345), from Texeira, which
he had some suspicion was not very correct. In this Touran Shah is placed in 1378 : but our
traveller places a son of this prince upon the throne before 1340, and gives him a name not to
be found in Texeira’s list ; the suspicion of De Guignes is therefore well-founded.

§ This is, perhaps, the of Mr. Ulenbroek, see his Irac. Persic, descriptio, p. 65.

In the Marasid El Itlaa this place is given Jargdnbdn, and is said to be a large

village between Sawa and Aldl L Js .

64

PERSIA.

certain saint. I accordingly crossed the sea, and then hired some Turko-
mans, who inhabit these parts, and without whose assistance there is no
travelling, on account of their courage and knowledge of the roads. We
have now a waterless desert, four days in extent, over which the Badawin
Arab caravans travel. In this the Somoom blows during the months of
June and July, and kills every one it meets with, after which his limbs drop
otf. Over this I travelled, and arrived at the country of ^Kauristan (Ku-
zistan), which is small. From this place I proceeded for three days over a
desert like the former, till I came to " Lar,* which is a large and beautiful
city, abounding with rain water and gardens. I now went to the cell of the
holy Sheikh ’'Abu Dolaf, the person whom I intended to visit at Janja Bal.
In this cell was his son “"Abd El Rahman, with a number of Fakeers. In
the same place resides a Sultan, whom they call Jalal Oddin El Turko-
man!.

I next went to the city of Janja Bal, in which the Sheikh Abu Dolaf
resided. I went to his cell, and found him alone sitting on the side of it
upon the ground, and clothed in an old woollen ^garment. f I saluted him;
he returned the salute, and then asked me about my coming thither, and
of my country. He afterwards made me stay with him, and, by one of his
sons, who is a pious, humble, abstemious, and very good man, he sent
me meat and fruits. This Sheikh is an astonishing man. He has a very
large cell, and bestows costly presents ; and moreover clothes and feeds
all who visit him. I saw no one like him in these parts, nor is it known
whence his income is derived, unless it is brought to him by the brother-
hood, j: Most people, however, think that it is from miraculous operations. §
The people of these parts are of the sect of Shafia.

. y . “ . ujlJj " .jr . '

* The capital of Laristiin.

f Jubbati Suf. Hence, as it is generally believed, the Sufis have received their name.
See Tholuck’s Ssufismus &c. Berolini, 1821, p. 26, &c.

t Of this brotherhood, or society, some notice will be taken hereafter.

§ The passage' is ^ jAij li}\ which

can create any difficulty. It is generally defined to mean, “ matter not existing from eternity,
but produced in time,” ^ In this place it probably means

money produced out of matter by some miraculous process.

PERSIA.

65

I then bade farewell to the Sheikh, and travelled on to the city of ^ Kaisa,
which is also called “Siraf.* It is situated on the shore of the Indian
ocean, and near to the sea of Yemen, *Fars is a good and extensive dis-
trict : its gardens are wonderfully rich in scented herbs. The inhabitants
are Persians : those, however, who dive for the pearls are Arabs. The
pearl-fisheries which are between Siraf and ‘’Bahrein are situated in a
quiet gulf of the sea, not unlike a large valley. To this place comes a
great number of boats, and in these are the divers, with the merchants of
Pars and Bahrein. When one of the divers intends to go down, he places
something upon his face made out of tortoise-shell, and in this a place for
the nose is cut out; he then ties a rope round his middle and goes down.
The time they will remain under water varies ; some will remain an hour,
others two, others less. When the diver gets to the bottom of the sea, he
finds the shells firmly fixed in the sand among trees (of coral). He then
either tears them off with his hands, or cuts them away with an iron knife,
and puts them into a leathern bag which hangs to his neck. When he
begins to experience a difficulty of remaining under water, he shakes the
rope, and the man who holds it draws him up, and puts him into the boat.
The bag is then taken and the shells opened, and they find in each a piece
of flesh, which being cut away with a knife and exposed to the air, hardens
and becomes a pearl. After this both great and small are collected
together, and one-fifth goes to the King : the rest are sold to the merchants
present. To many of these merchants, however, the divers are generally
in debt, and in this case the pearls are taken by way of payment.

I next proceeded from Siraf to the city of ‘*Bahrein,'|' which is a large
and handsome place, abounding in gardens and water. It is wonderfully
hot, and so very sandy, that the houses will sometimes be overwhelmed
with sand. There is at both the eastern and western side of it, a hill (or
bank) : the one they call ^Kosair, the other -^Hoair, and on these they

■'9 ^ >

* See Asseman’s Bib. Or., tom. iii. P. 2, p. dcclxxix ; Sir Wm. Ouseley’s Oriental Geography,
pp. 11, 82, 88, 104, 105, &c. ; and EdrIsI, section 6 of the third Climate.

f See D’Herbelot, art. Baharein.

K

66

ARABIA.

have an adage, and say : “ Kosairand Hoair, and, indeed, every opponent
brings advantage” * ^

I then travelled to the city of “Kotaif,f (as if it Avere a ’word of the
diminutive form from Kotf). It is, ho’wever, a large and handsome place,
inhabited by Arabs of the Rafiza sect, extremely enthusiastic, publishing
their sentiments and fearing no one. From this place I proceeded to the
city of ‘Hajar, ’which, however, is now called El Hasa. We have here
a greater abundance of dates than is to be found elsewhere, and which are
used as fodder for the beasts. The inhabitants are Arabs of the tribe of
^Abd El Kais. From this place I travelled to^Yemama, which is also called
Hajr, J a beautiful and fertile city, abounding with water and gardens.

jLkiiil ^

* EdrisI, in his 6th sect, of the 2d climate, mentions these hills in the following manner :

3 ^

1^°-' loli ijn J3'^‘ ^^3^ J3^J'^^3

3^3^3 ^ ^ 3^3 * * * * u »Q ^

^ .s-W j\k^\

Ugjl^ U3b^. U3rt^\}^3 ^_5^ • “The two hills Kosair and Hoair,

are close to the shore of Yemen ; and opposite to these hills is the place called the vortex. The
sea here is called the sea of Azrat. The vortex is a place in which the water continually whirls
round like a mill-stone without the least remission or rest ; and should a vessel, or any thing else

come into it, it would continue to whirl round until it would be lost This is a narrow place

near the two hills (or banks) Kosair and Hoair, into which small ships may pass, but not the
ships of China. These two hills, moreover, lie concealed under the water, so that no part of
them is seen. The pilots know their places and avoid them.” — The meaning of the adage seems
to be, that public opposition tends to promote public good. Mention is made of these rocks by
the two Mahommedan travellers of the ninth century. Pinkerton, vol. vii. p. 185.
f Edrisi says of this place, sect. vi. Clim. iii. j L_a-ks]l

i. e. as to the city of Kotaif, it is close to the sea, and is in itself large. From Kotaif to El
Ahsa are two stages, and from the same place to Hamas a distance of two days, and this
place is also situated on the Persian Gulf.

I In speaking of this place Edrisi says : j*j Xis«y« jJ ^

^ Us>yo . Then to El Ahsa one stage, thence

to Hamas one stage, thence to the shore of Hajar one stage ; and all these stages, &c. In the 6th
sect, of the 2d climate this place is also mentioned, as is likewise Yamaraa : the words are

ARABIA.

67

The inhabitants are, for the most part, of the tribe "BeniHanifa; they
are the ancient possessors of this district. From this place I went on
pilgrimage and arrived at Mecca, in the year 733 of the Hejira (A. D.
1332). In this year the Sultan of Egypt El Malik El Nasir, also per-
formed the pilgrimage. After finishing the pilgrimage, I proceeded towards
® Judda, intending to go by way of Yemen to India : but in this I failed.
I then proceeded by sea towards ^Aidhab, but was driven by the wind into
a port called ® Ras Dawair. From this place I travelled by land with the
’’Beja, and passed over a desert, in which there was a great number of
ostriches and gazelles, and some Badawln Arabs subject to the Beja. After
a journey of nine days I arrived at * Aidhab ; and leaving this place, and

. And with the northern country of
El Yemama, and of its cities is Hajar, which is now in ruins. In this country resided the queen

Yemama in her times From the shores of Hajar there is a road to Basra along the shore,

but uninhabited. See also Annales Muslemici, tom. i., p. 173. Abulfeda, however, places El
Ahsa (L=-^0 in long- '^'3° (or 8) 30', lat. 22° 8', and says CL>\6 ^

ti

t " *’

iSL)

iSs^\j j^\ ^ (J$j iUUJ! i— L-js-l

A Iv.gh ^ . This is a small city abounding with palms and running water : its springs are
exceedingly hot. El Ahsa is in the desert, and is from Kotaif (Katif) in a south western direction
about two stages. Its palms are as numerous as those in the vale of Damascus, and they are all
round it. It is said in the Moshtarik, that Ahsa is the plural of Hisa, which means sand, into
which the water sinks, and proceeds until it comes to the hard earth, which retains it. In this the
Arabs dig and draw out the water. El Ahsa, therefore, has become the proper name of a
place among the districts of the Arabs. This is the Ahsa of the tribe Beni Saad of Hajar, and
is a residence of the Karamata (heretics so called) in Bahrain. It is also said, that the Ahsa of
the Beni Saad, is a different place from that of the Karamata. El Ahsa has no walls. Between
it and Yemama is a distance of four days. The people both of Ahsa and Kotaif carry fruits to
El Kharj, a valley of Yemama, and for every camel-burden of fruit, they buy another of
wheat.

K 2

68

ARABIA.

passing through district after district in Upper Egypt, arrived at last at
Cairo, where I remained some days. Hence I proceeded to Syria, and
then to Jerusalem. From this place I went to ^E1 Ramla, “Acca, ^Tripoli,
“Jabala,^ and El Ladhikia (Laodicea). And from this I went by sea to the
country of ^Room, which has been so called, because it formerly belonged
to the Romans ; and, even now, they are here in considerable numbers,
under the protection of the Mohammedans. Here are also many Turko-
mans. I next arrived at'^ElAlaya, which is a large city upon the sea
shore, inhabited by Turkomans. The present Sultan is “Yusuf Beg, son
of ^Karman. I was introduced to him. Our meeting was pleasant, and
he furnished us with provisions.;):