تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 13.73.1

13.73.1

Its sultan is an infidel known as the Sāmarī, an old man who shaves his beard as some of the Rūm do; I saw him there, and we shall mention him, God willing. The amīr of the merchants there is Ibrāhīm Shāh Bandar, from al-Baḥrayn, an excellent and generous man; the merchants gather at his house and eat at his banquet. Its qāḍī is Fakhr al-Dīn ʿUthmān, an excellent and generous man, and the master of the hospice there is Shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn al-Kāzarūnī, to whom are given the votive offerings that the people of Hind and China vow to Shaykh Abū Isḥāq al-Kāzarūnī, may God grant benefit through him. In this city is the shipowner Mithqāl, whose name is famous, possessor of vast wealth and many ships for his trade with Hind, China, Yemen and Fārs. When we reached this city, Ibrāhīm Shāh Bandar, the qāḍī, Shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn, the leading merchants and the deputy of the infidel sultan, called Qulāj (with u after the qaf and ending in jim), came out to us with drums, trumpets, horns and banners on their vessels. We entered the harbour in a great display, the like of which I had not seen in those lands — but it was a joy followed by sorrow. We stayed at its harbour, in which there were at that time thirteen of the ships of China, and we lodged in the city, each of us being put in a house, and we stayed waiting for the season for sailing to