Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part I: History of Gujarat c19.33.2

c19.33.2

He adds, probably quoting from Al Jauhari (A.D. 950), that Nahrwára is governed by a great prince who bears the title of Balhára who owns the whole country from Nahrwára to Saimúr. He ranks the king of Juzr fourth among Indian potentates. The country from Debal to Kambáya (Karáchi to Cambay) he describes¹³ as "nothing but a marine strand without habitations and almost without water, and impassable for travellers."¹⁴ The situation of Mámhal (Anhilwára) he gives as between Sindh and Hind. He notices the Meds as Mánds¹⁵ grazing their flocks to within a short distance of Mámhal (Anhilwára). He speaks of Mámhal, Kambáya, Subára (probably Surabára or Surat), Sindán, and Saimúr as countries of Hind (India) touching upon Sindh.¹ He describes Mámhal as a frontier town, numbered by some among the cities of Sindh, and he classifies Aubkin, Mánd, Kulámmali (Quilon),² and Sindán (Sandhánin Kachh) as maritime islands. Among the numerous towns of India are Mámhal (Anhilwára), Kambáya (Cambay), Subára, Asáwal (Ahmedábád), Janáwal (Chunvál), Sindán, Saimúr, Jandur⁴ (Rándir), Sandur (apparently a repetition of Rándir), and Rúmála (perhaps the south Panjáb).⁵ He speaks of Kalbata, Augasht, Nahrwára (Anhilwára), and Lahawar (Lahori Bandar) as in the desert⁶ of Kambáya. Of the three Subára (Surabára or Surat), Sindán (the Thána Sanján), and Saimúr (Cheul), he says Saimúr alone belongs to the Balhára, whose kingdom, he adds, is large, well-peopled, commercial, and fertile.