Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part I: History of Gujarat c19.s2: Port or Coast Towns
Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part I: History of Gujarát c19.s2
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- c19.s2.t1 Cambay — 124 parts
Port or Coast Towns
Cambay
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caused by the foreign amirs or nobles of the hot-tempered and impolitic Muhammad bin Tughlak (A.D. 1325-1351) who visited it in person to quell their revolt. Ziáuddín Barni the famous annalist of his reign and the author of the Tárikh-i-Firúz Sháhi speaks of his deputation to Broach by Malik Kabír the future Sultán Fírúz Sháh with a letter to the Sultán.¹
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¹ Elliot's History of India, III. 256-260.
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Cambay (KAMBÁYA, KAMBÁYAT, KAMBÁYAH, KHAMBÁIT.) According to Al Istakhri (A.D. 951) Kambáya formed the north boundary of the land of the Balhárás.² Al Istakhri describes it as four days from Kámhal (Anhilwára) sixteen miles (4 farsangs) from the sea and four days from Surábáya probably Surábára or the mouth of the Tápti a term which is still in use.³ Al Masúdi (A.D. 915) in speaking of the ebb and flow of the ocean mentions Kambáya. He notices that Kambáya was famous in Baghdád, as it still is famous in Gujarát, for its shoes. These shoes, he says, were made in Kambáya and the towns about it like Sindán (Sanján in Thána) and Safáráh (Supára). He notices that when he visited Kambáya in H. 303 (A.D. 915-16) the city was ruled by a Bráhman of the name of Bánia, on behalf of the Balhára, lord of Mánkir (Málkhet). He states that this Bánia was kind to and held friendly discussions with stranger Musalmáns and people of other faiths. He gives a pleasing picture of Cambay, on a gulf far broader than the estuaries of the Nile, the Euphrates, or the Tigris whose shores were covered with villages, estates, and gardens wooded and stocked with palm and date groves full of peacocks and other Indian birds. Between Kambáya and the sea from which this gulf branches was two days' journey. When, says Al Masúdi, the waters ebb from the gulf stretches of sands come to view. One day I saw a dog on one of these desert-like stretches of sand. The tide began to pour up the gulf and the dog hearing it ran for his life to the shore, but the rush was too rapid. The waters overtook and drowned him. Al Masúdi speaks of an emerald known as the Makkan emerald being carried from Kambáya by Aden to Makkah where it found a market.⁴ Ibni Haukal (A.D. 968-996) names Kambáya among the cities of Hind.⁵ In his time there were Jámi or assembly mosques in Kambáya, where the precepts of Islám were openly taught. Among the productions of Kambáya he gives mangoes coccanuts lemons and rice in great plenty and some honey but no date trees.⁶ He makes Kambáya four miles (one farsang) from the sea and four (that is four days' journey) from Subára apparently Surábára that is Surat. The distance to Kámhal or Anhilwára by some mistake is shown as four farsangs instead of four days' journey.⁷ Al Bírúni (A.D. 970-1031) places Kambáya within the large country of Gujarát (120 miles)⁸ (30 farsakhs) from Debal (Karáchi). He says the men of Kambáya receive tribute from the chiefs of the island of Kís or Kish (probably Kish-Makrán).⁹ Al Idrisi (A.D. 1100) places Kambáya with other Gujarát cities in the second climate.¹ He says it is a pretty and well known naval station, second among the towns of Gujarát.² It stands at the end of a bay three miles from the sea where vessels can enter and cast anchor. It is well supplied with water and has a fine fortress built by the Government to prevent the inroads of the pirates of Kish (Makrán). From Kambáya to the island of Aubkin (Piram) is two and a half days' sail and from Aubkin to Debal (or Karáchi) two days more. The country is fertile in wheat and rice and its mountains yield the bamboo. Its inhabitants are idolators. In his Tazjiyat-ul-Amsár, Abdullah Wassáf³ in A.D. 1300 (H. 699) writes: "Gujarat which is commonly called Kambáyat contains 70,000 villages and towns all populous and the people abounding in wealth and luxuries. In the course of the four seasons seventy different species of beautiful flowers bloom. The purity of the air is so great that the picture of an animal drawn with the pen is lifelike. Many plants and herbs grow wild. Even in winter the ground is full of tulips (poppies). The air is healthy, the climate a perpetual spring. The moisture of the dew of itself suffices for the cold season crops. Then comes the summer harvest which is dependent on the rain. The vineyards bring forth blue grapes twice a year."
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² Al Istakhri in Elliot (History of India), I. 27.
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³ Al Istakhri in Elliot (History of India), I. 30.
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⁴ Prairies D'Or (Barbier De Meynard's Arabic Text), I. 253-54.
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⁵ Prairies D'Or (Arabic Text), III. 47.
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⁶ Ibni Haukal in Elliot (History of India), I. 34.
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⁷ Ibni Haukal in Elliot (History of India), I. 35.
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⁸ Ibni Haukal in Elliot (History of India), I. 39.
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⁹ Rashid-ud-din from Al Birúni in Elliot's History of India, I. 66 and Sachau's Arabic Text, chapter 18 pages 99-102.
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¹⁰ Sir Henry Elliot's History of India, I. 67.
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¹ Sir Henry Elliot's History of India, I. 77.
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² Sir Henry Elliot's History of India, I. 84.
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³ Tazjiyat-ul-Amsar in Elliot, III. 32.
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The trade in horses⁴ from the Persian isles and coast and from Katif, Lahsa, Bahrein, and Hurmuz was so great that during the reign of Atábak Abu Bakr⁵ (A.D. 1154-1189) 10,000 horses worth 2,20,000 dinárs (Rs. 1,10,00,000) were imported into Cambay and the ports of Malabár. These enormous sums were not paid out of the government treasuries but from the endowments of Hindu temples and from taxes on the courtezans attached to them.⁶ The same author mentions the conquest of Gujarát and the plunder of Kambáyat by Malik Muiz-ud-din (called by Farishtah Alf and by Barni U'lugh meaning the great Khán.) The Tárikh-i Firúz Sháhi states that Nasrat Khán and not U'lugh Khán took and plundered Cambay and notices that in Cambay Nasrat Khán purchased Káfúr Hazár Dinári (the thousand Dinár Káfur), the future favourite minister and famous general of Alá-ud-din. About fifty years later the hot-headed Muhammad bin Tughlak (A.D. 1325-1351) was in Cambay quelling an insurrection and collecting the arrears of Cambay revenue.⁷
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⁴ Sa'di's patron mentioned by him in his Garden of Roses.
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⁵ The word dinár is from the Latin denarius (a silver coin worth 10 oz. of brass) through the Greek δηνάριον. It is a Kuránic word, the ancient Arabic equivalent being مثقال mithkál. The dinár sequin or ducat varied in value in different times. In Abu Hanifah's (the greatest of the four Sunni Jurisconsults) time (A.D. 749) its value ranged from 10 to 12 dirhams. Then from 20 to 25 dirhams or drachmas. As a weight it represented a drachma and a half. Though generally fluctuating, its value may be assessed at 9s. or 10 francs to half a sovereign. For an elaborate article on the Dinár see Yule's Cathay, II. 439; Burton's Alf Lailah, I. 32. The word Dirham is used in Arabic in the sense of "silver" (vulg. siller) the Greek δραχμή and the drachmana of Plautus. This silver piece was 9d. and as a weight 66½ grains. Sir Henry Elliot does not speak more at length of the dinár and the dirham than to say (History of India, I. 401) that they were introduced in Sindh in the reign of Abdul Malik (A.D. 685) and Elliot, VIII. 31) that the dinár was a Rúm and the dirham a Persian coin. The value of the dinár in modern Indian currency may be said to be Rs. 5 and that of the dirham nearly annas 4.
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⁶ Wassáf gives the date of this event as A.D. 1298, but the Tárikh-i Alái of Amir Khusrao places it at A.D. 1309. See Elliot's History of India, III. 43 and 74.
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⁷ Elliot's History of India, III. 256-57.
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Cheul (Saimúr). Al Masúdi (A.D. 943) is the first Arab geographer to mention Saimúr.¹ He says: On the coast as, in Saimúr Sahára and Tána the Láriyya language is spoken. In describing Saimúr Al Masúdi states² that at the time of his visit (A.D. 914) the ruler on behalf of the Balhára was Jhánjha (this is the fifth Siláhára A.D. 916). Nearly ten thousand Musalmáns were settled in Saimúr including some (called Bayásirah) born in the land of Arab parents and others from Síráf and Persian Gulf, Basrah, Baghdád, and other towns. A certain Músa bin Is-hák was appointed Raís or ruler by the Balhára or Valabhi, that is the reigning Ráshtrakúta Indra Nityathvarsha to adjudicate Muhammadan disputes according to Musalmán law and customs. He describes³ at length the ceremony of self-destruction by a *Vesar* youth (a Hindu by religion) to gain a better state in his future life, his scalping himself and putting fire on his head, his cutting out a piece of his heart and sending it to a friend as a souvenir.
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¹ Al Masúdi in Elliot (History of India), I, 24.
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² Prairies D'Or, II, 85.
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³ He was called a Hairam or Hairamah in the language of the country. Al Masúdi's Murúj Arabic Text Cairo Edition, II, 86-87.
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Al Istakhri (A.D. 951) mentions Saimúr as one of the cities of Hind, makes it the southern end of the Balhára kingdom with Kambaya as the northern,⁶ and places it at a distance of five days from Sindán (the Thána Sanján) and fifteen days from Sarandíb or Ceylon.⁷ Ibn Haukal (A.D. 968) notices Saimúr as one of the cities of Hind known to him and mentions the sea of Fárs (or the Indian Ocean) as stretching from Saimúr on the east to Tiz or Makrán.⁸ He states⁹ that the country between Saimúr and Támbul (Anhilawára) belongs to Hind. He makes¹⁰ the distance between Subára (probably Surabára or Swat), Sindan, and Saimúr five days each and between Saimúr and Sarandíb (Ceylon) fifteen days. Al Bírúni (A.D. 1020) says:¹¹ "Then you enter the land of Lárán in which is Saimúr also called Jaimúr or Chaimúr." Al Idrisi (end of the eleventh century) mentions Saimúr as one of the towns of the second climate.¹² He describes it as large and well-built, five days from Sindán and among its products notes cocoanut trees in abundance, henna (Lawsonia inermis), and on its mountains many aromatic plants.¹³ His remark that Saimúr formed a part of the vast, fertile, well-peopled and commercial kingdom of the Balháras must be taken from the work of Al-Jauhari (A.D. 950).
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⁶ Al Istakhri in Elliot (History of India), I, 27.
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⁷ Al Istakhri in Elliot (History of India), I, 30.
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⁸ Ibni Haukal in Elliot (History of India), I, 33-34.
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⁹ Ibni Haukal in Elliot (History of India), I, 38.
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¹⁰ Ibni Haukal in Elliot (History of India), I, 38.
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¹¹ Al Biruni Sachau's Arabic Text, 102; Elliot's History of India, I, 39, 66.
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¹² Al Idrisi in Elliot (History of India), I, 77.
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¹³ Al Idrisi in Elliot (History of India), I, 77, 85.
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Al Kazwíni (A.D. 1236) quoting Mis-ar bin Muhalhil (A.D. 942) describes Saimúr as one of the cities of Hind near the confines of Sind,¹⁴ whose people born of Turkish and Indian parents are very beautiful. It was a flourishing trade centre with a mixed population of Jews, Fireworshippers, Christians, and Musalmáns¹ The merchandise of the Turks (probably of the Indo-Afghán frontier) was conveyed thither and the best of aloes were exported and called Saimúr after its name. The temple of Saimúr was on an eminence with idols of turquoise and baijadak or ruby. In the city were many mosques churches synagogues and fire-temples.
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⁴ Al Masúdi's Murúj Arabic Text Cairo Edition, II, 86-87.
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⁵ One born in India of an Arab father and an Indian mother probably from the Gujarati word *Adh-besra* meaning mixed blood. This seems the origin of the Balá Bayásirah. The performer in the case in the text was a Hindu. Al Masúdi (Murúj Arabic Text II, 87 Cairo Edition) says that the singular of Bayásirah is Besur.
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¹⁴ Al Kazwini in Elliot (History of India), I, 97.
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¹ Though Al Kazwini wrote in the thirteenth century, he derives his information of India from Misar bin Muhalhil, who visited India about A.D. 942. Elliot (History of India), I. 96.
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Dholka (DÉLAKA). Al Idrisi (end of the eleventh century) places Dúlaka and another town he calls Hanáwal that is Chanwal or Junawal perhaps Jhaláwár between Barúh (Broach) and Nahrwára. He describes Dúlaka as on the banks of a river (the Sábarmati) which flows into the sea, which forms an estuary or gulf on the west (east) of which stands the town of Barúh. Both these towns, he adds, stand at the foot of a chain of mountains which lie to the north and which are called Undaran apparently Vindhya. The kana (bamboo) grows here as well as a few cocoanut trees.²
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² Al Idrisi in Elliot (History of India), I. 87.
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Goa. See SINDÁBUR.
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Gondal (KONDAL). Ziá-ud-din Barni in his Tárikh-i-Firuz Sháhi states that Sultán Muhammad Tughlak spent (A.D. 1349) his third rainy season in Gujarát in Kondal (Gondal). Here the Sultán assembled his forces before starting on his fatal march to Sindh.
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Kachh. Al Birúni (A.D. 970-1031) is the only Arab writer who refers to Kachh. He calls Kachh with Somnáth the head-quarters of the country of the Bawárij or Medh pirates. Speaking of the Indus he notices⁵ that one of its branches which reaches the borders of Kachh is known as Sind Ságar. In a third passage he refers⁶ to Kachh as the land of the mukl or balsamodendron and of bádúd or bezwar. It was twenty-four miles (6 farsangs) from Debal (Karáchi). According to the Tárikh-i-Maásúmi⁷ when (A.D. 1069) the sovereignty of Sindh passed from the descendants of Mahmud of Ghazni to the Sumras, Singhar, the grandson of Sumra (A.D. 1069) extended his sway from Kachh to Nasarpúr⁸ near Sindh Haidarábád and Khafif the son of Singhar consolidated his power and made Kachh a Sumra dependency.¹⁰ Dúda the grandson of Khafif quelled a threatened Sumra rising by proceeding to Kachh and chastising the Sammas.¹¹ On the fall of the Sumras the Cháuras became masters of Kachh from whose hands the country passed to those of the Sammas. Ground down under the iron sway of the Sumras a number of Sammas fled from Sindh and entered Kachh where they were kindly received by the Cháuras who gave them land to cultivate. After acquainting themselves with the country and the resources of its rulers the Samma immigrants who seem to have increased in numbers and strengthened themselves by union, obtained possession by stratagem but not without heroism of the chief fortress of Kachh.¹² This fort now in ruins A.D. 851-1350. Capitals. Kaira.
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³ Tárikh-i-Firuz Sháhi by Ziá Barni (Elliot's History of India), III. 264-65.
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⁴ Rashid-ud-din (A.D. 1310) from Al Birúni in Elliot's History of India, I. 65.
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⁵ Rashid-ud-din (A.D. 1310) from Al Birúni in Elliot's History of India, I. 49.
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⁶ Rashid-ud-din (A.D. 13 0) from Al Birúni in Elliot's History of India, I. 66.
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⁷ Written A.D. 1600 (Elliot, I. 213).
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⁸ Tárikh-i-Maásúmi in Elliot, I, 16.
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⁹ Tuhfatul Kirám in Elliot, I. 314.
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¹⁰ Tárikh-i-Maásúmi in Elliot, I. 217.
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¹¹ Tárikh-i-Maásúmi in Elliot, I. 218.
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¹² Tárikh-i-Táhirí (Elliot's History of India), I. 267-68.
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was the fort of Gúntri.¹ The Tárikh-i-Táhirí states that up to the time the history was written (A.D. 1621)² the country was in the possession of the Sammas, both the Rái Bhára and Jám Sihta of great and little Kachh in his time being of Samma descent.
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¹ Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal for February 1888, 102.
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² Sir Henry Elliot's History of India, I. 268.
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Kaira (Karra). One mention of Karra apparently Kaira or Kheda occurs in Ziáuddin Bárni's³ account of Muhammad Tughlak's (A.D. 1325) pursuit of his rebellious Gujarát noble Tághi. He speaks of Muhammad's detention for a month at Asáwal during the rains and his overtaking and dispersing Tághi's forces at Karra. From Karra the rebels fled in disorder to Nahrwára (Anhilwára). Several of Tághi's supporters sought and were refused shelter by the Rána of Mándal that is Pátri near Viramgám.
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³ Tárikh-i-Firúz Sháhi in Elliot, II. 260.
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Chief Towns. Kábirún.
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Kábirún. Al Idrisi (end of the eleventh century) mentions Kábirún and Asáwal as towns of the same 'section' both of them populous, commercial, rich, and producing useful articles. He adds that at the time he wrote the Musalmáns had made their way into the greater portion of these countries and conquered them. Kábirún like the Akabaron of the Periplus (A.D. 240) is perhaps a town on the Káveri river in south Gujarát.
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Kambay. Kanauj.
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Kambay. See CAMBAY.
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Kanauj. Al Masúdi⁴ (A.D. 956) is the first Arab traveller who gives an account of Kanauj. He says:⁵ The kingdom of the Baúra king of Kanauj extends about a hundred and twenty square parasangs of Sindh, each parasang being equal to eight miles of this country. This King has four armies according to the four quarters of the world. Each of them numbers 700,000 or 900,000. The army of the north was against the prince of Mukán and with his Musalmán subjects on the frontier. The army of the south fights against the Balhára king of Mánkir. The other two armies march to meet enemies in every direction. Ibn Haukal (A.D. 968-976) says⁶ that from the sea of Fárs to the country of Kanauj is three months journey. Rashid-ud-din from Al Birúni (A.D. 970-1039) places⁷ Kanauj south of the Himálayás and states⁸ that the Jamna falls into the Ganga below Kanauj which is situated on the west of the river (Ganga). The chief portion of Hind included in the "second climate" is called the central land or Madhya Desh. He adds that the Persians call it Kanauj. It was the capital of the great, haughty, and proud despots of India. He praises the former magnificence of Kanauj, which he says being now deserted by its ruler has fallen into neglect and ruin, and the city of Bári, three days' journey from Kanauj on the eastern side of the Ganges being now the capital. Kanauj was celebrated for its descendants of the Pândavas as Mâhura (Mathra) is on account of Bâs Dev (Krishna). Al Idrisi, end of the eleventh century, speaks¹ of Kanauj in connection with a river port town of the name of Samandâr "a large town, commercial and rich, where there are large profits to be made and which is dependent" on the rule of the Kanauj king. Samandâr, he says, stands on a river coming from Kashmir. To the north of Samandâr at seven days is, he says, the city of Iuner Kashmir under the rule of Kanauj. The Châch Nâmah (an Arabic history of great antiquity written before A.D. 753, translated into Persian in the time of Sultân Nâsiruddin Kabâchah) (A.D. 1216) says² that when Châch (A.D. 631-670) advanced against Akham Lohâna of Brahmanâbâd that the Lohâna wrote to ask the help of "the king of Hindustân," that is Kanauj, at that time Satbân son of Râsal, but that Akham died before his answer came.
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⁴ In his Arabic Text of the Murúj (Prairies D'Or, Cairo Edition) Al Masúdi writes the name of the Kanauj king as Farwarah. (If the F stands for P and the w for m, as is quite possible in Arab writing, then this can be Parmárah the Arab plural for Parmár.) At volume I. page 240 the word Farwarah is twice used. Once: "And the king of Kanauj, of the kings of Sindh (India) is Farwarah." Again at the same page (240): "And Farwarah he who is king of Kanauj is opposed to Balhara." Then at page 241: Farwarah is again used in the beginning of the account quoted by Elliot in I. 25.
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⁵ Elliot's History of India, I. 23. In the Cairo Edition of the Arabic Text of Al Masúdi's Murúj (Prairies D'Or) vol. I. page 241 is the original of this account.
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⁶ Elliot's History of India, I. 33.
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⁷ Elliot's History of India, I. 45.
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⁸ Elliot's History of India, I. 49.
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¹ Elliot, I. 90.
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² Elliot's History of India, I. 147.
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Kol. Ibni Khurdâdbah (A.D. 912) has Kol seventy-two miles (18 farsakhs) from Sanjân in Kachh.³ And the Tâj-ni-Mââsir relates how in A.D. 1194 Kutbuddin advanced to Kol and took the fort.
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³ Sir Henry Elliot's History of India, I. 15.
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Mâlkhet (Mânkir). Al Masûdi (A.D. 943) is the first Arab writer to mention Mânkir that is Mânyâkheta now Mâlkhet about sixty miles south-east of Sholâpûr. In relating the extinction of the great Brahma-born dynasty of India Al Masûdi states⁴ that at the time the city of Mânkir, the great centre of India, submitted to the kings called the Balhâras who in his time were still ruling at Mânkir.⁵
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⁴ Tâj-ul-Mâasir in Sir Henry Elliot's History of India. II. 222. "After staying some time at Dehli he (Kutb-ud-dîn) marched in A.D. 1194 (H. 590) towards Kol and Banâras passing the Jumna which from its exceeding purity resembled a mirror." It would seem to place Kol near Banâras.
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⁵ Al Masûdi in Elliot (History of India), I. 19, 20, 21 and Prairies D'Or, I. 178.
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Al Masûdi correctly describes the position of Mâlkhet as eighty Sindh or eight-mile farsakhs that is six hundred and forty miles from the sea in a mountainous country. Again he notices that the language spoken in Mânkir was Kiriya,⁶ called from Karuh or Kanara the district where it was spoken. The current coin was the Tartariyeh dirham (each weighing a dirham and a half)⁷ on which was impressed the date of the ruler's reign. He describes the country of the Balhâras as stretching from the Kamkar (or Konkan) in the south or south-west north to the frontiers of the king of Juzr (Gujarât), "a monarch rich in men horses and camels." Al Istakhri (A.D. 951) describes Mânkir as the dwelling of the wide-ruling Balhâra. Ibni Haukal (A.D. 968-976) repeats almost to the letter the information given by Al Istakhri. The destruction of Mâlkhet (Mânya Kheta) by the western Châlukya king Tailappa in A.D. 972 explains why none of the writers after Ibni Haukal mentions Mânkir.
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⁶ Al Masûdi Arabic Text Prairies D'Or, (I. 381); Al Masûdi in Elliot (History of India), I. 24.
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⁷ That is an Arab dirham and a half. Al Istakhri in Elliot (History of India), I. 27. These Tartariyya dirhams are mentioned by almost all Arab writers. Al Idrisi says they were current in Mansûrah in Sindh and in the Malay archipelago. See Elliot, I. 3 note 4. According to Sulaiman (A.C. 851) the Tartar ya dirham weighed "a dirham and a half of the coinage of the king." Elliot, I. 3. Al Masûdi (Prairies D'Or, I. 382) calls these "Tâtiriyyah" dirhams, giving them the same weight as that given by Sulaiman to the Tartariyah dirhams. Ibni Haukal calls it the Titari dirham and makes its weight equal to "a dirham and a third" (Elliot, I. 85).
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Ma'ndal. Ibn Khurdādbah (A.D. 912) enumerates Mándal (in Viramgám) with Rúmla,¹ Kub, and Báruh as countries of Sindh. During the Khilafat of Hishám the son of Abdul Malik (A.D. 724-743) Junaid son of Abdur Rahman-al-Murri was appointed to the frontier of Sindh. According to Al Biláduri (A.D. 892) Junaid sent his officers to Mándal,² Dahnaj perhaps Kamlej, and Báhrús (Broach).
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¹ Rumlah is rauma salt land. There is a Rúm near Karúr about sixty miles south-east of Multán. Al Idrisi (A.D. 1155) has a Rumálah three days from Kalbata the salt range. I. 92.
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² Probably Okhamandal. See Appendix vol. I. page 320 Elliot's History of India.
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Na'ra'na. In his Indica Al Biruni (A.D. 970-1031) notices Nárána near Jaipur as the ancient capital of Gujarát. He says that its correct name is Bazánah but that "it is known to our people (the Arabs) as Náráin." He places it eighty miles (20 farsakhs) south-west of Kanauj, and adds that when it was destroyed the inhabitants removed to and founded another city.³ Abú Rihán makes Nárána the starting point of three itineraries to the south the south-west and the west. Al Birúni's details suffice to place this centre in the neighbourhood of the modern Jaipúr and to identify it with Nárávan the capital of Bairat of Matsya which according to Farishtah⁴ Mahmúd of Ghazni took in A.D. 1022 (H. 412).
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³ Sachau's Arabic Text of Al Birúni, 95.
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⁴ Persian Text Bombay Edition of 1852, I. 53.
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Rander. Rander (RÁHANJUR OR RAHANJUR). Al Birúni (A.D. 1031) gives⁵ Ráhanjúr and Bálaráj (Broach) as the capitals of Lar Desh or south Gujarát. Elliot (Note 3. I. 61) writes the word Damanhúr or Dahanhúr but the reading given by Sachau in his Arabic text of Al Birúni (page 100 chapter 18) is plainly Ráhanjúr (رنجور) and the place intended is without doubt Ránder on the right bank of the Tápti opposite Surat. In his list of Indian towns Al Idrisi (end of the eleventh century) seems to refer to it under the forms Jandúr and Sandúr.
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⁵ Sachau's Arabic Text of Al Birúni, 100.
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Sanja'n. Sanja'n (SINDÁN). The two Sanjáns, one in Kachh the other in Thána, complicate the references to Sindán. Sindán in Kachh was one of the earliest gains of Islám in India. Al Biláduri⁷ (A.D. 892) speaks of Fazl, the son of Máhán, in the reign of the greatest of the Abbási Khalifáhs Al-Mámún (A.D. 813-833), taking Sindán and sending Al Mámún the rare present of "an elephant and the longest and largest saj or turlan or teak spar ever seen." Fazl built an assembly mosque that was spared by the Hindus on their recapture of the town. Ibn Khurdādbah (A.D. 912) includes this Kachh Sindán with Broach and other places in Gujarát among the cities of Sindh. In his itinerary starting from Bakkar, he places Sindán seventy-two miles⁸ (18 farsakhs) from Kol. Al Masúdi (A.D. 915-944) states that Indian emeralds from (the Kachh) Sindán and the neighbourhood of Kambáyat (Cambay) approached those of the first water in the intensity of their green and in brilliance. As they found a market in Makkah they were called Makkan emeralds.⁹ Al Istakhri (A.D. 951) under cities of Hind places the Konkan Sindán five days from Surabára (Surabára or Surat) and as many from Salmár¹⁰
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⁶ Elliot's History of India, I. 84.
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⁷ Al Biláduri in Elliot (History of India), I. 129. The word saj in the Arabic text means besides a teak-spar (which seems to be an improbable present to be sent to a Khalifah), a large black or green turban or sash.
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⁸ Ibni Khurdādbah in Elliot (History of India), I. 14 and 15.
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⁹ De Meynard's Arabic Text of Les Prairies D'Or, III, 47-48.
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¹⁰ Al Istakhri in Elliot (History of India), I, 27 and 30.
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(Chewal). Ibni Haukal (A.D. 968) mentions (the Kachh) Sindán among the cities of Hind, which have a large Musalmán population and a Jámá Masjid¹ or assembly mosque. Al Bírúni (A.D. 970-1031)² in his itinerary from Debal in Sindh places the Kokan 200 miles (50 farsakhs) from that port and between Broach and Supára. At the end of the eleventh century probably the Kachh Sindán was a large commercial town rich both in exports and imports with an intelligent and warlike, industrious, and rich population. Al Idrisi gives the situation of the Konkan Sindán as a mile and a half from the sea and five days from Saimúr (Cheval).³ Apparently Abul Fida⁴ (A.D. 1324) confused Sindán with Sindábúr or Goa which Ibni Batúta (A.D. 1340) rightly describes as an island.⁵
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¹ Ibni Haukal in Elliot (History of India), I. 34 and 38.
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² Al Bírúni in Elliot, I. 66.
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³ Al Idrisi in Elliot, I, 77-85.
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⁴ Sir Henry Elliot's History of India, I. 403 Appendix.
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⁵ Lee's Ibni Batuta, 166.
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Sindabúr or Sindápur. Al Masúdi (A.D. 943) places Sindápur he writes it Sindábúr or Goa in the country of the Bughara (Balhára) in India.⁶ Al Bírúni (A.D. 1021) places Sindápur or Sindábúr that is Goa as the first of coast towns in Malabar the next being Fáknúr.⁷ Al Idrisi (end of the eleventh century) describes Sindábúr as a commercial town with fine buildings and rich bazaars in a great gulf where ships cast anchor, four days along the coast⁸ from Thána.
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⁶ Al Masúdi in Elliot (History of India), I. 21.
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⁷ Rashid-ud-din from Al Bírúni in Elliot, I. 68.
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⁸ Al Idrisi in Elliot, I. 89.
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Somnath. Al Bírúni (A.D. 970-1031) is the first of the Arab writers to notice Somnath. He calls Somnáth and Kachh the capital of the Bawárij pirates who commit their depredations in boats called baira.⁹ He places Somnáth (14 farsakhs) fifty-six miles from Debal or Karáchi 200 miles (50 farsakhs) from Anhilwára and 180 miles (60 yojanas) from Broach. He notes that the river Sarsút falls into the sea an arrow-shot from the town. He speaks of Somnáth as an important place of Hindu worship and as a centre of pilgrimage from all parts of India. He tells of votaries and pilgrims performing the last stage of their journey crawling on their sides or on their ankles, never touching the sacred ground with the soles of their feet, even progressing on their heads.¹⁰ Al Bírúni gives¹¹ the legendary origin of the Somnath idol: how the moon loved the daughters of Prajápati; how his surpassing love for one of them the fair Rohini kindled the jealousy of her slighted sisters; how their angry sire punished the partiality of the moon by pronouncing a curse which caused the pallor of leprosy to overspread his face; how the penitent moon sued for forgiveness to the saint and how the saint unable to recall his curse showed him the way of salvation by the worship of the Lingam;
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how he set up and called the Moon-Lord a stone which¹² for ages had lain on the sea shore less than three miles to the west of the mouth of the Sarasvati, and to the east of the site of the golden castle of Bárwi (Veraval) the residence of Básúdeo and near the scene of his death and of the destruction of his people the Yádavas. The waxing and the waning of the moon caused the flood that hid the Lingam and the ebb that showed it and proved that the Moon was its servant who bathed it regularly. Al Bírúni notices¹³ that in his time the castellated walls and other fortifications round the temple were not more than a hundred years old. Al Bírúni represents the upper part of the Lingam as hung with massive and bejewelled gold chains. These chains together with the upper half of the idol were, he observes, carried away by the Emir Mahmúd to Ghazna, where a part of the idol was used to form one of the steps of the Assembly Mosque and the other part was left to lie with Chakra Swám, the Thánesar idol, in the maidan or hippodrome of Mahmúd's capital. Somnáth, says Al Bírúni,^4 was the greatest of the Lingams worshipped in India where in the countries to the south-west of Sindh the worship of these emblems abounds. A jar of Ganges water and a basket of Kashmir flowers were brought daily to Somnáth.
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Its worshippers believed the stone to possess the power of curing all diseases, and the mariners and the wanderers over the deep between Sofála and China addressed their prayers to it as their patron deity.^5 Ibn Asír (A.D. 1121) gives a detailed account of the temple of Somnáth and its ancient grandeur. He says Somnáth was the greatest of all the idols of Hind. Pilgrims by the hundred thousand met at the temple especially at the times of eclipses and believed that the ebb and flow of the tide was the homage paid by the sea to the god. Everything of the most precious was brought to Somnáth and the temple was endowed with more than 10,000 villages. Jewels of incalculable value were stored in the temple and to wash the idol water from the sacred stream of the Ganga was brought every day over a distance of two hundred farsangs (1200 miles). A thousand Brahmans were on duty every day in the temple, three hundred and fifty singers and dancers performed before the image, and three hundred barbers shaved the pilgrims who intended to pay their devotions at the shrine. Every one of these servants had a settled allowance. The temple of Somnáth was built upon fifty pillars of teakwood covered with lead. The idol, which did not appear to be sculptured,^6 stood three cubits out of the ground and had a girth of three cubits. The idol was by itself in a dark chamber lighted by most exquisitely jewelled chandeliers.
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Near the idol was a chain of gold to which bells were hung weighing 200 mans. The chain was shaken at certain intervals during the night that the bells might rouse fresh parties of worshipping Brahmans. The treasury containing many gold and silver idols, with doors hung with curtains set with valuable jewels, was near the chamber of the idol. The worth of what was found in the temple exceeded two millions of dínárs (Rs. 1,00,00,000). According to Ibn Asír Mahmúd reached Somnáth on a Thursday in the middle of Zilkaida II, 414 (A.D. December 1023). On the approach of Mahmúd Bhím the ruler of Anhilvád fled abandoning his capital and took refuge in a fort to prepare for war. From Anhilvád Mahmúd started for Somnáth taking several forts with images which, Ibn Asír says, were the heralds or chamberlains of Somnáth. Resuming his march he crossed a desert with little water. Here he was encountered by an army of 20,000 fighting men under chiefs who had determined not to submit to the invader. These forces were defeated and put to flight by a detachment sent against them by Mahmúd. Mahmúd himself marched to Dalálwárah a place said by Ibni Asir to be two days journey from Somnáth. When he reached Somnáth Mahmúd beheld a strong fortress whose base was washed by the waves of the sea. The assault began on the next day Friday. During nearly two days of hard fighting the invaders seemed doomed to defeat. On the third the Musalmáns drove the Hindus from the town to the temple.
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A terrible carnage took place at the temple-gate. Those of the defenders that survived took themselves to the sea in boats but were overtaken and some slain and the rest drowned.¹
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⁹ Sir Henry Elliot's History of India, I. 66; Sachau's Arabic Text of Al Bírúni, 102.
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¹⁰ Elliot's History of India, I. 67.
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¹¹ Sachau's Text of Al Bírúni, 253.
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¹² Sachau's Arabic Text, 253.
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¹³ Sachau's Arabic Text, 253 chapter 58.
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¹ It appears that at the time of his expedition to Somnáth Mahmúd had not adopted the title of Sultán.
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² Sachan's Arabic Text, 253 chapter 58.
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³ Sachan's Text, 253 chapter 58.
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⁴ The Tárikh-i-Kámil, Ibn Asír (A.D. 1160-1232) is a voluminous and reliable historian. Ibn Khallikán, the author of the famous biographical dictionary, knew and respected Asír always alluding to him as "our Sheikh." See Elliot, II, 245.
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⁵ From the term 'sculptured' it would seem the idol was of stone. It is curious how Ibn Asír states a little further that a part of the idol was "burnt by Mahmúd." See Elliot, II, 471. The Tárikh-i-Alfi says (Elliot, II, 471) that the idol was cut of solid stone. It however represents it as hollow and "containing jewels, in repeating the somewhat hackneyed words of Mahmúd when breaking the idol regardless of the handsome offer of the Brahmans, and finding it full of jewels.
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¹ The Rauzat-us-Safa (Lithgd. Edition, IV. 48) speaks of Mahmúd's project of making Somnáth his capital and not Anhilwára as stated by Farishtah (I. 57, Original Persian Text). The Rauzat-us-Safa says that when Mahmúd had conquered Somnáth he wished to fix his residence there for some years as the country was very large and had a great many advantages including mines of pure gold and rubies brought from Sarandib or Ceylon which he represents as a dependency of Gujarat. At last he yielded to his minister's advice and agreed to return to Khurásán.
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Supa'ra (SUBÁRÁ, SUPÁRA, OR SURBÁRÁH.)—The references to Subárá are doubtful as some seem to belong to Surbára the Tápti mouth and others to Sopára six miles north of Bassein. The first Arab reference to Subára belongs to Supára. Al Masúdi's (A.D. 915)² reference is that in Saimúr (Chaul). Subára (Sopára), and Tána (Thána) the people speak the Láriyáh language, so called from the sea which washes the coast. On this coast Al Istakhri (A.D. 951)³ refers to Subára that is apparently to Sucabára or Surat a city of Hind, four days from Kambáyah (Cambay).⁴
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² Prairies D'Or (DeMeynard's Arabic Text, I. 381) also Al Masúdi in Elliot (History of India, I. 24).
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³ Al Istakhri in Elliot (History of India), I. 30.
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⁴ Ibni Haukal in Elliot (History of India), I. 31, 39.
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Ibni Haukal (A.D. 968-976) mentions⁵ Surbárah apparently the Tápti mouth or Surat as one of the cities of Hind four farsakhs, correctly days, from Kambáyah and two miles (half farsakh) from the sea. From Surbára to Siálá, perhaps the Kachh Sanján, he makes ten days. Al Birúni (A.D. 970-1031) makes Subára perhaps the Thána Sopára six days' journey from Debal (perhaps Diu). Al Idrisi (A.D. 1100) mentions Subára apparently Sopára as a town in the second climate, a mile and a half from the sea and five days (an excessive allowance) from Sindán. It was a populous busy town, one of the entrepôts of India and a pearl fishery. Near Subára he places Bára, a small island with a growth of cactus and cocoanut trees.⁷
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⁵ Thus in Sachau's Arabic Text page 102, but Elliot (I. 66) spells the word Sufára in his translation. It might have assumed that form in passing from the Arabic through Rashid-ud-din's Persian version from which Sir Henry Elliot derives his account.
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⁷ Al Idrisi in Elliot (History of India), I. 77 and 85.
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Sura'ba'ra. See SUPÁRA.
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Tha'na (TÁNA).—That Thána was known to the Arabs in pre-Islám times is shown by one of the first Musalmán expeditions to the coast of India being directed against it. As early as the reign of the second Khalifah Umar Ibnal Khattab (A.D. 634-643; H. 13-23) mention is made⁸ of Usmán, Umar's governor of Umán (the Persian Gulf) and Bahrein,
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⁸ Al Bilázuri in Elliot, I. 116.
Linked texts (4)
- Tāj al-maʾāthir — Ḥasan Niẓāmī, Persian
- تحقيق ما للهند من مقولة مقبولة في العقل أو مرذولة — Arabic
- Chachnāma — ʿAlī b. Ḥāmid al-Kūfī
- Tārīkh-i Fīrūzshāhī — Shams-i Sirāj ʿAfīf