Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part I: History of Gujarat c19.s4: Kings. Rahma or Ruhmi
Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part I: History of Gujarát c19.s4
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Kings. Rahma or Ruhmi
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or Cambodian aloes, were the staple produce. Al Masúdi (A.D. 943) after stating that former accounts of Rahma's¹ elephants troops and horses were probably exaggerated, adds that the kingdom of Rahma extends both along the sea and the continent and that it is bounded by an inland state called Káman (probably Kámarup that is Assam). He describes the inhabitants as fair and handsome and notices that both men and women had their ears pierced. This description of the people still more the extension of the country both along the sea and along the continent suggests that Masúdi's Al Rahmi is a combination of Burma which by dropping the B he has mixed with Al Rahma. Lane identifies Rahmi² with Sumátra on the authority of an Account of India and China by two Muhammadan Travellers of the Ninth Century. This identification is supported by Al Masúdi's³ mention of Rámi as one of the islands of the Java group, the kingdom of the Indian Mihráj. The absence of reference to Bengal in these accounts agrees with the view that during the ninth century Bengal was under Tibet.
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¹ Al Masúdi in History of India by Sir Henry Elliot, I. 25.
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² Lane's Notes on his Translation of the Alf Leilah, III. 80.
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³ Al Masúdi's Murúj (Arabie Text Cairo Edition, I. 221).