Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive c10.9044

c10.9044

c. 1343.—“Ten days after embarking at Calecut we arrived at the Islands called *Dhibat-al-Mahal*. . . . These islands are reckoned among the wonders of the World; there are some 2000 of them. Groups of a hundred, or not quite so many, of these islands are found clustered into a ring, and each cluster has an entrance like a harbour-mouth, and it is only there that ships can enter. . . . Most of the trees that grow on these islands are coco-palms. . . . They are divided into regions or groups . . . among which are distinguished . . . 3° *Mahal*, the group which gives a name to the whole, and which is the residence of the Sultans.”—*Ibn Batuta*, iv. 110 *seqq.*