The Fruitful Province In
Which It Stands Was Called By The Ancients Siria Muinifera, Because It
Produces Frankincense, Myrrh, And Storax.
Being desirous to plunder
Maskat near Cape Ras-al-gat, Mirazenam sent three Turkish gallies on
that errand under Ali Beg, who took possession of Maskat, whence most of
the Portuguese residents saved themselves by flight, leaving their goods
to be plundered by Ali Beg.
The fugitives took refuge in Mataro, a
town only a league distant, whence they went to Bruxel, a fort about
four leagues inland, belonging to Catani the sheikh or chief of a
horde or tribe of Arabs. The Arab officer who commanded there received
the Portuguese with much kindness and hospitality, and protected them
till the departure of Ali Beg, when they returned to Maskat. On learning
the ruin of Maskat, Gonzalo de Menezes, who then commanded at Ormuz,
sent Luis de Almeyda with a squadron consisting of a galleon, a galley,
and six other vessels, with 400 good men, to attack Ali Beg. But Almeyda
neglected the orders of his superior, and sailed to the coast of the
Naytaques, intending to surprise and plunder the beautiful and rich
city of Pesani[403]. But the inhabitants got notice of their danger
and fled, after which Almeyda dishonourably plundered the city, to which
he set fire, together with near fifty sail of vessels which were in the
bay. He did the same thing to Guadel or Gader, a city not inferior
to Pesani, and to Teis or Tesse belonging to the barbarous tribe of
the Abindos who dwell on the river Calamen in Gedrosia[404], and
who join with the Naytagites in their piracies.
[Footnote 402: Sanaa is about 80 marine leagues, or 278 English miles
N.E. from Mokha, and 30 leagues, or about 100 miles nearly north from
Makulla, the nearest port of Arabia on the Indian ocean. - E.]
[Footnote 403: Perhaps Posino on the oceanic coast of Makran, one of the
provinces of Persia, is here meant, nearly north from Maskat, on the
opposite coast of the entrance towards the Persian Gulf. - E.]
[Footnote 404: Gedrosia the ancient name of that province of Persia on
the Indian Ocean between the mouth of the Persian Gulf and the Indus,
now called Mekran or Makran. - E.]
SECTION X.
Transactions of the Portuguese in India, from 1581 to 1597 [405].
Don Francisco Mascarenhas, count of Santa Cruz, was the first viceroy
sent out to India after the revolution by which Philip II of Spain
acquired the sovereignty of Portugal. The honour and advantages
conferred upon him on receiving this important office were greater than
had ever been enjoyed by any of his predecessors. He well deserved all
rewards of honour and profit, having served with great reputation in
India, particularly in the brave defence of Chaul, with an incompetent
garrison, and hardly any fortifications, against the power of the Nizam,
who besieged it with 150,000 men. Yet his advancement on this occasion
proceeded more from the policy of the king of Spain than the merit of
Mascarenhas, to endeavour to gain the hearts of the Portuguese in India
by his bounty. On his arrival at Goa in 1581, the new viceroy found that
all the Portuguese had already submitted to the government of the king
of Spain, so that he had only to attend to the usual affairs of his
viceroyalty.
[Footnote 405: We have here omitted from de Faria several long and
confused dissertations on subjects that will be treated of more
satisfactorily in the sequel of this work, from better sources of
information. These are, 1. Of the religion of Hindostan. 2. Of the
empire of Ethiopia, or Abyssinia. 3. Of Japan. 4. Of China. 5. Of the
traditions respecting the preaching of Christianity in India by St
Thomas. Likewise, in the sequel of the Portuguese transactions in India
from de Faria, we have omitted a vast deal of uninteresting events,
confining our attention only to such as are of some relative
importance. - E.]
Sultan Amodifar, the lawful king of Guzerat, after being long kept
prisoner by the Mogul who had usurped his kingdom, made his escape by
the assistance of some women and came in disguise to a Banian at
Cambaya, by whom he was conveyed to Jambo, a person who had
secured himself in a portion of the kingdom of Guzerat in the late
revolution. Jambo not only acknowledged Amodifar as his legitimate
sovereign, but procured the submission of many other chiefs and great
men, so that he was soon at the head of a large army, in which there
were above 30,000 horse, and in a short time Amodifar recovered
possession of almost all Guzerat, either by force or consent. In hopes
of profiting by these confusions, and in particular expecting to acquire
possession of Surat, the viceroy went with 40 sail to Chaul, whence he
sent some intelligent agents to Baroach, which was then besieged by
Amodifar, the wife and children of Cotub oddin Khan having taken refuge
in that place. These agents had instructions to treat secretly both with
Amodifar and the wife of Cotub, without letting either of them know the
correspondence with the other, that the Portuguese interest might be
secured with the party that ultimately prevailed. But a large Mogul army
invaded Guzerat and recovered possession of the whole country, so that
the negociations of the viceroy fell to nothing, and be returned to Goa.
While absent from that city, the subjects of the new king of Visiapour,
provoked by the insolences of Larva Khan the favourite minister, wished
to set up Cufo Khan the son of Meale Khan, who had been long kept
prisoner at Goa; but on this coming to the knowledge of Larva Khan, he
contrived, by means of an infamous Portuguese, named Diego Lopez Bayam,
to inveigle Cufo Khan into his power, who thinking to gain a crown was
made prisoner by Larva Khan and deprived of his eyes.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 198 of 217
Words from 201306 to 202305
of 221361
