The Treasure Found In The
Palace Of Diu In Gold And Silver Was Of Small Value, Not Exceeding
200,000 Pardaos[205], But The Quantity Of Ammunition Was Exceedingly
Great.
The number of brass cannon was prodigious, those of iron not
being deemed worthy of account.
Among the brass ordnance were three
basilisks of prodigious size, one of which was sent by De Cuna as a
curiosity to Lisbon, which was placed in the castle of St Julian at the
mouth of the Tagus, where it is known by the name of the Gun of Diu.
Among the papers belonging to Badur and his treasurer Abd' el Cader
letters were found from Saf Khan, communicating the progress he had
made in his negociations for bringing the Turks upon the Portuguese, and
copies of others from the sheikhs of Aden and Xael to the same
purpose. Having collected these and other testimonies of the treachery
of the late king, Nuno caused Khojah Zofar, a man of great reputation
among the citizens both Mahometans and Gentiles, to convene a meeting of
the principal people, merchants, and cazis, or teachers of the
Mahometan law, to whom these letters and testimonials were produced, in
justification of the conduct of the Portuguese, and in proof of the
treacherous intentions of the late king. All the Moors and Pagans
acknowledged themselves satisfied by these documents, and accordingly
gave certificates to that effect in the Arabic and Persian languages,
which were signed by Khojah Zofar and all the leading people among the
Mahometans and Hindoos, which were communicated to the kings of the
Deccan, Narsinga, and Ormuz, and to all the sheikhs along the coast of
Arabia as far as Aden.
[Footnote 204: Probably Noanagur on the east side of the Gulf of
Cutch. - E.]
[Footnote 205: At 3s. 9d. each, worth L. 37,500 sterling. - E.]
For the greater security and satisfaction of the people, Nuno gave
orders that the Mahometans should enjoy the free exercise of their
religion, and that the laws and regulations established by Badur for the
government of the city and its dependencies should continue to be
executed, even continuing all the salaries and pensions granted by the
late king. Among these was a Moor of Bengal who, by authentic
information was 320 years old[206]. This man had two sons, one ninety
and the other only twelve years of age. He appeared to be only about
sixty, and it was said that his beard and teeth had fallen and been
renewed four or five times. He was rather under the middle size, and
neither fat nor lean. He pretended that before he was an hundred years
old, while herding cattle on the banks of a river, there appeared a man
to him clothed in a gray habit and girt with a cord, having wounds on
his hands and feet, who requested to be carried by him across the river
on his shoulders; which having done, this person said that as a reward
for his charity, he should retain all his faculties till he saw him
again.
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