It Is True, However, That A Long Way From That Spot, Some 300
Miles Distant, They Are Also Found; But That Is In September And The First
Half Of October.
NOTE 1.
- MAABAR (Ma'bar) was the name given by the Mahomedans at this
time (13th and 14th centuries) to a tract corresponding in a general way
to what we call the Coromandel Coast. The word in Arabic signifies the
Passage or Ferry, and may have referred either to the communication with
Ceylon, or, as is more probable, to its being in that age the coast most
frequented by travellers from Arabia and the Gulf.[1] The name does not
appear in Edrisi, nor, I believe, in any of the older geographers, and the
earliest use of it that I am aware of is in Abdallatif's account of Egypt,
a work written about 1203-1204. (De Sacy, Rel. de l'Egypte, p. 31.)
Abulfeda distinctly names Cape Comorin as the point where Malabar ended
and Ma'bar began, and other authority to be quoted presently informs us
that it extended to Nilawar, i.e. Nellore.
There are difficulties as to the particular locality of the port or city
which Polo visited in the territory of the Prince whom he calls Sondar
Bandi Davar; and there are like doubts as to the identification, from the
dark and scanty Tamul records, of the Prince himself, and the family to
which he belonged; though he is mentioned by more than one foreign writer
besides Polo.
Thus Wassaf: "Ma'bar extends in length from Kaulam to Nilawar, nearly 300
parasangs along the sea-coast; and in the language of that country the
king is called Devar, which signifies, 'the Lord of Empire.' The
curiosities of Chin and Machin, and the beautiful products of Hind and
Sind, laden on large ships which they call Junks, sailing like mountains
with the wings of the wind on the surface of the water, are always
arriving there. The wealth of the Isles of the Persian Gulf in particular,
and in part the beauty and adornment of other countries, from 'Irak and
Khurasan as far as Rum and Europe, are derived from Ma'bar, which is so
situated as to be the key of Hind.
"A few years since the DEVAR was SUNDAR PANDI, who had three brothers,
each of whom established himself in independence in some different
country. The eminent prince, the Margrave (Marzban) of Hind, Taki-uddin
Abdu-r Rahman, a son of Muhammad-ut-Tibi, whose virtues and
accomplishments have for a long time been the theme of praise and
admiration among the chief inhabitants of that beautiful country, was the
Devar's deputy, minister, and adviser, and was a man of sound judgment.
Fattan, Malifattan, and Kail[2] were made over to his possession.... In
the months of the year 692 H. (A.D. 1293) the above-mentioned Devar, the
ruler of Ma'bar, died and left behind him much wealth and treasure. It is
related by Malik-ul-Islam Jamaluddin, that out of that treasure 7000 oxen
laden with precious stones and pure gold and silver fell to the share of
the brother who succeeded him.
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