SECTION XXIII.

Of the Arabs inhabiting around the Persian Gulph.

Our geographers are wrong, as I have elsewhere remarked, in representing a part of Arabia as subject to the Monarchs of Persia. So far is it from being so, that, on the contrary, the Arabs possess all the sea-coast of the Persian empire, from the mouths of the Euphrates, nearly to those of the Indus.

These settlements upon the coast of Persia belong not, indeed, to Arabia properly so called. But, since they are independent of Persia, and use the same language, and exhibit the same manners, as the native inhabitants of Arabia, I shall here subjoin a brief account of them.

It is impossible to ascertain the period at which the Arabians formed their settlements upon

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this last. Tradition affirms, that they have been established here for many centuries. From a variety of hints in ancient history, it may be presumed, that these Arabian colonies occupied their present situation in the time of the first kings of Persia. There is a striking analogy between the manners ascribed to the ancient Ichthyophagi, and those of these Arabs.

They live all nearly in the same manner, leading a seafaring-life, and employing themselves in fishing, and in gathering pearls. They use little other food but fish and dates; and they feed also their cattle upon fish.

They prize liberty as highly as do their brethren in the desart. Almost every different town has its own Schiech, who receives hardly any revenue from his subjects; but, if he has no private fortune, must, like his subjects, support himself by his industry, either in carrying goods, or in fishing. If the principal inhabitants happen to be dissatisfied with the reigning Schiech, they depose him, and choose another out of the same family.

Their arms are a match-firelock, a sabre, and a buckler. All their fishing-boats serve occasionally as ships of war. But a fleet like this, that must frequently stop to take fish for food, when they should pursue the enemy, can never perform any very great exploits. Their wars

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are mere skirmishes and inroads, never ending in any decisive action, but producing lasting quarrels, and a state of continual hostility.

Their dwellings are so paultry, that an enemy would not take the pains to demolish them. And as, from this circumstance, these people have nothing to lose upon the continent, they always betake themselves to their boats at the approach of an enemy, and lie concealed in some isle in the Gulph till he have retreated. They are convinced that the Persians will never think of settling on a barren shore, where they would be infested by all the Arabs who frequent the adjacent seas.

These Arabs are Sunnites. They regard the Persians, who are Shiites, with abhorrence, and shun all alliance with them. The mutual hatred of the two sects, was even one cause of the failure of Nadir-Shah’s attempt to subdue these Arabs. In the prosecution of this object, the usurper had, at immense expence, equipped a fleet of twenty-five large ships upon the Persian Gulph. But, as he had no Persian sailors, he was obliged to take Indians, who were Sunnites. These refusing to fight against their brethren of the same orthodox faith, massacred their Shiite officers, and carried off the ships. Towards the end of his life, Nadir-Shah was meditating to seize these Arabs, to transport them to the

Of Places subject to the Dominion of Persia.

The kings of Persia, although not masters of these coasts, yet retained some places upon them. In later times, the Persian governors of these places have shaken off their allegiance, and have, in some measure, erected them into independent sovereignties. The chief of these are Gambron, and Hormus.

Gambron, a sea-port town in the province of Laristan, belonged anciently to the Persian Monarch. After the death of Nadir-Schah, a Persian,

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named Naser Khan, made himself master of the province, and, by consequence, of the city. He acknowledges himself vassal to Vakeel Kerim Khan of Schiraz, yet pays no tribute, and respects not the Vakeel’s authority, unless when he comes with his army to compel him.

The city of Gambron, which has been also called Bender Abbas, was famous through all the last century, and in the beginning of the present, as the port of Schiraz, and of all the south of Persia. Its trade was, at that time, very extensive. At present it is very low; nor is there a single European counting-house in the city. This decline has been occasioned by the domestic disturbances in Persia, and the wars and disputes between the French and the English. The Dutch for a while continued to carry on a petty trade here. But, since they formed a settlement in the isle of Karek, they have entirely deserted Gambron.

The isle of Ormus, so celebrated of old, now retains nothing of its ancient splendour. It belongs at present to Mulla Ali Shah, a Persian, who made himself master of it immediately after the death of Nadir-Shah, whose admiral he had been. This Prince of Ormus possesses likewise a part of the isle of Kishme, the other part being subject to the Prince of Seer.

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South from Laristan is Minau, a considerable inland town, six leagues distant from the seashore. The inhabitants of the district in which it lies are Shiites, and are chiefly employed in agriculture; from these circumstances, they are sometimes induced to acknowledge the authority of the Chan of Laristan.

A tribe of Arabs, denominated Belludge, inhabit between Minau and Cape Jaske. They are masters of a good many vessels, and carry on a considerable trade with Basra, upon the Arabic Gulph, and even venture as far as to the coasts of India. These Arabs are Sunnites; and unity of religious sentiments has occasioned their joining the party of the Afghans in the late revolutions of Persia.

Some geographers represent these Belludge as inhabiting all along the Persian coast, to the mouths of the Indus, and have described them as a warlike people, addicted to piracy. I know not whether they are to be considered as independent, or as tributary to Persia. More probably, they acknowledge no sovereign authority but that of their own Schiechs. Some narratives of travels, performed in the last century, relate the extraordinary adventures of a Prince of Jaske, who withstood the power of Shah Abbas, till he was, at length, taken off by treachery. His widow continued to resist the Persian King,

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and performed deeds worthy of the heroines in the ages of chivalry. But, it is to a Schiech of the Belludge that the story is properly to be referred.

The country from Bender Abbas, northward to Delam, resembles the Tehama in Arabia; it is an arid plain, and is called by the Persians Kermesir, or the hot country. In this district I know no place but Khamir, a mine situate on a precipitous rock, which, with a small tract adjoining, is the property of a particular Schiech. Ships come hither for cargoes of sulphur, of which there is abundance in the neighbourhood.

Of the Territories of the Tribe of Houle.

This numerous tribe are masters of all the coast from Bender Abbas to Cape Berdistan, and possess all the ports in this extent of coast. One part of the tract is parched and barren; but a range of hills, like Dahr Asban, extend nearly to the sea, and afford wood, which is cut down and exported by the inhabitants.

Notwithstanding these natural advantages, the Arabs of Houle do not cultivate their lands, but live by hunting and fishing. They are Sunnites;

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and are esteemed among their neighbours for valour. If their forces could be brought to act in combination, they might easily conquer all the cities upon the Persian Gulph: But almost every city is subject to a particular Schiech; and, although these Schiechs are all descendents from the same family, they choose rather to remain petty and poor, than to raise themselves to a more opulent and respectable condition, by submitting to act in concert, under the direction of one Grand Schiech.

The following are the Schiechs or Princes of the tribe of Houle:

The Schiech of Seer, whom I mentioned in the description of Oman; but who, being originally from this country, and of the tribe of Houle, possesses, in the neighbourhood of Gambran, the cities of Kunk, Lundsje, and Ras Heti. His subjects export wood for fuel and charcoal.

The Schiechs of Mogho and Tsjœrack. The inhabitants of the latter of these districts also export wood; and are said to be the bravest of all the tribe of Houle.

Lastly, the Schiechs of Nachelo, Nabend, Aaloe, Tœhhrie, Schilu, and Konkoun. The inhabitants of Nachelo are esteemed to be very skilful divers. In the city of Konkoun, the inhabitants of which are of a more pacific character

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than the other branches of the tribe of Houle, both Jews and Banians reside.

Persians, who have no ships, but live by husbandry, occupy the tract between the principality of Abu Schæhhr and Cape Berdistan.

Of the Principalities of Abu Schaehhr and Bender Rigk.

ABU SCHÆHHR, the capital of the independent state of the same name, possesses a commodious harbour, in which ships can come up close to the houses. This circumstance induced Nadir Shah to station a fleet here, of which some remains are to be still seen. Since that time, this city has been better known, and more considerable. It is at present the sea-port town of Schiraz; and the English, the only European nation who continue to trade with Persia, have a factory here.

The Arabs inhabiting the district of Abu Schæhhr are not of the tribe of Houle. There are among them three eminent families; the two first of which have been, from time immemorial, settled in this country. The third, named Matarisch, came lately from Oman, where they were employed in fishing, entered into alliance with the other two, and found means to usurp

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the sovereign authority, which they have now held for several years.

The present Schiech, Nafer, of the family of Matarisch, possesses likewise the isle of Bahhrein, upon the coast of Arabia, by which he is enabled to keep on foot some shipping. He also has considerable domains in Kermesir, which he holds from Kerim Khan, with whom Naser’s children are placed as hostages for their father’s fidelity. It is a happy circumstance for Schiraz, that the Prince of Abu Schaehhhr can thus be retained in the interests of Persia by means of his possessions in Kermesir.

Schiech Naser was a Sunnite; but, in hopes of being appointed Admiral of the Persian fleet, he became a Shiite, and married a Persian lady. These two steps have proved very injurious to him and his family. He is odious to his subjects and neighbours; and his children are no longer counted among the Arabian nobility.

Bender Rigk, the seat of the prince of this name, is a city encompassed with walls in an indifferent state, and lies north from Abu Schæhhr. The petty state, of which this is the capital city, comprehends several other places in Kermesir, which render its Sovereign in some measure dependent upon Kerim Khan. The Arabs of this principality are chiefly addicted to

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a seafaring-life; the Persians inhabiting its back parts are husbandmen.

The reigning family of Bender Rigk are of the Arabian tribe of Beni Saab, and are originally from Oman; but the grandfather of the present prince, having become a Shiite, and married a Persian lady, this family are no longer counted by the Arabs among their genuine nobility.

The reigning Prince of Bender Rigk, Mir Mahenna, is distinguished through this country for his vices and cruelties, as one of the most execrable tyrants that ever existed. He made servants murder his father in his own presence, because the old man had a predilection for his eldest son. He killed his mother, because she reproached him for his crimes. He caused his brother, and sixteen of his other relations, to be assassinated, that he might establish himself in unquestioned possession of the throne. He drowned two of his sisters, because a neighbouring prince had asked one of them in marriage. He exposes all the female children that happen to be born to him. In 1765, this detestable monster was under the age of thirty years.

Mir Makenna had fallen twice into the hands of Kerim Khan. From his first captivity he made his escape, upon a defeat which the Governor

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of Persia suffered. He obtained his liberty the second time, by the good offices of his sister, who was married to a Persian officer. Upon returning into his own dominions, he immediately began to pillage the caravans which travelled between Schiraz and Abu Schaehhr, and to practise piracy. Kerim Khan prepared to chastise him, and besieged his capital, but without success.

In the year 1765, the same Kerim Khan see to demand payment of the tribute due for his possessions in Kermesir; but Mir Mahenna maltreated the officer who was sent on the errand, and called his beard to be shaven. Kerim Khan then sent a strong army against him, which conquered Bender Rigk, and all his territories. Mir Mahenna had, however, prudently retired, before it was too late, with his troops, and a part of his subjects, into a desart isle called Khoueri, where he waited till the Persian army should retire from his country. After they were gone, he returned out of the island, expelled the garrison from Bender Rigk, and recovered possession of his dominions.

The tyrant: had abandoned himself to drunkenness; and had begun to exercise his cruelties upon his troops to such excess, as to cut off the nose and ears of some of the principal officers; yet his soldiers were still so steadily attached

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to him, that, even in the period of his exile, he took the isle of Karek from the Dutch. A band of robbers never abandon their chief, while he continues to share the plunder among them.

Of the Tribe of Kiab, and their Schiech Soliman.

The Arabian tribe of Kiab, or, as the Persians pronounce it, Tsjab, inhabit the farthest point upon the side of the Persian Gulph. They were in small consideration before the reign of their present Schiech Soliman, whose fame hath even reached Europe, in consequence of a quarrel he had with the English, in which he took some of their ships.

This Schiech took advantage of the troubles of Persia, and of the defects in the government of Basra. He began with subduing his petty independent neighbours; after which he made himself master of several large districts in Persia, and promised tribute to the Khans who were contending for the throne of that distracted empire. None of them ever attempted to exact tribute but Kerim, and he contented himself with a small sum. Soliman then extended his

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conquests towards Basra. He cultivated the friendship of the Ajals, the chief people of that country; and at last made himself master of all the isles between the mouths of the Euphrates, commonly called the country of Schat el Arrab.

Having pushed his conquests to the navigable rivers, he endeavoured to form a naval force. He built his first vessel in 1758; and, in 1765, he had ten large, and seven small ships.

In the same year, 1765, Kerim Khan sent a force against him, too powerful for him to resist. He then transported his treasures and troops from isle to isle, till he had carried them to the west of Schat el Arabb. The Persians could not pursue him for want of ships, and were therefore obliged to retire. The Pacha of Bagdad then ordered his forces to attack Soliman; but he retreated among the isles, and escaped the Turks now, as he had before avoided the Persians.

The territory of the tribe of Kiab extends from the desart of Arabia to the country of Hindean, and northward to the principality of Havisa. It is watered by several rivers, large and small. It abounds in dates, rice, grain, and pasture. Its principal cities are Damek, lying within Persia, Hafar, and Ghoban; the seat

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of a Schiech, near one of the mouths of the Euphrates.

Of some other independent States.

Hindian, north from Bender Rigk, and bordering on the possessions of the tribe of Kiab, is a small district, subject to a particular Sovereign. The Arabs who inhabit it live upon the produce of their lands, and their cattle.

Havisa, a city and district in the back parts of the country bordering on the Persian Gulph, belongs to a descendent from Mahomet. This Prince is named Maula, and enjoys the privilege of coining money.

Upon the eastern coast of the Persian Gulph are many isles, and most of them inhabited. Except Omens, none of them constitutes an independent state. The different princes on the continent possess the isles adjoining to their respective dominions.

On the western side of the Gulph is an isle, or rather a cluster of isles, known to the Europeans by the name of Bahhrein. The Arabs call the largest of these isles Aval; and each of the smaller has its particular name. As this isle is famous for the pearl-fishery, and has undergone

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gone many revolutions, and often changed its master, I muff say a few words of it.

Bahhrein is a fortified city, upon the isle, known either by the same name, or by the name of Aval. In this isle were once three hundred and sixty towns and villages. At present it contains, beside the capital, only sixty wretched villages. A long series of wars have ruined the others.

This isle produces great abundance of dates. But its chief dependence is upon the pearl-fishery, as the belt pearls are found here in great abundance. The duties upon the two articles of dates and pearls afford its Sovereign a lack of rupees, or 300,000 French livres. Out of this revenue he is obliged to maintain a garrison in the city.

Bahhrein belonged once to the Portuguese. When they were driven out of the Persian Gulph, it fell into the hands of the Schiech of Lachsa, but was taken from him by the Persians. The Imam of Oman then made himself master of it, but gave it up again to the Persian Monarch for a sum of money. After same time, during the inroad of the Afghans, the Persian Governor gave it up to the Schiech of Nabend, of the tribe of Houle. Another Houlite, the Schiech of Tæhhri, expelled him of Nabend. Nadir Shah’s admiral then seized it; but, after

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his departure, the Schiech of Tæhhrie recovered it. During the late troubles in Persia, the Schiech of alike made himself master of this isle, but was immediately dispossessed by the Princes of Abu Schaehhr and Bender Rigk, who conquered it together. The first of these princes drove out the second, and was in his turn expelled by the Beni House. In 1765, it had returned again into the possession of the Schiech of Abu Schæhhr, and he was then sole Monarch of the isle of Bahhrein.

From this narrative, the reader may form an idea of the continual revolutions which take place among this multitude of petty princes. At Basra I learned some particulars concerning their complicated quarrels, which I could not well comprehend: I was told, that every Arab Prince was always at open war with two or three others of his own nation.

The navigation is continually disturbed and interrupted by these strong quarrels. On board any Arabian vessel, passengers are always in danger of falling into the hands of one enemy or another. It is only on board a European ship, which the Arabian small craft dare not attack, that one can perform this voyage in safety.

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Of the Isle of Karek.

This isle, which lies on the east coast of the Persian Gulph, between Abu Schæhhr and Bender Rigk, contains only a single village; but the aqueducts cut in the rocks, which still remain, shew it to have been once more populous in proportion to its extent, which is about five leagues in circumference.

Karek has become famous, in consequence of the settlement lately formed upon it by the Dutch, and since given up by them. As this event has made some noire in the world, I shall give a brief account of it.

The Dutch carried on a great trade to Basra, and had for the principal director of their factory there a Baron Kniphausen, who was much respected in that city. This German having embroiled himself with the Governor, in consequence of some affair of gallantry, was cast in prison, and might have lost his head, had he not paid a large sum of money for his liberty. Before he sailed for Batavia, he obtained from the factory at Basra a written attestation of the innocence of his conduct; and the Dutch East-India Company approved of all he had done.

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In consequence of his difference with the Governor of Basra, Mr Kniphausen had agreed with Mir Naser, Prince of Bender Rigk, to whom Karek belonged, that the Dutch should, for a certain annual rent, be allowed to seat their factory there. The government at Batavia relished the project, which was, in fact, a very wise one, and sent the Baron, with two great ships, to carry it into execution.

Upon arriving at Karek, he seized some ships from Basra, and detained them, till he received restitution of the sum which he had paid for his liberty. He built a large square magazine upon the island, and raised, by degrees, four towers at its corners, each of which he furnished with six cannons. Mir Naser, dissatisfied at the erection of these fortifications, attacked the Dutch, who attacked him in his turn, but could not follow him into his fastnesses. This petty war proved, however, very expensive to the company.

Baron Kniphausen, after governing Karek, with sovereign authority for five years, was succeeded by Mr Vanderhulst, who having been previously employed at Basra, and knowing the Arabs, thought it his duty to prosecute, with Mir Mahenna, the new Prince of Bender Rigk, the war which had been waged against his father, Mir Mahenna, by a stratagem, seized two armed vessels belonging to the Dutch, and

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unsuccessfully attempted a descent upon the island. Mr Vanderhulst then enlarged his fortifications, and formed the plan of a town, which was soon peopled with Persians and Arabs.

This settlement might be lucrative to the officers employed about it; but the expences of the war and the garrisons consumed the Company’s profits, and they determined to abandon it; but the prospect of an advantageous trade with Persia induced them to hold it some time longer. The new Governor, Mr Buschman, therefore concluded a peace with Mir Mahenna; after which the trade met with no interruption.

His successor, Mr Van Houting, although in other respects a man of merit, did not conduct himself so prudently, being a stranger to the genius and temper of the Arabs, and having no experienced officers under him. He was not careful to observe a neutrality in the quarrels between the Prince of Abu Schæhhr and Mir Mahenna; but, in concert with the former, attacked the latter in his retreat in the island of Khoneri. Mir Mahenna allowed his enemies to approach; and, when he saw them in security, fell upon them with his cavalry, and entirely discomfited the troops of the Dutch, and of Abu Schæhhr.

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Emboldened by this success, Mir Mahenna made a descent upon the isle of Karek, and besieged the town. Mr Van Houting suffered himself to be outwitted by a Persian, by whom he was persuaded to permit Mir Mahenna to enter the fort with a small retinue, in order to agree upon terms for an accommodation. The Arab then made the Dutch garrison prisoners, and sent them to Batavia. This event happened in the end of December 1763.

It is not probable that the Dutch East-India Company will put themselves to the trouble of expelling the conqueror, and renewing their establishment on the isle of Karek.