The Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume X, No. 6 [‎112v] (77/186)

616
ANCIENT TRADING CENTRES OF THE PERSIAN GULF The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
chief governor from Hormiiz. 'I'hey next anchored oft Curiate (Karyat), stormed
and took it, and put all to the sword who tried to escape, including women and
children *; they plundered and burnt it, “ so that not a house was left standing,
not even the mosque, one of the most beautiful ever seen.” They cut off the noses
and ears of the prisoners, and sent them to Hormuz. Thirty-eight ships, great and
small, were burned. It was a large town, and contained about 5000 to 6000 men,
an entrepot of ships which came to collect dates.
Thence the squadron went to Maskat, where the people submitted to be
vassals of the King of Portugal, being aware of the destruction of Curiate, and
agreed to pay tribute and furnish supplies. A “ captain having arrived with
10,000 men from the interior, hostilities ensued, and the town was taken after a
stout resistance. D’Alboquerque put men, women, and children to the sword, sacked
the town, and burnt it to the ground, including the large and beautiful mosque, and
thirty-four “ships” in all. Some men and women who had been taken alive had
their ears and noses cut off, and were then released. “ It is, ’ says the account,
“a large and populous city, supplied from the interior with much wheat, maize,
barley, and dates for lading ships. It is part of the kingdom of Ormus.”
The unhappy “ Moors ” returned when the Portuguese embarked, to try and
put out the flames. “ The Moors call the interior the island of Arabia.! It is a
very small land (!) governed by a king called the Benjabar”—this is the name of
a tribe in the vicinity (Beni-jabar).
At Maskat the Portuguese got “ Moorish ” pilots, and, passing six desert
islands—the Daimaniyah group—came to Soor,J where they were at first defied
by the “Alcaide;” but who, on the Portuguese preparing to attack, submitted to
be vassals of the King of Portugal. They took possession of the fort, hoisted the
Portuguese flag on it, and left the “ Alcaide” in charge. The fort was of a square
shape, with six towers round it, and two very large towers over the gate. There
were about six thousand inhabitants and one hundred “cavaliers,” the greater
part “ armed with steel armour: plates arranged after the manner of a roof tiled
with slates. The fore quarters of the horses were similarly defended.”
The last place in Oman they visited was Orfacao (Khor-Fakan), which was
attacked and taken with the usual mutilation of captives and merciless slaughter,
after which the place was burnt. It was a large town, with a wall on the land
side, and lies at the foot of a very high mountain. Now it is a small fishing-
village, and I saw no remains of the old town; it lies in a small cove at the
northern end of the Bdtinah district.
So much for the first visit of a Christian power to this country. The invaders
thence sailed to Hormuz.
In August, 1508, Alboquerque returned to the coast en route to Hormuz,
“ intending to attack Calayate,” which had been spared the previous year. It
was taken after some fighting, and the town sacked and burnt, including the
mosque, “ which the Moors took much to heart, for it was a very large building
with seven naves, all lined with tiles, and containing much porcelain hung upon
the walls.” It was burnt to the ground ; twenty-seven ships, large and small,
* I must express my horror at the barbarous cruelty of the “great” commander,
both here and throughout this cruise, towards people whose only offence seems to have
been that they were of a different race and religion. The details are stated in the
Commentaries in a matter-of-fact manner,
f As they do now, Jezfret-el-’Arab.
t Sahar, still the principal town on that part of the Oman littoral, called Batinah.