Page:The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 4-1875.djvu/62

 PrnxriHT, 1875 J ACCOUNT OP KALHlT, IN S. B. AJLYBIA 40 ant to tlusday thu Bcni Shauba in, — a Hraall but distinct clan, and probably the remnant of some great tribe. OxnAn, however, hiving been from early time* a province of Tom ft n. Hid pooplo v.uiiM, liLko the Yi tiled .Sabteaas tkim LliL-ir lfliu-Iou, wliiub, Indeed, tiu-v retained until the introduction of Islam. In curlier times, before the opening of thu navigation of flu* I ted Sea route in the rime of thy Pharaoh* ..!' i L- nineteenth dynasty and in the infancy of maritime commerce, Kul bit was not jiuptt ibably the seat of a Phoenician factory or trading station* as Oman was one of thu princijml r by which the prodrten'ons of thu East were obtained by those enterprising merchant* who, established all along the South Arabian and Oman courts and in the Persian Gulf, bad an abn*- ■ monopoly of the Indian trade ; and Ko 1 h u t, being the nearest port to India in Arabia, would bo peculiarly well suited for purpose. Wnm thu time of Winy to (lint of Marco full I. a period of nearly thirteen centur< have, I believe, no mention of Kalhiit by any European author, and we are dependent on Arab OttdFuntum authorities foe what wo can gather regarding it. Gnu of the fbi.1 of the.-* i* Ibu hi, who died in a.h, 20(1 [«.& 821-22], and who, aa quoted in an historical work discovered by Colonel 13. C Row and translated by him in bis .itmali of Oman* relates, in oonneefcion with the emigration of the Yemen tribe* in consequence of the bursting of the great dam of March, that the Azdii leadership of Malik binFnhm el cd I, having jr in Oman, settled ul Kg I h« t, whence they suc- ceeded in expelling the Persiana from the count ry and establishing themselves therein. Mart devotes aclinpl' c tothoaityond gulfofK&lliAt, in which he styles it n greul, and nubl >,ubj<vt fa the Malik of Hormn*. Hfi . I urge and good, fiwpieir numerous ships with goods frCKD Iiulm, Kid fchtil from this city the spices and other mcrcluuidi£C ore distributed among; the cltie* and towns of the interior.'* Ibu flatuta visited this port in a.d, 1&28, nbout thirty years or to subsequent to Mobs and thus describes the placet? — tine Ixixanrs and one of the most beautiful • /our. Am. Soc. Bf*$. toL XLIII. CW-*1 |«- 1 P- U* mosques tluit you could *ee nnywhere, the wall* of which are covered with enamelled tiV Euahun, Tlic city is inhabited by nicrchantH, who draw their support from Indian import trade. Alfchftng fc rh.'v fire Arabs, they don't speak Arabic correctly. After every phrasi hare a habit of adding the particle no. Than they will say ' Yon are eating, no !' ' You up walking, no I' * Yon are doing this or that, no 1 * ofthem are Rchntmatiea, lrat they oh openly pmelise thnt- tenets, for they are under the rale of Sul^n Ku thud din Teh en* Halik of Hurmi4/, who io uitiuxiox." The noticcH of K a 1 h u t, however, by ni authors are in general very meagre, and add little to out knowledge of it, The fullest account I i I hftTfl m*it with « in the itinerary of Ibu Kl 31i»juwir, who wrote in x.a. .o. 1228), and which I here transbto:— "The first who ertubihdiud themselves ou the shore at K ■ 1 h ft t were some poor fiahermeT), who earned their bread through the bounty of Gotl, an I bj i !.•::• stay mom i* 'I "ii 1 v bond Qu b nal- ity sni ., and people colleeted there and uiulti plied, Nowtb . Sheikh from among {us Sheikhs of the Arabs who was at the head of tbi. Wttmntu i und hia name wasMulik bin Fahin, and as ho stood en the be became posneased with the deaire of augmenting the plawf and the number of inlia- hituuta. When, tin siiling past, he used to tell his people 'knl hat,' meaning, call to die people to put hi innl i! miii -!| Hi, .-place was called Kal bur. h was related to mo by Ahmad bin 'Alt bin AImIuI '>VaHiti that it waa called in time* I ] u t k A 1, 1 naked why it was so called, ami lie
 * The city of Kulhit stands on the shore ; it has
 * iiafc when thu tribe (meaning probah

I h a d h i a schismatics) flal from t fie lnv Xahrwan, tl">y kept calling to their slaves 4 noV that is r bring (the proriaions). Now the proviBiotia had been bronght with them from HI Irak, and as the food decreased* one of them said to his slave *MC and tlio slave replied the place was named 11 a t k a 1, and in process of time tbo name changed with the revolution of affairs to K a 1 h u 1 1 and tbapopnlatieninereased. Be 1 'SNTOently a atone wnll W8 and sbijw noivenl there from every port, bringing rocTchan- t Vttk'i If!
 * fcaZ/ that is, thi"!'" h but 1M