A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 06: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present TimeKerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 06: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
It has been formerly mentioned that Nuno de Cuna arrived at Ormuz in May
1529, into which he made a formal and pompous entry, to the great
admiration of the natives. He immediately issued a proclamation at that
place and its dependencies, "That all who had cause of complaint against
the Portuguese should appear before him for redress." Many complainers
accordingly came forwards, and the offenders were obliged to make
restitution, to the great astonishment and satisfaction of the Moors,
who had not been accustomed to see justice executed on their behalf. He
found that _Reis Xarafo_; great _guazil_[179] or rather arch tyrant over
the king and people of Ormuz, though restored to that situation by
Sampayo, was by no means clear of the great crimes he had been formerly
accused of, particularly of rapine and murder. On a representation of
this to the king of Portugal, Manuel de Macedo had orders to bring him
prisoner to Lisbon, and accordingly had him arrested by the assistance
of Nuno, who waited upon the king of Ormuz to justify this procedure.
The king readily acquiesced, and presented the governor with a rich
present of jewels and cloth of gold, together with a fine horse richly
caparisoned in the Persian manner. As the reigning king was implicated
in the murder of his predecessor Mahomet, Nuno imposed upon him a fine
of 40,000 Xerephines, in addition to the tribute of 60,000 which he had
to pay yearly; that crime being used as a pretence to overburthen him
with a tribute equal to a third part of the yearly revenue of
Ormuz[180]. Xarafo, or Ashraf, was sent to Portugal with examinations
respecting the crimes laid to his charge; but he carried such riches
along with him, that he was not only able to purchase a remission of
punishment, but was actually reinstated in his former employment. While
Nuno still remained at Ormuz, Tavarez de Sousa came there, who had been
with forty men to assist the king of _Basrah_ against the lord of
_Gizaira_[181]; having been the first Portuguese who went up the rivers
Tigris and Euphrates. Basrah or Bazora, in about the lat. of 30° N. is
about 30 leagues from the mouth of the great river Euphrates, and
received its name in commemoration of the more ancient city of Basrah,
eight leagues higher up, the ruins of which are said by eye-witnesses to
be twice as extensive as the city of Grand Cairo. The island of Gizaira,
or Jazirat, is formed by the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates, being
about 40 leagues in circumference, and is said to contain 40,000
archers. The river Tigris rises among the _Curds_ in the greater
Armenia, and the springs of the Euphrates are in Turkomania. The king
of Basrah received Sousa with much state, and appeared greatly satisfied
at his assistance. Sousa accompanied him on his expedition against the
lord of Jazirat, the infantry of Basrah amounting to 5000 men, 600 of
whom carried firelocks, were conveyed up the river in 200 _dalacs_ or
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 06: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time — John Shaqi
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