After five days, in God's mercy, the wind somewhat abated. All that
was saved of the wreckage, cannon and other armament we left with the
Governor of Daman, Malik Esed, who, since the time of Sultan Ahmed,
the ruler of Gujarat, had held office there. In the harbor were some
_Djonk's_[87] _i.e._, monsoon ships belonging to Samiri, the ruler of
Calcutta. The captains came on board our ship and assured us of the
devotion of their chief to the Padishah. They brought us a letter which
said that Samiri was waging war day and night against the Portuguese
infidels, and that he was expecting the arrival of an Imperial fleet
from Egypt under the guidance of the pilot Ali, which was to put the
Portuguese to flight. Malik Esed, the Governor, gave me to understand
that the fleet of the infidels was on its way, that it behooved us to
avoid it and, if possible, to reach the fortress of Surat. This news
frightened the crew. Some of them immediately took service under Melik
Esed, and some went ashore in the boats and proceeded by land to Surat.
I remained on board with a few faithful of the men, and after procuring
a _Dindjuy_,[88] or pilot-boat, for each vessel, we set out for
the harbor of Surat. After great difficulties we reached the open.
Presently the Kutwal,[89] Aga Hamsa, hailed us with a letter from
Umad-el-mulk, the Grand Vizier of Sultan Ahmed, who informed us that
there were large numbers of infidels about, and that Daman being a free
port we had better be careful. He would allow us to come to Surat if we
liked, as we were now in most perilous waters. This was exactly what we
wanted to do, so we struggled on for five days longer, sailing at the
flow, riding at anchor at the ebb of the tide, until at last we reached
the harbor of Surat, fully three months after our departure from Basrah.
Great was the joy of the Mohammedans at Surat when they saw us come;
they hailed us as their deliverers (_Khidr_), and said: "You have come
to Gujarat in troublous times; never since the days of Noah has there
been a flood like unto this last, but neither is it within the memory
of man that a ship from Rum (Turkey) has landed on these coasts. We
fervently hoped that God in his mercy would soon send an Ottoman fleet
to Gujarat, to save this land for the Ottoman Empire and to deliver us
from the Indian unbelievers."
The cause of the disturbances was this: After the death of Sultan
Bahadur, the ruler of Gujarat, one of his relatives, a youth of twelve
years old, had succeeded to the throne. The army had acknowledged
him, but one of the nobles, Nasir-ul-Mulk, had refused to take the
oath of allegiance, and had raised the banner of sovereignty on
his own behalf.[90] He had many adherents, took the stronghold of
Burudj,[91] left a sufficient garrison to keep it, proceeded himself
to another town, and then called in the aid of the Governor of the
infidels (Portuguese) at Goa, promising that in return for his services
the harbors on the coast of Gujarat, _viz._, Daman, Surat, Burudj,
Ketbaye, Sumenat, Minglur, and Furmeyan, should be thrown open to the
Portuguese, while he would retire to the land of the interior.
Sultan Ahmed had immediately collected an army to go to Burudj, and
when informed of our arrival he took from our troops 200 gunners and
other men, and advanced toward Burudj.
On the third day we who were left behind were attacked by the infidel
captains of Goa, Diu, Shiyul, Besai, and the _Provador_;[92] five in
all, commanding 7 large galleons and 80 _gurabs_. We went ashore,
pitched our tents, and threw up entrenchments; for two whole months
we were busy preparing for battle. But the tyrant Nasir-ul-Mulk, who
had joined with the infidels, had hired murderers to kill me; they
were, however, discovered by the guard and fled. Again another time
he tried to poison my food, but, being warned by the Kutwal of Surat,
this attempt to take my life also failed. Meanwhile Sultan Ahmed had
taken the stronghold of Burudj and sent two of his officers, Khudavend
and Djihanghir, with elephants and troops to Surat, while he proceeded
to Ahmedabad, where a youth, called Ahmed, a relation of Sultan Ahmed,
had in the meantime raised a revolt. A battle followed, in which the
usurper was wounded, Hasan Khan, one of his adherents, killed, and
his army put to flight. Sultan Ahmed reascended his throne, and, as
Nasir-ul-Mulk died of vexation over his misfortunes, peace was once
more restored in Gujarat.
When the infidels heard of this they sent an envoy to Khudavend Khan
to say that they did not mind so much about Surat, but that their
hostility was chiefly directed toward the Admiral of Egypt, _viz._,
my humble person. They demanded that I should be given up to them,
but were refused; and my soldiers would have killed the envoy, but I
reminded them that we were on foreign soil and must commit no rash
deeds.
It so happened that a runaway infidel gunner from one of my ships had
enlisted on the ship of the envoy, and, knowing a good deal about our
affairs, he had undertaken to prevent our departure after the holiday
of Kurban. No sooner had this come to the knowledge of my men, than
they attacked the envoy's ship and captured the infidel, who was
executed on the spot, greatly to the alarm of the envoy.
There is in Gujarat a tree of the palm tribe, called _tari agadji_
(millet-tree). From its branches cups are suspended, and when the cut
end of a branch is placed into one of these vessels a sweet liquid,
something of the nature of arrack, flows out in a continuous stream;
and this fluid, by exposure to the heat of the sun, presently changes
into a most wonderful wine. Therefore at the foot of all such trees
drinking-booths have been placed, which are a great attraction to the
soldiers.
Some of my men, having indulged in the forbidden drink, determined
to kill their Serdar. One of these profligates, Yagmur by name,
one evening after sunset surprised Hussain Aga, the Serdar of the
Circassians. A few comrades rushed to his assistance, there was some
fighting and two young men were wounded, and one, Hadji Memi, was
killed. Then the soldiers pressed round, and implored me to punish the
evil-doers, but I again reminded them that we were on foreign soil, in
the land of a foreign Padishah, and that our laws had no force here.
"What," they cried, "the laws of our Padishah hold good everywhere.
You are our Admiral, judge according to our law, and we will be the
executioners!" Thereupon I pronounced judgment according to the law of
the Koran, which says: "Eye for eye, life for life, nose for nose, ear
for ear," etc.
The man was executed, and peace restored. When the nobles of the Begs
heard of the occurrence they took the lesson to heart, and the envoy
immediately hired a conveyance and went to Sultan Ahmed.
But my troops were getting dissatisfied. In Surat, Khudavend Khan had
been paying them from 50 to 60 paras per day, and in Burudj, Adil Khan
had done the same. At last their pent-up feelings burst forth and they
argued as follows: "It is now nearly two years since we have received
any pay, our goods are lost, and the ships dismantled; the hulks are
old, and our return to Egypt is practically made impossible." The end
was that the greater part of them took service in Gujarat.
The deserted ships, with all their tools and implements, were given
over to Khudavend Khan, under condition that he should immediately
remit to the Sublime Porte the price agreed upon for the sale.
After receiving a confirmatory note to this effect, both from Khudavend
Khan and Adil Khan, I started on my journey to Ahmedabad[93] in
the beginning of Muharram of the year 962 (end of November 1552),
accompanied by Mustafa Aga, the Ketkhuda (chief officer) of the
Egyptian Janissaries, and Ali Aga, the captain of the gunners (both of
which had remained faithful to their Padishah), and with about 50 men.
A few days took us from Burudj to Belodra,[94] and from there we
proceeded to Champanir.[95]
On our way we saw some very curious trees, whose crowns reached up to
the sky, and the branches swarmed with bats of such extraordinary size
that their wings on the stretch measured 40 inches across. The most
curious part about the trees, however, was that the roots hung down
from the branches and, when touching the ground, planted themselves
and produced new trees. Thus from one tree, from ten to twenty new
ones sprung up. The name of this tree is the Tobi tree,[96] and more
than a thousand people can find shelter under its shade. Besides these
we saw several _Zokum_ trees.[97] Parrots were very plentiful, and as
for the monkeys, thousands of them made their appearance in our camp
every evening. They carried their young in their arms, made the most
ridiculous grimaces, and strongly brought to our minds the stories of
Djihan Shah, according to whom these animals live in a community but
acknowledge no head among them. At nightfall they always retired to
their own place.
After a great many vicissitudes we at last arrived in Mahmudabad,[98]
and after a journey of 50 days in Ahmedabad the capital of Gujarat.
There I visited the Sultan, his Grand Vizier Imad-ul-Mulk, and other
dignitaries. The Sultan, to whom I presented my credentials, was
pleased to receive me most graciously and he assured me of his devotion
to our glorious Padishah. He gave me a horse, a team of camels,[99] and
money for the journey.
At Cherkes, in the vicinity of Ahmedabad, is the grave of Sheik Ahmed
Magrebi, which I visited. One day, being at the house of Imad-ul-Mulk,
I met the infidel envoy, and our host addressed him in this way, "We
have need of the Sultan of Turkey. Our ships touch the ports of his
Empire, and if we were not free to do so, it would be bad for us.
Moreover, he is the Padishah of the Islamitic world, and it is not
seemly that we should be expected to deliver up his Admiral to you."
I became very angry at this speech and cried: "Hold, thou cursed
tongue! Thou foundest me with a shattered fleet, but I swear by God
Almighty thou shalt see ere long not only Ormuz, but Goa itself, yield
before the victorious arms of the great Padishah!"[100] To which the
unbeliever made the following answer: "Henceforth not so much as a bird
will be able to leave the ports of India." I replied: "One need not
necessarily go by water, there is a land route also." He was silent
after that, and the subject was dropped.
A few days after this Sultan Ahmed offered me the command of the
Province of Burudj, with a very large income, but I refused, saying
that I would not stay if he gave me the whole of the land. One night in
my dream I saw the Khalifa Murteza Ali. I had a piece of paper before
me with Ali's seal upon it. With this seal, the seal of God to help me,
away with all fear, for in its strength all foreign waters were mine to
command.
Next morning I told my dream to my companions and all were glad with
me. I asked for permission to depart, and the ruler granted my request
out of respect for our Padishah.
Amongst the learned[101] of this land of Banians[102] there is a tribe
which they call the "Bats," whose business it is to escort merchants or
travelers from one land into another, and for a very small remuneration
they guarantee their perfect safety. Should the Rajputs,[103] _i.e._,
the mounted troops of the land, attack the caravan, the Bats point
their daggers at their own breast, and threaten to kill themselves
if they should presume to do the slightest harm to the travelers
entrusted to their care. And out of respect for the Bats, the Rajputs
generally desist from their evil purpose, and the travelers proceed
on their way unmolested. Occasionally, however, the Bats carry out
their threat, otherwise it would have no force. But if such a thing
does happen, if a caravan is attacked and the suicide of the Bats
becomes necessary, this is considered a terrible calamity, and the
superstition of the people demands that the offenders be put to death,
and not only the offenders themselves but the chief of the Rajputs
deems it necessary to kill their sons and daughters also; in fact, to
exterminate the whole of their race. The Mohammedans of Ahmedabad had
given us two such Bats as an escort, and so, about the middle of Safar
of the said year, we started on our overland journey to Turkey.
In five days we reached Patna,[104] traveling in carriages, and visited
the grave of Sheik Nizam the _Pir_ (spiritual chief) of Patna. Here
Shir Khan and his brother Musa Khan had collected an army, to fight
Behluj Khan, the ruler of Radanpoor.[105] For fear of our siding with
their enemies, the people tried to retain us, and would not allow us to
proceed on our journey until the battle should be over. We showed them,
however, that we had not come to render either party any assistance,
but that we only wanted to continue our journey in peace, and had a
pass from their ruler to that effect. Then at last they let us go, and
after five days we came to Radanpoor, where I was presented to Mahmud
Khan, but he treated me very rudely, and insisted on forcibly detaining
three of my companions before he would consent to our departure.
On the way we met some friendly Rajputs; their Beg was of great service
to us, and gave me a letter of protection (free pass). The camels were
hired, and after dismissing the Bats which the people of Ahmedabad had
sent with us, we continued our journey.