The only man of the party, whose face interested me, and exhibited signs of intelligence, was a Turk, by name Abdulla Aga, an old friend of the Envoy’s, who had been Musselim of Bussorah, and had ruled that part of the country for many years, with great respectability and eclat. He had been driven by injustice to take refuge at Bushire; though from the known integrity of his character, and the attachment of the people of Bussorah and Bagdad to his person, many still expect that he will one day attain the Pachalick of Bagdad. After this good Mussulman, spreading his carpet near one of the twelve pounders, had said his prayers, (with a fervency, undisturbed by the busy, novel and noisy scene around him) the visit broke up.
The Sheik and Abdulla Aga, who both had suffered by their long excursion in the morning, preferred to return on shore in the Nereide’s boat with Sir Harford Jones. We had not long put off from the ship, when a salute of fifteen guns commenced for the envoy, to the great consternation of the remaining part of the Persians, who were just embarking in their own boat, and who unluckily found themselves under the muzzles of the guns, where they were involved in clouds of smoke, with the wads whistling close to their ears. We at length reached the landing place; an immense crowd was assembled to await our debarkation. The Sheik had collected all the soldiery of the town to escort us to his house; and in the moment of our touching the shore, the whole mob was put in motion, raising a dust so thick that I could scarce distinguish Englishman from Asiatic. To add to the denseness of the atmosphere, the boats, which were close to the beach, commenced a salute; which was immediately answered by a range of guns on the coast. The whole procession was obliged to pass in the immediate rear of these guns as they were firing, though they appeared so old and honey-combed, that I feared they must have burst before the honours were over. We proceeded in a cloud of dust, and through streets six feet wide to the Sheik’s house, and at length entered it by a door so mean and ill-looking, that it might more properly have formed the entrance to his stable. This door introduced us into a small court yard, on one side of which was an apartment where we seated ourselves on chairs placed on purpose for us. A Persian visit, when the guest is a distinguished personage, generally consists of three acts: first, the kaleoun, or water pipe, and coffee; second, a kaleoun, and sweet coffee (so called from its being a composition of rose-water and sugar); and third, a kaleoun by itself. Sweetmeats are frequently introduced as a finale. As I shall have many better opportunities of describing all the ceremonies of these occasions, it is sufficient to add at present, that we performed the three above acts, and then mounted our horses for Mr. Bruce’s house in the country.
Part of the same armed rabble, which had escorted us from the boat to the Sheik’s house, attended us to the Factory. These soldiers are the militia of the place, and serve without pay. They even find their own arms, which consist of a matchlock, a sword, and a shield that is slung behind their back. They consist of working men attached to different trades, for we discovered the dyer by the black hue of his hands, the tinker by the smut on his face, the tailor by the shreds that had adhered to him from his shopboard.
On our arrival at the Factory, we closed our dispatches for Europe, and then completed a day full of entertainment, by an excellent dinner.
The Nereide sailed with the dispatches on the morning; and before daylight was out of sight. The passage between Bombay and Bushire, which had been made in thirty-four days, was now retraced in twelve.
CHAP. II.
HISTORY OF THE SHEIK OF BUSHIRE..
HISTORY OF BUSHIRE—SHEIK NASR—THE NASAKCHEE BASHEE, THE CHIEF EXECUTIONER DISPATCHED FROM SHIRAZ AGAINST THE SHEIK ABDULLAH RESOUL; VISITS THE ENVOY: VISIT RETURNED—DIFFICULTIES OF THE SHEIK—HIS SEIZURE—CONSTERNATION OF THE TOWN—PRECAUTIONS OF THE ENVOY—EXPLANATION OF THE NASAKCHEE BASHEE—SUCCESSOR OF THE SHEIK, MAHOMED NEBEE KHAN—ASSUMPTION OF THE GOVERNMENT BY THE NASAKCHEE BASHEE—MAHOMMED JAFFER APPOINTED PROVISIONALLY; DISGRACED; RESTORED—RECEIVES A KALAAT—CEREMONY—FATE OF THE LATE SHEIK OF BUSHIRE.
The history of the Sheik of Bushire, who had received us on our landing, added the principal interest to our subsequent residence in his country. Our stay was marked by the subversion of his power and of the Arab rule; and the journal of every day naturally contained ample accounts of the progress of an event, which was locally so prominent and important. The travellers of the last century, who mentioned his predecessors, may possibly direct some little curiosity to the fortunes of their descendant; but without any previous interest in the persons, the tale of the present day may excite attention as a practical illustration of the principles of an eastern government.
The coast of the gulph was lined for ages with the petty sovereignties of Arab Sheiks,[12] who, while they occupied the shores of Persia, yielded a very uncertain obedience to the monarch of the interior. The degrees indeed of service paid were probably at all times measured more by the character and relative force of the different parties, than by any original stipulations. Nadir and Kerim Khan in vain endeavoured to reduce these Arab chiefs to more complete obedience: but in many districts their authority was scarcely acknowledged, and except in partial remissions, still more seldom felt. Among these chiefs, Sheik Nasr, of Bushire, long retained a real independance. The Dashtistan, the low country under the hills, was his province; and in all the turbulence of his age, this territory and more immediately the country round Bushire, was still the place of security. In one instance indeed, memorable in the latter history of Persia,[13] the resources of Bushire supported the sinking fortunes of the last dynasty. Lootf Ali Khan, after the murder of his father Jaffier Khan, king of Persia, fled for refuge to Sheik Nasr. The Sheik, in memory of his ancient attachment to Jaffier Khan, received the prince with the warmest hospitality, and gathering the Arab tribes under his controul, resolved to lead them in the cause which was thus trusted to his honour. The prince in the mean time prepared, by letters, his friends at Shiraz to second their operations; and the measures were continued with secrecy and success, when, in the words of the Persian historian,[14] “The boat of Sheik Nasr Khan’s existence from the beating waves of the sea of life, had received considerable injury; and the bark of his age, from the irresistible tempest of death was overwhelmed in the sea of mortality.” In his last moments the Sheik committed to his son the duty which he was no longer permitted to execute himself. The son fulfilled his father’s charge with faithfulness: in two or three months he had assembled a large force of Arab tribes[15], and advanced with them towards Shiraz: when a conspiracy in the camp of their enemy enabled them in the first instance to succeed without a battle, and eventually to reinstate on his throne the Prince who was confided to them. The story marks the character of the two nations more fully, if the history of Lootf Ali Khan, before his flight to Bushire, be recollected. Although his father had reigned in Persia for a long time (compared with the usurpations which preceded,) although himself had long accustomed the people to serve and triumph with him, yet in the first moment of distress (the arrival of the intelligence of his father’s slaughter, and of the orders of the conspirators to seize him), even in his own camp he was left unsupported by all. Five, indeed, fled with him in the night to Bushire; but in the morning the whole camp had dispersed without an effort; and all had submitted to the usurpers. The contrast now begins: the Prince threw himself on the protection of the Arabs, the vassals or allies of his father; he was welcomed with the most warm fidelity, supported by their honour, and restored by their valour to his throne.