Sailing Around Erythraean Sea: Thirty One

In the last Section, Bahrain islands in the Persian Gulf was under focus. The inhabitants of the island were migrants from Greece, Arabia and India; the early merchants and their offsprings. The mixing and intermingling of different communities had  brought peace into the island. Continue to read:

It happens that just as Azania is subject to Charibael and the Chief of Mapharitis, this island is subject to the King of Frankincense Country. Trade is also carried on there  by some people of Muza and by those who chance to call thereby on the voyage from Damirica and Barygaza; they bring in rice and wheat and and Indian cloth and a few female slaves; and they take for their exchange cargoes, a great quantity of tortoise shell. Now the island is farmed out under the king and garrisoned.

My Search:-

1. Azania: The ancient name of Eastern coast of Africa beyond Egypt.

2. Charibael: Sabaean chief of tribes of Southern parts of Arabia. This was a title shared by several chiefs in those parts. He was a Vassal of Roman Emperors.

3. Mapharitis: A region in ancient Yemen. It was in the southwest of Yemen. The Mapharitis chieftains had some control over parts of Azania.

4. Frankincense Country: Oman was known as the frankincense Country. It is home of  frankincense (Boswellia) trees.

5. Muza:  Mocha also known as Mokha, is a port city on Red Sea coast of Yemen.

6. Damirica: The Western coast of Indian subcontinent. According to Periplus Maris Erythraea it begins at Naura (modern day Thikkodi) and ends in Paralia (modern day Varkala). Damarica means the land of Damar trees ( canarium strictum). The resin obtained from the bark of the tree was used in varnish and adhesive. The term must have been coined by the Koine Greek merchants who came here for Damar resins. Damar trees were found everywhere in Malabar in my childhood days. They were used in fencing or hedging our boundaries. No particular effort was needed in its growth. It was heard that its resin strengthened the fishing net, which in those times were made of jute or flax. 

7. Barygaza: Bharuch on the Western coast, north of Malabar coast of Indian subcontinent. My native village Beypore had a Barygaza connection. Merchants from Bharuch used to come here with merchandise like salt and went away with merchandise like tiles and copra some fifty years ago. The "Angadi" (market) was mixed with people from Kutch and also Arab localities.  Local historians and print media boast of Beypore's five thousand years of history. Local temple historians also sing the same story. But I do not think it is true. In Zamorine's Kozhikodan Grandhavari the name of Beypore was "Vepur"; that means vecha uru; like Vypin, and Puthuvypu of Ernakulam District. The port stands in a place named "Puttalatthu" meaning new place. Place west of it was called "Putthalatthu kothi", kothi meaning cape or promontory. Beypore is an English adaptation of Vepur. It evolved like this: Putthalathu > Vepur> Bepur> Beypore.  The place was the result of coastal formation over time. But we are not studying this in our history texts. But the place names are there in the title deeds issued by the revenue department.

8. The female slaves need not be indigenous women, because Indian Chiefs had enough female slaves in their harems to attract the merchant community. Light skinned females must have been kept in the harems to cater to the needs of foreign guests who were compelled to stay here for a long duration. There is always a divergence between words and deeds of every society. A pride in our own esteem. A prejudice against the other.

End of the Section 



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