Page:India in the Fifteenth Century, being a Collection of Narratives of Voyages to India.djvu/121

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
JOURNEY OF ABD-ER-RAZZAK.
15

pany with the ambassadors of the latter country, having been obliged to put into Calicut, the description which they gave of the greatness and power of the Khakan reached the ears of the sovereign of that city. He learned from authentic testimony, that the kings of all the habitable globe, of the East as well as of the West, of the land and of the sea, had sent rival ambassadors and messages, showing that they regarded the august court of that monarch as the Kiblah, to which they should pay their homage, — as the Kabah, the object to which they should direct their aspirations.

A short time afterwards, the king of Bengal, complaining of the invasion of Ibrahim, Sultan of Djounah-pour, had laid his cause before the court, which is the asylum of kings, and asked for succour. The emperor despatched to the country of Djounah-pour the Scheikh-alislam Kerim-eddin-Abu'l-makarim-Djami, bearer of peremptory orders addressed to the king. His message was to the effect that the king must refrain from interfering with the kingdom of Bengal, in default of which he might take the responsibility to himself of whatever the consequence should be. The prince of Djounah-pour having received this summary ultimatum, gave up all idea of an attack upon the country of Bengal.

As soon as the sovereign of Calicut was informed of these occurrences, he prepared some presents, consisting of objects of value of different kinds, and sent an ambassador charged with a despatch, in which he said: "In this port, on every Friday and every solemn feast day, the Khotbah[1] is celebrated, according to the prescribed rule of Islamism. With your majesty's permission, these prayers shall be adorned and honoured by the addition of your name and of your illustrious titles."

The sound of his Khotbah is become so acceptable to the

  1. A sermon preached every Friday afternoon after the service in the principal mosques, in which they praise God, bless Mohammed, and pray for the Khalif.