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October, 1873.] DABHOL. 279 S. of Bombay on tho N. bank of the river Va- sishtln, just at the point where it opens out into a noble estuary, and about two miles higher up than the Maratha fort of Anjanvel, which guards the entrance on the southern side. Though exceedingly picturesque, no one would ever have chosen this as a situation for a large town : for the strip of land intervening between the river and the very high and steep hills is so narrow, that if Dabul was ever as populous as is stated, tho town must have extended three or four miles up the river. It is now like any other insignificant Konkan town, with no trade to speak of, and the houses entirely hidden among cocoanut trees. The only objects worthy of re¬ mark are a fine mosque, with dome and minarets, standing almost at the water’s edge close to the present landing-place, a few tombs standing by themselves nearer to tho sea, and a conical hill three or four miles further up the river, crowned by a mosque which from its position has a good deal tho appearance of a Rhine castle. Tho earliest mention I have found of the place is in Dow’s History, -which professes to be a translation of Ferishtak,but is said to contain much that is not found in that author. He mentions Dabul as one of the countries ravaged by Malik Naib Kaf- fur in 1312, along with Mahrat, Raiclior, Mud- kal, and others whose names I do not identify : all except tho first evidently meaning tho districts of which tho places named wrere the chief towns. As it was scarcely twenty years before this that the Musalmans had made their first great raid into the Dekhan, it may be concluded that this was their first acquaintance with the Southern Kon¬ kan, and there can be no doubt that they enter¬ ed it by passing down the Ghats, for it -was not till several generations after this that they either took to the sea, or ventured on the very difficult land journey from Gujarat through the Northern Konkan. In 1357, the then undivided kingdom of the Dekhan was made into four governments, and Dabul is mentioned as the western limit of the first government, which included Gulbarga it¬ self. Chaul is also mentioned at this time, but no port south of Dabul. Again, towards the end of the century, both towns are mentioned by Ferishtah as among the chief ones in tho empire, and as having had orphan schools, with ample foundations for their support, established by king Muhammad Shah Balimani. In 1429, and again in 1433, two considerable expeditions were sent into the Konkan, and the country is said to have been subjugated and well plundered. No mention is made of Dabul in connection with either of these, but of the second it is recorded that a beautiful daughter of the Raja of Rairi (Bavjadh) was sent to court, where she became the queen of Ahmad Shah Wali Balimani, and was long celebrated under the name of Perichehra, or Fairy-face. The next events recorded of Dabul are of a different sort, but not less calculated to show its importance in the 15th century. Mahmud Khan Gowan, who afterwards became the cele¬ brated minister of tho Bidar kingdom, came from Persia as a merchant and landed at Da¬ bul in 1447. And about 1459 Yusuf Adil Khan, the founder of the Bijapur dynasty, also entered India at Dabul. His romantic story is given in full detail by Ferishtah, but it is sufficient here to mention that he was taken from Dabul to Bidar as a slave by a Georgian merchant. Shortly after this, Dabul is first mentioned by a European traveller, as neither Marco Polo nor Ibn Batuta mention any ports of the Konkan, and Marco Polo gives but a few lines to tho whole of the coast of this Presidency, speaking of it under tho name of the kingdom of Tkana. But Nikitin, a Russian, -who about the year 1470 spent three or four years in the south of India, landed at Chaul, and, from what he heard there, wrote as follows:—“ Dabul is a very extensive seaport where many horses are brought from Mysore, Rabast (Arabia), Khorassan, Tur¬ kestan, &c. It takes a month to walk by land from this place to Beder and Kulburga. It is the last seaport in Hindostan belonging to the Musalmans.” Three years later he made Da¬ bul his port of embarkation, and from here took ship to Hormuz, paying two pieces of gold for his passage, and spending a month at sea. He then wrote : “ Dabul, a port of the vast Indian Sea . . it is a very large town, the great meeting-place of all nations living on the coast of India.” About 1482, Bahadur Khan Gilani attempted to make himself independent of the then declin¬ ing kingdom of Bidar, and, among other towns, had for a long time possession of Dabul and Goa, and command of the -whole coast. Ho was at last, however, defeated by Muhammad Shah Balimani II. in a battle which took place