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OCTOBER, 1873.]
3. of Bombay on the N. bank of the river Vasishthi, just at the point where it opens out into a noble estuary, and about two miles higher up than the Marâthâ 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 Dâbul was ever as populous as is stated, the 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 remark 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 the 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 the appearance of a Rhine castle. The earliest mention I have found of the place is in Dow's History, which professes to be a translation of Ferishtah, but is said to contain much that is not found in that author. He mentions Dâbul as one of the countries ravaged by Malik Naib Kaffur in 1312, along with Mahrât, Raichor, Mudkal, and others whose names I do not identify : all except the first evidently meaning the districts of which the places named were 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 Konkan, and there can be no doubt that they entered it by passing down the Ghâts, 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 Gujarât through the Northern Konkan.
DABHOL.
In 1857, the then undivided kingdom of the Dekhan was made into four governments, and Dâbul is mentioned as the western limit of the first government, which included Gulbarga itself. Chaul is also mentioned at this time, but no port south of Dâbul. Again, towards the end of the century, both towns are mentioned by Ferishtah as among the chief ones in the empire, and as having had orphan schools, with ample foundations for their support, established by king Muhammad Shah Bahmani.
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In 1429, and again in 1486, 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 (Raigadh) was sent to court, where she became the queen of Ahmad Shah Wali Bahmani, and was long celebrated under the name of Perichehra, or Fairy-face.
The next events recorded of Dâbul are of a different sort, but not less calculated to show its importance in the 15th century. Mahmûd Khân Gowan, who afterwards became the celebrated minister of the Bidar kingdom, came from Persia as a merchant and landed at Dâbul in 1447. And about 1459 Yusuf Adil Khân, the founder of the Bijapur dynasty, also entered India at Dâbul. His romantic story is given in full detail by Ferishtah, but it is sufficient here to mention that he was taken from Dâbul to Bidar as a slave by a Georgian merchant. Shortly after this, Dâbul 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 the whole of the coast of this Presidency, speaking of it under the name of the kingdom of Thana. 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:-" Dâbul is a very extensive seaport where many horses are brought from Mysore, Rabast (Arabia), Khorassan, Turkestan, &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 Dâbul 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: "Dâbul, 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, Bahâdur Khân Gilâni attempted to make himself independent of the then declining kingdom of Bidar, and, among other towns, had for a long time possession of Dâbul and Goa, and command of the whole coast. He was at last, however, defeated by Muhammad Shah Bahmani II. in a battle which took place
