Part 58

(40.) Under Ahlylid, I believe the Myrobolan to be understood, although it is not quite certain whether this is really the tree. Ibn Wahyshe describes four different species of it; the Indian, which is divided into two species, the yellow and black; and the Kabely, which is likewise of two sorts, black and white.

(41.) The Adkher or Azkher (ادخر or اذخر), is, according to Wahyshe, a shrub growing in deserts. It is odoriferous, with a red flower or rose. Its seed is a narcotic and an astringent. The plant is not unknown at Cairo. Amongst the charcoal rolled up in mats which is sent to Cairo from Upper Egypt, where it is collected principally by the Arabs Ababde, who live in the mountains south of Kenne and Kosseir, some branches of this Adkher are often met with, and are bought up by the druggists. In Azraky’s history of Mekka, I find that it grows likewise in the Hedjaz, and that formerly the Mekkans mixed it with the mortar (or to burn the mortar), with which they built their houses and their tombs, or perhaps they burnt the mortar with it.

(42.) The Shyh is the Artemisia; and is found in most deserts, for I have seen it in those of the Euphrates, of Arabia petræa, of the Hedjaz, of Nubia, and it is likewise found in Libya. It is one of the favorite herbs of the camels. In the Syrian deserts it is burnt by the Arabs, and the alkali procured from it is exported to the Syrian towns, where it is used in the manufacture of soap.

(43.) The Senna and coloquintida are mentioned in different parts of my journal.

(44.) El Ban, a species of tamarisk, I believe. Wahyshe says it produces a pulse, the shape of which is like that of a lupin, and the bean like a pistaccio nut. It has a green flower.

(45.) The Fahed is a beast of prey, which, according to Damyry, in his Zoology, is called Heyat el Heywan (حيوة الحيوان للدميري), and is born of the tiger and the lion. Its propensity to sleep has become proverbial among the Arabs. The Khalifs of Bagdad and the governors of Mekka used it to hunt game.[195]

(46.) Anak el Ardh (عناق الارض), according to the same, is an animal smaller than the Fahed, of the size of a small dog. It has a long back. It hunts every thing, even birds. It is probably a weazel or a martern. Damyry adds, that it belongs to the species of the lion, and that it is likewise called Teffa (تفّه).

(47.) At Cairo the name of Komary is given to a species of turtle dove, with a ring of white or coloured feathers round the neck. They are scarce in Egypt.

(48.) I do not know what is meant by the Habesh fowl. In Egypt a species of fowl is distinguished by the name of Bedja fowl (دجاجه البحر), which is somewhat larger than other fowls, but is indigenous in the country.

(49.) Perhaps the people called Nara (v. note 20) are meant here; or else it is from this race of Baza, that the name of the pigeon Bazein derives its origin (v. note 21.)

(50.) In my journal, in speaking of Souakin, I have mentioned these Hadareb; but, according to the manner in which I saw their name spelt then, I wrote them Hadherebe (حضارب) and not Hadareb. I have stated that they are a colony from Hadhramout, at least this is universally affirmed by themselves. From what is said here, it should seem that they are Bedjas, or at least very ancient settlers in that country.

(51.) From the manner in which Nadha is mentioned here, with regard to Dahlak, it should appear that both places are distant from each other, and that Nadha, or Madha, or Maza, cannot therefore be Massouah (V. note 17.)

(52.) It seems that at that time, as at present, people were found among the Djidda inhabitants who spoke Bedja or the Bisharein language. Many Djidda people are established even now at Souakin, and return home after having made a small fortune with the trade in slaves and Soudan merchandise.

(53.) Instead of في عدة قوية و رجال منتخبة, one of the copies has في عدة قليلة, which would mean, with a small but well chosen force. عدة means the equipment of an army or numbers.

(54.) The Discourse of el Ahbās: خطبة الاحباس.—الاحباس, has the same signification as الاوقاف, and means property bequeathed for pious or beneficent purposes. It is probably a small treatise in which the different decisions which Aly gave on that subject have been collected.

(55.) It should appear therefore that the famous mines of Ollaky contain gold dust, and no ore.

(56.) The extracts which Macrizi has here given from Masoudy’s excellent work, called Meroudj e’dahab, or the Golden Meadows, are made from different parts of it. The great work of that historian, called Akhbar e’Zaman (اخبار الزمان), which I suspect is one of the richest treasures of Arabian literature, is not extant in Egypt. A Shikh from Cairo told me that he had seen above 20 volumes in quarto of it,[196] in the library of the mosque of St. Sophia at Constantinople.

(57.) Arteyt, or Arneyb (ارتيت, ارنيب).

(58.) This does not agree with the statement above, that their colour has a yellow tinge. I believe the colour of the Bedjas and that of the Habesh people to be much the same, from the many individuals of the latter whom I have seen at Mekka. The people of the Amhara province of Abyssinia are certainly less black than the Bedjas.

(59.) Thus I translate و كان القصر فرضة القوص. The word فرضة, is still applied in Egypt and in the Hedjaz to designate the income of the custom-house.

(60.) I call the conqueror of Egypt Amr, because his name is thus pronounced by the Arabs, and not Amrou, as the Europeans pronounce it. The و at the end of عمرو, which is added to distinguish the name from عمر, Omar, is never pronounced.

(61.) Slinging machines (مجانيق), to throw stones, appear to have been used by the Arabs in very ancient times. Some time after the death of Mohammed, the rebel Yezyd defended himself at Mekka against Ibn Zebeyr with similar machines. (V. Azraky’s History of Mekka).

(62.) The different names recorded in these notices of Nubian kings, are all Greek or Christian names. In an odd volume of Macrizi’s “ancient history of Egypt,” called Akhbar Messr fi Ed-daher Elawel (اخبار مصر في الدهر الاول), in the chapter of “the titles and surnames given to the kings of different nations,” I find it stated, that the name of the ancient kings of Nouba was always Kabyl (كابيل), in the same manner as Hatty was the name given to the kings of Abyssinia, Toba to those of the Hemyar race of Yemen, &c. &c. This volume of a work of Macrizi’s, which I believe is no where found complete in Egypt, is the more valuable, because it is written by the author’s own hand, with many notes and corrections.[197] It belongs to the library of Seyd Mahrouky, the first merchant of Cairo, who has the finest collection of books in Egypt, and which he is continually enlarging, although he has given them to a mosque lately built by him.

(63.) In the history of Bahnase (Oxyrinchus), and that of its valorous defence against the Arab conquerors of Egypt, I find it stated, that a large army of Bedjas and Noubas, headed by Maksouh, king of Bedja, and Ghalyk, king of Nouba, came to the assistance of the Christian chief, Batlos, who was besieged at Bahnase, by the officers of Amr Ibn el Aas. This black army is said to have consisted of 50,000 men. They had with them 1,300 elephants, each bearing upon its back a vaulted house made of leather, in which 10 men took their post in the battle. In the company of the Bedjas were a race of men of gigantic stature, called El Kowad (القواد), coming from beyond Souakin. They were covered with tiger skins, and in their upper lips copper rings were fixed. The Moslims defeated this army. There is a strange mixture of truth and romance in this history, but the arrival of the Bedja army is so well authenticated by a train of witnesses, that little doubt can remain of its having really taken place; although the number both of men and elephants seems to be exaggerated. The elephants of southern Nubia are, as far as I know, no longer used to ride upon.

(64.) I am unacquainted with the wine measure called Kanyr.

(65.) Or Bahbas (بحنس—بحبس).

(66.) The text has ان اسوان اشتروا املاقاً من عبيده. The word املاق (Emlak, plural of Malaka) is used in Egypt as synonymous with بلاد, or ضياع, villages. It is likewise used as a measure of distance, and the peasants say, “such a place is distant so many Emlak from another,” meaning that so many villages intervene between the two points. According to the greater or lesser population of the province, the villages are farther from or nearer to each other. A Malaka in Upper Egypt may be taken for one hour and a half, and in Lower Egypt for one hour.

(67.) I find this name written in my MSS. Shekende, Sekebde, Tenekde, Sekende, (شكندة, سكبدة, تنكدة, سكنده).

(68.) The intendant of his household, or Istedar (استدار). Syouty, in his description of Egypt, called Hossn el Mohādhera (حسن المحاضرة) says, in his chapter of the officers at court, that the Istedar has under his inspection the household establishment of the Sultan of Egypt, in as far as relates to domestic affairs, expenses, and dress. He is one of the great officers at court.

(69.) Djanedar (جاندار) I believe to be a chief of soldiers, from the word Djend, (جند).

(70.) Provincial horsemen, اجناد الولايات. The word جند, or جندي, is at present applied in Egypt exclusively to a horseman, in opposition to عسكري, a foot soldier. I do not know how far back this use of the word جند may date, which originally means a soldier of any kind, whether cavalry or infantry.

(71.) Kallat Addo (قلعة الدو), or the castle Addo, is no doubt the same mentioned before, in the description of Nouba, under the name of Addoa, which I believe to be the castle of Adde.

(72.) From this Moslim name it should seem that the Noubas had Moslims in their service; and it is not surprising that they should go over to the enemy.

(73.) We have seen above that a giraffa had already been sent in tribute by the Noubas to the Kalif el Mohdy. Masoudy, in his chapter on the Negroe nations, in the Golden Meadows, says that it was the custom in the time of the Abassides, to present them with giraffas. Djaheth, in his natural history, called “The Animals” (الحيوان),[198] says that the Giraffas are no where found in the world, but in the southern Nouba country. The southern parts of Africa were unknown to the Arabs.

(74.) The notices of these Arab tribes is interesting, because it shows how this part of Africa came to be peopled by them, and explains why we find on the Nile, in Kordofan, Darfour, and Borgho, pure Arabian blood. In speaking of the Bedjas, the author has already mentioned the tribes of Modher (مُضر), Rabya, and Djeheyne, who intermixed with the Bedjas. Of the Djeheyne, some appear to have wandered farther on towards Darfour, where I have heard that they are still settled, and of whom I have myself seen an individual at Cairo. I have stated in my first journal through Nubia, that the few inhabitants of the Batn el Hadjar, above the second cataract, trace their origin from the tribe of Koreysh, no doubt descendants of those who were settled in the neighbourhood of Assouan. In the chapter on Upper Egypt, which precedes these notices on Nubia, Macrizi states, “the most numerous and potent tribes of Upper Egypt were six: Beni Helal, Bily, Djeheyna, Koresh, Howata, and Beni Kelab. Besides these great tribes, many of the Anzar[199] alighted in these parts, and many from the tribes of Mezeyna, Beni Deradj, Beni Keleb, Thalebe, and Djezam.” Almost all these tribes can still be traced in Egypt and its neighbouring country. Beni Helal have retired to Barbary, where they are very powerful; I do not believe that any of them remain in Egypt at present.[200] The Bily are found in the province of Sherkye in Lower Egypt. The Djeheyne are in the same province, and some descendants of them have a few poor encampments in the plains of Kous and Goft in Upper Egypt. The Koreysh, as I have said before, are met with in Nubia[201] Some of the Beni Kelab are at present cultivators in several villages in the vicinity of Miniet in Upper Egypt. The Mezeyna, a strong tribe of Beni Harb, still living in the desert east of Medina, are likewise found in the peninsula of Mount Sinai. Several peasant tribes of the Sherkye[202] claim descent from the Rabya, a tribe that accompanied Amr Ibn el Aas to Egypt, and had the principal share in the conquest of the country. And the Beni Kenz, a branch of these Rabya, are still settled above the cataract of Assouan, forming part of the nation commonly called Berábera in Egypt, a name which, as I have stated in my journal, is given to them by the Egyptians only, and is not their own.[203] The history of the emigration of the Arab tribes into Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Barbary, and Soudan, would throw great light upon the race of these nations, and in Egypt in particular, we should find that the Ethiopian blood is not the aboriginal of the nation, as some ingenious authors have asserted. From Syout to Assouan the country is exclusively inhabited by Arab tribes; on the west bank as high up as Orment, and on the east side as high as Kenne, live peasant tribes who state their origin to be from Barbary Bedouins; farther south, tribes from Arabia are found, as the Hāmede, Djaafere, Rowādjah, and others.

(75.) I believe the town of Souba to be here meant, (v. note 29) of which Selym el Assouany speaks, as being the capital of Aloa. In my manuscript of Masoudy, which I have compared, the name of this town is spelt Serfeta. The MSS. of Macrizi call it Serketa, Serkya, and another MS. of Masoudy, belonging to the library of the mosque of Mohamed Beg at Cairo, has not accentuated the word at all.

(76.) The Merysan wind is still well known in Egypt. The name is applied to chilly, violent south winds, which take place in Egypt in the month of Touba, or January; and which in Lower Egypt are often followed or preceded by showers. The south winds prevailing from March to June, are called simply, southerly winds (ريح قبلي), and the name of Merysan wind is exclusively given to those of Touba, which are always cold, and are much disliked by the people of Cairo.[204]

(77.) It is probable that the Beni Kenz then first entered Nubia, where they have closely intermixed with the inhabitants, and adopted their Merysan language. I have stated in my journal, that the Kenz of Nubia still assert their origin to be from Arabia, although few, if any of them, are acquainted with their history. Here it appears therefore that they belong to the Rabya.

I find in Macrizi’s history, called el Selouk,[205] ad annum 569, and in a short note of Macrizi’s treatise of the Kalifs who performed the pilgrimage (رسالته من حج من الخُلفَا والسلاطين للمقريزي) that in the year 568-69, A. H. Shams eddyn Touran Shah, a brother of Salah eddyn, made an incursion into Nubia from Yemen.

(77.)

و ينجد ه ان خانه الدهر او سطا

اناسٌ اذا ما انجد الذل اتهموا

اجار وا فما تحت الكواكب خايفٌ

اجادوا فما فوق السيطه معدم

The second line, literally translated, is “People they are who go to Tehama, when dishonour (or ignominy) goes to Nedjed.” That is to say, they retire to the side opposite to dishonour. Nedjed receives its name from being an elevated country, in opposition to Tehama, the sea coast of Yemen and Hedjaz. In translating it in this manner, I am warranted by a verse of Abou Temama el Tāy, in which he says,

وانجد تموا من بعد اتهام دار كم

You have turned to Nedjed after your mansion was in Tehama.

فيا دمع انجد ني علي ساكني نجد

O tears! help me against the inhabitants of Nedjed.

(78.) The author of these verses, which convey the highest praise that can be given to an Arab, is probably the same Ibn Zebeyr who is known as the author of a history of Assouan.

(79.) I suppose this attack to be that mentioned by the Egyptian historians, to have taken place in the time of the before mentioned Salah eddyn; of which I however know no more particulars, than that during his reign the King of Nouba fell upon Assouan.

(80.) The Arab tribe of Howara (هوارة) occupy all the villages on both sides of the Nile from near Siout up to Farshiout and Haou on the west, and to near Kenne on the east; at least the principal and most wealthy peasants of these villages belong to that tribe. Until the time of Mohammed Aly they were very powerful, and a branch of them, the Oulad Yahya (اولاد يحيي), settled on the east banks from Badjoura to Kenne (comprising the large villages of Salmye, Kaszer e’Seyad, Faoun, and Disher), were very conspicuous for their rebellious behaviour. The province of the Howara is of all Egypt the richest in horses, and the best breed of Egyptian horses is reared there. Every wealthy peasant kept his horse, and a large corps of cavalry could thus be collected at a moment’s notice.[206] The Hamam, the principal family of the Howara, had within the last century assumed the whole government of Upper Egypt, south of Siout, and the Mamelouks had been obliged to cede it to them by treaty. Their government was certainly more just than that of the Osmanlis, and although Mamelouks, far from being entitled to praise. The soil was moderately taxed: one Fedhan at Esne, which now pays 14 Patacks to Mohammed Aly, then paid only two Patacks; but extortions were practised upon all merchants, especially at Kenne, and Farshiout, and Girge; and the numerous relations of the Hamam governed in their own districts with great oppression and pride. None had more to suffer from the Howara than the Copts. Such of these people as were not in the service of the Shikhs Hamam, as financiers or writers, but who were employed, as many of them still are, in agriculture or in crafts, especially weaving, were so much exposed to the extortions of the Hamams and the Howara in general, who appear to have been very fanatic, that they found no other means for ensuring repose and protection than by offering themselves in slavery to their oppressors. It thus happened that in every village of southern Egypt, where Copts were settled, the latter chose one of the Howara Shikhs as his master; whom he called “my Bedouin,” (بدويّ), and was called by the Shikh “my Christian,” (نصرانيّ). He became now like a member of his master’s family; if he was poor, the latter sent to his house provisions of corn and butter, and gave him a dress every year; but in return, he was obliged to be constantly attending to his master’s orders; assisting him in his field labours, doing all kind of work for him, and accompanying him on an ass like a servant, whenever the Shikh rode out to meet his equals or superiors. If the Copt happened to be in good circumstances, he was obliged to make occasional presents to his master, who exempted him on that account from hard work, and protected him from the oppressions of any other Shikh. If the daughter of the serf was to be married, the master entered her house on the wedding night; and put an iron chain round her ankles, which he secured with a padlock, and the bridegroom was obliged to make him a present in order to have the padlock opened, and the girl restored to liberty. The possession of these Christians was transmitted by the Shikhs to their descendants, who seldom parted with them, unless they were themselves reduced to poverty, when they sometimes sold them to the protection of other Shikhs. In 1812 a Christian family residing on the east bank, opposite to Siout, was thus sold for two Erdeybs of corn. I am ignorant of the exact time in which this custom took its origin, but I believe it has subsisted only since the establishment of the Hamam. It is still in usage in Upper Egypt, in many parts of the open country, and especially in the most southern districts, where the peasants, although quite in subjection to the Pasha, are left in their own villages to act at pleasure, the government caring little for the impositions practised by the village Shikh upon poor individuals, provided the land tax be regularly paid. During my stay at Esne, I was well acquainted with several Christians who were thus the hereditary slaves or servants of great Shikhs, and I have myself assisted at the ceremony of tying the chain at the wedding. The Hamams were not quiet possessors of Upper Egypt even after the Mamelouks had made peace with them. They were exposed on the northern side to continual attacks from the Libyan Bedouin tribes of Tarhoun, Amaym, Djahame, Rabaya, and others, who dwell in the desert west of Siout and in the plain towards Beni Ady, and many accounts of battles fought between them and the Howara are still related. On the south, the tribe of Kaszas (قصاص) who people the country on the west banks from Thebes to near Esne, and to whom belong the inhabitants of Gourne, Orment, and Reheygat (all celebrated for their bold plundering enterprises) were their determined enemies; although both these and the Howara report that they have the same origin from Barbary. When, after Aly Beg, the Mamelouk power had increased in Egypt, the Hamams were attacked by them, and defeated in several bloody encounters, and the chief Hamam being wounded, fled to Esne, where he died. He was buried at Nagady opposite Kous. The treasure, in cash, which he had accumulated was in vain searched for; his people put to the torture, confessed that he had buried it in the mountains behind Haou; but nothing could be found, although to this day many a ruined peasant or pedlar, or necromancer wanders in that direction in the hopes of finding it. The power of the Hamams was thus destroyed, but that of the Howara remained, and the Mamelouk Begs, though often at war with them, could never break their strength. A part of them, the Oulad Yahya, for instance, were often entirely independent, and the village Shikhs themselves received the land tax from the peasants.[207] When Mohammed Aly had succeeded in driving away the Mamelouks, he was several years before he could reduce the Howara. His governors in Upper Egypt, Abdim Beg, Saleh Aga, Hassan Pasha, sacked many of their villages, but it was his own son, Ibrahim Pasha, who firmly settled his authority by acts of great rigour and severity, having killed by the sword or the executioner at least 2000 Howara. He changed the Shikhs of villages, in the same manner as the Wahabi chief had changed the Shikhs of the Arabian tribes; he disunited the villages among themselves, and punished with celerity and without any mercy all those who opposed the smallest obstacles to his authority. The last village sacked by Ibrahim Pasha in Upper Egypt was Orment, the chief place of the Kaszas, who had withheld their tribute. In the autumn of 1813, he fell by night upon that village, killed about 30 of the principal people and plundered all. Since that time Upper Egypt is completely reduced to submission. The Howara have now been obliged to abandon their horses, none but the Shikhs of villages dare keep any, and their dreaded cavalry is thus completely reduced. The descendants of Hamam, the chief, still remain; I knew a nephew of his at Farshiout and another at Esne; the latter had several Christians belonging to his family as serfs.

(81.) This city of Belak no longer remains. In the direction in which it is placed are several islands, upon which, looking from the shore, I saw several ruined buildings. It might be supposed that Belak was upon the Island of Philæ, but in that case there is no place, one mile in advance of Philæ, where we can place El Kaszer; and the latter name seems strongly to indicate that magnificent and ancient buildings stood there. Luxor, or El Akszar at Thebes, derives its name from the same circumstance.