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Al-Bakuvi: Kitab-talkhis el-asar ve el-melik el-gahhar (short notes on monuments and other marvels from previous kings) (1430) from Baku, Azerbaijan.
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Taken from: Translation by: de Guines in Notices et extraits... (Paris 1789)
Also called Al Bakuwi, or Bakoui
or Abd al-Rashid ibn Salih al-Bakuwi
Belad al Habafcha, or Ethiopie
Longitude 65.-5. Latitude 9.-30.
A big country which has to the north the one of Khalidge al Barbari, in the south the one of Tibr or gold country, and in the east the one of Zinges,...
Belad al Zinge, or the Zanguebar, land of the Zinges.
This land is as wide as two months of walking; in the north of it is Yemen, to the south the place called Al-phiani, in the east Nubie, and in the west Ethiopia. The people are black and burned because of the excessive heat. They are descendants of Kousch, son of Kanaan, and they are very bad; they are different from other people through their black color, the flat nose, the big lips, the thickness of their hands, their heels, their smell, by becoming angry very soon, by having little spirit, by eating each other, and by eating their enemies. They have a king called Aklim: they ride bulls to go to war, because they have no horses. The star Sohail (Canope) is every night visible there. They have lots of gold, they go hunting elephants who are numerous there, they trade in ivory of which they have lots, what they esteem the most : they only were iron jewelry, and this although they are rich.
Sofala
This is a town that, in the land of the Zinges, is known for its gold mines; the gold of this country is very much sought after by the merchants; there is also a kind of bird that speaks better then any parrot.
Bandgouia (Zanzibar?)
Big island in the land of the Zinges, where the king is living : all the ships stop there. There are vines there that give fruit three times a year. In one manuscript is written Laikhouna.
Mikdaschq
Town situated there where the land of the Zinges start, at the sea shore, to the south of Yemen. It is impossible there to see the north pole, one navigates by the south pole, and the star Sohail or Canope. From there gets exported, Sandalwood, ebony-wood, amber, and ivory.
He also talks about the island of El-Camar.
