'History of the imâms and seyyids of 'Omân by Salîl-ibn-Razîk, from A.D. 661-1856; translated from the original Arabic, and edited with notes, appendices, and an introduction, continuing the history down to 1870, by George Percy Badger, F.R.G.S., late chaplain in the Presidency of Bombay.' [‎81] (242/612)

11
THE IMAMS OF 'OMAN.
81
The struggle went on in this way for a long time, and the
Imam and his party began to despair of effecting an entrance
into the place, when a dispute arose between the Portuguese
and one of the Worshippers of the Cow, to wit, the poly-
theist named Narutem, a Banian Merchant of Indian extraction. , 1 on the subject of betrothal
and marriage. This Nanltem had a beautiful daughter
whom the Portuguese commandant, whose name was Fareira
[Pareira], had asked in marriage, through the medium of
one of the clergy attached to their church in the Western
Fort, who acted as Pareira's agent in the matter. Nanltem,
however, declined the match on behalf of his daughter.
Pareira then offered him a large sum of money, but he still
refused, and sent the commandant the following answer :
The thing which the commandant requires neither becomes
him nor me, he being a Christian, whereas I am of a different
religion. He and his co-religionists hold it lawful to drink
wine, and to eat ox-fiesh and the flesh of other animals.
Neither in ancient nor modem times have Christians inter
married with us." Pareira's messenger replied : " \ ou
must not thwart the commandant, for he has been most ge
nerous towards you; he has given you the keys of the shops
in the two forts and elsewhere, has made you agent for the
treasury and country, and has invested you with plenary
authority, and he declares that if you do not give your con-
There are more Banians in Maskat than in any other town of
Arabia. Wellsted estimated them in 1836 at 1,500, and remarked that
their number was rapidly increasing. " They possess a small temple
there, are permitted to keep and protect a certain number of cows, to
burn their dead, and to follow in other respects the uninterrupted en
joyment of their respective religious tenets....They mostly embark at
Porebunder, from the north-west provinces of India, and in the prose
cution of their commercial avocations frequently remain for a period of
fifteen or twenty years....They constitute a body of the principal mer
chants of the place, and almost monopolise the pearl trade from the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . They enter as largely into the supply of grain from
India, and have also extensive dealings in Indian cloths and piece-
goods." Travels in Arabia, vol. i. pp. 18-21.