'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.' [‎415] (576/612)

POSTSCEIPT. 415
T ' t . The j 81 ^ of Kis—in Arabic, Kais—is situated between
nclia and el-Basrah. This island possesses pearl-fisheries, and
upon it are exotic date trees and also native trees. Its in-
habitants drink water from wells, and its circuit may be accom-
phshed by a horseman, if he tries, in a day. One of the people
ot el-Basrah told me that he performed the circuit, ridino- on his
mare, in a day, but not without fatiguing the mare. Ibn-Sa'id
says that it is twelve miles in circumference. Yakut, in the el-
MusUanlc states that the island of Kish [sic] is in the midst of
the sea between Oman and Persia; that it is a fine island, of
an agreeable aspect, full of gardens and date-groves. I have
seen it [he says] several times, and have met there men of learn
ing and refinement." {Takvnm-el-Bulddn, p. 207.)
We have additional proof in this quotation against the identity
between el-Kais and el-Kishm; but it gives no intimation what
ever that the former was a place of trade, whereas this is what
the same author says of Siraf, the Kais of Ibn-Batuta and the
Ghisi, as I believe, of Polo :—
Siraf is the largest custom-house in Persia. It is destitute
ot cultivation and pasture, nevertheless, it is a town where ships
discharge and load [cargoes]. It is a populous city, and the in
habitants spend large sums on their houses, insomuch that a
merchant will lay out upwards of thirty thousand dinars in
building a residence for himself. There are no gardens, neither
trees, and the houses are built of the trunks of palm-trees and
0 i »i • er brou g ht frora the country of the Zanj. The climate
ot feiraf is very hot. The el-Lihdb states that Siraf appertains to
^ of Persia on the sea-coast adjoining Kerman." (Id
p. 207). v '
In the absence of any authentic records of the causes which
led to this transfer, the following notices appended by el-Kazwiny
to his description of the island of el-Kais suggest that either
political or commercial rivalry, or both combined, between the
lulcrs of Hormuz and el-Kais, even during his time, had led the
latter to invoke the aid of the Persians, and that for better
security against the naval power of Hormuz they abandoned the
island and returned to the main. This is what el-Kazwiny
says :—
" The sovereignty [of el-Kais] belonged to a people who had
inherited it, until a tyrant arose from among them whom they
deposed. I hey then called in the lord of Hormuz, and the el-
Hormuzy came and ruled over it; but he turned out to be more
tyrannical than the el-Kaisy, so they deposed him also, and applied