The Holy Sail (14 page)

Covilhã, recalling what Attar had told him, interrupted the rabbi. ‘How did they get to India? I thought they were waiting for our report. That's what they told us in Lisbon.'

The rabbi almost spat in outrage, but he pulled himself together. ‘Do you believe that they were relying on your report to get to India? They sent others and told them the same thing. They are a bunch of self-serving killers.' He adjusted his seating position then added, ‘They sent countless ships throughout the past years on scouting missions, to learn the strengths and weaknesses of their enemy. This time, however, the ships disobeyed orders and burned down the pilgrim ship
Maryam
, which people have been talking about for over a year.'

The rabbi put Covilhã's report in his lap. He struck it with his fist. ‘Your report will bring their warships. You will have paved the way for invasion with all this information. They will come not with holy sails, but with sails stained with blood.'

–
 
11
 
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The Red Sea

The Mamluk fleet set off from the port of Suez. Its thirteen ships, comprising galleys, fire ships and frigates, were carrying 1,500 soldiers to Jeddah, led by Hussein al-Kurdi, now an admiral. Hussein stood on the deck of the flagship, contemplating the endless, deep blue sea. He heard the wind hitting the sails and the waves striking the sides of the ship. It was music to his ears, music that he had waited so long to hear. He had managed to build the fleet he was now commanding, and felt that he had the power to bring about the changes he so desired.

He looked at the back of the ship and saw Suez's dancing trees and palms bidding him farewell. He loved the city, which he had single-handedly turned into a shipbuilding hub. Hussein turned his head forward and breathed the sea air as though for the first time. He cast aside all thoughts of intrigue and conspiracy; he called all the shots in this fleet, and was his own master.

Hussein was leaving Sultan al-Ghawri alone to face many adversaries. Ghawri could have appointed someone else admiral, yet he had chosen Hussein for the mission because he was his closest and most loyal ally. At least, this was what Hussein told himself, trying to gather the strength to move forward with his mission.

He watched his soldiers and sailors. They were different in everything, in their clothes, their dialects and their
aspirations. Hussein did not want his men to be idle during the long days ahead at sea, and had devised a strict daily routine for all of them: just after the dawn prayers, they had to climb and begin combat training, starting with melee weapons and then swords. After that, the men had to clean the ships. In the afternoon, the men were told to polish and sharpen their weapons, and to clean the cannons and cannonballs. Everything had to be shiny, from the heavy guns to the swords and daggers, and everyone had to work without interruption. Hussein was tense; he wanted the seamen, soldiers and peasants to become a disciplined fighting force, which required work, patience and training.

Days later, the fleet moored in Jeddah. The port was teeming with the city's residents, who came to take a look at this massive flotilla arriving to protect their city and the holy places from Portuguese attack. They had not forgotten how the Portuguese massacred pilgrims and disrupted trade with India. Dignitaries from the city in large turbans, including the sharif of Mecca, were among those standing on the wharf to welcome the fleet. The supervisors of Hajj convoys, wearing the traditional garments of their respective kingdoms, also attended the ceremony. They had the same rank as ambassadors and were treated accordingly. Everyone was waiting for the new ruler of Jeddah appointed by Sultan al-Ghawri.

Amir Hussein descended from the flagship into a small boat sent by the Sharif of Mecca to take him to port. The boat was festooned with decorations to welcome the new ruler. Even the oarsmen wore special brightly coloured costumes that reminded Hussein of the Prophet's birthday
celebrations, when the noise of revelling mixed with the recitations and calls to prayers emanating from the mosques in Cairo's narrow alleyways. The oarsmen's costumes were not unlike the joyful garments worn by the Sufis in those celebrations.

Hussein loathed such extravagance, which he saw as a reflection of both fear and sycophancy, though he decided to keep these sentiments to himself for the time being.

He came down from the boat and shook hands with the dignitaries, and had to stand and listen to their poems of tribute and flattery. He then walked to the governor's palace overlooking the sea, away from the tent that had been erected in the port for the ceremony, to the annoyance of all those who had been quarrelling all day to get seats underneath it.

Hussein could not help but notice the extent of affluence in Jeddah. Pilgrims spent a lot of money here on their way to Mecca. The port collected hefty taxes from the merchants travelling from the four corners of the earth; it was a major port in the Red Sea, and all trade from India and China had to pass through en route to Egypt, the Mediterranean and Europe beyond it. The port had grown even more significant when the Gulf was closed off following the Safavid occupation of Baghdad, severing the trade route from Basra to Aleppo.

Merchants in Jeddah were happy about Hussein's appointment, or at least appeared to be. Politics did not interest them as much as business and the need to make the best of the circumstances that made their city an important corridor for trade. The merchants assumed that Hussein, like his predecessors appointed by Cairo to
govern Jeddah, was a venal, incompetent agent of the sultan whose private interests he served first and foremost, in addition to his own. No matter what this new ruler was like, the merchants were prepared to bribe him to maintain their interests. All they had to do was to get to know him better to discover his weaknesses and deal with them accordingly.

Historically, the port of Jeddah was never too far from Cairo's authority and influence. It was located along the maritime route controlled by Egypt, extending from Aden to Suez via Jeddah. The city's people knew that the ruler appointed by the sultan of Egypt acted on behalf of the latter, and so accepted him, accustomed themselves to him and dealt with him as he was without resistance.

As soon as Hussein entered the palace, he sent for the treasurer, the commander of the city's guard and the harbourmaster. He asked the first to present him with a statement of the revenues available, their source and how they were disbursed. The treasurer looked annoyed with this request, but promised to prepare it as soon as possible.

Hussein did not wish to wait long. ‘I want it tomorrow, Treasurer.'

‘Admiral, I need to close the accounts and make calculations before I present them to you.'

Hussein squinted deliberately, intimating a veiled threat to the treasurer. He said, ‘I want it tomorrow. There will be no further discussion.'

In an attempt to end the debate that the treasurer seemed to want to draw him into, he turned to the commander of the city's guard, who was standing ready to receive orders.
The old officer wore a marvellous sword, though it was clear he had not used it for a long time. Hussein asked him, ‘How many men do you have?'

‘We do not have many, my lord. I have around 200 soldiers guarding the port and the road to Mecca. But we lack the weapons we need to repel the Bedouins who attack the pilgrims' convoys from time to time.'

Hussein did not look at the man as he spoke. He said, ‘Gather all the men you have. I want them in front of my palace within two days. Now go.'

‘As for you, Harbourmaster, I want you to present me with a list of merchants, their assets, their ships, their turnover and the taxes they pay. I want all this ready within three days. I think you already have this information. Now go too.'

When celebrations across the city subsided several days later, people started feeling that there was something about Hussein that set him apart from his predecessors. The man did not come out to take part in the celebrations. He did not accept the invitations of the city's dignitaries, and had not left his palace since he set foot in Jeddah. He was of a different breed, and had firm and precise requests. He knew exactly what he wanted and did not share his plans with anyone.

There was much talk among the merchants in Jeddah's coffeehouses. Some staked their bets on his corruptibility, others on his brutality. But in the end, no one knew who exactly Hussein Pasha al-Kurdi was and what he wanted. The Jeddans were divided into those who believed the merchants in the city were strong enough to co-opt
anyone, and those who felt this man was different. No two people meeting in a coffeehouse, street, shop or mosque failed to talk about him.

The early days passed quietly until the new governor circulated an order which couriers distributed among the neighbourhoods of Jeddah. The announcement read:
All men aged between fifteen and sixty must volunteer to build a wall around Jeddah, to protect it from Portuguese invasion. The treasury calls for donations to fund the works from private citizens.

The people of Jeddah did not take this seriously. They were still hoping that the Pasha, as they called Hussein, would not be able to resist the temptations of the merchants for too long. So it came as a shock to Hussein when his treasurer told him the Jeddans donated next to nothing, and that no more than fifty people had volunteered to build the wall – mostly poor people expecting to be paid for their work or, at least, to be fed.

Hussein issued another order compelling all men in the city to help in the construction of the wall. He confiscated some of the assets of the merchants and wealthy citizens to fund the works and fortify the city. Soldiers moved in the neighbourhoods to enforce this decision, which was seen as an extraordinarily bold one, though they finally understood how serious Hussein was when soldiers marshalled young people from the streets to register their names for the construction of the wall.

The people of the city grumbled and protested, but Hussein ordered the soldiers to flog anyone who failed to appear in the main square of the city. Hussein appointed whip-wielding supervisors to punish any slackers. A few days later, the
residents of Jeddah realised Amir Hussein was a curse, and concluded that they just had to endure him until further notice, since the rulers of Jeddah never lasted very long.

Work on the wall took place from after the dawn prayer until sunset. Workers were divided into different groups: one quarrying stones from the mountain, another moving the stones to the coast, a third to cut the stones, and a fourth group to line them up. The heat was unbearable, and many died from sunstroke and dehydration. Hussein Pasha, however, did not tolerate any slacking or grumbling, and when some protested against the long working hours, the guard soon placed their severed heads on spikes near the wall for everyone to see.

When night fell and everyone went to sleep, Hussein stayed up thinking. He did not want to shed blood but there were many dangers threatening the realm. The sultan had shown great confidence in him personally, and this could be the only chance for him to prove to his master that he was worthy of the mission and the post. What else could he do when people stood in the way of achieving his objectives?

They were a group of traitors, Hussein thought, who were not even aware of the extent of their crime. How could they refuse to work on building a wall for Jeddah to protect the city from Portuguese assault? And how could they object to long working hours when others lost life and limb to defend the land and the faith? He had no answers.

Hussein spat on the floor in anger at the triviality and banality of those people, as he tried to find excuses for taking their lives and mutilating their bodies.

Days passed heavily for everyone. The wealthy felt this strange, stiff-necked man was too stubborn to be coaxed with money, and started smuggling assets that were easy to carry to other cities or even buried them in their gardens. When Hussein got wind of this, he summoned some of them to his palace and gave them a choice between the whip and handing over their money. More bodies were then hung on the walls, bloodied by the whips, to deter sluggards and those who were still thinking about smuggling their money out of the city.

Pressure on people in the coastal city increased. Many of its merchants went bankrupt. Some of the city's leaders decided to have a parley with Amir Hussein, and convince him to ease his approach. They agreed with one another to exaggerate their penury and not wear any expensive-looking garments as they usually did, and chose their most senior leader to address him on their behalf.

‘Your Excellency Hussein Pasha. Your decrees have hurt us a great deal. Many of us have become poor after our possessions were taken, some of us even now beg in the streets and mosques. Our state must be no secret to you. Working on the construction of the wall is killing our livelihoods, so we implore you to exempt us from that work and return some of our confiscated money.'

Hussein squinted, which people now knew usually meant he was about to make a harsh decision. ‘Is that why you're all here? To tell me you want your money, and that you don't want to work?' He started shouting, ‘Is this what you want?' Hussein lowered his voice before continuing. ‘Several days ago, people on the southern coast rescued a number of Yemeni merchants. The Portuguese had cut off
their hands and noses and then tied them up in their boat, which they had looted. The boat and the victims on board were then pushed to the coast for everyone to see.'

Hussein began shouting again. ‘Do you want the Portuguese to do the same thing to you? Do you want to see your women and children their slaves and prisoners? You do not understand the threat surrounding you. You are a bunch of greedy merchants who cannot see anything beyond your own pockets.'

He then turned to the commander of the guard who was standing near them looking alert, as though he already knew what he needed to do. Hussein said, ‘Take them and flog them in front of everyone near the wall. Then let them work more hours to compensate for the time they have wasted in this frivolous conversation.'