The Holy Sail (40 page)

I can no longer bear it. I have waited for too long. I am sending with this letter a gift. I am hoping you may deliver it to King Salghur, and remind him of the hefty price he paid to return to the throne. You must tell him that whoever rules Hormuz and Bahrain will rule the Gulf. This gift might induce him to retake Bahrain and kill Emir
Nasser, because there is no room for both of us in this world.

I will not be able to return to Hormuz before meeting Sultan Muqrin and explaining to him what has happened. This gift has consumed all my fortune. Spare no effort to use it as the price of Emir Nasser's life.

Your daughter,

Halima

Several days later, the box containing the jewelled palm reached Attar. The Hormuzi vizier was pleased to see his daughter's letter enclosed with the parcel, and started reading it without opening the box. As he took stock of her revelations, he became gradually incensed, while at the same time feeling bereaved for the death of Farah, whom he had treated as a second daughter. Attar decided to act.

He entered the king's palace escorted by two of his servants carrying the box. Attar ordered them to place it in front of the king in his
majlis
, then told them to leave the hall.

He opened the box gently and took out the palm, which he kept by his side. Attar watched the king to gauge his reaction.

‘What do you think, Your Majesty?'

Salghur left his throne and approached the palm. He caressed it with his hands as though touching soft silk. ‘Is it . . . is it real?'

‘Everything you see in front of you is real. Everything that glitters is made of gold, everything that is white is made
from pearls, and everything that is coloured is a precious stone. This is a priceless masterpiece, Your Majesty!'

‘Who is it from? Who sent it?'

‘My daughter Halima has sent it from Bahrain. She is trying to tell you that this island is so rich that its palms almost produce pearls like the seas that surround Bahrain, and that its land is pure gold. We have paid a heavy price for the Jabrid intervention, but we can retake the island once more.'

Salghur sat back on the throne, but he could not keep his eyes off the masterpiece. ‘We have signed an agreement with the Jabrids, ceding our possessions in Bahrain and waiving the taxes they used to pay us—'

Attar interrupted him. ‘Indeed, we have agreed with them on all these things, but the situation has changed. We are in dire need of Bahrain now. We don't have sufficient funds to run Hormuz since the Portuguese arrived. Trade has ground to a halt, and without Bahrain and its fortunes, we won't last for very long.'

Salghur stood up from his throne again and walked to the window overlooking the sea. ‘Master Vizier, as you know, we no longer have an army. We don't control our own affairs. Albuquerque does!'

Attar returned the palm to its case, fearing someone might suddenly enter. Albuquerque and his officers could enter any room in the palace without asking permission.

‘Listen to me, Your Majesty. I know there is nothing we can do on our own. We are Albuquerque's prisoners and we are alive because he permits it. But what I'm saying is that we can change all that if we want to!'

King Salghur returned to his throne. ‘What are you trying to say exactly, Attar?'

‘I propose the following, Your Majesty: we show this masterpiece to Albuquerque. It will entice him to conquer Bahrain. We will be with him because he needs us. He does not know the island as well as we do. If the campaign succeeds, he will also need us to run the island, and we would be able to do with it as we please. You must understand, he who controls Hormuz and Bahrain controls the Gulf.'

On the same day, Attar and the king went to the hall that Albuquerque sat in, with two servants carrying the box.

‘Gentlemen, what is this?'

‘A present for you, Governor, from my daughter Halima who lives in Bahrain.'

‘You never told me you had a daughter there!'

‘She is married to the Jabrid sultan's vizier. He died recently. She sent you this gift to let you know how wealthy Bahrain is.'

Attar opened the box, took out the palm and placed it in front of the conquistador.

Albuquerque raised his eyebrows. His reptilian gaze disappeared for a few seconds before it returned. He approached the piece and touched it in several places, scrutinising the jewels decorating it.

‘I had asked you about Bahrain before but you said nothing about its fortunes. I suspected you might have been hiding something from me, so I sent a scout ship to sail around its coasts. The captain told me he saw a luscious green island with plentiful fruits and fresh water. He said the sea around it is abundant in pearls that the Jabrid sultan
profits greatly from. I've been waiting for reinforcements from Portugal to send an expedition to take the island.'

Albuquerque approached the vizier until their chests almost touched. ‘Hear me, Attar. You must know that there is nothing you can hide from me. Never do it again. Now tell me, if this island is so rich, why did you relinquish it?'

Salghur hesitated but then decided to answer instead of Attar. ‘This was the price for helping me retake the throne, Governor. We signed an agreement with them waiving the tribute they paid and ceding Hormuz's possessions in Bahrain.'

A harsh look returned to Albuquerque's eyes. ‘To hell with the treaties you signed with them! We will take the island. We need the money.'

Albuquerque gave Attar an angry look. ‘Prepare as many ships and as many men as you can. I will send them an officer who never lost a battle in his life. I will send them António Correia.'

 

–
 
35
 
–

Al-Ahsa, Eastern Arabian Peninsula

Halima felt she had stayed for too long in Al-Ahsa. Her main activity was to enquire from time to time about Sultan Muqrin, who had not yet returned from Najd. People knew Halima was staying at her deceased husband's home. Some women tried to make her acquaintance, and the short visits they paid her were her only leisure. The days were monotonous, and people were concerned with the same things as the Bahrainis, except that they did not gossip about her and the intrigue with Emir Nasser.

Halima was reluctant to return to Bahrain. In the house in Al-Ahsa mementos of her husband, his childhood, and even of his mother, whose memory he had kept alive, were all around her. Bin Rahhal's phantom was with her everywhere in Al-Ahsa, and though they had memories in Bahrain, in Al-Ahsa his presence was gentler. She had also made a new life for herself here and new friends, and in Bahrain she would be returning to the painful memory of her husband's death and the rumour mill that Emir Nasser continued to feed.

She expected her father to avail himself of the gift she had sent him, and use it as leverage with King Salghur to convince him to retake Bahrain. Most of all, she wanted to avenge her husband and slay Emir Nasser. She was aching to see Emir Nasser dead, as her bitter thirst for vengeance could only be quenched by blood.

Halima got her servants to load her luggage in a small convoy and headed to Al-Uqair. When she reached the harbour, she saw it was unusually crowded. Horses and camels were being led into large boats that were lined haphazardly along the wharf. There was much shouting and quarrelling and chaos, and Halima did not quite understand what was going on. She ordered her convoy to stop not far from the place, and asked one of her servants to investigate and report back.

Her servant came back running to her
howdah
, pointing in the direction of a dust storm from the direction of the desert.

She looked to where he was pointing, and saw thick dust filling the horizon. ‘What's happening?'

‘It's Sultan Muqrin's army, my lady. He has just arrived from Najd and is on his way to Bahrain. The bedlam you see at the port is the vanguard of the army, which will carry rations to Bahrain. I don't think we will be able to sail today or even tomorrow. The shipmasters are refusing to even talk to us, as they have chartered their boats to carry the army and its gear.'

‘For what reason?'

‘They are saying a fleet of Portuguese and Hormuzi ships have lain siege to Bahrain meaning to occupy it. Sultan Muqrin is going there to defend the island.'

She descended from her
howdah
, wearing her Hormuzi burka. She stood by the side of her convoy, waiting for Sultan Muqrin to spot her. Halima kept her eyes fixed on the dust storm approaching. She was not sure what she would tell him. Should she expose Emir Nasser to him in these circumstances, or should she tell him it was she who
invited the Portuguese and Hormuzi fleets to Bahrain? She had not wanted Sultan Muqrin to go there to fight. She just wanted Emir Nasser to be slain, but clearly things were now out of her control.

Sultan Muqrin's army approached the harbour. The crowd grew into a sea of swarming people. The dust cloud followed the army, bringing sudden darkness to the place. People used their clothes to shield their mouths and noses, a layer of dust covering their faces.

Halima was not going to give up. She had to meet the sultan. She saw him appear then disappear in the haze. Halima ran to him and approached his horse, but the guards stopped her before she could draw his attention.

‘Great Sultan! Your Grace!' she yelled at the top of her lungs.

The sultan glanced at her and squinted.

She shouted again. ‘I am Halima, wife of Bin Rahhal.'

The sultan stared at her for a few seconds and then turned to a sheikh who was riding behind him. He exchanged a few words with him while pointing at Halima. The sultan then waved at her before he disappeared in the stubborn dust cloud hanging over the harbour.

The sheikh approached Halima and dismounted from his horse. He was a venerable old man with a long white beard. He wore a turban that was wrapped around a red felt hat with a tassel attached to the top. Halima had not seen anything like it before.

The man introduced himself. ‘I am Jamal al-Din Tazi. The sultan has asked me to take care of you.'

Halima gave him a quick look before turning her gaze back to where the sultan had gone, trying to find him again,
but he had vanished. Halima turned back to the sheikh with tearful eyes. ‘I have many things to tell the sultan, Sheikh Tazi!'

‘Don't worry, child. You can tell him everything you want after he returns. Now come with me.'

Tazi took Halima back to her convoy. The haze began to subside, and the rabble of people moved off with the sultan towards the sea. Halima and the sheikh waited for the noise to die down before they could speak. They did not have to wait for long; the ships were now ready to move the army, and as they left, the chaos in the harbour eased.

The sheikh looked at Halima with dusty but compassionate eyes. He introduced himself again. ‘I am Sheikh Jamal al-Din Tazi from Morocco. I met the sultan during the Hajj and he asked me to come here with him to teach people the Maliki creed. He has now asked me to look after you until he returns from his campaign.'

The sheikh took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the accumulated dust on his face before continuing. ‘The sultan told me about your husband's death. He wept when he heard Bin Rahhal had been killed. The sultan was performing the pilgrimage to Mecca. He was determined to find his killer, but when we drew close to Al-Ahsa, news came to him of the Portuguese blockade of Bahrain. Don't worry; I left my wife who had come with me in Al-Ahsa for the sultan's send-off. We will return to Al-Ahsa together where you will meet her. She will take good care of you until the sultan returns.'

Halima returned in her small convoy to Al-Ahsa. She was thinking about what she should do: should she tell Sheikh Tazi what she had done, or should she say nothing about
that? All the bloodletting that was about to take place was her fault. Had she made a mistake?

Halima stayed with the sheikh and his wife, and the three became inseparable. She started learning more about her religion, which she never cared much about during her formative years in Hormuz. She was born Muslim, but Islam for her was a formality, a series of rituals and a part of her identity much like her dialect, clothes and family; she had not given it much thought beyond that.

However, the sheikh and his wife approached faith in a very different way. It was the centre of their lives and not merely a ritual. It was real and tangible, and they found joy in it. They talked about it often and would stay up during the night praying. Halima even saw them crying in worship, and then smiling shortly after, and could not understand why.

She started learning many things she had not known about before. She asked about things that had never occurred to her. ‘If God created us and God is merciful, then why does so much misfortune befall us? Do we worship Him to avoid His wrath? What's going to happen to people who were not born Muslim, are they going to hell? Why did God create bad people if He was going to torment them in the afterlife? Why did the sheikh cry when he prayed to God?'

Halima would ask the sheikh's wife all these questions, but the old woman did not have answers and told her to save her questions for the sheikh. The sheikh would listen to her queries patiently and oblige her by answering her questions, because he thought she had a right to ask anything she liked. He told his wife, ‘She is at the threshold
of the house, and she wants to know what's inside before she comes in.'

*

When Sultan Muqrin arrived in Bahrain, he found preparations were in full swing to repel the Portuguese invasion. Before the sultan arrived, Emir Nasser had built defences from palm fronds and cobs along the coastline surrounding the city, leaving only two openings overlooking the sea.

The sultan took over command of the soldiers and proceeded to give the defenders their assignments. He divided them into three brigades and put each one under the command of one of his most trusted men. Sultan Muqrin had a formidable force at his disposal, comprising 300 horsemen, 400 archers and a large number of infantrymen, though he had no cannons or muskets.