the great city from the end of April till the 5th December of the
same year. The following passage explains why he left Calicut.

"On a sudden a man arrived who brought me the intelligence that
the king of Bidjanagar, who holds a powerful empire and a mighty
dominion under his sway, had sent him to the Sameri[130] as delegate,
charged with a letter in which he desired that he would send on to him
the ambassador of His Majesty, the happy Khakhan (I.E. the king of
Persia). Although the Sameri is not subject to the laws of the king
of Bidjanagar, he nevertheless pays him respect and stands extremely
in fear of him, since, if what is said is true, this latter prince
has in his dominions three hundred ports, each of which is equal to
Calicut, and on TERRA FIRMA his territories comprise a space of three
months' journey."

In obedience to this request, Abdur Razzak left Calicut by sea
and went to Mangalore, "which forms the frontier of the kingdom of
Bidjanagar." He stayed there two or three days and then journeyed
inland, passing many towns, and amongst them a place where he saw a
small but wonderful temple made of bronze.

"At length I came to a mountain whose summit reached the skies. Having
left this mountain and this forest behind me, I reached a town called
Belour,[131] the houses of which were like palaces."

Here he saw a temple with exquisite sculpture.

"At the end of the month of Zoul'hidjah[132] we arrived at the city of
Bidjanagar. The king sent a numerous cortege to meet us, and appointed
us a very handsome house for our residence. His dominion extends from