ABSTRACT

M&skat, at the period o f Varthema’s visit, was governed by a native sovereign who resided at Nezwa, two days’ journey inland. It was captured by the Portuguese, together with several other places on the B&tinah coast, in the early part o f the sixteenth century. They re­ tained possession till 1640, when they were expelled from the country by SultAn Bin Seif, in whose family the sovereignty o f Amm&n remains to the present day.