ABSTRACT
Although the exact purpose of Nakhuda Nuruddin Firuz’s visit to Somanatha has not been specified in either of the versions, it is only likely that a ship-owning merchant of his stature travelled from Hormuz to Somanatha for some commercial venture. At Sumnat or Somanatha Nakhuda Nuruddin Firuz caused to make a masjid and mijigiti. The mijigiti is clearly described as a sacred place and it faced the east. A perusal of the inscription of 1264, however, suggests that Nuruddin did not settle down in Somanatha. As he was not a permanent resident of Somanatha it is only logical that several arrangements were made for the maintenance and provisions of the mijigiti on a long-term basis. The inscription gives us the image that the mijigiti in Somanatha was viewed as another dharmasthana like many other religious shrines and establishments abounding in Somanatha.
