Chap. II. 
of the East Indies. 
549 : 
4S time as Sanigar Shah , Son to the great Shah of Per - 
“ fia , who rules over forty-five Princes, cancelled it. He 
is called in Arabic Sultan Phars-Al-Chabir , which is as 
“ much as to fay, Great Emperor of Perfia . His Empire 
extends from the Mouth of the River Samoura to the City 
44 of Samar cand, and to the River of Gozan , the Province 
“ of Gifbor , including the Cities of the Medes , the Moun- 
44 tains of Haphton , and fo to the Province of Thibet ; in 
44 the Forefts of which Country are found the Animals 
54 that produce Mufk. His Empire is four Months and 
44 four Days Journey in Extent m . 
44 When therefore this great Monarch Sanigar King of 
« 4 ' Perfia came to Elam , and law them tranfporting the Coffin 
* 4 of Daniel from one Side of the River to the other, with a 
44 great Croud of Jews and IJhmaelites upon the Bridge, he 
44 demanded what they were doing, and the Reafon ol their 
44 doing it •, and being informed of what has been before 
44 related, he decided the Point thus. It is by no means 
44 decent, faid he, that the Remains of Daniel fhould be 
44 treated in this manner ; meafure therefore to a Place 
44 that is at an equal Diftance from both Sides, and there 
44 let the Coffin of Daniel be fulpended in a Glafs Cafe, 
44 fattened to the Middle of the Bridge by Chains of Iron, 
44 and let there be a fpacious Edifice built in the fame Place 
44 in the Form of a Synagogue, open to all People, whe- 
44 ther Jews , or of other Nations that incline to come 
44 thither to fay their Prayers n . As a ftill ftronger Mark 
44 of his Efteem, that Emperor likewife forbad, by an ex- 
44 prefs Edidt, that any Man fhould take Fiffi out of the 
44 River for one Mile below, and another above, for the 
44 Reverence and Honour of Daniel .” , 
From hence to Robad-bar are three Day’s Journey, where 
dwell twenty thoufand Ifraelites , among whom there are 
very many Difciples of the Wife-men, and alfo fome of 
them very rich •, but thefe live under the Power and Au- 
thority of a ftrange Prince. In two Day’s Journey from 
thence you come to the River Vanth , where are four thou- 
fand Jews, or thereabouts ; but four Day’s Journey from 
the River lieth the Country Molhat , the Inhabitants whereof 
believe not the Dodlrine of the Ifmaelites , but they dwell 
in very ftrong Mountains, and they obey an Elder, whofe 
Seat is in the Country Alcheffin ; and among thefe there are 
four Colleges of the Ifraelites , and they go forth to the 
Wars with them ; nor are they fubjedt to the Dominion 
of the King of Perfia ; but live in high Mountains, 
from whence defcending, they invade the bordering 
Countries, and drive away Booties, and return again, fear- 
ing no Man ; but the Jews , who dwell among them, are 
the Difciples of the wife Men, and obey the Plead of the 
Captivity of Babylon. 
You travel five Day’s Journey from hence to Omaria , 
where are five-and-twenty thoufand Ifraelites ; and it is the 
Beginning of the Synagogues of the Inhabitants of theMoun- 
tains of Haphton , which are known to be more than an 
hundred in Number ; and in thefe Places the Country of 
Media beginneth •, and thefe are of the firft Captivity car- 
ried away by King Salmanafar ; but they fpeak the Chaldee 
Language, and among them are the Difciples of the wife 
Men, and the chief City Omaria , pertaining to the King- 
dom of Perfia , within one Day’s Journey j but they are 
under the Dominion of the King of Perfia , to whom they 
pay Tribute ; and the Tribute appointed in all the King* 
doms of the Ifmaelites , is for. Males above fifteen Years old 3 
one Golden Amir, which is in Value one Spanifh Mora- 
betine Piece of Gold and an half, or half a Crown of our 
Money. 
7. It is now twelve Years fince a certain Man named 
David Elroi arole in the City of Omaria , who was the 
Difciple of Chafdai , the Head of the Captivity, and of 
Jacob the honourable Head of the Affembly of Levi , in the 
Metropolitan City of Bagdat ; he became very learned in 
the Law of Mofes , and in the Books of Dodrine, and alfo 
in all Wifdom in the Language of the Ifmaelites , and in 
the Books of the Magicians and Iilchanters ; he therefore 
took it in his Head that he would raife Arms againft the 
King of Peifia , and gather together the Jews who dwelt 
in the Mountains of Haphton would war againft the whole 
World, and go to Jerufalem and win it by Affault and 
that he might perfuade the Jews thereto, he fhewed them 
lying and deceitful Signs, affirming that he was fent from 
God to Jerufalem , and to free them from the Yoke of the 
Nations, fo that with many of the Jews he procured Credit 
unto himfelf, and was owned by them for their Mefiiah °. 
The King of Perfia hearing the Report of this Infurrec- 
tion, fent for him to talk with him, to whom he went with- 
out any Fear ; and it being demanded whether he was the 
King of the Jews , he boldly anfwered, that he was ; and 
he was thereupon apprehended and call into the Goal, in 
which State Prifoners are kept all their Lives. This Prifon 
is in the City Dabaftran , nigh the great River Gozan. After 
three Days a Council of the Princes and Minifters being 
called by the King, in which they confulted as to this In- 
furredion of the Jews , David was prefent there, being 
efcaped out of Prifon, no Man knowing thereof. When 
the King faw him, he demanded, Who hath brought thee 
hither , or delivered thee out of Prifon ? 44 Mine own Wifi* 
44 dom, anfwered he, for I am not afraid of thee, or thy 
44 Servants.” Then the King cried out to thole about 
him, Seize him ! lay Hands on him ! To whom the Princes 
and Servants anfwered, that his Voice was heard by all, but 
he was feen by none p. 
The King wondering at his Wifdom, was aftonifhed. 
David then cried out aloud, Lo , I take my IVay \ and 
he began to go before, the King following him, and all 
the Nobility and their Servants followed the King. When 
they came to the Bank of the River, David i preading abroad 
his Handkerchief upon the Waters, patted over dry, and 
at that time was feen of all. They endeavoured to purfue 
and take him with little Boats, which they attempted in 
vain *, and thence concluded, that no Inchanter in the 
World might be compared to him. As for David , he tra- 
velled that Day ten Day’s Journey, coming to Omaraia ; 
through the Virtue of the ineffable Name% he declared 
what had befallen unto him to their great Amazement. 
But the King of the Perfians fending Meffengers unto 
Bagdat , informed the Great Khaliff of the Ifmaelites of this 
Matter, and requefted that he would caufe David Elroi to 
be reftrained from fuch Enterprizes, by the Head of the 
Captivity, and the chief Rulers of the Affemblies, other- 
wife he threatened total Deftrudion to all the Jews living 
in the Kingdom of Perfia . All the Synagogues of the 
Kingdom of Perfia falling thereupon into great Fear of the 
. m This pompous Account of an Emperor commanding over forty-five Kings is very fuitable to the Genius of a Jenvifh Traveller ; but the Difficulty 
3S t0 find out who he is of whom all this is faid. We read in Elmacinus of a Prince of this Name, who was the Son of a King of Perfia and flourifhed 
acout this Time ; and therefore it is very probable, that this Decifion is to be afcribed to him in the Life-time of his Father, though ’Beniamin feems 
to attribute it to the Shah, or Emperor himfelf. s benjamin teems 
i his Circumftance is not in itielf very confiderable ; but in fo large a Collection as this, it was neceifary to have a Writer fo much talked of as 
aWay “ aC9 “ iting by thiS “ anCe tte PoWerof a Performance ; for, as 
0 This Story, as extravagant as it feems, is really a Matter of Faft, and as fuch is recorded by two JeauiJh Hiftorians, w, R. Selomo Ben Firm, 
1I 35» which as fome Cnticks have obferved, does not agree with the Date affigned by our Author, who 
for mvmrKS Vr befope be w . as th f re \ X rT hls ’ however , is no great Miftake, even if we fhould admit that it is our Author’s Miftake, tho* 
i, 7 1 * * & l d f ? ppof lf V eaf f for the other Writers to err m this particular. The whole, however, may perhaps be folved, by fuppofing that 
tbJrh™ • " he Acc °J nt tiiat be bas § lven us fr0m J ome Kiftory of this Impoftor written twelve Years after this Infurrefiion. However It be 
is ufed££^theSSorkT ient ’ ^ ^ the Dlfference between the Name mentioned by our Author, and that of David El David, which 
p There are lome little Variations in the Manner in which thefe Fa&s are told by the other Hiflorians j but they are of no great Conference and 
Tde WrfeTh tr ° Ub 6 die ^ ead . er witb then J neither fhould I have mentioned thefe Writers at all, but to convince the Reader, tha?this is not a 
1 ale invented by Benjamin, as he might otherwife very readily imagine. ’ a 
• ?. tb t a/ TVT 1 ran ^ rs , have lr;ii Ted the Senfe as to this Name, which the Jen.v t call ineffable, becaufe they are perfuaded that the true Pro 
MiVct? ™ he v. ?r° d 18 v°\ 0r L UnknOWn 5 and the y P re * nd > that has the Secret of pronouncing it riS A * ablXXSwS 
fcf: They hkewife alfert that by this Means our Saviour wrought his ; and though this be a very idle Conceit ylt it is war h Snowinf 
Numb. XXXVIII. . , A . . „ 
| A Matter, 
