BUSH1RE, or more properly ATIUSCIIAIIR, the prin cipal sea-port of Persia, in the province of Farsistan, is situated on the extremity of a peninsula in the Persian Gulf. The town is of a triangular form, surrounded on two sides by the sea, and fortified towards the land by a wall, with twelve bastions, perforated at the top with holes, through which the defenders may point their mus ketry. The streets are only from 6 to 8 feet wide, and the houses arc mean and low, constructed chiefly of mud, or of a soft sandstone, which is obtained from the ruins of Reshire in the neighbourhood. Those of the principal inhabitants are distinguished by a square turret, of which there are nine in Bushire; and this circumstance gives the city, at a distance, very much the appearance of a burying-ground. Its only public buildings are the mosques, which are extremely mean, and of which there are four of the Shiites, and three of the Sunnites. It has also two hummums, and two caravanseras. The house of the English resident stands about two miles from the town, and is the only place deserving the name of a building.
Bushire possesses a very commodious harbour, by which vessels can approach close to the city. Fleets of boats from the neighbouring coast bring coarse linen for turbans, earthen pots, mats, Sic. which they exchange for dates. From Bombay, Masulipatam, and Bengal, it draws Guzerat kincobs, chintz, long cloths, muslins, &c. for which the return is generally made in specie ; but many of its broad cloths are imported from France by way of Russia ; and notwithstanding the expencc of land carriage, it buys them cheaper than they can be procur ed from the East India Company. The favourite colours are scarlet and yellow. Its principal exports are carpets, pearls, and cotton ; and its inhabitants fabricate from the cotton bushes in the vicinity of the town, a kind of cloth nearly equal to the China nankeen. It carries on also a considerable trade with Shiraz, by means of caravans.
Bushire owes its origin to the Arabs, who, at an early period, had formed settlements along the eastern coast of the Persian Gulf ; and, till within these few years, it continued to be an independent state, governed by its owit Sheik. The power of Sheik Nasr, the most celebrated of its princes, extended over the low country, called Dashtistan ; besides which, he possessed the isle of Bah rein, and a considerable territory iu Kermesis. This prince, though perpetually engaged in war, carried on a very extensive commerce with India and Muscat, which brought him considerable wealth. By this he was ena
bled to maintain a large standing force, which often with stood the whole power of the Persian monarchs ; and, on an emergency, he could collect a numerous army of Arabs from the surrounding tribes ; who, upon a well known signal, willingly flocked to the standard of the hospitable chief. " The Sheik of Bushire," says Mr Morier, "is still remembered, in his general conduct with reverence. Whenever his little domain was threat ened by the government of Persia, or by a neighbouring chief, Sheik Nasr flew to arms. According to the tra ditional accounts of the country, his summons to his fol lowers in these emergencies was equally characteristic and effectual. He mounted two large braziers of Piltau on a camel, and sent it to parade round the country. The rough pace of the animal put the ladles in motion, so that they struck the sides oldie vessels at marked inter vals, and produced a most sonorous clang. As it tra versed the Dashtistan, it collected the mob of every dis trict; every eine had tasted the Arab hospitality of the Sheik, and every one remembered the appeal, and crowded round the ancient standard of their chief, till his camel returned to him surrounded by a force sufficient to repel the threatened encroachments." His descend ants, however, were unable to maintain the government which he had strengthened and so long upheld. His grandson, Abdullall Resold, a young man of indolent and dissolute habits, inherited none of those qualities, which commanded the affections and services of his people, but merely filled the office to which he had been born, and held his precarious authority only at the will of Persia. Being unwilling or unable to comply with the demand of the governor of Farsistan for a sum of money, he was deposed in 1808, when Mahomed Nebec Khan, formerly a poor merchant, and afterwards Persian ambassador at Calcutta, procured the succession to the government of Bushire, 40,000 tomauns, equal nearly to as many pounds sterling.
The town of Bushire contains about 400 houses, with nearly an equal number of date-tree huts ; and its popu lation is estimated at 10,000. N. Lat. 28° 59', E. Long. 50° See Morier's Journey through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor, to Constantinople, in the Years 1808 and 1809, p. 56 ; Waring's Tour to Shrcraz, p. 2, &r. in Phi lips's Collection of Voyages, &c. vol. vi.; and Niebuhr's Travels, vol. ii. p. I 17. (p)