The sultan despatched a ‘Christian’ who was willing to steer the expedition across the ocean to their desired destination. He was more likely a Gujarati Muslim, possessed of a chart of the western Indian coast and familiar with quadrants for taking astronomical observations. Five hundred years later Arab dhow captains would still be cursing this Muslim pilot who first let the Franks, the Europeans whom they called the Ferengi, into the secrets of the ocean’s navigation.
