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Оглавление1 It is a popular superstition throughout the East to attribute madness to the influence of a separate spirit acting upon the maniac.
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Partiality of the Women of Arabia for White Men." What else, indeed, could reasonably be expected? Brought up without education, confined to the seclusion of the women’s apartments, and de- barred from sharing in public amusements, it is not surprising that the uncultivated mind of eastern females should follow its natural bent, and seek to satisfy the longing for enjoyment, inherent in us all, by kindred gratifications.
The queen was evidently convinced from the outset that our hero’s madness was merely a feint but he very discreetly resisted all her consequent blandishments, only availing himself of them as might best conduce to his own ends. Simulating sickness, he obtained her consent to visit a holy man at Aden renowned for miraculous cures, and was furnished, moreover, by her liberality with a camel and the very opportune gift of twenty-five ashrafi 1 for the journey. On reaching Aden, he forthwith engaged a passage on board a native ship which was to sail for India, via the Persian Gulf, in the course of a month, and, taking advantage of that interval to escape from the notice of the Adenites, he set out on an excursion into the interior.
In the subsequent pages, I have annotated so fully on the text of this part of our author’s wanderings, that it would be superfluous to notice any details here. The Arabic MS. Chronicles already men- tioned and Niebuhr’s Voyages, conjoined with per- sonal experience derived from natives of the country, have been my principal guides in illustrating his trip
1 The ashrafi appears to have been equivalent to a ducat, about 4s. 6d. of our money.
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into Yemen; in fact, I am not aware that any others, in the shape of general travels, exist, unless it be the very meagre account given by Ibn Batuta in the fourteenth century. Varthema is undoubtedly the first European who has left us a description of this portion of Arabia, and between his time and the present, Niebuhr as far back as 1761, (with the exception of several brief personal narratives of the route between Mokha and Sanaa, and a trip from thence to Mareb by Mons. Arnaud in 1843) is the only European traveler who has penetrated into the country more than a few miles from the sea-coast. Even Niebuhr’s journey, performed in comparative security and luxury, does not embrace so large an extent of Yemen as that of our author but where- ever his testimony or that of others was available, it substantiates in a remark- able manner the accuracy of Varthema’s observations. The annexed abstract of his route conveys, in a tabular form, the different towns visited, with their approximate distances: —
General
Direction Miles
Aden to Damt,1 viâ Lahej and 'Az'az N.W. 120
Damt to Yerim, viâ, El-Makranah - E. 40
Yerim to Sanaa - N. 70
Sanaa to Ta'ez - S. 110
Ta'ez to Zebid - N. E. 70
Zebid to Dhamar - E.N.E. 65
Dhamar to Aden - S. 120
_______ Total 595
1 In a note on the text (p. 75) I have identified this place, which Varthema calls " Dante," with Niebuhr's Dimne; but on second thoughts I think it more likely that it represents his Denn, which he describes as "une petite ville, avec une bonne citadelle, et une place de foire." Voy. en Arabic, vol. iii. p. 214.
xlviii INTRODUCTION.
On his return to Aden, of which place he gives a very accurate description, Varthema again sought refuge in a mosque under pretence of sickness but when the time for departure arrived, he was smuggled on board by the conniving Arab skipper, who doubtless received some of the queen’s ashrafi which Her Majesty had given for a different purpose. Sailing towards the Persian Gulf, the vessel probably encountered one of those north-westerly gales which, at the season of the year when I have calculated the voyage to have been made, blow for several days together along the northeast coast of Arabia. Being obliged to veer, they ran with a fair wind for the northeast coast of Africa, anchoring first at Zaila, from whence they subsequently proceeded to the contiguous snug port of Berbera, Varthema’s account of Zaila comprises all that there is to be said of the place. He notices the large number of Abyssinian slaves which were ex- ported from thence to different parts,—a traffic which has only been arrested within the last few years; the various produce which found its way there from the interior some of the animals peculiar to the country and his description of the Somali inhabitants is true to life still. Except that he erroneously calls Berbera an island, (wherein he possibly translated from the Arabic jezirah, a term which the natives also apply to a peninsula, and sometimes conventionally to havens on the mainland) his brief account of that locality also, and of the pastoral habits of the people, is equally truthful.
INTRODUCTION. xlix
Though originally bound for the Persian Gulf, the Arab skipper most probably picked up some additional freight at the above-mentioned places for India, between which and the north-east coast of Africa a considerable trade is still carried on, chiefly by Borah merchants of Guzerat and Cutch. This commerce, which in more ancient times appears to have been conducted through the intermediate ports of Hadhramaut on the north-east coast of Arabia, eventually took the more direct route across the Indian ocean and was in full play when the Portuguese first found their way to the Red Sea. The fact of the skipper having made for Zaila proves that the voyage occurred during the northeast monsoon, which is the only season for foreign trade there, the coast being generally dangerous throughout the opposite or south-westerly monsoon.
In twelve days, the vessel reached the small island of Diu in Guzerat, which Varthema calls “Diu bander-er-rumi,” i.e., Diu the Port of the Rum, and describes with his usual accuracy. The suffix, which I have not met with elsewhere, was probably a conventional designation among the Arabs owing to so many “Turkish merchants,” (more correctly, Circassians, Afghans, and Persians) being resident there. The familiar intercourse which existed between that part of Western India and the opposite coast of Arabia is attested by incidental notices occurring in Arabian chronicles of the time.
From Diu, the ship proceeded up the Gulf of Cambay to Gogo, and from thence steered across
e
1 INTRODUCTION.
the Indian Ocean, doubling Mussendom, to Julfar, an Arab town on the western side of that pro- montory, which was subsequently occupied by the Portuguese as a station for the pearl-fishery. Here, a retrograde movement was made by redoubling Mussendom in order to reach Maskat, of which place our author barely gives the name, and the next port gained was Hormuz, where he appears to have sojourned for several days.
The eligibility of that island, situated directly in the line of the Indian trade, via the Persian Gulf, appears to have given it considerable importance as a commercial emporium at a very early period. If it was the Nekrokis of Benjamin of Tudela, which is highly probable though his description of that place is most perplexing, it was largely frequented by traders to and from India in the middle of the twelfth century. A century later, Marco Polo makes it the resort of many merchants who brought thither spices, pearls, precious stones, elephants’ teeth, and all other pre- cious things from India and Abd er-Razzak, sixty years prior to our traveler, says that “he merchants of the seven climates all make their way to this port.” Varthema’s account of the island—its situation near the mainland, its utter barrenness and yet withal its prosperity as “a chief maritime port, where sometimes as many as three hundred vessels are assembled,"—is in perfect accordance with these preceding travelers, and he describes the mode of fishing for pearls just as it exists at the present day.
INTRODUCTION. li
All this is now changed, and Hormuz, like the Tyre of Scripture, is little better than a rock for fishermen to spread their nets on. It was captured by the Portuguese under Albuquerque in 1508, who were in turn expelled in 1662 by the Persians, aided by a British fleet, during the reign of Shah Abbas, who caused the colony to be removed to Gombrim on the opposite mainland, and dignified it with the name of Bander Abbas. The intervention of Great Britain in this affair is thus judiciously commented on by Sir John Malcolm:—
“If the English ever indulged a hope of deriving permanent benefit from the share they took in this transaction, they were completely disappointed. They had, it is true, revenged themselves upon an enemy they hated, destroyed a flourishing settlement, and brought ruin and misery upon thousands, to gratify the avarice and ambition of a despot, who promised to en- rich them by a favor, which they should have known was not likely to protect them, even during his life, from the violence and injustice of his own officers, much less during that of his successors. The history of the English factory at Gombroon, from this date till it was abandoned, is one series of disgrace, of losses, and of dangers, as that of every such establishment in a country like Persia must be. Had that nation either taken Ormuz for it- self, or made a settlement on a more eligible island in the gulf, it would have carried on its commerce with that quarter to much greater advantage and its political influence, both in Persia and Arabia, would have remained unrivalled.” 1
We are now to accompany our traveler through a part of the journey where the landmarks of his route
' History of Persia, vol. i. p. 547.
c 2
lii INTRODUCTION.
are less distinctly traceable. We must, of course, suppose him to have crossed over to the mainland but how far he had penetrated into the interior when he writes: “Departing thence, I passed into Persia, and traveling for twelve days I found a city called Eri,” is not specified. Nevertheless, as I see no cause to question his visit to Eri, the ancient name of Herat, and as it is tolerably certain that he could not have reached that place in the time given, we may reasonably infer either that an error has in this instance crept into the original narrative, or that Varthema dates his departure from a point which he has omitted to record. As far as his rather summary account of Herat goes,—of the city, its pro- ductions, its manufactures, and its population,—his information is perfectly correct and that fact, taken in conjunction with a subsequent avowal that he described Samarcand by report only, may be fairly regarded as a proof of his veracity; for if he was disposed to misrepresent in the one case, there is no reason why he should not have done so in the other.
Twenty days’ march from Herat brought our traveler to “a large and fine river, called Eufra,” which “on account of its great size” he supposes to be the Euphrates. As he was then three days distant from Shiraz, to which city the onward road lay “to the left hand” of his Eufra, I have supposed him to have struck on the Pulwan at or near Merghab, a little to the south- ward of which town there appears to be a highway, leading by Istakar, to a point below the junction of the Pulwan with the Bendemir, from whence it is
INTRODUCTION. liii
continued to Shiraz. Should this identification be correct (and I can suggest no other, unless he pursued a route by Neyriz and Bakhtegan, mistaking the neighboring lake which goes by those names for a river) Varthema must unquestionably be charged with exaggeration, as neither the Fulwan nor the Bendemir is entitled to the epithet of “a large and fine river.”
Arrived at Shiraz, which our author describes as a great mart for turquoises and Balass rubies, remarking, however, that those stones were not produced there, but came, as was reported, from a city called “Bal- achsam” (Badakshan) accident threw him in the way of a Persian merchant called "Cazazionor," by whom he was recognized as a fellow-pilgrim at Meccah, and whose friendly overtures on the occasion were destined to exert a powerful influence in shaping his subsequent course.
We, who carry with us on our travels circular notes or letters of credit negotiable in any part of the globe, which can form a very inadequate conception of the difficulties an adventurer under Varthema’s circumstances must have encountered in making his way from one place to another. He never alludes directly to the subject, but his management may be gleaned from incidental passages occurring in his narrative. At the outset, he appears to have had a supply of money, for he bribed the Captain of the Mamluks to admit him into that corps. While with them, he probably received pay and shared in their exactions, which, with any remains of his original
liv INTRODUCTION.
funds, sufficed to take him to Aden. From thence, he was sent into the interior, as the saying is, at Government expense, and the liberality of the Arabian sultana furnished his viaticum as far as Shiraz for, it may be remarked, that there is not the slightest evidence to prove his having engaged in any commercial transactions up to that period, and, if he did so subsequently, it was merely as sleeping partner to his Persian benefactor. Be that as it may, his encounter with the latter was a piece of good fortune, without which it may fairly be questioned whether he would have been able to ex- tend his travels as far as he did. On the other hand, the Persian merchant, who appears to have been a wealthy trader in jewels, was evidently glad to secure an intelligent companion in the projected journey, and his oriental hospitality looked for no other recompense. Instances of such generosity are not as uncommon in the East as in the West, and the experience of Varthema in this respect forms a striking contrast to that of Don Alonzo Enriquez de Guzman in the course of his European travels during the same century. 1
The first place for which our travelers started in company was Samarcand, whether with the intention of limiting the trip to that city, or of making their way from thence to India, does not appear. However, they had not proceeded far when they were obliged to return, because “the Soffi was going through this country putting every thing to fire and
1 HAKLUYT SOCIETY'S PUBLICATIONS, The Life and Acts of Don Alonzo de Guzman, translated and edited by C. 11. Markham.
INTRODUCTION. lv
Flame; and especially he put to the sword all those who believed in Bubachar and Othman and Aumar, who are all companions of Mahomet but he leaves unmolested those who believe in Mahomet and Ali.” Here, we have another undesigned coincidence with contemporary Persian history which deserves special no- tice. Ismail es-Sufi, the first of the Sufawian dynasty, was the son of the fa- mous Sheikh Haidar, the son of Juneid the great grandson of Seif ed-Din, who claimed descent from Ali by Hussein his second son, whose branch, according to the Persians, is that of the Imams. Haidar’s mother was the daughter of Hasan Beg, the first of the Turkman dynasty called Bayanduit, who furnished his son-in-law with an army to avenge the death of his father Juneid, who had been killed in battle with Ferukhzad king of Shirwan but Haidar lost his life in the attempt, his two sons Ismail and ‘Ali Mirza were made prisoners, and most of his adherents destroyed. Haidar’s two sons were afterwards set at liberty by Rustam Beg, the grandson of Hasan Beg, who succeeded his uncle Ya’acub. The subsequent portion of 'Ismai'il's career illustrative of our narrative, I translate from D'Herbelot : —
"At this period there were among the Mussulmans scat- tered throughout Asia an infinite number of people who professed publicly the sect of 'Ali, and especially the dis- tinctive form of it ascribed to Haider, which Sheik Sufi one of his illustrious ancestors had raised into high repute. Isma'il Sufi, hearing that there were a great many of these in Caramania, which is the ancient Cilicia, repaired thither,
lvi INTRODUCTION.
and raised a levy of seven thousand men attached to the sect, and more particularly devoted to his family, because either they or their fathers had been delivered out of the hands of Tamerlane through the intercession of Sheik Sufi.
"Young Isma'il, who was then only fourteen years old, undertook with this handful of men to wage war with Ferukhzad, king of Shir wan, a province of Media, whom he regarded as the murderer of his father. This enterprise was so successful, that he challenged and slew his enemy, seized his kingdom, and thereby gained a position which opened Asia to his ambition.
"This first essay in arms took place A.H. 906, corresponding exactly with A.D. 1500, and the following year Isma'il attacked and took the city of Tabriz, obliging Alvend, the grandson of Usuncassan [Hasan Beg] who reigned there, to flee and shut himself up in Baghdad; but that sultan was forced to leave that city also and take refuge in Diarbekir, where he died, A.H. 910, and Baghdad fell into the hands of Isma'il.
"In A.H. 908, [A.D. 1052,] Isma'il Shah, after making himself master of Tabriz, Media, and Chaldea, turned his arms against Persia, where another grandson of Usun- cassan reigned, named Murad Beg, or 'Amrath son of Ya'acub Beg. This prince, finding himself vigorously at- tacked by his adversary, wished to decide the contest by a general engagement. Leaving Shiraz with that object, he marched towards Hamadan, where the battle took place, wherein he was overcome and obliged to flee to Baghdad, as his cousin Alvend had done before him.
" In A.H. 909, [A.D. 1503,] Isma'il having besieged Murad in Baghdad, the latter took to flight, and running from one province to another was ultimately slain by the soldiers of Isma'il." 1
1 Bibliothèque Orientate, sub voce ISMAEL.
INTRODUCTION. lvii
The disturbed state of the country consequent on these intestine politi- co-reli-gious contests may reason- ably be inferred, and as they were at their height during Varthema’s sojourn in Persia, his incidental notice of them, as interrupting his journey to Samar- cand is entitled to be regarded as a strong internal proof of the truthfulness of his narrative.
The Persian merchant became so much attached to our traveler during the abortive attempt to reach Samarcand, that on their return to Shiraz he inti- mated to the latter his intention of giving him the hand of his niece, who was called “Samis, that is, the Sun,” and so far transgressed Mussulman etiquette in his favor as to present him personally to the damsel, with whom Varthema “pretended to be much pleased, although his mind was intent on other things.” He tells us, however, that his destined bride was “extremely beautiful, and had a name which suited her” and lest the designation should be considered a misnomer, it must be remembered that the Sun takes the feminine gender in most of the oriental languages.
Starting afresh from Shiraz, the two travelers reached Hormuz, where they embarked for India, and in due course anchored “at a port which is called Cheo, near to a very large river called the Indus, which Indus is near a city called Combeia.” Faulty as Varthema’s geography is of that part of the coast, there is no difficulty in identifying his “ Cheo” with Joah, or Kow, a village on one of the estuaries of the Indus about four miles from the sea, which is still frequented by native boats trading with
lviii INTRODUCTION.
Scind. His account of Cambay, however, which is the next port gained,—of the city; its situation near another river (the Myhee) the produce of the district, comprising abundance of grain, “an immense quantity of cotton” and manufactured silk stuffs, with which between forty and fifty vessels were laden every year and the cornelians and chalcedonies for which Cambay is still famous—in all these particulars his description is as applicable now as it was then. Moreover, the extraordinary tides called the Bore, which prevail in the Gulf of Cambay, are recognizable in his remarks on that subject, although he erroneously makes the waters “rise in the reverse of ours,” that is, “when the moon is on the wane.”
Before accompanying our author any farther, it may serve to illustrate his subsequent progress, and obviate needless repetition, if we take a gen-eral view of the political state of Western India at this period.
Till the end of the fourteenth century, Guzerat was a dependency of the Afghan or Ghori empire of Hindustan, and in A.D. 1391 Nasir-ed-Din Mu- hammed Shah bin Firuz Shah, the ruling emperor, appointed Dhafir Khan viceroy over that province but the disorders which subsequently ensued among the successors of Firuz Shah induced Dhafir Khan to throw off his allegiance to the court of Delhi, and in 1408 he declared himself independent under the title of Muzaffir Shah. Three years later, he was poisoned by his grandson Ahmed Shah, who succeeded him on the throne of Guzerat, and the sovereignty continued
INTRODUCTION. lix
in the same family till the acces- sion of Mahmud Shah, surnamed Bigarrah, who was the reigning sultan when Varthema reached Cambay.
The next native state with which our narrative brings us in contact is the Mussulman kingdom of the Deccan, comprising several dependencies in the Concan, of which the principal appear to have been Dabul and Goa, ruled by tributary governors, and extending as far south on the coast as the vicinity of Varthema’s “Bathacala.” Towards the end of the fifteenth century, the different principalities forming this kingdom were still subject to the Bahmani sultans of Kalberga, or Ahsunabad, a dynasty founded by Ala- ed-Din Bahmani, a servant at the court of Muhammed Shah Toghlak, the Ghori Emperor of Hindustan, who about A.D. 1347 conquered all the Dec- can and established his capital at Kalberga. But during the reign of Mah- mud Shah II, (A.D. 1482—1518,) the fourteenth of the Bahmani dynasty, the territories of this state were divided by the revolt of several of its subor- dinate governors: Fath-Allah Tmad Khan, of Berar, appropriated that province; Ahmed Nizam Shah, of Ahmednagar, followed his example; Kasim Berid, the Shah’s minister, made himself master of Bidar, or Ahmedabad and Yusuf Adil Khan seized upon Bijapur. The latter personage was the reputed son of Murad II of Anatolia, who on the accession of his elder brother Muhammed, and while yet a child, was sent secretly into Persia by his mother to escape the law which ordained that only one son of the reigning family should be suffered
lx INTRODUCTION.
to live. Brought up until sixteen years old among the disciples of the famous Sheikh Sufi, he subsequently determined to try his fortune in Hindustan, became one of the bodyguard in the royal house- hold at Kalberga, and eventually governor of Bijapur. Taking advantage of the dissensions which arose at that period in the Bahmani empire and sup- ported by a strong party in the state, he assumed independence with the title of Adil Shah. This event occurred in A.D. 1501, and as his reign lasted for ten years, he is undoubtedly the “King of the Deccan” referred to by Varthema in his description of Bijapur.
After passing the maritime provinces of Bijapur, our narrative brings us into the territories of Bijayanagar, which at the period under review com- prised several tributary dependencies on the Western coast extending from Bathacala, or Bathcal, near or identical with the more modern town of Sedashevaghur on the north, and Mangalore on the south. This Brah- minical kingdom of the Carnatic, having its capital at Bijayanagar on the Toongabudra, and which in more ancient times included the greater part of the peninsula, had been deprived of several of its provinces by the encroachments of the Mussulman sovereigns of the Deccan; nevertheless, at the beginning of the sixteenth century it was still a powerful state, and exercised jurisdiction over a number of tributary rajahs on the Coromandel coast as far north as the Kistnah. At that time, the affairs of the kingdom were administered by Ramraj, whose accession to the regency is thus narrated by Ferishta:—
INTRODUCTION. lxi
“The government of Beejanuggur had remained in one family, in uninterrupted succession, for seven hundred years; when Seeroy dying was succeeded by his son, a minor, who did not live long after him, and left the throne to a younger brother. He also had not long gathered the flowers of enjoyment from the garden of royalty, be- fore the cruel skies, proving their inconstancy, burned up the earth of his existence with the blasting winds of annihilation. Being succeeded by an in- fant, only three months old, Heemraaje, one of the principal ministers of the family, celebrated for great wisdom and experience, became sole re- gent, and was cheerfully obeyed by all the vassals of the kingdom for forty years; though, on the arrival of the young king at the age of manhood, he had poisoned him, and put an infant of his family on the throne, in order to have a pretence for keeping the regency in his hands. Heemraaje at his death was succeeded in office by his son Ramraaje, who having married a daughter of Seeroy, by that alliance greatly added to his influence and power. By degrees, raising his own family to the highest ranks, and destroying the ancient nobility by various intrigues, he at length aspired to reign in his own name, and totally to extirpate the family of Seeroy. “This Ramraaje, or Ramraj was the person whom Varthema designates as “the king of Narsinga” in the account of his visit to Bijayanagar.
Adjoining the littoral provinces of the latter, on the south, was the small independent rajahship of
1 SCOTT'S Ferishta, vol. i. p. 262.
lxii INTRODUCTION.
Cannanore, beyond which began the kingdom of the Tamuri Rajah, commonly called the Zamorin, whose territories ex- tended as far south as Fonani, and who appears to have exercised certain rights of suzerainty over the contiguous state of Cochin. The origin of the preeminence of the Zamorin, as collected from the early Portuguese historians, is as follows:—"About 600 years ago, Malabar was all united under one prince, whose name was Sarana Perimal. In his time, the Moors (Arabs) of Mekka discovered the Indies; and coming to Koulan, [Quilon,] which was then the royal seat, the king was so taken with their religion, that not content with turning Mohammedan, he determined to go on a pilgrimage to Mekka, and there spend the remainder of his life. Before his departure, he divided his dominions among his kindred, reserving only twelve leagues of land lying near the sea. This, just before he embarked, he gave to his page, who was a relation, ordering it to be inhabited, in remembrance of his embarking there He also gave him a sword and his cap as en- signs of state, and commanded all the other princes, among whom he had divided his territories, to acknowledge him as their Samorin or Emperor, except the kings of Koulan and Kananor; but forbid all to coin money but this Emperor. After this, he embarked where Kalekut now stands: on which account the Moors took so great an affection to the place, that hence- forward they deserted the port of Koulan, and would never since lade goods at any but that of Kalekut, which by this means became the greatest
INTRODUCTION. lxiii
mart in all India for all sorts of spices, drugs, precious stones, silks, calicoes, silver, gold, and other commodities.”1 Varthema’s account of the predominant authority exercised by the Zamorin on the Malabar coast coin- cides generally with the foregoing, and with all other writers on the subject.
Passing down the coast, our narrative brings us to Quilon, which it describes as the capital of an independent Hindu rajahship, comprising the maritime districts as far as Cape Comorin on the south, and extending beyond that cape to “Chayl” towards the northeast.
Intermitting any further notice of the prevailing government on the Coromandel coast, which, as has already been stated, was ruled generally by deputies subject to the Rajah of Bijayanagar, the only Indian kingdom re- maining to be noticed is that of Bengal. Incorporated towards the end of the twelfth century with the Ghori or Patan empire of Hindustan, Bengal was formed into a separate province under Kutb ed-Din, the second Emperor, and placed under the adminis tration of Muhammed Bakhtyari Khilji, governor of Berar, who is consid- ered as the first Sultan of the Purbi dynasty. According to some authors, Bengal threw off its allegiance to the Empire under Nasired-Din Baghra about the end of the fourteenth century; whilst others postpone its sovereignty to the reign of Fakhr ed-Din Iskandar, who is said to have as- sumed independence A.D. 1840. The succession continued in the same family till
1 GREENE'S Collection of Voyages and Travels, vol. i. p. 29.
lxiv INTRODUCTION.
the province was subjugated by Akbar in 1573, and at the period of Varthema’s visit the reign- ing Sultan was Ala ed-Din Husein Shah bin Seyyed Ashraf, who held his court at Lucknouti or Gour, situated on the left bank of the Ganges, about twenty-five miles below Rajemal.
We must now return to our traveler whom we left at Cambay. His ac- count of the Jains of Guzerat, and of the habits and customs of the Joghi ascetics, is as interesting as it is accurate, while his description of the per- son of the reigning sovereign supplies another remarkable instance of his great observation and veracity:—"The said Sultan has mustachios under his nose so long that he ties them over his head as a woman would tie her tresses.” According to Ali Muhammed Khan, the historian of Guzerat, Sultan Mahmud received his surname of “Bigarrah,” the name applied to a cow with twisted horns, because his mustachios were long and curled in a similar way.
From Cambay the travelers sailed along the coast to Chaul in the " “Northern Concan, and then to Goa, from whence they started to Bijapur, which Varthema styles, after the province, the “city of Decan,” where they arrived in seven days. His description of this capital,—of its inhabitants, the splendor of the Sultan’s court, the magnificence of his palace, his mili-tary prowess, and the number of foreign mercenaries enrolled in his army, as also his wars with the neighboring Rajah of Bijayanagar,—is fully corroborated by the history of the times as recorded by
INTRODUCTION. lxv
Ferishta, as well as by the monuments of its former extent and grandeur which still mark the site of the once famous city of Bijapur.
Returning to the coast, our travelers touched at Bathcal, Uncola, and Honahwar, in North Canara— places of greater trade then than they are now,—from whence they proceeded to Cannanore, where Varthema men- tions the presence of the Portuguese, who had arrived three years prior to his visit: the first occasion being that of Cabral in 1501, and the next of any importance that of Vasco de Gama in 1503, when he obtained permission to establish a factory in the harbor. It is noticeable that our author appears to have eschewed all intercourse with the resident Europeans at this time, though Cannanore was eventually the place where he sought their protec- tion. He was evidently not yet tired of his adventurous mode of life, and his assumed profession of Islam might have been suspected by his com- panion, and his future aim thereby thwarted, had he established amicable relations with the Portuguese.
Fifteen days’ journey inland from Cannanore brought the travelers to Bijayanagar, where they remained some time. After describing the city, its noble site, and the hunting grounds in the neighborhood, our author’s narrative is taken up with a full account of the elephants maintained by the Rajah, detailing the various uses to which they were applied, their armor when employed in war, their surprising intelligence, and the manner of their propagation. He also gives the names of the different coins cur-
lxvi INTRODUCTION.
rent in the country, with their relative value, on comparing which with a similar list supplied by the Arabian traveler Abd er-Razzak sixty years before, some changes appear to have been made in the interval in the silver and copper money; but the gold coinage had undergone no alteration, unless it was the withdrawal of the Varaha, or Double Pagoda, from circulation.
Returning to Cannanore, the party proceeded along the coast to Torma- patani, Pandarani, and Capogatto. The first of these places is undoubtedly the “Dormapatam” of Hamilton, situated near the Tellicherry river. The two last I have been unable to identify satisfactorily with the names of any exist- ing towns ; but they are distinctly mentioned by Bakkeus as occurring between Cannanore and Calicut, and appear to have occupied the sites of Hamilton’s “Burgara” and “Cottica,” answering to the “Bergara” and “Cotta” of D’Anville, and the “Vadacurry” and “Kotacull” of Buchanan and Arrowsmith. Vasco de Gama landed at this Pandarani, (which must not be confounded with a place which then bore a similar name, to the south of Calicut, but now called Ponani) when he paid his first visit to the Zamorin.
Our adventurers made a long stay at Calicut, and an entire book of Varthema’s narrative is taken up with reminiscences of the memorable things observed there. Its topography, trade, agriculture, animal and veg-etable productions, the court and state of the Zamorin, the administration of justice, the Brahmins, the religion of its inhabitants, their every-day worship
INTRODUCTION. lxvii
and funeral services, their division into castes, the influence acquired there by the foreign and native Muhammedans, their mode of navigation and warfare,—all these subjects are treated of in detail, and with more than ordinary care, forming together a most complete domestic history of what he calls “the place of the greatest dignity in India.” Bearing in mind that all this matter is original, and that many of the particulars noted were communicated to Europe for the first time through our author’s writings, one can- not but express surprise at the extent of his observation and the depth of his researches. What strikes us most is the generally clear insight which he obtained into some of the abstruse doctrines of Hinduism, and the correct account which he gives of the mode of succession to the sovereignty, the oligarchy of the Nairs, and the distinctions between the subordinate castes down to the half savage Poulias or Poulichees. Not less remarkable is his description of the extraordinary relations, sanctioned by usage if not by law, existing between the Nambouris, or highest caste, and the wife or wives of the Zamorin, which, coupled with the picture which he draws of the polyandry prevailing among the Nairs, reveals a state of social depravity as revolting as it is lamentably true.
Through what medium did Varthema acquire all this information, so diffuse in detail and yet so authentic. He had no books of reference, and his prejudiced Mussulman companions alone would undoubtedly have led him into frequent misrepresenta-
f2
lxviii INTRODUCTION.
tions regarding the Kafirs. The only inference we can draw is, that he did not confine his inquiries to them, but associated familiarly with the Hindus also, and, being endowed with uncommon perspicacity, was enabled to separate the true from the false, and to present us with a narrative almost unrivalled for originality of investigation and accuracy of statement among the published travels of his age. Moreover, how did he compile his book? Did he keep a journal, noting down day by day his acquired experience, or did he trust to recollection alone? If the latter, the retentiveness of his memory would not be the least qualification for the task which he accomplished with such surprising exactness.
The suspension of trade at Calicut, owing to the hostile proceedings of the Portuguese on the coast, was a serious drawback to Cogiazenor’s mercantile speculations, apparently causing him and Varthema to leave the place sooner than they had otherwise intended. In describing their onward progress, the latter says: “We departed and took our road by a river, which is the most beautiful I ever saw, and arrived at a city called Cacolon, distant from Calicut fifty leagues” This river was unquestionably what is known to sailors as the “Backwater of Cochin,” formed by the inland confluence of different streams with the numerous estuaries along the coast, by which, especially during the rainy monsoon, navigation is practicable in a line parallel with the shore. It seems very likely that the journey was continued by the same mode of conveyance as far as Quilon,
INTRODUCTION. lxix
for Varthema tells us, in a subsequent part of his narrative, that they went from that place to Calicut by this same “river” on their return from the Indian Archipelago. “Cacolon,” the modern Kayan Kulam, and the Coilcoiloan of Hamilton, is de- scribed by the latter, in his time (1688—1723) as “a little principality contiguous to Porkah,” which our author calls “the island of Porcai,” probably from its being almost insulated by the “Backwater of Cochin.” At Kayan Kulam he fell in with the “Christians of St. Thomas,” or Nestorians, the ancestors of the native Christian community still existing in Malabar, and notices briefly some of their ritual differences from the Church of Rome. Quilon, the town next gained, and which Varthema calls “Colon,” he describes as fertile in fruits but not in grain, and speaks of the king as being very powerful, and a great friend of the Portuguese, which is true, for they had obtained permission to settle a factory there two years prior to his visit.
Leaving Quilon, our travelers rounded Cape Comorin, and proceeded in a north-easterly direction to “Chayl,” noticing by the way the pearl-fishery near Tuticorin. Chayl, I take to represent the “Calligicura” of Pliny, and the “Kolkhi” of the author of the Periplus, and appears to have been situated near the promontory forming one side of the Pamban Passage. Their next voyage was to the city of
1 I have identified it with Barbosa's "Cael," which he locates on the mainland " after passing the province of Quilicare [Killi- karai] towards the north-east," and also with Hamilton's " Coil," (see note I, on p. 184); but I do not find the name in that neigh-
lxx INTRODUCTION.
“Cioromandel,” “distant from Colon seven days’ journey by sea, more or less, according to the wind,” and subject to the Rajah of Bijayanagar. From the indications given, I presume this to be Negapatam, though, if right in the conjecture, it was a place of greater commercial importance then than it is now. Departing thence, and passing a gulf where there were many rocks and shoals, (the Palk Strait,) they reached Ceylon, and from Varthema’s description of the locality as being situated near a large river, surrounded by cinnamon-plantations, and in the neighborhood of high mountains, I infer that they landed at Colombo. Though their stay here was short, owing to some jealousy of Cogiazenor on the part of a resident Arab merchant our author managed to collect a con- siderable amount of general information respecting the island. He mentions the intestine wars which prevailed between four rival kings,—a fact corroborated by Sir J. E. Tennent and other historians; the various gems found there; the cultivation of cinnamon; Adam’s Peak, and the tradition associated with it among Mussulmans; the dress of the people, their ignorance of fire-arms, and the weapons in use among them, with which, how- ever, “they did not kill each other overmuch, because they are cowardly fellows.”
Three days’ sail from Ceylon brought our party
bourhood in any of the modern maps. Colonel Yule identifies Burbosa's Cael with a Coilpatam near the Tinnevelly river; but I think that position is too far south to correspond with Varthema's "Chayl." See Friar Jordanus, p. 40.
INTRODUCTION. lxxi
to “Paleachet,” the modern Pulicat, about twenty- two miles north of Madras, then subject to the Narsinga, or Rajah of Bijayanagar. The neighboring district is represented as abounding in grain, and the port as largely frequented by “Moorish” merchants. Varthema also mentions that “the country was at fierce war with the king of Tarnasseri,"—a statement which I have been utterly unable either to question or to confirm for want of any historical records, known to me, of any such international hostile relations between the rulers on the Coromandel coast and those of the Burmese peninsula.
Before accompanying our travelers from the shores of Hindustan, I venture to submit a few brief observations on the narrative under review, as far as it treats of that continent.
Notwithstanding the civil wars which prevailed at the time, the external commerce of the country, except in the single instance attributed to the proceedings of the Portuguese fleet off Calicut, appears to have been carried on without interruption, and to have been subject to no restrictions be- yond the levy of a fixed customs duty at the place of entry or embarkation. Moreover, foreign merchants residing at the seaports, or periodically visiting them, seem to have enjoyed perfect immunity in person and property, to have been under the special protection of the local authorities, and were withal wholly free in the exercise of their religion. The principal seaports on the western side were Cambay and Calicut; on the Coromandel coast, Negapatam, Pulicat, and Masulipatam
lxxii INTRODUCTION.
and, farther cast, Banghella near the eastern month of the Ganges, and Satgong on the Hooghly but between these were numerous subordinate depots, occupied originally on account of their harbors, and as affording more direct communication with different points in the interior, which were much frequented not only by coasting craft, but by vessels engaged in the foreign trade. Many of these ports, some of which were selected for factories by the early European traders to India, have been abandoned, and even the names of a few of those men- tioned by Varthema have disappeared from the modern maps. One cause of this is doubtless assignable to a considerable share of the external commerce, in which a great many native boats were engaged, having been diverted from the lied Sea and Persian Gulf to the route via the Cape of Good Hope. The larger vessels employed in that transport required deeper anchorage, and sought the most eligible harbors, whither the trade followed them; whilst the gradual absorption of the native states by the British Government tended still further to promote commercial centralization. That the trade of the country has progressively increased is certain; nevertheless, it may fairly be questioned whether it would not have increased in a higher ratio had good roads been more generally substituted for those numerous outlets on the coast which, by the combined operation of the causes aforesaid, were eventually disused and forsaken. This conjectural inference is confirmed by the fact, that notwithstanding the efforts which have been made of late
INTRODUCTION. lxxiii
years to facilitate inland intercommunication, the desir-ableness of adding to the existing harbors has originated several schemes for improving several of the old ports and for creating new ones.
Another inference deducible from our narrative is the uniform prosperity which prevailed among the inhabitants. Excepting the case of the outcast Poulias of Malabar, the different classes of the population appear to have been in a thriving condition, and we read of no systematic oppression on the part of their rulers. These, and the higher ranks of the community, are represented as being very opulent; but their riches served to sup- port large establishments of retainers, and being wholly expended in the country contributed to promote the general well-being of the people. It may fairly be doubted, indeed, whether in this respect the natives of India, on the whole, have benefited by their subjection to British rule. Larger fortunes are perhaps amassed by private individuals, but the domestic changes which a different system of government has introduced have closed many of the outlets through which the wealth of the few found its way among the many; besides which, no insignificant portion of the incomes realized in the country is now taken out of it and disposed of elsewhere. In consequence of this altered state of things, property is becoming more unequally distributed, and the native population is gradually assimilating itself to the European model. It remains for the future to decide whether the results in the East will correspond with the workings of the social organism of the West.
lxxiv INTRODUCTION.
Varthema’s of justice, wherein he corroborates the testimony of ancient Greek and Roman authors, reveals another striking feature in the Indian polity at this period. That reiterated encomium on the impartial administration no declension, in that respect, has resulted from the supersession of the old native tribunals by British legislation cannot be doubted; nevertheless, the two systems are frequently contrasted by the people to the decided disparagement of the latter. The chief defect complained of, however, is the comparative tardiness of our law for under the oriental mode of procedure, punishment follows hard on the offence, and cases are dis- posed of without the intervention of those intricate forms and delays, and without the heavy fees, which seem inseparable from a British law court. There are, unquestionably, many among the better informed natives who appreciate the even and solid justice ultimately aimed at and dispensed ; but the masses revert with regret to the good old days when awards were attainable in much less time, and at far less cost, than at present. This subject reminds me of a wealthy Arab pearl merchant from the Persian Gulf, whom I met at Maskat upwards of two years ago, and who occasionally formed one of a party of evening visitors whose opinions I frequently endeavored to elicit on points connected with British policy in the East. The theme under discussion was the administration of justice in India, in the course of which the Arab merchant, who was well acquainted with Bombay, spoke as follows, as nearly as I can remember his
INTRODUCTION. lxxv
words:—"There can be no doubt that the government of the English is the best in the world, and no Eastern government can be compared to it. Their law too is excellent, and their judges and magistrates incorruptible; still, there are serious draw- backs in the way of obtaining justice. Knowing this by experience, I long forbore pressing a case against a man who was indebted to me to a large amount but a Parsee acquaintance eventually persuaded me to put myself into the hands of an English lawyer who, he was sure, would get my claim settled promptly and economically, and moreover gave me a note of introduction to his legal adviser. Thanking him for his courtesy, but still wary of the machinery of the law, I took the note to a Banyan and begged him to read it for me. It contained this sentence:— My dear, ———, I send you a good fat cow; milk him well. I need not tell you that my suspicions were confirmed, and that I preferred a voluntary compromise with my debtor, to an involuntary milking at the hands of the English advocate.” The anecdote, whether true or fabricated, is illustrative of a very common notion among the natives respecting the obstacles in the way of securing prompt justice from a British court of law in India.
It is high time to revert to our travelers, but we must leave them a little longer in the house of the “Moorish” merchant at Pulicat, (who was delighted with the corals and saffron, figured-velvet and knives, which they had brought for sale) while we take a cursory glance at the political condition of the countries whither they subsequently proceeded.
lxxvi INTRODUCTION.
The principal monarchies in the great Burmese peninsula at this period were those of Pegu and Siam. The capital of the former was the city of the same name and of the latter, Yuthya, or Odia, situated on the river Menam above the modern capital of Bangkok. The kingdom of Pegu appears to have comprised the sea-coast as far as the fifteenth degree of south latitude, and that of Siam the whole of the Malayan peninsula, the maritime districts of which were divided into three provinces, viz., Tenasserim, Ligor, and Queda, ruled by semi-independent viceroys, of whom the chief was the viceroy of Tenasserim. It would seem, however, that Malacca, though subject to Siam, formed a separate jurisdiction under a Muhammedan deputy, whereas the governors of all the other provinces, like the mass of the people, were Buddhists. There were frequent wars at this time between Pegu and Siam, and between Pegu and the inland states of Ava and Toungoo, which before the end of the sixteenth century considerably modified the territories of the rival sovereigns.
The island of Sumatra was divided into several kingdoms, of which the principal were those of Achin and Pedir though it is not improbable that the latter was tributary to the former. Most of the inland sovereigns pro- fessed Hinduism, and in Varthema’s time the king of Pedir was a “Pagan”; but there were many “Moors” resident on the eastern coast, and Achin had embraced Islamism as early, at least, as the fourteenth century.
INTRODUCTION. lxxvii
Java, also, was ruled by a number of petty Hindu kings, who were for the most part subject to a paramount sovereign, called “Pala-Udora” by Bar- bosa, who resided in the interior. According to the same authority, this personage was a “Pagan” but Crawford assigns A.D. 1478 as the date when the principal Hindu state was overthrown by the Muhammedans. There were many “Moors” settled at the different seaports, and about this period Islamism appears to have been making rapid progress among the inhabitants of the maritime provinces.
Of the places visited by our travelers to the eastward of Java, there is but little to be remarked under this head. According to Varthema, the inhabitants of the Banda or Nutmeg Islands were “Pagans, who had no king, nor even a governor; “Barbosa makes them Moors and Pagans, and Pigafetta, Moors only; to which De Barros adds, that “ they had neither king nor lord, and all their government depended on the advice of their elders.” The people of the Moluccas were Pagans and Muhammedans, but most of the “kings” were of the latter denomination. Barbosa describes one of these sovereigns, however, as being “nearly a Pagan;” from which we may infer that the population generally as regards religion was in a state of transition between heathenism and Islam. Of the prevailing government in Borneo, we know scarcely anything, beyond the fact that it comprised a number of petty independent states, which were chiefly subject to heathen rulers. The inhabitants of the place where Varthema landed
lxxviii INTRODUCTION.
were Pagans, as were those of the island generally; but Crawfurd adduces evidence to prove that many of the Malay and Javanese settlers had embraced Islamism long prior to this period.
Rejoining our travelers, we shall now proceed to accompany them in their subsequent wanderings. From Pulicat, they sailed to “Tarnassari” which I have found no difficulty in identifying with Tenasserim, although Dr. Vincent was disposed to locate it either at Masulipatam, or between that place and the Ganges. Varthema’s description of this city,— its situation on the southern bank of a large river, forming a good port; the military power of the king, who maintained a standing army of 100,000 men, whose weapons were bows and lances, swords and shields, some of the latter made of tortoise-shell the animal and vegetable productions of the country; the domestic habits of the people generally; 1 the
1 Varthema describes the cocks and hens at Tenasserim (p. 200) as the largest he ever saw; and among the domestic usages of the people, he speaks of their eating out of "some very beautiful vessels of wood." (p. 201.) Colonel Yule informs me that the big cocks and hens, and very handsome vessels of lackered wood, are notable features in Burmah at the present day. He also suggests whether the word "Mirzel," which he has found applied to an Indian dye in a work written by a Dutch author twelve hundred years ago, and which seems to indicate the brazil-wood, one of the products of Tenasserim, may not have originated the Italian "verzino," which Varthema uses to describe the dye, but the etymology of which I have failed to discover. (See note on p. 205.) The quotation with which he has kindiy supplied me is as follows:—"Tinctura quælam, Mirzel illis dicta, qua panni ele- gantissimo colore jecorario sive castaneo inficiuntur." Whereon he remarks: "Now, has the illis dicta any foundation? It might
INTRODUCTION. lxxix
peculiar dress of the Brahmins, or, more correctly, Buddhist priests; the amusement of cock- fighting; the concremation of the dead bodies of the kings and principal Buddhists, and the prevailing practice of Salt, or widow-burning, with their attendant rites; —all these subjects are treated of in detail, and with an accuracy which is amply confirmed by the testimony of subsequent writers. Among the birds enumerated by our author, there is one “much larger than an eagle,” with a yellow and red beak, “a thing very beautiful to behold,” the upper mandible of which was made into sword-hilts. Professor Owen con- siders that this parti-colored bill applies to the Buceros galeatus, of which a jeweled bowl, belonging to the crown jewels of the Ottoman Sultan, is formed; but which tradition had believed to have been made from the beak of the fabulous Phoenix.
Varthema devotes a whole chapter to the description of an extraordinary usage among the people of Tenasserim, connected with their marriages, in which the concurrence of foreigners was importunately solicited, and illustrates it by the personal experience of his party. Extravagant and obscene as the custom is, its prevalence in the Burmese provinces is confirmed by writers of a later date, and evidence is not wanting of its existence up to a very recent period.
help us to the origin of the words brazil and verzino. Drury or Ainslie would give the synonymes." I have searched through both writers in vain for an Indian name anything approaching that of Mirzel either in form or sound, and am therefore inclined to think that it is nothing more than a native corruption of Verzino.
lxxx INTRODUCTION.
A voyage of eleven days from Tenasserim brought our travelers to the “city of Banghella.” In my annotations on the text, (p. 210,) I have inferred that this place was the ancient Gour on the Ganges; but the following judicious remarks, which Colonel Yule has been good enough to transmit to me, lead me to doubt the accuracy of that identification. He observes:—"I think it is to be deduced from what Varthema says, that the city of Banghella was a seaport, and therefore could not be Gour. In an old Dutch Latin geography book, which I have chanced on in the salle of this hotel, (Hotel Royal, Genoa) with wonderfully good maps, by J. and C. Blaen, (no title; date about 16-40, as Charles I is spoken of as reigning I find Bengala, put down as a town close and opposite to Chatigam (Chittagong) I don’t lay much stress on this; but I suspect it was either Chittagong, or Satgong on the Hoogly, which was the great port one hundred years later, and also in Ibn Batuta’s time.” By Satgong I presume the Colonel indicates Ibn Batuta’s Sadkawan, which the latter describes as “the first town he entered,” and as being “large and situated on the sea-shore.” But the following quotation from Patavino, whose work was published in 1597, seems to upset my friend’s deduction as well as my own; for it also describes Bengala, as a town distinct from either Gour, or Chittagong, or Satgong. He writes:— "GOVRO vrbs Regia habitatio fuit, et BENGALA urbs quæ regioni nomen dat, inter vniversæ Indiæ
1 LEE'S Translation, p. 194.
INTRODUCTION. lxxxi
præclarissimas connumeratur. Præter has iuxta maris ripam ad ostia Chaberis insignia emporia Catigan et Satigan iacent, quæ centum propemodum leucis ab invicem distant.” I find, moreover, on further investi- gation, that Rennell likewise recognizes Satgong and Banghella as distinct towns, and gives some clue towards determining the position of the latter. The former he describes as follows:—"Satgong or Satagong, now an inconsiderable village on a small creek of the Hoogly river, about four miles to the northwest of Hoogly, was, in 1566, and probably later, a large commercial city, in which the European traders had their factories in Ben- gal. At that time, Satgong river was capable of bearing small vessels; and I suspect, that its then course, after passing Satgong, was by way of Adaumpour, Omptah, and Tamlook; and that the river called the Old Ganges was a part of its course, and received that name while the circumstance of the change was fresh in the memory of the people. The ap-pearance of the country between Satgong and Tamlook countenances such an opinion.” Of the other place, which seems to be Varthema’s Banghella, he says: “In some ancient maps, and books of travel, we meet with a city named Bangella but no traces of such a place now exist. It is described as being near the eastern mouth of the Ganges, and I conceive that the site of it has been
1 Geog. Univ. turn Vet. turn Nova absolutissimum opus, p. 258. 2 It is so placed in several of the old maps belonging to the British Museum. For some further notes on this subject, the reader is referred to the Postscript at the end of this INTRODUCTION.
9
lxxxii INTRODUCTION.
carried away by the river, as in my remembrance a vast tract of land has disappeared thereabouts. Bengalla appears to have been in existence during the early part of the last century.”1
To return from this digression: Varthema repre- sents Banghella as one of the finest cities he had hitherto seen. The Sultan was a Muhammedan, and had a standing army of 20,000 men. Here they found the richest merchants they had ever met; the principal exports were cotton and silk stuffs, which were woven by men and not by women; the country abounded in grain of every kind, sugar, ginger, and cotton, and was, withal, the best place in the world to live in. In this latter particular, our author’s statement is corroborated by the experience of Ibn Batuta nearly two centuries before, who says: “I never saw a country in which provisions were so cheap. I there saw one of the religious of the West, who told me that he had bought provisions for himself and family for a whole year with eight dirhems,”2 or about twenty-four shillings of our money!
At Banghella our adventurers met two Christians from the city of Sarnau in Cathay, a place which I was unable to identify when writing the notes, but for which I have since discovered, what appears to me, a very probable representative in one of the letters of Fra Odorico (A.D. 1318), who, in his account of “Catay,” speaks of Christians inhabiting that
1 Memoir of a Map of Hindoostan, p. 57.
2 LEE'S Translation, p. 194.
INTRODUCTION. lxxxiii
province in consid- erable numbers, and mentions that of the 4,009 doctors who attended on the. the. “Gran Cane,” eight were Christians. He then adds:—"During the win- ter, this lord resides at Cabalec, [Kanbalu—Pekin,] but at the beginning of summer he leaves it to take up his abode in a city called Sanay, situated towards the north, a very cold locality and habitation, and in removing from the one place to the other, he goes in wonderful state.’ This quotation is from the narrative which Fra Guglielmodi Solona professes to have taken down from Fra Odorico’s own lips, at Padua, in the year 1330. In the other account, which is also preserved by Ramusio, and which appears to have been written by the missionary Friar himself, this summer-palace of the Great Khan is called Sandoy but the names of the same places are so differently spelt in the two exemplars as frequently to defy identification without the aid of the accompanying narrative. In this instance, there can be no doubt that Sanay and Sandoy represent one and the same locality and although it is beyond me to decide which is the more correct orthography, I deem it tolerably certain that the place so called was identical with Varthema’s “city of Sarnau.”
There is so much interesting matter in these early travels of Fra Odorico that it is to be hoped some competent hand will prepare an annotated translation of them for the Hakluyt Society. A striking feature in the two narratives, which evidently de-
1 RAMUSIO, vol. ii. p. 251.
g 2
lxxxiv INTRODUCTION.
scribe the same journey, is that one of them, viz., that written by Fra Guglielmo, contains an account of several places on the western coast of India between Thana (Tanna) and Cape Comorin, including Alandrina (Fandaraina—Pandarani?) and Mebor and also of Sumoltra (Sumatra?) and Iana as far a large island in the ocean towards the south about 2,000 miles in circuit, from whence the traveler proceeds to Silam, (Ceylon) then to Dadin, an island one day distant, and next, after a navigation of many days, to Manzi on the frontiers of China whereas, in the other exemplar, most of these intermediate places are omitted, and the writer goes direct from Tana (Tanna) to Nicoverra, and then to Mangi by Diddi. Whence this discrepancy was the additional matter an interpolation of a later date? The subject deserves a thorough investigation.
The two Sarnau Christians whom our travelers encountered at Banghella had evidently come to that part of India for trading purposes, and as Varthema describes them as writing from right to left, they were probably Nestorians. On seeing the branches of coral which Cogiazenor had for sale, they advised him to accompany them to Pegu, as being the most eligible market for such articles and the party accordingly set off together on a voyage of “about one thousand miles,”1 during which they “passed a gulf
1 It is somewhat strange that Varthema should make the dis- tance between his Banghella and Pegu three hundred miles more than he interposes between Tenasserim and Banghella. See pp. 213, 214.
INTRODUCTION. lxxxv
towards the south,” (Martaban) and in due time reached their destination.
