Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 2.1
Travels in the Mogul Empire (Constable) 2.1
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- English
2.1.1
THE desire of seeing the world, which had induced me to visit Palestine and Egypt, still prompted me to extend my travels, and I formed the design of exploring the Red Sea from one end to the other. In pursuance of this plan, I quitted Grand Cairo, where I had resided more than a year, and in two-and-thirty hours (travelling at a Caravan-rate) reached the town of Suez. Here I embarked in a galley, and was conveyed in seventeen days, always hugging the coast, from Suez to the port of Gidda, half a day's journey from Mecca. Contrary to my expectation, and in violation of a promise which I had received from the Beig of the Red Sea, I was constrained to land on this so-called holy territory of Mahomet, where no Christian, who is not a slave, dares set his foot. After a detention of nearly five weeks, I took my passage on board a small vessel, which, sailing along the shores of Arabia Felix, brought me in fifteen days to Moka, near the straits of Bab-el-mandel. It was now my intention to pass over to the island of Masotva, and Arkiko, on my way to Gonder, the capital of Habech, or Kingdom of Ethiopia; but I was informed that Catholics were not safe in that country, since the period when, through the intrigues of the Queen-Mother, the Portuguese were slaughtered, or expelled, with the Jesuit Patriarch whom they had brought thither from Goa; and that, in fact, an unhappy Capuchin had been recently beheaded at Suaken, for having attempted to enter the kingdom.
2.1.2
It seemed, indeed, that less risk would be incurred if I adopted the disguise of a Greek or an Armenian; and that when the King knew I could be of service to him, he would probably make me a grant of land, which might be cultivated by slaves, if I possessed the means of purchasing them; but that I should, at the same time, be compelled to marry immediately, as a monk, who had assumed the character of a Greek physician, had already been obliged to do; and that I could never hope to obtain permission to quit the country. These considerations, among others which may be mentioned in the sequel, induced me to abandon my intention of visiting Gonder. I embarked, therefore, in an Indian vessel, passed the straits of Bab-el-mandel, and in two-and-twenty days arrived at Sourate, in Hindoustan, the empire of the Great Mogol. I found that the reigning prince was named Chah-Jehan, or King of the World. According to the annals of the country, he was the son of Jehan-Guire, or Conqueror of the World, and grandson of Ekbar, or the Great: so that in tracing his genealogy upwards to Houmayon, or the Fortunate, the father of Ekbar, and to Houmayons predecessors, Chah-Jehan was proved to be the tenth, in regular descent, from Timur-Lengue, the Lame Lord or Prince, whom we commonly, but corruptly, call Tamerlane. This Tamerlan, so celebrated for his conquests, married a kinswoman, the only daughter of the prince who then reigned over the people of Great Tartary called Mogols;
2.1.3
a name which they have communicated to the foreigners who now govern Indoustan, the country of the Indous, or Indians. It must not, however, be inferred that offices of trust and dignity are exclusively held by those of the Mogol race, or that they alone obtain rank in the army. These situations are filled indifferently by them and strangers from all countries; the greater part by Persians, some by Arabs, and others by Turks. To be considered a Mogol, it is enough if a foreigner have a white face and profess Mahometanism; in contradistinction to the Christians of Europe, who are called Franguis, and to the Indous, whose complexion is brown, and who are Gentiles. I learnt also on my arrival that this King of the World, Chah-Jehan, who was about seventy years of age, was the father of four sons and two daughters ; that some years had elapsed since he elevated his sons to the vice-royalty of his four most considerable provinces or kingdoms ; and that he had been afflicted, for about the space of a twelvemonth, with a disorder which it was apprehended would terminate fatally. The situation of the father having inspired the sons with projects of ambition, each laid claim to the empire, and a war was kindled among them which continued about five years.
2.1.4
This war, as I witnessed some of the most important of its events, I shall endeavour to describe. During a period of eight years I was closely attached to the court ; for the state of penury to which I had been reduced by various adventures with robbers, and by the heavy expenses incurred on a journey of nearly seven weeks, from Sourate to Agra and Dehly, the chief towns of the empire, had induced me to accept a salary from the Great Mogol, in the capacity of physician ; and soon afterwards, by chance, I procured another from Danechmend-Kan, the most learned man of Asia, formerly Bakchis, or Grand Master of the Horse, and one of the most powerful and distinguished Omrahs, or Lords of the Court. The eldest son of the Great Mogol was named Dara, or Darius: the second Sultan Sujah, or the Valiant Prince: the third was Aureng-Zebe, or the Throne's Ornament; and the name of the youngest was Morad-Bakche, or the Desire Accomplished. Of the two daughters, the elder was called Begum-Saheb, or the Chief Princess; and the younger Rauchenara-Begum, the Light of Princesses, or Princess of the Enlightened Mind.
2.1.5
It is usual in this country to give similar names to the members of the reigning family. Thus the wife of Chah-Jehan — so renowned for her beauty, and whose splendid mausoleum is more worthy of a place among the wonders of the world than the unshapen masses and heaps of stones in Egypt — was named Tage Mehalle, or the Crown of the Seraglio; and the wife of Jehan-Guyre, who so long wielded the sceptre, while her husband abandoned himself to drunkenness and dissipation, was known first by the appellation of Nour-Mehalle, the Light of the Seraglio, and afterwards by that of Nour-Jehan-Begum, the Light of the World. The reason why such names are given to the great, instead of titles derived from domains and seigniories, as usual in Europe, is this: as the land throughout the whole empire is considered the property of the sovereign, there can be no earldoms, marquisates or duchies. The royal grants consist only of pensions, either in land or money, which the king gives, augments, retrenches or takes away at pleasure. It will not, therefore, appear surprising, that even the Omrahs are distinguished only by this kind of title. One, for instance, calling himself Raz-Andaze-Kan, another Safe-Cheken-Kan, a third Barc-Andaze-Kan; and others Dianet-Kan or Dostechemed-Kan, or Fazel-Kan: which terms respectively signify The Disposer of Thunder, The Destroyer of Ranks, The Hurler of the Thunderbolt, The Faithful Lord, The Learned, and The Perfect; and so it is with others.
2.1.6
Dara was not deficient in good qualities: he was courteous in conversation, quick at repartee, polite, and extremely liberal: but he entertained too exalted an opinion of himself; believed he could accomplish everything by the powers of his own mind, and imagined that there existed no man from whose counsel he could derive benefit. He spoke disdainfully of those who ventured to advise him, and thus deterred his sincerest friends from disclosing the secret machinations of his brothers. He was also very irascible; apt to menace; abusive and insulting even to the greatest Omrahs; but his anger was seldom more than momentary. Born a Mahometan, he continued to join in the exercises of that religion; but although thus publicly professing his adherence to its faith, Dara was in private a Gentile with Gentiles, and a Christian with Christians. He had constantly about him some of the Pendets, or Gentile Doctors, on whom he bestowed large pensions, and from these it is thought he imbibed opinions in no wise accordant with the religion of the land: but upon this subject I shall make a few observations when I treat of the religious worship of the Indous or Gentiles. He had, moreover, for some time lent a willing ear to the suggestions of the Reverend Father Buzee, a Jesuit, in the truth and propriety of which he began to acquiesce.
2.1.7
There are persons, however, who say that Dara was in reality destitute of all religion, and that these appearances were assumed only from motives of curiosity, and for the sake of amusement; while, according to others, he became by turns a Christian and a Gentile from political considerations; wishing to ingratiate himself with the Christians who were pretty numerous in his corps of artillery, and also hoping to gain the affection of the Rajas, or Gentile Princes tributary to the empire; as it was most essential to be on good terms with these personages, that he might, as occasion arose, secure their co-operation. Dara's false pretences to this or that mode of worship, did not, however, promote the success of his plans; on the contrary, it will be found in the course of this narrative, that the reason assigned by Aureng-Zebe for causing him to be beheaded was, that he had turned Kafer, that is to say an infidel, without religion, an idolater.