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Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 3: REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES · Or an account of the most important events after the war, during five years or thereby, in the States of the Great Mogol.

Travels in the Mogul Empire (Constable) 3

Language
English

Contents

REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES · Or an account of the most important events after the war, during five years or thereby, in the States of the Great Mogol.

3.1.1

The war being ended, the Tartars of Usbec eagerly despatched ambassadors to Aureng-Zebe. These people had been witnesses of his conduct and valour in many battles, when in command of the corps which Chah-Jehan sent to the assistance of the Kan of Samarcande, then engaged in hostilities with him of Balk; and they had reason to apprehend that Aureng-Zebe did not forget the treachery of which they had been guilty when he was on the point of capturing Balk, the capital city of the enemy. Upon that occasion, the two Kans made up their differences, and united in one common effort to drive him back, lest he should seize upon both their territories, in the same manner as Ekbar had obtained possession of the kingdom of Kachemire. The Usbec Tartars were not ignorant of the occurrences which had taken place in Hindoustan, of the victories gained by Aureng-Zebe, and of the total discomfiture and death of the other competitors for the crown. They were aware that although Chah-Jehan still lived, yet his son was, in reality, the recognised and established King of the Indies. Whether, then, they dreaded his just resentment, or hoped, in their inbred avarice and sordidness, to obtain some considerable present, the two Kans sent ambassadors, with a proffer of their services, and with injunctions to perform the ceremony of the Moharek : that is, to express in a solemn manner their wishes that his reign might be long and auspicious.

3.1.2

Aureng-Zebe knew how to value an offer of service made at the conclusion of a war : he knew the fear of punishment, or the expectation of advantage, had induced the Kans to send their ambassadors. They were received, however, with due form and politeness, and as I happened to be present at the audience, I can relate the particulars with accuracy.

3.1.3

The ambassadors, when at a distance, made the Salam, or Indian act of obeisance, placing the hand thrice upon the head, and as often dropping it down to the ground. They then approached so near that Aureng-Zebe might easily have taken the letters from their own hands ; but this ceremony was performed by an Omrah: the letters were received and opened by him, and then presented to the King, who, after having perused the contents with a grave countenance, commanded that there should be given to each of the ambassadors a Ser-pah or vesture from head to foot; namely, a vest of brocade, a turban, and a sash or girdle, of embroidered silk. This done, the presents from the Kans were brought before the King, consisting of some boxes of Lapis-lazuli or the choicest Azure; a few long-haired camels; several horses of great beauty, although the Tartar horses are generally something better than merely beautiful: some camel-loads of fresh fruit, such as apples, pears, grapes, and melons; Usbec being the country which principally supplies Dehli with these fruits, which are there eaten all the winter, and many loads of dry fruit, as Bokara prunes, apricots, kickmiches, or raisins apparently without stones, and two other kinds of raisins, black and white, extremely large and delicious.

3.1.4

Aureng-Zebe expressed himself well pleased with the liberality of the Kans; extolling in exaggerated strains the beauty and rareness of the fruits, horses, and camels; and when he had spoken a few words on the fertility of their country, and asked two or three questions concerning the College at Samarcande, he desired the ambassadors to go and repose themselves, intimating that he should be happy to see them often. They came away from the audience delighted with their reception, without any feeling of mortification on account of the salam d rindieft, which certainly savours of servility, and not at all displeased that the King had refused to receive the letters from their own hands. If they had been required to kiss the ground, or to perform any act of still deeper humiliation, I verily believe they would have complied without a murmur. It should indeed be observed that it would have been unreasonable to insist upon saluting Aureng-Zebe according to the custom of their own country, or to expect that the letters would be delivered without the intervention of an Omrah: these privileges belong exclusively to Persian ambassadors ; nor are they granted, even to them, without much hesitation and difficulty.

3.1.5

These people remained more than four months at Dehli, notwithstanding all their endeavours to obtain their congé. This long detention proved extremely injurious to their health ; they and their suite sickened, and many of them died. It is doubtful whether they suffered more from the heat of Hindoustan, to which they are unaccustomed, or from the filthiness of their persons, and the insufficiency of their diet. There are probably no people more narrow-minded, sordid, or uncleanly, than the Usbec Tartars. The individuals who composed this embassy hoarded the money allowed them by Aureng-Zebe for their expenses, and lived on a miserable pittance, in a style quite unsuitable to their station. Yet they were dismissed with great form and parade. The King, in the presence of all his Omrahs, invested each of them with two rich Serapahs, and commanded that eight thousand roupies should be carried to their respective houses. He also sent by them, as presents to the two Kans, their masters, very handsome Serapahs, a large number of the richest and most exquisitely wrought brocades, a quantity of fine linens, alachas or silk stuffs interwoven with gold and silver, a few carpets, and two daggers set with precious stones. During their stay I paid them three visits, having been introduced as a physician by one of my friends, the son of an Usbec, who has amassed a fortune at this court.

3.1.6

It was my design to collect such useful particulars concerning their country as they might be able to supply, but I found them ignorant beyond all conception. They were unacquainted even with the boundaries of Usbec, and could give no information respecting the Tartars who a few years ago subjugated China. In short, I could elicit by my conversation with the ambassadors scarcely one new fact. Once I was desirous of dining with them, and as they were persons of very little ceremony, I did not find it difficult to be admitted at their table. The meal appeared to me very strange; it consisted only of horse-flesh. I contrived, however, to dine. There was a ragoût which I thought eatable, and I should have considered myself guilty of a breach of good manners if I had not praised a dish so pleasing to their palate. Not a word was uttered during dinner; my elegant hosts were fully employed in cramming their mouths with as much pelau as they could contain; for with the use of spoons these people are unacquainted. But when their stomachs were sated with the dainty repast, they recovered their speech, and would fain have persuaded me that the Usbecs surpass all other men in bodily strength, and that no nation equals them in the dexterous management of the bow. This observation was no sooner made than they called for bows and arrows, which were of a much larger size than those of Hindoustan, and offered to lay a wager that they would pierce an ox or a horse through and through.

3.1.7

They proceeded to extol the strength and valour of their country-women, in comparison with whom the Amazons were soft and timorous. The tales they related of female feats were endless: one especially excited my wonder and admiration; would that I could relate it with genuine Tartar eloquence. It seems that when Aureng-Zebe was prosecuting the war in their country, a party of five-and-twenty or thirty horsemen entered a small village; and while employed in pillaging the houses, and binding the inhabitants, whom they intended to carry away as slaves, a good old woman said to them: 'Children, listen to my counsel, and cease to act in this mischievous manner. My daughter happens just now to be absent, but she will soon return. Withdraw from this place, if you are prudent; should she light upon you, you are undone.' They made contemptuous sport of the good lady, continuing to plunder the property, and to secure the persons, of individuals, until, having fully laden their beasts, they quitted the village, taking with them many of the inhabitants and the old woman herself. They had not gone half a league, however, before the aged mother, who never ceased to look behind, cried out in an ecstasy of joy, 'My daughter! My daughter!' Her person was indeed hid from view;

3.1.8

but the extraordinary clouds of dust, and the loud trampling of a horse, left no doubt on the mind of the anxious parent, that her heroic child was at hand to rescue her and her friends from the power of their cruel enemies. Presently the Tartar maiden was seen mounted on a fiery steed, a bow and quiver hanging at her side ; and, while yet at a considerable distance, she cried out that she was still willing to spare their lives, on condition that they restored the plunder, released their captives, and retired peaceably to their own country. The Mogols turned as deaf an ear to the words of the young heroine as to the entreaties of her aged parent ; but were astonished when they saw her in a moment let fly three or four arrows, which brought to the ground the same number of men. They had instant recourse to their own bows, but the damsel was much beyond the reach of their arrows, and laughed at such impotent efforts to avenge the death of their companions. She continued to perform dreadful execution among them, with an accuracy of aim, and strength of arm, which was quite different to theirs; until having killed half of their number with arrows, she fell sword in hand upon the remainder, and cut them in pieces.

3.2.1

The ambassadors from Tartary were still in Dehli, when Aureng-Zebe was seized with a dangerous illness. He was frequently delirious from the violence of the fever, and his tongue became so palsied that he could scarcely articulate. The physicians despaired of his recovery, and it was generally believed he was dead, though the event was concealed by Rauchenara-Begum from interested motives. It was even rumoured that the Raja Jessomseingue, governor of Guzarate, was advancing to release Chah-Jehan from captivity; that Mohabet-kan, who had at length acknowledged Aureng-Zebe's authority, had quitted the government of Kaboul, passed already through Lahor, and was rapidly marching on Agra, at the head of three or four thousand horse, with the same intention; and that the eunuch Etbar-kan, under whose custody the aged monarch was placed, felt impatient for the honour of opening the door of his prison. On the one hand, Sultan Masum intrigued with the Omrahs, and endeavoured by bribes and promises to attach them to his interest. He even went one night in disguise to the Raja Jesseingue, and entreated him, in the most respectful and humble language, to declare in his favour. On the other hand, a party formed by Rauchenara-Begum was supported by several Omrahs and Feday-kan, grand master of the artillery, in behalf of the young Prince, Sultan Ekbar, the third son of Aureng-Zebe, a boy only seven or eight years of age.

3.2.2

It was pretended by both these parties, and believed by the people, that the sole object they had in view was to set Chah-Jehan at liberty; but this was merely for the sake of gaining popularity, and to save appearances, in case he should be liberated by Etbar, or by means of any secret intrigues on the part of other grandees. There was in fact scarcely a person of rank or influence who entertained the wish of seeing Chah-Jehan restored to the throne. With the exception, perhaps, of Jessomseingue, Mohabet-kan, and a few others who had hitherto refrained from acting flagrantly against him, there was no Omrah who had not basely abandoned the cause of the legitimate Monarch, and taken an active part in favour of Aureng-Zebe. They were aware that to open his prison door would be to unchain an enraged lion. The possibility of such an event appalled the courtiers, and no one dreaded it more than Etbar, who had behaved to his wretched victim with unnecessary rudeness and severity. But Aureng-Zebe, notwithstanding his serious indisposition, continued to occupy his mind with the affairs of government, and the safe custody of his father. He earnestly advised Sultan Mazum, in the event of his death, to release the King from confinement; but he was constantly dictating letters to Etbar-kan, urging him to the faithful and rigid discharge of his duty;

3.2.3

and on the fifth day of his illness, during the crisis of the disorder, he caused himself to be carried into the assembly of the Omrahs, for the purpose of undeceiving those who might believe he was dead, and of preventing a public tumult, or any accident by which Chah-Jehan might effect his escape. The same reasons induced him to visit that assembly on the seventh, ninth, and tenth days; and, what appears almost incredible, on the thirteenth day, when scarcely recovered from a swoon so deep and long that his death was generally reported, he sent for the Raja Jesseingue, and two or three of the principal Omrahs, for the purpose of verifying his existence. He then desired the attendants to raise him in the bed; called for paper and ink that he might write to Etbar-kan, and despatched a messenger for the Great Seal, which was placed under Rauchenara-Begum's care, enclosed in a small bag, which was impressed with a signet which he always kept fastened to his arm; wishing to satisfy himself that the Princess had not made use of this instrument to promote any sinister design. I was present when my Agah became acquainted with all these particulars, and heard him exclaim, 'What strength of mind! What invincible courage! Heaven reserve thee, Aureng-Zebe, for greater achievements! Thou art not yet destined to die.' And indeed after this fit the King improved gradually in health.

3.2.4

As soon as Aureng-Zebe became convalescent, he endeavoured to withdraw Dara's daughter from the hands of Chah-Jehan and Begum-Saheb, with the design of giving her in marriage to his third son, Sultan Ekbar. This is the son, whom, it is supposed, he intends for his successor, and such an alliance would strengthen Ekbar's authority and ensure his right to the throne. He is very young, but has several near and powerful relations at court, and being born of Chah-Nawaze-kan's daughter, is descended from the ancient sovereigns of Maschate. The mothers of Sultan Mahmoud and Sultan Mazum were only Ragipoutnys, or daughters of Rajas; for although these Kings are Mahometans, they do not scruple to marry into heathen families, when such a measure may promote their interests, or when they may thus obtain a beautiful wife. But Aureng-Zebe was frustrated in his intention. Chah-Jehan and Begum-Saheb rejected the proposition with disdain, and the young Princess herself manifested the utmost repugnance to the marriage. She remained inconsolable during many days from an apprehension that she might be forcibly taken away, declaring it was her firm purpose to die by her own hand rather than be united to the son of him who murdered her father.

3.2.5

He was equally unsuccessful in his demand on Chah-Jehan for certain jewels with which he was desirous of completing a piece of workmanship that he was adding to the celebrated throne, so universally the object of admiration. The captive Monarch indignantly answered that Aureng-Zebe should be careful only to govern the kingdom with more wisdom and equity: he commanded him not to meddle with the throne; and declared that he would be no more plagued about these jewels, for that hammers were provided to beat them into powder the next time he should be importuned upon the subject.

3.2.6

The Hollanders would not be the last to present Aureng-Zebe with the Mohbarec. They determined to send an ambassador to him, and made choice of Monsieur Adrican, chief of their factory at Sourate. This individual possesses integrity, abilities, and sound judgment; and as he does not disdain the advice offered by the wise and experienced, it is not surprising that he acquitted himself to the satisfaction of his countrymen. Although in his general deportment Aureng-Zebe be remarkably high and unbending, affects the appearance of a zealous Mahometan, and consequently despises Franks or Christians, yet upon the occasion of this embassy, his behaviour was most courteous and condescending. He even expressed a desire that Monsieur Adrican, after that gentleman had performed the Indian ceremony of the Salaam, should approach and salute him à la Frank. The King, it is true, received the letters through the medium of an Omrah, but this could not be considered a mark of disrespect, since he had done the same thing in regard to the letters brought by the Usbec ambassadors.

3.2.7

The preliminary observances being over, Aureng-Zebe intimated that the ambassador might produce his presents; at the same time investing him, and a few gentlemen in his suite, with a Ser-Apah of brocade. The presents consisted of a quantity of very fine broad cloths, scarlet and green; some large looking-glasses; and several articles of Chinese and Japan workmanship; among which were a palky and a Tack-ravan, or travelling throne, of exquisite beauty, and much admired. The Great Mogol is in the habit of detaining all ambassadors as long as can reasonably be done, from an idea that it is becoming his grandeur and power, to receive the homage of foreigners, and to number them among the attendants of his court. Monsieur Adrican was not dismissed, therefore, so expeditiously as he wished, though much sooner than the ambassadors from Tartary. His secretary died, and the other individuals in his retinue were falling sick, when Aureng-Zebe granted him permission to depart. On taking leave the King again presented him with a Ser-Apah of brocade for his own use, and another very rich one for the governor of Batavia, together with a dagger set with jewels; the whole accompanied by a very gracious letter.

3.2.8

The chief aim of the Hollanders in this embassy was to ingratiate themselves with the Mogol, and to impart to him some knowledge of their nation, in order that a beneficial influence might thus be produced upon the minds of the governors of sea-ports, and other places, where they have established factories. They hoped that those governors would be restrained from offering insult, and obstructing their commerce, by the consideration that they belonged to a powerful State, that they could obtain immediate access to the King of the Indies to induce him to listen to their complaints, and to redress their grievances. They endeavoured also to impress the government with an opinion that their traffic with Hindoustan was most advantageous to that kingdom; exhibiting a long list of articles purchased by their countrymen, from which they showed that the gold and silver brought by them every year into the Indies amounted to a considerable sum: but they kept out of sight the amount of those precious metals extracted by their constant importations of copper, lead, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, pepper, aloes-wood, elephants, and other merchandise.

3.3.1

It was about this period that one of the most distinguished Omrahs ventured to express to Aureng-Zebe his fears lest his incessant occupations should be productive of injury to his health, and even impair the soundness and vigour of his mind. The King, affecting not to hear, turned from his sage adviser, and advancing slowly toward another of the principal Omrahs, a man of good sense and literary acquirements, addressed him in the following terms. The speech was reported to me by the son of that Omrah, a young physician, and my intimate friend. 'There can surely be but one opinion among you learned men, as to the obligation imposed upon a sovereign, in seasons of difficulty and danger, to hazard his life, and, if necessary, to die sword in hand in defence of the people committed to his care. And yet this good and considerate man would fain persuade me that the public weal ought to cause me no solicitude; that, in devising means to promote it, I should never pass a sleepless night, nor spare a single day from the pursuit of some low and sensual gratification. According to him, I am to be swayed by considerations of my own bodily health, and chiefly to study what may best minister to my personal ease and enjoyment. No doubt he would have me abandon the government of this vast kingdom to some vizier : he seems not to consider that, being born the son of a King, and placed on a throne, I was sent into the world by Providence to live and labour, not for myself, but for others ;

3.3.2

that it is my duty not to think of my own happiness, except so far as it is inseparably connected with the happiness of my people. It is the repose and prosperity of my subjects that it behoves me to consult ; nor are these to be sacrificed to anything besides the demands of justice, the maintenance of the royal authority, and the security of the State. This man cannot penetrate into the consequences of the inertness he recommends, and he is ignorant of the evils that attend upon delegated power. It was not without reason that our great Sadi emphatically exclaimed "Cease to be Kings ! Oh, cease to be Kings ! or determine that your dominions shall be governed only by yourselves." Go, tell thy friend, that if he be desirous of my applause, he must acquit himself well of the trust reposed in him ; but let him have a care how he again obtrudes such counsel as it would be unworthy of a King to receive. Alas ! we are sufficiently disposed by nature to seek ease and indulgence, we need no such officious counsellors. Our wives, too, are sure to assist us in treading the flowery path of rest and luxury.' A melancholy circumstance happened at this time which excited a great deal of interest in Dehli, particularly in the Seraglio, and which proved the fallacy of an opinion entertained by myself, as well as by others, that he who is entirely deprived of virility cannot feel the passion of love.

3.3.3

Didar-Kan, one of the principal eunuchs of the Seraglio, had built a house, to which he sometimes resorted for entertainment, and where he often slept. He became enamoured of a beautiful woman, the sister of a neighbour, a Gentile, and a scrivener by profession. An illicit intercourse continued for some time between them, without creating much suspicion. After all, it was but an eunuch, privileged to enter anywhere, and a woman! The familiarity between the two lovers became at length so remarkable, that the neighbours began to suspect something, and chaffed the scrivener on the subject. He felt so stung by these taunts that he threatened to put both his sister and the eunuch to death if the suspicions of their guilt should be verified. Proof was not long wanting: they were one night discovered in the same bed, by the brother, who stabbed Didar-Kan through the body, and left his sister for dead.

3.3.4

Nothing could exceed the horror and indignation of the whole Seraglio. Women and eunuchs entered into a solemn league to kill the scrivener; but their machinations excited the displeasure of Aureng-Zebe, who contented himself by compelling the man to become a Mahometan. It seems nevertheless to be the general opinion that he cannot long escape the power and malice of the eunuchs. Emasculation, say the Indians, produces a different effect upon men than upon the brute creation; it renders the latter gentle and tractable; but who is the eunuch, they ask, that is not vicious, arrogant and cruel? It is in vain to deny, however, that many among them are exceedingly faithful, generous, and brave. Much about the same time, Rauchenara-Begum incurred the displeasure of Aureng-Zebe, the Princess having been suspected of admitting two men into the seraglio. As it was only suspicion, however, the King was soon reconciled to his sister. Nor did he exercise the same cruelty toward the two men, who were caught and dragged into his presence, as Chah-Jehan had done upon a similar occasion toward the unhappy gallant concealed in the cauldron. I shall relate the whole story exactly as I heard it from the mouth of an old woman, a half-caste Portuguese, who has been many years a slave in the seraglio, and possesses the privilege of going in and out at pleasure.

3.3.5

From her I learnt that Rauchenara-Begum, after having for several days enjoyed the company of one of these young men, whom she kept hidden, committed him to the care of her female attendants, who promised to conduct their charge out of the Seraglio under cover of the night. But whether they were detected, or only dreaded a discovery, or whatever else was the reason, the women fled, and left the terrified youth to wander alone about the gardens: here he was found, and taken before Aureng-Zebe; who, when he had interrogated him very closely, without being able to draw any other confession of guilt from him than that he had scaled the walls, decided that he should be compelled to leave the seraglio in the same manner. But the eunuchs, it is probable, exceeded their master's instructions, for they threw the culprit from the top of the wall to the bottom. As for the second paramour, the old Portuguese informed me that he too was seen roving about the gardens, and that having told the King he had entered into the Seraglio by the regular gate, he was commanded to quit the place through that same gate. Aureng-Zebe determined, however, to inflict a severe and exemplary punishment upon the eunuchs; because it was essential, not only to the honour of his house, but even to his personal safety, that the entrance into the seraglio should be vigilantly guarded.

3.3.6

Some months after this occurrence five ambassadors arrived at Dehli, nearly at the same time. The first was from the Cherif of Meca, and the presents that accompanied this embassage consisted of a small number of Arabian horses and a besom which had been used for sweeping out the small chapel situated in the centre of the Great Mosque at Meca; a chapel held in great veneration by Mahometans, and called by them Beit-Allah, or the House of God. They believe this was the first temple dedicated to the true God, and that it was erected by Abraham. The second ambassador was sent by the King of Hyeman, or Arabia Felix; and the third by the Prince of Bassora; both of whom also brought presents of Arabian horses. The two other ambassadors came from the King of Eheche, or Ethiopia. Little or no respect was paid to the first three of these diplomatists. Their equipage was so miserable that every one suspected they came merely for the sake of obtaining money in return for their presents, and of gaining still more considerable sums by means of the numerous horses, and different articles of merchandise, which they introduced into the kingdom free of all duty, as property belonging to ambassadors. With the produce of these horses and merchandise, they purchased the manufactures of Hindoustan, which they also claimed the privilege of taking out of the kingdom without payment of the impost charged on all commodities exported.

3.3.7

The embassy from the King of Ethiopia may deserve a little more consideration. He was well informed on the subject of the revolution in the Indies, and determined to spread his fame throughout this vast region by despatching an embassy that should be worthy of his great power and magnificence. The whispers of slander, indeed, if not rather the voice of truth, will have it that in sending these ambassadors this Monarch had an eye only to the valuable presents which might be received from the liberal hand of Aureng-Zebe. Now let us examine the personnel of this admirable Embassy. He chose as his Envoys two personages who doubtless enjoyed the greatest distinction at court, and were best qualified to attain the important ends he had in view. One of these was a Mahometan merchant, whom I met a few years before at Moka, when on my way from Egypt up the Red Sea. He had been sent thither by his august sovereign for the purpose of selling a large number of slaves, and of purchasing Indian goods with the money thus commendably obtained.

3.4.1

Such is the honourable traffic of this Great Christian King of Africa! The other ambassador was an Armenian and Christian merchant; born and married at Alep [Aleppo], and known in Ethiopia by the name of Murat. I saw him also at Moka, where he not only accommodated me with half his apartment, but gave me such advice as deterred me from visiting Ethiopia, as was observed at the commencement of this history. Murat is likewise sent every year to Moka for the same object as the Mahometan merchant, and always takes with him the annual presents from his master to the English and Dutch East-India Companies, and conveys those which they give in return to Gonder.

3.4.2

The African Monarch, anxious that his ambassador should appear in a style suitable to the occasion, contributed liberally toward the expenses of the embassy. He presented them with thirty-two young slaves, boys and girls, to be sold at Moka; and the money raised by this happy expedient was to supply the expenses of the mission. A noble largess indeed! for let it be recollected that young slaves sell at Moka, one with another, at five-and-twenty or thirty crowns per head. Besides these, the Ethiopian King sent to the Great Mogol twenty-five choice slaves, nine or ten of whom were of a tender age and in a state to be made eunuchs. This was, to be sure, an appropriate donation from a Christian to a Prince! but then the Christianity of the Ethiopians differs greatly from ours. The ambassadors also took charge of other presents for the Great Mogol; fifteen horses, esteemed equal to those of Arabia, and a small species of mule, whose skin I have seen: no tiger is so beautifully marked, and no alachá of the Indies, or striped silken stuff, is more finely and variously streaked; a couple of elephants' teeth, of a size so prodigious that it required, it seems, the utmost exertion of a strong man to lift either of them from the ground; and lastly, the horn of an ox, filled with civet, which was indeed enormously large, for I measured the mouth of it at Dehly, and found that it exceeded half a foot in diameter.

3.4.3

The ambassadors, thus royally and munificently provided, departed from Gonder, the capital city of Ethiopia, situated in the province of Dumbia. They traversed a desolate country, and were more than two months travelling to Beiloul, an out-of-the-way seaport, near Bab-el-Mandel and opposite to Moka. For reasons, which I shall perhaps disclose in the course of my narrative, they dared not take the usual and caravan road from Gonder to Arkiko, a journey easily performed in forty days. From Arkiko it is necessary to pass over to the island of Masouva, where the Grand Seigneur has a garrison. While waiting at Beiloul for a Moka vessel to cross the Red Sea, the party were in want of many of the necessaries of life, and some of the slaves died. On arriving at Moka, the ambassadors found that the market had been that year overstocked with slaves. The boys and girls, therefore, sold at a reduced price. As soon as their sale was effected, they pursued their voyage, embarking on board an Indian vessel bound to Sourate, where they arrived after a tolerable passage of five-and-twenty days. Several slaves, however, and many horses died; probably from want of proper nourishment, the funds of this pompous embassy being evidently insufficient to supply all its wants. The mule also died, but the skin was preserved.

3.4.4

They had not been many hours on shore at Sourate when a certain rebel of Visapour, named Seva-Gi, entered the town, which he pillaged and burnt. The house of the ambassadors did not escape the general conflagration; and all their effects that they succeeded in rescuing from the flames, or the ravages of the enemy, were their credentials; a few slaves that Seva-Gi could not lay hold of, or whom he spared because they happened to be ill; their Ethiopian apparel, which he did not covet; the mule's skin, for which, I expect, he had no particular fancy; and the ox's horn that had already been emptied of its civet.

3.4.5

These exalted individuals spoke in exaggerated terms of their sad misfortunes; but it was insinuated by the malicious Indians, who witnessed their deplorable condition on landing—without decent clothing, destitute of money or bills of exchange, and half famished—that the two ambassadors were, in fact, lucky people, who ought to number the ransacking of Sourate among the happiest events of their lives, since it saved them from the mortification of conducting their wretched presents as far as Dehli. Seva-Gi, the Indians said, had furnished these worthy representatives of the Ethiopian King with an admirable pretext for appearing like a couple of mendicants, and for soliciting the governor of Sourate to supply them with the means of living, and with money and carts to enable them to proceed to the capital. The attack upon Sourate had also covered their misdeeds, in disposing, for their own benefit, of the civet, and many of the slaves.

3.4.6

My excellent friend Monsieur Adrican, chief of the Dutch factory, gave Murat, the Armenian, a letter of introduction to me, which he delivered into my hands at Dehli, without being aware that I had been his guest at Moka. It was an agreeable surprise to meet thus unexpectedly, after an absence of five or six years. I embraced my old friend with affection, and promised to render him all the service in my power. Yet, though my acquaintance among the courtiers was pretty extensive, I found it difficult to be useful to these empty-handed ambassadors. The mule's skin, and the ox's horn, wherein was kept arrack, or brandy extracted from raw sugar, of which they are excessively fond, constituted the whole of their presents; and the contempt which the absence of valuable presents would alone inspire was increased by their miserable appearance. They were seen about the streets without a paleky, clad in true Bedouin fashion, and followed by seven or eight bare-footed and bare-headed slaves, who had no raiment but a nasty strip of cloth passed between their buttocks, and the half of a ragged sheet over the left shoulder, which was carried under the right arm, in the manner of a summer cloak. Nor had the ambassadors any other carriage than a hired and broken-down cart; and they were without any horse except one belonging to our Missionary Father, and one of mine that they sometimes borrowed, and which they nearly killed.

3.4.7

In vain did I for a long time exert myself in behalf of these despised personages; they were regarded as beggars, and could excite no interest. One day, however, when closeted with my Agah Danechmend-kan, who is minister for foreign affairs, I expatiated so successfully upon the grandeur of the Ethiopian Monarch, that Aureng-Zebe was induced to grant the ambassadors an audience, and to receive their letters. He presented both with a Ser-apah, or vest of brocade, a silken and embroidered girdle, and a turban of the same materials and workmanship; gave orders for their maintenance; and at an audience, when the Emperor gave them their congé, which soon took place, he invested each with another Ser-apah; and made them a present of six thousand roupies, equal at present to nearly three thousand crowns; but this money was unequally divided, the Mahometan receiving four thousand roupies, and Murat, because a Christian, only two thousand.

3.4.8

Aureng-Zebe sent by them, as presents to their royal master, an extremely rich Ser-apah; two large cornets, or trumpets, of silver gilt; two silver kettle-drums; a poniard studded with rubies; and gold and silver roupies to the amount of about twenty thousand francs: hoping, as he kindly expressed it, that this last gift would be peculiarly acceptable, and considered a rarity; the King of Ethiopia not having any coined money in his country. The Mogol was well aware that not one of these roupies would be taken out of Hindoustan, and that the ambassadors would employ them in the purchase of useful commodities. It turned out just as he foresaw. They bought spices, fine cotton cloths, for shirts for the King and Queen, and for the King's only legitimate son, who is to succeed to the throne, alachas or silken stuffs striped, some with gold and some with silver, for vests and summer trousers; English broadcloths, scarlet and green, for a couple of abas, or Arabian vests, for their King; and lastly, quantities of cloth less fine in their texture for several ladies of the seraglio and their children. All these goods they were privileged, as ambassadors, to export without payment of duty.

3.4.9

Notwithstanding all my friendship for Murat, there were three reasons why I almost repented of having exercised my influence in his behalf. The first was, that after he had promised to sell me his boy for fifty roupies, he sent word he would not part with the boy for less than three hundred. I felt almost disposed to give him his price, that I might have it in my power to say a father had sold me his own child. The lad was remarkably well made, and his skin of the clearest black; the nose was not flat, nor the lips thick, as is commonly the case among the Ethiopians. I was certainly angry with Murat for having violated his engagement.

3.5.1

I had, in the next place, ascertained that my friend, as well as his Mahometan companion, had solemnly promised Aureng-Zebe to urge his King to permit the repair of a mosque in Ethiopia, which had been in ruins since the time of the Portuguese. The Mogol gave the ambassadors two thousand roupies in anticipation of this service. The mosque, erected as the mausoleum of a certain Cheik, or derviche, who left Meca for the purpose of propagating Mahometanism in Ethiopia, and had made great progress there, was demolished by the Portuguese, when they entered the country with troops from Goa, as allies of the lawful sovereign, who had embraced Christianity, and been driven from the throne by a Mahometan prince. My third objection to Murat's conduct arose from the part he took in entreating Aureng-Zebe, in the name of the Ethiopian King, to send the latter an Alcoran and eight other books, with the names of which I am familiar, and which are of the first repute among the treatises written in defence of the Mahometan creed.

3.5.2

There seemed to me something extremely base and wicked in these proceedings, on the part of a Christian ambassador, acting in the name of a Christian King. They afforded but too satisfactory a confirmation of the account I had received at Moka of the low ebb to which Christianity is reduced in the kingdom of Ethiopia. Indeed, all the measures of its government, and the character of the people, savour strongly of Mahometanism, and it cannot be doubted that the number, even of nominal Christians, has been on the decline since the death of the King, who was maintained on the throne by the troops from Goa. Soon after that event, the Portuguese, in consequence of the intrigues of the Queen-mother, were either killed or driven out of the country. The Jesuit Patriarch, whom his countrymen had brought from Goa, was compelled to fly for his life. During the stay of the ambassadors at Dehli, my Agah, ever eager in search of knowledge, invited them frequently to his house. He asked many questions concerning the condition of their country and the nature of its government; but his principal object was to obtain information respecting the source of the Nile, which they call Abbahile, and concerning which they talked to us as so well ascertained that no one need question it. Murat and a Mogol, who travelled with him from Ethiopia, have visited the source, and the particulars given by them both are substantially the same as those I had learnt at Moka.

3.5.3

They informed us that the Nile has its origin in the country of the Agaus, rising from two bubbling and contiguous springs, which form a small lake of about thirty or forty paces in length; that the water running out of this lake is already a pretty considerable river; which continues, however, to increase in size by reason of the small tributary streams which, from here and there, flow into it. They added that the river went on in a circuitous course, forming, as it were, a large island; and that after falling from several steep rocks, it entered into a great lake wherein are several fertile islands, quantities of crocodiles, and, what would be much more remarkable, if true, numbers of sea-calves which have no other means of ejecting their excrement than the mouth. This lake is in the country of Dumbia, three short stages from Gonder, and four or five from the source of the Nile. The river, they continued, when it leaves the great lake, is much augmented by the numerous rivers and torrents which fall into that lake, especially in the rainy season; which is as periodical as in the Indies, commencing towards the end of July. This, by the way, is an important consideration, and accounts for the overflowing of the Nile. From the lake just mentioned the river runs by Sonnar, the capital city of the King of Fungi (tributary to the King of Ethiopia) and continues its course until it reaches the plains of Mesra or Egypt.

3.5.4

The two ambassadors dilated more copiously than was agreeable either to my Agah or myself on the magnificence of their sovereign, and the strength of his army; but their travelling companion, the Mogol, never joined in these panegyrics, and told us, during their absence, that he had twice seen this army in the field, commanded by the King in person, and that it is impossible to conceive troops more wretched and worse disciplined. The Mogol gave us a great deal of information about Ethiopia, the whole of which is noted in my journal, and may one day be given to the public. At present I shall content myself with noticing three or four facts related by Murat, and which, considering that they occurred in a Christian land, will be deemed sufficiently remarkable.

3.5.5

He said that in Ethiopia there are few men who do not keep several wives; nor was he ashamed to confess that he himself had two, besides the wife to whom he was legally married, and who resided in Aleppo. The Ethiopian women, he observed, do not hide themselves as in the Indies among the Mahometans and even the Gentiles; and nothing is more common than to see females of the lower ranks, whether single or married, bond or free, mingled together, day and night, in the same apartment; the whole of them perfectly unacquainted with those feelings of jealousy so prevalent in other nations. The women, or wives of grandees, are at no great pains to conceal their attachment to any handsome cavalier, whose house they enter without fear or scruple. If I had visited Ethiopia, I should have been compelled, they told me, to marry. A few years ago, a wife was forced upon an European, a Padry, who passed for a Greek physician; and it is curious enough that the woman whom they obliged him to wed was the same that he designed for one of his sons.

3.5.6

A man, eighty years of age, having presented to the King four-and-twenty sons, all of mature age, and able to carry arms, was asked by His Majesty whether those were the only children he could exhibit? The old gentleman answered that they were indeed the whole of the male part of his family, but that he was also the father of a few daughters. 'Out then from my presence, thou old calf!' was the King's rejoinder. 'I am astonished that instead of feeling shame, thou presumest to appear before me. Is there a lack of women in my dominions that thou, a man well stricken in years, canst boast of only two dozen sons?' The Ethiopian King himself has at least eighty children, who are met running about indiscriminately in all parts [qui couroient pêle mêle] of the seraglio. They are known by a round stick varnished, resembling a small mace, which the King had made for them, and which they carry about with great delight, as a sceptre, to distinguish them from those who are the children of certain slaves or other people of the seraglio.

3.5.7

Aureng-Zebe sent twice for the ambassadors. He hoped, like my Agah, to increase his stock of knowledge by their conversation; but his chief anxiety was to be made acquainted with the state of Mahometanism in their country. He expressed a desire to see the mule's skin, which somehow or other remained afterward in the fortress in possession of the officers; much to my disappointment, for it was promised me in return for my good services, and I had counted upon one day presenting it to one of our Virtuosi in Europe, I strongly recommended the ambassadors to show the great horn to the King, as well as the skin : but this might have subjected them to the very embarrassing question : how it happened, that in the ransacking of Sourate they lost the civet, and yet retained the horn ? The Ethiopian embassy was still in Dehli, when Aureng-Zebe assembled his privy-council, together with the learned men of his court, for the purpose of selecting a suitable preceptor for his third son, Sultan Ekbar, whom he designs for his successor. He evinced upon this occasion the utmost solicitude that this young Prince should receive such an education as might justify the hope of his becoming a great man. No person can be more alive than Aureng-Zebe to the necessity of storing the minds of Princes, destined to rule nations, with useful knowledge. As they surpass others in power and elevation, so ought they, he says, to be pre-eminent in wisdom and virtue.

3.5.8

He is very sensible that the cause of the misery which afflicts the empires of Asia, of their misrule, and consequent decay, should be sought, and will be found, in the deficient and pernicious mode of instructing the children of their Kings. Intrusted from infancy to the care of women and eunuchs, slaves from Russia, Circassia, Mingrelia, Gurgistan, or Ethiopia, whose minds are debased by the very nature of their occupation ; servile and mean to superiors, proud and oppressive to dependants; — these Princes, when called to the throne, leave the walls of the Seraglio quite ignorant of the duties imposed upon them by their new situation. They appear on the stage of life, as if they came from another world, or emerged, for the first time, from a subterraneous cavern, astonished, like simpletons, at all around them. Either, like children, they are credulous in everything, and in dread of everything; or, with the obstinacy and heedlessness of folly, they are deaf to every sage counsel, and rash in every stupid enterprise. According to their natural temperament, or the first ideas impressed upon their minds, such Princes, on succeeding to a crown, affect to be dignified and grave, though it be easy to discern that gravity and dignity form no part of their character, that the appearance of those qualities is the effect of some ill-studied lesson, and that they are in fact only other names for savageness and vanity;

3.5.9

or else they affect a childish politeness in their demeanour, childish because unnatural and constrained. Who, that is conversant with the history of Asia, can deny the faithfulness of this delineation? Have not her Sovereigns been blindly and brutally cruel, — cruel without judgment or mercy? Have they not been addicted to the mean and gross vice of drunkenness, and abandoned to an excessive and shameless luxury; ruining their bodily health, and impairing their understanding, in the society of concubines? Or, instead of attending to the concerns of the kingdom, have not their days been consumed in the pleasures of the chase? A pack of dogs will engage their thoughts and affection, although indifferent to the sufferings of so many poor people who, compelled to follow the unfeeling Monarch in the pursuit of game, are left to die of hunger, heat, cold, and fatigue. In a word, the Kings of Asia are constantly living in the indulgence of monstrous vices, those vices varying, indeed, as I said before, according to their natural propensities, or to the ideas early instilled into their minds. It is indeed a rare exception when the Sovereign is not profoundly ignorant of the domestic and political condition of his empire.

3.5.10

The reins of government are often committed to the hands of some Vizier, who, that he may reign lord absolute, with security and without contradiction, considers it an essential part of his plan to encourage his master in all his low pursuits, and divert him from every avenue of knowledge. If the sceptre be not firmly grasped by the first minister, then the country is governed by the King's mother, originally a wretched slave, and by a set of eunuchs, persons who possess no enlarged and liberal views of policy, and who employ their time in barbarous intrigues; banishing, imprisoning, and strangling each other, and frequently the Grandees and the Vizier himself. Indeed, under their disgraceful domination, no man of any property is sure of his life for a single day.

3.6.1

When Aureng-Zebe had received the different embassies I have described, news at length reached the court that one from Persia had arrived on the frontier. The Persian Omrahs, and others of that nation, in the service of the Mogol, spread a report that affairs of the utmost moment brought the ambassador to Hindoustan. Intelligent persons, however, gave no credence to the rumour: the period for great events was gone by, and it was clear that the Persians had no other reason for saying their countryman was intrusted with an important commission, than a vain and overweening desire to exalt their nation. It was also pretended by the same individuals, that the Omrah appointed to meet the ambassador on the frontier, and to provide for his honourable treatment during his journey to the capital, was strictly enjoined to spare no pains to discover the principal object of the embassy. He was instructed, they said, to prepare, by degrees, the haughty Persian for the ceremony of the Salam, which was to be represented, as well as that of delivering all letters through the medium of a third person, as a custom that has invariably obtained from time immemorial. It is sufficiently evident, however, from what we witnessed, that these were idle tales, and that Aureng-Zebe is raised much above the necessity of recurring to such expedients. On his entry into the capital, the ambassador was received with every demonstration of respect.

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