Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 4.1
Travels in the Mogul Empire (Constable) 4.1
- Language
- English
4.1.1
LETTER TO MONSEIGNEUR COLBERT Concerning the Extent of Hindoustan, the Currency towards, and final absorption of gold and silver in that country; its Resources, Armies, the administration of Justice, and the principal Cause of the Decline of the States of Asia. Lord, In Asia, the great are never approached empty-handed. When I had the honour to kiss the garment of the great Mogol Aureng-Zebe (Ornament of the Throne), I presented him with eight roupies, as a mark of respect; and I offered a knife-case, a fork and a pen-knife mounted in amber to the illustrious Fazel-Kan (The Accomplished Knight), a Minister charged with the weightiest concerns of the empire, on whose decision depended the amount of my salary as physician. Though I presume not, My Lord, to introduce new customs into France, yet I cannot be expected, so soon after my return from Hindoustan, to lose all remembrance of the practice just mentioned, and hope I shall be pardoned for hesitating to appear in the presence of a King who inspires me with very different feelings than did Aureng-Zebe; or before you, My Lord, who deserve my respect much more than Fazel-kan, without some small offering, which may derive value from its novelty, if not from the hand that bestows it. The late revolution in Hindoustan, so full of extraordinary events, may be deemed worthy the attention of our great Monarch;
4.1.2
and this letter, considering the importance of its matter, may not be unsuitable to the rank you bear in his Majesty's council. It seems, indeed, addressed with propriety to one whose measures have so admirably restored order in many departments which, before my departure from France, I feared were irremediably confused; to one who has evinced so much anxiety to make known to the ends of the earth the character of our sovereign, and of what the French people are capable in the execution of whatever you project for their benefit and glory. It was in Hindoustan, My Lord, whither your fame extends, and from which country I am lately returned after an absence of twelve years, that I first became acquainted with the happiness of France, and with the share which you have had in promoting it, by your unwearied attention and brilliant abilities. This is a theme on which I could fondly dwell; but why should I expatiate on facts already and universally admitted, when my present purpose is to treat of those which are new and unknown? It will be more agreeable to you if I proceed, according to my promise, to furnish such materials as may enable your lordship to form some idea of the actual state of the Indies.
4.1.3
The maps of Asia point out the mighty extent of the Great Mogol's empire, known commonly by the name of the Indies, or Hindoustan. I have not measured it with mathematical exactness; but judging from the ordinary rate of travel, and considering that it is a journey of three months from the frontier of the kingdom of Golkonda to Kasni, or rather beyond it, near to Kandahar, which is the first town in Persia, the distance between those two extreme points cannot be less than five hundred French leagues, or five times as far as from Paris to Lyons. It is important to observe, that of this vast tract of country, a large portion is extremely fertile; the large kingdom of Bengale, for instance, surpassing Egypt itself, not only in the production of rice, corn, and other necessaries of life, but of innumerable articles of commerce which are not cultivated in Egypt; such as silks, cotton, and indigo. There are also many parts of the Indies, where the population is sufficiently abundant, and the land pretty well tilled; and where the artisan, although naturally indolent, is yet compelled by necessity or otherwise to employ himself in manufacturing carpets, brocades, embroideries, gold and silver cloths, and the various sorts of silk and cotton goods, which are used in the country or exported abroad. It should not escape notice that gold and silver, after circulating in every other quarter of the globe, come at length to be swallowed up, lost in some measure, in Hindoustan.
4.1.4
Of the quantity drawn from America, and dispersed among the different European states, a part finds its way, through various channels, to Turkey, for the payment of commodities imported from that country; and a part passes into Persia, by way of Smyrna, for the silks laden at that port. Turkey cannot dispense with the coffee, which she receives from Yemen, or Arabia Felix; and the productions of the Indies are equally necessary to Turkey, Yemen, and Persia. Thus it happens that these countries are under the necessity of sending a portion of their gold and silver to Moka, on the Red Sea, near Babel-mandel; to Bassora, at the top of the Persian Gulf; and to Bander Abassi or Gomeron, near Ormus ; which gold and silver is exported to Hindoustan by the vessels that arrive every year, in the matisem, or the season of the winds, at those three celebrated ports, laden with goods from that country.
4.1.5
Let it also be borne in mind that all the Indian vessels, whether they belong to the Indians themselves, or to the Dutch, or English, or Portuguese, which every year carry cargoes of merchandise from Hindoustan to Pegu, Tanasseri, Siam, Ceylon, Acliem, Macassar, the Maldives, to Mozambic, and other places, bring back to Hindoustan from those countries a large quantity of the precious metals, which share the fate of those brought from Moka, Bassora, and Bander-Abassi, And in regard to the gold and silver which the Dutch draw from Japan, where there are mines, a part is, sooner or later, introduced into Hindoustan ; and whatever is brought directly by sea, either from Portugal or from France, seldom leaves the country, returns being made in merchandise.
4.1.6
I am aware it may be said, that Hindoustan is in want of copper, cloves, nutmegs, cinnamon, elephants, and other things, with which she is supplied by the Dutch from Japan, the Moluccas, Ceylon, and Europe ; — that she obtains lead from abroad, in part from England ; broadcloths and other articles from France ; — that she is in need of a considerable number of foreign horses, receiving annually more than five-and-twenty thousand from Usbec, a great many from Persia by way of Kandaliar, and several from Ethiopia, Arabia, and Persia, by sea, through the ports of Moka, Bassora, and Bander-Abassi. It may also be observed that Hindoustan consumes an immense quantity of fresh fruit from Samarkand, Bali, Bocara, and Persia ; such as melons, apples, pears and grapes, eaten at Dehli and purchased at a very high price nearly the whole winter; — and likewise dried fruit, such as almonds, pistachio and various other small nuts, plums, apricots, and raisins, which may be procured the whole year round; — that she imports a small sea-shell from the Maldives, used in Bengale, and other places, as a species of small money; ambergris from the Maldives and Mozambic; rhinoceros' horns, elephants' teeth, and slaves from Ethiopia; musk and porcelain from China, and pearls from Beharen and Tutticoury, near Ceylon; and I know not what quantity of other similar wares, which she might well do without.
4.1.7
The importation of all these articles into Hindoustan does not, however, occasion the export of gold and silver; because the merchants who bring them find it advantageous to take back, in exchange, the productions of the country. Supplying itself with articles of foreign growth or manufacture, does not, therefore, prevent Hindoustan from absorbing a large portion of the gold and silver of the world, admitted through a variety of channels, while there is scarcely an opening for its return. It should also be borne in mind, that the Great Mogol constitutes himself heir of all the Omrahs, or lords, and likewise of the Mansebdars, or inferior lords, who are in his pay; and, what is of the utmost importance, that he is proprietor of every acre of land in the kingdom, excepting, perhaps, some houses and gardens which he sometimes permits his subjects to buy, sell, and otherwise dispose of, among themselves. I think I have shown that the precious metals must abound in Hindoustan, although the country be destitute of mines; and that the Great Mogol, lord and master of the greater part, must necessarily be in the receipt of an immense revenue, and possess incalculable wealth. But there are many circumstances to be considered, as forming a counterpoise to these riches.
4.1.8
First. — Of the vast tracts of country constituting the empire of Hindoustan, many are little more than sand, or barren mountains, badly cultivated, and thinly peopled; and even a considerable portion of the good land remains untilled from want of labourers; many of whom perish in consequence of the bad treatment they experience from the Governors. These poor people, when incapable of discharging the demands of their rapacious lords, are not only often deprived of the means of subsistence, but are bereft of their children, who are carried away as slaves. Thus it happens that many of the peasantry, driven to despair by so execrable a tyranny, abandon the country, and seek a more tolerable mode of existence, either in the towns, or camps; as bearers of burdens, carriers of water, or servants to horsemen. Sometimes they fly to the territories of a Raja, because there they find less oppression, and are allowed a greater degree of comfort.