Storia do Mogor 138: I GO TO DIHLI.
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 138
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I GO TO DIHLI.
138.1
At the time of this expedition I was anxious to quit Goa; but I could not do it in lay clothing. I therefore left in the garb of a Carmelite monk until I had got beyond the district of Goa and had entered the territory of Bijapur, of which Shiva Ji had already taken possession. There I returned to my ordinary costume, and placed myself under the guidance of Divine Providence. I prayed God to deliver me from many perils, above all from robbers. For, a little time before my arrival, they had at a certain place murdered fifteen persons. Nor did they murder me as I passed by, but when they might have done it they saw me to be poor and a foreigner. A few paces farther on I met a traveller near some cattle-sheds who was escaping in haste, and he warned me to press onwards because the people following us were robbers. But, weakened by illness, I could not keep up with the pace of the man, who was acting as my guide in a country I did not know. I passed several chungams, which are places where they collect money from people passing. The severity they exercise upon travellers is great, depriving them of the smallest piece of money to be found upon them, with no tenderness for the poor, taking from them in default of money their shirts, coats, and sheets.
138.2
Having come to the boundary of the Bijapur territory near the river Bimbra (Bhima), I stopped for the night in a village called Pandarapur (Pandharpur); and on my arrival I took up my quarters in a public bazar, as is the custom of travellers, and deposited myself in an open shop. Some people passing said my waistcloth was crammed with pearls. I answered that I was only a poor traveller. God was good to me that night! For at midnight the robbers entered the village, and the first thing they did was to come to the shop where I had put up. As they began by throwing a number of stones, I sought refuge inside, dragging with me a servant boy whom I had with me, to prevent his being killed. They did not venture inside, but shouted for me to fling out whatever I had, thrusting with their spears and cutting with their swords at the door. I assured them that I could fling out nothing, for I was a poor man, having nothing with me. Such was the terror that throttled me [131] that I could not utter a word, for I remembered what had been said to me that evening, that I had a waistbelt full of pearls, and I believed that they had come resolved to take my life; therefore I threw out two chains, each of which might be worth some fifty rupees. They made off, robbing the bazar and killing people, so that there was great tribulation in the village.
138.3
Not considering myself safe in that shop, I sallied forth, and traversing the streets I reached a house where I halted, and finding the door open, I ascended some steps and reached a terraced roof. Here I fancied myself in security. But the owner of the house, who had heard the outcry in the village, came out of his room with sword and shield. On seeing me, he ordered me roughly to make my way downstairs. I told him I was a foreigner who had fled from the bazar, where the thieves had robbed me, and to save my life had taken refuge there, finding the door open. This did not persuade him to let me remain, but he insisted on my departing. I was content that he even let me go unharmed, for on hearing his first talk, I feared me much he was about to finish off what the robbers had begun.
138.4
I now went to the steps of a temple, where many persons had taken shelter out of the way of the arrows flying about the streets and the sword-blows being distributed in all directions. Nor was it without some trouble that I got in even there. Next a Brahman refused to let me stop, thrusting me forth by force. But God repaid him for his want of charity, for while he was interfering with me, there came an arrow and hit him on the leg and I was rid of him. The thieves withdrew, and I, too, found a refuge again in the bazar, but not in the same shop, for I feared greatly they might come there once more. I spent the night in the discomfort that everyone can imagine. At dawn, feeling much afflicted, I chewed a clove, washing it down with a little warm water, whereupon I vomited several clots of thickened blood, and felt relieved. I continued my journey up to the crossing on the river [? the Bhīma] . Although it is wide, there were no boats ; I crossed seated on a small bedstead attached to the tops of four pots. I then reached Paranda (Parenda), in the Mogul territory, where I came across my friends of the fortress of Bhakkar. They took compassion on my poverty, regaled me, succoured me with money, clothes, and a mount, on which I resumed my travels and arrived at Aurangabad [132].
138.5
Travelling is a teacher of many things, and he who wanders without learning anything can only be said to have the head of an ass. The horse given me by Manoel Ribeiro at Parenda had only a few days before arrived from Dihli, a journey of forty-six days, and it was thus much out of condition. It happened one day that my servant opened his bag, in which he had a nutmeg, and by carelessness he left this nut on the ground, and the horse ate it. Next day, on mounting, I noticed that he was much more lively in his gait. I did not know the cause of this freshness; then I remembered he had eaten a nut the night before, and I concluded that must be the cause. Nor was I wrong, for, giving him each day one nut, he became ever more ready and clever.
138.6
After my arrival in Aurangabad I lived retired. This was the time at which, as I have related (II. 122-124), Shah 'Alam was busy trying to get hold of Shiva Ji, and I was informed of the friar's death in the way that I have recounted (II. 121). I went on through Burhanpur, where I found several friends among the servants of Jai Singh, all disconsolate at the death of that great general. I felt his death very much, although I had no intention of re-entering his service, for I wanted to start as a doctor. Thence I went on to Agrah, where I visited the Jesuit fathers, and reported to them what was going on at Goa. I did not stay long, but passed on to Dihli. Thereupon, on learning of my arrival, there was no fail of women who proposed marriage to me and sent me cloth and money and banquets of food. One of them sent me fifty gold coins and a horse, and handsome stuff to make me clothes. I went to see Kirat Singh, the younger son of Rajah Jai Singh, who, in remembrance of the great affection his father held me in, and which he continued to me, gave me a set of robes, two horses, and five rupees every day, and a handsome house to live in. By this means those envious of my good fortune, who had expected to see me under the necessity of applying to them for my expenses, knowing that I was out of service, were in amazement at seeing me well dressed, owning horses, and keeping servants. Any foreigner who is out of employment can only subsist in a miserable fashion in that country.