Storia do Mogor 238.2
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 238.2
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238.2.1
Such is the custom of that country, where the priests are much venerated. If these men desire to favour anyone with the gift of a holy relic, they give him some of their own excrement. The recipients carry it with them hanging from the neck, placed in a little box of gold and silver in which it is preserved. It is their fond imagination that if they die with such filth hanging from their neck they will acquire salvation. It is through this country that lies the route to China, but it is a very long way, and the roads most hazardous from the great mountains and many rivers. I state this on information given me by some Armenians and others who had been there, including two Jesuits, who came from China by this road. One was a Fleming and the other a German, with whom I had many a talk about this country.
238.2.2
These rajahs [i.e., the Rajputs] are powerful and brave; they preserve all ancient customs, are friendly to those who were their father's friends, inimical to those who were their enemies, and although they are necessitous, none the less they do not refrain from observing the rules of their ancestors. The Mogul draws his profit from their barbarous ways, and out of policy reinforces them when it suits him, and employs them to destroy each other. If they were only united among themselves, the Rana and the Rathors, Kachhwahahs and Bundelahs, they could easily expel the Mogul from Hindustan. As an example of what I have just said, there is the case of Rajah Jai Singh, whom a Rajput soldier tried to kill by a spear-thrust, but missed him, all but a graze on the side. This Rajput was a soldier sent by the Rajah of the Botia (Bhurtiyah) race, whose ancestors were at enmity with those of Jai Singh, and the feud had lasted for five hundred years. On the seizure of the soldier, he confessed what I have just recorded. Thus let the reader reflect on the way these Hindus keep up their ancient customs, but still more their religion.
238.2.3
Having set forth all this grandeur and power of the Moguls, I will, with the reader's permission, assert from what I have seen and tested, that to sweep it entirely away and occupy the whole empire nothing is required beyond a corps of thirty thousand trusty European soldiers, led by competent commanders, who would thereby easily acquire the glory of great conquerers. To add to the reader's information, I will also state the length and breadth of this empire. The roads are not direct, owing to the forests and mountains and the interposition of territories belonging to the different rajahs and zamindars, who allow no travellers to pass through, out of the fear they have of the Mogul. Nor are the roads there secure, for you would be robbed if you went by them. I will indicate the open and frequented roads, beginning with the east and ending on the west.
238.2.4
From the port [67] of Madrasta (Madras) to Gulkandah the distance is two hundred and sixteen kos — that is, leagues ; from Gulkandah to Oramgabad (Aurangabad) it is one hundred and sixty-eight leagues ; from Aurangabad to Brampur (Burhanpur) it is seventy-two leagues ; from Burhanpur to Serong (Sironj) it is one hundred and forty-four leagues ; from Sironj to Agrah it is one hundred and forty-four leagues ; from Agrah to Dihli it is seventy-six leagues ; from Dihli to the town of Sorend (Sihrind) it is eighty-four leagues; from Sihrind to the city of Lahor it is one hundred and four leagues ; from Lahor to Little Gujarat it is thirty-six leagues; from Little Gujarat to the Indus river it is one hundred and thirty-six leagues ; from the river Indus to the city of Paxor (Peshawar) it is thirty-six leagues; from Peshawar to Kabul it is one hundred and forty-four leagues; from Kabul to Cazenj (Ghazni), now in ruins, it is seventy-two leagues. At a distance of twenty leagues from Ghazni is the boundary of Qandahar, which belongs to the King of Persia. Here on this side end the dominions of the Mogul, and on the north side they touch the kingdom of the Usbeques (Uzbak). From this point as far as Ugullim (Hugli), which is in Bengal, there will be about the same number of leagues [? as from Madras], excluding the lands which adjoin the Axames (Asham, Assam).
238.2.5
The width, beginning from Surat, which is on the south, until you reach the town of Burhanpur, is one hundred and sixty-eight leagues; from Burhanpur to Agrah it is two hundred and eighty-eight leagues; from Agrah towards the north, up to the boundary of the hill rajahs, of whom I have spoken, there may be one hundred and twenty leagues; from the town of Tata (Tattah), which is on the south, as far as Multan, there are two hundred and seventy-eight leagues; from Multan to Lahor it is one hundred and seventy-eight leagues; from Multan to Lahor it is one hundred and forty-four leagues; from Lahor to the mountains of Kashmir it is one hundred and sixty leagues. The reader must remember that the kos or leagues of the Mogul country are different from the leagues of Europe, for ten European leagues make twelve of India, and this is the traveller's ordinary day's journey.
238.2.6
Besides the above rajahs, I have not spoken of those on the farther side of the river Ganges, which is joined by the river Jamnah below the fortress of Allahabad, as stated in my Second Part (II. 58). A considerable number of these rajahs are powerful, and of the smaller sort there are many; most of them are vassals of the Mogul. These last are under obligation to send to court the rarities produced in their country. Some send gavioens (sparrow-hawks), falcons, and other birds of prey, pretty birds, honey, and wax. With the last article they prepare a waxed cloth for the lining of tents and other uses in the royal household. They also make of it candles for the harem ; in these is mixed verdigris or vitriol, for certain reasons which I cannot mention. Other rajahs send fruits such as grow in their country, slaves (viloens), tigers, et cetera.
238.2.7
Aurangzeb, as proof of his justness and to advertise his good deeds, sends out every day to walk through the principal square a fierce lion in the company of a goat that has been brought up alongside it from birth. This is to show that his decisions are just and equal, without any bias. This is done at court solely that the world may be notified of his justice. But I say, having experienced it, that at this day neither at court nor in any other part of his empire is there any justice ; no one thinks of anything but how to plunder. Nor can the king find any remedy. Although he prides himself on his high sagacity and perfection in every point, Ja'far Khan did not fail to give him once a good lesson, just to let him understand how defective was his policy.
238.2.8
I say that the Mir Bakhshi, Roalacan (Ruh-ullah Khan), general of cavalry, who is inferior in rank to the vizil (wazir), one day, when presenting a petition to the king, advanced too near and took the position assigned to the wazir. The king made no remark. Noticing this, Ja'far Khan dissembled for that day. When next he came to court he placed one foot farther forward than was allowed by the regulations. On seeing this, the king said to him it appeared he was oblivious of the general customs and regulations [68], having put himself in advance of the customary position. Ja'far Khan made the wise reply that wazirs held the first place, and to show the difference between himself and the Mir Bakhshi he was forced to step more forward. The king recognised the error he had made, and instead of reproving the general he made excuses to his wazir, saying it should not recur, and the petition made to him was granted. Thus was Ja'far Khan still more respected at the court. All of these men spoken of above [the rajahs] maintain at the court their own agents, provided with considerable sums of money, and these men assist their employers whenever it is found necessary.
238.2.9
There are also in this empire other lords who call themselves zamindars — that is, 'lords of land.' Among them are many powerful men who could place in the field, more or less, forty thousand soldiers, matchlockmen, archers, and spearmen. Such men do not maintain cavalry : the greater number live in the midst of jungles, and these usually pay no revenue, unless it be taken by force of arms. At this day, taking the whole Mogul empire, these rajahs, great and petty, and the zamindars, exceed five thousand in number.