Storia do Mogor 347.3
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 347.3
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347.3.182
In the month of March of the said year [1705] the Arabs returned with sixteen vessels to the territory of Daman. They landed four hundred soldiers and sacked several aldeas, or villages. Without delay this invasion was reported to the governor of the town. But being very intent on his game of cards, he gave no sort of answer. A second message was brought ; still he answered nothing, but went on with his game. Finally, on the third summons he answered that he would set things right at his own time, and went on playing.
The inhabitants of the [57] place, seeing their villages plundered and burnt, and the enemy advancing on the town, laid hold of the governor, and, collecting a few horsemen and some infantry, went out to meet the enemy. They behaved so bravely that they forced him to retreat. They killed fifty of his soldiers, and recovered a little of what had been plundered from the villages.
The governor of the place was sent to Goa in irons. It is quite likely that the man will be appointed to some greater position, since I have seen many a time such a thing happen to that sort of official ; while those who are faithful and exert themselves for the Crown of Portugal are very soon either ruined or murdered.
[Omitted, fols. 57-64, a letter from the Archbishop of Goa of December 23, 1704, and his pastoral, dated December 22, 1704. These are a mere repetition of what has already appeared in Codex XLIV., Part IV., fol. 226. I resume on fol. 64.]
[64] At present there are living in Madras many Armenian merchants and a number of other persons of this race who frequent this port. Not many years ago they received a report from Persia that their race had suffered much by the gross injuries committed and the calumnies invented by those of their own nation. The Armenians are themselves the originators of these evils from the want among them of unanimity and concord. It is already known that the principal Patriarch of this race lives usually not far from the city of Arivam (Erivan). His abode is about three days' journey from that city ; the town is of considerable antiquity, and is called Uchiquilicia (Úch Qilissah), which in our tongue means 'The Three Churches.' Great veneration is paid to the place because of the numerous and ancient holy relics there.
In the town called Zulfah, close to Isfahan, are three bishops; the first is called Alexandre, the second Mobies, and the third Ovanes. The last mentioned turned renegade, so nowadays his place has been taken by someone else. These bishops decline to obey the aforesaid Patriarch of the [65] Three Churches (whose name is Naapiet), although anciently this was the custom; and this refusal has caused great enmity. On this account a great dispute arose among the population of Zulfah about the Patriarch, some being ready to obey him, and some declining to do so.
When the three bishops saw it was impossible for them to become absolute masters of the situation, they planned to take the Patriarch's life. To this intent they concocted a letter in the Patriarch's name, in which a great deal of ill and many abusive words were written about the King of Persia and the false prophet, Muhammad. Then they so manoeuvred that the letter should fall into the king's own hands through Armenians, who were friends of theirs and enemies of the Patriarch—men who professed to be zealous supporters of the Persian Crown.
The letter was in the Armenian tongue, and thus the king, like a wise man, was reluctant to believe the traitors. Therefore he called to the presence an aged Armenian from among the principal men, and ordered him to read out the letter. The old man, who was called Kalãntar, fearing some treachery, feigned to be ill, stood all in a tremble, and being nearly blind, was in that way able to excuse himself from reading it. Anxious to find out the truth, the king called in an old man from the residents of Zulfah, called Gregório Jamãl, and giving [66] him the letter, ordered him to read it aloud.
XLIV. Figures of Ascetics. To face page 182.
347.3.1703
When this man reached the passage which touched the honour of his Majesty, he began to tremble from head to foot to such an extent that he was unable to utter a word. Seeing this, the king told him to have no fear, but to read every word that was written, assuring him that he would not take any offence with him personally. After these reassuring words he managed to read, and when it was finished the king, being a young man, felt it deeply, and ordered a household slave to cut off the Patriarch's head.
The executioner reached the Three Churches when the Patriarch was saying Mass on Good Friday in the principal church. It was full of people, and various Armenian bishops and priests were present. The executor of the harsh order entered the church. It is impossible to describe sufficiently the amazement and confusion that at once spread among the bystanders. The man sprang up the altar steps, seized the Patriarch, and dragged him by main force out of the church preparatory to decapitating him. Among all those present there was not one who dared to hinder such a lamentable act.
Only the principal men who, as good luck would have it, were present succeeded in persuading the executioner to allow the Patriarch to be divested of the ecclesiastical vestments before the carrying out of the royal orders. This short delay saved the Patriarch's life, for in the meantime a horseman arrived with a revised order from his Majesty : the Patriarch was no longer to be beheaded, but to be taken to prison instead.
The origin of this new order was traced to a faint suspicion that reached, I know not how, the ears of his Majesty that there had been the treachery we have already described. Anyhow, it is certain that when the king gave the first order the bishops already mentioned, with all the rest of their faction, betrayed great satisfaction. The renegade bishop also boasted among his friends of having been the causer of the royal order. Our Lord, who is a just ruler over all things, and the defender of the innocent, so worked that his Majesty penetrated the deception, although some doubts remained.
Therefore, to find out the rest of the facts, as told above, he caused the renegade bishop to be arrested, and ordered him to be questioned to find out if he was to blame. Although he did not confess the crime, his answers to the demands and cross-questioning of the judges had not been consistent. Therefore he was put to the torture vigorously. The man, unable to stand the torture, confessed that the letter had been drawn up by him at the instigation of the three Armenian bishops, and that for the same they had given him a reward in money. At once, upon receipt of this confession, men were sent to arrest the three bishops, and after being well examined they confessed they were the culprits.
After their conviction they were subjected to a punishment as degrading as it was painful. It took place in the public square in front of the royal palace. The three bishops and the renegade were bound with their feet raised, so that half of their bodies touched the earth. Such a beating was then administered on the soles of their feet that their toe-nails and some of their toes dropped off. They were then released. A new tribute was imposed on the church of Zulfah, whereby they were called on to pay twenty thousand patacas in addition to the usual annual demand. However, the Patriarch was released from prison, subject to the penalty of paying yearly ten thousand patacas. These insults caused to the Armenians loss and to the Mahomedans profit; and the latter are guilty of a thousand outrages on the Christians. It is the custom of the Armenians, in whatever part of the world they have churches, to pray God on behalf of their patriarch, Nahapet, venerating him as their Pope, equally in their public as in their private prayers. It is only in the three churches of the above-named bishops that he is not prayed for. The above events happened in the year 1703.
347.3.p3
It must be nearly five years since a similar thing happened in the town of Zulfah. Among their principal men was one called Abiett, who became a renegade. He hated the bishops of his own people, and by a plot similar to that recounted above he obtained the torturing and condemnation to death of the chief bishop, whose name was Estefanus. I do not dilate on it farther, or give any minute account, knowing that there is no deficiency of inquiring persons in Persia who write to Europe on these same events more clearly than I can do.