[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Dark Ages](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages) › [Travellers (1500–1858)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel) › [Storia do Mogor](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci) › [Storia do Mogor (Irvine)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine) › 353.1 # Storia do Mogor 353.1 Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 353.1 - **Language:** English ### [353.1.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.353.1.1) Ibid., Vol. I., p. 25. Alexander of Julpha, Catholicos of Armenia, sat in the seat of St. Gregory in 1707. He wrote a letter of submission to Pope Clement XI. in his own name and in that of the whole Armenian nation, and received in return a letter of blessing from his Holiness, and died in 1714, lamented by the whole nation on account of his piety. In the same season there arrived from Persia two Armenian friars of the Order of St. Dominic, one called Friar Minas de Siave and the other Friar Thomas Abarenes. These friars had come with the sole object of collecting the money due to Father Friar Domingos, deceased, of the same order, of which I have sufficiently spoken, as will have been seen (IV. 165). As soon as they arrived they endeavoured to recover the money which was in the hands of Armenian agents living in Bengal, to whom the deceased had consigned it. Immediately upon the arrival of the friars these Armenians handed over the money in their possession, as they were in duty bound to do if they wished to carry out the will. ### [353.1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.353.1.2) There were, however, four thousand patacas in possession of another Armenian trader, a renegade called Coja Ovan (Khwãjah Ovan), who lived \[70\] in Madras. The Reverend Father Michel Ange, Vicar of Madras, went and demanded that money from the above Armenian on behalf of the Abate di San Giorgio, whose command was that the money be deposited with him in the space of twenty-four hours. To this demand the renegade replied that he could not do the contrary of what was laid down in the will. He fled from Madras and took up his abode in San Thome, as he owed money to various merchants. The Abate di San Giorgio was then living in San Thome in the house of a French merchant called Monsieur Gueti. This gentleman did his utmost to make the said Abate understand things, so that he might not throw the Christian community into confusion. All was, however, fruitless. Never would he be content to desist ; he was too eager for the money of the deceased friar. This I assert by the tokens thereof he gave in San Thome. ### [353.1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.353.1.3) It is necessary to explain that in the territory of San Thome lived an Augustinian friar called Frey Manoel das Neves. He gained a living by buying and selling cheese, shoes, handkerchiefs, et cetera, between Paliacate and Madras. It is a ten-hour journey from the one place to the other. The Abate wanted the Frate to give him a little something out of the gains squeezed from this miserable trade. While the two were arguing and the poverty-stricken friar was defending \[71\] himself, I, too, turned up, and just in time ; for I was forced to separate them, if I did not wish to see them give each other a hearty shoe-beating. But returning to the above-named friars (i.e., the two Dominicans from Persia) : for all the efforts they made to recover the money from the renegade (Khwãjah Ovan), they could never obtain it, for their debtor was in Mahomedan territory. The Reverend Father Fra Michel Ange made over to them a few things that he had in his custody. \[Omitted, fols. 71-73, the account of Father Peter Paul, the barefooted Carmelite. It has already appeared in Codex XLIV., Part IV., fols. 231-233. I resume on fol. 73.\] ### [353.1.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.353.1.4) \[73\] In the month of February in the year 1705 the wife of A'zam Shãh died ; her name was Jãní Begam, and she was the daughter of the prince Dãrã Shukoh. The death of this princess caused great sorrow in the army, but greatest of all among the principal men and the older nobles, as it revived in them the memory of Dara's good qualities, the prudence, the good administration, with which he ruled over the things put under him. This princess never showed any pain or anger at the act of her husband, A'zam Shãh, in bringing into his palace a public woman as his consort. From this time henceforth there is no survivor of the blood of Dãrã. His son Sultãn Sipihr Shukoh was married to a daughter of Aurangzeb, and \[74\] was kept a prisoner in the fortress of Salimgarh, as I have already stated in my First Part (I. 256, 278). In these days nothing is said of him, and it is not known whether he is alive or dead. The above-mentioned Jãnl Begam left a good name behind her for generosity and liberality, and for never having given protection to injustice. Thus many times she stopped her own husband when he wanted to plot rebellions and revolutions against King Aurangzeb. But such a good name was not left behind her by the queen Tagimal (Taj Mahal), wife of the King of Gulkandah, and mother of two princesses, who by a piece of cruelty which she committed lost both her good fame and her reason, as I will now recount. ### [353.1.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.353.1.5) King Abu,l Hasan of Gulkandah one day, when out hunting, passed through a village where he saw a young and good-looking shepherd woman. Falling in love with her, he demanded her from her parents, assigning to them several villages for their maintenance. He carried the lovely shepherd girl away with him to his palace. Although she was of lowly birth, and of a somewhat black complexion, she was otherwise perfect both in body and mind. Therefore the king showed her great affection, but without any intention of annoying others. The queen Tãj Mahal betrayed jealousy at this act of her husband's, and looked on this poor young woman with an eye of severity. She showed the disdain and hate she bore to her rival. Finally, unable any longer to repress her rage, she chose a day when the king had gone \[75\] to the chase, and ordered the shepherdess to be tied to a tree in the garden, and her clothes, after being steeped in oil, were to be set alight. These orders were executed. She, too, wished to be a spectator of this barbarity, and visited the fatal spot at the time when the miserable girl was enduring all the agonies of that torture, and, although almost ready to give up the ghost, her body was still writhing and struggling. Her movements were so horrifying to the sight that Cruelty itself could not have beheld them without some sentiment of compassion or, at any rate, of horror. ### [353.1.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.353.1.6) So it happened to the cruel queen, for in spite of her looking on in great contempt at the mortal anguish of the unhappy shepherd girl, she was unable to control herself at such a dreadful sight, and fell into such a serious plight herself that she became mad. During the whole of the rest of her life she never ceased to tremble and go through all the contortions of the burning shepherdess. Thus the women who had the charge of her were frequently frightened. Nothing could cure her. Neither this affliction of the queen nor her death caused any grief either to her subjects or the king. The latter never went even to see her, and everybody spoke against her cruelty. In order that the reader by the variety of matter may pass his time more agreeably, I will relate an incident that happened in the year 1665 at the court of Dihli. ### [353.1.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.353.1.7) There arrived at the court of Dihli a merchant of precious stones; \[76\] he had made frequent voyages between India and Europe. As the man knew he would be unable to sell his goods as easily as in the time of King Shahjahan, he had recourse to a doctor of his nation who was in the service of Aurangzeb, and fairly well esteemed at the court. He took up his quarters at the physician's house, with a view to obtaining his help in selling the jewels he had brought. The astute trader dealt with the doctor politely and showed him respect. He was aware that he and his wife did not live on very good terms. She was the daughter of Francisco de Souza, a Portuguese, of whom I fancy I spoke in my Third Part (III. 253). The trader told the husband that he had made a mistake by marrying in India, and if he were in France he assured him His Most Christian Majesty would have greatly honoured him, on account of his ability to afford so much information about the Mogul court. The trader only said these things in order to make him happy and be able to negotiate his own affairs. ### [353.1.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.353.1.8) While this conversation was proceeding there tumbled out of the doctor's bag the portrait of his wife. The trader said if only he had not been married, he could have returned to France, where he would have found a wife both richer and more beautiful than this one. The frivolous surgeon was put into great good-humour by this talk, and conceiving great affection for the friendly merchant, Monsieur Tavirnier (J. B. Tavernier), made all possible efforts to sell his jewels for him. In fact, his efforts were successful, and the merchant, highly satisfied, started for Europe. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.353.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.353.1) · Pramāṇa