The Commentary of Father Monserrate 2.1
The Commentary of Father Monserrate (Hoyland) 2.1
- Language
- English
2.1.2
A. G. ... The Ancient Geography of India by Major-General Alexander Cunningham.
Ain. ... Ain-i-Akbari of Abul Fazl translated by Blochmann (Vol. I) and Jarret (Vol. II and III).
Al-Badaoni. ... Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh by Abdul Qader Al-Badaoni, commonly known as Badaoni or Al-Badaoni. The first two volumes have been translated by Lowe and Ranking. The second volume contains an account of Akbar.
A. N. ... Akbar-Nama by Abul Fazl, translated by H. Beveridge. So far as published.
A. R. ... Archaeological Reports.
Badaoni. ... Same as Al-Badaoni.
B. G. ... Bombay Gazetteer.
Blochmann. ... Ain-i-Akbari Vol. I, translated by Henry Blochmann.
Campos. ... A History of the Portuguese in Bengal by Campos, Vols. 2.
2.1.2_2
Danvers. ... The Portuguese in India by F. C. Danvers. Vols. 2.
2.1.8
D. R. E. ... A misprint for E. R. E. which stand for Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics edited by James Hastings.
E. D. ... The History of India as told by its own Historians, edited by Sir H. M. Elliot and Prof. J. Dowson, Vols. 8.
2.1.3
Elphinstone. ... A History of India by the Honourable Mountstuart Elphinstone, with notes and additions by E. B. Cowell.
I. G. ... Imperial Gazetteer.
Irvine. ... Moghul Army and its organisation by W. Irvine.
Jarret. Vols. II and III of Abul Fazl's Ain-i-Akbari translated by Jarret.
J A. S. B. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
J. B. B. R. A. S. Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
Ptolemy. Ancient India as described by Ptolemy by J. W. McCrindle.
Smith. Akbar the Great Moghul by V. A. Smith.
Strabo. The Geography of Strabo translated by H. C. Hamilton and W. Falconer. Vols. 3.
2.1.p5
Von Noer. Emperor Akbar by Frederick Von Noer translated by Annette Beveridge. Vols. 2. In some places in the notes this author's name is misprinted Von Neor.
* * * was compelled to go before the King. When he came before him, the King talked with him about religion and asked him whether there were many priests amongst us. He replied that there were large numbers and that very many of them were much more learned than he was himself.
He made especial mention of the priests of the Society (of Jesus), about whom he had already heard both from Ismail and from Tauarius. For this reason he decided to summon them as speedily as possible to his presence, and in the year 1579 A.D. he sent envoys to the Viceroy of India and to the Archbishop of Goa asking, amongst other weighty matters of state, that two of the Society's priests should be sent to him. He sent despatches also of the same type and with an identical request to the Superior of the Society in that province. These despatches ran as follows: — 'The commandment of Zelaldinus the Great, King by God constituted. Know, O chief Fathers of the Order of St. Paul, that we are very well disposed unto you. We are sending unto you Ebadulla our envoy, and Dominicus Petrius, that they may communicate to you in our own words our desire that two learned priests should be sent unto us, to bring the chief books of the Law and the Gospel, in order that we may learn the Law and its full meaning and perfect truths in every respect. For I earnestly desire thoroughly to learn that Law. Let them not hesitate therefore to set out with the same envoys when they leave Goa on the return journey; and let them bring the books of the Law with them. Let the priests understand that I shall receive them with all possible kindness and honour. Their arrival will be a great delight to me : and when I have learnt what I long to know about the law and its perfection and the salvation it offers, they shall be allowed to return as soon as they like. I shall send them back again dignified with very many honours and gifts. Let them have no fear in coming. For I take them under my own protection and guarantee. Farewell ! ' The good faith of this letter was supported by the testimony of letters from Ægidanius who had already spent a year and a half with him, and from Tauarius, the governor of the port, who said that confidence should be placed in the good-will of the King and in his genuine desire to see the Fathers. However, the Viceroy, the Archbishop, the Superior of the Province and other individuals of every rank, received the letter with great hesitation. Wherefore Ludovic Athaidius the Viceroy, a man very remarkable both for his statesmanship and for his wisdom, decided to lay the matter before the Council of Bishops, who were then at Goa, and the Portuguese nobles and lawyers. Every man gave his opinion. Most of them stated their belief that no confidence should be placed in the promises of an Agarenus. But all were agreed that the matter under discussion, since it referred to religion, should be left to the decision of the Archbishop and the other Bishops.
Henry of Tauora, the Archbishop, then held a council with the Bishops: and the decision was unanimously arrived at that the King's invitation should be accepted, and two priests of the Society sent to him as he asked.
In view of this decision of the Fathers, the Viceroy had no occasion for further hesitation. He forthwith summoned Roderic Vincentinus, the Superior of the Society: announced to him the decision of the Bishops, and said that he himself agreed with it. This greatly delighted the Superior. For his mind was greatly inclined to meet the King's wish, and he had the keenest desire to satisfy his pious wishes (for so they seemed). Therefore when he received from the Viceroy the report of the Bishops' decision, he referred it to those priests with whom by the constitution of the Society he must take counsel. Then he put Rudolf Aquaviva in charge of the Mission, and promised to give him two companions. I should like to describe the pleasure, nay the inordinate delight, with which Rudolf received this commission, from the mouth of the Superior as though it were a direct divine command. But I intend to commemorate his many virtues in another place.
When the Viceroy heard from the Superior that Rudolf had been put in charge of the Mission, he approved the choice and ordered him to be supplied with transport and supplies for his journey. When Rudolf came to take leave of him, the Viceroy bade him God-speed in an address full of missionary zeal.
The Superior appointed as one of Rudolf's companions a man who had an excellent knowledge of Persian; and, the season for navigation having by now arrived, himself accompanied Rudolf the eight days' voyage from Goa to Xeulus and thence to Daman, where he appointed Rudolf's third companion. After waiting four days at Daman, Rudolf and his companions set out again. The Superior, other priests, and the inhabitants of the fortress, accompanied the Fathers to the first mile-stone out of Daman, and then one by one took their leave of them, not without signs of mutual love, which was clearly testified to by the many tears shed on either side.
They spent the night at a village called Oroar near the boundary of the territory of the two kingdoms.
On the next day they entered the dominions of Zelaldinus, crossing the river of Mount Nera, which is called in the vernacular 'Paharnera,' and divides the territory of the Mongols from that of the Portuguese. Thence they came to Balsar, a name signifying in the vernacular 'Bucephala' or the ox's head. On the next day they reached Nausarinum; and on the third day from Daman they came to Surat.
Nausarinum is the chief seat of certain men who call themselves Persians, or Jezeni from the city of Jeze in Persia. By race they are Gabraeans whom the Portuguese call Cuarini. In colour they are White, but are extremely similar to the Jews in the rest of their physical and mental characteristics, in their inclination for hard work, in their dress and in their religion. Indeed they are often called Jews by the Portuguese, nor do they themselves entirely disavow the name. For they acknowledge that they are descended from Abraham, and for this reason practise the rite of circumcision, as do the Hebrews. They correctly calculate the date of the coming of Christ from their ancient documents. The peculiar mark, by which they are conveniently distinguished from other races, as if by a token of religion, is a garment made of linen, of cotton, or of muslin (?), which hangs down to the thigh. The edges of this garment are stitched together; and its two ends are sewn up. It covers the head, and the ends are tied together over the chest, leaving a square-shaped fold about four inches wide, which seems to correspond to the Theraphis, as it is called, of the Jews. They are forbidden by their religious prejudices to put anything into this fold. They tie round this garment a woven woollen girdle of a considerable length, so that it goes round the body several times. They are under a religious obligation to wear this girdle at all times. They are polluted if they touch a corpse. They do not carry out their dead through the front part of the house, but break a hole through the back wall. The dead moreover are not borne away on men's shoulders, but their feet are tied together and they are dragged along the ground on their backs. They neither burn nor bury corpses, but let them down into a place surrounded with high walls to prevent wild animals entering, as though it were better to be torn and devoured by birds of prey or scorched by the heat of the sun, than to be consumed by the flames, or covered with earth and so disposed of! They pour out any water that has been left in the house, and no one may use the articles which the dead man has used. These religious customs not only resemble, but definitely reproduce, those of the Jews.