[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) › [Les six voyages de Jean-Baptiste Tavernier](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier) › [Travels in India (Ball)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball) › 29 # Travels in India (Tavernier) 29: CHAP. XII Travels in India (Ball) 29 - **Language:** English ### CHAP. XII ### [29.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.29.1) Goa I went to Bicholly, which is upon the mainland; from thence to Bijapur, then to Golconda, Aurangabad, and Surat. I could have gone to Surat without passing through Golconda, but I was obliged to go there on business. From Goa to Visapour (Bijapur), which one generally accomplishes in eight days . . 85 coss. ,, Visapour to Golconda, which I did in nine days ..... 100 ,, From Golconda to Aurangabad the stages are not so definite, for sometimes it takes sixteen, sometimes twenty, and up to twenty-five. From Aurangabad to Surat one does the journey sometimes in twelve days, but sometimes one is not able to accomplish it in less than fifteen or sixteen. Bijapur is a large town which has nothing remarkable about it, either as regards public edifices or trade. The palace of the King is large enough indeed, but badly built, and what causes the approach to it to be difficult is, that in the moat which surrounds it, and which is full of water, there are many crocodiles. The King of Bijapur has three good ports in his kingdom; these are Rajapur, Dabhol, and Kareputtun. This last is the best of all, and the sea washes the foot of the mountain, where, close to land, there is from 14 to 15 fathoms of water. On the top of the mountain there is a fort with a supply of water, and although it is commanded by nothing and is by nature impregnable, since the King has made peace with the Portuguese he has abandoned it. ### [29.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.29.2) Kareputtun is only five days journey from Goa to the north, and Raibagh, where the King of Bijapur disposes of his pepper, is distant from Kareputtun about the same to the east. The King of Bijapur, like the King of Golconda, was a tributary of the Great Mogul, but is so no longer. This kingdom has been in trouble for some time on account of the rebellion of Nair Sivaji, who was, on the establishment of the King of Bijapur, what we call in France, Captain of the Guards. He had been guilty of misconduct, for which the King arrested him and put him in prison, where he remained for a long time till he died. The young Sivaji, his son, thereupon conceived such a strong hatred against the King that he became a chief of bandits, and as he was both courteous and liberal he had as many supporters as he wished for, both cavalry and infantry, and in a short time he got together an army, the soldiers, on the report of his liberality, coming to seek him from all sides. He was in a position to undertake some enterprise, when the King of Bijapur died without children, and it was thus that, without any great difficulty, he became master of a portion of the Malabar coast, including Rajapur, Rasigar, Kareputtun, Dabhol, and other places. It is said that during the demolition of the fortifications of Rasigar he found immense treasure, and that it was with this that he supported his forces, by whom he was well served because they were always very well paid. ### [29.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.29.3) Some years before the death of the King, the Queen, as she had no children, adopted a young boy, upon whom she had bestowed all her affection, and whom she brought up, as I have already said, with the greatest care in the doctrines of the sect of Ali. On the death of the King she caused this adopted son to be declared King, and Sivaji, as he then possessed an army, continued the war, and for some time caused trouble to the regency of this Queen. But at last he made the first proposals for peace, and the treaty was concluded on the condition that he should retain all the country which he had taken, as a vassal of the King, who should receive half the revenues; and the young King, having been established on the throne by this peace, the Queen, his mother, undertook the pilgrimage to Mecca, and I was at Ispahan when she passed on her return. Returning now to the journey to Goa. When I left Surat for my second visit to Goa I embarked on a Dutch vessel called the “Maestricht,” which carried me to Vengurla, where I arrived on the 11th of January 1648. ### [29.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.29.4) Vengurla is a large town, half a league from the sea, in the kingdom of Bijapur. It is one of the best anchorages in all India, and it is where the Dutch came to get supplies on all occasions when they blockaded Goa, and they take in supplies there still for the vessels which they employ to trade in many parts of India, for there is at Vengurla excellent water and very good rice. This town is also much renowned on account of its cardamons, which the orientals esteem as the best of spices, and is only found in this country, which causes this commodity to be very scarce and dear. Coarse cotton cloths for home consumption are made there too, as also a sort of matting which they call toti, which is only used for wrapping up merchandise. ### [29.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.29.5) Thus it is not so much for commerce as for supplies which can be got at Vengurla, that the Dutch Company maintain an establishment there. For, as I have said, not only all the vessels which come from Batavia, Japan, Bengal, Ceylon, and other places, and those which sail for Surat, the Red Sea, Hormuz, Bassora, etc., both in going and returning, anchor in the roads at Vengurla, but also when the Dutch are at war with the Portuguese, and are blockading the bar at Goa, where they ordinarily keep eight or ten vessels, they send their small boats to Vengurla to obtain provisions. For they hold the mouth of the river during eight months of the year, and nothing can enter Goa by sea during that time. It should be remarked in connection with this subject that this bar at Goa is closed for a part of the year by sand, cast up here by the south and west winds which precede the great rains, and to such an extent that there is only from a foot to a foot and a half of water for the passage of very small boats. But when the great rains begin to fall, the waters, which increase every hour, remove the sands and open the passage to large vessels. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.29](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.29) · Pramāṇa