Travels in India (Tavernier) 31.2
Travels in India (Ball) 31.2
- Language
- English
31.2.1
The fourth Government was that of Muscat, which was also one with a considerable income. For all the vessels coming to India from the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the coasts of Melinda have to make the point of Muscat, and generally take in water there. If any vessels did not come to an anchor, the Governor sent to claim the custom, which was 4 per cent, and if they made any resistance they ran the risk of being sent to the bottom by his galeasses. The fifth Government was that of the island of Ceylon, to which were subject all the places which the Portuguese had both on the coast of Malabar and on the Gulf of Bengal and other parts of India, and the least of these petty Governments yielded 10,000 écus per annum. Besides these five principal Governments which were at the disposition of the Viceroy, he had also the patronage of a number of offices in Goa and other towns of India. The day upon which he makes his entry into Goa, his Captain of the Guards receives nearly 4000 écus of profit. The three offices of Engineer Major, of Inspector of the Fortresses, and of Grand Master of Artillery yielded 20,000 pardos per annum, and the pardo is worth 27 sols of our money. The Portuguese were then all rich — the nobles on account of the governments and other offices, and the merchants by the trade which they engaged in, before the English and Dutch came to cut the ground from under their feet.
31.2.2
During the time they held Hormuz they did not allow any merchant to travel to India by sea, and all were therefore compelled to take the route by land through Kandahar. When the Turkish, Persian, Arab, Moscovite, Polish, and other merchants arrived at Bandar-'Abbas, they constituted but one united body, and from it four of the most experienced were deputed to go and see all the different kinds of merchandise, and to ascertain the quality and price. After having made their report to the others the price was settled and the goods removed, which were then distributed to each nation in proportion to the number of merchants who had come from these different countries. It is the custom throughout Asia that nothing is sold except in the presence of a broker, and each class of goods has its own separate one. These brokers pay the money to those who have sold, and receive it from those who have bought; there are certain classes of goods for which the fee due to them is 1 per cent, others for which it amounts to 1½ and even to 2 per cent. The Portuguese then in those times made great profits, and suffered no losses from bankruptcies. As to the pirates, the Viceroy took effectual steps, for when the rains were over and the season for embarkation had arrived, according to the number of vessels laden with goods, he gave a sufficient number of galiotes to escort them to sea for from 25 to 30 leagues — the Malabaris not going farther from the coast than 15 or 20.
31.2.3
The captains of the galiotes and even the marines did some little trade during the voyage, and as they paid no customs, they were able to acquire something to maintain themselves in comfort during the rains, when they had to remain in quarters. There was also a good arrangement for the military, by which the soldiers were promoted, for all those who had come from Portugal, after nine years of service, received some appointment at sea or on land, and if they did not wish to accept of it they were permitted to travel as merchants. If there happened to be among them any one of intelligence, he did not fail to acquire a fortune, having all the credit he could desire, and he found numbers of people very willing to employ their money, giving it to him on the chance of 100 per cent profit on his return from a journey. If the vessel was lost, those who had lent lost their money or their goods, but, when it arrived safely, for one écu they received three or four.
31.2.4
The people of the country called Kanarese do not hold any offices under the Portuguese save in reference to law as agents, solicitors, or scribes, and they are kept in subjection. If one of these Kanarese or black men struck a white or European, there was no pardon for him, and he had to have his hand cut off. Both Spaniards and Portuguese, especially the Spaniards, use them as receivers and men of business, and in the islands of Manilla or Philippines there are blacks so rich that some of them have offered the Viceroy up to 20,000 croisats for permission to wear hose and shoes — this was not allowed them. You see certain of these blacks with bare feet, though followed by thirty slaves, and superbly clad; and if the Portuguese had been pleased to allow them to equip vessels, and to appoint the captains and other officers according to their own wishes, the former would not have made so many conquests in India, or at least would not have made them so easily. These blacks have much intelligence and are good soldiers, and the clerics have assured me that they learn more in the colleges in six months than the Portuguese children do in a year, whatever the science may be to which they apply themselves. It is for this reason that the Portuguese keep them down.
31.2.5
The natives of the country about Goa are idolaters, and do homage to many kinds of idols, of which I have given likenesses in this book, saying that the idols resemble those who have done good works in former times, to whom they should offer homage by adoring their portraits. There are many of these idolaters who worship monkeys, and also, in many parts of India, as I have elsewhere said, they have built pagodas, which have been endowed in order to feed a certain number, besides others from outside, which come twice a week in order to obtain food. In a village of the island of Salsette, there was a pagoda in which the idolaters kept, in a kind of tomb made of silver, the bones and nails of a monkey which, they said, had rendered great services to their gods by the diligence with which he conveyed news and advice from one to the other, when persecuted by some hostile princes, even to the extent of traversing the sea by swimming. People came from many parts of India in procession to this idol to make offerings to this pagoda ; but the clergy of Goa, and especially the Inquisitor, went one day to carry away this tomb and brought it to Goa, where it remained some time on account of the dispute which it gave rise to between the ecclesiastics and the people. For when the idolaters offered to give a large sum to ransom their relics, the people were of opinion that it should be accepted, because they said it could be used to make war against their enemies or for assisting the poor ;
31.2.6
but the clergy held a contrary opinion, and maintained that for no reason whatever should this idolatry be permitted. At length the Archbishop and the Inquisitor of their own authority removed the tomb, and, having put it on a vessel which went out about 20 leagues from land, it was thrown into the sea. They would have burned it, but that the idolaters would have been able to collect the ashes, which would have served as material for some new superstition.
31.2.7
There are in Goa numbers of people connected with the Church, and besides the Archbishop and his clergy you see Dominicans, Augustins, Cordeliers, Barefoot Carmelites, Jesuits, and Capuchins, who are like the Recollects, with two houses of nuns, of which the Augustins are the Directors. The Carmelites, who are the last comers, are the best situated of all, and, if they are a little removed from the heart of the town, they have otherwise the advantages of enjoying fresh air, and of having the most healthy house in all Goa. It is on a fine elevation, where the wind blows about it, and is well built, with two galleries, one above the other. The Augustins, who were the first comers in Goa, were well situated at the base of a small elevation, their church being on the main street with a handsome square in front. But the Jesuits, having built a house, begged the Augustins to sell them the elevated ground, which was then unoccupied, under pretext of wishing to make a garden for the recreation of their scholars; and, having at length purchased it, they built a splendid college, which shut out the convent of the Augustins, and prevented it from receiving any fresh air. They have had great disputes with one another over this matter, but the Jesuits have at length gained their case.