Travels in India (Tavernier) 41.1
Travels in India (Ball) 41.1
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41.1.1
On the morning of the 16th [September 1652] we left Gandikot, accompanied by the majority of the gunners, who came with us to the first halt, carrying plenty of food with them ; and this day we only made 7 leagues, and slept at Cotepali.
41.1.2
On the 17th, after having breakfasted with the gunners, who then returned to Gandikot, we pursued our way with the sixteen horsemen of the Nawab, and having travelled 6 leagues we slept at a village named Coteen, beyond the river, which was then very full. As soon as we had crossed it the sixteen horsemen took leave of us ; and having offered their chief some rupees to buy tobacco and betel , we could not induce him to accept anything. The boats employed in crossing this river are like large baskets, covered outside with ox hides, at the bottom of which some faggots are placed, upon which carpets are spread to put the baggage and goods on, for fear they should get wet. As for the coaches and carts, they are tied by the pole and wheels between two of these baskets, but the horses are made to swim across, a man driving his horse from behind with a whip, and another in the basket holding it by the halter. As for the oxen, which, according to the custom of the country, carry the baggage, as soon as they reach the bank of the river and have been unloaded, they are driven in, and they cross the water without assistance. There are four men to each basket, one at each corner, who stand and row with paddles. Should one of them fail to keep equal stroke with the others, or that they do not all keep time, the basket turns three or four times round, and the current carrying it down, it descends much lower than the spot where it was intended to land.
41.1.3
On the 18th [September], after a march of five hours, we arrived at Morimol. On the 19th we made 9 leagues, and halted at Santesela. On the 20th we made 9 leagues more, and slept at Goremeda (Goodymetta). On the 21st, after six hours of marching, we passed the night at Kaman. It was a frontier town of the kingdom of Golconda, before the conquest of that of Carnatic by the army of Mir Jumla, of which I have spoken in the preceding chapter. On the 22d we travelled 7 leagues, and slept at Emelipata. At about half way we met more than 4000 persons, both men and women, and more than twenty pallankeens, each of which contained an idol. They were ornamented with gold, brocade of gold and velvet, with fringes of gold and silver, and some of these pallankeens were carried by four men, others by eight, and others by twelve, according to the size and weight of the idols. On each side of the pallankeens was a man with a large round fan of about 5 feet in diameter, made of beautiful ostrich and peacock feathers of different colours. The handles of these fans were 5 or 6 feet long, and covered with gold and silver nearly of the thickness of a French crown (écu). Each one strove to carry these fans in order to serve the idol by fanning it, to prevent the flies alighting on the face. Another fan, which is somewhat larger, and which had no handle, was carried like a shield. It was ornamented with feathers of different colours, ranged round little gold and silver bells.
41.1.4
The person carrying it walked close to the pallankeen, on the sunny side, in order to shade the idol, for to close the curtains of the pallankeen would have made it too hot. From time to time the bearer of the shield shook it in order to ring the bells, so that the idol might be amused. All these people with their idols came from Burhanpur and the neighbourhood, and were going to visit their great Ram Ram, i.e. their great god, who is in a pagoda in the territory of King of Carnatic. They had been fully thirty days on the road, and had to march fourteen or fifteen more before reaching the pagoda. One of my attendants who was from Burhanpur, and of the tribe of these very people, asked me to give him a holiday to go with them to accompany his gods, saying that a long time ago he had vowed to make this pilgrimage. I was obliged to give it, well knowing that if I did not give him the holiday he would himself take it, as he had many relatives in the troop. About two months later he rejoined me at Surat, and as he had served M. du Jardin and myself faithfully, I made no difficulty about re-employing him. On asking him some questions about the pilgrimage which he had just made, he related to me a thing difficult to believe, but which happened, as he said, in this manner. Six days after having left me, all the pilgrims had contemplated sleeping at a village;
41.1.5
and before reaching it they had to cross a river, which during the summer contains but little water and may be forded anywhere. But when it rains in India the water falls in such quantity that it appears like a deluge, and in less than an hour or two, small streams rise 2 or 3 feet in depth. The rain having surprised these pilgrims, this river increased so quickly that it was impossible to cross it that day. It is not necessary that those who travel in India should provide themselves with food beforehand, — especially is this the case with the idolaters, who do not eat anything which has had life — because even in the smallest villages they always find in abundance rice, flour, butter, milk, beans, and other vegetables, sugar and other sweetmeats, dry and liquid. This multitude of people, who had no food with them, were much astonished on arrival at the bank of this river to see it so high and swollen, and at not being able to cross in order to go to the village, which was on the other side, where they intended to make their halt. They had nothing to give their children to eat, and nothing was to be heard save lamentations among this crowd. In this extremity the chief of their priests sat down in the middle of them, and causing himself to be covered with a large sheet began to call those who wished for food to approach him. He asked each what he wanted, whether rice or flour, and for how many persons;
41.1.6
and with a large ladle which he held, lifting the corner of the sheet, he gave to all whatever they had asked for; so that this large number of people of 4000 souls was satisfied. It was not only my servant who related this history, but having subsequently made many journeys to Burhánpur, where I was known to the principal persons of the town, I made inquiry of many who had been on this pilgrimage, and all have sworn to me by their Ram Ram that it was true, which I nevertheless could not believe. On the 23d [September] we arrived at Doupar, after having travelled 8 leagues, and crossed many torrents. On the 24th we made but 4 leagues, and came to Tripanté, where there is a grand pagoda on a hill, the whole circuit of which forms a staircase and is faced with cut stone. The smallest stone of this staircase is 10 feet long and 3 feet wide, and in the pagoda there are many figures of demons. There is one, among others, which resembles a Venus standing upright, with many demons who surround her in lascivious attitudes, and this Venus and demons are made of a single piece of marble, but the carving is very coarse. On the 25th we travelled 8 leagues, and halted at Mamli (Murrayvamla). On the 26th we also travelled 8 leagues, and slept at Macheli (Maciiurla).
41.1.7
On the 27th we made only 3 leagues, because we had to cross a large river in baskets ; this generally occupies half a day. For when we reached the margin of the water we saw neither basket nor any other means of crossing. A man came, with whom we bargained for our passage ; and to prove if the money which we gave was good he made a large fire, and threw it into it. He did the same with that of all persons whom he took across. If amongst the money which he received he found a rupee which became somewhat black, one had to give him another, which he also heated ; then after he had proved that the money was good he called out to his comrades to bring the basket, which is generally concealed in some spot on the opposite side of the river. For these people are cunning, and seeing from afar off on which side the travellers are coming they send the basket to the other bank so as not to be compelled to take across any one without being paid. The money being counted, and the man who had received it having called his comrades, you see them carrying the basket on their shoulders to the edge of the water, and having launched it they come across to fetch those waiting on the other side.