Travels in India (Tavernier) 66: Reply of the Author to this third letter.
Travels in India (Ball) 66
- Language
- English
Reply of the Author to this third letter.
66.1
The least of the servants of your Highness, Jean Baptiste Tavernier, Frenchman, prays God for the prosperity of your person, you who are the Lieutenant of the King, the channel by which his favours are distributed, of whom the title is venerable and full of respect, who are the near relative of the King, the Governor-General of his Kingdoms, to whom he refers the accomplishment of all matters of importance. You who are the Prince of Princes, I the servant of your Highness present this petition. Having arrived in this country in obedience to your orders, I have wholly trusted in your favour ; and when I believed myself to be most laden with your bounty, I fell into the nets of Mirza-Arab, Governor of Surat, for, having received the latest orders of your Highness, I went to take leave of him to go to make my salutation to you. He replied that he had written to the King in reference to my person, [and that in consequence he could not give me permission to depart till he had received the reply of his Majesty. I represented to him that, having nothing with me, and that at my arrival in this port, not having been found possessed of any merchandise of importance passing through the customs, I was astonished that he had written to the King in reference to my person]. Disregarding all my arguments he did not alter his decision, and refused to give me permission to leave Surat.
66.2
Now all is in the hands of your Highness, to whom it is due that I should obey his commands, and that a person like Mirza-Arab should not be able to oppose his wishes with so formal a resistance. Besides, not having my effects with me, as I have written to your Highness, my delay in Surat causes me considerable loss, which must give you displeasure. Moreover, it will prevent merchants from coming to this port, and that will inflict considerable injury on the Kingdom. As for myself, I am resolved to burn my effects or throw them into the sea rather than allow any one but your Highness to see them. I trust that the great authority of your Highness will withdraw me speedily from the trouble I am in, and will enable me to go to pay you my respects. And I hope that the news of the favours which I have received from your Highness, when it shall reach France, will cause many great merchants to do business in this country, and then India will know that the rare goods of the French and their precious curiosities put to shame all that has hitherto appeared in the country. This is what I deemed it necessary to write to your Highness. Dated at Surat the 25th of the month Rabi and And.
66.3
All these letters and replies explain the reason why I delayed nearly six months at Surat. At length there came an express order from the Nawáb to the Governor of the town to allow me to depart, or otherwise he would have to resign his office. The Governor of Surat was so much annoyed at being baffled that when I took leave of him he did not deign to look at me, of which I held him willingly quitted. In consequence of the news which I had received that the Nawáb had parted from Aurangábád, I found him with the army in Deccan, where he had besieged Sholápur, one of the towns of Rájá Sivaji. I sold him what I had intended for him, and during the time that I was with him he gave orders that I should lack nothing, neither for my own mouth nor the feed of my horses. They brought me each day four trays of meat and two of fruit and sweetmeats; these for the most part fell to the share of my servants, because I was seldom permitted to eat in my tent. The Nawáb gave orders that five or six Rájás or idolatrous Princes whom he had in his army should entertain me in their own manner. But their rice and vegetables, which constitute, as I have said, all their dishes, were so full of pepper, ginger, and other spices that it was impossible for me to eat them, and I left the repast with a very good appetite.
66.4
During this time the Nawáb fired a mine, which so much alarmed the inhabitants of Sholápur that they yielded by agreement, on which account the soldiers, who thought to take the town by assault, were much annoyed, seeing themselves deprived of the hope of the loot which they had anticipated. On my departure the Nawab wanted to pay me, but having represented to him that I had to pass through a disturbed country, and had to fear the followers of both armies, I asked him to allow me to draw the money at Daulatabad; this he granted willingly, and on an order which he gave me I was paid on the day following my arrival in that town. The treasurer who counted out the money to me said that he had received the advice four days previously by an express, and that the Nawab had commanded him to pay me promptly; this shows the great precision of the Indians in matters of trade to satisfy debts without delay.