The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c24.32

v1.c24.32

We find the first impressions of de Nobili after his arrival at Madura in a letter dated December 3rd, 1607, to his godfather the Marquese D. Gregorio Boncompagno: “This,” says he, “is the chief city of the kingdom. It is thickly populated by men that are indeed rich and brave in war, but who have as yet no knowledge of the true God. They are addicted to a very wicked idol-worship; and our Fathers who work here find themselves confronted with such insuperable opposition that after twelve years they have not made a single convert, except three or four sick persons who were baptised shortly before death. Yet our Fathers, who have been at work so long here, are men of outstanding virtue and true ability” ³. De Nobili, in another letter to his cousin the Comtessa de Santa Flore, compares the idolatry of Madura to the idolatry of the old city of Rome: “I am now”, he writes, “in a famous city of this country called Madura, crowded with wicked idols, as was formerly the famous city of Rome” ⁴.