The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c6.s1.t2: C. From the Archives of the Society of Jesus
The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c6.s1.t2
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C. From the Archives of the Society of Jesus
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Much use has been made of the Jesuit documents to illustrate the history of the Mughal Empire, specially during the reign of Akbar. But they have been studied very little by South Indian scholars. Mr. G. H. Nelson, in *The Madura Manual*, and Prof. R. Sathyanatha Aiyar in his *History of the Nayaks of Madura*, are the only authors who have used the Southern Jesuit's letters in their works. But unfortunately they knew these letters only through the work of Fr. Bertrand, *La Mission de Madure*, in which these documents appear in a French translation, which is far from accurate. Fortunately through the kindness both of Very Rev. Fr. J. Planchard, Superior of the Madura Mission, and of Fr. J. Castets, in charge of the Archives of the Mission, I was allowed to see and copy a number of photographs of Jesuit letters from Southern India, the originals of which are preserved in Europe. These documents are of three different kinds:—
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(a) *Litterae Annuae*. These are the official letters sent annually from every Province or Mission to the General of the Society of Jesus residing at Rome. While narrating the state of the Mission they occasionally give precious information about the civil conditions of the country. Sometimes also, specially in later years, a detailed account of the civil conditions of the country in which the missionaries are working is given at the beginning of the letter.
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(b) *Private Letters*. These are not official letters but are those addressed either by the Provincial or by the Missionary Fathers to the General of the Jesuits or to other Fathers in Europe. All these letters, both official and private, are originals. Of their historical value Mr. Vincent Smith, *Akbar*, p. 6-7, speaks very highly.
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(c) The only other document which has been made use of in the present volume is a protest sent to the King of Spain and Portugal against the Jesuits of the South, and specially against those working at Chandragiri. The document photographed is only a copy of the original memorial. It is published at the end of *Appendix C*.
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Space does not allow of a full description of all these Jesuit documents. As mentioned above, I have only worked upon their photographs, and no scale is given from which to deduce their real size.