A Pepys of Mongul India (1653-1708)

by Niccolao Manucci

  On the crest of the mountain is a great plain, on which are sumptuous palaces with many balconies and windows of various kinds of stone, and delightful

  gardens irrigated from many crystal springs, where cypress and other lovely trees raise their heads aloft, so as to be visible from a distance. Within this fortress is manufactured much oil of jasmine, the best to be found in the kingdom, the whole of the level ground on the summit being covered with that shrub. There are also in this district many iron-mines, of which numerous articles are made and sent to the principal cities in the Mogul country.

  In the town, which lies at the foot of the hill, there dwell many musicians, who gain a livelihood with their instruments, and many persons maintain that it was on this mountain that the god Apollo first started Hindu music.

  Continuing our route, we came in three days to the river called the Chambal, at which is the town named Dolpur (Dholpur), where Arangzeb gave battle against his brother Dara (Dara Shukoh), in the year one thousand six hundred and fifty-six (correctly 1658), at which I was present, and to which, farther on, I shall refer. Thence in four days we arrived at the city of Agrah, having ended by doing four hundred and sixt}^ leagues, for such is the number reckoned from Surat as far as Agrah. At this place the governor assigned to us a handsome house to stay in.

  We remained in this city, of which 1 will speak on a future occasion, and, a few days after our arrival, the Englishmen who at that time were present at their factory came to visit the ambassador, showing themselves desirous of being useful to him, making him frequent and handsome offers. But these the ambassador would in no way accept. After several visits they invited him to their house, where they gave him a splendid feast, with dressed meats and beverages after their style. The ambassador complained very much of the great heat that has to be endured in that country, and the English offered him a powder, declaring that if he mixed it and drank it he would experience great relief and coolness.

  When a few days had passed we resumed our route for Dely (Dihll), where at that moment the king, Shahjahan, was living. Then, after three days from our leaving Agrah, towards the evening, when in sight of the place where we meant to halt for that night, the ambassador called out to me in great pain, asking me for water. Then he expired without allowing me time to give it to him, those being the last words that he uttered. He died on the twentieth of June of one thousand six hundred and fifty-three (correctly 1656), at five o'clock in the evening. We carried the body at once to a sarae called Orel (Hodal), between Agrah and Dihll, and, it being already late, we did not bury him that night. The official at the sarae sent notice to the local judicial officer, who hastened to the spot, and, putting his seal on all the baggage, laid an embargo upon it. I asked him why he seized and sealed up those goods. He answered me that it was the custom of that realm, and that he could not release the things until an order came from court, they being the property of an ambassador.

  After seven hours of the night had passed we removed the body of the defunct from the palanquin in order to enshroud it, and, as day began to dawn, we proceeded to lay him in the grave. Taking him by the arms I tried to lift him, but, while in my hands, a blister burst, from which exhaled such a fetid odour that all those standing by nearly fainted and fell down. We were forced to cease to lift him, and await the day. When day arose we somehow or other put him into a coffin, with all the haste that the odour compelled, and interred him on the bank of a reservoir which adjoined the town, marking the spot so that his bones might be transported elsewhere, as accorded with the rank of such a person. And as a fact they removed the remains after fifteen months to the city of Agra (Agrah).

  Having interred the ambassador, the servants all disappeared, and I was left alone, sad and anxious, 4

  having nothing to console me, nor anywhere to turn in order to recover my things, which had been sealed up by the official along with the ambassador's, although all the keys were in my possession.

  After we had buried the ambassador I wrote to the English factory at Agrah, informing them of his death, and of the embargo imposed by the local officials on his property as well as mine, wherefore I prayed them to send me the necessary recommendatory letters. I received no answer; but eight days afterwards two Englishmen appeared, one called Thomas Roch (?T. Roach), and the other Raben Simitt (? Reuben Smith), dressed after the fashion and costume of the country, men in the service of the King Shahjahan, and captains of the bombardiers in the royal artillery.

  They came to visit me, and when I saw them I asked what they had come about. They informed me that they had come under the king's orders to carry away the property of the ambassador, which lapsed to the crown. To that I retorted by asking if they bore any order, whereupon they laughed, and asked who I might be. I told them I was the servant of the ambassador, that the property in question had been made over to me, that I did not mean to let it go without their delivering to me my belongings— that is, two muskets, four pistols, clothes, and other trinkets, which had been set apart Their answer was that the whole belonged to the king, and without another word they went to find those who had put on the seals, and obtaining their consent made themselves masters of everything, arranging to remove the whole to the city of Dihli.

  I did not mean to abandon the property, and resolved to set out in their company. On the road they showed me not the least little sign of civility, such as Europeans, even of different nations, are accustomed to display in all parts of Asia when they come across each other. Many a time did I entreat

  them for God's sake to make over to me what was mine; but as they saw I was only a youth they scoffed at me, and said: " Shut your mouth; if you say a word we will take your horse and your arms away." Seeing there was no other way out of it, I dissembled for the time being, but never despaired of getting back what belonged to me.

  After three days' journey we arrived at Dihli, where the Englishmen deposited the property in a same, put seals on the room doors, and told me to go about my business. Then I began to make request that they would be so good as to separate my property from that of the ambassador, and make it over to me, for it did not belong to the king. They burst out laughing and mocked me, giving me the customary answer. As I took my leave I prayed them to do me the favour of telling me their names, so that if anyone called me to account about that property I should be able to defend myself by pointing out the persons who had taken possession of it. I expressed my astonishment that they should lock up in a sarde room property that they said belonged to the king. I asked them angrily whether the king had no other place in which to store the goods he owned ; but they knew quite well that the property did not belong to them, and that they were taking the king's name in vain, solely in order that they might get hold of other people's goods. They replied that there was no need to know their names. As for my second remark they only set to laughing, and thus went away in apparent triumph, not foreseeing what was to happen to them.

  I retired to a room in the same sarde, not far from the one where the property was. Then I found out the names of those two Englishmen, so as to be able to take my own measures. Being anxious to know what was going on, there turned up on a visit to me a Frenchman, called Clodio Malier, a founder employed in the artillery of Dara, first-born son of Shah-jahan. With him I talked over what had happened

  to me with those two Englishmen, and said again that it did not seem to me possible that so great a monarch as the Mogul king should possess no other place to store the goods that belonged to him than a mere same, where travellers took up their quarters. The Frenchman assured me that the Englishmen had not seized the goods by order of the king, but that Thomas Roach, learning of the ambassador's death, had sent in a petition to the prince Dara, by whom he was favoured, in the following terms: " A man of my country, a relation of mine, came from Europe, his purpose being to obtain the honour of serving under your highness, but his good fortune was of such little duration and so scanty that he was unable to obtain his desire, being overtaken by
death on reaching the same of Hodal, whereupon those who govern in that place laid an embargo upon his goods. Therefore I pray as a favour that your highness be pleased to issue orders for their delivery to me."

  The prince dealt with this petition as Thomas Roach hoped, but Raben Semitt (Reuben Smith), getting word of what Thomas Roach was about, held it not to be right that he should acquire the whole of the ambassador's property, that it must be divided between the two of them. Thus he (R. Smith) accompanied him (T. Roach) as far as Hodal. Should he not consent to a division, he (R. Smith) threatened to tell the whole story to the king. Thomas Roach accepted the situation, so as not to lose the whole. This was the story told me by Clodio Malier, who bade me adieu with much civility and many offers of service. Being thus informed of what was going on, and confiding in my knowledge of the Turkish, but more especially of the Persian language, which is that chiefly used and most current at the court of the Mogul, I resolved to go to the secretary of the king, whose name was Vizircan (Wazir Khan) to lodge a complaint. For this purpose I went to his house, and, obtaining permission to enter, I reported to him what

  was going on. He directed me to sit down opposite to him, alongside one of his sons, who was of my age.

  The secretary asked me if I knew the accustomed mode of making obeisance before the king by those who enter his presence. I answered that I did. As he displayed a desire to see me do this, I arose, stood quite erect, and, bending my body very low until my head was quite close to the ground, I placed my right hand with its back to the ground, then raising it, put it on my head, and stood up straight. This ceremonial I repeated three times, and this is done to the king only. The secretary was delighted to see a foreigner, young in years and newly arrived in the city, make his obeisances so confidently. I was dressed like a Turk, with a turban of red velvet bound with a blue ribbon, and dressed in satin of the same colour; also a waist-cloth of gold-flowered pattern with a red ground. He was amused to see me got up like this, and asked the reason for adopting such a costume, and why I did not adopt the Mogul fashions, whereupon I acquainted him of the journey that I had made and the countries through which I had passed.

  During this time a notice reached him that the king had decided to hold an audience that morning. Then, rising at once, he took me with him to the palace, telling me that it was requisite for me to go with him before the king.

  He warned me that, when I came into the king's presence, I must perform the same obeisances that I had practised before him. When we got to the palace the king had already taken his seat on the throne. The secretary directed two men to present me to the king, while he (the secretary) should be talking to him. Accordingly they did present me, ordering me to appear in front of the king at a distance of fifty paces, waiting until he should take notice of me before I made my obeisance.

  I had noticed that, when the secretary reached the 4*

  42 SHAHJAHAN AND HIS AUDIENCE-HALL

  place where is the railing, he made one bow, such as I had done at his house ; then, when close to the throne, he made three bows; and, approaching still nearer, he began to speak to the king. After a few words he raised his hand towards where I was, as if pointing me out. The king raised his eyes towards me, then the courtiers with me told me to make my obeisances, which I did. The secretary went on with his conversation, which I could not overhear by reason of the distance at which I was. All those who were present before the king were standing ; only one man was seated at the side of the throne, but his seat was lower, and this was the Prince Dara, the king's son.

  I noted that the throne on which the king, Shahjahan, was seated stood in front of, and near to, the palace of the women, so that as soon as he came out of its door he reached the throne. It is like a table, adorned with all sorts of precious stones and flowers, in enamel and gold. There are three cushions—a large one, five spans in diameter, and circular, which serves as a support to the back, and two other square ones, one on each side; also a most lovely mattress : for in Turkey, and throughout the whole of Hindustan, they do not sit upon chairs, but upon carpets or mattresses, with their legs crossed. Around the throne, at the distance of one pace, are railings of gold, of the height of one cubit, within which no one enters except the king's sons. Before they enter they come and, facing the king, go through their obeisance, then enter the palace and come out by the same door from which the king issued. Arriving there, they again make obeisance, and upon a sign from the king they take their seat in the same enclosure, but at the foot of, and on one side of, the throne. Thereupon the pages appear with the umbrella, parasol, betel, spittoon, sw r ord, and fly-brusher.

  Below the throne, several feet lower than it, a space is left, sufficient for the secretary (? zvaztr) and the greatest officials of the court. This space is sur-

  SHAHJAHAN AND HIS AUDIENCE-HALL 43

  rounded by a silver railing. Near it stand " grusber-dares " (gurz-barddrs) —that is to say, the bearers of golden maces, whose duty it is to carry orders from the court to princes of the blood royal. After a descent of a few more steps there is another space of greater size, where are the captains and other officials, also the " grusberdares " (gurz-bardars) with silver maces, who convey the orders of the court to the governors, generals, and other princes. These are placed with their backs to a railing of wood painted vermilion, which surrounds the space.

  The hall in which stood the royal seat is adorned with twenty highly decorated pillars, which support the roof. This roof stretches far enough to cover the spaces enclosed within the silver railing, and is hidden half-way by an awning of brocade. Further, a canopy over the king's throne is upheld by four golden pillars.

  Outside the wooden railing is a great square, where, close to the railing, stand nine horses on one side and nine on the other, all saddled and equipped. Near to the pillars are brought certain elephants on every day that the king gives audience, and there they make their obeisance, as I shall describe when I speak of the elephants. Behind the horses already spoken of were four handsomely adorned elephants, and in the square a considerable number of soldiers stand on guard. At the end was a great hall, where were stationed the players on instruments, and these, upon the king's appearing to give audience, played very loudly, to give notice that the king was already in the audience hall.

  The silence preserved was astonishing, and the order devoid of confusion. For this purpose there are officials, whose business it is to see that the people are placed in proper order. Some of these officials held gold sticks in their hands, and these came within the silver railing. The others carried silver sticks, and they took great heed that throughout

  44 THE AMBASSADOR'S PROPERTY RELEASED

  the court nothing was done which could displease the king.

  After 1 had received my permission to go I left in the company of the two courtiers, and returned to the sarae. There I showed them where I had put up, and the room in which was the property. Thereupon they broke the seals, and brought out all the things, and carried them away.

  The next day, about nine o'clock in the morning, there came two servants of the secretary (wazir) to fetch me. They took me to his palace, where I found him seated in the same hall where I had spoken to him the day before. As I came in I observed that the ambassador's property was lying there. I made the usual obeisance to the secretary (wazir). Then with a pleasant look on his face he asked me if I identified the two thieves, pointing with his hand to one corner of the hall. Noticing this, I turned my face that way, and saw the two English impostors, loaded with iron, fetters on their feet and shackles on their necks, and very much ashamed, being afraid that they would be decapitated.

  Turning again to the secretary, I craved leave to speak to them, and going near to them I said: " It would have been more honest to let me have the little that was mine, but then you wanted to acquire more than was yours; you suffer through your excess of greed, and in your desire to embrace all you are left with nothing. You laughed, you scoffed, and had no tenderness fo
r me, and now I sorrow for love of you, and feel compassion for the miserable condition in which I see you. You may make certain that I shall not fail to deal towards you with more charity and consideration than you showed me on the road from Hodal."

  Returning to the secretary (wazir), he told me to look at the things, and inform him whether any article was missing, for the prisoners would have to pay for anything deficient. 1 examined the property in

  his presence, and ascertained that it was complete. Since my things had been separated and were kept apart I prayed him as a favour to issue orders that they should be returned to me. In addition, most of the ambassador's goods belonged to an English trader, named Mestre Jonh (Mr. Young), dwelling in Surat, from whom the ambassador had obtained them, promising to repay him afterwards.

  The secretary (wazir) told me to sit down beside his son, who was in front of him ; he said he would give me many things, and making me great promises said to me that if I consented to remain in his house he would treat me like a son. In case I did not agree he did not mean to give me anything. My answer was that I could not live in his house, that I cared very little about the loss of my own things, but should grieve a very great deal if he did not give to Mestre Jonh (Mr. Young) those that were his.

  Upon this the secretary (wazir) asked me minutely which were the ambassador's and which Mestre Jonh's (Mr. Young's) things. I pointed them all out in detail, one of the secretary's clerks taking the whole down in writing. I told him that besides these goods Mestre Jonh (Mr. Young) had lent the ambassador the sum of four thousand patacas (about £800), and an Arab horse, already in the secretary's (wazirs) possession. Finally I begged leave to return to my abode, and he, in sending me off, directed me to return in two days to speak to him in the same place.