A Pepys of Mongul India (1653-1708)

by Niccolao Manucci

  I started and carried with me a fine present, consisting of two cannon, several lengths of broadcloth in scarlet and other colours, other pieces of gold cloth of Europe and China, and several rarities, such as mirrors of all sizes, different kinds of crystal vases, and some weapons such as fusils, pistols, and sabres; also different kinds of wine; added to all of which was a sum of five thousand rupees. As soon as Da,ud Khan heard that I was coming, he desired to honour me so far as to send a captain with thirty horsemen and fifty musketeers to receive me at a distance of five leagues from his camp.

  On the following day I gave myself the honour of going to visit him, when he displayed much tenderness and friendliness. Next I conveyed to him compliments on behalf of our governor, but he let me understand

  that he felt much resentment, and complained that they had not already paid him a visit. They had not taken the same trouble as the Portuguese to pay him the usual compliments. My answer was that when other governors had come to occupy the position he held, it was the custom to visit them at this very place where he now was. I could not run the risk of going any farther, on account of the great forests there were, filled with robbers, where I might possibly receive some injury and lose much of what I was bringing. The Portuguese could run a greater risk, for they brought nothing with them, and came only to demand favours.

  He seemed satisfied with these reasons, and others that I gave him, on the subject, and after much discourse on divers matters I laid before him a letter and said to him that I had a present to offer on behalf of the governor and of the company; and I prayed most humbly that he would deign to accept it. His reply was that I need then only retire for repose to a tent which he had had erected for me close to his mansion. He would send word to me of the hour at which I could appear, as is the custom among the Mahomedans. Thereupon I took my leave of the general and retired to the tent, and it was impossible for me to get away from it to pay my respects to the first minister, Mahamad Sayd (Muhammad Said, the diwdri), and all the other officers. For I expected from one moment to another to be called, nor did I wish to allow any opening for the complaint that I was not found in my lodgings.

  With this thought in my mind I wanted to send the above-mentioned Brahman to visit the chief minister, but he objected that it was late, and he wanted to bathe his body according to their custom, which is to bathe every day. Although he deceived me, I believed him all the same. However, not to neglect entirely my duty, according to the customs of the court, I sent a very honest youth, that I had brought with me from

  Madras, to make my compliments to the chief minister, and intimate to him my arrival in the army. I sent him word that it was late and I was unable to acquit myself of what was due from me to him, but that in the morning I would do so without fail.

  About half-past seven o'clock Da,ud Khan sent me word that I might bring the present before him. This I did to a great extent, only keeping back in my custody the money and some of the trifling things. The reason for my so acting was that 1 could not then give him the money secretly, by reason of his being accompanied by many officers and other persons of consideration. Moreover, they look on it as a distinction and an honour to receive presents in public, but as regards money they never take it but in secret. I was thus obliged to beg him in a low voice to give me instructions to whom it should be delivered. He replied in the same way that I must keep it, that afterwards he would dispose of it as he judged most fitting. The Brahman Ramapa did not fail to notice the good reception given me, and all the honours showered upon me, as also the friendliness displayed more and more by Da,ud Khan. Besides, the Nawab had fed me splendidly that evening, and had directed his major-domo to supply my table all the time I was with him just as if it were his own. For these reasons he (Ramapa), like a fool, proceeded to imagine that this would suffice, that the present had done all that was required, and thus it was of no use to give him (Da,ud Khan) anything more. It was advisable, Ramapa thought, to keep the money, and on this he imparted to me his idea.

  He suggested that we should all the same enter it without fail in our account, and tell the governor that we had paid it over. To speak the truth, I was surprised at such a proposal, and to start with fell into such a violent rage with this Brahman that, in opposition to my nature, I spoke several sharp and harsh words to him, and went so far as to style him a thief and a traitor. For he knew very well that with the

  Mahomedans no present was better or more esteemed than money.

  The following day Da,ud Khan sent one of his servants to spy out the land, and discover from the Brahman how much money he had with him, and bring back a faithful report. He (Ramapa) quite forgot that the day before he had reported to another servant of this same Da,ud Khan that in addition to the presents we had brought some money, and this he had let out without first speaking to me.

  He told the second messenger that we had brought no money at all. At this information the general was so irritated that he sent back the present he had already accepted, and displayed extraordinary indignation against the Company. Yet with regard to me, he showed me still the same esteem, and did me always the same honour as before, in my quality as his sincere friend. As for the Brahman, he declined to see him again, and ordered the door of the house to be shut against him.

  However, as soon as I saw the present come back, I went off to see Da,ud Khan, to whom in the sweetest and most flattering language I pointed out the injury that might be inflicted on me. I prayed him most humbly, even if he had no concern for the Company, at least to call to mind our ancient friendship. I was rather esteemed and liked by the English and the gentlemen of the Company. As they had heard of the friendship and respect that he (Da,ud Khan) had for me, that fact had induced them to send me to him to carry through their business with him. Furthermore, they knew my honesty and loyalty.

  His reply was, that as for me he would do anything I wanted, but that the English settled in the country of the king, his master, possessed a strong place most useful and highly suitable for all sorts of merchandise and traffic. They had always been left undisturbed, and yet, without regard to the past, they now treated him in the most cavalier spirit, and

  gave him next to nothing. They failed to reflect that they had enriched themselves in his country to a most extraordinary degree. He believed that they must have forgotten that he was general over the province of the Karnatik, and that since the fall of the Gul-kandah kingdom they had rendered no account of their administration, good or bad, commencing with 1686. Nor had they accounted for the revenues from tobacco, betel, wine, et cetera, which reached a considerable sum every year. In his capacity of governor-general of the province he was forced to work for the progress and benefit of the king's interests. The English were very much mistaken if they thought by two thousand four hundred patacas (Rs. 4,800) to discharge the whole of their debt and enjoy freely all the revenues appertaining to the crown of his prince.

  All this he said with the greatest imaginable fury and passion, which were increased by his hatred of the English for having killed his brother-in-law, who was slain in the fight at Cuddalore, as 1 have stated, while serving in the army of Sulaiman Khan, the general's brother. After his rage had cooled a little, he made me sit down beside him, and caused Ramapa to be sent for. To him he said in harsh words that he did not mean to accept the present, he might carry it back to the governor; for his part he did not accept presents of that sort. He would come himself with all promptitude possible to take what he anticipated would suit him better. As regards Manouchy, he would not allow of his return to Madras; he meant to retain him for himself, and still more so because he happened to want him for the treatment of some ailments.

  At these words the Brahman withdrew and repaired to the tent and waited for me, so that we might concert what ought to be done at this conjuncture. But at the same moment the general called a captain known to me, named Mirmoin (? Mir Mu'fn), an Uzbak by

  race, and ordered him to take two hundred horse and two thousand i
nfantry, and proceed to Madras with all the haste he could. He was to invest that place, and prevent anything going into or coming out of it. He meant to follow in person very shortly. But the coming of night hindered the execution ot these orders with all the haste he desired, for they are very slow at making a start.

  Thus after supper I had the time to hold a conversation with Da,ud Khan at great length, and still more easy was it to do so that he was in high spirits, having drunk copiously of the European wines that I had brought for him. I began this talk by remarking to him that if he was so kind as to hold me in such high esteem, I must humbly supplicate him not to send either the captain or the soldiers. The matter was of the utmost importance for my reputation, which I placed entirely in his hands. If these soldiers proceeded to Madras, all the European nations as well as the English would attribute the fault to me; I should pass among them for a man void of either faith or fealty in any business confided to me.

  I also prayed him to hinder the Brahman's departure, telling him the reasons I had for this course. In no shape or form was it advisable for him to leave except in my company; to do otherwise would be to put the fat in the fire. As concerned the revenues, I pointed out to him that at the time when the English came and occupied Madras it was nothing but one vast plain full of sand, uninhabited, and without any name or fame in India. On the other hand, it should be remembered that it was now highly populous, full of active merchants and other residents. It was the money of the English and their good government that had created all that prosperity, coupled with the justice they administered to everybody without fear or favour. If he intended to act with so much harshness and injustice, all the nations of Europe would abandon India. He must recollect the income

  and benefits which Aurangzeb had acquired; for from what entered and left Madras alone he collected more than one hundred thousand patacas.

  In addition, there w r ere many merchants, weavers, cloth-printers .and others, for all of whom the English provided a livelihood. Many subjects of the king of this realm and others knew very well that every year there were earned in Madras five lakhs of gold pagodas (equal to about one million patacas more or less), and over ten lakhs of silver rupees (which amounts to five hundred thousand patacas). The whole of this money remained in the country, and in exchange for all this the English carried off to Europe no more than some cotton-cloth. Let him reflect that if he objected to the residence of the English in Madras, and if he bothered his head about their gaining such considerable sums, it was requisite for Aurangzeb and his subjects to give them time to withdraw to Europe. They (the English) set little store by the place; yet if they were forced to abandon it, they would also give up the other towns and factories they held in the Indies. In that case they would cease to be friends and become enemies. Upon their departure they would without fail seize every ship they came across, and thereby spread ruin and desolation throughout the Mogul empire.

  I pointed out to him these things, not solely in respect of the English, but also as generally applicable to the other nations of Europe who were to be found in that empire. Da,ud Khan was favourably impressed by all these arguments, and gave me reasonable and satisfactory answers. In brief, he issued orders to stop the departure of the troops and the Brahman.

  The next day I paid a visit to the chief minister and to all my other friends, and to them I related what had happened to me, although they knew it already. However, they felt my troubles acutely, and generously endeavoured to protect me. In this way, after

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  a few days, I was given my dismissal, carrying a confirmation of all the farmans and favours accorded to the English just in the manner that they desired.

  Da,ud Khan now took the present again ; and as he knew that I had the money, it being only the Brahman who denied the fact, because he wished to embezzle it like the thief and the traitor he was, he(Da,ud Khan) accepted the present favourably and thought highly of it. He told me to retain the money until he sent someone to receive it. Upon this I took my leave of him.

  Next day I sent on the present that I had for the chief minister, who took it with much politeness and many thanks. This lord is one of the most polished men to be found among the Mahomedans. He invited me to his table and entertained me magnificently, one of the greatest honours that these people can confer. However, the Brahman was jealous beyond measure of all the honours received by me from Da,ud Khan, from the chief minister, and all the other officers of the army, a feeling intensified by seeing himself despised and hated.

  For this reason he designed covertly to make me lose the esteem and reputation that I had among the Mahomedans, and the property I held within the English jurisdiction. To this end he tried to make use of the spies who were on the spot, men of his tribe, and wished to force them into writing to the Governor of Madras and his council that I was the sole cause of failure and the producer of all the disputes between the Mahomedans and the English. But the most intimate friends of the man knew that all he said was false, and all his inventions diabolic. They refused, but instead gave me warning of what was going on. They advised me not to put much trust in Ramapa. He, on the other hand, became more and more eager for my ruin and destruction, and had recourse to other methods. In pursuance of this idea he sought the advice of another Brahman

  he knew, and then returned to our quarters. I asked him where he had been, and he told me he had come from the general's. The latter had given him an order to place the money in the hands of the servant of a Brahman called Longcarne (? Langkaran). Directly this servant came to us, we must obey the order forthwith and without objection. He added to this several words to persuade me that such was Da,ud Khan's wish.

  When he had finished these words he went off on other business, and instantly those servants appeared and claimed the money. The}' told me they came on behalf of Da,ud Khan. There were several of them, and as soon as one had entered, another put in an appearance. They solicited and importuned me to such an extent about this money, for which they said Da,ud Khan was waiting, that I remembered what the other Brahmans had said about not trusting Ramapa.

  Then I recollected that Da,ud Khan had said he would inform me of the name of the person to whom he desired that I should count out this money. For these reasons, then, I would not deliver it to these servants; but to escape from their importunities I said that they had only to wait a little while I went to fetch the money. However, instead of doing this, 1 made all the haste I could to get out and find Da,ud Khan. I discovered him in the midst of many officers conducting a review of his cavalry. In spite of this, I went close to him, and twice over whispered in his ear, asking him to be gracious enough to send someone to receive the money.

  To these words he replied by telling me to wait a little. When he had finished his inspection I renewed my prayer that he would be good enough to relieve me of that burden, since he knew very well that 1 could not guard it securely. At last, to satisfy me, he sent for his treasurer, and, after having had a good look first one wa} r and then another, to see

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  that no one was watching, he said to him privately, and to me also, that he must go to receive that money.

  I returned to my quarters highly pleased, and there 1 found no trace of the lackeys I spoke of above, nor have I ever seen them since. In a little time the treasurer arrived, and I delivered the money to him in the presence of several of my friends and some servants of the Company. He, too, was very joyful at receiving it, for there is no greater pleasure to these men than when they behold the store of their master on the increase.

  Some little time afterwards the Brahman Ramapa returned, and, although he knew all that had happened, he made no sign; on the contrary, he asserted he knew nothing whatever. But I told him I had paid over the money to the general's treasurer, and not to the men of the Brahman Langkaran. Upon this, in the humblest tone and his eyes swimming with tears, he began to make excuse, just as is th
eir habit; for it may be truly said that these people are very much like crocodiles (cocordilles whose skin changes at their will and pleasure. 1

  These difficulties occasioned me much trouble, and were all due to the Brahman; so great were they, that I was not far from losing my life. The whole affair caused me the more vexation because this Brahman had many friends at Madras, and many relations among the merchants who were influential with the governor, et cetera. In spite of this, by Heaven's help I was delivered entirely, upholding my own honour and that of the Company. Upon quitting the army I had the delight of hearing, mingled with other compliments, that all which had been gained was on account of me ; I found myself also regaled by a very rich sardpd (set of robes), which I showed to the Brahman, who also received one for himself.

  About fifteen days afterwards I returned to Madras, and rendered an account to the governor of all that

  1 Does he not mean to say " chameleons." 17

  •246 DA,UD &BAN COMES AGAIN

  I had done in regard to the interests of the Company and to the matters he had committed to me. This generous man, having obtained full confirmation of my story, was very satisfied, and gave me many marks of his gratitude. I did not tell him all that the Brahman had done to me, for he had besought me with tears in his eyes not to say anything. His tears compelled me to have compassion, and, instead of telling, I made over to him two lengths of cloth, thereby rewarding his ingratitude and infamous conduct by a largesse. I let him see that a generous and Christian heart (be it said without boasting) never resents the wrongs or injustice done to it.

  [Some months later Manucci had further dealings with Da,ud Khan, who arrived at San Thome with his army, on his return from collecting tribute in Tanjor and elsewhere.]