INDIAN TRAVELS IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. * THE interest of this
new volume of the " Hakluyt Society "is rather of a curious and antiquarian than of a living kind. Be- -tween 1420 and the close of the century four travellers visited In- dia—a Venetian, a Genoese, a Russian, and a native of Herat; and each of them wrote or dictated an account of his adventures, his troubles, and his observations, together with the most memorable things he had heard of. The object of all the Europeans was more or less commercial; but Abd-er-Razzak of Herat was the ambas- sador of his sovereign, Shah Rukh. One purpose of his mission was to return in kind a compliment paid to the Shah by the King of Caliout, who, learning through an embassy driven to his capital by stress of weather, "that the kings of all the habitable globe, of the East as well as of the West, of the land and of the sea, had sent rival ambassadors with messages, showing that they regarded the august court of that monarch [Shah Rukh] as the Kiblah to which they should pay their homage—as the Kabah, the object to which they should direct their aspirations," he of Calicut, not to be behind others, did as they did, and also solicited a little assistance against the ruler of Bengal. It was to return thia compliment at our traveller was sent to India. Another object was to con- vert the infidel Indian king to the trim faith of the Prophet; but as the " SaMeri" or ruler of Calked showed the ambassador "but little consideration," it is possible that there is seine Oriental efflorescence in the narrative. Abd-er-Razzak subsequently visited the King of Bidjanagar by invitation ; which involved a long • India in the "llama Century : being a Collection of Narratives of voyages India, as the Onstury preceding the Portuguese bisoonery of the Cape of GP" Hope; from Latin, Persian, Russian, and Italian Sources, now first translated nit° Engaiak. Edited, with an introduction, by R. H. Major, Esq., F.S.A. Printed the Hakluyt Society. iournq into the interior • but adverse fortune again overtook him.
en of Ormuz, the celebrated emporium in the Persian Gulf, re- presented him to the vizier as a mere merchant, who was only the bearer of a letter and not an ambassador at all ; and the con- spiracy was aided by a Christian vizier.
The King had admitted into his council, to supply the place of Daiang, a Christian, named Nimeh-pezir. This man thought himself equal to a vi- zier: he was a creature of small stature, malicious, ill-born, mean, and stern. All the moat odious vices were united in him, without one finding in hum any counterbalancing estimable quality. This wretch, as soon as he had de- filed ty_his presence the seat of authority, suppressed, without any i reason, the daaly allowance which had been assigned to us. soon after, the inhabit- ants of Ormuzhaving found a favourable occasion, manifested without re- servation that 'diabolical malignity which was stamped upon their character, and the conformity of their perverse inclinations having united them inti- mately with the vizier Nimeh-pezir, they said to that man
zak is not an ambassador sent by his majesty the happy Khakan ; he is but
mefehant who has been charged with the conveyance of a letter from that monarch.' They also circulated amongst the idolaters a variety of falsehoods, which produced a deep impression upon their minds. For a considerable time, the author, placed as he was in the midst of a country inhabited by in- Male, remained in a painful position, and doubtful as to what course he ought to follow. While all these perplexities, however, were hanging over me, the Bing; on several occasions when he met me on his road, turned to- wards me with kindness and asked after my welfare. Re is in truth a prince who possesses eminent qualities."
Each of the four narratives differs considerably in character. That of the Genoese Di Santo Stefano, exhibits the most exact and businesslike information as an itinerary, and in respect to merchantable productions. Natikin. the Russian is the barest, and his mercantile object apparently- the smallest. Character is given to Abd-er-Razzak's account front his dread of the sea and his Oriental style, though the last often verges upon flowery infla- tion. All of them present a substantial picture of the India of to- day ; and probably what appears exaggeration is less hyperbole than the impression made by the wealth and luxury of India on persons coming from poorer and more backward countries. The superstitions of the Hindoos, their reverence for the cow, the prac- tice of suttee, their system of caste dawn even to the pollution of food by the shadow of a person, are all noted. The hideousness of the idols, the riches of the temples, the Brahmins and dancing- girls attached to them, and the immorality of the women, with other singular though local customs, are dwelt upon by one or other of the travellers. Morals would seem to have improved in the East, or the travellers of those days were plainer-spoken than i their successors; even if we suppose, what s probably the case, that the adventurers of the fifteenth century drew their conclu- sions from the lower classes of seaports and great cities. The two Italians visited the greater Indian islands, Ceylon, Sumatra, and probably Java, as well as the countries beyond the Ganges. Mina is spoken of, but does not appear to have been reaehed. The established post regulations and the police of India are noticed, especially by Abd-er-Razzak, upon whom the taxation, order, and method in connexion with the dancing-girls at the Hindoo temples of Bidjanagar seem to have made a great impression. Re was not personally well pleased with the ruler of Calicut, but he-bears witness to the commercial justice and liberality of the laws.
"Security and justice are so firmly established in this city, that the most wealthy merchants bring thither from maritime countries considerable car- goes, which they unload, and unhesitatingly send into the markets and the bazaars, without thinking in the mean time of any necessity of checking the account or of keeping watch over the goods. The officers of the customhouse take upon themselves the charge of looking after the merchandise' over which they keep watch day and night. When a sale is effected, they levy a duty on the goods of one-fortieth part ; if they are not sold, they make no charge on them whatsoever.
" In other ports a strange practice is adopted. When a vessel sets sail for a certain point, and suddenly is driven by a decree of Divine Providence into another roadstead, the inhabitants, under the pretext that the wind has driven it there, plunder the ship. But at Calicut, every ship, whatever place it may come front, or wherever it may be bound, when it puts into this port is treated like other vessels, and has no trouble of any kind to put up with."
Those who are interested in the social history of India will find a good. many hints upon the subject in this, volume, as well as some information as to the commerce and navigation in the Indian seas four hundred years ago. The most generally interesting portions are probably the fabulous. Some persons conceive there is no such thing as invention in the sense of entire novelty. The wildest fable is derived from some popular report ; and that report possibly originates in some reality, though it may not al- ways be traceable. In the narrative of the Venetian Conti before us there is the story of the Phcenix, or whatever that "lonely bird" may be,
"Which sings at last its own death lay, And in music and perfume dies away " ;
also of Sinbad's valley of diamonds, and an account of a modesty plant ; while the Russian swallows a tale of monkeys that, im- possible as it Seems, might originally have been drawn from the barbarous aborigines, changed by successive transmutations.
The Phceni.s.—" On the boundaries of central India there is a uni ue bird called seraende, in the beak of which there are, as it were several ella duct pipes with many openings. When death approaehea, this bird collects a quantity of dry wood in its nest, and, sitting upon it, sings so sweetly with all its pipes that it attracts and soothes the hearers to a marvellous degree ; then igniting the wood by flapping-its wings, it allows itself to be burnt to death. Ins short time a worm is produced from the ashes, and from this worm the same kind of bird is again produced. The inhabitants hare raade a pipe of admirable sweetness for singing, in imitation of the bad this bird."
The Modesty Plant.=" In the province of Pudifetania there grows a tree about three cubits in height, which bears an fruit, and which is called by a uame signif_ 'hag modesty.' If a man approach it,,it.contracta and draws Up all its Wes, and expands again when he departs*" The Diamond Mosint4sin.—" At fifteen days' journey beyond.Bizenegalia, towards the North, there is a mountain called Albemgaras, surrounded by pools of water which MEM with venomous animals, and the mountain it- self is infested with serpents. This mountain produces diamonds. The in- genuity of man, not haying been able to find any mode of approaching the mountain, has, however, discovered a way of getting at the diamonds pro- duced on it. There is another mountain near it, a little hitcher. Here, at a certain period of the year, men bring oxen, which they drive to the top, and having cut them into pieces, cast the warm and bleeding fragments upon the summit of the other mountain, by means of machines which they construct for that purpose. The diamonds stick to these pieces of flesh. Then come vultures and eagles flying to the spot, which, seizing the meat for their food, fly away with it to plaoes where they may be safe from the serpents. To these places the men afterwards come, and collect the dia- monds which have fallen from the flesh."
Nitikin on the Monkeys and other Wanders.—" In that Aland (Aladi- nand ?) there is a bird, gookook, that flies at night and cries Gookook !' and any roof it lights upon there the man will die ; and whoever attempts to kill it will see fire flashing from its beak. Wild cats rove at night and catch fowls; they live in the hills and among atones. As to monkeys, they live in the woods and have their monkey kniaz, who is attended by a host of armed followers. When any of them is caught, they complain to their kniaz, and an army is sent after the missing ; and when they come to a town they pull down the houses and beat the people ; and their armies, it is said, are many. They speak their own tongues and bring forth a great many children ; and when a child is unlike its father or its mother it is thrown out on the high road. Thus they are often caught by the Hindoos, who teach them every sort of handicraft, or sell them at night, that they may not find their way home, or teach them dancing."
The editor, and in part translator, Mr. Major, prefaces the four narratives by an introduction. In this he gives a succinct his- tory of the travels or voyages to India by the ancients and me- direval explorers, whether Mahometans, Jews, or Christians, up to the time of Conti, the earliest of the fear adventurers. He also discusses the Arabian Nights' story of Siebad the Sailor ; main- taining the geographical accuracy of the voyages, and that the wildest of the fables had some origin in fact or the tradition of extinct creatures—even the Roc.
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