Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 08
Author(s): Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications

Previous | Next

Page 262
________________ 236 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. fastened a quarrel upon him in the tents of a merchant named "Hogio Nazam," a "Captaine Mogol" from Ahmadabad, with his men, drew their swords in his defence. Before this, he had sent off the Hector, under his second in command Marlow, to rejoin the Admiral (Keelinge) at Bantam, and on the 1st February 1609 he left Surat committing affairs there to William Finch. "The Portugalls had wrought with an ancient friend of theirs a Raga, who was absolute lord of a Province between Daman, Guzarat and Decan, called Cruly," (and which I cannot identify, but it must have been in the Surat Dangs or the modern Nawapur Peta of Khandesh,) to waylay him with 200 horse, but an officer of Khân Khânân's gave him "valient Horsemen, Pattens (Pathâns) a people very much feared in these parts," who brought him two days beyond "Dayta, another province or Princedome," very likely Jaitana or Nizampur, in Khandesh. He was next taken in hand by one Sher Khan, "another Patten Captaine, Governour of that lordship, who went two dayes journey with mee, till he had freed mee from the dangerous places, at which time he met with a troupe of outlaws, and took some four alive, and slew and hurt eight, the rest escaped." The 4 days' journey from Dayta through dangerous, i.e. probably hilly places, agrees with the identification hazarded above, and if it be correct, Hawkins must have come up the Kondai Bari pass, which the Imperial serai still standing marks as a favourite Mogul route. Hawkins got to " Bramport" (Burhanpur) on the 18th, and was well received by Khân Khânân. He left on the 2nd of March, and got to Agra on the 16th April, where the Emperor Jehangir immediately had him brought to Court. He derived great advantage from the Emperor's "perceiving that he had the Turkish tongue, which himself well understood" (His Majesty, we presume, using the Chagatai dialect), and received a mansale of 400, with the promise of promotion to 1000. "Then, because my name was something hard for his pronuntiation, hee called mee English Chan, that is to say English Lord, but in Persia it is the title for a Duke. The Emperor's next whim was to wive his new favourite who endeavoured to escape on the score of religion. So the king, called to mind one Mubarique Sha his daughter, who was a Christian Armenian, and of the race of the most ancient Christians, who was a captain, and in great favor with Ekbar Padasha, this king's father." The lady proved an excellent bargain to her unwilling bridegroom," she being willing to goe where I went, and live as I lived." Shortly after, the Emperor granted the Company's first firman "most effectually written, so firmely for our good and so free as heart can wish, and [AUGUST, 1879. Hawkins sent it to William Finch." All this time his enemies, "Mocrebkhan" and the Portuguese had not been idle; and the Imperial favour oscillated from one party to the other, while his "living" (jaghir) was "given him still in places where outlawes raigned." Eventually he seems to have fallen into disfavour, but regained it for a time by bribing Nur Mahal, her father and brother. Eventually, the Emperor told him "that for my nation hee would not grant trade at the sea ports," assigning as a reason the trouble given by the Portuguese upon any favour shown to the English; but offered him personally employment and favour, which Hawkins refused, with spirit, and after some trouble left Agra on the second November 1611. He got to Cambay on the 30th December; and to Sir Henry Middleton's ships, then at "Swally" on the Company's 6th voyage on the 26th January. They were refused all permission to trade, and went to Dabul, where they took a Portugal ship and frigate, "and from thence we departed the fift of March 1611 for the Red sea with an intent to revenge us of the wrongs offered us both by Turks and Mogols." (The Turks at Mocha had treated Middleton very badly.) This they did effectually by taking and holding to ransom the Mogul pilgrim ships, and then proceeded the archipelago. Hawkins died on the voyage home. He adds to his narrative many valuable observations, including a list of Jehangir's Munsabdars. The Hawkins' voyages do not contain much of special interest to the Orientalist besides his travels, but the first volume under review, which we left to trace his footsteps, gives accounts of Keelinge's voyage, continued after parting from Hawkins at Socotra; Sharpeigh's, who got from Surat to some place beyond Burhanpur, Middleton's great voyage (the Company's sixth) in which he rescued Hawkins, and proved more than a match for Turks, Moguls, and Portuguese, a journal of the 10th voyage of the Company, a calendar of the ship's journals in the India Office, (written in the 17th century), the journal of Knight's search for a North-West passage in 1606, and a list of the Company's ships employed during the seventeenth century, altogether a mass of curious information not easily matched in so small a volume, and from which we would willingly, did space permit, give many more extracts. Both volumes have good indices; and the second contains the report of the Hakluyt Society, with its prospectus and rules, which we recommend to the attention of our readers, as its publications form the only means of obtaining a great deal of original information of the sort dealt with in this notice. W. F. S.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404