Indian Antiquary Vol 08

Author(s): Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 73

MISCELLANEA.
FEBRUARY, 1879.].
their general lie under this obligation. And of such the King makes use in urgent cases, sending them to die fighting."-Letter of F. Sassetti to Francesco I., Grand Duke of Tuscany, in De Gubernatis, Viaggiatori Italiani, p. 154.
hath
1566"The king of Cochin.. a great number of gentlemen which he calleth Amocchi, and some are called Nairi: these two sorts of men esteeme not their lives any thing, so that it may be for the honour of their king."Master Cæsar Frederike in Purchas, vol. II. p. 1708.
De Barros, speaking of the capture of the isle of Beth by Nuno da Cunha (1531), says: "But the natives of Guzarat stood in such fear of Sultan Badur that they would not consent to the terms. And so, like people determined on death, all that night they shaved their heads (this is a superstitious practice of those who despise life, people whom they call in India Amaucos), and betook themselves to their mosque, and there devoted their persons to death.... and as an earnest of this vow, and an example of this resolution, the Captain ordered a great fire to be made, and cast into it his wife, and a little son that he had, and all his household and his goods, in fear lest anything of his should fall into our possession." Others did the like, and then they fell upon the Portuguese.-Dec. IV. liv. IV. cap. xiii..
1602-De Couto, speaking of the Javanese:"They are chivalrous men, and of such determina-tion that for whatever offence may be offered them they make themselves amoucos in order to get satisfaction thereof. And were a spear run into the stomach of such an one he would still press forward without fear till he got at his foe."Dec. IV. liv. III. cap. i.
In another passage (ib. liv. VII. cap. xiv.) he speaks of the amoucos of Malabar, just as P. della Valle does in the quotation below. In Dec. VI. (liv. VIII. cap. viii.) he describes how, on the death of the king of Pimenta, in action with the Portuguese, nearly four thousand Nayrs made themselves amoucos with the usual ceremonies, shaving their beards on one side, and swearing by their pagods to avenge the king's death.
1624"Though two kings may be at war, either army takes great heed not to kill the king of the opposite faction, nor yet to strike his umbrella, wherever it may go...... for the whole kingdom of the slain or wounded king would be bound to avenge him with the complete destruction of the enemy, or all, if needful, to perish in the attempt. The greater the king's dignity among these people, the longer period lasts this obligation to furious revenge.. this period or method of revenge is termed Amoco, and so they
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say that the Amoco of the Samori lasts one day; the Amoco of the king of Cochin lasts a lifetime; and so of others."-P. della Valle, vol. II. p. 745.
1672-Padre Vincenzo Maria says of the Malabar Christians: "Every community, every church has its own Amouchi, which are people who take an oath to protect with their own lives the persons and places put under their safeguard, from all and every harm." (p. 145.)
And again of the Malabar people in general: "If the prince is slain, the Amouchi, who are numerous, would avenge him desperately. These are soldiers who swear to defend the king's life with their own. If he be injured, they put on festive raiment, take leave of their parents, and with fire and sword in hand invade the hostile territory, burning every habitation, and slaying man, woman and child, sparing none until they themselves fall." (pp. 237-8.)
"Derrière ces palissades s'estoit caché un coquin de Bantamois qui estoit revenu de la Mecque et jouoit à Moqua... il court par les rues et tue tous ceux qu'il rencontre".....-Tavernier, V. des Indes, liv. iii. ch. 24.)
1698"And (the Mohammedans) are hardly restrained from running a muck (which is to kill whoever they meet, till they be slain themselves), especially if they have been at Hodge, a Pilgrimage to Mecca."-Fryer, p. 91.
1687-Dryden assailing Burnet :"Prompt to assault, and careless of defence, Invulnerable in his impudence,
He dares the world, and, eager of a name, He thrusts about and justles into fame. Frontless, and satire-proof, he scours the
streets,
And runs an Indian muck at all he meets." The Hind and the Panther, 1. 2477. 1727" I answered him that I could no longer bear their Insults, and, if I had not permission in three Days, I would run a Muck (which is a mad Custom among the Mallayas when they become desperate)."-A. Hamilton, vol. II. p. 231. 1737
"Satire's my weapon, but I am too discreet To run a muck. and tilt at all I meet."
Pope, Im. of Horace, bk. II. Sat. i. 69. Circa 1750-60:-"Running what they call a-muck, furiously killing every one they meet..... But by all accounts this practice is much rarer in India than it formerly was."-Grove, vol. I. p. 123.
1792: "When Comte d'Estaing took Bencoolen in 1760," Forrest says:.... "the Count, afraid of an insurrection among the Buggesses..... invited several to the fort, and when these had entered the