north-east by east and twelve leagues to the south-west, and then
twelve leagues to the east until reaching the river Paralem,[284] is
the kingdom of Bengala, in which there are many towns, both in the
interior and on the sea-coast. Those of the interior are inhabited
by Gentiles, subject to the King of Bengal, who is a Moor; and the
seaports are inhabited by Moors and Gentiles, amongst whom there is
much trade in goods and much shipping to many parts, because this
sea is a gulf which enters towards the north, and at its inner
extremity there is a very great city inhabited by Moors which is
called Bengala,[285] with a very good harbour. Its inhabitants are
white men and well formed. Many foreigners from various parts live
in this city, both Arabs and Persians, Abyssinians[286] and Indians,
who congregate here on account of the country being very fertile and
of a temperate climate. They are all great merchants, and own large
ships of the same build as those of Mekkah, and others of the
Chinese build which they call jungos, which are very large and carry
a very considerable cargo. With these ships they navigate to
Cholmender, Malabar, Cambay, Peigu, Tarnasari, Samatra, Ceylon, and
Malaca; and they trade in all kinds of goods, from many places to
others. There is much cotton in the country, and sugar cane
plantations, and very good ginger and much long pepper. They
manufacture many kinds of stuffs, extremely fine and delicate,
coloured for their own use, and white for trade to all parts; they
call them saravetis, and they are excellent for women's head gear,
and much valued for that purpose: the Arabs and Persians make caps
of this stuff, in such great quantities, that every year they fill
several ships with them for different places. And they make others
which they call mamuna, and others duguza, and others chautar, and
others called topan and sanabafos which are the most valued for
their shirts, and which are very durable. They are all of the length
of twenty cubits, very little more or less, and in this city they
are all at a low price. They are spun by a man with a wheel and
woven. White sugar of very good quality is made in this city, but
they do not know how to join it to make loaves, and so they pack it
up in powder in stuff covered over with raw hide, well sewn up. They
load many ships with it and export it for sale to all parts. And
when these merchants were accustomed to go freely and without dread
to the parts of Malabar and Cambay with their ships, the quintal of
this sugar was worth two ducats and a half in Malabar, and a good
sinabafo was worth two ducats, and a piece of muslin for women's
caps three hundred maravedis; and a chautar of the best quality six
hundred maravedis. And those who brought them gained much money.
They likewise make many preserves in this city of Bengal, very good
ones of ginger, and of oranges, lemons and other fruits which grow
in the country. There are also in this country many horses, cows and
sheep, and all other meats in great abundance, and very extremely
large hens. The Moorish merchants of this city go into the interior
of the country and buy many Gentile children of their fathers and
mothers, or of others who steal them, and castrate them, cortandole
todo de manera que quedan rasos como la palma de la mano. Some of
them die of it, and those who recover they bring them up very well,
and sell them as merchandise for twenty or thirty ducats each to the
Persians, who value them much as guards to their wives and
houses.[287] The respectable Moors of this city go dressed in long
morisco shirts reaching to the instep, white and of slight texture,
and underneath some cloths wrapped round below the waist, and over
the shirt a silken sash round the waist, and a dagger set with
silver; they wear many jewelled rings on their fingers, and fine
cotton caps on their heads. They are luxurious people, who eat and
drink a great deal, and have other bad habits. They bathe frequently
in large tanks which they have in their houses: they have many
servants, and have each of them three or four wives, and as many
more as they can maintain. They keep them very much shut up and very
richly dressed and adorned with silks and jewels set in gold; they
go out at night to visit one another and to drink wine, and hold
festivals and marriage feasts. They make various kinds of wine in
this country, chiefly of sugar and palm trees, and also of many
other things. The women are very fond of these wines, and are much
accustomed to them. They are great musicians both in singing and
playing on instruments. The men of the common people wear short
white shirts half way down the thigh, and drawers, and very small
head wraps of three or four turns; all of them are shod with
leather, some with shoes, others with sandals, very well worked,
sewn with silk and gold thread. The king is a great lord and very
rich, he possesses much country inhabited by Gentiles, of whom every
day many turn Moors, to obtain the favour of the king and governors.
This king possesses more territory further on the before named gulf,
inhabited by Moors and Gentiles, both inland and on the sea coast,
which turns to the south.
KINGDOM OF BERMA.
Having passed the kingdom of Bengala, along the coast which turns to
the south, there is another kingdom of Gentiles called Berma.[288]
In this there are no Moors, nor are there sea ports which can be
made use of for trade in merchandise. The people of this kingdom are
black men and go naked, for they only cover their middles with
cotton cloths. They have their idolatries and houses of prayer. They
frequently are at war with the King of Peigu. We have no further
information respecting this country because it has no shipping. It
is only known that it borders on the kingdom of Bengala on one side,
and on the kingdom of Peigu on the other. And it has a gulf in the
middle which enters the country in a direction north-east by east
forty leagues, and is fourteen leagues wide at the mouth and twenty
leagues wide further in, and in the middle of it is a large island
which is thirty-six leagues long and from four to ten leagues broad.
ERE CAN GUY.[289]
Inland of this kingdom of Berma towards the north is another kingdom
of Gentiles, very large and which has no sea ports. It also borders
on the kingdom of Bengal and the kingdom of Ava, and it is called
Ere can guy. The king and people of this kingdom are Gentiles. It is
said that this king possesses many cities and towns, and horses and
elephants. These elephants are brought from the kingdom of Peigu.
These people are brown men, naked from the waist upwards, and
wrapped round below the waist with cotton and silk cloths; they use
many ornaments of gold and silver. They venerate idols and have
large houses of prayer. This king is very rich in money, and
powerful from the number of his men at arms: he is often at war with
his neighbours, and some of them obey him against their wills, and
render him tribute. He lives in great luxury, and possesses very
good houses in all the towns where he resides, which have got many
pools of water, green and shady gardens, and good trees. They have
also got many women at their caprice, and have no law of marriage.
In twelve towns of his kingdom he has twelve first-rate palaces in
which he has many women brought up; that is, in each of these cities
he has a governor who each year takes twelve girls born in that
year, daughters of persons of the highest rank and the prettiest to
be found; and he has them carefully brought up at the expense of the
king, in these palaces, up to the age of twelve years; they are very
well dressed, and taught thoroughly to dance and sing and play on
musical instruments; in this way each palace constantly contains
many of them of tender age. And at the end of the year the governor
conducts to the king at whatever place he may be at, twelve damsels
of the age of twelve years. The king orders them to be well dressed
and to have the name of each one written on their clothes, and the
next morning he orders them to be sent up to a terrace in the sun,
and there remain fasting until midday. And they perspire so much
with the heat of the sun that their clothes become damp, and then
the king orders them to be taken to a room where they change their
clothes. And the damp garments which they have thrown off are all
carried to the king, who smells them, and those which do not smell
bad he keeps for himself, and those which smell bad from the
perspiration he makes a present of to those of his courtiers who are
there present, as also the damsels who had worn them, who are known
by the names written on the clothes. The other damsels whose clothes
did not smell ill from the perspiration the king keeps for
himself.[290] And thus he is always accustomed to do, and in this
way they bring to him from all these twelve cities a hundred and
forty-four girls, whom he distributes in the manner above described.
And he has many amusements in the way of hunting, games, music,
feasting and other things.
PEYGU.
Returning to the sea coast, after passing the kingdom of Berma,
towards the south and south-east, there is another kingdom of
Gentiles, very wealthy, well supplied with everything, and of great
trade in merchandise by sea. It is called Peygu,[291] and extends
seventy-five leagues. This kingdom has three or four sea ports in
which are many Moorish and Gentile inhabitants, who are very great
merchants. And the actual city of Peigu is seven or eight leagues
distant from the sea,[292] on the arm of a very great river which
runs through this kingdom, and comes from some very high mountains.
During certain months of the year there is so great an increase of
water, that the river leaves its bed and irrigates a large extent of
land, from which a great deal of rice is gathered. They ship from
these ports a great quantity of provisions in vessels which have
three or four high masts, which they call jungos, for Malaca,
Samatara, and other parts, and amongst other things much rice is
shipped, and cane sugar, brown and loaf. Many Moorish ships from
different parts assemble at these ports of Peigu, and bring thither
much cloth of Cambay and Palacate, coloured cottons and silks, which
the Indians call patola, which are worth a good deal there; they
also bring opium, copper, scarlet cloth, coral in strings, in
branches, and polished, quicksilver, vermilion, rose water, and a
few drugs from Cambay. In this kingdom they ship very fine lac which
grows there. There is much trade in cloves and mace and other
Chinese goods, and musk and rubies, which come thither from inland
from a city called Ava, of which mention will be made hereafter. The
people of this kingdom go undressed, they only cover their middles.
They are not warlike, and possess few weapons, and those wretched
ones. They are very voluptuous, y traen en los capirotes de sus
miembros unos cascaveles redondos cosydos soldados entre la carne y
el cuero por hazerselos mayores, algunos traen tres, y algunos
cinco, y algunos syete, y dellos de oro y de plata, y otros de
metal, los quales les van sonando de que andan y an lo por mucha
gentileza y las mugeres huelgan mucho con ellos y no quieren hombres
que no los tengan, y los que mas honrados son, esos los traen mas y
mayores. (_The Lisbon edition continues_: e nom diga mais deste
costume pola desonestidade.)[293] The king is called the King of the
White Elephant, and in this kingdom there are very high mountains
where many wild elephants are bred; and they have a rule to catch
one every day, and the king orders food to be sent them and has them
brought up. He has a great quantity of them which he sells to
merchants who come there to buy them, to take them to Pelecate,
whence they go on to Narsynga, Malabar and Cambaya. There are
likewise many small horses which go at an amble, which they make
great use of; they also have horses on which they ride a la
bastarda,[294] and with these and the elephants, and infantry, they
carry on war. There are also many sheep and swine, wild and domestic
in this kingdom, and the people are great sportsmen and hunters.
MARTAVAN.
In this same kingdom of Peygu towards Malaca, there are three or
four seaports, of which I do not know the name, amongst them is one
very good sea port called Martaban,[295] which is seventy-five
leagues to the south south-east from the before-mentioned gulf. Many
ships touch at it, and trade there and stow provisions and other
goods, especially lac of a very good quality, which grows in the
country itself; and the Moors of Persia and India call it
lucomartaban. And it also grows in the country of Narsinga, but not
so good as this: they say of this lac that it is gum of trees,
others say that it grows on the slender branches of the trees, just
as in our parts the berries grow. And this explanation appears the
most natural. And so they bring it in small sticks, which naturally
cannot produce so much gum. In this town of Martaban very large and
beautiful porcelain vases are made, and some of glazed earthenware,
of a black colour, which are highly valued amongst the Moors, and
they export them as merchandise, and they also carry away from this
country much benjuy in large loaves.
AVA.
Inland beyond this kingdom of Peigu between the kingdom of Daran
cangui and the kingdom of Dansiam, to the east there is another
kingdom of Gentiles which has a king who resides in a very great and
opulent city called Ava,[296] eight days' journey from the sea; a
place of rich merchants, in which there is a great trade of jewels,
rubies, and spinel-rubies, which are gathered in this kingdom. Many
foreign merchants flock thither from many parts to buy these jewels,
and likewise much musk which is found there. And the king commands
all to be gathered for himself, and sells it himself to the
merchants of the country who sell it to the foreign merchants. The
merchants bring there for sale quicksilver, vermilion, coral,
copper, saffron, rose-water, opium, scarlet cloth, coloured velvet
from Mekkah, and many other things from the kingdom of Cambay, and
the jewels and musk are sold here at a low price in exchange for
these goods. These rubies and spinel-rubies are found in the
mountains and banks of rivers, by making many holes, and mines where
they find these spinel-rubies; and on the surface of the earth and
underneath it the rubies are found. The men of the country are very
skilful lapidaries who know and cut them well. The musk is found in
some small white animals, like gazelles, and they have teeth like
elephants, but small.
These animals are born with sorts of tumours under the belly and the
breast, and these ripen, and after they are mature and have formed
like matter, they have so much itching in them that they go to rub
themselves against the trees, and the drops which fall from these
tumours are of the best and most excellent musk, and the hunters,
who pursue them with dogs and nets and other snares, follow their
tracks by the smell, and they find these grains of fine musk, and by
following them they catch them alive, and bring them to houses
appointed for that purpose, where they entirely cut off these
tumours with the skin, and they let them dry. These are the genuine
musk pouches, of which very few are exported, because they falsify
them, and they do it in this way. It must be known that on taking it
from the living animal, they place many leeches on the wounds, and
allow them to gorge themselves with blood, and when full they put
them in the sun to dry, and of these they put so many that the
animal falls dead without any blood, and afterwards they skin it,
and with the skin they make several counterfeit pouches, which look
like the real ones. Having pounded the leeches and reduced them to
powder; with the powder they make grains in their hands, and add one
weight of good musk taken from the real pouches, to a hundred of
this blood of the leeches, and having mixed up the whole, they fill
with it the counterfeit pouches, and they look very good. And they
also esteem it in these parts as very fine, because the merchants
through whose hands it passes adulterate it still further. The real
musk is so strong that on putting it to the nostrils it causes the
blood to issue. In this kingdom there are many elephants, horses and
men devoted to war: and it is a country well supplied with
provisions.
CAPELAN.
Further inland than the said kingdom of Ava, at five days' journey
to the south-east is another city of Gentiles which has a ruler who
is subject to the said King of Ava. This city is called
Capelan,[297] and all round it are likewise found many and excellent
rubies, which they bring to sell at the city and fair of Ava, and
which are better than those of Ava.
KINGDOM OF ANSIAM.
Having passed the kingdom of Peigu, further along the coast to the
south south-east towards Malaca, eighty-seven leagues from Martaban
towards Malaca, and further on in the country is the kingdom of
Ansiam,[298] which is of the Gentiles. And the king is a Gentile and
a great ruler, and inland his borders are from this coast unto the
other side, which is the coast of China: and he has seaports on both
sides. He is the lord of many people both horse and foot, and of
many elephants. And he does not allow any Moor to bear arms in his
country. And from the kingdom of Peigu as far as a city which has a
seaport, and is named Tanasery,[299] there are a hundred leagues. In
this city there are many Moorish and Gentile merchants, who deal in
all sorts of goods, and own ships, with which they navigate to
Bengal, Malaca, and other parts. In the inland parts of this kingdom
there grows much good benjuy, which is a resin of trees which the
Moors call luban javi,[300] and it is of two kinds, that is to say,
one which does not smell except in the fire, and the other of much
scent, of which the good and genuine storax is made in the Levant,
before extracting from it the oil, which in the Levant is extracted
from it. And many ships of Moors and from other parts congregate at
this port of Tanasary, and bring them copper, quicksilver,
vermilion, scarlet cloth, silks, coloured velvets from Mekkah,
saffron, coral, wrought and in strings, rose-water from Mekkah in
little bottles of tinned copper, and it is sold by weight with the
bottle; opium, Cambay stuffs, and all these goods fetch a high price
at this place.
QUEDA, TOWN OF THE KINGDOM OF ANSYAM.
Having left this town of Tanasery further along the coast towards
Malaca there is another seaport of the kingdom of Ansiam, which is
called Queda,[301] in which also there is much shipping, and great
interchange of merchandise. And many ships of the Moors and from
other parts come there. Very good pepper grows in the country, which
they carry to Malaca, and thence to China. This King of Ansiam has
three other sea ports between Malaca and Tenasery, of which I do not
know the names, and he possesses many cities, towns, and other
villages. Throughout the country in the interior the people are
Gentiles, and Moors do not enter there, and if at any time any Moor
goes there to trade with them, they do not permit him to carry arms.
There is much gold in this kingdom which is collected in the
country, particularly in the lordship of Pani[302], which is beyond
Malacca towards China, and has always belonged to the kingdom of
Siam, until now that it has risen up against it, and does not obey
it, but has rather placed itself in subjection to the King of
Malacca. And so likewise in this kingdom of Siam, there is another
lordship and country of Gentiles, in subjection to it, which is
called Sara hangor,[303] in which there is much tin, which they
carry to the city of Malacca as merchandise, and hence they carry it
to all parts. The king and people of the kingdom of Ansyam, who are
Gentiles, greatly honour their idols, and have many customs
different from those of the other nations. They go naked from the
waist upwards, and some wear small jackets of silk stuffs. The
country is very well supplied with provisions, flesh of domestic and
wild animals, and rice. They have many horses of a small breed, and
much fruit of various qualities. The men are great hunters and
sportsmen. In the interior of the country towards China, there is
another kingdom of Gentiles which is in obedience to him, (the King
of Siam) and there, when a relation or a friend dies, they eat him
roasted before a great fire in the middle of a field, where they set
up three poles stuck in the earth, and between them a chain with two
hooks of iron, and they bring the body of the man who has died of
illness or of any other death, and they hang him up there by the
hams, roasting him, and his children and relations are there
bewailing him, and after he is well roasted they take wine in cups,
and they have knives with which they all cut from the body and eat
of it, weeping all the while, and they drink their wine; and the
nearest relations begin first to eat, and in this manner they finish
eating him, and leave only the bones, which they burn afterwards;
and they say that they give such a burial to their relations on
account of their being of their own flesh, and that they cannot be
any where better buried than in their bodies.[304] And in all the
kingdom of Ansyam they burn the dead bodies, because that is the
custom of all the Gentile countries.
KINGDOM AND CITY OF MALACCA.