Cape Comorin, after reigning twelve years, always sacrificed himself to
an idol. See also _Odoricus_, in Hakluyt, ii. 161. The singular narrative
in the text reminds us of Sir Jonah Barrington’s story of the Irish
mower, who, making a dig at a salmon in a pool with the butt end of his
scythe, which was over his shoulder, dropt his own head into the water.
There is a remarkably parallel story in _Ibn Batuta_. When he was at the
court of the pagan king of Mul-Java (which is certainly not Java, as the
editors make it, but, as I hope to show elsewhere, Cambodia, or some
country on the main in that quarter), he says, “I one day saw, in the
assembly of this prince, a man with a long knife in his hand, which he
placed upon his own neck; he then made a long speech, not a word of which
I could understand; he then firmly grasped the knife, and its sharpness,
and the force with which he urged it, were such that he severed his
head from his body, and it fell on the ground. I was wondering much at
the circumstance, when the king said to me: ‘Does any one among you do
such a thing as this?’ I answered, ‘I never saw one do so.’ He smiled,
and said: ‘These, our servants, do so out of their love to us.’ One who
had been present at the assembly, told me that the speech he made was
a declaration of his love to the sultan, and that on this account he
had killed himself, just as his father had done for the father of the
present king, and his grandfather for the king’s grandfather.” (_Lee’s
Ibn Batuta_, p. 205.) Also we are told by Abu Zaid al Hasan, in Reinaud’s
_Relation des Voyages faits par les Arabes_, etc. (Paris, 1845), how a
young man of India, tying his hair to a great elastic bamboo stem, which
was pulled down to the ground, cut his own head off, telling his friends
to watch that they might see and hear how the head would _laugh_, as it
sprung aloft with the resilient bamboo (i. 124). I wish I could relate,
with the interesting detail with which it was told to me, a narrative
which I heard from my friend Lieut.-Colonel Keatinge, V.C., of the Bombay
Artillery. When encamped near a certain sacred rock on the Nerbudda, in
the province of Nimar which was under his charge, a stalwart young man
was brought to him, who had come thither from a distance, for the purpose
of sacrificing himself by casting himself from the cliff, in fulfilment
of a vow made by his own mother before his birth, in case she should,
after long sterility, have a living son. After long remonstrance Colonel
Keatinge at last succeeded in convincing him that it would be quite
lawful to sacrifice a goat instead, and this having been done he departed
with a relieved mind.
[136] As Quilon is between 8° and 9° of north latitude this is somewhat
overstated.
[137] So Polo says that at Guzerat “the north star rose to the apparent
height of six cubits”. This way of estimating celestial declinations
appears to convey some distinct meaning to simple people, and even to
some by no means illiterate Europeans. I remember once in India, when
looking out for Venus, which was visible about two p.m., a native servant
directed me to look “about one bamboo length from the moon;” and a young
Englishman afterwards told me that he had seen it “about five feet from
the moon.”
[138] “_Ibi videntur influentiæ oculo ad oculum, ita quod de nocte
respicere est gaudiosum._”
[139] “_Astrologo._”
[140] Perhaps the good bishop by _infernales_ does not mean _infernal_,
but only _inferior_. Yet the expression reminds us of the constant strain
of oriental tradition, which represents the aborigines under the aspect
of _Rakshasas_ or Demons. The reference is to the various forest tribes
of the Peninsula, who represent either the Dravidian races unmodified
by civilization, (whether Hindu or pre-Hindu), or some yet antecedent
races. Dubois, speaking generally of the wild forest tribes of the south,
says, “In the rainy season they shelter themselves in caverns, hollow
trees, and clefts of the rocks; and in fine weather they keep the open
field. They are almost entirely naked. The women wear nothing to conceal
their nakedness but some leaves of trees stitched together, and bound
round their waists,” etc. (473.) And Mr. Markham describes the Poliars,
a race of wild and timid men of the woods in the Pulney Hills, east of
Cochin, who are possibly the very people whom Jordanus had in his eye,
as being said to have no habitations, but to run through the jungle from
place to place, to sleep under rocks, and live on wild honey and roots.
They occasionally trade with the peasantry, who place cotton and grain
on some stone, and the wild creatures, as soon as the strangers are out
of sight, take these and put honey in their place. But they will let no
one come near them. (_Peru and India_, p. 404.) These wild races were no
doubt in the mind’s eye of a little Hindu, who, during the examination
of a native school by a late governor of Madras (now again occupying an
eminent position in India), on being asked what became of the original
inhabitants of Britain at the Saxon conquest? replied, “They fled into
Wales and Cornwall, and other remote parts, where they exist as a wild
and barbarous people to this day!” The little Hindu was not aware that—
“By Pol, _Tre_, and Pen
You may know the Cornish men.”
[141] This is the practice of certain solitary wasps and kindred species,
both in Europe and India (see _Kirby and Spence_, Letter xi., etc.). The
spiders, etc., form a store of food for the use of the larvæ when hatched.
[142] “_Venas lapidum._”
[143] The most remarkable operation of white ants that I have heard of
was told me by a scientific man, and I believe may be depended on. Having
a case of new English harness, which he was anxious to secure from the
white ants, he moved it about six inches from the wall, and placed it on
stone vessels filled with water (as is often done), so that he considered
it quite isolated and safe. On opening the case some time after he found
the harness ruined, and on looking behind he saw that the white ants had
actually projected their “crust” across the gap from the wall, so as to
reach their prey by a tubular bridge. Here is engineering design as well
as execution! The ants have apparently a great objection to working under
the light of day, but that they “incontinently die” is a mistake.
[144]? “_Et sic se ingerunt sicut canes._” This appears to refer to the
common rufous kite, abundant all over India. Of this, or a kindred kite,
Sir J. E. Tennent says, “The ignoble birds of prey, the kites, keep close
by the shore, and hover round the returning boats of the fishermen, to
feast on the fry rejected from the nets” (_Nat. Hist. of C._, p. 246).
The action described in the text is quite that of the Indian kite.
I recollect seeing one swoop down upon a plate, which a servant was
removing from the breakfast table in camp, and carry off the top of a
silver muffineer, which however it speedily dropped.
[145] This may be the bird spoken of in the latter part of the next note,
but I think it is probably the _Kulang_ (of Bengal), or great crane
(_Grus cinerea_), which does travel at night, with a wailing cry during
its flight.
[146] “_Ut ego audivi._” Ambiguum est, an ipse episcopus D⸺m loquentem
audivisset? Not many years ago, an eccentric gentleman wrote from Sikkim
to the secretary of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta, stating that, on the
snows of the mountains there, were found certain mysterious footsteps,
_more than thirty or forty paces asunder_, which the natives alleged to
be _Shaitan’s_. The writer at the same time offered, if Government would
give him leave of absence for a certain period, etc., to go and trace
the author of these mysterious vestiges, and thus this strange creature
would be discovered _without any expense to Government_. The notion of
catching Shaitan without any expense to Government was a sublime piece
of Anglo-Indian tact, but the offer was not accepted. Our author had,
however, in view probably the strange cry of the Devil-bird, as it is
called in Ceylon. “The Singhalese regard it literally with horror, and
its scream by night in the vicinity of a village is bewailed as the
harbinger of impending calamity.” “Its ordinary note is a magnificent
clear shout, like that of a human being, and which can be heard at a
great distance, and has a fine effect in the silence of the closing
night. It has another cry like that of a hen just caught; but the sounds
which have earned for it its bad name, and which I have heard but once to
perfection, are indescribable, the most appalling that can be imagined,
and scarcely to be heard without shuddering; I can only compare it to
a boy in torture, whose screams are stopped by being strangled.” Mr.
Mitford, from whom Sir E. Tennent quotes the last passage, considers it
to be a _Podargus_ or night-hawk, rather than the brown owl as others
have supposed. (_Tennent’s Nat. Hist. of Ceylon_, 246-8.)
[147] Champa is the Malay name of the coast of Cambodia, and appears in
some form in our maps. Jordanus may have derived his information about
those countries from his brother friar, Odoricus, who visited Champa, and
mentions the king’s having 10,004 elephants. Late travellers in Cambodia
use almost the expression in the text in speaking of the habitual
employment of elephants in that country (_e.g._, see Mr. King, in _Jour.
Geog. Soc._ for 1860, p. 178).
[148] This is evidently drawn from the life. Compare the account of
elephant taming in Burma in the _Mission to Ava in 1855_, pp. 103-5, and
the authors there quoted.
[149] The number _twelve_ is only general and conventional. Ibn Batuta
says there were twelve kings in Malabar alone, and even a greater number
are alluded to by some of the old travellers. It is extremely difficult
to trace these kingdoms, both from the looseness of the statements and
want of accessible histories of the states of Southern India, and from
that absence of any distinction between really substantial monarchies and
mere principalities of small account, which may be noticed in Polo and
the other travellers of the time as well as in our author.
Telenc, however, he speaks of as a potent and great kingdom. This must
have been the kingdom of interior Telingana, called _Andra_, the capital
of which was Warangól, eighty miles north-east of Hyderabad, and which
was powerful and extensive at the end of the thirteenth century. It
was shortly afterwards invaded by the armies of the king of Delhi; the
capital was taken in 1332, and the sovereignty at a later date merged in
the Mussulman kingdom of Golkonda.
There does not seem to have been any very great kingdom in the MAHRATTA
country at this time, and perhaps this is the reason why he there speaks
of the kingdom, not of the king. The most powerful princes were the rajas
of Deogiri (afterwards Daulutabad), of the Yadu family. Their dynasty was
subverted by the Mahommedans in 1317. I believe there is no mention of
the Mahrattas by the Mussulman historians till just about our author’s
time.
COLUMBUM, or Kulam, we have disposed of in the preface. We see here that
the kingdom included (part at least of) MOHEBAR, the Maabar of Marco
Polo and of Ibn Batuta, _i.e._, the southern regions of the Coromandel
coast; (see Preface, p. xvi). The name is apparently Arabic (_Ma’abar_—a
ferry), in reference to the passage or ferry to Ceylon. The king, whose
name was _Lingua_, may probably have been connected with the sect of
the _Lingáyets_ still existing in Southern India, whose members wear a
representation of the Lingam or Sivaite emblem round their necks, and
have many peculiar practices. He was certainly a Nair, as appears from
what Jordanus has said of the law of succession. And among the rajas of
Coorg, who were both Nairs and Lingáyets, we find the name Linga borne
by several during the last century. (Compare _Markham’s Peru and India_;
_Hamilton’s Hindostan_, ii. 288, etc.)
I cannot trace any particulars of a king of Molepoor or Molepatam. But
the only pearl fishery on the Indian main is at _Tuticorin_, about ninety
miles north-east of Cape Comorin, and near this there is a place given
by Hamilton, called Mooloopetta (= Mooloopatam), which may probably be
the seat of the king alluded to. He was most likely the same as the
king of Cail, spoken of by Marco Polo; that place being apparently
now represented by Coilpatam, a small seaport of Tinnevelly, in this
immediate vicinity. This appears from Barbosa, who, at the beginning
of the sixteenth century, states precisely that Cail was ninety miles
from Cape Comorin, and that it was the seat of a great pearl market and
fishery.
BATIGALA, or Batikala, which, he says, had a Saracen king, is a port of
Canara, fifty-five miles north of Mangalore; it is called Batcul, or
Batcole, in English maps. It is not mentioned by Ibn Batuta, the nearest
authority in time; but he does state that at Hinaur (Hunáwur or Onore),
a port a little to the north of Baticala, the people were Moslem, and
their king “one of the best of princes,” one _Jamál ad-Dín Mahommed Ibn
Hasan_, to whom Malabar generally paid tribute, dreading his bravery by
sea, (which means, I suppose, that this excellent prince was a pirate).
Very probably this was the king of Batigala to whom Jordanus refers. He
was, however, himself “subject to an infidel king, whose name was Horaib”
(_Lee’s Ibn Batuta_, p. 166), doubtless the king of Narsinga or Bisnagur,
whom Jordanus omits to mention. Two centuries later Barbosa describes
Batticala as a great place, where many merchants trafficked, and where
were many _Moors_ and Gentiles, great merchants. And the “_Summary of
Kingdoms_,” in _Ramusio_, says the king of Baticula was then a Gentile
Canarese, “greater than him of Honor;” the governor, however, being a
Moorish eunuch, named Caipha. Later in the sixteenth century, Vincent Le
Blanc describes it as still a fine place, and one of great trade.
The great king of Molebar, or MALABAR, is, I suppose, the Samudra Raja,
or Zamorin of the Portuguese, whose capital was at Calicut.
_Singuyli_ is a nut hard to crack. Our friar’s contemporary, Odoricus,
calls the two chief ports of the pepper country in his day _Flandrina_
and _Cyncilim_. The former is no doubt the _Fandaraina_ of Ibn Batuta, “a
large and beautiful place,” the Colam Pandarani of Ramusio’s Geographer,
lying a little north of Calicut, but not marked in our modern maps. (The
lying Mandevill says it was called Flandrina after Flanders by Ogero the
Dane, who conquered those parts!) Cyncilim I suspect to be _Kain Kulam_
or _Cai Colam_, one of the old ports a few miles north of Quilon, and
formerly a little kingdom. Singuyli is not very like Kain Kulam, but
Cyncilim is somewhat like both; and the position in which he mentions it,
between Calicut and Quilon, would suit.
As for _Chopa_, I suspect it to be a misreading (Chãpa, read as Chopa),
for CHAMPA, whereby he seems to mean hazily India ultra Gangem in
general, though the name belongs to Cambodia.
[150] India Tertia is apparently Eastern Africa, south of Abyssinia.
[151] So far we have the old Herodotean myth (_Her._, iii. 116), which
Milton has rendered into stately verse—
“As when a gryphon in the wilderness
With winged course, o’er hill or moory dale,
Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stealth
Had from his wakeful custody purloined
The guarded gold”⸺
But the scene has been transferred from the north of Europe to Æthiopia.
The rest of the fable I cannot trace.
[152] A dissertation on Prester John, and the confusions which
transferred a Christian prince of Central Asia to Central Africa, will be
found in M. D’Avezac’s preface to _Carpini_, in the volume from which we
are translating.
[153] For the Roc see _Marco_, iii. 35; _Ibn Batuta_ (in _Lee_), p. 222;
Sindbad the Sailor, and Aladdin! See also Mr. Major’s preface to _India
in the Fifteenth Century_.
[154] “_Etiam et medullâ._”
[155] “_Istud ales_”!
[156] _Viverra Indica_, the civet cat, seems to be found over a great
part of Asia and Africa. The perfume is secreted from very peculiar
glands, existing in both sexes; and in North Africa, where the animals
are kept for the purpose, the secretion is scraped from the pouch with
an iron spatula, about twice a week (_Penny Cyclop._). But the text is
confirmed by Sir E. Tennent, who says that the Tamils in Northern Ceylon,
who also keep the animal for its musk, collect this from the wooden bars
of the cage, on which it rubs itself (_Nat. Hist. Ceylon_, p. 32).
[157] It is a Ceylonese story, according to Tennent, that the cobra’s
stomach sometimes contains a stone of inestimable price. The cerastes or
horned adder is now well known.
[158] _Ambergris_, a substance found chiefly in warm climates, floating
on the surface of the sea or thrown on the coasts. It was formerly
believed to be the exudation of a tree, but is now considered to be a
morbid animal concretion, having been found in the intestinal canal of
the sperm whale. It is found usually in small pieces, but some times
in lumps of fifty to one hundred pounds weight. The best comes from
Madagascar, Surinam, and Java. It is opaque, of a bright grey colour,
softish, and when rubbed or heated exhales an agreeable odour. It is
inflammable; and is used as a perfume. (_Penny Cyclop._ and _Macculloch’s
Commercial Dictionary_.)
[159] This strange myth is in _Marco Polo_ (Part iii. c. 23). He
represents the islands to be “full five hundred miles out at sea,” south
of Mekrán. The people of Sumatra believe that the inhabitants of Engano,
a small island south of Bencoolen, are all females, and, like the mares
of ancient story, are impregnated by the wind. (_Marsden’s Sumatra._)
[160] This is probably a legendary notice of the Andaman islanders,
whom Polo represents as “having a head, teeth, and jaws like those of
a mastiff dog” (iii. c. 16). And Ibn Batuta, describing the people of
“Barahnakár” (under which name he seems to have mixed up the stories of
the Andamans which he had heard, with his experience of some port on the
main at which he had touched on his way from Bengal to Sumatra), says,
“Their men are of the same form with ourselves, except that their mouths
are like those of dogs; _but the women have mouths like other folks_”
(_Lee’s Trans._, p. 198). The stories of the Andaman islanders are as
old as Ptolemy, whose _Agmatæ_ (compare Polo’s _Angaman_) and adjacent
islands, they doubtless are. Till Dr. Mouat’s account, just published, we
had little more knowledge of them than these 1800-year-old legends gave
us, and even now we do not know much, near as they are to Calcutta.
[161] He had probably, during his voyages in the Persian Gulph, touched
at some point of the north-east of Arabia, where Wellsted notices the
peculiar wildness and low civilization of the people, “of a darker hue
than the common race of Arabs;” “the greater number residing in caves and
hollows;” “their principal food dates and salt fish, rice being nearly
unknown to them;” whilst they testified as much surprise at the sight
of looking-glasses, watches, etc., as could have been exhibited by the
veriest savage of New Holland. (_Wellsted’s Travels in Arabia_, i. 241-2.)
[162] “_Duplarum._”
[163] As we say in later times, “The Great Mogul”.
[164] See the same statement in _Marco Polo_, i. 29.
[165] As M. Polo says, with a facetiousness unusual in him, “With regard
to the money of Kambalu, the great Khan is a perfect alchymist, for he
makes it himself” (i. 26).
[166] From Rubruquis to Père Huc all travellers in Buddhistic Tartary
and Thibet have been struck by the extraordinary resemblance of many
features of the ecclesiastical system and ritual to those of the Roman
Church. Father Grueber, in 1661, speaking of the veneration paid to
the Lama, ascribes it to “the manifest deceits of the devil, who has
transferred the veneration due to the sole Vicar of Christ to the
superstitious worship of barbarous nations, as he has also, in his
innate malignity, parodied the other mysteries of the Christian faith.”
(In Kircher’s _China Illustrata_.) Huc and Gabet say, “The crosier, the
mitre, the dalmatica, the cope or pluvial (which the Grand Lamas wear in
travelling), the double-choired liturgy, the psalmody, the exorcisms, the
censer ... the benedictions ... the rosary, the ecclesiastical celibate,
the spiritual retreats, the worship of saints; fasts, processions, holy
water; in all these numerous particulars do the Buddhists coincide with
us.” The cardinal’s red hat among the Lamas is a modern fact. (Abridged
from a paper by the present writer in _Blackwood_ for March 1852.)
[167] Ibn Batuta describes how at the funeral of the Great Khan four
female slaves and six favourite Mamluks were buried alive with him, and
four horses were impaled alive upon the tumulus; the same being done in
burying his relatives, according to their degree (_Lee_, p. 220).
[168] This is perhaps the Tartar city of Iymyl, called by the Chinese
Yemi-li, built by Okkodai, the son of Chengiz Khan, somewhere to the east
of Lake Balkash. (See _D’Avezac’s Notice of Travels in Tartary_, _Recueil
de Voyages_, iv. p. 516). But the description rather suggests one of the
vast cities of China, such as Marco Polo describes Kinsai (Hang-choo-foo).
[169] “_Vasa pulcherrima et nobilissima atque virtuosa et porseleta._”
Perhaps “full of good qualities, and of fine enamelled surface”?
[170] Carpini says that there was a certain cemetery for the emperors
and chiefs, to which their bodies were carried whenever they died, and
that much treasure was buried with them. No one was allowed to come
near this cemetery except the keepers (_Recueil de Voyages_, iv. 631).
Marco Polo says that if the chief lord died a hundred days journey
from this cemetery, which was in the Altai mountains, his body must be
carried thither. Also “when the bodies of the Khans are carried to these
mountains, the conductors put to the sword all the men whom they meet on
the road, saying, ‘Go and serve the great lord in the other world;’ and
they do the same to the horses, killing also for that purpose the best he
has” (ii. 45).
[171] This seems from Alcock to be the Japanese practice. _Le Roi est
mort, vive le Roi!_
[172] Doubtless our friar had in his mind the words of Isaiah, “Wild
beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of
doleful creatures: and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance
there. And the wild beasts of the island shall cry in their desolate
houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces” (xiii. 21-22).
[173] Probably a _kirbah_, or water skin, or perhaps several tied
together, frequently used by the _fellahs_ to cross the Tigris and
Euphrates. There are no large tortoises in either of those rivers. (B.)
[174] A couple of buffalos, perhaps, which may frequently be seen
swimming across the stream with only their muzzles and horns above water.
(B.)
[175] Referring probably to Harrán, the Haran of Scripture. The country
generally being desert, there was little to say about it. (B).
This chapter is a worthy parallel to that one in _Horrebow’s History of
Iceland_, “Concerning Owls and Snakes,” which Sir Walter Scott quotes
more than once with such zest.
[176] See ch. ii. parag. 7, _ante_.
[177] One of the best accounts of Baku is in the _Travels_ of George
Forster, of the Bengal Civil Service, who came overland from India by the
Caspian in 1784. There were at that time a considerable number of Multán
Hindus at Baku, where they had long been established, and were the chief
merchants of Shirwán. The _Átish-gáh_, or Place of Fire, was a square
of about thirty yards, surrounded by a low wall, and containing many
apartments, in each of which was a small jet of sulphureous fire issuing
through a furnace or funnel, “constructed in the form of a Hindu altar.”
The fire was used for worship, cookery, and warmth. On closing the funnel
the fire was extinguished, when a hollow sound was heard, accompanied by
a strong and cold current of air. Exclusive of these there was a large
jet from a natural cleft, and many small jets outside the wall, one of
which was used by the Hindus for burning the dead.
The whole country round Baku has at times, according to Kinneir, the
appearance of being enveloped in flame, and during moonlight nights in
November and December a bright blue light is observed to cover the whole
western range. My friend Colonel Patrick Stewart, who was lately for
some days at Baku, tells me that it is often possible to “set the sea on
fire”, _i.e._, the gaseous exhalations on the surface. He says the Hindus
are now only two or three, one of whom, a very old man, had lost the
power of speaking his native tongue.
The quantity of naphtha procured in the plain near the city is enormous.
Some of the wells are computed to give from 1000 to 1500 pounds a day.
It is discriminated as _black_ and _white_. The white naphtha appears to
be used chiefly as a remedy for allaying pains and inflammations. The
flat roofs of Baku are covered with the black naphtha, and it is made
into balls with sand as a fuel. (See _Forster’s Journey from Bengal to
England_, London, 1798; and _Macdonald Kinneir’s Geog. Memoir of the
Persian Empire_, p. 359.)
From Haxthausen we learn that the Átish-gáh or Átish-jáh has been altered
since Forster’s time. The flame now issues from a central opening,
and from four circumjacent hollow pillars within the temple, which is
a building of a triangular form, and of about one hundred and ninety
paces to the side, erected by a Hindu merchant in the present century.
The flame is described as being about four feet high, bright, and
“waving heavily to and fro against the dark sky, a truly marvellous and
spectral sight.” The Átish-gáh of Baku appears to be the “Castle of the
Fire-worshippers” spoken of by Polo (ii. 9). He says they revere the
fire “as a god, and use it for burning all their sacrifices; and when at
any time it goes out, they repair to that well, where the fire is never
extinguished, and from it bring a fresh supply.”
[178] Some trace of the practice here alluded to is to be found among the
Nestorians. “Once a year there is a kind of _Agapæ_ to commemorate the
departed, in all the mountain villages. For days previous such families
as intend to contribute to the feast are busily engaged in preparing
their offerings. These consist of lambs and bread, which are brought
into the church-yard; and after the people have communicated of the
holy Eucharist, the priest goes forth, cuts several locks of wool off
the fleeces, and throws them into a censer. Whilst a deacon swings this
to and fro in presence of the assembled guests, the priest recites the
following anthem:
“‘THE FOLLOWING IS TO BE SAID OVER THE LAMBS THAT ARE SLAIN IN SACRIFICE
FOR THE DEAD:—
...
“‘When ye present oblations and offer pure sacrifices, and bring lambs to
be slain, ye should first call the priests, who shall sign them with the
sign of the cross before they are slain, and say over them these words:
He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter,’” etc.
... “‘O Lord, let the oblation which thy servants have offered before
thee this day be acceptable, as was that of faithful Abraham the
righteous, who vowed his son as an oblation, and stretched out the
knife upon his throat, _whereupon he saw a lamb hung on a tree like
his life-giving Lord who was crucified_,’” etc. (_Rev. G. P. Badger’s
Nestorians_, i. 229.)
See also Dr. Stanley’s account of the cruciform spit used by the
Samaritans in roasting the Paschal lamb, in the notes to his _Sermons
before the Prince of Wales_.
The Yezidís also have some mixture of Christian names in their
superstitions, and sacrifice to Christ. Of the Ossetes of the Caucasus
also we are told that the majority are nominally Christians, but in fact
semi-pagans, and rarely baptized. They offer sacrifices of bread and
flesh in sacred groves, and observe the Christian festivals with various
sacrifices, _e.g._, a _lamb at Easter_, a pig on New Year’s Day, an ox at
Michaelmas, a goat at Christmas. Both Georgians and Armenians are said
still to be addicted to the practice of sacrifice in their churches.
(_Haxthausen’s Transcaucasia_, p. 397.)
[179] “The Georgians are the Christian, the Circassians the Mohammedan,
cavaliers of the Caucasian countries; they stand in the same relative
position as the Goths and Moors of Spain.” “The bases and principles
of the organization and general condition of the Georgian people bore
great resemblance to those of the Germanic race, comprising a feudal
constitution, perfectly analogous to the Romano-Germanic. In this
_warlike country_ the Christian hierarchy was constituted in a perfectly
analogous manner to the temporal feudal state,” etc. (_Haxthausen_, pp.
113, 117.)
[180] _Tana_ was the name of a place at the mouth of the Don or Tanais,
the site of an early Venetian factory.
[181] See note (2) page 54.
[182] “_Cicilia_,” in orig.
[183] Marco Polo also places the country of the three Magi, Balthazar,
Gaspar, and Melchior, in this region (ii. 9), as appears from his
connecting them with the worshipped fire at Baku. Their tombs, according
to him, were in a city called Sava.
[184] The Iron Gates, at the place called by the Persians Der-bend
(Dăr-bănd), or the Closed Gate, the capital of Daghestan, and lying in a
defile between the Caucasus and the Caspian. The city is traditionally
said to have been founded by Alexander, and part of the celebrated
wall of Gog and Magog, said to have extended from the Black Sea to the
Caspian, is to be seen here, running over high and almost inaccessible
mountains. (_Kinneir’s Pers. Empire_, p. 355.)
[185] One suspects some mistake here. He would seem still to be speaking
of Cathay, in which case his estimate would have some propriety.
[186] I cannot explain all these names. But the author’s reference is to
the several empires into which the vast conquests of Chengiz Khan were
partitioned among his descendants. 1. _Cathay_, or all the eastern part
of the empire, including China, with a paramount authority over all, fell
to Okkodai and his successors, the “Great Khans” or “Great Tartars” of
our author. 2. _Kipchak_, or Comania, all the country westward of the
Ural river, through the south of Russia, fell eventually to Batu, the
grandson of Chengiz, whose invasion, penetrating to Silesia and Hungary,
struck terror into Europe. This is the Gatzaria of the text; Khazaria
being properly the country adjoining the Sea of Azoph, and including the
Crimea. The expression “now of Osbet” appears to refer to Uzbeg, who
was Khan of Kipchak from 1313 to 1340. 3. _Jagatai_ (Elchigaday = El
Jagatai, I suppose) was Transoxiana, lying between the first and second
empires. It was so called from Jagatai, the son of Chengiz, to whom it
fell. _Kaidu_, the grandson of Jagatai, according to Marco Polo, was
the ruler of this country in the time of that traveller. Dua and Capac
I cannot explain. 4. _Persia._ The second and third are of course the
“other two empires of the Tartars” mentioned in the text. (See D’Avezac’s
“Notice of Old Travels in Tartary” in _Recueil de Voyages_, vol. iv.; and
Introduction to _Erskine’s Translation of Baber’s Memoirs_, etc.)
[187] See in _Ibn Batuta_, p. 172, a description of the great Chinese
junks, trading at that time to Malabar. It is remarkable that the Arabian
traveller uses literally the word _junk_, showing that we got it through
the Arab mariners, though ultimately from the Malay _ajong_, a ship.
[188] _Sic in orig._ Qu. _Arabia_?
[189] It was just about this time that a great proselytizing energy was
developed by Islám in the far east, extending to Sumatra and Java.
[190] _Asiatic_ Turkey, of course, at this date.
[191] Or horsemen.
[192] The good friar was doubtless thinking of _Exodus_ xxxv. 30-31.
[193] According to Beckman, the ancients were not acquainted with real
alum. He says it was discovered by the orientals, who established works
in the thirteenth century in Syria (apparently at Rukka or Rochha, east
of Aleppo, whence the name of _Roch-alum_, still in use). The best now
comes from the neighbourhood of Civita Vecchia. The method of manufacture
in England and Scotland is to mix broken alum slate with fuel, and to set
it on fire. When combustion is over the residual mixture is lixiviated
with water; a solution of the earthy salt being obtained, potash salts
are added, and crystals of alum are the result. (_Penny Cyclop._ and
_Macculloch’s Comm. Dict._)
[194] A curious instance of the persistence of legend in the face of
Scripture. See _John_, xxi, 23.
[195] “_Quia Turci non multum curant._” Some time ago a foreign
ambassador at the Sublime Porte told the Grand Vizier that there were
three enemies who would eventually destroy the Turkish empire, viz:
_Bakalum_, (We shall see;) _In-shäa-Alláh_, (If it please God;) and
_Yarun sabáh_ (to-morrow morning). (B.)
For this and several other very apt notes which I have marked with the
letter B, I have to thank Mr. Badger’s kindness.
INDEX TO THE _MIRABILIA_ OF JORDANUS AND THE COMMENTARY THEREON.
Abgarus of Edessa, 5
Aboriginal races of India, 35
Abraham;
Mussul. legend of, xi;
birthplace of, 9
Abu-Zaid-al-Hasan, see _Reinaud_.
Abyssinia, the Middle India of Polo, 11
See _Æthiopia_.
Adder, horned, 43
Æthiopia, 42, 43, 45;
Population of, 54
Afghan manners, 10
Africa, South-Eastern (India Tertia), 41
Agmatæ of Ptolemy, 44
Ahar, city of Armenia, 9
Ainslie’s Materia Medica, 13
Aladdin, 42
Alcock’s Japan, 48
Alms of Great Khan, 48
Altai mountains, 48
Alum, manufacture of, 57
Amadou, 17
Ambergris, 43
Andaman islanders, 31, 44
Andra (Telingana), 39
Andreolo Cathani, 57
Angaman, 44
Aniba, Amba (the Mango), 14
Animals of India, 12, 18, 26, 35, 36, 38
⸺ of India Tertia (S. E. Africa), 42, 43, 44
Anthropophagi, 31
Ants, Indian, of Herodotus, 29;
white, 36
Arab sailors’ yarns, xvii
Arabes, Voyages des, see _Reinaud_.
Arabia, the Greater, 45, 55
Aran, concerning, 50
Ararat, 3, 5
Araxes, 4, 5, 7
Archipelago, Indian, 30
⸺ Crawfurd’s Dictionary of the, 27, 28, 31
Arguri (village on Ararat), 4
Ariana, 11
Ariena (Pliny’s name for jack-fruit), 13
Arimaspian, 42
Ark, legends of the, 3, 4
Armenia the Greater, 3 _et seq._, 11, 53
Armenians, Schismatic, 5, 58;
their sacrifices, 52
Artocarpus, see _Jack_.
Asher’s Benjamin of Tudela, 22
Asia Minor, 11, 53, 58
Asses;
wild, 9;
in India, 12
Athenæum referred to, 31
Átish-gáh of Baku, 50, 51
Atlas, of India, xiii;
Keith Johnstone’s, xiv;
Steiler’s, 6
Ava, Mission to, 39
Avdall’s Trans. of Chamich’s Hist. of Armenia, 5, 7
Azerbijan, 6
Baber, Erskine’s, 54
Babylon, deserted, 49;
Sultan of (Egyptian), 46
Bacu (Baku), 50, 51, 53
Badakshan, 9
Badger, Rev. G. P., v, viii, xi, xviii, 58;
his _Nestorians_, 51
Baldello Boni’s ed. of Polo, xiii
Balkash, Lake, 47
Banyan trees, 17, 18, 19
Baptism of converts, 23, 24
Barahnakár, 44
Barbosa, Odoardo, xiv, xvi, 22, 33, 40
Barca and Papa (names of Jack-fruit), 13, 14
Barcarian mountains (Barchal Dagh), 6
Baroch, vi
Barrington, Sir Jonah, 33
Bartholomew, Apostle, in Armenia, 4, 5
Batigala (Batcole), 40, 41
Battas, Battaks, their cannibalism, 31
Bats, 19, 29
Batu Khan, 54
Beasts, wild, see _Animals_.
Beckman’s Hist. of Inventions, 57
Bed-kisht (sp. of manna), 8
Belluri (sp. of palm), 17
Benares visited by Conti, xiv;
population of, 8
Benjamin of Tudela, xv, 11, 22, 28
Bhagwán, 24
Biblioth. Hist. Vetus, vii
Birala, see _Belluri_.
Bird, wailing, 37;
devil, _ib._;
like a kite, 36;
enormous, 42
Birds of India, 19, 28
Bisnagur, king of, 40
Black Sea, 53
Blackness of Indians, 12, 25, 26;
of Africans, 43
Blackwood’s Mag., 47
Bloqui, an Indian fruit (Jack), 13, 14
Boats stitched, 16, 53
Bodies kept long, 47
Boils, 14
Bokhara, 10
Bollandists, vii
Borassus flabelliformis, 16
Botanic Garden, Calcutta, 18;
Kandy, 20
Brahmans, 22
Brazil-wood, xiii;
history of the name, 27
Breadfruit, 13
Briggs’s Ferishta, 23
Buchanan, Dr. F., his Mysore, 17
Buddhist Triad, 25;
rites, 46
Buds, Cassia, 28
Buffaloes, 49
Burial-place of St. John, 58
Burma, 39
Burnes, Sir Alex., quoted, 9, 10, 12
Burning;
of the dead, 20, 47;
of widows, 20
⸺ mountains, 45
Cæsalpina, 27
Caga, a port of Persia, v
Cai-Colam or Kain-Kulam, xiv, 40
Cail, a city near C. Comorin, xvi, 40
Calabria, 1, 2
Calcatix (crocodile), 19
Calcutta Botanic Garden, 18
Caldea, 11, 49, 43
Calicut, xiv, xv, 40
Cambay, 6
Cambodia, xvi, 11, 33, 37, 38, 41
Camels, 12
Cananore, xiv
Canara, 32, 40
Canella selvatica, 22
Cannibals, 31
Canopus, 34
Capac, 54
Cappadocia, 11, 53
Carbuncles and dragons, 42
Cardinal’s hats used by idol pontiffs, 46, 47
Carelessness, Turkish, 58
Carnatic, Mahom. conquest of, 23
Carobs, 21
Carpini quoted, 48
Caryota Urens, 17
Caspian Sea, 7;
Hills, 6,
(and tribes) 51, 52
Cassia Fistula, 21, 22
⸺ Lignea, 22, 28
⸺ Laurus, 28
⸺ buds, _ib._
Cathay, vi, 54
See _China_ and _Tartar_.
Catholic rites, Pagan semblances of, 46, 47
Cats;
winged, 29;
civet, 43
Caucasus, 7;
see also _Caspian_.
Cayda, 54
Cemetery of Great Khans, 48
Cerastes, 43
Ceratonia Siliqua, 21
Ceylon, xii, 37;
mentioned by Jordanus, 28, 30, 41
⸺ Sir J. E. Tennent’s, iii, 13, 30
⸺ ⸺ ⸺ Natural History of, 20, 29, 36, 37, 43
Chaldees, Ur of the, 9
Chaldeia (Chaldæa), see _Caldea_.
Chamich’s History of Armenia, see _Avdall_.
Champa, see _Cambodia_.
Chaqui, a fruit of India (the Jack), 13
Character ascribed to the Hindus, 22
Chardin quoted, viii, 5, 7
Chengiz Khan, 47, 54
China, ships of, xiv, xv, 54;
cities of, 47;
porcelain, 48
See also _Tartar_ and _Cathay_.
_China Illustrata_, Kircher’s, 47
Chios, Island of, 56
Chopa, 41
Choral Service of Buddhists, 46
Christendom, advantages of, enumerated by Jord., 55
Christians;
in India, vi, vii, xi, xii, 23, 55;
in Persia, viii, 8, 9;
in Armenia, 5, 6;
in Æthiopia, 46;
selfstyled in Caspian Hills, 51
Christian mysteries, Pagan semblances of, 47
Christopherus A’Costa, 14
Chronicle ascribed to Jordanus, ix
Chronology, Hindu Mythical, 25
Chulan, xv
Churches;
in India, vii, 23;
in Persia, viii, 8, 9;
in Armenia, 4, 5
⸺ The, vii, 58
Cilicia, 53
Cinnamon, 22, 27, 28
Circassians, 52
Cities of the Great Tartar, 47
Civet cat, 43
Clove trees, 31
Cobra, 19, 43
Cochin, xiv, 35
Coco-nut-palm described, 15, 16
Cockatrice, 19
Coilpatam, 40
Coir, 16
Coilon, xv, xvi, see _Columbum_ and _Quilon_.
Coincidences between mediæval travellers, xvii
Colam, Coulam, see _Columbum_.
⸺ meaning of, xiii;
sundry places named, xiv
⸺ Pandarani, xiv, 40
Coloen, xvi, see _Columbum_.
Columbo in Ceylon, xii
Columbum, the see of Jordanus (Quilon), v, vi;
the Christians of, vii, viii, x;
identification of, xii-xvii;
foundation of, xiv, 29;
king of, 39, 40
Comania, 54
Comari (Comorin), xiii
Comorin, Cape, xiii, xvi, 33, 40
Conengue, v
Constantine, 5
Constantinople, 53, 57
Conti, Nicolo de’, xiv, xv, xvi, 25, 31;
division of India according to, 11
Conversion;
of Pagans and Saracens, 23, 24, 55;
of schismatics, 5, 6, 8, 9, 55
Cooley, W. D., Trans. of Panot’s Ararat, 3
Coorg, Rajas of, 40
Coquebert-Montbret (French editor), iii, iv, v, vi, vii, viii, xii,
xvii
Cordiner’s Ceylon, 13
Coromandel, xiii
Corypha umbraculifera, 30
Cote-coulam, xiv
Cows, see _Oxen_.
Crawfurd, John, Dictionary of the Indian Archipelago, 27, 28, 31
⸺ Malay Dictionary, 22
Crimea, 54
Crocodile described, 19
Cross, Sheep sacrificed on a, 51
Crows, 19
Cubebs, 31
Curzon’s Armenia, 5
Cyncilim, 40
Cyrus (Kur) river, 7
Daghestan, 53
D’Anville, vi, xiii
Date-palms in India, 11
Daulutabad, 39
Daumghan, v
D’Avezac, M., quoted, v, viii, ix, 42, 47, 54
Day and Night, length of, 12, 34
Dead, disposal of, 20, 21, 47
⸺ Sea in Armenia (Urumia), 6
Declinations, quaint estimate of, 34
Dekkan, Mahom. conquest of, 39
Delhi, 20
Demetrius, a Franciscan martyr in India, xii
Demons in Chaldæa, 49
Deogiri, rajas of, 39
Der-bend, 53
Devil speaketh in India, 37;
bird, _ib._
Dew absent, 8;
heavy, 12
Diamonds, 20
Dictionary, Macculloch’s Commercial, 27, 44, 57;
Crawfurd’s Malay, 22;
Crawfurd’s, of the Indian Archipelago, 27, 28, 31;
Smith’s, of the Bible, 4;
Smith’s, of Greek and Roman Geography, 6;
Richardson’s Persian, 17
Dioclesian’s Persecution, 5
Distances of eastern countries, 52
Dog-headed folk, 44
Dominicans, or Preaching Friars, v, vi, x, xii, 5, 6, 55
Dóms, Domra, a low caste, 21
Dragons, 5, 41
Dravidian races, 35
Dress of Hindus, 32
Drury, Capt. H., Useful Plants of India, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 28
Dua, 54
Dubois, Abbé, quoted, 21, 35
Dumbri, see _Dóm_.
Dyo or Diu, x
Earthquakes, in Greece, 2;
at Ararat, 4
Eating, Asiatic habits of, 10
Echmiazin, 3, 5
Egripos, 2
Elchigaday, 54
El-Cathif, xv
Electrum, 23
Elephant, not found in Lesser India, 12;
described, 26;
story of, 29;
extensive use of in Champa, 37;
their wars, 38;
mode of capture, 38, 39;
of Ceylon, 41;
carried by the Roc, 42
El-Kât, Port of the P. Gulph, v
Elphinstone’s Hist. of India, 22, 23
Embar (Ambergris), 43
Emperor, Persian (Tartar), 6;
of Æthiopia, 42, 45, 46;
of Cathay, 46, 47, 48;
of Constantinople, 53
Empire, Persian (Tartar), 6, 52, 54;
Great Tartar (Cathay), 46, 47, 48, 53;
several Tartar, 54
Engano, legend of, 44
Ephesus, 58
Erivan, 7
Erskine’s Baber, 54
Euphrates, v, 49
Euripus, flux and reflux, 2
Exodus quoted, 57
Facetiousness of M. Polo, exceptional, 46
Fandaraina, 40
Fans, 17
Faro of Messina, 1
Female line, inheritance in, 32
Ferrier’s travels, 9
Fertility of Lesser India, 12;
of Turkey, 58
Fighting in India, 20
Fiji Islands, 32
Fire at Baku, 50, 51, 53
⸺ worshippers, 21;
castle of the, 51
Flandrina, 40
Flying foxes, 19
⸺ squirrels, 29
Food of Lesser India, 12
Footsteps, mysterious, 37
Forest tribes, see _Wild_.
Forks, no new invention, 10
Forster’s, George, travels, 50
Fowls, Indian, 20
Foxes in India, 29;
flying, 19
France, king of, might subdue the world, 56
Francis of Pisa, vii
Franciscan or Minor friars, v, vi, ix, x, 5, 55
Friars, see _Franciscan_ and _Dominican_.
Fruits of India, 13-17
Funeral rites, Tartar, 47, 48
Gabet, Père, 47
Gallus Sonneratii, 20
Galofaro (Charybdis), 2
Gatzaria, 54
Gedrosia, 11
Geographer in Ramusio, see _Sommario_, 24
Gemma Marina, 43
Genoese, vi, 56, 57
Georgiana, 52, 53
Georgian schismatics, 9
Ginger, xv, 21, 27
Girasal and Chambasal, 13
God, the one recognized by Hindus, 24
Gog and Magog, wall of, 53
Gokchai, Lake, 7
Gold, in Persia, 9;
in India, 23;
Water making, 29;
dust for money, 30
Golden mountains, 45, 46
⸺ sands, 42
Golkonda, Kingdom of, 39
Gracia ab Horto, 14
Grapes, 4, 15
Greece, 2, 11, 55
Greeks, 9, 56, 58
Gregory, St., Ap. of Armenia, 5
Grueber, Father, 47
Grus Cinerea, 37
Gryphons, 42, 45
Guz (manna), 8
Hakluyt, ix, 31, 33
Hamilton’s (W.) Desc. of Hindostan, 22, 40
Hardwicke, General, 29
Harrán or Haran, 50
Hauda, 26
Haxthausen’s Transcaucasia, 4, 50, 52
Heavenly bodies, 35
Hell, Babylon called, 49
Heraclius, 7
Heretics, 46
Herodotus, xviii, 29, 31, 42
Hílí, a port of Malabar, xv
Hindus;
decent eating, 10;
blackness, 12, 25, 26;
high character of, 22;
their toleration, 24;
sacrifices, 24;
idols, _ib._;
reverence for oxen, 25;
dress, 31;
inheritance, 32;
self-immolation, 32;
wars, 20;
at Baku, 50, 51
Hispaniola, 32
Honeyjack, 14
Horrebow’s Iceland, 50
Horses not used in Lesser India acc. to Jordanus, 12;
sacrifice of, 47
Hortus Malabaricus, see _Rheede_.
Huc, Père, 46, 47
Hulaku, vi, 6
Hunáwur, 40
Hunters, Negro, 43
Hurons, 32
Hushyárpúr, banyan at, 18
Hyemo, city of, 47
Iaca (jack-fruit), 13, 14
Ibn Batuta, travels of, iii;
mentions Columbo, xii;
Kaulam, xv;
coincidences with Jordanus, xvii;
his desc. of jack-fruit, 14;
mango, 14;
coco-palm, 15;
pepper, 28;
his name of Ceylon, 28;
mentions great ruby, 30;
his singular story of self-immolation, 33;
his mention of Maabar, 39;
of Hunáwur; of Fandaraina, 40;
of the Roc, 42;
of the Andaman stories, 44;
of the Great Khan’s funeral rites, 47;
of Chinese junks in India, 54
Ichthyophagi Troglodytes of Arabia, 45
Idols, Indian, 24, 32, 33;
processions of, 33;
sacrifices to, 24, 32;
temples of, destroyed by Saracens, 23;
temples of, in Tartary, 46
India, mediæval divisions of, 11
⸺ the Lesser, 10;
described, 11 and seq., 53
⸺ the Greater, 26 and seq., 53
⸺ First and Second, 11, 12
⸺ Middle, 11
⸺ Tertia, 11;
described, 41 & seq.
⸺ Ultra Gangem, 41
⸺ wild races of, 35
⸺ kings in, 39
⸺ islands of, 28, 30, 31, 44, 53
⸺ vessels of, 16, 53
India in the fifteenth century, Major’s, xiv, 42
See also _Conti_.
India rubber trees, 20
Infernal, Tribes characterized as, 35
Inheritance, singular custom of, 32
Insects, 36
Iron in India, 23
Iron-gates, the, 53
Irrigation at Tabriz, 8
Isaiah’s prophecy of Babylon, 49
Islands of India, their number, 28, 53;
Ceylon, 28, 30;
island having marvellous water and tree, 29;
of naked people, 30;
of Java, 30, 41;
of women only and men only, 44;
of dog-headed folk, 44
Ivory, 38
Iymyl, a Tartar city, see _Hyemo_.
Jack-fruit, 13, 14
Jacobites, 9
Jacobus, Armenian martyr, 5
Jagatai Khan, 54
Jaggeri (palm-sugar), 16
James of Padua, a Franciscan martyr, xi
Java (the Archipelago), its wonders, 30, 31, 33;
kings in, 41, 55
Jews, black, xv;
in Persia, 9
John, St., legend of, 58
⸺ Prester, 42, 45
⸺ XXII, Pope, vii, x
⸺ de Core, archbishop of Sultania, vii
Jordanus, his birthplace, iv;
dates in his life, v, vii;
letters, v, vi;
first goes to India, vi;
named bishop of Columbum, vii;
time of writing this book, viii;
Chronicle ascribed to him, ix;
his Latinity, xvii;
his coincidences with other travellers, xvii
Josephus, 4
Jude the Apostle, in Armenia, 4, 5
Jungle fowl, 20
Junks, Chinese, xv, 55;
origin of the name, 55
Kaidu Khan, 54
Kain-Kulam, xiv, 40, 41
Kambalu, 46
Karrack, v
Kars, 6
Kasias, 32
Kaulam, xv, (see _Columbum_).
Kayane, virgin martyr, 5
Keatinge, Col. R. H., 33
Kesmacoran of Polo, 11
Khan, Great, see _Tartar_.
Khârej or Khárg, see _Karrack_.
Khazaria, 54
Khor-virab, convent of, 5
Khounouk, v
Khilji sovereigns of Delhi, 23
Kic (for _Kīr_, bitumen), 10
Killing Oxen capital, 25
Kine alone used in Lesser India, 12
Kings in India;
their dress, 32;
some of them detailed, 39
⸺ 52 under Prester John, 45
⸺ The Three, 53
King, Account of Cambodia by, 38
Kinneir, Macdonald, quoted, 7, 8, 50, 53
Kipchak, 54
Kirbah (Waterskin), 49
Kirby and Spence, quoted, 36
Kircher’s _China Illustrata_, 47
Kite, Rufous, 36
Kulang (sp. of crane), 37
Kulam. See _Columbum_, etc.
⸺ Malé, xiv
Lada, 22
Lake Urumia, 6
⸺ Sevan, 7
Lakkadives, 28
Lamas, 47
Lambs, Nestorian Sacrifice of, 51
Lapis Lazuli, 9
Latinity of Jordanus, xvii
Latter Days, Mahom. notions respecting, 23
Leake’s Travels in Greece, 2
Leaves;
perennial, 18;
gigantic, 29, 30
Le Blanc, Vincent, 40
Lee, Dr. S., 14. See _Ibn Batuta_.
Lemons, sweet and sour, 15
Leopards, 18, 43
Liber de Ætatibus, v
Liberality of Great Tartar, 46
Linga, Lingam, 40, 41
Lingáyet sect, 39, 40
Lingua, King of Mohebar and of Columbum, 39, 41
Linschoten’s Voyages, 13, 14, 21, 22, 28
Lions, 18, 43
Locusts, 20
Lodovicus Romanus, 14
Lord, Dr. P., quoted, 12
Lories, 29
Lucknow, population of, 8
Lycia, 53
Lynx, 18
Maabar, a region of the Coromandel coast, xiii, 32, 39, 41
Maarazia, a city of India (Benares), xiv
Macculloch’s Commercial Dictionary, 27, 44, 58
Mace, 31
Mackenzie Collections, xiv
Madagascar, 32
Madras, population of referred to, 8
Magi, 53
Mahmúd of Ghazni, 23
Mahratta, 39, 41
Major’s India in the 15th century, xiv, 42
See _Conti_.
Malabar;
Ports of, xiv-xvi;
Chinese Trade with, xv, 54;
Kings in, 39;
Mahom. Conquest of, 23
Malayalim names of Jack-fruit, 13, 14
Mandevill, Sir John, xv;
his lies, 40
Mangalore, 11, 40
Mango, 14
Manna, 8, 10
Manners;
of Persians, 9, 10;
of Hindus, 10, 12, 20, 22;
of Tartar Empire, 47
Maragha, vi
Marogo (Maragha), v, vi
Marsden’s Sumatra, 44
Martin Zachary, Captain, 56
Martyrdoms;
of Missionaries, vi, ix, xi, 56;
Sundry in Armenia, 4, 5, 7
Mastick, 56
Masudi, vi
Media, 53
Mediterranean, Adm. Smyth’s, 2
Mekrán, 11
Melibaria of Conti (Malabar), xvi
Men only and women only, and Islands of, 44
Metals in India, 23
Mice, white, 31
Milburn’s Oriental Commerce, xiii, 22
Milk, Coco-nut, 15
Milton quoted, 17, 42
Minor Friars. See _Franciscan_.
Missionaries Martyred. See _Martyrdoms_.
Missions, Views of Jordanus on Indian, 55, 56
⸺ Papal, in Armenia, 5, 6
Mitford, 37
Mogan, Plain of, 6, 50, 53
Mohebar, 39, 41
See _Maabar_.
Molebar (Malabar), 40
Molephatam, 40, 41
Molepoor, 40, 41
Monarchies of South India, 39, 40, 41
Monasteries in Tartary, 46
Money, Paper, 46
Monsters at Babylon, 49
Monteith, General, quoted, 6
Mooloopetta, 40
Moorish Sea (Mediterranean), 53
Moors (for Mahomedans), 24, 40
Moosh, 8
Moslem Kings in India, 40
Mosques made out of Temples and Churches, 23
Mouat’s Andamans, Dr., 44
Mules not used in Lesser India, 12
Mul-Java, 33
Multán, 23
Muratori, ix
Murray, Hugh, his Polo, xiii, xvi, xviii
Murray’s Guide, The Medieval, xvii
Musk, 47
Mus Malabaricus, 29
Mysore, Buchanan’s, 17
Nadir Shah, 7
Naft (Naphtha), 50
See also 10
Nairs of Malabar, their law of inheritance, 32, 40
Naked Tribes, 30, 43
Nakhcheván, 4, 6
Namadus, vi
Nargil (Coco-nut), 15
Narsinga, King of, 40
Nascarini (Nazrání or Indian Christians), vii
Natchez, 32
Naxuana of Ptolemy, 4
Negroes described, 43
Negropont, 2
Nerbudda, vi, 33
Nestorians, vi, 9, 51
⸺ The, by the Rev. G. P. Badger, 51
Nicolaus Romanus, vi
Niger, Tribes on, 32
Night and Day, variation of, 34
⸺ Brightness and glory of, in India, 34
Noah, Armenian Traditions of, 3, 4
Nose, flat, a beauty among Mongols, 25
Nutmegs, 31
Nuts of India, 16
Odericus Raynaldus, vii
Odoricus of Friuli, Traveller and Saint, ix, 31, 33, 38, 40
Ogero the Dane, 40
Oil, Coco-nut, 15
Okkodai, Khan of the Tartars, 47
Onagri, 9
Orang-utang, 31
Oranges, 15
Ormi (Urumia), 5
Ormus, x, 11
Ornas. See _Verna_.
Orogan (error for Mogan), 6
Osbet, 54
Ossetes, 51
Ounces, 18, 43
Oxen, Hindu reverence for, 25
Oxus, 10
⸺ Wood’s, 11
Pagan Prophecies of Latin domination, 23
Pala, name of Jack-tree in Pliny, 13
Palmyra, 16
Paludanus, 13, 14
Pandarani, xiv, 40
Paper Money in Tartary, 46
Paradise, Terrestrial, 42, 43
Parmeswar, 24
Paroco, a city of India (Baroch), v, vi
Parody of Catholic rites, 47
Parrot’s Ascent of Ararat, 3, 4
Parrots, 19, 29
Parsis described, 21
Peacocks, 20
Pearl Fishery, 28, 40, 41
_Pegua_ (?), 10
Penny Cyclopædia, quoted, 2, 6, 8, 28, 29, 43, 44, 58
Pepper, xiii;
gardens, xv;
forest, xv;
described, 27
⸺ Long, 27, 28;
not indigenous in the I. Archipelago, 31
Persecution;
of Dioclesian, 5;
of preachers lay the Saracens, x, 55, 56
Persia;
Notices of, 7 _et seq._, 52
See _Emperor_ and _Empire_.
See also _Kinneir_.
Peter, a Franciscan Martyr, xii
Pheasants, 20
Pitch, Mineral, 10
Pila, Tamul name of Jack-fruit, 13
Pirates in Malabar, 40
Planets as seen in India, 34
Pliny;
western limit of India according to, 11;
his account of Jack-fruit, 13;
of the Banyan, 17;
of Cassia, 22;
of Pepper, 28
Podargus, 37
Pole-star, height of, 34
Poliars, a forest race, 35
Polo, Marco, iii, v, viii;
his Coilon, xiii, xv, xvi;
his coincidences with Jordanus, xvii;
his division of the Indies, 11;
quoted with reference to birds and beasts of India, 19;
big bats, 19;
armament of Indian troops, 20;
honesty of Brahmans, 22;
horrid heat, 22;
admiration of black skins, 25;
Indian Islands, 28;
Ceylon, 28;
great ruby, 30;
pygmies, 31;
dress of Indian kings, 32;
Maabar, 39;
king of Cail, 40;
Male and Female Islands, 44;
Andamans, 44;
bounty of the G. Khan, 46;
Paper-money, 46;
City of Kinsai, 47;
burial of G. Khan, 48;
fire of Baku, 51, 53;
division of Tartar conquests, 54
⸺ Murray’s edition of, xiii, xviii;
Baldello Boni’s, xiii
Polumbrum or Polembum, xv
Pomegranates, 15
Population;
of Tabriz, 7;
fallacious estimates of, 8;
of Eastern Countries, 11;
of Cathay, 47, 54;
of Æthiopia (?), 54
Porcelain, China, 48
Preachers wanted for India, 55
⸺ Saracen, 55
Preaching among idolaters of India, 24
⸺ Friars. See _Dominicans_.
Prester John, 42, 45
Priests, idolatrous, 24
Prophecies of Latin domination, 23
Ptolemy;
his Supara, vi;
stories received from Arab Sailors, xviii;
his Naxuana, 4;
his Agmatæ, 44
Pudefitania of Conti (Pudipatanam), xiv
Pulney Hills, 35
Quails, 19, 20
Quétif and Echard, v
Quilacare (Coilacaud) King of, 33
Quilon, the Columbum of Jordanus, vi, xii-xvii, 34, 39, 41
(See _Columbum_, _Coulam_, etc.)
Races, wild, 35
Rain, absence of, 8;
scarcity of, 12
Rainy season, 12
Rajmahl Forests, 18
Rakshasas, 35
Ramusio, xiv, xvi, 11, 24, 40
Rats, gigantic, 29
Recueil de Voyages et de Mémoires, i, iii, iv, ix, 3, 42, 47, 48, 54
Reg-rawán, 11
Reinaud—Relation des Voyages faits par les Arabes, etc., vi, xiv, 33
Renaudot, xiv
Rennel, xiii
Reptiles, 18, 19
Resemblances to R. Cath. rites, 24, 33, 46
Rheede’s Hortus Malabaricus, 13, 14, 17
Rhinoceros, 18
Rhipsime, Virgin Martyr, 5
Rhubarb, 47
Richardson’s Persian Diction., 17
Rice, 12
Rivers of Paradise, 42, 43
Roc, The, 42
Roch-Alum, 58
Roxburgh, quoted, 17
Rubies, great, 30
Rubruquis, William, 3, 25, 46
Rukka, 58
Russia, 54
Sacrifices;
Idol, in India, 24;
in Tartary, 46;
of sheep on a cross, 51;
suicidal, 32
Samarkand, viii
Samosata, viii
Samudra Raja, 40
Sandhills, Flowing, 10
Sap of trees for liquor, 15, 16
Sappan-wood, 27
Saracens;
_i.e._, Mahomedans, x, 9, 23, 41, 58;
their preachers and persecution of Christians, 55;
ravage India, 23
Saracenized Tartars, 9
Sati, 20
Sava, 53
Scala, 5
Schismatic Christians, vii, 5, 6, 8, 9, 55, 58
Scotch lady’s musquito, 29
Scott, Walter, 50
Scott-Waring, 10
Seamanship, eastern and western, 55
Sebast, Sebasteia, 6
Sefara, see _Supera_.
Self-immolation, stories of, 33
Semiscat, a see under Sultania, vii
Semur (?), a city of Armenia, 7
Serpents;
in India, 18, 35;
two-, three-, and five-headed, 19;
in Armenia, 4, 5, 7;
horned, and with gems, 43;
vast, in Æthiopia, 45;
in Chaldæa, 49
Sevan, Lake, 7
Séverac, birthplace of Jordanus, iv
Shaki and Barki—Arabic names for Jack-fruit, 14
Shadows, direction of, 34
Sheep sacrificed on cross, 51
Siagois (_Siya-gosh_, the lynx), 18
Sicily, whirlpools, etc., 1
Silk in Persia, 9
Silem, see _Sylen_ and _Ceylon_.
Simon, Apostle, in Armenia, 4, 5
Sindbad the sailor, 31, 42
Sindh, 11, 12;
Reports on, 12
Singuyli, King of, 40, 41
Sister’s son inherits, 32
Sivas, 6
Slaves, funeral sacrifice of, 47
Smith and Dwight, Researches in Armenia, 3, 4, 5, 6
Smith’s Dict. of the Bible, 4
⸺ Dict. of Greek and Roman geography, 6
Smyth, Admiral, the Mediterranean, 1, 2
Soldan of Babylon (in Egypt), 46
Soldiers in India, 20
_Sommario dei Regni_, etc., in Ramusio, xiv, xv, 24, 40
Sparrows, 19
Sperm-whale, 44
Spices, 23, 27, 30, 31
Spiders, Wasps that kill, 35
Springs, miraculous, 4;
of pitch, 10
Squirrels, flying, 29
Stanley, Dr. Arthur P., quoted, 51
Stewart, Lt.-Col. Patrick, R.E., 50
Steiler’s Hand Atlas, 6
Stitched Vessels, 53
Stones, Pretious, 20;
in Ceylon, 30, 41;
in serpents, 43;
in the heads of dragons, 42;
in Æthiopia, 45
Sugar, Palm, 16, 17
Sultania, viii, 9
Sugar-cane, 21
Sumatra, 30, 31, 32, 44, 55
Supera, a port of India supposed near Surat, v, vi
Surat, vi
Surplice, 24
Sylen (Ceylon), or Silem, 28, 30, 41 (see _Ceylon_).
Sylvester, St., 5
Tabriz, v, vi, viii, 6, 7, 8, 9
Talipat-tree, 30
Tamarinds, and meaning of the word, 21
Tamerlane, viii
Tamul words, xiii, 13, 19
Tamils in Ceylon, 43
Tana, an Indian port near Bombay, vi, vii, ix
Tana, Tanan (Tanais), an ancient factory on the Sea of Azoph, viii, 53
Tapti river, vi
Tárí, Tádí, 16
Tartar, The Great, 46, 47, 48, 54
Tartars;
in Armenia, 7, 24;
different empires of, 54
Tartary, 10, 46, 53
Tauris (see _Tabriz_).
Telenc (Telingana), an Indian kingdom, 39, 41
Teloogoo, 29
Tennent, Sir J. E., see _Ceylon_.
Terrors of Babylon, 49
Thaddeus, the Apostle, 5
Thaurisium, 6 (see _Tabriz_).
Thebes (Greece), 2
Theistic feeling among Hindus, 24
Thibet, 47
Thomas the Apostle, Saint, x, 5, 23
⸺ a Franciscan martyr, xi
Thucydides, 2
Tigris, 49
Tipura, 32
Tiridates, K. of Armenia, 5
Toddy, process of drawing, 16, 17
Tokat, 6
Tongan (Daumghan), v
Tortoise, monster, 49
Toulouse, 47
Transoxiana, 54
Travancore, people of, 22
Treasure of the sea, 43
Trebizond, 6, 53
Triad, the Buddhist, 25
Trinity, alleged belief in the Holy, in India, 24;
in Ava, 25
Troglodytes Ichthyophagi, 45
Tsjaka (Malayalim name of Jack-fruit), 13
Turks, 56, 57, 58;
for Mahomedans, 24;
their pococurantism, 58
Turkish Saracens, 23
Turkey (in Asia), 57
Tuticorin, 40
Two-headed monsters, 49;
also see _serpents_.
Ultramarine, 9
Unicorn, 18, 42
Upas tree, 31
Ur of the Chaldees, 9
Ural River, 54
Urfa, 9
Urumia, Lake, 6;
city, 5
Uzbeg, 54
Variation of day and night in India, 12, 34
Vasco de Gama, 27
Venice, merchants of, in Malabar, xv
Venus seen in broad day, 34
Verna, an Eastern see, viii
Vessels of India, 16, 53;
of Cathay, xv, 54
Vincent’s Periplus of the Erythræan Sea, vi
Vines;
of Noah, 4;
in India, 15
Virgin martyrs, 5
⸺ only can take a unicorn, 43
Viverra Civetta, 43
Vows of self-immolation, 32
Wadding, Annales Minorum, v
Walckenaer, Baron, iv
War, elephants used in, 26
⸺ of elephants among themselves, 38
Warangól, 39
Wasps, remarkable, 35
Water, marvellous, 29
Wellsted’s Travels in Arabia, 45
Wheat in India, 12
Widow-burning, 20
Wild;
tribes in India, 35;
men, 43
Willows exuding manna, 8
Wilson, H. H., quoted, xiv
Wine;
not made in India, 15;
substitutes for, 15, 16
Wood’s Oxus, quoted, 11
World’s duration according to Hindus, 25
Yadu family, 39
Yemi-li (see _Hyemo_).
Yezidís, 51
Zachary, an Armen. Archbishop, 5
⸺ a Genoese Captain, 56
Zamorin of Calicut, 40
Zebra, 44
Zoroaster, 6
_CORRIGENDA._
P. viii. _Dele_ note 2, which is based on an oversight.
P. 2. Last line of note on Charybdis, insert “_which are_” after “local
terms.”
P. 5. Note 2, last word of second line, for “_were_” read “_was_.”
P. 12. Note 1, first line, for “_half-past nine_” read “_half-past
eight_.”
P. 14. Note 1, first line, for “_Amba_” read “_Anba_.”
P. 36, § 33, first line, read “_a certain big bird like a kite_.”