The Empire of the Mogul

Sources from old books

1685. Geographia universalis: the present state of the whole world by Pierre Duval.

The Empire of the Mogul. THis Empire comprehends the greatest part of the firm land of India between Persia, Tartary and China. The Mogul is the Sovereign thereof; He has his Name and his Rise from a Tribe come from Giagathai, a Countrey of Great Tartary: He passes for the richest Prince in the World, as to Jewels; besides those of his Crown, he has those of several Princes, his Neighbours, whose Predecessours had for a long while lived in and entertain'd the curiosity of having 'em: Besides, he inherits the Jewels of the Grandees of his Court. He is Universal Heir to those he gives Pensions to: all Houses before which he passes, owe him a Present; the Lands belong to him; his Will serves for Law in the decision of Matters. In this State, People go under the Name of the Employment they possess, and not of the Lands they enjoy. Some Relations assert, that this Monarch is every day shewn part of his Treasures; sometimes his Elephants, sometimes his Jewels, another day somewhat else; and that he commonly sees every thing but once a Year, all the Treasure being divided into as many parts, as there are days in the Year. The day of his birth he is weighed, and the feasting upon that occasion lasts five days; then he receives sometimes the value of above thirty Millions, and always something very rare. The Civil War, which arose between the four Sons of Scha-Jehan, did not allow Aureng-zebe, who rendred himself Master of 'em all, to observe punctually these Diversions. One of the Temples of this State is pav'd and imbowed with Plates of pure Gold. In the Palace of Agra, there are two Towers cover'd with sheets of massy Gold, and a Throne enrich'd with Jewels, with four Lyons of silver Vermilion guilt, supporting a Canopy of massy Gold. People talk at a much higher rate: He is said to have two Bushels of Carbuncles, five Bushels of Emeralds, twelve Bushels of diverse sorts of Precious Stones, twelve hundred Cutlasses, whose Scabbards are of Gold, and covered with Jewels. They say, moreover, that the Treasure of Scha-Choram, one of the late Moguls, was of fifteen hundred Millions of Crowns. What is certain, is, that Scha-Jehan, who reign'd near forty Years, left above five Millions of Crowns; that the Throne, which he caus'd to be made in his City of Jehan-Abad, which is that of Delli, came to above sixty Millions of Livers. There are seven magnificent Thrones, whereof the greatest was begun by Tamerlain. The Money of this State is of good alloy; great Justice is done; the Europeans are in great consideration, being by them call'd Francs. They reckon the ways by Cosses, each of which is a Mile and a half. No Oats are allowed their Horses; they give 'em Pease, and a sort of Paste made of Sugar, Flour, and Butter. They bathe themselves in Cysterns, which they call Tanques; in the Rivers there are Tuberons, which eat Men. The Mogul; upon occasion, can arm two hundred thousand Horse; He has but little Infantry, and that too but bad. He has a considerable number of Elephants; of which Creatures he commonly keeps five or six hundred. He draws great Services from these Creatures; they are surefooted, rise and lye down easily, tho' there be of 'em thirteen and fifteen foot high. This Prince is of the Mahometan Religion, of the Turkish Sect: Most of his Vassals are Pagans. The Gymnosophists, and the Brachmans, have formerly been esteem'd for Wisdom in India, just as are the Bramins at this day: The former were very cruel, they caused old people, and the diseased, to be killed, out of an opinion, that they did them good service. The Bramins exercise surprising Abstinences, and Mortifications; some amongst 'em will remain standing with their Arms up for ten or twelve Years. They are as the Priests of the Countrey. The Troopers and Soldiers are called Rezbutes. There are several Mahometans in the Empire of the Mogul; Above two thirds there are Gentiles, or Banians, or Persces. The Banians are almost all Merchants, sharp, cunning, and as sagacious as possible, Hucksters, by reason of their acquaintance in the Country, where they live amongst the Mahometans, as the Jews do among the Christians; they make profession of doing no hurt to any Creature living; of pardoning the injuries that are done them; they believe the transmigration of Souls; have Hospitals for Brutes more than for Men. One amongst 'em, spent in one day above twelve thousand Ducats, for the making the Nuptials of his Friend's Bull: They have a Cow in great veneration. They dare not eat of any thing that has had life, not so much as Radishes, for fear of eating the Soul of some of their Friends. They do not willingly light Candles, for the preventing the Gnats from burning themselves in 'em: When the Portugueses, who dwell there, have no Money, they endeavour to catch some Bird, which they shew in the Streets, saying, they are going to have it roasted for their Supper: and immediately the Banians do not fail to give them Money, to redeem it out of their hands. Marriage is with them in such consideration, that when a young man is dead, without having been married, they cause some Maiden or other to lye with the Body, to whom they give for that purpose a Dowry, or Portion. The Persees are descended from the ancient Persians, who retired into those parts: Never any of 'em are Farriers, or Locksmiths, for fear of being sometimes obliged to put out the Fire, which they esteem their God; They have such a reverence for Wood, as the Fewel and Nourishment of that God, that, not to prophane it by touching of the dead, they make their Coffins of Iron. The Indians in general are tawny, Olive-colour'd, with lank, black Hair; If there be any Whites, their whiteness is a mark of Leprosie. They drink from on high, or pour it in without touching the Cup with their lips: they affect white in their Buildings; they ride on Oxen, instead of Horses: Persons of quality, who travel in these Countreys, cause a kind of Cornet, or Ensign, to be carried before them. Their way of salutation, is to take one another by the Beard. If they be distant from Court, they suffer their hair to grow, as a token of their discontent, in that they are deprived of the happiness of seeing their Prince.

India is very fertile and populous in those parts, that confine upon its great Rivers; It has some Countreys, where you must go in good company, if you mean to save your self from Robbers, whom they call Koulis. It is fine to see the High-ways of two hundred Leagues in length, which resemble Walks or Alleys; they are planted with Cocoes, Dates, and Palmtrees. This Countrey ministers excellent Bread, there being Corn and Rice in abundance. Victuals in general are mighty cheap in these parts, and nevertheless the Inhabitants are naturally very sober. The neighbourhood of Tartary is full of Mountains and Forests, where the Moguldoes often take the divertisement of Hunting: there is a great number of wild Beasts, and Rats too, who attack Men in their Beds. Here it was, that Alexander made Timber to be cut for the building of Ships, which he caused to descend down the Indus, and upon the Ocean, whose ebbing and flowing did extraordinarily surprise his Pilots. As for the remains of Antiquity in this State, there are very few, the Moguls having made it their bus'ness to ruin the ancient Towns. The Indus is navigable from the Lahor, as far as Sind. The People of the Countrey call it Pang-ab, by reason of the five Rivers, which assemble in the highest part of its course. The Ganges, which is small and low, when there is no Rain, was formerly famous for its Gold; it is so at present for its Water, which is very light. The Natives of the Countrey say, that this Water sanctifies them, whether they drink of it, or wash in't; they go in Pilgrimage to the places where it passes: the Moguls always cause some of it to be carried with them. It is fine to see sometimes four or five hundred thousand Indians in one and the same season round this Ganges, wherein several go to cast Gold and Silver. The Custom of some is to hide it under ground, in the opinion they have, it may serve them after their death.

There are full forty Kingdoms in this Empire, whereof all the Names are almost the same with those of the capital Cities. Likewise some small Territories there are, whose Lords, who call themselves Rajas, are of a very ancient Race, and maintain themselves in Fortresses and Mountains inaccessible. The greatest mischief they do, is to rob and make incursions upon the Mogul's Subjects: The Names of some Cities, terminating in Pore, seem to shew, that they still preserve the Memory of Porus; as well as others in Scander, that of Alexander. The Dominions of the Mogul are much larger than those of the Persian, and equal those of the Turk. The Mogul prevails by the number of his Subjects, by the vastness of his Riches, by the extent of his Empire: His Revenue exceeds those both of the Grand Seignior and Sophi together. The Sophi surpasses him in Arms, in Horses, and Soldiers. The Mogul keeps good correspondence with the Turk, in consideration both of State and Religion. Guzaratta yields every year about eight Millions of Gold, and its Merchants pass for the ablest and most sagacious of all India. This Province has three stately Cities, Amad-abad, Cambaya, and Surat, with thirty other considerable Towns. Amad-abad, the Capital, is esteemed by the English, as much as London. Cambaia was called the Cairo of the Indies, by reason of its bigness, which is two Leagues in circuit; by reason of its Commerce, and the fertility of its Soyl, which furnishes, amongst other things, Cotton, Anir, Opium, Agates, whereof there is a Mine at Baroche: Since the losses of the Portugals, Cambaya is much decayed; besides, that its Haven is very bad. Surat, forty six days journey from the Royal City of Agra, is one of the Asiatic Cities, which drives the greatest Trade, tho' the coming to it be dangerous, the Houses low, and cover'd with Palm-trees. Its River abates much, which is four Leagues below the Town, can hardly carry Vessels of seventy or eighty Ton; they being oblig'd to unlade the Merchandizes at Sohali: This is the principal Scene of the English Commerce in the East-Indies: the French have setled a Consul there for the same purpose. It is now about thirteen years ago, that this City was plunder'd by a Raja of the Countrey, a Rebel of the Mogul, called Siva-Gi, the loss arising to above thirty-Millions. This Siva-Gi has, since that, taken several Towns to the South of Surat. Diu is a Fortress in an Island, which the Portugals have been forced to abandon, after having gloriously defended it in the years 1539, and 1546. One of their Soldiers is said to have shewn such bravery there, that wanting Lead, he pull'd out his great Teeth for the charging his Musket: on the other side, an Indian being struck with the Pike of a Portuguese, advanc'd and thrust it on so far into his own body, until that he came up to his enemy, and slash'd his hamms for him with his short Sword. There is mention made, in the War of Flanders, of somewhat the like bravery: A Soldier, hidden in a Boats of Turffs, for the surprising of Breda, having receiv'd a Wound from the Pike of those who search'd it, had the resolution and cunning, to wipe the Iron and end of the Pike, for fear his blood should discover the Enterprize. Cabul, with a Town of the same Name, is fruitful in Myrobalan Plums. Candahar was conquer'd and taken from the Persian, but restored to him in the year 1650, and the Moguls have not been able to retake it. Agra has the capital City of all the Dominions, where might be raised, upon occasion, two hundred thousand Men, capable of bearing Arms: it is likewise the greatest City of the Indies. The Prince draws a great Revenue, from eight hundred Stoves that are there. 'Tis twice as large as Ispahan, but ill built, and without Walls; It's much augmented since the year 1566: That Ecbar made it his Residence, after having caus'd there a stately Castle to be raised. Delli was the abode of the Mogul, before Agra, and is so still, since that Cha-Jean has built the City of Jean-Abad in its neighbourhood. Gualeor is a Fortress, where the Mogul confines such of the Princes of his Blood, as give him any umbrage. Lahor, resorted to by the Caravans, is the ancient Bucephalea, and is said to be twenty four Leagues in compass. Naugracut has a famous Idol; those who go thither, out of devotion, cut a piece of their Tongue off. Kachmire, otherwise Cassimere, is esteemed the little Paradise of India, upon the account of its beauty. Chitor, a ruin'd City, was the Capital of Ruana, the Successour of Porus. Bengala is renowned for the temprature of its Air, its fruitful Soyl, the abundance of its Rice, which most parts of the Indies furnish themselves with, for its fine Canes or Reeds, its Silks, & its excellent Wood of Calamba, the rarest and of the most agreeable scent in the World. It likewise gives name to the greatest and most famous Gulph of Asia. One of the late Histories of the Indies, does affirm, that a Man of Bengala has lived three hundred and five years. The capital City is Bengala, otherwise Satigan.