These opinions
have been patriotically refuted by Babu Rajendralal Mitra. (Proc. Ass.
Soc. B. 1871, p. 100.)
Ibn Batuta describes the King of Calicut, the great "Zamorin," coming down
to the beach to see the wreck of certain Junks; - "his clothing consisted
of a great piece of white stuff rolled about him from the navel to the
knees, and a little scrap of a turban on his head; his feet were bare, and
a young slave carried an umbrella over him." (IV. 97.)
NOTE 2. - The necklace taken from the neck of the Hindu King Jaipal,
captured by Mahmud in A.D. 1001, was composed of large pearls, rubies,
etc., and was valued at 200,000 dinars, or a good deal more than
100,000l. (Elliot, II. 26.) Compare Correa's account of the King of
Calicut, in Stanley's V. da Gama, 194.
NOTE 3. - The word is printed in Ramusio Pacauca, but no doubt Pacauta
is the true reading. Dr. Caldwell has favoured me with a note on this:
"The word ... was probably Bagava or Pagava, the Tamil form of the
vocative of Bhagavata, 'Lord,' pronounced in the Tamil manner. This word
is frequently repeated by Hindus of all sects in the utterance of their
sacred formulae, especially by Vaishnava devotees, some of whom go about
repeating this one word alone.
