Barbosa Presented To The
Rajah, In Name Of Our General, A Basin Of Silver Filled With Saffron, A
Large Silver
Ewer filled with rose water, and some branches of coral,
which the rajah received with much satisfaction, desiring his thanks
To
be returned to the general; and after some conversation with the factor,
and interpreter, he gave orders for them to be properly lodged in the
city. The general gave especial orders that no more than the seven
persons already mentioned should remain on shore, thinking it imprudent
to risk a greater number, in case of experiencing a similar misfortune
with what had lately happened at Calicut. But there was here no cause for
distrust, as the rajah of Cochin was a person of truth and honour, as
appeared by his good usage of our men, the quick dispatch that was used
in loading our ships with spices, and the orders he gave to his people to
afford every assistance, which they did with much alacrity and zeal: so
that it seemed ordained of God, that the trade should be transferred from
Calicut to Cochin, for the advancement of the Catholic faith in the
Indies, and the enrichment of the crown of Portugal[29].
After the ships were laden, two Indians came to wait upon the general,
who said that they were brothers, and Christians, born in Cranganore near
Cochin, who were desirous of going to Portugal, and thence to visit the
Pope at Rome, and the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem[30]. Being asked by the
general what kind of a city Cranganore was, whether it was entirely
inhabited by Christians, and whether these Christians followed the order
of the Greek or Roman church, one of them gave the following answers.
Cranganore is a large city in the province of Malabar on the mainland,
standing near the mouth of a river, by which likewise it is encompassed,
inhabited both by idolaters and Christians, and by some Jews who are held
in small esteem. It is much frequented by strangers, among whom are
merchants from Syria, Egypt, Persia, and Arabia, who come thither to
purchase pepper, a great deal of which commodity is gathered in its
territories. It has a king of its own, to whom all the Christian
inhabitants pay a certain tribute, and have a quarter of their own in the
city, where they have a church resembling ours, in which there were
crosses, but no images of the saints, and no bells, being summoned to
prayers by the priests as in the Greek church. These Christians hail
their popes, with twelve cardinals, two patriarchs, and many bishops and
archbishops, all of whom reside in Armenia, to which country their
bishops always went for consecration. He had been there himself along
with a bishop, where he was ordained a priest. That this rule was
observed by all the clergy of the Indies and of Cathay, who have to go to
the pope or Catholicos of Armenia for consecration. Of their two
patriarchs, one resides in the Indies, and the other in Cathay[31], their
bishops residing in different cities as it may seem convenient.
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