Other
Subject Kingdoms Lie Round About It, Even As Ausonia And Venice Surround
Milan.
The bramins or priests informed me that the king receives daily
of tribute from that city only the sum of 12,000 _pardaos_.
He and his
subjects are idolaters, worshipping the devil like those of Calicut. He
maintains an army of many thousand men, and is continually at war with
his neighbours. The richer people wear a slender dress, somewhat like a
petticoat, not very long, and bind their heads with a fillet or broad
bandage, after the fashion of the Mahometans, but the common people go
almost entirely naked, covering only the parts of shame. The king wears
a cape or short cloak of cloth of gold on his shoulders, only two spans
long; and when he goes to war he wears a close vest of cotton, over
which is a cloak adorned with plates of gold, richly bordered with all
kinds of jewels and precious stones. The horse he rides on, including
the furniture or caparisons, is estimated to equal one of our cities in
value, being all over ornamented with jewels of great price. When be
goes a hunting, he is attended by other three kings, whose office it is
to bear him company wherever he goes. When he rides out or goes a
journey he is attended by 6000 horsemen; and from all that we have said,
and various other circumstances respecting his power, riches, and
magnificence, he certainly is to be accounted one of the greatest
sovereigns in the world. Besides the pieces already mentioned, named
_pardaos_, which are of gold, he coins silver money called _fano_, or
_fanams_, which are worth sixteen of our smallest copper money. Such is
the excellent government of this country, that travellers may go through
the whole of it in safety, if they can avoid the danger of _lions_[78].
This king is in amity with the king of Portugal, and is a great friend
to the Christians, so that the Portuguese are received and treated in
his dominions in a friendly and honourable manner.
[Footnote 78: Wherever lions are mentioned by this traveller in India,
tigers are to be understood. - E.]
When I had tarried many days in this great city, I returned to Cananore,
whence, after three days stay I went to a city twelve miles from thence,
named _Trempata_[79], a sea-port, inhabited by idolaters, but frequented
by many Mahometan merchants. The only riches of this place consists in
Indian nuts, or cocoa-nuts, and timber for ship-building. Passing from
thence, by the cities of _Pandara_ and _Capagot_[80], I came to the
famous city of Calicut. To avoid prolixity, I pass over many other
kingdoms and peoples, such as _Chianul_? _Dabul_, _Onoue_? _Bangalore_,
_Cananore_, _Cochin_, _Cacilon_? and _Calonue_, or _Coulan_[81]. I have
so done on purpose to enable me to treat more at large of Calicut, being
in a manner the metropolis of all the Indian cities, as the king thereof
exceeds all the kings of the east in royal majesty, and is therefore
called _Samoory_ or _Zamorin_, which in their language signifies _God on
earth_.
[Footnote 79: About that distance south from Cananore is
Dermapatam. - E.]
[Footnote 80: No names in the least respect similar to these are to be
found in the indicated route between Cananore and Calicut. - E.]
[Footnote 81: Of the three places marked with points of interrogation,
the names are so disfigured in the orthography as to be unintelligible;
_Cianul_ may possibly be Chaul, _Onouhe_ Onore, and _Cacilon_
Cranganore. - E.]
SECTION VIII.
_Account of the famous City and Kingdom of Calicut._
The city of Calicut is situated on the continent or main land of India,
close upon the sea, having no port; but about a mile to the south there
is a river which runs into the ocean by a narrow mouth. This river is
divided into many branches among the fields in the plain country, for
the purpose of being distributed by means of trenches to water the
grounds, and one of these branches not exceeding three or four feet
deep runs into the city. Calicut is not walled, and contains about 6000
houses, which are not built close adjoining each other, as in European
cities, but a certain space is left between each, either to prevent the
communication of fire, or owing to the ignorance of the builders. It is
a mile in length, and its houses are only mean low huts, not exceeding
the height of a man on horseback, being mostly covered with boughs of
trees, instead of tiles or other covering. It is said that on digging
only five or six spans into the ground they come immediately to water,
on which account they cannot dig foundations of any depth. Warehouses or
lodgings for merchants may be bought for 15 or 20 pieces of gold; but
the common run of houses cost only two pieces of gold or even less.
The king and people of Calicut are idolaters, and worshippers of the
devil, though they acknowledge one supreme God, the Creator of heaven
and earth, the first chief cause of all things. But they allege that God
could have no pleasure in his government, if he were to take it upon
himself, and hath therefore given it in charge to the devil, who was
sent as they say from heaven, to rule over and judge the world,
rendering good or evil to men according to their deserts. The great God
they call _Tamerani_, and this devil or subordinate deity _Deumo_. The
king has a chapel in his palace, where this Deumo is worshipped. This
chapel has an open vault or arch on all the four sides, about two paces
in breadth, and it is about three paces high. The entrance is by a
wooden gate, ornamented with carved work of monstrous forms or shapes of
devils. In the midst of the chapel is a royal seat or throne of copper,
on which sits the figure or image of the devil, likewise of copper.
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