- E.]

This is the last town of note in the land of Pectopshaw, who is a small king or rajah of

The Gentiles, keeping on the tops of inaccessible mountains, which begin at Curka, and extend to many cosses distance. He holds possession of two fair cities, Salere and Muliere, where the mamudies are coined. Each of these towns has two mighty castles, the roads to which only admit of two men abreast, or an elephant at most; having also on the way eighty small fortresses dispersed among the mountains to guard the passage. On the tops of these mountains there is good pasture and abundance of grain, with numerous fountains or streams, which run thence into the plains. Akbar besieged him for seven years, and was in the end obliged to compound with him, giving him Narampore Dayta and Badur, with several other aldeas, for safely conducting his merchants along this plain; so that he is now in peace with the king, to whom he sends presents yearly, and leaves one of his sons in Boorhanpoor as a pledge of his fealty. He is said to have always in readiness 4000 mares of an excellent breed, and 100 elephants.

Leaving Badur on the 26th, I went 7 coss to Nonderbar, or Nundabar, a city, short of which are many tombs and houses of pleasure, with a castle and a fair tank. The 27th to Lingull, 10 c. a beastly town, with thievish inhabitants, a dirty castle, and a deep sandy road near the town. 28th 10 c. to Sindkerry, or Sindkera, a great dirty town. On the way, the governor of Lingull, with others as honest as himself, would have borrowed some money of me; but finding I would only give him powder and shot, he desisted, and allowed our carts to pass without farther trouble. Beyond Sindkera runs a small river of brackish water, by drinking of which I got the bloody flux, which continued with me all the way to Boorhanpoor. The 29th 10 c. to Taulneere, or Talnere, a thievish road, but a fair town with a castle and river, which is not passable in the rains without a boat.[235] The 30th 15 c. to Chupra, or Choprah, a great town. I rested here two days on account of the rains; in which time came the governor of Nundabar with 400 horse, without whose company I could not have continued my journey without danger, as Khan-Khana had been defeated and obliged to retire to Boorhanpoor, after losing the strong and rich town of Joulnapore, or Jalnapoor, on which the Deccaners became so insolent, that they made inroads as far as the Taptee, plundering many of the passengers.

[Footnote 235: The author seems not to have been aware that this was the Taptee, or river of Surat. - E.]

The 2d February we went 6 c. to Rawel, or Arawul, a country village, where unseasonable thunder, wind, and rain, combining with my disease, had nearly made an end of me, so that we made mukom, or halted, on the 3d and 4th. The 5th I went to Beawle, or Beawull, 10 c. a large town with a good castle. Next day we were again stopt by bad weather. The 7th, 16 c. to Ravere, a great town; and the 8th, 10 c. to Boorhanpoor, where I pitched my tent in a yard belonging to the Armenians, not being able to get a house for money, the city being so full of soldiers. About 2 c. short of Boorhanpoor is Babuderpoor a fair city; and between the two the army of Khan-Khana was encamped on the north side of the road, consisting of about 15,000 horse, 200 elephants, and 100 cannon of different sizes, the encampment extending two coss in length. Within twenty or thirty coss to the south, Amber chapon, an Abashed,[236] who was general of the army of the king of Deccan, lay encamped at the head of 10,000 of his own cast, all brave soldiers, and about 40,000 Deccaners; so that the Moguls had certainly lost the city of Boorhanpoor, had not the prince Sultan Parvis with Rajah Mausing come down with great forces; as Amber chapon had sent to demand the surrender of Boorhanpoor, deeming that Khan-Khana was unable to hold it against him.

[Footnote 236: Assuredly meaning an Abyssinian. - E.]

Boorhanpoor is a very large but beastly city, situated in a low damp place, and consequently very unhealthy, which is farther augmented by the water being bad. The castle is on the N.E. of the city, on the banks of the river which runs by Surat. In the river beside the castle, there is an image of an elephant in stone, so naturally made, that an elephant one day, coming to the river to drink, ran against it with all his force, and broke both his teeth. The forehead of this image is painted red, and many simple Indians worship it. About two coss from the castle is a garden belonging to Khan-Khana, called the Loll baug, all the way between being pleasantly shaded by rows of trees. The garden has many fine walks, with a beautiful small tank shaded by trees; and at the entrance is a fine lofty banqueting-house, likewise among trees.

I rested till the 12th under my tent, for the recovery of my health, which God was pleased to grant. Two days after my arrival, news came that Ravere and other neighbouring places had been sacked by 1500 Deccan horse, so that we were thankful to God for our safe arrival, as the way was not now passable for 1000 horse. I was here informed, by letters from an Armenian, of a prodigious disaster sustained by the Portuguese armada on the Malabar coast, consisting of fifty frigates or grabs, and two gallies, which being dispersed by a storm, was suddenly assailed by the Malabar pirates issuing from many creeks, who took many of their fleet and burnt most of the rest.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 120 of 218
Words from 121457 to 122468 of 221842