This Prince, In The Language Of The
Country, Was Styled The Zamorin, Or Samoryn, Which Signifies Emperor; As
He Was Supreme Over The Other Two Kings Of Malabar, The King Of Coulan
And The King Of Cananor.
There were indeed other princes in this country,
who were called kings, but were not so.
This zamorin or king of Calicut
was a bramin, as his predecessors had been, the bramins being priests
among the Malabars. It is an ancient rule and custom among these people,
that all their kings must die in a pagoda[54], or temple of their idols;
and that there must always be a king resident in the principal pagoda, to
serve those idols: Wherefore, when the king that serves in the temple
comes to die, he who then reigns must leave his government of temporal
affairs to take his place in the temple; upon which another is elected to
take his place, and to succeed in ruling the kingdom. If the king who is
in possession of the temporal authority should refuse to retire to the
pagoda, on the death of the king who officiated in spirituals, he is
constrained to do so, however unwilling.
The kings and nobles of Malabar are of a brown complexion, and go naked
from the waist upwards, all the under parts of their bodies being clothed
in silk or cotton Vestments; yet they sometimes wear short gowns on their
upper parts, called _basus_, of rich silk, or cloth of gold, or of
scarlet, splendidly ornamented with precious stones, of all which the
zamorin hath great store. They shave their beards, leaving only the hair
on their upper lips, and do not shave the head like the Turks. In general,
the natives of this country, even of the higher ranks, use little state
in their households, and are very sparing in their diet; but the zamorin
is served with considerable splendour. These kings or nobles never marry;
but every one has a mistress of the Nayre cast, which, among the Malabars,
are considered as the gentry; even the zamorin has only a mistress, who
has a house of her own near the palace, and a liberal allowance for the
charges of her household and maintenance at her own disposal. Upon any
dislike or difference, he may always leave her for another. The children
are only considered as the offspring of the mother, and have no right or
title to inherit the kingdom, or any thing else belonging to the father;
and when grown up, are only held in that rank or estimation which belongs
to the blood or parentage of their mother. Brothers succeed to brothers;
and in lack of these, the sons of their sisters, who do not marry, and
have no certainty respecting the fathers of their children; as they are
very free and dissolute in their manners, choosing paramours as they
please.
These sisters of the zamorin, and other kings of Malabar, have handsome
allowances to live upon; and when any of them reaches the age of ten,
their kindred send for a young man of the Nayre cast, out of the kingdom,
and give him great presents to induce him to initiate the young virgin;
after which he hangs a jewel round her neck, which she wears all the rest
of her life, as a token that she is now at liberty to dispose of herself
to any one she pleases as long as she lives.
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