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.
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