I. Concerning the Kingdom of Eli

Eli¹ is a kingdom towards the west, about 300 miles from Comari. The people are Idolaters and have a king, and are tributary to nobody; and have a peculiar language. We will tell you particulars about their manners and their products, and you will better understand things now because we are drawing near to places that are not so outlandish.

There is no proper harbour in the country, but there are many great rivers with good estuaries, wide and deep. Pepper and ginger grow there, and other spices in quantities. The King is rich in treasure, but not very strong in forces. The approach to his kingdom however is so strong by nature that no one can attack him, so he is afraid of nobody.

And you must know that if any ship enters their estuary and anchors there, having been bound for some other port, they seize her and plunder the cargo. For they say, “You were bound for somewhere else, and ’tis God has sent you hither to us, so we have a right to all your goods.” And they think it no sin to act thus. And this naughty custom prevails all over these provinces of India, to wit, that if a ship be driven by stress of weather into some other port than that to which it was bound, it is sure to be plundered.² But if a ship come bound originally to the place they receive it with all honour and give it due protection. The ships of Manzi³ and other countries that come hither in summer lay in their cargoes in 6 or 8 days and depart as fast as possible, because there is no harbour other than the river-mouth, a mere roadstead and sandbanks, so that it is perilous to tarry there. The ships of Manzi indeed are not so much afraid of these roadsteads as others are, because they have such huge wooden anchors which hold in all weather.

There are many lions and other wild beasts here and plenty of game, both beast and bird.

—Op. cit. Bk. iii. ch. xxiv.

J. Concerning the Kingdom of Melibar (Malabar)

Melibar is a great kingdom lying towards the west. The people are Idolaters; they have a language of their own, and a king of their own, and pay tribute to nobody.

In this country you see more of the North Star, for it shows two cubits above the water. And you must know that from this kingdom of Melibar, and from another near it called Gozurat, there go forth every year more than a hundred corsair vessels on cruize. These pirates take with them their wives and children, and stay out the whole summer. Their method is to join in fleets of 20 or 30 of these pirate vessels together, and then they form what they call a sea cordon, that is, they drop off till there is an interval of 5 or 6 miles between ship and ship, so that they cover something like an hundred miles of sea, and no merchant ship can escape them. For when any one corsair sights a vessel a signal is made by fire or smoke, and then the whole of them make for this, and seize the merchants and plunder them. After they have plundered them they let them go, saying: “Go along with you and get more gain, and that mayhap will fall to us also!” But now the merchants are aware of this, and go so well manned and armed, and with such great ships, that they don’t fear the corsairs. Still mishaps do befall them at times.⁴

There is in this kingdom a great quantity of pepper, and ginger, and cinnamon, and turbit, and of nuts of India. They also manufacture very delicate and beautiful buckrams. The ships that come from the east bring copper in ballast. They also bring hither cloths of silk and gold and sendels; also gold and silver, cloves and spikenard, and other fine spices for which there is a demand here, and exchange them for the products of these countries.

Ships come hither from many quarters, but especially from the great province of Manzi. Coarse spices are exported hence both to Manzi and to the west, and that which is carried by the merchants to Aden goes on to Alexandria, but the ships that go in the latter direction are not one to ten of those that go to the eastward; a very notable fact that I have mentioned before.

Now I have told you about the kingdom of Melibar; we shall now proceed and tell you of the kingdom of Gozurat. And you must understand that in speaking of these kingdoms we note only the capitals: there are great numbers of other cities and towns of which we shall say nothing, because it would make too long a story to speak of all.

—Travels of Marco Polo, ed. Yule and Cordier, Bk. iii, ch. xxv.

XXVI. C. 1292-3 A.D. JOHN OF MONTECORVINO

I, Friar John of Monte Corvino, of the order of Minor Friars, departed from Tauris, a city of the Persians, in the year of the Lord 1291, and proceeded to India. And I remained in the country of India, wherein stands the church of St. Thomas the Apostle, for thirteen months, and in that region baptized in different places about one hundred persons. The companion of my journey was Friar Nicholas of Pistoia, of the order of Preachers, who died there, and was buried in the church aforesaid.

—Yule: Cathay and the Way Thither, Vol. iii; First letter of John of Montecorvino, page 45.

Possibility of Conversions to Christianity in India

I have seen the greater part of India and made inquiries about the rest, and can say that it would be most profitable to preach to them the faith of Christ, if the brethren would but come. But none should be sent except men of the most solid character; for those regions are very attractive, abounding in aromatic spices and precious stones. But they possess few of our fruits, and, on account of the great mildness and warmth of the climate, the people there go naked, only covering the loins. And thus the arts and crafts of our tailors and cordwainers are not needed, for they have perpetual summer and no winter. I baptized there about a hundred persons.

—Op. cit. Second letter of John of Montecorvino, p. 57.

To you, Friar Bartholomew of Santo Concordio⁵ your brother in all things, Menentillus of Spoleto, wisheth health and wisdom in Christ!

And because I wot of the greatest curiosity that you have in regard to all science, and that, much as you do know, you would fain know everything and especially things that are new to you; and in truth that you are one whose desire is to have knowledge and information of all kinds; therefore transcribe I for you certain matters just as they have been written from India by a certain Minorite Friar (the travelling companion of Brother Nicholas of Pistoia, who died in Upper India), when on his way to the court of the Lord of all India. The bringer of the letter I have seen and spoken with, and it was in his arms that the said Brother Nicholas did die. The letter was to the effect following:

“The state of things (with regard to climate) in the Indies is such as shall now be related.

“In India it is always warm, and there never is any winter; yet the heat is not extravagant. And the reason is, that there be at all times winds which temper the heat of the air. And the reason why there can be no winter is the position of the country with respect to the zodiac, as I shall now tell. This is to say, the sun when entering Virgo, i.e., on the 24th day of August, sends down his rays, as I have seen and in particular noted with my own eyes, quite perpendicularly, so as to cast no shadow on either side. And in like manner when he is entering Aries, i.e., at the end of March. And when he has gone through Aries he passes towards the north, and casts shadows towards the south until ….. (the summer solstice) and then turns to Virgo, and after he has past through the sign of Virgo he then casts his shadow towards the north. And thus there is never so great an elongation of the sun as to admit of cold, and there are not two seasons. Or, as I have said before, there is no winter or cold season.

“As regards the length of the day and the night I have tried to determine them by such measures and indications as I could. I have observed that at the two epochs before mentioned, when the sun’s rays strike perpendicularly without casting any shadow, the day is fifteen hours long, and the night nine. And when the sun is at the solstice of Cancer, the day is a little less than fourteen hours long, and the night is a little more than ten, perhaps by a quarter of an hour. But when the sun is in the solstice of Capricorn, that is to say in the month of December, the day has a length of eleven hours and the night of thirteen. For the sun’s elongation is somewhat greater when it is in Capricorn than when it is in Cancer.⁶

“Moreover, the star which we call the Pole-star is there so depressed, i.e., so low, that it can scarcely be seen. And methought that if I had been on a lofty point I could have seen the other Polestar which is in the opposite quarter. I looked many a time for a sight of it, and I saw several constellations which moved round about it, from observing which I gathered that they were exceedingly near to it. But because of the continual haze on the horizon in that quarter, caused by the heat and the winds, and because of the stars being so low, I never could satisfy myself. However India is a very extensive region, and perhaps in some places it would be seen at a greater elevation, in others at a less. I have examined the matter to the best of my ability. So much as to (the climate of) Upper India, which is called MAEBAR, in the territory of St. Thomas.

“Concerning the state of things as to the country itself in Upper India.—The condition of the country of India aforesaid is this. The land is well enough peopled; and there be great cities therein, but the houses are wretched, being built of sandy mud, and usually thatched with leaves of trees. Hills there are few; rivers in some places are many, in others few. Springs there are few or none; wells in plenty; and the reason is this, that water is generally to be found at the depth of two or three paces, or even less. This well water is indeed not very good to drink, for it is somewhat soft and loosens the bowels; so they generally have tanks or excavations like ponds, in which they collect the rain water, and this they drink. They keep few beasts. Horses there are none, except it be in possession of the king and great barons. Flies there be few, and fleas none at all.⁷ And they have trees which produce fruit continually, so that on them you find fruit in every stage up to perfect ripeness at one time. In like manner they sow and reap at almost all seasons, and this because it is always warm and never cold. Aromatic spices are to be had good cheap, some more so and some less so, according to what spices they be. They have trees that produce sugar, and others that produce honey, and others that produce a liquor that has a smack of wine. And this the natives of those countries use for drink. And those three things are to be had at very small cost. And the pepper plant is here also. It is slender and knotty like a vine; and indeed ’tis altogether very like a vine, excepting that it is more slender, and bears transplanting.

“Ginger is a reed-like plant, and, like a cane-root, it can be dug and transplanted. But their canes here are more like trees, being sometimes a cubit in girth and more, with slender prickly branches round about, and small leaves.

“The Brazil tree is a slender, lofty and thorny tree, all red as it were, with leaves like fern. The Indian nuts are as big as melons, and in colour green like gourds. Their leaves and branches are like those of the date tree.

“The cinnamon tree is of a medium bulk, not very high, and in trunk, bark, and foliage is like the laurel; indeed, altogether it resembleth the laurel greatly in appearance. Great store of it is carried forth of the island which is hard-by Maabar.⁸

“As regards men of a marvellous kind, to wit, men of a different make from the rest of us, and as regards animals of like description, and as regards the Terrestrial Paradise, much have I asked and sought, but nothing have I been able to discover.

“Oxen are with these people sacred animals, and they eat not their flesh for the worship they bear them. But they make use of cow’s milk, and put their cattle to labour like other folk.

“The rain falleth at fixed seasons.

“The state of things as regards the inhabitants of India is as follows:—The men of this region are idolaters, without moral law, or letters, or books. They have indeed an alphabet which they use to keep their accounts, and to write prayers or charms for their idols; albeit they have no paper, but write upon leaves of trees like unto palm leaves. They have no conscience of sin whatever. They have idol-houses in which they worship at almost all hours of the day; for they never join together in worship at any fixed hour, but each goes to worship when it pleases himself. And so they worship their idols in any part of these temples, either by day or by night. They frequently set forth their fasts and feasts, but they have no fixed recurring day to keep, either weekly or monthly. Their marriages take place only at one time of the year; and when the husband dies the wife cannot marry again. The sin of the flesh they count not to be sin, nor are they ashamed to say so.

“In the regions by the sea are many Saracens, and they have great influence⁹ but there are few of them in the interior. There are a very few Christians, and Jews, and they are of little weight. The people persecute much the Christians, and all who bear the Christian name.

“They bury not their dead but burn them, carrying them to the pile with music and singing; whilst apart from this occasion the relatives of the deceased manifest great grief and affliction like other folk.

“But India is a region of great extent, and it hath many realms and many languages. And the men thereof are civil and friendly enough, but of few words, and remind me somewhat of our peasants. They are not, strictly speaking, black, but of an olive colour, and exceedingly well formed both women and men. They go barefoot and naked, except that they wear a cloth round the loins, and boys and girls up to eight years of age wear nothing whatever, but go naked as they came from their mother’s womb. They shave not the beard; many times a day they wash; bread and wine they have none. Of the fruits that we make use of they have few or none; but for their daily food they use rice and a little milk; and they eat grossly like pigs, to wit, with the whole hand or fist, and without a spoon. In fact, when at their food they do look more like pigs than men!

“There is great security in the country. Bandits and robbers are seldom met with; but they have many exactions to pay. There are few craftsmen, for craft and craftsmen have little remuneration, and there is little room for them. They commonly use swords and daggers like ourselves; and if actually they have a battle they make short work of it, however great the forces be, for they go to battle naked, with nothing but sword and dagger. They have among them a few Saracen mercenaries, who carry bows.

“The state of things in regard to the Sea of India is this. The sea aboundeth greatly with fish; and in some parts of it they fish for pearls and precious stones. The havens are few and bad; and you must know that the sea here is the Middle Sea or Ocean. Traversing it towards the south there is no continent found but islands alone, but in that sea the islands are many, more than 12,000 in number. And many of these are inhabited and many are not.

“You can sail (upon that sea) between these islands and Ormes and (from Ormes) to those parts which are called (Minibar) is a distance of 2,000 miles in a direction between south and south-east; then 300 miles between east and south-east from Minibar to Maabar, which (latter however) you enter steering to the north; and from Menabar (Maabar?) you sail another 300 miles between north-east and north to Siu Simmoncota.¹⁰ The rest I have not seen, and therefore I say nothing of it.

“The shores of the said sea in some places run out in shoals for 100 miles or more, so that ships are in danger of grounding. And they cannot make the voyage but once a year, for from the beginning of April till the end of October the winds are westerly, so that no one can sail towards the west; and again ’tis just the contrary from the month of October till March. From the middle of May till the end of October the wind blows so hard that ships which by that time have not reached the ports whither they are bound, run a desperate risk, and if they escape it is great luck. And thus in the past year there perished more than sixty ships; and this year seven ships in places in our own immediate neighbourhood, whilst of what has happened elsewhere we have no intelligence. Their ships in these parts are mighty frail and uncouth, with no iron in them, and no caulking. They are sewn like clothes with twine. And so if the twine breaks anywhere there is a breach indeed! Once every year therefore there is a mending of this, more or less, if they propose to go to sea. And they have a frail and flimsy rudder like the top of a table, of a cubit in width, in the middle of the stern; and when they have to tack, it is done with a vast deal of trouble; and if it is blowing in any way hard, they cannot tack at all. They have but one sail and one mast, and the sails are either of matting or of some miserable cloth. The ropes are of husk.

“Moreover their mariners are few and far from good. Hence they run a multitude of risks, insomuch that they are wont to say, when any ship achieves her voyage safely and soundly, that ’tis by God’s guidance, and man’s skill hath little availed.

“This letter was written in Maabar, a city of the province of Sitia¹¹ in Upper India, on the 22nd day of December in the year of OUR LORD MCCX (CII OR CIII).

—Yule and Cordier, Cathay and the Way Thither, iii; No. iii Letter from Friar Menentillus, a Dominican, forwarding copy of a letter from John of Montecorvino; pp. 58-67.

XXVII. C. 1321-2 A.D. FRIAR ODORIC

(A) Hormuz to Tāna

In this country⁵ men make use of a kind of vessel which they call Jase⁶ which is fastened only with stitching of twine. On one of these vessels I embarked, and I could find no iron at all therein. And having thus embarked, I passed over in twenty-eight days to Tāna,⁷ where for the faith of Christ four of our Minor Friars had suffered a glorious martyrdom. The city is excellent in position, and hath great store of bread and wine, and aboundeth in trees. This was a great place in days of old, for it was the city of King Porus, who waged so great a battle with King Alexander.⁸ The people thereof are idolaters, for they worship fire, and serpents, and trees also. The land is under the dominion of the Saracens, who have taken it by force of arms, and they are now subject to the Empire of Dili.⁹

Here be found sundry kinds of beasts and especially black lions¹⁰ in very great numbers, besides monkeys and baboons, and bats as big as pigeons are here. There be also rats as big as here are our dogs called Scherpi. And for this reason rats¹¹ are there caught by dogs, for the mousers or cats are of no use for that. In this country every man hath before his house a plant of twigs as thick as a pillar would be here, and this never withers as long as it gets water.¹² And many other strange things are there which it would be pretty to hear tell.

¹³[The women go naked there, and when a woman is married she is set on a horse, and the husband gets on the crupper and holds a knife pointed at her throat; and they have nothing on except a high cap on their head like a mitre, wrought with white flowers, and all the maidens of the place go singing in a row in front of them till they reach the house, and there the bride and the bridegroom are left alone, and when they get up in the morning they go naked as before.]

[In this country there are trees which give wine which they call Loahc, and which is very intoxicating. And here they do not bury the dead, but carry them with great pomp to the fields, and cast them to the beasts and birds to be devoured. And they have here very fine oxen; which have horns a good half pace in length (girth ?), and have a hump on the back like a camel. And from this city to Panche (Paroche ?) is fourteen days’ journey.]

—Yule and Cordier, Cathay, ii, pp. 113-17.

(B) Of the kingdom of Minibar and how pepper is got

And now that ye may know how pepper is got, let me tell you that it groweth in a certain empire whereunto I came to land, the name whereof is Minibar,¹⁴ and it groweth nowhere else in the world but there. And the forest in which the pepper groweth extendeth for a good eighteen days’ journey, and in that forest there be two cities, the one whereof is called Flandrina and the other Cymgilin.¹⁵ In the city of Flandrina some of the inhabitants are Jews and some are Christians; and between those two cities there is always internal war, but the result is always that the Christians beat and overcome the Jews.

Now, in this country they get the pepper in this manner. First, then, it groweth on plants which have leaves like ivy, and these are planted against tall trees as our vines are here, and bear fruit just like bunches of grapes; and this fruit is borne in such quantities that they seem like to break under it. And when the fruit is ripe it is of a green colour, and ’tis gathered just as grapes are gathered at the vintage, and then put in the sun to dry. And when it is dried it is stored in jars [and of the fresh pepper also they make a confection, of which I had to eat, and plenty of it]. And in this forest also there be rivers in which be many evil crocodiles, i.e., serpents. [And there be many other kinds of serpents in the forest, which the men burn by kindling tow and straw, and so they are enabled to go safely to gather pepper.] [And here there be lions in great numbers, and a variety of beasts which are not found in our Frank countries. And here they burn the brazil-wood for fuel, and in the woods are numbers of wild peacocks.¹⁶]

At the extremity of that forest, towards the south, there is a certain city which is called Polumbum, in which is grown better ginger than anywhere else in the world. And the variety and abundance of wares for sale in that city is so great that it would seem past belief to many folk.

—Op. cit. pp. 132-137.

(C) Of the manners of the idolaters of Polumbum (Quilon)

[Here all the people go naked, only they wear a cloth just enough to cover their nakedness, which they tie behind.] All the people of this country worship the ox for their god [and they eat not his flesh]; for they say that he is, as it were, a sacred creature. Six years they make him to work for them, and the seventh year they give him rest from all labour, and turn him out in some appointed public place, declaring him thenceforward to be a consecrated animal. And they observe the following abominable superstition. Every morning they take two basins of gold or silver, and when the ox is brought from the stall they put these under him and catch his urine in one and his dung in the other. With the former they wash their faces, and with the latter they daub themselves, first on the middle of the forehead; secondly, on the balls of both cheeks; and, lastly, in the middle of the chest. And when they have thus anointed themselves in four places they consider themselves to be sanctified [for the day]. Thus do the common people; and thus do the king and queen likewise.

They worship also another idol, which is half man and half ox. And this idol giveth responses out of its mouth, and oft-times demandeth the blood of forty virgins to be given to it. For men and women there vow their sons and their daughters to that idol, just as here they vow to place them in some religious order. And in this manner many perish.

And many other things are done by that people which it would be abomination even to write or to hear of, and many other things be there produced and grown, which it booteth little to relate. But the idolaters of this realm have one detestable custom [that I must mention]. For when any man dies, they burn him, and if he leave a wife they burn her alive with him, saying that she ought to go and keep her husband company in the other world. But if the woman have sons by her husband she may abide with them, as she will. And, on the other hand, if the wife die there is no law to impose the like on him; but he, if he likes, can take another wife. It is also customary there for the women to drink wine and not the men. The women also have their forehead shaven, whilst the men shave not the beard. And there be many other marvellous and beastly customs which ’tis just as well not to write.

—Op. cit., pp. 137-140.

(D) Concerning the kingdom of Mobar, where lieth the body of St. Thomas, and the customs of the idolaters.

From this realm¹⁷ ’tis a journey of ten days to another realm which is called Mobar,¹⁸ and this is very great, and hath under it many cities and towns. And in this realm is laid the body of the Blessed Thomas the Apostle.¹⁹ His church is filled with idols²⁰, and beside it are some fifteen houses of the Nestorians, that is to say Christians, but vile and pestilent heretics. There is likewise in this kingdom a certain wonderful idol, which all the provinces of India greatly revere. It is as big as St. Christopher is commonly represented by the painters, and it is entirely of gold, seated on a great throne, which is also of gold. And round its neck it hath a collar of gems of immense value. And the church of this idol is also of pure gold, roof (and walls) and pavement. People come to say their prayers to the idol from great distances, just as Christian folk go from far on pilgrimage to St. Peter’s. And the manner of those who come is thus:—Some travel with a halter round their necks; and some with their hands upon a board, which is tied to their necks; others with a knife stuck in the arm, which they never remove until they arrive before the idol, so that the arm is then all in a slough. And some have quite a different way of doing. For these as they start from their houses take three steps, and at the fourth they make a prostration at full length upon the ground. And then they take a thurible and incense the whole length of that prostration. And thus they do continually until they reach the idol, so that sometimes when they go through this operation it taketh a very great while before they do reach the idol. But when those who are going along in this way wish to turn aside to do anything, they make a mark there to show how far they have gone, and so they [come back upon this, and] continue until they reach the idol.

And hard by the church of this idol there is a lake, made by hand, into which the pilgrims who come thither cast gold or silver or precious stones, in honour of the idol, and towards the maintenance of the church, so that much gold and silver and many precious stones have been accumulated therein. And thus when it is desired to do any work upon the church, they make search in the lake and find all that hath been cast into it.²¹

But annually on the recurrence of the day when that idol was made, the folk of the country come and take it down, and put it on a fine chariot; and then the king and queen and all the pilgrims, and the whole body of the people join together and draw it forth from the church with loud singing of songs and all kinds of music; and many maidens go before it by two and two chaunting in a marvellous manner. And many pilgrims who have come to this feast cast themselves under the chariot, so that its wheels may go over them, saying that they desire to die for their God. And the car passes over them, and crushes and cuts them in sunder, and so they perish on the spot. And after this fashion they drag the idol to a certain customary place, and then they drag him back to where he was formerly, with singing and playing as before. And thus not a year passes but there perish more than five hundred men in this manner; and their bodies they burn, declaring that they are holy, having thus devoted themselves to death for their God.²²

And another custom they have of this kind. One will come saying: “I desire to sacrifice myself for my God?” And then his friends and kinsfolk, and all the players of the country, assemble together to make a feast for him who is determined to die for his God. And they hang round his neck five very sharp knives, and lead him thus to the presence of the idol with loud songs. Then he takes one of those sharp knives and calls out with a loud voice: “Thus I cut my flesh for my God”; and cutting a piece of his flesh wherever he may choose, he casteth it in the face of the idol; and saying again: “I devote myself to die for my God,” he endeth by slaying himself there. And straightway they take his body and burn it, for they look on him as a saint, having thus slain himself for his idol. And many other things greatly to be marvelled at are done by these people, which are by no means to be written.

But the king of this island²³ or province is passing rich in gold and silver and precious stones. And in this island are found as great store of good pearls as in any part of the world. And so of many other things which are found in this island, which it would take too long to write.

—Yule and Cordier: Cathay and the Way Thither, ii. pp. 141-46.

Here are Chapters XXVIII, XXIX, and XXX.