Thursday, 2 April 2009

The description of the city of Vijayanagar by Varthema,




The description of the city of Vijayanagar by Varthema, where he reached on 6 December, is interesting. It was seven miles in circumference and had triple circle of walls. The 'Pagan' king was powerful and constantly kept 40,000 horsemen. Horses were sold at Vijayanagar even for 800 Pardai (a gold coin). Varthema thought, 'the city is situated like Milan'. The revenue of the king was 12,000 Pardai per day.
Varthema then moved on to Dharmpatnam, a port mainly utilised by the Muslim merchants. On 1 January 1505, Varthema reached Calicut, whose description was the longest in his account. The sea 'beats the walls of the houses' while the port was a mile distant towards the south. A small river runs through Calicut. There was no wall and the houses extended about a mile. The entire area would not be over six miles. The houses of the poor people were of thatched cottages. Varthema then described the religious works of the Brahmins as well as the shipbuilding at Calicut, one of the rare accounts of indigenous efforts during the time of the arrival of the Portuguese.
Varthema was not impressed with the palace of the king that was half a mile in circumference. The floors were of cowdung. The king was called Zamorin, who was one of the richest in India. The principal products were pepper and ginger. There were different fruits including jackfruit, mangoes, coconut and bananas. Good oil and wine were produced. The women were allowed to take several husbands and among the merchants, there was the custom of swapping of wives. Most of the merchants were Hindus. (2nd of 3rd part).

No comments:

Post a Comment