Criminals condemned to death were allowed to CHAP. VIII. sacrifice themselves in honour of some idol. Widows burnt themselves with their dead husbands, and received great praise for so doing. The men marched naked to battle, armed only with the lance and buckler, and were wretched soldiers.30 The kings were black and naked like their subjects. One is described as wearing three golden bracelets thickly set with the richest pearls; anklets of like kind on his legs; necklaces of rubies, emeralds, and sapphires round his neck; and rings of gold on his toes. He also wore upon his chest a rosary, consisting of one hundred and four large rubies and pearls; and every day, morning and evening, he uttered a hundred and four prayers to his idols.31 kingdoms. The Tamil country was divided into five king- Five Tamil doms, which are not separately named by Marco Polo, but probably corresponded to the territories of Tinnevelly, Madura, Tanjore, Gingee, and Chola proper. They may have been disjointed members of the old empire of Chola or Dravida, for the five black or dark blue. Siva, or "the devil" of old European travellers, is painted white, as being "silver-coloured." 30 Marco Polo was possibly prejudiced. His judgment was probably formed on a comparison of the Tamil soldiery with the disciplined forces of Italy. 31 Marco Polo, Book iii., chap. 16-23. The rosaries of the Buddhists consist of a hundred and eight beads. The present rosary was probably connected with the worship of Krishna or Vishnu; and the so-called prayers were merely utterances of the sacred names of the god, which were supposed to be an expression of faith, and therefore to ensure salvation. The following refrain is very popular in Bengal; the author, however, is quoting only from memory: "Hári, Krishna, Hári, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Ráma, Ráma, Krishna, Ráma, Hári, Hári." The Bengalees teach this refrain to their parrots, and believe that they thereby acquire religious merits both for themselves and the birds. CHAP. VIII. kings were all brethren. Marco Polo says that the brethren often prepared for war against each other, but were prevented by their mother who was still living. On occasions when battle seemed imminent, the queen-dowager drew a sword and declared that she would cut away the paps that gave them suck, and the womb that gave them birth, unless they stayed their arms. Marco Polo was satisfied that when she died the five kings would ruin themselves by war. The Tamil kings. The temple women. The kings had immense zenanas. One is said to have maintained five hundred wives, for their dignity was estimated by the number of their women. It is added that whenever he heard of a beautiful damsel, he sent for her and made her his wife. He had naturally a large number of children. The king had a number of "barons" who rode with him, and kept always near him, and exercised great authority in the kingdom. They were called his trusty lieges. When the king died, and his remains were burnt on the funeral pile, these lieges threw themselves into the fire and perished with him, saying, that as they had been comrades in this life, so they would be his comrades in the next. When the king died none of his children would touch his treasures, but collected separate treasures for themselves. 32 The dancing-girls of the temples are also quaintly described by Marco Polo. "In this country," he says, "there are certain abbeys in 32 Marco Polo, ibid. The principal kingdom is called Maaber, and Colonel Yule identifies it with Chola. Marco Polo says that the kingdom is also named Soli. The name of the king is said to be Sonder Bondi Davar. Possibly, however, the name of Maaber is a form of Madura. Many pearls are said to have been found there. which are gods and goddesses, and here fathers and CHAP. VIII. mothers often consecrate their daughters to the service of deity. When the priests desire to feast their god, they send for these damsels, who serve the god with meats and other goods, and then sing and dance before him, for about as long as a great baron would be eating his dinner. Then they say that the god has devoured the essence of the food, and fall to and eat it themselves." 33 Old Kayal. The great commercial port on the coast of Coro- Emporium at mandel was the city of Cail in the district of Tinnavelly. Marco Polo describes it as a great and noble city, an emporium of the trade with Aden and the Persian Gulf. The imports chiefly consisted of horses. The king was one of the five brethren. already mentioned. He had three hundred wives. The town has been successfully identified with Old Káyal. In the present day it has shrivelled into a fishing village, but relics of its former greatness still remain, and prove it to have been a great resort of Chinese traders in the remote part. For two or three miles along the coast the plain is strewed with tiles and pottery of Chinese make, and the ruins of the old fortifications, temples, store-houses, wells, and tanks are still to be found.34 Thomas near The shrine of St. Thomas on the mount near Shrine of St Madras was already in existence in the thirteenth Madras. 33 Marco Polo, Book iii., chaps. 16 and 17. This institution still prevails. It appears to have originated, like female infanticide, from the difficulty experienced in finding suitable husbands for daughters. The girls become mistresses to the priests, or lead a life of prostitution. 34 Dr Caldwell appears to have first discovered the true Cail of Marco Polo. Old Kayal is situated near the mouth of the Tamraparní river. In the present day it is a mile and a half from the sea. The silting up of the ancient harbour has formed a waste sandy tract between the town and the sea, and thus deprived the port of all commercial value. CHAP. VIII. century. According to pious legend this apostle visited India in the first century of the Christian era, and converted many of the inhabitants; and Marco Polo duly describes the locality. "The tomb of St Thomas," he says, "is to be found in a little town having a small population. Few traders visit the place, because there is very little merchandise there, and it is not very accessible. But Christians and Saracens make pilgrimages to it; the Saracens regarding the saint as a holy man. The earth near the tomb was taken away by the Christian pilgrims, for by the power of God, and the blessing of St Thomas, it is a cure for certain fevers." 35 Kingdom of Telinga or Malabar coun try. Marco Polo refers to the kingdom of Telinga, to the northward of the Tamil country, but does not appear to have visited it. He describes the diamonds that are to be found there, and no doubt refers to the ancient mines of Golcónda, not far from the coast. The kingdom of Telinga was governed by a queen. The country was famous for the fineness of the buckrams manufactured there; 36 and indeed was celebrated for its cottons down to a very recent period. Westward of Comorin was the Malabar country, the ancient Kerala. It was the land of the Malayalam, the Kanarese, and the Mahratta-speaking people, and extends northward along the Indian Ocean to the peninsula of Guzerat. Marco 35 Marco Polo, Book iii., chap. 18. Fah-Hian (chap. xxiii.) says that the people in the neighbourhood of the tomb of Kásyapa use the earth as a cure for head-aches. It will be seen hereafter that the shrine of St Thomas is probably of Buddhist origin. 36 The diamonds were said to be obtained by throwing pieces of meat into the valley where the diamonds were. The white eagles carried away the meat with the diamonds sticking to it. The eagles were then frightened into dropping the The same story is told by Sindbad the sailor in the Arabian Nights. meat. Polo describes in succession the kingdoms of Tra- CHAP. VIII. varum, Cananore, Malabar, and Konkana. The kings of the several states were independent and paid no tribute. The people of each kingdom appear to have had a dialect of their own. The kingdom of Travancore contained some Travancore. Christians and some Jews. The city of Quilon was a great mart for ships from Arabia and the Levant on the one side, and from southern China on the other. The people had no corn, only rice. They made good wine from palm-sugar. Every other necessary of life was cheap and abundant. They had good astrologers and physicians. Men and women were all black and naked, excepting that they wore a fine cloth from the middle downwards. Sins of the flesh were not regarded as sins. The people married their first cousins. They also married the widows of their brothers, but this custom prevailed over all India.38 The kingdom of Cananore had no harbour, but Cananore. rivers with navigable estuaries. Pepper, ginger, and other spices were procured there in great plenty. Ships bound for Cananore were received with every respect; but those which anchored there by mere accident were seized and plundered on the plea that God had sent the ship to the people, and this evil custom prevailed all over India.39 Malabar was a great kingdom, but a nest of 37 Marco Polo calls it Coulam, after its capital of Quilon, Book iii., chap. 22. 38 Marco Polo, ibid. It was not the people of Travancore, but the Kallans of Madura, who were accustomed to marry their first cousins. In the present day a Kallan boy of fifteen must marry a cousin, even if she is thirty or forty, if the father of the woman insists upon it. See Nelson's Madura, Part ii., p. 57. Madras, 1868. 39 Marco Polo, Book iii., chap. 24. He calls the country Eli. See Yule's notes on the chapter. |