a very great river. This city is surrounded by walls in our manner, and is extremely good. The country resembles that above described. There are Moorish merchants here in very great numbers. The king of this place [Dabuli] is a pagan, and possesses about thirty thousand fighting men, but according to the manner of Cevul before mentioned. This king is also a very great observer of justice. The country, the mode of living, the dress, and the customs, resemble those of the aforesaid city of Cevul.

THE CHAPTER CONCERNING GOGA, AN ISLAND OF INDIA, AND THE KING OF THE SAME.

I departed from the city of Dabuli aforesaid, and went to another island, which is about a mile distant from the mainland, and is called Goga,' and which pays annually to the king of Decan ten thousand golden ducats, called by them pardai. These pardai are smaller than the seraphim of Cairo, but thicker, and have two devils stamped upon one

not mentioned by Thornton, but formerly one of the principal seaports of Bijapûr. There 'Âdil Shâh landed from the island of Hormuz in 1458, and thither an ambassador from Persia was escorted from the capital, on his return homeward, in 1519. (Scorr's Ferishta, vol. i. pp. 209, 258.) Nikitin describes it as a very large town and an extensive seaport, "the meeting-place for all nations navigating the coasts of India and Ethiopia." It was captured by the Portuguese under General Almeida in 1508. When Mandeslo visited it in 1639, its fortifications had been mostly demolished (lib. ii. p. 243); and fifty years later its importance as a seaport appears to have been a thing of the past; for Hamilton, after indicating its situation at the mouth of a large river, merely adds: "it was of old a place of trade, and where the English once had a factory." PINKERTON's Voyages, vol. viii. p. 350.

1 The island of Goa, (Ibn Batuta writes it "Kawah"), now belonging to the Portuguese, but at that time a dependency of the Muhammedan kingdom of the Deccan. The place was surprised and captured by the Portuguese under Albuquerque in 1510; but they were expelled shortly after by 'Âdil Shâh, the reigning sovereign. It was retaken by them, the

side of them, and certain letters on the other. In this island there is a fortress near the sea, walled round after our manner, in which there is sometimes a captain, who is called Savain, who has four hundred Mamelukes, he himself being also a Mameluke. When the said captain can procure any white man, he gives him very great pay, allotting him at least fifteen or twenty pardai per month. Before he inscribes him in the list of able men, he sends for two tunics made of leather, one for himself and the other for him who wishes to enlist; each puts on his tunic, and they fall to blows. If he finds him to be strong, he puts him in the list of able men; if not, he sets him to some other work than that of fighting. This captain, with four hundred Mamelukes, wages a great war with the king of Narsinga,2 of whom we will speak at the proper season. I departed thence, and, travelling for seven days on the mainland, I arrived at a city which is called Decan.

year following, from 'Âdil Shâh's successor, and has remained in their possession ever since. It does not appear to have been a great mart of trade prior to the Portuguese conquest, but its commerce increased considerably during the early period of their domination. Ralph Fitch, who visited Goa in 1583, says: "there are many merchants of all nations." It has now fallen into a hopeless state of decay.

1 Pardao or pertab. The same coin appears to have been called also a hun. According to Prinsep, it generally bore the figures of Siva and Parbatí on one side, and a pyramidal temple on the others: hence its name of pagoda among Europeans; but among Marsden's Coins of Southern India, there is one on plate xlviii. No. MLXXII., which in size and superscription agrees with that mentioned by Varthema, having on the one side the double figure of Siva and Parbatí, and on the obverse a legend shewing it to have been struck by a female sovereign whose title was "Sri Sadâ-Sivâ." See MARSDEN'S Numismata Orientalia, vol. ii. p. 738.

2 The Rajah of Bijayanagar, then the metropolis of the famous Brahminical kingdom of the Carnatic, between which and the 'Âdil Shâhi realm of the Deccan there was constant war at this period. See SCOTT's Ferishta, vol. i. pp. 207-225 et seq.

THE CHAPTER CONCERNING DECAN, A VERY BEAUTIFUL CITY OF INDIA, AND OF ITS MANY AND VARIOUS RICHES AND JEWELS.

In the said city of Decan there reigns a king who is a Mohammedan. The above-mentioned captain is in his pay, together with the said Mamelukes. This city is extremely

beautiful, and very fertile. The king of it, between the Mamelukes and others of his kingdom, has twenty-five thousand men horse and foot. There is a beautiful palace in this city, in which there are forty-four chambers before you arrive at that of the king. This city is walled after the manner of the Christians, and the houses are very beautiful.1

1 This was unquestionably Bîjapûr, now a ruined town in the Sattâra district, near the eastern frontier, towards Hydrabâd, but formerly the metropolis of the Muhammedan kingdom of the Deccan. Fitch, describing Goa in 1583, says: "It standeth in the country of Hidalcan [EdDeccan], which lieth in the country six or seven days' journey. Its chief city is called Bisapor" [Bijapûr]. The reigning prince in Varthema's time was Yûsuf Khân, the reputed son of Murâd II. of Anatolia, who had been purchased as a slave for the body-guard of the King of Bidar (Ahmedabad), but who subsequently raised himself to the highest offices of the state, and finally assumed independent sovereignty as 'Âdil Shâh in 1501. His resources must have been great, for he built the vast citadel of Bijapûr, which he made his capital. Our traveller's account of the magnificence and prosperity of the city, and of the gorgeous retinue of the king, as well as his military prowess, is attested by the noble remains which mark the site of the once famous Bijapûr, and by the full account given by Ferishta of the reign of 'Âdil Shâh. A traveller who visited the place in 1852, thus describes the ruins of the Pâdishah's palace: "It was magnificence, indeed; far surpassing, I could almost say, that of any ancient or modern European palace I ever beheld,—I mean as regards space and style of architecture. The bastioned walls which enclose the palace and its precincts are about a mile and a half in circumference, enclosing a space of about sixty-two acres. The broad moat without is shaded by large tamarind trees, and the courts within the citadel are also full of trees...... As for Raglan Castle, it could be put away in one corner of the Beejapore palace, and Kenilworth in another." He estimates the present population at about eleven thousand souls. See Bombay Quarterly Magazine, July 1853; also SYDENHAM'S Account of Bijapdr.

The king of the said city lives in great pride and pomp. A great number of his servants wear on the insteps of their shoes rubies and diamonds, and other jewels; so you may imagine how many are worn on the fingers of the hand and in the ears. There is a mountain in his kingdom where they dig out diamonds, which mountain is a league distant from the city, and is surrounded by a wall, and is kept by a great guard. This realm is most abundant in everything, like the above-mentioned cities. They are all Mohammedans. Their dress consists of robes, or very beautiful shirts of silk, and they wear on their feet shoes or boots, with breeches after the fashion of sailors. The ladies go with their faces quite covered, according to the custom of Damascus.

THE CHAPTER CONCERNING THE ACTIVITY OF THE KING IN MILITARY AFFAIRS.

The above-mentioned king of Decan is always at war with the king of Narsinga, and all his country is Mohammedan. The greater part of his soldiers are foreigners and white men. The natives of the kingdom are of a tawny colour. This king is extremely powerful, and very rich, and most liberal. He also possesses many naval vessels, and is a very great enemy of the Christians. Departing thence, we went to another city, called Bathacala.

3

1 Probably the locality mentioned by Tavernier, who says: "The first of the mines I visited is situated in the territories of the King of Visapour (Bîjapûr), in the province of Carnatica. The place is called Raolconda. It is five days' journey from Golconda, and eight or nine from Visapour." PINKERTON'S Voyages, vol. viii. p. 235.

2

According to Ferishta, 'Âdil Shâh entertained a large number of foreign auxiliaries in his service, among whom were many Abyssinians. He also mentions that his successor, Isma'îl 'Âdil Shah, "formed an army of 10,000 cavalry, consisting of Arabians, Persians, Turks, Usbecks, Koords, and other foreigners." SCOTT's Translation, vol. i. p. 245.

3 'Adil Shah expelled the Portuguese from Goa on their first capture

THE CHAPTER CONCERNING BATHACALA, A CITY OF INDIA, AND OF ITS FERTILITY IN MANY THINGS, AND ESPECIALLY IN RICE AND SUGAR.

Bathacala,1 a very noble city of India, is distant from Decan five days' journey. The king thereof is a pagan. This city is walled, and very beautiful, and about a mile distant from the sea. The king is subject to the king of Narsinga. This city has no seaport, the only approach to it being by a small river. There are many Moorish merchants

of that place in 1510. He appears to have been an enthusiast in matters of faith chiefly on political grounds. After solemnly establishing the Shiäh creed as the national religion, he subsequently retracted his opinions and restored the Sunni rites, in order to allay the serious opposition which his apostasy had excited among the zealous adherents of 'Omar, Abubekr, and 'Othmân.

1 I find no difficulty in identifying this place with the more modern Sedasevaghur, which Thornton describes as a town in the British district of North Canara, on the north side of the Kâla Nuddi, and a mile east of its mouth." It is just within the Karwar Head, where, in Hamilton's time, there was a British factory, and an adjacent cove was used by our vessels as a harbour of refuge and to careen. Karwar, he says, "has the advantage of a good harbour on the south side of a bay, and a river capable of receiving ships of three hundred tuns. The Rajah is tributary to the Mogul at present, but formerly it was a part of Visapore's dominions before Aurungzeb conquered that country." He styles the town Batcoal and adds: "the Portuguese have an island called Anjediva, about two miles from Batcoal." (PINKERTON'S Voyages, .vol. viii. pp. 361-2.) These indications are sufficiently explicit to prevent our confounding Varthema's "Bathacala" with Batcull, (Buchanan's "Batuculla" and Hamilton's "Batacola,") where the British had also a factory. The latter is in lat. 13° 59′, or fifteen miles south of Honahwar, while Varthema, who is travelling southward, reaches Bathacala three days before arriving at Honahwar.

As an attempt is being made to restore and improve the old harbour, it is to be hoped that the more ancient, simple, and euphonious title of Bathcal or Bathcole will be given to the new settlement. That of "Sedashevagur," or "Sudaseoghur," as it is more generally written, appears to have originated with Sedashwa Rao, one of the Rajahs of Soonda, who built a fort at Bathcal, and grew into importance on the overthrow of the great kingdom of Bijayanagar in 1565.