each other, as little respect for each other, and as little influence upon each other, as there could well be between different classes of people in such circumstances.

The Mohammedan invasions of India from A. D. 1000 to 1200, destroying idols, demolishing temples, plundering, massacring, and enslaving the inhabitants, produced incalculable evils and miseries. From A. D. 1200, or the establishment of the Mohammedan power in Delhi, to the invasion of Tamerlane in 1399, or to the invasion of Baber in 1526, the character and spirit of the Mohammedans and the oppressed and suffering state of the Hindus, who were then more than nine tenths of the population, do not exhibit a favorable view of the effects of the government. It is not easy to believe that the general state of India, the state and circumstances of more than nine tenths of the people, were in any way improved during this period by the Mohammedan government of the country. Nor was the state of the Hindu population much if any improved during the reigns of Baber and Humayoon. In the reigns of Acber, Jehangheer, Shah Jehan, and Aurungzeb, a period of 140 years, the Mohammedan power was extended and consolidated. And yet during this period there were often wars of a religious character, which were carried on, as such wars always are, with great barbarity and cruelty. Nor did such wars and the spirit engendered by them cease with the dissolution of the empire of Delhi, consequent upon the death of Aurungzeb. A strong spirit of fanaticism pervaded the government of Tippoo Sultan, of the Mahrattas, and of Ahmed Shah Abdallee, producing persecution and oppression, wars and revolutions. The Mohammedan courts, government agents, and armies may have had a higher state of civilization than any Hindu courts, agents, or armies, but they had little influence upon the state and circumstances of the Hindus, who were always the great body of the inhabitants, and who were often suffering in various ways from the proselyting efforts and haughty spirit of their rulers.

CHAPTER III.

THE EUROPEAN PERIOD.

DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS OF THE PORTUGUESE.

THE 15th century is remarkable for great events, inventions, and discoveries. The invention of the art of printing and the capture of Constantinople united in producing the revival of letters among the nations of Europe, while their discovery of America and of the passage round Africa to the southern countries of Asia and its islands, spread out before them the world for conquest and commerce. In the early part of this century the Portuguese were far in advance of any other nation in maritime discovery. In 1413 they discovered the Islands of Madeira, and in 1454 they reached Senegal. In accordance with the spirit of the age, the propagation of Christianity was avowed as the leading object in prosecuting these discoveries. And to excite greater interest in such enterprises among his people, Prince Henry applied to the Pope, setting forth that the propagation of the Christian faith, the enlargement of the Holy See, and the salvation of the heathen in the countries discovered, had been and would continue to be his great object, and soliciting for his nation exclusive rights and privileges. Eugene IV. who then filled the Holy See, and who, as the vicegerent of Christ, professed to have power to dispose of all parts of the earth as he pleased, strongly commended the zeal of the king and his people, and issued a bull exhorting them to continue in the same glorious career, and granting them exclusive right to all the countries they should discover from Cape Non to the continent of India. This grant not only infused new ardor into the Portuguese nation, but as it was not supposed in that age that the Holy Father had exceeded his power, it prevented all the other nations of Europe from in any way interfering with the rights of the crown of Portugal to all the discoveries they might make.

In 1484 the Portuguese reached the coast of Congo, and

finding the coast there turned towards the east, supposed they must have nearly reached the southern limit of the continent. This hope induced John II. to send out three vessels under Bartholomew Diaz, an experienced and skilful officer, who encountered much tempestuous weather, and was carried so far into the Southern Ocean that in sailing back in search of land he reached the continent near its southern extremity. Diaz would gladly have prosecuted his voyage on the eastern side, but his officers and crew all insisted upon returning home, and he was obliged to yield to their wishes. The king, on hearing a description of their discovery, named the point of land the Cape of Good Hope, which it has ever since retained. Affairs of a more urgent nature occupied the time of John till his death in 1495. In the mean time maritime enterprise had received a new impulse from the discovery of America in 1492 by Columbus. Emanuel, who had succeeded John, now resolved to prosecute discovery with increasing ardor. He caused several vessels to be prepared in superior style, and intrusted the expedition to Vasco de Gama, a member of the royal household, and who had acquired a high reputation for nautical skill and enterprise. No previous expedition had excited so much interest and so high expectations. When all the preparations had been completed, Gama received his instructions from the king in open court, with a consecrated silk banner, and a letter to the mysterious Prester John, who it was supposed was then reigning somewhere in Southern Asia. Previous to embarking, all the officers assembled in the church and received the sacrament, and the priests and monks accompanied them to the ships, bearing wax tapers and chanting prayers. All the sailors went through the ceremonies of confession and absolution, as a suitable preparation for so uncertain and dangerous an expedition.

Gama sailed from Lisbon on the 8th of July, 1497, but as he stopped at several places on the coast they did not reach the southern extremity of the continent till November, and when they changed their course for India, they celebrated the event with religious services and great rejoicings, an event in modern discovery only exceeded by the discovery of America.

Gama then proceeded along the eastern coast, endeavoring where he could, to hold intercourse with the inhabitants and

obtain all possible information concerning the countries and their inhabitants, till he reached Mozambique. Here they found another class of people, professing the Mohammedan religion, wearing turbans, and clothed in cotton, silk, and velvet. The Portuguese were now in high spirits, as they appeared to be approaching the rich and civilized nations of India, of whom they had heard such marvellous accounts. Their intercourse with the inhabitants at Mozambique was for some time of a friendly character, but the Mohammedans, on learning who the Portuguese were and their objects in coming to the East, became jealous of them, and were soon detected in plans for cutting them off. Having obtained a pilot, Gama proceeded to Mombas, where the people at first appeared very friendly, but soon became hostile and made repeated attempts to surprise his ships and cut their cables. From Mombas, Gama proceeded to Melinda, which is described as a well-built and beautiful city, surrounded by numerous gardens and forests of palm-trees. The king was a Mohammedan, who lived in regal splendor and invited Gama to visit him in his palace. But Gama, remembering the treachery manifested by the same class of people in the ports he had left, pretended that the king of Portugal had strictly forbidden him to go on shore, and proposed a meeting in boats. The king accepted this proposal, and he and Gama had an interview in this manner. He made many inquiries about the vessels and also about the king of Portugal, his army, the number of his ships of war, etc. When an image of Mary was exhibited to some Hindu merchants who were on board, they worshipped it with a readiness and veneration which greatly surprised the Portuguese. Probably this image was taken for an idol of some Hindu goddess, or their veneration may have originated in their superstitious reverence for any object of worship.

Having obtained a pilot who had often been to India, Gama left the coast of Africa and steered his course for Calicut. In 23 days they descried the mountains of India, and soon after reached Calicut, the place above all others which they wished At this time the northern parts of India were subject to the Mohammedans, but the southern parts, or nearly all south of the Deckan, was subject to different Hindu sovereigns.

to see.

Among the latter, the king of Calicut, who had the title of Zamorin, or king of kings, was conspicuous. The commerce of the western coast of India with the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, was chiefly in the hands of the Mohammedans who had originally come from those places, and of proselytes to their faith from the Hindus. Aware from his past experience of the treachery of this class of people, Gama first sent on shore his pilot and a criminal, who had been sentenced to death in Portugal, and brought out to be employed in cases of peculiar peril. On their return to the ship the next day, a man accompanied them, who said he was a native of Tunis, where he was acquainted with many Portuguese and had professed Christianity. He accosted Gama in a cordial manner, and expressed his feelings as being glad to see them in a country abounding in precious stones, spices, drugs, and all the most valuable articles of commerce. The Zamorin was at that time absent from Calicut, but was expected to return in a few days, when Gama was encouraged to expect a very friendly reception. In these circumstances many things conspired to excite the interest and wonder of the Portuguese. On one occasion a party of them being on shore, and being near a large pagoda which had somewhat the appearance of a church, they were invited into the vestibule, and supposing the images they saw around them might be those of the Apostles and saints, they began to prostrate themselves in adoration. One of them, however, more inquisitive or less superstitious than the rest, examined the figures more carefully, and observing that some of them were of hideous and monstrous forms, having 4 or 5 hands and arms, several faces, etc., he exclaimed, "If these are devils, then it is God whom I worship." An examination of the idols by the rest of the company soon brought their worship to a close.

The Zamorin received Gama with much oriental pomp, and for considerable time manifested a friendly disposition. But the Mohammedans, jealous of this interference with the trade. which had been so long in their hands, and averse to all nations professing the Christian faith, soon succeeded in exciting prejudices against the Portuguese, and formed plans for effecting their ruin. They excited the superstitious fears of the Hindus by predicting approaching ruin, and declared Gama and all his