Jahangir and The Jesuits: With an Account of The Travels of Benedict Goes and The Mission to Pegu

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

In an earlier volume of this series (Akbar and the Jesuits) I gave an account of the Jesuit Missions to the court of Akbar, translated from the Hiftoire of Father Pierre du Jarric. It was my intention to let the same author tell the story of the Jesuits at the court of Jahangir; but as the third Part of the Histoire, in which the period in question is dealt with, is based almost exclusively on the Relations of Father Fernão Guerreiro, it seemed better to translate the latter work, and thereby get a step nearer to the original letters. I made the choice with some regret; for though du Jarric did not hesitate to abridge his authorities, at times somewhat drastically, he is a more polished and, on the whole, a more engaging writer than Guerreiro.

Parts II and III contain Guerreiro's accounts of the travels of Benedict Goes, and of the Portuguese occu- pation of Pegu. All three Parts belong to the first decade of the seventeenth century, and each adds something of value to our knowledge of that period. As I have said elsewhere, the Jesuit Fathers did not profess to write history. But though their letters tell us little of the political happenings of the time, they light up the picture as a whole, and we see detail where before only outline was visible.

In the text I have allowed Guerreiro to have his own way with the spelling of proper names.