"According to an Arabian author, Zeirreddien Mukhdom, who is supposed to have been sent to assist the zamorins and the Mahomedans in India, in their wars with the Portuguese, Malabar is then said to have been divided among a multiplicity of independent princes or rajahs, whom he calls Hakims, some of whom commanded over one or two hundred men, and others one, ten, fifteen, or even as high as thirty, thousand, or upwards. The three greatest powers at that time were, the Colastrian426 rajah to the north, the zamorin of Calicut in the centre, and a rajah in the south, who ruled from Coulan, Kalum, or Coulim, to Cape Comorin, comprehending the country now belonging to the rajah of Travancore."
"We now return from this digression, to follow the narrative of the Portuguese Discovery and Conquest of India, as related by Castaneda."
So great was the trade and population of Calicut and the surrounding country, and the revenues of its sovereign through these circumstances, that he was able to raise a force of thirty thousand men in a single day, and could even bring an hundred thousand men into the field, completely equipt for war, in three days. This prince, in the language of the country, was styled the Zamorin, or Samoryn, which signifies Emperor; as he was supreme over the other two kings of Malabar, the king of Coulan and the king of Cananor. There were indeed other princes in this country, who were called kings, but were not so. This zamorin or king of Calicut was a bramin, as his predecessors had been, the bramins being priests among the Malabars. It is an ancient rule and custom among these people, that all their kings must die in a pagoda427, or temple of their idols; and that there must always be a king resident in the principal pagoda, to serve those idols: Wherefore, when the king that serves in the temple comes to die, he who then reigns must leave his government of temporal affairs to take his place in the temple; upon which another is elected to take his place, and to succeed in ruling the kingdom. If the king who is in possession of the temporal authority should refuse to retire to the pagoda, on the death of the king who officiated in spirituals, he is constrained to do so, however unwilling.
The kings and nobles of Malabar are of a brown complexion, and go naked from the waist upwards, all the under parts of their bodies being clothed in silk or cotton Vestments; yet they sometimes wear short gowns on their upper parts, called basus, of rich silk, or cloth of gold, or of scarlet, splendidly ornamented with precious stones, of all which the zamorin hath great store. They shave their beards, leaving only the hair on their upper lips, and do not shave the head like the Turks. In general, the natives of this country, even of the higher ranks, use little state in their households, and are very sparing in their diet; but the zamorin is served with considerable splendour. These kings or nobles never marry; but every one has a mistress of the Nayre cast, which, among the Malabars, are considered as the gentry; even the zamorin has only a mistress, who has a house of her own near the palace, and a liberal allowance for the charges of her household and maintenance at her own disposal. Upon any dislike or difference, he may always leave her for another. The children are only considered as the offspring of the mother, and have no right or title to inherit the kingdom, or any thing else belonging to the father; and when grown up, are only held in that rank or estimation which belongs to the blood or parentage of their mother. Brothers succeed to brothers; and in lack of these, the sons of their sisters, who do not marry, and have no certainty respecting the fathers of their children; as they are very free and dissolute in their manners, choosing paramours as they please.
These sisters of the zamorin, and other kings of Malabar, have handsome allowances to live upon; and when any of them reaches the age of ten, their kindred send for a young man of the Nayre cast, out of the kingdom, and give him great presents to induce him to initiate the young virgin; after which he hangs a jewel round her neck, which she wears all the rest of her life, as a token that she is now at liberty to dispose of herself to any one she pleases as long as she lives.
When these kings are at war with each other, they often go personally into the field, and even join personally in fight upon occasion. When one of them dies, the body is carried out into the fields, and burned on a pile of sanders, and of another sweet smelling wood called aguila, all his brothers and kindred, and all the nobles of the country being present at the ceremony; which is uniformly postponed to the third day after death, that all may have time to gather from a distance, and may have an opportunity of being assured whether his death was natural, or caused by violence: Since, if he died by the hand of any one, all are bound to prosecute revenge. After the body is burnt, and the ashes buried, the whole company shaves every part of their bodies, even to the youngest child of these idolaters. This is their token of mourning; and during the ensuing thirteen days, they all refrain from chewing betel, any one infringing this law being punished by cutting his lips. During this period of thirteen days, he who is to succeed to the throne must abstain from all exercise of government, that any one who pleases may have an opportunity of urging any valid objection why he should not acquire the vacant government. After, this the successor is sworn before all the nobles of the country, to preserve and enforce all the laws and customs of their ancestors, to pay the debts of his predecessor, and to use his utmost endeavours to recover any portion of the kingdom that may have been lost. While taking this oath, having his sword in his left hand, he holds in his right hand a burning candle, on which is a gold ring, which he touches with his fingers. After this they throw some grains of rice over him, using many other ceremonies, and numerous prayers, and then worship the sun three times. When all these ceremonies are gone through, all the Caymayles, or lords of noble birth, taking hold of the candle, take an oath to be true and faithful subjects to the new king.
After the end of the thirteen days mourning, they all begin to chew betel, and to eat flesh and fish as formerly, the new king alone excepted. He is bound to mourn for his predecessor during a whole year, chewing no betel, eating no flesh or fish, neither shaving his beard nor cutting; his nails during all that time. He must eat only once a-day, washing himself all over before this single meal, and devoting certain hours of every day to prayer. After the expiry of the year, he uses a certain ceremony for the soul of the king his predecessor, much like our solemn dirge; at which 100,000 persons are often assembled, among whom he distributes large alms. When this ceremony is ended, the prince is confirmed as inheritor of the kingdom, and all the people depart.
The zamorin of Calicut, and the other kings of Malabar, have each one especial officer, to whom the administration of justice is confided, and whose authority in all matters of government is as ample as that of the king himself. The soldiers employed by these kings are called Nayres, who are all gentlemen, and who follow no other office or employ but that of fighting when needed. They are all idolaters, armed with bows, arrows, spears, daggers of a hooked form, and targets, and they march in a very regular and warlike manner; but they go entirely naked and barefooted, wearing only a piece of painted cotton cloth, which reaches from the girdle to the knees, and a cloth or kerchief on their heads. All these men live continually at the charge of the king and nobles of the country, from whom they have small stipends for their maintenance; and they esteem themselves so highly on account of their gentility of blood, that they will not touch an husbandman, nor allow any such to enter into their dwellings. When any husbandman goes through the streets they must continually call out aloud hoo hoo; for if commanded by a nayre to make way, they may be slain if they refuse. The king cannot raise any one to the rank of a nayre, who are all such by descent. These nayres serve very faithfully under those who give them their wages, not sparing by day or night to use their best endeavours to serve their chiefs, nor making any account of want of food or sleep, or of fatigue, when their service is required or may be effectual. Their expences are so small, that on half-a-crown, which is their only monthly pay, they can sufficiently maintain themselves and a boy, whom each has as a servant.
426
From the sequel in the narrative of Castaneda, this Colastrian rajah seems to have been the sovereign of Cananor. –E.
427
This word pagoda, applied by the Portuguese, to denote an Indian, temple, is said to be derived from a Malabar or Indian word,