Forbes, James, 1749-1819, James Forbes letter, Calicut, 1772 February 13, copied between 1794 and 1800
- Call Number:
- Folio A 2023 69
- Creator:
- Forbes, James, 1749-1819
- Title(s):
- James Forbes letter, Calicut, 1772 February 13
- Date:
- copied between 1794 and 1800
- Classification:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Series:
- Series I: A voyage from England to Bombay with descriptions in Asia, Africa, and South America
- Part of Collection:
- volume 5, page 141-145
- Provenance:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
- Conditions Governing Access:
- The materials are open for research.
- Conditions Governing Use:
- The collection is the physical property of the Yale Center for British Art. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts.
- Scope and Content:
- Forbes’s twenty-sixth letter begins with his departure from Tellicherry (now Thalassery). The voyage to Calicut (now Khozhikode), his next destination, passes close to “Sacrifice-Rock” (now Velliyamkallu) a small, rocky island near Calicut. Forbes notes several uses for the island, the first being the production of “a few of those rare birds-nests, so highly esteemed by the Oriental epicure,” consumed by the wealthy in India, but, for the most part, exported to China. The second is the production of dried shark fins, again for export to China, which are stewed “down to a thick glutinous jelly, which I think richer than turtle, or any dish at the tables of Europeans.” Beyond Sacrifice-Rock is Calicut. Forbes introduces the city as the landing place of Vasco de Gama, the first European (in Forbes’s telling) to set foot in India. The city has lost its former brilliance, however: it is, at the moment, “composed chiefly of low huts,” and “the air is extremely offensive from the quantity of Shark-Fins, and other fish, constantly drying on the beach.” It is, like many of the other settlements visited by Forbes, under the control of Haider Ali, ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, who encourages foreign trade. Yet the “Malabar Mahometans” are, to Forbes, “the most insolent people I have met with in India,” prone to cruelty and monopolization of trade. Forbes laments the passing of the former city, and offers a detailed description of the wealth and splendor de Gama would have encountered upon his arrival. He writes: “the beds, the sofas, and other large pieces of furniture were of solid gold; many of them enriched with jewels: the treasuries and several subterraneous apartments, like the bank of Venice, were filled with gold and silver; the wealth of ages!” Alas, Haider Ali’s cruelty and, more importantly, the sea, spelled the end of the city’s prominence. Much of it disappeared under the advancing tides, such that now, “at very low tides, I have seen the waves breaking on the tops of the mosques and minarets; but in general nothing is to be discovered of it.” Forbes quotes Ovid on the sea and decay of the earth. The letter closes with a very brief description of the surrounding country. Portions of this text appear in <title>Oriental Memoirs</title>, volume 1, pp. 321-3.
- Physical Description:
- 5 pages
- Genre:
- Correspondence , Botanical illustrations, Ornithological illustrations, Travel sketches, Maps, Watercolors (paintings), Drawings (visual works), Engravings (prints), and Portraits
- Subject Terms:
- Forbes, James, 1749-1819. Descriptive letters and drawingsForbes, James, 1749-1819. Oriental memoirs
- Associated Places:
- EnglandItalyScotlandWales
- Associated People/Groups:
- East India CompanyForbes, James, 1749-1819
- Finding Aid Title:
- James Forbes archive
- Archival Object:
- https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/3199584
- Metadata Cloud URL:
- https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/archival_objects/3199584?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1