Forbes, James, 1749-1819, James Forbes letter, Cambay, 1775 April 1, copied between 1794 and 1800
- Call Number:
- Folio A 2023 69
- Creator:
- Forbes, James, 1749-1819
- Title(s):
- James Forbes letter, Cambay, 1775 April 1
- 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 7, page 121-128
- 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 begins his thirty-ninth letter with an explanation of his continued presence at Cambay (now Khambhat). He stays occasionally in the company factory in the city, and other times at the residence of the colonel in command of the excursion at “Narranseer-Camp” (current location unclear). “Having yet no certain accounts of the progress of our allies,” Forbes sets about studying the customs of the inhabitants of Cambay. Forbes explains that Cambay is currently ruled by a “Mogul prince,” but that “from his tyrannical disposition, his subjects are few, and very poor.” Forbes gives a brief physical description of the ruler, before quickly moving on to the nature and effects of his cruelty: he relates that his only son had recently fallen prey to the nawab’s suspicions, at least “such is the voice of the whole city.” Mercy, according to Forbes, is a quality unknown to the ruler here, a point he makes by quoting Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. From his own observations and analysis of city gossip, Forbes moves to an explanation of the ruler’s cruelty. It is, he says, “that unrestrained power with which they are invested, [that] is pregnant with every evil.” He makes a point of expanding this assertion beyond “Asiatic Courts” to places like Greece and Rome, before moving on to “some amiable exceptions in the oriental annals,” namely, the emperor Akbar. Forbes describes Akbar as “one of the greatest blessings ever given to man,” and includes a lengthy quotation from Sirach, written as a panegyric to “the sublime and beautiful character of Simon, the son of Onias.” Next, Forbes returns to the iniquities of the court. He describes the inefficiency of justice in Cambay, in which “pardon can be purchased for the most atrocious crimes.” He links this to the “vices of the Asiatics,” and their “not having a proper sense of gratitude,” and “little idea of moral obligations.” Those accused of crimes rarely see any court: they are accused and sentenced in silence, without any chance of protest. And yet this still represents a favorable alternative to the situation in some European countries. Forbes launches into a lengthy condemnation of justice in countries where “condemned to the Bastile, the Inquisition, and other state-prisons,” the accused “drag out a most wretched life of solitude and oblivions.” Forbes closes his letter with a series of less critical observations. He notes the prominent descent of some of Cambay’s chief inhabitants—who claim a lineage that reaches back to Persia—and describes the intricate ceremonies involved in the court. Guests drink coffee and are treated according to rank; opium “is handed about with the same familiarity as the snuff-box.” Forbes is surprised by Indians’ tolerance for the drug: “half of what they eat for pleasure would compose a European into the sleep of death.” Other diversions including hawking, hunting, and the harem. Forbes concludes his letter with a lament for what he understands as the lack of artistic cultivation among the inhabitants—while some Hindus produce commentaries on their sacred texts, for Muslims, the Quran is enough. Portions of this text appear in <title>Oriental Memoirs</title>, volume 2, chapter 16.
- Physical Description:
- 8 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/3199706
- Metadata Cloud URL:
- https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/archival_objects/3199706?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1