Forbes, James, 1749–1819, James Forbes letter, Bhaderpoor, 1780 October 25, copied between 1794 and 1800
- Call Number:
- Folio A 2023 69
- Holdings:
- Accessible by appointment in the Study Room [Request]
- Creator:
- Forbes, James, 1749–1819
- Title(s):
- James Forbes letter, Bhaderpoor, 1780 October 25
- 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 11, page 65-69
- 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 writes his next letter from a smaller territory under his control. He gives a few figures about its size, and describes his journey to the town, which required he send people ahead of his party to fix the roads, which had fallen into disrepair. He calls this process a metaphor for the coming of Elijah to prepare the way for the Lord, to create a “high-way for our God!” Having arrived at the town, he turns his attention to the gardens and produce found there. During the rainy season, melons, cucumbers, and other vegetables are common, and Forbes describes the process by which a watchmen ensures that no crops are stolen or damaged by animals or people. Forbes writes: “Few situations are more solitary and unpleasant than this, which is common in Guzerat, and other flat countries, and continues during the rainy Monsoon.” He identifies this practice with another biblical reference. Forbes gives accounts of other isolated plants and animals, focusing in particular on the Mowrah (mahua) tree, a plant whose flowers and fruits serve a variety of purposes and are quite common in the region. He remarks on the abnormally large size of the insects and lizards, while lamenting that he can find few topics to draw, as the landscape is so monotonous. Some of the nearby lands do not fall under Company—or any—control, and as a result, the regions suffers from the “incursions of the Gracias, a set of independent Banditti, who dwell all around it, under their own petty chieftain: they are an insolent audacious race; some Hindoos, some Mahometans; but all free-livers, and great drinkers.” Forbes describes the ways in which this group extorts rent from the surrounding communities, and their willingness to murder women and children if they do not receive adequate payment. He complains: “The Gracias call themselves the Aborigines of this country: I have already had much trouble with them.” Forbes continues to state, however, that cruelty is not confined to the country. He describes an incident at Dhuboy, in which a woman’s body was found in a well. Forbes suspects that the woman was a member of the harem of Tully Singh—a neighboring Maratha ruler—and that she had been executed for some slight. He concludes his letter, saying, “I desired to have one of the bracelets of this ill-fated beauty, which I shall preserve in remembrance of her cruel fate.” Portions of this text appear in <title>Oriental Memoirs</title>, volume 2, chapter 26.
- 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
- Collection PDF:
- https://ead-pdfs.library.yale.edu/11734.pdf
- Archival Object:
- https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/3199945
- Metadata Cloud URL:
- https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/archival_objects/3199945?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1