Forbes, James, 1749–1819, James Forbes letter, Cambay, 1781 May 12, 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, Cambay, 1781 May 12
- 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 285-295
- 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 and his companions leave Ahmedabad at daybreak, following a series of nighttime showers. “Peerana” They stop first outside the city, at a spot with several tombs. Forbes describes the ornamentation around the graves: they are “covered with rich cloths, and ornamented with rows of false pearl, ostriches eggs, and wreathes of flowers.” He finds this, however, “more gaudy than elegant,” yet accepts that these sites are “held in the highest veneration” by Indian Muslims. “Dolcah” The group then reaches Dolcah, a town near Ahmedabad. Forbes describes the layout of the city and the surrounding countryside, noting that the city is not fortified, and possesses only a small mud wall to protect the inhabitants. Forbes observes that many of the smaller villages they pass have sentinels posted in the tallest trees, watching for bandits and ready to alert the area’s farmers in case of attack. Though perhaps bandits are not the only people of whom these villagers are wary: Forbes relates that “our little escort of cavalry, with the rest of our attendants, generally occasioned a considerable alarm as we travelled thro’ the country.” After travelling about fifty miles, Forbes and his party reach Cambay (Khambhat). Describing the surrounding country, Forbes quotes James Thomson’s (1700-1748) “The Seasons,” and insists that, despite the current struggles of the province, “an attention to agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, a security of private property, and a more equitable government, would render it” prosperous, as it was under previous rulers. Forbes then provides a rather lengthy description of slavery in India. He begins with his view of slavery as practice by Indians, writing that enslaved people “are treated like near relations, admitted to great confidence, and often obtain their freedom, and marry into their maser’s family.” He next points to the English practice of slavery: “Nor have the sable race sold to the English in India, much reason to complain of their lot; they experience a very different treatment from their African brethren in the West-Indies.” The truly unfortunate, he says, are those who fall into the hands of the Portuguese, though he does acknowledge that no matter what conditions an enslaved person might experience, slavery remains a “bitter” institution. He then turns to the nawab of Cambay, asserting that, though he knows the nawab to have a horrific reputation, he will refrain from discussing it, due to the kindness shown by the nawab to Forbes and his companions. He quotes a lengthy passage from Esdras, which he frames as giving insight into the nature of the “Asiatic prince.” “Dil Gusha. Gardens at Cambay” Forbes next describes a dinner at one of the nawab’s pleasure gardens. He provides a lengthy description of the gardens, and observes the placement of a temple-like structure at the center. In each column, there is a passage for water, which emerges in a fountain at the top of the structure, running down the sides of its dome, and further downward, along screens of kusha grass, keeping the building cool and perfumed. He and his companions are treated to an evening of fireworks and dancing, and they leave with gifts of betel, shawls, and silk. “Songs of the Dancing Girls at Cambay.” Impressed, as always, with the dancing girls, Forbes writes: “as they [the songs of the dancing girls] appeared to me far superior to any I have heard before, I have attempted an imitation; tho’ very unequal to the spirit of the original.” The next two pages include “A song of Roshan, or Roxana” and “A Song of Selima,” both ornate compositions, written in prose, that bemoan the separation of lover and beloved. Forbes concludes his letter by explaining that many Indians have a deep fondness for poetry, and are convinced that Europeans have no talent, or taste, in that regard. Forbes relates how, in response to this assertion, one of his company produced several lines of Persian verse ex tempore—which Forbes includes in English—which amused all present. In a final passage, Forbes writes that he has begun to acquire more Indian paintings and drawings from a certain brahmin, “a man of genius, taste, and extensive reading” to whom he has been introduced by the English resident. The resident, lacking European company, spends much of his free time in conversation with this man. Portions of this text appear in <title>Oriental Memoirs</title>, volume 3, chapter 31.
- Physical Description:
- 11 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/3199990
- Metadata Cloud URL:
- https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/archival_objects/3199990?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1