Forbes, James, 1749-1819, James Forbes letter, Baroche, 1783 January 5, copied between 1794 and 1800
- CallNumber:
- Folio A 2023 69
- Creator:
- Forbes, James, 1749-1819
- Title(s):
- James Forbes letter, Baroche, 1783 January 5
- 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
- ContainerGrouping:
- volume 12, page 225-255
- Provenance:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
- AccessRestrict:
- The materials are open for research.
- UseRestrict:
- 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.
- ScopeContent:
- Forbes states his goal for his eightieth letter at the outset: he writes to a friend in Bombay to describe his recent tour through Gujarat, with the express purpose of convincing this friend to come visit Forbes in his more northern outpost. He begins with a remark about the weather—it is, of course, ideal for travelling—and that, while acknowledging the “in general shabby” nature of the city of Baroche (Bharuch), the area nonetheless possesses several nice buildings and some interesting manufacturing. “Cubber-Burr” Forbes then turns to his time at “Cubber-Burr” (Kabirvad), a massive banyan tree besides the Nerbedda (Narmada) River. He quotes Milton to describe its grandeur, and relates his own sense of awe: “ages must have elapsed [for the original sapling] to rear so numerous a progeny.” “Productions of Guzerat” Forbes next discusses the economic status of Gujarat. He notes its chief products—“juarree” (?), rice, and cotton—before expounding at length on the plenty of the province. He writes, “how few are the wants of the inhabitants, compared with colder climes, especially in raiment, fire and shelter?” Rice, water, and tobacco sustain most of the locals, Forbes insists, and thus they provide generous hospitality to travelers and religious mendicants. The villages possess lakes which are “covered with the white, the red, and the blue Lotus; that beautiful aquatic plant, so highly esteemed by the ancients” “Travelling in Guzerat” Traveling in this province is luxurious: Forbes explains that any travel is done with a large retinue of servants and tents, such that everything is prepared for the European tourist wherever he or she happens to stop. Hay, firewood, milk, butter, and other necessities are provided by the locals according to customary hospitality. “Vanjarras” Forbes then describes some of the people he meets on his journeys through Gujarat: “under some of the adjacent trees we generally find Gosannees, Dervishes, or others of the religious casts that travel thro’ Hindostan; and very often meet with large caravans of Vanjarrahs, or merchants, with loaded oxen.” He provides an account of how the merchants operate, saying that they are generally happy, and are granted protection according to the customs of the area. He says they travel with “Bhauts,” who are feared, for reasons that are unclear. Others who follow the caravans include “conjurers, people with dancing-snakes, bears, monkeys, and other amusements, who pick up what they can in the villages they pass through.” Forbes closes this section with an account of his own palanquin-bearers, who he argues are perfectly happy with their lot, and, at times, quite clever storytellers, in the manner of The Arabian Nights. Having completed a more general account of travel in Gujarat, Forbes offers an overview of the towns through which he has recently passed. He divides his letter by town, including sections on “Corall,” “Ranghur,” “Zinore” (Sinor), “Chandode” (Chandod), “Dhuboy” (Dabhoi), “Bahderpoor” (Bahadarpur), and “Brodera” (Vadodara). Most of the towns receive little specific attention—Forbes’s remarks on the first two, for instance, amount to little more than admiration of the views, and praise of the land’s fertility. At Zinore, Forbes finds more to admire, including the vistas and a seminary of brahmins, where “monkeys live in perfect amity with the devotees, and are never molested.” He writes that this part of Guzerat “is still exactly what it was when described two hundred years ago, by an English traveler, in Purchase’s Pilgrims.” At Chandode, Forbes again remarks on the monkey-inhabitants, saying that “like their countrymen, the Hindoos, [they] seem to be divided into distinct tribes, who neither eat nor associate with each other.” At Bahderpoor, Forbes turns his attention to humans—they are almost as savage as the tigers that prowl the mountains’ forests. Forbes has the most to say about Brodera, offering some comments about the mountain of Powaghur (Pavagadh) and lamenting that most modern structures in the city are “mean and shabby.” He describes the interior of the more palatial homes, with their luxurious sofas and swinging beds. He observes that “the Indians in high life are too generally men of debauched morals, and vitiated taste; who seldom have an idea of the amiable, tender, and delightful passion of love, in its purest state.” He supports his condemnation of Indian sensuality with an (unattributed) quotation from Milton’s Paradise Lost: “love that refines the thoughts, and heart enlarges, hath his seat in reason.” In India—or rather “in eastern Harams”—“the heart has little to do with love; for Asiatic love, totally devoid of sentiment, too generally means only sensuality & voluptuousness.” Quotations from Alexander Pope and Luís Vaz de Camões follow, each supporting Forbes argument. Forbes then laments the ignorance of Hindu and Muslim women—“their pursuits and amusements are childish and trifling”—yet closes, “for this also, we must blame the lords of the creation.” Forbes describes a stone bridge—remarkable only in that it is the only one he’s seen—and a well, from which he translates the Persian dedication. “Mahometan Mausoleums” Forbes then discusses the tombs found in the province. They “add a grandeur to the scene,” though cannot compare to those erected by Akbar or Shah Jahan. He finds the commemoration of the dead quite appealing, noting that Muslims in the province “pay every pious attention to the memory of their departed friends.” He includes a quotation from “Asiatic Poems,” likely translated by William Jones, and suspects that, in these devotions there might be a “spark of devotion to the Supreme Being.” Forbes also argues that, though one does not see any Muslim women at worship, one should not assume they don’t pray, or that “Mahomedan women have no souls,” as commonly held. Rather, “there are many passages in that book [the Quran], which positively assert their right to this happiness [heaven], as well as the men.” He supports this with a lengthy quotation from the Quran, from George Sale’s 1734 translation. “Hindoo Princes” Forbes relates the honor of seeing various Hindu rulers on his journey, though quickly offers an accompanying condemnation: “there is something mean and sordid among these Hindoo Rajahs, and Rajepootes, very different from the urbanity and splendid entertainments among the Moguls of rank.” While Forbes describes Muslim rulers as courteous and civil, he writes that the Hindu or Maratha ruler is “generally a compound of pride and avarice.” The more he sees of South Asian government, Forbes says, the less he finds it appealing: “virtue,” it seems, “is unknown throughout all the realms of Asia.” He lists ancient Roman and modern English politicians and intellectuals as examples of Europe’s superiority. “Hindu Cremation” Nevertheless, there are exceptions. One of whom, Forbes explains, was “Hiroo-Nand,” minister to a local Hindu ruler. Hiroo-Nand was everywhere respected and, when traveling, left all his duties to his wife, who proved equally competent and admirable. After his death, she committed sati, an act Forbes describes in great detail. He narrates her walk to the funeral pyre, notes the “loud music” played to drown out any screams, and insists that “spectators all declare she had a serenity in her countenance, and a majesty in her whole behavior.” He follows this story with an emendation to his previous criticism of Indian women: though Hindu women may know nothing of literature, “they certainly are most exemplary in many still brighter ornaments of the female character.” Indeed, both Indian men and women are, he says, “very domestic.” Forbes proceeds to include a series of sections on Indian rulers and their customs. He begins with “Oriental Hyperbole”—which underscore the litany of titles that accompany any ruler Forbes encounters. He also mentions an invitation to the marriage of a local ruler’s daughter—which he was not able to accept—that he includes in the pages that follow. The next section, “Meah Rajah,” describes the wonderful hospitality of a ruler who, “more than any man I have yet met with in Hindostan, reminds me of the ancient patriarchs.” Forbes is “happy to add another contrast to the oriental despots before mentioned” He concludes his writing on this topic with a description of the small presents they received, comparing them to the opulence of history. Forbes ends his letter with visits to two more towns—“Jambooseer” (Jambusar) and “Ahmood” (Ahmod)—the first is well cultivated and prosperous, the second less so, and filled with savage inhabitants. Forbes closes with a final hope that this letter may convince his friend to visit. Portions of this text appear in <title>Oriental Memoirs</title>, volume 3, chapter 33.
- PhysicalDescription:
- 29 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
- FindingAidTitle:
- James Forbes archive
- Archival Object:
- https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/3200055
- Metadata Cloud URL:
- https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/archival_objects/3200055?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1