W.H. Moreland - Relations of Golconda in the Early Seventeenth Century

Edited by
W. H. MORELAND, C.S.I, C.I.E.

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

T HIS volume contains three Relations, describing the Indian kingdom of Golconda as it appeared to Dutch and English merchants in the first quarter of the seventeenth century. The Relations themselves are discussed in the Introduction: this Preface is concerned only with what may be called the mechanics of the volume.

The first Relation, that of William Methwold, is reprinted from Purchas his Pilgrimage , and, in accordance with the practice of the Society, the language and spelling of the original have been reproduced, the only changes made being the correction of a small number of single letters which are obvious misprints. On the other hand, the use of italics and capital letters, which in the original is quite haphazard, has been modernised; and the punctuation, which is exceedingly erratic, has been modified so far as is necessary to make the text intelligible. The reason why it has not been entirely modernised is that this course would have involved occasional alterations in the text.

The translations which I have made of the second and third Relations are intended to be absolutely literal, and to reproduce not merely the sense but, so far as is possible, the idiom of the original. In the case of Schorers Relation this has been an easy task, for the style and diction are of the simplest; but the third, anonymous, Relation presents considerable difficulty, for the author was fond of exotic phrases and long, involved, sentences, while the printed text, from which the translation has been made, is in some places undoubtedly corrupt, and in others open to suspicion. It has been necessary therefore to indicate in the footnotes the passages where the sense is not definitely established. In all three Relations, square brackets denote editorial interpolations, either brief explanations, or phrases of which the supply seems to be necessary for intelligibility.

In preparing the footnotes I have endeavoured to comply with the canon now recognised by the Society, that notes should be confined to such particulars as are necessary to elucidate the text. Discussion of the important data given in the Relations regarding units of currency, weights and measures has been relegated to the Appendix. Most of the references given in the Introduction and notes are abbreviated; the full titles of the works so cited will be found in the List of Authorities at the end of the volume.

The first of the two maps shows the position of Golconda in relation to the neighbouring Asiatic countries, and the places in those countries which are named in the volume; the second shows all the identifiable places in the South of India to which reference is made.

In the matter of transliteration of foreign words and names, I have followed the use of the Imperial Gazetteer of India . The vowels have the continental values, and the long vowels are marked as such; but the consonants are English, and no attempt is made to distinguish in cases where two or more Indian or Persian letters are represented in English by a single character. The only departures I have made from this system are to adopt the conventional use of Q to denote a particular Arabic guttural, which it is convenient to distinguish from K , and to indicate the Arabic letter ain by an inverted comma. I have also followed the use of the Imperial Gazetteer in preserving the customary spelling of names like Delhi or Tranquebar, which in fact belong to the English language.

The Relations cover a great variety of subjects, many of which are outside my experience, and I have drawn freely on the knowledge possessed by others. Assistance given on particular topics is acknowledged in the body of the volume, but I must take this opportunity of thanking those who have helped in wider fields. Dr L. D. Barnett has advised me on various questions of philology, and Sir Richard Bum on matters of anthropology and numismatics. Mr Bijlsma, of the Rijksarchief, has been most generous in the supply of information from the records in his charge; and Mr E. W. OF. Lynam has given much time to elucidating the difficulties of idiom found in the anonymous Relation. Professor D. G. E. Hall and Mr G. H. Luce of the University of Rangoon have combined to supply information regarding the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal, and the former has revised my notes on that portion of Methwolds Relation which deals with Arakan, Pegu and Tenasserim. Much assistance regarding the language and customs of Golconda has been furnished by Mr E. V. S. R. Wunnam, Mr C. S. K. Pathy, and, through Mr J. C. Molony, by Mr S. D. Aiyer and Mr A. V. V. Aiyer, Finally, I have to thank Sir William Foster, President of the Society, who first suggested the volume, for constant help and advice at every stage of its preparation.