02-24-2007, 03:56 AM
From above book:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Their mission was to convert that monarch to Christianity, and to sow the seed of the Gospel in his dominions; and to these aims their interests and their energies were almost wholly confined. The range of their outlook naturally determined the range of their letters. These were written for the purpose of keeping the superiors of their Order in touch with the Missions, and informed as to the progress that was being made. They may, in fa6t, be described as progress reports, or collectively, as official correspondence/ The references they contain to the public affairs of the day are, in consequence, few in number, and relate, with rare exceptions, only to circumstances that came under the personal observation of the writers, or had a direct bearing on their lives, or the work of their calling. The information contained in such references is sometimes detailed and of great value: in other cases, and these are unfortunately the more numerous, it is disappointingly meagre and vague. In regard to matters that had no bearing on les choses qui concernent la religion^ the Fathers were either altogether silent, or merely passed on, for what they were worth, any odds and ends of information that chanced to come their way.
For the Student of Indian history, however, the outstanding interest of du Jarric's compilation lies not so much in the references it contains to contemporary events, as in the intimate light it sheds on the character and mind of Akbar, in the portraits it presents of the royal Princes and other notable figures of the time, apd in the insight it affords into the general conditions of life under Mogul rule.
The Fathers had abundant opportunities of Studying Akbar, Besides occupying a privileged position at the imperial court, they were in frequent and close attendance on his person. At the public assemblies they were assigned places very near his throne: they accompanied him on his campaigns: they educated his children: and they were often the companions of his leisure hours. On the occasions when they visited him in private, he frequently laid aside all reserve, opening, and even unburdening his heart to them, and discussing freely and frankly the various problems of life on which, in his more serious moments, he was wont to ponder. As a result of such constant and familiar intercourse, the Fathers came to know Akbar very thoroughly. They saw him in every variety of mood, and watched his behaviour under every variety of circumstance; and their impressions of him from one aspect or another, which are scattered through du Jarric's pages, make up a likeness that is at once complete and intimate. The odium theologicum has, it is true, left its lines across the picture; but these are too unmistakable to interfere seriously with our view: we see the real Akbar behind them as plainly as we see the lion through the bars of his cage.
Hardly less intimate is the portrait we get of Prince Salim; indeed, during the later chapters of his narrative, the beam of du Jarric's searchlight plays oftener on the Prince than on the King. If the portrait in this case interests us less, it is not through any fault in the drawing, but because the subject of it is less worth Studying. From time to time, the beam traverses the great hall of audience, reeling momentarily on other notable personages. Of these, especially of such men as Abul Fazl and Aziz Koka, we could have been well content to see more, and of the Prince less. But to the Fathers of the third Mission, the latter was the moSt important person in the empire. The goal of their desires was to see a Christian prince seated on the Mogul throne; and as the prospeft of Akbar's conversion waxed dim, their attentions and their efforts became more and more concentrated on the son who was to succeed him.
Our glimpses of the world outside the purlieus of the court become more numerous as the Story proceeds ; for it was only after the despatch of the third Mission, that the spreading of the Gospel amongst the people at large was seriously taken in hand. A considerable portion of du Jarric's account of this Mission is devoted to Glories of conversions, baptismal ceremonies, religious festivals, and other circumstances illustrating the work of evangelization, the progress made, and the difficulties encountered. These Stories, though sometimes confused and rambling, and though the interest attaching to the incidents they describe is mainly religious, have a very real historical significance. As contemporary records, they are redolent of the atmosphere of the period. They familiarise us with the common sights and the little everyday occurrences which are seldom part of the Stock-in-trade of the professional historian, but which do more than anything else can do to bridge the gulf between the present and the paSt. Incidentally they bring us into touch with the administrative machinery of Akbar's kingdom, and introduce us to various types of State officials, such as Viceroys, Nawabs, Kotwals, Kazis, Eunuchs, etc., shedding many interesting sidelights on the duties they performed, and on the manner in which the law of the land was administered. At the same time they illustrate, better than any other part of the Hittoirey the daily life and surroundings of the humbler classes of the people.
It is, therefore, as a guide to the spirit rather than to the events of the time, to the characters of men rather than to their adtions, that du Jarric's account of the Missions to Akbar merits a high place amongSt our authorities for the history of India. These were matters on which the Jesuit Fathers, both on account of their training and of their opportunities, were eminently qualified to enlighten us, and on which they wrote with knowledge gained from personal observation and experience. The scarcity of contemporary accounts of India in the days of Akbar lends additional importance to their letters, which not only give us information unobtainable from other sources, but contain the earliest impressions of the Mogul empire ever recorded by European writers; for the Fathers were the firSt, and with the exception of the English traveller Ralph Fitch, the only Europeans who visited Northern India in the sixteenth century. The letters likewise contain a considerable amount of miscellaneous information about current events. But, as already pointed out, the attitude of the Fathers towards the general affairs of the empire was one of indifference; and
On this account, and for the reasons previously given, the HiSloire^ in so far as it relates to the action of the political drama of the period, needs to be read and used critically, and with caution.
The termination of the third Mission to the court of Akbar marked the close of the firSt and mo?t interesting phase of the Jesuit campaign in Northern India. Whilst the Missions were in progress, the political element, which entered so largely into the later phases of the movement, though present, was in abeyance; and the Fathers who had charge of the Missions devoted themselves, as I have said above, almost exclusively to the work of evangelization. It may be presumed that, from the outset, they were expected to do anything they could to further the interests of their country at the Mogul court, and to pass on to Goa any information likely to be of use to the Portuguese authorities; but we have only to read the letters they wrote during this period to realise how completely their religious duties outweighed these and all other considerations.
The Portuguese authorities, whether at Goa or Lisbon, were by no means lacking in missionary zeal. Though fully alive to the political advantages which might accrue from the conversion of Akbar, they welcomed his appeal for inStruftion in the doctrines of Christianity as much for the religious as for the political opportunities which it offered; and had Akbar's conversion been a matter of no political concern whatever to them, we need not doubt that the Missions would ftill have been despatched. It has been maintained that the Portuguese had, from the fir&, no belief in the conversion of Akbar, and that the objeft of the Missions was entirely political. I think du Jarric's narrative will convince the reader that neither of these views is tenable. There was both a religious and a political motive behind the Missions; and the exigence of the latter in no way implies the insincerity of the former. As Mr. W. H. Moreland has rightly pointed out, it is this combination of religious and political motives which * is the key to the aftivities of the Portuguese during the sixteenth century, and much of their condudl which is inexplicable from the traders' point of view finds an excuse, though not always a justification in the missionary zeal by which the rulers of the country were distinguished * (India at the Death of Akbar^ p, 200),
Akbar's attitude towards the Missions closely resembled that of the Portuguese authorities. Like them, he was influenced by both religious and political motives, and the former were quite as Strong and real in his case as in theirs. In his case, too, it may confidently be said, that if all political inducement had been lacking, he would ftill have invited the Fathers to his court. The Missions, however, did offer him political advantages, and he naturally welcomed them none the less on that account. Chief amongst these were the opportunities, or excuses, which they afforded him of sending letters and farmans to Goa, the bearers of which were able to bring him much useful intelligence regarding the ftate of affairs in the Portuguese settlements, towards which he had long been cabling covetous eyes.
It cannot be said that Akbar's motives did him great credit, in as much as they were direftly hoftile to those whose friendship he was cultivating; but their baseness was appreciably discounted by the faft that he took little or no pains to conceal them. Looked at from his own point of view, his hostile attitude was neither unnatural nor unprovoked. As a race he held a high opinion of the Portuguese: he was Wrongly attrafted by their religion; he admired their civilization ; and he took delight in the society of their learned doftors. At the same time, he regarded them as intruders. Their domination of the Indian seas was a constant offence to him, and was rendered the more intolerable by the humiliating control which it enabled them to exercise over his maritime ventures. More than all, he resented their settlements on the outskirts of his territories, which effectually barred his access to the We?l CoaSl ports. In short, the Portuguese were a very troublesome thorn in Akbar's side, and one of the dearest wishes of his heart was to turn them neck and crop out of India.
The open participation of the Jesuit missionaries in political concerns commenced with the efforts made by the Fathers Xavier and Pinheiro to frustrate the plans of the English merchant-adventurer, Mildenhall, who visited Akbar's court in 1603, with the objeft of obtaining trading facilities for himself and his countrymen. In the reign of Jahangir, their employment in affair! of a kindred nature became a matter of course.
For this, the Portuguese authorities at Goa were mainly responsible. The aim of Portugal's Eastern policy at this period was not the acquisition of new territories, but the extension of her commerce; and the chief item in her programme was the capture, or, failing that, the control, of India's trade with Europe. It was a policy of greed; and its success depended on the ability of the Viceroys at Goa to win and retain the good-will of the Great Mogul, and to prevent its extension to other European countries. For the purpose of influencing the mind of the Emperor the Fathers were in a position of peculiar advantage; and hence it was largely on them that the task of securing these essential conditions devolved.
The use thus made of the Fathers, while it did little to retard the decay of Portuguese commerce, was wholly detrimental to the cause of the Gospel. Whatever progress that cause had hitherto made was the direft outcome of the purity of life, the singleness of purpose, and the fearless devotion exhibited by the pioneers of the missionary campaign. Such qualities have always commanded admiration in India; and it was their possession in a pre-eminent degree by Monserrate and Rudolf Aquaviva that enabled those Fathers to win the heart of Akbar, and the respeft of his subjefts, whether Moslim or Hindu. But a continuous supply of men of this ?tamp was not to be looked for; and the Fathers who followed them, though equally zealous for the spread of the faith, were not endowed with the same saintliness of character; while the work they were called upon to do in the political arena, and, it may be added, in a very unsavoury corner of that arena, was not conducive to the display of the nobler Chri&ian virtues. The Tories of Jesuit intrigues told by Mildenhall, Hawkins, Finch, and other travellers who found their way to the court of the Great Mogul, are probably overdrawn; but when all due allowance has been made for the bias of the writers, they leave little room for doubt that, in their endeavours to outwit these intruders, the Fathers had frequent recourse to measures which sorted ill with their religious calling, and which muft have done much to discredit the Chriftian faith in the eyes of the people. From the time the Fathers openly assumed the role of political agents, their religious influence began Readily to wane. In the reign of Shah Jahan its decline was rapid; and before the end of the reign of Aurangzeb it had ceased to exift.
Akbar and Jesuits
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Their mission was to convert that monarch to Christianity, and to sow the seed of the Gospel in his dominions; and to these aims their interests and their energies were almost wholly confined. The range of their outlook naturally determined the range of their letters. These were written for the purpose of keeping the superiors of their Order in touch with the Missions, and informed as to the progress that was being made. They may, in fa6t, be described as progress reports, or collectively, as official correspondence/ The references they contain to the public affairs of the day are, in consequence, few in number, and relate, with rare exceptions, only to circumstances that came under the personal observation of the writers, or had a direct bearing on their lives, or the work of their calling. The information contained in such references is sometimes detailed and of great value: in other cases, and these are unfortunately the more numerous, it is disappointingly meagre and vague. In regard to matters that had no bearing on les choses qui concernent la religion^ the Fathers were either altogether silent, or merely passed on, for what they were worth, any odds and ends of information that chanced to come their way.
For the Student of Indian history, however, the outstanding interest of du Jarric's compilation lies not so much in the references it contains to contemporary events, as in the intimate light it sheds on the character and mind of Akbar, in the portraits it presents of the royal Princes and other notable figures of the time, apd in the insight it affords into the general conditions of life under Mogul rule.
The Fathers had abundant opportunities of Studying Akbar, Besides occupying a privileged position at the imperial court, they were in frequent and close attendance on his person. At the public assemblies they were assigned places very near his throne: they accompanied him on his campaigns: they educated his children: and they were often the companions of his leisure hours. On the occasions when they visited him in private, he frequently laid aside all reserve, opening, and even unburdening his heart to them, and discussing freely and frankly the various problems of life on which, in his more serious moments, he was wont to ponder. As a result of such constant and familiar intercourse, the Fathers came to know Akbar very thoroughly. They saw him in every variety of mood, and watched his behaviour under every variety of circumstance; and their impressions of him from one aspect or another, which are scattered through du Jarric's pages, make up a likeness that is at once complete and intimate. The odium theologicum has, it is true, left its lines across the picture; but these are too unmistakable to interfere seriously with our view: we see the real Akbar behind them as plainly as we see the lion through the bars of his cage.
Hardly less intimate is the portrait we get of Prince Salim; indeed, during the later chapters of his narrative, the beam of du Jarric's searchlight plays oftener on the Prince than on the King. If the portrait in this case interests us less, it is not through any fault in the drawing, but because the subject of it is less worth Studying. From time to time, the beam traverses the great hall of audience, reeling momentarily on other notable personages. Of these, especially of such men as Abul Fazl and Aziz Koka, we could have been well content to see more, and of the Prince less. But to the Fathers of the third Mission, the latter was the moSt important person in the empire. The goal of their desires was to see a Christian prince seated on the Mogul throne; and as the prospeft of Akbar's conversion waxed dim, their attentions and their efforts became more and more concentrated on the son who was to succeed him.
Our glimpses of the world outside the purlieus of the court become more numerous as the Story proceeds ; for it was only after the despatch of the third Mission, that the spreading of the Gospel amongst the people at large was seriously taken in hand. A considerable portion of du Jarric's account of this Mission is devoted to Glories of conversions, baptismal ceremonies, religious festivals, and other circumstances illustrating the work of evangelization, the progress made, and the difficulties encountered. These Stories, though sometimes confused and rambling, and though the interest attaching to the incidents they describe is mainly religious, have a very real historical significance. As contemporary records, they are redolent of the atmosphere of the period. They familiarise us with the common sights and the little everyday occurrences which are seldom part of the Stock-in-trade of the professional historian, but which do more than anything else can do to bridge the gulf between the present and the paSt. Incidentally they bring us into touch with the administrative machinery of Akbar's kingdom, and introduce us to various types of State officials, such as Viceroys, Nawabs, Kotwals, Kazis, Eunuchs, etc., shedding many interesting sidelights on the duties they performed, and on the manner in which the law of the land was administered. At the same time they illustrate, better than any other part of the Hittoirey the daily life and surroundings of the humbler classes of the people.
It is, therefore, as a guide to the spirit rather than to the events of the time, to the characters of men rather than to their adtions, that du Jarric's account of the Missions to Akbar merits a high place amongSt our authorities for the history of India. These were matters on which the Jesuit Fathers, both on account of their training and of their opportunities, were eminently qualified to enlighten us, and on which they wrote with knowledge gained from personal observation and experience. The scarcity of contemporary accounts of India in the days of Akbar lends additional importance to their letters, which not only give us information unobtainable from other sources, but contain the earliest impressions of the Mogul empire ever recorded by European writers; for the Fathers were the firSt, and with the exception of the English traveller Ralph Fitch, the only Europeans who visited Northern India in the sixteenth century. The letters likewise contain a considerable amount of miscellaneous information about current events. But, as already pointed out, the attitude of the Fathers towards the general affairs of the empire was one of indifference; and
On this account, and for the reasons previously given, the HiSloire^ in so far as it relates to the action of the political drama of the period, needs to be read and used critically, and with caution.
The termination of the third Mission to the court of Akbar marked the close of the firSt and mo?t interesting phase of the Jesuit campaign in Northern India. Whilst the Missions were in progress, the political element, which entered so largely into the later phases of the movement, though present, was in abeyance; and the Fathers who had charge of the Missions devoted themselves, as I have said above, almost exclusively to the work of evangelization. It may be presumed that, from the outset, they were expected to do anything they could to further the interests of their country at the Mogul court, and to pass on to Goa any information likely to be of use to the Portuguese authorities; but we have only to read the letters they wrote during this period to realise how completely their religious duties outweighed these and all other considerations.
The Portuguese authorities, whether at Goa or Lisbon, were by no means lacking in missionary zeal. Though fully alive to the political advantages which might accrue from the conversion of Akbar, they welcomed his appeal for inStruftion in the doctrines of Christianity as much for the religious as for the political opportunities which it offered; and had Akbar's conversion been a matter of no political concern whatever to them, we need not doubt that the Missions would ftill have been despatched. It has been maintained that the Portuguese had, from the fir&, no belief in the conversion of Akbar, and that the objeft of the Missions was entirely political. I think du Jarric's narrative will convince the reader that neither of these views is tenable. There was both a religious and a political motive behind the Missions; and the exigence of the latter in no way implies the insincerity of the former. As Mr. W. H. Moreland has rightly pointed out, it is this combination of religious and political motives which * is the key to the aftivities of the Portuguese during the sixteenth century, and much of their condudl which is inexplicable from the traders' point of view finds an excuse, though not always a justification in the missionary zeal by which the rulers of the country were distinguished * (India at the Death of Akbar^ p, 200),
Akbar's attitude towards the Missions closely resembled that of the Portuguese authorities. Like them, he was influenced by both religious and political motives, and the former were quite as Strong and real in his case as in theirs. In his case, too, it may confidently be said, that if all political inducement had been lacking, he would ftill have invited the Fathers to his court. The Missions, however, did offer him political advantages, and he naturally welcomed them none the less on that account. Chief amongst these were the opportunities, or excuses, which they afforded him of sending letters and farmans to Goa, the bearers of which were able to bring him much useful intelligence regarding the ftate of affairs in the Portuguese settlements, towards which he had long been cabling covetous eyes.
It cannot be said that Akbar's motives did him great credit, in as much as they were direftly hoftile to those whose friendship he was cultivating; but their baseness was appreciably discounted by the faft that he took little or no pains to conceal them. Looked at from his own point of view, his hostile attitude was neither unnatural nor unprovoked. As a race he held a high opinion of the Portuguese: he was Wrongly attrafted by their religion; he admired their civilization ; and he took delight in the society of their learned doftors. At the same time, he regarded them as intruders. Their domination of the Indian seas was a constant offence to him, and was rendered the more intolerable by the humiliating control which it enabled them to exercise over his maritime ventures. More than all, he resented their settlements on the outskirts of his territories, which effectually barred his access to the We?l CoaSl ports. In short, the Portuguese were a very troublesome thorn in Akbar's side, and one of the dearest wishes of his heart was to turn them neck and crop out of India.
The open participation of the Jesuit missionaries in political concerns commenced with the efforts made by the Fathers Xavier and Pinheiro to frustrate the plans of the English merchant-adventurer, Mildenhall, who visited Akbar's court in 1603, with the objeft of obtaining trading facilities for himself and his countrymen. In the reign of Jahangir, their employment in affair! of a kindred nature became a matter of course.
For this, the Portuguese authorities at Goa were mainly responsible. The aim of Portugal's Eastern policy at this period was not the acquisition of new territories, but the extension of her commerce; and the chief item in her programme was the capture, or, failing that, the control, of India's trade with Europe. It was a policy of greed; and its success depended on the ability of the Viceroys at Goa to win and retain the good-will of the Great Mogul, and to prevent its extension to other European countries. For the purpose of influencing the mind of the Emperor the Fathers were in a position of peculiar advantage; and hence it was largely on them that the task of securing these essential conditions devolved.
The use thus made of the Fathers, while it did little to retard the decay of Portuguese commerce, was wholly detrimental to the cause of the Gospel. Whatever progress that cause had hitherto made was the direft outcome of the purity of life, the singleness of purpose, and the fearless devotion exhibited by the pioneers of the missionary campaign. Such qualities have always commanded admiration in India; and it was their possession in a pre-eminent degree by Monserrate and Rudolf Aquaviva that enabled those Fathers to win the heart of Akbar, and the respeft of his subjefts, whether Moslim or Hindu. But a continuous supply of men of this ?tamp was not to be looked for; and the Fathers who followed them, though equally zealous for the spread of the faith, were not endowed with the same saintliness of character; while the work they were called upon to do in the political arena, and, it may be added, in a very unsavoury corner of that arena, was not conducive to the display of the nobler Chri&ian virtues. The Tories of Jesuit intrigues told by Mildenhall, Hawkins, Finch, and other travellers who found their way to the court of the Great Mogul, are probably overdrawn; but when all due allowance has been made for the bias of the writers, they leave little room for doubt that, in their endeavours to outwit these intruders, the Fathers had frequent recourse to measures which sorted ill with their religious calling, and which muft have done much to discredit the Chriftian faith in the eyes of the people. From the time the Fathers openly assumed the role of political agents, their religious influence began Readily to wane. In the reign of Shah Jahan its decline was rapid; and before the end of the reign of Aurangzeb it had ceased to exift.
Akbar and Jesuits
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->