BASSEIN.

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, 1 February 1905, Page 342

BASSEIN.

By "WIHORA."

Photos. l>y W. B. Maunder, Bombay,

0 visitor to Bombay should fail to see Bassein, once called the Corte do Norte, or Chief City of the North, and to-day a witness to the ruined power of Imperial Spain and Portugal. Deserted cities and broken temples are not uncom-

' N mon in India, but the spectacle of Christian edifices, cathedrals, churches, colleges, and great mansions standing in utter ruin is indeed a rare sight. Jn something like an hour, the train from Bombay lands you at Bassein station on the 8.8. and C.I. Railway, from whence a good road of four miles terminates in the old fortress and cathedral city. It is impossible to plan a more convenient excursion. Trains run at frequent intervals, and at either end crowds of conveyances and importunate coolies solicit engagement. Should a whole day afford insufficient time to explore the ruins, any number of subsequent trips may be taken with a minimum of fatigue and expense. The history of Spain and Portugal is interesting to every one. The imagination is fired by the names of Colombus, Cortez, Vasco da Gamma, the Armada, Mexico, and the Inquisition. Tn this city we have the last resting place of Dons, Fidalgos and grandees without number, whilst it was closely connected for two hundred years with some of the proudest and most illustrious names of European history.

What reader of Kingsley can walk these deserted streets and ruined squares without calling to mind Oxenham, Granville, Hawkins, Drake, and many another hero of early days ? It is easy to picture some Devonshire sea-king standing here and calling on us to witness the hand of the Lord. For what purpose were hard blows struck ? to what end were curses shouted ? and where flow the torrents of blood shed in those days ? What requital greater than this consummation of desolation could the bitterest enemy look for ? The glory has departed, but the glamour still lingers. When the morning sun lights up the great red towers and battled gateways that rise above the green distant sea, one feels that the old city is still at the zenith of her pristine greatness. The horses neiofh, the captains shout, and the battle rages afar over land and sea. Count Arnaldos sings that wonderful song ; large galleons, laden with rich merchandise, ride at anchor in the harbour, or lie moored at the busy wharves ; Spanish sailors with bearded lips sing at their work ; fair ladies of old Madrid, Saville and Granada still people the mansions ; while dark, stately priests pass 'by convent and monastery. Those 'bloodstained years have gone with all their long tale of greed and intolerance. Only the ruined shell remains with a purpose that no one can mistake. The fortress is an irregular decagon in shape, and at each of the

ten corners is a four-sided bastion. The walls are one and a half-miles in circumference ; they rise from thirty to thirty-five feet in height, beinir in some places forty-five feet wide. There are three entrances, the Porto do Mar or Sea Gate, the Porter do Campo or Land Gate, and a postern behind the ruins of the Franciscan church by the bastion of San Sebastian. These gates are all in fair order considering the ar-

saults delivered against them, and are interesting,- examples of Portuguese and Hindu fortifications. The doors are cased in iron and armed with immense iron spikes to prevent an attack with elephants. There is ample evidence of sieges in the shape of large rents torn by mines and artillery fire. Huge stone cannonballs and other ammunition, rusty cannons and mortars lie about in all directions.

Within the space described, there stand the ruins of the Matriz, or cathedral, five convents, thirteen churches, the misericordia, an orphanage, a hospital and two colleges, one belonging to the Franciscans and the other to the Jesuits. Of the life, trade, grandeur and prosperity of this city, what can be said ? It was famous for shipbuilding-, timber, quarries, rice, and the richest tract of country in all

India. It was the residence of wealthy nobles, w'.ile the courts of the General and Captain of the North added greatly to the attractions. No natives were allowed to live within the walls. The city was described by one writer as a handsome town with wide, straight streets, large squares, stately mansions graced with balconies and large windows, and many rich and magnificent churches. To this may

be added artificial streams and lakes, ornamented by terraces and balustrades such as are depicted in theatrical drop-scenes, shrubs, fruit trees and tropical rlants from many countries. The evidences of these are still to be seen ; the lakelets are ruined, but the plants- flower in wildest luxuriance, rarest and loveliest creepers festoon steeple and forest tree, draping the ruins in wonderful tropical verdure. Bassein was first fortified in 1532

by Malik Tokan, the Governor of .Din, when the garrison consisted of 15,000 troops. It was captured by the Portuguese in 1533, the fortifications were demolished and 400 pieces of captured artillery taken to Goa among the spoils. The foundations of the present Fort were laid about 1536, by Nuno Da Cunha, the Portuguese Viceroy. it was completed towards the close of the century, the armament consisting of ninety pieces of artillery,

seventy mortars, with twenty-one gunboats each carrying from sixteen to eighteen guns. The fortunes of Bassein would appear to have declined from 1618, when it was afflicted by a terrible disease from which few escaped, then came a fearful storm and earthquake. One old record says, "An earthquake destroyed many houses. The sea was brought into

the city by the wind ; the waves roared fearfully : the tops of the churches were blown off, and immense stones were driven to vast distances ; two thousand persons were killed, the fisli died in the ponds, and most of the churches were utterly destroyed." There followed a famine of unparalleled severity. In 1674 Arab pirates plundered the country, carrying rapine and cruelty in every

direction. The Governor and upper classes were reported to have been dishonest and immoral, while the downfall was hastened by the interference and persecutions of the church. In 1690 the plague appeared, and continued for several years, raging over a great part of the country. The Maharattas turned their attention to Bassein in 1738. They

seized the adjacent forts of Amala, Varsova and Dharavi, and laid siege to Bassein on February 17th, 1739 ; the capitulation followed on May 16th. " The terms were honourable." says the record, " the garrison were allowed to march out with the honours of war, and to such of the people who wished to leave, eight days were given to gather their property. The loss of the Portuguese

was about 800, that of the Maharattas about 12,600. Thus Bassein fell as falls a stately tree, never to rise. No fight had been more glorious to the Portuguese, in none since the days of Albuquerque had they earned more unsullied fame." Great accounts of this siege have been written by Portuguese writers. The immense host of Maharattas under ('himnaji Appa is typified by the threat that they could fill the moat with their slippers. The skill

and perseverance of the M.aharattas is made the most of in order that the indomitable courage of the Portuguese might shew the greater. There are thrilling descriptions of how mine after mine was sprung in face of a terrible cross-fire, how the walls were breached under San Sebastian's tower, and the Maharat"tas gained a position from which it was impossible to dislodge them. The sea was blockaded by Angria's fleet. The British at Bombay,

annoyed by years of hostility and treachery, would give no help. The flower of his officers and men dead or disabled, the Commander, Sylveira Be Menezes, had no choice but capitulation. Bassein, under the Maharattas, received the name of Bajipur, or the city of Baji liow. The fortress fell to the British under Goddard on December 10th, 1780. It was restored to the Maharattas in 1753, but passed aij'ain to the British in

1817, under terms of the Poona treaty. A detailed description of the ruins would be of little use to the ordinary visitor, but those greatly interested in such matters will find the fullest information in Da Cunha's History of Bassein. A guide to pilot one round can always be found, and there should be no difficulty in ascertaining the names and location of the various buildings. ' Towards the centre of the forties

stands the ruins of the citadel, which must have been a circular building. Some of the churches are in good order though roofless, and could be restored at comparatively little expense. In many cases, however, only a tower remains standing, the body of the building- being a shapeless mass of stones, dangerous from the snakes they harbour. Broken pillars, porches and colonnades stand in all directions, while cornices, beautiful shafts, Corinthian capitals and sculntured lin-

tels lie prone in heaps or half hidden by climbing plants that strive to throw a cloak over the ruin. Some of the old streets may be traced without difficulty, and in many places they lead between great walls standing alone in silent majesty awaiting the doom which must surely overtake them. The Matriz, or Cathedral of St. Joseph, is said to stand on the site of certain mosques which were demolished and furnished material for the building. The Church of Rome

followed the example of the Mahomedans in this matter, and beautiful carved stones from Jain and Hindu temples are often to be found built into the churches. The tree-covered walls with towered front, arched doorway and lancet windows furnish a series of wonderful pictures. The following inscription stands over the entrance : " NO ANNO Ue 1(501, SENDO ARCEBTSPO PRIMAZ 0 ILLmo SR DOM FREI" ALEIXO De MENEZES, E VTCARO 0 IJE1 J E PEDRO GALVAO

PEREJRA, Se ReFORMOU ESTA MATRIZ." "In the year 100 1, when the most illustrious Sr, Dom Frei Aleixo de Menezes was Archbishop Primate, and the Key. Pedro Galvao Pereira was Vicar, this Cathedral was rebuilt." There are some tombs within the building 1 , one of which bears the words, " Petri Galvani, 19 March, 1618," and another, " Antonio de Almeida de Sampaio c Su." According to Da Cunha, tlie

churcli of St. Joseph was built in 1546 by the Viceroy, Dom Joao de Castro, under orders of Dom Joao HI., of Portugal. The Market Place, or Great Square, stands facing the sea, surrounded 'by ruins of fine buildings, one of which was the " State House/ A doorway leads to the acropolis, and above it stands a Maltese cross, coat-of-arms, a sphere and date 1606. Hard by are the ruins of a bastion with an inscription which, being- translated, runs : " The lirst captain who built this fortress was Garcia De Sa, by command of the Governor, Nuno Da Cunha, in the year 1536." Close to this are the ruins of the palaces of the General of the North and of the Captain of Bassein. Another ruin, of which the portico with three arches is still standing, inscribed with the Royal Arms of Portugal, contains two stones having inscriptions translated as follows : (1) "This portal was built during the Government of the Viceroy Dom Miguel de Noronha, Count of Linhares, and on it St. Francis Xavier was placed as patron of the city the 10th May, WM ." (2) " When Caspar de Mello de Miranda was Cantain of the city, and Goncalo Coelho da Silva, Pero Ferreira, and Joao Boto Machado and other officers were aldermen, this portal, which took St. Xavior as its patron, was built in the year Past the ruins of a huso g-ranarv, and close to the palace of the General of the North, stand the Church and Hospital of Pity. The hospital is a lone, heavy building- of massive proportions, having- a large quadrangular courtyard with beautifully cloistered arcade. Delicatelycarved pillars set off a handsome front, above which appears a stone escutcheon, having- a cross supported by dragons. Other well-known ruins are the Church of Nossa Senhora Da Vida, the Church and Monastery of the

Hospitallers, the Franciscan Church, of Santo Antonio, the Dominican Church of San Goncalo, and the Augustine Chapel of Nossa Senhora De Annunciada. There is no record of the names and sites of many that have perished, but the imagination can nil in grand sounding names, such as " Our Blessed Lady of Mercy," " Our Blessed Lady of Remedies,' " Our Blessed Lady, the Mother of God," " St. Michael, the Archangel/" and " St. Thomas, the Apostle." The church and monastery of the Jesuits perhaps call for more admiration than any other building. Handsome columns, fluted shafts and Corinthian capitals, with a noble arch and sculptured lintel attract attention. The ruins of the adjoining college are almost buried in wall- trees and creepers, which add ornament to the pile. .Fryer described the college as having live square cloisters with cells on two sides, a spacious refactory and fine library. The hospitality of these monasteries was famous, and they made public-houses unnecessary. Pietro della Yalle and other seventeenth century writers mention this as the finest building- in Bassein ; reference is made to a profusion of rich gilt work and a copy of Michael Angelo's celebrated picture of the " Resurrection." The inscriptions in old Portuguese and Latin on the grave-stones that pave some of the churches, indicate an early date, and are sure to interest the visitor with antiquarian tendencies. The foundations of these Jesuit buildings were laid in 1548, by Fr. Malchior Gonsalves, an intimate associate of St. Francis Xavier. A commissary of the Inquisition was established here in 1560, and 9400 Hindus were baptised in this church in the year 1588. The name of the Inquisition sounds sinister in connection with the large number of conversions accomplished during a single season's operations. Under Philip TL, of Spain (1556

Vol. XI.— No. 5.-33.

to 1598) the greatest ill-feeling was shewn towards unconverted natives and the laws against them were most strict. No heathen might be employed, and to none might any friendship or kindness be shewn. No infidel might serve in public offices, and all were forced every Sunday to attend a lecture by a priest, or pay a fine if they stayed away. This puts the case very mildly in-

deed, but it is only right to remember that many Protestants, if allowed, would employ the same means at the present day. The heathen had their innings under the Maharattas. Madhaw Kao, the Peishwa, squared matters *by offering grants of rent-free lands to such Hindus as cared to accept them, and a tax was levied to support priests who were brought to re-initiate the perverted. It is

worthy of remark that in the midst of the Christian ruins there now. flourish no less than three Hindu temples, and one of them receives a yearly grant from Government. The Monastery of San Antonio accommodated St. Francis Xavier during- his three visits to Bassein, in 1544-48, and the Church is interesting from having been the headquarters of the Rev. Father Antonio

de Porto, a gentleman who in 1534 transformed the Buddhist cave temple, at Khenery, into a Catholic Church of St. Michael. This priest discovered a labyrinthine passage in the Khenery Hill, which he failed to explore during an expedition of seven days. It is a matter of sad regret that more detailed accounts of that seven days' exploration were not left for the guidance of posterity. There is no sign of the passage

now, and all we know of it is mere conjecture. One of the most interesting inscriptions in the fortress refers to the bastion of San Sebastian, and is translated as follows : "During the reign of the most high and mighty King Dom Joam of Portugal, the third of this name, and when I). Alfonso De Noronha, son of Marquis of Villa Eeal, was Viceroy, and Prancisca De Sa, Captain of the Fort and City of Bacai, this bastion named San Sebastian, was built on the 22nd February, J. 004. Bishop Heber described the ruins as striking, from their lofty proportions, but being of mean and paltry

architecture. It is difficult to agree with the latter part of this opinion, which is so entirely opposed to all that the old writers have left on record. The Thanna Creek joins the ocean at Bassein, and along its whole course are towered castles, fortified mountain peaks, ruined palaces and the most enchanting scenery in India. Apart from the interest attaching to the Portguese ruins, is the fact that Bassein centres on a district of the greatest antiquity, where history extends far into the shadowy past, commencing' with the Birth of Time. The island on which the fortress

stands was known to the ancients as the Island of Sopara, and six miles to the north lies the city of that name, which from 1500 B.C. to 1300 A.D. was the capital of the Konkan. Eminent writers, Benfey, Reland, Remand and Yule support the opinion that Sopara is Solomon's ophir. The Mahabharat mentions it as Shurparaka where the Pandar Brothers rested on that lono' journey to Kathiawar. Here, according to Buddhist writers, Buddha in a former birth was Budhisattva ; here, Shripal, the Jain Kiny' married Tilakasundari, daughter of King- Maha Sen, and here o-reat Rishabha Nath preached his incomparable religion of charity.

Southwards rise the Khenery Hills forgotten Veharas ; below them lie the stones of many an unknown city. There, in some undiscovered labyrinth amongst priceless treasure, lie the fragments of Gautama's bowl awaiting 1 the coming- of Maitreya Budhisattva, the Merciful and Unconquered. One day he will come again to save the world, so people say, and the time cannot be far distant, for in India there are no longer followers of Siddharta, He who was the princely flower of all his land.

Note. — The writer visited this historic scene with a party of New Zealanders on Ist January, 1904.