Vol. VI, No. 8.] The Marsden MSS. in the British Museum. 453 



[N.S.] 



the Mogul Court. It recites the favour with which the Fathers 

 had been treated by His Majesty's predecessors. Both the 

 above documents are very clearly written in Nastaliq. 



The third document, the oldest of the three, is in Shikasta 

 and harder to read. It refers to a young man's having been 

 wounded by a musket-shot and speaks of the English ships. It is 

 a petition for redress. At the foot is an impression of a private 

 seal with the words Bddshdh Shah Jaltdn on it. The name of the 

 owner of the seal is illegible ; but, apparently, the seal was made 

 in the first year of Shah Jahan's reign, 1628. 



The Marsden MSS. contain exclusively accounts of the 

 Missions. There is a petition of Joam Leytam, 1 dated 16 July, 

 1684; another from Father Corsi," 2 dated: Agra, 25 October, 

 1619 ; another from Father Santucci. 3 



The long report by Father Botelho 4 appears botli in Latin 

 and Portuguese. It is quoted by Mr. Maclagan (J.A.S.B.. 

 J 896) at pp. 93 and 107. In the latter place, a conversation 

 between Father Botelho and 'Adil Shah of Bijapur is reported, 

 but, the reference should be to Add. MSS. 9855, not 9853. The 

 Portuguese, I believe, is the original; the Latin, a translation 

 and abridgment. The Portuguese is almost double the size of 

 the Latin. 



I could not find the exact date of Father Botelho's letter; 

 but, it must have been written after Aurangzeb's accession, 

 and so after 1658. At the end of the report he speaks of Father 

 Sebastian de Almeyda being just about to arrive at Goa. 5 



* One Father John Leitam, S.J., a Portuguese, sailed from Lisbon 

 to the East in 1670. Cf. A. Franco, S.J., Synopsis Annal. S.J. in Lusi- 

 tania (1540—1725), Augusts- VindeL, 1726, Appendix. Our catalogues 

 of 1678 (Dec.) and 1681 (Dec.) place him in the Mogul Mission. The 

 next catalogue belongs to 1694. 



2 Francis Corsi came to India in 1 ">99. da Camara Manoel gives his 

 name as: *' P Francisco Corse, I talus Theologies. 91 Cf. Miss&es <lo* 

 fesuitas no Oriente, Lisboa, 1894, p. 154. He must be the " /'. Fran- 



ciscus Locce, Sard." of A. Franco, as only one of the party was called 

 Francis. Corsi is often referred to as a Florentine and appears for the 

 first time in the Mogul Mission-field in 1600. He died at Agra, Aug. 1, 

 1635. Cf. Maclagan, op. cit. y passim, and for his epitaph, Transactions 

 of the Archeeol. Soc. of Agra (Jan. to Jun 1876), Agra, 1876, p. x. 



3 Father Mark Anthony Santucci, S.J., died at Agra, Aug. 1, 1689. 

 Franco mentions one "Marcus Antonius, Italus," who came to India 

 in 1668. The two names may safely be identified. The catalogues of 

 1674 and 1681 (Dec.) place him in Mogor, that of 1678 (Dec ) stations 

 him at Patna. 



* His name is not in Franco's list. Father Anthony Botelho came 

 from Goa to Surat at the end of 1647 on his way to Agra, where he was 

 to act as Visitor and Rector of the College. Father Alex, de Rhodes, 

 S.J., describes him as a man of great merit and influence. Cf. Voyages 

 et Missions du P. Alex, de Rhodes, Lille, Descl^e, 1884, pp. 282-3. The 

 Catalogues of the " Mogor 1 ' Mission mention Anthony Botelho ( mor) 

 as Visitor (l*i!8, 1649). The next catalogue is of 1653. 



* Father Sebastian de Almeida left Lisbon, a first time, in I66ftj 

 rt second time in 1668, having been sent to Lisbon as Procurator. H, 



