Book III. Trav els inl N DIA . " ~^Z 



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CHAP. XVIT. 



Of the Kingdom of Afcm. 



TT was never known what the Kingdom of Afim was, till MMmU had 

 X fetl'd Aureng-zeb in the Empire. For he eonhdering that he fhould be no 

 longer valu'd at Court, after the war was at an end, being then General of A* 

 reng-z-eFs Army, and powerful in the Kingdom, where he had great ftore of 

 Creatures, to preferve the Authority he had, refblv'd to undertake the Con 

 queft of the Kingdom of A fern j where he knew he fhould find little or no re- 

 finance, that Kingdom having been at peace above joo years before. 'Tis 

 thought thefe were the people that formerly invented Guns and Powder j' which 

 fpead it felf from Afem to Pegu, and from Pegu to Cbinajrom whence the invention 

 has been attributed to the Chinefes. However certain it is, that MirgimoU 

 brought from thence feveral pieces of Canon, which weFe all Iron Guns and 

 ftore of excellent Powder, both made in that Countrey. The Powder is round 

 and (mall, like ours and very ftrong. 



Mtrgimola embark'd his Army in one of the mouths of Ganges, and failing 

 up one of the Rivers that comes from the Lake Chiamay, to the twenty-ninth 

 or thirtieth Degree, he landed his Army, and came into a Country abounding 

 in all humane neceflaries, Itill finding the lefs refinance becaufe the people were 

 furpriz'd. Being a Mabumetan, he fpar'd not the very Pagods, but burn'd and 

 fack'd all where- ever he came to the thirty-fifth Degree. There he, under- 

 ftood that the King of Afim was in the field with a more powerful Army 

 than he expe&ed, and that he had feveral pieces of Canon, and great ftore of 

 fire-works withal!. Thereupon MirgimoU thought it not convenient to march 

 any farther ; though the chief reafon of his return was the drawing on of 

 Winter ; which the Indians are Co fenfible of, that it is impoffible to make 

 them ftir beyond the thirti'th or thirty-fifth Degree, efpecially to hazard their 

 lives. 



MirgimoU therefore turns to the South-weft, and befieges a City call'd Az,oo, 

 which he took in a fmall time, and found good plunder therein. In this City of 

 Az,oo, are the Tombs of the Kings of Afem, and of all the Royal Family. For 

 though they are Idolaters, they never burn their dead bodies, but bury them. 

 They believe that the dead go into another' world, where they that have Jiv'4 

 well in this, have plenty of all things j but that they who have been ill livers, 

 fuffer the want of all things, being in a more efpecial manner afflicted with 

 hunger and drowth ; and that therefore it is good to bury fomething with them 

 to ferve them in their neceffities. This was the reafon that MirgimoU found 

 fo much wealth in the City of AzJto< For many ages together, feveral Kings 

 had built them Chappels in the great Pagod to be buried in, and in their life 

 times had ftor'd up in the Vaults of their particular Chappels, great fums of 

 Gold and Silver, and other moveables of value. Befides, that when they bury 

 thedeceas'd King, they bury with him likewife whatever he efteem'd moft 

 pretious in his fife-time, whether it were an Idol of Gold or Silver, or whafr 

 ever elfe, that being needful in this, might be neceffary for him in the worldt 

 to come. But that which favours moft of Barbarifm is, that when he dies, 

 all his beft beloved Wives, and the principal Officers of his Houfe poyfon thenv 

 felves, to be buri'd with him, and to wait upon him in the other world. Be- 

 fides this, they bury one Elephant, twelve Camels, fix Horfes, and a good num- 

 ber of Hounds, believing that all thofe Creatures rile again to ferve their 



King. 



The Kingdom of Afcm is one of the beft Countries.of all Afia, for it pro- 

 duces all things neceffary for humane fubfiftence, without any need of foreign 

 fupply. There are in it Mines of Gold, Silver, Steel, Lead, Iron, and great 

 ,ftore oF Silk, but courfe. There is a fort of Silk that is found under the 

 the Trees ' which is fpun by a Creature like to our Silk-worms, but rounder., 



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