34 
H. Beveridge —Father Jerome Xavier. 
[No. 1, 
went from Goa in January 1580 under tlie leadership of Ridolfo Aqua- 
viva, an Italian, and a nephew of Claude Aquaviva, the head of the Jesuit 
order. Ridolfo Aquaviva is the Padre Radif of Abu-l-Fazl. He seems 
to have been a noble-minded mau, and when he departed from Agra in 
1532, he would take no gift from the emperor except that of the liberty 
of a Christian slave. He died a martyr’s death in July 1583, having 
been slain at Salsette in a fanatical rising of the Hindus. In 1582 
Akbar wrote to the Jesuits at Goa, styling them Danayan Farang, or ‘the 
wise men of the Franks,’ and asked them to send him translations of the 
Pentateuch, the Psalms, and the Gospels, and also some one who could 
explain the mysteries of religion. It was probably in consequence of this 
letter* that another mission was sent in 1591. The members of it did 
not stay long, and came away without effecting anything. Akbar was 
displeased at their withdrawal, and so a third and last mission was sent 
under Xavier. He had two companions, Benedict of Goes, a town in Beira- 
Baxia Portugal, and Emmanuel Pignero. They joined the emperor at 
Lahor, in May 1595, and stayed with him for several years. Two of them, 
Xavier and Benedict, accompanied the Emperor and his son, Prince Salim, 
to Kashmir. On returning Xavier went on with the emperor to Agra, 
while the other two missionaries appear to have remained behind at 
Lahor. It was at Agra that Xavier composed his life of Christ. In his 
preface he tells us that he drew it up at the request of the emperor, who 
was desirous of having an account of the acts of Jesus Christ. Xavier 
thought that as he had been forty years engaged in religious work, and 
had spent seven or eight in learning Persian, he might be able to comply 
with the emperor’s wishes. He finished it, he says, on the 15th Urdi- 
at p. 577 of the same volume. I cannot make out who he was, but possibly 
the name is a corruption of Fra Emmanuel (Pignero). In that case he must have 
gone twice to Akbar’s Court, for the visit recorded by Abu-l-Fazl was in 1589. At 
p. 669 of vol. Ill of the Akbarnkma, mention is made of the arrival of a large caravan 
from Goa on 19th Urdibihist 1003 (28th April 1595), and it is stated that there were 
several Christian priests along with it. No doubt this refers to Xavier’s Mission. 
At p. 243, vol. Ill, l. c., there is a curious reference to the arrival at Court of a 
European and his wife, named respectively Partab Tar or Bar, and Nasurna or Na- 
surta. Partab, we are told, was a leading merchant in Bengal, and there is a further 
reference to him at p. 320, where it is said that one of the Bengal rebels, Mirza Najat 
Khan, went to Salimabad and took refuge with Partab Bar. Elliot, VI, 59 says that 
the names of Partab and his wife (he gives the name of the latter as Basurba) are 
very doubtful. I would suggest that Partab Tar is perhaps a mistake for Tavarez, 
who is described by Manrique as a Portuguese captain who went from Hooghly on 
a mission to Akbar and was kindly received by him at Agra {Murray's Discoveries 
in Asia, II, 90.) 
* Published and translated by Mr. Rehatsek in the Indian Antiquary for April 
1887. 
