Storia do Mogor : or, Mogul India, 1653-1708 / by Niccolao Manucci, Venetian ; tr., with introduction and notes, by William Irvine.

Storia do Mogor, or, Mogul India, 1653-1708 / by Niccolao Manucci, Venetian ; tr., with introduction and notes, by William Irvine.

  • Manucci, Niccolò, 1639-approximately 1717.
Date:
1907-08
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Storia do Mogor, or, Mogul India, 1653-1708 / by Niccolao Manucci, Venetian ; tr., with introduction and notes, by William Irvine. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ARMENIANS OF NEW ZULFAH the other they state to be that of his sons Assen (Hasan) and Ossen (Husain), who are revered as martyrs. Others declare they are tombs of the companions of Muhammad, although he had no Court or courtiers. Once during the night, when the king, Shah ‘Abbas, was lying asleep, he woke all of a sudden, having dreamt that he had seen a vision. Calling to the captain of his guard, he gave him an order to open at once the door of the dome and bot the tombs, and after looking with great care at what was m them, make a detailed report of his inspection. Ihe captain of the guard caused both the tombs to be opened, and found in them two dead Capuchin priests, with their clothes and their bodies equally intact. The captain stood m amazement, and ordered the tombs and the dome to be closed up as before. He reported at once to the king what he had seen. Listening attentively to the story, the king pronounced these words: ‘ None can know the secrets of God, unless He Himself. This event remained a secret, and the same veneration was continued as before. t r i - • At the distance of a league or a little less from Isfahan is an inhabited place called Julpha (Zulfah), where great numbers of Armenians live, all merchants, with their churches. These people dwelt long ago in ancient Zulfah, upon the banks of the river Aras, three days’ journey before you come to Tabriz. It was there that I saw an eclipse of the sun in the middle of the day [23], beholding the stars as in a dark night. They left that place with the permission of Shah ‘Abbas, coming with their families and all their belongings to found this new Zulfah on the farther bank of the river Zindah-rild, and there they dwell in complete liberty, having sufficient facilities m the way of houses, gardens full of fruit, and water with which to irrigate them. This water flows in canals through the middle ol the streets, which are adorned on both sides with great trees. 1 I am indebted to Dr. A. M. W. Downing, of the Nautical Almanac Office, for the information that a total eclipse of the sun occurred in 1654, August 12 (New Style). The central line crossed the east shore of the Black Sea at abou lat 4S°, and the west shore of the Caspian Sea at about lat. 40 • It would, therefore, have been visible as a considerable partial eclipse m the region indicated {i.c., Zulfah in Armenia).
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