Forbes, James, 1749–1819, James Forbes letter, Cambay, 1775 March 20, copied between 1794 and 1800
- Call Number:
- Folio A 2023 69
- Holdings:
- Accessible by appointment in the Study Room [Request]
- Creator:
- Forbes, James, 1749–1819
- Title(s):
- James Forbes letter, Cambay, 1775 March 20
- Date:
- copied between 1794 and 1800
- Classification:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Series:
- Series I: A voyage from England to Bombay with descriptions in Asia, Africa, and South America
- Part of Collection:
- volume 7, page 71-77
- Provenance:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
- Conditions Governing Access:
- The materials are open for research.
- Conditions Governing Use:
- The collection is the physical property of the Yale Center for British Art. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts.
- Scope and Content:
- Forbes continues his narration of the company’s campaign on behalf of Ragobah (Raghunathrao), what would later be called the First Anglo-Maratha War, at Cambay (now Khambhat). Forbes describes his initial encounter with Ragobah and his forces: “I pitied their distress, and at the same time condemned the custom of the eastern princes in exposing the tender sex to the toils and dangers of war.” He relates the exchange of gifts between Ragobah and company officials, before changing topics abruptly. He reminds the reader of a group of religious mendicants (“or rather free-booters”) mentioned in previous letters: now, he notes their allegiance to their leader, and that “they are sometimes hired by the Rajahs, as auxiliaries, being a stout hardy race, very brave and desparate.” They do not burn their dead, but bury them in a standing posture, a custom Forbes labels superstition, and compares to the abandonment of the dying by the Ganges in Bengal. Forbes then returns to the journey at hand, and the perils of the voyage from Cambay to Surat. He compares the English fleet to that of Alexander, some of which was “overset by the violent rushing in of the flood.” The English, however, reach their destination without issue, though Forbes does remark on the strange fish left in the mud when the tides recede. The morning after reaching their destination, Forbes and other officers set off to meet the nawab of Surat. He recounts the exchange of gifts between the nawab and Ragobah, and provides a brief analysis of the custom of exchange. It is, he claims, a custom that stretches into antiquity, one central to Indian customs and habits. He quotes several sources to support this claim, including the Old Testament and Alexander Pope’s translation of the Odyssey. Gift exchange was indeed a contentious topic in early colonial India: while company officials claimed that they merely participated in these customs as a part of normal business transactions, critics claimed that these explanations masked a culture of bribery and corruption that epitomized the vice of imperial commerce. Ragobah’s response to these exchanges is reserved: “a distant coolness plainly indicated he had not forgot his [the nawab’s] conduct towards him after his late defeat.” Forbes, however, seems to enjoy himself, commenting that “some of the pilaus and curries were extremely delicious.” Forbes closes the letter with a return to military detail. He mentions that little of Ragobah’s army can be found at Surat, and gives numbers for the enemy forces. He likewise gives an update on the English detachment, though explains that they now wait “until we can obtain more certain intelligence of our allies.” Portions of this text appear in <title>Oriental Memoirs</title>, volume 2, chapter 16. Bibliography: Dirks, Nicholas. <title>The Scandal of Empire: India and the Creation of Imperial Britain</title>. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008.
- Physical Description:
- 7 pages
- Genre:
- Correspondence , Botanical illustrations, Ornithological illustrations, Travel sketches, Maps, Watercolors (paintings), Drawings (visual works), Engravings (prints), and Portraits
- Subject Terms:
- Forbes, James, 1749-1819. Descriptive letters and drawingsForbes, James, 1749-1819. Oriental memoirs
- Associated Places:
- EnglandItalyScotlandWales
- Associated People/Groups:
- East India CompanyForbes, James, 1749-1819
- Finding Aid Title:
- James Forbes archive
- Collection PDF:
- https://ead-pdfs.library.yale.edu/11734.pdf
- Archival Object:
- https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/3199696
- Metadata Cloud URL:
- https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/archival_objects/3199696?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1