DONA JULIANA DIAS DA COSTA
A CHRISTIAN LADY IN THE MOGUL1COURT DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

PROLOGUE

On the 10th of December 1711 a great happening took place at Sarai Khan Khanan, three kilometres from Lahore. A foreign nobleman with a big retinue of soldiers and attendants encamped there to the admiration of the villagers and of the peasants of the surroundings. On the following day, Sarai Khan Khanan was the scene of another strange event. Another gaudy party from the side of Lahore reached the place and went to pay their respects to the nobleman arrived one day earlier. They were Monsieur Martin, the French physician of the Mogul Emperor Shah Bahadur, (then in the neighbourhood of Lahore after his campaign against the Sikhs) and thirty Christians of various nationalities. The foreign nobleman, whom they had come to greet, was Johan Josua Ketelaar, the director of the Dutch East India Company at Surat, envoy of the same company to the Mogul Emperor, to obtain from him certain concessions for the Company.

Among the Christians who accompanied the French Doctor to Sarai Khan Khanan there was a servant who brought to the Dutch Ambassador a present of fruits, pears, apples, pomegranates, etc., which reminded him of his own country. These fruits were sent by a Portuguese lady named Dona Juliana Dias da Costa, who held a position of trust in the Emperor's harem and whose authority at the Court was extraordinary. On the fourteenth of the same month the Ambassador met Dona Juliana."2

§1. GEOGRAPHY AND ENCOUNTER

We are in the eighteenth century, at the north of the Hindustan Peninsula, in the region of rivers that intersect and a meeting place of many people. Since the sixteenth century the Portuguese flag had already circulated in the Indian, China and Japanese seas. The access to the Arabian Sea, flowing along the Gulf of Khambhal, the Bay of Bengal and all the south of the Indian subcontinent commercial shore up to the Gulf of Oman had been explored, with the ease that Afonso de Albuquerque inaugurated, by Portuguese navigation. From that resulted small establishments of various people of Portuguese roots: sailors, merchants, adventurers and religious, with the purposes common of that era; knowledge, proselytism, adventure and commerce, in accordance with the priority of their agents. The closeness of Goa - the 'Lisbon of the East' - served to all as a reference and tutelary protection, in case of need. The Viceroy of the Portuguese State of India enjoyed a high prestige and was known as the representative of the great Portuguese people, from Cochin to Bombay, from Surat to Jaipur, Agra, Delhi and Lahore. 3

Many people, especially the nomad newcomers from the Himalayas, Nepal and Tibet wanted to ally with the strong foreigners who had established themselves in Goa and in the seas that lead from there to around the world. The fame of Portugal was hallowed by the known pomp of the Portuguese State of India's Viceroy Court and by the imagination, fed by fantastic narratives in which the hero was unfailingly the brave Portuguese.

This, then, was the esteem with which the Portuguese were regarded as the first Europeans, in Tibet and Ganges Valley4 conforming to the request for help from the King Humayun (1538) of Bengal. From this movement resulted the establishment in Gola, the future factory of Hoogly, which was to become the passage and sojourn of Lusitanian people.

§1. FROM BABER TO AKBAR ECLECTIC THEISM AND TOLERANCE THE GREAT OPENING TO THE WEST

Once upon a time there was a certain Baber, a descendant of Tamerlane and who also had GenghisKhan as an ancestor and who, projecting from Russian Turkestan ahead of Turkish and Iranian soldiers, invaded the North of India and took Delhi.

This was in 1526 and opened the way to the encounter of the Portuguese with Humayun, son of Baber and father of Akbar, in 1538.

The strategic importance of the factory of Hoogly, where the Portuguese held priviliged positions, became so important that it eventually absorbed the trade that Satigão (or Satgão) [today a fishermen's village] had controlled for fifteen centuries.

In 1556, Akbar, the grandson of Baber and son of Humayun, took the power. He was master of Tibet and plains to the south. Refined and deeply religious by nature he wavered between Islamism and Christianism until his death. Akbar5 will indeed play an important part in our study.

This great Shah led a trajectory that we can call, like Fr. Benjamim Videira Pires, S. J., of "eclectic theism", and it is under his quite peculiar profession that Akbar became acquainted with the Jesuit Mission of Goa. It should be stressed that as a result of that acquaintance, in 1579, and in years following, various embassies were sent, successively becoming increasingly enthusiastically received by the monarchs of Mogul. 6

These embassies are documented through letters and narratives of the Jesuits. 7

In time, the relationship between the Society of Jesus and the Imperial Court became clear. As we know, the Jesuits did not loose an occasion to evangelise, even if only to satisfy the scientific and literary avidity of the interlocutors. It was precisely this that they had prepared themselves.

In the Mogul dynasty there were always princes, even after the time of Akbar, who had insatiable curiosity in both the religious and profane domains, who were willing to welcome missionaries. 8

§2. FROM AKBAR TO AURENGZBO A SHORT CHRONOLOGY

Akbar took Government in 1560 and reigned until 1605. He became powerful and famous when he extended the centre of Afghanistan up to Orissa and Sind, creating borders allowing him to be recognised the founder of the Mogul Empire. Because he unsuccessfully started coveting Daman and Bassein, which were under the jurisdiction of the Portuguese Crown, he became the first Mogul Shah with whom the Portuguese State of India had direct relationships, this territorial issued being concluded "with common satisfaction" by a treaty. From then on the friendly contacts between the Portuguese and the Mogul Court developed through the mutual assistance of armadas and armies, with the exchange of merchants and envoys, and specially with the works of the missionaries.

In 1578 Akbar requested two Jesuits from Goa to visit the Mogul Court with holy books to instruct him on Christ's teachings. 9

In a letter addressed to the Viceroy of the Portuguese State of India, Dom Luís de Athaíde, to the Primate Archbishop and to Rui Vicante, the Jesuits' Provincial Superior he expressed his religious feelings: "[...] you should know that I am a good friend of him [...]. I send there to Ebadoola, my Ambassador, and to Domingos Pires [Portuguese merchant already installed in the Mogul Court], asking for good literate priests and for them to bring along the fundamental law books and the Evangel, in order to know the law and its perfection, because I wish to have news of Jesus Christ's law […] and please know that I will receive the priests that will come with all possible honours […] and they should not be afraid of coming because I will put them under my protection." Frs. Rodolfo Acquaviva and Francisco Henriques, both from the Society of Jesus, were therefore dispatched to the Royal Court, the latter having knowledge of the Persian language.

As a result of the work of these priests, Akbar had great hope for the Christian faith, revering "[…] the cross and holy images, especially those of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother; likewise did many nobles of his Court."

During Akbar's reign the seat of the Mogul Court was transfered from Delhi to Agra - the venerable and magnificent Akbarhabad, in the region of Patan - in the nearby Fatehpur Sikri [today a destroyed City] a new city had been developed peppered with new palaces. It was in this city that the so eagerly desired heir to the throne. Prince Salim was conceived.

Since the focus of our study is understanding a sequence of events which took place during the Mogul dynasty of India - of which Akbar was the most brilliant Shah - there follows a genealogy of its emperors and a succint chronology of events […] to the year of the birth of the great Portuguese 'Ambassadress' in that Court, Dona Juliana Dias da Costa. 10

GENEALOGY OF THE MOGUL SHAHS [EMPERORS] OF INDIA:

· Baber (r. 1526-†1530)

· Humayun (r. 1530-†1556)

· Akbar (r. 1556-†1605)

· Jahan (r. 1605-†1658)

· Aurengzebo (r. 1658-†1707),

· Bahadur (r. 1707-†1712),

· Jahandar (r.1712-†1712)

· Farrukhsiyar (r. 1712-†1719)

· Mohammed (r. 1719-†748).

CHRONOLOGY OF THE MOGUL EMPIRE OF INDIA:

·1573 - First encounter of Akbar with the Portuguese.

·1579 - 17th of November: The first Mission, conducted by Fr. Rodolfo Acquaviva, S. J., left Goa headed to the Mogul Court.

·1580 - 27th or 28th of February: The Mission reached Fatehpur Sikri.

·1581 - 8th of February: Akbar started the expedition against Kabul, being accompanied by Fr. Monserrate, S. J.

·1583 -February: Fr. Rodolfo Acquaviva left Fatehpur Sikri.

-27th of July: Fr. Rodolfo Acquaviva was martyred near Goa.

·1590 - Akbar asked for another Mission.

·1591 - The new Mission arrived at Lahore and to return to the Portuguese State of India almost immediately.

·1594 - 3rd of December: The third Mission left Goa, under the direction of Fr. Jerónimo Xavier, S. J., arriving at Lahore on the 5th of May 1595.

·1597 - 15th of May to the 13th of November: Fr. Jerónimo Xavier, S. J. and Br. Bento de Góis went with Akbar, to Kashmir.

·1598- November/December: Fr. Jerónimo Xavier, S. J. went with Akbar, to Agra.

·1599 -July: Fr. Jerónimo Xavier, S. J. went with Akbar, to the Deccan.

·1600 - 5th of March: Death of Fr. Monserrate, S. J., near Goa.

·1601 - May: Fr. Jerónimo Xavier S. J. returned to Agra with Akbar.

·1602-Fr. Jerónimo Xavier S. J. finished the Vida de Cristo (Life of Christ) in Persian.

·1603 - 24th of February: Br. Bento de Góis left Lahore in search of Cathay. 11

·1605 - 17th of October: Death of Akbar. Jaanguir (Salim) (°1569-† 1627)? ◇Nur Jaan (†1646). Jahan◇Mumtaz Mahal (†1619) - in memory of whom the famous tomb of the Taj-Mahal, in Agra, was ordered by the Shah.

·1657 - Juliana Dias da Costa was born.

§4. DONA JULIANA DIAS DA COSTA(°1657-†1734)

In 1657 Shah Jahan reigned in Agra. Augustinho Dias da Costa, a Portuguese born in Cochin and taken captive of Hoogly to Agra in 1633 had a daughter to whom were given two gifts: a great beauty and an ability to understand and use medicine. Of the first gift we have a clear picture, drawn by Johan Joshua Kettler (or Ketelaar), Dutch Ambassador to the Mongol Court between 1712-1713. Visible besides the perfection of the features is the imposingness of a great lady of refined manners. 12

In what concerns the second gift, it is not known for sure if it evolved from her father or from the surgeon whom she married but quite probably, from an environment associated with the healing art, a kind of medical school of those days where it may have developed through her father's hand and having met her fiancé. But there is no doubt that it promoted her much above what would be expected from the daughter of an ex-captive, he himself meanwhile freed and respected in the Court. In fact, we find Augustinho Dias da Costa as personal physician of Prince Muassam Bahadur (14 years older than Juliana) and we know that he passed away with such statute, in Golconda, at the beginning of 1688. In what concerns the mother of Dona Juliana, she was a slave of a begum of Agra, becoming a free person following the death of her mistress. We believe she accompanied her daughter in her important mission in the Court, naturally by using the medical practice acquired, as assistant to her husband.

Dona Juliana Dias da Costa escaped from a secluded daily routine to leave us, on the contrary, a vigorous trail in the political and diplomatic sphere. She married in Goa13 or Delhi. We can suspect that this union, unusual for someone of her background, must have deserved the Jesuits' blessings. By 1727 she had seven grandchildren 'entre machos e fêmeas' ('among males and females'), a designation still used in the community of Lusitanian descendants of Malacca. She died aged seventy-eight years in1734. Her life spanned the reigns of the Shahs Jahan (°1592-1658), the inconsolable widower of the beautiful Mumtaz-Mahal; Aurengzebo (°1658-†1707); Bahadur (r.1707-†1712); Jahandar (r.1712-†1712); Farrukhsiyar (r.1712-†1719; and Mohammed (r.1719-†1748).

Apparently confirming the hypothesis that she had married in Goa under the Jesuits' auspices and blessings, remains the fact of Dona Juliana representing a Portuguese of rare human qualities, speaking the Persian language since childhood. Also Latin, even if only the essential to the medicine but possiblymore fluently, as she was obstinate and cultivated, capable of welcoming in the name of the Mogul sovereigns the embassies arriving from the West. 14 Due to her professional and social contacts with Shah Bahadur's French physician, Monsieur Martin, 15 she probably also spoke French. Naturally she never relinquished the command of the Portuguese language, at least spoken Portuguese. This reticence may derive from our lady dictating her correspondence in Persian. Most likely she did not have a Portuguese scribe, and her command of writing, because minimally using it, would be difficult in any language. It must not be forgotten that in those times oral communication was still the more accessible method of missionary teaching. The correspondence she kept with the Portuguese authorities of Goa and, indirectly with the King of Portugal himself16 attest for a lack of literary versatility.

It is still to her marriage in Goa or Delhi, that one must return to imagine her resolute and practical temperament, her innate sense of leadership, and an energetic profile that was to attract such men as the Jesuit leaders who looked upon her for the consolidation of their missionary attempts17 as well as the Viceroys of the Portuguese State of India. They had opportunity to see in her, once returned to the Mogul Court where she was so well accepted, the ideal liaison for the highest sacred and secular purposes of the Portuguese overseas interests in India, always in need of support.

In fact, during the turbulent reigns of five successive Mogul Shahs Dona Juliana's strong personality maintained a support of solid convictions. The respect that her presence and advice deserved from each of these Emperors shows how much this Portuguese lady was held in great esteem and the extent to which she was actively engaged in the Court's operations.

A ware of her prestige at Court, Dona Juliana did not seem sensible to her own gains, rather, she used her gracious position to mediate in favour of the affairs of the Portuguese Crown and above all in those of the Christian Faith. Correspondence from local Jesuits, strict in their writing principles does not hesitate in lauding and thanking her for the role of developing in the great Mogul's heart a sympathy for their missionary endeavours.

Relying on such information, the King of Portugal entrusted this amazing woman with sensitive business and interests that usually, and most particularly during that epoch, were handled more by favourites and noblemen than by ladies.

King Dom João V (°1689-†1750) of Portugal intended to maintain and extend the good relationships with so distinguished neighbours of the Portuguese State of India. In a letter dated 3rd of January 1709 to the Viceroy Dom Rodrigo da Costa, he mentions that:"[…]by this manner not only will this [making reference to the role played by Dona Juliana at the Mogul Court] advance the negotiations we may have with this Monarch [making reference to Bahadur Shah], but as well it is convenient to have him propitious in all concerning that State as it is the most powerful in Asia, its domains embracing most of the Indian peninsula".

In a letter of the 3rd of September 1710, the Portuguese King recommended again the Viceroy of the Portuguese State of India to continue the negotiations with the Mogul Shah "[…] with that discretion and caution that His Majesty expected from Dom Rodrigo da Costa."

The local 'agent' of that negotiation was Dona Juliana, a 'stateswoman-doctor', a 'female-physician-diplomat', an 'adviser-lady humanist' - as nothing seemed strange or unknown to her.

After the death of Aurengzebo, in1707, the Mogul Empire deteriorated and became increasingly anarchic. The Shah's three heirs fought among themselves for control of the Empire. Finally, Bahadur, with whom Dona Juliana was quite close as they were about the same age and had grown up together, was proclaimed Shah of the Mogul Empire later that year, being subsequentely recognized and saluted as such by the Viceroy of the Portuguese State of India. It was during the reign of that Mogul Shah that Dona Juliana's diplomacy most preponderantly expanded, multiplying her action in the Court as deus ex-maquina in the "ministério dos negócios estrangeiros" ("ministration of Foreign Affairs"). Instrumental in serving the milieu where she had lived for so many years and where she now enjoyed the situation of favourite of the Emperor she actively became the fulcral contact between merchants, diplomats and Christian missionaries diffused along the Mogul Empire and the Western interests, especially the Portuguese ones. 18

India.

Map 2. [FERNÃO MENDES PINTO - Hist. e Mem. Ac. Real das Scienc. de Lisboa, n. ser., sc. moraes, etc, tomo X, parte I ].

In: AYRES, Cristovam, Fernão Mendes Pinto e o Japão - Pontos Controversos. -Discussão -Informações Novas.

Com a reprodução de quatro cartas geográficas portuguesas, até hoje inéditas e uma carta representando o Japão no século XVI, Lisboa, Academia Real das Sciencias, 1904 [?].

The great lady had in this Empire, in which she was remarkably distinguished, the revenues of four villages, a palace, a monthly salary of one-thousand rupees, and several honorific titles. She was entitled to be escorted by a retinue of six-thousand attendants headed by two elephants carrying red flags displaying white crosses.

Despite all this pomp and the permanence for so many years in the splendours of Oriental palaces among Moors and religious contradictions, Dona Juliana's acquired the reputation of extreme virtuosity with the poor, and was admired for being a devout Christian remaining faithful to her creed. The virtues of this lady contributed much to the conviviality of the Society of Jesus near the Mogul Court, assisting them as she did with her influence.

The Government of the Portuguese State of India openly recognized being indebted to her for"particulares finezas"19("special attentions"). The King of Portugal highly esteemed her as his faithful 'Trustee'. She was also known as 'Procuradora do rei de Portugal'20 ('Trustee of the King of Portugal') by Westerners throughout the plains of the Ganges.

Donna Juliana Dias da Costa - A Christian Lady at the Mogul Court - Eighteenth century.

In: VALENTYN, François, Oud en Nieuv Öost-Indien, Amsterdam, 1726, vol.4, part 2, p.296

From an original attributed to Johan Josua Ketelaar, the Dutch Ambassador to the Emperor Baadur Shah Court in 1712-1713.

King Dom João V of Portugal acknowledged the advice of Dona Juliana in dissuading the Mogul Shah from implementing a fleet of armed ships in the neighbouring seas, an action that would certainly have been disadvantageous to the Portuguese State of India, in immediate terms (1710) and in the future relationships.

As a result of Dona Juliana's advice, the Mogul Shah renounced his launching of the naval attack he had in mind, and as proof of non aggression, he even sent in the frigate Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem, in 1710, a sagoate21 to King Dom João V, the Magnanimous. 22

The King of Portugal acknowledged this by also sending a gift to the Mogul Emperor. Reception of this gift was acknowledged by Dona Juliana to the Portuguese Monarch, in an official letter to which she attached a private note "in Portuguese language".

Dona Juliana was the 'diplomatic' intermediary and interpreter of official correspondence, mollifying aggravations, without reducing the dignity and truth of the King of Portugal's missives and without betraying the Master of the Court, where she was so well respected.

It is with perfect appreciation of Dona Juliana's value that King Dom João V refers to her, in a letter of the 31 st of August 1711 to the Viceroy of Portuguese State of India as a "[…] mulher portugueza e catholica que assiste no palácio do Grão-Mogor, de quem o mesmo Rey faz grande caso […] " ("[…] Portuguese and Catholic woman who gives assistance in the Great Mogul palace, and to whom the same Shah shows great appreciation […]"), asking his interlocutor in India to convey his thanks to such lady for the "[…] amor e zelo que se ha nos particulares deese Estado […]" ("[…] love and zeal she devotes to the interests of that State […]"). Dom Rodrigo da Costa does not hesitate in doing so, stressing the Royal mention to Dona Juliana in a letter of the 25th of October 1712 the "[…] grande affecto com que esta molher patrocina todos os particulares interesses da nação portugueza […]" ("[…] great affect with which this woman patronises all special interests of the Portuguese Nation […]"), giving her "[…] credora às mercês e congratulações da real grandeza de [Sua] Magestade […]" ("[…] credits for the graces and congratulations of the Royal greatness of His Majesty […]").

Alongside significant examples of her highly meritorious political actions, Dona Juliana showed the same of her generosity with the disgraced, and on the cooperation she always rendered to the missionary action. She was granted the indulgence of being able to buy on the 2nd of June 1713 the village of Manory, of the Portuguese jurisdiction of Bassein, appointing for that purpose, Fr. Henrique Pereira of the Society of Jesus, as her proxy.

When the bloody crisis the succession in the Mogul Empire occured, then controlling the whole of Hindustan bordering the Portuguese State of India, between the two Sayyid brothers, Abdullah Kahn and Husain Ali Kahn, her material assets greatly contributed towards securing her independence and of all who approached her. Those times saw Dona Juliana arrested for two months, and her assets were temporarily seized, and the rebel faction even attacked, by the hands of the "arábios" ("Arabs") of Surat, a Portuguese ship that had arrived from Macao. Finally, and after the end of the brotherly fights, the favourite of so many Princes was once again called to the Court, having returned the Emperor's grace and all the property given to her, retaking her previous status. The Viceroy of the Portuguese State of India authorised her to purchase another village north of Goa, ordering the issue of the respective Alvará (Patent) in her name in 1714.

Without ceasing to intercede on behalf of Goa with the Mogul Court, in this new phase of her life, Dona Juliana was greatly assisted by her Portuguese son-in-law, Dom [Joseph] Diogo Mendes. Confident that he seemed capable of securing the continuity of her work, the Viceroy of the Portuguese State of India was willing to grant to this young man the "mercy of the Habit of Christ".

Subsequently they were both entrusted of business related to the Rights of the Portuguese Crown in Surat and the territory of Pondá, with Fr. José da Silva, S. J., acting as intermediary of the Government of Goa. Dona Juliana, always as 'creditor of honours', saw her Manory village exempted of all pension and tribute, privileges never before granted under Portuguese jurisdiction. Her growing family which administrated her lands came to create a quite unprecedented kind of matriarchy electing her as a figure-head. Dona Juliana, through her initiative within the Mogul Court itself, her married granddaughter, her grandson, José Borges da Costa and the remaining family were 'showered' with graces from the Government of the Portuguese State of India. Dona Juliana maintained until the end of her life the concern to create auspicious ways in the Mogul Court to promote Portuguese interests, never shunning from spending large sums of her own in "earrings and sagoates".23 In the same way, the King of Portugal ordered the Viceroy of the Portuguese State of India, in Goa, to keep always "boa correspondência" ("good correspondence") with the illustrious lady.

In 1715-1716 she obtained from the Farrukhsiyar Shah the Patents of the District, fortress and lands of Pondá to the Portuguese Crown, 24 as well as some prerogatives on customs duties and alliances from Mogul generals and nababs in charge of the lands neighbouring those under Portuguese jurisdiction. She also donated the village of Marquaim [Mahim?], which was hers, to the Portuguese State of India.

Dona Juliana da Costa Dias withdrew from the political scene in 1719, in the end of the Farrukshiyar reign. Fulfilled, she passed away in 1743 leaving a quite unique trail in any epoch of the history of any nation.

CONCLUSION

Dona Juliana da Costa Dias was indeed an incomparable feminine figure in the great era of Portuguese expansion in the East. Though she may now be viewed in a modem age of female emancipation, Dona Juliana must nevertheless still claim the utmost respect and admiration for her outstanding services to the Portuguese Nation.

Translated from the Portuguese by: Manuela Ribeiro

NOTES

1See: YULE, Henri - BURNELL, Arthur, Hobson-Jobson, being a Glossary of Anglo-Indian colloquial words and phrases, London, 1886. - Mogul, Mongol, Mongolian, Mughul = Equivalent expressions: nomad race of Mongols; in India means foreign Mohammedan of the West and Northwest areas, with exception of the patanes [watchmen.

Also see: KIRKPATRICK, E. M. et al, eds., Chambers 20th Century Dictionary, Edinburgh 1983, p.811 - Great Mogul the title by which Europeans knew the Emperors of Delhi. [Pers. Mughul, properly, a Mongol].

2HERAS, H. [Enrique], S. J., Dona Juliana Dias da Costa: Her Influence in Later Mughal History, in "The Bandra Review", Bandra, August 1929, pp.7-17 [reprint: "Review of Culture", 24 (2) July/September 1995, pp.29-34].

3See: Map p. 40.

4PIRES, Benjamim Videira, S. J., Portugal no Tecto do Mundo, Macau, Instituto Cultural de Macau, 1988, pp.5-12.

5See: Illustration of his portrait pp. 3.

6SOUSA, Francisco de, Oriente Conquistado a Jesu Christo Pelos Padres da Companhia de Jesu na Província de Goa / Primeyra Parte / naqual ∫e contèm os primeyros vinte, & dous annos de∫ta Província ordenada Pelo Padre Francisco de Sousa Religio∫o da me∫ma Companhia de Jesu and Oriente Conquistado a Jesu Christo Pelos Padres da Companhia de Jesu na Provincia de Goa / Segunda Parte / na qual ∫e contèm o que ∫e obrou de∫do anno de 1564 atè o anno de 1584 ordenada pelo Padre Francisco de Sousa Religio∫o da me∫ma Companhia de Jesus, Lisboa, Na officina de Valentim da Costa Deslandes, 1710.

GOLDIE, S. J., The First Christian Mission to the Great Mogul, Dublin, 1897.

7GRACIAS, Ismael, uma Dona Portuguesa na Corte do Grão-Mogol, Nova Goa, Imprensa Nacional, 1907.

8CATROU, Père Francois, Histoire Générale de l'empire mogol depuis sa fondation sur les Memoires Portugais de M. Manouchi, vénetien, Hague, Guillaume de Voys, 1708.

9SOUSA, Francisco de, op. cit.

10MAGLAGAN, Sir E., Os Jesuíts e o Grão Mogol, Porto, Civilização - For general information related to the compilation of the following Mogul genealogy and chronology.

11PIRES, Benjamim Videira, S. J., op. cit. - For Map p.30.

12VALENTYN, François, Oud en Nieuv Oost-Indien, Amsterdam, 1726.

13GRACIAS, Ismael, op. cit., p.95.

14See: PROLOGUE - Reception of the representative of the Dutch East India Company, in 1711.

15See: PROLOGUE - Monsieur Martin, the French physician of the Mogul Shah Bahadur.

16GRACIAS, Ismael, op. cit., p. 119.

17Livros das Monções. Documentos remetidos da India ou Livros das Monções publicados de Ordem da Classe de Sciencias morais, politicas e bellas-letras da Academia Real das Sciencias de Lisboa e sob a direcção de Raymundo Antonio de Bulhão Pato, 5 vols., Lisboa, Typographia da Academia Real das Sciencias, 1884,, Bk. 79, p.331.

18This description obtained from an indirect source is registered in GENTIL, J. B. J., Mémoire sur l'Indoustan, Paris, 1882, pp.347-367 - For the description of the march from Burhanpur to Delhi, with the Muazzam Shah.

19GRACIAS, Ismael, op. cit., p. l 11 - Letter of the 20th of November 1710.

20Ibidem., p.113- Letter of the 7th of January 1711.

21Ibidem., p. l14-Letter of the 27th of November 1710-Where this sagoate (Royal present) is described as being some parfums and fabrics and, in particular, by a jewel to which they call zaga formed by: a gold crest with eight gold chains, thirty-eight big and small diamonds, one-hundred-and-six rubies, twelve emeralds and fourteen aljôfres (small pearls).

22Cognomen by which King Dom João V of Portugal was known.

23GRACIAS, Ismael, op. cit., pp.135-136 - Letter of the 15th of January 1715.

24In fact, the handover of Pondá was suspended due to Dona Juliana's incapacity to conduct the negotiations with the efficacy of her prime years.

*MA in History by the Universidade de Coimbra (University of Coimbra), Coimbra. Historian and researcher on the history of Macao and the Portuguese Expansion in the Orient. Author of numerous articles and publications on related topics.