Book of Durate Barbosa [Hardcover]

Barbosa Durate (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2001

The author of this book was a Portuguese official named Duarte Barbosa, who was in the service of the Portuguese government in India from 1500 to about 1516. This book is one of the earliest records made by the Portuguese within a few years of their entering the Indian Ocean. During his stay in Cananor in he mastered the Malayalam language and worked also as a translator between the natives and the Portuguese. The scope of this 2 volume work is huge as it describes all the countries and cities visited by him on his journey into India and then within India. He book is divided into 127 chapters. The first volume of 86 chapter assigns each chapter do a different country or city among the numerous areas that he notices are included the cities of the east coast of Africa, Persia, Arabia, Western India and the kingdom of Vijayanagar.In the second volume, the coast of Malabar, Eastern India Further India, the S.E. Archipelago and China are described. The narrative of the work is that of a keen observer and he never misses the give an account, owing to his knowledge of the Language, of the people, of the description of the people, their customs, the elaborate caste system, its produce, its natural resources. The book uses old spelling of place names which are clarified by the highly informative notes by the translator of the original Portuguese, Mansel Longworth Dames. The book has old time maps of the regions described.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 642 pages
• Publisher: Asian Educational Services; Facsimile of 1921 ed edition (December 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8120604512
• ISBN-13: 978-8120604513
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,469,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)