Shruti Raigopal, University College Cork
In this paper, I will explore how Latin ethnographic descriptions of India from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries engage in linguistic and cultural translations. For this purpose, I will examine the terms ‘rex’, ‘dynastas’ and ‘satrapas’ as used in early modern Latin text written by Giovanni Pietro Maffei (Historiarum Indicarum Libri XVI, 1588) and compare similar passages from João de Barros’s Decadas da Asia (1552). Additionally, I will compare the use of this term in Ludovico Varthema’s Itinerario (1510, and the Latin translation published in 1511). By examining the use of these terms, I will outline the context, the person to whom they refer and demonstrate the inconsistencies observed in cultural translation. In this reference, I will also showcase whether the use of ‘rex’ and/or ‘satrapas’ aligned with the hierarchy as observed among the locals versus what was being presented through these texts to the readers in the west. Here, I will use the example of the representation of the king of Calicut (in India) from the sixteenth century. In the texts considered, the king is referred to as the Zamorin/Camori/Samory, which comes from the native term ‘Samudri Raja’. By comparing these passages, I will demonstrate how linguistic translations frequently create inconsistencies in cultural translation, especially when details are not described explicitly. Cultural representations with a focus on self-representation and understanding of the ‘other’ based on oriental studies have been explored extensively in the past (Juncu, 2016, Subrahmanyam, 2011), however, my focus is to explore inconsistencies in such representations based on Neo- Latin literature about India. I question whether such inconsistencies of descriptions create a sense of ambiguity among the readers from the west. Barros and Maffei’s text were inspired and influenced by Varthema’s travel narrative, nevertheless, Barros’s chronicle describes the king of Calicut closer to how locals would have considered the role of this king versus the other sources. Furthermore, I will exhibit how terms such as ‘rex’ and ‘satrap’ are used through a close reading of a few passages from Maffei’s Historiarum Indicarum Libri XVI where this distinction can be explored further. Here, I will also demonstrate how Maffei’s understanding of the hierarchical society of India may have been reinforced through the administrative letters written by the Jesuits (Documenta Indica, 1542-1597). Hence, I will analyse how early modern Latin literature describes cultural practices that are characteristic to India, and question whether they grasp the importance of the complex social fabric.