Códice Casanatense

Most come with a short description, and include illustrations of people from east Africa, Arabia, Persia, Afghanistan, Balochistan, India, Ceylon, Malaysia, China, and the Moluccas, as well as some insights into fauna, flora, and certain traditions, such as the Hindu religion — previously unknown in Europe.

[4] Its earliest recorded owner was the novice João da Costa of the College of St. Paul of Goa, who in 1627 sent it to Lisbon, according to information inscribed within the codex.

Once in Europe, it was acquired by Cardinal Girolamo Casanata who, on his death in 1700, bequeathed it along with his private collection to the Dominican Order, for the creation of a new library, where it is now kept.

[5] It was first brought to public attention by the scholar Georg Schurhammer, who published several pictures in the Portuguese historical magazine Garcia da Horta in the 1950s.

[6] The Códice Casanatense provides an extremely rare insight into the culture of the peoples in 16th-century Africa and Asia, and is especially valuable for the study of popular arms and garments of the era.