Ludovico di Varthema
Ludovico di Varthema, also known as Barthema and Vertomannus (c. 1470 – 1517), was an Italian traveller, diarist and aristocrat known for being one of the first non-Muslim Europeans to enter Mecca as a pilgrim.
From Egypt, he sailed to Beirut and thence travelled to Tripoli, Aleppo and Damascus, where he managed to get himself enrolled, under the name of Yunus (Jonah), in the Mamluk garrison.
He describes the sacred cities of Islam and the chief pilgrim sites and ceremonies with remarkable accuracy, almost all his details being confirmed by later writers.
The actuality of his visit to San'a and the accuracy of his observations have been questioned on the basis of, among other things, his uncorroborated description of the Sultan’s son being two dozen feet tall and inclined to bite people, kill them, and eat their flesh.
The ship was supposed to make a stop in the Persian Gulf first, but contrary winds forced it in the opposite direction, and it ended up having to sail south instead, calling in at Zeila and Berbera (on the coast of Somalia).
Arriving in Ormuz in the aftermath of a palace coup, Ludovico de Varthema did not linger for long, but proceeded to cross to mainland Persia.
[4] Ludovico de Varthema and his new Persian partner joined an overland caravan to Samarkand, but the expedition was called off part-way upon news of disturbances in the area.
With the overland route closed by war, Ludovico de Varthema and his Persian partner proceeded from Shiraz down to Ormuz, where they took ship for India.
From Goa, Varthema and his partner made a seven-day excursion inland to Bijapur, capital of the Deccan sultanate of Adil Khan.
From Cannanore, Varthema and his partner took an overland journey of fifteen days to the interior city of Vijayanagara, capital of the eponymous Hindu empire.
However, a naval trade blockade imposed on Calicut by the Portuguese had thinned the local markets, disappointing the business Varthema and his Persian partner had expected to conduct there.
If the dating is correct (early January, 1505[5]), Kerala was still smoldering in the aftermath of the hard-fought Battle of Cochin, and the most recent Portuguese armada was still in the vicinity.
Varthema and his Persian partner resumed their trip southwards via the inner lagoons and rivers of the Kerala backwaters rather than by the sea coast, possibly to elude Portuguese naval patrols.
The ship carrying Varthema and his Persian partner rounded Cape Comorin (southern tip of India) and followed the coast northeast.
Some (e.g. Fra Oderico) claim Sarnau is in northern China, but others (e.g. Giovanni da Empoli, Fernão Mendes Pinto) suggest it is located in Indochina.
From Pegu, Varthema, his Persian partner and the two Chinese Christians took a ship down the Malay peninsula to Malacca, the major commercial entrepot of the region.
Although sailing by compass and chart was common in the Mediterranean, it was unusual in the Indian Ocean, where celestial navigation was the norm, and perplexed Varthema's Persian partner.
Varthema makes some quick observations about the island (notably, the prevalence of Hinduism, unlike the Islam they consistently encountered in other ports).
Chartering a junk (giunco) from Java, they made their way back to Malacca, where Varthema and Cazizioner finally parted company with the two Chinese Christians.
On the same Javanese junk, they proceeded west across the Bay of Bengal, fifteen days sailing, to the Coromandel Coast of India, and disembarked at Negapatam.
The presence of some Portuguese in Quilon frightened Varthema, and he kept a low profile until he found passage, again via the Kerala backwaters, back to Calicut.
To allay the suspicions of his Persian partner, Varthema conjured up a ruse, professing a spiritual awakening had convinced him to embrace a more stringent religious life.
For the next few weeks, Varthema lived as a Muslim ascetic in a Calicut mosque (albeit stealing away at night to join the Italians for dinner).
After a few days, Ludovico de Varthema slipped away from his Persian hosts in Cannanore, and presented himself to the Portuguese authorities, revealing himself a Christian.
Varthema was taken to Fort Sant' Angelo of Cannanore, and for the next three days, was personally interviewed by the Portuguese naval captain D. Lourenço de Almeida.
He was huddled among the defenders during the desperate Siege of Cannanore, that lasted from April to August 1507, when they were finally rescued by the arriving armada of D. Tristão da Cunha.
He mentions the new Portuguese fortress which was under construction on the island (Fort São Gabriel, begun by captain Vasco Gomes de Abreu in late 1507).
Varthema refers to Francisco de Almeida's raids of 1505 and Tristão da Cunha's jaunt to Madagascar over the winter of 1506–07 and in a personal aside, expresses hope that all of Asia will eventually become Christian.
Shortly after arriving, Ludovico de Varthema sought out an audience with the Portuguese king Manuel I in Almada, to confirm the patent of knighthood he received in India.
As Richard Francis Burton said in his book The Pilgrimage to Al-Medinah and Meccah: For correctness of observation and readiness of wit Varthema stands in the foremost rank of the old Oriental travellers.
