Note 628 — PRIMO VIAGGIO INTORNO AL MONDO (continued 2)

Pegu (with a capital of the same name) formerly wielded great influence in the East, but was eclipsed by the kingdoms surrounding it. Together with Bengal or Bengala and Orissa (Uriza), it forms a portion of British India. Bengal was incorporated with the Ghôrî or Patan empire of Hindustân toward the end of the twelfth century, and was formed into a separate province under the second emperor. It became an independent kingdom at least by 1340, continuing as an independent state until conquered by Akbar in 1573. Chelin is probably Coulam or Quilon in Malabar, once an important center of trade, but an insignificant place by the middle of the seventeenth century. Narsinga or Bijayanagar, now a ruined city, was formerly the capital of the ancient Brahminical kingdom of the Carnatic, which before the conquests of the Mahometans extended over the greater part of the peninsula between the Malabar and Coromandel coasts. Calicut, Cambay, Cananore, Goa, and Ormus (Armus) were all important centers of trade before and during Portuguese occupation in the East. MS. 5,650 reads: “Gon” and “Armux.” See Varthema’s Travels (Hakluyt Society edition), and Mosto (p. 111, notes 3–11).