Curious Encounters: Thomas Coryate and the Sherleys on the Persian Frontier
This blog is extracted from Travellers in the Golden Realm: How Mughal India Connected England to the World by Lubaaba Al-Azami (John Murray, pp320, Hardback £25 | Paperback £12.99). To order a copy go to Travellers in the Golden Realm by Lubaaba Al-Azami | Hachette UK. Paperback out August 7.
In the latter part of 1614 Teresa Sampsonia and her husband Robert Sherley were to be found travelling out of Lahore in great state. Their entourage included two great elephants and no less than eight antelopes, and the dust billowed in great swirling plumes. They had just returned from visiting Mughal India and were now journeying to the Safavid court. As they neared the Persian frontier they were met by a squat, ragged and positively dishevelled man who seemed quite ecstatic to see them. Peering beneath the layers of dust they heard a familiar voice speaking the English tongue. The man was none other than Thomas Coryate, the famed Odcombian legge-stretcher and celebrity author of the Crudities. Whether they were quite as giddy to see him is uncertain, but the couple were certainly very pleased.
Sherley must have been especially enthused as he soon produced both the Crudities and the Crambe to show off, much to Coryate’s delight. Such was the popularity of the publications that they now accompanied the diplomat on his travels in Asia. Coryate was also very excited to encounter the Sherleys’ elephants. He had determined that as part of his wandering travels in India he would ride this great eastern creature and have an illustration depicting it in his next book. In 1616 four of his letters from India were published as a pamphlet, Thomas Coriate traveller for the English wits: greeting. From the court of the Great Mogvl, resident at the towne of Asmere, in easterne India, complete with the now well-known woodcut of Coryate riding an elephant.
While Sherley flattered Coryate, Sampsonia, an accomplished and singularly astute woman, was far more practical. Surmising the straitened circumstances of the unkempt traveller, she generously bestowed on Odd Tom 40 shillings in Persian money (the equivalent of £268 today). At this the latter was more than a little appreciative, writing, ‘both he [Sherley] and his lady used me with singular respect, especially his lady’. He had been robbed of most of his money early on, and this small windfall was like manna from heaven. Nonetheless, the indefatigable traveller prided himself on his singular frugality, adaptability to every circumstance and cheerful willingness to rough it when necessary, often living on as little as a penny a day. As he travelled he had adapted to the region he crossed, learning its languages, adopting its attire, customs and cuisine and befriending its peoples. Nothing less would have sufficed for the extensive and difficult overland journey he undertook on a pauper’s budget, from England’s familiar shores to the fabled Mughal darbar.
(Sherley images from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Shirley and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_Sampsonia )
