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Bento de Góis
Bento de Góis (1562 – 11 April 1607) was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary and explorer. His name is commonly given in English as Bento de Goes or Bento de Goës; in the past, it has also been Anglicized as Benedict Goës.
He is mainly remembered as the first known European to travel overland from India to China, via current-day Afghanistan and the Pamir Mountains. Inspired by controversies among the Jesuits as to whether the Cathay of Marco Polo's stories is the same country as China, his expedition conclusively proved that the two countries are one and the same, and, according to Henry Yule, made "Cathay... finally disappear from view, leaving China only in the mouths and minds of men".
Góis was born in 1562 in Vila Franca do Campo, Azores, Portugal and went to Portuguese India as a soldier in the Portuguese army. In Goa, he entered the Society of Jesus as a lay brother (in 1584) and offered himself to work for the Mughal mission. As such, in 1595, he accompanied Jerome Xavier and Manuel Pinheiro to Lahore. For the third time, Emperor Akbar had requested Jesuits to be sent to his court. Góis returned to Goa in 1601. According to Matteo Ricci, the experiences allowed Góis to become fluent in the Persian language and "Saracen" (Muslim) customs.
Góis is best remembered for his long exploratory journey through Central Asia, under the garb of an Armenian merchant, in search of the Kingdom of Cathay. Generated by accounts made by Marco Polo and later by the claims of Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo, reports had been circulating in Europe for over three centuries of the existence of a Christian kingdom in the midst of Muslim nations. After the Jesuit missionaries, led by Ricci, had spent over 15 years in southern China and finally reached Beijing in 1598, they came to strongly suspect that China was Cathay; the belief was strengthened by the fact that all "Saracen" (Central Asian Muslim) travellers met by Ricci and his companions in China told them that they were in Cathay.
The Jesuit leadership in Goa had been informed by letters from Jesuits in China that China was Cathay but that there were no Christians there. At the same time, the Jesuits stationed at the Mughal court (in particular, Xavier himself) were told by visiting merchants that one could reach Cathay via Kashgar and that there were many Christians in Cathay, which convinced Xavier that Cathay was the kingdom of Prester John rather than it being Ming China.
The Central Asian Muslim informants' idea of the Ming China being a heavily-Christian country may be explained by numerous similarities between Christian and Buddhist ecclesiastical rituals, which would make the two religions appear similar to a Muslim merchant. A large number of mostly-Nestorian Christians had been in China and Moghulistan in the Yuan era, over a century before Góis. While Góis' expedition was being prepared, the most widely-read account of "Cathay" in the Persian- and Turkic-speaking Muslim world was perhaps the travelogue of Ghiyāth al-dīn Naqqāsh from 1420 to 1422, which does not mention any Christians within the border of Ming China, but some editions of it mention "kafir worshiping the cross" in Turfan and Cumul).
After some communications between Xavier, the order's superiors in Goa, Niccolò Pimenta, the father visitor in charge there), and the authorities in Europe, it was decided to send an expedition overland from India to the Cathay mentioned by the Mughals' Agra to the Jesuits to find out what the country really was. Góis was chosen as the most suitable person for this expedition, as a man of courage and good judgment who was familiar with the region's language and customs. Akbar approved of the plans as well; he issued Góis with letters of safe conduct to be used during the part of the trip within the Mughal Empire, and he provided some of the funds for the expedition.
Additionally, he assisted the chief consort of Akbar in the year 1595, when Mariam-uz-Zamani was travelling to a certain place, she was robbed of all her possessions and was left without the ordinary necessities of life. Jesuit Benedict Goes hearing this assisted her as far as his means permitted. When this news was delivered to Akbar's court, there was great astonishment among the attendants of the court. Goes was then praised and thanked at the court for assisting the queen as the assistance she sought from her countrymen was delivered to her by a stranger. When Mariam-uz-Zamani reached Akbar's court safely, many people, with gifts in their hands, went forth from the city to welcome her. A message was then sent to Prince Salim, who was at a distance of eight days from the Agra, came in haste to see his mother and two days post arriving at the capital, he met Benedict for which Salim personally came out to receive him. As per the custom of the country, Goes would have embraced Salim’s feet but Salim did not permit him and immediately raised him kindly by his arm, made enquiries for his health and ordered full repayment of the advances he lent to his mother.
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Bento de Góis
Bento de Góis (1562 – 11 April 1607) was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary and explorer. His name is commonly given in English as Bento de Goes or Bento de Goës; in the past, it has also been Anglicized as Benedict Goës.
He is mainly remembered as the first known European to travel overland from India to China, via current-day Afghanistan and the Pamir Mountains. Inspired by controversies among the Jesuits as to whether the Cathay of Marco Polo's stories is the same country as China, his expedition conclusively proved that the two countries are one and the same, and, according to Henry Yule, made "Cathay... finally disappear from view, leaving China only in the mouths and minds of men".
Góis was born in 1562 in Vila Franca do Campo, Azores, Portugal and went to Portuguese India as a soldier in the Portuguese army. In Goa, he entered the Society of Jesus as a lay brother (in 1584) and offered himself to work for the Mughal mission. As such, in 1595, he accompanied Jerome Xavier and Manuel Pinheiro to Lahore. For the third time, Emperor Akbar had requested Jesuits to be sent to his court. Góis returned to Goa in 1601. According to Matteo Ricci, the experiences allowed Góis to become fluent in the Persian language and "Saracen" (Muslim) customs.
Góis is best remembered for his long exploratory journey through Central Asia, under the garb of an Armenian merchant, in search of the Kingdom of Cathay. Generated by accounts made by Marco Polo and later by the claims of Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo, reports had been circulating in Europe for over three centuries of the existence of a Christian kingdom in the midst of Muslim nations. After the Jesuit missionaries, led by Ricci, had spent over 15 years in southern China and finally reached Beijing in 1598, they came to strongly suspect that China was Cathay; the belief was strengthened by the fact that all "Saracen" (Central Asian Muslim) travellers met by Ricci and his companions in China told them that they were in Cathay.
The Jesuit leadership in Goa had been informed by letters from Jesuits in China that China was Cathay but that there were no Christians there. At the same time, the Jesuits stationed at the Mughal court (in particular, Xavier himself) were told by visiting merchants that one could reach Cathay via Kashgar and that there were many Christians in Cathay, which convinced Xavier that Cathay was the kingdom of Prester John rather than it being Ming China.
The Central Asian Muslim informants' idea of the Ming China being a heavily-Christian country may be explained by numerous similarities between Christian and Buddhist ecclesiastical rituals, which would make the two religions appear similar to a Muslim merchant. A large number of mostly-Nestorian Christians had been in China and Moghulistan in the Yuan era, over a century before Góis. While Góis' expedition was being prepared, the most widely-read account of "Cathay" in the Persian- and Turkic-speaking Muslim world was perhaps the travelogue of Ghiyāth al-dīn Naqqāsh from 1420 to 1422, which does not mention any Christians within the border of Ming China, but some editions of it mention "kafir worshiping the cross" in Turfan and Cumul).
After some communications between Xavier, the order's superiors in Goa, Niccolò Pimenta, the father visitor in charge there), and the authorities in Europe, it was decided to send an expedition overland from India to the Cathay mentioned by the Mughals' Agra to the Jesuits to find out what the country really was. Góis was chosen as the most suitable person for this expedition, as a man of courage and good judgment who was familiar with the region's language and customs. Akbar approved of the plans as well; he issued Góis with letters of safe conduct to be used during the part of the trip within the Mughal Empire, and he provided some of the funds for the expedition.
Additionally, he assisted the chief consort of Akbar in the year 1595, when Mariam-uz-Zamani was travelling to a certain place, she was robbed of all her possessions and was left without the ordinary necessities of life. Jesuit Benedict Goes hearing this assisted her as far as his means permitted. When this news was delivered to Akbar's court, there was great astonishment among the attendants of the court. Goes was then praised and thanked at the court for assisting the queen as the assistance she sought from her countrymen was delivered to her by a stranger. When Mariam-uz-Zamani reached Akbar's court safely, many people, with gifts in their hands, went forth from the city to welcome her. A message was then sent to Prince Salim, who was at a distance of eight days from the Agra, came in haste to see his mother and two days post arriving at the capital, he met Benedict for which Salim personally came out to receive him. As per the custom of the country, Goes would have embraced Salim’s feet but Salim did not permit him and immediately raised him kindly by his arm, made enquiries for his health and ordered full repayment of the advances he lent to his mother.