Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - 500 years of Portuguese-Siamese relations

Philip · 19th October 2006, 04:37 AM

Gentlemen,
I much enjoyed this thread, thanks to Antonio for the historical information.
One of my "pet" projects is studying and collecting the various forms of the Indo-Portuguese matchlock gun which was introduced into much of SE Asia and the Far East in the early 16th cent., and which remained in use well into the 19th cent. in China/Japan/Korea and even into the 20th in Vietnam and Malaya.

Anyway, I thought you guys would enjoy reading THE LAND OF THE GREAT IMAGE, by Maurice Collis, publ. by Alfred A. Knopf in 1943 (there are subsequent ppb editions). The author, born 1889, was a longtime civil servant for the British colonial administration in Burma. The book chronicles the journey of a Portuguese friar, Sebastiao Manrique, to the southern Burmese region of Arakan early in the 17th cent. Enriching the account of the cleric's adventures are detailed descriptions of Indo-Portuguese society at Goa, the intrigue and power-plays which beset the Burmese court, and a chilling account of an unfortunate Frenchman's experiences with the Inquisition in Portuguese India.

19th October 2006, 04:37 AM	#6
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	Portuguese in Asia / book recommendation Gentlemen, I much enjoyed this thread, thanks to Antonio for the historical information. One of my "pet" projects is studying and collecting the various forms of the Indo-Portuguese matchlock gun which was introduced into much of SE Asia and the Far East in the early 16th cent., and which remained in use well into the 19th cent. in China/Japan/Korea and even into the 20th in Vietnam and Malaya. Anyway, I thought you guys would enjoy reading THE LAND OF THE GREAT IMAGE, by Maurice Collis, publ. by Alfred A. Knopf in 1943 (there are subsequent ppb editions). The author, born 1889, was a longtime civil servant for the British colonial administration in Burma. The book chronicles the journey of a Portuguese friar, Sebastiao Manrique, to the southern Burmese region of Arakan early in the 17th cent. Enriching the account of the cleric's adventures are detailed descriptions of Indo-Portuguese society at Goa, the intrigue and power-plays which beset the Burmese court, and a chilling account of an unfortunate Frenchman's experiences with the Inquisition in Portuguese India.