A Kochi Portuguese Girl in the Mughal Court - 1707-1732 - Calicut Heritage
blog.calicutheritage.com/2011/07/kochi-girl-in-mughal-court-1707-1732.html
It was an unusual love affair between a woman of Portuguese origin and a Mughal prince.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
[ Gauree Malkarnekar ]
Dona Juliana Dias da Costa (1658–1733) was a woman of Portuguese descent from Kochi taken to the Mughal Empire's court of Aurangzeb in Hindustan, who
Dona Juliana Dias da Costa (1658–1733) was a woman of Portuguese descent from Kochi taken to the Mughal Empire's court of Aurangzeb in Hindustan, who became Harem-Queen to the Mughal emperor of India Bahadur Shah I, Aurangzeb's son, who became the monarch in the year 1707.
Dona Juliana's family fled the Dutch conquest of Portuguese Kochi (Cochim). She herself ended up in the Mughal court at Delhi, serving the family (wife and mother) of the then prince Shah’Alam. She continued to do so after the prince fell into disfavour with his father and accompanied him into exile. She was rewarded when Shah’Alam became Emperor (Shah) Bahadur I upon his father's death and her influence in the court became great, even though she remained a Catholic in a Muslim state. She is said to have ridden on a war elephant beside Bahadur Shah during his battles to defend his authority, and even after his death she continued to be highly considered, although with less influence.
During her period of strongest influence, while Bahadur Shah I was still alive, she was frequently sought out by European powers like the Dutch, Portuguese, the British, and the representatives of the Pope. She provided much assistance to the Society of Jesus, including helping the Italian Jesuit missionary Ippolito Desideri (1684-1733) in his mission to evangelise Tibet. In recognition of her many contributions and services to the Jesuits she was recognized as a Patroness of the Society.
Jul 17, 2011 - Gives some details about Juliana(1658- 1732), ie not only her Husband Her ... Forum to explore about Senhore / Doña Juliana Dias da Costa.
The crowning glory of Juliana's days in the Mughal
Empire was in 1719 when she was asked to physically crown the new
Emperor, Mohammed Shah (Rangila)! The day she chose for this was, of
course, the day of St.John the Baptist, her Patron Saint. She wrote: 'At
mid-morning today, I , Juliana Diaz da Costa, actually crowned the
emperor! I carried the crown and placed it on the head of Prince
Mohammed Shah'.
Sep 23, 2013 - All this was once part of the estate of Dona Juliana Dias Da Costa, a Portuguese lady who came to be known as Bibi Juliana in the time of ...
A love affair that saved Portuguese from Mughals
Jul 23, 2017, 04:15AM IST TNN[ Gauree Malkarnekar ]
It
was an unusual love affair between a woman of Portuguese origin and a
Mughal prince. And such was the intensity of their love that the
Portuguese woman, Dona Juliana Dias Da Costa, held sway over
Aurangazeb's son, Shah Alam, and she not only helped safeguard
Christians in the then Mughal-ruled India but also assisted in spreading
on the faith in Portuguese India.
Juliana Nama, a book by former director of National Museum in Delhi Madhukar Tewari and archivist Raghuraj Singh Chauhan, has for the first time pieced together information from five different languages, including Persian and Portuguese, to bring to light the role of this lady-in-waiting to Shah Alam.
Tewari and Chauhan stumbled upon the diplomatic role of this Portuguese Catholic lady in the eighties and spent four decades to write arguably the most comprehensive documentation of Mughal, Portuguese, British, Dutch and French interaction in India. They narrate the Portuguese tactics for survival with the Mughals through the story of the love affair between Juliana and Shah.
From the time they established a settlement in Hugli with the favour of Mughal emperor Akbar, the Portuguese were comfortably living there till they managed to annoy his son with their transgressions, leading to him sacking the settlement in 1632. As a result, "4,000 Christians were taken captives in lamentable conditions" to Agra. Juliana's parents, according to the book, are said to have been among these prisoners and so Juliana was born in Agra around 1645, by which time her mother was attached to one of the ladies in Shah Jahan's harem.
Following her parents' death, Juliana was brought up by Father Antonio de Magalhanes in Delhi.
And this upbringing under the patronage of Jesuit Fathers, including years spent in Goa, according to the authors, made her proficient in skills that would make her a diplomat par excellence. "Skills like her proficiency in languages, international exposure to the happenings around the world, including the knowledge of international trade and merchandise, knowledge of medicine and surgery as the Fathers had in their company Portuguese doctors from Goa, and above all the royal manners and customs," helped her gain experience, write Tewari and Chauhan.
Though Juliana was married, she was widowed young, paving the way for her entry to the Mughal court through Father Magalhanes in 1681-82.
"Aurangzeb entrusted the education of Prince Muazzam (later Shah Alam), his second son, to Juliana. She was 17 and his youngest tutor. Muazzam was 18 and was filled with remorse for the merciless imprisonment of his grandfather Shah Jahan," says Tewari, and the seeds of a lifelong love affair were sowed.
The book provides Portuguese letters written by the viceroy in Goa to the King in Portugal telling him of the favour Juliana holds in the Mughal courts.
Juliana, states the book, moved wherever Shah Alam was posted by Aurangzeb, including to Goa to put an end to the threat posed by the Maratha leader, Sambhaji. When later Shah Alam was suspected of treason by Aurganzeb and jailed, Juliana is believed to have risked her life to make his seven years in prison comfortable by smuggling items of luxury.
This loyalty bore fruit when Shah Alam finally ascended the throne after his father Aurangzeb's death.
The book elaborates the role of Juliana in helping Shah Alam win the battle to the throne against his own brothers. Juliana is said to have got Shah Alam to deploy Portuguese gunners in his artillery, which proved a successful move.
The book says of her correspondence with the Portuguese viceroy in Goa as her influence rose in the Mughal court under Emporer Shah Alam, "What becomes more than clear from the exchange of these letters to and from Juliana is not only the higher position attained by her at the Mughal court after the release of prince Shah Alam, but her continued devotion in making favours to the cause of Christianity from the Mughal territories as well."
Besides her diplomatic services, the book also documents the financial help extended by Juliana to the Portuguese. "It was around 1707 that she is said to have given the province of Goa a great fortune variously estimated to the tune of 40 to 150 contos. In 1734, when she died, the Goan Personnel report of 1735 hailed her as the 'Worthy Benefactress of the College and Mission of Agra' in a most unusual statement."
The book mentions another incident of her help in Portuguese survival.
When Emperor Shah Alam Bahadur Shah ascended the throne in 1707, he planned to raise a modernized fleet under a French general for the Mughal navy. But the insecure Portuguese sought to avert the future threat the French would pose. They employed the services of Juliana to convince Shah Alam against collaborating with the French. A feat she successfully achieved.
Juliana Nama, a book by former director of National Museum in Delhi Madhukar Tewari and archivist Raghuraj Singh Chauhan, has for the first time pieced together information from five different languages, including Persian and Portuguese, to bring to light the role of this lady-in-waiting to Shah Alam.
Tewari and Chauhan stumbled upon the diplomatic role of this Portuguese Catholic lady in the eighties and spent four decades to write arguably the most comprehensive documentation of Mughal, Portuguese, British, Dutch and French interaction in India. They narrate the Portuguese tactics for survival with the Mughals through the story of the love affair between Juliana and Shah.
From the time they established a settlement in Hugli with the favour of Mughal emperor Akbar, the Portuguese were comfortably living there till they managed to annoy his son with their transgressions, leading to him sacking the settlement in 1632. As a result, "4,000 Christians were taken captives in lamentable conditions" to Agra. Juliana's parents, according to the book, are said to have been among these prisoners and so Juliana was born in Agra around 1645, by which time her mother was attached to one of the ladies in Shah Jahan's harem.
Following her parents' death, Juliana was brought up by Father Antonio de Magalhanes in Delhi.
And this upbringing under the patronage of Jesuit Fathers, including years spent in Goa, according to the authors, made her proficient in skills that would make her a diplomat par excellence. "Skills like her proficiency in languages, international exposure to the happenings around the world, including the knowledge of international trade and merchandise, knowledge of medicine and surgery as the Fathers had in their company Portuguese doctors from Goa, and above all the royal manners and customs," helped her gain experience, write Tewari and Chauhan.
Though Juliana was married, she was widowed young, paving the way for her entry to the Mughal court through Father Magalhanes in 1681-82.
"Aurangzeb entrusted the education of Prince Muazzam (later Shah Alam), his second son, to Juliana. She was 17 and his youngest tutor. Muazzam was 18 and was filled with remorse for the merciless imprisonment of his grandfather Shah Jahan," says Tewari, and the seeds of a lifelong love affair were sowed.
The book provides Portuguese letters written by the viceroy in Goa to the King in Portugal telling him of the favour Juliana holds in the Mughal courts.
Juliana, states the book, moved wherever Shah Alam was posted by Aurangzeb, including to Goa to put an end to the threat posed by the Maratha leader, Sambhaji. When later Shah Alam was suspected of treason by Aurganzeb and jailed, Juliana is believed to have risked her life to make his seven years in prison comfortable by smuggling items of luxury.
This loyalty bore fruit when Shah Alam finally ascended the throne after his father Aurangzeb's death.
The book elaborates the role of Juliana in helping Shah Alam win the battle to the throne against his own brothers. Juliana is said to have got Shah Alam to deploy Portuguese gunners in his artillery, which proved a successful move.
The book says of her correspondence with the Portuguese viceroy in Goa as her influence rose in the Mughal court under Emporer Shah Alam, "What becomes more than clear from the exchange of these letters to and from Juliana is not only the higher position attained by her at the Mughal court after the release of prince Shah Alam, but her continued devotion in making favours to the cause of Christianity from the Mughal territories as well."
Besides her diplomatic services, the book also documents the financial help extended by Juliana to the Portuguese. "It was around 1707 that she is said to have given the province of Goa a great fortune variously estimated to the tune of 40 to 150 contos. In 1734, when she died, the Goan Personnel report of 1735 hailed her as the 'Worthy Benefactress of the College and Mission of Agra' in a most unusual statement."
The book mentions another incident of her help in Portuguese survival.
When Emperor Shah Alam Bahadur Shah ascended the throne in 1707, he planned to raise a modernized fleet under a French general for the Mughal navy. But the insecure Portuguese sought to avert the future threat the French would pose. They employed the services of Juliana to convince Shah Alam against collaborating with the French. A feat she successfully achieved.
Juliana Dias da Costa
Dona
Juliana Dias da Costa was a woman of Portuguese descent from Kochi
taken to the Mughal Empire's court of Aurangzeb in Hindustan, who became
Harem-Queen to the Mughal emperor of India Bahadur Shah ... Wikipedia
Died: 1733
Juliana Dias da Costa - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliana_Dias_da_Costa
Juliana Dias da Costa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dona Juliana's family fled the Dutch conquest of Portuguese Kochi (Cochim). She herself ended up in the Mughal court at Delhi, serving the family (wife and mother) of the then prince Shah’Alam. She continued to do so after the prince fell into disfavour with his father and accompanied him into exile. She was rewarded when Shah’Alam became Emperor (Shah) Bahadur I upon his father's death and her influence in the court became great, even though she remained a Catholic in a Muslim state. She is said to have ridden on a war elephant beside Bahadur Shah during his battles to defend his authority, and even after his death she continued to be highly considered, although with less influence.
During her period of strongest influence, while Bahadur Shah I was still alive, she was frequently sought out by European powers like the Dutch, Portuguese, the British, and the representatives of the Pope. She provided much assistance to the Society of Jesus, including helping the Italian Jesuit missionary Ippolito Desideri (1684-1733) in his mission to evangelise Tibet. In recognition of her many contributions and services to the Jesuits she was recognized as a Patroness of the Society.
A Kochi Girl in the Mughal Court - 1707-1732 - Calicut Heritage
blog.calicutheritage.com/2011/07/kochi-girl-in-mughal-court-1707-1732.html
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Sunday, July 17, 2011
A Kochi Girl in the Mughal Court - 1707-1732
 |
| Cochin -1656 courtesy:www.farelli.info |
Portuguese had ruled
Cochin for nearly 160 years between 1503 and 1663 before the Dutch
invasion. Although the capital of Portuguese India was shifted from
Cochin to Goa in 1510, Cochin continued a favourite destination for the
Portuguese and many Portuguese families chose to stay on in Cochin,
soaking in the sun and sand, gossiping and leading their exclusive fidalgo life. (Fidalgo literally means 'son of somebody' and refers to nobility.)
Juliana
was born in 1658 in Cochin to Agostino Diaz da Costa and his wife. She
grew up as a frolicsome young girl, playing on 'the sandy beaches, where
my sister and I could run with the waves lapping our feet'. When she
was five, fate struck in the form of the Dutch who invaded Cochin in
1663. Just before the Dutch attack started, the da Costa family managed
to flee to Goa, although they lost all their baggage in a ship wreck.
The family then decided to try their luck in another Portuguese enclave,
Calcutta, but by the time they reached there, Portuguese there had
earned such a bad name through their indulgence in piracy and slave
trade that the conditions were not considered favourable for their
relocation to Calcutta.
It was
then that the da Costas decided to move down to Agra where the father
had been invited to attend on the Emperor. It was here that Juliana got
to know the doctor who attended to the Mughal emperors whom she married
later. Juliana herself was adept at home remedies, having picked up some
from her stay in Goa and from Garcia de Orta's book Colloquios published in 1563. (We
in Kerala know much more about Hortus Malabaricus which was published
more than a hundred years later in 1678. Garcia was himself a medical
doctor - unlike Van Rheede who depended on local vaidyans like Itty
Achuthan)
Juliana got to know the
royals closely through her husband and even had an audience with
Aurungzeb, thanks to the influential Jesuit priest Fr. Magalhaes (a
colourful character who worked assiduously for promoting Society of
Jesus in India and China). Juliana recorded faithfully the experience of
an audience with the Alamgir who had a reputation for being brusque and
curt. 'The old emperor was sharp, but I was amazed at the amount of
time he spent talking with me. He asked me a great deal about the
Malabar region, of the Portuguese interests, and of the Deccan
interaction with the Portuguese'.
Juliana
was soon appointed as Superintendent of the Zenana, looking after the
women in the Palace and teaching the young princes and princesses.
Juliana soon came to be known for her piety and her ability to work
miracles - putting out fires with consecrated palm fronds and curing
illness through prayers. She was particularly close to Prince Muazzam
who carried the title Shah Alam and was later to be crowned as Bahadur
Shah in 1709, after killing his brother.
Juliana
continued in the Mughal Court even after the death of Bahadur Shah in
1712 and continued to serve the Mughal household with her advice,
prayers and cures. Farukhsiyar ascended the throne in 1713 after another
bout of internecine blood-letting, but Juliana not only survived the
intrigues of the powerful Sayyid brothers who had the Emperor under
their control, but even had powers to get the Emperor to issue firmans.
British
colonial historians have been asserting that it was the English
surgeon, William Hamilton who had cured Farukhsiyar of a painful
carbuncle and obtained a firman for trading without duties. But,
apparently, it was Juliana who had cured the Emperor with her herbal
concoctions (and a liberal dose of Christian prayers). She records that
she had got firmans out of Farukhsiyar not only for the Portuguese, but even for the English traders!
 |
| Mohammed Shah courtesy: wikipedia |
Donna Juliana
(she had been conferred the title for her services to the Church and
the Jesuits) continued in the service of the Mughals. A letter written
in 1727 testifies: 'The Chief Surgeon of Bacaim is in the Court, who has
been called to look after the mother of the king. The treatment is
pending the arrival of Donna Juliana to the palace, to touch and give
medicines to the patient with the help of the Surgeon mentioned'.
Juliana
passed away in 1732 and was buried in Agra in an unnamed grave! Thus
ended the saga of the girl from Fort Cochin who wielded great influence
in the Mughal Court during an era when heads around her were rolling in
the relentless wars of succession.
Source : Forgotten (2010) by Bilkees I. Latif, Penguin Books
Source : Forgotten (2010) by Bilkees I. Latif, Penguin Books
Was it Juliana or Joga? - Delhi - The Hindu
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