Ralph Fitch
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2009) |
Ralph Fitch | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1550 |
| Died | 1611 (aged 60–61) England |
| Occupation(s) | Burma and Malacca (in Malaysia) (1583–1591) |
Ralph Fitch (1550 – 1611) was a
Career
Fitch's place of birth has long been a mystery but recent research indicates that he was most likely born in
Portuguese Goa and Damaon
(September to October).
Through the sureties procured by two
Allahabad, by joining a convoy "of one hundred and fourscore boates laden with Salt, Opium, Hinge (asafoetida), Lead, Carpets and diverse other commodities" going "downe the river jumna (Yamuna)". He reached Allahabad sometime in November 1585, when work on Akbar's great Fort at Allahabad was nearing completion. In September 1585 Newberry decided to begin his return journey overland via Lahore
. He disappeared, presumably being robbed and murdered, in the Punjab.
Fitch went on, descending the
Kuch Behar, Hughli, Chittagong
, etc. (1585–1586).
His appreciating words about the Indian muslin.
In 1586 Ralph Fitch remarked that in Sonargaon, just fifteen miles east of Dhaka, there is the best and finest cloth made of cotton that is in all India
He then pushed on by sea to
Lanna (December 1586 and January 1587).[7]
Early in 1588 he visited
Sir James Lancaster
who consulted him on Indian affairs.
Fitch ranks among the most remarkable of Elizabethan adventurers. There is no evidence he ever married and the main beneficiaries of his final will in 1611 were eight nieces and two nephews.
Impact and legacy
- Fitch's journey is referred to indirectly by William Shakespeare in Act 1, Scene 3, Line 7 of Macbeth (circa 1606), where the First Witch cackles about a sailor's wife: "Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master of the Tyger."[8]
Works
- Aanmerklyke Reys van Ralph Fitch, Koopman te Londen, Gedaan van Anno 1583 tot 1591, (1706), Leyden, Van der Aa (in Dutch)[1]
- Ralph Fitch, England's Pioneer To India And Burma: His Companions And Contemporaries, (1899), John Horton Ryley, ISBN 978-1104443993
See also
References
- Britannica.com.
- ^ The Spice Trade, Episode 12 BBC Radio.
- ^ The Leathersellers' Review, 2007–08, pp 16–18: "An Elizabethan in Asia: Ralph Fitch, our most adventurous Leatherseller" by Jerome Farrell
- ^ The Leathersellers' Review, 2007–08, pp 16–18: "An Elizabethan in Asia: Ralph Fitch, our most adventurous Leatherseller" by Jerome Farrell
- ^ Ryley, J. Horton (John Horton) (1899). Ralph Fitch, England's pioneer to India and Burma; his companions and contemporaries, with his remarkable narrative told in his own words. University of California Libraries. London, T.F. Unwin.
- ISBN 978-0-520-20507-9.
- ^ 'Ralph Fitch: An Elizabethan Merchant in Chiang Mai; and 'Ralph Fitch's Account of Chiang Mai in 1586-1587' in: Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David, Ancient Chiang Mai Volume 1. Chiang Mai, Cognoscenti Books, 2012.
- ^ Raleigh, Sir Walter Alexander; Lee, Sir Sidney (1916). Shakespeare's England : an account of the life & manners of his age. London: Oxford University Press. p. 187.
Bibliography
- Ryley, John Horton (1899). Ralph Fitch: England's Pioneer to India and Burma; His Companions and Contemporaries With His Remarkable Narrative Told in His Own Words. London. ISBN 9788120613249.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Edwardes, Michael (1972). Ralph Fitch: Elizabethan in the Indies. London: Faber and Faber.
- Tragen, Cecil (1953). Elizabethan Venture. London: H.F. & G Witherby Ltd.
- Farrell, Jerome (2007–2008). "An Elizabethan in Asia: Ralph Fitch, Our Most Adventurous Leatherseller". The Leathersellers' Review.
- Forbes, Andrew; Henley, David (2012). Ancient Chiang Mai. Vol. 1. London: Cognoscenti Books.
External links
- Full text of "Ralph Fitch : England's pioneer to India and Burma : his companions and contemporaries, with his remarkable narrative told in his own words"
- Account of the Voyage of Ralph Fitch, Merchant of London. This part of the account pertains to the year 1583.
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