COSTA, Baltasar da. Aldeia Nova (Guarda) 1613 — on sea 21.4.1673. S.J. Father. Portuguese Missionary in India. Joined S.J. in 1627 and, despite of his poor health, was sent to India according to his own eager wish in 1635. From 1640 worked 35 years at Madurai Mission and, unlike —>…
CŒURDOUX, Gaston-Laurent. Bourges 18.10.1691 (or 18.12.?) — Pondichéry 15.6.1779. S.J. French Missionary Priest and Pioneer of Indology in India. Joined the S.J. in 1715, ordained 1725, left for South India 1732, and served in Madurai Mission in 1732-73, in 1744-51 as the superior of the mission. After the suppression of…
CHARDIN, Jean-Baptiste (Sir John Chardin). Paris 16.11.1643 (Julian 6.11.) — Chiswick, London 5.1.1713 (25.12.1712). French Huguenot Jeweller and Traveller. Sent to the east by his father, the Parisian jeweller Daniel Ch. in 1664 he visited Persia (entering the service of Shah Abbas II in Isfahan), Surat and other places in…
CARRÉ, Barthélémy. c. 1636 — after 1699. Abbé. French Traveller. Of Blois, educated by Jesuits, took religious career and was ordained. From 1662 served in the navy, apparently as chaplain, in Atlantic, Mediterranian and Levant. Sent by Colbert with F. Caron to Madagascar, they arrived at Surat in 1669. Carré…
CABRAL, João. Cerolico/Guarda 1599/1601 — Goa 4.7.1669. S.J. Portuguese Missionary in India and Ladakh. From Celorico (Beira). Jesuit since 1619 (novice 1615), studied in Braga and Coimbra, in 1624 to India. In 1626 he was sent together with —> E. Cacella to Shigatse (arrived in 1627 via Bhutan), in 1628…
BOWREY (Bowry), Thomas. 1650? — 1?.7.1713. British Sea Captain in the East. In India and South-East Asia in 1669-88 as sailing master, then captain, first in Madras. If the Hudson Bay Dictionary is by him, he must have been also in Canada. Married 1691 his cousin Mary and settled in…
BOLLING, Frederik Andersen (Friederic B.). 16?? — 1685. Norwegian Traveller in India. Born in Norway, son of Anders B. Student in Copenhagen, went to Amsterdam and became enlisted to the East Indies in 1669. Served in Batavia and China, returned in 1673 and was taken prisoner by the English. Lived…
BESCHI, Constantino Gioseffo Eusebio (Constanzo B., Constantinus Beschius, Vīra-māmunivar). Castiglione delle Stiviere near Mantua 8.11.1680 — Ambalakat near Cranganore 4.2.1747. S.J. Italian Jesuit missionary and Tamil scholar. Nearly 40 years in India. Educated at Jesuit school in Mantua. Novice of S.J. 1698, then studies in Ravenna and in 1701-10 in…
BERNIER, François. Joué-Etiau (Maine-et-Loire) 26.9.1620 — Dauphine (or Paris?) 22.9.1688. French Physician and Traveller in India. Spent twelve years (1656-68) in India, and was 8 years physician at the Mughal court. Son of Pierre B., one of the foremost tenants of the chapter of Angers, and Andrée Grimault. He lost…
BAYER, Theophilus (Gottlieb) Siegfried. Königsberg 5/6.1.1694 — St.Petersburg 10.2.1738. German Orientalist and Historian, from Königsberg, was elected to the Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences and moved to St.Petersburg. In Russian his name is variously spelled as Beer, Beèr, and Bajer’. Son of painter Johann Friedrich Bayer and Anna Katharina Porath,…