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The '''''Mongolicae Legationis Commentarius''''' (Ambassador to the court of the Great Mogul) is a travel book written by the [[Catalan language|Catalan]] [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] [[Antoni de Montserrat]] between [[1589]] and [[1600]], which describes the vicissitudes experienced during the travels that the author carried out when he was sent as ambassador to the court of the [[Mughal dynasty|great Mughal]] . <ref name="sge">{{Cite journal |last=Sociedad Geográfica Española |title=«Antonio de Montserrat: En la última frontera». |url=http://www.sge.org/sociedad-geografica-espanola/publicaciones/boletines/numeros-publicados/boletin-no-43/antoni-de-montserrat-en-la-ultima-frontera.html |journal=Boletín Nº 43 de la SGE |access-date=2021-07-18}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126074311/http://www.sge.org/sociedad-geografica-espanola/publicaciones/boletines/numeros-publicados/boletin-no-43/antoni-de-montserrat-en-la-ultima-frontera.html|date=2015-11-26}}</ref> In her account, Montserrat records the experiences, the peoples, the cultures and the geography that she was able to observe on her journey from the capital of the [[Mughal Empire]], [[Fatehpur Sikri]], to [[Afghanistan]], passing through the current Indian states from [[Kashmir]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Jammu]], the [[Punjab region|Punjab]] region, [[Pakistan]] or the [[Himalayas|Himalayan]] ranges and the [[Hindu Kush]] .

The book is of great interest because it gives news for the first time of regions, ethnicities, religions, cultures and traditions unknown until then in the West, such as those of the Himalayas, which precisely motivated the Portuguese expedition of [[António de Andrade]] in Tibet - the first European - in 1624. <ref>{{Cite book |last=Wessels |first=C. |title=Early Jesuit travellers in Central Asia 1603-1721 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |year=1997 |isbn=81-206-0741-4 |language=en}}</ref>

The ''Mongolicae Legationis Commentarius'' is complemented by a miniature map widely recognized for its great value and accuracy, which gave it validity until the segle xix and considered the author of the first roof map of the world. <ref name="VilaWeb 2021 w720">{{cite web |date=2021-07-15 |title=De quan els catalans descobrien terra ignota |url=https://www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/de-quan-els-catalans-descobrien-terra-ignota/ |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=VilaWeb |language=ca}}</ref> Although it is generally known as the "Map of the Himalayas", the truth is that Montserrat gives much more extensive descriptions that include India, [[Pakistan]], [[Afghanistan]] and [[Tibet]]. <ref name="VilaWeb 2021 w720" />

In 1582, Montserrat returned to Goa, where he began to write the chronicle in Latin, which he finished after he was released from his captivity, finishing it shortly before his death. It is not clear whether Montserrat wrote the book in Latin or in Portuguese - like ''Relaçam de Equebar, rei dos mogoras'' - although only a Latin version has survived.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* MONTSERRAT de, Antoni; [[Josep Lluís Alay|ALAY, Josep Lluís]] (edició i traducció): ''Ambaixador a la cort del Gran Mogol. Viatges d'un jesuïta català del segle XVI a l'Índia, Pakistan, Afganistan i Himàlaia'', Lleida, 2002.
* Martí Escayol, Maria Antònia. “Antoni de Montserrat in the Mughal Garden of good government European construction of Indian nature”, Word, Image, Text; Studies in Literary and Visual Culture, ed. Shormistha Panja et. al., Orient Blackswan, New Delhi, 2009. {{ISBN|978-81-250-3735-4}}

[[Category:Books about regions]]
[[Category:Geography of India]]

Mongolicae Legationis Commentarius - Revision history

Creator0077: Created page with 'Mongolicae Legationis Commentarius'