What do you think?
Rate this book
The First Firangis:Remarkable Stories of Heroes, Healers, Charlatans, Courtesans & other Foreigners who Became Indian
The Indian subcontinent has been a land of immigrants for thousands of years: waves of migration from Persia, Central Asia, Mongolia, the Middle East and Greece have helped create India’s exceptionally diverse cultural mix. In the centuries before the British Raj, when the Mughals were the preeminent power in the subcontinent, a wide array of migrants known as ‘firangis’ made India their home. In this book, Jonathan Gil Harris, a twenty-first-century firangi, tells their stories.
These gripping accounts are of healers, soldiers, artists, ascetics, thieves, pirates and courtesans who were not powerful or privileged. Often they were escaping poverty or religious persecution; many were brought here as slaves; others simply followed their spirit of adventure. Some of these migrants were absorbed into the military. Others fell in with religious communities—the Catholics of Rachol, the underground Jews of Goa, the fakirs of Ajmer, the Sufis of Delhi. Healers from Portugal and Italy adapted their medical practice in accordance with local traditions. Gifted artisans from Europe joined Akbar’s and Jahangir’s royal ateliers, and helped create enduring works of art. And though almost invisible within the archival record, some migrant women such as the Armenian Bibi Juliana and the Portuguese Juliana Dias da Costa found a home in royal Mughal harems.
Jonathan Gil Harris uses his own experience of becoming Indian through the process of acclimatizing to the country’s culture, customs, weather, food, clothes and customs to bring the stories of these shadowy figures to vivid life.
These gripping accounts are of healers, soldiers, artists, ascetics, thieves, pirates and courtesans who were not powerful or privileged. Often they were escaping poverty or religious persecution; many were brought here as slaves; others simply followed their spirit of adventure. Some of these migrants were absorbed into the military. Others fell in with religious communities—the Catholics of Rachol, the underground Jews of Goa, the fakirs of Ajmer, the Sufis of Delhi. Healers from Portugal and Italy adapted their medical practice in accordance with local traditions. Gifted artisans from Europe joined Akbar’s and Jahangir’s royal ateliers, and helped create enduring works of art. And though almost invisible within the archival record, some migrant women such as the Armenian Bibi Juliana and the Portuguese Juliana Dias da Costa found a home in royal Mughal harems.
Jonathan Gil Harris uses his own experience of becoming Indian through the process of acclimatizing to the country’s culture, customs, weather, food, clothes and customs to bring the stories of these shadowy figures to vivid life.
345 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
90 people are currently reading
437 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 29, 2018
Long before Europeans emerged as the de facto rulers of the Indian subcontinent, a position wrested from the local populace through sheer force and guile, the average European, or firangi, was just a normal class of migrant in India. This statement is probably at odds with your mental picture of the average European settler in India - haughty, uncompromising in their foreignness, disdainful of local traditions.
But this wasn't always the case, especially in the era before colonial powers called the shots. Firangis, after all, predate colonialism, and have been migrating to the region ever since Vasco da Gama landed on the Malabar coast. Usually identified by their Christian faith (or origins, in the case of converts), these firangis came to be influenced by India in profound ways, each one with their own unique story of becoming Indian.
This book is a well researched collection of multiple accounts of becoming Indian, each involving different aspects of acclimitization (literal and figurative) to India, adapting to local culture, and processes of retraining one's natural instincts and lifestyle to suit the rhythms, whims, and demands of India's physical, social, and cultural geography. Each story is a mini biography in itself, complete with different historical sources, covering a wide range of languages, from Persian, to English, to Portuguese. Some of these names and stories are likely familiar, in bits and pieces.
From a Portuguese lady of the harem/doctor whose Delhi jāgīr still bears signs of her life, to a British comedic wit looking to write the ultimate travelogue, to a Dutch admiral of Travancore, to a haughty Italian origin Siddha doctor gone native, these stories show us a whole spectrum of becoming Indian, India itself, and more importantly, the common humanity that binds us all.
The level of depth, nuance, and research is quite impressive, especially taking into account the fact that for many of these stories, all we have are apocryphal, often innacurate and conflicting accounts by chroniclers with their own biases. From this confused haystack of unreliable stories, the author manages to find the needle that weaves the common thread of narrative.
The author, himself a firangi in India, describes vividly this process of becoming Indian, with anecdotes and experiences from his own life. Some of the metaphors he uses, for example the motif of bodies changing and food being ingested seem a little eccentric and are overused to the point of heavy handedness repeatedly throughout the book, making the flow awkward and forced at points. The writing is solid otherwise, no doubt in small part thanks to the author's own background.
Overall, a pretty interesting read that reveals a lot about how Indian society worked before colonialism took strong root in the region, showing us a vivid picture of culture, syncretism, and exchange that helps us understand better what it means to be Indian.
But this wasn't always the case, especially in the era before colonial powers called the shots. Firangis, after all, predate colonialism, and have been migrating to the region ever since Vasco da Gama landed on the Malabar coast. Usually identified by their Christian faith (or origins, in the case of converts), these firangis came to be influenced by India in profound ways, each one with their own unique story of becoming Indian.
This book is a well researched collection of multiple accounts of becoming Indian, each involving different aspects of acclimitization (literal and figurative) to India, adapting to local culture, and processes of retraining one's natural instincts and lifestyle to suit the rhythms, whims, and demands of India's physical, social, and cultural geography. Each story is a mini biography in itself, complete with different historical sources, covering a wide range of languages, from Persian, to English, to Portuguese. Some of these names and stories are likely familiar, in bits and pieces.
From a Portuguese lady of the harem/doctor whose Delhi jāgīr still bears signs of her life, to a British comedic wit looking to write the ultimate travelogue, to a Dutch admiral of Travancore, to a haughty Italian origin Siddha doctor gone native, these stories show us a whole spectrum of becoming Indian, India itself, and more importantly, the common humanity that binds us all.
The level of depth, nuance, and research is quite impressive, especially taking into account the fact that for many of these stories, all we have are apocryphal, often innacurate and conflicting accounts by chroniclers with their own biases. From this confused haystack of unreliable stories, the author manages to find the needle that weaves the common thread of narrative.
The author, himself a firangi in India, describes vividly this process of becoming Indian, with anecdotes and experiences from his own life. Some of the metaphors he uses, for example the motif of bodies changing and food being ingested seem a little eccentric and are overused to the point of heavy handedness repeatedly throughout the book, making the flow awkward and forced at points. The writing is solid otherwise, no doubt in small part thanks to the author's own background.
Overall, a pretty interesting read that reveals a lot about how Indian society worked before colonialism took strong root in the region, showing us a vivid picture of culture, syncretism, and exchange that helps us understand better what it means to be Indian.
March 18, 2015
Fascinating stories of the early foreigners (mostly Europeans, some African and east asians) who came to India and became 'indian'. And how they affected Indian history. Though foreigners have come in India since the time of theAaryan invasion...Harris concentrates on those who came with the Portuguese and later. He obviously relates to them as a fellow firangi whose heart (and body) becomes Indian. Some of the most interesting stories are of the good catholic Portuguese doctor, who is quite another person in Goa; the college educated englishman who becomes a eloquent fakir in Ajmer; the snobbish Venetian who alas becomes too Indian to return to Europe. the author has a flair for dramatic twists and he talks about the physicality of becoming an indian. IMO the only drawback of the book is that some of th accounts have very less historical evidence and based on a lot of imagination. Still a great read for fans of history, expats, firangis and the like and most useful for those who see India and Indians as a insular civilisation.:)
April 20, 2020
Convoluted verbiage. Extrapolation based on fragmentary evidence.
July 11, 2019
DNF this book. Will try again in future!
January 21, 2020
Remarkable historical research
An very well researched account of immigrants to India in the pre-british era. Never realised the so many people made India their home and were well integrated, adopting local cultures.
An very well researched account of immigrants to India in the pre-british era. Never realised the so many people made India their home and were well integrated, adopting local cultures.
October 16, 2016
I encountered this book, when I was researching material for my post Of Foreigners & Their Blades; it all started because of the word: firangi.
The First Firangis by Jonathan Gil Harris is a collection of stories of “foreigners.”
Harris uses the backdrop of the human body to write these twelve stories. This is a new way to look at history, through lives of people and how they adapted to foreign conditions and became natives so to speak. The author’s background as a professor of English literature shines throughout the length of the book. The cross-references to social and political dynamics in various regions offer an insightful context to the lives of the people we are reading about and the placement of these lives in these contexts, is done with care and thought. The scope and quality of research is on display, through the 300 pages of story-telling.
The book starts with good pace and is an enjoyable read, at least till you get to a fourth of the book. This far, I felt immersed in the stories, then, slowly the texture and style of the writing unravels. In the first quarter of the book, it was perhaps the well-peppered trivia — mostly etymological and place names — that distracted me from what was going on, in the book.
And what was going on in the book unravels itself in an introduction to a story, somewhere in the middle of the book, by Harris himself:
It took me a while to read ahead in the book after this statement. I kept going back and forth between the stories, that I had already read, and then proceeded reading the rest of the book. The mapping of the stories to the “human body” themes — arriving, running, renaming, re-clothing, swerving, weathering — felt forcefully fitted. It slowly starts becoming clear why. For most of the people whose stories are being told, the available information is scanty. There are many assumptions made (not necessarily unreasonable) to help the storyline. Connectors like: “we can only imagine”, “may have”, “could have been”, “while we do not know", "we can only speculate", are abundant. While this is acceptable when linking two disconnected facts, Harris often takes two far-away facts and connects them through a series of conjectures. At times, and perhaps because of the bodily themes, the story-telling seems contrived; the assumptions force-fitted.
The author almost demands that the reader situates and imagines the lives of these people through the author’s lens and perspective. To that effect, this book, which had much more potential to tell wonderful stories, stops short.
*
It is perhaps a happy coincidence that I am reading What Is History? by E. H. Carr, while I write this review. I thought of The First Firangis, when I read:
If we regard Harris like Carr asks us, this book is a great read.
The First Firangis by Jonathan Gil Harris is a collection of stories of “foreigners.”
Harris uses the backdrop of the human body to write these twelve stories. This is a new way to look at history, through lives of people and how they adapted to foreign conditions and became natives so to speak. The author’s background as a professor of English literature shines throughout the length of the book. The cross-references to social and political dynamics in various regions offer an insightful context to the lives of the people we are reading about and the placement of these lives in these contexts, is done with care and thought. The scope and quality of research is on display, through the 300 pages of story-telling.
The book starts with good pace and is an enjoyable read, at least till you get to a fourth of the book. This far, I felt immersed in the stories, then, slowly the texture and style of the writing unravels. In the first quarter of the book, it was perhaps the well-peppered trivia — mostly etymological and place names — that distracted me from what was going on, in the book.
And what was going on in the book unravels itself in an introduction to a story, somewhere in the middle of the book, by Harris himself:
Stories and clothes are, if only metaphorically, closely related. As my phrasing in the previous paragraph suggests, stories are woven and unwoven; we say spin a yarn, or tease out a tale, or lose the thread of a narrative.
It took me a while to read ahead in the book after this statement. I kept going back and forth between the stories, that I had already read, and then proceeded reading the rest of the book. The mapping of the stories to the “human body” themes — arriving, running, renaming, re-clothing, swerving, weathering — felt forcefully fitted. It slowly starts becoming clear why. For most of the people whose stories are being told, the available information is scanty. There are many assumptions made (not necessarily unreasonable) to help the storyline. Connectors like: “we can only imagine”, “may have”, “could have been”, “while we do not know", "we can only speculate", are abundant. While this is acceptable when linking two disconnected facts, Harris often takes two far-away facts and connects them through a series of conjectures. At times, and perhaps because of the bodily themes, the story-telling seems contrived; the assumptions force-fitted.
The author almost demands that the reader situates and imagines the lives of these people through the author’s lens and perspective. To that effect, this book, which had much more potential to tell wonderful stories, stops short.
*
It is perhaps a happy coincidence that I am reading What Is History? by E. H. Carr, while I write this review. I thought of The First Firangis, when I read:
Before you study the history, study the historian. […] Before you study the historian, study his historical and social environment. The historian, being an individual, is also a product of history and of society; and it is in this twofold light that the student of history must learn to regard him.
If we regard Harris like Carr asks us, this book is a great read.
February 13, 2015
So, what exactly happened when Jonathan Gil Harris, himself a descendent from a long list of migrants and now living and working in New Delhi, ‘traced the outlines of rather different modes of contact between firangi and desi’ by drawing on ‘modern day interludes’ of his own life? His readers were encouraged to give thought to the following - the concept of body and bodily transformation; the problem of absolute identity; the idea of history hidden in ‘subjunctive’ art and finally, the relevance of connecting the past with the present. To examine each of these individually helps see how Jonathan answers ‘How can a firangi become a Mughal painter?’ with a detective’s eyes and ears which collate stray ‘echoes’ of history scattered around.
[To read more, please visit this link - http://www.sakshinanda.com/2015/02/bo...]
[To read more, please visit this link - http://www.sakshinanda.com/2015/02/bo...]
February 20, 2015
A truly lovely read about some of the earliest foreigners who came to India and made this country their own by adopting its customs and at times adapting themselves as well to their radically different conditions. Although some of them came as slaves, some of them came of their own accord and some of them came here without actually having a choice, the fact remains that all of the 'firangis' mentioned in this book made India their home and have also probably contributed in what makes this country a beautiful melting pot of all cultures; true unity in diversity.
February 5, 2015
Awesome..!! Well researched and well written.
December 23, 2018
Interesting stories of Firangis (Foreigners used loosely in Hindi) coming to India from around the world. It is based on travelers, mendicants, diplomats, traders and military generals who left their countries to come to India, be transformed and participate in the Indian milieu especially between the 16th and 18th Centuries before the dawn of British rule in India.
The tales are gripping and make you realize that even the India in Mughal times (and even before) was multicultural and a rich tapestry of people who migrated from other lands as diverse as Ethiopia, Armenia, Georgia, Macau and Portugal. Very well researched and written. This is a good companion to the White Mughals by William Dalrymple. The book gives a fascinating glimpse into how it was to live in 16th-18th Century along both the coasts, in peninsular India or the Mughal courts and zenanas.
The only somewhat irritating part of the book is the author keeps harping on the fact that people bodies are transformed due to the environment. Still overall a very good read.
The tales are gripping and make you realize that even the India in Mughal times (and even before) was multicultural and a rich tapestry of people who migrated from other lands as diverse as Ethiopia, Armenia, Georgia, Macau and Portugal. Very well researched and written. This is a good companion to the White Mughals by William Dalrymple. The book gives a fascinating glimpse into how it was to live in 16th-18th Century along both the coasts, in peninsular India or the Mughal courts and zenanas.
The only somewhat irritating part of the book is the author keeps harping on the fact that people bodies are transformed due to the environment. Still overall a very good read.
July 18, 2019
This is definitely a very interesting book. I had not heard of some of these firangis, and Jonathan Harris does indeed do a good job of reconstructing the times in which the lived. Some of them did indeed seem to have served India well, but for some of them, I can't say the same.
That they could come in and contribute does indeed provide a good testament to India's more multicultural past, and it would be good for our current politicians to pay good heed to this.
I do like his method of interspersing the book with some sections on being Indian. This does put sections of the book into an interesting context.
I did learn a lot from this book, and I would recommend this to anyone who wishes to understand India's past a bit more fully.
That they could come in and contribute does indeed provide a good testament to India's more multicultural past, and it would be good for our current politicians to pay good heed to this.
I do like his method of interspersing the book with some sections on being Indian. This does put sections of the book into an interesting context.
I did learn a lot from this book, and I would recommend this to anyone who wishes to understand India's past a bit more fully.
July 5, 2020
This was definitely a different read!
I have always been fascinated to know how people from different parts of the world, who moved to India, lived and what was their life like and whether they actually transformed slowly to someone else. This book actually hits on the right note and answers a lot of my questions. This book is a product of great research and an amazing understanding. It's a complex book, so read only if you find this whole idea to be catching your attention.
I have always been fascinated to know how people from different parts of the world, who moved to India, lived and what was their life like and whether they actually transformed slowly to someone else. This book actually hits on the right note and answers a lot of my questions. This book is a product of great research and an amazing understanding. It's a complex book, so read only if you find this whole idea to be catching your attention.
February 1, 2021
Absolutely riveting! I can't believe how extensive amount of research has been conducted by the author to bring to life these lesser known travelling through the late medieval India.
Some of them I had heard about before but didn't know much about them and how they viewed India and changed themselves to live in this adopted homeland was most fascinating.
Some of them I had heard about before but didn't know much about them and how they viewed India and changed themselves to live in this adopted homeland was most fascinating.
March 12, 2018
A very different chapter of Indian history through interesting stories of how we have always welcomed foreigners into our society and culture, and how even they have embraced it wholeheartedly. An amazing read.
November 23, 2020
I was so excited to start this book, but soon realized how repetitive it was and how shallow the ideas discussed were. How a new land impacts your body? C'mon!
I couldn't read it after a few chapters.
I couldn't read it after a few chapters.
April 17, 2020
It is a good platform
November 10, 2022
Interesting stories about the foreigners who came to india before invasions. Stories are kind of stretched and based on less evidences.
March 9, 2017
A treat to imagining a lesser known India where a Mughal king was more enlightened than a Christian missionary with regard to women. (Shah alam replied that 'the firangi... was not a man but a woman', and that if Manucci wished he could marry her. interestingly, shah alam also told Manucci that 'she could serve to carry my medicines to the mahal'. Manucci angrily replied that 'she was no use for that, as medicines administered by a woman's hand produced no effect'. Pg 178) ...
The book throws light into how these foreign nationals adopted India as their land and how India accepted and revered these foreign nationals in their myriad professions, relationships and politics of the land.
The story of pirates, fakirs, medicine men, women taking important roles in Mughal court.... the book left my imagination run wild. I could almost walk through that elusive era.
The book throws light into how these foreign nationals adopted India as their land and how India accepted and revered these foreign nationals in their myriad professions, relationships and politics of the land.
The story of pirates, fakirs, medicine men, women taking important roles in Mughal court.... the book left my imagination run wild. I could almost walk through that elusive era.
Read
January 10, 2020Very fascinating stories! Book read academically at times and I remain unconvinced of the ‘embodiment’ thesis.
September 21, 2020
Jonathan lives in Delhi and practices for marathons and runs for marathons. In the process he learns to adjust his steps to the various obstacles that one encounters on a typical Indian road like potholes, bull shit, garbage etc. He is also adjusting the "extremely" spicy, oily food that the Indian thrive on. His body is adjusting to digest this new kind of fully cooked food rather than the rare meats that his body has been used to all this year. Add to this the adjustment to extreme heat of the summer and the polluted winters interspersed with a heavy monsoon and one can imagine the forces that Jonathan's body has to adjust and get used to.
Jonathan delves into the past and tries to elicit from the sparse documentation as to how it would have been for the initial immigrants who to came to India to adjust the completely alien culture,
costume, conversation, climate and cuisine.
The history he delves into starts with the 14th 15th century with the first of the Portuguese settlers and traces down to the times of the Mughal emperors. He covers the immigration to almost the whole of India starting with the south from where Portuguese started, the West covering Gujarat, in detail the Delhi and its environs and also Eastwards towards Bengal and what is today Bangladesh.
In the process he also somewhere plays a victim by claiming that many of the immigrants were "slaves" of the various rulers under whom they lived and worked for. The word slave has a specific feel to it and it is hard to consider these "firangis" to be slaves to the rulers in India. While there are exceptions most of them enjoyed the patronage of the royalty and were given a much better treatment than the hoi-polloi of the kingdom. Yes they may not have been treated on par with another royalty, but their position was definitely an enviable one for the local populace, irrespective of whether they were the white skinned people from Europe or the jet black ones from Abyssinia. They were either given high military position, or administrative position. A few were recognized for their artistic skills (this more during the times of the Mughals).
The fact that some of these, especially those from Abyssinia, were actually bought as "slaves" from owners who actually bought and transported the "slaves" along with them would definitely be a surprise to many Indians who, in my knowledge, have never heard or read about these facts. Although it is likely that the lives of many of these slaves would have improved after being bought by Indian rulers.
An interesting read.
Jonathan delves into the past and tries to elicit from the sparse documentation as to how it would have been for the initial immigrants who to came to India to adjust the completely alien culture,
costume, conversation, climate and cuisine.
The history he delves into starts with the 14th 15th century with the first of the Portuguese settlers and traces down to the times of the Mughal emperors. He covers the immigration to almost the whole of India starting with the south from where Portuguese started, the West covering Gujarat, in detail the Delhi and its environs and also Eastwards towards Bengal and what is today Bangladesh.
In the process he also somewhere plays a victim by claiming that many of the immigrants were "slaves" of the various rulers under whom they lived and worked for. The word slave has a specific feel to it and it is hard to consider these "firangis" to be slaves to the rulers in India. While there are exceptions most of them enjoyed the patronage of the royalty and were given a much better treatment than the hoi-polloi of the kingdom. Yes they may not have been treated on par with another royalty, but their position was definitely an enviable one for the local populace, irrespective of whether they were the white skinned people from Europe or the jet black ones from Abyssinia. They were either given high military position, or administrative position. A few were recognized for their artistic skills (this more during the times of the Mughals).
The fact that some of these, especially those from Abyssinia, were actually bought as "slaves" from owners who actually bought and transported the "slaves" along with them would definitely be a surprise to many Indians who, in my knowledge, have never heard or read about these facts. Although it is likely that the lives of many of these slaves would have improved after being bought by Indian rulers.
An interesting read.
April 7, 2016
The topic of the book is very interesting but the author's style of writing is very irritating. It seems like he was more interested in writing his own memoirs than about the topic itself. His constant use of Hindi slangs and references to Bollywood in English were not required.
The book had the potential to become a great book on a great topic but Jonathan Gill Harris's pretentiousness ruins it completely. The book is also overly stretched, he writes a lot of fantasies which are not informative nor entertaining, it seems like he tried to make this a novel almost with references to his own experiences and his interests. His reference to Shakespeare's plays, his fantasy of James Story's visit to fatehpur Sikri were just not needed.
The book is still a good read and quite informative but I would have prefered a simple straightforward book and not someone's attempt at becoming the next "Dalrymple".
The book had the potential to become a great book on a great topic but Jonathan Gill Harris's pretentiousness ruins it completely. The book is also overly stretched, he writes a lot of fantasies which are not informative nor entertaining, it seems like he tried to make this a novel almost with references to his own experiences and his interests. His reference to Shakespeare's plays, his fantasy of James Story's visit to fatehpur Sikri were just not needed.
The book is still a good read and quite informative but I would have prefered a simple straightforward book and not someone's attempt at becoming the next "Dalrymple".
November 12, 2015
A facet of pre-colonial India that I didn't know very much about at all- stories of various firangis (including firangi fakirs and warriors, and also firangi pirates and dakaits) who had made India their home and themselves became 'Indian' in different ways. Harris teases out their stories and traces their journeys from scant historical records and gives readers a fascinating peak into their lives. In some stories one feels details are a bit wanting but that is probably because there really isn't very much known about these people. What makes Harris' approach interesting and different is that he looks at changes that happen to the 'firangis' of the book and himself from a physiological point of view - and not so much other more 'common' aspects like dress or lifestyle or even philosophy or the spiritual aspects of life.
May 9, 2015
The fact that even with the advent of Christianity in India, the Indian caste system is still playing strong role in our society, has its roots in the decision taken by the missionaries to convert upper caste Brahmans. Much later when lower caste were taken in the upper caste still maintained their high handed caste practices making the Indian caste system unique.
Similarly the women, their chronicles are not preserved except the ones who found their way into the zenana of the royalty.
The book is essentially about the Firangis who were mango people. And there lies the true enchantment of this book. People who made it through sheer perseverance and courage when much was not known about the land of Hind in Europe.
Similarly the women, their chronicles are not preserved except the ones who found their way into the zenana of the royalty.
The book is essentially about the Firangis who were mango people. And there lies the true enchantment of this book. People who made it through sheer perseverance and courage when much was not known about the land of Hind in Europe.
November 22, 2015
An absolutely fantastic read, delves into a part of Indian history that hasnt been explored enough.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews