A Feast In Exile

PART II TULSI KIL Prologue

  Text of a letter from Zal Iniattir to his uncle Rustam Iniattir, carried on the merchant ship Dolphin's Eye to Fustat in the Mameluke Empire.

  To my most respected uncle, the leader of our family, my greetings from this place in the Vindhya Mountains where we have found sanctuary at last. Asirgarh is not as fine a city as Delhi, but we have been received here with hospitality, and we are safe for the time being. Here they will tell us the law and we will abide by it for the good of our House.

  We were able to leave Delhi before the army of the Sultan was humiliated by Timur-i and therefore we have kept most of our treasure, although certain sums had to be paid to bring us safely here. I will try to establish our House here and once again begin trading on the merchants' roads of the broad world where Timur-i has not brought destruction.

  I have not yet met with the camel-drivers and muleteers who carried our goods from Delhi; I fear some of them may have seen this as an opportunity and claimed our crates and chests as theirs, and struck out to other markets on their own. I am resigned to losing some of our goods in this fashion, but most should arrive in due course.

  Our House owes a debt of gratitude to Sanat Ji Mani: truly he is named, for he is a treasure of an ancient soul. He made it possible for me to escape without sacrificing all our goods and our holdings, which I despaired of doing. Without his help, we would not have won free of Delhi before it fell and all would be lost. I do not know if he himself escaped, but I have heard that few did once Timur-i entered the gates of the city.

  There is a rumor that Timur-i was overthrown at Delhi and his nephew put up in his place. They say that Timur-i now wanders the roads, lame and blind, afraid and without friends. I do not know if I believe this, for I have heard something of the kind before, but everyone is saying it, and it may be true. I have it on good authority that the soldiers of Timur-i are preparing to leave Delhi and to continue their rampage across the land.

  It is assumed that Timur-i will remain in the north, which is why I have chosen this city to the south. This place is not as fine as Delhi, but it has many things to recommend it. We have mountains and two rivers between us and Delhi, so that even if Timur-i's army should strike out in this direction, we will have time enough to leave, if we must.

  In this new city, we have purchased a house and I have gone to the Camel-Drivers' Market to learn as much as I can about the state of trade in this place. I have not been successful at all I have sought to accomplish, for these people do not know Parsi and they fear us as strangers; I am engaged now in reassuring the people, for I know we will not prosper until we are welcome.

  To that end, I am planning an entertainment for the merchants of the city. It will be costly, but I cannot doubt it will prove to be beneficial to our House. It is allowed for foreigners to prepare such entertainments if they do not compromise any merchant native to this city. It will be my intention to bring no criticism upon our House in this or any venture.

  I have asked the magistrates in this place how I might best go about this, and I am told that sponsoring a festival for an occasion they call Danja would be a useful means to accomplish our ends. Danja occurs on the second full moon after the dark of the year, which does not give me much time for preparation, but I shall contrive somehow.

  You will need to find ships that come to Suret, Daman, and Chaul in order to reach Asirgarh without passing through lands caught up in fighting, such as is still the case in Gujerat. It will be some while until Cambay is a safe harbor for ships carrying our goods, for although the primary battles are over, thousands of those trying to escape Timur-i have flooded into Gujerat in the hope that they will be beyond Timur-i's reach there. We would be likely to lose all our cargo to thieves and taxes if we attempted to sail into or from that port.

  Believe me when I tell you that as much as we have lost, we have not lost as much as we might have. We will be able to reestablish our House in its position of achievement once again, no matter what Timur-i's soldiers do in the world. It is heartening to me to see the opportunities around us, for I had not thought we would be so fortunate for many years to come.

  I am already forging agreements for caravans, and although we have had to give up much of our wealth and our goods for trade, we are not without means. The merchants here are eager to find new markets and I can assure them of such. We can outfit a new caravan in a month or two. We still have three caravans traveling; they will reach Sirpur before the rains come, and with what they bring we can continue our trading. You, too, are now able to enter into trading, and that will benefit our House.

  We have taken a house in the Foreigners' Quarter, in the Street of the Weavers. I have paid handsomely for it, and it should suffice for several years. The magistrates have approved our ownership and I have made a gift to the local ruler, who is inclined to be well-disposed on our behalf. I will purchase slaves and engage servants within the next two months, as I make arrangements with the city government for such enlargements.

  I have asked for permission to dedicate a cave to our faith and the wisdom of Zarathustra. I have not been given an answer from the magistrates in this city, but I am hopeful of an answer soon. When they decide if we are to be allowed to worship, I will notify you at once, so that you may include prayers for us as we will pray for you.

  I trust you will receive this quickly and will have an answer to me before the rains begin; I would not ask you to try to get us word in such bad weather. If I must wait a year instead of half of one to hear from you, so be it. Our work continues and our House endures.

  With utmost respect and dedication,

  Zal Iniattir

  at Asirgirh, by messenger