NICOLAUS DE GRAAFF’S ACCOUNT ASSOCIATED WITH RAJA SHIVA CHHATRAPATI. AMOL N. BANKAR KEYWORDS: Chhatrapati Shivaji, Nicolaus De Graaff, Rao Amarsingh Chandrawat, Monghyr (Munger), Wingerlaa (Vengurla), Commander Lobs, Robbert Leinsa. INTRODUCTION: Nicolaus De Graaff (also known as Nicolaas de Graaff, Nikolaas de Graaf, and Nicolas de Graaf) was a Dutch surgeon, traveller and writer. He wrote two highly significant travel accounts based on his experience of more than 29 years of service at sea, spanning a 48-year period. De Graaff’s lengthy career at sea began and ended with five protracted voyages to the East Indies in the service of the Dutch Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC). During the intervening two decades, he visited Greenland and Spitzbergen aboard a whaler; served on four trading voyages of a year or more to the Mediterranean, and one to the Baltic; made a three year cruise to the West Indies and Brazil in the service of the Westindische Compagnie; and saw action in the second Anglo-Dutch War, serving under Admiral de Ruiter in 1666–1667. His two books, published together, are rich sources of information about life at sea, the ship’s articles and regulations, rations, the terrible toll exacted by scurvy on long voyages, and the harsh discipline and cruel punishments aboard VOC ships, which were far more severe than on Dutch navy ships. Apart from carefully recording his whereabouts and observations, de Graaff wrote impersonally. As for personal information, de Graaff reveals only that in 1663, on his third voyage to the East Indies, his son Johannes accompanied him as a surgeon’s assistant, and died at sea on a subsequent voyage in 1670. 1 He had authored two works; Reisen van Nicolaus de Graaff, na de vier gedeeltens des Werelds, als Asia, Africa, America en Europa . . . [Journey of Nicolaus de Graaff, around the Four Parts of the World, Asia, Africa, America and Europe . . .] published in 1701 and ‘Nikolas Graafs Reise auf dem Ganges’ [Nicolaus de Graaff’s Journey on the Ganges] published in 1752. While ‘Reisen’ is mainly a sailor’s logbook, or chronological itinerary, ‘Oost-Indise Spiegel’ is a fully detailed description of the VOC ships and their operation, and of Batavia (Jakarta), the company’s East Indian headquarters, as well as of other VOC trading stations and factories, from the Cape of Good Hope to Ceylon, Formosa, and the East Indies proper. Despite this outspoken criticism, de Graaff was, to the end, a loyal company man, quick to defend this “pearl in the crown of the Netherlands” from critics. If its prices appeared high and its wages low, that was merely because of the high costs of operating and maintaining a colonial empire overseas. Rather than merely dismissing such criticism as the product of ignorance, de Graaff took pains to provide details. Indeed, aware that he was addressing readers whose only knowledge of the East was based on hearsay, de Graaff declared his desire to give his audience a true picture. Thus he devoted the balance of the Spiegel to a combination of travelogue and proper sailing instructions, in which he provided a tour of the countries and ports of the East, with digressions on their exports, local history, and social customs, as well as other points of interest. De Graaff was a keen and intelligent observer and a lively stylist. That his books are leavened with humour, cynicism, and a strong measure of righteous indignation renders them entertaining as well as informative. 2 According to Nieuwenhuys, Nicolaus de Graaff was ‘a remarkable man’ as the publisher of his Travels (Reisen) somewhat vaguely characterises him. He appears to have been a restless character, an inventive and experienced surgeon, and moreover, a first-class storyteller. His writings have un-equated vigour. De Graaff has both an eye for detail and a sense of humour. He shows himself, for example, to be an expert in popular etymology. He addressed the Great Mogul Aurangzeb as ‘Orange Chief’. 3