e in that country. At this place likewise Don
Alexius met _Topamuta Pandara_, king of _Gundara_[424] in the
neighbourhood of _Changanate_, to whom he presented a letter from king
Philip giving him the _title of brother_, for having allowed liberty for
the exercise of the Christian religion in his dominions[425].

[Footnote 423: Only a few pages before these men are named _Xanio_ and
_Prod_; but we have no means of ascertaining which are the right
names.--E.]

[Footnote 424: These petty kings of small districts in the South of
India are now known by the titles of Polygars; and the hereditary female
chiefs are stiled _Rana_. It is prostituting the dignity of king to give
that denomination to the chiefs of small villages and trifling
districts, often not so large as parishes in Europe. They are mere
temporary chiefs, occasionally hereditary by sufferance; indeed such
could not possibly be otherwise, when all the larger dominions and even
empires have been in perpetual fluctuation from revolution and conquest
for at least 3000 years.--E.]

[Footnote 425: The history of this ancient Christian church of Malabar
has been lately illustrated by the Christian Researches of Dr Buchannan,
who seems to have opened a door for the propagation of the gospel in
India infinitely promising, if judiciously taken advantage of.--E.]

In the year 1596, a Moor, named _Pate Marcar_ obtained leave from the
zamorin to build a fort in the peninsula of Pudepatam, 77 leagues from
Goa and 33 from Cochin, where was a most convenient station for
piratical paraos, to annoy the trade of the Malabar coast; and having
built a square fort at this place, he went thither with all his kinsmen
and followers, and did much injury to the Portuguese and their allies,
even making incursions upon their maritime possessions, whence, on
several occasions, he carried off much spoil. Pate Marcar soon died, and
was succeeded in the sovereignty of the fort by his nephew Mahomet
Cuneale Marcar, who added greatly to the strength of the fort; and
foreseeing that the Portuguese might seek to be revenged for the
injuries they had sustained, he fortified the town both by sea, and
land, which he named _Cuneale_ after himself. On the land side he made a
deep ditch with a double wall above seven feet thick, flanked at regular
distances with towers called _zarames_, all of which were mounted with
small cannon. Between the two creeks forming the peninsula, he built a
strong wall