The Unpublished Manuscript of Alcalá: Chronicle of the Jesuit Jerónimo Xavier on the Prodigies of an Ape at the Court of Emperor Jahangir

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Alfonso Ojeda-Marín
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1778-8557

The missionary Jerome Xavier, as well as English diplomats accredited to Emperor Jahangir, spread a festive, yet intriguing story about the divinatory qualities of a Bengali ape who always selected the religion of Christ. This episode of entertainment generated more notoriety in Europe than in India, being interpreted as a miraculous action or as an illusionist’s trick. The Archives of Alcalá (AESI-E) keeps a copy of the handwritten letter sent by Fr. Xavier to Visitor Pimenta, a letter that recounts the details of the event. This article aims to contextualize the circumstances and perceptions generated by the news and then compare them with the English ones.

Keywords
Jesuits, Bengal ape, Jahangir, Jerome Xavier, Thomas Roe

Article Details

How to Cite
Ojeda-Marín, Alfonso. “The Unpublished Manuscript of Alcalá: Chronicle of the Jesuit Jerónimo Xavier on the Prodigies of an Ape at the Court of Emperor Jahangir”. Indialogs, 2025, vol.VOL 12, no. 1, pp. 129-50, doi:10.5565/rev/indialogs.293.
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(c) Alfonso Ojeda-Marín, 2025


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Author Biography

Alfonso Ojeda-Marín, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Profesor Titular de Derecho Administrativo. Departamento de Derecho Administrativo.

Presidente honorario del Centro Español de Investigaciones Coreanas (CEIC)

Director de la Asociación Promotora de Museos Asiáticos en España (APMAE)

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