1545.—"At the end of these two days the King ... caused the Captains that were at the Guard of the Gates to leave them and retire; whereupon the miserable City of Martabano was delivered to the mercy of the Souldiers ... and therein showed themselves so cruel-minded, that the thing they made least reckoning of was to kill 100 men for a crown."—Pinto, in Cogan, 203.
1553.—"And the towns which stand outside this gulf of the Isles of Pegu (of which we have spoken) and are placed along the coast of that country, are Vagara, Martaban, a city notable in the great trade that it enjoys, and further on Rey, Talaga, and Tavay."—Barros, I. ix. 1.
1568.—"Trouassimo nella città di Martauan intorno a nouanta Portoghesi, tra mercadanti e huomini vagabondi, li quali stauano in gran differenza co' Rettorì della città."—Ces. Federici, in Ramusio, iii. 393.
1586.—"The city of Martaban hath its front to the south-east, south, and south-west, and stands on a river which there enters the sea ... it is a city of Mauparagia, a Prince of the King of Pegu's."—Gasparo Balbi, f. 129v, 130v.
1680.—"That the English may settle ffactorys at Serian, Pegu, and Ava ... and alsoe that they may settle a ffactory in like manner at Mortavan...."—Articles to be proposed to the King of Barma and Pegu in Notes and Exts., No. iii. p. 8.
1695.—"Concerning Bartholomew Rodrigues.... I am informed and do believe he put into Mortavan for want of wood and water, and was there seized by the King's officers, because not bound to that Place."—Governor Higginson, in Dalrymple, Or. Repert. ii. 342-3.
MARTABAN, s. This name was given to vessels of a peculiar pottery, of very large size, and glazed, which were famous all over the East for many centuries, and were exported from Martaban. They were sometimes called Pegu jars, and under that name specimens were shown at the Great Exhibition of 1851. We have not been able to obtain recent information on the subject of this manufacture. The word appears to be now obsolete in India, except as a colloquial term in Telegu. [The word is certainly not obsolete in Upper India: "The 'martaban' (Plate ii. fig. 10) is a small deep jar with an elongated body, which is used by Hindus and Muhammadans to keep pickles and acid articles" (Hallifax, Mono. of Punjab Pottery, p. 9). In the endeavour to supply a Hindi derivation it has been derived from imrita-bān, 'the holder of the water of immortality.' In the Arabian Nights the word appears in the form bartaman, and is used for a crock in which gold is buried. (Burton, xi. 26). Mr. Bell saw some large earthenware jars at Malé, some about 2 feet high, called rumba; others larger and barrel-shaped, called mātabān. (Pyrard, Hak. Soc. i. 259.) For the modern manufacture, see Scott, Gazetteer of Upper Burma, 1900, Pt. i. vol. ii. 399 seq.]
c. 1350.—"Then the Princess made me a present consisting of dresses, of two elephant-loads of rice, of two she-buffaloes, ten sheep, four rotls of cordial syrup, and four Martabāns, or huge jars, filled with pepper, citron, and mango, all prepared with salt, as for a sea-voyage."—Ibn Batuta, iv. 253.
(?).—"Un grand bassin de Martabani."—1001 Jours, ed. Paris 1826, ii. 19. We do not know the date of these stories. The French translator has a note explaining "porcelaine verte."
1508.—"The lac (lacre) which your Highness desired me to send, it will be a piece of good luck to get, because these ships depart early, and the vessels from Pegu and Martaban come late. But I hope for a good quantity of it, as I have given orders for it."—Letter from the Viceroy Dom Francisco Almeida to the King. In Correa, i. 900.