Fray Sebastien Manrique (; c. 1590 – 1669) was a Portuguese Augustinian missionary and traveler. He traveled around countries of the East for about sixteen years during 1628–1643. In 1653, he published his work, titled ''Itinerario de las Missiones Orientales del P. Manrique'' (Itinerary of the Oriental Missions of Father Manrique), in Rome. Manrique traveled to India and reached

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

in September 1640 to inspect the Portuguese Catholic Church. He spent about 27 days in Dhaka. In 1628–29, he travelled from

Cochin Kochi ( , ), formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernaku ...

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

, residing in Hoogly for some months. He spent five years in

Arakan Arakan ( or ; , ), formerly anglicised as Aracan, is the historical geographical name for the northeastern coastal region of the Bay of Bengal, covering present-day Bangladesh and Myanmar. The region was called "Arakan" for centuries. It is ...

, following which he travelled to

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

. He sailed for Japan, but was stopped by Portuguese authorities in Manila and Macao. After that, he returned to India. He returned to Europe by land, passing through

Qandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

and

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. He had left India in 1641 and reached home in July 1643. Particularly noted among his writings are the ones relating to Arakan, where he recorded the customs of the court and people that were mixed with Buddhist, Muslim and

animist Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...

ideas. The first volume of the ''Itinerario'' is one of the few pre-19th-century western accounts of the kingdom. He was murdered in 1669 in London by his Portuguese servant.

References

1590s births 1669 deaths 17th-century Portuguese explorers Explorers of South Asia People from Portuguese India 17th-century Portuguese writers 17th-century Portuguese male writers Portuguese travel writers People from Porto Portuguese murder victims Portuguese Roman Catholic missionaries {{Portugal-writer-stub