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Re: 80 jours: Golgonde vs Golconde

From: Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd <garmtdevries~at~gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Dec 2009 15:10:40 +0100
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

Hello Swati and Mahendra,

Thanks for your replies. Good to hear from the "locals" (no idea if
you actually live anywhere near Bengal though).

I also received a message from Teunis Ruijs, who had done a search on
mapquest.com, which yielded two places called Golkunda and one called
Golkandi, all of them located in West Bengal, en route from Allahabad
to Kolkata. Google Maps, however, is unaware of these places, and when
you search the web for "Golkandi" or "Golkunda" you only get results
related to the famous Golconda... The two Golkandis seem to be really
tiny villages, and I have no idea why Fogg would have to be interested
in visiting them. My guess is that he somehow read about a Golkandi or
Golkunda in Bengal and confused it with Golconda, especially since the
toponyms in his sources were probably Frenchified, leading to even
more confusion.

It's true that Verne's topography isn't always correct, e.g. writing
Saville Row with two l, calling both San Francisco and Sacramento the
capital of California, etc.

Cheers,
Garmt.

2009/12/2 Mahendra Singh <mahendra373~at~hotmail.com>:
>
> Swati is correct to the best of my knowledge. Verne's knowledge of India in
> Le Tour de monde is a bit spotty … he has Aouda submitting to suttee
> although she is a Parsee, a rather odd circumstance. The suttee scene is
> great melodrama but inaccurate in many respects.
>
> best, Mahendra
>
>
>
> Hi Garmt,
> As far as I know there is no Golconda or Golgonda near Bengal & certainly
> none IN Bengal.  There is only the Golconda near Hyderabad as you have
> rightly pointed out, which used to be famous for its diamonds.  So I can't
> explain this line.  But maybe someone else has some more information
> Best,
> Swati
>
> 2009/11/30 Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd <garmtdevries~at~gmail.com>
>
> Dear friends,
>
> Here's a question on Indian topography that I ran into while reading
> chapter XIV of "Le tour du monde en 80 jours".
>
> Early on in the chapter, the city Golgonde is mentioned: "... des plus
> beaux diamants de Golconde... ". This obviously refers to the city
> known as Golkonda or Golconda, just west of Hyderabad, which was
> indeed renowned for its diamonds.
>
> At the end of the chapter, there is a list of places that Fogg didn't
> see on his way from Allahabad to Calcutta: "on n'aperçut plus rien des
> merveilles du Bengale, ni Golgonde, ni Gour en ruine, ni Mourshedabad,
> qui fut autrefois capitale, ni Burdwan, ni Hougly, ni
> Chandernagor...".
>
> Now, whereas Gour (aka Gaur), Mourshedabad (Murshidabad), Burdwan
> (Bardhaman), Hougly (Hooghly) and Chandernagor (Chandannagar) are all
> places in Bengal, more or less on Fogg's itinerary, I haven't been
> able to identify this Golgonde that Verne mentions. All the
> translations of the novel that I've checked just translate it as
> "Golconda", i.e. the same place as the Golconde that was mentioned
> earlier in the chapter. But that town lies hundreds of kilometres
> away, in a completely different part of India. Moreover, the two
> spellings are different in the French original, although that might
> also be a typing error.
>
> Does anyone know if there is a place in Bengal that was referred to
> (in French) as Golgonde?
>
> BTW, in a later chapter Verne mentions the P&O ship Golgonda, yet
> another spelling!
>
> Cheers,
> Garmt.
>
>
>
Received on Wed 02 Dec 2009 - 16:10:48 IST

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