0).
CHARDIN, SIR JOHN (1643-1713), French traveller, was born at Paris in
1643. His father, a wealthy jeweller, gave him an excellent education,
and trained him in his own art; but instead of settling down in the
ordinary routine of the craft, he set out in company with a Lyons
merchant named Raisin in 1665 for Persia and India, partly on business
and partly to gratify his own inclination. After a highly successful
journey, during which he had received the patronage of Shah Abbas II. of
Persia, he returned to France in 1670, and there published in the
following year _Recit du Couronnement du roi de Perse Soliman III_.
Finding, however, that his Protestant profession cut him off from all
hope of honours or advancement in his native country, he set out again
for Persia in August 1671. This second journey was much more adventurous
than the first, as instead of going directly to his destination, he
passed by Smyrna, Constantinople, the Crimea, Caucasia, Mingrelia and
Georgia, and did not reach Ispahan till June 1673. After four years
spent in researches throughout Persia, he again visited India, and
returned to Europe by the Cape of Good Hope in 1677. The persecution of
Protestants in France led him, in 1681, to settle in London, where he
was appointed jeweller to the court, and received from Charles II. the
honour of knighthood. In 1683 he was sent to Holland as representative
of the English East India Company; and in 1686 he published the first
part of his great narrative--_The Travels of Sir John Chardin into
Persia and the East Indies, &c._ (London). Sir John died in London in
1713, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where his monument bears the
inscription _Nomen sibi fecit eundo_.
It was not till 1711 that the complete account of Chardin's travels
appeared, under the title of _Journal du voyage du chevalier Chardin_,
at Amsterdam. The Persian portion is to be found in vol. ii. of
Harris's _Collection_, and extracts are reprinted by Pinkerton in vol.
ix. The best complete reprint is by Langles (Paris, 1811). Sir John
Chardin's narrative has received the highest praise from the most
competent authorities for its fulness, comprehensiveness and fidelity;
and it furnished Montesquieu, Rousseau, Gibbon and Helvetius with most
important material.
CHARENTE, an inland department of south-western France, comprehending
the ancient province of Angoumois, and inconsiderable portions of
Sainton
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