Riyaz al-salatin 18: SARKAR SILHAT.

18

Sarkar Silhat is a mountainous region, woollen shields are very well made there; they are famous for their beauty throughout the empire of Hindustan. And delicious fruits — such as oranges, &c, are obtained. And the China-root is also procured from that tract, and the aloes-wood abounds in its mountains. It is said that in the last month of the rainy season, the lud tree is felled and is left in water and exposed to the air, then whatever shoots forth is utilised, and what decays is thrown away. A kind of small bird called Banraj, which is black in colour, and has red eyes and long tail, and parti-coloured, pretty, and long wings, is easily snared and tamed there. It catches the note of every animal that it hears. Similarly, Shirganj is the name of another bird; it is not different from Banraj in any way, except in this that the legs and the beak of Shirganj are red. Both these are flesh-eaters, and prey on small birds like sparrows, &c.