Riyaz al-salatin 3.1.8

3.1.8

though the adversary may be strong and big, they fight so much that the brain of the head become disturbed and they die. Large well-formed elephants abound in the wilds and the mountains. And plenty of deer, wild-goats, and wild-cows, and the horned fighting rams are also to be found. In the sands of the river Brahmaputra, gold is found; twelve thousand Assamese are employed on this work. Every year one tola of gold per head is paid into the Rajah's treasury. But the gold is not quite pure, so that one tola of gold sells for eight or nine rupees, and silver and gold coins are minted in the name of the Rajah, and shells are current, but copper pice is not in use. Musk-deer is found in the mountains of Ashara. The bladder of musk is large, and full of large pieces of musk, and is beautiful-looking. The aloes-wood, which grows in the mountains of Kamrup and Sadiah and Lakhugirah, is heavy and full of scent. No tax is levied from its subjects. From every house, out of every three persons, one person has to serve its Rajah, and in serving him, shows no laxity, and if laxity is visible, he is killed. The Rajah of that place dwells in a lofty building, and does not put his foot on the ground, and if he places his foot on the ground, he is deprived of his raj. And the people of this country have a false notion that their progenitors were in heaven, and that at one time fixing a ladder of gold they came down to the earth, and that since then they have dwelt on earth.