Firishta's History (Gulshan-i Ibrāhīmī) 324.1

324.1

tains; while the piercing cold of winter is tempered by its proximity to those hills covered with snow, which shield this favoured spot from the bleak blasts that prevail in the neighbouring steppes of Thibet and Tartary. Fires are commonly used in houses in winter, and are often absolutely necessary. The houses in Kashmeer are high, most of them having five stories: they are commonly built of ebony. The streets are paved with cut stone. They have no bazars as in India; and there appear to be no open shops, except those of money-changers and linen-drapers. The butchers, cooks, bakers, and grocers, used not to expose their goods as in other countries; and even now the artisans take in work and execute it in their own houses. Since the invasion of the Choghtay Tartars (Moguls), the people expose their articles for sale. Kashmeer has always been famed for its fruit; it abounds with mulberries, cherries, and other fruits of the north, all of which are of excellent quality. The former, both large and small, are in great plenty, but seldom eaten by the natives; as the trees are cultivated for the sole purpose of feeding the silk-worm, the produce of which is in great demand for export. Among the curiosities of Kashmeer are such structures, the walls of which are composed of blocks of hewn stone laid so even upon each other, that they look, at a short distance, as if entirely one solid slab;