The Memoirs of Jahāngīr (Jahāngīrnāma) 12.2.3

12.2.3

From that place I marched to the village of Bhakra, which in the language of the same people is the name of a shrub with white flowers without any odour. From Tillah to Bhakra I marched the whole way through the bed of a river, in which water was then flowing, and the oleander bushes were in full bloom, and of exquisite colour, like peach blossoms. In Hindustan this evergreen is always in flower. There were very many growing at the sides of this stream, and I ordered my personal attendants, both horse and foot, to bind bunches of the flowers in their turbans, and I directed that the turbans of those who would not decorate themselves in this fashion should be taken off their heads. I thus got up a beautiful garden. On Thursday, the 6th, Hatya was the encamping ground. On this march a great many Palas shrubs were found in blossom. This shrub is also peculiar to the jungles of Hindustan. It has no fragrance in its flowers, which are of a fiery orange colour. The trunk is black. The flowers are the size of a red rose, or even bigger. It was such a sight that it was impossible to take one’s eyes off it. As the air was very charming, and as, in consequence of a veil of clouds obscuring the light of the sun, there was a slight shower, I indulged myself in drinking wine. In short, I enjoyed myself amazingly on this march.