مسالك الابصار في ممالك الامصار (مسالك الأبصار في ممالك الأمصار)

2.1

(المخطوط ص 9) .

(Manuscript p. 9).

India is a most important country, with which no other country in the world can be compared in respect of extent, riches, the numbers of its armies, the pomp and splendour displayed by the sovereign in his progresses and habitations, and the power of the empire. * * * The inhabitants are remarkable for their wisdom and great intelligence; no people are better able to restrain their passions, nor more willing to sacrifice their lives, for what they consider agreeable in the sight of God. According to the information of Siraju-d din Abu-l Fath 'Umar, a lawyer, and a native of the province of Oudh, who had lived long at the court of the Sultan of Dehli, the dominions of that monarch consisted of twenty-three principal provinces. 1. Dehli. 2. Dawakir (Deogir). 3. Multan. 4. Kahran (Kuhram). 5. Samana. 6. Siwistan. 7. Uch. 8. Hasi (Hansi). 9. Sarsuti (Sirsah). 10. Ma'bar. 11. Tilank (Telingana). 12. Gujarat. 13. Badaun. 14. Oudh. 15. Kanauj. 16. Lakhnauti. 17. Bihar. 18. Karra. 19. Malwa. 20. Lahor. 21. Kalanor (Gwalior?). 22. Jajnagar. 23. Tilanj Darusamand (Telingana (?) and Dwara-samudra).

2.2

هذه مملكة عظيمة الشأن، لا تقاس في الأرض بمملكة سواها لاتساع أقطارها، وكثرة أموالها وعساكرها، وأبهة سلطانها في ركوبه ونزوله ودست [1] ملكه، وفي صيتها وسمعتها كفاية، ولقد كنت أسمع من الأخبار الطائحة والكتب المصنفة ما يملأ العين والسمع، وكنت لا أقف على حقيقة أخبارها، لبعدها منا، وتنائى ديارها عنا، فلما شرعت في تأليف هذا الكتاب، وتتبعت ثقاة الرواة ، وجدت أكثر مما كنت أسمع، وأجل مما كنت أظن، وحسبك ببلاد في بحرها الدر، وفي برها الذهب، وفي جبالها الياقوت والماس، وفي شعابها العود [2] والكافور [3] ، وفي مدتها أسرة الملوك، ومن وحوشها الفيل والكركدن [4] ، ومن حديدها سيوف الهند، وبها معادن الحديد والزئبق والرصاص، ومن بعض منابتها الزعفران [5] ، وفي بعض أوديتها البلور، خيراتها موفورة ، واسعارها رخية، وعساكرها لا تعد،

This is a kingdom of great importance; no other kingdom on earth can be compared with it, because of the vastness of its territories, the abundance of its wealth and armies, and the splendour of its Sultan when he rides out and when he halts, and in the seat [1] of his rule; its renown and reputation are sufficient [testimony]. I used to hear, from widespread reports and from composed books, things that filled the eye and the ear, yet I could not ascertain the truth of its reports because of its distance from us and the remoteness of its lands from us. When I began composing this book and sought out trustworthy informants, I found more than I used to hear and greater than I used to suppose. Consider a land in whose sea are pearls, in whose soil is gold, in whose mountains are rubies and diamonds, in whose ravines are aloeswood [2] and camphor [3], in whose cities are the thrones of kings, among whose wild beasts are the elephant and the rhinoceros [4], from whose iron come the swords of India, in which are mines of iron, mercury and lead, among whose growing places is that of saffron [5], and in some of whose valleys is crystal. Its good things are plentiful, its prices low, its armies beyond counting,

2.3

وممالكها لا تحد، لأهلها الحكمة ووفور العقل، أملك الأمم لشهواتهم، وأبذلهم للنفوس فيما يظن به الزلفى.

and its realms beyond bounding. Its people possess wisdom and abundant intelligence; they are the nations most in control of their appetites, and the most ready to sacrifice their lives for whatever they think will bring them near [to God].

2.4

قال محمد بن عبد الرحيم الأقليني الغرناطي [1] في تحفة الألباب [2] :

Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Uqlīshī al-Gharnāṭī [1] said in Tuḥfat al-albāb [2]:

2.5

والملك العظيم والعدل الكبير والنعمة الجزيلة والسياسة الحسنة والرخاء الدائم والأمن الذي لا خوف معه في بلاد الهند والصين، وأهل الهند أعلم الناس بأنواع الحكمة والطب والهندسة والصناعات العجيبة؛ التي لا يقدر على منالها ، وفي جبالهم وجزائرهم ينبت شجر العود والكافور وجميع أنواع الطيب كالقرنفل وجوزبوا [3] والسنبل [4] والدار صيني [5] والقرفة والسليخة [6]

Great kingship, great justice, abundant prosperity, good government, lasting plenty, and security without fear are in the lands of India and China. The people of India are the most learned of men in the kinds of wisdom, medicine, geometry and wondrous crafts that cannot be attained [by others]. In their mountains and islands grow the aloeswood tree and camphor and all kinds of aromatics, such as clove, nutmeg [3], spikenard [4], Chinese cinnamon [5], cinnamon and cassia bark [6],

2.6

والقاقلة [1] والكبابة [2] والبسباسة [3] وأنواع العقاقير (المخطوط ص 10) ، وعندهم غزال المسك وقط الزباد، ويخرج من بلادهم أنواع اليواقيت، وأكثرها من جزيرة سرنديب [4] .

cardamom [1], cubeb [2], mace [3] and kinds of drugs (Manuscript p. 10). They have the musk deer and the civet cat, and from their lands come kinds of rubies, most of them from the island of Sarandīb [4].

2.7

وقد حكى ابن عبد ربه [5] في العقد [6] عن نعيم بن حماد قال: بعث ملك الهند إلى عمر بن عبد العزيز [7] كتابا فيه من ملك الأملاك؛ الذي هو ابن ألف ملك وتخته [8] بيت ألف ملك، وفي مربطه ألف فيل، وله نهران ينبتان العود والأكوة [9] والجوز والكافور؛ الذي يوجد ريحه على اثني عشر ميلا، إلى ملك العرب؛ الذي لا يشرك بالله شيئا، أما بعد ... فإني بعثت بهدية وما هي هدية

Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih [5] related in al-ʿIqd [6] from Nuʿaym b. Ḥammād, who said: The king of India sent ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz [7] a letter in which [was written]: "From the king of kings, who is the son of a thousand kings, whose throne [8] is the house of a thousand kings, in whose stable are a thousand elephants, and who has two rivers that grow aloeswood, costus [9], nutmeg and camphor, whose scent is perceived at twelve miles, to the king of the Arabs, who associates nothing with God. To proceed: I have sent a gift, and it is not a gift

2.8

ولكنها تحية، وقد أحببت أن تبعث إلي رجلا يعلمني ويفهمني الإسلام والسلام، يعني بالهدية الكتاب .

but a greeting. I would like you to send me a man to teach me and make me understand Islam and peace." By "the gift" he meant the letter.

2.9

حدثني الشيخ العارف المبارك بقية السلف الكرام مبارك بن محمود الأنبائي من ولد مجدشاه أن حاجب خاصي [1] نفع الله ببركاته، وهو الثقة الثبت، وله الأطلاع على كل ما يحكيه لمكانته ومكانة أسلافه من ملوك هذه البلاد، قال: إن هذه المملكة متسعة غاية الاتساع، يكون طولها ثلاث [2] سنين ، وعرضها ما بين سومنات [3] وسرنديب [4] إلى غزنة وطولها من العرصة المقابلة لعدن إلى سد الإسكندر، عند مخرج البحر الهندي من البحر المحيط [5] ، متصلة المدن ذوات المنابر والأسرة والأعمال والقرى والضياع والرساتيق [6] والأسواق، لا يقطع بينها ولا يفصل بينها خراب.

The learned, blessed shaykh, the remnant of the noble forebears, Mubārak b. Maḥmūd al-Anbāʾī, a descendant of Majdshāh, told me that Ḥājib Khāṣṣī [1] — may God grant benefit through his blessings, he being trustworthy and reliable, and acquainted with all that he relates because of his standing and that of his forebears among the kings of these lands — said: This kingdom is extremely vast. Its length is three [2] years [of travel], and its breadth from Sūmanāt [3] and Sarandīb [4] to Ghazna, and its length from the plain facing Aden to the Barrier of Alexander, where the Indian Sea issues from the Encircling Ocean [5]. Its cities, with their pulpits and thrones, its districts, villages, estates, rural districts [6] and markets, are contiguous, with no wasteland cutting them off or separating them.

2.10

قلت وفيما ذكره من هذه المسافة طولا وعرضا نظرا إذ لا يفي جميع المعمورة بهذه المسافة، اللهم إلا إن كان مراده أن هذه مسافة من يتنقل فيها حتى يحيط بجميعها مكانا فيحتمل على ما فيه.

I say: what he mentioned of this distance in length and breadth is open to question, since the whole inhabited world does not amount to such a distance — unless he meant that this is the distance travelled by one who moves about in it until he has covered all of it, in which case it may be accepted with its reservations.

2.11

قال: وفي طاعة هذا السلطان؛ أهل قراجل [1] ، لهم منه هدية وأمان، على قطائع تحمل إليه منهم، يتحصل منها مال، وهذا جبل قراجل به معادن ذهبا، يحصل منها ما لا يحصى، وجميع هذه البلاد برا وبحرا مجموعة [2] لسلطانها القائم الآن، إلا الجزائر الموغلة في البحر، فأما الساحل فلم يبق به قيد فتر [3] إلا بيده، فتح مغالقه (مخطوط ص 11) ، وملك معاقله، وله الآن السكة [4] والخطبة في جميع هذه البلاد، لا يشاركه فيها مشارك.

He said: Under the obedience of this Sultan are the people of Qarājil [1]; they have from him a truce and safe-conduct in return for tributes conveyed to him from them, from which wealth accrues. This mountain of Qarājil has gold mines, from which countless [gold] is obtained. All these lands, by land and sea, are united [2] under their present Sultan, except the islands far out in the sea. As for the coast, not a span's breadth [3] remains that is not in his hand; he opened its locked places (Manuscript p. 11) and took possession of its strongholds. He now has the coinage [4] and the Friday sermon (khuṭba) throughout all these lands, with no partner sharing them with him.

2.12

قال: ولقد حضرت معه من الفتوحات العظيمة ما أقوله عن المشاهدة والعيان على الجملة لا على التفصيل خوفا من إطالة الشرح، فأول ما فتح مملكة تلنك، وهي واسعة البلاد، كثيرة القرى ، عدة قراها تسعمائة ألف قرية، وتسعمائة قرية، ثم

He said: I was present with him at great conquests, which I relate from direct eyewitness, in summary and not in detail, for fear of lengthening the account. The first he conquered was the kingdom of Tilang, which has extensive lands and many villages; the number of its villages is nine hundred thousand nine hundred villages. Then

2.13

فتح بلاد جاجنكز، وبها سبعون قرية جليلة كلها بنادر على البحر [1] ، دخلها من الجواهر والفيلة والقماش المنوع والطيب والأفاوية، ثم فتح بلاد لكنوتى [2] وهي كرسي [3] تسعة [4] ملوك، ثم فتح بلاد دواكير، ولها أربع وثمانون قلعة، كلها جليلات المقدار.

he conquered the lands of Jājnagar, which has seventy great villages, all of them ports on the sea [1], from which he obtained jewels, elephants, assorted fabrics, perfumes and spices. Then he conquered the lands of Lakhnawtī [2], which is the seat [3] of nine [4] kings. Then he conquered the lands of Dawākīr, which has eighty-four fortresses, all of great importance.

2.14

قال الشيخ برهان الدين ابن الخلال البزي [5] : وبها ألف ألف قرية ومائتا ألف قرية.

Shaykh Burhān al-Dīn Ibn al-Khallāl al-Bazzī [5] said: It has one million two hundred thousand villages.

2.15

عدنا إلى حديث الشيخ مبارك ، قال الشيخ مبارك: ثم فتح بلاد سمند، وكان بها السلطان بلال الديوا وخمسة ملوك [6] كفار، ثم فتح بلاد المعبر [7] ، وهو إقليم جليل، له تسعون مدينة، بنادر على البحر، يجيء من دخلها الطيب واللانس والقماش المنوع ولطائف الأفاق.

We return to the account of Shaykh Mubārak. Shaykh Mubārak said: Then he conquered the lands of Samund, where were Sultan Balāl al-Dīwā and five infidel kings [6]. Then he conquered the lands of al-Maʿbar [7], which is a great province with ninety cities, ports on the sea, from whose revenue come perfumes, fine cloth (lānis), assorted fabrics and rarities from distant lands.

2.16

وحدثني الفقيه العلامة سراج الدين أبو الصفاء عمر بن إسحاق بن أحمد

And the learned jurist Sirāj al-Dīn Abū al-Ṣafāʾ ʿUmar b. Isḥāq b. Aḥmad told me

2.17

الشبلي العوضي من إقليم عوض [1] من الهند، وهو من أعيان الفقهاء؛ الذين يحضرون حضرة السلطان بدهلى [2] : أن أمهات الأقاليم التي في مملكة هذا السلطان ثلاثة وعشرون إقليما وهي: إقليم دهلى، وإقليم الدواكير، وإقليم الملتان [3] وإقليم كهران، وإقليم سامانا [4] ، وإقليم سيوستان، وإقليم وجا، وإقليم هاسى [5] ، وإقليم سرستى، وإقليم المعبر، وإقليم تلنك، وإقليم كجرات، وإقليم بدوان، وإقليم عوض، وإقليم القنوج [6] ، وإقليم لكنوتى، وإقليم بهار، وإقليم كره، وإقليم ملاوه [7] ، وإقليم نهاور، وإقليم كلانور، وإقليم حاجنكز، وإقليم تلنج، وإقليم دور سمند، وهذه الأقاليم تشتمل على ألف مدينة ومائتي مدينة، كلها مدن ذوات بنايات (المخطوط 12) كبار أو صغار، إذ بجميعها الأعمال والقرى العامرة الآهلة، ولا أعرف ما عدد قراها، وإنما أعرف أن إقليم القنوج [8] مائة وعشرون لكا [9] كل لك مائة ألف قرية، فيكون اثني عشر ألف ألف قرية، وإقليم

al-Shiblī al-ʿAwaḍī, from the province of ʿAwaḍ in India — he is one of the eminent jurists who attend the presence of the Sultan at Delhi — told me that the principal provinces in the kingdom of this Sultan are twenty-three, namely: the province of Delhi, the province of Dawākīr, the province of Multān, the province of Kahrān, the province of Sāmānā, the province of Sīwistān, the province of Wajā, the province of Hāsī, the province of Sarastī, the province of al-Maʿbar, the province of Tilang, the province of Gujarāt, the province of Badawān, the province of ʿAwaḍ, the province of Qannawj, the province of Lakhnawtī, the province of Bihār, the province of Karah, the province of Mālwa, the province of Nahāwar, the province of Kalānūr, the province of Jājnagar, the province of Tilanj, and the province of Dhūr Samund. These provinces comprise one thousand two hundred cities, all of them cities with buildings (manuscript 12), large or small, for all of them have districts and flourishing, populous villages. I do not know the number of their villages; I only know that the province of Qannawj has one hundred and twenty lakhs, each lakh being a hundred thousand villages, which makes twelve million villages; and the province of

2.18

تلنك، وهو ستة وثلاثون لكا، فيكون ثلاثة آلاف ألف وستمائة ألف قرية، وإقليم مالوه أكبر من القنوج، ولكني لم أحرر كم عدده، وأما المعبر فيشتمل على عدة جزائر كبار، كل واحدة منها مملكة جليلة مثل كولم وفتن والسيلان ومليبار.

Tilang has thirty-six lakhs, which makes three million six hundred thousand villages. The province of Mālwa is larger than Qannawj, but I have not ascertained its number. As for al-Maʿbar, it comprises several large islands, each of them a splendid kingdom, such as Kawlam, Fattan, al-Saylān and Malībār.

2.19

وقال الشيخ مبارك: وعلى لكنوتي مائتا ألف مركب صغارا خفافا للسير، إذا رمى الرامي في آخرها سهما [1] وقع في وسطها لسرعة جريانها، هذا غير الكبار، ولا تبلغ بعض هذا العدد، ومنها ما فيه الطواحين والأفران والأسواق ، وربما لا يتعرف بعض سكانه ببعض إلا بعد مدة، لاتساعها وعظمها، وجردت من جغرافيا تحقيقا طولها وهو من الواق واق [2] إلى قبالة عدن، وعرضها من سرنديب إلى بوارو الواقعة غربي قراقرم [3] ، وأقوله بعبارة البسط من هذا وأوضح لمن تأمل لوح الرسم في الجغرافيا الكاملة فنقول طولها من مخرج البحر الهندي من المحيط في نهاية الصين في المشرق دون جزيرة الجوهر والواق واق المائلة إلى الجنوبي آخذا في البحر إلى حيث ينعطف مغربا على جزيرة الموجه أم جزائر الصين مع طول البحر حتى ينتهي إلى فرصة المغرب، ثم يمتد من هناك برا وبحرا

Shaykh Mubārak said: Lakhnawtī has two hundred thousand boats, small and light for travel; if an archer shoots an arrow from the stern of one, it lands in the middle of it because of the speed of its course. This is apart from the large ones, which do not reach even part of this number; some of them contain mills, ovens and markets, and sometimes some of their inhabitants do not come to know one another until after a time, because of their size and magnitude. I have extracted precisely from the Geography its length, which is from al-Wāq Wāq to opposite Aden, and its breadth from Sarandīb to Bawārū, which lies west of Qaraqorum. I state it in a more extended and clearer expression for whoever examines the map-plate in the complete Geography, and we say: its length is from the outlet of the Indian Sea from the Encircling Ocean at the end of China in the east, short of the Island of Jewels and al-Wāq Wāq which slant toward the south, following the sea to where it turns westward at the island of al-Mūja, the mother of the islands of China, along the length of the sea until it ends at the gulf of the west; then it extends from there by land and sea

2.20

آخذا في الشمال إلى بوارو غربي قراقرم على حد بلاد كاشغر [1] إلى حد بلاد مكران [2] ممتدا على نهر مكران إلى أن يدخل السند في حدة قريب كرمان [3] ، ثم ينتهي هناك إقليم الهند في البر وآخره المنصورة [4] ، وتتصل جزائره في البحر إلى قبالة عدن، وأما عرضه فمن سرنديب، وما هو في سمتها في الجنوب، إلى بوارو وما هو في سمتها إلى الشمال، وحدود هذه المملكة من الجنوب البحر وما يمتد معه من كورة [5] قراجل ومن الشرق لها ور [6] وكلاور، ومن الشمال بلاد الترك، ومن الغرب سيالكوت [7] والمفازة.

heading north to Bawārū west of Qaraqorum on the border of the land of Kāshghar, to the border of the land of Makrān, extending along the river of Makrān until it enters Sind at its border near Kirmān. There the region of India ends on land, its last point being al-Manṣūra, while its islands in the sea continue as far as opposite Aden. As for its breadth, it is from Sarandīb and what lies in its direction to the south, to Bawārū and what lies in its direction to the north. The boundaries of this kingdom are: on the south the sea and what extends along it of the district of Qarājil; on the east Lahāwar and Kalāwar; on the north the land of the Turks; and on the west Siyālkūt and the desert.

2.21

(المخطوط ص 13) ومدينة دهلى [8] هي قاعدة الملك، ثم بعدها قبة الإسلام، وهي مدينة الدواكير، جددها هذا السلطان، وسماها قبة الإسلام ، قال: ودهلى في الإقليم الرابع، قلت: وهكذا قال الملك المؤيد صاحب حماه رحمة الله في تقويم

(manuscript p. 13) The city of Delhi is the capital of the kingdom; after it comes Qubbat al-Islām, which is the city of Dawākīr; this Sultan rebuilt it and named it Qubbat al-Islām. He said: Delhi is in the fourth clime. I say: al-Malik al-Muʾayyad, lord of Ḥamāh — God have mercy on him — said the same in Taqwīm

According to the account of Shaikh Mubarak, the city of Dehli is the capital of the kingdom of India. Next comes Dawakir (Deogir), which was founded by the Sultan of that empire, and named by him "Kubbatu-l Islam, or the Metropolis of Islam." This place, said the Shaikh, is situated in the third climate. When I left it six years ago the buildings were not completed, and I doubt if they are yet finished, the extent it covers being so great, and the number of its intended edifices so vast. The king divided it into quarters, each of them intended for men of the same profession. Thus there was the quarter of the troops, that of the ministers and clerks, that of the Kazis and learned men, that of the shaikhs and fakirs, and that of the merchants and those who carry on trades. Each quarter was to contain within it everything necessary for its wants, mosques, minarets, markets, baths, mills, ovens, and workmen of every trade, including even blacksmiths, dyers, and curriers, so that the inhabitants should have no necessity to resort elsewhere for buying or selling, or the other requirements of life. Each quarter was to form a separate town, entirely independent of those surrounding it. I questioned the Shaikh Mubarak about the city of Dehli and the court of its sovereign, and I obtained from him the following details. "Dehli consists of several cities which have become united, and each of which has a name of its own.

2.22

البلدان [1] ، ونقله عمن يوثق به من أهل هذا الشأن.

al-buldān, and transmitted it from trustworthy experts in this field.

2.23

قال الشيخ مبارك: وأما قبة الإسلام فتكون في الثالث، وفارقتها وما تكاملت، ولي الآن عنها ست سنين ، وما أظنها تكون قد تكملت، لعظم ما حصل الشروع فيه من اتساع خطة المدينة، وعظم البناء، وإن هذا السلطان كان قد قسمها على أن تبنى محلات، لأهل كل طائفة محلة، الجند في محلة، والوزراء والكتاب في محلة، والقضاة والعلماء في محلة، والمشايخ والفقراء في محلة، والتجار والكساب في محلة، وفي كل محلة ما يحتاج إليه من المساجد والمآذن [2] والأسواق والحمامات والطواحين والأفران وأرباب الصنايع من كل نوع حتى الصباغ والصباغين ، والدباغين، حتى لا تحتاج أهل محلة إلى أخرى في بيع ولا شراء، ولا أخذ ولا عطاء، لتكون في محلة كأنها مدينة مفردة قائمة بذاتها، غير مفتقرة في شيء إلى سواها، وليس في هذه المملكة خراب، إلا تقدير عشرين يوما مما يلي غزنة [3] لتجاذب صاحب الهند وصاحب تركستان [4] وما وراء النهر [5] بأطراف

Shaykh Mubārak said: As for Qubbat al-Islām, it is in the third [clime]. I left it before it was completed, and it is now six years since I was there; I do not think it will have been completed, because of the vastness of what was begun in extending the city's layout and the magnitude of the building. This Sultan had divided it so that it would be built in quarters, a quarter for the people of each class: the soldiers in a quarter, the viziers and secretaries in a quarter, the judges and scholars in a quarter, the shaykhs and fakirs in a quarter, the merchants and tradesmen in a quarter; and in every quarter whatever it needs of mosques, minarets, markets, baths, mills, ovens and craftsmen of every kind, even dyers and painters and tanners, so that the people of one quarter would not need another for selling or buying, taking or giving, each quarter being like a separate city standing by itself, in need of nothing from any other. There is no waste land in this kingdom except about twenty days' journey adjoining Ghazna, because of the tug-of-war between the ruler of India and the ruler of Turkistān and Transoxiana over the edges

2.24

المنازعة أو جبال معطلة أو شعراء، مشتبكة، ومتحصلات تلك من نبات العطر والأفاويه والعقاقير الداخلة في أدوية الطب أعود نفعا من الغلات المزدرعة [1] بما لا يقاس.

of contention, or idle mountains, or tangled thickets; and the yields of those, from aromatic plants, spices and drugs used in medicines, are incomparably more profitable than cultivated crops.

2.25

قلت: وقد أوقفني الفاضل نظام الدين يحيى بن الحكيم علي تأليف قديم في البلاد، وذكر فيه أن قرى جميع الملتان مائة ألف قرية وستة عشرون ألف قرية مثبتة في الديوان، وهو ودهلى في الرابع، ومعظم المملكة في الثاني والثالث، وكلها فسيحة، وبلادها صحيحة، إلا مزارع الأرز، فإنها وخيمة، وبقاعها ذميمة.

I say: The learned Niẓām al-Dīn Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥakīm showed me an old work on the countries, in which it is mentioned that the villages of all of Multān are one hundred and twenty-six thousand villages registered in the dīwān; it and Delhi are in the fourth [clime], and most of the kingdom is in the second and third. All of it is spacious and its lands healthy, except the rice fields, which are unwholesome and whose tracts are disagreeable.

2.26

وحكى في ذلك التأليف أن محمد بن يوسف الثقفي [2] ، أصاب بالسند أربعين بهارا من الذهب، كل بهار ثلاثمائة (المخطوط ص 14) ، وثلاثة وثلاثون منا [3] قال: ومن بلاد غزنة والقندهار آخر حده، وسألت الشيخ مبارك: كيف بر الهند وضواحيه ؟ فقال لي أن به أنهارا ممتدة، تقارب ألف نهر كبارا وصغارا، منها ما، يضاهي النيل عظما، ومنها ما هو دونه، ومنها ما هو دون هذا المقدار، وما هو مثل بقية الأنهار، وعلى ضفاف الأنهار، القرى والمدن، وبه الأشجار الكثيفة، والمروج الفيح، وهي بلاد معتدلة ، كل أوقاتها ربيع، وتهب بها الأهوية، ويتنسم النسيم اللطيف، وتتوالى بها الأمطار مدة أربعة أشهر وأكثرها

It is related in that work that Muḥammad b. Yūsuf al-Thaqafī obtained in Sind forty bahārs of gold, each bahār being three hundred (manuscript p. 14) and thirty-three manns. He said: and from the lands of Ghazna and Qandahār is its last border. I asked Shaykh Mubārak: what is the land of India and its environs like? He told me that it has flowing rivers, nearly a thousand rivers large and small, some equalling the Nile in size, some less than it, some less than that, and some like other rivers; on the banks of the rivers are villages and cities. It has dense trees and wide meadows. It is a temperate country, all its seasons spring; breezes blow there and a gentle breeze wafts, and rains fall continuously for four months, mostly

2.27

في أخريات الربيع، إلى ما يليه من الصيف، وبها أنواع من الحبوب والحنطة والأرز والشعير والحمص والقدس، والماش [1] واللوبيا والسمسم وأما الفول فلا يكاد يوجد فيها.

at the end of spring into the following summer. It has kinds of grains: wheat, rice, barley, chickpeas, lentils, mung beans, cowpeas and sesame; but broad beans are hardly found there.

2.28

قلت: أظن عدم وجود الفول بها لأنها بلاد حكماء وعندهم أن الفول يفسد جوهر العقل، ولهذا حرمته الصابئة [2] ، قال: وبها من الفواكه شيء من التين والعنب والرمان الكثير الحلو والمر والحامض والموز والخوخ والأترج [3] ، والليمون واللبم والنارنج والجميز والتوت الأسود المسمى بالفرصاد والبطيخ الأصفر والأخضر والخيار والقثاء والعجور والتين، والعنب هو أقل ما يوجد من بقية هذه الأنواع، وأما السفرجل فيوجد بها ويجلب إليها، وأم الكمثرى والتفاح فهما أقل وجدا من السفرجل، وبها فواكه أخر لا تعهد في مصر والشام والعراق وهي العنبا والمهوا واللكح والكريكا وايجلى والفكي والنغزك وغير ذلك من الفواكه الفائقة اللذيذة، فأما النارجيل وهو المسمى بالجوز هندي، (لا يعادله شيء، وهو أخضر مملوء بدهنه، وأما الحمر وهو المسمى بالتمر هندي) [4] فهو شجر بري يلو الجبال، والنارجيل والموز بدهلى أقل مما حولها من بلادها على أنه الموجود الكثير، وأما

I say: I suppose the absence of beans there is because it is a land of sages, and they hold that beans corrupt the substance of the intellect; for this reason the Sabians forbade them. He said: Among its fruits there are some figs and grapes, abundant pomegranates — sweet, bitter and sour — bananas, peaches, citrons, lemons, limes (al-labm), bitter oranges, sycamore figs, the black mulberry called firṣād, yellow and green melons, cucumbers, snake-cucumbers, ʿajūr melons and figs; grapes are the scarcest of all these kinds. Quinces are found there and are also imported; as for pears and apples, they are rarer than quinces. It has other fruits unknown in Egypt, Syria and Iraq, namely the ʿanbā, the mahwā, the lakaḥ, the karīkā, the ījalī, the fakī, the naghzak, and other excellent, delicious fruits. As for the coconut (nārjīl), which is called the Indian nut, nothing equals it; it is green and full of its oil. As for the ḥumar, which is called the Indian date (tamarind), it is a wild tree that grows on the mountains. Coconuts and bananas are scarcer in Delhi than in the surrounding lands, though they are still found in abundance. As for

2.29

قصب السكر فإنه بجميع هذه البلاد كثير ممتهن، ومنه نوع أسود جف صلب (المخطوط ص 15) العيدان، وهو أجوده للامتصاص لا للإعتصار، وهو مما لا يوجد في سواها، ويعمل من بقية أنواعه السكر الكثير العظيم الرخيص من السكر النبات والسكر المعتاد، ولكنه لا يجمد بل يكون كالسميد الأبيض، وبها الأرز؛ على ما حدثني الشيخ مبارك بن مجد شاذان؛ على أحد وعشرين نوعا، وعندهم اللفت والجزر والقرع والبادنجان والهليون [1] والزنجبيل، وهم يطبخونه إذا كان أخضر، كما يطبخ الجزر، وله طعم طيب لا يعادله شيء، وبها السلق والبصل والفوم والشمار [2] والصعتر [3] وأنواع الرياحين من الورد والنيلوفر [4] والبنفسج والبان وهو الخلاف، والنرجس، وهو العبهر [5] ، وثامر الحناء ، وهو الفاغية، وكذلك الشيرج [6] ، ومنه وقيدهم [7] ، وأما الزيت فلا يأتيهم إلا جلبا، وأما العسل فأكثر من الكثير، وأما الشمع فلا يوجد إلا في دور السلطان، ولا يسمح فيه لأحد،

sugar cane, it is plentiful and common throughout all these lands. One kind is black, dry and hard of stalk; it is the best for sucking, not for pressing, and is found nowhere else. From its other kinds a great deal of sugar is made, cheap, both rock sugar and ordinary sugar, but it does not solidify; rather it is like white semolina. There is rice there — as Shaykh Mubārak b. Majd Shādhān told me — of twenty-one kinds. They have turnips, carrots, gourds, aubergines, asparagus and ginger, which they cook when it is green, as carrots are cooked, and it has a fine taste that nothing equals. There are chard, onions, garlic, fennel and thyme, and kinds of fragrant plants: roses, water-lilies, violets, the bān, which is the willow, the narcissus, which is the ʿabhar, and henna blossom, which is the fāghiya. Likewise sesame oil, from which comes their lamp fuel; olive oil reaches them only as an import. Honey is more than plentiful, but wax is found only in the Sultan's palaces and no one is allowed it.

2.30

وما لا يحصى من الدواب السائمة من الجواميس والأبقار والأغنام والمعز، ودواجن الطير من الدجاج والحمام البلدي والأوز، وهو أقل أنواعه، فأما الدجاج الهندي فيكاد أن يكون كالأوز في عظم المقدار، وكل هذا يباع بأرخص الأسعار، وأقل الأثمان، وأما السمن واللبن على اختلاف أنواعه فكثير لا يعبأ به ولا له قيمة، ويباع بأسواقها من الأطعمة المنوعة كالشواء والأرز والمطجن والمقلى والمنوع والحلوى [1] المنوعة [2] على خمسة وستين نوعا، والفقاع والأشربة ما لا يكاد يرى في مدينة سواها، وبها من أصحاب الصنائع للسيوف والقسى والرماح وأنواع الرماح والزردا، والصواغ والزراكش [3] والسراجين وغير ذلك من أرباب كل صنف مما يختص بالرجال والنساء وذوي السيوف والأقلام وعامة الناس ما لا يحصى لهم عدد، وأما الجمال فقليلة لا تكون إلا للسلطان ومن عنده من الخانات [4] والأمراء والوزراء وأكابر أرباب الدولة، وأما الخيل فكثيرة وهي نوعان (المخطوط ص 16) : عراب [5] وبراذين [6] ، وأكثرها مما لا يحمد فعله، ولهذا

There are countless grazing animals — water buffaloes, cattle, sheep and goats — and domestic fowl: chickens, local pigeons and geese, the last being the scarcest kind. The Indian chicken is almost as big as a goose. All this is sold at the cheapest rates and lowest prices. Clarified butter and milk of every kind are plentiful, taken no account of and of no value. In its markets are sold varied foods — roasts, rice, pan-cooked and fried dishes, assorted dishes, and sweets of sixty-five kinds — and beer (fuqqāʿ) and drinks such as are hardly seen in any other city. There are countless craftsmen: makers of swords, bows, lances and kinds of lances, and mail, goldsmiths, gold-embroiderers, saddlers, and other masters of every craft pertaining to men and women, to men of the sword and of the pen, and to the common people. Camels are few and belong only to the Sultan and the khāns, amīrs, viziers and great men of state with him. Horses are numerous and of two kinds: Arab horses and pack-horses (birdhawn), most of which do not perform well; for this reason

2.31

تجلب إلى الهند من جميع ما جاورها من بلاد الترك، وتقاد إليها العراب من البحرين وبلاد اليمن والعراق على أن في دواخل الهند خيلا عرابا كريمة الأحساب، يتغالى في أثمانها، ولكنها قليلة، ومتى طال مكث الخيل بها انحلت، وأما البغال والحمر فما يعاب عندهم ركوبها، ولا يستحسن فقيه ولا ذو علم ركوب بغلة، فأما الحمار فإن ركوبه عندهم مذلة كبرى ، وعار عظيم، بل ركوب الكل الخيل، وأما الأثقال فخاصتهم يحمل على الخيل، وعامتهم يحمل على البقر، يحمل عليها الأكفاء، فيحمل عليها، وهي سريعة المشي، ممتدة الخطا.

they are brought to India from all the neighbouring lands of the Turks, and Arab horses are led there from Bahrain, Yemen and Iraq, although in the interior of India there are Arab horses of noble pedigree, for which very high prices are paid, but they are few. When horses stay there long they weaken. As for mules and donkeys, riding them is considered disgraceful among them; no jurist or man of learning thinks it proper to ride a mule, and riding a donkey is for them a great humiliation and a great shame; rather, everyone rides horses. As for baggage, that of the elite is carried on horses and that of the common people on oxen, on which pack-saddles are placed and the loads carried; they are fast-moving and long-striding.

2.32

وسألت الشيخ مبارك عن مدينة دهلى، وما هي عليه ، فحدثني أن دهلى مدائن جمعت مدينة، ولكل واحدة اسم معروف، وإنما دهلى واحدة منها، وقد صار يطلق على الجميع اسمها، وهي ممتدة طولا وعرضا، يكون دور عمرانها [1] أربعين ميلا، بناؤها بالحجر والآجر، وسقوفها بالأخشاب، وأرضها مفروشة بحجر أبيض شبيه بالرخام، ولا يبنى بها أكثر من طبقتين، وفي بعضها طبقة واحدة، ولا يفرش بالرخام إلا السلطان.

I asked Shaykh Mubārak about the city of Delhi and its condition. He told me that Delhi is several cities joined into one city, each with a known name; Delhi is only one of them, but its name has come to be applied to them all. It extends in length and breadth, the circuit of its built-up area being forty miles. Its buildings are of stone and brick, its roofs of timber, and its floors paved with a white stone resembling marble. No one builds there more than two storeys, and some have a single storey. None paves with marble except the Sultan.

Dehli, which was one among them, has given its name to all the rest. It is both long and broad, and covers a space of about forty miles in circumference. The houses are built of stone and brick, and the roofs of wood. The floors are paved with a white stone, like marble. None of the houses are more than two stories high, and some only one. It is only in the palace of the Sultan that marble is used for pavement. But if I can believe the Shaikh Abu Bakr bin Khallal, this description applies only to the old houses of Dehli, for the new ones are built differently. According to the same informant, Dehli comprises an aggregate of twenty-one cities. Gardens extend on three sides of it, in a straight line for twelve thousand paces. The western side is not so furnished, because it borders on a mountain. Dehli contains a thousand colleges, one of which belongs to the Sháfi'ís, the rest to the Hanafís. In it there are about seventy hospitals, called Dáru-sh Shifá, or houses of cure. In the city, and those dependent upon it, the chapels and hermitages amount to 2,000. There are great monasteries, large open spaces, and numerous baths. The water used by the people is drawn from wells of little depth, seldom exceeding seven cubits. Hydraulic wheels are placed at their tops. The people drink rain-water, which is collected in large reservoirs constructed for that purpose, the distance across each of them being a bowshot, or even more.

2.33

قال الشيخ أبو بكر بن الخلال: هذه دور دهلى [2] العتيقة، فأما ما أضيف إليها فغير ذلك ، قال: وجملة ما يطلق عليه الآن اسم دلى () أحد وعشرون مدينة،

Shaykh Abū Bakr b. al-Khallāl said: This is the circuit of old Delhi; what has been added to it is otherwise. He said: All that is now called by the name of Delhi comprises twenty-one cities,

2.34

وبساتينها على استقامة، كل خط اثنا عشر ميلا من ثلاث جهاتها، فأما الغربي فعاطل لمقاربة جبل لها به، وفي دهلى ألف مدرسة، وبها مدرسة واحدة للشافعية، وسائرها للحنفية، ونحو سبعين مارستانا [1] ، وتسمى بها دور الشفاء [2] ، وفيها وفي بلادها من الخوانق [3] والربط [4] عدة ألفين مكانا، وبها الديارات [5] العظيمة، والأسواق الممتدة، والحمامات الكثيرة، وجميع مياها من آبار محتفرة قريبة المستقى، أعمق ما يكون سبعة أذرع، عليها السواقي، وأما مشرب أهلها فمن ماء المطر في أحواض وسيعة تجتمع (المخطوط ص 17) فيها الأمطار، كل حوض يكون قنطرة، علوه سهم وأزيد، وبها الجامع المشهور المئذنة [6] ، التي قال أنه ما على بسيط الأرض لها شبيه في سمكها وارتفاعها [7] ، وقال الشيخ برهان الدين بن الخلال البزي الصوفي أن علوها ستمائة ذراع في الهواء.

and its gardens run in straight lines, each line twelve miles, on three of its sides; the western side is bare because a mountain is near it there. In Delhi there are a thousand madrasas, one of them for the Shāfiʿīs and all the rest for the Ḥanafīs, and about seventy hospitals (māristāns), which are called there houses of healing. In it and its territory there are some two thousand Sufi lodges (khānqāhs) and hospices (ribāṭs). It has great convents, long markets and many baths. All its water comes from dug wells with shallow drawing depth, seven cubits at the deepest, with water-wheels on them. The drinking water of its people is rainwater in wide tanks in which the rains collect, each tank an arch-span wide, its height an arrow-shot and more. There is the congregational mosque famous for its minaret, which he said has no equal on the face of the earth in its bulk and height. Shaykh Burhān al-Dīn b. al-Khallāl al-Bazzī the Sufi said that its height is six hundred cubits into the air.

The chief mosque is celebrated for its minaret, which, in point of altitude, is said to have no equal in the world. If the statement of Shaikh Burhánu-d dín Bursí can be believed, the height of this part of the edifice is 600 cubits. According to Shaikh Mubárak, the palaces of the Sultán of Dehlí are exclusively occupied by the Sultán, his wives, concubines, eunuchs, male and female slaves, and mamlúks. None of the Kháns and amírs are permitted to dwell there. They make their appearance there only when they come to wait upon the Sultán, which they do twice a day, morning and afternoon. Afterwards, each one of them retires to his own house. As regards the great officers of State, those of the highest rank are called khánś, then the maliks, then the amírs, then the isfáh-sálárs (generals), and, lastly, the officers (jand). The court of the sovereign comprises eighty kháns, or even more. The army consists of 900,000 horsemen, some of whom are stationed near the prince, and the rest are distributed in the various provinces of the empire. All are inscribed in the registers of the State, and partake of the liberality of their sovereign. These troops consist of Turks, inhabitants of Khatá, Persians, and Indians. Among them are to be found athlets (pahlawán), runners, (shattár), and men of every kind. They have excellent horses, magnificent armour, and a fine costume. * * * The Sultán has 3,000 elephants, which, when accoutred for battle, wear a covering of iron gilded.

2.35

قال الشيخ مبارك: وأما قصور السلطان ومنازله بدهلى فإنها خاصة

Shaykh Mubārak said: As for the Sultan's palaces and residences in Delhi, they are exclusive

2.36

بسكونه وسكن حريمه ومقاصير جواريه [1] وحظاياه [2] ، وبيوت خدمه ومماليكه، لا يسكن معه أحد من الخانات، ولا من الأمراء، ولا يكون به أحد منهم إلا إذا حضروا للخدمة، ثم ينصرف كل واحد إلى بيته، وخدمتهم مرتين في كل نهار في بكرة كل يوم وبعد العصر منه، ورتب الأمراء على هذه الأنواع، أعلاهم قدرا الخانات ثم الملوك ثم الأمراء، ثم الأصبهلاريه [3] ثم الجند، وفي خدمته ثمانون خانا أو أزيد، وعسكره تسعمائة ألف فارس من هؤلاء، منهم من هو بحضرته، ومنهم في سائر البلاد، يجرى عليهم كلهم ديوانه [4] ، ويشتملهم إحسانه، وعساكره من الأتراك والخطا والفرس والهند، ومنهم البهالوين [5] والشكار [6] ، ومن بقية الأنواع والأجناس، كلهم بالخيل المسومة، والسلاح الفائق والتجمل الظاهر الزائد، وغالب الأمراء والجند تشتغل بالفقه،

to his own residence and the residence of his harem, the private quarters of his slave-girls [1] and concubines [2], and the houses of his servants and mamlūks. None of the khāns or the amīrs lives with him, and none of them is there except when they attend for service; then each one goes back to his own house. Their attendance is twice every day, early each morning and after the afternoon prayer. The amīrs are ranked in these grades: the highest in standing are the khāns, then the maliks, then the amīrs, then the iṣbahsālārs [3], then the troops. In his service are eighty khāns or more, and his army is nine hundred thousand horsemen of these, some at his court and some throughout the other lands; all of them are paid by his dīwān [4] and all are embraced by his bounty. His troops are Turks, Khiṭāy, Persians and Indians, and among them are the pahlawāns [5] and the shikārs [6], and of the remaining kinds and races, all of them with branded horses, excellent weapons and conspicuous, abundant finery. Most of the amīrs and troops occupy themselves with jurisprudence,

2.37

ويتمذهبون [1] خاصة وأهل الهند عامة لأبي حنيفة رضي الله عنه، وله [2] ثلاثة آلاف فيل محققة، تلبس في الحروب البركصطوانات [3] الحديد المذهب، وأما في أوقات السلم فتلبس جلال الديباج [4] والوشى وأنواع الحرير، وتزين بالقصور والأسرة المصفحة، وتشد عليها البروج من الخشب المسمرة، ويتبوأ بها رجال الهند مقاعد القتال، ويكون على الفيل من عشرة رجال إلى ستة رجال على قدر احتمال الفيل، وله عشرون ألف مملوك أتراك.

and they in particular [1], and the people of India in general, follow the school of Abū Ḥanīfa, may God be pleased with him. He [2] has three thousand elephants, verified, which in wars wear bargustuwāns [3] of gilded iron; in times of peace they wear caparisons of brocade [4], figured silk and kinds of silk, and are adorned with pavilions and plated litters, and towers of nailed wood are bound on them, in which the men of India take their fighting positions. On an elephant there are from ten men to six men, according to what the elephant can carry. He has twenty thousand Turkish mamlūks.

* * * He has 20,000 Turk mamluks. * * * It is not the same in India as in Egypt and Syria, where the maliks, amirs, and generals have in their service men whom they maintain out of their own resources. In India the officer has only to care for himself. As to the soldiers, the Sultán summons them for service, and they are paid from the public treasury. The sums granted to a khán, a malik, an amir, or a general, are given exclusively for his own personal maintenance. The chamberlains and other dignitaries; the military men, such as the kháns, the maliks, and the amirs, all have a rank in proportion to the importance of their employ. The isfah-sálárs (generals) have no right to approach the Sultán. It is from this class that governors and other similar functionaries are chosen. The khán has 10,000 horse under his command, the malik, 1,000; the amir, 100; and the isfah-sálár a smaller number. The kháns, maliks, amirs, and isfah-sálárs receive the revenues of places assigned to them by the treasury, and if these do not increase, they never diminish. Generally speaking, they bring in much more than their estimated value. The khán receives a grant of two lacs of tankas, each tanka being worth eight dirhams. This sum belongs to him personally, and he is not expected to disburse any part of it to the soldiers who fight under his orders. The malik receives an amount varying from 60,000 to 50,000 tankas, the amir from 40,000 to 30,000, and the isfah-sálár 20,000, or thereabouts.

2.38

قال البرس وعشرة آلاف خادم خصى، وألف خزندار [5] وألف بشمقدار [6] وله مائتا ألف عند ركابيه [7] ، تلبس السلاح (المخطوط ص 18) ، وتمشي في ركاب السلطان، وتقاتل رجالة بين يديه، وليس يستخدم أحد من الخانات والملوك والأمراء والأصفهلاريه أجنادا، يقطع لهم الإقطاعات من قبلهم، كما هو في مصر والشام، بل ليس يتكلف الواحد منهم إلا نفسه وعدته من الجند، استخدامهم

[…] and ten thousand eunuch servants, a thousand treasurers (khazandār) [5] and a thousand bearers (bashmaqdār) [6], and he has two hundred thousand at his stirrup [7] who wear arms (manuscript p. 18), walk at the Sultan's stirrup and fight on foot before him. None of the khāns, maliks, amīrs or iṣbahsālārs employs troops to whom he grants fiefs on his own behalf, as is done in Egypt and Syria; rather, each of them bears the cost only of himself and his complement of troops, their employment being

2.39

للسلطان، وأرزاقهم من ديوانه، ويبقى كلما تعين لذلك الخان أو الملك أو الأمير أو الأصفهلار خاص لنفسه والحجاب وأرباب الوظائف وأصحاب الأشغال من أرباب السيوف من الخانات والملوك والأمراء، لكل رتبة من يناسبها على مقدارها، فأما الأصفهلارية فلا يؤهل منهم أحد لقرب السلطان، وإنما يكون منهم نوع الولاة ، ومن يجري مجراهم، والخان يكون له عشرة آلاف فارس، والملك ألف فارس، والأمير مائة فارس، والأصفهلارية دون ذلك.

for the Sultan, and their pay from his dīwān. Whatever is assigned for that khān, malik, amīr or iṣbahsālār remains his own personal portion. The chamberlains, the office-holders and those charged with duties among the men of the sword are drawn from the khāns, maliks and amīrs, each rank having what suits it according to its measure. As for the iṣbahsālārs, none of them is deemed fit to be close to the Sultan; from them come only governors of a kind and those of like standing. A khān has ten thousand horsemen, a malik a thousand horsemen, an amīr a hundred horsemen, and the iṣbahsālārs fewer than that.

2.40

وأما أرزاقهم فيكون للخانات والملوك والأمراء والأصفهلارية بلاد مقررة عليهم من الديوان، إن كانت لا تزيد، فإنها لا تنقص، والغالب أن تجيء أضعاف ما عبرت به.

As for their pay, the khāns, maliks, amīrs and iṣbahsālārs have lands fixed for them by the dīwān; if they do not yield more, they do not yield less, and usually they bring in many times what they were assessed at.

2.41

ولكل خان لكان [1] ، كل لك مائة ألف تنكة [2] كل تنكة ثمانية دراهم، هذا خاص له، لا يخرج منه لجندي من أجناده شيء، ولكل ملك ستين ألف تنكة إلى خمسين ألف تنكة، ولكل أمير منه أربعين ألف تنكة إلى ثلاثين ألف تنكة، والأصفهلارية من عشرين ألف تنكة وما حولها، وأما الجند فكل جندي من عشرة آلاف تنكة إلى ألف تنكة، وأما المماليك السلطانية، فكل مملوك من خمسة آلاف تنكة إلى ألف تنكة، وطعامهم وكساويهم وعليقهم [3] والجند والمماليك ليس لهم بلاد، وإنما يأخذون أموالهم نقدا من الخزانة، وأما أولئك فبلاد تلك غيرها.

Each khān has two lakhs [1], each lakh being a hundred thousand tankas [2], each tanka eight dirhams; this is his personal portion, from which nothing goes to any of his troops. Each malik has from sixty thousand to fifty thousand tankas, each amīr forty thousand to thirty thousand tankas, and the iṣbahsālārs twenty thousand tankas or thereabouts. As for the troops, each soldier has from ten thousand tankas to a thousand tankas; as for the Sultan's mamlūks, each mamlūk has from five thousand tankas to a thousand tankas, besides their food, clothing and fodder [3]. The troops and mamlūks have no lands; they take their money in cash from the treasury. As for those others, the lands are something else.

The pay of the officer varies from 10,000 to 1,000 tankas. A mamluk receives 500 tankas, and all receive, in addition, food and raiment, and forage for their horses. Soldiers and mamlúks do not receive grants of land-revenue, but draw their pay in money from the public treasury. The officers have villages of which they receive the revenues. As this same traveller observed to me, the revenues of these lands, if they do not increase, certainly do not decrease. Some of the officers receive double, and even more than that, in excess of the estimated value of their grants. The slaves of the Sultán each receive a monthly allowance for their maintenance of two mans of wheat and rice, and a daily allowance of three sirs of meat, with all the necessary accompaniments. Besides, he receives ten tankas per month, and four suits of clothes every year. The Sultan has a manufactory, in which 400 silk-weavers are employed, and where they make stuffs of all kinds for the dresses of persons attached to the Court, for robes of honour and presents, in addition to the stuffs which are brought every year from China, 'Irak, and Alexandria. Every year the Sultan distributes 200,000 complete dresses; 100,000 in spring, and 100,000 in autumn. The spring dresses consist principally of the goods manufactured at Alexandria. Those of the autumn are almost exclusively of silk manufactured at Dehli or imported from China and 'Irak. Dresses are also distributed to the monasteries and hermitages.

2.42

قال: والآن إن لم يزد متحصلات البلاد المقتطعة لهم عن المعبر [1] وإلا فما تنقص، ومنهم من يحصل له قد عبرته مرتين وأكثر.

He said: At present, if the revenues of the lands allotted to them do not exceed the assessment [1], they at least do not fall short; and some of them obtain twice what it was assessed at, or more.

2.43

وأما العبيد فكل عبد منهم في كل شهر منان [2] من الحنطة والأرز طعاما لهم وفي كل يوم (المخطوط ص 19) . ثلاثة أسيار [3] لحم مما يحتاج إليه، وفي كل شهر عشر تنكات بيضا، وفي كل سنة أربع كساوي.

As for the slaves, each slave among them receives every month two mann [2] of wheat and rice as food, and every day (manuscript p. 19) three sērs [3] of meat with what is needed, and every month ten white tankas, and every year four suits of clothing.

2.44

ولهذا السلطان دار طراز [4] ، فيها أربعة آلاف قزاز [5] تعمل الأقمشة المنوعة للخليع [6] والكساوى والإطلاقات، مع ما يحمل له من قماش الصين والعراق والإسكندرية، وهو يفرق كل سنة مائتي ألف كسوة كاملة، مائة ألف كسوة في الربيع، ومائة ألف كسوة في الخريف.

This Sultan has a ṭirāz workshop [4] in which there are four thousand silk-weavers [5] who make the various fabrics for robes of honour [6], clothing and gifts, in addition to the cloth brought to him from China, Iraq and Alexandria. Every year he distributes two hundred thousand complete suits of clothing: a hundred thousand in spring and a hundred thousand in autumn.

2.45

فأما كسوة الربيع فغالبها من القماش الإسكندري، عمل الإسكندرية، وأما كساوى الخريف فكلها حرير من عمل دار السلطان الطراز بدهلى، وقماش الصين والعراق، ويفرق على الخوانق والربط الكساوى، وله أربعة آلاف

The spring clothing is mostly of Alexandrian cloth, made in Alexandria; the autumn clothing is all silk, made in the Sultan's ṭirāz workshop in Delhi, and cloth of China and Iraq. He also distributes clothing to the Sufi lodges and ribāṭs. He has four thousand

2.46

زركشي [1] ، يعمل الزراكش لباقي الحريم، ويعمل في مستعملاته، ولما يخلعه على أرباب دولته، ويعطى لنسائهم.

gold-embroiderers [1], who make gold embroidery for the rest of the harem, work on the things he uses, and on what he bestows as robes of honour on the men of his state and gives to their women.

The Sultan keeps in his service 500 manufacturers of golden tissues, who weave the gold brocades worn by the wives of the Sultan, and given away as presents to the amirs and their wives. Every year he gives away 10,000 Arab horses, of excellent breed, sometimes with saddle and bridle, sometimes without. * * * * As to the hacks which the Sultan distributes every year, their number is incalculable. He gives them in lots or by hundreds. Notwithstanding the number of horses in India, and notwithstanding the numbers annually imported, the Sultan has horses brought from all countries, and buys them at high prices for presents. These animals are consequently always dear, and yield a good profit to the horse-dealers. The Sultan has under him a naib, chosen from among the khans, who bears the title of Amriya, and enjoys, as his official appanage, a considerable province, as large as 'Irak. He also has a wazir, who has a similar large appanage. This officer has four deputies called shak, who receive 20,000 to 40,000 tankas per annum. He has four dabirs, or secretaries, each of whom receives the revenue of a large maritime town. Each of them has under his orders about 300 clerks, the lowest and worst paid of whom receives 10,000 tankas a year. Some of the highest rank have towns and villages, and some have both (pay and lands) to the value of fifty (thousand).

2.47

ويفرق في كل سنة عشرة آلاف فرس عربي من الخيل العراب المسومة منها ما هو مسرج ملجم، ومنها ما هو عربي بلا سرج ولا لجام، والمسرجات والملجمات على أنواع منها ما هو ملبس، ومنها ما هو محلى، ثم إن تلك الملبسات والملجمات.

Every year he distributes ten thousand Arab horses of branded Arab stock, some saddled and bridled, some Arab without saddle or bridle. The saddled and bridled ones are of various kinds: some are caparisoned and some ornamented, and those caparisoned and bridled ones

2.48

منها ما هو بالذهب، ومنها ما هو بالفضة، فأما ما يعطى من الخيل والبراذين، فإنه بلا حساب، يعطى جسارات جسارات، ويفرق مئينا مئينا [2] .

are some with gold and some with silver. As for what he gives of horses and packhorses (birdhawn), it is beyond count: they are given in droves upon droves and distributed by hundreds upon hundreds [2].

2.49

وهو على كثرة الخيل ببلاد، وكثرة ما يجلب إليه يتطلبها من كل قطر، ويبذل فيها أكثر الأثمان، لكثرة ما يعطى ويطلق، وهي مع هذا غالية الثمن، مربحة المكاسب، لمن يتاجر فيها، لكثرة المكاسب والعساكر وجمهرة الخلق.

Despite the abundance of horses in [his] lands and the great numbers brought to him, he seeks them from every region and pays the highest prices for them, because of how much he gives and bestows. Even so they are costly, and profitable for those who trade in them, because of the great gains, the armies and the multitude of people.