Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 4.4.7

4.4.7

This will not be deemed an extravagant computation, if we bear in mind the immense quantity of tents, kitchens, baggage, furniture, and even women, usually attendant on the army. For the conveyance of all these are again required many elephants, camels, oxen, horses, and porters. Your Lordship will bear in mind that, from the nature and government of this country, where the King is sole proprietor of all the land in the empire, a capital city, such as Dehly or Agra, derives its chief support from the presence of the army, and that the population is reduced to the necessity of following the Mogol whenever he undertakes a journey of long continuance. Those cities resemble any place rather than Paris; they might more fitly be compared to a camp, if the lodgings and accommodations were not a little superior to those found in the tents of armies.