Travels in India (Tavernier) 24.1.1

24.1.1

The Kingdom of Golconda, speaking generally, is a rich country, abounding in corn, rice, cattle, sheep, fowl, and other commodities necessary to life. As there are numerous tanks, there is also an abundance of good fish, and you find more particularly a kind of smelt, which has but one bone in the middle, and is of very delicate flavour. Nature has contributed more than art to make these tanks, of which the country is full. They are generally situated in somewhat elevated positions, where it is only necessary to make a dam on the side of the plain in order to retain the water. These dams are sometimes half a league long, and after the season of the rains is past they open the sluices from time to time in order to let the water run into the fields, where it is received in divers small canals to irrigate the lands of private individuals. Bhagnagar is the name of the capital town of this kingdom, but it is commonly called Golconda, from the name of the fortress, which is only 2 coss distant from it, and is the residence of the King. This fortress is nearly 2 leagues in circuit, and maintains a large garrison. It is, in reality, a town where the King keeps his treasure, having left his residence in Bhagnagar since it was sacked by the army which Aurangzeb sent against it, as I shall relate in due course.