Travels in India (Tavernier) 39.4.6

39.4.6

During the day the horses are given some grass which is torn up in the fields, roots and all, and is most carefully washed so that no earth remains. On the 30th [August] we made 8 leagues, and halted at Goulapali. On the 31st, after a march of nine hours, we stopped at Gogeron. On the first day of September we made only 6 leagues, and we came to a halt at Gandikot. It was only eight days since the Nawáb had taken this town after a three months’ siege, and he would not have taken it but for the aid of some Frenchmen who had quitted the Dutch service on account of the treatment which they had received. He also had as gunners many English and Dutch, with two or three Italians, who gave him great aid in the capture of the place. Gandikot is one of the fortified towns which are in the Kingdom of Carnatic. It is built on the summit of a high mountain, and the sole means of access to it is by a very difficult road, which is only 20 or 25 feet wide, and in certain parts only 7 or 8 ; the Nawáb was then commencing to improve it. On the right of the road, which is cut in the mountain, there is a fearful precipice, at the base of which runs a large river. When on the mountain you see a small plain about a quarter of a league wide and half a league long. It is sown with rice and millet, and is watered by many small springs. At the level of the plain to the south, where the town is built on a point, the limits are formed by precipices, with two rivers which bound the point at the base ;