مسالك الابصار في ممالك الامصار 2.32-34

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.

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.

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.