مسالك الابصار في ممالك الامصار 2.34-37

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.

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.

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.