مسالك الابصار في ممالك الامصار 2.37-41

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.

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.

* * * 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.

2.38

قال البرس وعشرة آلاف خادم خصى، وألف خزندار [5] وألف بشمقدار [6] وله مائتا ألف عند ركابيه [7] ، تلبس السلاح (المخطوط ص 18) ، وتمشي في ركاب السلطان، وتقاتل رجالة بين يديه، وليس يستخدم أحد من الخانات والملوك والأمراء والأصفهلاريه أجنادا، يقطع لهم الإقطاعات من قبلهم، كما هو في مصر والشام، بل ليس يتكلف الواحد منهم إلا نفسه وعدته من الجند، استخدامهم

[…] and ten thousand eunuch servants, a thousand treasurers (khazandār) [5] and a thousand bearers (bashmaqdār) [6], and he has two hundred thousand at his stirrup [7] who wear arms (manuscript p. 18), walk at the Sultan's stirrup and fight on foot before him. None of the khāns, maliks, amīrs or iṣbahsālārs employs troops to whom he grants fiefs on his own behalf, as is done in Egypt and Syria; rather, each of them bears the cost only of himself and his complement of troops, their employment being

2.39

للسلطان، وأرزاقهم من ديوانه، ويبقى كلما تعين لذلك الخان أو الملك أو الأمير أو الأصفهلار خاص لنفسه والحجاب وأرباب الوظائف وأصحاب الأشغال من أرباب السيوف من الخانات والملوك والأمراء، لكل رتبة من يناسبها على مقدارها، فأما الأصفهلارية فلا يؤهل منهم أحد لقرب السلطان، وإنما يكون منهم نوع الولاة ، ومن يجري مجراهم، والخان يكون له عشرة آلاف فارس، والملك ألف فارس، والأمير مائة فارس، والأصفهلارية دون ذلك.

for the Sultan, and their pay from his dīwān. Whatever is assigned for that khān, malik, amīr or iṣbahsālār remains his own personal portion. The chamberlains, the office-holders and those charged with duties among the men of the sword are drawn from the khāns, maliks and amīrs, each rank having what suits it according to its measure. As for the iṣbahsālārs, none of them is deemed fit to be close to the Sultan; from them come only governors of a kind and those of like standing. A khān has ten thousand horsemen, a malik a thousand horsemen, an amīr a hundred horsemen, and the iṣbahsālārs fewer than that.

2.40

وأما أرزاقهم فيكون للخانات والملوك والأمراء والأصفهلارية بلاد مقررة عليهم من الديوان، إن كانت لا تزيد، فإنها لا تنقص، والغالب أن تجيء أضعاف ما عبرت به.

As for their pay, the khāns, maliks, amīrs and iṣbahsālārs have lands fixed for them by the dīwān; if they do not yield more, they do not yield less, and usually they bring in many times what they were assessed at.

2.41

ولكل خان لكان [1] ، كل لك مائة ألف تنكة [2] كل تنكة ثمانية دراهم، هذا خاص له، لا يخرج منه لجندي من أجناده شيء، ولكل ملك ستين ألف تنكة إلى خمسين ألف تنكة، ولكل أمير منه أربعين ألف تنكة إلى ثلاثين ألف تنكة، والأصفهلارية من عشرين ألف تنكة وما حولها، وأما الجند فكل جندي من عشرة آلاف تنكة إلى ألف تنكة، وأما المماليك السلطانية، فكل مملوك من خمسة آلاف تنكة إلى ألف تنكة، وطعامهم وكساويهم وعليقهم [3] والجند والمماليك ليس لهم بلاد، وإنما يأخذون أموالهم نقدا من الخزانة، وأما أولئك فبلاد تلك غيرها.

Each khān has two lakhs [1], each lakh being a hundred thousand tankas [2], each tanka eight dirhams; this is his personal portion, from which nothing goes to any of his troops. Each malik has from sixty thousand to fifty thousand tankas, each amīr forty thousand to thirty thousand tankas, and the iṣbahsālārs twenty thousand tankas or thereabouts. As for the troops, each soldier has from ten thousand tankas to a thousand tankas; as for the Sultan's mamlūks, each mamlūk has from five thousand tankas to a thousand tankas, besides their food, clothing and fodder [3]. The troops and mamlūks have no lands; they take their money in cash from the treasury. As for those others, the lands are something else.

The pay of the officer varies from 10,000 to 1,000 tankas. A mamluk receives 500 tankas, and all receive, in addition, food and raiment, and forage for their horses. Soldiers and mamlúks do not receive grants of land-revenue, but draw their pay in money from the public treasury. The officers have villages of which they receive the revenues. As this same traveller observed to me, the revenues of these lands, if they do not increase, certainly do not decrease. Some of the officers receive double, and even more than that, in excess of the estimated value of their grants. The slaves of the Sultán each receive a monthly allowance for their maintenance of two mans of wheat and rice, and a daily allowance of three sirs of meat, with all the necessary accompaniments. Besides, he receives ten tankas per month, and four suits of clothes every year. The Sultan has a manufactory, in which 400 silk-weavers are employed, and where they make stuffs of all kinds for the dresses of persons attached to the Court, for robes of honour and presents, in addition to the stuffs which are brought every year from China, 'Irak, and Alexandria. Every year the Sultan distributes 200,000 complete dresses; 100,000 in spring, and 100,000 in autumn. The spring dresses consist principally of the goods manufactured at Alexandria. Those of the autumn are almost exclusively of silk manufactured at Dehli or imported from China and 'Irak. Dresses are also distributed to the monasteries and hermitages.