مسالك الابصار في ممالك الامصار 2.46-52

2.46

زركشي [1] ، يعمل الزراكش لباقي الحريم، ويعمل في مستعملاته، ولما يخلعه على أرباب دولته، ويعطى لنسائهم.

gold-embroiderers [1], who make gold embroidery for the rest of the harem, work on the things he uses, and on what he bestows as robes of honour on the men of his state and gives to their women.

The Sultan keeps in his service 500 manufacturers of golden tissues, who weave the gold brocades worn by the wives of the Sultan, and given away as presents to the amirs and their wives. Every year he gives away 10,000 Arab horses, of excellent breed, sometimes with saddle and bridle, sometimes without. * * * * As to the hacks which the Sultan distributes every year, their number is incalculable. He gives them in lots or by hundreds. Notwithstanding the number of horses in India, and notwithstanding the numbers annually imported, the Sultan has horses brought from all countries, and buys them at high prices for presents. These animals are consequently always dear, and yield a good profit to the horse-dealers. The Sultan has under him a naib, chosen from among the khans, who bears the title of Amriya, and enjoys, as his official appanage, a considerable province, as large as 'Irak. He also has a wazir, who has a similar large appanage. This officer has four deputies called shak, who receive 20,000 to 40,000 tankas per annum. He has four dabirs, or secretaries, each of whom receives the revenue of a large maritime town. Each of them has under his orders about 300 clerks, the lowest and worst paid of whom receives 10,000 tankas a year. Some of the highest rank have towns and villages, and some have both (pay and lands) to the value of fifty (thousand).

2.47

ويفرق في كل سنة عشرة آلاف فرس عربي من الخيل العراب المسومة منها ما هو مسرج ملجم، ومنها ما هو عربي بلا سرج ولا لجام، والمسرجات والملجمات على أنواع منها ما هو ملبس، ومنها ما هو محلى، ثم إن تلك الملبسات والملجمات.

Every year he distributes ten thousand Arab horses of branded Arab stock, some saddled and bridled, some Arab without saddle or bridle. The saddled and bridled ones are of various kinds: some are caparisoned and some ornamented, and those caparisoned and bridled ones

2.48

منها ما هو بالذهب، ومنها ما هو بالفضة، فأما ما يعطى من الخيل والبراذين، فإنه بلا حساب، يعطى جسارات جسارات، ويفرق مئينا مئينا [2] .

are some with gold and some with silver. As for what he gives of horses and packhorses (birdhawn), it is beyond count: they are given in droves upon droves and distributed by hundreds upon hundreds [2].

2.49

وهو على كثرة الخيل ببلاد، وكثرة ما يجلب إليه يتطلبها من كل قطر، ويبذل فيها أكثر الأثمان، لكثرة ما يعطى ويطلق، وهي مع هذا غالية الثمن، مربحة المكاسب، لمن يتاجر فيها، لكثرة المكاسب والعساكر وجمهرة الخلق.

Despite the abundance of horses in [his] lands and the great numbers brought to him, he seeks them from every region and pays the highest prices for them, because of how much he gives and bestows. Even so they are costly, and profitable for those who trade in them, because of the great gains, the armies and the multitude of people.

2.50

وحدثني علي بن منصور العقيلي من أمراء عرب البحرين، وهم ممن يجلبون من البحرين، الخيل، إلى هذا السلطان؛ أن لأهل هذه البلاد علامة في الفريس، يعرفونها بينهم، متى ما رأوها في فرس اشتروه بما عسى يبلغ ثمنه.

ʿAlī b. Manṣūr al-ʿUqaylī, one of the amīrs of the Arabs of Baḥrayn, who are among those who bring horses from Baḥrayn to this Sultan, told me that the people of these lands have a mark in a horse which they recognise among themselves; whenever they see it in a horse, they buy it for whatever its price may reach.

2.51

ولهذا السلطان نائب من الخانات يسمى أميرت أقطاعه يكون قدر إقليم عظيم نحو العراق، ووزير؛ أقطاعه يكون قدر إقليم العراق وله أربعة (المخطوط

This Sultan has a deputy from among the khāns, called amīrt […], whose fief is the size of a great province, about [that of] Iraq; and a vizier, whose fief is the size of the province of Iraq. He has four (manuscript

2.52

ص 20) نواب، يسمى كل واحد منهم شق [1] ، ولكل منهم أربعين ألف تنكة إلى عشرين ألف تنكة، وله أربعة دبيران [2] أي كتاب سر، لكل واحد مدينة من المدن البنادر العظيمة الدخل، ولكل واحد منهم بقدر ثلاثمائة كاتب أصغر من فيهم وأضيق رزقا له عشرة تنكة .

p. 20) deputies, each of whom is called shiqq [1], each having from forty thousand to twenty thousand tankas. He has four dabīrān [2], that is, secretaries of the privy, each having one of the great port cities of large revenue, and each of them has about three hundred clerks, the least of whom, with the smallest pay, has ten tankas.