تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 10.10: ذكر الحبوب التي يزرعها أهل الهند ويقتاتون بها

The people of Hind sow twice a year. When the rain falls among them in the hot season they sow the autumn crop and harvest it sixty days after sowing. Among these autumn grains they have kudhrū, with u on the k, no vowel on the dotted dh, u on the r and then w; it is a kind of millet, and this kudhrū is the most abundant of their grains. Among them is qāl, with q, which resembles anlī […].

Among them is shāmākh, with shīn and dotted khāʾ, which has a smaller grain than qāl. This shāmākh often grows without being sown, and it is the food of the pious, the scrupulous, the poor and the destitute. They go out

to gather what has grown of it without sowing: each of them holds a large basket in his left hand and in his right a whip with which he strikes the plants, and [the grain] falls into the basket. In this way they gather enough of it to live on for the whole year.

The grain of this shāmākh is very small. When it has been gathered it is put in the sun and then pounded in wooden mortars, so that its husk flies off and its kernel remains, white. They make from it a porridge which they cook with buffalo milk, and it is tastier than bread made from it. I used to eat it often in the land of Hind and liked it. Among them is māsh, which is a kind of vetch.

Among them is munj, with ḍamma on the mīm, then nūn and jīm, which is a kind of māsh except that its grains are elongated and its colour a clear green. They cook munj with rice and eat it with ghee, and they call it kishrī, with kāf, dotted shīn and rāʾ. They break their fast on it every day, and among them it is like ḥarīra in the Maghrib. Among them is lūbiyā, which is a kind of bean.

Among them is mūt, with ḍamma on the mīm, which is like the kudhrū mentioned above except that its grains are yellower. It is used among them as fodder for animals, and animals grow fat from eating it.

Barley among them has no strength, and so the fodder of animals is this mūt or chickpeas, which they crush, soak in water and feed to the animals. In place of green fodder they feed them the leaves of māsh, after the animal has been given ghee to drink for ten days, three or four raṭls each night, and it is not ridden during those days. After that they feed it māsh leaves, as we have said, for a month or so.

These grains we have mentioned are the autumn crops. When they have harvested them, sixty days after sowing, they sow the spring crops, namely wheat, barley, chickpeas and lentils, and these are sown in the same ground in which the autumn crops had been sown, for their land is generous and its soil good.

As for rice, they sow it three times a year, and it is one of their most abundant grains. They also sow sesame and sugar cane together with the autumn crops mentioned above.

Let us return to what we were about. I say: we travelled from the city of Abūhar through a desert a day's journey across, on whose edges are impregnable mountains inhabited by the infidels of Hind, who sometimes rob on the road. Most of the people of the land of Hind are infidels. Some of them are subjects under the protection of the Muslims; they live in villages and have over them a Muslim governor appointed by the ʿāmil or the official in whose iqṭāʿ the village lies.

Others of them are rebels and fighters who hold out in the mountains and rob on the roads.