Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 7.3

Travels in Asia and Africa 1325–1354 7.3

Language
English

7.3.1

We journeyed thereafter to Galyiir or Guyalyur [Gwalior], a large town with an impregnable fortress isolated on the summit of a lofty hill. Over its gate is an elephant with its mahout carved in stone. The governor of this town was a man of upright character, and he treated me very honourably when I stayed with him on a previous occasion. One day I came before him as he was about to have an infidel cut in two. I said to him “By God I beseech you, do not do this, for I have never seen anyone put to death in my presence.” He ordered the man to be put in prison so my intervention was the means of his escape. From Galyur we went to Parwan, a small town belonging to the Muslims, but situated in the land of the infidels. There are many tigers there, and one of the inhabitants told me that a certain tiger used to enter the town by night, although the gates were shut, and used to seize people. It killed quite a number of the townsfolk in this way. They used to wonder how it made its way in. Here is an amazing thing; a man told me that it was not a tiger who did this but a human being, one of the magicians known as Jugis [Yogis], appearing in the shape of a tiger. When I heard this I refused to believe it, but a number of people said the same, so let us give at this point some account of these magicians. The men of this class do some marvellous things.

7.3.2

One of them will spend months without eating or drinking, and many of them have holes dug for them in the earth which are then built in on top of them, leaving only a space for air to enter. They stay in these for months, and I heard tell of one of them who remained thus for a year. The people say that they make up pills, one of which they take for a given number of days or months, and during that time they require no food or drink. They can tell what is happening at a distance. The sultan holds them in esteem and admits them to his company. Some eat nothing but vegetables, and others, the majority, eat no meat; it is obvious that they have so disciplined themselves in ascetic practices that they have no need of any of the goods or vanities of this world. There are amongst them some who merely look at a man and he falls dead on the spot. The common people say that if the breast of a man killed in this way is cut open, it is found to contain no heart, and they assert that his heart has been eaten. This is commonest in the case of women, and a woman who acts thus is called a kaftar. During the famine in Delhi they brought one of these women to me, saying that she had eaten the heart of a boy. I ordered them to take her to the sultan’s lieutenant, who commanded that she should be put to the test. They filled four jars with water, tied them to her hands and feet and threw her into the river Jumna. As she did not sink she was known to be a kaftar;

7.3.3

had she not floated she would not have been one. He ordered her then to be burned in the fire. Her ashes were collected by the men and women of the town, for they believe that anyone who fumigates himself with them is safe against a kaftar's enchantments during that year. The sultan sent for me once when I was at Delhi, and on entering I found him in a private apartment with some of his intimates and two of these jugis. One of them squatted on the ground, then rose into the air above our heads, still sitting. I was so astonished and frightened that I fell to the floor in a faint. A potion was administered to me, and I revived and sat up. Meantime this man remained in his sitting posture. His companion then took a sandal from a bag he had with him, and beat it on the ground like one infuriated. The sandal rose in the air until it came above the neck of the sitting man and then began hitting him on the neck while he descended little by little until he sat down alongside us. Then the sultan said “If I did not fear for your reason I would have ordered them to do still stranger things than this you have seen.” I took my leave, but was affected with palpitation and fell ill, until he ordered me to be given a draught which removed it all.

7.3.4

To return to our subject. We went from Parwan to Kajarra, where there is a large tank about a mile long having on its banks temples with idols, which have been made examples of [i.e. mutilated] by the Muslims. Thence we journeyed through Chandiri to the town of Dhihar [Dhar], which is the chief city of Malwa, the largest province in that district. It is twenty-four days’ journey from Delhi, and all along the road between them there are pillars, on which is engraved the number of miles from each pillar to the next. When the traveller desires to know how many miles he has gone that day and how far it is to his halting place or to the town he is making for, he reads the inscription on the pillars and so finds out. From Dhahar we travelled to Ujayn [Ujjain], a fine and populous town, and thence to Dawlat Abad, the enormous city which rivals Delhi, the capital, in importance and in the spaciousness of its planning. It is divided into three sections; one is Dawlat Abad proper, and is reserved for the sultan and his troops, the second is called Kataka, and the third is the citadel, which is unequalled for its strength and is called Duwaygir [Deogiri]. At Dawlat Abad resides the great khan Qutlu Khan, the sultan’s tutor, who is governor of the town, and the sultan’s representative there and in the lands of Saghar, Tiling [Telingana], and their dependent territories.

7.3.5

This province extends for three months’ march, is well-populated, and wholly under his authority and that of his lieutenants. The fortress of Duwaygir mentioned above is a rock situated in a plain; the rock has been excavated and a castle built on its summit. It is reached by a ladder made of leather, which is taken up at night. In its dungeons are imprisoned those convicted of serious crime, and in these dungeons there are huge rats, bigger than cats—in fact, cats run away from them and cannot defend themselves against them, so they can be captured only by employing ruses. I saw them there and marvelled at them. The inhabitants of Dawlat Abad belong to the tribe of Marhata [Marathas], whose women God has endowed with special beauty, particularly in their noses and eyebrows. The infidels of this town are merchants, dealing principally in jewels, and their wealth is enormous. In Dawlat Abad there is an exceedingly fine and spacious bazaar for singers and singing-girls, containing numerous shops, each of which has a door leading to the house of its proprietor. The shop is beautified with carpets, and in the centre of it there is a sort of large cradle on which the singing-girl sits or reclines. She is adorned with all kinds of ornaments and her attendants swing her cradle. In the centre of the bazaar there is a large carpeted and decorated pavilion in which the chief musician sits every Thursday after the afternoon prayer, with his servants and slaves in front of him.

7.3.6

The singing-girls come in relays and sing and dance before him till the sunset prayer, when they withdraw. In the same bazaar there are mosques for the prayer-services. One of the infidel rulers in India used, on passing through this bazaar, to alight at the pavilion and the singing-girls used to sing before him. One of the Muhammadan sultans used to do the same. We continued on our way to Nadhurbar [Nandurbar], a small town inhabited by the Marhatas, who possess great skill in the arts and are physicians and astrologers. The nobles of the Marhatas are Brahmans and Katri's [Kshatriyas]. Their food consists of rice, vegetables, and oil of sesame, and they do not hold with giving pain to or slaughtering animals. They wash themselves thoroughly before eating and do not marry among their relatives, unless those who are cousins six times removed. Neither do they drink wine, for this in their eyes is the greatest of vices. The Muslims in India take the same view, and any Muslim who drinks it is punished with eighty stripes, and shut up in a matamore for three months, which is opened only at the hours of meals.

Linked texts (1)