تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 10.9
English (machine translation) 10.9
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10.9.1
Among them is the ʿanba, with a over the ʿ, no vowel on the n and a over the single-dotted b. It is a tree resembling the bitter-orange tree except that it is larger in size and has more leaves, and its shade is the most abundant of shades, but it is heavy, so that whoever sleeps under it falls ill. Its fruit is the size of a large pear. When it is green, before it is fully ripe, they take what has fallen of it, put salt on it and pickle it as limes and lemons are pickled in our country. In the same way they also pickle
10.9.2
green ginger and clusters of pepper, and they eat these with food, taking a little of these salted things after every mouthful. When the ʿanba ripens in the autumn season its fruits turn yellow and they eat them like apples; some cut it with a knife and some suck it. It is sweet, its sweetness mingled with a little sourness. It has a large stone, which they plant and trees grow from it, just as the stones of bitter oranges and the like are planted.
10.9.3
Among them are the shakī and the barkī, with a over the dotted sh and i under the k, and a over the single-dotted b and i under the k as well. They are tall trees with leaves like walnut leaves, and their fruit grows out of the base of the tree: what touches the ground is the barkī, whose sweetness is greater and taste finer, and what is above that is the shakī. Its fruit resembles large gourds, and its rind resembles cowhide. When it turns yellow in the autumn season they cut it off and split it open, and inside each fruit there are a hundred or two hundred or somewhere in between of pods resembling cucumbers, with a yellow membrane between each pod and the next. Each pod has a stone resembling a large bean, and when that stone is roasted or cooked its taste is like the taste of beans, for [beans] are not found there. They store these stones in red earth and they keep until the following year. This shakī and barkī is the best fruit in the land of Hind.
10.9.4
Among them is the tendū, with a over the two-dotted t, no vowel on the n and u on the d. It is the fruit of the ebony tree; its fruits are the size and colour of apricots, and very sweet.
10.9.5
Among them is the jamūn, with u on the hard j. Its trees are tall, and its fruit resembles the olive; it is black in colour and has a single stone like the olive.
10.9.6
Among them is the sweet orange, which is plentiful with them, while the sour orange is rare. There is a third kind between sweet and sour, whose fruit is the size of a lime; it is very good, and I used to love eating it!
10.9.7
Among them is the mahwā, with a over the m and the w. Its trees are tall, and its leaves are like walnut leaves except that they have some red and yellow in them. Its fruit is like a small pear and very sweet, and at the top of each fruit there is a small hollow berry the size of a grape, whose taste is like the taste of grapes, except that eating too much of it causes a headache.
10.9.8
It is a marvel that these berries, when dried in the sun, taste like figs, and I used to eat them in place of figs, since these are not found in the land of Hind. They call this berry angūr, with a over the hamza, no vowel on the n, u on the hard k, then w and r; its meaning in their language is "grapes".
10.9.9
Grapes are very rare in the land of Hind and are found there only in places at the capital Dihlī and in the land of […].
10.9.10
It bears fruit twice a year, and from the stones of this fruit they make oil which they use for lamps.
10.9.11
Among their fruits is a fruit they call kasīrā, with a over the k, i under the undotted s, a long ī and r. They dig the ground for it; it is very sweet and resembles the chestnut.
10.9.12
Among the fruits of our country found in the land of Hind is the pomegranate, which bears fruit twice a year; I saw it in the islands of Dhībat al-Mahal never ceasing to bear fruit. They call it anār, with a over the hamza and the n, and I think this is the origin of the name jullanār [pomegranate blossom], for gul in Persian is "flower" and anār is "pomegranate".
Linked texts (1)
- تحفة النظار في غرائب الأمصار وعجائب الأسفار — Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, Arabic