تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 12.7
English (machine translation) 12.7
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12.7.1
On the eve of the festival the sultan sends robes of honour to the maliks, the courtiers, the officers of state, the aʿizza (honoured ones), the secretaries, the chamberlains, the naqībs, the commanders, the slaves and the intelligence people, so that all of them receive them. On the morning of the festival all the elephants are adorned with silk, gold and jewels. Sixteen of them no one rides; they are reserved for the sultan's riding, and over them are raised sixteen parasols of silk set with jewels, the shaft of each parasol of pure gold, and on each elephant is a silk cushion set with jewels. The sultan rides one of them, and before him is raised the ghāshiya (saddle-cover), which is the covering of his saddle, set with the most precious jewels. Before him walk his slaves and mamlūks, each wearing a gold cap on his head and a gold belt at his waist, some of them setting it with jewels. Also walking before him
12.7.2
are the naqībs, about three hundred of them, each with a gold aqrūf on his head, a gold belt at his waist, and in his hand a whip with a gold handle.
12.7.3
The chief qāḍī Ṣadr al-Jahān Kamāl al-Dīn al-Ghaznawī rides, and the chief qāḍī Ṣadr al-Jahān Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Khwārazmī, and the other qāḍīs and the great aʿizza among the Khurāsānīs, ʿIrāqīs, Syrians, Egyptians and Maghribīs, each on an elephant; all foreigners among them are called Khurāsānīs. The muezzins too ride on elephants, proclaiming "God is greatest." The sultan comes out of the palace gate in this order while the troops await him, each amīr with his own detachment, with his drums and banners. The sultan advances, before him the footmen we have mentioned, and before them the qāḍīs and muezzins celebrating God Most High. Behind the sultan come his insignia, namely the banners, drums, horns, trumpets and surnāys, and behind them all the people of his household. Then follows the sultan's brother Mubārak Khān with his insignia and troops, then the sultan's nephew Bahrām Khān with his insignia and troops, then his cousin Malik Fīrūz with his insignia and troops, then the vizier with his insignia and troops, then Malik Mujīr b. Dhī al-Rajā with his insignia and troops, then the great malik Qabūla with his insignia and troops.
12.7.4
This malik is of great standing with him, of high rank and much wealth. His dīwān secretary, Thiqat al-Mulk ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn ʿAlī al-Miṣrī, known as Ibn al-Sharābishī, told me that his expenditure and that of his slaves and their salaries came to thirty-six lakhs a year.
12.7.5
Then follows Malik Nakbiya with his insignia and troops, then Malik Bughra with his insignia and troops, then Malik Mukhliṣ with his insignia and troops, then Malik Quṭb al-Mulk with his insignia and troops. These are the great amīrs who never leave the sultan, and they are the ones who ride with him on the festival day with insignia; the other amīrs ride without insignia.
12.7.6
Everyone who rides on that day is armoured, he and his horse, and most of them are the Sultan's mamlūks. When the Sultan reaches the gate of the muṣallā he halts at its gate and orders the qāḍīs, the great amīrs and the great aʿizza to enter; then the Sultan dismounts, and the imām prays and preaches. If it is the Feast of the Sacrifice, the Sultan is brought a camel and slaughters it with a spear they call al-nīza (with i after the n and a after the z), after placing a silk cloth over his clothes to guard against the blood; then he mounts the elephant and returns to his palace.
Linked texts (1)
- تحفة النظار في غرائب الأمصار وعجائب الأسفار — Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, Arabic