تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 13.58.5

13.58.5

Then we travelled to the city of Nadhurbār—its name is spelled with nūn and dotted dhāl both with fatḥa, rāʾ with sukūn, one-dotted bāʾ with fatḥa, alif and rāʾ—a small city inhabited by the Marhata, who are skilled in the crafts, and are physicians and astrologers. The nobles of the Marhata are the Brahmans, and they are also the Katrīs. Their food is rice, vegetables and sesame oil; they do not hold with tormenting animals or slaughtering them; they wash before eating as one washes after major ritual impurity; they do not marry among their relatives except with one separated from them by seven ancestors; and they do not drink wine, which among them is the greatest of vices—as it is likewise among the Muslims in the land of Hind: any Muslim who drinks it is given eighty lashes and imprisoned in an underground cell for three months, which is opened for him only at mealtimes. Then we travelled from this city to the city of Ṣāghar—its name is spelled with undotted ṣād with fatḥa, dotted ghayn with fatḥa, and ending in rāʾ. It is a large city on a large river also called Ṣāghar like the city, on which are waterwheels; and there are orchards with grapes, bananas and sugarcane. The people of this city are people of righteousness, religion and trustworthiness, and their conduct is altogether commendable. They have orchards containing hospices for travellers coming and going; whoever builds a hospice endows the orchard to it and assigns its supervision to his children, and if they die out, supervision passes to the qāḍīs.