Twilight of the Sultanate c17.s7.21

c17.s7.21

The deserts consisted of fresh fruit, dry fruit and sweets. Dry fruits were mostly imported and so were apples, grapes, pears and pomegranates.¹⁰² Melons, green and yellow (*turbūz* and *kharbūza*), were grown in abundance.¹⁰³ Orange, citron (*utrurj*), lemon (*limūn*), lime (*līm*), *jāmun*, *khirni*, dates and figs were commonly known as also the plantain.¹⁰⁴ Sugar-cane was grown in abundance and Ziyauddīn Baranī writes the Indian word for it—*ponda*. Mango, then as now, was the most favourite fruit of India.¹⁰⁵ Sweetmeats were of many kinds, as many as sixty-five.¹⁰⁶ Some names like *reorī*, sugar-candy, *samosā*¹⁰⁷ and *halwā*¹⁰⁸ are familiar to this day.