Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c18.s1.85

v2.c18.s1.85

"These men possess nothing of their own, for they have lost whatever estates they once had; they go naked and barefoot, they wear nothing on their heads, and they hide their nakedness only with bands of Moorish brass, on which hang girdles of many coins which dangle on both sides; these are the width of four fingers, cylindrical in shape, with many figures carved on them (both of men and women). These they wear so tight that they make their bellies stand out over them. (And from the same band a strip of this brass passes behind between the buttocks, so as to form a cod-piece in front.)