Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c23.s3.19

v2.c23.s3.19

"This masticatory lightens up the countenance and excites an intoxication like that caused by wine. It relieves hunger, stimulates the organs of digestion, disinfects the breath, and strengthens the teeth. It is impossible to describe, and delicacy forbids me to expatiate on its invigorating and aphrodisiac virtues." The shrewd Persian ambassador, however, displays the inherent bias of a foreigner in the next passage by saying that "It is probably owing to the stimulating properties of this leaf, and to the aid of this plant, that the king of that country is enabled to entertain so large a seraglio" composed of 700 princesses and concubines.²