A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India c16.s1.53

c16.s1.53

"This king has a house² in which he meets with the governors and his officers in council upon the affairs of the realm. . . . They come in very rich litters on men’s shoulders. . . . Many litters and many horsemen always stand at the door of this palace, and the king keeps at all times nine hundred elephants and more than twenty thousand horses, all which elephants and horses are bought with his own money. . . . This king has more than a hundred thousand men, both horse and foot, to whom he gives pay. . . .