A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India c21.s3.t17.11

c21.s3.t17.11

Everything has to be sold alive so that each one may know what he buys—this¹ at least so far as concerns game—and there are fish from the rivers in large quantities. The markets are always overflowing with abundance of fruits, grapes, oranges, limes, pomegranates, jack-fruit, and mangoes, and all very cheap. It is said that in the markets they give twelve live sheep for a *pardao*, and in the hills they give fourteen or fifteen for a *pardao*. The King drinks water which they bring from a spring, which is kept enclosed under the hand of a man in whom the King has great confidence; and the vessels in which they draw the water come covered and sealed. Thus they deliver it to the women who wait on him, and they take it inside to the other women, the King’s wives.