A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India c22.s2.3

c22.s2.3

When we come to estimate the amount of gold we are met with a difficulty, as there are many varieties of *mâns* in India, the variation being as much as from 19 lbs. in Travancore to 163½ lbs. in Ahmadnagar. The Madras *mân* weighs 25 lbs., the Bombay *mân* 28 lbs. Hawkins, writing in 1610, gives 55 lbs. to the *mân*,¹ Middleton, in 1611, 33 lbs.² Now Firishtah had more to do with Ahmadnagar than any other part of India, and if his estimate was based on the *mân* of that tract, Malik Kâfur's 96,000 *mâns* of gold would have amounted to the enormous sum of 15,672,000 lbs. weight. It is hardly likely that Firishtah would have had in his mind the Travancore *mân*. Even if he was thinking of the Madras *mân*, which is not likely, his estimate of the weight of the gold carried off amounted to 2,400,000 lbs.