A History of Agriculture in India v2.c67.s6: The Country and People
A History of Agriculture in India v2.c67.s6
- Language
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The Country and People
v2.c67.s6.1
Commenting on the country, its climate and people, Babur observed, ‘Hindustan is situated in the first, second, and third climates. No part of it is in the fourth. It is a remarkably fine country. It is quite a different world, compared with our countries. Its hills and rivers, its forests and plains, its animals and plants, its inhabitants and their languages, its winds and rains, are all of a different nature. Although the garmsils (or hot districts) in the territory of Kabul bear, in many respects, some resemblance to Hindustan, while in other particulars they differ, yet you have no sooner passed the river Sind than the country, the trees, the stones, the wandering tribes, the manners and customs of the people, are all entirely those of Hindustan.
v2.c67.s6.2
'The chief excellency of Hindustan is that it is a large country, and has abundance of gold and silver. The climate during the rains is very pleasant. On some days it rains ten, fifteen, and even twenty times. During the rainy season inundations come pouring down all at once, and form rivers, even in places where, at other times, there is no water. While the rains continue on the ground, the air is singularly delightful, insomuch that nothing can surpass its soft and agreeable temperature.'¹
v2.c67.s6.3
¹ *Memoirs of Zehir-ud-din Muhammad Babur*, translated by John Leyden and William Erskine, pp. 201, 243