Jasin or gurhil. Kanir. Keûreh. Chambeli, or white jasmine. present year. They say that if a needle be thrust into the heart of it, it melts away.' Perhaps this may proceed from its extreme acidity, or from some other of its properties. Its acidity may be about equal to that of the orange and lime.2 In Hindustân there is great variety of flowers. One is the jásûn,3 which some Hindustânis call the gurhil. It is not a grass; the shrub on which it grows is tall; its bush is larger than the red-rose bush; its colour is deeper than that of the pomegranate. Its size may be about that of the red rose; but the red rose, after the bud is formed, opens all at once, whereas when the jâsûn opens from its bud, from the midst of the cup that first expands, a thing like a heart becomes visible, after which the other leaves of the flower spring out; though these two form a single flower, yet the thing like a heart in the midst of it, which springs from these leaves and forms another flower, has a very singular appearance. It looks very rich-coloured and beautiful on the tree, but does not last long, as it withers in a single day, and disappears. It blows very charmingly for the four months of the rainy season. It continues to flower during the greater part of the year, but has no perfume. Another is the kanîr, which is sometimes white, and sometimes red; and is fiveleaved, like the flower of the peach. The red kanîr resembles the peach-flower, but fourteen or fifteen kanîr-flowers blow from the same place, and from a distance they look like one large flower. The shrub of this flower is larger than the bush of the jâsûn. The smell of the red kanîr, though weak, is pleasant. This also blossoms incessantly, and in great beauty, during the whole three or four months of the rainy season; and is, besides, to be met with during the greater part of the year. Another is keûreh,5 which has a very sweet smell. The Arabs call it kâri. The fault of musk is, that it is rather drying. This may be called the moist musk. It has a singular appearance. Its flower may be about a span and a half or two spans in length. It has long leaves like the gherav. This flower, too, is prickly, like the rosebud, when unblown; its outer leaves are very green and prickly, while its inner leaves are white and soft. Among its inner leaves is something like a centre or heart. It has a sweet smell. It resembles a new-blown shrub, the trunk of which is not yet grown up, but its leaves are broader and more prickly. Its trunk is very ill proportioned. It springs in stalks from the ground. Another is the white jasmine, which they call chambeli. It is larger than our jasmine, and its perfume stronger. 1 This story of the needle is believed, by the natives, of all the citron kind, which are hence called in the Dekhan sûi-gal (needle-melter). 2 Abulfazl informs us, (Ayeen Akbery, vol. I. p. 74), that Akber gave great encouragement to the cultivation of fruit trees; and that people of skill were invited from Persia and Tartary to attend to their cultivation. He enumerates musk-melons, grapes, water-melons, peaches, almonds, pistachioes, and pomegranates, as being of the number introduced. His account of the annual bringing of the fruits from Kabul, Kandahar, and Kashmir, is curious. I am informed that the annual importation of fruits from Kabul into Hindustan is still carried on to a great extent, though daily declining. 3 Called also jâsûndi. 4 The nerium odorum; called by Europeans in India, the almond-flower, from its smell. The Persian translator here adds, "Not knowing what this is, I have written it in the same way." In other countries there are four seasons; in Hindustân there are three; four months Seasons. of summer, four of the rainy season, and four of winter. Its months begin with the new moon. Every three years they add a month to the rainy season; again, at the end of the next three years they add a single month to one of their winters; and in the course of the succeeding three years they add one month to a summer. This is their mode of intercalation. Cheit, Beisâk, Jesht, and Asad,' are the summer months, corresponding to Pisces, Aries, Taurus, and Gemini; Sâwan, Bhâdun, Kewâr, and Kâtik, form the rainy months, corresponding, to Cancer, Leo, Virgo, and Libra; Aghen, Pûs, Mah, and Phagûn, are the winter, and include Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, and Aquarius. The natives of Hindustân, who have divided their seasons into terms of four months each, have confined the appellation of the violence of the season to two months of each term, and call them the period of summer, the period of the rains, the period of winter. The two last months of summer, which are Jesht and Asad, they separate from the others, calling them the period of the heats. The two first months of the rainy season, Sâwan and Bhâdun, they regard as the period of the rains; the two middle months of winter, which are Pûs and Mah, they consider as the period of winter. By this arrangement they have six seasons.2 week. They also assign names to the days of the week; Sanicher is Saturday; Aitwâr is Days of the Sunday; Somwâr, Monday; Mangelwâr, Tuesday; Bûdhwâr, Wednesday; Brispatwâr, Thursday; and Sukrwâr, Friday. night. As, by the usage of our country, the day and night are divided into twenty-four parts, Day and each called an hour, and each hour into sixty minutes; so that the day and night are Division of composed of one thousand four hundred and forty minutes; and as in the space of a time. minute, the Fâtihe (or first chapter of the Korân), with the Bismillâh (or blessing), may be repeated six times, they may be repeated eight thousand six hundred and forty times in the space of a night and day. The natives of Hindustân divide the night and day into sixty parts, each of which they denominate a Gheri; they likewise divide the night into four parts, and the day into the same number, each of which they call a Pahar (or Watch), which the Persians call a Pâs. In our country I had heard of Pâs and Pâsbân,3 though I did not understand the custom. In all the principal cities of Hindustân, there is a sort of people called Gheriâli, who are appointed and stationed for this express purpose. They cast a broad brass plate about the size of a tray, and two fingers-breadth deep. This brass vessel they call Gheriâl. The Gheriâl is suspended from a high place. They have another vessel like an hour-cup, which has a Their Clephole in its bottom. One of these is filled every hour; and the Gheriâlis, who watch sydra. by turns, attend to the cup that is put into the water. In this way, beginning from day-break, when they put in the cup, as soon as it is filled for the first time, they strike one stroke on the Gheriâl with a wooden club which they have; and when it Mode of marking has been filled a second time, they strike two, and so on for the first watch. The sig- time. 1 The names of the months, as pronounced and written by the Musulmans, differ considerably from the genuine Hindu names. In Sanscrit the summer months are called Cheitra, Visakha, Jeshta, Ashadha; the rainy months, Sravana, Bhadrapada, Aswini, Kritika; those of winter, Mrigasira, Pûshia, Magha, and Phalguni. The Hindustânis soften most of these names by omitting consonants. 3 Watch and watchman. 2 See Ayeen Akberi, vol. i. p. 265. introduced by Baber. nal that the first watch is past, is their striking very fast for a number of times on the Gheriâl with the wooden club. If it is the first watch of the day, after striking repeatedly and fast, they stop a little, and strike one blow; if it be the second watch, after striking fast for some time, they deliberately strike two; and after the third they strike three, and after the fourth four. With the fourth watch the day closing, the night watch begins; and they go through the night watches in precisely the same way. Alteration Formerly the Gheriâlis, whether by day or night, beat the sign of the watch at the end of each watch only; so that when a man waked from sleep, and heard the sound of three or four Gheris, he did not know whether it was the second watch or the third. I directed, that after beating the sign of the Gheri, whether by night or day, they should likewise beat the sign of the watch. For example, that after beating three Gheris of the first watch, they should stop, and after an interval, beat one other blow as the mark of the watch, so that it might be known that it was three Gheris of the first watch. After beating four Gheris of the third watch of the night, if they stopped and beat three, it would indicate that it was four Gheris of the third watch. This answers particularly well; for when a man wakes by night and hears the Gheriâl, he Division of knows with certainty how many Gheris of a particular watch are past. Again, they divide every Gheri into sixty parts, each called a Pal; so that every day and night consists of three thousand six hundred Pals. They reckon each Pal equal to the time in which the eyelids may be shut and opened sixty times; and reckon a day and night equal to two hundred and sixteen thousand times of shutting and opening the eyes. By experiment, I found that one Pal admitted of the Kul-howullah and Bismillah being repeated nearly eight times, so that, in the space of a single night and day, they admit of being repeated twenty-eight thousand six hundred times. time. Measures. Mode of reckoning. Hindu in The inhabitants of Hindustân have a peculiar method of reckoning as to measures; they allow eight ratis to one masheh; four mashehs to one tang, or thirty-two ratis to one tang; five mashehs to one mishkâl, which is equal to forty ratis; twelve mashehs make one tola or ninety-six ratis; fourteen tolas make one sîr; and it is fixed that everywhere forty sîrs make one man, and twelve mans one mâni, and one hundred mânis one minâseh. They reckon jewels and precious stones by the tang. The natives of Hindustân have a distinct and clear mode of reckoning. They call a hundred thousand a lak, a hundred laks a kror, a hundred krors an arb, a hundred arbs a kerb, a hundred kerbs a nîl, a hundred nîls a padam, a hundred padams a sang, The fixing such a high mode of calculation is a proof of the abundance of wealth in Hindustân. Most of the natives of Hindustân are Pagans. They call the Pagan inhabitants of habitants. Hindustân, Hindus. Most of the Hindus hold the doctrine of transmigration. The officers of revenue, merchants, and work-people, are all Hindus. In our native countries, the tribes that inhabit the plains and deserts have all names, according to their respective families; but here everybody, whether they live in the country or in villages, have names according to their families. Again, every tradesman has received his trade from his forefathers,' who for generations have all practised the same trade. 1 This refers to the institution of castes. Hindustan. Hindustan is a country that has few pleasures to recommend it. The people are Defects of not handsome. They have no idea of the charms of friendly society, of frankly mixing together, or of familiar intercourse. They have no genius, no comprehension of mind, no politeness of manner, no kindness or fellow-feeling, no ingenuity or mechanical invention in planning or executing their handicraft works, no skill or knowledge in design or architecture; they have no good horses, no good flesh, no grapes or muskmelons, no good fruits, no ice or cold water, no good food or bread in their bazars, no baths or colleges, no candles, no torches, not a candlestick. Instead of a candle and torch, you have a gang of dirty fellows, whom they call Deûtis, who hold in their left hand a kind of small tripod, to the side of one leg of which, it being wooden, they stick a piece of iron like the top of a candlestick; they fasten a pliant wick, of the size of the middle finger, by an iron pin, to another of the legs. In their right hand they hold a gourd, in which they have made a' hole for the purpose of pouring out oil in a small stream, and whenever the wick requires oil, they supply it from this gourd. Their great men kept a hundred or two hundred of these Deûtis. This is the way in which they supply the want of candles and candlesticks. If their emperors or chief nobility, at any time, have occasion for a light by night, these filthy Deûtis bring in their lamp, which they carry up to their master, and there stand holding it close by his side. dress. Besides their rivers and standing waters, they have some running water in their Houses and ravines and hollows; they have no aqueducts or canals in their gardens or palaces. In their buildings they study neither elegance nor climate, appearance nor regularity. Their peasants and the lower classes all go about naked. They tie on a thing which they call a langoti, which is a piece of clout that hangs down two spans from the navel, as a cover to their nakedness. Below this pendant modesty-clout is another slip of cloth, one end of which they fasten before to a string that ties on the langoti, and then passing the slip of cloth between the two legs, bring it up and fix it to the string of the langoti behind. The women, too, have a lang-one end of it they tie about their waist, and the other they throw over their head. stân. The chief excellency of Hindustân is, that it is a large country, and has abundance Advantages of gold and silver. The climate during the rains is very pleasant. On some days it of Hindurains ten, fifteen, and even twenty times. During the rainy season inundations come Pleasant pouring down all at once, and form rivers, even in places where, at other times, there climate. 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. Its defect is, that the air is rather moist and damp. During the rainy season you cannot shoot even with the bow of our country, and it becomes quite useless. Nor is it the bow alone that becomes useless; the coats of mail, books, clothes, and furniture, all feel the bad effects of the moisture. Their houses, too, suffer from not being substantially built. There is pleasant enough weather in the winter and summer, as well as in the rainy season; but 1 Baber's opinions regarding India, are nearly the same with those of most Europeans of the upper class, even at the present day. 2 Grapes and musk-melons, particularly the latter, are now common all over India. 3 Ab-rewân. ple. then the north wind always blows, and there is an excessive quantity of earth and dust flying about. When the rains are at hand, this wind blows five or six times with excessive violence, and such a quantity of dust flies about that you cannot see one another. They call this an Andhi. It gets warm during Taurus and Gemini, but not so warm as to become intolerable. The heat cannot be compared to the heats of Balkh and KandaAbundance hâr. It is not above half so warm as in these places. Another convenience of Hinof work peo- dustân is, that the workmen of every profession and trade are innumerable and without end. For any work, or any employment, there is always a set ready, to whom the same employment and trade have descended from father to son for ages. In the Zefer-Nâmeh of Mûlla Sherîf-ed-dîn Ali Yezdi, it is mentioned as a surprising fact, that when Taimur Beg was building the Sangîn (or stone) mosque, there were stonecutters of Azerbaejan, Fârs, Hindustân, and other countries, to the number of two hundred, working every day on the mosque. In Agra alone, and of stone-cutters belonging to that place only, I every day employed on my palaces six hundred and eighty persons; and in Agra, Sîkri, Biâna, Dhulpûr, Guâliâr, and Koel, there were every day employed on my works one thousand four hundred and ninety-one stonecutters. In the same way, men of every trade and occupation are numberless and without stint in Hindustân. Revenue. Distribu treasure. 1526. May 11. The countries from Behreh to Behâr, which are now under my dominion, yield a revenue of fifty-two krors, as will appear from the particular and detailed statement.3 Of this amount, Pergannas to the value of eight or nine krors are in the possession of some Rais and Rajas, who from old times have been submissive, and have received these Pergannas for the purpose of confirming them in their obedience. I have thus described the particulars regarding the country of Hindustân, its situation, its territory, and inhabitants, that have come to my knowledge, and that I have been able to verify. Hereafter, if I observe anything worthy of being described, I shall take notice of it; and if I hear anything worth repeating, I will insert it. On Saturday, the 29th of Rejeb, 5 I began to examine and to distribute the treasure. tion of the I gave Hûmâiûn seventy lacks from the treasury, and, over and above this treasure, a palace, of which no account or inventory had been taken. To some Amîrs I gave ten laks, to others eight laks, seven laks, and six laks. On the Afghâns, Hazâras, Arabs, Balûches, and others that were in the army, I bestowed gratuities from the treasury, suited to their rank and circumstances. Every merchant, every man of letters, in a word, every person who had come in the army along with me, carried off presents and gratuities, which marked their great good fortune and superior luck. Many who were not in the army also received ample presents from these treasures; as for in 1 This is still the Hindustâni term for a storm, or tempest. ? About a million and a half sterling, or rather £1,300,000. 3 This statement unfortunately has not been preserved. Baber, just before the description of Hindustân, says that he entered Agra on Thursday, the 28th Rejeb. The date in the text is an error, the 29th of Rejeb being a Friday. Perhaps he thought that the distribution of treasure on a Friday might have seemed to interfere with his religious duties. If the distribution occurred on Saturday, the date is the 12th May 1526; if on Friday, May the 11th. |