ABÚ-l Hasan 'Abí, son of Husain, was a native of Baghdád, and received the surname of Al Mas'údí after an ancestor named Mas'úd, whose eldest son accompanied the prophet in his flight from Mecca to Medina.* The greater part of Mas'údí's life was spent in travelling, and his wanderings extended over nearly all the countries subject to Muhammadan sway, and others besides. He says of himself that he travelled so far to the west (Morocco and Spain) that he forgot the east, and so far to the east (China) that he forgot the west. He was an acute observer, and deservedly continues to be one of the most admired writers in the Arabic language. The fruits of his travels and observations were embodied in his work called “Murúju-l Zahab” (Meadows of Gold), of which Ibn Khaldún, as quoted by Sprenger, says, “Al Mas'údí in his book describes the state of the nations and countries of the east and west, as they were in his age—that is to say, in 330 (332) A.H. He gives an account of the genius and usages of the nations; a description of the countries, mountains, seas, kingdoms and dynasties; and he distinguishes the Arabian race from the barbarians. Al Mas'údí became, through this work, the prototype of all historians: to whom they refer, and on whose authority they rely in the critical estimate of many facts which form the subject of their labours.”* The date of his birth is not known, but he died in Egypt in 345 A.H. (956 A.D.)
The first part of the “Meadows of Gold” was translated into English by Dr. Sprenger (London, 1841), and the complete text, with a translation into French, has since been published by MM. Barbier de Meynard and Pavet de Courteille (Paris, 1851). Both these works have been used in the preparation of the following extracts:—
CHAPTER VII.—Mas'údí begins this chapter by stating it to be the general opinion that India was the portion of the earth in which order and wisdom prevailed in distant ages. The Indians gave themselves a king, Brahma the Great, who reigned 366 years, and in whose times the book Sindhind [Siddhánta] and Arjabahad [Áryabhatta] were composed. His descendants have retained to our days the name of Brahmans. They are honoured by Indians as forming the most noble and illustrious caste. They do not eat the flesh of any animal, and both men and women wear yellow threads suspended round their necks, like a baldrick, to distinguish them from the other castes of India. He was succeeded by his eldest son Bahbúd, who reigned 100 years. After him came Zámán [Ráma?], who reigned nearly 50 years. He was succeeded by Por [Porus], who gave battle to Alexander, and was killed by that prince in single combat, after reigning 140 years. After him came Dabshalim, the author of “Kalila wa Dimna,” who reigned 110 years. Balhit, the next king, reigned 80 years, but according to other manuscripts, 130 years. He was succeeded by Koresh [Harsha?], who abandoned the doctrines of the past, and introduced into India new religious ideas more suited to the requirements of the time, and more in consonance with the tendencies of his cotemporaries * * * He died after a reign of 120 years. At his death discord arose among the Indians, and they broke up into divers nations and tribes, each country having a chief of its own. Thus were formed the kingdoms of Sind, Kanauj, and Kashmír. The city of Mánkír, which was the great centre of India, submitted to a king called the Balhará, and the name of this prince continues to his successors who reign in that capital until the present time (332 A.H.)
India is a vast country, extending over sea, and land, and mountains; it borders on the country of Zábaj [Java], which is the kingdom of the Maharáj, the king of the islands, whose dominions separate India and China, but are considered as part of India. India extends on the side of the mountains to Khurásán and Sind, as far as Tibet. There prevails a great difference of language and religion in these kingdoms, and they are frequently at war with each other. The most of them believe in the metempsychosis, or the transmigration of the soul. The Hindús are distinct from all other black people, as the Zanjis, the Damádams, and others, in point of intellect, government, philosophy, strength of constitution, and purity of colour.
No king can succeed to the throne in India before he is forty years of age; nor does their sovereign ever appear before the public, except at certain distant intervals, and then only for the inspection of state affairs. In their opinion, the kings lose their dignity and bring contempt on their privileges if the public gazes at them frequently. Government is only maintained by good feeling and by respect for the various dignities of the state.* * * * * * Royalty is limited to the descendants of one family, and never goes to another. The same is the case with the families of the wazírs, kázís, and other high officers. They are all (hereditary and) never changed or altered.
The Hindús abstain from drinking wine, and censure those who consume it; not because their religion forbids it, but in the dread of its clouding their reason and depriving them of its powers. If it can be proved of one of their kings, that he has drunk (wine), he forfeits the crown; for he is (not considered to be) able to rule and govern (the empire) if his mind is affected.
The greatest of the kings of India in our time is the Balhará, sovereign of the city of Mánkír. Many of the kings of India turn their faces towards him in their prayers, and they make supplications to his ambassadors, who come to visit them. The kingdom of Balhará is bordered by many other countries of India. Some kings have their territory in the mountains away from the sea, like the Ráí, King of Kashmír, the King of Táfan, and others. There are other kings who possess both land and sea. The capital of the Balhará is eighty Sindí parasangs from the sea, and the parasang is equal to eight miles. His troops and elephants are innumerable, but his troops are mostly infantry, because the seat of his government is among the mountains. One of the neighbouring kings of India, who is far from the sea, is the Bauüra, who is lord of the city of Kanauj. This is the title given to all the sovereigns of that kingdom. He has large armies in garrisons on the north and on the south, on the east and on the west, for he is surrounded on all sides by warlike kings.
CHAPTER IX.—Al-Jáhiz supposes that the river Mihrán in Sind
comes from the Nile, alleging as a proof that crocodiles live in it.
I cannot understand how he advanced this as a proof, He states
it in his book, “Kitábu-l' Amsár wa 'ajaibu-l buldán” (“On great cities
and the wonders of the countries.”) It is an excellent work, but as
the author has never made a voyage and but few journeys and travels
through kingdoms and cities, he did not know that the Mihrán of
Sind comes from well-known sources in the highlands of Sind,
from the country belonging to Kanauj in the kingdom of Bauüra,
and from Kashmír, Kandahár, and Táfan; and at length, running into
Múltán, it receives the name of the Mihrán of gold, just as Múltán
means boundary of gold. The king of Múltán is a Kuraishite, and
of the children of Usámah bin Lawí bin Ghálib. The caravans for
Khurásán assemble here. The lord who rules over the kingdom of
Mansúra is a Kuraishite, who is descended from Habbár bin al-
The river Mihrán takes its course through the country of Mansúra, and falls near Debal into the Indian ocean. In the bays of this sea there are many crocodiles, as in the bay of Sindábúr in the kingdom of Bághara,* in India; the bay of Zábaj, in the dominions of the Maharáj, and the gulfs of the aghyáb [aghbáb], which extend towards the island of Sarandíb [Ceylon]. Crocodiles live more particularly in sweet water, and, as we have said, in the estuaries of India, the water of which is for the most part sweet, because the streams which form them are derived from the rains.
CHAPTER XVI.—The king of India is the Balhará; the king of
Kanauj, who is one of the kings of Sind, is Bauüra;*
this is a title
common to all kings of Kanauj. There is also a city called Bauüra,
after its princes, which is now in the territories of Islám, and is one
of the dependencies of Múltán. Through this town passes one of
the (five) rivers, which form together the river Mihrán in Sind, which
is considered by al-Jáhiz as derived from the Nile, and by others from
the Jaihún of Khurásán. This Bauüra, who is the king of Kanauj,
is an enemy of the Balhará, the king of India. The king of Kan-