Hindustān is a country that has few pleasures to recommend it.* The people are 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 horses, no good flesh, no grapes or musk-melons,* 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 divatis,* 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 divatis. 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 divatis bring in their lamp, which they carry up to their master, and there stand holding it close by his side.
Houses andBeside their rivers and standing waters, they have some running water in their 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 pendent 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.
Advantages The chief excellency of Hindustān is, that it is a large
country, and has abundance of gold and silver. The
Pleasant
climate.
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. 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 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 āndhī.*
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
Kandahār. It is not above half so warm as in these places.*
Abundance
of work-
people.
Another convenience of Hindustān 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 Zafer-nāmeh
of Mulla Sherīf-ed-dīn Ali Yezdi, it is mentioned as a
surprising fact, that when Taimūr Beg was building the
Sangīn (or stone) mosque, there were stone-cutters of
Azarbaijan, Fārs, Hindustān, 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, Sīkri, Biāna, Dhūlpūr,
Gwāliār, and Koel,*
there were every day employed
on my works one thousand four hundred and ninety-one
stone-cutters. In the same way, men of every trade and
occupation are numberless and without stint in Hindustān.
The countries from Behreh to Behār,* which are now under my dominion, yield a revenue of fifty-two krors,* as will appear from the particular and detailed statement.* 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 Hindustān, 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.
Distribu-On Saturday, the 29th of Rajeb,* I began to examine and to distribute the treasure. I gave Humāiūn seventy laks from the treasury, and, over and above this treasure, a palace,* of which no account or inventory had been taken. To some Amīrs I gave ten laks, to others eight laks, seven laks, and six laks. On the Afghans, Hazāras, Arabs, Balūches, 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 instance, Kamrān received seventeen laks, Muhammed Zemān Mirza fifteen laks, Askeri Mirza* and Hindāl, in a word, all my relations and friends, great and small, had presents sent them in silver and gold, in cloth, and jewels, and captive slaves. Many presents were also sent for the Begs in our old territories, and their soldiers. I sent presents for my relations and friends* to Samarkand, Khorasān, Kāshghar, and Irāk. Offerings were sent to the Sheikhs (or holy men) in Khorasān and Samarkand, as likewise to Mekka and Medīna. To the country of Kābul, as an incentive to emulation,* to every soul, man or woman, slave or free, of age or not, I sent one shahrokhi* as a gift.*
When I first arrived in Agra, there was a strong mutual
dislike and hostility between my people and the men of the
place. The peasantry and soldiers of the country avoided
The inha-
bitants dis-
affected to
Bābur.
and fled from my men. Afterwards, everywhere, except
only in Delhi and Agra, the inhabitants fortified different
posts,*
while the governors of towns put their fortifications
in a posture of defence,*
and refused to submit or obey.
Kāsim Sambali was in Sambal, Nizām Khan in Biāna, the
Raja Hassan Khan Mewāti himself in Mewāt. That infidel
Their
different
chiefs.
was the prime mover and agitator in all these confusions and
insurrections. Muhammed Zeitūn was in Dhūlpūr, Tātār
Khan Sarang-khani in Gwāliār, Hussain Khan Lohāni in
Rāberi, Kutb Khan in Etāwa, and in Kālpi Ali Khan.*
Kanauj, with the whole country beyond the Ganges, was
entirely in the possession of the refractory Afghans, such
as Nasīr Khan Lohāni, Maarūf Fermūli, and a number of
other Amīrs, who had been in a state of open rebellion for
two*
years before the death of Ibrahīm. At the period when
I defeated that prince, they had overrun, and were in possession
of Kanauj and the countries in that quarter,*
and had
advanced and encamped two or three marches on this side
of Kanauj. They elected Behār Khan, the son of Darya
Khan, as their king, and gave him the name of Sultan
Muhammed. Marghūb, a slave, was in Mahāban.*
This
confederation, though approaching, yet did not come near
for some time.*
When I came to Agra, it was the hot
season. All the inhabitants fled from terror, so that we
could not find grain nor provender, either for ourselves or our
horses. The villages, out of hostility and hatred to us, had
taken to rebellion, thieving, and robbery. The roads became
impassable. I had not had time,*
after the division of the
treasure, to send proper persons to occupy and protect the
different pergannas and stations. It happened too that
the heats were this year uncommonly oppressive. Many men
about the same time dropped down, as if they had been
affected by*
the samūm wind,*
and died on the spot.