A'in-i Akbarī - The Ain-i-Akbarī, Volume 1

Mulberries and gúlars are in season during spring; pine apples, oranges, sugarcane, bérs, úsírás, bhólsarís, gumbhís, dép'hals during winter; jackfruits, tarkuls, figs, melons, lahsauras, karahrís, mahuwás, téndús, pílús, barautahs, during summer; and mangoes, plantains, dates, delas, gúlahs, pomegranates, guavas, watermelons, paniálas, bangahs, k'hirnís, piyárs, during the rains.

Dates, walnuts, chiraunchís, and kaulgattahs are in season during summer, and cocoanuts, mak'hánás and supyárís, during winter.

Súrans and séálís are in season during summer; palwals, gourds, turais, kachálús, chachíndás, kandúrís, sénbs, pét'hs, karilahs, kakúrahs, and sing'hárahs during the rains; and carrots, sálaks, pindálús, and kasérús, during winter. Bádinjáns are to be had throughout the year.

Limes and ánwlahs are to be had in summer, the others during the rains.

Kamraks and nárangís are in season during winter; ambilís, badhals, mountain-grapes, p'hálsas, labhíras, during summer; and kaits, pákars, karnás, jámans, karaundás, jhanbhírís, during the rains.

The fruits of Hindustan are either sweet, or subacid, or sour; each kind is numerous. Some fruits also taste well when dry; others as above described are used when cooked. I shall give now a few details.

The Mangoe. The Persians call this fruit Naghzak, as appears from a verse of Khusrau.¹ This fruit is unrivalled in colour, smell, and taste; and some of the gourmands of Túrán and I´rán place it above muskmelons and grapes. In shape it resembles an apricot, or a quince, or a pear, or a melon, and weighs even one sér and upwards. There are green, yellow, red, variegated, sweet, and subacid mangoes. The tree looks well, especially when young; it is larger than a nut tree, and its leaves resemble those of the willow, but are larger. The new leaves appear soon after the fall of the old ones in autumn, and look green and yellow, orange, peach-coloured, and bright red. The flower which opens in spring, resembles that of the vine, has a good smell, and looks very curious. About a month after the leaves have made their appearance, the fruit is sour, and is used for preserves and pickles. It improves the taste of qalyahs (p. 61.) as long as the stone has not become hard. If a fruit gets injured whilst on the tree, its good smell will increase. Such mangoes are called kóilás. The fruit is generally taken down when unripe, and kept in a particular manner. Mangoes ripened in this manner are much finer. They mostly commence to ripen during summer, and are fit to be eaten during the rains; others commence in the rainy season, and are ripe in the beginning of winter: the latter are called Bhadiyyah. Some trees bloom and yield fruit the whole year; but this is rare. Others commence to ripen, although they look unripe; they must be quickly taken down; else the sweetness would produce worms. Mangoes are to be found every where in India, especially in Bengal, Gujrát, Málwah, Khándésh, and the Dekhan. They are rarer in the Pánjab, where their cultivation has, however, increased, since his Majesty made Láhór his capital. A young tree will bear fruit after four years. They put also milk and treacle round about the tree, which makes the fruits sweeter. Some trees yield in one year a rich harvest, and less in the next: others yield for one year no fruit at all. When people eat a great deal of mangoes, they may promote digestion by partaking of milk with the kernels of the mangoe stones. The kernels of old stones are subacid, and taste well: when two or three years old, they are used as medicine. If a half ripe mangoe, together with its stalk to a length of about two fingers, be taken from the tree, and the broken end of its stalk be closed with warm wax, and kept in butter, or honey, the fruit will retain its taste for two or three months, whilst the colour will remain even for a year.

Pineapples¹ are also called Kat'hal i Safarí, or the jackfruits for travels, because young plants, put into a vessel, may be taken on travels, and will yield fruits. In colour and shape they resemble an oblong orange; and in taste and smell, a mangoe. The plant is about a yard long, and its leaves have the shape of a hand. The edges of the leaves are like a saw. The fruit forms at the end of the stalk, and has a few leaves on its top. When the fruit is plucked, they cut out these leaves, separate them, and put them singly into the ground: they are the seedlings. Each plant bears only once, and one fruit only.

Oranges have the colour of saffron, and the shape of quinces. They belong to the best fruits to be had in Hindústán. The tree resembles the lime tree; its flower has a weak, but fine smell.

Sugarcane, which the Persians call Naishakar, is of various kinds; one species is so tender and so full of juice, that a sparrow can make it flow out by pecking it; and it would break to pieces, if let fall. Sugarcane is either soft, or hard. The latter is used for the preparation of brown sugarcandy, common sugar, white candy, and refined sugar, and thus becomes useful for all kinds of sweetmeats. It is cultivated as follows. They put some healthy sugarcane in a cool place, and sprinkle it daily with water. When the sun enters the sign of Aquarius, they cut off pieces, a cubit and upwards in length, put them into soft ground, and cover them up with earth. The harder the sugarcane is, the deeper they put it. Constant irrigation is required. After seven or eight months it will come up.

Sugarcane is also used for the preparation of intoxicating liquor, but brown sugar is better for this purpose. There are various kinds of preparing it. One way is as follows. They pound Babúl bark, mixing it at the rate of ten sérs to one man of sugarcane, and put three times as much water over it. Then they take large jars, fill them with the mixture, and put them into the ground, surrounding them with dry horse-dung. From seven to ten days are required to produce fermentation. It is a sign of perfection, when it has a sweet, but astringent taste. When the liquor is to be strong, they again put to the mixture some brown sugar, and sometimes even drugs and perfumes, as ambergis, camphor, &c. They let also meat dissolve in it. This beverage when strained, may be used, but it is mostly employed for the preparation of arrack.

They have several methods of distilling it; first, they put the above liquor into brass vessels, in the interior of which a cup is put, so as not to shake, nor must the liquid flow into it. The vessels are then covered with inverted lids which are fastened with clay. After pouring cold water on the lids, they kindle the fire, changing the water as often as it gets warm. As soon as the vapour inside reaches the cold lid, it condenses, and falls as arrack into the cup. Secondly, they close the same vessel with an earthen pot, fastened in the same manner with clay, and fix to it two pipes, the free ends of which have each a jar attached to them, which stands in cold water. The vapour through the pipes will enter the jars, and condense. Thirdly, they fill an earthen vessel with the above mentioned liquor, and fasten to it a large spoon with a hollow handle. The end of the handle they attach to a pipe, which leads into a jar. The vessel is covered with a lid, which is kept full with cold water. The arrack, when condensed, flows through the spoon into the jar. Some distil the arrack twice, when it is called Duátashah, or twice burned. It is very strong. If you wet your hands with it, and hold them near the fire, the spirit will burn in flames of different colours, without injuring the hands. It is remarkable that when a vessel, containing arrack, is set on fire, you cannot put it out by any means; but if you cover the vessel, the fire gets at once extinguished.

The Jackfruit has the shape of a black pudding, looks greenish, and is sometimes a yard long, and half a yard broad. When small, it resembles a water melon; its peel is full of thorns. It grows out of the branches, the trunk, and the roots. Those that grow below the ground are sweetest. On opening you see round clusters, so viscous, that the fingers stick together, when you take them out. The tree looks like a nut tree, but is somewhat bigger, and has larger leaves. The flower, like the fruit, has a good smell. The fruits are also taken down, when unripe. They then apply chalk, &c., when the fruits will get ripe.

The Plantain tree looks straight like a spear; the leaves come out of the trunk thick and soft, and resemble an unsewn plaited sleeve, but are much larger and wider. Out of the middle rises something looking like a spindle, of a lilac colour; this is the bud. The fruit consists of a cluster of seventy to eighty plantains. In shape they resemble small cucumbers; the peel is easily removed. As plantains are very heavy, you cannot eat many. There are various kinds of plantains. The plant is every year cut down, and a stump only is left of it: if this is not done, it will no longer bear fruit. The vulgar believe that the plantain tree yields camphor, but this is wrong; for the camphor tree, as shall be hereafter explained, is a different tree, although it has the same name. They also say that pearls originate in plantain trees,—another statement upon which the light of truth does not shine.

The Mahuwá tree resembles the mangoe tree; its wood is used for building purposes. The fruit, which is also called Gilaundah, yields an intoxicating liquor.

The Bhólsirí tree is large and handsome;¹ the fruit has an orange colour, and resembles jujubes.

The Tarkul tree, and its fruit, resemble the cocoanut palm and its fruit. When the stalk of a new leaf comes out of a branch, they cut off its end, and hang a vessel to it, to receive the out-flowing juice. The vessel will fill twice or three times a day. The juice is called tárí; when fresh it is sweet; when it is allowed to stand for some time, it turns subacid, and is inebriating.

The Paniálah fruit resembles the Zardálú; and its tree, the lime tree; the leaves are like those of the willow. When unripe, the fruit is green; and red, when ripe.

The Gumbhí has a stem the branches of which are like creepers; its leaves and fruits, as those of the kunár, come from below the roots.

The Tarrí forms at the root; it grows mostly in the mountains, and weighs a man, more or less, when the creeper is a year old; and two, when two years old. It looks like a millstone. When older, it grows larger according to the same proportion. Its leaves resemble those of the water melon.

The Piyár is like a small grape; brownish and sweet. The inside of the kernel is like butter, and is used in the preparation of food; it is called Chiraunjí. Its tree is about a yard high.

The Cocoanut is called by the Persians Jauz i Hindí; the tree resembles the date tree, but is larger; its wood, however, looks better, and the leaves are larger. The tree bears fruit throughout the whole year; they get ripe in three months. They are also taken down, when unripe and green, and kept for some time. Their inside contains a cup full of milk-like juice, which tastes well, and is very often drunk in summer, mixed with sugar. When ripe the fruit looks brown. The juice has now become solid, and gets black when mixed with butter; it is sweet and greasy. When eaten with pán-leaves, it makes the tongue soft and fresh. The shell is used for spoons, cups, and ghichaks (a kind of violin). There are nuts having four, three, two, and one, holes or eyes; each kind is said to possess certain qualities, the last being considered the best. Another kind is used for the preparation of an antidote against poison. The nuts weigh sometimes twelve sérs and upwards. The bark of the tree is used for ropes; the large ropes used on ships are made of it.

Dates are called in Hindi Pindk'hajúr. The tree has a short stem, rising little above the ground, and produces from four to five hundred fruits.

The Súpyárí, or betel nut, is called in Persian fúfal. The tree is graceful, and slender like the cypress. The wind often bends it, so that its crown touches the ground; but it rises up again. There are various kinds. The fruit when eaten raw, tastes somewhat like an almond, but gets hard when ripe. They eat it with betel leaves.

The Sing'hárah is a triangular fruit; its creeper grows in tanks, and the fruit is on the surface of the water. They eat it raw or roasted.

The Sálak grows in tanks under the earth. They go into the water and dig it up.

The Pindálú is reared on lattice work, and grows about two yards high. Its leaf resembles the betel leaf; they dig up the root.

The Kasérú grows in tanks. When the water gets low, they take it out of the ground and eat it, raw or boiled.

The Séálí root is long and conical; the plant is a creeper, to whose root the fruit is attached.

The Orange has the shape of an egg. One kind is called kághazí. Between the peel and the fruit is a thin white membrane. The fruit is juicy, and tastes well; one kind is to be had throughout the whole year.

The Amalbét is like a lime, and very sour. If you put a steel needle into this fruit, the needle in a short time will dissolve; and a white shell when put into its juice, will soon disappear.

The Karná resembles an apple, and appears after the plant has reached the third year. At first the fruit is green, sour, and also somewhat bitter, but turns afterwards yellow and bitter; when ripe it is red and sweet. When it is kept long, it turns green again. The tree looks like an orange tree, but the leaves are somewhat broader, and the buds like fine arrows. The flower is white, and has four petals and yellow stamens. It has a fine smell, and is used for ambergis; but it is beyond my power to describe the process of the manufacture.

The Betel leaf is properly speaking a vegetable, but connoisseurs call it an excellent fruit. Mír Khusrau of Dihlí in one of his verses says, “It is an excellent fruit like the flower of a garden, the finest fruit of Hindústán.” The eating of the leaf renders the breath agreeable, and repasts odorous. It strengthens the gums, and makes the hungry satisfied, and the satisfied hungry. I shall describe some of the various kinds. 1. The leaf called Bilahrí is white and shining, and does not make the tongue harsh and hard. It tastes best of all kinds. After it has been taken away from the creeper, it turns white, with some care, after a month, or even after twenty days, when greater efforts are made. 2. The Kákér leaf is white with spots, and full, and has hard veins. When much of it is eaten, the tongue gets hard. 3. The Jaiswár leaf does not get white, and is profitably sold mixed with other kinds. 4. The Kapúrí leaf is yellowish, hard, and full of veins, but has a good taste and smell. 5. The Kapúrkánt leaf is yellowish-green, and pungent like pepper; it smells like camphor. You could not eat more than ten leaves. It is to be had at Banáras; but even there it does not thrive in every soil. 6. The Banglah leaf is broad, full, hard, plushy, hot, and pungent.

The cultivation is as follows. In the month of Chait (March–April), about New-Year's time, they take a part of a creeper four or five fingers long with Karhanj leaves on it, and put it below the ground. From fifteen to twenty days after, according as leaves and knots form, a new creeper will appear from a knot, and as soon as another knot forms, a leaf will grow up. The creepers and new leaves form for seven months, when the plant ceases to grow. No creeper has more than thirty leaves. As the plant grows, they prop it with canes, and cover it, on the top and the sides, with wood and straw, so as to rear it up in the shade. The plant requires continually to be watered, except during the rains. Sometimes they put milk, sesame oil and its seeds pressed out, about the plant. There are seven kinds of leaves, known under nine names: 1. The Karhanj leaf, which they separate for seedlings, and call Péṛí. The new leaf is called Gadautah. 2. The Nautí leaf. 3. The Bahutí leaf. 4. The Chhíw leaf. 5. The Adhinídá leaf. 6. The Agahniyah or Léwár leaf. 7. The Karhanj leaf itself. With the exception of the Gadautah, the leaves are taken away from the creeper when a month old. The last kind of leaf is eaten by some; others keep it for seedlings: they consider it very excellent, but connoisseurs prefer the Péṛí.

A bundle of 11,000 leaves was formerly called Lahásah, which name is now given to a bundle of 14,000. Bundles of 200 are called Dhólí; a lahásah is made up of dholís. In winter they turn and arrange the leaves after four or five days; in summer every day. From 5 to 25 leaves, and sometimes more, are placed above each other, and adorned in various ways. They also put some betelnut and kat'h¹ on one leaf, and some slaked lime² paste on another, and roll them up: this is called a bérah. Some put camphor and musk into it, and tie both leaves with a silk thread. Others put single leaves on plates, and use them thus. They are also prepared as a dish.

As I have mentioned various kinds of food, I shall also say something on flavours. Heat renders pungent that which is agreeable, bitter that which is greasy, and brackish that which has the proper flavour; cold makes the first acid, the second astringent, and the third tart. Astringency when affecting the tongue merely is called in Arabic qabz; and 'ufúçat, when affecting the whole frame. A moderate temperature renders the first quality greasy, the second sweet, and the last tasteless. These are the fundamental flavours. Others count four, viz., the sweet, the bitter, the acid, the brackish. The flavours produced by combinations is endless; some have however names, e. g., bashá'at is a bitter and tart flavour, and zu'úqah a combination of the brackish and the bitter.

His Majesty is very fond of perfumes, and encourages this department from religious motives. The court-hall is continually scented with ambergis, aloewood, and compositions according to ancient recipes, or mixtures invented by his Majesty; and incense is daily burnt in gold and silver censers of various shapes, whilst sweet-smelling flowers are used in large quantities. Oils are also extracted from flowers, and used for the skin and the hair. I shall give a few recipes.

1. Santúk is used for keeping the skin fresh: 1½ tólahs Civet; 1 t. Chúwah;¹ 2 máshahs Chambélí essence; 2 bottles of rose-water. 2. Argajah, ¾ s. sandel wood; 2 t. Iksír and Míd; 3 t. Chúwah; 1 t. violet root, and géhlah (the seed of a plant); ½ m. camphor; 11 bottles of rose-water. It is used in summer for keeping the skin cool. 3. Gulkámah. Pound together 1 t. best Ambergis; ½ t. Ládan; 2 t. best musk; 4 t. wood of aloes, and 8 t. Iksír i 'abír; and put it into a porcelain vessel, mix with it a sér of the juice of the flower called Gul í surkh, and expose it to the sun, till it dries up. Wet it in the evening with rose-water and with the extract of the flower called Bahár, and pound it again on Samáq stone. Let it stand for ten days, mix it with the juice of the flower called Bahár i Náranj, and let it dry. During the next twenty days, add occasionally some juice of the black Raihán (also called black Názbúi). A part of this mixture is added to the preceding. 4. Rúhafzá, 5 s. Aloewood; 1¼ s. Sandelwood; 1¼ s. Ládan; Iksír, Lúbán, Dhúp (a root brought from Kashmír), 3½ t. of each; 20 t. violet root; 10 t. Ushnah, called in Hind. Chharílah. Press till it gets tenacious like syrup. To be made into cakes with four bottles of rose-water. It is burnt in censers, and smells very fine. 5. Opatnah is a scented soap. 2¾ s. Ládan; 1½ s. 5 d. Aloewood; the same quantity of Bahár i Náranj, and 1½ s. of its bark; 1 s. 10 d. Sandelwood; 1 s. 5 d. Sumbul uṭṭíb, called in Hind. Chhar; the same quantity of Ushnah; 38½ t. musk; 1 s. 4 t. páchah leaves; 36 t. apples; 11 t. Su'd, called in Hind. Mót'h; 5 d. violet root; 1 t. 2 m. Dhúp; 1½ t. Ikankí (a kind of grass); the same quantity of Zurumbád, called in Hind. kachúr, (zerumbet); 1 t. 2 m. Lúbán; 106 bottles of rose-water; 5 bottles of extract of Bahár. Pound the whole, sift it, and boil slowly in rose-water. When it has become less moist, let it dry. 6. 'Abírmáyah,² 4 d. Aloewood; 2 d. Sandelwood; 1 d. violet root; 3 d. Sumbuluṭṭíb; 3 d. Duwálak; 4 t. musk of Khatá (Cathay); 2½ d. Ládan; 7½ d. Bahár i Náranj. Pound, and sift, boil over a slow fire in 10 bottles of rose-water, and put it into the shade to dry. 7. Kishtah, 24 t. Aloewood; 6½ Ládan, Lúbán, and Sandelwood; Iksír and Dhúp, 2 t. of each; violet root and musk, 2 t.; 1 t. Ushnah; mix with 50 t. refined sugar, and boil gently in 2 bottles of rose-water. It is made into cakes. It smells very fine when burnt, and is exhilarating. 8. Bukhúr, 1 s. Aloewood and Sandelwood; ¼ s. Ládan; 2 t. musk; 5 t. Iksír; mix with two sérs of refined sugar and one bottle of rosewater over a slow fire. 9. Fatílah, 5 s. Aloewood; 72 t. Sandelwood; Iksír and Ládan, 20 t. of each; 5 t. Violet root; 10 t. Lúbán; 3 t. refined sugar; mix with two bottles of rose-water, and make into tapers. 10. Bárját, 1 s. Aloewood; 5 t. Ládan; 2 t. musk; 2 t. Sandelwood; 1 t. Lúbán; ½ t. Camphor. Then distill it like Chúwah, (vide below). 11 'Abír-Iksír, ¾ s. Sandelwood; 26 t. Iksír; 2 t. 8 m. musk. Pound it, and dry it in the shade. 12. Ghasúl (a liquid soap), 35 t. Sandelwood; 17 t. Katúl (?)¹; 1 t. musk; 1 t. Chúwah; 2 m. Camphor; 2 m. Míd. Mix with 2 bottles of rose-water.

 1. The Sewtí.  Whitish; blooms the whole year, especially towards the end of the rains.

 2. The Bhólsarí.  Whitish; in the rains.

 3. The Chambélí.  White, yellow, and blue.  In the rains, and partly during winter.

 4. Ráibél.  White and pale yellow.  In the end of the hot season, and the beginning of the rains.

 5. The Móngrá.  Yellow.  In summer.

 6. The Champah. Yellow.  All the year; especially when the sun stands in Pisces and Aries.

 7. Kétkí.  The upper leaves are green, the inner ones yellowish-white. It blooms during the hot season.

 8. Kúzáh.  White.  During the hot season.

 9. The Pádal.  Brownish lilac. In spring.

10. The Júhí.  White and yellow, like jasmin.  During the rains.

11. The Niwárí.  Whitish. In spring.

12. The Nargis. White.  In spring.

13. The Kéwarah.  From Leo to Libra.

14. The Chaltah.

15. The Gulál.  In spring.

16. The Tasbíh i Gulál.  White.  In winter.

17. The Singárhár.  It has small white petals.  In the hot season.

18. The Violet.  Violet.  In the hot season.

19. The Karnah.  White.  In spring.

20. The Kapúr bél.

21. The Gul i Za'farán.  Lilac.  In autumn.

 1. The Gul i A´ftáb.  Yellow.

 2. The Gul i Kanwal.  White, and also bluish.  In the rains.

 3. The Ja'farí.  A golden yellow, or orange coloured, or greenish.  In spring.

 4. The Gudhal.  Of different colours, red, yellow, orange, white.  In the rains.

 5. The Ratanmanjaní.  Bright red.  It is smaller than jasmin.  All the year.

 6. The Késú.  In the hot season.

 7. The Sénbal.  Dark red.  In spring.

 8. The Ratanmálá.  Yellow.  In spring.

 9. The Sónzard.  Yellow.  In spring.

10. The Gul i Máltí.

11. The Karn p'húl.  A golden red.

12. The Karíl.  In spring.

13. The Kanér.  Red and white.

14. The Kadam.  Outside green; in the middle yellow threads; the inside leaves white.  In spring.

15. The Nágkésar.  In spring.

16. The Surp an.  White, with red and yellow stripes in the middle.  During the rains.

17. The Sirí k'handí.  Inside yellowish white, outside reddish.  In spring.

18. The Jait.  Inside yellow, outside a blackish red.  In the rains.

19. The Champalah.  White, like orange blossoms.  In spring.

20. The Láhí.  It blooms in Pisces.

21. The Gul i Karaundah.  White:  It is smaller than the Chambélí, and blooms during the rains.

22. The D'hanantar resembles the Nílúfar.  During the rains.

23. The Gul i Hinná.

24. The Dupahriyá.  Bright red, and white.  All the year.

25. The Bhún Champá.  Peach coloured.

26. The Sudarsan.  Yellow; it resembles the Nílúfar, but is smaller.

27. The Kangláí.  There are two kinds, red, and white.

28. The Sirs.  Yellowish green.  It is full of stamens.  In spring.

29. The San.  Yellow.  During the rains.

1. 'Ambar. Some say that 'Ambar grows at the bottom of the sea, and that it is the food brought up again after eating, by various animals living in the sea. Others say that fishes eat it and die from it, and that it is taken from their intestines. According to some, it is the dung of the sea-cow, called sárá; or the foam of the sea. Others again say, it trickles from the mountains of islands. Many look upon it as marine gum; others whose opinion I adopt, take it to be wax. It is said that on some mountains a great deal of honey is to be found, so much in fact that it runs into the sea; the wax rises to the surface, when the heat of the sun reduces it to a solid state. As the bees collect the honey from sweet smelling flowers, 'Ambar is, naturally, scented. Bees are also occasionally found in it. Abú Síná thinks that there is a fountain at the bottom of the sea, from which 'Ambar rills, when it is carried by waves to the shore. 'Ambar, when fresh, is moist; the heat of the sun causes it to dry up. It is of various colours: the white one is the best, and the black is the worst; the middling sort is pistachio-coloured and yellow. The best kind goes by the name of ashhab. It feels greasy, and consists of layers. If you break it, it looks yellowish white. The whiter, lighter, and more flexible it is, the better. Next in qualtity is the pistachio-coloured 'Ambar; and inferior to it the yellow kind, called Khashkháshí. The black kind is bad; it is inflammable. Greedy bázár-dealers will mix it with wax, Mandal, and Ládan, &c. but not every one has recourse to such practices. Mandal is a kind of 'Ambar taken from the intestines of dead fishes; it does not smell much.

2. Ládan is also often called 'Ambar. It is taken from a tree which grows in the confines of Qibrus (Cyprus) and Qísús (Chios) or Qistús. It is a moisture that settles on the leaves of the tree. When goats in grazing pass near it, the hairs of their legs and the horn of their hoofs stick to it, and the whole then dries up. Such Ládan as is mixed with goat's-hair, is counted superior. It looks greenish, and has a good smell. But Ládan which is mixed with horn is looked upon as inferior. Sometimes people tie ropes round about the trees, and collect the Ládan which sticks to them. Afterwards they boil it in water, clean it, and make it into cakes.

3. The Camphor tree is a large tree growing in the ghauts of Hindustan and in China. A hundred horsemen and upwards may rest in the shade of a single tree. Camphor is collected from the trunk and the branches. Some say that during summer a large number of serpents wind themselves round about the tree, for the sake of its coolness; people then mark such trees by shooting an arrow into the trunks, and collect the camphor during the winter. Others say that camphor trees are much frequented by leopards, which like camphor so much as never to go away from the trees. The camphor within the tree looks like small bits of salt; that on the outside like resin. It often flows from the tree on the ground, and gets after some time solid: If there are earthquakes during a year, or any other cosmical disturbances, camphor is found in large quantities.

Of the various kinds of camphor, the best is called Ribáhí, or Qaiçúrí. Although different in name, they are the same; for it is said that the first camphor was found by a king of the name of Ribáh near Qaiçúr, which is a place near the island of Ceylon. According to some books, it is white like snow: and this is true, for I have broken it myself from the tree. Ibn Baiṭár, however, said that it was originally red and shining, and only got white by artificial crystallization. Whatever the case may be, there is certainly a kind of camphor which is white in its natural state. And of all other kinds it is the best, the whitest, which has the thinnest layers, the cleanest, and the largest. Inferior to it is the kind called Qurqúi, which is blackish and dirty. Still inferior is the light brown kind called Kaukab. The worst camphor is mixed with pieces of wood; it goes under the name of Bálús. By artificial crystallization each kind will become clean and white. In some books camphor in its natural state is called Júdánah or Bhímsíní. If kept with a few barley grains, or peppercorns,¹ or surkh dánahs, it will evaporate the less. The camphor which is made of Zurumbád by mixing it with other ingredients, is called Chíní or Mayyit-camphor. White Zurumbád is finely pounded, and mixed with sour cream, of cow or buffaloe's milk; on the fourth day they put fresh cream to it, and beat it with the hand till foam appears, which they take away. With this they mix some camphor, put it into a box, and keep it for some time in the husks of grains. Or, they reduce some white stone to fine powder, mix it at the rate of ten dirhams of it with two dirhams of wax, and half a dirham of oil of Violet, or oil of Surkh Gul. The wax is first melted, and then mixed with the powder, so as to form a paste. They then put it between two stones, and make it thin and flat. When it gets cold, it looks like camphor, bits of which are mixed with it. Unprincipled men profit in this manner by the loss of others.

4. Zabád (civet) is also called Shákh. It is a moist substance secreted during the rutting season by an animal which resembles a cat, having, however, a larger face and mouth. The zabád which is brought from the harbour-town of Sumatra, from the territory of A´chín, goes by the name of Sumatra zabád, and is by far the best. The moist substance itself is yellowish white. The animal has below its tail a bag, of the size of a small hazel nut, in which there are from five to six holes. The bag may be emptied every week or fortnight, and yields from half a tólah to eight máshahs. Some civet cats become so tame as to hold quiet when the bag is being emptied; but in the case of most animals, they have to catch hold of the tail, and draw it through the cage, when they take out the zabád with a shell, or by pressing gently against the bag. The price of a civet cat varies from 300 to 500 Rs. The zabád of the male is better than that of the female, because in the latter the vulva is just above the bag. When removed, the zabád is washed, and becomes afterwards one of the finest pefumes. The smell will remain a long time in the clothes, and even on the skin. There are several ways of washing it. If the quantity be small, they put it into a cup, or if greater, into a larger vessel, and wash it thirty times in cold water, and three times in warm water. The latter renders it thin and removes impurities. Then they wash it again in cold water till it gets solid, when they wash it three times in lime juice, which removes all unpleasant smell. After this, they wash it again three times in cold water, pass it through a piece of cloth, put it into a China cup, and wash it three times in rose water. They then smear the zabád on the inside of the cup, keep it at night inverted in extract of Chambélí, or Ráibél, or Surkh gul, or Gul i Karnah, and expose it at daytime to the rays of the sun, covered with a piece of white cloth till all moisture goes away. It may then be used, mixed with a little rose water.

5. Gaurah looks greyish white, but does not smell so well as the preceding. It is a moisture secreted during the rutting season by an animal like the civet cat, but somewhat larger. It is also brought from the confines of A´chín. The price of this animal varies from 100 to 200 Rs.

6. Míd¹ resembles the preceding, but is inferior to it. They mix it with other substances; hence they sell it in larger quantities. The animal which yields Míd, is found in various countries, and only sells from five to six dáms. Some say that Míd is the dried bag of the civet cat, pounded and boiled in water; the greasy substance which rises to the surface is the Míd.

7. 'U´d, or wood of Aloes, called in Hind. Agar, is the root of a tree. They lop it off and bury it in the earth, when whatever is bad rots, and the remainder is pure aloes. Some say that they do so with the whole tree. The statement occasionally found in some old books that the habitat of the tree is Central India, is an absurdity of fanciful writers. There are several kinds: the best is called Mandalí, and the second in quantity, Jabalí or Hindí. The smell of the wood, especially that of the first kind, is a preventive against fleas; but some think both kinds equal in this respect. Of other good kinds I may mention the Samandúrí; the Qumárí, which is inferior to it; the Qáqulí, next in rank; the Barri; the Qiṭ'í; and the Chinese, also called Qismúrí, which is wet and sweet. Still inferior are the Jalálí, the Máyatáqí, the Lawáqí, the Rítalí.² But of all kinds the Mandalí, is the best Samandúrí is grey, fatty, thick, hard, juicy, without the slightest sign of whitishness, and burns long. The best of all is the black and heavy; in water it settles at the bottom, is not fibrous, and may be easily pounded. The wood which floats is looked upon as bad. Former kings transplanted the tree to Gujrát, and now-a-days it grows in Chánpánír. It is generally brought from A´chín and Dahnásarí. Nothing is known of the habitat mentioned in old books. Aloewood is often used in compound perfumes; when eaten, it is exhilarating. It is generally employed in incense; the better qualities, in form of a powder, are often used for rubbing into the skin and clothes.

8. Chúwah is distilled wood of aloes; it is in general use. The preparation is as follows: They take fine clay, mix it with cotton or rice bran, and beat it well. When properly intermixed, they take a small bottle large enough to put a finger into it, smear it all over with the clay, and let it dry. After this, they put very small pieces of wood of aloes into it, so as nearly to fill the bottle. The wood must have been kept wet for a week before. Another vessel, with a hole in the middle, is now placed on a three-legged stand. Into this vessel, they pass the neck of the little bottle inverted, placing a cup full of water at the bottom of the vessel, in such a manner that the mouth of the bottle reaches the surface of the water. On the top of the vessel they then put wild cow's dung, and light a gentle fire. Should flames break out, they extinguish them with water. The wood of aloes will then secrete a moisture which trickles on the surface of the water, where it remains. This is collected, and washed several times with water and rose water, to take off all smell of smoke. The oftener it is washed, and the older it gets, the better will be the scent. It looks black, although experienced people make it white. One sér of wood of aloes will yield from two to fifteen tólahs of Chúwah. Some avaricious dealers mix sandalwood or almonds with it, trying thereby to cheat people.

9. Sandalwood is called in Hind. Chandan. The tree grows in China. During the present reign, it has been successfully planted in India. There are three kinds, the white, the yellow, the red. Some take the red to be more refreshing than the white; others prefer the white. The latter is certainly more cooling than the red, and the red more so than the yellow. The best is that which is yellow and oily; it goes by the name of Maqáçarí. Sandalwood is pounded and rubbed over the skin; but it is also used in other ways.

10. Siláras (storax) is called in Arabic Mí'ah. It is the gum of a tree that grows in Turkey. The kind which is clear, is called Míah i sáilah (liquid); the other kinds, Mí'ah i yábisah (dry). The best kind is that which spontaneously flows out of the trunk; it is yellowish.

11. Kalanbak (calembic) is the wood of a tree brought from Zírbád (?);¹ it is heavy and full of veins. Some believe it to be raw wood of aloes. When pounded, it looks grey. They use it for compound perfumes; and they also make rosaries of it.

12. The Malágír is a tree resembling the former, only that the wood is lighter and not veined. When pounded, it looks reddish white.

13. Lubán (frankincense) is the odorous gum of a tree which is found in Java. Some take it to be the same as Mí'ah i yábisah. When exposed to fire, it evaporates like camphor. The Lubán which the Persians call Kundur i daryáí (mastix), is a resin brought from Yaman; but it is not odorous.

14. Azfár uṭṭíb, or scented finger nails, are called in Hind. Nak'h, and in Persian Nákhun i bóyá. It is the house of an animal, consisting, like a shell, of two parts. They have a good smell, as the animal feeds on sumbuls, and are found in the large rivers of Hindustan, Baçrah, and Bahrain, the latter being considered the best. They are also found in the Red Sea, and many prefer them to the other kinds. They warm them in butter; others expose them afterwards to the fire, pound them, and mix them with other perfumes.

15. Sugandh gúgalá (bdellium) is a plant very common in Hindustan; it is used in perfumes.

As I have said something on perfumes, I shall make a few remarks on several beautiful flowers.

1. The Séwtí resembles the Gul i Surkh, but is smaller. It has in the middle golden stamens, and from four to six petals. Habitat, Gujrát and the Dek'han.

2. Of the Chambélí there are two kinds. The Rái Chambélí has from five to six petals, outside red. The Chambélí proper is smaller, and has on the top a red stripe. Its stem is one and a half or two yards high, and hangs over the ground. It has many long and broad branches. It flowers from the first year.

3. The Rái bél resembles the jasmin. There are various kinds; some are simple, double, &c. A quintuple is very common, so that each petal might be separated as a distinct flower. Its stem grows a yard high. The leaves of the tree resemble those of the orange tree; but they are somewhat smaller and softer.

4. The Mungrá resembles the Rái bél. It is larger, but inferior in smell. It has more than a hundred petals; the plant grows to a large tree.

5. The Champah flower has a conical shape, of the size of a finger,¹ and consists of ten petals and more, lying in folds one above the other. It has several stamens. The tree looks graceful, and resembles in leaf and trunk the nut tree. It flowers after seven years.

6. The Kétkí has the form of spindle, of the size of a quarter of a yard, with twelve or more petals. Its smell is delicate and fragrant. It bears flowers in six or seven years.

7. The Kéwrah resembles the preceding, but is more than twice as big. The petals have thorns. As they grow on different places, they are not all equal. In the midst of the flower, there is a small branch with honey-coloured threads, not without smell. The flower smells even after it is withered. Hence people put it into clothes, when the smell remains for a long time. The stem of the tree is above four yards high; the leaves are like those of the maize, only longer, and triangular, with three thorns in each corner. It flowers from the fourth year. Every year they put new earth round about the roots. The plant is chiefly found in the Dek'han, Gujrát, Málwah, and Bahár.

8. The Chaltah resembles a large tulip. It consists of eighteen petals, six green ones above; six others, some red, some green, some greyish yellow; and six white. In the midst of the flower, as in the flower called Haméshah Bahár, there are nearly two hundred little yellow leaves, with a red globule in the centre. The flower will remain quite fresh for five or six days after having been plucked. It smells like the violet. When withered, the flower is cooked and eaten. The tree resembles the pomegranate tree; and its leaves look like those of the orange tree. It blooms in seven years.

9. The Tasbíhgulál has a fine smell. The petals have the form of a dagger. The stem of the plant is two yards high. It flowers after four years. They make rosaries of the flowers, which keep fresh for a week.

10. The Bholsarí is smaller than the jasmin; its petals are indented. When dry the flower smells better. The tree resembles the walnut tree, and flowers in the tenth year.

11. The Singárhár is shaped like a clove, and has an orange-coloured stalk. The stamens look like poppy seeds. The tree resembles the pomegranate tree, and the leaves are like the leaves of a peach tree. It flowers in five years.

12. The Kúzah looks like a Gul i surkh; but the plant and the leaves are larger. It has five or a hundred petals, and golden coloured stamens in the middle. They make 'Abírmáyah and an extract from it.

13. The Pádal has five or six long petals. It gives water an agreeable flavour and smell. It is on this account that people preserve the flowers, mixed with clay, for such times when the flower is out of season. The leaves and the stem are like those of a nut tree. It flowers in the twelfth year.

14. The Júhí has small leaves. This creeper winds itself round about trees, and flowers in three years.

15. The Niwárí looks like a simple Rái bél, but has larger petals The flowers are often so numerous, as to conceal the leaves and branches of the plant. It flowers in the first year.

16. The Kapúr bél has five petals, and resembles the saffron flower. This flower was brought during the present reign from Europe.

17. The Za'farán (saffron).¹ In the beginning of the month of Urdíbihisht, the saffron seeds are put into the ground which has been carefully prepared and rendered soft. After this, the field is irrigated with rain water. The seed itself is a bulb resembling garlic. The flower appears in the middle of the month of A´bán; the plant is about a quarter of a yard long; but, according to the difference of the soil in which it stands, there are sometimes two-thirds of it above, and sometimes below the ground. The flower stands on the top of the stalk, and consists of six petals and six stamens. Three of the six petals have a fresh lilac colour, and stand round about the remaining three petals. The stamens are similarly placed, three of a yellow colour standing round about the other three, which are red. The latter yield the saffron. Yellow stamens are often cunningly intermixed. In former times saffron was collected by compulsory labour: they pressed men daily, and made them separate the saffron from the petals and the stamens, and gave them salt instead of wages, a man who cleaned two pals receiving two pals of salt. At the time of Ghází Khán,² the son of (Khájí) Chak, another custom became general: they gave the workmen eleven tarks of saffron flowers, of which one tark was given them as wages; and for the remaining ten they had to furnish two Akbarsháhí sérs of clean, dry saffron, i. e., for two Akbarsháhí mans³ of saffron flowers they had to give two sérs of cleaned saffron. This custom, however, was abolished by his Majesty, on his third visit to Kashmír, to the great relief of the people.

When the bulb has been put into the ground, it will produce flowers for six years, provided the soil be annually softened. For the first two years, the flowers will grow sparingly; but in the third year the plant reaches its state of perfection. After six years the bulbs must be taken out; else they get rotten. They plant them again on some other place; and leave the old ground uncultivated for five years.

Saffron comes chiefly from the place Panpúr, which belongs to the district of Mararáj⁴ (?). The fields there extend over nearly twelve kós. Another place of cultivation is in the Parganah of Paraspúr, near Indarkol, not far from Kamráj, where the fields extend about a kós.

18. The A´ftábí (sun-flower) is round, broad, and large, has a large number of petals, and turns continually to the sun. Its stem reaches a height of three yards.

19. The Kanwal. There are two kinds. One opens when the sublime Sun shines, turning wherever he goes, and closing at night. It resembles the shaqáiq-lily; but its red is paler. Its petals which are never less than six in number enclose yellow stamens, in the midst of which there is an excrescence of the form of a cone with the base upwards, which is the fruit, and contains the seeds. The other kind has four white petals, opens at night, and turns itself according to the moon, but does not close.

20. The Ja'farí is a pretty round flower, and grows larger than the çadbarg. One kind has five, another a hundred petals. The latter remains fresh for two months and upwards. The plant is of the size of a man, and the leaves resemble those of the willow, but are indented. It flowers in two months.

21. The Guḍhal resembles the joghású-tulip, and has a great number of petals. Its stem reaches a height of two yards and upwards; the leaves look like Mulberry leaves. It flowers in two years.

22. The Ratanmanjaní has four petals, and is smaller than the jasmin. The tree and the leaves resemble the Ráibél. It flowers in two years.

23. The Késú has five petals resembling a tiger's claw. In their midst is a yellow stamen of the shape of a tongue. The plant is very large, and is found on every meadow; when it flowers, it is as if a beautiful fire surrounded the scenery.

24. The Kanér remains a long time in bloom. It looks well, but it is poisonous. Whoever puts it on his head, is sure to fall in battle. It has mostly five petals. The branches are full of the flowers; the plant itself grows to a height of two yards. It flowers in the first year.

25. The Kadam resembles a tumághah (a royal cap). The leaves are like those of the nut tree, which the whole tree resembles.

26. The Nág késar, like the Gul í surkh, has five petals and is full of fine stamens. It resembles the nut tree in the leaves and the stem, and flowers in seven years.

27. The Surpan resembles the Sesame flower, and has yellow stamens in the middle. The stem resembles the Hinná plant, and the leaves those of the willow.

28. The Srík'handí is like the Chambélí, but smaller. It flowers in two years.

29. The Hinna has four petals, and resembles the flower called Náfarmán. Different plants have often flowers of a different colour.

30. The Dupahriyá is round and small, and looks like the flower called Haméshah bahár. It opens at noon. The stem is about two yards high.

31. The Bhún champá resembles the Nílúfar flowers, and has five petals. The stem is about a span long. It grows on such places as are periodically under water. Occasionally a plant is found above the water.

32. The Sudarsan resembles the Ráibél, and has yellow threads inside. The stem looks like that of the Sósan flower.

33. Sénbal has five petals, each ten fingers long, and three fingers broad.

34. The Ratanmálá is round and small. Its juice is cooked out, and when mixed with vitriol and Muaçfar, furnishes a fast red dye for stuffs. Butter, sesame oil, are also boiled together with the root of the plant, when the mixture becomes a purple dye.

35. The Súnzárd resembles the jasmin, but is a little larger, and has from five to six petals. The stem is like that of the Chambélí. It flowers in two years.

36. The Máltí is like the Chamhélí, but smaller. In the middle there are little stamens looking like poppyseed. It flowers in two years more or less.

37. The Karíl has three small petals. It flowers luxuriantly, and looks very well. The flower is also boiled and eaten; they make also pickles of it.

38. The Jait plant grows to a large tree; its leaves look like Tamarind leaves.

39. The Chanpalah is like a nosegay. The leaves of the plant are like nut leaves. It flowers in two years. The bark of the plant, when boiled in water, makes the water red. It grows chiefly in the hills; its wood burns bright like a candle.

40. The Láhí has a stem one and a half yards high. The branches, before the flowers appear, are made into a dish which is eaten with bread. When camels feed on this plant, they get fat and unruly.

41. The Karaundah resembles the Júhí flower.

42. The Dhanantar resembles the Nílúfar, and looks very well. It is a creeper.

43. The Sirs flower consists of silk-like threads, and resembles a tumághah. It sends its fragrance to a great distance. It is the king of the trees, although the Hindus rather worship the Pípal and Baṛ trees. The tree grows very large; its wood is used in building. Within the stem the wood is black, and resists the stroke of the axe.

44. The Kangláí has five petals, each four fingers long, and looks very beautiful. Each branch produces only one flower.

45. The San flower (hemp) looks like a nosegay. The leaves of the plant resemble those of the Chanár. Of the bark of the plant strong ropes are made. One kind of this plant bears a flower like the cotton tree, and is called Patsan. It makes a very soft rope.

It is really too difficult for me, ignorant as I am, to give a description of the flowers of this country: I have mentioned a few for those who wish to know something about them. There are also found many flowers of I´rán and Túrán, as the Gul i Surkh, the Nargis, the violet, the Yásaman i kabúd, the Sósan, the Raihán, the Ra'ná, the Zébá, the Shaqáiq, the Táj i khurús, the Qalghah, the Náfarmán, the Khatamí, &c. Garden and flower beds are everywhere to be found. Formerly peeple used to plant their gardens without any order, but since the time of the arrival in India of the emperor Bábar, a more methodical arrangement of the gardens has obtained; and travellers now-a-days admire the beauty of the palaces and their murmuring fountains.

It would be impossible to give an account of those trees of the country, whose flowers, fruits, buds, leaves, roots, &c., are used as food, or medicine. If, according to the books of the Hindus, a man were to collect only one leaf from each tree, he would get eighteen bárs, or loads, (5 surkhs = 1 máshah; 16 máshahs = 1 karga; 4 kargas = 1 pala; 100 palas = 1 tulá; 20 tulás = 1 bár); i. e., according to the weights now in use, 96 mans. The same books also state that the duration of the life of a tree is not less than two gharís (twice 24 minutes), and not more than ten thousand years. The height of the trees is said not to exceed a little above a thousand jújans.¹ When a tree dies, its life is said to pass into one of the following ten things: fire, water, air, earth, plants, animals, animals of two senses, such as have three, or four, or five senses.

His Majesty pays much attention to various stuffs; hence I´rání, European, and Mongolian articles of wear are in abundance. Skilful masters and workmen have settled in this country, to teach people an improved system of manufacture. The Imperial workshops, the towns of Láhór, A´grah, Fathpúr, Ahmadábád, Gujrát, turn out many master-pieces of workmanship; and the figures and patterns, knots, and variety of fashions which now prevail, astonish experienced travellers. His Majesty himself acquired in a short time a theoretical and practical knowledge of the whole trade; and on account of the care bestowed upon them, the intelligent workmen of this country soon improved. All kinds of hair-weaving and silk-spinning were brought to perfection; and the imperial workshops furnish all those stuffs which are made in other countries. A taste for fine material has since become general, and the drapery used at feasts surpasses every description.

All articles which have been bought, or woven to order, or received as tribute or presents, are carefully preserved; and according to the order in which they were preserved, they are again taken out for inspection, or given out to be cut and to be made up, or given away as presents. Articles which arrive at the same time, are arranged according to their prices. Experienced people inquire continually into the prices of articles used both formerly and at present, as a knowledge of the exact prices is conducive to the increase of the stock. Even the prices became generally lower. Thus a piece woven by the famous Ghiás i Naqshband may now be obtained for fifty muhurs, whilst it had formerly been sold for twice that sum; and most other articles have got cheaper at the rate of thirty to ten, or even forty to ten.¹ His Majesty also ordered that people of certain ranks should wear certain articles; and this was done in order to regulate the demand.

I shall not say much on this subject, though a fcw particulars regarding the articles worn by his Majesty may be of interest.

1. The Takauchiyah is a coat without lining, of the Indian form. Formerly it had slits in the skirt, and was tied on the left side; his Majesty has ordered it to be made with a round skirt, and to be tied on the right side.² It requires seven yards and seven girihs,³ and five girihs for the binding. The price for making a plain one varies from one rupee to three rupees; but if the coat be adorned with ornamental stitching, from one to four and three quarters rupees. Besides a misqál of silk is required.

2. The Péshwáz (a coat open in front) is of the same form, but ties in front. It is sometimes made without strings.

3. The Dutáhí (a coat with lining) requires six yards and four girihs for the outside, six yards lining, four girihs for the binding, nine girihs for the border. The price of making one varies from one to three rupees. One misqál of silk is required.

4. The Sháh-ájídah (or the royal stitch coat) is also called Shaçtkhaṭ (or sixty rows), as it has sixty ornamental stitches per girih. It has generally a double lining, and is sometimes wadded and quilted. The cost of making is two rupees per yard.

5. The Sózaní requires a quarter of a sér of cotton and two dáms of silk. If sewed with bakhyah¹ stitches, the price of making one is eight rupees; one with ájidah stitches costs four rupees.

6. The Qalamí requires 3/8 s. cotton, and one dám silk. Cost of making, two rupees.

7. The Qabá, which is at present generally called jámah i pumbahdár, is a wadded coat. It requires 1 s. of cotton, and 2 m. silk. Price, one rupee to a quarter rupee.

8. The Gadar is a coat wider and longer than the qabá, and contains more wadding. In Hindustan, it takes the place of a fur-coat. It requires seven yards of stuff, six yards of lining, four girihs binding, nine for bordering, 2½ s. cotton, 3 m. silk. Price, from one-half to one and one-half rupees.

9. The Farjí has no binding, and is open in front. Some put buttons to it. It is worn over the jámah (coat), and requires 5 y. 12 g. stuff; 5 y. 5 g. lining; 14 g. bordering; 1 s. cotton; 1 m. silk. Price, from a quarter to one rupee.

10. The Fargul resembles the yápanjí,² but is more comfortable and becoming. It was brought from Europe;³ but every one now-a-days wears it. They make it of various stuffs. It requires 9 y. 6½ g. stuff, the same quantity of lining, 6 m. silk, 1 s. cotton. It is made both single and double. Price, from ½ to 2 R.

11. The Chakman¹ is made of broadcloth, or woollen stuff, or wax cloth. His Majesty has it made of Dáráí wax cloth, which is very light and pretty. The rain cannot go through it. It requires 6 y. stuff, 5 g. binding, and 2 m. silk. The price of making one of broadcloth is 2 R.; of wool, 1½ R.; of wax cloth, ½ R.

12. The Shalwár (drawers) is made of all kinds of stuff, single and double, and wadded. It requires 3 y. 11 g. cloth, 6 g. for the hem through which the string runs, 3 y. 5 g. lining, 1¼ m. silk, ½ s. cotton. Price, from ¼ to ½ R.

There are various kinds of each of these garments. It would take me too long to describe the chírahs, fauṭahs, and dupattahs,² or the costly dresses worn at feasts or presented to the grandees of the present time. Every season, there are made one thousand complete suits for the imperial wardrobe, and one hundred and twenty, made up in twelve bundles, are always kept in readiness. From his indifference to every thing that is worldly, His Majesty prefers and wears woollen³ stuffs, especially shawls; and I must mention, as a most curious sign of auspiciousness, that His Majesty's clothes becomingly fit every one whether he be tall or short, a fact which has hitherto puzzled many.

His Majesty has changed the names of several garments, and invented new and pleasing terms.⁴ Instead of jámah (coat), he says sarbgátí, i. e., covering the whole body; for izár (drawers), he says yárpíráhan (the companion of the coat); for nímtanah (a jacket), tanzéb; for fauṭah, patgat; for burqu' (a veil), chitragupita; for kuláh (a cap), sís sobhá; for múibáf (a hair ribbon,) késg'han; for patká (a cloth for the loins), katzéb; for shál (shawl), parmnarm; for….⁵, parmgarm; for kapúrdhúr, a Tibetan stuff, kapúrnúr; for páiafzár (shoes), charndharn; and similarly for other names.

His Majesty improved this department in four ways. The improvement is visible, first, in the Ṭús shawls, which are made of the wool of an animal of that name; its natural colours are black, white, and red, but chiefly black. Sometimes the colour is a pure white. This kind of shawl is unrivalled for its lightness, warmth, and softness. People generally wear it without altering its natural colour; his Majesty has had it dyed. It is curious that it will not take a red dye. Secondly, in the Safíd Alchahs,¹ also called Ṭarhdárs, in their natural colours. The wool is either white or black. These stuffs may be had in three colours, white, black, or mixed. The first or white kind, was formerly dyed in three ways; his Majesty has given the order to dye it in various ways. Thirdly, in stuffs as Zardózí,² Kalábatún, Kashídah, Qálghaí, Bándhnún, Chhínt, Alchah, Purzdár, to which His Majesty pays much attention. Fourthly, an improvement was made in the width of all stuffs; His Majesty had the pieces made large enough to yield the making of a full dress.

The garments stored in the Imperial wardrobe are arranged according to the days, months, and years, of their entries, and according to their colour, price, and weight. Such an arrangement is now-a-days called misl, a set. The clerks fix accordingly the degree of every article of wear, which they write on a strip of cloth, and tack it to the end of the pieces. Whatever pieces of the same kind arrive for the Imperial wardrobe on the Urmuzd day (first day) of the month of Farwardín, provided they be of a good quality, have a higher rank assigned to them than pieces arriving on other days; and if pieces are equal in value, their precedence, or otherwise, is determined by the character³ of the day of their entry; and if pieces are equal as far as the character of the day is concerned, they put the lighter stuff higher in rank; and if pieces have the same weight, they arrange them according to their colour. The following is the order of colours: ṭús, safídalchah, ruby coloured, golden, orange, brass-coloured, crimson, grass green, cotton-flower coloured, sandalwood-coloured, almond-coloured, purple, grape-coloured, mauve like the colour of some parrots, honey-coloured, brownish lilac, coloured like the Ratanmanjaní flower, coloured like the Kásní flower, apple-coloured, hay-coloured, pistachio, ………¹, bhójpatra coloured, pink, light blue, coloured like the qalghah flower, water-coloured, oil-coloured, brown red, emerald, bluish like China-ware, violet, bright pink, mangoe coloured, musk-coloured, coloured like the Fákhtah pigeon.

In former times shawls were often brought from Kashmír. People folded them up in four folds, and wore them for a very long time. Now-a-days they are generally worn without folds, and merely thrown over the shoulder. His Majesty has commenced to wear them double, which looks very well.

His Majesty encourages, in every possible way, the manufacture of shawls in Kashmír. In Láhór also there are more than a thousand workshops. A kind of shawl, called máyán, is chiefly woven there; it consists of silk and wool mixed. Both are used for chírahs (turbans), fautahs (loin bands), &c.

I subjoin the following tabular particulars.

White and black are believed to be the origin of all colours. They are looked upon as extremes, and as the component parts of the other colours. Thus white when mixed in large proportions with an impure black, will yield yellow; and white and black, in equal proportions, will give red. White mixed with a large quantity of black, will give a bluish green. Other colours may be formed by compounding these. Besides, it must be borne in mind that cold makes a juicy body white, and a dry body black; and heat renders that which is fresh black, and white that which is dry. These two powers (heat and cold) produce, each in its place, a change in the colour of a body, because bodies are both qábil, i. e., capable of being acted upon, and muqtaza, i. e., subject to the influence of the heavenly bodies (chiefly the sun), the active origin of heat.

What we call form leads us to recognize a body; the body itself leads us to what we call a notion, an idea. Thus on seeing the form of a letter, we recognize the letter, or a word, and this again will lead us to some idea. Similarly in the case of what people term a picture. But though it is true that painters, especially those of Europe, succeed in drawing figures expressive of the conceptions which the artist has of any of the mental states,¹ so much so, that people may mistake a picture for a reality: yet pictures are much inferior to the written letter, inasmuch as the letter may embody the wisdom of bygone ages, and become a means to intellectual progress.

I shall first say something about the art of writing, as it is the more important of the two arts. His Majesty pays much attention to both, and is an excellent judge of form and thought. And indeed, in the eyes of the friends of true beauty, a letter is the source from which the light confined within it beams forth; and in the opinion of the far-sighted, it is the world-reflecting cup² in the abstract. The letter, a magical power, is spiritual geometry emanating from the pen of invention; a heavenly writ from the hand of fate; it contains the secret of the word, and is the tongue of the hand. The spoken word goes to the hearts of such as are present to hear it; the letter gives wisdom to those that are near and far. If it was not for the letter, the spoken word would soon die, and no keepsake would be left us of those that are gone by. Superficial observers see in the letter a sooty figure; but the deepsighted, a lamp of wisdom. The written letter looks black, notwithstanding the thousand rays within it; or, it is a light with a mole on it that wards off the evil eye.³ A letter is the portrait painter of wisdom; a rough sketch from the realm of ideas; a dark night ushering in day; a black cloud pregnant with knowledge; the wand for the treasures of insight; speaking, though dumb; stationary, and yet travelling; stretched on the sheet, and yet soaring upwards.

When a ray of God's knowledge falls on man's soul, it is carried by the mind to the realm of thought, which is the intermediate station between that which is conscious of individual existence (mujarrad) and that which is material (máddí). The result⁴ is a concrete thing mixed with the absolute, or an absolute thing mixed with that which is concrete. This compound steps forward on man's tongue, and enters, with the assistance of the conveying air, into the windows of the ears of others. It then drops the burden of its concrete component, and returns as a single ray, to its old place, the realm of thought. But the heavenly traveller occasionally gives his course a different direction by means of man's fingers, and having passed along the continent of the pen and crossed the ocean of the ink, alights on the pleasant expanse of the page, and returns through the eye of the reader to its wonted habitation.

As the letter is a representation of an articulate sound, I think it necessary to give some information regarding the latter.

The sound of a letter is a mode of existence depending on the nature of the air. By qara' we mean the striking together of two hard substances; and by qala', the separation of the same. In both cases the intermediate air, like a wave, is set in motion; and thus the state is produced which we call sound. Some philosophers take sound to be the secondary effect, and define it as the air set in motion; but others look upon it as the primary effect, i. e., they define sound to be the very qara', or the qala', of any hard substances. Sound may be accompanied by modifying circumstances: it may be piano, deep, nasal, or guttural, as when the throat is affected by a cold. Again, from the nature of the organ with which man utters a sound, and the manner in which the particles of the air are divided, another modifying circumstance may arise, as when two piano, two deep, two nasal, or two guttural sounds separate from each other. Some, as Abú 'Alí Síná, call this modifying element ('áriz) the sound of the letter; others define it as the original state of the sound thus modified (ma'rúz); but the far-sighted define an articulate sound as the union of the modifying element and the original state modified. This is evidently the correct view.

There are fifty-two articulate sounds in Hindí, so and so many¹ in Greek, and eighteen in Persian. In Arabic, there are twenty-eight letters represented by eighteen signs, or by only fifteen, when we count the joined letters, and if we take the Hamzah as one with the Alif. The reason for writing an Alif and a Lám, () separately at the end of the single letters in the Arabic Alphabet, is merely to give an example of a sákin letter, which must necessarily be joined to another letter; and the reason why the letter lám is preferred² as an example, is because the letter lám is the middle letter of the word alif, and the letter alif the middle letter of the word lám.

The vowel-signs did not exist in ancient times, instead of which letters were dotted with a different kind of ink; thus a red dot placed over a letter expressed that the letter was followed by an a; a red dot in front of the letter signified a u; and a red dot below a letter, an i. It was Khalíl ibn i Ahmad,¹ the famous inventor of the Metrical Art of the Arabians, who fixed the forms of the vowel-signs as they are now in use.

The beauty of a letter and its proportions depend much on personal taste; hence it is that nearly every people has a separate alphabet. Thus we find an Indian, Syriac, Greek, Hebrew, Coptic, Ma'qalí, Kúfí, Kashmírí, Abyssinian, Raihání, Arabic, Persian, Himyaritic, Berbery, Andalusian, Rúhání, and several other ancient systems of writing. The invention of the Hebrew characters is traced in some poems to A´dam i Hafthazárí;² but some mention Idrís³ as the inventor. Others, however, say that Idrís perfected the Ma'qalí character. According to several statements, the Kúfic character was derived by the Khalífah 'Alí from the Ma'qalí.

The difference in the form of a letter in the several systems, lies in the proportion of straight and round strokes: thus the Kúfic character consists of one-sixth curvature and five-sixths straight lines; the Ma'qalí has no curved lines at all; hence the inscriptions which are found on ancient buildings are mostly in this character.

In writing we have to remember that black and white look well, as these colours best prevent ambiguities in reading.

In I´rán and Túrán, India, and Turkey, there are eight caligraphical systems⁴ current, of which each one is liked by some people. Six of them were derived, in A. H. 310, by Ibn i Muqlah from the Ma'qalí and the Kúfic characters, viz., the Suls, Tauqí', Muhaqqaq, Naskh, Raihán, Riqá'. Some add the Ghubár, and say that this seventh character had likewise been invented by him. The Naskh character is ascribed by many to Yáqút, a slave of the Khalífah Musta'çam Billáh.¹ The Suls and the Naskh consist each of one-third² curved lines, and two-thirds straight lines; the former (the suls) is jalí,³ whilst the latter (the naskh) is khafí. The Tauqí' and Riqá' consist of three-fourths curved lines, and one-fourth straight lines; the former is jalí, the latter is khafí. The Muhaqqaq and Raihán contain three-fourths straight lines; the former, as in the preceding, is jalí, and the Raihán khafí.

Among famous copyists I must mention 'Alí ibn i Hilál, better known under the name of Ibn i Bawwáb;⁴ he wrote well the six characters. Yáqút brought them to perfection. Six of Yáqút's pupils are noticeable; 1. Shaikh Ahmad, so well known under the name of Shaikhzádah i Suhrwardí; 2. Arghún of Kábul; 3. Mauláná Yúsuf Sháh of Mashhad; 4. Mauláná Mubárik Sháh, styled Zarrín qalam (the golden pen); 5. Haidar, called Gandahnawís (i. e., the writer of the jalí); 6. Mír Yahya.

The following caligraphists are likewise well known: Çúfí Naçrullah, also called Çadr i 'Iráqí; Arqún 'Abdullah; Khájah 'Abdullah i Çairafí; Hájí Muhammad; Mauláná 'Abdullah i A´shpaz; Mauláná Muhí of Shíráz; Mu'ínuddín i Tanúrí; Shamsuddín i Khaṭáí; 'Abdurrahím i Khalúlí (?); Abdulhay; Mauláná Ja'far⁵ of Tabríz; Mauláná Sháh of Mashhad; Mauláná Ma'rúf⁶ of Baghdád; Mauláná Shamsuddín i Báyasanghur; Mu'ínuddín of Faráh; Abdulhaq of Sabzwár; Mauláná Ni'matullah i Bawwáb; Khájagí Múmin i Marwáríd, the inventor of variegated papers and sands for strewing on the paper; Sultán Ibráhím, son of Mírzá Sháhrukh; Mauláná Muhammad Hakím Háfiz; Mauláná Mahmúd Siyáúsh; Mauláná Jamáluddín Husain; Mauláná Pír Muhammad; Mauláná Fazlulhaq of Qazwín¹

A seventh kind of writing is called Ta'líq, which has been derived from the Riqá' and the Tauqí'. It contains very few straight lines, and was brought to perfection by Khájah Táj i Salmání,² who also wrote well the other six characters. Some say that he was the inventor.

Of modern caligraphists I may mention: Mauláná 'Abdulhay, the Private Secretary³ of Sultán Abú Sa'íd Mírzá, who wrote Ta'líq well; Mauláná Darwísh;⁴ Amír Mançúr; Mauláná Ibráhím of Astarábád; Khájah Ikhtiyár;⁵ Munshí Jamáluddín; Muhammad of Qazwín; Mauláná Idrís; Khájah Muhammad Husain Munshí; and Ashraf Khán,⁶ the Private Secretary of His Majesty, who improved the Ta'líq very much.

The eighth character which I have to mention is the Nasta'líq: it consists entirely of round lines. They say that Mír 'Alí of Tabríz, a contemporary of Tímúr, derived it from the Naskh and the Ta'líq; but this can scarcely be correct, because there exist books in the Nasta'líq character, written before Tímúr's time. Of Mír 'Alí's pupils I may mention two:⁷ Mauláná Ja'far of Tabríz, and Mauláná Azhar; and of other caligraphists in Ta'líq, Mauláná Muhammad of Aubah (near Herát), an excellent writer; Mauláná Bárí of Herát; and Mauláná Sultán 'Alí⁸ of Mashhad, who surpasses them all. He imitated the writing of Mauláná Azhar, though he did not learn from him personally. Six of his pupils are well known: Sultán Muhammad i Khandán;¹ Sultán Muhammad Núr; Mauláná 'Aláuddín² of Herát; Mauláná Zainuddín (of Níshápúr); Mauláná 'Abdí of Níshápúr; Muhammad Qásim Shádí Sháh, each of whom possessed some distinguishing qualities.

Besides these, there are a great number of other good caligraphists, who are famous for their skill in Nasta'líq; as Mauláná Sultán 'Alí, of Qáyin;³ Mauláná Sultán 'Alí of Mashhad;⁴ Mauláná Hijrání;⁵ and after them the illustrious Mauláná Mír 'Alí,⁶ the pupil, as it appears, of Mauláná Zainuddín. He brought his art to perfection by imitating the writing of Sultán 'Alí of Mashhad. The new method which he established, is a proof of his genius; he has left many master-pieces. Some one asked him once what the difference was between his writing and that of the Mauláná. He said, “I have brought his writing to perfection; but yet, his method has a peculiar charm.”

In conclusion I may mention:—Sháh Mahmúd⁷ of Níshápúr; Mahmúd Is-háq; Shamsuddín of Kirmán; Mauláná Jamshéd, the riddle-writer; Sultan Husain of Khujand; Mauláná 'Aishí; Ghiásuddín, the gilder; Mauláná 'Abduççamad; Mauláná Malik; Mauláná 'Abdulkarím; Mauláná Abdurrahím of Khárizm; Mauláná Shaikh Muhammad; Mauláná Sháh Mahmúd i Zarrínqalam (or gold pen); Mauláná Muhammad Husain⁸ of Tabríz; Mauláná Hasan 'Alí of Mashhad; Mír Mu'izz of Káshán; Mírzá Ibráhím of Içfahán; and several others who have devoted their lives to the improvement of the art.

His Majesty shews much regard to the art, and takes a great interest in the different systems of writing; hence the large number of skilful caligraphists. Nasta'líq has especially received a new impetus. The artist who, in the shadow of the throne of His Majesty, has become a master of caligraphy, is Muhammad Husain⁹ of Kashmír. He has been honoured with the title of Zarrínqalam, the gold pen. He surpassed his master Mauláná 'Abdul-'Azíz; his maddát and dawáir¹ shew everywhere a proper proportion to each other, and art critics consider him equal to Mullá Mír 'Alí. Of other renowned caligraphists of the present age, I must mention Mauláná Báqir, the son of the illustrious Mullá Mír 'Alí; Muhammad Amín of Mashhad; Mír Husain i Kulankí; Mauláná 'Abdulhay; Mauláná Daurí²; Mauláná 'Abdurrahím; Mír 'Abdullah; Nizámí of Qazwín; 'Alí Chaman of Kashmír; Núrullah Qásim Arsalán.

His Majesty's library is divided into several parts: some of the books are kept within, and some without the Harem. Each part of the Library is subdivided, according to the value of the books and the estimation in which the sciences are held of which the books treat. Prose books, poetical works, Hindí, Persian, Greek, Kashmírian, Arabic,³ are all separately placed. In this order they are also inspected. Experienced people bring them daily and read them before His Majesty, who hears every book from the beginning to the end. At whatever page the readers daily stop, His Majesty makes with his own pen a sign, according to the number of the pages; and rewards the readers with presents of cash, either in gold or silver, according to the number of leaves read out by them. Among books of renown, there are few that are not read in His Majesty's assembly hall; and there are no historical facts of the past ages, or curiosities of science, or interesting points of philosophy, with which His Majesty, a leader of impartial sages, is unacquainted. He does not get tired of hearing a book over again, but listens to the reading of it with more interest. The Akhláq i Náçirí, the Kímiyá i Sa'ádat, the Qábúsnámah, the works of Sharaf of Munair (vide p. 48), the Gulistán, the Hadíqah of Hakím Sanáí, the Masnawí of Ma'nawí, the Jám i Jam, the Bustán, the Sháhnámah, the collected Masnawís of Shaikh Nizámí, the works of Khusrau and Mauláná Jámí, the Díwáns of Kháqání, Anwarí, and several works on History, are continually read out to His Majesty. Phiologists are constantly engaged in translating Hindí, Greek, Arabic, and Persian books, into other languages. Thus a part of the Zích i Jadíd i Mírzáí (vide IIIrd book, A´ín 1) was translated under the superintendence of Amír Fathullah of Shíráz (vide p. 33), and also the Kishnjóshí, the Gangádhar, the Mohesh Mahánand, from Hindí (Sanscrit) into Persian, according to the interpretation of the author of this book. The Mahábhárat which belongs to the ancient books of Hindústán has likewise been translated, from Hindí into Persian, under the superintendence of Naqíb Khán¹, Mauláná 'Abdul Qádir of Badáon,² and Shaikh Sultán of T'hanésar.³ The book contains nearly one hundred thousand verses: His Majesty calls this ancient history Razmnámah, the book of Wars. The same learned men translated also into Persian the Ramáyan, likewise a book of ancient Hindustan, which contains the life of Rám Chandra, but is full of interesting points of Philosophy. Hájí Ibráhím of Sarhind translated into Persian the At'harban¹ which, according to the Hindús, is one of the four divine books. The Lílawatí, which is one of the most excellent works written by Indian Mathematicians on Arithmetic, lost its Hindú veil, and received a Persian garb from the hand of my elder brother, Shaikh 'Abdul Faiz i Faizí.² At the command of His Majesty, Mukammal Khán of Gujrát translated into Persian the Tájak, a well known work on Astronomy. The Memoirs³ of Bábar, the Conqueror of the world, which may be called a Code of practical wisdom, have been translated from Turkish into Persian by Mírzá 'Abdurrahím Khán, the present Khán Khánán (Commander-in-Chief). The History of Kashmír, which extends over the last four thousand years, has been translated from Kashmírian into Persian¹ by Mauláná Sháh Muhammad of Sháhábád. The Mu'jam ul Buldán, an excellent work on towns and countries, has been translated from Arabic into Persian by several Arabic scholars, as Mullá Ahmad of T'hat'hah,² Qásim Bég, Shaikh Munawwar, and others. The Haribans, a book containing the life of Krishna, was translated into Persian by Mauláná Sherí (Vide the poetical extracts of the second book). By order of His Majesty, the author of this volume composed a new version of the Kalílah Damnah, and published it under the title of 'Ayár Dánish.³ The original is a master-piece of practical wisdom, but is full of rhetorical difficulties; and though Naçrullah i Mustaufí and Mauláná Husain i Wá'iz had translated it into Persian, their style abounds in rare metaphors and difficult words. The Hindí story of the Love of Nal and Daman, which melts the heart of feeling readers, has been metrically translated by my brother Shaikh Faizí i Fayyází, in the masnawí metre of the Laílí Majnún, and is now everywhere known under the title of Nal Daman.⁴

As His Majesty has become acquainted with the treasure of history, he ordered several well informed writers to compose a work containing the events which have taken place in the seven zones for the last one thousand years. Naqíb Khán, and several others, commenced this history. A very large portion was subsequently added by Mullá Ahmad of T'hat'hah, and the whole concluded by Ja'far Bég i A´çaf Khán. The introduction is composed by me. The work has the title of Taríkh i Alfí,⁵ the History of a thousand years.

Drawing the likeness of anything is called taçwír. His Majesty, from his earliest youth, has shewn a great predilection for this art, and gives it every encouragement, as he looks upon it as a means, both of study and amusement. Hence the art flourishes, and many painters have obtained great reputation. The works of all painters are weekly laid before His Majesty by the Dáróghahs and the clerks; he then confers rewards according to excellence of workmanship, or increases the monthly salaries. Much progress was made in the commodities required by painters, and the correct prices of such articles were carefully ascertained. The mixture of colours has especially been improved. The pictures thus received a hitherto unknown finish. Most excellent painters are now to be found, and master-pieces, worthy of a Bihzád,¹ may be placed at the side of the wonderful works of the European painters who have attained world-wide fame. The minuteness in detail, the general finish, the boldness of execution, &c., now observed in pictures, are incomparable; even inanimate objects look as if they had life. More than a hundred painters have become famous masters of the art, whilst the number of those who approach perfection, or of those who are middling, is very large. This is especially true of the Hindus:² their pictures surpass our conceptions of things. Few, indeed, in the whole world are found equal to them.

Among the forerunners on the high road of art I may mention:

1. Mír Sayyid 'Alí of Tabríz.³ He learned the art from his father. From the time of his introduction at Court, the ray of royal favour has shone upon him. He has made himself famous in his art, and has met with much success.

2. Khájah Abduççamad, styled Shírínqalam, or sweet pen. He comes from Shíráz. Though he had learnt the art before he was made a grandee⁴ of the Court, his perfection was mainly due to the wonderful effect of a look of His Majesty, which caused him to turn from that which is form to that which is spirit. From the instruction they received, the Khájah's pupils became masters.

3. Daswant'h. He is the son of a palkee-bearer. He devoted his whole life to the art, and used, from love to his profession, to draw and paint figures even on walls. One day the eye of His Majesty fell on him; his talent was discovered, and he himself handed over to the Khájah. In a short time he surpassed all painters, and became the first master of the age. Unfortunately the light of his talents was dimmed by the shadow of madness; he committed suicide. He has left many master-pieces.

4. Basáwan. In back grounding, drawing of features, distribution of colours, portrait painting, and several other branches, he is most excellent, so much so, that many critics prefer him to Daswant'h.

The following painters have likewise attained fame: Késú, Lál, Mukund, Mushkín, Farrukh the Qalmáq (Calmuck), Mádhú,¹ Jagan, Mohesh, K'hémkaran, Tárá, Sáṉwlah, Haribaṉs, Rám. It would take me too long to describe the excellencies of each. My intention is “to pluck a flower from every meadow, an ear from every sheaf.”

I have to notice that the observing of the figures of objects and the making of likenesses of them, which are often looked upon as an idle occupation, are, for a well regulated mind, a source of wisdom, and an antidote against the poison of ignorance. Bigoted followers of the letter of the law are hostile to the art of painting; but their eyes now see the truth. One day at a private party of friends, His Majesty, who had conferred on several the pleasure of drawing near him, remarked: “There are many that hate painting; but such men I dislike. It appears to me as if a painter had quite peculiar means of recognizing God; for a painter in sketching anything that has life, and in devising its limbs, one after the other, must come to feel that he cannot bestow individuality upon his work, and is thus forced to think of God, the Giver of life, and will thus increase in knowledge.”

The number of master-pieces of painting increased with the encouragement given to the art. Persian books, both prose and poetry, were ornamented with pictures, and a very large number of paintings was thus collected. The Story of Hamzah was represented in twelve volumes, and clever painters made the most astonishing illustrations for no less than one thousand and four hundred passages of the story. The Chingiznámah, the Zafarnámah,² this book, the Razmnámah, the Ramáyan, the Nal Daman, the Kalílah Damnah, the 'Ayár Dánish, &c., were all illustrated. His Majesty himself sat for his likeness, and also ordered to have the likenesses taken of all the grandees of the realm. An immense album was thus formed: those that have passed away, have received a new life, and those who are still alive, have immortality promised them.

In the same manner, as painters are encouraged, employment is held out to ornamental artists, gilders, line-drawers, and pagers.

Many Mansabdars, Ahadís, and other soldiers, hold appointments in this department. The pay of foot soldiers varies from 1200 to 600 dáms.

The order of the Household, the efficiency of the Army, and the welfare of the country, are intimately connected with the state of this department; hence His Majesty gives it every attention, and looks scrutinizingly into its working order. He introduces all sorts of new methods, and studies their applicability to practical purposes. Thus a plated armour was brought before His Majesty, and set up as a target; but no bullet was so powerful as to make an impression on it. A sufficient number of such armours has been made so as to supply whole armies. His Majesty also looks into the prices of such as are sold in the bázárs.

All weapons for the use of His Majesty have names, and a proper rank is assigned to them. Thus there are thirty swords, (kháçah swords) one of which is daily sent to His Majesty's sleeping apartments. The old one is returned, and handed over to the servants outside the Harem, who keep it till its turn comes again. Forty other swords are kept in readiness: they are called kotal swords. When the number of kháçah swords (in consequence of presents, &c.) has decreased to twelve, they supply new ones from the kotal swords. There are also twelve Yakbandí (?)¹, the turn of every one of which recurs after one week. Of Jámdhars and K'hapwahs, there are forty of each. Their turn recurs every week; and each has thirty kotals, from which deficiencies are supplied as before. Besides, eight knives, twenty spears and barchhas are required monthly. Of eighty-six Mashhadí bows, Bhadáyan bows, and twenty-four others, are returned monthly….² In the same manner a rank is assigned to each.

Whenever His Majesty rides out, or at the time of the Bár i 'A´m, or Levee, the sons of the Amírs, and other Mansabdárs and Ahadís, carry the Qur in their hands and on their shoulders, i. e., every four of them carry four quivers, four bows, four swords, four shields; and besides, they take up lances, spears, axes, pointed axes, piyázi war-clubs, sticks, bullet bows, pestles, and a footstool, all properly arranged. Several qiṭárs¹ of camels and mules are loaded with weapons and kept in readiness; and on travels, they use Bactrian camels, &c., for that purpose. At Court receptions the Amírs and other people stand opposite the Qur, ready for any service; and on the march, they follow behind it, with the exception of a few who are near His Majesty. Elephants in full trappings, camels, carriages, naqqárahs, flags, the kaukabahs, and other Imperial insignia, accompany the Qur, while eager macebearers superintend the march, assisted by the Mírbakhshís. In hunting expeditions several swift runners are in attendance, and a few others are in charge of harnesses.

In order to shorten the trouble of making references, I shall enumerate the weapons now in use in form of a table, and give pictures of some of them.

Guns are wonderful locks for protecting the august edifice of the state; and befitting keys for the door of conquest. With the exception of Turkey, there is perhaps no country which in its guns has more means of securing the government than this. There are now-a-days guns made of such a size that the ball weighs 12 mans; several elephants and a thousand cattle are required to transport one. His Majesty looks upon the care bestowed on the efficiency of this branch as one of the higher objects of a king, and therefore devotes to it much of his time. Dáróghahs and clever clerks are appointed, to keep the whole in proper working order.

His Majesty has made several inventions, which have astonished the whole world. He made a gun which, on marches, can easily be taken to pieces, and properly put again together when required. By another invention, His Majesty joins seventeen guns in such a manner as to be able to fire them simultaneously with one match. Again, he made another kind of gun, which can easily be carried by a single elephant; such guns have the name of Gajnáls. Guns which a single man may carry, are called Narnáls.

The imperial guns are carefully distributed over the whole kingdom, and each Súbah has that kind which is fit for it. For the siege of fortresses and for naval engagements, His Majesty has separate guns made, which accompany his victorious armies on their marches. It is impossible to count every gun; besides clever workmen make continually new ones, especially Gajnáls and Narnáls.

Amírs and Ahadís are on staff employ in this branch. The pay of the foot varies from 100 to 400 d.

These are in particular favour with His Majesty, who stands unrivalled in their manufacture, and as a markman. Matchlocks are now made so strong, that they do not burst, though let off when filled to the top. Formerly they could not fill them to more than a quarter. Besides, they made them with the hammer and the anvil by flattening pieces of iron, and joining the flattened edges of both sides. Some left them, from foresight, on one edge open; but numerous accidents were the result, especially in the former kind. His Majesty has invented an excellent method of construction. They flatten iron, and twist it round obliquely in form of a roll, so that the folds get longer at every twist; then they join the folds, not edge to edge, but so as to allow them to lie one over the other, and heat them gradually in the fire. They also take cylindrical pieces of iron, and pierce them when hot with an iron pin. Three or four of such pieces make one gun; or, in the case of smaller ones, two. Guns are often made of a length of two yards; those of a smaller kind are one and a quarter yards long, and go by the name of Damának. The gunstocks are differently made. From the practical knowledge of His Majesty, guns are now made in such a manner that they can be fired off, without a match, by a slight movement of the cock. Bullets are also made, so as to cut like a sword. Through the assistance of the inventive genius of His Majesty, there are now many masters to be found among gunmakers; e. g., Ustád Kabír, and Husain.

Iron, when heated, loses about one-half of its volume.

When a barrel is completed lengthways, before the transverse bottom piece is fixed to it, they engrave on it the quantity of its iron and the length, both being expressed in numerals. A barrel thus far finished, is called Daul. In this imperfect state they are sent to His Majesty, and delivered, in proper order, at the Harem, to which place they are also brought for….¹ At the same time, the weight of the ball is fixed, and the order is given for the transverse section of the matchlock. For long guns the weight of a ball does not exceed twenty-five tánks, and for smaller ones, fifteen. But balls of the former weight no one but His Majesty² would dare to fire. When the barrels are polished, they are again sent to the Harem, and preserved in proper order. They are afterwards taken out, and closed by the order of His Majesty with a transverse bottom piece. Having been put to an old stock, they are filled to one-third of the barrel with powder, and fired off. If no taráwish³ takes place, and the trial is satisfactory, they take the barrels again to His Majesty, who gives the order to finish the mouth piece of the barrel. After this the gun is again placed on the stock, and subjected to a trial. If the ball issues in a crooked line, the barrel is heated, and straightened by means of a rod introduced into it, and, in the presence of His Majesty, handed over to a filer. He adorns the outside of the barrel in various ways, according to orders, when it is taken to the Harem. The wood and the shape of the stock are then determined on. Several things are marked on every matchlock, viz., the weight of the raw and the manufactured iron, the former marks being now removed; the place where the iron is taken from; the workman; the place where the gun is made; the date; its number. Sometimes without reference to a proper order, one of the unfinished barrels is selected, and completed at His Majesty's command. It is then entered in another place; the transverse bottom piece is fixed; and the order is given to make the cock, the ramrod, the pargaz,⁴ &c. As soon as all these things have been completed, a new trial is ordered; and when it succeeds, they send in the gun, and deliver it a third time at the Harem. In this state the gun is called sádah (plain). Five bullets are sent along with it. His Majesty, after trying it in the manner above described, returns it with the fifth bullet. The order for the colour of the barrel and the stock is now given; one of the nine kinds of colour is selected for the stock. Guns also differ in the quantity of inlaid gold and enamel; the colour of the barrel is uniform. A gun thus far completed is called rangín (coloured). It is now, as before, handed over together with five bullets; His Majesty makes four trials, and returns it with the last ball. When ten of such guns are ready, His Majesty orders to inlay the mouth of the barrel and the butt end with gold. They are then again sent for trial into the Harem, and whenever ten are quite complete, they are handed over to the slaves.

Formerly a strong man had to work a long time with iron instruments, in order to clean matchlocks. His Majesty, from his practical knowledge, has invented a wheel, by the motion of which sixteen barrels may be cleaned in a very short time. The wheel is turned by a cow. The plate will best shew what sort of a machine it is.

The Imperial Arsenal contains manufactured, purchased, and presented, guns. Each of them is either long, or short; and these are again subdivided into sádah (plain), rangín, (coloured), and koftkár (hammered) guns. His Majesty has selected out of several thousand guns, one hundred and five as kháçah, i. e., for his special use. First, twelve in honour of the twelve months; each of them is brought back in its turn after eleven months. Secondly, thirty for every week; after every seven days one goes out, and another is brought. Thirdly, thirty-two for the solar days; one for every day. Fourthly, thirty-one kotals. Sometimes there are only twenty-eight. Whenever some of the former guns have been given away, kotals are brought, to supply their places. The order of precedence is as follows: the guns for the month; the week; days; kotals; plain; coloured; koftkár, not handed over to the slaves; koftkár, handed over to the slaves; long ones, selected from péshkash presents, or from such as were bought; Damánaks, selected from péshkash, or from bought ones; such as have been chosen from selections of both. The one hundred and five kháçah guns are divided into seven parts; every fifteen form a kishk, or guard, and are always kept ready by the slaves. On Sundays, two are taken from the first; four from the second; five from the third; four from the fourth. This order is also followed on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. On Thursdays, two are again taken from the first, and four from the second; four from the third; five from the fourth. On Fridays, one is taken from the first; five from the second; four from the third; five from the fourth. So also for Saturdays. In order to supply the places of such kháçah guns as have been given away, five other classes have been determined on: half kotals, fourteen; quarter kotals, seven; one-eighth kotals, four; one-sixteenth kotals, two; one-thirty second kotals, one. When kotal guns are given away, they bring half kotals; similarly, the place of a gun, when given away, is taken by the next; and the place of the last is supplied by one selected from such as have been bought.

One hundred and one guns are continually kept in the Harem. Their order is as follows. On the first day of every solar month eleven guns are handed over to the servants of the Harem, one of each of the guns for the months, the weeks, the days, the kotals, the plain ones, the coloured ones, the koftkár not in charge of the slaves, the koftkár in their charge, the selected long ones, the selected Damánaks, the chosen ones of the selected ones. On the second day only the guns of the months (i. e., ten) are handed over in the same order. For ten days an equal number is sent to the Harem.

His Majesty practises often. When he has tried each gun, he commences from the beginning; and when each gun has been used four times, it is sent away and replaced by a new one of each kind. If guns have been left unused at the beginning of a new month, they are placed last, and the guns for the current month are put first.

An order has also been given to the writers to write down the game killed by His Majesty with the particulars of the guns used. Thus it was found that with the gun, which has the name of Sangrám, one thousand and nineteen animals have been killed. This gun is the first of His Majesty's private guns, and is used during the Farwardín month of the present era.

The pay of a Mírdahah¹ is of four grades, 300 dáms, 280 d., 270 d., 260 d. The pay of the others is of five grades. Each grade is again subdivided into three classes. First grade, 250 d., 240 d., 230 d. Second grade, 220 d., 210 d., 200 d. Third grade, 190 d., 180., d., 170 d. Fourth grade, 160 d., 150 d., 140 d. Fifth grade, 130 d., 120 d., 110 d.

This wonderful animal is in bulk and strength like a mountain; and in courage and ferocity like a lion. It adds materially to the pomp of a king and to the success of a conqueror; and is of the greatest use for the army. Experienced men of Hindustan put the value of a good elephant equal to five hundred horse; and they believe, that when guided by a few bold men armed with matchlocks, such an elephant alone is worth double that number. In vehemence on one side, and submissiveness to the reins on the other, the elephant is like an Arab, whilst in point of obedience and attentiveness to even the slightest signs, it resembles an intelligent human being. In restiveness when full-blooded, and in vindictiveness, it surpasses man. An elephant never hurts the female, though she be the cause of his captivity; he never will fight with young elephants, nor does he think it proper to punish them. From a sense of gratitude, he does his keepers no harm, nor will he throw dust over his body, when he is mounted, though he often does so at other times. Once an elephant, during the rutting season, was fighting with another. When he was in the height of excitement, a small elephant came in his way: he kindly lifted up the small one with his trunk, set him aside, and then renewed the combat. If a male elephant breaks loose during the rutting season, in order to have his own way, few people have the courage to approach him; and some bold and experienced man will have to get on a female elephant, and try to get near him and tie a rope round his foot. Female elephants, when mourning the loss of a young one, will often abstain from food and drink; they sometimes even die from grief.

The elephant can be taught various feats. He learns to remember such melodies as can only be remembered by people acquainted with music; he will move his limbs, to keep time, and exhibit his skill in various ways. He will shoot off an arrow from a bow, discharge a matchlock, and will learn to pick up things that have been dropped, and hand them over to the keeper. Sometimes they get grain to eat wrapped up in hay; this they hide in the side of their mouth, and give it back to the keeper, when they are alone with him.

The teats of a female elephant, and the womb, resemble those of woman. The tongue is round like that of a parrot. The testicles are not visible. Elephants frequently with their trunks take water out of their stomachs, and sprinkle themselves with it. Such water has no offensive smell. They also take out of their stomach grass on the second day, without its having undergone any change.

The price of an elephant varies from a lak¹ to one hundred rupees; elephants worth five thousand, and ten thousand rupees, are pretty common.

There are four kinds of elephants. 1. Bhaddar. It is well proportioned, has an erect head, a broad chest, large ears, a long tail, and is bold, and can bear fatigue. They take out of his forehead an excrescence resembling a large pearl, which they call in Hindí Gaj manik.² Many properties are ascribed to it. 2. Mand. It is black, has yellow eyes, a uniformly sized belly, a long penis, and is wild and ungovernable. 3. Mirg. It has a whitish skin, with black spots; the colour of its eyes is a mixture of red, yellow, black, and white. 4. Mir. It has a small head, and obeys readily. It gets frightened, when it thunders.

From a mixture of these four kinds are formed others of different names and properties. The colour of the skin of elephants is threefold: white, black, grey. Again, according to the threefold division of the dispositions assigned by the Hindus to the mind, namely, sat benevolence, raj love of sensual enjoyment, and tam irascibility, which shall be further explained below,³ elephants are divided into three classes. First, such in which sat predominates. They are well proportioned, good looking, eat moderately, are very submissive, do not care for intercourse with the female, and live to a very old age. Secondly, such in whose disposition raj prevails. They are savage looking, and proud, bold, ungovernable, and voracious. Lastly, such as are full of tam. They are self-willed, destructive, and given to sleep and voraciousness.

The time of gestation of the female is generally eighteen⁴ lunar months, For three months the fluida germinalia intermix in the womb of the female; when agitated, the mass looks like quicksilver. Towards the fifth month the fluida settle, and get gelatinous. In the seventh month, they get more solid, and draw to perfection towards the ninth month. In the eleventh, the outline of a body is visible; and in the twelfth, the veins, bones, hoofs, and hairs, make their appearance. In the thirteenth month, the genitalia become distinguishable, and in the fifteenth, the process of quickening commences. If the female, during gestation, gets stronger, the fœtus is sure to be a male; but if she gets weak, it is the sign of a female. During the sixteenth month, the formation becomes still more perfect, and the life of the fœtus becomes quite distinct. In the seventeenth month, there is every chance¹ of a premature birth, on account of the efforts made by the fœtus to move, till, in the eighteenth month, the young one is born.

According to others, the sperm gets solid in the first month; the eyes, ears, the nose, mouth, and tongue, are formed in the second; in the third month, the limbs make their appearance; in the fourth month, the fœtus grows and gets strong; in the fifth, it commences to quicken; in the sixth, it gets sense, which appears more marked during the seventh month; in the eighth, there is some chance of a miscarriage; during the ninth, tenth, and eleventh months, the fœtus grows, and is born during the twelfth. It will be a male young one, if the greater part of the sperm came from the male; and it will be a female young one, if the reverse is the case. If the sperm of both the male and female is equal in quantity, the young one will be a hermaphrodite. The male fœtus lies towards the right side; the female towards the left; a hermaphrodite in the middle.

Female elephants have often for twelve days a red discharge, after which gestation commences. During that period, they look startled, sprinkle themselves with water and earth, keep ears and tail upwards, and go rarely away from the male. They will rub themselves against the male, bend their heads below his tusks, smell at his urine and dung, and cannot bear to see another female near him. Sometimes, however, a female shews aversion to intercourse with the male, and must be forced to copulate, when other female elephants, at hearing her noise, will come to her rescue.

In former times, people did not breed elephants, and thought it unlucky; by the command of His Majesty, they now breed a very superior class of elephants, which has removed the old prejudice in the minds of men. A female elephant has generally one young one, but sometimes two. For five years the young ones content themselves with the milk of the mother; after that period they commence to eat herbs. In this state they are called bál. When ten years old, they are named pút; when twenty years old, bikka; when thirty years old, kalbah. In fact the animal changes appearance every year, and then gets a new name. When sixty years old, the elephant is full grown. The skull then looks like two halves of a ball, whilst the ears look like winnowing fans.¹ White eyes mixed with yellow, black, and red, are looked upon as a sign of excellence. The forehead must be flat without swellings or wrinkles. The trunk is the nose of the animal, and is so long as to touch the ground. With it, it takes up the food and puts it into the mouth; similarly, it sucks up water with it, and then throws it into the stomach. It has eighteen teeth; sixteen of them are inside the mouth, eight above and eight below, and two are the tusks outside. The latter are one and more yards long, round, shining, very strong, white, or sometimes reddish, and straight, the end slightly bent upwards. Some elephants have four tusks. With a view to usefulness as also to ornament, they cut off the top of the tusks, which grow again. With some elephants they have to cut the tusks annually; with others after two or three years; but they do not like to cut them when an elephant is ten and eighty years old. An elephant is perfect when it is eight dast high, nine dast long, and ten dast round the belly, and along the back. Again, nine limbs ought to touch the ground, namely, the fore feet, the hind feet, the trunk, the tusks, the penis, the tail. White spots on the forehead are considered lucky, whilst a thick neck is looked upon as a sign of beauty. Long hairs on and about the ears point to good origin.

Some elephants rut in winter, some in summer, some in the rains. They are then very fierce, they pull down houses, throw down stone walls, and will lift up with their trunks a horse and and its rider. But elephants differ very much in the amount of fierceness and boldness.

When they are hot, a blackish discharge exudes from the soft parts between the ears and the temples, which has a most offensive smell; it is sometimes whitish, mixed with red. They say that elephants have twelve holes in those soft parts, which likewise discharge the offensive fluid. The discharge is abundant in lively animals, but trickles drop by drop in slow ones. As soon as the discharge stops, the elephant gets fierce and looks grand; in this state he gets the name of Taftí or Sarharí. When the above discharge exudes from a place a little higher than the soft parts between the ears and the temples, the elephant is called Singádhál; and when the fluid trickles from all three places, Taljór. When hot, elephants get attached to particular living creatures, as men, or horses; but some elephants to any animal. So at least according to Hindu books.

The Bhaddar ruts in Libra and Scorpio; the Mand in spring; the Mirg in Capricorn and Sagittarius; the Mir in any season. Elephant drivers have a drug which causes an artificial heat; but it often endangers the life of the beast. The noise of battle makes some superior elephants just as fierce as at the rutting season; even a sudden start may have such an effect. Thus His Majesty's elephant Gajmuktah; he gets brisk, as soon as he hears the sound of the Imperial drum, and gets the above mentioned discharge. This peculiar heat generally makes its first appearance, when elephants have reached the age of thirty; sometimes, however, earlier, at an age of twenty-five. Sometimes the heat lasts for years, and some of the Imperial elephants have continued for five years in an uninterrupted alacrity. But it is mostly male elephants that get hot. They then commence to throw up earth, and run after a female, or roll about in mud, and daub themselves all over with dirt. When hot, they are very irritable, and yawn a great deal, though they sleep but little. At last, they even discontinue eating, and dislike the foot-chain; they try to get loose, and behave noisily.

The elephant, like man, lives to an age of one hundred and twenty years.

The Hindí language has several words for an elephant, as hastí, gaj, píl, hát'hí, &c. Under the hands of an experienced keeper, it will much improve, so that its value, in a short time, may rise from one hundred to ten thousand rupees.

The Hindus believe that the eight points of the earth are each guarded by a heavenly being in the shape of an elephant; they have curious legends regarding them. Their names are as follows: 1. Airáwata, in the East; 2. Pundarika, South-east; 3. Báman, South; 4. Kumada, South-west; 5. Anjan, West; 6. Puhpadanta, North-west; 7. Sárbhabhúma, North; 8. Supratíka, North-east. When occasions arise, people read incantations in their names, and address them in worship. They also think that every elephant in the world is the offspring of one of them. Thus, elephants of a white skin and white hairs are related to the first; elephants with a large head, and long hairs, of a fierce and bold temper, and eyelids far apart, belong to the second; such as are ….¹, good looking, black, and high in the back, are the offspring of the third; if tall, ungovernable, quick in understanding, short-haired, and with red and black eyes, they come from the fourth; if bright black, with one tusk longer than the other, with a white breast and belly, and long and thick fore-feet, from the fifth; if fearful, with prominent veins, with a short hump and ears, and a long trunk, from the sixth; if thin-bellied, red-eyed, and with a long trunk, from the seventh; and if of a combination of the preceding seven qualities, from the eighth.

The Hindus also make the following division into eight classes. 1. Elephants whose skin is not wrinkled, who are never sick, who are grand looking, do not run away from the battle-field, dislike meat, and prefer clean food at proper times, are said to be Déw mizáj (of a divine temper). 2. Such as possess all the good qualities of elephants, and are quick in learning, moving about the head, ears, trunk, forelegs, hind legs, and the tail, and do no one harm, except they be ordered to do so, are Gandharba mizáj (angelic). 3. If irritable, of good appetite, fond of being in water, they are Barhaman mizáj (of a brahminical temper). 4. Such as are very strong, in good condition, fond of fighting, ungovernable, are said to have the temper of a Khetrí, or warrior. 5. Those which are of a low stature, and forgetful, self-willed in their own work, and neglectful in that of their master, fond of unclean food, and spiteful towards other elephants, are Súdra mizáj. 6. Elephants which remain hot for a long time, and are fond of playing tricks, or destructive, and lose the way, have the temper of a serpent. 7. Such as squint, and are slow to learn, or feign to be hot, have the temper of a Pishácha (spectre). 8. Those which are violent, swift, and do men harm, and are fond of running about at night, have the qualities of a Ráchhas (demon).

The Hindus have written many books in explanation of these various tempers, as also many treatises on the diseases of the elephants, their causes and proper remedies.

Elephants are chiefly found in the Súbah of A´grah, in the forests of Bayáwán and Narwar¹, as far as Barár; in the Súbah of Iláhábás (Allahabad), in the confines of Pattah (?), and G'horág'hát, and Ratanpúr, Nandanpúr, Sargachh, and Bustar; and in the Súbah of Málwah, near Handiyah, Uchhod, Chandérí, Santwás, Bíjágarh, Ráisín, Hoshangábád, Gaḍh, Haryágaḍh; in the Súbah of Bahár, in the neighbourhood of Rahtás and Chár K'hand; and in the Súbah of Bengal, in Orissá, and Sátgáṉw (Húglí). The elephants of Pattah (?) are the best.

A herd of elephants is called in Hindí sahn. They vary in number; sometimes a herd amounts to a thousand elephants. Wild elephants are very cautious. In winter and summer, they select a proper place, and break down a whole forest near their sleeping place. For the sake of pleasure, or for food and drink, they often travel over great distances. On the journey one runs far in front of the others, like a sentinel; a young female is generally selected for this purpose. When they go to sleep, they send out to the four sides of the sleeping place pickets of four female elephants, which relieve each other.

Elephants will lift up their young ones, for three or four days after their birth, with their trunks, and put them on their backs, or lay them over their tusks. They also prepare medicines for the females when they are sick or in labour pains, and crowd round about them. When some of them get caught, the female elephants break through the nets, and pull down the elephant-drivers. And when a young elephant falls into a snare, they hide themselves in an ambush, go at night to the place where the young one is, set it at liberty, and trample the hunters to death. Sometimes its mother slowly approaches alone, and frees it in some clever way. I have heard the following story from His Majesty.—“Once a wild young one had fallen into a pit. As night had approached, we did not care to pull it out immediately, and left it; but when we came next morning near the place, we saw that some wild elephants had filled the pit with broken logs and grass, and thus pulled out the young one.” Again, “Once a female elephant played us a trick. She feigned to be dead. We passed her, and went onwards; but when at night we returned, we saw no trace left of her.”

There was once an elephant in the Imperial stables, named Ayáz. For some reason, it had got offended with the driver, and was for ever watching for an opportunity. Once at night, it found him asleep. It got hold of a long piece of wood, managed to pull off with it the man's turban, seized him by his hair, and tore him asunder.

Many examples are on record of the extraordinary cleverness of elephants; in some cases it is difficult to believe them.

Kings have always shewn a great predilection for this animal, and done every thing in their power to collect a large number. Elephant-keepers are much esteemed, and a proper rank is assigned to such as have a special knowledge of the animal. Wicked, low men see in an elephant a means of lawlessness; and unprincipled evildoers, with the help of this animal, carry on their nefarious trade. Hence kings of former times never succeeded in suppressing the rebellious, and were thus disappointed in their best intentions. But His Majesty, though overwhelmed with other important matters, has been able, through God's assistance and his numerous elephants, to check those low but haughty men; he teaches them to desire submission, and bestows upon them, by wise laws, the blessings of peace.

His Majesty divided the Imperial elephants into sections, which he put in charge of honest Dároghahs. Certain elephants were also declared kháçah, i. e., appointed for the exclusive use of His Majesty.