The Bābur-nāma in English (Memoirs of Bābur)
has a sort of scent, faint and agreeable. (Like the _jāsūn_,) it also
blooms well and profusely in the [Sidenote: Fol. 288.] rains, and it
also is had through most of the year.
The (H.) (_kīūrā_) (_Pandanus odoratissimus_, the screw-pine) is
another.[1893] It has a very agreeable perfume.[1894] Musk has the
defect of being dry; this may be called moist musk—a very agreeable
perfume. The tree's singular appearance notwithstanding, it has flowers
perhaps 1-1/2 to 2 _qārīsh_ (13-1/2 to 18 inches) long. It has long
leaves having the character of the reed (P.) _gharau_[1895] and having
spines. Of these leaves, while pressed together bud-like, the outer ones
are the greener and more spiny; the inner ones are soft and white. In
amongst these inner leaves grow things like what belongs to the middle
of a flower, and from these things comes the excellent perfume. When the
tree first comes up not yet shewing any trunk, it is like the bush
(_būta_) of the male-reed,[1896] but with wider and more spiny leaves.
What serves it for a trunk is very shapeless, its roots remaining shewn.
The (P.) _yāsman_ (jasmine) is another; the white they call (B.)
_champa_.[1897] It is larger and more strongly scented than our
_yāsman_-flower.
(_n. Seasons of the year._)
Again:—whereas there are four seasons in those countries,[1898] there
are three in Hindūstān, namely, four months are summer; four are the
rains; four are winter. The beginning of their months is from the
welcome of the crescent-moons.[1899] Every three years they add a month
to the year; if one had been added to the rainy season, the next is
added, three years later, to the winter months, the next, in the same
way, to the hot months. This is their mode of intercalation.[1900]
(_Chait_, _Baisākh_, _Jeṭh_ and [Sidenote: Fol. 288b.] _Asāṛh_) are the
hot months, corresponding with the Fish, (Ram, Bull and Twins; _Sāwan_,
_Bhādoṅ_, _Kū,ār_ and _Kātik_) are the rainy months, corresponding with
the Crab, (Lion, Virgin and Balance; _Aghan_, _Pūs_, _Māgh_ and
_Phālgun_) are the cold months, corresponding with the Scorpion,
(Archer, Capricorn, and Bucket or Aquarius).
The people of Hind, having thus divided the year into three seasons of
four months each, divide each of those seasons by taking from each, the
two months of the force of the heat, rain,[1901] and cold. Of the hot
months the last two, _i.e. Jeṭh_ and _Asāṛh_ are the force of the heat;
of the rainy months, the first two, _i.e. Sāwan_ and _Bhādoṅ_ are the
force of the rains; of the cold season, the middle two, _i.e. Pūs_ and
_Māgh_ are the force of the cold. By this classification there are six
seasons in Hindūstān.
(_o. Days of the week._)
To the days also they have given names:—[1902] (_Sanīchar_ is Saturday;
_Rabī-bār_ is Sunday; _Som-wār_ is Monday; _Mangal-wār_ is Tuesday;
_Budh-bār_ is Wednesday; _Brihaspat-bār_ is Thursday; _Shukr-bār_ is
Friday).
(_p. Divisions of time._)
[Sidenote: Fol. 289.] (_Author's note on the daqīqa._) The
_daqīqa_ is about as long as six repetitions of the _Fātiḥa_
with the _Bismillāh_, so that a day-and-night is as long as
8640 repetitions of the _Fātiḥa_ with the _Bismillāh._
As in our countries what is known by the (Turkī) term _kīcha-gūndūz_ (a
day-and-night, nycthemeron) is divided into 24 parts, each called an
hour (Ar. _sā`at_), and the hour is divided into 60 parts, each called a
minute (Ar. _daqīqa_), so that a day-and-night consists of 1440
minutes,—so the people of Hind divide the night-and-day into 60 parts,
each called a (S.) _g'harī_.[1903] They also divide the night into four
and the day into four, calling each part a (S.) _pahr_ (watch) which in
Persian is a _pās_. A watch and watchman (_pās u pāsbān_) had been heard
about (by us) in those countries (Transoxania), but without these
particulars. Agreeing with the division into watches, a body of
_g'harīālīs_[1904] is chosen and appointed in all considerable towns of
Hindūstān. They cast a broad brass (plate-) thing,[1905] perhaps as
large as a tray (_ṯabaq_) and about two hands'-thickness; this they call
a _g'harīāl_ and hang up in a high place (_bīr buland yīr-dā_). Also
they have a vessel perforated at the bottom like an hour-cup[1906] and
filling in one _g'harī_ (_i.e._ 24 minutes). The _g'harīālīs_ put this
into water and wait till it fills. For example, they will put the
perforated [Sidenote: Fol. 289b.] cup into water at day-birth; when it
fills the first time, they strike the gong once with their mallets; when
a second time, twice, and so on till the end of the watch. They announce
the end of a watch by several rapid blows of their mallets. After these
they pause; then strike once more, if the first day-watch has ended,
twice if the second, three times if the third, and four times if the
fourth. After the fourth day-watch, when the night-watches begin, these
are gone through in the same way. It used to be the rule to beat the
sign of a watch only when the watch ended; so that sleepers chancing to
wake in the night and hear the sound of a third or fourth _g'harī_,
would not know whether it was of the second or third night-watch. I
therefore ordered that at night or on a cloudy day the sign of the watch
should be struck after that of the _g'harī_, for example, that after
striking the third _g'harī_ of the first night-watch, the _g'harīālīs_
were to pause and then strike the sign of the watch, in order to make it
known that this third _g'harī_ was of the first night-watch,—and that
after striking four _g'harīs_ of the third night-watch, they should
pause and then strike the sign of the third watch, in order to make it
known that this fourth _g'harī_ was of the third night-watch. It did
very well; anyone happening to wake in the night and hear the gong,
would know what _g'harī_ of what watch of night it was.
Again, they divide the _g'harī_ into 60 parts, each part being called a
_pal_;[1907] by this each night-and-day will consist of 3,500 _pals_.
[Sidenote: Fol. 290.]
(_Author's note on the pal._) They say the length of a _pal_
is the shutting and opening of the eyelids 60 times, which in
a night-and-day would be 216,000 shuttings and openings of the
eyes. Experiment shews that a _pal_ is about equal to 8
repetitions of the _Qul-huwa-allāh_[1908] and _Bismillāh_;
this would be 28,000 repetitions in a night-and-day.
(_q. Measures._)
The people of Hind have also well-arranged measures:—[1909] 8 _ratīs_ =
1 _māsha_; 4 _māsha_ = 1 _tānk_ = 32 _ratīs_; 5 _māsha_ = 1 _miṣqāl_ =
40 _ratīs_; 12 _māsha_ = 1 _tūla_ = 96 _ratīs_; 14 _tūla_ = 1 _ser_.
This is everywhere fixed:—40 _ser_ = 1 _mānbān_; 12 _mānbān_ = 1
_mānī_; 100 _mānī_ they call a _mīnāsa_.[1910]
Pearls and jewels they weigh by the _tānk_.
(_r. Modes of reckoning._)
The people of Hind have also an excellent mode of reckoning: 100,000
they call a _lak_; 100 _laks_, a _krūr_; 100 _krūrs_, an _arb_; 100
_arbs_, 1 _karb_; 100 _karb's_, 1 _nīl_; 100 _nīls_, 1 _padam_; 100
_padams_, 1 _sāng_. The fixing of such high reckonings as these is proof
of the great amount of wealth in Hindūstān.
(_s. Hindū inhabitants of Hindūstān._)
Most of the inhabitants of Hindūstān are pagans; they call a pagan a
Hindū. Most Hindūs believe in the transmigration of souls. All artisans,
wage-earners, and officials are Hindūs. In our countries dwellers in the
wilds (_i.e._ nomads) get tribal names; [Sidenote: Fol. 290b.] here the
settled people of the cultivated lands and villages get tribal
names.[1911] Again:—every artisan there is follows the trade that has
come down to him from forefather to forefather.
(_t. Defects of Hindūstān._)
Hindūstān is a country of few charms. Its people have no good looks; of
social intercourse, paying and receiving visits there is none; of genius
and capacity none; of manners none; in handicraft and work there is no
form or symmetry, method or quality; there are no good horses, no good
dogs, no grapes, musk-melons or first-rate fruits, no ice or cold water,
no good bread or cooked food in the _bāzārs_, no Hot-baths, no Colleges,
no candles, torches or candlesticks.
In place of candle and torch they have a great dirty gang they call
lamp-men (_diwatī_), who in the left hand hold a smallish wooden tripod
to one corner of which a thing like the top of a candlestick is fixed,
having a wick in it about as thick as the thumb. In the right hand they
hold a gourd, through a narrow slit made in which, oil is let trickle in
a thin thread when the wick needs it. Great people keep a hundred or two
of these lamp-men. This is the Hindūstān substitute for lamps and
candlesticks! If their rulers and begs have work at night needing
candles, these dirty lamp-men bring these lamps, go close up and
[Sidenote: Fol. 291.] there stand.
Except their large rivers and their standing-waters which flow in
ravines or hollows (there are no waters). There are no running-waters in
their gardens or residences (_`imāratlār_).[1912] These residences have
no charm, air (_hawā_), regularity or symmetry.
Peasants and people of low standing go about naked. They tie on a thing
called _lungūtā_,[1913] a decency-clout which hangs two spans below the
navel. From the tie of this pendant decency-clout, another clout is
passed between the thighs and made fast behind. Women also tie on a
cloth (_lung_), one-half of which goes round the waist, the other is
thrown over the head.
(_u. Advantages of Hindūstān._)
Pleasant things of Hindūstān are that it is a large country and has
masses of gold and silver. Its air in the Rains is very fine. Sometimes
it rains 10, 15 or 20 times a day; torrents pour down all at once and
rivers flow where no water had been. While it rains and through the
Rains, the air is remarkably fine, not to be surpassed for healthiness
and charm. The fault is that the air becomes very soft and damp. A bow
of those (Transoxanian) countries after going through the Rains in
Hindūstān, may not be drawn even; it is ruined; not only the bow,
everything is [Sidenote: Fol. 291b.] affected, armour, book, cloth, and
utensils all; a house even does not last long. Not only in the Rains
but also in the cold and the hot seasons, the airs are excellent; at
these times, however, the north-west wind constantly gets up laden with
dust and earth. It gets up in great strength every year in the heats,
under the Bull and Twins when the Rains are near; so strong and carrying
so much dust and earth that there is no seeing one another. People call
this wind Darkener of the Sky (H. _āndhī_). The weather is hot under the
Bull and Twins, but not intolerably so, not so hot as in Balkh and
Qandahār and not for half so long.
Another good thing in Hindūstān is that it has unnumbered and endless
workmen of every kind. There is a fixed caste (_jam`ī_) for every sort
of work and for every thing, which has done that work or that thing from
father to son till now. Mullā Sharaf, writing in the _Z̤afar-nāma_ about
the building of Tīmūr Beg's Stone Mosque, lays stress on the fact that
on it 200 stone-cutters worked, from Āẕarbāījān, Fars, Hindūstān and
other countries. But 680 men worked daily on my buildings in Āgra and of
Āgra stone-cutters only; while 1491 stone-cutters worked daily on my
buildings in Āgra, Sīkrī, Bīāna, Dūlpūr, Gūālīār and Kūīl. In [Sidenote:
Fol. 292.] the same way there are numberless artisans and workmen of
every sort in Hindūstān.
(_v. Revenues of Hindūstān._)
The revenue of the countries now held by me (935 AH.-1528 AD.) from
Bhīra to Bihār is 52 _krūrs_,[1914] as will be known in detail from the
following summary.[1915] Eight or nine _krūrs_ of this are from
parganas of rāīs and rājas who, as obedient from of old, receive
allowance and maintenance.