808.] 
All the country is very thickly inhabited, 
and it is reckoned to comprize six hun- 
dred good harbours. ‘The King possesses 
above a thousand immense elephants, ~ 
equal in strength to giants, and in size to 
mountains. He has also eleven hundred 
thousand soldiers. He 1s the most pow- 
erful Sovereign in -Hindoostan. The 
title of Rai (or Rajah) sfnifies, among 
the Indians, a King, as P adishah, in Per- 
sian, The Brahmins, however, are above 
him in every thing ; and one may judge 
of Kings and Brahmins by the stories in 
that book entitled, ‘* Koleilah Dimnah,” 
and which has been translated into Per- 
sian*, We find in that work a conver- 
sation between a Brahmin and a King ; 
and the Brahmins of this time preserve 
the same character and principles as those 
of former ages. 
The divcbitants of Bisnagor are blacks; - 
their city is described as superior to any 
thing seen elsewhere. It is surrounded 
with a seven-fold wail, and as many cas- 
tles. Befofe the first Speier) there 
is an esplanade fifty cubits wide, all-of 
great stones, the height of a man, and 
sunk half way into the ground, for the 
purpose of preventing the approach of 
cavalry to the walls. From the north- 
ern gate of the first castle, and of the first 
enclosure, to the other gate facing the 
south, is reckoned a distance of two far- 
sangs (nearly eight miles), and as much 
from the eastern to the western gate. 
Within the first, second, and third en- 
closures, there are cultiyated lands and 
gardens interspersed amengst the houses: 
bat from the third to the seventh inclo- 
sure, the whole space is nlied with dwel- 
ling-houses, shops, and markets. The 
King’s palace is surrounded by four great 
bazars, or covered market-places. On 
the north side is the mansion of Saturn, 
the royai palace. Near each market- 
place is a covered dungeon, very lofty, 
with a gallery all round. ‘The highest is 
the King’ s dungeon. These market- 
places are very long, of great width, and 
have shops on both. ‘sides, One particu- 
larly remarks the flower-merchants in 
those places. So fond are the inhabi- 
tants of flowers, that they seem as ne- 
cessary to them as food.. The shops of 
the different merchants are placed one 
adjoining another, each following his own 
* These are the fables attributed to Bid- 
pay, Lokman, /Esop, &c. well known in 
_every language. The original work in San- 
scrit is called Hitopades, by Vishaou-Sarmay a 
Brahmin of great antiquity. 
Abdulrizak’s Travels from Persia to India. 
asi 
trade or profession, The jewellers pub- 
licly expose to sale pearls, rubies, dia- 
monds, and emeraids, Several streams of 
water pass throygh the royal pala 1ce, and 
flow along in canals lined with stone. On 
the right of the King’s apartment 1s a vast 
hall, supported by forty columns, wherein 
the council is held; in the front is a 
raised tench, or seat, higher than a man, 
on which the secretaries take their places. 
It is called, accordingly, ee secretary’s 
office, They have two modes of writing, 
first, on the leaves of the Jewz hindy (Ine 
dian nut, ornutmeg), ‘These leaves are 
two cubits in length, and two fingers 
broad. ° On these they write with a steel 
pen, not using any ink orcolours. Writ- 
ing of this kind does not last very long, 
The other manner of writing inuse amongst 
them is with a stone, cut like a pen, on 
leaves previously blackened. in writing 
with this kind of pen, a white impression 
is left ona black ground; and this is the 
most admired kind of writing. In the 
middle of the hall of forty columns is the 
seat where the grand-master of the pa- 
lace administers justice, and from his de- 
cisions there is not any apveal. Below 
lium, in front, are placed the chopdars 
(macebearer: s, or officers carrying wands), 
Those who come for} justice, advance be-= 
tween the two rows of those officers, kiss 
the ground, and baving risen, explain the 
nature of their suit. The grand-master 
of the palace pronounces judgment ac= 
cording to the laws and usages of the 
state, and none dares te murmur at his 
sentence. ‘The sitting being over, several 
parasols of diferent colours are brought 
to him; the trumpet sounds, and all-pre- 
sent compliment and applaud this great 
man, whilst he goes to wait upon the 
King. Before one can reach the royal 
apar rtment, it is necessary to pass through 
seven dors, each gnarded by a porter; 
the minister stops awhie at each door, 
arrives at the seventh, and enters alone. 
Having conversed with bis Sovereign on 
the Coane of state, he retires to his own 
apartment, situated behind that of the 
King. On the left of the palace is the 
mint. There are three kinds of gold, 
more or less refined, in the kingdom af . 
Bisnagor. The 4rstis called rehneh. In 
this is one mscal* of alloy to about two 
dinars of pure gold, The second is 
calied beréab; about half the proportions 
PSL wile Hs SUNS MSS CUS MAA e cee SL 
* Miscal is both a weight and the nam= of 
a coin, the value of which is not certain. [ft 
is genesally reckoned at a drachm and a 
half, 
of 
