Kamaluddin Abdul-Razzaq Samarqandi Mission to Calicut and Vijayanagar

In January 1442 Kamaluddin Abdul-Razzaq Samarqandi, a high court functionary, was sent as emissary by Shahrukh in response to a request for a representative from the king of Calicut (present-day Kozhikode in Kerala) on the Malibar coast of India. In his history, Matta's! sa'dayn (Rising point of the two lucky starsl), a chronicle covering the years up to 1470, he describes his experiences in Calicut and in the much larger neighboring kingdom of Vijay anagar and-his misadventures at sea on his return journey to Herat in January 1445. * . God has said: "It is he who hath given If the determination of worldlings is not by you conveniences for traveling by land fate, why then do things happen contrary to and by sea."? He whose eyes of insight [our] pleasure. Yea, fate controls the reins of mankind for are illuminated by the lights of reality, he every good and ill for the reason that all the bird of whose soul flies in the air of machinations are erroneous. knowledge realizes with certainty that both the revolution of the great bodies of The terrors of a sea voyage-"and it is the celestial spheres and the movement of not a sea that hath end or shore"-are the the small particles of the earth proceed in most obvious of the effects of fate and accordance with the knowledge and will lights of wisdom. Hence in the miracu- of the immaculate creator. He knows that lous words of the Omniscient King are the lights of all-encompassing power and found pearls of the benefits of sea voy- the effects of perfect wisdom shine upon ages, and crossing the great sea is inde- the atoms of the generations of the world scribable except by the empowerment of and the movements of humankind, that the Ever-Living, who renders every im- the reins of earthlings are in the grasp of possibility possible. fate and the clutches of destiny, and that the necks of the obstinate of the world are Through the command of fate and the order of subject to the command of God, who divine destiny, to contemplate which is beyond human machination, "doth that which he pleaseth.Y' I was assigned to India, but how can I describe clearly how perplexed I was in that dark region?

-I A reference to Timur's title, Sahib-Qiran (see His Majesty the Felicitous Khaqan gen- glossary of terms and titles). erously provided money, drafts for fod- 2Koran 10:22. der and post horses, and I got my per- 3Koran 3:40. sonal belongings together and set out on

299 300 ABDUL-RAZZAQ SAMARQANDI

the first of Ramadan [845 = January 13, Fars, Khurasan, Transoxiana, Turki~tan, 1442]. Proceeding on the Qohistan road the Qipchaq Steppe, the Qalmaq regions, through the Kerman desert, I came upon a and all the lands of the Orient, China, and city with a citadel and what were clearly Khan BalYq-all come to that port, and four bazaars, but no one was there. seafaring men, from Indo-China, Java, Bengal, Ceylon, the cities of Zi~bad I passed by their halting places on the plains, [Malaysia], Tennaserim, Sumatra, Starn, but I found only traces and remains. and the Maldive Islands to the realm of Malibar, Abyssinia and Zanzibar,. the That desert in all its breadth, from the ports of Vijayanagar, Gulbarga, Gujarat borders of Kerman and Sistan to the and Cambay, the coast of the Arabian vicinity of Damghan, holds nothing but peninsula to Aden, Jiddah and Yanbu' calamity and terror. bring to that town precious. an~ rare On the 18th of Ramadan [January 30] I commodities which are made glittering by entered Kerman, "a good country," and the sun, moon and clouds and which can "fair dwellings.t's a delightful city and re- be transported across the sea. Travelers freshing area. The Amir Hajji darugha, from everywhere in the world come there, Muhammad Qanashirin, [767] was ab- and everything they bring for exchange sent. Necessarily we stopped until the for what they want can be found without holiday, and His Excellency Amir Bur- much search in that town. They deal both han uddin Sayyid-Khalilullah b. Amir in cash and in barter, and the divanis take Na'imuddin Sayyid-Ni'matullah, the a tenth of everything except gold and sil- most outstanding man of the city of Ker- ver. Adherents of various religions, even man-nay, of the entire world-had just infidels, are many in that city, but they then returned from India and extended deal equitably with all. For this reason the much kindness. town is called Dar al-Aman (abode of se- On the 5th of Shawwal [February 16] curity), [769] and the people there have we set out from Kerman. Along the way the glibness of Iraqis and the mysterious- we encountered Amir Hajji Muhammad, ness of Indians. who had returned from the farthest A stay of two months occurred there- reaches of the province of Bampur. rather, the rulers detained us on every . Headed toward Hormuz, we reached the pretext until the best time for sea ~oyage, shore and the port of Hormuz in the mid- which is the beginning and the middle of dle of the month. The wali of Hormuz, the monsoon, had passed. At the end of Malik Fakhruddin Turanshah, ordered a the monsoon, when the time of piracy ship for us, and we disembarked safely in was at hand, they gave us permission to the city of Hormuz. Accommodations and depart. Claiming that our men and ani- provisions having been ordered, we were mals were too many to fit into one ship, able to meet the padishah. [768] Hormuz, they divided us into two parties, boarded which they call Jarun.> is a port in the us on ships and set sail. When the smell midst of the sea, "with no equal on the of the ship reached my nostrils and I ex- face of the earth." Merchants from the perienced the terror of the sea, I lost con- seven climes-Egypt, Syria, Anatolia, sciousness to such an extent that for three Azerbaijan, Arabian and Persian Iraq, days I was dead to the world, save for the rising and falling of my breath. 4Koran.34:15,26:58. When I had partially come to, the mer- 5Also known as Zarun. Abu'l-Fida (Taqwim chants, who were loyal friends, together al-buldan, p. 339) explains that Old Hormuz had raised a ruckus, saying that the season for been destroyed by the "Tatars," and the popula- a sea voyage was past and anyone who tion had moved to the nearby island of Zarun. MISSION TO CALICUT AND VUAY ANAGAR 301 made a voyage at this time was commit- musky pen upon the camphory white face ting suicide. Altogether they gave up for of the page: lost their nawl, that is, the fare for the ship, canceled their plans and disem- When the eve of the destitute falls and I begin barked after some difficulty at the port of to weep, I relate my tale after the manner of a stranger. [771] In memory of friends and Muscat. From Muscat my comrades and I homeland I weep so bitterly that I obliterate reached a town called Qurayyat, where from the world all tracks of my passage. we stopped. I am from the region of the beloved, not from When seafaring merchants have em- a foreign realm. 0 Ever-Vigilant, return me to barked upon a sea voyage and it proves my comrades. impossible and they are stranded some- where, [770] they called it tabahi (ruina- As I wrote in detail all that pertained to tion). From the influence of the revolution my miserable condition, so many drops of the hardhearted celestial sphere and the of tears fell upon the sheets of my eye- contrary motion of treacherous fate, I too lashes that from the murky waters of my became tabahi, with a heart shattered like eyes a cyclone was stirred up in the sea. broken crystal, a soul sick of life and sit- The group of men and animals that had uation of extreme ruin. During these departed from Hormuz in the other ship days, from the tyranny of the evil-moving were unaccounted for, but perhaps later sphere and the cruelty of inauspicious Their tale will be told by the tongue of the destiny, the mirror of my luminous mind, pen. which had shone like the splendor of the sun, turned rusty from the catastrophes * hurled by blue heaven, and the bright lamp of my lighted mind, from which the A MENTION OF THE TIME SPENT moon borrowed light every night, was INVOLUNTARILY ON THE DARY ABAR blown out by the swift wind of untoward COAST AND WHAT HAPPENED IN events. My glowing nature, which created QURA YYAT AND QALHAT night-illuminating pearls of meanings, and my critical genius, which produced While I was stranded on Qurayyat on luminous pearls of words, was afflicted the Daryabar coast, the new moon of with the catastrophe of extinction. My Muharram 846 [May 12, 1442] appeared. mind turned dark and my brain was per- Although it was springtime and the time plexed. of equal days and nights, the sun shone Finally one day I met a merchant who so hot that rubies would have burned in was coming from Hindustan. When I mines and marrow in the bone, and asked him his destination, he said, swords would have melted in their scab- bards like wax. There is no destination other than Herat. The sun grew so hot from the air that a heart When I heard the name of that fair land, of stone would have burned in commiseration with the sun. There was fear that consciousness would leave The horizons grew so hot from the sun that a my head. heart of stone would have been softened like wax. The bodies of fish in ponds burned like silk in I begged the respected merchant to tarry a fire. moment and I wrote down these verses- Water and air were so hot that the fish took exudings of the water of life dripping refuge in fire. through the courses of words and ex- Hunting became easy in the desert, for the pressions-with the ambergris-scented, wilderness was filled with roasted gazelle. 302 ABDUL-RAZZAQ SAMARQANDI

[776] The heat told of deepest hell and the bloodied rosebud with heart constricted hot leaping flames of Hamim. The gates by cruel, faithless fate. By night my eyes, of the flames of Jahim were opened to the opened like newly blossomed flowers, world, and since the air of that region is told the tale of my grief to the waters of by nature opposed to the constitution of the green garden of heaven. The bird of the men of our realm, our elder brother my soul determined to separate itself from and learned master, Mawlana Afifuddin the nest of the body; and my body, Abdul-Wahhab, our other companions weakened by the twin catastrophes of af- and myself took to the bed of infirmity fliction and exile, submitted to bid fare- due to the severity of the heat and turned well to the soul. The soul [778] lost hope over the reins of will to the hand of divine of life and readied itself for death. The favor. reins of submission were given over to the grasp of divine favor. My brother and Since the reins of will are not in our hands, we master Mawlana Afifuddin Abdul- have left it to His kindness to do as He wills. Wahhab-"blessed be they, and a happy resurrection "6-departed this life in ac- All our constitutions deviated from the cordance with the Koranic verse, "No path of equilibrium, and our indisposition soul knoweth in what land it shall die."? and suffering increased. Agonizing fevers In accordance with the verse, "Whereso- and grief increased daily, and the fire of ever ye be, death will overtake you,"8 he fever raged within. For four months entrusted his soul to the seizer of spirits without cease we suffered this debilitating and was buried near a shrine of some of illness. the great companions of the prophet. In the city of exile the poison of separation I became so weak that at any moment the zephyr could have carried me like the scent of had such an effect that it cannot be de- a rose to every land. scribed. I was convulsed as the revolution of the celestial sphere turned me over like a bucket Alas, were the ascendant of beauty and youth on a waterwheel. life everlasting, it would be necessary to break No one ever saw pain separated from my body, with kith and kin, for thus is the heavenly so closely linked were disease and diseased. command: Eventually everyone is abandoned by his [777] At this juncture I heard that in the brother, by the life of your father, except the Qalhat region there was a place known as Farqadan.? Sur, which had a favorable climate. De- I too gave up all hope of life and deter- spite my weak constitution, I boarded a mined to set forth in any ship bound for ship for Qalhat. When I arrived there my Hindustan. Several strong men lifted me illness got worse: by day I burned with [779] and put me in a ship, saying, fever and by night the lamp of tribulation " 'Embark thereon, in the name of God; was lit by the sparks of outcries. The while it moveth forward, and while it abundance of infection cast this earthly standeth still.' "10 form into trembling, like the body of the earth convulsed by the domination of smoky vapors; and the hand of control of fever brought down with the wind of 6Koran 13:29. calamity the tent of bodily health, which 7Koran 31:34. was held aloft by the four stakes of the 8Koran 4:78. elements. Wracked by the pain of exile 9Identified by the editor as by the Arab poet and wounded with the pain of separation, 'Amr b. Ma'dikarb. The Farqadan are two stars I closed my lips to speech by day like a in Ursa Minor. IOKomn 11:41. MISSION TO CALICUT AND VilA YANAGAR 303

In this bloodthirsty sea of fate make a ship of waterfowl in flight, straight of mast but contentment. Board that ship saying, "Embark bowed like the ever-moving, spinning thereon, in the name of God." sphere, an arrow as stable as the pole.

And if my lords do not object, there is Always stable in the midst of instability itself. some resemblance between my situation and the story of Moses. When he was A bow facing the road like a traveler, cast into the water in a chest, it was out- with an arrow of a mast held firm and wardly annihilation; but inwardly it meant fixed. In height it rises as high as Sagitta, his salvation. There is also a resemblance and in speed no arrow can match it. In to the story of Moses and Khizr, when rising and falling it leaves the wind two Khizr damaged the boat: outwardly it stations behind, and it can outrun the ar- meant drowning the men but inwardly it row of the mightiest bowman. meant escape from the expropriator. 11 Anyway, the sea air became favorable On windy days it goes before the wind, and it and gave hope of recovery. The dawn of flies farther than an arrow fired. health began to break on the horizon of desire, the wounds of agonizing arrows For several days our companions took of illness healed, and the murky vessel of delight in the meaning of the words, life once again became bright and clear. A "[Ships,] which sail with them, with a favorable wind blew, and the ship favourable wind."12 And the words, skimmed across the surface of the water "Dost thou not see that the ships run in like a breeze. the sea through the favour of God?"13 opened the gates of enjoyment to the Made by the wisdom of the experienced, a minds of our friends. After eighteen house moving around the world. A rarity of [781] days anchor was dropped in the God's command, a moving house whose port of Calicut, by the grace of God. A inhabitants stay put. description of the wonders of that region and my travels there now follows. A bird that flies without feather or wing, a traveler who races on the course of an ARRIVAL IN HINDUST AN AND A arrow without the help of feet. A charger DESCRIPTION OF ITS WONDERS AND that prances in water up to its chest, a fish MARVELS that [780] crawls on its belly like a snake across the back of a wave, a crescent Calicut is a safe port, equal to Hormuz moon that never in a thousand years be- in its mercantile population from every comes full, an ingatherer of various souls land and region and the availability of that never becomes pregnant ... , a woman rarities of all sorts from Daryabar, espe- carrying many children but who is ever cially the realm of Zirbad, Abyssinia and barren, itself in chains but a deliverer of Zanzibar. From time to time ships come others from the storm of calamity, itself from God's House and other towns of chained yet having placed chains of rip- the Hejaz and stop for a while in this port. ples on the sea as does the wind, like It is a city of infidels and therefore is in those who have lost their hearts neither the dar al-harb. However, there is a on land nor in the sky, traveling on the Muslim population resident, with two surface of the water like a worm, a congregational mosques, and on Fridays mountain in majesty before resurrection they pray with peace of mind. They have in motion, a magnificent cloud like

12Koran 10:22. IISee Koran 18:71 and 79. 13Koran 31:31. 304 ABDUL-RAZZAQ SAMARQANDI a religiously observant cadi, and most of prised of the contents of this order, he them are Shafi'i by sect. In that city secu- ceased his aggression against the Bengal. rity and justice are such that wealthy Now, the wali of Calicut, having heard merchants who sail the seas bring many of this, gathered all sorts of gifts and goods there from Daryabar. They unload tribute and sent a messenger to say that in them from the ships and store them in his port in the Friday prayer and the holi- lanes and the bazaar as long as they wish day prayer the khutba of Islam was re- without having to worry about guarding cited, and if His Majesty would allow it, them. The divan watchmen keep guard they would recite the khutba in his royal and patrol them day and night. If they name. make a sale, one-fortieth is taken in alms· otherwise no duties are imposed on them: The world was so delighted by the sound of It is the custom of other ports to seize as a his khutba that the infidels were inclined to it. windfall and plunder [782] any ship The emissaries and attendants coming headed for one port but driven by God's from the Bengal arrived at the royal court, destiny to take refuge in another. How- and the amirs presented the petition and ever, in Calicut, no matter where a ship is tribute to the royal presence. The mes- from and where it is headed, if it docks senger was a Muslim who spoke [Per- there they treat it like any other ship and sian]. During his speech he represented subject it to no more or no less duty. that if His Majesty favored [the wali of In short, His Majesty the Felicitous Calicut] by sending him a special emis- Khaqan had sent for the wali of Calicut a sary to invite him to accept Islam in ac- horse, a pelisse, a gold-embroidered cordance with the Koranic verse, "Invite diigiilii and a Jata nawrozi hat. The rea- men unto the way of thy Lord, by wis- son for this was as follows. dom, and mild exhortation.t'H the lock of A group of His Majesty's emissaries darkness and error would be loosed from returning from the Bengal had been his dark heart and the brightness of the stranded in Calicut with emissaries from light of faith would enter through the the Bengal, and they had described the window of his mind. This would cer- wealth, prosperity and power of His tainly be the correct thing to do and Majesty's realm to the ruler. He had also would carry great heavenly reward. His heard from reliable people that the rulers Majesty granted his plea and ordered the of the inhabited quarter of the globe, east amirs to outfit an emissary, and the lot fell and west, land and sea, had sent emis- to me. Some plotted against me, thinking saries and messages to [Shahrukh's] that I might not return from this voyage, court, which they considered the solution but after three years I did return safe and to their every need and refuge of their sound from this dangerous trip [to find] every hope. Soon thereafter the king of that those intriguers had taken the road to the Bengal complained of aggression extinction. [784] from Sultan Ibrahim of Jaunpur and In short, when I disembarked in Cali- sought assistance from the court at which cut, I saw a people the likes of whom I sultans take refuge. His Majesty issued a had never imagined. decree and sent it via His Excellency Shaykh al-Islam Khwaja Karimuddin Abu'l-Makarim Jami to the wali of Jaun- A strange nation, neither men nor demons, at meeting whom the mind would go mad. pur with a message not to encroach upon Had I seen the likes of them in a dream, my the realm of the Bengal. [783] Otherwise, heart would have been upset for years. whatever happened would be on his own head. When the king of Jaunpur was ap- 14Koran 16:125. MISSION TO CALICUT AND VUAY ANAGAR 305

I am comfortable with those whose faces are Thank God we did not die but saw our friends like the moon, not with every ill-proportioned again and reached our destination. black thing. From the end of Jumada II [November Naked blacks with loin cloths tied from 1442] until the beginning of Dhu'l-Hijja their navels to their knees, in one hand an [April 1, 1443] we were afflicted by Indian kattara [glistening] like a drop of having to stay in that infelicitous place. water, and in the other a leather shield as During this time one night that was as large as a cloud. Both king and beggar black as the condition of lovers and so look like this, but the Muslims wear fine long that it would undo the twisted locks clothing in the Arab fashion and indulge of beauties, the victorious sultan of sleep in ceremony of all sorts. ordered the deposition of the agents of the Having met with a group of Muslims senses, [786] and the two gates to men's and a horde of infidels, I was assigned senses were as tightly closed as a rose- suitable quarters. After three days I was bud's mouth, in accordance with the Ko- taken to see the king, whom I found to be ranic verse, "Have we not appointed your as naked as other Hindus. There they call sleep for rest?"15 I went to sleep on the the king samuri. When he dies his sis- couch of rest after various tribulations ter's son takes his place, and [the king- and saw His Majesty the Felicitous ship] is not given to son, brother or other Khaqan walking in his kingly guise. He relative. No one becomes king by force. reached me and patted me with his The infidels are of many sorts, Brahmins, blessed hand, saying, "Be not distressed." yogins, and others. Although they all The next morning, after the dawn prayer, share the same polytheism and idolatry, I remembered this dream and was happy. every tribe has a different system. There Although dreams are usually nothing but is one tribe whose women have multiple jumbles, and rarely do they come true in husbands, each of whom has a specific the light of day, occasionally something task to perform. [785] They divide the shown in a dream occurs during wake- day and night, and each one goes to the fulness, and these the great of the age [wife's] quarters at a specified time. So have considered as inspirations. Joseph's long as [one husband] is there, no other dream and the dream of the ruler of Egypt can go in. The samuri is of this tribe. are not unknown to the learned. I thought When I met the samuri, his assembly thus to myself, "Perhaps the dawn of was adorned with two or three thousand happiness will break on the horizon of Hindus. The chief of the Muslims was favor, and the night of sorrow and tribu- also present at that assembly. I was lation will come to an end." I told my seated, His Majesty's document was read dream to my companions and was asking and the horse, pelisse, gold-embroidered for an interpretation when suddenly a diigiilii and nawrozi hat were presented. person came bringing news that the king The sam uri did not pay full respect, and I of Vijayanagar, who held a vast kingdom returned to my quarters from the assem- and magnificent realm, had sent a mes- bly. senger to the samuri to say that His The other group the king of Hormuz Majesty the Felicitous Khaqan's emis- had put on the second ship with several sary should be dispatched thither that horses had been seized at sea by pirates very day. Although the samuri was not of Sangisar. All their possession were under his jurisdiction he was still in great taken, but they escaped with their lives. awe of him, since they said that the king We rejoined each other in Calicut and of Vijayanagar possessed three hundred were happy to see our dear friends. 15Koran 78:9. 306 ABDUL-RAZZAQ SAMARQANDI ports, each as large as Calicut, and that it from Gemini, and its head shone with the took [787] two or three months to tra- constellation Corona as a crown. verse his realm by land. From Calicut and the several ports The celestial sphere so rubbed against its adjacent to it as far as Qayil, located op- slopes that its body was all as black and blue as a violet petal. . posite Serendip, which is also called Ceylon, is all called Malibar. Ships fr?m The foot of the mountain was so crowded Cali cut go to Mecca, mostly carrying with dense foliage and thorny shrubs that pepper. The people of Calicut are brave its blackness had never been lit by the seafarers and are known as chinibach- rays of the world-illuminating candle or chas.i» Pirates do not bother ships from its dust touched by the nourishing hand Calicut. Everything is to be found in the ofacloud. port, and the only crime is to kill cows Passing by this mountain and jungle, and eat beef. If anyone kills a cow and it we reached the village of Pednur, the is found out, that person is immediately buildings and beauties of which were like put to death. They venerate cows to such unto the houris and palaces of paradise. an extent that they rub the ashes of its There is an idol temple in Pednur so tall dung on their foreheads (God's curses that it can be seen from several leagues upon them). away. Without exaggeration it can be said I was permitted to depart and left Cali- that no description of that building could cut. Passing by ship through the port of do it justice. [789] In summary, in the Panderani, which is in Malibar, I reached middle of the village is an open space of the port of [788] Mangalore, the border nearly ten jaribs. It is as pleasant as the of the realm of Vijayanagar. After stop- Garden of Iram. Within the open space ping there for two or three days, I set out were flowers, as innumerable as the by land. Within three leagues of Manga- leaves on the trees; cypresses on the bank lore I saw an idol temple the likes of of a stream appearing as erect as the re- which is not to be found in all the world. flection of the beloved's stature in the It was a square, approximately ten yards water of a weeping lover's eyes; plane (gaz) a side, five yards in height, all trees, their hands constantly held aloft in [covered] with cast bronze, with four supplication so long as they enjoyed the porticos. In the entrance portico w~s a branch of youth; and the old sphere, its statue in the likeness of a human being, whole body having turned to eyes in or- full stature, made of gold. It had two red der to watch this spectacle, turning rubies for eyes, so cunningly made that around the heads of the fresh-cheeked you would say it could see. What craft ones of the meadow: so perplexed was it and artisanship! by regarding the leaves of the herbs that As we proceeded, we passed by flour- its head was spinning; the entire earth of ishing towns and villages every day until green and verdant, around it arches of we came to a mountain whose slopes dressed stone most elaborate. would cast a shadow over the sun and In the midst of the space was a platform whose towering peak could be a scabbard as tall as a man, made of beautifully hung around Mars' neck. Its slopes were dressed stone, the blocks so expertly and studded with bezels of shooting stars delicately set one on another that one might think it was of a single block-or a piece of the blue firmament having ap- 16Literally "China kids," if the reading is cor- peared upon the carpet of the inhabited rect. Elliot speculates that it may be "a compli- quarter of the globe. In the middle of the ment to Chinese navigation" (Elliot, History of platform was a building whose head was India. IV, 103, note 1). MISSION TO CALICUT AND VUAY ANAGAR 307

raised to Capella, a conical dome of dark CITY OF VIJA YANAGAR AND ITS SEVEN blue stone with various designs carved on CONCENlRIC FORTIFICA nON WALLS three tiers of stone. From past narratives readers will have What can I say of that dome? In delicacy it learned that the travelogue reached the was a copy of paradise sublime for the world. point at which the writer of these pages, The curve of its high arc like a new moon, so Abdul-Razzaq b. Ishaq, arrived in Vija- tall it rubbed its side against the celestial sphere. yanagar. I saw that it was a city of enor- mous magnitude and population with a There were so many designs and so much king of perfect rule and hegemony whose depiction made with sharp stylus in that kingdom stretched from the borders of granite [790] that it was beyond descrip- Serendip to the province of Gulbarga and tion. From top to bottom of that structure from the borders of the Bengal to the re- there was not the space of a hand free of gion of Malibar, more than a thousand firangi and khatai designs. In shape the leagues. Most of his regions were flour- structure was a chaharsuffa hall, approx- ishing, and he possessed around three imately thirty yards in length, twenty in hundred ports. He had more than a thou- width and fifty in height. sand elephants with bodies like moun- tains [797] and miens like demons, and As it raised its head beyond the apex of eleven lacs of soldiers; and in all of Hin- heaven, the stoneless dome took stones from dustan there was no ray (raja) more auto- it. cratic than he. The kings of those areas Its stones rubbed against the sun so much that are called ray. In his presence the Brah- the gold of the sun appeared to be borrowed from it. mins have great status. The stories of the If the glass-blowing celestial sphere is not in book Kalila u Dimna, than which no his dotage, why is he juggling glass on that more eloquently expressed book has stone? come into the Persian language, and which narrates of a ray and a Brahmin, Aside from this structure, there were oth- are results of the wisdom of that king- ers, large and small, all decorated and full dom's learned men)? of pictures of extreme delicacy. In that The city of Vijayanagar, whose inhabi- place morning and evening, after their tants have no equals in the world, is situ- unacceptable worship, they play in- ated such that the seven fortification walls struments and dance. All the men of the and the city wall are concentric. All village have duties to perform there, and around the first wall, fifty yards in votive offerings are brought there from breadth, are stones the size of a man, half distant cities. In the belief of these infidels in the earth and half out, placed tightly it is the Ka'ba of the guebres. next to one another so that neither rider We stayed there for two or three days nor footsoldier can easily approach the and then traversed the stages [791] until wall. we reached the city of Vijayanagar at the end of Dhu'l-Hijja [April 30, 1443]. The king sent a group out to meet us, and they 17Kalila u Dimna, the Panchatantra tales, escorted us to good quarters. were translated from Ibn al-Muqaffa"s Arabic version into Persian by Abu'I-Ma'ali Nasrullah * ca. A.D. 1140. Dedicated to the Ghaznavid Bah- ram Shah and known as Kalila u Dimna-i Bah- ramshahi, Nasrullah's translation remained the THE END OF THE JOURNEY TO standard Persian version until it was revamped HINDUST AN AND A DESCRIPTION OF THE by Husayn Wa'iz Kashifi as Anwar-i Suhayli at the end of the fifteenth century. 308 ABDUL-RAZZAQ SAMARQANDI

If anyone wants to imagine the shape of essary as they deem food to be, they can- the seven walls and city wall in com- not bear [to be] without flowers. The parison to the city of Herat, let him pic- practitioners of every craft have stalls ad- ture it thus: the first wall would stretch jacent to one another. The jewelers sell from Mount Mukhtar and Dara-i Du pearls, diamonds, rubies and emeralds Bara[da]ran to the bank of the river and openly in the bazaar .... the Malan Bridge, [798] with the village [801] In that pleasant open space and of Ghizan the eastern side and the village royal court is much flowing water and of Saynan the western side. It is a circular nice streams made of evenly dressed fortification on top of a mountain and stone. made of stone and mortar. It has strong To the right of the sultan's portico has gates, and the guards stand watch with been built a huge diwankhana (ministry) the eye of caution for the slightest thing. shaped like a chihil sutun; in front of it The second wall would reach from the they have made a tall plinth, higher than a Juy-i Naw Bridge [in Herat] to the Dar- man, thirty yards long and six yards qarah Bridge, [and] from the Rikina wide. The halls of records and scribes are Bridge and Chakan Bridge in the east to there. the Bagh-i Zubayda and the village of They have two types of writing, one on Hasan in the west. coconut fronds two yards long and two The third wall would reach from the fingers wide on which they write with an shrine of Imam Fakhruddin Razi to the iron stylus, without color (ink). This type dome of Muhammad Sultanshah. The of writing is impermanent. In the second fourth would extent from the Injil Bridge type they dye white stock black. They to the Kard Bridge; the fifth from the gate have a soft stone they carve into a stylus of the Bagh-i Zaghan to the Ab-i Chakan with which they write. From this stone a Bridge; the sixth from the Malik Gate to white color comes off onto the black the Firozabad Gate; and the seventh, the stock. It lasts a long time, and this type of innermost, is ten times the size of the record is of importance. charsu in Herat, and that is the king's In the middle of the chihil sutun a eu- court. [799] From the gate to the first wall nuch called the dhanntiyak sits on a plat- on the northern side to the first gate on form in independent judgment. At the the southern side is two statute leagues, foot of the platform staffholders stand in and the same from east to west. Between rows. Anyone who has business comes the first, second and third walls are or- among the staffholders, humbly presents chards, gardens and buildings. From the a gift, places his head on the ground, third through the seventh is very stands up again and pleads his case. The crowded, with shops and bazaars. dhanniiyak makes a judgment according At the king's gate is [a structure] to the rules that pass for justice in that shaped like four bazaars situated opposite kingdom. No one else has an opportunity one another. The one on the northern side to speak. When the dhanndyak rises from is the king's portico, that is, the ray's the divan [802] they carry multicolored palace. Atop each bazaar a tall, lofty arch parasols before him and cry out, while on has been raised, but the king's portico is both sides eulogists utter benedictions. the tallest of all. Before reaching the king there are gate- The bazaars are extremely broad and keepers stationed in seven places. As the long. Flower sellers have tall platforms in dhanndyak processes one of the parasol- front of the stalls, and on both sides they bearers stops at each gate, so the dhan- sell flowers. In that city there are aromatic nayak enters the seventh gate by himself flowers continually in bloom, and as nee- and transacts his business. After a time he MISSION TO CALICUT AND VUA YANAGAR 309 comes out. The dhanntiyak has quarters They feed the elephants this sort of food behind the king's court, to the right. twice a day. Every elephant has a separate To the left of the king's court is the stall. [804] The walls are very strong and mint. They have three types of gold alloy. high and covered with strong timbers. One is called varaha, nearly a mithqal, or The chains that are fastened around an ten Kepeki dinars. The second is called elephant's neck and back are firmly at- partab, half of the former. The third is tached to the roof. If they were attached calledjanam, a tenth of the [varaha]. The anywhere else, an elephant could easily coin most current is the fanam. They break them. They also put chains around make a sixth of ajanam from pure silver its legs. and call it a tar. It too is much in cur- Elephants are captured in the following rency. There is a third of a tar made of manner. They dig a pit along a path lead- brass; it is called a chital. It is the custom ing to water, and the pit is lightly covered. in that realm for all the provinces to bring When an elephant falls in, no one ap- gold to the mint at an established time, proaches it for two or three days. There- and anyone who has a [voucher] for gold after someone comes and beats it several from the divan redeems it at the mint. The times with a stick. Suddenly another per- soldiers receive their salaries every four son comes and pushes the beater away, months, and no one writes them [drafts] seizes the stick and throws it away. He against the provinces. As a consequence throws some fodder to the elephant and the kingdom is so flourishing that any goes away. For several days this is re- description would take too long. [803] peated: the first person beats the elephant The king's treasury consists of chambers and the second stops him so that the ele- like ponds full of gold melted into a sin- phant forms a bond with the second per- gle block. All nobles and commoners of son. Slowly he approaches the elephant, the region, even the craftsmen of the offers some fruit elephants like and bazaar, wear pearls and jewels in their scratches and rubs the elephant. By this ears, around their necks and on their regimen it is tamed and submits to cap- arms, wrists and fingers. tivity. Opposite the mint is the elephantorium. It is said that once an elephant broke its Although the king has many elephants bonds and ran away into the wilderness throughout the kingdom, they keep his and forest. The elephant keepers went af- great elephants at court. Within the first ter it and dug a pit in its path. and second walls, on the northwestern side, the elephants breed and produce The elephant's heart fears those tricks like a their young. The king has a huge, white gazelle escaped from a hunter's snare. elephant, with albino spots the size of With the branch of a tree held in its trunk lentils allover its body. This elephant is like a staff it proceeded cautiously and taken every morning into the ray's pres- entered the water. The elephant keepers ence, for the ray considers the sight of it a were unable to capture it, but the king favorable omen. They give the court ele- was desirous of having it caught. An ele- phants kedgeree. As the kedgeree is phant keeper hid in a tree beneath which cooked and dished out of the cauldron for the elephant was [805] going to pass, and the elephants, they pour on salt, sprinkle as it passed the keeper jumped down on white sugar, mix it up and dip hunks from the tree onto the elephant's back. of it, two maunds each, in oil and put it in The rope around the elephant's back and the elephant's mouth. If any of the [in- chest was still there. The keeper grabbed gredients] is left out, the elephant will at- it tightly, and no matter how the elephant tack its keeper and the king will be angry. shook and flayed its trunk, it was to no 310 ABDUL-RAZZAQ SAMARQANDI

avail. It rolled on its side, but no matter ers guard their customers' belongings, which side it rolled on, the keeper leapt to and if anything is lost they make it good. the other side. In the meantime he got There are many similar brothels inthese several grapples on the elephant's head so seven walls, and from the taxation on all that the poor elephant had to give in and the brothels, twelve thousand/anams, the return to captivity. They took the elephant wages of the patrolmen are paid. before the ray, who rewarded the keeper. It is the job of the patrolmen to look af- The kings of Hindustan hunt elephants, ter affairs within these seven walls. If spending a month or more in the wilder- anything is lost or stolen, they find it. If ness and jungles, and they boast of the they do not, they pay a compensation. elephants they have captured. Sometimes Several slaves that my companions had they cast criminals beneath an elephant's bought ran away. When it was reported to feet so they they can be crushed by the the chief of police, he ordered the patrol- elephant's legs, trunk and tusks. Elephant men of the quarter where the poor lived to merchants take elephants from Ceylon to find them or else to pay compensation. other regions. They measure them yard When the patrolmen ascertained the price, by yard and sell them. they paid compensation. [807] Opposite the mint is the police station. They say twelve thousand patrolmen are A DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY OF stationed there. Their daily wage is twelve VUAY ANAGAR AND ITS KING thousand fanams, which they receive from the revenue on brothels. The writer of these pages, Abdul-Raz- Any description of the elaborateness of zaq, arrived in the city of Vijayanagar at their brothels or of the beauty, blandish- the end of Dhu'l-Hijja [April 1443] and ments and attraction of their courtisans is took up residence as assigned in ex- beyond my ability to express. In short, tremely fine quarters, the equivalent of "brevity will take the place of long- which in Herat would be located over the windedness." Behind the mint is a place Malik Gate, the main thoroughfare. I shaped like a bazaar. Its length is more rested for several days from the weari- than three hundred yards, and its width ness of the journey. The new moon of .more than twenty yards. Along both sides Muharram appeared in that magnificent are chambers [806] and suffas. In front of city, abode of error. the chambers, in place of plinths, are One day messengers from the king's raised stone platforms, beautiful but court came, and the next day I went to small. Along both sides of the road are court, taking five fine horses and two pictures of lions, leopards, tigers and toquzes of damask silk and satin. The other animals depicted with such move- king was seated in a splendid chihil su- ment and verisimilitude that one would tun. To his right and left he was sur- think they were alive. In the evening rounded by a throng. He wore a tunic of chairs and seats are placed at the doors of Zaytuni silk and a necklace of lustrous the chambers, which are as clean as can pearls, the worth of which the jeweler of be, and there the prostitutes sit. Each is the mind could scarcely appraise. He was arrayed with costly pearls and jewels and dark of complexion, slender, on the tall fine clothing, they are quite young and side and quite young. [808] He had traces extremely beautiful, and with each stand of down on his cheek but no beard. His one or two serving girls. Ready for plea- face was pleasant. They brought me be- sure, revelry and enjoyment, they are fore him. I bowed. He tumed his attention willing to dally with anyone who enters to me, seated me beside himself, took my and anyone they wish. The brothel keep- imperial letter of credentials and turned it over [to another]. To the interpreter he MISSION TO CALICUT AND VIJA YANAGAR 311 said, "We are pleased that the great padi- health. The following lines confirm some shah has sent us an emissary." Since I of its mysteries: was perspiring profusely from the heat and all the clothes I was wearing, the king A chew of betel-leaf bound into a hundred graciously gave me the Chinese fan he leaves came to hand like a hundred-petaled flower. was holding. A platter was brought with Rare leaf, like a flower in a garden, the most a bunch of betel-leaf, a package of five beautiful blessing of Hindustan. hundred fanams and twenty mithqals of Sharp like the ear of a swift-rearing stallion; camphor balls. Having received permis- sharp in both shape and taste. sion to withdraw, I returned to my quar- Its sharpness an instrument for cutting roots: ters. My daily allotment consisted of two the Prophet's words have gone ... Full of veins, and in the veins no trace of sheep, four pairs of fowl, five maunds of blood, but from the veins its blood races out. rice, one maund of oil, one maund of Wondrous plant, when placed in the mouth, sugar, and two gold varahas. These were its blood comes out of its body like a living brought to me every day. Twice a week at thing. the end of the day [the king] summoned To chew it reduces the odor of the mouth and strengthens weakness of teeth. [810] [me] and asked about His Majesty Redness of face comes from its two servants: [Shahrukh]. Each time they brought a quick-lime and betel-nut produce the color. package ofjanams, a bunch of betel-leaf As marvelous as it is with these two and several mithqals of camphor. He comrades, status and name belong to it aI.one. would say to the interpreter, "Your kings Although it becomes pale from water, Its invite emissaries to banquets, [but] since honor is from its paleness. See this amazing leaf that, broken from its you and I do not eat the same food, let fruit, after six months becomes fresher. this package of gold be the emissary's What greater honor could there be than that it banquet." is honored by both beggar and king. Betel is a leaf like orange leaf but Take it in the mouth and experience good longer. In Hindustan, most of the Arab health so that you may see its amazing work, and good-bye. countries and the kingdom of Hormuz this leaf is highly valued, [809] and in By relying upon this leaf and the strength fact it is worthy of this esteem. It is taken this plant gives, the king has many wives. in the following manner. A bit of betel- It is said that he has seven hundred ladies nut, which they also call supari, is and concubines. There is not a single crushed and placed in the mouth, and male child older than ten who is intimate quick-lime about the size of a grain of with his wives, and no two women share millet is wet and smeared on a betel-leaf, living quarters. He keeps strict control which is wrapped up and put in the over the affairs of each one. Throughout mouth. They do this with up to four his realm wherever there is a beautiful leaves and put them in their mouths and girl, he persuades the girl's mother and chew them. Sometimes camphor is added, father and has her brought with much and from time to time they spit the red- celebration to his harem. Thereafter no dened saliva from the mouth. The cheeks one sees her, but she is kept in great grow red, and a pleasant sensation, like honor and veneration. [811] that of wine, is produced. It assuages hunger and makes one who is already sa- AN ASSASSINATION ATrEMPT ON THE tiated desirous of food. It eliminates un- KING OF VIJA YANAGAR pleasant odor of the mouth and makes the teeth strong. There is no need to describe The writer was still in Cali cut when a its ability to strengthen and stimulate strange and remarkable thing happened in Vijayanagar, as follows. 312 ABDUL-RAZZAQ SAMARQANDI

The king's brother built new quarters When the treacherous brother despaired and invited the king and his ministers. It of the king's coming, he drew the kattara is customary among the infidels not to eat and struck, making several deep wounds. in each other's presence. The guests were As the king fell behind the throne, the seated in a large divan, and [the brother] traitor thought he was dead. Sending one himself continually came in or sent of his henchmen to sever the king's head, someone else to announce to such-and- he left and went onto the balcony of the such a grandee to go partake of the ban- portico and cried out, "I have killed the quet. While this was going on, all the king, his brothers, the general, the minis- drums, tympani and trumpets that had ter and all the officers. Now I am king." been gathered in the city were being When his henchman approached the beaten for all they were worth. As each throne to cut off the king's head, the king, guest arrived and entered the chamber as- who had fallen behind the throne, pushed signed him, two treacherous murderers the throne against the man's chest and emerged from hiding behind them, knocked him off his feet. Then, with the stabbed them with kattaras and ripped help of a guard he found cowering in a them to shreds. As the limbs of one were comer, he put the miserable traitor to taken away, another was summoned. death and came out through the harem. Nothing more was heard of any who en- [813] The brother was still in the portico tered this place of massacre as travelers exhorting the people to accept him as along the path to the next world, and the king, but the king cried out, "I am alive tongue of fate cried out to the murdered and well. Seize this bastard!" The sub- men, saying, jects gathered, immediately pulled him down and put him to death. Then [the There is no return for you. When you have king] summoned his other brothers and gone, you have gone. all the officers, but they had all been killed-save the dhanntiyak, the vizier Because of the racket made by the drums who had gone to Ceylon before this hap- and the commotion, only a very few pened. The king sent a messenger to knew of this affair. Finally, all who held summon him and acquaint him with the any position of authority [812] had been disaster. All suspected of having a hand . eliminated, so [the king's brother] left the in the affair were brought down. Many assembly heated as it was and proceeded were killed, their skins stripped, their to the king's court. The guards stationed bodies burned, and their families reduced at the gates he charmed and invited to to desperation. Even the person who had partake of the feast, dispatching them like brought the sour milk as invitation for the the others, thus emptying the court of banquet was executed.If The dhanndyak guards. Entering into the king's presence returned and was astonished to learn of with a plate of betel-leaf in his hand and a the affair. Prostrating himself before the kattara gleaming like lightning concealed throne, he offered thanks for the king' s beneath, he said to the king, "The assem- health and well-being and gave more bly is ready and waiting for the royal ad- significance than ever to the rituals of the vent." In accordance with the dictum, mahanavami festival. [814] "Lords of state are inspired," the king said, "I am not feeling well. You go enjoy A MENTION OF THE MAHANA VAMI yourself. I'm not coming." FESTIVAL, WmCH IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO THE INFIDELS The hawk said to the duck, "The desert is pleasant." [The duck] said, "And a pleasant night to you. I like it where I am." 18Apparently someone had been sent around with sour milk as an invitation to the banquet. MISSION TO CALICUT AND VUAY ANAGAR 313

The irifidels of those areas and regions, the earth was as crowded with people and in their pride and puissance, celebrate elephants as the throng of resurrection. once a year an imperial festival, a princely feast they call mahanavami. It was cele- The elephants' bodies bent the earth and brated as follows. engendered earthquakes throughout the world. With all that monstrous ivory the face of the The king of Vijayanagar ordered that earth was like a chess board. from all his realms, which would take So many retainers and elephants that bodily three or four months to cross, the leaders resurrection and moving mountains were and chieftains should come to court. They certain. brought a thousand elephants roaring and raging like mountains and thunderclouds, In that pleasant space there were raised adorned with weaponry and embellished pavilions (chahartaq) of three, four and with howdahs, with acrobats and pyro- five stories, completely covered from top technists, and on the elephants' heads, to bottom with pictures, every picture that trunks and ears amazing pictures and could be imagined, of humans, beasts, strange designs painted in cinnabar and birds and all other animals, even flies and other [colors]. mosquitoes-all executed with precision and mastery. Some of the pavilions were Elephant like a mountain without pillars made so that they revolved and every so (besutun), four pillars beneath a Mount often showed a different side, every mo- Besutun. ment a different beauty revealing her face Its golden covering in splendor cast a shadow from the belvederes and chambers. In the over the mountains. The earth was trod flat under those awesome foreground of the field was a chihil sutun feet with nine arches decorated with perfect Its cinnabar-stained head rubbed against the subtlety, and the king's throne was placed heavens: from it sunset derives its vermilion in the fifth arch. My place was in the hue. seventh arch. [817] Aside from my com- The twisting of its lasso-like trunk is a dragon panions, everyone else was expelled from fallen from a high mountain. A serpent's place is in the heart of a cave, but the arch. with [the elephant] a cave is located in the Between the chihil sutun and the cha- heart of the serpent. [815] hartaqs singers and reciters were per- A ship of ivory in motion, you would say: its forming. Most of the singers were girls. ears sails on either side. A group of girls with cheeks like the When the ear plays with the eye, it is a fan before a lamp. moon and pages more beautiful than early When it charges in vengeance, the earth spring, with beautiful garments and en- becomes pregnant with men. chanting countenances like fresh roses, It tosses them nimbly over its malevolent head came behind a thin curtain up to the king. with its tusks. Suddenly they pulled aside the curtain, When its bell cries out in motion, the which they were holding on either end, spinning dome [of heaven] echoes. Its loud trumpet sounds with the thunder of and the girls began to dance in an aston- the drum; high clouds kiss its feet. ishingly enchanting manner. If it cries out in a loud voice, it deafens heaven's ears. A hundred female singers, a crowd filled with moons and Jupiters. When the commanders of the army, the When they removed the veil from the sun, heroes of every land, the wise Brahmins with one wink they destroyed the world. and demonic elephants were thronged at With countenances shining like the sun, they the appointed time, for three days con- scorched people's souls with their fire. When the veil was dropped from their faces, tinually during the full moon of Rajab the moon went veiled into a pit. [November 1443] the gate of the ruler of When they danced, their statures were musky 314 ABDUL-RAZZAQ SAMARQANDI

locks sweeping the ground. days straight, from the time the peacock When they struck the ground with their of the sun stands in the midst of heaven dancing feet, they kicked Venus from the until the raven of evening spreads its competition. The audience were all astonished by their wings, the regal celebration is conducted. motion and movement. It would take too long to describe all the acrobatics, fireworks and different types The entertainers perform marvelous of entertainment. tricks. They place three boxes next to On the third day when the king arose, each other, [818] each one a yard in they took me to the throne. It was im- length, half a yard in width, three quarters mense, of gold studded with precious [of a yard] high, and then they place two gems, and minutely embellished with more boxes, about the same size, on top artifice. There is no place on the face of of the first two boxes. Then they place a the earth where they do gem-studding somewhat smaller box on top of the sec- better than there. In front of the throne ond row, which is on top of the first, so was a pillow of Zaytuni silk with three that the first and second rows form steps rows of lustrous pearls sewed around the up to the third, which is the highest of all. border. For three days the king had sat on They have trained a huge elephant to go the throne reclining on this pillow. [820] up the first and second boxes and stand When the mahanavami festival was on the third, the area on top of which is concluded. the king summoned me after just slightly larger than the bottom of one the evening prayer. When I reached the of the elephant's feet. When the elephant court I was taken into a chaharsuffa has balanced itself on top of the box, they about ten yards square. The ceiling and remove the other boxes and the elephant walls were entirely studded with sheets of is left [perched] like a goat on top of the gold, each sheet as thick as the broad side three boxes. Every rhythm the musicians of a sword, and fastened with golden play the elephant imitates with its trunk, nails. In the facing recess was set the raising and lowering its trunk in time king's magnificent golden throne, on Another trick is as follows. They erect a which the king sat in all splendor. He pole about ten yards tall. Another long asked about His Majesty the Felicitous . wooden piece like the balance rod on a Khaqan, the arnirs, the army, the number scale is set through a hole in the first pole. of horses, and a description of the cities To one end of the cross piece is attached a of the realm like Samarqand, Herat and stone as heavy as an elephant, and on the Shiraz. He was extremely affable and other end is a platform about a yard wide. said, "I am sending several elephants, two The platform end is pulled down with a toquzes of eunuchs and other gifts in the rope, and an elephant goes onto it. The company of a wise emissary." trainer slowly releases the rope [819] un- During the assembly one of his inti- til both sides are ten yards in the air, like a mates inquired through the interpreter balance rod, and the two sides, one with concerning the delicacy of the gem- the elephant and the other with the stone, studded chaharsuffa, as if to say that in describe semicircles before the king. The my country there could not be such a elephant in that position, thing. I replied, "Perhaps in that country too such a thing could be made, but it is So high that no sound can reach it, not our custom." The king applauded my , answer and rewarded me with several moves rhythmically with the entertainers. sacks of fanams, betel-leaf and special Every group that sings or performs be- fruit. fore the king is rewarded with gold and garments during the assembly. For three MISSION TO CALICUT AND VUAY ANAGAR 315

A group of Hormuzis who were in that The armies of the two sides were dis- country were greatly upset when they patched and wrought much havoc in each heard of the king's kindness and his in- other's realms. The king left his country tention to send an emissary to His Maj- in the care of the dhannayak'« deputy, a esty's court. They plotted to undermine high-caste Hindu named Hamba Nurir.l? this plan and, in all vileness and wicked- who considered himself equal to a vizier. ness, fabricated a rumor that I was not But he was a short-statured, evil man, a His Majesty's emissary. They caused this vile, penny-pinching wretch possessing rumor to reach the hearing of amir and all bad qualities and devoid of any re- vizier- deeming features. When this wretch pol- luted the chair of the divan, he unjus- What of amir and vizier? It reached the king! tifiably stopped my daily allotment. The Hormuzis, realizing the opportunity for [821] This will be dealt with later. vileness, showed the mischief that was During these days the dhanntiyak, the ingrained in their nature, connived with vizier who paid kind attention to me, de- Hamba Nurir and said that I was not the cided to go to Gulbarga. The reason for Felicitous Khaqan's emissary but a mer- this trip was as follows. The king of chant who had gotten hold of His Gulbarga, Sultan Ala'uddin Ahmadshah, Majesty's document and told lies to the received news of the assassination at- infidels and wormed my way into the tempt on Dev Ray and the murder of his king's confidence. For some time I was ministers of state. He was delighted by reduced to misery in that abode of infi- the news and sent a messenger to say, dels. During my misery the king came "Pay seven lacs of varahas or I will send across me several times on the street and a conquering army to your country to drew his reins to inquire after my con- eradicate your infidel rule." dition. Truly he was of exceptionally The king of Vijayanagar, Dev Ray, good character. flared up in anger and said, "So long as I am alive, what does it matter that a few If he is all justice, it is enough. servants have been killed?" The dhanndyak raided the borders of If a thousand servants die, what does it matter Gulbarga and returned with a few old tome? women taken captive. [823] He chided Hamba Nurir for neglecting me and or- In a day or two one can make a hundred dered a draft for seven thousand fanams of them. written against the mint, and it was hon- ored that very day. When the sun is shining, there is no end to dust motes. Khwaja Mas'ud and Khwaja Muham- mad, who were both of Khurasan and And if he imagines that there is any happened to be in that country, were ap- weakness or despondency, it is not so. pointed and sent as emissaries with a few gifts and goods. Fath Khan, a descendant Ascendant is strong, the lucky stars are in of Sultan Firozshah the king of Delhi, conjunction and fate is smiling. sent a messenger, Khwaja Jamaluddin, with a petition and gifts. Whatever he can take of my kingdom he will consider booty [822] and give to his sayyids and ulema, just as I will give 19Reading the name from Elliot, History of whatever I can seize of his kingdom to India. IV, 122. The name is garbled in the text the high castes and Brahmins." of Matla'-i sa'dayn. 316 ABDUL-RAZZAQ SAMARQANDI

On the day I was given leave to depart, of darkness into light."20 The nights of the king said to me, "They say you were tribulation and discomfort in that terrible not sent by His Majesty Shahrukh. If we place of infidelity and error approached have not favored you overly much, when the dawn of happiness and the splendor you come again to this realm and we of the sun of fortune. The evening of know that you have really been sent by grief was exchanged for the day of hap- His Majesty, perhaps that which is ap- piness and success. [825] propriate to our sovereign dignity may be manifested." Appropriately he quoted: The length of night was greater than day, but that has changed: an increase has been added to 21 I will go into exile no more in company of a the latter and a decrease to the former. king: from the wilderness of loving you I come home. If it were not enough that it was a city in the farthest reaches of Hindustan, and the In the letter he wrote to His Majesty he entire realm an abode of infidels, the included the vileness of the Hormuzis, travel gear I possessed had been trampled saying, "It was [our] desire to forward to by untoward events. "How can I describe the caliphal court regal presents and gifts. a situation that cannot be spoken of?" However, some have claimed that Abdul- Nonetheless, despite my miserable situa- Razzaq is not among His Majesty's at- tion, tendants. [824] It has been written to de- scribe His Majesty the Felicitous Khaqan No hope from anywhere of provisions for the that kingly traits and imperial characteris- road save the words, "Despair not of the mercy of God."22 tics are mixed with the purity of the prophets and the character of saints." With strong heart and high hopes I set forth by God's grace and mercy. I began A Noah as intimate with God as Abraham; a Khizr in station like Moses; an Ahmad as my journey on the 12th of Sha'ban awesome as the divine throne; a Jesus in [December 5, 1443] in the company of spiritual demeanor. the emissaries from Vijayanagar. For The inhabited quarter of the globe places a eighteen days we traveled until we third [of its wealth] at your gate, and then you reached the seashore and the port of Ba- . bring into your realm from this side of the canor on the first of Ramadan [December equator. 23]. There I was honored to meet Amir Since that realm is claimed to be an equa- Sayyid Ala'uddin Mashhadi. The sayyid torial land, the mention of the equator in was more than a hundred and twenty the letter was appropriate. years old and had spent many years I gathered my belongings, and we set revered by the Muslim people and the in- out toward the coast. fidels of that region. His words in that region [826] were as weighty as holy writ, and no one deviated from his com- MY RETURN FROM HINDUST AN AND mand. One of the emissaries of Vijaya- ADVENTURES IN THE STORMY SEA nagar, Khwaja Mas'ud by name, poor The sun of favorability rose on the thing, died there. horizon of felicity, and the luminescence Who knows where in this spiteful monastery of good fortune rose in the orient of we shall lay down our heads? hopes, and through the dark night the lights of joy appeared, in accordance with the Koranic verse, "God is the patron of 20Koran 2:257. those who believe; he shall lead them out 21Line by Anwari, Diwan, p. 9, line 7. 22Koran 39:53. MISSION TO CALICUT AND VUA YANAGAR 317

We fasted [the month of Ramadan] in helmsman, who knew how to travel Bacanor. For the last leg of the journey a through water like a fish, wanted to sink ship came to the port of Honavar, and I to the bottom of the sea like an anchor, arranged for provisions for twenty per- and the captain, who had mastered the sons for forty days. During those days, knowledge of traveling to the "confluence when I was expecting to travel by ship, of the two seas," washed clean the ledger one day I opened the [book of] presages of his knowledge with the turbulent water by Imam Ja'far Sadiq, which is com- of his eyes. The sail ripped like the collar prised of Koranic verses, and received of a lover impassioned by his beloved, good news. This verse came up: "Fear and the mast bent under the impact of the not; thou hast escaped from unjust peo- wind like the bow of a beauty's eyebrow. ple. "23 I was astonished how well the presage fitted my situation, and the fear The winds blow with what ships desire not. and dread I had of the sea was completely dispelled. Suddenly I had every expecta- [828] The passengers who were resident tion of deliverance and redemption. in that moving house cast away much of On the 25th of Dhu'l-Qa'da [March 15, their belongings into the sea and disen- 1444] I boarded ship and set forth. I saw cumbered themselves of possessions like plainly manifestation of great power in Sufis. What worth have goods and prop- the verse, "His also are the ships, carry- erty when one's precious life is in dan- ing their sails aloft in the sea, like moun- ger? Imyself, seeing the state the sea was tains."24 From time to time I listened to in, washed my hands of my life with the strange tales and marvelous stories from tears of my eyes and stood, dry of lip and those with me, [827] and these gave rest wet of lash, transfixed in awe at the sea. I to my spirit. inscribed the words, "We submit to God's destiny," on the tablet of my mind. The eye of untoward events and evils is asleep. Sometimes the ship became like a water- Fate nods and all is well. wheel from the crashing mountain-like waves, and sometimes from the clashing The ship, with thousands of shivers, of the violent winds it sank to the bottom reached the midst of the sea. of the water like a diver.

From the surface of the sea suddenly a wind Sometimes lifted up so high that the horse- arose. From every direction arose cries and shoe of the new moon rubs against the shouts. mounts' legs. Night, a ship, wind and churning sea: all the Sometimes sunk so low that the riches of elements ripe for calamity. Corah rise above the steeds' stirrups.

All of a sudden from adverse winds, like The briny sea was so convulsed that the those who quaff the boat of wine, a body melted like salt in water. The vio- change took place in the ship, and the lence of the storm reduced to naught as- planks, which had been joined together sisting patience and firm-footed intellect like the letters in musalsal script, flew like ice under the heat of the mid-summer apart like cut-out letters. The purpose of sun. the words, "[the deep sea,] covered by waves riding on waves, above which are I have become distressed, my heart like a fish clouds,"25 became clear. The ship's out of limpid water. From the torrent of annihilation be the 23Koran 28:25. foundations of the sphere destroyed, for the 24Koran 55:24. water of catastrophe has been poured in waves 25Koran 24:40. over my head. [829] 318 ABDUL-RAZZAQ SAMARQANDI

I am no longer myself since the sphere has cast counted my life as negligible. If I, a into the water the precious essence of patience, devotee of the padishah, were cast into which was my adornment. the fire of untoward events, I should emerge like a ruby, not one iota of my Time and again I said to myself, repeating nature changed but rather more purified this line of poetry: than the purest gold. Dark night, fear of waves, and whirlpool so I was immersed in these thoughts and frightening: how can those on the shore whose exhibiting traces of fright and terror when burdens are light know of our condition?26 suddenly-"who heareth the afflicted, when he calleth upon him, and taketh off The clear water of pleasure was sullied by the evil which distresses him?"28_"des- the murkiness of the sea, and the bright pair not of the mercy of God"29-the mirror turned rusty from the wetness of zephyr of infinite divine grace began to the water and the turbidity of the air. Ev- blow, and the morning of joy broke over ery moment the pupil of my eye gazed the horizon of happiness, the bearer of into that salty water, there appeared from glad tidings of auspicious luck whispered extreme fright a glistening sword; and in into my ear, "We divided the sea for you fear of the violent sea winds, the arrow of and delivered you."30 The cold, adverse the cry that came from my soul was a wind changed into a favorable breeze, and soul-piercing shaft. Since there was the tyranny of the storm ended. The sea nothing I could do, and I saw the gate of turned as calm as the heart could have hope closed in every direction, with eye wished. full of tears and heart filled with fire I The people on the ship celebrated the turned in prayer to the divine presence Feast of the Sacrifice on board, and when and recited the verse, "0 Lord, do not Mount Qalhat was spotted at the end of make us to bear what we have not Dhu'l-Hijja, they reached the mercy of strength to bear."2? From him who be- dry land through the trial of the sea. Dur- stows without obligation I requested that ing those days the new moon of Muhar- he make green and verdant the sapling of ram [84]8 [April 20, 1444] appeared over my existence from the shoreless sea of the sea like a phantom of the beloved's his beneficence and that he wash clean eyebrow. with the water of favor the dust of un- pleasantness from the face of my condi- When the golden barque sank in the whirlpool tion. During this I wondered what sort of of the indigo sea, they saw a ripple from it on ill luck this was that had happened to me the surface of the sea. from the revolution of the blue sphere and what sort of embarrassment this was that CONTINUATION OF THE STORY OF MY had dishonored me through the adversity SEA VOYAGE AND MY ARRIVAL AT of treacherous fate and mean destiny. HORMUZ THROUGH DIVINE FAVOR Neither was I to escape with my life from the waves of destruction nor was I to The story of my adventures at sea had emerge from the water with the pearl of reached the point at which the new moon my endeavors to bring to completion the of Muharram showed itself across [843] small state business [830] on which I was the water, and the ship continued on the engaged, for not for a second I would water for several days more. Having ar- spare my.life to repay my benefactor, and rived in Muscat we dropped anchor and to execute the affairs of my patron I 28Koran 27:62. 26Hafiz, Diwan, p. 3, line 5. 29Koran 12:87. 2?Koran 2:286. 30Koran 2:50. MISSION TO CALICUT AND VUAY ANAGAR 319 repaired the ship, which had suffered prayer. Along the way he chanced upon damage during the storm. Boarding the my brother Mawlana Sharifuddin Abdul- ship again, we set forth. Qahhar and asked him [845] what news there was of the writer of these pages, Bound with long, wavy chains, the flowing Abdul-Razzaq, My brother stated that he sea became a chain-maker by it. had had no news of me for three years. It flies away without budging; there is in it His Excellency the shaykh said, "Ap- nothing to make it fly. A bird that flies on wooden wing-an unusual parently he has reached Hormuz." wing, yet it does not fly so much. My brother wrote this down, and I had Like a crane, head held aloft in the air, with kept a record of the day on which I pelican's wings spread on both sides. passed through every city. When I met my brother, we found that the two dates From Muscat we sailed to the port of coincided exactly. Khurfughan, where we remained for a day or two. During that time it turned so By the truth of the prophet's religion, by the hot one night that at dawn you would majesty of God, I believe everything told of think the sky had kindled fire in the the saints. world. The air was so hot that birds fly- ing swiftly in the sky and fish at the bot- The various aids and assistances that I tom of the sea burned. It was so hot that received from that guiding [saint] during the morning itself gasped for breath, and my dangerous voyage are beyond de- fire caught in the world from the sparks scription, and the details might possibly of the sun. From the heat of the sun the increase the incredulity of the incredu- world [844] could only dream of the cool lous. "Anyone who has not experienced of the evening, and the morning in fear of this labor will remain incredulous." the heat of the day was searching for In Hormuz news was received of His night with a lamp. Whatever birds were Majesty's indisposition, and all around nested in the trees, doves, ravens, spar- the realms of Iraq, Fars and the Daryabar rows, etc., fell dead at the base of the coast there was trembling in fear of this trees, and in this there is no exaggeration. catastrophe. The merchants from the climes of the world who were great ones From the fire of the heat, from which fruit in that port necessarily ceased their activ- became luscious, the nightingale and sparrow's ity, and consequently I was stuck invol- brains were fried. untarily in the agonizing heat of Hormuz From the heat birds on every branch were for seventy days until the news of the cooked like soft hal va. royal person's recovery was verified So many lifeless birds fell around the through the rulers of the province of Lar. trees that accountants were unable to I departed through the port of Awghan number them. and reached the fortress of Tarzak with From Khurfughan the ship set sail, and much difficulty because I was ill. [846] midmorning on the 12th of Safar [May There I stayed until the messengers who 31, 1444] we reached Hormuz. From the had been dispatched to the capital re- port of Honavar to Hormuz it had taken turned bringing edicts, as requested, to seventy-five days. say that the governors and taxcollectors On this very day a most amazing thing of the provinces should disburse from the happened in Herat. At midmorning on tax revenues against my signature fodder that very Friday His Excellency ... for the emissaries and the hire of ten pack Baha'uddin Shaykh Umar set out from animals and hand over fourteen post the village of Jaghara, where he lived, for horses, ten for my own personal retinue the city to perform the congregational and four for the emissaries. 320 ABDUL-RAZZAQ SAMARQANDI

From Tarzak I traveled through Mi- In short I returned to Qohistan through mand and Farghan in a litter because of the Lut Desert, as I had gone. The middle my indisposition. Reaching the province of Ramadan [January 1445] I reached of Sirjan, I was honored to visit [the Herat and pronounced the words, "Praise grave of] His Excellency Shah Shuja' be unto God, who hath taken away sor- Kirmani, one of the great shaykhs of row from us! verily our Lord is ready to yore. I also toured the fortress at Sirjan, forgive the sinners, and to reward the which has no equal in all the world. In the obedient, who hath caused us to take up village of Mashiz I was honored to join our rest in a dwelling of stability through the retinue of the great shaykh Mawlana his bounty."31 I make no complaint of Shamsuddin Muhammad Isfakhi, who separation from my friends and loved had been in the Shaykh al-Islam Baha'- ones. [848] uddin Shaykh Umar's caravan to the He- jaz and gone from Mecca to Egypt and It is better not to complain of the night of made a visitation to the prophets and separation. Be thankful to him who takes away the veil on the day of union. come via the sea to Hormuz. In his com- pany I reached Herat. [847] The next day I was honored to kiss the In short, I came to Kerman. The hand of the emperor at court. Although I darugha there, Amir Hajji Muhammad, stood with bent back in the presence of was ill-disposed toward me because that majesty, I was asked to sit and told when I set out for Hindustan I had sent a him of the rulers of those realms and my complaint of the conditions in Kerman adventures on the sea and in the ship. The and the amir's conduct, and [my com- emissaries, Khwaja Muhammad and plaint] had been influential upon His Khwaja Jamaluddin were escorted to the Majesty's royal mind. He had summoned foot of the throne by the great amirs, and the amir to Herat and subjected him to they attained the felicity of kissing the humiliation and disgrace. hand, an honor desired by the rulers of When I met him in Kerman, he asked the face of the earth. They presented the one day in the divan, "Maw lana, how gifts they had brought, three ruby rings much has been spent on your and the and ten loads of Indian aromatics. This emissaries' going and coming?" greatly pleased the royal mind, for within "About fifty thousand dinars," I an- the last two or three hundred years it was swered. not recorded that any emissaries had "How much is what you are carrying come from that country to this. The emis- worth?" he asked. saries were summoned to court twice a "Ten thousand dinars," I said. week and were allowed to sit in the royal "A nice business," he said. "He gives assembly. His Majesty praised me several fifty thousand dinars, and you get ten times, both in my presence and in my ab- thousand dinars." sence, and during times that he was not "His Majesty is not a merchant," I said, occupied with weighty matters of state he "to reckon thus. Sometimes they bring a asked me about those countries and the hawk, and His Majesty gives in return the novelties of the infidels' realm. I nar- more than fifty thousand dinars. I am rated in conformity with actuality. bringing coinage and khutba [in his The emissaries stayed in Herat until the name], and gifts and emissaries from the end of the month of Dhu'l-Hijja [April farthest reaches of Serendip, and this is 1445], [849] when they were graciously more valuable in His Majesty's opinion given permission to return. Each one was than to have fifty thousand dinars in the treasury. " 31Koran 35:34-35. MISSION TO CALICUT AND VUAY ANAGAR 321 given a horse, a pelisse, a nawrozi diigiilii sents for the king of Vijayanagar. The and three thousand Kepeki dinars. Their mawlana set out as ordered. ten servants were each given a cloak and Once His Majesty asked me about my four hundred dinars, and fodder and post stay in the province of Honnuz. I com- horses were arranged as far as the port of plained of the governors, and His Maj- Honnuz. esty was angered by the Honnuzis' vile- Fath Khan, the grandson of Sultan ness and ordered that the vizier of Hor- Firozshah of Delhi, who had dispatched muz, Khwaja Muhammad Baghdadi, be Khwaja Jamaluddin, also sent a petition brought to court and that an investigation with the following contents: "When the be made into the cause for the delay I ex- victorious train of His Highness the perienced there. My messenger, Hajji Sahib-Qiran came to the land of Hindu- Yusuf, went to Honnuz and read the edict stan, there was none among our re- to them. In the Honnuz divan he seized nowned sultans then alive to make obe- Khwaja Muhammad Baghdadi by the belt isance and render fealty to him. In their and said, "It is His Majesty's command ignorance Mallu and Sarang32 created a that I bring you to court so that you may disturbance and effaced the foundation of be questioned in the Supreme Divan the dynasty. This humble one has suf- [851] about your shortcomings and fered much misfortune in exile for a long causing delay." The padishah and his time now but hopes that the servants of amirs intervened and made a request, the royal threshold will summon me to saying finally, "Be gracious enough to court so that perhaps through His allow us to petition the throne. We will Majesty's good fortune I may be restored submit to whatever is commanded." To to my native land." gain my good will they sent five Abys- sinian slaves, seven bolts of murabba ( The exile's wandering heart is with his native and sitta'ashar wool and a hundred bolts country. of gulshan [cotton]. They gave the slaves, cloth and everything else to Hajji Yusuf His Majesty then wrote to the king of and his comrades, and they brought them Vijayanagar, saying, "It has reached our under seal to Herat. When Hajji Yusuf hearing that Fath Khan, one of the sons returned from Honnuz, I took him to His of Sultan Firozshah, has taken refuge at Majesty, and it was resolved to the royal your court. [850] Now, if you can, re- satisfaction. store him to the land of his fathers; oth- It is hoped that my noble readers will erwise, send him to our court that we may not regard the story of my voyage to equip him with soldiers of the world and, Hindustan, long and tedious though it God's destiny willing, return him to the may be, with an overly critical eye and land of his fathers and forefathers and that they will give weight to the dictum, seat him on the throne of the sultanate." "He is excused who is carrying out or- Shahrukh is such a prince that his slave is ders," for the detail of my narrations and kingly in the world. lengthy expressions.

Mawlana Nasrullah Junabidhi was ap- It is not I who speak even if it is I who speak. pointed as emissary, and he was outfitted with the necessary money, orders, fodder and post horses, as well as gifts and pre-

32Mallu Khan and Sarang Khan were amirs of Sultan Firozshah Tughluq.