A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of IndiaSewell, Robert
History
A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India
Sewell, Robert
Vijayanagar (Empire) -- History
You must know that when these feasts of which I have spoken are ended,
at the beginning of the month of October, when eleven of its days are
past, they make great feasts, during which every one puts on new,
and rich, and handsome cloths, each one according to his liking,
and all the captains give their men handsome cloths of many colours,
each one having his own colour and device. On the same day they give
great gifts of money to the king, it is even said that they give on
that day to the king in money a million and five hundred thousand
gold PARDAOS, and each PARDAO is worth three hundred and sixty REIS,
and from this you will be able to know how many REIS there will be. I
wish you to know that on this day begins their year; it is their New
Year's Day, and for this they make the feast and give the gifts;
and it is not to be wondered at, for we also do the same on New
Year's Day. They begin the year in this month with the new moon,
and they count the months always from moon to moon.[456]
And now I wish you to know that the previous kings of this place for
many years past have held it a custom to maintain a treasury, which
treasury, after the death of each, is kept locked and sealed in such
a way that it cannot be seen by any one, nor opened, nor do the kings
who succeed to the kingdom open them or know what is in them. They are
not opened except when the kings have great need, and thus the kingdom
has great supplies to meet its needs. This king has made his treasury
different from those of the previous kings, and he puts in it every
year ten million PARDAOS, without taking from them one PARDAO more
than for the expenses of his house. The rest remains for him, over and
above these expenses and of the expenses in the houses of his wives,
of whom I have already told you that he keeps near him twelve thousand
women; from this you will be able to judge how great is the richness
of this kingdom, and how great the treasure that this king has amassed.
And if any one does not know what a PARDAO is, let him know that it
is a round gold coin, which coin is not struck anywhere in India
except in this kingdom; it bears impressed on it on one side two
images and on the other the name of the king who commanded it to
be struck; those which this king ordered to be struck have only one
image. This coin is current all over India. Each PARDAO, as already
said, is worth three hundred and sixty REIS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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