ABU′ ZAID
7
sovereign. Each one is his own master. Still the Balhará has the
title of “king of kings.”
The Chinese are men of pleasure; but the Indians condemn pleasure, and abstain from it. They do not take wine, nor do they take vinegar which is made of wine. This does not arise from religious scruples, but from their disdain of it. They say “The prince who drinks wine is no true king.” The Indians are surrounded by enemies, who war against them, and they say “How can a man who inebriates himself conduct the business of a kingdom?”
The Indians sometimes go to war for conquest, but the occasions are rare. I have never seen the people of one country submit to the authority of another, except in the case of that country which comes next to the country of pepper.[1] When a king subdues a neighbouring state, he places over it a man belonging to the family of the fallen prince, who carries on the government in the name of the conqueror. The inhabitants would not suffer it to be otherwise.
The principles of the religion of China were derived from India. The Chinese say that the Indians brought buddhas into the country, and that they have been the real masters in matters of religion. In both countries they believe in the metempsychosis, but there are some differences upon matters of detail.
The troops of the kings of India are numerous, but they do not receive pay. The king assembles them only in case of a religious war. They then come out, and maintain themselves without receiving anything from the king.[2]
BOOK II.—The words of Abú Zaidu-l Hasan, of Síráf.—I have carefully read this book, that is to say the first book, having resolved to examine it and to add to it such observations as I have gathered in the course of my reading about voyages and the kings of the maritime countries, and their peculiarities, collecting all the information I could upon those matters about which the author has not spoken.
◌◌◌◌
Among the stories[3] which are current in the country (of Zábaj)
