TRAVELS IN INDIA
CHAPTER XII1
Concerning
the articles of merchandise yielded by the Empire of the Great Mogul
and the Kingdoms of Golkonda and Bijäpur and other neighbouring
territoiies
I can easily
believe that those who bave previously written accounts of the
condition of the Empire of the- Great Mogul did not feel themselves
called upon to give full lists of all the articles of merchandise which
it furnishes to foreigners. This I shall endeavour to do from the
information I have acquired during the many years I have passed in
different journeys in these countries. The reader will, doubtless,
cheerfully approve of this research which I have made with so much
care, particularly if he is connected with commerce, and desires to
know what curiosities art and nature produce, in different places, for
the enjoyment of the human race.
It
is necessary to remember here, what I have stated at the commencement
of the first book, regarding the weights and measures used in India,
where I have spoken of the maund and of the ser.2 It is still necessary to say a word about the cubit.3
The
cubit is a measure for all goods which can be measured by the ell, of
which there are different kinds, as we have different kinds of ells in
Europe. It is divided into 24 tasüs,4 and as the greater part of the Indian merchandise is
1 In the English translation by John Phillips of 1684, this chapter is numbered x, the two preceding ones having been omitted.
* See Appendix, vol. i.
3
Cobit in the original. According to the figure given by Tavernier of an
eighth of a cubit, overleaf, its length must have been 27 \ inches.
The ordinary hâth of India, measured from the top of the middle finger
to the elbow, is 18 inches, but is sometimes increased by the width of
the hand or of three fingers.
*
Tassots in the original. The tasû is properly the breadth of the eecond
and third fingers. At present the Surat gaz, or yard, known as the
tailors' yard, is divided into 24 tasû, or in all 28 inches, about 31
taso equalling the English yard {Bombay Gazetteer, ii. 209).
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