On This Occasion, I Am Confident That The Leskar,
Or Camp, Contained Not Less Than 300,000 Persons, Including Men,
Women,
and children, besides elephants, horses, and other beasts, that were fed
upon grain; yet we never experienced any scarcity
Of provisions, not
even in our nineteen days journey through a wilderness, between Mandoa
and Amadavar, [Ahmedabad.] On this occasion, a road was cut for us
through the forest. The tents of the leskar were of various colours,
being regularly arranged, and represented a large and splendid city. The
king's tents were red, and raised on poles to a great height, being
placed in the middle of the camp, and covering a great extent of ground;
the whole of the royal quarter being encircled by canats, or walls,
made of red calico, held up by canes at every breadth, and standing
upright about nine feet high, which was guarded all round by soldiers
every night.
The king removed ten or twelve miles every day, more or less according
to the convenience of procuring water. His wives and women of all sorts,
which are not less than a thousand, all lodged and provided for in his
tents, were carried along with the leskar, some in palanquins, others
upon elephants, or in cradles or panniers slung upon dromedaries, all
closely covered up that they might not be seen, and attended upon by
eunuchs. In the choice of his wives, the Great Mogul respects fancy more
than honour, not seeking affinity with neighbouring princes, but to
please his eye at home.
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