The Indians and Chinese agree that there are four great or principal kings
in the world, all of them
Allowing that the king of the Arabs is the first
and most powerful of kings, the most wealthy, and the most excellent every
way, because he is the prince and head of a great religion, and because no
other surpasses him. The Emperor of China reckons himself next after the
king of the Arabs, after him the king of the Greeks, and lastly the
Balhara[10], or king of the Moharmi al Adon, or people who have their ears
bored. The Balhara is the most illustrious sovereign in all the Indies, and
though all the other kings in India are masters and independent each in
their own dominions, they thus so far acknowledge his preeminence, that
when he sends ambassadors to the other princes, they are received with
extraordinary honours. This king makes magnificent presents after the
manner of the Arabs, and has vast numbers of horses and elephants, and
great treasures in money. His silver coin is what we call Thartarian drams,
being equal to one and a half of the Arabian dram. They are coined with the
die of the prince, and bear the year of his reign, counting from the last
year of the reign of his predecessor. They compute not their years from the
era of Mahomed, like the Arabs, but only by the years of their successive
kings. Most of these princes live a long time, many of them having reigned
above fifty years; and those of the country believe that the length of
their lives and reigns is granted in recompence of their kindness to the
Arabs; for there are no princes more heartily affectionate to the Arabs,
and their subjects profess the same kindness for us. Balhara is not a
proper name, but an appellative, common to all those kings, like Cosroes
and some others. The country under the dominion of the prince begins on the
coast of the province called Kamcam, and reaches by land to the confines of
China. He is surrounded by the dominions of many kings, who are at war with
him, yet he never marches against them.
One of these is the king of Harez, who has very numerous forces, and is
stronger in cavalry than all the other princes of the Indies. He is an
enemy to the Arabs, neither is there any prince in India who has a greater
aversion to the Mahomedans; though he confesses their king to be the
greatest of princes. His dominions are on a promontory, where are much
riches, many camels, and abundance of other cattle. The inhabitants traffic
for silver, and they say there are mines of that metal on the continent.
There are no robbers in this country, nor in the rest of the Indies. On one
side of this country is that of Tafek, which is not of very great extent.
This king has the finest white women in all the Indies; but he is awed by
the kings about him, as his army is very small.
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