Bernier, François, Travels in the Mogul Empire A.D. 1656-1668

(Westminster, Eng. :  Constable,  1891.)

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L  E  T T E  R
TO    MONSEIGNEUR

COLBERT

Concerning the Extent of Hindoustan, the Currency towards,
and final absorption of gold and .silver in that country ;
its Resources, Armies, the administration of Justice, and
the principal Cause of the Decline of the States of Asia.
 

Y Lord,
 

In Asia, the great are never approached empty-handed.
When I had the honour to kiss the garment of the great
Mogol Aureng-Zebe (Ornament of the Throne), I presented
him witli eight roupies} as a mark of respect; and I offered
a knife-case, a fork and a pen-knife mounted in amber to
the illustrious Fazel-Kan (The Accomplished Knight), a
Minister charged with the weightiest concerns of the
empire, on whose decision depended the amount of
my salary as physician. Though I presume not. My Lord,
to introduce new customs into France, yet I cannot be
expected, so soon after my return from Hindoustan, to
lose all remembrance of the practice just mentioned,
and  hope  I   shall  be pardoned  for hesitating to appear

^ One roupie is worth about thirty sols.—Bernier.     [Taking the sol
as equal to 0.9 of a penny English,  in 1670, one ' roupie ' equalled
2s. 3d., which agrees with Tavernier's value.]
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