Page:History of India Vol 3.djvu/273

 OCCUPATION OF HINDUSTAN 221 to Bahraich and Bihar, and north to south from Sialkot to Eantambhor, contributed to the revenue, which is stated at fifty-two crores of tankas or dams, which comes to 2,600,000 for the regular revenue from land- tax. Three-quarters of a century later his grandson Ak- bar drew a revenue of over 18,000,000 from the same source, though from a considerably larger area. It was probably during the comparative leisure of his last year that Babar wrote that valuable description of Hindustan which displays his undiminished interest in natural history, and his singular quickness of obser- vation. Though he had conquered his new empire, he did not love it. " The country and towns of Hindu- stan/ ' he writes, " are extremely ugly. All its towns and lands have a uniform look; its gardens have no walls; the greater part of it is a level plain." He found the plains monotonous after the mountain scenery of Kabul and the well-watered orchards of Farghana. " Hindustan," he adds, " is a country that has few pleasures to recommend it. The people are not hand- some. They have no idea of the charms of friendly society. They have no genius, no intellectual compre- hension, no politeness, no kindness or fellow-feeling, no ingenuity or mechanical invention in planning or exe- cuting their handicrafts, no skill or knowledge in de- sign or architecture. They have no good horses, no good flesh, no grapes or musk-melons, no good fruits, no ice or cold water, no good food or bread in their bazars, no baths, or colleges, or candles, or torches - never a candlestick! "