Chalukya India (Nanpi)

Chalukya is in the extreme southwest of Canton. It can be reached from Palembang in a little more than a month.

Its capital is Mieamo which has the same meaning as the Chinese expression li-ssi.

Its king has his body draped but goes barefoot.

He wears a turban and loin-cloth of white cotton.

• Sometimes he wears a white cotton shirt with narrow sleeves.
• He rides an elephant and wears a golden hat ornamented with pearls and gems.

His arm has a band of gold. Around his leg is a golden chain.

ruler of the country has his body draped, but goes barefooted. wears a turban and a

his

His regalia includes a standard of peacock feathers on a staff of vermillion color, guarded around by 20 men.

He is attended by a guard of 500 picked foreign women chosen for their fine physique.

Those in front lead the way with dancing, their bodies draped, bare-footed with a loin-cloth.

milion colour; over 20 and with a cotton

their hair is

Those behind ride horses bareback, wearing loin cloth. Their hair is done up and they wear necklaces of pearls and anklets of gold.

Their bodies are perfumed with camphor, musk, and other drugs.

Umbrellas of peacock feathers shield them from the sun.

The king’s officers are seated in litters of white foreign cotton, called pu-tai-kiau, carried in front of the dancing-women.

• These are borne on poles plated with gold and silver.

Chalukya has has much sandy soil, so, when the king goes forth, they first send an officer with 100 soldiers or more to sprinkle the ground so that the gusts of wind may not whirl up the dust.

The people are very dainty in their diet. They have a hundred ways of cooking their food, which varies every day.

There is an officer called called Han-lin who:

• lays viands and drinks before the king
• sees how much food he eats, regulating his diet
• must taste the king’s feces if the king gets sick from excessive eating
  • He treats him as he finds them sweet or bitter.

The Chalukya people are dark-brown. The lobes of their ears reach down to their shoulders.

They are skilled in archery and dextrous with the sword and lance.

They love fighting and ride elephants in battle, wearing coloured silk turbans.

They are extremely devout Buddhists.

The climate is warm, without a cold season.

Their food are:

• rice
• hemp
• beans
• wheat
• millet
• tubers
• green vegetables

These are plentiful and cheap.

They cut an alloyed silver into coins, stamped with the official seal.

Their native products are:

• pearls
• foreign cotton stuff of all colours
• cotton cloth

There is is a river called the Tan-shui kiang which becomes very broad where the channels meet.

which, at a certain point where At broad. this point its its different banks are bold cliffs

channels meet, becomes very 20 in the face of which sparks (lit., can constantly be seen, and these by their vital powers fructify and produce small stones and official 15 coloured chintzes) and tou-lo mien (cotton cloth)*. e., stars)

They translucid. lie buried in holes in (these) are washed out by the rush of a flood, when the

cat’s-eyes, hills until officials clear some day they send men in little 25 boats to pick them up. They are prized by the natives.

Its dependencies are:

• Ku-lin

• Fong-yalo

• Alijo

• Pi-li-sha

• Malwa

• Kan-pa-i

• Ma-li-mo

• Tu-nu-ho

• Gujarat

Chalukya is very far away and so foreign vessels rarely visit it.

Shilo-pa-chilikan, father and son, belong to this race. They are now living in the southern suburb of the city of Guangzhou.

Its products are brought to Kilo Tanung [Jambi Sumatra?]and Palembang Sumatra.

The following goods are Ho-ch’i silks

and the following goods are exchanged in bartering for them:

• porcelain-ware
• camphor
• rhubarb
• huang-lien
• cloves
• lump-camphor
• sandal-wood
• cardamoms
• gharu-wood

Kulin

Kulin may be reached in five days with the monsoon from Chakulaya India.

It takes a Guangzhou ship over 40 days to reach Sri Lanka to anchor for the winter. The following year, a further voyage of a month will take it to Kulin.

Their customs are similar to the Chalukya

Their native exports are coconuts and sapan wood.

For wine they use a mixture of honey with coconuts and the juice of a flower, which they ferment.

They are fond of archery. In battle, they wear silken turbans.

They use coins of gold and silver. 12 silver coins are worth 1 gold coin.

Kulin is warm with no cold season.

Every year ships arrive from Palembang Sumatra, Lamuri Sumatra, and Kito.

Many Arabs live in Kulin.

Whenever they have taken a bath, they anoint their bodies with yukin as they like to have their bodies gilt like that of a god.