Babur on Hindustan, c. 1528

Babur, the Central Asian ruler who founded the Mughal Empire, memoirs written after his conquest of northern India, c. 1528

Hindūstān is a country of few charms. Its people have no good looks; of social intercourse, paying and receiving visits there is none; of genius and capacity none; of manners none; . . . there are no good horses, no good dogs, no grapes, musk-melons or first-rate fruits, no ice or cold water . . . . Pleasant things of Hindūstān are that it is a large country and has masses of gold and silver. . . . Another good thing in Hindūstān is that it has unnumbered and endless workmen of every kind. There is a fixed caste . . . for every sort of work and for every thing, which has done that work or that thing from father to son till now.