<p> <strong><center>Life in a small village</center></strong></p>
<p>The Harshacharita is a biography of Harshavardhana,the ruler of Kannauj ,competed in sanskrit by his court poet, Banabhatta(C. 17th century CE). This is an excerpt from the text, an extremely rare representation of life in a settlement on the outskirts of a forest in the Vindhyas:
The outskirts being for the most part forest, many parcels of rice- land,threshing ground and arable land were being apportioned by small farmers...it was mainly spade culture...owing to the difficulty of ploughing the sparsely scattered fields covered with grass,with their few clear spaces,their blak soil s

<p> <center><strong>The anguish of the king</strong></center></p>
<p>When the king Devanampiya Piyadasi had been ruling for eight years, the (country of the) Kalingas(present-day coastal Orissa) was conquered by him.
One hundred and fifty thousand men were deported, a hundred thousand were killed, and many more died.
After that,now that (the country of) the Kalingas has been taken, Devanampiya(is devoted) to an intense study of Dhamma,to the love of Dhamma, and to instructing(the people) in Dhamma.
This is the repentance of Devanampiyaon account of his conquest of the (country of the) Kalingas.
For this is cons

<p> <center><strong>The anguish of the king</strong></center></p>
<p>When the king Devanampiya Piyadasi had been ruling for eight years, the (country of the) Kalingas(present-day coastal Orissa) was conquered by him.
One hundred and fifty thousand men were deported, a hundred thousand were killed, and many more died.
After that,now that (the country of) the Kalingas has been taken, Devanampiya(is devoted) to an intense study of Dhamma,to the love of Dhamma, and to instructing(the people) in Dhamma.
This is the repentance of Devanampiyaon account of his conquest of the (country of the) Kalingas.
For this is cons

<p> <center><strong>The anguish of the king</strong></center></p>
<p>When the king Devanampiya Piyadasi had been ruling for eight years, the (country of the) Kalingas(present-day coastal Orissa) was conquered by him.
One hundred and fifty thousand men were deported, a hundred thousand were killed, and many more died.
After that,now that (the country of) the Kalingas has been taken, Devanampiya(is devoted) to an intense study of Dhamma,to the love of Dhamma, and to instructing(the people) in Dhamma.
This is the repentance of Devanampiyaon account of his conquest of the (country of the) Kalingas.
For this is cons

<p> <center><strong>The anguish of the king</strong></center></p>
<p>When the king Devanampiya Piyadasi had been ruling for eight years, the (country of the) Kalingas(present-day coastal Orissa) was conquered by him.
One hundred and fifty thousand men were deported, a hundred thousand were killed, and many more died.
After that,now that (the country of) the Kalingas has been taken, Devanampiya(is devoted) to an intense study of Dhamma,to the love of Dhamma, and to instructing(the people) in Dhamma.
This is the repentance of Devanampiyaon account of his conquest of the (country of the) Kalingas.
For this is con

<p>20.<center><strong>The child sati</strong></center></p>
<p>This is perhaps one of the most poignant descriptions by Bernier : At Lahore I saw a most beautiful young widow sacrificed, who could not, I think, have been more than twelve years of age. The poor little creature appeared more dead than alive when she approached the dreadful pit; the agony of her mind cannot be described; she trembled and wept bitterly; but three or four of the Brahmanas, assisted by an old woman who held her under the arm, forced the unwilling victim toward the fatal spot, seated her on the wood, tied her hands and feet, lest she should run away, and in that situation the innocent creat

<p><center><strong>The child sati</strong></center></p>
<p>This is perhaps one of the most poignant descriptions by Bernier : At Lahore I saw a most beautiful young widow sacrificed, who could not, I think, have been more than twelve years of age. The poor little creature appeared more dead than alive when she approached the dreadful pit; the agony of her mind cannot be described; she trembled and wept bitterly; but three or four of the Brahmanas, assisted by an old woman who held her under the arm, forced the unwilling victim toward the fatal spot, seated her on the wood, tied her hands and feet, lest she should run away, and in that situation the innocent creature

<p><center><strong>The child sati</strong></center></p>
<p>This is perhaps one of the most poignant descriptions by Bernier : At Lahore I saw a most beautiful young widow sacrificed, who could not, I think, have been more than twelve years of age. The poor little creature appeared more dead than alive when she approached the dreadful pit; the agony of her mind cannot be described; she trembled and wept bitterly; but three or four of the Brahmanas, assisted by an old woman who held her under the arm, forced the unwilling victim toward the fatal spot, seated her on the wood, tied her hands and feet, lest she should run away, and in that situation the innocent creature

<p> <center><strong>Nuts like a man's head</strong></center>
<p>The following is how Ibn Battuta described the coconut :
These trees are among the most peculiar trees in kind and most astonishing in habit. They look exactly like date-palms, without any difference between them except that the one produces nuts as its fruits and the other produces dates. The nut of a coconut tree resembles a man's head, for in it are what look like two eyes and a mouth, and the inside of it when it is green looks like the brain, and attached to it is a fibre which looks like hair. They make from this cords with which they sew up ships instead of (using) iron nails, a

<p><center><strong>Nuts like a man's head</strong></center>
<p>The following is how Ibn Battuta described the coconut :
These trees are among the most peculiar trees in kind and most astonishing in habit. They look exactly like date-palms, without any difference between them except that the one produces nuts as its fruits and the other produces dates. The nut of a coconut tree resembles a man's head, for in it are what look like two eyes and a mouth, and the inside of it when it is green looks like the brain, and attached to it is a fibre which looks like hair. They make from this cords with which they sew up ships instead of (using) iron nails, an