Note 29 — The Twelfth New Year’s Feast after my auspicious accession.

With regard to carrier pigeons (kabūtar-i-nāma-bar), it had been stated to me in the course of conversation that in the time of the Abbaside Caliphs they taught29 the Baghdad pigeons who were styled ‘letter-carriers’ (nāma-bar), and were one-half larger30 than the wild pigeon. I bade the pigeon-fanciers to teach their pigeons, and they taught some of them in such a manner that we let them fly from Mandu in the early morning, and if there was much rain they reached Burhanpur by 2½ pahars (watches) of the day, or even in 1½ pahars. If the air was very clear most of them arrived by one pahar of the day and some by four gharis (hours) of the day.