Alberuni's IndiaAn account of the religion, philosophy, literature, geography, chronology, astronomy, customs, laws and astrology of India about . hatevermay be the natural form of the earth, there is no placeon it which to the exclusion of others deserves thename of a cupola ; that this term is only a metaphoricalone to denote a point from which the two ends of theinhabitable world in east and west are equidistant,comparable to the top of a cupola or a tent, as allthings hauging down from this top (tent-ropes or walls)have the same length, and their lower ends the samedistances theref
Alberuni's IndiaAn account of the religion, philosophy, literature, geography, chronology, astronomy, customs, laws and astrology of India about . hatevermay be the natural form of the earth, there is no placeon it which to the exclusion of others deserves thename of a cupola ; that this term is only a metaphoricalone to denote a point from which the two ends of theinhabitable world in east and west are equidistant,comparable to the top of a cupola or a tent, as allthings hauging down from this top (tent-ropes or walls)have the same length, and their lower ends the samedistances therefrom. But the Hindus never call thispoint by a term that in our language must be inter-preted by cujjolcc; they only say that Laiika is betweenthe two ends of the inhabitable world and withoutThe story of latitude. There Ravana, the demon, fortified him-self when he had carried off the wife of Eama, theson of Dasaratha. His labyrinthine fortress is called^ jl::^<Ca (?), whilst in our (Muslim) countries it iscalled Ydvana-koii, which has frequently been explainedas Rome. CHAPTER XXX. 307 The followiDg is the plan of the labyrinthine fort-ress :—. Door of the road leading to the castle. Rama attacked Rfivana after having crossed the Page 159,ocean on a dyke of the length of lOO yojana, which hehad constructed from a mountain in a place calledSetiibandha, bridge of the ocean, east of Ceylon. Hefought with him and killed him, and Eamas brotherkilled the brother of Ravana, as is described in thestory of Rama and Ramayana. Thereupon he brokethe dyke in ten different places by arrow-shots. According to the Hindus, Lanka is the castle of thedemons. It is 30 yojana above the earth, Sofar-sakh. Its length from east to west is lOO yojana; itsbreadth from north to south is the same as the height( thirty). It is on account of Lanka and the island of Vadava-mukha that the Hindus consider the south as forebodingevil. In no work of piety do they direct themselves On theisland
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectastrology, bookyear19
