This Indian emperor ate 35 kilos of food daily!
World+Biz
A true foodie!
Mehmud Begada (Mahmud Shah 1) was the ruler of Gujarat who probably had one of the longest reigns lasting 53 years (1458-1511). This Indian emperor was a robust man with a lot of physical strength and an enormous appetite.
He was a real foodie and told to eat plenty of food every day, reports Times of India.
Poison was part of his diet
As per European chroniclers Barbosa and Varthema, there was an attempt to poison the Sultan once. And since then he was fed on a small amount of poison daily to make his body immune to it. It is said that no one touched his discarded clothes and they were burnt and they turned poisonous!
His breakfast
His breakfast included one cup each of honey and clarified butter with hundred and fifty golden bananas.
Ate 35-37 kgs of food per day
Persian Chroniclers and European travellers like Berbosa and Verthema have mentioned that the emperor had a mammoth appetite. His regular meal weighted around one Gujarati mound (35-37 kgs)!
His dessert weighted in kilos!
And as if the meal was not enough, it was followed by a dessert made of five seers (4.6 kgs) of dried rice.
And he still felt hungry at night
Two huge plates of meat samosas were kept on both sides of his bed so that he could munch on them if he felt hungry at night.
Prince of Cambay
The tales of the Sultan's ingesting poison travelled far and wide and those who have read seventeenth century satirist Samuel Butler's 'Hudibras'- "The Prince of Cambay's daily food/ Is asp and basilisk and toad" would know who the prince is!
Lived to eat!
Mahmud was aware of his enormous appetite and hence used to say, "If Allah had not? given his unworthy slave rule over Gujarat, who would have satisfied his hunger?"
Comments
While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.