Zhao Rugua (趙汝适) was a customs inspector in the city of Quanzhou during the time of the Song dynasty who wrote a two-volume book called Zhufan Zhi (諸蕃志) or Chu-fan-chi (Description of the Barbarous Peoples or Records of Foreign Peoples) around the year 1225. It has a description of various countries outside of China. He is his description of the famous Turkish ruler Mehmood Ghaznavi.
The king’s arms reach down to below his knees. He has an [sic] hundred chargers, every one full six feet high, also some dozen head of mules, three feet high, which, on excursions, he rides alternately with the horses. His bow pulls several piculs, so that five or seven ordinary men cannot string it. When he is on horseback, he carries an iron mace weighing full fifty catties. … [A]ll the people of the west fear him.
