THE BURĀT.
“THE NUPTIAL PROCESSION IS PROPORTIONED TO THE RANK OF THE
BRIDEGROOM[149].”
The Bridegroom fights for his Bride—The grand
Procession—Superstition of the Prince—Bridal Attire—The
Bride’s Consent—Signing the Contract—The Nose-ring—Dress of
the Bride—The Prince enters the Zenāna—He beholds his Bride—He
carries her off—Colonel Gardner’s distress—Fanī Bhū’a—The
Bride’s Dower carried in procession with the newly-married
couple to the Prince’s Tents—A singular Custom—Pān.
1835, _March 30th_.—Colonel Gardner said to me, “The bridegroom will
come to-night to carry away his bride; it is an old Tartar custom for
the man to fight for his wife, and carry her away by force of arms; this
is still retained. I shall have the doors of the gateway barred at the
entrance; and the soldiers on the prince’s arrival, after refusing to
admit him, will at length allow him to enter, if he give them some gold
mohurs. We, of the bride’s party, are not to join in the procession,
but you may go out on an elephant provided you put no gay trappings
upon him; and you can look on and say, ‘What a paltry procession, not
half as fine as ours last night!’ this is the custom (dastūr). I will
go in my tanjan and stand at one side.” This was the grand day of all:
the prince and his party came at night; the village through which they
passed was illuminated, as well as the road and the triumphal arches;
they were accompanied by bands of music and flags innumerable; at every
halt fireworks were let off, while blue lights added a picturesque
effect to the scene. The prince rode at the head of the procession on an
Arab covered with embroidered trappings; on each side, the animal was
decorated with the white tails of the yāk; and over all was thrown an
ornamental armour made of flowers. On the head of the Arab was a jika,
an ornament from which arose a heron’s plume, of which each feather was
tipped with gold; his neck, the bridle, and the crupper were adorned
with ornaments and golden chains. According to etiquette, an attendant
on foot by the side of the horse carried an āftābī, a sun embroidered on
velvet attached to a staff, gaily ornamented and carried in an elevated
position: it is used as a protection from the rays of the sun, and also
as a point of dignity. Another carried a magnificent chatr, umbrella of
silk, embroidered with gold, a mark of royalty. In Oude the king alone
is entitled to the chatr, with the exception of the resident and his
assistant. Then followed the elephants, and friends, and attendants on
horseback, palanquins and native carriages of many descriptions: the
procession was interspersed with the platforms containing dancing girls,
carried by men, and a number of horses, English, Arab, and country, were
led by their grooms. Innumerable torches flared in every direction,
and chirāghs, small lamps fixed on ladders, were carried horizontally
by the attendants. Artificial trees made of wax, coloured paper, and
shola, decorated with gold and silver leaf, mica, and coloured foil, were
carried by men in great number, and added a strangely Asiatic effect to
the whole, as the blue lights fell upon them.
When the procession arrived at the entrance to Colonel Gardner’s estate,
the doors of the gateway were found closed, and the prince was refused
admittance; but after a mock fight, he was allowed to pass through into
the grounds. The Begam would not have omitted a Timūrian custom for the
world. The dress of the bridegroom consisted entirely of cloth of gold;
and across his forehead was bound a sort of fillet (sihrā) made of an
embroidery of pearls, from which long strings of gold hung down all
over his face to his saddle-bow; and to his mouth he kept a red silk
handkerchief closely pressed to prevent devils entering his body! In
this heavy dress of gold the prince did not look to advantage.
I went out with two gentlemen, on a very shabbily-dressed elephant; we
stopped by the road-side, and had a good view of the procession. One
of the party, Mr. F⸺, attired most becomingly in the native fashion,
mounted on a handsome white Arab, caparisoned in purple and gold, looked
like a picture in a fairy tale, as he rode amongst the blue lights; his
plain dress of fine white dacca muslin, with a white muslin turban,
and a handsome black Indian shawl, put round his waist coxcomically in
native style, was in very good taste. We remained about an hour viewing
the scene,—the effect was excellent; even the old Nawāb of Cambay came
out in a tanjan, and looked happy and well pleased. On looking for
Colonel Gardner, I saw the dear old man seated on the side of a well, in
darkness, and quite removed from the crowd, looking on and smiling at the
foolery. Perhaps his thoughts reverted to his own marriage, when he had
undergone the same ceremonies: I asked him how he could have endured such
folly? He answered, “I was young then; and in love, I would have done or
promised any thing.”
A very large shamiyāna (awning) was pitched before Colonel Gardner’s
house; the ground beneath it was spread with white cloths, on which
was placed the Prince’s gaddī, of velvet, embroidered with gold. An
immense number of native gentlemen, wedding guests, were present; they
came from their tents, which were all pitched on the estate around the
house. During the last two days of the wedding, every man, woman, child,
horse, elephant, and servant were fed at Colonel Gardner’s expense, and
an immense outlay it must have been; my jamadār came to me, and said,
“For the next two days your horses and servants will be fed by Colonel
Gardner; do not object to it, it would bring ill-luck on the wedding;
it is the custom (dastūr).” It is also the custom to sit up the whole
night on this occasion; to beguile the time, a great number of brilliant
ātāshbāzī (fireworks) were let off, which were fixed in the grounds in
front of the house. The dancing girls descended from the platforms on
which they had been carried, assembled under the shamiyāna, and sang
and attudinized the whole night, one set relieving the other. The Prince
seated himself on his gaddī, and the contract of marriage was read to
him; it was written in Persian on beautifully illuminated parchment, for
which Colonel Gardner paid duty 450 rupees, that is, £45.
Previous to the signature, it was necessary to gain the formal consent
of the bride; for which purpose, Mr. James Gardner took the kāzī (native
judge), and two of his native officers, with Mrs. B⸺ and myself, into
the zenāna. We stood in an empty room, adjoining that in which were the
bride and the Begam, her grandmother; between us was the parda; we could
hear, but not see. The kāzī said, “Is Shubbeah Begam present?” “Yes.”
“Does Shubbeah Begam give her free consent to marry Mirza Unjun Shekō?”
An answer was made, but in so low a tone, it was more like a murmur.
Mr. Gardner said, “You are witnesses, and have heard her give her
consent.” I replied, “No; I heard a murmur, but know not what it meant.”
The Begam then said, “It is the custom for the bride, from modesty, to be
unable to answer; but I, her grandmother, say ‘Yes’ for her.”
The kāzī said, “Mirza Unjun Shekō will settle seven lākh of rupees upon
her.”
The Begam answered, “We forgive him two lākh, let him settle five.”
A lady laughed, and whispered to me, “The young Prince has not five
cowries of his own.”
If the bride were to give her consent in words, she would be disgraced
for ever as an impudent good-for-nothing; after repeated demands, and
sometimes _pinchings_, her voice is heard in a sort of _hem_, which, it
is taken for granted, means “Yes.”
A certain number of lumps of sugar were then sent from the bride to the
Prince, and we returned to see him sign the contract.
The kāzī having taken off the veil of gold tissue, and the fillet,
that were around the head of the bridegroom, requested him to repeat
after him, in Arabic, a portion of some of the chapters in the Kur’ān,
and, having explained the contract, asked him if he consented to it;
to which he answered in the affirmative; after which the kāzī offered
up a supplication in behalf of the betrothed pair; and several other
ceremonies were performed.
The contract, a most curious document, was then read aloud; the Prince,
having listened attentively, signed it; and several English gentlemen
added their names as witnesses, to make it as binding as possible.
The dowry is made high as the _only_ security the wife has that her
husband will not turn her away as soon as he gets tired of her.
Colonel Gardner then took the contract, and said, “I shall keep this in
_my_ possession.” I asked him “Why?” He said, “It is generally kept by
the bride; as long as she has it the husband behaves well; for a few
months he treats her kindly, and she becomes fond of him; he coaxes her
out of the contract, or he finds out where she hides it and steals it;
when once he has got it into his possession he swears she gave it up
willingly, and the contract is void.”
During the time we were signing the contract, a different scene was going
on within the zenāna.
The Prince sent the n’hut (the nose-ring) to the bride, which is
equivalent to putting the wedding-ring on the finger in Europe; it was a
large thin hoop of gold, and a ruby between two pearls was strung upon
it. On receiving it, the bride was taken from her charpāī, on which she
had reposed during all the preceding days of this ceremony, in her yellow
dress and oily paste, and was bathed. What a luxury that bath must have
been, after so many nights and days of penance! She was then dressed in
her handsomest attire, richly embroidered garments, and an immense number
of jewels; but not one atom of this costume was visible, for _over all_
was placed a large square of cloth of silver, and _over that_ another
large square, formed of cloth of gold, which covered her entirely from
head to foot, face and all. Over her forehead was bound the same sort
of fillet (sihrā) as the Prince wore, composed of strings of pearls and
strings of gold, which hung down over the veil so that she could not
see, and could scarcely breathe.
When the guns fired at the signing of the contract, the Prince ate the
lumps of sugar that had been sent him by the bride; he then arose, and,
quitting the male assembly, went into the zenāna, where he was received
by the Begam and her guests, and seated on a gaddī. Soon after Mr. James
Gardner appeared with the bride in his arms; he carried her from her own
room, according to custom, and placed her on the gaddī, by the side of
the Prince.
There she sat, looking like a lump of gold; no one could have imagined
a human being was under such a covering; with difficulty she was kept
from fainting, the heat was so excessive. Her lips and teeth had been
blackened for the first time with misī, and gold and silver dust had been
thrown over her face!
Surma (collyrium) also had been applied to her eyelids, at the roots of
the lashes, by means of a piece of silver or lead, made in the shape of a
probe without the knob at the end. The ladies in attendance on the young
Begam then performed innumerable ceremonies; they fed the Prince with
sugar-candy, and sifted sugar through his hands; they put a lump of sugar
on the head of the bride, off which he took it up in his mouth, and ate
it; sugar was placed on her shoulders, on her hands, on her feet, and it
was his duty to eat all this misrī off all those parts of her body. The
bride’s slipper was concealed under rich coverings, and the grand art
appeared to be to make the Prince eat the sugar-candy off the shoe!
The Kur’ān was produced, and some parts of it were read aloud; a large
Indian shawl was then spread over the heads of the bride and bridegroom,
as they sat on the floor, and the shawl was supported like a canopy by
the ladies in attendance. A looking-glass was put into the hands of the
Prince, he drew the veil of the bride partly aside, and they beheld each
other’s faces for the first time in the looking-glass! At this moment,
had any false description of the bride been given to the bridegroom, he
had the power of saying, “I have been deceived, the face I see is not the
face that was pourtrayed to me; I will not marry this woman.” However,
the Prince looked pleased, and so did she, for I saw her smile at this
important moment; at which time I particularly observed the expression of
their countenances. The Prince took up his bride in his arms,—the golden
lump I before described,—and placing her on a silver charpāī, sat down
by her side, and fanned her carefully. The poor girl was almost stifled
beneath the gold and silver coverings, that oppressed but did not adorn
her. By this time the night had nearly passed away; the remainder was
taken up with tedious and trivial ceremonies; at last morning dawned, and
at 11 A.M. the dowry was counted, and made ready to carry away.
When the moment arrived for the Prince to carry off his bride, the whole
of the women in the zenāna came round her, and cried and wept with all
their might and main; even those who did not regret her departure cried
and wept most furiously. Colonel Gardner was sitting there, looking pale
and miserable; when he embraced his grand-daughter, whom he loved, the
old man trembled in every limb, the tears dropped from his eyes, and he
could scarcely stand. He called the Prince to him, and told him that,
according to his treatment of his child should be his own conduct towards
him; that if he made her happy he should want for nothing; but if he made
her unhappy he would make him miserable. Colonel Gardner then said to me,
“When I gave her sister to young Gardner I knew she would be happy; but
this poor girl, who may prophesy her fate? However, she wished it; her
mother and the Begam had set their hearts upon it; and you know, my betī
(my child), women will have their own way.”
Although Colonel Gardner always called me his child, and treated me as
such, my title in the zenāna was “Fanī Bhū’a,” because his son usually
addressed me as “_Sister_ of my Father.”
When it was announced that the procession was ready, the Prince took the
bride up in his arms, in her lump-like position, and carried her to her
palanquin, the purdas of which were then let down, and fastened outside
with gold and silver cords.
This taking up a girl who is sitting on the floor in your arms, and
carrying her away without touching the ground with your knees, and
without any assistance from another person, is a difficult affair to
accomplish; to fail in doing it would be deemed unlucky. The bridegroom
performed it very cleverly.
The Prince, in the dress in which he arrived, attended the palanquin on
horseback; and the whole of the bride’s dower followed in procession,
carried on the heads of men, and displayed to view. One golden-footed
bed, and one silver-footed charpāī; a number of large trunks, covered
with red cloth, containing cashmere shawls and ready-made clothes,
sufficient to last for one year; and unmade clothes, and pieces of
kimkhwāb, gold and silver tissues, silks, and pieces of India muslin,
enough to last for three years. I saw a large pile of pājāmas for the
bride put into one of the trunks, considered sufficient for the wear
of a year; besides which, forty pieces, consisting of coloured silks
and gold brocades, for the same article of dress, were sent unmade, and
deemed sufficient for three years to come. Two elephants, several horses,
a very handsome bilee for the lady herself, and several raths for the
ladies in attendance upon her; as also a palanquin. Then came, carried
on trays, dishes of various sorts, for the household, which were made of
pure silver; ewers and chilamchīs of the same; also for the cook-room,
every article in iron or copper necessary for the establishment of a
newly-married couple; and all these things were of the best description.
The jewels for the bride, which were very handsome and very valuable,
were carried in state, together with a pāndan for holding betel, and
all the ingredients for pān; another box, with partitions for spices,
cardamums, &c.; a misī-dān for holding misī (a powder made of vitriol,
&c.), with which they tinge the teeth of a black colour; a surmā-dān,
for holding surmā (the collyrium which they apply to the eyes, to give
them a brilliant appearance); an atr-dān, a gulabpash (for sprinkling
rose-water); and every article for the toilet of an Asiatic lady. Quilts,
mattresses, pillows, carpets, boxes, lamps; in fact, an endless list;
besides male and female slaves, to attend on the newly-married people. A
Kur’ān, for the bridegroom, was also carried in procession.
Every thing necessary for the use of a native lady is sent on such an
occasion, and these articles are provided for years; head and heel ropes
for the horses, and even wooden pegs to secure them, and the bullocks,
are sent with the lady, that nothing may be wanting.
The Prince took his bride to his tents, and a remarkable ceremony was
there witnessed by Mr. Vigne, which he thus relates:—
“I was admitted, as a great favour, to see a custom, peculiar, I
believe, to the Timūrians, and which perhaps no European ever saw
before. Immediately after the marriage ceremony the bridegroom has the
bride taken to his home; but before she quitted her palanquin, which
was set down close to it, she thrust her bared foot—a very pretty one,
and dyed with henna at the extremities—through the sliding doors, and
the bridegroom touched her great toe with the blood of a goat, which
I saw him kill with his own hands, whilst yet in his bridal dress and
turban, by then and there cutting its throat. When this was done, the
bride withdrew her foot, and I made my bow, and the bride and bridegroom
retired to their inner apartments.”
By the time the procession had quitted the gates of the zenāna, I was
very glad to return to my own rooms to bathe preparatory to breakfast. I
had eaten nothing during the night but cardamums and prepared betel-nut:
had smoked a little of Colonel Gardner’s hooqŭ, and had drank nothing
but tea. Mr. Gardner prepared some pān for me in a particular fashion:
I ate it, and found it very refreshing. Pān, so universally eaten in
India, is made of the leaf of the piper betel, a species of pepper plant,
called pān supéarie and betel-nut; but this betel-nut is not the nut of
the piper betel, but of the areca catechu, a palm fifty feet in height.
The betel-nut is cut up in small bits and wrapped up in the pān-leaf
with lime cuttie, which is a bitter gum resin, an astringent vegetable
extract, the produce of a species of mimosa (chadira) catechu Japonica;
called kuth by the natives, and some slaked lime, or chunā. Pān at
marriage feasts is tied up in packets of a triangular shape, and covered
with gold and silver leaf and enamelled foil of bright colours: the lime
cuttie dyes the gums and tongue a deep red.
I was quite fresh and free from headache: had I sat up all night in
England, where we eat supper, it would have made me ill. Colonel Gardner
came in to breakfast, and kissing me on the forehead, said, “Mera betī
(my child), you are less fatigued than any one.” The Prince lived with
his bride at the tents for three days, after which they returned to
Colonel Gardner’s to perform the final ceremony of playing the chāotree.