NOURMAHAL,
An Oriental Romance.
BY MICHAEL J. QUIN,
AUTHOR OF “A STEAM VOYAGE DOWN THE DANUBE,”
“A VISIT TO SPAIN,” ETC.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER,
13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
1838.
PRINTED BY STEWART AND MURRAY,
OLD BAILEY.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. 1
CHAPTER II. 17
CHAPTER III. 33
CHAPTER IV. 52
CHAPTER V. 70
CHAPTER VI. 90
CHAPTER VII. 109
CHAPTER VIII. 125
CHAPTER IX. 140
CHAPTER X. 163
CHAPTER XI. 175
CHAPTER XII. 191
CHAPTER XIII. 205
CHAPTER XIV. 221
CHAPTER XV. 240
CHAPTER XVI. 258
CHAPTER XVII. 273
CHAPTER XVIII. 291
CHAPTER XIX. 304
CHAPTER XX. 319
CHAPTER I.
“Look, master, see how the white umbrellas float, like trembling
lotuses, in the lake of the atmosphere. The numerous banners undulate
like waves, as they play before the wind; and now the elephants
advance, their golden bells tinkling as they stride; they are mounted
by merry bevies of damsels, singing songs of rejoicing, and blazing,
like rays of light, with glittering jewels of variegated tints, as if
they were so many portions of the heavens decorated with fragments of
Indra’s bow.”
Hindoo Drama.
About the hour when Jehangire ascended the throne at Agra, the
conspirators entered the city of Muttra, attended by twenty thousand
Rajaputs, whom Man-Singh had previously stationed upon the road. While
they were halting here to take refreshment, Hussein Bey, late governor
of the province of Cabul, having travelled during the night, on account
of the heat of the weather, met the prince in the market-place.
Hussein was on his return to Agra, having been recalled from his
government by the late emperor, without any reason being assigned
for such a proceeding. He was accompanied by a considerable body of
Tartar cavalry, and of Afghan infantry, who voluntarily escorted him,
in order to prove to the emperor the popularity and respect which he
had earned by his bravery, and the generosity of his disposition while
governor of Cabul. Having lavished all his fortune in the splendours
of the vice-regal office, of which he had been just deprived, and
feeling, moreover, that his sacrifices and labours had been ill repaid
by the disgrace thus inflicted upon him, he lent a willing ear to the
overtures made to him by Man-Singh, to espouse the cause of Chusero.
Many of the inhabitants of Muttra, seeing the prince supported by two
chieftains of such high reputation, eagerly enlisted in his service.
On their march towards Delhi, they encountered various detachments
of horse and foot, on the route to different stations. These they
compelled, or induced, to join his standard; and by the time they
reached the suburbs of Delhi, their numbers assumed a formidable
appearance.
Rumours of the approach of the rebel forces had already alarmed the
imperial authorities at Delhi; the inhabitants feared the entrance
of so large an army, which no discipline could restrain from acts of
plunder. It was resolved, therefore, that the gates should be closed,
and that preparations should be made for a vigorous defence. Delhi was
then surrounded by a strong wall, and by many towers, which it would
have been impossible to reduce without the aid of artillery. Chusero
waited before the city for some days, but finding that he had no means
for capturing it, he moved forward rapidly to Lahore, where he met with
no resistance.
In the mean time Jehangire, fully informed of Chusero’s proceedings,
issued mandates for the assemblage of an army sufficient to put down
this dangerous, and to his feelings, peculiarly painful, insurrection.
During the first impulses of his anger he had directed his household
troops to pursue the rebels, charging Ferid Bochari, on whom he
conferred the chief command of the imperial forces, to bring back the
prince’s head without delay. But the intelligence which he received
of the accessions constantly making to Chusero’s party, obliged him
to adopt more prudent counsels. He was much attached to his son, his
eldest born, the natural heir to his throne; he could not believe
that the prince was any thing more than an instrument in the hands of
Man-Singh, Hussein, and the other chieftains, who were already in open
revolt against his authority, and whose real object he apprehended to
be the division of the empire amongst themselves. Filled, therefore,
with distrust of all the world, he determined to lead the army in
person, and to contend, if necessary, with his own hand for the crown
which he had derived from the valour of his ancestors.
The resolution of Jehangire to take the field at the head of a hundred
thousand fighting men, necessarily caused a delay, which gave great
advantages to the prince’s party. It enabled the latter to repair the
dilapidated fortifications of Lahore; to collect within its walls large
stores of rice and grain; to communicate with the subahs of Moultan
and Cashmere, and to spread the seeds of revolt throughout the whole of
the northern provinces. The elevation of Bochari to the chief command
of the imperial troops, produced the deepest dissatisfaction amongst
the nobles in general, whose pride was wounded by the elevation of
the son of a Persian portrait-painter to the highest office in the
emperor’s gift. He had, they admitted, rendered essential service to
Jehangire, by the seasonable precautions which he had adopted for
securing the succession to the throne. But he had had no military
experience. He had hitherto distinguished himself only as an intriguer,
a parasite, and a debauchee.
The high-chancellor, Kazim Ayas, whom Jehangire nominated to that
office, had indeed also been raised above the heads of many omrahs from
the inferior grades of life. But he was of an ancient, though decayed
family; he had, moreover, exhibited talents in the discharge of his
functions, which would have secured the acquiescence of all men in his
advancement, even if he had not won their favour by the graces of his
mind, and the invariable modesty of his demeanour. Bochari, on the
contrary, treacherous, sanguinary, rapacious, insolent, had evinced no
ability for command. His promotion to so high a degree of authority,
was deemed an insult to the whole empire!
These feelings of discontent throughout the court at Agra, were,
however, in some measure, appeased by the emperor’s resolution to
place himself at the head of the troops, destined to take part in the
approaching contest. Many of the omrahs, who had wavered in their
allegiance, accepted that resolution as an apology for the appointment
of which they so loudly complained, and prepared to follow the imperial
standards. The requisite number of troops having been organised within
three months, the emperor’s tents were sent on beforehand; and the
astrologers having been consulted as to the time when he should set out
from Agra, an hour was discovered at the termination of the third day
of the new moon, which they unanimously pronounced auspicious for that
purpose.
The whole army having been assembled in and around the city, the great
imperial drum, accompanied by the trumpets and cymbals of the palace
and the artillery of the citadel, gave the signal for departure, and
at the precise moment indicated by the stars, the whole host was
in motion on the road to Delhi. The vanguard was composed of thirty
thousand cavalry, mounted on steeds from Turkestan and Tartary, clad
in chain armour, and bearing in their hands long spears. These were
followed by three thousand elephants, with castles on their backs,
occupied by the household guards, who bore matchlocks in their hands,
and on their breasts cuirasses of burnished steel. Mantles of scarlet
cloth covered those parts of the elephants’ hides which were not
painted black, and from their ears were suspended white tails of the
cows of Great Thibet. Their guides sat upon their necks, arrayed in
iron armour from head to foot. Next to these elephants were stationed
ten thousand archers, clothed in green quilted mail, armed with large
bows, and quivers filled with winged arrows, and with slings for the
discharge of various missiles. Then marched forward five hundred
dromedaries, and small swift-footed elephants, upon whose backs
were fixed, on swivels, pieces of light artillery, each attended by
a gunner, who held before him a shield of steel; Bengal buffaloes
drawing a hundred pieces of heavy artillery, and vast masses of
Hindoo infantry, followed at some distance by the imperial staff,
composed of omrahs and rajahs, some riding on elephants, others mounted
on war-horses clothed in armour, all distinguished by their golden
helmets, surmounted by black horse-tails and Begla plumes, cuirasses
of silver, and gold-hafted scymitars of Damascus, whose naked blades
outshone the sun.
The omrahs were attended by cavaliers and footmen, bearing silver
maces; and the rajahs lifted the banners of the empire, surmounted
by the crescent; behind which, followed, intermixed with a thousand
flutes, trumpets, cymbals, drums, and tambourines, the sacred kour
consisting of long ebony staffs, on the tops of which glittered in
massive silver the mystical hands; spheres representing the sun, moon,
earth, and stars; birds and quadrupeds of awful forms; the scales of
justice; the head of Solomon; tablets inscribed with characters which
the prophet alone could interpret; and other symbols of sovereign
authority. High above all these veteran warriors, and this splendid
pageantry, appeared, reclining on a throne of solid gold, shaded by
curtains of cloth of gold, and a canopy of silver thickly set with
diamonds, emeralds, and rubies, the great chieftain of the host wearing
his magnificent Persian tiara and imperial robes, mounted on Indragui,
that elephant of matchless stature, towering in the air like a giant
of ancient days. To ascend this stupendous animal, required a ladder
of fourteen steps. His body was painted all over with the dust of
yellow sandal-wood. From his ears hung snow-white tails of cows from
Thibet; his neck, breast, and legs were covered with chain armour of
gold, interspersed by plates of the same metal set with opal stones of
incomparable lustre, from which rows of melodious silver bells were
suspended.
Indragui, not withstanding his size and strength, was of a disposition
so gentle, that under his most fearful excitements, if an infant
happened to fall in his way, he would take it up with his trunk,
and place it out of danger with the utmost tenderness. Such was his
courage, that he would not hesitate to attack a hundred elephants in
the field of battle, or in the arena where combats of animals were
performed for the entertainment of the court. In speed he excelled
the fleetest horse ever seen in Hindostan. A band of music and a
company of forty spearmen were assigned to attend exclusively upon this
elephant, such was the regard in which he was held by his imperial
master.
Bochari, in silver armour, his gold helmet covered with waving ostrich
plumes, was seated on a cushion at the emperor’s feet; and then
followed on horseback a troop of eunuchs, each with a gold-headed cane
in his hand, attending twelve of the principal ladies of the harem,
mounted on Pegu elephants, seated in litters, and protected from the
gaze of the multitude by golden lattices and canopies of brocade, over
which were thrown nets of azure silk, with deep fringes of silver.
Surrounding these elephants, were trains of female slaves from Tartary,
fantastically attired, and riding zebras and milk-white ponies from
Cashmere.
Saddle-horses fully caparisoned, mostly of a light fawn colour, led by
pages in the red imperial livery; footmen bearing on their shoulders,
battle-axes, and javelins; pipe and hookah bearers; huntsmen leading
in couples beagles, leopards, and large birds of prey trained to the
chace; falconers with hoops suspended around them, on which were
perched hawks of twelve different kinds, including the beautiful
zodehpeer, no larger than a parrot, and the moolcheen, scarcely so
big as a sparrow,--both perfectly green, which, like the royal hawk,
attack and bring down game of any size; gladiators, and the keepers
of the wild beasts, holding in strong chains lions, tigers, wolves,
rhinocerosses, lynxes, hyenas, and panthers; monkeys riding on troops
of well-trained dogs, and bears taught to dance to the sound of drum
and fife, followed the imperial harem, guarded by the executioners
of the palace, mounted on dromedaries, clad in black mogul caps and
pelisses of leopard skins, bearing on their shoulders axes of the
finest edge, whose glittering blades struck all beholders with terror.
Last of all appeared a vast disorderly multitude, composed of
camels, buffaloes, horses, mules, oxen laden with tents, provisions,
cooking-utensils; of suttlers of the army; vendors of articles of every
description, to whom the removal of the court would have been ruinous
if they had remained at Agra; of Brahmins, Hindoo devotees carrying
their idols, dervishes, barbers, tailors, astrologers, jugglers,
exhibitors of shows and serpents, harpers, lutanists, players on the
dulcimer, singing and dancing girls, adventurers of every colour, and
idlers and thieves of every age and sex, whose undulating masses were
seen, and whose shouts were heard in the back ground of the army, like
the waves and sounds of the untameable ocean.
Kazim Ayas, to whom, as the high chancellor, the emperor had delegated
his authority over the capital during his absence, ascended the
watch-tower of the citadel an hour before day-break, to observe the
movements of this mighty host. The early sunbeams, piercing through the
foliage of the trees, and reflected by a vast forest of spears, soon
enabled him to discern the position of the vanguard. The glittering
cuirasses of the household troops easily distinguished them from the
dark array of the archers; and the shields of the gunners indicated
the progress of the light and heavy artillery. The Hindoo infantry, in
massive columns, ten men a-breast, were clearly seen, armed with short
pikes and cutlasses, and moving to the martial airs of their different
bands. The silver canopy of the emperor seemed in itself a sun
surrounded by a sea of plumes, through which countless helmets shone
like satellites. The multitude that followed was occasionally hidden
from Kazim’s eye by clouds of dust, which assumed hues of gold and
purple as the sun rose higher in the heavens. Their tumultuous shouts
at first filled his mind with apprehensions of a general mutiny; but
his fears were dissipated by the regularly recurring clash of cymbals,
and the roll of drums, and the tramping of men, elephants, and horses,
mingled with gay music, borne to his ear at intervals on the light
winds that played through the firmament.
Chusero’s emissaries conveyed to him early intelligence of the advance
of the imperial army. He prepared to give them battle on the borders
of the river Sutledge, the passages of which he resolved to defend;
if defeated there, he intended to retire within the fortifications of
Lahore, and if driven thence to seek refuge amongst the mountains of
Cashmere. He was not ignorant of his father’s passion for Nourmahal,
and he carefully availed himself of the circumstance, in order to gain
over to his cause the powerful assistance of Shere-Afkun. The feelings
of that distinguished warrior were painfully alive to the insinuations
which had been circulated upon that subject, both before and after
his marriage. It was not difficult to excite his attention to the
consequences that might arise, if Jehangire should enter Cashmere,
flushed with the victories which must have crowned his banners,
should he march beyond the province of Lahore. Afkun was, moreover,
too much of a soldier to hear of battles and warlike movements in
Hindostan, in which he did not participate. He had already quelled the
insurrectionary spirit of his own province; and although the luxury of
domestic enjoyments never before possessed for him such attractions as
it yielded at that moment, still he felt it impossible for a chieftain
of his rank and celebrity, to remain neutral in a contest on which
the fate of the empire depended. In answer to the requisitions for
assistance, addressed to him by Chusero, he engaged to bring into the
field twenty thousand fighting men, being fully persuaded, from all
he had heard of Jehangire, that from idiotcy or madness derived from
his maternal blood, and aggravated by the vices of wine-drinking and
opium-eating, in which he was reported to have indulged beyond all the
ordinary bounds of decency, the new sovereign was incapacitated for
the functions entrusted to him by the weak partialities of Acbar.
Nourmahal, notwithstanding the conflicting feelings by which her
bosom was agitated, suggested no opposition to the resolutions of her
consort. The castle in which they resided, at a short distance from
the city of Cashmere, was the resort of crowds of young noblemen, who,
from the moment they heard that Chusero was proclaimed emperor at
Lahore, and that Afkun determined to espouse his cause, were anxious to
enlist under his banners. The frank and manly character of the prince,
his freedom from those vices by which the character of Jehangire was
tainted, the cordiality of his manners, the heroic beauty of his
person, his unquestioned bravery, were rendered familiar to them by
the reports which they had heard on all sides. There was, moreover,
something especially odious to their proud minds, in the notoriety of
the influence which the son of the Persian portrait-painter exercised
over Jehangire, and they agreed that, at all events, it became the
chivalry of Hindostan to rescue the throne from the thraldom of such a
vile adventurer as Bochari.
Their conversations upon this subject were conveyed from time to time
to Nourmahal by Afkun; sometimes she overheard them from her terrace,
as the young omrahs were carousing in the great hall of the castle. She
listened with anticipations of unfeigned pleasure to every proposition
which had for its object the destruction of Bochari’s power,
remembering, as she did, the scowling looks with which he pursued her
on the evening of the Vishnu dance, and feeling instinctively that his
ascendancy stood before her own destinies as an impassable barrier. She
therefore speedily caught the contagion of enthusiasm with which the
approaching battles were spoken of by all around her, not doubting that
they would yield fresh laurels to him whose renown had already won her
hand. How far it had yet touched her heart, was a problem which even
Kanun found a difficulty in solving.