They suffered justly according to their own wickedness; for they
exercised a more detestable hospitality than any: others indeed
received not strangers unknown to them, but these brought their
guests into bondage, that had deserved well of them.
BOOK OF WISDOM.
While the imperial army continued their march towards the ground
occupied by the insurgents, Jehangire, finding that the unavoidably
slow progress of so large a force gave him the opportunity of paying a
visit to Serhind, proceeded to that city attended by a numerous escort
of his household guards. Serhind was, at that period, a city of great
extent, famed for its wealth, the number and splendour of its temples,
and other public edifices, and the magnificence of its private mansions
and gardens. It was the abode of men of every nation and faith. Its
women, proverbial for their beauty, were not strictly confined within
harems, as in other parts of Hindostan; and abounding as it did in
luxuries of every description, the great business of life there seemed
to be the pursuit of pleasure under all its most alluring forms.
The periodical reports of the local authorities addressed to the
emperor had, for some time, noticed the frequent disappearance from the
bosom of their families, of females belonging to the better classes of
society. Although the members of the families thus deprived of their
best ornaments, and the officers of the police had combined their
incessant exertions, in order to discover the source of this most
serious evil, they had hitherto failed to make out even the slightest
clue which might assist them in the accomplishment of their object. The
exactions, also, of the principal farmer of the revenue were complained
of. Both these matters the emperor had resolved to inquire into
personally, with the view of affording his subjects all the redress
that was in his power.
On arriving at Serhind, where his majesty was received with every mark
of affectionate loyalty and respect, he sent immediately for the chief
collector of the revenue, and called upon him to answer to the charges
of rapacity and oppression that were made against him, and, especially,
to shew upon what ground he had dared to continue the tax of the
Zekkaut, which the emperor, upon his accession to the throne, had most
strictly forbidden to be levied any more. This was a tax previously
imposed upon all the subjects of the empire, the Moslems only excepted.
The collector, arrayed in a turban wreathed with diamonds, and a
chaplet of large pearls hung round his neck, of the value of at least a
lak of rupees, attended by a numerous retinue, also clad in sumptuous
attire, paid his homage to the emperor in the most obsequious style,
and then proceeded to defend his conduct, upon the plea that the
Hindoos being idolaters and infidels, it was fitting that they should
pay the Zekkaut for the toleration they enjoyed, and that, moreover,
they had amassed great wealth, of which a due proportion, he conceived,
ought to go to the treasury of the state, under whose protection they
had risen from poverty to affluence.
“Idolators and infidels!” exclaimed the emperor, glad of an opportunity
to display his knowledge on this subject. “Such the ignorant amongst
them may be, but it is no part of my duty to condemn a whole nation for
the ignorance of the poor and the uneducated. If they be in error, and
if it be the will of the Supreme Being to punish them for that error,
am I called upon to augment the measure of divine justice? If He pardon
them, am I to be so presumptuous as to stand between them and His
mercy? Their Pundits may have in former ages fallen into some mistakes
as to the adoration which the Hindoos pay to images. But in my late
conferences with those learned doctors, I have convinced them that an
idol cannot be a God, the Almighty being eternally exempt from change
or decay, having neither length nor breadth, nor any shape visible to
mortal eye. I shewed them that to consider figures, moulded in brass,
or carved in wood, as the immediate objects of worship, was a most
fearful doctrine, since worship is due to God alone, supreme in glory.
It is true, that they still retain in their temples the idols to which
I suppose you allude, but it is only because the mind, being in itself
so liable to be distracted while at prayer by external objects, they
find it necessary to have images before them, solely dedicated to God
and his attributes, as otherwise they would find it impossible to
settle their attention to a steady contemplation of the perfections of
the Omnipotent. Of this no Moslem has a right to complain.
“Besides, what was the language addressed to me by my father, (now in
Paradise!) when in the ignorance of youth, I asked him why the haunts
of idolatry, as I then deemed them, were not to be overthrown? ‘My
dear child,’ said he, ‘I find myself a puissant monarch, the shadow
of God upon earth. I have seen that he bestows the blessings of his
gracious providence upon all his creatures, without distinction. Ill
should I discharge the duties of my exalted station, were I to withhold
my compassion and indulgence from any of those entrusted to my charge.
With all of the human race, with all God’s creatures, I am at peace;
why then should I permit myself, under any consideration, to be the
cause of molestation or aggression to any one? Moreover, are not five
parts in six of mankind, either Hindoos, or aliens to the Mahometan
faith? Were I to be governed by motives of the kind suggested in your
inquiry, what alternative can I have but to put them all to death? I
have thought it therefore my wisest plan to let these men alone.’
“Neither is it to be forgotten, that the class of men of whom we
are speaking, in common with the other inhabitants of Serhind, are
usefully engaged, either in the pursuit of science or the arts, or of
improvements for the benefit of mankind, and that there are indeed to
be found in this city men of every description, and of every religion
on the face of the earth.”
The collector, a man far advanced in years, and full of the pride of
that superiority which his Moslem faith gave him, as he supposed,
above all those who professed a different doctrine, held up his hands
in astonishment when he heard these words fall from the lips of his
sovereign. He was proceeding to enlarge upon his tried zeal for the
throne, for the house of Acbar, for the preservation of the faith, and
on the dangers in which such novel doctrines must involve the empire,
especially if the zekkaut were to be given up; when Jehangire demanded
what proportion of the tax the collector reserved to himself, and how
much of it entered the exchequer? This question the official said he
could not answer without the production of accounts, which he had never
before been called upon to render. They should however be made out, if
such were the wish of the “Safeguard of the world.”
Upon the accounts being examined, it turned out that for every rupee
of the zekkaut paid into the imperial treasury, five were pocketed by
the collector. In order to escape from the difficulty in which this
discovery placed him, he offered, as the emperor was now embarked in
a war, necessarily attended with great expense, if the zekkaut were
continued, to pay in advance the assessment of three whole years,
amounting to as much gold as five hundred camels heavily laden could
carry.
Jehangire, considering himself fully justified, under the
circumstances, in getting possession at all events of the treasure thus
tendered, ordered the collector to bring him the money forthwith. In
the course of a few hours he re-appeared, himself leading the foremost
of five hundred stout camels, all laden with gold to the utmost ounce
they could bear, each load covered in wrappers of the finest scarlet of
Irâk. Ten of the loads the emperor ordered to be distributed amongst
his escort, the remainder to be conveyed to his exchequer at Agra.
“It would be satisfactory to me,” said the emperor, “now to know,
whether the whole of this gold, which you have laid at my feet, was
exclusively your own property, or whether it belonged in part to
others, who wish to share with you in the profits arising out of the
collection of the zekkaut.”
“Sire,” replied the extortioner, deeply hurt at the supposition, “my
cellars still retain more than double the quantity which you now see
before you.”
“What! all your own property!”
“Inherited from my father--now in the bosom of the prophet! When on
the eve of death, he disclosed to me that in a certain secret place
under ground he had concealed, in large jars, a mass of treasure,
which, in the hour of distress, he might employ to relieve himself. I
was therefore under no necessity for bringing discredit on my name by
borrowing.”
“Impossible! I cannot believe it.”
“I know it, sire, to be the truth that I say.”
“If so, then you cannot hesitate to let one of my officers see the
treasure you speak of.”
The collector acceded, without hesitation, to the emperor’s proposal.
An officer was forthwith appointed to inspect the vaults, who, upon his
return, reported the collector’s statement as by no means exaggerated,
for that in his judgment fifteen hundred camels could not convey, at
the rate of one load each, the jars filled with gold, which he had seen
in the subterranean stores in question.
“It would not be just,” thought Jehangire, “if I were to take
possession of the treasures remaining in the jars, as they manifestly
belong to this man’s children. But his attempt to continue the zekkaut
is not to be forgiven.”
The emperor retired to his closet, where he ordered the immediate
attendance of Kuly, his chief executioner. That formidable minister of
vengeance in a few minutes presented himself before the sovereign.
“You will find the collector of Serhind,” said Jehangire, “at his own
house,--bow-string him. His turban, and chaplet, and dress, are yours.
Bind round his loins a linen scarf, and set him, in all other respects
naked, on a camel, and so conduct him through all parts of the town,
at the same time proclaiming, in a loud voice--‘Such is the punishment
to which that man is doomed, who, when his sovereign, from a paternal
regard to his people, has remitted the impost of the zekkaut, dared to
continue it, and to advise its legal restoration, thus violating the
most sacred laws, and attempting by his counsels to give the thoughts
of the sovereign a direction, replete with evil to the subject, and
dishonour to himself.’”
The order was carried into execution the same evening, amidst the
plaudits of the inhabitants of Serhind.
Amongst the personages of distinction, who waited the next day upon
the emperor, to return his majesty thanks for this signal mark of his
attention to the welfare of his people, was Abdul, generally known at
Serhind as a Mogul employed in the pursuit of commercial concerns,
and possessed of wealth to an amount, which it was said even he
himself could not calculate. His palace, the galleries containing his
collections of works of art, his gardens and fountains, all surrounded
by a lofty wall of enormous thickness, were the principal ornaments of
Serhind, rich as that city was in edifices of excelling splendour.
Abdul, on taking leave, expressed a hope, that before his majesty
quitted Serhind, he would deign to permit the shadow of his celestial
presence to be seen within his humble abode. Jehangire accepted the
invitation; and when the business of the day was concluded, attended by
Auzeem, and his ordinary suite, proceeded to the residence of the Mogul.
Embarking on the river, in a twelve-oared galley belonging to Abdul,
they were landed on a flight of marble steps, white as snow, which led
to a massive bronze gate, moving in a solid frame of porphyry, richly
inlaid with gold and lapis lazuli. The master of the mansion was on
the marble stairs, waiting to receive them. The gate, which flew open
at his command, was immediately closed with a ringing sound, like
that of a bell. They immediately found themselves in a covered avenue
of sycamores, affording a most delicious shade, planted on each side
with scarlet roses. Beyond the avenue were groves of cypress, firs,
plane-trees, and evergreens, so disposed as to leave between them all
a wide circle, which formed a garden, laid out in beds that teemed
with every flower under the sun, each the most perfect of its kind.
In the midst of the garden played a fountain of limpid water, which,
when occasion required, cast its refreshing dews upon the flower-beds
surrounding it. The fragrance of this garden, and its seclusion amidst
the groves; the murmurs of the pellucid waters, and the songs of many
birds, hid in the adjacent shades, filled the heart of the emperor with
transports of delight. “Ah!” thought he, “if Nourmahal were here!”
An ascent, through one of the groves, led the visitors to an elevated
terrace, planted with lines of orange and citron-trees on each side,
between every pair of which were seen, on pedestals of red granite of
Egypt, statues of exquisite workmanship in bronze, gold, and silver,
in alabaster, and in marble that rivalled alabaster as to the spotless
purity and freshness of its colour. In an alcove, a colossal warrior
in bronze held on his left arm a golden shield, of well-proportioned
dimensions, upon which the exploits of Acbar were delineated in bold
relief, with a degree of accuracy, elegance, and animation, that
astonished even the practised eye of Auzeem.
The terrace led to an octagonal pavilion, raised two stories high,
surrounded by a double colonnade of jasper pillars, exhibiting from a
gallery that ran round the dome, an enchanting view of the neighbouring
country. The interior of the pavilion was painted in various
compartments, in which were seen processions of slaves captured in
battle, and bearing to their conquerors offerings of all the fruits of
the earth, the interstices being filled with figures of birds engaged
in flight or pursuit, so as to display their character and plumage in
the most striking point of view.
This pavilion was composed of two saloons, each capable of affording
accommodation to a thousand guests. Four round towers graced and
strengthened the outer walls of the edifice. Through one of these
towers visitors ascended, by a spiral staircase, to the upper saloon;
a second tower was reserved for the visitors descending; and the other
two yielded each a small circular apartment, lined by mirrors, and
permitting the sky to be seen through a roof of glass. In the lower
saloon, coffee, sherbet, and ices, were served to all those for whose
enjoyment the Mogul threw open his gardens once a week. The upper
saloon was devoted to music and dancing, and the mirrored apartment to
tête-a-tête conversations.
Abdul’s mansion was of the castellated form, and occupied a spacious
square beyond the pavilion. It had not been for many years open to
public view. The interior apartments, those especially of the harem,
were said to be furnished in a truly regal style, the floors covered
with gold-woven carpets, the walls hung with cloth of gold from
Khorassan, with velvets from Gujerat, and figured tapestry, both
European and Chinese.
The Mogul appeared to experience no small measure of pride, as he led
the emperor along the terrace to the pavilion, where, after pipes and
coffee, iced wines, sweetmeats and confectionery were presented to his
majesty, on salvers of massive gold, by a numerous train of attendants.
Jehangire next expected to be shown through the Mogul’s house; but the
latter excused himself on account of its being under repair, and not
in a state to receive the sovereign of Hindostan.
Auzeem threw out some hints about the number and beauty of the ladies,
whom so much wealth, and such distinguished taste could not fail to
have assembled in the harem; but, to his surprise, he learned that
Abdul had no wives, and that from some disappointment of the heart, in
the early part of his life, he had uniformly declined all the advances
of those parents, who, in compassion for his misfortune, tendered their
daughters, to share in his unbounded opulence.
On his return from the garden of the Mogul, the emperor, assisted
by Auzeem, had a long conference with the civil officers of justice
upon the disappearance of so many females of rank and station, as
noticed in their reports, and upon the ineffectual steps that had
been adopted in order to detect the mode in which it took place. On
looking carefully through the reports, and comparing the dates of
those mysterious occurrences, it struck Auzeem as singular, that they
pretty generally coincided with the evenings on which Abdul’s gardens
were opened for the reception of his numerous visiters, comprising,
indeed, all the families of Serhind above the caste of artizans
and secondary merchants. It seemed not an improbable supposition,
that upon their return from the gardens, which was generally late
in the night, sometimes accident, inevitable in narrow and crowded
streets,--sometimes young men heated by wine, taking advantage of the
obscurity to possess themselves of women on whom they had fixed their
affections,--sometimes the revenge of rejected lovers,--sometimes
the propensity to suicide or murder, had combined to produce these
deplorable results. But in answer to these hypotheses it was stated,
that there was scarcely an evening in the week, during the fine season
of the year, when assemblages equally numerous had not taken place,
either in private or public gardens, and that no similar consequence
had been observed to distinguish them one from the other.
Another peculiar feature marked these mysterious occurrences. The
victims were uniformly those females whose apparel was most costly, no
matter of what age, or whether beautiful or deformed. The conclusion
was obvious, that the value of their attire had some connexion with
the cause of their abstraction, and it was therefore surmised, that
a band of criminals must be confederated for the purpose of enriching
themselves upon the spoil taken from the persons whom, probably with
that view alone, they deprived of life. But then, where were the
remains of the females so murdered? These had never been discovered in
any one instance. The farther the inquiry extended, the more perplexing
it became. The officers of justice confessed that they could throw no
light upon the matter.
“Do you happen to know,” asked Auzeem, “whether the artizans engaged
in the repairs of the Mogul’s mansion are Hindoos or foreigners? If
foreigners, it is barely possible that they might, in this manner,
supply themselves with rich wives, whom they may have some means of
sending out of the country.”
The officers replied, that they were not aware of the mansion
in question being under repair, and that it was impossible any
considerable number of artizans, native or foreign, could be engaged
in any such occupation without their knowledge, as all such persons,
and the places where they were employed were regularly entered on the
registry. An answer, however, on this point might be easily obtained
from the Mogul himself. A kotewaul was immediately despatched for this
purpose, who returned with intelligence, that the Mogul was not at
home, but that, from all the inquiry he could make amongst the artizans
of the neighbourhood, he had no doubt that there were no repairs going
on in Abdul’s house, which had, indeed, been shut up for more than ten
years.
This account was inconsistent with the statement made by the Mogul to
the emperor. Jehangire expressed his surprise. Auzeem suggested that
before they proceeded farther, this matter should, at all events, be
cleared up. There was, perhaps, nothing in it; however it seemed to
require explanation: for if workmen were employed there unknown to the
police, it was against the law.
Two of the officers were despatched to investigate this point. They
proceeded to the gardens, where they found Abdul, walking on his
terrace alone, enjoying the evening breeze. To their inquiries he
answered, without hesitation, that they must have been erroneously
informed, as he had had no repairs done to his house for many years,
and had no artizans then in his employment. They said, that it was
their duty to satisfy themselves by a personal inspection of the house,
to which he could, of course, have no objection.
Abdul, they observed, turned deadly pale at this suggestion, and
trembled violently. He complained of not being well, adding, that if
they presented themselves the next morning, he would be happy to comply
with their desire. The officers retired, having fixed to return at
sun-rise.
Soon after that hour they appeared before the emperor, and reported to
him the interview which they had had with Abdul the previous evening;
they then said, that they proceeded to his house at the time appointed,
but that they could not gain admission. Jehangire began to suspect
that there was something more in this inquiry than he had at first
apprehended. He therefore directed the officers to apply again at the
gates, and if they were not opened, to cause them to be forced. The
officers, in obedience to his orders, went again to the residence of
the Mogul, but all the gates were closed against them. They proceeded
accordingly to use force; with the assistance of the pioneers they
scaled the walls of the gardens, and effected an entrance into the
mansion, which they found apparently uninhabited, though furnished in
the most sumptuous style. A noise, as of something having fallen on the
floor, attracted their attention to an apartment, the door of which was
shut. They tried to open the door, but it resisted their efforts until,
by applying their united strength, they burst it open. Here they found
the Mogul stretched lifeless on the floor, and on the divan near him,
a large cup half full of a liquid, which upon examination, turned out
to be essence of poppies. The vital spark appeared to have just fled,
as, although the heart was still, the colour of life had not wholly
deserted his cheek.
One of the officers having acquainted the emperor with the intelligence
of this event, Jehangire, attended by Auzeem, hastened to the spot, and
further researches having been made, a subterraneous chamber was at
length discovered, in which chests were found filled with rich female
dresses, to the number of seven hundred. In the same chamber were
discovered other chests, replete with wreaths of diamonds and other
precious stones, necklaces of pearl, and gold trinkets.
From this chamber they made their way through a long winding passage to
another, from which emanated a most disagreeable odour. By the feeble
light which reached it, from a narrow window near the ceiling, they
perceived a spacious fire-place nearly filled with ashes; intermixed
with which, they found an amazing number of fragments of human bones.
No further evidence was necessary, to shew the diabolical species of
commerce in which the Mogul merchant must have been for years engaged.
It was only to be regretted that, by inflicting the penalty of his
crimes with his own hand, he had anticipated the decrees of justice.
One of the officers, suspecting that there might be a communication
between this chamber of death and the pavilion on the terrace, searched
narrowly all round, until he groped his way through a short narrow
passage to a staircase. Ascending the staircase, until he was stopped
by a door, he pushed it open, and found himself, when the door was
shut, completely surrounded by mirrors, the arched-roof being composed
of glass, through which he saw the sky.
Further examination enabled the pioneers to ascertain that this
mirrored alcove was capable of being elevated by the simple machinery
of ropes, pullies, and weights, and that, when raised to its utmost
height, it gave admission to the upper story of the pavilion, through
one of the four round towers of that beautiful building.
Entering the other mirrored apartment, in the opposite tower, after
several experiments, they found, that by pressing a spring, concealed
in the divan, which ran all round, the apartment imperceptibly sank to
the bottom of the tower; whence, also, there was a communication to the
sepulchral chamber.
While the festivities of the evening were at their height, the
Mogul, or one of his associates, doubtless engaged a devoted victim
to converse with him in either of these apartments; a group of his
confederates gathered, in the meantime, at the door leading to it,
would divert attention from his proceedings. Having descended to the
bottom of the tower, he would lead her to the spot where she would be
sacrificed in an instant, stripped of her apparel, and then consumed.
The alcove would, in the meantime, be restored to its place by his
assistants. He would speedily rejoin the gay throng in the saloons,
and in this manner it must have been, that he dispatched as many as
five or six splendidly dressed women in the course of an evening.
The dresses and ornaments discovered in the chests, were publicly
exhibited, and most of them were recognised by the families of the
unhappy persons, by whom they had been worn. The inmates of the mansion
were undoubtedly participators in the guilt of the Mogul, and acted,
when necessary, ostensibly in the capacity of his servants. They had
all fled, justly apprehensive of the vengeance of the emperor, who
ordered the mansion to be demolished, its furniture to be sold for the
benefit of the poor, and the gardens to be preserved at the expense of
the state, for the use of the inhabitants of Serhind. Thus were the
two grievances pointed out by the Dervish, effectually redressed by
Jehangire.