An Indian Fete--The Prince of Burdwan--Indian Luxury--The Riches and
Romantic Life of an Indian Prince--Poverty and Riches.
I shall now invite my reader to accompany me to the city of Burdwan,
which is situated about seventy miles north of Calcutta, for the purpose
of attending an Indian fete to which I was invited shortly after my
arrival at Calcutta. Burdwan is the name of an old principality (as
well as of its capital) situated on the great Indian railway. The
principality of Burdwan is now under the English government, but it has
its own maharajah, or prince, to whom the English government grants
certain rights over the people and property of this principality.
The ruling prince during my stay in India was a young man of about
twenty-two years. He had a good European education, spoke English well,
and had, to a great extent, adopted European manners and customs. His
name was Aftab Chand Muhtab Bahadur. In the beginning of December, 1881,
he was installed as maharajah of Burdwan by Sir Ashley Eden, at which
time he came into actual possession of his inherited rights; and this
event was celebrated by great festivities in the palace and city of
Burdwan.
The fete which commenced December fifth and closed December tenth was
celebrated according to a well-chosen program for each day. About fifty
English civil and military officers with their families were invited as
guests to the palace. Some of them occupied rooms in the palace, others
lived in tents pitched in military order in the palace garden, and about
three hundred Indian guests were lodged in private houses in the city. I
was the only foreign guest, and was assigned a neat pavilion, built
partly over an artificial lake in the garden, and the second place of
honor at all ceremonies--an honor which was, of course, due to the
republic which I represented.
The palace consisted of several large buildings two or three stories
high, and several small pavilions, all in Italian style, situated in a
park or garden of some forty acres, and surrounded by a stone wall
twelve feet high, with two beautiful porticos. The largest building
contained the private apartments of the prince, two large parlors, two
dining halls, a ball room, a billiard room, a library, several picture
galleries and a large armory,--all of them furnished in the most
expensive and magnificent style. The floors and stairways were of
Italian marble, and the walls of the large parlors adorned by huge
mirrors set in frames inlaid with emeralds, rubies, and other precious
stones. Sculptures of marble from Italy, of porphyry and alabaster from
Egypt, and porcelain vases from China, etc., adorned the corridors and
niches of the halls of the main building.
Another large building was inhabited by the women, among whom the mother
of the prince is the mistress; but they themselves, as well as the
interior of their palace, remain concealed from the gaze of the guests.
Elegant carriages with drivers, servants and grooms in oriental livery,
caparisoned horses, saddles and bridles shining with gold and silver
trimmings, were day and night at the disposition of the guests, and at
his arrival every guest received a small blank book with fifty leaves on
which to write his name and the kind of refreshment he wished, and
hundreds of servants dressed in white were always ready to fetch it to
him in the palace garden, at the race courses, or in the summer houses.
[Illustration: NAUTCH DANCER.]
The festivities and merriments were arranged so that every guest had
perfect liberty and sufficient time to follow his own taste. The
following may serve as an illustration:
On Wednesday, December 7th, at half-past seven o'clock, a high school
was inspected, and the governor of Bengal distributed prizes among the
scholars; at ten breakfast in the large dining hall; at twelve the
instalment of the young prince; at two luncheon; at three the opening of
the races; at half-past seven illumination and pyrotechnics; at eight
grand dinner; at ten a ball in the palace for the Europeans; and nautch
dancing and music by native women in a pavilion in the garden.
One day a canal was opened and dedicated. It was twenty miles long, and
built for the purpose of supplying several cities and country districts
with an abundance of water. All the streets and roads in and around
Burdwan were in a splendid condition, wide and macadamized with crushed
brick. From the railroad station to the palace and two miles beyond to
two villas, as well as along the principal streets in the city, and
along all paths and roads in the palace garden, bamboo poles forty feet
long were erected on both sides, and about forty feet apart. These poles
were all wrapped in red and white glazed paper, and had flags at the
top. The poles were connected by lines along which colored glass lamps
were suspended six inches apart, and these were all lighted at six
o'clock. I was told that there were over forty thousand such lamps, and
that it took five hundred men to fill, light, and attend to them. From
nine to twelve o'clock every night an electric light was beaming from
one of the palace towers, and Wednesday evening there was a magnificent,
display of pyrotechnics around an artificial lake about a mile from the
palace. The latter cost about twenty-five thousand dollars. Its effect
on men, animals, and the tropical plants was such that a man from the
North found it difficult to realize that he was still on this earth of
ours, and not far away in the fairy world of fiction.
[Illustration: COLLEGE BUILDING.]
Reality is so wonderful in India that I have hardly dared to tell the
following without gradually preparing my reader for it. This young
prince, whose guest I was and with whom I talked a good deal, is a poor
foundling, having been adopted by the old prince, who died childless,
and by the consent of the English government he was made his sole heir.
His landed estates were so large that he paid two million two hundred
thousand dollars to the English government in annual taxes on the income
from his lands! How large his total income is, nobody knows. Inside the
palace walls, which were protected by a strong body-guard night and day,
were deep subterranean vaults with secret entrances, where gold and
jewels were concealed in such quantities as may be imagined only when it
is remembered that during a period of three hundred years the family has
been accustomed to accumulate these treasures by at least three "lacs
rupees," or one hundred and sixty thousand dollars, a year. But during
the same time millions upon millions of people have starved to death in
the principality of Burdwan, and even now it is safe to say that
nine-tenths of the people who cultivate the soil and live on the estates
of the maharajah and pay him tribute are so poor that they could
scarcely sustain their life a single month in case of drought or
inundations.
To describe the whole fete would require a whole book, and I therefore
select the installation ceremony, which, by the way, was the most
important of the festivities. It took place in a small mango forest,
about a mile from the palace. A pleasant country road, decorated with
banners and spanned by triumphal arches covered with flowers, led to the
place. A tent pavilion sixty feet long and forty feet wide was erected
about a hundred yards from the road. The tent was supported by forty
pillars covered with silver tinsel paper, and the canvas consisted of
heavy linen woven in many-colored squares, which were about three feet
each way. The sides of the tent were open, and between each of the outer
pillars was stationed a Hindoo soldier dressed in shoes, gray stockings,
black knee breeches, and a red coat, one half of which was embroidered
with gold and silver, while the head was covered by a red turban richly
adorned with gold ornaments. These soldiers were gigantic, dark figures,
armed with curved sabres and long lances. They stood immovable as
statues, and only the rolling of their flashing eye-balls showed that
they were living men. At the upper end of the tent was an elevated
platform with a gilt chair for the governor, and behind this, chairs for
the European ladies. From the platform to the entrance at the opposite
end was an aisle, on each side of which were four rows of chairs for the
guests, all numbered and placed according to their rank. The aisle and
the walk to the country road were covered with expensive Persian rugs,
and chamberlains in dazzling costumes conducted the guests from the
carriages to the seats assigned to them in the tent. The European
officers were seated on the first row to the right, and the Hindoo
princes and noblemen on the first row to the left, with the young
maharajah next to the platform. The other chairs were occupied by Hindoo
and Mohammedan zemindars (proprietors of landed estates), scholars, and
dignitaries.
A most splendid display of costumes in satin and velvet in all possible
colors and fashions, all of them richly adorned with gold and silver
trimming and embroideries, besides glittering necklaces and diamond
rings, added brilliantly to the scene. All the natives kept their
headdresses on, most of them wearing low turbans of colored or white
silk, ornamented with gold, pearls and gems.
Only the prince of Burdwan and the young prince of Kutch Behar were
armed, and these only with Damascus cimeters. The prince of Burdwan wore
a purple satin garment, red silk shoes and a high cap in the shape of a
crown. His breast, neck, headdress and hands glittered with diamonds and
rubies. Over this garment he wore a mantle of dark yellow cloth, which
was very artistically woven, and cost about ten thousand dollars. Most
of the native nobles distinguished themselves by a stately, military
bearing, looking both handsome and intelligent. Some of them were very
dark, but most had about the same complexion as the Spaniards. Jet black
hair and black, flashing eyes were universal, only a single one having
dark red hair and beard.
When all had been seated the governor, accompanied by two adjutants and
several servants, arrived. A guard of honor, consisting of one hundred
Sepoys, was stationed in front of the tent, and saluted the governor by
presenting arms, during which the military band played an English
national tune. Eight huge elephants were arranged in a row between the
road and the tent; these were covered by rich caparisons adorned with
heavy gold and silver embroideries, and carrying on their backs small
pavilions in which richly dressed drivers walked a few steps back and
forth. At the door of the tent the governor was received by eight
artistically uniformed aids-de-camp carrying marshal's staffs, silver
horns, lances and perfumes.
The act of installation was now in order, and was performed in the
following manner: The maharajah stepped up before the governor and
received from his hand a parchment roll, by which the queen conferred
authority. Having read this in a loud and solemn voice, the governor
hung a chain of diamonds and rubies around the neck of the prince, and
made a short congratulatory address to him. The minister of finance
brought a silver basin filled with Indian gold coins, which he handed to
the governor as an emblem of tribute to the English government. The
prince now resumed his seat, and two chamberlains brought gold vessels
on silver trays containing attar of roses, and two others brought spices
in similar receptacles. The attar of roses was sprinkled over the
audience, and each one of the native guests received a small quantity of
spices wrapped in a palm leaf. Finally the band struck up a march, and
the whole retinue returned to the carriages by the road side and drove
back to the palace. One of the carriages of the procession was loaded
with silver coins, which were thrown right and left to the thousands of
poor and beggars, who crowded the road on both sides. In the evening,
again, provisions and clothing were distributed to about fifteen
thousand poor, who had flocked in from all parts of Burdwan, but who had
not been allowed to enter the city.