“In the morning, when the raven of night had flown
away, the bird of dawn began to sing; the nightingales
warbled their enchanting notes, and rent the thin veils
of the rose-bud and the rose; the jasmine stood bathed
in dew, and the violet also sprinkled his fragrant locks.
At this time Zelika was sunk in pleasing slumber; her
heart was turned towards the altar of her sacred vision.
It was not sleep; it was rather a confused idea; it
was a kind of frenzy caused by her nightly melancholy.
Her damsels touched her feet with their faces; her
maidens approached and kissed her hand. Then she removed
the veil from her cheek, like a tulip besprinkled
with dew; she opened her eyes, yet dim with sleep.
From the border of her mantle the sun and moon arose;
she raised her head from the couch, and looked around
on every side.”
JAMI.
Having taken his seat upon the divan, in the centre of the room, a
herald, superbly attired, then appeared beside him, and read out
the record of his accession to the throne, while the whole assembly
were standing. The herald having concluded with the words--“And,
therefore, Long live Bochari--Conqueror of the World--and the Padishah
of Hindostan,” the cry was loudly repeated on all sides, with so much
apparent enthusiasm and unanimity, that his spirit catching new fire
from the homage he had received, prompted him to rise, and to express,
in an improvised address, his sense of the proud honour they had
conferred upon him. He then desired the banquet to proceed, the herald,
in the mean time, making preparations for administering the great oath.
The rajaputs, seated all round the chamber, on divans placed close by
the wall, the tables piled with gold and silver dishes, containing
the most sumptuous fare--the usurper enthroned in the centre, before
a golden table, also copiously supplied--the crowds of pages and
footmen, in splendid liveries, waiting on the guests--the trumpeters
on the fifty steps--the groups of black slaves employed in bringing
to the banquet the numerous dishes prepared for the occasion--the
candelabras, which shed their abundant and brilliant lustre over the
whole scene--myriads of censers, fuming with fragrance, amid the sounds
of martial music, interrupted now and then by the firing of artillery,
exhibited, upon the whole, a spectacle of human grandeur, worthy of a
better cause.
The wine-vases were rapidly emptied, and as rapidly replenished, in
every quarter,--the imperial cellars having been thrown open on the
occasion. The festival appeared to be passing off with every symptom
of harmony and joy. Conversation was loud, eloquent, undisguised, at
every table. No whisperings were observed; no dark looks shed upon
the scene any shade of that sinister aspect, which had given to the
morning so desponding a character. Bochari looked upon his possession
of the throne as secured beyond all danger, and was already preparing
in his mind measures for suppressing any revolt that might break out in
the city, when his eye, which from the dreadful recollections of the
previous night, had been more than once fixed upon the bronze portal,
suddenly caught a shadowy figure moving inside it.
The horrors that had overwhelmed the mind of the merchant seemed to
have been at once, as if by contagion, transferred to his own. His
gaze was fixed. His countenance, hitherto flushed with wine and the
excitement of the occasion, became deadly pale. In that shadowy
form he beheld Fazeel, as he thought, beckoning all his slaughtered
companions to assemble and witness the enthronement of their murderer.
“Wine, wine!” exclaimed the usurper, in a voice scarcely audible, while
he still looked with glaring eyes upon the portal. The herald suggested
to him that the time had arrived for taking the great oath.
“Wine!” repeated the Persian, his tongue cleaving to the roof of
his mouth;--“wine, I say. I am sick, sick at heart.” The words were
followed by a deep moan, which startled the whole assembly. Some of
the rajaputs already noticed the extraordinary attitude in which the
usurper had placed himself, half risen from his seat, his hand waving
as if in compliance with the call of some person through the portal,
his lips quivering, his limbs trembling beneath him.
“But why me alone? I was not there. I touched thee not,” he exclaimed.
“What means all this?” asked Mohabet, as, quitting his seat and
crossing the table, he hastened to Bochari. “What is all this? Has the
crown already turned your head?”
“The crown! Ha! ha! ha! Take it,--see if it will deliver you from that
dreadful spectacle. Here--the leader of these rajaputs--here is your
real immolator.”
“The Persian is mad,” said Mohabet; “hear ye what he says?”
“Aye, hear ye what I say? Answer to those bleeding warriors,--answer to
Fazeel; were ye not his murderers?”
The rajaputs, by an instantaneous impulse, all drew their scymitars.
The herald and all the attendants fled up the steps of the chamber,
looking backward affrighted, not knowing what was about to occur.
“Are you the man to upbraid us,” cried out several voices; “you who, if
you were not the disguised astrologer that told us of the prey, at all
events employed that merchant who ensured it.”
“It is false.”
“He raves. Give him water. This is not like a sovereign. For shame!
Shake off this weakness. We wait to take the great oath,” said one of
the chieftains, who was attached to Bochari’s cause.
“He begins his reign by insulting us all,” said Mohabet.
“He knows not what he says,” resumed the usurper’s partizan. “Back to
your seats. It is but a cloud passing over his mind.”
“I go--hush!--look at their hands, red with your blood. None of it is
here,” added Bochari, holding out both his hands; “they are white as
the lotus.”
“We will not suffer this language. What! call us murderers? as if upon
us only rested the blood which he procured to be shed for his own
purposes.”
“Down with the Persian!”
“Down with the traitors!” cried out the two parties, as, separating,
they rushed upon each other.
But before victory could declare on either side,--a victory that,
giving preponderance at that moment to one faction or the other, might
have been followed by many years of calamity to Hindostan, a hand
unseen was unerringly preparing the penalty due to both. Auzeem was
without the portal, anxiously expecting the very scene of contention
which had now arisen, though he presumed it would have proceeded from a
different cause. Fearful of involving the innocent with the guilty, he
waited until the herald and the attendants had hastened up the steps
in dismay. Then flying to the sluices, he struck the spring that held
the lower gate in its place, and at the moment that the scymitars of
the double oppressors of his country were lifted against each other,
the sudden inundation from the Jumna, like an angry god, quelled the
battle.
No groan was heard. The weight of the waters above the heads of the
banditti was so tremendous, that nothing rose to the surface. The
attendants, who had reached the upper steps, looked in silent horror
upon the dark gulf below.
“Now,” thought Auzeem, as he returned to the palace to find out some
faithful messengers whom he might despatch to the emperor; “now Kazim
will do me justice. I ought not to wonder at his suspicions. Mine was,
indeed, as he well designated it, an adventurous policy. To be seen
co-operating openly, and even zealously, with the late usurper during
a period of more than two years; countersigning his decrees; attending
his councils; suggesting and advising measures of state policy, and
assisting him even through the mazes of intrigue in which he was
frequently involved; and in all things acting (he believed) as if I had
utterly abandoned the emperor, whom I represented to be incapacitated
for his functions, I did, no doubt, incur an awful responsibility.
“But I saw my course clearly from the moment the emperor was made
prisoner in his own tent in Cashmere. I saw we were completely in the
hands of the most ambitious, and the most remorseless of men. His next
step I knew would be the assumption of the crown. Nothing could be
gained--on the contrary--every thing would be hazarded by any premature
resistance.
“The moment, long desired, however, has come at last. Success--more
complete than I ever dared to hope, has crowned my proceedings. So
perish all traitors to the honoured crown of the master, whom it will
be the glory of my life to have thus rescued from the base tyranny of
that Persian!”
Before the morning dawned, all the imperial galleys were assembled
by the orders of Auzeem, and fully manned by crews attached to them,
the men dressed in their state apparel, and the imperial standards
flying. Intelligence of the awful event, which had put so decisive,
and so unexpected an end to the usurpation, was diffused with the
speed of lightning through the capital. The gloom, with which it had
been overspread the day before, was dispersed, as if by an enchanter’s
command. Every face beamed with rapturous joy. Families were seen in
the streets and market-places, embracing each other, and pouring out
tears of gladness. It was every where proclaimed that their beloved
emperor was safe, and that he might be expected in Agra the following
morning. The people seemed frantic with joy, for they venerated the
house of Acbar, and loved their lawful sovereign with an enthusiasm,
rendered still more intense by their hatred of the alien who had
usurped his sceptre.
Couriers, on fleet Arabians, were directed by Auzeem to proceed
along both banks of the Jumna, with despatches for the emperor,
announcing, in a few words, what had taken place. The minister
described Zeinedeen’s boat so minutely, that they could hardly fail
to discover it. The state galleys, drawn against the current, by
trains of swift-paced elephants, and filled with those of the omrahs
and household officers, who had never wavered in their allegiance,
followed the couriers. The first messenger, who had the good fortune
to perceive the hermit’s boat just as the sun was setting, dashed
into the river on horseback, directing the animal’s head towards the
little bark, which was quietly gliding on in its course. He held up the
despatch in his right hand, waving it in triumph over his head, and
shouting--“Long live the emperor!”
The glorious tidings first caught the ear of Nourmahal, whose heart
swelled with measureless delight, when, kissing her imperial consort,
she repeated the salutation--“Long live the emperor--my own beloved--my
husband--long and triumphantly may he reign in the hearts of his people
as he reigns in mine!” Jehangire, pressing her in his arms, returned
the kiss tenfold.
The messenger flung the despatch into the boat as soon as he could get
near enough for that purpose. It was caught by Kazim, who handed it to
the emperor.
“Admirable Auzeem! Read it, my lord chancellor, and suspect no more the
‘Preserver of the empire,’ as he shall henceforth be titled. Mangeli!
behold the empress of Hindostan!”
The parents and the daughter were already locked in each other’s
arms. Their many griefs were now all merged in a flood of transport.
Zeinedeen, raising his eyes to Heaven, gave, from the bottom of his
soul, thanks to Heaven that he had been permitted to witness this
day of happiness for his country; and of just exultation for those
dear friends--his children he might call them--whose virtues had
been severely tried by prosperity, as well as by adversity. Without
waiting for a carpet to be spread, the emperor followed his example,
and the whole party, prostrating themselves, expressed, in silent
fervent prayer, their gratitude to the Omnipotent, for the transcendant
blessings He was then pleased to confer upon them.
The banks of the river were speedily crowded by couriers, who arrived
one after another, but whose despatches were now superfluous. They
were followed by two hundred state galleys, one of which, looked
upon the waters, as the sun cast his parting rays upon them, a mass
of burnished gold. Approaching Zeinedeen’s boat, they formed in a
circle around it, and while the men, rising from their benches, and,
lifting their oars straight in the air, hailed their sovereign with
enthusiastic cheers, and the bands on board joined in the beautiful
national anthem, composed by Oustad Nâë, Jehangire ascended, by a
ladder of golden cords, to the deck of his own galley, on which the
imperial flag was immediately hoisted.
Kazim and Zeinedeen assisted Nourmahal and Mangeli to the deck, where
they were received, and successively embraced by the emperor, who,
directing the cheers and music to cease for a moment, and, holding
Nourmahal by the right hand, proclaimed her the empress of Hindostan.
The intelligence was received with cheers, again and again repeated;
for her virtues, her accomplishments, and her beauty--beauty heightened
by the simplicity of her prison dress, which she still wore,--had
gained her the love of every man, who had a heart to recognize the
charms of filial affection, combined with an exalted passion, which
knew not how to descend from its throne.
The couriers, returning to the capital, diffused the tidings of the
spectacle they had just witnessed, along the whole line of the Jumna.
The train of barges, forming in the rear of the imperial galley,
proceeded down the river, the oars moving to the sounds of martial
airs. The banks were every where crowded with people, who hastened
thither from the neighbouring towns and villages, holding in their
hands torches of pinewood, which gave to the darkening night almost
the splendor of day. Myriads of small fishing boats were launched on
the river, occupying it almost from bank to bank, at a short distance
behind the courtly procession.
As the day approached, boats of every description were seen coming from
the capital, filled with gaily dressed parties, anxious to pay their
homage to the emperor and empress, who appeared on the deck of their
galley, and received the congratulations of the joyous people in the
most endearing manner. The beauty of Nourmahal was the theme of every
tongue, and never did that noble being look more captivating than when
thus beside him, whom she loved so well, fanned by the fresh zephyrs of
the summer morning, and arrayed in a plain muslin robe and turban, the
work of her own fingers, she stood under the flag of Hindostan.
As soon as the crowds moving down the river were observable from the
tower of the citadel, the signal was given to the artillery. The guns
summoned from the city and its extensive suburbs, all their vast
population. The gates of the citadel were flung wide open; the great
square was in a moment filled with the exulting multitude, whose
incessant shouts, amidst the thunders of the ramparts and the music of
a hundred bands, proclaimed the universal gladness that prevailed.
Upon arriving at the steps which led from the Jumna to the palace,
the emperor beheld Auzeem waiting to receive him. Jehangire summoned
him on board, and without permitting him to kneel, warmly embraced
him, and immediately invested him with the title of “Preserver of the
Empire.” In paying his homage to Nourmahal, Auzeem expressed to her the
sincerity of his joy, that she was now in the station to which it had
long been his hope that he would be instrumental in raising her. Kazim
and Mangeli poured out their gratitude to him for his services to
their family and their country; the chancellor, by the pressure of his
hand upon his heart, rather than by any words, telling him how truly
penitent he felt for having, even during a single hour, entertained the
slightest suspicions of the minister’s unabated zeal for the welfare of
Jehangire.
The debarkation of the emperor and his consort took place under fresh
salutes of artillery from all parts of the capital. Upon surmounting
the steps, which were spread with cloth of gold, they beheld the whole
line before them strewed with flowers; on each side were ranged the
daughters of the faithful omrahs, arrayed in white robes, their heads
crowned with chaplets. Behind these beauteous maidens stood their
fathers, many of them of venerable age, weeping with joy for having
witnessed the restoration of their lawful sovereign, of whose cause
they had almost despaired.
Jehangire and Nourmahal walked, hand-in-hand, along this fragrant path,
to the palace, where officers were in attendance with the imperial
vestments. Immediately proceeding to the Am-kas, the emperor and his
consort ascended the throne, the former wearing his crown. He was
followed by pages bearing upon a cushion another diadem, which he
placed on the brow of Nourmahal, amidst repeated bursts of acclamation
from the vast assembly below. They spent a great part of the day in
receiving the petitions of the people--petitions, unhappily filled with
the most afflicting narratives of the wrongs sustained by every class
of the community during the usurpation.
It is needless to add, that the chancellor was speedily restored to
the eminent station which he had so long dignified by his virtues,
and adorned by his talents. His re-appearance in the supreme court of
justice was hailed with a degree of enthusiasm, scarcely secondary to
that with which the restoration of the lawful sovereign was rendered so
memorable in the annals of the capital.
Zeinedeen contemplated all these unlooked-for changes with a sanguine
delight, which he would not, for the present at least, suffer to be
clouded in his mind by presages of those changes to which all human
happiness is liable. He made no effort to explore the future history of
Hindostan, contented that he saw, in the ascendancy which Nourmahal
appeared already to exercise over the mind of the emperor, a powerful
corrective of any defects which might have weakened his authority,
and prepared fresh troubles for his reign. It was too much to hope,
that the remaining years of that reign should be altogether free from
vicissitude; but from the united talents and power of the empress and
her father, he expected, with little fear of disappointment, that their
influence would ensure to Hindostan many years of felicity.
For himself, Zeinedeen had now no further desire, except to return
to Cashmere, and to devote the evening of his life to the religious
and philosophical contemplations, that would best prepare him for
the brighter worlds, to which he looked forward with so much ardour.
Jehangire, however, would not hear of any plan, which would remove the
good hermit from the neighbourhood of Agra. It was arranged, therefore,
that a monastery should be constructed within a short distance of the
capital, upon the banks of the Jumna, which Aquaviva and his companions
should be invited to occupy; that in their sacred society, Zeinedeen
should spend his remaining years; and that thither Jehangire,
Nourmahal, Kazim, and Mangeli, should often repair, to talk over the
events by which they had been bound together in links of sympathy,
never to be solved at this side of the grave, and to renew their
thanksgivings to the Omnipotent, in those beautiful forms of prayer
furnished so abundantly by the ritual of the missionaries.
THE END.
NOTES TO VOLUME I.
_Page 1._
The great chain of the Himalas divides Northern from Southern Asia.
Parallel to this chain, on the northern side, runs another considerable
range, called the Ice Mountains. These two ranges are connected by
a third, which commencing near Hindu-Kush, in the Himalas, proceeds
northward, and revives again beyond the Ice Mountains. This third
range, after it passes the Ice Mountains, goes under the name of the
Hills of Arjun.
_Page 23._
The _Indian_ pink indicates the country of its birth. We have
scarcely a flower, or a fruit, in Europe, which does not flourish in
Asia, as in its native place.
_Page 145._
This account of the birth of the infant, afterwards called Nourmahal,
is almost strictly historical.
_Page 149._
Our travellers in the East have made the phenomena of the “Mirage of
the Desert,” familiar to every body. Mr. George Robinson, whose tour
in Palestine and Syria (recently published by Mr. Colburn), written in
a most unpretending style, gives the best account I have ever read of
those highly interesting countries, thus speaks of a _moonlight_
mirage, which he observed on his way from Damascus to Aleppo:--“Soon
after quitting the khan (it was still moonlight), I inquired of my
guide the name of some water, which I fancied I saw in the plain of the
East. The inquiry produced a laugh amongst my hearers. They told me
that what I took to be water, was nothing more than the bed of a salt
lake, the water of which, evaporating in summer, leaves an incrustation
of salt on the earth. It was either this, or a mirage of the moon,
which produced the delusion on the sight. On my arrival at Aleppo, I
mentioned the circumstance to a gentleman who had frequently performed
the journey from thence to Bagdad, and had, therefore, more than once
observed the latter phenomenon in the desert. On one occasion, he had
actually alighted from his camel, to fill his cup with the water he
thought he saw before him, ere he discovered his error.”--_Travels in
Palestine and Syria, by George Robinson, Esq._, vol. ii. p. 236.
NOTES TO VOLUME II.
_Page 9._
Jehangire has left behind a very curious auto-biographical fragment,
which has been translated by Major David Price, and published by the
Oriental Translation Committee--a body of distinguished persons, to
whom the country is much indebted for many publications of great
interest and value. In these “Memoirs” the emperor thus speaks of
Indragui:--
“Among my brother’s elephants devolved to me on the occasion was one
of which I could not but express the greatest admiration, and to
which I gave the name of Indraguj (_the elephant of India_). It
was of a size I never before beheld: such as to get upon its back
required a ladder of fourteen steps. It was of a disposition so gentle
and tractable, that under its most furious excitements, if an infant
unwarily threw itself in its way, it would lay hold of it with its
trunk, and place it out of danger with the utmost care and tenderness.
The animal was, at the same time, of such unparalleled speed and
activity, that the fleetest horse was not able to keep up with it; and
such was its courage, that it would attack, with perfect readiness, an
hundred of the fiercest of its kind. Such, in other respects, although
it may appear in some degree tedious to dwell upon the subject, were
indeed the qualities of this noble and intelligent quadruped, that I
assigned a band of music to attend upon it, and it was always preceded
by a company of forty spearmen.”--_Memoirs, &c._, p. 62.
_Page 39._
Bernier, in his amusing account of the Mogul Empire, mentions the
fountain of Send Brare. In the month of May, he says, when the melting
of the snows on the mountains of Cashmere has taken place, the fountain
flows and ebbs three times a-day--at the dawn, at noon, and at night.
After the lapse of fifteen days the fountain becomes dry, and so
remains until the same month in the following year. During the period
of its ebbing and flowing, pilgrims, he says, flocked from all parts to
purify themselves in the sacred spring, and to perform their devotions
in the temple that stood near it. The general belief in the efficacy
of the fountain to distribute the flowery messengers cast into it, is
stated by Abul Fazeel in his account of Cashmere. See the _Ayeen
Akberry_, vol. ii. p. 127. London. 1800.
_Page 41._
Bernier states, that on the summit of Pees-Punchal (from which a view
of Cashmere is first obtained by travellers from India) there lived
in the time of Jehangire a hermit, who was reputed to be a great
worker of miracles. He was said to have the power of raising all sorts
of storms. His white uncombed beard, extremely long and bushy, gave
him a remarkably savage aspect. He imposed a species of toll on all
persons passing the top of the mountain. He forbade them to make the
least noise during their progress, threatening them with tempest if
they dared to violate his mandate. Jehangire, according to Bernier,
when passing the mountain, in defiance of the hermit’s injunction,
ordered the kettle-drums to beat, and the trumpets to be sounded, the
consequence of which was, a furious tempest that menaced destruction
to his whole army. The phenomenon is, in fact, consistent with the
meteorological history of the Alps, where the concussions caused in the
atmosphere, by the discharge even of a pistol, are known to have been
attended with considerable danger.
_Page 62._
The fate of Sodom and Gomorrah was not limited to those two cities. It
is very well known, that in several parts of the east, towns have been
inhumed, either by the agency of the tempest or the earthquake. It is
not improbable that excavations, rightly directed in that region, would
bring to light more than one Herculaneum.
_Page 83._
In the memoirs of Jehangire, already alluded to, the operations of
the Bauzigurs are related at considerable length. The imperial author
prefaces his account of them in these words:--
“At the period of which I am about to speak there were to be found,
in the province of Bengal, performers in slight-of-hand, or jugglers,
of such unrivalled skill in their art, that I have thought a few
instances of their extraordinary dexterity not unworthy of a place
in these memorials. On one occasion, in particular, there came to
my court seven of these men, who confidently boasted that they were
capable of producing effects so strange as far to surpass the scope of
the human understanding: and most certainly, when they proceeded to
their operations, they exhibited in their performances things of so
extraordinary a nature, as without the actual demonstration the world
would not have conceived possible; such, indeed, as cannot but be
considered among the most surprising circumstances of the age in which
we live.”--_Memoirs, &c._ p. 96.
The imperial author, after enumerating the performances of the
Bengalese, concludes with the following observations:--
“In very truth, however we may have bestowed upon these performances
the character of trick or juggle, they very evidently partake of the
nature of something beyond the exertion of human energy; at all events,
such performances were executed with inimitable skill, and if there
were in the execution any thing of facility, what should prevent their
accomplishment by a man of ordinary capacity? I have heard it stated,
that the art has been called the Semnanian (perhaps _asmaunian_,
‘celestial’), and I am informed that it is also known and practised
to a considerable extent among the nations of Europe. It may be said,
indeed, that there exists in some men a peculiar and essential faculty,
which enables them to accomplish things far beyond the ordinary scope
of human exertion, such as frequently to baffle the utmost subtilty of
the understanding to penetrate.”--_Memoirs, &c._ p. 104.
_Page 111._
May I confess that the portrait of Purveis, painted in the text, was
literally copied from a child of my own,--the delight of my heart,--my
only boy, who was standing at my knee while I wrote that page? He was
then little more than five years old, a model of meekness, beauty,
and affection. His intellect already gave promises of superiority,
which I dare not enumerate. The sheet containing that passage had
scarcely passed through the press, when a sudden blight--one of those
awful dispensations of Providence, into which we cannot presume to
enquire--descended upon my flower, and withered it almost in an
instant. On the Wednesday, our beloved Edward was the joy of his
home--all life and loveliness;--on the Monday, he was in his shroud.
_Page 115._
Jehangire’s decrees against drinking wine, are thus mentioned in his
“Memoirs:”--
“No person was permitted either to make or sell either wine or any
other kind of intoxicating liquor. I undertook to institute this
regulation, although it is sufficiently notorious that I have myself
the strongest inclination for wine, in which from the age of sixteen
I have liberally indulged. And in very truth, encompassed as I was
with youthful associates of congenial minds, breathing the air of a
delicious climate--ranging through lofty and splendid saloons, every
part of which decorated with all the graces of painting and sculpture,
and the floors bespread with the richest carpets of silk and gold,
would it not have been a species of folly to have rejected the aid of
an exhilarating cordial--and what cordial can surpass the juice of the
grape?”--_Memoirs, &c._ p. 6.
The imperial author is very frank upon the subject of his own excesses;
but promises to give them up _some time or another_.
“For myself, I cannot but acknowledge that such was the excess to which
I had carried my indulgence, that my usual daily allowance extended to
twenty, and sometimes to more than twenty cups, each cup containing
half a seir (about six ounces), and eight cups being equal to a maunn
of Irak. So far, indeed, was this baneful propensity carried, that
if I were but an hour without my beverage, my hands began to shake,
and I was unable to sit at rest. Convinced by these symptoms, that if
the habit gained upon me in this proportion my situation must soon
become one of the utmost peril, I felt it full time to devise some
expedient to abate the evil: and in six months I accordingly succeeded
in reducing my quantity gradually from twenty to five cups a day. At
entertainments I continued, however, to indulge in a cup or two more:
and on most occasions I made it a rule never to commence my indulgence
until about two hours before the close of the day. But now that the
affairs of the empire demand my utmost vigilance and attention, my
potations do not commence until after the hour of evening prayer, my
quantity never exceeding five cups on any occasion; neither would more
than that quantity suit the state of my stomach. Once a day I take
my regular meal, and once a day seems quite sufficient to assuage my
appetite for wine; but as drink seems not less necessary than meat for
the sustenance of man, it appears very difficult, if not impossible,
for me to discontinue altogether the use of wine. Nevertheless, I bear
in mind, and I trust in heaven that, like my grandfather Homayun, who
succeeded in divesting himself of the habit before he attained to the
age of forty-five, I also may be supported in my resolution, some time
or other to abandon the pernicious practice altogether. ‘In a point
wherein God has pronounced his sure displeasure, let the creature exert
himself ever so little towards amendment, and it may prove, in no small
degree, the means of eternal salvation.’” _Memoirs, &c._ p. 6, 7.
_Page 118._
Captain Hawkins (in “Purchas,” vol. i. p. 222,) gives the following
quaint sketch of the routine of the emperor’s life, from his own
observation:--
“First in the morning, about the break of day, he is at his beads,
with his face turned to the westward. The manner of his praying, when
he is at Agra, is in a private fair room, upon a goodly jet stone,
having only a Persian lamb-skin under him: having also some eight
chains of beads, every one of them containing four hundred. The beads
are of rich pearl, ballace rubies, diamonds, emeralds, lignum aloes,
Eshem, and coral. At the upper end of this jet stone, the pictures of
Our Lady and Christ are placed, graven in stone: so he turneth over
his beads, and saith three thousand two hundred words, according to
the number of his beads, and then his prayer is ended. After he hath
done, he sheweth himself to the people, receiving their salaams--unto
him multitudes do resort every morning for this purpose. This done,
he sleepeth two hours more, and then dineth and passeth his time with
his women, and at noon he sheweth himself to the people again, sitting
till three of the clock, viewing and seeing his pastimes and sports
made by men, and fighting of many sorts of beasts--every day sundry
kinds of pastime. Then at three o’clock all the nobles in general
(that be in Agra, and are well) resort unto the court, the king coming
forth in open audience, sitting in his seat royal, and every man
standing in his degree before him; his chiefest sort of nobles standing
within a red rail, and the rest without. They are all placed by his
lieutenant-general. This red rail is three steps higher than the place
where the rest stand, and within this red rail I was placed among the
chiefest of all. The rest are placed by officers, and they likewise
be within an outer very spacious place, railed; and without that
rail stand all sorts of horsemen and soldiers, that belong unto his
captains, and all other comers. At these rails there are many porters,
who have white rods to keep men in order. In the midst of the place,
right before the king, standeth one of his sheriffes, together with
his master-hangman, who is accompanied with forty hangmen, wearing on
their heads a certain quilted cap, different from all others, with an
hatchet on their shoulders; and others, with all sorts of whips, being
there ready to do what the king commandeth. The king heareth all causes
in this place, and stayeth some two hours every day. (These kings sit
daily in justice, and on the Tuesdays do their devotions.) Then he
departeth towards his private place of prayer. His prayer being ended,
four or five sorts of very well dressed and roasted meats are brought
him, of which, as he pleaseth he eateth a little to stay his stomach,
drinking once of his strong drink. Then he cometh forth into a private
room, where none can come but such as himself nominateth. (For two
years together I was one of his attendants here.) In this place he
drinketh other five cupfulls, which is the portion that the physicians
allot him. This done, he eateth opium, and then he ariseth; and being
in the height of his drink, he layeth him down to sleep, every man
departing to his own home. And after he hath slept two hours, they
awake him, and bring his supper to him, at which time he is not able to
feed himself; but it is thrust into his mouth by others, and this is
about one of the clock, and then he sleepeth the rest of the night.”
_Page 119._
Jehangire gives a similar account of the visit of Oustad Nâë, in his
“Memoirs.”
_Page 138._
The emperor’s visit to this hermit, is mentioned in his “Memoirs.”
_Page 146._
The wealth of the collector, and his acts of tyranny, as well as his
punishment, are recorded by Jehangire in his “Memoirs.”
_Page 149._
The emperor thus speaks of this Mogul merchant in his “Memoirs:”--
“A certain Moghûl had resided for some time in the place, employed, as
was supposed, in the pursuit of some commercial concern; and he was,
it seems, in the habit of inviting such females as he observed to be
addicted to liquor, to meet him in some of the gardens in the vicinity,
where he told them they would find and experience from him such a
reception as would surpass their most luxurious expectations.
“The women thus invited, usually arrayed themselves in their richest
ornaments, and thus repaired to the place of appointment; where, as
it afterwards appeared, it was the practice of the villain first to
reduce them to a state of intoxication, and then to murder and strip
them of their ornaments, with which he returned to his own residence.
This he was permitted to continue for many a week, until he had, by
these nefarious means, contrived to amass treasure to the amount of
five-and-forty thousand tomauns.”[1]--_Memoirs, &c._ p. 118.
[1] At thirty-three rupees to the tomaun, this would
be about fourteen lacs and eighty-five thousand rupees, or about
150,000_l_.
_Page 287._
We find the following curious passage in the “Memoirs of Jehangire.”
“While I remained in the precincts of Delhy, at the period to which
I shall now return, they described to me a species of feathered
game, with tails of a particular description, and the flesh of which
was of a flavour in the highest degree delicious. But what more
particularly attracted my curiosity was, that they spoke a language
known to none but to the natives of Kashmeir, who, by using a sort
of note or call, took from them the power of flight; and who were
thus able to catch them by thousands at a time. On a plain in the
neighbourhood, frequented by thousands of these birds in a flock, by
way of experiment, I employed about a thousand of the Kashmeirians
accustomed to the business, to give me a proof of their skill, and I
attended in person to view the sport. As had been represented to me,
about twenty of the Kashmeirians collected together, and produced a
sort of murmuring sound, which, attracting the attention of these
birds, they were drawn by degrees within such a distance of the men,
that they were taken in entire flocks. My pity was greatly moved by
the reflection that these harmless birds should have fallen victims to
this sort of treachery; that they should have been betrayed into the
hands of the destroyer by their irresistible love of harmonious sounds,
and that I should be found capable of consigning them to slaughter
from a mere idle and vicious curiosity; the next day, therefore, I
caused the whole, to the number of twenty thousand birds which had been
taken on the occasion, to be set at liberty. My object was obtained
in witnessing the fact; but to have seen them slaughtered would have
bespoken a want of compassion foreign to my nature.”--_Memoirs, &c._
p. 132.
_Page 290._
The Rawil, Kuhy, or Laughing crows, assemble in numbers of from twenty
to fifty in the forests, and make a noise closely resembling many
persons laughing together. The plumage of the back, wings, and sides,
is of an olive brown; the tail of umber brown. The head is ornamented
with an elevated crest of rounded feathers. A black line passes from
the base of the beak, through the eyes, and occupies the ear coverts.
Excepting this black mark the whole of the head, throat, and breast,
are white. The feathers of the crest, as they approach the occiput,
appear as if slightly washed with Indian ink. The whole of this white
space is bounded by a band of rufous, which loses itself in the olive
brown of the rest of the body.
NOTES TO VOLUME III.
_Page 249._
Jehangire’s admiration of Eastern tales, was in keeping with his
fondness for wonders of every description. He relates, in his
“Memoirs,” a story which he states was told to him by a native of
Arabia. It might be well included in a new edition of the “Arabian
Nights:”--
“I shall here take upon me to relate, that once upon a time a native of
Arabia, who had passed the age of forty, was brought to the metropolis
for the purpose of being presented to me. When introduced to my
presence, I observed that he had lost his arm close to the shoulder,
and it occurred to me to ask him whether this was his condition from
his birth, or whether it was an injury which he had received in
battle. He seemed considerably embarrassed by the question; but stated
that the accident which had deprived him of his arm was attended
with circumstances so very extraordinary, as to be rather beyond
credibility, and might perhaps expose him to some degree of ridicule:
he had therefore made a vow never to describe it. On my importuning
him further, however, and urging that there could exist no reason for
concealment compatible with what he owed me for my protection, he
finally relented, and related what follows:
“When I was about the age of fifteen, it happened to me to accompany my
father on a voyage to India; and at the expiration of about sixty days,
during which we had wandered in different directions through the ocean,
we were assailed by a storm so dreadful, as to be for ever impressed
upon my recollection. For three days and three nights successively, it
raged with such indescribable fury, the sea rose in such tremendous
surges, the rain descended in such torrents, and the peals of thunder
accompanied by lightning so incessant, as to be terrific in the utmost
degree. To complete the horrors of our situation, the ship’s mast,
which was as large in compass as two men with arms extended could
encircle, snapped in the middle, and falling upon the deck, destroyed
many of the crew. The vessel was therefore on the very verge of
foundering; but the tempest subsiding at the close of the third day,
we were for the present preserved from destruction, although we were
driven far from the course which led to the port of our destination.
“When, however, the ship had for some days been pursuing this uncertain
course, we came in sight, unexpectedly, of what appeared to be a lofty
mountain in the midst of the ocean; and as we neared the spot it was
soon ascertained to be an island, covered with numerous buildings, and
interspersed with trees and river streams in most agreeable variety.
Our stock of water in the ship was nearly exhausted, and we therefore
steered close in land; and from certain fishermen, who were out in
their boats, we now learnt that the island was in possession of the
Portuguese Franks; that it was extremely populous, and that there were
no Mussulman inhabitants; moreover, that they had no intercourse with
strangers.
“To be as brief as possible: as soon as the ship had reached the
anchoring ground and dropped her anchor, a Portuguese captain and
another officer came on board; and instantly, without leaving even an
infant child to take care of the ship, conveyed the whole of the ship’s
company, passengers and all, in boats to the shore; desiring, at the
same time, that we might not be under any apprehensions, for that as
soon as it could be discovered that there was among us a person that
suited a particular purpose, which they did not choose to explain, that
one alone would be detained, and the others dismissed without injury.
The port being theirs, and ourselves entirely at their mercy, we were
compelled to submit to all they said; and accordingly the whole ship’s
company, merchants, slaves, and mariners, to the number of twelve
hundred persons, were all crowded into one house.
“From thence they sent for us one by one alternately, and stripping us
stark-naked, one of their hakeims, or physicians, proceeded to make
the minutest examination of our bodies, in every muscle, vein, and
limb, telling each respectively, after undergoing such examination,
that he was at liberty to go about his business. This they continued
to do until it came to the turn of myself and a brother who was with
us; and what was our dismay and horror when, after the described
examination, the hakeim delivered us into the custody of some of the
people in attendance, with orders to place us behind the curtain;
that is, where we should not be open to human intercourse. With the
exception of my brother and myself, the whole of the ship’s company, on
whose bodies they failed to discover the marks of which they were in
search, were now dismissed. Neither could my father, either by tears
or remonstrances succeed in diverting them from their purpose; to his
repeated demands to know in what his sons could have offended, that
out of a ship’s company of twelve hundred persons they alone should
be detained, they replied only by a frown, utterly disregarding every
entreaty.
“They now conveyed my brother and myself to a part of the place where
they lodged us in separate chambers, opposite, however, to each other.
Every morning they brought us for food fowl kabaubs, honey, and white
bread, and this continued for the space of ten days. At the expiration
of that period the naokhoda (or commander of the ship), demanded
permission to proceed on his voyage. My father implored that he would
delay his departure, if it were only for two or three days longer,
when, peradventure, the Portuguese might be induced to give up his
sons. He presented himself to the ruler of the port, and again, by the
most humble entreaties endeavoured to obtain our release, but in vain.
“The same medical person, on whose report we were detained, now came
with ten other Franks to the house or chamber where my brother was
confined, and again stripping him naked, they laid him on his back on
a board or table, where he was exposed to the same manual examination
as before, They then left him and came to me, and stretching me out
on a board in the same manner and plight, again examined my body in
every part as before. Again they returned to my brother; for, from the
situation of our prisons, the doors being exactly opposite, I could
distinctly observe all that passed. They sent for a large bowl and
a knife, and placing my brother, with his head over the bowl,--his
cries and supplications all in vain,--they struck him over the mouth,
and with the knife actually severed his head from the body, both the
head and his blood being received in the bowl. When the bleeding had
ceased, they took away the bowl of blood, which they immediately poured
into a pot of boiling oil, brought for the purpose, stirring the whole
together with a ladle, until both blood and oil became completely
amalgamated. Will it be believed, that after this they took the head,
and again fixing it exactly to the body, they continued to rub the
adjoining parts with the mixture of blood and oil, until the whole had
been applied. They left my brother in this state, closed the door, and
went their way.
“At the expiration of three days from this, they sent for me from
my place of confinement, and telling me that they had obtained, at
my brother’s expense, all that was necessary to their purpose, they
pointed out to me the entrance to a place under ground, which they
said was the repository of gold and jewels to an incalculable amount.
Thither they informed me I was to descend, and that I might bring
away for myself as much of the contents as I had strength to carry.
At first I refused all belief to their assertions, conceiving that
doubtless they were about to send me where I was to be exposed to some
tremendous trial; but as their importunities were too well enforced, I
had no alternative but submission.
“I entered the opening which led to the passage, and having descended
a flight of stairs, about fifty steps, I discovered four separate
chambers. In the first chamber, to my utter surprise, I beheld my
brother apparently restored to perfect health. He wore the dress and
habiliments of the Ferenguies, or Portuguese,--had on his head a cap
of the same people, profusely ornamented with pearl and precious
stones,--a sword, set with diamonds, by his side, and a staff,
similarly enriched, under his arm. My surprise was not diminished when
the moment he observed me I saw him turn away from me, as if under
feelings of the utmost disgust and disdain. I became so alarmed at a
reception so strange and unaccountable, that although I saw that it was
my own brother, the very marrow in my bones seemed to have been turned
into cold water. I ventured, however, to look into the second chamber,
and there I beheld heaps upon heaps of diamonds and rubies, and pearls
and emeralds, and every other description of precious stones, thrown
one on the other in astonishing profusion. The third chamber into which
I looked contained, in similar heaps, an immense profusion of gold; and
the fourth chamber was strewed middle deep with silver.
“I had some difficulty in determining to which of these glittering
deposits I should give the preference. At last I recollected that a
single diamond was of greater value than all the gold I could gather
into my robe, and I accordingly decided on tucking up my skirts and
filling them with jewels. I put out my hand in order to take up some
of these glittering articles, when from some invisible agent, perhaps
it was the effect of some overpowering effluvia, I received a blow so
stunning, that I found it impossible to stand in the place any longer.
In my retreat, it was necessary to pass the chamber in which I had seen
my brother. The instant he perceived me about to pass, he drew his
sword, and made a furious cut at me. I endeavoured to avoid the stroke
by suddenly starting aside, but in vain; the blow took effect, and my
right arm dropped from the shoulder-joint. Thus wounded and bleeding,
I rushed from this deposit of treasure and horror, and at the entrance
above, found the physician and his associates, who had so mysteriously
determined the destiny of my unhappy brother. Some of them went below,
and brought away my mutilated arm; and having closed up the entrance,
with stone and mortar, conducted me, together with my arm, all bleeding
as I was, to the presence of the Portuguese governor, men, and women,
and children, flocking to the doors to behold the extraordinary
spectacle.
“The wound in my shoulder continued to bleed; but having received from
the governor a compensation of three thousand tomauns, a horse, with
jewelled caparison, a number of beautiful female slaves, and many
males, with the promise of future favour in reserve, the Portuguese
physician was ordered to send for me, and applying some styptic
preparation to the wound it quickly healed, and so perfectly, that it
might be said I was thus armless from my birth. I was then dismissed,
and having shortly afterwards obtained a passage in another ship,
in about a month from my departure reached the port for which I was
destined.
“On the above relation,” continues our imperial memorialist, “I have
to observe, that in all probability the extraordinary circumstances
to which it refers were effected through the operations of chimia
(‘alchemy’), known to be extensively practised among the Franks,
and in which the jugglers from Bengal appear to have been very well
instructed.”
_Page 264._
Nitocris, an Egyptian queen of great beauty, revenged herself for the
death of her brother and predecessor on the throne in a similar manner.
“On her accession, she invited those whom she suspected of being privy
to his murder, to a festival. A large subterraneous hall was prepared
for the occasion; and though it had the appearance of being fitted
up with a view to celebrate the proposed feast, it was, in reality,
designed for a very different purpose; for, when the guests were
assembled, the water of the Nile was introduced by a secret canal into
the apartment; and thus, by their death, she gratified her revenge,
without giving them an opportunity of suspecting her designs.”--See Mr.
Wilkinson’s _Manners and Customs of the Egyptians_, vol. i. p. 91.
London, Murray. 1838. This work appears to be the result of infinite
labour and research. It is fraught with the deepest interest for minds
anxious to dive into the early history of that most mysterious people.
The style in which it is got up is truly splendid.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY STEWART AND MURRAY,
OLD BAILEY.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
Small caps have been changed to all caps. Italics changed to _italic_.
Due to a probable printer’s error, there are two chapters titled
_Chapter X_. The original numbering has been preserved as it appears in
the printed work, however “(continued)” has been added to the second
_Chapter X_ for clarity.
A Table of Contents has been added by the transcriber.
Variations in spelling of the same words have been left as originally
printed.
Minor punctuation errors and missing or misplaced quotation marks have
been silently corrected.
The following probable printing errors have been changed as listed
below:
Page 7: “conntry” changed to “country”:
...passing through the country, with a view...
Page 53: “assen” changed to “assent”:
The high chancellor having signified his assent to this arrangement...
Page 180: “obtascles” changed to “obstacles”:
So long as Kazim and Nourmahal existed, he felt them as obstacles in
his way...
Page 181: “Perian” changed to “Persian”:
The only person with whom the Persian seemed to share...
Page 205: “circustances” changed to “circumstances”:
I can imagine many circumstances by which...
Page 219: “may” changed to “many”:
They had not advanced many paces, when they heard...
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The following is a brief descriptive List of the Portraits comprised in
this Work, which supplies what has long been a desideratum in the fine
arts, and forms a desirable Companion to “Lodge’s Portraits.”
CATHERINE OF BRAGANZA, the unhappy and slighted wife of Charles.
LADY CASTLEMAINE, afterwards Duchess of Cleveland, the haughty enslaver
of the monarch.
LA BELLE HAMILTON, Countess De Grammont, one of the ancestors of the
Jerningham family.
The gentle and blameless COUNTESS OF OSSORY, interesting from her
beauty, her tenderness, and her feminine virtues.
NELL GWYNNE, merry and open-hearted, who, with all her faults, was at
least exempt from the courtly vice of hypocrisy.
The beautiful and wealthy DUCHESS OF SOMERSET, the wife of three
successive husbands, one of whom encountered a tragical fate.
The noted FRANCES STEWART, Duchess of Richmond, whose marriage was the
immediate cause of Lord Clarendon’s disgrace.
MISS LAWSON, mild and gentle, yet opposing the fortitude of virtue to
the perils of a licentious Court.
The COUNTESS OF CHESTERFIELD, one of the fair principals of De
Grammont’s celebrated story of the “bas verts.”
The COUNTESS OF SOUTHESK, whose faults, follies, and miseries,
constitute a tale well fitted to “point a moral.”
The interesting and exemplary COUNTESS OF ROCHESTER.
The beauteous and arrogant LADY DENHAM, interesting from the poetical
fame of her husband, and her own tragical fate.
The magnificent LADY BELLASYS, renowned for her beauty, wit, and spirit.
MRS. NOTT, fair, sentimental, and Madonna-like.
ANNE DIGBY, Countess of Sutherland, beautiful and blameless, the friend
of the angelic Lady Russell, and of the excellent Evelyn.
The fair Coquette, MRS. MIDDLETON.
MISS BAGOT, the irreproachable wife of two libertine Lords.
The fair, the elegant, and fascinating MISS JENNINGS, “who robbed the
men of their hearts, the women of their lovers, and never lost herself.”
The DUCHESS OF PORTSMOUTH, one of the most absolute of Royal favourites.
The COUNTESS OF NORTHUMBERLAND, distinguished for her uncommon grace
and beauty, and the blameless tenor of her life.
And the DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE, fair, kind, and true, and wedded to a
Nobleman, who, to the valour and bearing of a Paladin of old Romance,
added the spirit of an ancient Roman.