, 1875-09-12
THE GREAT MOGUL.


| Hin maRurficence-Sido Arms OF
Priceless Vaiuc-Elcphnnts Covered
! with Gold and Josvels-StFcsss
Cnrpeted with Silks and FeIFcts.
| Pal-NaH Gazette
| Noth;n1 but rdicule could have attended any
| natemnt on the part Of tho Prince OF Walee to
rival tha Mohaumedan rulers Of India in ostentar
| ton End maenilcence. In the matter Of pres
| ants alouo his utmost munifcence would have
been SURPASSED by single act Of favor display
| ed by one of the former Monarchs OF Hindostnn-
For instance, Jehan Cheer bestowed npon his
sou. whom setting out to take command OF the
army in the Deccan, 80 sword, the scabbard OF
which ,yas OF gold set with stones valued at 100,-
600 rupees (:El0,00o)a dagger at 94,0oo, an
elephant and two horses, all their furniture Of
pold set with stones, and State carriage built
in imitation OF one sent out to the Emperor by
King James I. On his birthday Jehan Cheer
was SO richly adorned with jewels that eir
Thomas Roe protests that III all bis LIE ne
never saw such iuestinab1e wealth together"
1.-THE time, " he continues, was spent IN bring
ing hiH greatest elephants before hln14 some OF
which. being lord elephants, had the chains,
bells, and furniture Of gold and silver, with many
gilt banners and flags carried about them, and
eight or ten elephants waiting Oh each OF them,
clothed in gold, silk. and silver In this manner
about tTelye companies passed ny, most richly
adorned the first having all the plates On his
head and breast set with rubies and eneralds,
being beast of wonderful bulk and beauty.
They all bowed down before tho King, making
their reverence very handsomely" On one occa-
sion, when Tho King honored his Minister with
his company at dinner, tho road WIS covered for
a whole mile with silks and yelYets sewed to-
gether, and the cost Of the banquet WIS estlmat-
ed at ECO, COO. On his birthday Jehan Cheer
rho3o 74
such as rupees. cloth OF gold, Silks caucoes,
SPICES, honey and butter, which we're afterward
distributed among the poor. 1.-The scales we're
Of beaten gold set with small stones, rubles and
turquoises; they hung by CHAINS OF gola1, and Tor
moro surety there we're silk ropes. The beam
was covered with plates OF gold The great
lords Of the nation yet about the throne on rich
carpets, expecting the Kings coming out. At
length he appeared, covered with diamonds ru-
b;es, and pearls He had several strings Of them
about his neck nr1ns wrists, and turban, and two
or three rings on every finger. His sword buck
ler. and thorno we're also covered with precious
stones. Among tho rest saw rubics as big as
walnuts, and PEARLS Of 3 prodlgloos magnitude
He got into one Of the scales, sitting OIL his legs
like a tailor"
After all the Royal gifts were not, in general,
very COSTLY When the weighing was over, ba-
sins full Of silver Almonds nuts, and other fruits
were placed before the King, who threw them
about in haudfuls, while his mobiles scrambled
for them Observing that Sir Thomas Roe
would not stoop to such meanness, Jehan Cheer
took up basin that Was nearly full and poured
it into his cloak The courhers, however, Ind
the nlpudenee to thrust in their hands 30 greedl-
ly" that the worthy Knight had some trouble to
rescue these proofs Of the Royal favor from their
raracity He had been told beforehand that the
King would scatter fruits nodded in massive
gold, but to his disgust he discovered that they
consisted OF very shin silver: thousand ct
them barely weighing GEO. Nevertheless, ~
sayed,H he says, the value Of ten OF tTelre
croyns, and these would have flied 1srgc dish.
keep them to show the vanity Of these people.
do not believe that the King that day throw
| away much above the value Of E1oo. Berner,
indeed, eays that, although India was an abyss
| that swallowed up the gold and silver OF other
| lands, he did not regard the Mogul 8s being eI-
| traordnary rich. Shah Jehan, for example, at
| ter exercising commendable thrift for the space
Of forty years. left only 6,000, ,000 in the treas
| ury, without taking into account, however, the
precious stones, of which he confesses there was
great store, The value Of the throne alone he
| reckoned at 5000, 900, being covered with the
spoils Of Patans and Rajpoots, and the voluntary
| ofrerings of tributary Princes. Governors, and
mobiles. At times the munifcence Of the Delhi
| Enperors sayored Of reckless extravaganza. A
| singer, having delighted the Royal ears, WIS re-
wartled with his own1 weight in silver coin, amount
ing to $500 rupees, and with elephant to carry
his treasure to his house: The famous Noorme-
] hal, having shot four tigers with matchbox
| from the back Of an elephant, was presented BY
| the enamoreGa Jehan Cheer with pair OF emer-
| aid braceleta, valued at Ell, 600, while 900
| rupees we're distributed in charity. The
| Great Akbar surpassed both his predecessors
| and SUCCESSORS in personal wealth. According
to Ferishto, that i1ustrious potontate numbered
among his possessions coined silver computed ut
100, 600 Of rupees; choice rubies, nlaund,
or SO pound weight; common r7lbieS and other
precious stoues 10 maunds; uncoined gold, 70
maunds uncoined silver, 160 nnaunds; copper
pice sc, 600 Q00, 600 flour picc-1Id) elephants,