The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-10-02
THE MOGUL'S DAUGHTER.
chambers Journal.1

1t was the summer of the year 1861,
Shah Jehan, grandson of the mighty Ak
bar, had been for four-and-twenty years
on the throne of the Great Mogul. He
was the most magnificent and luxurious
Of all the Moguls. Before the radiant and
amazing splendors of his court all the
pomp and glory of the greatest monarchs
Of the Yves paled into insign canoe. He
had been known to spend million and a
half sterling upon birthday festival.
His royal progresses through his domin-
ions surpassed in grandeur and sump-
tuous display all that even the Oriental
Imagination had conceived. Travellers
told with awe of the acres of land COW
cred with carpets of silk and of gold /;
Of the stately pavilions glittering
with diamonds and pearls of the
gorgeous tents of crimson velvet EN-.
broidered with gold, supported by mas
nve poles forty feet high, and stretching
over long miles of level country; of th
Ieven resplendent thrones studded with
diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls; Of
the world-renowned Peacock Throne,
Shah Jehan's own fanciful invention, SO
called from peacock with its tail spread,
the natural colors faithfully represented
In sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and pearls,
which formed the chief ornament and de-
sign of mass of diamonds and other
precious stones valued at six millions and
half sterling.
They told, too, of the elephants that
looked like shining mountains of jewelry
elephants trained to kneel before the
throne and do reverence to the Great
Mogul with their trunks-whose
keeps cost five hundred rupees apiece per
month; of the magnificent horses on
whose brides and saddlessthe gem stood
thick as dew-drops on lawn at sunrise;
and of thousand other lustrous and
dazzling marvels, the mere mention of
which made men stand agape with won
der and astonishment. Not Solomon in
all his glory could compare in point of
splendor with Shah Jehan the Great Mo-
gul.
And now, after nearly ten years of in
cessant war, there was peace in the Mo-
gul Empire, and the Emperor had come
to enjoy his well-earned repose, and rev.
cal in the luxury which he loved at his
capital, Delhi-that Delhi which he has
restored to more than its ancient glory,
whose marble halls and spacious courts
and golden domes and stately mosques,
he could probably boast, were unequaled
anywhere for grace and beauty and
sublimity. For Shah Jehan had a
passion for noble and beautiful buildings
the mausoleum which he erected to his
wife at Agra, known as the Tai Mahas
standing to this day as one of the noblest
monuments in the world. But passionate.
ly as Shah Jehan loved luxury and mag.
nifcence' gorgeous pageants, and splen-
did buildings, there was something he
loved more passionately still, and that
was his eldest daughter. In all his vast
empire there was no lovelier, more charm
ing or more accomplished lady than the
Padshah Begun. Shah Jehan idolized
this his favorite child. She was his con-
stant companion. She enjoyed his conf
dence to an extent which men very rarely
allow to women in the East. Her lively
conversation, her skill in the use OF
musical instruments her gift of melo-
dious song, could always charm him into
smiability. She was the light of his life
the only being that, since the death of his
queen, he really loved. His sons he dis
trusted and suspected, and not without
reason, for fllial affection was virtue
which had always been CONSPICUOUS by its
absence among the sons of the Moguls
and he was himself destined to die a pris
oner in the hands of his own son Aurung
sebe, who deposed him. 1t was on his
daughter, therefore, that he lavisbed all
the tenderness that was in his heart. The
Padshah Begun was now in her 22d year
and in the full flower of her beauty and
womanhood. Who could have dreamed
that 50 fair lily could be blighted in q
Jingle night?
1t was an evening in July; Shah Jehan
ny doing under the gentle tanning of the
punkah, when he was reused by pierc.
Ing shrek, followed in quick succession
by a series of shrieks, each more heart
rending and blood-curdling than the
last. He raised himself to listen. It
was apparently from the women's apart.
ments that these appalling cries pro.
ceeded. While he listened, the shrieks
grew fainter and fainter and were sue.
Ceeded by wailing sound, as Of many
voices moaning. Suddenly the curtains
were pushed aside, and servant pale
trembling, and breathless, entered and
prostrated himself before the Emperor
He was impatiently asked what his It'd
ings were. Groaning and beating his
breast with his hands, he stammered out
his news-news that made Shah Jehar
leap to his feet-while his swarthy cheek
grew livid with pallor, and he stooc
rooted to the ground with horror anc
amazement. For the news was that thu
Padshah Begun bad been burned tt
death! 1t was but for moment tina
Shah Jehan stood there petritied and hor
ror-stricken. In another instant he hae
darted off in the direction Of the Princess
apartments to learn for himself whethe
the dreadful tidings were true or not
He was like maniac as he burst int
the chamber where his daughter la,