The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-12-04
THE MOGUL'S DAUGHTER.

1t was the summer of the year 1861.
Shah Jehan, grandson OF the mighty
Akbar, had been for four-and-twenty
years on the throne of the Great MOgul.
He was the most magnificent and luxu-
riOus of all the Moguls Before the ra-
diant and amazing splendors of his
court all the pomp and glory of the
greatest mOnarchs of the West paled in
to insignicance. He had been known
TO spend a million and a half sterling
upon n birthday festival. His royal
progresses through his dOminions sur
passed in grandeur and stupendous dis
play all that even the oriental imagina-
ton had conceived. Travellers told
with awe of the acres Of land covered
with carpets of silk and gold; of the
stately pavilions glittering with dia-
monds and pearls OF the gorgeous tents
of crimson velvet embroidered with gold,
supported by massive poles forty feet
high and stretching over long miles of
level country; of the seven resplendent
thrones studded with diamonds, rubies,
emeralds and pearls; of the wOrld-re-
nowned Peacock Throne, Shah Jehan's
own fanciful invention, so called from a
peacock with its tail spread, the natural
cOlors faithfully in sapphires,
emcralds, rubies and pearls, which
formed the chief ornament and design
of Il mass of diamonds and other pre-
cious stones valued at six millions and a
half sterling.
They told, too, of the elephants that
looked like shining mountains Of jewel
ry-elephants trained to kneel before
the throne and do reverence to the
Great Mogul with their trunks-whOse
keep cost 500 rupees apiece per month ;
of - W
brides and saddles the gems stood
thick as dew-drops ON lawn ut sunrise ;
and of a thousand other lustrOus and
dazzling marvels, the mere mention OF
which made men stand agape with won
der and astoniShment.
And now, after nearly 10 years of in
cessant war, there was peace in the Mo
gut Empire, and the Emperor had come
to enjoy his well earned repOse, and
revel in the luxury which he loved, at
his capital, Delhi-that Delhi which he
had restored to more than its ancient
glory, whose marble halls and spacious
courts and golden domes and stately
mosques, he could proudly boast, were
unequaled anywhere for grace and beau
ty and sublimity. For Shah Jehan had
a passion for noble and beautiful build,
ings-the mausoleum which he erected
TO his wife at Agra, known rs the Ia
Mahal, standing to this day us one o
the noblest monuments in the world
But passiOnateiy rs Shah Jehan 1OveC
luxury and magniticence, gorgeous pa
geauts, and magnificent buildings, there
was something he loved more passion
ately still, and that was his cldeS
daughter. In all his vast empire ther
was no lovelier, more charming, o
more accomplished lady than the Pad
shah Begun. Shan Jehan idolize,
this his favorite child. She was hi
constant companion. She enjoyed hi
confidence to an extent whicl
men very rarely allow to women in tn
East. Her lively conversation, her skill
in the use of musical instruments, he
gift of melodious song, could alway
charm him into amiability. She wa
the light of his life, the only being tina
since the death of his queen he reall
loved. His sons he mistrusted and sus
pected, and not without reason, for fiji
ial affection was a virtue which had al
ways been conspicuous by its absenc
among the sons of the NlogulS, and h
was himself destined to die a prisone
in the hands OF his own son Auruno
zebc, who deposed him. 1t was on hi
daughter, therefore, that he lavished a
the tenderness that was in his hear
The PadShah Begun was now in he
twcnty-second year, and in the fu
flower of her beauty and womanhooC
Who could have dreamed that so fair
lily could be blighted in a single nigh
1t was an evening in July; Shah j,
han lay doing under the gentle fannin
of the punkah, when he was reused
piercing shrek, followed in quick su
ccsSion by series of shrieks, each mo-
hcartrending and blood-curdling tina
the last. He raised himself to listen.
was apparently from the women's apar
meuts that these appalling cries pr
oecded. While he listened, the shriel
grew fainter, and were succeeded by
wailing sound, as of many voices moa
ing: Suddenly the curtains were push'
aside, and servant, pale, trembhr
and breathless, entered, and PROSTATE
himself before the Emperor.
was impatienuy asked what
tidlngs were. Groauing and beating h
breast with his hands. he stammered O
his news-news that made Shah Jeh,
leap to his feet-while his swarthy che