The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-02-07


the British imperial government In
such a manner that all laws and de-
crees must first be submitted to the
President" who is the representa-
cial town or capital. So England has
complete control over them all. But
1 King Edwards "foxy" officials do
their best to cause all the Indian rulers
| to believe they are very Independent.
| We were much delighted to be in
vited to Bhopal to meet her highness.
the begun, or queen. On our arrival
we were taken to the palace in a state
carriage, with outriders;. and we teit
quite grand indeed. As we drove
through the streets we were
"salammed'' (saluted) by all the popu-
lace, as they recognized the royal car
| riage and palace attaches
| This province is one of the native
| Mohammedan Substantive in the
| sense that the English keep no troops
| here, and no English living in the city
| except the president" and few mis-
| sionaries. 1t is just as much Mo-
hammedan now as it must have been
! 1000 years ago. The same customs
| prevail as were common when MO-
| hammed's little grandson went to
| school; one of which is the wearing OF
| the "perdah" or Mohammedan veil.
| Every Mohammedan woman, of good
] caste, is put in "perdah," or yelled. at
| about eleven years of age. 1t does not
mean that she merely wears veil;
|
she is never again allowed to have her
| face seen by any man except her nus
| band.
Their food is much different from
| that eaten by European people; SO the
| queen has a palace set aside Tor her
| European guests, as many high Eng
| lish officials come on state visits
We are the first and only Americans
| who have ever been entertained by
| her highness. The guest palace is very
1 nd a o.
pean in it's appointments. Here We
! were entertained, but were out to din
| ners and teas much of the time. A
state carriage drawn by state horses,
and best of all the state elephants
were at our service at any and all
| times.
| We had scarcely made our hasty
| toilettes when the prime minister
| of the cabinet" and her highness'
/ secretary; the latter to tell us that his
royal mistress sent greetings, and
would be pleased to receive us al
| p. m. Also the aide-de-camp "a. d. Z.
they call it here) of the nawao crown
| price and Solonel Sahib, the begum's
| second son. called and invited us to
teas at their highnesses' reception
| palaces. 1t was great fun for US, re-
ceiving SO royalty, and being re
| ceiyed' in like manner. The greater
| number of them all spoke English or
| French; and as we do not speak Hin
dustanee Arabic or Persian, we used
| only the two European languages.
After our miniature 'Durbar we
were driven around the city; and after
"tiffin'' Ounch) we made ready to be
presented to her highness. She has
two very large palaces, besides numer-
Gus smaller ones. one in the city, ana
one about two miles out, and 1T was at
the latter one that we met the begun
The palace is enclosed by a high
wall, with big entrance gates, and we
were received at the porte-cochere py
the royal chamberlain, led through
many corridors, and then given over
to a woman who escorted us into the
royal presence. The queen is clever
appearing Mohammedan woman,
about SO years old, very dark, and was
dressed in Mohammedan costume,
which included trousers instead of
real dress, which were made of gold
cloth, above which was a loose Jacket,
somewhat like kimona. Being
much jewelry. She speaks neither
English nor French, so we had to con-
verse through an interpreter She
was very cordial to us, and spoke on
of the white woman. We talked about
everything I could think of; and she
said she hoped to see us again, ana
that she was happy to meet us.
We were then wheeled off to Colonel
Sahib's palace about five miles away,
and were received there by his high
ness. his A. D. C. and several MOBILES;
not woman around, of course, as
they were in their own apartments
the zenana, and these we met later
We had tea out of the most approved
of English tea sets, sweets Of all kinds
and other good things to eat.
His highness speaks perfect English.
and was not in native costume, except
as to his "turban.'' He asked me TO
try his piano. and expressed his sur
prise that any woman was so well
educated that she could play the
piano, sing and whistle. They think
it almost sacrilegious to teach the
women of their country anything.
But I must tell of the most interest
ing entertainment of all that we en-
joyed in Bhopa1. We were invited to
lister. We arrived at about p. m. His
palace adjoins the city palace of her
highness. 1t is quite large, but the
exterior is very plain. Upon entering
court yard filled with palms and
tropical plants. In the center of this
space was set tea table, exquisitely
furnished with beautiful china. and
around it sat dignified men, Afgans,
Mohammedans and one Persian. but
no Hjndus. These men were the
royal "ca binet'' and prominent mobiles
who had been invited to meet us. Our
seats were on a high divan of quite
thronelike appearance. Each man, In
turn, was presented to us quite for
mally. One old man. with a long
white beard, was dressed in a Dresden
pattern lowered coat, which we learn
ed afterward was one. hundred years
old, and had cost $1,000, as it had
been made with real gold thread He
belonged to the kings family in Luck
now. The minister of finance is from
Afghanistan, and he wore a turban of
gold cloth, an dhe wore a turban OF
dress. One man. who knew a little
English, wished to be polite to us. and
converse a trif1e; he said: You know
we have no she society in our caste"
OF course he meant ladies society,""
After we all had tea, the men all at
once arose, as if by given signal, and