arrayed in the same fashion. They formed their CHAPTER VI. hair in tresses. They wore a new dress of a dif- Dress. ferent colour every day. They were adorned with numerous jewels. Each one wore a mirror on her thumb; it was fastened on a ring. They were ever looking at their mirrors.

and slave girls.

Every lady had her own band of damsels. The Dancing girls damsels sang, danced, played on musical instruments, acted parts in dramas and spectacles. Sometimes all the bands performed in concert before the Padishah. Any girl who pleased him might become a concubine or queen; from the day of her promotion she had a chamber and a salary of her own. Every lady had her own slaves; they did the menial work of the harem; they played no part in history.

istration.

The ruling powers in the Mahal might be likened Female adminto duennas and governesses. Their authority was supreme in the Mahal; their influence was often felt to the extremities of the empire. They filled offices in the harem corresponding to those of the chief ministers of state; they went by similar names, such as vizier, treasurer, and paymaster. They carried on a correspondence with the ministers; they sent couriers to any city or province they pleased; they formed the harem council of the Padishah. They received presents from ministers, viceroys, and governors; they procured presents for the favourites of the Padishah. The power of these duennas was immense. The Mahal was a network of intrigue. Every Amir was anxious to place a daughter in the Mahal. If she gained favour she furthered the advancement of her father; on the other hand, she was expected to reveal all the secrets of her family."

17 Such depraved subserviency is in strict accordance with Moghul ileas.

CHAPTER VI.

Antiquity of female rule.

Fancy fairs.

The Taj Mahal.

Significance of the Taj Mahal.

This system of female rule has been at work in Moghul empires from a remote antiquity. It was secret and searching. It is in full force to this day in the palace of the king of Burma. The expenditure of the imperial harem was beyond all computation; its pressure was felt throughout the administration and throughout the empire.

Some monarchs might have been content to reign after the manner of Ahasuerus. Shah Jehan was not of this sort. He was depraved and selfish beyond all his predecessors. He was not content with the daughters of his Amírs; he hankered after their wives. He held a fancy fair in his palace at every festival. The wives of the Amírs attended and played at keeping shops; they brought their daughters with them. Shah Jehan and his ladies played the part of purchasers. He often broke the old Moghul law against adultery. The fact was notorious; he had no sense of shame; he gave deadly offence to the Amirs. They were his slaves; they could not resist him. When the hour of trouble came they deserted him to a man.18

Shah Jehan built the famous Taj Mahal at Agra. It has handed down his name to posterity. It must have cost millions sterling. Twenty thousand men are said to have laboured at it for twenty years.

The Taj Mahal is a monument of historical significance. It is typical of Shah Jehan. Mumtaz

The so-called "Arabian Nights" are more Moghul than Arab. In the introduction there is a story of a Sultan of the Indies who married a daughter of one of his courtiers every evening and strangled her every morning. No objection was raised to the marriages; the murders were regarded with horror; no one dared to revolt. The daughter of the Vizier begged to be a bride of the Sultan ; she beguiled him out of his murderous ways by telling him interminable stories. No Europeans, none but Asiatics, would have submitted to such tyranny.

18 Compare Bernier's Travels and Father Catrou's History.

Mahal was the name of his first wife. She was the CHAPTER VI. daughter of Asof Khan; the niece of Núr Mahal. He loved her for her beauty; his love did not prevent his marrying another wife whilst she was still alive. He built a mausoleum for her remains; he named it the Taj Mahal. The tomb is a lofty dome of white marble. It is supported by four arches of white marble. Inside, the walls are of white marble; they are inlaid with precious stones of different colours in a variety of designs. Some of the gates are white marble slabs; they are exquisitely perforated. The tomb is in the midst of gardens and terraces. Round about are lofty pavilions with galleries and arched ways.

There is Feminine cha

The spirit of the place is feminine. nothing stately or masculine in the buildings; nothing to recall the architecture of Greece or Rome. It is lovely beyond description; the loveliness is feminine. It is not the tomb of a wife; it is the shrine of a mistress. It awakens ideas of faircomplexioned beauty; the soul is dead; the form, the charm, the grace of beauty are lingering there. The walls are like muslin dresses radiant with flowers and jewels. The perforated marble gates are like lace veils. The pavilions with their galleries and arched ways are retreats where a sovereign might dally with fair damsels. The Taj Mahal is the outcome of the imagination of Shah Jehan. He loved women as drunkards love wine. When they were alive he sported with them in arcades and gardens. When they were dead he enshrined them in a marble tomb and decked it with jewels.

There is a horrible scandal connected with Taj

racter.

CHAPTER VI. Mahal. It cannot be dropped in oblivion; it finds Begum Sahib. expression in the history. Shah Jehan had a daughter by Taj Mahal; she was known as the Begum Sahib; he made the Begum Sahib his mistress. The influence of the Begum Sahib on Shah Jehan was known and felt to the extremities of the empire.19 She drew enormous allowances from the imperial treasury; she received costly presents from all quarters.

General administration.

20

The working of the administration under these foul conditions may be gathered from an anecdote told by Tavernier. Whilst Tavernier was travelling in India an Amír was appointed viceroy of Scinde. From the first year of his administration the people complained of his tyranny and extortion. Nothing was done; he remained four years at Scinde; he was then recalled to Agra. The people expected he would be put to death. They were disappointed. He was received with great favour by Shah Jehan; he was appointed viceroy of the richer province of Allahabad. The cause was soon known. Before going to Agra he sent fifty thousand gold mohurs to Shah Jehan; he also sent twenty thousand gold

19 The relations between Shah Jehan and the Begum Sahib are too notorious to be denied; they are mentioned by all contemporary writers; the fact is broadly stated by Herbert, Bernier, Tavernier, and the author of the Siyar-ul-Mutakherin. Manouchi tries to discredit it, probably on the authority of the Moghul chronicle which would take some pains to contradict the charge. The fact, however, is too apparent. It not only finds expression in the history; it is the key to the history. Bernier relates two suggestive anecdotes; they are typical of the Moghul On two occasions Shah Jehan discovered that the Begum Sahib had a lover. He paid her a visit when the lover was with her. The man escaped to a cauldron used for the baths. Shah Jehan affected to be unconscious; he ordered the fire to be lit; he would not move until he knew that the man was dead. He got rid of the second lover by giving him poisoned betel in the presence of the court; the youth accepted it as a mark of favour; he left the palace with gladness; he died in his palanquin before he reached home.

court.

20 Bernier's Travels in the Moghul Empire.

mohurs to the Begum Sahib. him pardon and reward.21

His presents secured CHAPTER VI.

the reign.

The so-called history of the reign of Shah Jehan Obscurity of may be told in a few words. It lasted thirty years. It began in wars for the establishment of his authority. It ended in wars for the subversion of his authority. The interval is a blank; it was doubtless filled up with revolts and treacheries, such as those already recorded, such as those which were at work throughout the reign of Jehangir. The only authentic rarrative that has been preserved is Catrou's history of the reign of Shah Jehan based upon the memoirs of Manouchi. Probably there was nothing worth preserving. Catrou's history chiefly refers to the great war which broke out between the four sons of Shah Jehan during the last years of the reign.

Shah Jehan spent the cool months at Agra, the Nomade court. hot months at Kashmír. His life in both cities was the same. To all appearance it was frittered away in public shows and private debaucheries. He had no taste for literature; he cared not for learned men. He delighted in the bloodiest combats, the coarsest farces, the grossest obscenities.22

21 Tavernier's Travels in India, Book i. chap. 2. Tavernier speaks of gold rupees; he values them at sixteen rupees each; he is evidently referring to gold mohurs. The two bribes aggregated more than a hundred thousand pounds sterling. Tavernier was as much smitten with the mania for flattery as later historians. He tells the tale of tyranny and bribery from his own experience; in another place he says that Shah Jehan was the father of his people. It is easy to account for this base flattery. Tavernier was a jeweller; he complains bitterly of the obstructions of Aurungzeb; he had found no difficulties to his trade in the reign of Shah Jehan. After all, Shah Jehan is not the first bad sovereign who has been called the father of his people. Strangely enough, Elphinstone quotes the flattery and seems to ignore the testimony.

22 Details may be found in the works of some of the old travellers, notably in Mandelslo. (See Travels, pages 30, 43.) The following remarks in Father