pay him homage; they stood at distances according CHAPTER VI. to their respective rank. At noon he came again to see the combats. At sunset he came again. He retired for the night amid the acclamations of the people and the deafening noise of drums and hautboys.34 corruption. Mandelslo describes the administration of the Tyranny and country as tyrannical and corrupt. The Padishah was absolute; his word was law and above all law. At his command the greatest lords were dragged to execution. The lives and fortunes of all his subjects were in his hands. The Amírs approached him as men approach deity. They declared that they were his slaves; that they were but dust and ashes in comparison with the Padishah.35 The viceroys and governors were often changed Extortion. lest they should grow too powerful. They had no bowels of compassion; they hastened to become rich; they took bribes from all sides. They trumped up false charges against the richest merchants only to squeeze them. The viceroy was the supreme judge within his province; those who could not satisfy his greed were doomed to destruction.36 The Kótwal was the judge in smaller matters. The Kotwal. He also executed all capital sentences pronounced by governors. The corruption was universal. Any offender could escape provided only that he had money. The gibbet was only for the unfortunate.37 viceroys and Mandelslo's description of the administration of Despotism of justice in the reign of Shah Jehan is suggestive; it governors. reveals more than it tells. Akber prohibited all executions until he had confirmed the sentence. In 34 Mandelslo, page 30, et seq. 35 Mandelslo, pages 38, 41. 37 Mandelslo, page 49. CHAPTER VI. the reign of Shah Jehan this wholesome rule had been set aside; viceroys and governors executed as they pleased. Each viceroy was an irresponsible tyrant within his own province; he might torture, plunder, and murder at will.38 Bells of justice. Moghul army. Against all this wickedness and corruption there was no appeal. Akber hung up bells, or a chain of bells, in his palace; all might ring them who wanted justice. Jehangir boasted that he had done the same. 39 Mandelslo describes the bells; he adds that any one who rings them does so at the hazard of his life. Under such a sovereign as Shah Jehan no man could have rung the bells; bribery and perjury would have condemned the complainant to die.4o Mandelslo describes the Moghul army. The officers knew nothing of van-guard, main-battle, or rear-guard. They understood neither rank nor file. They made no battalion; they fought confusedly without order. The cavalry were armed with the bow, the javelin, the scimitar, and the poniard; they carried bucklers hanging from their necks. Some of the infantry were expert with the musket. 38 Mandelslo, ibid. The statement of Mandelslo is confirmed by facts. As already seen, Areb Khan beheaded eight women for not obeying his orders. Tavernier tells the story of the bribery of Shah Jehan and the Begum Sahib by the tyrannical viceroy of Scinde. Father Catrou is equally explicit. He says that when Shah Jehan was growing old his avarice surpassed all his other vices. He rewarded his officers by permitting them to plunder the people with impunity; he then seized on their wealth and appropriated the spoil. Of course a flatterer may be found, who takes a different view. Kháfi Khan, a Mussulman historian who flourished long after the death of Shah Jehan, asserts that he was a better administrator than Akber. The assertion is fulsome and false. Kháfi Khan was not a contemporary of Shah Jehan; he was a Shíah partisan; he bitterly hated Aurungzeb; no doubt he praised Shah Jehan out of spite against Aurungzeb. Strange to say, Elphinstone quotes the loose and prejudiced statement of this party writer; he ignores the impartial testimony of Europeans and contemporaries. This is one specimen of the way in which the history of India has been falsified. 39 Jehangir's Memoirs, page 5. 40 Mandelslo, pages 36, 37. They had no fire-arms with wheels, nor yet fire-locks. CHAPTER VI. Those of the infantry who had no muskets carried bows and arrows. They also carried pikes ten or twelve feet long; not, as in Europe, to oppose a cavalry charge, but to begin the battle. The elephants served as a trench to oppose the first charge; they were often driven back by fire-works. The Moghuls had abundance of artillery."1 leaves India. Mandelslo was obliged to fly from Agra. Whilst Mandelslo at Ispahan he had killed a man in a fray. At Agra he met a kinsman of the man. He had reason to fear that his life was in danger; he went away to Delhi. His further travels are mere personal adventure. 42 founded by After Mandelslo left India Shah Jehan left Agra. New Delhi He fixed his capital at his new city of Shah Jehana- Shah Jehan. bad; it still goes by the name of Delhi. The Moghul emperors often changed the capital. Akber moved it from Delhi to Agra; Jehangir moved it from Agra to Lahore; Shah Jehan returned to Agra; the heat of Agra drove him to Delhi. The nomade instinct of the Moghul worked these changes. The Moghul kings of Burma move about in like manner from Ava to Amarapura, from Amarapura to Mandalay. 1667. Francis Bernier travelled in India when the Bernier, 1655— court was at Delhi. He was thirty years of age when he went to India. He was a different man from Mandelslo. He had more political insight. 41 Mandelslo, page 40. 42 Mandelslo, pages 44, 45. Mandelslo went from Surat to England in 1640. He was well entertained by the East India Company. He returned to Holstein, but could not find suitable employment. He went to Germany; he obtained a command of a troop of horse. He paid a visit to Paris, and died there of small-pox. CHAPTER VI. He was twelve years in India-from 1655 to 1667. He did not write from surface observations; his conclusions were those of an experienced and thoughtful man. Description of City. Great square: astrologers. 43 Bernier describes Delhi much as Mandelslo describes Agra. There was a city, a square, and a palace. He brings out the significance of the several quarters. Each had a story to tell; each played a part in the later history." 44 The city was little better than a camp. There were broad streets lined with arcades and shops; they were intersected by narrow streets and lanes. A few houses were built of stone and brick; many were built of clay whitened with lime; thousands were mud hovels. When the court was at Delhi the city was crowded with people. When the court was away from Delhi the city was silent and bare. The Amirs and Rajas left their houses to dwell in canvas pavilions; the soldiers, camp-followers, servants, artisans, and labourers left their mud hovels to dwell in tents. The great square between the palace and the city was the centre of city life. When the court was at Delhi, the square was a vast bazaar. There Rajpoot princes mounted guard; horses were paraded and mustered; wares of all kinds were offered for sale; mountebanks and jugglers performed to idle crowds; astrologers told fortunes to 43 Travels in the Moghul Empire by Francis Bernier. Translated from the French by Irving Brock. 2 vols. There are so many editions of Bernier, that it would be useless to give references to pages. The author has followed the Calcutta reprint. 44 Bernier has one weakness of which he was unconscious; he had no deep insight into character. He fails to read the characters of the sons of Shah Jehan. Father Catrou's History of the Moghul Dynasty shows a larger knowledge and keener appreciation. all comers. The astrologers were an institution. CHAPTER VI. They sat on pieces of carpet; they handled mathematical instruments; they opened large books which showed the signs of the zodiac. They told a fortune for a penny; they examined the hand and face; they turned over the leaves of the large book; they feigned to make calculations; they fixed the fortunate moment for beginning any business. Silly women covered from head to foot in white calico flocked to the astrologers. They whispered the secrets of their lives with the frankness of penitents in the presence of their confessors. They believed that the astrologers could control the influence of the stars.45 public quarter. The palace and gardens at Delhi were on the Palace: the same plan as Agra. There was more magnificence. There was a bazar street; there was also a street of public offices. There were quarters for the Amírs and Mansubdars who mounted guard within the palace walls. There were workshops for embroiderers, goldsmiths, painters, lacquer-joiners, turners, tailors, shoemakers, and dressmakers of every kind. Beyond this public quarter was the Durbar court. Durbar, GhusalIt formed a large quadrangle surrounded by arcades; the Durbar hall was at the further end; it was 45 One ridiculous pretender in Bernier's time was a half-caste Portuguese, who had fled from Goa. He could neither read nor write. His only instrument was an old mariner's compass; his only books of astrology were a couple of old Catholic prayer-books. He pointed out the pictures in these prayer-books as the signs of the European zodiac. Bernier so far is only describing the poorer sort of astrologers that told fortunes in the bazar. The better sort who frequented the courts of the grandees were of a very different character. They were regarded as eminent doctors. They received large salaries; they were consulted before engaging in the most trifling transaction. They read whatever was written in heaven; they fixed upon the fortunate moment; they solved every doubt by opening the Koran. Letter to M. De la Mothe le Vayer. khana, Mahal. |