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The Taj Mahal. 
 
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 EMS OF INDIA; 
 
 OR, 
 
 
 ^^al]oinrt(an Mo men. 
 
 BY MRS. E. J. HUMPHREY. 
 
 FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 P 
 
 a 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 NELSON & PHILLIPS. 
 
 CINCINNATI: HITCHCOCK & WALDEN. 
 
 1875. 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 157", by 
 
 ISTELSON & PHILLIPS, 
 
 in the Office of the Librarian ot Congress at Washington. 
 
 n-3id/Y 
 
:4 
 
 TO 
 
 OF WHATEVER RELIGIOUS DENOMINATION OR CREED, 
 
 I dedicate ikls Warb, 
 
 WITH THK PRATER AND HOPE THAT FROM PERUSING IT THE INTEREST 
 
 THEY ALREADY" TAKE IN THE WOMEN OF HEATHEN 
 
 LANDS MAY BE GREATLY INCBEASED. 
 
f EF<^ei, 
 
 VER since the Taj Mahal, that incomparable 
 
 mausoleum of Mumtaz Mahal, the lovely and be- 
 loved queen of Shah Jahan, met my vision, a new interest 
 in the women of India was kindled in my mind, and I 
 resolved to make their past and present condition and 
 capabilities matters of study and research as far as prac- 
 ticable ; but, amid the manifold cares, labors, and ill- 
 nesses incident to missionary life in the trying climate 
 of India, I found but little opportunity to carry out my 
 resolve. 
 
 * From time to time, however, when items of interest 
 came in my way, I made memoranda, which, with the 
 information given in authentic histories, and the tradi- 
 tions of the people, have enabled me to gather material 
 for these sketches. 
 
 It is always difficult to find reliable accounts of the 
 characters of even distinguished persons after the lapse 
 of busy centuries, and this is particularly the case in 
 India on account of the national proclivity to indulge 
 in the mythical and the marvelous. 
 
 Several of the sketches are, therefore, unavoidably 
 meager in details of personal characteristics, and the 
 capabilities of the subjects are brought out mostly by 
 historical incidents, which show their conduct under 
 certain circumstances. 
 
8 Preface. 
 
 I hope, however, that the glimpses of the history of 
 the country, from the beginning of the Mahomedan 
 period to the present time, which these sketches afford, 
 will not only be interesting to the reader, but will 
 awaken a desire to become better acquainted with the 
 strange and thrilling history of that rich and brilliant, 
 but most unhappy and unfortunate, land, which has so 
 long been suffered to remain enshrouded in the thick 
 darkness of heathen superstition, but is now, in God's 
 own good time, visited by the light of the glorious Gospel 
 of Christ. 
 
 I have endeavored to always make the line between 
 authentic history and tradition so plain that it may 
 be apparent at the first glance, so that no unnecessary 
 draught be made upon the reader's credulity. 
 
 I was particularly assisted in the sketches of Hindoo 
 women by an article that appeared in the " Calcutta 
 Review " a few years ago, and in the sketch of the Be- 
 gums of Bhopal by a book published under the direc- 
 tion of the Sikandar Begum herself, giving a minute 
 account of her pilgrimage to Mecca. 
 
 I have also consulted guide books, and four of the 
 best histories of India extant, but have depended main- 
 ly for dates upon Marshman. 
 
 E. J. H. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Paok 
 Sanjogata, the last Ranee of Delhi ii - 
 
 PUDMUNEE, THE BEAUTIFUL CINGALESE 21 
 
 Durgavatee, the Warrior Ranee — A Chapter of Mogul 
 
 History 32 
 
 JoDH Baie, the Hindoo Sultana — A Chapter of Mogul 
 
 History 40 
 
 Chand Sultana — A Chapter of Mogul History 52 
 
 NooR Mahal, the Light of the Palace — A Chapter of 
 
 Mogul History 65 
 
 MuMTAZ Mahal — A Chapter, of Mogul History 91 
 
 Ahuliya Baie, the Mahrattee Queen in 
 
 Kishna Comaree Baie; or, the Maiden's Sacrifice 127 
 
 The Ranee of Jhansee — A Tale of the Indian Mutiny 140 
 
 The Begums of Bhopal 153 
 
 The Women of India 176 
 
 ^UuBixRixaxtB. 
 
 The Taj Mahal 2 
 
 NooR Mahal 64 
 
 Mumtaz Mahal 90 
 
 The Begum of Bhopal 152 
 
EMS OF 31nDIA. 
 
 
 SANJOGATA, 
 The Last Ranee of Delhi. 
 
 UR first sketch is of long ago, when the 
 ^^^^^^^ American continent was only known to its 
 own wild inhabitants, and England was just begin- 
 ning to emerge from barbarism. 
 
 King Richard I., the famous crusader, reigned over 
 England from A. D. 1189 to 1199. Upon his death 
 the treacherous John ascended the throne, from whom 
 the famous Magna Charta was wrung by an exas- 
 perated and persistent people. About this time, that 
 is, the close of the twelfth and the beginning of the 
 thirteenth century, Hindoostan was literally what 
 its name signifies — the place or country of the Hin- 
 doos. The whole extent of country north of the 
 Vindhya range of mountains was divided into petty 
 kingdoms, governed by Rajas possessing more or 
 less power, according to the customs and laws of 
 the different castes. The four largest and most 
 prosperous kingdoms were those of Delhi, or Yogi- 
 nipoor, as it was then called, which was held by the 
 division of Hindoos called Tomara, Ajmere by that 
 
12 Gems of India. 
 
 of Chauhan, Canauj by the one called Rathore, and 
 Guzerat by the Bagheelas. 
 
 The Raja of Delhi had no male children, and, 
 about A. D. 1 1 80, adopted his grandson, Prithwi, the 
 young Raja of Ajmere, so that Delhi and Ajmere, 
 the Toraaras and Chauhans, were united under one 
 government. 
 
 The Raja of Canauj was also a grandson of the 
 Raja of Delhi, and had been indulging secretly the 
 hope of one day inheriting his throne. He was, of 
 course, greatly disappointed and enraged when the 
 preference was given to his cousin, the Raja of 
 Ajmere, and after the death of the grandfather 
 rivalries and wars became the order of the day be- 
 tween the two kingdoms. This unhappy state of 
 things greatly accelerated the progress of the Ma- 
 homedans, who were slowly but surely encroaching 
 upon the north-western frontier of Hindoostan. 
 
 The kingdom of Canauj included Nepal, in the 
 Himalayas, and extended as far west as the rivers 
 Chumbul and Bunas, and — the Hindoos claim — 
 even to the Indus. Its capital, the city of Canauj, 
 was situated on the Ganges river, about midway 
 between Cawnpore and Futtaghur. Both Hindoo 
 and Mahomedan writers extol the beauty and mag- 
 nificence of this city, whose glories have long since 
 passed away. It is described as " a city which raised 
 its head to the skies, and in strength and beauty 
 might boast of being unrivaled." 
 
Sanjogata, the Last Ranee of Delhi. 13 
 
 Sanjogata, the subject of this sketch, was the 
 daughter of Jaichand, the Raja of Canauj. Hindoo 
 writers represent her to have been of great personal 
 beauty, and of superior intelligence and amiability. 
 When the troublesome feud broke out between her 
 father and the Raja of Delhi, Sanjogata was just 
 blooming into womanhood and was yet unmarried. 
 This fact shows us that the objectionably early mar- 
 riages now customary among the Hindoos were not 
 general at that period. 
 
 The Moslem invaders had not yet frightened the 
 people by their lawlessness into the practice of keep- 
 ing their women in seclusion, and a fair degree of 
 liberty was allowed them. It seems probable, too, 
 that they even had some power of choice in regard 
 to their husbands granted them. 
 
 Soon after the accession of Prithwi, or Prithiraj, 
 as he was then called, he gave a series of brilliant 
 entertainments in honor of the event. By the coalition 
 of the two governments he had become ruler of a 
 much larger kingdom than would otherwise have 
 been under his sway. His name, Prithwi, signifying 
 earth, was, therefore, joined to the title of Raja, slightly 
 abbreviated, so that his name and title joined formed 
 the high-sounding cognomen of " King of the Earth." 
 It was also a clever way of avoiding a dispute as to 
 whether he should be called the Raja of Delhi or 
 Ajmere. The rejoicings progressed merrily, and 
 were concluded by a peculiar and expensive reHg- 
 
14 Gems of India. 
 
 ious festival, called the Aswaraedha. The Raja of 
 Canauj was filled with bitterness, en\'y, and rancor, 
 and resolved by one grand outlay to outshine his 
 young rival To this intent he made preparations 
 to celebrate a most ancient and sacred Hindoo 
 festival, called the Rajshui, which, in order to be 
 perfect, must be participated in by all Hindoo prin- 
 ces living at the time. 
 
 Prithiraj, of course, was not in\'ited to the celebra- 
 tion, and another young Raja, a friend of his, was 
 also slighted. Their places were filled by their effi- 
 gies, made of gold, and Raja Jaichand strove to heap 
 obloquy upon them by assigning to the effigy of 
 Prithiraj the post of porter, and to his friend that of 
 scullion, in the hall of sacrifice. He also planned to 
 give interest to the occasion by allowing his beautiful 
 daughter to choose her husband fi-om among the 
 assembled princes. At the close of the religious 
 ceremonies she was to be led through the hall to 
 choose her future lord, and was to signify her choice 
 by throwing a necklace of flowers, called the barmala, 
 or marriage garland, around the neck of the fortu- 
 nate prince. The marriage ceremonies, conducted 
 with all the pomp and splendor possible, were to 
 conclude the great festival, after which the Raja 
 could rest satisfied that he had outdone his rival, 
 even though that rival was ruler of two kingdoms. 
 
 But, alas for the certainty^ of even royal plans I 
 The princess Sanjogata, Hke her mother. Eve. had 
 
Sanj Ogata, the Last Ranee of Delhi. 1 5 
 
 thought a great deal on forbidden subjects, and hav- 
 ing heard rumors of the beauty and gallant conduct 
 of Prithiraj, had in her heart resolved that he should 
 be her choice. 
 
 She kept her own counsel, however, until the right 
 time for action arrived, then, without allowing herself 
 to think of the sorrow she would cause her aged 
 father by her willfulness, she walked quietly along 
 when led through the long lines of anxious and ex- 
 pectant princes, until, having reached the door where 
 stood the golden effigy of Prithiraj, she threw the 
 garland around its neck ! 
 
 The confusion and dismay of the assemblage were 
 overwhelming. The poor old Raja was overcome 
 by chagrin at having his plans for triumphing over 
 his rival so unceremoniously overturned by his own 
 daughter ; but there was no help for it, and the festi- 
 val was hastily and sadly concluded. Our princess 
 must have been in dire disgrace, but probably her 
 romantic attachment to the prince she had never seen 
 kept her from yielding to despondency. She seems 
 to have been one of those sporadic champions of 
 woman's rights who are scattered here and there 
 through the annals of the past ; but we would scarce- 
 ly expect that such independent action in a Hindoo 
 princess of the thirteenth century would be unchecked 
 and unpunished. 
 
 Of course the Raja of Delhi was informed in due 
 time of his rival's discomfiture, and the preference 
 
i6 Gems of India. 
 
 SO openly expressed for himself by his courageous 
 daughter, and, like a true knight of " ye olden tyme," 
 he quickly made a bold raid upon the' court of the 
 Raja of Canauj, and succeeded in carrying the prin- 
 cess off in open day. They were hotly pursued, but 
 reached Delhi in safety, where their marriage was 
 celebrated amid great rejoicing. For one short year 
 they enjoyed uninterrupted happiness, but at its 
 close their luxurious life was suddenly broken in upon 
 by the re-appearance of the dreaded Mahomedan 
 army upon the frontier. Shabab-oo-Deen had ad- 
 vanced upon Delhi two years previous, and had been 
 repulsed ; but now, with large reinforcements, he 
 again marched upon the royal city. 
 
 Sanj Ogata encouraged her husband to defend his 
 capital bravely. She begged him not to think of 
 his own life, or of her, but to do his duty, remembering 
 that " to die well is to live forever." " Let your sword 
 divide your foe," she said, " and I will be your part- 
 ner in the future life." Probably she meant by this 
 that if he should fall she would not long survive 
 him. 
 
 The Raja hastened to call a council of war and 
 to notify his allies, and shortly all was in readiness to 
 begin the campaign. 
 
 It was the custom among the Hindoos of old, that 
 when the head of a family went forth to battle he took 
 solemn leave of all his female relatives, who exhorted 
 him as he left to be courageous and brave. 
 
Sanjogata, the Last Ranee of Delhi. 1 7 
 
 Sanj Ogata performed her part in this ceremony 
 with fortitude and enthusiasm until — as was custo- 
 mary — she endeavored to fasten the helmet that hid 
 the face of her beloved husband. A presentiment 
 seized her that she would never gaze upon his coun- 
 tenance again, and she became so agitated with grief 
 that she could not secure the clasps. Another had 
 to perform this office, and the Raja, with one last 
 glance and a cheerful farewell, hastened to his place 
 at the head of his army. Sanjogata gazed sadly after 
 him and exclaimed : " I shall never see him again in 
 Yoginipoor, (Delhi,), but in the region of Swarga 
 (heaven) I shall again behold him ! " 
 
 Her presentiment was correct. The Hindoo army 
 was routed, and Prithiraj, the last Raja of Delhi, was 
 slain upon the field. Sanjogata fasted and wept dur- 
 ing the progress of the conflict, and when convinced 
 that the Raja had indeed fallen, she ordered a pyre 
 to be erected and was burned upon it, deeming this 
 the surest and readiest means of rejoining her hus- 
 band. 
 
 This is the first authentic instance of " Suttee," 
 or widow-burning, mentioned in Hindoo writings, but 
 probably the custom prevailed to some extent before 
 this time. It would seem, however, that it was only 
 to be followed vohmtarily. 
 
 Poor unfortunate princess ! Ignorant of the God 
 of love and all comfort, her yearning love for her 
 slaughtered husband led her to forestall the day 
 
1 8 Gems of India. 
 
 when by a natural death she might rejoin him, by 
 giving herself in the bloom of life to the flames. 
 We can admire the devotion of this brave young 
 creature, while we lament the ignorance and super- 
 stition that led to this fearful act of self-sacrifice. 
 
 She was the last Ranee who reigned in Yogini- 
 poor, and with the close of her short career was Hin- 
 doo power in Delhi ended. 
 
 Shabab-oo-Deen did not remain long in Hindoo- 
 stan, but he left a favorite slave, named Kutub-oo- 
 Deen, upon the throne of Delhi, who founded the 
 d3masty of the Slave kings. This Mahomedan 
 ruler began the building of the famous pillar named 
 after him, the Kutub Minar. It stands about eleven 
 miles from the present city of Delhi, the intervening 
 space being covered with mounds and ruins of the old 
 city, the Yoginipoor of the Hindoos. According to 
 Hindoo tradition the Kutub Minar was begun by 
 Prithiraj for the use of his young bride, that she 
 might every morning view from its summit the river 
 Jumna, several miles distant. 
 
 Sanjogata, it seems, was a worshiper of the sun, 
 and the river Jumna is supposed to be a daughter 
 of that luminary, and the fair idolatress could thus 
 pay her devotions to both divinities at the same 
 time. Mahomedans, of course, deny this, and say 
 it was designed and built in commemoration of the 
 establishment of Moslem power in Hindoostan. It 
 was completed by Altamash-oo-Deen, the son-in-law 
 
Sa^^'j Ogata, the Last Ranee of Delhi. 19 
 
 and successor of Kutub-00-Deen, about 1235. It 
 is said to have been much higher than at present, 
 but after the lapse of six centuries it is difficult to 
 ascertain facts of detail. It is now two hundred and 
 thirty-eight feet above the level of the ground, and 
 is wholly unconnected with any other building. The 
 diameter of the base is forty-seven feet two inches, 
 with an upper diameter of nearly nine feet. There 
 are five stories and five galleries, including the one 
 at the top. The building is nearly ail of red sand- 
 stone, and has a spiral staircase within of the same 
 material extending to the top. The lowest story is 
 covered with flutings alternately angular and circular ; 
 on the second story the flutings are all circular, and 
 on the third angular. 
 
 The fourth section is faced with marble, having a 
 belt of dark stone at the bottom ; and the fifth is of 
 sandstor.e, with two belts of marble, and some or- 
 namental work in marble close to the summit. On 
 the top is an iron railing. It has suffered from earth- 
 quakes somewhat, and on this account a cupola that 
 crowned its summit was taken down early in the 
 present century, when the British Government had 
 the whole structure put in perfect repair, at an out- 
 lay of over twenty thousand pounds. The cupola 
 stands near the great pillar, in a much humbler but 
 safer position than formerly. A lightning conductor 
 is now attached to the pillar, which, it is hoped, will 
 prevent any farther injury from this source. 
 
20 Gems of India. 
 
 It is wonderful that such a high and isolated 
 structure — the highest single pillar in the world — 
 has withstood the sirocco blasts and the rainy sea- 
 sons of over six hundred years ! 
 
 The conquest of Delhi and Ajmere by the Ma- 
 homedans was followed the succeeding year (1193) 
 by that of Canauj, and shortly after by that of the 
 remaining Hindoo principalities, and the rule of the 
 Crescent remained in force in Hindoostan until 1757, 
 when it too, in its turn, was overcome and destroyed 
 by the English power, and a brighter day dawned 
 upon the long oppressed and benighted races of Hin- 
 doostan. 
 
 Yoginipoor is partly covered with the ruins of yet 
 another ruined city, and the site of the once sur- 
 passingly beautiful city of Canauj can scarcely be 
 identified. 
 
 " Sic transit gloria mundi!* 
 
Pudmunee, the Beautiful Cingalese. 2 1 
 
 '^^ujiiSy^ 
 
 PUDMUNEE, 
 The Beautiful Cingalese. 
 
 UR next heroine was originally a citizen of the- 
 Cinnamon Isle, that lovely palm-fringed Eden, 
 which no one who has seen can ever forget. 
 
 Pudmunee, the daughter of Hameer Lunk, one of 
 the kings of Ceylon, or Lunka, lived at the close of 
 the thirteenth century, and met a tragical death 
 A. D. 1303. 
 
 Only women of beauty and amiability bear the 
 name of Pudmunee, which is the highest of the four 
 class-names bestowed upon Hindoo females. The 
 name is from Pudma, the goddess of riches. 
 
 The second class-name is Chitrinee, from chit, the 
 heart, and was probably given to women who were 
 distinguished by those qualities that win hearts, more 
 than for personal beauty. 
 
 The other two names, Sankhinee and Hastinee, are 
 given to women of harsh and unlovely dispositions 
 and plain features. The last name is, in fact, that of 
 a female elephant, and must have been considered a 
 term of great reproach. 
 
 Of course, in those days Ceylon was not under the 
 British rule. Colombo, Galle, and other cities, at 
 least in their present state, with their fine public 
 
22 Gems of India. 
 
 buildings, and imaiense shipping in their harbors ; 
 the coffee and cinnamon plantations and the railway, 
 did not then exist. 
 
 All these adjuncts of civilization were brought in 
 by the white-faced foreigners. But Lunka, the land 
 of abundance, must have been surpassingly beautiful 
 even in its primitive state. With its many kinds of 
 palm-trees ; its valleys and mountains, covered with 
 wild cinnamon, coffee, and rice ; its numerous fruits, 
 extreme fertility, and small demand for labor, it is no 
 wonder that when the Mahomedans discovered it 
 they deemed it the veritable site of the garden of 
 Eden, where ''' out of the ground made the Lord God 
 to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and 
 good for food." 
 
 Ceylon is also rich in gems and pearls, or rather 
 was so in those days ; but the latter have grown 
 scarce of late, and the British Government has been 
 obliged to protect the pearl fisheries by prohibiting 
 their use and keeping strict guard over them, in the 
 hope that they may in time regain their former 
 value. 
 
 It is supposed that Ceylon is part of the country 
 known to the Hebrews as Ophir. It is called pearli' 
 form, and is really shaped like the old style ear-drop, 
 and looks on the map like a pendant of Hindoostan. 
 It is a small island two hundred and seventy miles 
 long by two hundred and forty in width, with a cir- 
 cumference of seven hundred and sixty miles ; lati- 
 
Piidmiinee, the Beautiful Cingalese. 23 
 
 tude 5' 53' to 9° 51" North, longitude 79 41' 40" 
 to 81 ' 54' 50" East. The sun rises about five and a 
 half hours earlier than in England. Light from six 
 to six nearly all the year round ; about half an hour 
 longer in June than in December. The interior of 
 the island is very mountainous, affording fine sani- 
 taria for the European residents. Kandy, formerly 
 the capital of a fierce and warlike tribe of heathens, 
 is a place of frequent resort. It is only one thousand 
 six hundred and seventy feet above the level of the 
 sea, and the heat during the day is as great as at 
 Colombo, but the nights are cool and refreshing. It 
 has a lovely artificial lake, which adds greatly to the 
 attractiveness of the place. 
 
 Newera EUia, another sanitarium, is much higher, 
 the mountains in its neighborhood varying from 
 seven thousand to eight thousand feet in height. 
 
 Adam's Peak, or Samanala, a mountain seven thou- 
 sand three hundred and fifty-two feet above the sea 
 level, is the most celebrated part of the island. The 
 Mahomedans gave the first-mentioned nam.e to the 
 mountain. They believe that Adam stood on the 
 top of it to take a farewell look of his beloved Eden, 
 fairer than ever as he saw it for the last time, and 
 then, when God spake the word that expelled him 
 from Paradise, he sprang off the mountain and crossed 
 over by a ledge of rocks, called " Adam's Bridge," to 
 the continent, leaving the impress of his last footstep 
 on the top of the mountain. There certainly is a 
 
24 Gems of India. 
 
 cavity on the peak, said to be a little less than a cubit 
 in length, and by the exercise of a great deal of faith 
 and imagination it might be called a footprint. A 
 Mahomedan writer calls the two roads leading to the 
 top of this mountain the paths of papa and mamma 
 Adam and Eve. 
 
 The Hindoos also regard the mountain as sacred. 
 They call il; Swargahanam, that is, the ascent to 
 heaven. The mysterious footprint was made, they 
 say, by the burning foot of Shiva, the destroyer. 
 
 But to the Buddhists this mountain is pre-eminent- 
 ly sacred and precious. According to their traditions 
 Buddha, their god, flew from Ceylon across the Bay of 
 Bengal to Siam. Rising from a spot near Colombo, 
 he passed over this mountain, resting one foot for a 
 moment on its top, leaving its impress as a seal to 
 show that Lanka is the inheritance of Buddha. 
 
 The Buddhists gave the name Samanala to the 
 mountain from a supposed demon call Saman, who 
 lived at its base. Mahomedans, Hindoos, and Bud- 
 hists, from Ceylon and the southern portion of the 
 continent, make annual pilgrimages to Adam's Peak, 
 but only the Buddhists have a temple upon the 
 mountain. 
 
 How vain appear all these traditions to the Chris- 
 tian, and yet they show us how strong is the tendency 
 of the human heart to search out and worship some 
 mysterious principle or being who is all-pervading 
 and all-powerful ! 
 
Pudmtinee, the Beautiful Cingalese. 25 
 
 How strange it seems that the light which we are 
 told " lighteth every man that cometh into the world," 
 does not show to the teeming millions of India and 
 beautiful Ceylon the holy and divine nature of the 
 great God who created so much beauty and 
 grandeur ! 
 
 We sing that sublime missionary hymn of the 
 sainted Heber; but one must see the lovely island 
 of Ceylon and its thousands of heathen inhabitants, 
 who never " look through nature up to nature's God," 
 but content themselves with the senseless follies of 
 idolatry, in order to fully appreciate the force of the 
 .ines,— 
 
 '* What though the spicy breezes 
 
 Blow soft o^er Ceylon's isle ; 
 Though every prospet:t pleases, 
 
 Aod only nian is vile : 
 In vain with lavish kindness 
 
 The gifts of God are strown ; 
 The heathen in his blindness 
 
 Bows down to wood and stone, — " 
 
 and often the query rises^ " How came this state of 
 things to exist ? " Is it because the people of old de- 
 liberately cJiose darkness rather than light, because 
 they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, 
 and that at last even he wearied of th«ir folly and 
 left them to believe a lie ? 
 
 We cannot solve the mystery, but we believe there 
 is yet hope for the heathen world, and that many 
 from among these benighted ones shall hear the 
 Gospel message and receive it gladly ; when the self- 
 
26 Gems of India. 
 
 righteous Buddhists and exalted twice-barn Brahmin 
 shall, side by side with the despised Sudra and the 
 whilom follower of the false prophet, wash in the 
 fountain that is opened in the bouse of David for sin 
 and uncleanness, and be h^n a^gain of water and of 
 the Spirit. 
 
 '* For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as 
 the garden causeth the things that are sown in it 
 to spring forth ; so the Lord God will cause right- 
 eousness and praise to spring forth before all the 
 nations/' . . . 
 
 In the thirteenth century intermarriages between 
 Hindoos of the Continent and Ceylon were more 
 frequent than now, and it so came to pass that Pud- 
 munee, the beautiful daughter of liameer Lunk, who 
 then reigned over a portion of Ceylon, was be- 
 trothed, and afterward married, to a prince of Chitore, 
 the uncle and protector of the heir apparent, who 
 was a child 
 
 For a few years Fudmunee lived in peace and 
 happiness with her husband, and grew so beautiful 
 that the fame of her charms spread through all the 
 countr}' round about 
 
 But a dark cloud was even then spreading over 
 the political horizon of Hindoostan, which was des- 
 tined to bring swnft and sure destruction to many 
 a flourishing city and happy home, and among them 
 to the celebrated city of Chitore and the home of 
 Pudmunee. 
 
Pitdmunee, the Beautiful Cingalese. 27 
 
 In the year 1294, a century after the Mahomed- 
 ans had gained a firm footing in Upper India, Allah- 
 00-Deen, the nephew, and general of Firoz Shah, the 
 reigning king of Delhi, pursued the Mahomedan 
 conquests across the Nerbudda river into that sec- 
 tion of India known as the Deccan, that is, Dakhaii, 
 the South. 
 
 The victorious army- of the Moslems halted before 
 Chitore and laid siege to the city. But the Hindoos 
 were well prepared for the siege. In those troublous 
 times the cities were always strongly fortified and 
 well provisioned, and Chitore was no exception to 
 the general rule. The siege was carried on for some 
 time without any impression being made on the city. 
 Finally, according to native traditions, the following 
 singular occurrences took place. 
 
 The Mahomedan general sent a flag of truce to 
 the Raja, and, frankly owning that one object of the 
 invasion was to obtain his beautiful Ranee, made this 
 strange proposal. He offered to raise the siege and 
 depart from the country if he might only be per- 
 mitted to behold the extraordinary beauty of Pud- 
 munee by means of mirrors. 
 
 Of course, this request was at first refused, but at 
 length the temptation to get rid of the troublesome 
 invader by this easy way proved too great. The 
 Raja notified the Mahomedan general that his re- 
 quest would be acceded to, and a day was appointed 
 for him to be admitted to the city. He came, at- 
 
28 Gems of India. 
 
 tended by only a slight guard, and had his wish grat- 
 ified. The Raja was pleased by the trust reposed in 
 his honor, shown by the fearlessness of the general 
 in coming into the city with so few attendants ; and, 
 to show that he had equal confidence in the integrity 
 of his rival, he accompanied him just outside the 
 gate of the city, Allah-oo-Deen meanwhile occupying 
 his attention by profuse apologies and acknowledg- 
 ments. 
 
 Suddenly, however, the scene changed. A band 
 of soldiers, that had been secreted outside, seized the 
 Raja and hurried him off to the Mahomedan camp. 
 A message was immediately sent to the city, to the 
 effect that the Raja would be given up at once if the 
 people would deliver Pudmunee into the hands of the 
 Mahomedans. 
 
 The Hindoos held a council, and with Pudmunee's 
 aid concocted a plan to overreach the wily marauders 
 with their own weapons. They returned answer, 
 that as soon as the Mahomedan army would with- 
 draw from their trenches the Ranee Pudmunee 
 would, with her retinue of maidens and personal 
 property, proceed to their camp. Allah-oo-Deen with- 
 drew from his siege-works immediately, and en- 
 camped some distance from the city. 
 
 At the time appointed the Ranee, with her maid- 
 ens, as was supposed, and personal effects, left the 
 city in seven hundred palanquins, in each of which 
 was a well-armed soldier. The palanquin bearers, 
 
Pudinunee, the Beautiful Cingalese. 29 
 
 too, although apparently ordinary bearers, were, in 
 reality, all soldiers. 
 
 When they reached the camp the palanquins were 
 all deposited within the cloth walls surrounding the 
 tents appointed for the reception of the Ranee. The 
 Hindoo prince was then allowed to take leave of his 
 wife, and half an hour was granted them for a part- 
 ing interview ; but instead of improving the time 
 in this way, they made good their retreat to the 
 city, under the protection of the disguised warriors. 
 Too late Allah-00-Deen learned that his high-minded 
 foes could stoop to stratagem when dealing with 
 rogues. 
 
 He then withdrew his army from Chitore, and, 
 after a series of conquests of smaller Hindoo king- 
 doms, returned to Delhi laden with wealth, the spoils 
 of the cities he had pillaged. 
 
 He had been absent from Delhi one year, and on 
 his arrival was met outside the city by his uncle, 
 Firoz Shah. The old king was delighted to meet 
 his nephew, and was patting him affectionately on 
 the cheek, when assassins, whom Allah-oo-Deen had 
 posted in ambush near by, rushed upon him and put 
 him to death. 
 
 Allah-oo-Deen hastened on to Delhi and seized 
 upon the throne. He endeavored, by public games 
 and amusements, to make the people forget the crime 
 by means of which he had become their ruler, but he 
 did not succeed. Province after province rebelled, 
 
30 Gems of India. 
 
 but were all subjugated by his prompt energy. In 
 1297 he invaded Guzerat, which was, up to this time, 
 governed by Hindoos. He soon swept away every 
 vestige of their power, destroyed the idols in the 
 principal temples, and erected Mahomedan mosques 
 in the most prominent places. The Ranee of Guz- 
 erat, a beautiful woman, was taken from her husband 
 and made the queen of the ruthless emperor. 
 
 It is evident that Allah-oo-Deen still kept his eye 
 upon Chitore^ but owing to the time occupied in con- 
 quering Guzerat, and a fierce invasion of the Moguls,- 
 who came rushing down upon Delhi like a torrent in 
 1298, he did not find an opportunity to march upon 
 it until 1303. This time he had an immense army, 
 against which the brave Hindoos of Chitore had no 
 chance of success. They, therefore, resolved that 
 they would all perish. 
 
 The women^ headed by Pudmunee, still in the 
 bloom of youth, were all burned to death. Histori- 
 ans differ a little in regard to the way in which this 
 was accomplished, but all are agreed as to the fact. 
 English writers say that an immense funeral pyre was 
 erected, and when it was fired all the women threw 
 themselves into the flames. Hindoo historians say 
 that the fire was kindled in a large cavern in the fort, 
 and that all the v/omen of the city, several thousand 
 in number, with the Ranee at their head, then sol- 
 emnly marched into the cavern, and the door was 
 closed upon them and sealed by their male relations. 
 
Picdmunee, the Beautiful Cingalese. 3 1 
 
 Of course, they died almost instantly from suffocation 
 and the flames. 
 
 When this dreadful part of the tragedy was com- 
 plete, the Raja, with his army and the citizens, threw 
 open the gates of the city, fell upon the enemy, and 
 fought desperately until ail obtained the death they 
 .sought. 
 
 The Mahomedans, enraged by thus losing all their 
 human prey, destroyed the whole city, except the 
 royal residence, where the Raja and his beautiful 
 Ranee had resided. It was spared out of respect to 
 her memory. 
 
 Thus ended the brief life of Pudmunee the beauti- 
 ful. Her sad story is related by Hindoo parents to 
 their children up to the present time, and as they 
 grieve over Hindoo supremacy, so long passed away, 
 they weep for the beautiful woman who, with thou- 
 sands of others, passed away with it in a chariot of 
 fire. 
 
32 Gems of India. 
 
 DURGAVATEE, 
 The Warrior Ranee — ^A Chapter of Mogul History. 
 
 JWO hundred and more years had passed away 
 since the occurrences of our last sketch took 
 place. Meanwhile Hindoostan had been a great 
 theater of wars and intrigues. 
 
 « 
 
 The Mahomedan power was superseded, in 1526, 
 by the Mogul emperor Baber, the sixth in descent 
 from Tamerlane the Great. The Moguls were origi- 
 nally worshipers of the Delay Lama, but when they 
 emerged from their mountain fastnesses in Mon- 
 golia, and began their career of depredation, they 
 seemed to leave all pretense of religion behind them. 
 Afterward, however, when they mingled with Ma- 
 homedans they professed that faith, and, although 
 always more liberal in their views than the orthodox 
 faithful, they were counted as true believers. 
 
 Time passed on. Baber died in 1530, and was 
 succeeded on the throne of Delhi by his son Huma- 
 yoon, who, after a tempestuous and broken reign, 
 accidentally met his death in 1556. His son, the 
 renowned Akbar, was crowned emperor when but a 
 lad, and for fifty-one years reigned over the greater 
 portion of Hindoostan. 
 
 It was in 1564 that Asof Jah, one of Akbar's 
 
Dtirgavatee, the Warrior Ranee. 33 
 
 generals, was sent down into the Deccan to con- 
 quer the little province of Gurrah, that had hitherto 
 maintained its independence. It was then governed 
 by a Ranee who must have been a widow, as no men- 
 tion is made of her husband in connection with this 
 invasion and the disasters that followed. She was 
 acting as regent, as the heir was a child. She was a 
 daughter of the Raja of Mahoba, the capital of the 
 province of Bandulkund, and was very beautiful and 
 accomplished. What those accomplishments were 
 we can only guess. Probably she could read and 
 write, and was well versed in the poetical histories of 
 the gods. 
 
 When she became of marriageable age her hand 
 was sought by the Goand king of Gurrah, which ter- 
 ritory is now included in the provinces of Sangor and 
 Nerbudda. But the tribe of Chandails, to whom 
 Durgavatee belonged, was a very proud caste of 
 Rajputs, and her father, the Raja of Mahoba, was not 
 favorable to the suitor because he was one of the 
 aboriginal kings, and could not claim affinity with 
 the sacred twice-born Brahmins. He did not like, 
 however, to reject him outright, and so provoke his 
 enmity, and, perhaps, bring an invading army into 
 his own dominions ; so he cast about in his mind for 
 conditions that he might impose, which would be 
 very difficult for the Goand king to fulfill. 
 
 After mature deliberation, befitting the dignity of 
 such a high-born and lofty being, the Raja of Ma- 
 
34 Gems of India. 
 
 boba returned answer to the king of Giirrah that when 
 he should come with an army of fifty thousand men 
 be would receive the band of the Princess Dursravatee 
 in marriage. He thought it would be quite impossi- 
 ble for the poor aboriginal king to gather such an 
 army. Surely the gods would never allow an outcast 
 to have resources equal to that ! 
 
 The Mahoba Raja thought he had surely done an 
 uncommonly clever thing to find so easy a road out 
 of his difficulties. But, alas for human arrogance ! 
 the ruler of Gurrah had larger resources than his 
 neighbors dreamed of, and after a little drafting and 
 bribery he succeeded in gathering an army of fifty 
 thousand strong. Of course, he lost no time in march- 
 ing to the capital of Bandulkund and claiming his 
 promised bride, and as the condition imposed had been 
 fully met, the Princess Durgavatee shortly afterward 
 departed with her husband to his dominions. How 
 long the Raja of Gurrah lived after the marriage 
 does not appear, but probably only a few years, and 
 Durgavatee was left to rule over the province until 
 her son should attain his majority. 
 
 It is stated that at this period the province was three 
 hundred miles in length and one hundred in breadth, 
 and that there were about seventy thousand populous 
 towns and villaofes which had never fallen under the do- 
 minion of foreigners, not even of the Hindoos. There 
 are but few vestiges of such prospei ity now remaining, 
 but it is certain that the province was at least rich 
 
Durgavatee, the Warrior Ranee. . 35 
 
 enough to tempt the cupidity of the victorious 
 Moguls, 
 
 Great was the alarm in the peaceful, happy country 
 when it was rumored that Akbar s army was march- 
 ing to invade it The people must have known well 
 that there was but little hope of success in attempt- 
 ing to cope with the powerful Mogul legions, and 
 there is something pitiful, in the sight of a little 
 province like this being swallowed up by an over- 
 whelming force while bravely defending themselves 
 to the last This they had determined to do, and an 
 army of fifteen hundred elephants, eight thousand 
 horse, and some infantry, was put in order and sent 
 forth to repel the invading Moguls as best they might 
 The regent, DurgaVatee^ led her troops on to action. 
 She was mounted in a howdah, on a fine elephant, 
 and was clothed in armor, with a helmet upon her 
 head and a burnished lance in her hand. A bow and 
 quiver lay by "her side. 
 
 Her appearance at their head roused all the chival- 
 ry of the army, and, added to the love of national inde- 
 pendence, inspired every heart with courage and en- 
 thusiasm. They fought bravely, and twice routed the 
 Mogul army, laying six hundred of their horsemen 
 dead on the ^eld. Then night came on and both 
 parties retired from the field. The Ranee wished to 
 continue the assault, and not allow the Moguls time to 
 recover from their discomfiture ; but her generals did 
 not think best to follow her advice. This delay was a 
 
36 . Gems of India. 
 
 fatal error, as it gave time for the Moguls to bring 
 up their artillery, that had been detained on account 
 of the bad roads. 
 
 Thus reinforced, and extremely anxious to wipe 
 out the disgrace of being twice driven back by troops 
 commanded by a woman, Asof Jah ordered bis army 
 to advance in the early morning. The Ranee, with 
 a chosen band of men^ disputed his progress at a 
 narrow pass that opened the way to her capital ; but 
 they were forced to retreat from their position, as 
 they were so fully exposed to the fire of the 
 artillery. 
 
 The Moguls then rushed through the defile into 
 the plain beyond, where the defending army was 
 drawn up in order of battle, and made a vigorous on- 
 slaught. They were repulsed, however, by a desper- 
 ate party headed by the young Raja, who gallantly 
 urged them on to defend their country. Once and 
 again they beat back the Mogul hordes, and for the 
 third time were successfully meeting their attack, 
 when the brave young Raja was wounded so severe- 
 ly that his mother saw he would soon expire from 
 loss of blood. She ordered him to be carried to the 
 rear, where his wounds could be stanched, and the 
 movement of a few to obey her orders gave a welcome 
 and plausible excuse to those of the army who were 
 becoming dispirited to quit the field. They rushed 
 hither and thither in disorder, as if they supposed a 
 retreat had been ordered, and finally the unfortunate 
 
Durgavatee, the Warrior Ranee. 37 
 
 Ranee was left with only three hundred men to face 
 the whole Mogul army. She disdained to fly, and 
 bravely directed her little band of faithful men until 
 she was wounded in the eye by an arrow. She at- 
 tempted to draw it out, but part of the steel point 
 broke off and remained. Just then another arrow 
 passed through the neck of the poor queen, but this 
 she extricated intact. But nature could not endure 
 as her courageous spirit dictated. Her eyes grew 
 dim, a deadly faintness came over her, and she began 
 to sway from side to side in the howdah. One of her 
 faithful officers begged permission to take her from 
 the field, but she refused to allow him to do so. " We 
 are overcome in battle," she said, " but we will not 
 yield ourselves up to our enemies ; let your gratitude 
 and love now incite you to do that service for me 
 for which I lifted up your head, and which I now re- 
 quire at your hands. Hasten, I say, and let your 
 dagger save me from putting an end to my own 
 existence." 
 
 The officer burst into tears, and begged that as the 
 elephant was a very fleet one, he might attempt to 
 carry her to a place of safety. At this juncture the 
 enemy began to close round the elephant, and the 
 Ranee, fearing to be taken alive, seized the officer's 
 dagger and plunged it into her heart. Thus bravely 
 and unflinchingly died the Ranee Durgavatee. Six 
 of her highest officers fought like tigers to avenge 
 her death, and would neither give nor accept quar- 
 
38 Gems of India. 
 
 ter. They were at last cut down by overwhelming 
 numbers. 
 
 A monument to the Ranee Durgavatee stands in 
 the narrow defile where she defended herself and her 
 country so bravely but unsuccessfully. A pair of 
 large rounded stones, which stand near the monu- 
 ment, are supposed by the people to be her two royal 
 drums turned into stone, and it is rumored that they 
 often resound at midnight, and call the spirits of the 
 departed warriors together. It is the custom of trav- 
 elers who pass by this spot to gather some of the 
 crystals with which the place abounds, and place the 
 finest specimens upon the monument. Near this 
 memorable place flows the beautiful Nerbudda river, 
 whose marble rocks call forth the wonder and admi- 
 ration of countless travelers from every nation and 
 clime, and whose bed is paved with lovely agates, 
 many of which are covered by nature's photography 
 (it is supposed) with rare moss and foliage. 
 
 The Mogul power was for a long time in the as- 
 cendant through these valleys and upon these mount- 
 ains, but it yielded at last to the no less overbearing 
 rule of the Mahrattas, and they in their turn were 
 overthrown by the all-conquering English. 
 
 But, amid all these changes, the virtues and cou- 
 rageous spirit of the Ranee Durgavatee have been kept 
 in memory, and held in veneration by the scattered 
 remnants of the Goand tribe, and have been perpet- 
 uated by their historians and poets. 
 
Dtirgavatee, the Warrior Ranee. 39 
 
 The foregoing story shows conclusively that Hin- 
 doo females possess as noble and heroic qualities as 
 those of any age or nation. 
 
 A P.oman or a Christian queen could not have acted 
 more discreetly and courageously than the Ranee 
 Durgavatee. The rudeness and barbarity of the age 
 rendered it necessary that the defeated party should 
 either die, or live to suffer all the dishonor and igno- 
 miny that unfeeling and base men might inflict. 
 Hence it is no wonder that the brave young queen 
 preferred to die even by her own hand than live to 
 endure a dishonored existence. 
 
 There were instances where English women chose 
 death rather than life during the Indian Mutiny of 
 1857, and, when the decisive hour came, demanded 
 death at the hands of their husbands or brothers, that 
 ^.hey might not fall into the hands of the Sepoys. 
 They were upheld in their hour of agony by the 
 blessed hopes of the Christian faith, but no such help 
 had Durgavatee in her extremity. 
 
 If a heathen queen could act her part so well, what 
 may not her countrywomen become, and do, when 
 enlightened and elevated by Christianity .-* 
 
40 Gems of India. 
 
 4s^ 
 
 JODH BAIE, 
 
 The Hindoo Sultana— A Chapter of Mogul 
 History. 
 
 WHEX Baber, the founder of the Mogul dy- 
 ^^^ nasty, died, in I530,his son, Humayoon, be- 
 came ruler of Hindoostan. The empire was. how- 
 ever, so much weakened by cessions of territory to 
 three younger sons, that the Mahomedan princes of 
 Delhi undertook to expel Humayoon from the throne 
 and the countr}-. They w^ere assisted in this attempt 
 by the Portuguese and the Afghans, and were so 
 successful that Humayoon was a wanderer in the 
 outskirts of India and in Persia for about twent}-- 
 five years, when, with the assistance of a Persian 
 army, he was enabled to regain his kingdom. 
 
 About eleven years after being driven from Delhi 
 he married a beautiful young girl called Hameedah, 
 who grave birth the succeedinsr vear to a son. This 
 event occurred at a place called Amercot, a fortified 
 Hindoo city, whose ruler was at the time assisting 
 the dethroned monarch with troops and money. 
 
 Humayoon was on the march, when the glad tid- 
 ings that a son was born to him reached him. It is 
 an Eastern custom, upon the birth of a son, for the 
 father to bestow valuable presents upon his relations. 
 
Jodh Bale, the Hindoo Sultana. 41 
 
 friends, and servants ; but the impoverished and fugi- 
 tive monarch could not, of course, do this, so when all 
 the officers of the army hastened to his tent to offer 
 congratulations, he could only divide a pod of musk 
 among them. He called for a China plate, and, break- 
 ing the musk into pieces upon it, remarked : " I can 
 make you no greater present, my noble friends, upon 
 the birth of my son, but I expect his fame will one 
 day fill the world, as the perfume of this musk fills 
 this apartment." 
 
 This son was named Jalal-00-Deen, the " Glory 
 of Faith," and afterward surnamed Akbar, or the 
 " Great." After his birth the fortunes of his father 
 became darker than before, and the royal infant was 
 several times taken prisoner by his paternal uncles, 
 who by this time were also arrayed in antagonism to 
 Humayoon. 
 
 In 1555, however, by the help of his Persian allies, 
 the long-exiled king regained his throne, and six 
 months afterward was accidentally killed. He had 
 been sitting on the top of his palace to enjoy the 
 evening air, and was descending the stairs, when the 
 muezzin's call to prayer sounded from the minaret of 
 a neighboring mosque. The king attempted to kneel, 
 to repeat the usual prayer, but his feet became en- 
 tangled in his long robe, and he fell down the steps, 
 receiving an injury on the head which resulted in 
 death. 
 
 This event occurred early in 1556, and Akbar, 
 
42 Gems of India. 
 
 then only thirteen years of ao^e, was seated, ^vithout 
 serious opposition, upon the throne. For five years 
 he submitted peaceably to the sway of his capable, 
 but ambitious and arrogant, prime minister. By- 
 ram Khan, keeping a keen eye, however, upon the 
 course of events. It is probable that the wily pre- 
 mier thought he could keep the young king in that 
 subordinate position, but in this expectation he was 
 greatly mistaken. 
 
 Akbar was destined to make his long reign as illus- 
 trious in the annals o£ Indian history as is that of 
 his con temporary', Queen Elizabeth, in the histor}' of 
 England. He suddenly seized the reins of power, and 
 issued an edict that only orders signed by his own 
 hand were thenceforth to be obeyed. The enraged 
 premier at first rebelled, but was subdued and par- 
 doned, and, at his own request, was allowed to set out 
 on a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holy shrine of faithful 
 Mahomedans. But he was pursued by an Afghan, 
 whose father he had caused to be put to death, 
 and murdered before he could get away from India. 
 Akbar then set himself to face the situation, and 
 study the best means to attach his Hindoo subjects 
 to his person and d}-nasty. 
 
 It was a gigantic subject to consider. The Hin- 
 doos of the north-west were in a tolerable degree of 
 subjection and satisfaction with the Mogul govern- 
 ment. They had found it, on the whole, more endur- 
 able than that of the early Mahomedan rulers, and 
 
Jodh Baie, the Hindoo Sultana. 43 
 
 were content to accept situations in its military and 
 civil services, and be faithful subjects as long as there 
 should be no other way open. But in the Deccan and 
 Rajpootana it was very different. There were nu- 
 merous small Hindoo kingdoms all over these terri- 
 tories, whose male population were almost wholly 
 warriors. These warlike people could not be as eas- 
 ily subjugated as was the little kingdom of Gurrah 
 and other aboriginal tribes, and when subjugated 
 could not be depended upon to furnish happy and 
 peaceable citizens. Akbar resolved to try diplomacy, 
 and see if he could not attach some of the warlike 
 Rajputs to him by the ties of marriage. He there- 
 fore sent messengers to visit the Rajpootana chief- 
 tains, and to ascertg^in where there were marriageable 
 young ladies for whose hands he might sue. The 
 result of all this planning and negotiation was, that 
 Akbar received two Hindoo princesses in marriage — 
 one of them the daughter of the Raja of Jodhpore, 
 and the other the daughter of the Raja of Jeypore. 
 The latter princess, Jodh Baig, was to be the queen 
 elect, and her son the successor on the throne. 
 These Hindoo Rajas evidently did not think enough 
 of their faith to .sacrifice their worldly prospects for 
 it. Nothing could be further from the spirit of Hin- 
 dooism than to allow the daughter of a pure twice- 
 born Brahmin to wed with an outcast, which, accord- 
 ing to their belief, all people, even kings, are, if not 
 Hindoos. But the Hindoos are not bhnd to material 
 
44 Gems of India. 
 
 advantages, and can even sacrifice religious scruples 
 to gain them. 
 
 Of course, they knew that to refuse the offered al- 
 liance would be to bring the Mogul army at once 
 upon them, which would soon take from them every 
 vestige of feudal independence. They, therefore, 
 made a virtue of necessity, and with as good a grace 
 as possible consented to be honored by an alliance 
 with the imperial power. 
 
 No further mention is made in historv of the dau2:h- 
 ter of the Jodhpore Raja ; but Jodh Bale, as mother 
 of Jahangeer, the successor of Akbar, has honorable 
 mention. It is recorded of her that she was of a par- 
 ticularly amiable and affectionate disposition, and re- 
 markablv free from bisfotrv ; and such was her Intel- 
 ligence in matters of State, that the great Akbar did 
 not disdain to seek her counsel, and often to be gov- 
 erned by it. It seems a strange anomaly, indeed, 
 that the closely-indoctrinated daughter of a haughty 
 Hindoo prince should become the wife and com- 
 panion of the free-thinking and all-powerful Mogul 
 king, and that he should give her so honorable a 
 place in his affections and counsels. It is evident 
 that the Moguls had greater respect for women 
 than had the Mahomedans at that time, although 
 not more, perhaps, than the Hindoos. However 
 that may have been, the Sultana Jodh Bale was an 
 acknowledged power in the land, and the Hindoo 
 subjects of Akbar were drawn, through her infiu- 
 
JodJi Bale, the Hindoo Sultana. 45 
 
 ence, much closer to him than they would otherwise 
 have been. 
 
 The legislation of Akbar was of a wise, protective 
 kind, and the Hindoos were not slow to attribute the 
 protection and favor they enjoyed to the influence of 
 the good queen. 
 
 It is recorded by Hindoostanee writers that, some 
 months after the arrival of Jodh Baie in the king's 
 seraglio, she accompanied him on a pilgrimage to the 
 city of Ajmere. The object of this journey was to 
 visit the shrine of a celebrated moulvai, or priest, in 
 order to gain some assurance in regard to the birth 
 of a son who should be his successor. 
 
 The royal pair walked the whole distance of about 
 two hundred miles in stages of six miles a day. Car- 
 pets were spread the whole distance for the queen to 
 walk upon, so that her feet should not be injured. It 
 would be sad, indeed, for a Hindoo lady of high rank 
 to injure her feet, for they are colored, ringed, and 
 cared for as tenderly as are her hands. 
 
 The sultana could then walk pleasantly along her 
 carpeted way, untouched by the dust of the road, and 
 untroubled by observation, for there were kanats, or 
 cloth walls, erected on either side, so that her seclu- 
 sion as a purdah-nisheen, or vailed lady, should not 
 be violated. But even with all these comforts the 
 daily walk of six miles must have been rather violent 
 exercise for the high-born eastern lady, and one can- 
 not help surmising that a palanquin and bearers were 
 
46 Gems of India. 
 
 smuggled into the inclosure which assisted the royal 
 progress. However, in some way the pilgrimage was 
 completed, and high towers were built at the rest- 
 houses where the royal cortege halted each night. 
 
 In due time Akbar consulted the oracle in reg^ard 
 to the matter upon his mind, and in answer the priest, 
 it is said, appeared to the king in a dream, and 
 directed him to return to Agra, and to visit a priest 
 of great sanctity, called Sheik Suleem, who lived 
 twenty-two miles from Agra, at a place called Futte- 
 pore-Seekree. They performed this journey like- 
 wise, and presented themselves before the priest, who 
 predicted that a son would surely be born to them, 
 who would live to a good old age, and would attain 
 to great honor and glory. The king was greatly de- 
 lighted at this prophecy, and desired the priest to 
 take up his abode in the royal palace in Agra, and to 
 become his confidential adviser ; but he declined these 
 flattering proposals, and expressed his determination 
 to live and die in Futtepore-Seekree. 
 
 Akbar then resolved to remain in the same place, 
 and to remove his court there. He at once began to 
 arrange for mosques and palaces to be erected, and 
 the hitherto quiet hamlet became suddenly a theater 
 of royal display and splendor. 
 
 Within a year the Sultana Jodh Bale gave birth to 
 a son, to whom they gave the name of the priest 
 *' Suleem," as a token of their gratitude. This name 
 was borne by the prince thirty-five years, until he 
 
Jodh Bale, the Hmdoo Sidtana. 47 
 
 was raised to the throne with the title of Jahangeer, 
 or " Conqueror of the World." 
 
 There are still many remains of the palaces and 
 mosques that were erected in honor of the birth of 
 Prince Suleem. They are situated within a walled 
 inclosure which is seven miles in circumference, em- 
 bracing the two villages of Futtepore and Seekree. 
 Nearly in the center of this inclosure is a huge rock 
 more than a mile in length. The buildings were very 
 handsome, and were built in a very substantial man- 
 ner of red sandstone and marble. On one of the 
 principal gateways is the following inscription from 
 the sacred traditions of the Mahomedans : " Said 
 Jesus, on whom be peace, the world is a bridge ; pass 
 over it, but build no house there ; he who hopeth for 
 an hour may hope for an eternity ; the world is but 
 an hour, spend it in devotion." 
 
 After a few years it became evident that Futte- 
 pore-Seekree would never be popular as the Mogul 
 capital, and Akbar removed the royal residence 
 again to Agra. His Court was at this time most 
 brilliant. He affected great liberality of views in re- 
 Hgious matters, and welcomed learned men to his 
 Court for the purpose of discussion. Among these 
 were several Englishmen and Europeans ; and there 
 are reliable and very interesting statements from 
 them in regard to the customs and manners of the 
 Mogul nobility. The following paragraph gives a 
 description of the personal appearance of Akbar : — 
 
48 Gems of India. 
 
 " The door of the khwabgah (place of dreams, that 
 is, bed-chamber) opens, the large drums thunder 
 from the naubat-khnana (royal orchestra) over the 
 great doonv^ay of the palace. A nakib issues forth, 
 mace in hand, and proclaims in the monotonous 
 tone so familiar to dwellers in the East the titles 
 of his master. Immediately after him appears in 
 the doorway a broad-chested man of some what 
 advanced years. He is simply dressed, but there is 
 a certain chasteness in the simplicity which shows 
 that some little care has been taken to produce 
 it. The material is white muslin, but gold thread 
 is introduced in many parts with a very tasteful 
 effect. You remark his arm.s as they are unusu- 
 ally long, his face is very clear, and the color of the 
 blood so discernible as to give a rich tinge to his 
 olive complexion ; his eyebrows are joined and low- 
 ering, which tends to give a severe expression to 
 the excessively bright eyes which they half conceal. 
 This is Akbar. His appearance is the signal for a 
 loud and general cry of ' AUah-oo- Akbar,' ' God is 
 great ;' to which the king, standing still in the door- 
 way, and bowing slightly, responds, * Jilli Jallalihoo,' 
 'his majesty is glorious.' This form of salutation 
 and answer was orisfinated bv Akbar." 
 
 True to his policy, Akbar studied the Sanscrit lan- 
 guage, and paid great attention to Hindoo literature. 
 He interfered with none of the rites of their faith, 
 except the cruel practices that had corrupted it. He 
 
Jodh Bale, the Hindoo Sitltana. 49 
 
 forbade trials by ordeals, and the slaughter of ani- 
 mals for sacrifice ; also the marriages of children. 
 He sternly prohibited Suttee, or widow-burning, and 
 allowed Hindoo widows to remarry. On one occa- 
 sion hearing that his father-in-law, the Raja of Jodh- 
 pore, was about to force his son's widow to burn on 
 the funeral pile of her husband, he personally inter- 
 fered, and prevented the consummation of the deed. 
 
 He also put a stop to the practice of enslaving 
 captives taken in war. Almost the only innovations 
 upon religious customs which he made were in the 
 interests of humanity, and his magnanimous policy, 
 if carried out by his successors, would have wrought 
 a great change in the country. 
 
 But it was left to a Christian Government to 
 banish the cruelties of heathenism from the land of 
 the Hindoos, and to educate the people in the prin- 
 ciples of philanthropy. 
 
 There are no further menjoirs of Jodh Baie except 
 that upon her death — the exact date of which is not 
 known — Akbar issued an edict that the court should 
 go into mourning, and that the officers of the army, 
 Hindoo as well as Mahomedan, should shave the 
 mustache and beard. To make the matter sure, the 
 royal barbers were to execute this mandate. All 
 went on well until they came to the quarters of Rao 
 Bhoy, the chief of the tribe of Hara, an inferior 
 caste of Hindoos who were excellent warriors, and 
 had been in this capacity of great assistance to 
 
50 Gems of India. 
 
 Akbar. There they were repulsed with threats. 
 This rebellion was reported to Akbar, who was much 
 incensed at the intelligence, and forgetting for the 
 moment the great ser\'ices rendered him by the 
 chief recusant, ordered that he should be pinioned 
 and shaved by force. " But," says the historian, " the 
 barbers might as w^ell have attempted to shave a tiger ! '* 
 The Haras — as they were called— hastened to arm 
 themselves, and there would soon have been blood- 
 shed to commemorate the death of Jodh Bale had 
 not the king repented of his folly and hastened to 
 restore peace. He rode on his elephant to the 
 camp, and, alighting, sought the incensed chieftain, 
 and with words of praise and affection sought to 
 calm his perturbed spirit. Rao Bhoy was glad to 
 be conciliated, for he was strongly attached to the 
 king. With true oriental adroitness he excused 
 himself from obeying the mandate by saying, "An 
 eater of pork, like me, is unworthy to put his lip in 
 mourning for the queen I " i\s Mahomedans hate 
 swine's flesh, and high-caste Hindoos abhor all 
 meats, this excuse was very plausible. Akbar was 
 delighted to have even so much of an acknowledg- 
 ment as this, and, embracing the Rao, carried him 
 off on his elephant, as was his wont, to the royal 
 grounds. 
 
 Akbar erected a beautiful mausoleum over the 
 remains of Jodh Bale, which was to be seen in Agra 
 until about thirty years ago. It was then destroyed 
 
Jodh Laie, the Hindoo SiUtana. 51 
 
 on account of some improvements for the military, 
 by order of the British Government, greatly to the 
 regret of the antiquary and all those interested in 
 Indian history, and the memorials of that particu- 
 larly interesting period in it when the Mogul dynasty 
 
 was in power. 
 4 
 
52 Gems of India. 
 
 CHAND SULTANA, 
 A Chapter of Mogul History. 
 
 'HE reign of Akbar, although one of great pros- 
 perity and brilliancy within its own bounds, did 
 not carry peace and assurance to his neighbors. 
 
 Two of the most powerful Hindoo princes had 
 become bound to him by the ties of marriage, and a 
 few others being favorably inclined were allowed to 
 become allies, but all of the remaining powers were 
 under ban. 
 
 In 1568 the Mogul king set out on an expedition 
 against the city of Chitore, whose ruler had grievous- 
 ly offended him. This city, which was taken from 
 the Hindoos by the Mahomedans in 1303, when the 
 dreadful tragedy detailed in our second chapter was 
 enacted, had been re-occupied by the Hindoos for a 
 long time. 
 
 Akbar was provided with a powerful force of artil- 
 lery, and laid siege to the city in a very scientific 
 manner. The Raja had fled to the hills and left his 
 capital to be defended by Raja Jaimul, the brave 
 Rajpoot chief of Bednore, who he probably thought 
 would manage better than his own cowardly, inef- 
 ficient self. 
 
 The siege was protracted for some time, until at 
 
CJiand Sultana^ a Chapter of Mogtcl History. 53 
 
 length the gallant Raja, while inspecting his ram- 
 parts, was slain by an arrow from the bow of Akbar 
 himself Upon his death the garrison lost all cour- 
 age, and res.olved to end their suspense by quick and 
 entire destruction. Animated, probably, by a desire 
 to emulate the bravery of their fathers, they built an 
 immense funeral pyre for the body of the slain Raja, 
 and caused all their women to throw themselves into 
 the flames. The men then rushed out upon the 
 Moguls and fought with desperation until every one 
 was slain. Thus was re-enacted the fearful tragedy 
 that had thrilled India about two and a half centuries 
 before, but this time the city fell never to rise again. 
 It was wrested forever from Hindoo ownership. The 
 people were rich and prosperous when the Mogul 
 army, like a mighty flood, came pouring in upon them, 
 and Akbar estimated the weight of the golden orna- 
 ments that were taken from the bodies that were 
 found, at seventy-four and a half mans, or five thou- 
 sand nine hundred and sixty pounds ; therefore Hin- 
 doos have ever since held the numerals 74!- as ac- 
 cursed. It seems strange that men should be so 
 laden with ornament ; but then, as now, it was the 
 custom of the people, both male and female, to lay 
 their extra money by in this way. As they have 
 never had savings banks, this is almost the only way 
 they can lay a little money by for a rainy day. This 
 custom prevails at the present day ; and it is not an 
 uncommon thing to see laboring men with gold ear- 
 
54 Gems of India. 
 
 rings and silver necklet and armlets, while the women 
 have their nose-jewels and ear-drops, and neck, arms, 
 fingers, toes, and ancles laden with jewelry. 
 
 The provinces of Guzerat, Bengal, .Sinde, and 
 Candahar fell into the hands of Akbar durins: the 
 conflicts and campaigns of the next twenty-five years, 
 and in 1594 he found himself master of all his hered- 
 itar}* possessions, and all the country north of the 
 Deccan that had ever belonged to the kingdom of 
 Delhi. To the country south of the Xerbudda he 
 then turned his attention and his forces, with the 
 desire of adding the rich and populous pro\'inces 
 of the south countrs* to his already overgrown and 
 unwieldy empire. 
 
 In 1595 he seized an opening made by the rival- 
 ries consequent upon the throne of Ahmadnugger, 
 being left vacant by the death of the king, to invade 
 that city. Before his army reached Ahmadnugger, 
 however, the throne had been given to Bahadur 
 Nizam Shah, a child, and his aunt, Chand Sultana, 
 had assumed the regency. This lady was a princess 
 of Ahmadnugger, and had been married to the ruler 
 of Beejapore in 1564; but he died in a few years, and 
 she had returned, a widow, to her native city. She 
 now found herself placed in a position of great re- 
 sponsibility and danger. She was surrounded by 
 rival factions, all so eager in their private quarrels 
 that they gave no heed to the Mogul army that, un- 
 der the command of Prince Morad, the son of Akbar, 
 
Chand Sultana^ a Chapter of Mogul History. 55 
 
 was advancing upon Ahmadniigger. The sultana 
 alone was awake to the danger. She knew that, sin- 
 gle-handed, she could not cope with the Moguls, but 
 that she and all the rebellious subjects together 
 would fall an easy prey into their hands. She, there- 
 fore, sought, with all her woman's tact and power of 
 persuasion, to have the leaders of the feuds become 
 reconciled to each other, and to combine their ener- 
 gies against the common enemy. In this effort she 
 was successful, and the nobility and the common 
 people joined together as one man in preparations to 
 defend their capital. 
 
 The Moguls advanced and laid siege to the city, 
 and began to construct m.ines under the walls. Two 
 of these were discovered, and through the strict vigi- 
 lance of the sultana, and in obedience to her orders, 
 were rendered harmless ; but a third one was not 
 discovered, and blew up, making a large breach in 
 the wall. Upon this disaster some of the officers 
 supposed all was over, and prepared to desert the 
 defense and make good their escape. But the sul- 
 tana hastened to the spot in full armor with a drawn 
 sword in her hand. It is recorded, however, that, 
 even in this extremity, she wore a vail to hide her 
 face from the gaze of the soldiery. 
 
 Her brave, undaunted demeanor inspired some of 
 the troops with courage, and others with shame. 
 All rallied to the defense of the breach. Guns were 
 quickly brought into position to bear upon it, and 
 
56 Gems of India. 
 
 deal death among the ^Moguls who were striving to 
 rush through into the city. Rockets, gunpowder, and 
 combustibles of every kind that could be laid hold of 
 were thrown among the besiegers. The contest be- 
 came sharp and bloody. Prince Morad, at the head 
 of his fierce Moguls, was determined not to lose the 
 opportunity to get into the city ; while the heroic 
 sultana and her troops were fighting for life, and all 
 that makes life dear. It is affirmed by native histo- 
 rians, that, upon the supply of shot becoming ex- 
 hausted, the sultana gave orders for the treasury to 
 be opened, and the coin to be used in loading the 
 guns. First the copper was used, then the silver, 
 and, finally, gold mohurs and jewels flashed along in 
 brilliant, but deadly, lines upon the enemy. 
 
 At length, as night closed in, the Moguls were 
 obliged to retire, and the besieged city was left for a 
 few hours to repose. Of course this lull was taken 
 advantage of by the brave queen and her now en- 
 thusiastic soldiers. They had actually resisted the 
 IMoguls successfully once, and might do so again, and 
 always ; so with strong hearts and hands they set to 
 work to repair the breach in the wall of the city. 
 The sultana herself superintended the work, and by 
 morning it was accomplished. Outside help also ap- 
 peared with the morning light. Some neighboring 
 tribes, to whom the sultana had applied for aid, had 
 sent troops to her assistance, and as the blue mist 
 lifted they were descried in the distance. 
 
Chand Sultana^ a Chapter of Mogul History. 57 
 
 The Moguls saw the breach was repaired, and that 
 re-enforcements were approaching. They were with- 
 out provisions, and their valor was consequently 
 diminished ; therefore they made proposals of peace, 
 and offered to retire if Chand Sultana would cede the 
 province of Berar to the Mogul king. 
 
 The sultana had little confidence in the continua- 
 tion of the enthusiasm and courage which then ani- 
 mated her troops, and which her own heroism had 
 roused. She, therefore, thought it wise and prudent 
 to accede to the proposed terms of peace. So the 
 Mogul army was withstood, and the threatened dan- 
 ger for the time averted, by the courage and heroism 
 of a woman. 
 
 Encouraged by this successful stemming of the 
 stream of Mogul power that they had feared must 
 soon overwhelm them, the rulers of Ahmadnugger, 
 Beejapore, and Golconda formed an alliance to drive 
 the Mogul army over the Nerbudda river back to 
 their own territories. They brought an army of sixty 
 thousand men into the field, and attacked the Moguls, 
 but after two days' sharp fighting no decisive result 
 was reached, as both parties claimed the victory. 
 The Mogul army was crippled, however, and, although 
 not beaten back, found itself unable to carry on the 
 work'Of conquest ; and Akbar, becoming impatient, 
 proceeded in person to the Deccan. 
 
 Immediately upon his arrival he sent an army to 
 besiege Ahmadnugger and its brave queen. The 
 
58 " Gems of India. 
 
 poor sultana was at this time in the midst of greater 
 internal discords than before. She was literally sur- 
 rounded by enemies w^ho were eager to break the 
 Government up, hoping in the general confusion 
 that would ensue in some way to aggrandize them- 
 selves. 
 
 The sultana, understanding perfectly the faithless- 
 ness of her own people and of the neighboring 
 princes, endeavored to make terms with the Moguls, 
 and would probably have succeeded had not some of 
 her soldiers, instigated by her enemies, broken into 
 the women's apartments and put her to death. 
 
 So the noble, heroic woman met a violent death 
 at last ! 
 
 What a cruel thing is love of conquest, it holds 
 human life at so low a rate when it stands in the 
 way of success in cherished schemes ! It would 
 seem that Akbar might have been content with 
 Northern Hindoostan, and not have coveted the little 
 kingdom ruled by a brave but unfortunate woman ; 
 but even if he had been so magnanimous, it is in no 
 wise certain that Chand Sultana would have been 
 suffered to reign unmolested. In those warlike times 
 war was the rule and peace the exception, and was 
 never enjoyed by a kingdom for any length of time 
 unless it was stronger than its neighbors. Chand is 
 the Hindoostanee name for moo7i, and it may be said 
 that the clear moonlight of Chand Sultana's pros- 
 perity paled and disappeared before the blazing sun 
 
Chand Stdtana, a Chapter of Mogul History. 59 
 
 of Akbar's glory ! But her destruction did not prove 
 an occasion of good fortune to her home enemies. 
 The Mogul army gave no quarter, but plundered the 
 city and murdered all who withstood them ; and the 
 young king, the nephew of Chand Sultana, was sent 
 with his family as a State prisoner to the city of 
 Gwalior. This occurred in 1600, four years after the 
 heroic and successful resistance made to the Mogul 
 army by Chand Sultana. 
 
 This was almost the final act of importance during 
 the reign of Akbar. The close of his life was ren- 
 dered unhappy by the impatience of Prince Suleem 
 to take his position as king. He even went so far as 
 to take up arms against his father, but a kind pater- 
 nal letter made him lay them down again and re- 
 solve to wait his appointed time. But his conduct 
 had so alienated a large body of the nobility who 
 were deeply attached to the king, that when Akbar 
 was near to death they tried to persuade him to ap^ 
 point the son of Suleem, Prince Khushroo, to the 
 throne. But the king could not be swerved from his 
 purpose. He called for Prince Suleem, his beloved 
 son, who was, he believed, given to him in answer to 
 prayer, and made him bind the royal scimetar on his 
 side, as a token that the kingdom was bequeathed to 
 him. He then recommended his people, personal 
 friends, and the women of his zenana, to his protect 
 tion ; and after asking pardon of all around for any 
 offense he might have committed against thern, rer 
 
6o Gems of India. 
 
 peated the Mahomedan confession of faith, and died. 
 His death occurred the thirteenth of October, 1605, 
 in the sixty-second year of his age and forty-ninth 
 of his reign ; and " Akbar the Great '' fell into the 
 ranks of the past, and Suleem his son reigned in his 
 stead. 
 
 According to Marshman "Akbar was not only the 
 ornament of the Mogul dynasty, but incomparably 
 the greatest of all the Mahomedan rulers of India. 
 Few princes ever exhibited greater military genius or 
 personal courage. He never fought a battle which 
 he did not win, or besieged a town which he did not 
 take, yet he had no passion for war ; and as soon as 
 he had turned the tide of victory by his skill and 
 energy, he was happy to have his generals complete 
 his work, and to hasten back to the more agreeable 
 labors of the cabinet." 
 
 Akbar's religious opinions were far from being 
 fixed. Like Pilate, his inquiry was, " What is truth ? " 
 and he seemed to sincerely wish to know it In early 
 life he was a zealous, though not bigoted, Mahome- 
 dan ; but when about twenty-five years old his views 
 became very liberal, and he rejected all prophets, 
 priests, and religious ceremonies, professing to take 
 reason as his only guide. 
 
 It is supposed he had some idea of founding a 
 liberal religion, one that would embrace people of 
 widely different views and practices. He caused the 
 formula " There is no God but one, and Akbar is his 
 
Chaiid Sultana^ a Chapter of Mogid History. 6 1 
 
 prophet," to be proclaimed throughout his dominions. 
 This creed certainly abolished MaJiomed. But when 
 Akbar came to his last hours, and felt the weakness 
 of dissolution stealing upon him, he seems to have 
 been more humble than he was when at the zenith of 
 worldly prosperity, and to have wished to give back 
 to Mahomed the dignity of which he had sought to 
 rob him, by confessing with his last breath, '' There 
 is but one God, and Mahomed is his prophet." 
 
 In spite of his heterodox religious opinions, Akbar 
 was greatly beloved both by Mahomedans and Hin-' 
 doos. They all enjoyed toleration alike, and alike 
 shared the royal favor. All Akbar required of his 
 people was loyalty to the Government and honorable 
 dealing among themselves. He desired to have his 
 position secure by its being founded upon the love 
 and confidence of his subjects, of whatever creed or 
 standing. There were no religious tests to fit men 
 for office, but " neutrality in religion and protection 
 for all," was his motto. 
 
 The tomb of Akbar is at Sikundra, about six miles 
 from Agra. It was built by his son and successor, 
 who took so much interest in having it worthy of a 
 distinguished ruler and an indulgent father, that, not 
 being pleased with its appearance when nearly com- 
 pleted, he had it torn down, and rebuilt at an added 
 expense of fifteen lacs of rupees, or seven hundred 
 and fifty thousand dollars. It is an elaborate struct- 
 ure of sandstone and marble. 
 
62 Gems of India. 
 
 The tomb which contains the royal dust is in a 
 vaulted hall on the ground floor, and on the summit 
 of the building, surrounded by a beautiful screen of 
 marble network, is the upper tomb, under a canopy 
 of white marble surmounted by a gilded dome. Upon 
 it the ninety-nine names which are ascribed to God 
 by Mahomedans are sculptured, in Arabic characters. 
 Near by is another structure, said to be the tomb of 
 Miriam, a Portuguese wife of Akbar, and a Roman 
 Catholic. Not much is known of this lady, but it 
 seems certain that there was such an inmate of the 
 royal seraglio. Her mausoleum is now used for the 
 printing-press of the Anglican Church Mission. Our 
 delightful poet, Whittier, founded his poem of " Miri- 
 am " upon this item of history, and I cannot forbear 
 to make a quotation from it in bidding farewell to 
 Akbar, the Great Mogul: — 
 
 " Two leagues from Agra still the traveler sees 
 The tomb of Akbar through its cypress trees ; 
 And near at hand the marble walls that hide 
 The Christian Begum sleeping at his side : 
 And o'er her vault of burial (who shall tell 
 If it be chance alone, or miracle?) 
 The Mission Press with tireless hands unrolls 
 The words of Jesus on its lettered scrolls ; 
 Tells in all tongues the tale of mercy o'er, 
 And bids the guilty ' Go, and sin no more.' " 
 
Noor Mahal 
 
Noor Mahal, the Light of the Palace. 65 
 
 NOOR MAHAL, 
 
 The Light of the Palace — A Chapter of Mogul 
 
 History, 
 
 X^TJ^ZHO has not heard of Noor Mahal the beauti- 
 ^v f ul, the *• Light of the Palace," or Noor Jahan, 
 as she was often called, that is, the " Light of the 
 World," the chosen above the most lovely of the Mogul 
 seraglio ? who was raised to the highest rank by the 
 fascination of her wonderful beauty, and retained it by 
 her t'vlent and force of character. 
 
 Of her personal charms Moore wrote : — 
 
 " That loveliness ever in motion, which plays 
 Like the light upon Autumn's soft, shadowy days ; 
 Now here and now there, giving warmth as it flies 
 From the lip to the cheek, from the cheek to the eyes ; 
 Now melting in mist, and now breaking in gleams, 
 Like the glimpses a saint hath of heaven in his dreams." 
 
 And it is evident that the charms of her mind were 
 quite as superior as those of her person, for it was 
 not till the latter had become dimmed by her ap- 
 proach to middle life that she became the wife of Je- 
 hangeer, the " Conqueror of the World," who, when 
 Prince Suleem, became so deeply attached to her that 
 his affection lasted as long as his life. 
 
 This lady, whose career was so singularly fortunate 
 —in a worldly sense — was, in her infancy, dependent 
 
66 Gems of India. 
 
 upon charity for her very existence. Her ances- 
 tors were of good family in Teheran, in Persia ; but 
 her father, although a man of talent, was reduced to 
 poverty, and resolved to emigrate to India, hoping 
 to better his fortunes in the service of the " Great 
 Mogul." A Persian merchant was about this time 
 starting off with a caravan of merchandise for the 
 Court of Akbar, and Mirza Ghaias, the father of Noor 
 Mahal, obtained permission to travel in their com- 
 pany. It was not safe for families to travel alone 
 through the mountain passes and plains, with their 
 half-savage inhabitants, in those days, and travelers 
 always availed themselves of the protection afforded 
 by the caravan that yearly carried the products of 
 Persian fields and Persian skill to the Mogul capital 
 and the chief cities of Northern India. 
 
 The family of Mirza Ghaias consisted of his wife 
 and one son, and shortly after they began their jour- 
 ney a little delicate daughter was born. The young 
 stranger, who was destined to be for many years the 
 Sultana of India, was of such beautiful form and feat- 
 ure as to excite the admiration of every one who be- 
 held her ; but the father, unmoved by her beauty, de- 
 clared that he could not be burdened with her, and 
 placed her by the roadside, either to perish or be res- 
 cued by some man to whom providence had be- 
 queathed larger worldly possessions than to himself. 
 I'he wealthy owner of the caravan saw the lovely 
 infant, and (as the father quite probably expected) 
 
Noor MaJial, the Light of the Palace. Gy 
 
 inquired into the matter. The family and their 
 long-continued misfortunes were thus brought to his 
 notice. He was favorably impressed by the father's 
 account of himself, and promised to befriend him and 
 recommend him to Akbar. The little babe was to 
 be reared and educated with great care, wholly at the 
 merchant's expense. Meanwhile she was consigned 
 to her mother's arms again, having, by her brief ab- 
 sence, accomplished a total change in the prospects 
 and fortunes of the whole family. We can imagine, 
 however, that the mother's joy at recovering her lost 
 treasure exceeded that she experienced in prospect of 
 better fortunes. 
 
 How wonderful are the ways of Providence, and 
 with what insignificant means God can work out 
 great results ! Prince Suleem, the future ruler of In- 
 dia, was a man given over to the indulgence of all the 
 baser passions of his nature ; but Noor Mahal, the 
 queen and helpmeet whom God raised up for him, 
 rescued him from sinking into the depths of sensu- 
 ality and cruelty, and stood, like an angel of mercy, 
 between him and the people. 
 
 The caravan journeyed on toward the plains of 
 Hindoostan. We can fancy the long train of heavily- 
 laden camels as it drags its slow length along over 
 the sandy plains and across the shallow rivers, 
 through the months of the dry, cold season, when the 
 widest rivers shrink to brooks ; stopping sometimes 
 at night in the spacious court-yards surrounded by 
 
6S Gems of India. 
 
 little rooms forming the caravanserai, or hotel for car- 
 avans ; and again when, far from any such place of 
 safety, camping out in the open air, and depending 
 upon their own armed band and fierce watch-dogs for 
 safe-keeping. At last they reached Agra, the Mogul 
 capital at that time, and the kind merchant, according 
 to his promise, spoke so highly in praise of Mirza 
 Ghaias that a position of trust and emolument in the 
 service of Akbar was given to him. 
 
 Once installed in a place suited to his talents, 
 Mirza Ghaias soon rose to eminence, and became noted 
 for his excellent sense in matters of State, and for his 
 uncommon honesty. Akbar was delighted at the ac- 
 quisition he had made, for men of acuteness and in- 
 tegrity were as scarce at the Mogul Court as at most 
 courts, and in a few years the poor, despairing ad- 
 venturer became the most respected and trusted of 
 all the nobles at the Court of Akbar. 
 
 The mother of Noor Mahal was a clever woman of 
 cultivated intellect and manners. Like many Persian 
 ladies, she was skilled in the preparation and uses of 
 perfumes and cosmetics. It is said that she intro- 
 duced the famous attar of roses into India, and taught 
 a very few favored ones how to distill it. This delicious 
 perfume is made from the fragrant Bussorah roses. In 
 Persia and Cashmere large fields of roses are cultivated 
 for the manufacture of attar, and also of rose water. 
 
 Probably her skill in these delicate matters was the 
 reason why the mother of Noor Mahal was asked to 
 
Ncor Mahal, the Light of the Palace. 69 
 
 visit the royal zenana, within the walls of the fort of 
 Agra. She became a great favorite with the lonely 
 prisoners, who, even in gilded cages, found time often 
 lag heavily, and, with her young and exquisitely beau- 
 tiful daughter, always received a warm welcome. 
 
 Noor Mahal was blooming into rare beauty, and 
 it is no wonder that she captivated the young heir- 
 apparent. Prince Suleem, whom she often met in his 
 mother's apartments. As years went on and the 
 children were fast ripening into maturity, the watch- 
 ful mother of Noor Mahal became alarmed for her 
 child. She could not expect that Akbar would allow 
 the prince to marry Noor Mahal, and she was re- 
 solved that the beauty of her only and cherished 
 * daughter should not prove the cause of her ruin. 
 She, therefore, spoke to the sultana, Jodh Baie, in re- 
 gard to the attachment Springing up between her 
 daughter and prince Suleem, and expressed her de- 
 sire to remove her child from court. The sultana 
 promised to speak to Akbar on the subject, and 
 shortly after did s'o. The king Was alarmed, and, 
 calling the prince, explained to him that he must 
 choose his wives from political reasons, and begged 
 him to give up ail thought of the beautiful young 
 Persian. The prince promised to obey, but Akbar 
 thought best to make the matter sure by marrying 
 Noor Mahal to some one else. A fine young man, 
 called Sher Afghan, had long been proposing for her 
 hand. It is said the name Sher was given him be- 
 
JO Gems of India. 
 
 cause he had once killed a tiger — a sher — single- 
 handed. Upon him, therefore, her hand was be- 
 stowed, and Akbar presented them v/ith a jageer or 
 estate in Bengal^ and the young, couple departed for 
 their distant home. 
 
 Years passed on, Akbar slept with Ms fathers, and 
 Prince Suleem was crowned king of India, with the 
 title of Jahangeer^ or " Conqueror of the World." 
 
 It soon became evident that time had not weak- 
 ened the affection felt by Prince Suleem for the ob- 
 ject of bis boyhood's love. After he had reigned 
 about a year be sent his foster brother, Kutub-oo- 
 Deen^ as Viceroy to Bengal, and charged him in some 
 way to get possession of Noor Mahal, and to send her, 
 under the protection of an escort, to Agra. The line 
 of policy was to bribe Sher Afghan, by preferment, 
 to give his wife up to the king ; but, suspecting their 
 designs, he refused to act as an officer of government, 
 and signified that he did not consider himself in the 
 service of the Mogul king by leaving off the wearing 
 of arms. The Viceroy persisted in his proposals, 
 now openly made, and backed them with threats. 
 The high-spirited but imprudent husband became 
 indignant, and then furious, and attempted to murder 
 the Viceroy. Perhaps he wa§ purposely provoked to 
 this, in order to give color to the high-handed meas- 
 ures intended to be taken against him. However 
 this may have been, he was slain, and Noor Mahal 
 was forwarded to thie court at Agra. 
 
Noor Makaly the Light of the Palace. 71 
 
 It is supposed that she had become sincerely at- 
 tached to her husband, and deeply resented his foul 
 murder. From this or some other cause the mar- 
 riage, so ardently longed for by Jehangeer, did not 
 take place until four years after the death of Sher 
 Afghan. Noor Mahal was then thirty-four years of 
 age, and the king was forty-three. It was supposed 
 that Jehangeer was very unhappy during this long 
 separation. It was this estrangement that formed 
 the basis of Moore's beautiful poem, " The Light of 
 the Harem," in " Lalla Rookh." The following lines 
 bear especial reference to it : — 
 
 " Alas, how light a cause may move 
 Dissension between hearts that love ! 
 Hearts that the world in vain had tried, 
 And sorrow but more closely tied ; 
 That stood the storm, when waves were rough, 
 Yet in a sunny hour fall off, 
 Like ships that have gone down at sea 
 When heaven was all tranquillity ! 
 A something light as air — a look, 
 
 A word unkind, or wrongly taken, 
 O ! love that tempests never shook, 
 
 A breath, a touch like this hath shaken. 
 And ruder words will soon rush in 
 To spread the breach that words begin ; 
 And eyes forget the gentle ray 
 They wore in courtship's smiling day ; 
 And voices lose the tone that shed 
 A tenderness round all they said ; 
 Till, fast declining, one by one 
 The sweetnesses of love are gone ; 
 And hearts so lately mingled, seem 
 Like broken clouds, or like the stream 
 
72 Gems of India. 
 
 That, smiling, left the mountain's brow 
 As though its waters ne'er could sever, 
 
 Yet, ere it reach the plain below, 
 Breaks into floods that part forever." 
 
 But with all their pathos and beauty, these lines 
 are not at all suited to the case. It was no " slight 
 cause" that angered Noor Mahal, and kept her so 
 long from occupying the lofty position waiting for 
 her acceptance. 
 
 The following six lines are probably more just in 
 their application. They represent Jahangeer at the 
 feast of roses in the valley of Cashmere, where the 
 Mogul Court often removed during the hot season : — 
 
 " In vain the valley's smiling throng 
 Worship him as he moves along ; 
 He heeds them not —one smile of hers 
 Is worth a world of worshipers. 
 They but the stars' adorers are ; 
 She is the heaven that lights the star ! " 
 
 The following lineSj also, aije too beautiful to omit 
 from these pages, especially as the last two are ac- 
 tually inscribed over the entrance to a magnificent 
 audience hall which yet stands in Delhi. They are 
 the first words with which Noor Mahal tried her en- 
 chanted harp and voice in order to win back her 
 Selim's love : — 
 
 " There's a bliss beyond all that the minstrel has told, 
 When two that are linked in one heavenly tie, 
 
 With heart never changing, and brow never cold, 
 Love on through all ills, and love on till they die ! 
 
Noor Mahal, the Light of the Palace. 73 
 
 One hour of a passion so sacred is worth 
 
 Whole ages of heartless and wandering bliss ; 
 
 And, O ! if there be an Elysium on earth, 
 It is this, it is this ! " 
 
 At length, after four years of widowhood and just 
 resentment, Noor Mahal began to think more favor- 
 ably of her royal suitor, and contrived to place her- 
 self where they would meet. The king was quick 
 to perceive the change in her feelings, and renewed 
 his proposals with ardor. Their marriage was cele- 
 brated with great pomp and rejoicings, and the king 
 delighted then, and ever after, to crown his long-loved 
 queen with all the honors at his command. Thence- 
 forward her life was closely interwoven with his, and 
 her influence quite as great as his in the kingdom, 
 because she influenced him in every thing. He asso- 
 ciated her name with his upon the coin of the realm, 
 an honor never before bestowed by any king of India 
 upon his queen ; and consulted her upon State ques- 
 tions and all the details of Court politics. For her 
 sake he even denied himself the pleasure of continual 
 inebriation, and made a point of remaining sober 
 until the business of the day was finished. This 
 course, no doubt, added considerably to the dignity 
 of the Court. She exercised her influence, also, to 
 soften the cruel, vindictive disposition of the king, 
 and through her intercessions many poor, weak cul- 
 prits, more sinned against than sinning, escaped 
 undue punishment for their foolish complicity with 
 mischievous and intriguing political agitators. 
 
74 Gems of India. 
 
 The Court, under the loose control of Jahangeer, 
 had during the five years of his reign very much de- 
 teriorated. Instead of the learned professors and 
 theological discussions of the times of Akbar, the 
 disciples of Bacchus had full sway under Jahangeer. 
 Day and night the red wine flowed, and hilarity and 
 buffoonery filled the flying hours ; but with all this dis- 
 sipation there were a few men, with the king at their 
 head, who had brains and determination enough to 
 give a little time to business and to keep the wheels 
 of State in motion. Jahangeer's cruel vengeance was 
 also dreaded by all malcontents, and altogether mat- 
 ters went on more favorably than would seem possi- 
 ble under such a regime. With the entrance of Noor 
 Mahal into this mad, frolicsome Court came many 
 changes for the better, not suddenly and violently 
 made, but gradually and gracefully, so that the added 
 splendor imparted by her taste satisfied the craving 
 for magnificence so prevalent among Orientals, and 
 compensated them for the loss of the glare and flare 
 of barbaric and vulgar gayety. Her father, Mirza 
 Ghaias, who had long been one of the most honored 
 and faithful ministers of the Mogul Court, was now 
 placed at the head of affairs as vizier, or prime minis- 
 ter, and her brother, Asof Khan, was also raised to 
 a position and rank befitting the brother of the 
 queen. 
 
 One of the many accomplishments of Noor Mahal, 
 and which was particularly captivr.ting to Jahangeer, 
 
Nojr MaJial, the Light of the Palace. 75 
 
 is said to have been her facility in composing extem- 
 poraneous verses. Her courage and masculine tastes 
 also pleased him, and he used to boast that on a hunt- 
 ing party she killed four tigers, with a matchlock, from 
 her elephant. In every respect she seemed to be the 
 woman of all others fitted to occupy the position she 
 held. The king was reported to have said, ''' Before I 
 married her I never knew v/hat marriage really meant," 
 Her name originally was Mihr-ul-Nissa, that is, "the 
 Lady of Mercy," and was, quite likely, given her by 
 her parents in token of the kind charity of the mer- 
 chant who succored her, and became in consequence 
 the benefactor of the whole family ; but it is note- 
 worthy that she really was what her first name im- 
 plies, a kind and considerate benefactor of the needy. 
 She became the especial patroness of orphan girls, it 
 is said, and gave marriage portions out of her own 
 funds to several hundred girls who were left without 
 their natural protectors. 
 
 From the time of her marriage, Noor Mahal mixed 
 so much in public affairs that it would be impossible 
 to sketch her life without also giving the main events 
 connected with the reign of Jahangeer. 
 
 There were four sons of Jahangeer's who reached 
 mature age. Prince Khushroo, the eldest, the legiti- 
 mate heir to the throne, forfeited his right by Hsten- 
 ing to bad advisers, and allowing himself to be put 
 forward in place of his father when Akbar, his grand- 
 father, lay at the point of death. 
 
^6 Gems of India. 
 
 Jahangeer, however, pardoned his son, in consider- 
 ation of his youth and inexperience ; but after his ac- 
 cession the foohsh prince again appeared in array 
 against his father, and headed a band of rebellious 
 soldiers in attacking the regular army. He was de- 
 feated, and was sentenced to be kept in perpetual 
 confinement, as too turbulent a spirit to be allowed 
 to run at large. 
 
 Purvez, the second son, was a good soldier, but 
 lacked mental ability, and on this account was not 
 thought worthy to succeed to so responsible a posi- 
 tion. Prince Khurrum, the third son, was a fine 
 character. His mother was a Hindoo, a Rajpootnee, 
 of the same tribe as the Hindoo wife of Akbar and 
 her namesake as well, and her son possessed in a 
 marked degree the manly qualities peculiar to the 
 Rajputs, and was celebrated also for his fine taste in 
 art, and his good sense. He was married to Mumtaz 
 Mahal, the niece of Noor Mahal, and daughter of 
 Asof Khan, and, of course, the influence of Noor 
 Mahal was all in his favor. He early distinguished 
 himself as an able general, and was greatly valued 
 by his father for his usefulness in this capacity; for 
 Jahangeer had by this time become a confirmed in- 
 valid through his reckless dissipation, and was quite 
 unfit to take the field in person. 
 
 In 1612 Jahangeer sent an army into the Deccan 
 against Malik Ambar, but it was entirely defeated. 
 A second army, that was sent to re-enforce the first, 
 
f 
 
 Noor Mahal ^ the Light of the Palace. 77 
 
 arrived too late, and joined with it in retracing their 
 steps across the Nerbudda. 
 
 In 1 614 the Moguls were more successful in arms 
 against the Hindoos, and, with Prince Khurrum at 
 their head, completely overcame the Rana of Oodi- 
 pore, and compelled him to promise allegiance to the 
 Mogul king ; but the prince remembered that his 
 mother was a Hindoo princess, and restored to the 
 Rana all his territories, retaining him, however, as a 
 vassal of the Mogul Government. 
 
 In 1615, the tenth year of the reign of Jahangeer, 
 James I. of England sent an embassador to the Mo- 
 gul Court to arrange certain matters pertaining to 
 the rights and privileges of the East India Company, 
 then newly established in a few of the seaport towns. 
 Sir Thomas Roe was the name of the embassador. 
 He traveled in various parts of the Mogul kingdom, 
 and carefully noted every thing he saw. He was 
 quite dazzled by the magnificence of the Mogul Court, 
 but he formed a very low estimate in regard to the 
 comfort of the common people and the discipline of 
 the army. 
 
 In 161 7 Jahangeer determined to send another 
 expedition against Malik Ambar, and desired Prince 
 Khurrum to take the command. The prince, know- 
 ing that his father's health was insecure, and that, 
 in the event of his death, he ought to be on the 
 ground to assert his claim to the throne, hesitated 
 about accepting a charge that would take him away 
 
yS Gems of India. 
 
 to so distant a part of the country. It should be 
 borne in mind that there were no railroads then to 
 almost annihilate distance. The king bestowed the 
 title of Shah Jahan, or " King of the World," upon the 
 prince at this juncture, as if to settle the question of 
 heirship to the throne ; but the prince still felt him- 
 self insecure, especially as Prince Khushroo had just 
 been released through the mediation of Prince Purvez. 
 At last he accepted the appointment, on condition 
 that Prince Khushroo should be committed to his 
 charge and accompany him on the expedition. This 
 request was at once complied with, and the army and 
 the royal brothers departed to the Deccan, and again 
 invaded the territories of the indomitable and brave 
 prince. For a long time the Moguls gained no perma- 
 nent success, and Shah Jahan was obliged at last to 
 descend to bribery in order to gain his ends. By ex- 
 travagant offers he succeeded in corrupting several 
 Mahratta Rajas in the army of Malik Ambar, and 
 in 1 62 1 defeated him in battle, and compelled him to 
 purchase peace at a large sacrifice of treasure and 
 territory. 
 
 About this time Jahangeer fell ill with asthma, and 
 it was thought that his career was nearly ended. The 
 news was carried to the army, shortly after which 
 Prince Khushroo was murdered. Early one morn- 
 ino- his wife entered his tent and found him weltering 
 in his blood. 
 
 It was supposed at one time that this prince 
 
No or Mahal, the Light of the Palace. 79 
 
 might have regained the favor of his father through 
 the influence of the all-powerful Noor Mahal, if he 
 had acceded to her wish that he should marry her 
 daughter by Sher Afghan ; but he steadily refused 
 her offers from affection for the wife to whom he had 
 been for some time married. She urged him to accept 
 the offer, and thus increase his chances of winning 
 back his birthright ; but he was not to be moved. 
 She had been the patient and loving companion of 
 his long captivity, and accompanied him on this jour- 
 ney to the south. No wonder that she filled the 
 Mogul camp with her cries and lamentations when 
 she found the lifeless body of her murdered husband, 
 and refused to be comforted. 
 
 The foul deed was, of course, supposed to have 
 been instigated by Shah Jahan, but it was never 
 proved ; and many believed him to be incapable of 
 so great a crime. It certainly was not in keeping 
 with his general character. 
 
 It would naturally be supposed that this event 
 would have cleared away all the obstacles in Shah 
 Jahan's path to the throne ; but, strange to say, it 
 proved to be the beginning of a long series of dangers 
 and difficulties in his way. 
 
 It happened on this wise : Jahangeer partially re- 
 covered, and upon hearing of Prince Khushroo's 
 violent death v/as suspicious of Shah Jahan, believing 
 him to have been accessary to it. Noor Mahal had 
 recently married her daughter to Prince Sheriar, the 
 
8o Gems of India. 
 
 youngest son of the king, and her ambitious soul at 
 once conceived the project of taking advantage of the 
 king's displeasure toward Shah Jahan by advancing 
 the interests of her son-in-law. She was, of course, 
 by this time in love with power, and did not like to 
 fall from the high position she had occupied so long 
 and so well. It was evident that Shah Jahan would 
 be sole master if he became king, but she might manage 
 the younger and weaker prince, especially since he 
 had become her son-in-law. The king's health con- 
 tinued in a very precarious state, and Noor Mahal 
 decided to lose no time in beginning to undermine 
 the influence of Shah Jahan. 
 
 At her instance the king asked him to now un- 
 dertake the recovery of the distant province of Can- 
 dahar, which had been seized by the Persians. He 
 at first consented, and marched a short distance 
 north with his army, but halted and demanded that 
 some security should be given him before proceeding 
 farther. This demand was skillfully represented to 
 Jahangeer as an evidence of insubordination, and he 
 at once ordered Shah Jahan to send the greater part 
 of his army to the capital, that it might be put under 
 the charge of Prince Sheriar, who would take com- 
 mand of the expedition to Candahar. The chief offi- 
 cers were ordered to proceed direct to Prince She- 
 riar's camp. Shah Jahan remonstrated, but was 
 quickly ordered off to the Deccan. His estates in 
 Hindoostan proper, that is, north of the Nerbudda, 
 
No or Mahal, the Light of the Palace. 8 1 
 
 were transferred to Prince Sheriar, and he was told 
 to select an equivalent in the Deccan or Guzerat. 
 
 About this time Mirza Ghaias, the father of Noor 
 Mahal, died at an advanced age. He was a fine 
 statesman and accomplished courtier to the last. It 
 was said that just before he died the king went in to 
 speak with him. The sultana was seated by her 
 dying father, tenderly ministering to his wants. The 
 aged man's eyes were so dim that he did not at once 
 recognize his illustrious son-in-law. Noor Mahal 
 asked, " Do you know, my father, who it is that 
 is come to visit you .'' " He understood that it was 
 the king, and, turning his eyes toward him, replied 
 quickly, with true oriental exaggeration : — 
 
 " If a blind man in thy presence happened to be standing now, 
 Even he would surely know thee by the splendor of thy brow." 
 
 Asof Khan, the brother of the queen, became prime 
 minister upon the death of their father, and as he was 
 father-in-law to Shah Jahan, it is not surprising that 
 he favored his pretensions. Noor Mahal, therefore, 
 found herself in the minority, and resolved upon bold 
 measures. She persuaded Jahangeer to send for 
 Muhabbat Khan, a very able general, at that time 
 governor of Cabul, and enlisted him on her side. 
 The king meanwhile became convinced that Shah 
 Jahan was trying to usurp his authority, and put 
 several persons to death on suspicion of their com- 
 plicity with him. 
 
82 Gems of India. 
 
 Shah Jahan saw that his father was quite turned 
 against him, and, despairirg of a peaceable settle- 
 ment, resolved to fight for his throne. 
 
 Muhabbat Khan ^Yas placed in command of the 
 king's army immediately, upon his arrival at the 
 capital, and he proceeded at once against Shah Jahan. 
 That prince, in spite oi his determination to fight 
 since forced to do so, did not manifest his usual skill 
 in the action that ensued. The result was indeci- 
 sive, and Shah Jahan retired, soon after the engage- 
 ment, to the Deccan. If he looked for any help or 
 sympathy in that quarter he soon learned to the 
 contrarv. The Hindoo kinsis, whom he had brouo^ht 
 into subjection to the Mogul power, refused to give 
 him any assistance. Many of his soldiers, thinking 
 his cause a hopeless one, deserted, but he pressed on 
 to Telingana; and, gathering some adventurous spirits 
 as he m_arched, proceeded along the coast from Ma- 
 sulipatam northward, and took possession of the prov- 
 inces of Bengal and Behar, He then marched 
 upon Allahabad, where he was met by Muhabbat 
 Khan. An action ensued in which Shah Jahan was 
 defeated, and he again fled to the Deccan. This time 
 he found a friend in Malik Ambar, who had fallen 
 out with the king ; but Muhabbat Khan had too 
 many resources at his command to allow matters to 
 go on in this way. He pressed Shah Jahan so 
 fiercely that he was soon obliged to seek reconcilia- 
 tion with his father, and obtained it on condition of 
 
Noor Mahal, the Light of the Palace. 83 
 
 full surrender, and by giving two of his sons as 
 hostages. 
 
 So the unnatural struggle ended, and matters were 
 just about as they were before it began. Noor Mahal 
 ascertained about this time that Muhabbat Khan was 
 not favorable to the succession of Prince Sheriar to 
 the throne, and she resolved to effect his removal if 
 possible. She caused a charge of embezzlement to 
 be brought against him, and he was summoned to 
 Court to meet it. He came promptly, bringing five 
 thousand Rajputs along to help him plead his cause 
 if necessary. 
 
 He had, a little before this, betrothed his daughter 
 to a young man of good family, without asking the 
 king's consent, as was customary. This was reported 
 to Jahangeer, who became furiously angry, and 
 caused the young man to be stripped and whipped 
 with thorns in the presence of the Court, and confis- 
 cated his property. 
 
 The king and his Court were marching to Cabul 
 when Muhabbat Khan arrived to meet the charge 
 against his integrity. Upon his arrival he proceeded 
 to the royal encampment but was not allowed to en- 
 ter, and in every way was made to understand that 
 the sunshine of royal favor no longer shone upon 
 him. He saw that his case was a desperate one, and 
 resolved to take desperate measures. On the morn- 
 ing after his arrival the royal camp and army were to 
 cross the river Hydaspes. Jahangeer had been con- 
 
84 Gems of India. 
 
 siderably overcome with wine the previous evening, 
 and did not move on with the army, but remained 
 behind, with but a slender guard, to sleep off the 
 effects of the night's dissipation. Muhabbat Khan 
 saw his opportunity and improved it. Taking a small 
 body of men, he surrounded the king's tent and made 
 him prisoner. Jahangeer was overwhelmed with sur- 
 prise and indignation, but, as there was no help for 
 it, he allowed himself to be assisted upon an ele- 
 phant, and, with his indispensable cup-bearer and 
 goblet, was carried off to the camp of Muhabbat 
 Khan. 
 
 Noor Mahal disguised herself hastily and made good 
 her escape to the royal army across the river, where 
 she at once summoned the officers to concert plans 
 to rescue the king. The daring Rajputs destroyed 
 the bridge over the Hydaspes, and the imperialists 
 had no boats. They discovered a ford at a little dis- 
 tance, however, and soon began to march over with 
 the queen at their head. She was armed, and 
 mounted on a noble elephant. The Rajputs at- 
 tacked them furiously while crossing, pouring show- 
 ers of balls, rockets, and arrows upon the struggling 
 masses as they were trying to effect their passage. 
 Many were driven into the water. The guards of 
 the queen were cut down, and she herself narrowly 
 escaped. Her elephant was wounded, and its driver 
 killed. The order to retreat was given, and the de- 
 moralized Moguls endeavored to recross the river. 
 
Noor Mahal, tJie Light of the Palace, 85 
 
 The elephant of Noor Mahal, wounded, and deprived 
 of the guiding hand of its driver, was carried down 
 stream by the force of the current, and she was for 
 awhile in great danger ; but she was carried safely to 
 land at last, and when found by her terrified attend- 
 ants was calmly dressing the wounds of her little 
 grandson, who had been with her through the deadly 
 fray, and had been wounded by arrows meant for 
 her. 
 
 Finding herself outdone in the field, Noor Mahal 
 went to the rebel camp to join her husband, and 
 threw herself upon the mercy of Muhabbat Khan. 
 They were both treated with great respect, but were 
 held in strict captivity. 
 
 Muhabbat Khan took command of the royal army 
 and crossed the Indus to Cabul, where they en- 
 camped. Noor Mahal had, by this time, a perfect 
 understanding with the army through her skillful in- 
 trigues, and Muhabbat Khan felt that his position, 
 and even his life, were very insecure. Noor Mahal 
 offered him the royal pardon and favor if he would 
 join her in putting Shah Jahan down and raising 
 Sheriar, but the general did not like the idea of the 
 feeble-minded Sheriar for the ostensible king, with 
 Noor Mahal for the real ruler, and resolved to join 
 Shah Jahan and uphold his claims to the throne. He 
 accordingly drew his own troops off very suddenly 
 and marched to Sinde, where Shah Jahan was wait- 
 ing to watch the course of events. Noor Mahal 
 6 
 
S6 Gems of India. 
 
 was enraged at his desertion, and offered a large re- 
 ward for his apprehension or murder ; but her in- 
 trigues and schemes lor vengeance were suddenly 
 ended by the approach of a mightier king than those 
 of earth. Death came and summoned the Mogul 
 king to /lis court. 
 
 Jahangeer, in spite of his life of luxurious dissipa- 
 tion, lived to attain the age of sixty years. He died 
 October 28, 1627. Marshman says of him : " Pie v/as 
 contemporary with James the First of England. 
 Not only were their reigns of the same duration, but 
 there was a remarkable accordance in their charac- 
 ters. They were both equally weak and contempti- 
 ble, both the slaves of favorites and of drink, and, by 
 a singular coincidence, they both launched a royal 
 decree against the use of tobacco, then recently in- 
 troduced into England and India, and in both cases 
 with the same degree of success." As the father-in- 
 law of Shah Jahan was prime minister, and the great- 
 est general of the realm was his friend, his way to 
 the throne was now open. He at once took posses- 
 sion, and Noor Mahal, who for sixteen years had ex- 
 ercised so wide an influence in the kingdom, was now 
 obliged to retire to the shades of private life. She 
 was allowed a pension of twenty-five lakhs of rupees, 
 or one and a quarter million dollars a year. It is 
 probable that her daughter dwelt with her during 
 these last years of her life, for her husband, the un- 
 fortunate Prince Sheriar, was put to death by order 
 
Noor Mahaly the Light of the Palace. 8/ 
 
 of Shah Jahan, no doubt by the advice of Muhabbat 
 Khan. Noor Mahal lived in the city of Lahore, the 
 capital of the province now called the Punjab, that is, 
 the land of the five rivers, and busied herself in build- 
 ing a beautiful mausoleum for her royal husband. It 
 is said that she never wore colors after the death of 
 Jahangeer, but always dressed in pure white. She 
 lived in comparative seclusion, winning the love and 
 respect of all whom she mingled with by her virtues 
 and charities. She lived nineteen years after the 
 death of Jahangeer, and died at the age of sixty-nine, 
 in the year 1646. She was buried by the side of 
 her husband, and their tombs, in the beautiful edifice 
 she had erected, are preserved with great care. 
 
 The mausoleum stands about three miles from 
 the city of Lahore, in the midst of a delightful gar- 
 den, rich in all the luxuriant splendor of oriental 
 vegetation. 
 
 Another memorial of Noor Mahal is still in exist- 
 ence. It is the tomb of her father, Mirza Ghaias, or 
 Itmad-00-Dowlah, as he was entitled after he rose to 
 eminence in the service of Jahangeer. It is in Agra, 
 not very far from the famous Taj Mahal, in a beau- 
 tiful garden which had probably belonged to his 
 residence. 
 
 This memorial is inferior to the superb edifices 
 erected by Shah Jahan, and looks coarse beside 
 them. It is said that Noor Mahal wished to overlay 
 it with silver, but was overruled by her architect, 
 
88 Gems of India. 
 
 who represented to her the temptation it would be 
 to the people. 
 
 The name of Noor Mahal is familiar to the inhab- 
 itants of Northern India to this day, and is to them 
 a synonym for beauty and talent. Her likeness, in 
 miniature, beautifully painted on ivory, has been pre- 
 served, and many copies have been made, from one 
 of which the accompanying picture was engraved. 
 
Mumtag Mahal. 
 
Micmtaz Mahal. 91 
 
 MUMTAZ MAHAL. 
 A Chapter of Mogul History. 
 
 HE Moguls, in spite of their warlike propensi- 
 ties, were not devoid of culture, and the period 
 of their rule in India was particularly favorable for 
 poets and prose writers, whether novelists or his- 
 torians. They were more luxurious and elegant in 
 their tastes than the early Mahomedan rulers, and 
 were from the beginning great patrons of science 
 and literature. 
 
 The reign of Baber was so short that no great 
 change was effected in the tastes of the people ; that 
 of Humayoon was so broken and disturbed that 
 public tastes and morals rather retrograded than 
 otherwise ; but during the long prosperous reign of 
 Akbar, and the shorter but as prosperous one of 
 Jahangeer, science and literature flourished as they 
 never had previously in Hindoostan. 
 
 The reign of Shah Jahan was equally beneficent 
 and prosperous ; while in the magnificence of his 
 entertainments and his passion for splendid archi- 
 tecture he went quite beyond all his predecessors. 
 
 In 1628, a year after his accession to the throne, 
 he was proclaimed king in the city of Agra, and on 
 that occasion made a most gorgeous display of the 
 
92 Gems of India. 
 
 wealth of the royal treasury. A suite of tents was 
 manufactured of the finest Cashmere shawls, for 
 royal occupation. He revived the ancient Hindoo 
 custom of being weighed against gold, silver, and 
 gems, which were afterward distributed among the 
 courtiers. Vases were filled with gems and waved 
 over his head, and then emptied on the floor for a 
 general scramble. The expense of these festivities 
 was estimated at seven and a half millions of dollars. 
 
 He was a liberal patron of poets, prose writers, 
 and musicians, and left the impress of his genius 
 and taste upon the face of the country as no other 
 monarch has done. 
 
 The present city of Delhi was built by him, and 
 was called Shahjahanabad, or the " City of Shah Ja- 
 han." It stands about five miles from the ruins of the 
 old city, and is in a fair state of preservation in spite 
 of the many sanguinary events which have transpired 
 within its walls. The city has ten gates. Its massive 
 wall is five and a half miles in circumference, and 
 that of the fort is one and a half miles around, with 
 two strongly fortified gates. Within this fort are the 
 royal palace and mosque, and two fine audience halls. 
 These buildings are all of beautiful marble, except the 
 Diwan-i-Amm, or Hall of Audience for the Common 
 People. That is a fine structure of red sandstone. 
 The Diwan-i-Khass, or Hall of Select Audience, was 
 the place where, more than anywhere else. Shah 
 Jahan displayed his glory before the people. It is 
 
Mumtaz Mahal. 93 
 
 a fine open hall, with pillars and arches all of white 
 marble. The pillars and cornices are beautifully or- 
 namented with flowers in mosaic of precious stones 
 and gilding, and on the latter at each corner of the 
 hall, is sculptured and overlaid with gold the far- 
 famed sentence, '* If there be a Paradise on earth it 
 is here," 
 
 The ceiling was once covered with silver filagree 
 work, but it was taken off and coined by the Mah- 
 ratta conquerors in 1759. It amounted to about 
 eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The mar- 
 ble table on which stood the famous peacock throne 
 is still there, but the golden peacocks no longer 
 spread their jeweled tails beneath the pearl-fringed 
 golden canopy under whose shelter the " king of the 
 world" used to give audience to the nobles of his 
 realm. 
 
 A parrot, cut out of a single emerald, stood between 
 the two sparkling peacock tails ; and two velvet um- 
 brellas, fringed with pearls, stood on either side. 
 These almost priceless gems of nature and art were 
 all carried off by the Persian invader, Nadir Shah, 
 in 1739. 
 
 The royal palace, baths, and mosque are all of 
 marble, and, with the exception of the latter, are 
 ornamented with mosaic of precious stones, arranged 
 in flowers and fantastic designs, gilding and sculp- 
 tured flowers in the cornices and around the windows 
 pf marble network. Much of this beautiful work has 
 
94 Gems of India. 
 
 been defaced, and the stones extracted, and paint 
 has been used to repair it. 
 
 The rooms for the women are small and low, but 
 cool and bright — gilded cages they might well be 
 termed ; and, O ! how weary the dark-eyed inmates 
 must have become of their unvarying splendor ! 
 What longing glances they must have cast out of the 
 marble lattice over the blue waters of the Jumna, 
 and the hazy, far-reaching plains beyond ! 
 
 It seems to have been the custom of the Moguls to 
 name the royal mosque the Pearl Mosque, probably 
 because they are built of such small but perfect pro- 
 portions. The one here is a pearl — the pearl of 
 mosques. It is a square platform of marble, with a 
 wall on three sides, of the same material, with scal- 
 loped top, while on the fourth side is the place for 
 prayer and preaching, surmounted by three pearl-like 
 domes of dazzling whiteness and perfect symmetry. 
 The stand where the preacher, or moulvai, stands, is 
 ornamented with carved marble work of exquisite 
 finish. 
 
 The past and present are placed in close juxtaposi- 
 tion within the walls of the Delhi fort. On one side 
 are these beautiful and grand memorials of the past, 
 and on the other stand several fine modern barracks 
 for English soldiers ; while the cabbages and onions 
 of the soldiers' gardens flourish under the shadows 
 of Shah Jahan's chaste and elegant creations. 
 
 There is a magnificent mosque outside the fort, and 
 
Miimtaz Mahal. 95 
 
 not far from it, called the Jama Musjid, or " Clothes 
 Mosque." There is always one such mosque at least 
 in every Mahomedan city. The first word is often 
 corrupted into Jiunma, but the real word is Jama, or 
 clothes, and is so named from the beautiful custom 
 of having a store-room connected with the mosque, 
 where clothing is kept for distribution to the needy 
 among the faithful ; and close by which, a saraee, or 
 hotel, is always open for the reception of Mahom- 
 edan travelers, especially pilgrims to Mecca. They 
 are fed and clothed gratis for a few days, and 
 a small sum of money is given to each as he sets 
 off again on his journey. Is not this custom wor- 
 thy of being adopted and adapted by all Christian 
 Churches t 
 
 The lovely Mumtaz Mahal never saw these beauti- 
 ful palaces and mosques, for she had been moldering 
 back to dust long before they were even conceived 
 in the mind of Shah Jahan. But it is probable that 
 she was the indirect cause of their erection, for the 
 building of her surpassingly beautiful mausoleura 
 brought so many skilled workman into the country, 
 and was such a perfect success, that Shah Jahan's 
 taste for fine architecture was developed, and he de- 
 termined to build a new and more splendid Delhi. 
 
 Mumtaz Mahal, the favorite queen of Shah Jahan j, 
 the fifth Mogul emperor, was the daughter of Asof 
 Khan, the brother of Noor Mahal, and was even more 
 beautiful than her celebrated aunt. Her real name 
 
g6 Gems of India. 
 
 was Arzoomund Banoo Begum, and the title of Mum- 
 taz Mahal, or the " Chosen of the Palace," was be- 
 stowed upon her by the king on account of his 
 affection and preference for her above all the other 
 inmates of the royal seraglio. 
 
 She was married to Shah Jahan in 1615, while he 
 was only Prince Khurrum, and was greatly beloved 
 and honored by him. She shared all his campaigns 
 and perils, and rejoiced to see him surmount them 
 all, but was not spared long to enjoy the pre-eminence 
 so long waited and sought for. She died two years 
 after he came to the throne. This event occurred 
 during a campaign in the Deccan, on which she 
 accompanied her husband. 
 
 When it became evident that she had only a few 
 hours to live the king was sent for, and she made 
 two requests of him. One was, that he should not 
 exalt another wife to her position as queen ; and the 
 second was, that he would build a tomb for her that 
 should command the admiration of the whole world. 
 
 He probably granted both these requests ; certain 
 it is that he fulfilled the latter. He long mourned 
 his chosen and faithful companion, and the solace of 
 the greater portion of his after life was to superintend 
 the erection of the mausoleum, that should hand the 
 name of his beloved queen, conjointly with his own, 
 down to succeeding generations. 
 
 The remains of Mumtaz Mahal were carried to 
 Agra and deposited in the beautiful garden where the 
 
Miimtaz Mahal. 97 
 
 mausoleum was afterward erected. It was her favor- 
 ite resort when in the enjoyment of health and mani- 
 fold earthly blessings. She passed many pleasant 
 hours with her husband and children in its cool, 
 fragrant groves, and it was probably selected by her 
 as the spot where, " brief life and its fever o'er," the 
 king and herself should be buried. 
 
 Shah Jahan, immediately upon his return to Agra, 
 set about the work that lay upon his heart. He 
 sent for various plans and models from different coun- 
 tries, and read descriptions of all the celebrated mon- 
 uments he could hear of At last an architect, who 
 was sent to him by the sultan of Turkey, furnished 
 him with the model of the Taj Mahal as it now 
 stands. 
 
 The garden in which the Taj Mahal and the mosque, 
 with its answering edifice, stand, lies on the bank of 
 the Jumna river, about one mile east of the Agra fort. 
 The road to it is cut through mounds of the ruins of 
 ancient palaces. The entire garden is inclosed by a 
 high wall of red sandstone, with cloisters around the 
 interior. The lofty gateway is of the same material, 
 surmounted by a row of small white marble domes. 
 The whole structure is beautifully ornamented with 
 white marble, in which are inscriptions from the 
 Koran inlaid with black marble. The beautiful gar- 
 den, which is kept in the finest order under the su- 
 perintendence of an English gardener, is filled with 
 every variety of flower, and shrub, and tree obtainable. 
 
98 Gems of Ixdia. 
 
 Lemon and orange, fig and mango, plantain, palm, 
 bamboo, and cypress trees abound; while jasmine, 
 honeysuckle, and various other flowering vines and 
 plants perfume the air with their fragrant blossoms, 
 and the bussorah, cloth of gold, and Marshal Xeil 
 roses vie with each other in sweetness. 
 
 The poinsetta, w4th its brilliant crimson leaves, 
 and the eccentric cactus, and the angular, but fra- 
 grant-flowering gulacheen, or China rose tree, wiih 
 many other tropical growths, beautify this lovely 
 spot, in the midst of which repose the ashes of Mum- 
 taz Mahal and Shah Jahan in their right royal 
 receptacle. 
 
 Several fountains are scattered throusfhout the 
 premises, which, when at play, give a refreshing cool- 
 ness to the atmosphere, and thus, in a measure, sup- 
 ply the only lacking charm of this exquisitely lovely 
 spot. 
 
 The building stands upon a high platform of mar- 
 ble, with a lofty minaret at each corner. It is square, 
 with the comers truncated or flattened, and is sur- 
 mounted by a dome, the peculiarity of which is, that 
 it is slightly smaller at its base than at its center. 
 This unusual formation causes the illusion by moon- 
 light of its seeming to expand, and the looker-on 
 half expects to see it burst, and the whole fairy-like 
 creation vanish hke " the baseless fabric of a \-ision." 
 
 The dome is fifty feet in diameter by eighty in 
 height. It tapers to a point, and is crowned by the 
 
Miuntaz Mahal. 99 
 
 significant crescent, that unfailing symbol of the 
 Moslem. Four small domes cluster around the cen- 
 tral and superior one. The four sides of the building 
 are precisely alike. In the center of each is a high 
 pointed arch, and these form the entrance to the 
 apartment under the dome, in which are the tombs of 
 the Mogul king and queen. Not the true ones ; they 
 are below on the ground floor, and are often decked 
 with flowers by Mohamedan visitors ; but these are 
 directly above, and represent them. 
 
 Around these upper tombs is a marble screen six 
 feet high, with one open space for entrance to them. 
 The spaces on either side the pointed tops of the en- 
 trance arches, the tombs, and the narrow panels be- 
 tween the lattice-work slabs of the screen, are inlaid 
 with precious stones in flowers. Jasper, lapis lazuli, 
 agate, carnelian, bloodstone, onyx, amethyst, and 
 other valuable and beautiful stones, were used in 
 this work. The cornice and various parts of the 
 room are inlaid with inscriptions from the Koran in 
 black marble. Mahomedans claim that the whole of 
 the Koran is thus inscribed upon the Taj, but that 
 is, undoubtedly, an exaggeration. The room is wain- 
 scoted with the most delicately-sculptured flowers in 
 bass-relief upon the marble panels. 
 
 The prevailing impression made upon the mind by 
 this exquisite room is purity, the marble is so pure 
 and so beautifully wrought and polished ; while the 
 gleams of color from the precious stones in the few 
 
lOO Gems of India. 
 
 places where they are used, serve to keep the apart- 
 ment from seeming cold and gloomy. 
 
 There is a wonderful echo in the dome, which is 
 delightful, if only single notes are used, but it is pain- 
 ful to the ear otherwise. 
 
 The whole structure is of dazzling marble, almost 
 entirely white, and is so perfect in all its details as to 
 be without its equal in the world. It has been called 
 a marble poem. 
 
 The following anonymous lines appeared in an 
 English journal in India a few years ago : — 
 
 THE TAJ MAHAL. 
 
 *' With minarets of marble rising stately from a sea 
 
 Of the dark-leaved mango's foliage streaked by the jaman tree, 
 
 Up to the empyrean where the crescent glitters bright, 
 
 Calm and unchanged still shining through the fall of Moslem might, 
 
 One majesty of whiteness the Taj of Agra stands, 
 
 Like no work of human builder, but a care of angel hands. 
 
 Look down the entrance vista through the lofty sandstone door ; 
 
 How near it seems, though distant five hundred yards or more. 
 
 So down the shadowy vista of twice one hundred years 
 
 The past becomes the present, and the distant near appears, 
 
 And in a vision rises before the raptured eye 
 
 The splendor of the monarch who ruled in days gone by. 
 
 When 'neath the shade of snow-white domes, with pmnacles of gold, 
 
 In royal state, surrounded by pomp and wealth untold, 
 
 He sat dispensing justice, or discussed affairs of weight, 
 
 With councilors and princes of many a subject State ; 
 
 Or when summoned to the conflict with a vast array he spurred, 
 
 To wreak upon Golconda the vengeance long deferred. 
 
 But see ! — the sinking sun the fort in strong relief has brought, 
 
 Whose lengthening shadow forward creeps, as though it fondly thought 
 
 To reach the Taj and converse hold of glories passed away. 
 
 To hear the deeds of Shah Jahan and tell of Akbar's sway. 
 
Miimtaz Mahal. lOi 
 
 But the cruel sun in sinking turns the shadow from its goal, 
 
 And between, a bar forever, the Jumna's waters roll ; 
 
 And as the light grows fainter, and clouds lose their golden rim, 
 
 The vision also changes, and its glory waxes dim. 
 
 The mighty realm is \.oxvl by strife, the notes of war resound ; 
 
 Disgraced, deposed by filial hands, the monarch stands uncrowned ! 
 
 His servants fled, for none were found of all the craven band 
 
 For the beleagured sovereign in peril firm to stand ! 
 
 ' Ere death call no man happy, lest the future evil bring/ 
 
 Such the moral history teaches to the peasant and the king. 
 
 But though the sovereign's sunset days were clouded o'er by ill, 
 
 A token of his glory — the Taj stands firmly still. 
 
 Majestic shrine of other days, to thee the power belongs 
 
 To resist the flight of ages and to awe the stranger-throng ; 
 
 Long as the sacred Jumna o'er its bed of sand shall flow. 
 
 Thy glorious dome to heaven shall raise its massive breast of snow ;■ 
 
 For the spirit of the monarch and the builder's art combine 
 
 To guard from lightning's levin-bolt, and time's decay, the shrine." 
 
 The common workmen on the Taj did not receive 
 wages, but were daily suppHed with food ; but it is 
 said that the officials, whose duty it was to deal out 
 the rations, took such heavy toll that there was 
 great distress and mortality among them. A poet 
 of that time describing these events says the poor 
 laborers used to cry out, 
 
 " O God, relieve our misery, 
 Else with the queen we also die ! '* 
 
 Twenty thoysand workmen were seventeen years 
 in building this mausoleum and the edifices con- 
 nected with it. 
 
 The cost of the Taj was about nine million dol- 
 lars. It is said that there were silver doors at the 
 
I02 Gem5 of India. 
 
 four arched entrances, and that thev were taken awav 
 when :iie Jats conquered and sacked Agra, 
 
 The measurements of this celebrated spot are as 
 follows : — 
 
 "The inclosure, including the garden and outer 
 court, is a parallelogram of one thousand eight hun- 
 dred and sixty-feet by more than one thousand feet 
 The outer court (which is a saraee, or hotel) is sur- 
 rounded by small rooms for travelers, built against 
 the wall, and all opening into the central court-yard, 
 and has four gateways. It is an oblong, occupjing 
 in length the whole breadth of the inclosure, and is 
 about four hundred and fifty feet deep. The platform 
 is eighteen feet high, and is an exact square of three 
 hundred and thirteen feet each way. The four min- 
 arets at the comers are one hundred and thirt}-- three 
 feet high, and are crowTied with little open domes or 
 pa\ihons. The mausoleum itself occupies a space of 
 one hundred and eightv'-six feet square in the center 
 of the platform. 
 
 On the left of the Taj, from the garden side, is a 
 mosque of red sandstone, with three marble domes ; 
 and on the right is a similar building, called the 
 Juwab, or Answer, as it was built to preser\'e the 
 s}-mmetry of the whole design. This building is, in 
 these latter days, often appropriated to the use of 
 European travelers and parties of pleasure, and is 
 thought to be a particularly suitable place for newly- 
 married couples to reside during the honeymoon. 
 
MiuHtaz Mahal. 103 
 
 But we must now leave this wonderful creation, 
 which can never be fully described by the pen of the 
 writer nor portrayed by the brush of the artist, and 
 follow the fortunes of its projector and builder. 
 
 After a series of campaigns in the Deccan, eight 
 years in duration, peace was established, and the re- 
 sult to the Mogul Government was the acquisition 
 of part of the kingdom of Ahmadnugger, and of an 
 annual subsidy from the king of Golconda. 
 
 Meanwhile the Portuguese had obtained a foot- 
 hold in Bengal. They had been allowed to establish 
 a factory at Hooghly, and they had improved the 
 opportunity afforded them by also building a fort 
 and mounting it with guns. They soon grew in- 
 solent and rapacious, and their conduct was reported 
 to the king. Shah Jahan had received a repulse 
 from Michael Rodrigues, the head of the Portuguese 
 colony, when he asked for assistance during his mis- 
 fortunes, and he now sent the order, " Let the idol- 
 aters be immediately expelled from my dominions." 
 Upon receiving this peremptory message, the Mogul 
 viceroy in Bengal at once attacked the Portuguese 
 and gained a complete victory over them. They 
 killed over a thousand men, and took four thousand 
 men and women prisoners. The most beautiful 
 among the latter were forwarded to the king. This 
 event occurred in 1632, and was the end of Portu- 
 guese power in Bengal. 
 
 In 1637 the Persian governor of Candahar rebelled 
 
I04 Gems of India, 
 
 against his king, and made the province aver to the 
 Moguls, to whom it formerly belonged. He then 
 sought refuge in the Mogul capital^ where he was 
 received with great favor by Shah Jahan, and was 
 employed by him in military operations. Marsbman 
 says of this general, Ali Merdan, that " bis fame has 
 been perpetuated in India by the great public works 
 which he executed, and more especially by the canal 
 near Delhi, distinguished by his name, which has 
 proved an incalculable blessing to the country it 
 irrigates." It seems, therefore, that his talents were 
 not confined to military tactics. 
 
 For the next ten years the Mogul Government 
 carried on expensive and fruitless military operations 
 beyond the river Indus, but at length relinquished 
 their plans for conquest in that quarter. They were, 
 however, obliged presently to take the field against 
 the Persians, who had retaken Candahar. The 
 IMoguls made three efforts to recover their ancient 
 inheritance, but were unsuccessful. 
 
 In 1655 Shah Jahan renewed offensive operations 
 in the Deccan, and the war then begun continued 
 for fifty years to harass the Mogul Government, and, 
 doubtless, hastened its downfall. Aurungzebe, the 
 third son of Shah Jahan, was the commander of the 
 southern army, and conducted the war with mingled 
 craft and bravery. 
 
 In 1656 the king of Golconda was defeated, and 
 reduced to submission •, and the succeeding year 
 
Mumtaz Mahal. 105 
 
 Aurungzebe attacked the king of Beejapore, and would 
 probably have extinguished the independence of that 
 kingdom had not the news of his father's serious ill- 
 ness reached him just at the time. He was anxious 
 to hasten to Agra, to join in the contest for the 
 throne, and, having obtained a large sum of money 
 from the king of Beejapore, he concluded a treaty 
 whith him, and hastened, with his army, northward. 
 
 Shah Jahan had four sons, and each happened at 
 this time to be in command of an army. Each was 
 also of the opinion that he was well fitted to succeed 
 his father, and was willing, for the public good, to take 
 up the cares of Government. " Uneasy lies the head 
 that wears a crown," and yet foolish mortals covet the 
 glittering symbol of power even if accompanied with 
 disquietude. In no event of life is the willingness 
 to suffer for the good of others so brilliantly exem- 
 plified as when a responsible and honorable official 
 position is in question. 
 
 Dara, the eldest son, was a talented and haughty 
 man, and had been declared the successor to the 
 throne by Shah Jahan. Soojah, the second son, was 
 viceroy of Bengal, and was also a man of talent and 
 energy, but was dissipated in his habits. Aurung- 
 zebe was able, ambitious, and cunning, and, unhke 
 his brothers, who were free-thinkers, was a bigoted 
 Mahomedan. Morad, the youngest, was a drunkard. 
 Soojah, upon hearing the news, hastened from Ben- 
 gal with his army. 
 
io6 . Gems of India. 
 
 Morad, the viceroy of Gunzerat, seized the public 
 treasure of that province, and assumed the title of 
 king. He then also, with his army, hastened toward 
 the capital. 
 
 Aurungzebe, with his usual craftiness, determined 
 to pretend to favor Morad, and joined him on the 
 banks of the Nerbudda river. He saluted him as 
 king, and assured him that it was the wish of his 
 heart to see him firmly established on the throne, 
 and when that should be happily accomplished he 
 would renounce the world, and go on a pilgrimage to 
 Mecca. 
 
 Dara had the advantage of being already at the 
 capital, with the royal army and treasury at his com- 
 mand. He prepared to meet the two attacks by 
 sending Raja Jai Sing to meet Soojah, and Raja 
 Jesswunt Sing against the combined forces of Au- 
 rungzebe and Morad. It is an interesting fact that 
 two Hindoo generals were sent in command of the 
 imperial armies at so important a juncture, and it 
 shows us that the policy of attaching the Hindoos 
 to the Mogul Government by intermarriages, was 
 at least partially successful. Just at this time Shah 
 Jahan rallied, but it was too late to prevent fratri- 
 cidal war. 
 
 Soojah was defeated near Benares, and retreated 
 to Bengal ; but in the conflict which ensued near the 
 city of Ojain, between the forces of Aurungzebe and 
 Morad and Jesswunt Sing, the latter was defeated, 
 
Mumtaz Mahal. 107 
 
 ^.-..-..^ ..-.^^ — - — - — -...-..^-^x-^.,-.^/-^^©^ 
 
 and the brothers advanced with thirty-five thousand 
 
 troops toward Agra. 
 
 Dara came out to resist them with one hundred 
 thousand foot, twenty thousand horse, and eight 
 pieces of cannon. A terrific contest ensued, in which 
 Dara was completely routed, and driven from the field 
 with only two thousand men. 
 
 Aurungzebe then showed his true colors, and in- 
 stead of advancing his brothers claims, as he had 
 promised, quietly ignored them and placed himself 
 at the head of the whole army. He at once took 
 possessioa of the capital, deposed his father, and 
 assumed control of the kingdom under the title of 
 Alamgeer, that is, ** Conqueror of the World." 
 
 • Thus ended the thirty years' reign of Shah Jahan. 
 He was sixty-seven years old when he was deposed 
 by the ambitious and ungrateful Aurungzebe, and 
 lived seven years longer, a prisoner in his own pal- 
 ace. He was treated with the greatest kindness and 
 consideration by the king, but these last years would 
 have been very lonely and sad for the aged monarch 
 had he not been cheered and comforted by the pres- 
 ence and devotion of his lovely and devoted daughter, 
 Jahanara Begum, who refused to join in the amuse- 
 ments of the Court, and gave herself entirely to the 
 work of cheering the closing years of her father's life. 
 This lady was a sister of Prince Dara, who was 
 so ruthlessly supplanted by Aurungzebe. She was 
 possessed of an amiable, loving disposition, and was 
 
io8 Gems of India. 
 
 of a religious turn of mind. Indeed " every virtue " 
 adorned her character, if we may beUeve the flowery 
 descriptions of Hindoostanee writers. 
 
 The tomb of this lady is to be seen by tourists, 
 near several other exquisite mausoleums, in old Del- 
 hi, about five miles from the present city. It is not as 
 fine a structure as one would naturally suppose would 
 cover the remains of the favorite daughter of Shah 
 Jahan. It is a simple tomb of white marble, with a 
 cavity on the top filled with earth and sown to grass. 
 The inscription, mostly written by herself, explains 
 this unusual arrangement : " Let no rich canopy 
 cover my grave. This grass is the fittest covering 
 for the tomb of the poor in spirit ; the humble, the 
 short-lived Jahanara, the disciple of the holy men 
 of Chist, the daughter of the king Shah Jahan." 
 Her friends and admirers could not, however, allow 
 her grave to be quite as unadorned as she wished. 
 It is surrounded by a screen of marble network of 
 the most exquisite design and finish. 
 
 There is a curious work of Jahanara Begum's in 
 Delhi, which is interesting because it shows the 
 admiration she had for her father's works. It is a 
 miniature copy of the Jama Musjid, or Clothes 
 Mosque, made of marble and delicately finished. 
 But this choice memorial of the reign of Shah Jahan 
 has been utilized by the English, by converting it 
 into a commissariat bakery. 
 
 The glory of the Mogul dynasty culminated in 
 
Mumtaz Mahal. 109 
 
 ■--^--'--'--^---'■^'---'-^^--'---^--'^-'■^-^-'■^^'-^-^^^^--^^--■•'^^ 
 Shah Jahan's reign, and began to decline under Au- 
 rungzebe. During the latter's long reign of forty- 
 nine years he pursued an entirely different policy 
 from that of his forefathers. This change- was prob- 
 ably caused by his being so stanch a Mahomedan. 
 He did not favor the Hindoos, but, on the contrary, 
 was so intolerant of their religious scruples that their 
 hearts were turned from him ; and even the Rajpoots, 
 who had considered themselves identified with Mogul 
 power, turned against him. 
 
 The wonderful rise of the Mahratta nation in the 
 Deccan, and their determined hostility to the Mo- 
 guls, formed another link in the chain of providential 
 events by which God caused the Mogul dynasty, 
 which appeared to be so strongly cemented, to slow- 
 ly crumble to its fall. 
 
 Aurungzebe died in 1707, and the Mogul dynasty, 
 although weakened and shattered, was not extinct 
 when, nearly one hundred years later, the English 
 army, under General Lake, gained a complete victory 
 over a native army commanded by a French general 
 at Delhi. 
 
 When the English took possession of the city 
 they found a poor old blind man in the royal palace, 
 who claimed to be the Mogul king. Lord Wellesley, 
 the governor general of India at that time, desired to 
 remove this shadow of a king to Monghyr, and so 
 break the center of intrigue. But the royal family 
 clung with such tenacity to their native city that 
 
no Gems of India. 
 
 the plan of their removal was not carried into exe- 
 cution ; a great mistake, as was afterward manifest. 
 
 From this time forward Delhi was under the En- 
 glish Government, but a pageant of royalty was al- 
 lowed to exist within the walls of the fort, and it be- 
 came a hot-bed of treasonable plans and intrigues, 
 which culminated in the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857. 
 
 Bahadur Shah, the puppet Mogul king, doubtless 
 hoped to revive something of the former glory of the 
 dynasty ; but his ambition was the cause of his ruin, 
 and by his perfidious treason against the power that 
 had protected him from his enemies he only won for 
 himself distress and exile. He died in Burmah, whith- 
 er he and his family were transported after the sup- 
 pression of the Rebellion, and his death closed the 
 Mogul dynasty, which had existed in India for three 
 centuries. 
 
Ahuliya Baicy a Mahrattee Queen. iii 
 
 AHULIYA BAIE, 
 A Mahrattee Queen. 
 
 'HE Mahrattas were originally of the Sudra caste, 
 which is the fourth and lowest of the four great 
 divisions of Hindoos, according to their sacred books ; 
 but, in spite of the numerous prohibitions against 
 mingling with them, the Sudras have intermarried 
 with the three higher castes very largely. The Mah- 
 rattas especially claim to have a large admixture of 
 pure Brahmin blood in their composition, as well as 
 of the two intermediate castes, and pride themselves 
 accordingly. They occupy a tract of country on the 
 western coast of India, south of the Nerbudda river. 
 Their language is very similar to the Hindee. Their 
 early history is involved in obscurity, but the modern 
 city of Daulatabad has been identified as the site of 
 a great commercial city of theirs, called Tagara, which 
 was well known to the Romans more than two thou- 
 sand years ago. They figure in history early in the 
 sixteenth century, when the Mahomedans began to 
 ravage the Deccan. They were the allies of Malik 
 Ambar, a ruler of Abyssinian extraction, who for many 
 years upheld the Ahmadnugger dynasty against the 
 powerful Mogul kings Akbar and Jahangeer, and it 
 was not till Shah Jahan bought over the principal 
 Mahratta chiefs that he was defeated. 
 
112 Gems OF India. 
 
 The defection of the Mahrattas at this time does 
 not speak well for their sense of honor or their grat- 
 itude, as it was in the service of Malik Ambar that 
 Shahjee, the father of the great Mahratta general, 
 Sivajee, founded his fortunes. 
 
 The origin of this noted family is romantic. Mal- 
 lojee, a Mahratta captain of horse, was employed by 
 the king of Ahmadnugger about the close of the six- 
 teenth century. His wife, who was childless, prayed 
 for a son at the shrine of a Mahomedan saint, Shah 
 Seffer by name. A son was afterward born to her, 
 to whom she gave the name of Shahjee, in token of 
 her gratitude to the saint. The name is a curious 
 mingling of Persian and Hindee, Shah meaning 
 " king," and jee being the Hindee term for "respect." 
 Mallojee sought a wife for his son from a family of 
 high standing, the head of which was called Jadoo 
 Rao ; but he refused to allow a daughter of his to 
 marry into so plebeian a family. But soon after, in 
 some fortunate raid, Mallojee obtained a large treas- 
 ure, with which he bought some very large estates, 
 including several cities, from the king of Ahmad- 
 nugger. Jadoo Rao became gracious at once, and 
 the wedding ceremonies took place with great rejoic- 
 ings and display. It is said that even the king of 
 Ahmadnugger shed the light of his royal presence 
 among the guests. Sivajee, the son of the couple so 
 auspiciously married, was born in 1627, and was 
 reared with great care by a Hindoo tutor of integrity 
 
Ahidiya Bale, a Mahrattee Queen. 1 1 3 
 
 and excellent abilities. But the lad, although expert 
 in military knowledge and exercises, did not take 
 kindly to book learning, and was never able to write 
 or read. 
 
 After his father's death he gathered a small army 
 and began a course of lawless marauding and plun- 
 der. In 1657, when Aurungzebe was campaigning in 
 the Deccan, Sivajee professed himself a servant of 
 the Mogul dynasty ; but when Aurungzebe returned 
 to Agra he began to plunder the Mogul territories in 
 the Deccan, and even enlisted Mahomedans, whom 
 Aurungzebe had dismissed, under his banner. 
 
 When Aurungzebe became king, Sivajee made his 
 peace with him by affecting submission, but continued 
 to loot indiscriminately, until a Mahomedan general, 
 named Afzal Khan, was sent from Beejapore against 
 him. Afzal Khan had great contempt for his adver- 
 sary's prowess, and, when Sivajee proffered submis- 
 sion if he might only be pardoned, granted him an 
 interview, when Sivajee was permitted to salute the 
 Mahomedan officer, and took advantage of the op- 
 portunity thus afforded to assassinate him. 
 
 The Mahratta army then seized upon the Mahome- 
 dan troops and slaughtered them, and continued 
 their predatory warfare up to the very gates of Bee- 
 japore. A fierce campaign ensued, and continued 
 till Aurungzebe marched down into the Deccan 
 with an immense army and compelled Sivajee to sue 
 for peace. He was allowed to enter the Mogul serv- 
 
114 Gems of India. 
 
 ice as .a tributary, but managed to put an insidious 
 claim in the agreement called " Chaut," the meaning 
 of which is a fourth of the revenue, which was the 
 occasion of great emolument to the Mahrattas, but 
 of great trouble to the country. 
 
 Sivajee continued his intrigues and banditti war- 
 fare until 1674, when he seized upon a large territory 
 and caused himself to be proclaimed king. He was 
 weighed against gold and the money given to Brah- 
 mins, who were not at all pleased to find that he only 
 weighed one hundred and forty pounds. After this 
 his successes almost exceed belief, but they were cut 
 short in 1680 by his death. His son, Sumbajee, 
 reigned nine years, and was succeeded by his infant 
 son, Sahoo. This lad was taken prisoner by the Mo- 
 guls and retained by them seventeen years. They 
 treated him with great kindness and allowed him to 
 marry two wives, the daughters of some Mahratta 
 nobles who were in the Mogul service. Perhaps 
 they thought to tame the wild Mahratta instinct in 
 the lad by kindness. Tara Bale, the widow of the 
 regent who was to rule the Mahratta nation until 
 Sahoo should return to his own, determined to retain 
 the throne for her own son, and when the Moguls 
 placed Sahoo in authority there ensued a division 
 among the Mahrattas. 
 
 Sahoo was, however, the recognized king, but he 
 was almost wholly indebted to his prime minister or 
 " peshwa," Bajee Rao, for the success that followed 
 
Ahuliya Bale, a Mahrattee Queen. 1 1 5 
 
 his plans, for he had lost much of the national en- 
 ergy during his quiet life among the Moguls. 
 
 Bajee Rao managed every thing, and finally came 
 in conflict with the general of the army, who thought 
 he was taking the lion's share of the plunder. He 
 marched to the city of Satara, where Bajee Rao was 
 located, and attacked him ; but a small force which 
 the peshwa sent out against him overpowered him, 
 and he was slain. Bajee Rao seemed to cherish no 
 animosity, but bestowed the office upon the deceased 
 general's son, an infant, and appointed a regent dur- 
 ing his minority. 
 
 About this time the two great families of Holkar 
 and Sindia were founded. Mulhar Rao Holkar was 
 a herdsman, but entered the army and distinguished 
 himself by such daring deeds that the peshwa, Ba- 
 jee Rao, promoted him to the command of an ex- 
 pedition for levying contributions upon the prov- 
 ince of Malwa. Sindia was allied to the Rajpoots, 
 but was of the former caste. He entered the serv- 
 ice of the peshwa, and was also promoted to 
 posts of trust and emolument. Both of these men 
 rose to great distinction as commanders in the Mah- 
 ratta army. 
 
 Mulhar Rao Holkar, in some way not made 
 plain in history, but probably as a reward for distin- 
 guished services, became ruler of several fine prov- 
 inces, whose capital was Indore. His son and heir 
 married Ahuliya Bale, a lady of the family of Sindia, 
 
ii6 Gems of Ixdia. 
 
 but probably not of the one just mentioned. He died 
 a few years after their marriage, leaving her with two 
 children, a son named Mallee Rao, and a daughter 
 named Mutcha Baie. 
 
 Upon the death of Mulhar Rao Holkar the suc- 
 cession devolved upon Mallee Rao, but he unfortu- 
 nately soon developed symptoms of insanity, and 
 died after nine months of sufferin£C. According: to 
 Mahratta custom, Ahuhya Baie became at this junct- 
 ure the only lawful ruler of the country, as her 
 daughter had married into another family, and there- 
 by lost her birthright. 
 
 The prime minister of the Holkar Government 
 suggested that the widowed Ranee should adopt an 
 heir, supposing, doubtless, that she would not be 
 capable of governing her rude and rather turbulent 
 people ; but she declined to act upon his suggestion, 
 and assured him that she intended to occupy the 
 position that, by right of Hindoo law and custom, 
 was now hers. Her officers and army stood by her 
 in this resolve, and the baffled minister tried to insti- 
 gate outsiders against her, Madhoo Rao was the 
 peshwa of the Mahratta Government at this time, 
 and his uncle, the notorious Ragoba, held a command 
 in the army. The Holkar minister offered this chief 
 a large bribe if he would come with his army and 
 assist him to dethrone Ahuliya Baie. He con- 
 sented, and began to make preparations for the cam- 
 paign ; but the courageous Ranee hearing of his 
 
AJmliya Bate, a Mahrattee Queen. 1 1 / 
 
 design, began to make such vigorous preparations 
 for war that he began to waver in his determination. 
 She sent him a message, to the effect that he would 
 only disgrace himself by making war upon a woman, 
 and trying to deprive her of her rights, and advised 
 him to desist. She avowed her firm resolve to lead 
 her army in person, and caused the howdah for her 
 elephant to be fitted up with bows and arrows. 
 These demonstrations were not without effect. Ra- 
 goba sought further aid from the Mahratta chiefs, but 
 Sindia and others refused to aid him in making war 
 upon a brave and high-minded woman, and the 
 peshwa at length ordered his uncle to refrain from 
 intermeddling in the affairs of the Holkar family. 
 This settled the matter at once, and Ahuliya Bale, 
 then about thirty years of age, entered upon her ' 
 duties as the ruler of the Holkar possessions. 
 
 The position was an honorable and highly respon- 
 sible one, and she seems to have so understood it. 
 She was a firm believer in the Hindoo religion, and 
 at this important juncture she consulted with the 
 priests upon all matters pertaining to the State, be- 
 lieving them to be the only safe guides in both tem- 
 poral and spiritual things. 
 
 A large amount of money was in the treasury 
 when she came into possession, and her first act of 
 sovereignty was to consecrate this treasure to relig- 
 ious charities. The ceremony consisted in putting 
 a few leaves of the sacred toolsee plant in water, 
 
ii8 Gems of India. 
 
 which was afterward sprinkled over the royal treas- 
 ury, a Brahmin meanwhile uttering the words of 
 consecration. She then began to consider the best 
 plan of perpetuating the dynasty. She was pre- 
 vented from marrying again by Hindoo law, and her 
 daughter was severed from the succession. At length 
 she selected Tokajee Holkar, an officer of good re- 
 pute, although not a member of her husband's fam- 
 ily, to act as commander-in-chief of the army, prob- 
 ably intending him to succeed her in the Govern- 
 ment. Her keen discrimination of character was 
 not at fault in this choice. 
 
 Tokajee Holkar became her most faithful and wise 
 viceroy in the distant territories of her possessions, 
 and never gave her reason to repent her choice. 
 According to eastern usage, he always spoke of the 
 Ranee Ahuliya Bale as his mother, and she always 
 spoke of him as the son of Mulhar Rao Hulkar, thus 
 openly avowing his heirship to the succession. With 
 great magnanimity she forgave the prime minister his 
 opposition to her cause, and upon receiving assur- 
 ances of his fidelity in the future re-instated him in 
 his office, and, so far as we can judge, he was "faith- 
 ful to his salt " ever afterward. 
 
 The managers of the different posts in and around 
 Indore were mostly Brahmins, and it appears from 
 history that they must have discharged their duties 
 with singular fidelity. The policy of Ahuliya Bale 
 was that of kindness and conciliation. Although so 
 
Ahuliya Bale, the Mahrattee Queen. 119 
 
 strict a devotee of the Hindoo religion, she was in- 
 terested in the welfare of all her subjects, even in the 
 wild hill tribes of Goands and Bheels, who were sim- 
 ply robbers and marauders. 
 
 By wise and conciliatory, though strict, measures 
 she succeeded in bringing them into a much higher 
 state of civilization. But it was among the Mahratta 
 people proper that the enlightened policy of this 
 Hindoo queen produced the most excellent results. 
 Instead of enormous taxes to support an expensive 
 administration, as is generally the case among Hin- 
 doostanee rulers, she strove, by moderate assessment 
 and wise protective legislation, to encourage her 
 people in the peaceful arts. It is usual for native 
 rulers to watch narrowly, through their agents, the 
 success of merchants and craftsmen, and, if they have 
 any extra good fortune, to demand at once a large 
 proportion of their gains for the royal treasury. It 
 was formerly the custom, and still is in the principal- 
 ities under native rule, for men who are in reality 
 merchant princes to dress shabbily and to carefully 
 conceal their true income ; but in the dominions of 
 Ahuliya Bale men could rise to affluence by honest 
 labor or trade, and be assured that their queen was 
 well pleased to see their prosperity, and would protect 
 them and their possessions. All turbulent and mis- 
 chievous persons were dealt with in a way to keep 
 that class in awe, and to re-assure the law abiding 
 portion of the population. Indeed, so marked is the 
 
I20 Gems of India. 
 
 difference between the historical account of the reign 
 of Ahuliya Baie and those of contemporary Hindoo 
 princes, that it is like suddenly arriving, through 
 rough seas and driving storms, in a lovely, quiet haven 
 in some peaceful island. 
 
 During her reign of thirty years' duration the in- 
 ternal peace of the country was not once broken, and 
 only once was there trouble from without. The 
 Rana of Oodipore once invaded her territories, but 
 she brought such a well-disciplined army against him 
 that he was soon obliged to retrace his steps. Her 
 exemption from foreign invasion seems almost mi- 
 raculous, for in those days kings seemed to be always 
 ** going forth to battle." 
 
 Probably the great reason why her administra- 
 tion was so uniformly successful in dealing with 
 all classes of people so satisfactorily, was that she 
 avoided change of State officers as much as possible. 
 She therefore maintained a uniform method of car- 
 rying out her measures. This is particularly pleas- 
 ing to the native mind. They dislike extremely any 
 change of land tenure and revenue laws, or in the 
 methods used to enforce them, as they expect they 
 will in some way work to their disadvantage. 
 
 There is something wonderfully beautiful in the 
 character of this heathen queen. Living as she did 
 among a people wholly devoid of the light of Chri.-;- 
 tianity, and entirely ignorant as she was of both the 
 law and the Gospel^ she seems to have embodied in 
 
AJiidiya Baic, the Mahrattee Queen. I2I 
 
 her daily life their principles, doing " by nature the 
 things contained in the law." 
 
 The historian says of her that she "used to rise 
 early, about an hour before daybreak, to say her 
 prayers and perform the customary ceremonies. She 
 then heard the sacred volumes of her faith read for 
 a fixed period, distributed alms, and gave food in 
 person to a number of Brahmins, Her own food 
 was then brought, which consisted simply of vege- 
 tables ; for, although meat was not prohibited to her 
 tribe, she had foresworn all animal food. Retiring 
 after breakfast for a little repose, she would rise 
 about two o'clock, dress herself, and proceed to the 
 durbar, or court, where she remained till six in the 
 evening hearing complaints in person. Two or three 
 hours were then taken for refreshment and worship, 
 when she again held court for two hours, retiring to 
 rest about eleven o'clock." 
 
 Not a life of ease and luxury was this, but a con- 
 scientious performance of the duties of her position. 
 She is said to have declared that she knew she must 
 answer to God for every exercise of power. Happy 
 would it be for the nations of the earth did all rulers 
 remember this great fact and act accordingly ! 
 
 Several forts and public works were constructed 
 during her reign, one of the most noted of which 
 was a road over the Vindhya Mountains, a herculean 
 undertaking accomplished at great expense. But 
 the greatest work of her reign was the building of 
 
122 Gems of India. 
 
 the present city of Indore. The old city was merely 
 a large, irregular village, but the new one, although 
 not pretentious, was worthy of its name. 
 
 Although relying greatly upon the counsels of the 
 Brahmins, Ahuliya Bale retained her independence 
 of judgment and supremacy in State politics. There 
 were envoys from most of the other Indian courts at 
 Indore, who all agreed in ascribing the utmost inde- 
 pendence of action to her. Still it is evident that 
 the Brahmins enjoyed a golden age during her reign. 
 They were her deputies in all the chief cities of In- 
 dia, and were the almoners of her bounty to the poor 
 and diseased, to pilgrims and travelers. Wells and 
 rest-houses were built on the main lines of travel 
 throughout her territories, and at Jagahnath, Gya, 
 Benares, Kedarnath, and other places, she erected 
 houses for pilgrims and priests, and sent sums annu- 
 ally for their maintenance. The temple of Biseswara, 
 at Benares, and of Mahadeo, at Gya, were built by her. 
 
 Ahuliya Baie was not beautiful in person, although 
 of agreeable presence and pleasing demeanor. She 
 was of medium height and slight figure, and her 
 complexion was rather dark. It is said that the wife 
 of Ragoba once sent a female attendant to the Court 
 of Ahuliya Baie as a sort of spy, merely to gratify 
 her curiosity as to the personal appearance of so 
 celebrated a woman. The report brought was, " that 
 the Ranee has not beautiful features, but a heavenly 
 light is on her countenance." 
 
Ahuliya Bale, the Mahrattee Queen. 123 
 
 But she was endowed with what is of far greater 
 value than beauty, fine perceptive faculties, good 
 sense, and a high moral nature. She could read, 
 and was well versed in the Pmanas. These sacred 
 books are of much later compilation than the Vedas, 
 the oldest being about one thousand years old, and 
 the latest about four hundred and fifty. 
 
 She paid strict regard to Hindoo usage in the 
 matter of dress, as in all else, and never wore the 
 rich attire of royalty ; but dressed, according to the 
 rules laid down for widows, in pure white, and dis- 
 carded all jewelry except a small gold necklace. In 
 the daily routine of her onerous duties, only broken 
 by the stated religious festivals of her faith, the life 
 of Ahuliya Bale glided along. 
 
 Her people learned to trust and love her as their 
 benefactress, and both high and low would have 
 esteemed it a sacrilege to do her wrong. The neigh- 
 boring princes, too, viewed her course with admira- 
 tion, and treated her with the same respect they did 
 the peshwa of the Mahratta nation. 
 
 She was strangely free from vanity, which is usu- 
 ally supposed to be inseparable from the feminine 
 character. One of the Brahmins wrote a book in 
 her praise, in which her virtues were extolled to the 
 skies, and presented it to her. She heard it read, 
 and remarked when it was finished, " I am a weak, 
 sinful woman, and undeserving of such fine enco- 
 miums." She then ordered it to be thrown into the 
 
124 Gems of India. 
 
 river close by, and took no notice of the author. 
 But the unhallowed teachings of the Hindoo religion 
 brought deep affliction upon this interesting queen 
 at last. Her daughter's husband died, and the daugh- 
 ter, Mutchta Bale, declared her intention of being 
 burned with his body. 
 
 Ahuliya Bale, now an aged woman, entreated her 
 daughter not to leave her without kin upon the earth, 
 but to live for her sake. The poor misguided woman 
 was, however, resolved to perform the dreadful rite, 
 in the vain hope of winning eternal happiness by this 
 one great, meritorious act. In reply to her mother's 
 entreaties, she said : " You are aged, my mother, and 
 a few years will end your pious life ; my only child 
 and husband are gone, and when you foUow, life will 
 be insupportable to me, but the opportunity of ending 
 it with honor will then have passed." 
 
 The unhappy Ranee could not dissuade her daugh- 
 ter from her resolution, and at last desisted from 
 the attempt, and reluctantly consented that her wish 
 should be carried out. She even so far prevailed 
 over the natural anguish and dread a mother could 
 but feel at such a time as to join in the procession, 
 and be present near the funeral pyre during the dread- 
 ful ceremony. 
 
 Two Brahmins supported her, and endeavored to 
 keep up her semblance of calmness and resignation. 
 The widow mounted the fatal pile, and, having dis- 
 tributed her clothing and jewels to her nearest rela- 
 
Ahiiliya Baie, the Mahrattee Qiteen. 125 
 
 tives, according- to the custom of the Deccan, sat 
 down on the pile, and took the head of her deceased 
 husband in her lap. With her own hand she then 
 appUed a torch to the pile, and the dry wood crackled, 
 and great tongues of flame darted up all around her. 
 The priests and the multitude began to shout and 
 howl, that her shrieks of agony might not be heard. 
 The self-possession of the poor mother gave way at 
 the fearful sight, and, with loud cries, she tried to 
 rush forward and snatch her daughter from the blaz- 
 ing pile ; but her two attendant Brahmins quickly 
 seized her arms, and detained her in her place. The 
 pile, with its human freight, was soon reduced to a 
 small heap of ashes, and the deed of self-immolation 
 was consummated. 
 
 The afflicted mother, with the calmness of despair, 
 bathed, with the other spectators, in the river near 
 which the unholy deed was perpetrated, and then 
 withdrew to the royal palace, probably the most 
 sorrowful woman in all her dominions. She re- 
 mained for several days bowed with grief, and un- 
 able to converse, but she then rallied, and tried 
 to console herself in building a monument to the 
 memory of her daughter. 
 
 It must sadden the hearts of our readers to con- 
 template this noble, sincere woman, with her heart 
 full of benevolent intent, and her hands of kindly 
 deeds, going down into the valley of the shadow of 
 death with no Divine radiance to cheer her way. 
 
126 Gems of India. 
 
 Poor Ahuliya Bale ! Although the queen of a mill- 
 ion of people, she was poorer than the humblest 
 Christian woman of to-day who can sing in the assur- 
 ance of faith, 
 
 " I shall find down the valley no alarms, 
 
 For my Saviour's blessed smile I can see ; 
 He will bear me in his loving, mighty arms ; 
 There's a light in the valley for me." 
 
 And yet she may stand far higher in the great day to 
 which creation hastens, than many foolish ones in 
 Christian lands who refuse to accept the proffered 
 love of God through Christ Jesus. 
 
 Ahuliya Bale died in 1795, at the age of sixty, leav- 
 ing a name for piety and wise legislation which any 
 ruler might envy, and to this day any usage or point 
 of law that can be upheld by reference to her practice 
 is unquestionably right in the estimation of native 
 courts. She was long mourned by her subjects, and 
 her reign is always spoken of in that region as the 
 "flourishing period." 
 
 The Brahmins placed a statue of Ahuliya Bale by 
 the stone figures of Rama and Seeta, his wife, and 
 she, too, is considered one of the " avatars," or incar- 
 nations of the deity. 
 
 Tokajee Holkar succeeded her, but died two years 
 later. His sons quarreled, and fought for the pre- 
 eminence ; and a predatory warfare was kept up for 
 twenty years, when the State submitted to British 
 authority. 
 
Kishna Comaree Bale. 127 
 
 KISHNA COMAREE BAIE; 
 Or, the Maiden's Sacrifice. 
 
 ^mTJHE heroine whose short, tragical Ufe is sketched 
 1^^ in these pages was princess of the house of 
 Oodipore, the most noble of the princes of that sec- 
 tion of India called Rajpootana. 
 
 The chief reason assigned for this pre-eminence is 
 that the Oodipore family trace their descent to Loh, 
 the eldest son of Rama, the great hero who flour- 
 ished about twelve hundred years before Christ. 
 
 There is no doubt that such a prince existed at 
 some period in the past, but tradition and history are 
 so intermingled in Hindoo annals that it is some- 
 times difficult to separate them. 
 
 Rama was married to Seeta, who, like himself, be- 
 longed to the Solar race of Hindoos in the province 
 of Oude ; hence the name of the family. 
 
 It is supposed that the early Hindoos were divided 
 into two great bodies called the Solar and Lunar 
 races, and many wild and fanciful legends in regard 
 to the warfare carried on between them are related 
 in the poetical histories of the people. The wife of 
 Rama was carried off by Ravana, the king of Ceylon, 
 and Rama having formed an alliance with Hanooman, 
 the king of the monkey tribe, set out on an expedi- 
 
128 Gems of India. 
 
 tion to Ceylon to recover his bride. But when they 
 reached the southern boundary of India, the Straits 
 of Manaar lay between them and Ceylon, and they 
 were not provided with boats, nor could they obtain 
 them. Here the monkeys rendered most valuable 
 assistance. They flew back over the broad, dusty 
 plains of Hindoostan to the gigantic Himalaya 
 Mountains, the lofty ** abode of snow," that separates 
 between India and northern Asia, and quickly loaded 
 themselves with great stones and returned to the 
 expectant army. A bridge was constructed of the 
 stones in a short time, and the working committee, 
 seeing the bridge was nearly completed, sent a depu- 
 tation to meet a supply party of monkeys and tell 
 them to drop their burdens just where they were and 
 hasten on to the conflict. They obeyed with alacrity, 
 and the stones they dropped formed the Vindhya 
 range of mountains, that stretches nearly across Cen- 
 tral India. The ledge of rocks across the straits, 
 called Adam's Bridge, is supposed by Hihdoos to be 
 the bridge built by Rama. 
 
 The beautiful Seeta was rescued, and the army 
 returned triumphant. Soon after, Rama accidentally 
 killed his brother and cast him into a river, and was, 
 they believe, reunited to the Deity. He is called an 
 avatar, or " Incarnation of God," and is worshiped 
 by multitudes of people. Many of the festivals cele- 
 brated by Hindoos are in commemoration of the ex- 
 ploits of Rama. 
 
Kishna Comaree Bale. 129 
 
 The descendants of Prince Loh, the eldest son of 
 Rama, migrated to Surat, and occupied that country 
 for a long time. Their capital was the city of Bala- 
 bipore, on the Gulf of Cambay. About A. D. 524 
 the king of Persia sent an army against them, and the 
 capital was taken and sacked. The wife of the reign- 
 ing Raja, with a few adherents, fled to a cave, where, 
 soon afterward, a son was born to her whom she 
 named " Gohal' that is, " Cave," on account of the 
 circumstances of his birth. The remnants of the 
 scattered tribe gradually rallied around this last scion 
 of their house and established themselves at Edur. 
 They must have flourished greatly, and been ad- 
 mitted to the friendship of the Persians ; for we learn 
 that Goha, the cave-born Raja, married the grand- 
 daughter of the Persian king, whose wife was the 
 daughter of Maurice, the Christian emperor of Con- 
 stantinople. Goha was the founder of the modern 
 Oodipore family, and an historian remarks in regard 
 to its origin : " We are led to the singular conclusion 
 that the Hindoo sooraj, or suit, the descendant of a 
 hundred kings, the undisputed possessor of the honors 
 of Rama, the patriarch of the Solar race, from whom 
 other Hindoo princes, before they succeed to the 
 throne of their fathers, must obtain the " talook," or 
 sign of royalty and investiture, is, in fact, the offspring 
 of a Christian princess." 
 
 There were nine rulers of the Goha line who 
 reigned successively in Edur, but the ninth was mur- 
 
130 Gems of India. 
 
 dered by his own sons while hunting. The Ranee, 
 with her infant son, was hurried off to a distant part 
 of the country, where she dwelt among shepherds 
 until her son Bappa grew to manhood. She then re- 
 vealed to him his royal parentage, and the ambition 
 of the lad was stirred at once. He sent messengers 
 as far as possible to collect the scattered followers of 
 his house, and having gathered a small band, pro- 
 ceeded with them to the city of Chitore, and presented 
 himself and his claims to the reigning Raja. He was 
 well received by the Raja, but the nobles of the 
 court were angry that an unknown youth should 
 receive so much attention. Just then Chitore was 
 invaded by a foreign foe, and no general could be 
 found who was willing to lead on the army against 
 the invaders. Bappa tendered his services to the 
 Raja and they were accepted. He advanced, at the 
 head of the State army, against their foes, and com- 
 pletely defeated them. On the return of the victo- 
 rious army, Bappa was received with acclamation 
 by all the people and was placed on the throne of 
 Chitore. From him are descended the long line 
 of princes who have in succession borne the title 
 of Rana of Oodipore. 
 
 Many centuries passed away before the date of our 
 story. The descendants of Bappa became a numer- 
 ous people and built a large city, which they named 
 Oodipore, in commemoration of their fatherland, the 
 famous province of Ayodh, the modern Oude. 
 
Kishna Comaree Bale. 131 
 
 About the beginning of the present century the 
 East India Company, then in control of British power 
 in India, withdrew their protection from the terri- 
 tories west of the Jumna river, where they had pre- 
 viously interfered somewhat to prevent unlimited 
 anarchy. 
 
 The Mahrattas and Mahomedans were thus left 
 unchecked to prey upon the rich and populous 
 Rajpootana States. 
 
 The Rana of Oodipore had at this time a beautiful 
 daughter, about sixteen years of age. She was named 
 Kishna Comaree. The last name is that of a god- 
 dess, said to be one of the incarnations of Parbuttee, 
 the wife of Shiva, the third person of the Hindoo 
 Triad. Cape Comorin, the southern extremity of 
 Hindoostan, is named from this incarnation. She 
 was very beautiful, in mind as well as person, and was 
 styled the " Flower of Rajpootana." 
 
 There was considerable rivalry among the neigh- 
 boring Rajas as to who should be honored with her 
 hand. Aside from the loveliness of the fair Kishna, 
 it was considered a great honor to be allied to the 
 ancient house of Oodipore, and there were jealous 
 heart-burnings among the aspirants, until at last the 
 question was settled by the formal announcement 
 that Raja Bheem Sing, of Jodhpore, and the Princess 
 Kishna Comaree were betrothed. But shortly after- 
 ward the Raja died, and the question was again an 
 open one. It seems from this that the betrothal 
 
132 Gems of India. 
 
 ceremonies had not taken place, and Kishna was not 
 considered a widow. 
 
 Juggut Sing, the Raja of Jeypore, immediately 
 sent proposals of marriage to her, and was accepted. 
 He sent a band of soldiers to escort her to his capi- 
 tal, but they never reached Oodipore, as Raja Man 
 Sing, the successor of Bheem Sing upon the throne 
 of Jodhpore, put in a claim for the princess' hand, on 
 the plea that the marriage was contracted with the 
 throite rather than its occupant. He attacked and 
 routed the men sent by the Raja of Jeypore, and 
 thereby drew the whole country into turmoil and 
 war. The Raja of Jeypore brought a large army 
 into the field to sustain his claim, and was joined by 
 Ameer Khan, a Mahomedan freebooter, and two 
 Mahratta generals from the army of the powerful 
 chief, Sindia. A Jodhpore noble, who hated Raja 
 Man Sing, also joined him, and with his army great- 
 ly strengthened by these allies he engaged the Jodh- 
 pore forces in action. A fiercely contested battle 
 ensued in which the Raja of Jeypore was victorious. 
 This occurred in February, 1807. 
 
 Raja Man Sing retreated to Jodhpore, and shut 
 himself up in the fort with those of his officers and 
 men who survived and remained faithful. He was 
 besieged for several months while his country was 
 laid waste by his foes. In this extremity he attempted 
 to buy over to his cause the Mahomedan robber. 
 Ameer Khan, who, on the promise of fifty-four lacs of 
 
Kishna Comaree Bale. 133 
 
 rupees, or two million seven hundred thousand dol- 
 lars, changed sides, and began to plunder the domin- 
 ions of the Raja of Jeypore. 
 
 Man Sing was considerably elated at this turn of 
 fortune, and resolved to see if his star would not con- 
 tinue in the ascendant. He wished the Jodhpore 
 noble, Shiva Sing, who had turned against him, put 
 out of the way, and the wicked Ameer Khan readily 
 agreed to do this also for an additional sum of five 
 hundred thousand dollars. In order to carry out this 
 design he pretended to desert Raja Man Sing's cause, 
 and afterward paid Shiva Sing a visit in his native 
 city of Tagore. The noble was wary, and did not at 
 first give credence to the Mahomedan's story ; but 
 when he took his oath on the Koran that he was sin- 
 cere in his statement, Shiva Sing could no longer 
 doubt. 
 
 Shortly after, Ameer Khan invited Shiva Sing and 
 his followers to an entertainment in a large tent, and 
 when they were absorbed in watching the mazy evo- 
 lutions of some dancing girls, he caused the ropes of 
 the tent to be cut, and it fell upon them, catching 
 them as in a net. He then ordered his men to fire 
 upon them, and they were all slaughtered. 
 
 Kishna, the innocent cause of all this bloodshed, 
 was, doubtless, very unhappy at the wide-spread dev- 
 astation and loss of life occasioned by the feud be- 
 tween the two rivals, especially as the provinces of 
 her father were also subjected to plunder by the armies 
 
134 Gems of India. 
 
 of Ameer Khan and Sindia. There were the large 
 armies, and they must be fed ; and although the Rana 
 of Oodipore had not joined in the conflict, he could 
 not save his flourishing lands from being overrun. 
 Prosperous villages and fruitful fields were daily 
 turned into desert places, and the distress of the 
 people was extreme. The Rana was overwhelmed 
 with sorrow, and sent to beg the British Government 
 to protect his territories, offering to cede half of ihem 
 to the English if they would protect the other half. 
 
 But the obstinacy and cruel indifference of the 
 Government at that time seems unaccountable. They 
 persisted in the newly-promulgated policy of non-in- 
 terference, and the Rana, in despair, made an agree- 
 ment with Ameer Khan, in which he made over one 
 fourth of his dominions to him with the understand- 
 ing that he should let the remainder alone. He 
 even submitted to the ignominy of exchanging tur- 
 bans with the robber chief, an eastern mode of ex- 
 pressing equality and alliance between rulers. 
 
 Now we come to the last act of this fearful drama. 
 The infamous Ameer Khan and a vile Hindoo favor- 
 ite of the Rana, named Ajeet Sing, suggested to him 
 that he could easily put an end to the wars that were 
 ruining the whole country of Rajpootana by putting 
 the young Kishna to death, and thus removing the 
 cause of the enmity between the chieftains. Ameer 
 Khan declared if this was not done he would seize the 
 princess and carry her by force to Raja Man Sing. 
 
Kishna Comaree Bale, 135 
 
 Overcome by the difficulties of his position, and over- 
 borne by his persistent and blood-thirsty advisers, 
 the Rana at length consented to sacrifice his daughter. 
 But here a new difficulty arose. Who would per- 
 form the deed ? Raja Daulat Sing, a distant kins- 
 man, was asked to take her life, but he indignantly 
 replied, 
 
 " Accursed be the tongue that commands it ; dust 
 be on my allegiance if it must be preserved in this 
 
 manner ! " 
 
 At length a brother of the Rana agreed to per- 
 form the atrocious deed. He waited, tulwar in hand, 
 for the appearance of Kishna, whom he had sum- 
 moned to his presence ; but her innocent loveliness 
 so touched his heart that he, too, refused to take her 
 life. By this time the whole family became aware of 
 the dreadful purpose had in view, and it seems won- 
 derful that so recently as the beginning of this cen- 
 tury no alternative could be thought of by any mem- 
 ber of the family. The false and detestable notions 
 of family and caste honor must be upheld, even by 
 the perpetration of murder ! 
 
 The poor mother of the princess became frantic 
 with grief and rage when the fell design became ap- 
 parent to her, and called upon the gods to curse the 
 instigator of the scheme ; but Kishna, who seems to 
 have fully comprehended the futility of resistance, 
 sought to console her mother by appealing to her 
 courage and the stoical principles of their religion. 
 
136 Gems of India. 
 
 " Why afflict yourself, my mother," she said, " at this 
 shortening of the sorrows of hfe ? I fear not to die, 
 am I not your daughter ? Why, then, should I fear 
 death ? We are marked out for sacrifice from our 
 birth, and only enter the world but to be sent out of 
 it again. Let me thank my father that I have lived 
 so long." 
 
 At last a sister of the Rana, named Chand Baie, 
 prepared a bowl of poison composed of flowers and 
 herbs with a deadly opiate. She presented this to 
 Kishna and adjured her to drink it for the sake of her 
 father's honor and the welfare of her country. 
 Kishna bowed and said, " This is the marriage to 
 which I was fated," and drank a portion of the mix- 
 ture. This proving ineffectual, she drank the second 
 and the third time of the poisonous draught, when, 
 with a prayer for blessings upon her father, she fell 
 asleep and never woke again. The unhappy mother 
 only survived the loss of her beloved daughter a few 
 days, when her remains followed the body of Kishna 
 to the funeral pyre. 
 
 When news of this dastardly deed reached the pub- 
 lic the indignation and grief of the nobles and people 
 knew no bounds, and the Rana and his advisers were 
 overwhelmed with their reproaches and execrations. 
 One of the chiefs of the family, to whom word was 
 sent of the deed in contemplation, rode in hot haste 
 to the Court in order to protest against it, and finding 
 himself too late, unfastened his sword and shield, and 
 
Kishna Comaree Bale, 137 
 
 placed them at the feet of the Rana with the words : 
 " My ancestors have served yours for thirty genera- 
 tions, but never more shall these arms be used in 
 your service." 
 
 The sacrifice of the innocent and lovely princess 
 brought, of course, no real advantage to the house of 
 Oodipore. Its territories continued to suffer from 
 plunder, and the people could not continue the cul- 
 tivation of the lands, nor carry on their trades to ad- 
 vantage. The consequence was that the revenue de- 
 creased rapidly, until it only amounted to about one 
 hundred thousand dollars per annum. 
 
 In 18 1 7 the British Government in India resolved 
 to give up the neutral policy, and notified the native 
 States of their determination, and proposed to them 
 a general alliance for their protection and improve- 
 ment. The Rajas and chiefs hailed this offer with 
 joy and embraced it readily. The Raja of Jodhpore 
 gladly joined the alliance, and the proud Rana of 
 Oodipore began to consider the subject, as well he 
 might in the despoiled and demoralized condition of 
 his kingdom. 
 
 It was the boast of the Oodipore rulers that they 
 had never acknowledged the sovereignty of the Mo- 
 guls or Mahrattas, nor contaminated their blood by 
 intermarriages with either people ; but the protection 
 and rule of the white-faced foreigners who, as the 
 Rana remarked, " had come in ships from a coun- 
 try before tmknown'^' was quite another thing, and he 
 
138 Gems of India. 
 
 thankfully accepted it. The last Rajpoot chief who 
 came into the alliance was the Raja of Jeypore ; but 
 he at length, seeing there was no help for it, made a 
 virtue of necessity and joined in the compact. The 
 debasing superstitions of the Hindoo religion are no 
 longer allowed to crush out the natural affection of 
 human hearts by prompting to cruel and unholy 
 deeds ; but while we rejoice in this fact, we deeply 
 regret that this state of things was not inaugurated 
 in time to save the life of the lovely princess of Oodi- 
 pore, which was sacrificed by craven and cruel men 
 in the fallacious hope of thereby gaining peace and 
 safety without danger to themselves. 
 
 KISHNA'S FAREWELL. 
 
 " My father, willingly for thee 
 
 And for my native land I die ; 
 At thy behest my life was spared,* 
 
 I give it now without a sigh. 
 This is vciy fated \ marriage, writ 
 
 By mystic fingers on my brow 
 When I a tender infant lay ; 
 
 The doom is consummated now. 
 And, father, if my early death 
 
 But quell the storm of bloody strife, 
 Surely the gods will smile on me 
 
 Who, to bring peace, lay down my life. 
 And then, perchance, in some fair form 
 
 Of singing bird, or flowering tree,:}: 
 
 * The Eajpoots suffered but few of their daughters to live. 
 
 t Hindoos believe that a certain god writes the fate of every child on its forehead 
 the sixth day after its birth. 
 
 X Hindoos believe in the transmigration of souls, and ultimate absorption into the 
 Deilv Their ideas of the future state are very vague. 
 
Kishua Coinaree Bale. 1 39 
 
 They'll suffer me on earth to dwell, 
 
 And song or shelter yield to thee. 
 And if a bul-bul's * mellow note 
 
 Should cheer thee in some vigil-hour, 
 And thrill thy heart with tenderness 
 
 And nerve thee with mysterious power ; 
 Or if, when 'neath the mango's shade 
 
 Thou seek'st relief from noonday glare, 
 A grateful coolness round thee steal 
 
 And subtle fragrance fill the air ; 
 Then know 'tis Kishna hovering near 
 
 To comfort and to strengthen thee, 
 Permitted in the after life 
 A minister of good to be. 
 
 Hs * * * * * 
 
 Nay, nay, my mother, why these tears ? 
 
 This is to thee no stranger-pain ; 
 My infant sisters only drew 
 
 Their breath to yield it up again. 
 I thank my father for the years 
 
 Passed in this world, so wondrous fair, 
 In the bright sunshine of thy love, 
 
 And circled with thy guardian care. 
 I am thy daughter, therefore brave, 
 
 I fear not death nor funeral fire ; 
 They but assist my longing soul 
 
 To reach the goal of its desire. 
 Farewell, farewell ! my eyelids close ; 
 
 Strange power my heart-throbs seems to quell. 
 The favor of the gods be yours. 
 
 My father — mother — all, farewell. 
 
 * Bul-bul, the nightingale. 
 
I40 Gems of India. 
 
 THE RANEE OF THANSEE, 
 A Tale of the Indian Mutiny. 
 
 HE province of Jhansee was tributary to the 
 Mahratta Government when it first came to 
 the particular notice of the English. 
 
 In 1804 a treaty was concluded with " the man in 
 possession," Sheo Rao Bhao, who was a sort of gov^- 
 ernor with limited powers, and in 18 17 the peshwa 
 of the Mahrattas ceded his rights in the ttrritory to 
 the East India Company. 
 
 The governor general of India was pleased at this 
 time to make the province of Jhansee hereditary^ in 
 the family of Sheo Rao Bhao, who had died a short 
 time previously, leaving his rights to his grandson, 
 Rao Ramchunder. 
 
 In 1832 the governor general bestowed the title 
 of Raja on Rao Ramchunder, and concluded a treaty 
 with him ; but the newly-made noble only enjoyed 
 his honors three years, when he also died. He left 
 no son, but adopted one just before his death. This 
 w^as according to the custom in native principalities ; 
 but Sir Charles Metcalfe, governor of Agra, who had 
 the supervision of Jhansee, decided that this usage 
 ought not to prevail in a dynasty created by the 
 English. He, therefore, caused a son of Sheo Rao 
 
The Rainee of Jhansee. 141 
 
 Bhao, a leper, to assume the rule. He died in 1838, 
 and was succeeded by his brother, the only remaining 
 son of Sheo Rao. This man, Raja Gungadhur, died 
 in 1853, and, in spite of the former decision of the 
 governor, adopted a son just before his death. The 
 Ranee of Jhansee was a woman of superior mental 
 endowments and high physical courage, and she de- 
 termined to prosecute the lad's claim. 
 
 Lord Dalhousie, then governor general of India, 
 after mature deliberation, decided, as in the former 
 case, in regard to the adoption of an heir, that as 
 there was no lawful claimant to the throne, the dy- 
 nasty should lapse, and that the province should 
 come under direct English rule. 
 
 This decision was a death-blow to the ambitious 
 aspirations of the Ranee, who had hoped, as regent 
 during the minority of the adopted heir, to taste the 
 sweets of power and wealth. 
 
 No doubt she cursed the arrogant Feriitghees, as 
 they style the English, in her heart, and longed for 
 an opportunity of taking revenge. That opportunity 
 soon came, and the fiery but smoldering passions 
 that had been pent up in her breast burst forth like 
 Vesuvius in action ! 
 
 The hot season of 1857 opened its fierce fires and 
 sirocco blasts over the plains of Hindoostan, and 
 more pitiless than the elements was the storm of 
 revengeful fury that broke over the heads of the 
 English residents, scattered in handfuls here and 
 
142 Gems of India. 
 
 there throughout the land, at the mercy of their sud- 
 denly uprising foes. 
 
 Why cveiy foreigner, man, woman, and child, was 
 not cut off has puzzled many to understand. Doubt- 
 less the reason, aside from the great fact of an over- 
 ruling Providence, was that the great body of the 
 people felt kindly toward the English Government. 
 It had rescued many provinces from devastating in- 
 vasions, and the misrule of unprincipled and dissolute 
 princes. It had assumed the control of several prov- 
 inces at the request of the people, thus showing, beyond 
 a doubt, that the careful administration of justice 
 which always prevailed in the dominions under En- 
 glish control was appreciated by the orderly and in- 
 dustrious part of the population. But, for the same 
 reason, English rule was a terror to evil doers, both 
 among princes and people, and these disaffected vil- 
 lains, both Hindoo and Mahomedan, although bitter- 
 ly hating each other, joined in league against the 
 English. 
 
 The memorv of the successive outbreaks and 
 scenes of brutal slaughter is still fresh in our minds, 
 as is also that of the quick retribution, and the re- 
 establishment of British power in India. 
 
 The shortsightedness of the disaffected nobles and 
 soldiery in supposing it possible that they could retavi 
 possession of the country for any considerable time, 
 can only be accounted for by the blinding influence 
 of a spirit of revenge and hate. There was but little 
 
TJie Ranee of Jahnsee. 143 
 
 to hinder their cutting off the few English residents 
 and regiments in the land, but then all England 
 would have risen to repossess the country. Some 
 native rulers were wise enough to comprehend the 
 true state of the case, and when importuned to join 
 the rebels refused to do so. Jung Bahadoor, the 
 prime minister and real ruler of Nepal in the Hima- 
 layas, was urged again and again to assist the muti- 
 neers, and gave an unqualified refusal. When pressed 
 for his reasons, he answered, " I have seen Woolwich^ 
 and know how this matter will end." He had visited 
 England, and seen the Military Academy and stores 
 at Woolwich, and understood somewhat the immense 
 resources of the English nation. 
 
 Many were true to the English at great risk to 
 themselves. A wealthy Hindoo banker in Bareilly, 
 who had long professed great friendship for the En- 
 glish, took charge of some valuable plate belonging 
 to the ruling officer of the province when he with 
 every other white-face had to flee to the mountains. 
 The city was soon in the hands of the insurgents, 
 and Khan Bahadoor Khan assumed command of the 
 place. 
 
 The banker's former relations with the English 
 were well known, and it was believed that he had 
 valuable property of theirs in his keeping, so he was 
 shortly visited and the treasure demanded. He re- 
 mained entirely reticent on the subject, and they 
 could rnake nothing of hirn. They abused and 
 
144 Gems of India. 
 
 threatened, and finally tied him across the mouth of 
 a cannon, and would undoubtedly have blown him 
 away from it, had not a conflict between the Hindoos 
 and Mahomedans just then broken out in the city, 
 which compelled their attention elsewhere. A pacific 
 policy toward Hindoos was pursued after this, and 
 he was left unmolested. Word reached him after- 
 ward that some English refugees from a neighboring 
 city were hidmg in some villages in the district, and, 
 bringing native cunning to his aid, he contrived to 
 send money to them, by which means they were able 
 to secure their safety. This man was generously 
 rewarded a few months afterward by the gift of sev- 
 eral fine estates and the title of Raja — both to be 
 hereditary in his family. 
 
 The faithfulness of the Mahomedan ruler of Ram- 
 pore was even more remarkable than the case we 
 have mentioned, as the Mahomedans were the in- 
 citers of the whole movement of rebellion, and fully 
 intended to be the chief profiters by it. Their relig- 
 ious enthusiasm, too, was far greater than that of the 
 Hindoos, as the latter only wished to be let alone, 
 and not have their religious superstitions infringed 
 upon, while the Mahomedans longed to win back 
 India for God and his prophet. 
 
 Rampore was surrounded by a country wholly 
 under the sway of the mutineers, except on the 
 north, where the Himalayas tower in calm, majestic 
 grandeur, and -in whose green recesses at Nynee Tal 
 
The Ranee of JJiansee. 145 
 
 and Almora had gathered the fugitive families of 
 EngUsh residents from Bareilly, Moradabad, and 
 Budaon. They were protected by Goorka soldiers, 
 whose faithfulness had been secured by the promise 
 of a large reward from the commissioner of Kumaon 
 and Gurhwal, a gentleman in whose word natives 
 had the most perfect confidence. 
 
 Rampore was full of a turbulent and semi-civilized 
 people who were eager to join in the conflict. But 
 the Nuwab succeeded in restraining them and in 
 maintaining his own views and plan of action, though 
 often at great risk to himself Supplies were sent 
 continually to the fugitives in Nynee Tal, greatly to 
 their comfort. More than this he could not do with 
 safety. 
 
 The Nuwab, too, learned shortly that ingratitude 
 is not a trait of the English character. 
 
 The faithfulness of domestic servants during that 
 fearful time was very remarkable. If they had sim- 
 ply " struck work," and run away from the families 
 and regiments they served, the whole British nation 
 might have taken up arms in vain. The terrible In- 
 dian siLU is an enemy that valor cannot subdue. It 
 was — humanly speaking — the faithfulness of the do- 
 mestic servants of India that enabled the Endish 
 army to win back that country to the British Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 Many other nobles, besides those we have men- 
 tioned, were wise in looking forward, instead of being 
 
146 Gems of India. 
 
 misled by the appearances of the present, but the 
 Ranee of Jhansee was not one of them. Had she 
 but showed kindness to the EngUsh refugees, and 
 thrown the weight of her influence in favor of loy- 
 alty to the English, she would have, without doubt, 
 secured the wish of her heart ; but, embittered and 
 maddened by the fancied ill-treatment she had re- 
 ceived from the English Government, she hailed 
 with joy the prospect of being able to regain her 
 power and wreak her revenge. She sent her emis- 
 saries among the native soldiery stationed in Jhansee, 
 exhorting them to be in readiness for rising when 
 the signal should be given. The English officers 
 well knew that the crisis would soon come, but 
 there was no alternative, they must remain and 
 meet it. 
 
 On the first of June it became evident that the 
 storm was about to burst, and all the English resi- 
 dents were ordered to take refuge in the fort. Upon 
 the fourth day of June the soldiers took the offensive 
 and besieged the little handful of English, who were, 
 of course, unable to hold out long against such supe- 
 rior numbers. They offered to surrender if they 
 might leave the place. This was granted them, and 
 they marched out of the fort, hoping to get out of the 
 city in safety, and take the chance of escape in the 
 country round about. 
 
 But the Ranee had no intention of allowing her 
 prey to escape, and, with a cruel vindictiveness that 
 
The Ranee of Jhansee. 147 
 
 was truly Satanic, she instigated the Sepoys to break 
 their pledged word and massacre them all. They 
 fell upon the little band of victims and sabred or shot 
 every man, woman, and child but one person, who 
 escaped as by a miracle. 
 
 Thus cruelly and summarily did the Ranee of Jhan- 
 see take her revenge. Did she find it sweet t Were 
 the shrieks of frightened, wounded women and chil- 
 dren, and the groans of the dying, music to her ears t 
 It does not seem possible ; but this woman had never 
 been taught a more satisfactory method of taking re- 
 venge. " An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a 
 tooth," was the rule among the people of Hindoostan, 
 and these atrocities which stain her character may, 
 after all, be more attributable to her teachers and 
 priestly advisers than to herself. 
 
 But whether her longing desire for revenge was 
 sated or not, the deed was accomplished, and there 
 was nothing to hinder her from re-occupying the 
 position she had so unwillingly evacuated about three 
 years before. She at once assumed the reins of Gov- 
 ernment, and, with great judgment and energy, began 
 to arrange for the defense of the city, well knowing 
 that the time would come when she would be called 
 to a reckoning. 
 
 Supplies of men and provisions were gathered in 
 from the province until she had an army of fourteen 
 thousand men. For some reason Raja Rao Ram- 
 chunder had buried about twenty pieces of cannon in 
 
148 Gems of India. 
 
 the fort. These were now disinterred and placed in 
 position. 
 
 For a few months the Ranee had every thing her 
 own way, but ere the year rolled round a retributive 
 army, under Sir Hugh Rose, slowly but surely ap- 
 proached Jhansee. 
 
 Upon the 25th of April, 1858, the English opened 
 fire upon the city. There could be but one result, 
 but the struggle was a sharp one. The Hindoos 
 fought with desperation, and showed so much skill 
 in their firing of cannon that it was evident they had 
 practiced considerably. 
 
 The batteries were largely worked by women, and 
 they could be seen from the English lines as they 
 hurried along, carrying ammunition to supply the 
 guns. 
 
 There were three thousand men who defended the 
 royal palace, and these were conspicuous for their 
 bravery. The Ranee, and all her officers, soldiers, 
 and women, evidently intended to make a siiccessfid 
 resistance, but they were obliged to yield to superior 
 force and valor. 
 
 On the second day the city was carried, and on the 
 third the fort fell into the hands of the English, The 
 Ranee, with about two thousand of her troops, fled 
 from the city, and, having retreated a few miles, made 
 another stand, and retained her position for a few 
 days. On the 26th of May she was attacked and de- 
 feated, when she fled to Gwalior, where the rebels 
 
The Ranee of yjiansee. 149 
 
 were still in power. She joined them with her few 
 remaining men, and was hailed as an important ac- 
 cession ; but that city was shortly after retaken and 
 re-occnpied by the English. 
 
 With the remnant of her troops, the Ranee then 
 fled toward the town of Sepree ; but she soon fell 
 in with English troops, who must have seemed to 
 her to be every-where. She tried to force her 
 way through without an actual engagement, but 
 finding it impossible, made a stand and gave 
 battle. A sharp, decisive action ensued, and the 
 cruel and ambitious, but brave, Ranee met her 
 death upon the field, and her army was entirely 
 destroyed. 
 . We have not sketched the character and life of 
 the Ranee of Jhansee in order to hold her up as a 
 model of female excellence, but only to show her 
 courage and energy. She possessed these qualities 
 in an unusual degree, although, unhappily, her ex- 
 treme ambition only rendered them the surer and 
 swifter means of her ruin. But if this ambition had 
 been directed by wise teachers toward noble and 
 lofty aims, and if her heart and intellect had been 
 warmed and purified by Christianity, what a power 
 for good she would have been, and we can but hope 
 that some such women may speedily be numbered 
 among the ranks of enlightened native Christian 
 women in India. 
 
 Apostles to the zananas are needed, as well as 
 
150 Gems of India. 
 
 laborers among the multitudes of women of the hum- 
 bler ranks, right from among their Christianized 
 countrywomen — women who will not count their 
 ease, their property, nor their lives, dear unto them- 
 selves, so that they may but lead their sisters to 
 Christ. 
 
The Begum of Ehopal. 
 
The Begums of BhopaL 153 
 
 THE BEGUMS OF BHOPAL. 
 
 BOUT three hundred and seventy miles south 
 
 "^^^ of Delhi lies the fertile province of Bhopal, 
 which is nov/, and has been for some time^ governed 
 by a Queen, or Begum, as she is styled in the Hin- 
 doostanee language. 
 
 The province is north of the Vindhya Mountains 
 and the Nerbudda river, but not far from them. It 
 has about eight thousand nine hundred and sixty- 
 four square miles, and a population of nine hundred 
 and fifty thousand. It yields quite a large revenue, 
 nearly one hundred thousand dollars of which is an- 
 nually paid to the British Government to support a 
 body of soldiers at the city of Sehore, where an 
 English agent resides. 
 
 Dost Mahomed, the founder of the Bhopal family, 
 came to India from Afghanistan in the reign of the 
 Mogul king, Aurungzebe, into whose service he en- 
 tered. This occurred near the close of the seven- 
 teenth century. 
 
 Soon after entering the Mogul service. Dost Ma- 
 homed was sent in command of a force to subjugate 
 the province of Malwa, which joins Bhopal. He was 
 successful, and received promotion for his services. 
 
 Shortly after he married the daughter of a Hindoo 
 10 
 
154 Gems of I^■DIA, 
 
 chief, and, upon the death of his father-in-law, seized 
 npon the family possessions. He thus became pos- 
 sessed of considerable wealth, which he employed in 
 training his dependents in the use of arms, and fitting 
 out independent expeditions against petty Hindoo 
 rulers. He was, in fact, a Mabomedan brigand ! 
 
 One of these chiefs, a Raja of some eminence, 
 thought to make a friend of this powerful and un- 
 scrupulous marauder, and proposed an alliance with 
 him. His overtures were accepted, and a treaty was 
 concluded. Shortly after the Raja >vas threatened 
 by trouble from another quarter, and was protected 
 by his Mahomedan ally. His gratitude was great, 
 and he made over the province and city of Bhopal 
 to him and his heirs forever. He also asked him 
 to take up his residence with him in his own fort 
 The unsuspicious Raja little knew what a serpent 
 he was taking to bis bosom. The Mahomedan was 
 as false as his own prophet, and having secretly 
 admitted a body of his savage warriors within the 
 fort, soon made himself master of the place. This 
 atrocious villainy is an illustration of the saying, that 
 " bad men will not make good friends." 
 
 Dost Mahomed employed the remaining part of his 
 life in constructing a high wall around the city of 
 Bhopal and in building a fort. He died in 1723, 
 and his heirs ruled in Bhopal until the close of the 
 eighteenth century, when Hayat Mahomed Khan 
 came to the throne, but was so utterly inefficient 
 
The Begums of Bhopal. 155 
 
 that the country would have fallen a prey to the 
 Mahrattas had not Wazeer Mahomed Khan, the son 
 of another branch of the family, opportunely come 
 to Bhopal to render his aid. 
 
 This man was the founder of the present reigning 
 family. He must have been a man of rare integrity 
 and humility, for he suffered Hayat Mahomed Khan, 
 and afterward his son, Ghos Mahomed Khan, both 
 men of inferior abilities, to bear the name of Nuwab, 
 while he continued to command the army and the 
 State, and thus save both from destruction. It 
 seemed often that the little province would be over- 
 run by the myriad hosts of Mahratta robbers, and 
 Wazeer Mahomed several times sought help from 
 the British Government, which was refused. At 
 length, in 18 14, the powerful Mahratta general, Sin- 
 dia, determined to conquer the hitherto victorious 
 little State, and prepared to advance with an over- 
 whelming force. Bhopal, as an independent Govern- 
 ment, would soon have been extinct, and the sketches 
 of our Begums would never have been written, had 
 not the English Government at last interposed, and 
 quietly but firmly intimated to the Mahratta that he 
 must desist. Like a chained lion he must have felt 
 when a power he dare not resist or disobey pre- 
 vented him from taking possession of the tempting 
 prey. 
 
 Wazeer Mahomed died in 18 16, and the people, 
 fully understanding that the real ruler had died, 
 
156 Gems of India. 
 
 wholly ignored the weak Ghos Mahomed and his 
 famDy, and placed Nazar Mahomed, the son of 
 Wazeer Mahomed, upon the throne. 
 
 Very- fortunately, Ghos Mahomed had a marriage- 
 able daughter whom the Nuwab married, and thus 
 united the two branches of the family and settled 
 the question of the d^Tiasty incontestably. 
 
 The reign of this prince was, however, of short 
 duration, as he was accidentally shot by his brother- 
 in-law, Faujdar Mahomed Khan, a boy about eight 
 years old. He left one daughter, Sikander Begum, 
 who, by the advice of the English Government, was 
 betrothed to her cousin, Muneer Mahomed, and he 
 was appointed Nuwab. The widow of Nazar Ma- 
 homed was to be regent during the minorit}- of the 
 young Nuwab, but he was impatient to taste the 
 sweets of authoritv^, and rose in rebellion to depose 
 the regent. He was soon defeated, and lost all 
 chance of sitting upon the throne of Bhopal. He 
 was obUged to resign his claim to the hand of the 
 young Begum, and to retire into private life. The 
 events that followed make it seem ver\- probable 
 that the regent, or, as she was called, the Kudsiah 
 Begum, may have been to blame in the first instance. 
 It is e\ident that she liked to be " dressed in a httle 
 brief authority" so well that she desired to prolong 
 the situation. 
 
 Sikandar Begum was married to Jahangeer Ma- 
 homed Khan, a younger brother of her first betrothed, 
 
The Begums of Bhopal. 157 
 
 and soon after the wedding festivities he was seized 
 by the regent and placed in confinement. In 1837 he 
 escaped, and, having gathered a body of adherents, 
 appeared in arms against the regent. She, with all 
 the State resources at her command, easily defeated 
 him, and he was obliged to take refuge in a certain 
 fort. This she besieged, and there was a fierce con- 
 flict and much loss of life ; but the British Govern- 
 ment could not allow this state of things to continue 
 longer, and compelled the parties to come to an am- 
 icable adjustment of their difficulties. 
 
 It was agreed that the regent should retire into 
 private life on a generous income, and that the Nu- 
 wab Jahangeer Mahomed Khan should take his posi- 
 tion as ruler of Bhopal. He was duly installed, 
 November, 1837, ''^^^ "^^ vexed nation hoped for a 
 reign of peace. But, unfortunately, the Nuwab and 
 his wife, Sikandar Begum, disliked each other excess- 
 ively, and, as their differences increased continually, 
 she left him and resided with her mother. This state 
 of things continued for seven years, when the Nuw^b 
 died. He seems to have done his utmost to deprive 
 his wife and daughter of their rightful heritage by 
 leaving the throne to an illegitimate son in his will, 
 but the great arbitrator of India, the powerful British 
 Government, again stepped in, and placed Shah Ja- 
 han Begum, the daughter, upon the throne. Faujdar 
 Mahomed Khan was appointed regent, but three 
 years later he resigned, and the Sikandar Begum was 
 
158 Gems of India. 
 
 appointed regent. This was her rightful position, and 
 she soon showed how admirably she was fitted to oc- 
 cupy it. She found the finances in a very disorderly 
 condition, and addressed herself at once to the task 
 of arranging a thorough revenue system. She en- 
 couraged her subjects to improve their buildings and 
 lands, and, in order that they might have confidence 
 that their property rights would be respected, she 
 personally attended to the administration of justice, 
 and prevented, as far as possible, the extortions of 
 under officers. 
 
 Her daughter was married in 1855 to the com- 
 mander-in-chief of the State army, and it was settled 
 that he should receive the honorary title of Nuwab, 
 but that the young Begum should assume the reins 
 of government upon becoming of age. But before 
 this event occurred, her mother so endeared herself 
 to the English Government by remaining a firm friend 
 and ally, when friendship was especially precious, that 
 the arrangement was not carried out. 
 
 JThe Sepoy Mutiny showed the English both their 
 enemies and friends in strong relief, and among the 
 latter was the Mahomedan queen. All around her 
 English power was swept away like chaff before the 
 wind From the surrounding cities weary, panting, 
 white-faced fugitives came flying to Bhopal, from 
 certain death to an uncertain refuge. But their fears 
 were soon quieted by the kindness of their reception, 
 and they were sent with a protecting escort to Hosh- 
 
The Begums of Bhopal. 159 
 
 yimgabad, a city on the Nerbudda, which was gar- 
 risoned with faithful Madras troops. 
 
 Meanwhile the zeal of the people of Bhopal in be- 
 half of their religion was burning in their veins, and 
 they longed to join in the Mahomedan battle-cry of 
 " Deen, Deen," (Faith, Faith,) and in destroying the 
 infidel English. 
 
 They saw the English agent and his friends, who 
 were residing at the Court of Bhopal, go in and out 
 in safety, and murmured that they were withheld 
 from imbruing their hands in their blood. Murder 
 was in their hearts, and they could not wholly re- 
 strain their tongues from giving expression to their 
 thoughts. The Begum heard the muttering thunder, 
 and hastened to send the agent and his suite to join 
 the other refugees. 
 
 Soon an English army marched down into Central 
 India, under Sir Hugh Rose, to put matters to rights 
 again. The Begum of Bhopal was not afraid to meet 
 her old allies, for she had acted a noble and wise 
 part, and was sure of their commendation and grati- 
 tude. She now furnished supplies to the army, and 
 also sent a body of her own troops to assist them. 
 
 At length the tornado had passed, the shattered 
 fragments of power reunited, and the British Govern- 
 ment had leisure to reward its friends. The Begum 
 of Bhopal was made Grand Commander of the Order 
 of the Star of India, an Order originated by the 
 Prince Consort especially for Anglo-Indian civilians 
 
i6o Gems of India. 
 
 who should distin^ish themselves, and for faithful 
 Indian allies. Its motto is, " Heaven's Light our 
 Guide/' An addition was also made to her territo- 
 ries of a district which added about eighty thousand 
 dollars per annum to her treasury. 
 
 The Shah Jahan Begum became of age some time 
 in 1859, but her mother had reigned with so much 
 wisdom and ability that neither the people nor the 
 British Government would consent to her removal in 
 order to make way for her daughter. It was settled, 
 therefore, that she should rule for life, and that Shah 
 Jahan Begum and her heirs should succeed her. 
 
 Happy and busy in her numerous and onerous 
 labors, the Begum continued to rule until the end of 
 1863, when she left her daughter in charge of State 
 affairs, and with her aged mother, the Kudsiah Begum, 
 and her uncle, the aged Faujdar Mahomed Khan, 
 with their suites of attendants, went on a pilgrimage 
 to Mecca, the birthplace of Mahomed, and the goal 
 of every true believer in the religion he founded. 
 
 This pilgrimage the Begum doubtless considered 
 would be a fitting termination to her life, for, though 
 so faithful a friend to the English, she was still a 
 devout believer in the Mahomedan faith. She raade 
 all her arrangements with characteristic energy and 
 thoroughness, and scrupulously performed the cere- 
 monies enjoined upon pilgrims from the beginning to 
 the end of the pilgrimage. A Moulvai who accom^ 
 panied her was directed to keep a full diary of the 
 
The Begums of Bhopal. i6i 
 
 progress of the journey, the impressions made upon 
 the mind of the Begum, etc., so that this curious work, 
 which has since been published, is in reality the Be- 
 gum's own book. 
 
 Before starting she went through the prescribed 
 ablutions and repeated two prayers, then read suita- 
 ble verses from the " venerable Koran." Upon the 
 day of departure she visited the tombs of her father 
 and grandfather, and prayed for the repose of their 
 spirits. She then prayed for all her relatives, and for 
 all Mahomedans, and asked that a blessing might 
 rest upon them on account of her pilgrimage, that 
 their absolution and her own might be thereby se- 
 cured, and that she might return in safety. 
 
 The Begum and her friends sailed from Bombay in 
 January, 1864, in the ship " Indore," which had been 
 chartered for them. They were accompanied as far as 
 Jeddah by the English agent of Bhopal. Jeddah is 
 situated about midway up the Red Sea, on the Ara- 
 bian coast. Here all pilgrims disembark for Mecca, 
 which is three day's march distant. Some of the re- 
 ligious ceremonies begin, however, before landing. 
 
 Right by the sea at Jeddah stands a high, bold 
 mountain, called Yalamlam, the sighting of which is 
 the signal for the pilgrims to assume the prescribed 
 garments and vows. From this time they all leave 
 their heads uncovered day and night, and abstain 
 from using perfumes, killing animals, etc., for a certain 
 portion of the pilgrimage. 
 
i62 Gems of India. 
 
 The royal pilgrims landed at Jeddah on the 24th of 
 January, and addressed themselves to the task of 
 visiting all the holy places laid down in their plan. 
 The Begum visited the tombs of several saints and 
 prayed for their souls. Her mother, the Kudsiah 
 Begum, visited the tomb of " our grandmother, the 
 venerable Eve, the wife of the holy Adam," and, ac- 
 cording to her custom, distributed alms freely. But 
 she met with an ill return for her liberality, for when 
 she left the shrine, a crowd of two or three hundred 
 beggars, men, women, and children, besieged her so 
 importunately that she nearly fainted, and was car- 
 ried off with some difficulty by her attendants. It 
 seems to be the gentle practice of these earnest beg- 
 gars to attack people who are not liberal enough to 
 please them, in the hope of gaining by violence what 
 they failed to obtain by persuasion. 
 
 The Sikander Begum refrained from paying her 
 respects at the tomb of our common "grandmother," 
 being warned by her mother's experience. Jeddah 
 is not a large city. It contains only eight mosques, 
 the most celebrated of which is that of Zachariah. 
 There is, of course, the Jama Musjid, or Clothes 
 Mosque, and probably there are numerous calls upon 
 its charities. They are very particular in this mosque 
 to read the kimtba, or prayer for the ruling powers, 
 every Friday, which is the holy day of Mahom- 
 edans. The Imam, or governor of Jeddah, ascends 
 the pulpit with the mace of office in his hands, and, 
 
The Begums of Bhopal. 163 
 
 with a shawl over his head, reads the appointed 
 formula. 
 
 The Begum was not favorably impressed with Jed- 
 dah. She says of it, "Jeddah is a desolate-looking 
 city, very dirty, and pervaded with unsavory odors. 
 The atmosphere is damp, and there are no water-tanks 
 of any size." While there she corresponded with 
 the officials of Mecca — the Shareef and the Pasha — 
 in regard to her journey to that city. It was settled 
 that a brother of the Shareef, and Sulaiman Begh — 
 that is, Prince Solomon, the son of the Pasha — should 
 come nearly to Jeddah to meet her. This advance 
 party of welcome is called the Istiqbal, and is cus- 
 tomary in eastern countries when a visitor of distinc- 
 tion is expected, the distance of the meeting from 
 the destination being proportioned to the rank of 
 the guest. 
 
 The journey from Jeddah to Mecca was made upon 
 Shagdaf camels. These camels carry two persons. 
 There are open panniers, called kajawas, on either 
 side of the animal, in which the passengers sit. The 
 Shebree camel only carries one person, who sits upon 
 a square saddle upon its back. At the first halt they 
 met the brother of the Shareef and the son of the 
 Pasha, with their retinues of fifty sowars, or mounted 
 soldiers, each. The Shareef's brother was preceded 
 by an Abyssinian, who wore a fur hat and had two 
 small kettle-drums before him, upon which he was 
 beating with both hands, and holdmg his horse's reins 
 
164 Gems of Ixdia. 
 
 in his mouth. The Pasha s son, being of lower rank, 
 was preceded by only 07ie kettle-drum. They re- 
 mained over night at this place, called Haddah, and 
 next day went on to Bertoi, where they found two 
 hundred foot soldiers waiting for them. 
 
 On the evening of the third day they entered the 
 so-called holy and exalted city of ^lecca by the 
 " Bab-us-salam," or, " Gate of Peace." Just as they 
 passed within the gate the muezzin's call to prayer 
 sounded out from within the principal mosque, and 
 the in\^tation, doubtless, met an enthusiastic re- 
 sponse in the hearts of the roytl pilgrim and her 
 friends, and w^e can fancy the whole party falling 
 upon their knees and presenting their petitions. 
 Prayer over, the Begum went at once to the Kaaba, 
 the holy house of God, built by Abraham himself ! 
 At the building called Abraham's House she read 
 the prescribed prayers, and then performed the cere- 
 mony of the first toaf. This is done as follows : 
 The pilgrims start from a certain black stone, which 
 is set in gold and placed in a comer of the holy 
 precincts, and make the circuit of the holy places 
 within the Kaaba, meanwhile repeating verses of the 
 Koran. 
 
 When they return to the stone they say, " Bism 
 Allah AUahoo Akbar," (in the name of God, who 
 alone is great,) and then kiss the stone. This is re- 
 peated seven times, the whole thing being termed a 
 " toaf." The second toaf takes place after the haj^ 
 
The Begums of Bhopal. 165 
 
 or pilgrimage, has been completed ; and the third is 
 performed after all other rules and obligations have 
 been met, and the kajees, or pilgrims, are on the eve 
 of departure. After completing this last toaf they 
 drink of the water of Zam Zam, the holy well adjoin- 
 ing the Kaaba, then kiss the door of the building, 
 and, walking backward, retire from the place. 
 
 There are in all one hundred holy places in Jeddah 
 and Mecca, being mosques, mountains, wells, caves, 
 and stones. The Mosque of Hosain is very holy, 
 because Mahomed planted his standard upon the 
 site where it stands on the day he captured Mecca. 
 
 The " Tongue of Stone " has the following tradi- 
 tion attached to it. Mahomed was once on his 
 way to the Kaaba for prayer when Satan said to 
 him, *' Prayers are over, do not go," this tongue 
 simultaneously appearing on a wall near by. The 
 prophet, knowing it to be a temptation, replied, " I 
 will go at once to the Kaaba, for I know that prayers 
 are not over." There is another holy stone called the 
 *' Stone of Abraham." The pilgrims fill the hollow 
 in the stone, which is said to be the impression of the 
 foot of Abraham, with water from the well Zam Zam, 
 and then drink the water from the hollow. Then 
 prayers and verses from the Koran- are read. The 
 tradition of the stone is as follows : " When the 
 holy Abraham, the friend of God, was building the 
 Kaaba he built it as high as he could reach, and then 
 prayed to God to enable him to build it still higher. 
 
1 66 Gems of India. 
 
 ^- 
 
 Immediately this stone was sent upon the back of 
 
 a horse, called Burak, with directions that Abraham 
 
 should stand upon it and thus complete the building. 
 
 He obeyed, and as he continued to build, the stone, 
 
 of its own accord, rose higher, and raised him on a 
 
 level with the increasing height of the walls." It is 
 
 not said how Abraham got down to earth again after 
 
 finishing the walls. 
 
 The well *' Zam Zam Shareef " is supposed to be 
 particularly holy. When drinking of its w^ater the 
 pilgrims always stand, and ask a blessing before, 
 and return thanks after, drinking. Bathing in this 
 water secures great blessings ; and muslin dipped in it, 
 and dried without wringing, is made holy, and is pur- 
 chased by the wealthy to serve as shrouds. If a few 
 drops of this water can be put into the mouth of a 
 dying person they esteem it a great blessing, and it 
 is carried home in bottles by pilgrims for this pur- 
 pose. The greatest attraction of all is, however, 
 the sukh-ul-lail, or house where Mahomed was 
 born. 
 
 The Sikandar Begum went through these minute 
 and tiresome ceremonies apparently without flinching, 
 although her annoyances were not few. Many of 
 these arose from the rapacity of the religious men- 
 dicants which throng the city, and others by her 
 ignorance of the etiquette to be observed with the 
 officials. At length an agent was furnished from 
 either side to arrange all forms to be observed be- 
 
The Begums of Bhopal. 167 
 
 tween them. The aged Kudsiah Begum paid visits 
 to the zenanas of the Shareef and Pasha, and was 
 treated with great respect. The Silcandar Begum 
 then sent her deputy to arrange for her to make 
 similar visits, and, according to Indian custom, he 
 made an offering of a few guineas to both the 
 officers. 
 
 The Shareef accepted them, saying, " I accept 
 these out of respect for the etiquette of your country, 
 although it is not the custom here ;" but the Pasha 
 declared it was a very improper and disgraceful 
 custom, and did not take the money. 
 
 The Begum's account of her visit is most interesting. 
 She says, " I went on foot to the Shareef s house, 
 where I was met by three slaves, who requested me 
 to go into the zenana, which I proceeded to do, they 
 leading the way. At the first step of the stair-case 
 to the zenana some slaves were stationed ; three or 
 four steps higher were some female Egyptians, 
 servants of the mother and sisters of the Shareef. 
 These women placed their hands under my arms and 
 assisted me up the steps. Several steps higher was 
 one of the Shareef s wives, and a little higher another 
 wife, then beyond stood his mother. As she met me 
 she put my hand in hers, and then, putting her face 
 against both sides of my face and neck, ended with 
 kissing me lightly on the lips. 
 
 " An hour afterward some slaves came to me to say 
 that the Shareef would, with my permission, come 
 
1 68 Gems of India. 
 
 into the zenana. I replied, ' It is the Shareef s own 
 house ; ' meaning, ' of course, he can do as he 
 pleases.' I was sitting with his mother and wives 
 and conversing with the former. The Shareef has 
 seven wives, four of whom I saw. Of these, two were 
 Georgians, very handsome, and beautifully dressed, 
 being, one might say, literally covered with diamonds 
 from head to foot. Their heads were encircled with 
 a wreath composed of jewels, and when they moved 
 or talked the sparkling effect was very pretty. Un- 
 derneath this diadem they wore on their heads very 
 small fine handkerchiefs, such as English ladies carry 
 in their hands ; these were thickly embroidered with 
 jewels and tied in a coquettish way. Altogether, in 
 face, height, and beauty of limbs, these two Georgians 
 were as perfect women as one could wish to see. 
 The dress of one was composed of black satin, and 
 that of the other of lilac satin embroidered with 
 stars. 
 
 " The third wife was an Arabian, and had regular 
 features. The fourth was an Abyssinian. Those 
 wives only who have borne children to the Shareef 
 are allowed to sit in his presence ; while those who 
 have no family are compelled to stand, with their 
 hands put together. 
 
 *• When the Shareef came into the zanana the four 
 wives and the mother rose respectfully, and I ad- 
 vanced a few steps to meet him. After the Shareef 
 was seated I made my offering, and then followed the 
 
Tlie Begums of Bhopal. 169 
 
 usual complimentary speeches. Having inquired 
 after my health, the Shareef asked, * How far is 
 Bhopal from here ? ' I replied, ' It is the paradise 
 of India ; your highness should pay it a visit' The 
 Shareef laughed, and said, " My home is the kaaba." 
 After this the wives and mother, having again 
 made their obeisance, sat down in the background. 
 Some Georgians and Africans who were in attend- 
 ance now brought in cups of coffee and pomegranate 
 sherbet, and others the rose-water and incense. Just 
 as it is the fashion in India to give attar and rose- 
 water, so it is the custom in Mecca to fumigate the 
 guests with sweet-scented incense." 
 
 The Begum also mentions her visit to the Pasha, 
 but does not enter so minutely into particulars. She 
 says, in regard to visiting his zanana : " I was received 
 by the ladies in the same manner as at my visit to 
 the Shareef s family." Her remarks on Mecca, "the 
 Exalted," are inserted, slightly abbreviated : " It is 
 wild and melancholy looking, and has a dreary, repul- 
 sive aspect. Sometimes the weather is cold, then 
 again extremely hot, in consequence of which there 
 is a prevalence of inflammatory diseases and of ca- 
 tarrh. The nights are very cool and pleasant, the sky 
 remaining perfectly clear, and the moonlight is mag- 
 nificent, but an hour before sunrise it begins to be as 
 hot as in the day time. Often there are high winds 
 and thunder and lightning, but very little rain. There 
 
 is not a single tree in the whole city, and vegetables 
 11 
 
I/O Gems of India. 
 
 are scarce ; but plentiful supplies of these and of fruits 
 are brought in regularly from a neighboring city. The 
 people have dreadfully harsh voices, and are not well- 
 formed, except their heads and shoulders, which are 
 handsome. The women have even greater muscular 
 strength than the men, and are large-made and noisy. 
 The people take a great quantity of food, as much as 
 five or six pounds daily. The strength of the men is 
 such that they are able to lift a weight of twelve 
 mans, (nine hundred and sixty pounds,) whereas in 
 India no one carries more than three mans, (two hun- 
 dred and forty pounds,) and this burden they will 
 carry alone to the top of a high house. Their com- 
 plexions vary, some being very dark, and others quite 
 fair, but most of them have light brown or golden 
 hair. In character the majority are miserly, violent- 
 tempered, hard-hearted, and covetous, and they are 
 both awkward and stupid." 
 
 The Begum used her eyes freely while in Mecca, 
 and her extreme openness of speech somewhat dis- 
 pleased the officials. She thought the sanitary ar- 
 rangements were very imperfect, and that the thirty 
 lacs of rupees (one million five hundred thousand 
 dollars) per annum, which are allowed by the Sultan 
 of Turkey to keep up the holy places at Mecca and 
 Medina, were not properly expended. She remarked 
 one day, in the hearing of an under officer, that there 
 was no cleanliness in the city, and the arrangements 
 at the shrines were not good ; and, with almost incom- 
 
The Begums of Bhopal. \Ji 
 
 prehensible simplicity, added: "Now, if the Sultan 
 of Turkey would give me these thirty lacs, I would 
 make arrangements for the government of Bhopal to 
 be carried on by my son-in-law and daughter, and 
 you would see what a state of order and cleanliness / 
 would keep the august cities in, and what arrange- 
 ments / would make for the proper maintenance of 
 the holy shrines, so that the Sultan would find out 
 that dishonest people had been diverting his money 
 from its legitimate uses, and had not kept a single 
 thing in order ; while /, iii a few days, would effect a 
 complete reformationr 
 
 This exceedingly plain speech was, of course, re- 
 ported straightway to the Shareef and Pasha, and 
 must have incensed them greatly ; and it is a won- 
 der that the Begum got off with being told by the 
 Pasha on his next visit that " Some people come on 
 the pilgrimage in a spirit of humility, and not with 
 their heads lifted up ; many others who are obstinate 
 and designing also come, and what do they gain 
 by it ? " 
 
 The Begum says of this, " Altogether, T felt con- 
 vinced that the Pasha was angry with me for my 
 speech. If he had been a man of liberal views he 
 would have been rather pleased than otherwise, and 
 would have asked me to explain what arrangements 
 I thought were required." 
 
 Alas ! short-sighted Begum ! Did she expect a 
 man enjoying a monopoly by which he could enrich 
 
1/2 Gems of India. 
 
 himself to court inquiry, and of a woman? The 
 Begum did not visit Medina, but went directly back 
 to Bhopal after seven or eight weeks' sojourn in 
 Arabia, resumed the cares of government, and gave 
 her attention to the welfare of her subjects. She 
 had always encouraged educational efforts in her 
 dominions, and she now gave considerable attention 
 to the establishing of schools both for boys and 
 girls. 
 
 The Sikandar Begum died on the i8th of October, 
 
 1868, having governed Bhopal with great firmness, 
 and with an energy quite unoriental, for twenty-one 
 years. 
 
 Her daughter. Shah Jahan Begum, was duly placed 
 upon the throne. She was also a widow, her husband 
 having died the previous year, leaving her with one 
 child, a daughter eleven years old, called the Sultan 
 Jahan Begum. The following article, which appeared 
 in one of the leading English newspapers in India in 
 
 1869, shows the estimation in which both the present 
 and the late Begum are held : — 
 
 " The lady who at present sits on the throne of 
 Bhopal bids fair to rival her mother's fame as an 
 administrator. During a reign of twenty-one years 
 the late Begum had materially improved the condi- 
 tion of the State by encouraging education, by bring- 
 ing wasteland under cultivation, to the benefit of her 
 subjects as well as of her treasury ; by abolishing 
 monopolies, by organizing an efficient police, and by 
 
TJie Begimis of Bhopal. 173 
 
 reducing the public debt. But for some time past, 
 owing to failing health, her pilgrimage to Mecca, and 
 other causes, she had not been able to make a tour 
 through her dominions, and the consequence was 
 that misrule on the part of local officials was not in- 
 frequent. It has been the first care of the present 
 Begum, after the days of mourning for her mother 
 were ended, personally to investigate all abuses. 
 For more than three months during the hottest sea- 
 son of the year she has been in camp, moving from 
 district to district, so that every one who had a 
 grievance might have full opportunity of getting it 
 remedied. 
 
 " Before starting she issued a proclamation to the 
 effect that she had reason to believe there had been 
 oppression in various quarters, and that therefore she 
 summoned every one who had any complaint against 
 any of her officers, high or low, whether then in office 
 or already retired, to attend and represent his case. 
 The invitation has been generally accepted, and the 
 inquiry has ended in much good both to the State 
 and to individuals. Public servants who were found 
 to be old and infirm have been pensioned ; those who 
 were convicted of fraudulent transactions, of receiving 
 bribes, of exactions, or of selling justice, have been 
 dismissed and punished ; and, whenever it was possi- 
 ble, any sum which had been taken, over and above 
 what was due, has been refunded. The weights of 
 shopkeepers have been examined, and such as were 
 
1/4 Gems of India. 
 
 proved to be deficient were set straight, the owners 
 of them at the same time being fined. 'Dilapidated 
 buildings belonging to the State have been repaired, 
 encamping grounds have been planted round with 
 trees, tanks have been deepened, and wells dug. In 
 short, whatever a patient hearing of petitions, and 
 a judicious expenditure of money, could do, has been 
 done. 
 
 " The example of such devotion, energy, and loyal- 
 ty as characterize the past and present Begums of 
 Bhopal, is as rare as it is praiseworthy." 
 
 The accompanying picture* is a portrait of the 
 present Begum as she appeared on the sixteenth of 
 November, 1872, in the vice-regal tent in Bombay, 
 where she also was invested with the Order of the 
 Star of India. The Secretary of State presented her 
 with the badge and star. The cloak, which was 
 too long for her short figure, was placed upon her 
 shoulders by the minister of finance, and the gold 
 collar by the viceroy. She then shook hands with 
 all present who had received the Order, and was then 
 required to sign the promises connected with it. Her 
 oldest attendant then unfurled the banner of Bhopal, 
 trumpets were sounded, and the secretary of the 
 Order proclaimed her highness' titles, which con- 
 cluded the ceremony. 
 
 It is to be hoped that this intelligent and energetic 
 Queen may turn her attention yet more specifically 
 
 * See portrait facing page 153. 
 
The Begums of Bhopal. 175 
 
 to the promotion of female education and elevation. 
 Her own example must be an inspiration to her 
 countrywomen, and with the means of education fur- 
 nished them, we would undoubtedly see the females 
 of Bhopal taking advanced ground among the women 
 of Hindoostan. 
 
iy6 Gems of India. 
 
 THE WOMEN OF INDIA. 
 Hindoo Women, 
 
 jTlT is evident, from the foregoing sketches, that the 
 (^ position held by Hindoo women in former ages 
 was much higher than it is at present. Hindoos 
 themselves claim this to be so, and direct attention 
 to their ancient laws in regard to women to prove 
 their statement. They also claim to have been com- 
 pelled to adopt their present custom of keeping their 
 women in seclusion in order to protect them from 
 the lawlessness of the Mahomedan conquerors of 
 Hindoostan, and that in consequence of this practice 
 they also ceased to educate them. 
 
 The influence of Mahomedan opinions and com- 
 panionship was felt more especially in Bengal and 
 Northern India, and in those parts of the country 
 high caste Hindoo women are kept in stricter seclu- 
 sion now than in other portions of the land ; and this 
 fact seems to corroborate the theory of the Hindoos 
 in regard to the reason of the change in their 
 customs. 
 
 In the Rajpootana States especially considerable 
 liberty seems to have been enjoyed by females, and 
 they were evidently educated, and taught to think, 
 and even act, for themselves. They were expected to 
 
The Women of India. lyy 
 
 rule nations and lead armies to battle in cases of 
 emergency, and were instructed in all matters which 
 in such emergences would be necessary for them to 
 know. 
 
 The same is also true of the great Mahratta nation 
 of South-western India, who have never kept their 
 women in strict seclusion. One writer says of them : 
 " The females both of the Brahmin and Sudra Mah- 
 ratta's have, generally speaking, when their husbands 
 are princes and chiefs, great influence, and mix, 
 not only by their power over individuals, but some- 
 times personally, in affairs of State. If married to 
 men of rank they have usually a distinct provision 
 and estate of their own, and enjoy as much liberty as 
 they can desire, seldom if ever wear a vail, and give 
 feasts and entertainments on births, marriages, and 
 particular anniversaries. They are usually instructed 
 in reading, writing, and mathematics, and are taught 
 sewing. The management of the horse always con- 
 stitutes part of their education, which is directed 
 to qualify them for the duties to which they are 
 liable." 
 
 The barbarous practice of suttee, or widow-burn- 
 ing, which prevailed so generally among the Hindoos 
 when the English began to dwell in India, over two 
 hundred years ago, seems to have been a corruption 
 that gradually crept into their religious observances, 
 the reasons and rules for which were incorporated in 
 some of their later sacred books. This dreadful 
 
178 Gems of India. 
 
 practice was, howevei:, the legitimate fruit of the 
 corrupt tree of idolatry. 
 
 It is evident, from Hindoo laws, that suttee was 
 only to be voluntarily obser\'ed, as provision is made 
 in them for the maintenance of widows, and men are 
 enjoined to treat them with respect., and are held up 
 to obloquy, as worthy of being classed with thieves 
 and robbers, if they withhold the rightful property 
 of widows from them. Suttee was officially forbidden 
 throughout British Indian territon,- by Lord William 
 Bentinck, governor general of India, on the 14th of 
 December. 1829. 
 
 A case of attempted suttee, which occurred a 
 month or two before this time, is mentioned in the 
 " Life of Sir Henry La\sTence," and as the laws 
 regulating the observance of the rite are mentioned, 
 I quote -it entire : — 
 
 " It was attempted on the bank of the river Ganges, 
 near the fort of Allahabad, and was defeated by the 
 humanity, courage, and wisdom of two Englishmen, 
 Mr. George Brown, of the civil ser\'ice, and the Rev. 
 Mr. iMackintosh, a Baptist missionary. These two 
 good men, hearing what was going on, repaired to 
 the spot, forced their way up to the funeral pyre, 
 and producing the sacred books of the Hindoos, 
 informed the officiating pundits and Brahmins that 
 they would allow nothing that was not according to 
 the letter of the Hindoo law. To this the pundits 
 could not object, and the result was that — 
 
The Women of India. 179 
 
 " I. No oil or other inflammable substance was 
 allowed to be poured over the wood. 
 
 *' 2. The widow was led to the Ganges and there 
 immersed, so that her garments were dripping wet 
 instead of dry and ready to ignite. 
 
 " 3. The Brahmins were forbidden either to bind 
 the widow down to the pile, or give her intoxicating 
 drugs. The sacrifice must be voluntary, or not 
 at all. 
 
 " So the widow was left unbound and in her senses. 
 No priest was allowed to fire the pile. The books 
 declare that the widow must do this herself. These 
 points having been insisted on, the trembling widow, 
 with wet clothes clinging round her, mounted the fa- 
 tal pile, and worked herself up so far as to apply the 
 torch. But as the flames began to rise and climb from 
 log to log and dart their horrid tongues at the poor 
 widow, she became restless and excited. First she 
 drew up one foot, then the other, then gazed wildly 
 round upon the howling priests, then stood upright 
 and danced and shrieked with pain, and at last, un- 
 able to bear it longer, leaped out of the fire. On 
 this the Englishmen stepped forward and took her 
 under the protection of British law. Of course her 
 family would have nothing to say to her, so her 
 humane rescuers set her up in a small shop in the 
 bazar, and whenever either of them passed, she used 
 to run out into the street and make salams, crying 
 out, ' That's the good sahib that saved my life ! ' 
 
i8o Gems of India. 
 
 This scene occurred only forty-six years ago, and yet 
 British supremacy in India dates from the battle of 
 Plassey, in 1757." 
 
 According to Marshman, the first effort to sup- 
 press the practice of suttee was made by Mr. George 
 Udny, and Dr. Carey, the indefatigable Baptist mis- 
 sionary of Serampore. They presented an address 
 on the subject to Lord Wellesley, governor general 
 of India ; but he was just leaving the country, and 
 could not act in the matter. He recorded a minute, 
 however, in favor of abolishing the rite. 
 
 The sudder, or chief court, did not favor the 
 abolition of the usage, but endeavored to regulate 
 it ; and the Bombay Government, taking the same 
 course, even went so far as to employ an English 
 official to construct the funeral pyre when the rite 
 of suttee was to be performed, in order to do it in 
 such a manner as to allow of the escape of the 
 widow should her fortitude give out. But it soon 
 became evident that such partial measures only 
 tended to legalize and increase the practice. Nev-. 
 ertheless, some of the most distinguished Indian 
 civiUans thought the rule of religious toleration, to 
 which they considered English authority owed its 
 stability, would be violated if they should deprive 
 Hindoos of the sacred and precious privilege of 
 burning their widows. Many other officials, how- 
 ever, took a more Christian view of the subject, and 
 urged the peremptory prohibition of suttee, and, of 
 
The Women of India. i8i 
 
 course, the few missionaries in the country were 
 of the same opinion, and did all in their power to 
 influence the public mind in regard to the question. 
 
 The Court of Directors of the East India Com- 
 pany (in London) at last placed the matter in the 
 hands of the governor general, and it was at this 
 juncture that Lord William Bentinck went out to 
 India in that capacity. He determined to take the 
 question up at once, and decide it in the fear of God. 
 He met with violent opposition, but three fourths 
 of the civilians were in favor of "positive prohibi- 
 tion." There were two eminent orientalists then in 
 India, Dr. Horace Wilson and Mr. (afterward Sir) 
 William Macnaghten. The former was a great 
 friend of the Hindoos ; not a friend to their true prog- 
 ress, however, for he strenuously opposed the sup- 
 pression of suttee, and declared that " the practice 
 could not be abolished without doing violence to 
 the conscientious belief of every order of Hindoos ; 
 that it would be a dire interference with their 
 religion, etc." 
 
 Mr. Macnaghten, on the contrary, warmly advo- 
 cated its abolition. " Let the Hindoo," he said, 
 "believe in his three hundred and thirty millions 
 of gods until it may please the Almighty to reclaim 
 him from his idolatry, but let him not immolate 
 thousands of helpless females on the altar of fanat- 
 icism." 
 
 The result of the inquiries instituted by Lord 
 
1 82 Gems of India. 
 
 William Bentinck was so favorable to the immediate 
 abolition of the inhuman and atrocious rite that he, 
 with his two counselors, Mr. Butterworth Bayley 
 and Sir Charles Metcalfe, on the 14th of December, 
 1829, passed the celebrated regulation which "de- 
 clared the practice of suttee illegal, and punishable 
 by the criminal courts as culpable homicide ;" * and 
 shortly after Dr. Carey, who held the appointment of 
 government translator at the time, had the privilege 
 one Sunday of putting the order against suttee into 
 the Bengalee language, and, knowing that a day's 
 delay might be fatal to scores of women, did not 
 deem it a sacrilegious occupation for that day. 
 
 Since that time suttee has gradually died out, 
 until attempts to perform it are very rare. Occa- 
 ally a case is reported to Government. One such 
 occurred within the last year ; but suttee, as a prac- 
 tice, is among the things that were, and faithful Hin- 
 doo wives have to content themselves with the less 
 heroic teachings of the sacred book of the Sikhs : 
 " They are not suttees who perish in the flames ; O 
 Nanuk, suttees are they who die of a broken heart ! " 
 The meaning of the word " suttee" is true or faithful. 
 
 Such a change has been wrought among the people 
 by the light of education and Christianity that prob- 
 ably, if English rule were to be withdrawn, the prac- 
 tice of suttee would never again be allowed. Edu- 
 cated Hindoos are heartily ashamed of these atroci- 
 
 * See Marshman's " History of India," vol. ii, page 399. 
 
The Worn 671 of India, 183 
 
 ties, and speak of them as deprecatingly as we do. 
 The practice of murdering female infants prevailed 
 both among the wild aboriginal tribes and the more 
 civilized and educated Hindoos. In 1789 the En- 
 glish Resident in Benares made the discovery that 
 it was prevalent among the Rajpoots; and in 1800, 
 when the same gentleman was appointed to Bombay, 
 he instituted inquiry upon the subject among the 
 Rajpoots in the west, and ascertained that in two 
 provinces at least three hundred helpless babes 
 were murdered annually ! In a territory about seven 
 hundred miles in extent there were every year 
 twenty thousand victims ! The little creatures were 
 either starved or drugged with opium by their un- 
 natural parents. 
 
 It could not be ascertained that there was any re- 
 ligious origin of this horrible practice, but it seemed 
 to have been taken up on account of the great ex- 
 pense of weddings and the insane pride of caste, 
 which made it impossible for parents to marry their 
 daughters except in their own tribe. This they 
 might not always be able to accomplish if they had 
 many daughters, and they considered it very disgrace- 
 ful to have a daughter enter her teens unmarried. 
 
 The expense of a wedding, too, was enormous, in 
 consequence of the inordinate feasting of guests and 
 feeing of priests, bards, etc., the presents to friends, 
 and the dowry of the bride. All these things were 
 required by their senseless customs, so that even if 
 
184 Gems of India. 
 
 husbands for his daughters could be found within his 
 tribe, a large number of them would ruin a man of 
 moderate fortune. 
 
 When the prevalence of infanticide came to the 
 knowledge of the English officials they at once un- 
 dertook its suppression. They despaired of effect- 
 ing this by force, but endeavored to convince native 
 chiefs of the enormity of the sin, and succeeded in 
 making them sign agreements to renounce it them- 
 selves, and to discourage it by expelling from caste 
 any persons who should afterward practice it. But 
 many of the chiefs broke their word almost immedi- 
 ately, and it has only been by persistent effort on the 
 part of English officials that this practice has been 
 generally given up. 
 
 In 1849 t^^ subject was discussed in the Punjab, 
 where it was found to prevail among the Sikhs. Lord 
 Dalhousie, the governor general of India, convened a 
 durbar, or reception, in the city of Umritser, at the 
 same time that a popular festival of the Sikhs was 
 held. It was largely attended by the Hindoo, Sikh, 
 and Mahomedan nobility. The chief commissioner 
 of the Punjab addressed the assembled chieftains 
 on the inhumanity of the practice, and the necessity 
 for its suppression. The chiefs were deeply im- 
 pressed, and solemnly promised to faithfully carry 
 out any plans that the governor general and chief 
 commissioner might inaugurate to effect the desired 
 object. Committees were appointed to draw up a 
 
The Women of India. 185 
 
 scale for the expense of weddings, which was ac- 
 cepted by the chiefs and estabUshed throughout 
 their dominions. The Maharajah of Cashmere was 
 one of the most zealous promoters of this good work. 
 
 In this way in various parts of the great country 
 the people were brought to see the heinousness of 
 infanticide and to renounce it ; but the Government 
 still keeps a constant watch upon them, and punishes 
 with severity all persons found guilty of perpetrating 
 the dreadful crime. 
 
 We find Hindoo women, then, are freed from the 
 most atrocious wrongs they have had to bear in 
 former ages, and our sympathy need not be stirred 
 by the tales of horror that fifty years ago led Chris- 
 tian women to go to the far East and labor for their 
 benighted and oppressed sisters. But the spirit of 
 heathenism is that of tyranny, and we find many 
 things in the condition of females in India yet that 
 seem to us wrong and degrading. Some things, un- 
 doubtedly, are so, while others are not really so, con- 
 sidering the state of society there. 
 
 Women of the lower classes go about freely. We 
 see them daily. They come to our houses, to the hos- 
 pitals when sick, or, if unable to do so, are attended 
 at their homes. They go about the streets, and pur- 
 sue their avocations, and visit each other at will. The 
 women of the higher classes often go out from their 
 homes, but always in palanquins or other covered 
 
 vehicles, from whose loop-holed curtains thev can 
 12 
 
1 86 Gems of India. 
 
 see without being seen. When their husbands be- 
 come acquainted with missionaries and English fam- 
 ilies they often allow their wives to pay visits at their 
 houses, trusting to their courtesy that due precautions 
 will be taken to prevent their being seen by men. 
 
 There has doubtless been, and still is, much suffer- 
 ing among this class in sickness, as their customs 
 forbid them from being attended by male physicians, 
 l^his prejudice, however, is slowly but surely being 
 removed, and medical missionaries are now some- 
 times, in extreme cases, called to see high-caste 
 ladies. Nevertheless, female physicians will always 
 find a wide field for usefulness in India, and can, if 
 actuated by the true missionary spirit, by means of 
 their medical skill, open the door for evangelistic 
 labor in many localities where it would otherwise 
 remain closed for years. 
 
 It seems to us that Hindoo women occupy a me- 
 nial position, because they are not allowed to eat with 
 their husbands or the male members of the family. 
 But they do not so regard it. It is simply " their 
 custom ; " their fathers did so and they do the same. 
 
 Under the patriarchal system the households be- 
 come very large. All the sons bring their wives 
 home. They occupy rooms forming a quadrangle 
 around an open court-yard. Here, or on the veran- 
 da, the food is brought when cooked. Some of the 
 women look after the children, while others serve out 
 the food to the merij who, when they have eaten, be- 
 
The Women of India. 187 
 
 take themselves to the genial occupation of "drinking 
 the hookah," that is, smoking by drawing the smoke 
 through the little reservoir of water attached to every 
 eastern pipe. The men thus happily disposed of, the 
 women and children have the whole field to them- 
 selves, and enjoy their meals at their leisure. 
 
 After the women have eaten, some of them also 
 smoke ; but, as a rule, they chew pan instead. Pan 
 {a pronounced like a in father) is composed of a small 
 piece of betel-nut, a clove or two, cardamom seed, and 
 shell lime, wrapped in a pungent leaf and pinned to- 
 gether by a thorn. It is prepared for the market 
 and brought in daily by the basketful. The juice of 
 the pan is very red, and it gives the mouth a very 
 singular appearance, not so repulsive, however, as 
 does the chewing of tobacco, a practice which I have 
 never known heathen to indulge in. 
 
 The elder women are highly venerated, as they are 
 usually very strict in their religious observances, and 
 their influence upon the household counsels is very 
 great. 
 
 Many young women are kept from learning to read 
 by their superstitious conservatism ; and many an en- 
 lightened young man is kept from openly becoming 
 a Christian on account of the horror and aversion 
 with which his aged mother or grandmother would 
 look upon his conduct. 
 
 Hindoo women are very devoted to their faith. 
 They generally worship the goddesses, most of whom 
 
1 88 Gems of India. 
 ^ -.^-^...^^^^ — ^ — .. — .^^-^^-^-....-^^ 
 
 are said to be incarnations of Parbutee, the wife of 
 Shiva, the destroyer. A particular one is chosen as 
 the household guardian. In the Himalayas they 
 pay great respect to Nynee Debee, the little idol 
 whose spirit is supposed to have her home in the 
 gigantic rocks which overhang the lake of Nynee 
 Tal. The paharins, or hill women, send out their lit- 
 tle girls, when just old enough to run about, to gather 
 orchids and lilies of the valley, the fragrant clematis, 
 the scattered flowers of the gorgeous rhododendrons, 
 and many other blossoms of plant or tree that deck 
 the mountain sides, to lay before the hideous stone 
 idol in the little temple at the head of the lake. 
 
 Merry seasons for Hindoo women of all classes are 
 the numerous festivals, when the deeds of the avatars, 
 or incarnations of the deity, are celebrated, the festi- 
 vals of the seasons, and the great annual melas on 
 the banks of the Ganges. Hundreds of thousands 
 gather at different points along the sacred " Gunga," 
 and spend several days in traffic and visiting ; then on 
 the "last great day" they rush in surging masses 
 into the river for the grand wasJi that shall cleanse 
 them from the sins of the preceding year. This is 
 the great event of the year to Hindoo women, when 
 they can emerge from behind the curtain and take a 
 good look at the world. 
 
 But this is only one side of the picture. They are 
 slaves of the most puerile superstitions. They dread 
 the curse of a Brahmin more than death itself They 
 
The Women of India. 189 
 
 are terrified at scores of natural events, and have a 
 constant abject dread of evil that may happen to 
 them or their children, and wear charms, and make 
 offerings to avert it. They are, in short, utter stran- 
 gers to a faith that gives rest to the soul. " The way 
 of peace have they not known." No sweet trust in 
 God and bright anticipations of heaven cheer them 
 in the bereavements and sicknesses of life, and when 
 death comes it is truly a " leap in the dark." 
 
 Although it is not customary for Hindoos to have 
 several wives, yet they often take a second wife, and 
 unhappiness in the family often results from this 
 practice. They are betrothed in childhood, and if the 
 boy die before the marriage is completed, the little 
 girl is pronounced a widow, and, like those who are 
 widowed after marriage, must remain single through 
 the remainder of her life. She is debarred from wear- 
 ing the numerous ornaments that delight heathen 
 women : the ear and nose-jewels, the necklets and 
 armlets, bracelets and anklets, and even the toe-rings, 
 whose tiny bells " make a tinkling as they go." She 
 can no longer attire herself in the bright-hued mus- 
 lins and the beautifully embroidered dresses of rich 
 and delicate fabrics in which, as a wife or expected 
 bride, she was accustomed to be arrayed. She must 
 wear coarse, white garments, and must occupy herself 
 in the performance of household labor, and in caring 
 for the welfare of her husband's family. She is often 
 looked upon as a burden, and her state is most solitary 
 
IQO Gems of India. 
 
 and pitiable. This is not, however, always the case. 
 There is as much difference in the social atmosphere 
 of Hindoo families as among the families of civilized 
 lands. 
 
 Since missionary ladies have reached the zenanas, 
 many of this class have seemed particularly inter- 
 ested in their teaching, and there have been a 
 few instances where they have, in spite of the 
 threats of their relations, embraced Christianity. Of 
 course they had to leave their homes and come 
 to the missionaries for protection. They became 
 teachers, and thus helped to spread the knowledge of 
 Christ among their countrywomen. Such cases are, 
 however, rare. When men find it so difficult to 
 break away from the fetters of caste and family ties, 
 it is not strange that women find such barriers in- 
 surmountable. A widow may more easily do it than 
 others, but even she leaves all that has been the 
 world to her for a strange faith and new friends. 
 
 Still we need not be discouraged in our labors 
 among Hindoo women. Even if the barriers to pro- 
 fessing their faith be insurmountable at first, they 
 can have the peace and comfort that result from its 
 possession, and will be prepared to assist and sym- 
 pathize with their husbands, sons, and brothers who 
 may be drawn toward Christianity, and ultimately to 
 join with them in openly professing Christ. 
 
 Education and missionary labor have prevailed to 
 so much greater extent among men than women that 
 
The Women of hidia. 191 
 
 at present the latter are positive hinderances to the 
 spread of the Gospel, but they will not be slow to 
 appreciate its excellence when they become ac- 
 quainted with its teachings. The tender, compas- 
 sionate Saviour, who could when weary and hungry 
 forget his fatigue and his wants in showing the way 
 of life to a poor sinful woman, and who welcomed 
 little children to his arms, will be recognized by them 
 as just the Saviour and friend they need. There 
 are many women in India who have come out from 
 among the heathen and openly profess faith in 
 Christ ; and doubtless many others hope for salva- 
 tion through him, although unable to join his people 
 openly. 
 
 MAHOMEDAN WOMEN. 
 
 Among the Mahomedans we find a more vigorous 
 type of womanhood than among Hindoos. Their 
 women are not superior intellectually, but their 
 superior faith gives them more hopefulness, and a 
 more cheerful outlook upon the present and the 
 future. Their prayers and alms are to please a holy 
 and gracious God, instead of being offered to propi- 
 tiate demon-like goddesses, and to avert their evil 
 designs toward them. Many of them are taught to 
 read, and their position in the household is more in- 
 dependent than among Hindoos, although women of 
 the better classes are not allowed to go about unvailed 
 or alone. 
 
192 Gems of India. 
 
 ^'- 
 
 A sufee, or sanctified ^lahomedan, who was once 
 employed as my teacher, graciously remarked one 
 day that it was evident to him that American women 
 were gifted with intellects equal to the men ; as he 
 had known several who learned the Hindoostanee 
 language as readily as their husbands. I asked him 
 if he considered the women of his own nation to be 
 intellectually inferior to the men. He replied, with 
 true oriental circumlocution, '' We certainly suppose 
 women to be somewhat inferior to men ; they are so 
 physically, no doubt, and as to their minds, perhaps 
 we do not srive them a fair chance to show what thev 
 are capable of ; on the whole, I think we rank them as 
 high as men, only a little less !^^ I asked him if he 
 was sure about their physical inferiority, and pointed 
 him to the hill women,, who carry as heavy burdens 
 as the men. 
 
 He then remarked that he had a very clever wife. 
 She took entire charge of his household expenses, 
 kept all the money, and arranged the marriages of 
 their children. *' She is also very intelligent," he con- 
 tinued, "she converses readily upon many subjects ; 
 but then you see, madam, she has had the benefit of 
 my compa?iio7iship all these years ! " He looked the 
 personification of conscious wisdom as he spoke. 
 
 The lesson of the day was on the same subject. 
 The book I was reading was a Mahomedan story 
 designed to benefit women, and the lesson was a 
 father's letter to his daughter, who was about to be 
 
The Women of India. 193 
 
 married. He cautions her to beware of ever consid- 
 ering herself her husband's equal, since God had not 
 only directed that woman's sphere should be lower 
 than man's, but had also given her less understanding. 
 Above all, he cautions her against ever trving to force 
 her husband to do as she wishes, and here the man as 
 well as the father is stirred within him, and he writes, 
 " God has made man a tiger, and it will be impossible 
 to conquer him ! " He probably believed kindness 
 is more effectual in taming wild animals, man in- 
 cluded, than force. As his daughter, an intelligent, 
 educated woman, was about to marry an obstinate, 
 conceited dunce, at her father's behest, these counsels 
 were doubtless well-timed. 
 
 SIKH WOMEN. 
 
 There is another class or sect of people in the 
 north-west of India who are, from the very peculiar- 
 ities of their faith, better prepared to receive the Gos- 
 pel than others. They are called Sikhs. The word 
 Sikh is the root of the verb sikhna, to learn, and 
 means in this connection the instructed people. 
 
 Their founder, a man by the name of Nanuk, 
 lived about the close of the fifteenth century. When 
 a boy he attracted by his intelligence the attention 
 of a Mahomedan moulvai, or priest, who had set his 
 heart upon devising some scheme to unite Hindoos 
 and Mahomedans in the bonds of a common faith. 
 He educated this boy according to his own peculiar 
 
194 Gems of India. 
 
 views, and had the satisfaction of seeing him arrive 
 at man's estate fully imbued with the idea of founding 
 a universal religion. The doctrine he promulgated 
 was that worship was due to God alone, but the form 
 of worship was immaterial. Caste distinctions were 
 abolished. 
 
 The Sikhs flourished during the sixteenth and 
 seventeenth centuries, and became a numerous and 
 warlike people. They dwelt mostly in the Punjab, 
 but a small and rather inferior portion of them 
 called the Mazhabee Sikhs, eventually settled in the 
 province of Rohilkund. 
 
 The Mazhabee Sikhs are rather nomadic in their 
 habits, and are a rough, uncultivated people, but from 
 the opening of the missions of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church in Rohilkund in the beginning of 1859, 
 they have heard the Gospel gladh'. At their request, 
 the missionaries visited one of their villages before they 
 had even procured a house for their own families. A 
 large number of Sikhs — men, women, and children — 
 gathered to welcome them, and to hear the Gospel 
 message. Many consistent, earnest Christians have 
 been raised up among them, and they are grad- 
 ually becoming elevated and enlightened by means 
 of schools and the constant labors of missionaries. 
 
 From the beginning of this work the Sikh women 
 have been particularly interested in Chrfstianity, and 
 have received it quite as readily as the men. One 
 bright girl about ten years of age, whose parents had 
 
TJie Women of India. 195 
 
 become Christians, requested the missionary to bap- 
 tize her too, as she was resolved to be a Christian. 
 Her friends thought she had better wait awhile, but 
 her urgency carried the day. She soon learned to 
 read, and has ever since been engaged in teaching, or 
 laboring in some way for the good of her country- 
 women She is now, and has been for nearly four 
 years, working as a medical Bible reader, and is very 
 acceptable and useful both as a doctor and a Script- 
 ure reader. Many others are also worthy of mention 
 and commendation. 
 
 The dress of the Sikhs was prescribed by their 
 founder. It is almost wholly of dark blue cotton 
 goods, in which the women especially look very ugly. 
 They put their hair up very high on their heads, over 
 which the dark blue chadar or shawl is worn. Their 
 skirts are rather short, and their whole appearance 
 very ungainly. The expression of their features, too, 
 is rather dull and uninteresting. But even among 
 this apparently unpromising class many, bright ca- 
 pable women have been found, who only needed the 
 hope-inspiring influence of Christianity to waken 
 them into moral and intellectual vigor. 
 
 In visiting among all classes of Hindoostanee 
 women in the hope of doing them good, great tact 
 and kindness are necessary. It is strange how quick 
 they are to detect any rudeness in foreigners, even 
 when they indulge in it themselves. They often be- 
 come strongly attached to those who visit them, and 
 
196 Gems of India. 
 
 are kind and sympathetic in their manners toward 
 them, and the days on which they expect these visits 
 are looked forward to as pleasant spots in their un- 
 eventful lives. 
 
 I have often been struck with the evident care that 
 had been taken to have the rooms tidied up, and the 
 women dressed neatly, so that we could sit down to- 
 gether and pursue our studies and conversation with- 
 out interruption. Often, too, I have been greeted 
 with the remark, *' We have been watching for you 
 for a long time ; we thought that you would have 
 come earlier ; " and once when I waited past the 
 hour I had promised to visit a family so that the sun 
 might lose something of its fiery heat, a dear little 
 boy, about five years old, was sent across a field to the 
 little rest-house where we were staying to ask if I 
 would not come soon. Very happy and proud was 
 the little fellow when he was permitted to lead me 
 back to the waiting company of women. A year 
 after, when I again visited the place, the little son, of 
 whom the mother was so fond and proud, and on 
 whom the father's hopes were placed, had died, and I 
 found sorrow and darkness where, a year previous, 
 there was su^h a bright and joyous household. And 
 yet the angel of life, as well as the angel of death, had 
 visited the dwelling. A lovely little female infant 
 smiled in the mother's arms, but very faint was the 
 response on the mother's face. I said to her, in an- 
 swer to some despairing remark she made, " It is 
 
The Women of India. 1 97 
 
 ----^ -^ 
 
 not because God is angry with you that he took your 
 darUng boy ; see, he has sent a little daughter to com- 
 fort you." She answered, " Should he give me twelve 
 the vacant place in my heart would yet remain un- 
 filled." I tried to cheer the poor stricken mother 
 with the thought that her boy was taken away from 
 all trouble and sin. No weary pilgrimage for him 
 that his sins might be expiated, but, while innocent 
 of actual transgression, he had been taken to a holy, 
 happy heaven. I told her of the comforting thoughts 
 Christians had at such times, and of the happy pros- 
 pect of meeting our loved ones again, and dwelling 
 forever with them in the presence of the Lord. She 
 listened eagerly, and seemed to obtain a ghmpse of 
 the bright future opened up to the Christian through 
 faith in Christ ; but she recollected herself with a 
 sigh, and replied wearily, " What can we know of such 
 things ; the future is all hidden from our eyes." She 
 was a Hindoo, and her rehgion did not hold out such 
 blessed hopes. Her mind was full of vague ideas of 
 the transmigration of souls until they should become 
 lost in the Deity. Her boy was lost to her forever. 
 She never rallied from this depression of mind, but 
 pined away for a few months and died. 
 
 Much pains are usually taken to show a missionar}^ 
 lady great respect. If the family can boast of a chair, 
 it is brought and placed on a rug for the visitor; but 
 if they have no chair, perhaps a low seat, made of 
 bamboo and cord, called a morha, is brought, or she 
 
198 Gems of India. 
 
 is requested to seat herself on a charpoy, or low bed- 
 stead, covered with woven cord and, perhaps, a rug, 
 and they think it very odd that she does not draw 
 her feet upon the bed as well. " O, how can you let 
 your feet hang down t " they say ; " don't they ache 1 " 
 They are answered with one of their own idioms, 
 " It is our custom," and are silenced if not convinced. 
 
 Once I visited a family where they had none of the 
 above-mentioned conveniences ; but they spread sev- 
 eral tanned hides of the spotted deer upon the floor 
 of the veranda, and we all sat down upon them. This 
 time I was obliged to sit in true oriental fashion, 
 whether I would or not. 
 
 Let not any one infer, however, that our eyes be- 
 hold only the pleasant things of Indian household 
 life. Far from it. Sights most repulsive meet us on 
 every hand in the hot, filthy streets and habitations 
 of a native city. Horses, cows, and donkeys are oft- 
 en kept in close proximity to the dwellings, and there 
 are many other customs that are very unpleasant to 
 us. The children are allowed to run about with very 
 little clothing, and in far from a tidy state. The in- 
 valids of the family are very minute in explaining to 
 visitors the exact nature of the diseases from which 
 they suffer, and one's sympathies are often strongly 
 excited by the exhibition of fearful and incurable 
 sufferings. 
 
 As far as possible we persuade native women 
 whom we visit to dispense with their custom of 
 
The Women of India. 199 
 
 making offerings, as far as we are concerned. It is 
 not expected that visitors will receive these gifts un- 
 less they intend to make a present in return, and 
 if, through ignorance of this etiquette, they should 
 accept what is pressed upon them and then not 
 make quite as valuable a present in return, great 
 offense would be taken. As a rule, we are seldom 
 offered any thing of value after we become acquaint- 
 ed with a family, unless they consider themselves 
 highly obliged by some kindness shown them, and 
 wish to show their gratitude. They usually bring 
 cardamom-seeds, almonds, raisins, pieces of cocoanut, 
 and pan to us just before we leave, and we take 
 something from the plate just to please them. 
 
 They are not always the only learners on these 
 occasions. We often receive lessons on various sub- 
 jects by having the "way that ithers see us" brought 
 to our notice. An English lady once made an unex- 
 pected call upon some wealthy Hindostanee ladies, 
 and found them richly dressed and bejeweled. She 
 remarked to them, " How can you be to so much 
 trouble in dressing and putting on all this jewelry 
 when you do not go into society } " One of them 
 answered, " Why, we wear our ornaments for our 
 husbands. For whom do English ladies wear jewels 
 and rich dresses } " Quite likely, in describing this 
 scene to her liege lord afterw^ard the Hindoostanee 
 lady added, "And when I asked the Mem Sahib that 
 question she ate her breath and remained silent." 
 
200 Gems of India. 
 
 We find stereoscopes and pictures of great use in 
 zanana work. Short stories and explanations of the 
 modes of life in different countries, singing, etc., are 
 very interesting to them. 
 
 Their conversation is likely to be on frivolous 
 . subjects entirely, unless we take the initiative, and 
 by some illustration or happy vein of thought fix 
 their minds upon serious subjects. When this is the 
 case they will listen attentively, and ask questions, 
 and express their own views like sensible creatures. 
 If a desire for learning be awakened, it is surprising 
 how quickly they will learn to read. I have seen 
 gray-haired women bending over the alphabet with 
 patient zeal until they had mastered it. Occasion- 
 ally we find a woman of marked ability and diligence, 
 and it is a great pleasure to help such in the acqui- 
 sition of knowledge. 
 
 Normal schools have recently been opened in 
 several of the large cities by Government, where 
 women of ability are trained for teaching. 
 
 There has been a large increase in girls' schools 
 in India in the last ten years. At the decennial 
 General Missionary Conference, held in Allahabad 
 during Christmas week of 1872, there were statistics 
 given which showed that in 1861 there were fifteen 
 thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine girls' schools 
 in India, and in 1871 there were twenty-six thou- 
 sand six hundred and seven, showing an increase in 
 ten years of ten thousand six hundred and forty-two. 
 
The Women of India. 201 
 
 In the north-west provinces and Oude the ratio has 
 been still greater. There were one thousand three 
 hundred and seven schools in 1861, and in 187 1 four 
 thousand two hundred and thirty-two. 
 
 Among educated Bengalese, especially the mem- 
 bers of the Society called the Brahmo Samaj, there 
 is a strong progressive movement in favor of female 
 education and elevation. Their example, and the 
 encouragement given by Government, are inciting 
 educated natives of all classes to educate their fe- 
 males, and the ratio of increase in schools for them 
 will probably be much greater in 1881. 
 
 CHRISTIAN WOMEN. 
 
 In Bengal and Southern India, where missions are 
 older than in the north, some women of ability and 
 great devotion have been raised up in the native 
 Churches. To the little province of Coorg, on the 
 Malabar coast, belongs the honor of furnishing the 
 first and, so far, the only high-born native lady who 
 has embraced Christianity. The Raja with his 
 daughter, the Princess Gourumna, visited England, 
 and the princess while there m.ade a public profes- 
 sion of her faith in Christ. The Queen of England 
 stood as her sponsor when she Was baptized. 
 
 In 1873 there was a native Christian lady in Tan- 
 jore who died at the age of sixty-two, having spent 
 her life in translating religious books, writing relig- 
 
202 Gems of India. 
 
 ious poems and hymns, and preaching the Gospel. 
 At her funeral there was a large gathering of people 
 of all classes and creeds, who subsequently agreed to 
 join in erecting a monument to her to express their 
 appreciation of the singular purity and unselfishness 
 of her life. 
 
 Native Christian women in the north-west prov- 
 inces are as yet mostly from the lower ranks of 
 society, and there has been no one of unusual ability 
 among them ; but there are many who, according to 
 their ability, are untiring in their efforts to do good 
 to their countrywomen, and many families have been 
 reached and a large amount of teaching carried on 
 by them ; and I believe it will be said of many a 
 humble laborer at the last, " Sae hath done what 
 she could." 
 
 Some have " witnessed a good confession " of the 
 sustaining power of Divine grace in the midst of 
 suffering and in the hour of death. A few years 
 ago a sweet-spirited, gentle woman was near her de- 
 parture from this world, and went to pay a farewell 
 visit at the house of a missionary. She remained to 
 attend evening worship, and when asked to choose a 
 hymn, named one which she said had been in her 
 mind all day. It is called " The Two Homes," and 
 the English version has these beautiful lines : — 
 
 " I think upon my earthly home, 
 And sweet emotions rise ; 
 Yet still my spirit longs to reach 
 Mv home above the skies." 
 
The Women of India. 203 
 
 The sentiment of the hymn is even more happily 
 brought out in the Hindoostanee version, and she 
 seemed to appropriate it fully. She sang it softly as 
 she was carried home in her palanquin, and the 
 next morning passed gently away to her heavenly 
 home. 
 
 I recall to mind, also, a young widow from among 
 the Sikhs who became a Christian and married a 
 catechist. Her life was filled with earnest labors for 
 the good of others, and her departure to the home 
 above was a scene of joyful triumph. 
 
 In 1868 there was considerable discussion about 
 teaching the science of medicine to native Christian 
 women in order to fit them for practice among their 
 countrywomen, especially in high-caste families. The 
 subject was brought before some government phy- 
 sicians, and they gave it as their opinion that native 
 women had not sufficient intellect to comprehend 
 the subject. 
 
 A native gentleman gave funds to make a trial of 
 the scheme, and a class of twelve Christian women 
 was formed in Nynee Tal. After two years' study 
 and practice they came before some of these same 
 physicians for examination, who expressed surprise 
 and admiration that the class had acquired so much 
 knowledge both of medicine and simple surgery, 
 and gave eight of the women certificates, as follows : 
 " We, the undersigned, have, at the request of the 
 Rev. Dr. Humphrey, examined in anatomy, 
 
204 Gems of India. 
 
 midwifery, pharmacy, practice in medicine, and the 
 management of minor surgical cases, including the 
 more common kinds of fractures and dislocations, 
 and we consider her qualified to practice as a mid- 
 wife, and also to undertake the treatment of all ordi- 
 nary diseases. She answered the different questions 
 put to her with remarkable quickness and precision, 
 and in our opinion she has acquired a practical 
 knowledge of medicine and surgery quite equal to 
 the generality of locally-entertained native doctors." 
 
 The term " locally entertained " is applied to those 
 doctors who study in government hospitals under the 
 direction of the physicians in charge, and have not 
 attended lectures in a Medical College. The other 
 members of the class, who had not been able to attend 
 so closely to their studies as the others, joined the 
 next class, and two years later also passed a success- 
 ful examination. 
 
 Some of these women are now doing good service 
 as medical Bible readers, finding open doors and a 
 warm welcome wherever they go. Some of them 
 have been taken away in the midst of their usefulness. 
 The most promising one of all, a truly devoted and 
 skillful woman, was stricken down by the sun while 
 prosecuting her humane labors. 
 
 Another, after three years of successful labor, has 
 recently gone to her reward. She was not afraid to 
 meet the mysterious change " which we call death. 
 She said to her husband as her strength was fast 
 
The Women of India. 205 
 
 failing, " Let not your heart be troubled, I am 
 going to dwell with my Saviour." When unable 
 to sing herself, she asked her husband to sing the 
 hymn, 
 
 "Joyfully, joyfully, onward I move," 
 
 and soon, in quiet assurance of faith, crossed over the 
 river. 
 
 A medical class has also been trained in the 
 Girls' Orphanage in Bareilly, under the tuition of 
 Miss Swain, M.D., from which several most useful 
 women have been sent out to various parts of the 
 field. 
 
 It is evident, from the foregoing short historical 
 sketches, that the women of India possess powers of 
 mind equal to those of women of any other land ; and 
 since they were capable of so much that was brave 
 and noble, in spite of the depressing influence of 
 Hindooisrn and Mahomedanism, we may surely ex- 
 pect great things of them when elevated to their true 
 position by Christianity. 
 
 The work of making the women of heathendom 
 acquainted with our holy religion belongs most 
 fitly to the women of Christendom, and it is a 
 matter for congratulation that American women 
 are awaking to their high privilege in this respect. 
 
 It surely is a great and precious privilege to have 
 a part in bringing about the world's redemption, and 
 it ought not to be necessary that harrowing tales of 
 physical suffejing and hardship be told in order to 
 
2o6 Gems of India. 
 
 incline our hearts to this work. It should be a suf- 
 ficient call upon our sympathies that the women of 
 heathen lands are ignorant of Christ and of the bless- 
 ings brought to us through him ; and consequently 
 in the midst of the sorrows and sufferings of earth, 
 they are not cheered and sustained by that hope 
 which is as an anchor to the weary, storm-tossed soul. 
 
 There is always ample scope for Christian effort 
 at home, but our sympathies, labors, gifts, and prayers 
 ought not to be confined to our own land, which is 
 already flooded by Gospel light, under whose cheer- 
 ing influence all who desire may come. 
 
 There are annies of earnest workers here who 
 are striving to advance the cause of truth and right- 
 eousness, and are searching in the great mine of 
 humanity for gems to shine in the courts of heaven ; 
 but in heathen lands '* the laborers are few," and 
 gems in the rough lie scattered over the mountains 
 and plains, which if gathered and polished would 
 shine with heavenly purity and undying luster. 
 
 Let us, then, extend our sympathy to all the dark 
 places of the earth, that we may have some humble 
 part in gathering from heathendom precious souls, 
 whose value is immeasurably greater than that of all 
 the treasures of earth, into that glorious kingdom 
 prepared for all true believers in Christ " from the 
 foundation of the world." " And they shall be mine 
 saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make 
 up my jewels." 
 
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