Part 11 (2/2)

[34] The _bazar_, that part of a city where there are most shops; but the word is applied to various parts of a city, where various articles are sold, as the cloth _bazar_, the jewel _bazar_, &c.

[35] _Shahjahan_ was the most magnificent king of _Dilli_, of the race of _Taimur, Sahib Kiran_ was one of his t.i.tles, and means, Prince of the Happy Conjunction; i.e. the conjunction of two or more auspicious planets in one of the signs of the Zodiac at the hour of birth. Such was the case at the birth of _Taimur_, who was the first we read of as _Sahib-Kiran_. As a contradistinction, _Shahjahan_ is generally called _Sahib Kirani Sani_, or the second _Sahib Kiran_. It never waw applied, as Ferdinand Smith states, to _all_ the emperors of _Dilli_. It may be mentioned, that a very extraordinary conjunction of the planets in the sign Libra took place in A.D. 1185, just about the period of _Jangis Khan's_ appearance as a conqueror; but I am not aware that he was thence called a _Sahib Kiran_, as he did not happen to be _born_ under the said conjunction.

[36] The fort, or rather fortified place, of _Dilli_, and the great mosque, called the _Juma' Masjid_.

[37] The famous _Takhti Ta,us_, or peac.o.c.k throne, made by the magnificent _Shahjahan_, the richest throne in the world; it was valued at seven millions sterling. Tavernier, the French jeweller and traveller, saw it and describes it in his work. It was carried away by _Nadir Shah_ when he plundered _Dilli_ in 1739.

[38] The expensive and useless ca.n.a.l which brought fresh water to _Dilli_, whilst the limpid and salutary stream of the _Jumna_ flowed under its walls. The advantages of irrigation to the country, through which it pa.s.sed, were nothing compared to the expense of its construction.

[39] Literally, ”the supreme camp or market.”

[40] A Persian expression.

[41] _Shah 'Alam_ the emperor of _Dilli_, was then towards _Patna_ a tool in the hands of _Shuja'u-d-Daula, the Nawwab_ of _Lakhnau, and Kasim 'Ala Khan, the Nawwab_ of _Murs.h.i.+d-abad._

[42] Alluding to the confusion which reigned in _Upper Hindustan_ after the a.s.sa.s.sination of _'Alamgir_ the Second, and the flight of _Shah 'Alam. Upper Hindustan_ was then in a sad plight, ravaged alternately by the _Abdalis_, the _Marhattas_, and the _Jats_--the king a pageant, the n.o.bles rebellious, the subjects plundered and oppressed, and the country open to every invader--though this was near 100 years ago, and although they had some government, justice, and security from 1782 to 1802, yet the country had not even then recovered from the severe shock.

[43] The word is used in the singular, both by _Mir Amman_ and the original author, _Amir Khusru_ according to a well-known rule in Persian syntax, viz., ”a substantive accompanied by a numerical adjective dispenses with the plural termination,” as ”_haft roz_,”

”seven days,” not ”_haft rozha_. The Persian term _darwesh_, in a general sense, denotes a person who has adopted what by extreme courtesy is called a religious life, closely akin to the ”mendicant friar” of the middle ages; i.e., a lazy, dirty, hypocrital vagabond, living upon the credulous public. The corresponding term in Arabic is _Fakir_; and in _Hindi_, _Jogi_.

[44] The word _Rum_ means that empire of which Constantinople is the capital, and sometimes called, in modern times, Romania. It was originally applied to the Eastern Roman Empire, and, at present, it denotes Turkey in Europe and Asia.

[45] _Naus.h.i.+rwan_ was a king of Persia, who died in A.D. 578. He is celebrated in oriental history for his wisdom and justice. During his reign _Muhammad_ the prophet was born. The Persian writings are full of anecdotes of _Naus.h.i.+rwan's_ justice and wisdom.

[46] _Hatim_ or rather _Hatim Tai_, is the name of an Arab chief, who is celebrated for his generosity and his mad adventures, in an elegant Persian work called _Kissae Hatim Tai_. This work was translated into English for the Asiatic Translation Fund in 1830.

[47] Called also _Kustuntuniya_ by the Persians, and _Istambol_, also _Islambol_, by the Turks.

[48] The _shabi barat_ is a Mahometan festival which happens on the full moon of the month of _Sha'ban_; illuminations are made at night, and fire-works displayed; prayers are said for the repose of the dead, and offerings of sweetmeats and viands made to their manes. A luminous night-scene is therefore compared to the _shabi barat_.

[49] I warrant you there were no ”tickets of leave” granted in those blessed days.

[50] This means an impertinent, or rather a _chaffing_, question, like our own cla.s.sic interrogation, ”Does your mother know you'ra out?”

[51] It is inc.u.mbent on every good _Musalman_ to pray five times in the twenty-four hours. The stated periods are rather capriciously settled:--1st. The morning prayer is to be repeated between daybreak and sunrise; 2nd. The prayer of noon, when the sun shows a sensible declination from the meridian; 3rd. The afternoon prayer, when the sun is near the horizon that the shadow of a perpendicular object is twice it's length; 4th. The evening prayer, between sunset and close of twilight; 5th. The prayer of night, any time during the darkness. The inhabitants of Iceland and Greenland would find themselves sadly embarra.s.sed in complying with these pious precepts, bequeathed by _Muhammad_ to the _true believers_, as they call themselves.

[52] The Asiatics consider _male_ children as the light or splendour of their house. In the original there is a play upon the word ”_diya_”

which, as a substantive signifies ”a lamp;” and as a verbal participle it denotes ”given,” or ”bestowed.”

[53] The literal meaning is--”There is no one as the bearer of his name, and the giver of water.”

[54] The Mirror Saloon, called by the Persians, and from them by the _Hindustanis, s.h.i.+sh Mahall_, is a grand apartment in all oriental palaces, the walls of which are generally inlaid with small mirrors, and their borders richly gilded. Those of _Dilli_ and _Agra_ are the finest in _Hinduistan_.

[55] ”The messenger was the white hair in his majesty's whiskers.

[56] Called in the original, _Pain Bagh_. Most royal Asiatic gardens have a _Pain Bagh_ or lower terrace adorned with flowers, to which princes descend when they wish to relax with their courtiers.

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