then rites. At the same time he strove to bring the Bombay. Dr. Fryer at. tends the Nawab Joonere: the public audience. The Nawab of the city of Joonere required the services of Dr. Fryer for one of the ladies of his harem. of Dr. Fryer journeyed to the fortress, and was received with great state. The Nawab was seated on a kind of throne, bolstered up with embroidered cushions. All his chief officers were standing on his right hand. He was smoking a silver hookah with much pomp and circumstance, whilst his sword and buckler lay before him, and a page carried his bow and arrows. The floor was spread with a soft bed supported by silver pedestals. Dr. Fryer took off his shoes, made his salam, presented his credentials, and was received at the left hand of the Nawab. Dr. Fryer expected to be ushered into the presence of his patient, but he 62 A gold rupee or mohur was equal to about sixteen rupees. See ante, page 374. 63 See ante, page 371. CHAP. IX. Weak defences against Sivaji. Visit to the Nawab's harem. Unexpected disclosures. was told that he must wait for a lucky day. Two singing men then chanted the praises of the Nawab, and the assembly was dismissed by the presentation of pán. Dr. Fryer had a poor opinion of the defences of Joonere. It appeared to him that the Moghuls at Joonere were encamped rather than fortified. If Sivaji advanced against them in any force, they either took to flight or joined the army under the Moghul general, Bahadur Khan, who commanded the Moghul army in that quarter. At last a fortunate day arrived for seeing the patient. Dr. Fryer was conducted into the women's quarters. He was led through a long dark entry into an open court, where he saw a bed hung round with curtains. He was told to put his hand under the curtains and feel the wrist of his patient. He did as he was told, but found a pulse healthy and regular, and accordingly declared that there was nothing the matter with the patient. It turned out that the attendants had tested his medical skill by placing a healthy female slave in the bed. The matter was explained, and Dr. Fryer was then permitted to feel the pulse of the sick lady. He found her weak and languid, and relieved her by bleeding. Next day another lady wanted to be bled. Dr Fryer was again conducted to the open court, but instead of a bed there was a curtain drawn across the whole court, as if to hide a distinguished audience. Presently a female arm was thrust through a hole in the curtain, but the curtain gave way and fell to the ground, and a large bevy of ladies appeared before the eyes of the English doctor. No one ran away, but the ladies veiled their faces with their hands, and peeped at Dr. Fryer between their fingers. Parings CHAP. IX. of fruit were lying about, as well as pieces of needlework, and Dr. Fryer inferred that the ladies had been engaged in ordinary household occupations. Mahratta wars, Dr. Fryer soon grew intimate with the Nawab of Cause of the long Joonere, and discussed questions of trade and politics. The Nawab cared nothing for trade; his only anxiety was that there should be no peace with the Mahrattas, and all the Moghul generals shared this feeling. So long as the war lasted a Moghul army would be maintained in the Dekhan, and every Moghul general would draw pay for troops that only existed on paper, and would receive rich presents from the Sultans of Bíjápur and Golkonda. Peace with Sivaji would put a stop to all these gains, and thus it was that Aurangzeb never came to terms with the Mahrattas. vert. Subsequently Dr. Fryer left the town of Joonere, Brahman conand paid a visit to the Nawab of the fortress. This man was a converted Brahman who had been promoted by Aurangzeb, and was notorious for his grasping avarice. Sivaji was anxious to recover the fortress from the Moghuls, because he had been born there, and he offered an enormous bribe to the ex-Brahman to deliver up the place. The terms were accepted, the money was paid, and seven thousand of Sivaji's men marched up the hill to take possession. But Sivaji was deceived; the ex-Brahman was faithless to his engagement, and the seven thousand Mahrattas were cut off by an ambuscade. The garrison of the fortress of Joonere was com- Indian armies. posed indifferently of Hindus as well as Moghuls; and such was the case with all Indian armies, Mahratta as well as Moghul. The only question was that of salt or pay; and one and all were expected to be Capital sentences, himself. reserved by Aurangzeb. CIIAP. IX. man to death." Aurangzeb reserved that power to Therefore, whenever any man deserved death, a courier was dispatched to know the pleasure of the Padishah, and the imperial orders were put in execution immediately after the return of the courier. Protection of the city. Kotwal held responsible for all robberies. The Foujdar of the district. Plunder of Surat by Sivaji in 1664. The Kotwal paraded the streets during the night to prevent disorders, and he set guards at different places. If any man was found abroad in the streets, he was committed to prison, and rarely released without being whipped or bastinadoed. This round of duty was performed three times every night, namely, at nine o'clock in the evening, at twelve o'clock at night, and at three o'clock in the morning. The Kotwal was answerable for all thefts committed in the town. Whenever a robbery was discovered, the Kotwal apprehended all the people of the house, young and old, and subjected them in turns to a severe beating. If at the end of five or six days no one confessed, they were all set at liberty. There was also a provost at Surat, who was called the Foujdar. His duty was to secure the country round about, and he was answerable for all robberies committed within a certain area outside the city. Two years before Thevenot's visit to Surat the place had been plundered by Sivaji, and the memory of that four days' sack and burning was still fresh in the minds of the inhabitants. It was wonderful that such a populous city should have patiently suffered itself to be looted by a handful of men; but the Hindus were mostly cowards, and no sooner did Sivaji appear than they all fled, some to Baroche, 47 Criminal justice had been much more lax in the reign of Shah Jehan. See Mandelsto's story of the execution of dancing girls by the governor of Ahmadabad, ante, chap. vi. CHAP. IX. Delhi, 1(66, Thugs, and others to the fortress. The Christians from Europe managed to protect themselves against the Mahrattas, but this was because they had planted cannon round their factories, whereas Sivaji and his Mahrattas had no artillery to bring against them. Thevenot also mentions Sivaji's visit to Delhi, and Sivai's visit to subsequent escape from the designs of Aurangzeb, which happened in 1666, the very year that Thevenot was travelling in India. He explains that Aurangzeb shrank from putting Sivaji to death because he feared an insurrection of the Rajas, who had become sureties for the performance of Aurangzeb's promises. Thevenot travelled along the once famous high- wild beasts and way between Agra and Delhi, which was planted with trees, and extended beyond Delhi to Lahore. But he describes the road as being only tolerable, and as infested by tigers, panthers, and lions; also by certain skilful robbers, who were afterwards known as Thugs. These miscreants were the most cunning in all the world. They threw a noose with certain aim round a man's neck, and then strangled him in a trice. Sometimes they sent a handsome woman on the road, who appeared with dishevelled hair, weeping and complaining of some misfortune. A traveller was easily decoyed into a conversation with this dangerous lady, who either threw the noose and strangled him with her own hands, or else stunned him until the robbers came up and finished the business. the Nair aristo Thevenot furnishes some curious details respecting Malabar country: the Nairs of Malabar. The Nairs, he said, had a great cracy. conceit of their nobility, because they fancied themselves to be descended from the Sun. They gave place to none except the Portuguese, and that pre |