Chapter One: The Court of Shah Jahan

Chapter One: The Court of Shah Jahan

Shah Jahan, the fifth emperor of the Mughal dynasty, sits in splendour in the Diwan-e-Khas, on his matchless royal seat, the Peacock Throne. The lustre of the gold of the jewelled throne and the sparkle of its gems dazzle the eyes of the courtiers, and their reflection plays in strange, restless, flickering ways on the water of Ali Mardan Khan's canal as it flows delicately past.

Before him stand the nobles of the court with folded hands, in long-skirted robes and turbans with projecting fronts, swords at their waists and daggers in their sashes. The most eminent among them are Sa'dullah Khan, the Wazir of the empire; Hakim Ruknai of Kashan; Sa'ida of Gilan; Hakim Masih-uz-Zaman; Allami Afzal Khan, who was a great scholar; and Mulla Ala-ul-Mulk Tuni, the Mir Saman (steward of the household). [TN: The source later calls him Ata-ul-Mulk; one form is used here throughout.]

Just then Hakim Ruknai of Kashan stepped forward, bowed to the ground and, in a most melodious voice, began to recite an ode of praise he had newly composed. The company applauded as he went on, and the Emperor, the Refuge of the World, in whom piety had produced great simplicity and selflessness, applauded the poet's genius and invention with his eyes and brows and softly with his tongue too; yet at the same time he grew more and more ashamed at hearing his own praises. The angel of guidance whispered in his ear that praise belongs only to the One God, the Lord of Majesty, and he grew more ashamed still. The upshot was that no sooner had Ruknai finished his ode than Shah Jahan fell prostrate before God, there on the throne, and prayed at the threshold of the Lord: "God of the worlds! I am worth nothing; it is only Your mercy and kindness to Your servant that You have given me such honour and dominion that these poets sing my praises."

Then the Emperor raised his head from his prostration and commanded that Ruknai of Kashan be weighed against gold and the gold be given to him. As he was being weighed, the Emperor was saying, "Praise be to God, that at our court there are poets of such delicate taste and such invention as are found at no other court."

At this Allami Afzal Khan, one of the peerless scholars of his age, folded his hands and said, "What other court is there in India that could rival this heaven-high threshold? My belief is that even in the lands of Persia and Khurasan there is no poet of such accomplishment today that the Safavid state of Iran could set him against ours. Whenever a poet there wins fame and distinction, he leaves his homeland and comes here. And though Persian is not the common tongue of our country, the good fortune of this pearl-scattering court has given us the advantage in poetry over those whose native tongue it is."

HAKIM MASIH-UZ-ZAMAN: The learning of our court and the accomplishments of our poets have turned Hind into the land of Persia. Leaving aside the poets who have come from Iran and the poetry of the Indian Muslims, there are some Hindus here who are such fine poets that they have outdone the poets of the Persian court. Data Ram, who takes the pen name Brahman, is in Delhi at present. He is so good a poet in Persian that no one can hear his verses without praising them; a "Bravo!" escapes the lips of its own accord.

Hearing this, the Emperor, who had been sitting with his back against a cushion, sat up straight and said, "Yes, I too have heard Brahman greatly praised. Is he here these days?"

MASIH-UZ-ZAMAN: He is here, Your Majesty. The whole city is talking of him. People go with great eagerness to hear his verses, and some invite him to their homes on the pretext of a dinner to hear his poetry.

THE EMPEROR (looking towards Mulla Ala-ul-Mulk, the Mir Saman): Then send for him at once. I am very eager to hear his verses.

The Mulla, himself one of the unrivalled and renowned scholars of the age, who had been honoured with the office of Mir Saman and superintendent of the palace, said "Very good," went out, sent a runner off to fetch Data Ram, and came back.

Now the Refuge of the World turned to Sa'ida of Gilan and said, "Until this Hindu Brahman comes, recite some of your own verses. But there is no need for odes of praise; read your *ghazals* (lyric poems)."

Sa'ida of Gilan began to recite his verses, and the Emperor listened with interest and pleasure, applauding many of the couplets and having them read again. An hour or an hour and a half of this gathering must have passed when word came that Data Ram had arrived. Mulla Ala-ul-Mulk went and brought him in from outside. He had hardly come before the throne when the herald turned to him and cried out sharply, "With respect, behold!" and at once another called out, "Eyes alight!" The Emperor's gaze rose towards him, and he stepped forward to present his offering. The mace-bearers came forward and took him by both arms, and one of them thrust his own hand in front of Data Ram's two hands so that he could not stretch them out too far. In this state and manner Data Ram approached the throne and offered five gold coins. The Emperor laid his hand on them, and Data Ram turned back and went to stand at a distance at the end of the line of courtiers.

Now the Emperor turned to him with a smiling face and said, "Data Ram, I have been hearing your name for a long time and wanted to see you. Come and stand near me, and recite some of your verses."

Data Ram bowed low in salutation, made the seven customary salaams with his head to the ground, came near the throne and stood beside Sa'dullah Khan. Then he began to recite. There was the ardour of a lover in his nature, and in his taste the free-thinking of the Sufis, which the connoisseurs of poetry of that age liked beyond measure. The Emperor was delighted as he listened. At the couplets he enjoyed most he softly applauded; sometimes he would look towards the Wazir Sa'dullah Khan for his applause too, and the whole court would ring with cries of "Wah! Wah!"

After reciting many verses, Data Ram read this couplet of his:

So well acquainted with unbelief is my heart that many times
I took it to the Kaaba and brought it back a Brahman. [TN: Persian. The last word is also the poet's pen name.]

Ruknai of Kashan started and cried out despite himself, "Wah! Wah! How well you have said it! Recite it again!" He recited it a second time; and now they saw that the Emperor was displeased, and was casting angry, vexed looks at Sa'dullah Khan. Poets of earlier times, and the Sufis above all, had made this taste and this idea very common in Persian; it is found again and again in the verse of Maulana Rum, Mulla Jami and the other masters of poetry. But to a pious king such religious licence was deeply offensive. Had the same couplet been heard from the lips of a Muslim poet it would have been greatly applauded, but from the lips of a Hindu poet it offended the Muslim sovereign.

Sa'dullah Khan, the Wazir, who knew his master's moods and was quick of wit, smiled, folded his hands and said, "Refuge of the World! Hazrat Muslih-ud-Din Sa'di of Shiraz gave the answer to that long ago."

THE EMPEROR: What answer did he give?

SA'DULLAH KHAN: He says:

If the ass of Jesus goes to Mecca,
When it comes back it is still an ass. [TN: Persian, from Sa'di's *Gulistan*.]

Hearing this the Emperor was delighted. He praised the Wazir's ready answer, and the whole court burst out laughing. Data Ram was much ashamed at having recited such a couplet before a Muslim king, and stood silent with his head bowed.

THE EMPEROR (with great good humour): Why have you stopped? Recite another *ghazal*.

He made seven salaams, begged pardon for his fault, and began to recite again. After listening for a long time the Emperor bestowed on him a robe of honour and a thousand gold coins. Honoured with gifts and favours, Data Ram made his salutation of thanks and went back to his place. Now Allami Afzal Khan, who besides being an official of the court was held to be a scholar of great worth and a leader in matters of religion, said to the royal presence, "Had Data Ram lived in the reign of His Late Majesty Arsh-Ashyani (the Emperor Akbar), he would have been a great man."

THE EMPEROR (laughing): No doubt Akbar would have truly valued him. But even he would not have tolerated such an insult to the Holy Law of Islam. And the honour and esteem that Hindu officers and warriors enjoyed in his day they enjoy now too.

AFZAL KHAN: Without doubt, and even more. They hold distinguished places in the highest offices. They hold and govern their estates and states with great honour. Among the officers of the army their rank and number are no less than those of the Muslim generals. The ties of kinship that Arsh-Ashyani formed with the Hindu Rajas grow closer to this day; if the Hindus were once honoured chiefs at court, today they are our relations and our kin.

THE EMPEROR: And I wish to strengthen these ties further. It pleases me to hear that in Rajasthan marriage has become common between ordinary Hindus and Muslims, so that we draw nearer to the Hindus and the Hindus to us.

SA'DULLAH KHAN: Nothing that Arsh-Ashyani did was without a wise purpose. It is said that he was more attached to the Hindus. No doubt he was, but only because he wished to unite Hindus and Muslims in one way of thinking and one faith.

AFZAL KHAN: And there was a deep inner secret in this. A Muslim, however many Hindu customs he adopts and however closely he follows their ways, cannot become a Hindu. A Hindu, on the other hand, when he mixes with Muslims and takes up their ways, will become a Muslim whether he means to or not. The Hindus hold to their own religion, but they cannot make anyone of another faith a Hindu, while the Muslims are ready to take every human being into their faith. So there is no doubt at all that the more the two peoples mix, the more the number of Muslims will grow. In my opinion, therefore, His Late Majesty's real aim in all this was the spread of Islam.

THE EMPEROR: That is my view too. Some ignorant historians have attacked his faith and beliefs, but the truth is as you have said: by this course of conduct he meant to make all India Muslim. And it is thanks to him that there are so many people of Islam in India today.

SA'DULLAH KHAN: And not only in this. Everything he did was founded on some great wise purpose. For example, he established a Mina Bazar. The scholars who look only at the surface think he meant to dishonour and disgrace Muslim ladies. But look into the truth and it becomes quite plain that his real purpose was this: that the women who live in *parda* (seclusion), knowing nothing of the world and what is in it and lying alone in their homes like prisoners, should meet and mix with one another and learn about the times and their affairs; that Hindu and Muslim women, who live apart, should mix together and take up one another's ways and manners; that Muslim ladies should learn from Hindu women their devotion to their husbands and their self-forgetfulness, and Hindu women learn from Muslim wives refinement, good manners, decorum and good housekeeping.

AFZAL KHAN: And I say that here too, hidden in the folds of all these purposes, the greatest purpose of all was that the Hindu women, meeting the Muslim women and learning, along with their worldly virtues, their true faith and its doctrine of the One God and His Prophet, should become Muslims, and then by their influence make their men Muslims too.

THE EMPEROR: Surely here too Arsh-Ashyani's aim was the advancement of Islam. But what was this Mina Bazar, and what was it like? I have often heard it spoken of among the women of the palace, and I find all the women longing for it.

SA'DULLAH KHAN: It was a women's bazaar in which the wives of all the nobles and notables kept shops and sold their jewels and other rare things. His Late Majesty himself, all the princes and all the nobles of the court went to the bazaar to buy, and paid whatever price the women asked. Besides the men, ordinary women also came to the bazaar to walk about and enjoy themselves, and it made a wonderfully pleasant gathering.

THE EMPEROR: So the women did not keep *parda* from the noblemen who came to buy?

SA'DULLAH KHAN: From ancient times it has been the custom among the gentlefolk of the Turks and Tajiks and the notables of Arabia and Persia that the king, the Shadow of God, is held to be the loving father of all, and no woman keeps *parda* from him. As for the princes and the nobles of the court, the women were free, if they wished, to draw a gold-threaded veil over their faces before them. But it is said that in Arsh-Ashyani's Mina Bazar no Muslim woman wore a veil over her face.

THE EMPEROR: Then were the wives of all the nobles and gentlefolk compelled to come?

SA'DULLAH KHAN: No one was compelled. But taking part in the bazaar held out the hope of so much advantage, besides the King's good pleasure, that there was not one noble family whose women did not come; and all the women, of high and low degree, came to see the sight.

THE EMPEROR: Did the bazaar not cause any displeasure or complaint among the people?

SA'DULLAH KHAN: None whatever. To this day people remember it with pleasure and gratitude.

THE EMPEROR: I wish there could be such a bazaar in my reign too. What do you think?

SA'DULLAH KHAN: It is most fitting. It will bring gaiety to every family. And since the women are very fond of the idea and tell tales of the Mina Bazar of Arsh-Ashyani's time like fairy stories, they will be very pleased and will come most eagerly.

THE EMPEROR: For the Mina Bazar of my reign I will have a special building put up, suited to it, so that its foundation may be laid for a long time to come, and every year, at a suitable season, this pleasure may be kept up for a few days. But since it is a matter that concerns women, I will first consult the Padshah Begum. If she approves, I will begin the building from tomorrow.

SA'DULLAH KHAN: This noble work should be carried out by her own blessed hands. Indeed it would seem better that she should establish the bazaar by her own command. If the command is hers, all the women will come without any fuss.

THE EMPEROR: I will persuade her to proclaim this Mina Bazar by her own command, and the building too shall be put up at her command.

SA'DULLAH KHAN: That is most fitting.

As it had now grown late, His Majesty the Refuge of the World dismissed the court and withdrew to the palace, and the nobles of the state took the road to their homes.