Tarikh-i saʿadat-i jawid 5: Raja Majlis Rai.

5

Raja Majlis Rai, a Sarsuti Brahmin, inhabitant of Lahore, was diwan of Kamru-d din Khan, the minister. It is said that although he was the head of the minister's office, yet he could not write a letter. His clerks used to compose all his official records. One day, Kamru-d din Khan ordered the Raja to write in his presence, and having seen bad writing, said, "Raja Majlis Rai, how could you get the Wazarat of Hindustan with this elegant hand?" He replied, "My master, good luck does not require either knowledge or art, for it is said, 'Fortune equal to a barleycorn is better than a whole load of science.'" Raja Majlis Rai was very generous and a great friend of the needy. During the winter he gave quilts to the fakirs who wandered about the lanes and streets of Dehli; and from his dispensary all kinds of medicines were given to the poor patients.
Nadir Shah seized Majlis Rai, with a view to discover the treasures of Kamru-d din Khan, and in his own presence, asked him where they were. He replied, "O King of Kings! the minister is very luxurious and a great drunkard; what he gets he consumes, and lays by nothing." Nadir Shah, being angry, menaced him with punishment. Majlis Rai then presented him, from his own stores, with a kror of rupees in cash, jewels and other property, and said that it was all procured from the treasure of the minister. Nadir Shah, at the instigation of some of the nobles of Hindustan, who acted according to the saying that people of the same profession hate each other, put Raja Majlis Rai to the torture, and cut off one of his ears. Although the whole treasure of the minister was in his possession, yet he did not discover it to any man. He took the Emperor's soldiers with him to his house, and having stabbed a dagger into his belly, departed this world. Nadir Shah was very sorry on hearing of the intelligence, and remarked that he was a rare instance of a grateful Hindu. He then ordered the Raja's servants to be punished. In all the city of Dehli exclamations arose in praise and admiration of the departed soul of Majlis Rai. His eldest son, Raja Khushhal Rai, was superintendent of the bath and private chapel, an office which generally belongs to the prime minister.