The Nāṣirī Generations 63.4

63.4

Another anecdote, respecting the same monarch, is narrated in the Muntakhab-i-Tarikh-i-Nasiri : that some persons in Kuhistan sent in a memorial to the Wazir, Nizam-ul-Mulk, to the effect that a wealthy person had died, leaving no other heir behind him than a sister's child, and that he had left great wealth, and further that it ought to go to the Bait-ul-Mal [the royal treasury]. Nizam-ul-Mulk, at a convenient opportunity, represented the matter to Malik Shah, but he obtained no answer, and did not receive one, until after mentioning it three times. Malik Shah said he would give him a reply respecting it on the following day ; but, when it came, he set out for the chase. Nizam-ul-Mulk, in his eagerness to augment the royal treasury, followed after the Sultan [to obtain the promised reply]. Malik Shah had to pass the Camp bazar on his way; and, when he returned from the hunting-ground, gave directions to one of his attendants, saying : — I am hungry; and in the bazar I saw some wheaten cakes and my appetite has a mind for some. Go and purchase as many as you can procure, and bring them hither." When Malik Shah approached the precincts of the camp, he ascended a rising ground, and sat down, until such time as they brought the wheaten cakes. He then made all the nobles with him sit down to partake of the cakes. There was one very large dish full, which sufficed for more than fifty Maliks and Amirs, with their attendants.