Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 15.3

15.3

That a scarcity of provisions may not be produced in the small kingdom of Kachemire, the King will be followed by a very limited number of individuals. Of females he takes only ladies of the first rank, the intimate friends of Rauchenara-Begum, and those women whose services cannot easily be dispensed with. The Omrahs and military will also be as few as possible; and those Lords who have permission to attend the Monarch will be accompanied by no more than twenty-five troopers out of every hundred; not, however, to the exclusion of the immediate officers of their household. These regulations cannot be evaded, an Omrah being stationed at the pass of the mountains, who reckons every person one by one, and effectually prevents the ingress of that multitude of Mansebdars and other cavaliers who are eager to inhale the pure and refreshing air of Kachemire, as well as of all those petty tradesmen and inmates of the bazars, whose only object is to gain a livelihood.