Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 3.9.2

3.9.2

Neik-nam-Kan was one of the most distinguished Omrahs at court, and during forty or fifty years while he held important offices had amassed an immense treasure. This lord always viewed with disgust the odious and tyrannical custom above mentioned, a custom in consequence of which the widows of so many great Omrahs are plunged suddenly into a state of wretchedness and destitution, compelled to solicit the Monarch for a scanty pittance, while their sons are driven to the necessity of enlisting as private soldiers under the command of some Omrah. Finding his end approaching, the old man secretly distributed the whole of his treasure among distressed widows and poor cavaliers, and afterwards filled the coffers with old iron, bones, worn-out shoes, and tattered clothes. When he had securely closed and sealed them, he observed that those coffers contained property belonging exclusively to Chah-Jehan. On the death of Neik-nam-Kan, they were conveyed to the King, who happened to be sitting in durbar, and who, inflamed with eager cupidity, commanded them to be instantly opened in the presence of all his Omrahs. His disappointment and vexation may easily be conceived ; he started abruptly from his seat and hurried from the hall.