Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 9.5.4

9.5.4

There is a curious fact respecting the King which I had almost forgotten to relate. He enters the camp sometimes on one side, sometimes on another; that is, he will to-day pass near the tents of certain Omrahs and to-morrow near the tents of others. This variation of route is not, as you might suppose, accidental: the Omrahs, whom the Monarch honours by his vicinity, must leave their quarters to meet him, and must present His Majesty with a purse of more or less value; from twenty to fifty golden roupies, twenty being equal to about thirty pistoles, according to their liberality and the amount of their pay. I shall say nothing of the towns and villages between Dehli and Lahor: I have in fact scarcely seen any of them. My Agah's station not being in the centre of the army, which often kept to the highroad, but in the front of the right wing, it was our custom to traverse fields and bye-paths during the night, guided by the stars; frequently mistaking our way, and marching five or six leagues, instead of three or four, the usual distance between two encampments, till daylight again set us right.