The Music and Musical Instruments of Southern India and the Deccan c5.8

c5.8

The Emperor Aurangzib abolished the court musicians. Mr. Blochmann, in his translation of the “Ain-i-akbari,”² quotes a curious story from the historian Khan Khan as to what occurred when this order was given. The court musicians brought a bier in front of the window where the Emperor used to show himself daily to the people, and wailed so loud as to attract Aurangzib’s attention. He came to the window and asked what it meant. They replied that melody was dead, and that they were taking him to the graveyard. The Emperor replied, “Very well, make the grave deep, so that neither voice nor echo may issue from it.”