A History of the Mahrattas v1.c17.93.2

v1.c17.93.2

A long train of war elephants was followed by a number of the same animals on the Emperor's private establishment, employed to carry the ladies of his seraglio, or to convey such of his tents as were too large to be borne on camels. Numerous led horses, magnificently caparisoned, formed a stud for the Emperor's riding; a menagerie accompanied the camp, from which the rarest animals in the world were frequently brought forth and exhibited by their keepers before the Emperor and his court;—whilst hawks, hounds, hunting tigers, trained elephants, and every accompaniment used for field sport, swelled the pomp of this prodigious retinue. The canvas walls which encompassed the royal tents formed a circumference of 1,200 yards, and contained every description of apartment to be found in the most spacious palace. Halls of audience for public assemblies and privy councils, with all the courts and cabinets attached to them, each hall magnificently adorned, and having within it a raised seat or throne for the Emperor, surrounded by gilded pillars with canopies of velvet, richly fringed and superbly embroidered; separate tents as mosques and oratories; baths and galleries for archery and gymnastic exercises; a seraglio as remarkable for luxury and privacy as that of Delhi; Persian carpets, damasks, and tapestries; European velvets, satins, and broad-cloths;