Later Mughals v1.c8.s6.13

v1.c8.s6.13

Jahandar Shah and his concubine, in defiance of etiquette, often visited the markets together, seated in a bullock carriage, making at the shops such purchases as took their fancy. One night after a day spent in debauchery and in visits to various gardens round the city, they entered the house of a spirit-seller, a friend of Lal Kunwar. There they drank till they were intoxicated. On their leaving, the woman owning the shop was rewarded with a sum of money and a grant of the revenue of a village. During the journey home they both fell asleep, and, on reaching the palace, Lal Kunwar was taken out by her women and carried to her room. The driver of the *rath*,* who had also shared in the carouse, made no inspection of it and left it at the stable. The Emperor's absence began to cause alarm to the officers of the palace. He was not to be found in Lal Kunwar's apartments, and on her direction the *rath* was examined. There the Emperor was found fast asleep, nearly two miles from the palace. Khush-hal Chand quotes, as applying to Jahandar Shah when he woke and knew not where he was, the lines :—A drunk man is so happy that at the Resurrection he asks ‘Who am I, who are you, and what place is this?’