Later Mughals v1.c9.s16: Sec. 17.—Farrukh-siyar’s Marriage to Ajit Singh’s Daughter (May-December 1715).
Later Mughals v1.c9.s16
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Sec. 17.—Farrukh-siyar’s Marriage to Ajit Singh’s Daughter (May-December 1715).
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Owing to his anxiety to return at once to Court, Husain Ali Khan had not been able to wait in Rajputana, until Rajah Ajit Singh had finished the necessary preparations for the despatch of his daughter to Dihli. When the dispute with the Sayyids had been allayed and Husain Ali Khan had taken his departure to the Dakhin, Shaista Khan, the Emperor's maternal uncle, was sent on the 12th Jamadi I. 1127 H. (15th May, 1715) to bring the bride from her home at Jodhpur. He arrived with her at Dihli on the 25th Ramzan 1127 H. (23rd September, 1715), and tents were erected within the palace for her reception. She was then sent to the mansion of Amir-ul-umara, and the preparations for the wedding were made over to Qutb-ul-mulk. Four days afterwards the Emperor repaired to the mansion of Amir-ul-umara, and there on repetition of the creed, the lady was admitted into the Muhammadan faith. The same night the marriage rite was performed by Shariyat Khan, the chief Qazi, one lakh of gold coins being entered in the deed as her dower. The nobles presented their congratulations, and the Qazi received a present of Rs. 2,000. [M. M. 212 ; Kamwar 156, 158.]
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∗ Mirza Muhammad, India Office Library MS. No. 50, fol. 128b, Khafi Khan, ii. 742.
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The bridegroom's gifts* to the bride were provided on a regal scale by the Emperor's mother, and sent to the bride's quarters on the 15th Zul Hijja (11th December, 1715), accompanied by many nobles, who were entertained by Qutb-ul-mulk. On the 20th the ceremony of applying henna to the bridegroom's hands and feet was carried out, and the persons who brought it were entertained in the usual way.† On the 21st (17th December, 1715), the whole of the Diwan-i-am and the courtyard (jilau khana), both sides of the road within the palace, and the plain towards the Jamuna were illuminated by lamps placed on bamboo screens. About nine o'clock in the evening, Farrukh-siyar came out by the Dihli Gate of the palace, seated on a moveable throne and wearing, according to usage, the clothes sent to him by the bride's father, of which Khemsi Bhandari had been the bearer. The Emperor was preceded by platforms, on which stood women singing and dancing as they were carried along. Fireworks were let off. The Emperor entered the house of Amir-ul-umara and there completed the usual ceremonies. Those observed on this occasion were a mixture of Muhammadan and Hindu usages. One which caused much remark was the offer to the guest of a drink made of rose-water, sugar, and opium. This mixture was pressed on them by the Rajputs on the plea that it was the custom of their country. Many Muhammadans drank of it, but some objected. There was another thing never seen before in an imperial wedding. A gold plate had been made with five divisions, and each of these divisions was filled with precious stones. In one, diamonds; in another, rubbies; in the third, emeralds; in the fourth, topazes; and in the fifth, which was in the centre of them all, large and valuable pearls.* Farrukh-siyar returned late at night, bringing the bride with him to the palace, which he entered by the Lahor Gate, it being unlucky to go and come by the same route. The festivities continued to the end of the month.†
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∗ These were called the Sachaq, a Turki word. Mirza Muhammad tried to get into the palace of Qutb-ul-mulk as a spectator, but the crowd was so great that he was forced to come away.
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† Mirza Muhammad, I. O. Library No. 50, fol. 132a. For Hinna bandan, Mahndi bandan, see Herklot's Qanoon-e-Islam, p. 68.
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† Taghaiyyar-i-rah dadan, not to return by the way or gate by which you went, a practice observed by the Emperors of Hindustan (Mirat-ul-istilah). Mir Abdul-Jalil Bilgrami wrote a long masnavi, or narrative poem, in honour of the occasion. (Lithographed at Nawal Kishor Press, Lakhnau, 1299 H.) Mr. Beale praises it for the skill with which the Hindu names of the planets are introduced under the guise of Persian words. (Miftah, 301).
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The consummation of the marriage had been delayed for a month or two by Farrukh-siyar's illness. When he returned to Dihli on the 19th Shaban (19th August, 1715), he was suffering from haemorrhoids. It was on this occasion that the services of William Hamilton, the English surgeon, were called into requisition. He had accompanied an embassy sent to Dihli to complain of the conduct of Murshid Quli Khan, nazim of Bengal, in regard to the re-imposition of the custom duties which had been remitted by Alamgir.‡ By the 16th October (N. S.), the Emperor had been for some time under treatment by Mr. Hamilton. His ailments are said in the envoy's letters to have been first swellings in the groin and then a threatened fistula. This account agrees closely with the contemporary writer Kamwar Khan’s statement. On the 3rd December, Farrukh-siyar bathed on his recovery, and on the 10th the surgeon was publicly presented with valuable gifts. As to this mission we shall give further details in a future section.
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∗ Yahya, 122b; Khush-hal Chand, 402a.
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‡ J. T. Wheeler, Early Records, 169-184.