The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c26.187

v1.c26.187

As to the government, the king himself is, of course, the prominent figure. He took the field with his army in war: in peace his public appearances were of three kinds. In the first place, he spent a considerable part of the day in hearing the cases brought to him for judgment. Even at his hour for undergoing the massage with ebony rollers he did not retire, but went on listening to the pleadings whilst four masseurs plied their art upon him. In the second place, he came forth to perform sacrifice, and in the third place to go a-hunting. His going forth to the chase was like the processions of Dionysus. The road of the royal cortège was roped off from common spectators. There was the king surrounded by a crowd of his women, themselves carrying weapons, in chariots, on horses, on elephants, the body-guard enclosing them all in a larger circle, and a band with drums and bells going on in front. Sometimes the king shot from a platform, defended by a stockade, sometimes from the back of an elephant. Within the doors of the palace, the king’s person was tended by the women of his zenana, bought for a price from their fathers. But he was not beyond the reach of danger. A stern custom ordained that should he become intoxicated, any of his women who killed him should receive special honour. And even though he remained sober, he had, like the late Sultan Abdul Hamid, to be continually changing the place where he lay at night, in order to evade conspirators³.