History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c85.s6.25

v5.c85.s6.25

In addition to unbridled sexual license and secret drinking, many members of the nobility and the middle class were tainted by pederasty. This vice was most prevalent among the Mongoloids of Central Asia, and there is reason to believe that even some of the so-called saints were not free from it. All Aurangzib's prohibitions and all the activity of his Censors of Public Morals failed to hold the Mughal aristocracy back from drink. Manucci notices it [Storia, ii. 6, 157, 393 ; iv. 131.] The news-letters of Aurangzib's Court contain many reports of wine-selling and wine-drinking in the camp-bazars and houses of his nobles, and among the garrisons of forts. On 22 Sep. 1698 the English governor of Madras presented one hundred bottles of Canary to Nusrat Jang. [Madras Diary.] A similar present was made to his successor Daud Khan in Nov. 1706. The drunken frolics of this Daud Khan are described in Wilkes's Mysoor, [2nd ed., i. 133 and 140n.] The freak pleasures and queer fancies of some of the nobles are noticed in the contemporary accounts. [E.g., Storia, iv. 254-6, 262.]