Shivaji and His Times c10.s3.2

c10.s3.2

Invitations had been sent to learned Brahmans of every part of India; the report of the coming ceremony had attracted others. Eleven thousand Brahmans, making 50,000 souls with their wives and children, were assembled at Raigarh and fed with sweets for four months at the Rajah's expense. The greatest forethought and organizing power must have been shown by Shiva in providing for the comfort of the numerous guests—Brahmans, nobles, local magnates of the realm, agents of other States, foreign merchants and visitors, and poor cousins, who flocked to the ceremony. Nothing went amiss in catering to this crowd of nearly a hundred thousand men, women and children.