Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c5.s3.25

c5.s3.25

*Nazr and Nisar Ceremonies.*—Reference may be made in this connection to two ceremonies which usually occur in any description of a darbar and in several other official functions. The *nazr* (also termed *khidmat*) was a symbolic present of any value offered to a sovereign with appropriate forms, to signify the allegiance and loyalty of the person offering it. All persons who were presented to the Sultan for the first time gave him a *nazr* or an offering, and continued to do so on other prescribed occasions as long as they were employed by or were directly connected with him. The value of the offering which ranged from the present of a cocoanut to that of precious jewels, was not material to the offer.² The Sultan usually responded with a gift of greater value though no return was necessary on his part. This tradition of *nazrs* and return gifts became so well established by the time of Sultan Muhammad Tughluq that people began to trade on it and made profit out of the transaction. They used to advance large sums of money to persons who were about to be presented to the monarch wherewith to buy articles of *nazr*, and then shared in the profits which accrued from the return gift of the Sultan.³