Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c7.s2.t1.30

c7.s2.t1.30

¹ Compare an early reference in Q.S., 40 to royal tents (*bargah*) before Mu'izz-ud-din Kaiqubad. Before him the *bargah* or *Shamyana* was small enough to be supported by only two poles. The Sultan doubled its dimensions and the number of supports. Compare G., 69 for the royal canopy. It was circular in shape. Compare the descriptions in Khvandmir, 140-1 of the royal tents of Humayun. The Mughal Emperor designed one *Shamyana* which was so big that many frameworks for pillars were required to support it. He ordered another tent to be made on wooden frame work which (like his Floating Palace) could be detached and folded in parts and was easy to move from one halting place to another. By the time of Akbar (compare A.A., I, 51) refinements had advanced still further and Abu'l Fazl mentions a great variety of tents in royal use ranging from modest *rawatis* and *darweshis* to 'double storeyed' and 'eight-pillared *shamyanas*'.