Mughal Administration c10.s1.4

c10.s1.4

The Emperor was the highest court of appeal and sometimes acted as a court of first instance, too. But, from the nature of things, only a few plaintiffs could reach his throne and he could spare time for adjudicating only a small portion of the appeals that were handed to him, though some of the Mughal Emperors, made a parade of their devotion to duty, notably Jahangir, who hung a gold chain from their palace-balcony to the ground outside Agra fort, to which the people in the streets could tie their petitions for royal justice in order to be drawn up to the Emperor, without their having to grease the palms of the palace porters and underlings, courtiers and other middlemen.