Mughal Administration c14.s5.t3: E. The Emperor's Personal Service :—

Mughal Administration c14.s5.t3

Language: English

E. The Emperor's Personal Service :—

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60. Kitchen (*matbakh* or *bawarchi-khanah*), *Ain.* 57 ; Marathi.

61. Drink or butlery (*abdar-khanah*). *Ain.* 55 ; Marathi. Some Persian works read *sharbat-khanah*, some *sharab-khanah*, but the latter term cannot here mean a wine-cellar. The Marathi histories name *sharbat-khanah* and also *sharabi-khanah*.

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62. Fruits (*mewah-khanah*), *Ain.* 64.

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63. *Bhanda-khanah* (large earthen pots.)

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64. *Sahat-khanah* (conservancy or latrine).

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65. Store of *kauris* or small shells (to serve as the lowest small change), *Khar-muhra-khānah*.

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66. *Charkhi-khanah*, store of fire-wheels. (I reject the possible reading *Kharch-khānah*.)

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67. *Majmua-khanah* (? Miscellaneous).

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The above five are given in the *Zawabit*, which contains, in addition, nine illegible names of *kar-khanahs*. The Marathi histories add the following three—

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68. *Ambar-khanah* or granary.

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69. *Zarayat* or *jins-khanah* ; [this *jins-khanah* would correspond to the *ajnas* department in the Mughal empire, i.e., the store of things from which the mansabdars were supplied as part payment in kind.]

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70. Theatre or *natak-khanah*, besides the *sahat-khanah* and *sharbat-khanah* already noticed under other heads. The printed Persian text of Afif's *Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi* gives nothing new except *Shakra-khanah* and *zarād-khanah* (which I correct into *nuqra* and *zar-doz* respectively), and *rikab-khanah*, and *tashtdar-khanah*, meaning the stores of trays and ewers, which are included by the *Zawabit* in the kitchen department. In the *Akhbarat-i-darbar-i-muala* we find three other names, *shora-khanah*, *bulbuli-khanah* (department of singing-birds),* and what looks like *‘ilur-khanah*, which may be a mistake for *yuz-khanah* (department of hunting leopards or dogs ; No. 8 above.)

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∗ Br. Mus. Persian MS. 6598, f. 55 a. Irvine's Later Mughals, i. 254 n.

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∗ *Tasht-dar*, a servant who pours water on the hands when washing; an ewer-holder, also called *aftabchi*. Shora (salt petre for cooling drinks.) The quarter of Delhi where the royal singing birds were kept and which contains the tomb of Sultana Raziyya, is still called *Bulbulikhanah*.