Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/91

Rh may be accepted as true, because such extravagances have always been a weakness of Indian. Râjâs, and it would not be difficult to ﬁnd parallels even in Europe. The Roman author was especially scandalized by the information that the sovereign used to be 'accompanied by a long train of courtesans carried in golden palanquins, which takes a place in the procession separate from that of the queen's retinue, and is as sumptuously appointed.' The statement quoted is supported by Chânakya, who speaks of such women ‘holding the royal umbrella, golden pitcher, and fan, and attending upon the king when seated on his royal litter, throne, or chariot .’Everybody aequainted with modern India is aware that similar customs still survive.

The close attendance of female guards, not of the courtesan class, on the royal person is an extremely aneient Indian custom, which was observed by Ranjit Singh less than a century ago, and may, perhaps, still be practised in out-of-the-way States. Chânakya lays down the rule that the sovereign on getting up from bed in the morning should be received ﬁrst by the female archers, whose appearance seems to have been considered of good omen. These Amazonian guards attended the king when he went out hunting in state, and prevented intrusion on the road of the procession, which was marked out by ropes. Death was the penalty of him who passed the barrier. Asoka, like his ancestors, indulged