Page:Aurangzíb and the Decay of the Mughal Empire.djvu/106

100 in a pair of gold scales against precious metals and stones and food, all which was ostensibly to be distributed to the poor on the following day; and when the nobles one and all came forward with handsome birthday presents of jewels and golden vessels and coins, sometimes amounting altogether to the value of £2,000,000. On these occasions the fairest ladies of the chief nobles sometimes held a sort of fancy bazar in the imperial seraglio, where they sold turbans worked on cloth of gold, brocades, and embroideries to the Emperor and his wives and princesses at exorbitant prices, governed chiefly by the wit and beauty of the seller. A vast deal of good-humoured banter and haggling went on over these bargainings, and many a young lady made a reputation which served her in good stead when it came to the question of marrying her to a Court favourite. Of course no man but the Emperor was allowed to see those unveiled beauties, but the Mughal and his Begams were excellent match-makers, and could be trusted to do the best for the débutantes. The festivals generally ended with an elephant-fight, which was as popular in India as a bull-fight in Spain. Two elephants charged each other over an earth wall, which they soon demolished; their skulls met with a tremendous shock, and tusks and trunks were vigorously plied, till at length one was overcome by the other, when the victor was separated from his prostrate adversary by an explosion of fireworks between them. The chief sufferers were the mahouts