Page:History of India Vol 3.djvu/122

 92 THE TUEKS IN DELHI impressed by magnificence, and crowds of Hindus would come long journeys to see his pomp and majesty. Even his private attendants were never allowed to see him but in full dress. That he never laughed aloud is only to say that he was a well-bred Oriental gentleman who despised the levity of an empty mind; but neither did he permit any one else to laugh; and never joking or indulging in the least familiarity with any one, he al- lowed no frivolity in his presence. In his youth he had been fond of wine and hazard, but all this was put aside when he came to authority. Throughout his forty years of power he was never known to hold converse with vulgar people or to give office to any but well-born men. Slave as he once was, he came of a race of chiefs, and no one showed more sensitiveness in preserving the dignity of a king. Balban, the slave, water-carrier, huntsman, general, statesman, and Sultan is one of the most striking figures among many notable men in the long line of the kings of Delhi. GOLD COIN OP BALBAN, STHUCK AT DELHI, A. H. 672 (A.D. 1273*4).