Page:History of India Vol 3.djvu/141

 UNJUST ENACTMENTS 109 casks of wine were brought out of the royal cellars and emptied at the same gate in such abundance that mud and mire was produced as at the rain season." The Sultan himself renounced all wine-drinking, and many of the better sort followed his example, but of course there was a great deal of clandestine bibbing among the dissolute, and these when detected were thrown into pits dug outside the Badaun gate, where many perished miserably. It was found impossible wholly to suppress the use of wine, and the Sultan was obliged to wink at a certain amount of drinking, provided that it was private and the liquor brewed at home; but public drinking was for the time stamped out. Still further to discourage conspiracy and privy understandings, the Sultan gave commands that " noble- men and grandees should not visit at each other's houses, or give feasts, or hold meetings. They were forbidden to form alliances without consent from the throne, and they were also prohibited from allowing people to resort to their houses. To such a length was this last prohibition carried that strangers could not gain admittance into a nobleman's house. Feasting and hospitality fell into total disuse. Through fear of the spies the nobles kept themselves quiet; they gave no parties and had little communication with each other. No man of a seditious, rebellious, or evil reputation was allowed to come near them. If they went to the palaces, they could not lay their heads together and sit down cosily and tell each other their troubles." Besides this system of espionage among the Moslems,