Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 10 (2nd edition).pdf/47



MURSHIDABAD CITI. 35 wages, and when it was finished a present of a double shawl and a handkerchief. At the season of the Muharram, a daily distribution of food attracts large crowds, who are again drawn together in the evening by fireworks and illuminations. The Nawab attends one day's celebration, and takes his seat on a black carpet, over which a white embroidered coverlet is spread, and a black rug takes the place of the usual bolster. After the recitation of the customary elegies, sherbet and spices are harded round. Other curious practices, peculiar to the sect of the Shiás among the Muhammadans, accompany this festival. On the seventh day of the Muharram, the Imámbára is turned into a harem, and all the Begams attend. They place chains on the Nawab, according to custom, and a chain round his neck. Hundreds of women, high and low, receive presents froni the Begams, who are said to distribute thousands of rupees. The imperial music fornis the most striking emblem of royal dignity still maintained at Murshidabad. It may still be heard in the early morning sounding from the great fortified gateway which leads to the palace. This peculiar strain of instrumental music, which was allowed by the Delhi Emperors to all subahdárs (deputy governors) as a mark of delegated sovereignty, is frequently alluded to by the native chroniclers as the public accompaniment of each important event in the history of the Nawabs. The Raft Festival is still celebrated at Murshidabad in honour of Khwaja Khizr, the name given by the Muhammadans to the prophet Elias. With this saint is connected the celebrated custom of launching tiny light-ships on the river, which may be seen to great advantage on the Bhagirathi. On certain nights in the rainy season, thousands of little rafts, each with its lainp burning, are floated down the stream. Their construction is very simple. A piece of plantain or bamboo bears a sweetmeat or two and the lamp. This fête is rendered more picturesque by the unusual presence of the women, who are allowed out of doors for the occasion. The Nawab participates in the show with much magnificence on the last Thursday of the month of Bhadra (September), when the European residents are invited. A raft of 100 cubits square is constructed of plantain trees and bamboos, and covered with earth. On this is erected a small fortress, bearing on its walls all manner of fireworks. At a given signal the raft is launched and floated to the farther side of the river, when the fireworks are let off, their reflection on the water producing a most beautiful effect. Apart from the Nizámat kilá and the buildings connected therewith, there is but one other structure worth notice now standing in the city proper. This is the mosque erected by Mani Begam, in the vicinity of the Mubarak Manzil, formerly called the Kandil Bágh. The