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 The custom became popular in India, as it gave the titled ladies of the land a pleasant introduction to the palace and its inmates. Moslem noblemen sent their wives and daughters to the Naoroz Bazaar to make the acquaintance of the royal ladies and to secure their favour, and Hindu Ranees found this a convenient occasion for introducing themselves to the Queens and Begums. For the rest, the Bazaar brought all distinguished ladies in the land closer together than any formal gatherings could have done. And it afforded the Emperor himself, who was the only man permitted on the scene, an occasion to see and know those whose faces were hid from him by custom at other times.

Stories were told in the palace that the Emperor Akbar, as a young man, had often tried to improve his opportunity, and that fair vendors had sometimes to withdraw from their stalls to escape the attentions of the too ardent purchaser. But Akbar was an old man now, and attended by his Poet-Queen, Salima Begum, he strolled from stall to stall, forgetting for a time the cares and anxieties of the Empire. The witty and sentimental verses of this gifted Queen were the delight of Akbar and the joy of his Court. But the fame of a poetess consorted not with the dignity of a Queen, and Salima Begum as a composer of verses was known to the outer world under the apt pseudonym of "Makhfi," or the Concealed One. She was attracted by the articles exhibited by a Rajput lady from Amber, and leaving her husband for a moment commenced bargaining for an enamelled gold bracelet.

"Many vendors have I seen in my time, fair