Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 1.djvu/544

 was placed beneath her garments; she arose, encumbered with these fruits, and made salām to each of the four corners of the room. Her hair was then decked with natural flowers, her face having previously been covered with silver dust; and she and the Prince were both fed with sugar off a rupee. A stick, ornamented with silver tissue, was given to him, and another to her, with which they pretended to beat each other; these silver wands were presented to all the ladies, and wands covered with flowers were given to the slaves. For some days before the chāotree, the Begam had been employed in teaching the ladies in the zenāna and the slave girls a particular dance, the ancient Princess herself dancing with them, with a silver wand in her hand. I mentioned this to Colonel Gardner; he said, "It is very remarkable that, at weddings, all the ladies of this family perform this particular nāch, but at no other time do they dance; it would lower their dignity. This is an old Tartar dance, and always performed at weddings amongst the Timūrians; it is the dastūr. The tamāshā consisted in beating each other with these silver sticks, and throwing handfuls of fruits, of turnips, of oranges, of pomegranates, in fact, any thing that could be seized from the trays, at each other; the slaves joining in the fun, breaking the glass windows by accident, and doing much damage. The more you pelt a person, the greater the compliment; sharp jealousy was created in many a breast this day, the source of much anxiety afterwards. This is called playing the chāotree, and finishes the ceremonies of the wedding.

Soon after, a woman came in, with a large basket full of chūrīs for the arms (bracelets), which were made of rings of glass, ornamented with beads. Every body at the wedding, from the Begam to the youngest slave, had chūrīs put on their arms; I was also decorated. These rings are extremely small; to put them on requires considerable art, it being necessary to mull the hand, and render it very pliant, before it can pass through so very small a circumference as that of the churee.

Thus ended the wedding of Prince Unjun Shekō and Shubbeah Begam. They quitted their tents, and went to reside at a pretty