The Chāotree—Timūrian Dance—Churees—Finale of the Wedding—Jhanee Khanum—The Zenāna Doll—Jealousy of the Natives—Meals of the Slave Girls—Tara the pretty Slave—Conduct of English Ladies considered extraordinary—Poppy-heads—Devotion of Native Women to their Husbands—Illness of Colonel Gardner—Burial-ground of the Family—My Departure—Death of Colonel Gardner, and of his Begam—Orders of Knighthood—Remarks on the Muhammadān Religion and the Punishments of the Grave.
1835, April 2nd.—The chāotree was to be played this day, it being the finale of the wedding. When the Prince and Shubbeah arrived at Khāsgunge they came into the zenāna, and were seated on the gaddī; a large number of trays, containing fruits and vegetables of every description, fresh from the garden, were placed before them, with sugar, &c. Shubbeah had divested herself of her bridal attire, and wore the peshwāz, the court dress of Delhi, which was made of Benares tissue of gold and silver, and she wore all her jewels. Nine fruits of different sorts were wrapped in a cloth, and suspended round her waist by her attendants; it had a curious effect, because the whole 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 little fort and indigo factory, the property of Colonel Gardner, at Moreechee.
The dūlhān (bride) visits her mother on the four first Fridays after her marriage, on each of which the dūlhā (bridegroom) is bribed with a full suit.
“A marriage may be celebrated with a mŭn of rice as well as a mŭn of pearls[153].”
Another wedding immediately began, that of Jhanee Khanum, an adopted daughter of Colonel Gardner’s, a slave girl; but I did not stay to witness it, having before seen the grand display.
It is the custom in the zenāna for every young lady to adopt the child of a slave, which serves as a doll, an amusement for her. Shubbeah had an adopted child, for whom she will have eventually to provide; and every lady in the zenāna had an adopted daughter of the same description. The slaves are a set of the most idle, insolent, good-tempered, thievish, laughing girls I ever saw. I should think, counting babies, slaves and all, there must have been two hundred souls within the four walls of Colonel Gardner’s zenāna.
The prince allowed his brothers to see the bride the day of the wedding, but said he should not allow them to see her in future. A native woman thinks this sort of jealousy very flattering, and prides herself upon it.
The mother of Shubbeah was the happiest of the happy: in her idea, her child had made the finest match in the world, by marrying a prince of the house of Delhi, although she was brought up a Christian, he a follower of the prophet. Her other daughter was happily married, her husband being very fond of native life and native customs.