Two
Thousand Men, Armed With Halberts, Batons, Darts, Arrows, Lances, Swords,
And Maces, Had Enough Of Business In Keeping The Crowd In Order.
Others
held fans and umbrellas.
Around this court there were many apartments, and
it was surrounded by high porticos closed with grates, and containing
sofas. When day appeared, the drums, trumpets, flutes, and hautboys, began
to sound, and the great bell tolled; at which the great gates were thrown
open, and the people crowded in to see the emperor. On passing from the
first court into the second, the ambassadors found a larger and more
magnificent pavilion than the former, on which was a raised platform, or
sofa, of a triangular form, four cubits high, covered with yellow satin,
and sumptuously adorned with gildings and paintings, representing the
Simorg[34], or Phoenix, which the Kathayans call the royal bird. On this
sofa was a seat or throne of massy gold, and on both sides stood ranks of
officers of different orders, some commanders of 10,000 men, some of a
1000, and others of 100 men. Each of these held a tablet in his hand, a
cubit long and a quarter broad, on which they all continued to look with
much gravity, without attending to any thing around them; and behind these,
stood an infinite number of guards, all in profound silence. At length the
emperor made his appearance from an inner apartment, and ascended the
throne by nine steps of silver. The emperor was a man of middle stature,
and his beard consisted of 200 or 300 long hairs, which descended from his
chin upon his breast. On each side of the throne there stood two very
beautiful maidens, having their faces and necks bare, with their hair tied
on the top of their heads, and large pearls in their ears. Each of these
held paper and a pen in their hands, and wrote down with great attention
whatever was spoken by the emperor; and when he retires, they present him
with the papers, to see if he has any alterations to make in his orders.
These are afterwards carried to the Diwan, or tribunal of state, that
they may be carried into execution.
When the emperor was seated on his throne, the seven ambassadors were
brought forwards, facing the emperor, and at the same time a great number
of criminals were presented. There were seven hundred of these, some of
whom were fastened by the neck, others having their heads and hands
inclosed by a board, six sometimes fastened thus to one board. Each
criminal was attended by a keeper, who held his prisoner by the hair: and
all thus waited the imperial sentence. Most of these were remanded to
prison, and only a few were condemned to die, which power resides solely in
the emperor. All the governors of this vast empire, however distant from
court, send all malefactors to Khanbalik, to appear in presence of the
emperor. Each persons crime is written on one end of the board which he
carries about his neck; and the crimes against religion are the most
severely punished of all. Great care is taken to examine into all the facts
on these occasions, insomuch that the emperor holds council twelve several
times before he condemns any one to death. Hence a person who has been
condemned in eleven successive councils, is sometimes acquitted in the
twelfth, which is always held in presence of the emperor, who never
condemns any but those he cannot save. When the criminals were dismissed,
the ambassadors were led by an officer within fifteen cubits of the throne;
and this officer, on his knees, read out of a paper the purport of their
embassy; adding that they had brought rarities as presents to his majesty,
and were come to knock their heads against the ground before him. Then the
Kadhi Mulana Haji Yusof, a commander of ten thousand, who was a favourite
of the emperor and one of his twelve councillors, approached to the
ambassadors, with some Moslems who spoke the Persian language, and ordered
them to fall on their knees and knock their ground with their foreheads;
but they only bowed their heads three times. Then they delivered the
letters of Shah Rokh and the other princes, wrapped up in yellow satin, to
Kadhi Mulana, who gave them into the hands of a khoja of the palace at the
foot of the throne, and he presented them to the emperor. He took them into
his own hands, opened them and looked at them, and delivered them back to
the khoja, who descended from the throne, and sat down on a seat at the
foot of the steps. At the same time were brought out three thousand
vestments of fine stufis, and two thousand coarse, such as are the usual
clothing of the imperial children and household[35]. The emperor then
commanded the ambassadors to draw near, and being on their knees, he
inquired after the health of Shah Rokh, and put many other questions to
them, all of which they answered. He then ordered them to rise, and go eat,
saying that they had come a far journey. From thence the ambassadors were
conducted back to the first court, where they were feasted in a similar
manner as at other times already mentioned.
When this entertainment was finished, they were conducted to their
lodgings, in which the principal chamber was furnished with a large sofa or
raised platform, laid with fine silk cushions, a great basin, and a pan for
fire. On the right and left of this, there were other chambers, with beds,
silk cushions, and foot carpets or fine mats, for lodging the ambassadors
separately. Each person had a kettle, a dish, a spoon, and a table. Every
day, for six persons, there were allowed a sheep, a goose, and two fowls;
and to each person two measures of flour, a large dish of rice, two great
basins full of things preserved with sugar, a pot of honey, some garlic,
onions, salt, several sorts of herbs, a bottle of dirapum[36], and a
basin of walnuts, filberts, chesnuts, and other dried fruits.
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