Kitabı oku: «Modern India», sayfa 29

On either side of the throne are gathered, standing, many native princes, the higher officers of the government and the army, the members of the diplomatic corps and other favored persons, with their wives and daughters, and their costumes furnish a brilliant background to the scene. The rest of the great audience chamber, blazing with electric lights, is entirely empty. The viceroy greets every lady with a graceful bow, and Lady Curzon gives her a smile of welcome. The government band is playing all this time in an adjoining room, so that the music can be only faintly heard, and does not interfere with the ceremony, as is so often the case elsewhere.

Having passed in review, the guests return to the other part of the palace by a different course than that through which they came, and find their escorts awaiting them in the banquet hall. When the last lady has been presented, the viceroy and Lady Curzon lead the way to the banquet hall, where a sumptuous supper is spread, and the gentlemen are allowed to share the festivities. The formalities are relaxed, and the hosts chat informally with the guests.

THE PRINCES OF PEARLS

It is a very brilliant scene, quite different from any that may be witnessed elsewhere, particularly because of the gorgeous costumes and the profusion of jewels worn by the native princes. At none of the capitals of Europe can so magnificent a show of jewels be witnessed, but the medals of honor and decorations which adorn the breasts of the bronzed soldiers are more highly prized and usually excite greater admiration, for many of the heroes of the South African war were serving tours of duty in India when we were in Calcutta.

The viceroy's levee is exclusively for gentlemen. No ladies are expected, and a similar ceremony is carried out. It is intended to offer an annual opportunity for the native princes, and officials of the government, officers of the army, the Indian nobility and private citizens of prominence to pay their respects and offer their congratulations to their ruler and the representative of their king, and at 9 o'clock on the evening appointed, two days later than Lady Curzon's reception, every man of distinction in that part of the world appears at the palace and makes his bow to the viceroy as the latter stands under the canopy beside the throne. It might be a somber and stupid proceeding but for the presence of many natives in their dazzling jewels, picturesque turbans and golden brocades, and the large contingent of army officers, with their breasts covered with medals and decorations. This reception is followed a few days later by a state ball, which is considered the most brilliant function of the year in India. Invitations are limited to persons of certain rank who have been formally presented at Government House, but Lady Curzon is always on the lookout for her fellow countrymen, and if she learns of their presence in Calcutta invitations are sure to reach them one way or another. She is a woman of many responsibilities, and her time and mind are always occupied, but few Americans ever visit Calcutta without having some delightful evidence of her loyalty and thoughtfulness.

There were many other festivities for celebrating the New Year. All the English and native troops in the vicinity of Calcutta passed in review before the viceroy and Lord Kitchener, who is the commander-in-chief of the forces in India.

In one of the parks in the city was a native fair and display of art industries, and at the zoological gardens the various societies of the Roman Catholic church in Calcutta held a bazaar and raffled off many valuable and worthless articles, sold barrels of tea and tons of cake, and sweetmeats to enormous crowds of natives, who attended in their holiday attire. There was a pyramid of gold coins amounting to a thousand dollars, an automobile, a silver service valued at $1,000, a grand piano, a carriage and span of ponies, and various other prizes offered in the lotteries, together with dolls and ginger-cake, pipes and cigar cases, slippers, neckties, pincushions and other offerings to the god of chance. Fashionable society was attracted to the fair grounds by a horse and dog show, and various other functions absorbed public attention.

The great sporting event of the year in India is a race for a big silver cup presented by the viceroy and a purse of 20,000 rupees to the winner. We took an interest in the race because Mr. Apgar, an Armenian opium merchant, who nominated Great Scott, an Austrian thoroughbred, has a breeding farm and stable of 200 horses, and everything about his place comes from the United States. He uses nothing but American harness and other accoutrements, and as a natural and unavoidable consequence Great Scott won the cup and the purse very easily, and his fleetness was doubtless due to the fact that he was shod with American shoes. The programme showed that about half the entries were by natives. His Royal Highness Aga Khan, the Nawab of Samillolahs; Aga Shah; our old friend of the Chicago exposition, the Sultan of Johore, and His Highness Kour Sahib of Patiala, all had horses in the big race. Some of these princes have breeding stables. Others import English, Irish, Australian, American and Arabian thoroughbreds. There was no American horse entered for the viceroy's cup this year, but Kentucky running stock is usually represented.

There are two race tracks at Calcutta, one for regular running, the other for steeple chasing, and, as in England and Ireland, the horses run on the turf, and most of the riders are gentlemen. A few professional jockeys represent the stables of breeders who are too old or too fat or too lazy to ride themselves, but it is considered the proper thing for every true sportsman to ride his own horse as long as he is under weight. The tracks are surrounded by lovely landscapes, an easy driving distance from Calcutta, and everybody in town was there. The grand stand and the terraces that surround it were crowded with beautifully dressed women, many of them Parsees, in their lovely costumes, and within the course were more than 50,000 natives, wearing every conceivable color, red and yellow predominating, so that when one looked down upon the inclosure from a distance it resembled a vast flower bed, a field of poppies and roses. The natives take great interest in the races, and, as they are admitted free, every man, woman and child who could leave home was there, and the most of them walked the entire distance from the city.

The viceroy and vice-queen appear in the official old-fashioned barouche, drawn by four horses, with outriders, and escorted by a bodyguard of Sikhs in brilliant scarlet uniforms and big turbans of navy blue, with gold trimmings. The viceroy's box is lined and carpeted with scarlet, and easy chairs were placed for his comfort. Distinguished people came up to pay their respects to him and Lady Curzon, and between visits he wandered about the field, shaking hands with acquaintances in a democratic fashion and smiling as if he were having the time of his life. It is not often that the present viceroy takes a holiday. He is the most industrious man in India, and very few of his subjects work as hard as he, but he takes his recreation in the same fashion. He is always full of enthusiasm, and never does anything in a half-hearted way. Lord Kitchener came also, but was compelled to remain in his carriage because of his broken leg. The police found him a good place and he enjoyed it.

On the lawn behind the grand stand, under the shade of groups of palm trees, tables and chairs were placed, and tea was served between the events. Ladies whose husbands are members of the Jockey Club can engage tables in advance, as most of them do, and issue their invitations in advance also, so that Viceroy's day is usually a continuous tea party and a reunion of old friends, for everybody within traveling distance comes to the capital that day. Every woman wore a new gown made expressly for the occasion. Most of them were of white or of dainty colors, but they did not compare in beauty or elegance with the brocades and embroidered silks worn by bare-legged natives. Half the Hindu gentlemen present had priceless camel's hair and Cashmere shawls thrown over their shoulders–most of them heirlooms, for, according to the popular impression, modern shawls do not compare in quality with the old ones. Under the shawls they wear long coats, reaching to their heels like ulsters, of lovely figured silk or brocade of brilliant colors. Some of them are finished with exquisite embroidery. No Hindu women were present, only Parsees. They never appear in public, and allow their husbands to wear all of the fine fabrics and jewels. With shawls wrapped around them like Roman togas, the Hindus are the most dignified and stately human spectacles you can imagine, but when they put on European garments or a mixture of native and foreign dress they are positively ridiculous, and do violence to every rule of art and law of taste. Usually when an oriental–for it is equally true of China, Japan and Turkey–adopts European dress he selects the same colors he would wear in his own, and he looks like a freak, as you can imagine, in a pair of green trousers, a crimson waistcoat, a purple tie, a blue negligee shirt and a plaid jacket.

If you want to see a display of fine raiment and precious stones you must attend an official function in India, a reception by Lord or Lady Curzon, for in the number, size and value of their jewels the Indian princes surpass the sovereigns of Europe. One of the rajahs has the finest collection of rubies in the world, purchased from time to time by his ancestors for several generations, most of them in Burma, where the most valuable rubies have been found. Another has a collection of pearls, accumulated in the same way. They represent an investment of millions of dollars, and include the largest and finest examples in the world. When he wears them all, as he sometimes does, on great occasions, his front from his neck to his waist is covered with pearls netted like a chain armor. His turban is a cataract of pearls on all sides, and upon his left shoulder is a knot as large as your two hands, from which depends a braided rope of four strands, reaching to his knee, and every pearl is as large as a grape. You can appreciate the size and value of his collection when I tell you that all of the pearls owned by the ex-Empress Eugenie are worn in his turban, and do not represent ten per cent of the collection.

Other rajahs are famous for diamonds, or emeralds, or other jewels. There seems to be a good deal of rivalry among them as to which shall make the greatest display. But from what people tell me I should say that the Nizam of Haidarabad could furnish the largest stock if these estimable gentlemen were ever compelled to go into the jewelry business. We were particularly interested in him because he outranks all the other native princes, and is the most important as well as the most gorgeous in the array. His dominions, which he has inherited from a long line of ancestors–I believe he traces his ancestry back to the gods–include the ancient City of Golconda, whose name for centuries was a synonym for riches and splendors. In ancient times it was the greatest diamond market in the world. It was the capital of the large and powerful kingdom of the Deccan, and embraced all of southern India, but is now in ruins. Its grandeur began to decay when the kingdom was conquered by the Moguls in 1587 and annexed to their empire, and to-day the crumbling walls and abandoned palaces are almost entirely deserted. Even the tombs of the ancient kings, a row of vast and splendid mausoleums, which cost millions upon millions of dollars, and for architecture and decoration and costliness have been surpassed only by those of the Moguls, are being allowed to decay while the ruling descendant of the men who sleep there spends his income for diamonds.

The magnificence and extravagance of these princes are the theme of poems and legends. There is a large book in Persian filled with elaborate and graphic descriptions of the functions and ceremonies that attend the reception of an envoy from Shah Abbas, King of Persia, who visited the court of Golconda in 1503. Among other gifts brought by him from his royal master was a crown of rubies which still remains in the family, although many people think the original stones have been removed and imitations substituted in order that the nizam may enjoy the glory of wearing them. When his ambassador went back to Persia he was accompanied by a large military escort guarding a caravan of 2,400 camels laden with gifts from the nizam to his royal master.

The present capital of the province, the city of Haidarabad, was founded in 1589 by a gentleman named Kutab Shah Mohammed Kuli, who afterward removed his household there on account of a lack of water and a malarial atmosphere at Golconda. He called the city in honor of his favorite concubine. The name means "the city of Haidar." The province includes about 80,000 square miles of territory, and has a population of 11,141,946 of whom only 10 per cent are Moslems, although the ruling family have always professed that faith.

The present nizam is Mahbub Ali, who was born in 1866, was partially educated in England and is very popular with all classes of people–particularly with those who profit by his extravagance. The revenues of the state are about $20,000,000 a year, and the people are very much overtaxed. The nizam's taste for splendor and his desire to outdo all the other native princes in display have caused the government of India considerable anxiety, and the British resident at his capital, whose duty is to keep him straight, enjoys no sinecure.

Haidarabad is one of the oldest cities in India, with a population of 355,000, inclosed by a strong wall six miles in circumference. The city stands in the midst of wild and rocky scenery and is one of the most interesting places in India, because the nizam is fond of motion and music and color, and has surrounded himself with a large retinue of congenial spirits, who live at his expense and pay their board by amusing him. As the most important Moslem potentate except the Sultan of Turkey, he has attracted to his service Mohammedans from every part of the earth, who go about wearing their distinctive national costumes and armed with quaint weapons–Turks, Arabs, Moors, Afghans, Persians, Rajputs, Sikhs, Marathas, Pathans and representatives of all the other races that confess Islam. His palaces are enormous and are filled with these retainers, said to number 7,000 of all ranks and races, and the courtyards are full of elephants, camels, horses, mounted escorts and liveried servants. It reminds one of the ancient East, a gorgeous page out of the Arabian Nights.

INDEX

Abu, Mount

Afghanistan

Afridis, the tribe of

Agra, fortress of

religious celebration at

Agriculture

Ahmedabad, city of

Ajmere, city of

Akbar the Great

tomb of

Allahabad, city of

Aligarh, city of

Amber, city of

Ameer of Afghanistan

Americans in India

American trade in India

Amritsar, city of

Architecture, Mogul

Ahmedabad

of India

Area of India

Art schools

Army, the

Banyan trees

Baluchistan

Banks of India

Barbers

Barbar, the Emperor

Baroda, state of

Bazaars, native

Bazaars of Delhi

Bearers, Indian

Benares, city of

Betel chewing

Bibles in India

Bird training

Birth rate

Black Hole of Calcutta

Body guard, Lord Curzon's

Bombay, death rate in

city of

residences of

ghat-burning at

Improvement Trust

Monkey temple at

old city of

public buildings of

railway station at

statues in

street-cars of

University of

Bordeaux, Austin de

Botanical Gardens

Brahmins, the

Brahminism

Brahmin priests

Buddhism

Burning bodies

Cadet corps

Calcutta, city of

Calcutta, residences of

Black Hole of

Canteen, the army

Caravans

Cashmere, province of

shawls

Caste

Castle in Bombay

Catholic missions, Roman

Cave temples

Cawnpore, city of

Census of India

Christian population

Cities of India

Civil service, Indian

Coal mining

Coffee planting

College, the Moslem

at Jeypore

Colleges

the Phipps

Contortionists

Costumes, Hindu

Cotton trade

Council of India

Courts

Crime

Criminals, professional

Crops

value of

Curzon, Lord

Lady

Customs, religious

social

Customs-house at Bombay

Cutch-Behar, Maharaja of

Dak bungalows

Darjeeling, city of

Dead, burning the

Death rate

at Bombay

Deccan, the

Delhi, city of

palaces of

ancient

tombs of

Docks at Bombay

Drawing room, Lady Curzon's

Durbar, the

East India Company

Education

Elephanta Island

Elephant riding

Elephants working

Ellora, cave temples at

Embroideries, Indian

Emigration

Epidemics

Etiquette in Calcutta

Fakirs, Hindu

Famines

Farming

Fattehpur-Sikri, city of

Frontier Question

Funeral customs

Ganges River

Gaya, town of

Ghats, burning

Girls, English and American

Goa, colony of

Gods, Hindu

Government house at Calcutta

of India

Governor of Bombay

Guilds, Indian

Gurkas, the

Haiderabad, Nizam of

Hall of the Winds, Jeypore

Himalayas, the

Hodson, Colonel

Holiday week in Calcutta

Hotels of India

of Delhi

in Muttra

Hospital

Humayon, tomb of

Hume, Rev. R. A.

Hypnotism, Hindu

Idols

Illiteracy

Income tax

Indian Ocean, temperature of

Indigo

Infanticide

Irrigation in India

Jains, religious sect of

temples of the

Jeejeebhoy, Sir Jamsetjed

Jehanghir, the Mogul

Jewels

Jewelry

Jeypore, city of

Maharaja of

Jodpore

Juggernaut, the

Khyber Pass

Kipling, Rudyard

Kitchener, Lord

Kutab Minar, the

Laboring classes

Lahore, city of

Lamington, Lord

Land laws

Languages of India

Levees, the viceroy's

Literature, Hindu

Lucknow, city of

Magicians, religious

Manufacturing

Mark Twain, anecdote of

Marriage customs

Mayo College

Mendicants, religious

Minerals

Miriam, the Christian princess

Missions, American

Mizra, Gheas Bey

Mogul Empire

Moguls, the last of the

Mohammedans

Mohammedan College

Monkey temple at Bombay

Monsoons

Mortality from snake and tiger bites

Mosques in Delhi

Mountains of India

Museum, the imperial

Mutiny, the

Muttra, city of

Native princes

Nautch dancers

Nepal, state of

New Year Day in Calcutta

Nomenclature in India

Nur Jehan

Occupations

Officials, English and native

Opium trade

Palace, the viceroy's

Palaces, the Mogul

Parsees, the

Patterson, Consul-general

Peacock throne

Pearl carpet

Pearl Mosque

Peerbhoy, Adamjee

Peshawar, city of

Petit family of Bombay

Phipps, Henry

Pilgrims

Police

Politicians

Population of Bombay

of India

foreign

Portuguese colony

Postal service

Poverty

Princes, native

Progress of India

Prosperity of India

P. and O. Steamers

Quinine crop

Racing horses

in Calcutta

Railways

Railway travel in India

stations

station at Bombay

Rainfall

Rajputs, the

Rajputana, province of

Ramadan, feast of

Ranjitsinhji, Prince

Rarjumund Banu

Readymoney, Sir Jehanghir

Red Sea, temperature of

Reforms in India

Religions of India

Residences of Bombay

Rice eating

Road, Great Trunk

Roberts, Lord

Ruins of Delhi

Rulers, native

Russians, fear of

policy of

Salaries of officials

Schools, native

Servants, native

Shah Jehan

Shopping in India

Sights of Bombay

Sikhs, the

Simla, summer capital at

Siva, the demon god

Sleeping cars

Snakes

Snake charmers

Social customs of India

Society in India

Stables at Jeypore

Starvation

Steamers, P. and O.

Steamship passage to India

Street sprinkling

Sugar planting

Superstitions

"Suttee" forbidden

Taj Mahal

Tamerlane

Tata, J. N.

Taxes

Tea-planting

Telegraphs and telephones

Temperance in the army

Temples

of Delhi

of Ahmedabad

Tigers

Tiger catching

Timour

Thibet, invasion of

Thugs

founder of the

Throne, the Peacock

Tomb of Akbar

Tombs of Delhi

Towers of Silence

Travellers, English and American

Trust of Bombay, the Improvement

Universities

University of Bombay

Tata, the

Viceroy, authority of

receptions of

Voyage to India

Wages

Water, impurities of the

supply

Wedding customs

Wheat growing

Widows in India

Widow burning

Winter in India

Women of India

of Bombay

English and American

Xavier, St. Francis

Younghusband, Colonel