[347] The Muhammadans believe that on the day of judgment all who have died will assemble on a vast plain, to hear their sentences from the mouth of God; so the reader may naturally conceive the size of the plain.

[348] The surma is a black powder made of antimony, which the Asiatic women use on their eyelids, to give a superior lustre to their black or hazel eyes; when applied with taste, it certainly has that effect.  It is likewise used for sore eyes, but I cannot say with what success.

[349] Chummak is the Turkish name for a kind of baton set with precious stones, and used by some of the officers of the palace as an insignia of state, like our rods, wands, &c.

[350] This ludicrous idea is to be found in the veracious “Voiage and Travaile” of Sir John Maundevile, Kt.  Speaking of the “Yles abouten Ynde,” he says, “men fynden there an Ile that is clept Crues,” where “for the grete distresse of the hete, mennes ballokkes hangen down to their knees, for the grete dissolucioun of the body.”

[351] The Hur are celestial females, and the Ghilman beautiful youths, who are to attend upon all good Mahometans in Paradise.

[352] The nakkar-khana is the place at the portico of a temple or palace where drums are beaten at stated intervals.  It is somewhat akin to the “belfry,” of a Romish church, the childish and everlasting noise of which is supposed to constitute an important part of Christianity.

[353] Padmini, the highest and most excellent of the four classes of women among the Hindus.

[354] The prime minister, or first officers of state, under the Mughal emperors.

[355] Literally, “instant of an instant.”  With regard to this idiomatic use of the genitive case, vide “Grammar,” page 96, paragraph b.

[356] Here the khwaja resumes his own story to Azad Bakht.

[357] The king, Azad Bakht, speaks in his own person.

[358] The son of a khwaja or merchant of the highest grade.

[359] When Musalmans go on pilgrimage to Mecca, they shave their heads on their arrival there; the ridicule is, to have incurred the shaving without the merit of the pilgrimage.

[360] Called the khil’at sarafrazi, i.e. of exaltation.

[361] The farsh is the carpet or cloth which is spread in the room, where company is received, or the king’s audience is held; for the king to advance to the end of the farsh to receive the wazir, is a mark of respect, which Asiatic princes seldom pay, even to their equals.

[362] The insignia of the wazir’s office in India and Persia, is the kalumdan.

[363] The abode of a fakir is called a takiya.

[364] The phrase kot bundh baithna signifies to squat down as a person does when easing nature, the two hands being clasped together round the legs a little below the knees.