BIOGRAPHY. 



573 



of a diadem ; and a valuable 

 landscape of Claude Lorraine 

 suspended near a board painted 

 with ducks and drakes. His 

 haram contained above 500 of 

 the greatest beauties of India, 

 immured in high walls which they 

 were never to leave, except on 

 their biers. He had an immense 

 number of domestic servants, 

 and a very large army besides, 

 being fully protected from hostile 

 invasion by the company's sub- 

 sidiary forces, for which he paid 

 five hundred thousand pounds 

 per annum. His jewels amounted 

 to about eight millions sterling. 

 Amidst this precious treasure, he 

 might be seen for several hours 

 every day, handling them as a 

 child does his toys." Asuf had 

 no legitimate children, and it was 

 doubted whether he had any 

 natural ones. He was in the 

 habit, whenever he saw a pregnant . 

 woman, whose appearance struck 

 his fanc)', to invite her to the 

 palace to lie-in ; and several 

 women of this description were 

 dehvered there, and among the 

 number was the mother of Vizier 

 Ally. Several children so deli- 

 vered were brought up and edu- 

 cated in the palace. 



The sprightliness of Vizier 

 'Ally, while yet an infant, so 

 entirely engrossed the affec- 

 tions of the old nabob, that he 

 determined to adopt him. In 

 conformity with this resolution, 

 the youth received an education 

 suitable to a prince who was 

 destined to succeed to the mus- 

 nud. He is said, however, to 

 have developed at this period, a 

 propensity to delight in the suf- 

 ferings of the brute creation. The 

 affection of the old nabob towards 



his adopted son still increasing, 

 he lavished upon him every 

 mark of regard. 



At thirteen his marriage took 

 place. To give an idea of the 

 splendor which attached to his 

 youth, and from which he subse- 

 quently fell, the following ac- 

 count of his nuptials is extracted 

 from Forbes' " Oriental Me- 

 moirs." 



" The wedding of Vizier Ally 

 was celebrated at Lucknow, in 

 1795, and was one of the most 

 magnificent in modern times. 

 The nabob had his tents pitched 

 on the plains, near the city of 

 Lucknow ; among the number 

 were two remarkably large, made 

 of strong cotton cloth, lined with 

 the finest English broad cloth, 

 cut in stripes of different colours, 

 with cords of silk and cotton. 

 These two tents cost five lacks of 

 rupees, or above fifty thousand 

 pounds sterling ; they were each 

 120 feet long, 60 broad, and the 

 poles about 60 feet high ; the 

 walls of the tents were ten feet 

 high ; part of them were cut into 

 lattice-work for the women of the 

 nabob's seraglio, and those of the 

 principal nobility, to see through. 

 His highness was covered with 

 jewels, to the amount at least, of 

 two millions sterling. From 

 thence we removed to the shu- 

 meena, which was illuminated by 

 two hundred elegant girandoles , 

 from Europe, as many glass 

 shades with wax candles, and 

 several hundred flambeaux ; the 

 glare and reflection was dazzling 

 and offensive to the sight. When 

 seated under this extensive ca- 

 nopy, above a hundred dancing 

 girls, richly dressed, went through 

 their elegant, but rather lascivious 



dances 



