335 



with fable. Their traditions relate that, many centuries ago, a 

 Hindoo rajah, named Sadara Jai Sihng, the " Lion of Vic- 

 tory/' reigned in Putton, the Paithana, or Pattana, of the ancient 

 Greeks; a city built on the banks of the river Godavery, at a great 

 distance from Dhuboy. 



According to the privileged custom of oriental monarchs, this 

 rajah had seven wives, and many concubines; the first in rank, 

 and his greatest favourite, was called Ratanalee, the " Lustre 

 of Jewels," an additional name conferred upon her, expressive 

 of transcendent worth and superior beauty; in which, and every 

 elegant accomplishment, she excelled all the ladies in the haram. 

 She thus preserved an ascendancy over the rajah, notwithstanding 

 she had no child, and several of the rest had presented him with 

 princes. The intrigues and jealousies among the secluded females 

 in the eastern haiams are well known; they prevailed powerfully 

 at Putton, where the ladies were all jealous of Rattanalee, and 

 used every means to alienate the rajah's affection from his favou- 

 rite; but when they found that she also was in a state of pregnancy, 

 their hatred knew no bounds. According to the superstitious 

 customs of the Hindoos, they employed charms and talismans to 

 prevent the birth of the child; and the beloved sultana, supersti- 

 tious and credulous as themselves, imagined their spells had taken 

 effect, and that while she remained in the palace, her infant would 

 never see the light. 



Impressed with these ideas, she departed with a splendid re- 

 tinue to sacrifice at a celebrated temple on the banks of the Ner- 

 budda, and after a long journey arrived late in the evening at a 

 sacred grove and lake, about ten miles from the river, on the very 



