1879.] W. Irvine — The Ban-gash Nawdbs of FarruMdbdd. 155 



with wax on their feet. In this way, in the course of five or six hours, they 

 would carry away some hundreds of rupees. When the money was count- 

 ed and put back, some of the bags would remain unfilled. Then the Nawab 

 would be surprised and say to his chelas, " I do not know how it is, but I 

 " watched these rupees myself, and yet they have diminished. Perhaps they 

 " have been exposed too long to the sun and have got too much dried up. 

 " Go and place the bags in the treasury."* 



It was the Nawab's habit to go out twice a day, sometimes on an ele- 

 phant and sometimes in sbpalki. At other times, quitting the city, he looked 

 on at elephant-fighting. As he passed through the streets of the city, he 

 was attended by men carrying bags of money for the distribution of largesse. 

 Their orders were to allow the approach of the humble poor, the weak, the 

 blind, the lame and the sick. To all these money was given ; not one poor 

 man was passed over. Especial proteges of his were the so-called Khopi- 

 wdlds.f Some hundreds of families lived along the road side from the 

 fort to the Mau gate, and below the fort as far as the edge of the Kadam 

 Sharif pond. They were people of all castes, who had followed the Nawab's 

 camp from Delhi in a year of famine, he having distributed five thousand 

 rupees a day in food during his stay there. They acquired their name from 

 the rough earthen huts which they built to live in, not having funds to 

 build houses in the usual way. The Nawab would often send money and 

 food to them, saying, that they must not starve, since they had left their 

 homes to follow him. 



The Nawab's retinue was accompanied by numerous Saldyah-barddrs 

 (?) spearmen, (barcJii-barddrs) lancemen, (bhdla-ddrs) macemen, (chobddrs) 

 heralds, (jiakibs) flatterers, {bdd-farosli) bards, and (karJcah-go) singers. The 

 Nawab's titles were announced and his praises cried out as the procession 

 moved on. It was preceded, at a little distance, by a number of men with 

 bambu sticks, lacquered in various colours, gold, scarlet, and so forth, some 

 plain and some with flowered patterns. For about two cubits of their 

 length these bambus were split. If any one came in the way of the retinue, 

 whether rich or poor, he was beaten with those bambu sticks. They were 

 also used to anybody who incurred the Nawab's anger. The sound made 

 by the blows was so great, that it could be heard a quarter of a Jcos off, 

 though no wound was caused ; any one who was beaten considered that his 

 lucky star was in the ascendant, for the Nawab was sure to send for him. 

 Then he would say " You have not been hurt ;" and the man would reply 

 " Nawab Sahib, each bone in my body aches as if it had been broken." 



* This story is in the main confirmed by Shekh Allahyar, author of the HadiJcat-* 

 ul-Jkdlim, who was at Farrukhabad in 1769-70, in the employ of the Nawab* 

 t Apparently from /chop = a cave or cavern. 



