CHAPTER V.
The disgust which the pampered minion daily excited by his arrogance rendered him shortly so unpopular, that the brothers Feroze and Ahmud Chan resolved to embrace the advice of those Omrahs who had promised to favour their cause. Relying upon their assurances, in the sincerity of which they were confirmed by the growing unpopularity of Lallcheen, they sent Meir Feiz Oolla Anjoo, Syud Kumal-ood-Deen, and other persons of distinction, to the slave and the queen-mother, representing that fear only had occasioned their rebellion, of which they now sincerely repented, and promising that, if the sovereign would send them written assurances of pardon, they would repair to court. The traitor, imagining that if they were once in the capital he should have the means of disposing of them at pleasure, was elated by these overtures; and repairing forthwith to the king, persuaded him to listen favourably to their supplications. Accordingly letters, containing flattering assurances of forgiveness, were immediately despatched to the refractory princes.
Since her last positive refusal to espouse the king, Agha had never been once permitted to leave her apartment; but having found means to corrupt the two women to whose custody she was consigned, she quitted her father’s house unobserved, and left the city in a covered litter. Knowing that Feroze and Ahmud Chan were at the Fort of Sagur, she determined to proceed thither, and cast herself upon their protection. They received her with the greatest respect. Her story deeply interested them. Her generous forbearance in refusing to marry the reigning sovereign because his ascent to the musnud had been stained with blood exalted her highly in their estimation, and in their overtures to the king they stipulated in her favour for oblivion of the past and assurances of future kind treatment. The father, though exasperated at her escape, thought that the wisest policy would be to dissemble his anger, hoping yet to overcome her repugnance, and to see her queen of the Deccan. She, however, refused to return to thecapital unless she were guaranteed the protection of some influential person who could shield her from her father’s violence. It was ultimately agreed that she should dwell with the queen, who offered her an asylum in her palace.
She had some difficulty in concurring with any arrangement that should put her again in the power of him who, though her natural protector, had treated her with savage severity. She feared that under the queen’s roof she should not be secure from the oppression of that father towards whom she felt the natural instincts of affection giving way to those harsher feelings which tyranny, even though exercised under the questionable plea of paternal authority, can never fail to excite.
The brothers received Shums-ood-Deen’s assurances of pardon with some misgivings, although these were couched in the strongest terms of affectionate welcome. They knew the treacherous heart of the man by whose sinister counsels the sovereign was swayed, and their minds were in a state of vibration between pacification and resistance. The day after the royal communication arrived, the two brothers were sitting upon a terrace consulting whether they should venture to the capital.
“I have no confidence in the king’s promises,” said Ahmud Chan, “because he is under the control of those to whom treachery is too familiar not to be resorted to, should their interests suggest such a course. The moment we are within the walls of the capital we shall be in the slave’s power, and we have reason to know how little mercy he has for those who wear his fetters. Slaves are proverbially and practically the worst of tyrants.”
“But,” said Feroze, “we have our security in the dissatisfaction of the nobles, who already look upon him with an eye of jealousy. They can ill bear to see a menial, not only raised above their heads, but affecting to rule them. The troops have been won by his gold, but as his coffers get low their zeal will cool, and the moment the reaction comes he will be in jeopardy.”
“But meanwhile we shall be in danger. It is a nice question to decide whether we should throw ourselves upon the sovereign’s forgiveness or continue in arms, for there is danger in both.”
“The least danger will be the best choice; and I think we shall incur less risk in repairing to the capital than in keeping up our hostility with such insufficient means.”
“But we have promised protection to the slave’s daughter against her father’s violence.”
“That is guaranteed by the king.”
“The promises of monarchs are hollow. They are too often made for convenience, and broken at pleasure.”
While the brothers were debating whether they should disband their troops and accept Shums-ood-Deen’s offers of pardon, or remain his declared enemies, a Cashmerian madman passed by. His dress was covered with red paint. A chowry was stuck in his turban, and round his legs were bound wisps of grass. In his hand he flourished a long thin bamboo, at the head of which was fixed an orange. Approaching the princes, he said, “I am come from the Prophet with happy tidings, Feroze Chan. He has deputed me to conduct you to Koolburga, and place you upon the musnud, and I shall do his bidding. You may smile, Feroze Chan, but this will not be the first time a fool has set up a king.”
Regarding this as a happy omen, and remembering the prediction of the saint who had fasted forty days, the brothers, accompanied by Agha, proceeded immediately to Koolburga, where they were warmly welcomed by the young monarch. Lallcheen received them with a studied civility; from the first moment they met he and the princes were visibly guarded in their conduct, and the slave, with all his subtlety, was unable to win the confidence of either brother.
No sooner had Feroze and Ahmud Chan entered the capital, than they endeavoured to render themselves popular with the citizens, who, it was sufficiently evident, were by no means contented under the existing government. In order to satisfy the capacity of the troops, Lallcheen had been reduced to the necessity of drawing largely upon the people’s pockets, and as his exactions were grievous, their dislike of him was bitter in proportion. The troops, too, finding that his bounty had subsided, relaxed in their fidelity, and murmurs began to be everywhereheard. The slave was roused to a sense of his danger; but seeing he possessed the confidence of the monarch and his mother, he fancied that by sheltering himself behind their influence he should escape any mischief which might be threatened by the dissatisfied citizens. His daughter, according to the king’s stipulation with the princes, had remained in the queen’s house, so that she had not been molested by her father, who, in compliance with the royal wish, had forborne to see her. Thinking such forbearance would satisfy the brothers, he was disposed rigidly to adhere to the terms of his contract with them, when they consented to throw themselves upon the sovereign’s mercy, and restore the beautiful Agha to the protection of her friends.
About a fortnight after the arrival of Feroze and Ahmud Chan the king had a public audience. Feroze entered the durbar, accompanied by twelve silehdars devoted to his interest. These silehdars answered to our knights, and followed the courts of their monarchs mounted on their own horses, and in their train rode one or more attendants. Feroze had previously stationed three hundred faithful followers without the audience-chamber. Not the slightest suspicion was awakened either in the breast of the king or his minister. Shortly after Feroze had arrived, his brother Ahmud entered the court, as had been previously concerted. Upon his arrival the princes told Lallcheen that some of their relatives were come from their estates in order to pay their respect to the sovereign, and requested that orders might therefore be given to the porters to admit whomsoever he should send for.
The minister, entertaining no idea of mischief, gave the order without hesitation, affecting great urbanity, as if willing to conciliate those whom he feared, and who, if not propitiated by at least an appearance of courtesy, might eventually prove dangerous enemies.
Shums-ood-Deen, meanwhile, being occupied with the ceremony of receiving his nobles, paid no attention to the number of strangers who accompanied his relatives. The court on this day was very numerously attended, and the shades of disaffection wereseen on many a brow which bent before the throne with the usual expression of homage.
At a signal from Feroze Chan, who took care to occupy Lallcheen’s attention by exciting an animated discussion, his brother retired from the audience-chamber under pretence of introducing his relations. In a short time he returned, but, upon attempting to pass the guards with twelve followers, he was stopped, the soldiers refusing to allow him to proceed unless he could give a satisfactory account of himself, and of those by whom he was attended.
The moment was critical, and the danger imminent, but Ahmud resolved to put all to the hazard. Imagining that the plot was discovered, he commanded the guards to stand back, but they instantly interposed themselves between him and the door. Ordering his followers to draw their swords, and unsheathing his own at the same moment, he buried it in the body of the foremost man who had opposed his entrance. His companions, following so resolute an example, attacked the guards with such spirit that they were soon overpowered, and many slain. Ahmud rushed into the durbar with his sword drawn and his dress spotted with blood.
The utmost confusion prevailed. A few of the minister’s creatures assembled round him, and endeavoured to protect their patron; but all the rest of the assembly fled: they were suffered to escape, as their flight only rendered the capture of the traitor more sure. Pale and trembling, the latter stood in the midst of his attendants imploring mercy; but when he found that it would be denied, he summoned his energies for a last struggle. His followers behaved with great gallantry, and while they were fighting in his defence, a body of soldiers stationed in the courts of the palace rushing in, saved the king and his minister from immediate destruction.
The three hundred adherents of Feroze Chan, hearing the din of battle, quitted their station, and repairing to the spot, attacked and put to flight the royal guards, together with the dependents of Lallcheen, and in a short time the palace was in possession of the two princes. They were soon joined by many disaffected nobles;and when the issue was known to the citizens, acclamations were everywhere heard, and threats of extermination against the tyrant. It was now clear that Feroze and Ahmud Chan were masters of the capital. When the tumult had subsided, the king and Lallcheen were nowhere to be found; but after a diligent search, being discovered in a subterraneous chamber, they were dragged before the conquerors.
“Traitor!” said Feroze Chan to the now humbled slave, “what punishment do you deserve for your enormities?”
“Such a punishment as a generous conqueror would inflict.”
“You have pronounced your own doom.”
“Generous souls requite evil with good.”
“But there are degrees of guilt which to pardon would be unjust; and where mercy is unjustly bestowed it is a crime. Your punishment shall rest with him who has received the greatest injury at your hands.”
Feroze Chan having put chains upon the king and Lallcheen, confined them in the apartment where they had sought shelter, while he, accompanied by the nobility, repaired to the hall of audience and ascended the throne amid the acclamations of his followers; thus fulfilling the prediction of the Cashmerian madman. He assumed the title of Feroze Shah Roze Afzoon, and, by way of confirming his title, placed upon his thigh the sword of Alla-ood-Deen Hussun Gungoo. Having established his authority without the slightest opposition, he sent for Gheias-ood-Deen from the fort of Sagur. When the unhappy ex-king was brought into the presence of Feroze Chan, the latter said—
“Gheias-ood-Deen, I regret that the laws do not permit a blinded sovereign to reign, or I should have had more joy in placing the sceptre in your hands than in my own. What is there that you would desire to render your life happy?”
“My requests are two—first, that I may be allowed to inflict punishment with my own hands upon the man who blinded me, and next to perform a pilgrimage to Mecca that expiation may be offered for my sins. There I should wish to pass the remainder of my life, which I purpose devoting to God.”
“Your wishes are granted,” said Feroze, “and I shall order the treasurer to remit you annually the sum of five thousand golden ashruffies[18]for your maintenance, as becomes a prince.”
Lallcheen was now brought in chains before his late victim. When he saw Gheias-ood-Deen standing with a drawn sword in the midst of the hall of audience, a clammy moisture oozed from every pore of his body, and he felt as if the dews of death had gathered upon his brow. Being brought close to Gheias-ood-Deen, the latter said, “Who stands before me?”
Lallcheen was silent.
“Let me hear thy voice, slave. What punishment does the man deserve who deposes a monarch and murders his nobles?”
The slave was still silent.
“Traitor, I am blind! it was through thee that these eyes were closed in everlasting darkness. The penalty of crime is now demanded. Art thou prepared to perish?”
There was no answer. The ex-king placed his hand upon Lallcheen’s shoulder, and raising his sword, brought it with the full force of an arm of vengeance upon the head of the criminal, who fell dead at the avenger’s feet.
On the following day Agha solicited an audience of the new monarch.
“King,” she said, “I need not tell you that mercy is the brightest jewel in the regal sceptre. It is the axiom of every country where sovereigns reign and people are obedient.”
“On whose account, lovely girl, do you seek to propitiate the royal clemency?”
“On that of the deposed monarch, Shums-ood-Deen. I know him to have been innocent of any participation in the late transactions which have cast such ignominy upon the memory of one whom I would willingly have remembered as a good man. Shums-ood-Deen sought not to reign. Had he rejected the throne, his only alternative was to die. We were plighted to each other. I refused to wed him as a king, when I did not consider his elevation just; but I am prepared to link my destiny with his now the bar is removed which disunited us.”
“Your wish, lady, shall be fulfilled. He will be released for your sake, with the government of Dowlatabad as a reward for his temperance upon the throne. You shall be the messenger of these tidings.”
Agha fell at the king’s feet; he raised and dismissed her, with kind assurances of future favour. She sought the apartment in which Shums-ood-Deen was confined. He was seated on the ground at the extremity fronting the door, and remarked not her entrance. His hand was upon his brow. He seemed to press it, as if it ached from the severe infliction of his own thoughts. The sigh came heavily from his bosom, and he occasionally muttered indistinct sounds, which were evidently the groanings of a lacerated spirit. He did not raise his head as Agha advanced, but appeared unconscious of her presence.
“Shums-ood-Deen!” she said, in a tone of the gentlest tenderness. He started from the ground in a moment.
“Alla Akbur!” he cried, bowing his head; “It is Agha! Is this a visit of reconciliation before I die?”
“I come to release you from your chains. You have imagined that I did not love you. It was a mistake: I loved the man, but as I could not respect the king, I determined not to be the partner of an elevation which my conscience could not justify. Your pardon has been pronounced by the reigning monarch: I have his authority for announcing to you that you will be henceforward governor of Dowlatabad; and, if you still think the slave’s daughter worthy of your choice, she is now prepared to fulfil her pledge.”
He threw his arms round her. They repaired to the royal presence, where Shums-ood-Deen’s pardon was confirmed, and a proclamation to that effect immediately issued. He swore allegiance to Feroze Shah Bahmuny with much more joy than he had received the sceptre. The details of love and marriage are too ordinary events of life for the pages of history; it therefore only remains for the narrator of these adventures to say, that the beautiful Agha and the youthful Shums-ood-Deen were married forthwith, and repaired to Dowlatabad to a peaceful and happy home.
FOOTNOTES:[18]The ashruffy varied from thirty to forty shillings.
[18]The ashruffy varied from thirty to forty shillings.
[18]The ashruffy varied from thirty to forty shillings.