1 MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH. 477
2 strength of the Company’s army and the nuurber of English officers attached
3 to each ‘regiment. The presents for His Excellency were then brought out.
4 These consisted of rich stuffs, jewels and other articles of value, and an offer-—
5 ing of rupees 5,000 in money. The Mahardjd’s favourite horses, richly capa-
6 risoned, were then passed in review before His Excellency, who was presented
7 with five horses of different kinds.
8 At the departure of the Commander-in-Chief and the other English
9 Officers Ranjit Singh stood at the place of egress, shaking hands with every
10 one as he passed, :
11 In the afternoon of the same day, the ceremony of presentation of
12 tambol, or marriage presents, to the bridegroom, took place in a spacious
13 house, where also Sir Henry Fane and staff were presented. Among the
14 party collected, there were upwards of eighty dancing-girls, singing in sets
15 of three or four at a time; but their songs were quite inaudible, so great
16 was the noise of the assembled multitude. The Mahardjd and the bride-
17 groom, who was half covered with a golden veil, took their seats under a
18 tree, laden with artificial oranges. All the chiefs and sardars present on
19 the occasion presented their offerings to the bridegroom, one after another,
20 Sir Henry Fane presenting 11,000 rupees and Raja Dhian Singh 1,25,000,
21 while Réjds Gulab Singh, Suchet Singh and others presented smaller sums, in
22 proportion to their rank. The tambol from all sources amounted to fifty
23 lakhs of rupees. The ceremony lasted two hours, after which the meeting
24 broke up.
25 On the morning of 7th March, the ceremony of the investiture of the
26 bridegroom with the bridal chaplet, or wreath, took place at the Harmandar
27 of the Darbar Sahib, A wreath of diamonds and pearls was tied with gold
28 thread to the head of the bridegroom by the Mahardjd4 himself, at an
29 auspicious hour appointed by the Brahmins, This being done, 500 rupees
30 was presented before the Granth, or Sikh holy book, with five pieces of
31 crystallized sugar. One hundred and fifty rupees was presented to the Akal
32 Bungéd, and Rs, 125 each to other Bungds of the Darbar, while Rs. 500 was
33 distributed among the Akdlis present. At three o’clock in the afternoon, the
34 entire marriage partly started for Atévi, the residence of the bride’s father.
35 Artificial parterres, temples, towers and whirligigs were carried along with the
36 procession, As the Mahardj4 advanced, he threw money on all sides to the
37 poor, to be scrambled for by them. The multitude assembled was unprece-
38 dented. The news of the marriage had brought people from almost all parts
39 of the country; and it is estimated that not less than six hundred thousand
40 persons were present. The crush to get near the Mahardja’s elephant was
41 very great, and several lives were lost. The crowding of the elephants one
42 against another, and the curvetting and prancing of hundreds of horses, caused
43 the greatest confusion. Add to this the noise of the multitude, the firing of.
44 cannon at intervals, the sound of musical instruments, pipes and trumpets,
45 and the beating of drums, and the scene may be better imagined than des-
46 cribed. As the procession reached the house of the bride’s father, the old
47 Sardar Sham Singh presented the Mahardjdé with 101 gold mohurs and:
48 five horses, richly caparisoned ; Kanwar Khark Singh, with 51 gold mohurs
49 and a horse, Kanwar Sher Singh, with 11 gold mohurs and a horse, and so on
50 with all the chief sardars,
51 The sardar lived in a large baronial-looking castle. On the roof was erected
52 a large canopy, which looked down on the main body of the building, and under
53 this His Excellency and the Mahardja took their seats, The spacious edifice
54 was thickly covered with spectators, from the highest tower and balcony
55 to the lower court. The bridegroom was now introduced into the assembly
56 The Tambol
57 ceremony.
58 The ceremony of
59 investiture of the
60 bridegroom with the
61 bridal chaplet.
62 The party starts for
63 Atari. =
64 Great gathering of
65 the people,
66 The marriage proces-
67 sion,
68 The scene at the
69 bride's house,
70 The marriage cere-
71 monies,
72 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com