a beautiful woman, married to a gentleman who lived in the vezir's neighbourhood, fell desperately in love with her, and as entreaties and presents proved of no avail, he attempted to obtain possession of her person by force. The husband screamed, and ran to Zulficar-khan. This minister, who was naturally a lover of justice, and a man of decision, was shocked at the atrocity.[1] In the agitation of the moment, he sent people with orders to bring the guilty Khoshal-khan, dead or alive. The order was executed with much severity: he was dragged to the vezir's apartment, who, so soon as he saw him, ordered him to be put to the bastinado, so that he was left for dead. He was afterwards sent prisoner to the castle of Selimgur, and his whole property was directed to be confiscated to the exchequer.
This conduct on the part of the vezir displeased the emperor so much, that the cordiality existing between him and his minister was much shaken, but as the king remembered that he owed his very life and crown to that nobleman's conduct, he was induced, from a sense of his value, to bear with him for the present, especially as the news from the East now engrossed his attention.
Bengal, the most eastern province of the empire,
- ↑ The aristocracy of Dehli must, indeed, have been sadly shocked at so gross an act of indelicacy.
