"On arrival at the palace, we sat down to breakfast with the King and his Courtiers. The King was splendidly attired in a tunic of green velvet, and girded with a costly shawl. He wore a turban enriched with diamonds and his person was profusely ornamented with necklaces, earrings and armlets of diamonds, emeralds and pearls. After breakfast we adjourned to the State-Chamber, an ill-proportioned, indifferent room. The throne is, however, beautifully decorated with embroidery in seed-pearl. Here His Majesty presented the Commander-in-Chief with his portrait set in diamonds, suspended by a string of pearls and emeralds."
A sketch of one of his wives, Taj Mahal, is given below:—
"Her dress was of gold and scarlet brocade, and her hair was literally strewed with pearls, which hung down upon her neck in long single strings, terminating in large pearls, which mixed with and hung as low as her hair, which was curled on each side of her head in long ringlets, like Charles the Second's beauties. On her forehead she wore a small gold circlet, from which depended large pearls interspersed with emeralds. Above this was a paradise plume, from which strings of pearls were carried over the head. She wore enormous gold ear-rings, to which strings of pearls and emeralds were attached, each pearl larger than the one above it. She had a nose-ring also, with large round pearls and emeralds; and her necklaces, &c., were too numerous to be described. She wore long sleeves open at the elbow, and her dress was a full petticoat with a tight body attached, and open only at the throat. She had several persons to bear her train when she walked; and her women stood behind her couch to arrange her headdress, when, in moving, her pearls got entangled in the immense robe of scarlet and gold she had thrown around her."
Nasir-ud-din Haidar ultimately became estranged from the Padshah Begum, his adopted mother, Whom, with her grandson, Moona Jan, he banished from the palace and assigned apartments in the Residency.
As to this King it may be said that while unpopular with the natives he was well disposed towards the Europeans. He lived simply for pleasure, and the description of him in the "Private Life of an Eastern King" cannot be considered at all exaggerated. Vicious, debauched, dissolute, be surrounded himself with friends of the worst description, English, Eurasian and Native, and ignored the terms of the settlement by which he was allowed to govern only as long as he conducted himself and his kingdom in a proper manner. His character was just such as might be
