bal', to
meet and welcome his guests. The bridegroom's party had to expend
about six hundred thousand rupees in this visit alone. They scattered
copper money all along the road from their homes to within seven
miles of Balamgarh. From this point to the gate of the fort they had
to scatter silver, and from this gate to the door of the palace they
scattered gold and jewels of all kinds. The son of the Patiala chief,
a lad of about ten years of age, sat upon his elephant with a bag
containing six hundred gold mohurs of two guineas each, mixed up with
an infinite variety of gold earrings, pearls, and precious stones,
which he scattered in handfuls among the crowd. The scattering of the
copper and silver had been left to inferior hands. The costs of the
family of the bride are always much greater than that of the
bridegroom; they are obliged to entertain at their own expense all
the bridegroom's guests as well as their own, as long as they remain;
and over and above this, on the present occasion, the Raja gave a
rupee to every person that came, invited or uninvited. An immense
concourse of people had assembled to share in this donation, and to
scramble for the money scattered along the road; and ready money
enough was not found in the treasury. Before a further supply could
be got, thirty thousand more had collected, and every one got his
rupee. They have them all put into pens like sheep. When all are in,
the doors are opened at a signal given, and every person is paid his
rupee as he goes out. Some European gentlemen were standing upon the
top of the Raja's palace, looking at the procession as it entered the
fort, and passed underneath; and the young chief threw up some
handfuls of pearls, gold, and jewels among them. Not one of them
would of course condescend to stoop to take up any; but their
servants showed none of the same dignified forbearance.[6]

Notes:

1. January, 1836.

2. 'Balamgarh' is a mistake for Ballabgarh of _I. G._ (properly
Ballabhgarh), which is about twenty-four miles from Delhi. In 1857
the chief was hanged for rebellion. The estate was confiscated and
included in the Delhi District, under the Panjab Government. From
October 1, 1912, that District ceased to exist. Part of the
Ballabhgarh sub-district has been included in the new Chief
Commissioner's Province of Delhi, and part in the Gurgaon District.

3. Few observers will accept this proposition without considerable
reservation.

4. Patial