After this parade, the more serious business of the day was attended to.  The Emperor reviewed his cavalry with peculiar attention, for he was personally acquainted with every trooper.  Then all the petitions held up in the assembled crowd were read and disposed of before the audience closed.

On festivals or other special occasions the pillars of the hall were hung with gold brocades, and flowered satin canopies fastened with red silken cords were raised over the whole apartment.  The floor was covered entirely with the most magnificent silk carpets.  A gorgeous tent, larger than the hall, to which it was fastened, and supported by poles overlaid with silver, was pitched outside.  Every compartment of the arcades round the courtyard was decorated by one of the great nobles, at his own expense, with gold brocades and costly carpets, each one vying with the other to attract the attention of the Emperor, to whom, on such occasions, an offering of gold or jewels, more or less valuable according to the pay and rank of the giver, must be presented.

JAHANGIR’S CISTERN.—­Just in front of the Diwan-i-am is a great stone cistern, cut out of a single block, with steps inside and out, known as Jahangir’s Hauz, a bowl or bath-tub.  There is a long Persian inscription round the outer rim; the only part now decipherable shows that it was made for Jahangir in 1019 A.H. (A.D. 1611).  It is nearly 5 feet in height and 8 feet in diameter at the top.  Its original place is said to have been one of the courts of the Jahangiri Mahal.

THE TOMB OF MR. COLVIN.—­Close by Jahangiri’s Hauz is the grave of Mr. John Russell Colvin, the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Provinces, who died in the Fort during the disturbances of 1857.

The Inner Mina Bazar.

Before entering the private apartments of the palace, which are at the back of the Diwan-i-am, we may pass through the gateway on the left of the courtyard, and enter a smaller one, which was the private bazar where merchants sold jewellery, silks, and costly brocades to the ladies of the zanana, who were seated in the marble balcony which overlooks it (Plate IV.).  A narrow staircase gave access to the balcony from the courtyard.

We may well believe that a considerable part of the ladies’ time was spent in this quarter of the palace.  Sometimes the Great Mogul and his court would amuse themselves by holding a mock fair, in which the prettiest of the nobles’ wives and daughters would act as traders, and the Emperors and the Begums would bargain with them in the most approved bazar fashion.  The Emperor would haggle for the value of an anna, and the ladies would feign indignation, scold his Majesty roundly, and tell him to go where he could suit himself better.  “The Begums betray, if possible, a still greater anxiety to be served cheaply; high words are heard on every side, and the loud and scurrilous quarrels of the buyers and sellers create a complete farce.  But, when at last the bargains are struck, the Begums, as well as the Emperor, pay liberally for their purchases, and often, as if by accident, let slip out of their hands a few gold instead of silver roupies, as a compliment to the fair merchant and her pretty daughter.  Thus the scene ends with merry jests and good humour.” (Bernier.)