The Maharaja of Alwar was one out of the
boys educated at the Ajmer College of Princes and Chiefs. He became a ruler
but had no sympathy for the aspirations of the people nor had he any knowledge
or experience of the real feelings or difficulties of the people of the State.
He remained at the distant height of a Highness.
He began to indulge in luxury
as other Princes did and began to build huge palaces on which he spent millions
of rupees and roads which led to his private palaces, the construction of which
also cost very heavily. These roads were not constructed for the use of the
public but only for the use of the Maharaja and his guests.
Some of these roads constructed by the
Maharaja of Alwar were spread over nearly 100 miles leading to palaces in thick
forests where the Maharaja used to shoot tigers, leopards and other big game.
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Maharaja Jai Singh of Alwar |
The Palace of Siriska was built about 20 miles from the
capital for shooting tigers and big game. One of the roads which led to the
Palace did not go further than this Palace. It was for the exclusive use of the
Maharaja and his guests.
Both the Palace and the roads cost the State exchequer more
than 10 million rupees. The beauty of the Palace was that the Maharaja and his
guests could shoot the tigers and leopards from the balcony of the Palace. This
palace was surrounded by vast and thick forests and tigers were roaming round
at large in these forests.
He got the genealogical tree of Ahvar family
prepared which proved that he was the direct descendant of the Surya, the Sun.
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Siriska Palace--Alwar |
The genealogical tree was
meant to prove that his Divine ancestor was Rama who is considered to be the
personification of God by the Hindus.
He was
obsessed with the idea that he was himself an Avtar, personification of God.
He
also adopted the dress worn by Sri Ram Chander several thousand years ago. He
had a mukat, the head-dress, similar to the one used in those days by Sri Ram
Chander. It was just like the Crown of England without the crucifix and looked
more like the Persian hat studded with precious stones.
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Road to Palace of Siriska |
The Maharaja was averse to women and as a
matter of fact he never had any sexual desire or relationship with a woman
throughout his life. He, on the contrary, liked the company of men though he
had many Maharanis and was married four times.
He chose his ministers and his officials,
Private Secretaries and ADCs with great care but before their selection he was
very careful to see whether the physical side of the officer appealed to him.
He had renowned ministers and officials in his State including
Ghazanfar Ali Khan who was a descendant of the great Mughals and later was High
Commissioner for Pakistan in India.
He was appointed as Revenue
Minister by the Maharaja who had full confidence in him and gave him free
access to his Palace and the harem.
Ghazanfar Ali Khan had in his arms all the
women of the harem. Any time or the other and this was known to most of the
officials.
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Maharaja jai Singh of Alwar with his court members |
Ghazanfar Ali Khan Khan was permitted to
have a free and intimate relations with the women of the Palace and the wives
and daughters of the ministers and officials of the State.
The
Maharaja being a man of jealous temperament used to invite the wives and
daughters of the ministers and officials. The object of this was to save the
honour and reputation of the women in the Palace so that everybody was in the
same boat.
The wives and daughters of the ministers and
the officials also met the same fate as that of the Maharanis and the Ranis.
The Khan
being a true Mussalman had the approval of the Maharaja that his wife and other
female members of his family need not participate in these functions as it was
forbidden by the Holy Koran that they should show their face and body to anyone
excepting their husbands and near relatives.
Several
years passed and Khan became more and more popular with the women of the Palace
and the Maharaja.
The Hindu officials led by Chaudhari
Girdhari Lall, Prime Minister, convened a meeting at a secret place at the Red
Fort and discussed the matter with regard to Khan’s entry into the Palace while
his wife and other women of his household remained shut up in his house or
stayed outside the State.
Chaudhari Girdhari Lall convinced the Hindu
officials that a slur on their character, honour and reputation was brought
about by the fact that Khan should be so free with their women folk while he
himself did not allow his women to be free with them. They were afraid to
approach the Maharaja on this subject.
One day when they found the Maharaja in an
extra jovial mood and Khan was away from the State on some official mission,
the Chaudhari talked on behalf of the Hindu officials to the Maharaja on this
serious and delicate matter.
He
said--Your Highness, we have no objection to our women coming to your Palace
and be treated in the way you and your ADCs treat them or our own brother
officers mix with them but we do resent the Khan having such a relationship
with our women, while he himself keeps his women away from the palace”.
The Maharaja listened to this talk
patiently. At first he was annoyed but his anger began to subside and
ultimately he was convinced that the Chaudhari was perfectly right in saying
what he said.
When
the Khan came back from his official tour and had an audience with the
Maharaja, the Maharaja told him that next time when there was a festival at the
Palace, he should also bring his wife.
Khan was much perplexed to hear this and wanted
to make some excuses, but knowing the temperament of the Maharaja that he would
send him to prison if he went against the wishes of the Maharaja, told him that
he would certainly bring his Begum to the Palace at the next festival of Diwali
which was coming after a month.
Khan requested the Maharaja to
give him a month to bring his Begum from Lahore to attend Diwali festival. The
Maharaja immediately offered ten thousand rupees to him to go and bring his
Begum to the capital from Lahore.
Khan left the capital and on his way he
stopped at Delhi and consulted some of his friends including Mr. J.N. Sahni. He
talked to them of his miserable plight. He told them that he would never be
able to persuade his Begum to participate in night festivals and that if he did
not take his Begum to the capital, the Maharaja would certainly get him
arrested and put him in prison.
His
friends told him that the matter was very simple and that he, being a
Mussalman, had the legal right to have a temporary marriage called “Mutta” with
some woman and that such a marriage would be considered a legal one in
accordance with Islamic laws and that he should choose a beautiful dancing girl
in the town for this purpose.
They further advised him to get hold of a
Mullah to perform the ceremony of Mutta with this girl. Khan who was sad and
dejec- ted became cheerful and said to his friends that his life was saved.
He went all round the city to sec the
dancing girls and the prostitutes along with some of his friends and selected
one intelligent woman who was well-built and had a handsome and pretty face
and asked her parents whether they would agree to his marrying this girl on a
temporary basis.
The dancing girls and prostitutes have no
scruples of any kind to get married and go around with a man as his wife. They
welcomed the idea of marriage with a distinguished man whether it was temporary
or permanent.
The parents of the woman were explained the
purpose of this marriage that the girl would have to play up a game of skill
and talent in accordance with the instructions and wishes of Khan.
The terms were settled. Half of the amount
of settlement was paid in advance and the remaining half was to be paid after
her mission was over.
Khan
put the selected bride in a private house in New Delhi and for a week or ten
days she was trained fully to play her role.
While Khan was away to Lahore to see his
Begum, his friends further gave the temporary wife of Khan more lessons in
practical sex psychology .in which she was not lacking already.
Khan sent a telegram from Lahore to the Maharaja saying
that he was coming with his Begum and that he would be reaching that very
Saturday by the evening train. Seeing the telegram, the Maharaja told his
courtiers, “Didn’t I tell you that my faithful Minister will turn up and that
he will not go against my commands.”
The
Maharaja sent a telegram in reply stating that a State reception would be given
to him and his Begum on their arrival at the appointed time and date.
Khan passed through Delhi and took his Begum
from the house of his friend and reserved two first class compartments and one
second class compartment in the train in which he and his Begum and his staff
members travelled.
The Begum and her lady
companions were taken to a closed motor from First class compartment, which
Begum was occupying.
The Maharaja met Khan and his Begum, who was
veiled from top to bottom in a silk purple-coloured burqa, at the railway
station along with all the ministers, officials and a Guard of Honour was presented
to Khan.
As was customary, the women invited to these
festivals were ushered into the Palace through a separate gate reserved for
women.
Begum Khan was taken by the lady companions
of the Maharanis to the interior of the Palace and Khan joined the ministers
and officials, specially invited to these functions, by the main gate of the
Palace.
The Englishmen and other officers in the
employment of the Maharaja with whom the Maharaja was not free were not invited
to these festivals at night.
Sumptuous
food and intoxicating drinks were served to women and similarly delicious
food-was kept for men. The men on one side and the women on the other side got
intoxicated with alcoholic drinks and when they were thoroughly happy and gay
they were brought into contact with each other. The orgies at that time would
too start in full swing.
The Begum was fully trained by Khan and, as
a matter of fact, her profession was such that no training was necessary to
carry out faithfully the commands of her husband.
She was more pleased at these festivals than
anyone else and she gave such glorious time to one man after another that all
of them before the day broke became enamoured of her.
Khan was having a good time with the women
of the harem and others of the court and also watching what was happening to
his Begum and was smiling in his heart of hearts at the wonderful device which
his friends in Delhi had found to save him.
The party dispersed in the early hours of
the morning and Khan went back with his Begum.
Next morning, the Maharaja was
so much pleased with the courtesy shown by Khan that a sum of half a million
rupees was sent as a present to the Begum to buy jewellery and dresses from the
best shops in Bombay and Calcutta.
At the request of Khan the Begum was allowed
to go to Calcutta and Bombay for making the necessary purchases for the future
festivals.
Khan heaved a sigh of relief when he left
the borders of the State with the Begum for Calcutta and Bombay.
On arrival at Calcutta he again plaed
another hoax which uptil the death of the Maharaja was not known to anyone.
That
was that he informed the Maharaja by a telegram from Calcutta that his wife had
an attack of appendicitis and that she would not be able to return to the
capital for some time.
Another
telegram was sent after some days saying that the operation was not successful
and that the Begum died. The Maharaja sent letters and telegrams of condolence
to Khan.
The Maharaja and his courtiers were in great
grief at her death. They remembered the voluptuous time which she gave them at the
festival when she offered them the precious gift of her body and vivacious self.
The End
अस्वीकरण-ब्लॉगर ने नेट-विकिपीडिया पर उपलब्ध सामग्री और छवियों की मदद से यह संक्षिप्त लेख तैयार किया है। पाठ को रोचक बनाने के लिए इस ब्लॉग पर चित्र पोस्ट किए गए हैं। सामग्री और चित्र मूल लेखकों के कॉपी राइट हैं। इन सामग्रियों का कॉपीराइट संबंधित स्वामियों के पास है। ब्लॉगर मूल लेखकों का आभारी है।