102
HISTOIIV or INDfA.
[Book I.
Cm.
AD. 1600.
Sikuiiclur celebrate<l as a juilge.
-=r" "II
and was fond of licaiiii;^ tlit^iu iiis('u.s.s(;(i, oidercd tu- luoHt learned of liis subjects to assemble and deljate with tli(; Braliniin. At the very outset of the pro«;ed- ing then; was thus a considerable want of fairness, as the lirahnjin wa>* uiiKup- ported, while no fewer than nine of the al>lest Mahometan doctfjrs were arrayed against him. The result was that the chosen nine found themselves perfectly
in the right, and the Brahmin altogether in the wrong. As a natural consequence, they were rewarded with gifts; and it would have Iteen well if these had satisfied them, and they had allowed their opponent Uj go his way. A very different course was followed The Brah- min, in maintaining that the Hindofj faith was entitled to rank on a footing of equality with the Mahometan, wa.s lield to have in- sulted the Pro])het; and the only alternative left was to turn Mahometan or suffer death. He prefeired the latter, and was accordingly executed.
The king appears to have been as fond of judicial as of religious questions, and often sat in ])ei'son in the courts of law. Some of
A Brah.min.— Friira Belnos' Smidhva. , i i • • i ■ i i i i
the decisions which lie i)ronounced are cele- brated. Two brothers, private soldiers, had, among other booty obtained during a siege, become possessed of tw(j large i-ubies of different shapes. One of the brothers having determined to qviit the service and retui'n to his family at Delhi, the other intrusted him with his share of the plunder, including one of the rubies, and told him to deliver it to his wife. The soldier who had continued to serve, on returning after the war was ended, asked his wife for the ruby, and was told that she had never seen it The brother, (jn the contrary, declared that he had delivered it; and vrheii the case was brought before the court, produced a number of witnesses who swore that they had seen hiiu deliver it. The judge, acting on this testimony, decided against the woman, telling her to go home and give the ruby to her hiLsband. Her home was thus rendered so uncomfortable that, as a last resource, she laid her complaint before the king. He listened patiently to her statement, and then summoned all the })arties before him. The %vitnesses repeated their e-idence; and, in order to strengthen it, affirmed that they perfectly recollected the size and shape of the ruby, which they had seen given. On this the witnesses were separated, and a piece of wax being given to each of them, as well as to each of the soldiers, they were told to mould it into the form of the gem. On examination, the models of the soldiers agreed, but that of all the othei-s differed. The king drew the infer- ence that the soldiers alone had seen the ruby, and the witnesses had been
