06 August, 2008

Hot Water Bath

All you philistines bored by the study of history, read this and reconsider:

Bernier relates one of the adventures of this princess, as “they are not amours like ours, but attended with events dreadful and tragical.” It appears that she received one of her lovers into her apartments, and that, as Shah Jahan was about to enter, she had nowhere to conceal him except in one of the large hot-water caldrons made to bathe in. The emperor feigned to see nothing, but after a long visit sternly commanded a fire to be built beneath the bath, and did not leave till the man was dead.

Now you know why I’m a huge fan of emperors. This excerpt is from Edward S Holden’s “The Mogul Emperors of Hindustan”. My thanks to Devangshu for pointing me to the passage in question.