CALCUTTA: PAST AND PRESENT
at the age of fifteen rebelled against him, he was distracted by fear that the lad might be wounded by his officers in defence of his authority, and himself hurried to the hostile camp, and brought the undeserving rebel home with every mark of tenderness and affection. The festivities which took place on the occasion of the double marriage of Suraj-ud-Dowlah and his younger brother, shortly after their grandfather became nawab, were "spoken of with admiration by the inhabitants of Bengal to this day," says Stewart, writing in 1813, and possibly they are still commemorated in the songs and proverbs of the country people. There were brilliant illuminations, splendid pageants, and grand processions of the two young bridegrooms. Upwards of two thousand rich dresses were distributed among the courtiers, while for a whole month the populace feasted at the expense of the nawab.
Some idea of the luxury and the high standard of living at the court of the nawabs of Bengal at Murshedabad at this period may be gathered from the following extract from the work of an anonymous Mohammedan writer, translated by Gladwin in 1788. Writing of Nawab Murshed Cooly Khan, the founder of Murshedabad, who died in 1724, the author says—
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