[2] The Padshah Begam was the widow of Ghazi-ud-din Haidar, King of Oudh. On his death, in 1837, she contrived a plot to place his putative son, Munna Jan, on the throne. After a fierce struggle in the palace, the revolt was suppressed by the Resident, Colonel Low, and his assistants, Captains Paton and Shakespear. The pair were confined in the Chunar Fort till their deaths. See the graphic narrative by Gen. Sleeman (_Journey Through Oudh_, ii. 172 ff.); also H.C. Irwin (_The Garden of India_, 127 f.); Mrs. F. Parks (_Wanderings of a Pilgrim_, ii. 114). [3] _Khawass_, 'distinguished': special attendants. [4] _Mughlani_, a Moghul woman: an attendant in a zenana, a sempstress. [5] _Kahani_. [6] _Chausa, chhahsa_, not to be found in Platt's _Hindustani Dictionary_. [7] The game of Pachisi, played on a cloth marked in squares: see _Bombay Gazetteer_, ix, part ii, 173. [8] Gambling is one of the greater sins.--Sale, _Koran: Preliminary Discourse_, 89; Sells, _Faith of Islam_, 155. [9] Fixed punkahs were introduced early in the nineteenth century.--Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 744. [10] Firdausi, author of the Shahnama, died A.D. 1020 or 1025, aged 89 years. An abridged translation, to which reference is made, by J. Atkinson, was published in 1832. It has since been translated by A.G. and E. Warner (1905), and by A. Rogers (1907). [11] Shaikh Sa'di, born at Shiraz A.D. 1175, died 1292, aged 120 lunar years. His chief works are the _Gulistan_ and the _Bostan_. [12] Khwaja Hafiz, Shams-ud-din Muhammad, author of the Diwan Hafiz, died at Shiraz A.D. 1389, where his tomb at Musalla is the scene of pilgrimage; see E.G. Browne, _A Year amongst the Persians_, 280 f. [13] _Gulistan_. [14] See p. 77. [15] Ya'qub, Yusuf. [16] _Amin_. [17] Harun, Musa. LETTER XVIII Evils attending a residence in India.--Frogs.--Flies.--Blains.-- Musquitoes.--The White Ant.--The Red Ant.--Their destructive habits.--A Tarantula.--Black Ants.--Locusts.--Superstition of the Natives upon their appearance.--The Tufaun, or Haundhie (tempest).--The rainy season.--Thunder and lightning.--Meteors.-- Earthquakes.--A city ruined by them.--Reverence of the Mussulmauns for saints.--Prickly heat.--Cholera Morbus.--Mode of Treatment.--Temperance the best remedy.--Recipe.