Amirs

It is not collected by the State (a concept foreign to Islam) but rather by a larger system of amirs which is not monopolistic. ❋ Unknown (2009)

He could hear a rustle of clothing and small murmurs around him as the amirs bobbed in their boats in the pond—they had accompanied him to the edge of the island. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

It had all been very correct and official—just as Shah Jahan noticed and granted royal favor to the progeny of his other amirs, so too he had done for Najabat Khan. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

If his amirs wished to indulge in liquor, they had to do it elsewhere. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

The amirs had spoken of the gift also, though Sadullah Khan had merely acknowledged it and said nothing; it created an aura of goodwill around the young Aurangzeb. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

It was enough to have been born male—whether to a wife or to a concubine—and to have a steady hand on the sword, a heart unmoved by excessive sympathy, and a voice fluent enough in diplomacy to court the backing of the powerful amirs. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

She had never presented herself before the amirs and would never do so in the future; any flaws she suffered would be just a myth to the men and to the rest of the Empire. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

“Bapa is in conference with the amirs, beta,” Jahanara said. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

He had carved out this time from his sleep, rising before the sun as usual for the early-morning jharoka, and then, instead of returning to the zenana for a few hours of sleep, he had turned to the Diwan-i-khas, where the Peacock Throne would be unveiled to the amirs in the evening. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

If the amirs at court thought Shah Jahan dead, Dara would not find many of them supportive of him. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

For she had never herself traveled without an escort of at least six hundred men—eunuchs and amirs —and they had paused here only for a meal; as they ate in silence, her guards took up position in the verandahs, the eunuchs facing them, the nobles turned away in two solid lines of protection. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

Around the lake, the many golden lamps illuminating the havelis of the amirs cast their speckled reflections on the calm water, the light flowing into darkness in the arms of the mountains and turning silver-blue in the stars of the sky. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

Their rise had been swift, almost astounding to the other amirs at court. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

Think, Bapa, the boys are so young and likely to be easily led by the amirs at court. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

If the amirs wished to drink, they did so in their homes, in the safety of their zenanas —even the public houses had been shut. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

Behind them were the other nobles at court—Hindu Rajas, Muslim amirs, holders of high rank, much wealth, quite a bit of magnificence. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

The tent was filled to thronging—all the important amirs at court, the mullas and Hindu priests, Buddhist and Jain monks, the Jesuit cleric Father Busée, who presided over the church in Agra that Emperor Jahangir had allowed the Portuguese to build. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

The amirs had just returned from their nightly audience with Emperor Shah Jahan, and this girl had come almost at their heels, so behind her a straight line of torches still blazed into the sky delineating the route to the Diwan-i-am. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)

This last was the one piece of news that had jolted the amirs and the Emperor alike—they had not even known that the Khan-i-khanan was ailing, and now there was the information of his death. ❋ Indu Sundaresan (2010)