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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:38:38 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/12006-0.txt b/12006-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7d58fe8 --- /dev/null +++ b/12006-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3031 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12006 *** + +A Handbook to +Agra and the Taj +Sikandra, Fatehpur-Sikri and the Neighbourhood + +by +E.B. Havell, ARCA. + + +1904 + + + +Preface + +This little book is not intended for a history or archæological +treatise, but to assist those who visit, or have visited, Agra, to +an intelligent understanding of one of the greatest epochs of Indian +Art. In the historical part of it, I have omitted unimportant names and +dates, and only attempted to give such a sketch of the personality of +the greatest of the Great Moguls, and of the times in which they lived, +as is necessary for an appreciation of the wonderful monuments they +left behind them. India is the only part of the British Empire where +art is still a living reality, a portion of the people's spiritual +possessions. We, in our ignorance and affectation of superiority, +make efforts to improve it with Western ideas; but, so far, have +only succeeded in doing it incalculable harm. It would be wiser if +we would first attempt to understand it. + +Among many works to which I owe valuable information, I should name +especially Erskine's translation of Babar's "Memoirs;" Muhammad +Latifs "Agra, Historical and Descriptive;" and Edmund Smith's +"Fatehpur-Sikri." My acknowledgments are due to Babu Abanindro +Nath Tagore, Mr. A. Polwhele, Executive Engineer, Agra, and to +Mr. J.H. Marshall, Director-General of the Archæological Survey of +India, for kind assistance rendered. I am particularly indebted to +Messrs. Johnston and Hoffman, of Calcutta, for allowing me to make +use of their valuable collection of photographs for the illustrations. + +In quoting from "Bernier's Travels," I have used Constable's +translation, with Messrs. A. Constable & Co.'s kind permission. To +the Editor of the _Nineteenth Century and After_ I owe permission to +make use of my article on "The Taj and its Designers," published in +that Review, June, 1903. + +CALCUTTA, + +_January_, 1904. + + + +Contents + +HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION + +The Great Moguls--I. Babar--Babar's Connection with +Agra--II. Humayun--Interregnum: Shere Shah--III. Akbar--Akbar's +Connection with Agra--IV. Jahangir--Jahangir's Connection with +Agra--V. Shah Jahan--The Monuments of Shah Jahan's Reign at +Agra--VI. Aurangzîb--Agra and the Later Mogul Emperors--Agra in +the Mutiny. + +THE FORT + +The Mûti Masjid--The Dersane Darwaza--The Dîwan-i-âm--Jahangir's +Cistern--The Tomb of Mr. Colvin--The Inner Mîna Bazar--The Chitore +Gates--The Hindu Temple--The Machhi Bhawan--The Najina Masjid--The +Dîwan-i-Khas--Jahangir's Throne--The Baths--The Samman Burj--The Khas +Mahal--The Underground Chambers--The Anguri Bagh--Shish Mahal--The +"Somnath" Gates--The Jahangiri Mahal--The Sahmgarh. + +THE JÂMI MASJID + +THE TAJ + +The building of the Taj--The Intention of the Taj--Description. + +ITMÂD-UD-DAULAH'S TOMB + +THE CHÃŽNÃŽ-KA-RAUZA + +THE RAM BAGH + +The Zuhara Bagh. + +SIKANDRA + +Akbar's Tomb--The Kanch Mahal--Suraj-Bhan-ka Bagh--Mariam Zâmâni's +Tomb. + +OTHER BUILDINGS AND TOMBS AT OR NEAR AGRA + +The Kali Masjid--Alawal Bilawal--The Hamman--The Roman Catholic +Cemetery. + +FATEHPUR SIKRI + +The Agra Gate--The Naubat Khana--The Mint--The Daftar Khana--The +Palace--The Kwâbgâh--The Turkish Sultana's House--Hakim's +Baths--Pachisi Board--The Dîwan-i-Khâs--The Ankh-Michauli--The +Yogi's Seat--The Hospital--The Dîwan-i-âm--The Panch Mahal--Miriam's +Kothi--Jodh BaÃ's Palace--Rajah Birbal's House, or Birbal's Daughter's +House--The Hathi Pol and Adjoining Buildings--The Jâmi Masjid, or +Cathedral Mosque--The Baland Darwaza--The Stone-Cutters' Mosque--The +Houses of Abul Fazl and Faizi. + +Bharatpur and Other Places in the Vicinity of +Agra:--Bharatpur--Govardhan--Muttra--Bindrâban. + +INDEX + + + +List of Illustrations + +The Taj Mahal + +Plate I. A State Document with Shah Jahan's "Royal Hand and Seal" + +Plate II. Shah Jahan, From an Old Indian Miniature + +Plate III. The Inner Delhi Gate, or Hathi Pol, Agra Fort + +Plate IV. Marble Balcony, Overlooking the Inner Mîna Bazar, Agra Fort + +Plate V. The Samman Burj, Agra Fort + +Plate VI. Inner Courtyard of the Jahangiri Mahal, Agra Fort + +Plate VII. Marble Screen Enclosing the Tombs of Mumtaz Mahal and +Shah Jahan + +Plate VIII. Itmâd-ud-daulah's Tomb, Agra + +Plate IX. Interior of the Upper Pavilion, Itmâd-ud-daulah's Tomb + +Plate X. Marble Sarcophagus on the Upper Story of Akbar's Tomb, +Sikandra + +Plate XI. Interior of The Dîwan-i-Khâs, Fatehpur Sikri + +Plate XII. Rajah Birbal's Daughter's House, Fatehpur Sikri + +Plate XIII. The Baland Darwaza, Fatehpur Sikri + + +Plans + +Agra Fort. Plan of the Palaces + +Fatehpur Sikri. Plan Showing the Position of the Buildings + +Fatehpur Sikri. Plan Showing the Walls and Gates + +Fatehpur Sikri. Plan of Jodh Bai's Palace + + + + + +AGRA + +Historical Introduction + +Agra has two histories: one of the ancient city on the east, or left, +bank of the river Jumna, going back so far as to be lost in the legends +of Krishna and of the heroes of the Mâhabhârata; the other of the +modern city, founded by Akbar in A.D. 1558, on the right bank of the +river, and among Muhammadans still retaining its name of Akbarabad, +which is intimately associated with the romance of the Great Moguls, +and known throughout the world as the city of the Taj. + +Of ancient Agra little now remains except a few traces of the +foundations. It was a place of importance under various Hindu +dynasties previous to the Muhammadan invasions of India, but its +chequered fortunes down to the beginning of the sixteenth century +are the usual tale of siege and capture by Hindu or Mussulman, and +possess little historical interest. + +In A.D. 1505 Sultan Sikandar Lodi, the last but one of the +Afghan dynasty at Delhi, rebuilt Agra and made it the seat of +government. Sikandra, the burial-place of Akbar, is named after him, +and there he built a garden-house which subsequently became the tomb +of Mariam Zâmâni, one of Akbar's wives. The son of Sultan Sikandar, +Ibrahim Lodi, was defeated and slain by Babar at Panipat, near Delhi, +in 1526, and from that time Agra became one of the principal cities +of the Mogul Empire which Babar founded. + + +The Great Moguls.--I. Babar. + +Though very few memorials of Babar's short but brilliant reign still +exist at Agra, the life of this remarkable man is so important a +part of the Mogul dynasty that it must not be passed over by the +intelligent tourist or student of Mogul art. It was Babar's sunny +disposition, and the love of nature characteristic of his race, that +brought back into Indian art the note of joyousness which it had not +known since the days of Buddhism. Babar is one of the most striking +figures in Eastern history. He was descended from Tamerlane, or Timur, +on his father's side, and, on his mother's, from Chinghiz Khan. In +the year 1494, at the age of twelve, he became king of Farghana, a +small kingdom of Central Asia, now known as Kokand. His sovereignty, +however, was of a very precarious tenure, for he was surrounded on +all sides by a horde of rapacious, intriguing relatives, scrambling +for the fragments of Timur's empire. With hardly a trustworthy +ally except a remarkably clever and courageous old grandmother, he +struggled for three years to retain his birthright. Then, acting on a +sudden inspiration, he made a dash for Samarkand, the ancient capital +of Timur, and won it. In his delightful memoirs Babar describes how, +with boyish glee, he paced the ramparts himself, wandered from palace +to palace, and revelled in the fruit-gardens of what was then one of +the finest cities of Asia. But in less than a hundred days, most of +his shifty Mongol troops, disappointed in not finding as much booty +as they expected, deserted and joined a party of his enemies, who +straightway attacked Andijan, the capital of Farghana, where Babar +had left his mother and grandmother. Before he could come to their +rescue Andijan had fallen, and at the same time Samarkand, which he +had left, was occupied by another of his numerous rivals. This double +misfortune caused still more of his followers to leave him, and he +found himself without a kingdom, except the little town of Khojend, +and with only two hundred men. For almost the only time in his life +he gave way utterly to despair. "I became a prey to melancholy and +vexation; I was reduced to a sore distressed state and wept much." + +Before long, however, Babar, rejoined by his mother and grandmother, +whom the captors of Andijan had spared, taking advantage of another +turn in the wheel of fortune, recovered his kingdom of Farghana, +but lost the greater part of it again through another desertion of +his "Mongol rascals." A second time, with only a handful of men, he +surprised and captured Samarkand (A.D. 1500). In the following year +he rashly sallied out against Shaibani, the most formidable of his +adversaries, was defeated, and, after vainly trying to hold the city +against the victors, was forced to fly under cover of the night. This +time he did not weep, but consoled himself next morning by riding a +headlong race with two of his companions. Reaching a village, where +they found "nice fat flesh, bread of fine flour well baked, sweet +melons, and excellent grapes in great abundance," Babar declared that +in all his life he never enjoyed himself so much or felt so keenly +the pleasures of peace and plenty. + +He now took refuge among the hills near Uratipa, finding amusement +in observing the life of the villagers, and especially in conversing +with the mother of the headman, an old lady of a hundred and eleven, +whose descendants, to the number of ninety-six, lived in the country +round about. One of her relatives had served in the army with which +Timur had invaded India, and she entertained the future Emperor of +Hindustan by telling him stories of his ancestor's adventures. + +After several fruitless raids with the few troopers who remained +faithful to him, he allied himself with his two uncles, Mahmud and +Ahmad Khan, in an attack against Tambal, one of the powerful nobles +who had revolted against him and set up Jahangir, his brother, on +the throne of Farghana. At a critical moment his uncles left Babar to +the mercy of his enemy, and he was again forced to fly for his life, +hotly pursued by Tambal's horsemen. He was overtaken by two of them, +who, not daring to pit themselves against Babar's prodigious strength +and courage, tried to inveigle him into a trap. Babar gives a moving +description of this great crisis in his life. Thoroughly exhausted, +and seeing no prospect of escape, he resigned himself to die:-- + +"There was a stream in the garden, and there I made my ablutions +and recited a prayer of two bowings. Then surrendering myself +to meditation, I was about to ask God for His compassion, when +sleep closed my eyes. I saw (in my dream) Khwája Yakub, the son of +Khwája Yahya, and grandson of his Eminence the Khwája 'Obaid-Allah +(a famous saint of Samarkand), with a numerous escort, mounted on +dappled grey horses, come before me and say, '_Do not be anxious, +the Khwája has sent me to tell you that he will support you and seat +you on the throne of sovereignty; whenever a difficulty occurs to you, +remember to beg his help, and he will at once respond to your appeal, +and victory and triumph shall straightway lean to your side_.' I +awoke with easy heart, at the very moment when Yusuf the constable +and his companions (Tambal's soldiers) were plotting some trick to +seize and throttle me. Hearing them discussing it, I said to them, +'All you say is very well, but I shall be curious to see which of you +dares to approach me,' As I spoke the tramp of a number of horses +was heard outside the garden wall. Yusuf the constable exclaimed, +'If we had taken you and brought you to Tambal, our affairs would have +prospered much thereby; as it is, he has sent a large troop to seize +you; and the noise you hear is the tramp of horses on your track,' +At this assertion my face fell, and I knew not what to devise. + +"At this very moment the horsemen, who had not at first found the gate +of the garden, made a breach in its crumbling wall, through which they +entered. I saw they were Kutluk Muhammad Barlas and Babai Pargári, two +of my most devoted followers, with ten or twenty other persons. When +they came near to my person they threw themselves off their horses, +and, bending the knee at a respectful distance, fell at my feet, +and overwhelmed me with marks of their affection. + +"Amazed at this apparition, I felt that God had just restored me to +life. I called to them at once, 'Seize Yusuf the constable, and the +wretched traitors who are with him, and bring them to me bound hand +and foot,' Then, turning to my rescuers, I said, 'Whence come you? Who +told you what was happening?' Kutluk Muhammad Barlás answered, 'After +I found myself separated from you in the sudden flight from Akhsi, +I reached Andijan at the very moment when the Khans themselves were +making their entry. There I saw, in a dream, Khwája 'Obaid-Allah, +who said, "_Pádishah Babar is at this instant in a village called +Karmán; fly thither and bring him back with you, for the throne is +his of right_." Rejoicing at this dream, I related it to the big Khan +and little Khan.... Three days have we been marching, and thanks be +to God for bringing about this meeting.'" [1] + +After this exciting adventure Babar rejoined his time-serving uncles, +but was forced into exile again in 1503, when, at the battle of Akshi, +the Khans were completely defeated by Shaibani. Then he resolved +to depart out of Farghana and to give up the attempt to recover +his kingdom. Characteristically, when foiled in one enterprise he +entered upon another yet more ambitious. Joined by his two brothers, +Jahangir and Nasir, and by a motley array of various wandering tribes, +he swooped down upon Kabul and captured it. + +The description of the new kingdom thus easily won, which fills many +pages of the Memoirs, reveals another side of Babar's character--his +intense love of nature. He gives minute accounts of the climate, +physical characteristics, the fruits, flowers, birds, and beasts, +as well as of the human inhabitants. In the intervals between his +battles, or between his rollicking drinking parties, which for some +years of his life degenerated into drunken orgies, we often find Babar +lost in admiration of some beautiful landscape, or collecting flowers +and planting fruit trees. Wherever he came, Babar's first care was +to dig wells and plant fruit and flower gardens. India owes much to +the Great Moguls' love of horticulture. + +When Babar had drilled his unruly Afghan subjects into something +like order, he made, in 1506, one more unsuccessful attempt to crush +Shaibani. However, in 1510, when that doughty warrior was defeated and +slain by Ismail, Shah of Persia, Samarkand fell once more into Babar's +hands, as a vassal of the Shah. Eight months afterwards he was driven +out again. From that time Babar gave up all hopes of re-establishing +the empire of his ancestor Timur, and turned his face towards India. In +1519 he gathered an army for his first expedition, which was, however, +more of a reconnaissance than a conquest. Four more attempts he made, +until at last, in 1526, with only 10,000 men, he defeated the hosts +of Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Afghan kings of Delhi, who, with +15,000 of his troops, were left dead on the field of Panipat. + +Thus, after many struggles, Babar became "master and conqueror of the +mighty empire of Hindustan," but he had to fight two more great battles +before his sovereignty was undisputed--one in 1527 near Fatehpur +Sikri, with the great chief of the Rajputs, Raja Sanga of Chitore, +and another in 1529 near Buxar, with the Afghans who had settled in +Bengal. The next year Babar died in his garden palace at Agra The +nobility of his character was conspicuous in his death as it was +in his life. He was devotedly attached to his eldest son, Humayun, +who was seized with malarial fever while staying at his country +estate at Sambhal. Babar had him removed by boat to Agra, but his +physicians declared that the case was hopeless. Babar's own health had +suffered much during his life in India, and he was terribly agitated +by the news. When some one suggested that in such circumstances the +Almighty sometimes deigned to accept the thing most valued by one +friend in exchange for the life of another, Babar exclaimed that +of all things his life was dearest to Humayun, as Humayun's was to +him. He would sacrifice his own life to save his son. His courtiers +entreated him to give up instead the great diamond taken at Agra, +said to be the most valuable on earth. Babar declared that no stone +could compare in value with his own life, and after solemnly walking +round Humayun's couch, as in a religious sacrifice, he retired to +devote himself to prayer. Soon afterwards he was heard to exclaim, "I +have borne it away! I have borne it away!" Humayun began to recover, +and, as he improved, Babar gradually sank. Commending his son to +the protection of his friends, and imploring Humayun to be kind and +forgiving to his brothers, the first of the "Great Moguls" of India +passed away. He was buried at Kabul, in one of his beloved gardens, +which, according to Tartar custom, he had chosen for his tomb, in +"the sweetest spot of the neighbourhood." [2] + + +Babar's connection with Agra. + +Babar's connection with Agra began immediately after the battle +of Panipat. He sent forward Humayun, who occupied the town without +opposition. The story of the great diamond referred to above is here +recorded in the Memoirs. The Raja of Gwalior, slain at Panipat, had +left his family and the heads of his clan at Agra. In gratitude to +Humayun, who treated them magnanimously, and protected them from +plunder, they presented to him a _peskesh_, or token of homage, +consisting of a quantity of jewels and precious stones. Among these was +one famous diamond which had been acquired by Sultan Alaeddin. "It is +so valuable that a judge of diamonds valued it at about half the daily +expense of the whole world. It is about eight _mikkals_" (or about +280 carats). This is generally supposed to be the celebrated Koh-i-nur. + +Babar determined to establish the seat of his government at Agra, but +was almost dissuaded by the desolate appearance of the country. "It +always appears to me," he says, "that one of the chief defects of +Hindustan is the want of artificial watercourses. I had intended, +wherever I might fix my residence, to construct water-wheels, to +produce an artificial stream, and to lay out an elegant and regularly +planned pleasure ground. Shortly after coming to Agra I passed the +Jumna with this object in view, and examined the country to pitch upon +a fit spot for a garden. The whole was so ugly and detestable that +I repassed the river quite repulsed and disgusted. In consequence of +the want of beauty and of the disagreeable aspect of the country, I +gave up my intention of making a _charbagh_ (garden house); but as no +better situation presented itself near Agra, I was finally compelled to +make the best of this same spot.... In every corner I planted suitable +gardens, in every garden I sowed roses and narcissus regularly, and in +beds corresponding to each other. We were annoyed by three things in +Hindustan; one was its heat, another the strong winds, and the third +its dust. Baths were the means of removing all three inconveniences." + +As I have mentioned above, there are very few vestiges remaining of +Babar's city, of his fruit and flower gardens, palaces, baths, tanks, +wells and watercourses. The Ram Bagh (p. 92) is one of the gardens +laid out either by himself or by one of his nobles, and the Zohra, +or Zuhara Bagh, near it, contains the remains of a garden-house, which +is said to have belonged to one of Babar's daughters. Opposite to the +Taj there are traces of the foundations of the city he built. Babar +planned, and his successors completed, the great road leading from Agra +to Kabul through Lahore, parts of which still remain. Some of the old +milestones can be seen on the road to Sikandra. Babar's account of the +commencement of it is very characteristic: "On Thursday, the 4th of +the latter Rebia, I directed Chikmak Bey, by a writing under the royal +hand and seal, [3] to measure the distance from Agra to Kabul; that at +every nine _kos_ he should raise a _minar_, or turret, twelve _gez_ +in height, on the top of which he was to construct a pavilion; that +every ten _kos_ he should erect a _yam_, or post-house, which they call +a _dak-choki,_ for six horses; that he should fix a certain allowance +as a provision for the post-house keepers, couriers, and grooms, +and for feeding the horses; and orders were given that whenever a +post-house for horses was built near a _khalseh_, or imperial demesne, +they should be furnished from thence with the stated allowances; +that if it were situated in a _pergunna_, the nobleman in charge +should attend to the supply. The same day Chikmâk Padshahi left Agra." + +The promptness of Babar's administrative methods is a striking contrast +to the circumlocution of present-day departmentalism. There still +exist remains of many splendid _sarais_, or halting-places, built +along this road by different Mogul Emperors for their convenience, +from the time of Babar down to Aurangzîb. One of the finest is the +Nurmahal Sarai, near Jalandhar, built by Jahangir and named after +his favourite wife. Edward Terry, who accompanied Sir Thomas Roe, +James the First's ambassador at Jahangir's Court, describes "the long +walk of four hundred miles, shaded by great trees on both sides," +and adds, "this is looked upon by the travellers who have found the +comfort of that cool shade as one of the rarest and most beneficial +works in the whole world." + + +II. Humayun. + +Humayun, who succeeded Babar, had many of his father's amiable +qualities, but none of his genius as a leader of men. He utterly +failed in the attempt to consolidate the great empire which Babar had +left him, and in 1539, or nine and a half years after his accession, +he was completely defeated at Kanauj by Shere Khan Sur, an Afghan +nobleman, who had submitted to Babar, but revolted against his +son. Humayun found himself a fugitive with only a handful of men, +and was eventually driven not only out of Hindustan, but even from the +kingdom of Kabul. He then took refuge with the Shah of Persia. Shere +Khan Sur, under the title of Shere Shah, ruled at Agra until he died, +five years afterwards. His son, Salîm Shah, or Sultan Islam, succeeded +him, and reigned between seven and eight years, but on his death the +usual quarrels between his relatives and generals gave Humayun, who +in the mean time had got back Kabul with the aid of a Persian army, +the opportunity to recover his position in Hindustan. This occurred +in 1555, but Humayun's unfortunate reign terminated the same year +through a fatal fall from a staircase in his palace at Delhi. + +Humayun left no memorial of himself at Agra, but he is to be remembered +for two circumstances; the first, that he was the father of the great +Akbar, who succeeded him; and the second, that the plan of his tomb +at Delhi, built by Akbar, was the model on which the plan of the Taj +was based. + + + +Interregnum: Shere Shah. + +Shere Shah was a great builder, and a most capable ruler. In his short +reign of five years he initiated many of the great administrative +reforms which Akbar afterwards perfected. Fergusson, in his +"History of Indian Architecture," mentions that in his time there +was a fragment of a palace built by Shere Shah in the Fort at Agra, +"which was as exquisite a piece of decorative art as any of its class +in India." This palace has since been destroyed to make room for a +barrack, but probably the two-storied pavilion known as the Salîmgarh +is the fragment to which Fergusson refers. The only other building +of Shere Shah's time now remaining in Agra is the half-buried mosque +of Alawal Bilawal, or Shah Wilayat, in the _Nai-ki Mandi_ quarter +(see p. 102). + +Shere Shah's tomb at Sasseram, in Bihar, is one of the noblest +monuments of the Pathan style, or the style of the earliest Muhammadan +architects in India. + + +III. Akbar. + +Akbar, "the Great," was born at Amarkot, on the edge of the deserts of +Marwar, about three years after the battle of Kanauj, when his father +Humayun was a fugitive, driven from place to place by the adherents +of Shere Shah. At this time the treasury of the royal house was so +reduced that, when Humayun indented on it for the customary presents +to his faithful followers, the only thing procurable was a single pod +of musk. With the cheerfulness which was the saving grace of Humayun, +he broke up the pod, and distributed it, adding the pious wish, which +seemed like prophetic insight, that his son's fame might fill the +world like the fragrance of that perfume. Trained in the hard school +of adversity, and inheriting the best qualities of his grandfather, +Akbar was not long in restoring the faded fortunes of the Mogul +dynasty. Like Babar, he succeeded to the throne at a very early +age, and found himself surrounded by difficulties which would have +overwhelmed a weaker character. Humayun had, indeed, fought his way +back to Delhi and Agra, but he had by no means settled with all the +numerous disputants for the sovereignty of Hindustan, which Sultan +Islam's death had left in the field; and his departure from Kabul +had been the signal for revolt in that quarter. Akbar, accompanied +by Bairam Khan, the ablest of Humayun's generals, was in Sind when +he received at the same time the news of his father's death and of +the revolt of the Viceroy at Kabul He was then little more than +thirteen years old, but, like Babar under similar circumstances, +he was prompt in decision and in action. Adopting Bairam's advice, +which was contrary to that of all his other counsellors, he left Kabul +out of account, and pushed on to Delhi against the forces of Himu, a +Hindu general, and the most powerful of his foes, who had assumed the +title of Raja Bikramajit, with the hopes of restoring the old Hindu +dynasty. On the historic plains of Panipat Akbar completely defeated +Himu's army, and thus regained the empire which his grandfather had +won on the same field thirty years before. This great battle was the +most critical point in his career, and though Akbar had to undertake +many other hard campaigns before he was absolute master of the empire, +his position from that time was never seriously endangered. + +Until his eighteenth year Akbar remained under the tutelage of Bairam, +an able general, but unscrupulous and cruel. The high-minded, generous +disposition of Akbar revolted against some of his guardian's methods, +but he recognized that, for some years at least, Bairam's experience +was necessary for him. In 1560, however, he took the administration +entirely into his own hands. Bairam, in disgust, took up arms against +his young master, but was soon defeated and taken prisoner. With his +usual magnanimity, Akbar pardoned him, and sent him off to Mecca with +a munificent present; but the revengeful knife of an Afghan put an +end to the turbulent nobleman's life before he could leave India. + +Akbar spent the rest of his long reign in elaborating the +administrative reforms which have made him famous as the greatest +ruler India has ever had. With the aid of able ministers, both Hindu +and Muhammadan, he purified the administration of justice, keeping +the supreme control in his own hands; enjoined absolute tolerance +in religious matters; abolished oppressive taxes, and reorganized +and improved the system of land revenue introduced by Shere Shah. A +minute account of Akbar's reign, of his policy, habits, and character, +is given in the "Akbar-nama," the history written by his devoted +friend and Prime Minister, Abul Fazl. No detail of state affairs +was too small for Akbar's personal attention. Ability and integrity +were the only passports to his favour, while bigotry and injustice +were anathemas to him. Like Babar, he was fond of horticulture, and +imported many kinds of fruit trees and flowers into India. Though +he could neither read nor write, he had a great library of Hindi, +Persian, Arabic, Greek, and other books, and Abul Fazl relates that +every book was read through to him from beginning to end. + +The most remarkable of all this remarkable man's intellectual +activities were his attempts to bring about a reconciliation of all +the discordant religious elements of his empire. Badâyuni, one of +his contemporary historians, but, unlike him, a bigoted Musalman, +comments thus on Akbar's religious views: "From his earliest childhood +to his manhood, and from his manhood to old age, his Majesty has passed +through the most various phases, and through all sorts of religious +practices and sectarian beliefs, and has collected everything which +people can find in books, with a talent of selection peculiar to him +and a spirit of inquiry opposed to every (Islamite) principle. Thus a +faith based on some elementary principles traced itself on the mirror +of his heart, and, as the result of all the influences which were +brought to bear on his Majesty, there grew gradually, as the outline +on a stone, the conviction on his heart that there were sensible +men in all religions, and abstemious thinkers and men endowed with +miraculous powers among all nations. If some true knowledge were thus +everywhere to be found, why should truth be confined to one religion, +or to a creed like Islam, which was comparatively new, and scarcely a +thousand years old; why should one sect assert what another denies, +and why should one claim a preference without having superiority +conferred upon itself?" + +Near to his palace at Fatehpur Sikri he built an Ibâdat Khana, or +Hall of Worship, for the discussion of philosophy and religion. There +he received representatives of all religious sects, Muhammadans, +Brahmans, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, Jews, and Christians, and listened +attentively to their arguments. He studied deeply religious books, +and had the New Testament translated into Persian. He also invited +Jesuit priests from Goa, and not only allowed them to build a church +at Agra, but even attended a marriage service and interpreted the +words of the sermon to the bride. Badayuni says that "his Majesty +firmly believed in the truth of the Christian religion, and wishing +to spread the doctrines of Jesus, ordered Prince Murad (his son) +to take a few lessons in Christianity by way of auspiciousness." The +Jesuits, however, did not succeed in making Akbar a convert, for when +his religious convictions were at last settled, he proclaimed as the +state religion a kind of eclectic pantheism called Din-i-ilâhi, or +"Divine Faith," with himself as the chief interpreter. Dispensing +with all forms of priesthood, he simply recognized One God, the +Maker of the Universe, and himself as God's vicegerent on earth. He +rejected the doctrine of the Resurrection, and accepted that of the +transmigration of souls. The Islamite prayers were abolished, and +others of a more general character were substituted for them. The +ceremonial was largely borrowed from the Hindus. + +The "Divine Faith" had no hold on the people, and its influence +ceased with the death of its founder. It is even said that Akbar, +on his death-bed, acknowledged the orthodox Muhammadan creed, but the +evidence on this point is unreliable. Akbar's religious system had an +important political bearing, for the keynote of his whole policy was +the endeavour to unite with a bond of common interest all the diverse +social, religious, and racial elements of his empire. He overlooked +nothing which might further the object he had in view. He chose his +ministers and generals indiscriminately from all his subjects, without +distinction of race or religion. He allied himself in marriage with +the royal Hindu families of Rajputana. He sat daily on the judgment +seat to dispense justice to all who chose to appeal to him, and, +like the famous Harun-al-Rashid, he would at times put on disguises +and wander unattended among the people, to keep himself informed of +their real condition and to check the malpractices of his officials. + +Though Akbar unavoidably had bitter enemies among the more bigoted of +his Muhammadan subjects, his wise tolerance of all beliefs and the +generosity of his policy for the most part disarmed hostility from +all sides. Certainly no ruler of India before or since succeeded so +far in carrying out his object. He is still one of the great popular +heroes of Hindustan; his mighty deeds in war and in the chase, his +wise and witty sayings, the splendour of his court, his magnanimity +and his justice, still live in song and in story. + +Akbar died in the Fort at Agra on October 13, 1605, in the fifty-first +year of his reign, aged 63. He was buried at Sikandra, in the mausoleum +commenced by himself, and finished by his son and successor, Jahangir. + + +Akbar's connection with Agra. + +The modern city of Agra, as stated previously, was founded by Akbar +in 1558, opposite to the old city on the left bank of the river. He +built the Fort, on the site of an old Pathan castle, and part of the +palace within it. Agra was the seat of government during the greater +part of his reign. He also built the great mosque and the magnificent +palaces and public buildings of Fatehpur Sikri, which are among the +most famous of the antiquities of India. + + +IV. Jahangir. + +The eldest surviving son of Akbar, Prince Salîm, on his accession to +the throne in 1605, assumed the title of Núr-ud-din Jahangir (Light +of the Faith, Conqueror of the World). + +He was passionate, cruel, and a drunkard, but not without ability +and force of character. As Prince Salîm he had instigated the +assassination of the Prime Minister, Abul Fazl, and probably hastened +his own father's death by his violent conduct. There was, however, +a reconciliation at the end, and Jahangir endeavoured to atone for +his behaviour by lavish expenditure on Akbar's tomb at Sikandra. He +has also left many pious tributes to his father's memory in his +autobiography. Jahangir's favourite wife was the celebrated Nur Mahal, +who for twenty years was almost the supreme power in the imperial +court. Her beauty attracted his attention while he was still Prince +Salîm, but Akbar, disapproving of her as a daughter-in-law, gave her in +marriage to Sher Afsan, "the lion killer," a nobleman of Burdwan. After +his accession, having treacherously procured the death of her husband, +Jahangir had Nur Mahal removed to Agra and placed under the care of +his mother. For many years she repulsed all Jahangir's overtures, +but when at last she consented to be his queen she became his most +devoted wife. She accompanied him on all his travels, and Jahangir +consulted her in all important affairs of state. Sir Thomas Roe, James +the First's ambassador, describes Jahangir at Agra taking his wife +for an evening drive in a bullock cart, "the King himself being her +carter." He affectionately changed her name from Nur Mahal, "Light of +the Palace," to Nur Jahan, "Light of the World." The imperial coinage +bore her name and an inscription, "Gold has acquired a new value since +it bore the name of Nur Jahan." She even succeeded to some extent +in controlling Jahangir's drunken habits. She was a great patroness +of the arts, and it is said that the Samman Burj, her apartments in +the Agra palace, was decorated after her own designs. Her charity +was boundless; she was the especial protectress of orphan girls, and +provided marriage portions for no less than 500 from her private purse. + +Nur Mahal's father, Itmâd-ud-daulah, became Lord High Treasurer, +and afterwards Wazir, or Prime Minister. On his death his daughter +built for him the magnificent tomb at Agra known by his name. + +During Jahangir's reign many Europeans, travellers, adventurers and +others, flocked to the Mogul court. They were allowed free access +to the palace, and Jahangir frequently admitted them to join in his +midnight carouses. He showed great favour to the Jesuit priests, +and even allowed two of his nephews to be instructed in the Christian +religion. + +The violent temper of Jahangir was inherited by his son, Prince +Khurram, afterwards Shah Jahan, and the peace of his reign was +frequently disturbed by open rebellion on the part of the Prince. In +1623 Shah Jahan actually sacked Agra, and his soldiers committed +fearful atrocities on the inhabitants. He failed, however, to capture +the fort, which contained the imperial treasury, and Jahangir, +no doubt remembering his own father's leniency towards himself, +forgave his unruly son. + +Jahangir died in 1627, and was buried at Shahdara, near Lahore, +in a magnificent tomb prepared by Nur Mahal. She herself retired to +Lahore, and, though she lived till 1648, ceased to take any part in +state affairs after his death. She was buried by her husband's side +at Shahdara. + + +Jahangir's connection with Agra. + +Jahangir for a great part of his reign held his court at Lahore, +or at Kabul. The chief monuments of his reign at, or near, Agra +are Akbar's tomb at Sikandra (p. 97), and Itmâd-ud-daulah's tomb +(p. 85), already mentioned. Part of the Agra Palace, the Jahangiri +Mahal (p. 63), is named after him, though it is most probable that +it was really built in Akbar's reign. + +There are a few minor buildings of Jahangir's time in Agra, such as +the baths of Ali Verdi Khan in Chipitollah Street, the mosque of +Motamid Khan in the Kashmiri Bazar, and the tower known after the +name of Boland Khan, the chief eunuch of Jahangir's palace. These +are of purely archæological interest. + + +V. Shah Jahan. + +Shah Jahan, on his father's death, though only fourth in right of +succession to the throne, speedily disposed of his brothers by means +very commonly adopted in Oriental royal families, and was enthroned at +Agra in 1648. Immediately afterwards he wreaked his vengeance on the +Portuguese, who had taken part against him in his rebellion against +Jahangir, by destroying their settlement at Hughli. The next year, +while on an expedition to suppress disorder in the Deccan, he lost +his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, the lady of the Taj. For a long +time the Emperor abandoned himself entirely to grief, and he remained +faithful to her memory until his death. + +The actual building of the Taj commenced in 1632. From this date until +1658, when Aurangzîb usurped the throne, was the most magnificent +period of the Mogul dynasty. The whole empire enjoyed comparative peace +and prosperity. Shah Jahan's just and liberal government continued his +father's and grandfather's policy of tolerance towards the Hindus, and +his administration, though conducted with great pomp and splendour, +did not press hardly upon the people. It was one of the greatest +epochs of Indian architecture; besides the Taj Mahal, the buildings +erected during these years include four of the masterpieces of the +Mogul period--the Jâmi Masjid, or Cathedral Mosque, of Delhi; the +Mûti Masjid, or Pearl Mosque, of Agra; part of the Agra Palace, and +the great palace at Delhi, of which only a small portion now exists. + +It is said that as Shah Jahan advanced towards old age he abandoned +himself more and more to a life of pleasure and self-indulgence, +but his last years were darkened by the same kind of family intrigues +through which he himself had gained the throne. In 1657 the serious +illness of the Emperor brought these intrigues to a head. His eldest +son by Mumtaz Mahal, called Dara Shikoh, a gracious and generous +Prince, but headstrong and intolerant of advice, was appointed +Regent. On receiving this intelligence, his younger brothers, Shuja, +Viceroy of Bengal, and Murad, Viceroy of Gujarat, declared their +independence, and marched upon Agra. Aurangzîb, the third son, +a religious bigot, but the ablest and most virile of the brothers, +hastened to join them, and being placed in chief command, attacked +Dara's army close to Agra and completely defeated him. Three days +afterwards he entered the city. Shah Jahan sent his chamberlain to +order him to leave the city at once and return to his post in the +Deccan, but Aurangzîb, affecting to believe that his father was dead, +disregarded the order. He succeeded by bribes and promises in bringing +over some of the principal nobles to his side, and being well informed +by Rushanara, his younger sister, who was his equal in cunning and +artifice, of all that went on in the palace, he baffled Shah Jahan's +attempts to lay hands on him. At last, under pretence of arranging +an amicable meeting with his son Mahmud, Aurangzîb beguiled Shah +Jahan into withdrawing his troops from the Fort. Mahmud immediately +forced his way in with a picked body of men and seized the person of +the Emperor. The plan succeeded so well that no attempt at a rescue +was made. + +The French traveller Tavernier, who has left a complete record of +the time, writes of this event: "It is most surprising that not one +of the servants of the grand King offered to assist him; that all his +subjects abandoned him, and that they turned their eyes to the rising +sun, recognizing no one as king but Aurangzîb. Shah Jahan, though +still living, passed from their memories. If, perchance, there were +any who felt touched by his misfortunes, fear made them silent, and +made them basely abandon a king who had governed them like a father, +and with a mildness which is not common with sovereigns. For although +he was severe enough to the nobles when they failed to perform their +duties, he arranged all things for the comfort of the people, by whom +he was much beloved, but who gave no signs of it at this crisis." + +Shah Jahan remained confined in a set of apartments of the Agra +Palace for seven years. He died in 1666, and was buried by the side +of Mumtaz Mahal in the Taj. His captivity was shared by his favourite +daughter, Jahanara, who since the death of her mother had ruled the +imperial household and taken a prominent part in state affairs. She +had actively supported the cause of Dara, and thus incurred the +resentment of Aurangzîb. On her father's death she retired to Delhi, +and she lived there until 1681. Her simple grave, covered with grass, +is in a quiet corner of the courtyard of Nizamudin's tomb, near Delhi, +where the memory of her filial piety adds to the poetic charm of all +the surroundings. + + + +The Monuments of Shah Jahan's Reign at Agra. + +The Taj Mahal (p. 72); the Jâmi Masjid (p. 69); and the following +buildings in the Fort: The Mûti Masjid (p. 43); the Dîwan-i-âm (p. 46); +the Dîwan-i-khas (p. 55); the Khas Mahal (p. 59). + + +VI. Aurangzîb. + +Agra is only concerned with the first seven years of Aurangzîb's reign, +for, after the death of Shah Jahan, the court was removed to Delhi, +and Agra was left with only a provincial governor to maintain its +former magnificence. The unhappy Dara, after his defeat by Aurangzîb, +made fruitless attempts to retrieve his fortunes, but was at last +betrayed into the hands of his brother, who immediately put him to +death. Aurangzîb lost no time in disposing of his other two brothers, +and thus placed his succession to the throne beyond dispute. + +The Princess Rushanara, as a reward for her treachery, was raised +to the position formerly enjoyed by her sister Jahanara. The French +physician Bernier, who resided twelve years at the Mogul court in the +time of Aurangzîb, has left many minute and graphic records of the +times. Here is a picture of Rushanara when she accompanied Aurangzîb +on the march from Delhi to Kashmir:-- + +"Stretch imagination to its utmost limits, and you can conceive +no exhibition more grand and imposing than when Rauchenara-Begum, +mounted on a stupendous Pegu elephant and seated in a _mikdember_, +blazing with gold and azure, is followed by five or six other elephants +with _mikdembers_ nearly as resplendent as her own, and filled with +ladies attached to her household. Close to the Princess are the chief +eunuchs, richly adorned and finely mounted, each with a wand of office +in his hand; and surrounding her elephant a troop of female servants, +_Tartars_ and _Kachmerys_, fantastically attired and riding handsome +pad-horses. Besides these attendants are several eunuchs on horseback, +accompanied by a multitude of _pagys_, or lackeys, on foot, with +large canes, who advance a great way before the Princess, both to +the right and left, for the purpose of clearing the road and driving +before them every intruder. Immediately behind Rauchenara-Begum's +retinue appears a principal lady of the court, mounted and attended +in much the same manner as the Princess. This lady is followed by a +third, she by a fourth, and so on, until fifteen or sixteen females +of quality pass with a grandeur of appearance, equipage, and retinue +more or less proportionate to their rank, pay, and office. There is +something very impressive of state and royalty in the march of these +sixty or more elephants; in their solemn and, as it were, measured +steps, in the splendour of the _mikdembers_, and the brilliant and +innumerable followers in attendance; and, if I had not regarded this +display of magnificence with a sort of philosophical indifference, I +should have been apt to be carried away by such flights of imagination +as inspire most of the Indian poets when they represent the elephants +as conveying so many goddesses concealed from the vulgar gaze." [4] + +Dramatic justice overtook the scheming Princess at last. In 1664 +Aurangzîb fell dangerously ill, and, while he was unconscious, +Rushanara, believing him to be dying, abstracted the signet ring +from his finger and issued letters, as under the royal seal, to the +various Viceroys and Governors, setting aside the succession of the +Emperor's eldest son by a Rajput Princess in favour of another son, +a boy of six, by a Muhammadan sultana. She hoped by this means to keep +the supreme power in her own hands during the long minority of the new +Emperor. Aurangzîb unexpectedly recovered, and became suspicious of +his dangerous sister. The host of enemies she had created at court +were not slow in taking advantage of the situation, and Rushanara +soon afterwards disappeared--removed, it is said, by poison. + +Aurangzîb ruled with a firm hand, and in strict justice according +to the law of Islam, but though a man of great intellectual powers, +of marvellous energy and indomitable courage, he was wanting in +imagination, sympathy, and foresight, the highest qualities of a +really great ruler. He checked the dissolute conduct of the nobles, +and set an example of industry and devotion to duty; but his narrow, +bigoted disposition inclined him to distrust even his own ministers, +so that, unlike his three predecessors, he was badly served by +the lieutenants in whose hands the administration of the provinces +rested. He surrounded himself with religious bigots of the Sunni +sect of Muhammadans, who aided him in bitter persecution of the +Hindus. Hardly anything of artistic or architectural interest was +created under his patronage. Most of the great artists who attended +Shah Jahan's court were dismissed as unorthodox or heretics, and many +noble monuments were mutilated by the Emperor's fanatical followers +on the ground that they contravened the precept of the Koran which +forbids the representation of animate nature in art. + +He died in 1707, eighty-nine years of age. The Mogul empire, surrounded +by hordes of the enemies his bigotry and intolerance had created, +was already tottering to its fall, and the star of the British raj +was rising. Seventeen years before his death he had granted to Job +Charnock a piece of land at Sutanati, the site of the future capital +of our Indian empire. + + +Agra and the Later Mogul Emperors + +Agra played a very small part in the history of the weak-minded and +dissolute successors of Aurangzîb. Firokhshiyar, who reigned from 1713 +to 1719, resided occasionally there. After his death disputes between +various claimants to the throne led to Agra Fort being besieged and +captured by Husein Ali Khan, a partisan of one of them, who looted +the treasury of all the valuables deposited there during three +centuries. "There were the effects of Nur Jahan Begum and Mumtaz +Mahal, amounting in value, according to various reports, to two or +three crores of rupees. There was in particular the sheet of pearls +which Shah Jahan had caused to be made for the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, +of the value of several lakhs of rupees, which was spread over it +on the anniversary and on Friday nights. There was the ewer of Nur +Jahan and her cushion of woven gold and rich pearls, with a border +of valuable garnets and emeralds." (Elliott.) + +In 1739 Nadir, Shah of Persia, sacked Delhi, carried off Shah Jahan's +famous peacock throne, and laid Agra also under contribution. The +Mahrattas next appeared on the scene. In 1764 the Jâts of Bharatpur, +under Suraj Mal, captured Agra, looted the Taj, and played havoc +with the palaces in the Fort. They were joined by Walter Reinhardt, +an adventurer, half French and half German, who sold his services +for any work of infamy, and had only recently assisted in the murder +of the British Resident and other Europeans at Patna. He afterwards +entered the Mogul service, and was rewarded by a grant of a tract of +country near Meerut, which remained in the possession of his family +until recent times. He died at Agra in 1778, and was buried in the +Catholic cemetery. + +For the next thirty-nine years Agra was occupied by Mahrattas and +by Mogul imperialists in turn. John Hessing, a Dutch officer in the +employ of the Mahrattas, was Governor of Agra in 1794, and died there +in 1802. The next year it was captured by the British under General, +afterwards Lord, Lake, and from that time until 1857 its history +was uneventful. + + + +Agra in the Mutiny. + +Agra did not take any prominent part in the events of the Mutiny. A +mob plundered the city, burnt the public offices, and killed a number +of Europeans; but the rioters left soon to join their comrades at +Delhi. There was a small engagement outside the city. The British +troops and the whole of the European population were afterwards shut +up in the Fort until the capture of Delhi. The Lieutenant-Governor, +Mr. John Russell Colvin, died there, and was buried in front of +the Dîwan-i-âm. + + + +The Fort + +The present Fort was commenced by Akbar in 1566, on the site +of an older one constructed by Salîm Shah Sur, the son of Shere +Shah. Its vast walls (seventy feet in height, and a mile and a half +in circuit), its turrets, and noble gateways present from the outside +a most imposing appearance. It contains within its walls that most +exquisite of mosques, the Mûti Masjid, and the palaces of Akbar and +Shah Jahan. The principal or north entrance is the Delhi Gate, nearly +opposite to the railway station and the Jâmi Masjid. Formerly there +was a walled enclosure in front of this gate, called the Tripulia, +or Three Gates, which was used as a market. This was cleared away by +the military authorities in 1875. Crossing the drawbridge over the +moat which surrounds the Fort, the visitor passes the outer gate, +and by a paved incline reaches the Hathi Pol, or Elephant Gate +(Plate III.), so called from the two stone elephants, with riders, +which formerly stood outside the gate, on the highest of the platforms +on either side of it. The statues and elephants were thrown down by +order of Aurangzîb. There are four hollow places in each platform, +where the legs of the elephants were morticed into it. [5] + +The gate is a fine example of the early Mogul style; it contains the +_Naubat khana_, or music gallery, where the royal kettledrums announced +the Emperor's arrival or departure, and all state functions. It was +also a guard-house, and probably the quarters of a high military +officer, but it is certainly not, as the guides have it, the "Darshan +Darwaza," or "Gate of Sights," described by William Finch, where +the Emperor Jahangir showed himself at sunrise to his nobles and to +the multitude assembled in the plain below. The Darshan Darwaza was +undoubtedly near the old disused water-gate, which was joined to the +royal apartments of the palace by a private passage, and answers to +Finch's description of "leading into a fair court extending along +the river." The Elephant Gate is at a considerable distance from the +palace, and was never connected with it, except by the public road. + +It is worth while to climb the top of the gate by the staircase on +the right, inside the Fort. There is a fine view of the Fort, and +beyond the walls the ever-beautiful white domes of the Taj appear in +the distance. The Itmâd-ud-daulah is visible on the left. Towards +the town you look down into the quadrangle of the Jâmi Masjid. The +pavilions on the summit of the great octagonal towers flanking the +gate are finely carved, and bear traces of painting and enamelled +tile-work. Descending the staircase to the floors beneath, one can +wander through the curious small chambers and look out from the +balconies on the front of the gate. + + +The Mûti Masjid. + +The road to the left after passing the Elephant Gate leads up to the +entrance of the Mûti Masjid, or "Pearl Mosque," placed on the highest +point of the Fort enclosure. [6] You pass on the left a building +known as Dansa Jât's house, said to have been occupied by the Rajahs +of Bharatpur when the Jâts held the Fort. It has been made hideous +by modern additions which have converted it into officers' quarters. + +The entrance to the Mûti Masjid is very plain and unpretending, so +that one is hardly prepared for the beauty, purity, and the unaffected +expression of an exalted religious feeling which characterize the +interior. It is rare to find an Indian building in which the effect +is produced with hardly any ornament, but solely by the perfection +of proportions, beauty of material, and harmony of constructive +design. The courtyard, in front of the mosque, with its arcades +and gateways, is a noble setting to the Pearl, as the mosque is +appropriately called. There is a subtle rhythm in the placing of the +three domes over the seven arches of the mosque, which saves the whole +design from monotony, while the marvellous grace of the contours, +which is so characteristic of the finest of Shah Jahan's buildings, +makes each dome grow up from the roof like a flower-bud on the point of +unfolding. The octagonal pavilions at the four corners of the mosque, +and the dainty little kiosques placed as decoration over the arches +and over the gateways of the courtyard, echo the harmonies of the +larger constructive details, and give completeness to the composition. + +The interior of the mosque owes its dignity to the same greatness of +style and perfection of the proportions. The three aisles are formed +by massive piers of single blocks of marble. With all its simplicity, +there is consummate art both in the placing of the ornament and in +the beautiful springing of the arches from the supporting piers. The +fine workmanship is worthy of the art. + +On either side of the mosque there is a small chamber for the ladies +of the zanana, with a window filled with a carved marble _grille_ +looking on to the interior. They could thus attend to the services of +the mosque without being seen. The staircases on the right and left +of the courtyard give private access to the apartments of the palace. + +The Persian inscription inlaid in black marble under the wide, +projecting cornice of the mosque is a poetic tribute to the beauty of +the building and a panegyric of its founder. From it we learn that +it was built by Shah Jahan, it took seven years to build, and cost +three lakhs of rupees. + +The dimensions of the courtyard, given by Fergusson, are 154 feet +by 158 feet; and of the Mosque: length, 159 feet; depth, 56 feet, +internally. + + +The Dersane Darwaza. + +Nearly opposite to the Mûti Masjid, you pass on the left an +inclined passage which leads to an old gateway, a part of Akbar's +buildings. Very little remains of the original buildings which +connected it with the palace in the time of Jahangir, but there cannot +be much doubt that this was the locality described by William Finch +as the "Dersane Darwaza, leading into a fair court, extending along +the river, in which the King looks forth every morning at sun-rising, +which he salutes, and then his nobles resort to their _Tesillam_ +(obeisance). Right under the place where he looks out, is a kind +of scaffold, whereon his nobles stand, but the _Addis_ with others +await below in the court. Here also every noone he looketh forth +to behold _Tamâshâh_, or fighting of Elephants, Lyons, Buffles, +killing of Deare with Leopards, which is a custom on every day of +the weeke, Sunday excepted, on which is no fighting; but Tuesday, +on the contrary, is a day of blood, both of fighting beasts, and +justiced men, the King judging and seeing executions." + + +The Dîwan-i-âm. + +The road now turns towards the right, through the Mîna Bazar, the +old market-place, where merchants displayed jewellery, brocades, +and similar stuffs for the nobles and others attending the court. A +gateway leads into the great courtyard of the Dîwan-i-âm, or Hall of +Public Audience, which, with its surrounding arcades, was for a long +time used as an armoury for the British garrison. The hall itself was +restored in 1876 by Sir John Strachey, then Lieutenant-Governor of +the North-West Provinces. The courtyard has recently been put back, +as far as possible, into its original condition by Lord Curzon's +orders. A further great improvement has been made by the removal of +the hideous modern additions which entirely concealed all the arcades. + +The present hall, which is an open pavilion formed by a triple row +of colonnades, was commenced by Shah Jahan, but, if we may believe +tradition, was not completed until the 27th year of the reign of +Aurangzîb. The arcades surrounding the quadrangle are probably of +Akbar's time. The interior dimensions of the hall are 192 feet by 64 +feet. It is constructed of red sandstone, plastered over with a fine +white polished stucco, which served both as a protection to the stone +and as a ground for coloured decoration and gilding. This plaster-work +was carried to the perfection of a fine art by the old Mogul builders, +but the restoration of it in 1876 was very indifferently carried out. + +The throne of the Emperor was in an alcove of inlaid marble at the +back of the hall, and connected with the royal apartments behind. Here +he sat daily to give audience to his court, to receive ambassadors, +and to administer justice. At the foot of the alcove is a square +slab of marble, about 3 feet in height, on which, it is said, +his ministers stood to receive petitions to the Emperor, and to +convey his commands thereon. On the right and left of the throne are +chambers with perforated marble windows, through which the ladies of +the zanana could view the proceedings. Bernier's lively description, +though it properly belongs to the Dîwan-i-âm at Delhi, will enable +us to picture the scene in the days of the Great Mogul:-- + +"The monarch every day, about noon, sits upon his throne, with some +of his sons at his right and left, while eunuchs standing about the +royal person flap away the flies with peacocks' tails, agitate the air +with large fans, or wait with undivided attention and profound humility +to perform the different services allotted to each. Immediately under +the throne is an enclosure, surrounded by silver rails, in which are +assembled the whole body of _omrahs_ (nobles), the Rajas, and the +ambassadors, all standing, their eyes bent downwards and their hands +crossed. At a greater distance from the throne are the _mansebdhars_, +or inferior _omrahs_, also standing in the same posture of profound +reverence. The remainder of the spacious room, and, indeed, the whole +courtyard, is filled with persons of all ranks, high and low, rich +and poor; because it is in this extensive hall that the King gives +audience indiscriminately to all his subjects; hence it is called +_Am Khas_, or audience chamber of high and low. + +"During the hour and a half, or two hours, that this ceremony +continues, a certain number of the royal horses pass before the throne, +that the King may see whether they are well used and Usbec, of every +kind, and each dog with a small red covering; lastly, every species +of the birds of prey used in field sports for catching partridges, +cranes, hares, and even, it is said, for hunting antelopes, on which +they pounce with violence, beating their heads and blinding them with +their wings and claws." + +After this parade, the more serious business of the day was attended +to. The Emperor reviewed his cavalry with peculiar attention, for he +was personally acquainted with every trooper. Then all the petitions +held up in the assembled crowd were read and disposed of before the +audience closed. + +On festivals or other special occasions the pillars of the hall were +hung with gold brocades, and flowered satin canopies fastened with +red silken cords were raised over the whole apartment. The floor was +covered entirely with the most magnificent silk carpets. A gorgeous +tent, larger than the hall, to which it was fastened, and supported +by poles overlaid with silver, was pitched outside. Every compartment +of the arcades round the courtyard was decorated by one of the great +nobles, at his own expense, with gold brocades and costly carpets, +each one vying with the other to attract the attention of the Emperor, +to whom, on such occasions, an offering of gold or jewels, more or less +valuable according to the pay and rank of the giver, must be presented. + +JAHANGIR'S CISTERN.--Just in front of the Dîwan-i-âm is a great stone +cistern, cut out of a single block, with steps inside and out, known +as Jahangir's _Hauz_, a bowl or bath-tub. There is a long Persian +inscription round the outer rim; the only part now decipherable shows +that it was made for Jahangir in 1019 A.H. (A.D. 1611). It is nearly 5 +feet in height and 8 feet in diameter at the top. Its original place +is said to have been one of the courts of the Jahangiri Mahal. + +THE TOMB OF MR. COLVIN.--Close by Jahangiri's _Hauz_ is the grave of +Mr. John Russell Colvin, the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West +Provinces, who died in the Fort during the disturbances of 1857. + + +The Inner Mîna Bazar. + +Before entering the private apartments of the palace, which are at +the back of the Dîwan-i-âm, we may pass through the gateway on the +left of the courtyard, and enter a smaller one, which was the private +bazar where merchants sold jewellery, silks, and costly brocades +to the ladies of the zanana, who were seated in the marble balcony +which overlooks it (Plate IV.). A narrow staircase gave access to +the balcony from the courtyard. + +We may well believe that a considerable part of the ladies' time +was spent in this quarter of the palace. Sometimes the Great Mogul +and his court would amuse themselves by holding a mock fair, in +which the prettiest of the nobles' wives and daughters would act +as traders, and the Emperors and the Begums would bargain with +them in the most approved bazar fashion. The Emperor would haggle +for the value of an anna, and the ladies would feign indignation, +scold his Majesty roundly, and tell him to go where he could suit +himself better. "The Begums betray, if possible, a still greater +anxiety to be served cheaply; high words are heard on every side, +and the loud and scurrilous quarrels of the buyers and sellers create +a complete farce. But, when at last the bargains are struck, the +Begums, as well as the Emperor, pay liberally for their purchases, +and often, as if by accident, let slip out of their hands a few gold +instead of silver roupies, as a compliment to the fair merchant and +her pretty daughter. Thus the scene ends with merry jests and good +humour." (Bernier.) + +THE CHITORE GATES.--The further corner of this courtyard, on the left, +leads to the Chitore gates, the trophies which Akbar placed there as +a memorial of his capture of that great Rajput stronghold in 1657, +after a desperate resistance by its gallant defenders. They form the +principal entrance to the _Machhi Bhawan_, the great courtyard behind +the Dîwan-i-âm, but are generally kept closed. + +THE HINDU TEMPLE.--Beyond the Chitore gates you enter into another +quadrangle surrounded by arcades, which recalls a different chapter +in the chequered history of the palace. Here is a Hindu temple, built +by one of the Bharatpur Rajahs, who sacked Agra about the middle of +the 18th century, and occupied it for ten years. + + +The Machhi Bhawan. + +Returning now to the Dîwan-i-âm, we can ascend by one of the small +staircases to the throne-room, and enter the upper arcades which +surround the Machhi Bhawan, or "Fish Square." The courtyard has +suffered so much from ruthless vandalism that it is difficult to +realize its former magnificence. It was formerly laid out in marble +with flower-beds, water-channels, fountains, and fish-tanks. These +were carried off by the Jâts to the palace of Suraj Mai, at Dîg. A +large quantity of mosaic and exquisite marble fretwork, from this +and other parts of the palace, was put up to auction by Lord William +Bentinck, when Governor-General of India. The Taj only escaped the +same fate because the proceeds of this sale were unsatisfactory. + +On the side opposite to the throne-room is an open terrace, originally +roofed over and connected with the Dîwan-i-khas. This also was +dismantled by the Jâts. + +THE NAJINA MASJID.--On the left of the throne-room, at the end of +the corridor, is a door leading into a small mosque of white marble, +built by Aurangzîb for the ladies of the zenana. It is something like +the Mûti Masjid, but far inferior in design. + +The further corner of it opens into a small chamber, overlooking the +courtyard of the Dîwan-i-âm, which is pointed out by the guides as the +prison where Shah Jahan was confined. This may be accepted or not, +according to the choice of the visitor. When distinct historical +authority is wanting, it is very difficult to distinguish real +tradition and pure fable in the tales of these garrulous folk. The +historical evidence seems to show that Shah Jahan was not kept a close +prisoner, but simply confined to certain apartments in the palace. + +We will now pass over to the river side of the Machhi Bhawan, and +approach that part of the palace which contains the Dîwan-i-khas, +or Hall of Private Audience, the Zanana and Mahal-i-khas, all built +by Shah Jahan and occupied by him in the days of his royal state +and sovereignty. They rank with the Dîwan-i-khas at Delhi as the +most exquisite of Shah Jahan's buildings. From this classification +I purposely omit the Taj, gleaming on the banks of the river lower +down. The Taj stands by itself. + + +The Dîwan-i-Khas. + +The Dîwan-i-khas was built in 1637. Though much smaller than the +Dîwan-i-khas at Delhi, it is certainly not inferior in the beauty +of its proportions and decoration. Most of the decorative work +of these marble pavilions is directly derived from Persian art, +and inspired by the Persian love of flowers which almost amounted +to flower-worship. All the details are charming, but the dados, +especially, edged with inlaid work and carved with floral types in the +most delicate relief, show to perfection that wonderful decorative +instinct which seems to be born in the Oriental handicraftsman. The +designer has naïvely translated into marble the conventional Indian +flower-beds, just as they were in every palace garden, but there +is perfect art in the seeming absence of all artifice. The dados +outside the Taj are similar in design to these, though larger and +correspondingly bolder in style. The roof of the Dîwan-i-khas, with +its fine covered ceiling, is interesting for its construction. + +JAHANGIR'S THRONE.--On the terrace in front of the Dîwan-i-khas +are placed two thrones, one of white marble on the side facing the +Machhi-Bhawan, and the other of black slate on the river side. From +the Persian inscription which runs round the four sides of the black +throne we learn that it was made in 1603 for Jahangir. This was two +years before the death of his father, Akbar, and he was then only +Prince Salîm. The throne was, therefore, probably made to commemorate +the recognition by Akbar of his son's title to the succession. + +On this terrace Jahangir sat to enjoy the sight of his brigantines on +the river, or to watch the elephant fights on the level place beneath +the walls. From side to side of his throne there is a long fissure, +which opened, so says tradition, when the Jât Rajah, Jawahar Singh of +Bharatpur, in 1765, set his usurping feet on the throne of the Great +Mogul. The tradition holds that blood spurted out of the throne in +two places, and red marks in the stone are pointed out as evidence +of the truth of the story. The impious chief was shortly afterwards +assassinated in the palace. + +THE BATHS.--On the side of the terrace directly opposite to the +Dîwan-i-khas are the baths, or the Hammam. The water was brought up +from a well, outside the walls, 70 feet below. These baths, in their +present state, are by no means so fine as those at Fatehpur Sikri, +to be described hereafter. + +The Marquis of Hastings, when Governor-General of India, broke up +one of the most beautiful of the baths of the palace, and sent it +home as a present to the Prince Regent, afterwards George the Fourth. + + +The Samman Burj. + +A doorway at the back of the Dîwan-i-khas leads to the beautiful +two-storied pavilion, surmounting one of the most projecting of the +circular bastions on the river face, and known as the Samman Burj, +"the Jasmine Tower" (Plate V.). The style of the inlaid work shows it +to be earlier in date than the Dîwan-i-khas, and supports Fergusson's +conjecture that it was built by Jahangir. In that case it must have +been the apartment of his Empress, the beautiful and accomplished Nur +Mahal. It was afterwards occupied by Mumtaz Mahal, the lady of the +Taj. Here, also, in full view of the famous monument he had raised +to her memory, died her husband, Shah Jahan--sensualist, perhaps, +but true to his last hours to one great master-passion. The faithful +Jahanara, who shared his captivity for seven years, attended him on +his death-bed, and, as the shades of night closed in and hid the Taj +from view--praying Divine forgiveness for his sins, and with a few +consoling words to his daughter--he went to join his beloved! + +After the rites prescribed by the Muhammadan law, the body was placed +in a coffin of sandalwood and conveyed by the passage which leads from +the Samman Burj to the low gate beneath it, which was specially opened +for the occasion. Thence, followed by a procession of mourners, it was +carried out of the Fort through the Sher Hâji gate, nearly opposite +(now closed), and conveyed across the arm of the river to its last +resting-place in the Taj. + +The death of Shah Jahan and his funeral are minutely described by +Mulla Muhammad Kâzim in his "Alamgir Nama." The guides wrongly point +out a pavilion in the Jahangiri Mahal as the place where he died. + +In front of the Samman Burj is a beautiful little fountain hollowed +in the floor; on one side of the courtyard is a raised platform laid +out in squares of black marble for the game of _pachisi_, an Eastern +backgammon. [7] + + +The Khas Mahal. + +From the Samman Burj we step into the next set of apartments of +the zanana, connecting with the Khas Mahal and a similar set on the +other side. This part of the zanana forms the east, or river side, +of the Anguri Bagh, or Grape Garden. There is an indescribable grace +and charm about all this quarter of the palace, to which the beauty +of the material, the perfect taste of the ornament and elegance of +the proportions, the delightful background of the landscape, and the +historical associations all contribute. It should be seen towards +evening, not in the full glare of the morning sun. + +When the afterglow fills the sky, burnishes the gilded roofs, and +turns the marble to rose-colour, imagination may re-people these +lovely pavilions with fair Indian women--revel in the feast of +colour in _saris_, brocades, and carpets; in the gold, azure, and +crimson of the painted ceilings; and listen to the water splashing +in the fountains and gurgling over the carved water-shoots--a scene +of voluptuous beauty such as the world has rarely known since the +wealth and elegance of Rome filled the palaces and villas of Pompei. + +In the walls of the Khas Mahal are a number of niches which formerly +contained portraits of the Mogul Emperors, beginning with Timur, which, +like so many other things, were looted by the Rajah of Bharatpur. A +number of similar portraits and other fine paintings of the Mogul +period are preserved in the Government Art Gallery, Calcutta. + +A Persian poem inscribed on the walls of the Khas Mahal gives the +date of its construction, 1636. + +THE UNDERGROUND CHAMBERS.--A staircase to the south of the Khas Mahal +leads to a labyrinth of underground chambers, in which the Emperor +and his zanana found refuge from the fierce summer heat of Agra. In +the south-east corner there is a well-house, called a _bâoli_; this +is a set of chambers surrounding a well--a favourite retreat in the +hot weather. There were formerly many of the kind round about Agra, +constructed by the Mogul Emperors or their nobles. Besides these +resorts of ease and pleasure, there are gloomy dungeons which tell +of misbehaving slaves and indiscreet sultanas, who were hurried down +to meet their fate at the hands of the executioner, the silent Jumna +receiving their lifeless bodies. + + +The Anguri Bagh. + +The great quadrangle in front of the Khas Mahal is the Anguri Bagh, +surrounded on three sides by arcades, probably built by Akbar and +intended for his zenana. They were occupied in the Mutiny days by +the British officers and their families who were shut up in the Fort. + +The Anguri Bagh is a very typical specimen of the old Mogul gardens, +laid out in geometrical flower-beds, with four terraced walks +radiating from the central platform and fountain. A stone trellis +formerly enclosed the flower-beds, and probably supported the vines +which gave the garden its name. + +Among the many improvements lately made by Lord Curzon in the Fort is +the clearance of the wire-netting fernhouses and bedraggled shrubs +which formerly disfigured the quadrangle. If it cannot be kept up +in the old Mogul style, it is certainly better to leave the garden +uncultivated. + +SHISH MAHAL.--On the north side of the Anguri Bagh, close to +the zanana, a passage leads to the _Shish Mahal_, or "palace of +glass." This was the bath of the zanana. The marble slabs of the +floor have been torn up, and the decoration with a kind of glass +mosaic seems to have suffered from clumsy attempts at renovation. A +passage from the Shish Mahal leads to the old water gate. + +THE "SOMNATH" GATES.--Before entering the Jahangiri Mahal, on the +opposite side of the Anguri Bagh, we will pause at a corner of the +zanana courtyard, where a small apartment contains an interesting +relic of the Afghan expedition of 1842--the so-called "Somnath" +gates, taken from the tomb of Mahmud of Ghazni in the capture of that +city by the British. They were the subject of a most extraordinary +archæological blunder by the Governor-General, Lord Ellenborough, +who, in a grandiloquent proclamation, identifying them with the +gates of carved sandalwood which Mahmud according to tradition, +had taken from the celebrated Hindu temple of Somnath in 1025, +announced to the people of India that "the insult of eight hundred +years had been avenged." The gates were conveyed on a triumphal car +through the towns of northern India to the Agra Fort, and deposited +there with great ceremony. As a matter of fact, the wood is deodar, +and not sandalwood, and from the style of the ornament there can be +hardly a doubt that the gates were made at or near Ghazni. One glance +would convince any expert in Oriental archæology that they could not +by any possibility have been the gates of a Hindu temple. + +It has been supposed that the original gates were destroyed by fire, +and that these were made to replace them, but there seems to be +considerable doubt whether Mahmud really took away any gates from the +Somnath temple. It certainly would have been unusual for the great +Muhammadan plunderer to have burdened himself with an archæological +relic which, in those days, was not easily convertible into cash. + +A horse-shoe which is nailed to the gate is not, as is generally +supposed, a propitiation of the Goddess of Fortune, but a token from +the owner of some sick animal that he would bring an offering to +the shrine in the event of a cure resulting from his visit. This was +an old custom among the Tartars and other nomad tribes, who valued +horses and cattle as their most precious possessions. + + +The Jahangiri Mahal. + +The palace called after Jahangir, the Jahangiri Mahal, is in many +respects the most remarkable building of its class in India. Nothing +could be more striking than the contrast between the extreme elegance, +bordering on effeminacy, of the marble pavilions of Shah Jahan's +palaces, and the robust, virile, yet highly imaginative architecture +of this palace of Akbar; for though it bears Jahangir's name there +cannot be much doubt that it was planned, and partially, if not +completely, carried out by Akbar with the same architects who built +Fatehpur Sikri. It is the perfected type of the style which we see +in process of evolution at Fatehpur, and were it not for the Taj, +we might regret the new element which came into Mogul architecture +with Itmâd-ud-daulah's tomb. Both of these styles, which appear side +by side in the Agra Fort, are intensely typical of the men and the +times which produced them. The one is stamped throughout with the +personality of Akbar, the empire-builder, and distinguished by the +stately solidity of Jain and Hindu architecture. In the other the +native vigour of the earlier Indian styles has been softened by the +cultured eclecticism of Persia and Arabia, for the manly dignity of +Akbar's court had given place to the sensual luxury of Shah Jahan's. + +On the river side of the palace there is an octagonal pavilion placed +similarly to the Samman Burj, which is very charming in its fresco +decoration, though the colour has faded very much. It is possibly this +pavilion to which Badâyunî, one of Akbar's biographers, refers when +he describes a Brahmin, named Dêbi, being pulled up the walls of the +castle, sitting on a _charpâî_ (a native bed), till he arrived near +the balcony where the Emperor used to sleep. "Whilst thus suspended +he instructed his Majesty in the secrets and legends of Hinduism, +in the manner of worshipping idols, the fire, the sun, and stars, +and of revering the chief gods of these unbelievers." The priests of +other religions were similarly carried up to converse with Akbar. + +Adjoining this is a set of small rooms, known as Akbar's apartments, +which, even in their present dilapidated state, show that they +must have possessed a richness and beauty of decoration inferior to +nothing else in the whole Fort. The dados were decorated with _gesso_ +work on a gold ground. The borders are still almost intact, but the +rest of the relief ornament seems to have been wantonly hacked off +out of pure mischief. I believe this is the only example of _gesso_ +work in any of Akbar's buildings. The treatment of the upper part +of the walls with the characteristic cuspings of Arabian and Moorish +architects is admirable. + +Passing through these, we enter a long room known as the library, in +which a not very successful attempt was made some years ago to restore +the painted decoration. It is to be devoutly hoped that this and other +dangerous experiments of the kind will not be continued, except under +skilled artistic supervision. The restoration of the structural parts +of the palace and of the stone carving is a more easy matter, for +the descendants of the very men who built and carved the palace still +practise their art in Agra and round about. This has been admirably +carried out by the Public Works Department under Lord Curzon's orders. + +The outer courtyard, on the riverside, is very interesting, especially +for a very elegant and original porch, in which Saracenic feeling +predominates; but on entering the inner courtyard (Plate VI.) it is +more easy to realize that this Palace is one of the great masterpieces +of Mogul architecture. The beauty of this inner quadrangle is derived +not so much from its fine proportions and rich ornamentation as from +the wonderful rhythmic play of light and shadow, produced by the +bracket form of construction and the admirable disposition of the +openings for doors, windows, and colonnades. The north side of the +quadrangle is formed by a pillared hall, of distinctly Hindu design, +full of the feeling of mystery characteristic of indigenous Indian +styles. The subdued light of the interior adds to the impressiveness +of its great piers stretching their giant brackets up to the roof +like the gnarled and twisted branches of primeval forest trees. A very +interesting point of view can be obtained from the gallery which runs +round the upper part of the hall. + +One of Jahangir's wives, a Hindu princess of Jodhpur, hence known +as Jodh Bai, lived in this part of the palace, and the room on the +west side of the quadrangle, surrounded by a number of oblong niches, +is said to have been her temple, in which the images of Hanuman and +other Hindu deities were kept. + +On the roof of the Jahangiri Mahal there are two fine pavilions; +also a number of cisterns, which supplied the palace with water. In +the side of one of them there are a number of pipe-holes, lined with +copper, over each of which is a circular stone label inscribed with +the part of the palace to which it gave a supply. + + +The Salîmgarh. + +On the rising ground behind the courtyard of the Dîwan-i-âm there +formerly existed a palace called the Salîmgarh. Before Jahangir's +accession he was known as Prince Salîm, and tradition associates +this palace with him. Fergusson, however, states that in his time an +exquisite fragment of a palace built by Shere Shah, or his son Salîm, +existed here. The Salîmgarh at Delhi is named after the son of Shere +Shah, Salîm Shah Sur, who built it, and there is some doubt as to which +of the two Salîms gave his name to the Salîmgarh at Agra. Akbar's +Fort is known to have been built to replace an older one (known as +the Badalgarh) by Salîm Shah Sur, but it is quite possible that a part +of the palace may have been left, and retained the name of its founder. + +The only part of the Salîmgarh which now remains is a large two-storied +pavilion in front of the barracks. The upper half of the exterior +is carved with extraordinary richness. The style of design certainly +indicates the period of the Jahangiri Mahal and Akbar's buildings at +Fatehpur Sikri, rather than Shere Shah's work. + + +The Jâmi Masjid. + +Nearly opposite to the Delhi Gate of the Fort is the Jâmi Masjid, or +Cathedral Mosque, built by Jahanara, Shah Jahan's eldest daughter. It +is in the same style as the splendid mosque built by Shah Jahan +at Delhi, but far inferior in merit. There is a tameness about the +whole design very unusual in the buildings of this epoch. The zig-zag +striping of the domes is decidedly unpleasant. + +An inscription over the main archway states that it was completed in +the year 1644 A.D. a cost of five lakhs of rupees. + + + +The Taj + +Arjumand Banu Begam the favourite wife of Shah Jahan, is better known +by her other name, Mumtaz Mahal ("the Crown of the Palace"). Her +father was Asaf Khan, who was brother of the Empress Nur Mahal, +Jahangir's wife. She was thus the granddaughter of Itmâd-ud-daulah, +Jahangir's Prime Minister, whose tomb, on the opposite bank of the +river, will be described hereafter. + +In 1612, at the age of nineteen years she was married to Shah +Jahan--then Prince Khurram--who, though hardly twenty-one, had already +another wife. This second marriage, however, was a real love-match, +and Mumtaz was her husband's inseparable companion on all his journeys +and military expeditions. Shah Jahan, like his father, allowed his +wife a large share in the responsibilities of government. Like Nur +Mahal, she was famed as much for her charity as for her beauty. Her +influence was especially exercised in obtaining clemency for criminals +condemned to death. She bore him fourteen children, and died in +childbed in 1630, or the second year after Shah Jahan's accession to +the throne, at Burhanpur, whither she had accompanied her husband +on a campaign against Khan Jahan Lodi. The Emperor was overpowered +with grief. For a week he refused to see any of his ministers, or +to transact any business of state. He even contemplated resigning +the throne and dividing the empire among his sons. For two years the +court observed strict mourning. No music or festivities were allowed; +the wearing of jewels, the use of perfumes and luxuries of all kinds +were forbidden. The month of Zikad, in which she died, was observed +as a month of mourning for many years afterwards. The body of Mumtaz +was removed to Agra, and remained temporarily in the garden of the +Taj while the foundations of the building were being laid. It was +then placed in the vault where it now lies. A temporary dome covered +the tomb while the great monument grew up over it. + + +The building of the Taj. + +It was one of those intervals in history when the whole genius of a +people is concentrated on great architectural works, and art becomes +an epitome of the age. For the Taj was not a creation of a single +master-mind, but the consummation of a great art epoch. Since the +time of Akbar the best architects, artists, and art workmen of India, +Persia, Arabia, and Central Asia had been attracted to the Mogul +court. All the resources of a great empire were at their disposal, +for Shah Jahan desired that this monument of his grief should be one +of the wonders of the world. The sad circumstances which attended +the early death of the devoted wife who had endeared herself to the +people might well inspire all his subjects to join in the Emperor's +pious intentions. + +According to the old Tartar custom, a garden was chosen as a site +for the tomb--a garden planted with flowers and flowering shrubs, +the emblems of life, and solemn cypress, the emblem of death +and eternity. Such a garden, in the Mogul days, was kept up as a +pleasure-ground during the owner's lifetime, and used as his last +resting-place after his death. The old tradition laid down that it +must be acquired by fair means, and not by force or fraud. So Rajah +Jey Singh, to whom the garden belonged, was compensated by the gift +of another property from the Emperor's private estate. Shah Jahan +next appointed a council of the best architects of his empire for +preparing the design for the building. Drawings of many of the most +celebrated buildings of the world were shown and discussed. It is even +believed that one Geronimo Verroneo, an Italian who was then in the +Mogul service, submitted designs for Shah Jahan's inspection, a fact +which has led many writers into the error of supposing that the Taj, +as completed, was actually designed by him. [8] The design eventually +accepted was by Ustad Isa, who is stated in one account to have been +a Byzantine Turk, and in another a native of Shiraz, in Persia. + +The master-builders came from many different parts; the chief +masons from Baghdad, Delhi, and Multan; the dome builders from +Asiatic Turkey and from Samarkand; the mosaic workers from Kanauj +and from Baghdad; the principal calligraphist for the inscriptions +from Shiraz. Every part of India and Central Asia contributed the +materials; Jaipur, the marble; Fatehpur Sikri, the red sandstone; +the Panjab, jasper; China, the jade and crystal; Tibet, turquoises; +Ceylon, lapis lazuli and sapphires; Arabia, coral and cornelian; +Panna in Bundelkund, diamonds; Persia, onyx and amethyst. Twenty +thousand men were employed in the construction, which took seventeen +years to complete. [9] The sarcophagus was originally enclosed by +a fence or screen of gold studded with gems. This was removed in +1642, and replaced by the present exquisite screen of pierced marble +(Plate VII.). The Taj also possessed formerly two wonderful silver +doors. Austin de Bordeaux, a French goldsmith, who was employed by +Shah Jahan in making the celebrated Peacock throne, may possibly +have executed some of this metal-work in the Taj; but there is no +evidence worthy of consideration to support the common Anglo-Indian +belief that he designed or superintended the _pietra dura_, or inlaid +marble decoration of the building, which is entirely of the Persian +school. These silver doors were looted and melted down by the Jâts +in 1764. + +Besides the lavish expenditure on the building, lakhs of rupees were +spent in providing the richest of Persian silk carpets, golden lamps, +and magnificent candlesticks. A sheet of pearls, valued at several +lakhs, was made to cover the sarcophagus. This was carried off by the +Amir Husein Ali Khan, in 1720, as part of his share of the spoil of +Agra. The total expenditure, according to native accounts, amounted +to nearly 185 lakhs of rupees. + +It is said that Shah Jahan had intended to construct a mausoleum for +himself opposite to the Taj, on the other side of the Jumna and to +connect the two by a great bridge. The project was interrupted and +never completed, owing to the usurpation of Aurangzîb, shortly after +the foundations were laid. + + +The Intention of the Taj. + +The Taj has been the subject of numberless critical essays, but +many of them have missed the mark entirely, because the writers +have not been sufficiently conversant with the spirit of Eastern +artistic thought. All comparisons with the Parthenon or other +classic buildings are useless. One cannot compare Homer with the +Mâhabhâratâ, or Kalîdâs with Euripides. The Parthenon was a temple +for Pallas Athene, an exquisite casket to contain the jewel. The +Taj is the jewel--the ideal itself. Indian architecture is in much +closer affinity to the great conceptions of the Gothic builders +than it is to anything of classic or Renaissance construction. The +Gothic cathedral, with its sculptured arches and its spires pointing +heavenwards, is a symbol, as most Eastern buildings are symbols. The +Mogul artists, being prevented by the precepts of the Muhammadan +religion from attempting sculpture, as understood in Europe, succeeded +in investing their great architectural monuments with an extraordinary +personal character. There is a wonderful personality in the dignity and +greatness of Akbar's tomb; we see the scholar and the polished courtier +in Itmâd-ud-daulah's. But the Taj carries this idea of personality +further than had been attempted in any of the Mogul monuments; it +represents in art the highest development towards individualism, +the struggle against the restraints of ritualism and dogma, which +Akbar initiated in religion. + +Every one who has seen the Taj must have felt that there is something +in it, difficult to define or analyze, which differentiates it from +all other buildings in the world. Sir Edwin Arnold has struck the +true note of criticism in the following lines:-- + + + "Not Architecture! as all others are, + But the proud passion of an Emperor's love + Wrought into living stone, which gleams and soars + With body of beauty shrining soul and thought; + ... As when some face + Divinely fair unveils before our eyes-- + Some woman beautiful unspeakably-- + And the blood quickens, and the spirit leaps, + And will to worship bends the half-yielded knees, + While breath forgets to breathe. So is the Taj!" + + +This is not a mere flight of poetic fancy, but a deep and true +interpretation of the meaning of the Taj. What were the thoughts +of the designers, and of Shah Jahan himself, when they resolved to +raise a monument of eternal love to the Crown of the Palace--Taj +Mahal? Surely not only of a mausoleum--a sepulchre fashioned after +ordinary architectural canons, but of an architectonic ideal, +symbolical of her womanly grace and beauty. Those critics who have +objected to the effeminacy of the architecture unconsciously pay the +highest tribute to the genius of the builders. The Taj was meant to +be feminine. The whole conception, and every line and detail of it, +express the intention of the designers. It is Mumtaz Mahal herself, +radiant in her youthful beauty, who still lingers on the banks of +the shining Jumna, at early morn, in the glowing midday sun, or in +the silver moonlight. Or rather, we should say, it conveys a more +abstract thought; it is India's noble tribute to the grace of Indian +womanhood--the Venus de Milo of the East. + +Bearing this in mind, we can understand how foolish it is to formulate +criticisms of the Taj based on ordinary architectural principles +as practised in Europe. Many of these criticisms, which might be +appropriate enough if applied to a modern provincial town hall, are +only silly and impertinent in reference to the Taj. Some are born +tone-deaf, others colour-blind, and there are many who can find beauty +in one particular form or expression of art and in no others. So the +Taj will always find detractors. But whoever tries to understand +the imaginative side of Eastern thought will leave the critics to +themselves, and take unrestrained delight in the exquisitely subtle +rhythm of this marvellous creation of Mogul art. + + * * * * * + +The gateway of the Taj faces a spacious quadrangle surrounded +by arcades. This is a _caravan serai_, or place where travellers +halted. Here, also, the poor were provided with food and shelter, +and on the anniversary day vast sums were distributed in charity +from the funds with which the Taj was endowed. It is well to pause +before entering, and admire the proportions and perfect taste of +the decoration of this gateway; for afterwards one has no eyes for +anything but the Taj itself. It is much finer in design than the +similar gateway of Akbar's tomb at Sikandra. An Arabic inscription in +black marble, of passages taken from the Koran, frames the principal +arch, and invites the pure of heart to enter the Gardens of Paradise. + +The first view of the Taj is from within this noble portal, framed by +the sombre shadow of the great arch which opens on to the garden. At +the end of a long terrace, its gracious outline partly mirrored in the +still water of a wide canal, a fairy vision of silver-white--like the +spirit of purity--seems to rest so lightly, so tenderly, on the earth, +as if in a moment it would soar into the sky. The beauty of the Taj, +as in all great art, lies in its simplicity. One wonders that so much +beauty can come from so little effort. Yet nothing is wanting, nothing +in excess; one cannot alter this and that and say that it is better. + +The garden, as originally planned, was an integral part of one great +design. The solemn rows of cypresses were planted so as to help out +the lines of the architecture; the flowering trees and flower-beds +completed the harmony with a splendid glow of colour. [10] Beautiful +as the first view of the Taj is even now, one can hardly realize how +glorious it must have been when the whole intention of the design +was fulfilled. At present there is not a single spot in the garden +itself which gives a view of the composition as a whole. + +Advancing down the main terrace, paved with stone and laid out with +geometric flower-beds, we reach a marble platform with its fountain +(see frontispiece), [11] where a nearer view of the Taj may be +enjoyed. Such a platform was the central feature in all Mogul +gardens. The terraces to the right and left of it end in two fine +pavilions of red sandstone, intended for the accommodation of the +custodians of the mausoleum and for storehouses. + +From this point we can admire the effect of the exquisite inlaid +decoration, fine and precious as the embroidery on the raiment of +Mumtaz herself. At the end of the main terrace we reach the steps +leading up to the great platform on which the Taj and its minarets, +"four tall court ladies tending their Princess," are raised. + +Let us reverently enter the central chamber, where Mumtaz Mahal and +Shah Jahan, her lord and lover, lie. Fergusson has truly said, no +words can express its chastened beauty seen in the soft gloom of the +subdued light coming from the distant and half-closed openings. The +screen of marble tracery which surrounds the tombs is in itself a +masterpiece. Even with all the artistic resources which Shah Jahan had +at his command, it was a work of ten years. Mumtaz Mahal lies in the +centre. The white marble of her tomb blossoms with a never-fading +garden of Persian flowers, which the magic of the Mogul artists +has created. + +The inscription on it is as follows: "The illustrious sepulchre of +Arjumand Banu Begam, called Mumtaz Mahal. Died in 1040 A.H." (1630 +A.D.). + +At the head of the tomb is the line: "He is the everlasting: He is +sufficient;" and the following passage from the Koran: "God is He, +besides whom there is no God. He knoweth what is concealed and what +is manifest. He is merciful and compassionate." + +On one side of it: "Nearer unto God are those who say 'Our Lord +is God.'" + +The inscription in the tomb of Shah Jahan is as follows: "The +illustrious sepulchre and sacred resting-place of His Most Exalted +Majesty dignified as Razwan (the guardian of Paradise), having his +abode in Paradise, and his dwelling in the starry heaven, inhabitant +of the regions of bliss, the second lord of the Qirán, [12] Shah +Jahan, the king valiant. May his tomb ever flourish; and may his +abode be in the heavens. He travelled from this transitory world to +the world of eternity on the night of the 28th of the month of Rajab, +1076 A.H." (1666 A.D.). + +The real cenotaphs containing the remains of Shah Jahan and his +wife are immediately under these tombs, in the vault below. Not the +least of the wonders of this wonderful building is in its acoustic +qualities. It does not respond to vulgar noises, but if a few notes be +slowly and softly sung in this vault, and especially if the chord of +the seventh be sounded; they are caught up by the echoes of the roof +and repeated in endless harmonies, which seem to those listening above +as if a celestial choir were chanting angelic hymns. "It haunts the +air above and around; it distils in showers upon the polished marble; +it rises, it falls.... It is the very element with which sweet dreams +are builded. It is the spirit of the Taj, the voice of inspired love!" + +Surrounding the central chamber are eight smaller ones for the mullahs +who chanted the Koran and for musicians who played soft Indian and +Persian melodies. The vault below was only opened once a year, on +the anniversary day, when the Emperor and all his court attended a +solemn festival. Even on ordinary occasions none but Muhammadans were +admitted into the interior. Bernier tells us that he had not seen it, +on that account, but he understood that nothing could be conceived +more rich and magnificent. + +The two mosques of red sandstone on either side of the Taj are in the +same style as the entrance gateway, the interiors being decorated +with fresco and fine cut plaster-work. The one towards the west +was intended for prayers only; the floor is panelled into separate +spaces for each worshipper. The opposite mosque was known, as the +_Jamaat Khana_, or meeting-place for the congregation before prayers, +and on the occasion of the great anniversary service. Standing on the +platform in front of this mosque, one has a splendid view of the Taj, +the river, and the distant Fort. + +As the garden is now arranged; a full view of the magnificent platform, +with its two mosques, and the Taj itself, can only be obtained from +the opposite side of the river, which is not very accessible except by +boat. When the traveller leaves Agra by rail, going east, the Taj in +all its glory can be seen in the distance, floating like the mirage of +some wondrous fairy palace over the waving tufts of the pampas grass, +until at last it sinks into the pale horizon. + + * * * * * + +NOTE.--A small museum has been established lately by the Archæological +Department, in the western half of the Taj main gateway. It +contains an interesting collection of photographs and drawings of +the Taj at different periods, and specimens of the stones used in the +_pietra dura_, or inlay work of the building. There are also samples +illustrating the technique of _pietra dura_, and the tools used by +native workmen. + + + +Itmâd-ud-daulah's Tomb + +The tomb of Itmâd-ud-daulah, "the Lord High Treasurer," is on the east +or left bank of the river, and is reached by crossing the pontoon +bridge. It was built by Nur Mahal, the favourite wife of Jahangir, +as a mausoleum for her father, Mirza Ghîas Beg, who, according to +one account, was a Persian from Teheran, and by another a native of +Western Tartary. + +A story is told of the Mirza's early life, of which it can only be +said, _Se non é vero é ben trovato_. He left his home, accompanied +by his wife and children, to seek his fortune in India, where he +had some relatives at Akbar's court. His slender provision for the +journey was exhausted in crossing the Great Desert, and they were +all in danger of perishing from hunger. In this extremity his wife +gave birth to a daughter. The unhappy parents, distracted by hunger +and fatigue, left the infant under a solitary shrub. With the father +supporting his wife and children on the one bullock which remained +to them, they pushed on in the hope of finding relief; but as the +tiny landmark where the infant lay disappeared in the distance, the +mother, in a paroxysm of grief, threw herself to the ground, crying, +"My child! my child!" The piteous appeal forced the father to return +to restore the babe to her mother, and soon afterwards a caravan +appeared in sight and rescued the whole party. + +The child born under these romantic circumstances became the Empress +Nur Mahal, who built this mausoleum. Her father reached Lahore, where +Akbar then held his court, and through the influence of his friends +attracted the Emperor's attention. His talents won for him speedy +promotion, and under Jahangir he became first Lord High Treasurer, and +afterwards Wazir, or Prime Minister. Jahangir, in his memoirs, candidly +discusses the character of his father-in-law. He was a good scholar, +with a pretty taste for poetry, possessed many social qualities and +a genial disposition. His accounts were always in perfect order, but +"he liked bribes, and showed much boldness in demanding them." On his +death his son, Asaf Khan, the father of Mumtaz Mahal, was appointed +to succeed him. + +Itmâd-ad-daulah and his wife are buried in the central chamber; +his brother and sister and other members of his family occupy +the four corners. The pavilion on the roof, enclosed by beautiful +marble tracery (Plate IX.), contains only replicas of the real tombs +beneath. The mausoleum was commenced in 1622 and completed in 1628. As +a composition it may lack inspiration, but it is exceedingly elegant, +and scholarly like the Lord High Treasurer himself. In construction it +marks the transition from the style of Akbar to that of Shah Jahan; +from the Jahangiri Mahal to the Dîwan-i-khas, the Mûti Masjid, and +the Taj. The towers at the four corners might be the first suggestion +of the detached minarets of the Taj. The Hindu feeling which is so +characteristic of most of Akbar's buildings is here only shown in +the roof of the central chamber over the tomb; in pure Saracenic +architecture a tomb is always covered by a dome. + +This change in style greatly influenced the architecture of the +whole of the north of India, Hindu and Jain as well as Muhammadan. It +must be remembered that comparatively few of the master-builders who +actually constructed the most famous examples of Mogul architecture +were Muhammadans. The remarkable decline of the Mogul style which +set in under Aurangzîb was largely due to his bigotry in refusing to +employ any but true believers. + +The family ties of Itmâd-ud-daulah and his daughter, the Empress, +were closely connected with Persia and Central Asia; and no doubt +the fashion set by Jahangir's court led to the Saracenic element +becoming predominant in the Mogul style, both in construction and in +decoration. Many authorities have connected the marked difference +between Itmâd-ud-daulah's tomb and Akbar's buildings to Italian +influence, only on the ground that Jahangir is known to have been +partial to Europeans, and allowed them free access to his palace. There +is not, however, a trace of Italian art in any detail of the building; +there is not a form or decorative idea which had not been used in +India or in Central Asia for centuries. The use of marble inlaid work +on so extensive a scale was a novelty, but it was only an imitation, +or adaptation, of the splendid tile-mosaic and painted tile-work +which were the commonest kinds of decoration employed in Persia: +Wazir Khan's mosque at Lahore, built in Jahangir's time, is a fine +Indian example of the latter. + +The art of inlaying stone had been practised in India for many +years before this building; but here, for the first time, do we find +the inlayers making attempts at direct imitation of Persian pottery +decoration. All the familiar _motifs_ of Persian art, the tree of life +and other floral types, the cypress tree, the flower-vases, fruits, +wine-cups, and rose-water vessels are here reproduced exactly as they +are found in Persian mosaic tiles. In Shah Jahan's palace and in the +Taj they went a step further, and imitated the more naturalistic +treatment of Persian fresco painting and other pictorial art; but +there is never the slightest suggestion of European design in the +decoration of these buildings. + +It is quite possible that some Italians may have shown the native +inlayers specimens of Florentine _pietra dura_, and suggested to +them this naturalistic treatment, but if Italians or other Europeans +had been engaged to instruct or supervise in the decoration of +these buildings they would certainly have left some traces of their +handiwork. In the technical part of the process the Indian workmen +had nothing to learn, and in the design they made no attempt to +follow European forms, except in the one solitary instance of the +decoration of the throne-chamber of the Delhi Palace, which is much +later in date than Itmâd-ud-daulah's tomb. [13] + +The whole scheme of the exterior decoration is so finely carried out, +both in arrangement and colour, that its extreme elaboration produces +no effect of unquietness. At a distance it only gives a suggestion of +a soft bloom or iridescence on the surface of the marble. The soffits +of the doorways are carved with extraordinary delicacy. Inside the +building there are remains of fresco and other painted decoration. + +Beautifully placed on the river bank, there is a fine little mosque, +which at sunset makes a charming picture. The boldness and greater +simplicity of the decoration contrast well with the richness of that +of the mausoleum. + + + +The Chînî-ka-Rauza + +Beyond Itmâd-ud-daulah's tomb, on the same side of the river, is a +beautiful ruin, once entirely covered with the same Persian mosaic +tile-work, which suggested the more costly style of decoration in +inlaid marble. It is called Chînî-ka-Rauza, or the China Tomb, and +is supposed to be the mausoleum of Afzal Khan, a Persian poet, who +entered the service of Jahangir, and afterwards became Prime Minister +to Shah Jahan. He died in Lahore in 1639. The weather and ill-treatment +of various kinds have removed a great deal of the exquisite enamel +colours from the tiles, but enough remains to indicate how rich and +magnificent the effect must have been originally. A part of the south +façade which has fallen in shows how the builders employed earthen +pots to lessen the weight of the concrete filling, a practice followed +in the ancient dome construction of Egypt and Rome. + + + +The Ram Bagh + +Among a number of more or less ruined garden-houses on this bank +of the river, there is one, a little beyond the Chînî-ka-Rauza, of +especial interest, on account of the tradition which associates it +with the Emperor Babar. It is called the Ram Bagh, and is believed to +have been one of the "elegant and regularly planned pleasure-grounds" +which Babar laid out and planted with fruit trees and flowers, as he +has described in his memoirs. + +No doubt this was the scene of many imperial picnics; not the drunken +revels of Babar's Kabul days--for just before the great battle with +the Rajputs in 1527 he smashed all his gold and silver drinking-cups +and took a vow of total abstinence, which he kept faithfully--but +the more sane and temperate pleasures which music, poetry, and his +intense delight in the beauties of nature could furnish. Here is a +charming picture he has given of another garden he laid out in the +Istalif district of Kabul:-- + +"On the outside of the garden are large and beautiful spreading +plane-trees, under the shade of which there are agreeable spots, +finely sheltered. A perennial stream, large enough to turn a mill, +runs through the garden, and on its banks are planted plane and other +trees. Formerly this stream flowed in a winding and crooked course, +but I ordered its course to be altered according to a plan which +added greatly to the beauty of the place. Lower down ... on the lower +skirts of the hills is a fountain, named Kwâjeh-seh-yârân (Kwâjeh three +friends), around which are three species of trees; above the fountain +are many beautiful plane trees, which yield a pleasant shade. On the +two sides of the fountain, on small eminences at the bottom of the +hills, there are a number of oak trees. Except on these two spots, +where there are groves of oak, there is not an oak to be met with on +the hills of the west of Kabul. In front of this fountain, towards the +plain, there are many spots covered with the flowering arghwân tree, +and, besides these arghwân plots, there are none else in the whole +country. It is said that these three kinds of trees were bestowed +on it by the power of these three holy men, beloved of God; and that +is the origin of the name Sej-Yârân. I directed this fountain to be +built round with stone, and formed a cistern of lime and mortar ten +yez by ten. On the four sides of the fountain a fine level platform +for resting was constructed on a very neat plan. At the time when +the arghwân flowers begin to blow, I do not know of any place in the +world to be compared with it. The yellow arghwân is here very abundant, +and the yellow arghwân blossom mingles with the red." + +The Ram Bagh was the temporary resting-place of the body of +Babar before it was taken to Kabul for interment in another of the +gardens he loved so much. The old Mogul style of gardening is a lost +art, and one misses in the Ram Bagh the stately rows of cypress, +interspersed with flowering trees, the formal flower-beds glowing +with colour like a living carpet, which were planted by Babar; but +the terraces, the fountain, the water-channels, and the little stone +water-shoots--cunningly carved so that the water breaks over them +with a pleasant gurgling sound--which may have recalled to him the +murmurings of his native mountain-streams--the old well from which +the water of the Jumna is lifted into the channels, can still be seen, +as well as the pavilions on the river-bank, now modernized with modern +bad taste. + +In later times the Ram Bagh was the garden-house of the Empress Nur +Mahal. It was kept up by all succeeding Governments, and it is said +to have obtained its name of Ram Bagh from the Mahrattas in the +eighteenth century. + +THE ZUHARA BAGH.--Between the Chînî-ka-Rauza and the Ram Bagh there is +another great walled enclosure, which contained the garden-house of +Zuhara, one of Babar's daughters, and is named after her the Zuhara, +or Zohra Bagh. This formerly contained the largest garden-palace +at Agra, and is said to have possessed no less than sixty wells. A +great well, just outside the enclosure, 220 feet in circumference, +and of enormous depth, was filled up some years ago. + + + +Sikandra + +Sikandra, a village about five miles from Agra, and the burial-place of +Akbar, is reached by two roads. The older one follows, to some extent, +the alignment of the great military road to Lahore and Kashmir, planned +by Babar and completed by his successors. A few of the _kos-minars_, +pillars which marked off the _kos_--a distance of about two and a half +miles--can still be seen along the road, or in the adjoining fields. + +Numerous remains of archæological interest are passed on the way of +the old road. First the Delhi gate of the old city walls. About a +mile further on the right-hand side, is a great walled enclosure, +named after Ladli Begam, the sister of Abul Fazl, Akbar's famous +Prime Minister and biographer. It formerly contained her tomb, as +well as that of Sheikh Mubarak, her father, and of Faizi, her eldest +brother. Many years ago the whole enclosure was sold by Government. The +purchasers, some wealthy Hindu merchants of Muttra, promptly pulled +down the mausoleum, realized the materials, and built a pavilion +on the site. In front of the great gateway was a splendid _baoli_, +or well-house, the largest in the neighbourhood of Agra. This was +filled up about five years ago. + +Not far from Ladli Begam's garden is the Kandahâri Bagh, where the +first wife of Shah Jahan, a daughter of Mozaffar Husein, who was the +great-grandson of Shah Ismail Safvi, King of Persia, is buried. + +About a mile further along the road, on the left-hand side, is a +curious statue of a horse in red sandstone, which, tradition says, +was put up by a nobleman whose favourite horse was killed at this spot; +the syce who was killed at the same time has his tomb close by. + +Nearly opposite to this is a large dried-up tank, called the +Guru-ka-Tal, which, with the adjacent ruined buildings, are attributed +to Sikandar Lodi, one of the Afghan predecessors of the Mogul Emperors, +who has given his name to Sikandra. + + +Akbar's Tomb. + +Akbar's tomb stands in the midst of a vast garden, enclosed by four +high battlemented walls. In the centre of each wall is an imposing +gateway seventy feet high. The principal one, on the west side, +has an inscription in Persian, which states that the mausoleum was +completed by the Emperor Jahangir, in the seventh year of his reign, +or 1613 A.D. It is elaborately ornamented with bold but rather +disjointed inlaid patterns, which seem to show that the designers +were unaccustomed to this method of decoration. Neither are the +four minarets at the corners of the roof, which are said to have +been broken by the Jâts, contrived with the usual skill of the Mogul +architects. Above the gateway is the Nakkár Khana, an arcaded chamber +with a balcony, where at dawn and one watch after sunrise the drums +and pipes sounded in honour of the dead. + +The mausoleum was commenced by Akbar himself. It is different in plan +from any other Mogul monument, and, contrary to the usual Muhammadan +custom, the head of the tomb of Akbar is turned towards the rising +sun, and not towards Mecca. The whole structure gives the impression +of a noble but incompleted idea; both in its greatness and in its +incompleteness, it is typical of Akbar and his work. + +The original design was somewhat modified by Jahangir. He has +stated in his memoirs that on his first visit to the tomb after his +accession he was dissatisfied with the work which had been done, +and ordered certain parts of it to be rebuilt. Fergusson supposes +that the original intention was to cover the tombstone and raised +platform of the uppermost story with a domed canopy, and in this +he is supported by a statement of William Finch, who visited the +mausoleum when it was being built, that it was to be "inarched over +with the most curious white and speckled marble, to be ceiled all +within with pure sheet gold richly inwrought." Such a canopy is just +what is required by æsthetic considerations to complete the curiously +truncated appearance of the top story, and there is nothing in the +structural design to make it impossible or improbable. + +The approach to the interior of the mausoleum is through the central +archway of the lower story, which opens into a vestibule richly +ornamented with raised stucco work, and coloured in blue and gold, +somewhat in the style of the Alhambra. A part of this decoration has +been lately restored. An inclined passage, like the entrance to an +Egyptian pyramid, leads down into a high vaulted chamber, dimly lighted +from above, where a simple sarcophagus of white marble contains the +mortal remains of the great Akbar. Whatever decoration there may have +been on the walls is now covered with whitewash. The Emperor's armour, +clothes, and books, which were placed beside the tomb, are said to have +been carried off by those insatiable marauders, the Jâts of Bharatpur. + +Smaller chambers surrounding the central one, on the level of the +platform, contain the tombs of two of Akbar's daughters and a son of +the Emperor Shah Alam. These also have suffered much from neglect and +whitewash, The whole of the façade of the lower story was originally +faced with red sandstone, or perhaps with fine stucco decorated in +fresco. The present coat of common plaster is modern work, which, +except as a protection for the brickwork, would have been better +left undone. + +The lower story is 320 feet square. Above this are three others, +diminishing in size up to the highest, which is just half these +dimensions. The roof of the topmost is surrounded by cloisters, +the outer arches of which are filled with very fine marble tracery +(Plate X.). In the centre, on a raised platform, is a solid block of +pure white marble, delicately carved with flowers and sacred texts, +representing the real tomb in the vault beneath. At the head is +the inscription, "Allah-o-Akbar" (God is Great), and at the foot, +"Jalli Jalalohu" (Magnificent is His Glory). These sentences were +the formula of Akbar's new religion, which he called "The Divine +Faith." On the sides the ninety-nine attributes of God are carved in +the Arabic character. The carved marble pedestal at the end of the +tomb was a stand for a golden censer. + +THE KANCH MAHAL.--Outside the enclosure of Akbar's tomb, a little +to the east of the principal entrance, is a rare and remarkably fine +example of Mogul domestic architecture. This is a two-storied building, +known as the Kanch Mahal, and supposed to have been built by Jahangir +as a country seat. In its extremely elaborate ornamentation, inlaid +stone and enamelled tiles have been most effectively combined with the +carving. The repairs lately carried out under Lord Curzon's orders have +been very carefully done, though it is easy to see the inferiority of +the new work where the old carving had to be reproduced. Our fatuous +policy of adopting European styles in all public buildings in India +is bound to cause a deterioration in the native art handicrafts, for +it closes the principal source from which they have sprung. Unless +this policy is reversed, nothing will prevent the ultimate extinction +of Indian art. + +SURAJ-BHAN-KA BAGH.--This is another two-storied building of about +the same period, but not quite so fine in style, facing the Agra road, +at a little distance from the Kanch Mahal. + +MARIAM ZÂMÂNI'S TOMB.--A short distance further on, in the direction +of Muttra, is the building supposed to have been originally the garden +house of Sikandar Lodi, in which Mariam Zâmâni, one of Akbar's wives, +is said to have been buried. It has been used for many years as a +printing establishment for a Mission Orphanage. + + + +Other Buildings and Tombs at or near Agra + +The tomb of Feroz Khan, opposite to the third milestone on the Gwalior +road, is an interesting building of Akbar's time, richly carved and +decorated with tile-work. Close by is the tomb of the Pahalwari, +where a celebrated wrestler of Shah Jahan's time is buried. There +are a considerable number of buildings and numerous ruins in Agra, +and round about, which possess only historical or archæological +interest. In the town are the following:-- + +The KALI MASJID, or Black Mosque, otherwise called the Kalan Masjid, +or Grand Mosque, is of the early Akbar style. It was built by the +father of Shah Jahan's first wife, the Kandahâri Begum. This is near +to the Government dispensary. + +In the Nai-ki-Mundi quarter is the mosque of Shah Ala-ud-din Majzub, +commonly known as ALAWAL BILAWAL, a saint who lived at the time of +Shere Shah. He established a school of Muhammadan law, and founded a +monastery besides the mosque. The accumulations round the mosque have +reached up to the springing of the arches, and tradition accounts for +this by the following story: A camel-driver in Shere Shah's service +stabled his beasts in the mosque, in spite of the protests of the saint +Thereupon the building began to sink into the ground, and did not cease +descending until the camels and their driver were crushed to death. + +The HAMMAN, or Baths of Ali Verdi Khan, in Chipitolla Street, built +in the time of Jahangir. An inscription over the gateway gives the +date, 1620 A.D. They cannot be compared in interest with the splendid +"Hakim's Baths," at Fatehpur Sikri. + +The ROMAN CATHOLIC CEMETERY, in the quarter known as Padritollah, +near the Law Courts, is one of the most ancient Christian cemeteries +in India. The ground was granted to the mission by the Emperor +Akbar. There are a number of Portuguese and Armenian tombs dating from +early in the seventeenth century. It also contains the tomb of the +notorious Walter Reinhardt, or Samru, as he was called, the founder +of the principality of Sirdhana, whose history is given at p. 38. The +Dutch General Messing, who held Agra Fort for the Mahrattas in 1794, +has a very florid mausoleum of red sandstone, more curious than +beautiful; the design of which is in imitation of the Taj. + + + +Fatehpur Sikri + +Fatehpur Sikri is the famous deserted city, about twenty-three miles +from Agra, built by Akbar. It was formerly merely a village, called +Sikri, celebrated as the abode of Sheikh Salîm Chishti, a Muhammadan +_pîr_, or saint. In 1564, Akbar, returning from a campaign, halted +near the cave in which the saint lived. The twin children of his +Rajput wife, Mariam Zâmâni, had recently died, and he was anxious +for an heir. He consulted the holy man, who advised him to come and +live at Sikri. The Emperor did so, and nine months afterwards Mariam, +who was taken to Chishti's cell for her confinement, gave birth to a +son, afterwards the Emperor Jahangir. He was called Sultan Salîm in +honour of the saint. Jahangir, who describes all these circumstances +in his memoirs, adds: "My revered father, regarding the village of +Sikri, my birthplace, as fortunate to himself, made it his capital, +and in the course of fourteen or fifteen years the hills and deserts, +which abounded in beasts of prey, became converted into a magnificent +city, comprising numerous gardens, elegant edifices and pavilions, +and other places of great attraction and beauty. After the conquest +of Gujarat, the village was named Fatehpur (the town of victory)." + +The glory of Fatehpur Sikri was short-lived. Akbar held his court +there for seventeen years, and then removed it to Agra; some say on +account of the badness of the water supply, others that the saint, +disturbed in his devotions by the bustle and gaieties of the great +city, declared that either he or Akbar must go. "Then," replied the +Emperor, "let it be your servant, I pray." The entire city was given +up to the beasts of the surrounding jungle. Finch, who visited it in +the early part of the next reign, describes it: "Ruin all; lying like a +waste desert, and very dangerous to pass through in the night." This, +however, was an exaggeration, for the principal buildings are still +in a good state of preservation, probably owing to the remoteness of +the place from any great highway or large town. + +The city, which was some six miles in circuit, was surrounded on three +sides by high battlemented walls, which had nine gateways. The fourth +side was formed by a great artificial lake, now dry. The principal +buildings are on the summit of the high ridge which runs throughout +the length of the city. + +THE AGRA GATE.--The visitor usually enters by the Agra Gate, +concerning which an amusing story is told. One night Akbar, attended +by some of his ministers, was inspecting the ramparts near this +gate, when he observed a highway robbery being committed close by +the walls. Turning severely to those responsible for the peace of +the city, he demanded why such an outrage was permitted in the very +presence of the Emperor. "It is always darkest directly under the +shadow of the lamp," was the courtly reply. + +THE NAUBAT KHANA.--Inside the gate the road passes, by the right, a +large quadrangle surrounded by a ruined cloister, which was probably +used for barracks. Beyond this the road was formerly lined on both +sides by the houses of the bazar. It next passes through the inner +gateway, called the _Naubat Khana_, or Music House, where, as in all +Mogul fortresses, the court musicians played to announce the Emperor's +arrival or departure, and various state ceremonials. + +THE MINT.--Some distance beyond the Naubat Khana, on the right, is a +large building believed to have been the Imperial Mint. Rare specimens +of gold, silver, and copper coins from the Fatehpur Mint are in the +British Museum. The brick domes of this building are interesting, +as they are probably the earliest examples in India of the use of +radiating courses instead of horizontal layers in dome construction. + +Opposite to the Mint is a smaller building known as the Treasury. + +THE DAFTAR KHANA.--Passing through the great quadrangle of the +Dîwan-i-âm, the visitor arrives at the Daftar Khana, or Record Chamber, +now adapted for a travellers' rest-house. This was Akbar's office, +and is immediately opposite to his own sanctum, the Kwâbgâh, and +the principal buildings of the Imperial Palace. A staircase in the +south-east room leads to the roof, from which a fine view of the city +and surrounding country can be obtained. The principal buildings can +be easily identified by help of the plan. + +THE PALACE.--A door in the side of the quadrangle, opposite to +the Daftar Khana, leads into Akbar's palace, the Mahal-i-Khas. The +two-storied building on the left on entering contains Akbar's private +apartments. The first room on the ground floor is panelled into +numerous recesses for keeping books, documents, or valuables. There +are some remains of painted decoration representing flowers, such as +the tulip, poppy, and almond flower, executed with much vigour and +technical skill. Behind this is a chamber which, according to Edmund +Smith, was used by a Hindu priest attached to Akbar's court. It +contains a stone platform raised on pillars, upon which he is said +to have performed his devotions. It was more probably intended for +Akbar's own gaddi, or throne. A door in the west wall leads into the +cloisters, which formerly connected Akbar's apartments with the Daftar +Khana and with Jodh Bai's palace. + +THE KWÂBGÂH, or sleeping apartment, is a small pavilion on the +roof. Originally the walls were entirely covered by fresco paintings, +but only a few fragments now remain. Unfortunately, these have been +protected by a coat of varnish, which reduces them all to a dull +monochrome. It is to be regretted that a more scientific method of +preserving them was not adopted. They are all in the Persian style, +and, except for the Chinese element which is often present in Persian +art, there is no ground for Edmund Smith's supposition that Chinese +artists were employed here. + +On the side window over the eastern doorway is a painting of a +winged figure, in front of a rock cave, supporting a new-born babe +in its arms. In all probability it refers to the birth of Jahangir +in the cell of the Saint Salîm Chishti, which Akbar, no doubt, +thought miraculous. Many archæologists make the great mistake of +attributing every winged figure in these decorations to some Biblical +story. Heavenly beings with wings, the inhabitants of Paradise, +spirits of the air, or "angels," are very common in Persian and Indian +painting, and are by no means a monopoly of European artists. + +It is known that Akbar took a great interest in painting. Abul Fazl, +in the "Ain-i-Akbari," states that "His Majesty from the earliest +youth has shown a great predilection for the art, and gives it +every encouragement, as he looks upon it as a means both of study +and amusement. Hence the art flourishes, and many painters have +obtained great reputations. The works of all painters are weekly +laid before his Majesty by the Daroghas and the clerks; he confers +rewards according to the excellence of workmanship, or increases +their monthly salaries. Much progress was made in the commodities +required by painters, and the correct prices of such articles were +carefully ascertained." + +Akbar himself remarked, "Bigoted followers of the law are hostile +to the art of painting, but their eyes now see the truth. There are +many that hate painting, but such men I dislike. It appears to me as +if a painter had a peculiar means of recognizing God; for a painter, +in sketching anything that has life and in drawing its limbs, must +feel that he cannot bestow personality upon his work, and is thus +forced to think of God, the giver of life, and will thus increase his +knowledge." The enlightened court of Akbar was evidently a paradise +for artists. + +Opposite to Akbar's apartments is a large square tank with a platform +in the centre, approached by four narrow stone paths. The tank was +filled from the waterworks near the Elephant Gate, and the water was +kept constantly fresh by an overflow channel connecting with the tank +at the back of the Dîwan-i-Khâs. + +THE TURKISH SULTANA'S HOUSE.--In the north-east angle of the +Mahal-i-Khas quadrangle is a small, picturesque building, one of the +gems of Fatehpur, called the Turkish Sultana's House. It contains only +a single apartment, surrounded by a verandah, but in the carving of +every surface within and without there is a wealth of invention and +decorative skill rarely achieved even by the Mogul artists. The dado +panels are especially remarkable for the charming conventionalized +rendering of trees, flowers, birds, and animals. They have suffered +much from the hands of some of Aurangzîb's fanatical followers, and +all the representations of animate nature have been mutilated. The +carving was intended as a groundwork for painting and gilding which +were never added, for the Fatehpur Palace was abandoned even before +it was finished. Nothing is known with certainty of the lady who +inhabited this delightful bower, but she must have been one of Akbar's +favourites. A covered passage connected the house with the Kwâbgâh, +and also with another block of buildings of no special interest, +known as the Girls' School. + +A staircase from the south verandah leads down to some interesting +baths outside the south-west corner of the Dîwan-i-âm quadrangle, +which were probably for the use of the Turkish Sultana. They are +worth seeing, though not so fine as the so-called HAKIM'S BATHS. The +latter, which are situated just opposite to these baths, on the +steep slope of the ridge, are the finest of their kind existing in +India. They form an extensive hydropathic establishment, decorated +in the most excellent taste with polished plaster and _sgraffito_, +or cut-plaster work. Undoubtedly they were used by Akbar himself, +and they derive their present name from their close proximity to the +quarters occupied by the Hakims, or doctors. + +PACHISI BOARD.--In the northern half of the great palace quadrangle +is a _pachisi_ board, cut on the pavement, similar to the one in the +Samman Burj in the Agra Fort. Here Akbar and the ladies of the Court +would amuse themselves by playing the game with slave girls as living +pieces. The dice were thrown on the small platform in the centre of +the board. + +THE DÃŽWAN-I-KHÂS.--Further towards the north, immediately opposite +to the Kwâbgâh, is a square detached building, a fine example of the +dignified style of the period, for it owes none of its effects to +imposing dimensions, but only to the skill with which the architect +has treated a difficult subject. This is the Dîwan-i-Khâs, or Hall of +Private Audience. On the outside it would appear to be a two-storied +building, but on entering it is seen to contain only a single vaulted +chamber, surrounded halfway up by a gallery. A magnificent carved +column, with a gigantic bracket capital (Plate XI.), standing alone in +the centre of the chamber, supports four branches or railed passages, +which meet this gallery at the four corners. This most original +construction carried Akbar's throne, which was placed immediately over +the great column. The ministers attended at the four corners of the +gallery; the great nobles and others admitted to the audience thronged +the floor beneath. The gallery is approached by two staircases, +in the thickness of the walls, which also lead up to the roof. [14] + +THE ANKH-MICHAULI.--Close by the Dîwan-i-Khâs, on the west side, +is a building which the native guides, always ready to amuse the +innocent tourist, describe as the Ankh-Michauli, or "Blind-man's +Buff House." There is a legend that Akbar here played hide-and-seek +with the ladies of the zanana. The same story is told about a set +of apartments in the Jahangiri Mahal in the Agra Fort, but the only +ground for it seems to be that the arrangement of the rooms might lend +itself to such diversions. It most probably contained strong-rooms +for the safe custody of valuables, either state archives or jewels. + +THE YOGI'S SEAT.--At the corner of the Ankh-Michauli is a square +platform covered by a domed canopy. The great carved brackets +which support the architraves are very characteristic of Jaina +construction. This was the seat of one of the Yogis, or Hindu fakirs, +who enjoyed the Emperor's favour. Akbar devoted much attention to +the occult powers claimed by these men. He even practised alchemy +and showed in public some of the gold made by him. + +THE HOSPITAL.--Adjoining the Ankh-Michauli are the remains of a long, +low building, which was the hospital; a few of the wards still +remain. Possibly this was arranged on the model of the hospital +which Akbar allowed the Jesuit Fathers to build in the city. He +also permitted them to construct a small chapel. The records of the +missionaries tell us that Akbar once came there alone, removed his +turban and offered prayers, first kneeling in the Christian manner, +then prostrating himself according to the Muhammadan custom, and, +finally, after the ritual of the Hindus. One of the Christian +congregation having died about this time, he granted permission for +the funeral procession to pass through the streets of Fatehpur with +all the ceremonies of the Catholic faith. Many of the inhabitants, +both Hindus and Muhammadans, attended the funeral. Akbar was never +persuaded to become a convert to Christianity, nor does there appear +to be any ground for the belief that one of his wives was a Christian. + +THE DÃŽWAN-I-ÂM.--The west side of the Dîwan-i-âm (Hall of Public +Audience) and its cloisters coincide for the whole length with the +east of the palace quadrangle. The description already given of the +Dîwan-i-âm at Agra will explain the functions for which this building +was intended. The throne, or judgment seat, of Akbar was placed +between two pierced stone screens in the verandah in front of the hall. + +THE PANCH MAHAL.--This curious five-storied pavilion is nearly +opposite to the Dîwan-i-âm. It is approached by a staircase from the +Mahal-i-khas. Each story was originally enclosed by pierced stone +screens; this, and the fact that the whole building overlooked the +palace zanana, make it tolerably certain that it could only have +been used as a promenade by Akbar and the ladies of the court. The +ground-floor, which was divided into cubicles by screens between the +columns, may; as Keene suggests, have been intended for the royal +children and their attendants. The building is chiefly remarkable for +the invention and taste shown in the varied designs of the columns, +in which the three principal styles of Northern India, the Hindu, +Jain, and Saracenic, are indiscriminately combined. + +MIRIAM'S KOTHI.--Another doorway in the west side of the palace +quadrangle leads to Miriam's House, a very elegant two-storied building +showing marked Hindu feeling in the design. The Râma incarnation +of Vishnu appears on one of the carved brackets of the verandah. It +seems to have derived its name from Akbar's Hindu wife, Mariam Zâmâni, +the mother of Jahangir. Her name literally means "Mary of the age," +a common designation used by Muhammadan women in honour of the Mother +of Jesus. This has led to the fable that the house was occupied by a +Christian wife of Akbar. The whole building was originally covered with +fresco paintings and gilding, and was hence called the Sonahra Makân, +or "Golden House." The frescoes are supposed to illustrate Firdousi's +great epic, the Shahnama, or history of the Kings of Persia. As in the +Kwâbgâh, the fragments which remain have been covered with varnish as +a preservative, which has had the effect of destroying all the charm +of colour they once possessed; and will eventually, when the varnish +turns brown with age, obliterate them altogether. The paintings are +all in the style of the Persian artists who were employed by Akbar to +illustrate his books and to paint the portraits of his Court. Over +the doorway in the north-west angle of the building is a painting +which the guides, perhaps misled by the suggestion of some uninformed +traveller, point out as "the Annunciation." + +There would be nothing _primâ facie_ improbable that Akbar should have +caused some events of Biblical history to be painted on the walls +of his palaces; but on the other hand, there is nothing whatever to +connect this fresco with the Annunciation. The winged figures here +represented are of the type commonly found in paintings of stories +from Persian mythology. + +Perhaps the most interesting of all the paintings is a portrait in +a panel in one of the rooms. One would like to know whether this was +the lady of the house; but there seems to be no tradition connected +with it. + +Judging from the style of the frescoes, it would seem probable that +this was not the residence of Mariam Zâmâni, but of one of Akbar's +first two wives, whose connections were mostly with Persia. + + +Jodh Bai's Palace. + +Though "Miriam's House" is generally regarded as the abode of Mariam +Zâmâni, there is a great deal to support the view that the spacious +palace known as Jodh Bai's Mahal, or Jahangiri Mahal, was really her +residence. It is undoubtedly one of the oldest buildings in Fatehpur. + +We know that Akbar went there on Mariam's account; and, after +Jahangir's birth, Akbar's first care would be to build a palace +for the mother and her child, his long-wished-for heir. Mariam was +a Hindu, and this palace in all its construction and nearly all its +ornamentation belongs to the Hindu and Jaina styles of Mariam's native +country, Rajputana. It even contains a Hindu temple. [15] It is also +the most important of all the palaces, and Mariam, as mother of the +heir-apparent, would take precedence of all the other wives. + +On the left of the entrance is a small guard-house. A simple but +finely proportioned gateway leads through a vestibule into the inner +quadrangle. The style of the whole palace is much less ornate than the +other zanana buildings, but it is always dignified and in excellent +taste. It must be remembered that the severity of the architectural +design was relieved by bright colouring and rich purdahs, which were +used to secure privacy for the ladies of the zanana and to diminish +the glare of the sunlight. + +Archæologically its construction and ornamentation are very +interesting. Many of the details are of Jain origin, and of the same +type as the mixed Jain and Saracenic style, which was being developed +about the same period in Gujarat. The arrangements of the palace are +shown in the annexed plan. One of the most interesting features is +the Hawa Mahal, a pavilion projecting from the north side, enclosed +by pierced stone screens. Here the ladies could enjoy the cool breezes +and the view of the lake with the distant hills beyond, without being +exposed to the vulgar gaze. The palace was formerly connected with +Akbar's private apartments by a covered way, supported on pillars, +near the entrance. This was removed some years ago. Another private +passage led from the Hawa Mahal to the zanana garden opposite, and, +probably, from thence right down to the tower known as the Hiran Minâr. + + +Rajah Birbal's House, or Birbal's Daughter's House. + +Rajah Birbal was a Brahman minstrel, who came to Akbar's court in +the beginning of his reign, and by his wit and abilities gained the +Emperor's favour. He was first created Hindu Poet Laureate; from +that dignity he was raised to the rank of Rajah, and became one of +Akbar's most intimate friends and advisers. Birbal was one of those +who subscribed to Akbar's new religion, "The Divine Faith." When +he perished in an unfortunate expedition against some unruly Afghan +tribes, Akbar's grief was for a long time inconsolable. + +The house which is named after him was originally enclosed within the +precincts of the imperial zanana, and a covered way connected it with +Jodh Bai's palace. It is one of the most richly decorated of all the +adjacent buildings, and next to Jodh Bai's palace, the largest of +the imperial residences. As in so many other instances, the vague +local tradition which assigns this palace to Rajah Birbal seems to +be at fault. Abul Fazl, that most careful and precise biographer, +records that Akbar ordered a palace to be built for the Rajah, and that +when it was finished in the twenty-seventh year of his reign (1582) +the Emperor honoured it with his presence. An inscription discovered +by Edmund Smith upon the capital of a pilaster in the west façade of +the building, states that it was erected in Samvat 1629 (A.D. 1572), +ten years before this date, and three years after the commencement +of the city. + +Though the Rajah was one of Akbar's most trusted friends, his palace +would hardly be placed within the enclosure of the Emperor's own +zanana and connected with it; nor is it likely that Akbar would +provide Birbal with a residence so incomparably more magnificent than +those he gave to his other two intimate friends, Abul Fazl and Faizi, +by the side of the great mosque. + +All the probabilities are that this was one of the imperial palaces +occupied by Akbar's wives, which were the first buildings erected at +Fatehpur. Fergusson's assumption that Birbal's daughter was one of +Akbar's wives would explain everything; but the fact that Abul Fazl +makes no mention of such a daughter, is very good evidence that Akbar +was not connected with Birbal by marriage. + +The house is a two-storied building, splendidly ornamented with +carving, both inside and out. From the construction, it would appear +that Hindus were the architects; but the decoration, from which it is +easy to discover the taste of the occupants, is nearly all Arabian or +Persian in style, and conveys no suggestion that the palace was built +for a Hindu rajah or his daughter. Though on a much smaller scale, +it is of the same type as Akbar's splendid palace in the Agra Fort, +and was evidently intended for one of the highest rank in the imperial +zanana. [16] + + + +The Hathi Pol and Adjoining Buildings. + +Close under Birbal's house is the main road leading down to the great +lake--now drained, the embankment of which formed the north-west +boundary of the city. It passes through the gateway called the Hathi +Pol, or Elephant Gate, from the two great stone elephants, mutilated by +Aurangzîb, standing on either side of the outer archway. On the left of +the gateway are two buildings, the so-called Pigeon's House, probably +intended for a magazine; and the Sangin Burj, a great bastion supposed +to be part of the fortifications begun by Akbar and left unfinished, +owing to the objections of Shaikh Salîm Chishti. A little beyond this, +on the right, are the remains of the waterworks which supplied the +whole city. Opposite to these, is the great traveller's rest-house, +or Karwân-serai, in a very ruined state. + +The, furthest of this block of buildings is a curious tower called +the Hiran Minâr, or Deer Tower, 72 feet in height, ornamented with +stone imitations of elephant tusks. According to tradition, it was +built by Akbar in memory of a favourite elephant, and used by him +as a shooting tower; the plain on the margin of the lake being the +haunt of antelope and other game. + +The splendid stretch of water, six miles long and two in breadth, +induced many of the princes and nobles to build pavilions and +garden houses on this side of the city. This was the place for great +tournaments and festivities, and in the palmy days of Fatehpur all +the chivalry of the Mogul Court must have made a brave show here. The +Hiran Minâr was connected with the zanana by a covered way, so that +the ladies might assist at these spectacles and enjoy the cool breezes +from the lake. + + +The Jâmi Masjid, or Cathedral Mosque. + +The great mosque of Fatehpur is worthy of its founder's lofty ideals +and nobility of soul. It is one of the most magnificent of all Akbar's +buildings; the historic associations connected with it combine with +its architectural splendour to make it one of the most impressive of +its kind in the world. It is said to be copied from one at Mecca; +but this cannot be altogether true, because, though the plan and +general design follow Muhammadan precedent, many of the details show +Akbar's Hindu proclivities. + +Within the great mosque, Akbar frequently held religious discussions +with the learned doctors of Islam; and here, also, after the chief +Mullahs had signed the famous document which declared Akbar to be Head +of the Church, the Emperor mounted the pulpit, and stood before the +congregation as the expounder of "the Divine Faith." He commenced +to read a _Khutbah_, or litany, which Faizi, Abul Fazl's brother, +had composed for the occasion-- + + + "The Lord, who gave to us dominion, + Wisdom, and heart and strength, + Who guided us in truth and right, + And cleansed our mind from all but right, + None can describe His power or state, + Allahú Akbar--God is Great." + + +But before he could finish three lines of it, the sense of the +tremendous responsibility he had undertaken overpowered him. He +descended the pulpit trembling with emotion, and left the Imam of +the mosque to continue the service. + +There are two entrances, approached by broad flights of steps. The one +on the east side is the Emperor's Gate, by which Akbar entered the +mosque from the palace, and the other, the majestic Baland Darwaza, +or High Gate, which towers above everything on the south side, and +even dwarfs the mosque itself with its giant proportions. The latter +gate, however, was not a part of the original design, but was added +many years after the completion of the mosque, to celebrate Akbar's +victorious campaign in the Deccan. + +The mosque itself was built in honour of the Saint of Fatehpur, Sheikh +Salîm Chishti, whose tomb, enclosed in a shrine of white marble, carved +with the delicacy of ivory-work, glitters like silver on the right of +the quadrangle. Barren women, both Hindu and Muhammadan, tie bits of +string or shreds of cloth to the marble trellis-work as tokens that if +blessed with a son they will present an offering to the shrine. Close +by is a plainer, but much larger mausoleum, for his grandson, Nawab +Islam Khan, who was made Governor of Bengal by Jahangir. This also +contains the remains of many other of the Sheikh's male descendants. A +separate vault, called the Zanana Rauza, for the women of his family +is formed by enclosing a portion of the adjoining cloisters. + +The mosque proper contains three chapels, crowned by domes. The +principal one, in the centre, is screened by the façade of +the entrance, the doorway being recessed, in the usual style of +Saracenic buildings, in a great porch or semi-dome. An inscription +over the main archway gives the date of the completion of the mosque +as A.D. 1571. The chapels are connected with each other by noble +colonnades of a decidedly Hindu or Jain character. The Saracenic +arches combine most happily with the Hindu construction, and the +view down the "long-drawn aisles" is singularly impressive. Much of +the charm of the interior is due to the quiet reserve and dignity of +the decoration, which is nearly all in the style of Arabian mosques, +and may account for the statement on the central arch, that "this +mosque is a duplicate of the Holy Place" (at Mecca). + +At each end of the mosque there is a set of five rooms for the +mullahs who conducted the service; above them are galleries for the +ladies of the zanana. Spacious cloisters surround three sides of the +quadrangle; these are divided into numerous cells for the _maulvis_ +and their pupils. + +The triumphal gateway, called the BALAND DARWAZA (Plate XIII.), is +really a building in itself. It must be seen from the outside of the +quadrangle, for, magnificent as it is there, it certainly does not +harmonize with the mosque viewed from the quadrangle. This mighty +portal, 176 feet in height from the roadway, is a landmark for miles +around. From the top of it the Taj, twenty-five miles away, and the +distant Fort of Bharatpur are visible. + +There are three doors recessed in the immense alcove on the front +of the gate. One is the horseshoe door, so called from the numerous +votive offerings of owners of sick horses, donkeys, and bullocks, +which were nailed on in the hope of obtaining the favour of the +saint. The doorway on the right of this has the following inscription +carved over it in Arabic:-- + +"His Majesty, King of kings, Heaven of the Court, Shadow of God, +Jalâl-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, Emperor. He conquered the kingdom of +the South and Dandes, which was formerly called Khandes, in the 46th +Divine year [_i.e._ of his reign] corresponding to the Hijira year, +1010 [A.D. 1602]. Having reached Fatehpur, he proceeded to Agra. Said +Jesus, on whom be peace! The world is a bridge, pass over it, but build +no house there. He who hopeth for an hour, may hope for eternity; the +world is but an hour, spend it in devotion; the rest is worth nothing," + +Over the left doorway is the following:-- + +"He that standeth up in prayer, and his heart is not in it, does not +draw nigh to God, but remaineth far from Him. Thy best possession is +what thou givest in the name of God; thy best traffic is selling this +world for the next." + +Akbar himself died four years after this great sermon in stone was +written. + + +The Stone-Cutters' Mosque. + +At the back of the great mosque is a graveyard containing the tomb of +an infant son of Sheikh Salîm. The legend concerning him is, that at +the age of six months he addressed his father, telling him that all +of Akbar's children must die in infancy, unless some child died for +them. He therefore had resolved to sacrifice himself for the Emperor's +sake, and immediately after this miraculous speech he died. Jahangir +was born nine months afterwards. Sceptics have suggested that he was +really a son of the Sheikh, substituted for a still-born child of +Mariam Zâmâni. + +Some distance beyond this tomb there is a small mosque, built in honour +of the saint by the quarrymen of Fatehpur, before he had attracted +the notice of the great Emperor. It is called the Stone-Cutters' +Mosque, and is supposed to have been erected on the site of the +cave where he lived the life of a hermit It is an unpretending +little building; the brackets which support the cornice are the only +noticeable architectural features. They are direct imitations of wooden +construction, and are copied, with greater elaboration of carving, +in the marble shrine inside the Jâmi Masjid. The cell where the saint +is said to have lived is on the right-hand corner of the mosque. + +The birthplace of Jahangir is pointed out in a dilapidated palace +not far from this mosque. It is occupied by a lineal descendant of +Salîm Chishti, and is only rarely shown to visitors. + + + +The Houses of Abul Fazl and Faizi. + +The houses where these two famous brothers, the friends of Akbar, +lived, are close under the north wall of the great mosque. Their +father, Sheikh Mubarak, was one of the most learned men of the age, +and the sons were as distinguished as the father. Faizi was the Persian +Poet Laureate, and tutor to the Royal Princes. He was also employed on +many diplomatic missions. Abul Fazl was the author of the celebrated +"Akbarnâma," a history of the Mogul Emperors down to the forty-seventh +year of Akbar's reign. He was for a long time Akbar's Prime Minister; +he took a prominent part in the religious discussions inaugurated by +the Emperor, and often discomfited the orthodox followers of Islam with +his arguments. Sheikh Mubarak drew up the famous document declaring +Akbar to be the Head of the Church, and both his sons subscribed to +it. Abul Fazl declares that the document "was productive of excellent +results: (1) The Court became the resort of the learned men and +sages of all creeds and nationalities; (2) Peace was given to all, +and perfect tolerance prevailed; (3) the disinterested motives of +the Emperor, whose labours were directed to a search after truth, +were rendered clear, and the pretenders to learning and scholarship +were put to shame." + +Notwithstanding his high character and generous disposition, Abul +Fazl had many enemies at Court. He was at last assassinated at the +instigation of Jahangir, who believed him to be responsible for a +misunderstanding between himself and his father. + +There is nothing architecturally interesting about the two houses, +which have been for some time used as a Zillah school. + + * * * * * + + +Bharatpur and Other Places In the Vicinity of Agra. + +There are some other places of considerable interest easily accessible +from Agra, but it would be beyond the scope of this book to describe +them in detail. + +BHARATPUR.--This place, which has been often alluded to, is the capital +of a native state of that name, founded by the Jâts under Suraj Mal +about 1750. The origin of the Jât race is obscure, but probably they +are of Scythian descent. Some authorities have put forward a theory +that the gypsies of Europe and the Jâts are of the same race. They form +a large proportion of the population of North-Western India. Their +religion varies with the locality, but the Jâts who occupied Agra +under Suraj Mal were Hindus. + +In 1809, the fort at Bharatpur resisted for six weeks a siege by +General, afterwards Lord Lake, who withdrew, after four desperate +assaults. + +The Palace of Suraj Mal is at Dig, twenty-one miles by road from +Bharatpur. It was commenced about 1725, and is the finest and most +original of the Indian palaces of that period. The Jât chief carried +off to it a great deal of the loot from the Agra Fort. + +GOVARDHAN.--The tombs of Suraj Mal and his two Ranis are at Govardhan, +a very picturesque place about eight miles from Dig. There are also a +number of very interesting tombs and buildings of later date. Fergusson +[17] says of one of these, which was in course of construction when +he was there in 1839, that he acquired from its native architect +more knowledge of the secrets of art as practised in the Middle Ages +than he had learnt from all the books he had read. The same living +architectural art is practised all over Rajputana at the present +day. The preference we show for the incomparably inferior art of +the mongrel eclectic styles we have imported into India, is only a +proof that there is something wanting in the superior civilization +and culture which we believe ourselves to possess. + +There is also at Govardhan a very fine Hindu temple, dating from the +time of Akbar. + +A great fair is held here every year about the end of October, +or beginning of November, on the occasion of the Hindu Diwâli, or +Feast of Lamps, one of the most beautiful and impressive of all the +Hindu festivals. + +Muttra, the Mathora of the Greeks, about fourteen miles from Govardhan, +and within easy reach of Agra by rail, is one of the most sacred places +of the Hindus, from being the reputed birthplace of Krishna. It is +a great centre for the worship of Vishnu. + +Brindâban, or Bindarâban, which is a very short distance further +by rail, possesses an old Hindu temple, dedicated to Govind Deva, +or Vishnu, of the same period as the other at Govardhan, and built +by the same person, Rajah Man Singh of Amber, an ancestor of the +present Maharajah of Jaipur. Fergusson describes it as one of the +most interesting and elegant temples in India. + +There is also a great Vishnu temple of the last century, in the +Dravidian style of Southern India, built by a Hindu millionaire +merchant. Krishna's childhood and early youth were passed in the +vicinity of Brindâban, and on that account it is held especially +sacred by the followers of the Vaishnavite sect of Hinduism, who +flock there in thousands on the anniversary of Krishna's birth, +in the month of Bhadon (August--September). + + + +NOTES + +[1] Babar's "Memoirs," translated by Erskine. + +[2] For further particulars of Babar's history the reader is referred +to the "Memoirs," or to Stanley Lane-Poolers admirable "Life of Babar," +in the "Rulers of India Series" (Macmillan & Co.). + +[3] The State documents of the Mogul Emperors, "given under the +royal hand and seal," were sometimes actually impressed by the royal +hand. Plate I. reproduces part of a letter, addressed by Shah Jahan +to an ancestor of the present Maharajah of Gidhour. In this letter +the Raja Dalan Singh is informed that "the auspicious impress of the +royal hand" is sent as a mark of royal favour, and he is commanded to +proceed to Court to participate in the festivities and to pay homage +to the Emperor. + +[4] Bernier's "Travels"--Constable's translation. + +[5] These elephant statues have been a vexed point with +archæologists. Bernier, in his description of Delhi, refers to +two great elephants of stone, with their riders, outside of the +Fort Gates. The riders, he says, were portraits of the famous +Rajput chiefs Jaymal and Patta, slain by Akbar at the siege of +Chitore. "Their enemies, in admiration of the devotion of the two +heroes, put up these statues to their memory." Now, Bernier does not +say that the statues were put up by Akbar, but General Cunningham, +inferring that Bernier meant this, propounded a theory that they were +originally in front of the Agra Fort, which Akbar built, and removed +to Delhi by Shah Jahan, when he built his new palace there. Keene, +who discusses the question at length in his "Handbook to Delhi," +accepts this suggestion. Neither of these authorities seem to have +been aware of the existence of the marks of the feet on the platform +in front of the Agra Hathi Pol. I have compared the measurements of +these marks with the dimensions of the elephant which still exists +at Delhi, and find that they do not correspond in any way. The Delhi +elephant is a much larger animal, and would not fit into the platform +at the Agra gate. General Cunningham's theory, therefore, falls to the +ground. It is just possible that the Delhi elephants were intended to +be copies of those placed by Akbar at Agra. Shah Jahan is not likely +to have intentionally perpetuated the memory of the Rajput chiefs, +but popular tradition or imagination may have fastened the story told +by Bernier on to the Delhi statues. Elephants were so commonly placed +in front of Indian palaces and fortresses that, except for this story, +there would be no need to suppose any connection between those at +Agra and those at Delhi. + +Purchas, quoting William Finch who visited Agra in Jahangir's time, +describes the elephants at the Hathi Pol, but gives a different origin +to the statues. "Beyond these two gates you pass a second gate, over +which are two Rajaws in stone. It is said that they were two brother +Rajputs, tutors to a prince, their nephew, whom the King demanded +of them. They refused, and were committed; but drew on the officers, +slew twelve, and at last, by multitudes oppressing, were themselves +slain, and here have elephants of stone and themselves figured." The +expression "over" (the gate) has the meaning of "high up," and not, +as Keene supposes, its more modern sense of "on the top of." + +[6] The old Mogul road led directly from the Elephant Gate to the +entrance of the Dîwan-i-âm. I understand that this road will be +restored shortly by the Archæological Department. + +[7] An ugly modern marble rail, in imitation of wood, probably a +reminiscence of the time when the palace was occupied by the British +garrison, still disfigures and stunts the proportions of the upper +storey of the Samman Burj. + +[8] This question is discussed at length in an article by the author, +entitled "The Taj and its Designers," published in the June number +of the _Nineteenth Century and After_, 1903. + +[9] Tavernier says twenty-two years probably including all the +accessory buildings. + +[10] The present garden is a jungle, planted by a European overseer +without any understanding or feeling for the ideas of the Mogul +artists. The overgrown trees entirely block out the view of the mosques +on either side, which are an essential part of the whole composition, +serving as supporters to the slender, detached minarets. I understand, +however, that it is intended to remove some of the more obstructive of +the larger trees; but the avenue of cypress trees, which perished from +drought some years ago, has been replanted on lines which eventually +will clash seriously with the architectural composition. + +[11] This represents the condition of the garden twenty or thirty +years ago. + +[12] The conjunction of Jupiter and Venus; referring to the +circumstance that Timur and himself were born at the conjunction of +these planets. (KEENE.) + +[13] It is very probable that the black slate or marble panels in the +Delhi Palace, which are purely Florentine in design, were imported +complete from Italy, and fixed in the wall by Indian workmen, who +only designed the ornamental scrolls surrounding the panels. + +[14] It is known that in 1575 Akbar completed a great building at +Fatehpur, called the Ibadat Khana, or hall in which the learned men of +all religions assembled for discussion. It was described as containing +four halls, the western for the Sayyids, or descendants of the Prophet; +the southern for learned men who had studied or acquired knowledge; +the northern for those famed for inspired wisdom: the eastern hall was +reserved for the nobles and state officers. Thousands of people from +all quarters of the world assembled in the courtyard. The Emperor +attended every Friday night and on holy festivals, moving from one +to the other of the guests and conversing with them. Keene, in his +"Handbook to Agra," suggests that possibly the Dîwan-i-khâs may +be the building thus described (taking the word _aiwan_, or hall, +to mean a side gallery), as no other building at all answering to +the description now remains at Fatehpur. This supposition is highly +improbable, if only for the reason given by Edmund Smith, namely, that +an assembly of this kind would not take place within the precincts of +the palace. The description given by Abul Fazl and Badâyûni clearly +indicates a building like the Dîwan-i-âm, enclosing a great quadrangle. + +[15] Keene suggests that Akbar's first wife and cousin, Sultana Raqia +Begam, lived here, but she was a Muhammadan. It is quite possible that +the name of Jodh Bai (Princess of Jodhpur) really refers to Mariam, and +not to Jahangir's Rajput wife (the daughter of the Raja of Jodhpur), +as is commonly supposed. Miriam's family resided in the province of +Ajmir, which adjoins Jodhpur. She might have been known as the Princess +of Jodhpur. In any case, it is easy to see how a confusion might have +arisen between Jahangir's mother and his wife, both Hindus and Rajputs. + +[16] Birbal's house is now used as a travellers' rest-house for +high officials and "distinguished" visitors; which is not only very +inconvenient for the undistinguished who may wish to see it, but +involves alterations which should never be permitted in buildings of +such unique artistic and archæological interest. Neither the Daftar +Khana nor this building should be devoted to such purposes, merely +to avoid the paltry expense of providing proper dak bungalows. + +[17] "History of Indian and Eastern Architecture." + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Handbook to Agra and the Taj, by E. B. 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Havell + +Release Date: April 12, 2004 [EBook #12006] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HANDBOOK TO AGRA AND THE TAJ *** + + + + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman, Distributed Proofreaders, from scans +made available by the Million Books Project. + + + + + + + +A Handbook to +Agra and the Taj +Sikandra, Fatehpur-Sikri and the Neighbourhood + +by +E.B. Havell, ARCA. + + +1904 + + + +Preface + +This little book is not intended for a history or archæological +treatise, but to assist those who visit, or have visited, Agra, to +an intelligent understanding of one of the greatest epochs of Indian +Art. In the historical part of it, I have omitted unimportant names and +dates, and only attempted to give such a sketch of the personality of +the greatest of the Great Moguls, and of the times in which they lived, +as is necessary for an appreciation of the wonderful monuments they +left behind them. India is the only part of the British Empire where +art is still a living reality, a portion of the people's spiritual +possessions. We, in our ignorance and affectation of superiority, +make efforts to improve it with Western ideas; but, so far, have +only succeeded in doing it incalculable harm. It would be wiser if +we would first attempt to understand it. + +Among many works to which I owe valuable information, I should name +especially Erskine's translation of Babar's "Memoirs;" Muhammad +Latifs "Agra, Historical and Descriptive;" and Edmund Smith's +"Fatehpur-Sikri." My acknowledgments are due to Babu Abanindro +Nath Tagore, Mr. A. Polwhele, Executive Engineer, Agra, and to +Mr. J.H. Marshall, Director-General of the Archæological Survey of +India, for kind assistance rendered. I am particularly indebted to +Messrs. Johnston and Hoffman, of Calcutta, for allowing me to make +use of their valuable collection of photographs for the illustrations. + +In quoting from "Bernier's Travels," I have used Constable's +translation, with Messrs. A. Constable & Co.'s kind permission. To +the Editor of the _Nineteenth Century and After_ I owe permission to +make use of my article on "The Taj and its Designers," published in +that Review, June, 1903. + +CALCUTTA, + +_January_, 1904. + + + +Contents + +HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION + +The Great Moguls--I. Babar--Babar's Connection with +Agra--II. Humayun--Interregnum: Shere Shah--III. Akbar--Akbar's +Connection with Agra--IV. Jahangir--Jahangir's Connection with +Agra--V. Shah Jahan--The Monuments of Shah Jahan's Reign at +Agra--VI. Aurangzîb--Agra and the Later Mogul Emperors--Agra in +the Mutiny. + +THE FORT + +The Mûti Masjid--The Dersane Darwaza--The Dîwan-i-âm--Jahangir's +Cistern--The Tomb of Mr. Colvin--The Inner Mîna Bazar--The Chitore +Gates--The Hindu Temple--The Machhi Bhawan--The Najina Masjid--The +Dîwan-i-Khas--Jahangir's Throne--The Baths--The Samman Burj--The Khas +Mahal--The Underground Chambers--The Anguri Bagh--Shish Mahal--The +"Somnath" Gates--The Jahangiri Mahal--The Sahmgarh. + +THE JÂMI MASJID + +THE TAJ + +The building of the Taj--The Intention of the Taj--Description. + +ITMÂD-UD-DAULAH'S TOMB + +THE CHÎNÎ-KA-RAUZA + +THE RAM BAGH + +The Zuhara Bagh. + +SIKANDRA + +Akbar's Tomb--The Kanch Mahal--Suraj-Bhan-ka Bagh--Mariam Zâmâni's +Tomb. + +OTHER BUILDINGS AND TOMBS AT OR NEAR AGRA + +The Kali Masjid--Alawal Bilawal--The Hamman--The Roman Catholic +Cemetery. + +FATEHPUR SIKRI + +The Agra Gate--The Naubat Khana--The Mint--The Daftar Khana--The +Palace--The Kwâbgâh--The Turkish Sultana's House--Hakim's +Baths--Pachisi Board--The Dîwan-i-Khâs--The Ankh-Michauli--The +Yogi's Seat--The Hospital--The Dîwan-i-âm--The Panch Mahal--Miriam's +Kothi--Jodh Baí's Palace--Rajah Birbal's House, or Birbal's Daughter's +House--The Hathi Pol and Adjoining Buildings--The Jâmi Masjid, or +Cathedral Mosque--The Baland Darwaza--The Stone-Cutters' Mosque--The +Houses of Abul Fazl and Faizi. + +Bharatpur and Other Places in the Vicinity of +Agra:--Bharatpur--Govardhan--Muttra--Bindrâban. + +INDEX + + + +List of Illustrations + +The Taj Mahal + +Plate I. A State Document with Shah Jahan's "Royal Hand and Seal" + +Plate II. Shah Jahan, From an Old Indian Miniature + +Plate III. The Inner Delhi Gate, or Hathi Pol, Agra Fort + +Plate IV. Marble Balcony, Overlooking the Inner Mîna Bazar, Agra Fort + +Plate V. The Samman Burj, Agra Fort + +Plate VI. Inner Courtyard of the Jahangiri Mahal, Agra Fort + +Plate VII. Marble Screen Enclosing the Tombs of Mumtaz Mahal and +Shah Jahan + +Plate VIII. Itmâd-ud-daulah's Tomb, Agra + +Plate IX. Interior of the Upper Pavilion, Itmâd-ud-daulah's Tomb + +Plate X. Marble Sarcophagus on the Upper Story of Akbar's Tomb, +Sikandra + +Plate XI. Interior of The Dîwan-i-Khâs, Fatehpur Sikri + +Plate XII. Rajah Birbal's Daughter's House, Fatehpur Sikri + +Plate XIII. The Baland Darwaza, Fatehpur Sikri + + +Plans + +Agra Fort. Plan of the Palaces + +Fatehpur Sikri. Plan Showing the Position of the Buildings + +Fatehpur Sikri. Plan Showing the Walls and Gates + +Fatehpur Sikri. Plan of Jodh Bai's Palace + + + + + +AGRA + +Historical Introduction + +Agra has two histories: one of the ancient city on the east, or left, +bank of the river Jumna, going back so far as to be lost in the legends +of Krishna and of the heroes of the Mâhabhârata; the other of the +modern city, founded by Akbar in A.D. 1558, on the right bank of the +river, and among Muhammadans still retaining its name of Akbarabad, +which is intimately associated with the romance of the Great Moguls, +and known throughout the world as the city of the Taj. + +Of ancient Agra little now remains except a few traces of the +foundations. It was a place of importance under various Hindu +dynasties previous to the Muhammadan invasions of India, but its +chequered fortunes down to the beginning of the sixteenth century +are the usual tale of siege and capture by Hindu or Mussulman, and +possess little historical interest. + +In A.D. 1505 Sultan Sikandar Lodi, the last but one of the +Afghan dynasty at Delhi, rebuilt Agra and made it the seat of +government. Sikandra, the burial-place of Akbar, is named after him, +and there he built a garden-house which subsequently became the tomb +of Mariam Zâmâni, one of Akbar's wives. The son of Sultan Sikandar, +Ibrahim Lodi, was defeated and slain by Babar at Panipat, near Delhi, +in 1526, and from that time Agra became one of the principal cities +of the Mogul Empire which Babar founded. + + +The Great Moguls.--I. Babar. + +Though very few memorials of Babar's short but brilliant reign still +exist at Agra, the life of this remarkable man is so important a +part of the Mogul dynasty that it must not be passed over by the +intelligent tourist or student of Mogul art. It was Babar's sunny +disposition, and the love of nature characteristic of his race, that +brought back into Indian art the note of joyousness which it had not +known since the days of Buddhism. Babar is one of the most striking +figures in Eastern history. He was descended from Tamerlane, or Timur, +on his father's side, and, on his mother's, from Chinghiz Khan. In +the year 1494, at the age of twelve, he became king of Farghana, a +small kingdom of Central Asia, now known as Kokand. His sovereignty, +however, was of a very precarious tenure, for he was surrounded on +all sides by a horde of rapacious, intriguing relatives, scrambling +for the fragments of Timur's empire. With hardly a trustworthy +ally except a remarkably clever and courageous old grandmother, he +struggled for three years to retain his birthright. Then, acting on a +sudden inspiration, he made a dash for Samarkand, the ancient capital +of Timur, and won it. In his delightful memoirs Babar describes how, +with boyish glee, he paced the ramparts himself, wandered from palace +to palace, and revelled in the fruit-gardens of what was then one of +the finest cities of Asia. But in less than a hundred days, most of +his shifty Mongol troops, disappointed in not finding as much booty +as they expected, deserted and joined a party of his enemies, who +straightway attacked Andijan, the capital of Farghana, where Babar +had left his mother and grandmother. Before he could come to their +rescue Andijan had fallen, and at the same time Samarkand, which he +had left, was occupied by another of his numerous rivals. This double +misfortune caused still more of his followers to leave him, and he +found himself without a kingdom, except the little town of Khojend, +and with only two hundred men. For almost the only time in his life +he gave way utterly to despair. "I became a prey to melancholy and +vexation; I was reduced to a sore distressed state and wept much." + +Before long, however, Babar, rejoined by his mother and grandmother, +whom the captors of Andijan had spared, taking advantage of another +turn in the wheel of fortune, recovered his kingdom of Farghana, +but lost the greater part of it again through another desertion of +his "Mongol rascals." A second time, with only a handful of men, he +surprised and captured Samarkand (A.D. 1500). In the following year +he rashly sallied out against Shaibani, the most formidable of his +adversaries, was defeated, and, after vainly trying to hold the city +against the victors, was forced to fly under cover of the night. This +time he did not weep, but consoled himself next morning by riding a +headlong race with two of his companions. Reaching a village, where +they found "nice fat flesh, bread of fine flour well baked, sweet +melons, and excellent grapes in great abundance," Babar declared that +in all his life he never enjoyed himself so much or felt so keenly +the pleasures of peace and plenty. + +He now took refuge among the hills near Uratipa, finding amusement +in observing the life of the villagers, and especially in conversing +with the mother of the headman, an old lady of a hundred and eleven, +whose descendants, to the number of ninety-six, lived in the country +round about. One of her relatives had served in the army with which +Timur had invaded India, and she entertained the future Emperor of +Hindustan by telling him stories of his ancestor's adventures. + +After several fruitless raids with the few troopers who remained +faithful to him, he allied himself with his two uncles, Mahmud and +Ahmad Khan, in an attack against Tambal, one of the powerful nobles +who had revolted against him and set up Jahangir, his brother, on +the throne of Farghana. At a critical moment his uncles left Babar to +the mercy of his enemy, and he was again forced to fly for his life, +hotly pursued by Tambal's horsemen. He was overtaken by two of them, +who, not daring to pit themselves against Babar's prodigious strength +and courage, tried to inveigle him into a trap. Babar gives a moving +description of this great crisis in his life. Thoroughly exhausted, +and seeing no prospect of escape, he resigned himself to die:-- + +"There was a stream in the garden, and there I made my ablutions +and recited a prayer of two bowings. Then surrendering myself +to meditation, I was about to ask God for His compassion, when +sleep closed my eyes. I saw (in my dream) Khwája Yakub, the son of +Khwája Yahya, and grandson of his Eminence the Khwája 'Obaid-Allah +(a famous saint of Samarkand), with a numerous escort, mounted on +dappled grey horses, come before me and say, '_Do not be anxious, +the Khwája has sent me to tell you that he will support you and seat +you on the throne of sovereignty; whenever a difficulty occurs to you, +remember to beg his help, and he will at once respond to your appeal, +and victory and triumph shall straightway lean to your side_.' I +awoke with easy heart, at the very moment when Yusuf the constable +and his companions (Tambal's soldiers) were plotting some trick to +seize and throttle me. Hearing them discussing it, I said to them, +'All you say is very well, but I shall be curious to see which of you +dares to approach me,' As I spoke the tramp of a number of horses +was heard outside the garden wall. Yusuf the constable exclaimed, +'If we had taken you and brought you to Tambal, our affairs would have +prospered much thereby; as it is, he has sent a large troop to seize +you; and the noise you hear is the tramp of horses on your track,' +At this assertion my face fell, and I knew not what to devise. + +"At this very moment the horsemen, who had not at first found the gate +of the garden, made a breach in its crumbling wall, through which they +entered. I saw they were Kutluk Muhammad Barlas and Babai Pargári, two +of my most devoted followers, with ten or twenty other persons. When +they came near to my person they threw themselves off their horses, +and, bending the knee at a respectful distance, fell at my feet, +and overwhelmed me with marks of their affection. + +"Amazed at this apparition, I felt that God had just restored me to +life. I called to them at once, 'Seize Yusuf the constable, and the +wretched traitors who are with him, and bring them to me bound hand +and foot,' Then, turning to my rescuers, I said, 'Whence come you? Who +told you what was happening?' Kutluk Muhammad Barlás answered, 'After +I found myself separated from you in the sudden flight from Akhsi, +I reached Andijan at the very moment when the Khans themselves were +making their entry. There I saw, in a dream, Khwája 'Obaid-Allah, +who said, "_Pádishah Babar is at this instant in a village called +Karmán; fly thither and bring him back with you, for the throne is +his of right_." Rejoicing at this dream, I related it to the big Khan +and little Khan.... Three days have we been marching, and thanks be +to God for bringing about this meeting.'" [1] + +After this exciting adventure Babar rejoined his time-serving uncles, +but was forced into exile again in 1503, when, at the battle of Akshi, +the Khans were completely defeated by Shaibani. Then he resolved +to depart out of Farghana and to give up the attempt to recover +his kingdom. Characteristically, when foiled in one enterprise he +entered upon another yet more ambitious. Joined by his two brothers, +Jahangir and Nasir, and by a motley array of various wandering tribes, +he swooped down upon Kabul and captured it. + +The description of the new kingdom thus easily won, which fills many +pages of the Memoirs, reveals another side of Babar's character--his +intense love of nature. He gives minute accounts of the climate, +physical characteristics, the fruits, flowers, birds, and beasts, +as well as of the human inhabitants. In the intervals between his +battles, or between his rollicking drinking parties, which for some +years of his life degenerated into drunken orgies, we often find Babar +lost in admiration of some beautiful landscape, or collecting flowers +and planting fruit trees. Wherever he came, Babar's first care was +to dig wells and plant fruit and flower gardens. India owes much to +the Great Moguls' love of horticulture. + +When Babar had drilled his unruly Afghan subjects into something +like order, he made, in 1506, one more unsuccessful attempt to crush +Shaibani. However, in 1510, when that doughty warrior was defeated and +slain by Ismail, Shah of Persia, Samarkand fell once more into Babar's +hands, as a vassal of the Shah. Eight months afterwards he was driven +out again. From that time Babar gave up all hopes of re-establishing +the empire of his ancestor Timur, and turned his face towards India. In +1519 he gathered an army for his first expedition, which was, however, +more of a reconnaissance than a conquest. Four more attempts he made, +until at last, in 1526, with only 10,000 men, he defeated the hosts +of Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Afghan kings of Delhi, who, with +15,000 of his troops, were left dead on the field of Panipat. + +Thus, after many struggles, Babar became "master and conqueror of the +mighty empire of Hindustan," but he had to fight two more great battles +before his sovereignty was undisputed--one in 1527 near Fatehpur +Sikri, with the great chief of the Rajputs, Raja Sanga of Chitore, +and another in 1529 near Buxar, with the Afghans who had settled in +Bengal. The next year Babar died in his garden palace at Agra The +nobility of his character was conspicuous in his death as it was +in his life. He was devotedly attached to his eldest son, Humayun, +who was seized with malarial fever while staying at his country +estate at Sambhal. Babar had him removed by boat to Agra, but his +physicians declared that the case was hopeless. Babar's own health had +suffered much during his life in India, and he was terribly agitated +by the news. When some one suggested that in such circumstances the +Almighty sometimes deigned to accept the thing most valued by one +friend in exchange for the life of another, Babar exclaimed that +of all things his life was dearest to Humayun, as Humayun's was to +him. He would sacrifice his own life to save his son. His courtiers +entreated him to give up instead the great diamond taken at Agra, +said to be the most valuable on earth. Babar declared that no stone +could compare in value with his own life, and after solemnly walking +round Humayun's couch, as in a religious sacrifice, he retired to +devote himself to prayer. Soon afterwards he was heard to exclaim, "I +have borne it away! I have borne it away!" Humayun began to recover, +and, as he improved, Babar gradually sank. Commending his son to +the protection of his friends, and imploring Humayun to be kind and +forgiving to his brothers, the first of the "Great Moguls" of India +passed away. He was buried at Kabul, in one of his beloved gardens, +which, according to Tartar custom, he had chosen for his tomb, in +"the sweetest spot of the neighbourhood." [2] + + +Babar's connection with Agra. + +Babar's connection with Agra began immediately after the battle +of Panipat. He sent forward Humayun, who occupied the town without +opposition. The story of the great diamond referred to above is here +recorded in the Memoirs. The Raja of Gwalior, slain at Panipat, had +left his family and the heads of his clan at Agra. In gratitude to +Humayun, who treated them magnanimously, and protected them from +plunder, they presented to him a _peskesh_, or token of homage, +consisting of a quantity of jewels and precious stones. Among these was +one famous diamond which had been acquired by Sultan Alaeddin. "It is +so valuable that a judge of diamonds valued it at about half the daily +expense of the whole world. It is about eight _mikkals_" (or about +280 carats). This is generally supposed to be the celebrated Koh-i-nur. + +Babar determined to establish the seat of his government at Agra, but +was almost dissuaded by the desolate appearance of the country. "It +always appears to me," he says, "that one of the chief defects of +Hindustan is the want of artificial watercourses. I had intended, +wherever I might fix my residence, to construct water-wheels, to +produce an artificial stream, and to lay out an elegant and regularly +planned pleasure ground. Shortly after coming to Agra I passed the +Jumna with this object in view, and examined the country to pitch upon +a fit spot for a garden. The whole was so ugly and detestable that +I repassed the river quite repulsed and disgusted. In consequence of +the want of beauty and of the disagreeable aspect of the country, I +gave up my intention of making a _charbagh_ (garden house); but as no +better situation presented itself near Agra, I was finally compelled to +make the best of this same spot.... In every corner I planted suitable +gardens, in every garden I sowed roses and narcissus regularly, and in +beds corresponding to each other. We were annoyed by three things in +Hindustan; one was its heat, another the strong winds, and the third +its dust. Baths were the means of removing all three inconveniences." + +As I have mentioned above, there are very few vestiges remaining of +Babar's city, of his fruit and flower gardens, palaces, baths, tanks, +wells and watercourses. The Ram Bagh (p. 92) is one of the gardens +laid out either by himself or by one of his nobles, and the Zohra, +or Zuhara Bagh, near it, contains the remains of a garden-house, which +is said to have belonged to one of Babar's daughters. Opposite to the +Taj there are traces of the foundations of the city he built. Babar +planned, and his successors completed, the great road leading from Agra +to Kabul through Lahore, parts of which still remain. Some of the old +milestones can be seen on the road to Sikandra. Babar's account of the +commencement of it is very characteristic: "On Thursday, the 4th of +the latter Rebia, I directed Chikmak Bey, by a writing under the royal +hand and seal, [3] to measure the distance from Agra to Kabul; that at +every nine _kos_ he should raise a _minar_, or turret, twelve _gez_ +in height, on the top of which he was to construct a pavilion; that +every ten _kos_ he should erect a _yam_, or post-house, which they call +a _dak-choki,_ for six horses; that he should fix a certain allowance +as a provision for the post-house keepers, couriers, and grooms, +and for feeding the horses; and orders were given that whenever a +post-house for horses was built near a _khalseh_, or imperial demesne, +they should be furnished from thence with the stated allowances; +that if it were situated in a _pergunna_, the nobleman in charge +should attend to the supply. The same day Chikmâk Padshahi left Agra." + +The promptness of Babar's administrative methods is a striking contrast +to the circumlocution of present-day departmentalism. There still +exist remains of many splendid _sarais_, or halting-places, built +along this road by different Mogul Emperors for their convenience, +from the time of Babar down to Aurangzîb. One of the finest is the +Nurmahal Sarai, near Jalandhar, built by Jahangir and named after +his favourite wife. Edward Terry, who accompanied Sir Thomas Roe, +James the First's ambassador at Jahangir's Court, describes "the long +walk of four hundred miles, shaded by great trees on both sides," +and adds, "this is looked upon by the travellers who have found the +comfort of that cool shade as one of the rarest and most beneficial +works in the whole world." + + +II. Humayun. + +Humayun, who succeeded Babar, had many of his father's amiable +qualities, but none of his genius as a leader of men. He utterly +failed in the attempt to consolidate the great empire which Babar had +left him, and in 1539, or nine and a half years after his accession, +he was completely defeated at Kanauj by Shere Khan Sur, an Afghan +nobleman, who had submitted to Babar, but revolted against his +son. Humayun found himself a fugitive with only a handful of men, +and was eventually driven not only out of Hindustan, but even from the +kingdom of Kabul. He then took refuge with the Shah of Persia. Shere +Khan Sur, under the title of Shere Shah, ruled at Agra until he died, +five years afterwards. His son, Salîm Shah, or Sultan Islam, succeeded +him, and reigned between seven and eight years, but on his death the +usual quarrels between his relatives and generals gave Humayun, who +in the mean time had got back Kabul with the aid of a Persian army, +the opportunity to recover his position in Hindustan. This occurred +in 1555, but Humayun's unfortunate reign terminated the same year +through a fatal fall from a staircase in his palace at Delhi. + +Humayun left no memorial of himself at Agra, but he is to be remembered +for two circumstances; the first, that he was the father of the great +Akbar, who succeeded him; and the second, that the plan of his tomb +at Delhi, built by Akbar, was the model on which the plan of the Taj +was based. + + + +Interregnum: Shere Shah. + +Shere Shah was a great builder, and a most capable ruler. In his short +reign of five years he initiated many of the great administrative +reforms which Akbar afterwards perfected. Fergusson, in his +"History of Indian Architecture," mentions that in his time there +was a fragment of a palace built by Shere Shah in the Fort at Agra, +"which was as exquisite a piece of decorative art as any of its class +in India." This palace has since been destroyed to make room for a +barrack, but probably the two-storied pavilion known as the Salîmgarh +is the fragment to which Fergusson refers. The only other building +of Shere Shah's time now remaining in Agra is the half-buried mosque +of Alawal Bilawal, or Shah Wilayat, in the _Nai-ki Mandi_ quarter +(see p. 102). + +Shere Shah's tomb at Sasseram, in Bihar, is one of the noblest +monuments of the Pathan style, or the style of the earliest Muhammadan +architects in India. + + +III. Akbar. + +Akbar, "the Great," was born at Amarkot, on the edge of the deserts of +Marwar, about three years after the battle of Kanauj, when his father +Humayun was a fugitive, driven from place to place by the adherents +of Shere Shah. At this time the treasury of the royal house was so +reduced that, when Humayun indented on it for the customary presents +to his faithful followers, the only thing procurable was a single pod +of musk. With the cheerfulness which was the saving grace of Humayun, +he broke up the pod, and distributed it, adding the pious wish, which +seemed like prophetic insight, that his son's fame might fill the +world like the fragrance of that perfume. Trained in the hard school +of adversity, and inheriting the best qualities of his grandfather, +Akbar was not long in restoring the faded fortunes of the Mogul +dynasty. Like Babar, he succeeded to the throne at a very early +age, and found himself surrounded by difficulties which would have +overwhelmed a weaker character. Humayun had, indeed, fought his way +back to Delhi and Agra, but he had by no means settled with all the +numerous disputants for the sovereignty of Hindustan, which Sultan +Islam's death had left in the field; and his departure from Kabul +had been the signal for revolt in that quarter. Akbar, accompanied +by Bairam Khan, the ablest of Humayun's generals, was in Sind when +he received at the same time the news of his father's death and of +the revolt of the Viceroy at Kabul He was then little more than +thirteen years old, but, like Babar under similar circumstances, +he was prompt in decision and in action. Adopting Bairam's advice, +which was contrary to that of all his other counsellors, he left Kabul +out of account, and pushed on to Delhi against the forces of Himu, a +Hindu general, and the most powerful of his foes, who had assumed the +title of Raja Bikramajit, with the hopes of restoring the old Hindu +dynasty. On the historic plains of Panipat Akbar completely defeated +Himu's army, and thus regained the empire which his grandfather had +won on the same field thirty years before. This great battle was the +most critical point in his career, and though Akbar had to undertake +many other hard campaigns before he was absolute master of the empire, +his position from that time was never seriously endangered. + +Until his eighteenth year Akbar remained under the tutelage of Bairam, +an able general, but unscrupulous and cruel. The high-minded, generous +disposition of Akbar revolted against some of his guardian's methods, +but he recognized that, for some years at least, Bairam's experience +was necessary for him. In 1560, however, he took the administration +entirely into his own hands. Bairam, in disgust, took up arms against +his young master, but was soon defeated and taken prisoner. With his +usual magnanimity, Akbar pardoned him, and sent him off to Mecca with +a munificent present; but the revengeful knife of an Afghan put an +end to the turbulent nobleman's life before he could leave India. + +Akbar spent the rest of his long reign in elaborating the +administrative reforms which have made him famous as the greatest +ruler India has ever had. With the aid of able ministers, both Hindu +and Muhammadan, he purified the administration of justice, keeping +the supreme control in his own hands; enjoined absolute tolerance +in religious matters; abolished oppressive taxes, and reorganized +and improved the system of land revenue introduced by Shere Shah. A +minute account of Akbar's reign, of his policy, habits, and character, +is given in the "Akbar-nama," the history written by his devoted +friend and Prime Minister, Abul Fazl. No detail of state affairs +was too small for Akbar's personal attention. Ability and integrity +were the only passports to his favour, while bigotry and injustice +were anathemas to him. Like Babar, he was fond of horticulture, and +imported many kinds of fruit trees and flowers into India. Though +he could neither read nor write, he had a great library of Hindi, +Persian, Arabic, Greek, and other books, and Abul Fazl relates that +every book was read through to him from beginning to end. + +The most remarkable of all this remarkable man's intellectual +activities were his attempts to bring about a reconciliation of all +the discordant religious elements of his empire. Badâyuni, one of +his contemporary historians, but, unlike him, a bigoted Musalman, +comments thus on Akbar's religious views: "From his earliest childhood +to his manhood, and from his manhood to old age, his Majesty has passed +through the most various phases, and through all sorts of religious +practices and sectarian beliefs, and has collected everything which +people can find in books, with a talent of selection peculiar to him +and a spirit of inquiry opposed to every (Islamite) principle. Thus a +faith based on some elementary principles traced itself on the mirror +of his heart, and, as the result of all the influences which were +brought to bear on his Majesty, there grew gradually, as the outline +on a stone, the conviction on his heart that there were sensible +men in all religions, and abstemious thinkers and men endowed with +miraculous powers among all nations. If some true knowledge were thus +everywhere to be found, why should truth be confined to one religion, +or to a creed like Islam, which was comparatively new, and scarcely a +thousand years old; why should one sect assert what another denies, +and why should one claim a preference without having superiority +conferred upon itself?" + +Near to his palace at Fatehpur Sikri he built an Ibâdat Khana, or +Hall of Worship, for the discussion of philosophy and religion. There +he received representatives of all religious sects, Muhammadans, +Brahmans, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, Jews, and Christians, and listened +attentively to their arguments. He studied deeply religious books, +and had the New Testament translated into Persian. He also invited +Jesuit priests from Goa, and not only allowed them to build a church +at Agra, but even attended a marriage service and interpreted the +words of the sermon to the bride. Badayuni says that "his Majesty +firmly believed in the truth of the Christian religion, and wishing +to spread the doctrines of Jesus, ordered Prince Murad (his son) +to take a few lessons in Christianity by way of auspiciousness." The +Jesuits, however, did not succeed in making Akbar a convert, for when +his religious convictions were at last settled, he proclaimed as the +state religion a kind of eclectic pantheism called Din-i-ilâhi, or +"Divine Faith," with himself as the chief interpreter. Dispensing +with all forms of priesthood, he simply recognized One God, the +Maker of the Universe, and himself as God's vicegerent on earth. He +rejected the doctrine of the Resurrection, and accepted that of the +transmigration of souls. The Islamite prayers were abolished, and +others of a more general character were substituted for them. The +ceremonial was largely borrowed from the Hindus. + +The "Divine Faith" had no hold on the people, and its influence +ceased with the death of its founder. It is even said that Akbar, +on his death-bed, acknowledged the orthodox Muhammadan creed, but the +evidence on this point is unreliable. Akbar's religious system had an +important political bearing, for the keynote of his whole policy was +the endeavour to unite with a bond of common interest all the diverse +social, religious, and racial elements of his empire. He overlooked +nothing which might further the object he had in view. He chose his +ministers and generals indiscriminately from all his subjects, without +distinction of race or religion. He allied himself in marriage with +the royal Hindu families of Rajputana. He sat daily on the judgment +seat to dispense justice to all who chose to appeal to him, and, +like the famous Harun-al-Rashid, he would at times put on disguises +and wander unattended among the people, to keep himself informed of +their real condition and to check the malpractices of his officials. + +Though Akbar unavoidably had bitter enemies among the more bigoted of +his Muhammadan subjects, his wise tolerance of all beliefs and the +generosity of his policy for the most part disarmed hostility from +all sides. Certainly no ruler of India before or since succeeded so +far in carrying out his object. He is still one of the great popular +heroes of Hindustan; his mighty deeds in war and in the chase, his +wise and witty sayings, the splendour of his court, his magnanimity +and his justice, still live in song and in story. + +Akbar died in the Fort at Agra on October 13, 1605, in the fifty-first +year of his reign, aged 63. He was buried at Sikandra, in the mausoleum +commenced by himself, and finished by his son and successor, Jahangir. + + +Akbar's connection with Agra. + +The modern city of Agra, as stated previously, was founded by Akbar +in 1558, opposite to the old city on the left bank of the river. He +built the Fort, on the site of an old Pathan castle, and part of the +palace within it. Agra was the seat of government during the greater +part of his reign. He also built the great mosque and the magnificent +palaces and public buildings of Fatehpur Sikri, which are among the +most famous of the antiquities of India. + + +IV. Jahangir. + +The eldest surviving son of Akbar, Prince Salîm, on his accession to +the throne in 1605, assumed the title of Núr-ud-din Jahangir (Light +of the Faith, Conqueror of the World). + +He was passionate, cruel, and a drunkard, but not without ability +and force of character. As Prince Salîm he had instigated the +assassination of the Prime Minister, Abul Fazl, and probably hastened +his own father's death by his violent conduct. There was, however, +a reconciliation at the end, and Jahangir endeavoured to atone for +his behaviour by lavish expenditure on Akbar's tomb at Sikandra. He +has also left many pious tributes to his father's memory in his +autobiography. Jahangir's favourite wife was the celebrated Nur Mahal, +who for twenty years was almost the supreme power in the imperial +court. Her beauty attracted his attention while he was still Prince +Salîm, but Akbar, disapproving of her as a daughter-in-law, gave her in +marriage to Sher Afsan, "the lion killer," a nobleman of Burdwan. After +his accession, having treacherously procured the death of her husband, +Jahangir had Nur Mahal removed to Agra and placed under the care of +his mother. For many years she repulsed all Jahangir's overtures, +but when at last she consented to be his queen she became his most +devoted wife. She accompanied him on all his travels, and Jahangir +consulted her in all important affairs of state. Sir Thomas Roe, James +the First's ambassador, describes Jahangir at Agra taking his wife +for an evening drive in a bullock cart, "the King himself being her +carter." He affectionately changed her name from Nur Mahal, "Light of +the Palace," to Nur Jahan, "Light of the World." The imperial coinage +bore her name and an inscription, "Gold has acquired a new value since +it bore the name of Nur Jahan." She even succeeded to some extent +in controlling Jahangir's drunken habits. She was a great patroness +of the arts, and it is said that the Samman Burj, her apartments in +the Agra palace, was decorated after her own designs. Her charity +was boundless; she was the especial protectress of orphan girls, and +provided marriage portions for no less than 500 from her private purse. + +Nur Mahal's father, Itmâd-ud-daulah, became Lord High Treasurer, +and afterwards Wazir, or Prime Minister. On his death his daughter +built for him the magnificent tomb at Agra known by his name. + +During Jahangir's reign many Europeans, travellers, adventurers and +others, flocked to the Mogul court. They were allowed free access +to the palace, and Jahangir frequently admitted them to join in his +midnight carouses. He showed great favour to the Jesuit priests, +and even allowed two of his nephews to be instructed in the Christian +religion. + +The violent temper of Jahangir was inherited by his son, Prince +Khurram, afterwards Shah Jahan, and the peace of his reign was +frequently disturbed by open rebellion on the part of the Prince. In +1623 Shah Jahan actually sacked Agra, and his soldiers committed +fearful atrocities on the inhabitants. He failed, however, to capture +the fort, which contained the imperial treasury, and Jahangir, +no doubt remembering his own father's leniency towards himself, +forgave his unruly son. + +Jahangir died in 1627, and was buried at Shahdara, near Lahore, +in a magnificent tomb prepared by Nur Mahal. She herself retired to +Lahore, and, though she lived till 1648, ceased to take any part in +state affairs after his death. She was buried by her husband's side +at Shahdara. + + +Jahangir's connection with Agra. + +Jahangir for a great part of his reign held his court at Lahore, +or at Kabul. The chief monuments of his reign at, or near, Agra +are Akbar's tomb at Sikandra (p. 97), and Itmâd-ud-daulah's tomb +(p. 85), already mentioned. Part of the Agra Palace, the Jahangiri +Mahal (p. 63), is named after him, though it is most probable that +it was really built in Akbar's reign. + +There are a few minor buildings of Jahangir's time in Agra, such as +the baths of Ali Verdi Khan in Chipitollah Street, the mosque of +Motamid Khan in the Kashmiri Bazar, and the tower known after the +name of Boland Khan, the chief eunuch of Jahangir's palace. These +are of purely archæological interest. + + +V. Shah Jahan. + +Shah Jahan, on his father's death, though only fourth in right of +succession to the throne, speedily disposed of his brothers by means +very commonly adopted in Oriental royal families, and was enthroned at +Agra in 1648. Immediately afterwards he wreaked his vengeance on the +Portuguese, who had taken part against him in his rebellion against +Jahangir, by destroying their settlement at Hughli. The next year, +while on an expedition to suppress disorder in the Deccan, he lost +his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, the lady of the Taj. For a long +time the Emperor abandoned himself entirely to grief, and he remained +faithful to her memory until his death. + +The actual building of the Taj commenced in 1632. From this date until +1658, when Aurangzîb usurped the throne, was the most magnificent +period of the Mogul dynasty. The whole empire enjoyed comparative peace +and prosperity. Shah Jahan's just and liberal government continued his +father's and grandfather's policy of tolerance towards the Hindus, and +his administration, though conducted with great pomp and splendour, +did not press hardly upon the people. It was one of the greatest +epochs of Indian architecture; besides the Taj Mahal, the buildings +erected during these years include four of the masterpieces of the +Mogul period--the Jâmi Masjid, or Cathedral Mosque, of Delhi; the +Mûti Masjid, or Pearl Mosque, of Agra; part of the Agra Palace, and +the great palace at Delhi, of which only a small portion now exists. + +It is said that as Shah Jahan advanced towards old age he abandoned +himself more and more to a life of pleasure and self-indulgence, +but his last years were darkened by the same kind of family intrigues +through which he himself had gained the throne. In 1657 the serious +illness of the Emperor brought these intrigues to a head. His eldest +son by Mumtaz Mahal, called Dara Shikoh, a gracious and generous +Prince, but headstrong and intolerant of advice, was appointed +Regent. On receiving this intelligence, his younger brothers, Shuja, +Viceroy of Bengal, and Murad, Viceroy of Gujarat, declared their +independence, and marched upon Agra. Aurangzîb, the third son, +a religious bigot, but the ablest and most virile of the brothers, +hastened to join them, and being placed in chief command, attacked +Dara's army close to Agra and completely defeated him. Three days +afterwards he entered the city. Shah Jahan sent his chamberlain to +order him to leave the city at once and return to his post in the +Deccan, but Aurangzîb, affecting to believe that his father was dead, +disregarded the order. He succeeded by bribes and promises in bringing +over some of the principal nobles to his side, and being well informed +by Rushanara, his younger sister, who was his equal in cunning and +artifice, of all that went on in the palace, he baffled Shah Jahan's +attempts to lay hands on him. At last, under pretence of arranging +an amicable meeting with his son Mahmud, Aurangzîb beguiled Shah +Jahan into withdrawing his troops from the Fort. Mahmud immediately +forced his way in with a picked body of men and seized the person of +the Emperor. The plan succeeded so well that no attempt at a rescue +was made. + +The French traveller Tavernier, who has left a complete record of +the time, writes of this event: "It is most surprising that not one +of the servants of the grand King offered to assist him; that all his +subjects abandoned him, and that they turned their eyes to the rising +sun, recognizing no one as king but Aurangzîb. Shah Jahan, though +still living, passed from their memories. If, perchance, there were +any who felt touched by his misfortunes, fear made them silent, and +made them basely abandon a king who had governed them like a father, +and with a mildness which is not common with sovereigns. For although +he was severe enough to the nobles when they failed to perform their +duties, he arranged all things for the comfort of the people, by whom +he was much beloved, but who gave no signs of it at this crisis." + +Shah Jahan remained confined in a set of apartments of the Agra +Palace for seven years. He died in 1666, and was buried by the side +of Mumtaz Mahal in the Taj. His captivity was shared by his favourite +daughter, Jahanara, who since the death of her mother had ruled the +imperial household and taken a prominent part in state affairs. She +had actively supported the cause of Dara, and thus incurred the +resentment of Aurangzîb. On her father's death she retired to Delhi, +and she lived there until 1681. Her simple grave, covered with grass, +is in a quiet corner of the courtyard of Nizamudin's tomb, near Delhi, +where the memory of her filial piety adds to the poetic charm of all +the surroundings. + + + +The Monuments of Shah Jahan's Reign at Agra. + +The Taj Mahal (p. 72); the Jâmi Masjid (p. 69); and the following +buildings in the Fort: The Mûti Masjid (p. 43); the Dîwan-i-âm (p. 46); +the Dîwan-i-khas (p. 55); the Khas Mahal (p. 59). + + +VI. Aurangzîb. + +Agra is only concerned with the first seven years of Aurangzîb's reign, +for, after the death of Shah Jahan, the court was removed to Delhi, +and Agra was left with only a provincial governor to maintain its +former magnificence. The unhappy Dara, after his defeat by Aurangzîb, +made fruitless attempts to retrieve his fortunes, but was at last +betrayed into the hands of his brother, who immediately put him to +death. Aurangzîb lost no time in disposing of his other two brothers, +and thus placed his succession to the throne beyond dispute. + +The Princess Rushanara, as a reward for her treachery, was raised +to the position formerly enjoyed by her sister Jahanara. The French +physician Bernier, who resided twelve years at the Mogul court in the +time of Aurangzîb, has left many minute and graphic records of the +times. Here is a picture of Rushanara when she accompanied Aurangzîb +on the march from Delhi to Kashmir:-- + +"Stretch imagination to its utmost limits, and you can conceive +no exhibition more grand and imposing than when Rauchenara-Begum, +mounted on a stupendous Pegu elephant and seated in a _mikdember_, +blazing with gold and azure, is followed by five or six other elephants +with _mikdembers_ nearly as resplendent as her own, and filled with +ladies attached to her household. Close to the Princess are the chief +eunuchs, richly adorned and finely mounted, each with a wand of office +in his hand; and surrounding her elephant a troop of female servants, +_Tartars_ and _Kachmerys_, fantastically attired and riding handsome +pad-horses. Besides these attendants are several eunuchs on horseback, +accompanied by a multitude of _pagys_, or lackeys, on foot, with +large canes, who advance a great way before the Princess, both to +the right and left, for the purpose of clearing the road and driving +before them every intruder. Immediately behind Rauchenara-Begum's +retinue appears a principal lady of the court, mounted and attended +in much the same manner as the Princess. This lady is followed by a +third, she by a fourth, and so on, until fifteen or sixteen females +of quality pass with a grandeur of appearance, equipage, and retinue +more or less proportionate to their rank, pay, and office. There is +something very impressive of state and royalty in the march of these +sixty or more elephants; in their solemn and, as it were, measured +steps, in the splendour of the _mikdembers_, and the brilliant and +innumerable followers in attendance; and, if I had not regarded this +display of magnificence with a sort of philosophical indifference, I +should have been apt to be carried away by such flights of imagination +as inspire most of the Indian poets when they represent the elephants +as conveying so many goddesses concealed from the vulgar gaze." [4] + +Dramatic justice overtook the scheming Princess at last. In 1664 +Aurangzîb fell dangerously ill, and, while he was unconscious, +Rushanara, believing him to be dying, abstracted the signet ring +from his finger and issued letters, as under the royal seal, to the +various Viceroys and Governors, setting aside the succession of the +Emperor's eldest son by a Rajput Princess in favour of another son, +a boy of six, by a Muhammadan sultana. She hoped by this means to keep +the supreme power in her own hands during the long minority of the new +Emperor. Aurangzîb unexpectedly recovered, and became suspicious of +his dangerous sister. The host of enemies she had created at court +were not slow in taking advantage of the situation, and Rushanara +soon afterwards disappeared--removed, it is said, by poison. + +Aurangzîb ruled with a firm hand, and in strict justice according +to the law of Islam, but though a man of great intellectual powers, +of marvellous energy and indomitable courage, he was wanting in +imagination, sympathy, and foresight, the highest qualities of a +really great ruler. He checked the dissolute conduct of the nobles, +and set an example of industry and devotion to duty; but his narrow, +bigoted disposition inclined him to distrust even his own ministers, +so that, unlike his three predecessors, he was badly served by +the lieutenants in whose hands the administration of the provinces +rested. He surrounded himself with religious bigots of the Sunni +sect of Muhammadans, who aided him in bitter persecution of the +Hindus. Hardly anything of artistic or architectural interest was +created under his patronage. Most of the great artists who attended +Shah Jahan's court were dismissed as unorthodox or heretics, and many +noble monuments were mutilated by the Emperor's fanatical followers +on the ground that they contravened the precept of the Koran which +forbids the representation of animate nature in art. + +He died in 1707, eighty-nine years of age. The Mogul empire, surrounded +by hordes of the enemies his bigotry and intolerance had created, +was already tottering to its fall, and the star of the British raj +was rising. Seventeen years before his death he had granted to Job +Charnock a piece of land at Sutanati, the site of the future capital +of our Indian empire. + + +Agra and the Later Mogul Emperors + +Agra played a very small part in the history of the weak-minded and +dissolute successors of Aurangzîb. Firokhshiyar, who reigned from 1713 +to 1719, resided occasionally there. After his death disputes between +various claimants to the throne led to Agra Fort being besieged and +captured by Husein Ali Khan, a partisan of one of them, who looted +the treasury of all the valuables deposited there during three +centuries. "There were the effects of Nur Jahan Begum and Mumtaz +Mahal, amounting in value, according to various reports, to two or +three crores of rupees. There was in particular the sheet of pearls +which Shah Jahan had caused to be made for the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, +of the value of several lakhs of rupees, which was spread over it +on the anniversary and on Friday nights. There was the ewer of Nur +Jahan and her cushion of woven gold and rich pearls, with a border +of valuable garnets and emeralds." (Elliott.) + +In 1739 Nadir, Shah of Persia, sacked Delhi, carried off Shah Jahan's +famous peacock throne, and laid Agra also under contribution. The +Mahrattas next appeared on the scene. In 1764 the Jâts of Bharatpur, +under Suraj Mal, captured Agra, looted the Taj, and played havoc +with the palaces in the Fort. They were joined by Walter Reinhardt, +an adventurer, half French and half German, who sold his services +for any work of infamy, and had only recently assisted in the murder +of the British Resident and other Europeans at Patna. He afterwards +entered the Mogul service, and was rewarded by a grant of a tract of +country near Meerut, which remained in the possession of his family +until recent times. He died at Agra in 1778, and was buried in the +Catholic cemetery. + +For the next thirty-nine years Agra was occupied by Mahrattas and +by Mogul imperialists in turn. John Hessing, a Dutch officer in the +employ of the Mahrattas, was Governor of Agra in 1794, and died there +in 1802. The next year it was captured by the British under General, +afterwards Lord, Lake, and from that time until 1857 its history +was uneventful. + + + +Agra in the Mutiny. + +Agra did not take any prominent part in the events of the Mutiny. A +mob plundered the city, burnt the public offices, and killed a number +of Europeans; but the rioters left soon to join their comrades at +Delhi. There was a small engagement outside the city. The British +troops and the whole of the European population were afterwards shut +up in the Fort until the capture of Delhi. The Lieutenant-Governor, +Mr. John Russell Colvin, died there, and was buried in front of +the Dîwan-i-âm. + + + +The Fort + +The present Fort was commenced by Akbar in 1566, on the site +of an older one constructed by Salîm Shah Sur, the son of Shere +Shah. Its vast walls (seventy feet in height, and a mile and a half +in circuit), its turrets, and noble gateways present from the outside +a most imposing appearance. It contains within its walls that most +exquisite of mosques, the Mûti Masjid, and the palaces of Akbar and +Shah Jahan. The principal or north entrance is the Delhi Gate, nearly +opposite to the railway station and the Jâmi Masjid. Formerly there +was a walled enclosure in front of this gate, called the Tripulia, +or Three Gates, which was used as a market. This was cleared away by +the military authorities in 1875. Crossing the drawbridge over the +moat which surrounds the Fort, the visitor passes the outer gate, +and by a paved incline reaches the Hathi Pol, or Elephant Gate +(Plate III.), so called from the two stone elephants, with riders, +which formerly stood outside the gate, on the highest of the platforms +on either side of it. The statues and elephants were thrown down by +order of Aurangzîb. There are four hollow places in each platform, +where the legs of the elephants were morticed into it. [5] + +The gate is a fine example of the early Mogul style; it contains the +_Naubat khana_, or music gallery, where the royal kettledrums announced +the Emperor's arrival or departure, and all state functions. It was +also a guard-house, and probably the quarters of a high military +officer, but it is certainly not, as the guides have it, the "Darshan +Darwaza," or "Gate of Sights," described by William Finch, where +the Emperor Jahangir showed himself at sunrise to his nobles and to +the multitude assembled in the plain below. The Darshan Darwaza was +undoubtedly near the old disused water-gate, which was joined to the +royal apartments of the palace by a private passage, and answers to +Finch's description of "leading into a fair court extending along +the river." The Elephant Gate is at a considerable distance from the +palace, and was never connected with it, except by the public road. + +It is worth while to climb the top of the gate by the staircase on +the right, inside the Fort. There is a fine view of the Fort, and +beyond the walls the ever-beautiful white domes of the Taj appear in +the distance. The Itmâd-ud-daulah is visible on the left. Towards +the town you look down into the quadrangle of the Jâmi Masjid. The +pavilions on the summit of the great octagonal towers flanking the +gate are finely carved, and bear traces of painting and enamelled +tile-work. Descending the staircase to the floors beneath, one can +wander through the curious small chambers and look out from the +balconies on the front of the gate. + + +The Mûti Masjid. + +The road to the left after passing the Elephant Gate leads up to the +entrance of the Mûti Masjid, or "Pearl Mosque," placed on the highest +point of the Fort enclosure. [6] You pass on the left a building +known as Dansa Jât's house, said to have been occupied by the Rajahs +of Bharatpur when the Jâts held the Fort. It has been made hideous +by modern additions which have converted it into officers' quarters. + +The entrance to the Mûti Masjid is very plain and unpretending, so +that one is hardly prepared for the beauty, purity, and the unaffected +expression of an exalted religious feeling which characterize the +interior. It is rare to find an Indian building in which the effect +is produced with hardly any ornament, but solely by the perfection +of proportions, beauty of material, and harmony of constructive +design. The courtyard, in front of the mosque, with its arcades +and gateways, is a noble setting to the Pearl, as the mosque is +appropriately called. There is a subtle rhythm in the placing of the +three domes over the seven arches of the mosque, which saves the whole +design from monotony, while the marvellous grace of the contours, +which is so characteristic of the finest of Shah Jahan's buildings, +makes each dome grow up from the roof like a flower-bud on the point of +unfolding. The octagonal pavilions at the four corners of the mosque, +and the dainty little kiosques placed as decoration over the arches +and over the gateways of the courtyard, echo the harmonies of the +larger constructive details, and give completeness to the composition. + +The interior of the mosque owes its dignity to the same greatness of +style and perfection of the proportions. The three aisles are formed +by massive piers of single blocks of marble. With all its simplicity, +there is consummate art both in the placing of the ornament and in +the beautiful springing of the arches from the supporting piers. The +fine workmanship is worthy of the art. + +On either side of the mosque there is a small chamber for the ladies +of the zanana, with a window filled with a carved marble _grille_ +looking on to the interior. They could thus attend to the services of +the mosque without being seen. The staircases on the right and left +of the courtyard give private access to the apartments of the palace. + +The Persian inscription inlaid in black marble under the wide, +projecting cornice of the mosque is a poetic tribute to the beauty of +the building and a panegyric of its founder. From it we learn that +it was built by Shah Jahan, it took seven years to build, and cost +three lakhs of rupees. + +The dimensions of the courtyard, given by Fergusson, are 154 feet +by 158 feet; and of the Mosque: length, 159 feet; depth, 56 feet, +internally. + + +The Dersane Darwaza. + +Nearly opposite to the Mûti Masjid, you pass on the left an +inclined passage which leads to an old gateway, a part of Akbar's +buildings. Very little remains of the original buildings which +connected it with the palace in the time of Jahangir, but there cannot +be much doubt that this was the locality described by William Finch +as the "Dersane Darwaza, leading into a fair court, extending along +the river, in which the King looks forth every morning at sun-rising, +which he salutes, and then his nobles resort to their _Tesillam_ +(obeisance). Right under the place where he looks out, is a kind +of scaffold, whereon his nobles stand, but the _Addis_ with others +await below in the court. Here also every noone he looketh forth +to behold _Tamâshâh_, or fighting of Elephants, Lyons, Buffles, +killing of Deare with Leopards, which is a custom on every day of +the weeke, Sunday excepted, on which is no fighting; but Tuesday, +on the contrary, is a day of blood, both of fighting beasts, and +justiced men, the King judging and seeing executions." + + +The Dîwan-i-âm. + +The road now turns towards the right, through the Mîna Bazar, the +old market-place, where merchants displayed jewellery, brocades, +and similar stuffs for the nobles and others attending the court. A +gateway leads into the great courtyard of the Dîwan-i-âm, or Hall of +Public Audience, which, with its surrounding arcades, was for a long +time used as an armoury for the British garrison. The hall itself was +restored in 1876 by Sir John Strachey, then Lieutenant-Governor of +the North-West Provinces. The courtyard has recently been put back, +as far as possible, into its original condition by Lord Curzon's +orders. A further great improvement has been made by the removal of +the hideous modern additions which entirely concealed all the arcades. + +The present hall, which is an open pavilion formed by a triple row +of colonnades, was commenced by Shah Jahan, but, if we may believe +tradition, was not completed until the 27th year of the reign of +Aurangzîb. The arcades surrounding the quadrangle are probably of +Akbar's time. The interior dimensions of the hall are 192 feet by 64 +feet. It is constructed of red sandstone, plastered over with a fine +white polished stucco, which served both as a protection to the stone +and as a ground for coloured decoration and gilding. This plaster-work +was carried to the perfection of a fine art by the old Mogul builders, +but the restoration of it in 1876 was very indifferently carried out. + +The throne of the Emperor was in an alcove of inlaid marble at the +back of the hall, and connected with the royal apartments behind. Here +he sat daily to give audience to his court, to receive ambassadors, +and to administer justice. At the foot of the alcove is a square +slab of marble, about 3 feet in height, on which, it is said, +his ministers stood to receive petitions to the Emperor, and to +convey his commands thereon. On the right and left of the throne are +chambers with perforated marble windows, through which the ladies of +the zanana could view the proceedings. Bernier's lively description, +though it properly belongs to the Dîwan-i-âm at Delhi, will enable +us to picture the scene in the days of the Great Mogul:-- + +"The monarch every day, about noon, sits upon his throne, with some +of his sons at his right and left, while eunuchs standing about the +royal person flap away the flies with peacocks' tails, agitate the air +with large fans, or wait with undivided attention and profound humility +to perform the different services allotted to each. Immediately under +the throne is an enclosure, surrounded by silver rails, in which are +assembled the whole body of _omrahs_ (nobles), the Rajas, and the +ambassadors, all standing, their eyes bent downwards and their hands +crossed. At a greater distance from the throne are the _mansebdhars_, +or inferior _omrahs_, also standing in the same posture of profound +reverence. The remainder of the spacious room, and, indeed, the whole +courtyard, is filled with persons of all ranks, high and low, rich +and poor; because it is in this extensive hall that the King gives +audience indiscriminately to all his subjects; hence it is called +_Am Khas_, or audience chamber of high and low. + +"During the hour and a half, or two hours, that this ceremony +continues, a certain number of the royal horses pass before the throne, +that the King may see whether they are well used and Usbec, of every +kind, and each dog with a small red covering; lastly, every species +of the birds of prey used in field sports for catching partridges, +cranes, hares, and even, it is said, for hunting antelopes, on which +they pounce with violence, beating their heads and blinding them with +their wings and claws." + +After this parade, the more serious business of the day was attended +to. The Emperor reviewed his cavalry with peculiar attention, for he +was personally acquainted with every trooper. Then all the petitions +held up in the assembled crowd were read and disposed of before the +audience closed. + +On festivals or other special occasions the pillars of the hall were +hung with gold brocades, and flowered satin canopies fastened with +red silken cords were raised over the whole apartment. The floor was +covered entirely with the most magnificent silk carpets. A gorgeous +tent, larger than the hall, to which it was fastened, and supported +by poles overlaid with silver, was pitched outside. Every compartment +of the arcades round the courtyard was decorated by one of the great +nobles, at his own expense, with gold brocades and costly carpets, +each one vying with the other to attract the attention of the Emperor, +to whom, on such occasions, an offering of gold or jewels, more or less +valuable according to the pay and rank of the giver, must be presented. + +JAHANGIR'S CISTERN.--Just in front of the Dîwan-i-âm is a great stone +cistern, cut out of a single block, with steps inside and out, known +as Jahangir's _Hauz_, a bowl or bath-tub. There is a long Persian +inscription round the outer rim; the only part now decipherable shows +that it was made for Jahangir in 1019 A.H. (A.D. 1611). It is nearly 5 +feet in height and 8 feet in diameter at the top. Its original place +is said to have been one of the courts of the Jahangiri Mahal. + +THE TOMB OF MR. COLVIN.--Close by Jahangiri's _Hauz_ is the grave of +Mr. John Russell Colvin, the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West +Provinces, who died in the Fort during the disturbances of 1857. + + +The Inner Mîna Bazar. + +Before entering the private apartments of the palace, which are at +the back of the Dîwan-i-âm, we may pass through the gateway on the +left of the courtyard, and enter a smaller one, which was the private +bazar where merchants sold jewellery, silks, and costly brocades +to the ladies of the zanana, who were seated in the marble balcony +which overlooks it (Plate IV.). A narrow staircase gave access to +the balcony from the courtyard. + +We may well believe that a considerable part of the ladies' time +was spent in this quarter of the palace. Sometimes the Great Mogul +and his court would amuse themselves by holding a mock fair, in +which the prettiest of the nobles' wives and daughters would act +as traders, and the Emperors and the Begums would bargain with +them in the most approved bazar fashion. The Emperor would haggle +for the value of an anna, and the ladies would feign indignation, +scold his Majesty roundly, and tell him to go where he could suit +himself better. "The Begums betray, if possible, a still greater +anxiety to be served cheaply; high words are heard on every side, +and the loud and scurrilous quarrels of the buyers and sellers create +a complete farce. But, when at last the bargains are struck, the +Begums, as well as the Emperor, pay liberally for their purchases, +and often, as if by accident, let slip out of their hands a few gold +instead of silver roupies, as a compliment to the fair merchant and +her pretty daughter. Thus the scene ends with merry jests and good +humour." (Bernier.) + +THE CHITORE GATES.--The further corner of this courtyard, on the left, +leads to the Chitore gates, the trophies which Akbar placed there as +a memorial of his capture of that great Rajput stronghold in 1657, +after a desperate resistance by its gallant defenders. They form the +principal entrance to the _Machhi Bhawan_, the great courtyard behind +the Dîwan-i-âm, but are generally kept closed. + +THE HINDU TEMPLE.--Beyond the Chitore gates you enter into another +quadrangle surrounded by arcades, which recalls a different chapter +in the chequered history of the palace. Here is a Hindu temple, built +by one of the Bharatpur Rajahs, who sacked Agra about the middle of +the 18th century, and occupied it for ten years. + + +The Machhi Bhawan. + +Returning now to the Dîwan-i-âm, we can ascend by one of the small +staircases to the throne-room, and enter the upper arcades which +surround the Machhi Bhawan, or "Fish Square." The courtyard has +suffered so much from ruthless vandalism that it is difficult to +realize its former magnificence. It was formerly laid out in marble +with flower-beds, water-channels, fountains, and fish-tanks. These +were carried off by the Jâts to the palace of Suraj Mai, at Dîg. A +large quantity of mosaic and exquisite marble fretwork, from this +and other parts of the palace, was put up to auction by Lord William +Bentinck, when Governor-General of India. The Taj only escaped the +same fate because the proceeds of this sale were unsatisfactory. + +On the side opposite to the throne-room is an open terrace, originally +roofed over and connected with the Dîwan-i-khas. This also was +dismantled by the Jâts. + +THE NAJINA MASJID.--On the left of the throne-room, at the end of +the corridor, is a door leading into a small mosque of white marble, +built by Aurangzîb for the ladies of the zenana. It is something like +the Mûti Masjid, but far inferior in design. + +The further corner of it opens into a small chamber, overlooking the +courtyard of the Dîwan-i-âm, which is pointed out by the guides as the +prison where Shah Jahan was confined. This may be accepted or not, +according to the choice of the visitor. When distinct historical +authority is wanting, it is very difficult to distinguish real +tradition and pure fable in the tales of these garrulous folk. The +historical evidence seems to show that Shah Jahan was not kept a close +prisoner, but simply confined to certain apartments in the palace. + +We will now pass over to the river side of the Machhi Bhawan, and +approach that part of the palace which contains the Dîwan-i-khas, +or Hall of Private Audience, the Zanana and Mahal-i-khas, all built +by Shah Jahan and occupied by him in the days of his royal state +and sovereignty. They rank with the Dîwan-i-khas at Delhi as the +most exquisite of Shah Jahan's buildings. From this classification +I purposely omit the Taj, gleaming on the banks of the river lower +down. The Taj stands by itself. + + +The Dîwan-i-Khas. + +The Dîwan-i-khas was built in 1637. Though much smaller than the +Dîwan-i-khas at Delhi, it is certainly not inferior in the beauty +of its proportions and decoration. Most of the decorative work +of these marble pavilions is directly derived from Persian art, +and inspired by the Persian love of flowers which almost amounted +to flower-worship. All the details are charming, but the dados, +especially, edged with inlaid work and carved with floral types in the +most delicate relief, show to perfection that wonderful decorative +instinct which seems to be born in the Oriental handicraftsman. The +designer has naïvely translated into marble the conventional Indian +flower-beds, just as they were in every palace garden, but there +is perfect art in the seeming absence of all artifice. The dados +outside the Taj are similar in design to these, though larger and +correspondingly bolder in style. The roof of the Dîwan-i-khas, with +its fine covered ceiling, is interesting for its construction. + +JAHANGIR'S THRONE.--On the terrace in front of the Dîwan-i-khas +are placed two thrones, one of white marble on the side facing the +Machhi-Bhawan, and the other of black slate on the river side. From +the Persian inscription which runs round the four sides of the black +throne we learn that it was made in 1603 for Jahangir. This was two +years before the death of his father, Akbar, and he was then only +Prince Salîm. The throne was, therefore, probably made to commemorate +the recognition by Akbar of his son's title to the succession. + +On this terrace Jahangir sat to enjoy the sight of his brigantines on +the river, or to watch the elephant fights on the level place beneath +the walls. From side to side of his throne there is a long fissure, +which opened, so says tradition, when the Jât Rajah, Jawahar Singh of +Bharatpur, in 1765, set his usurping feet on the throne of the Great +Mogul. The tradition holds that blood spurted out of the throne in +two places, and red marks in the stone are pointed out as evidence +of the truth of the story. The impious chief was shortly afterwards +assassinated in the palace. + +THE BATHS.--On the side of the terrace directly opposite to the +Dîwan-i-khas are the baths, or the Hammam. The water was brought up +from a well, outside the walls, 70 feet below. These baths, in their +present state, are by no means so fine as those at Fatehpur Sikri, +to be described hereafter. + +The Marquis of Hastings, when Governor-General of India, broke up +one of the most beautiful of the baths of the palace, and sent it +home as a present to the Prince Regent, afterwards George the Fourth. + + +The Samman Burj. + +A doorway at the back of the Dîwan-i-khas leads to the beautiful +two-storied pavilion, surmounting one of the most projecting of the +circular bastions on the river face, and known as the Samman Burj, +"the Jasmine Tower" (Plate V.). The style of the inlaid work shows it +to be earlier in date than the Dîwan-i-khas, and supports Fergusson's +conjecture that it was built by Jahangir. In that case it must have +been the apartment of his Empress, the beautiful and accomplished Nur +Mahal. It was afterwards occupied by Mumtaz Mahal, the lady of the +Taj. Here, also, in full view of the famous monument he had raised +to her memory, died her husband, Shah Jahan--sensualist, perhaps, +but true to his last hours to one great master-passion. The faithful +Jahanara, who shared his captivity for seven years, attended him on +his death-bed, and, as the shades of night closed in and hid the Taj +from view--praying Divine forgiveness for his sins, and with a few +consoling words to his daughter--he went to join his beloved! + +After the rites prescribed by the Muhammadan law, the body was placed +in a coffin of sandalwood and conveyed by the passage which leads from +the Samman Burj to the low gate beneath it, which was specially opened +for the occasion. Thence, followed by a procession of mourners, it was +carried out of the Fort through the Sher Hâji gate, nearly opposite +(now closed), and conveyed across the arm of the river to its last +resting-place in the Taj. + +The death of Shah Jahan and his funeral are minutely described by +Mulla Muhammad Kâzim in his "Alamgir Nama." The guides wrongly point +out a pavilion in the Jahangiri Mahal as the place where he died. + +In front of the Samman Burj is a beautiful little fountain hollowed +in the floor; on one side of the courtyard is a raised platform laid +out in squares of black marble for the game of _pachisi_, an Eastern +backgammon. [7] + + +The Khas Mahal. + +From the Samman Burj we step into the next set of apartments of +the zanana, connecting with the Khas Mahal and a similar set on the +other side. This part of the zanana forms the east, or river side, +of the Anguri Bagh, or Grape Garden. There is an indescribable grace +and charm about all this quarter of the palace, to which the beauty +of the material, the perfect taste of the ornament and elegance of +the proportions, the delightful background of the landscape, and the +historical associations all contribute. It should be seen towards +evening, not in the full glare of the morning sun. + +When the afterglow fills the sky, burnishes the gilded roofs, and +turns the marble to rose-colour, imagination may re-people these +lovely pavilions with fair Indian women--revel in the feast of +colour in _saris_, brocades, and carpets; in the gold, azure, and +crimson of the painted ceilings; and listen to the water splashing +in the fountains and gurgling over the carved water-shoots--a scene +of voluptuous beauty such as the world has rarely known since the +wealth and elegance of Rome filled the palaces and villas of Pompei. + +In the walls of the Khas Mahal are a number of niches which formerly +contained portraits of the Mogul Emperors, beginning with Timur, which, +like so many other things, were looted by the Rajah of Bharatpur. A +number of similar portraits and other fine paintings of the Mogul +period are preserved in the Government Art Gallery, Calcutta. + +A Persian poem inscribed on the walls of the Khas Mahal gives the +date of its construction, 1636. + +THE UNDERGROUND CHAMBERS.--A staircase to the south of the Khas Mahal +leads to a labyrinth of underground chambers, in which the Emperor +and his zanana found refuge from the fierce summer heat of Agra. In +the south-east corner there is a well-house, called a _bâoli_; this +is a set of chambers surrounding a well--a favourite retreat in the +hot weather. There were formerly many of the kind round about Agra, +constructed by the Mogul Emperors or their nobles. Besides these +resorts of ease and pleasure, there are gloomy dungeons which tell +of misbehaving slaves and indiscreet sultanas, who were hurried down +to meet their fate at the hands of the executioner, the silent Jumna +receiving their lifeless bodies. + + +The Anguri Bagh. + +The great quadrangle in front of the Khas Mahal is the Anguri Bagh, +surrounded on three sides by arcades, probably built by Akbar and +intended for his zenana. They were occupied in the Mutiny days by +the British officers and their families who were shut up in the Fort. + +The Anguri Bagh is a very typical specimen of the old Mogul gardens, +laid out in geometrical flower-beds, with four terraced walks +radiating from the central platform and fountain. A stone trellis +formerly enclosed the flower-beds, and probably supported the vines +which gave the garden its name. + +Among the many improvements lately made by Lord Curzon in the Fort is +the clearance of the wire-netting fernhouses and bedraggled shrubs +which formerly disfigured the quadrangle. If it cannot be kept up +in the old Mogul style, it is certainly better to leave the garden +uncultivated. + +SHISH MAHAL.--On the north side of the Anguri Bagh, close to +the zanana, a passage leads to the _Shish Mahal_, or "palace of +glass." This was the bath of the zanana. The marble slabs of the +floor have been torn up, and the decoration with a kind of glass +mosaic seems to have suffered from clumsy attempts at renovation. A +passage from the Shish Mahal leads to the old water gate. + +THE "SOMNATH" GATES.--Before entering the Jahangiri Mahal, on the +opposite side of the Anguri Bagh, we will pause at a corner of the +zanana courtyard, where a small apartment contains an interesting +relic of the Afghan expedition of 1842--the so-called "Somnath" +gates, taken from the tomb of Mahmud of Ghazni in the capture of that +city by the British. They were the subject of a most extraordinary +archæological blunder by the Governor-General, Lord Ellenborough, +who, in a grandiloquent proclamation, identifying them with the +gates of carved sandalwood which Mahmud according to tradition, +had taken from the celebrated Hindu temple of Somnath in 1025, +announced to the people of India that "the insult of eight hundred +years had been avenged." The gates were conveyed on a triumphal car +through the towns of northern India to the Agra Fort, and deposited +there with great ceremony. As a matter of fact, the wood is deodar, +and not sandalwood, and from the style of the ornament there can be +hardly a doubt that the gates were made at or near Ghazni. One glance +would convince any expert in Oriental archæology that they could not +by any possibility have been the gates of a Hindu temple. + +It has been supposed that the original gates were destroyed by fire, +and that these were made to replace them, but there seems to be +considerable doubt whether Mahmud really took away any gates from the +Somnath temple. It certainly would have been unusual for the great +Muhammadan plunderer to have burdened himself with an archæological +relic which, in those days, was not easily convertible into cash. + +A horse-shoe which is nailed to the gate is not, as is generally +supposed, a propitiation of the Goddess of Fortune, but a token from +the owner of some sick animal that he would bring an offering to +the shrine in the event of a cure resulting from his visit. This was +an old custom among the Tartars and other nomad tribes, who valued +horses and cattle as their most precious possessions. + + +The Jahangiri Mahal. + +The palace called after Jahangir, the Jahangiri Mahal, is in many +respects the most remarkable building of its class in India. Nothing +could be more striking than the contrast between the extreme elegance, +bordering on effeminacy, of the marble pavilions of Shah Jahan's +palaces, and the robust, virile, yet highly imaginative architecture +of this palace of Akbar; for though it bears Jahangir's name there +cannot be much doubt that it was planned, and partially, if not +completely, carried out by Akbar with the same architects who built +Fatehpur Sikri. It is the perfected type of the style which we see +in process of evolution at Fatehpur, and were it not for the Taj, +we might regret the new element which came into Mogul architecture +with Itmâd-ud-daulah's tomb. Both of these styles, which appear side +by side in the Agra Fort, are intensely typical of the men and the +times which produced them. The one is stamped throughout with the +personality of Akbar, the empire-builder, and distinguished by the +stately solidity of Jain and Hindu architecture. In the other the +native vigour of the earlier Indian styles has been softened by the +cultured eclecticism of Persia and Arabia, for the manly dignity of +Akbar's court had given place to the sensual luxury of Shah Jahan's. + +On the river side of the palace there is an octagonal pavilion placed +similarly to the Samman Burj, which is very charming in its fresco +decoration, though the colour has faded very much. It is possibly this +pavilion to which Badâyunî, one of Akbar's biographers, refers when +he describes a Brahmin, named Dêbi, being pulled up the walls of the +castle, sitting on a _charpâî_ (a native bed), till he arrived near +the balcony where the Emperor used to sleep. "Whilst thus suspended +he instructed his Majesty in the secrets and legends of Hinduism, +in the manner of worshipping idols, the fire, the sun, and stars, +and of revering the chief gods of these unbelievers." The priests of +other religions were similarly carried up to converse with Akbar. + +Adjoining this is a set of small rooms, known as Akbar's apartments, +which, even in their present dilapidated state, show that they +must have possessed a richness and beauty of decoration inferior to +nothing else in the whole Fort. The dados were decorated with _gesso_ +work on a gold ground. The borders are still almost intact, but the +rest of the relief ornament seems to have been wantonly hacked off +out of pure mischief. I believe this is the only example of _gesso_ +work in any of Akbar's buildings. The treatment of the upper part +of the walls with the characteristic cuspings of Arabian and Moorish +architects is admirable. + +Passing through these, we enter a long room known as the library, in +which a not very successful attempt was made some years ago to restore +the painted decoration. It is to be devoutly hoped that this and other +dangerous experiments of the kind will not be continued, except under +skilled artistic supervision. The restoration of the structural parts +of the palace and of the stone carving is a more easy matter, for +the descendants of the very men who built and carved the palace still +practise their art in Agra and round about. This has been admirably +carried out by the Public Works Department under Lord Curzon's orders. + +The outer courtyard, on the riverside, is very interesting, especially +for a very elegant and original porch, in which Saracenic feeling +predominates; but on entering the inner courtyard (Plate VI.) it is +more easy to realize that this Palace is one of the great masterpieces +of Mogul architecture. The beauty of this inner quadrangle is derived +not so much from its fine proportions and rich ornamentation as from +the wonderful rhythmic play of light and shadow, produced by the +bracket form of construction and the admirable disposition of the +openings for doors, windows, and colonnades. The north side of the +quadrangle is formed by a pillared hall, of distinctly Hindu design, +full of the feeling of mystery characteristic of indigenous Indian +styles. The subdued light of the interior adds to the impressiveness +of its great piers stretching their giant brackets up to the roof +like the gnarled and twisted branches of primeval forest trees. A very +interesting point of view can be obtained from the gallery which runs +round the upper part of the hall. + +One of Jahangir's wives, a Hindu princess of Jodhpur, hence known +as Jodh Bai, lived in this part of the palace, and the room on the +west side of the quadrangle, surrounded by a number of oblong niches, +is said to have been her temple, in which the images of Hanuman and +other Hindu deities were kept. + +On the roof of the Jahangiri Mahal there are two fine pavilions; +also a number of cisterns, which supplied the palace with water. In +the side of one of them there are a number of pipe-holes, lined with +copper, over each of which is a circular stone label inscribed with +the part of the palace to which it gave a supply. + + +The Salîmgarh. + +On the rising ground behind the courtyard of the Dîwan-i-âm there +formerly existed a palace called the Salîmgarh. Before Jahangir's +accession he was known as Prince Salîm, and tradition associates +this palace with him. Fergusson, however, states that in his time an +exquisite fragment of a palace built by Shere Shah, or his son Salîm, +existed here. The Salîmgarh at Delhi is named after the son of Shere +Shah, Salîm Shah Sur, who built it, and there is some doubt as to which +of the two Salîms gave his name to the Salîmgarh at Agra. Akbar's +Fort is known to have been built to replace an older one (known as +the Badalgarh) by Salîm Shah Sur, but it is quite possible that a part +of the palace may have been left, and retained the name of its founder. + +The only part of the Salîmgarh which now remains is a large two-storied +pavilion in front of the barracks. The upper half of the exterior +is carved with extraordinary richness. The style of design certainly +indicates the period of the Jahangiri Mahal and Akbar's buildings at +Fatehpur Sikri, rather than Shere Shah's work. + + +The Jâmi Masjid. + +Nearly opposite to the Delhi Gate of the Fort is the Jâmi Masjid, or +Cathedral Mosque, built by Jahanara, Shah Jahan's eldest daughter. It +is in the same style as the splendid mosque built by Shah Jahan +at Delhi, but far inferior in merit. There is a tameness about the +whole design very unusual in the buildings of this epoch. The zig-zag +striping of the domes is decidedly unpleasant. + +An inscription over the main archway states that it was completed in +the year 1644 A.D. a cost of five lakhs of rupees. + + + +The Taj + +Arjumand Banu Begam the favourite wife of Shah Jahan, is better known +by her other name, Mumtaz Mahal ("the Crown of the Palace"). Her +father was Asaf Khan, who was brother of the Empress Nur Mahal, +Jahangir's wife. She was thus the granddaughter of Itmâd-ud-daulah, +Jahangir's Prime Minister, whose tomb, on the opposite bank of the +river, will be described hereafter. + +In 1612, at the age of nineteen years she was married to Shah +Jahan--then Prince Khurram--who, though hardly twenty-one, had already +another wife. This second marriage, however, was a real love-match, +and Mumtaz was her husband's inseparable companion on all his journeys +and military expeditions. Shah Jahan, like his father, allowed his +wife a large share in the responsibilities of government. Like Nur +Mahal, she was famed as much for her charity as for her beauty. Her +influence was especially exercised in obtaining clemency for criminals +condemned to death. She bore him fourteen children, and died in +childbed in 1630, or the second year after Shah Jahan's accession to +the throne, at Burhanpur, whither she had accompanied her husband +on a campaign against Khan Jahan Lodi. The Emperor was overpowered +with grief. For a week he refused to see any of his ministers, or +to transact any business of state. He even contemplated resigning +the throne and dividing the empire among his sons. For two years the +court observed strict mourning. No music or festivities were allowed; +the wearing of jewels, the use of perfumes and luxuries of all kinds +were forbidden. The month of Zikad, in which she died, was observed +as a month of mourning for many years afterwards. The body of Mumtaz +was removed to Agra, and remained temporarily in the garden of the +Taj while the foundations of the building were being laid. It was +then placed in the vault where it now lies. A temporary dome covered +the tomb while the great monument grew up over it. + + +The building of the Taj. + +It was one of those intervals in history when the whole genius of a +people is concentrated on great architectural works, and art becomes +an epitome of the age. For the Taj was not a creation of a single +master-mind, but the consummation of a great art epoch. Since the +time of Akbar the best architects, artists, and art workmen of India, +Persia, Arabia, and Central Asia had been attracted to the Mogul +court. All the resources of a great empire were at their disposal, +for Shah Jahan desired that this monument of his grief should be one +of the wonders of the world. The sad circumstances which attended +the early death of the devoted wife who had endeared herself to the +people might well inspire all his subjects to join in the Emperor's +pious intentions. + +According to the old Tartar custom, a garden was chosen as a site +for the tomb--a garden planted with flowers and flowering shrubs, +the emblems of life, and solemn cypress, the emblem of death +and eternity. Such a garden, in the Mogul days, was kept up as a +pleasure-ground during the owner's lifetime, and used as his last +resting-place after his death. The old tradition laid down that it +must be acquired by fair means, and not by force or fraud. So Rajah +Jey Singh, to whom the garden belonged, was compensated by the gift +of another property from the Emperor's private estate. Shah Jahan +next appointed a council of the best architects of his empire for +preparing the design for the building. Drawings of many of the most +celebrated buildings of the world were shown and discussed. It is even +believed that one Geronimo Verroneo, an Italian who was then in the +Mogul service, submitted designs for Shah Jahan's inspection, a fact +which has led many writers into the error of supposing that the Taj, +as completed, was actually designed by him. [8] The design eventually +accepted was by Ustad Isa, who is stated in one account to have been +a Byzantine Turk, and in another a native of Shiraz, in Persia. + +The master-builders came from many different parts; the chief +masons from Baghdad, Delhi, and Multan; the dome builders from +Asiatic Turkey and from Samarkand; the mosaic workers from Kanauj +and from Baghdad; the principal calligraphist for the inscriptions +from Shiraz. Every part of India and Central Asia contributed the +materials; Jaipur, the marble; Fatehpur Sikri, the red sandstone; +the Panjab, jasper; China, the jade and crystal; Tibet, turquoises; +Ceylon, lapis lazuli and sapphires; Arabia, coral and cornelian; +Panna in Bundelkund, diamonds; Persia, onyx and amethyst. Twenty +thousand men were employed in the construction, which took seventeen +years to complete. [9] The sarcophagus was originally enclosed by +a fence or screen of gold studded with gems. This was removed in +1642, and replaced by the present exquisite screen of pierced marble +(Plate VII.). The Taj also possessed formerly two wonderful silver +doors. Austin de Bordeaux, a French goldsmith, who was employed by +Shah Jahan in making the celebrated Peacock throne, may possibly +have executed some of this metal-work in the Taj; but there is no +evidence worthy of consideration to support the common Anglo-Indian +belief that he designed or superintended the _pietra dura_, or inlaid +marble decoration of the building, which is entirely of the Persian +school. These silver doors were looted and melted down by the Jâts +in 1764. + +Besides the lavish expenditure on the building, lakhs of rupees were +spent in providing the richest of Persian silk carpets, golden lamps, +and magnificent candlesticks. A sheet of pearls, valued at several +lakhs, was made to cover the sarcophagus. This was carried off by the +Amir Husein Ali Khan, in 1720, as part of his share of the spoil of +Agra. The total expenditure, according to native accounts, amounted +to nearly 185 lakhs of rupees. + +It is said that Shah Jahan had intended to construct a mausoleum for +himself opposite to the Taj, on the other side of the Jumna and to +connect the two by a great bridge. The project was interrupted and +never completed, owing to the usurpation of Aurangzîb, shortly after +the foundations were laid. + + +The Intention of the Taj. + +The Taj has been the subject of numberless critical essays, but +many of them have missed the mark entirely, because the writers +have not been sufficiently conversant with the spirit of Eastern +artistic thought. All comparisons with the Parthenon or other +classic buildings are useless. One cannot compare Homer with the +Mâhabhâratâ, or Kalîdâs with Euripides. The Parthenon was a temple +for Pallas Athene, an exquisite casket to contain the jewel. The +Taj is the jewel--the ideal itself. Indian architecture is in much +closer affinity to the great conceptions of the Gothic builders +than it is to anything of classic or Renaissance construction. The +Gothic cathedral, with its sculptured arches and its spires pointing +heavenwards, is a symbol, as most Eastern buildings are symbols. The +Mogul artists, being prevented by the precepts of the Muhammadan +religion from attempting sculpture, as understood in Europe, succeeded +in investing their great architectural monuments with an extraordinary +personal character. There is a wonderful personality in the dignity and +greatness of Akbar's tomb; we see the scholar and the polished courtier +in Itmâd-ud-daulah's. But the Taj carries this idea of personality +further than had been attempted in any of the Mogul monuments; it +represents in art the highest development towards individualism, +the struggle against the restraints of ritualism and dogma, which +Akbar initiated in religion. + +Every one who has seen the Taj must have felt that there is something +in it, difficult to define or analyze, which differentiates it from +all other buildings in the world. Sir Edwin Arnold has struck the +true note of criticism in the following lines:-- + + + "Not Architecture! as all others are, + But the proud passion of an Emperor's love + Wrought into living stone, which gleams and soars + With body of beauty shrining soul and thought; + ... As when some face + Divinely fair unveils before our eyes-- + Some woman beautiful unspeakably-- + And the blood quickens, and the spirit leaps, + And will to worship bends the half-yielded knees, + While breath forgets to breathe. So is the Taj!" + + +This is not a mere flight of poetic fancy, but a deep and true +interpretation of the meaning of the Taj. What were the thoughts +of the designers, and of Shah Jahan himself, when they resolved to +raise a monument of eternal love to the Crown of the Palace--Taj +Mahal? Surely not only of a mausoleum--a sepulchre fashioned after +ordinary architectural canons, but of an architectonic ideal, +symbolical of her womanly grace and beauty. Those critics who have +objected to the effeminacy of the architecture unconsciously pay the +highest tribute to the genius of the builders. The Taj was meant to +be feminine. The whole conception, and every line and detail of it, +express the intention of the designers. It is Mumtaz Mahal herself, +radiant in her youthful beauty, who still lingers on the banks of +the shining Jumna, at early morn, in the glowing midday sun, or in +the silver moonlight. Or rather, we should say, it conveys a more +abstract thought; it is India's noble tribute to the grace of Indian +womanhood--the Venus de Milo of the East. + +Bearing this in mind, we can understand how foolish it is to formulate +criticisms of the Taj based on ordinary architectural principles +as practised in Europe. Many of these criticisms, which might be +appropriate enough if applied to a modern provincial town hall, are +only silly and impertinent in reference to the Taj. Some are born +tone-deaf, others colour-blind, and there are many who can find beauty +in one particular form or expression of art and in no others. So the +Taj will always find detractors. But whoever tries to understand +the imaginative side of Eastern thought will leave the critics to +themselves, and take unrestrained delight in the exquisitely subtle +rhythm of this marvellous creation of Mogul art. + + * * * * * + +The gateway of the Taj faces a spacious quadrangle surrounded +by arcades. This is a _caravan serai_, or place where travellers +halted. Here, also, the poor were provided with food and shelter, +and on the anniversary day vast sums were distributed in charity +from the funds with which the Taj was endowed. It is well to pause +before entering, and admire the proportions and perfect taste of +the decoration of this gateway; for afterwards one has no eyes for +anything but the Taj itself. It is much finer in design than the +similar gateway of Akbar's tomb at Sikandra. An Arabic inscription in +black marble, of passages taken from the Koran, frames the principal +arch, and invites the pure of heart to enter the Gardens of Paradise. + +The first view of the Taj is from within this noble portal, framed by +the sombre shadow of the great arch which opens on to the garden. At +the end of a long terrace, its gracious outline partly mirrored in the +still water of a wide canal, a fairy vision of silver-white--like the +spirit of purity--seems to rest so lightly, so tenderly, on the earth, +as if in a moment it would soar into the sky. The beauty of the Taj, +as in all great art, lies in its simplicity. One wonders that so much +beauty can come from so little effort. Yet nothing is wanting, nothing +in excess; one cannot alter this and that and say that it is better. + +The garden, as originally planned, was an integral part of one great +design. The solemn rows of cypresses were planted so as to help out +the lines of the architecture; the flowering trees and flower-beds +completed the harmony with a splendid glow of colour. [10] Beautiful +as the first view of the Taj is even now, one can hardly realize how +glorious it must have been when the whole intention of the design +was fulfilled. At present there is not a single spot in the garden +itself which gives a view of the composition as a whole. + +Advancing down the main terrace, paved with stone and laid out with +geometric flower-beds, we reach a marble platform with its fountain +(see frontispiece), [11] where a nearer view of the Taj may be +enjoyed. Such a platform was the central feature in all Mogul +gardens. The terraces to the right and left of it end in two fine +pavilions of red sandstone, intended for the accommodation of the +custodians of the mausoleum and for storehouses. + +From this point we can admire the effect of the exquisite inlaid +decoration, fine and precious as the embroidery on the raiment of +Mumtaz herself. At the end of the main terrace we reach the steps +leading up to the great platform on which the Taj and its minarets, +"four tall court ladies tending their Princess," are raised. + +Let us reverently enter the central chamber, where Mumtaz Mahal and +Shah Jahan, her lord and lover, lie. Fergusson has truly said, no +words can express its chastened beauty seen in the soft gloom of the +subdued light coming from the distant and half-closed openings. The +screen of marble tracery which surrounds the tombs is in itself a +masterpiece. Even with all the artistic resources which Shah Jahan had +at his command, it was a work of ten years. Mumtaz Mahal lies in the +centre. The white marble of her tomb blossoms with a never-fading +garden of Persian flowers, which the magic of the Mogul artists +has created. + +The inscription on it is as follows: "The illustrious sepulchre of +Arjumand Banu Begam, called Mumtaz Mahal. Died in 1040 A.H." (1630 +A.D.). + +At the head of the tomb is the line: "He is the everlasting: He is +sufficient;" and the following passage from the Koran: "God is He, +besides whom there is no God. He knoweth what is concealed and what +is manifest. He is merciful and compassionate." + +On one side of it: "Nearer unto God are those who say 'Our Lord +is God.'" + +The inscription in the tomb of Shah Jahan is as follows: "The +illustrious sepulchre and sacred resting-place of His Most Exalted +Majesty dignified as Razwan (the guardian of Paradise), having his +abode in Paradise, and his dwelling in the starry heaven, inhabitant +of the regions of bliss, the second lord of the Qirán, [12] Shah +Jahan, the king valiant. May his tomb ever flourish; and may his +abode be in the heavens. He travelled from this transitory world to +the world of eternity on the night of the 28th of the month of Rajab, +1076 A.H." (1666 A.D.). + +The real cenotaphs containing the remains of Shah Jahan and his +wife are immediately under these tombs, in the vault below. Not the +least of the wonders of this wonderful building is in its acoustic +qualities. It does not respond to vulgar noises, but if a few notes be +slowly and softly sung in this vault, and especially if the chord of +the seventh be sounded; they are caught up by the echoes of the roof +and repeated in endless harmonies, which seem to those listening above +as if a celestial choir were chanting angelic hymns. "It haunts the +air above and around; it distils in showers upon the polished marble; +it rises, it falls.... It is the very element with which sweet dreams +are builded. It is the spirit of the Taj, the voice of inspired love!" + +Surrounding the central chamber are eight smaller ones for the mullahs +who chanted the Koran and for musicians who played soft Indian and +Persian melodies. The vault below was only opened once a year, on +the anniversary day, when the Emperor and all his court attended a +solemn festival. Even on ordinary occasions none but Muhammadans were +admitted into the interior. Bernier tells us that he had not seen it, +on that account, but he understood that nothing could be conceived +more rich and magnificent. + +The two mosques of red sandstone on either side of the Taj are in the +same style as the entrance gateway, the interiors being decorated +with fresco and fine cut plaster-work. The one towards the west +was intended for prayers only; the floor is panelled into separate +spaces for each worshipper. The opposite mosque was known, as the +_Jamaat Khana_, or meeting-place for the congregation before prayers, +and on the occasion of the great anniversary service. Standing on the +platform in front of this mosque, one has a splendid view of the Taj, +the river, and the distant Fort. + +As the garden is now arranged; a full view of the magnificent platform, +with its two mosques, and the Taj itself, can only be obtained from +the opposite side of the river, which is not very accessible except by +boat. When the traveller leaves Agra by rail, going east, the Taj in +all its glory can be seen in the distance, floating like the mirage of +some wondrous fairy palace over the waving tufts of the pampas grass, +until at last it sinks into the pale horizon. + + * * * * * + +NOTE.--A small museum has been established lately by the Archæological +Department, in the western half of the Taj main gateway. It +contains an interesting collection of photographs and drawings of +the Taj at different periods, and specimens of the stones used in the +_pietra dura_, or inlay work of the building. There are also samples +illustrating the technique of _pietra dura_, and the tools used by +native workmen. + + + +Itmâd-ud-daulah's Tomb + +The tomb of Itmâd-ud-daulah, "the Lord High Treasurer," is on the east +or left bank of the river, and is reached by crossing the pontoon +bridge. It was built by Nur Mahal, the favourite wife of Jahangir, +as a mausoleum for her father, Mirza Ghîas Beg, who, according to +one account, was a Persian from Teheran, and by another a native of +Western Tartary. + +A story is told of the Mirza's early life, of which it can only be +said, _Se non é vero é ben trovato_. He left his home, accompanied +by his wife and children, to seek his fortune in India, where he +had some relatives at Akbar's court. His slender provision for the +journey was exhausted in crossing the Great Desert, and they were +all in danger of perishing from hunger. In this extremity his wife +gave birth to a daughter. The unhappy parents, distracted by hunger +and fatigue, left the infant under a solitary shrub. With the father +supporting his wife and children on the one bullock which remained +to them, they pushed on in the hope of finding relief; but as the +tiny landmark where the infant lay disappeared in the distance, the +mother, in a paroxysm of grief, threw herself to the ground, crying, +"My child! my child!" The piteous appeal forced the father to return +to restore the babe to her mother, and soon afterwards a caravan +appeared in sight and rescued the whole party. + +The child born under these romantic circumstances became the Empress +Nur Mahal, who built this mausoleum. Her father reached Lahore, where +Akbar then held his court, and through the influence of his friends +attracted the Emperor's attention. His talents won for him speedy +promotion, and under Jahangir he became first Lord High Treasurer, and +afterwards Wazir, or Prime Minister. Jahangir, in his memoirs, candidly +discusses the character of his father-in-law. He was a good scholar, +with a pretty taste for poetry, possessed many social qualities and +a genial disposition. His accounts were always in perfect order, but +"he liked bribes, and showed much boldness in demanding them." On his +death his son, Asaf Khan, the father of Mumtaz Mahal, was appointed +to succeed him. + +Itmâd-ad-daulah and his wife are buried in the central chamber; +his brother and sister and other members of his family occupy +the four corners. The pavilion on the roof, enclosed by beautiful +marble tracery (Plate IX.), contains only replicas of the real tombs +beneath. The mausoleum was commenced in 1622 and completed in 1628. As +a composition it may lack inspiration, but it is exceedingly elegant, +and scholarly like the Lord High Treasurer himself. In construction it +marks the transition from the style of Akbar to that of Shah Jahan; +from the Jahangiri Mahal to the Dîwan-i-khas, the Mûti Masjid, and +the Taj. The towers at the four corners might be the first suggestion +of the detached minarets of the Taj. The Hindu feeling which is so +characteristic of most of Akbar's buildings is here only shown in +the roof of the central chamber over the tomb; in pure Saracenic +architecture a tomb is always covered by a dome. + +This change in style greatly influenced the architecture of the +whole of the north of India, Hindu and Jain as well as Muhammadan. It +must be remembered that comparatively few of the master-builders who +actually constructed the most famous examples of Mogul architecture +were Muhammadans. The remarkable decline of the Mogul style which +set in under Aurangzîb was largely due to his bigotry in refusing to +employ any but true believers. + +The family ties of Itmâd-ud-daulah and his daughter, the Empress, +were closely connected with Persia and Central Asia; and no doubt +the fashion set by Jahangir's court led to the Saracenic element +becoming predominant in the Mogul style, both in construction and in +decoration. Many authorities have connected the marked difference +between Itmâd-ud-daulah's tomb and Akbar's buildings to Italian +influence, only on the ground that Jahangir is known to have been +partial to Europeans, and allowed them free access to his palace. There +is not, however, a trace of Italian art in any detail of the building; +there is not a form or decorative idea which had not been used in +India or in Central Asia for centuries. The use of marble inlaid work +on so extensive a scale was a novelty, but it was only an imitation, +or adaptation, of the splendid tile-mosaic and painted tile-work +which were the commonest kinds of decoration employed in Persia: +Wazir Khan's mosque at Lahore, built in Jahangir's time, is a fine +Indian example of the latter. + +The art of inlaying stone had been practised in India for many +years before this building; but here, for the first time, do we find +the inlayers making attempts at direct imitation of Persian pottery +decoration. All the familiar _motifs_ of Persian art, the tree of life +and other floral types, the cypress tree, the flower-vases, fruits, +wine-cups, and rose-water vessels are here reproduced exactly as they +are found in Persian mosaic tiles. In Shah Jahan's palace and in the +Taj they went a step further, and imitated the more naturalistic +treatment of Persian fresco painting and other pictorial art; but +there is never the slightest suggestion of European design in the +decoration of these buildings. + +It is quite possible that some Italians may have shown the native +inlayers specimens of Florentine _pietra dura_, and suggested to +them this naturalistic treatment, but if Italians or other Europeans +had been engaged to instruct or supervise in the decoration of +these buildings they would certainly have left some traces of their +handiwork. In the technical part of the process the Indian workmen +had nothing to learn, and in the design they made no attempt to +follow European forms, except in the one solitary instance of the +decoration of the throne-chamber of the Delhi Palace, which is much +later in date than Itmâd-ud-daulah's tomb. [13] + +The whole scheme of the exterior decoration is so finely carried out, +both in arrangement and colour, that its extreme elaboration produces +no effect of unquietness. At a distance it only gives a suggestion of +a soft bloom or iridescence on the surface of the marble. The soffits +of the doorways are carved with extraordinary delicacy. Inside the +building there are remains of fresco and other painted decoration. + +Beautifully placed on the river bank, there is a fine little mosque, +which at sunset makes a charming picture. The boldness and greater +simplicity of the decoration contrast well with the richness of that +of the mausoleum. + + + +The Chînî-ka-Rauza + +Beyond Itmâd-ud-daulah's tomb, on the same side of the river, is a +beautiful ruin, once entirely covered with the same Persian mosaic +tile-work, which suggested the more costly style of decoration in +inlaid marble. It is called Chînî-ka-Rauza, or the China Tomb, and +is supposed to be the mausoleum of Afzal Khan, a Persian poet, who +entered the service of Jahangir, and afterwards became Prime Minister +to Shah Jahan. He died in Lahore in 1639. The weather and ill-treatment +of various kinds have removed a great deal of the exquisite enamel +colours from the tiles, but enough remains to indicate how rich and +magnificent the effect must have been originally. A part of the south +façade which has fallen in shows how the builders employed earthen +pots to lessen the weight of the concrete filling, a practice followed +in the ancient dome construction of Egypt and Rome. + + + +The Ram Bagh + +Among a number of more or less ruined garden-houses on this bank +of the river, there is one, a little beyond the Chînî-ka-Rauza, of +especial interest, on account of the tradition which associates it +with the Emperor Babar. It is called the Ram Bagh, and is believed to +have been one of the "elegant and regularly planned pleasure-grounds" +which Babar laid out and planted with fruit trees and flowers, as he +has described in his memoirs. + +No doubt this was the scene of many imperial picnics; not the drunken +revels of Babar's Kabul days--for just before the great battle with +the Rajputs in 1527 he smashed all his gold and silver drinking-cups +and took a vow of total abstinence, which he kept faithfully--but +the more sane and temperate pleasures which music, poetry, and his +intense delight in the beauties of nature could furnish. Here is a +charming picture he has given of another garden he laid out in the +Istalif district of Kabul:-- + +"On the outside of the garden are large and beautiful spreading +plane-trees, under the shade of which there are agreeable spots, +finely sheltered. A perennial stream, large enough to turn a mill, +runs through the garden, and on its banks are planted plane and other +trees. Formerly this stream flowed in a winding and crooked course, +but I ordered its course to be altered according to a plan which +added greatly to the beauty of the place. Lower down ... on the lower +skirts of the hills is a fountain, named Kwâjeh-seh-yârân (Kwâjeh three +friends), around which are three species of trees; above the fountain +are many beautiful plane trees, which yield a pleasant shade. On the +two sides of the fountain, on small eminences at the bottom of the +hills, there are a number of oak trees. Except on these two spots, +where there are groves of oak, there is not an oak to be met with on +the hills of the west of Kabul. In front of this fountain, towards the +plain, there are many spots covered with the flowering arghwân tree, +and, besides these arghwân plots, there are none else in the whole +country. It is said that these three kinds of trees were bestowed +on it by the power of these three holy men, beloved of God; and that +is the origin of the name Sej-Yârân. I directed this fountain to be +built round with stone, and formed a cistern of lime and mortar ten +yez by ten. On the four sides of the fountain a fine level platform +for resting was constructed on a very neat plan. At the time when +the arghwân flowers begin to blow, I do not know of any place in the +world to be compared with it. The yellow arghwân is here very abundant, +and the yellow arghwân blossom mingles with the red." + +The Ram Bagh was the temporary resting-place of the body of +Babar before it was taken to Kabul for interment in another of the +gardens he loved so much. The old Mogul style of gardening is a lost +art, and one misses in the Ram Bagh the stately rows of cypress, +interspersed with flowering trees, the formal flower-beds glowing +with colour like a living carpet, which were planted by Babar; but +the terraces, the fountain, the water-channels, and the little stone +water-shoots--cunningly carved so that the water breaks over them +with a pleasant gurgling sound--which may have recalled to him the +murmurings of his native mountain-streams--the old well from which +the water of the Jumna is lifted into the channels, can still be seen, +as well as the pavilions on the river-bank, now modernized with modern +bad taste. + +In later times the Ram Bagh was the garden-house of the Empress Nur +Mahal. It was kept up by all succeeding Governments, and it is said +to have obtained its name of Ram Bagh from the Mahrattas in the +eighteenth century. + +THE ZUHARA BAGH.--Between the Chînî-ka-Rauza and the Ram Bagh there is +another great walled enclosure, which contained the garden-house of +Zuhara, one of Babar's daughters, and is named after her the Zuhara, +or Zohra Bagh. This formerly contained the largest garden-palace +at Agra, and is said to have possessed no less than sixty wells. A +great well, just outside the enclosure, 220 feet in circumference, +and of enormous depth, was filled up some years ago. + + + +Sikandra + +Sikandra, a village about five miles from Agra, and the burial-place of +Akbar, is reached by two roads. The older one follows, to some extent, +the alignment of the great military road to Lahore and Kashmir, planned +by Babar and completed by his successors. A few of the _kos-minars_, +pillars which marked off the _kos_--a distance of about two and a half +miles--can still be seen along the road, or in the adjoining fields. + +Numerous remains of archæological interest are passed on the way of +the old road. First the Delhi gate of the old city walls. About a +mile further on the right-hand side, is a great walled enclosure, +named after Ladli Begam, the sister of Abul Fazl, Akbar's famous +Prime Minister and biographer. It formerly contained her tomb, as +well as that of Sheikh Mubarak, her father, and of Faizi, her eldest +brother. Many years ago the whole enclosure was sold by Government. The +purchasers, some wealthy Hindu merchants of Muttra, promptly pulled +down the mausoleum, realized the materials, and built a pavilion +on the site. In front of the great gateway was a splendid _baoli_, +or well-house, the largest in the neighbourhood of Agra. This was +filled up about five years ago. + +Not far from Ladli Begam's garden is the Kandahâri Bagh, where the +first wife of Shah Jahan, a daughter of Mozaffar Husein, who was the +great-grandson of Shah Ismail Safvi, King of Persia, is buried. + +About a mile further along the road, on the left-hand side, is a +curious statue of a horse in red sandstone, which, tradition says, +was put up by a nobleman whose favourite horse was killed at this spot; +the syce who was killed at the same time has his tomb close by. + +Nearly opposite to this is a large dried-up tank, called the +Guru-ka-Tal, which, with the adjacent ruined buildings, are attributed +to Sikandar Lodi, one of the Afghan predecessors of the Mogul Emperors, +who has given his name to Sikandra. + + +Akbar's Tomb. + +Akbar's tomb stands in the midst of a vast garden, enclosed by four +high battlemented walls. In the centre of each wall is an imposing +gateway seventy feet high. The principal one, on the west side, +has an inscription in Persian, which states that the mausoleum was +completed by the Emperor Jahangir, in the seventh year of his reign, +or 1613 A.D. It is elaborately ornamented with bold but rather +disjointed inlaid patterns, which seem to show that the designers +were unaccustomed to this method of decoration. Neither are the +four minarets at the corners of the roof, which are said to have +been broken by the Jâts, contrived with the usual skill of the Mogul +architects. Above the gateway is the Nakkár Khana, an arcaded chamber +with a balcony, where at dawn and one watch after sunrise the drums +and pipes sounded in honour of the dead. + +The mausoleum was commenced by Akbar himself. It is different in plan +from any other Mogul monument, and, contrary to the usual Muhammadan +custom, the head of the tomb of Akbar is turned towards the rising +sun, and not towards Mecca. The whole structure gives the impression +of a noble but incompleted idea; both in its greatness and in its +incompleteness, it is typical of Akbar and his work. + +The original design was somewhat modified by Jahangir. He has +stated in his memoirs that on his first visit to the tomb after his +accession he was dissatisfied with the work which had been done, +and ordered certain parts of it to be rebuilt. Fergusson supposes +that the original intention was to cover the tombstone and raised +platform of the uppermost story with a domed canopy, and in this +he is supported by a statement of William Finch, who visited the +mausoleum when it was being built, that it was to be "inarched over +with the most curious white and speckled marble, to be ceiled all +within with pure sheet gold richly inwrought." Such a canopy is just +what is required by æsthetic considerations to complete the curiously +truncated appearance of the top story, and there is nothing in the +structural design to make it impossible or improbable. + +The approach to the interior of the mausoleum is through the central +archway of the lower story, which opens into a vestibule richly +ornamented with raised stucco work, and coloured in blue and gold, +somewhat in the style of the Alhambra. A part of this decoration has +been lately restored. An inclined passage, like the entrance to an +Egyptian pyramid, leads down into a high vaulted chamber, dimly lighted +from above, where a simple sarcophagus of white marble contains the +mortal remains of the great Akbar. Whatever decoration there may have +been on the walls is now covered with whitewash. The Emperor's armour, +clothes, and books, which were placed beside the tomb, are said to have +been carried off by those insatiable marauders, the Jâts of Bharatpur. + +Smaller chambers surrounding the central one, on the level of the +platform, contain the tombs of two of Akbar's daughters and a son of +the Emperor Shah Alam. These also have suffered much from neglect and +whitewash, The whole of the façade of the lower story was originally +faced with red sandstone, or perhaps with fine stucco decorated in +fresco. The present coat of common plaster is modern work, which, +except as a protection for the brickwork, would have been better +left undone. + +The lower story is 320 feet square. Above this are three others, +diminishing in size up to the highest, which is just half these +dimensions. The roof of the topmost is surrounded by cloisters, +the outer arches of which are filled with very fine marble tracery +(Plate X.). In the centre, on a raised platform, is a solid block of +pure white marble, delicately carved with flowers and sacred texts, +representing the real tomb in the vault beneath. At the head is +the inscription, "Allah-o-Akbar" (God is Great), and at the foot, +"Jalli Jalalohu" (Magnificent is His Glory). These sentences were +the formula of Akbar's new religion, which he called "The Divine +Faith." On the sides the ninety-nine attributes of God are carved in +the Arabic character. The carved marble pedestal at the end of the +tomb was a stand for a golden censer. + +THE KANCH MAHAL.--Outside the enclosure of Akbar's tomb, a little +to the east of the principal entrance, is a rare and remarkably fine +example of Mogul domestic architecture. This is a two-storied building, +known as the Kanch Mahal, and supposed to have been built by Jahangir +as a country seat. In its extremely elaborate ornamentation, inlaid +stone and enamelled tiles have been most effectively combined with the +carving. The repairs lately carried out under Lord Curzon's orders have +been very carefully done, though it is easy to see the inferiority of +the new work where the old carving had to be reproduced. Our fatuous +policy of adopting European styles in all public buildings in India +is bound to cause a deterioration in the native art handicrafts, for +it closes the principal source from which they have sprung. Unless +this policy is reversed, nothing will prevent the ultimate extinction +of Indian art. + +SURAJ-BHAN-KA BAGH.--This is another two-storied building of about +the same period, but not quite so fine in style, facing the Agra road, +at a little distance from the Kanch Mahal. + +MARIAM ZÂMÂNI'S TOMB.--A short distance further on, in the direction +of Muttra, is the building supposed to have been originally the garden +house of Sikandar Lodi, in which Mariam Zâmâni, one of Akbar's wives, +is said to have been buried. It has been used for many years as a +printing establishment for a Mission Orphanage. + + + +Other Buildings and Tombs at or near Agra + +The tomb of Feroz Khan, opposite to the third milestone on the Gwalior +road, is an interesting building of Akbar's time, richly carved and +decorated with tile-work. Close by is the tomb of the Pahalwari, +where a celebrated wrestler of Shah Jahan's time is buried. There +are a considerable number of buildings and numerous ruins in Agra, +and round about, which possess only historical or archæological +interest. In the town are the following:-- + +The KALI MASJID, or Black Mosque, otherwise called the Kalan Masjid, +or Grand Mosque, is of the early Akbar style. It was built by the +father of Shah Jahan's first wife, the Kandahâri Begum. This is near +to the Government dispensary. + +In the Nai-ki-Mundi quarter is the mosque of Shah Ala-ud-din Majzub, +commonly known as ALAWAL BILAWAL, a saint who lived at the time of +Shere Shah. He established a school of Muhammadan law, and founded a +monastery besides the mosque. The accumulations round the mosque have +reached up to the springing of the arches, and tradition accounts for +this by the following story: A camel-driver in Shere Shah's service +stabled his beasts in the mosque, in spite of the protests of the saint +Thereupon the building began to sink into the ground, and did not cease +descending until the camels and their driver were crushed to death. + +The HAMMAN, or Baths of Ali Verdi Khan, in Chipitolla Street, built +in the time of Jahangir. An inscription over the gateway gives the +date, 1620 A.D. They cannot be compared in interest with the splendid +"Hakim's Baths," at Fatehpur Sikri. + +The ROMAN CATHOLIC CEMETERY, in the quarter known as Padritollah, +near the Law Courts, is one of the most ancient Christian cemeteries +in India. The ground was granted to the mission by the Emperor +Akbar. There are a number of Portuguese and Armenian tombs dating from +early in the seventeenth century. It also contains the tomb of the +notorious Walter Reinhardt, or Samru, as he was called, the founder +of the principality of Sirdhana, whose history is given at p. 38. The +Dutch General Messing, who held Agra Fort for the Mahrattas in 1794, +has a very florid mausoleum of red sandstone, more curious than +beautiful; the design of which is in imitation of the Taj. + + + +Fatehpur Sikri + +Fatehpur Sikri is the famous deserted city, about twenty-three miles +from Agra, built by Akbar. It was formerly merely a village, called +Sikri, celebrated as the abode of Sheikh Salîm Chishti, a Muhammadan +_pîr_, or saint. In 1564, Akbar, returning from a campaign, halted +near the cave in which the saint lived. The twin children of his +Rajput wife, Mariam Zâmâni, had recently died, and he was anxious +for an heir. He consulted the holy man, who advised him to come and +live at Sikri. The Emperor did so, and nine months afterwards Mariam, +who was taken to Chishti's cell for her confinement, gave birth to a +son, afterwards the Emperor Jahangir. He was called Sultan Salîm in +honour of the saint. Jahangir, who describes all these circumstances +in his memoirs, adds: "My revered father, regarding the village of +Sikri, my birthplace, as fortunate to himself, made it his capital, +and in the course of fourteen or fifteen years the hills and deserts, +which abounded in beasts of prey, became converted into a magnificent +city, comprising numerous gardens, elegant edifices and pavilions, +and other places of great attraction and beauty. After the conquest +of Gujarat, the village was named Fatehpur (the town of victory)." + +The glory of Fatehpur Sikri was short-lived. Akbar held his court +there for seventeen years, and then removed it to Agra; some say on +account of the badness of the water supply, others that the saint, +disturbed in his devotions by the bustle and gaieties of the great +city, declared that either he or Akbar must go. "Then," replied the +Emperor, "let it be your servant, I pray." The entire city was given +up to the beasts of the surrounding jungle. Finch, who visited it in +the early part of the next reign, describes it: "Ruin all; lying like a +waste desert, and very dangerous to pass through in the night." This, +however, was an exaggeration, for the principal buildings are still +in a good state of preservation, probably owing to the remoteness of +the place from any great highway or large town. + +The city, which was some six miles in circuit, was surrounded on three +sides by high battlemented walls, which had nine gateways. The fourth +side was formed by a great artificial lake, now dry. The principal +buildings are on the summit of the high ridge which runs throughout +the length of the city. + +THE AGRA GATE.--The visitor usually enters by the Agra Gate, +concerning which an amusing story is told. One night Akbar, attended +by some of his ministers, was inspecting the ramparts near this +gate, when he observed a highway robbery being committed close by +the walls. Turning severely to those responsible for the peace of +the city, he demanded why such an outrage was permitted in the very +presence of the Emperor. "It is always darkest directly under the +shadow of the lamp," was the courtly reply. + +THE NAUBAT KHANA.--Inside the gate the road passes, by the right, a +large quadrangle surrounded by a ruined cloister, which was probably +used for barracks. Beyond this the road was formerly lined on both +sides by the houses of the bazar. It next passes through the inner +gateway, called the _Naubat Khana_, or Music House, where, as in all +Mogul fortresses, the court musicians played to announce the Emperor's +arrival or departure, and various state ceremonials. + +THE MINT.--Some distance beyond the Naubat Khana, on the right, is a +large building believed to have been the Imperial Mint. Rare specimens +of gold, silver, and copper coins from the Fatehpur Mint are in the +British Museum. The brick domes of this building are interesting, +as they are probably the earliest examples in India of the use of +radiating courses instead of horizontal layers in dome construction. + +Opposite to the Mint is a smaller building known as the Treasury. + +THE DAFTAR KHANA.--Passing through the great quadrangle of the +Dîwan-i-âm, the visitor arrives at the Daftar Khana, or Record Chamber, +now adapted for a travellers' rest-house. This was Akbar's office, +and is immediately opposite to his own sanctum, the Kwâbgâh, and +the principal buildings of the Imperial Palace. A staircase in the +south-east room leads to the roof, from which a fine view of the city +and surrounding country can be obtained. The principal buildings can +be easily identified by help of the plan. + +THE PALACE.--A door in the side of the quadrangle, opposite to +the Daftar Khana, leads into Akbar's palace, the Mahal-i-Khas. The +two-storied building on the left on entering contains Akbar's private +apartments. The first room on the ground floor is panelled into +numerous recesses for keeping books, documents, or valuables. There +are some remains of painted decoration representing flowers, such as +the tulip, poppy, and almond flower, executed with much vigour and +technical skill. Behind this is a chamber which, according to Edmund +Smith, was used by a Hindu priest attached to Akbar's court. It +contains a stone platform raised on pillars, upon which he is said +to have performed his devotions. It was more probably intended for +Akbar's own gaddi, or throne. A door in the west wall leads into the +cloisters, which formerly connected Akbar's apartments with the Daftar +Khana and with Jodh Bai's palace. + +THE KWÂBGÂH, or sleeping apartment, is a small pavilion on the +roof. Originally the walls were entirely covered by fresco paintings, +but only a few fragments now remain. Unfortunately, these have been +protected by a coat of varnish, which reduces them all to a dull +monochrome. It is to be regretted that a more scientific method of +preserving them was not adopted. They are all in the Persian style, +and, except for the Chinese element which is often present in Persian +art, there is no ground for Edmund Smith's supposition that Chinese +artists were employed here. + +On the side window over the eastern doorway is a painting of a +winged figure, in front of a rock cave, supporting a new-born babe +in its arms. In all probability it refers to the birth of Jahangir +in the cell of the Saint Salîm Chishti, which Akbar, no doubt, +thought miraculous. Many archæologists make the great mistake of +attributing every winged figure in these decorations to some Biblical +story. Heavenly beings with wings, the inhabitants of Paradise, +spirits of the air, or "angels," are very common in Persian and Indian +painting, and are by no means a monopoly of European artists. + +It is known that Akbar took a great interest in painting. Abul Fazl, +in the "Ain-i-Akbari," states that "His Majesty from the earliest +youth has shown a great predilection for the art, and gives it +every encouragement, as he looks upon it as a means both of study +and amusement. Hence the art flourishes, and many painters have +obtained great reputations. The works of all painters are weekly +laid before his Majesty by the Daroghas and the clerks; he confers +rewards according to the excellence of workmanship, or increases +their monthly salaries. Much progress was made in the commodities +required by painters, and the correct prices of such articles were +carefully ascertained." + +Akbar himself remarked, "Bigoted followers of the law are hostile +to the art of painting, but their eyes now see the truth. There are +many that hate painting, but such men I dislike. It appears to me as +if a painter had a peculiar means of recognizing God; for a painter, +in sketching anything that has life and in drawing its limbs, must +feel that he cannot bestow personality upon his work, and is thus +forced to think of God, the giver of life, and will thus increase his +knowledge." The enlightened court of Akbar was evidently a paradise +for artists. + +Opposite to Akbar's apartments is a large square tank with a platform +in the centre, approached by four narrow stone paths. The tank was +filled from the waterworks near the Elephant Gate, and the water was +kept constantly fresh by an overflow channel connecting with the tank +at the back of the Dîwan-i-Khâs. + +THE TURKISH SULTANA'S HOUSE.--In the north-east angle of the +Mahal-i-Khas quadrangle is a small, picturesque building, one of the +gems of Fatehpur, called the Turkish Sultana's House. It contains only +a single apartment, surrounded by a verandah, but in the carving of +every surface within and without there is a wealth of invention and +decorative skill rarely achieved even by the Mogul artists. The dado +panels are especially remarkable for the charming conventionalized +rendering of trees, flowers, birds, and animals. They have suffered +much from the hands of some of Aurangzîb's fanatical followers, and +all the representations of animate nature have been mutilated. The +carving was intended as a groundwork for painting and gilding which +were never added, for the Fatehpur Palace was abandoned even before +it was finished. Nothing is known with certainty of the lady who +inhabited this delightful bower, but she must have been one of Akbar's +favourites. A covered passage connected the house with the Kwâbgâh, +and also with another block of buildings of no special interest, +known as the Girls' School. + +A staircase from the south verandah leads down to some interesting +baths outside the south-west corner of the Dîwan-i-âm quadrangle, +which were probably for the use of the Turkish Sultana. They are +worth seeing, though not so fine as the so-called HAKIM'S BATHS. The +latter, which are situated just opposite to these baths, on the +steep slope of the ridge, are the finest of their kind existing in +India. They form an extensive hydropathic establishment, decorated +in the most excellent taste with polished plaster and _sgraffito_, +or cut-plaster work. Undoubtedly they were used by Akbar himself, +and they derive their present name from their close proximity to the +quarters occupied by the Hakims, or doctors. + +PACHISI BOARD.--In the northern half of the great palace quadrangle +is a _pachisi_ board, cut on the pavement, similar to the one in the +Samman Burj in the Agra Fort. Here Akbar and the ladies of the Court +would amuse themselves by playing the game with slave girls as living +pieces. The dice were thrown on the small platform in the centre of +the board. + +THE DÎWAN-I-KHÂS.--Further towards the north, immediately opposite +to the Kwâbgâh, is a square detached building, a fine example of the +dignified style of the period, for it owes none of its effects to +imposing dimensions, but only to the skill with which the architect +has treated a difficult subject. This is the Dîwan-i-Khâs, or Hall of +Private Audience. On the outside it would appear to be a two-storied +building, but on entering it is seen to contain only a single vaulted +chamber, surrounded halfway up by a gallery. A magnificent carved +column, with a gigantic bracket capital (Plate XI.), standing alone in +the centre of the chamber, supports four branches or railed passages, +which meet this gallery at the four corners. This most original +construction carried Akbar's throne, which was placed immediately over +the great column. The ministers attended at the four corners of the +gallery; the great nobles and others admitted to the audience thronged +the floor beneath. The gallery is approached by two staircases, +in the thickness of the walls, which also lead up to the roof. [14] + +THE ANKH-MICHAULI.--Close by the Dîwan-i-Khâs, on the west side, +is a building which the native guides, always ready to amuse the +innocent tourist, describe as the Ankh-Michauli, or "Blind-man's +Buff House." There is a legend that Akbar here played hide-and-seek +with the ladies of the zanana. The same story is told about a set +of apartments in the Jahangiri Mahal in the Agra Fort, but the only +ground for it seems to be that the arrangement of the rooms might lend +itself to such diversions. It most probably contained strong-rooms +for the safe custody of valuables, either state archives or jewels. + +THE YOGI'S SEAT.--At the corner of the Ankh-Michauli is a square +platform covered by a domed canopy. The great carved brackets +which support the architraves are very characteristic of Jaina +construction. This was the seat of one of the Yogis, or Hindu fakirs, +who enjoyed the Emperor's favour. Akbar devoted much attention to +the occult powers claimed by these men. He even practised alchemy +and showed in public some of the gold made by him. + +THE HOSPITAL.--Adjoining the Ankh-Michauli are the remains of a long, +low building, which was the hospital; a few of the wards still +remain. Possibly this was arranged on the model of the hospital +which Akbar allowed the Jesuit Fathers to build in the city. He +also permitted them to construct a small chapel. The records of the +missionaries tell us that Akbar once came there alone, removed his +turban and offered prayers, first kneeling in the Christian manner, +then prostrating himself according to the Muhammadan custom, and, +finally, after the ritual of the Hindus. One of the Christian +congregation having died about this time, he granted permission for +the funeral procession to pass through the streets of Fatehpur with +all the ceremonies of the Catholic faith. Many of the inhabitants, +both Hindus and Muhammadans, attended the funeral. Akbar was never +persuaded to become a convert to Christianity, nor does there appear +to be any ground for the belief that one of his wives was a Christian. + +THE DÎWAN-I-ÂM.--The west side of the Dîwan-i-âm (Hall of Public +Audience) and its cloisters coincide for the whole length with the +east of the palace quadrangle. The description already given of the +Dîwan-i-âm at Agra will explain the functions for which this building +was intended. The throne, or judgment seat, of Akbar was placed +between two pierced stone screens in the verandah in front of the hall. + +THE PANCH MAHAL.--This curious five-storied pavilion is nearly +opposite to the Dîwan-i-âm. It is approached by a staircase from the +Mahal-i-khas. Each story was originally enclosed by pierced stone +screens; this, and the fact that the whole building overlooked the +palace zanana, make it tolerably certain that it could only have +been used as a promenade by Akbar and the ladies of the court. The +ground-floor, which was divided into cubicles by screens between the +columns, may; as Keene suggests, have been intended for the royal +children and their attendants. The building is chiefly remarkable for +the invention and taste shown in the varied designs of the columns, +in which the three principal styles of Northern India, the Hindu, +Jain, and Saracenic, are indiscriminately combined. + +MIRIAM'S KOTHI.--Another doorway in the west side of the palace +quadrangle leads to Miriam's House, a very elegant two-storied building +showing marked Hindu feeling in the design. The Râma incarnation +of Vishnu appears on one of the carved brackets of the verandah. It +seems to have derived its name from Akbar's Hindu wife, Mariam Zâmâni, +the mother of Jahangir. Her name literally means "Mary of the age," +a common designation used by Muhammadan women in honour of the Mother +of Jesus. This has led to the fable that the house was occupied by a +Christian wife of Akbar. The whole building was originally covered with +fresco paintings and gilding, and was hence called the Sonahra Makân, +or "Golden House." The frescoes are supposed to illustrate Firdousi's +great epic, the Shahnama, or history of the Kings of Persia. As in the +Kwâbgâh, the fragments which remain have been covered with varnish as +a preservative, which has had the effect of destroying all the charm +of colour they once possessed; and will eventually, when the varnish +turns brown with age, obliterate them altogether. The paintings are +all in the style of the Persian artists who were employed by Akbar to +illustrate his books and to paint the portraits of his Court. Over +the doorway in the north-west angle of the building is a painting +which the guides, perhaps misled by the suggestion of some uninformed +traveller, point out as "the Annunciation." + +There would be nothing _primâ facie_ improbable that Akbar should have +caused some events of Biblical history to be painted on the walls +of his palaces; but on the other hand, there is nothing whatever to +connect this fresco with the Annunciation. The winged figures here +represented are of the type commonly found in paintings of stories +from Persian mythology. + +Perhaps the most interesting of all the paintings is a portrait in +a panel in one of the rooms. One would like to know whether this was +the lady of the house; but there seems to be no tradition connected +with it. + +Judging from the style of the frescoes, it would seem probable that +this was not the residence of Mariam Zâmâni, but of one of Akbar's +first two wives, whose connections were mostly with Persia. + + +Jodh Bai's Palace. + +Though "Miriam's House" is generally regarded as the abode of Mariam +Zâmâni, there is a great deal to support the view that the spacious +palace known as Jodh Bai's Mahal, or Jahangiri Mahal, was really her +residence. It is undoubtedly one of the oldest buildings in Fatehpur. + +We know that Akbar went there on Mariam's account; and, after +Jahangir's birth, Akbar's first care would be to build a palace +for the mother and her child, his long-wished-for heir. Mariam was +a Hindu, and this palace in all its construction and nearly all its +ornamentation belongs to the Hindu and Jaina styles of Mariam's native +country, Rajputana. It even contains a Hindu temple. [15] It is also +the most important of all the palaces, and Mariam, as mother of the +heir-apparent, would take precedence of all the other wives. + +On the left of the entrance is a small guard-house. A simple but +finely proportioned gateway leads through a vestibule into the inner +quadrangle. The style of the whole palace is much less ornate than the +other zanana buildings, but it is always dignified and in excellent +taste. It must be remembered that the severity of the architectural +design was relieved by bright colouring and rich purdahs, which were +used to secure privacy for the ladies of the zanana and to diminish +the glare of the sunlight. + +Archæologically its construction and ornamentation are very +interesting. Many of the details are of Jain origin, and of the same +type as the mixed Jain and Saracenic style, which was being developed +about the same period in Gujarat. The arrangements of the palace are +shown in the annexed plan. One of the most interesting features is +the Hawa Mahal, a pavilion projecting from the north side, enclosed +by pierced stone screens. Here the ladies could enjoy the cool breezes +and the view of the lake with the distant hills beyond, without being +exposed to the vulgar gaze. The palace was formerly connected with +Akbar's private apartments by a covered way, supported on pillars, +near the entrance. This was removed some years ago. Another private +passage led from the Hawa Mahal to the zanana garden opposite, and, +probably, from thence right down to the tower known as the Hiran Minâr. + + +Rajah Birbal's House, or Birbal's Daughter's House. + +Rajah Birbal was a Brahman minstrel, who came to Akbar's court in +the beginning of his reign, and by his wit and abilities gained the +Emperor's favour. He was first created Hindu Poet Laureate; from +that dignity he was raised to the rank of Rajah, and became one of +Akbar's most intimate friends and advisers. Birbal was one of those +who subscribed to Akbar's new religion, "The Divine Faith." When +he perished in an unfortunate expedition against some unruly Afghan +tribes, Akbar's grief was for a long time inconsolable. + +The house which is named after him was originally enclosed within the +precincts of the imperial zanana, and a covered way connected it with +Jodh Bai's palace. It is one of the most richly decorated of all the +adjacent buildings, and next to Jodh Bai's palace, the largest of +the imperial residences. As in so many other instances, the vague +local tradition which assigns this palace to Rajah Birbal seems to +be at fault. Abul Fazl, that most careful and precise biographer, +records that Akbar ordered a palace to be built for the Rajah, and that +when it was finished in the twenty-seventh year of his reign (1582) +the Emperor honoured it with his presence. An inscription discovered +by Edmund Smith upon the capital of a pilaster in the west façade of +the building, states that it was erected in Samvat 1629 (A.D. 1572), +ten years before this date, and three years after the commencement +of the city. + +Though the Rajah was one of Akbar's most trusted friends, his palace +would hardly be placed within the enclosure of the Emperor's own +zanana and connected with it; nor is it likely that Akbar would +provide Birbal with a residence so incomparably more magnificent than +those he gave to his other two intimate friends, Abul Fazl and Faizi, +by the side of the great mosque. + +All the probabilities are that this was one of the imperial palaces +occupied by Akbar's wives, which were the first buildings erected at +Fatehpur. Fergusson's assumption that Birbal's daughter was one of +Akbar's wives would explain everything; but the fact that Abul Fazl +makes no mention of such a daughter, is very good evidence that Akbar +was not connected with Birbal by marriage. + +The house is a two-storied building, splendidly ornamented with +carving, both inside and out. From the construction, it would appear +that Hindus were the architects; but the decoration, from which it is +easy to discover the taste of the occupants, is nearly all Arabian or +Persian in style, and conveys no suggestion that the palace was built +for a Hindu rajah or his daughter. Though on a much smaller scale, +it is of the same type as Akbar's splendid palace in the Agra Fort, +and was evidently intended for one of the highest rank in the imperial +zanana. [16] + + + +The Hathi Pol and Adjoining Buildings. + +Close under Birbal's house is the main road leading down to the great +lake--now drained, the embankment of which formed the north-west +boundary of the city. It passes through the gateway called the Hathi +Pol, or Elephant Gate, from the two great stone elephants, mutilated by +Aurangzîb, standing on either side of the outer archway. On the left of +the gateway are two buildings, the so-called Pigeon's House, probably +intended for a magazine; and the Sangin Burj, a great bastion supposed +to be part of the fortifications begun by Akbar and left unfinished, +owing to the objections of Shaikh Salîm Chishti. A little beyond this, +on the right, are the remains of the waterworks which supplied the +whole city. Opposite to these, is the great traveller's rest-house, +or Karwân-serai, in a very ruined state. + +The, furthest of this block of buildings is a curious tower called +the Hiran Minâr, or Deer Tower, 72 feet in height, ornamented with +stone imitations of elephant tusks. According to tradition, it was +built by Akbar in memory of a favourite elephant, and used by him +as a shooting tower; the plain on the margin of the lake being the +haunt of antelope and other game. + +The splendid stretch of water, six miles long and two in breadth, +induced many of the princes and nobles to build pavilions and +garden houses on this side of the city. This was the place for great +tournaments and festivities, and in the palmy days of Fatehpur all +the chivalry of the Mogul Court must have made a brave show here. The +Hiran Minâr was connected with the zanana by a covered way, so that +the ladies might assist at these spectacles and enjoy the cool breezes +from the lake. + + +The Jâmi Masjid, or Cathedral Mosque. + +The great mosque of Fatehpur is worthy of its founder's lofty ideals +and nobility of soul. It is one of the most magnificent of all Akbar's +buildings; the historic associations connected with it combine with +its architectural splendour to make it one of the most impressive of +its kind in the world. It is said to be copied from one at Mecca; +but this cannot be altogether true, because, though the plan and +general design follow Muhammadan precedent, many of the details show +Akbar's Hindu proclivities. + +Within the great mosque, Akbar frequently held religious discussions +with the learned doctors of Islam; and here, also, after the chief +Mullahs had signed the famous document which declared Akbar to be Head +of the Church, the Emperor mounted the pulpit, and stood before the +congregation as the expounder of "the Divine Faith." He commenced +to read a _Khutbah_, or litany, which Faizi, Abul Fazl's brother, +had composed for the occasion-- + + + "The Lord, who gave to us dominion, + Wisdom, and heart and strength, + Who guided us in truth and right, + And cleansed our mind from all but right, + None can describe His power or state, + Allahú Akbar--God is Great." + + +But before he could finish three lines of it, the sense of the +tremendous responsibility he had undertaken overpowered him. He +descended the pulpit trembling with emotion, and left the Imam of +the mosque to continue the service. + +There are two entrances, approached by broad flights of steps. The one +on the east side is the Emperor's Gate, by which Akbar entered the +mosque from the palace, and the other, the majestic Baland Darwaza, +or High Gate, which towers above everything on the south side, and +even dwarfs the mosque itself with its giant proportions. The latter +gate, however, was not a part of the original design, but was added +many years after the completion of the mosque, to celebrate Akbar's +victorious campaign in the Deccan. + +The mosque itself was built in honour of the Saint of Fatehpur, Sheikh +Salîm Chishti, whose tomb, enclosed in a shrine of white marble, carved +with the delicacy of ivory-work, glitters like silver on the right of +the quadrangle. Barren women, both Hindu and Muhammadan, tie bits of +string or shreds of cloth to the marble trellis-work as tokens that if +blessed with a son they will present an offering to the shrine. Close +by is a plainer, but much larger mausoleum, for his grandson, Nawab +Islam Khan, who was made Governor of Bengal by Jahangir. This also +contains the remains of many other of the Sheikh's male descendants. A +separate vault, called the Zanana Rauza, for the women of his family +is formed by enclosing a portion of the adjoining cloisters. + +The mosque proper contains three chapels, crowned by domes. The +principal one, in the centre, is screened by the façade of +the entrance, the doorway being recessed, in the usual style of +Saracenic buildings, in a great porch or semi-dome. An inscription +over the main archway gives the date of the completion of the mosque +as A.D. 1571. The chapels are connected with each other by noble +colonnades of a decidedly Hindu or Jain character. The Saracenic +arches combine most happily with the Hindu construction, and the +view down the "long-drawn aisles" is singularly impressive. Much of +the charm of the interior is due to the quiet reserve and dignity of +the decoration, which is nearly all in the style of Arabian mosques, +and may account for the statement on the central arch, that "this +mosque is a duplicate of the Holy Place" (at Mecca). + +At each end of the mosque there is a set of five rooms for the +mullahs who conducted the service; above them are galleries for the +ladies of the zanana. Spacious cloisters surround three sides of the +quadrangle; these are divided into numerous cells for the _maulvis_ +and their pupils. + +The triumphal gateway, called the BALAND DARWAZA (Plate XIII.), is +really a building in itself. It must be seen from the outside of the +quadrangle, for, magnificent as it is there, it certainly does not +harmonize with the mosque viewed from the quadrangle. This mighty +portal, 176 feet in height from the roadway, is a landmark for miles +around. From the top of it the Taj, twenty-five miles away, and the +distant Fort of Bharatpur are visible. + +There are three doors recessed in the immense alcove on the front +of the gate. One is the horseshoe door, so called from the numerous +votive offerings of owners of sick horses, donkeys, and bullocks, +which were nailed on in the hope of obtaining the favour of the +saint. The doorway on the right of this has the following inscription +carved over it in Arabic:-- + +"His Majesty, King of kings, Heaven of the Court, Shadow of God, +Jalâl-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, Emperor. He conquered the kingdom of +the South and Dandes, which was formerly called Khandes, in the 46th +Divine year [_i.e._ of his reign] corresponding to the Hijira year, +1010 [A.D. 1602]. Having reached Fatehpur, he proceeded to Agra. Said +Jesus, on whom be peace! The world is a bridge, pass over it, but build +no house there. He who hopeth for an hour, may hope for eternity; the +world is but an hour, spend it in devotion; the rest is worth nothing," + +Over the left doorway is the following:-- + +"He that standeth up in prayer, and his heart is not in it, does not +draw nigh to God, but remaineth far from Him. Thy best possession is +what thou givest in the name of God; thy best traffic is selling this +world for the next." + +Akbar himself died four years after this great sermon in stone was +written. + + +The Stone-Cutters' Mosque. + +At the back of the great mosque is a graveyard containing the tomb of +an infant son of Sheikh Salîm. The legend concerning him is, that at +the age of six months he addressed his father, telling him that all +of Akbar's children must die in infancy, unless some child died for +them. He therefore had resolved to sacrifice himself for the Emperor's +sake, and immediately after this miraculous speech he died. Jahangir +was born nine months afterwards. Sceptics have suggested that he was +really a son of the Sheikh, substituted for a still-born child of +Mariam Zâmâni. + +Some distance beyond this tomb there is a small mosque, built in honour +of the saint by the quarrymen of Fatehpur, before he had attracted +the notice of the great Emperor. It is called the Stone-Cutters' +Mosque, and is supposed to have been erected on the site of the +cave where he lived the life of a hermit It is an unpretending +little building; the brackets which support the cornice are the only +noticeable architectural features. They are direct imitations of wooden +construction, and are copied, with greater elaboration of carving, +in the marble shrine inside the Jâmi Masjid. The cell where the saint +is said to have lived is on the right-hand corner of the mosque. + +The birthplace of Jahangir is pointed out in a dilapidated palace +not far from this mosque. It is occupied by a lineal descendant of +Salîm Chishti, and is only rarely shown to visitors. + + + +The Houses of Abul Fazl and Faizi. + +The houses where these two famous brothers, the friends of Akbar, +lived, are close under the north wall of the great mosque. Their +father, Sheikh Mubarak, was one of the most learned men of the age, +and the sons were as distinguished as the father. Faizi was the Persian +Poet Laureate, and tutor to the Royal Princes. He was also employed on +many diplomatic missions. Abul Fazl was the author of the celebrated +"Akbarnâma," a history of the Mogul Emperors down to the forty-seventh +year of Akbar's reign. He was for a long time Akbar's Prime Minister; +he took a prominent part in the religious discussions inaugurated by +the Emperor, and often discomfited the orthodox followers of Islam with +his arguments. Sheikh Mubarak drew up the famous document declaring +Akbar to be the Head of the Church, and both his sons subscribed to +it. Abul Fazl declares that the document "was productive of excellent +results: (1) The Court became the resort of the learned men and +sages of all creeds and nationalities; (2) Peace was given to all, +and perfect tolerance prevailed; (3) the disinterested motives of +the Emperor, whose labours were directed to a search after truth, +were rendered clear, and the pretenders to learning and scholarship +were put to shame." + +Notwithstanding his high character and generous disposition, Abul +Fazl had many enemies at Court. He was at last assassinated at the +instigation of Jahangir, who believed him to be responsible for a +misunderstanding between himself and his father. + +There is nothing architecturally interesting about the two houses, +which have been for some time used as a Zillah school. + + * * * * * + + +Bharatpur and Other Places In the Vicinity of Agra. + +There are some other places of considerable interest easily accessible +from Agra, but it would be beyond the scope of this book to describe +them in detail. + +BHARATPUR.--This place, which has been often alluded to, is the capital +of a native state of that name, founded by the Jâts under Suraj Mal +about 1750. The origin of the Jât race is obscure, but probably they +are of Scythian descent. Some authorities have put forward a theory +that the gypsies of Europe and the Jâts are of the same race. They form +a large proportion of the population of North-Western India. Their +religion varies with the locality, but the Jâts who occupied Agra +under Suraj Mal were Hindus. + +In 1809, the fort at Bharatpur resisted for six weeks a siege by +General, afterwards Lord Lake, who withdrew, after four desperate +assaults. + +The Palace of Suraj Mal is at Dig, twenty-one miles by road from +Bharatpur. It was commenced about 1725, and is the finest and most +original of the Indian palaces of that period. The Jât chief carried +off to it a great deal of the loot from the Agra Fort. + +GOVARDHAN.--The tombs of Suraj Mal and his two Ranis are at Govardhan, +a very picturesque place about eight miles from Dig. There are also a +number of very interesting tombs and buildings of later date. Fergusson +[17] says of one of these, which was in course of construction when +he was there in 1839, that he acquired from its native architect +more knowledge of the secrets of art as practised in the Middle Ages +than he had learnt from all the books he had read. The same living +architectural art is practised all over Rajputana at the present +day. The preference we show for the incomparably inferior art of +the mongrel eclectic styles we have imported into India, is only a +proof that there is something wanting in the superior civilization +and culture which we believe ourselves to possess. + +There is also at Govardhan a very fine Hindu temple, dating from the +time of Akbar. + +A great fair is held here every year about the end of October, +or beginning of November, on the occasion of the Hindu Diwâli, or +Feast of Lamps, one of the most beautiful and impressive of all the +Hindu festivals. + +Muttra, the Mathora of the Greeks, about fourteen miles from Govardhan, +and within easy reach of Agra by rail, is one of the most sacred places +of the Hindus, from being the reputed birthplace of Krishna. It is +a great centre for the worship of Vishnu. + +Brindâban, or Bindarâban, which is a very short distance further +by rail, possesses an old Hindu temple, dedicated to Govind Deva, +or Vishnu, of the same period as the other at Govardhan, and built +by the same person, Rajah Man Singh of Amber, an ancestor of the +present Maharajah of Jaipur. Fergusson describes it as one of the +most interesting and elegant temples in India. + +There is also a great Vishnu temple of the last century, in the +Dravidian style of Southern India, built by a Hindu millionaire +merchant. Krishna's childhood and early youth were passed in the +vicinity of Brindâban, and on that account it is held especially +sacred by the followers of the Vaishnavite sect of Hinduism, who +flock there in thousands on the anniversary of Krishna's birth, +in the month of Bhadon (August--September). + + + +NOTES + +[1] Babar's "Memoirs," translated by Erskine. + +[2] For further particulars of Babar's history the reader is referred +to the "Memoirs," or to Stanley Lane-Poolers admirable "Life of Babar," +in the "Rulers of India Series" (Macmillan & Co.). + +[3] The State documents of the Mogul Emperors, "given under the +royal hand and seal," were sometimes actually impressed by the royal +hand. Plate I. reproduces part of a letter, addressed by Shah Jahan +to an ancestor of the present Maharajah of Gidhour. In this letter +the Raja Dalan Singh is informed that "the auspicious impress of the +royal hand" is sent as a mark of royal favour, and he is commanded to +proceed to Court to participate in the festivities and to pay homage +to the Emperor. + +[4] Bernier's "Travels"--Constable's translation. + +[5] These elephant statues have been a vexed point with +archæologists. Bernier, in his description of Delhi, refers to +two great elephants of stone, with their riders, outside of the +Fort Gates. The riders, he says, were portraits of the famous +Rajput chiefs Jaymal and Patta, slain by Akbar at the siege of +Chitore. "Their enemies, in admiration of the devotion of the two +heroes, put up these statues to their memory." Now, Bernier does not +say that the statues were put up by Akbar, but General Cunningham, +inferring that Bernier meant this, propounded a theory that they were +originally in front of the Agra Fort, which Akbar built, and removed +to Delhi by Shah Jahan, when he built his new palace there. Keene, +who discusses the question at length in his "Handbook to Delhi," +accepts this suggestion. Neither of these authorities seem to have +been aware of the existence of the marks of the feet on the platform +in front of the Agra Hathi Pol. I have compared the measurements of +these marks with the dimensions of the elephant which still exists +at Delhi, and find that they do not correspond in any way. The Delhi +elephant is a much larger animal, and would not fit into the platform +at the Agra gate. General Cunningham's theory, therefore, falls to the +ground. It is just possible that the Delhi elephants were intended to +be copies of those placed by Akbar at Agra. Shah Jahan is not likely +to have intentionally perpetuated the memory of the Rajput chiefs, +but popular tradition or imagination may have fastened the story told +by Bernier on to the Delhi statues. Elephants were so commonly placed +in front of Indian palaces and fortresses that, except for this story, +there would be no need to suppose any connection between those at +Agra and those at Delhi. + +Purchas, quoting William Finch who visited Agra in Jahangir's time, +describes the elephants at the Hathi Pol, but gives a different origin +to the statues. "Beyond these two gates you pass a second gate, over +which are two Rajaws in stone. It is said that they were two brother +Rajputs, tutors to a prince, their nephew, whom the King demanded +of them. They refused, and were committed; but drew on the officers, +slew twelve, and at last, by multitudes oppressing, were themselves +slain, and here have elephants of stone and themselves figured." The +expression "over" (the gate) has the meaning of "high up," and not, +as Keene supposes, its more modern sense of "on the top of." + +[6] The old Mogul road led directly from the Elephant Gate to the +entrance of the Dîwan-i-âm. I understand that this road will be +restored shortly by the Archæological Department. + +[7] An ugly modern marble rail, in imitation of wood, probably a +reminiscence of the time when the palace was occupied by the British +garrison, still disfigures and stunts the proportions of the upper +storey of the Samman Burj. + +[8] This question is discussed at length in an article by the author, +entitled "The Taj and its Designers," published in the June number +of the _Nineteenth Century and After_, 1903. + +[9] Tavernier says twenty-two years probably including all the +accessory buildings. + +[10] The present garden is a jungle, planted by a European overseer +without any understanding or feeling for the ideas of the Mogul +artists. The overgrown trees entirely block out the view of the mosques +on either side, which are an essential part of the whole composition, +serving as supporters to the slender, detached minarets. I understand, +however, that it is intended to remove some of the more obstructive of +the larger trees; but the avenue of cypress trees, which perished from +drought some years ago, has been replanted on lines which eventually +will clash seriously with the architectural composition. + +[11] This represents the condition of the garden twenty or thirty +years ago. + +[12] The conjunction of Jupiter and Venus; referring to the +circumstance that Timur and himself were born at the conjunction of +these planets. (KEENE.) + +[13] It is very probable that the black slate or marble panels in the +Delhi Palace, which are purely Florentine in design, were imported +complete from Italy, and fixed in the wall by Indian workmen, who +only designed the ornamental scrolls surrounding the panels. + +[14] It is known that in 1575 Akbar completed a great building at +Fatehpur, called the Ibadat Khana, or hall in which the learned men of +all religions assembled for discussion. It was described as containing +four halls, the western for the Sayyids, or descendants of the Prophet; +the southern for learned men who had studied or acquired knowledge; +the northern for those famed for inspired wisdom: the eastern hall was +reserved for the nobles and state officers. Thousands of people from +all quarters of the world assembled in the courtyard. The Emperor +attended every Friday night and on holy festivals, moving from one +to the other of the guests and conversing with them. Keene, in his +"Handbook to Agra," suggests that possibly the Dîwan-i-khâs may +be the building thus described (taking the word _aiwan_, or hall, +to mean a side gallery), as no other building at all answering to +the description now remains at Fatehpur. This supposition is highly +improbable, if only for the reason given by Edmund Smith, namely, that +an assembly of this kind would not take place within the precincts of +the palace. The description given by Abul Fazl and Badâyûni clearly +indicates a building like the Dîwan-i-âm, enclosing a great quadrangle. + +[15] Keene suggests that Akbar's first wife and cousin, Sultana Raqia +Begam, lived here, but she was a Muhammadan. It is quite possible that +the name of Jodh Bai (Princess of Jodhpur) really refers to Mariam, and +not to Jahangir's Rajput wife (the daughter of the Raja of Jodhpur), +as is commonly supposed. Miriam's family resided in the province of +Ajmir, which adjoins Jodhpur. She might have been known as the Princess +of Jodhpur. In any case, it is easy to see how a confusion might have +arisen between Jahangir's mother and his wife, both Hindus and Rajputs. + +[16] Birbal's house is now used as a travellers' rest-house for +high officials and "distinguished" visitors; which is not only very +inconvenient for the undistinguished who may wish to see it, but +involves alterations which should never be permitted in buildings of +such unique artistic and archæological interest. Neither the Daftar +Khana nor this building should be devoted to such purposes, merely +to avoid the paltry expense of providing proper dak bungalows. + +[17] "History of Indian and Eastern Architecture." + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Handbook to Agra and the Taj, by E. B. 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Havell + +Release Date: April 12, 2004 [EBook #12006] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HANDBOOK TO AGRA AND THE TAJ *** + + + + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman, Distributed Proofreaders, from scans +made available by the Million Books Project. + + + + + + + +A Handbook to +Agra and the Taj +Sikandra, Fatehpur-Sikri and the Neighbourhood + +by +E.B. Havell, ARCA. + + +1904 + + + +Preface + +This little book is not intended for a history or archaeological +treatise, but to assist those who visit, or have visited, Agra, to +an intelligent understanding of one of the greatest epochs of Indian +Art. In the historical part of it, I have omitted unimportant names and +dates, and only attempted to give such a sketch of the personality of +the greatest of the Great Moguls, and of the times in which they lived, +as is necessary for an appreciation of the wonderful monuments they +left behind them. India is the only part of the British Empire where +art is still a living reality, a portion of the people's spiritual +possessions. We, in our ignorance and affectation of superiority, +make efforts to improve it with Western ideas; but, so far, have +only succeeded in doing it incalculable harm. It would be wiser if +we would first attempt to understand it. + +Among many works to which I owe valuable information, I should name +especially Erskine's translation of Babar's "Memoirs;" Muhammad +Latifs "Agra, Historical and Descriptive;" and Edmund Smith's +"Fatehpur-Sikri." My acknowledgments are due to Babu Abanindro +Nath Tagore, Mr. A. Polwhele, Executive Engineer, Agra, and to +Mr. J.H. Marshall, Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of +India, for kind assistance rendered. I am particularly indebted to +Messrs. Johnston and Hoffman, of Calcutta, for allowing me to make +use of their valuable collection of photographs for the illustrations. + +In quoting from "Bernier's Travels," I have used Constable's +translation, with Messrs. A. Constable & Co.'s kind permission. To +the Editor of the _Nineteenth Century and After_ I owe permission to +make use of my article on "The Taj and its Designers," published in +that Review, June, 1903. + +CALCUTTA, + +_January_, 1904. + + + +Contents + +HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION + +The Great Moguls--I. Babar--Babar's Connection with +Agra--II. Humayun--Interregnum: Shere Shah--III. Akbar--Akbar's +Connection with Agra--IV. Jahangir--Jahangir's Connection with +Agra--V. Shah Jahan--The Monuments of Shah Jahan's Reign at +Agra--VI. Aurangzib--Agra and the Later Mogul Emperors--Agra in +the Mutiny. + +THE FORT + +The Muti Masjid--The Dersane Darwaza--The Diwan-i-am--Jahangir's +Cistern--The Tomb of Mr. Colvin--The Inner Mina Bazar--The Chitore +Gates--The Hindu Temple--The Machhi Bhawan--The Najina Masjid--The +Diwan-i-Khas--Jahangir's Throne--The Baths--The Samman Burj--The Khas +Mahal--The Underground Chambers--The Anguri Bagh--Shish Mahal--The +"Somnath" Gates--The Jahangiri Mahal--The Sahmgarh. + +THE JAMI MASJID + +THE TAJ + +The building of the Taj--The Intention of the Taj--Description. + +ITMAD-UD-DAULAH'S TOMB + +THE CHINI-KA-RAUZA + +THE RAM BAGH + +The Zuhara Bagh. + +SIKANDRA + +Akbar's Tomb--The Kanch Mahal--Suraj-Bhan-ka Bagh--Mariam Zamani's +Tomb. + +OTHER BUILDINGS AND TOMBS AT OR NEAR AGRA + +The Kali Masjid--Alawal Bilawal--The Hamman--The Roman Catholic +Cemetery. + +FATEHPUR SIKRI + +The Agra Gate--The Naubat Khana--The Mint--The Daftar Khana--The +Palace--The Kwabgah--The Turkish Sultana's House--Hakim's +Baths--Pachisi Board--The Diwan-i-Khas--The Ankh-Michauli--The +Yogi's Seat--The Hospital--The Diwan-i-am--The Panch Mahal--Miriam's +Kothi--Jodh Bai's Palace--Rajah Birbal's House, or Birbal's Daughter's +House--The Hathi Pol and Adjoining Buildings--The Jami Masjid, or +Cathedral Mosque--The Baland Darwaza--The Stone-Cutters' Mosque--The +Houses of Abul Fazl and Faizi. + +Bharatpur and Other Places in the Vicinity of +Agra:--Bharatpur--Govardhan--Muttra--Bindraban. + +INDEX + + + +List of Illustrations + +The Taj Mahal + +Plate I. A State Document with Shah Jahan's "Royal Hand and Seal" + +Plate II. Shah Jahan, From an Old Indian Miniature + +Plate III. The Inner Delhi Gate, or Hathi Pol, Agra Fort + +Plate IV. Marble Balcony, Overlooking the Inner Mina Bazar, Agra Fort + +Plate V. The Samman Burj, Agra Fort + +Plate VI. Inner Courtyard of the Jahangiri Mahal, Agra Fort + +Plate VII. Marble Screen Enclosing the Tombs of Mumtaz Mahal and +Shah Jahan + +Plate VIII. Itmad-ud-daulah's Tomb, Agra + +Plate IX. Interior of the Upper Pavilion, Itmad-ud-daulah's Tomb + +Plate X. Marble Sarcophagus on the Upper Story of Akbar's Tomb, +Sikandra + +Plate XI. Interior of The Diwan-i-Khas, Fatehpur Sikri + +Plate XII. Rajah Birbal's Daughter's House, Fatehpur Sikri + +Plate XIII. The Baland Darwaza, Fatehpur Sikri + + +Plans + +Agra Fort. Plan of the Palaces + +Fatehpur Sikri. Plan Showing the Position of the Buildings + +Fatehpur Sikri. Plan Showing the Walls and Gates + +Fatehpur Sikri. Plan of Jodh Bai's Palace + + + + + +AGRA + +Historical Introduction + +Agra has two histories: one of the ancient city on the east, or left, +bank of the river Jumna, going back so far as to be lost in the legends +of Krishna and of the heroes of the Mahabharata; the other of the +modern city, founded by Akbar in A.D. 1558, on the right bank of the +river, and among Muhammadans still retaining its name of Akbarabad, +which is intimately associated with the romance of the Great Moguls, +and known throughout the world as the city of the Taj. + +Of ancient Agra little now remains except a few traces of the +foundations. It was a place of importance under various Hindu +dynasties previous to the Muhammadan invasions of India, but its +chequered fortunes down to the beginning of the sixteenth century +are the usual tale of siege and capture by Hindu or Mussulman, and +possess little historical interest. + +In A.D. 1505 Sultan Sikandar Lodi, the last but one of the +Afghan dynasty at Delhi, rebuilt Agra and made it the seat of +government. Sikandra, the burial-place of Akbar, is named after him, +and there he built a garden-house which subsequently became the tomb +of Mariam Zamani, one of Akbar's wives. The son of Sultan Sikandar, +Ibrahim Lodi, was defeated and slain by Babar at Panipat, near Delhi, +in 1526, and from that time Agra became one of the principal cities +of the Mogul Empire which Babar founded. + + +The Great Moguls.--I. Babar. + +Though very few memorials of Babar's short but brilliant reign still +exist at Agra, the life of this remarkable man is so important a +part of the Mogul dynasty that it must not be passed over by the +intelligent tourist or student of Mogul art. It was Babar's sunny +disposition, and the love of nature characteristic of his race, that +brought back into Indian art the note of joyousness which it had not +known since the days of Buddhism. Babar is one of the most striking +figures in Eastern history. He was descended from Tamerlane, or Timur, +on his father's side, and, on his mother's, from Chinghiz Khan. In +the year 1494, at the age of twelve, he became king of Farghana, a +small kingdom of Central Asia, now known as Kokand. His sovereignty, +however, was of a very precarious tenure, for he was surrounded on +all sides by a horde of rapacious, intriguing relatives, scrambling +for the fragments of Timur's empire. With hardly a trustworthy +ally except a remarkably clever and courageous old grandmother, he +struggled for three years to retain his birthright. Then, acting on a +sudden inspiration, he made a dash for Samarkand, the ancient capital +of Timur, and won it. In his delightful memoirs Babar describes how, +with boyish glee, he paced the ramparts himself, wandered from palace +to palace, and revelled in the fruit-gardens of what was then one of +the finest cities of Asia. But in less than a hundred days, most of +his shifty Mongol troops, disappointed in not finding as much booty +as they expected, deserted and joined a party of his enemies, who +straightway attacked Andijan, the capital of Farghana, where Babar +had left his mother and grandmother. Before he could come to their +rescue Andijan had fallen, and at the same time Samarkand, which he +had left, was occupied by another of his numerous rivals. This double +misfortune caused still more of his followers to leave him, and he +found himself without a kingdom, except the little town of Khojend, +and with only two hundred men. For almost the only time in his life +he gave way utterly to despair. "I became a prey to melancholy and +vexation; I was reduced to a sore distressed state and wept much." + +Before long, however, Babar, rejoined by his mother and grandmother, +whom the captors of Andijan had spared, taking advantage of another +turn in the wheel of fortune, recovered his kingdom of Farghana, +but lost the greater part of it again through another desertion of +his "Mongol rascals." A second time, with only a handful of men, he +surprised and captured Samarkand (A.D. 1500). In the following year +he rashly sallied out against Shaibani, the most formidable of his +adversaries, was defeated, and, after vainly trying to hold the city +against the victors, was forced to fly under cover of the night. This +time he did not weep, but consoled himself next morning by riding a +headlong race with two of his companions. Reaching a village, where +they found "nice fat flesh, bread of fine flour well baked, sweet +melons, and excellent grapes in great abundance," Babar declared that +in all his life he never enjoyed himself so much or felt so keenly +the pleasures of peace and plenty. + +He now took refuge among the hills near Uratipa, finding amusement +in observing the life of the villagers, and especially in conversing +with the mother of the headman, an old lady of a hundred and eleven, +whose descendants, to the number of ninety-six, lived in the country +round about. One of her relatives had served in the army with which +Timur had invaded India, and she entertained the future Emperor of +Hindustan by telling him stories of his ancestor's adventures. + +After several fruitless raids with the few troopers who remained +faithful to him, he allied himself with his two uncles, Mahmud and +Ahmad Khan, in an attack against Tambal, one of the powerful nobles +who had revolted against him and set up Jahangir, his brother, on +the throne of Farghana. At a critical moment his uncles left Babar to +the mercy of his enemy, and he was again forced to fly for his life, +hotly pursued by Tambal's horsemen. He was overtaken by two of them, +who, not daring to pit themselves against Babar's prodigious strength +and courage, tried to inveigle him into a trap. Babar gives a moving +description of this great crisis in his life. Thoroughly exhausted, +and seeing no prospect of escape, he resigned himself to die:-- + +"There was a stream in the garden, and there I made my ablutions +and recited a prayer of two bowings. Then surrendering myself +to meditation, I was about to ask God for His compassion, when +sleep closed my eyes. I saw (in my dream) Khwaja Yakub, the son of +Khwaja Yahya, and grandson of his Eminence the Khwaja 'Obaid-Allah +(a famous saint of Samarkand), with a numerous escort, mounted on +dappled grey horses, come before me and say, '_Do not be anxious, +the Khwaja has sent me to tell you that he will support you and seat +you on the throne of sovereignty; whenever a difficulty occurs to you, +remember to beg his help, and he will at once respond to your appeal, +and victory and triumph shall straightway lean to your side_.' I +awoke with easy heart, at the very moment when Yusuf the constable +and his companions (Tambal's soldiers) were plotting some trick to +seize and throttle me. Hearing them discussing it, I said to them, +'All you say is very well, but I shall be curious to see which of you +dares to approach me,' As I spoke the tramp of a number of horses +was heard outside the garden wall. Yusuf the constable exclaimed, +'If we had taken you and brought you to Tambal, our affairs would have +prospered much thereby; as it is, he has sent a large troop to seize +you; and the noise you hear is the tramp of horses on your track,' +At this assertion my face fell, and I knew not what to devise. + +"At this very moment the horsemen, who had not at first found the gate +of the garden, made a breach in its crumbling wall, through which they +entered. I saw they were Kutluk Muhammad Barlas and Babai Pargari, two +of my most devoted followers, with ten or twenty other persons. When +they came near to my person they threw themselves off their horses, +and, bending the knee at a respectful distance, fell at my feet, +and overwhelmed me with marks of their affection. + +"Amazed at this apparition, I felt that God had just restored me to +life. I called to them at once, 'Seize Yusuf the constable, and the +wretched traitors who are with him, and bring them to me bound hand +and foot,' Then, turning to my rescuers, I said, 'Whence come you? Who +told you what was happening?' Kutluk Muhammad Barlas answered, 'After +I found myself separated from you in the sudden flight from Akhsi, +I reached Andijan at the very moment when the Khans themselves were +making their entry. There I saw, in a dream, Khwaja 'Obaid-Allah, +who said, "_Padishah Babar is at this instant in a village called +Karman; fly thither and bring him back with you, for the throne is +his of right_." Rejoicing at this dream, I related it to the big Khan +and little Khan.... Three days have we been marching, and thanks be +to God for bringing about this meeting.'" [1] + +After this exciting adventure Babar rejoined his time-serving uncles, +but was forced into exile again in 1503, when, at the battle of Akshi, +the Khans were completely defeated by Shaibani. Then he resolved +to depart out of Farghana and to give up the attempt to recover +his kingdom. Characteristically, when foiled in one enterprise he +entered upon another yet more ambitious. Joined by his two brothers, +Jahangir and Nasir, and by a motley array of various wandering tribes, +he swooped down upon Kabul and captured it. + +The description of the new kingdom thus easily won, which fills many +pages of the Memoirs, reveals another side of Babar's character--his +intense love of nature. He gives minute accounts of the climate, +physical characteristics, the fruits, flowers, birds, and beasts, +as well as of the human inhabitants. In the intervals between his +battles, or between his rollicking drinking parties, which for some +years of his life degenerated into drunken orgies, we often find Babar +lost in admiration of some beautiful landscape, or collecting flowers +and planting fruit trees. Wherever he came, Babar's first care was +to dig wells and plant fruit and flower gardens. India owes much to +the Great Moguls' love of horticulture. + +When Babar had drilled his unruly Afghan subjects into something +like order, he made, in 1506, one more unsuccessful attempt to crush +Shaibani. However, in 1510, when that doughty warrior was defeated and +slain by Ismail, Shah of Persia, Samarkand fell once more into Babar's +hands, as a vassal of the Shah. Eight months afterwards he was driven +out again. From that time Babar gave up all hopes of re-establishing +the empire of his ancestor Timur, and turned his face towards India. In +1519 he gathered an army for his first expedition, which was, however, +more of a reconnaissance than a conquest. Four more attempts he made, +until at last, in 1526, with only 10,000 men, he defeated the hosts +of Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Afghan kings of Delhi, who, with +15,000 of his troops, were left dead on the field of Panipat. + +Thus, after many struggles, Babar became "master and conqueror of the +mighty empire of Hindustan," but he had to fight two more great battles +before his sovereignty was undisputed--one in 1527 near Fatehpur +Sikri, with the great chief of the Rajputs, Raja Sanga of Chitore, +and another in 1529 near Buxar, with the Afghans who had settled in +Bengal. The next year Babar died in his garden palace at Agra The +nobility of his character was conspicuous in his death as it was +in his life. He was devotedly attached to his eldest son, Humayun, +who was seized with malarial fever while staying at his country +estate at Sambhal. Babar had him removed by boat to Agra, but his +physicians declared that the case was hopeless. Babar's own health had +suffered much during his life in India, and he was terribly agitated +by the news. When some one suggested that in such circumstances the +Almighty sometimes deigned to accept the thing most valued by one +friend in exchange for the life of another, Babar exclaimed that +of all things his life was dearest to Humayun, as Humayun's was to +him. He would sacrifice his own life to save his son. His courtiers +entreated him to give up instead the great diamond taken at Agra, +said to be the most valuable on earth. Babar declared that no stone +could compare in value with his own life, and after solemnly walking +round Humayun's couch, as in a religious sacrifice, he retired to +devote himself to prayer. Soon afterwards he was heard to exclaim, "I +have borne it away! I have borne it away!" Humayun began to recover, +and, as he improved, Babar gradually sank. Commending his son to +the protection of his friends, and imploring Humayun to be kind and +forgiving to his brothers, the first of the "Great Moguls" of India +passed away. He was buried at Kabul, in one of his beloved gardens, +which, according to Tartar custom, he had chosen for his tomb, in +"the sweetest spot of the neighbourhood." [2] + + +Babar's connection with Agra. + +Babar's connection with Agra began immediately after the battle +of Panipat. He sent forward Humayun, who occupied the town without +opposition. The story of the great diamond referred to above is here +recorded in the Memoirs. The Raja of Gwalior, slain at Panipat, had +left his family and the heads of his clan at Agra. In gratitude to +Humayun, who treated them magnanimously, and protected them from +plunder, they presented to him a _peskesh_, or token of homage, +consisting of a quantity of jewels and precious stones. Among these was +one famous diamond which had been acquired by Sultan Alaeddin. "It is +so valuable that a judge of diamonds valued it at about half the daily +expense of the whole world. It is about eight _mikkals_" (or about +280 carats). This is generally supposed to be the celebrated Koh-i-nur. + +Babar determined to establish the seat of his government at Agra, but +was almost dissuaded by the desolate appearance of the country. "It +always appears to me," he says, "that one of the chief defects of +Hindustan is the want of artificial watercourses. I had intended, +wherever I might fix my residence, to construct water-wheels, to +produce an artificial stream, and to lay out an elegant and regularly +planned pleasure ground. Shortly after coming to Agra I passed the +Jumna with this object in view, and examined the country to pitch upon +a fit spot for a garden. The whole was so ugly and detestable that +I repassed the river quite repulsed and disgusted. In consequence of +the want of beauty and of the disagreeable aspect of the country, I +gave up my intention of making a _charbagh_ (garden house); but as no +better situation presented itself near Agra, I was finally compelled to +make the best of this same spot.... In every corner I planted suitable +gardens, in every garden I sowed roses and narcissus regularly, and in +beds corresponding to each other. We were annoyed by three things in +Hindustan; one was its heat, another the strong winds, and the third +its dust. Baths were the means of removing all three inconveniences." + +As I have mentioned above, there are very few vestiges remaining of +Babar's city, of his fruit and flower gardens, palaces, baths, tanks, +wells and watercourses. The Ram Bagh (p. 92) is one of the gardens +laid out either by himself or by one of his nobles, and the Zohra, +or Zuhara Bagh, near it, contains the remains of a garden-house, which +is said to have belonged to one of Babar's daughters. Opposite to the +Taj there are traces of the foundations of the city he built. Babar +planned, and his successors completed, the great road leading from Agra +to Kabul through Lahore, parts of which still remain. Some of the old +milestones can be seen on the road to Sikandra. Babar's account of the +commencement of it is very characteristic: "On Thursday, the 4th of +the latter Rebia, I directed Chikmak Bey, by a writing under the royal +hand and seal, [3] to measure the distance from Agra to Kabul; that at +every nine _kos_ he should raise a _minar_, or turret, twelve _gez_ +in height, on the top of which he was to construct a pavilion; that +every ten _kos_ he should erect a _yam_, or post-house, which they call +a _dak-choki,_ for six horses; that he should fix a certain allowance +as a provision for the post-house keepers, couriers, and grooms, +and for feeding the horses; and orders were given that whenever a +post-house for horses was built near a _khalseh_, or imperial demesne, +they should be furnished from thence with the stated allowances; +that if it were situated in a _pergunna_, the nobleman in charge +should attend to the supply. The same day Chikmak Padshahi left Agra." + +The promptness of Babar's administrative methods is a striking contrast +to the circumlocution of present-day departmentalism. There still +exist remains of many splendid _sarais_, or halting-places, built +along this road by different Mogul Emperors for their convenience, +from the time of Babar down to Aurangzib. One of the finest is the +Nurmahal Sarai, near Jalandhar, built by Jahangir and named after +his favourite wife. Edward Terry, who accompanied Sir Thomas Roe, +James the First's ambassador at Jahangir's Court, describes "the long +walk of four hundred miles, shaded by great trees on both sides," +and adds, "this is looked upon by the travellers who have found the +comfort of that cool shade as one of the rarest and most beneficial +works in the whole world." + + +II. Humayun. + +Humayun, who succeeded Babar, had many of his father's amiable +qualities, but none of his genius as a leader of men. He utterly +failed in the attempt to consolidate the great empire which Babar had +left him, and in 1539, or nine and a half years after his accession, +he was completely defeated at Kanauj by Shere Khan Sur, an Afghan +nobleman, who had submitted to Babar, but revolted against his +son. Humayun found himself a fugitive with only a handful of men, +and was eventually driven not only out of Hindustan, but even from the +kingdom of Kabul. He then took refuge with the Shah of Persia. Shere +Khan Sur, under the title of Shere Shah, ruled at Agra until he died, +five years afterwards. His son, Salim Shah, or Sultan Islam, succeeded +him, and reigned between seven and eight years, but on his death the +usual quarrels between his relatives and generals gave Humayun, who +in the mean time had got back Kabul with the aid of a Persian army, +the opportunity to recover his position in Hindustan. This occurred +in 1555, but Humayun's unfortunate reign terminated the same year +through a fatal fall from a staircase in his palace at Delhi. + +Humayun left no memorial of himself at Agra, but he is to be remembered +for two circumstances; the first, that he was the father of the great +Akbar, who succeeded him; and the second, that the plan of his tomb +at Delhi, built by Akbar, was the model on which the plan of the Taj +was based. + + + +Interregnum: Shere Shah. + +Shere Shah was a great builder, and a most capable ruler. In his short +reign of five years he initiated many of the great administrative +reforms which Akbar afterwards perfected. Fergusson, in his +"History of Indian Architecture," mentions that in his time there +was a fragment of a palace built by Shere Shah in the Fort at Agra, +"which was as exquisite a piece of decorative art as any of its class +in India." This palace has since been destroyed to make room for a +barrack, but probably the two-storied pavilion known as the Salimgarh +is the fragment to which Fergusson refers. The only other building +of Shere Shah's time now remaining in Agra is the half-buried mosque +of Alawal Bilawal, or Shah Wilayat, in the _Nai-ki Mandi_ quarter +(see p. 102). + +Shere Shah's tomb at Sasseram, in Bihar, is one of the noblest +monuments of the Pathan style, or the style of the earliest Muhammadan +architects in India. + + +III. Akbar. + +Akbar, "the Great," was born at Amarkot, on the edge of the deserts of +Marwar, about three years after the battle of Kanauj, when his father +Humayun was a fugitive, driven from place to place by the adherents +of Shere Shah. At this time the treasury of the royal house was so +reduced that, when Humayun indented on it for the customary presents +to his faithful followers, the only thing procurable was a single pod +of musk. With the cheerfulness which was the saving grace of Humayun, +he broke up the pod, and distributed it, adding the pious wish, which +seemed like prophetic insight, that his son's fame might fill the +world like the fragrance of that perfume. Trained in the hard school +of adversity, and inheriting the best qualities of his grandfather, +Akbar was not long in restoring the faded fortunes of the Mogul +dynasty. Like Babar, he succeeded to the throne at a very early +age, and found himself surrounded by difficulties which would have +overwhelmed a weaker character. Humayun had, indeed, fought his way +back to Delhi and Agra, but he had by no means settled with all the +numerous disputants for the sovereignty of Hindustan, which Sultan +Islam's death had left in the field; and his departure from Kabul +had been the signal for revolt in that quarter. Akbar, accompanied +by Bairam Khan, the ablest of Humayun's generals, was in Sind when +he received at the same time the news of his father's death and of +the revolt of the Viceroy at Kabul He was then little more than +thirteen years old, but, like Babar under similar circumstances, +he was prompt in decision and in action. Adopting Bairam's advice, +which was contrary to that of all his other counsellors, he left Kabul +out of account, and pushed on to Delhi against the forces of Himu, a +Hindu general, and the most powerful of his foes, who had assumed the +title of Raja Bikramajit, with the hopes of restoring the old Hindu +dynasty. On the historic plains of Panipat Akbar completely defeated +Himu's army, and thus regained the empire which his grandfather had +won on the same field thirty years before. This great battle was the +most critical point in his career, and though Akbar had to undertake +many other hard campaigns before he was absolute master of the empire, +his position from that time was never seriously endangered. + +Until his eighteenth year Akbar remained under the tutelage of Bairam, +an able general, but unscrupulous and cruel. The high-minded, generous +disposition of Akbar revolted against some of his guardian's methods, +but he recognized that, for some years at least, Bairam's experience +was necessary for him. In 1560, however, he took the administration +entirely into his own hands. Bairam, in disgust, took up arms against +his young master, but was soon defeated and taken prisoner. With his +usual magnanimity, Akbar pardoned him, and sent him off to Mecca with +a munificent present; but the revengeful knife of an Afghan put an +end to the turbulent nobleman's life before he could leave India. + +Akbar spent the rest of his long reign in elaborating the +administrative reforms which have made him famous as the greatest +ruler India has ever had. With the aid of able ministers, both Hindu +and Muhammadan, he purified the administration of justice, keeping +the supreme control in his own hands; enjoined absolute tolerance +in religious matters; abolished oppressive taxes, and reorganized +and improved the system of land revenue introduced by Shere Shah. A +minute account of Akbar's reign, of his policy, habits, and character, +is given in the "Akbar-nama," the history written by his devoted +friend and Prime Minister, Abul Fazl. No detail of state affairs +was too small for Akbar's personal attention. Ability and integrity +were the only passports to his favour, while bigotry and injustice +were anathemas to him. Like Babar, he was fond of horticulture, and +imported many kinds of fruit trees and flowers into India. Though +he could neither read nor write, he had a great library of Hindi, +Persian, Arabic, Greek, and other books, and Abul Fazl relates that +every book was read through to him from beginning to end. + +The most remarkable of all this remarkable man's intellectual +activities were his attempts to bring about a reconciliation of all +the discordant religious elements of his empire. Badayuni, one of +his contemporary historians, but, unlike him, a bigoted Musalman, +comments thus on Akbar's religious views: "From his earliest childhood +to his manhood, and from his manhood to old age, his Majesty has passed +through the most various phases, and through all sorts of religious +practices and sectarian beliefs, and has collected everything which +people can find in books, with a talent of selection peculiar to him +and a spirit of inquiry opposed to every (Islamite) principle. Thus a +faith based on some elementary principles traced itself on the mirror +of his heart, and, as the result of all the influences which were +brought to bear on his Majesty, there grew gradually, as the outline +on a stone, the conviction on his heart that there were sensible +men in all religions, and abstemious thinkers and men endowed with +miraculous powers among all nations. If some true knowledge were thus +everywhere to be found, why should truth be confined to one religion, +or to a creed like Islam, which was comparatively new, and scarcely a +thousand years old; why should one sect assert what another denies, +and why should one claim a preference without having superiority +conferred upon itself?" + +Near to his palace at Fatehpur Sikri he built an Ibadat Khana, or +Hall of Worship, for the discussion of philosophy and religion. There +he received representatives of all religious sects, Muhammadans, +Brahmans, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, Jews, and Christians, and listened +attentively to their arguments. He studied deeply religious books, +and had the New Testament translated into Persian. He also invited +Jesuit priests from Goa, and not only allowed them to build a church +at Agra, but even attended a marriage service and interpreted the +words of the sermon to the bride. Badayuni says that "his Majesty +firmly believed in the truth of the Christian religion, and wishing +to spread the doctrines of Jesus, ordered Prince Murad (his son) +to take a few lessons in Christianity by way of auspiciousness." The +Jesuits, however, did not succeed in making Akbar a convert, for when +his religious convictions were at last settled, he proclaimed as the +state religion a kind of eclectic pantheism called Din-i-ilahi, or +"Divine Faith," with himself as the chief interpreter. Dispensing +with all forms of priesthood, he simply recognized One God, the +Maker of the Universe, and himself as God's vicegerent on earth. He +rejected the doctrine of the Resurrection, and accepted that of the +transmigration of souls. The Islamite prayers were abolished, and +others of a more general character were substituted for them. The +ceremonial was largely borrowed from the Hindus. + +The "Divine Faith" had no hold on the people, and its influence +ceased with the death of its founder. It is even said that Akbar, +on his death-bed, acknowledged the orthodox Muhammadan creed, but the +evidence on this point is unreliable. Akbar's religious system had an +important political bearing, for the keynote of his whole policy was +the endeavour to unite with a bond of common interest all the diverse +social, religious, and racial elements of his empire. He overlooked +nothing which might further the object he had in view. He chose his +ministers and generals indiscriminately from all his subjects, without +distinction of race or religion. He allied himself in marriage with +the royal Hindu families of Rajputana. He sat daily on the judgment +seat to dispense justice to all who chose to appeal to him, and, +like the famous Harun-al-Rashid, he would at times put on disguises +and wander unattended among the people, to keep himself informed of +their real condition and to check the malpractices of his officials. + +Though Akbar unavoidably had bitter enemies among the more bigoted of +his Muhammadan subjects, his wise tolerance of all beliefs and the +generosity of his policy for the most part disarmed hostility from +all sides. Certainly no ruler of India before or since succeeded so +far in carrying out his object. He is still one of the great popular +heroes of Hindustan; his mighty deeds in war and in the chase, his +wise and witty sayings, the splendour of his court, his magnanimity +and his justice, still live in song and in story. + +Akbar died in the Fort at Agra on October 13, 1605, in the fifty-first +year of his reign, aged 63. He was buried at Sikandra, in the mausoleum +commenced by himself, and finished by his son and successor, Jahangir. + + +Akbar's connection with Agra. + +The modern city of Agra, as stated previously, was founded by Akbar +in 1558, opposite to the old city on the left bank of the river. He +built the Fort, on the site of an old Pathan castle, and part of the +palace within it. Agra was the seat of government during the greater +part of his reign. He also built the great mosque and the magnificent +palaces and public buildings of Fatehpur Sikri, which are among the +most famous of the antiquities of India. + + +IV. Jahangir. + +The eldest surviving son of Akbar, Prince Salim, on his accession to +the throne in 1605, assumed the title of Nur-ud-din Jahangir (Light +of the Faith, Conqueror of the World). + +He was passionate, cruel, and a drunkard, but not without ability +and force of character. As Prince Salim he had instigated the +assassination of the Prime Minister, Abul Fazl, and probably hastened +his own father's death by his violent conduct. There was, however, +a reconciliation at the end, and Jahangir endeavoured to atone for +his behaviour by lavish expenditure on Akbar's tomb at Sikandra. He +has also left many pious tributes to his father's memory in his +autobiography. Jahangir's favourite wife was the celebrated Nur Mahal, +who for twenty years was almost the supreme power in the imperial +court. Her beauty attracted his attention while he was still Prince +Salim, but Akbar, disapproving of her as a daughter-in-law, gave her in +marriage to Sher Afsan, "the lion killer," a nobleman of Burdwan. After +his accession, having treacherously procured the death of her husband, +Jahangir had Nur Mahal removed to Agra and placed under the care of +his mother. For many years she repulsed all Jahangir's overtures, +but when at last she consented to be his queen she became his most +devoted wife. She accompanied him on all his travels, and Jahangir +consulted her in all important affairs of state. Sir Thomas Roe, James +the First's ambassador, describes Jahangir at Agra taking his wife +for an evening drive in a bullock cart, "the King himself being her +carter." He affectionately changed her name from Nur Mahal, "Light of +the Palace," to Nur Jahan, "Light of the World." The imperial coinage +bore her name and an inscription, "Gold has acquired a new value since +it bore the name of Nur Jahan." She even succeeded to some extent +in controlling Jahangir's drunken habits. She was a great patroness +of the arts, and it is said that the Samman Burj, her apartments in +the Agra palace, was decorated after her own designs. Her charity +was boundless; she was the especial protectress of orphan girls, and +provided marriage portions for no less than 500 from her private purse. + +Nur Mahal's father, Itmad-ud-daulah, became Lord High Treasurer, +and afterwards Wazir, or Prime Minister. On his death his daughter +built for him the magnificent tomb at Agra known by his name. + +During Jahangir's reign many Europeans, travellers, adventurers and +others, flocked to the Mogul court. They were allowed free access +to the palace, and Jahangir frequently admitted them to join in his +midnight carouses. He showed great favour to the Jesuit priests, +and even allowed two of his nephews to be instructed in the Christian +religion. + +The violent temper of Jahangir was inherited by his son, Prince +Khurram, afterwards Shah Jahan, and the peace of his reign was +frequently disturbed by open rebellion on the part of the Prince. In +1623 Shah Jahan actually sacked Agra, and his soldiers committed +fearful atrocities on the inhabitants. He failed, however, to capture +the fort, which contained the imperial treasury, and Jahangir, +no doubt remembering his own father's leniency towards himself, +forgave his unruly son. + +Jahangir died in 1627, and was buried at Shahdara, near Lahore, +in a magnificent tomb prepared by Nur Mahal. She herself retired to +Lahore, and, though she lived till 1648, ceased to take any part in +state affairs after his death. She was buried by her husband's side +at Shahdara. + + +Jahangir's connection with Agra. + +Jahangir for a great part of his reign held his court at Lahore, +or at Kabul. The chief monuments of his reign at, or near, Agra +are Akbar's tomb at Sikandra (p. 97), and Itmad-ud-daulah's tomb +(p. 85), already mentioned. Part of the Agra Palace, the Jahangiri +Mahal (p. 63), is named after him, though it is most probable that +it was really built in Akbar's reign. + +There are a few minor buildings of Jahangir's time in Agra, such as +the baths of Ali Verdi Khan in Chipitollah Street, the mosque of +Motamid Khan in the Kashmiri Bazar, and the tower known after the +name of Boland Khan, the chief eunuch of Jahangir's palace. These +are of purely archaeological interest. + + +V. Shah Jahan. + +Shah Jahan, on his father's death, though only fourth in right of +succession to the throne, speedily disposed of his brothers by means +very commonly adopted in Oriental royal families, and was enthroned at +Agra in 1648. Immediately afterwards he wreaked his vengeance on the +Portuguese, who had taken part against him in his rebellion against +Jahangir, by destroying their settlement at Hughli. The next year, +while on an expedition to suppress disorder in the Deccan, he lost +his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, the lady of the Taj. For a long +time the Emperor abandoned himself entirely to grief, and he remained +faithful to her memory until his death. + +The actual building of the Taj commenced in 1632. From this date until +1658, when Aurangzib usurped the throne, was the most magnificent +period of the Mogul dynasty. The whole empire enjoyed comparative peace +and prosperity. Shah Jahan's just and liberal government continued his +father's and grandfather's policy of tolerance towards the Hindus, and +his administration, though conducted with great pomp and splendour, +did not press hardly upon the people. It was one of the greatest +epochs of Indian architecture; besides the Taj Mahal, the buildings +erected during these years include four of the masterpieces of the +Mogul period--the Jami Masjid, or Cathedral Mosque, of Delhi; the +Muti Masjid, or Pearl Mosque, of Agra; part of the Agra Palace, and +the great palace at Delhi, of which only a small portion now exists. + +It is said that as Shah Jahan advanced towards old age he abandoned +himself more and more to a life of pleasure and self-indulgence, +but his last years were darkened by the same kind of family intrigues +through which he himself had gained the throne. In 1657 the serious +illness of the Emperor brought these intrigues to a head. His eldest +son by Mumtaz Mahal, called Dara Shikoh, a gracious and generous +Prince, but headstrong and intolerant of advice, was appointed +Regent. On receiving this intelligence, his younger brothers, Shuja, +Viceroy of Bengal, and Murad, Viceroy of Gujarat, declared their +independence, and marched upon Agra. Aurangzib, the third son, +a religious bigot, but the ablest and most virile of the brothers, +hastened to join them, and being placed in chief command, attacked +Dara's army close to Agra and completely defeated him. Three days +afterwards he entered the city. Shah Jahan sent his chamberlain to +order him to leave the city at once and return to his post in the +Deccan, but Aurangzib, affecting to believe that his father was dead, +disregarded the order. He succeeded by bribes and promises in bringing +over some of the principal nobles to his side, and being well informed +by Rushanara, his younger sister, who was his equal in cunning and +artifice, of all that went on in the palace, he baffled Shah Jahan's +attempts to lay hands on him. At last, under pretence of arranging +an amicable meeting with his son Mahmud, Aurangzib beguiled Shah +Jahan into withdrawing his troops from the Fort. Mahmud immediately +forced his way in with a picked body of men and seized the person of +the Emperor. The plan succeeded so well that no attempt at a rescue +was made. + +The French traveller Tavernier, who has left a complete record of +the time, writes of this event: "It is most surprising that not one +of the servants of the grand King offered to assist him; that all his +subjects abandoned him, and that they turned their eyes to the rising +sun, recognizing no one as king but Aurangzib. Shah Jahan, though +still living, passed from their memories. If, perchance, there were +any who felt touched by his misfortunes, fear made them silent, and +made them basely abandon a king who had governed them like a father, +and with a mildness which is not common with sovereigns. For although +he was severe enough to the nobles when they failed to perform their +duties, he arranged all things for the comfort of the people, by whom +he was much beloved, but who gave no signs of it at this crisis." + +Shah Jahan remained confined in a set of apartments of the Agra +Palace for seven years. He died in 1666, and was buried by the side +of Mumtaz Mahal in the Taj. His captivity was shared by his favourite +daughter, Jahanara, who since the death of her mother had ruled the +imperial household and taken a prominent part in state affairs. She +had actively supported the cause of Dara, and thus incurred the +resentment of Aurangzib. On her father's death she retired to Delhi, +and she lived there until 1681. Her simple grave, covered with grass, +is in a quiet corner of the courtyard of Nizamudin's tomb, near Delhi, +where the memory of her filial piety adds to the poetic charm of all +the surroundings. + + + +The Monuments of Shah Jahan's Reign at Agra. + +The Taj Mahal (p. 72); the Jami Masjid (p. 69); and the following +buildings in the Fort: The Muti Masjid (p. 43); the Diwan-i-am (p. 46); +the Diwan-i-khas (p. 55); the Khas Mahal (p. 59). + + +VI. Aurangzib. + +Agra is only concerned with the first seven years of Aurangzib's reign, +for, after the death of Shah Jahan, the court was removed to Delhi, +and Agra was left with only a provincial governor to maintain its +former magnificence. The unhappy Dara, after his defeat by Aurangzib, +made fruitless attempts to retrieve his fortunes, but was at last +betrayed into the hands of his brother, who immediately put him to +death. Aurangzib lost no time in disposing of his other two brothers, +and thus placed his succession to the throne beyond dispute. + +The Princess Rushanara, as a reward for her treachery, was raised +to the position formerly enjoyed by her sister Jahanara. The French +physician Bernier, who resided twelve years at the Mogul court in the +time of Aurangzib, has left many minute and graphic records of the +times. Here is a picture of Rushanara when she accompanied Aurangzib +on the march from Delhi to Kashmir:-- + +"Stretch imagination to its utmost limits, and you can conceive +no exhibition more grand and imposing than when Rauchenara-Begum, +mounted on a stupendous Pegu elephant and seated in a _mikdember_, +blazing with gold and azure, is followed by five or six other elephants +with _mikdembers_ nearly as resplendent as her own, and filled with +ladies attached to her household. Close to the Princess are the chief +eunuchs, richly adorned and finely mounted, each with a wand of office +in his hand; and surrounding her elephant a troop of female servants, +_Tartars_ and _Kachmerys_, fantastically attired and riding handsome +pad-horses. Besides these attendants are several eunuchs on horseback, +accompanied by a multitude of _pagys_, or lackeys, on foot, with +large canes, who advance a great way before the Princess, both to +the right and left, for the purpose of clearing the road and driving +before them every intruder. Immediately behind Rauchenara-Begum's +retinue appears a principal lady of the court, mounted and attended +in much the same manner as the Princess. This lady is followed by a +third, she by a fourth, and so on, until fifteen or sixteen females +of quality pass with a grandeur of appearance, equipage, and retinue +more or less proportionate to their rank, pay, and office. There is +something very impressive of state and royalty in the march of these +sixty or more elephants; in their solemn and, as it were, measured +steps, in the splendour of the _mikdembers_, and the brilliant and +innumerable followers in attendance; and, if I had not regarded this +display of magnificence with a sort of philosophical indifference, I +should have been apt to be carried away by such flights of imagination +as inspire most of the Indian poets when they represent the elephants +as conveying so many goddesses concealed from the vulgar gaze." [4] + +Dramatic justice overtook the scheming Princess at last. In 1664 +Aurangzib fell dangerously ill, and, while he was unconscious, +Rushanara, believing him to be dying, abstracted the signet ring +from his finger and issued letters, as under the royal seal, to the +various Viceroys and Governors, setting aside the succession of the +Emperor's eldest son by a Rajput Princess in favour of another son, +a boy of six, by a Muhammadan sultana. She hoped by this means to keep +the supreme power in her own hands during the long minority of the new +Emperor. Aurangzib unexpectedly recovered, and became suspicious of +his dangerous sister. The host of enemies she had created at court +were not slow in taking advantage of the situation, and Rushanara +soon afterwards disappeared--removed, it is said, by poison. + +Aurangzib ruled with a firm hand, and in strict justice according +to the law of Islam, but though a man of great intellectual powers, +of marvellous energy and indomitable courage, he was wanting in +imagination, sympathy, and foresight, the highest qualities of a +really great ruler. He checked the dissolute conduct of the nobles, +and set an example of industry and devotion to duty; but his narrow, +bigoted disposition inclined him to distrust even his own ministers, +so that, unlike his three predecessors, he was badly served by +the lieutenants in whose hands the administration of the provinces +rested. He surrounded himself with religious bigots of the Sunni +sect of Muhammadans, who aided him in bitter persecution of the +Hindus. Hardly anything of artistic or architectural interest was +created under his patronage. Most of the great artists who attended +Shah Jahan's court were dismissed as unorthodox or heretics, and many +noble monuments were mutilated by the Emperor's fanatical followers +on the ground that they contravened the precept of the Koran which +forbids the representation of animate nature in art. + +He died in 1707, eighty-nine years of age. The Mogul empire, surrounded +by hordes of the enemies his bigotry and intolerance had created, +was already tottering to its fall, and the star of the British raj +was rising. Seventeen years before his death he had granted to Job +Charnock a piece of land at Sutanati, the site of the future capital +of our Indian empire. + + +Agra and the Later Mogul Emperors + +Agra played a very small part in the history of the weak-minded and +dissolute successors of Aurangzib. Firokhshiyar, who reigned from 1713 +to 1719, resided occasionally there. After his death disputes between +various claimants to the throne led to Agra Fort being besieged and +captured by Husein Ali Khan, a partisan of one of them, who looted +the treasury of all the valuables deposited there during three +centuries. "There were the effects of Nur Jahan Begum and Mumtaz +Mahal, amounting in value, according to various reports, to two or +three crores of rupees. There was in particular the sheet of pearls +which Shah Jahan had caused to be made for the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, +of the value of several lakhs of rupees, which was spread over it +on the anniversary and on Friday nights. There was the ewer of Nur +Jahan and her cushion of woven gold and rich pearls, with a border +of valuable garnets and emeralds." (Elliott.) + +In 1739 Nadir, Shah of Persia, sacked Delhi, carried off Shah Jahan's +famous peacock throne, and laid Agra also under contribution. The +Mahrattas next appeared on the scene. In 1764 the Jats of Bharatpur, +under Suraj Mal, captured Agra, looted the Taj, and played havoc +with the palaces in the Fort. They were joined by Walter Reinhardt, +an adventurer, half French and half German, who sold his services +for any work of infamy, and had only recently assisted in the murder +of the British Resident and other Europeans at Patna. He afterwards +entered the Mogul service, and was rewarded by a grant of a tract of +country near Meerut, which remained in the possession of his family +until recent times. He died at Agra in 1778, and was buried in the +Catholic cemetery. + +For the next thirty-nine years Agra was occupied by Mahrattas and +by Mogul imperialists in turn. John Hessing, a Dutch officer in the +employ of the Mahrattas, was Governor of Agra in 1794, and died there +in 1802. The next year it was captured by the British under General, +afterwards Lord, Lake, and from that time until 1857 its history +was uneventful. + + + +Agra in the Mutiny. + +Agra did not take any prominent part in the events of the Mutiny. A +mob plundered the city, burnt the public offices, and killed a number +of Europeans; but the rioters left soon to join their comrades at +Delhi. There was a small engagement outside the city. The British +troops and the whole of the European population were afterwards shut +up in the Fort until the capture of Delhi. The Lieutenant-Governor, +Mr. John Russell Colvin, died there, and was buried in front of +the Diwan-i-am. + + + +The Fort + +The present Fort was commenced by Akbar in 1566, on the site +of an older one constructed by Salim Shah Sur, the son of Shere +Shah. Its vast walls (seventy feet in height, and a mile and a half +in circuit), its turrets, and noble gateways present from the outside +a most imposing appearance. It contains within its walls that most +exquisite of mosques, the Muti Masjid, and the palaces of Akbar and +Shah Jahan. The principal or north entrance is the Delhi Gate, nearly +opposite to the railway station and the Jami Masjid. Formerly there +was a walled enclosure in front of this gate, called the Tripulia, +or Three Gates, which was used as a market. This was cleared away by +the military authorities in 1875. Crossing the drawbridge over the +moat which surrounds the Fort, the visitor passes the outer gate, +and by a paved incline reaches the Hathi Pol, or Elephant Gate +(Plate III.), so called from the two stone elephants, with riders, +which formerly stood outside the gate, on the highest of the platforms +on either side of it. The statues and elephants were thrown down by +order of Aurangzib. There are four hollow places in each platform, +where the legs of the elephants were morticed into it. [5] + +The gate is a fine example of the early Mogul style; it contains the +_Naubat khana_, or music gallery, where the royal kettledrums announced +the Emperor's arrival or departure, and all state functions. It was +also a guard-house, and probably the quarters of a high military +officer, but it is certainly not, as the guides have it, the "Darshan +Darwaza," or "Gate of Sights," described by William Finch, where +the Emperor Jahangir showed himself at sunrise to his nobles and to +the multitude assembled in the plain below. The Darshan Darwaza was +undoubtedly near the old disused water-gate, which was joined to the +royal apartments of the palace by a private passage, and answers to +Finch's description of "leading into a fair court extending along +the river." The Elephant Gate is at a considerable distance from the +palace, and was never connected with it, except by the public road. + +It is worth while to climb the top of the gate by the staircase on +the right, inside the Fort. There is a fine view of the Fort, and +beyond the walls the ever-beautiful white domes of the Taj appear in +the distance. The Itmad-ud-daulah is visible on the left. Towards +the town you look down into the quadrangle of the Jami Masjid. The +pavilions on the summit of the great octagonal towers flanking the +gate are finely carved, and bear traces of painting and enamelled +tile-work. Descending the staircase to the floors beneath, one can +wander through the curious small chambers and look out from the +balconies on the front of the gate. + + +The Muti Masjid. + +The road to the left after passing the Elephant Gate leads up to the +entrance of the Muti Masjid, or "Pearl Mosque," placed on the highest +point of the Fort enclosure. [6] You pass on the left a building +known as Dansa Jat's house, said to have been occupied by the Rajahs +of Bharatpur when the Jats held the Fort. It has been made hideous +by modern additions which have converted it into officers' quarters. + +The entrance to the Muti Masjid is very plain and unpretending, so +that one is hardly prepared for the beauty, purity, and the unaffected +expression of an exalted religious feeling which characterize the +interior. It is rare to find an Indian building in which the effect +is produced with hardly any ornament, but solely by the perfection +of proportions, beauty of material, and harmony of constructive +design. The courtyard, in front of the mosque, with its arcades +and gateways, is a noble setting to the Pearl, as the mosque is +appropriately called. There is a subtle rhythm in the placing of the +three domes over the seven arches of the mosque, which saves the whole +design from monotony, while the marvellous grace of the contours, +which is so characteristic of the finest of Shah Jahan's buildings, +makes each dome grow up from the roof like a flower-bud on the point of +unfolding. The octagonal pavilions at the four corners of the mosque, +and the dainty little kiosques placed as decoration over the arches +and over the gateways of the courtyard, echo the harmonies of the +larger constructive details, and give completeness to the composition. + +The interior of the mosque owes its dignity to the same greatness of +style and perfection of the proportions. The three aisles are formed +by massive piers of single blocks of marble. With all its simplicity, +there is consummate art both in the placing of the ornament and in +the beautiful springing of the arches from the supporting piers. The +fine workmanship is worthy of the art. + +On either side of the mosque there is a small chamber for the ladies +of the zanana, with a window filled with a carved marble _grille_ +looking on to the interior. They could thus attend to the services of +the mosque without being seen. The staircases on the right and left +of the courtyard give private access to the apartments of the palace. + +The Persian inscription inlaid in black marble under the wide, +projecting cornice of the mosque is a poetic tribute to the beauty of +the building and a panegyric of its founder. From it we learn that +it was built by Shah Jahan, it took seven years to build, and cost +three lakhs of rupees. + +The dimensions of the courtyard, given by Fergusson, are 154 feet +by 158 feet; and of the Mosque: length, 159 feet; depth, 56 feet, +internally. + + +The Dersane Darwaza. + +Nearly opposite to the Muti Masjid, you pass on the left an +inclined passage which leads to an old gateway, a part of Akbar's +buildings. Very little remains of the original buildings which +connected it with the palace in the time of Jahangir, but there cannot +be much doubt that this was the locality described by William Finch +as the "Dersane Darwaza, leading into a fair court, extending along +the river, in which the King looks forth every morning at sun-rising, +which he salutes, and then his nobles resort to their _Tesillam_ +(obeisance). Right under the place where he looks out, is a kind +of scaffold, whereon his nobles stand, but the _Addis_ with others +await below in the court. Here also every noone he looketh forth +to behold _Tamashah_, or fighting of Elephants, Lyons, Buffles, +killing of Deare with Leopards, which is a custom on every day of +the weeke, Sunday excepted, on which is no fighting; but Tuesday, +on the contrary, is a day of blood, both of fighting beasts, and +justiced men, the King judging and seeing executions." + + +The Diwan-i-am. + +The road now turns towards the right, through the Mina Bazar, the +old market-place, where merchants displayed jewellery, brocades, +and similar stuffs for the nobles and others attending the court. A +gateway leads into the great courtyard of the Diwan-i-am, or Hall of +Public Audience, which, with its surrounding arcades, was for a long +time used as an armoury for the British garrison. The hall itself was +restored in 1876 by Sir John Strachey, then Lieutenant-Governor of +the North-West Provinces. The courtyard has recently been put back, +as far as possible, into its original condition by Lord Curzon's +orders. A further great improvement has been made by the removal of +the hideous modern additions which entirely concealed all the arcades. + +The present hall, which is an open pavilion formed by a triple row +of colonnades, was commenced by Shah Jahan, but, if we may believe +tradition, was not completed until the 27th year of the reign of +Aurangzib. The arcades surrounding the quadrangle are probably of +Akbar's time. The interior dimensions of the hall are 192 feet by 64 +feet. It is constructed of red sandstone, plastered over with a fine +white polished stucco, which served both as a protection to the stone +and as a ground for coloured decoration and gilding. This plaster-work +was carried to the perfection of a fine art by the old Mogul builders, +but the restoration of it in 1876 was very indifferently carried out. + +The throne of the Emperor was in an alcove of inlaid marble at the +back of the hall, and connected with the royal apartments behind. Here +he sat daily to give audience to his court, to receive ambassadors, +and to administer justice. At the foot of the alcove is a square +slab of marble, about 3 feet in height, on which, it is said, +his ministers stood to receive petitions to the Emperor, and to +convey his commands thereon. On the right and left of the throne are +chambers with perforated marble windows, through which the ladies of +the zanana could view the proceedings. Bernier's lively description, +though it properly belongs to the Diwan-i-am at Delhi, will enable +us to picture the scene in the days of the Great Mogul:-- + +"The monarch every day, about noon, sits upon his throne, with some +of his sons at his right and left, while eunuchs standing about the +royal person flap away the flies with peacocks' tails, agitate the air +with large fans, or wait with undivided attention and profound humility +to perform the different services allotted to each. Immediately under +the throne is an enclosure, surrounded by silver rails, in which are +assembled the whole body of _omrahs_ (nobles), the Rajas, and the +ambassadors, all standing, their eyes bent downwards and their hands +crossed. At a greater distance from the throne are the _mansebdhars_, +or inferior _omrahs_, also standing in the same posture of profound +reverence. The remainder of the spacious room, and, indeed, the whole +courtyard, is filled with persons of all ranks, high and low, rich +and poor; because it is in this extensive hall that the King gives +audience indiscriminately to all his subjects; hence it is called +_Am Khas_, or audience chamber of high and low. + +"During the hour and a half, or two hours, that this ceremony +continues, a certain number of the royal horses pass before the throne, +that the King may see whether they are well used and Usbec, of every +kind, and each dog with a small red covering; lastly, every species +of the birds of prey used in field sports for catching partridges, +cranes, hares, and even, it is said, for hunting antelopes, on which +they pounce with violence, beating their heads and blinding them with +their wings and claws." + +After this parade, the more serious business of the day was attended +to. The Emperor reviewed his cavalry with peculiar attention, for he +was personally acquainted with every trooper. Then all the petitions +held up in the assembled crowd were read and disposed of before the +audience closed. + +On festivals or other special occasions the pillars of the hall were +hung with gold brocades, and flowered satin canopies fastened with +red silken cords were raised over the whole apartment. The floor was +covered entirely with the most magnificent silk carpets. A gorgeous +tent, larger than the hall, to which it was fastened, and supported +by poles overlaid with silver, was pitched outside. Every compartment +of the arcades round the courtyard was decorated by one of the great +nobles, at his own expense, with gold brocades and costly carpets, +each one vying with the other to attract the attention of the Emperor, +to whom, on such occasions, an offering of gold or jewels, more or less +valuable according to the pay and rank of the giver, must be presented. + +JAHANGIR'S CISTERN.--Just in front of the Diwan-i-am is a great stone +cistern, cut out of a single block, with steps inside and out, known +as Jahangir's _Hauz_, a bowl or bath-tub. There is a long Persian +inscription round the outer rim; the only part now decipherable shows +that it was made for Jahangir in 1019 A.H. (A.D. 1611). It is nearly 5 +feet in height and 8 feet in diameter at the top. Its original place +is said to have been one of the courts of the Jahangiri Mahal. + +THE TOMB OF MR. COLVIN.--Close by Jahangiri's _Hauz_ is the grave of +Mr. John Russell Colvin, the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West +Provinces, who died in the Fort during the disturbances of 1857. + + +The Inner Mina Bazar. + +Before entering the private apartments of the palace, which are at +the back of the Diwan-i-am, we may pass through the gateway on the +left of the courtyard, and enter a smaller one, which was the private +bazar where merchants sold jewellery, silks, and costly brocades +to the ladies of the zanana, who were seated in the marble balcony +which overlooks it (Plate IV.). A narrow staircase gave access to +the balcony from the courtyard. + +We may well believe that a considerable part of the ladies' time +was spent in this quarter of the palace. Sometimes the Great Mogul +and his court would amuse themselves by holding a mock fair, in +which the prettiest of the nobles' wives and daughters would act +as traders, and the Emperors and the Begums would bargain with +them in the most approved bazar fashion. The Emperor would haggle +for the value of an anna, and the ladies would feign indignation, +scold his Majesty roundly, and tell him to go where he could suit +himself better. "The Begums betray, if possible, a still greater +anxiety to be served cheaply; high words are heard on every side, +and the loud and scurrilous quarrels of the buyers and sellers create +a complete farce. But, when at last the bargains are struck, the +Begums, as well as the Emperor, pay liberally for their purchases, +and often, as if by accident, let slip out of their hands a few gold +instead of silver roupies, as a compliment to the fair merchant and +her pretty daughter. Thus the scene ends with merry jests and good +humour." (Bernier.) + +THE CHITORE GATES.--The further corner of this courtyard, on the left, +leads to the Chitore gates, the trophies which Akbar placed there as +a memorial of his capture of that great Rajput stronghold in 1657, +after a desperate resistance by its gallant defenders. They form the +principal entrance to the _Machhi Bhawan_, the great courtyard behind +the Diwan-i-am, but are generally kept closed. + +THE HINDU TEMPLE.--Beyond the Chitore gates you enter into another +quadrangle surrounded by arcades, which recalls a different chapter +in the chequered history of the palace. Here is a Hindu temple, built +by one of the Bharatpur Rajahs, who sacked Agra about the middle of +the 18th century, and occupied it for ten years. + + +The Machhi Bhawan. + +Returning now to the Diwan-i-am, we can ascend by one of the small +staircases to the throne-room, and enter the upper arcades which +surround the Machhi Bhawan, or "Fish Square." The courtyard has +suffered so much from ruthless vandalism that it is difficult to +realize its former magnificence. It was formerly laid out in marble +with flower-beds, water-channels, fountains, and fish-tanks. These +were carried off by the Jats to the palace of Suraj Mai, at Dig. A +large quantity of mosaic and exquisite marble fretwork, from this +and other parts of the palace, was put up to auction by Lord William +Bentinck, when Governor-General of India. The Taj only escaped the +same fate because the proceeds of this sale were unsatisfactory. + +On the side opposite to the throne-room is an open terrace, originally +roofed over and connected with the Diwan-i-khas. This also was +dismantled by the Jats. + +THE NAJINA MASJID.--On the left of the throne-room, at the end of +the corridor, is a door leading into a small mosque of white marble, +built by Aurangzib for the ladies of the zenana. It is something like +the Muti Masjid, but far inferior in design. + +The further corner of it opens into a small chamber, overlooking the +courtyard of the Diwan-i-am, which is pointed out by the guides as the +prison where Shah Jahan was confined. This may be accepted or not, +according to the choice of the visitor. When distinct historical +authority is wanting, it is very difficult to distinguish real +tradition and pure fable in the tales of these garrulous folk. The +historical evidence seems to show that Shah Jahan was not kept a close +prisoner, but simply confined to certain apartments in the palace. + +We will now pass over to the river side of the Machhi Bhawan, and +approach that part of the palace which contains the Diwan-i-khas, +or Hall of Private Audience, the Zanana and Mahal-i-khas, all built +by Shah Jahan and occupied by him in the days of his royal state +and sovereignty. They rank with the Diwan-i-khas at Delhi as the +most exquisite of Shah Jahan's buildings. From this classification +I purposely omit the Taj, gleaming on the banks of the river lower +down. The Taj stands by itself. + + +The Diwan-i-Khas. + +The Diwan-i-khas was built in 1637. Though much smaller than the +Diwan-i-khas at Delhi, it is certainly not inferior in the beauty +of its proportions and decoration. Most of the decorative work +of these marble pavilions is directly derived from Persian art, +and inspired by the Persian love of flowers which almost amounted +to flower-worship. All the details are charming, but the dados, +especially, edged with inlaid work and carved with floral types in the +most delicate relief, show to perfection that wonderful decorative +instinct which seems to be born in the Oriental handicraftsman. The +designer has naively translated into marble the conventional Indian +flower-beds, just as they were in every palace garden, but there +is perfect art in the seeming absence of all artifice. The dados +outside the Taj are similar in design to these, though larger and +correspondingly bolder in style. The roof of the Diwan-i-khas, with +its fine covered ceiling, is interesting for its construction. + +JAHANGIR'S THRONE.--On the terrace in front of the Diwan-i-khas +are placed two thrones, one of white marble on the side facing the +Machhi-Bhawan, and the other of black slate on the river side. From +the Persian inscription which runs round the four sides of the black +throne we learn that it was made in 1603 for Jahangir. This was two +years before the death of his father, Akbar, and he was then only +Prince Salim. The throne was, therefore, probably made to commemorate +the recognition by Akbar of his son's title to the succession. + +On this terrace Jahangir sat to enjoy the sight of his brigantines on +the river, or to watch the elephant fights on the level place beneath +the walls. From side to side of his throne there is a long fissure, +which opened, so says tradition, when the Jat Rajah, Jawahar Singh of +Bharatpur, in 1765, set his usurping feet on the throne of the Great +Mogul. The tradition holds that blood spurted out of the throne in +two places, and red marks in the stone are pointed out as evidence +of the truth of the story. The impious chief was shortly afterwards +assassinated in the palace. + +THE BATHS.--On the side of the terrace directly opposite to the +Diwan-i-khas are the baths, or the Hammam. The water was brought up +from a well, outside the walls, 70 feet below. These baths, in their +present state, are by no means so fine as those at Fatehpur Sikri, +to be described hereafter. + +The Marquis of Hastings, when Governor-General of India, broke up +one of the most beautiful of the baths of the palace, and sent it +home as a present to the Prince Regent, afterwards George the Fourth. + + +The Samman Burj. + +A doorway at the back of the Diwan-i-khas leads to the beautiful +two-storied pavilion, surmounting one of the most projecting of the +circular bastions on the river face, and known as the Samman Burj, +"the Jasmine Tower" (Plate V.). The style of the inlaid work shows it +to be earlier in date than the Diwan-i-khas, and supports Fergusson's +conjecture that it was built by Jahangir. In that case it must have +been the apartment of his Empress, the beautiful and accomplished Nur +Mahal. It was afterwards occupied by Mumtaz Mahal, the lady of the +Taj. Here, also, in full view of the famous monument he had raised +to her memory, died her husband, Shah Jahan--sensualist, perhaps, +but true to his last hours to one great master-passion. The faithful +Jahanara, who shared his captivity for seven years, attended him on +his death-bed, and, as the shades of night closed in and hid the Taj +from view--praying Divine forgiveness for his sins, and with a few +consoling words to his daughter--he went to join his beloved! + +After the rites prescribed by the Muhammadan law, the body was placed +in a coffin of sandalwood and conveyed by the passage which leads from +the Samman Burj to the low gate beneath it, which was specially opened +for the occasion. Thence, followed by a procession of mourners, it was +carried out of the Fort through the Sher Haji gate, nearly opposite +(now closed), and conveyed across the arm of the river to its last +resting-place in the Taj. + +The death of Shah Jahan and his funeral are minutely described by +Mulla Muhammad Kazim in his "Alamgir Nama." The guides wrongly point +out a pavilion in the Jahangiri Mahal as the place where he died. + +In front of the Samman Burj is a beautiful little fountain hollowed +in the floor; on one side of the courtyard is a raised platform laid +out in squares of black marble for the game of _pachisi_, an Eastern +backgammon. [7] + + +The Khas Mahal. + +From the Samman Burj we step into the next set of apartments of +the zanana, connecting with the Khas Mahal and a similar set on the +other side. This part of the zanana forms the east, or river side, +of the Anguri Bagh, or Grape Garden. There is an indescribable grace +and charm about all this quarter of the palace, to which the beauty +of the material, the perfect taste of the ornament and elegance of +the proportions, the delightful background of the landscape, and the +historical associations all contribute. It should be seen towards +evening, not in the full glare of the morning sun. + +When the afterglow fills the sky, burnishes the gilded roofs, and +turns the marble to rose-colour, imagination may re-people these +lovely pavilions with fair Indian women--revel in the feast of +colour in _saris_, brocades, and carpets; in the gold, azure, and +crimson of the painted ceilings; and listen to the water splashing +in the fountains and gurgling over the carved water-shoots--a scene +of voluptuous beauty such as the world has rarely known since the +wealth and elegance of Rome filled the palaces and villas of Pompei. + +In the walls of the Khas Mahal are a number of niches which formerly +contained portraits of the Mogul Emperors, beginning with Timur, which, +like so many other things, were looted by the Rajah of Bharatpur. A +number of similar portraits and other fine paintings of the Mogul +period are preserved in the Government Art Gallery, Calcutta. + +A Persian poem inscribed on the walls of the Khas Mahal gives the +date of its construction, 1636. + +THE UNDERGROUND CHAMBERS.--A staircase to the south of the Khas Mahal +leads to a labyrinth of underground chambers, in which the Emperor +and his zanana found refuge from the fierce summer heat of Agra. In +the south-east corner there is a well-house, called a _baoli_; this +is a set of chambers surrounding a well--a favourite retreat in the +hot weather. There were formerly many of the kind round about Agra, +constructed by the Mogul Emperors or their nobles. Besides these +resorts of ease and pleasure, there are gloomy dungeons which tell +of misbehaving slaves and indiscreet sultanas, who were hurried down +to meet their fate at the hands of the executioner, the silent Jumna +receiving their lifeless bodies. + + +The Anguri Bagh. + +The great quadrangle in front of the Khas Mahal is the Anguri Bagh, +surrounded on three sides by arcades, probably built by Akbar and +intended for his zenana. They were occupied in the Mutiny days by +the British officers and their families who were shut up in the Fort. + +The Anguri Bagh is a very typical specimen of the old Mogul gardens, +laid out in geometrical flower-beds, with four terraced walks +radiating from the central platform and fountain. A stone trellis +formerly enclosed the flower-beds, and probably supported the vines +which gave the garden its name. + +Among the many improvements lately made by Lord Curzon in the Fort is +the clearance of the wire-netting fernhouses and bedraggled shrubs +which formerly disfigured the quadrangle. If it cannot be kept up +in the old Mogul style, it is certainly better to leave the garden +uncultivated. + +SHISH MAHAL.--On the north side of the Anguri Bagh, close to +the zanana, a passage leads to the _Shish Mahal_, or "palace of +glass." This was the bath of the zanana. The marble slabs of the +floor have been torn up, and the decoration with a kind of glass +mosaic seems to have suffered from clumsy attempts at renovation. A +passage from the Shish Mahal leads to the old water gate. + +THE "SOMNATH" GATES.--Before entering the Jahangiri Mahal, on the +opposite side of the Anguri Bagh, we will pause at a corner of the +zanana courtyard, where a small apartment contains an interesting +relic of the Afghan expedition of 1842--the so-called "Somnath" +gates, taken from the tomb of Mahmud of Ghazni in the capture of that +city by the British. They were the subject of a most extraordinary +archaeological blunder by the Governor-General, Lord Ellenborough, +who, in a grandiloquent proclamation, identifying them with the +gates of carved sandalwood which Mahmud according to tradition, +had taken from the celebrated Hindu temple of Somnath in 1025, +announced to the people of India that "the insult of eight hundred +years had been avenged." The gates were conveyed on a triumphal car +through the towns of northern India to the Agra Fort, and deposited +there with great ceremony. As a matter of fact, the wood is deodar, +and not sandalwood, and from the style of the ornament there can be +hardly a doubt that the gates were made at or near Ghazni. One glance +would convince any expert in Oriental archaeology that they could not +by any possibility have been the gates of a Hindu temple. + +It has been supposed that the original gates were destroyed by fire, +and that these were made to replace them, but there seems to be +considerable doubt whether Mahmud really took away any gates from the +Somnath temple. It certainly would have been unusual for the great +Muhammadan plunderer to have burdened himself with an archaeological +relic which, in those days, was not easily convertible into cash. + +A horse-shoe which is nailed to the gate is not, as is generally +supposed, a propitiation of the Goddess of Fortune, but a token from +the owner of some sick animal that he would bring an offering to +the shrine in the event of a cure resulting from his visit. This was +an old custom among the Tartars and other nomad tribes, who valued +horses and cattle as their most precious possessions. + + +The Jahangiri Mahal. + +The palace called after Jahangir, the Jahangiri Mahal, is in many +respects the most remarkable building of its class in India. Nothing +could be more striking than the contrast between the extreme elegance, +bordering on effeminacy, of the marble pavilions of Shah Jahan's +palaces, and the robust, virile, yet highly imaginative architecture +of this palace of Akbar; for though it bears Jahangir's name there +cannot be much doubt that it was planned, and partially, if not +completely, carried out by Akbar with the same architects who built +Fatehpur Sikri. It is the perfected type of the style which we see +in process of evolution at Fatehpur, and were it not for the Taj, +we might regret the new element which came into Mogul architecture +with Itmad-ud-daulah's tomb. Both of these styles, which appear side +by side in the Agra Fort, are intensely typical of the men and the +times which produced them. The one is stamped throughout with the +personality of Akbar, the empire-builder, and distinguished by the +stately solidity of Jain and Hindu architecture. In the other the +native vigour of the earlier Indian styles has been softened by the +cultured eclecticism of Persia and Arabia, for the manly dignity of +Akbar's court had given place to the sensual luxury of Shah Jahan's. + +On the river side of the palace there is an octagonal pavilion placed +similarly to the Samman Burj, which is very charming in its fresco +decoration, though the colour has faded very much. It is possibly this +pavilion to which Badayuni, one of Akbar's biographers, refers when +he describes a Brahmin, named Debi, being pulled up the walls of the +castle, sitting on a _charpai_ (a native bed), till he arrived near +the balcony where the Emperor used to sleep. "Whilst thus suspended +he instructed his Majesty in the secrets and legends of Hinduism, +in the manner of worshipping idols, the fire, the sun, and stars, +and of revering the chief gods of these unbelievers." The priests of +other religions were similarly carried up to converse with Akbar. + +Adjoining this is a set of small rooms, known as Akbar's apartments, +which, even in their present dilapidated state, show that they +must have possessed a richness and beauty of decoration inferior to +nothing else in the whole Fort. The dados were decorated with _gesso_ +work on a gold ground. The borders are still almost intact, but the +rest of the relief ornament seems to have been wantonly hacked off +out of pure mischief. I believe this is the only example of _gesso_ +work in any of Akbar's buildings. The treatment of the upper part +of the walls with the characteristic cuspings of Arabian and Moorish +architects is admirable. + +Passing through these, we enter a long room known as the library, in +which a not very successful attempt was made some years ago to restore +the painted decoration. It is to be devoutly hoped that this and other +dangerous experiments of the kind will not be continued, except under +skilled artistic supervision. The restoration of the structural parts +of the palace and of the stone carving is a more easy matter, for +the descendants of the very men who built and carved the palace still +practise their art in Agra and round about. This has been admirably +carried out by the Public Works Department under Lord Curzon's orders. + +The outer courtyard, on the riverside, is very interesting, especially +for a very elegant and original porch, in which Saracenic feeling +predominates; but on entering the inner courtyard (Plate VI.) it is +more easy to realize that this Palace is one of the great masterpieces +of Mogul architecture. The beauty of this inner quadrangle is derived +not so much from its fine proportions and rich ornamentation as from +the wonderful rhythmic play of light and shadow, produced by the +bracket form of construction and the admirable disposition of the +openings for doors, windows, and colonnades. The north side of the +quadrangle is formed by a pillared hall, of distinctly Hindu design, +full of the feeling of mystery characteristic of indigenous Indian +styles. The subdued light of the interior adds to the impressiveness +of its great piers stretching their giant brackets up to the roof +like the gnarled and twisted branches of primeval forest trees. A very +interesting point of view can be obtained from the gallery which runs +round the upper part of the hall. + +One of Jahangir's wives, a Hindu princess of Jodhpur, hence known +as Jodh Bai, lived in this part of the palace, and the room on the +west side of the quadrangle, surrounded by a number of oblong niches, +is said to have been her temple, in which the images of Hanuman and +other Hindu deities were kept. + +On the roof of the Jahangiri Mahal there are two fine pavilions; +also a number of cisterns, which supplied the palace with water. In +the side of one of them there are a number of pipe-holes, lined with +copper, over each of which is a circular stone label inscribed with +the part of the palace to which it gave a supply. + + +The Salimgarh. + +On the rising ground behind the courtyard of the Diwan-i-am there +formerly existed a palace called the Salimgarh. Before Jahangir's +accession he was known as Prince Salim, and tradition associates +this palace with him. Fergusson, however, states that in his time an +exquisite fragment of a palace built by Shere Shah, or his son Salim, +existed here. The Salimgarh at Delhi is named after the son of Shere +Shah, Salim Shah Sur, who built it, and there is some doubt as to which +of the two Salims gave his name to the Salimgarh at Agra. Akbar's +Fort is known to have been built to replace an older one (known as +the Badalgarh) by Salim Shah Sur, but it is quite possible that a part +of the palace may have been left, and retained the name of its founder. + +The only part of the Salimgarh which now remains is a large two-storied +pavilion in front of the barracks. The upper half of the exterior +is carved with extraordinary richness. The style of design certainly +indicates the period of the Jahangiri Mahal and Akbar's buildings at +Fatehpur Sikri, rather than Shere Shah's work. + + +The Jami Masjid. + +Nearly opposite to the Delhi Gate of the Fort is the Jami Masjid, or +Cathedral Mosque, built by Jahanara, Shah Jahan's eldest daughter. It +is in the same style as the splendid mosque built by Shah Jahan +at Delhi, but far inferior in merit. There is a tameness about the +whole design very unusual in the buildings of this epoch. The zig-zag +striping of the domes is decidedly unpleasant. + +An inscription over the main archway states that it was completed in +the year 1644 A.D. a cost of five lakhs of rupees. + + + +The Taj + +Arjumand Banu Begam the favourite wife of Shah Jahan, is better known +by her other name, Mumtaz Mahal ("the Crown of the Palace"). Her +father was Asaf Khan, who was brother of the Empress Nur Mahal, +Jahangir's wife. She was thus the granddaughter of Itmad-ud-daulah, +Jahangir's Prime Minister, whose tomb, on the opposite bank of the +river, will be described hereafter. + +In 1612, at the age of nineteen years she was married to Shah +Jahan--then Prince Khurram--who, though hardly twenty-one, had already +another wife. This second marriage, however, was a real love-match, +and Mumtaz was her husband's inseparable companion on all his journeys +and military expeditions. Shah Jahan, like his father, allowed his +wife a large share in the responsibilities of government. Like Nur +Mahal, she was famed as much for her charity as for her beauty. Her +influence was especially exercised in obtaining clemency for criminals +condemned to death. She bore him fourteen children, and died in +childbed in 1630, or the second year after Shah Jahan's accession to +the throne, at Burhanpur, whither she had accompanied her husband +on a campaign against Khan Jahan Lodi. The Emperor was overpowered +with grief. For a week he refused to see any of his ministers, or +to transact any business of state. He even contemplated resigning +the throne and dividing the empire among his sons. For two years the +court observed strict mourning. No music or festivities were allowed; +the wearing of jewels, the use of perfumes and luxuries of all kinds +were forbidden. The month of Zikad, in which she died, was observed +as a month of mourning for many years afterwards. The body of Mumtaz +was removed to Agra, and remained temporarily in the garden of the +Taj while the foundations of the building were being laid. It was +then placed in the vault where it now lies. A temporary dome covered +the tomb while the great monument grew up over it. + + +The building of the Taj. + +It was one of those intervals in history when the whole genius of a +people is concentrated on great architectural works, and art becomes +an epitome of the age. For the Taj was not a creation of a single +master-mind, but the consummation of a great art epoch. Since the +time of Akbar the best architects, artists, and art workmen of India, +Persia, Arabia, and Central Asia had been attracted to the Mogul +court. All the resources of a great empire were at their disposal, +for Shah Jahan desired that this monument of his grief should be one +of the wonders of the world. The sad circumstances which attended +the early death of the devoted wife who had endeared herself to the +people might well inspire all his subjects to join in the Emperor's +pious intentions. + +According to the old Tartar custom, a garden was chosen as a site +for the tomb--a garden planted with flowers and flowering shrubs, +the emblems of life, and solemn cypress, the emblem of death +and eternity. Such a garden, in the Mogul days, was kept up as a +pleasure-ground during the owner's lifetime, and used as his last +resting-place after his death. The old tradition laid down that it +must be acquired by fair means, and not by force or fraud. So Rajah +Jey Singh, to whom the garden belonged, was compensated by the gift +of another property from the Emperor's private estate. Shah Jahan +next appointed a council of the best architects of his empire for +preparing the design for the building. Drawings of many of the most +celebrated buildings of the world were shown and discussed. It is even +believed that one Geronimo Verroneo, an Italian who was then in the +Mogul service, submitted designs for Shah Jahan's inspection, a fact +which has led many writers into the error of supposing that the Taj, +as completed, was actually designed by him. [8] The design eventually +accepted was by Ustad Isa, who is stated in one account to have been +a Byzantine Turk, and in another a native of Shiraz, in Persia. + +The master-builders came from many different parts; the chief +masons from Baghdad, Delhi, and Multan; the dome builders from +Asiatic Turkey and from Samarkand; the mosaic workers from Kanauj +and from Baghdad; the principal calligraphist for the inscriptions +from Shiraz. Every part of India and Central Asia contributed the +materials; Jaipur, the marble; Fatehpur Sikri, the red sandstone; +the Panjab, jasper; China, the jade and crystal; Tibet, turquoises; +Ceylon, lapis lazuli and sapphires; Arabia, coral and cornelian; +Panna in Bundelkund, diamonds; Persia, onyx and amethyst. Twenty +thousand men were employed in the construction, which took seventeen +years to complete. [9] The sarcophagus was originally enclosed by +a fence or screen of gold studded with gems. This was removed in +1642, and replaced by the present exquisite screen of pierced marble +(Plate VII.). The Taj also possessed formerly two wonderful silver +doors. Austin de Bordeaux, a French goldsmith, who was employed by +Shah Jahan in making the celebrated Peacock throne, may possibly +have executed some of this metal-work in the Taj; but there is no +evidence worthy of consideration to support the common Anglo-Indian +belief that he designed or superintended the _pietra dura_, or inlaid +marble decoration of the building, which is entirely of the Persian +school. These silver doors were looted and melted down by the Jats +in 1764. + +Besides the lavish expenditure on the building, lakhs of rupees were +spent in providing the richest of Persian silk carpets, golden lamps, +and magnificent candlesticks. A sheet of pearls, valued at several +lakhs, was made to cover the sarcophagus. This was carried off by the +Amir Husein Ali Khan, in 1720, as part of his share of the spoil of +Agra. The total expenditure, according to native accounts, amounted +to nearly 185 lakhs of rupees. + +It is said that Shah Jahan had intended to construct a mausoleum for +himself opposite to the Taj, on the other side of the Jumna and to +connect the two by a great bridge. The project was interrupted and +never completed, owing to the usurpation of Aurangzib, shortly after +the foundations were laid. + + +The Intention of the Taj. + +The Taj has been the subject of numberless critical essays, but +many of them have missed the mark entirely, because the writers +have not been sufficiently conversant with the spirit of Eastern +artistic thought. All comparisons with the Parthenon or other +classic buildings are useless. One cannot compare Homer with the +Mahabharata, or Kalidas with Euripides. The Parthenon was a temple +for Pallas Athene, an exquisite casket to contain the jewel. The +Taj is the jewel--the ideal itself. Indian architecture is in much +closer affinity to the great conceptions of the Gothic builders +than it is to anything of classic or Renaissance construction. The +Gothic cathedral, with its sculptured arches and its spires pointing +heavenwards, is a symbol, as most Eastern buildings are symbols. The +Mogul artists, being prevented by the precepts of the Muhammadan +religion from attempting sculpture, as understood in Europe, succeeded +in investing their great architectural monuments with an extraordinary +personal character. There is a wonderful personality in the dignity and +greatness of Akbar's tomb; we see the scholar and the polished courtier +in Itmad-ud-daulah's. But the Taj carries this idea of personality +further than had been attempted in any of the Mogul monuments; it +represents in art the highest development towards individualism, +the struggle against the restraints of ritualism and dogma, which +Akbar initiated in religion. + +Every one who has seen the Taj must have felt that there is something +in it, difficult to define or analyze, which differentiates it from +all other buildings in the world. Sir Edwin Arnold has struck the +true note of criticism in the following lines:-- + + + "Not Architecture! as all others are, + But the proud passion of an Emperor's love + Wrought into living stone, which gleams and soars + With body of beauty shrining soul and thought; + ... As when some face + Divinely fair unveils before our eyes-- + Some woman beautiful unspeakably-- + And the blood quickens, and the spirit leaps, + And will to worship bends the half-yielded knees, + While breath forgets to breathe. So is the Taj!" + + +This is not a mere flight of poetic fancy, but a deep and true +interpretation of the meaning of the Taj. What were the thoughts +of the designers, and of Shah Jahan himself, when they resolved to +raise a monument of eternal love to the Crown of the Palace--Taj +Mahal? Surely not only of a mausoleum--a sepulchre fashioned after +ordinary architectural canons, but of an architectonic ideal, +symbolical of her womanly grace and beauty. Those critics who have +objected to the effeminacy of the architecture unconsciously pay the +highest tribute to the genius of the builders. The Taj was meant to +be feminine. The whole conception, and every line and detail of it, +express the intention of the designers. It is Mumtaz Mahal herself, +radiant in her youthful beauty, who still lingers on the banks of +the shining Jumna, at early morn, in the glowing midday sun, or in +the silver moonlight. Or rather, we should say, it conveys a more +abstract thought; it is India's noble tribute to the grace of Indian +womanhood--the Venus de Milo of the East. + +Bearing this in mind, we can understand how foolish it is to formulate +criticisms of the Taj based on ordinary architectural principles +as practised in Europe. Many of these criticisms, which might be +appropriate enough if applied to a modern provincial town hall, are +only silly and impertinent in reference to the Taj. Some are born +tone-deaf, others colour-blind, and there are many who can find beauty +in one particular form or expression of art and in no others. So the +Taj will always find detractors. But whoever tries to understand +the imaginative side of Eastern thought will leave the critics to +themselves, and take unrestrained delight in the exquisitely subtle +rhythm of this marvellous creation of Mogul art. + + * * * * * + +The gateway of the Taj faces a spacious quadrangle surrounded +by arcades. This is a _caravan serai_, or place where travellers +halted. Here, also, the poor were provided with food and shelter, +and on the anniversary day vast sums were distributed in charity +from the funds with which the Taj was endowed. It is well to pause +before entering, and admire the proportions and perfect taste of +the decoration of this gateway; for afterwards one has no eyes for +anything but the Taj itself. It is much finer in design than the +similar gateway of Akbar's tomb at Sikandra. An Arabic inscription in +black marble, of passages taken from the Koran, frames the principal +arch, and invites the pure of heart to enter the Gardens of Paradise. + +The first view of the Taj is from within this noble portal, framed by +the sombre shadow of the great arch which opens on to the garden. At +the end of a long terrace, its gracious outline partly mirrored in the +still water of a wide canal, a fairy vision of silver-white--like the +spirit of purity--seems to rest so lightly, so tenderly, on the earth, +as if in a moment it would soar into the sky. The beauty of the Taj, +as in all great art, lies in its simplicity. One wonders that so much +beauty can come from so little effort. Yet nothing is wanting, nothing +in excess; one cannot alter this and that and say that it is better. + +The garden, as originally planned, was an integral part of one great +design. The solemn rows of cypresses were planted so as to help out +the lines of the architecture; the flowering trees and flower-beds +completed the harmony with a splendid glow of colour. [10] Beautiful +as the first view of the Taj is even now, one can hardly realize how +glorious it must have been when the whole intention of the design +was fulfilled. At present there is not a single spot in the garden +itself which gives a view of the composition as a whole. + +Advancing down the main terrace, paved with stone and laid out with +geometric flower-beds, we reach a marble platform with its fountain +(see frontispiece), [11] where a nearer view of the Taj may be +enjoyed. Such a platform was the central feature in all Mogul +gardens. The terraces to the right and left of it end in two fine +pavilions of red sandstone, intended for the accommodation of the +custodians of the mausoleum and for storehouses. + +From this point we can admire the effect of the exquisite inlaid +decoration, fine and precious as the embroidery on the raiment of +Mumtaz herself. At the end of the main terrace we reach the steps +leading up to the great platform on which the Taj and its minarets, +"four tall court ladies tending their Princess," are raised. + +Let us reverently enter the central chamber, where Mumtaz Mahal and +Shah Jahan, her lord and lover, lie. Fergusson has truly said, no +words can express its chastened beauty seen in the soft gloom of the +subdued light coming from the distant and half-closed openings. The +screen of marble tracery which surrounds the tombs is in itself a +masterpiece. Even with all the artistic resources which Shah Jahan had +at his command, it was a work of ten years. Mumtaz Mahal lies in the +centre. The white marble of her tomb blossoms with a never-fading +garden of Persian flowers, which the magic of the Mogul artists +has created. + +The inscription on it is as follows: "The illustrious sepulchre of +Arjumand Banu Begam, called Mumtaz Mahal. Died in 1040 A.H." (1630 +A.D.). + +At the head of the tomb is the line: "He is the everlasting: He is +sufficient;" and the following passage from the Koran: "God is He, +besides whom there is no God. He knoweth what is concealed and what +is manifest. He is merciful and compassionate." + +On one side of it: "Nearer unto God are those who say 'Our Lord +is God.'" + +The inscription in the tomb of Shah Jahan is as follows: "The +illustrious sepulchre and sacred resting-place of His Most Exalted +Majesty dignified as Razwan (the guardian of Paradise), having his +abode in Paradise, and his dwelling in the starry heaven, inhabitant +of the regions of bliss, the second lord of the Qiran, [12] Shah +Jahan, the king valiant. May his tomb ever flourish; and may his +abode be in the heavens. He travelled from this transitory world to +the world of eternity on the night of the 28th of the month of Rajab, +1076 A.H." (1666 A.D.). + +The real cenotaphs containing the remains of Shah Jahan and his +wife are immediately under these tombs, in the vault below. Not the +least of the wonders of this wonderful building is in its acoustic +qualities. It does not respond to vulgar noises, but if a few notes be +slowly and softly sung in this vault, and especially if the chord of +the seventh be sounded; they are caught up by the echoes of the roof +and repeated in endless harmonies, which seem to those listening above +as if a celestial choir were chanting angelic hymns. "It haunts the +air above and around; it distils in showers upon the polished marble; +it rises, it falls.... It is the very element with which sweet dreams +are builded. It is the spirit of the Taj, the voice of inspired love!" + +Surrounding the central chamber are eight smaller ones for the mullahs +who chanted the Koran and for musicians who played soft Indian and +Persian melodies. The vault below was only opened once a year, on +the anniversary day, when the Emperor and all his court attended a +solemn festival. Even on ordinary occasions none but Muhammadans were +admitted into the interior. Bernier tells us that he had not seen it, +on that account, but he understood that nothing could be conceived +more rich and magnificent. + +The two mosques of red sandstone on either side of the Taj are in the +same style as the entrance gateway, the interiors being decorated +with fresco and fine cut plaster-work. The one towards the west +was intended for prayers only; the floor is panelled into separate +spaces for each worshipper. The opposite mosque was known, as the +_Jamaat Khana_, or meeting-place for the congregation before prayers, +and on the occasion of the great anniversary service. Standing on the +platform in front of this mosque, one has a splendid view of the Taj, +the river, and the distant Fort. + +As the garden is now arranged; a full view of the magnificent platform, +with its two mosques, and the Taj itself, can only be obtained from +the opposite side of the river, which is not very accessible except by +boat. When the traveller leaves Agra by rail, going east, the Taj in +all its glory can be seen in the distance, floating like the mirage of +some wondrous fairy palace over the waving tufts of the pampas grass, +until at last it sinks into the pale horizon. + + * * * * * + +NOTE.--A small museum has been established lately by the Archaeological +Department, in the western half of the Taj main gateway. It +contains an interesting collection of photographs and drawings of +the Taj at different periods, and specimens of the stones used in the +_pietra dura_, or inlay work of the building. There are also samples +illustrating the technique of _pietra dura_, and the tools used by +native workmen. + + + +Itmad-ud-daulah's Tomb + +The tomb of Itmad-ud-daulah, "the Lord High Treasurer," is on the east +or left bank of the river, and is reached by crossing the pontoon +bridge. It was built by Nur Mahal, the favourite wife of Jahangir, +as a mausoleum for her father, Mirza Ghias Beg, who, according to +one account, was a Persian from Teheran, and by another a native of +Western Tartary. + +A story is told of the Mirza's early life, of which it can only be +said, _Se non e vero e ben trovato_. He left his home, accompanied +by his wife and children, to seek his fortune in India, where he +had some relatives at Akbar's court. His slender provision for the +journey was exhausted in crossing the Great Desert, and they were +all in danger of perishing from hunger. In this extremity his wife +gave birth to a daughter. The unhappy parents, distracted by hunger +and fatigue, left the infant under a solitary shrub. With the father +supporting his wife and children on the one bullock which remained +to them, they pushed on in the hope of finding relief; but as the +tiny landmark where the infant lay disappeared in the distance, the +mother, in a paroxysm of grief, threw herself to the ground, crying, +"My child! my child!" The piteous appeal forced the father to return +to restore the babe to her mother, and soon afterwards a caravan +appeared in sight and rescued the whole party. + +The child born under these romantic circumstances became the Empress +Nur Mahal, who built this mausoleum. Her father reached Lahore, where +Akbar then held his court, and through the influence of his friends +attracted the Emperor's attention. His talents won for him speedy +promotion, and under Jahangir he became first Lord High Treasurer, and +afterwards Wazir, or Prime Minister. Jahangir, in his memoirs, candidly +discusses the character of his father-in-law. He was a good scholar, +with a pretty taste for poetry, possessed many social qualities and +a genial disposition. His accounts were always in perfect order, but +"he liked bribes, and showed much boldness in demanding them." On his +death his son, Asaf Khan, the father of Mumtaz Mahal, was appointed +to succeed him. + +Itmad-ad-daulah and his wife are buried in the central chamber; +his brother and sister and other members of his family occupy +the four corners. The pavilion on the roof, enclosed by beautiful +marble tracery (Plate IX.), contains only replicas of the real tombs +beneath. The mausoleum was commenced in 1622 and completed in 1628. As +a composition it may lack inspiration, but it is exceedingly elegant, +and scholarly like the Lord High Treasurer himself. In construction it +marks the transition from the style of Akbar to that of Shah Jahan; +from the Jahangiri Mahal to the Diwan-i-khas, the Muti Masjid, and +the Taj. The towers at the four corners might be the first suggestion +of the detached minarets of the Taj. The Hindu feeling which is so +characteristic of most of Akbar's buildings is here only shown in +the roof of the central chamber over the tomb; in pure Saracenic +architecture a tomb is always covered by a dome. + +This change in style greatly influenced the architecture of the +whole of the north of India, Hindu and Jain as well as Muhammadan. It +must be remembered that comparatively few of the master-builders who +actually constructed the most famous examples of Mogul architecture +were Muhammadans. The remarkable decline of the Mogul style which +set in under Aurangzib was largely due to his bigotry in refusing to +employ any but true believers. + +The family ties of Itmad-ud-daulah and his daughter, the Empress, +were closely connected with Persia and Central Asia; and no doubt +the fashion set by Jahangir's court led to the Saracenic element +becoming predominant in the Mogul style, both in construction and in +decoration. Many authorities have connected the marked difference +between Itmad-ud-daulah's tomb and Akbar's buildings to Italian +influence, only on the ground that Jahangir is known to have been +partial to Europeans, and allowed them free access to his palace. There +is not, however, a trace of Italian art in any detail of the building; +there is not a form or decorative idea which had not been used in +India or in Central Asia for centuries. The use of marble inlaid work +on so extensive a scale was a novelty, but it was only an imitation, +or adaptation, of the splendid tile-mosaic and painted tile-work +which were the commonest kinds of decoration employed in Persia: +Wazir Khan's mosque at Lahore, built in Jahangir's time, is a fine +Indian example of the latter. + +The art of inlaying stone had been practised in India for many +years before this building; but here, for the first time, do we find +the inlayers making attempts at direct imitation of Persian pottery +decoration. All the familiar _motifs_ of Persian art, the tree of life +and other floral types, the cypress tree, the flower-vases, fruits, +wine-cups, and rose-water vessels are here reproduced exactly as they +are found in Persian mosaic tiles. In Shah Jahan's palace and in the +Taj they went a step further, and imitated the more naturalistic +treatment of Persian fresco painting and other pictorial art; but +there is never the slightest suggestion of European design in the +decoration of these buildings. + +It is quite possible that some Italians may have shown the native +inlayers specimens of Florentine _pietra dura_, and suggested to +them this naturalistic treatment, but if Italians or other Europeans +had been engaged to instruct or supervise in the decoration of +these buildings they would certainly have left some traces of their +handiwork. In the technical part of the process the Indian workmen +had nothing to learn, and in the design they made no attempt to +follow European forms, except in the one solitary instance of the +decoration of the throne-chamber of the Delhi Palace, which is much +later in date than Itmad-ud-daulah's tomb. [13] + +The whole scheme of the exterior decoration is so finely carried out, +both in arrangement and colour, that its extreme elaboration produces +no effect of unquietness. At a distance it only gives a suggestion of +a soft bloom or iridescence on the surface of the marble. The soffits +of the doorways are carved with extraordinary delicacy. Inside the +building there are remains of fresco and other painted decoration. + +Beautifully placed on the river bank, there is a fine little mosque, +which at sunset makes a charming picture. The boldness and greater +simplicity of the decoration contrast well with the richness of that +of the mausoleum. + + + +The Chini-ka-Rauza + +Beyond Itmad-ud-daulah's tomb, on the same side of the river, is a +beautiful ruin, once entirely covered with the same Persian mosaic +tile-work, which suggested the more costly style of decoration in +inlaid marble. It is called Chini-ka-Rauza, or the China Tomb, and +is supposed to be the mausoleum of Afzal Khan, a Persian poet, who +entered the service of Jahangir, and afterwards became Prime Minister +to Shah Jahan. He died in Lahore in 1639. The weather and ill-treatment +of various kinds have removed a great deal of the exquisite enamel +colours from the tiles, but enough remains to indicate how rich and +magnificent the effect must have been originally. A part of the south +facade which has fallen in shows how the builders employed earthen +pots to lessen the weight of the concrete filling, a practice followed +in the ancient dome construction of Egypt and Rome. + + + +The Ram Bagh + +Among a number of more or less ruined garden-houses on this bank +of the river, there is one, a little beyond the Chini-ka-Rauza, of +especial interest, on account of the tradition which associates it +with the Emperor Babar. It is called the Ram Bagh, and is believed to +have been one of the "elegant and regularly planned pleasure-grounds" +which Babar laid out and planted with fruit trees and flowers, as he +has described in his memoirs. + +No doubt this was the scene of many imperial picnics; not the drunken +revels of Babar's Kabul days--for just before the great battle with +the Rajputs in 1527 he smashed all his gold and silver drinking-cups +and took a vow of total abstinence, which he kept faithfully--but +the more sane and temperate pleasures which music, poetry, and his +intense delight in the beauties of nature could furnish. Here is a +charming picture he has given of another garden he laid out in the +Istalif district of Kabul:-- + +"On the outside of the garden are large and beautiful spreading +plane-trees, under the shade of which there are agreeable spots, +finely sheltered. A perennial stream, large enough to turn a mill, +runs through the garden, and on its banks are planted plane and other +trees. Formerly this stream flowed in a winding and crooked course, +but I ordered its course to be altered according to a plan which +added greatly to the beauty of the place. Lower down ... on the lower +skirts of the hills is a fountain, named Kwajeh-seh-yaran (Kwajeh three +friends), around which are three species of trees; above the fountain +are many beautiful plane trees, which yield a pleasant shade. On the +two sides of the fountain, on small eminences at the bottom of the +hills, there are a number of oak trees. Except on these two spots, +where there are groves of oak, there is not an oak to be met with on +the hills of the west of Kabul. In front of this fountain, towards the +plain, there are many spots covered with the flowering arghwan tree, +and, besides these arghwan plots, there are none else in the whole +country. It is said that these three kinds of trees were bestowed +on it by the power of these three holy men, beloved of God; and that +is the origin of the name Sej-Yaran. I directed this fountain to be +built round with stone, and formed a cistern of lime and mortar ten +yez by ten. On the four sides of the fountain a fine level platform +for resting was constructed on a very neat plan. At the time when +the arghwan flowers begin to blow, I do not know of any place in the +world to be compared with it. The yellow arghwan is here very abundant, +and the yellow arghwan blossom mingles with the red." + +The Ram Bagh was the temporary resting-place of the body of +Babar before it was taken to Kabul for interment in another of the +gardens he loved so much. The old Mogul style of gardening is a lost +art, and one misses in the Ram Bagh the stately rows of cypress, +interspersed with flowering trees, the formal flower-beds glowing +with colour like a living carpet, which were planted by Babar; but +the terraces, the fountain, the water-channels, and the little stone +water-shoots--cunningly carved so that the water breaks over them +with a pleasant gurgling sound--which may have recalled to him the +murmurings of his native mountain-streams--the old well from which +the water of the Jumna is lifted into the channels, can still be seen, +as well as the pavilions on the river-bank, now modernized with modern +bad taste. + +In later times the Ram Bagh was the garden-house of the Empress Nur +Mahal. It was kept up by all succeeding Governments, and it is said +to have obtained its name of Ram Bagh from the Mahrattas in the +eighteenth century. + +THE ZUHARA BAGH.--Between the Chini-ka-Rauza and the Ram Bagh there is +another great walled enclosure, which contained the garden-house of +Zuhara, one of Babar's daughters, and is named after her the Zuhara, +or Zohra Bagh. This formerly contained the largest garden-palace +at Agra, and is said to have possessed no less than sixty wells. A +great well, just outside the enclosure, 220 feet in circumference, +and of enormous depth, was filled up some years ago. + + + +Sikandra + +Sikandra, a village about five miles from Agra, and the burial-place of +Akbar, is reached by two roads. The older one follows, to some extent, +the alignment of the great military road to Lahore and Kashmir, planned +by Babar and completed by his successors. A few of the _kos-minars_, +pillars which marked off the _kos_--a distance of about two and a half +miles--can still be seen along the road, or in the adjoining fields. + +Numerous remains of archaeological interest are passed on the way of +the old road. First the Delhi gate of the old city walls. About a +mile further on the right-hand side, is a great walled enclosure, +named after Ladli Begam, the sister of Abul Fazl, Akbar's famous +Prime Minister and biographer. It formerly contained her tomb, as +well as that of Sheikh Mubarak, her father, and of Faizi, her eldest +brother. Many years ago the whole enclosure was sold by Government. The +purchasers, some wealthy Hindu merchants of Muttra, promptly pulled +down the mausoleum, realized the materials, and built a pavilion +on the site. In front of the great gateway was a splendid _baoli_, +or well-house, the largest in the neighbourhood of Agra. This was +filled up about five years ago. + +Not far from Ladli Begam's garden is the Kandahari Bagh, where the +first wife of Shah Jahan, a daughter of Mozaffar Husein, who was the +great-grandson of Shah Ismail Safvi, King of Persia, is buried. + +About a mile further along the road, on the left-hand side, is a +curious statue of a horse in red sandstone, which, tradition says, +was put up by a nobleman whose favourite horse was killed at this spot; +the syce who was killed at the same time has his tomb close by. + +Nearly opposite to this is a large dried-up tank, called the +Guru-ka-Tal, which, with the adjacent ruined buildings, are attributed +to Sikandar Lodi, one of the Afghan predecessors of the Mogul Emperors, +who has given his name to Sikandra. + + +Akbar's Tomb. + +Akbar's tomb stands in the midst of a vast garden, enclosed by four +high battlemented walls. In the centre of each wall is an imposing +gateway seventy feet high. The principal one, on the west side, +has an inscription in Persian, which states that the mausoleum was +completed by the Emperor Jahangir, in the seventh year of his reign, +or 1613 A.D. It is elaborately ornamented with bold but rather +disjointed inlaid patterns, which seem to show that the designers +were unaccustomed to this method of decoration. Neither are the +four minarets at the corners of the roof, which are said to have +been broken by the Jats, contrived with the usual skill of the Mogul +architects. Above the gateway is the Nakkar Khana, an arcaded chamber +with a balcony, where at dawn and one watch after sunrise the drums +and pipes sounded in honour of the dead. + +The mausoleum was commenced by Akbar himself. It is different in plan +from any other Mogul monument, and, contrary to the usual Muhammadan +custom, the head of the tomb of Akbar is turned towards the rising +sun, and not towards Mecca. The whole structure gives the impression +of a noble but incompleted idea; both in its greatness and in its +incompleteness, it is typical of Akbar and his work. + +The original design was somewhat modified by Jahangir. He has +stated in his memoirs that on his first visit to the tomb after his +accession he was dissatisfied with the work which had been done, +and ordered certain parts of it to be rebuilt. Fergusson supposes +that the original intention was to cover the tombstone and raised +platform of the uppermost story with a domed canopy, and in this +he is supported by a statement of William Finch, who visited the +mausoleum when it was being built, that it was to be "inarched over +with the most curious white and speckled marble, to be ceiled all +within with pure sheet gold richly inwrought." Such a canopy is just +what is required by aesthetic considerations to complete the curiously +truncated appearance of the top story, and there is nothing in the +structural design to make it impossible or improbable. + +The approach to the interior of the mausoleum is through the central +archway of the lower story, which opens into a vestibule richly +ornamented with raised stucco work, and coloured in blue and gold, +somewhat in the style of the Alhambra. A part of this decoration has +been lately restored. An inclined passage, like the entrance to an +Egyptian pyramid, leads down into a high vaulted chamber, dimly lighted +from above, where a simple sarcophagus of white marble contains the +mortal remains of the great Akbar. Whatever decoration there may have +been on the walls is now covered with whitewash. The Emperor's armour, +clothes, and books, which were placed beside the tomb, are said to have +been carried off by those insatiable marauders, the Jats of Bharatpur. + +Smaller chambers surrounding the central one, on the level of the +platform, contain the tombs of two of Akbar's daughters and a son of +the Emperor Shah Alam. These also have suffered much from neglect and +whitewash, The whole of the facade of the lower story was originally +faced with red sandstone, or perhaps with fine stucco decorated in +fresco. The present coat of common plaster is modern work, which, +except as a protection for the brickwork, would have been better +left undone. + +The lower story is 320 feet square. Above this are three others, +diminishing in size up to the highest, which is just half these +dimensions. The roof of the topmost is surrounded by cloisters, +the outer arches of which are filled with very fine marble tracery +(Plate X.). In the centre, on a raised platform, is a solid block of +pure white marble, delicately carved with flowers and sacred texts, +representing the real tomb in the vault beneath. At the head is +the inscription, "Allah-o-Akbar" (God is Great), and at the foot, +"Jalli Jalalohu" (Magnificent is His Glory). These sentences were +the formula of Akbar's new religion, which he called "The Divine +Faith." On the sides the ninety-nine attributes of God are carved in +the Arabic character. The carved marble pedestal at the end of the +tomb was a stand for a golden censer. + +THE KANCH MAHAL.--Outside the enclosure of Akbar's tomb, a little +to the east of the principal entrance, is a rare and remarkably fine +example of Mogul domestic architecture. This is a two-storied building, +known as the Kanch Mahal, and supposed to have been built by Jahangir +as a country seat. In its extremely elaborate ornamentation, inlaid +stone and enamelled tiles have been most effectively combined with the +carving. The repairs lately carried out under Lord Curzon's orders have +been very carefully done, though it is easy to see the inferiority of +the new work where the old carving had to be reproduced. Our fatuous +policy of adopting European styles in all public buildings in India +is bound to cause a deterioration in the native art handicrafts, for +it closes the principal source from which they have sprung. Unless +this policy is reversed, nothing will prevent the ultimate extinction +of Indian art. + +SURAJ-BHAN-KA BAGH.--This is another two-storied building of about +the same period, but not quite so fine in style, facing the Agra road, +at a little distance from the Kanch Mahal. + +MARIAM ZAMANI'S TOMB.--A short distance further on, in the direction +of Muttra, is the building supposed to have been originally the garden +house of Sikandar Lodi, in which Mariam Zamani, one of Akbar's wives, +is said to have been buried. It has been used for many years as a +printing establishment for a Mission Orphanage. + + + +Other Buildings and Tombs at or near Agra + +The tomb of Feroz Khan, opposite to the third milestone on the Gwalior +road, is an interesting building of Akbar's time, richly carved and +decorated with tile-work. Close by is the tomb of the Pahalwari, +where a celebrated wrestler of Shah Jahan's time is buried. There +are a considerable number of buildings and numerous ruins in Agra, +and round about, which possess only historical or archaeological +interest. In the town are the following:-- + +The KALI MASJID, or Black Mosque, otherwise called the Kalan Masjid, +or Grand Mosque, is of the early Akbar style. It was built by the +father of Shah Jahan's first wife, the Kandahari Begum. This is near +to the Government dispensary. + +In the Nai-ki-Mundi quarter is the mosque of Shah Ala-ud-din Majzub, +commonly known as ALAWAL BILAWAL, a saint who lived at the time of +Shere Shah. He established a school of Muhammadan law, and founded a +monastery besides the mosque. The accumulations round the mosque have +reached up to the springing of the arches, and tradition accounts for +this by the following story: A camel-driver in Shere Shah's service +stabled his beasts in the mosque, in spite of the protests of the saint +Thereupon the building began to sink into the ground, and did not cease +descending until the camels and their driver were crushed to death. + +The HAMMAN, or Baths of Ali Verdi Khan, in Chipitolla Street, built +in the time of Jahangir. An inscription over the gateway gives the +date, 1620 A.D. They cannot be compared in interest with the splendid +"Hakim's Baths," at Fatehpur Sikri. + +The ROMAN CATHOLIC CEMETERY, in the quarter known as Padritollah, +near the Law Courts, is one of the most ancient Christian cemeteries +in India. The ground was granted to the mission by the Emperor +Akbar. There are a number of Portuguese and Armenian tombs dating from +early in the seventeenth century. It also contains the tomb of the +notorious Walter Reinhardt, or Samru, as he was called, the founder +of the principality of Sirdhana, whose history is given at p. 38. The +Dutch General Messing, who held Agra Fort for the Mahrattas in 1794, +has a very florid mausoleum of red sandstone, more curious than +beautiful; the design of which is in imitation of the Taj. + + + +Fatehpur Sikri + +Fatehpur Sikri is the famous deserted city, about twenty-three miles +from Agra, built by Akbar. It was formerly merely a village, called +Sikri, celebrated as the abode of Sheikh Salim Chishti, a Muhammadan +_pir_, or saint. In 1564, Akbar, returning from a campaign, halted +near the cave in which the saint lived. The twin children of his +Rajput wife, Mariam Zamani, had recently died, and he was anxious +for an heir. He consulted the holy man, who advised him to come and +live at Sikri. The Emperor did so, and nine months afterwards Mariam, +who was taken to Chishti's cell for her confinement, gave birth to a +son, afterwards the Emperor Jahangir. He was called Sultan Salim in +honour of the saint. Jahangir, who describes all these circumstances +in his memoirs, adds: "My revered father, regarding the village of +Sikri, my birthplace, as fortunate to himself, made it his capital, +and in the course of fourteen or fifteen years the hills and deserts, +which abounded in beasts of prey, became converted into a magnificent +city, comprising numerous gardens, elegant edifices and pavilions, +and other places of great attraction and beauty. After the conquest +of Gujarat, the village was named Fatehpur (the town of victory)." + +The glory of Fatehpur Sikri was short-lived. Akbar held his court +there for seventeen years, and then removed it to Agra; some say on +account of the badness of the water supply, others that the saint, +disturbed in his devotions by the bustle and gaieties of the great +city, declared that either he or Akbar must go. "Then," replied the +Emperor, "let it be your servant, I pray." The entire city was given +up to the beasts of the surrounding jungle. Finch, who visited it in +the early part of the next reign, describes it: "Ruin all; lying like a +waste desert, and very dangerous to pass through in the night." This, +however, was an exaggeration, for the principal buildings are still +in a good state of preservation, probably owing to the remoteness of +the place from any great highway or large town. + +The city, which was some six miles in circuit, was surrounded on three +sides by high battlemented walls, which had nine gateways. The fourth +side was formed by a great artificial lake, now dry. The principal +buildings are on the summit of the high ridge which runs throughout +the length of the city. + +THE AGRA GATE.--The visitor usually enters by the Agra Gate, +concerning which an amusing story is told. One night Akbar, attended +by some of his ministers, was inspecting the ramparts near this +gate, when he observed a highway robbery being committed close by +the walls. Turning severely to those responsible for the peace of +the city, he demanded why such an outrage was permitted in the very +presence of the Emperor. "It is always darkest directly under the +shadow of the lamp," was the courtly reply. + +THE NAUBAT KHANA.--Inside the gate the road passes, by the right, a +large quadrangle surrounded by a ruined cloister, which was probably +used for barracks. Beyond this the road was formerly lined on both +sides by the houses of the bazar. It next passes through the inner +gateway, called the _Naubat Khana_, or Music House, where, as in all +Mogul fortresses, the court musicians played to announce the Emperor's +arrival or departure, and various state ceremonials. + +THE MINT.--Some distance beyond the Naubat Khana, on the right, is a +large building believed to have been the Imperial Mint. Rare specimens +of gold, silver, and copper coins from the Fatehpur Mint are in the +British Museum. The brick domes of this building are interesting, +as they are probably the earliest examples in India of the use of +radiating courses instead of horizontal layers in dome construction. + +Opposite to the Mint is a smaller building known as the Treasury. + +THE DAFTAR KHANA.--Passing through the great quadrangle of the +Diwan-i-am, the visitor arrives at the Daftar Khana, or Record Chamber, +now adapted for a travellers' rest-house. This was Akbar's office, +and is immediately opposite to his own sanctum, the Kwabgah, and +the principal buildings of the Imperial Palace. A staircase in the +south-east room leads to the roof, from which a fine view of the city +and surrounding country can be obtained. The principal buildings can +be easily identified by help of the plan. + +THE PALACE.--A door in the side of the quadrangle, opposite to +the Daftar Khana, leads into Akbar's palace, the Mahal-i-Khas. The +two-storied building on the left on entering contains Akbar's private +apartments. The first room on the ground floor is panelled into +numerous recesses for keeping books, documents, or valuables. There +are some remains of painted decoration representing flowers, such as +the tulip, poppy, and almond flower, executed with much vigour and +technical skill. Behind this is a chamber which, according to Edmund +Smith, was used by a Hindu priest attached to Akbar's court. It +contains a stone platform raised on pillars, upon which he is said +to have performed his devotions. It was more probably intended for +Akbar's own gaddi, or throne. A door in the west wall leads into the +cloisters, which formerly connected Akbar's apartments with the Daftar +Khana and with Jodh Bai's palace. + +THE KWABGAH, or sleeping apartment, is a small pavilion on the +roof. Originally the walls were entirely covered by fresco paintings, +but only a few fragments now remain. Unfortunately, these have been +protected by a coat of varnish, which reduces them all to a dull +monochrome. It is to be regretted that a more scientific method of +preserving them was not adopted. They are all in the Persian style, +and, except for the Chinese element which is often present in Persian +art, there is no ground for Edmund Smith's supposition that Chinese +artists were employed here. + +On the side window over the eastern doorway is a painting of a +winged figure, in front of a rock cave, supporting a new-born babe +in its arms. In all probability it refers to the birth of Jahangir +in the cell of the Saint Salim Chishti, which Akbar, no doubt, +thought miraculous. Many archaeologists make the great mistake of +attributing every winged figure in these decorations to some Biblical +story. Heavenly beings with wings, the inhabitants of Paradise, +spirits of the air, or "angels," are very common in Persian and Indian +painting, and are by no means a monopoly of European artists. + +It is known that Akbar took a great interest in painting. Abul Fazl, +in the "Ain-i-Akbari," states that "His Majesty from the earliest +youth has shown a great predilection for the art, and gives it +every encouragement, as he looks upon it as a means both of study +and amusement. Hence the art flourishes, and many painters have +obtained great reputations. The works of all painters are weekly +laid before his Majesty by the Daroghas and the clerks; he confers +rewards according to the excellence of workmanship, or increases +their monthly salaries. Much progress was made in the commodities +required by painters, and the correct prices of such articles were +carefully ascertained." + +Akbar himself remarked, "Bigoted followers of the law are hostile +to the art of painting, but their eyes now see the truth. There are +many that hate painting, but such men I dislike. It appears to me as +if a painter had a peculiar means of recognizing God; for a painter, +in sketching anything that has life and in drawing its limbs, must +feel that he cannot bestow personality upon his work, and is thus +forced to think of God, the giver of life, and will thus increase his +knowledge." The enlightened court of Akbar was evidently a paradise +for artists. + +Opposite to Akbar's apartments is a large square tank with a platform +in the centre, approached by four narrow stone paths. The tank was +filled from the waterworks near the Elephant Gate, and the water was +kept constantly fresh by an overflow channel connecting with the tank +at the back of the Diwan-i-Khas. + +THE TURKISH SULTANA'S HOUSE.--In the north-east angle of the +Mahal-i-Khas quadrangle is a small, picturesque building, one of the +gems of Fatehpur, called the Turkish Sultana's House. It contains only +a single apartment, surrounded by a verandah, but in the carving of +every surface within and without there is a wealth of invention and +decorative skill rarely achieved even by the Mogul artists. The dado +panels are especially remarkable for the charming conventionalized +rendering of trees, flowers, birds, and animals. They have suffered +much from the hands of some of Aurangzib's fanatical followers, and +all the representations of animate nature have been mutilated. The +carving was intended as a groundwork for painting and gilding which +were never added, for the Fatehpur Palace was abandoned even before +it was finished. Nothing is known with certainty of the lady who +inhabited this delightful bower, but she must have been one of Akbar's +favourites. A covered passage connected the house with the Kwabgah, +and also with another block of buildings of no special interest, +known as the Girls' School. + +A staircase from the south verandah leads down to some interesting +baths outside the south-west corner of the Diwan-i-am quadrangle, +which were probably for the use of the Turkish Sultana. They are +worth seeing, though not so fine as the so-called HAKIM'S BATHS. The +latter, which are situated just opposite to these baths, on the +steep slope of the ridge, are the finest of their kind existing in +India. They form an extensive hydropathic establishment, decorated +in the most excellent taste with polished plaster and _sgraffito_, +or cut-plaster work. Undoubtedly they were used by Akbar himself, +and they derive their present name from their close proximity to the +quarters occupied by the Hakims, or doctors. + +PACHISI BOARD.--In the northern half of the great palace quadrangle +is a _pachisi_ board, cut on the pavement, similar to the one in the +Samman Burj in the Agra Fort. Here Akbar and the ladies of the Court +would amuse themselves by playing the game with slave girls as living +pieces. The dice were thrown on the small platform in the centre of +the board. + +THE DIWAN-I-KHAS.--Further towards the north, immediately opposite +to the Kwabgah, is a square detached building, a fine example of the +dignified style of the period, for it owes none of its effects to +imposing dimensions, but only to the skill with which the architect +has treated a difficult subject. This is the Diwan-i-Khas, or Hall of +Private Audience. On the outside it would appear to be a two-storied +building, but on entering it is seen to contain only a single vaulted +chamber, surrounded halfway up by a gallery. A magnificent carved +column, with a gigantic bracket capital (Plate XI.), standing alone in +the centre of the chamber, supports four branches or railed passages, +which meet this gallery at the four corners. This most original +construction carried Akbar's throne, which was placed immediately over +the great column. The ministers attended at the four corners of the +gallery; the great nobles and others admitted to the audience thronged +the floor beneath. The gallery is approached by two staircases, +in the thickness of the walls, which also lead up to the roof. [14] + +THE ANKH-MICHAULI.--Close by the Diwan-i-Khas, on the west side, +is a building which the native guides, always ready to amuse the +innocent tourist, describe as the Ankh-Michauli, or "Blind-man's +Buff House." There is a legend that Akbar here played hide-and-seek +with the ladies of the zanana. The same story is told about a set +of apartments in the Jahangiri Mahal in the Agra Fort, but the only +ground for it seems to be that the arrangement of the rooms might lend +itself to such diversions. It most probably contained strong-rooms +for the safe custody of valuables, either state archives or jewels. + +THE YOGI'S SEAT.--At the corner of the Ankh-Michauli is a square +platform covered by a domed canopy. The great carved brackets +which support the architraves are very characteristic of Jaina +construction. This was the seat of one of the Yogis, or Hindu fakirs, +who enjoyed the Emperor's favour. Akbar devoted much attention to +the occult powers claimed by these men. He even practised alchemy +and showed in public some of the gold made by him. + +THE HOSPITAL.--Adjoining the Ankh-Michauli are the remains of a long, +low building, which was the hospital; a few of the wards still +remain. Possibly this was arranged on the model of the hospital +which Akbar allowed the Jesuit Fathers to build in the city. He +also permitted them to construct a small chapel. The records of the +missionaries tell us that Akbar once came there alone, removed his +turban and offered prayers, first kneeling in the Christian manner, +then prostrating himself according to the Muhammadan custom, and, +finally, after the ritual of the Hindus. One of the Christian +congregation having died about this time, he granted permission for +the funeral procession to pass through the streets of Fatehpur with +all the ceremonies of the Catholic faith. Many of the inhabitants, +both Hindus and Muhammadans, attended the funeral. Akbar was never +persuaded to become a convert to Christianity, nor does there appear +to be any ground for the belief that one of his wives was a Christian. + +THE DIWAN-I-AM.--The west side of the Diwan-i-am (Hall of Public +Audience) and its cloisters coincide for the whole length with the +east of the palace quadrangle. The description already given of the +Diwan-i-am at Agra will explain the functions for which this building +was intended. The throne, or judgment seat, of Akbar was placed +between two pierced stone screens in the verandah in front of the hall. + +THE PANCH MAHAL.--This curious five-storied pavilion is nearly +opposite to the Diwan-i-am. It is approached by a staircase from the +Mahal-i-khas. Each story was originally enclosed by pierced stone +screens; this, and the fact that the whole building overlooked the +palace zanana, make it tolerably certain that it could only have +been used as a promenade by Akbar and the ladies of the court. The +ground-floor, which was divided into cubicles by screens between the +columns, may; as Keene suggests, have been intended for the royal +children and their attendants. The building is chiefly remarkable for +the invention and taste shown in the varied designs of the columns, +in which the three principal styles of Northern India, the Hindu, +Jain, and Saracenic, are indiscriminately combined. + +MIRIAM'S KOTHI.--Another doorway in the west side of the palace +quadrangle leads to Miriam's House, a very elegant two-storied building +showing marked Hindu feeling in the design. The Rama incarnation +of Vishnu appears on one of the carved brackets of the verandah. It +seems to have derived its name from Akbar's Hindu wife, Mariam Zamani, +the mother of Jahangir. Her name literally means "Mary of the age," +a common designation used by Muhammadan women in honour of the Mother +of Jesus. This has led to the fable that the house was occupied by a +Christian wife of Akbar. The whole building was originally covered with +fresco paintings and gilding, and was hence called the Sonahra Makan, +or "Golden House." The frescoes are supposed to illustrate Firdousi's +great epic, the Shahnama, or history of the Kings of Persia. As in the +Kwabgah, the fragments which remain have been covered with varnish as +a preservative, which has had the effect of destroying all the charm +of colour they once possessed; and will eventually, when the varnish +turns brown with age, obliterate them altogether. The paintings are +all in the style of the Persian artists who were employed by Akbar to +illustrate his books and to paint the portraits of his Court. Over +the doorway in the north-west angle of the building is a painting +which the guides, perhaps misled by the suggestion of some uninformed +traveller, point out as "the Annunciation." + +There would be nothing _prima facie_ improbable that Akbar should have +caused some events of Biblical history to be painted on the walls +of his palaces; but on the other hand, there is nothing whatever to +connect this fresco with the Annunciation. The winged figures here +represented are of the type commonly found in paintings of stories +from Persian mythology. + +Perhaps the most interesting of all the paintings is a portrait in +a panel in one of the rooms. One would like to know whether this was +the lady of the house; but there seems to be no tradition connected +with it. + +Judging from the style of the frescoes, it would seem probable that +this was not the residence of Mariam Zamani, but of one of Akbar's +first two wives, whose connections were mostly with Persia. + + +Jodh Bai's Palace. + +Though "Miriam's House" is generally regarded as the abode of Mariam +Zamani, there is a great deal to support the view that the spacious +palace known as Jodh Bai's Mahal, or Jahangiri Mahal, was really her +residence. It is undoubtedly one of the oldest buildings in Fatehpur. + +We know that Akbar went there on Mariam's account; and, after +Jahangir's birth, Akbar's first care would be to build a palace +for the mother and her child, his long-wished-for heir. Mariam was +a Hindu, and this palace in all its construction and nearly all its +ornamentation belongs to the Hindu and Jaina styles of Mariam's native +country, Rajputana. It even contains a Hindu temple. [15] It is also +the most important of all the palaces, and Mariam, as mother of the +heir-apparent, would take precedence of all the other wives. + +On the left of the entrance is a small guard-house. A simple but +finely proportioned gateway leads through a vestibule into the inner +quadrangle. The style of the whole palace is much less ornate than the +other zanana buildings, but it is always dignified and in excellent +taste. It must be remembered that the severity of the architectural +design was relieved by bright colouring and rich purdahs, which were +used to secure privacy for the ladies of the zanana and to diminish +the glare of the sunlight. + +Archaeologically its construction and ornamentation are very +interesting. Many of the details are of Jain origin, and of the same +type as the mixed Jain and Saracenic style, which was being developed +about the same period in Gujarat. The arrangements of the palace are +shown in the annexed plan. One of the most interesting features is +the Hawa Mahal, a pavilion projecting from the north side, enclosed +by pierced stone screens. Here the ladies could enjoy the cool breezes +and the view of the lake with the distant hills beyond, without being +exposed to the vulgar gaze. The palace was formerly connected with +Akbar's private apartments by a covered way, supported on pillars, +near the entrance. This was removed some years ago. Another private +passage led from the Hawa Mahal to the zanana garden opposite, and, +probably, from thence right down to the tower known as the Hiran Minar. + + +Rajah Birbal's House, or Birbal's Daughter's House. + +Rajah Birbal was a Brahman minstrel, who came to Akbar's court in +the beginning of his reign, and by his wit and abilities gained the +Emperor's favour. He was first created Hindu Poet Laureate; from +that dignity he was raised to the rank of Rajah, and became one of +Akbar's most intimate friends and advisers. Birbal was one of those +who subscribed to Akbar's new religion, "The Divine Faith." When +he perished in an unfortunate expedition against some unruly Afghan +tribes, Akbar's grief was for a long time inconsolable. + +The house which is named after him was originally enclosed within the +precincts of the imperial zanana, and a covered way connected it with +Jodh Bai's palace. It is one of the most richly decorated of all the +adjacent buildings, and next to Jodh Bai's palace, the largest of +the imperial residences. As in so many other instances, the vague +local tradition which assigns this palace to Rajah Birbal seems to +be at fault. Abul Fazl, that most careful and precise biographer, +records that Akbar ordered a palace to be built for the Rajah, and that +when it was finished in the twenty-seventh year of his reign (1582) +the Emperor honoured it with his presence. An inscription discovered +by Edmund Smith upon the capital of a pilaster in the west facade of +the building, states that it was erected in Samvat 1629 (A.D. 1572), +ten years before this date, and three years after the commencement +of the city. + +Though the Rajah was one of Akbar's most trusted friends, his palace +would hardly be placed within the enclosure of the Emperor's own +zanana and connected with it; nor is it likely that Akbar would +provide Birbal with a residence so incomparably more magnificent than +those he gave to his other two intimate friends, Abul Fazl and Faizi, +by the side of the great mosque. + +All the probabilities are that this was one of the imperial palaces +occupied by Akbar's wives, which were the first buildings erected at +Fatehpur. Fergusson's assumption that Birbal's daughter was one of +Akbar's wives would explain everything; but the fact that Abul Fazl +makes no mention of such a daughter, is very good evidence that Akbar +was not connected with Birbal by marriage. + +The house is a two-storied building, splendidly ornamented with +carving, both inside and out. From the construction, it would appear +that Hindus were the architects; but the decoration, from which it is +easy to discover the taste of the occupants, is nearly all Arabian or +Persian in style, and conveys no suggestion that the palace was built +for a Hindu rajah or his daughter. Though on a much smaller scale, +it is of the same type as Akbar's splendid palace in the Agra Fort, +and was evidently intended for one of the highest rank in the imperial +zanana. [16] + + + +The Hathi Pol and Adjoining Buildings. + +Close under Birbal's house is the main road leading down to the great +lake--now drained, the embankment of which formed the north-west +boundary of the city. It passes through the gateway called the Hathi +Pol, or Elephant Gate, from the two great stone elephants, mutilated by +Aurangzib, standing on either side of the outer archway. On the left of +the gateway are two buildings, the so-called Pigeon's House, probably +intended for a magazine; and the Sangin Burj, a great bastion supposed +to be part of the fortifications begun by Akbar and left unfinished, +owing to the objections of Shaikh Salim Chishti. A little beyond this, +on the right, are the remains of the waterworks which supplied the +whole city. Opposite to these, is the great traveller's rest-house, +or Karwan-serai, in a very ruined state. + +The, furthest of this block of buildings is a curious tower called +the Hiran Minar, or Deer Tower, 72 feet in height, ornamented with +stone imitations of elephant tusks. According to tradition, it was +built by Akbar in memory of a favourite elephant, and used by him +as a shooting tower; the plain on the margin of the lake being the +haunt of antelope and other game. + +The splendid stretch of water, six miles long and two in breadth, +induced many of the princes and nobles to build pavilions and +garden houses on this side of the city. This was the place for great +tournaments and festivities, and in the palmy days of Fatehpur all +the chivalry of the Mogul Court must have made a brave show here. The +Hiran Minar was connected with the zanana by a covered way, so that +the ladies might assist at these spectacles and enjoy the cool breezes +from the lake. + + +The Jami Masjid, or Cathedral Mosque. + +The great mosque of Fatehpur is worthy of its founder's lofty ideals +and nobility of soul. It is one of the most magnificent of all Akbar's +buildings; the historic associations connected with it combine with +its architectural splendour to make it one of the most impressive of +its kind in the world. It is said to be copied from one at Mecca; +but this cannot be altogether true, because, though the plan and +general design follow Muhammadan precedent, many of the details show +Akbar's Hindu proclivities. + +Within the great mosque, Akbar frequently held religious discussions +with the learned doctors of Islam; and here, also, after the chief +Mullahs had signed the famous document which declared Akbar to be Head +of the Church, the Emperor mounted the pulpit, and stood before the +congregation as the expounder of "the Divine Faith." He commenced +to read a _Khutbah_, or litany, which Faizi, Abul Fazl's brother, +had composed for the occasion-- + + + "The Lord, who gave to us dominion, + Wisdom, and heart and strength, + Who guided us in truth and right, + And cleansed our mind from all but right, + None can describe His power or state, + Allahu Akbar--God is Great." + + +But before he could finish three lines of it, the sense of the +tremendous responsibility he had undertaken overpowered him. He +descended the pulpit trembling with emotion, and left the Imam of +the mosque to continue the service. + +There are two entrances, approached by broad flights of steps. The one +on the east side is the Emperor's Gate, by which Akbar entered the +mosque from the palace, and the other, the majestic Baland Darwaza, +or High Gate, which towers above everything on the south side, and +even dwarfs the mosque itself with its giant proportions. The latter +gate, however, was not a part of the original design, but was added +many years after the completion of the mosque, to celebrate Akbar's +victorious campaign in the Deccan. + +The mosque itself was built in honour of the Saint of Fatehpur, Sheikh +Salim Chishti, whose tomb, enclosed in a shrine of white marble, carved +with the delicacy of ivory-work, glitters like silver on the right of +the quadrangle. Barren women, both Hindu and Muhammadan, tie bits of +string or shreds of cloth to the marble trellis-work as tokens that if +blessed with a son they will present an offering to the shrine. Close +by is a plainer, but much larger mausoleum, for his grandson, Nawab +Islam Khan, who was made Governor of Bengal by Jahangir. This also +contains the remains of many other of the Sheikh's male descendants. A +separate vault, called the Zanana Rauza, for the women of his family +is formed by enclosing a portion of the adjoining cloisters. + +The mosque proper contains three chapels, crowned by domes. The +principal one, in the centre, is screened by the facade of +the entrance, the doorway being recessed, in the usual style of +Saracenic buildings, in a great porch or semi-dome. An inscription +over the main archway gives the date of the completion of the mosque +as A.D. 1571. The chapels are connected with each other by noble +colonnades of a decidedly Hindu or Jain character. The Saracenic +arches combine most happily with the Hindu construction, and the +view down the "long-drawn aisles" is singularly impressive. Much of +the charm of the interior is due to the quiet reserve and dignity of +the decoration, which is nearly all in the style of Arabian mosques, +and may account for the statement on the central arch, that "this +mosque is a duplicate of the Holy Place" (at Mecca). + +At each end of the mosque there is a set of five rooms for the +mullahs who conducted the service; above them are galleries for the +ladies of the zanana. Spacious cloisters surround three sides of the +quadrangle; these are divided into numerous cells for the _maulvis_ +and their pupils. + +The triumphal gateway, called the BALAND DARWAZA (Plate XIII.), is +really a building in itself. It must be seen from the outside of the +quadrangle, for, magnificent as it is there, it certainly does not +harmonize with the mosque viewed from the quadrangle. This mighty +portal, 176 feet in height from the roadway, is a landmark for miles +around. From the top of it the Taj, twenty-five miles away, and the +distant Fort of Bharatpur are visible. + +There are three doors recessed in the immense alcove on the front +of the gate. One is the horseshoe door, so called from the numerous +votive offerings of owners of sick horses, donkeys, and bullocks, +which were nailed on in the hope of obtaining the favour of the +saint. The doorway on the right of this has the following inscription +carved over it in Arabic:-- + +"His Majesty, King of kings, Heaven of the Court, Shadow of God, +Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, Emperor. He conquered the kingdom of +the South and Dandes, which was formerly called Khandes, in the 46th +Divine year [_i.e._ of his reign] corresponding to the Hijira year, +1010 [A.D. 1602]. Having reached Fatehpur, he proceeded to Agra. Said +Jesus, on whom be peace! The world is a bridge, pass over it, but build +no house there. He who hopeth for an hour, may hope for eternity; the +world is but an hour, spend it in devotion; the rest is worth nothing," + +Over the left doorway is the following:-- + +"He that standeth up in prayer, and his heart is not in it, does not +draw nigh to God, but remaineth far from Him. Thy best possession is +what thou givest in the name of God; thy best traffic is selling this +world for the next." + +Akbar himself died four years after this great sermon in stone was +written. + + +The Stone-Cutters' Mosque. + +At the back of the great mosque is a graveyard containing the tomb of +an infant son of Sheikh Salim. The legend concerning him is, that at +the age of six months he addressed his father, telling him that all +of Akbar's children must die in infancy, unless some child died for +them. He therefore had resolved to sacrifice himself for the Emperor's +sake, and immediately after this miraculous speech he died. Jahangir +was born nine months afterwards. Sceptics have suggested that he was +really a son of the Sheikh, substituted for a still-born child of +Mariam Zamani. + +Some distance beyond this tomb there is a small mosque, built in honour +of the saint by the quarrymen of Fatehpur, before he had attracted +the notice of the great Emperor. It is called the Stone-Cutters' +Mosque, and is supposed to have been erected on the site of the +cave where he lived the life of a hermit It is an unpretending +little building; the brackets which support the cornice are the only +noticeable architectural features. They are direct imitations of wooden +construction, and are copied, with greater elaboration of carving, +in the marble shrine inside the Jami Masjid. The cell where the saint +is said to have lived is on the right-hand corner of the mosque. + +The birthplace of Jahangir is pointed out in a dilapidated palace +not far from this mosque. It is occupied by a lineal descendant of +Salim Chishti, and is only rarely shown to visitors. + + + +The Houses of Abul Fazl and Faizi. + +The houses where these two famous brothers, the friends of Akbar, +lived, are close under the north wall of the great mosque. Their +father, Sheikh Mubarak, was one of the most learned men of the age, +and the sons were as distinguished as the father. Faizi was the Persian +Poet Laureate, and tutor to the Royal Princes. He was also employed on +many diplomatic missions. Abul Fazl was the author of the celebrated +"Akbarnama," a history of the Mogul Emperors down to the forty-seventh +year of Akbar's reign. He was for a long time Akbar's Prime Minister; +he took a prominent part in the religious discussions inaugurated by +the Emperor, and often discomfited the orthodox followers of Islam with +his arguments. Sheikh Mubarak drew up the famous document declaring +Akbar to be the Head of the Church, and both his sons subscribed to +it. Abul Fazl declares that the document "was productive of excellent +results: (1) The Court became the resort of the learned men and +sages of all creeds and nationalities; (2) Peace was given to all, +and perfect tolerance prevailed; (3) the disinterested motives of +the Emperor, whose labours were directed to a search after truth, +were rendered clear, and the pretenders to learning and scholarship +were put to shame." + +Notwithstanding his high character and generous disposition, Abul +Fazl had many enemies at Court. He was at last assassinated at the +instigation of Jahangir, who believed him to be responsible for a +misunderstanding between himself and his father. + +There is nothing architecturally interesting about the two houses, +which have been for some time used as a Zillah school. + + * * * * * + + +Bharatpur and Other Places In the Vicinity of Agra. + +There are some other places of considerable interest easily accessible +from Agra, but it would be beyond the scope of this book to describe +them in detail. + +BHARATPUR.--This place, which has been often alluded to, is the capital +of a native state of that name, founded by the Jats under Suraj Mal +about 1750. The origin of the Jat race is obscure, but probably they +are of Scythian descent. Some authorities have put forward a theory +that the gypsies of Europe and the Jats are of the same race. They form +a large proportion of the population of North-Western India. Their +religion varies with the locality, but the Jats who occupied Agra +under Suraj Mal were Hindus. + +In 1809, the fort at Bharatpur resisted for six weeks a siege by +General, afterwards Lord Lake, who withdrew, after four desperate +assaults. + +The Palace of Suraj Mal is at Dig, twenty-one miles by road from +Bharatpur. It was commenced about 1725, and is the finest and most +original of the Indian palaces of that period. The Jat chief carried +off to it a great deal of the loot from the Agra Fort. + +GOVARDHAN.--The tombs of Suraj Mal and his two Ranis are at Govardhan, +a very picturesque place about eight miles from Dig. There are also a +number of very interesting tombs and buildings of later date. Fergusson +[17] says of one of these, which was in course of construction when +he was there in 1839, that he acquired from its native architect +more knowledge of the secrets of art as practised in the Middle Ages +than he had learnt from all the books he had read. The same living +architectural art is practised all over Rajputana at the present +day. The preference we show for the incomparably inferior art of +the mongrel eclectic styles we have imported into India, is only a +proof that there is something wanting in the superior civilization +and culture which we believe ourselves to possess. + +There is also at Govardhan a very fine Hindu temple, dating from the +time of Akbar. + +A great fair is held here every year about the end of October, +or beginning of November, on the occasion of the Hindu Diwali, or +Feast of Lamps, one of the most beautiful and impressive of all the +Hindu festivals. + +Muttra, the Mathora of the Greeks, about fourteen miles from Govardhan, +and within easy reach of Agra by rail, is one of the most sacred places +of the Hindus, from being the reputed birthplace of Krishna. It is +a great centre for the worship of Vishnu. + +Brindaban, or Bindaraban, which is a very short distance further +by rail, possesses an old Hindu temple, dedicated to Govind Deva, +or Vishnu, of the same period as the other at Govardhan, and built +by the same person, Rajah Man Singh of Amber, an ancestor of the +present Maharajah of Jaipur. Fergusson describes it as one of the +most interesting and elegant temples in India. + +There is also a great Vishnu temple of the last century, in the +Dravidian style of Southern India, built by a Hindu millionaire +merchant. Krishna's childhood and early youth were passed in the +vicinity of Brindaban, and on that account it is held especially +sacred by the followers of the Vaishnavite sect of Hinduism, who +flock there in thousands on the anniversary of Krishna's birth, +in the month of Bhadon (August--September). + + + +NOTES + +[1] Babar's "Memoirs," translated by Erskine. + +[2] For further particulars of Babar's history the reader is referred +to the "Memoirs," or to Stanley Lane-Poolers admirable "Life of Babar," +in the "Rulers of India Series" (Macmillan & Co.). + +[3] The State documents of the Mogul Emperors, "given under the +royal hand and seal," were sometimes actually impressed by the royal +hand. Plate I. reproduces part of a letter, addressed by Shah Jahan +to an ancestor of the present Maharajah of Gidhour. In this letter +the Raja Dalan Singh is informed that "the auspicious impress of the +royal hand" is sent as a mark of royal favour, and he is commanded to +proceed to Court to participate in the festivities and to pay homage +to the Emperor. + +[4] Bernier's "Travels"--Constable's translation. + +[5] These elephant statues have been a vexed point with +archaeologists. Bernier, in his description of Delhi, refers to +two great elephants of stone, with their riders, outside of the +Fort Gates. The riders, he says, were portraits of the famous +Rajput chiefs Jaymal and Patta, slain by Akbar at the siege of +Chitore. "Their enemies, in admiration of the devotion of the two +heroes, put up these statues to their memory." Now, Bernier does not +say that the statues were put up by Akbar, but General Cunningham, +inferring that Bernier meant this, propounded a theory that they were +originally in front of the Agra Fort, which Akbar built, and removed +to Delhi by Shah Jahan, when he built his new palace there. Keene, +who discusses the question at length in his "Handbook to Delhi," +accepts this suggestion. Neither of these authorities seem to have +been aware of the existence of the marks of the feet on the platform +in front of the Agra Hathi Pol. I have compared the measurements of +these marks with the dimensions of the elephant which still exists +at Delhi, and find that they do not correspond in any way. The Delhi +elephant is a much larger animal, and would not fit into the platform +at the Agra gate. General Cunningham's theory, therefore, falls to the +ground. It is just possible that the Delhi elephants were intended to +be copies of those placed by Akbar at Agra. Shah Jahan is not likely +to have intentionally perpetuated the memory of the Rajput chiefs, +but popular tradition or imagination may have fastened the story told +by Bernier on to the Delhi statues. Elephants were so commonly placed +in front of Indian palaces and fortresses that, except for this story, +there would be no need to suppose any connection between those at +Agra and those at Delhi. + +Purchas, quoting William Finch who visited Agra in Jahangir's time, +describes the elephants at the Hathi Pol, but gives a different origin +to the statues. "Beyond these two gates you pass a second gate, over +which are two Rajaws in stone. It is said that they were two brother +Rajputs, tutors to a prince, their nephew, whom the King demanded +of them. They refused, and were committed; but drew on the officers, +slew twelve, and at last, by multitudes oppressing, were themselves +slain, and here have elephants of stone and themselves figured." The +expression "over" (the gate) has the meaning of "high up," and not, +as Keene supposes, its more modern sense of "on the top of." + +[6] The old Mogul road led directly from the Elephant Gate to the +entrance of the Diwan-i-am. I understand that this road will be +restored shortly by the Archaeological Department. + +[7] An ugly modern marble rail, in imitation of wood, probably a +reminiscence of the time when the palace was occupied by the British +garrison, still disfigures and stunts the proportions of the upper +storey of the Samman Burj. + +[8] This question is discussed at length in an article by the author, +entitled "The Taj and its Designers," published in the June number +of the _Nineteenth Century and After_, 1903. + +[9] Tavernier says twenty-two years probably including all the +accessory buildings. + +[10] The present garden is a jungle, planted by a European overseer +without any understanding or feeling for the ideas of the Mogul +artists. The overgrown trees entirely block out the view of the mosques +on either side, which are an essential part of the whole composition, +serving as supporters to the slender, detached minarets. I understand, +however, that it is intended to remove some of the more obstructive of +the larger trees; but the avenue of cypress trees, which perished from +drought some years ago, has been replanted on lines which eventually +will clash seriously with the architectural composition. + +[11] This represents the condition of the garden twenty or thirty +years ago. + +[12] The conjunction of Jupiter and Venus; referring to the +circumstance that Timur and himself were born at the conjunction of +these planets. (KEENE.) + +[13] It is very probable that the black slate or marble panels in the +Delhi Palace, which are purely Florentine in design, were imported +complete from Italy, and fixed in the wall by Indian workmen, who +only designed the ornamental scrolls surrounding the panels. + +[14] It is known that in 1575 Akbar completed a great building at +Fatehpur, called the Ibadat Khana, or hall in which the learned men of +all religions assembled for discussion. It was described as containing +four halls, the western for the Sayyids, or descendants of the Prophet; +the southern for learned men who had studied or acquired knowledge; +the northern for those famed for inspired wisdom: the eastern hall was +reserved for the nobles and state officers. Thousands of people from +all quarters of the world assembled in the courtyard. The Emperor +attended every Friday night and on holy festivals, moving from one +to the other of the guests and conversing with them. Keene, in his +"Handbook to Agra," suggests that possibly the Diwan-i-khas may +be the building thus described (taking the word _aiwan_, or hall, +to mean a side gallery), as no other building at all answering to +the description now remains at Fatehpur. This supposition is highly +improbable, if only for the reason given by Edmund Smith, namely, that +an assembly of this kind would not take place within the precincts of +the palace. The description given by Abul Fazl and Badayuni clearly +indicates a building like the Diwan-i-am, enclosing a great quadrangle. + +[15] Keene suggests that Akbar's first wife and cousin, Sultana Raqia +Begam, lived here, but she was a Muhammadan. It is quite possible that +the name of Jodh Bai (Princess of Jodhpur) really refers to Mariam, and +not to Jahangir's Rajput wife (the daughter of the Raja of Jodhpur), +as is commonly supposed. Miriam's family resided in the province of +Ajmir, which adjoins Jodhpur. She might have been known as the Princess +of Jodhpur. In any case, it is easy to see how a confusion might have +arisen between Jahangir's mother and his wife, both Hindus and Rajputs. + +[16] Birbal's house is now used as a travellers' rest-house for +high officials and "distinguished" visitors; which is not only very +inconvenient for the undistinguished who may wish to see it, but +involves alterations which should never be permitted in buildings of +such unique artistic and archaeological interest. Neither the Daftar +Khana nor this building should be devoted to such purposes, merely +to avoid the paltry expense of providing proper dak bungalows. + +[17] "History of Indian and Eastern Architecture." + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Handbook to Agra and the Taj, by E. B. 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