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. Havell