'When the Râjâ,' continued the old soldier, 'had got the pillar fast

into the head of the snake, he was told by his chief priest that his

dynasty must now reign over Hindustan for ever. "But," said the Râjâ,

"as all seems to depend upon the pillar being on the head of the

snake, we had better see that it is so with our own eyes." He ordered

it to be taken up; the clergy tried to dissuade him, but all in vain.

Up it was taken--the flesh and blood of the snake were found upon it-

-the pillar was replaced; but a voice was heard saying: "Thy want of

faith hath destroyed thee--thy reign must soon end, and with it that

of thy race."'

I asked the old soldier from whence the voice came.

He said this was a point that had not, he believed, been quite

settled. Some thought it was from the serpent himself below the

earth, others that it came from the high priest or some of his

clergy. 'Wherever it came from,' said the old man, 'there is no doubt

that God decreed the Râjâ's fall for his want of faith; and fall he

did soon after.' All our followers concurred in this opinion, and the

old man seemed quite delighted to think that he had had an

opportunity of delivering his sentiments upon so great a question

before so respectable an audience.

The Emperor Shams-ud-dîn Îltutmish is said to have designed this

great Muhammadan church at the suggestion of Khwâja Kutb-ud-dîn, a

Muhammadan saint from Ûsh in Persia, who was his religious guide and

apostle, and died some sixteen years before him.[29] His tomb is

among the ruins of this old city. Pilgrims visit it from all parts of

India, and go away persuaded that they shall have all they have

asked, provided they have given or promised liberally in a pure

spirit of faith in his influence with the Deity. The tomb of the

saint is covered with gold brocade, and protected by an awning--those

of the Emperors around it he naked and exposed. Emperors and princes

lie all around him; and their tombs are entirely disregarded by the

hundreds that daily prostrate themselves before his, and have been

doing so for the last six hundred years.[30] Among the rest I saw

here the tomb of Mu'azzam, alias Bahâdur Shâh, the son and successor

of Aurangzêb, and that of the blind old Emperor Shâh Alam, from whom

the Honourable Company got their Dîwanî grant.[31] The grass grows

upon the slab that covers the remains of Mu'azzam, the most learned,

most pious, and most amiable, l believe, of the crowned descendants

of the great Akbar. These kings and princes all try to get a place as

near as they can to the remains of such old saints, believing that

the ground is more holy than any other, and that they may give them a

lift on the day of resurrection. The heir apparent to the throne of

Delhi visited the tomb the same day that I did. He was between sixty

and seventy years of age.[32]

I asked some of the attendants of the tomb, on my way back, what he

had come to pray for; and was told that no one knew, but every one

supposed it was for the death of the Emperor, his father, who was

only fifteen years older, and was busily engaged in promoting an

intrigue at the instigation of one of his wives, to oust him, and get

one of her sons, Mirza Salîm, acknowledged as his successor by the

British Government. It was the Hindoo festival of the Basant,[33] and

all the avenues to the tomb of this old saint were crowded when I

visited it. Why the Muhammadans crowded to the tomb on a Hindoo

holiday I could not ascertain.

The Emperor Îltutmish, who died A.D. 1235, is buried close behind one

end of the arched alcove, in a beautiful tomb without its cupola. He

built the tomb himself, and left orders that there should be no

'parda' (screen) between him and heaven; and no dome was thrown over

the building in consequence. Other great men have done the same, and

their tombs look as if their domes had fallen in; they think the way

should be left clear for a start on the day of resurrection.[34] The

church is stated to have been added to it by the Emperor Balban, and

the Mînâr finished.[35] About the end of the seventeenth century, it

was so shaken by an earthquake that the two upper stories fell down.

Our Government, when the country came into our possession, undertook

to repair these two stories, and entrusted the work to Captain Smith,

who built up one of stone, and the other of wood, and completed the

repairs in three years. The one was struck by lightning eight or nine

years after, and came down. If it was anything like the one that is

left, the lightning did well to remove it.[36]

About five years ago, while the Emperor was on a visit to the tomb

of Kutb-ud-dîn, a madman got into his private apartments. The

servants were ordered to turn him out. On passing the Mînâr he ran

in, ascended to the top, stood a few minutes on the verge, laughing

at those who were running after him, and made a spring that enabled

him to reach the bottom, without touching the sides. An eye-witness

told me that he kept his erect position till about half-way down,

when he turned over, and continued to turn till he got to the bottom,

when his fall made a report like a gun. He was of course dashed to

pieces. About five months ago another fell over by accident, and was

dashed to pieces against the sides. A new road has been here cut

through the tomb of the Emperor Alâ-ud-dîn, who murdered his father-

in-law-the first Muhammadan conqueror of Southern India, and his

remains have been scattered to the winds.[37]

A very pretty marble tomb, to the west of the alcoves, covers the

remains of Imâm Mashhadî, the religious guide of the Emperor Akbar;

and a magnificent tomb of freestone covers those of his four foster-

brothers. This was long occupied as a dwelling-house by the late Mr.

Blake, of the Bengal Civil Service, who was lately barbarously

murdered at Jaipur. To make room for his dining-tables he removed the

marble slab, which covered the remains of the dead, from the centre

of the building, against the urgent remonstrance of the people, and

threw it carelessly on one side against the wall, where it now lies.

The people appealed in vain, it is said, to Mr. Fraser, the Governor-

General's representative, who was soon after assassinated; and a good

many attribute the death of both to this outrage upon the remains of

the dead foster-brother of Akbar. Those of Alâ-ud-dîn were, no doubt,

older and less sensitive. Tombs equally magnificent cover the remains

of the other three foster-brothers of Akbar, but I did not enter

them.[38]

Notes:

1. The Sultan, called by the author 'the Emperor Tughlak the First',

as being the first of the Tughlak dynasty, was by birth a Karaunîah

Turk, named Ghâzî Bêg Tughlak. He assumed the style of Ghiyâs-ud-dîn

Tughlak Shâh when he seized the throne in A.D. 1320, and he reigned

till A.D. 1325.

2. This gigantic fortress is close to the village of Badarpur, about

four miles due east of the Kutb Mînâr, and ten or twelve miles south

of the modern city. The building of it occupied more than three

years, but the whole undertaking 'proved eminently futile, as his son

removed his Court to the old city within forty days after his

accession.' (Thomas, _Chronicles of the Pathân Kings of Delhi_, 1871,

p. 192.) The fort is described by Cunningham in _A.S.R._, vol. i, p.

212, whose description is copied in the guide-books. See also

Fanshawe, _Delhi Past and Present_ (John Murray, 1902), p. 288 and

plate. That work is cited as 'Fanshawe'.

3. Also called Adilâbâd. It is described in _A.S.R._, vol. i, p. 21;

Carr Stephen, _The Archaeology and Monumental Remains of Delhi_,

Ludhiana, 1876, p. 98; and Fanshawe, p. 291.

4. '_The Barber's House_. This lies to the right of the road from

Tughlâkâbad to Badarpur, and is close to the ruined city. It is said

to have been built for Tughlak Shâh's barber about A.D. 1323. It is

now a mere ruin.' (Harcourt, _The New Guide to Delhi_, Allahabad,

1866, p. 88.)

5. This fine tomb was built by Muhammad bin Tughlak (A.D. 1325-51).

It is described by Cunningham in _A.S.R._, vol. i, p. 213. See also

_Ann. Rep. A. S., India_, 1904-5, p. 19, fig. 11; _H.F.A._, p. 397,

fig. 234; and Fanshawe, p. 290, with plate. Thomas (_Chronicles_, p.

192) and Cunningham both say that the causeway, or viaduct, has

twenty-seven, not only twenty-five, arches, as stated in the text.

The causeway is 600 feet in length. The sloping walls are

characteristic of the period.

6. The blunder of calling the Sultâns of Delhi by the name Pathân,

due to the translators of Firishta's History, has been perpetuated by

Thomas's well-known work, _The Chronicles of the Pathân Kings of

Delhi_, and in countless other books. The name is quite wrong. The

only Pathân Sultâns were those of the Lodî dynasty, which immediately

preceded Bâbur, and those of the Sûr dynasty, the rivals of Bâbur's

son. 'He (_scil._ Ghiyâs-ud-dîn Balban) was a _Turk_ of the Ilbarî

tribe, but compilers of Indian Histories and Gazetteers, and

archaeological experts, turn him, like many Turks, Tâjzîks, Jâts, and

Sayyids, into _Pathâns_, which is synonymous with Afghan, it being

the vitiated Hindî equivalent of Pushtûn, the name by which the

people generally known as Afghans call themselves, in their own

language. . . . It is quite time to give up Dow and Briggs'

Ferishta.' (Raverty, in _J.A.S.B._, vol. lxi (1892), Part I, p. 164,

note.)

7. The murder of Ghiyâs-ud-dîn Tughlak by his son Fakhr-ud-dîn Jûnâ,

also called Ulugh Khân, occurred in the year A.H. 725, which began on

18th December, 1324 (o.s.). The testimony of the contemporary

traveller Ibn Batûtâ establishes the fact that the fall of the

pavilion was premeditated. (Thomas, _Chronicles_, pp. 187, 189.) The

murderer, on his accession to the throne (1325), assumed the style of

Muhammad bin Tughlak Shâh.

8. Jalâl-ud-dîn Fîrôz Shâh Khiljî was murdered by his son-in-law and

nephew Alâ-ud-dîn at Karrâ on the Ganges in July, A.D. 1296. The

murderer reigned until A.D. 1315 under the title of Alâ-ud-dîn

Muhammad Shâh, Sikandar Sânî.

9. As already noted, his proper style is Muhammad bin Tughlak Shâh.

The word _bin_ means 'son of'. The Sultan is never called 'Muhammad

the Third'.

10. A Muhammadan must, if he can, say his prayers with the prescribed

forms five times in the twenty-four hours; and on Friday, which is

their sabbath, he must, if he can, say three prayers in the church

_masjid_. On other days he may say them where he pleases. Every

prayer must begin with the first chapter of the Korân--this is the

grace to every prayer. This said, the person may put in what other

prayers of the Korân he pleases, and ask for that which he most

wants, as long as it does not injure other Musalmâns. This is the

first chapter of the Korân: 'Praise be to God the Lord of all

creatures--the most merciful--the King of the day of judgement. Thee

do we worship, and of Thee do we beg assistance. Direct us in the

right way--in the way of those to whom Thou hast been gracious; not

of those against whom Thou art incensed; nor of those who go astray.'

[W. H. S.] The quotation is from Sale's version. The last clause may

also be rendered, 'The way of those to whom Thou hast been gracious,

against whom Thou art not incensed, and who have not erred,' as Sale

points out in his note.

11. This mad tyrant, among other horrible deeds, flayed his nephew

alive. He attempted to invade China through the Himâlayas, and for

three years issued a forced currency of brass and copper, which he

vainly tried to make people take as equal in value to silver. Strange

to say, he was allowed to reign for nearly twenty-seven years, and to

die peacefully in his bed. The hunts of the 'innocent and unoffending

people' were organized rather to gain the benefit of 'sending

infidels to hell' than for 'mere amusement'. Daulatâbâd was the name

given by Muhammad bin Tughlak to the ancient fortress of Deogîr

(Deogiri, Deoghur), situated about ten miles from Aurangâbâd, in what

is now the Hyderabad State.

12. In the original edition the Moghal leader's name is printed as

'Turmachurn', the Tarmasharîn (with variations in spelling) of

Muhammadan authors (see E. and D., iii. 42, 450, 507; v. 485; vi.

222). The name Turghi is given by Thomas, who says he invested Delhi

in A.H. 703, corresponding to A.D. 1303-4; and refers to an article

in _J.A.S.B._, vol. xxxv (1866), Part I, pp. 199-218, entitled 'Notes

on the History and Topography of the Ancient Cities of Delhi', by O.

Campbell. (_Chronicles_, p. 175, note.) Campbell writes the leader's

name as Turghai Khân. Apparently Tarmasharîn was identical with

Turghi or Turghai Khân, but I am not sure that he was. The Moghals

made several raids during the reign of Alâ-ud-dîn Muhammad Shâh.

13. The tomb of Nizâm-ud-dîn is further noticed in the next chapter

of this work. It is situated in an enclosure which contains other

notable tombs. The following extract from the author's _Ramaseeana_

(p. 121) gives additional particulars concerning this saint of

questionable sanctity: '_Nizâm-ud-dîn Aulia_.--A saint of the Sunnî

sect of Muhammadans, said to have been a Thug of great note at some

period of his life, and his tomb near Delhi is to this day visited as

a place of pilgrimage by Thugs, who make votive offerings to it. He

is said to have been of the Barsot class, born in the month of Safar

[633], Hijrî, March A.D. 1236; died Rabî-ul-awwal, 725, October A.D.

1325. [The months as stated do not correspond.--_Ed_.] His tomb is

visited by Muhammadan pilgrims from all parts as a place of great

sanctity from containing the remains of so holy a man; but the Thugs,

both Hindoo and Muhammadan, visit it as containing the remains of the

most celebrated Thug of his day. He was of the Sunnî sect, and those

of the Shîa sect find no difficulty in believing that he was a Thug;

but those of his own sect will never credit it. There are perhaps no

sufficient grounds to pronounce him one of the fraternity; but there

are some to suspect that he was so at some period of his life. The

Thugs say he gave it up early in life, but kept others employed in it

till late, and derived an income from it; and the 'dast-ul-ghaib', or

supernatural purse, with which he was supposed to be endowed, gives a

colour to this. His lavish expenditure, so much beyond his ostensible

means, gave rise to the belief that he was supplied from above with

money.'

The 'old man of the mountains' with whom the author compares Nizâm-

ud-dîn (or at least the original 'old man of the mountains', Shaikh-

ul Jabal), was Hasan-ibn-Sabbâh (or, us-Sabbâh), who founded the sect

of so-called Assassins in the mountains on the shores of the Caspian,

and flourished from about A.D. 1089 to 1124. Hulâkû the Mongol broke

the power of the sect in A.D. 1256 (Thatcher, in _Encycl. Brit._,

11th ed., 1910, s. v. 'Assassin').

14. Shams-ud-dîn Îltutmish, who had been a slave, reigned from A.D.

1210 to 1235. His Turkish name is variously written as Yulteemush,

Altamsh, Alitmish, &c. The form Îltutmish is correct (_Z.D.M.G._,

1907, p. 192). His tomb is discussed _post_.

15. This is not quite accurate. A similar _mînâr_, or mosque tower,

built in the middle of the thirteenth century, formerly existed at

Koil in the Alîgarh district (_A.S.R._, i. 191), and two mosques at

Bayâna in the Bharatpur State, have each only one _mînâr_, placed

outside the courtyard (ibid., vol. iv, p. ix). Chitor in Rajputânâ

possesses two noble Hindoo towers, one about 80 feet high, erected in

connexion with Jain shrines, and the other, about 120 feet high,

erected by Kumbha Rânâ as a tower or pillar of victory. (Fergusson,

_Hist. of Indian and Eastern Architecture_, ed. 1910, vol. ii, pp.

57-61.)

16. The short life of James Prinsep extended only from August 20,

1799, to April 22, 1840, and practically terminated in 1838, when his

brain began to fail from the undue strain caused by incessant and

varied activity. His memorable discoveries in archaeology and

numismatics are recorded in the seven volumes of the _J.A.S.B._ for

the years 1832-8. His contributions to those volumes were edited by

B. Thomas, and republished in 1868 under the title of _Essays on

Indian Antiquities_. Sir Alexander Cunningham, who was one of

Prinsep's fellow workers, gives interesting details of the process by

which the discoveries were made, in the Introduction to the first

volume of the Reports of the Archaeological Survey. No adequate

account of James Prinsep's remarkable career has been published. He

was singularly modest and unassuming. A good summary of his life is

given in Higginbotham's _Men whom India has Known_, 2nd ed., Madras,

1874. See also the editor's paper, 'James Prinsep', in East and West,

Bombay, July, 1906.

17. The monolith pillars alluded to in the text are chiefly those of

the great Emperor Piyadasi, Beloved of the Gods, also known by the

name of Asoka. So far from being memorials of a time when 'the

mechanical arts were in a rude state', the Asoka columns exhibit the

arts of the stone-cutter and sculptor in perfection. They were

erected about 242 to 230 B.C., and the inscriptions on them contain a

code of moral and religions precepts. They do not commemorate

conquests, although the Asoka pillar at Allahabad has been utilized

by later sovereigns for the recording of magniloquent inscriptions in

praise of their grandeur. The best-known of the Asoka pillars are the

two at Delhi, and the one at Allahabad. Many scholars have devoted

themselves to the study of the inscriptions of Asoka, which may be

said to form the foundation of authentic Indian history. The reader

interested in the subject should consult Senart, _Les Inscriptions de

Piyadasi_, t. I and II, Paris, 1881, 1886; V. A. Smith, _Asoka, the

Buddhist Emperor of India_, 2nd ed.. Oxford, 1909; and 'The

Monolithic Pillars or Columns of Asoka' (_Z.D.M.G._, 1911, pp. 221-

10). See also _E.H.I._, 3rd ed. (Oxford, 1914), chap. 6, 7, with

Bibliography. Certain of the Gupta emperors in the fifth century A.C.

also erected monolith pillars. Some of the pillars of the Gupta

period commemorate victories; others are merely religious monuments.

18. Fergusson thought the Kutb Mînâr superior to Giotto's campanile

at Florence in 'poetry of design and exquisite finish of detail'. He

also held it to excel its taller Egyptian rival, the minaret of the

mosque of Hasan at Cairo, in its nobler appearance, as well as in

design and finish. To sum up, he held the Delhi monument to surpass

any building of its class in the whole world. (_Hist. of Indian and

Eastern Architecture_, ed. 1910, vol. ii, p. 206.)

19. Fergusson (ibid.) was mistaken in supposing that the Kutb Mînâr

was intended for anything else than a _mâzina_, or tower from which

the call to prayers should be proclaimed. It is that and nothing

else. Several examples of early mosques with only one _mînâr_ each

are known, at Koil and Bayâna, in India, as well as at Ghaznî and

Cairo. The unfinished _mînâr_ of Alâuddîn near the Kutb Mînâr was

intended for a distinct building, namely, his addition to the

original Kutb mosque. There was no 'other _mînâr_' connected with the

Kutb Mînâr.(Cunningham, _A.S.R._ iv (1874), p. ix.)

The current name of the Kutb Mînâr refers to the saint Khwâja Kutb-

ud-dîn of Ûsh, who lies near the tower, and not to Sultan Kutb-ud-dîn

Aibak or Îbak. The _mînâr_ was erected, about A.D. 1232, by Sultan

Shams-ud-dîn Îltutmish (V. A. Smith, 'Who Built the Kutb Mînâr?'

_East and West_, Bombay, Dec. 1907, pp. 1200-5; B. N. Munshi, _The

Kutb Mînâr, Delhi_, Bombay, 1911).

All the important monuments at or near Delhi are now carefully

conserved, Lord Curzon having organized effective arrangements for

the purpose.

20. The original edition gives a coloured plate of the Kutb Mînâr.

The total height stated in the text, 242 feet, is said by Fergusson

(p. 205, note) to be that ascertained in 1794; the present height of

the _mînâr_, since the modern pavilion on the top has been removed,

is 238 feet 1 inch, according to Cunningham. (_A.S.R._, vol. i, p.

196.) Originally the building was ten, or perhaps twenty, feet

higher. The deep flutings appear to have been suggested by the

_mînârs_ of Mahmûd at Ghaznî, 'which are star polygons in plan, with

deeply indented angles'. The Kutb Mînâr was built by Sultan Îltutmish

alone about A.D. 1232. The statement in most books, including

Fanshawe (pp. 265-8, with plates), that it was _begun_ by Sultan

Kutb-ud-dîn, is erroneous.

21. The notion of the Hindoo origin of the Kutb Mînâr, which the

author justly stigmatizes as 'foolish', was taken up by Sir Sayyid

Ahmad Khân, the author of an Urdû work on the antiquities of Delhi,

and by Sir A. Cunningham's assistant, Mr. Beglar, who wasted a great

part of volume iv of the _Archaeological Survey Reports_ in trying to

prove the paradox. His speculations on the subject were conclusively

refuted by his chief in the Preface (pp. v-x) of the same volume. The

mînâr was built by Hindoo masons, and, in consequence, some of the

details, notably its overlapping or corbelled arches, are Hindoo.

22. This is correct. The Hindoo 'towers of victory' are in a totally

different style.

23. On the misnomer 'Pathâns', see _ante_, previous note 6.

24. The Kutb mosque was constructed from the materials of twenty-

seven Hindoo temples. The colonnades retain much of their Hindoo

character. (Fanshawe, p. 259 and plate.)

25. The author's description of the unfinished tower is far from

accurate. The tower was begun, not by Shams-ud-dîn Îltutmish, but by

Alâ-ud-dîn Muhammad Shâh, in the year A.H. 711 (A.D. 1311). It is

about 82 feet in diameter, and when cased with marble, as was

intended, would have been at least 85 feet in diameter, or nearly

double that of the Kutb Mînâr, which is 48 feet 4 inches. The total

height of the column as it now stands is about 75 feet above the

plinth, or 87 feet above the ground level. (_A.S.R._, vol. i, p. 205;

vol. iv, p. 62, pl. vii; Thomas, _Chronicles_, p. 173, citing

original authorities.) Carr Stephen (p. 67) gives the circumference

as 254 feet, and the height as about 80 feet.

26. Alâ-ud-dîn's additions were never completed. The sack of Delhi by

Tîmûr Lang (Tamerlane) took place in December 1398. The Delhi sacked

by him was the city known as Fîrôzâbâd.

27. The glory of the mosque is . . . the great range of arches on the

western side, extending north and south for about 385 feet, and

consisting of three greater and eight smaller arches; the central one

22 feet wide, and 53 feet high; the larger side-arches, 24 feet 4

inches, and about the same height as the central arch; the smaller

arches, which are unfortunately much ruined, are about half these

dimensions.' The great arch 'has since been carefully restored by

Government under efficient superintendence, and is now as sound and

complete as when first erected. The two great side arches either were

never completed, or have fallen down in consequence of the false mode

of construction.' (Fergusson, _Hist. of I. and E. Archit._, ed. 1910,

vol. ii, pp. 203, 204). The centre arch bears an inscription dated in

A.H. 594, or A.D. 1198 (Thomas, _Chronicles_, p. 24).

28. Most of the description of the Iron Pillar in the text is

erroneous. The pillar has nothing to do with Prithî Râj, who was

slain by the Muhammadans in A.D. 1192 (A.H. 588). The earliest

inscription on it records the victories of a Râjâ Chandra, probably

Chandra-varman, chief of Pokharan in Râjputâna in the fourth century

A.C. (_E.H.I._, 3rd ed., 1914, p. 290, note). The pillar is by no

means 'small' when its material is considered; on the contrary, it is

very large. That material is not 'bronze, or a metal which resembles

bronze', but is pure malleable iron, as proved by analysis. It has

been suggested that this pillar must have been formed by gradually

welding pieces together; if so, it has been done very skilfully,

since no marks of such welding are to be seen. . . . The famous iron

pillar at the Kutb, near Delhi, indicates an amount of skill in the

manipulation of a large mass of wrought iron which has been the

marvel of all who have endeavoured to account for it. It is not many

years since the production of such a pillar would have been an

impossibility in the largest foundries of the world, and even now

there are comparatively few where a similar mass of metal could be

tumed out. . . . The total weight must exceed six tons.' (V. Ball,

_Economic Geology of India_, pp. 338, 339.) The metal is uninjured by

rust, and the inscription is perfect. An exact facsimile is set up in

the Indian Section of the Victoria and Albert Museum at South

Kensington, The pillar is shown, with the smaller arches of the

mosque, in _H.F.A._ fig. 232. See also Fanshawe, pp. 260, 264, and

plates. The inscription was edited by Fleet (_Gupta Inscriptions_,

1888, No. 32). The dimensions of the pillar are as follows: Height

above ground (total), 22 ft,; height below ground, 1 ft. 8 in.;

diameter at base, 16.4 in.; diameter at the capital, 12.05 in.;

height of capital, 3 1/2 ft. At a distance of a few inches below the

surface it expands in a bulbous form to a diameter of 2 ft. 4 in.,

and rests on a gridiron of iron bars, which are fastened with lead

into the stone pavement. (_A.S.R._, vol. iv, p. 28, pl. v.)

This last prosaic fact, established by actual excavation, destroys

the basis of all the current local legends and spurious traditions.

29. This name is printed Ouse in the author's text. The saint

referred to is the celebrated Kutb-ud-dîn Bakhtyâr Kâkî, commonly

called Kutb Shâh, who died on the 27th of November, A.D. 1235.

Îltutmish died in April, A.D. 1236 (Beale).

30. The royal tombs are in the village of Mihraulî, close to the

Kutb. See Carr Stephen, op. cit., pp. 180-4, and Fanshawe, pp. 280-4.

31. That is to say, the revenue administration of Bengal, Bihâr, and

Orissa in 1765.

32. He is now Emperor, having succeeded his father, Akbar Shâh, in

1837. [W. H. S.] He is known as Bahâdur Shâh II. In consequence of

his having joined the rebels in 1857, he was deposed and banished. He

died at Rangoon in 1862, and with him ended the line of Emperors of

Delhi. He was born on the 24th of October, 1775, and so was in his

sixty-first year when the author met him. His father was about

seventy-eight (eighty lunar) years of age at his death.

33. 'Basant' means the spring. The full name of this festival of the

spring time is the Basant Panchamî.

34. According to Harcourt (_The New Guide to Delhi_, 1866), the tomb

of Îltutmish was erected by his children, the Sultânas Rukn-ud-dîn

and Razîa, who reigned in succession after him for short periods,

that is to say, Rukn-ud-dîn Fîrôz Shâh for six months and twenty-

eight days, and the Empress Razîa for about three years, from A.D.

1236 to 1239. (See Carr Stephen, p. 73.) Îltutmish died in April,

A.D. 1236, not in 1235. Fergusson observes that this tomb is of

special interest as being the oldest Muhammadan tomb known to exist

in India. He also remarks (p. 509) that the effect at present is

injured by the want of a roof, which, 'judging from appearance, was

never completed, if ever commenced'. Harcourt (p. 120) states that

'Fîrôz Shâh, who reigned from A.D. 1351 to A.D. 1385 [_sic_, 1388],

is said to have placed a roof to the building, but it is doubtful if

there ever was one, as there are no traces of the same. Cunningham

and Carr Stephen (p. 74) both find sufficient evidence remaining to

satisfy them that a dome once existed. Fanshawe (p. 269) says 'that

the chamber was intended to be roofed is clear from the remains of

the lowest course of a dome on the top of the south wall; but, if it

was built for her father by Sultan Raziya, as seems probable, it is

quite possible that the dome was never completed'. The interior, a

square of 29 1/2 feet, is beautifully and elaborately decorated, and

in wonderful preservation considering its age and the exposure to

which it has been subjected. The walls are over seven feet thick, the

principal entrance being to the east. The tomb is built of red

sandstone and marble; the sarcophagus is in the centre, and is of

pale marble.

35. Sultan Ghiyâs-ud-dîn Balban reigned from February, A.D. 1266 to

1286. I cannot discover any authority for the statement that he

finished the Kutb Mînâr, and 'added the church'. It is not clear

which 'church', or mosque, the author refers to. For a notice of

Balban's tomb and buildings, see Carr Stephen, pp. 79-81, He

certainly did not finish the Kutb Mînâr.

36. See _A.S.R._, vol. i, p. 199. '_Top of the Kutb Mînâr_.--This

octagonal stone pavilion was put up in A.D. 1826 over the Mînâr by

Major Smith, of the Engineers, who had the superintendence of the

repairs of the Kutb, but it was taken down by the order of

Government' (Harcourt, _The New Guide to Delhi_, p. 123). This

'grotesque ornament' was removed in 1848 by order of Lord Hardinge,

and bereft of its wooden pavilion, which had carried a flag-staff

(Carr Stephen, p. 64; Fanshawe, p. 266). It has now been moved

farther and more out of sight.

37. This alleged outrage does not appear to have really occurred. The

author seems to have been misinformed about the position of Alâ-ud-

dîn's tomb, which still exits in the central room of a building, the

eastern wall of which is in part identical with the western wall of

the extension of the Kutb Mosque, built by Îltutmish (Carr Stephen,

op. cit., p. 88). Fanshawe agrees (p. 272).

38. The tomb desecrated by Mr. Blake is on the right of the road

leading from the Kutb Mînâr to the village of Mihraulî, and is either

that of Adham Khân, whom Akbar put to death in A.D. 1562 for the

murder of Shams-ud-dîn Muhammad Atgah Khân, one of the Emperor's

foster fathers, or the neighbouring 'family grave enclosure' of his

brothers, known as the _Chaunsath Khambhâ_, or Hall of Sixty-four

Pillars. Adham Khân's tomb is still, or was until recently, used as a

rest-house (Fanshawe, pp. 14, 228, 242, 256, 278; Carr Stephen, pp.

31, 200, pl. ii). The best-known of the 'kokahs', or foster-brothers,

of Akbar is Azîz, the son of Shams-ud-dîn above mentioned. Azîz

received the title of Khân-i-Azam (Von Noer, _The Emperor Akbar_,

transl. by Beveridge, vol. i, pp. 78, 95; and Blochmann, _Âîn-t-

Akbarî_, vol. i, pp. 321, 323, &c.). The young chief of Jaipur died

in 1834, and in the course of disturbances which followed, the

Political Agent was wounded, and Mr. Blake, his assistant, was killed

(D. Boulger, _Lord William Bentinck_, 'Rulers of India' series, p.

143). I cannot find mention in any authority of Imâm Mashhadî. Mr.

Fraser's murder has been fully described _ante_ chapter 64.

CHAPTER 68

New Delhi, or Shâhjahânâbâd.

On the 22nd of January, 1836, we went on twelve miles to the new city

of Delhi, built by the Emperor Shâhjahân, and called after him

Shâhjahânâbâd; and took up our quarters in the palace of the Bêgam

Samrû, a fine building, agreeably situated in a garden opening into

the great street, with a branch of the great canal running through

it, and as quiet as if it had been in a wilderness.[1] We had

obtained from the Bêgam permission to occupy this palace during our

stay. It was elegantly furnished, the servants were all exceedingly

attentive, and we were very happy.

The Kutb Mînâr stands upon the back of the sandstone range of low

hills, and the road descends over the north-eastern face of this

range for half a mile, and then passes over a level plain all the way

to the new city, which lies on the right bank of the river Jumna. The

whole plain is literally covered with the remains of splendid

Muhammadan mosques and mausoleums. These Muhammadans seem as if they

had always in their thoughts the saying of Christ which Akbar has

inscribed on the gateway at Fathpur Sîkrî: 'Life is a bridge which

you are to pass over, and not to build your dwellings upon.'[2] The

buildings which they have left behind them have almost all a

reference to a future state--they laid out their means in a church,

in which the Deity might be propitiated; in a tomb where leaned and

pious men might chant their Korân over their remains, and youth be

instructed in their duties; in a serai, a bridge, a canal built

gratuitously for the public good, that those who enjoyed these

advantages from generation to generation might pray for the repose of

their souls. How could it be otherwise where the land was the

property of Government, where capital was never concentrated or safe,

when the only aristocracy was that of office, while the Emperor was

the sole recognized heir of all his public officers?

The only thing that he could not inherit were his tombs, his temples,

his bridges, his canals, his caravanserais. I was acquainted with the

history of most of the great men whose tombs and temples I visited

along the road; but I asked in vain for a sight of the palaces they

occupied in their day of pride and power. They all had, no doubt,

good houses agreeably situated, like that of the Bêgam Samrû, in the

midst of well-watered gardens and shrubberies, delightful in their

season; but they cared less about them--they knew that the Emperor

was heir to every member of the great body to which they belonged,

the _aristocracy of office_; and might transfer all their wealth to

his treasury, and all their palaces to their successors, the moment

the breath should be out of their bodies.[3] If their sons got

office, it would neither be in the same grades nor in the same places

as those of their fathers.

How different it is in Europe, where our aristocracy is formed upon a

different basis; no one knows where to find the tombs in which the

remains of great men who have passed away repose; or the churches and

colleges they have founded; or the serâis, the bridges, the canals

they formed gratuitously for the public good; but everybody knows

where to find their 'proud palaces'; life is not to them 'a bridge

over which they are to pass, and not build their dwellings upon'. The

eldest sons enjoy all the patrimonial estates, and employ them as

best they may to get their younger brothers into situations in the

church, the army, the navy, and other public establishments, in which

they may be honourably and liberally provided for out of the public

purse.

About half-way between the great tower and the new city, on the left-

hand side of the road, stands the tomb of Mansûr Alî Khân, the great-

grandfather of the present King of Oudh. Of all the tombs to be seen

in this immense extent of splendid ruins, this is perhaps the only

one raised over a subject, the family of whose inmates are now in a

condition even to keep it in repair. It is a very beautiful

mausoleum, built after the model of the Tâj at Agra; with this

difference, that the external wall around the quadrangle of the Tâj

is here, as it were, thrown back, and closed in upon the tomb. The

beautiful gateway at the entrance of the gardens of the Tâj forms

each of the four sides of the tomb of Mansûr Alî Khân, with all its

chaste beauty of design, proportion, and ornament.[4] The quadrangle

in which this mausoleum stands is about three hundred and fifty yards

square, surrounded by a stone wall, with handsome gateways, and

filled in the same manner as that of the Tâj at Agra, with cisterns

and fruit-trees. Three kinds of stones are used--white marble, red

sandstone, and the fine white and flesh-coloured sandstone of Rupbâs.

The dome is of white marble, and exactly of the same form as that of

the Tâj; but it stands on a neck or base of sandstone with twelve

sides, and the marble is of a quality very inferior to that of the

Tâj. It is of coarse dolomite, and has become a good deal discoloured

by time, so as to give it the appearance, which Bishop Heber noticed,

of _potted meat_. The neck is not quite so long as that of the Tâj,

and is better covered by the marble cupolas that stand above each

face of the building. The four noble minarets are, however, wanting.

The apartments are all in number and form exactly like those of the

Tâj, but they are somewhat less in size. In the centre of the first

floor lies the beautiful marble slab that bears the date of this

small pillar of a _tottering state_, A.H. 1167;[5] and in a vault

underneath repose his remains by the side of those of one of his

grand-daughters. The graves that cover these remains are of plain

earth strewed with fresh flowers, and covered with plain cloth. About

two miles from this tomb to the east stands that of the father of

Akbar, Humâyûn, a large and magnificent building. As I rode towards

this building to see the slab that covers the head of poor Dârâ

Shikoh, I frequently cast a lingering look behind to view, as often

as I could, this very pretty imitation of the most beautiful of all

the tombs of the earth.[6]

On my way I turned in to see the tomb of the celebrated saint, Nizâm-

ud-dîn Auliâ, the defeater of the Transoxianian army under Tarmah

Shîrîn in 1303, to which pilgrimages are still made from all parts of

India.[7] It is a small building, surmounted by a white marble dome,

and kept very clean and neat.[8] By its side is that of the poet

Khusrû, his contemporary and friend, who moved about where he pleased

through the palace of the Emperor Tughlak Shâh the First, five

hundred years ago, and sang extempore to his lyre while the greatest

and the fairest watched his lips to catch the expressions as they

came warm from his soul. His popular songs are still the most

popular; and he is one of the favoured few who live through ages in

the every-day thoughts and feelings of many millions, while the

crowned heads that patronized them in their brief day of pomp and

power are forgotten, or remembered merely as they happened to be

connected with them. His tomb has also a dome, and the grave is

covered with rich brocade,[9] and attended with as much reverence and

devotion as that of the great saint himself, while those of the

emperors, kings, and princes that have been crowded around them are

entirely disregarded. A number of people are employed to read the

Korân over the grave of the old saint (_scil._ Nizâm-ud-dîn), who

died A.H. 725 [A.D. 1324-5], and are paid by contributions from the

present Emperor, and the members of his family, who occasionally come

in their hour of need to entreat his intercession with the Deity in

their favour, and by the humble pilgrims who flock from all parts for

the same purpose. A great many boys are here educated by those

readers of their sacred volume. All my attendants bowed their heads

to the dust before the shrine of the saint, but they seemed

especially indifferent to those of the royal family, which are all

open to the sky. Respect shown or neglect towards them could bring

neither good nor evil, while any slight to the tomb of the _crusty

old saint_ might be of serious consequence.

In an enclosure formed by marble screens beautifully carved is the

tomb of the favourite son of the present Emperor,[10] Mirzâ Jahângîr,

whom I knew intimately at Allahabad in 1816,[11] when he was killing

himself as fast as he could with Hoffman's cherry brandy. 'This ', he

would say to me, 'is really the only liquor that you Englishmen have

worth drinking, and its only fault is that it makes one drunk too

soon.' To prolong his pleasure, he used to limit himself to one large

glass every hour, till he got dead drunk. Two or three sets of

dancing women and musicians used to relieve each other in amusing him

during this interval. He died, of course, soon, and the poor old

Emperor was persuaded by his mother, the favourite sultana, that he

had fallen a victim to sighing and grief at the treatment of the

English, who would not permit him to remain at Delhi, where he was

continually employed in attempts to assassinate his eldest brother,

the heir apparent, and to stir up insurrections among the people. He

was not in confinement at Allahabad, but merely prohibited from

returning to Delhi. He had a splendid dwelling, a good income, and

all the honours due to his rank.[12]

In another enclosure of the same kind are the Emperor Muhammad

Shâh,[13]--who reigned when Nâdir Shâh invaded Delhi--his mother,

wife, and daughter; and in another close by is the tomb which

interested me most, that of Jahânârâ Bêgam, the favourite sister of

poor Dârâ Shikoh, and daughter of Shâh Jahân.[14] It stands in the

same enclosure, with the brother of the present Emperor on one side,

and his daughter on the other. Her remains are covered with a marble

slab hollow at the top, and exposed to the sky--the hollow is filled

with earth covered with green grass. Upon her tomb is the following

inscription, the three first lines of which are said to have been

written by herself:-

Let no rich canopy cover my grave.

This grass is the best covering for the tombs

of the poor in spirit.

The humble, the transitory Jahânârâ,

The disciple of the holy men of Chisht,

The daughter of the Emperor Shâh Jahân.'

I went over the magnificent tomb of Humâyûn, which was raised over

his remains by the Emperor Akbar. It stands in the centre of a

quadrangle of about four hundred yards square, with a cloistered wall

all round; but I must not describe any more tombs.[15] Here, under a

marble slab, lies the head of poor Dârâ Shikoh, who, but for a little

infirmity of temper, had perhaps changed the destinies of India, by

changing the character of education among the aristocracy of the

countries under his rule, and preventing the birth of the Marâthâ

powers by leaving untouched the independent kingdoms of the Deccan,

upon whose ruins, under his bigoted brother, the former rose. Secular

and religions education were always inseparably combined among the

Muhammadans, and invited to India from Persia by the public offices,

civil and military, which men of education and courtly manners could

alone obtain. These offices had long been exclusively filled by such

men, who flocked in crowds to India from Khorâsân and Persia. Every

man qualified by secular instruction to make his way at court and

fill such offices was disposed by his religions instruction to assert

the supremacy of his creed, and to exclude the followers of every

other from the employments over which he had any control. The

aristocracy of office was the ocean to which this stream of

Muhammadan education flowed from the west, and spread all over India;

and had Dârâ subdued his brothers and ascended the throne, he would

probably have arrested the flood by closing the public offices

against these Persian adventurers, and filling them with Christians

and Hindoos. This would have changed the character of the aristocracy

and the education of the people.[16]

While looking upon the slab under which his head reposes, I thought

of the slight 'accidents by flood and field', the still slighter

thought of the brain and feeling of the heart, on which the destinies

of nations and of empires often depend--on the discovery of the great

diamond in the mines of Golconda--on the accident which gave it into

the hands of an ambitions Persian adventurer--on the thought which

suggested the advantage of presenting it to Shâh Jahân--on the

feeling which made Dârâ get off, and Aurangzêb sit on his elephant at

the battle of Samûgarh, on which depended the fate of India, and

perhaps the advancement of the Christian religion and European

literature and science over India.[17] But for the accident which

gave Charles Martel the victory over the Saracens at Tours,[18]

Arabic and Persian had perhaps been the classical languages, and

Islamism the religion of Europe; and where we have cathedrals and

colleges we might have had mosques and mausoleums; and America and

the Cape, the compass and the press, the steam-engine, the telescope,

and the Copernican System, might have remained still undiscovered;

and but for the accident which turned Hannibal's face from Rome after

the battle of Cannae, or that which intercepted his brother

Asdrubal's letter, we might now all be speaking the languages of Tyre

and Sidon, and roasting our own children in offerings to Siva or

Saturn, instead of saving those of the Hindoos. Poor Dârâ! but for

thy little jealousy of thy father and thy son, thy desire to do all

thy work without their aid, and those occasional ebullitions of

passion which alienated from thee the most powerful of all the Hindoo

princes, whom it was so much thy wish and thy interest to cherish,

thy generous heart and enlightened mind had reigned over this vast

empire, and made it, perchance, the garden it deserves to be made.

I visited the celebrated mosque known by the name of Jâmi (Jumma)

Masjid, a fine building raised by Shâh Jahân, and finished in six

years, A.H. 1060, at a cost of ten lâkhs of rupees or one hundred

thousand pounds. Money compared to man's labour and subsistence is

still four times more valuable in India than in England; and a

similar building in England would cost at least four hundred thousand

pounds. It is, like all the buildings raised by this Emperor, in the

best taste and style.[19] I was attended by three well-dressed and

modest Hindoos, and a Muhammadan servant of the Emperor. My attention

was so much taken up with the edifice that I did not perceive, till I

was about to return, that the doorkeepers had stopped my three

Hindoos. I found that they had offered to leave their shoes behind,

and submit to anything to be permitted to follow me; but the porters

had, they said, strict orders to admit no worshippers of idols; for

their master was a man of the book, and had, therefore, got a little

of the truth in him, though unhappily not much, since his heart had

not been opened to that of the Korân. Nathû could have told him that

he also had a book, which he and some fourscore millions more thought

as good as his or better; but he was afraid to descant upon the

merits of his 'shâstras', and the miracles of Kishan Jî [Krishna],

among such fierce, cut-throat-looking people; he looked, however, as

if he could have eaten the porter, Korân and all, when I came to

their rescue. The only volumes which Muhammadans designate by the

name of the book are the Old and New Testaments, and the Korân.

I visited also the palace, which was built by the same Emperor. It

stands on the right bank of the Jumna, and occupies a quadrangle

surrounded by a high wall built of red sandstone, about one mile in

circumference; one side looks down into the clear stream of the

Jumna, while the others are surrounded by the streets of the

city.[20] The entrance is by a noble gateway to the west;[21] and

facing this gateway on the inside, a hundred and twenty yards

distant, is the Dîwân-î-Amm, or the common hall of audience. This is

a large hall, the roof of which is supported upon four colonnades of

pillars of red sandstone, now white-washed, but once covered with

stucco work and gilded. On one of these pillars is shown the mark of

the dagger of a Hindoo prince of Chitôr, who, in the presence of the

Emperor, stabbed to the heart one of the Muhammadan ministers who

made use of some disrespectful language towards him. On being asked

how he presumed to do this in the presence of his sovereign he

answered in the very words almost of Roderic Dhu,

I right my wrongs where they are given,

Though it were in the court of Heaven.[22]

The throne projects into the hall from the back in front of the large

central arch; it is raised ten feet above the floor, and is about ten

feet wide, and covered by a marble canopy, all beautifully inlaid

with mosaic work exquisitely finished, but now much dilapidated. The

room or recess in which the throne stands is open to the front, and

about fifteen feet wide and six deep. There is a door at the back by

which the Emperor entered from his private apartments, and one on his

left, from which his prime minister or chief officer of state

approached the throne by a flight of steps leading into the hall. In

front of the throne, and raised some three feet above the floor, is a

fine large slab of white marble, on which one of the secretaries

stood during the hours of audience to hand up to the throne any

petitions that were presented, and to receive and convey commands. As

the people approached over the intervening one hundred and twenty

yards between the gateway and the hall of audience they were made to

bow down lower and lower to the figure of the Emperor, as he sat upon

his throne, without deigning to show by any motion of limb or muscle

that he was really made of flesh and blood, and not cut out of the

marble he sat upon.

The marble walls on three sides of this recess are inlaid with

precious stones representing some of the most beautiful birds and

flowers of India, according to the boundaries of the country when

Shâh Jahân built this palace, which included Kâbul and Kâshmîr,

afterwards severed from it on the invasion of Nadir Shâh.[23]

On the upper part of the back wall is represented, in the same

precious stones, and in a graceful attitude, a European in a kind of

Spanish costume, playing upon his guitar, and in the character of

Orpheus charming the birds and beasts which he first taught the

people of India so well to represent in this manner. This I have no

doubt was intended by Austin de Bordeaux for himself. The man from

Shîrâz, Amânat Khân, who designed all the noble Tughra characters in

which the passages from the Korân are inscribed upon different parts

of the Tâj at Agra, was permitted to place his own name in the same

bold characters on the right-hand side as we enter the tomb of the

Emperor and his queen. It is inscribed after the date, thus, A.H.

1048 [A.D. 1638-9], 'The humble fakîr Amânat Khân of Shirâz.' Austin

was a still greater favourite than Amânat Khân; and the Emperor Shâh

Jahân, no doubt, readily acceded to his wishes to have himself

represented in what appeared to him and his courtiers so beautiful a

picture.[24]

The Dîwân-i-Khâs, or hall of private audience, is a much more

splendid building than the other from its richer materials, being all

built of white marble beautifully ornamented. The roof is supported

upon colonnades of marble pillars. The throne stands in the centre of

this hall, and is ascended by steps, and covered by a canopy, with

four artificial peacocks on the four corners.[25] Here, thought I, as

I entered this apartment, sat Aurangzêb when he ordered the

assassination of his brothers Dârâ and Murâd, and the imprisonment

and destruction by slow poison of his son Muhammad, who had so often

fought bravely by his side in battle. Here also, but a few months

before, sat the great Shâh Jahân to receive the insolent commands of

this same grandson Muhammad when flushed with victory, and to offer

him the throne, merely to disappoint the hopes of the youth's father,

Aurangzêb. Here stood in chains the graceful Sulaimân, to receive his

sentence of death by slow poison with his poor young brother Sipihr

Shikoh, who had shared all his father's toils and dangers, and

witnessed his brutal murder.[26] Here sat Muhammad Shâh, bandying

compliments with his ferocious conqueror, Nâdir Shâh, who had

destroyed his armies, plundered his treasury, stripped his throne,

and ordered the murder of a hundred thousand of the helpless

inhabitants of his capital, men, women, and children, in a general

massacre. The bodies of these people lay in the streets tainting the

air, while the two sovereigns sat here sipping their coffee, and

swearing to the most deliberate lies in the name of their God,

Prophet, and Korân;--all are now dust; that of the oppressor

undistinguishable from that of the oppressed.[27]

Within this apartment and over the side arches at one end is

inscribed in black letters the celebrated couplet, 'If there be a

paradise on the face of the earth, it is this--it is this--it is

this.[28] Anything more unlike paradise than this place now is can

hardly be conceived. Here are crowded together twelve hundred _kings_

and _queens_ (for all the descendants of the Emperors assume the

title of Salâtîn, the plural of Sultan) literally eating each other

up.[29]

Government, from motives of benevolence, has here attempted to

apportion out the pension they assign to the Emperor, to the

different members of his great family circle who are to be subsisted

upon it, instead of leaving it to his own discretion. This has

perhaps tended to prevent the family from throwing off its useless

members to mix with the common herd, and to make the population press

against the means of subsistence within these walls. Kings and queens

of the house of Tîmûr are to be found lying about in scores, like

broods of vermin, without food to eat or clothes to cover their

nakedness. It has been proposed by some to establish colleges for

them in the palace to fit them by education for high offices under

our Government. Were this done, this pensioned family, which never

can possibly feel well affected towards our Government or any

Government but their own, would alone send out men enough to fill all

the civil offices open to the natives of the country, to the

exclusion of the members of the humbler but better affected families

of Muhammadans and Hindoos. If they obtained the offices they would

be educated for, the evil to Government and to society would be very

great; and if they did not get them, the evil would be great to

themselves, since they would be encouraged to entertain hopes that

could not be realized. Better let them shift for themselves and

quietly sink among the crowd. They would only become rallying points

for the dissatisfaction and multiplied sources of disaffection;

everywhere doing mischief, and nowhere doing good. Let loose upon

society, they everywhere disgust people by their insolence and

knavery, against which we are every day required to protect the

people by our interference; the prestige of their name will by

degrees diminish, and they will sink by and by into utter

insignificance. During his stay at Jubbulpore, Kâmbaksh, the nephew

of the Emperor, whom I have already mentioned as the most sensible

member of the family,[30] did an infinite deal of good by cheating

almost all the tradesmen of the town. Till he came down among them

with all his ragamuffins from Delhi, men thought the Padshâhs and

their progeny must be something superhuman, something not to be

spoken of, much less approached, without reverence. During the latter

part of his stay my court was crowded with complaints; and no one has

ever since heard a scion of the house of Tîmûr spoken of but as a

thing to be avoided--a person more prone than others to take in his

neighbours. One of these _kings_, who has not more than ten shillings

a month to subsist himself and family upon, will, in writing to the

representative of the British Government, address him as 'Fidwî

Khâs', 'Your particular slave'; and be addressed in reply with 'Your

majesty's commands have been received by your slave.'[31]

I visited the college which is in the mausoleum of Ghâzî-ud-dîn, a

fine building, with its usual accompaniment of a mosque and a

college. The slab that covers the grave, and the marble screens that

surround the ground that contains it, are amongst the most richly cut

things that I have seen. The learned and pious Muhammadans in the

institution told me in my morning visit that there should always be a

small hollow in the top of marble slabs, like that on Jahânârâ's,

whenever any of them were placed over graves, in order to admit

water, earth, and grass; but that, strictly speaking, no slab should

be allowed to cover the grave, as it could not fail to be in the way

of the dead when summoned to get up by the trumpet of Azraîl on the

day of the resurrection.'[32] 'Earthly pride,' said they, 'has

violated this rule; and now everybody that can afford it gets a

marble slab put over his grave. But it is not only in this that men

have been falling off from the letter and spirit of the law; for we

now hear drums beating and trumpets sounding even among the tombs of

the saints, a thing that our forefathers would not have considered

possible. In former days it was only a prophet like Moses, Jesus, or

Muhammad, that was suffered to have a stone placed over his head.' I

asked them how it was that the people crowded to the tombs of their

saints, as I saw them at that of Kutb Shâh in old Delhi, on the

Basant, a Hindoo festival. 'It only shows,' said they 'that the end

of the world is approaching. Are we not divided into seventy-two

sects among ourselves, all falling off into Hinduism, and every day

committing greater and greater follies? These are the manifest signs

long ago pointed out by wise and holy men as indicating the approach

of the _last day_.'[33]

A man might make a curious book out of the indications of the end of

the world according to the notions of different people or different

individuals. The Hindoos have had many different worlds or ages; and

the change from the good to the bad, or the golden to the iron age,

is considered to have been indicated by a thousand curious

incidents.[34] I one day asked an old Hindoo priest, a very worthy

man, what made the five heroes of the Mahâbhârata, the demigod

brothers of Indian story, leave the plains and bury themselves no one

knew where, in the eternal snows of the Himâlaya mountains. 'Why,

sir,' said he, 'there is no question about that. Yudhisthira, the

eldest, who reigned quietly at Delhi after the long war, one day sat

down to dinner with his four brothers and their single wife,

Draupadî; for you know, sir, they had only one among them all. The

king said grace and the covers were removed, when, to their utter

consternation, a full-grown fly was seen seated upon the dish of rice

that stood before his majesty. Yudhisthira rose in consternation.

'When flies begin to blow upon men's dinners,' said his majesty, 'you

may be sure, my brothers, that the end of the world is near--the

golden age is gone--the iron one has commenced, and we must all be

off; the plains of India are no longer a fit abode for gentlemen.'

Without taking one morsel of food,' added the priest, 'they set out,

and were never after seen or heard of. They were, however, traced by

manifest supernatural signs up through the valley of the Ganges to

the snow tops of the Himâlaya, in which they no doubt left their

mortal coils.' They seem to feel a singular attachment for the

birthplace of their great progenitrix, for no place in the world is,

I suppose, more infested by them than Delhi, at present; and there a

dish of rice without a fly would, in the iron, be as rare a thing as

a dish with one in the golden, age.

Muhammadans in India sigh for the restoration of the old Muhammadan

regime, not from any particular attachment to the descendants of

Tîmûr, but with precisely the same feelings that Whigs and Tories

sigh for the return to power of their respective parties in England;

it would give them all the offices in a country where office is

everything. Among them, as among ourselves, every man is disposed to

rate his own abilities highly, and to have a good deal of confidence

in his own good luck; and all think that if the field were once

opened to them by such a change, they should very soon be able to

find good places for themselves and their children in it. Perhaps

there are few communities in the world among whom education is more

generally diffused than among Muhammadans in India. He who holds an

office worth twenty rupees a month commonly gives his sons an

education equal to that of a prime minister. They learn, through the

medium of the Arabic and Persian languages, what young men in our

colleges learn through those of the Greek and Latin--that is,

grammar, rhetoric, and logic. After his seven years of study, the

young Muhammadan binds his turban upon a head almost as well filled

with the things which appertain to these branches of knowledge as the

young man raw from Oxford--he will talk as fluently about Socrates

and Aristotle, Plato, and Hippocrates, Galen and Avicenna: (_alias_

Sokrât, Aristotalis, Aflâtûn, Bokrât, Jâlînus, and Bû Alî Sena); and,

what is much to his advantage in India, the languages in which he has

learnt what he knows are those which he most requires through

life.[35] He therefore thinks himself as well fitted to fill the high

offices which are now filled exclusively by Europeans, and naturally

enough wishes the establishments of that power would open them to

him. On the faculties and operations of the human mind, on man's

passions and affections, and his duties in all relations of life, the

works of Imâm Muhammad Ghazâlî[36] and Nâsir-ud-dîn Tûsî[37] hardly

yield to those of Plato and Aristotle, or to those of any other

authors who have written on the same subjects in any country. These

works, the _Ihya-ul-ulûm_, epitomized into the _Kîmiâ-i-Saâdat_, and

the _Akhlâk-i-Nâsirî_, with the didactic poems of Sâdî,[38] are the

great 'Pierian spring' of moral instruction from which the Muhammadan

delights to 'drink deep' from infancy to old age; and a better spring

it would be difficult to find in the works of any other three men.

It is not only the desire for office that makes the educated

Muhammadans cherish the recollection of the old regime in Hîndustan:

they say, 'We pray every night for the Emperor and his family,

because our forefathers ate the salt of his forefathers'; that is,

our ancestors were in the service of his ancestors; and,

consequently, were the _aristocracy_ of the country. Whether they

really were so matters not; they persuade themselves or their

children that they were. This is a very common and a very innocent

sort of vanity. We often find Englishmen in India, and I suppose in

all the rest of our foreign settlements, sporting high Tory opinions

and feelings, merely with a view to have it supposed that their

families are, or at some time were, among the aristocracy of the

land. To express a wish for Conservative predominance is the same

thing with them as to express a wish for the promotion in the Army,

Navy, or Church of some of their near relations; and thus to indicate

that they are among the privileged class whose wishes the Tories

would be obliged to consult were they in power.[39]

Man is indeed 'fearfully and wonderfully made'; to be fitted himself

for action in the world, or for directing ably the actions of others,

it is indispensably necessary that he should mix freely from his

youth up with his fellow men. I have elsewhere mentioned that the

state of imbecility to which a man of naturally average powers of

intellect may be reduced when brought up with his mother in the

seraglio is inconceivable to those who have not had opportunities of

observing it.[40] The poor old Emperor of Delhi, to whom so many

millions look up, is an instance. A more venerable-looking man it is

difficult to conceive, and had he been educated and brought up with

his fellow men, he would no doubt have had a mind worthy of his

person.[41] As it is, he has never been anything but a baby. Râjâ

Jîvan Râm, an excellent portrait painter, and a very honest and

agreeable person, was lately employed to take the Emperor's portrait.

After the first few sittings, the portrait was taken into the

seraglio to the ladies. The next time he came, the Emperor requested

him to remove the great _blotch from under the nose_. 'May it please

your majesty, it is impossible to draw any person without _a shadow_;

and I hope many millions will long continue to repose under that of

your majesty.' 'True, Râjâ,' said his majesty, 'men must have

shadows; but there is surely no necessity for placing them

immediately under their noses. The ladies will not allow mine to be

put there; they say it looks as if I had been taking snuff all my

life, and it certainly has a most filthy appearance; besides, it is

all awry, as I told you when you began upon it.' The Râjâ was obliged

to remove from under the imperial, and certainly very noble, nose,

the shadow which he had thought worth all the rest of the picture.

Queen Elizabeth is said, by an edict, to have commanded all artists

who should paint her likeness, 'to place her in a garden with a full

light upon her, and the painter to put _any shadow_ in her face at

his peril'. The next time the Râjâ came, the Emperor took the

opportunity of consulting him upon a subject that had given him a

good deal of anxiety for many months, the dismissal of one of his

personal servants who had become negligent and disrespectful. He

first took care that no one should be within hearing, and then

whispered in the artist's ear that he wished to dismiss this man. The

Râjâ said carelessly, as he looked from the imperial head to the

canvas, 'Why does your majesty not discharge the man if he displeases

you?'

'Why do I not discharge him? I wish to do so, of course, and have

wished to do so for many months, but _kuchh tadbîr châhiye_, some

plan of operations must be devised.' 'If your majesty dislikes the

man, you have only to order him outside the gates of the palace, and

you are relieved from his presence at once.' 'True, man, I am

relieved from his presence, but his enchantments may still reach me;

it is them that I most dread--he keeps me in a continual state of

alarm; and I would give anything to get him away in a good humour.'

When the Râjâ return to Meerut, he received a visit from one of the

Emperor's sons or nephews, who wanted to see the place. His tents

were pitched upon the plain not far from the theatre; he arrived in

the evening, and there happened to be a play that night. Several

times during the night he got a message from the prince to say that

the ground near his tents was haunted by all manner of devils. The

Râjâ sent to assure him that this could not possibly be the case. At

last a man came about midnight to say that the prince could stand it

no longer, and had given orders to prepare for his immediate return

to Delhi; for the devils were increasing so rapidly that they must

all be inevitably devoured before daybreak if they remained. The Râjâ

now went to the prince's camp, here he found him and his followers in

a state of utter consternation, looking towards the theatre. The last

carriages were leaving the theatre, and going across the plain; and

these silly people had taken them all for devils.[42]

The present pensioned imperial family f Delhi are commonly considered

to be of the house of Tîmûr lang (the Lame), because Bâbur, the real

founder of the dynasty, was descended from him in the seventh

stage.[43] Tîmûr merely made a predatory inroad into India, to kill a

few million of unbelievers,[44] plunder the country of all the

movable valuables he and his soldiers could collect, and take back

into slavery all the best artificers of all kinds that they could lay

their hands upon. He left no one to represent him in India, he

claimed no sovereignty, and founded no dynasty there. There is no

doubt much in the prestige of a name; and though six generations had

passed away, the people of Northern India still trembled at that of

the lame monster. Bâbur wished to impress upon the minds of the

people the notion that he had at his back the same army of demons

that Tîmûr had commanded; and be boasted his descent from him for the

same motive that Alexander boasted his from the horned and cloven-

footed god of the Egyptian desert, as something to sanctify all

enterprises, justify the use of all means, and carry before him the

belief in his invincibility.

Bâbur was an admirable chief--a fit founder of a great dynasty--a

very proper object for the imagination of future generations to dwell

upon, though not quite so good as his grandson, the great Akbar.

Tîmûr was a ferocious monster, who knew how to organize and command

the set of demons who composed his army, and how best to direct them

for the destruction of the civilized portion of mankind and their

works; but who knew nothing else.[45] In his invasion of India he

caused the people of the towns and villages through which he passed

to be all massacred without regard to religion, age, or sex. If the

soldiers in the town resisted, the people were all murdered because

they did so; if they did not, the people were considered to have

forfeited their lives to the conquerors for being conquered; and told

to purchase them by the surrender of all their property, the value of

which was estimated by commissaries appointed for the purpose. The

price was always more than they could pay; and after torturing a

certain number to death in the attempt to screw the sum out of them,

the troops were let in to murder the rest; so that no city, town, or

village escaped; and the very grain collected for the army, over and

above what they could consume at any stage, was burned, lest it might

relieve some hungry infidel of the country who had escaped from the

general carnage.

All the soldiers, high and low, were murdered when taken prisoners,

as a matter of course; but the officers and soldiers of Tîmûr's army,

after taking all the valuable movables, thought they might be able to

find a market for the artificers by whom they were made, and for

their families; and they collected together an immense number of men,

women, and children. All who asked for mercy pretended to be able to

make something that these Tartars had taken a liking to. On coming

before Delhi, Tîmûr's army encamped on the opposite or left bank of

the river Jumna; and here he learned that his soldiers had collected

together above one hundred thousand of these artificers, besides

their women and children. There were no soldiers among them; but

Tîmûr thought it might be troublesome either to keep them or to turn

them away without their women and children; and still more so to make

his soldiers send away these women and children immediately. He asked

whether the prisoners were not for the most part unbelievers in his

prophet Muhammad; and being told that the majority were Hindoos, he

gave orders that every man should be put to death; and that any

officer or soldier who refused to kill or have killed all such men,

should suffer death. 'As soon as this order was made known,' says

Tîmûr's historian and great eulogist, 'the officers and soldiers

began to put it in execution; and, in less than one hour, one hundred

thousand prisoners, according to the smallest computation, were put

to death and their bodies thrown into the river Jumna. Among the

rest, Mulânâ Nasîr-ud-dîn Amr, one of the most venerable doctors of

the court, who would never consent so much as to kill a single sheep,

was constrained to order fifteen slaves, whom he had in his tents, to

be slain. Tîmûr then gave orders that one-tenth of his soldiers

should keep watch over the Indian women, children, and camels taken

in the pillage.'[46]

The city was soon after taken, and the people commanded, as usual, to

purchase their lives by the surrender of their property--troops were

sent in to take it--numbers were tortured to death--and then the

usual pillage and massacre of the whole people followed without

regard to religion, age, or sex; and about a hundred thousand more of

innocent and unoffending people were murdered. The troops next

massacred the inhabitants of the old city, which had become crowded

with fugitives from the new;[47] the last remnant took refuge in a

mosque, where two of Tîmûr's most distinguished generals rushed in

upon them at the head of five hundred soldiers; and, as the amiable

historian tells us, 'sent to the abyss of hell the souls of these

infidels, of whose heads they erected towers, and gave their bodies

for food to birds and beasts of prey'. Being at last tired of

slaughter, the soldiers made slaves of the survivors, and drove them

out in chains; and, as they passed, the officers were allowed to

select any they liked except the masons, whom Tîmûr required to build

for him at Samarkand a church similar to that of Îltutmish in old

Delhi.

He now set out to take Meerut, which was at that time a fortified

town of much note. The people determined to defend themselves, and

happened to say that Tarmah Shirîn, who invaded India at the head of

a similar body of Tartars a century before,[48] had been unable to

take the place. This so incensed Tîmûr that he brought all his forces

to bear on Meerut, took the place, and having had all the Hindoo men

found in it _skinned alive_, he distributed their wives and children

among his soldiers as slaves. He now sent out a division of his army

to murder unbelievers, and collect plunder, over the cultivated

plains between the Ganges and Jumna, while he led the main body on

the same _pious duty_ along the hills from Hardwâr[49] on the Ganges

to the west. Having massacred a few thousands of the hill people,

Tîmûr read the noon prayer, and returned thanks to God for the

victories he had gained, and the numbers he had murdered through his

goodness; and told his admiring army that a religions war like this

produced two great advantages: it secured eternal happiness in

heaven, and a good store of valuable spoils on earth--that his design

in all the fatigues and labours which he had undertaken was solely to

render himself _pleasing to God_, treasure up _good works_ for his

eternal happiness, and get riches to bestow upon his soldiers and the

poor. The historian makes a grave remark upon this invasion: The

Korân declares that the highest glory man can attain in this world is

unquestionably waging a successful war in person against the enemies

of his religion (no matter whether those against whom it is waged

happen ever to have heard of this religion or not). Muhammad

inculcated the same doctrine in his discourses with his friends; and,

in consequence, the great Tîmûr always strove to exterminate all the

unbelievers, with a view to acquire that glory, and to spread the

renown of his conquests. 'My name', said he, 'has spread terror

through the universe, and the least motion I make is capable of

shaking the whole earth.'

Tîmûr returned to his capital of Samarkand in Transoxiana in May,

1399. His army, besides other things which they brought from India,

had an immense number of men, women, and children, whom they had

reduced to slavery, and driven along like flocks of sheep to forage

for their subsistence in the countries through which they passed, or

perish. After the murder on the banks of the Jumna of part of the

multitude they had collected before taking the capital, amounting to

one hundred thousand men, Tîmûr was obliged to assign one-tenth of

his army to guard what were left, the women and children. 'After the

murder in the capital of Delhi,' says the historian, an eye-witness,

'there were some soldiers who had a hundred and fifty slaves, men,

women, and children, whom they drove out of the city before them; and

some soldiers' boys had twenty slaves to their own share.' On

reaching Samarkand, they employed these slaves as best they could;

and Tîmûr employed his, the masons, in raising his great church from

the quarries of the neighbouring hills.[50]

In October following, Tîmûr led this army of demons over the rich and

polished countries of Syria, Anatolia, and Georgia, levelling all the

cities, towns, and villages, and massacring the inhabitants without

any regard to age or sex, with the same _amiable view_ of correcting

the notions of people regarding his creed, propitiating the Deity,

and rewarding his soldiers. He sent to the Christian inhabitants of

Smyrna, then one of the first commercial cities in the world, to

request that they would at once embrace Muhammadanism, in the

_beauties_ of which the general and his soldiers had orders

generously and diligently to instruct them. They refused, and Tîmûr

repaired immediately to the spot, that he might 'share in the merit

of sending their souls to the abyss of hell'. Bajazet, the Turkish

emperor of Anatolia, had recently terminated an unavailing siege of

seven years. Tîmûr took the city in fourteen days, December,

1402;[51] had every man, woman, and child that he found in it

murdered; and caused some of the heads of the Christians to be thrown

by his balistas or catapultas into the ships that had come from

different European nations to their succour. All other Christian

communities found within the wide range of this dreadful tempest were

swept off in the same manner, nor did Muhammadan communities fare

better. After the taking of Baghdad, every Tartar soldier was ordered

to cut off and bring away the head of one or more prisoners, because

some of the Tartar soldiers had been killed in the attack; 'and they

spared', says the historian, 'neither old men of fourscore, nor young

children of eight years of age; no quarter was given either to rich

or poor, and the number of dead was so great that they could not be

counted; towers were made of their heads to serve as an example to

posterity.' Ninety thousand were murdered in cold blood, and one

hundred and twenty pyramids were made of the heads for trophies.

Damascus, Nice, Aleppo, Sebastê,[52] and all the other rich and

populous cities of Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, and Georgia, then

the most civilized region of the world, shared in the same fate; all

were reduced to ruins, and their people, without regard to religion,

age, or sex, barbarously and brutally murdered.

In the beginning of 1405, this man recollected that, among the many

millions of unbelieving Christians and Hindoos 'whose souls he had

sent to the abyss of hell', there were many Muhammadans, who had no

doubt whatever in the divine origin or co-eternal existence of the

Korân; and, as their death might, perhaps, not have been altogether

pleasing to his God and his prophet, he determined to appease them

both by undertaking the murder of some two hundred millions of

industrious and unoffending Chinese; among whom there was little

chance of finding one man who had ever even _heard of the Korân_--

much less believed in its divinity and co-eternity--or of its

interpreter, Muhammad. At the head of between two and three hundred

thousand well-mounted Tartars and their followers, he departed from

his capital of Samarkand on the 8th of January, 1405, and crossed the

Jaxartes[53] on the ice. In the words of his _judicious_ historian,

'he thus _generously_ undertook the conquest of China, which was

inhabited only by unbelievers that by so good a work he might atone

for what had been done amiss in other wars, in which the blood of so

many of the faithful had been shed'.

'As all my vast conquests', said Tîmûr himself,[54] 'have caused the

destruction of a good many of the faithful, I am resolved to perform

some good action, to atone for the crimes of my past life; and to

make war upon the infidels, and exterminate the idolaters of China,

which cannot be done without very great strength and power. It is

therefore fitting, my dear companions in arms, that those very

soldiers, who were the instruments whereby those my faults were

committed, should be the means by which I work out my repentance, and

that they should march into China, to acquire for themselves and

their Emperor the merit of that holy war, in demolishing the temples

of those unbelievers and erecting good Muhammadan mosques in their

places. By this means we shall obtain pardon for all our sins, for

the holy Korân assures us that good works efface the sins of this

world.' At the close of the Emperor's speech, the princes of the

blood and other officers of rank besought God to bless his generous

undertaking, unanimously applauding his sentiments, and loading him

with praises. 'Let the Emperor but display his standard, and we will

follow him to the end of the world.' Tîmûr died soon after crossing

the Jaxartes, on the 1st of April, 1406, and China was saved from

this dreadful scourge. But, as the _philosophical_ historian, Sharaf-

ud-dîn,[55] _profoundly_ observes, 'The Korân remarks that if any one

in his pilgrimage to Mecca should be surprised by death, the merit of

the good work is still written in heaven in his name, as surely as if

he had had the good fortune to accomplish it. It is the same with

regard to the "ghaza" (holy war), where an eternal merit is acquired

by troubles, fatigues, and dangers; and he who dies during the

enterprise, at whatever stage, is deemed to have completed his

design.' Thus Tîmûr the Lame had the merit, beyond all question of

doubt, of sending to the abyss of hell two hundred millions of men,

women, and children, for not believing in a certain book of which

they had never heard or read; for the Tartars had not become

Muhammadans when they conquered China in the beginning of the

thirteenth century. Indeed, the _amiable_ and _profound_ historian is

of opinion, after the most mature deliberation, that 'God himself

must have arranged all this in favour of so great and good a prince;

and knowing that his end was nigh, inspired him with the idea of

undertaking this enterprise, that he might have the merit of having

completed it; otherwise, how should he have thought of leading out

his army in the dead of winter to cross countries covered with ice

and snow?'

The heir to the throne, the Prince Pîr Muhammad, was absent when

Tîmûr died; but his wives, who had accompanied him, were all anxious

to share in the merit of the holy undertaking; and in a council of

the chiefs held after his death, the opinions of these amiable

princesses prevailed that the two hundred millions of Chinese ought

still to be sent to 'the abyss of hell', since it had been the

earnest wish of their deceased husband, and must undoubtedly have

been the will of God, to send them thither without delay. Fortunately

quarrels soon arose among his sons and grandsons about the

succession, and the army recrossed the Jaxartes, still over the ice,

in the beginning of April, and China was saved from this scourge.

Such was Timûr the Lame, the man whose greatness and goodness are to

live in the hearts of the people of India, nine-tenths of whom are

Hindoos, and to fill them with overflowing love and gratitude towards

his descendants.

In this brief sketch will perhaps be found the true history of the

origin of the gipsies, the tide of whose immigration began to flow

over all parts of Europe immediately after the return of Tîmûr from

India. The hundreds of thousands of slaves which his army brought

from India in men, women, and children, were cast away when they got

as many as they liked from the more beautiful and polished

inhabitants of the cities of Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, and

Georgia, which were all, one after the other, treated in the same

manner as Delhi had been. The Tartar soldiers had no time to settle

down and employ them as they intended for their convenience; they

were marched off to ravage Western Asia in October, 1399, about three

months after their return from India. Tîmûr reached Samarkand in the

middle of May, but he had gone on in advance of his army, which did

not arrive for some time after. Being cast off, the slaves from India

spread over those countries which were most likely to afford them the

means of subsistence as beggars; for they knew nothing of the

manners, the arts, or the language of those among whom they were

thrown; and as Arabia, Palestine, Syria, Anatolia, Georgia,

Circassia, and Russia, had been, or were being, desolated by the army

of this Tartar chief, they passed into Egypt and Bulgaria, whence

they spread over all other countries. Scattered over the face of

these countries, they found small parties of vagrants who were from

the same regions as themselves, who spoke the same language, and who

had in all probability been drawn away by the same means of armies

returning from the invasion of India. Chingîz Khân invaded India two

centuries before; his descendant, Tarmah Shirîn, invaded India in

1303, and must have taken back with him multitudes of captives. The

unhappy prisoners of Tîmûr the Lame gathered round these nuclei as

the only people who could understand or sympathize with them. From

his sixth expedition into India Mahmûd is said to have carried back

with him to Ghaznî two hundred thousand Hindoo captives in a state of

slavery, A.D. 1011. From his seventh expedition in 1017, his army of

one hundred and forty thousand fighting men returned 'laden with

Hindoo captives, who became so cheap, that a Hindoo slave was valued

at less than two rupees'. Mahmûd made several expeditions to the west

immediately after his return from India, in the same manner as Tîmûr

did after him, and he may in the same manner have scattered his

Indian captives. They adopted the habits of their new friends, which

are indeed those of all the vagrant tribes of India, and they have

continued to preserve them to the present day. I have compared their

vocabularies with those of India, and find so many of the words the

same that I think a native of India would, even in the present day,

be able without much difficulty to make himself understood by a gang

of gipsies in any part of Europe.[56]

A good Christian may not be able exactly to understand the nature of

the merit which Tamerlane expected to acquire from sending so many

unoffending Chinese to the abyss of hell. According to the Muhammadan

creed, God has vowed 'to fill hell chock full of men and genii'.

Hence his reasons for hardening their hearts against that faith in

the Korân which might send them to heaven, and which would, they

think, necessarily follow an impartial examination of the evidence of

its divinity and certainty. Tîmûr thought, no doubt, that it would be

very meritorious on his part to assist God in this his labour of

filling the great abyss by throwing into it all the existing

population of China: while he spread over their land in pastoral

tribes the goodly seed of Muhammadanism, which would give him a rich

supply of recruits for paradise.

The following dialogue took place one day between me and the 'muftî',

or head Muhammadan law officer, of one of our regulation courts.[57]

'Does it not seem to you strange, Muftî Sâhib, that your prophet,

who, according to your notions, must have been so well acquainted

with the universe and the laws that govern it, should not have

revealed to his followers some great truths hitherto unknown

regarding these laws, which might have commanded their belief, and

that of all future generations, in his divine mission?'

'Not at all,' said the Muftî; 'they would probably not have

understood him; and if they had, those who did not believe in what he

did actually reveal to them, would not have believed in him had he

revealed all the laws that govern the universe.'

'And why should they not have believed in him?'

'Because what he revealed was sufficient to convince all men whose

hearts had not been hardened in unbelief. God said, "As for the

unbelievers, it is the same with them whether you admonish them or do

not admonish them; they will not believe. God hath sealed up their

hearts, their ears, and their eyes; and a grievous punishment awaits

them."'[58]

'And why were the hearts of any men thus hardened to unbelief, when

by unbelief they were to incur such dreadful penalties?'

'Because they were otherwise wicked men.'

'But you think, of course, that there was really much of good in the

revelations of your prophet?'

'Of course we do.'

'And that those who believed in it were likely to become better men

for their faith?'

'Assuredly.'

'Then why harden the hearts of even bad men against a faith that

might make them good?'

'Has not God said, "If we had pleased, we had certainly given unto

every soul its direction; but the word which hath proceeded from me

must necessarily be fulfilled when I said, _Verily, I will fill hell

with men and genii altogether_ ".[59] And again, "Had it pleased the

Lord, he would have made all men of one religion; but they shall not

cease to differ among them, unless those on whom the Lord shall have

mercy; and unto this hath he created them; for the word of thy Lord

shall be fulfilled when he said, _Verily, I will fill hell altogether

with genii and men_".'[60]

'You all believe that the devil, like all the angels, was made of

fire?'

'Yes.'

'And that he was doomed to hell because he would not fall down and

worship Adam, who was made of clay?'

'Yes, God commanded him to bow down to Adam; and when he did not do

as he was bid, God said, "Why, Iblîs, what hindered thee from bowing

down to Adam as the other angels did?" He replied, "It is not fit

that I should worship man, whom thou hast formed of dried clay, or

black mud". God said, "Get thee, therefore, hence, for thou shalt be

pelted with stones; and a curse shall be upon thee till the day of

judgement". The devil said, "O Lord, give me respite unto the day of

resurrection". God said, "Verily, thou shalt be respited until the

appointed time ".'[61]

'And does it not appear to you, Mufti Sâhib, that in respiting the

devil Iblîs till the day of resurrection, some injustice was done to

the children of Adam?'

'How?'

'Because he replies, "O Lord, because thou hast seduced me, I will

surely tempt men to disobedience in the earth".'

'No, sir, because he could only tempt those who were _predestined_ to

go astray, for he adds, "I will seduce all, except such of them as

shall be _thy chosen servants_". God said, "This is the right way

with me. Verily, as to my servants, thou shalt have no power over

them; but over those only who shall be seduced, and who shall follow

thee; and hell is surely denounced to them all ".'[62]

'Then you think, Mufti Sâhib, that the devil could seduce only such

as were predestined to go astray, and who would have gone astray

whether he, the devil, had been respited or not?'

'Certainly I do.'

'Does it not then appear to you that it is as unjust to predestine

men to do that for which they are to be sent to hell, as it would be

to leave them all unguided to the temptations of the devil?'

'These are difficult questions,' replied the Muftî, 'which we cannot

venture to ask even ourselves. All that we can do is to endeavour to

understand what is written in the holy book, and act according to it.

God made us all, and he has the right to do what he pleases with what

he has made; the potter makes two vessels, he dashes the one on the

ground, but the other he sells to stand in the palaces of princes.'

'But a pot has no soul, Muftî Sâhib, to be roasted to all eternity in

hell!'

'True, sir; these are questions beyond the reach of human

understanding.'

'How often do you read over the Korân?'

'I read the whole over about three times a month,' replied the

Muftî.[63]

I mentioned this conversation one day to the Nawâb Alî-ud-dîn,[64] a

most estimable old gentleman of seventy years of age, who resides at

Murâdâbâd, and asked him whether he did not think it a singular

omission on the part of Muhammad, after his journey to heaven, not to

tell mankind some of the truths that have since been discovered

regarding the nature of the bodies that fill these heavens, and the

laws that govern their motions. Mankind could not, either from the

Korân, or from the traditions, perceive that he was at all aware of

the errors of the System of astronomy that prevailed in his day, and

among his people.'

'Not at all', replied the Nawâb; 'the prophets had, no doubt,

abundant opportunities of becoming acquainted with the heavenly

bodies, and the laws which govern them, particularly those who, like

Muhammad, had been up through the seven heavens; but their thoughts

were so entirely taken up with the Deity that they probably never

noticed the objects by which he was surrounded; and if they had

noticed them, they would not, perhaps, have thought it necessary to

say anything about them. Their object was to direct men's thoughts

towards God and his commandments, and to instruct them in their

duties towards him and towards each other.

'Suppose', continued the Nawâb, 'you were to be invited to see and

converse with even your earthly sovereign, would not your thoughts be

too much taken up with him to admit of your giving, on your return,

an account of the things you saw about him? I have been several times

to see you, and I declare that I have been so much taken up with the

conversations which have passed, that I have never noticed the many

articles I now see around me, nor could I have told any one on my

return home what I had seen in your room--the wall-shades, the

pictures, the sofas, the tables, the book-cases,' continued he,

casting his eyes round the room,' all escaped my notice, and might

have escaped it had my eyes been younger and stronger than they are.

What then must have been the state of mind of those great prophets,

who were admitted to see and converse with the great Creator of the

universe, and were sent by him to instruct mankind?

'I told my old friend that I thought his answer the best that could

be given; but still, that we could not help thinking that if Muhammad

had really been acquainted with the nature of the heavenly bodies,

and the laws which govern them, he would have taken advantage of his

knowledge to secure more firmly their faith in his mission, and have

explained to them the real state of the case, instead of talking

about the stars as merely made to be thrown at devils, to give light

to men upon this little globe of ours, and to guide them in their

wanderings upon it by sea and land.

'But what', said the Nawâb, 'are the great truths that you would have

had our holy prophet to teach mankind?'

'Why, Nawâb Sahib, I would have had him tell us, amongst other

things, of that law which makes this our globe and the other planets

revolve round the sun, and their moons around them. I would have had

him teach us something of the nature of the things we call comets, or

stars with large tails, and of that of the fixed stars, which we

suppose to be suns, like our sun, with planets revolving round them

like ours, since it is clear that they do not borrow their light from

our sun, nor from anything that we can discover in the heavens. I

would also have had him tell us the nature of that white belt which

crosses the sky, which you call the ovarious belt, "Khatt-i-abyâz",

and we the milky-way, and which we consider to be a collection of

self-lighted stars, while many orthodox but unlettered Musalmâns

think it the marks made in the sky by "Borak", the rough-shod donkey,

on which your prophet rode from Jerusalem to heaven. And you think,

Nawâb Sâhib, that there was quite evidence enough to satisfy any

person whose heart had not been hardened to unbelief? and that no

description of the heavenly bodies, or of the laws which govern their

motion, could have had any influence on the minds of such people?

'[65]

'Assuredly I do, sir! Has not God said, "If we should open a gate in

the heavens above them, and they should ascend thereto all the day

long, they would surely say, our eyes are only dazzled, or rather we

are a people deluded by enchantments."[66] Do you think, sir, that

anything which his majesty Moses could have said about the planets,

and the comets, and the milky way, would have tended so much to

persuade the children of Israel of his divine mission as did the

single stroke of his rod, which brought a river of delicious water

gushing from a dry rock when they were all dying from thirst? When

our holy prophet', continued the Nawâb (placing the points of the

four fingers of his right hand on the table), 'placed his blessed

hand thus on the ground, and caused four streams to gush out from the

dug plain, and supply with fresh water the whole army which was

perishing from thirst; and when out of only _five small dates_ he

afterwards feasted this immense army till they could eat no more, he

surely did more to convince his followers of his divine mission than

he could have done by any discourse about the planets, and the milky

way (Khatt-i-abyâz).'

'No doubt, Nawâb Sâhib, these were very powerful arguments for those

who saw them, or believed them to have been seen; and those who doubt

the divinity of your prophets mission are those who doubt their ever

having been seen.'

'The whole army saw and attested them, sir, and that is evidence

enough for us; and those who saw them, and were not satisfied, must

have had their hearts hardened to unbelief.'

'And you think, Nawâb Sâhib, that a man is not master of his own

belief or disbelief in religions matters; though he is rewarded by an

eternity of bliss in paradise for the one, and punished by an

eternity of scorching in hell for the other?

'I do, sir, faith is a matter of feeling; and over our feelings we

have no control. All that we can do is to prevent their influencing

our actions, when these actions would be mischievous. I have a desire

to stretch out this arm, and crush that fly on the table, I can

control the act, and do so; but the desire is not under my control.'

'True, Nawâb Sâhib; and in this life we punish men not for their

feelings, which are beyond their control, but for their acts, over

which they have no control; and we are apt to think that the Deity

will do the same.'

'There are, sir,' continued the Nawâb, 'three kinds of certainty--the

moral certainty, the mathematical, and the religious certainty, which

we hold to be the greatest of all--the one in which the mind feels

entire repose. This repose I feel in everything that is written in

the Korân, in the Bible, and, with the few known exceptions, in the

New Testament.[67] We do not believe that Christ was the son of God,

though we believe him to have been a great prophet sent down to

enlighten mankind; nor do we believe that he was crucified. We

believe that the wicked Jews got hold of a thief, and crucified him

in the belief that he was the Christ; but the real Christ was, we

think, taken up into heaven, and not suffered to be crucified.'

'But, Nawâb Sâhib, the Sikhs have their book, in which they have the

same faith.'

'True, sir, but the Sikhs are unlettered, ignorant brutes; and you do

not, I hope, call their "Granth" a book--a thing written only the

other day, and full of nonsense. No "book" has appeared since the

Korân came down from heaven; nor will any other come till the day of

judgement. And how', said the Nawâb, 'have people in modern days made

all the discoveries you speak of in astronomy?'

'Chiefly, Nawâb Sâhib, by means of the telescope, which is an

instrument of modern invention.'

'And do you suppose, sir, that I would put the evidence of your

"dûrbîns" (telescopes) in opposition to that of the holy prophet? No,

sir, depend upon it that there is much fallacy in a telescope--it is

not to be relied upon. I have conversed with many excellent European

gentlemen, and their great fault appears to me to be in the implicit

faith they put in these _telescopes_--they hold their evidence above

that of the prophets, Moses, Abraham, and Elijah. It is dreadful to

think how much mischief these telescopes may do. No, sir, let us hold

fast by the prophets; what they tell us is the truth, and the only

truth that we can entirely rely upon in this life. I would not hold

the evidence of all the telescopes in the world as anything against

one word uttered by the humblest of the prophets named in the Old or

New Testament, or the holy Korân. The prophets, sir, keep to the

prophets, and throw aside your telescopes--there is no truth in them;

some of them turn people upside down, and make them walk upon their

heads; and yet you put their evidence against that of the

prophets.'[68]

Nothing that I could say would, after this, convince the Nawâb that

there was any virtue in telescopes; his religions feeling had been

greatly excited against them; and had Galileo, Tycho Brahe, Kepler,

Newton, Laplace, and the Herschels, all been present to defend them,

they would not have altered his opinion of their demerits. The old

man has, I believe, a shrewd suspicion that they are inventions of

the devil to lead men from the right way; and were he told all that

these great men have discovered through their means, he would be very

much disposed to believe that they were incarnations of his satanic

majesty playing over again with 'dûrbîns' (telescopes) the same game

which the serpent played with the apple in the garden of Eden.

Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid;

Leave them to God above: him serve and fear;

Of other creatures, as him pleases best,

Wherever placed, let him dispose: joy thou

In what he gives to thee, this Paradise

And thy fair Eve: heaven is for thee too high

To know what passes there: be lowly wise:

Think only what concerns thee, and thy being:

Dream not of other worlds, what creatures there

Live, in what state, condition, or degree:

Contented that thus far hath been revealed,

Not of earth only, but of highest heaven.'[69]

Notes:

1. Chapter 75 _post_ is devoted to the history of the Bêgam Samrû

(Sumroo). The 'great street' is the celebrated Chândnî Chauk, a very

wide thoroughfare. The branch of the canal which runs down the middle

of it is now covered over. The Bêgam's house is now occupied by the

Delhi Bank (Fanshawe, p, 49).

2. _Ante_, chapter 54, note 14.

3. The Emperors were not in the least ashamed of this practice, and

robbed the families of rich merchants as well as those of officials.

In fact they levied in a rough way the high 'death duties' so much

admired by Radicals with small expectations. Some remarkable cases

are related in detail by Bernier (Bernier, _Travels_, ed. Constable,

and V. A. Smith (1914), pp. 163-7). When Aurangzêb heard of the death

of the Governor of Kâbul, he gave orders to seize the belongings of

the deceased, so that 'not even a piece of straw be left' (Bilimoria,

_Letters of Aurungzebe_, No. xcix).

4. The meaning of this sentence is obscure.

5. Corresponding to A.D. 1753-4. In the original edition the date is

misprinted A.D. 1167.

6. The tomb of Mansûr Alî Khân is better known as that of Safdar

Jang, which was the honorary title of the noble over whom the edifice

was raised. He was the wazîr, or chief minister, of the Emperor Ahmad

Shâh from 1748 to 1752, and was practically King of Oudh, where he

had succeeded to the power of his father-in-law, the well-known

Saâdat Khân: Safdar Jang died in A.D. 1754 and was succeeded in Oudh

by his son Shujâ-ud-daula.

The author's praise of the beauty of Safdar Jang's tomb will seem

extravagant to most critics. In the editor's judgement the building

is a very poor attempt to imitate the inimitable Tâj. Fergusson (ed.

1910, vol. ii, p. 324, pl. xxxiv) gives it the qualified praise that

'it looks grand and imposing at a distance, but it will not bear

close inspection'. See Fanshawe, p. 246 and plate. In the original

edition a coloured plate of this mausoleum is given.

7. Nizâm-ud-dîn was the disciple of Farîd-ud-dîn Ganj Shakar, so

called from his look being sufficient to convert _cods of earth into

lumps of sugar_. Farîd was the disciple of Kutb-ud-dîn of Old Delhi,

who was the disciple of Mûin-ud-dîn of Ajmêr, the greatest of all

their saints. [W. H. S.] Mûin-ud-dîn died A.D. 1236. For further

particulars of the three saints see Beale, _Oriental Biographical

Dictionary_, ed. Keene, 1894. Dr. Horn (_Ep. Ind._ ii, 145 n., 426

n.) gives information about the Persian biographies of Nizâm-ud-dîn

and other Chishtî saints.

8. For the personal history of Nizâm-ud-dîn see the last preceding

chapter, [13]. His tomb is situated in a kind of cemetery, which also

contains the tombs of the poet Khusrû, the Princess Jahânârâ, and the

Emperor Muhammad Shâh, which will be noticed presently. Fanshawe (p.

236) gives a plan of the enclosure. Nizâm-ud-dîn's tomb 'has a very

graceful appearance, and is surrounded by a verandah of white marble,

while a cut screen encloses the sarcophagus, which is always covered

with a cloth. Round the gravestone runs a carved wooden guard, and

from the four corners rise stone pillars draped with cloth, which

support an angular wooden frame-work, and which has something the

appearance of a canopy to a bed. Below this wooden canopy there is

stretched a cloth of green and red, much the worse for wear. The

interior of the tomb is covered with painted figures in Arabic, and

at the head of the grave is a stand with a Korân. The marble screen

is very richly cut, and the roof of the arcade-like verandah is

finely painted in a flower pattern. Altogether there is a quaint look

about the building which cannot fail to strike any one. A good deal

of money has at various times been spent on this tomb; the dome was

added to the roof in Akbar's time by Muhammad Imâm-ud-dîn Hasan, and

in the reign of Shâh Jahân (A.D. 1628 [_sic., leg._ 1627]-58) the

whole building was put into thorough repair. . . . The tomb is in the

village of Ghyâspur, and is reached after passing through the

'Chaunsath Khambhâ'. (Harcourt, _The New Guide to Delhi_ (1866), p.

107.)

In the original edition a small coloured illustration of this tomb,

from a miniature, is given on Plate 24. Carr Stephen (pp. 102-7)

gives a good and full account of Nizâm-ud-dîn and his tomb.

9. According to Harcourt (p. 108), the tomb of Khusrû was erected

about A.D. 1350, but this is a misprint for 1530. The poet, whose

proper name was Abûl Hasan, is often called Amîr Khusrû, and was of

Turkish origin. He was born A.D. 1253, and died in September, 1325.

His works are numerous. (Beale.) The grave, and wooden railing round

it, were built in A.H. 937 (A.D. 1530-1). . . . The present tomb was

built in A.H. 1014 (A.D. 1605-6) by Imâd-ud-dîn Hasan, in the reign

of Jahângîr, and this date occurs in an inscription under the dome

and over the red sandstone screens. (Carr Stephen, p. 115.) In the

original edition a small coloured illustration of this tomb, from a

miniature, is given on Plate 24. See Fanshawe, p. 241.

10. Akbar II, who died in 1837.

11. When the author was with his regiment, after the close of the

Nepalese war.

12. Harcourt (p. 109) truly observes that this tomb 'is a most

exquisite piece of workmanship. The tomb itself, raised some few feet

from the ground, is entered by steps, and is enclosed in a beautiful

cut marble screen, the sarcophagus being covered with a very artistic

representation of leaves and flowers carved in marble. Mirzâ Jahângîr

was the son of Akbar II, and the tomb was built in A.D. 1832 '.

'He was, in consequence of having fired a pistol at Mr. Seton, the

Resident at Delhi, sent as a State prisoner to Allahabad, where he

resided in the garden of Sultân Khusro for several years, and died

there in A.D. 1821 (A.H. 1236), aged thirty-one years; a salute of

thirty-one guns was fired from the ramparts of the fort of Allahabad

at the time of his burial. He was at first interred in the same

garden, and subsequently his remains were transferred to Delhi, and

buried in the courtyard of the mausoleum of Nizâm-ud-dîn Auliâ.'

(Beale, _Dictionary_.) The young man's 'overt act of rebellion'

occurred in 1808, and his body was removed to Delhi in 1832. The form

of the monument is that ordinarily used for a woman, 'but it was put

over the remains of the Prince on a dispensation being granted for

the purpose by Muhammadan lawyers'. (Carr Stephen, p. 111.)

13. Muhammad Shâh reigned feebly from September, 1719, to April,

1748. 'He is the last of the Mughals who enjoyed even the semblance

of power, and has been called "the seal of the house of Bâbar", for

"after his demise everything went to wreck".' (Lane-Poole, p.

xxxviii.) Nadir Shâh occupied Delhi in 1738, and is said to have

massacred 120,000 people. The tomb is described by Carr Stephen, p.

110.

14. Jahânârâ Bêgam, or the Bêgam Sâhib, was the elder daughter of

Shâhjahân, a very able intriguer, the partisan of Dârâ Shikoh and the

opponent of Aurangzêb during the struggle for the throne. She was

closely confined in Agra till her father's death in 1666. After that

event she was removed to Delhi, where she died in 1682. (Tavernier,

_Travels_, transl. Ball, vol. i, p. 345.) She built the Bêgam Sarâi

at Delhi. Her amours, real or supposed, furnished Bernier with some

scandalous and sensational stories. (Bernier, _Travels_, transl.

Constable, and V. A. Smith (1914), pp. 11-14.) Some writers credit

her with all the virtues, e.g., Beale in his _Oriental Biographical

Dictionary_. The author has omitted the last line of the inscription-

'May God illuminate his intentions. In the year 1093 ', corresponding

to A.D. 1682. The first line is, 'Let nothing but the green [grass]

conceal my grave.' (Carr Stephen, p. 109.)

15. The tomb of Humâyûn was erected by the Emperor's widow, Hâjî

Bêgam, or Bêgâ Bêgam, not by Akbar. She was the senior widow of

Humâyûn, entitled Hâjî or 'pilgrim ', because she performed the

pilgrimage to Mecca. Carr Stephen and other writers confound her with

Hamîda Bânû Bêgam, the mother of Akbar. For her true history see

Beveridge, _The History of Humâyûn by Gulbadan Begam_ (R.A.S., 1902).

Carr Stephen (p. 203) says that the mausoleum was completed in A.D.

1565, or, according to some, in A.D. 1569, at a coat of fifteen lâkhs

of rupees. The true date is A.D. 1570, late in A.H. 977 (Badûouî, tr.

Lowe, ii. 135). It is of special interest as being one of the

earliest specimens of the architecture of the Moghal dynasty, The

massive dome of white marble is a landmark for many miles round. The

body of the building is of red sandstone with marble decorations. It

stands on two noble terraces. Humâyûn rests in the central hall under

an elaborately carved marble sarcophagus. The head of Dârâ Shikoh and

the bodies of many members of the royal family are interred in the

side rooms. After the fall of Delhi in September, 1857, the rebel

princes took refuge in this mausoleum. The story of their execution

by Hodson on the road to Delhi is well known, and has been the

occasion of much controversy.

In the original edition a small coloured illustration of this tomb,

from a miniature, is given on Plate 24. See Fergusson, ed. 1910, pl.

xxxiii; _H.F.A._, fig. 240; Fanshawe, p. 230 and plate.

16. The tragic history of Dârâ Shikoh, the elder brother, and

unsuccessful rival, of Aurangzêb, is fully given by Bernier. The

notes in Constable's edition of that traveller's work and those to

Irvine's _Storia do Mogor_ (John Murray, 1907, 1908) give many

additional particulars. Dârâ Shikoh was executed by Aurangzêb in

1659, and it is alleged that with a horrid refinement of cruelty, the

emperor, acting on the advice of his sister, Roshanârâ Bêgam, caused

the head to be embalmed and sent packed in a box as a present to the

old ex-emperor, Shâh Jahân, the father of the three, in his prison at

Agra. The prince died invoking the aid of Jesus, and was favourably

disposed towards Christianity. He was also attracted by the doctrines

of Sûfism, or heretical Muhammadan mysticism, and by those of the

Hindoo Upanishads. In fact, his religions attitude seems to have much

resembled that of his great-grandfather Akbar. The 'Broad Church'

principles and practice of Akbar failed to leave any permanent mark

on Muhammadan institutions or the education of the people, and if

Dârâ Shikoh had been victorious in the contest for the throne, it is

not probable that he would have been able to effect lasting reforms

which were beyond the power of his illustrious ancestor. The name of

the unfortunate prince was Dârâ Shikoh ('in splendour like Darius'),

not merely Dârâ (Darius), as Bernier has it.

17. The 'great diamond' alluded to is the Kohinûr, presented by the

'Persian adventurer', Amîr Jumla, to Shâh Jahân, who was advised to

attack and conquer the country which produced such gems, (_Ante_,

Chapter 48.) The decisive battle between Dârâ Shikoh, on the one

aide, and Aurangzêb, supported by his brother and dupe, Murâd Baksh,

on the other, was fought on the 28th May, 1658 [O. S.], at the small

village of Samûgarh (Samogar), four miles from Agra. Dârâ Shikoh was

winning the battle, when a traitor persuaded him to come down from

his conspicuous seat on an elephant and mount a horse. The report

quickly spread that the prince had been killed. 'In a few minutes',

says Bernier, 'the army seemed disbanded, and (strange and sudden

reverse!) the conqueror became the vanquished. Aurangzêb remained

during a quarter of an hour steadily on his elephant, and was

rewarded with the crown of Hindustan; Dârâ left his own elephant a

few minutes too soon, and was hurled from the pinnacle of glory, to

be numbered among the most miserable of Princes; so short-sighted is

man, and so mighty are the consequences which sometimes flow from the

most trivial incident.'

According to another account the prince's change from the elephant to

the horse was due to want of personal courage, and not to treacherous

advice. (Bernier, _Travels_, ed. Constable, and V. A. Smith (1914),

p. 54.)

18. Battle fought between Tours and Poitiers, A.D. 732.

19. The principal mosque of every town is known as the Jâmi Masjid,

and is filled by large congregations on Fridays. The great mosque of

Delhi stands on a natural rocky eminence, completely covered by the

building, and approached on three sides by magnificent flights of

steps, which give it peculiar dignity. It is, perhaps, the finest

mosque in the world, and certainly has few rivals. It differs from

most mosques in that its exterior is more magnificent than its

interior. The two minarets are each about 130 feet high. The year

A.H. 1060 corresponds to A.D. 1650. The mosque was begun in that

year, and finished six years later. It is close to the palace, and

seems to have been designed to serve as the mosque for the palace, as

well as the city, for which reason no place of worship was included

in his residence by Shâh Jahân. The pretty little Motî Masjid in the

private apartments was added by Aurangzêb. Fergusson (ed. 1910, vol.

ii, p. 319) gives a view of the mosque. Carr Stephen (pp. 260-6)

gives approximate measurements, translations of the inscriptions, and

many details. See Fanshawe, pp. 44-8 and plates.

20. Since the Mutiny multitudes of houses between the palace and the

mosque have been cleared away.

21. 'Entering within its deeply recessed portal, you find yourself

beneath the vaulted hall, the sides of which are in two stories, and

with an octagonal break in the centre. This hall, which is 375 feet

in length over all, has very much the effect of the nave of a

gigantic Gothic cathedral, and forms the noblest entrance known to

belong to any existing palace' (Fergusson, ed. 1910, vol. ii, p.

309). This is the Lahore Gate.

22. What recked the Chieftain if he stood

On Highland heath, or Holy-rood?

He rights such wrong where it is given,

If it were in the court of heaven.'

--(Scott, _Lady of the Lake_, Canto V, stanza 6).

23. The foundation-stone of the palace was laid on the 12th of May,

1639 (N.S.--9 Muharrum, A.H. 1049). (E. & D., vii, p. 86), and the

work continued for nine years, three months, and some days. Nadir

Shâh's invasion took place in 1738. Kâshmîr was annexed by Akbar in

1587. Kâbul had been more or less closely united with the empire

since Bâbur's time.

24. 'In front, at the entrance, was the Naubat Khâna, or music hall,

beneath which the visitor entered the second or great court of the

palace, measuring 550 feet north and south, by 385 feet east and

west. In the centre of this stood the Dîwân-i-Amm, or great audience

hall of the palace, very similar in design to that at Agra, but more

magnificent. Its dimensions are about 200 feet by 100 feet over all.

In its centre is a highly ornamental niche, in which on a platform of

marble richly inlaid with previous stones, and directly facing the

entrance, once stood the celebrated peacock throne, the most gorgeous

example of its class that perhaps even the East could ever boast of.

Behind this again was a garden-court; on its eastern side was the

Rang Mahall, or painted hall, containing a bath and other apartments'

(Fergusson, ed. 1910, vol. ii, p. 310).

The inlaid pictures were carried off, sold by the spoiler to

Government, set as table-tops, and deposited in the Indian Section of

the Victoria and Albert Museum at South Kensington (_Hist. of Ind.

and E. Archit._, ed. 1910, vol. ii, p. 311, note); but in November,

1902, the Orpheus mosaic, along with several other inlaid panels, was

returned to Delhi, where the panels were reset in due course. The

representation of Orpheus is 'a bad copy from Raphael's picture of

Orpheus charming the beasts'. Austin de Bordeaux has been already

noticed. Many of the mosaics in the panels which had not been

disturbed were renewed by Signor Menegatti of Florence during the

years 1906-9.

The peacock throne and the six other thrones in the palace are fully

described by Tavernier. (Transl. and ed. by V. Ball, vol. i, pp. 381-

7.) Further details will be found in Carr Stephen, _Archaeology of

Delhi_, pp. 220-7.

25. The throne here referred to was a makeshift arrangement used by

the later emperors. Nâdir Shâh in 1738 cleared the palace of the

peacock throne and almost everything portable of value. The little

that was left the Marâthâs took. Their chief prize was the silver

filagree ceiling of the Dîwân-i-Khâs. This hall was, 'if not the most

beautiful, certainly the most highly ornamented of all Shâh Jahân's

buildings. It is larger certainly, and far richer in ornament than

that of Agra, though hardly so elegant in design; but nothing can

exceed the beauty of the inlay of precious stones with which it is

adored, or the general poetry of the design, It is round the roof of

this hall that the famous inscription runs: "If there is a heaven on

earth, it is this, it is this ", which may safely be rendered into

the sober English assertion that no palace now existing in the world

possesses an apartment of such singular elegance as this' (Fergusson,

ed. 1910, vol. ii, p. 311).

26. All the events alluded to are related in detail by Bernier and

Manucci. Sulaimân and Sipihr Shikoh were the sons of Dârâ Shikoh. The

author makes a slip in saying that Shâh Jahân sat in the palace at

Delhi to negotiate with his grandson. During that negotiation Shâh

Jahân was at Agra.

27. It is related that the coffee was delivered to the two sovereigns

in this room upon a gold salver by the most polished gentleman of the

court. His motions, as he entered the gorgeous apartment, amidst the

splendid train of the two Emperors, were watched with great anxiety;

if he presented the coffee first to his own master, the furious

conqueror, before whom the sovereign of India and all his courtiers

trembled, might order him to instant execution; if he presented it to

Nâdir first, he would insult his own sovereign out of fear of the

stranger. To the astonishment of all, he walked up with a steady step

direct to his own master. 'I cannot', said he, 'aspire to the honour

of presenting the cup to the king of kings, your majesty's honoured

guest, nor would your majesty wish that any hand but your own should

do so.' The Emperor took the cup from the golden salver, and

presented it to Nâdir Shâh, who said with a smile as he took it, 'Had

all your officers known and done their duty like this man, you had

never, my good cousin, seen me and my Kizil Bâshis at Delhi; take

care of him for your own sake, and get round you as many like him as

you can.' [W. H. S.]

28. The famous inscription of Saâd-Ullah Khân, supposed to be in the

handwriting of Rashîd, the greatest caligraphist of his time; _Agar

Firdaus bar rûe zamîn ast--hamîn ast, to hamîn ast, to hamîn ast_'

(Carr Stephen, p. 229; Fanshawe, p. 35 and plate).

29. All these people were cleared out by the events of 1867, and the

few beautiful fragments of the palace which have retained anything of

their original magnificence are now clean and in good order. The

elaborate decorations of the Dîwân-i-Khâs have been partially

restored, and the interior of this building is still extremely rich

and elegant.

'Of the public parts of the palace all that now remains is the

entrance hall, the Naubat Khâna, Dîwân-i-Amm and Khâs, and the Rang

Mahall--now used as a mess-room, and one or two small pavilions. They

are the gems of the palace it is true, but without the courts and

corridors connecting them they lose all their meaning and more than

half their beauty. Being now situated in the middle of a British

barrack-yard, they look like precious stones torn from their settings

in some exquisite piece of Oriental jeweller's work and set at random

in a bed of the commonest plaster' (Fergusson, ed. 1910, vol. ii, p.

312). Since Fergusson wrote an immense amount of work has been done

in restoration and conservation, but it is difficult to obtain a

general view of the result.