CITIES
~Delhi~ (28.38 N., 77.13 E.).--Of imperial cities the most interesting are
those which have felt the tragedies as well as enjoyed the glories of
Empire. From this point of view Delhi, notwithstanding its small extent
and modern foundation, may be grouped with Rome, Constantinople, and
Paris. In the matter of size it is in the same class as Edinburgh. The
present Delhi or Sháhjahánábád is a creation of the middle of the
seventeenth century, and the oldest of the Delhis in the neighbourhood
goes back only to the fourth century of our era. The latter endured for
six or seven centuries. It was the capital of the Tunwar and Chauhán
Rájas, and takes its second name of Rai Pithora's Kila' or Fort from the
last Hindu King of Delhi, the famous Prithví Rája. The early Muhammadan
kings occupied it and adorned it with splendid buildings. Firoz Sháh
Tughlak's city of Firozábád occupied part of the present Delhi and the
country lying immediately to the south of it. The other so-called towns
Sirí, Tughlakábád, and Indarpat or Puráná Kila' (Old Fort) were
fortified royal residences round which other dwelling-houses and shops
sprang up.
The visitor to Delhi will be repaid if he can devote a week to the City
and the neighbourhood. It is impossible here to give any adequate
account of the objects of historic and architectural interest. No
visitor should be without Mr H. C. Fanshawe's _Delhi Past and Present_,
a work of great interest. The value of the text is enhanced by good maps
and excellent illustrations. In the Civil Station, which lies to the
north of the City and east of the Ridge, is Ludlow Castle, from the roof
of which General Wilson and his Staff watched the assault on 14th
September, 1857, when Delhi was retaken. Ludlow Castle is now the Delhi
Club. Between it and the northern rampart of the City, a defence against
the Mahrattas built by British officers fifty years earlier, grim
fighting took place on that historic day when the little British and
Indian force, till then rather besieged than besiegers, was at last
strong enough to attack. Here are the sites of the four batteries which
breached that rampart, and here is the grave of John Nicholson and the
statue recently erected in his honour (page 190). The Ridge to which the
little army had clung obstinately from May to September in scorching
heat and drenching rain, undismayed by repeated assaults and the ravages
of cholera, starts about half-a-mile to the west of the Morí bastion, at
the north-west corner of the city wall, and runs north by east to
Wazírábád on an old bed of the Jamna. Ascending to the Flagstaff Tower
one looks down to-day on the Circuit House and the site of the principal
camps at the great _darbár_ of 1911. Here was the old Cantonment and its
parade ground, on which the main encampment of the British force stood
in 1857. The position was strong, being defended by the ridge on the
east and the Najafgarh Canal on the west. It is open to the south, where
are the Savzí Mandí (Vegetable Market), now the site of factories, and
the Roshanára Gardens. It was on this side that the mutineers made their
most dangerous attacks. The road along the Ridge from the Flagstaff
Tower passes the Chauburjí Mosque and Hindu Rao's house, which was the
principal target of the City batteries and was gallantly held by Major
Reid with his Sirmur Gurkhas, the Guides, and the 60th Rifles. Beyond
Hindu Rao's house is one of the stone pillars of Asoka, which Firoz
Sháh Tughlak transported to Delhi. Still further south is the Mutiny
Memorial. As one reads the tale of the losses of the different regiments
one realizes in some measure the horrors and the heroism of which the
Ridge was witness.
[Illustration: Fig. 143. Delhi Mutiny Monument.
'In memory of the officers and soldiers, British and native, of the
Delhi Field Force who were killed in action or died of wounds or disease
between the 30th May and 20th September 1857.'
'This monument has been erected by the comrades who lament their loss
and by the Govmt: they served so well.']
~The City.~--When visiting the City from the Civil Lines it is well to
follow the road, which passing the Kudsia Gardens leads straight to the
Kashmír Gate, one of two places in India (the Lucknow Residency is the
other) which must stir with grateful pride the heart of the most
phlegmatic of Englishmen. The road from the Gate to the Fort and the
Jama Masjid is rich in memories of the Mutiny. It has on its left S.
James' Church, with memorial tablets within and outside the shot-riddled
globe which once surmounted its dome. Further on are the obelisk to the
telegraph officers who stuck to their posts on the fatal 11th of May,
and on a gateway of the Old Magazine a record of the heroism of the nine
devoted men, who blew it up, losing five of their number in the
explosion. Passing under the railway bridge one comes out on the open
space in front of Sháhjahán's palace fort, which was finished about 1648
A.D. To the beautiful buildings erected by his father Aurangzeb added
the little Motí Masjid or Pearl Mosque. But he never lived at Delhi
after 1682. The palace is therefore associated with the tragedies and
squalor of the decline and fall of the Moghal Empire rather than with
its glories. In 1739 it was robbed of the Kohinur and the Peacock throne
by Nádir Shah, in 1788 it saw the descendants of Akbar tortured and the
aged Emperor blinded by the hateful Ghulám Kádir, and on 16th May, 1857
the mutineers massacred fifty Christians captive within its walls. When
viewing the public and private halls of audience, known as the Diwán i
'Ám and the Diwán i Kháss, it is however natural to think rather of
scenes of splendour such as Bernier described when Aurangzeb sat in
royal apparel on the Peacock throne with a king's ransom in the aigrette
of his turban and the rope of pearls which hung from his neck. On such
an occasion, the pillars of the Diwán i 'Ám were hung with gold brocades
and the floors covered with rich silken carpets. Half the court outside
was occupied by a magnificent tent and the arcade galleries surrounding
it were decked with brocades and covered with costly carpets. The marble
Diwán i Kháss with its lovely pillars decorated with gold and precious
stones is surely the most splendid withdrawing room that a monarch ever
possessed. There is nothing in the Moorish palace at Granada which can
for a moment be compared with these two halls. For a description of them
and of the other buildings in the Fort the reader must refer to Mr
Fanshawe's book. In the Viceroyalty of Lord Curzon and since much has
been done to restore their surroundings to some semblance of their
former state. But the heavy British barracks occupied by the little
garrison are very incongruous with the remains of Moghal grandeur.
Leaving the Fort by the Southern or Delhi Gate and turning to the right
one is faced by the Jama Masjid, another monument of the taste of
Sháhjahán. The gateway and the lofty ascent into this House of God are
very fine. The mosque in the regular beauty and grandeur of its lines,
appealing to the sublimity rather than to the mystery of religion, is a
fitting symbol of the faith for whose service it was raised. South of
the Jama Masjid in a part of the city once included in Firozábád stands
the Kalán or Kála Masjid with low cupolas and heavy square black
pillars, a striking example of the sombre architecture of the Tughlak
period. A narrow street called the Daríba leads from the Jama Masjid to
the wide Chándní (Silver) Chauk. The Daríba was formerly closed by the
Khúní Darwáza or Gate of Blood, so called because here occurred that
terrible massacre of the citizens of Delhi which Nádir Shah witnessed
from the neighbouring Golden Mosque. Besides its width there is nothing
remarkable about the Chándní Chauk. But the visitor in quest of silver
work, jewellery, or embroidery will find there many shopkeepers ready to
cater for his wants. It was while passing down the Chándní Chauk in an
elephant procession on 23rd December, 1912, that Lord Hardinge was
wounded by a bomb thrown from one of the houses. From the Chauk one may
pass through the Queen's Gardens and Road to the opening in the wall
where the Kábul Gate once stood and so leave the City. A tablet in the
vicinity marks the spot where John Nicholson fell.
[Illustration: Fig. 144. Kashmír Gate.]
[Illustration: Fig. 145. Map of Delhi City.]
When visiting the old Delhis it is a good plan to drive again through
the City and to leave it by the Delhi Gate. Humáyun's tomb, an early and
simple, but striking, specimen of Moghal architecture, is reached at a
distance of four miles along the Mathra road. Outside the City the road
first leaves on the left side the ruined citadel of Firoz Sháh
containing the second Asoka pillar. North and south of this citadel
the town of Firozábád once lay. It ended where the Puráná Kila' or Old
Fort, the work of Sher Sháh and Humáyun, now stands, a conspicuous
object from the road about three miles from Delhi. The red sandstone
gateway very narrow in proportion to its height is a noble structure,
and within the walls is Sher Sháh's mosque. The fort and mosque are the
last important works of the second or Tughlak period. Hindus call the
site of the Old Fort, Indarpat. If any part of Delhi has a claim to
antiquity it is this, for it is alleged to be one of the five "pats" or
towns over which the war celebrated in the Mahábhárata was waged. A
recent cleaning of part of the interior of the fort brought to light
bricks belonging to the Gupta period. From Humáyun's tomb a cross road
leads to the Gurgáon road and the Kutb. But the visitor who has seen
enough of buildings for the day may proceed further down the Mathra road
and reach the headworks of the Agra Canal at Okhla by a side road. The
view looking back to Delhi up the Jamna is fine.
~The Kutb Minár.~--Starting for the Kutb from Humáyun's tomb (page 207)
the Dargáh of the great Chistí saint and political intriguer, Nizám ud
dín Aulia, is passed on the left. He died in 1324 A.D. Just at the point
where the cross road meets the Gurgáon road is the tomb of Safdar Jang,
the second of the Nawáb Wazírs of Oudh. He died after the middle of the
eighteenth century, and the building is wonderfully good considering
that it is one of the latest important monuments of the Moghal period.
Six miles to the south of Safdar Jang's tomb the entrance to the Kutb
Minár enclosure is reached. The great Kuwwat ul Islám mosque of
Kutbuddín Aibak (page 204) was constructed out of the materials of a
Jain temple which stood on the site. Evidence of this is to be found in
the imperfectly defaced sculptures on the pillars. An iron pillar nearly
24 feet in height dating back probably to the sixth century stands in
the court. The splendid column known as the Kutb Minár (page 205), begun
by Kutbuddín and completed by his successor Shams ud dín Altamsh, was
the minaret of the mosque from which the _mu'azzin_ called the faithful
to prayer. The disappointment that may be felt when it is seen from a
distance is impossible on a nearer view. Its height is now 238 feet, but
it was formerly surmounted "by a majestic cupola of red granite." Close
by is the Alai Darwaza, a magnificent gateway built by Alá ud dín
Tughlak in 1310, about 90 years after the Minár was finished. Five miles
east of the Kutb are the cyclopean ruins of Tughlakábád (page 206).
~Delhi past and present.~--The Delhi of Aurangzeb was as much a camp as a
city. When the Emperor moved to Agra or Kashmír the town was emptied of
a large part of its inhabitants. It contained one or two fine _bazárs_,
and nobles and rich merchants and shopkeepers had good houses, set
sometimes in pleasant gardens. But the crowds of servants and followers
occupied mud huts, whose thatched roofs led to frequent and widespread
fires. In that insanitary age these may have been blessings in disguise.
"In Delhi," wrote Bernier, "there is no middle state. A man must either
be of the highest rank or live miserably.... For two or three who wear
decent apparel there may always be reckoned seven or eight poor, ragged,
and miserable beings." The ordinary street architecture of modern Delhi
is mean enough, and posterity will not open an eyelid to look at the
public buildings which its present rulers have erected in the city. But
at least the common folk of Delhi are better housed, fed, and clad than
ever before. It is now a clean well-managed town with a good water
supply, and it has become an important railway centre and a thriving
place of trade. Since 1881 the population has steadily increased from
173,393 to 232,837 in 1911. In 1911-12 the imports into Delhi City from
places outside the Panjáb amounted to 9,172,302 maunds. There are some
fifteen cotton ginning, spinning, and weaving mills, besides flour
mills, iron foundries, two biscuit manufactories, and a brewery. The
city is well supplied with hospitals including two for women only.
Higher education has been fostered by S. Stephen's College in charge of
the Cambridge Missionary brotherhood. The Hindu college has not been
very successful. Delhi has had famous "hakíms," practising the Yúnáni or
Arabic system of medicine, which is taught in a flourishing school known
as the Madrasa i Tibbiya.
~Imperial Darbárs.~--In this generation the plain to the north of the
Ridge has been the scene of three splendid _darbárs_. When on 1st
January, 1877, Queen Victoria assumed the title of Empress of India
(_Kaisar i Hind_) it seemed fitting that the proclamation of the fact to
the princes and peoples of India should be made by Lord Lytton at the
old seat of imperial power. On 1st January, 1903, Lord Curzon held a
_darbár_ on the same spot to proclaim the coronation of King Edward the
VIIth. Both these splendid ceremonies were surpassed by the _darbár_ of
12th December, 1911, when King George and Queen Mary were present in
person, and the Emperor received the homage of the ruling chiefs, the
great officials, and the leading men of the different provinces. The
King and Queen entered Delhi on 7th December, and in the week that
followed the craving of the Indian peoples for "_darshan_" or a sight
of their sovereign was abundantly gratified. None who saw the spectacles
of that historic week will ever forget them.
[Illustration: Fig. 146. Darbár Medal.]
New Imperial Capital.--The turn of Fortune's Wheel has again made Delhi
an imperial city. The transfer of the seat of government from Calcutta
announced by the King Emperor at the _darbár_, is now being carried out.
The site will probably extend from Safdar Jang's tomb to a point lying
to the west of Firoz Sháh's citadel.
~Lahore~ (31.34 N., 74.21 E.). The capital of the Panjáb lies on the east
bank of the Ráví, which once flowed close to the Fort, but has moved a
mile or two to the west. In high floods the waters still spread over the
lowlands between the Ráví and the Fort. Lahore lies nearly halfway
between Delhi and Pesháwar, being nearer to the latter than to the
former.
~Early History.~--Practically we know nothing of its history till Mahmúd
conquered the Panjáb and put a garrison in a fort at Lahore. Henceforth
its history was intimately connected with Muhammadan rule in India.
Whether north-western India was ruled from Ghazní or from Delhi, the
chief provincial governor had his headquarters at Lahore. In the best
days of Moghal rule Agra and Lahore were the two capitals of the
Empire. Lahore lay on the route to Kábul and Kashmír, and it was
essential both to the power and to the pleasures of the Emperors that it
should be strongly held and united to Delhi and Agra by a Royal or
_Bádsháhí_ Road. The City and the Suburbs in the reign of Sháhjahán
probably covered three or four times the area occupied by the town in
the days of Sikh rule. All round the city are evidences of its former
greatness in ruined walls and domes.
~The Civil Station.~--The Anárkalí gardens and the buildings near them
mark the site of the first Civil Station. John Lawrence's house, now
owned by the Rája of Punch, is beyond the Chauburjí on the Multán Road.
The Civil Lines have stretched far to the south-east in the direction of
the Cantonment, which till lately took its name from the tomb of Mian
Mír, Jahangír's spiritual master. The soil is poor and arid. Formerly
the roads were lined with dusty tamarisks. But of late better trees have
been planted, and the Mall is now quite a fine thoroughfare. The
Lawrence Hall Gardens and the grounds of Government House show what can
be done to produce beauty out of a bad soil when there is no lack of
water. There is little to praise in the architecture or statuary of
modern Lahore. The marble canopy over Queen Victoria's statue is however
a good piece of work. Of the two cathedrals the Roman Catholic is the
better building. The Montgomery Hall with the smaller Lawrence Hall
attached, a fine structure in a good position in the public gardens, is
the centre of European social life in Lahore. Government House is close
by, on the opposite side of the Mall. Its core, now a unique and
beautiful dining-room with domed roof and modern oriental decoration, is
the tomb of Muhammad Kásim Khán, a cousin of Akbar. Jamadár Khushál
Singh, a well-known man in Ranjít Singh's reign, built a house round the
tomb. After annexation, Henry Lawrence occupied it for a time, and Sir
Robert Montgomery adopted it as Government House. It is now much
transformed. Beyond Government House on the road to the Cantonment are
the Club and the Panjáb Chiefs' College, the only successful attempt in
Lahore to adapt oriental design to modern conditions.
[Illustration: Fig. 147. Street in Lahore.]
~The Indian City.~--In its streets and _bazárs_ Lahore is a truly eastern
city, and far more interesting than Delhi, so far as private buildings
are concerned. In public edifices it possesses some fine examples of
Moghal architecture. Every visitor should drive through the town to the
Fort past Wazír Khán's mosque. Under British rule the height of the city
wall has been reduced by one-half and the moat filled in and converted
into a garden. Wazír Khán's mosque founded in 1634 by a Panjábí
minister of Sháhjahán, is a noble building profusely adorned with glazed
tiles and painted panels. The Golden Mosque was constructed 120 years
later about the same time as Safdar Jang's tomb at Delhi. The palace
fort, built originally by Akbar, contains also the work of his three
successors. The Shísh Mahal or Hall of Mirrors, which witnessed the
cession of the Panjáb to the Queen of England, was begun by Sháhjahán
and finished by Aurangzeb. The armoury contains a curious collection of
weapons. The Bádsháhí Mosque opposite with its beautiful marble domes
and four lofty minarets of red sandstone was founded in 1673 in the
reign of Aurangzeb. The cupolas were so shaken by an earthquake in 1840
that they had to be removed. Mahárája Ranjít Singh used the mosque as a
magazine. In the space between it and the Fort he laid out the pretty
orange garden known as the Huzúrí Bágh and set in it the marble
_báradarí_ which still adorns it. Close by are his own tomb and that of
Arjan Dás, the fifth Guru.
~Buildings outside Lahore.~--The best example of Moghal architecture is
not at Lahore itself, but at Shahdara across the Ráví. Here in a fine
garden is the Mausoleum of Jahángír with its noble front and four
splendid towers. It enshrines an exquisite sarcophagus, which was
probably once in accordance with the Emperor's wish open to the sunlight
and the showers. Near by are the remains of the tombs of his beautiful
and imperious consort, Nur Jahán, and of her brother Asaf Khán, father
of the lady of the Táj. Another building associated with Jahángír is
Anárkali's tomb beside the Civil Secretariat. The white marble
sarcophagus is a beautiful piece of work placed now in most
inappropriate surroundings. The tomb was reared by the Emperor to
commemorate the unhappy object of his youthful love. Half-a-mile off on
the Multán road is the Chauburjí, once the gateway of the Garden of
Zebunnissa a learned daughter of Aurangzeb. The garden has disappeared,
but the gateway, decorated with blue and green tiles, though partially
ruined, is still a beautiful object. On the other side of Lahore on the
road to Amritsar are the Shalimár Gardens laid out by Sháhjahán for the
ladies of his court. When the paved channels are full and the fountains
are playing, and the lights of earthen lamps are reflected in the water,
Shalimár is still a pleasant resort.
[Illustration: Fig. 148. Sháhdara.]
The Museum in Anárkalí contains much of interest to Indians and
Europeans. The "house of wonders" is very popular with the former. It
includes a very valuable collection of Buddhist sculptures. Opposite the
museum is the famous Zamzama gun (page 187).
~Growth of Lahore.~ As the headquarters of an important Government and of
a great railway system Lahore has prospered. Owing to the influx of
workers the population has risen rapidly from 157,287 in 1881 to 228,687
in 1911. The railway alone affords support to 30,000 people, of whom
8000 are employed in the workshops.
~Amritsar~ (31.38 N., 74.53 E.) is a modern town founded in the last
quarter of the sixteenth century by the fourth Guru, Rám Dás, on a site
granted to him by Akbar. Here he dug the Amrita Saras or Pool of
Immortality, leaving a small platform in the middle as the site of that
Har Mandar, which rebuilt is to-day, under the name of the Darbár Sáhib,
the centre of Sikh devotion. The fifth Guru, Arjan Dás, completed the
Har Mandar. Early in the eighteenth century Amritsar became without any
rival the Mecca of the Sikhs, who had now assumed an attitude of warlike
resistance to their Muhammadan rulers. Once and again they were driven
out, but after the victory at Sirhind in 1763 they established
themselves securely in Amritsar, and rebuilt the temple which Ahmad Sháh
had burned. Ranjít Singh covered the Darbár Sáhib with a copper gilt
roof, whence Englishmen commonly call it the Golden Temple. He laid out
the Rám Bágh, still a beautiful garden, and constructed the strong fort
of Govindgarh outside the walls.
~Trade and Manufactures.~--Amritsar lies in a hollow close to a branch of
the Upper Bárí Doáb Canal. Waterlogging is a great evil and accounts for
the terrible epidemics of fever, which have occurred from time to time.
The population has fluctuated violently, and at the last census was
152,756, or little larger than in 1881. Long before annexation the shawl
industry was famous. The caprice of fashion a good many years ago
decreed its ruin, but carpet weaving, for which Amritsar is still
famous, fortunately did something to fill the gap. Amritsar has also
been an entrepôt of trade with other Asiatic countries. It has imported
raw silk from Bokhára, and later from China, and woven it into cloth. It
has dealt in China tea, but that is a decreasing trade, in opium from
Afghánistán, and in _charas_ from Central Asia. There is a considerable
export of foreign piece goods to Kashmír and the N. W. F. Province.
~Multán~ (30.1 N., 71.3 E.), though now the smallest of the four great
towns of the Panjáb, is probably the most ancient. It is very doubtful
whether it is the fortress of the Malloi, in storming which Alexander
was wounded. But when Hiuen Tsang visited it in 741 A.D. it was a
well-known place with a famous temple of the Sun God. Muhammad Kásim
conquered it in 712 A.D. (page 166). It was not till the savage
Karmatian heretics seized Multán towards the end of the tenth century
that the temple, which stood in the fort, was destroyed. It was
afterwards rebuilt, but was finally demolished by order of Aurangzeb,
who set up in its place a mosque. Under the Moghals Multán was an
important town, through which the trade with Persia passed. Its later
history has already been noticed (pages 183 and 186).
~The Fort~ contains the celebrated Prahládpurí temple, much damaged during
the siege in 1848, but since rebuilt. Its proximity to the tomb of
Baháwal Hakk, a very holy place in the eyes of the Muhammadans of the
S.W. Panjáb and Sindh, has at times been a cause of anxiety to the
authorities. Baháwal Hakk and Bába Faríd, the two great saints of the
S.W. Panjáb, were contemporaries and friends. They flourished in the
thirteenth century, and it probably would be true to ascribe largely to
their influence the conversion of the south-west Panjáb to Islám, which
was so complete and of which we know so little. The tomb of Baháwal Hakk
was much injured during the siege, but afterwards repaired. Outside is a
small monument marking the resting place of the brave old Nawáb
Muzaffar Khán. Another conspicuous object is the tomb of Rukn ud dín
'Alam, grandson of Baháwal Hakk. An obelisk in the fort commemorates the
deaths of the two British officers who were murdered on the outbreak of
the revolt. A simpler epitaph would have befitted men who died in the
execution of their duty.
~Trade and Manufactures.~--Though heat and dust make the climate of Multán
trying, it is a very healthy place. The population rose steadily from
68,674 in 1881 to 99,243 in 1911. The chief local industries are silk
and cotton weaving and the making of shoes. Multán has also some
reputation for carpets, glazed pottery and enamel, and of late for tin
boxes. A special feature of its commerce is the exchange of piece goods,
shoes, and sugar for the raw silk, fruits, spices, and drugs brought in
by Afghán traders. The Civil Lines lie to the south of the city and
connect it with the Cantonment, which is an important military station.
~Pesháwar~ (34.1 N., 71.35 E.) is 276 miles from Lahore and 190 from
Kábul. There is little doubt that the old name was Purushapura, the town
of Purusha, though Abu Rihan (Albiruni), a famous Arab geographer, who
lived in the early part of the eleventh century, calls it Parsháwar,
which Akbar corrupted into Pesháwar, or the frontier fort. As the
capital of King Kanishka it was in the second century of the Christian
era a great centre of Buddhism (page 164). Its possession of Buddha's
alms bowl and of yet more precious relics of the Master deposited by
Kanishka in a great _stupa_ (page 203) made it the first place to be
visited by the Chinese pilgrims who came to India between 400 and 630
A.D. Hiuen Tsang tells us the town covered 40 li or 6-3/4 miles. Its
position on the road to Kábul made it a place of importance under the
Moghal Empire. On its decline Pesháwar became part of the dominions of
the Durání rulers of Kábul, and finally fell into the hands of Ranjít
Singh. His Italian general Avitabile ruled it with an iron rod. In 1901
it became the capital of the new N. W. F. Province.
~The Town~ lies near the Bára stream in a canal-irrigated tract. On the
north-west it is commanded by the Bála Hissár, a fort outside the walls.
The suburbs with famous fruit gardens are on the south side, and the
military and civil stations to the west. The people to be seen in the
_bazárs_ of Pesháwar are more interesting than any of its buildings. The
Gor Khatrí, part of which is now the _tahsíl_, from which a bird's-eye
view of the town can be obtained, was successively the site of a
Buddhist monastery, a Hindu temple, a rest-house built by Jahángír's
Queen, Nur Jahán, and the residence of Avitabile. The most noteworthy
Muhammadan building is Muhabbat Khán's mosque. Avitabile used to hang
people from its minarets. The Hindu merchants live in the quarter known
as Andar Shahr, the scene of destructive fires in 1898 and 1913.
Pesháwar is now a well-drained town with a good water supply. It is an
entrepôt of trade with Kábul and Bokhára. From the former come raw silk
and fruit, and from the latter gold and silver thread and lace _en
route_ to Kashmír. The Kábulí and Bokháran traders carry back silk
cloth, cotton piece goods, sugar, tea, salt, and Kashmír shawls.
~Simla~ (31.6 N., 77.1 E.) lies on a spur of the Central Himálaya at a
mean height exceeding 7000 feet. A fine hill, Jakko, rising 1000 feet
higher, and clothed with _deodár_, oak, and rhododendron, occupies the
east of the station and many of the houses are on its slopes. The other
heights are Prospect Hill and Observatory Hill in the western part of
the ridge. Viceregal Lodge is a conspicuous object on the latter, and
below, between it and the Annandale race-course, is a fine glen, where
the visitor in April from the dry and dusty plains can gather yellow
primroses (Primula floribunda) from the dripping rocks. The beautiful
Elysium Hill is on a small spur running northwards from the main ridge.
Simla is 58 miles by cart road from Kálka, at the foot of the hills, and
somewhat further by the narrow gauge railway.
[Illustration: Fig. 149. Trans-border traders in Pesháwar.]
~History.~--Part of the site was retained at the close of the Gurkha war
in 1816, and the first English house, a wooden cottage with a thatched
roof, was built three years later. The first Governor General to spend
the summer in Simla was Lord Amherst in 1827. After the annexation of
the Panjáb in 1849 Lord Dalhousie went there every year, and from 1864
Simla may be said to have become the summer capital of India. It became
the summer headquarters of the Panjáb Government twelve years later. The
thirty houses of 1830 have now increased to about 2000. Six miles
distant on the beautiful Mahásu Ridge the Viceroy has a "Retreat," and
on the same ridge and below it at Mashobra there are a number of
European houses. There are excellent hotels in Simla, and the cold
weather tourist can pay it a very pleasant visit, provided he avoids the
months of January and February.
~Srínagar~ (34.5 N., 74.5 E.), the summer capital of the Mahárája of
Kashmír, is beautifully situated on both banks of the river Jhelam at a
level of 5250 feet above the sea. To the north are the Hariparvat or
Hill of Vishnu with a rampart built by Akbar and the beautiful Dal lake.
Every visitor must be rowed up its still waters to the Násím Bágh, a
grove of plane (_chenâr_) trees, laid out originally in the reign of the
same Emperor. Between the lake and the town is the Munshí Bágh, in and
near which are the houses of Europeans including the Residency. The
splendid plane trees beside the river bank, to which house boats are
moored, and the beautiful gardens attached to some of the houses, make
this a very charming quarter. The Takht i Sulimán to the west of
Srínagar is crowned by a little temple, whose lower walls are of great
age. The town itself is intersected by evil-smelling canals and consists
in the main of a jumble of wooden houses with thatched roofs. Sanitary
abominations have been cleansed from time to time by great fires and
punished by severe outbreaks of cholera. The larger part of the
existing city is on the left side. The visitor may be content to view
the parts of the town to be seen as he is rowed down the broad waterway
from the Munshí Bágh passing under picturesque wooden bridges, and
beside temples with shining metal roofs and the beautiful mosque of Sháh
Hamadán. On the left bank below the first bridge is the Shergarhí with
the Mahárája's houses and the Government Offices. Opposite is a fine
_ghát_ or bathing place with stone steps. Between the third and fourth
bridges on the right bank is Sháh Hamadán's mosque, a carved cedar house
with Buddhist features, totally unlike the ordinary Indian mosque. The
stone mosque close by on the opposite side, built by Mir Jahán, was
seemingly rejected by Muhammadans as founded by a woman, and is now a
State granary. The Jama Masjid is on the north side, but not on the
river bank. The tomb of the great king, Zain ul Ábidín, is below the
fourth bridge, which bears his name. In the same quarter are the
storehouses of the dealers in carpets and art wares and the Mission
School. The last should be visited by anyone who wishes to see what a
manly education can make of material in some respects unpromising.
[Illustration: Fig. 150 Mosque of the Sháh Hamadán.]