LUCKNOW TO CAWNPORE AND AGRA.--TAJ MAHAL AND FUTTEHPOOR SIKRA.
From Lucknow to Cawnpore our friends had a ride of a little over two
hours, through a fertile country, which was quite flat and
uninteresting--a repetition of the journey from Benares to Lucknow.
Cawnpore stands on a level plain, on the right bank of the Ganges, and
covers a large area of ground; it would be almost without interest were
it not for the terrible atrocities of Nena Sahib and his followers
during the Mutiny. A sad prominence was given to Cawnpore in 1857, so
that few travellers will care to pass it without looking at the
memorials of the events which at one time agitated the whole civilized
world.
[Illustration: LOW-CASTE INHABITANTS OF CAWNPORE.]
A couple of hours will suffice for seeing the points of interest, and it
happened that the train for the north gave the Doctor and his young
companions all the time they needed for the excursion. They engaged a
carriage and started at once, and as they rode along the Doctor told in
brief the story of Cawnpore.
Nena Sahib was a native prince of enormous wealth; a few years before
the Mutiny he had a lawsuit with the East India Company, which was
decided against him, and from that time he had the most bitter hatred
for the English, though he associated freely with them, and professed
the warmest friendship. He entertained them often at his palace, which
was filled with European furniture and pictures, and when the rebellion
broke out no one supposed he had favored it or would take any part in
the hostilities.
General Wheeler, who commanded Cawnpore at that time, was so impressed
with the Nena's loyalty that he asked him for a guard of cavalry to
protect the treasury, and it was promptly given. The revolt began on the
4th of June: the native cavalry burnt their barracks and buildings near
them. The other troops joined them, and then all united with the Nena's
soldiers in plundering the treasury. The English gathered in an
intrenchment, and on the 6th of June they were attacked by Nena Sahib's
troops, the Nena himself taking command, and directing the assault. For
three weeks it was kept up, and the sufferings of the English were
terrible. Men, women, and children were crowded together in a small
intrenchment, with no shelter from the terrible heat of the summer sun,
and many of them died of exposure.
On the 27th of June the attack was suspended for a moment, and a letter
came from the Nena offering safe-conduct to Allahabad for the garrison,
if it would surrender. The terms were accepted, and the garrison went to
some boats that were waiting at the river's bank a mile away. As soon as
they were on board it was found that the boats were fast in the sand,
and before they could be moved the rebels began firing upon them, and at
the same time threw torches on the thatched roofs, which instantly
blazed up. Out of two hundred persons in all, only four escaped.
From this time to the middle of July Nena Sahib was master of Cawnpore.
He amused himself by butchering all the Englishmen that fell into his
hands, and devised the most cruel forms of torture for this bloody work.
The women and children were kept prisoners in a building that had
formerly been an assembly-room, and on the night of the 16th of July,
when it was found that Havelock's troops were advancing, and the rebel
array was being defeated, the order was given for their slaughter. The
bodies of the victims were thrown into a well near the building; not
only the dead but the living were thrown there, and when the English
entered the place they were told by some of the natives how the butchery
had been conducted, and that for hours afterward any one passing the
well could hear the sound of groaning.
[Illustration: THE MEMORIAL WELL AT CAWNPORE.]
The carriage took our friends to General Wheeler's intrenchment, where a
memorial church has since been erected, to the ghaut, or landing-steps,
where the massacre on the boats was perpetrated, and then to the scene
of the worst butchery near the terrible well. The building has
disappeared, and in its place is a cemetery containing the graves of
those who perished there. Frank observed that many of the graves were
nameless, and the guide said that the remains of only a few of the
victims could be recognized. Over the well is a stone platform
supporting the figure of an angel, and around the platform is an
octagonal screen of marble of beautiful design. An inscription on the
pedestal of the statue makes the melancholy record of the casting of "a
great company of Christian people, chiefly women and children," into the
well by the orders of the rebel Nena Sahib.
There is nothing of special interest in the hundred miles between
Cawnpore and Agra, as the country presents the same features of flatness
and monotony it has hitherto displayed. It was evening when our friends
reached the city; they had hoped for daylight in order to have a distant
view of the Taj Mahal, but were doomed to disappointment. This did not
greatly matter, however, as they were sure to have all kinds of views of
the famous mausoleum during their stay, and they went to bed and slept
soundly.
Their first excursion in the morning was to the Fort of Agra, which
includes the palace, the Pearl Mosque, and several other buildings of
more or less interest; its walls are of red sandstone and of massive
construction, so that they have suffered very little during the three
centuries the fort has existed. Several hours were spent inside the
fort, and there was so much to attract their attention that the boys
could hardly realize how rapidly the time had passed. They agreed with
the Doctor that the Motee Musjid, or Pearl Mosque, was the finest of all
the buildings within the walls of the fort, and were ready to adopt the
words of Bayard Taylor, who pronounced it the pearl of all mosques of
small dimensions, and absolutely perfect in style and proportions.
Next to the Taj Mahal, the Motee Musjid is the great attraction of Agra.
It stands close to the wall of the fort, and its three domes have been
compared to bubbles that might be blown away by a gust of wind. Domes,
roof, walls, pillars, floors, and all are of white marble, and the whole
work is finished as finely as though intended for examination under a
microscope. It is not a closed building, like the mosques of Cairo and
Constantinople; one side is quite open to a large quadrangle, and as you
stand in the latter, with the sun of India beating down on your head,
you can see to the very depths of all the arches that support the domes
and roof. Doctor Bronson said it was a most perfect specimen of the
Saracenic arch, and the boys found that as the arches cut into each
other the perspective from any point of view was absolutely bewildering.
[Illustration: VIEW OF THE TAJ MAHAL FROM THE GARDEN.]
They ended their visit to the Pearl Mosque by climbing the roof, and
looking down the river some two miles or more, where the Taj Mahal
glistened in the sunlight and pushed its dome-like globe far into the
sky. In the afternoon they visited the Taj, and remained there till the
sun was setting: they went there again and again during the three or
four days they remained at Agra, and when at last they left the city
their curiosity and their love of the beautiful tomb of the wife of Shah
Jehan were far from satisfied. Frank was the historian of this part of
their travels, as we will learn by the following letter:
"I thought we had seen several beautiful structures in our travels thus
far, and so we have; but none of them can compare with the Taj Mahal.
Thanks to the care bestowed upon it by the East Indian Government, it is
as perfect to-day as it was 200 years ago, when the builders delivered
it to the emperor who ordered it. It is not a mosque but a tomb, and it
is the handsomest tomb in the world. That you may know how it happened
to be built, I will tell you something of its history.
"Shah Jehan, one of the Mogul Emperors of India, was married, in 1615,
to _Moomtaz-i-Mahal_. They lived very happily together till she died, in
1629, and then the emperor determined to build her the finest tomb the
world had ever seen, in the garden that had been her favorite resort. He
summoned all the best architects of the time, and asked them to compete
for the contract; his choice fell on Eesa Mohumed Effendi, who had been
sent to him by the Sultan of Turkey. Several years were consumed in
preparing the plans, more in collecting the necessary materials, and
more in the work of construction, so that the building was not finished
till upward of twenty years after the death of the lady in whose honor
it was erected.
"Various figures are given for the cost, and the majority of them are
not far from $15,000,000. It is said that 20,000 workmen were employed
for twenty-two years in collecting materials and building the Taj Mahal;
and as nearly all the labor was forced, there was great distress and
mortality in the surrounding country. Doubtless the peasantry had little
cause to revere the memory of the queen whose death brought them so much
calamity. A poet represents them as saying,
"'Have mercy, God, on our distress,
For we, too, die with our princess.'
"It is a perfect building and not a ruin, and it is hard to believe
that it is more than 200 years since the lovely Moomtaz-i-Mahal was
laid here to rest. The situation contributes largely to the general
effect of the work. The Taj stands on the bank of the Jumna River, and
in the midst of a plain which is unbroken in every direction except by
the Fort of Agra, and a few low hillocks. No matter from what direction
you approach it, the Taj is visible for miles, and its dazzling
whiteness is more impressive from a distant than in a near view.
[Illustration: GATE-WAY OF GARDEN, TAJ MAHAL.]
"It is at the end of a large garden where Moomtaz loved to wander. You
pass a massive gate-way--itself a fine work of architecture--and look
along an avenue of cypresses at the building of which you have heard so
much. The view is somewhat spoiled by the garden, as you see only the
tops of the minarets, and less than half the building itself. The best
view is from the other side of the river, as it is quite unobstructed,
and no part of the grand spectacle is lost. The central building and all
its surroundings are included, and it is quite possible that the
architect made his plans from this stand point.
[Illustration: FRONT VIEW OF THE TAJ MAHAL.]
"First there is a broad platform of red sandstone at the end of the
garden, and about four feet above it. On this there is a marble platform
eighteen feet high and 313 feet square, white marble entirely, or at
least externally. There is a tower or minaret 137 feet high at each
corner of this platform, and the building in the centre is 186 feet
square, except that the corners are cut off opposite each of the towers.
The mausoleum thus takes the form of an octagon, with four of its sides
broader than the other four. Each of the broad sides has a grand
entrance like a half-dome, that rises nearly to the cornice, while on
each side of the entrance there are two arches, one above the other.
Around this magnificent door-way are Arabic inscriptions, consisting of
black marble inlaid upon pure white, and the spaces left by the curving
of the arches are similarly ornamented with mosaic scroll-work. It is
said that the whole of the Koran, or Mohammedan Bible, is on the walls
of the Taj, and all of it inlaid in stone.
"There is a dome at each of the four corners of the building, while
there is a large one in the centre that swells from its base, so that at
a distance it looks like a ball suspended in the air. The architect's
attempt in the construction of this great central sphere was as daring
as it is successful. Doctor Bronson says that of all the domes he has
seen in other parts of the world, none can compare in beauty with that
of the Taj.
"Now picture the above in your mind if you can, and then add a mosque of
red sandstone on either side, and on the level of the lower platform. I
say 'on either side' for completing the idea at the risk of
incorrectness. The building to our left, as we look from across the
river, is really a mosque, and was intended for purposes of worship,
while that on the right is of no sanctity whatever; it was simply
erected for the artistic completeness of the picture, and is known as
the _Jowab_, or 'Answer.' Without these buildings the Taj appears too
high for its breadth, but when they come in view the effect is perfect.
Height and breadth are exactly proportioned, and it would need a very
bold critic to suggest an alteration.
[Illustration: THE PRINCESS OF SHAH JEHAN.]
"The tombs of Shah Jehan and his wife are in a vault beneath the floor,
while the monuments for show are on the floor itself, and surrounded
with a marble screen. If you have any doubt about the building having
been erected for the lady, you will find it vanish as you enter; her
tomb and monument are exactly beneath the centre of the dome, while
those of her disconsolate husband are at one side. And here again is a
marvel of the Taj workmanship; tombs, monuments, screen, walls, and
pillars are covered with mosaic work, chiefly of flowers and scrolls,
with many passages from the Koran. The scriptural texts are in black
marble, but the flowers and scrolls are of jasper, carnelian, agate, and
other semi-precious stones, with here and there an addition of
mother-of-pearl. And in nearly every instance it is as carefully done as
a Florentine brooch, and you do not wonder, when you have seen it, at
the great cost of the work. It is as though we should attempt to cover
the New York Post-office with frescoes as fine as the most delicate
engravings on steel.
"We saw a single flower containing more than thirty pieces of stone, and
yet the whole flower was not more than an inch in diameter. There are
hundreds and hundreds of these flowers, and there is a vast amount of
stems and scroll-work and sacred writings, and as you look around you
are fairly bewildered with the display. Bishop Heber says the builders
of the Taj 'designed like Titans and finished like jewellers;' the
wealth and elaboration of the interior are in full keeping with its
great external beauty and symmetry.
"There is a wonderful echo in the dome of the Taj; it repeats every
sound of the voice with great distinctness, but will disappoint any one
who tries to sing a complicated piece of music beneath it. If the notes
are at all rapid, the echo runs them into one another, and makes a
complete discord, but it is not so with very slow music. An English
writer says the chord of the seventh produces a very beautiful effect,
and it was this chord that Bayard Taylor heard and described as floating
and soaring overhead in a long, delicious undulation, fading away so
slowly that you hear it after it is silent, as you see, or seem to see,
a lark you have been watching after it has been swallowed up in the blue
vault of heaven.
"An English lady, who visited the Taj some years ago, said to her
husband as they walked away from the building, 'If I could be assured of
such a monument to my memory, I would willingly die to-morrow.' They
were newly married, and the husband was not at all wealthy;
consequently, the desired assurance was not given, and the lady did not
die. Probably there are many ladies and men, too, that have seen the
Taj who would share her opinion, as the building is, beyond dispute, the
finest of its kind on the face of the globe."
[Illustration: GATE-WAY OF SECUNDRA GARDEN.]
Thus ended Frank's letter. The Doctor pronounced it an excellent
description of the Taj Mahal, and was sure it would be read with
interest by all the Bassett family, and anybody else who could have
access to it.
Fred's turn for letter-writing came next. An excursion had been arranged
for visiting some interesting ruins at Futtehpoor-Sikra, twenty-one
miles from Agra, and the account of this journey was assigned to Frank's
cousin. The young man went at his task with great enthusiasm, and with
the following result:
[Illustration: TOMB OF THE EMPEROR AKHAR AT AGRA.]
"Futtehpoor-Sikra was once a city three miles in length, with a rocky
hill in the centre. The Mogul Emperor, Akbar, father of the Emperor
Juhangeer, selected it as a royal residence, and built one of the finest
palaces in all India on the rocky hill I have mentioned. The city has
gone, and its site has been converted into fields; the ruins of the
palace remain, and are the most extensive we have yet seen. They are a
century older than the Taj Mahal, at Agra, and are not in as good a
state of preservation. When I tell you that for nearly a mile along a
rocky ridge you have an almost unbroken succession of buildings, you can
understand that the palace and its surroundings were on a grand scale.
"To go there we found it necessary to 'lay a dawk,' as they say in
India--that is, to arrange for relays of horses along the road. The
manager of the hotel attended to the matter and sent out horses the day
before we were to visit Futtehpoor-Sikra: there were two relays, one
seven miles out and the other fourteen miles, and at each relay we found
the horses ready, so that there was no delay in changing. We rolled
along over an excellent road, and in two and a half hours we covered the
twenty-one miles between Agra and our destination. In many places the
road was shaded with tall trees; paroquets and other tropical birds were
playing in the branches, and several times we saw monkeys swinging from
the limbs, and evidently enjoying themselves.
"The country is generally flat and very fertile; but there are not many
objects of interest to be seen on the way. The route we followed is the
old one of the emperor's, and we saw traces of a canal that was built
for irrigating the land at the time Shah Juhangeer made his home here.
We kept a sharp lookout for the ruins, and soon after we passed the
twenty-first mile-post there they were. We stopped at what was once
the emperor's business-office, but is now kept as a restaurant for the
accommodation of visitors; it is at the entrance of the palace grounds,
and in just the place where you might expect an office to be situated.
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE GREAT MOSQUE OF DURGAH.]
"I am afraid I should weary you if I attempted to describe all the
buildings, and so I will pick out a few of the most important. There is,
in the first place, the great mosque which some have pronounced the
finest in India, and it certainly is a magnificent structure. It is
known as the Durgah, and has an entrance that reminded us of the gate of
the Taj Mahal, but in some respects it is more imposing. It is said that
the entrance did not belong to the mosque originally, but was erected a
good many years after the completion of the latter. The mosque is on the
highest part of the ridge, and you must climb a series of steps to reach
it; the view from the top is quite extensive, and would amply repay the
fatigue, even if there were no mosque there to interest us.
"Between the gate-way and the mosque there is a paved court-yard 433 by
366 feet, and the date on the main arch of the building corresponds to
our year 1571. The pavement is in good condition, and so is that of the
mosque itself; the Government applies the revenues of certain grounds in
the vicinity to the preservation of the buildings at Futtehpoor-Sikra,
and for the last twenty or thirty years they have not suffered any
injury. The mosque has three domes, and a long façade, decorated with
texts from the Koran, and with other inscriptions of Moslem origin. It
is much larger than the Pearl Mosque, at Agra, but not half so pretty.
"I must tell you that a holy hermit named Sheik Selim lived here in a
cave, and it was through his orders to the father of Juhangeer that the
palace was built. They showed us the cave close to the mosque where the
hermit lived, and hid himself away from the wolves and foxes, and then
they brought us to his tomb, which is in the great court-yard I have
described. As a work of art it is most remarkable, and we lingered some
time to study it.
"The inside of the building containing the tomb is ornamented with
paintings and mosaics of flowers, and over the tomb itself there is a
canopy set with mother-of-pearl, which presents a beautiful appearance.
A wide gallery or veranda runs around the outside of the building; there
is a dome in the centre, and the eaves project so as to cover the
gallery, and shelter anybody who may be there from the rain.
"The screen between the gallery and the enclosure containing the tomb is
of white marble wrought into a sort of lace; Bayard Taylor says it looks
as though it had been woven in a loom, and certainly when you examine it
from a distance of ten or twenty yards it resembles lace more than
anything else. You never saw any carving in marble as pretty as this is,
and I wonder that the idea has not been taken up and utilized by
marble-workers of to-day. The screen extends all the way round the
building, and admits light enough into the interior to give a fine
effect to the canopy and other surroundings of the saint's tomb. The
whole building is forty-six feet square, and every inch of its surface
is finished with the greatest care.
[Illustration: THE PANCH MAHAL.]
"We went through the great stables where the emperor's horses were kept,
and then to the throne-hall, the council-hall, the houses of the
emperor's wives, and to so many other buildings that I can hardly
remember the names of them. A curious edifice is the Panch Mahal, which
is five stories in height, and each story smaller than the one below it.
The use of this strange building is not known.
"Then the guide took us to the Pachisi Board, which is a court-yard laid
out in squares something like a chess-board, and surrounded by an
elevated gallery. The emperor used to play pachisi--an Eastern game
something like backgammon--on this 'board,' and the ladies of the harem
acted as 'pieces,' and stepped from one square to another as the moves
were made. At one corner of this yard there is a building where the
ladies used to play 'hide-and-seek' or 'blindman's-buff;' at least that
is the story they tell at the palace, but some of the historians say the
place was nothing more nor less than a treasure-room. It must have been
a wonderful spot in the days of its glory.
"There are fountains and pools in various parts of the palace-grounds,
and one very pretty tank where the empress used to go to bathe. Outside
of the walls of the mosque is a deep pool, and here there were half a
dozen natives who offered to jump from the walls to the water, a
distance of almost a hundred feet. They wanted half a rupee each, and we
agreed to pay them, and so they climbed up and jumped. It was a fearful
distance, and when they struck the water one after another it sounded
like hitting a hammer against a board. In the first part of the descent
they kept their limbs in active motion, but as they neared the water
they brought their feet close together, and went in as straight as
arrows.
"According to the historians, the emperor never lived long at
Futtehpoor-Sikra, as Sheik Selim complained of the noise of having the
whole court around him, and asked the emperor to move away. The latter
then went and built Agra, on the banks of the Jumna; the whole court,
with the people of the city around it, moved to the new site, and the
wonderful palace was deserted, and has remained so ever since.
"We came back to Agra in the same way, and in the same time as we rode
out in the morning. The excursion of the day was one that we shall long
remember."