Our next excursion was to the Fort, or Palace of Shah Jehan, which
resembles a city on a miniature scale. In circuit, the high red walls
encompassing it are a mile and a half. The space enclosed is 600,000
yards. There is no wall on the river-face. Bernier’s account holds true
to the present day, so far as the walls are five to six feet thick,
forty to fifty feet high, and flanked with turrets and cupolas at
intervals, similar to those on the walls of the city. They are built of
granite, but possess no more the beauty of polished marble. The wide
and deep moat round the walls, that he describes as full of water,
and abounding with fish, is now all dry--the freestone pavement being
beat upon by the sun. No longer, also, beyond the moat, are there any
gardens extending to the skirts of the royal abode.
Facing the _Nowbut-Khanna_ on the inside about a hundred and
twenty yards distant, is the first suite of the royal buildings, styled
the _Dewanni-anum_, or the hall of public audience. The ranges
of two-storied buildings, once about this place, with their walls and
arches adorned with a profusion of the richest tapestries, velvets,
and silks, have all disappeared. The _Dewanni-anum_ of Shah Jehan
is considerably larger and loftier than the building of the same name
at Agra. It is a quadrangular hall, open at three sides, the roof of
which is supported upon four rows of tall redstone pillars, formerly
ornamented with gilt arabesque paintings of flowers, but now covered
with the eternal whitewash. The building was now occupied by the
troops, and it was a great disappointment for us to miss the celebrated
Marble Throne which all travellers speak of with admiration,--though
it was in a state, we were told, that did not make it a very great
curiosity. The throne is in an elevated recess, or niche in the
back-wall, from which it projects into the hall, in front of the large
central arch. There is a staircase to get up to it, the seat being
raised ten feet from the floor. The size of the throne is about ten
feet, and over it is a marble canopy supported on four marble pillars,
all beautifully inlaid with mosaic work exquisitely finished, but now
much dilapidated. In the wall behind is a doorway, by which the emperor
entered from his apartments in the harem. This wall is covered with
mosaic paintings in precious stones of various birds, beasts, fruits,
and flowers. Many of them are executed in a very natural manner,
and represent the birds and beasts of the several countries ruled
over by Shah Jehan. On the upper part, in the centre of the wall “is
represented, in the same precious stones, and in the graceful attitude,
the figure of an European in a kind of Spanish costume, who is playing
upon his guitar.” This has been interpreted into a group of Orpheus,
charming the birds and beasts with his music, and is what decides the
work to be from the hands of a French artist, mentioned by Bernier
under the name of La Grange, _alias_ Austin de Bordeaux.
[Illustration: THE PALACE OF SHAH JEHAN, INDIA.]
Upon this throne did Shah Jehan seat himself every day at noon, to
receive the compliments or petitions of his subjects. He appeared
on such occasions in great state, preceded by a _cortège_ of
mace-bearers, bearing silver figures upon silver sticks. His sons sat
on each side of him, decked in costly apparel and jewels. Behind them
stood in array eunuchs in rich liveries. Some of them drove off flies
by moving _chowries_ made of peacocks’ feathers. Others waved
fans of coloured silk or velvet, embroidered with gold and precious
stones. The _chobdars_ and other messengers waited next in
respectful silence to receive the commands of the sovereign. On a fine
large slab of white marble, raised some three feet above the ground,
and fenced with silver rails, stood the vizier and other secretaries,
in front of the throne, to hand up petitions to their master, and to
receive and convey his imperial commands. Next to them stood in humble
attendance tributary Rajahs, dependent chiefs, and ambassadors from
foreign princes. Beyond them was the place for the _Munsubdars_,
who showed themselves in the same attitude of respect and humility
that marked the demeanour of the other attendants in the hall. In
the furthermost part of the building, as well as in the outer court
in front of it, thronged all sorts of people and visitants in one
promiscuous crowd.
Thus hedged round by divinity, sat Shah Jehan, as the Vicegerent of God
upon earth, with his face turned towards Mecca.
The next suite of apartments is the _Dewanni-Khas_, or hall of
private audience. There is certainly much to admire in this building,
but the expectations raised by reading are not half fulfilled. In
richness of materials it may stand unrivalled, but in point of
architectural design it does not possess more than ordinary excellence.
Rising from a terrace, elevated some four to five feet from the ground,
the _Dewanni-Khas_ forms an oblong-shaped pavilion, which measures
one hundred and fifty feet in length, by forty feet in breadth. The
height is well proportioned to these dimensions. The building has a
flat roof, supported upon ranges of massive arcaded pillars, all of a
rich bluish-white marble. Between each of the front row of pillars is
a balustrade of the same material, chastely carved in various designs
of perforated work. The cornices and borders are decorated with a
great quantity of frieze and sculptured work. The top is ornamented
with four elegant marble pavilions, with gilt cupolas. In short,
the _Dewanni-Khas_ is an open, airy, and lightsome building,
possessing in the highest degree all those features which, suggested
by local climate form the peculiarity of Indian architecture. It is
advantageously situated near the river, and affords, on a sultry night,
the best place for delicious zephyrs to fan you to sleep.
Nothing that is recorded in fiction or fact comes up to the
magnificence of this hall. There traces remaining of that magnificence
are enough to show that the reality of wealth develops those ideas
of grandeur, which surpass all the imaginings of imagination. The
gorgeous Pandemonium of Milton, of which the idea may have been
taken from Bernier’s account of the Mogul court, is eclipsed by the
_Dewanni-Khas_, the grandeur of which is not apocryphal, but a
realized fact. That “jasper pavement,” which the mighty poet deemed
to be so rich as to adorn the court of heaven, is seen here by every
individual with his eyes broadly open. The pillars and arches are
ornamented with tendrils of bright flowers and wreaths of bloodstone,
agate, jasper, cornelian, and amethyst, that seem “snatched as it
were from the garden, and pressed into the snowy blocks.” There was a
rich foliage of silver filagree work covering the entire ceiling. The
Mahrattas in 1759, under their celebrated General Bhao, tore this down,
and melted it into seventeen lacs of rupees. It has been replaced by
one of gilt copper worked in a flower pattern. Never could the gorgeous
splendour of this hall have been more emphatically summed up than in
the inscription which is sculptured in letters of gold in the cornices
of the interior room--“If there is a paradise upon earth, it is this,
it is this, it is this.”
In this hall was the _Tukt Taous_, or the famous _Peacock
Throne_. It was so called from its having the figures of two
peacocks, with their tails spread, that were so naturally executed
in sapphires, rubies, emeralds, pearls, and other precious stones of
appropriate colours, as to represent life, and strike every beholder
with the most dazzling splendour. “The throne itself was six feet long
by four feet broad; it stood on six massive feet, which, with the body,
were of solid gold, inlaid with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds. It
was surmounted by a canopy of gold supported by twelve pillars, all
richly emblazoned with costly gems, and a fringe of pearls ornamented
the borders of the canopy. Between the two peacocks stood the figure
of a parrot of the ordinary size, said to have been carved out of a
single emerald (?). On either side of the throne stood a _chatta_
or umbrella, one of the Oriental emblems of royalty; they were formed
of crimson velvet, richly embroidered and fringed with pearls,
the handles were eight feet high, of solid gold, and studded with
diamonds.” Tavernier, a jeweller by profession, and who saw this superb
throne, estimates the cost of it at six and a half millions sterling,
or six crores of rupees. The device was not original; it seems to
have been taken from a representation of the Karteek of the Hindoos.
The umbrella, also, was one of the insignia of Hindoo royalty. It was
on the birthday of Soliman Sheko that the joy of a grandfather had
been especially manifested by Shah Jehan’s first mounting the _Tukt
Taous_.
It is recorded by Bernier, that the “King appeared seated upon this
throne at one extremity of the great hall of the _Am-Khas_,
splendidly attired, his garment being of white flowered satin, richly
embroidered, his turban of gold cloth, having an aigrette worked upon
it, the feet of which were studded with diamonds of extraordinary
lustre and value, and in the centre was a beautiful Oriental topaz
of matchless size and splendour, shining like a little sun: round
his neck was a string of pearls, of great value, which hung down to
his waist. The throne on which he sat was supported by six pillars
of massive gold, enriched with a profusion of rubies, emeralds,
and diamonds, and his other insignia of state were embellished
with equal grandeur.... The pillars of the hall were magnificently
ornamented with gold tapestry, and the ceiling was covered over with
beautiful flowered satin, fastened with red silk cords, having at
each corner festoons with gold tassels. Below nothing was to be seen
but rich silk tapestries of extraordinary dimensions. In the court,
at a little distance, was pitched a tent called the _Aspek_,
which in length and breadth somewhat exceeded the hall, and reached
almost to the centre of the court. It was likewise surrounded with
a large balustrade of solid silver, and supported by three poles,
of the height and thickness of a large mast, and by several smaller
ones,--covered with plates of silver. The outside was red, and the
lining within of beautiful chintz, manufactured expressly for the
purpose at Masulipatam, representing a hundred different flowers, so
naturally done, and the colours so vivid, that one would imagine it to
be a hanging parterre.” No mention of the Koh-i-noor appears in this
account--it must have been somewhere, either in the Peacock Throne, or
on the arm or turban of the monarch. Possibly, the string of pearls
spoken of was the same that Runjeet Sing afterwards wore around his
waist. The cynicism of a poet may style all this as “barbaric pearl and
gold,” but it is what, after all, quiets the yearnings of all civilized
men.
The Peacock Throne no longer exists. It was carried off as a trophy
by Nadir Shah, and had to be broken up in all probability, into ten
thousand pieces of stone, now scattered all over the world. In its
place is a simple marble throne that by itself is not an ordinary
piece of workmanship. In strolling through the hall we paused before
this throne; and as a monument of fallen greatness it failed not
to affect us with the usual sentiment of “all is vanity under the
sun.” It may be looked upon almost as the seat of Shah Jehan, and
Aurungzebe, and Shah Alum,--and raises a host of associations that
come rapping at the door of memory. Here stood the graceful Soliman,
his hands bound in gilded fetters, entreating in the most pathetic
language to be put to death at once, rather than be sentenced to die
by slow poison,--thereby affecting many of the courtiers to tears, and
making the ladies of the harem to weep aloud from behind the screens.
Here Sevajee in expectation of an honourable reception, but finding
himself to be treated with studied neglect, could not control his
feelings of indignation, changed colour, and sank to the ground in
a swoon,--while a daughter of Aurungzebe, seeing the young stranger
from behind a curtain, became enamoured of him. Here sat Mahomed Shah
bandying compliments with Nadir Shah, and sipping coffee, while the
corpses of a hundred thousand slaughtered Delhi-ites tainted the air.
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 trains 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 Nadir 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
Nadir Shah, 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 Kussilbashees at Delhi; take care of him, for your own
sake, and get round you as many like him as you can.’”
The _Dewanni-Khas_ is now all desolate and forlorn. It is a
matter of heartfelt regret to see the barbarous ravages that have been
committed in picking out the different precious stones. There is a
mark of violence on one of the pillars, which the Mahrattas attempted
to break. No rose-beds or fountains about the building now--only the
bare skeleton of it is standing. The Great Mogul’s hall of audience
was, till lately, used as a museum, the contents of which have been now
removed to the new Delhi Institute.
The freest public lounge is not more open to access than is now the
seat of Mogul jealousy--the _Seraglio_. “There was scarcely
a chamber that had not a reservoir adjoining it--with parterres,
beautiful walks, groves, rivulets, fountains, grottos, jets of water,
alcoves, and raised terraces to sleep upon, and enjoy the cool air
at night.” Now that everything has disappeared, this description of
Bernier seems to be almost imaginary--an account of the “baseless
fabric of a vision.” The “parterres,” “walks,” “groves,” “grottos,” and
“raised terraces” have all ceased to exist.