New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-09-21
IN ELDER WORLDS.
VIII
"TUg WONDER OF INDIA

rt. ,a,,ncsa of the common birds IN India has
-, ,n,horo more strikinplv illustrated than IN
fins crowded city. Ga q pleco OF waste Fi""""
ski,,inr ono Of the main roads Hook oi Shu7'
Numbering over hilf bundrc1, are dniiy hccus-
toned to rather and discuss the occupation ~
Favpt the lbcr bill. the ALLEGED designs "i hns,l'
., india and other matters of general interest No
nn. distnrbs their consultation. No wicked hoy
tbr,,,s siones M thcm. nor does any man taac Hun
90 shoot. They have their talk out ana go
tb,it wov I'm scnfchof otcycfscGrs houschod'rs
NAV have provided for ttcm. At the hotel many
more splrroWa lhnn guests pt down to 'ir 'h'' ,'
They hv IA bv oprn donts acfosa bedrooms INTO ~"
dung.touni. walk about the llo'f nnd H"'n'il'n''
.iisit on the tablrriplh. helping ih'ih''V'' u"
CRUMBS. Every morning one particularly '''' ''
low nics INTO NV b"dr1om, pefches oh 10" lhh'i
viudow-.U aud with shui voice ana m'ndh'i"u1
detail tells uc he built the Tai, Ihs Is ma"ilehlS
jtnpos. Die ard Is c0nluteA by weil-knowh iael' hn'
contradIctcd he bring, In twoor tre'oihei l'lIo"S
who si.tiug on the bed rail, on the Washstdhd' on
nv parima eau wherever there Is cld" hold' PACK
him up with moe l"taIs, cretun9 "a Shril cla""r
from which az. az l.et glad 10 mdnc escape.
Before going To- see the lai. the wonder "I IN
dia." IT Is advisable 80 visit the mauso'eum Of
Ewoic, Aceas. com nonly known as the tomb Of
Itpud-oo-powiln This would OF itself be worth
: cling if IL stood 30 m'lcs distant from the TAI
But the truth rs that. d.. seeing the Ial, NOUN
ina. ri The same kind is worth looking al. Never
thelc,s the tomb Of itmJi has attractions OF us
own and history cNcc.ung IN human interest 'laU
o:m.ny gran Ter pla, -. kWU"o AecaS was SOL
dieI %. fortune who came from Western Iarta'N III
tie hope OF filming appolntment III tn'
service If the great Emperor AkD'r IN
tins h. succeeded but the toundailoh ol
ms .,,pr.., fortunes was LAID when his DAUGHTER
nj a
reai'l nd hl IN the breast of tie heir apparent
IT,: clowlrc passion the history of which is writ
1e. in A.oores Light of the larem" She hap
pcncI TO lie engaged 80 Sheer Afgdn, one OF TIE
nob'cs of the Court. and beng an exceedingly
shrewd uerSon married him. match win 'pe
fmpcroI's son seemed more brilliant. hut III tno'e
DAYS IT was by no means certain mat amer al-
par. mt would reach the throne. His very ciah
might prove fatal to MIN, and If he were poisoned
straug;ed or walled mp, hls wife would he IN sore
straits sheer Afgau on the contrary, was IN wen
c,tablis cd position. not TOO high to invite hostility
and vet high enough to satisfy the reasonable cx-
pcctatons of Becky Sharpe. When however
Jehaneir succeeded to the thronc of Akbar things
were changed. Sheer Afgan was got
out of the way, and his widow
Otherwise mconsolabe. married tie Emperor
The new Empress i'm nediatey began to provide
for her relation VIII at news f her advancement
Hocked IN from Gartdry. Her father she caused to
Sc made High Treasurer, and all her uncles' her
cousins and her ults had fat places found Tor
them about the court Having no children by
Jchaugir she concentrated her attention upon the
advancement of her daughter By the haplcSs sheer
Aigan. whom she married toa younger son Of the
Impcror Asa preliminary TO recover the throne
for hIm. she induced her husband TO put ont the
eyes of his eldest son. KhosIoo. Khrosroos mother
40. naturally tudtguuut a this. NOOT-Nlalal m
yitcd The lady 10 her apartments 10 talk the matter
over Walking round the court yard she incl-
dcntally asked her visitor 10 look down
new well that had been dug. and gently but
firmly pushed her il. This new family bcrcaVe-
Ineut moved the heart of Shah Jchan, the soc0nd
SOIL toward his unfortunate elder brother lie
went of 90 4 quiet place IN the South OF INDIA ana
sent back messenger 10 say lac " could not endure
the separation from his poor blind brother"
Khosroo touched by this sympathy, went of to
his brother who embraced him so ancctlonatcly
that hc strang'cd HIM. Noor-Mahh looked upon
tins proceeding with approval since If left ONLY one
lie between hcr-sOu-u law, shah Rccar. ana 'he
throne. Shah jehau must be removed and al
would he well But Jehan. ~ his little comcly
with his poor hllnd hrotlcr' testified. was hoth
crafty and determined. II became game OF pull
devil baker," aud shah Jchn won
Coming 20 the throne oh the d'ath
Of his f,ihef he put ont the owes of his brother
Eeent imrntttny Attnnplod all his blood relations
and east INTO prison the dowaRef Empress ll't"
through long years this tnthrtuo OF ilmdoslnn
ate ont her lion heart, comtottcd only hY the
,uriunry of the Il va when rho had becn hfs M the
council board had led the imperial troops INTO bal
tie aud had caused her name to be htfich on the
CON issued from the Imperial mint, the MOI ana
last time tll the epoch of Victoria that "omans
name was 80 honored in India. Noor-Maha'' a. "iII
appear from this simple story was woman
ot strong family affection, and II was III obedience
10 this impulse she built this great mausolenm Tor
the entombment of her father. She sleeps By his
side ifes htful fever over, only her story lclt 10
hight M lurd page III the earlier history of India.
The Tai was built by shah Jehan, and, apart
from its architectural beauties, 1t Is the most
magnificent tribute ever raised by man to the
memory of dead wife. Jehan had married the
niece of the terrible Empress Noor-Mahal. Noon
taz-ee-Nlaha had inh .rited much of the beauty Of
her aunt, and might have developed something OF
her ambition and uDscrupulousnesS. But Jchan
was a stronger man than his father, and had his
ideas of the proper place of woman in politics. He
would not let his wife NEEDLE with the Imperial
government; but he loved her very dearly, and
when she died resolved that she should have the
most magnificent tomb in india. Hence the TAI,
by common consent the tomb as distinct from
all Others III the world Like fort the Iaj stands
on the banks of the Jumna Seen from its
marble terrace the river second in sanctity only to
the GlngeS, presents straRge appearance It's
wide bed Is for fve-siXths of its extent dry land,
the enfeebcd current running through narrow
channel on the other side. Under the walls of the
Tai great field of wheat is growing among the
gray sand5anks in the very middle of the river bed
When the rains come III June the newly born
river wi lrush downward III mighty stream, wash
ing nigh up the walls of the Tai and the cOrnheld
will he some fathoms deep. III the meanwhile the
harvest will BE garnered in, and when next
ann the river dries NJ again, rich bed will be
1 n rnnn Inc sAANInl, for LlrNnsi-