Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1889-08-10
THE ROME OF ASIA.
Delhi, the Tai Mahal, the Peacock Throne
and the Kutub Mlnar,

anu the huCup mlnhrs
Delhi, for the last 5000 years the
Rome of Asia, possesses history dat
ing back to the mythical period of the
Aryans. The city is situated on the
banks of the Jumna, just outside the
Northwest province and within the
boundary of the Punjab. 1t has sue
cumbed seven times to attack and as
often rises again to dominion and
grandeur. Delhi owes her present re-
nown to the extravgant ides and alb
ject cruelty of Sha Jehan, who swayed
the rod of empire from 1927 to 1868.
The Great Fort; the Dewan-i-Kas, or
hall of private audience; the Notice
Musjid, the Mosque or Pearls, and
the Grown of the World" the
Tai Mahal at Agra, built for the
last resting-place of the fair Per-
sian Queen of the ruthless Emperor,
all stand as eulogies to perpetuate his
name. The fort is little less than
two miles in circuit and its walls rise
forty feet from the ground. Inside
this inclosure are the most superb and
costly buildings OF Hindoostan. En-
tering by the Lahore, now Victoria
gate, succeeded by a long vaulted aisle,
which at present is utilized by the ma
tive hawkers for the display of their
wares to the English soldiers who oc-
cupy the CITADEL the hall of public
audience and the Pearl mosque stand
out against the clear Asiatic sky,
bringing to mind the productions OF
Jerome and Constant, who have inn
mortalized the scenes of Eastern lux
ury. Pre-eminent among these marvels
of mans handicraft is the hall Of pri-
vate audience, which commands an eX-
tensive view of the silent Jumna and
the monotonous eXpanse of rolling
plain. The hall is of marble, open at
the sides and supported by pillars rich
in precious stone and gold mosaic and
carving. At each corner rises kiosk
composed of the same material as the
building, and the ceiling is decorated
with gold and silver filigree work The
elimination of all this splendor is at
tanned in the takt-i-taus, the famous
peacock throne, which stood in the
center of the palatial chamber before
its destruction by the Persian Nadil
Sha in the early part of the last cent
ury. 1t is formed of mass of golt
wrought in the form of two peacock:
with distended tails, fashioned TO life
with diamonds, sapphires, rubies
emeralds, and suspended between then
a parrot of normal size. This rega
seat was perfected at a cost of 6 crores
or 10000, 900 rupees, nominally about
$30,0O0,000
The Jumna Musjid-i. e., the Frida
mosque, that day being the Moham
medan Sabbath-contains .larg
quadrangle 450feet square, approache,
on three sides by broad sandston
steps. A small fountain in the cente
gives forth constant stream Of cold
, crystal water for the additions OF tn
faithful. On one side stands a build
ing extending the entire length of tn
court, surmounted by three white MAJ
BILE domes, which are capped wit
gilded spires. At the extremities tw
I minarets, alternately striped wit
sandstone and marble, perfect the SYN
o metry of the religious edifice T
= westward, toward Mecca, tho middl
building lies open, and on Fridays tn
vast area is crowded with worshiper
principally men, for, according to tn
4 Mohammedan education, women ha7
: no souls; they live for and are tn
property of men, the koran permittin
man to have four wives, to say notl
ing OF concubines.
Q A drive of some hours brings lis
q the kutub minar. Having passe
through one deserted city after al
other, some containing a few building
u in tolerable state of preservation,
l. is not strange that this tower shoul
j. seem of such colossal height u
|. doubtedly it was erected in the midi
% of the dark ages, and was one of tn
:, wonders of the period. At the base
measures 100 feet in circumference
and gradually diminishes in a series
IL five stories to 80 feet at the summit.