EXCEPTIONS TO CREMATION AMONG THE HINDUS.

157

I was told that when the Maharajah of Kashmir was at Benares at the time of the Prince of Wales's visit, he gave sixteen rupees to each Brahmin, and twenty-five to each pundit; these last also each received a shawl. The pundits are the learned class amongst the Brahmins. The Maharajah is said to have disbursed altogether at that time the sum of 100,000 rupees, or about £10,000 of our money. The most learned men in all India are to be found at Benares: some of them hold what may be called degrees, conferred on them by their societies.

The bodies of all Hindus who die at Benares are burned at the Manikarnika Ghât. Thousands of people go thither from all parts of India simply to die in the sacred city. Any one having very old parents is bound, if within a reasonable distance, to send them to it; and any Hindú dying at Benares is believed to have his sins entirely washed away, and to become incorporated with Shiva. With apparent inconsistency, the only exception to the rule of burning the bodies seems to be in the case of the Gossains, who are members of a kind of Hindú religious fraternity, and of those who die by an accident or from the bite of a serpent; in the two latter instances they give us a reason that such do not die by the hand of God. Children dying under the age of two years are also buried.

The pilgrim's duty does not end here; for he must also make the circuit of the Panch Kosi road, which is so called because at no part of its course is it more than five kos (or ten miles) from Benares. This road comprises a circuit of fifty miles, and this area is esteemed very sacred. Hundreds of shrines are scattered along this road; the pilgrim is bound to worship at as many

158

THE SO-CALLED MONKEY TEMPLE.

of these as possible. All the land within this space is called Benares. The Hindús believe that whoever dies within this enclosure is sure of happiness after death— and this applies, they say, to Europeans and Mohammédans, even to Pariahs and outcasts. After completing this circuit, the pilgrim must then visit the temple of Sakhi Bináyaka, or the witness-bearing Bináyaka, in order that the fact of his pilgrimage may be verified. Were they to neglect this, the whole would have been performed in vain.

I will now begin to describe some of the Hindu temples at Benares, premising that I will speak about none which I have not myself visited; and the same rule must be considered to apply to any other monuments, unless the contrary is especially stated. The temple called Durga-Kund, or tank of Durga, is not far from the Manikarnika Ghât, but it is at least three miles from Sikraul, as the English quarter at Benares is named. It is best known as the "Monkey Temple," from the great number of those animals which it maintains. When we were there we gave some money to one of the attendants to buy grain, and on strewing it about, the monkeys, old and young, large and small, came down to the feast in great numbers from the temple and its surrounding colonnades. A certain old mamma monkey had a baby with her who was afraid to undertake the final downward leap with her, the little animal staying on the top of the colonnade and crying like a child. Mamma could not endure this for long, so, in spite of her evident fear of losing a part of her share of the food, she turned round, stood upon her hind-legs, held out her arms, and the little creature jumped into them.

The Durga Kund temple is built on the same plan as

HINDÚ METHOD OF TELLING THEIR BEADS. 159

all Hindú temples, but has no minute carving or sculpture upon it, therefore I shall go on to describe that of Bishesharnath, commonly known as the Golden Temple, from the plates of gilt copper which cover the central dome, and one of the pyramid-like roofs on either side of this, beneath one of which is the shrine of the god. These roofs are covered with small pinnacles placed one above the other, the whole terminating at the summit with a single tall and graceful pinnacle. The entrance doors are very handsome, being made of gilt brass or copper, and consisting of small squares, each of which contains a figure of some god in basso-rilievo: a richly wrought arabesque border surrounds the whole. After passing through these doors a large court is seen, round which is a platform with a sloping roof supported on pillars, with partitions at intervals, which form recesses. The whole building is of sandstone, coloured a bright red.

Once when we were there we saw more than one painted devotee seated on this platform, apparently absorbed in meditation, having a few flowers, or perhaps a few leaves of a book, on a mat before him. In his right hand was a kind of a sock or bag of a peculiar form, made of bright bits of cloth sewn together in a particular arrangement of the colours. This bag is sometimes embroidered with figures of Krishna, the Brahmini bull, the sun, &c. In it he holds his rosary, and, muttering certain prayers, counts his beads. The dome and the two pyramidal-like structures already alluded to are on a platform, about four feet in height, in the centre of this court. All these buildings are richly carved on their exterior, being covered with minute work representing sprays of flowers, conventionally treated, the lotus blossom being often repeated. Beneath the dome, and in all the recesses

160

TEMPLE OF ANYA-PURNA.

round this temple, are numerous Mahádéos, or emblems of Shiva.

The temple of Anya-Purna has also been mentioned as one of those which every pilgrim is bound to visit. Anya-Purna may be called the goddess of plenty, as she is supposed to feed all the poor. Tradition says that when Benares was first peopled, Anya-Purna was fearing that the task of supplying their wants would be beyond her power. The goddess Gunga, or Ganges, came to her assistance, and said that if Anya-Purna would give a handful of pulse to every applicant, she would contribute a lota (a brass vessel) of water. From this has now arisen the custom that all who can afford it daily put aside a quantity of pulse or rice, which they moisten over night, and in the morning give away in handfuls to the poor. Only one handful is given to each person; but a whole family, after collecting a supply from a number of donors, by the middle of the day can obtain a goodly quantity, which they first dry, and then either cook for food or sell in the bazaar. Milk is also given to them—the produce of the sacred cows kept in the precincts of the temple.

This building is worthy of notice, being built of a very white kind of stone, and covered with paintings of flowers in bright colours, amongst which the lotus has a prominent place. On entering the doorway the usual square court is seen, with the temple in the centre, but differing slightly from other buildings of the same nature, inasmuch as all round the courtyard there is a covered colonnade slightly raised above it, wherein cows, calves, and even bulls are kept, which are all so tame as to be not a little intrusive. A number of gay peacocks also strut about this enclosure. The centre

NEPAULESE TEMPLE AT BENARES.

161

building, or temple proper, is supported on twelve
columns, and is open on all sides but one, where it is
joined to a small covered building containing the shrine
of the goddess. The flooring is of black and white
marble, arranged in geometrical patterns. Under the
central dome is a bell, sounded by a clapper: this is
almost constantly going, for all, when they have per-
formed their devotions, sound it in their turn on quit-
ting this temple, which is said to have been erected
about 150 years ago.

About a mile beyond it, and overlooking the Ganges,
is the so-called Nepaulese temple, erected to Shiva by a
Maharajah of Nepaul about a century ago. Singularly
enough, there is a considerable resemblance, both in form
and construction, between this temple and the Moham-
medan mosques in Kashmir. It is a large square
building, elevated on a platform about four feet high.
At the principal entrance are steps by which the temple
is reached. On either side of these there is a lion
carved in stone, but on the right hand, between the
steps and the lion, there is a stone head of Shiva in
alto-vilievo. The hair is arranged in a double row of
curls, standing out like the sun's rays; below the ears,
and round the neck, most lifelike-looking snakes are
coiled. From the platform rises the temple—a building
about 24 feet square and the same in height. Sloping
eaves, about 6 feet wide and roofed with small tiles,
project all round—the eaves being supported by wooden
brackets richly carved. Above this rises another square
building of smaller dimensions, which likewise is fur-
nished with similar sloping eaves. Along the edge of
each of these eaves hangs a row of small bells, placed
at short distances from each other, which must tinkle

I.

162

TEMPLE OF SPIRITUAL POLICE MAGISTRATE.

when there is any wind stirring. Above this again is
a sort of pagoda. Smaller ones of the same kind occupy
each of the four corners. From an iron rod at the
summit is suspended a large bell. A trident—one of the
emblems of Shiva—is also attached to the centre pagoda,
and stands out nearly at right angles to it: the trident,
as well as the pagodas, are all gilt. There are four doors
to this temple, each with a window on either side of it.
The doors, as well as the shutters of the window, are all
of wood, and richly carved. The principal entrance has
a figure of Shiva in duplicate upon it; the other three
doors have Shiva and Parbuti, side by side, represented
upon them. Over each door is a segment of a pointed
arch, which is surmounted by the well-known "chattur,"
or umbrella-like ornament. The most prominent figure
in this piece of carving is that of Garuda, the King of
the Vultures, one of the heroes of the Ramayana. The
window-shutters have small bells carved all over them.

Adjoining this temple is a building with some handsome carving upon it, erected by the same Maharajah. Such places are called Baradurries; and in the one I am speaking of any Hindú pilgrim of good caste receives board and lodging gratis. Foundations of this character abound in Benares, and render it a very paradise of beggars.

The temple of Baironath is built on the same plan as
all the others, and is of sandstone, painted a bright red.
The temple itself is supported on fluted pillars. The
small inner shrine contains a statue of this god, covered
with plates of silver. In the colonnade there are statues
of Hanuman, or the monkey god; of Kali, and also of
Rama and his brother Lakhsman, who are seated one on
each shoulder of another statue of Hanuman. Baironath

THE WELL OF FATE.

163

is looked upon by the Hindús as a spiritual *kotwal* (or police magistrate) of Benares and its suburbs. He is bound to keep the city free from evil spirits and evil persons, and to expel them should he find any such. This being his office, it was deemed only right to arm him with a truncheon, which in this case is no sham weapon, but a very real one of stone, and is called the "Dand-pan." The Hindús believe it to be divine.

Singularly enough, this weapon is not placed close to the magistrate's hand—which would perhaps appear to be its natural and proper place—but we had to thread at least a quarter of a mile of intricate and narrow streets after leaving the temple before we came to it. The Dand-pan is inside a small building, and consists of a pillar of black stone about 4 feet 6 inches in height, tapering slightly upwards. There appeared to be some ornamentation at the top, but the pillar was so covered with wreaths of flowers which we dared not remove, that we were unable to examine it very narrowly. The Dand-pan is specially worshipped every Sunday and Tuesday, on which days a priest sits near it, and, with a rod made of peacocks' feathers, taps each corner; he is thus supposed to punish them for any evil they may have done. The word for this pillar was originally Danda-pani, which we were told signifies in Sanscrit, "Stick in hand." Its meaning seems to have become almost forgotten, and the pillar itself is now worshipped as a real deity, which shows one of the changes Hindúism has undergone even within a few centuries.

There are certain wells, too, which the Hindús consider sacred. One of these, the Kál-kúp, or "well of fate," is in the same building as the Dand-pan. The well is so situated, with regard to a square hole in the

164 AN OLD WOMAN PERFORMING "POOJA."

outer wall of the building, that at mid-day the sun's
rays strike upon the water in the well below. People
go there at that hour to search into the future, and woe
be to him who cannot then see his own shadow in the
water, for within six months he is certain to die!

There is another famous well called the Gyan Bápi,
or "well of knowledge," in a large open square near
the Golden Temple: the Hindús say that this well is the
residence of their god Shiva. They throw offerings of
flowers into the water, and the mass of decaying vege-
table matter which is there accumulated makes the smell
it emits anything but agreeable. An orthodox Hindú be-
lieves that whoever in ancient times drank of this water
was blessed with knowledge; but that now, owing to
want of faith, this gift is withheld. They have a tradi-
tion that once upon a time no water fell in Benares dur-
ing a space of twelve years, and that there was great
distress in consequence. When they were reduced to
great straits, in order to relieve them, one of their rishis
—who was a mythical being, not divine, but certainly
not mortal—grasped the trident of Shiva, and dug at
that spot, when a plentiful supply of water sprang up.

A large oblong building, supported on forty-eight
columns, and open on all sides, covers this well; and to
the east of this, on a separate platform, with a canopy
over them, are placed statues of two deities in alto-rilievo.
Four very steep steps lead up to the platform; and whilst
we were there we saw a very decrepit old woman perform
this portion of her pooja. As she ascended these steps
she touched each one with her forehead; and when ar-
rived at the top, she placed marigold flowers on the fore-
heads of these images, strewed some also on the ground,
and wound up by well shampooing both these gods!

GANESHA, OR THE ELEPHANT-HEADED GOD.

165

One side of the open square, where the Gyan Bapi is situated, is occupied with a mosque of considerable size, which is modern, and has nothing curious about it. But the back wall of this mosque has evidently at some time formed a portion of a large old Hindú temple, which is said to be the ancient temple of Shiva, and must have been on a much grander scale than any of the temples of the present day.

Besides those I have enumerated, there are also four temples in Benares dedicated to Sitala, the goddess of small-pox, whom they consider a sevenfold deity, and, therefore, in her temple is a bas-relief representing seven female figures. Another building is sacred to the Nau-grah, or nine planets—viz., the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Raha, and Ketu. The first seven give their names to the days of the week. We could only peep through a grating at these images, as this last temple remains closed all the day, and is only opened in the very early morning, when a priest comes and worships the idols, and makes the necessary offerings.

Although the city of Benares may now be regarded as sacred to Shiva, yet it would appear that it was not always so, as divine honours were at one time, they say, paid to a rajah called Divodas. Brahma had made this man Rajah of Benares, and given him jurisdiction over gods and men; and all other gods were banished from the city. These, headed by Shiva, of course tried to unseat him, but were unable to do so, until they could get Divodas to commit some sin, when his divine power and authority would be at an end. They were unsuccessful until Ganés, or Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, the eldest offspring of Shiva and Parbuti, came to the rescue, and in the character of a great guru, or

106 POPULAR BELIEF RESPECTING GANESHA.

teacher, went to Divodas. The rajah was so much struck with his learning and conversation that he asked to sit under him and be his disciple. Ganesha refused, but asked only that the rajah would follow out whatever instructions should be sent him in a dream. These came, and were simply that he must quit Benares. Feeling bound by his promise, the rajah abdicated his throne, retired from the place, and was conveyed by Shiva himself to the Káilas mountain. The other gods then entered Benares, and Shiva became their supreme ruler and head of the city.

A short account of Ganesha will not, I think, be out of place here, as statues of him figure in all the temples and in nearly every street of the city. The following is from a statement made to me by an educated Brahmin, and given, as far as possible, in his own words :—

> "As time went on, and a veil of ignorance had covered the true Hindú philosophy, a belief in the Trinity, much resembling the Trinity of the Christians, was introduced into Hindú society. It was believed that the deity manifested himself in three distinct forms: Brahma, Vishnu, and Mabeshwara, or Shiva; these representing the Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer. Men ascribed to each of these a physical nature akin to the human, and considered them members of society.

Popular mythology further asserts that before the creation of man "Bhagvati," like Eve, was created out of the body of Mabeshwara, and was married to him. The first-fruit of their marriage was Ganesha, who is said to have had the head of an elephant. Mythology also adds that Ganesha was, at his birth, a charming little babe with a human head, and that a very un-

SATURN'S FIRST GLANCE BRINGS EVIL.

167

happy circumstance made his appearance so monstrous. His birth caused great joy amongst the gods, and they all went to see the child except Shaui, or Saturn, the god of evil, dreaded by gods as well as by men. Bhagvati seems to have taken Shaui's absence as a pointed insult to herself. The other gods then summoned him by means of a mysterious mental process, and he immediately made his appearance. No sooner, however, had his first glance fallen upon Ganesha, than the babe's head vanished. It is said that Shaui's first look always causes irreparable evils, whilst his second glance gives what one may hardly expect.

The gods were horror-struck to see this change in the child, but bethought themselves to try if any living creature could be found at that moment in the whole ethereal region who was fast asleep with his head towards the north. They found Airavata, the famous elephant of Indra; and his head being in the desired posture, was chopped off, and brought to the scene of the accident. At the second glance of Shaui, the unwieldy head of the elephant was fastened on to the babe's slender body. All this was done in the twinkling of an eye, so that Bhagvati had only to bewail the metamorphosis. This, however, distressed her so very much, that the gods, to console her, assured her that her son would be held in the highest honour, and that his worship would precede the worship of the rest of the gods. Ganesha accordingly receives the first offering in pooja of all kinds; and his name is, as a rule, first uttered whenever the Hindú scriptures are read."

168

CHAPTER XII.

COMMISSIONER'S DURBAR AT BENARES—MARCH TO JOUNPORE—INTERESTING MOSQUES AT THAT PLACE.

ON 1st January 1878 we were still at Benares, being detained by rainy weather, which prevented the tents from being struck. We thus witnessed a *durbar*, as it is called, which was held by special command by the Commissioner as an anniversary of the Proclamation at Delhi the previous year, this official acting as a representative of the Empress of India. The ceremonies were much the same as those used on such occasions by the Prince of Wales or the Viceroy. The Commissioner was seated on a chair of state at the upper end of a long room. On either side of this room, down to the entrance door, were also seated a double or triple row of native princes and gentlemen, those of the highest rank having places nearest to the seat of honour.

On a small table in front of the Commissioner were placed certain medals, the same as those distributed at Delhi, which were to be given away on this occasion. In the chief seats I noticed four native gentlemen, evidently very different in type and appearance from all the rest, and most unmistakably Mussulmans. On inquiry I found that these had the title of Shahzadas, which I believe means princes, and were lineal descendants of

SOME DESCENDANTS OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS. 169

Timur, or Tamerlane. They continue to receive pensions from the English Government, as belonging to the dynasty of the Moghul emperors of Delhi, their ancestor on that throne being Bahadur Shah, a son of Aurungzebe.

Bahadur Shah, who began to reign A.D. 1707, may be said to be the last emperor who ruled in Delhi while it existed in all its splendour and magnificence, for after him each ruler became more effete, and more incapable of governing, till the final death-blow was given to their nominal sovereignty in 1857. One of the sons of Bahadur Shah—possibly during the contest which ensued amongst them directly after their father's death in 1712—came to Benares, and these Shah-Zadas are his descendants. They have the privilege of demanding a private interview with Royalty or with the Viceroy, and exercised this when the Prince of Wales was in India in 1875-76.

The rest of the ceremony consisted in giving the medals to those for whom they were intended. One of the minor rajahs, and some old men who had done good service during the Mutiny or otherwise, each received one. After this came an act of homage (the giving of the Nuzzur) by every native prince or chief personage; *attar* and *pan* were then handed round, and all took their leave.

From Benares we went, with tents and camp equipment, to Jounpore, thirty miles distant. At Baragawn, our last halting-place, about a quarter of a mile from our camp, and facing a tank, there was a very curious Hindú temple, consisting of two chambers, each about six feet square—the roof of the inner one being of stone, and its construction the same as that of the roofs of the

170

FORT AT JOUNPORE.

Buddhist temples at Sydpore and Benares, which I have already described. A huge peepul-tree (*Ficus religiosa*) grows against one side of this building; its roots have completely embraced the whole of the inner temple. There is an entrance to each chamber; the door-posts of the one facing the tank have stone pillars about six feet high, which are octagonal at the base, then become sixteen sided, and are round at the upper part. The second chamber has likewise two stone pillars: on each of these is carved a female figure, about two feet six inches high, having a bird on its head. The lintel has also figures carved upon it. In the centre of the inner chamber is placed a huge stone head, sunk about a foot below the ground, with a low stone balustrade all round it. This head is rounded at the top, and is now wor- shipped as an emblem of Shiva. The inner chamber has two brick recesses, and its entrance door is at right angles to that of the first chamber. We thought this a most curious and interesting little building, and it must be of considerable antiquity.

The fort at Jounpore, as it at present exists, has noth-
ing worthy of notice but its commanding situation and
the fine view of the surrounding country to be obtained
from it. It was rendered entirely defenceless shortly after
the Mutiny of 1857: it was so strongly and well built
that our engineers had considerable trouble in blowing
up the walls. This fort was originally built by Firoze
Shah, the third ruler of Delhi of the Toghlak dynasty,
who began to reign A.D. 1351. Firoze Shah demolished
several temples for the purpose of making this fort, and
was proceeding to destroy the Atala Devi temple, but
such an outcry was raised against this that he was
forced to desist. He entered into a written agreement

KINGS OF JOUNPORE.

171

that neither he nor his successors would touch it, part of
the contract being that the Hindús were not to restore
what had been destroyed.

There were three more sovereigns of the Toghlak line
who succeeded him; and after this came a period of
thirty-six years, when there was no real kingdom of
India. Kasir Khan, a governor of the Punjaub, and
three of his descendants, governed the country in the
name of Tamerlane, without taking the royal title; and
this formed the so-called government of the Sciads, the
last of whom, Ala-ud-din, made over Delhi and his pre-
tensions to Beholi Khan Lodi, who assumed the title of
king. Beholi's ancestors had been in commerce, and his
grandfather was governor of Moultán under Firoze Shah.

About the year A.D. 1400, the *soubahdar*, or governor
of the province of Jounpore, assumed an independent
sovereignty. He founded a dynasty called the Sharki
Patán. Under this rule Jounpore remained independent
for nearly three quarters of a century, but was recon-
quered in 1478 by Beholi Lodi, the then sovereign of
Delhi, though it still retained a kind of independence
till the time of the great Akbar, when it was finally
united with the Moghul empire. General Cunningham,
in his report for the years 1871-72 of the Archaeological
Survey of India, says "that the style of building adopted
by the Mohammedan kings of Jounpore was formed by
a fusion of the styles of the Ghori Patáns and the Khilgi
Patáns of Delhi, and that the mosques of the Sharki
kings of Jounpore fill an important gap in the history
of the Patán architecture of Northern India." He con-
siders these the latest examples in which the lofty front,
towering high above the main dome, forms the principal
point of the building.

172

THE ATALA MUSjid.

Near the Jumma Musjid, or great mosque, they still show the tombs of some of its rulers. A very old Mohammedan, living in a little house close by, told us that he himself was a direct descendant of these kings, pointed out his father's tomb in this enclosure, and said that they only and their descendants had the privilege of being buried there. We had heard beforehand that the mosques at Jounpore were well worth a visit, but we were little prepared for such striking, interesting, and, at the same time, such puzzling buildings, inasmuch as in part they would appear to bear a decided Hindú character.

The Atala Musjid is by far the most highly decorated, and consists of a large square court with two-storied cloisters on three sides, the mosque proper forming the fourth and western side. These cloisters may well have been formerly part of a Buddhist vihara, or temple monastery, and seem at first sight almost as perfect as when they were built, though, when all has been summed up that has been said on both sides of the question, it would appear that most antiquarians are of opinion that none of these buildings, as they now stand, are Buddhist erections. From the circumstance that the Buddhists did not use the arch, there was no risk in removing any part of a building, even a single pillar. Consequently the builders of the mosques could have demolished any side or part of the cloisters, and joined new work on to the old.

The lower storey of the cloisters contains a series of small cells, such as are known to have been used by the monks and students in Buddhist institutions. Fergusson, who is a great authority on such matters, in his 'History of Indian and Eastern Architecture,'

GHORI AND KHILGI PATÁN STYLES.

173

gives us his opinion that in this instance such was not their original use, one of his reasons being that the cells all open outwardly. General Cunningham, in his volume of the 'Archaeological Survey of India' for the year 1874, differs from him, however, and says distinctly that the Atala Musjid is known to have been originally a Hindú temple converted to Mohammedan use by Ibrahim Shah Sharki, between the years 1403 and 1440 A.D.; and the opinion of Mr Beglar, one of his assistants, seems to be that the alteration was the work partly of Hindú and partly of Mohammedan masons—but his reasons are too numerous to detail here. On a close examination of the interior of some of these cells, for the purpose of finding some of the so-called "mason's marks," we found one of the emblems of Shiva five times, and another three times, repeated within one of them: these marks would hardly have been made by a Mohammedan. The upper storey of these cloisters is open on both sides, and supported on six rows of pillars, the outer rows being formed of double pillars. Over the north and south entrances to the cloisters the Mohammedans have erected small domes, but there is no dome over the eastern one.

The mosque proper, occupying the whole of the western side of the court, has a large dome in the centre, and a smaller one on either side of this. Judging from what General Cunningham states of the architecture of Jounpore, the mosques there would appear to belong to what is called the Ghori Patán, joined to the later, or Khilgi Patán style. Their great peculiarity seems to be the absence of minarets; and also, that in front of the domes of the mosque proper towers a propylon, or pyramid-like gateway, high above them, as if

174

MOSQUES AT JOUNPORE.

the architects of those days thought that the domes they
had then only begun to use were not sufficiently perfect
in their external form; or that, perhaps, the public eye
was hardly accustomed to seeing them. In the Atala
Musjid the centre propylon, which hides the large dome,
is 86 feet high, and has a square doorway of the Ghori
Patán style; whilst the smaller doorways on either side
of this, in front of the smaller domes, have the horse-
shoe arch, ornamented with the trefoil, which marks
them as being Khilgi Patán work.

The mosques at Jounpore are further remarkable and
interesting as possessing the first domes ever placed in
India on buildings of that nature. In the Jumma
Musjid the cloisters exist likewise in part, though much
more alteration and adaptation has there been carried
out. Like the cloisters of the Atala Musjid, these also
have their cells opening exteriorly, and are two-storied;
but the ground in the interior of the courtyard has
been filled up as far as the top of the lower storey, so
that, when inside it, only the upper storey is seen, which
is open and supported on pillars, as in the former in-
stance. Should the conjecture be correct that these
cloisters were of Buddhist or Hindú construction, may
there not, in the case of the Jumma Musjid, have been
a tope, or tumulus, in the centre of the cloisters, and it
have been, in consequence, less inconvenient to fill up the
space than to remove the obstruction? In this building
the entrance gate facing the mosque is in ruins, and
bears all the marks of having been destroyed by violence.

On inquiry, one of the moolahs told us that they had
a tradition that this gate was blown up by the orders of
Beholi Lodi, who, when he conquered Jounpore, wished
to destroy the whole mosque as an evidence of his vic-

ENORMOUS GRAIN TRAFFIC.

175

tory, but the moolahs telling him that this would be
against the Koran, the emperor said, that in order to
show he had defeated them, he would at least blow up
the gate, which was accordingly done. By this act,
however, Beholi Lodi has rendered posterity one service,
and thereby clearly shown how that the Mohammedans
did destroy older buildings and afterwards use their
stones; for there, where the construction of the walls of
this gateway is exposed to view, they are plainly seen to
have been made up interiorly of large stones, many hav-
ing fine carving upon them—these stones having been
placed there loosely, anyhow, without mortar, and cased
on both sides with carefully-hewn masonry. Some say
that the Jumma Musjid was erected in order that a certain
old saint might be saved the labour of walking a mile
barefoot to his Friday prayers. Others have a tradition
that, during a seven years' famine, the money which had
been granted for distressed persons being given to those
who were not in need of relief, a labour test was insti-
tuted, and the rule enforced that only those persons who
worked in casting up the mound in the interior should
receive relief.

There is still one more mosque at Jounpore, the so-
called *Lall Darwaza*, which is the least perfect of all.
The cloisters, as now seen, are one-storied, and have
neither domes nor cells. The mosque itself has a dome,
and a propylon in front of it; on either side of this is
a row of open pillars, double the present height of the
cloisters.

Hearing that there was a great deal of sickness at
Lucknow, we gave up our intention of going thither,
and returned to Benares *en route* for Allahabad, where
we were engaged to spend a few days with a friend. On

176 GREAT IMPORTANCE OF RAILWAYS IN INDIA.

leaving Benares, when we came to the bridge of boats
over the Ganges, we found it was covered with a mass
of bullock-carts, which were three in a row in some
places, and not knowing exactly how much time we had
to spare before the departure of the train, we got out of
our carriage and walked across. We had some difficulty
in threading our way and avoiding the horns of the bul-
locks. When we at length reached the railway station,
on the further side of the river, we were surprised to
find it crammed, inside and outside, with sacks of grain.
My husband inquired the cause of this great traffic from
an Englishman who had charge of the unloading and
transport, and learnt that, in consequence of the want
of rain in the district, on the Benares side and in Oudh,
grain was pouring in so rapidly as almost to produce a
block.

Only a few months previously, this person said, the
grain traffic had been all in the opposite direction, but
at that moment 460 carts were employed daily, each
furnished with three bullocks, to convey the food across
the river, chiefly to supply the Jounpore and Fyzabad
districts, in consequence of the apprehended scarcity
there. This was to us a conclusive argument in favour
of the extension of railways in India, where they would
seem to be more necessary even than in Europe, owing
to the enormous distances to be travelled over, and the
periodical famines which seem to be either taking place
or apprehended every year in some part of this vast
country.

177

CHAPTER XIII.

ALLAHABAD—ITS FORT—MIRACULOUS TREE IN ANCIENT TEMPLE—LAT OF ASOKA—SECOND VISIT TO AGRA—MY HUSBAND'S IMPRESSIONS OF TAJ—FUTTEHPORE SIKRI.

THE fort at Allahabad seems to contain the only very ancient remains that place now possesses. Shah Jehan gave this city its present name: it was founded by Akbar, A.D. 1572, on the site of an old city called Pragaya. Hionen Thsang, the Chinese pilgrim, visited Pragaya A.D. 687, and relates that he found there a Brahminical temple, to which whoever contributed one piece of money gained as much merit as he who gave a thousand elsewhere. Before the principal room of the temple there was, he says, a large tree with spreading branches, which was said to be the dwelling of a demon; and he found this tree surrounded with the bones of pilgrims who had sacrificed themselves there. The temple described by Hionen Thsang is believed to be the one now shown in the fort. The lapse of time, and the consequent accumulation of soil, has filled up the ground around it, so that the temple is now quite underground, and a flight of steps has to be descended in order to reach its level, when a long narrow passage leads to the temple itself, which is in the plain Hindú style, having square pillars with bracket capitals. The building is not per-

M

178

FORT AT ALLAHABAD.

fectly square; we counted eleven pillars one way, and nine the other. Owing to the absence of daylight, and the very imperfect light given by our guide's little lamp, we could not get any general idea of it as a whole; but in one place we saw two of the forks of an old tree, which appeared to be of the Banian or sacred fig species: each limb was about a foot in diameter. The people all hold this old stump in much reverence, and say that it never dies. One special day in the year pilgrims come in crowds to visit it, and firmly believe that this, their holy tree, is undying; though the sergeant of the guard at the fort, on the eve of this festival, would probably best know the reason of its flourishing so vigorously on that particular day, as report says a new one is, or was till within a year or two, smuggled into the fort by the Brahmins in the dead of night. At any rate, when we saw it, the limbs did not look dead or sapless, which might be due to the dampness of the vault, but there were no twigs or leaves on them.

On the ground in front of this tree there was a small image of Shiva, with a silver face; in another place there was a statue of Brahm, commonly called the first person of the Hindú Trinity. To the right of the tree the priest in charge pointed out a small stone passage not more than two feet high, which he declared, and seemed to believe, led to Benares; though, on being questioned, he said he himself had never made the journey, nor did he know any one who had done so.

In the arsenal at the fort is the audience-hall of Akbar's palace. This appears to have been originally in the centre of a courtyard which had colonnades all round it, these having a two-storied room at each corner. In the upper storey of one of these corner

LÂT OR STONE PILLAR OF ASOKA.

179

buildings is an inscription on a pillar, the purport of which is to commemorate the coming of some rajah to visit Akbar; and on a stone outside one of the windows of this room is some writing, to the effect that a certain rajah (country and name not decipherable) came to bathe in the Ganges, and derived so much benefit from doing so that he returned again and built a temple. The audience-hall in the centre of the quadrangle has also been a large two-storied building, each storey being surrounded by external colonnades supported on pillars, the capitals of which are formed of elephants' heads carved in stone. In the arsenal is shown a small-coiled steel cannon, on which the name "Mahabir" has been read; also the word "Futteraj," a place some distance to the south of Allahabad. This gun was discovered during the time of the Mutiny.

The *lât* or stone pillar erected by Asoka, B.C. 250, for the purpose of inscribing upon it certain edicts regarding Buddhism, is also inside the fort. The original site of this pillar is not known: some think it was brought from a place now called Kossam on the Jumna, about thirty miles off. About A.D. 200 Samudra Gupta next used this *lât*, and his inscriptions partly obliterated those of Asoka. Samudra Gupta recorded on it his extensive sovereignty in India, extending from Nepaul to the Dekhan, and from Guzerat to Assam. This column was re-erected by the Moghul emperor Jehangir, to commemorate his accession to the throne. In 1838 it was placed where it now stands.

The old city of Pragaya would seem to have totally disappeared, and it is thought very probable that the various Buddhist remains may have been washed away by the river Jumna even before the final abandonment

180

IMPRESSIONS OF TAJ.

of the city, as its course is known to have been gradu-
ally changing.

After leaving Allahabad, we again went to Agra, wish-
ing very much to see the Taj once more, and also to go
to Futtehpore Sikri, which the limited period of our stay
two years before had prevented our doing. On this our
second visit my husband noted down his impressions
of the Taj Mehal, as contrasted with other buildings
in Europe, taking a view of it which I think has not
hitherto been adopted, therefore I will quote it entire in
his own words, as follows : —

“No photograph or plan ever gives an adequate idea
of the Taj, partly on account of the flatness of its sur-
faces, which in the marble original are relieved by
mosaics in cornelian and jasper, and also because no
copy on a small scale can do justice to the refinement
and softness of the outlines of its dome. Beyond this,
however, there is a secret in its fascination which is not
easily explained. It stands single and alone among the
great monuments of the world, not only in its purpose
and in its architecture—which last cannot be likened or
compared, or even contrasted, with that of any other
building—but also in its effect on the mind of the specta-
tor, which is more akin to that produced by an exquisite
and costly jewel than by a vast and splendid edifice.
This effect is probably due to the fact that the Taj ap-
peals to the fancy more than to the imagination, and
also to something peculiarly evanescent in its beauty,
or, as it may be called, its exceeding prettiness. Often
while we gaze upon it, its beauty seems to fade away;
and when we closely and coldly criticise it, especially
if we are absent, we deem it faulty and imperfect; but on
returning to inspect it deliberately and dispassionately,

FUTTEHPORE SIKRI.

181

all coldness, all calm criticism vanishes, when we behold
its pure white dome gleaming against the blue sky.

"It is not difficult to find imperfections both in the
design and in the details of the Taj, but the spectator
feels under a spell. However architecturally incorrect
he may suppose it to be, he is conscious that it is
exceedingly lovely—and this not because its beauty is
of the highest order,—it possesses neither the refined
simplicity, subtle elegance, and antique massiveness of
a Hellenic temple, nor the picturesqueness and sub-
limity of a Gothic cathedral; it is rather distinguished
by something essentially feminine, or, as some might
say, effeminate; but its lace-like tracery, its sculptured
vases and flowers, the soft and flowing lines of the
mosaics, the swelling form of the dome,—all these things
are not inappropriate in the mausoleum of a queen.

"The Taj would not impress men as it does did its
group of buildings not culminate in a large and lofty
dome, which rises to a height of 243 feet from a base
186 feet square; but its size is felt rather than seen.
It pleases, charms, and attracts; if it awes, it is by its
purity and stately grace, and a certain indefinable sad-
ness, and not by its vastness. It seems to be not so
much the product of high genius as of exquisite taste,
feeling, and sensibility, and to owe its charm to senti-
ment more than to skill and science.'

Futtehpore Sikri is about twenty-two miles from Agra,
and in order to enjoy it thoroughly we decided to re-
main there a few days, and with this end obtained per-
mission to occupy one of the reserved bungalows. Fut-
tehpore Sikri is situated in a walled but not fortified
enclosure about seven miles in circumference. It was
built by the Moghul emperor Akbar, who took a fancy

182

WONDERFUL INFANT.

to the site, elevated as it is above the plain; but it was hardly finished before the court deserted it,—as some authors say, owing to the badness of the water. It is said that its selection as a royal residence was principally owing to the circumstances attending the birth of Akbar's son, Prince Selim, afterwards known as the Emperor Jehangir. His mother was Hindú—a Rajput (the Rajputs constitute the warrior caste); and Akbar married her, it would seem, in pursuance of his plan of making the Hindú and Moslem races amalgamate. By this lady he had twin children, who died in infancy.

On one occasion, when Akbar and his wife were returning to Agra by that road, they went to visit a holy man—a hermit—named Shaikh Suleem Chishtee, who lived at the top of this hill. The royal couple, it would seem, remained some little time at this spot, and paid more than one visit to the hermit, whose baby son, aged only six months, one day asked his father why he looked so sorrowful, and why he had sent the conqueror of the world away in despair? The holy man said he must grieve, because he knew that all the emperor's children would die in infancy, unless some one gave his own child to die instead. This very precocious infant then said that he would die rather than that his Majesty should want an heir, and instantly expired. The tomb of this wondrous baby, about large enough for a moderate-sized doll, is shown just behind the mosque. Akbar's son and successor was born the following year.

The walls encircling the whole area of Futtehpore Sikri, and all the buildings, with the exception of one tomb, are of red sandstone, and have the square Hindú pillars. On entering the enclosure, we first passed through a massive quadrangular outwork, and then

VARIOUS BUILDINGS AT FUTTLEHPORE SIKRI. 183

through another court, before we reached what is now
the Dák Bungalow, but is said to have been the em-
peror's record office. This, and all the other houses
which were occupied by the emperor, his ladies, and
his ministers, are entirely of stone, and as perfect as the
day they were finished. Not a particle of wood seems
ever to have been used in their construction: the aper-
tures for light are in stone, perforated in geometric
patterns, and the doorways seem to have been closed
by heavy curtains, or *purdahs*, as they are called in
India.

On the north side of the square, containing the
record office, is another very large quadrangle where
there are some interesting buildings—viz., the *Khwabgah* and the Turkish queen's house. In front of the
Khwabgah is a large square reservoir for water, with
four stone causeways leading to a platform in the
centre of this tank. The Khwabgah itself is a large
square building open on all sides and supported on
many pillars; this is supposed to have been the place
where the emperor and his more intimate male friends
took their siesta. Over this is a square room, very mas-
sive and simple, believed to have been Akbar's bed-
room; this has a wide sloping colonnade all round,
roofed with huge slabs of stone, which are supported
on pillars.

The Turkish queen's house is a one-roomed building,
with exquisitely minute work within and without.
It has colonnades all round; at right angles to it a
similar colonnade comes from the other side of the court-
yard; and between these are three wide steps leading
to another court, where is the Dewan-i-Khas, or privy
council chamber; also the Dewan-i-Am, or public hall

184

AKBAR'S HALL OF AUDIENCE.

of audience, and another building, which is supposed to
have been Akbar's treasure-house.

The Dewan-i-Khas faces the Khwabgah, and though
built in the same style as the rest, yet its construction
is so singular as to merit description. As seen from
without, it appears to be a two-storied building, but it
is really open from pavement to roof, and a single pillar
rises in the centre of the interior to the level of the first
storey. This pillar has an immense capital, several times
its diameter, and from this start four stone causeways,
each ten feet in length, and resting on large brackets in
each corner of the hall. A small staircase leads up to
a narrow gallery running all round the building. One
tradition is, that the emperor himself used to sit on the
top of the centre pillar, while in each corner was perched
one of his ministers, who there received his commands
for the four quarters of the world. Others are of opinion
that the ministers were thus placed in order that if any
thing were stated for or against them by the people
below, they being obliged to shout in order to make the
emperor hear, all could be certain that their complaints
or requests were properly brought before him. Again,
another story relates that Akbar used to deliver his
judgments from the summit of this pillar, and also listen
to criminal cases, and on this account a minister had to
sit in each corner at the end of these causeways to pre-
vent any chance of the assassin's knife reaching the great
emperor. This building is richly carved in the interior,
though in a bold style. In what is supposed to have
been the treasure-house there were secret coffers in
recesses in the walls, closed by massive sliding slabs of
stone; all these have, of course, been rifled long ago.

In front of the so-called treasury there is a tiny little

THE CHRISTIAN LADY'S HOUSE.

185

pavilion, which is said to have been occupied by a Hindú teacher who was tolerated by Akbar. Its architecture is, in some respects, of the Jaina character: each of the architraves is supported by two very curious struts, which issue from the mouth of a monster, and meet in the middle like the apex of a triangle.

The Dewan-i-Am, or large hall of audience, forms one side of this court; it consists of a small hall, with a deep verandah beyond, looking out into another vast courtyard 360 feet by 180, having colonnades all round, where the people could sit secure from sun or rain and witness the administration of justice, the emperor being seated in the verandah at a height of about 10 feet from the ground.

We will now return to the courtyard of the Dewan-i-Khas, and there note the *pachcheecé*-board in the centre of the pavement, the use of which has been already described when speaking of the fort at Agra. Abutting on this courtyard, and to the south-east of the Dewan-i-Khas is the Panch Mehal, a five-storied little building, each storey being open and supported on pillars, and smaller than the one beneath it, so that at the very top there is a small kioskue only. This is said to have been the place where the female servants were stationed, as it overlooked the courts appropriated to the seraglio. The pillars on the ground-floor of the Panch Mehal are without ornamentation, but in the row above this they are curious, inasmuch as every one is carved, but, as far as we could see, no two were alike.

Due south of the Panch Mehal, and only a few yards distant from it, is the bungalow we occupied, which is known as the Mehal Sonari, and also as Beebee Mariam's, or the Christian lady's house, it being stated by some

186 INTERIOR OF CHRISTIAN LADY'S HOUSE.

that a Portuguese lady, one of Akbar's wives, lived in it, though I believe there is no good authority for the statement that he ever had a Christian wife. In the verandah is an inscription which, when translated, runs thus :—

"If I say its window is of higher dignity than the sky, I should be saying what is proper.

"It is well for me to consider its threshold grander than the sun.

"It is an abode of riches, and an asylum of peace and safety;

"A place of refuge for the nine heavens, and a temple for the nine planets.

"The sky is to the floor of this place as morning is to . (defaced).

"The threshold of this palace is so high, that it serves as an axis for the sky."

In the recesses on the exterior of the Mehal Sonari are still some remains of fresco paintings. I made out some groups of flowers, also elephants, and in one place a camel led along by a man; on the animal's back was a species of *howdah*, in which was a seated figure, but whether of a man or a woman I could not determine.

On the ground-floor of this house there is one large and three smaller rooms; in the upper storey there are three small rooms only, and over the larger one is a small stone canopy supported on pillars, where, no doubt, the lady or ladies sat occasionally to enjoy the view. The walls of one of the three small rooms on the ground-floor have been originally painted in fresco; the remains of colour are clearly to be seen, but in other respects the architecture of this house is plain and unadorned, and forms a contrast to the enclosure containing the so-called palace of the empress, or to the house of Beerbul, both of which are quite close to it. Leaving the Mehal Sonari on the right hand, a doorway leads into a quadrangle

BEERBUL'S HOUSE.

187

about 170 feet by 150: it is surrounded by a colonnade, which has domes at each corner, and two-storied buildings in the centre of each of its four sides. Facing the grand portal is a hall opening into the courtyard, and adorned with pillars of an early Hindú type. In this hall was the first and only fireplace I have ever seen in buildings of that date in India: there is a large hearthstone and a chimney in the back wall. Some say that this was the palace of Jodh Bai, Jehangir's mother; but others affirm that it was the residence of Akbar's chief wife, Rooggeca Soultan Begum, the daughter of his uncle Hindal.

Beyond and to the west of this is Beerbul's (or rather his daughter's) house, a perfect gem in its way, from the extreme delicacy and minuteness of its finish, both within and without—though red sandstone is such a coarse material that it would hardly be thought capable of lending itself to such fine tracery. Each of the four rooms on the ground-floor of this house is about 15 feet square; they are ceiled with slabs of stone 16 feet in length and 1 foot in width. The two rooms in the upper storey, which are placed at right angles to each other, are of the same dimensions as the lower rooms, and crowned with domes.

Rajah Beerbul was one of Akbar's Hindú grandees, and a man of letters. Being, however, sent on a military expedition to the north-west frontier, he miserably mismanaged the affair, and perished, together with 8000 men and officers. His death is said to have been long mourned by his master Akbar. At the back of Beerbul's house there is stabling for 102 horses, there being 51 stalls, and each constructed to accommodate two animals. The mangers and rope-rings, both of stone, are

188

SHRINE OF SULEEM CHISHITEE.

still quite perfect. The doors, which were of the same material, have all disappeared except one.

On looking down from the raised platform near Beerbul's house, we saw a singular tower below us just outside the walls. It is round, and bristling all over with projections, which were intended to represent elephants' tusks. Akbar used to resort to this tower when he desired to have some easy sport; antelopes and other game were then driven towards him. To get near this tower we had to go down a steep causeway and pass through two gates, the furthermost of which is called the gate of the elephants, as on the outer side are the remains of two huge ones made out of large slabs of stone, so carved as to resemble those animals. This gate is the earliest specimen of the true arch with a distinct key-stone we have met with in India.

The mosque at Futtehpore Sikri is said to be an accurate copy of the one at Medina, and is also the grandest and the largest that Akbar ever built. The *durgah*, or sacred quadrangle, is of vast size, being 433 feet by 366. The principal entrance was originally at the east end facing the mosque; but the archway at the south side far exceeds it in size. This last is called the Buland Darwaza, or gate of victory. It is 130 feet high, and was built after the mosque was erected, to commemorate some conquest made by Akbar in the Dekhan: from its great height it has the effect of dwarfing the other buildings. Just outside and to the west of this gate there is a large well, into which men and boys leap, for a small reward, from a part of the mosque about 60 feet above the level of the water. Even if Hindús, whatever money they receive for performing this feat, they invariably give a fourth part of it

THE MOSQUE.

189

to the shrine of Suleem Chishtee, being convinced that they would come to grief if they did not. This monument is entirely of white marble; on all four sides there are pierced lace-like designs carved out of solid slabs of that material. The tomb of the saint is within; it very much resembles a four-post bedstead. The supports and canopy are all incrusted with mother-of-pearl, so that it gives one the idea of a casket of jewels in an outer box of marble. On the pavement near the shrine are a number of tombs, said to be those of the women of Akbar's household; and beyond these, again, is a large building of red sandstone containing the tomb of Islam Khan, the saint's grandson.

At the time that Akbar built this mosque, he was thought to be trying to work out his system of so-called "Divine Monotheism," by attempting to throw off the rules laid down by Mohammed, and substitute a religion founded by putting together the systems of Zoroaster, the Brahmins, and of Christianity, only retaining some Mohammedan forms. The mosque proper is, as is usual in India, on the western side of the enclosure. It consists of seven halls, each communicating by an arched doorway with the one next adjoining. The central hall has a large dome. Its walls are ornamented with white marble, inlaid in geometric patterns. The spaces between these are filled up with flower designs in fresco painting. The whole of this chamber is decidedly Mohammedan in style, whilst the six lateral halls—three on each side of this—are essentially Hindú in character. Four have flat roofs, supported on pillars reaching from floor to ceiling, and the remaining two have small domes.

Since writing the above I have read a paper published by the Archaeological Society of Agra, wherein certain

190

HINDÚ OBJECTION TO THE ARCH.

good authorities seem to think it is very possible that
the true structural arch may have been known to the
Hindús long before the Mohammedan conquest, but
that, like the ancient Greeks, for some reason or other
they did not use it, or at least never employed it in their
buildings when they were of a monumental character.
Fergusson says "that even at the present day the Hindús
refuse to use the arch, for, as they express it, 'an arch
never sleeps,' meaning that by its thrust and pressure it
is always tending to tear a building to pieces, and thus
hastens the destruction of a monument which, if con-
structed on more simple principles, might last for ages."

191

CHAPTER XIV

MUTTRA—ANCIENT BUDDHIST STATUES FOUND THERE—DISTRESS AMONGST THE NATIVE POPULATION—OLD AND MODERN TEMPLES AT BINDRABUN GOVERDHUN—TEMPLE OF HARI DEVA—DEEG—BHURTPORE.

WE left Agra finally on 13th February 1878, having had some letters of introduction given us by friends to enable us to make a round and visit some of the adjoining native states. Our first move was to Muttra (or, more properly, Mathurá). During our stay there we were much indebted to the kindness and courtesy of Seth Govind Dás, a wealthy Hindú banker, to whom we had three letters from different persons. He lent us a carriage and horses to convey us to Muttra, and one of his carriages was placed at our disposition during the whole of our stay, to enable us to see the place and the objects of interest in the neighbourhood.

The Seth and his family formerly belonged to the Jaina sect, but are now staunch Vishnuvites. This is a very singular circumstance, as I believe the hatred of these two sects to each other is very great—at any rate, it is peculiarly so on the part of the Vishnuvite Hindús, who have a saying that it would be better, on meeting a mad elephant in a narrow street, to stand still and be trampled to death rather than escape by crossing the threshold of a Jaina temple.

192

HINDU THEOLOGY.

Some time ago the Seth returned his property for
income-tax at over £20,000 a-year; besides this, he
owns much land, and has house property both in
Muttra and Agra. He himself chiefly resides at Bin-
drabun. He and his family belong to the reformed or
Sampradāyas Vishnuvites, which sect was unknown at
Bindrabun until he and his brother were enlisted in its
ranks. It is the oldest and most respectable of the four
modern communities of this faith, and is based on the
teaching of one Ramanuja, who lived in the eleventh or
twelfth century of the Christian era. Their distinctive
caste mark is two white perpendicular streaks down the
forehead, joined by a cross line at the root of the nose,
and a streak of red between the white lines. In the case
of the Shivites, these lines are three in number, and placed
horizontally in the form of a bow. The special tenet of
the Vishnuvites is faith in Krishna (at least it is so in
the Muttra district). This can be expressed, they say,
by the mere mention of his name, without prayer; if
they only have belief in him they are saved, and may
commit any sin, for are they not free?—is not Krishna
their friend?

It is very strange to find the familiar dispute between
faith and works existing amongst a heathen people. It
will be unnecessary here to go into a more detailed
account, but from a comprehensive statement of their
belief which I met with, I was induced in my own
mind to class the Vishnuvites as belonging to the Low
Church, and the Shivites as representatives of the High
Church in the Hindú religion. The chief dogma of
these Sampradāyas, or reformed Vishnuvites, is the as-
sertion that Vishnu, the one supreme god, though invis-
ible as cause, is visible as effect in a secondary form in

STONE CARVING AT MUTTRA.

193

material creation. During nine months in the year there is a continual stream of pilgrims going to Muttra: some hold that place as far superior in sanctity to Benares, and say that one day spent there is more meritorious than a whole lifetime passed at Benares. This is, of course, the Vishnuvite view of the matter—that sect prevailing at Muttra, as do the followers of Shiva at Benares.

We drove more than once through the native bazaar at Muttra: many houses belonging to the wealthiest of its inhabitants are very large, and finely carved. The fronts of these houses have, as a rule, a grand central archway, with arcades on either side, which are let out as shops. Above these there are projecting balconies supported on quaint corbels, and the whole front of the house is covered with minute stone carvings in a great variety of patterns.

Every city in India has a *specialité* for some kind of work: in Muttra it is that of the stone-masons who, on a daily wage of sevenpence halfpenny, execute lovely designs in work of such fineness and delicacy as few European workmen would have patience to copy; and one can only hope that it may be long before any patterns or ideas from the West may be adopted by them, though their style of carving, being very shallow, is more suited to wood than to stone. To me, the Muttra work, like the later buildings in the fort at Agra, has rather, if one may so speak, an air of effeminacy, as belonging to those who had been long enough established in an ener-vating climate to learn to love ease and luxury; it con-trasts strongly with Akbar's style, which, in its massive-ness, has something northern and rude, though, at the same time, grand about it—looking almost as if carved

N

194

FAMINE RELIEF WORKS.

out of the living rock. The Turkish lady's house at Futtehpore Sikri is as highly finished as any of the work at Muttra, but is refined and beautiful without weakness. The house called Beer-bul's would be an illustration of the northern style, somewhat softened, but having lost none of its massiveness.

Many poor people were at that time flocking into Muttra from Bhurtpore and other native states, where little or nothing appeared to have been done by their rulers to relieve the distress caused by the want of rain, and consequent failure of the crops. A good deal of this neglect is no doubt to be excused when one saw how that, even under British rule, it was necessary for a European official to be on the spot daily at the hour of leaving off work, and with his own hands pay each man, woman, and child employed on the relief works, which had been organised to assist them. This pittance, being their only means of procuring their daily food, if not thus distributed, would in great part stick to the fingers of any native employed to pay them; and how much more would not this be the case in a native state where European supervision even would not be possible. Certain houses also had been set apart as poorhouses, where those who were too weak or too infirm to work were fed and lodged. We went over one of those refuges, which was maintained by subscription: about a thousand people were housed in sheds belonging to our banker friend, each individual receiving so much bread per diem, the men, of course, having more in proportion than the women and children. The old people appeared to have suffered the most; some of the children looked comparatively well nourished. On leaving this enclosure we found about twenty poor, wretched, half-

DISCOVERY OF A BUDDHIST STATUE.

195

famished looking creatures outside waiting for admit-
tance. When their strength has been a little restored
they are put upon the relief works, which consist in
moving and carrying earth, the men loosening it with
their picks, and the women and children removing it in
small baskets. For this the men receive what is equi-
valent to three halfpence, the women to three farthings,
and the children to one halfpenny a-day. We visited
one set of relief works situated between the magistrates'
office and the so-called Damdama, now occupied by the
reserves of the district police, but originally one of the
series of serais creeted in the time of the Emperor Akbar
along the road between the royal residences at Agra
and Delhi. Large mounds had long been observed in
the space between these two buildings; these were to a
certain extent an inconvenience, and being supposed to
be the site of some Buddhist remains, it was resolved to
employ these poor people to remove this earth.

As long ago as 1860, when the foundations were being
dug for the magistrates' court-house, a number of interest-
ing Buddhist remains were found, which were transported
to Agra, but I believe from thence they were moved to
Allahabad.

The day of our arrival at Muttra the excavators had
been rewarded by the discovery of a very fine Buddhist
statue, in red sandstone, a little more than life-size, and
in wonderfully perfect preservation. The feet were
broken off, but they were found near the statue; one
arm and part of one ear were missing. Round the head
of the figure is a large stone disc or glory exquisitely
carved in geometric patterns, which have much of the
character of the later Arabesque work. I also dis-
tinguished two birds on the upper part of this disc.

196

TRACES OF GREEK ART.

The nose, which is slightly aquiline, is quite perfect; the lips are very full, and the countenance has an air of great repose, as is usual in Buddhist sculptures. The hair is arranged in small curls all over the head, and the statue is draped in waving lines, so disposed as to show the figure, clothed in what must have been intended to represent a muslin robe. The left hand, which alone remains, holds up the bottom of the robe. Near the feet are two very small and mutilated figures, in the attitude of adoration. This statue had a long inscription on the base, which was copied and sent to Mr Growse, who was formerly at Muttra in an official position, and is well known for the interest he takes in antiquarian researches; he deciphers a part of it as follows: "This is the votive offering of the monk Yasa-ditta. If there is any merit in it, may it work for the good of his father and mother, and for the propagation of the holy faith throughout the world." In the re-mainder of the inscription there are some letters which do not form any known word. He adds that the mean-ing of this monk's name is "resplendent with glory." Several fragments of other statues had also been found, but no others of importance; a very small portion of the ground had been excavated up to that time.

It would appear from certain inscriptions found nineteen years ago that these mounds covered the remains of four monasteries. In Mr Growse's memoir of Muttra and its district, he speaks of more than one statue, probably the work of Greek artists, which had been found there at different times—a conjecture in which he goes on to say no historical difficulty is involved, since in the Yuga-Purana of the Gárgi-Sanhitá, written about the year 50 B.C., it is expressly stated that Mathura

HALL OF THE EIGHTY PILLARS.

197

was reduced by the Greeks, and that their victorious armies advanced into the very heart of Hindostán, even as far as Patali-Putra.

Nearly opposite the Damdama, and in the garden of the house which used to be occupied by Mr Growse when he was joint magistrate, there are many fragments of stone sculpture which are very curious. One especially is Greek in idea and treatment, though its execution is in a debased style; at the same time it is not the least Hindú. On one side is represented a figure in the well-known attitude of Silenus, drinking from a full cup he holds in his hand; a female figure is presenting him with a second draught—she has a jeering countenance; whilst a third, also a female, is looking on with evident enjoyment. On the other side of the same stone Silenus is again depicted, as having finished the two cups of nectar, and leaning heavily on two figures; one of his supporters is a female, the other is too much injured to determine what it was.

During our stay at Muttra we drove one day to Māhában, on the other side of the Jumna. The road, being little used, is very bad—about half a mile of deep sand has to be crossed; this, no doubt, is covered with water when the river is in flood. We passed through the village of Gokul, which is the headquarters of another sect of Vishnuvites. These may be called the Epicureans of the East: they hold the dogma of union with the divine, and believe that every sin, whether of body or soul, and of whatever kind, is put away by union with the Creator.

About two miles beyond Gokul, and six from Muttra, is the village of Māhában. Its temples seemed all very poor and modern: the only building of any interest is

198

OLD HINDU TEMPLE AT BINDRABUN.

the Assi-Khamba—i.e., the eighty pillars. This is a curious remnant of antiquity, which has three or four varieties of decoration, and probably these all belong to different periods. The columns are decidedly Hindú in character, as is evidenced by the horizontal instead of perpendicular lines in their carving; a few pillars at one end are quite plain; and others, again, belonging to the latest period, have been ornamented with numbers of small human figures running round them in bands of decoration. All the heads had been knocked off by the Mussulmans at some time or other. On examining it narrowly, we came to the conclusion that this building, as we now see it, had been put together from the remains of still older ones. One small square of the ceiling had a lovely little dome with horizontal bands of ornament; others, again, were flat; and some had the lotus carved upon them. As it now stands, the Assi-Khamba may possibly date from between the time when Mahomed of Ghuznee destroyed the temples at Muttra and its neighbourhood, in A.D. 1017, and the Mohammedan conquest of Delhi 170 years later.

Bindrabun, which is about six miles from Muttra in another direction, possesses one old and several modern temples, all of large size. This place has long enjoyed a high repute as a place of pilgrimage. The largest temple, that of Govind Deva, was in course of being restored by the Indian Government. It is built of red sandstone; its ground-plan and the groining of the nave put me very much in mind of our English cathedrals. It is in the form of a Greek cross, with a dome in the centre, where the two arms meet. The roof of the nave is a vault of pointed form, made of true arches, like our Gothic churches. The transepts, or side limbs of the

ITS RESEMBLANCE TO A GOTHIC CATHEDRAL. 199

cross, are divided into two parts by pillars in the lower part of the building; over these a wall is carried up, pierced with small windows like a clerestory. This temple was built in 1590 by Rajah Man Singh of Jeypore, a friend of the Emperor Akbar, who made him successively governor of the districts along the Indus, of Cabul, and of Bihar; but there is a tradition that Akbar, at length jealous of him, had some sweetmeat prepared containing poison, but ate of it himself by mistake, and eventually died in consequence.

The temple of Govind Deva had originally seven towers, according to Mr Growse in his district memoir. The sacrarium has been utterly razed to the ground and rebuilt in brick, and the other six towers levelled to the roof of the nave. The interior of the building, as at present seen, measures 117 feet from east to west, and 105 from north to south. Beyond the sacrarium, and having almost the effect of a second transept when seen from the outside of the building, are what appear the lower storeys of two towers—one of which the people on the spot called the cook-house of the god, and said some other god had his dwelling in the tower on the other side. This temple is singularly picturesque in its general character. What particularly struck us was, that it combined in the most effective manner the perpendicular lines of a Gothic cathedral with the ordinary horizontal lines of Hindú architecture. In the days of this temple's grandeur, when they heard that Aurungzebe, that great temple destroyer, was in the neighbourhood, the original idol belonging to it was removed to Jeypore; and we were told that for this reason, after its restoration shall have been completed, the Hindús will never again make use of it for religious purposes.

200

LARGE MODERN DRAVIDIAN TEMPLE.

The temple of Rang-ji (one of the numerous names
of Vishnu in his different incarnations) was built some
twenty-five years ago by Seth Govind Das, at a cost of
forty-five lacs of rupees (or £450,000). The Seth him-
self met us there, and showed us all the parts of the
building that any one not of their faith is allowed to
visit. At Muttra they seemed to be very much more
jealous in this respect than at Benares. The entrance
gateway of this temple is a very highly-finished speci-
men of the Muttra carved stonework; this leads into a
vast courtyard, containing a tank and a garden; there
are colonnades all round, with numbers of small houses
for the Brahmins employed in the service of the temple,
and their families. These men all came originally from
the Madras Presidency; and to induce them to stay at
so great a distance from their homes, the Seth is obliged
to give each man ten rupees a-month, or £1, besides a
certain allowance of food,—the wife receiving half that
sum. Five hundred people—pilgrims and others—are
daily fed at this temple.

The temple itself is in the middle of the courtyard : it
is in the Dravidian style—a term given to the architec-
ture of the south of India. There are two high gate-
towers forming approaches to the most sacred part of all;
these are covered with very coarse and inferior sculp-
ture, which did not by any means harmonise or contrast
well with the delicate and minute Muttra work of the
entrance gateway.

About fourteen miles west of Muttra is another spot
accounted by the Hindús to be very holy—viz., Gover-
dhun, which we passed through on our way to Deeg,
a fort and palace in the Rajah of Bhurtpore’s terri-
tories. The town of Goverdhun occupies a break in a

THE SACRED HILL OF GOVERDHUN.

201

narrow limestone ridge of hill, which rises abruptly
from the plain for about four or five miles in length,
having an average height of about 100 feet. Krishna
is fabled to have held this hill aloft on the tip of his
finger, to cover the people from the storms rained down
upon them by Indra, when deprived of the usual sacri-
fices made to him. The people of the neighbourhood
have a firm belief that, as the waters of the Jumna are
decreasing, so this sacred hill is gradually sinking; and
say that, in former times, it could be seen from Aring,
a place four or five miles distant, whereas the town now
becomes invisible at a distance of a few hundred yards.
So holy is this hill esteemed, that not a morsel of the
stone is allowed to be taken for building purposes; and
even the road, which crosses the ridge at its lowest point,
where only a few bits of rock are visible, had to be
carried over them by a paved causeway.

Goverdhun is now in British territory, though it
formerly belonged to the Rajah of Bhurtpore, who still
possesses there a small bungalow within an enclosure,
where are two so-called *chuttrees*, or cenotaphs, to the
memory of the great-grandfather and the grandfather
of the present ruler, who is himself building one to his
father's memory. These *chuttrees* are both executed in
the finest Muttra stonework, and stand in a garden,
each on a double stone platform. A second, and smaller
one, with cupolas at each corner, which have domes sup-
ported on slender shafts, rises above the first platform.
In the centre of each of the sides of the upper part is
an elegant little pavilion, with lattice-work of pierced
stone: the ceilings of these are painted in small com-
partments, with representations of English gentlemen
and native sahibs driving out, and occupied at home or

202

TEMPLE OF HARI-DEVA.

in the chase. In the centre of the upper platform is a square domed pavilion of considerable size; on its interior walls are depicted various incidents in the life of the late rajah. In the middle of the floor of all these pavilions is a large square piece of marble, on which are sculptured the soles of the feet of Vishnu; also a shell, a serpent coiled up, a rosary, a water-bottle, a lotus flower, the sun, the moon; and in the largest pavilion, in addition to these, there is a shield and a curved scimitar.

At Goverdhun there is also a large tank, having fine masonry on three sides, the fourth being formed by the stones of the sacred hill. Near this tank is the only old building now remaining, the temple of Hari-Deva, built of red sandstone, the foundations being of rough limestone. It was erected during Akbar's reign by Rajah Bhagawán Das of Amber, and is about 68 feet in length by 20 in width, the choir being 20 feet square, and the sacrarium beyond about the same size as this last. The nave has five arches, with a clerestory above; and the cornice is decorated with heads of elephants and sea monsters. It possessed originally a double stone roof, —the outer one a high-pitched gable, and the inner one what seems to have been an arched ceiling. The roofing of the interior was almost flat in the centre, but deeply coved at the sides.

Bhagawán Das was the father of Rajah Man Singh, who built the old temple at Bindrabun already described. Bhagawán's father, who was called Bihari Mull, was the first Rajput who attached himself to the court of a Mohammedan conqueror. Bhagawán Das saved Akbar's life at the battle of Sarnal, and was afterwards made

RAJAH OF BHURTPORE'S PALACE AT DEEG. 203

governor of the Punjaub. His daughter married Prince Selim, afterwards known as the Emperor Jehangir.

In the year 1872 the roof of the nave of the Hari-Devaji temple (which had till then been perfect) began to give way, and before anything was decided respecting its restoration, the whole had fallen in except one compartment, which would have served as a guide for the renewal of the roof. The Government had it examined, and an estimate was made of the probable cost of the repairs, after which apparently six months were suffered to elapse, and no orders were received to commence the work. In this interim a local native merchant came forward and offered to restore the roof at his own cost. All he did was to demolish the small portion that yet remained of the old roof, break down also some of the cornice, and throw rough wooden beams across the whole, which will render the building weather-tight for a few years: all that was unique has ceased to exist.

About four miles beyond Goverdhun we entered the Rajah of Bhurtpore's territory, and drove on to Deeg, four miles further, where we were lodged in the rajah's palace, and became his guests for the time being. The palace is just outside the fort, and is within an enormous quadrangle, laid out in gardens, intersected with causeways of stone, with numerous fountains in the intermediate spaces. There are various distinct pavilions in this enclosure; the one which we occupied a portion of is very large, and is called the Gopal Bhuwan; the Sooruj Bhuwan, which faces it, is all of white marble. At another part of the garden is the Nund Bhuwan, which the rajah uses as his hall of audience; this last is a very

204

BUILDINGS AT DEEG.

fine building. Besides these, there is a semi-sacred range
of buildings, dedicated to Krishna and Nund, his foster-
father; also a large reservoir with bathing ghâts. The
water is well stocked with fish.

The whole of these buildings were erected about one
hundred and fifty years ago by Sooruj Mull, the main
founder of the Bhurtpore family, and are all as perfect
as if just completed by the stone-mason. The peculi-
arity in their construction which struck us most were
the eaves, which are double: the upper ones being an
extension of the flat roof, were supported on brackets;
the lower ones were sloping, supported in the same
manner, and projected some distance beyond the upper
eaves.

These pavilions, taken as a whole, may well vie with
those of Akbar's palace at Futtehpore Sikri, though the
material used at Deeg is white, instead of red sand-
stone as there; and these white buildings have more
of a Mohammedan than of a Hindú character in their
decorations. The buildings at Deeg are perhaps, on the
whole, as highly finished as those at Futtehpore Sikri,
but, being of a later date, they are less pure in style,
and their construction is less massive, but more ele-
gant. At neither place was wood employed in any
part, though the hall of audience has now a plain, flat,
rough wooden ceiling, with iron girders. Fergusson, in
his work on 'Indian Architecture,' says "the whole is
roofed with stone except the central part, which, after
being contracted by a bold cove, is roofed with a flat
ceiling of timber exquisitely carved. This wooden ceil-
ing seems to have been considered a defect, nothing but
stone being used in any other part of the palace."

We remained two nights at Deeg. During our stay,

LEAVE DEEG FOR JEYPORE.

205

the rajah arriving there on his return from the races at
Agra, my husband paid him a visit in order to thank
him personally for our hospitable reception. One of the
rajah's carriages then conveyed us to Bhurtpore, about
21 miles distant, where we took the railway and went
on to Jeypore, only 115 miles, but a tedious journey
of eleven hours.

206

CHAPTER XV.

JEYPORE—AMBER THE OLD CAPITAL OF THAT STATE—AJMERE—MAYO
COLLEGE FOR NATIVE CHIEFS—MOSQUE SAID TO HAVE BEEN BUILT IN
TWO DAYS AND A HALF—MOHAMMEDAN MOSQUE, ITS RICH FOUNDATION—ULWAR—HINDÚ REVERENCE FOR THE PEEPUL-TREE—RAJAH'S
PALACE AT ULWAR.

JEYPORE, one of the Rajputana states, is in many
respects very advanced and enlightened. It has a col-
lege where we were told 800 boys were learning English.
A school of art was also established there in 1866;
young lads are taught drawing from the round, gold and
silver work, die sinking, likewise gold and other em-
broidery. The public gardens of Jeypore are very large,
tastefully laid out, and well kept up, and contain a
large aviary, with living specimens of many of the small
birds belonging to the plains of India, some of them
having very brilliant plumage; there are also numerous
parrots, monkeys, &c. The present Maharajah has in-
troduced gas into his capital.

Jeypore dates from about 1728, at which time the
seat of government was removed there from Amber.
This town was built by Jey-Singh, the most famous
astronomer India has produced in modern times. He
set up astronomical instruments at Jeypore, Delhi,
Benares, and Muttra; but I believe the three first named
only are still in existence. It is singular to see what

AMBER, THE OLD CAPITAL OF JEYPORE.

207

a leaning towards imitation and adaptation runs through the family of the rulers of this state. Thus as Man Singh's temple at Bindrabun is an adaptation of his friend Akbar's style at Futtehpore Sikri, in respect to the use of the arch and general grandeur of its conception, and as the palace at Amber is, in many of its details, an imitation of some of the later work in the fort at Agra, so Jey-Singh would appear to have employed an Italian architect to build Jeypore. This tendency to copy certain of the externals of European civilisation is very marked in the present representative of the family.

The whole of this town is built in a quaintly fanciful style—it looks so unreal, and so unsuited to everyday life, and gives one the idea of having been designed by a theatrical scene-painter. The outsides of the houses are all of stucco, painted in pink and white; below are small shops, inhabited by the poorest handicraftsmen; and the second storey is in most instances merely a sham, being simply a wall with openings in it, affording the women a view of the street from the tops of their houses, on which they can sit and see without being seen. The Maharajah's palace is in the same style—within all is stucco, with wall decorations in brilliant or rather glaring colours.

Amber, the old capital of this state, was founded in 1592 by Rajah Man Singh,—the same who built the temple at Bindrabun. It is situated in a valley about four or five miles from the present town of Jeypore; strong fortifications almost surround it. The palace, which is itself placed on a hill, has other and still higher hills round it and overlooking it; these seem thrown about in wild confusion. From the roof of the upper part of this building Jeypore and its fort are visible

208

INTERIOR OF ITS PALACE.

through a break in the hills, and towards the north
another peep of the country beyond is also obtained.
Nestling at the foot of the palace hill is a lake, with two
walled gardens on its margin. At Amber the greater
part of the interior decoration is also of stucco, but in
infinitely better taste, and much higher style of art,
than at Jeypore. Many of the designs are almost
counterparts of those in the Shish Mehal, and other
parts of Shah Jehan's palace in the fort at Agra. One
detached building is entirely of white marble, and con-
sists of a corridor supported on pillars, and going round
three sides of a central hall, which is about 30 by 18
feet. Behind this, again, is a smaller chamber, with
two small octagon rooms opening out of it. All these
chambers are panelled with white marble up to a height
of about four feet from the ground; each panel is bor-
dered with an inlaid design in black marble, and has
bases of flowers in the centre carved in basso-rilievo in
white marble. Above this level the walls are covered
with small recesses, each having a cup or a vase repre-
sented upon it in slightly convex glass of various colours.
The ceilings are all very much coved, and are covered
with a delicate flower-pattern in white stucco, the
interstices in the design being filled up with small
pieces of looking-glass.

Over the three smaller chambers at the back of this
building there is a small pavilion corresponding with
these in size, and on various parts of the roof of other
portions of the palace there are numerous small pavilions
in the same style but less highly decorated. At a lower
level, and in a different part of this group of buildings,
is the Dewan-i-Khas, or hall of audience, placed in a
courtyard and open to the north, no doubt, for the sake

WORSHIP IN HINDÚ TEMPLE AT AMBER.

209

of the view. Here, as elsewhere, the Dewan-i-Khas is a
large open hall, supported on pillars. In this case there
is a well-proportioned coved stone roof, covering a space
in the centre about 42 feet by 25; and colonnades all
round this, about 10 feet in width. This building has
been originally of red sandstone. The pillars, two of
which are in their pristine state, have been richly carved
in the Hindú style, but afterwards covered over with
plaster to represent the ordinary twelve-sided Moham-
medan ones, thus making them resemble the white
marble columns of the centre part. The capitals of all
the pillars have the Hindú bracket form, and each is
ornamented with the head of an elephant, which has a
lotus-flower hanging from its mouth. On a cornice
running round the outside of the building are carved
bulls, Brahmin geese, and elephants fighting.

In a portion of this same courtyard, and facing the
Dewan-i-Khas, there are some red-sandstone pillars of a
very rude character, which may possibly be of an older
date than those just described. Generally speaking, at
Amber very little old Hindú work is to be found; its
architect seems to have indulged in mirrors and bright
colours as Akbar never ventured to do. You there see
three styles exhibited: that of Akbar, of his immediate
successors, and also the stucco-work, which was the
direct precursor of the still more debased form now seen
at Jeypore.

I have omitted to mention that there is a small Hindú
temple, dedicated to Durga, in one part of the palace.
Hearing a sound like the clashing of cymbals, I went to
look, and I saw a number of men, women, and children,
all prostrate in front of this goddess, before whom a
brass lamp of curious workmanship, with many wicks,

O

210

AJMERI.

was burning. The worship lasted only a very short
time: all rose, the lamp was removed, and handed to
each one, who passed his hands over the flames, and
then, touching his forehead, seemed to say a prayer.

From Jeypore we took the rail again, and went on to Ajmere, which is the winter headquarters of the Governor-General's agent for the Rajputana states, nineteen in number, including large and small. This official resides in the summer at Mount Aboo. Rajputana is almost the only part of Hindostán which held its own against the Patáns and Moghuls, though the former of these have left their mark in a mosque, to make which they used and adapted the materials of an old Jaina temple.

The Rajputs have always been a very warlike people;
and this, together with the hilly and barren nature of
the country, no doubt prevented permanent occupation
by invading forces. The rainfall generally is very small
—about twenty-three inches annually, and very much
less than this on the north-western side of the Aravelli
Mountains. At Ajmere, and also at Jeypore, owing
to this circumstance, they only obtain summer, or wet
weather, crops. Part of the Jeypore district is a rich
loam; but much of it is pure sand, as is also a good deal
of the country round Ajmere.

The first stone of the Mayo College, at the latter place,
was laid a short time before our visit. This institution
is destined to promote the education of the upper class
of natives, and will contain a lecture-hall, class-rooms,
&c., and form a centre for various detached houses, each
of which will belong to, and be occupied by, the boys of
its own state.

We went over the Ajmere house, and there, as in all
the others, each lad has his separate bedroom, with its

COLLEGE FOR THE NATIVE CHIEFS OF RAJPUTANA. 211

iron cot, writing-table, and chest for clothes. The boys
are taught to ride, and go in for cricket, lawn-tennis,
and other English games. The principal of the college
is an English military man; various other gentlemen
assist him, all living in houses near. At that time there
were only forty boys, but it had only been established
two years, so the numbers will probably increase con-
siderably in time. In the Ajmere house, when I saw it,
all the pupils were the sons of Thakurs, who are nobles
answering somewhat to the chiefs of our Scottish clans,
and owe allegiance to their own princes, of whom, ac-
cording to Tavernier, who spent some time at the court
of Shah Jehan, there were formerly four, a certain kind
of feudal service being exacted from them. In Rajpu-
tana the Thakurs date from the time of the Patán con-
quest of Upper India. The Rajputs, being driven out
from thence, came with their followers and took posses-
sion of the best portions of this hilly district, driving
back the aboriginal inhabitants; and, as in Scotland,
each man took the name of his chief.

It is little more than eight years since the greater part
of Rajputana has been brought into anything like order.
This has been principally effected by enlisting into our
army the boldest and most enterprising men amongst
the aboriginal tribes, the most important of which are
the Bheels and the Mhairs. These help to keep their
own friends in order, and thus three or four native
regiments have been formed. On looking at the map,
our territory of Ajmere appears like a little island in the
midst of a large sea of native states; but the fact is, it is
the highest land in Rajputana, and, in a military sense,
commands it. For this reason, no doubt, the Moham-
medans seized it immediately after their conquest of

212 MOSQUE SUPPORTED ON HINDÚ COLUMNS.

Delhi. The Mahrattas also held it when they were the dominant power. We took it from Scindia, and held it as the key of our position.

When we were there, the railway had only been opened two years; but Ajmere must in time become one of the great railway centres of India. Ajmere was conquered by the first Mohammedan invaders of India, and the mosque, to which I have already alluded, was built about the year A.D. 1200,—at any rate it is known to have been finished by Altumsh, the second of the Patán slave-kings, between the years 1211 and 1236 A.D.; and the Jaina temple which was made use of is probably a couple of centuries older. According to tradition, this mosque was built in two days and a half, hence its present name Arhai-din-ka-Jhomphra; but probably this only allowed time to knock off the heads of the figures on the columns, and to destroy whatever symbols they may have found of the former worship.

The Patáns erected a screen of seven arches, covered with the richest Arabesque work, joined to Arabic inscriptions in the style of the mosque at the Kutb, near Delhi, built at the same period. At the top of the central arch of the screen are the bases of two minarets, fluted in the style of one portion of the Kutb: these have either fallen down, or may possibly have never been completed. Behind this screen are the remains of a temple, originally built in the richest Jaina style, with innumerable columns. Some of those at the north end, the roof of that part, and also of that nearest to the screen, would appear to be very inferior Mussulman imitations of the old work. There have been formerly five Hindú, or horizontal, domes to this temple, each course of stone in these domes overlapping the preceding one, so that there is

MOSQUE IN PRESENT USE.

213

no outward thrust. One has entirely disappeared; the centre one was restored with plain stones about eight years before our visit, but three are still tolerably perfect. The pillars which we supposed to have belonged to the original temple are all carved in patterns forming horizontal lines up to the very top, thus somewhat approaching the Chalukian style. The ceilings of the square spaces between each four pillars are all of them carved more or less,—some have exquisite designs upon them, the lotus-flower generally forming the basis, and being treated in various ways.

Both the Mussulman and Hindú portions of this building are beautiful in themselves: in no part of it are there true arches, but the form of the arch in the Mussulman part is given by stones laid upon and projecting beyond each other till they meet in the centre, and thus naturally acquire a pointed form. This mosque was in a very ruined state a few years ago, and had, I believe, long been in disuse as a place of worship. When we saw it, works were in progress to protect what was still intact; and it was intended to collect all the stones and fragments with any carving upon them, and, as far as possible, arrange and place these so as to preserve them.

There is a mosque at present in use at Ajmere which is said to have been built by Shah Jehan, and consists of a considerable pile of buildings having more than one large courtyard. A rich foundation is attached to this mosque, which maintains a great number of attendants. All the buildings are of white marble, with the exception of the entrance archway, which is built of stone. Close to this gateway was a large open hall, supported on columns, and having sloping eaves made of great slabs

214

ULWAR.

of marble. This hall is of an oblong form, with a dome in the centre.

The mosque proper stands within an inner raised court, with a marble balustrade all round it, and is also of white marble, but has no carving about it—a little inlaid work in black marble being its only decoration. Beyond this, again, and built of the same material, is the tomb of a Mussulman saint—a Haidji, or one who has made a pilgrimage to Mecca. In another court we were shown two enormous caldrons made of plates of iron riveted together, and so arranged that a fire can be lighted beneath them.

During the annual fair, and apparently at other times also, when a rich Mohammedan is seized by a generous impulse with a wish to give a feast to his poorer brethren, these caldrons are filled with rice, ghi (or clarified butter), and other condiments, and the contents when prepared are distributed around. The attendants told us that each of these vessels would hold about 1000 lb. of rice; and that, had we remained a few days longer in the place, we could have witnessed this cookery on a large scale, as a fair would take place a week later, to which people would flock from all parts.

On leaving Ajmere we went to Ulwar, to stay a few days with our friend the political agent there. Ulwar is situated in one of the prettiest parts of Rajputana, though, owing to the long drought from which that country had then been suffering in common with so many other parts of India, we did not see it to advantage, as the authorities had been forced to allow the people to cut away all the branches from the trees as fodder for their cattle.

The state of Ulwar was, in the old times, it appears,

SUPERSTITION RESPECTING THE PEEPUL-TREE. 215

more dependent upon the emperors of Delhi than the
rest, its rulers being at that period more like governors
than independent princes. In March 1878, when we
were there, the rajah had only come of age a few months
previously and taken the reins of government into his
own hands; but before that, during the incapacity of
the late rajah and the minority of the present one, his
estate had been well administered, and a heavy debt
cleared off which had been left by his predecessor.
Some new bazaars were built during this period; and
the following curious anecdote was related to us in con-
nection with them: The then political agent wished to
plant an avenue of trees on either side of the road in
front of the shops, for the purpose of giving shade, and
had decided to put in peepul-trees, which are considered
sacred by the Hindús; but the *bunniahs* (or native shop-
keepers), one and all, declared that if this were done they
would not take the shops; and when pressed for a reason,
replied, "It was because they could not tell untruths
or swear falsely under their shade;" adding, "and how
can we carry on business otherwise?" The force of this
argument seems to have been acknowledged, as the point
was yielded, and other trees have been planted instead.

A few days later, when we were at Delhi, I had an
opportunity of assuring myself of the correctness of this
anecdote. A Hindú merchant brought some goods for
sale to the bungalow where we were staying. His wares
being very dear, I said to him, "Would you ask so much
if you were standing under a peepul-tree?" He replied,
"No." I rejoined, "Suppose yourself in that position,
and tell me what, under those circumstances, would be
the price of the article I require?" The merchant at
once named a lower, and I believe a correct, sum.

216

INTERIOR OF THE PALACE AT ULWAR.

A good Hindú when on a journey, if he sees a peepul-tree by the roadside, takes off his shoes, walks round it from left to right, and repeats the following sentences: “The roots are Brumha, the bark Vishnu, the branches are the Mahadevas; in the bark lives the Ganges; the leaves are the minor deities. Hail to thee, king of trees!”

The Rajah of Ulwar has a sort of summer palace in the centre of a large walled garden, part of which is laid out with flowers, and the rest planted with fruit-trees. The palace, which is in the native city, is about a mile beyond this, and has a grand background of hills behind it. Some part of the palace was built about forty years ago only, and resembles a little in style the palace at Deeg, in the double eaves of the buildings: some of the same forms are also preserved in the numerous small balconies with coved roofs surmounted by gilt pinnacles. At one end of the courtyard is a raised platform; opening out of this is the great hall, where durbars are held. At the back of the durbar chamber, and on a higher level, is a small but very prettily decorated and well-proportioned room. I should have much liked to have seen this well lit up. The effect must be very pretty, the walls and the ceiling being almost covered with small pieces of glass having various coloured foils; on the walls there are also small mirrors arranged in various patterns. Even by daylight the effect of the reds, blues, and greens was very brilliant. On some parts of the walls were pictures representing incidents in the history of the Hindú gods: these, as we were shown in one which was being made for another room, were all carefully painted on cardboard first, and a sheet of glass laid over them.

There is a very striking view from a window at the back of this apartment: a large tank forms the fore-

THE SILISER LAKE.

217

ground, on the opposite side of which is a series of small
temples, and on the left hand a large *chuttree*, or ceno-
taph, to the memory of some former rajah. The back-
ground to this picture is formed by very rugged and
wild-looking hills of a grey colour, and these, together
with some of the buildings, are mirrored in the water
below. The whole scene, in its still calm, looked so un-
like a bit of the common world—so unreal, as seen out
of that small opening—so like a stereoscopic view or a
panoramic scene—that one almost expected to see it dis-
appear, and another picture take its place.

The native town, and some of the gardens round
Ulwar, are supplied with water by two channels of
masonry, which were made many years ago, and com-
municate with the Siliser Lake, about seven miles off.
At the point of the lake which is nearest to Ulwar there
is a large stone dam. From the top of this there is a
lovely view of the whole expanse of water, and also of a
summer palace of the rajah's. The locality seems but
little visited, judging from the number of water-fowl
which we saw. Amongst the larger kinds were the
Sarus, or *Grus Antigone*, and the pelican; there were
also a great variety of smaller birds, whose names I did
not know. We went some distance in a boat in order
to get a better view of the whole than could be obtained
from the shore. On one tiny island we saw an alligator,
whose slumbers we apparently disturbed. He flopped
down into the water and disappeared. In Ulwar, too,
relief camps had been found necessary. We passed close
to one of these on our way to Siliser, where they had
made work for the poor people by setting them to bring
stones and earth, and make walls to enclose a space where
the rajah's young horses could be trained.

218

CHAPTER XVI.

THIRD VISIT TO DELHI—DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS TOMBS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD — PATÁN EMPERORS OF DELHI—KUTB MINAR—IRON LÂT, OR PILLAR—TOGHLAK DYNASTY—THE CITY OF TOGHLAKABAD—S.P.G. — MISSION WORK IN DELHI.

FROM Ulwar we went direct to Delhi, reaching it on
5th March, spending altogether about ten days there
and in the neighbourhood, going once more carefully
over all the old buildings in the fort and elsewhere, and
also spending four days at the Kutb. About two miles
from Delhi, on the road to Muttra, there is a small fort,
known by the name of Indraput, or the Purana Keela
(or old fort). This spot is said to have been the site of
the ancient city of Indraprastha. The present walls and
the gates of this fort are the work of the Emperor Hu-
maion, who is also believed to have begun the mosque
which is within it—which building was afterwards com-
pleted by Shir Shah, and is a most beautiful specimen
of the later Patán architecture, being erected in the year
1541 A.D. One distinctive mark of the architecture of
the later Patán is that, as time progressed, they seemed
to be more able to construct domes which afforded them
complete satisfaction, and no longer sought to hide the
exterior of them by an enormously high propylon, as at
Jounpore, for instance. The domes made by the earlier
Patáns were extremely flat and low: they produced a

LOTUS-FLOWER DECORATION IN A MOSQUE. 219

very good effect when seen from the inside, but viewed
from without they added neither beauty nor dignity to
their buildings. In the case of this mosque, by means
of Hindú bracket pendatives, a square is made into an
octagon, and this again into sixteen sides, in order to
support a dome. The mosque proper consists of five
halls, opening out of each other, and covered by as
many domes. Exteriorly only the centre and largest
dome is visible; the two on either side of this appear
(as seen from the interior of the mosque) to be almost
flat. The two halls on either side of these last are oblong
in form, and have both of them a small dome in the
centre, supported on either side by a semi-dome. In
the decorations, the lotus-flower, which is the symbolical
ornament most frequently introduced in Hindú build-
ings, is here repeated with various modifications,—the
open blossom in the centre of the dome, and the buds
forming a chain round the edge of some of the door-
ways, are the most remarkable instances. I could trace
no signs of there ever having been cloisters round the
courtyard of this mosque, which seemed to have been as
necessary to a Jumma Musjid, or principal mosque, as
the central tower was to a cathedral or minster at home.
In this case there are also no minars, properly so called :
a small column only has been placed on either side of
the propylon, which is not of the same grand propor-
tions as in the earlier Patán mosques. Round the
arches of the three central entrances to this building,
the chief decoration is an inscription, in raised Arabic
characters. The middle doorway has, in addition, mosaic
inlaid work, in geometric patterns, the principal colours
being red, white, and black. Along the top of this
mosque, and also on some of the string-courses, there

220

HUMAION'S TOMB.

are small round medallions containing the word ‘Allah,”
in Arabic characters. Just below the battlemented top
there are brackets, of the regular Hindú form, supporting
sloping caves, which run the whole length of the building.

The tomb of Humaion is on the same road, about a
mile beyond the Purana Keela. The road thither from
Delhi passes through a regular street of tombs even more
numerous than those of the Appian Way, near Rome.
In fact, from the top of Humaion's tomb, the country,
as far as the eye can reach—from Delhi on the one side
to the Kuta on the other—appears a sea of old ruins
and tombs, these last being nearly all domed and mostly
of a large size, some having been originally ornamented
with glazed tiles of various colours. The tomb of Hu-
maion is situated within a large walled garden, as were
all the larger Moghul tombs. Its exterior is of red
sandstone, inlaid with white marble; the dome, which
is of the same material, is slightly bulbous: it is said to
be the first of that particular form which was ever con-
structed in India.

This tomb has a kind of double platform, the lower
one only about four feet high, on which is a smaller
one containing mortuary chambers with many tombs
in each; the principal monument is in the centre
of the upper platform. In the large domed hall is a
single plain tomb of white marble, beneath which are
the remains of Humaion. Steps lead up to a large ter-
race which forms the roof of the building: at the four
corners are cupolas supported on shafts of a decided
Hindú character. It is noticeable that in this building,
wherever pillars and their capitals occur, these last have
all the Hindú bracket form. This tomb may be called
the earliest existing specimen of Moghul work; for

TOMB OF SUPPOSED HEAD OF THE THUGS. 221

though the Emperor Baber, in his autobiography, speaks of employing a great number of masons, yet none of his buildings have come down to us.

Very near Humaion's tomb, but on the opposite side of the road, is the tomb of Nizam-ud-din Aulia, a very celebrated Mohammedan saint belonging to the fraternity of the Chistís. This man during his lifetime was believed to have a knowledge of future events: even now pilgrimages are made to his tomb from all parts of India, for many natives believe that miracles are still worked there. Nizam-ud-din lived in the reign of the Patán emperor, Toghlak Shah. His tomb was begun under that dynasty, but the dome was only placed upon it during Akbar's reign; and in Shah Jehan's time the building was put into thorough repair. Within the same enclosure are many other tombs, which, no doubt, were placed there in order that their occupants might rest near this holy man. A verandah with marble columns is round the saint's tomb, and a pierced screen of white marble slabs surrounds the sarcophagus. General Slee-man, in his work, is of opinion that this Nizam-ud-din was probably the head of the Mohammedan Thugs, or assassins of India. I believe it is known that for years after his death many Thugs made yearly pilgrimages to his tomb, so it would seem to be not at all improbable that by that murderous trade the saint (!) amassed the great wealth he is known to have possessed, which enabled him to set his sovereign at defiance, and be concerned in, if not an active participator in, his murder.

The poet Khusroo's tomb stands at no great distance from that of his friend Nizam-ud-din. It is related of him that for six months he never ceased to sit and watch by the saint's grave, at the end of which time death

222 NATIVE APPRECIATION OF CHERRY-BRANDY.

released him from his troubles. An inscription in the outer enclosure of his tomb styles Khusroo "the sugar-tongued parrot;" and even now, after an interval of 400 years, his songs are still most popular. Khusroo was born in India, of Turki parents. On the Toghlak dynasty coming into power he rose to high honours.

In this cemetery, among a great many graves of undistinguished people, are the tombs of Mirza Jehangire, Mahommed Shah, and Jehanara Begum. The first-named was the son of Akbar the Second: his tomb, which is of exquisite workmanship, was built as late as 1832. Mirza Shah drank himself to death with Hoffmann's cherry-brandy. When General Sleeman visited him at Allahabad, he said, "This is the only liquor you Englishmen have which is worth drinking; its only fault is, that it makes one drunk too soon." But in order to prolong his enjoyment, he used to limit himself to a large glass every hour, till he became dead drunk.

Mahommed Shah's tomb has also a screen of pierced white marble round it. During his reign, in the year 1739, the Persian conqueror, Nadir Shah, invaded India, despoiled the peacock throne in the fort at Delhi, and allowed his followers to sack the city.

Jehanara Begum, to please whom her father, Shah Jehan, built the mosque near the fort at Agra, showed later on the most touching devotion to him: when Shah Jehan was deposed by his son Aurungzebe, she shared her father's life-long imprisonment, while her sister Rushanara is said to have espoused her brother's cause. Jehanara is said to have been remarkable for her wit and beauty, and to have also possessed many gentle and endearing qualities, though she seems to have hated Aurungzebe,—her warm and affectionate nature resent-

TOMB OF 'AZIM KHAN, AKBUR'S FOSTER-FATHER.

223

ing most keenly his behaviour towards Shah Jehan, who died in 1665. Rushanara survived him five years, and Jehanara died at Delhi in A.D. 1681. She built this tomb for herself; it stands in a small marble court. The inscription on the headstone, which she is said to have partly composed, is to the following effect: "Let nothing but the green [grass] conceal my grave. The grass is the best covering for the tomb of the poor in spirit; the humble, the transitory Jehanara, the disciple of the holy men of Chist; the daughter of the Emperor Shah Jehan. May God illuminate his intentions."

The Jama'ath Khana Mosque is also not far from the tomb of Nizam-ud-din; it is supposed to have been built about the year 1353 A.D. by Firoz Shah Toghlak. It is of red sandstone throughout, and may be called a very fine example of Patán architecture. It is divided into three chambers; a large dome covers the central part, the side chambers have each two domes, and there is some very pretty stone lattice-work in parts of this building.

The tomb of 'Azim Khan lies to the south-east of the saint's tomb. It appeared to be a very fine specimen of the Patán inlaid work in red, white, and black; but we were unable to see the lower part, or go inside it, and could only get a view of it from some mounds near, over a high wall which surrounded it on all sides, and seemed to have no opening; but a funeral, which was going on close by, prevented us from ascertaining this positively. 'Azim Khan's original name was Shams-ud-din Mahomed, but Akbar gave him this title of honour on the occasion of his victory over Bairam Khan, near Jullunder. When Humaion was defeated by the Patáns at Kanouj, 'Azim Khan assisted that emperor to escape from the field of battle. Later on he was made Governor of the

224

TOMB OF SAFDAR JUNG.

Punjaub, and, finally, was murdered, A.D. 1566, by Adham Khan, the details of which crime will be given at length when I have to describe the buildings at the Kutb.

About twenty yards from the tomb of 'Azim Khan there is a white marble building, called the Chausat Kambah, or hall of sixty-six pillars. The only thing worthy of notice in it is its pierced marble screen; the pillars have scarcely any decoration. The remains of Mirza Aziz Kukal Khan lie within it: he was a son of 'Azim Khan, and foster-brother to the Emperor Akbar, who took charge of his fortunes after his father's death. His career was a checkered one, being raised first to posts of distinction, and suffering penal servitude at a later period when, after the death of Akbar, he joined himself to the cause of Prince Khusran against that of his father Jehangir. Mirza Aziz died at Ahmedabad, A.D. 1624, but his body was brought to Delhi and buried near the graves of his father and Nizam-ud-din.

On the road to the Kutb, and about six miles distant from the present city of Delhi, is the tomb of Safdar Jung. His real name was Abul Mansour Khan; he was the nephew and successor of Sa-adat Ali Khan, Viceroy of Oudh. Being by birth a Persian, he came to India on his uncle's invitation, who gave him his daughter in marriage. After the invasion of Nadir Shah, when order had been restored in Delhi, he became a favourite at the court, was afterwards made wuzeer, and the title of Safdar Jung was bestowed upon him (Safdar means hero). He had a rival in Ghazi-ud-din Khan, who at length compelled him to abandon his distinguished posts; and he ostensibly retired from public life, and lived in a hotbed of intrigue till his death, in A.D. 1753.

ITS RESEMBLANCE TO THE TOMB OF HUMAION. 225

His mausoleum is in a garden surrounded by high walls. Over the entrance gateway, and in the centre of the north and south walls, there are apartments which are now used as rest-houses by Europeans. At each of the four corners of the garden there are octagonal towers, which have perforated red-sandstone screens. The principal entrance to the garden is a two-storeyed building. A large hall is in the centre, with a domed roof; and there are four small chambers opening out of this hall. The second storey has a balcony round it, from the roof project sloping eaves, and there are several small chambers in it. The mausoleum in some respects resembles the tomb of Humaion,—many imagine it was intended as a replica of it. It stands on a terrace or platform about 10 feet high, and 110 feet square, the tomb itself being about 60 feet square, and 90 feet high to the summit of the dome, beneath which there is a very highly finished white marble sarcophagus. Surrounding the central hall are eight chambers—four are square, and four octagonal in form—and there are apartments above corresponding with these. The dome, as seen externally, is of a bulbous form. There are marble minarets at each angle of the building, inlaid with lines and patterns in red sandstone. The four sides of the tomb are all decorated with bands of white marble, and in one part is the following inscription: "When the hero [Safdar] of the plain of valour accepted the order to leave this transitory house, the following date was given of it [his departure]. . . May you be resident of the high heaven."

About eleven miles from Delhi is the Kutb Minar, which, together with the buildings which surround it, occupies a portion of the site of old Delhi, or the city of

P

226

KUTB, THE FIRST OF THE SLAVE-KINGS.

Rajah Pithora, which fell into the hands of the Moham-
medans in A.D. 1191. At the death of Mahommed Ghori,
in 1205, the empire of Ghusnce may almost be said to
have been at an end. There were still some surviving
members of the house of Ghor; but those princes were
unambitious men, thus, consequently, an opportunity
arose for two of the imperial slaves, Ildeezu and Kutb,
to divide the empire between them. By *slaves* are
meant captives and young children bought by kings;
therefore the word slave must not be understood in the
sense in which we use it, for these persons were highly
educated, for the purpose of fitting them to fill offices of
state, and at one time successive slave-kings reigned in
Hindostán. With Kutb—the second of the two I have
mentioned—commenced the Mohammedan empire of
the Patáns, or Afghans, in India. He was the favourite
friend and servant of Mahommed Ghori: his name has
come down to us as a brave warrior, open and liberal to
his friends, and courteous to strangers. When quite a
child, Kutb was brought from Turkestan to Neshapoor,
and there sold by a merchant to Casi, the son of Abu,
who, finding him a clever lad, sent him to school. He
had already made great progress in Persian and Arabic,
when, his patron dying suddenly, he was sold with the
rest of his master's property, and passed into the hands
of a rich merchant, who paid a large sum of money for
him, and then offered him for sale to the emperor, who
purchased him, and gave him the familiar name of
Eibek, from his broken little finger. He soon attracted
Mahommed Ghori's notice by his pleasing manners and
behaviour. On the occasion of a festival at court, when
a large distribution of presents had been made, Eibek,
who had received both gifts and money, instead of keep-

HIS EARLY SUCCESSES AND REVERSES.

227

ing it to himself, divided his share amongst his companions. The emperor, hearing of this, asked him the reason. Eibek replied "that his wants were sufficiently supplied by his Majesty's bounty; he had therefore no desire to burden himself with superfluities, the king's favour being a sure independence."

Mahommed, much pleased with this reply, immediately gave Kutb an office near his person, and shortly after appointed him Master of the Horse. In course of time he rose to various military commands, and about the year A.D. 1192 was made Commander-in-Chief, with the title of Kutb-ud-din (or the pole-star of religion). In the following year he defeated the Jets, who were the subjects of the Prince of Narwalla, in Guzerat; and also the Prince of Benares, which latter country Mahommed Ghori took possession of without opposition. Three hundred elephants were captured from the Rajah of Benares, besides other valuable spoils. Their riders had instructions to make all the elephants kneel down simultaneously at a given signal, which they did, with the exception of one white one, whose rider was nearly killed in the attempt to make him pay homage. The emperor presented this elephant to his favourite, and wrote him a letter adopting him as his son. Kutb ever after rode this animal; when he died it pined away and died the third day.

Shortly after the conquest of Benares, news came that some of the independent Indian princes intended to unite their forces and wrest Ajmere from the Mohammedans. Kutb's troops being at the moment much dispersed, he marched against them with the small force that lay at Delhi, in order to prevent certain of them from joining the rest, but was defeated, and carried.

228

THE REBELLION OF ELDOSE.

wounded, in a litter to Ajmere. In 1202, Tittura, the chief of the opposing army, joined the forces of Narwalla and Guzerat, and sat down before Ajmere. Mahommed hearing of this, sent a large force from Ghusnee to relieve Kutb, which, on its arrival, compelled the enemy to raise the siege. Kutb then pursued and routed them with great slaughter, and after giving his troops a short respite, marched on into Guzerat, took the city of Narwalla, and then returned to Delhi by way of Ajmere. Six years afterwards he made another successful campaign, and took the cities of Calinger and Mhoba. After the murder of Mahommed Ghori, his nephew Mahmood assumed the imperial titles at Ghori, and sent all the insignia of royalty to Kutb, who had previously been made Viceroy of all the conquered provinces in India. Kutb at first was not left in undisturbed possession of his new dignities.

Ildccuz, or Eldose, as he is more generally called, another of the imperial slaves, marched an army against him from Ghusnee. After a severe struggle, Kutb repulsed his forces, pursued the flying troops as far as Ghusnee, was there crowned, and took the reins of government into his own hands. After this, the conqueror gave himself up to pleasure, till the citizens, weary of his excesses, sent privately to Eldose to acquaint him of this and entreat his return. Upon this, Eldose hurriedly and secretly equipped an expedition and advanced towards Ghusnee, taking Kutb by surprise, who, seeing that he had no chance of making a successful defence, abandoned his kingdom and retired to Lahore. On reflection, finding to what he had been brought by his own weakness and indulgence, he entirely reformed his habits, and governed with his great

THE MINAR AT KUTB.

229

wisdom till his death in 1210, which was caused by a fall from his horse. His reign, properly speaking, lasted only four years, though he enjoyed all the state and dignities of a king for a space of twenty years, if one may date from the time that he took Delhi.

Kutb was succeeded by his son Aram, who, after a reign of one year, being engaged in battle with Altumsh, who was the son-in-law and adopted son of Kutb, lost the battle and his empire.

The Kutb Minar is generally believed to have been begun by Kutb, the first of the Mohammedan emperors who reigned in India. This minar, or tower, is a tapering shaft, about 234 feet in height, and divided into five storeys, being a little more than 47 feet in diameter at the base, and 9 at the summit. The interval between the commencement and completion of the building extended over a period of twenty years—viz., from A.D. 1200 to A.D. 1220. Horizontal bands of inscriptions in the Arabic character run round each storey, so that the building tells its own history. It is cased in red sandstone; some white stone or marble is introduced in the two upper storeys, each of these being furnished with a balcony. The lower storey is formed of alternate angular and semicircular flutings; in the second storey these are all semicircular; in the third, all angular; the fourth storey is round, and has no flutings; the fifth is also circular, and has bands of white marble round it.

Though this minar was begun by Kutb-ud-din Eibek, and finished by his immediate successor Altumsh, it was much injured by lightning in the reign of Firoz Shah Toghlak, as set forth in an inscription by him bearing the date of 1368 A.D., saying "that he repaired this building with great care;" and adding, "May the un-

230

MOSQUE ERECTED BY KUTB.

known Creator preserve this building from all dangers.”
Firoz Shah also added a cupola which is said to have
been in the form of a harp: this was thrown down in
1803 by an earthquake and no longer exists.

About a quarter of a mile distant is the unfinished
minar of Ala-ud-din Khilgi, who probably wished to
make a rival one on a much larger scale: inclusive of
the plinth, it measures 80 feet in height. It was begun
A.D. 1311, but abandoned on the death of the king. As
a native historian somewhat quaintly and tenderly puts
it, "His days did not help him; the king finished his
life before he could complete his work."

Kutb-ud-din Eibek began to build a mosque as soon
as he had conquered old Delhi; and it is said that
its cloisters were made out of the fragments of twenty-
seven Hindú temples. The courtyard has, as usual,
three entrances, and stands on a raised platform. The
pillars are very varied in form and design, and have
evidently formerly belonged to more than one building,
though it is doubtful whether any of them are in their
original position, for, from the absence of the arch in the
early Hindú style of architecture, each single pillar could
be detached from the rest, and its position changed
without injury to the building. Fergusson, in his work
on Indian architecture, when describing it, remarks: "It
is so purely Jaina that it should have been mentioned in
speaking of that style;" and he adds, "The pillars are
of the same order as those used on Mount Aboo, except
that at Delhi they are much richer and more elaborate.
They belong probably to the eleventh or twelfth century,
and are among the few specimens to be found in India
that seem to be overloaded with ornament—there not
being one inch of plain surface from the capital to the

ADDITIONS BY ALTUMSH.

231

base." The same author observes, further on: "The history of this mosque, as told in its construction, is as curious as anything about it. It seems that the Afghan emperors had a tolerably distinct idea that pointed arches were the true form for architectural openings; but being without science sufficient to construct them, they left the Hindú architects and builders whom they employed to follow their own devices in the mode of carrying out the form. The Hindús had, up to this time, never built arches, nor did they for centuries afterwards; accordingly they proceeded to make the pointed opening on the same principle upon which they built their domes. They carried them up in horizontal courses as far as they could, and then closed them by slabs meeting at the top."

During the reign of Altumsh, the son-in-law of Kutb-ud-din, two wings or extensions were added to the mosque. Sultan Ala-ud-din Khilgi, who ascended the throne of Delhi in A.D. 1295, added a gateway on the southern side. The extensions built by Altumsh have also had cloisters: the southern portion of these is now the most perfect part. These cloisters would seem to have formed an outer enclosure to Kutb's mosque on the north and south at least. Just outside the eastern gateway of this part of the building there is an open colonnade of Hindú pillars, which, from their position, would appear to have had no connection with either of the mosques.

Though the Mohammedans were, as a rule, very particular in defacing or destroying any idolatrous images, yet, on some of the columns, we could distinctly trace some cross-legged figures, and in one instance the head and face were intact.

We are told that Altumsh came originally of a noble

232

GATEWAY OF ALA-UD-DIN.

Tartar family, and that his father Elim was a famous general. Being his father's favourite son, his brothers were envious of him, and determined to get rid of him. In order to effect their purpose, one day, when they were out hunting, they stripped him and sold him for a slave to some travelling merchants, who carried him to Bokhara, where they again sold him to some relations of the prince of that country, by whom he was given a liberal education. After his master's death he passed successively into the hands of two other merchants, and was finally carried to Ghusnec. Mahommed Ghori wished much to purchase him, having heard of his talents and good looks, but he could not agree with the merchants about his price; so Altumsh was taken back to Bokhara for a time, till Kutb, after obtaining the king's leave, bought him for 50,000 pieces of silver. Altumsh distinguished himself in various engagements, and Kutb was so pleased with his behaviour that he declared him free, and bestowed many gifts upon him. He at length rose to be Captain-General of the empire, married Kutb's daughter, and upon that king's death, as I have before stated, advanced against the capital, expelled Aram, and proclaimed himself emperor by the title of Shams-ud-din Altumsh.

The Alai Darwaza, or gateway of Ala-ud-din Khilgi, has the date of A.D. 1310 upon it. It seems as if part of the cloisters arranged by Altumsh had been knocked down to make room for it. The back wall of the cloisters is of rough-hewn greyish stone—the same material as was used for the Hindú pillars—while this gateway is of red sandstone. General Cunningham styles it “the most beautiful specimen of Patán architecture that I have seen.” It has four entrances: a window of pierced

THE LĀT, OR IRON PILLAR.

233

red sandstone is on either side of each of these. The exterior walls are panelled, and inlaid with white marble, and have a battlemented parapet, surmounted by a dome. Inscriptions in Arabic characters form the perpendicular lines of the ornamentation: the horizontal lines are geometric patterns. In the interior, in order to reduce the square to an octagon, there are niches in each corner, composed of five horse-shoe arches, each smaller than the other, made on the principle of the true arch. I should think they must be the earliest instances of the arch in the neighbourhood of Delhi.

Before leaving this group of buildings, I must not omit to notice the iron lāt, or pillar, which stands in front of the mosque of Kutb-ud-din. It was erected as a triumphal column by a king of Delhi, whose name has been variously stated as Rajah Dáva, Anang Pal, and Chandra. Fergusson says: "My own conviction is that it belongs to one of the Chandra rajahs of the Gupta dynasty—consequently to either A.D. 363 or A.D. 400."

The capital of the iron pillar is entire, and of the reeded or Persian form. Upon this is a square block, forming the summit, on which was probably placed some emblem of Vishnu, who is mentioned in the inscription; but if such emblem or statue there were, it has now disappeared. The inverted reeded cup-like form of this capital exactly resembles what now remains of the capital of the lāt, or stone pillar, at Bithri—a place situated about half-way between Ghazipore and Benares. The diameter of the iron pillar at the Kutb is over 16 inches at the base, and at the capital, which is 3½ feet high, rather more than 12 inches, and it now stands 22 feet above the ground. In 1871 General Cunningham caused excavations to be made round it in order to ascertain how

234

LEGEND OF THE SERPENT-KING.

much of it was underground. It was found to be shaped
at the bottom like a flat turnip; and it rested upon
eight pieces of iron, which are fixed with lead into blocks
of stone, equidistant from each other. This pillar has
been variously described as being of mixed metal—brass,
or bronze; but Dr Murray Thompson, who analysed a
small bit for General Cunningham, was of opinion that
it is composed of pure malleable iron. The people of
that day may have possessed some secret in preparing
iron with which we are unacquainted. This column
has now stood for many centuries exposed to the heavy
Indian rains, and to various changes of temperature, and
yet it is not rusted or corroded in the slightest degree.

The natives say that two unsuccessful attempts
have been made to destroy this pillar: Nadir Shah,
they relate, caused the earth to be removed from its
foundations. The workmen, however, could not pro-
ceed: the serpent whom they suppose resides beneath
it, shook his head, and a violent earthquake ensued.
The Mahrattas, also, they affirm, brought heavy cannon
to bear upon it, but these did no damage beyond leaving
a mark. There are many curious legends extant re-
garding it, one of which is, that the rajah who erected it
was told that this pillar, having been firmly driven into
the head of Sahes-Nág, the serpent-king, his empire
would be as permanent as this pillar. The rajah, how-
ever, disbelieving this, and being desirous to test a
prophecy of such importance to his dynasty, had it
taken up, when, to the horror of all, the foot of the pil-
lar was found to be wet with the serpent's blood. All
attempts to fix the pillar again, failed: it remained loose
(dhíla) in the ground, whence the name Delhi, and the
serpent was gone. This story is told in various ways.

TOMB OF ALTUMSH.

235

with additions and alterations, but Sahes-Nág figures in
all the versions.

The tomb of Shams-ud-din Altumsh, who was the
most famous of the slave-kings of Delhi, is close to the
mosque, being just behind its north-west corner, and
almost touching the present roadway. Some say that
this tomb was built by Altumsh himself; others attribute
it to two of his children. General Cunningham observes
that it is of the same date as the Kutb Minar; he also
seems to be of opinion that it was originally covered
by an overlapping Hindú dome. It is said to be the
oldest authentic Mohammedan tomb in India: its arches
are all formed on the Hindú principle, which I have
already described. Here, as in the 'Alai Darwaza, the
square is formed into an octagon by niches at the four
corners, but in this instance there is only one arch at
each corner: a half dome is thus formed within this
space, constructed by each course of stone-work resting
upon and overlapping the preceding one. The walls of
the interior are quite plain up to a height of about eleven
feet; but they have evidently had a coating of stucco.
In one corner I could trace on this the remains of a geo-
metric pattern of a green colour. The whole of the
walls above this level are most richly carved in red
sandstone, with geometric patterns in horizontal lines;
the Buddhist bell ornament, and also the lotus, are in-
troduced in the decorations.

There is also another mosque, to the south of these
buildings, and distant perhaps about half a mile, of which
I could find no account or description in General Cun-
ningham's Archaeological Report, or in the book lately
published by Mr Carr Stephen. This mosque is flanked
on the north by a small courtyard containing several

236

TOMB OF ADHAM KHAN.

tombs: one of these is in a covered building, which has been used as a mosque as well, for it has the recess, or *kiblah*, on its western side. Externally this little building has originally had tile decoration in three shades of blue, and within it is very beautifully decorated with raised plaster-work in minute patterns, painted in various colours: this is still in a very fair state of preservation. Here too, as in many of the tombs of that period, the square has been made into an octagon, and then into a circle by cutting off the corners. The roof is flat in the interior, being slightly raised by a cornice which runs all round. The mosque is of considerable size, but very plain, both within and without, being built of rubble and cased with hewn stone. It consisted of five halls. My impression, on examining it closely, was that the interior had at some time or other either been stripped of all its decorative work, or—what was perhaps more probable—had never been finished, as the four lateral halls (two on either side of the larger or central one) have no stone casing on their walls, but are entirely of rough rubble stone, from a height of seven feet from the ground, though all was prepared for the outer stonework,—for the form of the bracket pendatives in the upper corners of each hall may be clearly traced.

I have already had occasion to speak of Adham Khan in describing the buildings near the tomb of that great saint (but, I fear, consummate rogue), Nizam-ud-din; but a detailed account of him belongs more properly to the place where we find his tomb. This monument stands at the south-western corner of the citadel of the capital of Rajah Pithora. Adham Khan appears to have been a turbulent man, who more than once incurred the displeasure of the emperor. At length, at the instigation of

HIS MOTHER GOES TO SEE AKBAR.

237

M'unim Khan, a minister and influential man at the court of Akbar, he one day suddenly entered the audience-hall at Agra and struck 'Azim Khan (or the Atgah, as he is sometimes called) with his dagger, and then told one of his companions to despatch him with his sword. The emperor could not allow the murder of his foster-father to go unpunished, perpetrated as it was almost in his very presence, though Adham Khan, trusting in the favour and kindness usually shown him by the emperor, went out and stood at the door of the harem. Akbar rushed out, sword in hand, ordered the assassin to be bound hand and foot, and then to be thrown over the parapet, which was done; after which, according to one author, a spark of life being still left in him, the emperor commanded him to be hurled over a second time. Adham Khan's mother, Maham Ankah, hearing something of the broil, but not knowing what had happened to her son, though herself ill at the time, went from Delhi to Agra. On seeing her, Akbar said, "He has killed my foster-father, and I have taken his life." "Your Majesty has done well," she replied, and left the hall; but forty days afterwards she died of grief, and was buried near her son at Delhi, in a tomb which Akbar built for this purpose: we may therefore conclude that it was begun A.D. 1566, the year of 'Azim Khan's and Adham Khan's death.

This tomb is placed on an octagonal platform about seventeen feet above the level of the road; on this is a colonnade of the same form, supported on massive pillars, forming arches and surrounding the central hall, which is also eight-sided, and has a fine domed roof. The sarcophagus has been removed into the colonnade, and a part of this enclosed to form bedrooms. Some furniture

238

DRIVE IN AN EKER, OR NATIVE CART.

has also been placed in the building, so that any one
bringing their own servants and supplies can inhabit it
by paying the same fees as required at a *dák* bungalow.

Whilst we were staying at the Kuth we devoted one
afternoon to seeing the fort of Toghlakabad, situated
about four miles to the east, the road to it from the
former place being about the roughest and worst cross-
country one I have ever seen, even in India. Our only
way of going thither was to hire a small country vehicle
without springs, and drawn by a couple of bullocks.
This cart—for I cannot dignify it with the name of a
carriage—is very commonly used by the natives, and is
not unlike an old-fashioned four-post bedstead, with a
canopy and curtains all round, placed on two wheels,
only that this conveyance would be about of suitable
dimensions for the bed of a good-sized doll. The bullock-
driver sits astride on the pole to which the oxen are
yoked, making himself a saddle with a sort of wadded
quilt. It is astonishing in what a small space the natives
of India, both men and women, contrive to sit. I have
myself often seen at least four women and a couple of
children sitting in a similar cart, who all seemed per-
fectly at their ease, though my husband and I, being
both of us tall, found it a tight fit with our English
mode of sitting. There is hardly any iron about these
vehicles, the wheels being of wood; and the whole con-
cern is kept together by a most wonderful and com-
plicated arrangement of cords and ropes. The absence
of springs to this cart, and the bad road we had to pass
over, made our seat anything but a bed of rose-leaves;
but the sight of the fort amply repaid us for the incon-
venience.

Toghlakabad is about twelve miles south of the modern

MUHAMMED TOGHILAK'S ECCENTRICITIES.

239

Delhi, and was the fourth city which became in succession the capital,—the first being old Delhi, or Kila Raj Pithora; the second Kilokheri, or Naid Shahr, on the banks of the Jumna; the third Siri, about six miles distant from the present Delhi, in the direction of the Kutb. Ghiyás-ud-din Toghlak, the first of the dynasty, was the son of a slave. His son, Sultan Muhammad, was the most accomplished prince of his age. He made expeditions against both Persia and China, but was unsuccessful. His conduct in later life was such that only the plea of insanity could justify it. He used to assemble his army as if for a great hunt, and the troops gradually closing towards a given centre, all within that area were massacred. This was more than once repeated: many of the inhabitants of Kanouj were slaughtered in this manner. None of his whims caused so much distress and misery as that of moving his capital from Delhi to Deogiri (the present Dowlatabad). Twice the people were allowed to return, and twice made to leave it again. His finances being very much involved, and having heard that they used paper money in China, he introduced it, giving copper tokens for paper. But as foreign merchants refused to take these notes, all was confusion and distress. Upon the death of Muhammad in 1351, Firoz-ud-din, his cousin, who is commonly known as Firoz Shah, was raised to the throne.

According to a native historian, Toghlakabad was commenced A.D. 1321, and finished two years later. The fort has a circuit of nearly four miles. The walls slope rapidly inwards; some of the bastions are still in a fair state of preservation. The whole has a massive appearance, though in parts it is rugged and much broken, so that, when viewing it from a distance, we thought it

240

FORT AT TOGHLAKABAD.

was the ridge of a hill, and that we must have mistaken
the position of the fort. The whole of the interior is
now in such a ruinous condition that it is difficult, if not
impossible, to make out the ground plan or the situation
of the buildings which were originally within it; but
there are still some underground apartments on a level
with large wells or water-tanks which are faced with
stone. The emperor is supposed to have inhabited
eight circular rooms in the citadel, with apertures in
the roof for the admittance of light.

The citadel is believed to have had three gates, and
was difficult of approach; and at its foot was a large
tank, from which the garrison could be supplied. The
upper part of the fort seemed a mass of ruined houses
and fragments of masonry. Though time did not suffice
for us to examine it carefully, yet from a high point to
which we climbed no entire building could I see, except
one small one, which had either originally been a mosque
or had since been converted to that use. Outside the
western gate by which we entered is a long stone cause-
way supported on arches, but now much out of repair.
It leads to what may be called a fortified outpost to the
fort, and is a complete fortress, having bastions at inter-
vals and battlements all round, formed of loose stones of
large size, with spaces between each. No doubt they were
thus arranged in order that they might be used as mis-
siles to hurl down upon an attacking force. There are
small loop-holes at intervals in the outer walls, and an
arched passage runs all round the inside of them, so
that the besieged would be protected when firing upon
an enemy.

Within this little fortress is a massive structure of
red sandstone, which is turned obliquely to the outer

PROPHECY CONCERNING TOGLAK SHAH.

241

walls, probably with the view of making its western side
point towards Mecca, and thus render it a mosque as well
as a tomb. This building is of a considerable size at the
base, and narrows gradually till it is crowned by a white
marble dome. A band of the same material is carried
round it about half-way up, and slabs of white marble
are introduced in other parts. It seemed in its massive
grandeur a fit resting-place for the remains of a great war-
rior like Toghlak Shah. His tomb, and that of his son,
Muhammad Shah, who succeeded him, are side by side.

When on his way back to Delhi, A.D. 1325, after a
successful invasion of Bengal, Toghlak Shah was told
that certain wise men and astrologers had prophesied
that he would never see Delhi again—the chief amongst
these being that so-called saint, but in reality arch-rogue,
Nizam-ud-din Aulia, who had long been at enmity with
him, and in league with his son Muhammad Shah.
Toghlak said, “Let me only reach Delhi, and this fiend-
priest shall be humbled.” Nizam-ud-din’s friends hear-
ing of this threat, implored him to leave the capital;
but all he said was, “Delhi is still far off.”

Arrived at a distance of about six miles from Delhi,
Toghlak Shah was lodged in a temporary wooden
palace, which his son had caused to be built in three
days, it being given out that his intention was to rest
there, and the following day make a triumphal entry
into his capital. The popular account is, that this
wooden building had been so arranged as to fall down
with a crash when the elephants touched it at a certain
part. The sultan stayed there; and after he had feasted
the people, his eldest son and heir-apparent asked leave
to parade the elephants before him. The emperor’s
favourite son, Mahmúd, was seated by his side, and when

q

242

FULFILMENT OF THE PROPHECY.

the elephants passed by, the building fell down upon them both. Muhammad, the heir, then called for shovels and pickaxes to dig out his father and brother; but, by a sign, delayed their arrival for some time, till at sunset the sultan was taken out dead, having bent over his son in order to save him. Others, again, maintain that Toghlak Shah was taken out alive, and an end made of him, the body being transported at night to the tomb he had built for himself at Toghlakabad and there buried.

Muhammad Shah, who then became sultan, was the most inhuman and tyrannical of all the Patán sovereigns of India: of this I have already given some examples. His cruelties were, many of them, witnessed by his cousin and successor Firoz Toghlak, who, when he came to the throne, sought by a most singular method to cancel some of his predecessor's sins. The words of Firoz himself, as related by Ferishta, the Persian historian, who took them from an inscription on a large mosque at Firozabad, are as follows: "I have also taken pains to discover the surviving relations of all persons who suffered from the wrath of my late lord and master, Muhammad Toghlak, and having pensioned and provided for them, have caused them to grant their full pardon and forgiveness to that prince in the presence of the holy and learned men of this age, whose signatures and seals as witnesses are affixed to the documents, the whole of which, as far as lies in my power, have been procured and put into a box and deposited in the vault in which Muhammad Toghlak is entombed." These papers were to act as vouchers of free pardon from all whom the dead man had deprived of a nose, a limb, or of sight, &c.; and were placed near him in order that he might pick them up at the last day; for, according to the Mohammedan sacred

MEDICAL MISSION WORK IN DELHI.

243

laws, every offence has a double aspect—in its relation first to God, and then to man; in the latter case, pardon given by the injured one is believed to reduce some portion of its punishment. These documents would be interesting to read; they are probably still quite safe within the sarcophagus, which is in good order, and appears never to have been disturbed.

Toghlakabad formerly belonged to the principality of Balabgurh, but the British Government annexed it in 1857, on account of the complicity of its rajah in the rebellion at that period. It is now an insignificant Gujar village. The Gujars are a distinct tribe of people, belonging principally to the Punjaub, who possess cattle, and wander with them in the summer and autumn in search of pasturage. Whilst we were in Kashmir we saw some of these people at a place called Killan, 9000 feet above the sea; and as the season advanced we were told they would go down and take possession of the huts which the English had erected and vacated at Gulmurg, about 2000 feet lower down, till the weather forced them to move again.

Nizam-ud-din's prophecy respecting Toghlakabad has thus come true. He said of it, "Thou shalt either be inhabited by Gujars, or be abandoned."

After leaving the Kutb we stayed two or three days with a friend in Delhi, and I had an opportunity of hearing and seeing somewhat of the S.P.G. work in their St Stephen's Mission there. The converts they make are principally, if not entirely, Hindús. A Mohammedan rarely becomes a Christian. The Hindús they gain over are, for the most part, of the lowest caste—such as chumárs, or workers in leather. These, when they embrace Christianity, do not sink or lose caste in the eyes

244

NUMEROUS CHRISTIAN CONVERTS.

of their relations or equals. Attached to the mission is a German lady, who has regularly studied medicine and surgery, and passed the necessary examinations. She of course is admitted into both Mohammedan and Hindú houses, where a medical man would not be allowed to enter—though she told me that frequently she is not sent for till some of their ignorant old women have resorted to all kinds of means and nostrums, so that very often she arrives too late to save the patient's life. This lady attends daily from twelve till two in her dispensary, giving advice and medicine to women and children, who come in considerable numbers to consult her. Books are kept in which the caste, name, and age of each applicant are entered, their complaints, and what remedies have been given. These are from time to time submitted to the medical authorities.

The number of converts made at Delhi is said to be very considerable. The missionaries are careful to hold out no temporary advantages as a bribe for their conversion, therefore it may fairly be assumed that their profession of Christianity is genuine.

245

CHAPTER XVII.

MEERUT—RED-SANDSTONE TOMB THERE—SIKH FESTIVAL OF THE NEW YEAR AT AMRITSAR—BAPTISM OF SIKHS—REQUIREMENTS OF THEIR RELIGION—ORIGIN OF CITY AT AMRITSAR—GOLDEN TEMPLE—HINDÚ FESTIVAL OF THE DIWALI.

LEAVING Delhi on the 18th of March, we went on to Meerut to stay with other friends there. Though the column of Asoka, now on the ridge at Delhi, but originally brought from Meerut, shows that this latter place was most probably the site of an ancient city as long ago as 250 B.C., yet no vestige of this now remains. The only old building we could find, or hear of, was a tomb just outside the present native city. It belonged, we believed, to the Moghul period, though some work in the Patán style has been used in the interior decorations. This monument stands on a platform about nine feet in height. At the four corners and centre of its sides have been projecting cupolas; the pedestals which supported their shafts are still remaining. A colonnade has been carried all round the tomb; a small portion of it is still intact, and has been propped up with masonry to preserve it, so that one can clearly see that there has been a small dome between each four pillars of the colonnade. Every arch of the colonnade and of the tomb itself is formed of two large, almost triangular, stones meeting in the centre; those in the colonnade

246

TOMB AT MEERUT.

have been richly carved. Projecting from it are some brackets of the Hindú form, which no doubt originally supported sloping eaves. The whole building is of red sandstone. The domes, both of the roof itself and those belonging to the colonnade, have been of rubble, plastered without, and faced with red sandstone within. The exterior of this building is covered with rich carving, which is not deeply cut, and in that respect resembles the Muttra work.

Outside, and near the ground-level, are carved water-vessels in *basso-rilievo*, by which it would appear that it was used as a place of feasting during the lifetime of its founder. Within it is about thirty feet square, and highly decorated. Up to the height of the top of the doorways there is inlaid work in white marble, in the Patán style, as seen in the mosque at the Purana Keela and other buildings near Delhi. On the walls at the upper part near the dome are vases of flowers carved in red sandstone. These are not unlike in form to some decorations used by Shah Jehan, so that there is much probability that this tomb was of that period. Here, too, as in many other instances, the square hall has been made into a circle in order to place the dome upon it by means of arches cutting off the four upper corners of the building. But in this case there was this peculiarity, that the light-looking shafts which support these arches spring from the ground. These shafts are carved in horizontal zigzag lines—a design which we had seen elsewhere in work evidently of an earlier date than this specimen, where the styles and work of several periods seem to have been mingled together.

From Meerut we went on to Lahore, where we were detained some time by the non-arrival of a portion of our

THE FOUNDERS OF THE SIKH RELIGION.

247

luggage. Consequently, the 10th of April finding us stil
there, and hearing from a friend that the *baisakhi*, or
Sikh festival of the New Year, would be celebrated at
Amritsar on the 11th, we went over to see it. There
are four divisions of Sikhs — the Nanuk Sikhs, the
Akalis, the Nihungs, and the Nirmulas. The form of
worship used by all of these is the same as regards the
following particulars. They rise at daybreak, read
certain passages in the Adi-Granth, which is their scrip-
tures; repeat an evening prayer called Rat-ras, or straight
road; and on going to bed must again read certain por-
tions of the Adi-Granth. The morning devotions are
much insisted upon by the Nihungs; the others do not
lay the same stress upon them, but perform them if they
have time. According to Sikh traditions they have had
ten *gurus*, or teachers. The first of these, Nanuk, was
born A.D. 1469; the last, Guru Govind Singh, died in
1708. The Granth is said to have been partly com-
posed and compiled by one of the *gurus* named Urjoon.
The book itself is worshipped by the Sikhs, it being to
them not only a sacred book, but they bow before it,
and bring offerings to it; so that to them it is no guide
to God, but rather an agency by which they can pro-
pitiate both God and Mammon.

The principal distinguishing mark of all Sikhs is their
unshorn hair and beard. Five tokens are essential:
these are called the five K's, as they all begin with this
letter in the vernacular. These signs are,—1st, a nether
garment of a peculiar form; 2d, a knife with an iron
handle; 3d, a comb; 4th, long locks; 5th, an iron
bangle on the wrist. Sixty-four precepts have been
enjoined upon them in regard to their moral behaviour.
In these they are strictly ordered always to speak the

248

ORIGIN OF THE CITY OF AMRITSAR.

truth. Smoking and the use of razors are forbidden; but they are allowed to eat animal food. Their marriage and funeral ceremonies are the same as those of the Hindús, except as regards about one hundred Sikhs at Nadersh, who still retain the manners and customs of Govind Singh's time, and follow no Hindú observances or ceremonies: their widows also are permitted to marry again.

The Sikhs of the Punjaub have allowed their religion to be much contaminated with Hindúism. One tomb we visited near the Golden Temple had recesses all round the walls in the interior, in which were statues of Ganesha, Rang-ji (one of the incarnations of Vishnu), and other Hindú gods. One of the natives who accompanied us in our rounds told us that the Sikhs worshipped these idols, whilst another said they were only placed there for ornament.

According to Sikh tradition, it was revealed to Ramdass, the third guru, that there was a holy spot, somewhere to the west of the village where he lived, which the deity intended to be their most sacred place. Accordingly he directed his son-in-law, who was afterwards his successor, to go and find this spot, and dig a reservoir there, which was to be called Amritsar, or “the pool of immortality.” After some search, his man found a small pool in the jungle, in which, it was told him, a leper had just bathed and been cured. This leper had a pretty wife, who was very faithful and attentive to him, carried him about on her shoulders, and begged alms for his subsistence. One day, when about to go and procure means to supply his wants, she put him down in the jungle near this puddle, and whilst sitting there he noticed that a crow, which dipped its wing in that water, became white. This induced him to try its efficacy on his diseased members,

IRON, THE SACRED METAL OF THE SIKHS.

249

the result being that they became perfectly sound. The wife, on her return, could not believe in such a transformation, but thought some man had killed her husband and clothed himself in his rags; was very indignant, and refused to acknowledge his identity. Ram-dass's son-in-law, hearing her tale, was certain that this must be the spot he was in search of, and at length succeeded in persuading the woman that the fine healthy man she saw, really was the husband who, when she parted from him, was such a miserable object.

There is more than one version told of this story; but the real truth would seem to be that, up to the time of Ram-dass, the Sikhs had no fixed seat—their gurus lived and died at different places; that, possibly, Akbar granted him a piece of land on which he and his followers might live and employ themselves in farming; and that, in order to render the place sacred, they laid the foundations of the reservoir—it being customary for religious men to make gardens and excavate tanks and wells near their dwellings with this object.

The Akalis and the Nihungs have kept themselves more free from Hindúism than the other two classes; they may be distinguished by their blue turbans, and are never without the five K's. The former are looked upon as their priests, are maintained by public charity, and, as a rule, lead a monastic life; they also use certain peculiar modes of speech, one of which is that they always speak in the masculine gender. They wear in their turbans two or three different styles of ornaments: these are invariably of iron, which they consider possesses very sacred properties. Some have a row of small instruments stuck in the front of their head-dress, much resembling spillikens in form and size; others, again,

250

SIKHS BECOME A WARLIKE SECT.

have iron rings, of the quoit shape, round the head. Some have an iron torque worn in the same manner, or a large round brooch in the centre of the front of the turban. The Nirmulas, the fourth denomination, are Sikhs in name only: they do not care for the five K's; initiation, or the Sikh baptism, is not compulsory with them; and their teaching is much more like that of the Hindú Shastras and Vedas than the religion of the Granth.

The Sikhs do not seem to have become a warlike sect till the reign of Aurungzebe, when the father of Govind Singh, who was their tenth and last *guru*, was butchered by that emperor's orders; from which time Govind Singh's teaching took a politico-religious turn, and the race of fighting Sikhs sprang up, whose great principle was antagonism to the Mohammedans, the *guru* telling them that only those would be accepted of God who fell in the field when fighting against the Mussulman. It was this same Govind Singh who introduced monastic distinctions amongst them.

For the substance of this brief general outline of the religious tenets and practices of the Sikhs I am much indebted to a gentleman, through whose kindness I was enabled to read some valuable notes on the subject, which he had received from a native source.

I must now describe the Golden Temple at Amritsar, before giving an account of the special ceremonies we witnessed. This temple is one of the best specimens of the modern Indian style. Soon after our conquest of the Punjaub, and at a time when our rule was not as firmly established as at present, the British Government issued directions that all Europeans desiring to make a tour of its sacred precincts should be attended by one

BAISAKHI, OR FESTIVAL OF THEIR NEW YEAR. 251

or more policemen, and must likewise remove their
leather boots or shoes, and put on felt slippers pro-
vided for this purpose. This order is still in force.
We were accordingly thus equipped, and were then
allowed to descend a flight of steps, at the bottom of
which was a platform of white marble, about fifteen feet
wide, going round the four sides of a large square, which
had a tank in the centre; and in the middle of this tank
is the Golden Temple itself, with four entrances, each
approached by a marble causeway, with a balustrade.
A similar causeway also runs right round the exterior of
the building, and is bordered by a light trellis-work of
the same material.

The exterior of the temple is of white marble, carved
in pierced work and various other pretty designs up to
a height of perhaps twenty feet; above that height the
walls of the building, the large central dome, and the
smaller ones at the four corners, are all richly gilt. The
interior walls are covered with Arabesques painted in
brilliant colours. The space beneath the central dome
is enclosed by a wooden balustrade about a foot high;
within this space is placed the sacred book, the Adi-
Granth.

The religion of the Sikhs, as I have before said, en-
joins early rising upon them, so we were recommended,
if we wished to see the *baisakhi* properly, to be on the
spot as early as possible. We accordingly reached the
temple about 6 A.M., and even at that hour found great
numbers of people bathing in the tank (the women have
a part of it walled in for their use). Such a crowd of
people were pressing into the temple, and lining every
part, that our guide made way for us with much diffi-
culty. Within the enclosed space, and near the holy

252

SIKH BAPTISMAL CEREMONIES.

book, sat a priest. The ever-moving and changing crowd made offerings of sweetmeats, flowers, cowries, and small coins, and were then caused to "move on" (rather by blows than words, I fear) and give place to those behind.

At one side of the large square is a smaller one paved with marble. At the further end of this, and facing the temple, is a building with a marble balcony raised about ten feet from the ground, where were seated some of the heads of the Sikh community, with some of their Akalis, or priests, whose special business it is to perform initiation, or Sikh baptism, which, I believe, can be conferred at any time of the year, though the New Year is their favourite season for the ceremony. One of the Akalis, specially chosen for this purpose, had before him a large metal basin tied to the front of the balcony; the candidates, who must present themselves five at a time, stand on the ground below. Out of this basin the priest gives each of them water to drink in their two hands; and performs the baptism, or ceremony of initiation, by sprinkling water three several times on the crown of each man's head. The neophyte is then required to go and bathe once more in the tank, and put on a new turban, which must be arranged in the Sikh fashion. To enable them to make this part of their toilet to their satisfaction, a good many men are stationed near the tank holding looking-glasses.

On inquiry, we were told that even the son of a Sikh is not born one, but must be made so by means of this ceremony, which costs about five shillings English money, and can be paid up by instalments afterwards; but their priests impress upon them that their sins are not washed away till the whole demand has been satisfied. I believe an orthodox Sikh only marries with his own people:

TOMB OF BABA UTAL.

253

their women appear to wear their hair rolled up in a coil at one side of the head, though I could not see exactly how it was dressed, as a square veil of some bright coloured stuff, in many cases richly embroidered with coloured silks, enveloped the head and the greater part of the person.

Opening out of the large square where the temple stands is a narrow passage between houses leading to a large garden, which is also considered sacred ground. Here we saw a great many religious mendicants of the class called Nangas, or jogis. They are ascetics of the most rigid kind, and are Sikhs inasmuch as they read the Granth, but in other respects more resemble Hindus, we were told. Nearly a dozen of these jogis were seated on the ground at one spot in this garden: some quite young boys were amongst them, and they had lighted a small wood-fire. They are most wild-looking objects, their hair being left to grow long and matted together with mud; and their faces and the exposed parts of their bodies being smeared over with wood-ashes, gives a most ghastly look to the dark oriental skin. Whilst we were standing by, some one brought them a quantity of a kind of native sweetmeat, and laid it on the ground near them. One of their number took a small portion of this and crumbled it over the burning embers, and the remainder they then divided equally.

At no great distance from the Golden Temple are several tombs, some of which are in buildings of a considerable size. Regarding one of Baba Utal (or child Utal) they have a curious legend. He was the son of a guru, and a clever boy, and they say that had he lived he would have perhaps been equal to Nanuk, the first guru. Hearing one day of the death of one of his play-

254 THE DIWALI, OR FESTIVAL OF LAMPS.

fellows who owed him a game, he went to the house and addressed the dead child, saying, "It was not fair that he should die without clearing his debt," and went on to say, "Pay me what you owe, and then you may go;" on which the dead boy got up, and began to play with him. Such an extraordinary occurrence of course made a great noise in the town. When Hur Govind, Utal's father, heard of it, he said, "Two swords cannot rest in one sheath"—meaning that two prophets could not exist at the same time in one community; on which the lad went and laid himself down on the spot where his tomb now stands, and then expired.

We visited the native bazaar at Amritsar, and examined the shawl embroidery which is carried on there; and also drove to the Ram-bagh, or civil gardens, which are laid out with great taste, and very carefully kept. The *diwali*, or festival of lamps, is observed equally by Sikhs and Hindús. It takes place in the autumn, and may be said to symbolise the death of vegetation, as the *baisakhi* typifies its birth. I was at Saugor in the autumn of 1877 when this feast was celebrated, but was unable to witness it, as cholera prevailed at that time in the native city, and we were advised not to enter it.

The traditional origin of the *diwali* is as follows: When Rama, King of Ajoudhya (the modern Oudh), was returning to his kingdom after gaining some great victory, he ordered the capital to be illuminated in his honour. Whether by intention or accident, or because a sufficient supply of oil was not at hand, all the lamps went out by midnight, except those in one house belonging to a *bunniah*, or native grain merchant, who was a God-fearing pious man. Rama's wife, Queen

THE GODDESS OF WEALTH DOES NOT SUE IN VAIN.

255

Sita, charmed at this attention to their commands, went and knocked at the *bunniah's* door, but in vain she sued for admittance. He refused to open it, saying that all respectable people ought to be in bed at that hour. However, her importunity at length prevailed, and she was let in. The inmates then asked her who she was. She replied, "I am Lakhsmi, the goddess of wealth;" whereon the *bunniah* and his wife and family fell down and worshipped her. On her departure in the morning a pile of gold was found where she sat. When she returned to her husband he instituted this feast in honour of Lakhsmi, and commanded that it should thenceforth always be observed in remembrance of this miracle. This is, of course, a festival more especially celebrated by the *bunniah* class, who at this time make up their accounts, and call in all outstanding debts.

256

CHAPTER XVIII.

KASHMIR CLOSED TO TRAVELLERS—CONSEQUENT CHANGE OF PLANS—
DALHOUSIE—CHUMBA—VISIT TO NATIVE LADIES—DHARMSALA—OLD
TEMPLES AT EIJNATH AND HARRA-BAGH—NATIVE STATES OF MUNDI,
SUKÉT, BILASPORE, AND ERKI—SINGULAR MODE OF PUTTING CHILDREN
TO SLEEP—SIMLA.

WE had intended going once more to Kashmir, but we
were strongly advised not to do so by a friend just re-
turned from there, who gave us terrible accounts of the
famine then raging in that country. Immediately upon
this we saw in the newspapers that all the passes into it,
except one, were closed by order of the British Govern-
ment. The only one open to us being very high, would
have been impossible to traverse till some weeks later.
Having engaged our servants, and bought tents and
camp furniture, we still hoped to be able to penetrate
into Kashmir later on in the season, when their summer
crops had been got in; and in the meantime we pro-
posed to visit some of the hill stations. Our servants
and baggage having started with bullock-waggons some
days previously, we ourselves left Lahore on 6th May,
and went by train as far as Amritsar, where a *dāk*
*gharrie* (a conveyance furnished by the post-office) met
us at the station, and we reached Patánkote, a distance
of sixty-seven miles, the same day.

On leaving Amritsar, for some distance on either side