Across India by Oliver Optic

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"It became the great Mussulman capital; but one and another of its princes
changed its location, till its ancient sites extend for thirty miles along
the river, and its ruins, more extensive than even those of Rome, cover
this range of territory. But I shall not go into the details of those
migratory periods, but speak only of the city as we find it.

"Delhi is on the Jumna River, which you saw in the early morning. This
stream has its entire course in Hindustan, and is the principal tributary
of the Ganges. Both of these rivers are sacred with the natives. The Jumna
rises in the Himalayas, at a height of nearly eleven thousand feet, and of
course it is a mountain torrent at its upper waters. After a run of eight
hundred and sixty miles, it falls into the Ganges about three miles below
Allahabad. On each side of it is an important canal, both built before
railways were in use here.

"Delhi is nine hundred and fifty-four miles northwest of Calcutta. It
stands on high ground, is walled on three sides, and has ten gates. A
series of buildings formerly composing the grand palace of Shah Jehan have
become the fort, overlooking the river, with a fine view of the surrounding
country, covered with woods and agricultural grounds. You will see the
palaces, mosques, and temples, and I will not describe them. Delhi is the
seventh city in population, which is a hundred and ninety-three thousand."

After luncheon half a dozen landaus were at the door of the bungalow, in
which the party seated themselves according to their own choice; and the
first stop was made at the Jummah Musjid Mosque, which the Mussulmans of
India venerate and admire more than any other. It is built on an immense
esplanade, which is mounted by three flights of stairs, each in the form of
the three sides of a pyramid, and each leading to an immense pointed arch,
the entrances to the buildings.

Before the party entered a carriage arrived, from which General Noury and
another person alighted. The Moroccan had accepted the invitation of a
Delhi Mussulman to be his guest, and this gentleman had begun to show him
the sights of the city. The general presented him to the members of the
party as Abbas-Meerza. Evidently in honor of his host the Moroccan had put
on his Oriental dress, which was certainly a very picturesque costume,
though it called up unpleasant memories in the minds of the commander and
the Woolridges.

Abbas-Meerza was evidently a Persian, or the son of one; for he was clothed
in the full costume of that country. He wore a rich robe, reaching to his
ankles, with a broad silk belt around his waist. His cap, of equally costly
material, was a tall cylinder, with the top slanting down to the left side,
as though it had been cut off. He spoke English as fluently as the general.
He invited the party to step to a certain point, and view the mosque as a
whole.

The wall of the esplanade was a continued series of pointed arches, with a
handsome frieze above it. On the elevated platform was a colonnade of the
same arches on each side, with a pillared tower at each corner, interrupted
only at the grand entrances. It looked as though one might walk entirely
around the vast structure in the shade of this colonnade.

Within the enclosure could be seen three domes, the one in the centre
overtopping the other two, two lofty minarets, with small domes at the
summit, supported by several columns, and an immense pointed arch leading
into the great mosque. The whole edifice is built of red sandstone. The
visitors mounted one of the staircases, and entered a court paved with
marble tiles. They walked around the esplanade under the arches of the
colonnade, or cloisters as some call them, and finally entered the mosque
itself. The interior was very simple in its style, but very beautiful. The
roof, pavement, pillars, and walls were of white marble, ornamented with
carvings in the stone. Slabs of black marble presented sentences to the
praise of God, and in memory of Shah Jehan, who was the founder of the
mosque.

"Formerly no person not a Mussulman was permitted to enter this mosque,"
said Sir Modava, while the general and his host were engaged in their
devotions; "but for more than thirty years it has been open to all. From
the top of one of the minarets a very fine view of the surrounding country
can be obtained; but the ascent is by a very narrow flight of circular
stairs, two hundred in number. He advised Dr. Hawkes and Uncle Moses not to
attempt it."

A venerable mollah was found, who put half a dozen of the party in the way
of going up; and they reported the view as worth the labor and fatigue. The
aged priest then proposed to show them the relics of the mosque; and a fee
was paid to him, and to the man who unlocked a door for their admission.
The mollah produced a small golden box, from which he took a silver case.
Muttering the name of Allah very solemnly all the time, he unscrewed the
top of the receptacle, and took from it a single hair, about six inches
long, red and stiff, and fixed in a silver tube.

"The beard of the holy Prophet!" he announced, with a reverent inclination
of his head; and the two Mussulmans of the party followed his example.

"According to the tradition, this hair really came from the beard of
Mohammed," said Sir Modava. "I believe it, because I have inquired into its
history. It is the glory of this mosque and of Delhi, for only three others
exist in the world. You need not believe it is genuine if you prefer not to
do so."

They were also permitted to gaze at one of Mohammed's old shoes, a belt,
and some of the clothing of the Prophet. A number of dusty ancient
manuscripts were exhibited, copies of the Koran, one in fine characters,
said to have been dictated by Mohammed himself. The party returned to the
carriages, filled with admiration of the magnificent structure they had
visited, and were driven to the palace of the emperors, now turned into the
fort.

They left the landaus at a point selected by Abbas-Meerza, from which an
excellent view of the ancient structures could be obtained. It was a
magnificent building, whose dimensions the Americans could hardly take in.
The most prominent features from the point of observation were a couple of
octagonal towers, very richly ornamented, with several small domes at the
summit, supported on handsome columns.

The party entered at the principal gate, and came to the guard-house, which
was filled with British soldiers wearing straw helmets and short white
coats. A soldier offered his services as a guide, and they were accepted.
He gave the Hindu names of the apartments. The Dewani-Am was the hall of
audiences, from which they passed to the Dewani-Khas, the throne-room, both
of which recalled the Alhambra, which they had visited a few months before.
The pillars, arches, and ornaments were similar, though not the same.

The tourists wandered through the pavilion, the emperor's rooms in the
palace, the bath, and numerous apartments. But in transforming this
magnificent palace of the emperors into barracks, much of the original
beauty had been spoiled; the lapse of years had made great rents in the
walls, and the visitor was compelled to exercise his imagination to some
extent in filling up what it had been centuries before.

Abbas-Meerza was a very companionable person, and made the acquaintance of
every one in the company. He then invited them all to dine with him that
day, as he had evidently intended to do in the morning, for the dinner was
all ready when they arrived at his palace. He was a magnate of the first
order, and his apartments were quite as sumptuous as those of the Guicowar
of Baroda. The dinner was somewhat Oriental, but it was as elegant as it
was substantial.

The noble host apparently wished to show the Americans what the Mussulmans
of India could do, and he crowned his magnificent hospitality by inviting
the entire company to install themselves in his mansion, which was large
enough for a palace; but for the reasons already set forth, the invitation
was gratefully declined. The next morning the travellers visited the Mosque
of Pearls, where the ancient emperors came to perform their devotions. The
interior is of carved ivory.

From this little gem of a church the company were driven to the Chandi
Chowk, which is a boulevard, planted with trees and lined with elegant
buildings. The stores of the principal merchants of Delhi were here, and
most of them were on the plan of an Oriental bazaar. The little square
shops challenged the attention of the party, and most of them alighted to
examine the rich goods displayed.

In the course of the ride they passed the Black Mosque, the only building
in the city dating farther back than the reign of Shah Jehan. They found
the bungalow surrounded and partly filled, on their return, by venders of
relics, curiosities, and other wares, anxious to find customers for their
goods. But they were not very fortunate in the enterprise, and finally they
were all driven away by an officer.

In the afternoon they drove out on the plains of Delhi, among the ruins of
palaces, tombs, and temples. They stopped at another black mosque, near
which was a handsome pavilion, which had been the library of the emperors.

"One of these emperors was Houmayoun, who recovered the throne after a long
banishment. He lost his life in consequence of a fall from the top of a
ladder he had mounted to obtain a book," said Sir Modava. "He was the real
founder of the Great Mogul dynasty. His mausoleum, to which we will go
next, is one of the noblest monuments on this plain;" and the carriages
proceeded to it.

It is a mass of white marble and red sandstone. It has a fine dome, around
which cluster several smaller structures, such as we should call cupolas in
America or England. Under the great dome in the building is a plain
tombstone, beneath which are the remains of the first of the Mogul
emperors. The mausoleum is placed on an esplanade, like the great mosque in
the city. The sides present a vast display of pointed arches, and its shape
on the ground is quite irregular. The party were driven to the tower of
Koutub, a Mussulman conqueror, who commemorated his victory by building
this triumphal column, which is two hundred and twenty-seven feet high. It
consists of five stories, becoming smaller as they ascend. The remains of
his mosque were visited, the columns of which look like enlarged jewellery,
elaborately worked into fantastic forms. By its side is an iron column with
contradictory stories about its origin. The tourists visited other mosques
and tombs, which reminded them of the tombs of the Mamelukes.

For two days longer they looked about Delhi; and Lord Tremlyn pointed out
to them the scenes of the massacre, which he had described on board of the
Guardian-Mother. On the train by which they had come they proceeded to
Agra.

CHAPTER XXX

THE MAGNIFICENT MAUSOLEUM OF AGRA

Several hotels were available on the arrival of the travellers at Agra, and
they were domiciled at Lawrie's. The journey was made in an afternoon, and
was through a densely populated territory, so that the trip was very
enjoyable. After dinner the party assembled in a parlor provided for their
use; and Lord Tremlyn gave a talk, for he objected to the formality of a
lecture. He seated himself in an easy-chair, and took from his pocket a
little book, to which he occasionally referred.

"Agra, on the whole, is the handsomest city of Upper India, though of
course there may be some difference of opinion in this matter," he began.
"It is eight hundred and forty-one miles north-west of Calcutta, and one
hundred and forty south-east of Delhi. Like Delhi, it is on the Jumna,
which is here crossed by a floating bridge. One of the most prominent
buildings is the fortress of Akbar, and you must know something of this
sovereign in order to understand Agra.

"He was known as Akbar the Great, the Mogul emperor of India, and the
greatest Asiatic monarch of modern times. He was the son of Houmayoun,
whose mausoleum you visited at Delhi. The father was robbed of his throne,
and retreated to Persia; and it was on the way there that Akbar was born,
in 1542. After an exile of twelve years, Houmayoun recovered his throne,
but lost his life within a year after his return. The government was
committed to the care of a regent, who became a tyrant; and the young
prince took possession of it himself at the age of eighteen.

"At this time only a few provinces were subject to the rule of his father;
but in a dozen years Akbar had made himself master of all the country north
of the Vindhya Mountains, or of a line drawn from Baroda to Calcutta,
though he was not so fortunate in subduing the southern portion of the
peninsula. He was a great conqueror; yet, what is not so common with the
mighty rulers of the world, past or present, he was a wise and humane
monarch, and governed his realm with wisdom and vigor. His reign was the
most unparalleled, for his justice, energy, and progressive character, of
any in the East. In this manner he made his empire the greatest of the age
in which he lived.

"He fostered commerce by the construction of roads, by the establishment of
an excellent police system, and introduced a uniform system of weights and
measures. He looked after the administration of his viceroys in his
numerous provinces, permitted no extortion on the part of his officers, and
saw that justice was impartially meted out to all classes. He was a
Mohammedan, but he was tolerant of all the prevailing sects in religion.

"He gave the Hindus entire freedom of worship; though far in advance of his
successors, he prohibited cruel customs, such as the burning of widows, and
other barbarous practices. He founded schools and encouraged literature. He
inquired into the various forms of religion, and even sent for Portuguese
missionaries at Goa to explain the Christian faith to him. From the various
beliefs he made up a kind of eclectic religion; but it was not a success
outside of his palace. A history of his reign of fifty years was written by
his chief minister. Akbar died in 1605, and was interred in a beautiful
mausoleum, near the city.

"With the ordinary sights of India you are already somewhat familiar; and,
aside from what you may see in any city here, there is not much to interest
you, with the grand exception of the Taj, and some of the mausoleums, of
which I will say nothing, as we are now to visit them."

The company retired early, and after breakfast the next morning the
carriages were at the door. In the first one were Captain Ringgold, Mrs.
Belgrave, and Sir Modava. Lord Tremlyn had more than once manifested a
desire to be in the same carriage with Miss Blanche; and he went with her
and Louis on this occasion, while Mr. and Mrs. Woolridge invited General
Noury to accompany them.

"Akbar made Agra the capital of the Mogul Empire," said Sir Modava, as the
carriage started. "He changed its old name to Akbarabad, and the natives
call it so to this day."

"The termination of that name seems to be very common in India, as
Allahabad, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad," added the commander.

"In the Hindu, _abad_ means a town or a village; and if you cut off
that ending you will find the person or place for whom it was named, as
Akbar-abad."

"Precisely as it is in our country, where we have Morris-town, Allen-town,
Morgan-town, and a thousand others," added the captain.

"After the death of Akbar his successors reigned in Delhi. The Mogul Empire
came to an end in 1761; and Agra was sacked by the Jats, and later the
Mahrattas completed the destruction they had begun. It was captured from
Scindia in 1803 by the English under Lord Lake, and has since remained in
their possession. In all these disasters its population, which had been
seven hundred thousand, dropped to ten thousand; but under British rule it
recovered some of its former prosperity, and it is now about one hundred
and seventy thousand."

"If a man wants to build a house here he has only to dig for the material,
for not far down he will find the stone and brick of the structures that
crumbled into the earth after the death of the great emperor. We are now
approaching the fortress, or the citadel as it is oftener called. It is a
sort of acropolis, for it contains palaces, mosques, halls of justice, and
other buildings."

The carriages stopped at the principal gate, opposite to which is the
mosque of Jummah Musjid, or the Cathedral Mosque. About all the great
structures here are built of red sandstone, with marble bands on many of
them, so that it is hardly necessary to mention the material, unless it
varies from the rule. This mosque is a fine one, mounted on a marble
esplanade or platform, like most buildings of this description.

Crossing the drawbridge, the visitors came to the Palace of Justice, built
by Akbar. It is six hundred feet long, enclosed by a colonnade of arches,
like a cloister. It is now used as a military storeroom, divided by brick
walls, and filled with cannon and shot. The English have made a sort of
museum here; and the superior officer who did the honors to his lordship
showed them the throne of Akbar, a long marble seat, inlaid with precious
stones, with a graceful canopy of the same material over it; and the boys
thought he would have had a more comfortable seat if he had put off the
period of his reign to the present time.

The gates of Somnath, twelve feet high, were beautiful pieces of carving.
They once guarded the entrance to the temple of Krishna, in Goojerat; but
in the tenth century they were carried off by Sultan Mahmoud, of Ghuzni, in
Afghanistan. He captured Somnath, and destroyed all the idols. The Brahmins
offered him immense bribes if he would spare the statue of Krishna; but he
spurned the money, and destroyed the image with his own hands. He found
that it was hollow, and filled with jewels of great value.

When the English conquered Afghanistan, Lord Ellenborough sent the gates to
Agra; but some think they were not the gates of the temple, but of
Mahmoud's tomb, for they were made of a wood that does not grow in India,
and they are not of Hindu workmanship. From the museum the party walked to
the imperial palace of Akbar, still in an excellent state of preservation.
Some of the apartments, especially the bath-room of the monarch, made the
visitors think of the Arabian Nights.

The great black marble slab on which Akbar sat to administer justice was
pointed out. When one of the Jat chiefs seated himself upon it, the story
goes, it cracked, and blood flowed from the fracture. Lord Ellenborough
tried the experiment, and the stone broke into two pieces. The Mosque of
Pearls is a small building of white marble on a rose-colored platform. It
is considered by experts the finest piece of architecture in the fortress.
Nothing could be simpler, nothing grander. Bishop Heber visited it and
wrote this of it:--

"This spotless sanctuary, showing such a pure spirit of adoration, made me,
a Christian, feel humbled, when I considered that no architect of our
religion had ever been able to produce anything equal to this temple of
Allah."

Following the Jumna, the carriages reached the Taj, the wonder and glory of
all India. It was built by the Emperor Shah Jehan, as a mausoleum for the
Empress Mumtazi Mahal. She was not only beautiful, but famous for mental
endowments; and the emperor had so much love and admiration for her that he
determined to erect to her memory the most beautiful monument that had ever
been constructed by any prince. It was begun in 1630, and twenty thousand
workmen were employed upon it for seventeen years. History says that one
hundred and forty thousand cartloads of pink sandstone and marble were
brought from the quarries of Rajputana; and every province of the empire
furnished precious stones to adorn it. Its cost was from ten to fifteen
millions of dollars.

The golden crescent of the Taj is two hundred and seventy feet above the
level of the river. The magnificent temple is placed in the centre of a
garden nine hundred and sixty feet long by three hundred and thirty in
width, filled with avenues flanked with cypress-trees, and planted with
flowers, on a terrace of sandstone. In the centre of this garden is a
marble platform, two hundred and eighty-five feet on all sides, and fifteen
feet high, which may be called the pedestal of the mosque. The principal
entrance to the garden is more elaborate and beautiful than the fronts of
many noted mosques, for it is adorned with towers crowned with cupolas.

Entering the enclosure, and walking along the avenue of cypress-trees, one
obtains his first view of the great dome of the Taj. It looks like about
three-fourths of a globe, capped with a slender spire. From this point,
through the trees, may be seen a forest of minarets, cupolas, towers, and
inferior domes. The mausoleum is in the form of an irregular octagon, the
longest side being one hundred and twenty feet in length. Each facade has a
lofty Saracenic arch, in which is an entrance.

The interior surpasses the exterior in magnificence, the ceiling, walls,
and tombstones being a mass of mosaics. The resting-place of the empress
and Shah Jehan is in the centre of the edifice, enclosed by a marble
screen. Some experts who have examined the building thoroughly are unable
to find any architectural faults, though perhaps others would be more
successful. The party visited several other mosques and mausoleums; but
nothing could compare with the Taj. The commander suggested that they ought
to have visited it last, as the pie or pudding comes in after the fish or
meats at Von Blonk Park.

The members of the party were unable to say enough in praise of the Taj,
and no one seems to be in danger of exaggerating its beauty and its
wonders. On their return to the hotel, they seated themselves in their
parlor, and talked till dinner-time about the mausoleum, for they had many
questions to ask of the viscount and the Hindu gentleman.

"There seemed to be two other mosques back of the mausoleum," said Mrs.
Belgrave; "we did not visit them."

"The Mohammedan traditions require that a mosque should be erected in
connection with every mortuary temple," replied Sir Modava. "Isa Mohammed,
a later emperor, built one at the western end of the terrace. It was a
beautiful building with three domes, in keeping with the Taj. But the
builder found that it gave a one-sided appearance to the view; and he
erected the one on the east end, to balance the other and restore the
proportions. Either of them is equal to the finest mosque in Cairo or
Constantinople."

"That was an expensive method of making things regular," added the
commander. "Some one spoke in Delhi of a durbar in connection with Agra. I
think it was Mr. Meerza."

General Noury laughed at this title; for it sounded funny to him, applied
to an Oriental, and the captain had forgotten the rest of the name.

"Abbas-Meerza, we call him, without any 'mister,'" he added.

"I will try to remember it," replied the commander. "But what is a durbar?
Is it something good to eat?"

"They do not eat it here, and probably it would be indigestible if they
could do so," continued Sir Modava. "A durbar is a very important event in
India, but is not eatable. It is an occasion at which the native princes
acknowledge the sovereignty of the Queen of England. In 1866 the most noted
one took place at Agra, a full description of which would require a long
time. For the first time after the establishment of the Empire of India,
the governor-general, representing the empress, received the homage of
twenty-six sovereign princes. It was an act of submission. The ceremonies
occupied many days; and kings, maharajahs, rajahs, and other princes bowed
to the throne of the sovereign. It was a tremendous occasion; and it was a
festival honored by banquets, processions, and royal gatherings. I will get
a book for you, Captain Ringgold, when we reach Calcutta, from which you
may read a full account of the affair. It grew out of an ancient Indian
custom, and many of them on a small scale have occurred."

The tourists spent another day at Agra, and, though they had not exhausted
the sights of the place, the commander decided that they could remain no
longer, and they left on the following day for Cawnpore.

CHAPTER XXXI

THE TERRIBLE STORY OF CAWNPORE AND LUCKNOW

Agra is on one of the great railroads from Bombay to Calcutta, though not
the most direct one; and it crosses the Jumna at this point, where a vast
bridge was in process of construction over its waters, which must now be
completed. It was but a five hours' journey to Cawnpore, and the party
arrived there in season for luncheon.

"Cawnpore is on the right bank of the Ganges, six hundred and twenty-eight
miles from Calcutta," said Lord Tremlyn, when the party were seated in the
Conference-Hall carriage, and the train was moving away from Agra. "But, so
far as viewing the wonderful buildings of India, you will have a rest at
this place; though you need not suppose it is a city of no importance, for
it has 188,712 inhabitants, and has a large trade. Here you will obtain
your first view of the Ganges, varying in width from a third of a mile to a
mile.

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