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THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
PRESENTED BY
PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID
OUK VISIT
TO
HINDOSTAN, KASHMIE, AND LADAKH
OUR VISIT
TO
HINDOSTAN, KASHMIR, AND LAl)AKH.
BY
MRS J. C. MURRAY AYNSLEY.
LONDON :
WM. H. ALLEN & CO., 13 WATEELOO PLACE, S.W.
10 tj
1879.
PREFACE.
COMING to India as simple travellers, we were able to
go wherever fancy led us so that, at the expiration of
nearly three years, we have perhaps seen much more
of that country than many who have passed half their
lives there. A friend in England seemed pleased with
some letters I wrote to him, giving descriptions of places
we had visited ; and thus arose the idea of a continued
series of papers, which I thought might possibly interest
other friends at home at some future period. The idea
of publication was an after-thought ; and this must be
my excuse for the almost colloquial style in which they
are written. Those who know me will, I trust, excuse
the many imperfections incidental to a first attempt at
coming before the public ; and I crave the indulgence
of strangers also for the same reason. I am much
indebted to various friends in India for the loan of
some rare and valuable books ; also of departmental
works belonging to their offices, by means of which I
have obtained information on many subjects of interest.
VI PREFACE.
Amongst the former may be classed Ferishta's 'History
of Hindostan/ translated by Dow, from the original
Persian, more than one hundred years ago ; and the
travels of Fa Hiang and Hionen Thsang, the Chinese
pilgrims, who visited India, the former in the fifth,
and the latter in the seventh, century of our era.
Other works I have also consulted and compared with
each other, as opportunity occurred ; but many months
spent in camp, with, at times, an almost daily removal
to a fresh spot, has prevented much study for want
of the necessary time and materials. I only wish I
could insure my friends as much pleasure in reading
our travels as I have felt in writing about them.
H. G. M. M. A.
KULU VALLEY, Oct. 4, 1878.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Arrival at Bombay The Parsis Bombay Its public buildings
Saugor Festival of the Mohurrum Agra Slight sketch of
the history of the Moghul Empire in India from Tamerlane to
Aurungzebe, ............ 1
CHAPTER II.
Buildings at Agra Those in the fort successively the work of
Akbar, Jehangir, and Shah Jehan Jumma Musjid Taj Mehal
Tombs at Secundra, &c., . . . . . . . .17
CHAPTER III.
Delhi Its early history Some account of the slave, Khilgi, and
Toghlak dynasties Jain temples at Delhi The Jains and their
religious tenets Jumma Musjid Other mosques The fort
Asoka's Idts, or pillars The ridge Its connection with the
Mutiny of 1857, 31
CHAPTER IV.
Lahore Early Hindu traditions respecting it Afghan incursions
Invasion by Mohammedan forces Mahmood of Ghusnee His
campaigns in Hindostan Comparisons between Hindus and
Mohammedans Tamerlane and Baber, their expeditions to. India
Palace in the fort at Lahore Kashi work How supposed to
have been made Jehangir's tomb at Shadera Nur-Mehal's tomb
Persian invasion of India Lahore comes under Sikh rule
Tomb of Ranjit Singh Mosque of Wazir All Khan, ... 46
Vlll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
Preparing for camp life in Kashmir Srinagar Boats used in navi-
gating the river Jelum The races which people Kashmir
Liddar valley Snowstorm in May Lovely vegetation Ancient
temples at Martund and Avantipore Gulmurg Our log huts
Return to Srinagar Dal Lake Its floating islands Gardens and
palaces on its shores, . . . . . . . 67
CHAPTER VI.
Starting for Ladakh Sonamurg Ascent of the Zoji-la Pass Dras
Native polo-playing Namyika and Fot-la passes Lama Yuru
Chinese account of the origin of the Thibetans Their religion
Exclusion of Europeans from Chinese Thibet Visit to Lama
Serai, or monastery at Lama Yuru Description of a religious
service heard there Nature of country between Lama Yuru and
Leh, 84
CHAPTER VII.
Leh The dress of the inhabitants Festival of the Dasera Review
of troops -Native dances Lama religious dances Visit to the
Ranees How tea is made in Thibet Funeral rites Buddha and
his early history Return to Srinagar Detour to the temples at
Wangat in the Sind valley Temple at Pandrethan, near Srinagar
Leave Kashmir by Banihal Pass Sialkote Proclamation cere-
monies at Delhi, 96
CHAPTER VIII.
Belgaum Sketch of the history of the Dekhan, and rise of the
Mahratta empire Sevaji His bold incursions Country round
Belgaum Its climate Old Jaina temples in fort 'Idgah at
Kurar Old fort at Sattara Buddhist cave-temples at Caiiee, . 113
CHAPTER IX.
A Hindu women's festival at Saugor Famine immigrants Food of
people in that district Ghazipore Opium factory Tobacco cul-
tivation and manufacture Afghan population at Lumaneah
Buddhist remains at Sydpore Ldt at Bithri, . . . .130
CHAPTER X.
Benares Hionen Thsang, the Chinese pilgrim, visited Sarnath
Stupa there Remains of supposed Buddhist buildings near the
Bakariya Kund at Benares, 140
CONTENTS. 1x
CHAPTER XI.
Modern Benares Particulars of a conversation with a learned Hindu
Pundit Pooja, or certain forms of Hindu worship as practised at
Benares Descriptions of various temples in that city Curious
statements taken down from the mouth of a high-caste Brahmin, 152
CHAPTER XII.
Commissioner's durbar at Benares March to Jounpore Interesting
mosques at that place, 168
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, 177
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, . . 191
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 Hindu reverence for the peepul-tree Rajah's palace
at Ulwar, 206
CHAPTER XVI.
Third visit to Delhi Description of various tombs in the neighbour-
hood Patan emperors of Delhi Kutb Minar Iron Idt, or pillar
Toghlak dynasty The city of Toghlakabad S.P.G. mission
work in Delhi, 218
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 Hindu festival of
the diwali, 245
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Kashmir closed to travellers Consequent change of plans Dalhousie
Chumba Visit to native ladies Dharmsala Old temples at
Bijnath and Harra-bagh Native states of Mundi. Suket, Bilas-
pore, and Erki Singular mode of putting children to sleep
Simla, 256
CHAPTER XIX.
March from Simla towards Kulu Jalouri Pass Old temple at
Bajoura Sultanpore Visit to Ranee Tea-cultivation in Kulu
Nugger, the old capital Manali, and curious wooden temple near
Rotang Pass Lahoul Sheep and goats used as beasts of burden
German missionary establishment Prophecy in Thibet re-
specting Queen Victoria Snowed up in tents at nearly 15,000
feet above the sea Passes into Kashmir again closed Return to
Kulu, 275
CHAPTER XX.
The Solang valley Annual fair at Sultanpore Meeting of the gods
of the various villages in Kulu Parbuti valley Novel mode of
crossing a river Hot springs at Manikern Bubu Pass Return
to Kangra valley Fort at Kangra Juwala Muki Its sacred
fires Singular aspect of country near Hoshiarpore Native
Christian missionary Jullunder Return to Lahore, . . 294
CHAPTER XXL
Lucknow Its sad associations Residency Sketch of the History
of Oudh and its rulers Buildings at Lucknow Claude Martin,
the French adventurer Fyzabad Two large tombs Ajoudhya
Cawnpore, 305
CHAPTER XXII.
Cawnpore to Poona Rock-hewn temples at Poona Hyderabad in
the Dekhan Short historical sketch of the present reigning
family The native city Its varied and turbulent population
A breakfast at Sir Salar Jung's Conclusion, . . . .316
OUR VISIT TO HINDOSTAN, KASHMIR,
AND LADAKK
CHAPTER I.
ARRIVAL AT BOMBAY THE PARSIS BOMBAY ITS PUBLIC BUILDINGS
SAUGOR FESTIVAL OF THE MOHURRUM AGRA SLIGHT SKETCH OF
THE HISTORY OF THE MOGHUL EMPIRE IN INDIA FROM TAMERLANE TO
AURUNGZEBE.
HAVING for some years had a great desire to visit our
Indian possessions, at length one or two circumstances
combined made my husband and myself resolve to put
this long-cherished plan in execution ; and, accordingly,
we left England early in October 1875, and after the
usual uneventful journey through France, embarked at
Genoa, in the Rubattino s.s. Arabia, on the 24th of that
month. We reached Bombay at an early hour on
18th November, and landed at once. On our way into
the harbour we passed close to the Serapis and the
Osborne, and the other vessels escorting the Prince of
Wales; this was all we saw of H.K.H., as that evening
he and his suite left Bombay to go down the coast.
The view of Bombay, as seen on entering the harbour,
A
2 THE PARSIS.
is not very striking, for one of its great features, the
cocoa-nut palms, only appear a confused mass from
thence ; but once landed, everything is so new to one
fresh from Europe, natives from all parts of Hindostan
being seen in their various distinctive costumes :
amongst these, however, the Parsis, with their quaint
head-gear, form by far the largest proportion.
The Parsis, including those of Yezd and Kirman in
Persia, number about 105,500 souls. Their numbers have
dwindled in an extraordinary manner ; the cause has not
been ascertained. It is not that many converts have
been made from amongst them either to Christianity or
Mohammedanism, though many of the more enlight-
ened members seem deeply impressed with the excel-
lence of the Christian religion and our general civilisa-
tion ; but some who have gone into the subject consider
that their rapid diminution is owing to their mode of
life, which is so sedentary : they occupy themselves
solely with desk -work, or become shopkeepers, and
never invest in land, or become cultivators of the soil.
I have been told, too, that they live almost entirely upon
farinaceous food, and use much oil and ghi (or clarified
butter) in their cooking ; but, however this may be, I
have rarely, if ever, seen a muscular-looking Parsi, or
one with well-knit limbs. Both men and women have,
as a rule, a shuffling rolling gait, and badly-proportioned
figures.
In Western India the Parsis number about 100,000,
and are divided into two parties Conservatives and
Liberals who are both equally attached to the old faith,
but differ in their modes of life. The Conservatives
adhere to the good old mode of eating seated on the
floor, and use their fingers instead of knives and forks ;
THEIR RELIGIOUS FAITH. 3
whilst the Liberals have adopted European customs and
appliances.
According to the Parsis, the world is to last 12,000
years, which they divide into four periods. During
the first 3000 years the world was created ; during the
second, man lived by himself without suffering from
attacks of evil ; during the third, war began between
good and evil between Ormuzd and Ahriman and
raged with the utmost fierceness ; this will gradually
abate during the fourth period, which must be com-
pleted before the final victory of good over evil. They
say they do not worship fire, and much object to be
called " fire - worshippers," but admit that they are
taught from their youth to face some luminous object
whilst praying to God, and that they look upon fire, as
upon other natural phenomena, as an emblem of divine
power, but never ask assistance or blessings from it.
The Parsis abstain from smoking, and will not blow
out a candle if they can help it ; thus they would appear
to look upon fire with great reverence, much as we
Christians regard the symbol of the Cross. All their
prayers and services are in the old Zend language,
which none understand, not even their priests. They
have a most imperfect translation of the Zend Avesta,
which was not made from the original, but from a
Pehlvi paraphrase ; they do not recognise this as an
authorised version. Thus, owing to this repetition of
the words of their sacred writings without any attempt
at understanding their meaning, each one is left to pick
up his religion as best he may. They believe in one
God, and address their prayers to Him. A priest
must be the son of a priest, but all priests' sons need
not necessarily follow their father's profession.
4 BOMBAY.
There are possibly other reasons why they should be
unwilling to change their faith ; but the three given by
Professor Max Muller seem at least plausible ones : 1st,
The conciseness of their belief; 2d, The great anti-
quity and former glory of their religion ; 3d, The feeling
that, in relinquishing this, they would be giving up the
heirloom they have received from their remote ancestors
and their own fathers, thus showing a want of filial piety
to those whose memory they cherish as precious and
sacred. They teach that morality consists of three
things pure thoughts, pure words, and pure deeds.
The European part of the town of Bombay contains
some very fine public buildings, for the most part
designed by an officer in the Eoyal Engineers ; and these
combine excellence of form and design with the neces-
sary requirements of arrangement for a hot climate.
One of the native quarters is most curious and interest-
ing to a stranger the fronts of most of the principal
shops being carved in the style of the well-known
Bombay black-wood furniture, and for the most part
coloured in green, red, and yellow. Byculla is separated
from Bombay by the Chinese quarter. The Celestials
are the great workers in bamboo, and make chairs,
couches, baskets, and boxes of this material.
The climate of Bombay is said to be at all times of
the year hot and unpleasant ; and even at that season
we were glad to leave it after two or three days' stay,
and started off up country by rail to Kureli, a distance
of 550 miles, where we were met by relatives.
From this point began our first experience of Indian
palanquin travelling, as our destination was Saugor,
in the Central Provinces, distant about 75 miles from
the railway, and possessing no regular service for the
FESTIVAL OF THE MOHURKUM. 5
conveyance of travellers to and fro. We went chiefly
by night, resting during the day. Each palanquin had
twelve bearers, or kahars as they are called, and an ad-
ditional man to act as torch-bearer, who ran alongside
all the way. Early in the morning of the second day
we reached our relations' house in Saugor, and saw the
mode of life pursued in an Indian station, which has
been so often described that it is unnecessary to detail
it here.
Our stay at Saugor was limited to about three
months, which enabled us to pick up a few words of the
language, and also in some degree to realise how vast
the country was which we had come to visit, and to
learn what inexhaustible subjects of interest it con-
tained, whether as regards its various peoples or its
ancient monuments and history.
During our stay in Saugor the Mohammedan festival
of the Mohurrum occurred. It is celebrated every year
in memory of the first alleged martyred Shiahs, Hassan
and Hussain, who were the sons of Ali the cousin, and
Fatima the daughter, of Mohammed. These men, after
the murder of their father Ali, moved from Kufah, the
capital, to Medina. Hassan, the elder, abdicated volun-
tarily, but w^as afterwards poisoned. After some years'
interval his brother Hussain was invited to return, the
government having been seized in the meanwhile by
Abi Safr, the first of the Onmiades, and his son Yesid,
who succeeded him ; but on Hussain's arrival he was
murdered, and his eldest son alone escaped of all his
retinue. The murder of these two brothers is the sub-
ject of the ten days' wailing.
The Mohurrum begins when the moon of the first
month becomes visible. Each family, according to
6 . JUBBULPORE.
their means, makes or provides themselves with what is
called a tarboot, or representation of their tombs, which
is more or less ornamented. Some of the best we saw
were covered with thin sheets of talc, sprinkled over
with gold leaf, which gave them a brilliant and dazzling
appearance. At the expiration of twelve days (though
the fast lasts ten days only) these tarboots are all carried
in procession through the bazaar ; and if, as in the case
at Saugor, there is a lake, or large piece of water, the
tarboots, after being stripped of the best of their decora-
tions, are carried out in a boat some little distance and
cast into the water ; or, where no water is at hand, a
large pit is dug, we were told, in which they are placed,
and then burned.
On 1st March 1876 we again set forth on our travels,
accompanied by our nephew J., who was thencefor-
ward our companion for some months ; and in due
course we visited Jubbulpore and its marble rocks, with
which we were disappointed, as we had expected
grander scenery ; but on a second visit to them by
moonlight, more than a year later, I much changed my
opinion, and should probably have admired them much
more the first time had my expectations not been too
highly raised by previous descriptions of them.
We passed hurriedly through Allahabad (so I will
reserve all description of that place till after our second
visit), and went on to Agra. Before proceeding to give
a description of the buildings at Agra, it will be neces-
sary, in a short historical sketch, to trace the rise of the
so-called Moghul dynasty in Hindostan.
The empire of Persia was governed by petty princes
till Timur-Bec, commonly known as Tamerlane, obtained
possession of the kingdoms of Zagatay, which compre-
RISE OF MOGHUL EMPIRE. 7
bended Transoxiana, and the provinces of Cabul, Zabu-
listan, and others towards the Indus. After conquering
Northern Tartary, Timur turned his arms against Persia,
and entered Khorassan seven years before the death of
Feroze, the Patdn Emperor of Hindostan. He completed
the conquest of Persia in less than five years, and when
Feroze died was employed in subduing the provinces on
the Euphrates. Timur-Bec, hearing of the commotions and
civil wars in India consequent on the death of Feroze,
began his expedition into that country A.D. 1397.
During the eight previous years, Timur had extended
his conquests all over Western Asia, reduced Northern
Tartary, and spread his ravages into Siberia as far as
the Arctic Circle. He now advanced southwards, plun-
dering towns and villages, and massacring their in-
habitants, burning what supplies of grain he found after
reserving sufficient to feed his army. On reaching Delhi,
he divided his forces ; and himself, at the head of 700
men only, crossed the river to reconnoitre the citadel
Mahmood III., the then King of Delhi, and his
minister Eckbal, seeing such a small force opposed to
them, issued forth with 5000 men and 27 elephants.
Sillif, an omrah (or noble) of repute, led on the attack,
was repulsed, and taken prisoner. Timur, having made
the observations he intended, repassed the river and
rejoined his army. He found that his generals and
princes had 'taken upwards of 100,000 people cap-
tive, whom he caused to be put to death with great
barbarity ; and this act gained for him the name of
Hillak Chan, or the destroying prince. He shortly
afterwards again forded the river with his whole army,
and not encountering any opposition, Timur encamped
on the plains of Feroze, near Delhi; gave battle to its
8 BABEK.
king, Mahmood III., and Eckbal, routed them with
great slaughter up to the very gates of Delhi, and there
fixed his quarters.
Disturbances in Persia, and his ardent desire to ex-
tend his conquests to the extremities of Asia on the
north and west, deterred Timur from making further
progress in India, which he felt he could at any time
reduce. On his return from Hindostan he settled the
affairs of Persia, and reduced Syria, Egypt, and Asia
Minor. When planning the conquest of China he died
A.D. 1405, on his march thither, and was succeeded by
his son Sharoch.
Mahmood III. died A.D. 1413, and Delhi was ruled
in succession by six different princes ; under the last of
whom, Ibrahim II. , the country was invaded by Baber
the Tartar, who overthrew Ibrahim in a battle at Pan-
niput, and thus transferred the empire to the family of
Tamerlane, Baber himself being the fourth in descent
from Timur.
In A.D. 1531 Baber was succeeded by his son Humaion,
whose tomb will be mentioned in the description of the
monuments at Delhi. The kingdom during Humaion's
reign was convulsed by insurrections, and in 1541 he
was obliged to fly, being defeated by Shere Shah, a
native of India, of Pata"n descent, the word Patan sig-
nifying a highlander from beyond the Indus.
Shere' s father had been -governor of Jounpore. On
the death of Shere in 1545, his eldest son, Adil, being
absent, the government was usurped by the younger,
named Jellal, generally know^n as Selim.
Selim dying in 1552, was succeeded by his son
Feroze, a lad of 12. He had only reigned three days
when he was assassinated by a nephew of the late
HUMAION. 9
Emperor Shere, who mounted the throne under the
name of Mahomed VI.
The following year the king's cousin and brother-
in-law raised an army, possessed himself of the city
of Delhi, mounted the throne, marched to Agra, and
reduced the adjoining provinces. Mahomed, finding
himself not strong enough to oppose him, fled towards
Chinar, and contented himself with retaining the eastern
provinces.
Humaion, since his deposition from the throne viz.,
from the year 1544 to this period had retired to Persia,
where Tamasp was the reigning emperor. His sister,
the Sultana Begum, favoured Humaion, and pleaded his
cause with Tamasp, who told her that if Humaion were
to become a Shiah, and enforce that doctrine in India,
he would assist him to recover his empire.
The Shiahs hold Ali to be the only successor to Mo-
hammed in his apostolic functions ; but the Sunnis hold
that there were four, adding Osman, Omar, and Abu-
beker to Ali.
Humaion, accompanied by his son, the young Prince
Akbar, marched through Peshawur, caused the Patan
governor to evacuate the new fort of Rhotas, and
pursued the Patan troops as far as Lahore, from
whence they also retreated, and the king peaceably
entered it.
One final decisive battle was fought before Sirhind, in
which Humaion was victorious, and this finally decided
the fate of the empire, which for ever fell from the
Patans ; and thus Humaion found himself reinstated on
his throne after an interval of ten years.
A year later Humaion was killed by a fall, and in
1556 he was succeeded by his son, the afterwards
1 AKBAR.
renowned Akbar, who may be called a child of the
desert, having been born on its confines in the year
1542.
Before he was a year old he became a captive in the
hands of an uncle with whom his father was at war, and
when a mere child was barbarously exposed on the
ramparts of Cabul, when it was besieged, in order that
the besiegers' cannon might kill him. After many hair-
breadth escapes he was sent into the Punjaub in com-
mand of an army, at which time he could have been
but a mere boy, as he was already in command when
at the age of fourteen he lost his father.
He was at once proclaimed successor to the throne.
He had very formidable enemies in Sikunder Sur, in
the Punjaub, who tried to seize Delhi ; in Mirza Soli-
maii of Budukshan, who made a sudden irruption and
seized Cabul ; and also in the minister of the pretender
Adil, who was advancing towards Agra.
His officers advised him to retreat in face of the
superior force opposing him, but he resolved to risk an
encounter, and fought a battle at Panniput, a place
where the fate of India has more than once hung in
the balance Akbar's grandfather, as we have already
seen, having gained an important victory there. Akbar
then marched on to Delhi, and entered it without oppo-
sition. He erected buildings at Allahabad, Agra, Secun-
dra, Futtehpore, Sikri, and Delhi.
Akbar had been bred up in all the strictness of the
Mohammedan faith, but either with a design to choose
' O
his own religion, or perhaps from curiosity, he made it
his business to inquire into most of the various systems
of divinity. He caused himself to be instructed in
Christian tenets by missionaries from Portugal, and was
JEHANGIR. 11
anxious also to inquire into the Hindu religion, and
tried to conciliate them in many ways.
The Hindus, unlike any other religious sect, say that
every one can get to heaven in their own way, at the
same time maintaining that theirs is the most expedi-
tious method.
In the time of Akbar their Vedas, or sacred writings,
had not been translated from the Sanscrit ; accordingly,
Akbar's secretary and great friend, Abul Fusl, the his-
torian, tried by a ruse to investigate the principles of
their faith, and sent his young brother Feizi, then a
mere boy, to Benares to the Brahmins, in the character
of a poor orphan of their tribe. This fraud was practised
upon a learned Brahmin, who received him into his
house, and brought him up as his own son.
When, after ten years of study, Feizi had perfected
himself in Sanscrit, Akbar took measures to ensure his
safe return. Feizi, it seems, on attaining manhood, had
fallen in love with the Brahmin's only daughter, and
her father, seeing the mutual affection of the young
pair, offered him his daughter in marriage. Feizi, per-
plexed between love and gratitude, discovered himself
to the old man, fell down at his feet, and with many
tears entreated his forgiveness for the deceit which he
had put upon him. The Brahmin did not reproach
him, but drew a dagger and prepared to stab himself;
but Feizi seized his hand and conjured him to say if he
could make any atonement for the fraud. The Brahmin
answered that he would forgive him, and consent to live,
if Feizi would grant him two requests viz., that he
would never translate the Yedas, nor repeat the creed
of the Hindus.
Akbar died in 1605, and was succeeded by his son
12 NUR-MEHAL.
Jehangir, who erected a tomb to his father's memory at
Secundra, near Agra, which will presently be described ;
but he made Lahore his chief capital, where his palace
in the fort is still to be seen.
Jehangir 's name has principally come down to us in
connection with his wife, the celebrated Nur-Mehal,
whose romantic early history is worth relating. About
twenty years before the accession of Jehangir, her father,
Chiaja Aiass (or Ghias - od - deen, as he is sometimes
called), a native of Western Tartary, started from thence
for India. He belonged to a noble family fallen into
decay, and his wife was as poor as himself. His whole
wealth was one sorry steed on which she rode ; but she
could at that time ill endure any fatigue.
For some time they subsisted on charity ; to return
to their own country was misery, to advance destruc-
tion. To complete their distress, a daughter was born
to them. The mother was too weak to hold the child
in her arms, and the father was exhausted with fatigue
and privations. They saw no alternative but to expose
the child on the highway, so they placed her under
a tree and went on their way, but had only proceeded
a short distance when the mother could no longer
contain herself, and cried out to bring her the child.
Chiaja Aiass returned to the spot to fetch it, and, some
say, found a black snake coiled round the infant ; but
when he called out the serpent retired, and he took the
child up unharmed, and "proceeded, by slow inarches, to
Lahore, where Akbar at that time held his court.
One of the chief omrahs (or nobles) being a relation of
Chiaja Aiass, he protected him, and in course of time this
poor adventurer rose to be Master of the Household, and
his daughter received the name of Mher-ul-Nissa, or the
SHERE AFKUN AND THE TIGER. 13
Sun of Women ; but on her marriage with Jehangir her
name was changed to Nur-Mehal, or the Light of the
Seraglio. In beauty she excelled all, and had no equal
in the accomplishments of music, painting, and dancing.
Jehangir (who, till he became emperor, was called
Prince Selim) paid a visit to her father, and she, aspiring
to the conquest of the prince, showed off all her acquire-
ments, and he was captivated by her charms. This
syren, however, had been already betrothed to Shere
Afkun, a Turcoman nobleman, whose wife she became ;
and when Selim ascended the throne and moved to Delhi,
his great desire was to remove this man out of the way,
and he tried and adopted all sorts of expedients to ac-
complish this.
Sometimes Shere Afkun himself seems to have
tempted fate, for on one occasion, when a tiger had
been heard of in the forest of Nidarbani, the emperor
went out, and with his principal officers surrounded the
ground for many miles. When at length the tiger was
roused, Shere Afkun, to show his prowess, begged to be
allowed to attack the beast unarmed, which he did, and
prevailed, though himself mangled with wounds. He
is said to have applied for permission to do so in the
following words : " I think it a shame so many hun-
dreds of armed men should be set to attack a tiger ; I
would, therefore, like to meet him in fair fight without
arms. To attack an animal with weapons is both un-
manly and unfair : God has given limbs and sinews to
men as well as to tigers, and he has given reason to the
former to aid his strength."
He then, in accordance with the emperor's commands,
presented himself at Court, where a snare, however, had
been prepared for him, as Jehangir had given orders to
14 THE LIGHT OF THE SERAGLIO.
the driver of one of his largest and fiercest elephants to
waylay him the next time he came, and tread him to
death. The occasion thus arrived, the elephant met
him in a narrow spot ; he had just time to rise from his
palanquin, draw a short dagger, and cut off the elephant's
trunk. The animal roared, turned from him, and expired.
Another time his life was attempted by assassins,
who got at night into his house, but he attacked and
dispersed them. He then retired to Burdwan, where he
hoped to live in obscurity with his beloved one, but the
suba (or Governor) of Bengal had received orders to kill
him. On some purposed insult from the pikemen of the
suba, Shere Afkun set upon him as he was mounted
upon his elephant, arid cut him in two. Shere was
now thoroughly roused, and dealt his blows around ;
but at length some of the officers of the suba formed
a circle round him, and began to gall him with arrows ;
his horse was shot under him, and seeing plainly
his approaching fate he turned towards Mecca, and
threw some dust on his head instead of water for his
ablutions. Six balls entered his body before he fell.
His widow, Mher-ul-Nissa, was then sent with all
care and respect to Delhi. She was fired with ambition
to become the emperor's favourite sultana. Jehangir
at first refused to see her, as some say, stricken with
remorse, or else being in much grief on account of the
death of his friend the suba.
Mher-ul-Nissa, ill brooking such neglect, gave herself
up to apparent grief for the death of her husband, but
still trusted that her beauty would in time cause the
renewal of the emperor's former affection for her a
very small pittance only being allowed her for her
maintenance. To augment this, she worked pieces of
SHAH JEHAN. 15
tapestry and embroidery, and made paintings on silk ;
these being so exquisite were bought up with great
avidity, and she thus accumulated a large sum of money,
and clothed her slaves with great magnificence, whilst
she herself affected a plain and simple mode of dress.
She remained thus four years in retirement, when at
length Jehangir's resolution to avoid her presence being
vanquished by his curiosity, he determined to see for
himself the truth of all he had heard, and sought an
interview with her. His first glance caused all his
former love to return, and the emperor, remarking the
splendour of the dress of the slaves, and the rigid sim-
plicity of their mistress's dress, inquired the reason ;
when the lady replied, that she liked to see her slaves
richly attired, but that his Majesty was clearly of a
different opinion, or the pension which he had presented
to her, the humblest of his slaves, would have been a
larger one. The emperor, charmed both with her wit
and beauty, married her immediately, and gave her the
name of Nur-Mehal, or the Light of the Seraglio ; and
during the rest of his reign she bore the chief sway
in the affairs of the empire.
Jehangir dying in 1627, he was succeeded by his third
son, Prince Kurrum, who took the name of Shah Jehan
during his father's lifetime. His mother was Jodh-Bai,
a Hindu of Kajput descent. Before Jehangir's death, the
succession had been contested by several of his family.
His eldest son had failed in an attempt to seize the
kingdom on the death of his grandfather, Akbar. Jehan-
gir's second son then naturally looked forward to the
succession, but proving himself incompetent to rule when
intrusted with a nominal command in the Dekhan,
where war was then raging between the Mohammedans
16 AURUNGZEBE.
and Hindus, Shall Jehan eventually came to the throne,
though his stepmother, Nur-Mehal, whose early history
was so romantic, intrigued to try and gain tjfce kingdom
for Sheriar, another son of Jehangir's, who had married
her daughter by her first husband, Shere Afkun.
Sheriar assembled troops, gave battle, and was de-
feated ; and at the end of a year, all opposition being at
an end, Kurrum mounted the throne.
In 1657, when all his sons were of mature age, Shah
Jehan being then in bad health, his fourth son, Aurung-
zebe, revolted against him, and, after several minor vic-
tories, he and his brother Mura"d gained a final battle
and took possession of the capital, A. D. 1658, Shah
Jehan being allowed to remain in his palace deprived
of all power, however. He became then almost forgotten,
though his public buildings still speak for him, and
prove him to have been, if not the wisest, at least the
most magnificent, prince who ever ruled in India. The
Taj alone, erected to the memory of his wife, Mumtaz
Mehal, the niece of Nur-Mehal, will carry down his
name to posterity as a great, if not the greatest, patron
of the arts in Hindosta*n.
On the celebrated peacock throne he is said to have
spent more than six millions sterling, chiefly in dia-
monds and other precious stones. He also built the
then new city of Delhi, called after him Shahjehanabad.
His son Aurungzebe, whose reign was the longest of
any of the descendants of Timur, and in some respects a
very brilliant one, has left no important buildings behind
him, though one mosque at Benares bears his name.
17
CHAPTER II.
BUILDINGS AT AGRA THOSE IN THE FORT SUCCESSIVELY THE WORK OF
AKBAR, JEHANGIR, AND SHAH JEHAN JUMMA MUSJID TAJ MEHAL
TOMBS AT SECUNDRA, ETC.
ON arriving at Agra by the railroad, a distant view of
the Taj is obtained ; but the fort is the principal object
which strikes the eye, with its great extent of red walls,
and round towers at various distances. The greater
part of, if not all, the walls of the fort are said to have
been built by Akbar. The palace, which is within it,
bears the name of Jehangir, Akbar's son and successor,
though a good deal of it was probably erected by his
father, as it is in Akbar's style, which was very much
more Hindu than Mohammedan. The palace is entirely
of red sandstone, and the principal front is covered with
delicate lace - like carving, disposed in geometric pat-
terns. None of this is deeply cut. It contains many
courtyards. The number of rooms is so great, and the
ground-plan so intricate, that people might easily lose
themselves.
Jehangir's work, as seen in this palace (which, if
not Akbar's work, is believed to have been built by
Jehangir immediately after his father's death), is distinct
in character from the later Moghul style, and resembles
Hindu architecture, inasmuch as it avoids the use of the
B
18 AKBAR'S ARCHITECTURAL STYLE.
arch, is much more massive, and also that the construc-
tion is always obvious. These things combined lend it
a peculiar charm and interest. In some respects this
building gives one the idea of a highly carved and fin-
ished wooden one, which a magician's wand had turned
to stone ; and one cannot but think that Hindu archi-
tects and artists must have been employed to build
the greater part of it, as much of the ornamentation,
but more especially that of the central court, is de-
cidedly Hindu in all its parts and details. In this
courtyard are two lofty halls, opposite to each other.
The larger and more highly-decorated one is 62 feet
long by 37 wide, and has a flat stone ceiling. In the
interior of this hall, a space about 45 feet by 20 is
divided off in the centre by massive square pillars,
reaching the whole height of the hall ; on three sides
there is a gallery at about half-way up the pillars ; on
the fourth side, towards the courtyard, instead of a gal-
lery there is a passage, formed in and by the thickness
of the pillars. From the pillars, at the level of the gal-
lery, start eight stone struts, four on each side, and these
assist the pillars to support the ceiling. In a line with
the river front is a lovely little sandstone pavilion, reached
by a steep staircase, and perched on the roof of one of
the lower buildings of the palace. It is about 28 feet
by 18, and open all round, being supported by square
pillars. The great peculiarity of this, and of all the
buildings in the fort of the same period, is, that no wood
seems ever to have been employed in any part of them ;
and yet the style of the carving is much more like
what would be made in wood than in stone, both in
character and in execution.
Jehangir's son, Shah Jehan, much enlarged the ori-
THE KHAS MEHAL. 19
ginal palace : the Angoorie Bagh (a square court with
a garden), and the buildings in and immediately round
it, are said to be his work. The Angoorie Bagh formed
the small court of the zenana or women's apartments ;
and in the little chambers on three sides of this were
lodged our officers and their families during the dread-
ful summer of 1857, at the end of which the then
Lieutenant - Governor, Mr Colvin, succumbed from
fatigue and anxiety, and his tomb is within the fort.
The fourth side of this garden fronts the river Jumna,
and has three several pavilions in it, all of white
marble. The centre one is called the Khas Mehal, and
there the sultana gave her receptions. To the left of
this is another pavilion, within a small court. On the
side where this court is entered, there is the most exqui-
site lattice-work, carved out of a solid block of white
marble.
At the further end of this court is the so-called
pucheese board, on the pavement. Pucheese is an In-
dian game. On this pavement the pieces played with
were living female slaves, who became the property of
the winner. This little court is the entrance to the so-
called Jasmine Tower, or boudoir of the chief sultana.
There are two apartments, each decorated with inlaid
work of precious stones, in the same style as the Taj
Mehal, and in the first of these there is a fountain.
The whole forms a lovely little retreat, the view fac-
ing the river is most striking and extensive. Over each
doorway is a bunch of iris with its leaves ; these have
been carved out of a solid block of marble, of consider-
able thickness.
The pavilion to the right of the Khas Mehal con-
sists of three chambers, which were formerly the apart-
20 THE DEWAN-I-KHAS.
meiits of the emperor's children, and is now converted
into a museum. It contains two prettily-carved marble
chairs, and a couch of the same material. The collec-
tion of objects is small, and consists mainly of frag-
ments of Buddhist and Jain sculptures. In the ver-
andah belonging to these rooms are the celebrated gates
called of Somnath, though it is doubtful if they ever
came from thence. They formed the doors of Mah-
mood's sepulchre at Ghuznee when the English forces
took that place. There is a Cufic inscription on the
framework, which some believe was a later addition :
many and various have been the opinions concerning
them. Lord Ellenborough caused them to be trans-
ported to Agra; and his object in doing this would
seem to have been, that he wished to show that as
Mohammedanism had once triumphed over Hinduism,
so we had then become the first power in Asia. Besides
the buildings already described as opening out of this
garden, there is also the Shish-Mehal, or palace of glass,
consisting of two rooms, in each of which is an eastern
bath. These rooms are decorated with thousands of
small mirrors, worked in round a lovely flower tracery,
which is painted white. The effect, as may be imagined,
is most silvery and lovely. The lower panels all round
these rooms have had groups of flowers in brilliant
colours painted on them.
At right angles to the Jasmine Tower is the
Dewan-i-Khas, which was the emperor's small hall of
audience, and also built by Shah Jehan. This is
likewise entirely made of white marble, and has
double twelve-sided pillars, which support an open hall
raised on a marble platform about three feet high. It
is also very highly decorated : the pillars and the rest
PEARL MOSQUE. 21
of the structure are all inlaid with various patterns
in cornelians, agates, &c. Behind this open hall, and
entered from it by three archways, is a second enclosed
one, lighted from the back by three windows of lovely
lace-like marble tracery. Both these halls have their
walls panelled with marble, each panel being encircled
with inlaid work in coloured stones, and having in the
centre a group of flowers in bas-relief.
Shah Jehan's throne, which is of black basalt, is in
the centre of the terrace of the same courtyard. When
seated on it, the emperor had his back to the river. A
smaller throne opposite to this is said to have been for
the use of his ministers. Taken as a whole, all Shah
Jehan's buildings have a decided Italian character : the
bas-reliefs and other decorations, wherever they occur,
are perfectly lovely, and of infinite variety. Looking
down from the Dewan-i-Khas, the spectator can see into
the court called the Muchee Bo wan, which was formerly
a tank filled with fish, but is now entirely filled up.
Eound this court are two-storied colonnades, whence
the ladies and children in Moghul times could watch
the fish disporting themselves. Opening out of the upper
colonnade, at the north-west corner, is the Nagina Musjid,
a little gem in white marble, about 30 feet long by 18
wide. It is not unlike the Moti Musjid, the descrip-
tion of which is to follow, and was built by Shah
Jehan as a private mosque for the royal ladies of his
Court.
The Moti Musjid, or Pearl Mosque, was also built by
Shah Jehan, A.D. 1654, as stated in the inscription upon
its front. It is placed on a three-storied platform of
red sandstone ; but when seen, as it can be from most
parts of the town without, only its three domes are
22 ANECDOTE OF AUftUNGZEBE.
visible above the walls of the fort. Bishop Heber says
of the Taj, that it looks as if it had been built by Titans
and finished by jewellers; and of the fort it may like-
wise be said, that the walls are the work of a Titan ;
while these domes may be likened to soap bubbles
blown by the giant's children, and arrested half-way in
their fall to earth.
A high and steep flight of steps leads up to the top
of the platform whereon is the mosque, which is made
of pure white marble. It is very lovely ; though, when
one is standing on this platform, the building seems to
want height, as from no part of this court can the bases
of the domes be seen, for the parapet hides them. This
mosque is purely Saracenic in style, with horse -shoe
engrailed arches ; and it has a triple row of columns.
The Dewan-i-Am, or large hall of audience, is the
only other important building within the fort. It is all
of red sandstone, but has been painted white, picked
out with red and gold. Like the Khas Mehal, and the
Dewan-i-Khas, it is an open hall supported on many
pillars. The back or eastern wall forms one side of the
court of the Muchee Bowan; and in this wall is an
enclosed gallery, or rather recess, to which a small side
staircase gives access from the hall. This recess is about
20 feet long by 14 wide ; and its roof, walls, and pillars
are all cased with marble, richly inlaid with precious
stones. In detail and execution this is quite equal,
if not superior, to the work I have before described of
the same nature.
The Dewan-i-Am, on the contrary, is so inferior to
the other halls of audience, both in architecture and
material, that there are good grounds for imagining,
as has been thought by many, that this hall was not
JUMMA MUSJID. 23
the work of Shah Jehan at all, but was built by his son,
Aurun^zebe, who. from an anecdote which is told of
O ' *
him, which I will here relate, must have possessed a
certain amount of dry humour.
Aurungzebe had issued edicts against the fine arts,
as tending to frivolity and irreligion, and on one
occasion the singers, actors, and dancers, gave him a
singular rebuke. In one part of the palace there was
a balcony where he daily sat at a certain hour. One
day, seeing a funeral going on upon the glacis, he
inquired whose it was. On being informed that they
were proceeding to bury Music, who was dead, he
answered, " Do so by all means, and mind you bury her
deep enough, so that no sound may ever come to me
from her grave." The sultan then went away, and
from that day forth never again resumed the practice of
showing himself thus publicly to his subjects.
All the red sandstone buildings of Akbar have a mas-
sive boldness about them, whereas those erected only
in the second generation later have an effeminate look :
the grandfather's buildings are typical of a warrior, and
his grandson's of a man of peace and lover of ease.
The Jumma Musjid, or large Mosque of Agra, is
situated immediately opposite the Delhi gate of the
fort. It was the work of Shah Jehan, who built it in
the name of his daughter, Jehanara, whose name has
come down to us associated with her devotion to her
father, whose long captivity she shared when he was
deposed by his son Aurungzebe. This mosque is all of
red sandstone, and has three large domes, which have a
zigzag pattern in white marble running round them.
The entrance is by a flight of steps to a large square
platform, with colonnades on two sides of it, surmounted
24 TAJ MEHAL.
by tiny domed pinnacles running the whole length of
them, each supported on four slender shafts, and there
is a larger pinnacle of the same shape at each corner.
The mosque itself has five entrances or arched doorways :
these open into the same number of halls, which all
communicate with each other by lateral doorways. All
lead into the mosque proper beyond, which has five
domed halls of the same form, though the centre one
only seemed to have the Kiblah, and the steps used by
the moolahs when they are preaching. The outside of
this mosque is decorated with small domed cupolas
along the top, and a larger one of the same kind at
each corner. The central archway, which is much
larger than the others, has two pillar-like minarets built
on to it, and dividing it from the other lateral entrances.
The Taj Mehal is nowhere seen to greater advantage,
as a whole, than from one place inside the walls of the
fort, the river Jumna there making a great bend, so
that this exquisite creation of mason -work appears
almost opposite to the spectator, though it may be
nearly a three-miles' drive from the fort to the Taj,
which is approached through a large court with recesses
in it on two sides : these were probably originally in-
tended for and used, as at present, as a durrumsala, or
place to lodge travellers. This court, again, has beyond
it a large garden surrounded on all sides by high walls,
and entered by a grand gateway of red sandstone, in-
laid with white and coloured stones and marbles. Within
this gateway is a large octagonal domed chamber ; and
passing through this the garden is entered, where, at the
end of a long vista, the Taj itself bursts upon the view,
which is a COUp-cF&U never to be forgotten. It is as
though a heap of snow had fallen from heaven, and
TAJ MEHAL. 25
there become crystallised for ever, the whole effect of the
buildiDg being so light looking, and yet it has an en-
during appearance.
The garden and the approach to this tomb are on
the same plan as all those built by the Moghul emperors
viz., that from the central gateway radiated a broad
avenue, generally paved with marble and adorned
with fountains ; another avenue intersected this in the
middle, thus forming a cross. The avenue leading
direct from the principal entrance is bordered on either
side with a symmetrical garden ; grand and lofty
palms and flowering shrubs overhang this, and lend
still greater enchantment to the whole scene. At the
upper end of the principal avenue is the tomb itself,
placed on a large terrace or platform. In this instance
Shah Jehan built the tomb after his wife's death, in
order to place her remains there ; but more generally
a tomb was built during the lifetime of the intended
occupant, and used first as a barra-durrie, or hall of
feasting : but once used as a tomb, from thenceforth the
building was never applied to festal purposes.
The Taj can be compared to no other building in the
world, either in form or decoration, as it has a beauty
of its own, both in the design of the whole and in the
extraordinary minuteness and delicacy of its ornamenta-
tion without and within. The material (white marble)
of which it is composed is almost unique in a build-
ing of that size : the whole of the exterior is inlaid in
the style of the Florentine mosaic-work, with precious or
semi-precious stones, such as agates, cornelians, blood-
stones, lapis lazuli, &c., every detail of which will bear
minute examination, though the finer and more elaborate
work is reserved for the interior of the building.
26 CENOTAPH OF MUMTAZ MEHAL.
A low red-sandstone terrace rises at the upper end
of tliis avenue, and from this rises a smaller white
marble platform about 18 feet high, with a tall minaret
at each of the four corners, and in the centre is the Taj
itself, which is, exteriorly, a square with the four corners
which face the minarets cut off. A grand dome rises
from the centre, and at each corner of the roof there is
a cupola supported on four pillars, and having a small
dome. The whole of the outside of the building is
inlaid with bold designs in coloured stones, and pas-
sages from the Koran in black marble. It has only
one entrance, leading into a large chamber. There
are four such rooms of equal size, connected by a
corridor, w r hich goes right round the interior of the
building. In the chamber by which the visitor enters
there is a staircase leading down to a large square hall,
in the centre of which are the tombs containing the
remains of Shah Jehan and his wife Mumtaz Mehal.
The inlaid work, even on these, is a masterpiece of art ;
but the most elaborate and highly-finished work is to
be seen on their cenotaphs, which are in a large octagonal
domed chamber over this. Mumtaz Mehal's cenotaph
is in the centre, and Shah Jehan's is on the left side of
hers. Eound the cenotaphs is an octagonal screen of
white marble, about six feet high, which, in its perfect
finish and lovely patterns, resembles old point lace
turned to stone. In this octagonal chamber there is a
wonderfully quick echo, and the chord of the seventh
is said to produce a beautiful effect.
I have already spoken of the low red-sandstone terrace
which forms the base of the Taj as being of a consider-
able size. On the western side of this, or to the left of
the Taj, there is a mosque built of red sandstone also,
TOMB OF ITMAD-UD-DOWLAH. 27
and decorated with coloured stones and black and white
marble, in the same style as the principal gateway.
This mosque differs much from the usual form of such
buildings belonging to the Moghul period. It has a
double row of chambers, six in all, each communicating
with the other by arched doorways. Each of the three
hinder halls has a domed ceiling, and its Kiblah in a
recess. Externally there are three large domes ; and
projecting from the building on either side is a colon-
nade terminating in an octagonal pavilion of two
storeys, surmounted by a domed cupola which rests on
pillars, giving the whole a light and graceful appear-
ance.
At the other or east side of this terrace, and exactly
similar in size and form to the mosque, is another build-
ing, called the Jawab, which means answer or reply;
and this was placed there, as it would appear, simply for
the sake of uniformity, in respect of the whole. This
circumstance alone gives us some idea of the grand
conceptions which were not only imagined, but execut-
ed, in those days as the entrance gateway, the mosque,
or the Jawab, would either of them singly, anywhere
but in Agra (where there is such a wealth of fine build-
ings), have been cited as singularly worthy of remark
and admiration.
On the opposite side of the river to Agra is a tomb
called Itmad-ud-dowlah, which signifies, we were told,
" feasting-place of the rich." It is said to be the tomb
of Chiaja Aiass, sometimes called Ghaias-ud-dm, who
was the father of Jehangir's wife, Nur-Mehal, and of Asuf
Khan, who was the father of Mumtaz Mehal, the wife of
Shah Jehan. Thus aunt and niece were both renowned,
the former for her talents and beauty, and early adven-
CHINI-KA-ROZA.
tures ; while her splendid tomb, the Taj, will for all time
perpetuate the name of the niece.
After crossing the bridge over the river Jumna, a few
yards to the left, is the entrance to the tomb of Chiaja
Aiass, which stands, like all of that period, in the centre of
a garden. It is of white marble, supported on a platform
of red sandstone. The whole of the exterior is very rich in
decoration, being inlaid with coloured marbles. The style
of this work differs much from that of other tombs in and
near Agra, inasmuch as, besides geometrical patterns, are
also trees, vases, water- vessels, &c., among the designs,
which would go some way to prove that this, if not any
of the others, was used as a place of feasting and recrea-
tion previous to its being made into a mausoleum. It is
two-storied, and has domed turrets at each of the four
corners of the roof of the first storey. The upper storey,
which is smaller than the lower one, has in this instance
no dome, but a steep coved roof forms the summit of the
whole. The entrance doorways, and all the openings for
admitting light into the building, are of pierced white
marble. The interior has a central hall containing the
principal tomb, and a wide passage which runs all round
this has mortuary chambers opening out of it at the
four corners.
The Taj is embellished with mosaics made of cornelians,
jaspers, &c. ; the tomb of Itmad-ud-dowlah is covered
with designs in coloured marbles.
A few minutes' walk from this tomb is another called
the Chini-ka-Eoza, which is said to be that of Ufzul Khan,
a literary adventurer of the seventeenth century, who was
one of the ministers of Shah Jehan. This beautiful and,
I believe, unique specimen, is quite past restoration,
chiefly because the art of producing this style of decora-
AKBAR'S TOMB AT SECUNDRA. 29
tion is lost. At first sight it would appear to have been
covered with glazed tiles disposed in conventional flower
patterns ; but this is not the case, as further examination
proves that it has really been enamelled that is to say, a
coat of plaster of a certain thickness was laid on and then
enamelled ; though how this process was conducted, or
how it was managed that no seams or joins should appear
at least at the end of each day's work is unknown.
The centre dome was intact when we saw it, though the
rest of the roof was in a very ruinous condition.
Akbar's tomb at Secundra was built by his son
Jehangir, who, in his autobiography, mentions that in
the third year of his reign, being dissatisfied with the
work then done, he ordered it to be rebuilt. The en-
closure is approached by a grand three-chambered gate-
way ; the central hall of this is domed, and the side
chambers are each flanked by two tall minarets. This
gateway is of red sandstone, and is decorated with inlaid
work of coloured stones and white marble, disposed for
the most part in geometrical patterns. The garden,
which is surrounded by high walls, is nearly as large in
extent as a moderate-sized English park, and the approach
to the tomb is by a causeway of stone with fountains at
distances. As seen from the gateway, the tomb gives
one an idea of incompleteness. According to the opinion
of Fergusson, it was originally intended to have sur-
mounted it with a dome. Possibly Jehangir may, at
the end of seven years' labour and expense, have be-
come tired of it, and therefore finished it off without
carrying out his original plan, especially as Agra is
known not to have been his favourite residence.
In the centre of this garden is a red-sandstone plat-
form, from which rises a building composed of four
30 AKBAE'S TOMB AT SECUNDRA.
terraces, three of red sandstone, and the fourth of white
marble. Each terrace has numerous pinnacles, with domed
roofs resting on four slender shafts : some of these domes
o
are roofed with coloured tiles. Each terrace is smaller
than the one below it : the topmost of all, in white mar-
ble, is about 70 feet square, exclusive of a colonnade
which runs all round it, and is latticed with pierced
white marble in lace-like tracery of an infinite variety of
designs. Here, open to the sky, is placed the cenotaph,
in the purest white marble, richly carved. The lowest
of these terraces has a massive arched colonnade, some
part of which has been divided off into separate mortuary
chambers, and the rest so arranged as to have been
capable of being divided in the same manner, should
occasion have required it. The grand portal is of pierced
white marble, and leads into a domed hall 38 feet square,
painted in rich designs : the colours are chiefly dark blue
and gold. From this, a short incline and a long vaulted
passage lead down to a vast domed hall, where, in a
square tomb of plain white marble, lie the remains of the
great Akbar. The whole building, when we saw it, was
in process of being carefully and thoroughly restored.
Akbar 's tomb is situated about six miles from Agra ;
and though it appears a very magnificent structure at
a certain distance, yet, on closer inspection, the masonry
of the lower terraces is seen to be much wanting in
finish, and very inferior in all its details to the work of
the great hero to whose memory it was erected.
31
CHAPTER III.
DELHI TTS EARLY HISTORY SOME ACCOUNT OF THE SLAVE, KHILGI, AND
TOGHLAK DYNASTIES JAIN TEMPLES AT DELHI THE JAINS AND THEIR
RELIGIOUS TENETS JUMMA MUSJID OTHER MOSQUES THE FORT
ASOKA'S LATS, OR PILLARS THE RIDGE, ITS CONNECTION WITH THE
MUTINY OF 1857.
OUR next move was to Delhi, which has been the site
of a city for more than three thousand years, though the
earliest monument now existing is the iron column at
the Kutb, erected about A.D. 500. There are two stone
Idts, or pillars, of the time of Asoka, which date much
earlier about 250 B.C. but these were brought to Delhi
from a distance ; yet it is mentioned in the Mahabarata
that, about fifteen centuries before the Christian era,
Yudish Thira founded the great Pandava empire, built
his capital upon the left bank of the Jumna, and called
it Indraprastha. Tradition, and the ruins which still
remain, indicate the existence of thirteen capital cities
at different periods within a space of forty-five square
miles ; and within a distance of eleven miles the re-
mains of five cities can even now be seen viz., Togh-
lakabad, the Hindu fort called Eaj Pithara, within which
the Kutb now stands, and the cities of Feroz-Shah, Shir
Shah, and Shahjehanabad, or the present Delhi.
Three distinct styles of architecture strike the eye in
and about Delhi viz., the Hindu, the Patd,n, and the
32 RISE OF THE SLAVE KINGS.
Moghul. The first style may be seen in parts of the
mosque near the Kutb ; the best specimens of Patan
work are in the tomb of Ala-ud-din Khilgi, also near
the Kutb, and the fine mosque inside the Purana Keela,
or old fort on the road to Humaion's tomb ; while the
last named exists within the walls of the present Delhi.
In addition to these three styles, there are also some
most interesting buildings forming an intermediate link
between the Hindu and the Patdn periods, in which the
delicacy and elegance of the former are combined with
the grandeur of the latter.
o
The Mohammedan reign in India, and, consequently,
their rule at Delhi, dates from the time when the last of
the Eajput sovereigns was dethroned, about A.D. 1190
Delhi and Kanouj having been governed up to that time
by rival dynasties of this race, who then, as ever since,
though a brave and gallant people, have shown through-
out an utter incapacity to combine together against a
common enemy.
The first sovereign of any note was Kutb -ud- dm
Eibak, the first of the so-called 'slave kings, who began
to reign A.D. 1206. He had been brought up by
Shahab-ud-din, the last but one of the Ghori dynasty
(who, having no son, was fond of bringing up Turki
slaves), became his minister, and was eventually left
in charge, as Shahab's representative in India when
he returned to Ghusnee after taking Ajmere. Kutb
also took possession of Delhi for his master, and of
the district called Coel, between the Jumria and the
Ganges, and likewise proceeded to Guzerat and ravaged
that province. On the death of Shahab-ud-din, India
became an independent province, as, though his nephew
Mahmood was proclaimed in all his dominions, yet the
KHILGI DYNASTY. 33
kingdom at once broke up into many separate states,
hardly united even in name by his general supremacy.
Kutb thus became king over the provinces where he had
till then only ruled as governor.
Kutb was succeeded by Shams-ud-dfn Altumsh, of
whom it is related that he was really of a good family,
but was sold, like Joseph, by his envious brethren.
Anyhow, Kutb-ud-din is said to have bought him for
fifty thousand pieces of silver.
Gheias-ud-din Bulbun, another of the slave kings, had
been brought up at the Court of Altumsh, and, on the
death of that sovereign's grandson, usurped the title in
1266, having already before had all the power. Gheias-
ud-din's grandson was the last of this dynasty ; on his
death there were two competing parties the Tartar
chiefs, and the chiefs of the old kingdom of Ghusnee.
The Khilgis of the last named race prevailed over the
Tartars, and their reign began in 1288, in the person
of Jelal-ud-din Khilgi. This dynasty came to an end
in 1321, when the last of the race, a usurper named
Mobarick, was killed in a conflict before Delhi, with
some of the nobles who had risen against his tyrannies
and exactions, amongst whom was Juna Khan, son of
Ghasi Khan Toghlak, the then Governor of the Punjaub.
On entering Delhi, Ghdsi Khan gave out that he was
willing to place any of the royal line upon the throne,
his only object being to deliver the country from oppres-
sion, but no member of the Khilgi family was found
to have survived, and Toghlak was himself proclaimed
king in 1321, under the title of Gheias-ud-din Toghlak,
being the son of a Turki slave of Gheias-ud-din Bulbun
by an Indian mother. His son Muhammad bin-Toghlak
succeeded him in 1325, of whom Elphinstone in his
' c
34 THE RELIGION OF THE JAINS.
history of India says, "He was the most accomplished
prince, and the most furious tyrant, that ever lived."
Muhammad dying in 1351, Firoz Shah came to the
throne : his name is associated with the now ruined city
of Firozabad just outside the gates of the present Delhi,
and he also built the fort at Jounpore.
Though Delhi has been for so long a time a strong-
hold of the Mohammedan religion, and for many cen-
turies under Mohammedan rule, yet we found there two
very highly decorated small temples belonging to the
Jainas, or Jains a religious sect of the Hindus, who
are most numerous in Western Hindustan, and are
principally engaged in commerce. Their name is de-
rived from the Sanscrit word jini victorious which
is the generic term for the deified saints of their sect.
Their doctrines and opinions are interesting, from their
striking similarity to the chief peculiarities of the reli-
gion of Buddha. The Brahmins consider that they form
no part of the Hindu body. The principal points in
which they differ from these are : Firstly, denial of the
divine origin of the Vedas ; secondly, the worship of cer-
tain holy mortals who have acquired, by self-mortifica-
tion and penance, a power which renders them superior
to the gods ; and thirdly, extreme tenderness for animal
life. Their doctrines and customs are similar to those
of the Buddhists. They do not entirely reject the gods
of the Hindu mythology, but consider them inferior to
their holy mortals, who, they say, are 72 in number, of
whom 24 belong to the former age, 24 to the present,
and 24 to the age to come. The statues of all, or a part
of these, are sculptured in black or white marble, and
placed in their temples. The most celebrated of these
holy mortals are Parsvanatha and Mahavira, who alone
THE RELIGION OF THE JAINS. 35
can be said to have had any historical existence. Some
state that the last Jina died B.C. 500.
General Cunningham found some Jain statues at
Muttra, with the dates 99 and 177 A.D. upon them.
The origin of this sect has been much disputed, some
saying that both Buddhism and Jainism are older than
Brahminism, or modern Hinduism that is to say, the
worship of Shiva and the incarnations of Vishnu.
In the eleventh and twelfth centuries Jainism appears
to have been more widely diffused than at any other
period. The strange resemblance between the Buddhist
and the Jain religions renders it probable that they had
one and the same origin. Though the Jains of Southern
India preserve the distinction of castes, many things
would lead to the supposition that originally caste did
not exist among them. The Jains are divided into two
classes clerical and lay; the former subsist upon the
alms of the latter. The two classes are called Yatis and
Sravakas. Their religious ritual is very simple: the for-
mer can dispense with acts of devotion at their pleasure,
and the SraVakas are only bound to visit a temple daily
wherein some of the images of the Jinas are erected,
and make an offering of flowers, accompanied by a short
prayer. They insist upon five great duties viz., re-
fraining from injury to animal life, truth, honesty, chas-
tity, and freedom from worldly desires.
Apropos of the first of these duties, it is said of them
that in one part of Guzer&t, where they are numerous
and influential, they are in the habit of persuading the
cultivators to bring them their surplus male kids instead
of destroying them, as would otherwise be done : these
they place in a shed, putting pans of milk near them ;
but these little creatures, being too young to drink the
36 JAIN TEMPLES AT DELHI.
milk, speedily die of hunger; thus no one has actually
killed them, so they are considered to have died by the
dispensation of Providence.
Of the two Jain temples at Delhi, one is about fifty
years old, and the other was built ten years later. They
are quite near each other, being situated in a labyrinth
of small streets not far from the Chandni Chowk (or
great bazaar of the city). They are both alike in style
and arrangement ; but one, they told us, had been much
injured at the time of the Mutiny in 1857, and has been
restored in a plain manner, so I shall describe the first I
visited, which I believe did not suffer at that time.
Some steps in a small back street lead to a gate-
way of finely carved white stone ; a passage then takes
one to a staircase going up to the temple itself
to reach which a porch and a courtyard are passed
through. The courtyard is paved with white marble,
and surrounded on three sides with a colonnade, the
pillars of which are of the same material. The walls
and ceiling of this colonnade are of white stucco, which
has been painted all over with very pretty flower de-
signs, with much gold intermixed : this ornamentation
has been a good deal injured by time and weather,
though, from the comparatively recent date of the build-
ing, one would hardly expect it could have suffered so
much.
The temple itself occupies the fourth side of the
courtyard, is raised about four feet from its level, and
consists of a large chamber divided into three parts
by double marble columns. The centre, which is the
largest compartment, holds the shrine of the idol Pdrs-
vand-tha, standing in an enclosed marble erection of
many tiers, one above the other, resembling very much
JUMMA MUSJID. 37
a large wedding-cake, the god being the ornament at the
top ; above the god is a domed canopy. The whole of
this shrine is inlaid with very minute and delicate designs
in coloured stones, and looks much like a finely-wrought
piece of jewellery. The centre compartment of this, the
principal chamber, has a steep coved roof ; both it and
the walls are covered with gold-leaf, having flowers
painted upon it in various brilliant colours, much in
the style of the Kashmir papier-mache work. Hanging
from the roof, at a little distance in front of the idol, are
two bells, with several smaller ones between them ; on
either side of these are brass stands about five feet high,
with large trays on the top of them to receive offerings
of flowers, grain, &c. These chambers are capable of
being entirely shut off from the courtyard by wooden
doors.
At no great distance from these temples is the
Jumma Musjid, or large mosque, which is placed in a
most commanding situation on a natural platform of
rock ; and immediately in front of it is a large open
space, or maiddn, as it is called in India. The three
gateways are each of them approached by high flights of
steps ; the principal door facing the mosque is generally
kept closed, and the usual entrances are by the north
and south gateways. The whole is built of red sand-
stone, but a good deal of white marble is used in its
ornamentation. The domes of the mosque of the four
cupolas at the corners of the courtyard, and of the
numerous little kiosques are veneered with it. The
courtyard is of considerable size, and has an open colon-
nade running all round it, supported on slender shafts :
near one of the small corner cupolas there is a space
partitioned off, and closed by a padlocked door, which
38 DEWAN-I-KHAS.
they opened for us, and then exhibited some most
curious old Arabic manuscripts : two of these, they
said, had been written by their prophet Mohammed's
son-in-law Ali, and the third by Ali's son. They also
show the prophet's slipper in a glass case, and a piece of
white marble with, as they tell you, the impression of
his foot upon it, and say it came from Medina.
In the centre of the courtyard of the mosque is the
tank where the faithful perform their ablutions, and, as
is usual, the whole of the western side of the square is
occupied with the mosque proper, which has three
domes, the centre one having in front of it (but not con-
cealing the dome, as in some of the Patan mosques) an
arched doorway, or propylon, as it is called, with a
minar on either side of it. At each end of the building
there is also a very high minaret : these towering up to a
great -height make the whole building a most imposing
pile as seen at a distance, but on a close inspection it can
bear no comparison with the finest examples of Pata"n
architecture. Its general effect, however, is so grand
that this mosque is considered by some the finest in the
East. That it should look well from a little distance
was probably what was aimed at by Shah Jehan when
he built it, his palace in the fort being directly opposite.
The fort has a circuit of about a mile and a half,
and has two entrances, called respectively the Lahore
and the Delhi gates. Within the Lahore gate is a
courtyard, containing what was once the Noubat-Khana,
or music gallery ; and further on is the Dewan-i-Khas,
or small hall of audience. To the north of this are the
royal baths ; and on the south a suite of small rooms
entirely composed of white marble, and more or less
richly inlaid with mosaic -work, in coloured stones or
DEWAN-I-AM. 39
marbles. These buildings are all placed on a marble
platform, about four feet high.
The Dewan-i-Khas is open all round, and supported
on solid-looking square pillars, with Moorish crenelated
arches between them. The roof of this building is flat,
with a domed kiosque at each corner, resting upon four
small columns, and sloping eaves projecting all round.
The whole of the interior is richly ornamented with
paintings of flowers, and the ceiling is said to have
been originally covered with silver filagree-work, which
the Mahrattas melted down and carried away with them
when they captured the city in 1759. The value of
this has been estimated at 170,000 sterling.
The buildings to the right of the Dewan-i-Khas con-
sist of a series of small chambers, exquisitely inlaid with
flower patterns in coloured semi-precious stones. The
fineness of the work is equal to that of a jewel casket ;
and such being the shrine, imagination can hardly pic-
ture what must have been the splendour of its contents.
The bathing apartments to the left of the Dewan-i-
Khas consist of two rooms, each about 24 feet square,
and lighted from above. The first has a square bath in
the centre, and a large recess, which formed a dressing-
room; in the second chamber the position of these is
reversed. The pavement of both rooms is of inlaid
work in coloured marbles, arranged in geometric pat-
terns ; the walls of each are also of white marble, inlaid
with various designs up to a height of about four feet ;
above this they are of stucco, on which one can still
trace remains of painting in some places.
The Dewan-i-Am, or large hall of audience, is about
200 feet long by 100 wide, and rests on rows of red
sandstone pillars, the outer being double ones. The
40 AUEUNGZEBE'S MOTI MUSJID.
throne, which communicated with the emperor's apart-
ments, and was reached by a staircase at the back, is
raised about ten feet above the floor of this hall. The
throne is surmounted by a canopy resting on four
pillars ; this and the wall behind the throne were origi-
nally beautifully inlaid with representations in precious
stones of fruits, flowers, birds, and beasts, which have
all disappeared, and have been replaced by very coarse
paintings of similar subjects. The celebrated peacock
throne stood in this place ; it was carried off in 1739 by
Nadir Shah, the then Emperor of Persia, together with
nearly all the treasures of Delhi, when, after defeating
Mahomed Shah at Kurnaul, he marched with his train
into the city, and some of his followers being attacked
and killed, he ordered a general massacre, and gave the
city up to plunder.
The whole of these buildings are believed to be of a
later date than those of Shah Jehan in the palace at
Agra. Of his palace at Delhi, nothing now remains
except those parts I have enumerated, which are all
detached, so that one cannot understand their original
position in the building. It is said, that immediately
after the Mutiny in 1857, a great deal of wanton de-
struction took place consequent on the irritation of the
public mind, which, in less thrilling times, and on sober
reflection, would never have occurred.
The little Moti Musjid, or Pearl Mosque, still remains
to be described. It was added by Aurungzebe, and is
only about 60 feet square, but is much more highly
finished than the one of the same name at Agra. Pos-
o
sibly, the Jumma Musjid being so near, this may have
been intended for the use of the ladies of the royal
family only. The small courtyard of this mosque is
KALAN MUSJID. 41
surrounded on three sides with a marble screen about
15 feet high, having little minars at distances along the
top of it.
I will here note the difference in the decorations used
by the Arab and the Indian Mussulmans. They both
equally rejected any representation of the human figure.
In India they destroyed or mutilated any Hindu statues
they met with; but, unlike the Arabs, allowed and
used both animals and flowers in their stone-work and
paintings.
The Kalan Musjid, or chief mosque, is now within
the walls of Shahjehanabad, or the modern Delhi; but
it is only reasonable to suppose that formerly it was in
a part or suburb of the city of Firozabad, having been
built in 1387, in the reign of Firoz Shah Toghlak, and
it is very characteristic of the style of that age. It
much resembles a fortress, with its rough -hewn stone-
work and bastions at the four outer corners of the
courtyard ; in fact, when looking at it from any point
where the domes are not visible, you might almost
imagine it to be some old Saxon or Norman castle,
which likeness is still further carried out in the high
battlemented walls which surround the whole. The en-
trance to it is by a high flight of steps ; the gateway
has a tall minar on either side of it, differing totally in
form from any others we had seen, in that they are
broad at the base, and taper almost to a point at the
summit. The mosque itself, standing within this court-
yard, is of the same solid construction, and consists of a
series of arches and domes : these last number fifteen in
all, there being three rows with five in each row ; the
centre dome is slightly larger than the rest. The cloisters,
which form the other three sides of the interior of the
42 THE LATS, OR PILLARS OF ASOKA.
courtyard, have also small domes and sloping eaves, sup-
ported on roughly finished brackets. The whole build-
ing has great simplicity and rudeness, and is not without
a certain grandeur.
The two most interesting mosques in the city are
the Jumma Musjid and the Zina"th-ul-Musjid : the first
I have already described ; the latter was built much
later, during the reign of Aurungzebe, by his daughter,
Zindth-ul-Nissa Begum, A.D. 1700. It stands on the
western bank of the Jumna, and is a very conspicuous
object from the other side of the river. As seen from
thence, it stands on an eminence ; but inland its terrace
is on a level with the city road. It is about 30 feet
from the walls of the town ; and its terrace, which is
about 14 feet high, is built upon arches, which are used
as shops or dwellings by the poorer classes of natives.
On the north and south are two arched entrances, with
steps leading up to the court of .the mosque. In the
centre of this court there is the usual tank, which has
now, however, no water in it.
The tomb of Zinath stood originally on the north side
of the mosque, but was destroyed immediately after the
Mutiny of 1857: the mosque also was at that time
much altered in the interior, when it was turned into
an artillery barrack. There are three very bulbous
domes to this mosque, striped longitudinally with black
and white, and surmounted with gilt pinnacles. At
both corners of the front of the mosque there are im-
mense minars, towering high above the domes; these
and the small pillars terminating either side of the
central archway are crowned with small domed cupolas.
There are seven archways forming entrances to this
mosque, which are scolloped in the Moorish style ; and
MODE OF TRANSPORTING THE LAT. 43
another such row of archways running the whole length
of the interior divides the building into fourteen cham-
bers. Here too, as in most, if not all the mosques built
by the Moghuls, the inside of the building is very plain,
all the decoration being on the exterior, in this respect
differing much from the architecture of the Hindus,
who finished every part most carefully.
One of the pillars of Asoka, which was originally
erected at Meerut in the third century B.C., was put up
by Firoz Shah Toghlak on what is now called the
" Bidge," to the north-west of the modern Delhi, near
his hunting palace, where two half -dilapidated build-
ings may still be seen. This column was thrown down
during the reign of Farokhsir, by the accidental ex-
plosion of a powder-magazine, which broke it into five
pieces. These, after divers vicissitudes (the portion
containing the inscription having been sawn off and
sent to Calcutta), are now once more united, and the
restored column again put up. This Idt w r as never
much more than 35 feet in height, though it is larger in
diameter than the other outside the Delhi gate of the
city, which last is upwards of 42 feet high, and is placed
on a massive building of rubble stone, pierced below
with numerous small chambers, and forming a terrace
above, whereon the pillar rests.
A native contemporary writer gives the following
curious account of how this pillar was removed, which,
I think, is worth inserting, as we in these days are often
puzzled to know how the people of ear]y times, pos-
sessed of only the rudest appliances, could transport
such columns from one place to another. He thus
describes the process : " Kaizrabad is about 90 kos (or
135 miles) from Delhi, in the vicinity of the hills.
44 THE RIDGE.
When the sultan visited that district, and saw the
column in the village of Tobra, he resolved to remove
it to Delhi, and there erect it as a memorial to future
generations. After thinking over the best means of
lowering the column, orders were issued, commanding
the attendance of all the people dwelling in the neigh-
bourhood, within and without the Doab, and all soldiers,
both horse and foot. They were ordered to bring all
implements and materials suitable for the work.
" Directions were issued for bringing parcels of the
cotton of the sembal (or silk-cotton tree). Quantities of
this silk cotton were placed round the column, and
when the earth at its base was removed, it fell gently
over on the bed prepared for it. The cotton was then
removed by degrees, and after some days, the pillar lay
safe upon the ground. When the foundations of the
pillar were examined, a large square stone was found as
a base, which also was taken out. The pillar was then
encased from top to bottom in reeds and ram skins, so
that no damage might accrue to it. A carriage with
forty - two wheels was constructed, and ropes were
attached to each wheel. Thousands of men hauled at
every rope, and after great labour and difficulty, the
pillar was raised on to the carriage. A strong rope was
fastened to each wheel, and two hundred men pulled
at each of these ropes. By the simultaneous exertions
of so many thousand men the carriage was moved, and
was brought to the banks of the Jumna. There the
sultan went to meet it ; a number of large boats had
been collected, some of which would carry 5000 and
7000 maunds of grain (the maund is 80 lb.), and the
least of them 2000 maunds. The column was very in-
geniously transferred to these boats, and was then con-
MUTINY CHIEFLY THE WORK OF THE MOHAMMEDANS. 45
ducted to Firozabad, where it was landed with infinite
labour and skill."
I have already alluded to " the Eidge " in speaking
of one of Asoka's Idts, and this spot has a peculiar
though sad interest for all English people, in connection
with the mutiny of 1857, as it was there, in the Flag-
staff Tower, that many of the European residents took
refuge ; and this was also the main picket of our besieg-
ing force.
On this my first visit to Delhi, I could not help
picturing the whole of these events so vividly to myself
as to render it quite painful to me to look at any native
of the place who might have been at that time of an
age to have taken an active part in them ; but after-re-
flection brought the thought that to the Mohammedans
(whose tools the Hindus were to a great extent) the
Mutiny was a religious war almost the same as the
Crusades were to Europe and in their eyes the joining
in it was as praiseworthy as an early Christian dying
for his faith in the days of the Eoman empire is in
our opinion ; so that one must not judge of their acts
entirely from the standpoint of the nineteenth century.
46
CHAPTEE IV-
LAHORE EARLY HINDU TRADITIONS RESPECTING IT AFGHAN INCURSIONS
INVASION BY MOHAMMEDAN FORCES MAHMOOD OF GHUSNEE HIS
CAMPAIGNS IN .HINDUSTAN COMPARISONS BETWEEN HINDUS AND
MOHAMMEDANS TAMERLANE AND BABER, THEIR EXPEDITIONS TO INDIA
PALACE IN THE FORT AT LAHORE KASHI WORK HOW SUPPOSED TO
HAVE BEEN MADE JEHANGIR'S TOMB AT SHADERA NUR-MEHAL'S
TOMB PERSIAN INVASION OF INDIA LAHORE COMES UNDER SIKH
RULE TOMB OF RANJIT SINGH MOSQUE OF WAZIR ALI KHAN.
OUR next move was to Lahore. Little is known of the
pre- Mohammedan history of that city, except from
casual notices in the histories of neighbouriDg states,
and the glimpses given by early Mohammedan writers.
Hindu tradition traces it to Rama, king of Ajudia (Oudh),
who was the hero of the Rdmayana, and I believe it is
generally thought that its founders were of the Rajput
race. The exact date of its foundation has not been as-
certained, but it had already become the capital of a
great kingdom before the end of the seventh century
A.D. Perhaps owing to change of dynasty, or that it
was on the high road between Afghanistan and India,
and therefore subject to irruptions and invasions, La-
hore was deserted about this period, and the seat of
government removed to Sialkote, where it remained till
the invasion of Mahmood of Ghusnee in the eleventh
century, when the conqueror reoccupied the deserted
city.
TREACHERY OF JEIPAL, RULER OF LAHORE. 47
During the period from the seventh to the eleventh
century, the Afghans from Kermdji and Peshawur, who
had even then embraced Mohammedanism, made various
incursions into India, and Ferishta the historian states
that in A.D. 682 they wrested certain possessions from
the Hindu prince who then reigned in Lahore. In
A.D. 977 a prince called Jeipal, of the Brahmin race,
reigned over that country, and being much annoyed by
the repeated invasions of the Mohammedans, he raised
a great force, intending to invade them in their own
country. Sabuktagin (of Tartar extraction), the then
ruler of Ghusnee, on hearing of this, marched to meet
him, and several skirmishes ensued. His son, the after-
wards celebrated Mahmood, though then but a boy,
gave great proofs of valour on these occasions. At
length a very violent storm of hail and wind arose,
from which the natives of India suffered much more
severely than their more hardy adversaries of the north.
This caused Jeipal to treat for peace he offering the
King of Ghusnee a certain tribute and large presents,
also adding that whenever the Indian people are reduced
to extremity, they murder their wives and children, and
rush forward in despair amongst the enemy. Sabuk-
tagin, on hearing this, consented to allow them to retreat,
on the payment of a large sum of money, and a pres-
ent of fifty elephants. Jeipal, stating that he could
not pay this large sum on the spot, was allowed to
return to Lahore, four trustworthy persons on the part
of Sabuktagin being appointed to accompany him, to re-
ceive the balance, for whose safety he left hostages. But
arrived at Lahore, he imprisoned the messengers, and
refused to pay the money. On hearing of this treachery,
Sabuktagin was in a furious rage, and hastened towards
48 MAHMOOD OF GHUSNEE.
Hindostan at the head of a great army. Jeipal also
assembled his forces, and marched to meet him, being
assisted with troops and money by the kings of Delhi,
Ajmere, Callinger, and Kanouj ; but the forces of Sabuk-
tagiu, though inferior in numbers, were much better
organised and disciplined than those of the Hindu
princes, who were defeated with great slaughter, and
driven back to the banks of the Nilab (or blue river), the
ancient Hydaspes, and their camp plundered by the
enemy, who raised large contributions in the countries
of Limgan and Peshawur, and annexed them to his
own dominions.
Sabuktagin dying rather suddenly, in 997, and his
eldest son, Mahmood, being then in Khorassan, a con-
siderable distance off, the younger son, Ismaiel, usurped
the supreme power, and collected an army ; but Mah-
mood, hastening thither at the head of his troops, re-
pulsed the forces of Ismaiel with such vigour that he
was forced to retire and take refuge in the fort at Ghus-
nee, whither Mahmood pursued him, and invested the
place. At length want of provisions obliged Ismaiel to
treat for a surrender ; and on condition of his personal
safety being secured, he gave up the keys of the garrison
and of the treasury to his brother. It is related of Mah-
mood, that he, having built a pleasure-house in a garden
near the city of Grhusnee, when it was finished gave a
magnificent entertainment, to which he invited his father,
Sabuktagin. The son then asked his father's opinion re-
specting the house and garden, which had been much
admired by others. The king, to Mahmood's great dis-
appointment, told him that he looked upon the whole as
a bauble, which any of his subjects might have erected
if he had possessed the necessary funds, but " that a
HINDU CUSTOM OF JOHiR. 49
prince's business was to erect the more durable structure
of good fame, which might stand for ever, to be imitated,
but never to be equalled, by posterity." One of their
poets, named Nizami, made the following reflection upon
this : " Of all the magnificent palaces which we are told
Mahmood built, we now find not one stone upon another ;
but the edifice of his fame, as he was told by his father,
still triumphs over time, and seems established on a
lasting foundation."
Mahmood having made a vow to heaven that, as soon
as tranquillity prevailed in his own dominions, he would
turn his arms against the idolaters of Hindosta"n, marched
from Ghusnee, A.D. 1000, with 10,000 chosen horse, and
came to Peshawur, where he was opposed by Jeipal, the
Indian Prince of Lahore, who had brought a superior
force into the field ; but, after an obstinate battle, Mah-
mood was victorious, and Jeipal, with his principal friends,
was taken prisoner. The sixteen strings of jewels round
Jeipal's neck, each of which was valued at about 320,000
of our money, became, of course, the property of the con-
queror. After this victory, the king marched from Pesh-
awur and reduced the fort of Bitindi, releasing his pris-
oners upon the payment of a large ransom, and the
promise of an annual tribute, and returned to Ghusnee.
According to a Hindu custom which prevailed in those
days, that any rajah who had been twice defeated by
the Mussulmans should be considered unfit for further
command, Jeipal performed the Hindu sacrifice ofjoh&r,
or devotion, by burning himself to death outside the
walls of his capital. Having first raised his son Anang-
pal to the throne, he ordered a funeral-pile to be pre-
pared, on which he sacrificed himself to his gods. In
the year 1005, Mahmood again left Ghusnee, with the
D
50 THE MARCH OF MAHMOOD INTO HINDOSTAN.
intention of reconquering Moulta*n, which had revolted,
and was met by Anang-pal, whom he defeated, and
obliged to fly into Kashmir. Mahmood then entered
Moultan by way of Bitindi, after which he was prepar-
ing to return to Ghusnee, when he heard that Elich, the
Usbec king of Kashgar, in Tartary, had invaded his ter-
ritories. A great friendship had previously subsisted
between them, Mahmood having married Elich's daugh-
ter ; but when Mahmood marched into Hindosta"n, Elich
resolved to appropriate Khorassan, which had been left
quite unprotected.
The armies met near the Oxus, and Mahmood' s army
had been thrown into disorder, when he leapt from
his horse, and, kissing the ground, invoked the aid of
the Almighty. Mounting a war-elephant, he then made
a violent assault at the head of his troops, who seem
to have derived fresh courage from the determination
of their leader, on seeing him thus forcing his way
alone through the ranks of the enemy, who were then
driven back with great slaughter. Though Elich never
more took the field against Mahmood, he was, however,
anxious to pursue his flying enemy, though much dis-
suaded from it by his generals on account of the in-
clemency of the weather, it being then winter. But the
king persisted in attempting it, and followed the retreat-
ing troops for two days. On the third night a severe
storm overtook them in a desert district. The king's
tents were pitched with great difficulty, but the army
had all to lie down in the snow. Mahmood having
ordered large fires to be lit near his tents, he and his
courtiers soon became so warm that they began to
throw off their upper garments ; and when a chief, called
Dilk, who was renowned for his witty sayings, came in,
HINDU REIGN AT AN END IN LAHORE. 51
shivering with cold, the king turned to him and said,
" Go out, Dilk, and tell Winter that he may burst his
cheeks with blustering, as here we do not care for his
resentment." Dilk accordingly went out, and returning
in a short time, kissed the ground, and thus addressed
the king : " I have delivered your Majesty's message to
Winter, but the surly season replied, ' That if his hands
cannot tear the skirts of royalty, and hurt the attendants
of the king, yet he will so exercise his power to-night
on the army, that to-morrow morning Mahmood will be
obliged to saddle his own horses.' ' The king smiled at
this answer, and after reflecting a short time, determined
to retrace his steps. The following morning some hun-
dreds of men and horses were found to have perished
with the cold.
Lahore remained intact thirteen years longer, and
another Jeipal ascended the throne. In 1022 Mah-
mood suddenly marched down from Kashmir. Jeipal II.
fled, and the reign of the Hindus was at an end in
Lahore, though a final effort was made by them in
1045 to recover their lost sovereignty ; but they retired,
after a fruitless siege of six months. Lahore passed
in succession under the Ghusnivide, Ghorian, Slave,
Khilgi, and Toghlak dynasties, till, in 1397, it was
conquered by Timur or Tamerlane, who left a viceroy
to rule it.
Seen at a distance, the Mohammedan religion appears
to be a much purer faith than Hinduism; but the results,
as viewed in the present day, are decidedly in favour of
the latter. The Hindus, according to almost all persons
who have been long in India, are a much more indus-
trious and contented people than the Mussulmans, and
are, generally speaking, more honest and moral, and
52 PALACE IN THE FORT.
also more trustworthy in all their relations towards
Europeans and towards each other.
In A.D. 1436 Lahore was seized by Beholi Khan Lodi,
an Afghan chief, who eventually became emperor. In
the reign of his grandson the Afghan governor of Lahore
revolted, and invited Baber to help him. Baber took the
city in 1524, conquered the Patan army sent against
him, and plundered and partly burnt the place. He did
not remain long there, but a few days later marched on
towards Delhi.
This time, however, he only got as far as Sirhind, as
intrigues had begun against him. He returned to La-
hore, bestowed grants of the land which he had conquered
on some of his nobles, and returned to Cabul. Two
years later Baber again appeared. A feeble attempt was
made to oppose him at the river Kavi, near Lahore ; but
the force dispersed itself without coming to any engage-
ment, and Baber passed on into Hindostdn. This expe-
dition ended in 1526 in the victory Baber gained at
Panniput over the Patan army, in the capture of Delhi,
and the foundation of the Moghul empire.
The palace in the fort has a frontage of about 500 feet
from east to west, and was the work of four successive
emperors viz., Akbar, Jehangir, and Shah Jehan, with
additions by Aurungzebe, and later by the Sikhs. It is
curious and interesting from the exterior, being richly
ornamented with what is called kashi work. The com-
position of this has been analysed, and found to be a
layer of glass spread on a hard kind of plaster, formed
of a mixture of lime and silicious sand, which accounts
for its bearing the heat necessary to fuse the glass. This
art, as practised in India and Persia, is believed to have
been derived from China at the end of the thirteenth
KASHI-WORK. 53
century. The word Icashi is said to be of Arabic origin.
This substance was imported into Europe by the Arabians,
and was imitated by the Italians in the fourteenth century
in their majolica ware. In preparing the Jcashi work,
certain different kinds of sand containing sulphuret of
copper and magnetic iron were used. The oxides of
these, and the lead which was mixed with the lime, gave
the peculiar metallic lustre. Three distinct layers of
material were laid on : the plaster called khamir, which
was made of lime and pounded glass in certain propor-
tions, formed into a paste with rice-water, then dried
by a gentle heat, and afterwards covered with asthar,
which was composed of lime and pounded glass contain-
ing a good deal of lead. This was rendered soluble, and
painted on the plaster. The Jcdneh, or glass of various
colours, was then pounded and suspended in a viscid
fluid made from certain plants, and the tile painted over
with this. The whole was then placed in a furnace till
all the glass on the surface was fused. We were told
by a friend that some specimens of this work were
made in Lahore about twenty years ago by a very
old man, who then still practised this art, but would
impart the process to no one. This old workman de-
manded 50 rupees, or 5, for a single tile. The Jcashi
work may be called a species of mosaic rather than true
tile-work, as each little leaf or separate piece of colour
has been made in the requisite form, and then cemented
into its place. On the walls of the palace at Lahore,
in defiance of all ordinary Mohammedan rules, there are
representations of men, horses, elephants, and tigers.
A gentle winding incline leads to the upper part of
the fort, where it terminates in a large square contain-
ing many detached buildings now used as officers' and
54 OLD BUILDINGS IN THE FORT.
sergeants' quarters, &c. One building is set apart as a
Eoman Catholic chapel; and in another, which is entirely
of white marble, the services of the Church of England
are held.
The old work left in some of these buildings must
be of the time of Akbar, I should imagine ; the white
marble one, however, would appear to be of a later date.
All the columns are of red sandstone ; some are highly
ornamented in their whole height, with carving which
is quite equal in execution to the finest work which we
afterwards saw at Futtehpore Sikri, near Agra ; and,
therefore, I am inclined to attribute them to the same
period. The spaces between the pillars have been filled
up with masonry to convert the buildings into dwelling-
houses : in many parts the sloping eaves, with Hindi!
brackets supporting them, still remain in their original
places. These brackets, however, differ in one respect
from all others we had seen, inasmuch as instead of the
conventional elephant's head, the whole animal is sculp-
tured, with the Hindu bell-ornament hanging from its
trunk. Other brackets have well-executed lions or birds
carved upon them. Some of these buildings have coved
roofs, and small oriel balconies projecting on either side
of the pillared colonnade. We entered one of these, now
converted into the sergeant-major's quarters, which had
evidently been a small dwelling-house. There was a
room in the centre, and a colonnade had at one time
existed all round; but this in modern days had been
partitioned off into sleeping-rooms, and at present only
one side of the old colonnade remains. This has been
richly carved on the inner side, but when we saw it,
it was thickly covered with whitewash ; yet one can
trace sufficiently clearly the presence of carving upon
JEHANGIR'S TOMB AT SHADERA. 55
the walls to make one long to set to work and scrape
off the disfiguring crust which covers them.
Jehangir, as I have before stated, made Lahore his
capital. The tomb at Shadera was erected to his memory
by his wife, the proud and ambitious Nur-Mehal, in
connection with the wish he expressed to be buried at
Lahore when he was dying at Kajauri in Kashmir in
1627. It is related that Jehangir left her an annuity
equivalent to 250,000 of our money, and she is said
from that time forward to have always dressed herself
in white, as a token of inconsolable widowhood ; but in
spite of this she engaged in political intrigues, in order
to try and secure the succession for Sheriar, a son of
Jehangir by another wife, who had married her daughter
by her first husband, Shere Afkun.
Jehangir's tomb is not on the same side of the river
Ravi as Lahore, and is placed in a large garden, like
all Moghul tombs of any importance. In the centre of
this garden is a large square platform, about six feet
high. The tomb itself, which rests upon this plat-
form, is built of red sandstone inlaid with white marble.
It has no dome, but the roof of the building forms a
large terrace, which has a handsome tesselated pave-
ment. At each corner of this terrace there is a minar,
with a domed cupola. According to the khaduns (or
hereditary keepers of this tomb), it had originally a
central domed cupola on the roof, and over the whole
terrace were spread magnificent awnings of silk and
gold stuffs ; but they say these were removed by Baha-
dur Shah, the son of Aurungzebe, and also that it
was Ranjit Singh who carried off the marble latticed
parapet which surrounded the roof and the galleries of
the minars. A colonnade runs all round the interior of
56 TOMB OF NUK-MEHAL.
this tomb, and has small chambers opening out of it.
The vault in the centre of the building is approached on
all four sides by three small chambers opening out of
each other ; the walls of all these chambers are painted
with various flower patterns, and they, as well as the
central hall, have tesselated pavements composed of
coloured stones and marbles. Three of these approaches
terminate in pierced marble screens, through which the
tomb is visible ; the only entrance is on the fourth side.
In the middle of the central hall is a square platform
about eighteen inches high. This, and the sarcophagus
which rests upon it, are both of white marble, inlaid
with semi-precious stones in the style of the Taj at Agra.
At the head of the sarcophagus is a Persian inscription,
which has been translated as follows : " The illumined
resting-place of his Majesty, the asylum of pardon, Nur-
ud-din Jehangir Badshah," year of Hegira 1037 (A.D.
1628), which was the date of the erection of the sarco-
phagus ; and adding, " Eeason said Jehangir hath de-
parted from the world," year of Hegira 1036 (A.D. 1627),
being the date of the emperor's death.
Adjoining this garden there is another, containing the
tomb of Asiph Chan, a relation of Nur-Mehal's. This
tomb has a singular bulbous-shaped dome ; in the centre
of each of the four sides there is an arched recess filled
up with flower patterns in true tile-work, each group of
flowers having a different coloured groundwork. At a
short distance from these tombs, but separated from them
by the railway which goes to Jelum, are the remains
of the tomb of Nur-Mehal, which is of a large size, and
was originally very highly decorated, it is said, but now
not a trace of ornamentation remains. The Sikhs are
believed to have used it as a quarry, and to have built
SIKH INSURRECTIONS. 57
the Golden Temple at Amritsur with plunder from this
source.
There is much food for reflection in contemplating
the last resting-place of one who was so famed for her
personal beauty, whose lovely embroideries and artistic
talents were so renowned in her day, and who, from the
time she became the wife of Jehangir, belonged to the
most luxurious and splendid court of her time. And
now to see her tomb ! Divided from that of her husband
by the prosaic railroad, and denuded of decoration both
without and within, the sarcophagus is only of white
stucco, and no inscription remains.
During the interval between the years A.D. 1628 and
1657, Lahore enjoyed a time of peace and prosperity;
but during the latter part of the reign of Shah Jehan
and the struggles between his sons, Lahore upheld the
cause of Dara-Sheko, the oldest, and, according to our
views, the rightful heir, who lived in that city, and took
much interest in its welfare. In 1658, when he was
pursued by his brother Aurungzebe, Lahore gave him
men and money, but his cause was hopeless : he fled to
Ahmedabad, and shortly after was betrayed and killed.
During the reign of Aurungzebe, Lahore was but little
mixed up with political events, as that emperor chiefly
directed his attention to obtaining possession of the
Dekhari, and subduing certain rebellious tribes in Eaj-
putana. From the time of Aurungzebe's death to the
accession of Eanjit Singh, Lahore was a prey to Sikh in-
surrections, till, in 1712, Bahadur Shah, Aurungzebe's son
and successor, marched from Delhi in order to try and
crush the rebellion, but he died before gaining any very
decisive success. On his death the usual contest took
place between his two sons : the younger, being hotly pur-
58 TOMB OF ANARKALI.
sued, was drowned in the river Eavi whilst attempting
to cross it ; the other, by name Jehanda"r, after a reign
of seven months, was ousted by Farokshir, his brother's
son, and by him put to death. Their struggles en-
couraged the Sikhs to more excesses, and Farokshir was
obliged to take strong measures against them. He ap-
pointed Abdul Samad Khan, a man of known determina-
tion, as his viceroy, who gained brilliant successes, and
sent the Sikh leader to Delhi as a captive.
Lahore had twenty-one years of peace under the rule of
Abdul Samad Khan, and of his son, who succeeded him
in the viceroyalty viz., from 1717 till 1738, when the
Persians swept down, in the reign of their emperor, Nadir
Shah, the army being led by a great Turcoman warrior,
Nadir Kuli Khan. A very faint show of resistance was
made at Wasirabad, and again close to Lahore, but in
vain. The conquering army encamped in the Shalimar
gardens, and a month later marched on to Delhi, which
city, as we have already seen, they sacked, and despoiled
of all the wondrous jewels and treasures which had been
in a great measure collected by Shah Jehan and his
immediate predecessors.
One portion of the European part of Lahore is called
Anarkali ; and what is now St James's, or the Station
Church, is a building which contained the tomb of
Anarkali, a favourite slave girl of the emperor Akbar.
It is related that Jehangir being one day in his father's
apartments, he smiled upon the girl, and she returned
it, on which the emperor ordered her to be buried alive.
This tomb was erected by Jehangir in A.D. 1660, and
was originally placed beneath the central dome, but is
now in a side chamber ; it has a Persian inscription to
the following effect: " Ah, could I behold the face of my
BUDDHIST SCULPTURES IN MUSEUM. 59
beloved once more, I would give thanks unto my God
unto the day of resurrection."
Not far from St James's Church is the Museum,
which was erected in 1864 as a temporary building only.
Opposite the entrance is a famous piece of ordnance,
called Zamzamah, one of the largest known specimens
of native casting. It was made in 1760 by Shah Wali
Khan, by whom it was used in a battle at Panniput.
It afterwards came into the possession of the Sikh
Sardars, and was looked upon by them as a talisman of
supremacy. Eventually this cannon came into the
hands of Eanjit Singh, and was used by him at the siege
of Moultan in 1818. From the time that Moultan was
captured till the year 1860, this gun stood at the Delhi
gate of Lahore city. Many Hindus regard it as an in-
carnation of Mahade'o, and almost invariably, whenever
we have passed by, I have seen natives, to the number
of a dozen and more occasionally, standing round it,
regarding it with affectionate admiration, and rubbing
or stroking it. To such an extent has this been done,
that in one particular part the metal has a bright and
polished appearance. The museum contains specimens
of the antiquities, arts, and manufactures of the Pun-
jaub ; also a collection of native musical instruments, all
in one large apartment ; and a corresponding room on
the other side of the entrance is filled with specimens of
minerals, fossils, woods, timbers, grains, and raw silk ;
also models of various kinds of machinery, &c. ? &c.
"What most interested me were the old Buddhist sculp-
tures, which were most, if not all of them, discovered
and excavated by Dr Belle w, C.S.I., who is now the
sanitary commissioner for the Punjaub. They were
found in the province of Peshawar corresponding to the
60 BUDDHIST SCULPTURES IN MUSEUM.
ancient Gandhara, in two principal groups of ruins
viz., Takht-i-Bahi, and Jumal Garhi, to the west of the
Indus. Amongst these sculptures are two semi-colossal
figures made of a dark-looking stone, which was capable
of taking a high polish. One of these, supposed to be
a king, represents a young man with long hair flowing
down over his shoulders; he has a moustache, but no
beard, and his countenance is grave and thoughtful.
Drapery falls round the figure from the waist down-
wards, and covers the left arm. The left hand is per-
fect, but the right fore -arm and hand are wanting.
Small curls cover the top of the head ; part of the hair
is drawn up into a knot on the crown, and helps to sus-
tain a diadem which encircles the head. A necklace is
clasped almost tight round the throat of this statue, a
rope-like ornament hangs round the neck descending to
the chest, and a number of talismans strung on a cord
(much resembling those that many natives wear at the
present day) depend from the left shoulder and rest upon
the right hip. Another statue near this, and about the
same size, is represented with a plaited muslin robe fall-
ing in graceful folds, and descending nearly to the feet.
The left hand holds up the bottom of this robe ; the
right fore - arm and hand are missing. The hair is
arranged in tight little curls, and a knot of hair covers
the crown of the head. The statue of the king looks as
if it were a portrait from life, the expression of the coun-
tenance is so animated ; while the other has the peculiar
Buddhist type of contemplation and repose, and is with-
out ornaments of any kind. In another place there is
the seated figure of a king, which was found at Takht ;
this is about one-third the size of life. This, I think,
may also have been a portrait, and General Cunningham
PUBLIC GARDENS IN ANARKALI. 61
says of it, " I infer, with confidence, that this must have
been a royal portrait from the description of Hiouen
Thsang, the Chinese traveller, who says that an Indian
king had no step to his throne, but used a footstool,
which served the same purpose." There are four small
figures belonging to this group, two on either side of the
central one ; three of these are in an attitude of supplica-
tion, the fourth holds a chauri (or fan made of a yak's
tail) to fan away the flies.
There is also another statue about the same size as
the last named, which may, too, be a king's portrait.
The attitude is different : the left hand rests upon the
hip in an easy and graceful manner, the right fore-arm
is wanting, but from the position of the upper part of
the arm, it would appear to have been raised, as if
giving some command. Besides these, there are many
small fragments of minute Buddhist sculpture, which
have been considerably defaced and mutilated. In
some of these the figures are very numerous, each being
not more than four or five inches high. A long ex-
amination and study would be necessary to make out
the subjects of them, were it even possible, for much
must be left to conjecture only. On one fragment, two
friends appear to be having a joyful meeting; on another,
there was a seated figure in the midst, and other persons
advancing on either side as petitioners for some favour ;
some stones also had on them processions of men with
grotesque masks.
In the corridor which divides the two apartments there
is an ancient Sikh gun, supposed to be of the time of
Govind Singh, the last of their gurus, or teachers, who died
A.D. 1708. In the centre of this gun are two lions, each
bestridden by a warrior with a drawn sword in his hand.
62 LAHORE GOVERNMENT COLLEGE.
In Anarkali there are small public gardens, where a
band plays occasionally ; these are very well kept, and
at the time we were there the roses were in high beauty.
The kinds which seem to succeed best in India are the
tea varieties. The Mare'chal Niel grows everywhere in
great perfection, and all kinds of white and yellow
roses appear to do much better than the pink or red
ones : as a rule, these last seldom seem to produce what
in England we should call completely perfect flowers ;
either the centres are defective, or the petals have not
the entire regularity which is so much desired.
The Laurence gardens, containing the Laurence and
Montgomerie halls, are situated not far from the resi-
dence of the Lieut. -Governor. These halls are used
as places of public recreation, and a covered corridor
unites them. The gardens, which cover an area of
more than 100 acres, are very tastefully laid out on
ground which, till 1860, was nothing but a wild jungle.
Part of the land belongs to the Agri - Horticultural
Society of the Punjaub, and is under the superinten-
dence of a gardener sent out from Kew ; the remainder
belongs to the Municipality.
To Nur-Mehal is given the credit of inventing the
manufacture of attar of roses. This industry is now
prosecuted both at Lahore and Amritsar. The common
country rose the rosa centifolia is used, as being found
to yield a stronger essential oil than any foreign or
hybrid variety. A very pretty kind of striped wash-
ing silk is also made in Lahore, chiefly in three colours
only blue and white, black and white, and violet and
white in longitudinal stripes of various widths. Ivory
carving and turning is also carried on there. In the
educational department for natives, Lahore has also
JUMMA MUSJID. 63
made great advances. There is a Lahore Government
College, where Arabic, Persian, and Sanscrit, the classical
languages of the East, are compulsory subjects, but where
English, which is in India the only door to European
civilisation, is optional.
In Anarkali there is a high school for the children of
Europeans and Eurasians, a clergyman of the Church of
England being the headmaster. Besides these, there
are also missionary establishments a,nd a divinity school
for training and preparing native Christians for ordi-
nation. Mission schools for girls, and zenana mission
work, is also conducted by English ladies sent out for
this purpose by some of our societies at home.
In the Hazuri Bagh, or garden, near the fort, there
is a pretty kind of summer-house, standing on a plat-
form about four feet high, the whole being of white
marble. Much of the material is said to have been
pilfered from older buildings in the neighbourhood of
Lahore. The pavement of the platform is richly inlaid,
and the building itself has flowers, butterflies, and pea-
cocks, also water vessels carved in relief upon it. The
roof is flat, and has a balcony all round projecting from
it, which is supported on brackets. There is an open
colonnade all round the building, and a square space in
the centre, supported on pillars. The ceilings are com-
posed of delicate tracery in stucco, with small convex
mirrors in the intervening spaces. From the centre of
the roof rises a small open pavilion, supported on slen-
der pillars. From this garden a flight of steps, and an
archway known as the Koshnai gateway, leads to the
Jumma Musjid, which is a fair example of the latest
style of Moghul work : Humaion's tomb at Delhi may
be called a specimen of their earliest style. This gate-
64 TOMB OF RAN JIT SINGH.
way is of red sandstone ; its recessed archways and
windows are of stucco, painted in the brightest colours.
A tall minar is built into it at either corner ; and the
courtyard of the mosque, which is of a large size, has
minars at each of the four corners. The mosque, also
of red sandstone, is carved, but not richly so, and has
a certain amount of white marble inlaying, which is
more elaborate in the central entrance than in any other
part of the edifice. The three domes, made of white
marble with gilt pinnacles, are all nearly of the same
size, the centre one being considerably raised above the
others in order to give it height. The inscription on the
front of the mosque shows that it was built A.D. 1674,
during the reign of Aurungzebe, by Fidae Khan Khokah,
who was the emperor's master of ordnance. Its general
style and architectural details struck us as very inferior
to many specimens of the Moghul work of that period
which we had seen elsewhere : the minars no doubt have
lost much of their original effect from the absence of
their cupolas, which were so much shaken in 1840 by
an earthquake that they had to be removed.
The tomb of Eanjit Singh, surnamed the Lion of the
Punjaub, who belonged to the sect of warlike Sikhs, is
situated at one side of the Hazuri Bagh, and close to the
entrance of the fort. This building is raised on a double
platform ; the exterior is of white stucco, painted with
graceful designs in bright colours ; it has sloping eaves
all round, and several small projecting balconies. There
is one large dome in the centre, and numerous small
kiosks and cupolas surrounding this. In the interior
a corridor runs all round an open gallery, forming a
second storey ; the space in the centre is supported on
marble pillars, and open up to the roof; in the midst is
MOSQUE OF WAZIR ALI KHAN. 65
a small marble canopy, inlaid with the finest work in
semi-precious stones. This may be about 14 feet in
height. Above this there is a clear space to the ceiling,
which is coved, and painted in bright colours, red and
gold being the prevailing ones, and small pieces of look-
ing-glass let in. The ceilings in the corridor are decor-
ated in the same manner, only that, in some parts, red
and green foil has been introduced beneath the pieces of
glass, which has a pretty effect. In small recesses in the
walls of the corridor there are statues of Earn Chund, or
Rama (one of the incarnations of Vishnu), his wife Sita,
and Lakhsman, his brother ; also of Vishnu and his son,
and of Kali, the goddess of cruelty.
In one of the smaller buildings near Ranjit Singh's
tomb was a large statue of Kali, and small figures of
other Hindu gods, and in another the tombs of Ranjit's
son and grandson ; and there we found an old Sikh en-
gaged in reading the Granth, their sacred book. The
presence of all these idols shows how much the Sikh
religion must have changed since it was first founded,
and how much of the debased form of Hinduism has
crept in amongst this sect, of whose original form of
worship I purpose giving an account later on.
Wazir Ali Khan's mosque was built A.D. 1634, by
Hakim Ali-ud-din, a Patan of Chiniot, who rose to the
position of wazir in the reign of Shah Jehan. It is situ-
ated in a small open space, just within one of the gates
of the native city of Lahore, and is approached by a short
flight of steps leading to a square entrance gateway,
domed within, though this is scarcely visible from the
outside. There are small domed cupolas at each corner
of the entrance gateway, and at each corner of the court-
yard of the mosque is an octagonal minar. The interior
E
G6 MOSQUE OF WAZIR ALI KHAN.
of this quadrangle lias small chambers all round it, all of
which appeared to be inhabited. There are two small
gateways on the north and south sides of the mosque,
which, as is always the case in India, occupies the whole
of the western side. The four minars, and the walls of
the courtyard, are ornamented with medallions of the
kashi work, and the exterior of the mosque is decorated
in the same manner. The central doorway is entirely
covered with this work : the designs have a decided
Indo Mohammedan character. Near the top of the
minars are represented cypresses, of a very blue colour,
and on other portions of the building there are vases of
flowers, and Arabic writing, all in the same material.
The interior exhibits a totally distinct type of work,
and the designs are of a Persian character, both in
colouring and form ; so that one could well imagine
that they had been copied from some Persian carpet.
This work also differs entirely from the kashi, in that it
has not been made of small pieces, which were after-
wards cemented together ; but the whole surface would
appear to have had the designs painted upon it like
fresco, and a sort of porcelain glaze put on afterwards.
It seemed to us a great pity that these arts should now
be lost, as, were the artists of our day able to execute
such work, both the inside of our houses and their ex-
terior walls might be adorned with the most exquisite
designs, as, in all probability, a glaze of this kind would
resist even our northern climate.
CHAPTER V.
PREPARING FOR CAMP LIFE IN KASHMIR, SRINAGAR BOATS USED IN NAVI-
GATING THE RIVER JELUM THE RACES WHICH PEOPLE KASHMIR
LIDDAR VALLEY SNOWSTORM IN MAY LOVELY VEGETATION ANCIENT
TEMPLES AT MARTUND AND AVANTIPORE GULMURG OUR LOG HUTS
RETURN TO SRINAGAR DAL LAKE, ITS FLOATING ISLANDS GARDENS
AND PALACES ON ITS SHORES.
OUE, chief business in Lahore was to engage servants and
to buy tents and other camp furniture for our projected
visit to Kashmir. Bedsteads, chairs, and tables are all
made either to take to pieces or to fold up for the
convenience of transport. At that time, the railroad
being open only as far as Wazirabad, we had to take a
carriage from thence to Eawal Pindi, 110 miles. This
is a very pretty little station, within view of the Him-
alayas. It is very important that travellers intending
to go into Kashmir should remember that it is advis-
able to engage as few servants as possible belonging
to Southern or Central India ; they should be chosen
from the Punjaub in preference, as men from lower
down country are quite unfit for the necessary roughing
it in that colder climate.
We left Eawal Pindi about 7th April 1876, and as
it was an unusually late season it was not possible to
drive up to Murree (38 miles), nor could our baggage
be sent up in carts, as is generally done. We had to
68 ENTRANCE INTO KASHMIR TERRITORY.
ride the greater part of the way, and hire coolies to
carry our tents, &c., which is the usual mode of con-
veyance all through Kashmir, where there are no roads
for wheeled carriages. We arrived at Murree thoroughly
drenched, having been caught in a storm of rain and
hail. After remaining there one day, on 10th April we
began our onward way. There are twelve marches
between Murree and Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir,
varying in length from 10 to 16 miles. The first two,
each about 10 miles, being downhill, can easily be ac-
complished in one day, thereby reaching Kohala. On
the next march, and soon after leaving the bungalow,
the river Jelurn is crossed by a suspension-bridge, and
there we first entered Kashmirian territory. The next
six marches took us through fine scenery, the valley
contracting a good deal in parts, our paths sometimes
running along the bank of the river, and sometimes
many hundred feet above it.
Between Chata-Kalas and Kara, the river Nainsiik
(a tributary of the Jelum) joins it. We were detained
there some hours, being unable to cross this stream,
for a mountain thunderstorm had caused such a rush
of water as to render it impossible to gain the other
side. Towards the afternoon, however, it was resolved
to attempt it ; and sending for a band of men from
the village accustomed to such work, a rope was taken
across by an expert swimmer, and made fast on the
opposite side, the object of this rope being that a man
might hold on to it and thus save himself from losing
his footing, owing to the violence of the current. Even
with this assistance the ordinary coolies utterly re-
fused to carry our baggage over, but as soon as it was
at all feasible these same villagers carried it, each
CROSSING A SWOLLEN RIVER. 69
man being supported by another, who held the rope
with his other hand. When it came to our turn, it was
rather nervous work ; we were each carried across sep-
arately in a piece of carpeting fixed in a frame in shape
somewhat like a boat, and having long poles at each
end, which rested on the shoulders of the bearers. Four
men carried this machine, two at either end ; other four
clung on to and assisted these. Our horses were forced
into the water, and thus we all reached the other side in
safety. On our seventh march from Murree, shortly be-
fore reaching Uri, we saw on our left hand a rope-bridge
such as are seen in many parts of the Himalayas, and
are in general use amongst the natives, though our road
never led us where we had occasion to cross one. One,
or sometimes two, ropes form the pathway; on either
side there is a rope (held in position by forked sticks
placed at intervals) which the passenger holds to steady
himself, though once we saw a man pass over with a
small burden, when this, of course, could not be done,
as he had only one hand at liberty.
On the following march, near the village of Banniyar,
and about three miles from Naoshera, there is one of
the best preserved temples in the valley. Its dimen-
sions are not large, being only 145 feet by 120, taking
the measurement of the whole area, which is surrounded
on all sides by a pillared colonnade. Between each pillar
is a trefoiled arch, with a detached architrave, behind
which is a niche, which, I suppose, may at some period
have contained a statue. The space between this colon-
nade and the central temple has, in former times, as
is the case of most, if not all, old temples in Kashmir,
at least been capable of being flooded with water. The
course of ages in this instance had brought down suffi-
70 LARGE BOATS ON THE RIVER JELUM.
cient mud and silt to bury the temple itself in a great
degree, but it was excavated a few years ago by the
order of the Maharajah, and is now in an almost perfect
state. The roof of the central building is of shingles,
but it is doubtful whether this was always the case.
The whole of this and the following march our road led
us through a highly wooded district, the chief feature
in which were the enormous deodaras. One, roughly
measured by us, was seventeen feet in girth at six feet
from the ground, and from thence grew up to a great
height, gradually diminishing in size, and straight as
the mast of a ship.
From the moment we got into Kashmir territory, after
crossing the bridge at Kohala, the whole country at that
season appeared one vast orchard, as it abounds in wild
pomegranate, apricot, apple, and pear trees, which -were
then all in full blossom. Between Naoshera and Bara-
mula the view is certainly most striking, as the course of
the Jelum can thence be traced for a considerable dis-
tance ; and the Woolar Lake is also visible. The last
two marches being usually made in boats on the Jelum,
at Baramula we embarked on board a so-called doongah.
These boats are flat-bottomed, and about fifty feet long
by eight feet wide in the centre, tapering to a point at
each end. They form all the year through the permanent
abode of the boatmen and his family, who occupy about
one -third of the length of the boat : their cooking is
carried on in two receptacles made of baked clay. The
fire is placed in these, and huge jars of metal and pot-
tery rest upon them the former containing the family
meal of rice, whilst the vegetables of the season are pre-
pared in the latter. Mattings, formed of a kind of reed
which grows plentifully on the lakes in Kashmir, separ-
MODE OF LIFE ON BOARD THE DOONGAH. 71
ate the boat -people from the traveller, who has also a
thick awning overhead formed of layers oi the same, the
space allotted to him being about twenty feet in length
by eight in width. The front part of the boat must be
kept clear for the boat-people to punt when occasion re-
quires, though the more usual mode of progression is by
towing the boat from the bank, the whole family join-
ing in this except the mother, who, armed with a small
paddle resembling in form the ace of spades, acts as the
steerer. The planks of these boats are all made of the
deodara ; but as saws can hardly be said to exist, or to
be used in Kashmir, they are formed by cutting away
with an adze the whole of the exterior of the tree, till a
plank of the required size is left in the centre.
Our party had by this time been enlarged a young
friend, Mr H., having joined us so that when we left
Baramula our flotilla consisted of five boats : my hus-
band and I in one, J. and his young friend in another; a
third was used as a cooking boat for the whole party;
and the two remaining ones held our united baggage
and the rest of our servants the sa'is's (or grooms)
marching the ponies up by land. At stated hours the
cooking boat is brought alongside that of the master,
and the two are temporarily joined, the dinner, or
whatever meal is required, passed over the side, the
boats going on all the time, though perhaps their pro-
gress is slightly retarded.
The term " valley " is rather a misnomer as regards
Kashmir, taken as a whole. The Jelum flows from
south-east to north-west, through a plain, which tradi-
tion says was once a lake, and which must have been
about eighty miles long by fifteen in width ; but the
greater part of the so-called valley consists of mountains,
"72 EARLY HISTORY OF KASHMIR.
of raised terraces, and of glens, descending from the
Himalayan ranges which surround it.
The seasons are divided into summer and winter, and
are of nearly equal duration. Many of the mountains
are clothed with rich forests, and at their base is a fine
alluvial soil, which is very productive. The whole of the
land is now the absolute property of the ruler, though
this was not the case before it came into the hands of
the Sikhs, as under former sovereigns grants of land had
been made to many persons for various periods, but
Eanjit Singh made a general resumption, thus reducing
thousands to penury.
Under the present system, when the grain has been
trodden out, a division takes place between the farmer
and the Government : formerly this was an equal one,
but the Government had advanced in its demands till
it now requires seven - eighths of the produce of the
land near the city, and 'three-fourths of the more remote
crops. The straw belongs to the cultivator, and he con-
trives to bribe the watchman or overseer to let him steal
his own produce. He is allowed to keep cattle on the
mountains during the summer, may cut wood, and bring
it into the city for sale, and may also sell wild-greens,
butter, and milk. It would appear from this alone that
the farmer is not too well off; but the case is aggravated
by the method employed in disposing of the govern-
mental share. This is sent into the market, a high price
put upon it, no one is permitted to offer his produce at
a lower rate, or sometimes even to dispose of it at all,
until all the public corn has been sold.
The early chronology of Kashmir is much involved in
obscurity. The first religion is supposed to have been
the Naga or Snake worship. Hinduism, Buddhism, and,
NATIVE CITY OF SRINAGAR. 73
again, Naga worship, are said to have successively pre-
vailed in the valley. According to Ferishta, the Persian
historian, the line of Mussulman kings began A.D. 1326.
General Cunningham gives 1334 as the date. Their
rule lasted till 1558, when Akbar annexed it to the
Moghul empire. After the death of Aurungzebe a state
of anarchy prevailed in Kashmir for about a hundred
years, when it was acquired by the Sikhs, who retained
possession of the country till after the first Sikh war,
when, in 1846, the British Government made it over to
the present dynasty, who are of Kajput race, and were
at that time rajahs of Jamu.
The native city of Srinagar is built on both sides of
the river Jelum, and extends about four miles, or nearly
so, following the windings of the river, though the right
bank appears to be the most populous. There are seven
wooden bridges connecting the two sides of the city:
these bridges are formed of huge trunks of firs, or deo-
daras, laid in rows one above the other, each row being
at right angles to the preceding one ; the piers thus
formed gradually widening as they increase in height,
and approaching one another, till, when they are suffici-
ently close, they are connected by beams thrown across
from pier to pier, and the roadway is formed. This
same principle has been carried out in regard to all the
smaller bridges in the interior of the country, and also
in Ladakh though where the streams are small no piers
are necessary, and the beams are laid from either bank,
each projecting beyond the former one, till they finally
meet in the centre. Near the banks of the river are
innumerable Hindu* temples, the exterior of which dazzles
the eye with their bright metal roofs. Though accus-
tomed as we are to our grand Gothic cathedrals, and
74 NATIVE POPULATION OF KASHMIR,
viewed by the side of Mohammedan mosques, the small-
ness of their size is very disappointing, yet the religion
of the Hindu's is not one of united public worship like
that of the Christian or the Moslem.
The Maharajah's palace is on the left bank of the
river one of the largest of the Hindu temples almost
joins it. Still higher up on the same side, and above
the limits of the city proper, is a baradurrie a large
summer palace in which dinners or entertainments to
Europeans are given. On one occasion when the Lieu-
tenant-Go vernor of the Punjaub went up for the summer,
it was given over to him as his residence. The Maha-
rajah is himself a Hindu, as are also most of the prin-
cipal officials who come up with him each summer from
Jamu, his other capital.
The resident population consists of the Pundits
also Hindus, who are an educated class, inasmuch as
they can read and write, and become bankers, mer-
chants, &c. These are said to be descendants of the
ancient inhabitants of Kashmir. Their Mussulman
conquerors probably came from Afghanistan ; and
these last, though forming an immense majority of the
population, are now in their turn oppressed by the
Hindtis. The Pundits are much fairer in complexion
than the Mohammedans ; have, many or most of them,
a decided Jewish type of features ; and some of their
women belonging to the higher classes, who keep much
in the house, are almost as fair as Europeans, though
their skins are of a dead white ; and they rarely have
the red tinge underneath, though I have seen it occa-
sionally. The dress of the Pundits is a long woollen
robe, in form like a dressing-gown, made with very wide
sleeves, and confined at the waist with a broad sash of
THE EUROPEAN PART OF SRINAGAR. "75
cotton cloth. On the head they wear a turban folded in a
peculiar manner. Their women wear a dress of the same
form as that of the men, only the material is of a lighter
texture, and is dyed a dark-red colour. A large white
handkerchief is bound tightly round the head, so that
not a particle of the hair is seen; over this again they
throw a long piece of white calico, scarf wise, which
envelops the figure down to the knees. Some of the
Punditanas possess beautiful jewellery of a style which
they alone wear.
The tailors, jewellers, workers in papier-mache, shawl-
weavers and embroiderers, and also the servant class,
are all Mohammedans. The boat-people, I believe, are
likewise of this faith, though they seem to form quite
a distinct class, and have a totally different type of
features. The boat-people, both men and women, never
appeared to wear anything but a long white calico dress
buttoned close round the throat, and sometimes, though
not always, a sash of the same material round the waist.
The boatmen also arrange their turbans in a different
manner to either the Pundits or the other Mussulmans.
The boatmen's wives have usually a scarf of white
calico thrown over the head.
Arrived in the European part of Srinagar, we stopped
at the house of the officer on special duty, to whom we
had been particularly recommended, arid he caused one
of the bungalows set apart for visitors to be opened for
us. Those allotted to married strangers and their
families are situated in the munshi bagh, or garden.
The view from thence is one which must ever remain
with pleasure upon the memory. Our bungalow was not
more than fifty paces from the smoothly-flowing river
Jelum, being only separated from it by a wide pathway
"76 METHOD OF TAKING HONEY IN KASHMIR.
and a sloping bank. On the opposite side of the river
were richly-cultivated fields, which then were green, but
later on took a golden hue ; and in the extreme distance
were to be seen the snowy heights of the Pir Panjal,
which is the highest pass into Kashmir; and on the
right hand, looking down the river, was a nearer and
lower range of hills, on which on clear days a part of
the mountain resort called Gulmurg can be distin-
guished. Hearing that cholera had broken out in the
native city, and threatened to be serious, after two or
three days' rest we left Srinagar, and moved on, with
our servants, tents, and baggage, to the Liddar valley,
going by water as far as Islamabad, whence two marches
took us to Palgaum, about sixty miles from the capital.
In the Liddar valley we first saw how the Kashmirians
supply their want of sugar, as the sugar-cane does not
grow in their country. They use honey as a substitute,
and have a rather singular method of obtaining it. A
round hole is made in one wall of the house (their
dwellings are for the most part, if not entirely, of wood),
and in this hole they insert a tube of baked clay, lined
with a plastering of clay mortar, which is worked up
with the husk of rice, or with thistle-down. This tube
is about 14 inches in diameter and 22 inches in length.
Outside the house the orifice is closed by a platter of
red pottery-ware, which has a small hole in the centre
for the bees to enter. A dish of similar ware closes the
tube within the house, and is also kept in its place by a
plastering of clay mortar. When the comb is fit to be
taken, the master of the house removes the plate within
with some ceremony, and lays some burning grass near
the entrance of the hive, which causes the bees to come
out and stupefies them for a time only ; after which they
A SNOWSTORM IN THE MIDDLE OF MAY. 77
again return to the same place, though our Kashmiri
servant, from whom I got much of this information,
told me that an unskilful hand will often kill the bees
outright. We remained altogether about five weeks in
that valley the gentlemen going away occasionally for a
few days' shooting, taking only the small tents with them.
On 15th May we were overtaken by a snowstorm
such a thing at that season never having occurred before
in the recollection of the lumbadar, or head-man, of the
village, who was an old man. In the space of two hours
the snow lay four inches deep on the roof of our tent.
Had this happened in the night, or, as it was, had much
more snow fallen before we could get efficient assistance
to remove it, our tent might have collapsed and the
consequences been serious. We were first aroused to
our danger by the bending of the bamboo poles, and
the strange appearance of the interior canvass on one
side. As much as possible was at once removed ; long
poles to aid in knocking it off sent for from the village,
together with several men, who were appointed to watch
by turns all night for fear of another storm coming on,
which, happily, was not the case. Before we left the
Liddar valley I made two excursions with my husband,
one being to Tannin one march up the valley leading
to Ambernath, where there are some caves which are
much resorted to as a place of pilgrimage ; our other
expedition was to Aro, up the other branch of the fork
which the Liddar valley makes at this point. The
scenery on both these marches was very striking, and
thoroughly repaid us for the fatigue and scrambling
which was necessary, for in neither case was it possible
to ride the whole way. Whilst we were staying at Aro,
where we remained two nights, we came upon some
78 ANCIENT TEMPLE AT MAKTUND.
lovely wild-flowers : amongst others the wild peony, with
large, white, single flowers, covered considerable patches
of land ; and we also saw one or two bulbous plants
quite new to us.
One night a good number of bara-singh (a species of
red deer), with immense horns, came down to our tents
and much disturbed the equanimity of little Jip a dog
belonging to one of our servants who had attached him-
self to us ; and had my husband brought his rifle with
him, it being bright moonlight, no doubt he might have
bagged one or more, so close did they seem to be,
judging from the sounds we heard.
We left Palgaum finally the first days of June, and
at that season found the whole road down to Islamabad,
but more especially the last march from Eishmakan, one
garden of wild-flowers. The sweet jasmine of our gardens
was growing as a large bush in wild profusion ; also a
climbing rose, with large cream-coloured flowers, grew in
a most luxuriant manner. Besides these, we saw what
I believed to be two varieties of acacia, a dwarf and
a tree species : both had magenta - coloured blossoms.
There were also four or more other varieties of the wild
rose, and numerous smaller flowering-plants carpeted
the ground.
On this march we made a slight detour in order to
visit the temple at Martund, the largest in Kashmir,
whose position alone would render it worthy of a visit.
Fergusson, in his volume on ' Indian Architecture/ states
that the enclosure of this building was built by Lalita-
ditya, who reigned A.D. 725 to 751 ; that all authorities
are agreed with him on this point ; and adds it as his
opinion that the same ruler also erected the temple
itself, though there are no inscriptions which can enable
EARTHQUAKES NOT UNUSUAL IN KASHMIR. 79
its date to be fixed with certainty. General Cunningham,
however, ascribes the building of this temple to Kanaditya,
who reigned A.D. 578 to 594. The temple itself is situated
about 500 feet above the plain, on a plateau of some
miles in extent, directly behind which rises a mountain
of considerable height. The view from the temple forms
a perfect panorama on three sides. On one side can be
seen Islamabad and the plain beyond leading to Vernag;
and from this plateau can also be seen the mountains
dividing the Liddar and the Sind valleys, a con-
siderable portion of the course of the Jelum, and the
mountains beyond it. The proportions of this temple,
though infinitely smaller, are said to resemble more
nearly than any other known building the temple at
Jerusalem. It has evidently been much adorned with
sculptures, though, from the friable nature of the stone,
the subjects of these are for the most part hardly dis-
cernible. According to Fergusson, the building measures
60 feet in length by 38 feet in width; but this is sup-
plemented by two wings which, singularly enough, are
detached from the main building a space of 18 inches
or 2 feet existing between and it is difficult to see the
use of these side erections, which no one hitherto ap-
pears to have attempted to explain. Like the temple
at Banniyar, already described, this also stands in the
centre of a courtyard, and is surrounded by a colonnade.
From the present state of the ruins one might quite
fancy that this temple had been destroyed by an earth-
quake. Earthquakes are not uncommon in Kashmir.
One was felt at Srinagar whilst we were in the Liddar
valley, where we seem to have been beyond its influence.
Arrived at Islamabad we again took a boat, and on
our return journey to Srinagar we stopped at Avanti-
80 GULMURG.
pore, where we saw the ruins of two temples which were
excavated a few years ago at the suggestion of Bishop
Cotton. One of these appears to have possessed a much
greater richness of detail than the temple at Martund,
for we noticed many stones which had evidently been
sculptured on both sides, showing that the building had
been richly adorned without as well as within.
On again reaching Srinagar, we found that the rains
were shortly expected. These are there nothing com-
pared to what is experienced in India ; but they arrive
about the same period, and usually last with more or
less violence for six weeks or longer. We were told that
Srinagar is not considered healthy during that time, and
therefore we went up to Gulmurg (signifying " flower-
meadow "), about thirty miles distant. It certainly
deserves this name, for the quantity and variety of wild-
flowers in the neighbourhood is quite extraordinary.
Gulmurg lies at a height of more than 7000 feet above
the sea (Srinagar is 2000 feet lower), and consists of a
cup or hollow in the mountains of an irregular form.
Surrounding this basin are several hills on which visitors
build temporary huts or pitch their tents. In this
hollow a small native bazaar rises every year, occupied
by Parsees and other dealers, who bring up supplies and
stores of provisions for the English visitors. A portion
of the lending library is brought up, and the building
where the books are kept forms a point of assembly
where all congregate in the afternoons to read the
papers, &c., or play at badminton on the meadow below.
A small wooden church has been erected, and the chap-
lain at Srinagar for the time being goes up to Gulmurg
for a few weeks each year. We fixed ourselves on the
hill known as the Resident's, from the circumstance that
THE YARKUND ENVOY. 81
the officer on special duty has a bungalow there the
only one in the place which is looked after and kept in
permanent repair. J. discovered the remains of two
rooms near this spot, and also a building of one room
only, for himself. To the ruined edifice he added a
dining-room and dressing-room, also a small verandah.
To build these, put the rest into habitable repair, and
mend our nephew's own habitation, cost somewhat less
than 4. These houses, or rather huts, properly speak-
ing, are built of rough planks, fashioned without a saw,
like the boats before described. The coolies are allowed,
under certain restrictions, to cut down trees for this
purpose ; into the interstices of these planks is put moss,
&c. The roof is made in the same manner, and the
whole dwelling is plastered outside with wet mud, which
requires renewing to a certain extent every few days,
especially the roof, after a hard storm of rain. With
matting on the floors, these abodes are anything but
uncomfortable ; and we remained at least a month in
ours, after which we returned to Srinagar, where the
Yarkund Envoy, Yakoob Khan, had arrived with his
suite. He was attended by an English officer, and
passed through Kashmir on his way to visit the Viceroy
at Simla, and to take part in the proclamation at Delhi,
en route for England.
Yakoob Khan was a fine-looking intelligent man, of
perhaps forty -five years of age ; his face bore the impress
of thought to a much greater extent than is usually
seen in the countenances of natives of Eastern countries.
He speaking nothing but Persian, we could only con-
verse with him through an English interpreter. He
was anxious to know if we intended visiting Yarkund,
and said he would give us every facility in his power
82 THE SHALIMAR AND NISHAT GARDENS.
for doing so, &c., &c. From this conversation, I think,
began to date our desire to go part of the way thither
at least, and finally led to our going to Ladakh.
The envoy, during his stay in Sririagar, gave an enter-
tainment at the Naseeb Bagh, an old garden dating from
the time of the Emperor Jehangir, and situated on the
Dal, or city lake. On going thither on the appointed
day we found awnings and tents prepared, the ground
beneath these covered with the richest Persian carpets,
and a feast provided which, alas ! none of us Europeans
could partake of, as far as the meats were- concerned,
for want of knives and forks. There were kids and
lambs roasted whole, and no doubt stuffed with pistachio
nuts in the orthodox manner, had we only possessed
the means of ascertaining it.
There is a river flowing out of the Dal which con-
nects it with the Jelum ; but this communication is
capable of being completely shut off by means of large
flood-gates, which are closed when the lake sinks below
a certain level. The lake is fed by streams flowing into
it from the mountain on its eastern side ; and possibly
it may also have springs in its midst, for a very con-
siderable body of water usually flows out of it. The
Shalimar and the Mshat gardens, on its eastern shore,
are of large extent; they both contain pavilions and
fountains still in working order. These gardens were
also laid out by Jehangir, who, together with his wife
Nur-Mehal, used constantly to visit Kashmir.
The lake now brings in a considerable revenue to
the state, chiefly derived from the Singhara, a species
of sweet nut growing in the water, which, when first
boiled, and then roasted, is not unlike the Spanish
chestnut in flavour, and forms an important item in
FLOATING GARDENS ON THE LAKE. 83
the food of the people, who also eat the stems of an-
other water - plant, the Nymphsea lotus, when boiled
till tender. The floating gardens which have been
formed on this lake are also very curious. A long kind
of rush, which grows in great abundance, is cut off just
below the surface of the water. On these stalks, when
laid flat and pressed somewhat closer together, reeds
and sedges are put, arid mud piled, which sinks into
the mass of matted roots ; long stakes are then driven
into the ground beneath to keep the whole in place.
Floating gardens are thus made which vary in size :
some (possibly by being afterwards added to) are of
considerable extent. On these islands are grown sweet
and water melons, cucumbers, vegetable marrows, and
gourds, in great quantities. One inconvenience attends
them, which is, that a man's neighbour will occasionally
remove the stakes and transport the whole island bodily,
in the course of a night, to a distant spot, rendering it
impossible for him to swear to his own property.
84
CHAPTER VI.
STARTING FOR LADAKH SONAMURG ASCENT OF THE ZOJI-LA PASS DRAS
NATIVE POLO PLAYING NAMYIKA AND FOT-LA PASSES LAMA YURU
CHINESE ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OF THE THIBETANS THEIR RE-
LIGION EXCLUSION OF EUROPEANS FROM CHINESE THIBET VISIT TO
LAMA SERAI, OR MONASTERY AT LAMA YURU DESCRIPTION OF A RE-
LIGIOUS SERVICE HEARD THERE NATURE OF COUNTRY BETWEEN
LAMA YURU AND LEH.
ABOUT the 4th or 5th of September we left Srinagar
for Ladakh, starting in the evening, going in a boat as
far as Ganderbal, at the entrance of the Sind valley,
and the next morning riding on to Kangan. In this
valley there are some fine walnut-trees, and also very
large planes : these last are one of the trees most
commonly seen in Kashmir, and yet they are not in-
digenous, for we were told they do not ripen their seed,
but are always multiplied by cuttings ; in fact, I believe
they are known to have been introduced by the Moghuls.
From Kangan it is three marches to Sonamurg, or the
" Golden Meadow," which lies at a height of 9000 feet
above the sea. Several valleys converge at this spot.
Some native huts are situated in a hollow or cup, which
may have anciently been the bed of a lake ; and here
is also a small wooden church, and four or five wooden
houses, in the style of those at Gulmurg. A large glacier,
at the upper end of a narrow valley, faced the bungalow
in which we were. Pouring rain detained us there one
THE ZOJI-LA PASS. 85
day, but the following one we were able to march on
to Baltal, before reaching which cultivation almost
ceases. The scenery is, however, very grand, and the
mountains on either side of the valley are clothed with
dense pine forests : the lower slopes are used as grazing
grounds, to which the sheep are taken in great numbers
during the summer. At Baltal the Sind valley ends.
There being no accommodation but a large log-hut used
by natives, we pitched our tents almost at the foot of
the Zoji-la Pass (11,500 feet), which leads into the Dras
valley. Two streams here unite to form the Sind river :
one comes down a lovely wooded ravine to the south ;
but we went northwards, and parallel with the stream,
which rises beyond the top of the pass. The ascent is
very steep and trying; during the winter and early
spring it is only practicable by following up the gorge
of the river, which at those periods is filled with snow
to the depth of fifty feet. The view in ascending this
pass becomes very striking after a certain distance.
Behind is the richly wooded Sind valley ; and in front,
the sterile though grand mountains of Ladakh. After
the steepest part of the ascent has been overcome, there
is a difficult and steep descent, and a snow-bridge has
to be crossed ; after which a gradual ascent leads to the
water-shed whence an easy descent brought us down
to Mataiyan, where we halted for the night, and the
next day reached Dras. There the valley becomes wide
and undulating, with good pasturage. There is a small
fort, and the people began to have the Tartar type of
features; though they said they were not Buddhists,
but Hindus or Mohammedans.
At Dras we first saw the native game of polo played,
which is said to have had its origin in Thibet. Music
86 CHARACTER OF THE KASHMIR GOVERNMENT.
is with them an indispensable accompaniment when
they are playing : the instruments were drums, and a
rude kind of clarionet. On the next march to Tashgam
we still saw grass, but beyond that the vegetation be-
comes very scanty. During the whole of this march we
followed the Dras river till it joins the Kargil river,
which is again followed till Kargil itself is reached.
This place is the headquarters of a district, and, like
Dras, has a fort, garrisoned by about twenty soldiers. At
Shergol, the next stopping place, we saw the first Bud-
dhist monastery, and there also we first saw the men
with pig-tails in the Chinese fashion. Just where the
two races meet can be contrasted the great difference
between the Kashmiri proper and the Thibetan, or Bot.
The former is invariably melancholy looking, as if he
were living under a harsh and oppressive rule, and
rarely or ever laughs or smiles ; whereas the Bot, though
now living under the same government, is always merry
and gay, and spends his spare time in laughing and
joking with his associates.
Eeligion and race may both have something to do,
perhaps, with this difference of temperament, but it must
be remembered that the Mohammedans of Kashmir have
been much longer under foreign rule, having been ter-
ribly ill-used by the Sikhs. Ladakh was only conquered
by the father of the present ruler of Kashmir, and had
up to that time been independent, and governed by its
own rajahs. We must also take into account that the
present Government treats the Bots much more lenient-
ly than its Mussulman subjects : perhaps the country
being thinly populated, and much of the land sterile
and mountainous, it is impossible to make any heavy
demands upon them.
COLOSSAL HELIEF OF BUDDHA. 87
I will illustrate the manner in which the people are
ground down in Kashmir by the heads of villages or
others invested with a little authority, and relate here an
anecdote told us by a friend who was in that country
a year or two before our visit. He wished to give new
puggrees (or turbans) of a particular colour to the boat-
people who were regularly in his employ, in order that
he might recognise them at a distance. But these men
all prayed him not to insist upon this, but if he was
satisfied with them, give them a little money instead, as
after he had left, the officials seeing them with any good
new clothes would say, " Oh, the sahib has been very
good to them, and no doubt has given them lots of
presents," insist on obtaining from them all they could
of their hard-earned summer wages on the strength of
this, and thus squeeze them more than they would
otherwise have done.
On the next march, about three miles beyond Shergol,
we saw a colossal image of Buddha, in alto-rilievo, about
twenty feet high, carved on a huge isolated rock ; and
shortly afterwards began to ascend the Namyika Pass
(12,000 feet). The ascent is about five miles long, and
a very gradual one. At Karbu there are the remains
of a large fort, on an inaccessible - looking rock. The
following day we had to cross the Fot-la Pass (about
14,500 feet). Lama Yuru, our next stopping-place, was
about 2000 feet lower, and is just visible from the top
of the pass. When we reached the summit, I observed
a B6t, who accompanied us, on reaching this point, look
towards that place, place his hands together in the atti-
tude of supplication, and apparently repeat a prayer.
At Lama Yuru the scenery is of the most rugged de-
scription ; and, as a rule, the soil is very barren. Much
88 CHINESE ACCOUNT OF THE THIBETAN RACE.
of the land around it is a mass of lacustrine deposit,
which sometimes rises to 15,000 feet above the sea
level, which would seem to show that at one time a large
' O
inland sea had existed there, or probably large detached
sheets of water, with the higher peaks projecting out of
them.
We there first saw some of the walls called "Mane's,"
which are formed of stones placed one upon the other
without any mortar, and are usually about four feet
high, and four feet wide. Some of these walls are as
much as a quarter of a mile in length, and are made,
we were informed, with the following object : When a
Buddhist undertakes a journey, or makes a vow, he
chooses a flat stone, takes it to a monastery, and gets a
lama (or monk) to engrave some rude characters upon
it, which are said to be usually, " Om mani padme Om,"
which has been translated to mean, "All hail to the jewel
in the flower of the lotus ! " though some give other in-
terpretations to these words. When his stone is thus
prepared, the individual places it on the top of one of these
walls, which on their upper surface are almost covered
with such engraved stones. Thibetans, when passing
these walls, always keep them on their right hand, and
frequently go out of their direct road in order to do this.
Chinese historians say that the Thibetans are de-
scendants of the aborigines of China, and are therefore
one and the same race as those who still people the
mountainous districts of Kweichow and Kwangse ; and
add, that some of these aborigines wandered westward
and southward, and eventually settled in large numbers
in Thibet, leading a nomadic life, and living on the pro-
duce of their flocks and herds. History does not say
when they first had a supreme ruler ; but it is stated
THE RISE OF BUDDHISM IN THIBET. 89
that, about A.D. 627-650, Lung-tsan, King of Thibet,
married a Chinese princess of the blood -royal. The
queen, accustomed to -the luxuries of the Chinese Court,
did not relish the simplicity of her new home, and was
especially disgusted with the custom of painting the
face red, which prevailed there. The king built her a
palace, forbade the use of the disfiguring red paint, and
also introduced Chinese silks instead of the woollen
materials which, up to that period, had been worn by
all classes. The queen converted her lord to Buddhism,
and induced him to send to India for copies of the
Buddhist writings for the instruction of himself and his
subjects. His envoys brought back an alphabet, framed
on the Devanagari, which was adopted as the national
written character, instead of the Chinese form. The
king's nephew and successor also prayed to have a
Chinese wife sent him ; and from that time Buddhism
of a certain kind took a firm hold in Thibet, though its
people did not enter into the subtle beliefs and ritual-
istic practices of Sakya Muni. Thus a species of Bud-
dhism sprang up, which was engrafted upon their
original wild magic worship.
Towards the middle of the fifteenth century a sect
of reformers arose amongst them, under a leader called
Tsungk'aba : these adopted a yellow cap, to distinguish
themselves from the older sect, who wear a red -head-
dress. On the death of Tsungk'aba, in 1478, two of
his chief disciples agreed to divide the power, it having
been told them by their master that they should be born
again, generation after generation, Tsungk'aba promising
that his spirit should be always with them. These two
men took respectively the titles of Dalai Lama and the
Panshen Lama. The first Dalai Lama reigned as king
90 ELECTION OF A DALAI LAMA.
of Thibet, and occupied himself with political affairs ;
and the Panshen Lama would appear to have concerned
himself only with spiritual matters.
The exclusion of Europeans from Chinese Thibet dates
from the early part of the present century. In 1792 the
cupidity of the Gorkha Kajah of Nepaul was aroused by
the stories which were related to him by a refugee Thi-
betan monk respecting the great treasures contained in
the Panshen Lama's palace at Tashilumbo. He at once
sent an army into the field, and marched to Thibet, at
the head of 18,000 men. The palace at Tashilumbo fell
a prey to the invaders ; but the then Panshen Lama (an
infant) was carried to Lhassa for safety, and an appeal for
help sent to the Chinese Government. That country,
always re"ady to tighten its hold upon Thibet, sent an
army, and, after some hard fighting, the Gorkhas were
driven back into Nepaul, and gladly accepted humiliating
terms of peace in order to save their own capital. After
the conclusion of this campaign, the Dalai Lama wrote
to Lord Cornwallis, the then Governor and Commander-
in-Chief in India, to tell him of the defeat of the Gorkhas,
and warn him against giving them any support should
they attempt aggressive measures in future. The Chinese
Government at that time had taken up the idea that the
British Government had aided and abetted the Gorkhas
in their invasion ; and the authorities at Pekin, therefore,
decided to stop all intercommunication with India, and
for this purpose closed all the Himalayan passes leading
thither ; and this order is still in force.
The Dalai Lama is assisted by four ministers, nom-
inated by and under the control of two Chinese officials
called Ambas, who thus are, in reality, the real rulers in
Chinese Thibet. In the ' Journal of the Royal Asiatic
MONASTERY AT LAMA YUKU. 91
Society/ vol. iv., part 1, there is a description of the
ceremonies which took place in 1841, on the election of
a Dalai Lama. On that occasion the candidates for this
office were four in number. They are commonly, if not
invariably, infants under the age of two years, at whose
birth miraculous signs have appeared. These four
children were all taken to the Sangha monastery, near
Lhassa, and on a fixed day the Chinese Ambas, the
Chancellor, and the superior orders of clergy, all went
thither to put these infants to the proof. The image of
Buddha, and various other articles which had belonged
to the late Dalai Lama, were placed before them, together
with exact duplicates of them. All the children at once
picked out the ones which had been the property of the
late Dalai Lama, thus proving their pretensions to mir-
aculous powers. The name of each child was then writ-
ten on a slip of paper, and placed in a golden urn before
the effigy of the Emperor Kien-lung, who finally sub-
dued Thibet in 1746, and still posthumously receives
homage as sovereign of the country. The senior Amba
then inserted his hand into the urn, drew out one of
the slips of paper, opened it, and read out the name of
the successful candidate. The new Dalai Lama was
afterwards enthroned by virtue of an imperial mandate.
Money and other gifts, to the value of more than 3000,
were sent to him from China. The chief Amba read
out the imperial mandate, to which the newly -made
Dalai Lama listened on his knees, and made three
genuflections and nine prostrations in the direction of
the imperial abode. The father of the fortunate infant,
who was a scavenger, was raised to the rank of a noble.
When at Lama Yuru we visited its monastery, which,
like all such buildings, is situated at some height above
92 INTERIOR OF BUDDHIST MONASTERY.
the village. This one, we were told, was the third in
importance and size in all Ladakh. It consisted of vari-
ous buildings on different levels or platforms, some con-
taining grain, &c. ; one had within it three very highly
decorated dung tens, or tombs of a peculiar form. We
were told that those particular ones contained the ashes
and relics of defunct lamas of high degree. These
tomb-like buildings are called both chodtens or dungtens,
the former being dedicated simply as an offering to the
deity, and the latter word signifying bone or relic re-
ceptacle. Within this monastery was also a chaitya, or
place of worship, about 30 feet square, supported on
wooden pillars. Along the wall facing the entrance
there were three or four tiers of shelves, on the lowest
of which was a seated figure of Buddha ; on either side
of him were smaller statues, representing, as they told
us, his prime minister, physician, &c. ; and the upper
shelves were crowded with old and discarded statues of
the same personages, arranged in the same order. There
were small lamps burning in front of the favourite
Buddha; and offerings of grain, rice, and flowers had
also been deposited there. Against both the lateral
walls were wooden shelves, on which were laid an enor-
mous number of manuscripts in the Thibetan language.
We were fortunate enough to arrive there at the hour
of one of their services, which I believe take place at 9
A.M. and 3 P.M. It was conducted in the following
manner by six or eight lamas, who are all seated on
the ground. Three or four of these recite together some
prayers out of a book in a sing-song sort of chant, in-
clining their bodies backwards and forwards all the time ;
as many more monks, perhaps, place themselves at a
short distance from these, with singular-looking musical
PRAYING WHEELS. 93
instruments before them, comprising four brass tubes,
widening out in their whole length something like a
clarionet (two of these instruments were at least six
feet in length, the other two each about a yard long) ; a
fifth man struck at intervals a sort of gong, which was
suspended from a pole placed on a stand. When the
reading party were exhausted, the musicians set up the
most unearthly din. Their praying wheels are not the
least curious part of their worship : every man on enter-
ing or leaving a monastery gives the wheel a twirl. It
is usually placed in a niche near the entrance doorway,
but woe be to him who turns it the wrong way ! These
wheels are cylinders of wood or copper, having round
them a roll of paper or parchment on which a prayer is
inscribed ; each time this is turned round is considered
equivalent to repeating a prayer. Most of them are
turned by hand, but in some places the larger ones, we
were told, are turned by water. There are also small
prayer wheels which can be carried in the hand, and
used at home or on a journey: one of these last is in
my possession.
Women, as well as men, can be lamas : all are such
from their infancy, the eldest, or even more sons (if
no son, their daughter or daughters), being dedicated to
the monastic life. They always wear a distinctive dress.
Those we saw wore a long loose robe of a dark red
colour, confined by a sash at the waist, shaved their
heads, and had a yellow cap of a peculiar form. The
number of lamas is consequently considerable, but, of
course, only a certain number can reside in a monastery
at one time, and the rest live with their families till
they are wanted, employing themselves in the cultiva-
tion of the ground, and in other ways.
94 LADAKH NOW ALMOST RAINLESS.
Lama Yuru is four marches distant from Leh, the
capital. Before reaching the valley of the Indus, our
road led us for some miles through a very narrow and
rocky ravine with high precipices on either side. At the
termination of this gorge the Indus valley comes in
sight, and that river is crossed near the fort at Kulsi.
It is not very wide at this point, but is very rapid and
apparently deep, as a large body of water rushes by.
There are orchards of pear, apple, and apricot trees near
Kulsi, and a good deal of cultivation exists for a couple
of miles beyond that place. Several villages are passed
along this part of the route ; these lie for the most part
at a high level above the river, being placed on spots
where the land can be irrigated by side streams coming
down from the great snowy Kailas range, which divides
the Indus and the Shayok valleys. Each such spot of
fertility reminded us of an oasis in the Sahara which we
had visited some years previously, though with this
difference both countries being rainless that in the
African desert cultivation, only possible, of course, by
means of irrigation, is there limited by the amount of
water, whilst in Thibet it is restricted by the quantity of
flat land available for the purpose.
At each of the next stopping-places there is an oasis
of cultivation. Near Snimo, about twenty miles from
Leh, we passed some extraordinary mud-pillars, some
of which must have been more than fifty feet high,
each having a large stone on the top. These mud-pillars
look as if the least push would topple them over. The
origin of them is supposed to be, that the whole valley
having been originally filled up with clay, these large
stones happening to be on the surface, the clay beneath
them was thus protected from the rain, which in course
NOT ALWAYS SO. 95
of ages washed away all the surrounding parts, so that
the pillars remained. These singular columns would
appear to indicate that at some very remote period the
climate of Ladakh was totally different to what it is at
present. Beyond Snimo the valley becomes from six to
eight miles in width, and there are villages and fields
near the river ; but between the cultivated ground and
the foot of the hills is a waste of sand, gravel, and
large boulders.
96
CHAPTER VII.
LEH, THE DRESS OF THE INHABITANTS FESTIVAL OF THE DASERA REVIEW
OF TROOPS NATIVE DANCES LAMA RELIGIOUS DANCES VISIT TO THE
RANEES HOW TEA IS MADE IN THIBET FUNERAL RITES BUDDHA AND
HIS EARLY HISTORY RETURN TO SRINAGAR DETOUR TO THE TEMPLES
AT WANGAT IN THE SIND VALLEY TEMPLE AT PANDRETHAN, NEAR
SRINAGAR LEAVE KASHMIR BY BANIHAL PASS SIALKOTE PROCLAMA-
TION CEREMONIES AT DELHI.
ABOUT 25tli September we reached Leh. The road on
the last inarch keeps close to the river, till when within
four miles of it Leh is seen on the left hand, situated
on a plain of some extent between two ranges of hills,
and backed up by the snowy peaks of the Kardung
pass, which is 18,000 feet above the sea, and begins
to rise almost immediately behind the city. On the
furthermost of the two lateral lower ranges which bound
the city of Leh on either side is placed the lama serai
(or monastery), and below that again is seen the old
palace belonging to the rajah: this building is large, and
has an imposing appearance from a distance. Its owner,
together with other small rajahs of the upper valley of
the Indus, was deprived of his sovereign rights by
Goolab Singh, the father of the present ruler of Kashmir.
They all still bear the title of rajah, and a considerable
amount of respect is shown them by the people. The
present owner of the palace at Leh was a boy of twelve,
NATIVE BAZAAR AT LEH. 9*7
who possesses a certain quantity of land at Stok, a vil-
lage on the other side of the valley about ten miles dis-
tant. He spends the greater part of the year there with
his mother and another of his father's widows. We rode
through the bazaar at Leh this is walled round, and can
be closed at either extremity by large gates and going
on about half a mile further, we came upon an enclosed
open space overlooking the town and the plain beyond.
Inside these walls there was ample ground for pitching
tents ; and there was also a small building containing
four distinct sets of rooms, each giving sufficient accom-
modation for a married couple.
It was a daily amusement to go down to the bazaar
and see the natives of Yarkund, Turkestan, and Iskardo,
as well as those of the country itself, all in their peculiar
and distinctive costumes. The men of Ladakh wear the
choga, a kind of dressing-gown with wide sleeves, con-
fined round the waist by a . wide sash ; their robe is
woven from white sheep's wool. Some wear a cap of
brown wool, made somewhat in the form of a pudding-
basin ; others have as their head-gear a long bag made
of black sheep's wool, part of it covers the head, the
rest hangs down behind, and is moved from side to side
at the pleasure of the wearer when the sun incommodes
him.
All the men wear the pig -tail, which with some
attains a respectable size, though in most cases this is
formed of only a small wisp of hair tightly plaited. The
women wear the same shaped dress as the men, but
theirs is invariably made of cloth woven from the wool
of the black sheep. Over their shoulders, both in summer
and winter, the women hang a sheepskin, with the wool
inside, and tied together on the chest by a string. Those
G
98 THE WOMEN'S DRESS.
who are better off dress precisely in the same manner,
only in their case the outside of the sheepskin is covered
with pieces of red and green cloth arranged in a symmet-
rical pattern. The women plait their hair in seven or-
more small tails, with which is mixed false hair of black
wool to lengthen the plaits. All the tails of hair are
united some way below the waist, and there tied to-
gether, a large tassel of black wool forming a finish at
the bottom. An ornament called a parak, made of
leather, or sometimes covered with silk, and in shape
somewhat resembling a cobra, is fastened to the parting
of the hair in the centre of the forehead, and gradually
increases in width till it reaches down to the waist be-
hind. On this head-dress are sown numbers of large
rough turquoises and quaint cornelian brooches, with
characters engraved upon them. In the case of rich
ladies, like the rajah's mother, these brooches are of gold,
set with fine pearls and well-cut turquoises. Amongst
the men, also, the more wealthy wear a brooch of this
kind on the pig-tail at the nape of the neck ; the poorer
ones entirely dispense with this ornament. In Thibet
no woman is supposed to marry until she is provided
with a parak, it being considered absolutely indispens-
able to a lady's dower. One thing struck me very much
in regard to the people of Ladak, and I should much
like to know if other travellers have observed the same
viz., that the men seem to have invariably a Tartar-
Chinese cast of features, and that I only saw one woman
(a lama) of a similar type ; the women generally all
having long oval faces, straight and longish noses, and
large, dark, straight, almond-shaped eyes.
In Leh, lying as it does at a height of 11,500 feet
above the sea, the cold is very severe during the winter
FESTIVAL OF THE DASEEA. 99
months, therefore the women all protect their ears with
small flaps of fur, the furry side being placed next the
skin, and kept in position by being tied round the head
beneath the plaits of hair. In the case of the ranees,
these flaps were of the finest sable, and their value about
5 sterling, I was told. The Hindu* festival of the
Dasera happened to fall whilst we were at Leh, and in
consequence we were able to witness some purely na-
tional scenes and sports, which only take place at such
times.
The Dasera is supposed to relate to the autumnal
equinox. On the last da^y of the feast, the image of
Durga (the wife of Shiva) is thrown into the water, in
memory of her victory over the buffalo-headed demon
Mahashasur, after having been worshipped for nine days,
and the Hindus decorated their houses with flowers. We
did not see any part of the religious observances, but in
the afternoon Mr Johnson, the Maharajah's representative
in Ladakh, sent to invite us to go down with him to an
open space, and there witness a review of the troops.
Some of the army were styled irregulars, and were cer-
tainly very much so. The so-called regulars had very
little in common with each other except their caps,
which were all of one pattern. There was also a small
battery of artillery, consisting of six or eight guns, and
the gunners showed more precision in firing than one
could have expected from seeing them. The officer who
acted as commander-in-chief was resplendent with gold-
lace and a coat of a spinach-green colour. After certain
evolutions had been performed, and so many rounds
fired, all the troops passed in single file before the place
where Mr Johnson and ourselves were seated. The little
rajah headed the procession; each man in his turn offered
100 RELIGIOUS DANCES BY THE LAMAS.
us, in the hollow of his two hands, a sum of money in
the current coin. This is called offering the " Nuzzur,"
and, we were told, ought to amount to as much as the
daily income or pay of each man. We all had simply
to touch each man's offering, and then remit it ; but had
the Maharajah himself been there, it must have been
laid down in a heap before him, and he would have
appropriated the money.
This ceremony over, we all adjourned to the bazaar,
where from the balcony of a house we could look down
upon the natives playing the game of polo. It was
played somewhat differently to our English mode, and
we could not rightly understand it : the most curious
part was to see the man who began a game take the ball
in his left hand and the stick in his right, then, arrived
at the middle of the course, and the horse galloping at
its utmost speed, the player would throw the ball up in
the air, and hit it as it descended. After this came
nautching, or native dancing, which there was executed
by men and women together. When we had thrown
down small coins for a general scramble, we moved on
to a large house standing by itself in an enclosed court-
yard, and from an upper room we witnessed what was
to us the most singular part of the whole entertainment
viz., three or four different lama religious dances,
which were executed by them before us. The dresses
were varied in all of them, and we wished much to
have ascertained their respective meanings, but were
unable to obtain any explanation. The lamas were all
dressed up in the most magnificent Chinese stuffs, em-
broidered with silks of various colours : each wore a
sort of papier-mache mask, with grotesque features of a
gigantic size. Some of these masks were ornamented
VISIT TO THE RANEES. 101
on the top with fruits or flowers modelled four times
the natural size. I have called these masks, but they
were not so, properly speaking, as they covered the
whole head of the actor. In one of these dances two
men were dressed up to represent a Chinese mandarin
and his wife ; and in another, the two last figures which
came on the scene had masks representing very fero-
cious-looking dogs. The whole dance consisted of a
slow undulating movement performed in a large circle.
Then came sword-dances, and mock fights between two
combatants, which ended the day's performance.
The day after the Dasera, Mrs Johnson wrote to ask
us to go down to her house to see the three ranees, who
had come to visit her. These ladies were two of them
widows of the Kajah of Stok, the younger one being the
mother of the younger rajah already alluded to, and the
third was the wife of a rajah of another district. All
three were dressed in the national costume, as was also
the widow of the former treasurer, which office is hered-
itary ; and the holder of it being a lad about the age of
the little rajah, a deputy acts for him, but the boy went
daily to the office to learn the business. The rajah's wife
was by far the best-looking woman we saw in Thibet,
and, indeed, would have been thought pretty in any
country. All three ranees sat down near us on cush-
ions placed on the ground ; the little rajah was also
seated on one at his mother's feet. These ladies laughed
and joked with their male and female attendants in a
manner not usual with royal personages ; but, at the
same time, a considerable amount of state was kept up,
and much respect shown to them as, for instance, when
any of their female attendants had to pass near them,
they rolled their petticoats tightly round them, lest these
102 THIBETAN METHOD OF MAKING TEA.
should by accident touch the ranee's dress. Also, when
the little treasurer's mother, who was standing behind
them, was called upon to exhibit her jewels to us, she
showed much hesitation in coming forward, which arose
from the circumstance that it was not etiquette for her
to pass in front of the young rajah. His mother, how-
ever, seeing her difficulty, cut the gordian knot, by
making her son rise, on which she shoved him outside
a window which opened down to the ground on to a
small enclosed court; and the little fellow appeared
again, a few minutes later, through another door with
his hands full of sweeties, which he had bagged in pass-
ing through the kitchen !
The Thibetans are all passionately fond of tea, which
comes to them from China, in the form called brick
tea, and their method of preparing it is so singular that
the process merits a description. It is as follows : A
tea-cupful of tea is put into three pints of water, a large
spoonful of carbonate of soda is strewn over it, and the
whole is boiled. A milling-churn is then taken, such
as is used for making chocolate in Spain and in the
south of France ; a pound of fresh butter and some salt
are placed in this, a part of the boiling contents poured
upon these, and milled like chocolate ; some cream or
milk is then added to what is left in the saucepan, the
milled tea is poured on this and boiled again, once more
put into the churn, and so on till all is properly milled.
It is then strained through a cloth, and when well made
resembles chocolate in colour. This quantity would suffice
for five or six persons. An Englishman who had often
tried it on his march to Yarkund, told me that it was
far from being unpalatable, and that he found it most
refreshing and nourishing after a long and cold march.
USE OF DOGS IN THEIR FUNERAL RITES. 103
The Abbe* Hue, in his work written some years
ago, states that the Thibetans use dogs in their funeral
rites. He speaks of the great number of gaunt and
famishing dogs he saw wandering about, and adds
that four different modes of disposing of their dead
are practised by them : Istly, burning ; 2dly, immer-
sion in rivers or lakes ; 3dly, exposure on the top of a
mountain ; 4thly, they cut the corpse into small pieces,
giving these to be eaten by dogs. The ownerless wan-
dering dogs devour the poorer classes, whilst the rich
are eaten by the more distinguished animals, which are
kept in all the lama serais for that purpose. Ancient
authors say that burial inside dogs was esteemed by
Scythians and others. We ourselves saw some most
fierce-looking dogs in the monastery at Lama Yuru, and
the lamas with much difficulty prevented them from
attacking us. They were a very large and powerful
breed. We were informed that their masters can very
rarely trust them, as they seldom become attached to
man, which would seem to bear out in some degree
the Abbe* Hue's statement. In cases where a body is
burned, after cremation water is poured on the ashes,
out of which a figure or medallion is made, which is
first worshipped and then thrown into a sacred river,
and a chodten, or dungten, erected on the spot where
the body was burned.
Buddhism, in its commencement, partook much more
of a social than of a religious character. Its founder,
Sakya Muni, the last and only historical Buddha, was
the son of Suddhodana, Rajah of Kapila, and his wife
Maya. Kapila was a petty principality near the modern
Gorakpore. Sakya Muni first began by undermining
the Brahminical system of caste ; and renouncing the
104 BUDDHISM FIRST RECOGNISED IN CHINA.
splendours of his royal position, he travelled about as a
beggar. He did not shrink from contact with any one,
and, unlike the Brahmins, did not require his followers
to undergo severe penances, or excommunicate those
who had sinned, but simply required a public confession
of sin and a promise of future amendment. Buddha
(or the Enlightened, as he afterwards called himself)
was by birth of the Kshatriya or warrior caste. He
derived the name of Sakya from his family, and that of
Gautama from his clan. The rapid rise of Buddhism
excited much opposition from the followers of Confucius
and Lao-tse. The latter declared that Sakya Muni, or
rather Sakya Buddha, was but an incarnation of their
own master, who had died soon after the date of
Buddha's birth. This was resented by the Buddhists,
who, in consequence, put back the date of their founder's
birth to 687 B.C., and afterwards fixed still earlier
periods as the date of that event.
It was not till 65 A.D. that Buddhism was officially
recognised in China as a third state religion, side by side
with the doctrines of Confucius and Lao-tse. After
taking leave of his father (his mother had died shortly
after his birth), Sakya Muni first went to Vaisali and
put himself under a famous Brahmin who had 300
disciples. Having heard all that this man could teach
him, Sakya Muni went away disappointed ; he had not
found the true way of salvation. He then tried another
Brahmin teacher, but with no better success left him,
taking five of his disciples with him. Together with
these, he retired into solitude, where they all remained
six years. At the end of that time he was still dis-
satisfied, and believed he had not yet found the right
way. On this the five disciples left him. After some
ADVENTURE ON RETURN JOURNEY. 105
time had elapsed, he felt he had attained true wisdom,
gave himself the name of Buddha, and thus became the
founder of a religion which, after the lapse of 2400 years,
is still professed by a very large part of the population
of Asia. Buddha then proceeded to Benares, where his
first converts are said to have been the five disciples
who before deserted him.
The Buddhists are bound by their rule not to eat
after mid-day, except when sick or travelling. At one
time the Buddhist religion was persecuted in China.
In A.D. 423, in the reign of Shaou-ti, the second emperor
of the Sung dynasty, it was made a capital crime to
make idols of earth or of brass, or to worship foreign
divinities. In A.D. 451 there was a relaxation of this
severe rule : one Buddhist temple was allowed in each
city, and forty or fifty of its inhabitants were allowed
to become priests; but in A.D. 458, after the discovery
of a conspiracy, headed by a Buddhist priest, stringent
rules were again enforced, one of which was, that no
nuns were to be permitted to enter the royal palace or
to converse with the emperor's wives.
Having started for Ladakh so late in the season, we
were unable to remain at Leh as long as we could have
wished ; so, after little more than ten days' stay, we
started on our return journey, and met with no ad-
ventures worth recording, till, on reaching Sonamurg
again, after a double march of twenty-eight miles, which
also included the crossing the Zoji-la Pass, we found
ourselves at 8 P.M. at Sonamurg without provisions,
nor were any to be obtained. Our beds, too, had not
turned up, so at about 11 P.M. we were just resign-
ing ourselves to lying on the floor, wrapped up in the
folds of a tent, when we heard cries below us : this was
106 ANCIENT TEMPLES AT WANGAT.
our baggage arriving. We had then something to lie
upon, though it was out of the question to have food
prepared at that hour.
On the way down to Srinagar we stopped a couple of
nights at Kangan, in order to visit the old temples at
Wangat, about twelve miles off, up a valley on the right
bank of the Sind river. We rode there and back in the
day, which did not allow us as much time as we could
have wished to spend on the examination of the ruins.
They are situated about three miles beyond the village of
Wangat, which lies on the right bank of the river Kanknai,
a tributary of the Sind. The temples consist of two groups
of buildings of various sizes, all more or less in a ruined
condition. In the first group are six temples enclosed by
a wall with a gateway. There do not appear to have been
colonnaded courts as in the former examples I have cited,
nor do the temples seem to have been symmetrically ar-
ranged. One of the largest of this group is 32 feet by 30
in outside measurement ; the smaller ones are 1 or 1 2 feet
square. The date of the erection of these temples has
never yet been fixed with any certainty, though they ap-
pear to be of a later period than the other principal temples
in Kashmir. On returning to Srinagar we also visited a
small temple at Pandrethan, an hour's walk up the river :
it can be approached in an hour and a half by boat, when
a few minutes' walk takes the traveller to the spot. This
temple is supposed to have belonged to the Nagas, or
snake-worshippers, and now stands, as it has always done,
in the middle of a tank ; but owing probably to the decay
of a causeway or bridge, it can now only be approached
by swimming, or in a boat. The roof of this building is
of stone, and in an almost perfect state, the apex of its
double pyramidal roof being only wanting.
SACRED FISH AT VERNAG. 107
We did not finally leave Srinagar till the middle of
November. My husband and J. employed this inter-
val in going to the Lolab valley, and also to Nagmurg,
a mountain situated beyond and overlooking the Woolar
lake. As the weather was by this time becoming too
cold for tent life, I did not accompany them on this ex-
pedition, but remained in Srinagar during their absence.
Nearly all the visitors having left the country, I could at
times almost realise what would be the feelings of the
oft-quoted New Zealander, though till the last day or so
of our stay there were still one or two European strag-
glers left in the place. Intending to leave Kashmir by
the Bannihal Pass, we all embarked, on 15th November,
for Islamabad, and marched on from thence to Yernag,
where we remained a few days that the gentlemen might
have some bear shooting. At Yernag, and also in other
parts of the Kashmir valley, we found mistletoe, identi-
cal with our English species, growing on the walnut-
trees, the fruit of which is an important article in the
food of the people, who also express oil from the nuts.
At Yernag there is a rest-house, which we found very
cold at that season, as it is built more in the style of a
summer - house, having open staircases and corridors.
Close to the bungalow there is a tank about 18 feet
deep, whence rises a very large spring of clear bluish-
looking water : this tank was literally swarming with
fish, which are so tame as almost to eat out of the hand.
This spring is said to be one of the sources of the river
Jelum ; the fish are considered sacred, the natives con-
sequently will not eat them. On my asking if they were
good eating, a Hindu pundit replied no, they were poi-
sonous, though, as far as the eye could see, they were
identical with some we had constantly eaten out of that
108 THE BANNIHAL PASS.
river. The day we left Vernag we crossed the Bannihal
Pass (9000 feet). It is ordinarily an easy pass to go
over, but at that time it was difficult, for, owing to the
lateness of the season, snow had fallen, then melted, and
again become frozen, which rendered it almost impossible
for our horses to keep their footing up the steepest parts
of the ascent, so much so, that the one I rode that day,
being the stoutest animal of the three, was the only
one that could manage at all with a rider on its back,
my husband and J. being forced to get off and walk.
The summit of the pass is carpeted with short green
sward, and there is a small lake near the top. After
this seven more marches brought us to Jamu, the winter
capital of the Maharajah, and the place where he mostly
resides. We had a special permission to take this route,
which without this is not open to European travellers,
and therefore is not kept in such good repair as the
others : coolies, and provisions also, are not abundant.
Jamu is a town of considerable size overlooking the
river Toui, a tributary of the Chenab : this city is situated
on the first range of low hills which rise from the plains
of the Punjaub. It is about 25 miles from Sialkote, and
14 from the English frontier. After remaining a couple
of days at Jamu, and seeing its bazaars and the Maha-
rajah's palace, we rode down to Sialkote, making one halt
by the way. This place is situated nearer to the Hima-
layas than most other European stations ; from one part
of it we obtained a fine view of the snowy ranges of Kash-
mir. It is much liked, too, for the reason that its climate
is very superior to that of most places in India. At a
village about six miles from Sialkote are made various
articles of steel, inlaid with gold. The pattern intended
to be worked out is first engraved by hand on the steel
FORM OF ASSERTION OF SUPREMACY IN INDIA. 109
with a fine-pointed tool. The gold being beaten out to
a very thin wire, is laid into the design so engraved,
and the surface scraped level. The article is rubbed and
polished with a smooth stone, and is afterwards subjected
to a moderate heat, till the steel acquires a blue colour.
The same kind of work is also made at Goojerat, in the
Punjaub ; but that manufactured near Sialkote is much
more highly finished. Such things as armour, complete
suits of chain-mail, inkstands, pen-trays, candlesticks,
brooches, and ear-rings, &c., are made in this style.
Sialkote is distant barely 30 miles from the railway at
Wazirabad.
On once more reaching English territory, we found
the principal subject in the newspapers and in every
one's thoughts was the assemblage about to be held at
Delhi, and that a very large proportion of the native
princes were intending to be present at the proclama-
tion of her Majesty the Queen as Empress of India. This
ceremony was practically a return to the usage of an-
cient times, when the rulers of Hindostan asserted their
supremacy in a peculiar manner, and held similar gather-
ings which the feudatory rajahs were expected to at-
tend. A horse played an important part in this cere-
monial, of which there are very few recorded instances.
A horse was sent round to all the rajahs of India by
the prince who claimed universal sovereignty, as a chal-
lenge to any one who disputed his right, and afterwards
sacrificed. This sacrifice was consequently equivalent to
claiming sovereignty over the whole of India. I have
a fine gold coin in my possession, belonging to the
Gupta series, which has on one side a very spirited horse
standing near a fire . altar ; and on the other, a female
figure holding a chauri, or fan, to keep the flies from
110 THE PROCLAMATION AT DELHI.
the animal. This sacrifice was performed by Kama,
the hero of the Kamayana, or earliest epic poem in San-
scrit ; and the Pandoor brothers also demanded the right
of performing it. The unwillingness to allow this latter
claim led to the great war which formed the subject
of the Mahabarata, the other great Hindu poem. These
two poems occupy to this day much the same position
in India as did the ' Iliad ' and the ' Odyssey ' in ancient
Greece.
We were detained in Lahore nearly a fortnight, wait-
ing for our heavy luggage from Sialkote, which, in the
end, did not arrive in time for us to reach Delhi to see
the Viceroy's entrance as we had intended, so we spent
Christmas - day at Lahore, and went on the day after.
All the newspapers at that time were full of accounts
and representations of the great spectacle, so it is useless
here to enlarge upon it, except in so far as personal impres-
sions are concerned respecting the general coup-d'ceil.
Our destination in Delhi was the Punjaub civil
camp, where a tent had been promised us. J. left us
at this time to join his father, who, with his regiment,
was encamped about six miles from us. Our camp was
placed just outside the Kashmir gate, and consisted of
upwards of 30 tents, a very large mess-tent being at the
upper end. The mess-tent was of an enormous size ; it
had been lent for the purpose by some rajah. From 120
to 150 persons used to sit down to dinner in it; and as
nearly every one had his own servant, and besides these
there were attendants belonging to the camp, some idea
may be formed of its size.
On the great day 1st January 1877 every one
flocked to the vast domed dais which had been erected
about three miles from the city of Delhi. A large
turfed oval space surrounded this, and on either side of
MARCH PAST OF THE TROOPS. Ill
the dais semicircular stagings had been put up, fitted
with rows of raised seats arranged in blocks, each block
being duly numbered with a letter. One of these semi-
circles was appropriated to the native princes and their
suites, and the other was set apart for the European
visitors, where we took our places in virtue of the
tickets with which we had been provided. During the
ceremony we were too far off to get more than a general
view of the whole pageant, but the sight was a most
striking one, from the gay assortment of colours, the
flashing of the jewels worn by the Eastern princes, and
the dazzling effect of the emblazoned and richly em-
broidered banners which floated behind the chair of
each. As soon as the Proclamation had been read, we
all descended to the open space below, and there saw
all these splendours more closely. The little Nizam of
Hydrabad in the Dekhan, the young Gaekwar of Baroda,
and other notabilities, were pointed out to us.
The same day, as soon as it was dusk, we went out
to see the fireworks and illuminations. The principal
bazaar, called the Chandni Chowk, was one running
blaze of little oil-lamps ; the fireworks were set off from
a staging placed in front of the Jumma Musjid, or large
mosque. We were fortunate enough to find seats in a
small balcony high up in the facade of this building,
and though we had seen finer displays of the same kind
in Europe, these were very good; and it was amusing
to watch the purely childlike enjoyment of the whole
scene by the lower class of natives, who crowded every
available spot below us.
On 3d January the whole business was concluded by
a grand march past of all the troops. First and fore-
most came the elephants and mounted attendants of all
the native princes, the elephants having trappings of
112 ELEPHANTS MAKING OBEISANCE.
cloth-of-gold reaching down to the ground on either
side; upon their backs were placed liowdahs of gold
or of silver ; and each chiefs retinue made obeisance as
they passed in front of the Viceroy, the most splendid
train being that of the Gaekwar of Baroda, whose silver
guns were drawn by milk-white oxen with magnificent
trappings. The dresses of all the mounted guards of the
different princes would be a perfect study the Maharajah
of Duttia's people, for instance, wore helmets and suits
of armour made of chain-mail. Some of the elephants
had been trained to make obeisance, which they per-
formed when arrived opposite to the Viceroy, by facing
round, putting up their trunks, and making a peculiar
noise. Some of the horses too, performed likewise,
stopping in one spot, raising the two fore - legs, and
dancing up and down for a minute or so, like a child's
rocking-horse. When these had all gone by, came the
turn of the European troops, who went past horse-
artillery, artillery, and infantry regiments, as well as
both the native cavalry and infantry in the Queen's
service at slow march, quick march, gallop, or run.
All things must come to an end this was the finale.
After this all the multitude who had been brought
together began to disperse north, south, east, and west,
we ourselves amongst the number, our destination
being Benares, where we stayed nearly ten days, and, of
course, saw its temples, &c. ; but being myself very
unwell at the time with an attack of influenza, which
complaint was very prevalent at Delhi, I saw every-
thing almost as in a dream. As we spent some time
there a few months later, when I could carefully go over
the ground again, I shall reserve my impressions of it
till after our second visit.
113
CHAPTEE VIII.
BELGAUM SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE DEKHAN, AND RISE OF THE
MAHRATTA EMPIRE SEVAJI, HIS BOLD INCURSIONS COUNTRY ROUND
BELGAUM ITS CLIMATE OLD JAINA TEMPLES IN FORT 'iDGAH AT
KURAR OLD FORT AT SATTARA BUDDHIST CAVE TEMPLES AT CARLEE.
FROM Benares we went to Bombay, and then by steamer
down the coast to Vingorla, whence a two days' journey
in a small carriage brought us to Belgaum, which is
almost the most south-westerly point of the Dekhan.
In the reign of Mahommed Toghlak, the empire of
Delhi extended from the Himalayas of Assam on the
east to the Indus on the west ; towards the south it may
be said to have comprehended the whole peninsula, with
the exception of a long narrow tract along the western
coast and the extreme south. Owing to the misgovern-
ment of this sovereign, two of the rajahs of the Dekhan
revolted, and the territories of Telingana and Carnata
again came under Hindu rule. The former of these pro-
vinces comprised what is now known as the Coromandel
coast, and the latter included what is now styled the
Carnatic, and also the district for some distance inland.
The Mussulman frontier was still further altered by
these princes bringing also other parts into dependence
upon them, thus forming several states, which were soon
powerful enough to contend with their Mohammedan
neighbours. This re -conquest took place about A.D.
H
114 THE KINGDOMS OF THE DEKHAN.
1344, and was succeeded in 1347 by the grand rebel-
lion in the Dekhan, whereby the power of Delhi was
driven beyond the Nerbudda. Some time elapsed before
a further dismemberment took place ; Guzerat, Malwa,
and Jounpore freed themselves during the minority of
Mahmoud (the last king of the Toghlak dynasty).
In 1398, on Tamerlane's invasion, the remaining pro-
vinces threw off the yoke, and nothing remained to
Delhi but a few miles of country round the capital.
In 1347 Ala ud-din Hasan Shah, a Brahmin's servant
at Mahommed Toghlak's court, had headed a success-
ful revolt against that ruler, and founded the kingdom
of the Dekhan, which throne was occupied by his de-
scendants for several generations during a space of 178
years. This is known as the .Bahmani dynasty, and had
for its allies the rajahs of Bijyanagar and Warangol.
Their struggle with the Mohammedans was a long one,
though these last were the conquerors in the end. The
Hindus, immediately before their fall, had gained terri-
tory in Orissa, and also extended their conquests as far
as Masulipatam on the east, and to Goa on the west.
The curious part of these early wars seems to be, that
men of both faiths entered freely into each other's ser-
vice : the King of Malwa's army, during his invasion of
the Bahmani territories, is said to have consisted of
Afghans and Eajputs ; whilst the Hindu* Rajah of Bij-
yanagar had Mohammedans serving under his standard,
and built a mosque especially for them. His state long
maintained its position amongst the powers of the De-
khan.
The Bahmani possessions were split up to a certain
extent about the year 1437, when Yiisuf Adil retired
to his government of Bijapur, subsequently took the
EXTENT OF THE MAHRATTA COUNTRY. 115
title of king, and became the founder of the dynasty
of Adil Shah. Yusuf Adil was a son of the Ottoman
sultan. On the accession of his brother Mahomet II. to
the throne of Constantinople, he alone escaped being put
to death with the remainder of his brothers, his mother
secretly conveying him to Persia whilst yet an infant.
At the age of sixteen he was obliged to fly from thence
on account of some suspicion of his birth, was then
induced to go to the Bahmani court, and there sold as
a slave.
In 1565 the Mohammedans formed a league against
Earn Rajah ; a great battle was fought on the Kishna,
near Talicot ; after a fierce conflict the Hindus were de-
feated, and the monarchy of Bijyanagar was at an end,
though, owing to the jealous spirit which prevailed
amongst the victors, their territories were not much
extended, and a great deal fell into the hands of cer-
tain petty princes. The Mohammedans had still not
recovered a great deal of what had been possessed by
them in the time of Mahommed Toghlak, but this was
all that they re-acquired up to the time of Aurungzebe.
That part of the Dekhan in which Belgaum is situated
is inhabited by a Mahratta people, who occupy a large
tract of country reaching from the southern watershed
of the Nerbudda on the north to a little below Belgaum
on the south, its western boundary being the Indian
Ocean, and its eastern limit extending inland about 300
miles from the coast, its extreme length from north to
south being about 350 miles. Its great feature is the
line of Ghats, which vary in height from 3000 to 5000
feet, and run along its western side at a distance of
thirty or forty miles from the sea. Native legends say
that the sea once washed the foot of these Ghats, and
116 SEVAJI.
that the Concan was rescued by a miracle of one of their
gods.
The Mahrattas are hardly mentioned by Mussulman
writers till the beginning of the seventeenth century.
They differ essentially from the Eajputs in character as
well as in appearance, being small sturdy men, well
made, though not handsome. They are wanting in the
dignity of manner and the pride which the Eajputs pos-
sess, and think any means justifiable by which they can
accomplish their ends; whereas a Eajput warrior, as
long as he does nothing to dishonour his race, is almost
indifferent to the result of his arms.
Sevaji, the founder of the Mahratta empire, could lay
claim to Eajput blood on his mother's side. His paternal
grandfather, named Maloji, was an officer in the service
of Malik Amber, a relation of the Eajah of Orissa. On
one occasion Maloji and his little son Shahji, a child of
five years old, attended a great Hindu* festival which was
held under the roof of Lukji Jadu Eao, who had attained
to the command of 10,000 men under the same prince.
During the festivities, Jadu took the little Shahji on his
knee, together with his own little girl, who was only
three years of age, and laughingly said they made such
a fine couple that they ought to be man and wife. On
this Maloji jumped up, and called the assembled com-
pany to witness that the daughter of Jadu was affianced
to his son. Jadu was naturally indignant at the mean
advantage which had been taken of what he had said in
a mirthful spirit. As time progressed, Maloji's fortunes
prospered, and he became the commander of 5000 horse,
and the possessor of a large estate, of which Poona was
the chief place. Still maintaining his claim to the hand
of Jadu's daughter for his son, this was acceded to, as
SEVAJI. 117
in his then state of prosperity their relative positions
were no longer so unequal. Sevaji was the second son
of this union.
The Mahrattas being as a rule illiterate, their affairs
were generally managed by Brahmins. Sevaji, like the
rest, employed himself in horsemanship and military
exercises. His chief companions were the soldiers of
his father's horse regiments, or the inhabitants of the
neighbouring Ghats : these last seem to have been for
the most part plunderers, who went about in gangs. It
was these people whom Sevaji afterwards employed in
going after higher game, such as taking possession of
some of the remote and ill-garrisoned hill-forts belong-
ing to Bijapur, by means of surprise or stratagem. His
father in vain remonstrated with him ; and grown more
bold with success, we find him seizing two forts belong-
ing to Shahji, and about this time also bribing its
Mohammedan governor to surrender to him Singhar, a
very strong fort about twelve miles from Poona. All
this was done without bloodshed or disturbance. The
possession of these points of vantage enabled Sevaji to
intercept and plunder a convoy of royal treasure in the
Concan on its way to Bijapur ; after which he took five
other hill-forts. One of his leaders surprised and took
Callian, and occupied the whole province. The Court of
Bijapur, firmly believing that these encroachments had
been made at his father's instigation, seized an oppor-
tunity of taking Shahji prisoner, and threatened to wall
him up in his dungeon if Sevaji did not give in his
submission within a given period. He, of course, was
greatly alarmed at this threat, but still held out, and
endeavoured to gain Shah Jehan over to his cause.
The emperor listened to him favourably ; and it was
118 TREACHEROUSLY KILLS AFZUL KHAN.
probably owing to his intercession that Shahji was re-
leased from captivity, though he was detained four years
longer at Bijapur. Sevaji remained tolerably quiet
during this interval, but after that he again began to
form ambitious plans, took possession of some of the hill
country to the south of Poona, procuring the assassina-
tion of its rajah, and then profiting by the consequent
disorders to seize his territory. He went on much in
the same manner till the year 1655, when, on Prince
Aurungzebe' s being sent down to the Dekhan, Sevaji
made as though he wished to hold what he had acquired
under imperial authority, but he soon threw off the
mask, thinking that troublous times were in store for
Aurungzebe, and for the first time invaded Moghul
territories ; but the prince made rapid conquests ; and
when he was going against Bijapur, Sevaji tried to
obtain from him forgiveness for this act of disaffection.
Aurungzebe, on being recalled to Delhi in 1658,
pardoned him, on condition of his furnishing a body of
horse to the Imperial armies ; but Sevaji contented him-
self with promises alone, and renewed his attacks upon
Bijapur. A large force was sent against him by the
regent of that state, the king having died, and his
successor being a minor. Sevaji sent humble letters of
submission to Afzul Khan, the commander of this force,
by a Brahmin in his employ, who persuaded the khan
that Sevaji was really in a state of great alarm ; and the
general allowed himself to be drawn on through intri-
cate valleys to the fort of Partabghar, where Sevaji was
then residing, in order to grant him a personal inter-
view, and thereby assure him of forgiveness.
Afzul Khan started with a small escort only, and
during the latter part of the way had only a single
HIS SUCCESSES AND EEVERSES. 119
attendant with him. He was dressed in a thin muslin
robe, and carried a straight sword, more fitted for show
than use. Sevaji descended from the fort to meet him,
being to all appearance unarmed ; but beneath his white
dress he wore a suit of chain-armour, and had a con-
cealed dagger. Besides this protection, he had also
sharp steel hooks fastened on to his fingers, which could
not be seen when the hand was closed ; these are known
by the name of tiger's claws. Sevaji came along humbly
crouching to the place of meeting, and at the moment
of their embrace he stuck these claws into the unsus-
pecting general, and before he had time to recover from
his amazement despatched him with his dagger. Sevaji
had previously disposed his troops so as to surround
Afzul's army on all sides, and the Mussulmans were
driven back with great slaughter. Those who were
made prisoners were all well treated ; many who were
Mahrattas entered Sevaji's service.
Another army was then sent from Bijapur, and he was
besieged in the almost inaccessible fort of Panala ; but
at the end of four months he contrived to escape under
the cover of night. The king then took the field in
person, at the head of an immemsely strong force, and
in 1661, at the end of one year, Sevaji found himself
stripped of nearly all he had acquired ; but the king's
attention being at that moment called off elsewhere
during the two years following, Sevaji was able to
recover his former possessions, and even make additions
to them. At the expiration of this time peace was made
by his father's mediation : Sevaji, by the agreement
then concluded, was to retain a district comprising a
part of the Concan, and also some of the land above
the Ghats.
120 FURTHER EXPLOITS.
He kept a standing army of 7000 horse and 50,000
foot, on a territory about 400 miles in length by 100 in
width at the widest point. Sevaji was still animated
with a restless spirit, and in a very short time came to
an open rupture with the Moghuls, though it does not
appear what led to this. His horsemen began to ravage
the country almost to Aurungabad ; but Shaista Khan,
the maternal uncle of Aurungzebe, whom he had made
Viceroy of the Dekhan, marched against him, drove his
forces out of the field, and took up a position at Poona,
where he considered himself secure. Singhar, whither
Sevaji had retreated, was only twelve miles off. This
latter, knowing all that was passing, and how secure the
Mohammedans considered themselves, left his fort one
evening after dark, and posting small bodies of infantry
along the road to support him, he went on to Poona,
accompanied by only 25 followers, entered it by joining
a marriage procession, and proceeded direct to the house
of Shaista Khan, who had barely time to escape from
his bed-chamber, two of his fingers being cut off as he
was letting himself down from an upper storey to the
court below. His son and most of his followers were
cut to pieces. Sevaji then retreated to Singhar as rap-
idly as he had come. His next exploit was to plunder
the rich town of Surat during the space of six days, and
to carry off large booty. Soon after this he heard of the
death of his father, Shahji, who, though very old, was
killed by a fall when out hunting. Sevaji then once more
went to war with Bijapur. Establishing a fleet, he took
several Moghul ships, and sacked Barcelor, a wealthy
port, situated in the province of Canara, which belonged
to Bijapur, and also plundered the adjoining districts;
nor did he leave the country above the Ghats in peace.
ASSUMES THE TITLE OF RAJAH. 121
What enraged Aurungzebe the most was his capturing
some vessels which were conveying pilgrims to Mecca,
and also his plunder of Surat which city has a kind of
sanctity, from being the place where these devotees em-
bark.
About the year 1665, soon after his father's death,
Sevaji assumed the title of rajah, and began to coin
money, one of the principal marks of the assertion of
independent sovereignty. Eajah Jei Sing, with whom
Dilir Khan was associated on equal terms, was therefore
sent against him. Jei Sing undertook the siege of Siri-
ghar, and the other chief that of Purandar. Both places
held out for a time; but Sevaji, apparently despairing of
making a successful resistance, negotiated for peace, and
made the humblest professions of future obedience. By
the arrangement then concluded, Sevaji was only to
retain twelve out of the thirty-two forts he then pos-
sessed, and these he was to hold in fief under the Moghul
emperor. A high military command was given him, and
he joined the imperial forces in an invasion of Bijapur.
He seems to have acquitted himself to the emperor's
satisfaction in this campaign, and after it was over was
invited to go to Delhi. Sevaji might have become a
warm adherent of Aurungzebe's had he been well treated
at this time ; but the Moghul emperor, either from reli-
gious intolerance or jealousy, put a number of small
slights upon him. After his arrival at Delhi, he found
himself on one occasion placed with officers of the third
rank, and no notice taken of him ; his haughty spirit
was unable to brook such treatment, he changed colour,
and fell down in a swoon. On coming to himself again,
he said they had better take his life since he had been
deprived of his honour, and then retired without waiting
122 ESCAPES IN DISGUISE FROM DELHI.
to take leave or receive the usual gifts. From this mo-
ment he was virtually a prisoner, and guards were posted
round his dwelling; but feigning sickness, he gained
over some of the Hindu physicians who attended him,
and also sent presents of sweetmeats to be distributed
amongst fakirs and other holy men, both of the Hindu
and Mohammedan faiths. In this manner his guards
became accustomed to seeing hampers and baskets pass
in and out. At length, when all his measures were
arranged with those outside, one evening he concealed
himself in one hamper, his little son was placed in an-
other, and they were thus carried out through the midst
of his guards. Sevaji mounted a horse, which had been
placed at a certain lonely spot for this purpose, and
taking his boy up behind him, rode to Muttra, where he
put on the disguise of a Hindu mendicant. Leaving his
child in trusty hands at Muttra, he made his way back
to the Dekhan by unfrequented paths, and reached the
fort at Eaighar nine months after leaving Delhi.
This was about the most prosperous period of Aurung-
zebe's reign, the only exception being the ill success of
his army in the Dekhan. Jei Sing was consequently re-
moved from his command, and died on his way back to
Delhi. The new leader of the Moghul armies was more
favourable to Sevaji, and was even suspected of having
received bribes from him. Anyhow, in 1667, he obtained
peace for him on very easy terms, and the acknowledg-
ment of his title of rajah. Sevaji then once more turns
his attention towards Bijapur, and forces its ruler and
the king of Golconda to pay him an annual tribute.
A long period of tranquillity then ensued, which
Sevaji employed in properly organising his government
and army, placing both these departments upon a
DEFEATS THE MOGHULS IN THE FIELD. 123
system which was perhaps even more strict and regular
than that of the Moghuls. Aurungzebe was the first to
break the compact which had been made between them,
and gave orders for an open attempt to seize Sevaji's
person. This last retaliated by endeavouing to seize
the fort of Singhar, near Poona, where, knowing its im-
portance, the Moghuls kept a strong force of Rajputs
under a tried officer ; yet its capture was accomplished
by 1000 men, who, led by Sevaji's great friend Tanaji
Malusri, contrived to scale the rock at night, and
escalade the walls before they were discovered. They
were met by an obstinate resistance ; their leader and
several of their number were killed, but they at length
overpowered the garrison. Sevaji again, plundered
Surat about this time, also ravaged Kandeish, and for
the first time levied what is known as the Chout, after-
wards so celebrated in Mahratta history. This was a
permanent tax, amounting to about one -fourth of the
revenue of a district, and if regularly paid exempted it
from plunder.
In A.D. 1672 Sevaji for the first time defeated the
Moghuls in open action in the field ; after this the
vanquished party seems to have concentrated its forces
at Aurungabad. The King of Bijapur dying shortly
after this, and that province falling into disorder,
Sevaji once more turned his forces in that direction,
and in the course of the two following years made
himself master of the whole of the southern Concan,
except certain parts held by the English and Portu-
guese, and also a tract above the Ghats. Though
Sevaji had long enjoyed the privileges of sovereignty,
he now thought it necessary to be crowned : this cere-
mony was accordingly performed at Eaighar in the
124 HIS DEATH.
same manner as a Moghul coronation, including his
being weighed against gold, and distributing rich pres-
ents to all. Not long after this, the Moghuls made an
incursion into his territory, but had reason to repent of
this, for Sevaji sent detachments into the Imperial pos-
sessions, and for the first time crossed the Nerbudda,
penetrating as far as Guzerat. His next plan was to
try and recover his father's jagir (or landed estate) in
Mysore and in the present Madras Presidency, which
had fallen into his younger brother's hands. He was
successful in this undertaking ; but in the end the two
brothers came to a compromise, by which Sevaji was
to receive half the revenues. About the year 1679
Sevaji's son, Sambaji, went over to the Moghuls, who
received him with open arms, hoping to make use of
him against his father. Aurungzebe did not endorse
his general's views respecting this youth (who seems to
have been given up to pleasure, and to have possessed
none of his father's traits except his courage), and
ordered Sambaji to be sent a prisoner to his camp, but
Dilir Khan connived at his escape.
Sevaji's eventful career was at length cut short by
an illness which carried him off in 1680 at the age of
fifty-two. His early career was almost that of a bandit
chief, or of one of the German robber barons of the
olden time, who were in the habit of descending from
their mountain fastnesses to plunder and take toll of
travellers and merchants ; but as Sevaji's opportunities
were greater than theirs, so he aimed higher, till by
degrees he and his followers did not even hesitate to
attack the imperial forces, though their earlier style
of warfare had much of the guerilla element in it, and
was conducted chiefly by surprises and stratagems.
CLIMATE OF BELGAUM. 125
After this unavoidable historical digression, we must
return to the description of the journey from Vingorla to
Belgaum. The first day's drive brought us to the top
of the Ghats, and we had some very pretty views ; but on
the second day the scenery was very uninteresting and
the country bare. I believe this was more especially
the case that particular year, owing to the drought of
the previous one, though the whole of that district can
at no time have a very green appearance, for, except
just in the station of Belgaum itself, there are few if
any trees, and the deep red colour of the soil of the
whole surrounding country gives it an arid look. Bel-
gaum has been cited as being quite one of the choicest
stations in India ; but I think its climate rather a
treacherous one, for in the month of February it was
intensely hot after 8 A.M., and each day regularly at
4 P.M. a cold wind sprung up which came from the sea,
so that within half an hour the extremes of heat and
cold were felt. Up to the latter hour the thinnest
clothing was desirable, and all in a moment a winter
dress was required. The friends whom we went to
visit lived inside the fort, which is surrounded with
high walls, and contains several houses with well-kept
gardens.
Within the fort at Belgaum there are three old Jaina
temples. Mr Burgess, the archaeological surveyor for
the Bombay district, gives A.D. 1200 as their probable
date, and says that in the Museum at Bombay there is
an inscription which is said to have been brought
from a temple at Belgaum (the ancient name of this
place was Venigrama). This writing is in the Hala
K&nada language, and is to the effect that a rajah,
called Sena, after first enumerating his own virtues and
126 OLD JAINA TEMPLES.
those of his sons and his daughters-in-law, goes on to
state that he caused a temple to be erected, in which
were installed Sir Santinatha Deva. . . . And that
for the expenses of the said temple he gave, A.D. 1205,
the village of Ambarvami, &c. One of the three tern-
o
pies I have spoken of is inside the commissariat com-
pound ; another is just outside this ; the third has been
so much added to that its original outward form is no
longer distinguishable, though the pillars in the inte-
rior do not seem to have been disturbed. Other temples,
however, must have existed at one time in that neighbour-
hood, for one often sees old Jaina pillars used as gate-
posts, and fragments of sculpture scattered about. The
shrine of the temple outside the commissariat is want-
ing : it was probably destroyed in order that the road
might be carried that way. There now remains a porch
which goes the whole width of the building : a screen
separates this from a hall which is supported on sixteen
pillars and the same number of pilasters. The four cen-
tral columns stand on a platform about three inches
high. It was customary for the worshippers to pass
round this in order to perform their devotions, it not
being considered reverential to approach the god direct.
A latticed screen of pierced stone- work originally divided
the side aisles from the centre part of the temple, but of
this only a small portion now remains. A narrow ledge
runs all round the interior of the building: this has been
made a little wider at one part, as if to admit of an
image being placed upon it. Above this, and at a
height of about five feet six inches from the ground,
there is a stone shelf about eighteen inches wide, and
rather more than six feet long.
The only representations of living objects within this
NATIVE THEATRICALS. 127
building are cobras on the capitals of the pillars, and
dancing satyrs on the door of the shrine, which is now
blocked up ; but over the entrance to the hall, or ante-
temple, which I have just been describing, numerous
figures are carved. Those represented on the screen are
almost all dancing, or have musical instruments in their
hands. The shafts of the pillars are formed of a single
stone. Some of the slabs used in the walls are of a very
large size. Mr Burgess is of opinion that the temple
inside the commissariat compound has also been origi-
nally Jaina-work, but adds that it is often very difficult
to determine this point, for sometimes these buildings
have been appropriated by other sects, and their distinc-
tive images destroyed. The one I am now speaking of
has four distinct chambers : an open hall surmounted by
a carved dome, an inner temple, a small ante-chamber,
and also a shrine. The image is no longer there, but in
the shrine there is the throne for the idol, on the back
of which is carved the cushion, such as is usually placed
behind Jaina images ; and above this there are sculptured
numerous circular or wheel-shaped flowers. The ante-
chamber has a carved roof, and the domed hall possesses,
I think, almost the most beautiful carved pendentive roof
which I have yet seen in India. It is slightly damaged
at the point, and hangs from a circle nearly eight feet in
diameter. There is also a mosque within the fort, which
we were informed has been closed by order of the
Government ever since the Mutiny, for at that time,
under pretence of holding religious services in it, the
Mussulmans made it a place for secret meetings.
Whilst we were at Belgaum we went one evening to
see some native theatricals. The actors were all Brah-
mins, except one, who was a Parsi, and the women's
128 JOURNEY TO POONA.
parts were taken by young boys. The piece was founded
on an incident which occurred in the time of the old
kings of Delhi. Each act began with prayers, which
were recited in the Sanscrit language ; but the dialogue
of the play was in Hindostani. Not the least curious
part of the entertainment was a dance in which the
whole of the performers joined. A pole was set up on
the stage, to the top of which were attached many long
streamers, alternate red and white. Each man took hold
of one of these, and, by describing certain figures, the
dancers caused them to entwine and form different
patterns. After this the dance was slightly varied by
their taking also a small club in each hand, with which,
whilst rapidly threading their way in and out, they
struck their neighbours' sticks, and thus beat time with
most astonishing regularity.
Leaving Belgaum towards the end of March, we drove
to Poona, a four or five days' journey, stopping one day
at Kholapore, the capital of the native state of that
name. Its rajah was still a minor. The revenues seemed
to be judiciously employed in erecting schools and other
buildings. One of the improvements was that of bring-
ing water from a considerable distance for the supply of
the city. The new waterworks were to be opened a few
days after we passed through. In every street of the
town there were to be several drinking-fountains, and
larger ones at intervals for the use of animals, and for
washing purposes.
At Kurar, another halting-place, there is the finest
'Idgah I know in India. This building is composed of
a long high wall, very solidly built and having several
buttresses, which forms one side of a large square, which
on the other three sides is enclosed by a low parapet.
ARRIVAL AT POONA. 129
The 'Idgah is used by the Mohammedans for special
services on three principal occasions in the course of the
year. These are the Bakri ; Id, or Id'-i-Kurban, when
they commemorate Abraham's sacrifice of Ishmael, as
they have it ; the Mulad-i-Nabi, or 'Id Mulad, which is
kept by the Shiah Mussulmans only ; and the 'Id-ul-
Fitr, which terminates the fast of the Kamazan, and
varies its date each year. In 1877 it fell early in
November. On that day all Mohammedans are required
to bathe, to put on new clothes, and give food to the
poor. All then proceed to the Idgah (every place which
has a Mohammedan population seems to possess an
'Idgah of some kind), repeating, " God is great/' " There
is no God but God." The moollah then ascends the
nimbar, or pulpit, and, after repeating a short prayer,
reads the Kutbah, or Friday sermon. He then descends
to the lowest step, recounts the virtues of the ruler, and
prays for him. General prayer being ended, all rise and
shout, " Din " (Faith), and fire off muskets ; after which
they return to their homes, and in every house feasting
and merriment go on.
We made one day's halt also at Sattara in order to see
its fort, which occupies an immensely strong and com-
manding position, being placed on an isolated table-land
of basalt, whose perpendicular cliffs rise 500 feet above
the plain. Even with the present missiles of war, it
could hardly be reached from any of the heights around
it. From the top we could also see many other old dis-
used Mahratta forts on various distant summits. We
then drove on to Poona, an important station on the top
of the Ghats, the summer capital of the Bombay presi-
dency, and the favourite resort of Europeans from Bom-
bay during the rainy season.
i
130
CHAPTER IX.
A HINDU WOMEN'S FESTIVAL AT SAUGOR FAMINE IMMIGRANTS FOOD OF
PEOPLE IN THAT DISTRICT GHAZIPORE OPIUM FACTORY TOBACCO
CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE AFGHAN POPULATION AT LUMANEAH
BUDDHIST REMAINS AT SYDPORE LAT AT BITHRI.
ON 1st May 1877 my husband sailed for Europe, family
affairs obliging him to return to England for a few
months. I went up country again to stay with some
relations, and spent the period of his absence partly in
Jubbulpore, but mainly at Saugor. All who know life
in an Indian station will understand the sort of stagna-
tion which comes over every one during the hot season,
and also the difficulty there is in writing, even should
there be anything to write about. Saugor boasts of
no architectural buildings or remains, and during the
summer the natives even seem more than commonly
apathetic.
Early in September I witnessed a native festival,
which is purely Hindu, and, as I was informed, is
observed only in the Central Provinces. It is called
the Jowaree, and is conducted entirely by women and
children. There is a lake at Saugor, near the native
city. This piece of water is some miles in circumfer-
ence, and we witnessed the gay scene from a large boat.
It was a very pretty and animated sight to see the
crowds of women, in their new and bright - coloured
ARRIVAL OF EMIGRANTS FROM CENTRAL INDIA. 131
sarees (a large piece of muslin enveloping nearly the
whole person), come flocking to the lake from every
direction the poorer ones themselves carrying, the
richer having carried after them, trays covered with
pots made of leaves fastened together with the thorns
of some tree, and filled with earth, in which were growing
young plants of wheat, or of jowaree, the leaves of these
being of a pale yellow colour from having been raised
inside their dwellings. Arrived at the lake, the burdens
were deposited on the ground. Numbers of women
formed themselves into circles, and, joining hands,
walked round and round these plants, singing all the
while. .After a time all the pots of grain were taken
down the steps of the Ghat to the water's edge, where
the women washed the grain till it was free from the
earth in which it had grown, and distributed the plants
amongst their friends. This festival takes place just
before the sowing of the wheat crops. Crowds of men
were present, but as lookers-on only.
Although Saugor itself was not in a famine district,
yet during the early autumn the prices of grain were
seriously affected by the distress which prevailed in
Gwalior, Bhopul, and other parts of Central India. At
first a few families came, who did not look very ill-fed
or very badly off some even had brought a few half-
starved looking cattle with them ; but in a very few
days the number of these emigrants increased so enor-
mously that certain sanitary regulations were enforced
respecting them, and special camping-grounds set apart
for them.
It was at that time resolved by those in authority
that their numbers should be counted; and I heard from
a reliable source that 160,000 passed through Saugor
132 FOOD OF THE PEOPLE IN THE CENTRAL PROVINCES.
in less than a fortnight ; and when questioned, their
reply was, that they came where they could get water.
Scarcely any of these people cared to remain there to
work ; the general idea amongst them seemed to be, that
if they could only reach the railway, all would be well
with them. Whether owing to want of food or, as many
believed, from damaged grain sold to them by the mer-
chants, a sort of famine-cholera broke out in several of
their camps, w^hich afterwards turned to true cholera
in the case of some of the soldiers of the native infan-
try ; and though it was of the form which medical men
call sporadic, and the cases were isolated ones, yet for
precaution's sake the European soldiers were for a
time forbidden to frequent the native bazaars; and in
order that they might not think this restriction unjust,
no one who was not actually obliged to do so went
near the native lines or bazaars for more than three
weeks, so that our morning rides were considerably
curtailed. These regulations, and the lateness of the
season, probably contributed to make the visitation a
mild one.
In the district near and round Saugor, where I had
opportunities of making inquiries, I was told that the
natives seem to subsist almost entirely on grain food
for the greater part of the year, with little or no admix-
ture of vegetables, and none of meat ; and it was the
opinion of some who had means of observation, that
this system could only be pursued (consistently with the
maintenance of health) by constantly changing the
species of grain. Almost every month in the year a
different kind is eaten maize and wheat, which are the
most heating, the natives use during the cold weather
only. Indian famines would seem not to be a purely
JOURNEY TO GHAZIPORE. 133
unmixed evil, for, owing to the fact of the Hindiis being
forbidden to eat beef, the number of oxen is greater than
the land can possibly support, so that in years of scarc-
ity the weaker animals die off, which would otherwise
contrive to drag on a miserable existence.
I remained at Saugor till 15th November, and, travel-
ling vid Damoh, where I stayed a day and a half with
a friend, reached Jubbulpore on the evening of the 18th.
This journey was rather a wearisome one, as it had to
be made partly in a bullock-tonga and partly in a palan-
quin over roads which were not of the best. My hus-
band rejoined me on the 20th, and after resting a day
or two, we proceeded to Allahabad, where we were most
hospitably received by a friend ; and then we went on
to Ghazipore to stay with other friends, travelling partly
by railway and partly by dak gharrie. This convey-
ance could only take us to the banks of the river, there
being no bridge over the Ganges at that point : we
were therefore conveyed across in a boat with paddles,
worked by men on the principle of the tread-mill our
course being a very roundabout one, owing to a large
sandbank which has there formed in the river within
recent times, and is said to be increasing yearly in size.
The house in which we stayed was built in former days
for the English Eesident, and now belongs to the Rajah
of Benares. It is raised upon a high terrace overlook-
ing the river, and at no great distance from it, and
consists of two buildings connected by a vaulted stone
passage, and divided by a small garden. One would
appear to have been built as a dwelling-house; the other,
the larger one, contained the reception-rooms. If report
be true, the fashion of living in a double house was
suited to Anglo-Indians of former times, who are said
134 MANUFACTURE OF OPIUM.
to have very frequently adopted the domestic arrange-
ments of the natives of India.
Ghazipore and Patna are the two places where the
British Government has agents to receive the opium
produce. Opium is only allowed to be cultivated under
certain restrictions. Every cultivator must possess a
Government licence; at the proper time of year each
man brings in his produce, which is carefully weighed
and tested by the officials, and paid for according to
its percentage of solid matter, which ought to be 70 per
cent. The opium, when found to be pure, is made up
into balls about the size of cannon - balls ; these are
covered with layers of the dried leaves of the poppy
flowers instead of paper, and are stored up each in a
small earthen saucer on wooden stagings, in buildings
holding, each of them, upwards of 9000 of these balls.
When dry enough, they are packed up and sent to
Calcutta, whence their destination is China that pre-
pared for the Indian market being treated rather differ-
ently, and made up into square bricks.
If a cultivator's opium is found to be adulterated (and
I was told that about a dozen different substances are
employed for this purpose) it is confiscated, after being
subjected to various tests in a laboratory attached to the
premises. The confiscated opium afterwards goes through
a process, by means of which morphine and narcotine are
extracted from it. Opium is also produced in the native
states of Malwa in Central India ; this pays a customs
duty to the Government. The total net revenue derived
from opium is about six millions sterling annually.
At Ghazipore there is a monument, designed and
executed by Flaxman, to the late Marquis Cornwallis,
Governor -General and Commander- in -Chief in India,
A TOBACCO MANUFACTORY. 135
who died in that place on his march from Calcutta in
the early part of the present century. A tobacco manu-
factory was at that time just being started by an English
company, under the management of an ex-Confederate
officer from Virginia, assisted by two Englishmen. They
had leased about 1700 acres of land from the Govern-
ment, which was formerly a stud farm, and on this the
firm was growing tobacco : some of the land they have
underlet to cultivators for the same purpose.
The whole process of its manufacture was shown to us.
The leaf is hung up till it has become dry to a certain
extent ; it is afterwards dipped in a mixture of boiling
sugar and other ingredients, hung up to drain, then given
over to women's hands, in order that the mid-rib of each
leaf may be removed ; after which men are employed to
make up the leaves into small bundles, the dipped leaves
being placed in the centre and dry ones wrapped round
them. The bundles are then transferred to the pressing-
room, and after passing through three machines they come
out as flat, dark-looking, oblong cakes, about eight inches
long by four wide. This establishment probably has in
it the germs of what may in time become a very import-
ant industry in that district. It was the opinion of the
manager that they would be able to produce a larger
quantity of tobacco per acre than in America, and equally
good in quality. Labour, too, is much less expensive :
in India the women employed each receive about three
halfpence, the men threepence daily. Enterprise of
this kind has hitherto been much retarded by want of
capital and means of communication.
Whilst at Ghazipore an accidental circumstance led me
to a research into the history of that district, and I found
that at two different periods viz., about the year A.D.
136 AFGHAN COLONIES NEAR GHAZIPOEE.
1685, and again about A.D. 1750, certain Afghans had
taken possession of lands there, and that their descendants
still exist. Mirza Sultan, a prince of the royal family, and
the tenth in descent from Timur, or Tamerlane, was the
Viceroy of Ghazipore in A.D. 1615. After him succeeded
two other rulers ; under the second of these, and during
the reign of Aurungzebe, four brothers (Neanee Patans)
were soldiers in the viceroy's army. On one occasion
the viceroy's wife was making a tour with him in the
provinces, when, in the hurry of a sudden march, she
and her palanquin were left behind in a forest. These
brothers, finding her thus, took up her palanquin and
conveyed her with the greatest courtesy to the viceroy's
camp, in return for which service permission was given
them to settle down in the Ghazipore district. One of
the brothers, named Ghous, built the village of Ghous-
pore ; his descendants in the fifth generation are still
living there, and though in great poverty, are still the
nominal owners of the village, which is so heavily mort-
gaged that they cannot redeem it.
Again, about the year 1750, the Rohilla Afghans,
having wounded and defeated the Viceroy of Oudh,
sent a force to occupy Ghazipore, Fuzl-Ali being the
then ruler of that province. This same Fuzl-Ali seems
to have been a fair specimen of the Indian ruler of the
old school : having seen men put to death by every
means except that of drowning, he caused a boat to be
filled full of people, and then scuttled in the Ganges
before his eyes. The history of these Afghans who
settled at Zumaneah illustrates how the Mohammedans
have gradually encroached upon the Hindus. The pres-
ent colony at that place was formed by a regiment of
these Rohilla Afghans; their descendants are, even at
BUDDHIST REMAINS AT SYDPORE. 13*7
the present day, quite unlike any of the Mohammedans
of the district, whom they are said to despise, and
never to intermarry with. Some Pushtoo words still
linger amongst them, and are used at their marriages
and other important ceremonies. Some of them have
acquired land, but for the most part the men become
soldiers or travelling merchants.
On 17th December we started for Benares with the
friends with whom WQ had been staying at Ghazipore :
it was a four days 7 march with tents and camp equipage.
The first march brought us to Nungunj, where there was
nothing of interest ; but the following day we reached
Sydpore, where there are some interesting remains, which
good authorities consider to be Buddhist. They owe
their preservation to the circumstance that a Moham-
medan fakir named Sheikh Summan made one of them
his dwelling, and was buried there after his death. In
the same enclosure there is now also a mosque. Of the
two Buddhist buildings, which may have been chaityas,
or places of worship, the larger one is 26 feet in
length by 23 in width : it is open on all sides, and
supported on pillars, of which four placed in the centre
support a roof covering the tomb. The shafts of the
pillars are all square ; the bracket capitals are cruci-
form, each limb being nearly two feet in length, and
bearing the usual Buddhist bell ornamentation. The
roof generally is composed of ]ong stone slabs; the
centre part of it, however, which rests upon the four
pillars, has a primitive Buddhist ceiling, consisting of
four triangular stones placed upon the architraves. A
square slab of stone, which is ornamented with a lotus
blossom, rests upon these, and forms the centre of the
whole. Each of the four triangular stones has also this
138 LAT AT BITHRI.
Hower carved in relief upon it. The smaller building is
in the same style.
From Sydpore we made an excursion to Bithri, about
four miles distant from it. Shortly before reaching
that place we crossed a small river, and there saw the
remains of an old bridge of Mussulman workmanship,
and made of carefully-hewn stones, which would seem to
have been taken from the ruins of the ancient city.
With a small outlay this bridge might again be made
passable for wheeled vehicles. After passing over the
river we saw, on either hand, irregular mounds, which
looked as though they concealed the ruins of a street of
houses ; and a little further on was a so-called 'Idgah,
which is a building used by the Mohammedans in their
worship on certain occasions during the year.
About half a mile beyond the 'Idgah stands what is
styled a Idt, or stone pillar. The inscription on this Idt
has been deciphered, and it has thus been ascertained that
it was erected and inscribed by the orders of Chandra
Gupta II., who is supposed to have lived between the
third and fifth centuries A.D., but the dates of the kings
of India at that period are very uncertain. The inscrip-
tion is on the base of the pillar, which is square ; the
shaft is round, and rather more than 15 feet in height.
The stone has been smoothed in order to engrave the
inscription, but part of the base below this still bears
the mark of the chisel. The capital of this pillar is 3
feet 2 inches in height, and reeded like the capitals of
the Asoka pillars, or what Fergusson calls a Persian
capital. A portion of it is broken off on the western
side, thus exposing a narrow socket, which would
appear to have held a metal spike. Near this pillar
there are several mounds, consisting of brick-work ruins,
ARRIVAL AT BENARES. 139
some of which, the head of the village said, had been
already excavated.
The kings of the Gupta dynasty would most of them
appear to have been Hindus ; but the greatest of all,
Chandra Gupta II. , and his son Kumara Gupta, were
Buddhists ; and Sitaditya, the great king of Oojene, or
Ujain, who overthrew this dynasty, was a Buddhist
also. Our road led us again through Sydpore, and
at a distance of about two miles beyond it, on the
Benares road, and overlooking the Ganges, we came
upon some fine old trees, underneath one of which was
a stone platform about four feet high, where were
placed two figures, one said to represent the Boar
incarnation of Vishnu, and the other Krishna with
his milk-maids. Both are old, and in good preservation.
Around the base of another tree were also numerous
ancient fragments of sculpture. Amongst these were
two small stone elephants, one of which had the
mahout , or elephant-driver, sculptured upon it, as if
he were lying flat upon the animal : another fragment,
we conjectured, may have formed the capital of a
column. On it was the complete figure of a man,
doubled up, as it were, the legs being bent back, so that
the back of the heel touched the back of the elbow.
After resting that night at Chumbulpore, one more
march took us to Benares.
140
CHAPTER X.
BENARES HIONEN THSANG, THE CHINESE PILGRIM, VISITED SARNATH
STUPA THERE REMAINS OF SUPPOSED BUDDHIST BUILDINGS NEAR THE
BAKARIYA KUND AT BENARES.
BENAKES is situated on the banks of the Ganges, and is
considered by the majority of Hindus the sacred city of
all India. The date of its foundation is unknown, but
it is regarded by them as being coeval with the birth
of their religion. The Hindu longs to visit it as much
as the Mussulman does to go to Mecca, or the Christian
to see Jerusalem. All that is known of its origin is,
that Sakya Muni, the only historical Buddha, who, as
I have before stated, was the founder of the Buddhist
religion, proceeded to the Vihara, or monastery of Sarnath
(which is about four miles distant from the modern
Benares), in the sixth century B.C. Sarnath at that
period was a celebrated city. It was famous amongst
the Buddhists, not so much for its religious buildings, as
because there Sakya Muni first turned the " Wheel of
the Law" (or preached). According to an article by
Mr Edward Thomas, the celebrated archaeologist, which
appeared in the 'Athenaeum' of 2d November 1878, the
Jains have a fixed date for the Nirvana, or absorption of
Mahavira their great saint, in which both their sects,
the Svetambaras and the Digambaras, agree, and arrive
VISIT OF CHINESE PILGRIMS TO INDIA. 141
at the year 526 B.C. as the time of the death of Maha-
vira. But Buddha's date varies immensely, according
to different authorities, and it is not improbable that
the Chinese are correct, when they state that this
period was ante-dated from time to time in order to give
Buddha priority over Confucius and others. General
Cunningham seems latterly to have come to the con-
clusion that Jainism was the more ancient of the two
faiths : he adopts Colebrooke's view, and now reasserts
that the Nirvana of Buddha must be placed at 478 B.C.,
a result which he arrived at in 1854 by original figure-
calculations. In a passage from the Bhagvati, trans-
lated by Professor Weber, it is related " that the holy
Gautama [Buddha] in whom faith, doubt, and curiosity
arose and increased, rose up, and having arisen he went
to the place where the sacred Cramana Mahavira was."
The doctrines of Buddhism, by the energy of its mission-
aries, became spread over a large section of the globe.
It has many traditions in common with Jainism, which
some good authorities now believe to be the parent
creed, and possibly owes these to the meeting of the
founder of the one faith with the representative of the
other. Buddhism has now become extinct in India
proper, though Jainism still survives.
Two Chinese pilgrims, Fa Hian and Hionen Thsang,
the former of whom visited India about the middle of
the fifth, and the latter in the seventh, century A.D.,
have both of them left us accounts of the state of Sar-
nath during the later days of Buddhism. Hionen
Thsang was born in a provincial town in China. His
father had retired from public employ, and devoted
himself to the education of his four children. The
afterwards celebrated pilgrim was sent to school at a
142 DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY HIONEN THSANG.
Buddliist monastery, and became a monk at the age of
thirteen, but still continued his education, and travelled
about with his elder brother, in order to follow the lec-
tures of distinguished professors. At the age of twenty
he become a priest and even then his great book-know-
ledge had already rendered him famous. After this he
travelled about for six years longer seeking information ;
and when at length he found he could obtain no more
in his own country, he resolved on going to India, and
applied to the emperor for permission to leave his coun-
try. This was refused to him, and to several other
priests also who had wished to accompany him.
At length he set off secretly. People were despatched
to capture him ; but the governor of the province before
whom he was taken, and who had had strict orders not
to allow any one to cross the frontier, was so much
struck with his resolution and determination, that he
permitted him to proceed on his way. He started quite
alone, without a friend or a guide ; but the next morn-
ing a man joined him, who acted as his guide as far as
the confines of a desert, and there left him. He had
still to pass five watch-towers ; no road was to be seen
except that indicated by the hoof-marks of horses and
the skeletons of men and animals. On his arrival at
the first watch-tower, the officer in command, who was
a zealous Buddhist, allowed him to proceed, and gave
him letters to the officers in charge of the four other
towers. He had then to cross another desert ; and his
skin of water having burst, he stopped and began to
retrace his steps, when he thus communed with himself:
" I took an oath," he said, " never to make a step back-
wards till I had reached India : it is better that I should
die when proceeding to the West than return to the East
EARLY CIVILISATION IN WESTERN ASIA. 143
and live." He then marched on for four days and five
nights without water ; but, comforted by his prayers,
continued his road, and reached a small lake, in the
country of the Oigour Tartars, who received him only
too well; for one of the Tartar khans, who was a Bud-
dhist, insisted on his remaining with him to instruct his
people. Hionen Thsang's remonstrances were for some
time of no avail : he would not give in ; and at last he
said, " The khan, in spite of his great authority, has no
power over my mind and my will," and refused all nour-
ishment, persevering in this course for three days, at the
expiration of which the khan yielded, and allowed him
to depart, making him promise, however, to visit him
on his return to China.
Thus this adventurous pilgrim once more set forth on
his journey. On reaching the mountains he had to tra-
verse glaciers, and encounter heavy snowstorms and
violent tornadoes of wind, so that fourteen of his com-
panions perished during the seven days that were re-
quired to fight their way over those Alpine passes.
Hionen Thsang says that he found a high state of
civilisation then existing in the part of Asia which bor-
ders on the western frontier of China. Agriculture had
made great progress ; and he enumerates many of our
English fruits amongst its productions. The inhabitants
wore silk and woollen stuffs, and the chief cities sup-
ported musicians. Buddhism was at that time the prin-
cipal religion of that district; but he found traces of
the Bactrian fire-worship. Entering India by way of
Cabul, he passed through Peshawur, and relates that, at
no great distance from the modern city, he visited a
mountain cavern, within which both he and Fa Hian
assert that they saw the miraculous shadow of Buddha,
144 HIS TRIUMPHAL RETURN TO CHINA.
In the case of Hionen Thsang, the shadow did not ap-
pear to him till after many prayers and much time spent
in devotion at that spot. According to his own account,
as many as one hundred prayers and confessions of sin-
fulness did he make before the vision was vouchsafed to
him. To- Yung (a Chinese historian) relates that, on a
mountain not far from this cave, Buddha with his own
hands made a pagoda 115 feet high; and he adds:
" They say that when this tower sinks down and enters
the earth, then the law of Buddha will perish."
After visiting Kashmir, the Chinese pilgrim reached
Magadha, or the holy land of the Buddhists, and re-
mained there five years, studying Sanscrit and Buddhist
literature. He then traversed Hindostan, hoping to reach
Ceylon, the chief seat of Buddhism ; but baffled in this,
he visited Benares and some of the principal cities of
Northern India, and returned to Magadha again, spend-
ing some years there. At length he was obliged to
return to China ; and going through the Punjaub, Kabu-
listdn and Bactria passing also through Turkestan,
Kashgar, Yarkund, and Koten he made his way to
his own country after an absence of sixteen years. By
this time his fame had spread far and wide ; and the
poor pilgrim, who had been obliged to leave his home by
stealth, on his return was received with public honours
by the emperor himself, and made a triumphal entry,
all the streets being covered with carpets, banners dis-
played, and flowers scattered around. The emperor re-
ceived him in the Phoenix Palace, gave him many costly
gifts, and wished him to accept a high post under Gov-
ernment ; but Hionen Thsang declined this, saying he
would dedicate the rest of his life to the law of Buddha.
The emperor then requested him to write an account of
HIS DEATH. 145
his travels, and assigned him a monastery in which to
prosecute his literary labours. He spent the rest of his
life in translating Sanscrit manuscripts ; and when he
felt his death approaching, he divided all his property
amongst the poor, and invited all his friends to go and
see him, and take, as he expressed it, " a cheerful leave
of the impure body of Hionen Thsang ; " adding, " I
desire that whatever rewards I have merited by good
works may fall upon other people. May I be born
again with them in the heaven of the blessed, be ad-
mitted to the family of Mi-le, and serve the Buddha of
the future, who is full of kindness and affection. When
I descend again upon earth, to pass through other forms
of existence, I desire, at every new birth, to fulfil my
duties towards Buddha, and to arrive at last at the
highest and most perfect intelligence." He died about
A.D. 664.
For these details of Hionen Thsang's life we are in-
debted to a French Orientalist, M. Stanislas Jullien, who
by twenty years of hard labour prepared himself for
the task of translating this book from the Chinese. It
was necessary that he should first master the Sanscrit,
Pali, Thibetan, Mongolian, and Chinese languages.
In 1838 he succeeded in procuring an entire copy of
Hionen Thsang's travels ; and nearly twenty years later
his work was completed. M. Stanislas Jullien is, I
believe, acknowledged to be the only man in Europe
capable of doing it.
According to Hionen Thsang's account, in his time
Sarnath, and the country round it, contained a mixed
population of Hindus and Buddhists, The people were
partly Aryans and partly aborigines : Aryans, because
he mentions the Brahmins ; and aborigines, because it is
146 SARNATH.
known that some centuries later these last were num-
erous, and masters of the country. The ruins of Sar-
nath are in an enclosure which had an area of about
half a mile, and was called the deer park, and also the
park of the rishis (saints or devotees), because a rishi,
or holy man, dwelt a short distance to the east of it.
Concerning this deer park the following curious legend
is related :
The Kajah of Sarnath, who was very fond of sport, had
slaughtered so many deer, that the king of the deer re-
monstrated with him, and offered to furnish him with
one deer daily throughout the year if he would abstain
from killing them. The rajah consented. At last it
came to the turn of a hind to be sacrificed : she objected,
saying that this would involve the sacrifice of more than
one life ; on which the king of the deer, who was really
Bodhisatwa, the future Buddha Sakya, offered himself
instead. The rajah would not allow this, and gave up
the park for ever to the deer.
In Hionen Thsang's time many towers were existing
at Sarnath, but only two now exist. One of them is
a mound of solid brick-work, 74 feet in height ; the date
of this is uncertain. On this mound is an octagonal
building, which was erected to commemorate the visit
of Humaion, son of the famous Emperor Baber. This
mound has been excavated, but no relic-chamber was
found in it.
The other building is a Buddhist stupa, or tope,
called Damek, about a quarter of a mile distant from
the first-mentioned tower. General Cunningham fixes
its date in the sixth century, but Fergusson inclines
to the opinion that this stupa was of a much later date,
and thinks, with Captain Wilford, that it was probably
I FIND A STATUE OF BUDDHA. 147
erected by the sons of Mohi Pala, but injured, and
the work interrupted by the Mohammedans in 1017,
before its completion. Damek is a solid round tower,
93 feet in diameter at the base, and 110 feet in height.
The whole is built entirely of large hewn stones, clamped
together with iron, the upper five courses excepted,
where only brick-work is now visible : this part may have
been faced with stone, or perhaps plastered. The lower
part of this monument has eight projecting faces; in
each of these, at a height of about 20 feet from the
ground, is a semicircular-headed niche, and in each of
these niches is a pedestal nearly a foot in height, where
a sta,tue has evidently been placed. General Cunning-
ham, in an account of this stupa, printed in the ' Journal
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,' says " that none of these
statues have hitherto been discovered, but that there can
be little doubt that all the eight statues represented
Buddha the Preacher in the usual attitude, with his
hands raised before his breast, and the thumb and fore-
finger of the right hand placed on the little finger of the
left hand, for the purpose of enforcing his argument."
On our second visit to Sarnath, in December 1877, I
was fortunate enough to discover a mutilated statue of
Buddha in sandstone. The base of this statue measured
two feet eight inches in width ; it was headless, and
would, when perfect, have been a little more than three
feet in height. The god is seated cross-legged, with
the soles of the feet uppermost. In the centre of the
sole of each foot is sculptured a lotus flower, and a large
flower of the same kind is carved in the centre of the
small pedestal at the base. The arms are wanting ; but
carved in the centre of the breast is a thumb, and the
way in which this is attached to the body of the statue
148 RICH CARVING ROUND THE STUPA.
would give the hands the exact position of Buddha the
Preacher as described by General Cunningham. On
the throat is a necklace of pretty design, which first
attracted my attention to it, and in seeking to make a
drawing of this I saw the thumb. The whole of the
statue, except the shoulders and a portion of the neck-
lace, were fast embedded in soil mixed with large stones,
and had evidently lain undisturbed for a considerable
time. The statue was in a recumbent position, about
three feet below the surface ; and there it had probably
been ever since it was thrown down and mutilated by
the fanatic Moslems. Some years ago General Cunning-
ham opened a tunnel right through the stupa close to
the spot where I discovered the statue, and the rains
which, have since fallen have no doubt washed away
the earth and stones which then hid it. The small size
of this statue renders it possible that it was not one of
those which filled the niches, for they are five feet and a
half in width, and the same in height ; though, on the
other hand, the place in which it was found (almost
immediately beneath one of these niches) makes one
imagine that may have been its position.
A triple band of ornament still exists on parts of this
stupa. One of these bands is composed of various geo-
metrical figures, the main lines of which are deeply cut ;
above and below this is a band composed of lotus flowers.
Over the upper part of one of these bands is carved a
garland, with small bosses at intervals ; and above this,
again, some smaller ornamentation. On the lower side
the decoration is much more rich and varied. Near the
centre of the now existing ornamental portion is a human
figure seated on a lotus flower, and holding a branch of
lotus in each hand. On either side of this figure is a lotus
OTHER BUDDHIST REMAINS NEAR BENARES. 149
scroll, very graceful in design, formed of lotus flowers
and buds. Below, and on each side of the seated figure,
are two full-blown lotus flowers, shown in a side view ;
each of these supports a Brahmini goose. Above the
goose, on the right-hand of the figure, is sculptured a
frog. Below this lower ornamental border are three
plain projecting bands, with carving between each.
Near the top of the stupa, on its north-west face, is a
stone pierced with a round hole, which was apparently
meant to hold a flag-staff. Flags and streamers are at
this day very commonly placed outside Buddhist re-
ligious buildings in Ladakh. All around this tope, in
places where the outer stone casing had fallen away, we
found a great many so-called " mason's marks " in the
row of masonry next behind.
William Oldham, Esq., in his historical and statistical
memoir of the Ghazipore district, gives drawings of cer-
tain of the Gupta coins. Singularly enough, some of the
same symbols may be distinguished on them as we
found at Damek amongst the mason's marks. This
would seem to open out a wide field for investigation,
unless the resemblance be purely accidental, which can
hardly be the case, as they occur in several instances.
Not far from the great stupa, and to the west of it,
are the ruins of an old Buddhist vihara, or chapel mon-
astery, and also other extensive remains. There are
also other Buddhist buildings in the neighbourhood of
Benares viz., those at the Bakariya Kund (or tank) at
the north-west corner of the city. On its western bank
is a massive breast- work of hewn stones ; and a flight of
steps in the centre leads down to the tank. In this wall
are some richly carved stones, many of which have evi-
dently been taken from older buildings ; and I also dis-
150 ANCIENT BUILDINGS NEAR THE GANGES.
covered a few mason's marks where the facing had fallen
away. Ascending this terrace, and passing other ruins
(some of which have been partitioned off with mud
walls, and used as zenanas by the Mohammedans, so
that their original form is hardly discernible), a small
mosque is seen, which appears to have been originally a
small Buddhist temple. Near this is what formerly may
have been a monastery : the foundations are extensive,
though four columns only now remain. Beyond this
again is a platform faced with stone : it is 130 feet long
by 90 in width, and about 5 feet high. It sustains what
is now used as a Mohammedan burial-ground.
The most remarkable and interesting ruins are the
remains of a Buddhist temple on which the Moham-
medans have placed a dome, and erected a tomb beneath
this. It is impossible to say what the exterior form of
this building was originally, for it has evident marks of
having been continued in every direction. It now con-
sists of a square building which has been supported by
double pillars : these pillars, which are square, are in
groups of four at each corner, and are surmounted with
the Buddhist bell ornament. To this central building
were attached four porches, one of which is wanting at
least, it seemed so to us when on the spot, though, on
afterwards looking at Mr Sherring's work, entitled ' The
Sacred City of the Hindus/ I saw he was of opinion that
there was no porch on the western side, but simply a sort
of projecting buttress, on which the chief idol stood.
There are also some interesting ancient remains near
what is called the Eaj Ghat, leading to the bridge of
boats over the Ganges. Just before beginning the de-
scent, a bad road on the left hand leads to the fort,
before reaching which, at a short distance on the right,
CONVERTED INTO A MOSQUE THEN INTO BARRACKS. 151
is a building which is said to have been converted into
a mosque about eighty years ago, and was used as such
till 1857, and regarded by the Mohammedans as peculi-
arly sacred ; but during the Mutiny it was turned into
barracks. At present it consists of two cloisters, the
larger one 84 feet in length, the smaller 66 feet. They are
of uniform breadth, but differ considerably in height, the
pillars in the larger cloister being at least a foot higher
than in the other. As the pillars now stand, they form
three colonnades, which extend the whole length of the
two buildings. One row of pillars is built into the back
wall, and there are three detached rows of columns in
front of these. Some of the pillars are covered with very
deeply-cut carving, and represent the lotus in a scroll
form, and a Brahmini goose is sculptured at the base
of each ; others have a kind of geometrical pattern upon
them ; and some pillars, again, have no ornamentation
whatever. These pillars have a genuine Buddhist char-
acter, are interesting in an archaeological point of view,
and some, in addition, are of great beauty. The ceiling,
as is common in most Hindu temples, is divided into
squares, and richly decorated in some parts.
152
CHAPTER XI.
MODERN BENARES PARTICULARS OF A CONVERSATION WITH A LEARNED
HINDU PUNDIT POOJA, OR CERTAIN FORMS OF HINDU WORSHIP AS
PRACTISED AT BENARES DESCRIPTIONS OF VARIOUS TEMPLES IN
THAT CITY CURIOUS STATEMENTS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE MOUTH
OF A HIGH-CASTE BRAHMIN.
THE modern city of Benares is situated on the left
bank of the Ganges. At distances along the river are
ghats, or flights of steps leading down to it. Some of
these, as well as some of the temples, are in a ruined
state, standing quite in the water, or being very much
out of the perpendicular, owing to the banks of the
Ganges having given way. The city is believed to
contain about 1400 Hindi! temples, and of Mohamme-
dan mosques a considerable number. On the other side
of the river is the suburb of Kamnagur, in which is
the palace of the Maharajah. A pilgrimage to Ramna-
gur is performed during the cold weather, the Hindus
having the idea that should they chance to die there
they will become donkeys in the future state, but that
by making this pilgrimage such danger will be averted.
The Maharajah, whenever he feels ill, causes himself to
be conveyed across to Benares, The origin of this idea
is said to be as follows : There are two great sects
amongst the Hindus the worshippers of Shiva and
those of Vishnu, these being the two principal gods of
INTERVIEW WITH A LEARNED PUNDIT. 153
the Hindu pantheon. The Vishnuvite Brahmins, jeal-
ous of the influence of their Shivite rivals, wished to
establish another sacred city on the opposite bank of the
river, but were foiled in this by their adversaries per-
suading the people that all who should die there would
inevitably, in their next transmigration, take the asinine
form.
It will not be inopportune in this place to give some
account of the respective differences in belief and worship
between the followers of Shiva and of Vishnu. Whilst
we were at Benares, my husband had a conversation with
a learned pundit, which I will insert in the colloquial form
as it occurred. This pundit, when asked whether he
were a Vishnuvite or a follower of Shiva said, " I am
a worshipper of Vishnu ; only bad men worship Shiva
and Brahma. Vishnu is the only god, the great god, the
almighty, the all-powerful, the all-wise." C. said, " Who
then is Shiva ? " " He is the spirit of darkness, or of
destruction, and all evil," the pundit replied. C. again
asked, " Do you believe in the incarnations of Vishnu,
that he was Krishna, for instance ? " The pundit
answered, " Yes ; Vishnu appeared on earth in the form
of Krishna." " How then was it that all the children of
this almighty god were killed by one of his enemies ?
that he was defeated in battle, and at length himself
was killed ? are these and the stories of Krishna's immo-
ralities allegorical ? " The pundit replied, " No, they are
not ; they are strictly true : they happened exactly as
they have been related. Krishna did no harm ; no per-
son was hurt by his immoralities." He added that the
Brahmin worshippers of Shiva drink wine, and eat meat,
and that there are great numbers of such in Bengal.
Two or three days later I was present when a Mahratta
154 CONVERSATION WITH A MAHRATTA BRAHMIN.
Brahmin from Poona, one of the Chitpawn caste, came
to see us. According to his account, the Chitpawn form
one of the three great divisions or castes amongst the
Brahmins. Persham, some say a warrior god, one of
the incarnations of Vishnu made these divisions. The
word Chitpawn signifies dead bodies. The second divi-
sion are the Kuradhay, who are bound by their religion
to kill some man, therefore our friend the Chitpawn
said he would not dine with one of the Kuradhay with-
out considerable hesitation. The third division are
called Dashust, or the people living on the ghats.
There are many subdivisions of these.
The visit of this Brahmin, Eknath Kanare by name,
was most opportune, as he being a Shivite we were able
to hear his views on religion, and compare them with
those of the Vishnu vite pundit. Eknath Kandre* told us
that all over the Dekhan there are Vishnuvites and Shi-
vites ; the former place Vishnu, and the latter Shiva, in
the middle, or place of honour, when their principal gods
are represented; that these are five in number viz.,
Shiva, Vishnu, Gunputi (otherwise Ganesha, the elephant-
headed god), Surajkanth, and Sonamuki (or gold stone).
Even Shivites, he added, somewhat inconsistently, ac-
knowledge Vishnu to be the head ; Brahma is not a god,
is not worshipped by any one ; he was simply made by
Vishnu that he might create the world. Shiva is their
Saviour, but Vishnu the Creator and supreme god of all.
At Gya, near Patna, they believe that they see the imprint
of one of Vishnu's feet, and have a tradition that the
other is to be seen at Mecca. According to this Brahmin,
certain Brahmins have been to Mecca, and some still
occasionally go thither, and offer balls of rice, as at Gya.
He also said that at Mecca a bell sometimes rings of
STORY OF HINDU CONNECTION WITH MECCA. 155
itself, and if a Hindi! be there at that moment, and he
answers the summons, saying, " I am here/' the Moham-
medans then allow him to go within the holy place.
He added that formerly it was strictly prohibited to all
Hindus to go beyond the Indus, but that this rule is
relaxed, and they may do so if, on their return, they
worship the ayni, or fire, say certain prayers to it, give
charity, and make a feast to the Brahmins. Eknath
Kanar, who is in the receipt of 20 a-month, told us
that were he to go it would cost him 100 on his return
to be readmitted into his caste. He also added that,
after Benares, Poona was formerly the most learned city
in India, and that Shivites worship the sun daily, and
the serpent once a year only, on a day which falls within
our months of July and August.
When we were at Benares in January 1877, just after
the Delhi assemblage, a great number of the native
princes were there, desirous before returning home to
perform certain rites required by their religion from all
Hindus, in order that they may wash away their own sins
and also purify the souls of their ancestors. I will here
describe this ceremony, which is called doing " Pooja,"
as I took it down from the mouth of an intelligent
Brahmin who is babu (or clerk) to a friend of ours.
The pilgrims are required first to bathe in the Mani-
karnika Kund (or tank) near the ghat of that name,
taking with them flowers and uncooked rice. After
dipping themselves several times in this tank (the
water in which is anything but clean looking or inviting
either to sight or smell), they must make presents to
the pandas, who are certain privileged hereditary Brah-
mins. Whilst the pilgrim is in the water, the pandas
repeat some Sanscrit verses ; the former meanwhile
156 HINDU MODE OF REDEMPTION FROM PURGATORY.
takes up some water in the hollow of his two hands,
and, inclining his body, pours a libation to the four
quarters of the compass : this they believe cleanses away
their own sins and those of their forefathers who have
died before them, and also those of their friends and
relations who have no sons of their own, all of whom
they mention by name. This part of the ceremony is
called " Turpan," and can only be performed by males :
the women also do pooja, but omit this. The pilgrim
then goes to the temple of Bishesharnath (one of the
numerous names of Shiva), which signifies " Lord of the
World," and is better known under the name of the
" Golden Temple." Arrived there, offerings of flowers,
rice, and also money are made, the pandas repeating
more Sanscrit verses ; and from thence the temple of
Anya-purna must be visited. This is one of the many
names by which Shiva's wife is known, and there simi-
lar rites must be observed. In his different aspects,
Shiva is called MaMdeo, Bisheswar, Kedareswar, San-
gameswar, &c.; and Durga in the same manner has the
names of Sati, Parvati, Parbuti, Kali, Gauri, &c. The
pilgrim must next feast, at least, twelve unmarried Brah-
min girls, and worship at the feet of one of these, with
the same worship as he gives to his gods, and present
her with good clothes and ornaments. Such girls are
considered equal in rank to Durga, and are called " Bhag-
vati," or mistresses of the world. He must then give
food to at least twelve Brahmins, after which these all
receive presents according to the means of the pilgrim,
and then feed twelve married women of the Brahmin
caste, who need not necessarily receive any presents.
Then comes the turn of twelve pundits, who are each pre-
sented with a basket of sweetmeats and a gift of money.
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 Ghat. 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 Hindu dying at Benares is believed to have
his sins entirely washed away, and to become incor-
porated 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 Hindu 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 Hindus believe that whoever dies
within this enclosure is sure of happiness after death
and this applies, they say, to Europeans and Mohamme-
dans, even to Pariahs and outcasts. After completing
this circuit, the pilgrim must then visit the temple of
Sakhi - Binayaka, or the witness - bearing Binayaka, 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 monu-
ments, unless the contrary is especially stated. The
temple called Durga -Kund, or tank of Durga, is not
far from the Manikarnika Ghat, 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 sur-
rounding 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
HINDU METHOD OF TELLING THEIR BEADS. 159
all Hindu temples, but has no minute carving or sculp-
ture 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 roc-fs 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 arrange-
ment 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 Maha'de'os, 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 buddings 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-rilievo. 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
L
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 Kamayana. The
window-shutters have small bells carved all over them.
Adjoining this temple is a building with some hand-
some carving upon it, erected by the same Maharajah.
Such places are called Baradurries ; and in the one I am
speaking of any Hindu 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 Hindus 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 Hindus 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 comer ; 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 Hinduism
has undergone even within a few centuries.
There are certain wells, too, which the Hindu's con-
sider sacred. One of these, the Kal-kiip, or "well of
fate," is in the same building as the Daud-pan. The
well is so situated, with regard to a square hole in the
164 AN OLD WOMAN PEKFORMING " 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 Ba"pi,
or "well of knowledge," in a large open square near
the Golden Temple : the Hindu's 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 Hindu 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 womam 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 Hindu 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, Mer-
cury, 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 Eajah 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 un-
seat 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 unsuc-
cessful until Ganes, 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
166 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 in-
structions 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, re-
tired from the place, and was conveyed by Shiva himself
to the Kailas 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 Hindu philosophy, a belief in the
Trinity, much resembling the Trinity of the Christians,
was introduced into Hindu 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-
SATUEN'S FIRST GLANCE BEINGS 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 sum-
moned him by means of a mysterious mental process,
and he t 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 Hindri
scriptures are read."
168
CHAPTEE XII.
COMMISSIONER'S DURBAR AT BENARES MARCH TO JOUNPORE IN-
TERESTING 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 repre-
sentative 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 Commis-
sioner 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, evi-
dently 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 pen-
sions 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 de-
manding 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 re-
ceived 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 equi-
page, 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
Hindu 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 Hindus 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 Seiads, 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 Moultan under Firoze Shah.
About the year A.D. 1400, the soubakdar, or governor
of the province of Jounpore, assumed an independent
sovereignty. He founded a dynasty called the Sharki
Patan. 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 Patans and the Khilgi
Patans of Delhi, and that the mosques of the Sharki
kings of Jounpore fill an important gap in the history
of the Patan 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 Mo-
hammedan, 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 Hindu
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,'
GHOEl AND KHILGI PATAN 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 Hindu 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
Hindu 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 wes-
tern 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 architec-
ture of Jounpore, the mosques there would appear to
belong to what is called the Ghori Patan, joined to the
later, or Khilgi Pata"n 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 pro-
pylon, 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
Patan 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 Patan 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 Hindu 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 vie-
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 Loll 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 an-
cient 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 thou-
sand 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 de-
scribed 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 Hindu 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 Hindu 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
LAT 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 Idt 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 Idt, 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,
FUTTEHPOKE 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 princi-
pally owing to the circumstances attending the birth of
Akbar's son, Prince Selim, afterwards known as the Em-
peror Jehangir. His mother was Hindu a Rajput (the
Rajputs constitute the warrior caste); and Akbar mar-
ried her, it would seem, in pursuance of his plan of mak-
ing the Hindu and Moslem races amalgamate. By this
lady he had twin children, who died in infancy.
On one occasion, when Akbar and his wife were re-
turning 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 1 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 mod-
erate-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 Hindu
pillars. On entering the enclosure, we first passed
through a massive quadrangular outwork, and then
VARIOUS BUILDINGS AT FUTTEHPORE SIKRI. 183
through another court, before we reached what is now
the Dak 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 Khwab-
gah 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 AKBAE/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 Hindu
teacher who was tolerated by Akbar. Its architecture
is, in some respects, of the Jain a 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 pucheesee-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 kiosque 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 with-
out 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
BEERBUI/S HOUSE. 187
about 170 feet by 150 : it is surrounded by a colonnade,
which has domes at each corner, and two-storied build-
ings 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 Hindu 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 hearth-
stone 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, Eoogeea 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.
Eajah Beerbul was one of Akbar's Hindu grandees,
and a man of letters. Being, however, sent on a mili-
tary 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 ani-
mals. The mangers and rope-rings, both of stone, are
188 SHRINE OF SULEEM CHISHTEE.
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 Hindus, whatever money they receive for per-
forming this feat, they invarably 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 con-
sists 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 be-
tween 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 Hindu 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 HINDU OBJECTION TO THE ARCH.
good authorities seem to think it is very possible that
the true structural arch may have been known to the
Hindus 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 Hindus
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 en-
able us to make a round and visit some of the adjoining
native states. Our first move was to Muttra (or, more
properly, Mathura). During our stay there we were
much indebted to the kindness and courtesy of Seth
Govind Das, a wealthy Hindu banker, to whom we had
three letters from different persons. He lent us a car-
riage 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 Hindus,
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
Sampradayas 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 Eamanuja, 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 Hindu religion. The chief dogma of
these Sampradayas, 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 Mut-
tra : some hold that place as far superior in sanctity to
Benares, and say that one day spent there is more meri-
torious 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 specialite for some kind of
work : in Muttra it is that of the stone-masons who, on a
daily wage of sevenpence halfpenny, execute lovely de-
signs in work of such fineness and delicacy as few Euro-
pean 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-buTs 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 pro-
portion 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 erected 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. Eound 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 in-
tended 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 fol-
lows : " 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 nine-
teen 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, prob-
ably 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 Gargi-Sanhita, written about
the year 50 B.C., it is expressly stated that Mathura
HALL OF THE EIGHTY PILLARS. 19*7
was reduced by the Greeks, and that their victorious
armies advanced into the very heart of Hindostan, 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 espe-
cially is Greek in idea and treatment, though its execu-
tion is in a debased style ; at the same time it is not
the least Hindu. 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 counte-
nance ; 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
Mahaban, 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 Mdhaban. Its temples seemed all very
poor and modern : the only building of any interest is
198 OLD HINDI? TEMPLE AT BINDRABUN.
the Assi-Khamba i.e. 9 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 Hindu
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 neigh-
bourhood, in A.D. 1017, and the Mohammedan conquest
of Delhi 1 70 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 succes-
sively 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 mis-
take, 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 per-
pendicular lines of a Gothic cathedral with the ordinary
horizontal lines of Hindu architecture. In the days of
this temple's grandeur, when they heard that Aurung-
zebe, that great temple destroyer, was in the neighbour-
hood, 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 Hindus
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 Hindus 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 in-
terior 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 lime-
stone. It was erected during Akbar's reign by Eajah
Bhagawan 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.
Bhagawan Das was the father of Kajah Man Singh,
who built the old temple at Bindrabun already described.
Bhagawa*n's father, who was called Bihari Mull, was the
first Eajput who attached himself to the court of a
Mohammedan conqueror. Bhagawan 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-
Deva temple (which had till then been perfect) began
to give way, and before anything was decided re-
specting its restoration, the whole had fallen in except
one compartment, which would have served as a guide
for the renewal of the rest. The Government had
it examined, and an estimate was made of the prob-
able cost of the repairs, after which apparently six
months were suffered to elapse, and no orders were re-
ceived 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
Kajah 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 cause-
ways of stone, with numerous fountains in the inter-
mediate 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 ghats. 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 Hindu 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 e]even 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 FOUNDA-
TION ULWAR HINDU REVERENCE FOR THE PEEPUL-TREE RAJAH'S
PALACE AT ULWAR.
JEYPORE, one of the Eajputana 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 gard ens 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 imi-
tation 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 cer-
tain 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 Kajah 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 HINDU 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 Hindu 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 Hindu 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 Hindu 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 Hindu
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 AJMERE.
w-is 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 Gover-
nor-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 Hindosta~n which held its own against
the Pata"ns 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 Jain a 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 Kajpu-
tana the Thakurs date from the time of the Patan con-
quest of Upper India. The Kajputs, 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 Eajputana 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 Eajputana, and, in a military sense,
commands it. For this reason, no doubt, the Moham-
medans seized it immediately after their conquest of
I'll' MOSQUE SUPPORTED ON HINDU COLUMNS.
Delhi. The Mahrattas also held it when they were the
dominant power. We took it from Scindia, and hold 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 con-
quered 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 Patan
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 Pata*ns erected a screen of seven arches, covered
with the richest Arabesque work, joined to Arabic inscrip-
tions 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. Be-
hind this screen are the remains of a temple, originally
built in the richest Jaina style, with innumerable col-
umns. 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 Hindu, or horizon-
tal, 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 per-
fect. The pillars which we supposed to have belonged
to the original temple are all carved in patterns form-
ing 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 Hindu 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 pro-
jecting 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 pre-
serve 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 excep-
tion 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 breth-
ren, these caldrons are filled with rice, ghi (or clari-
fied 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 Ib. 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 Eajputana,
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 advan-
tage, 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 Hindus ; 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 Hindii 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 Hindu 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 I "
The Kajah 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 Hindu 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 NEIGH-
BOURHOOD PATAN EMPERORS OF DELHI KUTB MINAR IRON LAT,
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 Patan architecture, being erected in the year
1541 A.D. One distinctive mark of the architecture of
the later Patan 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
Patans 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 Hindu 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 Hindu 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 Patdn mosques. Kound 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 Hindri form, supporting
sloping eaves, 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 Home.
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 Kutb 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
Hindu character. It is noticeable that in this building,
wherever pillars and their capitals occur, these last have
all the Hindu 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 cele-
brated Mohammedan saint belonging to the fraternity of
the Chistis. This man during his lifetime was believed
to have a knowledge of future events : even now pil-
grimages 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 Patan
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 en-
abled him to set his sovereign at defiance, and be con-
cerned 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 Jehan-
gire, 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 Hoff-
mann'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 Eushanara 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 noth-
ing 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 Patan 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
Patan 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 Mahom-
med, 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 Patens 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 dis-
tant 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 build-
ing. 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 re-
sembles 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. Sur-
rounding the central hall are eight chambers four are
square, and four octagonal in form- and there are apart-
ments 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 Ghusnee 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, Ildecuz 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
Hindosta"n. With Kutb the second of the two I have
mentioned commenced the Mohammedan empire of
the Patdus, 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 com-
panions. 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, immedi-
ately 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 Jits,
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 Moham-
medans. 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 Nar walla
and Guzerat, and sat down before Ajmere. Mahom-
med 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 con-
quered provinces in India. Kutb at first was not left
in undisturbed possession of his new dignities.
Ildecuz, or Eldose, as he is more generally called, an-
other of the imperial slaves, marched an army against
him from Ghusnee. After a severe struggle, Kutb re-
pulsed 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 con-
queror gave himself up to pleasure, till the citizens,
weary of his excesses, sent privately to Eldose to ac-
quaint him of this and entreat his return. Upon this,
Eldose hurriedly and secretly equipped an expedition
and advanced towards Ghusnee, taking Kutb by sur-
prise, 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 en-
tirely 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 taper-
ing 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 ex-
tended 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 sand-
stone; 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
n 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 Hindu 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 Hindu 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 his-
tory of this mosque, as told in its construction, is as curi-
ous as anything about it. It seems that the Afghan em-
perors 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
Hindu architects and builders whom they employed to
follow their own devices in the mode of carrying out
the form. The Hindus had, up to this time, never built
arches, nor did they for centuries afterwards ; accord-
ingly 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 Hindu 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 par-
ticular 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 Ghusnee. 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 dis-
tinguished 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 clois-
ters is of rough-hewn greyish stone the same material
as was used for the Hindu pillars while this gateway is
of red sandstone. General Cunningham styles it " the
most beautiful specimen of Patan architecture that I
have seen." It has four entrances : a window of pierced
THE LAT, OR IKON 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 perpendicu-
lar 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 Idt, or pillar, which stands in front of
the mosque of Kutb-ud-din. It was erected as a trium-
phal column by a king of Delhi, whose name has been
variously stated as Eajah Dava, Anang Pal, and Chandra.
Fergusson says : " My own conviction is that it belongs
to one of the Chandra rajahs of the Gupta dynasty con-
sequently 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 dis-
appeared. The inverted reeded cup-like form of this
capital exactly resembles what now remains of the capi-
tal of the Idt, 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 1 6 inches
at the base, and at the capital, which is 3^ 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 fiat 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 - Nag, 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
(dhila) 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-Nag 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 Hindu dome. It is said to be the
oldest authentic Mohammedan tomb in India : its arches
are all formed on the Hindu 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 col-
ours : 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 stone-
work, 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 Kajah Pithora. Adham Khan appears to have been a
turbulent man, who more than once incurred the dis-
pleasure 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 audi-
ence-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 cou]d 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 em-
peror commanded him to be hurled over a second time.
Adham Khan's mother, Maham Ankah, hearing some-
thing 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 sar-
cophagus 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 ddk bungalow.
Whilst we were staying at the Kutb 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 TOGHLAK's ECCENTRICITIES. 239
Delhi, and was the fourth city which became in succes-
sion the capital, the first being old Delhi, or Kila Kaj
Pithora ; the second Kilokheri, or Naid Shahr, on the
banks of the Jumna ; the third Siri, about six miles dis-
tant from the present Delhi, in the direction of the Kutb.
Ghiyas-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 mas-
sacred. 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 Dowlatabdxl). 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 ap-
pearance, 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 TOGHLAK 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." Mzam-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, Mahimid, 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 Patan 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 follow r s : "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
inhabitated 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, Hindus. A Mohammedan
rarely becomes a Christian. The Hindus they gain
over are, for the most part, of the lowest caste such as
chumdrs, or workers in leather. These, when they em-
brace 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 Hindu
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 rem-
edies 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 con-
version, 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 HINDU
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 origi-
nally 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 Patan 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 sup-
ported 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 Hindu 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
Pata"n 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 else-
where 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 llth, 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 Eat-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 Hindus,
except as regards about one hundred Sikhs at Nadersh,
who still retain the manners and customs of Govind
Singh's time, and follow no Hindu observances or cere-
monies : their widows also are permitted to marry again.
The Sikhs of the Punjaub have allowed their reli-
gion to be much contaminated with Hinduism. One
tomb we visited near the Golden Temple had recesses
all round the walls in the interior, in which were statues
of Ganesha, Eang-ji (one of the incarnations of Vishnu),
and other Hindu gods. One of the natives who accom-
panied us in our rounds told us that the Sikhs wor-
shipped these idols, whilst another said they were only
placed there for ornament.
According to Sikh tradition, it was revealed to Kam-
dass, the third guru, that there was a holy spot, some-
where to the west of the village where he lived, which
the deity intended to be their most sacred place. Accord-
ingly 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 subsis-
tence. 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 SACKED METAL OF THE SIKHS. 249
the result being that they became perfectly sound. The
wife, on her return, could not believe in such a trans-
formation, but thought some man had killed her husband
and clothed himself in his rags ; was very indignant, and
refused to acknowledge his identity. Kam-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 Eam-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 Hinduism 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 pecu-
liar modes of speech, one of which is that they always
speak in the masculine gender. They wear in their tur-
bans 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 in-
struments 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 Niramlas, 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
Hindu 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 dis-
tinctions amongst them.
For the substance of this brief general outline of the
religious tenets arid 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, Oil 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 Availed 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 initia-
tion, 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 can-
didates, 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 con-
siderable 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 Kam-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 Hindiis. 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 pre-
vailed 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 Kama, 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 be-
longing to a bunniah, or native grain merchant, who
was a God-fearing pious man. Kama'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 BIJNATH AND HARRA - BAGH NATIVE STATES OP MUNDI,
SUKE"T, 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 ddk
gharrie (a conveyance furnished by the post-office) met
us at the station, and we reached Patdnkote, a distance
of sixty-seven miles, the same day.
On leaving Amritsar, for some distance on either side
THE NESTS OF THE WHITE ANT. 257
of the road there were fields of roses, grown for the
purpose of making the attar. After a time the land
seemed mostly to be used for grazing purposes, though
a certain amount of wheat cultivation was carried on.
Babool-trees (the wood of which is used in dyeing)
formed an avenue through which we passed. These
were succeeded by mulberry - trees of two or three
different varieties : the fruit being ripe, men, women,
children, and dogs had all turned out to take their fill.
The whole country was fairly well wooded. In one or
two places we passed through thick copses ; and though
here and there I saw old trees, yet the majority were
not more than twenty or thirty years old. The sheshum-
tree was the most common ; the Bombay black-wood
furniture is made from its timber. During the latter
half of the road white ants' nests were numerous. They
were very curious, the little animals building their nest
(which is of earth) round the stem of a species of cactus,
or round the stalks of a tall kind of grass, not unlike
the pampas-grass. These nests are broad at the base,
and taper to a point at the top ; they vary from three to
four feet in height, and are deeply furrowed all round.
As soon as it began to get dusk the fireflies surrounded
us in myriads.
We did not see anything of Patankote itself, as we
only arrived there after dark, and left it at 7 A. M.
the next morning. The carriage-road ceasing at Pata*n-
kote, I started for our march of eighteen miles, mounted
on a Yarkundi pony, which we had bought at Amritsar
some time before ; and my husband walked, as he had
been unable to procure a second animal. The first part
of the road was a gentle rise ; but after going about five
or six miles we came to a low range of hills, and the
R
258 VEGETATION IN THE JUNGLE.
remainder of the distance was a continual ascent and
descent, winding round the spurs of these hills, which
were intersected with numerous ravines, rendering the
road a very tortuous one. The whole of this march was
through a well- wooded district ; flowering shrubs covered
the ground, and large trees rise at intervals in the midst
of these. The branches of one tree I do not know its
name, but it is a very common tree in the jungles
looked like gigantic masses of coral ; for its flowers,
which are of a bright red colour, come out before the
leaves, and encircle the branches. The oleander also
grew in great profusion, and was in full bloom. The
last two or three miles of the road up to the bungalow
at Dhar was through a wood of the Pinus lonyifolia.
The march from Dhar to Dunera was only eleven miles.
The road wound round the hills much in the same man-
ner as before, but the ravines were less steep and abrupt ;
and on approaching Dunera some cultivation is possible
in them.
The following day we marched to Mamul, starting at
6 A.M. On leaving Dunera the road enters upon the
higher mountains. This day I saw very lovely trees of
Spircea many of them at least 20 feet high, and white
with bloom. Also a species of cactus, growing to a
height of 12 or 14 feet, with stems 6 or 8 inches in
diameter, whence issued stiff branches, giving it a re-
semblance to a candelabrum. About two miles before
reaching Dunera a road turns off on the right, leading
to the military depot of Bukloh, where a regiment of
Goorkas is always stationed. The ddk bungalow is on
the spur of a mountain and in the midst of a pine-wood.
Bukloh is on another summit, which perhaps may be a
mile or more distant as the crow flies, yet I could, from
RHODODENDRON TREES. 259
where we were, distinctly hear the tunes played by the
military band when they were practising, soon after our
arrival.
The mountain-slopes round Mamul are of great depth,
and have most of them been very skilfully terraced with
stones : that, and the general aspect of the scenery, re-
minded us very much of some of the southern slopes of
the Alps. The following morning we left for Dalhousie,
a distance of thirteen miles, our road again taking a
course round the sides and over the shoulders of some
mountains, and necessarily winding to such an extent to
avoid descending into the ravines below, that we saw
some of the houses at Dalhousie two hours before we
reached the place. We here first saw rhododendron
trees (I use this word advisedly, for not a few specimens
were between 30 and 40 feet in height, with trunks of
proportionately large diameter). Though it was too late
in the season to see the grand effect of the whole mass in
full bloom, yet individual trees had still many bunches
of flowers upon them, all of the dark crimson variety;
but I heard that, at a still higher elevation, those
with white blossoms are not uncommon. Amongst other
o
trees we saw gigantic ilex (the evergreen oak), and a
species of horse-chestnut, differing slightly in the form
of its leaf from our own well-known kind, but exactly
the same as a variety we had met with in Kashmir.
Of smaller shrubs and flowers I observed the two kinds
of berberis which are common at home ; also kalmias,
and a tiny mauve auricula which I have often found
in the higher Swiss mountains, and the modest violet.
On the previous march we had caught glimpses of
snow-tipped mountains in front of us, but it was not
till we had climbed up to the top of what appeared from
260 DALHOUSIE.
below to be a small level ridge between two hills, had
turned round a corner, and were fairly in Dalhousie on
that part of it called Teera, where the friend resided whom
we were going to stay with, that a most glorious pan-
orama burst upon our view a chain of snowy summits
forming the background of the picture. The selection
of a site for a sanitarium, which was afterwards called
Dalhousie, was made by Lord Napier of Magdala in
1851, and five plateaux at different elevations on the
mountain were chosen on which to build, and were
finally marked out in 1854. These are now called re-
spectively Kuttullaugh, Potrain, Teera, Bukrota, and
Bhungora, In 1866 a plateau called Baloon was
selected, instead of the first named of these, as a site
whereon to build barracks for convalescent soldiers ;
and on Bukrota there is a military cantonment. Since
this last date a number of detached villas have been
built by private persons and others on the various
plateaux. Some of these are built in the Swiss chalet
style, with high-pitched roofs, projecting eaves, and
casement windows. Teera, the hill on which we lived,
is 6820 feet above the sea; Upper Bukrota, the highest
part of the whole station, is 7687 feet. Potrain and
the other sites named are at a lower level.
We left Dalhousie for Chumba on the 16th of May,
taking the upper road, which is a rather difficult one,
but was considered far more beautiful than the lower
one. On leaving Dalhousie we had to mount Bukrota
hill and reach a still higher point, whence there was a
descent mostly through thick woods to Kejear, where
there is a pretty little bungalow situated on a grassy
meadow of some extent, having a tiny lake with a
floating island in its midst. The following morning
CHUMBA. 261
we went on to Chumba, the principal town in the native
state of that name. This was a rather fatiguing though
a very lovely march. After accomplishing about half
the distance, we came to a high ridge or gap between
two mountains ; from this point we had a view of the
town of Chumba and the course of the river Kavi at its
foot. During the first day's march the vegetation was
much the same as at Dalhousie ; but on the second, in
addition to the rhododendrons, &c., there were more
deciduous trees, a greater variety of ferns, and a small
species of bamboo, which was very graceful, and grew
from three to four feet high. I also noticed some of the
same flowering shrubs which we had seen in Kashmir,
and a clematis, with large star-like white flowers, which
is very common in parts of Algeria.
On approaching Chumba we crossed the Eavi by a sus-
pension-bridge, and then had to mount some 500 feet to
reach the plateau on which the town is built, and where
is also the house of the Political Agent, whose guests we
were going to be. Two rivers meet near Chumba the
Ravi is joined by its tributary the Sao. The valley is
surrounded on all sides by grand mountains ; at the
southern end a lofty snowy cone bounds the view.
The maidan, or plateau, where the town is situated, is
about 500 paces in length by 80 in breadth : it lies
about 3000 feet above the sea.
The state of Chumba extends about fifty miles in a
straight line from north to south, and somewhat less
from east to west. The natives 7 houses are all built of
wood, with roofs of the same material (even the rajah's
palace was no exception to this rule, except that its
foundations are of stone) ; many of them much resemble
Tyrolese or Swiss chalets. The houses of the Political
262 A VISIT TO SOME NATIVE LADIES.
Agent, and those occupied by the medical missionary,
engineer, &c., are more solidly built, and have slate
roofs. The rajah abdicated about three years before
our visit in favour of his son, who, when we saw him,
was a lad of about twelve, but very small of his age.
From all I could gather, the old rajah, who lives some-
where in the state, though not in the Churnba capital,
was a good riddance ; for, amongst other peccadillos, he
terribly ill-treated his wives, the two ranees, who are
twin sisters. I paid them a visit ; for, unlike many
native ladies, these, I was told, are always pleased to
see Europeans. One sister has no children, but the other
is the mother of the young rajah and his little brother.
Of course they pass' what would be to us a most ter-
ribly secluded life, rarely leaving the house ; if they do go
out, it is only in a closed palanquin : but there is a fine
view from some of the latticed windows, behind which
these ladies can sit and see without being seen. On
one side is a mountain gorge and pass ; and on the other
they have a view of all that is going on in the green
meadow below, whither the little prince and his brother
constantly resort to play at cricket. The elder boy is
not at all a bad performer at this game, or at badminton,
which he seemed thoroughly to enjoy. A European
gentleman who, a few years ago, temporarily filled the post
of Political Agent, gave the queen-mother a binocular
glass, which is a great delight to her. That lady could
not be more than twenty- six or twenty-seven years of
age when I saw her : she had a sweet but very sad
expression of countenance. Her movements were grace-
ful, and she had remarkably pleasing manners.
The royal family of Chumba are Rajputs of the high-
est caste. They and other mountain rajahs are known
ALSO TO THE FIVE WIDOWS OF A RAJAH. 263
and distinguished by some appellation which either has
reference to their state or to the founder of their family.
Those of Mundi are called Mundial, and of Chumba,
Chumyal, from a distinguished Eajput. The boy-rajah
of Chumba has an English tutor, and a Hindu pundit
(all the people in Chumba are Hindus) teaches him
Sanscrit and other native languages. His small brother,
and three other boys, sons of his officials, are educated
with him, and are his constant companions. One of
these last is extraordinarily stout, and seemed to be the
butt of the whole party, being known as the fat boy, and
the muff, because he could not run, or bowl, or catch a
ball like the rest ; but he appeared to take all the chaff
in good part.
During our stay in Chumba I also visited five other
ranees who live in another palace in the higher part of
the town. They are all the widows of a former rajah
who had died about eight years before. He was the
brother of the man who had abdicated, and consequently
the uncle of the present boy-ruler. The ages of these
widows vary from twenty -two to perhaps twenty -six
years, the youngest was thus a widow at the age of four-
teen. Since their widowhood, custom has obliged them
to leave off wearing jewels, to dress entirely in white, and
to abstain from eating either meat or fish. Two of these
ladies were rather short, plain, and uninteresting-looking ;
the other three appeared very intelligent, especially the
youngest, who was the chief spokeswoman. These last
all said they could read Hindi. The youngest exhibited
some very beautiful embroidery she had been working
with floss silks. She told me she was a Kashmiri, and, as
a child, had been educated by a pundit who lived in her
father's house. It made me very sad to think of the
264 DHARMSALA.
life of perpetual seclusion to which such an intelligent
young lady is condemned by Hindu prejudices; as, from
what I saw of her, I could well imagine she might be-
come a useful and happy member of society if only it
were possible to emancipate her.
On 22d May we left Chumba for Dharmsala in the
Kangra district. It is four marches the first, to Cho-
hari, 17^ miles over the pass of that name. For the
first nine miles the road was a continual steep ascent ;
we had to mount nearly 6000 feet to reach the top of
the pass. When about half-way down on the further
side, to our great surprise, we had a view over the lower
ranges below us, down to the plains of India. Between
Chohari and Sihanti (16 miles) we had to descend and
ascend three steep ravines, which made the march a
fatiguing one. The following day, from Sihanti to
Shapore (14 miles), our road was a very undulating one,
though at the latter place the aneroid marked only
2000 feet. As soon as we got into British territory,
which was about a couple of miles before reaching Shah-
pore, we saw the first tea-plantations. The next morn-
ing, soon after we started, we could distinguish some of
the houses at Dharmsala, dotted about on the slopes of
the mountains some distance above us. It was a good
pull of 14 miles up to the house of the friend we were
going to visit.
At that point we were at a height of about 6200 feet
above the sea ; from thence we had a grand and exten-
sive view of the lower hills and the plains beyond. As
at Dalhousie, rhododendrons abounded on the sides of
the hills. The church is a well - built stone one :
its enclosure has a special interest, in that it contains
the grave and monument of the late Lord Elgin, who
ENTER TERRITORY OF THE RAJAH OF MUNDI. 265
died at Dharmsala in 1863. On 28th May we again
started off on our travels, in order to go to Simla, the
distance being 161 miles, or fourteen marches. We had
of course to descend considerably, and reached Palum-
pore the second day : that place is the great centre of
the Kangra valley tea -plantations. At Bijnath, our
next stopping-place, there are two old temples : both of
them have much ornamentation, and are dedicated to
Shiva. The larger and more highly decorated one is in
the middle of the village, and consists of a square walled
enclosure, in the centre of which is the ante -temple,
with a Hindu ceiling supported on four columns. There
are window-like openings on either side, having small
projecting balconies at a height of about seven feet from
the ground. The roof of the shrine is of the usual curvi-
linear pyramidal form, such as is almost universally
found in the old Hindu* temples of northern India.
In the courtyard is a Brahmini bull carved in stone,
all worn into holes by the oil which has been burnt
upon it by devout pilgrims and others.
At Dailoo we entered upon the territory of the Eajah
of Mundi, who keeps up several bungalows for the use
of travellers passing through his state, and supplies these
houses with servants, crockery, and furniture on the dak
bungalow principle ; but, unlike those establishments,
the rajah's accommodation is free. About three or four
miles beyond Dailoo, in the middle of a large wood of
Pinus longifolia, and a few hundred yards below the
road, is the little village of Harra-bagh, where there is
a curious and interesting old Hindu temple, which is
richly decorated both within and without, and had
recently been restored without any unnecessary injury
to the original character of the building. A spring of
266 DESCRIPTION OF NATIVE COSTUME.
water rises from under it and forms a small tank. On
mounting a few steps a platform is reached, which is
surrounded by a wall about 12 feet high. The temple
in the middle of this courtyard consists of a square hall
of about the same dimensions as the ante -temple at
Bijnath, and constructed in a similar manner. In the
centre of the space between the pillars is a Brahmini
bull carved in stone. A female figure is holding the tail
of the animal, and the bell which hangs from its neck
rests upon the head of a cobra. On slabs of stone rest-
ing against the walls of this chamber are carved repre-
sentations of Hanuman, G-unputi, &c. ; and also on either
side of the door-posts leading to the inner shrine is a
male figure. One of these bears a club, no doubt to
show his authority in civil matters, and is most prob-
ably intended to represent Shiva as Baironath ; the
other, a military official, is armed with a sword, and
has a couple of fierce-looking dogs at his feet. Inside
the shrine is a dark- coloured female goddess a life-
sized figure dressed in a white robe, and carrying a still
blacker infant on her left arm. On inquiry, we w T ere
told that she was Bhavani the name for Durga, as the
goddess of nature and fecundity.
The men and women, in the part of Mundi we passed
through, wear a sort of loose dress of white woollen
stuff, with a band or rope round the waist. The former
wear a high cap of the same material, shaped like a bag.
The women's head-dress is of the same form as that
of the men, but made of a dark-red cloth : they roll up
the lower part, so that it looks like a kind of turban.
The young and pretty ones stick this cap coquettishly on
one side of the head, and occasionally adorn it with a
bunch of wild flowers. The women's hair is all gathered
NOVEL USE FOR A BASKET. 267
into a single plait, left hanging down the back : the
natural growth is added to and lengthened by having
black sheep's wool plaited in with it, so that the tail of
hair almost touches the ground. Both men and women
carry loads of salt and other things in a basket resting
against the back, and supported by ropes round the
chest or arms. These baskets were very similar in
shape to those in use in some parts of Switzerland. I
often could not help smiling to see the use to which the
women put them : they seemed to find them a conve-
nient receptacle for their long tails, which sometimes lie
coiled up like a snake within their baskets.
About half-way between Dailoo and Jitingri there is
a salt-mine on the left hand. Shortly after passing
this we entered a forest of deodaras, which seemed to
contain very few old trees ; but the contrast of colour
between their foliage and the wild climbing white rose-
trees, which reached the summit of many of them, and
hung down a mass of white blossoms, was very striking.
The vegetation changed the latter part of the way, and
we went through a wood of ilex and rhododendron.
The bungalow at Jitingri is placed on the crest of a spur
of a mountain-range : the aneroid indicated a height of
6200 feet.
The following march, to Drang, was a hot and fatigu-
ing one of fourteen miles : it was necessary to ascend
some 500 or 600 feet, and ride for ten miles up and
down steep pitches. The last four miles was a stony
descent, steeper than the roof of an ordinary house, and
a mass of rolling stones. At Drang, also, there is a salt-
mine or, rather, the salt seemed to be quarried, like so
much stone, out of the side of a mountain.
Our next halting-place was Mundi itself, the capital
268 NO SIKH FORMERLY ENTERED THE TOWN OF MUNDI.
of the state. The celebrated traveller Vigne, who
passed through Mundi nearly fifty years ago, states that
the then rajah told him that this name was taken from
that of a holy man, one of his ancestors ; and added,
that Guru Govind Singh, disguised as a fakir, arrived at
Sultanpore, in Kulu, whose rajah, a pious Hindu, asked
him to perform a miracle. The pretended fakir took
hold of his own beard, and drew it out to a great length ;
but the rajah showed him a miracle in return : he
breathed forth a flame which consumed the fakir's
beard ; and then, still further to show his power, im-
prisoned the guru in a cage upon which this last
caused himself to be borne through the air to Mundi,
cage and all. Its ruler treated him with much kind-
ness, and in return begged the guru to decree that no
stranger should ever invade his country. The guru
replied that the rajahs of Mundi must give tribute to the
Sikhs, but that these should never enter their capital.
This rule was still in force in the time of Ranjit Singh
no servant or official of his having ever entered Mundi,
the officer appointed to receive the revenue always re-
siding outside the town.
The rajah had received a private letter beforehand to
tell him that we were coming through his territories ;
and as soon as we arrived he sent down an official to ask
my husband to pay him a visit. C., on his return, said
he found him very pleasant and agreeable, and that he
spoke English remarkably well. On taking leave, my
husband was presented with a small case of particularly
delicious orange pekoe, grown and manufactured in the
state of Mundi. The Beas has become a considerable
river by the time it reaches this point, and is crossed by
a good suspension-bridge.
SINGULAR COLLECTION OF SCULPTURED STONES. 269
The following day, after having left Mundi about a
mile behind us, we saw, by the roadside, a singular col-
lection of upright stones, which must have been upwards
of one hundred in number. There were, perhaps, about
four or five large ones about 12 feet high, on which
were sculptured a man on horseback, with a sword in
his hand, his steed being fully caparisoned ; also figures
holding chauris (or fans of yaks' tails) to drive away the
flies. The smaller stones, which varied perhaps from 4
feet in height down to 12 inches, had all of them female
figures sculptured upon them. We were at the time
much puzzled to understand the meaning of this singu-
lar collection of stones ; but on afterwards turning to
one of the Government records compiled by Major Har-
court, who was for some time Assistant Commissioner in
Kulu, I saw that he mentioned having observed similar
rows of stones at Nuggur, in that valley, and that there
the report was that sucii stones were placed in position
at the death of every sovereign, and that the female
figures were the effigies of such of his wives as had per-
formed suttee Sit their lord's death. If this was the
case, what a fearful number of victims must have per-
ished on each such occasion I
Our next march was to Suket, the capital of a small
native state. Its raiahs are believed to be one of the
J
oldest, if not the oldest, of the Rajput hill-families. On
approaching the town we were met by some of the
officials of the state, the Rajah of Mundi having sent on
a messenger to apprise them of our coming. These
officials escorted us to the bungalow, near which, stand-
ing beneath an umbrella of state, was a young nephew
of the deposed rajah, who bade us welcome. His uncle
had been deposed about a couple of months previously,
270 A HINDU DINNER.
he having, by his oppressions and misgovernment,
brought his people into almost open revolt ; upon which
the English Government sent an officer to remain there
for a period and arrange matters ; and accordingly the
rajah's eldest son, a lad of fourteen, was made rajah, and
his uncle appointed regent during his minority. Later
on in the day the regent also came to see us, and made
us all manner of civil speeches ; and in the afternoon, at
his invitation, we went to his durbar-room, and there
saw several of the old rajah's younger children : the
little rajah himself was ill, and unable to see us. Since
then we have heard of his death, in a deep decline, and
the brother next in age will succeed him : the younger
ones being half-brothers only, and not by a Rajput
mother, are not strictly legitimate, and are incapable of
succeeding.
From Suket we went on to Bilaspore, another native
state. This was a long and fatiguing march of twenty-
two miles. Having to cross the river Sutlej by a ferry,
our servants and baggage were so much delayed that
some of them did not arrive till the next day. My
Yarkundi pony was very resolute in his determination
not to enter the ferry-boat, and for half an hour resisted
all the efforts of four or five men to persuade him to
change his mind ; but at length, a rope being fastened
to one of his fore-legs, that foot was dragged by main
force into the boat, and the rest of him was then forced
to follow. Our cook and his provision-baskets did not
arrive at Bilaspore till 10 P.M., so that we should have
had to go dinnerless to bed had not the rajah sent us
in a native dinner, consisting of two kinds of meat, one
vegetable, rice, sweet cakes, sugar, butter, sweetmeats,
and chupatties which last are the native substitute for
VISIT TO THE RAJAH OF BILASPORE. 2*71
bread. Each pldt was in a separate little dish, made of
the leaves of some tree, pinned together with the thorns
of a plant. So artfully are these dishes constructed,
that not a drop of the gravy seems to escape. The
Hindus adopt these leaf-dishes, because by their religion
they may not eat out of any vessel which cannot after-
wards be cleaned by scrubbing it with sand ; and there-
fore they either use brass utensils, or else such dishes as
I have described made of leaves, which, after being once
used, are thrown away.
The following morning the rajah sent word to say
that he hoped we would pay him a visit towards even-
ing, when the heat of the day was a little past. So
accordingly, about 6 P.M., we went to a garden near
the bungalow, where preparations had been made for
our reception ; and we sat some time conversing with
him. We had hardly returned to the bungalow again
before that prince sent us some very pretty boxes made
of leather ; the sides ornamented with medallions of
the same material, in various colours ; and the top
embroidered in a kind of satin stitch, worked with
finely-split porcupine-quills, and having a very silvery
effect. I had before seen some specimens of this work
in private houses, and have since heard that it is made
at Jutogh, near Simla. In India, each town, each state,
each little district almost, seems to have its different
manufactures, and special varieties in the styles of its
jewellery and ornaments, which it is frequently impossible
to procure except in their own particular locality. The
ornaments worn by the native women, as well as the
style and material of their dress, vary immensely in
design and shape in different districts, so that the eye
has to be perpetually on the watch to grasp the new
272 RAJAH OF ERKI HIS FINE EMERALDS.
forms which sometimes are met with at short distances
from each other.
From Bilaspore we took the upper road to Simla,
which had two advantages, in that it was shorter than
the other, and also kept along a higher level, which at
that time of year was a great point gained. Since leav-
ing Dalhousie we had already been obliged to descend
twice almost down to the plains of India, and found it
no joke to be out in the heat of the day during the
month of June. The mountain road which we followed
from this point had been described to us as a bad and
stony one, with steep ascents and descents, but we found
it no worse than much we had traversed before. We
had to pass through another small native state that of
Erki where, as before, we were met at the frontier by
an official, and, on entering the town, by a near relation
of the rajah's. We only remained one night there; and
soon after our arrival we went up to the palace at the
rajah's request, to pay him a visit. The palace at Erki
is much larger and more solidly built than those of any
of the small states which I have just been describing.
This rajah, who only succeeded his uncle about ten
months before our visit, keeps up more parade and
show than the other chiefs whose territories we had
passed through, though his estates are smaller in extent
than those of the rajahs of Mundi and Bilaspore. The
ruler of Erki is a fine-looking man, of about thirty years
of age, with dignified manners. He received us in a
very pretty painted chamber, closed on three sides, and
supported by pillars on the fourth. From this apart-
ment we had a view of Subathu, and the hills near and
round Simla. The rajah had a very magnificent orna-
ment in his turban : the central emerald was consider-
ARRIVAL AT SIMLA. 273
ably larger than a five-shilling piece, and was surrounded
with diamonds. Kound his throat were two strings of
large pearls; from one of those depended a jewel com-
posed of a fine emerald.
Not far from Erki we witnessed a singular custom,
which is peculiar, I believe, to the natives of that part
of the hills, in fact, visitors to Simla, I was afterwards
told, are in the habit of going to a certain village not
far off, where it is improvised for their amusement.
Whilst on the march, on seeing a likely spot near a
spring where we could eat our luncheon, we dismounted.
Hearing' the sound of an infant's voice under a tree,
I went round it, and discovered a young child lying
in a sort of natural bower, formed by the roots of a large
tree, over which branches had been placed so as to screen
it effectually from the sun. Its sleeping-place had been
so arranged that a half- tube of bamboo caused a small
streamlet of water to flow perpetually against the crown
of the infant's head without wetting its clothes or any
other part of its body. Two or three other children
were reposing with a similar apparatus over them : one
little fellow of four or five years old came and laid
himself down in the proper position to receive the full
benefit of another runlet.
We reached Simla on llth June, and were very thank-
ful to find ourselves at the house of our kind friends
there, after having had a most trying march of nearly
twenty-five miles. There was so much delay, owing to
the change of coolies on passing from native to British
territory, that our baggage did not arrive till the follow-
ing morning. Our friend's house was situated on a hill
called " Jacko," and there was a splendid view from it.
In the foreground were steep ravines, formed by the
s
274 LARGE EUROPEAN POPULATION IN SUMMER,
lateral spurs of the hills ; beyond these a well- wooded
range of high hills, on one of which is Mashobra, where
the Viceroy has a summer residence ; and in the ex-
treme distance there was a grand snowy chain of moun-
tains bounding the view on the north. Simla is best
seen on approaching it from Jutogh, whence the whole
has the form of an arc, with houses dotted all along it.
In some parts the hillsides are thickly covered with
bungalows. Peterhoff, the Viceroy's residence, may be
called the north-western, and Chor View the south-
western, point of the semicircle. The church is almost
in the centre of the bow. The different parts of the
station have various names, such as West End, Chota
Simla, Burra Simla, &c.
During the summer season the place is very crowded,
for all the Government offices, with their staff of em-
ployes and clerks, come up from Calcutta; the Com-
mander-in-Chief and his staff are there likewise. The
Lieutenant- Governor of the Punjaub was also at Simla
at the time of our visit ; it was said that he would for
the future make that place his summer headquarters
instead of Murree, as heretofore.
275
CHAPTER XIX.
MARCH FROM SIMLA TOWARDS KULU JALOURI PASS OLD TEMPLE AT
BAJOURA SULTANPORE VISIT TO RANEE TEA-CULTIVATION IN KULU
NUGGER, THE OLD CAPITAL MANALI, AND CURIOUS WOODEN TEMPLE
NEAR ROTANG PASS LAHOUL SHEEP AND GOATS USED AS BEASTS
OF BURDEN GERMAN MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENT PROPHECY IN
THIBET RESPECTING QUEEN VICTORIA SNOWED UP IN TENTS AT NEARLY
15,000 FEET ABOVE THE SEA ^-PASSES INTO KASHMIR AGAIN CLOSED
RETURN TO KULU.
WE did not quit Simla till 12th July. A good fortnight
was taken up in repairing the damages consequent on
our twenty-four previous marches, for the Indian work-
man is slow in his movements ; then an attack of fever
delayed our departure for some days ; after which the
monsoon set in, so that all advised us to wait for a break,
which came at last.
The first march of eleven miles to Fagoo is a very
lovely one. About two miles out of Simla the road
passes through a short tunnel, and then continues wind-
ing up and round the spurs of the mountains, so that
some of the houses on " Jacko " were visible for a long
time. The following day we made a double march of
eighteen miles to Mattiana : the scenery in itself was
not so striking as on the preceding one, but there was
a greater abundance of wild flowers. The next march,
from Mattiana to Nagkunda (or the shoulder of the
snake), was a very beautiful ride of eleven miles. When
276 A VERY FATIGUING MARCH.
close to the bungalow at Nagkunda, on turning round
a corner, there is a glorious panorama of snowy moun-
tains the same range that we saw from Simla and Fagoo,
only that we were much nearer to them.
We remained a day at Nagkunda in order to ascend
Hattoo, 10,646 feet above sea -level. This mountain
was about six miles distant. From its summit a splendid
view is at times to be obtained ; but alas I we were not
in luck, for when we got there clouds obscured the dis-
tant mountains. It is impossible to ride the whole way
either up or down Hattoo, as, for a considerable distance,
the road is very steep and stony.
From Nagkunda we went to Dularsh, seventeen miles :
this I thought the most fatiguing march, both for man
and beast, which we had ever experienced. For the
first nine or ten miles the road was a continual descent
the last five of these were much too steep and rough
to ride down ; so, shortly after passing through the little
capital of the native state of Komarsen, I had to dis-
mount, and walk down to the river Sutlej and a
terribly hot and trying walk it was. The Sutlej is there
crossed by a fragile-looking wooden bridge ; arid after
passing this we commenced to ascend a mountain very
steeply zigzagged in some places. As the Sutlej valley is
a mere deep ravine, we had to climb up to the very top
of the mountain, whence we had a view into a different
valley, and a mile and a half's skirting along the ridge
at the top brought us to the rest-house, which was truly
properly so-called in our case : we were so tired as
absolutely to need a day of repose. The march in the
heat, down to so low a level, and the absence of shade
made it most trying.
On 18th July we went from Dularsh to Choi, a
A HINDU WHO HAS TURNED MUSSULMAN. 277
distance of only eight miles. It was necessary first to
ascend a small pass called the Kanda Ghae : the descent
on the other side was through a pine-wood. We then
ascended considerably and skirted round the spurs of
some mountains. On the following march, from Choi to
Kot (eleven miles), the scenery partook of much the
same character, but the flora was more varied. I ob-
served a species of Canna growing wild, also some
common holly, and many ferns which I had never be-
fore seen in India. Amongst these were the Osmunda
r eg alis, and a very diminutive variety of the holly fern.
At Kot a small excitement was produced by the lum-
badar (or head-man of the village) applying to us to
punish a fakir who had, as he said, been insulting some
of the villagers. They were all Hindus, he added ; and
this fakir, a Mohammedan, had made his way into
several of their houses. According to their notions this
was a most unwarrantable proceeding. I think our
servants were partly to blame, as they had encouraged
this man to hang about our encampment at Choi, and
he had followed us from thence. The greater part of
the population of the village then led or drove the
fakir up the hill, and they all disappeared round a
corner, he calling out all the time, " Do not whip me !
do not whip me 1 " In a few minutes, however, the
matter seemed to have been settled in some manner,
for the fakir came in sight again, collected his small
bundles of food, and started on his way. On further
questioning our servants, I learnt that this fakir was
originally a Hindu*, who had turned Mohammedan,
which, I conclude, made our people (who were chiefly
Mussulmans) favour him.
The following day, between Kot and Jibhi, we crossed
278 A FOREST OF DEODARAS.
the Jalouri Pass (10,500 feet): and this we both con-
sidered the most beautiful march we had so far made
since leaving Simla. The first part of the road was a
long but not excessively steep ascent, partly through
woods of spruce-fir. On reaching the summit of the
pass we had a view of one grand snowy mountain
(clouds, I think, must have obscured others). A short
way down the northern face of the pass a consider-
able extent of ground was covered with low bushes
of rhododendron, about the size to which they grow in
England, and no longer trees, like those at Dalhousie.
The descent was tedious, and in some places steep. We
had to go down to the level of the valley below before
reaching the bungalow at Jibhi, which was very pictur-
esquely situated in a forest of gigantic deodaras.
The road from Jibhi to Manglaor was a rapid descent,
the valley becoming narrower as we advanced. Between
Manglaor and Larji the valley became still more contract-
ed, and was a mere gorge, with the river flowing through
it. Our path, cut out of the side of the mountains, was
sometimes high above the stream, and occasionally de-
scended down to its level, and thus was a series of per-
petual steep pitches and ascents. On leaving Manglaor
there was a steep ascent for about three miles, after
which, descending gradually, we found ourselves in the
valley of the Beas. As we advanced this valley enlarged,
till it was perhaps over a mile in width. At about nine
or ten miles from Manglaor we crossed the Beas by a
wooden bridge ; and from thence the road to Bajoura,
five miles further, was good level cantering ground.
Not far from the ddk bungalow at this latter place
there is an interesting old temple of the pyramidal form,
which has a good deal of carving on the exterior. There
SULTANPORE, THE PRESENT CAPITAL OF KULU. 279
is only one entrance to the temple, which is merely a
small cell, and contains the usual emblems of the wor-
ship of Mahade'o. On the other three sides are recesses
within which are carved 'bas-reliefs in stone. Ganesha,
the elephant-headed god, occupies one of these ; in an-
other, a mutilated statue, which I believed to be' a female
figure (probably Durga), has eight arms. One hand holds
the trident of Shiva, and is in the act of transfixing a
male figure which has fallen on one knee at her feet ;
another hand grasps the same warrior by the hair of his
head ; the other hands hold respectively a sword, a bow,
an arrow, and a cup ; the eighth hand also held some-
thing, but I could not clearly make out what. In the
third recess is a male four-handed figure.
At Bajoura there is a tea-plantation belonging to the
Kulu Tea Company, who possess four or five other gar-
dens. This particular one, though small, is said to pro-
duce the best tea in the whole of the Kulu valley. From
Bajoura our next move was to Sultanpore, now the capi-
tal of the district, Nugger, a place about twelve miles
further up the valley, was the old capital. The last
regnant chief of Kulu, Jeet Sing, was driven from his
throne by the Sikhs in 1840. At his death, Shere
Sing gave his jaghir (or estate held on a species
of feudal tenure) to Thakoor Sing, his distant cousin.
It is now held by Kae Duleep Sing, the grandson of
the last named, who, when we saw him, was a boy
of sixteen, and had been married a few months previ-
ously to a daughter of the Rajah of Nadaon a petty
state on one of the roads between Dhurmsala and Simla.
The province of Kulu fell into the hands of the British
Government in 1846.
Whilst we were in Sultanpore I was asked if I would
280 A VISIT TO THE RAJAHS STEP-MOTHER.
care to go and see the ranee, a widow of the late rajah,
but step-mother to the present one, whose own mother
died some years ago. The customs in Kulu as regards
widows differ slightly from those I have already alluded
to as existing at Chumba ; for at Sultanpore the wi-
dowed lady was dressed in bright colours, and wore
jewels though the prohibition regarding eating meat
and fish applies equally in both cases. The Kulu ranee
made great demonstrations of delight on seeing me, and
I believe she really felt much pleasure, as my visit w^as
an event which would beguile the ordinary monotony
and tediousness of her secluded life. SKe told me she
had never seen a European lady's face since she married
twenty- six years previously, and kept hold of one or
both of my hands all the time our interview lasted.
After a time, as the ranee had business matters to talk
over with the Deputy Commissioner, she and I moved
into another room, which was almost dark. In a corri-
dor outside this were seated my husband and the British
official ; a sort of screen was between us and them : we
being in the dark, the gentlemen could not see us, though
we could see them perfectly. In Kulu, as in Chumba
state, the ranee had female attendants, and in both
instances the term " slaves " was applied to them, and
such they really are. Though they are women of low
caste, who ordinarily would walk about freely unveiled,
yet when once they enter a ranee's service winch they
very often do when they are quite children they are
quite as much secluded from the public gaze as that
lady herself.
After staying a couple of days at Sultanpore we went
on to Kaesun, eight miles further, where we stayed two
nights with Mr M., the only tea-planter in Kulu, who
NUGGER, THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF KULU. 281
is manager and part owner of plantations there, and
at Bajoura. On leaving Raesun, which is situated on
the right bank of the Beas, instead of going direct to
Dwara, our next halting-place, we crossed the river in
order to see Nugger, the ancient capital of the district.
The old castle there is a prominent object, for it is a
large building standing rather apart from the village.
Its construction is singular, the walls being made of large
slabs of deodar- wood, alternating with courses of stones
of various sizes neatly fitted together without mortar,
except in one small portion, which is composed entirely
of stones. A short distance below the castle there is
a collection of upright stones similar to those I have
already described near Mundi, but in a very inferior
state of preservation. No doubt in both cases they were
erected with the same object that of commemorating
the death of a rajah, and the number of his wives who
committed suttee at the time of his obsequies.
On leaving Nugger we recrossed the river, and passed
the night in the bungalow at Dwara. The following
morning we rode on to Manali, about fourteen miles,
where we were the guests of Colonel S., a forest official,
who had pitched tents for us near his house, his own
accommodation being too limited to admit of his giving
us rooms in his bungalow. Our friend's house, standing
in the midst of a forest of deodaras, was situated on a
natural terrace on the side of a mountain about 500
feet above the level of the river Beas, and from this
position we had peeps of snowy mountains. The valley,
which is very wide at Sultanpore, begins to contract at
Raesun, and became very narrow before we reached
Manali. The scenery between Sultanpore and Manali
has, much of it, the character of an English park, the
CURIOUS WOODEN TEMPLE AT MANALI.
greater part of the road being carried through woods
composed chiefly of deciduous trees, clumps of alder
fringing the banks of the river in many places.
Not far from Colonel S/s house, and buried in the
deodar forest, there is a most curious wooden temple, in
form resembling those I have seen pictured as existing
in Nepaul and Burmah. It is square in form, with over-
hanging eaves, surmounted by an ornament like a large
umbrella. The temple occupied an area of perhaps 60
feet square, but more than half this space was filled up
with a huge rock which reached to the roof, and formed
the back wall of the inner chamber. A priest came and
unlocked the building. Within it was a large horizontal
slab of stone about 10 feet by 8, evidently a piece of
rock in statu quo. Beneath this slab there was a large
hollow, and in one corner of this was placed a small
brass four-armed idol, which the attendant priest named
Hurimba. He also told us that, in another hole close by,
the blood of a hundred sheep was sometimes poured, on
certain occasions when a rajah or some rich man came
and offered sacrifices. The principal front of the temple
was covered with rich carvings in wood. On one of the
door-posts was a short inscription, which, we were in-
formed, had never been deciphered.
We were detained at Manali by bad weather, so that
we did not leave our friend's house till 5th August, when
we marched to Eahla (eleven miles). Between Manali
and Rahla we saw some enormous alder-trees ; one of
these measured 12 feet round at a height of 5 feet from
the ground. Near Rahla there were also sycamores. On
this march we deviated somewhat from our road in order
to see the hot sulphur-spring at Beshist, which the natives
are said not to prize for its healing properties, but simply
THE EOTANG PASS. 283
regard it as a sacred spot. The water flows into a
small enclosed tank, which has various gods sculptured
in basso-rilievo upon its walls.
The Kotang Pass, 13,500 feet, which we had now to
cross, is ordinarily free from snow early in June ; but so
great had been the fall the previous winter, that, on 6th
August, it was not yet free from it. We went over at
least eight snow-slopes before reaching the summit, and
found there a snow-field which must have been upwards
of a mile in length. When we had traversed about two-
thirds of the distance, partly on horseback and partly
walking, being obliged to pick each step with the greatest
care, a dense mist came on, and we were obliged to make
a coolie walk a yard or two in advance to show us the
way. The beauty of the Rotang consists mainly in the
number of jagged snowy peaks which tower around and
above it on all sides. From Eahla up to the summit there
was a perfect garden of wild flowers, which even there
were beginning to spring up wherever the snow had
melted; and likewise, on descending to Koksir, 10,800
feet, I observed many wild flowers common to both
England and Switzerland.
These became still more varied and abundant on the
next march from Koksir to Sisu, though several snow-
slopes had to be passed that day also. Just before
reaching the rest-house at Koksir we had crossed the
Chundra river, which, about twenty-seven miles further
on, half-way between Gondla and Kyelang, joins the
Bhaga river, and the two thenceforward are called the
Chenab, one of the largest of the five great rivers of the
Punjaub. The moment we crossed the Chundra we were
in Lahoul, and from this point came amongst a Bud-
dhist population, and saw the first manes and chodtens
284 SHEEP AND GOATS USED AS BEASTS OF BUKDEN.
or dungtens, such as are common at the approach to
each village in Thibet; but as I have already de-
scribed these in my account of our visit to Ladakh in
1876, it is unnecessary to enlarge upon them in this
place.
During the ascent of the Rotang we first saw sheep
and goats used as beasts of burden, and afterwards met
large flocks of these animals, each with two small bags
slung over its back, and kept in position by ropes, which
passed across the chest and beneath the tail, and were
attached to the bags on either side. They are chiefly
employed in the transport of salt. Each animal carries
a weight of about 24 Ib. In Lahoul the women not
unfrequently act as coolies : they were often employed
in carrying our baggage, and seemed to be able to take
almost, if not quite, as heavy a load as the men.
The fair sex in Lahoul have a curious mode of dress-
ing their hair. They arrange it in a great number of
small plaits, which all (with the exception of three on
each side) hang down the back, their length being
supplemented with black wool. They are united at the
waist, and confined with an ornament made of a piece
of some large shell, fashioned somewhat in the form of a
tortoise. These ornaments are sometimes plain, but more
often engraved. The three plaits remaining on either
side are brought forward close to the face, and fastened
together on the top of the head with a large silver orna-
ment. The villages in the Chundra valley are very
singular : they are built of stones roughly squared and
mortared together. Each village resembles a fort, the
whole forming to the eye but one building for every
house is joined on to some other one. All have flat
roofs and square walls, with loop-holes in them here and
STRIKING SCENERY IN THE CHUNDRA VALLEY. 285
there. These villages seemed to be as populous as an
ant's nest, judging from the numbers that came out to
have a peep at us as we rode by.
On the march from Sisu to Gondla (eight miles) we
also followed the valley of the Chundra, still remaining
at a height of about 10,000 feet above the sea; yet
there were mountains on either hand which towered
10,000 or 12,000 feet above us, on which were glaciers,
whence mountain torrents descended, forming innumer-
able waterfalls. The scenery of that part of the valley
was extremely grand and beautiful. At no part did it
appear to be more than half a mile in width ; conse-
quently the mountains rose almost immediately from
where we stood. Their sides were so precipitous as to be
almost perpendicular, and their summits very serried in
their outline. It was a view which, in singularity and
wild sublimity, I have never seen equalled.
From Gondla we went up the Bhaga valley to Kyelang,
where there is a settlement of Moravian missionaries.
We found two of these pastors there, with their wives
and families, living quite in the German style, as far
as their household arrangements were concerned. One
of these clergymen had been there twenty-five, and the
other six, years. They seem to have gained considerable
influence over the Lahoulees, who come to consult them
in differences amongst themselves, and also to obtain
medical advice in cases of sickness : thus, to a certain
extent, they have obtained a degree of moral influence
over the natives, though not a single convert to Chris-
tianity has been made in the valley.
The Lahoulees practise polyandry. This custom would
appear, from all we heard, to have a most debasing effect
upon the morals of a people. The missionaries have
286 DEMON- WORSHIP STILL EXISTS IN LAHOUL.
gathered round them a small colony of Ladakliis and
Thibetans, whom, together with their families, they
have converted to Christianity. One of these men had
formerly been a lama. Considering that for many reasons
it would be advisable to remove the mission -house to
Leh, they have more than once applied to the Maharajah
of Kashmir, for the necessary permission ; but this has
been strenuously withheld, his Highness being, according
to all accounts, a Hindu" bigot, who would like to force
the Buddhists of Ladakh to conform to his own faith.
As a rule, the British Government in India hold a
neutral position in respect to religious matters ; but in
Lahoul the representative of the English Government
(who is a native) exerts all his influence to excite the
people against the Christian missionaries ; and as, for
a period of four months in the year, that district is
entirely shut off from the outer world, owing to the
Kotang Pass being utterly impassable in winter, during
that time this individual's power is unrestrained by
European influence. Amongst other things he is seek-
ing to introduce caste, which had hitherto been unknown
in Lahoul.
In many of the villages are buildings still in use,
dedicated to demon-worship, which was the aboriginal
religion of that people before Buddhism was intro-
duced, and has now become mixed up with it. On
the roof of such buildings is an erection much resem-
bling an ordinary chimney in form, but made of singular
materials viz., ibex -horns, laid one upon the other ;
these being a good deal curved, a tolerably round form
is thus obtained. It is said that the people not uncom-
monly find the remains of those animals in the spring,
which have been killed and their bodies brought down
QUEEN VICTORIA, THE INCARNATION OF DURGA. 287
by avalanches at the time of the melting of the snows
of winter.
We were much interested in the useful work going on
at Kyelang. The two missionaries have made themselves
masters of the Thibetan language, and have translated
certain prayers and hymns into that tongue. They hold
regular services for their converts twice every Sunday,
and each morning have short daily prayers. Their con-
gregation consisted of about twenty grown-up persons.
These clergymen, who are both of them highly educated
and intelligent men, seemed to have entirely devoted their
lives to the work in that spot, indeed, unless in a case
of utterly broken-down health, they never return home
again. Their children, when of an age to require more
education than they can give them, are sent to Europe
at the expense of their society, and there trained to
become missionaries, or missionaries' wives ; so that these
parents, when once they part with a son or daughter,
have little or no chance of ever seeing them again.
Kyelang lies at a height .of at least 10,000 feet above
the sea, yet we were told that wheat ripens upon a por-
tion of the mission farm, which is 2000 feet higher.
One or other of the missionaries visits Ladakh every
year. They related to us a curious fact which they had
heard from the people there, not once but several times,
that they believe Queen Victoria to be an incarnation
of Durga, the wife of Shiva, and that Buddhism is soon
to be at an end, when she will be their patron and
protector.
On lately reading Lieutenant-Colonel Prejevalsky's
tour in Mongolia during the years 1870, 1871, and 1872,
which has been translated from the original Eussian, I
was much struck by seeing that a somewhat similar
288 THE THIBETAN SACRED ISLAND OF THE WEST.
idea prevails amongst the Mongols in the province of
Ala-shan, which lies to the north-west of China. In a
conversation Lieutenant - Colonel P. had with a lama
named Sordji, who was the confidential adviser of the
prince of that district, the lama related a prophecy
respecting Shambaling, the promised land of the Bud-
dhists.
Shambaling was, according to him, an island lying
far away in the northern sea. Gold is plentiful there ;
and corn grows to an enormous height. Poverty is
unknown, in fact, Shambaling is a second land of
Canaan. The Buddhists' migration thither should take
place 2500 years after the date of the prophecy 450
years of this term are unexpired. Its accomplishment
will be as follows : In Western Thibet there is a liv-
ing Buddha who never dies, but only passes from one
body to another. Not long before the time appointed
for the fulfilment of this prophecy, this saint will be
born in the person of the son of the King of Shambaling.
In the meantime the Dungans (Chinese-Mohammedan
insurgents, who mostly live by plunder, and are the
terror of passing caravans) will have become more
troublesome than ever, and have laid waste all Thibet.
Its inhabitants, under the leadership of the Dalai Lama,
will then abandon their country and start for Shamba-
ling, where they will be received by their saint, who
will have succeeded his father on the throne, and have
lands given to them. The Dungans, grown still bolder
by their successes, will subjugate the whole of Asia and
Europe, and invade Shambaling. The saint-monarch
will then assemble his forces, defeat the Dungans, drive
them back whence they came, and make the Buddhist
faith supreme in all countries under his rule.
DIFFICULTIES OF HIMALAYAN TRAVELLING. 289
On being asked if he knew where Shambaling was,
Sordji replied that in that country there was an enor-
mous city wherein lives a queen, who, since the death
of her husband, has ruled her subjects. Lieutenant-
Colonel P., on this, suggested England ; when the lama
exclaimed, " That must be Shambaling," and begged to be
shown that country on the map.
On leaving Kyelang we went on to Kholang (eleven
miles), and thence to Darcha, a distance of only eight
miles under ordinary circumstances; but a bridge having
broken down, we were forced to make a detour of four
or five miles, which, from the nature of the ground we
had to go over, took us upwards of six hours to accom-
plish. The missionaries had most fortunately lent me a
dandi (which is a small boat-shaped machine lined with
carpeting, in which a lady can be carried), thinking
I might require it to cross the Bara Lacha Pass. Not
anticipating that we should want it so soon, it was
carried empty by two men only. Most fortunately, on
reaching the broken bridge we found the civil engineer
who was about to restore it already at the spot, and he
lent us additional men to assist, so that there were six-
teen in all; four to carry me others to relieve these, and
to help the bearers along the more dangerous places.
The men scrambled like cats almost (thanks to their
shoes made of twisted grass) along ledges where there
hardly seemed to be a safe foothold, and where a single
false step might have precipitated me down a sheer
precipice of 200 or 300 feet to the roaring river beneath.
A short time previously the detour was not so difficult,
for it was not then necessary to go so high up the stream
to traverse it. Two snow -bridges had existed much
lower down till a very short time before we came ; but
T
290 TENT-LIFE IN A SNOWSTORM.
these having melted, and been carried away by the stream,
we had to use a third, which, when we crossed it, looked
as if it could not last many days, for it had already two
large fissures running through it, one of which had been
bridged by means of planks and stones, and the other we
managed to avoid by making a slight round.
The march from Darcha to Patzio (eight miles) was
plain easy work. From the former place we had con-
siderably to increase the number of our coolies in order
to carry grain for our horses, and wood for fuel. At
Manali we had already bought a supply of grain and
rice for our servants, as we were told that they would
be unable to procure any for themselves after a certain
point ; and at Kyelang we purchased five live sheep to
be marched along with us, and killed as occasion re-
quired. At Patzio we also came upon a broken bridge,
and were forced to make a long round in order to ford
the main stream and its large tributary, and to follow
for the most part of the way a track only, which was
covered with large loose boulders, instead of using the
ordinary path.
Zingzingbar, which lies at a height of nearly 15,000
feet, and is at the foot of the Bara Lacha Pass, was our
next camping-place. Our tent was scarcely pitched at
this spot before it began to pour with rain, which, at
the end of twenty-four hours, turned to snow ; and in a
short space of time this covered the ground to the depth
of six inches, and our tent was in some danger of falling
from its weight, so that one night we were obliged to
have men constantly at work knocking off the snow
with long poles. On the fifth day of our imprisonment
it began to clear, but our tents being too wet to move,
we could not make a start till the following day.
KASHMIR AGAIN CLOSED TO TRAVELLERS. 291
During the interval of our forced detention at Zing-
zingbar, we had been compelled to renounce our intended
journey into Ladakh this route would necessarily have
entailed our returning to India vid Kashmir ; but, from
some newspapers which had followed us, we learnt that
the British Government had issued orders closing all the
passes into that country, on account of the famine then
raging there, and that all the English who were then in
Kashmir were to be required to leave it. We decided
to retrace our steps, as it was impossible to proceed under
those circumstances.
That the famine was a veritable one there is no doubt.
But it was originally caused by, and its continuance
may be attributed to, the conduct of a certain number
of corrupt and grasping Hindu officials, who succeeded
in making large purses for themselves in the following
manner :
The great cold which set in in Kashmir so early in the
autumn of 1877 did destroy to a considerable extent the
crops then ripening. The people, however, would still
have had enough grain to have enabled them to get on
till such time as they had sown and gathered in the spring
crops of the following year ; but the Hindu officials, or
their emissaries, made a house to house visitation, and,
ascertaining how much grain each man possessed, they
seized it, paying the normal price, the people having
afterwards to buy back from thein as much grain as
they could afford to take (which was barely enough to
support life), at the rate of 20 seers or 40 Ib. to the
rupee a rate which would probably average nearly three
times the price which these poor people had been paid
for the grain thus forcibly taken from them.
It would seem that such tyrannical and barbarous
292 SLAVERY EXISTS UNDER BRITISH SUPREMACY.
practices were once possible in Europe as, for instance,
in Italy, when its free cities had been deprived of their
ancient liberties ; for I recently came across an extract
from an old book on geography, written by one Peter
Heylyn in the early part of the reign of Charles L, or
about 250 years ago, in which, speaking of Florence, he
says : " The Duke useth here to buy up almost all the
corne in the country at his own price, and sel it againe
as deere as he list, forbidding any corne to be sold till
his all be vented." Though by treaty the Maharajah of
Kashmir acknowledges British supremacy, yet he has
hitherto kept his subjects virtually in a state of slavery.
If their means of subsistence fail them, they are not
allowed to emigrate to India. Some few do escape-
witness a small colony established at Nurpur not far
from Dharmsala at the time of a famine which prevailed
in Kashmir some forty years ago ; and a few are also
settled in Lahore ; but, as a rule, I have been told it is
the men alone who contrive to elude the strict watch
which is kept over their movements, and that the wives
and families remain behind.
During the summer of 1878 the famine seemed al-
most daily to increase ; and a newspaper of 13th August
states that "the skeletons of all the inhabitants of a
pretty little village nestling at the foot of Gulmurg
(twenty - eight miles from Srinagar and a favourite
resort for summer visitors) had lately been discovered
in a gorge above, where they had retreated in their
endeavour to escape the Maharajah's chuprassies (or
policemen), whose business it was to prevent emigra-
tion ; " and also adds " that the Lolab valley was de-
populated, and a large extent of the district beyond
that become a desert." Such is the lamentable result
SUFFERINGS OF MOHAMMEDANS UNDER HINDI? RULER. 293
of our having handed over this splendid and fertile
country to the tender mercies of a Hindu bigot, with
officials of the same faith as himself, the inhabitants of
the country being Mohammedan. History shows us, in
the case of our own Queen Mary, and also in that of
Philip of Spain with regard to the Netherlands, that no
rule is so cruel as that of a bigot over people of a faith
differing from his own. 1
We then returned to Kyelang, and remained some
days, the weather being still very unsettled, and the idea
of being caught in a snowstorm on the top of the Kotang
seeming anything but agreeable. We left it on 7th Sep-
tember, and on the llth went over the pass, having a
glorious view of snowy peaks on the Koksir side of the
mountain. The snow-field which it had taken us two
hours to cross five weeks previously had entirely disap-
peared, so that we accomplished the same distance in a
quarter of an hour. The wild flowers on both sides of
the pass were still more numerous and varied than be-
fore, but, much to our regret, were not sufficiently ad-
vanced for us to procure their seed.
1 Since the above was in the press, accounts of even worse atrocities in
Kashmir have appeared in the newspapers. Whole boat-loads of starving
people have been conveyed by the Maharajah's officials to the Woolar Lake,
and there drowned. One man had strength to swim to shore, and informed
an Englishman. This man, soon afterwards, died by poison. How long !
how long ! when will the supreme power rouse itself, which from the
Himalayan Olympus dispassionately surveys the continent of India balanc-
ing in equal scales the legal privileges of the few and the natural rights of
millions 1
294
CHAPTEE XX.
THE SOLANG VALLEY ANNUAL FAIR AT SULTANPORE MEETING OF THE
GODS OF THE VARIOUS VILLAGES IN KULU PARBUTI VALLEY NOVEL
MODE OF CROSSING A RIVER HOT SPRINGS AT MANIKERN BUBU PASS
RETURN TO KANGRA VALLEY FORT AT KANGRA JUWALA MUKI ITS
SACRED FIRES SINGULAR ASPECT OF COUNTRY NEAR HOSHIARPORE
NATIVE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY JULLUNDER RETURN TO LAHORE.
i
Oira friends at Manali, hearing that we were about to
return to the Kulu valley, wrote to invite us to visit
them again, and we together made an excursion to the
Solan g valley, going up the right bank of the Beas.
The entrance to this valley was about five miles from
Manali, at which distance we branched off to the left.
The road to Rahla, and the Eotang Pass, on the top of .
which the Beas has its source, ascends steeply to the
right on the opposite bank of the river. A large tract
of ground at the mouth of the Solang valley is a mass
of debris formed of enormous stones. Here and there
are rugged-looking old deodaras, which look as if they
had been buffeted and torn by the elements. As far
as I could learn from those who had been to the upper
end of this valley, there are no traces of there ever
having been a lake which might have burst, and so
spread devastation around ; but this species of chaos
has possibly owed its origin to an avalanche which may
have dammed up the river for a time ; and its waters,
THE HOMAGE PAID TO RUGONATH. . 295
when released, would naturally rush down with resist-
less force. *
On leaving Manali we again stayed a few days at
Eaesun with our friend Mr M. ; and on llth October
rode over with him to Sultanpore to see the last day of
the fair, which had been carried on for a week, and takes
place annually at that season. Each village in Kulu
possesses its own particular god. The names of these
deities appear to be local ones, as I have not seen them
in any list of the Hindti Pantheon. The one belonging
to Sultanpore is called Kugonath, and is said to have
been stolen from Oudh* more than 200 years ago. Kajah
Juggut Sing, the then ruler of Kulu, had heard reports
of the great wealth possessed by a Brahmin in the valley,
and sent to demand money of him. The Brahmin re-
fused to obey the rajah's command ; and on a second
messenger being sent to him he set fire to his house,
whereby he and all his family were burnt to death. On
this the rajah suddenly found himself attacked with
leprosy ; but in a dream he was informed that if he
could only procure the idol Eugonath he would be cured.
A messenger was accordingly sent to Oudh : he stole the
god, was pursued, and overtaken ; but Eugonath showed
such a decided wish to go to Kulu, that the messenger
was finally allowed to take him away, and as soon as he
appeared in the valley the rajah became perfectly cured
of his terrible disease.
At the time of this fair all the other gods in the
valley are brought to Sultanpore to pay Eugonath a
visit. Each temple has had certain lands granted
to it rent free on condition that its god should be
yearly taken to this fair. The funds arising from these
lands are applied to the support of its attendants,
296 A HINDU RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL.
and also supply food during their week's stay at Sul-
tanpore to the people of the respective villages who have
accompanied their idol thither.
The inferior gods are carried about in a species of
palanquin, decorated with gay -coloured cloths and
streamers, and adorned with flowers, which is borne on
men's shoulders. Some are so small that they are carried
by one man, who holds the shrine like a baby on his
left arm. Rugonath, however, possesses a large car on
wheels, which is dragged about by means of an enor-
mous rope by two hundred or three hundred men.
The fair takes place on a raised plateau of some ex-
tent, which is situated to the south of the town. We
were all seated near the young rajah, under an awning
erected for the occasion in a commanding position, so
that we could overlook all that was passing below. The
ground formed a natural semicircle beneath and on either
side of us, and there the women were seated, who were
present as spectators only, dressed in all their silver
ornaments and gayest clothes. Both men and women
had wreaths of double marigolds round their heads. The
former took an active part in the ceremonies, which
commenced by their placing the palanquins containing
the inferior gods on the ground, when they began danc-
ing round them in a slow and regular measure, each
with his left hand round his neighbour's waist, to the
accompaniment of tom-toms and horns. After a time
certain solo-dancers came forward, who moved in a rapid
and animated manner. When the excitement was at its
height, the attendants danced the gods up and down
likewise, and made certain of them salaam to each
other. Finally, the rajah himself went down and headed
a procession of all the gods, taking hold of the rope
A PRIMITIVE FERRY. 297
attached to the car of Rugonath, and helping to drag it
a considerable distance. When the car reached a certain
point a large bonfire was lit, which seemed to be the
conclusion of the festivities, for after that there was a
general dispersion of the gods and their attendants to
their respective homes.
On quitting our friend at Raesun we made an expe-
dition to the Parbuti valley, the entrance to which is
on the left bank of the Beas. About six miles below
Sultanpore we had to cross the main stream on mus-
socks, as the inflated skins of oxen or sheep are called in
the vernacular. For our convenience two of the larger
skins were lashed together, and a charpoy (or native
bedstead) fixed between them, on which we reclined.
Two men on mussocks pulled and guided our little craft;
whilst a third, also on this primitive contrivance, went
in front of us and paddled. These skins are inflated
with air, and then securely tied. When in the water
the back of the animal is undermost, three legs stand
upright, and the fourth is the place where the air is
introduced. When about to enter the river the native
pushes the skin a short distance away from him, and
then throws himself upon it, holding a small paddle in
his hands, with which he steers ; and his legs, which hang
in the water, assist him in advancing by means of the
ordinary swimming motion.
That evening we encamped at the entrance of the
Parbuti valley only, as it took a long time to get our
tents and baggage across the river. The following day
we made a double march, said to be only twelve miles,
but over a very bad road, so that, although we started
pretty early in the day, some of our servants who kept
behind with the baggage did not come in till nearly
298 A GRAND VIEW IN THE HIMALAYAS.
midnight. Fortunately we were independent of our
tents, there being a small forest officer's bungalow at
Jerri, which was our halting-place. When about half-
way thither we had a fine view before us of a mountain-
chain averaging 20,000 feet above the sea, with many
small glaciers on its summits.
In the Parbuti valley we found the Pinus longifolia
in the lower part, and higher up the P. excelsa and
deodaras ; there were also wild olive, fig, and pear trees.
Both in the Kulu and Parbuti valleys English fruit-trees
seem to succeed wonderfully well ; and it is not impos-
sible that in time a great industry may spring up, and
that district supply a great part of India with preserved
fruits for the climate is one that Europeans could live
in all the year round and, by proper management, the
tinned fruits of Europe might be rivalled. Between Jerri
and Manikern, twelve miles higher up the valley, there
were a few tree rhododendrons.
About a mile before reaching the latter place there
is a mountain view of singular grandeur and beauty.
Seemingly towering to the sky, about 15,000 feet above
where we were standing, and perhaps somewhere about
fifteen miles distant from us as the crow flies, we saw,
through an opening in the mountains, a great wall or
chain of huge precipices terminating at their summits
in finials and spires like a cathedral ; and except that
the colour of these rocks was mostly grey, with here
and there a patch of glacier or snow, these points (to
compare small things with great) had, to my mind, a
great resemblance to Milan Cathedral, with its num-
berless tapering pinnacles. It struck us both that
this peculiar effect might be due to the strata being
perpendicular.
At Manikeru there are hot springs bubbling up from
DEODA11AS AT HOME. 299
the earth in several spots. It is much visited by the
Hindus as a place of pilgrimage. They also prize these
springs on account of their great efficacy in rheumatic
affections. This water is extremely hot being nearly,
if not quite, at boiling-point so that the pilgrims and
the inhabitants of the village are in the habit of boiling
their rice and cakes of flour in it.
From Manikern we made an excursion to Phulga,
the head of the Parbuti valley, and pitched our tents
about 500 feet above the river. The road ascended con-
siderably the whole way : much of the vegetation was
of a deciduous character. Amongst other trees, there
were some splendid specimens of the same variety of
horse-chestnut as we had seen in Kashmir. I was in-
formed by the head-man of the district that their fruit
is used by the people as food. When fresh and uncooked,
they are quite as bitter and hard as our English kind ;
but the natives, before using them, steep them seven
days in water, and then, after pounding them, make the
meal into cakes.
Our object in going to Phulga was to see a forest of
deodar as, which, in the opinion of the chief forest official
of the district, contains the finest grove of deodar as now
remaining in the Himalayas. We were informed that
the largest tree is 26 feet in circumference at five feet
from the base, and 235 feet in height. A very large
proportion were over 16 feet in girth, with a height
hardly less than that of the colossus of the forest, which
would, no doubt, have been considerably higher had it
not, comparatively early in life, lost its leader and formed
a double one.
After returning down the Parbuti valley, and spend-
ing one day at Sultanpore, on 4th November we started
on our march into the Kangra valley. The first day
300 THE BUBU PASS.
was good and easy riding, the road being nowhere steep,
but winding round the spurs of the mountains, which
were clothed with jungle almost to their summits ; but
yet it was a continual ascent, so that we must have that
day considerably diminished the height we had to reach
in order to cross the Bubu Pass (10,000 feet) the following
day. The road up to the summit was very fairly good,
but is composed of steep zigzags. "We had to ascend
about 4000 feet in a distance of five miles. Near the
top we saw only spruce-fir or Abies Smithiana, and silver
firs or Picea Webbiana ; but on descending on the other
side there was an immediate and rapid change in the
vegetation : tree rhododendrons and the evergreen oak
were very abundant. The level space on the top of this
pass is not larger than an ordinary dining- table. Behind
us were the grand mountain-peaks to which I have al-
luded in describing the Parbuti valley; and the view in
front of us was of almost unbounded extent, even down
to the plains of India. In order to reach our halting-
place at Budwani, we must have descended nearly as
much as we had mounted on the other side : the gradient
was even steeper. At the top of the pass we left English
territory, and entered the native state of Mundi. The
road from this point, though well made in the first in-
stance, is now shamefully neglected.
From Budwani we rode to Jitingri, and from thence,
for the next three marches, we followed the road .we
had passed over six months previously. At Palampore,
however, we took a different line, and went to Kangra,
the old capital of the district, which has a strong fort,
and some interesting remains of temples, in its neigh-
bourhood. This place was attacked by Mahmoud of
Ghusnee, in the commencement of the eleventh century,
MIRACULOUS FLAME AT JUWALA MUKI. 301
but lie did not take it. The present outer walls of the
fort, and its inner gate, were built by Jehangir, who
placed over the entrance a marble tablet of a very an-
cient date, on which was recorded that Alexander of
Macedon married the daughter of the Rajah of Kangra.
This tablet has been removed, nor could I ascertain where
it now is (it is believed to be in some museum), but a
very old native priest told a friend of ours that he well
remembered it. About two hundred years ago Kangra
was ruled by the rajahs of Chumba. After a time it was
seized by another Rajput family, which in its turn was
dispossessed by the Sikhs, from whom we took it at the
end of the second Sikh war.
From Kangra our destination was .Tullunder, about
eight marches. We made a detour, which involved an
extra march, in order to see Juwala Muki, which the
Hindus esteem the most holy place in the Punjaub.
Juwala Muki nestles close to a range of hills, about
eight miles distant from the right bank of the river
Beas. This town, as compared with others in India,
had a medieval look. It is a mass of old buildings and
temples, which, for the most part, are of hewn stone.
The sanctity of the place is owing to the carburetted
hydrogen gas which oozes out of the ground in many
places, and is perpetually burning in more than one
spot. There was no perceptible odour from it, nor any
trace of smoke, and the flame had rather a bluish colour.
The principal outlets for the gas were inside an ancient
Hindi! temple, which seemed in its pristine state within;
but the exterior had been covered with modern designs
in painted stucco in the time of Ranjit Singh, who also
overlaid the roof with plates of gilt copper.
We were riding to Dhera, our next stopping-place,
302 MEDICAL EFFICACY OF THE SACRED FIRE.
when we saw a native running after us, gesticulating
wildly, and at the same time saying something which
we were too far off to hear. We waited for him to
come up, and then saw that in one hand he held a
hookah, or native pipe, and in the other the half of a
large earthenware vessel, in which he carried some live
embers. He began a long story, to the effect that he
was just returning from Juwala Muki, whither he had
gone very ill had been quite cured there, and the em-
bers he carried had been lit at the sacred fires. He was
most pressing that we should accept some of them, even
offering to take them to the bungalow for us. We de-
clined, with thanks, when he begged us at least to take
a pull at his hookah. The goddess Kali, and Baironath
(another name for Shiva), seemed to be the favourite
deities in that part. Under a sacred fig-tree, between
Juwala Muki and Dhera, we saw his statue. From the
branches of this tree were hung a number of small staves,
no doubt native offerings to their spiritual police magis-
trate, as they consider him.
There was nothing particularly interesting on the next
two marches, either in the way of scenery or of old
monuments. But before reaching Bhurwein our road
led through and round a succession of low hills of
singular form, entirely composed of water- worn stones
like a sea-beach, and very barren. Between Bhurwein
and Gugrat these features were even more marked. On
the north side of the hills there were a few Pinus longi-
folia. What soil there was seemed to be almost pure
sand, except that in one or two spots there was a little
cultivation where a tiny stream of water rendered a
certain amount of irrigation possible, and a small village
had consequently sprung up.
NATIVE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY AND HIS FAMILY. 303
Our next march was to Hoshiarpore (eighteen miles),
the first ten of which took us through the same style of
scenery, after which we descended to the plains. The
hills which I have just described occupy a considerable
tract of country, and are not only barren in themselves,
but the present state of things is doing much harm to
the level country below, which, for some distance from
them, is becoming unproductive from the gradual ac-
cumulation of sand on the surface, deposited upon it
from above by the monsoon torrents. Possibly if wine-
cultivation were attempted, or some trees planted on
these barren hill-tracts which, no doubt, were formerly
covered with forests the vegetation might in time form
soil, and in the meantime their roots help to hold the
sand together.
Hoshiarpore is a pretty little civil station, adjoining
a native town of 13,000 souls, who are mostly Hindus.
We called upon a native, Christian missionary, who
took a more hopeful view of the progress of Christianity
as regarding Bengal (his native province) and the Pun-
jaub, where he has lived seventeen years, than one
commonly hears. He became a Christian at sixteen
years of age. His mother, who is still alive, remains
a Hindri. This missionary's wife has always been a
Christian, her parents having been converted many
years ago. They were, both of them, most simple and
unaffected, but, at the same time, very intelligent people,
and I regretted much that we had not more opportu-
nities of conversing with them. They speak of them-
selves as natives ; and Mrs C., a young woman with
a large family, has the good sense to adopt the native
chuddar, or thin veil, over the head and figure, though
in their house and surroundings they live as Europeans.
304 NATIVE APPRECIATION OF EUROPEAN CIVILISATION.
Besides Hoshiarpore there are three other small Chris-
tian communities within a distance of twenty miles.
Mr C.'s opinion was, that the uprising of the Sikh reli-
gion had, in some degree, unsettled people's minds in the
Punjaub, and this more readily disposed them to listen
to other teaching. He told us that he numbered more
Mohammedans than Hindus amongst his converts, his
congregations being composed principally of the zemin-
dari, or land -holding class. We also gathered from
him that in Bengal the educated natives, both Hindu
and Mussulman, have a high opinion of the advantages
of European civilisation ; and, in particular, often lament
the evil results of their system of early marriages. But
the difficulties in the way of a reform in this respect are
very great ; for the custom of early engagements is so
universal, that any youth who is not married at the
age of sixteen is supposed to have something against
him, and finds it very difficult to obtain a wife. From
Hoshiarpore we drove to Jullunder, and went thence by
rail to Lahore.
305
CHAPTER XXI.
LUCKNOW ITS SAD ASSOCIATIONS RESIDENCY SKETCH OP THE HISTORY
OF OUDH AND ITS RULERS BUILDINGS AT LUCKNOW CLAUDE MARTIN,
THE FRENCH ADVENTURER FYZABAD TWO LARGE TOMBS AJOUDHYA
CAWNPORE.
AFTER staying a short time at Lahore we went direct to
Lucknow, the present capital of Oudh an intensely in-
teresting place, from the stirring events which happened
there in 1857 during the Mutiny. Before describing it,
I will give a brief account of the colonisation of Oudh in
Mohammedan times by both Eajputs and Mussulmans.
In the year A.D. 1193, Shahab-ud-din Ghori conquered
and slew Rajah Prithora of Delhi. In the following
year he also overthrew his great rival Rajah Jeichund
of Kanouj, and made at different times vigorous attacks
upon Mount Aboo, Gwalior, Benares, Gaya, and Ajmere,
which were some of the centres of Rajput power and
Hindu devotion. The Brahmin was contented to fold
his hands and curse the barbarian. The Rajput, whose
tradition it was that his race should be lords of the
land in which they dwelt, could not bear to see his
rajah bow beneath the Mohammedan yoke ; but, only
roused to a sense of his danger when too late for action,
his resource was flight. Thus the Rajputs wandered
southwards, northwards, and eastwards. This last
u
30 G AJOUDHYA, THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF OUDH.
direction led them to Oudh, their old seat of empire,
from whence they had been driven out by the Bhurs.
The second great class which helped to colonise that
province comprises those who settled there after the
Mohammedan power was firmly established, and had
either had grants of land given them, or a special per-
mission from the Moghul Court to emigrate thither.
Some of these were Eajputs who had taken service with
the conqueror. The Mohammedan armies contained
numbers of such, especially during the reigns of Jehangir
and Shah Jehan, who had both of them Eajput mothers.
The earliest date of such grants of land was in 1527, in
the time of the Emperor Baber, who conferred an estate
in Oudh on Sheikh Bayazeed, an Afghan leader who
had come and given in his submission to that prince.
From that period till the end of the seventeenth century
their numbers slowly increased ; but since that time no
new colonies have been planted.
Ajoudhya, the ancient capital of Oudh, is said to have
covered an area of 48 kos (the kos varies from a mile
and a quarter to a mile and a half in length). The
origin of this city is connected with the mythic history
of Oudh. Tradition says that for security's sake it was
founded, not on the transitory earth, but on the chariot-
wheel of the great Creator himself. The first rulers
were of the so-called Solar race. On the fall or death of
Rama, the last of these, Ajoudhya became a wilderness,
the royal race was dispersed ; and from its different
members, who were thus scattered, the present rajahs
of Jeypore, Oodypore, and others claim to descend.
Little or nothing is really known of the history of
Ajoudhya until it came under Mohammedan rule, except
that we may gather, from the height and size of the
FREE FIGHT BETWEEN HINDUS AND MOHAMMEDANS. 307
mounds which still exist, that it must have for a long
period been the site of an important city.
To Bikramajit, a strong supporter of the Brahminical
revival, is attributed the rediscovery of Ajoudhya, after
it had long been concealed by the growth of the jungle.
Tradition enumerates more : that one dynasty ruled
that province, some members of which were Bud-
dhists or Jains, who are supposed to have built some
old deoharas, or places of worship, belonging to. those
religions, which are still to be seen, but with modern
restorations. Ajoudhya after this fell under the power
of the rajahs of Kanouj, and at the time of the Mo-
hammedan conquest contained three important Hindi!
shrines, which had, however, very few attendants at-
tached to them.
In A.D. 1528 the Emperor Baber built a mosque on
the site of one of these, Aurungzebe utilised another ;
and between the years 1658 and 1707, either he or
one of his predecessors did the same with a third.
In the year 1855 there was a collision between the
Hindus and Mussulmans. These last charged up the
steps of one of the Hindu temples, but were driven back
with considerable loss. The Hindris followed up their
success and took the Jamamasthan the enclosure where
Baber had erected his mosque. Several of the king's
regiments were looking on at the struggle, but they had
strict orders not to interfere. It is said that up to that
time both Hindus and Mohammedans used to worship
in this mosque-temple, but now, since it came under
British rule, a railing has been put up. The Moham-
medans pray within the mosque ; and in the outer court
the Hindus have made a shrine where they bring their
offerings.
308 THE RULE OF THE NAWABS IN OUDH.
Sadut Khan was the first of the Nawabs, or rulers
in Oudh, who were originally viziers appointed by the
King of Delhi, but gradually threw off even the sem-
blance of allegiance. His successor was Safdar Jung,
whose tomb I have already mentioned when describing
the monuments near Delhi.
The period of the Nawab rule begins in 1723, and
ends in 1856 with the deposition of Wajid Ali Shah,
the ninth in succession from Sadut Khan. The title
of king was conferred on the Nawabs by the British
Government in 1819, because the then ruler, Gheis-ud-
din Hyder, had complained of feeling himself aggrieved
on more than one occasion when, on meeting in the
street some descendants of the old kings of Delhi, the
elephant on which he was riding had been compelled to
kneel till they had passed by. The bestowal of this
title upon him enabled him to dispense with what he
considered a lowering of his dignity in the eyes of his
people, though the province in general did not approve
of this change of appellation, partly because it was done
at the recommendation of the East India Company,
and also because they considered it (the Mussulman
portion of the population at least) an insult to the
Delhi throne, in that they make no distinction between
the words king and emperor, having only one word for
the two ; and so held that the Nawab, by being styled
king, was putting himself on an equality with the great
head of the Mohammedans in India.
The British Government deposed Wajid Ali Shah in
1856, on his refusal to sign the treaty which was to pro-
vide for the better government of his kingdom whose
rulers had latterly been given up to avarice, intemper-
THE GRAVE OF SIR HENRY LAWRENCE. 309
ance, and effeminate indulgences and annexed the pro-
vince that same year.
Lucknow, which had become the capital of Oudh only
from the time of Ausuf-ud-dowla, A.D. 1775, is situated
on the river Goomtee, which is navigable for some miles
above the town, and also down to where it flows into
the Ganges. Many of the buildings at Lucknow are
pretty as seen in a photograph, but are extremely dis-
appointing in reality; for, as contrasted with the Moghul
architecture, there is as much inferiority as between a
genuine old Gothic cathedral arid a building of the time
of the Georges.
The architectural unities have been totally disre-
garded. All is plaster and stucco, with great incon-
gruities of design ; and yet, with all this, the style is
preferable to that of any ordinary modern English house,
for there is at least some individuality about it.
The chief interest of the place for us English people
must always centre in the Eesidency, which was built
about the year 1800 by the Nawab Sadut Ali Khan
for the use of the British Kesident at his court. It is
situated on a piece of ground which is slightly elevated
above the plain; and up to the year 1857 was quite
in the midst of a part of the native city, which has
since that time been razed to the ground.
The history of the siege of Lucknow is too well
known to need recapitulation here. The little cemetery
in the grounds of the Kesidency tells a sad tale of officers
and men who were killed under fire, and of helpless
women and children who sank under the privations of a
siege. I was much struck with the inscription over Sir
Henry Lawrence's grave it is so terse, and expresses
310 A FRENCH SOLDIER OF FORTUNE.
so well what a good soldier of God and of his country
should feel: "Here lies Henry Lawrence, who tried to do
his duty;" the date; and below this, the words, "The
Lord have mercy on his soul."
The siege began the end of June, and may be said to
have been at an end the 25th of September. Many of
the women and children had to remain in the tyJchana,
or underground rooms, during the whole of that period.
During the time of the earlier rulers of Oudh, who
were only styled Soubadars and Nawabs, European
architecture had crept in, modified, however, to a cer-
tain extent, with fantastic native additions, giving the
buildings a quaintness of design. The foreign element
was introduced by Claude Martin, a French soldier of
fortune, who was born at Lyons in 1735, and died in
Lucknow in 1800. He arrived in India in 1758, and
served under Count Lally, who came in command of an
armament which had been fitted out with the intention
of extinguishing British commerce in India.
It is said that Martin deserted from Lally 's force at
the siege of Pondicherry, in consequence of his com-
mander's severity ; but it is more probable that he came
over as a prisoner of war on the surrender of that garri-
son in 1761. He afterwards entered the English army,
and rose to the rank of captain. Later on, he was em-
ployed to survey the estates of the Nawab of Oudh, and
then became an adventurer in his service, having given
up his pay in the East India Company's army, though
still retaining his military rank. Martin then settled
down in Lucknow, turned banker, and speculated large-
ly and with great success. Between the years 1775 and
1797 he built houses, planted parks, and introduced a
certain amount of Western civilisation. He made gun-
BUILDINGS AT LUCKNOW. 311
powder, coined money, and imported European goods
for his patron. In a short time he amassed an immense
fortune, the greater part of which he devoted to founding
educational institutions at Lyons, Calcutta, and Luck-
now, where the Martiniere College still perpetuates his
name, and has separate departments for Europeans and
natives ; and a school for girls is also supported out
of its funds. Claude Martin became a general before
his death, which took place in the Turrad Buksh, which
was the royal palace from the time of Sadut Ali Khan
to that of Wajid Ali. According to the instructions
which he had given some time previously, Martin's body
was taken to the Martiniere and buried there, as he
feared that, at some time or other, that building might
be confiscated by a native ruler, who would be deterred
from doing so by the fact of its being a tomb.
The great Imambara, called the House of the Prophet,
is by far the finest building in Lucknow, though a con-
siderable portion of the European element has been in-
troduced into the mosque, and various gateways near it.
The large hall was built during the time of Ausuf-ud-
dowla : its date has been variously given as 1783 and
1797. This building consists of a large central hall,
162 feet long by 53 feet 6 inches wide; it has veran-
dahs on two sides of it, and at each end there is an
octagonal chamber. The roof is made of a coarse kind of
concrete, some feet in thickness, which has been formed
upon a centring of bricks and mud, and then allowed to
stand to dry. At the end of a year or two the centring-
could be removed, and the roofing was complete, being
all in one piece. This building is now used as an arsenal.
The mosque, which has been turned into barracks, has a
deep cornice of acanthus-leaves the whole length of its
312 FYZABAD.
frontage. This group of building is said to have been
begun during a year of famine, in order to give employ-
ment to the starving population.
The Hoseinabad Imambara was erected by Mahomed
Ali Shah, the third king of Oudh. The principal build-
ing contains his tomb and that of his mother. The in-
terior is filled with chandeliers and globes of coloured
glass. A general cleaning and renovation was going on
when we saw it, in preparation for the Mohammedan
festival of the Moharrum, when the gardens attached to
it, as well as the principal chambers, would be illumi-
nated with myriads of lamps. Its endowment, which
is a very wealthy one, the British Government has set
apart for the maintenance of the ex-royal family, who
are living in Calcutta.
From Lucknow we went to Fyzabad, which was the
capital up to rather more than a century ago. The only
buildings worthy of notice which we could discover
there were one or two gateways, ornamented with raised
stucco-work, and two tombs, each within a garden. One
of these was said to be the tomb of Ausuf-ud-dowla, and
the other that of his mother or his wife, for there seemed
to be different opinions upon this point. There was also
one quaint house in the native bazaar, evidently of Hindu
work : it was covered with numbers of raised plaster
figures and other designs along its whole frontage.
The tombs must possess rich foundations. There are
numbers of small houses within the walls of the en-
closures, which all appeared to be occupied. The Be-
gum's tomb is by far the finer building of the two. It is
175 feet square, and stands on a platform about 20 feet
in height. The greater part, if not all, of this structure
is of a greyish-coloured stone, which has been covered
AJOUDHYA. 313
over with whitewash. There is a large dome in the
centre, and a smaller one on each of the chambers, which
project at the four corners, whilst the sides are orna-
mented at intervals with tiny pinnacles. There is a
good deal of raised carving on the exterior of this build-
ing. The designs have somewhat of the renaissance
style about them, though this tomb must have been
erected at too early a date to have been affected by the
Claude Martin school of Lucknow ; and therefore the
European element is not altogether offensive ; for much
of the Indian taste mixed with Western ideas prevails
in the decorations. The Begum's tomb is in the large
central hall ; the enclosed colonnade surrounding this is
divided into several vaulted chambers, all opening out
of one another. The interior walls, tinted of a deep
French grey colour, are very highly ornamented with
raised stucco-work, in white, which has been dusted
over with minute fragments of mica, and give them
a silvery appearance. The general character of this
ornamental work reminded me much of the wall-
decorations in some of the apartments at Versailles
or in the Louvre.
From Fyzabad we drove over to Ajoudhya, about four
miles distant. The present city covers a very large ex-
tent of ground, and contains a great number of Hindu
temples, which appeared to be all more or less connected
with the worship of Vishnu. Of the ancient city nothing
remains; but in all directions there are enormous mounds,
upon many of which modern buildings have been erected.
It is most probable that the original city was built before
the age of stone or fire -burnt bricks, and that all its
temples and palaces were of sun-dried bricks or wood,
else they could hardly have so completely vanished.
314 CAWNPORE.
On first entering the modern Ajoudhya there is a large
mass of masonry on the left hand, which resembles a
fort. After mounting to the top of this by a long flight
of steps, we reached a temple of comparatively modern
date, placed in the centre of a courtyard, with chambers
all round it for the attendants. The temple itself is on
a raised platform, about three feet in height. The ver-
andah which encircles it is supported on columns, and
painted in bright colours. In the interior there is a
statue of Hanuman, or the monkey-god. The lintel and
side-posts of the principal doorway of the temple are of
silver, in rich raised Arabesque work, about four inches
in width.
Monkeys seem to be especially venerated in Ajoudhya.
Nowhere else have I ever seen those animals so bold or
in such numbers : they would come and steal from the
store of a grain merchant even when the owner was
seated there, though they appeared to distrust white
people, and kept at a more respectful distance from us.
We also visited Cawnpore, which has sadder reminis-
cences than any other place in India. It possesses no
fine buildings, either native or European, but is be-
coming a great centre of commerce. Two large cotton-
mills are in full operation, and the Government have
a large leather manufactory. The chief interest for
strangers in that place is the tragic well, where so many
bodies of dead and dying European women and children
were thrown. Over this well has been placed a marble
statue by Baron Marochetti ; the inscription round the
base of this was supplied by Lord Canning, and runs
thus : " Sacred to the perpetual memory of a great com-
pany of Christian people, chiefly women and children,
who, near this spot, were cruelly massacred by the fol-
ITS TRAGIC MEMORIES. 315
lowers of the rebel Nana Dhoodopunt of Bithoor, and
cast the dying with the dead into the well below, on
the 15th day of July 1857." The whole is surrounded
by a high railing, within which no native is allowed to
pass. This well is in the middle of a large, well-kept
garden, in which are two or three enclosures full of the
graves of those whose bodies were cast into the well,
and of others who perished at that time. The Memorial
Church, erected by the English Government, is a large
building, which has, externally, not much architectural
beauty. The effect of the interior is pleasing to the eye,
and its proportions are good.
310
CHAPTER XXII.
CAWNPORE TO POONA ROCK-HEWN TEMPLES AT POONA HYDERABAD IN
THE DEKHAN SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PRESENT REIGNING
FAMILY THE NATIVE CITY ITS VARIED AND TURBULENT POPULATION
A BREAKFAST AT SIR SALAR JUNG'S CONCLUSION.
FROM Cawnpore we made a rapid journey to Poona.
On this our second visit we heard that within a couple
of miles of that place there are two very ancient stone
temples, or rather, a temple and a rock-hewn temple,
excavated in a similar manner to the one at Karlee,
only much smaller. Both of them are below the level
of the ground, and are therefore effectually concealed
till you are close upon them, which would account for
their appearing to be known to few of the European
residents of Poona. The rock is of a basaltic character.
The entrance to these temples is through an archway
cut in the rock ; an area has been formed by removing
the stone to the depth of perhaps fourteen feet, and in
the centre of this enclosed space is a temple open on all
sides, and supported on many pillars formed by the in-
tervening stone having been removed : the roof has
simply been formed by that portion of the rock being
left in statu quo. Apparently the superincumbent
weight was too great for its supports, consequently the
roof has split in half, owing to the giving way of the
pillars beneath that portion.
HYDERABAD IN THE DEKHAN. 31*7
On the side of the enclosure facing the entrance there
is another temple, made on the plan of that at Karlee,
being on the reverse principle to the one I have just
described ; for the rock in this case is only cut away
sufficiently to leave the necessary space for the wor-
shippers the walls, pillars, and roof being of the living
rock ; and, as at Karlee, the temple is only lighted from
the entrance. The day we visited it was a gala-day.
Numbers of natives chiefly Brahmins and their wives
and families were performing their devotions there.
We were not allowed to enter the innermost shrine.
On the walls were some very spirited figures of nearly
life-size ; and also some sketches in black and white,
which had a great deal of character in them. Both
these temples are now dedicated to the worship of
Shiva. From their form one would judge that they
could never have been Buddhist.
On quitting Poona we went on a visit to the British
Resident at Hyderabad, in the Dekhan. From the time
of the Persian invasion of India under Nadir Shah, in
1738-39, the Moghul provinces became more and more
independent of Delhi. The Nizam of the Dekhan began
to rule as a sovereign prince, and treated the Nawab
of Arcot as his feudatory. The Nizam of Hyderabad
(under which name he is better known) had served in
the army of Aurungzebe, and filled important posts at
the Court of Delhi, which had appointed him governor
of all its possessions in the Dekhan : he had been en-
gaged in frequent wars with the Mahrattas of the
Dekhan and those of Berar. The Nawab of Arcot was
originally his deputy, but by degrees that appointment
was becoming hereditary, though it was in the gift of
the Nizam, who received a yearly tribute.
318 ANARCHY IN THE DEKHAN.
About the year 1740 there were troubles in the
Carnatic. A kinsman of the Nawab, named Chunda
Sahib, got possession of Trichinopoly, which enraged
him ; and the Nizam also was much displeased because
the Nawab would not pay his accustomed tribute. The
Nawab being killed in a battle against the Mahrattas,
he was succeeded by his son, who took possession of the
province without any reference to the Nizam, who was
more indignant than ever at being thus defied, and
demanded that the arrears of tribute should be imme-
diately paid up, and threatened to oust him in case of
refusal. On this the Nawab moved into the fort at
Velore, where he was murdered at the instigation of a
kinsman, who was himself proclaimed Nawab ; but on
finding that the treasures of the murdered man would
not be given up to him, and his troops being clamorous
for pay, he made his escape disguised as a woman, and
Sayid Muhummed, the son of the former Nawab, was
proclaimed in his stead. In 1743, the whole Carnatic
being in a state of anarchy, the Nizam marched to Arcot,
with an army of 80,000 horse and 200,000 foot, and
named one of his own generals governor. This man
being poisoned, he sent another ; but the people insisted
upon having some member of the old ruling family over
them. The Nizam yielded, and gave out that Sayid
Muhummed was the real Nawab, and the general, An-
war-ud-din, his guardian only. The following year the
young Nawab was murdered on the occasion of a wed-
ding, and being the last of his dynasty, Anwar-ud-din
was then appointed Nawab. The Nizam dying in 1748,
a war of succession ensued between three candidates.
These were, the eldest and the second sons of the late
Nizam, and one of his grandsons, named Musafir Jung.
THE FRENCH IN THE DEKHAN. 319
Duplaix, the French governor of Pondicherry, espoused
the cause of this last, and hoped to place rulers both at
Hyderabad, and at Arcot. He succeeded in establishing
Chunda Sahib at Arcot ; but when Anwar-ud-din was
slain in battle, his son Muhammad Ali escaped to the
south, and became known as the English Nawab of
Arcot, Chunda Sahib being styled the French Nawab.
Duplaix then wanted to create a French Nizam also,
but the British Government had taken up the cause of
Muhammad Ali, who was holding out at Trichinopoly.
The French urged Chunda Sahib to attack Trichin-
opoly, the possession of which, by their own nominee,
was a matter of great importance to them, as it would
enable their combined forces to march into the Dekhan,
and place a French Nizam on the throne of Hyderabad.
The want of money was a great obstacle to this scheme.
Neither of the French candidates possessed any, so opera-
tions had to be delayed till they could try and squeeze
some out of the Hindi! rajahs; but in the meantime
news came that Nazir Jung, the second son of the old
Nizam, and uncle to the French candidate, had estab-
lished himself on the throne of Hyderabad, and was
marching into the Carnatic at the head of a large army,
after having gained over to his cause all the so-called
rajahs and Nawabs of that province. Both the English
and the French Nawab supported him, though he is best
known as the English Nizam.
The French took the field with their allies, but their
cause was hopeless. Some of the French officers broke
out into open mutiny, and the French Nizam was forced
to surrender, his uncle promising, on the Koran, not to
hurt him ; but he nevertheless placed him in irons. In
this manner it came about that an English Nizam was
320 ROBERT CLIVE, HIS BOLD AND SUCCESSFUL POLICY.
placed at Hyderabad, and an English Nawab at Arcot,
the French Nizam being a prisoner in the ruler's hands,
and the French Nawab being obliged to fly to Pondi-
cherry. Very shortly after this, three Afghan chieftains
who belonged to the Nizam's camp rebelled against him.
He galloped to the spot, and was shot dead, when the
French Nizam, being released from prison, was placed
on the throne. He confirmed Chunda Sahib in his gov-
ernment at Arcot, but gave Duplaix the charge of the
Carnatic country south of the Kistna.
Another revolution occurred in 1751, on the Nizam's
return from a short visit he had paid to Pondicherry.
This, like the former disturbance, was headed by some
turbulent Afghans, and in the uproar which ensued this
Nizam was also killed. Bussy, the French general who
had accompanied him on his return to his own states,
then selected his successor from amongst several state
prisoners who were detained at Hyderabad, set him free,
and proclaimed him Nizam under the name of Salabat
Jung. This man was of course devoted to the French
interests.
At this period the fortunes of the French in India had
reached their culminating point. The English had lost
their footing in the Dekhan, and our power was also
much shaken in the rest of the peninsula. Our nominee
still held Trichinopoly ; but that place was closely be-
sieged by the French and their Nawab. At this critical
moment Robert Clive, a young captain, came forward.
He saw that the only chance for us was to relieve Trich-
inopoly, and thought the only way to accomplish this
was to draw the enemy elsewhere. With this end in
view he marched upon Arcot, when its garrison became
alarmed and fled. He entered it, and occupied the fort.
PEACE BETWEEN THE FRENCH AND THE ENGLISH. 321
The enemy did exactly what he had calculated upon, and
sent an army of 10,000 men to try and recover Arcot.
Olive held out for fifty days with only 120 Europeans and
200 sepoys, resisting all assaults, filling up each breach
as soon as made, and sallying out at night to attack the
besiegers. The Mahrattas, struck with admiration at
his brave defence, marched to his assistance. The com-
mander of the opposing force tried threats and bribes,
but in vain ; he was obliged to leave Arcot in Olive's
possession. This was the turning - point of the war.
Though the French were still all-powerful in the Dekhan,
and their Nizam was on the throne of Hyderabad, yet
their cause was on the decline. They were compelled
to raise the siege of Trichinopoly ; their Nawab at Arcot
surrendered to a Hindu rajah, was put to death, and
Muhammad Ali, the English nominee, was placed there.
In 1754 peace was made between the English and
French in India, and it was agreed that the then state
of things should continue that the French should keep
their Nizam at Hyderabad, and we our Nawab at Arcot.
Salabut Jung reigned as Nizam till 1761, when he was
imprisoned and put to death two years later by his
brother Ali, who ascended the throne. Ali was involved
in wars with the Mahrattas during the greater part of
his reign. In 1795 he took the field against Scindia,
who had brought a large force, and obliged the Nizam
to retreat to Kurdah, where, when his supplies fell short,
he had to sign a convention, by which he resigned the
fort and district of Dowlatabad to the Mahrattas ; agreed
also to pay three crores of rupees (equal at par to three
millions of our money), and to deliver over his Prime
Minister as a hostage.
At that time it was customary for the Nizams to
x
322 THE NIZAM'S BATTALION OF FEMALE SOLDIERS.
maintain two battalions of female sepoys, who were
regularly trained to military exercises, mounted guard
in the interior of the palace, and when the Nizam went
out they carried him on their shoulders on a kind of
palanquin. They were present at the battle of Kurdah,
and were called zuffer pultdns, or victorious battal-
ions. The pay of each individual was equal to about
ten shillings per month of our money. I was told that
the present Nizam no longer maintains such female
warriors, but that the Emir-i-Kebir (whose wife is the
only surviving daughter of Secunder Jah, he himself
being a relation of the young Nizam, and, during his
minority, co- regent with Sir Salar Jung) has a small
body of them. Nizam Ali dying in 1803, he was suc-
ceeded by his son Secunder Jah, who at first maintained
amicable relations with the British Government ; but he
soon fell into the hands of some low designing persons,
who endeavoured to persuade him to resist all proposals
of whatever nature which might come from the British
Government. This state of things could not long con-
tinue : either the provisions of our treaty must be upheld,
or we must leave the province ; for any troops which
might be left there would have virtually remained in an
enemy's country without means of communicating with
British territory.
The Nizam, on being remonstrated with, speedily be-
came alarmed, and came to terms, of which the chief
conditions were, that he should dismiss his two principal
ill advisers, make some provision for Asim-ul-Omrah, the
former Prime Minister, separate the civil and military
administrations in Berar from each other, and intrust
such offices to persons in whom the English Govern-
ment had confidence ; and also that the English Resident
PRESENT NIZAM COMES TO THE THRONE. 323
should be admitted to an audience with him whenever
he required it. These terms were ratified by the Nizam,
subject to some slight modifications ; but the reconcilia-
tion was a short-lived one, for, on the death in 1808 of
Meer Allum, his Prime Minister, new difficulties sprang
up, arising from the choice of a successor to his office.
After much discussion this appointment was given to
the late Minister's son, who would appear to have been
most unfitted for the post, for he was a great intriguer,
though not wanting in ability. He was a firm believer
in signs and omens, and was much influenced by them
in the concerns of his daily life.
About this time the Nizam began to show symptoms
of insanity. In 1811 this had reached to such a pitch
that he distrusted every one, and would eat no food
except what he had prepared with his own hands ; and
also ceased to appear in public. His feelings, too, towards
the English Government seemed to experience a change.
In 1815 his sons collected round them a host of the
vagabonds who at that time swarmed in the city, and
committed the greatest excesses, ending by seizing an
attendant belonging to the Eesidency in order to extort
money. The young princes were finally taken captive
and removed to the fortress of Golconda, though not
without bloodshed and the death of a British officer who
was with the escort. In 1818 the Nizam emerged from
his voluntary seclusion for a few weeks only, and then
seems to have again relapsed into his former apathy.
Secunder Jah died in 1828, and was succeeded by
Nazir-ud-dowlah. He was followed in 1857 by Afzul-
ud-dowlah, who, dying in 1869, Nuboob Ali Khan, the
present Nizam, came to the throne, being at that time a
child of barely three years of age. During his minority
324 AURUNGABAD FORMERLY THE CAPITAL.
the government is administered by two co-regents Sir
Salar Jung (who is also Prime Minister), and the Emir-
i-Kebir, who is a near connection of the royal family.
The aspect of the country is very singular for some
time before reaching Hyderabad from the Bombay
side. Shortly before arriving at the railway station of
Lingumphalli the whole ground is covered with colossal
boulders of a species of granite, which in some instances
are accurately poised three or four of them one above
the other. They would seem much too large to have
been ever placed in that position by the hand of man,
and yet most of them are arranged with a certain regu-
larity of line and disposition which staggers one at first
sight.
The city of Hyderabad stands on the south side of
the Musah river, which becomes a rapid stream during
the rainy season, but is very shallow at other times.
The city proper, which is about four miles in length
by three in breadth, is enclosed by high walls, and is
approached by an arched bridge over the river. The
streets are narrow, crooked, and badly paved. The
Nizam is a Mohammedan of the Sunni sect ; Sir Salar
Jung, being of Persian descent, belongs to the Shias ;
the general population of the country round is Hindu.
The city of Hyderabad, formerly called Baugnugger, was
founded about 1685 by Mahomed Cooly Cuttub Shah.
In 1687 it was taken and plundered by the Moghul
forces of Aurungzebe : its inhabitants had previously
retired to the fortress of Golconda.
Aurungabad was at one time the capital of the Nizam's
dominions, but it was abandoned as being too near the
Mahratta frontier. The city of Hyderabad contains a
great mixture of races and types : there are seen Arabs,
NO ONE ALLOWED TO ENTER FORTRESS AT GOLCONDA. 325
Afghans, Sikhs, Pathans, and also people from Oudh.
Many of these originally entered the country in the
character of mercenary levies. The Arabs are most tur-
bulent and unruly members of the community, as are
also the mixed race descended from the original settlers
of that nation ; so that an order has of late been issued
that no more Arabs are to be allowed to enter the state
and should any one leave it, he will in future not be
permitted to return to it.
In the Nizam's dominions there are numbers of petty
chiefs who possess country estates, which they manage
by deputy, as they themselves prefer to live in the
city : each of these chiefs has his quota of armed attend-
ants. In driving through the city, almost every other
man one meets bears arms, and carries a sword, a match-
lock, or a dagger, occasionally even all three. On the
smallest cause of offence weapons are drawn. Beyond
the city is a lake of considerable size, which has been
formed by a dam. This piece of water is of such extent
that a small steamer is kept upon it, on board of which
we steamed about for some time. There is also another
lake between Hyderabad and Secunderabad, which last
is the British military station, and about seven miles dis-
tant from the former place.
We also drove to Golconda, about six miles to the
west of Hyderabad, where there are numerous domed
tombs clustered together. These have a fine effect
when seen at a little distance; but a nearer view of
them is very disappointing when one has seen monu-
ments of a like nature far superior in the more nor-
thern parts of India. No one not even the Prime
Minister is permitted to enter the fortress at Gol-
conda unless the Nizam be residing there. The reason
326 A BREAKFAST AT SIR SALAR JUNG'S.
for this prohibition does not clearly appear ; but I heard
of cases in which persons who had ventured to approach
too near had been fired upon by the guard.
During our stay we were invited to breakfast with
Sir Salar Jung. The meat was served in the regular
European manner, with the addition of two or three
native dishes. After breakfast the minister showed us
over his house, which contains a great many suites of
rooms fitted up in European style ; and he afterwards
took us to see his own private apartments his busi-
ness room, with only a writing-table and a couple of
chairs in it. Opening out of this is a tiny ante-room,
where he sits on cushions on the ground during his hours
of relaxation, and takes his meals in regular native
fashion. His palace covers an enormous extent of
ground. We did not see the ladies' apartments, which
are quite at the back ; but we were shown one room,
fitted up, as far as I can remember, by Sir SalaYs father,
the walls of which are decorated in a singular manner,
being entirely covered with cups, saucers, and plates of
china, mortared into their places. Some of these are
good specimens of porcelain, but the majority are very
poor examples of inferior English ware.
I must here conclude our tour in Central and Northern
India; but we hope, at no distant date, to visit its
southern part, where many fine temples and other ob-
jects of interest are to be found, which I may write about
at some future time, if I have not already exhausted the
patience of my readers.
PRINTED BY WILLIAM RLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
BERKELEY
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