Part 2 (2/2)

The Diwan-i-Khas.

The Diwan-i-khas was built in 1637. Though much smaller than the Diwan-i-khas at Delhi, it is certainly not inferior in the beauty of its proportions and decoration. Most of the decorative work of these marble pavilions is directly derived from Persian art, and inspired by the Persian love of flowers which almost amounted to flower-wors.h.i.+p. All the details are charming, but the dados, especially, edged with inlaid work and carved with floral types in the most delicate relief, show to perfection that wonderful decorative instinct which seems to be born in the Oriental handicraftsman. The designer has navely translated into marble the conventional Indian flower-beds, just as they were in every palace garden, but there is perfect art in the seeming absence of all artifice. The dados outside the Taj are similar in design to these, though larger and correspondingly bolder in style. The roof of the Diwan-i-khas, with its fine covered ceiling, is interesting for its construction.

JAHANGIR'S THRONE.--On the terrace in front of the Diwan-i-khas are placed two thrones, one of white marble on the side facing the Machhi-Bhawan, and the other of black slate on the river side. From the Persian inscription which runs round the four sides of the black throne we learn that it was made in 1603 for Jahangir. This was two years before the death of his father, Akbar, and he was then only Prince Salim. The throne was, therefore, probably made to commemorate the recognition by Akbar of his son's t.i.tle to the succession.

On this terrace Jahangir sat to enjoy the sight of his brigantines on the river, or to watch the elephant fights on the level place beneath the walls. From side to side of his throne there is a long fissure, which opened, so says tradition, when the Jat Rajah, Jawahar Singh of Bharatpur, in 1765, set his usurping feet on the throne of the Great Mogul. The tradition holds that blood spurted out of the throne in two places, and red marks in the stone are pointed out as evidence of the truth of the story. The impious chief was shortly afterwards a.s.sa.s.sinated in the palace.

THE BATHS.--On the side of the terrace directly opposite to the Diwan-i-khas are the baths, or the Hammam. The water was brought up from a well, outside the walls, 70 feet below. These baths, in their present state, are by no means so fine as those at Fatehpur Sikri, to be described hereafter.

The Marquis of Hastings, when Governor-General of India, broke up one of the most beautiful of the baths of the palace, and sent it home as a present to the Prince Regent, afterwards George the Fourth.

The Samman Burj.

A doorway at the back of the Diwan-i-khas leads to the beautiful two-storied pavilion, surmounting one of the most projecting of the circular bastions on the river face, and known as the Samman Burj, ”the Jasmine Tower” (Plate V.). The style of the inlaid work shows it to be earlier in date than the Diwan-i-khas, and supports Fergusson's conjecture that it was built by Jahangir. In that case it must have been the apartment of his Empress, the beautiful and accomplished Nur Mahal. It was afterwards occupied by Mumtaz Mahal, the lady of the Taj. Here, also, in full view of the famous monument he had raised to her memory, died her husband, Shah Jahan--sensualist, perhaps, but true to his last hours to one great master-pa.s.sion. The faithful Jahanara, who shared his captivity for seven years, attended him on his death-bed, and, as the shades of night closed in and hid the Taj from view--praying Divine forgiveness for his sins, and with a few consoling words to his daughter--he went to join his beloved!

After the rites prescribed by the Muhammadan law, the body was placed in a coffin of sandalwood and conveyed by the pa.s.sage which leads from the Samman Burj to the low gate beneath it, which was specially opened for the occasion. Thence, followed by a procession of mourners, it was carried out of the Fort through the Sher Haji gate, nearly opposite (now closed), and conveyed across the arm of the river to its last resting-place in the Taj.

The death of Shah Jahan and his funeral are minutely described by Mulla Muhammad Kazim in his ”Alamgir Nama.” The guides wrongly point out a pavilion in the Jahangiri Mahal as the place where he died.

In front of the Samman Burj is a beautiful little fountain hollowed in the floor; on one side of the courtyard is a raised platform laid out in squares of black marble for the game of _pachisi_, an Eastern backgammon. [7]

The Khas Mahal.

From the Samman Burj we step into the next set of apartments of the zanana, connecting with the Khas Mahal and a similar set on the other side. This part of the zanana forms the east, or river side, of the Anguri Bagh, or Grape Garden. There is an indescribable grace and charm about all this quarter of the palace, to which the beauty of the material, the perfect taste of the ornament and elegance of the proportions, the delightful background of the landscape, and the historical a.s.sociations all contribute. It should be seen towards evening, not in the full glare of the morning sun.

When the afterglow fills the sky, burnishes the gilded roofs, and turns the marble to rose-colour, imagination may re-people these lovely pavilions with fair Indian women--revel in the feast of colour in _saris_, brocades, and carpets; in the gold, azure, and crimson of the painted ceilings; and listen to the water splas.h.i.+ng in the fountains and gurgling over the carved water-shoots--a scene of voluptuous beauty such as the world has rarely known since the wealth and elegance of Rome filled the palaces and villas of Pompei.

In the walls of the Khas Mahal are a number of niches which formerly contained portraits of the Mogul Emperors, beginning with Timur, which, like so many other things, were looted by the Rajah of Bharatpur. A number of similar portraits and other fine paintings of the Mogul period are preserved in the Government Art Gallery, Calcutta.

A Persian poem inscribed on the walls of the Khas Mahal gives the date of its construction, 1636.

THE UNDERGROUND CHAMBERS.--A staircase to the south of the Khas Mahal leads to a labyrinth of underground chambers, in which the Emperor and his zanana found refuge from the fierce summer heat of Agra. In the south-east corner there is a well-house, called a _baoli_; this is a set of chambers surrounding a well--a favourite retreat in the hot weather. There were formerly many of the kind round about Agra, constructed by the Mogul Emperors or their n.o.bles. Besides these resorts of ease and pleasure, there are gloomy dungeons which tell of misbehaving slaves and indiscreet sultanas, who were hurried down to meet their fate at the hands of the executioner, the silent Jumna receiving their lifeless bodies.

The Anguri Bagh.

The great quadrangle in front of the Khas Mahal is the Anguri Bagh, surrounded on three sides by arcades, probably built by Akbar and intended for his zenana. They were occupied in the Mutiny days by the British officers and their families who were shut up in the Fort.

The Anguri Bagh is a very typical specimen of the old Mogul gardens, laid out in geometrical flower-beds, with four terraced walks radiating from the central platform and fountain. A stone trellis formerly enclosed the flower-beds, and probably supported the vines which gave the garden its name.

Among the many improvements lately made by Lord Curzon in the Fort is the clearance of the wire-netting fernhouses and bedraggled shrubs which formerly disfigured the quadrangle. If it cannot be kept up in the old Mogul style, it is certainly better to leave the garden uncultivated.

s.h.i.+SH MAHAL.--On the north side of the Anguri Bagh, close to the zanana, a pa.s.sage leads to the _s.h.i.+sh Mahal_, or ”palace of gla.s.s.” This was the bath of the zanana. The marble slabs of the floor have been torn up, and the decoration with a kind of gla.s.s mosaic seems to have suffered from clumsy attempts at renovation. A pa.s.sage from the s.h.i.+sh Mahal leads to the old water gate.

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