Part 37 (1/2)
Muhammadans and Hindoos soon learned to perform duties which they saw bring to the Christians so much of honour and emolument; and, as they did so, they necessarily sapped the walls of the fabric. Christianity never became independent of office in India, and, I am afraid, never will; even under our rule, it still mainly rests upon that foundation.[25]
Notes:
1. The names and t.i.tles of the empress 'over whose remains the Taj is built' were Nawab Aliya Begam, Arjumand Banu, Mumtaz-i-Mahall. The t.i.tle Nur Mahall, as applied to her, is without authority: it properly belongs to her aunt. 'It is usual in this country', Bernier observes, 'to give similar names to the members of the reigning family. Thus the wife of _Chah-Jehan_--so renowned for her beauty, and whose splendid mausoleum is more worthy of a place among the wonders of the world than the unshapen ma.s.ses and heaps of stones in Egypt--was named _Tage Mehalle_ [Mumtaz-i-Mahall], or the Crown of the Seraglio; and the wife of Jehan-Guyre, who so long wielded the sceptre, while her husband abandoned himself to drunkenness and dissipation, was known first by the name of _Nour Mehalle_, the Light of the Seraglio, and afterwards by that of _Nour-Jehan-Begum_, the Light of the World.' (Bernier, _Travels_, ed. Constable, and V. A.
Smith, 1914, p. 5.)
2. Properly, Ghias-ud-din, meaning 'succourer of religion'. The word Ghias cannot stand as a name by itself.
3. The author's slight description of Itimad-ud-daula's exquisite sepulchre is, in the original edition, ill.u.s.trated by two coloured plates, one of the exterior, and the other of the interior (restored). The lack of grandeur in this building is amply atoned for by its elegance and marvellous beauty of detail. An inscription, dated A.H. 1027 = A.D. 1618, alleged to exist in connexion with the building, has not, apparently, been published. (_N.W.P. Gazetteer_, 1st ed., vol. vii, p. 687.)
Fergusson's description and just criticism deserve quotation. 'The tomb known as that of Itimad-ud-daula, at Agra, . . . cannot be pa.s.sed over, not only from its own beauty of design, but also because it marks an epoch in the style to which it belongs. It was erected by Nur-Jahan in memory of her father, who died in 1621, and [it] was completed in 1628. It is situated on the left bank of the river, in the midst of a garden surrounded by a wall measuring 540 feet on each side. In the centre of this, on a raised platform, stands the tomb itself, a square measuring 69 feet on each side. It is two stories in height, and at each angle is an octagonal tower, surmounted by an open pavilion. The towers, however, are rather squat in proportion, and the general design of the building very far from being so pleasing as that of many less pretentious tombs in the neighbourhood.
Had it, indeed, been built in red sandstone, or even with an inlay of white marble like that of Humayun, it would not have attracted much attention, its real merit consists in being wholly in white marble, and being covered throughout with a mosaic in 'pietra dura'--the first, apparently, and certainly one of the most splendid, examples of that cla.s.s of ornamentation in India....
'As one of the first, the tomb of Itimad-ud-daula was certainly one of the least successful specimens of its cla.s.s. The patterns do not quite fit the places where they are put, and the s.p.a.ces are not always those best suited for this style of decoration. [Altogether I cannot help fancying that the Italians had more to do with the design of this building than was at all desirable, and they are to blame for its want of grace.[a]] But, on the other hand, the beautiful tracery of the pierced marble slabs of its Windows, which resemble those of Salim Chishti's tomb at Fatehpur Sikri, the beauty of its white marble walls, and the rich colour of its decorations, make up so beautiful a whole, that it is only on comparing it with the works of Shah Jahan that we are justified in finding fault.' (_Indian and Eastern Architecture_, ed. 1910, pp. 305-7.) Further details will be found in Syad Muhammad Latif, _Agra_ (Calcutta, 1896); _A.S.R._ iv, pp. 137-41 (Calcutta, 1874); and more satisfactorily, in E. W. Smith, _Moghul Colour Decoration of Agra_ (Allahabad, 1901), pp. 18-20, pl.
lxv-lxxvii. Mr. E. W. Smith, if he had lived, would have produced a separate volume descriptive of this unique building.
The building is now carefully guarded and kept in repair. The restoration of the inlay of precious stones is so enormously expensive that much progress in that branch of the work is impracticable. The mausoleum contains seven tombs.
a. This sentence has been deleted by Dr. Burgess in his edition, 1910.
4. This tale is mythical. The alleged circ.u.mstances could not be known to any person besides the father and mother, neither of whom would be likely to make them public. Blochmann (transl. _ain_, i.
508) gives a full account of Itimad-ud-daula and his family. The historians state that Nur Jahan was born at Kandahar, on the way to India. Her father was the son of a high Persian official, but for some reason or other was obliged to quit Persia with his family. He was a native of Teheran, not of 'Western Tartary'. The personal name of Nur Jahan was Mihr-un-nisa.
5. This story is erroneous, and inconsistent with the correct statement in the heading of the chapter that Nur Jahan, daughter of Ghias-ud-din, was aunt of the Lady of the Taj. The author makes out Ghias-ud-din (whom he corruptly calls Aeeas) to be a distant relation of asaf Khan. In reality, asaf Khan (whose original name was Mirza Abul Hasan) was the second son of Ghias-ud-din, and was elder brother of Nur Jahan, The genealogy, so far as relevant, is best shown in a tabular form, thus:--
Mirza Ghias-ud-din Beg (alias Itimad-ud-daula).
| | |----------------|-------------------------| | | | Muhammad asaf Khan *Nur Mahall*
Sharif. (_alias_ Mirza (_alias_ *Nurjaahan*), Abul Hasan). *Empress of Jahangir*
| (and widow of | Sher Afgan).
| *Mumtaz-i-Mahall*
(_alias_ Arjumand Banu Begam, _alias_ Nawab Aliya Begam), *Empress of Shah Jahan*.
6. Ali Quli Beg, from Persia entered Akbar's service, and in the war with the Rana of Chitor, served under Prince Salim (Jahangir), who gave him the t.i.tle of Sher Afgan, 'tiger-thrower', with reverence to his deeds of prowess. The spelling _afgan_ is correct. The word is the radical of the Persian verb _afgandan_, 'to throw down'.
7. In October, 1605.
8. Properly Kutb-ud-din Khan. He was foster-brother of Prince Salim (Jahangir), and his appointment as viceroy alarmed Sher Afgan, and caused the latter to throw up his appointment in Bengal. The word Kutb (Qutb) cannot stand alone as a name. Kutb (Qutb)-ud-din means 'pole-star of religion'.
9. Tandan, or Tanra. Ancient town, now a petty village, in Malda District, Bengal, the capital of Bengal after the decadence of Gaur.
Its history is obscure, and the very site of the city has not been accurately determined. It is certain that it was in the immediate neighbourhood of Gaur, and south-west of that town beyond the Bhagirathi. Old Tandan has been utterly swept away by the changes in the course of the Pagla. It was occupied by the Afghan king of Bengal in A.D. 1564, and is not mentioned after 1660. (_I.G._, 1908.)
10. This narrative, notwithstanding all the minute details with which it is garnished, cannot be accepted as sober history; and I do not know from what source the author obtained it. 'This lady, whose maiden name was Muhr-un-Nisa, or ”Seal of Womankind”, had attracted the admiration of Jahangir when he was crown prince, but Akbar married her to a young Turkoman and settled them in Bengal. After Jahangir's accession the husband was killed in a quarrel with the governor of the province, and the wife was placed under the care of one of Akbar's widows, with whom she remained four years, and then married Jahangir (1610). There is nothing to justify a suspicion of the Emperor's connivance in the husband's death; nor do Indian historians corroborate the invidious criticisms of ”Normal” by European travellers; on the contrary, they portray Nur-Mahall as a pattern of all the virtues, and worthy to wield the supreme influence which she obtained over the Emperor.' (Lane-Poole, _The History of the Moghul Emperors of Hindustan ill.u.s.trated by their Coins_, p.
xix.) The authorities on which this statement is founded are given in _E. & D._, vol. vi, pp. 397 and 402-5. See also Blochmann, _ain_, vol. i, pp. 496, 524. Details of such stories in the various chronicles always differ. Jahangir openly rejoiced in the death of Sher Afgan, and it is by no means clear that he was not responsible for the event. He was not troubled by nice scruples. The first element in the lady's personal name seems to be _Mihr_, 'sun', not _Muhr_, 'seal'. The words are identical in ordinary Persian writing.
11. The long interval which elapsed between Sher Afgan's death and the marriage with the Emperor is a fact opposed to the a.s.sumptions which the author adopts that Nur Mahall was 'nothing loth', and that the death of her first husband was contrived by Jahangir.