THE HIGH-ROAD
OF EMPIRE
WATER-COLOUR AND PEN-AND-INK
SKETCHES IN INDIA
r
BY A. H. HALLAM MURRAY
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1905
Printed by BALLANTYM-; & Co. LIMITED
Tavistock Street, London
TO H.R.H. THE PRINCESS OF WALES,
WHOSE GRACEFUL TASK OF UNITING
THE BRITISH EMPIRE BY THE TIE
OF PERSONAL AFFECTION TO THE
THRONE HAS NOW EXTENDED TO
INDIA, THIS VOLUME OF SKETCHES
IS HUMBLY DEDICATED
PREFACE
IN arranging this volume of sketches, made along
the highways of a fascinating land, one aim
which I set before myself was to recall pleasant
memories to those who have already fallen under
the spell of its potent charm ; another was to
awaken, if possible, in the minds of others the
determination to become better acquainted with
the great Empire in the East, the guardianship
and protection of which is at once our pride and
our duty. The appeal which India makes is as
many-sided as it is universal and irresistible, with
its glorious architecture, its unique landscapes,
its rich historic associations, and above all its
strangely interesting people, whose customs and
character have come down unaltered through the
centuries, and are now submitted to the impact
of new ideas and new conditions, to them doubt-
less in great part incomprehensible. The effect
of this collision of new and old, of East and
West, is partially hidden from us by the appa-
rent indifference of a calm demeanour, which
at once conceals the tremendous capacity for
viii PREFACE
passion that glows beneath an impassive surface,
and heightens the mystery that surrounds a
fascinating people.
I have, I hope, given typical views of typical
places, but though not neglecting the more strik-
ing scenes and buildings which form the goal
of every pilgrim's quest, I have tried to fix the
attention of lovers of the beautiful on the
essentially picturesque side, on the little pictures
that unfold themselves at every turn of the wheel
of life in India and might well be overlooked by
the casual wayfarer.
No attempt has been made to go far afield, or
to give an elaborate account of the country, and its
engrossing social, political and religious problems.
Our experiences were those of the ordinary
Englishman who spends a few months on the
threshold of an ancient and mysterious land and
life, and we had no exceptional opportunities or
capacities for penetrating behind the veil ; but by
the exercise of a little sympathetic imagination,
and with the help of books on special sides of
Indian life such as are within reach of all,
we tried to understand such phases of the life
as fell under our notice. If we have not quite
misinterpreted that life, it is owing to the kind
friends who, both in India and at home, tried so
generously to set our feet in the right way.
Amongst them I am specially glad of this oppor-
tunity to thank Colonel D. D. Cunningham,
Colonel John Biddulph, and Mr. Rowland E.
Prothero. Where we have gone astray we must
PREFACE
IX
ask the indulgence of those beneath whose eyes
these pages may fall.
I should like to think that these efforts might,
in their small way, help to pave the highway of
sympathetic understanding which must unite
East and West, if as all who realise the vast
responsibilities of our Indian Empire must desire
the unselfish devotion and unstinting self-
sacrifice of those who have toiled for its welfare
are to be crowned with success, and we are
ever, in Lord Curzon's words, to rule India by
the heart.
THK BABA ATAL TOWER, AMRITSAK
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. BOMBAY : AN EPITOME OF THE EAST The
high-road to India An undying impression of Oriental
tropics A wonderful panorama Bombay emerges
A native servant Yacht Club Brilliant colouring
Elephanta Malabar Point Temple of Shiva Parsis
Native quarter Plague ...... i
II. POONA: THE MAHRATTA CAPITAL Anglo-
Indian household Caste Parbati Hill Hindu Pan-
theon Modern Brahman views Cowley- Wantage Mis-
sion Street scenes . . . . . . 41
III. BIJAPUR : A CITY OF TOMBS Turkish origin
The Adil Shahi dynasty Fine buildings and tombs
The Gol Gumbaz The Mehtar Mahal A Mahratta
Princess The great gun Shahpur gateway . . 65
IV. ALLAHABAD : THE MEETING OF THE WATERS
Colder climate An ancient place of pilgrimage The
Maidan Prince Khusru The Fort The Mela
Pilgrims and Yogis Old and new . . . .87
V. CALCUTTA, THE SEAT OF EMPIRE Disap-
pointing appearance Early days The Bastis Absence
of colour India Museum Sakya Muni The Govern-
ment Gardens Old settlements Lady Canning
The Hooghly Village communities . . . .103
VI. BENARES : THE HEART OF HINDUSTAN Mar-
vellously picturesque situation Temple of Shiva as the
Poison God Crowded alleys Mai Kali Thugs Dur-
gapuja Bathing Ghats Orthodox ritual A Hindu's
end Benares ekka . . . . . . .129
xii CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
VII. LUCKNOW AND CAWNPORE : THE MUTINY -
Fantastic buildings The Residency Sir Henry Law-
rence Fog Cawnpore The entrenchment The Bibi
Garh Fundamental difference of Hindu and Christian
ideals The Brotherhood Mission . . . .147
VIII. AGRA : THE CITY OF THE GREAT MOGUL
Huge red sandstone fort Akbar Shah Jehan's buildings
The palace in the fort The Taj A primitive
clock Pearl mosque Father Benson C.M.S. Orphan-
age at Sikandra Mutiny episode Plan of Moslem
tombs Native life in the old town Unexpected
gymnastics Mohammedan views on figure-painting . 160
IX. FATEHPUR SIKRI, THE WINDSOR OF THE
GREAT MOGUL A long avenue Bird life Akbar's
red sandstone city The mosque The Diwan-i-Khas
The Panch Mahal Vanishing beauty Vandalism Pil-
fering collectors The Archaeological Survey . . 185
X. GWALIOR: SINDHIA'S CAPITAL Rock-dwelling
anchorites Ten centuries of Rajput rule Hindu love
of hoarding Dawn A political saint A steep ascent
Man Sing Palace The solemn sacrifice, Johar The
oilman's temple Urwahi ravine Jain Tirthankers
Lashkar Native Court Flying foxes . . .199
XI. DELHI, THE ANCIENT CAPITAL From Shah
Jehan to the Mutiny Jumma Musjid Impressive scene
Mohammedan belief about God The Fort The last
Moguls Bishop Heber Aurangzeb's Court Akbar's
lofty aims The collapse The only justification for
Imperial rule . . . . . . . .218
XII. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DELHI Kala
Musjid The first Aryan settlement The debris of
twenty centuries The Kutub Minar Pathan invaders
The Mosque Hindu arches Tughlakabad Nobility
of office The Cambridge Mission to Delhi Hum-
ayun's Tomb Nizamuddin, a Chisti saint . . . 243
CONTENTS xiii
CHAP. PAGE
XIII. AMBALLA: A CANTONMENT Distant views of
snowy Himalayas House of the Divisional Judge
Camel-sowar Milk Polo and tent-pegging Brilliantly
coloured crowds An Indian railway-station Native
traffic . . . . . . . . .267
XIV. LAHORE: THE NORTHERN GATE An'ang
Pal The Sikhs Guru Govind The Kohinoor The
Fort Jehangir The Badshahi mosque Strange river
scenes Shahdera A network of narrow streets
Windows like bees' nests Vizir Khan's mosque Bud-
dhist sculptures Pigeons and parrots Kim . .281
XV. AMRITZAR: THE WATER OF LIFE Ceremo-
nial bathing The golden temple The Granth Baba
Atai Tower Ghosts of departed priests Northern
traders ......... 305
XVI. THANESAR : THE CRADLE OF THE HINDU
RACE In an ekka along the Great Trunk Road
The Jacs The Plague in the Punjab Animal life
The Mahabarata The battlefield of India The town
The sacred tank Pilgrimages Ruined temple Water-
fowl Aboriginal races Process of transformation
Hindu pani The rules of caste Two sides of native
life . 3 1 3
XVII. ALWAR A native state Rajputs A night under
canvas A walled town The shrine at the crossways
The city palace and its picturesque tank Thunder-
storm ... 33,,
XVIII. AJMERE Sunrise over the Ana Sagar Early history
of Ajmere Mahrattas and Pindaris A Rajput Iphi-
genia The great mosque A Chisti saint's tomb
Akbar's pilgrimage Sketching under difficulties . .343
XIX. JODHPUR Through the desert One of the most
noble families in the world Citadel of Jodhpur
" Scarlet prints of a woman's hands " Rigid marriage
laws of the pure-blooded clans The city Pig-sticking
Archaic bullock cart " See that ye fall not out by the
way" The tombs at Mandor Ahmedabad . . 363
xiv CONTENTS
#
CHAP. PAGE
XX. CEYLON. Colombo New vegetation Ascent to
Kandy Peradeniya Lady Horton's drive The
Temple of the Tooth Buddhism in Ceylon A coffee
plantation Sketching in the Jungle The Pavilion
, Galangolla Dagobas Gadaladenya Three attitudes of
Buddha The little Monsoon Judge Lawrie Mr.
Hardinge Cameron Queen's House . . . -385
XXI. CEYLON Christmas at Kandy Alu Vihara
Dambool Prisoners' fare Sigiri Nuwera Eliya
Hakgalla A collapse Bishop Copleston . . .417
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF SOME OF THE PRIN-
CIPAL EVENTS MENTIONED . . . .441
INDEX . 443
ILLUSTRATIONS
COLOURED SKETCHES
Reproduced by the Three Colour Process
To/ace
i THE BATHING GHATS, BENARES. " The river bank
is a marvellous sight. The Ghats, in flight after flight of
irregular steps, descend a hundred feet to the water's
edge. Here and there the steps widen out into terraces,
and on them are temples and shrines of all sorts and
sizes. The cliff is crowned by high houses and palaces,
which culminate in domes and slender minarets. Here
and there a palace or temple breaks away from the main
line, and, projecting forward, descends with solid breast-
works of masonry to the water's edge, where every variety
of native craft lies moored " . . . ntie-pa^e
2 GIBRALTAR FROM THE WEST . . . . x
3 THE CITADEL, CAIRO, IN A SAND-STORM. It is
interesting for those who know Cairo to refresh their
memory of Mohammedan architecture there, in order to
compare the style with that of similar buildings in India " i
4 THE WAKE OF A P. & 4
5 THE WALKESHWAR TEMPLE, BOMBAY. "The
temple and tank of the mystical Shiva in the village at
Malabar Point is a mere combination of white-wash,
water and flights of steps with smaller temples and shrines
dotted around them and a few gnarled old bo-trees. They
do not possess any antiquity, but like everything purely
native are thoroughly picturesque " . . . .24
XVI
To/ace
page
6 A DOORWAY, POONA. There are some picturesque
nooks and corners in the city. I found time to make a
drawing of a quaint doorway, wreathed with a garland of
marigold, and of a lazy boy, whose time appeared to be of
little value, sitting on a projecting ledge swinging his
legs " 62
7 THE GOL GUMBAZ, BIJAPUR. " This building attracted
me not on account of any special beauty of detail for it
is singularly wanting in ornament, and within is perfectly
plain but because of its vastness and dignity ; and of the
unique character of its dome. It stands four square upon
its platform, with octagonal towers at the angles seven
storeys high. In the centre rises the great dome, which
constitutes its most striking feature and covers a larger
area than any other in the world " . . . .66
8 THE SHAHPUR GATE, BIJAPUR. An old gate a
vista of minarets in the opening with grim battlements,
and long spikes projecting outwards from the gates them-
selves, to prevent the elephants of an enemy from butting
up against them and battering them down with their
heads" 82
9 SUNSET BEHIND THE IBRAHIM ROZA, BIJAPUR.
" The great mausoleum of Ibrahim II., where Aurangzeb
lived during the final siege of Bijapur, forms with its ac-
companying mosque a domed group of great beauty rising
on a platform about 19 ft. high ; from the centre of what
was once a lovely garden. The whole effect of the domes,
and the forest of minarets and pinnacles rising out of a
shady grove of dark trees against a brilliant evening sky,
was very striking ........ 84
TO A NAMELESS TOMB, BIJAPUR .... 86
ii RETURNING FROM THE MELA, ALLAHABAD.
" The Maidan is crossed by flat roads, here and there
passing through scattered groups of trees. In one of
these where the ground was dotted over with dilapidated
shrines I found a suitable subject. It was evening, and dark-
ness was approaching ; the air was full of the red glow of
ILLUSTRATIONS xvii
To face
page
RETURNING FROM THE MELA. continued
the setting sun, which penetrated the smoke, rising behind a
neighbouring wall, and the evening mist with a hot and
murky glow. Past me poured a constant stream of
rattling, many-coloured ekkas returning to the town with
noisy devotees from the Mela " . . . .92
12 A CORNER SHRINE IN A BENARES ALLEY. "The
streets reminded me of Genoa, but are far more picturesque,
with their rich colouring (chiefly a deep red), overhanging
storeys, and an occasional bridge thrown over from one
side of the street to the other. Every empty space is
occupied by a fantastic representation of Hindu mythology,
and, besides the regular temples and shrines with which
the town bristles, an uncouth image, or a squarely-hewn
sacred stone, is set up at every vacant corner " . .134
13 THE GHATS BELOW AURANGZEB'S MOSQUE,
BENARES. " Bathers and devotees, in a continuous
stream, ascend and descend these steps : issuing from the
dark archways and lanes above, they collect below on the
brink of the water, under huge straw umbrellas ; and pro-
ceed by one operation to wash away their sins, to wash
their bodies, and their simple and scanty clothing as well.
They then gird themselves in clean attire ; and afterwards
return to one of the terraces to have their caste-marks
replaced upon their foreheads by an official of the temple ;
he is provided with a number of little saucers filled with
coloured powders for the purpose. This done, they sit
on a plank over the water to meditate and bask in the
sunshine ......... 140
14 A BENARES EKKA. "A picturesque conveyance with
double shafts on either side, drawn together on the top of
the pony's back and fastened to a saddle. The trappings
of some of these ekkas are very gay, and some have a
canopy like a bird-cage on the top. This 'machine'
holds, besides the driver, two persons, who sit sideways,
and hang their legs over the wheels " . . . .146
15 AGRA FORT OUTSIDE THE DELHI GATE. The
Emperor Akbar, perhaps one of the greatest and most
xviii ILLUSTRATIONS
To/ace
page
AGRA FORT continued
liberal-minded rulers commemorated by history, lived here
during the early years of his life. It is to him that we owe
the double line of noble red sandstone walls, 70 feet high,
with a circumference of over a mile ; they enclose within
their precincts a remarkable group of palaces, mosques,
halls of state, baths, kiosques, balconies and terraces over-
hanging the river, all nobly designed and exquisitely
decorated by Akbar and his successors, Jehangir and Shah
Jehan" . . . . . . . . .160
16 AGRA FORT INSIDE THE DELHI GATE. "The
gateways of this grand citadel, especially the Delhi
Gate, are very imposing. Within the Delhi Gate is a
second gate, flanked by two octagonal towers, and sur-
mounted by cupolas " . . . . . . .164
17 THE TAJ FROM THE FORT, AGRA The Fort
extends about half a mile along the right bank of the
Jumna, which, passing through a waste of land, flat, but
broken, here takes a sharp bend to the east. Across its
shimmering waters and sandy bed may be seen the pearly
dome and the minarets of the Taj Mahal rising out of
their setting of gardens and trees, which descend to the
water's edge . . . . . . . .170
1 8 THE BAZAAR, AGRA. " The road is lined with low one-
storeyed buildings shops, for the most part, open to the
street, supported by low carved pillars and sheltered by
awnings of straw. Swarthy people squat among their
wares, smoking their hookahs. The roadway is thronged
with people many of the women, carrying brass pitchers
and other heavy loads upon their heads, are clad in bright
colours, with rows of bangles round their wrists and ankles ;
the men, in less brilliant but more motley clothes. In the
distance rises the great gateway of the Fort " . . .180
19 THE JUMMA MUSJID, AGRA. "A grand building of
red sandstone and marble : though built by Shah Jehan in
1644, it approaches more nearly to the earlier vigorous
style of his predecessors " . . 184
ILLUSTRATIONS xix
To fact
20 THE MOSQUE AND GATE OF VICTORY,
FATEHPUR SIKRI. '< The Buland Darwaza, or Gate
of Victory, which forms the southern entrance to Akbar's
mosque, is the loftiest building in Fatehpur Sikri, and is
approached by a stately flight of steps. At the entrance is
the following inscription in Arabic, ' Said Jesus, on whom
be peace ! the world is a bridge, pass over it but build no
house there " . . . . . . . .190
2 . -GWALIOR FORT BEFORE SUNRISE. The great rock
of Gwalior, rising from the plain like the hulk of a gigantic
battleship, looked very fine when I saw it from my win-
dow, a quarter of an hour before sunrise ; its crowning
walls, palaces, and the irregularities of its precipitous sides
were just being touched by the dawn. It was overspread
with a deep red flush from the glowing Eastern sky, and
though the base beneath was still in shadow, the broad
features of the landscape, the bare ground, the trees, and
the partly ruined tombs were distinctly visible in the clear
still air. In the foreground a square tomb with a Pathan
dome, gave distance to the background, and between me
and it, occasional figures noiselessly passed ". . . 202
22 THE MAN SING PALACE, GWALIOR. "An excep-
tional building, growing out of the top of the rock and
dominating the approach to the Fort. Semicircular bastions
crowned by cupolas flank, at intervals, the palace walls,
and along them run horizontal bands of blue and yellow
faience, and sculptured arches. It is palace and rampart in
one, and is certainly the most originally decorated house I
ever saw. There is a broad ribbon of blue along the fagade,
with a bright yellow row of Brahma's geese upon it, and
below is another band of blue, about five or six feet high,
with conventional vivid green mango trees growing in panels.
Through the gateway came a stately elephant, and beyond
I could just get a glimpse of the plain far below " . .208
23 -THE JUMMA MUSJID, DELHI AT SUNSET. This
grand yet simple building of Shah Jehan is the master-
piece of religious architecture in India. From the lofty
basement, built round an outcrop of the sandstone rock,
xx ILLUSTRATIONS
To/ace
THE JUMMA MUSJID continued
a finely composed group of domes and minarets, cupolas
and gateways rises over a wide-spreading open space,
dotted with stunted trees sheltering some temporary
native booths : from them the smoke of the evening fires
pervades the atmosphere. The sun, setting in the brilliant
cloudless sky, causes the marble domes silhouetted against
it to appear quite dark, and the sharply alternating forms
of rounded dome and upjutting minaret look like an
Arabic inscription along the horizon "
The sun goes down as in a sphere of gold
Behind the arm of the city, which between,
With all that length of domes and minarets,
Athwart the splendour, black and crooked runs
Like a Turk verse along a scimitar. 224
24 A STREET IN DELHI LOOKING TOWARDS THE
JUMMA MUSJID. "Wherever the fantastic outline
of this stately group of domes and minarets appears, the
effect is pleasing, and their solemn dignity is enhanced
where the foreground is occupied by the unimportant but
picturesque buildings of the native city " . . .226
2 5 THE TOMB OF TUGHLAK SHAH. " This tomb forms
the nucleus of a miniature fortress in the centre of a small
lake, and is approached by a low causeway raised on arches.
Here repose the bones of two of the warrior kings of the
Tughlak line. The walls which enclose them are of mas-
sive marble and red sandstone masonry and are surmounted
by a white marble dome " . . . . . .256
26 A CAMEL-SOWAR OF THE IOTH BENGAL LANCERS.
" The men of the loth Bengal Lancers are mostly Sikhs;
they have blue and red lance-pennons, blue kurta or long
coat, white breeches, red cummerbund, and blue cone-
shaped turban. An obliging Moonshee glorified my
sketch by writing Shams ud-din Khan's name and status in
splendid picturesque characters below it " . . .272
27 A GATEWAY IN THE BAZAAR, LAHORE. "A
massive archway intensely dark in its cavernous recesses
spanned the street, and under it a jostling crowd passed
and repassed, looking brilliant as they stepped into the
ILLUSTRATIONS xxi
Toface
A GATEWAY IN THE BAZAAR continued
sunlight from beneath the shade. Through the archway I
could see one of the many coloured minarets of Vizir Khan's
mosque soaring up into the blue sky ; and a superb figure
with the bearing of a prince came striding towards me
and gave a central completing touch to the scene " . -300
28 THE GOLDEN TEMPLE, AMRITZAR. The pilgrim
enters through a magnificent gateway, to find him-
self confronted by a dazzling vision, for the temple is
covered from the tops of its domes to within a short distance
of the ground with plates of gilded copper. All this shim-
mering glory ' shines in the sun like a blazing altar,' and is
reflected in the dancing grey-green water of the pool in
the centre of which it is set. A marble causeway leads
across the pool to the island platform of the little temple
with a marble balustrade on either hand ; and tall columns,
with gilt lamps surmounting them, rise above the crowd
of flower-laden pilgrims continually streaming across " .310
2g _A TEMPLE IN THE TANK AT THANESAE. "This
famous sacred lake has been from the earliest times the
rendezvous of thousands of devout Hindus, seeking puri-
fication by bathing and prayer. The temples which once sur-
rounded it have now fallen into decay, and are overshadowed
by great trees. Long flights of steps lead down to the
water's edge, and on the north side a causeway stretches
out into the lake, where, on a little island, stands the most
perfect temple that now remains " . . . . -324
30 THE MAIN STREET OF ALWAR. " The Main Street
of Alwar, running straight towards the mountains, is closed
at the end by a conical and rocky spur, crowned by the
fort which dominates the town. The street itself is one
long bazaar, thronged by a busy bright crowd " . -336
31 THE ANA SAGAR, AJMERE. " Shah Jehan built four
marble pavilions on the great bund or embankment
which dams up the water in the valley of the river Luni,
and forms the lake called the Ana Sagar. One of these
was used as the Commissioner's house at the time of my
visit. When I opened the window at daylight and walked
xxii ILLUSTRATIONS
To /act
paife
THE ANA SAGAR continued
out on the white marble balcony, an exquisitely beautiful
and peaceful scene lay before me. I found myself over-
hanging the shining levels of a lovely lake, surrounded by
most picturesque hills, and with a glorious flood of light
from the rising sun shining on the rugged rosy granite
peaks to the south-west "...... 344
32 THE CAULDRON AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE
DARGAH, AJMERE. "The chief entrance to the
Dargah, from the crowded street, is beneath a whitewashed
archway of great height, on either side of which, sur-
rounded by a medley of arches, miniature cupolas, pillars
and trees, are two huge iron cauldrons some ten or fifteen
feet across. On certain festal occasions, and when rich
pilgrims give an alms of ^200 to 300 for the purpose,
these are filled with rice, raisins, sugar, spices and ghee,
which, when cooked by enormous fires lighted beneath the
cauldrons, is doled out to the poor pilgrims. When they
are satisfied the members of certain privileged families,
swathed in rags and wadding, are then allowed to jump
into the still hot cauldron and scramble for the
remains " . . . . . . . . -358
33 THE TOMB OF KHWAJAH MUIN-UD-DIN CHISTI,
IN THE DARGAH, AJMERE. " The glistening white
marble tomb of the saint is very picturesque ; surrounded
by fine lattice screens. It is all dark and mysterious
within, and rich-coloured draperies and awnings shroud
the holy place, and shelter the doorways. The grey misty
mountain peaks made a beautiful and quiet background to
this vivid scene, which was partially veiled by the green
branches of one of the gnarled and twisted trees shading
the enclosure. The tree had dropped out of the perpen-
dicular, and was supported by a finely carved yellow
sandstone pillar " ....... 360
34 THE TANK AT THE BACK OF THE DARGAH,
AJMERE. " Deep in the rocky mountain-side at the
back of the Dargah is a long, narrow, natural cleft, the sides
of which are faced with irregular flights of steep steps
ILLUSTRATIONS xxiii
To/ace
fafe
THE TANK continued
descending to a deep tank below, and ascending to tortu-
ous and irregular terraces and platforms which follow the
trend of the rock. Above them rise the enclosing walls
of the Dargah and neighbouring buildings. A constant
stream of women in dark red and blue saris ascended and
descended, with their waterpots on their heads " . .362
35JODHPUR GENERAL VIEW OF THE FORT. The
great rock of the Fort rises 400 feet abruptly out of the
plain, like Stirling Castle on a large scale. At its feet lies
the old walled town, but from the spot from which this
sketch is taken it is hidden by a dark belt of trees
especially noticeable from the contrast of its foliage with
the barren rock on one side and the desert on the
other "......... 366
3 6 THE ASCENT TO THE PALACE, JODHPUR. The
road ascends by zigzags beneath seven gates. Above rises
the palace, which generations of Rahtore princes have reared
upon bastions on the edge of a perpendicular cliff. Before
me was a lofty whitewashed gateway, through which was
passing an ever moving crowd of strangely dressed natives
from the Bikaneer desert, laden camels with their drivers,
groups of women with water-pots on their heads, and an
occasional elephant bearing a richly dressed visitor to the
palace" ......... 368
37 A BULLOCK CART, JODHPUR 380
38 A FEEDING-PLACE FOR BIRDS, AHMEDABAD.
" These picturesque objects, somewhat like pigeon cotes,
are characteristic of this city of the Jains "... 382
39 THE TEMPLE OF THE TOOTH, KANDY
EXTERIOR. " The temple, though not grand or im-
posing, is a picturesque building. It stands with its back
against a wooded hill ; at its feet lies a long moat or tank,
alive with tortoises, and crossed by a small bridge flanked
by two elephants in stone. Above, an enclosing battle-
mented wall looks out on a flat expanse of the greenest
grass " 392
d
xxiv ILLUSTRATIONS
To face
40 THE TEMPLE OF THE TOOTH, KANDY IN-
TERIOR. " Several flights of steps lead to a sculptured
doorway, and within, an antechapel or vestibule opens on to
a small courtyard ; in its centre is the Holy of Holies, con-
taining seven shrines of diminishing size, and within the
innermost is the Tooth. The mysterious veiled doorway
of this sanctuary, which no ordinary mortal may pass,
formed the centre of my sketch. The projecting roof is
supported by massive wooden pillars, and the walls, corbels
and ceilings are profusely painted with brightly coloured
monsters and floral designs " ..... 394
4 i A STREET SCENE IN KANDY. " Kandy possesses no
fine buildings or architectural features worthy of note ; but
the irregularity of its low buildings, the bright awnings,
the deep shadows in the frontless shops, the fruit and other
wares, the overhanging palms, the stray yellow and crimson
Croton bushes, and above all the people, form an ever
changing melange of colour, and a study in movement
which are in the highest degree fascinating " . . . 396
42 -THE MOUNTAINS FROM PALLEKELLY. Sketching
in the tropics I found no easy matter on account of
vegetation, which clothes the whole face of the world in the
richest greens. Nothing is more beautiful to the eye than
this verdure, but it is hard to paint, and moreover it was all
new to me. I attempted a sketch, but with indifferent
success, of the jungle-clothed mountains around Pallekelly,
culminating in a dark peak, about which the clouds were
beginning to gather." ....... 398
43 "A TROPICAL SHOWER. It was very beautiful,
especially from a height, to watch the great rain-clouds
blowing up from the sea every afternoon and culminating
in a deluge of rain. The clear blue sky of the morning
gradually becomes flecked with white woolly clouds, and
shadows travel rapidly over the sunny green landscape.
On they come thicker and thicker, the white turns to grey,
the blue sky rapidly disappears, and the grey gives place to
black, casting the whole landscape into a deep blue gloom :
then a nebulous mass, more dense than its predecessors,
ILLUSTRATIONS xxv
To/ace
A TROPICAL SHOWER continued
charged with electricity, sweeps over the high mountains ;
there is a vivid flash of forked fire and an almost simul-
taneous roar of thunder, and a deluge of water falls in a
great grey veil over hill and vale, and swirling onwards
warns us that no time must be lost in seeking shelter if we
wish to preserve a dry thread to our backs " . . . 408
44 MORNING MISTS IN THE VALLEY OF THE
MAHAWELLI GANGHA. "A terrace road winds
through the forest-covered hill at the back of the Pavilion,
and from it exquisite views open on to the valley below
and away to the distant blue mountains. The colouring
of the landscape in Ceylon seemed to me far more intense
than that in any other country I had seen " . . .412
45 THE MARKET, COLOMBO. " The subtle litheness of
the figures, the profusion and gorgeous colours of the
fruit and vegetables, the deep shadows and flickering
lights combine to make the market a most attractive place
for an artist " . . . . . . . .414
46 THE QUEEN'S HOUSE, COLOMBO. " In the shady
garden of Government House are many fine trees, the
most conspicuous being a giant Banyan. Surrounding it
are beautiful green lawns dotted over with flowering shrubs
and bright yellow and red Croton bushes. Two tame
pelicans and a crane patrol the green sward, Tnd, in their
odd ways, are a constant source of amusement " . .416
47 THE MARTALE HILLS . . . . .420
xxvi ILLUSTRATIONS
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT
I'AGE
THE BABA ATAL TOWER, AMRITSAR .... IX
TOMB OF TUGHLAK SHAH .... . XXIX
GIBRALTAR FROM THE EAST ....... I
NEEDLE-LIKE PINNACLES ADEN ...... 3
THE MALABAR COAST ........ 5
OUR FIRST VIEW OF BOMBAY ..... 7
A NATIVE DHOW ......... 9
BACK BAY .......... 13
A BOMBAY BULLOCK CARRIAGE .... I 5
TOMBS BY THE ROAD-SIDE . 1 6
ON THE WAY TO ELEPHANTA . . . . .17
BOMBAY FROM MALABAR POINT .... .20
ONE OF THE TOWERS OF SILENCE . . . . . .24
SKETCH-PLAN OF TOWER OF SILENCE ... .25
A HOUSE IN THE NATIVE QUARTER ..... 30
UNDER MALABAR HILL ..... . 39
IN THE FUNERAL PROCESSION . .40
JAGGED PINNACLES OF THE GHATS . -43
SECTARIAL MARKS ..... 5 1
THE HINDU PANTHEON .... -55
A DOORWAY IN THE TEMPLE OF PARBATI . 59
WAITING FOR THE TRAIN ... -67
A SMALL MOSQUE IN BIJAPUR . 7 1
BY THE ROAD-SIDE ... -73
PLAN OF THE GOL GUMBAZ . 7 6
THE DOME OF THE JUMMA MUSJID, BIJAPUR . -79
A WAYSIDE TOMB .... . 8l
A CHILLY MORNING ... .84
AN AVENUE IN ALLAHABAD . 9 1
ILLUSTRATIONS xxvii
PAGE
AT THE MELA . . . . . . . . -97
BOOTHS AT THE MELA . . . . . . . .99
ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, CALCUTTA . . . . . .105
A TRIBUTARY OF THE HOOGHLY . . . . . .107
THE HOOGHLY AT CHINSURAH . . . . . .121
BARRACKPUR . . . . - . . . .123
THE HOOGHLY ABOVE CALCUTTA . . . . . .125
BOATS ON THE HOOGHLY . . . . . . .127
IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE TOWN . . . . -135
THE GHATS, BENARES . . . . . . . .140
COMME QA . . . . . . . . . .141
BATHING GHATS . . . . . . . . .146
THE JUMMA MUSJID, AGRA . . . . . . l6l
ON THE WALL OF THE FORT . . . . . .163
THE TAJ FROM THE ROAD TO AGRA . . . . .165
A PRIMITIVE CLOCK . . . . . . . .167
THE JUMMA MUSJID, AGRA . . . . . . .171
SIKANDRA . . . . . . . . . J 75
A STREET IN AGRA . . . . . . . .177
A STREET IN AGRA . . . . . . . l8l
ONE OF AKBAR'S MILESTONES . . . . . .187
THE ELEPHANT GATE, FATEHPUR SIKRI . . . . .189
THE PRIME MINISTER'S HOUSE . . . . . .193
ON THE ROAD TO FATEHPUR SIKRI . . . . .198
ONE OF THE MAHARAJA'S ELEPHANTS, GWALIOR . . .204
THE URWAHI VALLEY . . . . . . . . 2IO
MAP OF DELHI . . . . . . . . 2l6
LAHORE GATE, DELHI . . . . . . .229
PLAN OF THE PALACE OF DELHI ..... Joeing 2 32
KALAN MUSJID, DELHI .... ... 245
KUTUB MINAR, DELHI .... . . 249
SKETCH-PLAN OF HUMAYUN's TOM I! . . . . .262
OUTSIDE THE CANTONMENT, AMBALLA . . . . .269
FROM THE MAIDAN 27O
xxviii ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
A PERSIAN WELL . . . . . . . . .271
THE HOUSE OF THE DIVISIONAL JUDGE . . . . -273
BANYAN TREE . ....... 274
THE CROWD . . . . . . . . .276
A COMPETITOR . . . . . . . . .277
ONE OF THE CROWD . . . . . . . .278
SWEET-SELLERS . . . . . . . . .280
THE FORT AND JUMMA MUSJID, LAHORE . . .293
THE BRIDGE OF BOATS ON THE RAVI . 295
WINDOWS LIKE BEES' NESTS .... .299
A STREET WINDOW ..... . 300
A CURIOUS COLUMN .... . 301
AN OLD SIKH ..... 331
THE MAIN STREET, ALWAR ... 337
LOOKING DOWN ON THE ANA SAGAR . . -345
THE COMMISSIONER'S HOUSE . . 352
A PICTURESQUE CORNER . . 360
A MARWARI TRADER ... . -383
A COOLIE NATIVE DRESS ... .386
RESTING ...... . 388
A FICUS ELASTICA, PERADENIYA . 39 1
THE LAKE, KANDY .... .392
A STREET BARBER .... . . 396
BY THE ROAD-SIDE . . . -397
A GOVERNMENT-HOUSE PEON ... . 400
ONE OF THE CROWD ..... . 403
A DAGOBA AT KANDY . . . . . . 45
A SINHALESE TEMPLE, GADALADENYA ... 47
THE THREE USUAL ASPECTS OF THE SEATED BUDDHA . . 408
A SHOP IN KANDY ..... .410
IN COLOMBO HARBOUR . . . . . .416
A YOUNG ELEPHANT AT KANDY . . .417
READY TO START ... . . 419
THE TEMPLE AT DAMBOOL . .422
ILLUSTRATIONS
XXIX
FACE
THE BALCONY IN FRONT OF THE TEMPLE .... 424
SIGIRI RISING OUT OF THE JUNGLE . . . . .427
SIGIRI . . . . . . . . . . .429
DEGALDURUWA . . . . . . . . .430
DOORWAY IN THE TEMPLE OF DEGALDURUWA. . . -432
ON THE WAY TO NUWERA ELIYA ...... 434
LOOKING AT THE TRAIN ....... 435
THE BISHOP'S GARDEN, COLOMBO . . . . . .439
MAP OF INDIA, ILLUSTRATING THE HIGH-ROAD OF EMPIRE . 440
TOMB OV TUGHLAK SIIAI1
GIBRALTAR FROM THE EAST
CHAPTER I
BOMBAY
IT was a change from a sick-room to the cabin of
a P. and O., but I had been ill, and "change"
was recommended. At the mouth of the Channel
and in the Bay I realised that I was still a sick
man ; but the Equinox was upon us, and now
the cause was exterior to myself this also was a
change.
A short respite from storm and tempest revealed
Gibraltar in brilliant sunshine, and as we danced
over the waves I sketched the great Rock for the
first time, and passing it, for it was too rough to
land, looked back upon it black and frowning
against a lurid evening sky, a grim barrier to the
inland sea. As night fell the sea rose, and the
great ship seemed to tremble and quiver at the
impact of the waves ; but better times were com-
ing, and at Malta I enjoyed a respite from the
2 BOMBAY
crowded ship, and spent a pleasant day there with
friends.
A kind friend had borne me company so far, but at
Brindisi we parted, and there I was joined by the
companion of my journey. We sailed on a summer
sea through the Ionian Islands, passed Crete in the
early morning, pink with the rising sun, and
in due course were off the coast of Egypt. It is in-
teresting for those who know Cairo to refresh their
memories of Mohammedan architecture there, in
order to compare them with the buildings of India
which they are about to see. The Canal affords
the unique experience of a sail through the desert
varied by the transit of the Bitter Lakes and en-
livened by the sight of strings of camels and flights
of pink and white flamingoes. On entering the
dark blue waters of the Red Sea the aspect of
everything changes. On the right beyond Suez
extends against an evening sky a deep purple
range of mountains, commencing with the grim
serrated GebelAttakah. The shore wherever visible
is sterile to a degree, and not a vestige of vegeta-
tion is to be seen. Throughout our course of
thirteen hundred miles to the Straits of Bab-el-
Mandeb, coral reefs run along the coast in broken
lines parallel to the shore, leaving a channel from
two to three miles wide, which, in the absence of
lighthouses and the prevalence of treacherous cross
currents, must require some skill to navigate. The
masts of six vessels which we saw appearing above
the water at Perim suggest the fact that that skill
is sometimes wanting. But I am anticipating. In
ADEN 3
due course we came within sight of the distant
range of Mount Sinai, then the weather began to
get hotter, punkahs were put up, and passengers
turned out in all their thinnest clothes. We pass
the Straits, and soon come in sight of the strange
NEEDLE-LIKE PINNACLES
mountains with needle-like pinnacles, which are
passed just before Aden is reached. There a short
halt amongst a swarm of naked gesticulating
natives in canoes, shouting " habadive," " haba-
dive," which, being translated, means " throw a
shining coin into the water and I will dive for it."
Then the Indian Ocean, flying fishes, thunder-
clouds, and the land of Inde.
It is contrast, and the presence of the unexpected
4 BOMBAY
that constitute the picturesque, and that charm
the aesthetic eye and mind. Of all contrasts few
can be greater or more striking than that of West
and East, and few transitions can be productive
of greater surprises than that made in stepping
from the monotony of a steamship into the midst
of the tropics.
The novelty of life at sea, so romantic in theory
(especially in the old days of sails), soon wears off,
and as the days roll up into weeks, it gives place
to ennui ; life becomes tedious and irksome, and
the least thin line of distant coast at once arouses
a longing to be again on shore, no matter where.
Within, are the clock-work routine, the ceaseless
motion, the cramped space, the close proximity to
one's fellow-passengers, the constant tramp of
feet the passing and repassing, and again re-
passing of walkers on the deck the faint oily
smell which even the best kept steamers are not
without, and which seems to infect the uninterest-
ing food, so that it all tastes of the ship ; without,
are only the limitless horizon and the sameness of
the ever-changing sea. In these conditions and
surroundings, the monotonous days pass, and we
sleep to the accompaniment of the rocking waves
and the measured thud of the engine.
One morning early in April we became gradually
conscious of the fact that we were no longer rock-
ing, that the engine was at rest ; then a terrific
noise overhead announced the dropping of the
anchor, and we realised that we were once more in
port. We had reached Colombo.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS 5
How much can be revealed in the vignette seen
through a port-hole ? Looking out, we had our
first glimpse of a new world ! It was unmistakable !
Behind a horizontal bar of cocoa-nut palms, to the
East, the sun was rising in true oriental splendour,
reflected on a calm sheet of glowing water. Dusky
figures, in many coloured garments, were dis-
tinguishable along the shore and in amongst the
trees, and as the light began to penetrate the
foliage, the low roofs of native huts appeared, and
a thin wreath of blue smoke betokening the prepa-
THE MALABAR COAST
ration of the morning meal. Here and there a
tower or spire broke the outline of the waving
palms. Close by, on the water, a noisy, grey-necked
crow alighted to dispute with his fellow the pos-
session of some floating treasure, for he too must
have his breakfast.
There was something in the simple scene, in the
very air, and above all in the smell that strange
and all-pervading smell of everything aromatic
which seized on the imagination and indelibly
stamped itself upon the mind. This was the East,
the glorious, mysterious East. How different from
anything expected, and how far more enthralling.
6 BOMBAY
And yet what was it that we have seen ? A belt of
trees, a sheet of still water, some distant figures
and a pair of crows. It was nothing in itself, but
it was enough : it had created an undying and
fascinating impression of the Oriental tropics.
Having come so far, I cannot any longer con-
ceal the fact that we were not then on our way to
India at all, but were in an Australian Liner, and
bound for the south. It is not, however, my inten-
tion to recount our experiences at the Antipodes,
nor, since chronology is of little importance, in
this connection, will I loiter in Ceylon ; but leav-
ing that island for description later on, I will
begin my story with the end of the return voyage,
and skirting the Malabar coast, proceed to
Bombay.
Our first sight of India was a wonderful pano-
rama of the Western Ghats, with their fine rugged
outline, broken by isolated, precipitous and almost
inaccessible peaks, silhouetted against the sunrise
glow. That great barrier-range runs south for
nearly 800 miles, following the line of the sea
coast. It rises sometimes in splendid precipices,
sheer out of the water, sometimes abruptly in
terraces, beyond a strip of flat green and fertile
low-lying land, to an extreme height of nearly
7000 feet.
The weather was glorious, and the sea quite
calm. A peaceful day ended in a grand sunset ;
about 9 P.M. I saw a curious meteor, which looked
so strangely near that at first I thought it was a
mast-head light not half a mile away. Very
BOMBAY EMERGES 7
gradually it moved downward, and then van-
ished.
The coastline became gradually clearer, and two
days afterwards numbers of small brown lateen
sails appeared and clumps of fishermen's stakes,
like Venetian /#//, standing up out of the sea. At
last Bombay emerged mistily above the horizon
about 2.30 P.M. on January n, and by 4.30 we
were steaming slowly into harbour.
The beautiful Bay, studded with green islands
OUR FIRST VIEW OF BOMBAY
and jutting precipices, unfolded itself before us,
with its background of strange, quaintly-shaped
hills, amongst which the Bawa-Malang catches
the eye with its peculiar cylindrical and bottle-
shaped peak crowned with a ruined fort.
The town of Bombay stands at the southern
end of one of the greenest of these low narrow
islands, which lie as a much-indented, protecting
barrier across the estuary of a river imprisoning
an arm of the sea, from five to seven miles wide,
along the mainland, and so forming one of the
finest harbours in the world. On the sea side of
the island is Back Bay, a shallow basin two miles
broad, with Colaba Point between it and the
harbour, and a ridge ending in Malabar Point on
8 BOMBAY
the sea side. The Fort is the nucleus of the city,
and stands on the slightly-raised strip of land
between Back Bay and the harbour, the entrance
to which it commands.
Bombay Island was occupied by the Portuguese
as early as 1532, and, coming to Charles II. as
part of the dower of Catherine of Braganza, was
leased to the East India Company for^io a year.
The Portuguese, however, still remained near
neighbours andrivals on the Island of Salsette,and
blocked the " open-door " to trade with the Empire
of the East. In spite of this, Bombay soon became
the most important of the Company's possessions.
The first Mahratta War led to the permanent occu-
pation by the English of all the Islands in the
Bay of Bombay, where the commerce and industry
of a large district had taken refuge from Mahratta
oppression. Before 1830 Bombay had become the
link between the East and the West. The natural
barrier that separates the coast from the tableland
of the Deccan was first broken down in 1838 by
a road over the Bhor Ghat. Some thirty years
later the railway was taken the same way on to
the Deccan plateau by a brilliant feat of engi-
neering skill. The Suez Canal of course completed
the connection with the West.
When the American War cut off the supply of
cotton to Lancashire, the importance of Bombay
increased immensely, and, after various ups and
downs of prosperity, it now rivals Calcutta as the
commercial capital of India. The natural aptitude
of the Natives for textile work, and their reputa-
BOMBAY HARBOUR 9
tion for turning out unglazed, genuine fabrics
seem to be driving out the lower class of English
cotton goods. The growth of these factories in-
creased the already swarming population of this
densely crowded Eastern city, but the plague has
considerably diminished the export trade of late
A NATIVE DHOW
years, and has greatly reduced the population of
Bombay.
It is useless to try to describe the magnificent
scene, which now lay before us, as we came to
anchor amongst the crowds of various kinds of
craft, from both the East and West, which formed
a most animated foreground. Some of the native
boats, with high poops like sixteenth-century
galleys, masts raking the wrong way, and three-
cornered sails, were very quaintly picturesque.
There were also troop-ships and men-of-war of
io BOMBAY
H.M. East India Squadron, a Russian war-ship,
mail-steamers and merchantmen discharging and
receiving cargo, countless small boats, ships-
dinghies, native bunder-boats and Karachis plying
busily to and fro with their burden of brilliantly
clad passengers.
We were soon boarded by a swarming crowd
of jabbering, shouting, gesticulating natives, and
a peon from King and Co. brought us letters from
many kind and hospitable Indian friends, with
proposals for the mapping-out of our Indian tour.
A native servant is indispensable for travelling in
India, so I had written beforehand to King and Co.,
to look out for one for me. I had visions of a red
turban and spotless white clothes, so my feelings
may be imagined when a villanous-looking figure
to all appearance a veritable cut-throat in shabby
clothes and an ancient round hat boarded the
steamer and told me he was my servant. He
was a Portuguese from Goa and said to be honest,
which was consoling, and as I was told he had white
jackets and trousers in the background, that would
appear when wegot to GovernmentHouse,Itookhim
for a time: He seemed to know his way about,but I
felt rather doubtful about engaging him as a body
slave for three months. The matter settled itself
before long by his hearing of a permanent place as
butler at Karachi, to which I lethimgo ; and I took on
John Lobo, a nice-looking young fellow, also a "Goa
Boy," as I was told it was difficult to get an Indian,
speaking English. He was active and intelligent,
though not very methodical, and served me well.
LANDING ii
The disembarkation arrangements are not alto-
gether a credit to the P. and O. Co., and it was not
until six o'clock that, in a very badly managed
launch,we finally succeeded in landing ourselves at
the Apollo Bunder Quay below the Yacht Club,
through a perfect pandemonium of vociferous
coolies.
The sun was setting in a deep red glow, and its
level rays lighted up motley groups of brilliantly
dressed natives who blocked the quay, as they
squatted at their ease, watching the busy scene
and the brightly painted bullock carts with gaily-
clad occupants drawn by mouse-coloured oxen
with shining satin skins, and little humps which
threaded their way amongst the traffic.
We put up for a few days before going to
Government House, Malabar Point at a queer
hotel, where the rats were very noisy at nights, the
cockroaches numerous and of abnormal propor-
tions, and the food so bad that we were glad of
the possibility of getting meals at the Yacht
Club, a delightful, cheery place, with a lovely view
over a neat terraced garden, full of brilliant flower-
beds, to the harbour and hills beyond. It is built
for shade and to catch every breeze. I never
appreciated a draught thoroughly before ; not
that I found the heat intolerable I never felt a
pleasanterormoreexquisiteatmosphere. Itwas just
right, with cool mornings and evenings and very
warm sun mid-day. The heat is neither so intense
nor so damp as in Colombo, and the balmy breezes
prevented our feeling overpowered by the hot sun.
12 BOMBAY
I lost no time in getting near the Native quarter
of the town, and made my way soon after daybreak
next day, past the Victoria Railway Station, a
wonderfully proportioned building in the Byzan-
tine style, of dark grey and brown stone, to the
Crawford Market. There I made a futile attempt at
sketching in a dense and motley crowd. The
weather was brilliant and cloudless and the market
was dazzling and thronged with all kinds of people
in every variety of dress and undress ; all buying
and selling, with a deafening hubbub, as the
traders squatted in the centre of their stalls
amongst their wares.
I was not prepared for the brilliancy of the
colouring scarlet and purple, crimson, green and
white, all set offand harmonised delightfully by the
variously shaded bronze and dusky limbs, the
brown faces and great black eyes of the many dif-
ferent races thronging the busy scene. The strange
fruits and vegetables too were nearly all new to us.
We saw quantities of red bananas ; gourds of many
shapes and shades, yellow and green and golden ;
heaped-up grapes, white and black, from Aurunga-
bad ; oranges from Nagpur, and the pummelo, a
shaddock, like a huge orange. The mango of
Mazagon, famous for its delicate flavour, was not
yet in season, but there was a strange vegetable, the
fruit of the egg-plant,* of the marrow type, with a
shiny black surface, like the material of the Parsi
hat, called " baingan." There were also piles of
"pan" or betel leaves, which, spread with lime
(chuna) and wrapped round slices of the fruit of the
* Solanum melongena.
CRAWFORD MARKET 13
areca palm, are responsible for the red lips and
black teeth one sees so perpetually. The flower-
stalls were very quaint, for the jasmine, roses and
other flowers were all ruthlessly picked to pieces,
and threaded, flower by flower, into ropes and
chains, strung with silver thread and tinsel into the
strangest sweet-smelling garlands and festoons.
These were sold by weight, to be worn round neck
or head, or offered in the temples.
Outside the fruit and vegetable market is a
garden shaded by large-leaved, dusky trees, over-
hung with wreaths of the flaming crimson
bougainvillea, of "a colour that seems full of light,
that no paint or dye could imitate." Here is the
bird-market alive with screeching flame-coloured
and blue macaws and parrots of every description.
The whole scene was as alluringly picturesque as
anything one could wish to see.
We drove, in the afternoon, round Back Bay
to Malabar Point. The Queen's Road by the shore
was thronged with brightly clothed natives and with
carriages, mostly occupied by Parsis. Looking
back we had charming views of the fine public
14 BOMBAY
buildings and towers of the modern town. The
ground upon which the European town stands
has been reclaimed this was mainly, I believe,
the work of Sir Bartle Frere and, for imposing
buildings, it quite beat any of the Australian towns
I had lately left. All this stately line of reddish-
brown stone buildings, some of them built by
munificent Parsis, has been erected within the
last fifty years, and they stand isolated in green
squares and gardens, with flowering shrubs of
vivid hue between fine broad streets glowing with
rich and harmonious colour. The clock tower of
the University and Hall and the Library were
designed by Street. The Municipal Buildings are,
I believe, the work of F. W. Stevens, the man of
the G.I. P., who built the fine Victoria Station.
The whole has quite the dignified appearance of a
university town, though one can hardly connect
an academic atmosphere with surroundings of
such riotous colour.
After passing many villas and crossing the rail-
way, we reached a road, close to the sea, which
reminded us of the Riviera : the rocky heights
were terraced to the top with bungalow and villa
gardens, rich in tropical vegetation ; tall, slender
and graceful palms raise their feathery heads above
round-topped trees, and aloes and datura hide the
great rocky boulders. From here there is one of
the finest views in the world ; and all is bathed in
an atmosphere of light and fanned by refreshing
and balmy breezes.
We passed the sumptuous villa of a rich Parsi,
MALABAR HILL 15
who appeared to be entertaining his friends, for
outside his gate were many carriages and smart
brightly-painted bullock-chariots, with panels
adorned with painted garlands of roses and other
ornaments. Then we went on to Malabar Point to
write our name in the book at Government House,
which is quite at the Point and within sound of the
A BOMBAY BULLOCK-CARRIAGE
waves. I stopped five minutes outside the gate to
make a sketch of three quaint little whitewashed
tombs under the trees by the road side, which
rather pleased me. At Malabar Hill we called on
the Bishop, and also on the wife of Col. Burn-
Murdoch, R.E., who had kindly written to ask us
to go to Elephanta with her.
All my life, since I first heard my old friend Mr.
Fergusson talk about the caves at Elephanta, I
i6
BOMBAY
have had a great desire to see them, but, having
lately heard them much depreciated, we very nearly
gave up the expedition ; I am glad we did not, as
they were delightfully interesting. Owing to a
stupid blunder, however, the Sappers' launch did
not turn up till long after the appointed time ;
then the tide being against us, and low into the
TOMBS BY THE ROAD SIDE
bargain, we had to tranship to a small boat. How-
ever, we had a delightful hour and a half's sail
eastwards across the Bay, through a crowd of
picturesque shipping, and then, in the isle-sprinkled
lagoon, we had the waters all to ourselves. At 5.30
we reached the landing-place, a slippery pier of
isolated larva-blocks leading to the foot of a long
flight of stonesteps that mount the hill to thecaves,
amongst palm-trees and creepers above. Alas, by
the time we reached the top the sun was already
beginning to set. As we had to dine at eight at Go-
vernment House a four-mile drive beyond Bom-
bay, in the opposite direction it maybe imagined
ELEPHANTA 17
we had not much time to give to the temple, and I
did not even get a slight sketch of it.
The rock-cut temple at Dambool,* in Ceylon,
which we had seen lately, is more interesting, for
it is still in use, whereas this has been given over
for three centuries to bats and owls and sight-
seers. But these temples stretch farther into the
side of the mountain, and show much more art in
construction and ornamentation. It is supposed
that they date from the eighth or ninth century,
ON THE WAY TO ELEPHANTA
when the Brahmanic revival began which finally
triumphed over Buddhism, and succeeded in
driving that once supreme and purer faith almost
entirely out of the Peninsula.
The entrance of the caves is divided into three,
by two carved and somewhat mutilated pillars, cut
out of the rock. These pillars are repeated inwards,
forming a large hall of three aisles, and at the
further end is a colossal figure, about 15 ft. high,
with three great calm faces representing the triad
of gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva: one of the
hands holds Vishnu's lotus-flower, and round
one arm is twisted a cobra. The Portuguese spared
* See chapter xxi.
i8 BOMBAY
this figure when their cannon battered down so
much of the temple.
There are openings on either side of this cave on
the right into a smaller temple, and left to an open
space, facing a third temple, guarded on either side
by two conventional lions : before this is a circular
platform where stood, doubtless, in old days the
stone Nandi or sacred bull, so often kneeling at the
entrance of a temple of Shiva. Most of the gods of
the Hindu Pantheon seem to be represented here,
Brahmawith four faces, Vishnu and his lotus, Shiva
with his bull and lingam, and the cup from which
flow the three sacred life-giving streams, Ganges,
Jumna, and Saraswati, believed to unite at Alla-
habad. Parvati, Shiva's bride, his son Ganesh,the
elephant-headed god of good luck, Chandra the
moon-god, Indra on his elephant, and Bhairava
an inferior form of Shiva with rosary of skulls.
The entrances are kept by gigantic dwarpals or
doorkeepers. The stone is of dark weather-beaten
grey, but bears traces of having been painted.
The whole place, amongst the volcanic rocks,
covered with vegetation, is wonderfully pictur-
esque, and I longed for an opportunity to sketch it.
As we steamed back across the lagoon we had a
most delightful distant view of the city with the
deep vermilion glow of evening behind it, and the
graceful palms and steep hill-sides standing up in
the foreground against the sky.
We had despatched a messenger to the A.D.C.
at Government House to warn him that we had
been detained and might be late. A capital little
MALABAR POINT 19
pair of ponies, in a light carriage, got us to Malabar
Point in twenty minutes time, and we found a very
pleasant party at dinner, including Col. F. Rhodes,
Capt. St. Leger Jervois, Sir John Gladstone, Sir R.
Beauchamp and a Prince and Princess Sherbatov,
who were leaving next day for Kandy. It was
arranged that we should shift our quarters next
day to Government House till we left for Poona.
The real Government House is seven miles off at
Parell, in a lovely garden, but though a fine house
it is rather avoided, as it has a bad reputation from
a sanitary point of view, and Sir Jas. Fergusson's
second wife died there of fever.
We spent five very pleasant days at Malabar
Point, the assemblage of bungalows, which forms
Government House. They stand sheltered by palms
on the black basalt rocks, and all face the sea,
which is quite close on three sides. Verandahs con-
nect them with the great central bungalow, an
immense long room, partitioned with lattice-like
carved wooden doors into a drawing-room, dining-
roomand hall, with a delightful deep verandah all
round. Next to it come offices and then our bunga-
low, standing on a knoll sloping down about fifty
feet into the sea. Opposite the main entrance is
H. E.'s bungalow, and close by others for guests,
doctor and A.D.C.s. There are tents scattered
about for servants and guards, then comes the
stable, and the native village is beyond it is quite
a little colony in fact. My set of rooms, like the rest,
included a large room some twenty-seven feet
square, with a dressing-room, a bath-room and a
20
BOMBAY
writing-room. The rooms are all arranged for cool-
ness and shade, and court the breeze, with doors
made like Venetian blinds ; they are high and airy
and open into charming, seductive, deep verandahs.
The wonderful silence of nature seemed to have
subdued voices and movements to a uniformly low
and gentle key ; the only sound to be heard was the
ripple of the waves breaking gently on the beach
below us, occasionally broken by the harsh voice of
BOMBAY FROM MALABAR POINT
oneof themany crows who, with consummate impu-
dence, will even enter the dining-room to carry off a
bone or other dainty from a plate. Across the blue
bay and the little white-sailed boats dancing over
the waves, we saw the towers and spires of Bom-
bay, on the further horn, about one-and-a-half
miles distant as the crow flies or one might say
the "vulture flies," for we have many here "but
that is another story."
All the arrangements in a large oriental manage,
such as this, are a quaint mixture of splendour and
simplicity. The whole place swarms with wonder-
SPLENDOUR AND SIMPLICITY 21
ful khidmatgars in flaming scarlet and gold livery,
and the body-guard is beautiful in an old-fashioned
uniform and blue and gold turban, with lance and
pennon. At dinner the band played, and we were
surrounded by twelve or fourteen men, who each
fanned us with a gigantic painted palm-leaf, and we
drove out with four horses and postilions, with
other marks of state. But on the other hand to get
to our own rooms from the dining-room we had to
pass through an end of the verandah, screened off
to serve as a pantry, and down a covered walk, off
which were little rooms serving as kitchens, scul-
lery, and so on. Glimpses might be had, through
the open doors, of quaint domestic scenes. I used to
watch with some amusement groups of dusky
figures seated on the floor, each slowly and deli-
berately wiping a cup or plate. This ceremony
appeared to occupy the greater part of the interval
between meals ; then the crockery was packed away
in a big basket, to be produced for the next meal.
We were lucky in coming in for a great party
on the evening of January 15, which was a very
brilliant and interesting sight. There were as
many natives, Parsis and Hindus, as Europeans;
all soldiers and sailors, including the Russians
from the men-of-war in the harbour, were in
uniform. Numbers of the most important natives
were invited to dinner beforehand, I believe rather
to the disgust of the English. This went so far
that the lady seated at dinner next one of the best
known and most public-spirited of the Parsis had
the bad taste to refuse to speak to him, and kept
22 BOMBAY
her back toward him all the time ! No wonder,
foreigners who have had opportunities of ascertain-
ing the mind of the natives tell us that, whilst
acknowledging that we rule with kindness and
justice and have given India peace, the natives
have no affection for us, and think we lack the
"true sympathy, without which weakness can
never pardon superior strength."
The dresses of the Hindus on this occasion
were most beautiful. The men were in vermilion
and gold turbans, and soft white clothes with a
touch of gold embroidery, and, on the top of the
ears perhaps, an ear-ring with a bunch of emeralds
and pearls. The Parsi women were lovely ;
gracefully clad in all manner of beautiful silks
and soft brocades, pale pink, mauve, orange,
or lemon-yellow, with a touch of gold or silver
along the outer edge. They drape a long strip of
soft silk around them as a petticoat, the end is then
passed over their heads, above the white veil which
confines their hair. They are often very pretty, and
some of them wore such fine jewels as quite to
eclipse those of all the English women. The rows
of emeralds, pearls, and diamonds were especially
splendid. Some of the native ladies had orna-
ments in the left side of the nose, a custom which
is as unbecoming as it must be inconvenient,
especially when the jewel falls down to or over the
mouth.
One morning, before breakfast, I took a walk in
the neighbourhood, down the oppressively hot
avenue and then round to the further (west) side of
A TEMPLE OF SHIVA 23
the hill. Here, in the native village, I came upon a
delightfully picturesque tank, about one hundred
yards long, with steps, descending to the water on
all sides, and above, all manner of quaint build-
ings. This is " Walkeshivar," a temple of the
mystical Shiva, the giver of newlife through death,
and is regarded as one of the most sacred places in
this partof India. Here, the lingam,Shiva'semblem,
is reverenced with lustrations of holy water from
the Ganges and offerings of betel leaves. The wor-
shippers approaching the shrine, ring the bells,
which are placed in three long rows above it.
Though I do not suppose the temple and tank
possess any antiquity, still, like everything else
purely native, they are thoroughly picturesque,
though it is mere whitewash, water, and flights of
steps which combine to give this result.
Towers, small temples, and shrines all most
attractive in shape and colour were grouped in
charming complexity, with here and there amongst
the buildings a gnarled old bo-tree. There were
several of the usual tall octagonal pillars or towers
for lights which the uninitiated might take for
attenuated pigeon-houses perforated, on all sides
and all the way up, with small apertures to hold the
little " battis " or earthenware jars of cocoanut oil
which illuminate the sacred spot. From the top of
the temple flew a bright red flag. On one side of
the tank the buildings descend to the sea, on the
other they mount to the top of the ridge. Here
for the first time I saw Yogis, by their brick
shrines under the trees, at the waterside, who from
24 BOMBAY
their revolting appearance, I imagine, must con-
sider themselves very religious : such shocks of
matted hair had they, and bodies streaked and
smeared with chalk and paint. They sat, quite
unconscious of their surroundings, telling the
rosary of beads which, with their hands, was
hidden from sight, and repeating Shiva's one thou-
sand and eight names over and over again. Not so
ONE OF THE TOWERS OF SILENCE
many years ago there was, I am told, a Yogi here,
who lived for twenty years in a stone box, in which
he could neither sit nor stand nor lie full length.
The throngs of Hindus, coming away, all seemed
to have their foreheads marked with quaint signs,
which I discovered indicated their caste. The
brown wrinkled forehead of the old priest was also
barred with three bold white lines.
Another day I drove to the Parsi Towers of
Silence on the top of the hill the most beautiful
site in the neighbourhood. A funeral procession
A. for Men
B. ., Women
C. ., Children
0. Well
E. Filter
THE TOWERS OF SILENCE 25
was coming down the steps from the tower gardens
as I arrived ; so I had to wait a few minutes until
some hundred Parsis had passed, walking in a
string, in prosaic white trousers, long white coats,
with American cloth cow-hoof-shaped hats.
It was rather a gruesome sight to see the vul-
tures hovering above one's head and flapping their
huge wings. There are
three or four Towers of
Silenceof various sizes,
I shouldguess from ten
to seventy yards across ;
they are cylindrical and
of masonry, like white-
washed gasometers, and
the planof them is this:
inside they are open to
the air and divided into
numerous wedge-shaped compartments in three
tiers (A) the outside tier for the men's, (B) the
centre for the women's, (C) the inner one for
children's corpses. Before the bodies are placed in
these cells they are laid out on a stone and a dog is
brought up to them. If he licks the face of the
corpse it is supposed to show that the soul has the
entrdeto Paradise, if otherwise that it iscondemned.
Rows of vultures, with here and there a crow, some-
times perched on a vulture's back, stands stolidly
along the rims of the towers, waiting. After about
five hours their work is done, and nothing remains
but bones, which are placed in a great central pit,
where they turn to dust, and when the monsoon
SKETCH-PLAN OF TOWER OF SILENCE
D
26 BOMBAY
comes the rain washes into this well, and the water,
after being filtered, finds its way to the sea. They
say the most up-to-date of the Parsis are rather
ashamed of this custom of theirs, and would like it
abolished, but it was their wonderful veneration for
the sanctity of the elements that led to their devis-
ing this elaborate scheme by which they avoid the
contamination of earth, fire, or water, for that
would expose them to the attack of the Evil Spirit,
to whose machinations they attribute all disease
and evil.
The Parsis, on whose industry, level-headed
commercial enterprise and public spirit the flourish-
ing condition of Bombay is based, have only been
in the island since the days of British rule, and owe
their prosperity entirely to our protection. The
Mohammedans in India always persecuted them
bitterly, treated them as pariahs, and confined them
to the country districts. They had fled from Persia
in consequence of the persecution of KhaliphOmar,
642 A.D., and were allowed, by a Hindu prince, to
settle in a district of Western India, on condition
that they abstained from cow-killing and adopted
a modification of Hindu dress. Their curious head-
dress seems to have originated in the tall Persian
cap, cut down and bent : to this they cling tena-
ciously, but in many other respects they have
adopted European dress and customs, though no
people or caste has supplied so few converts to
Christianity. They are not idolaters, though a cer-
tain amount of Hindu superstition has corrupted
the purity of their worship, and to remove this an
PARSIS 27
effort after reform, and return to the original mono-
theistic faith was made in 1852.
The Zoroastrian faith teaches them belief in a
Supreme God, who is Infinite Perfection, the
Creator and Ruler of the Universe, and further
that to have the assistance of this Good Spirit they
must cultivate good thoughts, good words, and
good deeds, and extreme purity, physical and
mental ; otherwise they offend the six Guardian
Spirits charged with the care of the three sacred
elements (fire, water, earth), metals, animals and
birds, trees and plants, and put themselves into the
power of the Evil Spirit, who, warring against the
well-being and happiness of mankind, perpetually
sows disease, sin, and death.
In the Zend Avesta (the Zoroastrian sacred
writings), purity and immunity from sin and
disease are continually described as proceeding
from Good thoughts, Good words, and Good deeds.
Through them, too, lies the way to Heaven, they
give the soul the right to enter, and seem also to
constitute its sole reward. A beautiful passage,
from the Zend Avesta, descriptive of the passing
of the soul of the good man upwards after death
has been immortalised by G. F. Watts in his pic-
ture of the " Dying Warrior." *
" When the third night turns towards the light,
then the soul of the pure man goes forward, and a
light wind meets him from the south. In that wind
* My authority for this statement is the late Mrs. Arthur
Hanson, to whom Watts quoted this passage when she asked him
the meaning of his picture.
28 BOMBAY
comes to meet him the figure of a maiden, beautiful
and shining, with brilliant face. Then to her speaks
the soul of the pure man : 'What maiden art thou,
whom I here see ? who art fairer than maidens of
earth?' And she replies to him, 'I am, O youth,
thine own good thoughts and words and works,
appearing to thee in greatness and goodness and
beauty."
That the Parsis do obey the beautiful, ethical
precepts of their religion is apparent from their
lives, which are active, laborious, patient, generous,
and very free from self-seeking. In their corporate
life they are very closely united, and it is said that
extreme poverty and crime are equally unknown
amongst them. I understand that they suffered
very little from the plague. But last census showed
that this most intelligent and progressive com-
munity is diminishing in numbers. They had
decreased considerably, and had fewer children
under five years, in proportion, than any other class.
There is a growing tendency in the younger genera-
tion to marry out of the community, and the re-
actionary party have lately resolved to exclude all
such from their templesand charitable trusts. Some
of the more progressive able men are determined
to test the legality of this action, which they con-
sider threatens the advance of the educated Parsis
socially and intellectually.
The gardens round the Towers of Silence were
delightful, they were bright with bushes of jasmine
and scarlet poinsettia and oleander, and have a
lovely view over the sea. They look down on
THE NATIVE QUARTER 29
groves of palms and acacia-like tamarind trees,
white flowering mango, and tall peepul trees with
vivid green foliage, all of a tremble in the breeze,
and old cypress trees wreathed with flaming orange
bignonia.
But the great attraction of Bombay to my mind
lies between Byculla, Crawford Market and the
Docks, in the extraordinary strangeness and beauty
of the streets in the native town. It is, in a queer
gaudy way, the most wonderfully picturesque place
it is possible to imagine, and, I believe, one of the
best bits of oriental town to be seen in India. I was
quite enchanted with the people and their quaint
haunts, and was never tired of driving in, in the
dogcart, or taking the tram, and wandering on foot
through the crowded streets, under tall, brightly
painted houses with deeply overhanging balconies
and beautifully ornamented corbels and pillars.
It would be well worth coming to India simply
to see this part of Bombay. Indeed, it is in colour,
sounds and smell that 'characteristic and unmis-
takable Eastern smell of ghee, spices and wood-
smoke an epitome of Indian life. The architecture
is a bizarre mixture of Portuguese- Renaissance and
Hindu, and some of the tall houses with their
elaborately carved facades and projecting upper
storeys are remarkably good as works of art.
In the marvellous, small, low shops beneath,
squat amongst their wares the native tradesmen on
their heels, nursing their knees. They sell different
sorts of grain, or hammered brass and copper pots ;
gold and silver Cutch repoussd work of Dutch
30 BOMBAY
origin, or gold damascened Gujrat work ; tor-
toise-shell carvings ; the famous "Bombay boxes"
A HOUSE IN THE NATIVE QUARTER
of inlaid sandal-wood ; carved ebony or black-
wood furniture, also copied from the Dutch ;
carpets from Sind, of beautiful conventional de-
DELIGHTFUL COMBINATIONS 31
signs and colouring ; gold, and silver-thread and
embroideries ; and the confectioners' shops were
filled with strange, oily-looking sweetmeats and
queer balls of flour and honey. There are also many
thousand jewellers, from different parts of India,
who here display their dazzling wares : bracelets,
armlets, anklets, nose-rings, necklets, made of
strings of pearl and turquoise threaded on a gold
wire ; or of bands of gold enamelled with blue,
green and red, or set with many-coloured gems
sapphires, emeralds, or rubies which are often
quite valueless except for the artistic effect pro-
duced by the points and sparkles of their gorgeous
brilliant colour ; chains of pearl with pierced
amethysts dangling by a hook from between every
two or three beads ; native gold ornaments of many
kinds, either magnificently solid from Gujrat, or
covered with intricate designs from the Mahratti
districts.
The whole place is one great bazaar, which runs
through deep buildings where quaint archways
give access to unexpected mosques or Hindu
temples, painted like the houses in boldly brilliant
and vivid reds and greens. All things conspire to
make delightful combinations for sketching the
deep overhanging archways and balconies; the
lace-like carving on the corbels; the frequent vistas
of Hindu towers, domes, or stone carvings, and
here and there a minaret; the tanks with steps
down to the water and surrounded with a cluster
of little temples, each with its upright stone spire.
All this is bathed in bright sunlight, and ani-
32 BOMBAY
mated by the continual stream of marvellous
figures, surging and shouting in the narrow street.
It is for all the world like a gigantic ant-heap that
has been disturbed or, perhaps, rather like some
gigantic tulip-garden : for the vivid variety of
riotous colours is endless and inconceivable ; yet all
these hues of red and yellow, vermilion, crimson,
cherry-colour, rose and peach, orange, saffron,
lemon, or canary-colour, and of purple, blue, or
green of metallic or tender shade, are blent and har-
monised deliciously in the glorious atmosphere of
light, saturated and subdued by the softening in-
fluence of the sea air.
Equally inexhaustible seem the resources of cos-
tume, for in hardly any place in the world is there
a busier city life than in Bombay, or a more varied
assemblage of national types. There are of course
more Hindus, Mohammedans, Parsis and Mahrat-
tas than representatives of any other race, but speci-
mens of almost every characteristic oriental dress
may be met jostling each other in the swarming
Bhendi bazaar. There are the Hindu coolies and
artisans, with hardly a rag to cover their bronze
limbs ; elderly Parsis, with cerise silk trousers
and cowhoof-shaped brown or black brimless hats;
shimmeringgreen and gold turbaned Mohammedan
Moulvies or Khojahs ; deep copper-coloured Mah-
rattas and rich Gujrathi and Marwari baniyas, with
vermilion or crimson or white head-dresses, some
arranged with high pointed peaks; faircomplexioned
Parsi women, with beautiful eyes and dark hair and
fine jewellery, clothed in the delicate-hued soft silk
THE CROWD 33
draperies from Surat, which flow in artistic folds
of every conceivable colour ; Hinduwomen in white
saris, carrying on their heads graceful brass lotas,
are jostled by Arab horse-dealers from Muscat
with long burnooses, and heads swathed in kefiahs
bound with camel's-hair cords ; dignified Persians,
in Astrakan caps ; Turks ; wild-looking Afghans
from the north, smocked and turbaned in blue ;
supple - limbed Malays, black - skinned Somali
negroes; Lascars from the P. and O. and other liners
in the port ; fishermen from the neighbouring
suburb of Mazagon : in fact, it is a veritable
kaleidoscope of all Eastern tribes and races, far
and near.
One morning, after "choti hazri " and before
nineo'clock breakfast, I wentintotheOldTown and
made a slight sketch of one of the houses near the
bazaar which has a good deal of ornamentation
about it. The ground floor is raised about six
steps above the street and recedes, leaving space
for a deep stone verandah, in front of which orna-
mented pillars rise to support quaintly sculptured
corbels upon which the upper part of the house
rests. The woodwork of this upper part was also
richly carved, and the windows were furnished
with innumerable shutters. Afterwards I wandered
into the noisy but delightful brass bazaar, and
thence to some of the temples : in one was a large
tank and the two queer little towers in seven tiers
at its side were intended to hold, on solemn occa-
sions, tiny earthenware jars filled with cocoa-nut
oil, in which floating wicks give as much light as
34 BOMBAY
wax candles. These native illuminations, out-
lining all the architectural features with lines of
fire, are the prettiest sight of the sort imaginable.
When I saw these quaint towers, they were covered
with pigeons, perching in the niches and fluttering
and hovering around.
Another bright day, with the thermometer at
80, I was out sketching in Hornby Row at seven
o'clock, and after breakfast Mrs. Burn-Murdoch
kindly took us to see the Bombay Pottery Works.
They were under the management of Mr. George
Terry, an old man with a bent back, who told me
that the origin of this revival of the old industry
is due to a conversation he had with Sir Bartle
Frere. It is a rude kind of ware which is made
here, something like the Valerie pottery but not
with such transparent glaze, though some of the
colours are very good.
Some of the best native potter's ware in all
India comes from Sind, and the industry is
believed to have been introduced by the Moguls.
They covered their mosques and tombs with
beautifully coloured specimens of this art, in tur-
quoise-blue, copper-green, dark purple, or golden
brown, under an exquisitely transparent glaze.
The Indian artisan is remarkable for his patience,
his thoroughness, and accuracy of detail, and his
artistic feeling for colour and form. The metal
work and carving shows his true sense of conven-
tional ornament. The composition and colour in
carpets or enamels and the form of his pottery have
seldom been surpassed. But much of the skill of
NATIVE ART 35
the Indian craftsman is due to the hereditary
nature of his art. The potter, the weaver, the smith,
each belong to a separate caste ; and a son inevit-
ably follows the trade of his father and reproduces
his work.
Unfortunately, the competition and prestige of
Europe have created a tendency to imitate Euro-
pean designs ; other causes also have combined to
bring about a deterioration in the native work.
One of the conditions most necessary to elicit good
and artistic work from a native craftsman is abso-
lute leisure. It is essential to have infinite patience
with him, and to avoid pressing him in any way ;
for only when he is allowed perfect liberty to turn
from one piece of work to another, as the spirit
moves him, can he produce his best. The best
work used to be done to the order of wealthy
princes and nobles of the native courts, many of
which have now ceased to exist, or lost their in-
fluence and wealth ; and large orders, to be turned
out at a fixed date, have tended, as much as any-
thing, in the direction of decadence in Indian art.
The School of Art in Bombay has done much
to revive the various technical industries of the
people, which were dying out ; but whether the in-
fluence of the different Government Schools of Art
has been altogether beneficial is a much-disputed
point, as there is always much risk that a school
containing principally casts from the antique, and
details of Italian and Gothic ornament, will destroy
the old indigenous ideals ; and as the native
craftsmen have not much creative power, the
36 BOMBAY
result may be that their work will lose all distinc-
tive character.
The little brown native children in the streets
are a delightful, and often a curious, sight. The
little Hindu girls all wear nose-rings on the left
side, even though they may have no other attire,
and they have often a profusion of jewels ; chains,
and bangles without end. Indeed they are some-
times made away with for the sake of the jewels
with which the native parent delights to load her
child. One day we went to inspect a Parsi girls'
school, and were delighted with all we saw. The
head-mistress was a Parsi, with three English
mistresses under her, and there w r ere two hundred
better-class girls, from five to eighteen years
of age, all able to pay for their education. The elder
girls sang some of Scott Gatty's songs, and the
little children their " Duty to God, their Parents
and their Teachers," in Mahratta, clapping their
hands three times at the beginning of each line ;
the music, like all Oriental music, had a curiously
weird effect. Up to fifteen, the girls were dressed
like little boys, in short satin trousers reaching
below the knee, a sort of muslin vest and straight
tight jackets of coloured satin. Their hair hung
down in a pigtail beneath little round tinsel caps
embroidered in gold or pearls. The elder children
were dressed, like the women, in the ordinary silk
sari, of beautiful delicate shades, edged with gold
or silver embroidery. They looked happy and well,
a contrast to the European children, poor little
things, who were the colour of paper : long residence
OVERCROWDING 37
in this climate seemed to make every one look pale
and boiled to rags, yet it does not exhaust them
entirely. The popular and energetic Governor him-
self looked tired, and no wonder, with so much
anxious work on his hands ; but he was in good
spirits ; and our genial and indefatigable hostess
had energy enough to leave Government House
once a week at 4 A.M., drive a mile and a half to
the station, then after a short railway journey have
a good run with the hounds the quarry being a
jackal : she used to be back again in Bombay for
nine o'clock breakfast.
Occasionally the thermometer dropped to the
sixties and then it was chilly ; one night, driving
back from dinner with the Bishop at Malabar
Court, there was a strong wind, and we felt it quite
cold. But in spite of the cool nights and mornings,
the sun was wonderfully strong and I found it
almost too hot, and in the old town humanity was
too closely packed for sketching there to be agree-
able.
This mass of human beings, with hardly a stitch
of clothes on their bodies, are terribly overcrowded,
especially in the poorer quarters. The over-
crowding is most dense in the gigantic lodging-
houses, or "chawls," in which so large a part of
the native population lives. A single chawl, five
to seven stories high with its steep narrow stairs
leading to nests of small rooms, each inhabited
by a family and opening on to a long, narrow,
and dark passage may contain from five hundred
to a thousand inhabitants.
38 BOMBAY
Every known rule of sanitation is disregarded
in these houses, which have the largest population
to a square mile of any city in the world ; and
here, in September 1896, a terrible visitation of
the plague made its first appearance since the
time of Aurangzeb, and devastated Bombay, pre-
viously regarded as one of the healthiest of Oriental
cities. It is not considered likely that it originated
on the spot, though its origin cannot be ascertained
with any degree of certainty; there are believed to
be only two possible sources of infection, either the
country to the extreme north of India, or China,
for in both of these places plague constantly pre-
vails. The probability seems to be that it came from
China and was carried by rats, who certainly suffer
and die from the disease, and transmit it to human
beings by contact, or perhaps by means of fleas,
which abound on the bodies of rats and desert
them after death. In spite of the most strenuous
efforts, it was found impossible to carry out all
the desirable regulations, on account of the violent
opposition and excited feeling of the people, who
concealed their sick, opposed all disinfection, and
even attacked the hospitals ; consequently, the
plague spread from Bombay City into the Presi-
dency, along the sea-coast and inland in every
direction. It then established its hold on the Pun-
jab and North-West, and has since then returned
every year, and in some districts in North India it
raged in 1904-5 with a violence unparalleled since
the "Black Death" in the fourteenth century.
The Commission sent out by the Home Govern-
THE PLAGUE
39
ment to report on the matter came to the dis-
heartening conclusion that " there are no means of
stamping out the present epidemic of plague in
India ; that even with the best measures most
rigidly applied, a certain amount of danger sub-
sists, and all that can be done is to lessen the
danger as much as possible." The fear lest the
Indian epidemic should spread to Europe does not
appear to be without foundation.
The terrible mortality in the Punjab in 1904-5
sheds a lurid light on these serious words.
UNDER MALABAR HILL
IN THE FUNERAL PROCESSION
CHAPTER II
POONA
WE left Malabar Point to give place to the
new Governor of Madras, who was to land here on
the way to take up his appointment. It was rather
nasty weather, so that he and his party arrived
twenty-four hours late, and the A.D.C.s and
bodyguard, who were at the Apollo Bunder
at 7 A.M. to receive them, had to wait hours
before they were able to land. We left with regret,
and with a promise to return to Malabar Point on
our way home, when we had completed our
Indian tour.
Our journey to Poona was our first experience
of an Indian train, with its screens of boarding
hanging over the windows to keep off the dust,
its double roof, and smoked-coloured glass win-
dows. We had a very agreeable fellow-traveller
in an old Etonian friend, Captain Clewes.
The line runs to the foot of the hills, over a flat
plain which, after the rains, is one great swamp,
but was then dried up and baked. Then we began
to mount the Ghats, which we had so often seen
from Bombay, looking, as their name implies, like
gigantic landing stairs from the seaboard to the
42 POONA
Deccan plateau. The scenery was very fine as we
ascended bya mountain pass; andwhen the country
is less burned up, it must be beautiful. As it was,
we had some grand views looking back upon the
hazy plains below.
The chief characteristic of the Western Ghats is
that they are all flat-topped, and that the upper
layer, a stratum of basalt or trap, usually has pre-
cipitous sides, broken through by prodigious vol-
canic outbursts which have formed the most un-
expected jagged pinnacles and craggy peaks. These
rise abruptly out of the forests, on the terraced
sides. Near the top the line makes a zig-zag to
reach the heights above the Deccan plateau
which extends in one monotonous plain right away
to Madras. Here we were at the watershed. From
this point the welcome rain, brought to the West-
ern Ghats by the Bombay sea-breeze and the un-
failing monsoon fromthe Arabian Ocean, has to find
an outlet to the eastward, right across India, in the
Bay of Bengal. Clewes pointed out several spots
in the jungle where he said panthers and bears
were to be found, but the jungle struck us as a
very scrubby affair compared with that of Ceylon.
The Mahrattas, who had their capital at Poona,
were, from the time of Aurangzeb till 1818,
supreme in the Maharashtra, " the great Province,"
which extends from the Arabian Sea to the Satara
mountains in the north, and includes a great part
of Western and Central India. The name was
that of the people of all races, living in this region,
but is applied to Hindus only. The Mahrattas,
MAHRATTAS
43
who probablydescended into Indiafrom the North-
West at an early period, still regard themselves
as a separate people, though nowadays they almost
\u .H*cP- "*'< \J "i*"- ~\ /*" \J\' *, "*-5>
rWSr , ^ ... ^ , ^ %}jte&
\
( -<:*& Y i V
JAGGED PINNACLES OF THE GHATS
all belong to British India or to the Nizam's
dominions : their language is a copious, flexible
and sonorous tongue. They are of two castes only,
Brahmans and Sudras. The Brahmans have small
square heads, dark skins, and the regular features,
44 POONA
spare upright figure and calm commanding ap-
pearance of a high-bred race, and are among the
most ambitious and able men in India. The low-
caste Mahrattas are uncouth, small wiry men,
showing much activity and power of endurance.
Bred and born among the hills they have the
qualities of mountaineers, and in defence of their
homes they have always shown great bravery,
though they have " rather the courage of the freer
booter than the genuine soldierly instinct." There
are now six Mahratta regiments in the Indian
army, but the race as a whole has settled down to
agriculture.
During the first centuries of the Christian era
the Mahrattas enjoyed considerable prosperity
under a number of petty chiefs. They submitted,
with but little resistance, to the first Mohamme-
dan invasion, but in 1657 Shivaji, the famous hero
of Mahratta story, rebelled against the Mohamme-
dan Kings of Bijapur. He and his soldiers were
of humble caste, though his ministers were
Mahratta Brahmans. He inspired his country-
men with his own enthusiasm, and his followers
were conspicuous for their dashing qualities.
It was long since the Moguls had met with
any serious resistance ; but Shivaji, having con-
quered Bijapur, defied the Emperor, and before
he died had gone far towards shaking off their
yoke. The new Mahratta State which he founded
was ultimately recognised by Aurangzeb. Shivaji's
grandson, brought up at the Delhi court, turned
out feeble and degenerate, and was a puppet
MAHRATTA RAIDS 45
in the hands of his Brahman minister, the
Peshwa, who threatened Delhi and succeeded
in establishing the right of "chauth" the
famous Mahratta claim of one-fourth of the State
revenue over the whole Deccan. The office of
Peshwa became hereditary, and grew in import-
ance with the growth of the Mahratta kingdom,
the kings sinking into obscurity. Before 1760 the
Mahrattas had overrun Bengal, Behar, and Orissa,
and various Mahratta chiefs had seized different
parts of the Mogul Empire : Sindhia ruled over a
large stretch of country south of Agra and Delhi,
the Gaekwars held the Rajput plains of Gujrat,
and the north of Bombay, and Holkar the uplands
of Malwa. All these States acknowledged the
Peshwa at Poona, as the head of the Mahratta
confederation, which finally absorbed nearly the
whole of India and became the largest empire
ever formed by a Hindu race. The renowned
Mahratta cavalry numbered 100,000 men, and
boasted of having watered their horses in every
Indian river from the Kistna to the Indus.
Their method was to ride long distances into
a hostile country, strike some terrific blow and
then retire beyond reach of pursuit. But the
confederation lacked the elements of permanency ;
it depended on plundering expeditions, and, with
the exception of the Peshwas, its chiefs were rude
freebooting warriors. The first check came when
the Afghan, Ahmed Shah Abdali, invaded India
in 1761, and completely crushed the Mahrattas at
Panipat. Their empire was not broken up however
46 POONA
until the British came into contact with them :
and till 1803 the titular Emperor of Delhi remained
under the control of Sindhia. Then took place the
great Mahratta war, in which both the Wellesleys
distinguished themselves. After hard fighting at
Assaye, Argaum, Delhi and Dig, the Mahratta
confederacy was destroyed. One more struggle
took place between 1816-1818, when the Peshwa
joined with the freebooting Pindaris of Rajpootana
in an attempt to defy British supremacy ; but
Mountstuart Elphinstone formed a scheme by
which Holkar was utterly defeated at Mahidpur
and the Peshwa at Kirkee. The Peshwa sur-
rendered to Sir John Malcolm, who sent him as
a prisoner to Bithna near Cawnpore. Here he died
in 1851, leaving his undying hatred of his con-
querors as a legacy to his adopted son, the infamous
Nana Sahib, who showed the true Mahratta tem-
per in the Cawnpore Massacres of June 1857.
At the top of the Ghats we found a deliciously
cool breeze, and enjoyed a brilliant sunset, and at
Poona Station were greeted by our host, Major
Spratt. A drive often minutes amongst bungalows
and compounds overshadowed by acacias brought
us to his house, where he and his wife were com-
fortably installed, and we spent some very pleasant
days with them, and made acquaintance for the
first time with a normal Anglo-Indian household.
I had never realised before what a retinue
the exigencies of caste require the unfortunate
Englishman to keep going. First there is the
Khansama or head-man, who is responsible for
AN ANGLO-INDIAN HOUSEHOLD 47
all the other servants, and buys all the provi-
sions in the market ; he has to have a coolie to
bring home the food and hand it over to the cook,
who is, of course, provided with a washer-up. A
Khidmatjar, usually a Mahommedan, has charge
of the pantry, and waits at table. Then each member
of the family has his own Bearer, who is appa-
rently responsible for his master and all his
belongings, and dusts and keeps them in order.
The Sweeper does all the rougher work, and the
obliging Bheesti, with his goatskin water-bag,
provides the water for the big bath-tub, which,
standing on the Chuma floor of the bath-
room, surrounded with earthenware chatties, is
always kept full of water, and is one of the
pleasantest of Indian luxuries. Part of the floor is
set about with a four-inch high wall, and provided
with water channels leading to a hole in the wall,
where the water runs out, and by which the snakes,
who like cool damp retreats, occasionally come in.
Then there is the Dhobi, who washes your clothes
in the river by the effectively destructive process
peculiar to India. He stands in the water, close
to a stone or rock, and when he has rinsed the
garment in the stream he lifts it in a bundle above
his, head, and with all his force dashes it repeatedly
against the rock till it is clean. Needless to say,
it returns to you rather the worse for the wear and
tear ; and I was not so much amazed to hear that
there are men who send their shirts to England
to be washed, as I should have been without my
acquaintance with the methods of the dhobi.
48 POONA
Then, there is the Durwan or doorkeeper, the
Mali or gardener, a Chaprasim "badge-bearer" to
take notes and do outside commissions, a Punkah
wala, a Durzi, or tailor, who sits in the verandah
and sews, an A yak for each lady in the house,
and, for each horse, a Syce who sleeps at the foot
of his stall, besides the Coachman who drives you.
So that the simplest ordinary Anglo-Indian house-
hold consists of at least nineteen or twenty ser-
vants. Fortunately,they all have their separate huts,
with their wives, behind reed enclosures in the
compound, and cater for themselves.
It is only after hearing something of the caste
system, and its indissolubly close connection with
religion in India, that it becomes apparent why
the Englishman has allowed himself to be saddled
with this, at first sight, ridiculously large staff.
The Hindu believes that the Supreme God created
separate orders of men, with fixed employments,
as He created varieties of plants and animals, and
that whatever a man is born that he must remain
for the whole course of this life. Consequently,
should any member of even the lowest caste over-
step the strict limits of his divinely ordained duty,
he would commit an offence, to deal with which a
caste meeting would have to be called ; and shquld
the transgression be proved, the culprit would be
condemned to a form of persecution, of which,
says Sir Monier Williams, boycotting is a feeble
imitation. No one of his own or any caste would
be allowed to associate or have any trade deal-
ings with him. He would be a ruined, homeless,
CASTES 49
friendless outcast, and his only course would be to
flee the country ; unless, by a money payment and
submitting to degrading ceremonial purification,
he were able to secure re-admission to the ranks
of his fellows. Originally there were but four castes
Brahmans, the first human emanation of the
Supreme God ; Kshatriyas or soldiers ; Vaisyas or
agriculturists (these are the so-called " twice born "
castes) ; and Sudras or servants. They were all
believed to be born and obliged to remain " as dis-
tinct from each otheras elephants, lions, oxen, dogs,
wheat, barley, rice or beans."
But as society became more complicated, and a
greater variety of occupations became a necessity,
the four castes were split up, and developed into
an endless number of trade-castes, often of mixed
origin. The census has revealed innumerable pro-
fessions of most strangely amusing simplicity,
such as " hereditary givers of evidence," heredi-
tary beggars, hereditary tom-tom men, " hereditary
makers of speeches," hereditary " planters of cut-
tings," hereditary professionals whose business in
life it is " to make sport of the enemies of the rich
and praise their friends." There still remain some
of the original pure castes, chiefly amongst Brah-
mans, but the Rajpoots claim to be pure-blooded
Kshatriyas, and the baniyas or traders to be pure
Vaisyas. Members of these four original castes
are superior to those of any trade-caste of mixed
origin. But nowadays a Brahman need not neces-
sarily be a priest; his parents may choose for
him a secular profession, and he may be a cook
50 POONA
or a soldier, or indeed belong to any trade-caste
which is not degrading. But to whatever caste
a man belongs, he must conform implicitly to
its rules, which are supposed to be divinely
ordained : they regulate the food to be eaten,
the common meal which may be shared, mar-
riage, and the employment a man may engage in.
The food allowed varies in the different castes,
but must never be cooked by a person of lower
origin. No food cooked with water may be shared
by different castes together, and strict rules deter-
mine from whom the higher castes may receive water.
Fruit, however, or dry food requiring no prepara-
tion, may be shared indiscriminately. No inter-
marriage is allowed between persons of different
castes, and caste-rule enforces child marriage, and
sternly forbids the re-marriage of a widow. The
different castes, and theworshippers of the different
gods, are distinguished from one another byspecial
signs with which the forehead is marked after
bathing. Some kind of perpendicular bar denotes
a follower of Vishnu ; and some mark denoting his
third eye, a follower of Shiva.
In spite of the tyranny and terrorism which
may result from the caste system it is not all bad ;
and though it has created various complexities in
the Englishman's household, yet probably the
endless divisions and animosities of caste and
trade leagues, which make political combinations
impossible, have helped us to govern India.
Poona, which stands on a rather rocky, bare and
treeless plain on the bank of the River Mutto, is
PARBATI HILL 51
the centre of the government of Bombay during
the rainy season and the headquarters of the Bom-
bay army. Our host, Major Spratt,* and Captain
Clewes spent the greater part of the day, whilst we
were in Poona, in camp some six miles distant ;
where manoeuvring and gun-practice were going
on. The camp was pitched on an exposed plain
II I!
1 2
o g
5 678
1, 2, and 3 ' Folloivers of Vishnu.
4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, Follmcers of Shiva.
SECTARIAL MARKS
to the east of the town, with plenty of space all
round.
The day after our arrival in Poona we drove
out to Parbati Hill, which is an isolated conical
peak, crowned by an old palace and a Hindu
temple. Parbati is about three miles south in
the direction of the hills, which terminate in the
bold square rock of Singhgarh, a place famous in
Mahratta history.
We reached the foot of the Parbati Hill just
about the hottest part of the morning, and toiled
up the steps to the summit. There are about
* Now Colonel Spratt Bowring, R.A.
52 POONA
two hundred great wide steps and ramps on the
way up, with their numbers marked on them in
Marathi : we took it easily and did it pretty com-
fortably, but it was a hot walk, and we were very
glad to fall in with the suggestion of an old
woman, going up with offerings ; and we sat be-
side her on a step, under the shade of a cactus
hedge. Half way up we found a blind man who,
having received a copper, shouted out tidings of our
approach to the temple above. The view on the way
up appeared to us rather fine, when once we had
become reconciled to the dried-up aspect of the
country. The parched plain of Poona, dotted with
little groups of trees and ending in the line of ghats
and the hills of Satara, was spread out at our feet
like a great tawny yellow carpet flecked with black,
under the pale blue canopy of sunlight. When we
got quite to the top we found a deep picturesque
window opening in the wall, and there we stayed
some time to rest, looking down over Poona and
the river on one side, and to a wooded tract of
country away across the famous battle-field of
Kirkee. The last Peshwa is said to have watched
the final annihilation of his troops from this
identical window. To the south, on our left, lay
the hills, amongst which is Mahabaleshwa where
our host's children then were the hill station to
which before the rains all Bombay takes flight
from the heat. A canal leads towards these hills,
and ends, about seven miles off, in the great arti-
ficial lake of Khadakwazla, over fourteen miles
long, from which the Poona water-supply comes.
HINDU PANTHEON 53
When we reached the top of the Parbati Hill
the hereditary chief priest was having his midday
meal, and did not make his appearance until later ;
but his son, an intelligent young Brahman educated
in a school in Poona and speaking English re-
markably well, met us and took us round.
In an outhouse of the temple we were interested
to see two women grinding at the mill in the true
Biblical fashion, with two stones and a handle in
the side of the top one.
Besides the principal temple to Parbati, or
Durga, the wife of Shiva, there are within the
enclosure here, two other temples, one to Vishnu
and one to Ganesh, the elephant-headed god of
good luck, and in the corner of the first court-yard
are four shrines. These are dedicated to Surya, god
of the sun, driving a chariot ; Kartikkeya, Shiva's
six-headed son, the god of war, riding a peacock ;
Vishnu, and Durga.
The young Brahman priest explained that there
are not so many deities worshipped in India as is
sometimes supposed. Vishnu and Shiva, under
their various forms, their wives, Shiva's two sons
and the monkey-god Hanuman, complete the list
of those who have temples dedicated to them.
The three chief gods, all manifestations of
Brahm the supreme spirit, are Brahma, Vishnu,
and Shiva, and there are only two places in India
Poshkara or Pokhar near Aj mere, and at Idar, near
Ahmedabad where Brahma is worshipped. He
must not be confounded with the Supreme God
Brahmwho is, as it were, the eternallyevolving life,
54 POONA
for ever taking fresh shape, and then forever drawing
back into formlessness. He is an impersonal,
spiritual Being, pervading everything, but he can
never be worshipped except by turningthe thoughts
inwards, and has no temple in India. His first
manifestation was in the triple personality of
Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Preserver;
Shiva, the Destroyer and Re-creator. They are
typified as the Supreme God by the letters A.U.M.
composing the mystic syllable Om with which all
acts of worship begin.
These three are all equal, and their functions
apparently interchangeable : each may in turn
become Paramesvara, Parbrahm or Supreme Lord.
One of the Hindu poets expresses it thus :
In those three Persons the one god was shown
Each first in place, each last not one alone ;
Of Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, each may be
First, second, third, among the blessed Three.
These three, like all subsequently emerging
forms of life, will eventually be reabsorbed into the
divine formlessness of Brahma. The Hindus be-
lieve it to be impossible to draw any line of separa-
tion between different forms of life : inanimate
objects, stocks and stones, plants or animals and
men, demigods, gods they are all liable to pass
into each other, from a blade of grass to Brahm,
and all will return to Brahm and shapeless, un-
conscious impersonality in the end.
Of the triad of gods, Brahma is represented, as
we saw him at Elephanta, with four heads and
arms, holding a spoon and vase for lustral cere-
' Vishnu
Siva.
Bret*
Lakshmi
Parvati
Sat- as vat I
Durga or Kali
Ganesh
Hanur,
Rama
56 POONA
monies, a rosary, and a roll of the Vedas. His wife,
Saraswati, rides a peacock and holds a musical
instrument. Vishnu, whose worship was at one
time far more popular than at present, is said to
have become incarnate nine times, the last time in
the form of Buddha. He holds in his four hands a
shell, a club, a quoit, and a lotus flower, and his
wife, Lakshmi, sometimes represented on a snake,
is said to have sprung from the foam of the ocean :
she is rather a favourite with the shopkeeper caste.
Devotion to Rama and Krishna, two of Vishnu's
incarnations, are very popular all over India. Sir
Monier Williams says that it is a form of the
worship of Vishnu, as Rama or Krishna, which
alone of all native faiths possesses the elements of
a genuine religion, and "has most common ground
with Christianity, as it attempts to satisfy the
yearnings of the human heart for faith, love, and
prayer, rather than knowledge and works." Never-
theless, Shiva is " Mahadeo" the great god and,
in spite of the coldness and severity of his system
and his stern asceticism, Shiva is perhaps the most
generally venerated of the triad. Still, neither
Vishnu nor Shiva have ever been paramount in
India, though their votaries have fought many
bitter battles at Hardwar and other sacred spots, as
to which of the two should have the supremacy.
Shiva's wife, the Devi, the goddess, is worshipped
not only as Parbati, the goddess of beauty and love,
but also as Durga, and Kali the terrible. The
image of Ganesh or Gan-pati, the elephant-headed
god of good luck, is to be seen everywhere, smeared
AN EDUCATED BRAHMAN 57
with red paint ; he is the giver of practical wisdom
and worldly success, and therein lies the secretof his
great popularity. His image is met with all over
the country, and worshipped by every sect. He is
essentially the homely village god, and controls the
hosts of evil spirits, who, the terror-haunted vil-
lager believes, are ever plotting evil and on the
watch to harass and torment him, and to impede all
undertakings. Consequently, although Ganesh has
few temples dedicated solely to him, in all cere-
monies except funerals and at the beginning of
all new enterprises, his name is first invoked.
The palace adjoining these temples was that of
the Peshwa. It is in ruins, having been struck by
lightning just before the battle of Kirkee. Our
guide told us a legend to account for the numbers
of mango-trees planted beneath in the plain. The
last Peshwa had no son, but a wise priest told him
the gods would give him one, if he planted a
number of fruit-trees round the town ; he planted a
lakh of mangoes, but it had no effect, and he never
had a son. The priest's comment was nai've ; he
said, "You know they were very ignorant in those
days and very superstitious. They believed the
gods could give them a son ; but we are nowcivilised
and well educated, and, like the English, know
better than to believe that the gods give us sons."
One wonders indeed by what mental process an
educated Brahman, who has been trained to think
accurately, ever can, without becoming utterly de-
moralised and entirely losing all faith in anything
higher than himself, bring himself to acquiesce
H
58 POONA
in the extravagances of the Hindu Pantheon and
play a part in a system which encourages so many
strange and monstrous superstitions and such
hideous idolatry. There has, however, always been
a chasm between the superstitions of the masses
and the philosophy of the cultivated classes in India,
for ttindmsmispar excellence an all -comprehensive
fold, so that the intelligent and cultivated Brahman
has probably always had some method of mental
engineering by which to explain away the idols, as
simplyaids to devotion, and as enabling the masses
to form someidea of the countless manifestations of
the Supreme God. In its infinite adaptability to the
infinite vanity of the human mind is said to lie the
strength of Hinduism : " It appeals to all, philo-
sopher, man of the world, the poet, the lover of
seclusion; and yet it allows every variety of idolatry,
and sanctions the most degrading superstition." It
is this which renders it essential that missionaries
in India, if their influence is to be constructive as
well as destructive, should be not merely fervent
Christians, but men of the highest culture and
widest sympathy.
When the young priest had shown us over the
temples or rather round, for we were not allowed
to go in he brought to us his old father. He was
clothed simply in an ancient yellow rag, and I think
he must haveentered on the fourth stageof adevout
Brahman's life, when he abandons all worldly con-
cerns ; but he conversed most intelligently about
Sir Bartle Frere, whom he remembered seeing in
when the Prince of Wales came to India. I
RUSSIAN VISITORS
59
wondered whether his one and only garment had
been washed since then. He expressed a hope that
Sir Bartle's son was in the Civil Service, not
the army : as " military officers do not get such
good pay as Civil Service gentlemen."
Two Russians from the Czarewitch's suite had
been up to Parbati with Major Spratt ; and the old
A DOORWAY IN THE TEMPLE OF PARBATI
Brahman was much intrigue* about the Russians,
and most anxious to know what they were doing
here, and whether it was really likely they would
invade India. He had heard that the Russians, hav-
ing an unsatisfactory country at home, wereanxious
to add India to their possessions. This, he appeared
to consider, would not be advantageous to the
natives ; adding that he believed " they were a very
hard people, and if they came they would compel us
60 POONA
all to be Christians, and there would be no justice
as under the ' Inglis Sahibs.' " I was glad to hear
him say this, as the Poona Brahmans have a bad
reputation as the most disaffected in India. It is
supposed that the Mahratta Brahmans find it
difficult to forget thecentury of rule which ended, as
suddenly as it had begun, in the loss of Delhi and of
Poona, and they have the reputation. of continually
nursing a smouldering grievance. The house-to-
house visitation at the time of the plague gave rise
to a good deal of seditious writing. I hope, how-
ever, it is true, as some who should know assure us,
that the belief gains ground with the most thought-
ful amongst the natives of India, princes and
people, that, with all its imperfections, the English
domination affords the best government India has
ever had or is likely to have, far preferable to that of
any other nation, and that prosperity and progress
are bound up with its continuance.
To get to Parbati we had driven through the
crooked streets of the native town, and the " Ralie"
(or tin and copper) bazaar, which of course was as
attractive as such places always are. We had heard
nothing about the native town, so it came upon us
as a surprise. In the Mahratta days the town was
divided into seven Peits, or wards, named after the
days of the week, with an eighth called the Baital
Peit, or the devil's quarter. This is now known as
"Panch Howds" the five tanks and is where the
son of our old friend Mr. Elwin* was, for so long,
head of the Cowley- Wantage Mission. The mis-
* At one time Editor of the Quarterly Review.
THE PLAGUE 61
sion has existed here about thirty years ; they have
founded schools, an industrial home for boys,
and a hospital and dispensary, and have received
into the Orphanage many friendless and homeless
children, who had joined the crowds of beggars
who haunt all Indian cities. In India begging is
one of the few professions out of which it is always
possible to make a living. It is considered most
unlucky ever to refuse to give to a mendicant ; and
a feast to the swarms of beggars, religious and
otherwise, who perambulate the streets in troops,
is believed to be a sure way to acquire merit.
The missionaries had some terrible experiences
in Poona at the time of the plague in 1899, as tnev
remained at their posts in a most self-devoted man-
ner. The pestilence carried off 20,000 people, and
travelled steadily and rapidly from house to house,
hardly sparing a family in the doomed city. Thou-
sands fled from the town and crowded into the
neighbouring villages, or camped out in the open,
carrying the plague into country districts which
might have escaped.
One of the Homes had to be moved to the segre-
gation camp, where all persons who had had any
contact with plague were detained for ten days'
quarantine. One of the Wantage Sisters very
pluckily accompanied the boys to the rough
quarters of this great heathen camp. About thirty
cases from the mission were taken to the plague
hospital, where long huts wooden-frame build-
ings covered with matting, and roofed in with
grass erected in a waste bit of land, served the
62 POONA
purpose of wards. The influx of patients was so
overwhelming that the staff were quite unable to
cope with it adequately : at one time as many as
ninety per cent, died, the supply of coffins ran short,
and the bodies lay in heaps awaiting burial. Only
half the mission plague-cases died, but Sister
Gertrude, who had cheerfully and courageously
borne the brunt of the exposure and anxiety, never
recovered the strain, and died soon afterwards.
The progress of Christianity in India has been
so extremely slow as hardly to merit the term.
It is pathetic to read in Bishop Heber's Journal
the glowing anticipations he formed in 1825 of
the changes likely to be the result of the work
then being undertaken ; but though progress has
so far been very slow, yet I believe the last Indian
census has caused some astonishment to statesmen
in India, by bringing out prominently the extra-
ordinary relative advance of Christianity during
the last ten years, compared with that of any other
religion in India.
There are no striking or important buildings in
Poona city. The Peshwa's castle was burnt down
in 1827, and only the massive walls remain, close
to the lane where, under the Mahratta regime,
political offenders were trampled to death by an
elephant. The last Peshwa watched from a window
in the palace the ghastly death in this manner of
a Maharaja Holkar, in the lane below.
There are, however, many quaint nooks and
corners in the city, and we passed some good
doorways, and quaint Hindu temples and shrines,
CHARACTERISTIC SCENES 63
which, though perhaps they cannot be admired in
themselves, always look well, standing out with
their overhanging trees from amongst the lath
and mud of the native houses, and the brightly
painted shops with deep shadows within. I found
time to make a drawing of a fantastically shaped
doorway, wreathed with a garland of marigold,
and of a lazy boy, whose time appeared to be of
little value, sitting on a projecting ledge swinging
his legs. We were amused by all kinds of enter-
taining little incidents in the native bazaars girls
washing the family linen in copper pots in the
street, or a goat lying on the family bedstead, with
another looking on from the upstairs balcony ; and
once a big cow came bouncing down the front
stairs, and upset a dignified old gentleman who
sat, smoking his hookah, in the gutter below.
We had several pleasant excursions towards the
close of the day in the delightful Indian evening,
when silence descends and the lines of pungent-
smelling smoke become quickly visible in hazy,
low-lying lines. Once we went to the Boat Club,
whence we got a very pretty view of a bend in the
river, with Parbati in the middle distance and the
hills beyond against the saffron-coloured sky.
Another evening our host sent on horses and
carriages half-way "laid a dak," as it is called
and we drove to the Kadakwazla Lake for tea, and
then sat and watched the sunset and the moon rise
over the water in the soft, smoky silence of the
Eastern evening.
It was really chilly as we drove back to dinner.
6 4
POONA
Later on that evening Major Spratt accompanied
me to the station, where my " boy " made up my
bed in the waiting-room, and there I slept or
tried to sleep until the 3 A.M. train for Bijapur
came in.
CHAPTER III
BIJAPUR
I WAS in a compartment of the night train from
Poona, and was awakened by a strange and noisy
patter of many feet above my head. We had just
come to a halt at Sholapur station. I quickly rose,
and, stretching out of the carriage window, dis-
covered a party of light-hearted monkeys dropping
from an overhanging tree and chasing one another,
with many an antic, along the carnage roofs.
At Hotgi Junction we got an excellent breakfast,
and saw the last of the Governor of Madras,
who had arrived at Government House, Bombay,
just before we left, on his way to take up office
at Madras. Here I changed on to the narrow gauge
and began a very tedious progress toward Bijapur,
stopping long at every station, and at one as much
as an hour. The trains were crowded with natives,
and how they jabber !
The country is monotonous and very flat ; in
places it reminded me somewhat of the surround-
ings of Biskra, dry and burned up ; dotted over
the plain were mud villages, and small groups of
stunted trees like thorns in the distance ; the
occasional patches of grain crops, now ripe, were
i
66 BIJAPUR
mostly burnt a dull brown. The human element
in the prospect consisted of very black people, with
very few and ragged clothes, who here and there,
all along the line, were tending goats and buffaloes
and lived in most elementary grass and straw
huts.
Some hours later whilst crossing a wide and
treeless but fertile plain, interspersed with rare
flocks of small antelopes grazing quietly, regardless
of the train I caught the first sight of Bijapur,
with the vast dome of the Gol Gumbaz bright in
the sunshine.
We reached Bijapur late in the afternoon, and
I drove at once to the dak bungalow to deposit
my baggage ; then started off in a tonga, with a
pair of capital ponies harnessed to a yoke, to see
as much as daylight would permit of this once
magnificent Mohammedan city, now a city of the
dead. The place I stopped in, the "dak bungalow/'
was originally a mosque attached to the great Gol
Gumbaz, which I had seen across the plain, and of
which more hereafter.
Major Spratt had kindly telegraphed from
Poona to the police officer here to ask him to take
me round. Unfortunately he was away, so my
only resource was to get a native guide, who could
not speak a word of English, and to let my servant
interpret for me, but his English is of the vilest,
and his translations were almost entirely incom-
prehensible. I should have been quite at sea
without Cousen's most useful book. Bijapur of
to-day consists of the partly ruined and very
ITS TURKISH ORIGIN 67
much deserted remains of the once glorious
city. Its palmy days, when it was equal in splen-
dour to Agra and Delhi, were from 1501, when
Yusaf Khan declared himself its King until 1686,
when it was taken by Aurangzeb. Since then it
has suffered violence and fallen into decay, but it
still contains a number of splendid buildings.
Unlike the other Mohammedan states in India,
WAITING FOR THE TRAIN
which all owe their origin to invasion from the
North-West, Bijapur claims to have been founded
by an adventurer-prince who came direct from
Turkey; and there is certainly much in the cha-
racter of the architecture and ornament to support
the theory of Turkish origin.
There still existed in Turkey in the fifteenth
century, on the decease of the Sultan, the ancient
custom of putting to death all his sons, with the
exception of the heir. It may have been a simple
way of avoiding undesirable disputes, but it
68 BIJAPUR
tended to create uneasiness in the minds of
those wives whose sons were not likely to succeed
to the throne, when the health of their lord and
master began to fail.
Such was the state of mind of the mother of
Yusaf on the death of his father, Sultan Murad,
in 1451. Then she heard that Yusaf was to be
strangled, and acting on an inspiration she
hastened with her boy to a merchant from Persia
named Khojah Imad-ud-din Gargastani, and ex-
changed her son for a slave who bore a striking
resemblance to him. The next morning the re-
port was spread throughout Constantinople that
young Yusaf had died in the night, and the body
of the little slave was given a royal burial.
In the meanwhile the merchant, finding that it
was to his interest to act discreetly, quietly with-
drew to his native place Saver, taking the real
Yusaf with him. There, and subsequently at
Kassim, Yusaf remained under the faithful guar-
dianship of Khojah Imad-ud-din Gargastani,
until one day appeared to him in a vision a mys-
terious person, who bade him proceed to Hindu-
stan, where his ambitions would be realised, and
where after experiencing hardships and difficulties
he would gain a kingdom for himself. " Your
bread," said the mysterious messenger, "is al-
ready baked for you in the Deccan."
Fired with a desire to obey the call, Yusaf
readily persuading the merchant to accom-
pany him started in the year 1459 on his journey
eastwards. At Dabul they tarried, but a second
SULTAN YUSAF 69
appearance of the vision spurred the young prince
on, and they eventually reached Bidar in the
Deccan and the Court of Sultan Muhammad
Bahmani. It so happened that Imad-ud-din was
known to the Sultan, and through his influence
Yusaf was taken into court employ. He soon
became a favourite, as he excelled in all athletic
and manly exercises, and quickly was raised, by
his royal master, to an important position in the
state.
His rapid promotion and the favour which he
enjoyed aroused the envy of the less fortunate, and
whilst he was absent in the Carnatic where he had
been sent, in command of a large force, to quell a
disturbance his enemies were busy in intrigue
and did their best to poison the mind of the Sultan
against him.
His success, however, in that as in other expe-
ditions, notably in that against the State of
Bijapur, only served to increase the confidence
which his master placed in him, and he was
eventually appointed Governor of Bijapur with the
title of Adil Khan.
On the death of Muhammad the State of Bidar
fell on evil times. His successor did not possess
the confidence of his people, and Yusaf, having a
strong force at his disposal, rebelled against his
new master, openly declaring his independence.
He made himself master of Bijapur, and extended
his dominions to the sea-coast, even wresting Goa
from the Portuguese. He founded in 1489 the Adil
Shahi dynasty, which, after a brilliant career of
70 BIJAPUR
nearly two hundred years, was eventually over-
thrown by Aurangzeb in 1686. A hundred years
later it passed to the Peshwa, then to the Rajah of
Satara, and eventually with the rest of his pos-
sessions into the hands of the British.
The history of Bijapur is a history of great
warriors and great builders.
Surrounded as was the territory of Bijapur by
warlike chiefs on all sides, it was hardly to be
expected that it would remain long at peace.
With or without pretext, the kings of Bijapur
were constantly either making inroads on their
neighbours' country or in turn defending them-
selves from attack, or for mutual greed and
aggrandisement coming to terms with some chiefs
with whom they had but recently been in bloody
conflict, in order to make a combined attack upon
a third, and carry fire and sword up to the gates
of his fortress. Few histories afford a better
lesson in the art of intrigue or more tales of wild
romance than that of the Court of Bijapur, es-
pecially during the intervals when the throne was
occupied by a minor and the government was in
the hands of a regent.
The buildings of Bijapur are unique. Though
they have been sadly mutilated first by depreda-
tions of the Mahrattas in the eighteenth century
and secondly by long neglect there still remains
much to be seen of this once rich and splendid city.
For this we have to thank the efforts of successive
Residents at Satara, from Mountstuart Elphin-
stone to Sir Bartle Frere, who obtained a large
72 BIJAPUR
grant from the Bombay Government for the pre-
servation of the buildings.
Mosques, palaces and tombs innumerable show
the taste and greatness of its Mussalman rulers.
The walls, six miles in circumference, still in
great part remain. In places they are almost levelled
to the ground, butin other parts they are, with their
fortified gateways, fairly intact. The area which
these walls enclose, however, only forms the centre
of a once much larger city, indicated by small
scattered domes that are seen beyond. The citadel
forms the nucleus of the whole, and in and near it
the chief buildings stand. All are carved in rich
brown volcanic rock, overgrown and partly hidden
by the jungle of prickly pear, interspersed with
tamarind trees, which has displaced the once care-
fully tended and beautiful gardens.
Grouped about under the venerable walls of the
larger buildings are clustered the mean mud huts
of the present native inhabitants of Bijapur. Since
1883, when the town was made the headquarters of
the district, the Europeans have lived in the
palaces, tombs and mosques, which they converted
into very comfortable quarters ; the change in
most cases was sadly to the detriment of the
buildings.
The tomb of Khan Muhammad (one of the two
close together, known as the Two Sisters) was at
the time of my visit occupied by the district
engineer. It was growing dark when first I ap-
proached this tomb, and when I entered the gate-
way to get a near view of it, I was fortunate
SPLENDID REMAINS 73
enough to encounter him. I told him my errand
and found him very pleasant and ready to
overlook my intrusion. He introduced me to his
wife and some friends, and eventually asked me
BY THE ROAD-SIDE
to come to breakfast the following morning, at
10.30, an invitation I was not slow in accepting.
He actually had his dwelling in the tombs, and
had converted the great vaulted hall under the
dome (sixteen sided and fifty feet in diameter) into
a drawing-room for his wife, and a charming
room it makes. The vault below, where are the
K
74 BIJAPUR
tombs, is his office, and his bedroom is a small
mosque, with the mihrab converted into a cup-
board for hanging clothes. What a desecration !
The post office occupies a mosque, as does also
the dak bungalow, where I took up my quarters.
This mosque has a very considerable dome and
two tall red brick minarets. It consists of three
aisles of five bays and is open on the east side.
Each bay (of three aisles deep) forms a suite of
rooms for a traveller. The east or outer aisle is
the verandah, the middle aisle forms a sitting-
room, and the inner a bedroom, whilst the dividing
arches, to a height of about ten feet, are closed by
a curtain wall. A bedstead is provided, but the
traveller brings his own bedding, and his servant
brings in the food. Though this mosque in itself is
a building of considerable beauty of design, it is
quite eclipsed by the size of the great Gol Gumbaz,
which stands on the same platform with it six
hundred feet square and to which it is attached.
The Gol Gumbaz (or Round Dome), the mauso-
leum of Muhammad Adil Shah (died 1656) is
an imposing edifice, approached by a stately gate-
way. It is one of the most remarkable buildings
in Bijapur, both on account of its size and of its
constructive boldness.
The kings of Bijapur, during the later part of
the dynasty, vied with one another in the magni-
ficence of the tombs which they erected for them-
selves. Ibrahim II. built a tomb (the Ibrahim
Roza) of surpassing beauty, lavishly enriched
with ornament. Muhammad's tomb exceeded that
DWELLING IN THE TOMBS 75
of his predecessor in grandeur of dimensions and
constructive skill ; whilst AH Adil Shah com-
menced a mausoleum for himself which if his
death had not put a stop to its progress would
have surpassed every other building in India, both
in magnificence and size.
For some reason or another it was the Gol
Gumbaz which attracted me more than any other
building at Bijapur : not on account of any special
beauty of detail for it is singularly wanting in
ornament, and within is perfectly plain but be-
cause of its vastness and dignity ; of the unique
character of its dome ; and, partly perhaps, also
because of my greater familiarity with it, lodged
as I was at its feet, and gazing up into its face,
from my chamber in the mosque. I got up to
see it by sunrise, and it was the last thing I saw,
with the moonlight playing on its surface, as I lay
down at night.
The Gol Gumbaz stands four square upon its
platform, with octagonal towers at the angles
seven storeys high. In the centre rises the great
dome, which constitutes its most striking fea-
ture and covers a larger area than any other in
the world. Fergusson writing of this building
says :
"As will be seen from the plan, it is internally
a square apartment, 135 ft. each way : its area
consequently is 18,225 sq. ft., while that of the
Pantheon at Rome is within the walls only 15,833
sq. ft. ... At the height of 57 ft. from the floor
line the hall begins to contract by a series of
76 BIJAPUR
pendentives, as ingenious as they are beautiful, to
a circular opening 97 ft. in diameter. On the
platform of these pendentives the dome is erected
124 ft. in diameter, thus leaving a gallery more
than 12 ft. wide all round the interior. Internally
the dome is 178 ft. high, externally 198 ft. high :
its thickness being about 10 ft.
PLAN OF THE GOL GUMBAZ
" The most ingenious and novel part of the
construction of this dome is the way its lateral or
outward thrust is counteracted. This was ac-
complished by forming the pendentives so that
they not only cut off the angles, but that, as shown
on the plan, their arches intersect one another,
and form a very considerable mass of masonry
perfectly stable in itself, and by its weight, acting
inwards, counteracting any thrust that can pos-
sibly be brought upon it by the pressure of the
dome, If the whole edifice thus balanced has any
THE GOL GUMBAZ 77
tendency to move it is to fall inwards, which from
its circular form is impossible ; while the action
of the weight of the pendentives, being in the
opposite direction to that of the dome, it acts
like a tie, and keeps the whole in equilibrium
without interfering at all with the outline of the
dome."
One of the first buildings I visited, about half
a mile from the Gol Gumbaz, was the Jumma
Musjid a splendid domed building begun byAli
Adil Shah I. (1557-1579) and continued by his
successors, but never finished. Its stately mass
is conspicuous from a distance rising above the
trees. It is entered on the north side by a
fine gateway; the chief entrance, which would
have been on the east side, was never built.
The interior of the mosque proper, divided
into five aisles of nine bays by massive square
piers, is striking from its exquisite simplicity of
design and prevailing whiteness of tone. All the
colour in this impressively solemn building is
concentrated in the Mihrab; it is gorgeouslygilded
and enamelled with delicate arabesques, and
designs of the most varied character, interwoven
with inscriptions intended to recall the name of
the builder, and to remind one of the transitory
nature of life and beauty. The grandly propor-
tioned dome is rather flatter than most Eastern
domes, and, like that of the Gol Gumbaz, is raised
on pendentives. There is a wealth of beautiful
detail in the windows. Even in its incomplete
state it is one of the finest and most graceful
7 8 BIJAPUR
mosques in India, and as large as an English
cathedral. The great cloistered courtyard was in-
tended to hold 8000 worshipers, and was, in its
palmy days, strewn with beautiful velvet carpets,
all, alas ! carried off by Aurangzeb.
Near here is a very delightful little bit of
architecture, the Mehtar Mahal the gateway to a
small mosque which comes as a surprise as one
goes along the road. It is a small but most
charmingly original building, in form a square
tower three storeys high, with minarets at two
corners ; and, about its balconied and projecting
windows, it is richly ornamented with intricate
stone carving in a mixed Hindu and Mohammedan
style. Its main feature is a beautiful oriel window
which projects from the second floor, supported
by exquisite corbels with rows of hanging drops.
The facade of this fascinating window extends on
either side, and forms the front of a balcony before two
smaller windows. And the whole is shaded by a wide
projecting canopy of stone, which rests on most
delicately sculptured brackets, a marvel of stone
carving, enriched with a perforated design. It is
wonderful that this lace-work of ornament should
have stood for two centuries without snapping.
Thence I went to the Citadel, a fortress sur-
rounded by a moat, containing most of the public
buildings, and many courts and gardens and
palaces, of which the ruined Sat Manzil (the Palace
of Seven Storeys) was one of the most remark-
able.
Into the walls of the Citadel are built many
A MAHRATTA PRINCESS
79
ancient pillars and sculptured stones, probably
taken from the Jain temples which stood here when
the Mohammedans stormed the Citadel. Many wild
tales of adventure are connected with this spot, but
none more striking than that of Yusaf s widowed
Queen Bubujee Khanum, a Mahratta princess by
THE DOME OK THE JUMMA MUSJIU
birth. During the minority of her son, she de-
fended the Citadel and his life against a traitorous
regent. Clad in armour, she fought amongst the
soldiers, until a band of faithful Moguls, rallying
to her support, reached the brave defenders by
means of ropes let down from the ramparts. One
of the principal assailants, Saftar Khan, was killed
by a great stone rolled down n him, by the young
8o BIJAPUR
king, from the parapet of the Citadel, after which
the assault collapsed.
One of the big guns used in the final siege of
Aurangzeb, the celebrated Malik-i-Maidan (King
of the Plain), for which Bijapur is famous, lies
still on a bastion south of the Shahpur Gate.
Fortunately the proposal to place it in the
British Museum came to nothing. The gun is
5 ft. in diameter, and a full-grown man can sit
upright in its mouth ; it weighs forty-two tons,
and of its powers marvellous tales are told. It was
cast at Ahmednagar, two hundred miles away, and
was carried off by one of the Bijapur kings, who
brought it here through a roadless country. It is
of fine bronze, with a considerable admixture of
silver, and has a beautifully finished surface. A
monster, represented at its mouth swallowing an
elephant, reminded me of one of Orcagna's pictures
of the mouth of Hell. I was not surprised to hear
that the Hindus used, till quite recently, to worship
it, burning a light perpetually before the muzzle.
In a very ruinous condition outside the moat of
the inner citadel is the Asra-i-Sharif, or Palace of
the " The Hair of the Noble one." This is a large,
heavy-looking building, designed for a Court of
Justice in 1646, and it consists of a spacious hall,
entirely open on the east side, facing a great tank
and supported by teak pillars about 60 ft. high. The
west side is divided into two storeys, and here, in a
frescoed chamber, is the shrine where the "relic"
two hairs of the prophet's beard is supposed to be
kept ; but as no one* has ventured to examine the
A WAYS mi-: TOMB
82 BIJAPUR
reliquary since a midnight raid of thieves many
years ago, the annual pilgrimages to the relics are
made purely on a foundation of faith. In this part
*of the building are several fine old carpets of good
workmanship; some of the doors, inlaid with ivory,
must at one time have been fine works of art, and
have produced a very striking effect in conjunction
with the gilded walls and ceiling.* 1 The windows,
at the back of these upper chambers, look down
upon the piers of a bridge across the moat which
used to connect this palace with the Citadel.
The main gateway into the Citadel, close by, has
been converted into the Station Church and a
beautiful little church it makes. One end of the
gateway has been filled up by a window, and the
other is occupied by the door. The vaulted roof
is supported by two columns, and the whole is
richly decorated with Saracenic incised plaster
work ; like that at the Alhambra. Close by is the
Anand Mahal (Palace of Delight), where lived the
ladies of the harem. It was built by Ibrahim II.
in 1589, though the facade was never finished ;
in these utilitarian days it is turned to account
as the official residence for the Assistant Com-
missioner and Judge. To the west of it is the
Gagan Mahal (Ali Adil Shah's Hall of Audience),
with a remarkable and magnificent arch of very
wide span, flanked by two smaller ones, opening
t The valuable library of Arabic and other manuscripts was
rescued from the neglect which threatened its destruction by Sir
Bartle Frere, and may be seen, by those interested, in the India
Office Library at Westminster.
THE SHAHPUR GATEWAY 83
to the north. On the roof was a gallery, where
the ladies of the harem sat to see the pageants
in the open space below, and whence they may
have witnessed the submission of the king and
nobles of Bijapur in silver chains to Aurangzeb.
Also appropriated to the use of the ladies of the
palace, was the MakkaMusj id a miniature mosque
of great simplicity of design near the old mosque
of Malik Karim-ud-din. It is quite in good pre-
servation, and its proportions are, as far as I could
judge, perfect. The arches of the mosque proper
cannot be more than eight or ten feet high. The
rude minarets at the corners of the small courtyard
are of earlier date.
From here I drove to the Shahpur Gateway ; a
motley throng of passers-by was streaming through
in the evening light. An archway is always a
picturesque object, but this old gate a vista of
minarets in the opening was especially attractive
with its grim battlements and the long spikes,
projecting outwards from the gates themselves,
to prevent the elephants of an enemy from butting
up against them and battering them down with
their heads. About sunset I made my way
out through the Makka Gate to the Ibrahim
Roza, the great mausoleum of Ibrahim II.
where Aurangzeb lived during the final siege
of Bijapur. It and its accompanying mosque
form a domed group of great beauty rising on a
platform about 19 ft. high from the centre of what
was once a lovely garden. The whole effect of the
domes, and the forest of minarets and pinnacles
84 BIJAPUR
rising out of a shady grove of dark trees, against
a brilliant evening sky, was very striking. The
tomb is surrounded on all sides by a double
arcade of seven arches, the ceiling of which is
exquisitely carved with verses of the Koran and
wreaths of flowers, gold on a brilliant azure
A CHILL MORNING
ground. The windows are filled with a lattice-
work of Arabic sentences cut out of stone slabs,
the space between each letter admitting the light.
This work is admirably executed, and is not sur-
passed in all India. The vaulted stone-slabbed
ceiling of the principal chamber is of mysterious
construction, being perfectly flat in the centre and
supported apparently only by a cove projecting
AN ARTIST'S PARADISE 85
from the walls. It is probably kept in place
by the remarkably adhesive properties of the
cement, which rivals that of the Romans in this
respect.
I was greeted on waking next morning by a
glorious sunrise, and spent the greater part of the
day in sketching in this wildly romantic place, and
I agree with Meadows Taylor that the picturesque
beauty, arising from the combination of fine old
tamarind and peepul trees, hoary ruins, and distant
views of the more perfect buildings, forms a varied
and very impressive series of landscapes. The
groups of palaces, arches, tombs, cisterns, gate-
ways, minarets, all carved from the rich brown
basalt rock, garlanded by creepers, and broken and
disjointed by trees, are each in turn a gem of
art, and the whole is a unique treasury for the
sketcher or artist.
CHAPTER IV
ALLAHABAD: THE MEETING OF THE
WATERS
I LEFT Bijapur by a midday train, having in my
carriage two men from Madras : one, I think, was
a judge, but I did not discover his name. They
were very pleasant travelling companions, and I
was sorry when they left me at Sholapur, where
they were received on the platform by a little
crowd of natives. As I was in theircompany, I came
in for part of the ceremony of welcome. A wreath
of very strongly scented flowers was put round
my neck, a bouquet pressed into my hands, the back
of my hand smeared with attar of roses, and the
palm sprinkled with lavender water. Then a few
betel leaves, containing areca, chuna, or lime, &c.,
and wrapped in gold paper, were presented to me,
and I felt some little embarrasment as to how I
was to dispose of all these things ; fortunately the
train was on the move, I jumped in, and was thus
relieved from the difficulties of the situation, and
saw my friends no more.
On arriving at 7 A.M. next morning at the
Victoria Station, Bombay, I found awaiting me
my companion, who had come down from Poona
88 ALLAHABAD
by the previous train, escorted by Major Spratt's
peon. We went to church at 8 o'clock, and then
to Watson's Hotel for breakfast ; after lunch with
the Burn-Murdochs, who were as kind as ever, we
drove back by Breach Kandyand the native town,
intending to stop the night in Bombay. At dinner,
it was suddenly suggested that it would be wiser
not to delay our start, for next day was mail day,
when we should have less chance of getting a
compartment to ourselves. We hurriedly left our
dinner, and, with superhuman efforts, just suc-
ceeded in catching the express for Allahabad, in
which we fortunately secured two communicating
compartments to ourselves.
The country through which we passed next
day was uninteresting and dried up, and, until we
reached Itarsi Junction, we ran chiefly through
dusty, scrubby jungle ; then things improved, and
the landscape became greener. It was colder, but
we were rising up to the great central plains of
India, and were prepared for cold nights at this
time of year. Frost greeted us the next morning,
and we realised that we had left warm weather
behind us, and when by 9 A.M. we reached Allaha-
bad we were glad to don thick winter clothes.
After a rather tiring journey of a day and a
night from Bijapur to Bombay, and then a day
and two nights on to Allahabad, we thought well
to stop three nights to rest. This is more than the
interest of the town warrants, but we had many
letters to write and difficult arrangements of plans
to make, and the place is not wholly without
PAST HISTORY 89
interest. Sir Auckland Colvin, unfortunately, was
in camp, but Mr. Benett, the permanent secretary,
and his sister very kindly took us in charge; he was
most agreeable and interesting to talk to, and we
spent some very pleasant hours in their company.
Allahabad is situated on a sandy plain at the
extreme point of the Doab,* which lies between
the Jumna and the magnificent Ganges. This river,
the object of the veneration and affection of mil-
lions of Hindus, we were now to see for the first
time. We had crossed the Jumna, in the train, five
minutes before entering the station. The Ganges
lies about two miles on the further side of the town,
which extends almost to the meeting-place of the
rivers, about four miles off, and ends on the higher
ground, where the walls of the fort rise steeply
above the river bank.
The fort was built by Akbar, about 1575, and he
gave the town its present name. The Mohamme-
dans had had possession of it from the twelfth cen-
tury, when Shahab-ud-din, descending from the
north, seized the wholeof North- West India. They
continued paramount until the period of anarchyfol-
lowing the rise of the Mahrattas. Towards-the end
of the eighteenth century the English quelled the
Mahrattas, and restored Allahabad to the shadowy
Mogul empire. For a short time the phantom em-
peror, Alum Shah, made it the seat of imperial rule,
but it, apparently, did not suit his views to be so
close to his English friends, and, throwing himself
into the arms of the Mahrattas, he withdrew to
* A generic term for a tract of country between two rivers.
M
90 ALLAHABAD
Delhi, the walls of which before long encircled all
that remained of the once splendid Mogul Empire.
When Alum Shah left Allahabad the East India
Company sold the district to the Nawab of Oude,
from whom it came back into our hands ten years
later.
Centuries before Akbar's day, however, a strong-
hold, called Prayag, or the place of sacrifice, existed
at the meeting of the Ganges and the Jumna, which,
since the earliest days, had been a most popular
place of pilgrimage with the Hindu race. The first
authentic historical information about it is on the
tapering shaft of the Lath of the Buddhist king
Asoka, in the garden at the entrance of the fort ; it
dates from about B.C. 258, and its 49 feet of height
is covered with inscriptions ; it is, no doubt, very
curious, but is one of the things about which I find
it difficult to screw up much enthusiasm.
Modern Allahabad or Canning Town as the
European quarter is called has no streets. Their
place is taken by a wide network of long, broad,
well-watered avenues, bordered with compounds
in which stand bungalows, surrounded by fine trees
with twisted, gnarled boles. Even the shops and
post-office are in bungalows, with a drive up to the
door and a garden in front. Things looked greener
than in Bombay, owing to a recent thunderstorm,
and some of the gardens were very bright, with
splendid roses, bougainvillea and bignonia the
two last are seen in masses everywhere but there
is no grass, and the dusty soil was too much in evi-
dence for English eyes.
THE MAIDAN 91
This is not entirely calculated to arouse enthu-
siam in the mind of a sketcher, but, nevertheless,
there are attractions for him, if he looks in the right
direction. The Maidan is crossed by flat roads,
leading away in various directions: on them may
be seen the usual picturesque figures of an Indian
highway. Bheesties with their brown, distended,
dripping goatskin bags, fruitsellers, women bearing
hods, little naked children, half-clad groups sitting
AN AVENUE IN ALLAHABAD
by the wayside, or the bullock cart drawn to one
side whilst the driver lies underneath in the dust,
taking the rest which seems a sine qud non after
the midday bath and food. Here and there, these
roads pass through scattered groups of trees, and
underoneof these clumpsof trees, where the ground
was dotted over with small dilapidated shrines of
varied form, I found a suitable subject. It was
evening and dusk was approaching ; the air was full
of the red glow of the setting sun, which pene-
trated the smoke rising from behind a neighbour-
ing wall and the evening mist, with a hot and
92 ALLAHABAD
murky glow. Past me poured a constant stream of
rattling, many-coloured ekkas, returning to the
town with noisy devotees from the mela; the dust
from their wheels added mystery to the already
hazy atmosphere.
In the native town, with its low brown houses,
there were of course picturesque corners, but what
struck our eyes chiefly as we drove, through it, to
the tomb of Khusru was the absence of colour,
after the vivid blues and reds and yellows of Bom-
bay, and the number of clothes worn. In Bombay
the dusky limbs of the natives had often hardly a
stitch of clothing on them ; here, at this season,
quilted coverings were not unknown, and many of
the men swathed themselves in voluminous petti-
coats looped up between their legs, orworewrinkled
tights covering their legs, to the ankles, with skimpy
folds of rucked white cotton.
We drove, under a tall archway, overgrown with
creepers, into the Khusru Bagh, one of the most
beautiful and shady gardens in India, and there,
under a fine spreading tamarind-tree, we saw the
last resting-place of Akbar's ill-fated grandson,
Prince Khusru, the rebellious and popular heir of
Jehangir. Akbar had a great affection for Khusru,
whom Jehangir treated with a jealous animosity
that caused the Rajput Princess Khusru's mother
to commit suicide. In his brilliant youth he was
mad enough to seize Lahore from his father ; but
he was soon overpowered, and spent the re-
mainder of his life a prisoner. Sir Thomas Roe,
James I.'s Ambassador, came across him travel-
THE FORT 93
ling, in custody, in the wake of the army of his
brother Shah Jehan, and an interview, which
Khusru accorded him, increased the already great
interest he felt in his fate. As the price of his sup-
port to Jehangir, in a Deccan campaign, Shah
Jehan had obtained the custody of his brother, and
soon afterwards, when Jehangir was ill and his
life despaired of, Khusru died so suddenly that
Shah Jehan was strongly uspected of having
poisoned him, in order to secure the succession.
It is curious that the tomb of this unlucky
prince should be almost the only monument of
Mogul days unmutilated in Allahabad. The Fort,
which passed to the English in 1801, must have
been originally a splendid and intensely interest-
ing place, and it still forms a striking object rising
above the sandy spit at the meeting of the rivers.
But perhaps military exigencies obliged us to
obliterate and destroy every vestige of originality
in it : it has been ruthlessly shorn of any trace
of architectural beauty or archaeological interest.
The high towers are laid low, the ramparts topped
with turf and fronted with a stone glacis, and
modern stucco covers the ancient walls. All the
excrescences have been shaved off, and doorways
and windows recklessly made, or filled up ; floors
are inserted where no floors should be, and the
whole is thickly daubed with whitewash. It was,
I suppose, inevitable. Here and there scraps
remain of the original fortress ; the entrance is
under a domed and lofty gateway with a fine wide
vault beneath, and we also saw a beautiful deep
94 ALLAHABAD
octagonal well, flanked by two vaulted octagonal
chambers, probably intended as cool retreats from
the summer heat. And, if we were disappointed at
not seeing Akbar's Audience Hall " supported by
eight rows of eight columns, and surrounded by a
deep verandah of double columns, with groups of
four at the corners " we remembered that the
Arsenal, which it now contains, was probably a
very essential part of the Indian Empire, and that
the Director-General of Ordnance had, no doubt,
good reasons for disfiguring the palace by a modern
brick and mortar facade.
The military authorities have been more respect-
ful to the Hindu remains and have not interfered
with the well-known Akshai Bar, or ever-living
banyan tree a forked stump, with the bark on
which, though the tree appears to be replaced every
few months, yet stands in the midst of what is,
probably, the identical Hindu temple of Shiva, de-
scribed by the Chinese pilgrims in the seventh
century. It is now in a pillared crypt, reached by
an underground passage beneath the walls of
Akbar's Fort ; this seems to show that Akbar's
well-known religious liberality led him to allow
the priests and pilgrims free access to the ancient
Hindu shrine, though he was obliged to incorpo-
rate it in his building.
In the passage leading to the ancient temple are
some curious idols, and, in the centre, a stone
rudely tapered to a cone, which the devout vener-
ate and reverence with lustrations. Beyond is a
square aperture probably leading to the river,
THE EVER-LIVING TREE 95
though the Hindus say it leads straight to Benares ;
whilst the natural moisture, exuding from the
walls, is supposed to prove the truth of the legend
that the sacred river Saraswati, which disappears
in the Bikaneer desert, many miles away north,
finds its way to this holy spot. The tree was prob-
ably worshipped here by the rude aboriginal
tribes before the Aryan invasion brought the
religion of the Vedas to India, and Hinduism,
with its ostrich-like capacity for assimilating alien
religious practices, has sanctioned its continued
worship. Hiouen Thsang gives a description of
the wide-spreading tree in front of the principal
shrine of the temple, which recalls the descriptions
of the blood-stained grove at Kumasi. The tree
was supposed to be the abode of a man-eating
demon, and was surrounded by -the bones of the
human sacrifices, with which from the "old unhappy
far-off days" of earliest tradition it had been pro-
pitiated.
From the ramparts of the Fort, we looked down
over the river, with its many strange craft, and the
little temples on the brink, and saw immediately
at our feet a very interesting and characteristic
scene. The great mela, or religious festival, to
which Allahabad probably owes its origin, and
which takes place every year at this time, was just
beginning. The cold blue waters of the Jumna
wash the Fort walls, and after flowing for about half
a mile, beside a sandy spit of land, fall into the
muddy Ganges ; this tongue of land, between the
two sacred rivers, was covered with grass and palm
96 ALLAHABAD
huts and booths of manifold shape and height, the
encampment of the pilgrims who come from the
ends of India Srinagar or Ceylon, Kabul or
Calcutta for cleansing and purification.
From time immemorial, many points on the
ever-swelling stream of the mighty Ganges have
been held sacred; the source Gangotri, and the
issue into the plains Hardwar, Deo Prayag, Benares,
and Sagar, where it enters the sea, have always been
the scene of crowded religious festivals, to which
multitudes throng. But the placeof pilgrimage, par
excellence to which literally hundreds of thousands
repair, to wash away the stains and defilements con-
tracted in the turmoil of life and its illusions is
where the waters of the clear and rapid Jumna meet
the slow and stately stream of the beneficent bene-
factress, Mother Ganges, and, as they believe, thestill
more sacred waters of the Saraswati. Not many are
devout or adventurous enough to undertake the six
years' pilgrimage to all the holy spots from source
to sea, though the passion, which glows beneath
the calm impassive exterior of a Hindu, moves
some intense and fervent souls to accomplish the
endless penance of measuring their length the
whole weary way. But every year hundreds of
thousands flock here to bathe and pray, and there
are many whose fervour leads them to devote a
full month in all solemnity and earnestness, to
fasting and religious exercise. Then the strings of
priest-led pilgrims, with banners floating from long
bamboos, return home, bearing pots of holy water
from the sacred stream with reverent care. Water
THE MELA
97
from the Ganges is prescribed by the ritual for use
in many domestic rites.
Everyone who bathes is also shaved, and widows
travel hundreds of miles to have their hair cut
off here, as an offering to the sacred stream. The
barbers have each to pay a tax of four rupees for a
licence to practice at the mela ; the revenue netted
at Allahabad in this way has amounted to 16,000
rupees in the season this gives one some idea of
the size of the gathering at its height.
AT THE MELA
They had not yet come in very great numbers ;
nothing like the whole concourse of eager, patient,
saffron-robed pilgrims, seeking redemption, had
yet arrived, but, nevertheless, there was already a
regular city by the river side, and the swarms of
people were quite sufficient to give us a very good
ideaof the scene later on, when theauthorities would
have someanxious hours, supervising the thousands
who encamp on the bank of the stream, to wash
away their sins in the sacred waters of healing.
Of course, a religious festival involves a fair, and
to the strain and stress of religious emotion, and all
N
98 ALLAHABAD
the danger involved by it, where so many differing
faiths are concerned, are added the rowdiness and
excitement which accompany such gatherings all
the world over. The Government has a delicate
task in keeping all this seething cauldron from ex-
ceeding the bounds of decency and order. A
quainter contrast than that between the primitive
passions and traditions of the unchanging East
here revealed, and the elaborate painstaking or-
ganisation, so carefully administered by the con-
scientious West, it would be difficult to conceive.
We went down and walked along the lines of
booths and huts, all surmounted by long bamboos
with bright fluttering flags at the top ; the whole
scene, with the busy crowds of people, formed a
very piquant prospect. In one part of the mela
were men, seated on the ground, preparing the
colours with which they sign the caste-mark on
the foreheads of those who have worshipped and
bathed ; further oawere groups selling the garlands
of white flowers which, strung flower by flower,
with threads of tinsel, and worn as necklets and
fillets for the head, recall the Greek custom of
coming to sacrifice crowned with flowers. The
scene, with its millions of little twinkling lights,
is most striking at night, but the early morning
is naturally the moment when the throng is at its
busiest and noisiest, and then the air is full of
discordant cries and deafening shouts, all the
yogis, Brahmans and worshippers clamouring
loudly " Jai Ram," or " Jai Vishnu," as they per-
form their devotions, their dark foreheads barred
YOGIS
99
with white, or smeared with bold patches of ochre,
in the shape of Shiva's eye, or Vishnu's trident.
The weird and horrible forms of the fanatical
yogis repelled and fascinated our attention at the
same time ; with bodies smeared with ashes, and
barred with paint yellow, red, or white with dusty
matted hair : many of them were most loathsome
objects, as they sat counting their beads before
BOOTHS AT THE MELA
their huts, or the grass umbrellas which served the
same purpose. Before each ascetic was a cloth,
spread on the ground, and on this the passers-by, as
a tribute to his supposed sanctity, threw offerings,
often simply cowrie shells, which pass as current
coin, of such infinitesimal value, that sixty-two
make only a farthing ; those, who appeared to have
gone through a long course of austerity and
penance had the richest harvest, as they are pre-
sumably those gifted with the highest occult power.
I called down the wrath of a holy man by putting my
ioo ALLAHABAD
foot on the boards in front of his booth, which I
imagined to be a kind of shop ; but when he swore
vehemently and horribly, and sprinkled the place
with water, I discovered that it was considered a
holy spot. I believe the chief yogis, or gurus,
occupy a throne or seat, called gadi ; it is placed
under a pavilion, and sometimes even roped round,
to ensure respect for the sanctity which attaches
to it from its occupant, whether present or absent.
Those, whose position and power are less univer-
sally acknowledged, have to content themselves
with an umbrella and small mat, tiger-skin, or a
boarded space, marked off as a sacred precinct.
Any pretensions the yogis might have to spiri-
tuality were, in the greater number of cases, clearly
unfounded. Their evil faces were boldly streaked
with pigment under matted locks, coiled in ropes
on their heads, or crowned with fantastic head-
dresses ; and the wild and swollen, bloodshot eyes,
which add to their repulsive aspect, are the result
of the different preparations of opium or hemp
with which they intoxicate themselves, hoping thus
to deaden their nerves to the self-inflicted tortures,
which they believe will give them supernatural
powder over gods and men.
There are about five and a half millions of these
men in India, who have given up all earthly
employment, and live apart as ascetics ; they spend
their time chiefly in roaming the country and
begging. Some belong to more or less well-
organised communities, called akharas, of which
at least ten varieties were represented at the Alia-
STRANGE ASCETICISM 101
habad mela ; and some are free-lances. But all
yogis, sadhus, sunyasis, or devotees, whether
Sikh-Akhalis, Mohammedans or Hindus, whether
they are Kanphattis with great glass rings in
their ears, or Alakias with coils of black rope
round their bodies and jingling bells, or wild
Bairagis with long matted ropes of hair, crutch
and leopard-skin men who are so dangerously
undisciplined and immoral that they are confined
by the officials in a separate camp all have a
guru or superior, whose peculiar austerity they
copy, and to whose reputation for sanctity and
power they hope to succeed. Some remain with
their limbs so long in one position that they be-
come atrophied and immovable, or lie with their
heads buried in the earth ; others hang for hours
head downwards from their knees ; still another
has a couch of thorns, and another a bed of nails,
on which he lies, in remembrance of the " arrowy
bed " of Bhisma, the San Sebastian of the Maha-
barata. The free-lances are usually the wildest, and
their straining after spectacular effect, and the
theatrical nature of their degrading performances,
are most repulsive ; with their trappings of paint,
beads, tongs and tiger-skins they are not unlike
the medicine men of savage tribes. Some, however,
of the organised communities, such as the Nir-
malas appear to belong to bodies of learned gentle-
men, clothed and very much in their right minds,
well disciplined and organised, and behaving in all
situations with discretion, true dignity, and real
religious earnestness. But, of whatever standing,
102 ALLAHABAD
all these akharas from their numbers, their ubi-
quitous habits and the influence they exert on the
people, cannot but be of immense importance in all
religious and political movements.
The evening, after we visited the mela we dined
with the chaplain of All Saints' Church, where
Father Benson, of Cowley, had been holding a
Quiet Day, and had given some addresses which,
I was told, were very interesting. "In India may
be found, at the same moment, all the various
stages of civilisation through which man has
passed from prehistoric ages until now."
CHAPTER V
CALCUTTA, THE SEAT OF EMPIRE
IT was 6 A.M., on a chilly February morning, when
we arrived in Calcutta, and I was not at all pre-
pared for its appearance; instead of a city of magni-
ficent palaces and wide avenues, on the banks of a
majestic river, and beneath a brilliantly clear sky,
we found overselves in a dank, chilly mist, crossing
a wide muddy stream, with its banks lined with
grey warehouses and tall chimneys, that reminded
me strangely of Vauxhall on a November morning.
Only the dark faces of the white-clad people re-
called an Oriental town.
Professor Forrest had kindly asked us to stay
with him, and sent a peon to meet us, and his
carriage to take us to his flat, in a large white-
washed house in Hungerford Street.
We crossed the river, by a bridge of boats, and
drove through many irregular, but uninteresting
and European-looking streets, with houses, for the
most part, of damp-stained stucco, then over the
Maidan, a wide, open, grass-covered space like
Regent's Park dotted with trees with here and
there an equestrian statue and through the mist
104 CALCUTTA
faint indications of Fort William appeared in the
distance.
The public buildings have very little that is
grand or characteristic about them, and might quite
well be in Liverpool or Manchester. To the north
and east of the Maidan is the town, to the west the
river and the Fort, to the south and east are streets
of villas, or stucco palaces, surrounded by high
mildewed walls, and scraggy trees palms, teak,
tamarind, &c. &c., and at the south-east corner of
the Maidan is the Cathedral. Our host's house or
flat is on the east side, about a quarter of a mile
from the Maidan, which, as we crossed it together,
on foot, later in the day, reminded me forcibly in
places of Wimbledon Common. It was shortly
after sunset ; we were enveloped in mist with
nothing to distinguish it from a November mist on
the common, except that it was hot. We were
walking over dry grass, towards a road, lit with gas
lamps, which might quite well have been those
along Sir Henry Peek's wall : when we joined
it,we were amongst trees exactly like those opposite
the Pound, and I had an irresistible feeling .that I
was only half a mile from the golf links. Then a
Hindu, clothed in but one rag, brushed against
me, and the illusion was destroyed.
It is not surprising that there should be so little
that is Indian and Oriental about Calcutta, for it is
a purelyEnglish creation. The East India Company
had first a factory at Hooghly, the original Portu-
gueseport in Lower Bengal, but in i686,under their
president Job Charnock,they founded a settlement,
EARLY DAYS
105
on the old pilgrim road to Kalighat, a shrine
venerated from the dim days of the earliest Hindu
tradition. Fifteen years later they acquired from
Aurangzeb's son the freehold of two or three miser-
able river-side villages in an almost perfect level
of alluvial marsh, a great part of which lies rather
ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL
below the river banks and there built the old Fort
to protect their possessions. The attraction of the
spot lay in the excellent anchorage afforded to their
ships by the Hooghly and the shallow lagoons on
the edge of the Sunderbans, and in the protection
interposed, by the broad stream, between their go-
downs and the marauding Mahrattas, who at times
harried the further shore.
io6 CALCUTTA
The city was originally almost Venetian in its
amphibiousness ; the present Maidan was a lake
for the greater part of the year ; the quarters
where the Europeans lived were so close to the
paddy, or rice fields, and the marsh, that drain-
age was a difficulty, and ill-health a certainty to
the unfortunate servants of John Company. They
indeed were not able to flee to the hills for the hot
season, as the Government does at present. The
mortality in the early days amongst the exiles in
the swamp was appalling, and the enervating
effect of these surroundings perhaps, in part,
accounts for the want of moral tone of the Anglo-
Indian society of that day ; the standard sank to
an incredibly low level. To this combination of
unhealthy influences, climatic and social, may
be traced the acute attacks of misery and despon-
dency which assailed such men as the Lawrences,
and Metcalfe, and no doubt many other unknown
young officials during the early days of their
Indian career.
For a short time after the incident connected
with the " Black Hole," the Mohammedans had
possession of the place again, but Clive at Plassy
(1757) restored the authority of the Company; a
new and a more prosperous Calcutta sprang up
from the ashes of the original settlement, and
soon the whole of Bengal, which in manufacture
and agriculture was the richest part of India, was
in the hands of the English. The native town was
a collection of squatter's settlements of mud huts,
roofed with bamboo each with the water-hole,
THE NATIVE TOWN
107
whence it was dug, beside it enclosed within reed
palisades, and shaded with bamboo, peepul or
palm-trees ; they were regularly three or four feet
under water for some part of the year. With its
swarming multitudes of dark-limbed dock coolies,
or mill-hands from the cotton and jute factories,
A TRIBUTARY OF THE HOOGHLY
its bastis still form an insanitary congeries of
mud and bamboo shelters, threaded by tortuous
lanes, where a broken-down bullock-waggon
laden with jute will completely block the narrow
way for half an hour, in spite of vociferated
cries of " Jaldi, jaldi." Two great thoroughfares
have been driven right through the heart of this
quarter, and the drainage, water-supply and local
government generally are now in the hands of a
reformed municipality, under whose auspices the
io8 CALCUTTA
dawn of a better day is looked for. There are
great schemes afoot now to relieve the terrible
overcrowding.
I must confess I did not like Calcutta ; it is,
to my mind, a dull and stupid place, with nothing
beautiful to look upon, though my companion
maintained that it had charms which revealed
themselves on closer acquaintance.
One undeniable drawback to Calcutta is that
the Bengali is, in many of his characteristics, as
much a creation of our own as the town, and
there is an utter absence of colour in the crowds.
Coming across from Bombay to Allahabad we
constantly passed groups of women in brilliant
saris and men draped in gorgeous Cashmere
shawls with variously coloured long tights and per-
haps a fine satin or brocaded waistcoat in a con-
trasting colour. And beyond Jubbalporewe saw a
lot of splendid men, armed to the teeth, and gor-
geously arrayed, coming in to pay their respects to
a new Deputy Commissioner. All this colour we
missed terribly in Bengal.
The slim natives of Calcutta are even less pic-
turesque than those in Allahabad; the women wear
white cotton chuddahs, and the men have flapping
draperies of dingy white cotton or muslin, looped
into loose drawers, without even a bright turban
to relieve the monotony. The long scarlet coats
worn, above their brown legs, by the chaprassies
or government messengers, attached to every
public office or official and the scarlet and gold
uniforms of the Viceroy's bodyguard, are almost
NEW AND OLD 109
the only spots of bright colour seen in the streets.
And the sleek and smooth-faced young Calcutta
baboo even wears a black alpaca coat and trousers,
in place of the dignified and comfortable clouds of
flowing white muslin of the older generation. The
Bengali turban, too, of State occasions, is a formal
artificiality, and, unlike any other with which I have
made acquaintance, it is broad and flat like a plate,
with a white crown, and the brim is ornamented
with stiff rolls of muslin, arranged in an unnatural
and elaborate criss-cross pattern.
We went to the India Museum looking for
Ancient India, untouched by the West, and were
not prepared to find that the most interesting
things early Buddhist sculptures, B.C. 250 were
quite Greek in grace and feeling. They have a
much greater degree of refinement, action, power
of telling a story, vigour and humour, than are
usually characteristic of Eastern work. These,
the earliest examples we have of Hindu sculp-
tures, are the best that are known ; the carved
rails from Buddh Gaya, of the date of Asoka, only
a century after Alexander's day, are among the
most interesting sculptures in India. They have
excellent representations of animals and trees, and
express the idea they embody with a distinction,
purpose and grace which is admirable. By the first
century A.D. decadence had set in, and the early
precision of touch was lost.
The stone rail was the feature on which the early
Buddhist craftsman lavished all his art. These rails
usually surrounded the Stupas, the many-storeyed
no CALCUTTA
towers that mark some sacred spot, or the Dagobas,
buildings containing relics of Buddha, but they
sometimes enclose sacred trees, and those from
Buddha Gaya encircled the sacred Bo-tree (Ficus
religiosa) where Sakya Muni sat for five years in
meditation, and received enlightenment on the
problems that perplexed him. Legend, history
and art combine to set before us his benign and
beautiful figure, first in the luxurious court of his
father, on the borders of Oude, where, in the days
of Nebuchadnezzar, the burden of the mystery of
all this unintelligible world of pain and sorrow laid
such hold on his pitiful and gentle nature, that he
fled from his wife and child and all human inter-
course, into the calm of the ascetic's silent life. For
six years he dwelt in the desert, hoping, by medi-
tation and the endurance of bodily privation, to
attain a mental conquest, and, by this great
renunciation, to penetrate the obscurity which
envelops the riddle of life, and force it to yield
up its secrets. The Asiatic believes that by
attenuating the bond between soul and body, the
soul can liberate itself and attain to knowledge
which will prove a pass-key to unlock all secrets.
After the supreme moment, under the Bo-tree,
Sakya Muni devoted the remainder of his forty
years of wandering in the lands watered by the
Ganges, to publishing to his fellows the knowledge
which he believed he had wrung from heaven
of the eight-fold path that leads by purity, pity, truth
and gentleness to perfect peace, and emancipation
from that craving for individual existence which
SAKYA MUNI in
he believed to be the root of all evil. Sakya Muni
possessed the passionate devotion of a martyr, and
the supreme intellect of a sage, but he was a pure
agnostic. He can tell us no more of the origin and
meaning of life than " I came like Water and like
Wind I go." His personality is one of the most
flawless in purity and tenderness that ever abode
in the "battered caravanserai" of life, or struggled
for deliverance from the prison of the senses. His
spiritual influence is that which most nearly
approaches Christ's ; but the philosophy and the
dogmatic teaching of Buddha are sundered as
the poles from that of Christ ; thought was ever
to him more than action, knowledge than love, and
his highest aspiration never went beyond the hope
of ceasing to suffer, nor attained to the conception
of an active joy in " the glory of going on and
still to be."
The rails we saw were those Asoka placed around
Sakya Muni's tree, which he reverenced so much
that when he sent his daughter to convert Ceylon,
he sent with her an offshoot of the sacred tree,
planted in a golden vase. Other rails we saw, from
Bharhut, with beautiful flowing scrolls and clean-
cut medallions, illustrating legends from a worship
earlier than Buddhism as we know it ; they are
of a period probably but little later than Asoka.
But the great figure of Buddha from Muttra, six
feet high, with a floral halo round his head, is of a
time nearer the Christian era, for in the early days
Buddha's life was an inspiration, but he himself
was not presented as an object of worship, and
ii2 CALCUTTA
groups of dancing boys, or scenes representing in-
cidents of love or war, are those that, with honey-
suckle and lotus ornament, predominate in the
finest early carvings.
In its social aspect, Calcutta, at the moment of
our visit, was very gay, and our kind host and other
friends took care that we should have every oppor-
tunity of seeing this side of Anglo-Indian life. We
had a very pleasant dinner at the Viceroy's at
Government House, which was built by Lord Wel-
lesley in 1800, and stands on the outskirts of the
business part of the city. It is an important look-
ing house of yellow painted stucco with deep
verandahs and colonnades, like a house in Regent's
Park, but for the screaming green parrots and
feathery palms surrounding it. I believe it is as
inconveniently planned as it well could be but
the six acres of green garden, with lovely roses,
great bushes of Cape jasmine, oleanders and scarlet
hibiscus, and real grass lawns must be some com-
pensation for the drawbacks indoors.
The dinner, as was quite fitting, was better done
than anything we had come across in any other
Indian or Colonial Government House. Just at the
right distance a band played, whilst fifteen magni-
ficent khidmatgars, in long red cloth tunics, white
trousers and bare feet, with scarlet cummerbunds
round their waists, gold embroidered breast-
plates and white turbans, handed silver plates and
champagne to twenty-four persons. The Vice-
roy's splendid blue and gold turbaned Rohilla
bodyguard, with their scarlet kurta, or long
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT 113
coat, with blue and gold points, blue breeches and
Napoleonic boots and gauntlets, formed a fine
background to the scene. I found a brother amateur
in water-colour in Colonel Ardagh, and two old
Eton acquaintances in other members of the staff.
Among the other guests were the then Comman-
der- in-Chief, Lord Roberts and his A.D.C., Captain
Furse, the son of our old friend the Archdeacon of
Westminster, who was one of the last people we
had seen before leaving home. We met also
General Gordon, Military Secretary to the Em-
bassy at Teheran ; Lord William Beresford, Sir
Andrew Scobell, legal Member of Council. The
Viceroy and Sir Andrewrecommended me strongly
to make a push for Peshawar and the Khyber
Pass, which, however, I unfortunately never suc-
ceeded in reaching.
The government of India is probably one of the
most stupendous tasks ever undertaken by a civi-
lised State ; and it is certainly incomparably the
greatest burden in the moral sense which Great
Britain has taken on her shoulders. In so far as
human welfare depends upon the efficiency and the
justice of government,GreatBritain has the respon-
sibility for the welfare of a larger portion of the
human race than any other nation. Very few of us
have a clear idea of the size of India. The area and
the population is equal to the combined population
and area of the whole of Europe with the exception
of Russia. Less than 1000 Englishmen are em-
ployed in the superior civil government of this
enormous continent, and a single Englishman is
p
n 4 CALCUTTA
usually responsible for the life and property of
about 300,000 human beings, and entrusted with
jurisdiction over about 1200 square miles.
Our host, Professor Forrest, is a living encyclo-
paedia of things Indian, and no one is so capable of
enlightening the appalling ignorance of the British
mind on the mysteries of the growth of the present
system of Indian government, out of that of the
Company's board of directors in the day of Clive
and Hastings.
It is a common error to suppose that the East
India Company were a trading company exercising
sovereign rights over vast provinces in India, until
in 1 858 an Act of Parliament transferred these lands
and their government to the Crown. The claim of
the Crown to the Indian territories was asserted
as soon as Clive, in 1765, laid the foundation of
sovereignty, by acquiring the right to receive the
revenues of Bengal, Behar and Orissa.
It was by the regulating Act of 1773 that the
British nation first assumed actual responsibility
for the government of the East India Company's
possessions, on the principle that no subjects could
acquire the sovereignty of any territory for them-
selves, but only for the nation to which they be-
longed.
Soon after, Burke laid down, as the sound prin-
ciple on which the good government of India must
always depend, that the governing body was
accountable " to Parliament, from whom the trust
was derived." In 1784 Pitt brought in a " Bill for
the better regulation of our Indian concerns," the
DEVELOPMENT 115
object of which was in reality to place the whole
government of India under the control of the
Crown ; but the powers of the Court of Directors
were continued, subject to the revision of a Board
for Indian Affairs appointed by the Crown. By
1793 this Board had become an India Office, and its
president was always a member of the Cabinet and
practically Minister for India. But, by this time, the
importance of the Governor-General in Council
had been much increased by a great constitutional
privilege, which conferred the power of legislation
over the whole Indian Empire, with due regard
to the royal prerogative, and the privilege of
Parliament.
In 1855 Lord Dalhousie, one of the ablest and
most sagacious and far-seeing of Indian statesmen,
opened the doors of Council to the public and
allowed the debates to be published. Professor
Forrest believes * that Lord Dalhousie perceived
that the Government of India would some day be
directly vested in a Secretary of State, only answer-
able to Parliament. In order, therefore, to provide
adequate protection for the people of India against
the ignorance of Parliament he desired to create
an independent legislative body. Strong as he was,
he may have felt that no Governor-General could
withstand the undue interference of the Minister
for India, and of Parliament, unless freedom and
publicity were granted to the Indian legislation.
When the news of the Mutiny became known in
England, the responsibility for the wild fanatical
Blackwood's Magazine, August 1905.
u6 CALCUTTA
outbreak was laid at the door of the East India
Company, which was universally condemned. A
Bill for the better Government of India was
introduced by Lord Palmerston ; and a Council
was established, styled " The President and
Council for the Affairs of India," with the im-
petuous and imperious Lord Ellenborough as
president. He excited general indignation by the
publication of a secret despatch censuring Lord
Canning for his action in regard to the punish-
ment of the authors of the outbreak. He resigned,
and was succeeded by Lord Stanley, who intro-
duced another East India Bill.
On November i, 1858, a royal proclamation,
issued throughout all India, declared the direct
sovereignty of Queen Victoria over all territories,
whether administered directly, or through native
princes.
So ended the rule of the " Company of Merchant
Adventurers trading to the East Indies " " mer-
chants with the sentiments and abilities of great
statesmen, whose servants founded an Empire
which they governed with firmness and equity."
By this Act one of her Majesty's Principal
Secretaries of State exercises all powers and
duties which were exercised by the Company or
the Board of Control. A Council was established,
called the Council of India, but all the decisive
power passed into the hands of the member of the
British Cabinet who is Secretary of State for
India, the Council in practice being consultative
only. In India the superintendence, direction and
AN OVERWHELMING TASK 117
control of the civil government has always been
vested not in the Governor-General, but in the
Governor- General in Council ; and that of the
military government not in the Governor-General,
nor in the Commander-in-Chief, but in the
Governor-General in Council.
Fifty years ago Bengal was transferred from
the personal charge of the Governor-General into
the hands of the Lieutenant-Governor, who has,
till lately, grappled with the overwhelming task
of ruling the foremost province of India, rich in
coalfields, and sugar, tea and jute, with a popula-
tion twice as great as that of France ; a task which
in time of famine proved well-nigh impossible, and
from part of which he has now been relieved.
Whilst we were in Calcutta our friend, Chief
Justice Way,* appeared one Sunday morning. It
was most refreshing to see him, full of spirits and
animation, and delighted with all his experiences.
With him was Dr. Pennefather, whose knowledge
of NewZealand ways and people had been so kindly
placed at our disposal the previous year. I drove
with him to call on the wife of the Lieutenant-
Governor of Bengal at Belvedere, a fine house
outside Calcutta, in a beautiful English-looking
garden with huge beds of enormous roses, an
artificial river, and some of the largest lawns in
India. Having tea there one day later, and stroll-
ing round the garden, I was rather startled to come
across a cheeky jackal prowling about. The Zoo-
logical Gardens are close to Belvedere, but I think
* Now Sir Samuel Way, Bart.
n8 CALCUTTA
the jackal was a gentleman at large. I had walked
to the Zoological Gardens in the afternoon ; they
are nicely laid out, and there are some fine tigers
the successors of those that starved themselves
to death from homesickness also a lion, which
was born in the London Zoo. The Australian
birds and beasts are well represented, and I made
great friends with a white cockatoo, who confid-
ingly turned all parts of his body towards me to
be scratched. The parrots' cages, lined with hay,
looked very comfortable and much better for the
birds, I should imagine, than the usual wire net-
work over dirty sand.
We were taken by the Lieutenant-Governor in a
steam-launch to Garden Reach, with its rather
cockneyfied villas, and then to tea in the celebrated
Botanical Gardens opposite ; they are well worth
seeing, and we walked about the gardens after
tea, and met the Commander-in-Chief here again.
The gigantic banyan (Ficns bengalensis) here rivals
the high over-arched and pillared shade of the
one the Viceroy uses as a dining-room at Barrack-
pur. It was Dr. Wallich, a Dane in the Govern-
ment service, who made this one of the most useful
and beautiful tropical gardens in the world. His
experiments here laid the foundation of tea culti-
vation at the foot of the Himalayas and in Assam ;
he collected specimens of all the finest trees and
plants in India, as well as exotics fromPenang, Ne-
paul, Java, and Sumatra, and palms and creepers
from South America and the South Seas. There
is a tree with scarlet flowers flaming like a fresco
CALCUTTA GARDENS 119
of souls in Purgatory ; another, a creeper, covered
the bamboo hedges with great clusters of enormous
white bells ; the Amherstia nobilis was in great
beauty,coming into flower. I thought, however, that
the ordinary gardens of Calcutta were all the un-
learned needs for pleasure and content. We were
never tired of admiring the avenues of bamboos,
the masses of blue convolvulus covering low walls ;
the ubiquitous orange and wine-coloured creepers,
the great beds of roses and heliotrope, the bushes
of Cape jasmine and double scarlet hibiscus ; or the
jungly dark-red lanes, full of ferns and lovely trees,
with their stems a tangle of vivid green creepers,
or cotton-trees with red magnolia-like flowers ;
the ditches a mass of beautiful caladium leaves,
blotched and streaked crimson, purple, brown and
white, and the tanks filled with pink water-lilies
as big as peonies.
On the Maidan people play golf, and drive in
the afternoon, and the Viceregal turn-out may be
seen in great state, with four horses and postil-
lions, footmen, outriders and escort, all in scarlet
and gold, driving under the shadowy forms of
preceding Viceroys' statues. One of the plea-
santest legacies left by any departed Viceroy is
the Eden Garden, planned by Lord Auckland's
sisters by the river side ; it is prettily laid out with
trees, winding paths and ponds of water ; beside
one of these is a picturesque pagoda temple brought
from Burmah. One of the most attractive aspects
of Calcutta is revealed by an evening stroll there,
beyond the fort, along the river and past the forests
120 CALCUTTA
of shipping ; great four-masted schooners lie close
to the quay, amongst the native craft, some with
high poops, great rudders and low projecting bows.
The English were not, by any means, the only,
or indeed the first, adventurous spirits to establish
trading settlements on the Hooghly in the seven-
teenth century. The Portuguese, French, Dutch
and Danes all founded "factories" or depdts for
their merchandise on the river. The Portuguese,
before Shah Jehan's time, built a fort at Hooghly ;
the French settled at Chandernagore in 1673, and
still have a colony there under an Administrator
subordinate to the Governor-General at Pondi-
cherry ; the Dutch held Chinsurah from about
1640 to 1828, when they ceded it to the British in
exchange for the Island of Sumatra ; and the
Danes sold Serampore to the East India Company
in 1845.
We were very glad that a picnic, to which our
host took us, gave us the opportunity of seeing all
four of these early settlements. Two launches
awaited our party on the river, and it was arranged
to steam up to the Dutch settlement, Chinsurah,
there to lunch in the old Dutch GovernmentHouse,
which is now the property of the Maharajah of
Burdwan. The wind was very chilly going up
stream, and we w r ere quite glad of thick coats and
rugs. Unfortunately, owing to the tide and wind
being against us, it took us five hours to reach
Chinsurah. We managed better on our return, and
did the distance in three hours, but our stay at
Chinsurah was cut very short, and we had no time
122 CALCUTTA
to do proper justice to the elaborate lunch provided
by the Rajah, whose father was on board our
launch and entertained us sumptuously in his son's
house ; we had to leave before the poor rrian's
sweets and ices made their appearance.
On our way up stream we passed many jute,
cotton and paper mills, alternating on the flat
banks with groves of cocoa-nuts and mangoes, and
small whitewashed modern temples ; some of these
last were in a marvellous semi-classic or pseudo-
gothic style. They stand usually in green com-
pounds, enclosed within high walls, and with broad
terraces of steps, on the river side, leading down
to the water's edge. But the river struck us as
being, like Sydney Harbour, too broad in propor-
tion for theflat shores, and the buildings andgroves,
which might have been picturesque, were dwarfed
by the vast expanse of the stream.
On our right we skirted the English-looking
Park of Barrackpur, with the Government bunga-
low, its long facade, like a villa at Twickenham,
discernible amongst the trees. In old days, before
Simla was the headquarters of government, from
March to December, the Viceregal party spent the
hot weather here. Nowit is only used for short week-
end visits. Lady Canning had a great affection for
the garden, and delighted to be here, where she had
not " a quarter of a mile to walk and three sentries
to pass," to get from her own room to the drawing-
room.
Here in the garden she had made so beautiful
Lord Canning buried her at sunrise one morning
LADY CANNING 123
in 1 86 1. Lady Canning went through all the
horrors of the Mutiny time, and felt acutely all
the anxieties of the position of the Viceroy, on
whom lay the responsibility of steering India
through the crisis, and then, in the face of severe
criticism, meting out adequate penalties to the
misdoers, without overstepping the line where just
punishment becomes unchristian retribution. The
strain proved too much for her, and she succumbed
BARRACKPUR
at once to an attack of fever caught in the terai.
On the way from Darjeeling she had halted at the
foot of the Himalayas to make a sketch of the
beautiful jungle scenery, and arriving in Calcutta
unwell and overtired, she died in a few days. Her
grave is in a little glade of green turf, shaded by
trees, and opening on a beautiful reach of the river
(which here is twice the width of the Thames at
London Bridge), which she so much admired. For
a long while a light was kept always burning on
her grave at night.
On the other side of the river we passed the
French settlement of Chandernagore, where,
though the whole place is only 3 miles round, the
French Administrator has under him a perfect re-
production in miniature of his home government.
124 CALCUTTA
Then came the Danish settlement of Serampore,
where Dr. George Smith used to live ; the scene of
the labours of the Baptist missionaries, Marshman
and James Carey. Carey was a great botanist and
planted profusely ; his magnificent park with fine
teak, mahogany and tamarind trees has been de-
vastated by the cyclones to which Calcutta is always
liable late in the hot weather and after the rains.
He showed a very human side of his character as
he lay dying. "Dear brother Marshman," he said
rather pathetically, " I am afraid, when I am dead
and gone that you will let the cows get into my
garden." The whole site seems now to have been
swallowed up in a jute factory.
The craft on the river is very picturesque, and in
the sunset coming back, the temples on the bank
and strangely shaped boats, looked much more
effective between the brilliant sunset sky and its
reflection in the river.
Some of the boats were covered with reed thatch,
others had great square, much-tattered sails, and
with the wind dead aft, were making good way
down the centre of the stream ; most of them had
great rudders with high sterns and platforms raised
above them from which the tiller was worked. Here
and there a wreath of smoke from a small steamer
added interest to the scene.
When the moment came to leave Calcutta we
were quite refreshed at the prospect before us of
" dirty " Benares, but we were glad to have been in
Bengal, if only because we saw quite a different
sort of country. It is a great deal flatter than the
CROPS 125
palm of one's hand, and very fertile, with a beauti-
ful richness of vegetation and variety in the foliage
of the groups of trees. The brown huts are
huddled together on a little mound round or near
a tank of dirty water, under the familiar cocoa-nut
palm, for which we had quite an affection, and which
we had hardly seen since we were in Ceylon. They
exist in Bombay where they are all government
property, and each with its number attached but
THE HOOGHLY ABOVE CALCUTTA
not to anything like the same extent as in lower
Bengal. It struck us as curious that in the country
northoftheHooghly, which wecrossed above Banke-
pore, there should be not one, although they come
almost to the water's edge on the south side ! The
country is very highly cultivated in small patches
of different crops, separated only by a very narrow
raised footpath and perhaps a row of palms. We
heard the names of many crops, some of which we
could not at the time identify turmeric, arhar
(pulse), jute, linseed, indigo, joari (millet), paddy
and rabi, which I found to be the term used for all
crops sown in October or November, We noticed
chiefly various sorts of grains, bright green now,
and the tall castor-oil plant, a shrub like a kind of
broom, and very effective masses of white-flowered
opium poppy.
126 CALCUTTA
Fences or walls seemed unknown, except in the
case of an occasional "walled garden." The mat-
huts are often covered with creepers and thatched,
and overshadowed by plantains with pale sea-
green foliage or feathery bamboos and dark man-
goes. They consist of a front room with a door,
and a hole two feet square, as window, and a
smaller back room, which gets its light and
air only through the first. Some of them are tiled
and those of the better class usually have a
verandah supported on pillars. A goat or two is
tethered outside, and perhaps in the immediate
neighbourhood a woman may be seen in a white
chuddah, with bracelets on her ankles and wrists
and hair drawn back tight into a knob. No woman,
however humble her station, but would lose her
self-respect if she appeared, before her family,
without a nose ring and bangles. The people all
congregate into the villages, and there is no one
in the fields, unless it be a watchman or chokeedar,
crouching under his little straw shelter.
These self-contained Indian village communities
have preserved their constitution, customs and
character unaltered for centuries, through all the
vicissitudes which have befallen the land, under the
rule of their native princes, and that of their
Moslem conquerors, through the cruel raids of
Mahrattas and the, to them, incomprehensible
methods of the British. For thirty or forty
centuries they have had the same officials. The
Headman who presides at the meetings of the
panchayat or local board, which assembles under
VILLAGE COMMUNITIES
127
a large tree to discuss and settle affairs of
public interest; the village Notary or accountant
who keeps record of the business and of the land
assessment, produce and rents ; the Priest or
spiritual head, a Brahman, who is almost wor-
shipped, and presents to whom bringdown almost
incalculable benefits. He sometimes combines with
his office that of the village Astrologer, a most
important function, for a native's life is passed in
BOATS ON THE HOOGHLY
constant dread of evil influences from the stars or
from some unlucky omen, and the astrologer knows
the charm by which all such malign influences may
be averted. The villageSchoolmaster whoteaches
the children to read from a hornbook of palm-
leaves and to write on the sand, and who enforces
discipline by strangely original methods is some-
times also a priest. If so, he takes no payment for
his instruction, as in India no religious teacher
ever teaches for money, though no doubt his
scholars bring him gifts of produce or food. The
Barber shaves, cuts nails, cracks joints, and is an
expert at massage. There will be also a village
carpenter, blacksmith, cowman, weaver and a shoe-
128 CALCUTTA
maker, dyer, dhobie, oilman, water-carrier, watch-
man and sweeper. The hereditary Potter must not
be forgotten, as, though a Hindu usually prefers to
eat his food off a platter of leaves, the consump-
tion of earthenware is considerable, for no article
of the sort should, strictly, be used a second time.
All these hereditary craftsmen pursue their trades
as a sacred calling, and not for money. The Hindu
regards the work to which he is born as a holy
duty, to execute which God created him. And
whether he come into the world as a priest, a
sweeper, or as a member of a criminal caste whose
fixed business is plunder or murder, he is bound
by all the obligations of religion to continue in the
profession of his father for this life. The next time
he appears in human shape he will have another
caste, and a different calling, until he has run
through the whole gamut of human existence,
and can cease to be. So the " long-limbed, whole-
hearted, and dull-headed" villagers have always
believed from the dim days long before history
concerned itself with them, and so now they con-
tinue to go dutifully about their business, follow-
ing the traditions of their elders, " confused be-
tween facts and fancies, tied and bound by the
allegorical practices of a faith the inner meaning
of which has long been forgotten." So they are
content to toil with an apparently indifferent calm,
beneath which lies a great and ardent capacity for
passion ; and as they live so they die, as their
forefathers did before them, calmly smiling.
CHAPTER VI
BENARES: THE HEART OF HINDUSTAN
IT was cold in the train in the early morning : we
had been travelling all night, and had exchanged
the coast-climate of Calcutta for the colder plains.
We were an hour late when we reached Mogul
Serai station, and had barely time to catch the
Benares train. By 2 P.M. we were in Clark's Hotel,
Benares, a clean, comfortable bungalow in the Can-
tonment, but unfortunately three miles from the old
city. As soon aswe had time to turn roundwe made
ourwaytothecentre of the native quarters, and were
enchanted with the novelty and vivid interest of
the scene. There is no doubt about it, Benares is
wonderful ; it is marvellously picturesque, and as for
sketching,a lifetimewould notexhaust the subjects.
It is a long narrow town, extending in a crescent
along the leftbankof theGanges fortwo miles, over-
looking, on the opposite side of the river, a flat and
monotonous expanse of cultivated plain ; the bank
is steep, and about TOO feet high, and is clothed, as
it were, with staircases coming down to the water's
edge in wide irregular flights, quite unconnected
with one another. Above these flights of steps, or
ghats, are huge houses and palaces, temples and
R
130 BENARES
the great mosque of Aurangzeb, packed close, with
narrow alleys between them. All this, in spite of
its attraction, is comparatively modern, and except
a few buildings, there is nothing earlier than the
time of Akbar (sixteenth century) ; for like many
Eastern towns Benares has shifted its site from
time to time, and has left traces of its "dead self"
for miles along the Ganges.
Unfortunately, I did not see the remains of the
earliest city, Sarnath, a marvellous place, I believe,
with gigantic Buddhist Topes, and ruins of other
colossal buildings, still in situ close by.
No one knows the story of its beginning, at the
time of the very earliest Aryan settlement in India,
but Benares was the religious centre of India as far
back as the sixth century B.C., when itwas chosen by
Sakya Muni as the first place in which to preach
his doctrine of Nirvana. It then became a strong-
hold of Buddhism for many centuries ; but in the
fourth century A.D. reverted to the Hindu faith.
In the twelfth century came the Mohammedans,
who conquered it, and converted its temples into
mosques, and the story goes that Alu-ud-din
boasted of having, here alone, destroyed i ooo Hindu
shrines.
After 600 years of Moslem predominance
Benares returned to its old faith, and has since
continued the sacred city par excellence of the
Hindu.
In Calcutta and Bombay though one cannot fail
to notice the enormous predominance of natives
over Europeans yet, owing to the modern aspect
THE GOLDEN TEMPLE 131
of the greater part of these cities, with their wide
streets and broad spaces, and their law-abiding in-
habitants, the Indian population does not impress
one by its vast numbers. To all this the appearance
of crowded Benares forms a striking contrast. Here
is the very heart of India. Here, in this fountain of
Hindu fanaticism, beats the quick pulse of the
people. To this sacred spot, from the utmost
corners of the land, stream in endless pilgrimage
thousands upon thousands of devout Hindus, who,
through the narrow alleys and dark passages of
the city, constantly course along, jostling one
another in a seething flow, towards the temples, or
the sacred river, to drink or in bathing to wash
away their sins, or to die, if need be, in the arms of
old Ganges, the mother of life.
Here then, above all other places, in this swarm-
ing mass of humanity, is one forced to realise the
depth and strength of the national life of India.
This was specially impressed upon us in the first
place we visited ; the Golden Temple dedicated to
Bisheshwar, or Shiva, as the Poison God, the
spiritual ruler of Benares. In this form Shiva
appears with a blue throat, the result of his having
magnanimously swallowed the poison evolved
in one of the processes of creation. But this
deity is worshipped probably by more than
half the Hindus as the reproductive power of
nature, in the form of a symbol, the lingam. Is
there, perhaps, some remote connection between
this cult and the calf and pillar worship of the
Israelites? Shiva's temple, this holiest of holy
132 BENARES
places in the sacred city, is in the heart of
the town, surrounded by a network of narrow
alleys thronged with people, and crowded between
other buildings. The roofed quadrangle where it
stands is itself crowded with worshippers, jostling
one another, sprinkling holy water and carrying
votive offerings of flowers to hang upon the
upright black stone, tapering to a cone shape,
the symbol of Shiva. Cows are admitted on equal
terms, and roaming lazily along have to be passed
and to pass ; every now and then a palanquin comes
along and one has to flatten oneself against the
walls of the narrow passages to let it go by.
Shrines, figures of cows, shapeless masses re-
presenting Ganesh, Shiva's son, the god of good
luck, with elephant's trunk painted red (in one in-
stance with three hideous silver eyes, and silver
hands) met our gaze on all sides, and at every
turn in a bewildering confusion.
One very curious object of worship specially
caught my eye. It was a silver disk with a red
apron hanging below it, and represents the planet
Saturn, an important object in this city of astro-
logers.
The gates or doors of the Golden Temple are of
beautifully wrought brass, but it takes its name
from the fact that one of its conical flame-like
towers, and a dome, are covered with plates of
gilded copper ; we mounted a narrow stair in a
side building, in which are kept the great tom-
toms, and where temple flowers were being sold,
and looked at these towers, and the red conical
ANNOYING CROWDS 133
tower of Mahadeo's temple from the first floor.
The so-called priest, with a view to backsheesh,
told me he would pray the gods to give me a son.
When I told him I had one already, he kindly
offered to pray that I might have five.
Round the court of an adjoining temple are a
number of sacred cows in close quarters ; this they
call the Cow Temple, and a little further on, round
the corner of a narrow alley, is the Temple of
Annapurna, goddess of daily bread. All along
these lanes are small shops for the sale of
images and rosaries, and of the celebrated brass-
work of Benares, especially of " lotas," which are
as essential to the existence of a Hindu as a cigar-
ette is to a Spaniard. A ' ' lota " is a spherical wide-
mouthed vessel of brass for a Hindu, of copper for
a Mohammedan from which the owner never
seems to be separated, and to which he clings with
tenacity when he has given up all other worldly
possessions. Out of it he drinks ; with the aid of
it, and a bit of soft stick, and much ritual obser-
vance, he washes his teeth a favourite occupation
and pastime, especially out of the railway carriage
window when travelling and with the help of it
he cooks.
The eager, excited crowds, which thronged and
pressed us, were rather annoying, and as we got
into the carriage we were beset by dancing girls.
The beggars are most persistent, and have recourse
to all kinds of expedients to excite sympathy and
extract backsheesh. As we went along, a woman
ran up to the carriage with something wrapped up
134 BENARES
in her hands, and disclosed just enough to show
a newly born infant, which could not have been
more than an hour or two old.
Before dusk we had time to explore some high,
narrow streets in the thick of the town ; they
reminded me of Genoa, but are far more pic-
turesque. The rich colouring (chiefly a deep red),
the overhanging storeys, and an occasional bridge
thrown over from one side of the street to the
other, combine all the elements which an artist
could desire. Every empty space on the brightly-
painted facades is occupied by a fantastic repre-
sentation of Hindu mythology, with all its
many-handed, many-headed, many-weaponed
gods and goddesses in endless variety ; and,
besides the regular temples and shrines with
which the town bristles, an uncouth image, or a
squarely-hewn sacred stone, is set up at every
vacant corner.
Whilst we were driving near the cantonment, we
encountered, issuing from a dark grove of trees
amongst which were scattered a few shrines and
native dwellings a most picturesque crowd sing-
ing and playing music, and in the centre a bamboo
bier covered with red cloth and tinsel, and strewn
with yellow flowers. It was a funeral procession,
and the body was on its way to one of the Ghats
to be cremated.
Early on the morning of February 6, we started
to drive to the Temple of Durga, sometimes called
the " Monkey Temple," at the far west extremity of
the town. Durga, or Kali the Terrible, is one form
IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE TOWN
136 BENARES
of Shiva's wife, and worshipped over the greater
part of the peninsula. The Thugs and Dacoits,
now happily practically suppressed, were devotees
of Kali, in her most horrible aspect. They wor-
shipped her under the form of an axe ; and the
Jemadar, or leader of the band, was usually con-
sidered to be an incarnation of the power and
an inspired instrument of Mai Kali, when he
murdered the innocent victims, whom chance, or
the design of the goddess, as he believed, threw
across his path. An unfortunate traveller, once
marked down by them, would be followed or ac-
companied on his journey in the most friendly man-
ner for days or even weeks, before the fitting occa-
sion for the climax offered ; but the Thug never lost
his quarry, and the fatal noose ended the victim's
life at last.
It is, perhaps, not surprising that the Government
of India still has to publish a report from the
Thugee and Dacoity Department, when one con-
siders that in 1830 there were few districts in India
without a resident band of Thugs, with their beyls,
or chosen murder and burying grounds, thickly
dotted along every high road in India ; and that
there were in all 10,000 of these professors of mur-
der as a fine art, roaming unmolested over the
peninsula and earning their living at the rate of
three murders a head during the year. The more
successful leaders commanded well-disciplined and
perfectly organised gangs of over a hundred fol-
lowers, who were all trained men, specialists in some
one branch of their profession, conversant with a
THE THUGS 137
secret language and an elaborate code of practical
and shrewd rules, and thoroughly and genuinely
impressed with the divine origin of their hereditary
cult. Some of them were really good men, excel-
lent fathers and husbands, men of position, mer-
chants, tax-collectors, or officials, but the ancient
hereditary faith exercised too strong a fascination
over them. "The Thug was simply a practical, de-
vout man ; hewould set out on hisbusinesswith the
quiet earnestness of one merely doing his duty, and
bringing up his son to a good professional connec-
tion ; he would brutally murder twenty or thirty
victims, not only with an easy conscience, but with
the calm self-approval of a successful practitioner;
and, if he fell into the meddling grasp of the law,
he would go to his death with the cheerful smile of
a religious man who had lived well and entertained
no doubts of being munificently rewarded here-
after. . . The innocent villagers submitted to
death by strangling at the hands of the Thug then,
as they now die of cholera or the plague, in a silent,
hopeless belief that it is wrong to struggle against
the visitation of the gods." Consequently the mur-
ders were never traced; and it required the splendid
self-devotion of Sir William Sleeman exposing
himself voluntarily for many years to the hatred
of thousands of secret murderers to crush this
ancient and powerful religion of crime. Kali still
requires to be propitiated ; human sacrifices are not
now attainable though instances have been dis-
covered as recently as 1891 and 1892 and usually
only goats,buffaloes, and sheep are slain before her.
138 BENARES
No religious festival is so popular in Hindu
homes, especially in Bengal, as the milder Durga-
puja in October. A small plantain tree covered
with straw and clay is painted with vermilion,
draped in a silk saree adorned with tinsel orna-
ments, and, being consecrated, is believed to be
the habitation of the goddess. After a solemn pro-
cession to the river, it is brought to the house of the
devotee who had it made, and is, for a month,
venerated and worshipped, with fasts by day and
feasting at night. Finally, Mai Durga is said to be
"going to the house of her father-in-law" like
Persephone : the image is again carried on a
bamboo stage to the river side, and amidst shouts
and dancing is thrown into the stream. The cere-
monies usuallyterminatewith drunken bacchanalia
and disgraceful scenes.
There is nothing particularly remarkable about
this temple of Durga, though its architecture is
simple and graceful, and it has some fairly elabo-
rate carving round the inner colonnade. It is
painted red and stands beside a tank, overshadowed
by some fine peepul trees, which, as usual in India,
are held sacred. There are groves of trees in India
held so sacred that, though timber and firewood
are in great request, no stick is ever cut, nor is
even the dead wood picked up. The sacred cha-
racter of this site probably dates back to a dim
period, when these trees, or their predecessors, were
venerated, in connection with the tree worship of
the aboriginal tribes, as sheltering the spirits whose
good will had to be secured, by sacrifices and obla-
THE BATHING GHATS 139
tions, to ensure a good harvest. In these trees the
tribe of sacred monkeys swarms and breeds, and
chatters incessantly, descending at intervals to
take their share of the offering.
In the temple also are numbers of monkeys,
climbing and leaping about everywhere ; and as
many beggars and other creatures, worry you
to look at this, or that, or press you to buy food
to feed the monkeys. Though the monkeys are no
respecters of persons the boldest of them actually
jumped upon us yet I greatly preferred the mon-
keys to their masters.
After a sketch at the Golden Temple, we made
our way to the Man Mandir Ghat, close by Raja
Jai Singh's lofty seventeenth-century observatory. *
Here we embarked in a barge with a house upon
it, on the roof of which we sat, and were slowly
rowed up the Ganges as far as the Ashi Ghat, and
then down again to the Mosque.
The river bank is a marvellous sight. The Ghats,
in flight after flight of irregular steps, descend the
broken precipitous cliff a hundred feet to the water's
edge, amongst temples and shrines of all sorts and
sizes. Here and there the steps widen out into ter-
races, and on them, at irregular intervals, are
shrines with the everlasting old cow or sacred
bull looking in at the front door. The cliff is
crowned by high houses and palaces, pierced with
* Old travellers tell us that the Brahmans whose business it was
to calculate the eclipses of sun and moon (then as always the
occasion for religious services and devotion) were trained in
astronomy and astrology in Benares.
140
BENARES
deep archways, which give access to the narrow
streets of the town, and culminate in domes
and slender minarets. The effect is enhanced by
the sweep of the river, which bends in a crescent
THE GHATS
shape facing the rising sun. Here and there a
palace or temple breaks away from the main line
and, projecting forward, descends with solid breast-
works of masonry to the water's edge, where every
variety of native craft lies moored.
THE BATHERS 141
A stream of bathers and devotees, in the most
brilliantly coloured garments, continually ascends
and descends the steps : issuing from the dark
archways and lanes above, they collect below on
the brink of the water, under huge straw umbrellas;
and behind tall screens, which protect them from
the heat of the sun, they proceed by one operation
to wash away their sins, to wash their bodies, and
their simple and scanty clothing as well. They
COMME 9A
then gird themselves in clean attire; and afterwards
return to one of the terraces to have their caste-
marks replaced upon their foreheads, by an official
of the temple ; he is provided with a number of little
saucers filled with coloured powders for the purpose.
This done, they sit on a plankover the water to medi-
tate and bask in the sunshine. The pose is a
squat, and the devout appear to hold their noses,
comme $a.
I was charmed by one scene in particular which
i 4 2 BENARES
we watched. Two graceful women in bright-coloured
silk saris came down the steps, each carrying on
her arm a folded sari of a different hue. Leaving
this on the brink, they stepped down as they were
into the sacred water and drank and dipped. Com-
ing back to the step in the wet garments, they
wound them off, and simultaneously, by the same
mysterious movement, clothed themselves in the
fresh silk drapery with which they had come
provided. The process of transformation was as
elusive and complete, as that by which a snow-
capped mountain is changed at the after-glow.
Then taking the strip of wet drapery, and deftly
gathering it in narrow folds crosswise in either
hand, they went back to their daily occupations.
The worshippers, standing waist-deep in the
river, pour libations into the water, murmuring
as they do so the words from the Vedas prescribed
by the sacred ritual, and also cast in wreaths of
jasmine flowers. This beautiful scene, however,
has another side to it, and it is a very disagreeable
part of the business that they drink the water too.
Dirty stuff it looks and must be, and, when one
knows that dead bodies are constantly floating
down stream, one wishes that the devotees might
be absolved from drinking the water of the sacred
river. The natives are not content with putting
their fellow-creatures into the river. I came across
a horse to-day, and have no doubt the sacred cows
end their existence there too. Fortunately the
Calcutta waterworks are provided with an excel-
lent system of filtration.
CEREMONIAL 143
We spent some hours on the river sketching
and reading, and brought our tiffin-basket with
us. It was quite dark before we got back to the
hotel.
A second day arrayed in fur coats, for the
mornings are bitterly cold we embarked once
more in our houseboat about 8.30 and rowed
down to the end of the Ghats. There were
thousands of bathers at that hour of the morning :
dressed in every colour of the rainbow, they
descended and ascended the footworn steps a
very gay sight. I spent the day sketching until
4.30, when we walked through some of the
picturesque streets. Here and there, at some con-
spicuous corner, we came across a yogi, squatting
or standing with arm upraised, appealing to high
heaven in some strained attitude, and livid with
the ashes smeared over his uncouth body : loath-
some sight. Or we noticed a string of low-caste
women, miserable oppressed hewers of wood and
drawers of water, carrying prodigious loads upon
their heads up the steep ascent to the town. Poor
creatures, theirs indeed must be a hard lot.
From the beginning of life to its end, every
detail of the existence of these 230 millions of
Hindus is gripped by the dead hand of ceremonial
ritual. A man may be an atheist or a murderer,
his religious status is unimpaired ; but let him
unconsciously drink water touched by a man
of lower caste and his doom is sealed. The
conscience is perverted, and the true sense of
distinction between right and wrong lost. A
144 BENARES
pious Hindu dying in his bed at home, would
be considered as very slack in obeying the precepts
of his religion ; they decree that he shall breathe
his last on the banks of the Ganges ; or, if that is
out of reach, on the brink of some neighbouring
stream or tank. The dying man is carried on his
string bed or charpoy, at a jog trot, for miles per-
haps, to the sacred stream, by relays of friends
grunting and shouting as they go " Hari, haribol ; "
and there he may linger for days, if he is suffi-
ciently tenacious of life to survive the repeated
immersions to which his attentive guardians sub-
ject him. Old people have sometimes returned
home after nine or ten dippings, but more often
means are taken to prevent this disgrace, and the
patient expires correctly. The body, swathed in
red or white, is then placed on a funeral pyre of
faggots with sandal wood and ghee ; the outcast
Brahman, who alone has the monopoly of sup-
plying the cremation fire, reads the prescribed
formula, and the nearest relation sets the pile
alight. All that is left unconsumed of the body is
then cast into the river, in defiance of municipal
regulations, and the fire extinguished with some
jars of holy water.*
At the Burning Ghat beyond the Observatory,
we passed several such funeral pyres, with bodies
upon them more or less consumed by the fire. A
man standing by with a long pole raked or poked
* Though the expenses of this ceremony are under strict police
regulation, yet at times many lakhs of rupees are spent in the
funeral feasts which take place a month later.
A BENARES EKKA 145
together the unburned portions of the poor crea-
tures' bodies, a truly ghastly sight, but not so
gruesome as another sight we saw a little later.
When we first commenced our voyage on the river
we were enchanted by this never-to-be-forgotten
scene, and my companion suggested that we should
stop a fortnight, and devote the time to sketching.
Not long afterwards, sitting not far from the
water's edge, a turn of the head revealed a floating
corpse, which must have been some weeks in the
water. The rower merely raised his oar to let the
ghastly object pass ; but my companion's enthusi-
astic plans were suddenly modified.
Next day, Sunday, after church and lunch, I
made a sketch of a Benares ekka a very pictur-
esque conveyance with double shafts on either
side, drawn together on the top of the pony's back
and fastened to a saddle. The trappings of some
of these ekkas are very bright and gay, and some
have a canopy like a bird-cage on the top. This
" machine" holds, besides the driver, two persons,
who sit sideways, and hang their legs over the
wheels. Alas ! in spite of the endless subjects, I
only managed to get time for three sketches in
this fascinating place. That afternoon we left
Benares for Lucknow and Cawnpore, where we
were to realise what, in 1857, was the outcome of
the Hindu fanaticism of which Benares is the
centre.
BATHING GHATS
CHAPTER VII
LUCKNOW AND CAWNPORE : THE
MUTINY
LUCKNOW, the largest town in India after the three
capitals, has a comparatively modern aspect, and the
fantastic buildings, erected during the last hundred
and fifty years by the vicious and incompetent
kings of Oude, are in keeping with their builders'
character. The Nawabs and Kings of Oude ruined
their people with a crushing taxation, and laid deso-
late a most fertile country, studded with villages
and finely wooded, in order to spend many lakhs of
rupees on works which ministered solely to the
gratification of the King and his pleasure-seeking
Court. These buildings consist, to a great extent,
of tasteless palaces and tombs, in a most debased
style of architecture, not seldom imitated from the
worst European examplesof the eighteenth century;
and, being frequently of no more durable material
than stucco, they are often in a condition of ex-
treme dilapidation.
From a distance Lucknow presents a most de-
ceptive appearance of splendour: domes, minarets
and quaintly bizarre pinnacles lead one to expect
a gorgeous city of more than ordinary oriental
148 LUCKNOW AND CAWNPORE
magnificence; but a nearer approach produces a
disillusionment, and I felt no desire to sketch,
or to stay here longer than was necessary to go
over the places made memorable by the Mutiny.
So, after breakfast at Hill's Hotel, we drove
to the Cantonments, some one and a half miles
off: we called first on Colonel May, who made
an appointment for four o'clock to take us over
the Residency, and then on the General in com-
mand of the District, General Sir ^neas Perkins,
and his wife, who asked us to lunch. The General
came in late, in the middle of a hard day's inspec-
tion. He is a great friend of Lord Roberts, and
was with him, commanding the Engineers, on his
memorable march in Afghanistan in 1878 and 1880.
From his house we drove in a body all except
Sir y<neas and his A.D.C. to meet Colonel May.
Before the Mutiny, Colonel May was a civilian
engaged in surveying the town ; he went through
the siege, and got his commission after it. He
knows every inch of the ground, and is an excel-
lent cicerone. He first of all showed us, on the
cardboard and plaster model in the Museum, the
relative positions of the Residency and surround-
ing buildings, explaining, and putting into a nut-
shell, as it were, a concise account of events and of
their connection with the various buildings ; and
with that useful preface, we went on to the spot
itself, and were much better able to understand it
from our preliminary examination of the model.
Colonel May told us many thrilling incidents
of the siege, which brought the scene more vividly
SIR HENRY LAWRENCE 149
before one, and helped to illustrate the excellent
accounts given in Holmes' " History," which, on
Purse's recommendation, we had just been reading.
He pointed out a wall, against which, he told me,
he was sitting one day, when suddenly a round
shot struck the wall between his legs. This, how-
ever, is not to be compared with the escape of a
trooper in the relief force, who had his saddle
destroyed under him, by a blind shell which passed
between his thigh and the horse's back, he him-
self, and his horse, remaining uninjured !
We were much impressed with the great dis-
advantages under which the mere handful of heroic
defenders held the Residency, from May 7 to
November 17, 1857, with the enemy close to them
all round, and under cover, in houses commanding
the position. One stretch of the road which led
through the enclosure, was swept by the rifles
which the mutineers had fixed in rests in a house
opposite; and for any one to show himself in that
road was certaindeath. Fortunately the citypeople,
and the entire Hindu population, held aloof from the
outbreak, owingto Sir Henry Lawrence's knowledge
of the native character, and to his tact, firmness, and
decision. It can never be too often repeated, that
none of the heroism displayed during the siege
would have availed aught, but for his foresight and
ability, which made the defence possible. Very early
in the day he almost the only Englishman in
India foresaw that the outbreak was inevitable,
and prepared for it. Whilst doing all that his expe-
rience and insight suggested to keep the natives
i5o LUCKNOW AND CAWNPORE
loyal, he had no fear of showing a want of con-
fidence in them. He fortified the Residency,
provided an adequate water-supply, and stored
ammunition and food, ample for the needs of the
defenders (even when on September 25 their
numbers were augmented by the 3000 men under
General Havelock), thus enabling the garrison
to hold out till November 17, when Sir Colin
Campbell relieved Lucknow.
The buildings in which the enemy found shelter
are now cleared away : the Residency itself is
merely a beautiful ruin, and the whole place is very
much overgrown with creepers bougainvillea,
bignonia, and others against which Colonel May
vowed vengeance. We thought that these, and the
trees which have grown up very thickly on all
sides since 1857, much enhanced the beauty of
the spot. We made time next day, before leaving, to
drive again to the Residency, to see Henry Law-
rence's simple grave and moving epitaph. The gar-
dens and cemetery are all beautifully kept, and one
is grateful that this scene of peace and order should
form a foreground for one's thoughts of the tw r o
thousand brave men and women (amongst whom
the native troops were conspicuous for heroism
and loyalty) who, led by Sir Henry Lawrence, the
best of the brave, "tried to do their duty" and
laid down their lives in defence of the Banner
of England. In Henry Lawrence's words, " May
the Lord have mercy on their souls."
We dined in the Cantonments, and spent a
pleasant evening, but I never expected that at
UNFRUITFUL EFFORTS 151
Lucknow we should be going out to dinner
wrapped in fur coats and rugs through a thick
mist like a London fog.
Next day, Tuesday, I took a short walk about
eight, and looked in at the Church, where I came
in for the tail end of Matins. After breakfast we
drove to the copper and brass bazaar, a very narrow
street lined with small low shops, supported on
most dainty wooden pillars, all decorated with re-
fined carving.
Since the city has been under British rule, much
has been done to widen the streets and bazaars,
and to provide for the health and sanitation of
what was one of the most wretched and dirty towns
in the whole of India; but, although Lucknow
ranks as the centre of the Hindu schools of music,
of learning, theology, and literature, and though
trade and manufacture have revived, and the native
nobility of the province have established themselves
in the city again, yet the population has apparently
decreased. Famine and disease appear to have
defeated all our well-intentioned efforts fort he res-
toration of prosperity to this sorely tried city.
We had to get to the station by 1.30 to catch our
train for Cawnpore, which we reached about five,
and leaving Lobo and the luggage at the station, we
went straight to an hotel, had tea and got the pro-
prietor to take us round and show us the scenes of
the horrors of the massacre. He is an old soldier,
and came to the relief of the place under Havelock
(July 15, 1857), arriving just too late to save the poor
women and children. He was an extremely voluble
152 LUCKNOW AND CAWNPORE
old fellow, and is now a monomaniac on the subject
of the massacre and the part he took. He blew his
own trumpet very loudly on the same note, and
his way of expressing himself was much involved ;
the story was mixed and exaggerated, and the
sprinkling of superlatives so thick that it was not
easy to make head or tail of what he said. How-
ever, fortunately the invaluable Holmes was at
our command, and supplied .the facts for his topo-
graphical illustrations.
We saw the scene of the entrenchment, a
miserably weak place with its well in a most ex-
posed position ; and we marvelled at the decision
which led the veteran Sir Hugh Wheeler in the
face of Lawrence's advice, to abandon the walled
enclosure on the river, and giving over the maga-
zine and ammunition into the keeping of Nana
Sahib and the native troops to entrench himself,
withonly three hundred English soldiers and seven
or eight hundred non-combatants, behind four-
foot earthworks in the centre of an open plain.
" Surely " as Lord Roberts says of this incident
" Surely those whom God has a mind to destroy
He first deprives of their senses."
For intensity of suffering during the Mutiny
Cawnpore stands first, but there is nothing fine
or striking to the imagination in the tale of mis-
placed trust, nervous fright and confusion, and
bad management, which Cawnpore reveals. For
twenty-one days, without proper supplies, and
under the intense heat of the June sun, Sir H.
Wheeler and his company were exposed to the fire
THE MASSACRE GHAT 153
of three thousand mutineers, whose guns were in
incredibly close proximity ; then, trusting still
to Nana's loyalty, they surrendered on June 26, on
the condition that they were given boats and sup-
plies and allowed to retire with honour down the
Ganges.
The many instances of heroic valour shown
during this time are overshadowed, and seem
merely pathetic beside the ghastly instances of
misplaced confidence which led to the massacre
at the Sati Chaura Ghat, and to the horrors of the
Bibi Garh and Well, where "the dying and the
dead," and even some unhurt children, were con-
signed indiscriminately on July 15, when Have-
lock's rescuing force was at the door. It was
almost dark when we reached the fatal Well, with
its memorial screen, and white Angel designed
by Colonel Yule. They are far more beauti-
ful in reality than in the photographs generally
seen.
Fortunately, perhaps, the thought of the tragedy
was relieved for us by interludes of comedy : the
guidewho drove us intermixed his Mutiny talk with
conversation on his private affairs, and expressed
the opinion that there are many scenes in family
life m'ore terrible than the battle-field. Pointing to
the cemetery, he said, " I buried a wife and a babe
in arms there ; both died of cholera in one day.
I have got another now, who plays six instru-
ments and sings in the choir of the Memorial
Church. I've had seven children and three wives,
not to mention being wounded three times on the
u
154 LUCKNOW AND CAWNPORE
field of battle. But the field of battle ain't no wuss
than scenes in the life of a private party. It's all
down in that book of mine on Cawnpore. Why,
it's the most interesting place in the world is
Cawnpore, the most interesting place since God
created this earth talk about Delhi and Agra,
why there's nothing but buildings there, whereas
here was the massacre, saw it with my own eyes
man, woman and child at the breast slaughtered
the most interesting place in the world you
ought to stop a week here," &c.
A wild-looking fanatical Yogi was haranguing an
attentive crowd of natives near theTempleof Shiva,
on the bank of the river at the Massacre Ghat, and
we were told that he was recounting the story
of the wretched defenders, decoyed on that fatal
June 27 into open boats, under a safe conduct, and
then shot down defenceless from the banks. We
could not feel then thatMarochetti's beautiful angel
over the Well represented the presiding genius of
Cawnpore, but rather that the fiendish spirit which
had animated Nana Sahib was only smouldering,
and that fifty years of Western secular education,
as assimilated by the Hindu, would not protect us
from another outbreak of treacherous fanaticism.
The aspect of God and man, of life and its
ideals, which we present to the Hindu, those, who
have studied their character, tell us, does not im-
press them as it should, because it does not fit into
their ways of thought. Part of this difference in
our mental and spiritual furniture is the product of
climate and national idiosyncrasy, and part arises
HINDU IDEALS 155
from the contrasting character and practices of the
Hindu and Christian religions. But, what a nation
believes about fundamental things is indissolubly
connected with the form of civilisation it exhibits.
You cannot separate institutions from ideas.
And behind the idolatry, the slavery of the caste
system, the immoral Hindu pantheon, and the
dwarfing and degrading Hindu ceremonial the
Hindu has ideals, attractinghim, and controllinghis
life, which are not ours ; and no mere contact with
European civilisation or liberating enlightenment
will ever really remove him from their sway. Deep
down in the heart of things, in the soul of India,
in the region of first principles and foundations,
there are differences and contrasts, which are abso-
lute : and this difference prevents the native from
appreciating the liberty accorded by our adminis-
tration, the justice of our law courts, or the self-
denying, single-minded devotion to duty and the
common good, shown by our civil servants and
statesmen. The Hindu must have brought home
to him the supreme excellence of the fundamental
ideas concerning God, man, and life, which Chris-
tianity embodies, before our efforts to benefit him
and to raise his status can bear fruit.
In the Hindu's view of the Supreme God
(Brahma), the idea of absolute Intelligence and
Wisdom is paramount ; in that of the Christian,
infinite Goodness and perfect Will are specially
accentuated. The Hindu, therefore, in his aspira-
tions towards likeness to his Divine Ideal, is con-
stantly striving after perfect knowledge, but the
156 LUCKNOW AND CAWNPORE
Christian, though aspiring, as he does, to " know
as he is known," and accepting with his Lord
that "eternal life" which is "to know God,"
yet lays the emphasis, above all, on the attainment
of the good life and on character. This is specially
apparent in the .aspects of Incarnation which are
proper to the two religions. To the Christian the
spotless character of the Incarnate Lord, and His
cross, and death are essential ; but Krishna the in-
carnation of Vishnu has no concern with ethics, and
comes not to suffer and give life but to destroy.
Again, self-renunciation and ascetic practices play
a part in both the religions, but to the Hindu his
austerities when not intended to be a means of
acquiring power over gods and men are an end in
themselves. He renounces equally the mean, vile
things of earth and the noblest aspirations of his
heart. Even a good deed is a fetter binding him
to the " wheel of circumstance," and to this human
existence, which he would be quit of as soon as
possible. To the Christian, self-renunciation is a
means to an end. The lower is forsaken that he
may attain to a higher, and the "cross of self-
effacement is the path of the crown of true self-
realisation." Then, again, to the Christian, the ideal
future means life, " the glory of going on, and still
to be " ; to the Hindu, it is a calm blank, with every
emotion of joy and act of service swept away.
This attitude of the Hindus has been explained
by the fact that they have had a hard lot between
a bad climate and a worse government ; and
taking the future life to represent only another
THE BROTHERHOOD MISSION 157
existence where they will " repeat in large what
they practised in small " they feel no desire to
embark on it, and so crave absorption or extinction.
Practically of course the average Englishman
might often be taken for a materialist, and the
Hindu shows far more insight than he does into
spiritual things, and strenuousness in pursuit of
them. Nevertheless there is clearly a gulf fixed
between the kind of thought and civilisation and
religion which affirms the value of individuality
and effort which affirms the personality of man
and of God and that civilisation and religion
which regards the persistent striving of humanity
to live and to realise itself as an illusion, a mis-
take, a source of evil. The two ideals clash in
matters fundamental and crucial.
Happily the Indian Government now recognises
that "education in the true sense means something
higher than the mere passing of examinations,
that it aims at the progressive and orderly de-
velopment of all the faculties of the mind, that
it should form character and teach right conduct,
that it is, in fact, a preparation for the business of
life." And much has been done in Cawnpore, to set
forth the foundation truths at the root of our
ideals, since the days when Harry Martyn first
preached there a century ago, and since an S.P.G.
missionary was amongst those murdered in the
Bibi Garh. Two brothers, sons of Bishop West-
cott, started, in 1889, the Brotherhood Mission,
where now seven English and two native clergymen
run industrial schools, boarding-houses, a college,
158 LUCKNOW AND CAWNPORE
and hostels for native and Christian students ; and
besides this, there are an S.P.G. women's hospital,
a dispensary, and orphanages. On the one hand,
encouragement is to be found in Sir Alfred
Lyall's assurance, that the Hindu, being profoundly
spiritual, and feeling the burden of the mystery of
life and death, needs in the object of his worship
something akin to human sympathy, and in the
fact that the story of the life of Jesus of Nazareth
is beginning to form an ideal of life among some
classes ; but, on the other hand, we are assured that
educated converts are now rare, for India now
clings passionately to her old faiths with nervous
apprehension, and never before have the educated
men stood up with more determination for their old
ideals. How far we Westerns, with our lack of
sympathy, which perhaps originates in want of
imagination, are responsible for this, it is hard to
say ; but the Western and the Eastern minds
move on different planes still, and while this is
so we shall continue to hold India by the sword.
CHAPTER VIII
AGRA : THE CITY OF THE GREAT MOGUL
WE rumbled over the iron bridge which spans
the Jumna immediately north of the Fort, and
entered Agra station at 4 o'clock in the morning ;
but it was not till six hours afterwards that we
felt in a mood to be interested in our surroundings;
then, as it was Ash Wednesday, we sallied out and
made inquiries about church services. We found
that they were already over, so went to leave our
cards on General Pretyman, who had just taken
over the command of the district, and proceeded
to the Fort. The beauty of this place quite exceeded
my expectation, and I wished we could have de-
voted more time to it than we had at our disposal.
It is grand as a whole a huge pile of red sand-
stone and the details and designs of the palaces,
mosques, and halls which it contains are exquisite
to a degree, and wonderfully refined, with many
traces of Italian workmanship.
Agra Fort, from about the time of our Henry
VIII.'s accession till shortly after the date of
Charles I.'s death, was the centre of the Mogul
Empire ; the buildings here are the glory of that
period, when Mohammedan architecture in India
160 AGRA
reached its climax. The Emperor Akbar, perhaps
one of the greatest and most liberal-minded rulers
commemorated by history, lived here during the
early years of his life. It is to him that we owe
the double line of noble red sandstone walls, 70 feet
high, with a circumference of over a mile; they en-
close within their precincts a remarkable group of
palaces, mosques, halls of state, baths, kiosques,
balconies and terraces overhanging the river, all
nobly designed and exquisitely decorated by Akbar
and his successors, Jehangir and Shah Jehan.
After a period of thirty years, passed either in war
or at the Royal City of Fatehpur Sikri the crea-
tion of his unique genius Akbar eventually re-
turned to die here in his red palace overlooking the
river. Hisson Jehangir leftfewtraces in Agra, except
perhaps in the JasminTower,for he travelled much
and lived chiefly at Lahore, or Ajmere, where he
received SirThomas Roe, James I. 's ambassador;
but several European travellers have left glowing
accounts of this capricious and peculiar sove-
reign's court at Agra, and of the beauty and in-
fluence of his Afghan wife, Noor Jehan.
To Shah Jehan is due all that is most refined
and most delicately beautiful in the architecture of
Agra. Fergusson draws attention to the immense
contrast between the manly vigour and exuberant
originality of the style of Akbar, with its rich
sculpture and squarely Hindu construction, and the
extreme but " almost effeminate elegance " of that
of Shah Jehan, and condemns the latter as feebly
pretty; his work, however, interested me personally
AGRA FORT
161
more than that of his predecessor, and seemed to
me more picturesque. The transition, which cer-
tainly is great, may perhaps be traced to the in-
fluence of the Italian, French, and Portuguese
THE JUMMA MUSJID
artists who were employed by Jehangir and Shah
Jehan ; they certainly introduced the system of in-
laying coloured marbles and precious stones, which
the Moguls made their own, with such high taste
and skill during this period.* Like that other great
* Bernier, a French physician, in the service of the Court at
Agra, in 1760, mentions the ability shown by the native craftsmen
in the exercise of this and other European arts.
X
162 AGRA
patron of art, Ludovico il Moro, Shah Jehan, after
a life of the greatest splendour, died a prisoner.
Aurangzeb, his son, confined him, in Imperial
state, in the Harem here ; his devoted daughter,
"the humble, transitory Jehanira, the servant
of the holy men of Chist," as she described herself
in her epitaph, tended him there for seven years.
In his last days of weakness, he begged to
be laid in an upper chamber whence he could see
the Taj Mahal, the " dream in marble " he had
raised in memory of his much loved Persian wife,
Arjmand Banu, or Muntazi Mahal, who died at
Jehanira's birth: so, in 1665, ended the passionate
life of Shah Jehan, " emperor and lover, devotee
and artist."
After Jehan's death the centre of Empire was
moved to Delhi, and Aurangzeb, intent on con-
quests in distant parts of India, did not return to
Agra ; a century of anarchy followed, and termi-
nated in 1803, when Lord Lake took possession
of the district for the East India Company.
I do not think any buildings I have ever seen
can approach the Agra Fort and Taj Mahal for
beauty and dignity. The Fort extends about half
a mile along the right bank of the Jumna, which,
passing through a waste of land, flat but broken,
here takes a sharp bend to the east: across its dark
green waters and sandy bed, one gets a glorious
view of the beautiful Taj Mahal, rising, in its gar-
land of green garden, out of the colourless sand,
like a fairy palace raised by some genii in an
Arabian nights' tale.
NAGINA MUSJID
163
It is impossible to enter into details on so large
a subject, but one of the places which interested
me greatly in the Fort was the Nagina Musjid,
or Toy Mosque, where the ladies of Shah Jehan's
palace said their prayers, and close to which
he was imprisoned by his son. The blackened
ceiling of a part
of the cloisters,
said to have been
used by him as
baths, is still
shown as a trace
of his long cap-
t i v i t y. The
Mosque is of __,
pure white mar-
ble, on a tiny
scale, on the first
floor of the pal-
ace, and over-
looks the Mina Bazaar, where jewellers used to
assemble to show their trinkets to the ladies, who
looked down into the courtyard through a stone
screen outside the mosque. Through the same
screen the Imperial prisoner used to watch the
wild beast fights held below.
Then, on a great bastion, there is the Saman
Burj, or Jasmin Tower, where the chief Sultana
lived, an exquisite octagonal two-storeyed turret
an ethereal building of white marble with a cupola
overlaid with gold which commands a glorious
view over the Jumna, or rather down it, to the Taj.
ON THE WALL OF THE FORT
164 AGRA
The Pietra Dura work here is said to be the
handiwork of Austin of Bordeaux, a French
craftsman who found asylum with the Moguls
from the hand of justice in his own land, and
is reported to have been subsequently poisoned
by some native professional rival. This delicate
marble inlay work, and the low reliefs in white
marble, are marvellously beautiful ; they are espe-
cially noticeable in the Diwan-i-Khas, or Private
Hall of Audience, where the Great Mogul used
to settle his domestic affairs. He sat under
arches of white marble of exquisite proportions,
with slender twelve-sided columns all inlaid with
elaborate floral designs, in jasper, agate, jade, cor-
nelian, lapis lazuli and bloodstone, hardly less
bright than the roses and pansies which still
bloom, within their white marble bordering,
amongst the vines and the cypresses in the palace
garden below.
These marble galleries, pavilions and terraces,
in bewildering complexity, crown the summit of
the vast red wall overhanging the river, between
the two great circular bastions ; they are raised
upon a vast series of subterranean galleries, stairs
and passages, partly explored in the search for
hidden treasure, and secret entrances, when the
English population was concentrated here during
the Mutiny. Some of these suites of rooms had
been walled up since the days of Shah Jehan.
The gateways of this grand citadel, especially
the Delhi Gate, are very imposing. Within the Delhi
Gate is a second gate, flanked by two octagonal
THE TAJ 165
towers, and surmounted by cupolas. Here I was
sketchingin the afternoon, when who should appear
driving past, but our kind host when in Adelaide,
Chief Justice Way, and Dr. Pennefather. I halloed
to them to stop, and we arranged to meet at the Taj,
and accordingly drove there towards sundown.
The entrance gateway to the precincts of the
Taj is in itself a splendid building of sandstone
THE TAJ FROM THE ROAD TO AGRA
from Fatehpur Sikri, and marble from Jeypur ;
anywhere else it would claim attention, but it is
disregarded and forgotten after the first glimpse
through the archway which frames in the object of
tDur pilgrimage. Before us is a rectangular garden,
flanked by massive red walls, which are overtopped
by dark trees, festooned with bougainvillea ; it is
planted with cypresses and roses, between straight,
marble-lined watercourses and crossing paths
and is a very paradise of birds. There upon
a raised marble platform, isolated from all its
166 AGRA
immediate surroundings, except the four sentinel
minarets, and with no background but the sky,
shines the glorious face of the Taj itself.
Before entering we must just glance at three
small and insignificant objects, arranged upon a
projecting ledge of the base of the gateway. A disk
of battered copper hangs by a leather thong from
a horizontal bar of wood fastened to two upright
posts of stone : from the same posts is suspended
a row of twelve large beads by a string, attached,
at each end, to the knobs on the tops of the posts,
and a rude mallet lies beneath. What is the mean-
ing of these queer objects ? This is an old-world
clock, worked by a human agent, who sits and
watches below. When a fresh hour arrives he gets
up, passes a bead from one side to the other, strikes
the copper disk, or gong, with strokes correspond-
ing to the hour of the day, and squats down to
await the arrival of the next hour. How he dis-
covers what the time actually is, whether he
guesses it, or whether he keeps a Waterbury in
the folds of his loin-cloth, I did not ascertain.
The sun had set some minutes as we looked
for the first time through the gateway to the great
Mausoleum : the garden was all in shade, while a
soft pearly light was hovering about the domes of
the Taj intensified by the warm colour of the
sandstone arch through which we gazed. Its size,
its completeness, its solemn and dignified sur-
roundings, and its pearly, opalesque colour in the
evening light, combined to give this most re-
markable building so ethereal an aspect that we
A PRIMITIVE CLOCK
167
approached it almost with awe, which seemed to
demand that here we should take the shoes from
off our feet and uncover our heads.
A PRIMITIVE CLOCK
I know my experience is commonplace and my
enthusiasm meux jeu; it would be more up to
date to take up a flippant attitude ; but I have
no patience with the people who criticise the
architecture, proportions and designs of the
Taj Mahal. No doubt the Taj stands at the high-
i68 AGRA
water mark of Mogul art, and its immediate
descendants totter on the verge of decadence ; but
it is certainly a wonderful creation, and as Mr. Way
said, the words, " A house not made with hands,"
involuntarily occur to one: I felt that one ought
not to speak above a whisper when approaching
it. One remarkable feature of the group is its
wonderful symmetry. Every part has some other
part which exactly balances it; ajawab, or "answer,"
has even been built on the east side facing the
west, as an exact pendant to the mosque on the
west side. If there is a kiosque on one side of
the garden there is a similar one on the other.
If there is a turret at this angle of the garden there
is another to correspond at that. These buildings,
all red sandstone, white marble and mosaic, are in
themselves grand, but here they have to find their
level in a subordinate position. The most attractive
views are where the great white building appears
amongst the cypress trees, and where the four
corner minarets are somewhat hidden ; for, if there
is room for hypercriticism about anything, it would
be in respect to these minarets. They irresistibly
suggest lighthouses, and the bands across do not
tend to carry the eye upwards to the dome, as
flutings such as there are on the Delhi minarets
would do.
We visited the Taj several times, and saw the
interior by the light of lamps, and by moonlight;
but the subdued twilight, which is all that pene-
trates through the double set of marble lattice-
screens in the daytime, is no doubt the best by
THE TAJ-MAHAL 169
which to appreciate its mysterious depths, and
the jewelled sprays and garlands and touches of
coloured marble, with which the unerring judg-
ment of the artist has given value to the balance
of the scheme. There is considerable pathos in the
prayer on the tomb of Arjmand, to be " defended
from unbelievers."
We took special notice of the delicate Pietra
Dura work on the tomb of Shah Jehan. It seems
more beautiful even than that upon the tomb of
his wife beside it, and it is difficult to imagine
how the fine stalks and veins of the flowers could
have been cut out of marble and fitted into their
places with such precision as is here displayed.* I
wished I had time to copy some of the designs.
But time was always the great difficulty : there
were so many things that I felt I must do while
I had the opportunity. First of all, I had to try
and verify all the Handbook statements, and do
what I could to put the descriptions straight.
Then I had the things described to see ; though
that perhaps should come first ! Thirdly, I had
my diary, which I did not like to give up,
having gone so far with it, even though it is a very
prosy chronicle of events. Then I wanted to sketch
as much as my time would permit, for certainly
such an opportunity will never recur. And finally,
and in conclusion, I must get some exercise and
eat and sleep, as I was still human, though I had
seen the Taj.
* Tavernier, the French traveller and jeweller in Agra at the
time, says that 20,000 men were employed on the Taj for 22 years.
Y
170 AGRA
This evening we lingered for some time, and it
was dark before we left the precincts of the Taj. I
walked back a good part of the way with the Chief
Justice Way ; then we got into his carriage, which
was slowly following, and drove back to the world
of prose, and all dined together.
Next morning early, Mr. Way and his party
started for Delhi. I went to the Fort and spent
four hours hard at work, putting straight the ac-
count in the Handbook. I came across an intelli-
gent private of the Leinster Regiment who has
been three years in this Fort, and he gave me a
good deal of help.
I was charmed with the Moti Musjid the Pearl
Mosque in the Fort ; it is quite perfect in its way.
It stands on a raised platform, and is approached
by a double flight of stairs. The exterior, of rough
red sandstone, makes no pretensions to effect ;
within is a glorious vision of warm white marble,
delightfully veined in different tones of white,
grey, and pale azure, and with mellow touches of
yellow. No colour invades the precinct with its
central water basin, only, above the seven beautiful
arches of the mosque proper which faces one with
its nine light cupolas and three domes runs a
broad Persian inscription in black marble. Even
the critical Fergusson allows, that the moment the
eastern gateway is entered the effect of its court-
yard and graceful arches is surpassingly beautiful,
and hardly approached anywhere for purity and
simplicity : it is a superb house of God, calling all
who enter it to prayer. From the terrace on the top
THE JUMMA MUSJID 171
of the cloisters hard by when my work was done
I got a sketch, across the Fort and down the
river to the Taj with its fair white domes and mina-
rets reflected in the water.
After breakfast on February 13, I walked to
the Great Mosque, the Jumma Musjid, close to
THE JUMMA MUSJID
the Fort. The road there is rather a typical one.
There is much dust in fact, a general tone of
dust pervades everything; the scanty grass by the
roadside, which has not already been browsed down
by half-starved donkeys and cattle, is brown and
dead ; but there is not much of it. The road is
lined with low one-storied buildings shops, for
the most part, open to the street, supported by low
carved pillars and sheltered by awnings of straw.
Swarthy people squat among their wares, smoking
their hookahs (often without mouthpieces), and
172 AGRA
drawing the smoke straight from the bowl. The
roadway itself is thronged with people many of
the women, carrying brass pitchers and other heavy
loads upon their heads, are clad in bright colours,
with rows of bangles round their wrists and ankles ;
the men, in less brilliant but more motley clothes,
trouble themselves less with heavy loads than the
gentler sex. Here and there a well-laden camel,
with supercilious expression, comes striding
through the crowd, making the garis and ekkas
look small beside him.
The Jumma Musjid is a grand building of red
sandstone and marble in herring-bone courses;
though built by Shah Jehan in 1644, it approaches
more nearly to the earlier vigorous style of his prede-
cessors. He built it in the name of his noble
and devoted daughter Jehanira, who subsequently
shared his captivity here, and whose unassuming
tomb with its touching epitaph we visited near
Delhi. This mosque has lost its great gateway,
which was pulled down by the English, as they
thought it threatened the Fort, and might be made
use of to strengthen an enemy's position.
Whilst sitting in the hotel verandah, watching
the constant stream of comers and goers, European
and native, we recognised, in the depths of the bird-
cage canopy of a native ekka, the well-known face
of the venerable Father Benson of Cowley . I say we
recognised his face, but his face was the last part
of his person to meet our gaze; it was his feet that
first caught our eye down the road, projecting be-
yond the side of the native conveyance. An ekka
AN EKKA 173
is a very inconvenient vehicle for Europeans, and
one in which they are seldom seen. Its floor con-
sists of a tightly stretched canvas, on a square
frame a most suitable resting-place for the flexible
body of a squatting native but to a European, who
cannot double himself up like the Hindu, it pre-
sents this problem, difficult of solution what is
he to do with his legs? In front they are in the way
of the driver ; the build of the ekka often makes it
impossible to project them behind ; and so he is
compelled to stick them out at the side, over the
wheel, contact with which he has constantly to be
careful to avoid. The good old gentleman's posture
was distinctly quaint, and unlike that usually
affected by people of his wise and reverend char-
acter ; I could not resist making a sketch, of the
manner of his appearance on the scene, which I
slipped into a letter to a friend at home, and next
heard of, to my consternation, on the walls of the
common-room at Cowley ! Father Benson was
then making a visitation tour of the Mission-
stations of his society in various parts of the world ;
and he left for Lucknow that afternoon.
We dined with the Pretymans and spent a very
pleasant evening. The heat here seems to be ex-
tremely trying in the summer ; the thermometer
frequently stands as high as 115 all night, and this
is one of the stations where to make sleep possible,
the bheestie is sometimes requisitioned several
times in the night to pour water over the beds, a
most effective method of inducing rheumatism.
After church on Sunday morning at St. George's,
174 AGRA
where the General read the lessons, in uniform,
we drove six miles to see Akbar's magnificent
tomb at Sikandra. It stands in the centre of a
large walled garden, with a gateway in the middle
of each of the four walls. The one by which we
entered is a splendid building of red sandstone,
inlaid with marble, and surmounted by four white
marble minarets, the tops of which have been de-
stroyed.
The tomb is most original, and not like any
other tomb in India. It is a four-storeyed pyra-
midal building of red sandstone, rising in a step
fashion to the uppermost tier of white marble.
This consists of a beautiful courtyard, surrounded
by a cloister of nine bays on each side, and fur-
nished with windows of open lattice-work of
exquisite designs. In the centre, floating as it
were between earth and sky, is the cenotaph, and
close beside it a pedestal, which once held the
Koh-i-nor. The dome, which a traveller of the
sixteenth century tells us was designed to cover
the central space, was never added. The building
bristles with small kiosques and pavilions of white
marble and red sandstone : and the vestibule of
the tomb is richly decorated with frescoes.
Here we had our picnic lunch, and, whilst
admiring the view from the top, we heard the
sound of church bells, and turning saw buried
amongst the trees the little church of the C.M.S.
Orphanage. We descended and went to it. It con-
tained a large congregation of natives, consisting
chiefly of the orphans; boys in European dress on
SIKANDRA 175
one side, and girls in a mongrel costume on the
other. The service was of course in the ver-
nacular ; and as we entered we found them reading
the evening Psalms. When the lessons were read
they squatted on mats on the floor. They were
all attentive, but we were struck by a certain
lack of reverence. No one seemed to kneel during
prayers, but sat or squatted very much at their
ease.
In 1660 there was a really large population of
Christians at Delhi. Akbar protected the Jesuit
Mission, and they built a church ; but Shah Jehan
176 AGRA
pulled the spire down, because the continual ringing
of bells annoyed him. Except in the cemetery this
early community left no trace.
We drove back by the Muttra Road the
Appian Way of Agra it is lined the whole way
with tombs. Along this avenue, on a wet, dark night
in the early days of the Mutiny, Mark Thornhill,
the Muttra magistrate, escaped for his life, with
the very uncertain prospect of reaching and gaining
admittance to the Fort at Agra. It w r as fortunate
for him that he possessed true and loyal friends in
the Seths, the native bankers at Muttra, and by
their influence he evaded the clutches of the muti-
neers at Muttra. With one Englishman and Dil-
war Khan, a staunch native officer, and a handful
of half-hearted native followers, he rode away
from the Seths' house at nightfall, disguised in
native dress. The night was dark, for, although
there was a moon, it was constantly shrouded by
heavy rain-clouds, and the fitful gleams of light
only served to intensify the shadows of the dark
avenue beneath which their journey lay.
After proceeding some distance they became con-
scious of a mysterious sound which seemed to pro-
ceed from the side avenue on their right, and which
resembled the dull clanking of a chain. The dark-
ness was so great they could distinguish nothing,
not even the trees ; the sound shortly ceased,
and they proceeded with caution on their way.
Soon afterwards they encountered two men,
mounted on a camel, who turned out to be the
Seths' messengers, returning to Muttra with the
MUTINEERS
177
news of a battle outside Agra ; they reported that
afterwards the English had fallen back on Agra
A STREET IN AGRA
Fort before the mutineers, who had established
themselves in the town and cantonments. A short
interval passed, and the mysterious sound they
178 AGRA
had already heard caught their ear again ; this
time there was no mistaking a clear low clank-
ing of chains, coming from the side of the road.
The trees were here thinner, and a faint glimmer
of light showed a row of dark figures, proceeding,
like dim phantoms, in single file, closely follow-
ing each other. The ground being soft, the foot-
steps were not discernible, but with every move-
ment came the clanking of a chain. They now
noticed a dull glare along the horizon, which
became more distinct as they advanced. It was
evident that Agra was in flames, and the truth
dawned upon them that this line of dim forms
was a body of prisoners, escaped from the Agra
gaol, making their way to Muttra. So close did
the dismal procession pass, that at one time they
almost touched Mark Thornhill's party ; but they
appeared, however, to be unconscious of his pre-
sence and made no attempt to molest him. For
many miles the same scene, like some incident in
Dante's "Inferno," recurred continually ; the groups
of prisoners passed at ever closer intervals, until
they came across a wayside hut with a body of men
drinking. Catching sight of English saddles on the
horses tethered outside, they realised that they
were inside the lines of the mutineers, and galloped
for their lives. Long before this their mounted
escort had melted away, and the party was reduced
to three men and a boy. As they rode along
a side avenue, they passed a body of mounted
troopers, one of whom confronted them and bade
them halt: putting their jaded horses once more
A MOGUL TOMB 179
to a gallop, Dilwar Khan shouted that they were
bearing despatches from the Emperor of Delhi to
Agra, and they dashed forward. They were not pur-
sued, but pressed on, past the smouldering frame-
work of the burning bungalows. By daybreak their
eventful ride came to an end, and they were re-
ceived into Agra Fort.
Along this same road we made our way to the
Jumna, and crossed by a bridge of boats to the tomb
of Itmad ud Daulah the Prime Minister of
Jehangir, and father of his ambitious and masterful
wife Noor Jehan, or Normall as Roe calls her.
It isacharmingbuilding there is nothing grand
about it but it is in every part pretty; surrounded
by a good garden, and built upon the banks of the
river, it must always be a delightful spot. The
tomb of a great Pathan or Mogul personage was
usually erected during his own lifetime, on a
square terrace in an enclosed garden ; it was used
as a place for feasting and recreation in the cool of
the evening, by himself and his friends, until
the day when his body was laid in the crypt below
the central chamber under the dome. Then it was
handed over to the care of priests, who made what
they could out of the garden, and its produce, and
the alms of those who visited the tomb. Often, in
the more magnificent tombs, the family and rela-
tions are buried under the smaller rooms which
cluster round the central domed space.
The tomb of this great man is of this kind, it is
built of yellow marble, and stands in the centre of
a small square building of white marble, one storey
i8o AGRA
high, whilst smaller chambers, round the central
one, contain minor tombs. At each of the four
angles is a round tower, about twice the height of
the building, surmounted by a cupola, and in the
centre, forming a small second storey, is a pavilion
containing the cenotaph.
The whole of the building outside is covered
with elaborate Pietra Dura work, of which it
is the earliest example in India, and a great part
of the interior is similarly decorated. The re-
mainder is adorned with frescoes of flowers
trees, &c., the windows filled with marvellously
delicate marble lattice-work, and in the return of
the doorways overhead is some remarkably fine
low-relief sculpture.
We drove back through the native town, which
abounds in " subjects." On our way we passed a
marriage procession, the betrothed bridegroom,
poorlittlefellow about four years of age was fast
asleep, being held on his saddle by a man who rode
behind him on the same horse fast asleep in spite
of the deafening sound of tomtoms and pipes. The
day's work had been too much of a good thing for
him at any rate.
The old town is an amusing place. " Of course
he has got into the old town," my friends will say ;
so I have, but these Eastern towns are out and
out more interesting, and far less dirty than those
of Europe. I think that even the most inartistic
person would be fascinated by them. Imagine a tor-
tuous street of irregular flat-topped houses, with the
domes and minarets of a mosque towering above
A STREET SCENE
181
them. The street, is thronged with people, all in the
brightest coloured or white garments, and no two
A STREET IN AGRA
of them dressed alike. A large proportion of the
women, and the white-clothed men, are carrying
hugeweightsupon their heads, the biggest of which
i8 2 AGRA
is a basket containing ten spherical earthenware
pots, each one i8in. in diameter. Amongst them
come bustling along parties of three or four per-
sons in an ekka, all engaged in shouting to the
crowd to clear out of the road; then towering above
all and everybody comes a string of camels with
huge burdens on their backs. The street is lined
with small shops, into which the buyer does not
enter, for the shop has no inside to speak of, it is
more like a booth or stall, and all the goods are
displayed in the street front. The merchant or
workman squats, or sits cross-legged amongst his
wares, at the height of one's elbow above the street.
They are full of bright colours, these shops, and with
awnings above them and sunshine glinting through
and intensifying the shadows of the deep recesses
behind ; they form most picturesque subjects.
Besides selling en evidence, they make all their
wares before the eyes of the public. In one
part the people always men are all engaged in
making gold lace in another, slippers. Here they
are polishing bits of glass ; next door they are
making the tinsel to set them in, for tawdry orna-
ments. There a colony is wholly given over to
making stems for hookahs, and close by they are
making the bowls. When it comes to hard work,
then the men, lazy dogs, make the women work ;
as I passed along I counted twenty-five women
grinding corn in their hand-mills, all together in
one place, whilst the easy work of winnowing,
&c., was being done by the men. Poor women,
they are terrible drudges in this country !
AN INTELLIGENT AUDIENCE 183
I spent a good part of the next days sketching.
After breakfast one day, with a boy to carry my
sketching-bag, I sallied forth to explore a part of
the old town which I had not seen before. There
was little of interest the houses mostly of mud,
but here and there some good doorways. The boy
wanted to prevent my going, and when I came to
a stream about 10 ft. wide, I knew the reason why.
The natives, like himself, having of course no shoes
or stockings to think of, had no difficulty in cross-
ing. It was different with me, and they were in-
clined to laugh ; but I took off my hat and put
down my umbrella, and having screwed up my
stiff old limbs and set my teeth, I ran at it and
cleared it, much more easily than I had expected,
unused as I am to such gymnastics. I sketched a
beautiful doorway with a father and two sons
sitting in it. I had an intelligent audience, and
amongst them a young man who told me he had left
his Arabic lesson to watch me. He said the old man
in the doorway had been the Kazi of Agra, that
he had once been very rich, but now he was poor.
I asked, "Why?" and was met with the compre-
hensive reply, "Because he drink rum." They were
all Mohammedans, but apparently it was not only
in the matter of rum the precepts of their religion
sat on them lightly, for they did not mind being
sketched as the Arabs do. I once tried to sketch
some Arabs in Algiers: they constantly evaded me,
and at last an old Moor with whom we were on
the friendly terms produced by constant bargaining
for embroidered "rags" spoke to me on the
184 AGRA
matter like a father, for my good. "It is not," he
said, "that any harm will ensue to those whose
picture you make; it is you yourself will suffer
inconvenience in the next world. Allah will say
to you : ' Following your own will and pleasure,
you have made those figures. I now command you :
give them souls.' And where, my friend, will you
be then ? "
CHAPTER IX
FATEHPUR SIKRI, THE WINDSOR OF
THE GREAT MOGUL
THE name of Akbar's Royal city is not very
familiar to English ears, although distinctly better
known now than it was twenty or even ten years
ago.
The history of Fatehpur Sikri is short, for the
good reason that the great potentate and warrior
had not long settled in the city, which his genius
created, when the impure water and the unhealthi-
ness of the neighbourhood compelled him to leave
his palaces and to remove his Court.
But there, almost intact, it has remained for
three centuries a dead monumental city, no
longer instinct with the life and splendour of an
Emperor's Court, but given over to the bats and
the wild beasts and to the tender mercies of a few
poor country folk.
The climate of an Indian winter in the plains
is delightful and exhilarating. Cool nights and
cloudless days, with hot sun at noon, follow 7 one
another in regular succession, and it was in such
weather as this that we found ourselves on our
way from Agra to Fatehpur Sikri, twenty miles
distant across the plain. The road by which we
2 A
1 86 THE WINDSOR OF THE GREAT MOGUL
quitted Agra was thronged with a motley coloured
crowd, which gradually grew thinner as we emerged
from the town and entered a long straight avenue,
which, passing between fairly green fields and
through scattered mud villages, extends all the
way to Fatehpur Sikri. The drive is a pleasant
one, with plenty of life, human and otherwise,
along a road, the distances on which are marked
by milestones fifteen feet in height, erected by the
Great Mogul.
We pass here and there a camel-caravan resting
by the roadside, with huge packs of cotton waiting
to be loaded up, bright-painted ekkas crowded with
country folk, bullock-waggons with picturesque
parties of women and children chanting strange
wild songs, and oxen in pairs drawing water from
many wells to irrigate the neighbouring fields.
In the less populous parts of our route we be-
come quite intimate with the many kind's of birds
which abound in this country, from the kite and
the white vulture to the wagtail. Doves fly about
us or run across the road before the horses' feet
like ducks in a country lane. Countless green
parrots, with bright red beaks always in a hurry
fly swiftly past us, or chase one another
screaming among the branches of the tamarind
trees, which form a leafy arch above our heads.
Here we put up a partridge and there a jungle
crow, or start a blue jay, whose wings glisten in
the sunlight as he flies away to a little distance
and perches on a Persian wheel to see us pass.
Then there are hoopoes and hooded crows, minah
AKBAR'S MILESTONE
187
birds, and others too numerous to name. As for
the tiny palm squirrels, they are as plentiful as
flies, and so tame that they seem to think it hardly
necessary to get out of our way.
I*;***'
ONE OF AKBAR'S MILESTONES
Fatehpur Sikri is built on a low ridge command-
ing extensive views over the surrounding plain.
We climb the jungle-covered ascent, drive past
tenantless palaces and through empty squares, and
draw up before the Record Office, now converted
into the dak bungalow, or rest-house, for travellers.
Here we are received by the salaaming attendant
i88 THE WINDSOR OF THE GREAT MOGUL
in charge of the house, and enter to take up our
quarters.
During the greater part of the time between the
year 1569 and 1605 the Emperor Akbar was making
conquests in India far andwide, but in the intervals
of fighting he found time to plan and build this
remarkable city, with all the elaborate arrange-
ments necessary for the administration of a great
state, the life of a distinguished Court, and the
support of an extensive armed retinue. In former
days the west side of this red city for it is built
entirely of red sandstone was bounded by a vast
lake, which has now disappeared. Its other sides
were surrounded by embattled walls, of which the
greater part still remains, enclosing an area of some
two or three square miles. These walls are pierced
by seven gateways, flanked by grim semi-circular
bastions, and one of these gateways is supported
by two gigantic stone elephants, now much muti-
lated, which raised and united their trunks over
the archway, giving the name of Hathi Pol, or
Elephant Gate, to this approach to the city.
We had the good fortune to bear an introduction
to Mr. E. W. Smith,* who, as archaeologist and
architect, was then at work for the Government,
measuring, mapping, and drawing the city and
its palaces. He has since, under the auspices
of the India Office, brought out a most important
book on the subject in four volumes. I cannot do
better than quote some of his introductory words
about the chief buildings :
* Mr. Smith, I regret to learn, has since died.
190 THE WINDSOR OF THE GREAT MOGUL
" Several of the buildings have enormous front-
ages, extending to 35oft. and 4Ooft., while others
are so heavily laden with detail that hardly a square
inch remains uncarved. Fergusson, in speaking of
them, says: 'It is impossible to conceive anything
so picturesque in outline, or any building carved
to such an extent, without the smallest approach
to being overdone or in bad taste.' . . . The build-
ings consist of two classes, religious and domestic,
and for beauty and richness of design rank among
the finest in India." After enumerating many of
the buildings, Mr. Smith continues : " There are
many other important structures full of interest
to the student of Indian architecture, the artist,
and the antiquarian, and ranking among the fore-
most are the Turkish baths. They are built of
rubble masonry, and the interior walls are coated
in stucco, panelled, and profusely decorated with
incised geometrical patterns, the dados being
polished and painted. No two buildings are alike
in design. The great Masjid, a copy of one at
Makha, and extensively inlaid with marble and
enamel, is second to none in the country."
The Buland Darwaza, or Gate of Victory, which
forms the southern entrance to this mosque, is
the loftiest building in Fatehpur Sikri, and is
approached by a stately flight of steps. On the
right side of the entrance is the following inscrip-
tion in Arabic, " Said Jesus, on whom be peace !
the world is a bridge, pass over it but build no
house there." Within is the last resting-place of
vShaik Salim Chisti, a fakir who lived an ascetic
BEAUTIFUL DETAILS 191
life in a cave hard by and exercised an extraordi-
nary influence over Akbar. This little tomb, beau-
tifully designed and intricately sculptured, is one
of the most perfect specimens of Mogul architec-
ture, and lies like a jewel of white marble in its
red sandstone surroundings it is, indeed, the only
building in the whole city which is not of the
coarser material. There are several other note-
worthy tombs in the courtyard of the mosque, and
just inside is that of Salim Chisti's infant son,
a diminutive but nevertheless much-venerated
shrine, where a light is always kept burning.
As we left the sacred spot the sun was on the
horizon, and from a high minaret we heard the
summons of the faithful to prayer, a call to which
there were but few to respond. One of the most re-
markablebuildings in the cityis the Diwan-i-Khas,
or private hall of audience ; it consists of a single
square chamber with an entrance in the middle
of each of its four sides. From the centre of the
floor a large octagonal pillar rises to the height of
the sills of the upper windows, where it is sur-
mounted by a huge circular capital. This capital
carries no weight, but is connected with the four
corners of the building by four stone causeways,
or galleries, radiating from it, and approached
from the ground on the north-west and south-east
corners by narrow staircases in the thickness of the
wall. The definite purpose of this arrangement is
not absolutely known, but tradition asserts that
Akbar's throne occupied the centre of the platform
upon the capital of the pillar, and that a corner
192 THE WINDSOR OF THE GREAT MOGUL
of the building was assigned to each of his four
Ministers, who approached him along these cause-
ways.
Another very striking building is the Panch
Mahal, which rises in an irregular pyramidal form
to a very considerable height, in five tiers, each
storey being smaller than the one below it. The
lower tier supports the one above with eighty-four
columns, while the uppermost consists merely of
a kiosque supported on four slender shafts. The
purpose of this building is also somewhat obscure,
but it is supposed to have been a pleasure resort
for the ladies of the palace, where they could enjoy
the air without being seen, for the building, though
open to the winds on all sides, has carved stone
screens on each storey; these are sufficient to pro-
tect the inmates from the rude gaze of passers-by,
while at the same time allowing them to watch
what was going forward in the world around. One
of the peculiarities of this Panch Mahal is that
hardly any two of the many pillars in its con-
struction are of the same design or ornamented
alike. Close by is Akbar's own private sleeping
apartment, called the Khwabghar, or " House of
Dreams," a small, but elaborately frescoed build-
ing, with convenient access to all other parts of
the palace.
To describe the other important buildings in
the city would be wearisome, even if space per-
mitted it. I can merely attempt to refer to a few
of them.
One of Akbar's most trusted dependents was
THE PRIME MINISTER'S HOUSE
2 B
i 9 4 THE WINDSOR OF THE GREAT MOGUL
Bir Bal, originally a Hindoo minstrel, who ingra-
tiated himself with the great Mogul, occupied a
position similar to that of a poet laureate at his
Court, and eventually became his Prime Minister.
For this man his patron built a magnificent house,
which, together with the Turkish Sultana's small
dwelling, Fergusson calls " the richest and most
beautiful, as well as the most characteristic, of all
Akbar's buildings." They are minutely carved from
top to bottom within and without. Then there is
the house of Miriam, the mother of the Emperor
Jehangir, a building with curious frescoes, in which
an angel is depicted in style and treatment so much
like those with which we are familiar in Fra
Angelico's pictures of the Annunciation that it
has given rise to the erroneous belief that this
Miriam, wife of Akbar, was a Portuguese Christian.
Mohammedans are usually fond of birds, and it
is interesting to observe that in many of the chief
buildings the upper parts are pierced with small
arched recesses for the accommodation of pigeons.
Besides all this there is an elaborate system for
raising water and dispersing it to all parts of the
palace ; mysterious viaducts, aqueducts, and pas-
sages abound in all directions, as well as stables
for horses and camels, with the stone rings by
which the animals were fastened still attached to
their mangers.
In one of the stately courts of the palace the
pavement is marked out somewhat in the fashion
of a gigantic chess-board; this is the Pachisi Court,
where the Emperor used to play the game which
PANCH MAHAL 195
gives the court its name. The game presents much
resemblance to chess, and, in this case, was played
with living pieces, men and women dressed in
character. Of the gardens, which must have been
very large, scanty traces remain.
The sub-structures of the palace buildings are
massive and extensive, and are infested with bats
and porcupines, while panthers find covert among
the dense, scrubby jungle which surrounds the city.
Not long before our arrival Mr. Smith's children
had a narrow escape from a panther which sprang
out of the bushes close to them. Fortunately it
was a stray goat, and not the children, which had
attracted the brute, and with the aid of the dogs
they were able to make good their escape.
Although to the ordinary observer Fatehpur
Sikri appears fairly intact, a close inspection will
show that much of the fabric is tottering to a fall,
and, indeed, some of the buildings have actually
crumbled into ruins. This is unfortunately the case
with many of the architectural monuments through-
out the Empire, and it is distressing to see build-
ings notable for their historic interest, as well as
for their artistic beauty, vanishing before our eyes.
The monuments of India have, in fact, passed
through many vicissitudes, and have suffered much
from diverse causes, from the fanatical religionist,
the ruthless conqueror, from the well-intentioned
but ignorant restorer, and from the less ignorant
but too practical engineer ; from the natives,
who use them as quarries for their own mean
buildings ; from the jungle growth, which in the
196 THE WINDSOR OF THE GREAT MOGUL
course of a few years may, by insinuating roots
and tendrils, upheave massive masonry and tear
down well-built walls; from the monsoon rains;
and last, but not least, from the archaeological thief,
who has been permitted to carry off with impunity
countless treasures to enrich his own or his nation's
collection.
Buddhist temples were destroyed by Hindus,
and Hindu buildings received the roughest hand-
ling at the hand of the Mohammedan. In our own
time, treasures of art have disappeared on the excuse
of modern improvement, or, perhaps, to make room
for a railway station ; temples and palaces have
been con verted to utilitarian purposes, and amongst
other acts of widespread vandalism was the smash-
ing up of numberless Pathan tombs, including the
priceless encaustic tiles with which they were
adorned, to form ballast for 200 miles of railway
line.
Collectors have been permitted to pilfer and carry
away sculpture and other works of art. Notorious
instances in point are the abduction of Shah Jehan's
bath at Agra, and of the celebrated Orpheus panel
from the Delhi Palace, and within recent years there
have appeared in celebrated European museums a
series of Indian frescoes and a most valuable frieze
of encaustic tiles stolen from buildings in the
peninsula. For these dishonourable but enterpris-
ing acts the perpetrators have been decorated by
their sovereign. In the meanwhile, many praise-
worthy attempts have been made by individual
Englishmen to arouse public feeling and to stimu-
A FORTUNATE ESCAPE 197
late an interest in the historical monuments of
India. Few have done more to this end than James
Fergusson, whose history of Indian architecture
the chief authority on the subject has earned for
him the gratitude of all lovers of history and art.
To General Cunningham is due the preservation
and protection of many buildings of interest, and by
him, under Lord Canning, was inaugurated the
first archaeological survey of Northern India. Dr.
James Burgess, his able successor, has spent a
long and useful life in prosecuting the study of
architecture in India as an art or record of history,
and his monumental works on the Buddhist period
have done much to stimulate interest in and en-
courage the study of the subject.
In 1891 a memorial was addressed to the Secre-
tary of State for India, signed by representatives
of all the leading artistic and antiquarian societies
in England, andby a largenumberof influential and
artistic persons, praying him to take steps for the
systematic record and preservation of all buildings
of interest in the country for up till that time the
measures taken were at the best intermittent and
partial and in 1898 Lord Elgin once more took
up the reorganisation of the Department of Archae-
ology. Thanks to Lord Curzon, this department
has now been set upon a sound basis ; a trained
archaeologist has been appointed to supervise the
operations, to initiate plans of repair or restoration,
and to prepare a record of existing monuments ;
and it is to be hoped that these relics of a bygone
civilisation forming as they do one of the chief
198 THE WINDSOR OF THE GREAT MOGUL
glories of the land will be preserved for the joy
of many generations to come.
This being the case, the country is to be con-
gratulated ; it was high time that England should
awake to the responsibilities of her trust in respect
to the monuments of which the nation should be
proud, and which as yet it has taken no adequate
steps to preserve.
.v^K-.-OV ^
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A, ^-V^^^-^H <" " '^-
CTi .>r*- -r^ix 2J&t0j*i 7 //j, .. ,*//i^
ON THE ROAD TO FATEHPUR
CHAPTER X
GWALIOR: SINDHIA'S CAPITAL
WE had heard so much about Gwalior Fort, the
centre of a rich native State, that we determined to
make a ddtoitr from Agra to see it for ourselves ;
and when one day, early in February, we arrived in
the moonlight, we found it was indeed a wonderful
place.
A huge rock of sandstone, capped with basalt,
one-and-a-half miles long,rises sternly and majesti-
cally, like a wall, out of the plain, and is crowned
with a fantastic line of palaces and temples.
The authentic history of the Fort goes back to
the second century A.D., when it was in the posses-
sion of Toramana, who ruled over the country be-
tween the Jumna and the Nerbudda; but tradition
places the founding of the city many centuries
before Christ. No doubt, the rock-dwelling anchor-
ites and yogis who have always abounded in Hindu
lands as they do in Tibet now, had their dwellings
in the caves here from the very earliest days, be-
fore Elijah fled to the wilderness to serve God in
solitude or Jacob reared his lath at Bethel.
The Kachawa dynasty of eighty-four Rajput
princes held the fortress till 967, and a second
200 GWALIOR
line of nine Hindu princes then reigned here for
200 years, until Kutub-ud-din, of Delhi fame,
wrested it from them for his Mohammedan
masters, and for another 200 years the Kings of
Delhi used Gwalior as a state prison. So also did
the Mogul Emperors, confining here possible
aspirants to the throne, whom they compelled to
drink an infusion of opium, which acted as a slow
poison. In the early middle ages, another Hindu
dynasty, the Touar Rajpoots, were again in posses-
sion of Gwalior, and they are the princes who have
left the deepest mark on the rock-fortress in the
beautiful palaces of Man Sing, and the very re-
markable series of Jain rock-carvings, on the west
and south-east faces of the cliffs. At the time of
Henry the Eighth the Moguls came back, and, on
the dismemberment of their empire, Gwalior was
seized first by the Jat Rana of Gohad and then by
the great Mahratta chiefs of the house of Sindhia,
who are descended from an official of the Peshwa's
court at Poona. With the exception of several
intervals during which it was in our hands, they
have been in possession of it ever since.
During the Mutiny, although Sindhia and his
minister, Sir Dinkar Rao, remained loyal with
10,000 men, a contingent mutinied, and defeated
Sindhia' s troops near Morar. He took refuge in
Agra, and it was left to Sir Hugh Rose and
Lord Napier of Magdala to regain the fortress.
This they did after five days' desperate fighting
against that interesting Amazon, the Rani of
Jhansi, who, in counsel and on the field was
LASHKAR 201
the soul of the mutineers, and perished in action,
fighting gallantly in male attire at the head of her
troops. The Maharaja Sindhia was then re-
established in his fortress-palace, and granted an
increase of territory and permission to enlarge his
army.
A friend told me a curious story about this
Sindhia, illustrating the peculiar love of the Hindu
for hoarding money. When he regained his posses-
sions there was a vast population in a half starving
condition, in the State of Gvvalior ; and the British
Government gave the Maharaja to understand
that he must institute public works to give them
employment. This he readily consented to do if
the British Government advanced the funds with
which to pay them. Accordingly ^500,000 was
sent him for the purpose. The public works were
begun and carried through, the Maharaja mean-
while punctually paying interest on the loan.
When he died, and the pits in the Fort where he
kept his treasure were examined, there was the
^500,000 still in the same original bags in which
it had been sent up to him never touched. He
had incurred the cost of the works, with the interest,
for the pleasure of knowing that he had half a
million of English gold in his cellars.
The modern town or Lashkar,* where the Court
lives, stands on the site of the Mahratta camp ; but
the railway station and the old cityof Gwalior are on
the north-east, between the foot of the rock and the
river. Near this quarter, the present Maharaja, Sir
Madho Rao Sindhia, has a rest house, or Musafir
* See note p. 215. 2 C
202 GWALIOR
Khana, in which the Resident at Gwalior kindly
arranged that we should put up.
It was an interesting experience to find, on arriv-
ing,ahuge elephant waiting in themoonlightoutside
the Station, amongst the ekkas and ticcag harries.
He was kindly placed at our disposal by the Maha-
raja, and was a splendid fellow, about ten to twelve
feet high in his stockings, and wearingsilverbangles
round his tusks. Ten minutes took us to the Musa-
fir Khana, a large and new stone building ; it was
very comfortable, with good furniture and a cook
of varied accomplishments, who played to us, after
dinner, on a sitar, resembling a very large mando-
line. He played with a piece of wire bent into a
triangular shape, an endless, featureless tune,
called The Snakecharmer's Song ; after enduring
it for nearly half an hour we fled to bed. It might
have sounded well out of doors in the moonlight
at a little distance, but at such close quarters it
nearly drove us wild.
When I looked out of my window, a quarter of an
hour before sunrise next morning, the great rock of
Gwalior, rising from the plain like the hulk of a
gigantic battle-ship, looked very fine, as it was just
being touched by the rosy finger of dawn, its crown-
ing walls, palaces, and the irregularities of its preci-
pitous sides articulated by the rays of the rising
sun. It was overspread with a deep red flush from
the glowing Eastern sky, and though the base be-
neath was still in a gloomy obscurity of shadow, the
broad features of the landscape, the bare ground,
the trees, and the partly ruined tombs were distinctly
A POLITICAL SAINT 203
visible in the clear still air. In the foreground was
a square tomb with a Pathan dome, which gave
distance to the background, and between me and
it occasional figures noiselessly passed. I lost no
time in getting out my sketch-book and attempting
to make a record of the scene, which to me pos-
sessed an unusual charm, and filled me with an
impatient desire to see more of this historic place,
and to become more closely acquainted with the
glittering and fantastic buildings which marked
the sky-line.
At a quarter to nine we set off to explore the
Fort and its palaces and temples, stopping on
our way to see the splendid tomb of Muhamad
Ghaus, a holy man, but wily, " saint and poisoner
fed with bribes, deep versed in every trait'rous
plan," who was the author of the stratagem by
which Akbar got possession of Gwalior. This is
one of the best specimens of early Mohammedan
architecture of the time, and consists of a square
building with a large Pathan dome and angle
towers, standing on a square platform with a
pavilion in the centre of each side. The centre of
the building is occupied by the cenotaph : it is
surrounded by a lofty verandah, enclosed with
screens of the most delicate tracery, very much like
those at Fatehpur Sikri, but, like the rest of the
neglected building, terribly choked with white-
wash.
The main road, which ascends from the old town
at the north-east of the rock to the top of the Fort
300 feet above, is very steep. Arrangements had
204 GWALIOR
been made beforehand, and we found the Mahara-
ja's elephant, brightly arrayed in a red and yellow
howdah cloth, waiting outside the lowest gate,
ready to take us up and convey us about the Fort.
On our arrival the great beast knelt down, and up
ONE OF THE MAHARAJA'S ELEPHANTS
we got ; then, after passing through the decaying
old town with its crowded mass of small flat-roofed
stone houses, he proceeded to shuffle up the hill
with a kind of two forward and one back motion.
Among trees on our right gleamed the blue tiles
of the stately Gujari Palace which Man Sing
built for his queen close under the rock. It is an
immensely steep, hot climb up to the top of the
MAN SING PALACE 205
rock on which stands the Fort and palaces ; but the
elephant took us up leisurely, under the guidance
of a good-looking Sikh of the Maharaja's troops,
and a policeman and two mahouts ; and we had
time to admire the little Jain and Buddhist carv-
ings on the rock, and the view, constantly widening
out across the plain, as we went along, under six
grand gateways and past many small temples.
There was one temple, about fourteen feet high,
pinnacles and all, carved out of one stone most
elaborately, about the year 800, in the days when
our forefathers were more concerned with feeding
their pigs on acorns than architecture. Further
on, near the third or fourth gate, was a large tank
with a Hindu temple.
Little paths led off up the face of the rock per-
petually to groups of Jain statues, carvings of
Mahadeo and Parbati, or Vishnu in the Boar in-
carnation ; but we could not, of course, do more
than give them a glance, as our elephant carried us
up the narrow road, and then under the walls of
the five great palaces, of which the two lower
storeys are carved in the rock that overhangs the
road.
We were nearly at the top when we came under
the splendid Man Sing Palace, which, like the
others, faces outwards towards the plain (E.). On
this side it is buttressed by six round towers,
with many balconies and pilasters. They are
crowned with copper-gilt domes and ornamented
in bands as is the whole building with sculp-
ture, and blue and yellow glazed tiles in bold
206 GWALIOR
conventional patterns, which have a very peculiar
and original effect. It is palace and rampart in one,
and as it overhangs the side of the cliff is certainly
the most originally decorated house I ever saw.
There is a broad ribbon of blue along the facade
with a bright yellow row of Brahma's geese upon
it, and below is another dado of blue, about five or
six feet high, with conventional vivid green mango
trees growing in panels. Quite above, against the
sky, the walls are pierced by latticed screens
with great elephants set into them, picked out
with blue. It was almost impossible to dis-
tinguish between the sky, showing through the
pierced work, and the bits of blue pottery set into
the stone elephant. Some of the other tiles repre-
sent candelabras, elephants, or peacocks in blue,
rose colour, green and gold ; and when the corner
under the elephant gate is turned, the great win-
dowless wall overhanging the narrow street is found
to be almost completely hidden under this blaze of
brilliant but delicate colour. Even the columns
encircling the lower storeys had a blue ribbon of
tile work twined round them.
This last gateway, the Hathiya Paur, had
brought us to the summit of the cliff and the
entrance to the Fort, where a soldier of the Maha-
raja's army in the old red tunic of a cast-off British
uniform, a red turban and slippers, was on sentry
duty. The elephant here went down on his knees,
and we got off to see the interior of the palace and
make a sketch.
It was usually the Mohammedan buildings in
JOHAR SACRIFICE 207
India which took my fancy for sketching purposes.
The buildings of an earlier period, and the Hindu
architecture especially, seemed too grotesque and
clumsy, and in many cases too profuse in orna-
ment, for the purpose ; but the Rajput Man
Sing Palace is an exceptional building, and, partly
from its position growing out of the top of the rock
and dominating the approach to the Fort, struck
me as being well suited to artistic treatment. I
made a sketch, not of the main facade looking
down upon the plain, but of this shorter face
which turns inwards at the angle where one of the
many gateways spans the ascending road. Semi-
circular bastions, crowned by cupolas, flank, at in-
tervals, the palace walls, and along them run the
horizontal bands of blue and yellow, and the
sculptured arches. Through the gateway came a
stately elephant, and beyond I could just get a
glimpse of the plain far below.
Gwalior Palace is connected with many tragic
stories. When the Moslems first stormed Gwalior
the Rajpoots, besieged without hope of relief, in
the last effort of despair put all their womenkind
to death, rather than allow them to fall into the
enemy's hands, and then, drunk with blood and
opium, the warriors, clad in saffron robes, rushed
forth to inevitable destruction in a last desperate
encounter. This wholesale annihilation was known
as the solemn sacrifice, " Johar."
The palace of the Kings of Gwalior covers a
great part of the east side of the plateau, and was
the work of more than one of the different
208 GWALIOR
dynasties which ruled here. Each dynasty added
to it, and the Moguls enlarged it considerably. The
different storeys, with their rows of square pillars,
overlook large paved courtyards of the eleventh
century. The carving looks better in this nice
yellow sandstone than in Akbar's red, and I fancy
too this is rather higher taste, not so finicking, and
with a better sense of proportion.
The first of these halls, we were told by our
guide, had been a temple. Its walls are covered
with a diaper pattern in low relief, and here and
there small square holes open from it into a
narrow passage which surrounds it on three sides.
The side facing the court is open, broken by
sculptured pillars, above which are elaborate corbels
supporting stone eaves. The corbels over the
second hall represent peacocks with their tails
twisted upwards. Most of the rooms were low and
with slabbed ceilings. Fergusson says of this
palace that it is the most remarkable and interest-
ing example of an early Hindu palace in India.
We went into two other palaces the Vikram
Palace, where little remains besides a square hall
massively built, with flat-groined roof, and the
Karam Palace, which does not contain much of
interest. The small rooms are lined with stucco,
with vestiges of fresco decoration, as is also the
Hammam beneath, where in the domes remain
some delicate designs in plaster work.
Then we mounted our elephant again, and the
big beast flopped leisurely along the ridge to the
south. Unfortunately, when the British occupied
TEMPLES 209
the Fort after the Mutiny, we built a great block
of barracks and " cleared away a lot of antiquarian
rubbish to make a parade ground." M. Rousselet,
the French traveller, who was here in 1864 an d 1867,
mentions temples and palaces which were being
pulled down and blown up by us at his first visit,
and had completely disappeared when he came
again. Baber and the Mohammedans mutilated
the sculptures from religious motives, but it was
left to us to sweep completely away buildings of
unique interest. Parts of the great and small
Sas Bahu temples, however, remain ; they are
massive square buildings, of about 1090 A.D., with
an entrance on each side, and are raised on plat-
forms and profusely covered with ornament. They
formed probably the porches to temple enclosures.
Round the base of many of the pillars there are
sculptured groups of elephants and other animals
and dancing figures. It does not seem easy to
determine whether these temples, probably of Jain
origin, were originally dedicated to one of the Jain
Tirthankers or to some Hindu god. Some of the
bas-reliefs have subjects clearly connected with
Vishnu or Shiva worship.
But one of the oldest and the strangest buildings
is the Teli Ka Mandir, or Oilman's Temple ; it is
more massive than either of the others and very
much more lofty, rising to a height of about eighty
feet, where it culminates in a solid waggon roof.
The doorway, which projects on the east side, was
probably crowned at a slightly lower level by a
similar roof. The whole building is covered with
2 D
210 GWALIOR
sculpture in deep relief. The interior consists of
one comparatively small chamber, out of all pro-
portion to the building. It dates from the tenth
century, and is supposed to have been dedicated
originally to Vishnu, but afterwards adapted to
THE URWAHI VALLEY
Shiva worship. There is a collection of fragments,
made by Major Keith, set up round the base.
From the Teli Ka Mandir we made our way, by a
road on the west side of the ridge, down into the
rocky Urwahi valley, to see a marvellous series of
Jain sculptures; gigantic figures cut out of the side
of the rock, which is almost perpendicular. We felt
as though suddenly transported to Egypt and
amongst the Sphinxes. A deep and narrow gorge
JAIN TIRTHANKERS 211
here splits the steep rock in two for some distance.
When M. Rousselet first visited Gwalior in 1864,
he approached them from below, and was much
impressed by the grand mysterious aspect of the
dark ravine, where these colossal figures, ranged the
whole length of the chasm, were dimly discernible
amongst the tangled creepers. But in 1867 he found
the British blasting a new road from the fortress,
down the ravine. This road, down which we came,
has considerably lessened the impressiveness of the
scene, and has also destroyed and hidden some of
the sculptures.
For a distance of eight or ten miles, the whole
face of the precipitous rock of the Fort is honey-
combed with caves, temples, cells and niches, con-
taining figures of the twenty-four Tirthankers, the
Jain holy men, pontiffs or deified saints : the
group in this ravine known as the Urwahi
group appears to be the most remarkable. The
caves were, no doubt, the abode of anchorites,
and the figures have been carved by the devout of
probably many generations ; for though the greater
number appear to have been carved during a period
in the latter middle ages, when the Rajpoot chiefs
had again for a time possession of Gwalior
(1225-54), yet some have been found with dates of
the second century.
The Jain religion flourished in India before
Buddhism ; and Mahavira, the last of the line of
Tirthankers, is believed to have been Sakya Muni's
guru or teacher. Early Buddhist art contains many
of the same symbols and emblems that are met
212 GWALIOR
with in Jain art the serpent, the sacred tree, the
svastika and the familiar cross-legged repre-
sentation of Buddha is almost indistinguishable
from that of some of the Tirthankers.
After Buddhism in India perished in the face of
the Brahmanic revival in the seventh and eighth
centuries A.D., the Jains recovered their ancientposi-
tion to a great extent and became the great temple
builders of India. They seem, more than any other
sect, to have been imbued with the idea that to
build a temple, or carve a sacred figure, was an act of
religious value in itself, quite irrespective of any
idea of worship being offered in the temple. To
build or restore the temple was to them an act of
prayer, which would enable the builder to acquire
merit and would bring down on him present and
future rewards. They seem often to have aimed at
simply repeating the figures of their twenty-four
Tirthankers, usually within a cell or temple, but
here there is more variety in the size and attitude
than in some of their sacred places. These statues
are of all sizes, from minute foot-high cross-legged
figures tocolossal upright monoliths of nearly sixty
feet. They represent most of the line of pontiffs
from Adinath, the legendary founder of their faith,
to the twenty-fourth and last Mahavira, and also
scenes representing his birth and parents. Each
Tirthanker has a distinguishing emblem near the
foot of the statue. The statue of Parasnath is
the largest. The figures either stand stiffly, with
their arms hanging by their side or are seated in
the familiar Buddha attitude. They are totally
LASHKAR 213
wanting in movement and rather out of proportion,
with naked bodies, and have enormous ears of
which the lobes rest on their shoulders. The Em-
peror Baber thought them the only blot onGwalior,
that " extremely pleasant place," and he records in
his diary that he ordered them to be destroyed.
They were, however, merely mutilated, and have to
some extent been restored by later Jain devotees.
Most of them have mitres, surmounted with ser-
pents or a threefold branch of the sacred tree, but
others have merely the tightly curling hair so often
seen on figures of Buddha. I believe they are
unique in Northern India, and much regretted that
we had not more time to spend on examining them.
We went down later, into the Lashkar, where
as usual there was constant pleasure to be got out
of watching the people, and their ways, in the
bazaars ; we spent some time, in the afternoon,
bargaining for bits of old brass work in the copper
bazaar of the new town which has sprung up round
the Maharaja Sindhia's Palace. But we regretted
we could not speak the language a little ; for though
the Portuguese " boy " was very good at interpret-
ing, he always seemed to rub the people up the
wrong way, and that put an end to the smiling pro-
testations and amusing humbug that forms more
than half the pleasure of such transactions, and,
though I daresay we got the things cheaper, we did
not get to know the people so well.
The Maharaja was quite young, but he man-
aged to keep a good deal of stir alive in the town
round his palace. He had been married the month
214 GWALIOR
before, and all the officials of the North-West were
invited to the festas given to celebrate the event.
His wife, I am told, was very fair and pretty and
very bright, in spite of her secluded harim life : she
is however allowed more liberty than many purdah
ladies. She is said to wear her sari in a peculiar
way, tight round the legs with a long tail hanging
out at the back. Parts of the town were still gay
with wedding decorations gaudy triumphal
arches of looking-glass and coloured paper. There
were elephants and palanquins about everywhere,
and I met a cavalcade of Sindhia's guests dashing
down to catch the train. First, a litter covered with
bright stuffs containing, I imagine, the ladies of the
party,then a barouche with fine horses, and, stolidly
sitting in the middle, one stout gentleman in violet,
gold-embroidered satin, wearing the red turban of
the peculiar three-cornered Mahratta shape ; an
escort of horsemen armed with swords, and a train
of syces followed, running after the carriage. I
met several gorgeously attired gentlemen driving
themselves, or being carried in palanquins, with
running footmen armed with coloured staves or
spears, clearing the way before them.
The native court appears to bring prosperity, for
there seemed to be a great many more well-to-do,
well-dressed people here than in the British towns,
and we were continually seeing ekkas, with long
red or yellow curtains, bearing veiled women in
really beautiful silk saris : and the people seemed
to be covered with more than the usual amount of
silver and gold ornaments. But the police arrange-
FLYING FOXES 215
ments appear to leave something to be desired, for
the authorities thought it necessary to provide me
with an armed escort when I went out to sketch ;
and the night of our arrival a wealthy Hindu, with
an escort of two sepoys, coming from the train,
was set upon by eight men armed with sticks, just
outsideourrest-house. The sepoys at lastbeat them
off, whilst the Hindu hid his head in the ditch.
I went out for a short walk about dusk, and en-
countered a giant elephant, bowling along from the
station with two very smart Hindus on his back ;
attached to either side of his bright howdah-cloth
were bells of considerable size. They swing side-
ways as the beast walks, and ringing in succession
sound rather well.
Just then a flight of some hundreds of great bats
or flying foxes four feet across the wing at least
like a flight of rooks, came flying heavily over my
head ; they were coming from the neighbouring
trees, where they hang during the day, on the way
to their hunting-ground in the fruit gardens. It
was a curious sight. Next morning we got up by
candlelight and left for the station at five o'clock.
Luckily it had grown much warmer the last three
or four days, so it was not as trying as it might
have been.
NOTE. See p. 201. Lashkar is the term originally applied to
an army, and then, in abbreviation of Lashkar-gah, to a camp or
place occupied by an army. It then came to be applied to towns,
such as Agra and especially Delhi, which in Mogul times were to
a great extent mere camps occupied by the followers of the Sultan.
In the case of Gwalior the term has been retained, although the
camp has become stereotyped into a permanent city.
Map of the
COUNTRY ROUND
DELHI
Miles
CHAPTER XI
DELHI, THE ANCIENT CAPITAL
MY first impressions of Delhi did not come up to
the picture I had formed in my mind of the great
capital of ancient India. I was certainly disap-
pointed. I suppose this may to a great extent
be accounted for by our having seen Agra before-
hand, as Agra is on short acquaintance decidedly
the more interesting of the two, although small in
comparison with the invertebrate Delhi.
Delhi lies on the direct road, from the passes of
the Hindu Kush, to the very heart of India, and
there is hardly a conqueror or a great man in
Indian history who has not had some connection
with it ; consequently, as Indian rulers have an
inveterate habit of building to themselves fresh
abodes, city after city has arisen, flourished and
been swept away on this plain. There are here the
remains of nine successive cities, and the Delhi of
the ancients spread away eleven miles to the
southward, and covered about forty-five square
miles. It is not possible, therefore, to focus the
whole in one general survey. Every one is, more-
over, unconsciously much influenced by the con-
ditions under which he first comes into contact
2 E
2i8 DELHI
with a new place or idea ; and certainly the cir-
cumstances in which we found ourselves on
arriving at Delhi were not conducive to the most
favourable impressions. The day we arrived
(February 20) was cloudy ; the first dull day we
had had since arriving in India a high wind was
blowing, and the dust, which Bernier found intol-
erable in 1670, was whirling about in all direc-
tions, transforming everything to its own colour,
and making everything abominably gritty. The
bheestie or water-carrier sluicing the dry streets,
with water from his goatskin bag, made no im-
pression on the dust : it entered our windows and
covered the tables and chairs, even in the unusually
high first storey over the station where we had
taken up our quarters. These rooms, furnished by
Kellner (the Spiers and Pond of India) for
travellers, were very fairly comfortable, though we
had to dine below in the station restaurant, and I
believe that with all drawbacks and shortcomings
it was a much better place than any Delhi hotel.
Certainly, we were better off than Baron Hubner,
who stayed in Delhi in 1884 and was obliged to put
up with a dungeon-like room in a native hotel, ill
lighted, damp, and feverish. We were perhaps also
fortunate, had we realised it, in being bothered by
wind and dust rather than by flies : at times I be-
lieve they are a perfect pest in Delhi, and go far
to make life a burden.
The modern city more correctly called Shah
Jehanabad was founded by that notable and
magnificent builder, Shah Jehan, in 1638, when he
THE SIEGE 219
left Agra, it was said, in search of a more temperate
climate. He built this new capital with materials
taken, to a great extent, from the partly deserted
cities of Feroz Shah Tuglak and Sher Shah. It
stands on a low rocky sandstone range, by the right
bank of the Jumna, and is surrounded by a solid
stonewall of considerable height, on all sides except
that abutting on the river. From the time the snow
begins to melt on the higher hills till after the
rainy season is at an end, the Jumna washes the
walls and its stream is unfordable. This wall, after
Lord Lake took possession of the town in 1803,
was modernised and considerably strengthened by
the English more than once,* to their own hurt, as
was proved by the siege of 1857. The native
troops here, mutinied May 1 1, immediately after
the outbreak at Meerut. The English authority
collapsed with amazing rapidity, and though troops
were sent from Amballa to restore order, the
mutineers held the town against Sir Harry Bar-
nard and General Archdale Wilson from June 8
till September 21, in spite of a perseverance,
splendid stolid endurance, pluck and high courage
on the part of our troops, which Lord Roberts
says were quite beyond praise. We lost more men
before Delhi than in all the rest of the Mutiny
combined.
On the evening of our arrival we tried to get some
general idea of the lie of the country, near at hand,
* In 1805 after the attack by Holkar, again in 1823, and finally
^y the future Lord Napier of Magdala), a few years before the
Mutiny.
220 DELHI
by a drive: we went first to the house of the Deputy-
Commissioner, Mr. R. Clarke, who lived close to
the historic " Ridge " the lines which we held at
the time of the siege about a mile and a half
north of Delhi. Here are the cantonments where
the English live, but there are not many residents
in Delhi far fewer than I had expected and the
garrison is extremely small, as the fort is not con-
sidered healthy. Mr. Clarke showed us a good map
of our position on the red rocks of the Ridge, of
which General Barnard was able to take possession
after his victory at Badli-ki-sarai on June 8 ; it
rises sixty feet above the city, at a distance in-
creasing from a thousand yards to two and a half
miles, and, with the city wall and the river, en-
closes a triangle of low-lying woodland.
We drove past the Memorial Monument a
Gothic spire to Hindu Rao's house, on the highest
point of the Ridge, to the Mosque, the Flagstaff,
and the old Observatory ; these were the four
points where General Barnard established pickets
supported by guns. But little of the city is to be
seen from here now, as trees intervene. It was a
wonderful ready-made position both for attack and
defence. On the left it was defended by the river,
and though on the right there was cover for the
enemy on the broken ground covered with brush-
wood and in the deep sunk roads and ditches,
clumps of trees and low rocks, yet the enclosed
nature of the ground prevented any attack in force
on our flank or rear, and it covered the line of
communication to Amballa and the Punjab, which
THE KASHMERE GATE 221
it was vital to our existence to keep open. From
Sir John Lawrence in the Punjab came the means
of retaking Delhi and so saving India. Taking
advantage of their hereditary hatred of Delhi and
of the Mohammedans, he separated the Sikhs from
the other Sepoys in the Oude and Bengal regi-
ments, and, with the addition of fresh levies from
the north, sent large reinforcements to the relief
of Delhi ; finally he parted even with his last
reserve under Nicholson.
Returning from the Ridge we drove past Lud-
low Castle a cockneyfied and very uninspiring
bungalow; we saw the remains of the magazine
fired May 1 1 to prevent the valuable store of
ammunition falling into the enemy's hands, after a
gallant defence by Lieut. Willoughby and eight
others ; amongst them was the father of my friend
Professor Forrest. We had driven under the
Kashmere Gate, where the traces of the thrilling
attack on September 14, under Lieuts. Home and
Salkeld, still remain. The breaches are still visible
in the red face of the city walls, where our men
climbing to almost certain destruction enabled the
three columns under John Nicholson to obtain
possession of part of the walls. A week's hard
fighting within the city was still to come, and John
Nicholson's life, and the lives of other brave men,
were sacrificed, before the entire city, with the
Palace, was again in our hands.
This was all interesting, but in no way beautiful,
and it was refreshing to continue our drive to the
eastern corner of the city, on to the Maidan and
222 DELHI
past Shah Jehan's Fort. The Fort, though not so
picturesque, bears a great resemblance to that at
Agra, with its imposing and extensive line of rosy
red battlements; the light and graceful cupolas
and kiosks, raised on slender pillars, are in strong
contrast to the solid masonry of the walls. It
also stands above the Jumna in a position some-
what similar to that of the Agra Fort. The Jumna,
like many Eastern rivers, overflows its banks con-
siderably at the time of the melting snow and the
rains, but unfortunately the receding waters do not
always like the Ganges leave behind them any
fertilising influence, but frequently destroy rather
than promote vegetation. The whole space between
the high banks and the stream is, at this time of
year, a barren waste of shifting sand ; over this the
Fort looks on two sides. Here, in the days of the
Mogul emperors, took place the elephant combats
and reviews, in sight of Shah Jehan's Palace win-
dows. The south and west sides of the Fort were
protected by a moat, now dry.
At the south-western corner of the Fort is the
Delhi Gate, whence we looked across the Maidan
to the great Mosque, the Jumma Musjid, the grand
and simplebuildingwithwhichShahJehan ennobled
his creation, modern Delhi. Curiously enough, no
place of prayer was provided by Shah Jehan in the
Palace here as at Agra and at Fatehpur Sikri.
It was towards sunset when we first saw this
glorious Mosque, the masterpiece of religious
architecture in India, and most sacred to all
Mohammedans here and in Central Asia. It is
THE JUMMA MUSJID 223
raised on a high platform, and approached on
three sides by grand flights of steps. It is one
of the few mosques where it is distinctly evident
that the architect has aimed at producing a pleasing
effect to the eye from without. The lofty basement
is built round an outcrop of the sandstone rock, in
the same way that the Mosque of Omar, at Jeru-
salem, covers and crowns the rock of Abraham.
From this platform rises a finely composed group
of domes and minarets, cupolas and gate-ways,
chiefly of the usual fine-coloured red sandstone ;
the domes, however, are of white marble, and the
tall minarets which are a striking feature of the
building, and the most graceful I have so far seen
are striped in alternate vertical lines of red sand-
stone and white marble.
The setting of the Mosque is now very different
from that which surrounded it before 1857 : then it
looked down on the flat roofs of a densely popu-
lated network of houses covering the space between
it and the Fort. Here, many of the big-wigs, rich
merchants, and native noblemen had their palaces
though the greater number of the latter lived
outside the town, near the water and here was
one of the bazaars which Bishop Heber describes as
being like the Rows at Chester. All this quarter
was destroyed after the Mutiny, and to-day the
Mosque rises over a wide-spreading open space,
carpeted with coarse turf, which is dotted here and
there with stunted trees sheltering some tempo-
rary native booths and shanties ; from them the
smoke of the eveningfires pervades theatmosphere,
224 DELHI
carrying with it the peculiar, pungent smell so cha-
racteristic of the land and hour. The sun, setting
in the brilliant cloudless sky, made the white marble
domes, silhouetted against it, appear quite dark,
and the sharply alternating forms of rounded dome
and upjutting minaret looked like an Arabic in-
scription along the horizon.
The sun goes down as in a sphere of gold
Behind the arm of the city, which between,
With all that length of domes and minarets,
Athwart the splendour, black and crooked runs
Like a Turk verse along a scimitar.
It was Friday when we visited it and the hour, that
of the weekly evening prayer ; so, the Mosque was
crowded with a large concourse of faithful saying
their prayers a most impressive sight. It can
hardly have been surpassed in impressiveness in the
old days when Aurangzeb attended prayers in
state. He came from the Fort, every Friday, under
a gilded canopy, borne aloft on the back of an ele-
phant, which was bedizened with red paint and
richly decorated with gorgeous jewelled trappings,
and silver bells and chains, and with white Tibetan
cow-tails hanging from its ears like immense
whiskers ; or else he was carried by eight men, on
an azure-and-gold throne, with a bodyguard of
officials with silver maces, and attendants with
peacock feather fans, and followed by a train of
rajahs on horseback or in palanquins.
No one who has ever watched a congregation of
Mohammedans at prayer can have failed to be im-
mensely struck by their intense concentration and
MOHAMMEDAN WORSHIP 225
absorption in their religious exercises, and by the
rapt devotion which seems to exclude all conscious-
ness of the outside world. Even in India, where
Mohammedanism is by no means at its best and
purest, it is most affecting. The secret of the won-
derful hold the Moslem faith has, over a large part
of the human race, lies probably, says F. D. Maurice,
in the intensity and vividness with which it re-
cognises the existence of God, His Omnipotence
and Omnipresence. The God of the Mohammedan
is altogether outside and aloof from the world, but
He is intensely personal, and the keen perception
that the Mohammedan has of the presence of this
personal God, leads him to doubt, when he sees
Europeans at worship, whether they really believe
in God at all. The effect produced by their won-
derful self-abasement in the presence of the Eternal,
is heightened and intensified by the marvellous
rhythmical movement, as of the most finished mili-
tary drill, all swaying in perfect unison, when the
great crowd rises and falls, bows or kneels or
stands, simultaneously. The thrilling effect of
large numbers of men, all impelled by the same
emotion, makes a far stronger impression when the
common feeling is thus silently expressed in action
before our eyes, and it suggested inevitably to us
the strength of the undercurrent of faith which
controls the sixty million Mohammedans of India ;
and might, in any crisis, sweep them along, with
incalculable force, in the most unforeseen direction.
On our way back we made a considerable ddtoitr
through some of the narrow crowded and tortuous
2 F
226 DELHI
alleys of Delhi. A glimpse up a side street from
the Chandni Chauk reveals another attractive view
of the Jumma Musjid, its domes and minarets
ranged in perspective, rising above the ragged,
many-coloured houses at their feet. The vista is
closed by a bit of the high encircling red wall,
pierced at this point by its northern gateway.
Through it, and up and down its many-stepped
approach, the silent-footed Moslem crowd for ever
come and go.
The Chandni Chauk and other main streets
are fine thoroughfares, shaded with trees, but on
the whole we did not think the Delhi lanes looked
either inviting or picturesque, but decidedly
dirty. Everything was covered thick with a
coating of drab-coloured dust. It brought before
us the squalid side of Indian life : mean, low,
flat-roofed houses, often out of the perpendicular,
and needing here a fresh coat of paint, there
a renewal of the stained and peeling stucco. In
old days, many of the houses were of bamboo
and roofed with cane or thatch, and at the season
when high winds prevail disastrous conflagra-
tions, sweeping away thousands of houses, were
not unusual, and were so rapid in their advance
that the horses in the stable and the women in the
zenanas frequently perished : and this in spite of
the water-courses which then flowed down all the
principal streets of the town, bringing pure water
from the Jumna at a spot one hundred miles
north of Delhi. These channels of water in the
town were however closed in after the Mutiny ;
DELHI CITY 227
originally, after flowing through the town between
raised stone walks, they were led to the Emperor's
Palace, and there irrigated the oranges and roses
in the Sultana's garden.*
There was, at the time of our visit, a talk of the
advisability of pulling down the walls of the city,
so as to allow a freer circulation of air in the
crowded streets. The natives were strenuously
objecting, and the authorities felt therefore more
than ever convinced that there was wisdom in the
proposal.
We were not very favourably impressed with
the appearance of the people here, and their attitude
towards us did not seem very cordial : I could
quite appreciate Bishop French's feeling in 1883,
that to live in Delhi was like living on a volcano.
In spite of all one hears at times to the contrary,
I fear there is still amongst the Mohammedan
natives, a smouldering feeling of political animosity
towards us : many of the men are not yet dead
whose hands were dyed in our blood. A section
of the vernacular Press helps to foster this feeling,
and religious fanatics are doubtless busy, in many
quarters, stirring the embers.
A certain Nawab Shams-ud-din was executed
* There are still two canals the Eastern and Western Jumna
Canals, originally the work of the beneficent Feroz Shah Tuglak
which irrigate the district and now divert such a body of water from
the Jumna, before it reaches Delhi, that, except during the rains,
the river-bed may, in places, almost be crossed dryshod. The
district is not very fertile, and one of the great benefits British
rule has conferred on the population has been that of restoring
and adding to the old irrigation system.
228 DELHI
in Delhi in 1835 for the cowardly murder of Mr.
William Eraser here, and for long years after-
wards his tomb was venerated as that of a martyr,
though he was an acknowledged mauvais sujet,
with nothing to recommend him but having shed
the blood of an unbeliever. This is not a solitary
instance, and we were assured that this attitude
has not really changed : in fact, during our stay,
an Englishman was attacked by a fanatic in the
street.
Fortunately for us, perhaps, there exists great
religious antagonism between Mohammedan and
Hindu; there is no possibility of permanent union
between the two. Mohammedanism, with its hard
conception of a God aloof from the world, but
personal with intense distinctness, is irreconcilable
with Hinduism, and its vague shifting ideas, its
enmity to all that is personal and individual, in
human or divine life. Delhi has been comparatively
lately the scene of bitter feuds between the
Mohammedans and Hindus ; the Government
officials usually succeed in calming the outbursts
of fanaticism, and have sometimes called in the
Cambridge Brotherhood to help in reconciling the
contending parties. We may hope that in process
of time, the patient self-sacrificing love and devo-
tion of the missionaries, combined with the justice
and zeal for duty of the civil administrators, may
awaken, in the minds of the natives, a sympathetic
response towards their white rulers, which will
sweep away political enmity, and bridge the gulf
between East and West.
THE LAHORE GATE
229
The next day we devoted to seeing the Palace in
the Fort once the most magnificent Palace in the
East, perhaps in the world. I explored part of it
when I went out for an early walk before breakfast.
The Lahore Gate by which we entered is grand,
LAHORE GATE, DELHI
but to my mind not to be compared with the Delhi
Gate at Agra. Passing under the cavernous arch,
the road runs through a long quaint and lofty
vaulted hall, two storeys high. As everybody says,
it is like the nave of a cathedral, but it is lined with
small and low shops, where soldiers were lounging
about and marketing. Here in Shah Jehan's time,
the Emperor's bodyguard were lodged in small
low rooms, raised some feet above the road and
opening on to a causeway ; their horses were
tethered to rings on the edge of the causeway,
2 3 o DELHI
where they took their feed, and where their masters
squatted and gossiped in the day-time and
mounted guard at night. Down the centre ran the
water-course which irrigated the city. This
covered street has an octagonal court midway,
where the sunlight streams in, and whence pas-
sages diverged to the zenana and courts of justice.
Bishop Heber, when he came, in 1823, to have an
audience of Akbar Shah the King of Delhi of the
day found himself, immediately on leaving this
magnificent entrance, in a ruinous and exceedingly
dirty courtyard. Here, to his considerable dis-
comfiture, he was made to dismount and pick his
way, in thin shoes, gown and cassock, through the
mud, to the Hall of Audience at the eastern side,
amongst pestering swarms of beggars, into the
royal presence of the King the "poor old man" (of
thirty-five) on whom he bestows much rather ill-
merited commiseration. When Lord Lake took
possession of Delhi in 1803 he found the Great
Mogul under the thumb of Sindhia and his vora-
cious French troops, living indeed in his Palace
with a semblance of royalty, but almost literally
starved ; a great deal of the beautiful inlaid work
and the flowers and leaves of green serpentine,
lapis lazuli, agate and porphyry, which adorned
the Palace walls, had been gouged out of their
white marble setting and sold to buy food for him
and his family. The Palace had already been
looted, more than once, since the memorable day
in 1739, when the Persian Nadir Shah swept back
to Teheran with booty worth many millions sterling,
THE LAST MOGULS 231
including the Peacock Throne from the Dewan
i-Khas and the Koh-i-noor. Delhi was continually
at the mercy of Afghans and Mahrattas, who made
successive incursions, and the King was fortunate
indeed, in securing our protection, with an assured
income of fifteen lakhs of rupees and as much
panoply of state and ceremony as he cared to dis-
play in the Palace of his ancestors, whilst we ruled
and kept order in his name. The state and ceremony
with which he surrounded himself, and the splen-
did income at his disposal, did not apparently in-
volve any obligation to keep the marvellous build-
ing in decent order, for, when Bishop Heber
visited it, all was dirty, desolate and forlorn ;* the
doors and windows were in a state of dilapida-
tion ; the baths and fountains dry, the halls were
encumbered with piles of old discarded furniture,
the inlaid pavement was covered with gardeners'
sweepings, bats and birds had befouled what re-
mained of the beautiful pietradura work and, even
the Emperor's Throne ; and peepul trees were
springing from, and bursting asunder, the marble
walls. But an Eastern Sovereign with no king-
dom but a palace, and no duties and no scope for
action outside its walls, could not fail of being a
despicable object, a centre of evil practices which
varied from ill-treating wretched slave girls to em-
ploying the old Mogul Sultans' seals to forge title-
deeds of every kind. The outward decay was but
a symbol of the corruption and the wretchedness
that prevailed, where a weak, self-centred autocrat
* Bishop Heber's " Journal," p. 294.
232 DELHI
indulged his every fancy without restraint, pro-
tected from the results of his actions by the
implied sanction of the East India Company.
That so corrupt a system should have been able
to exist unmolested, by the protection of the
British, seems, in some degree, an explanation of
the awful retribution which, in the end, fell on the
guilty and the innocent alike.
In the Fort there is not now much left of Shah
Jehan's once splendid Palace and its beautiful
gardens though the conscientious care of Eng-
land has lately, with commendable zeal, replaced
all that is recoverable of our pilferings, such as
the Orpheus Mosaic carried away by Sir John
Jones in 1857 but what there is, is decently
ordered and arranged, with, perhaps, rather dead-
alive and Museum-like precision. Those who are
interested can study it, as Ferguson says, to
understand what the arrangements of a complete
Palace were, when deliberately undertaken and
carried out on a uniform plan. There is the mas-
sive, plain, expanse of the Diwan-i-Am, or Hall of
Public Audience, a great square one-storeyd hall
supported by three rows of nine red sandstone
pillars and open on three sides ; it is very like that
at Agra: there is the beautiful Diwan-i-Khas,
standing on a platform looking east across the
curving river, now low and at some distance, but
in flood-time, washing the foot of the high bank
faced with stones and overhung by the pro-
jecting eaves of balconied pavilions and latticed
summer-houses which forms the eastern defence
Plan of the
PALACE or DELHI
before 1857
Harr.m;im or EAtns
Moti Masjid
Oiwan i-Khas
Tasbih Kha-ia& Musamman BL
wltfi nver wicliet t steps to this belo
Rar^ Mahal
Mumtaz Mahal
Diwan -i-Am
Nakkar Khana
raoii Well
i Shadon Pavilion
Sawan Pavilion
! Shah Burj Pavilion
(.Vaulted Entrance Arcade
THE PALACE 233
of the Fortress Palace. The spot commands a
view of the low rocky hills, at the foot of which lies
Old Delhi,and across wide plains, fading away tothe
faint blue horizon, where lie Oude and Lucknow.
In this building once stood the celebrated Peacock
Throne, now at Teheran. To the south of this court
is the Zenana, and on the north the Hamman ;
both are separated from it by a white marble court-
yard, through which from north to south runs a
shallow watercourse, right beneath the Diwan-i-
Khas. This Private Hall of Audience is open on
all sides, and consists of a central hall surrounded
by a double colonnade : the Hall once had a silver
ceiling. The whole building is of beautiful white
marble, profusely decorated with gilding (restored)
and painted flowers and other designs above; below
is the pietra dura work of the pupils of Austen of
Bordeaux.
The white marble Baths have fine pietra dura
pavements, the first I had seen as well as decora-
tions of the same nature on the walls ; the beauti-
ful marble Palace of the ladies is also decorated
with inlaid work below and fresco above. It was
not pleasant to see signs that the jasper and other
stones had been quite recently picked or chiselled
out.
Close by is Aurangzeb's white and grey marble
Moti Musjid, of small proportions, which is entered
by a little bronze door of delicate workmanship,
covered with designs in low relief. The courtyard
is surrounded by a high wall of white marble, also
decorated with patterns and flowers in low relief.
2 G
234 DELHI
The Mosque proper is ornamented in the same
manner, and its Saracenic arches show slight signs
of Hindu influence.
There is all this, and more: but Delhi Palace, I
must confess, did not appeal to me. Perhaps it
showed signs of having been in the past too com-
plete, or perhaps it is at present too much pervaded
with an atmosphere of pipeclay; for there is some-
thing to be said, from the artist's point of view, for
the fine regal contempt of the old regime for bour-
geois cleaning and mending, as all will agree who
have visited a French chateau after it has passed
through the hands of Viollet-le-Duc. Certainly the
beautiful old Delhi Palace left us cold and shall
I say it? slightly bored: and one turns for refresh-
ment, from the actual, present facts, to the graphic
pictures of the Mogul Emperors and their Court,
left us by the old French doctor and his com-
patriot, the jeweller, in 1670.
In their days, the great Maidan before the Palace
was filled with the encampments of those of the
great Rajput nobles whose week of "waiting" it
was. They and their followers pitched their tents
here, outside the walls ; it was in their terms of
service with the Emperor that they were never to
do duty or mount guard within the walls of a for-
tress. Inside the Palace, the Mogul's Afghan or
Persian Emirs, of the regular army, mounted guard
in rotation. The arcaded courts they occupied
were gay with gorgeous awnings of brocade, with
flowery gardens and sparkling watercourses and
fountains ; amongst them stood booths of reed,
OLD DAYS 235
or sweet-scented grass, kept cool by constantly
spraying water. Here they took their repose, and
enjoyed the dishes served to them, with much
ceremony, from Aurangzeb's kitchen.
The whole Palace buzzed with life. There were
hosts of quaintly dressed and armed soldiers,
regular and irregular, of all varieties and from all
districts of Northern India; great and small officials
of the Courts of Justice and all the various depart-
ments of the highly organised civil administration.*
Vast halls also were filled with nimble-fingered
artisans, ready to supply the gold inlaid weapons
of the bodyguard, or fantastic armour and rich
trappings for horses and elephants, or the em-
broidered velvet awnings with which the Emirs,
" by command," adorned their arcades on great
festivals, and which, we are told, they subse-
quently forced the smaller folk to buy for vests !
Painters and goldsmiths, jewellers and lacquer
workers, as well as representatives of the humbler
"lesser arts" of tailoring and shoemaking, all had
their quarters here: and fine muslins for turbans, or
for use in the zenana, were spun and woven in the
precincts ; these were beautifully embroidered, and
worth several gold pieces, but so delicately fine
that they would only stand a few hours' wear. The
life of the district was concentrated in the fortress
to such a degree that Bernier found, that if he
wished to have a good supply of wholesome food,
it was necessary to arrange a secret understanding
* The Land Revenue system still in force in British India is
based on that of Akbar.
236 DELPHI
with the King's purveyors in the Palace, and to
buy, from them, the portions intended for their
master's household and guests. Then, indeed, he
secured a plentiful provision of delicacies, not to
be obtained in the bazaars of the town: fresh fish,
tender kids, and cages of partridge, duck, or hare,
sweetmeats of the best, and in winter black and
white grapes brought, in dainty cotton packing,
from Persia or Bokhara, or apples and pears, dried
raisins, apricots, and prunes from the same coun-
tries ; while his lemonade was cooled with ice,
artificially made in a manner which, with his usual
exactness, Bernier describes in accurate detail.
" Unquestionably," he says, " the great are in the
enjoyment of everything ; but, in Delhi, there is
no middle state a man must either be of the
highest rank or live miserably."
The Emirs and Rajahs in waiting were all sum-
moned under penalty to attend the Emperor's
audience-chamber twice a day, at eleven, and again
at six, by strangely weird music from the Naubat
Khana: there, twenty- four enormous instruments of
mysterious construction sounded at stated times of
day and night, with an almost insupportable roar,
which distance, however, appears to have mellowed
to a solemnly impressive and even melodious har-
mony. The wild notes proceeding from univalve
shells used as trumpets may be still heard resound-
ingfrom Hindu shrines at sundown; they emit what
heard at close quarters is an intolerable din, but
sounds from afar very impressive. At a balcony, or
large window in the seraglio wall overlooking the
THE GREAT MOGUL 237
Diwan-i-Am, the Great Mogul appeared, robed in
white, for two hours at noon, surrounded by his
family and personal attendants waving large fans
and peacocks' tails. Below, on a square dais, within
a silver rail, hung with deep gold-fringed brocade,
are the courtiers and those who have the entrde,
splendidly apparelled, with white herons' tails
floating from their head-gear ; they stand in atti-
tudes of deep humility, and do not venture to raise
their eyes to the royal countenance, but echo every
word he utters with a chorus of "Wonderful, won-
derful! " ; like the courtiers in Andersen's tale of the
Emperor's new clothes, they act up to the precepts
of the Persian proverb :
If the King should chance to say " it's night," at noon,
You will cry, " I see the stars and moon."
Having received the homage of those classes of
his subjects whose day it was to come to court
and who, unless specially summoned, remained on
the further side of the watercourse, six inches wide,
which traversed the court, the King reviewed the
cavalry of one or two of the Emirs. The horses in
fantastic armour with plumes on their heads were all
ingeniously branded with mark and number, to
prevent the same mount doing duty on different
regimental review days. Then he inspected a selec-
tion of the royal stud, to assure himself they were
in good condition, and also a long procession of
animals kept for the chase or for wild beast com-
bats. Fighting elephants and antelopes, buffaloes
with immense horns which fought with lions and
238 DELHI
tigers ; tame leopards and panthers trained for the
chase ; every variety of dog for sport, all in red em-
broidered coats ; hawks and birds of prey, with
hood and bells, employed to bringdown partridges,
cranes, hares and even antelopes, after they have
first bewildered them by repeated buffets of their
powerful wings and then blinded them with sharp
talons. On great festivals, the courts were com-
pletely covered in with a gold-embroidered, red
velvet awning, supported on great masts covered
with plates of gold or silver,and the possible mono-
tony of the pageant was varied by valuable offerings
of gold or jewels from the courtiers, carefully
graduated in value according to the rank of the
giver. The pearls, rubies, emeralds, and diamonds
used in the decoration of the Peacock Throne were
either presents sent by distant sovereigns, who
desired an alliance with the Great Mogul, or else
they were offerings from ambitious or guilty nobles.
The Koh-i-noor was an offering from Amir Jumla
to Shah Jehan. When the Prince of Wales visited
India in 1876 some difficulty was experienced in
deciding whether the great native princes should
be allowed to follow their traditional instincts and
present him, in the same way, with some treasured
and priceless jewel from amongst their heirlooms.
It is amusing to find, that the wives of the cour-
tiers had their revenge in a sort of fair held on
these occasions in the Palace seraglio : then these
great ladies sold to the King and the royal prin-
cesses, brocades and embroidered muslins and
other valuable fabrics, at sums proportionate to the
DECADENCE 239
beauty and dexterity of the vendor. These fairs
were regarded as the opportunity to present a
lovely daughter and to bring her to the notice of
royalty. The chaff and badinage which Bernier de-
scribes as prevailing there sounds more like the
Court of Versailles than that of Delhi ; but, anxious
though he is to convey his experiences in terms
likely to be understood by his French correspon-
dent, yet his trained love of exactness does not
usually allow him to misrepresent the native life.
All his gossip helps us to realise the time when the
deserted courts of Delhi Palace were instinct with
a vivid and very human life of its own. It was never
probably life of the highest kind, nor reflecting any
very elevated ambition. Before Delhi Palace came
into being, the noble endeavours and lofty aspira-
tions of the great Akbar had quite passed away,
and with them his liberal-minded, strenuous desire
to benefit the people he had conquered, and so to
rule them that conqueror and conquered should
become one people : and the wonderfully wise and
humane system by which he hoped to accomplish
his aim had petrified into an elaborate and lifeless
shell, that contained the elements of its own decay,
as is the tendency of all institutions unless they be
constantly swept through by a renewing tide of the
idea to which they owe their existence.
The increase of the Mahratta power, which led
eventually to the disintegration of the Mogul
Empire, revealed, before Aurangzeb's death, the
weak spots where degeneration was already setting
in. His fanaticism had accentuated the line of
24 o DELHI
cleavage between the Mohammedan government
and its Hindu subjects and inaugurated a fatal pro-
cess of separation. The nobles had lost the charac-
teristics of the early northern conquerors and sunk
far towards the effeminacy and sloth which later
distinguished them. Their equipment for the field
was an index of their inefficiency. The coats of
thick wadding, covered with chain or plate-armour,
the showy horses with huge saddles and velvet
housings fluttering with many coloured satin
streamers and white Tibetan yaktails, the plumed
harness weighted with bells and jewelled chains ;
these no doubt formed a cavalry " fitted to prance
in a procession," but not to endure much exertion,
nor to emulate the exploits of the hardy horse-
men of Timur, Babar or Akbar. To inefficiency
was added corruption and a total relaxation of all
discipline. In spite of Aurangzeb's vigilance the
grossest abuses had crept in. Aurangzeb was
courageous and wise, but he was suspicious, dis-
trustful and cold-hearted ; and as great a contrast
as can be imagined to the noble Akbar or to Babar
with his easy sociable temper, love of simple plea-
sures and kind affectionate heart. In spite of the
almost divine honours paid him by his entourage,
no king was ever so cheated or worse served.
Aurangzeb was a clever, energetic, astute ruler ;
in religious matters though not superstitious
he was of the strictest sect of the Pharisees, and,
in the middle of the luxury of his court, he lived
a life of self-denial and abstinence. But, in his old
age, he wrote this pathetic summing-up of his long
AURANGZEB 241
reign, " The instant which passed in power has left
sorrow behind it. I have not been the guardian
and protector of the Empire." He realised that he
had missed the idea which is the salt of dominion
missed the sympathetic self-sacrifice and devotion
to the good of the community which form the
only justification for imperial rule.
2 II
242 DELHI
LIST OF SOVEREIGNS WHO REIGNED AT DELHI
FROM 1193 TO 1837.
The Ghori (Tajik), Turki and Pathan Kings oj
Hindustan who reigned at Delhi.
A.H. A.D.
Muhammad bin Sam, Ghori 589 1193
Kutub-ud-din, ist Dynasty of Slave (.Turki) Kings . . 602 1206
Aram Shah 607 1210
Shams-ud-din Altamsh 607 1211
Rukn-ud-u-din Firoz 633 1236
Sultana Raziyah 634 1236
Balban 664 1266
Kaikubad 686 1289
Jelal-ud-din Firoz Shah Khilji, 2nd Dynasty, Pathan . 689 1290
Ala-ud-din Muhammad 695 1296
Shahab-ud-din 'Umar 715 1316
Kutab-ud-din Mubarak ... .... 716 1316
Nasir-ud-din Khusru 720 1321
Ghias-ud-din Tughlak, yrd Dynasty, Pathan . . . 720 1321
Muhammad bin Tughlak 725 1325
Firoz Shah Tughlak ........ 752 T 35i
Muhammad Shah 793 1391
Khizr Khan Saiyad, $th Dynasty, Saiyad .... 817 1414
Mubarak Shah II. ........ 824 1421
Muhammad Shah 837 1434
'Alam Shah 849 1445
Bahlol Lodi, ^th Dynasty, Pathan 855 1451
Sikandar Lodi 894 1489
Ibrahim Lodi ... 923 1517
The Mughal Emperors of Hindustan.
Babar 899 1494
Humayun* 937 1531
Akbar 963 1556
Jehangir . . . 1014 1605
Shah Jehan 1037 1628
Aurangzeb 1068 1658
Bahadur Shah 1118 1707
Jahandar Shah 1124 1713
Farrukhsiyar 1124 1713
Muhammad Shah 1131 1719
'Ahmad Shah 1162 1748
Alamgir II 1168 1754
Shah Alam .......... 1173 *759
Akbar II 1221 1806
Bahadur Shah 1252 |jg 37 '
^ This reign includes the Pathan Interregnum of Sher Shah (1540-45),
Salim Shah, and other Sur Kings up to 1555
CHAPTER XII
NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DELHI
AFTER leaving the Fortwedrovetothe KalaMusjid
(or Black Mosque) a building in the primitive,
massive style of the second Pathan dynasty, and
datingfrom the time of Firoz Shah Tughlak(i38o).
It stands deeply embedded in the heart of the
narrow, crowded alleys of the city. It is a solid,
simple and stern building, a great contrast to those
we had just left. The colour of the stone of which
it is composed, called by Carr Stephen quartz-
ose sandstone, certainly gives it a very dark and
sombre appearance ; its correct name however is
the Kalan or Great Mosque. The corner towers
and walls slope inwards in away characteristic of
some of the architecture of these early days, and
it stands on a high platform, beneath which are
rough-looking rooms for travellers, we were told.
A flight of twenty-eight steep steps leads to a
small courtyard, with a cloister on three sides.
The arches are all heavy and massive, recalling
our Norman ; and some of the windows are fitted
with rude red stone screens with cross-shaped
openings. The Mosque proper and the cloister and
angle towers there is no minaret are surmounted
244 NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DELHI
by flat domes, held together simply by the extreme
strength of the cement used : a special note of the
Mohammedan-Indian buildings of this date which
had impressed me at Bijapur. This was probably
the town Mosque of Firoz Shah Tughlak's city
Ferozabad. The site of the imperial city of that
most enlightened prince lies between the Ridge
and the river, stretching away beyond the south
gate of Shah Jehanabad, which now partly covers
it. The ruins of its citadel, or Kotila, maybe seen
on the river bank : all that now remains of Feroz
Shah's Palace, with its blue enamelled domes and
golden spire, is a curious ruined pyramidal struc-
ture, consisting of four square terraces, of dimin-
ishingsize, placed one above the other, and crowned
by the Lath of Asoka. They remind one of the
descriptions of Babylonian and Assyrian palaces
and hanging gardens. This Lath is a stone pillar
thirty-seven feet high originally erected by
Asoka near Meerut which Firoz Shah brought
here, triumphantly, with infinite care and pains, a
thousand years later, and, unconscious of its real
interest, covered with a golden sheath. It bears
four of the oldest inscriptions in India (third cen-
tury B.C.) : edicts in the Pali dialect referring to
the new religion a form of Buddhism which
Asoka wished to promulgate. A similar Lath of
Asoka which Firoz Shah transported from the
Amballa district, he erected at the other ex-
tremity of his town, on the Ridge; it was damaged
by an explosion in 1720. A third is to be found in
the Fort at Allahabad.
KALAN MUSJID, DELHI
246 NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DELHI
In the afternoon we drove out of Delhi, south,
about two or three miles beyond the Kotilato
Indraput, over the hard uneven ground, formed of
the remains of Firozabad. Indraput is a ruined
fortified town, believed to occupy the site of the
first of the great cities which, ever since the days
of the earliest Aryan settlement in India, have in
turn marked the place where the last outlying
ridges of the central Rajputana Hills abut on the
alluvial plain of the Jumna valley.
In the Mahabharata we find, dimly outlined,
the half mythical traditions of the founding of
Indraprastha (fifteenth century B.C.) in a clearing
amid the jungles of the Jumna valley. The snake-
worshipping aborigines receded before the Panda-
vas,* the five brothers who led these Aryan
invaders, and the kingdom thus established lasted
some thousand years, covering the period of the
wars which form the main theme of this Hindu
classic. The succeeding dynasty was that of the
Gautamas ; namesakes of the great teacher Sakya
Muni, a Rajput prince whose father ruled at the
time of Nebuchadnezzar over a district further
south-east on the borders of Oude. From his
philosophical system and the attractive exam pie of
his beautiful life sprang the Buddhist faith which
Asoka, the contemporary of the Greek Antiochus,
was so largely instrumental in popularising in
India. The Gautamas were displaced about B.C. 57
by Raja Dilhu, and the name of Delhi first
appears then. Soon after, the history of Delhi
was merged in that of Upper India and with it
* See p. 318.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENT 247
passed successivelyunder the dominion of Hindus,
Pathans, Moguls, and Mahrattas ; it was rebuilt a
century before the date of our Alfred, by Anang
Pal and again by Anang Pal II. at the time of
William the Conqueror.
Ruined fortresses and tombs cover the whole
barren and treeless district, which spreads eleven
miles southward, to the spot where the famous
Kutub Minar rises like Doulton's chimney
above the plain : these ruins mark the different
sites of the town during these centuries; and as but
little kindly vegetation covers their ruins, and no
grass grows on the arid, accumulated remains of
bricks, stone, and cement which form the soil the
plain is a picture of desolation. Any one of these
monuments would, no doubt, be thought worth a
pilgrimage if in a solitary position by itself, but
here, amongst so many rivals in interest, they are
submerged in the crowd, and the whole produced
in our minds a feeling of bewildered perplexity.
Fortunately, one does not often have to try
and grapple with the remains of twenty cen-
turies of civilisation, concentrated in a space
eleven miles long. This plain is truly the archaeo-
logical museum of India.
On the site of the prehistoric Indraput, the
usurper Sher Shah built a fort known as Din
Panah, or the Purana Kila : he with his successors
held Delhi, during the early years of Akbar's life
(1540 to 1555), whilst the rulers of Babar's line
were, for a time, again pushed back into Afghanis-
tan. Inside these picturesque walls we visited
248 NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DELHI
Sher Shah's very fine red sandstone Mosque
(1340) stern and severe, but big and bold, with
huge arches, and sharp, finely-cut mouldings and
returns to the masonry, which looks as fresh as if
it were only just built. The struts supporting the
side bays of the Mosque, which are oblong in plan
and not square, are curious. In the angle towers,
of much later date, are pavilions richly ornamented
with exquisite designs in sandstone, like those at
Fatehpur Sikri. It was quite dark before we got
home again, and the smoke, mingling with the even-
ing mist, was hung about like a cloud, softening the
sharp outlines, and filling the air with the strange,
pungent smell peculiar to an Indian evening.
February 23 was a perfect day, and we made an
early start for an expedition to Kutub, ten miles
distant. The road lies direct south from Delhi,
beneath an avenue of feathery acacias * now only
partly out in leaf. The throng of passengers along
the road is very picturesque. Men, women and chil-
dren, cows, camels and donkeys, all more or less
laden, drivingor being driven towards the city. No-
where, except in India, have I seen bullocks, buffa-
loes, &c., carrying such heavy weights upon their
backs. They seem to get along with them very well,
however, and have often their burden crowned, into
the bargain, by a human being at the top. Some-
times it is only a little child with a rope in his hand
attached to the nose of the beast; he tugs at it
violently to get the brute out of the way of a gharry,
which comes bowling along, the syce running in
front, crying " Hat-jao, Hat-jao! " at the top of his
* Acacia arabica.
-^
KUTUB MINAR, DELHI
2 I
2 5 o NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DELHI
voice, whisking a cloth which he holds in his hand,
and giving a shove on this side and anotheron that,
to some animal or man who is too tardy in making
way. Besides these, there are swift-going ekkas
hurrying past at the rate of ten miles an hour a
wonder when one sees the rats which draw them
and numerous ponderousandcreakingbullock-carts
meandering slowly along, from side to side of the
road, and steered, partly bythe cord attached to the
long-suffering animal's nose, partly by its still more
long-suffering tail. The true native bullock-cart is a
cumbrous machine, with two solid stone or wooden
wheels ; but the "hakkery," a simple frame, put
together without nails invented, I am told, fifty
years back by two British officers, meets the native
requirements, so exactly, that it has been universally
adopted. The pole is attached to the axle-tree ; at its
further end is the yoke, resting on the bullocks'
necks, and midway is a plank for the driver, from
which he, sitting astride, can manipulate the tail
and dig his toes into the animal's sides. In the art
of bullock-driving, one important item appears
to lie in knowing the precise degree to which it is
possible to twist the long thin tail, without its part-
ing company with the patient beast, and thus de-
priving it of its steering gear: another consists in
having at command a large vocabulary of strange
sounds, " pops like the opening of a soda-water
bottle, checks, chirrups, gurgles, and appalling
roars," * otherwise the stolid, imperturbable crea-
*See an article by Mr. Aitken on "The Byle," in the Monthly
Review, 1905.
TIMUR 251
ture cannot be got under way, and kept going
at all.
We, fortunately, were not in a bullock-cart, and,
after a short four miles' drive we reached the Mau-
soleum of Safdar Jang an eighteenth-century
tomb of large proportions which is hardly worth
visiting, when there are so many better close by. It
resembles the Taj, but only very distantly, and has
stucco in place of marble. We did not stop five
minutes, but hurried onwards, crossing the plain
where Timur, or Tamerlane, the lame Mogul in-
vader from Samarcand, fought (1398) the historic
battle against Muhammad Tughlak, Feroz Shah's
successor, which delivered Delhi into his hands.
Timur gave the city over to five days of plunder
and massacre, and tranquilly awaited the conclu-
sion ; he then gave thanks for the victory, in Feroz
Shah's splendid Mosque on the Jumna, and turned
his mind to a thoroughly systematic and intelli-
gent inspection of the buildings of interest remain-
ing, recording them with scientific accuracy in his
Memoirs. He soon returned whence he came,
leaving anarchy, famine and pestilence behind him,
but carrying with him masons and sculptors, to
erect a Mosque in Samarcand, and an immense
horde of men, women and children as slaves.
Delhi was, subsequently, more or less deserted
for about one hundred and thirty years, during
which time the Lodi Sultans attempted to rule the
district from Agra. About the time, however, of our
Henry VIII. Babar sixth in descent from Timur
came again from the north with a small, well-
252 NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DELHI
disciplined force, and, gaining possession of Delhi
at the decisive battle of Panipat (1526), founded the
Mogul dynasty, which lasted in unsurpassed power
and splendour nearly two centuries. Babar was an
admirable ruler, and a man with a delightful deli-
cacy of taste, kindness of heart, and keen sensi-
bility to the simple pleasures of nature and life,
which make him one of the few sympathetic charac-
ters in Indian history. He lived chiefly at Agra,
but his son Humayun brought the seat of govern-
ment again, for a while, to Delhi, where it remained
under the Afghan usurper Sher Shah, until Babar's
grandson Akbar regained the throne in 1555.
It was not long before we caught sight again
through the tamarind trees, which clustered round
a village, of the great Kutub Minar, five miles
ahead in the distance. It is rather a libel to liken
it to Doulton's chimney, but, at first sight, it cer-
tainly suggests it. On closer acquaintance it grew
upon us, and it is, without doubt, a most original
building a tower two hundred and thirty-eight
feet high, in five diminishing storeys with many
points of beauty: my companion wished to knock
off the two top storeys, I think probably rightly, as
it turns out that the original designers had nothing
to do with them, and they were the work of Feroz
Shah Tughlak, the great restorer, in 1368. The
Kutub stands on a gentle slope, in a beautifully
shady oasis of thick groves of fine trees, contrast-
ing most gratefully with the prevalent dark red hue
of the plain which they overlook. We were very
glad to reach this cool and peaceful spot, and or-
THE IRON PILLAR OF RAJA DHAVA 253
dered our lunch, at the Dak bungalow, before turn-
ing to examine the groups of remarkable buildings,
which rise from amidst pomegranate and jasmine
bushes, round the base of the great tower.
We are here in the midst of the memorials of the
so-called Pathan conquerors, who first brought
Mohammedanism to India, and here was the seat
of empire from 1191, when Shahab-ud-din, or
Mahmud of Ghor, and his viceroy, Kutab-ud-din,
possessed themselves of the capital of the cele-
brated Prithvi Raja (the Rajput ruler of Ajmere
and Delhi, and the last champion of Hindu inde-
pendence in Upper India). It remained the capital
until the time of Ala-ud-din Khilji, the parricide,
who died (1315), leaving his great minaret un-
finished. But, in the midst of these traces of the
first Mohammedan rulers of India, stands the won-
derful iron pillar of Raja Dhava second or third
century A.D. which no European foundry would
have been able to produce till about fifty years ago.
It supported, probably, an emblem of Vishnu, and
its deeply-cut Sanscrit inscription gives the earliest
authentic information about primitive Delhi.
The Ghazni dynasty, to whose empire in
Khorasan Mahmud of Ghor had succeeded, not
infrequently raised minars or towers of victory on
the sites of their battlefields : they are found in
Ghazni, and as far west as the roots of the
Caucasus and to this class of tower the Kutub
Minar evidently belongs. It interested me very
much: to begin with, no European monument rises
sheer, to its full height, in such isolated grandeur;
254 NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DELHI
it differs in shape, design, and detail from any other
tower I had ever seen, and its surface is most curi-
ously covered with perpendicular, angular, and
semi-circular flutings in the red sandstone of
which it is built. The origin of these Angular flut-
inQ-s seems unknown, but whether it is to be found
o
in the peculiar form of the Ghazni Minars in
Khorasan, or to be traced to the starlike shape
of some Jain monuments, they certainly produce
a very beautiful effect. Each storey, covered alter-
nately with these round and angular flutings, is
surrounded by a broad band of Arabic inscription,
supporting a massive balcony, which stands out in
strong relief from the tower.*
Close to, in fact surrounding, the Kutub is a
very interesting Mosque of the fourteenth century,
but it consists, almost entirely, of earlier Hindu
workmanship, and is greatly made up of the pre-
existing Jain temple, which the builders of the
Mosque used as a quarry, just as the church builders
at Avalon availed themselves of the columns and
ornaments of the old Roman buildings, in their
neighbourhood. It consists of two enclosures. The
larger and outer one built after the inner con-
tains the Kutub, and is entered by a splendid gate-
way, built by Ala-ud-din, of red sandstone relieved
with bands and stripes of white marble, and covered
with the most delicate designs arabesques and
diaper patterns carved and inlaid, much like those
* The lowest storey dates from 1 190, the two next bear the
name of Altamsh (1211-36), and the upper part is of the time of
Firoz Shah Tughlak (1351-91).
HINDU ARCHES 255
at Fatehpur Sikri, though considerably earlier
in date. The inner enclosure forms the court in
front of the Mosque proper, and is surrounded by
a cloister with portals and facades of incomparable
richness, supported by rows of Hindu columns,
profusely and wonderfully sculptured with flowers,
vases, and mythological scenes; they are placed in
pairs, one above the other, to give the requisite
height. The Mosque proper is built of the same
richly carved materials, once covered with stucco
and whitewash for fear of offence to the eyes of
the faithful ; it is low and insignificant in compari-
son with the enormous screen of pointed arches
which stands in front of it, but seems to have fol-
lowed the fashion of the buildings of the date of
the Kalan Musjid, and had no minaret. These
arches, though designed by the Mohammedans,
show by internal evidence, on closer inspection,
that they were of Hindu workmanship : they are
not true arches at all, and were probably built on
the same plan as the Hindu domes, by native
workmen who did not understand the construction
of the arch. They are carried up in horizontal
courses as far as possible, and then closed by long
slabs meeting above. The arches, in fact, could
never bear any weight upon them ; but this they
were evidently not intended to do, for they pro-
ject high above the Mosque proper, showing day-
light between its top and the top of the arch. At
the north-west corner, outside the Mosque, is the
beautiful tomb of Altamsh (1235), the earliest
Mohammedan tomb in India.
256 NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DELHI
We lunched near the little dak bungalow, where
those may stop who get permission from the
Superintendent of Police in Delhi : not far off is a
deep well, with a drop of sixty feet and a depth of
twenty feet of water. Into this, with the prospect
of gain, the natives delight to jump : four of them
were stripped and all ready for us on our arrival,
so we allowed them to go through their perform-
ance, and then we were let in for eight annas
apiece, which they demanded strengthening their
claim irrefutably by declaring that " the Guide book
says so ! " The well is narrow, and too vigorous a
leap forward would throw the creature against the
opposite wall, where he would probably be dashed
to pieces. But they never fail to get down feet
foremost, and walk up again by a staircase from
the surface of the water shivering, however
hot the day, to intensify one's feelings of com-
passion.
Early in the afternoon, we left the cool oasis and
started on our way back by Tughlakabad, a grand
old fortress, which Tughlak Shah built in 1321,
when the restlessness, so usual to Indian rulers,
drove him from the Kutub at the foot of the hills,
to build a capital of his own, four miles to the
east nearer the Jumna. It stands high, on a chain
of rocks, and looked over an artificial lake, formed
by a great stone wall built across a ravine in the
hills ; this is now dry, except in the rainy sea-
son. Huge and imposing round towers, of a very
hard, bluish crystalline rock, rise from the base of
the hill, to support the cyclopean walls, and give
TUGHLAKABAD 257
a look of severe grandeur to the long line of
fortifications. We were reminded of some great
solid Etruscan, or Egyptian building. Although
it was deserted forty days after Tughlak Shah
died, no vegetation blurs the outline of the sloping
turrets, thick walls and narrow doorways, and
enoueh remains of its four-mile circumference and
o
fifty-two gates to show what a formidable strong-
hold it formed ; it was indeed, as Mr. William
Finch said of it in 1610 " a thing of surpassing
glory and stateliness."
A stone causeway, raised on low arches, stretches
out into the lake, and at the end of it is a curious
enclosure surrounded by very massive walls, in
the form of an irregular pentagon, sloping inwards
from the base, in the peculiar style of the Tughlak
Sultans. In the centre of this small fortress, which
is in a far better state of preservation than the
castle, stands the fit and appropriate tomb of two
of the warrior kings of the Tughlak line. This
building, of white marble and red sandstone, sur-
mounted by a white marble dome, is the tomb
where the generous benefactor and restorer Firoz
Shah Tughlak, who endeavoured so nobly to
repair the ravages of time and the results of past
tyranny, placed the signed deeds of full pardon
which, with infinite pains, he had obtained from
all those whom his brilliantly clever, but probably
slightly deranged, predecessor had injured. There
is something distinctive in the character of this
short line of Tughlak Sultans (1321-1390), and
their refined, severe taste and pitiless sternness
2 K
258 NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DELHI
appear to have stamped themselves on the titanic
monuments of their time.
Here we joined, and drove back by, the Muttra
road. In this district, amongst the tombs and the
ruins of bygone cities, there are little communities
of low caste Christians, singing their curious songs
as they lead their flocks and herds to graze, on the
scant herbage.
The Cambridge Mission to Delhi though
chiefly devoted to work among the educated
classes in the city, where they have a complete
ladder of education is responsible for this work
too, and they perambulate the villageswithin a circle
of twenty miles, preaching, teaching, catechising
and conversing.
The Delhi Brotherhood was founded, in conse-
quence of a strong appeal made by Sir Bartle Frere
to the University, to send men to carry on the work
of Mr. and Mrs. Winter in Delhi. Sir Bartle Frere
had visited Delhi, with the Prince of Wales in
1876, and wrote of these devoted people that they
were both much overtaxed. Mr. Winter was a man
of great powers of organisation, energy, and enthu-
siasm, who had laboured here for eleven years
without rest, and he could not be persuaded to
leave till it was possible to supply his place. Sir
Bartle Frere wrote, " I am much mistaken if you
have not a larger Tinnevelly at Delhi in the course
of a few years, but they require more money and
more men. Delhi seems quite one of the most
hopeful openings I have seen." Mr. Bickersteth
(afterwards Bishop of Japan) responded to this
THE DELHI BROTHERHOOD 259
appeal, and founded the Delhi Brotherhood in 1878
with the support of the saintly and learned Bishop
French of Lahore, who for his knowledge of native
dialects was known as the " Padre with seven
tongues." Since then, the work has expanded under
the inspiring leadership of Mr. Lefroy and Mr.
Allnutt,and has numbered several learned Oriental
scholars amongst its members, men able to meet
Brahman and Moolvi on their own ground and to
showthemselves better acquainted, even than they,
with the Vedas and Koran. One of the great desires
of Bishop French was to avoid anglicising the
native convert, and encouraging him to depend too
much on his Western teacher ; he therefore en-
couraged peripatetic methods of evangelisation.
He combined this method with colleges, in which
he hoped native boys might be trained to be-
come Christian teachers; and he looked forward
to the day when colleges, such as those of the
Missions at Delhi, Agra and Lahore, by mastering
methods of grappling with Oriental subtleties of
thought, would build up a truly native Church in
India, and rival the ancient Christian schools of
Alexandria and Edessa.
The Cambridge Brotherhood hold, that the pro-
gress of Christianity in India has been terribly hin-
dered by the strongly marked and rather self-
assertive individuality of the English character,
which finds solidarity of life and work a diffi-
culty ; and that, whereas the old faiths of India have
pre-eminently asserted the principle of brotherhood,
the Christian religion had been, for a long period,
260 NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DELHI
presented to the natives of India as concerning the
individual relation of the separate soul to God
almost exclusively, whilst the complement to this
essential foundation, the unity of the whole as one
body in Christ, had hardly been brought home to
them at all. They believe that the marvellous soli-
darity of native life, which is one of its most
marked characteristics, is not all evil, and that it
behoves the missionary to show, in deed as well as
word, that that principle is, in the highest degree,
congenial to the faith of Christ. They hold,
therefore, that the object-lesson of a corporate life,
based on pure religious principle, such as a
Brotherhood presents, is of the utmost value, in
the task of commending to the Hindu mind a truly
catholic and not exclusively English, oreven Euro-
pean type of Christianity. The characteristic and
impressive note of the Delhi Mission seems to be
its complete organisation of active work. It dis-
covers various practical advantages arisingfrom the
Brotherhood life such as economy; the absenceof
isolation, which is one of the greatest trials of the
ordinary missionary ; and the continuity of work,
resulting from the fact that,themethods of the older
and more experienced men can be learned, by those
working with them, before they are called away.
Both this, and the road we went out by, are lined
in places with tombs of all descriptions, some
covered by delicate bright coloured tiles. The
number of fine tombs which we met with in India
rather perplexed us, but, to any one with a know-
ledge of the history of Mogul courts, the explana-
NOBILITY OF OFFICE 261
tion is not far to seek. Amongst the Moguls there
were no noble families: the King was the proprietor
of all land and the source of all honour. The saying
of the Emperor Paul of Russia, "the only man
noble in my dominions is the man to whom I speak,
for the time that I speak to him," expresses pre-
cisely the attitude of a Mogul Emperor to his own
courtiers and high officers ; and they succeeded in
breaking up, in India, all the ancient aristocracy ex-
cept that of the Rajpoots. Yhe courtiers and emirs
were usually adventurers from outside, or slaves,
and they formed simply a nobility of office which
never succeeded in founding a family, and never
built a spacious palace. They lived in temporary
habitations, and spent much of their time in the
Emperor's palace : he was their heir, and had no
scruple in bestowing their possessions on their suc-
cessor in office, as soon as they died, and transferring
their wealth to his own coffers. Theirfamilies were,
at once, turned out to shift for themselves, and their
sons had to begin de novo. Consequently, they left
nothing to commemorate their name, unless it were
a bridge or a canal built for the public good, or a
college, except the tombs which meet our view on
every side.
We stopped en route at the Tomb of Akbar's
father, Humayun, the first great Mogul building
in India and probably the finest. It is certainly the
most beautiful tomb near Delhi, and it looked par-
ticularly solemn and grand as we saw it, just after
thesun had set. There can be no doubt that thecon-
tour of the dome is finer than that of the Taj where
262 NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DELHI
bulbousness has already become rather marked. The
design of the building is peculiar. A white marble
dome rises above the central chamber, which is
an irregular octagon, with four irregular octagons
at alternate sides, surrounding it, and between
them small square or oblong chambers with deep
portals in each. The body of the building is of
red sandstone and white marble, and stands, in
the centre of a garden, on the top of a square
platform, looking dow r n on the surrounding trees,
and, away north, to the rugged
walls of Indraput. The garden
is surrounded by walls, entered
by stately gateways. It was to
y"^f f} this building that Hodson, of
- 1 H^o> " Hodson's Horse," came, in
SKETCH PLAN OF nuMAYUN's search of the last King of
Delhi, and with a small band
of horse brought him away, in the teeth of hundreds
of the enemy. He still further distinguished him-
self by returning for the two sons of the King, and
having led them out of their hiding-place, shot
them with his own hand. His action was much
criticised, but acts of boldness such as this seem
to have staggered and paralysed the natives.
On leaving Humayun'stomb it was growing so
dark we were, obliged to give up going to see that
of Nizam-ud-din. And next day we left Delhi.
It had been very interesting to trace the growth
of the tomb idea, which culminates in the Agra
Taj, but one can have too much of everything, and
I think we had of sightseeing at Delhi. Neverthe-
THE DARGAH OF NIZAM-UD-DIN 263
less, our consciences brought us back again, for a
night, from Amballa, to see the Dargah of Nizam-
ud-din. Wehadto leave again bya train (southward
bound) at eleven, so we made an early start, and were
on the road at about a quarter to eight. The same
picturesque throng that we had seen on the former
occasion, when we drove out early from Delhi or,
at any rate, a very similar one met us as we left
the outer gates, butwith the additionof amysterious
mist, betokening heat, and a string of camel-carts,
like huge cages, full of natives, which we passed
just beyond the walls.
Our carriage drew up, amongst ruins, before a
small archway, and the path, which we followed,
led us round a sacred baoli or tank, overshadowed
by high walls. On the west side seventy feet above
the water, was a dome, from which naked natives
wanted us to see them jump. We did not give
them any encouragement, but passed on, through
a winding passage, into a beautiful little courtyard ;
this is the first of two, forming the bury ing-ground
of many great and holy people, grouped around
the Dargah of Sheik Nizam-ud-din, which, like the
shrines of the other three great Chishti saints, is
reverenced by Mohammedans all over India. He
was the last of the line, and appears to have settled
in Delhi about 1265, and to have been a great and
powerful personage, playing an important part in
the political history of his time. He was a great
ally of Ala-ud-din Khilji, the parricide Sultan, and
has, the perhaps undeserved, reputation of having
been closely connected with the Thugs, who have
264 NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DELHI
always honoured him, as one of the lights of the
profession. With Tughlak Shah, he seems to have
been at cross purposes, and the tradition goes that
they interfered with each other's building opera-
tions and showered on them mutual recriminations
and curses.
Nizam-ud-din died at the age of ninety-two,
the year before his opponent, who was murdered
in 1325. His devoted friend and follower, Khusru,
the renowned poet of Tughlak's Court, whose
songs have not been forgotten by the people through
the five hundred years which have passed by,
refused to survive him, and died soon after; he
lies buried within the same enclosure. This pecu-
liarly Oriental habit of dying at will with no ap-
parent physical cause except that of refusing to
take food has often been a real difficulty to the
English Government. Instances are well known in
which individuals, or, in some cases, groups of
people, have allowed themselves to die, simply as a
protest against something they objected to: it is
usually as an act of impotent revenge and in order
to heap obloquy on the man who drove them to it.
Political prisoners, in Russian prisons, Leo Deutsch
says, will revenge themselves on the officials in
much thesamemanner. "Sitting dharna,"or taking
up a position at a man's gateway, and refusing to
take food, in order to enforce compliance with
some demand, is now a criminal offence in India.
Babar appears to have ended his days in some-
thing of the same manner as Khusru : he devoted
his life to save that of his sick son, the son re-
covered, and Babar died.
THE TOMB OF JEHANIRA 265
Here also lies Jehanira, the devoted companion
of Shah Jehan's captivity in Agra Fort. She sur-
vived her father for sixteen years, and was said to
be a great benefactress of the poor and religious
men, and to have died with the reputation of a
saint, which, though the part of the devil's advo-
cate was not left out, and there are two versions
of her story, Bishop Heber seems inclined to
allow her. Her tombstone consists of a white
marble slab, carved with flowers, and hollowed
out, so as to contain earth, on which grows fresh
green grass, in obedience to her wish that only
things frail and evanescent should mark her last
resting-place : the epitaph inscribed on the head-
stone is said to have been composed by herself:
" Let green grass only conceal my grave, grass
is the best covering for the grave of the meek, the
humble, transitory Jehanira, the disciple of the
holy men of Chisht."
On the right, on entering the first courtyard
there is a Mosque, with a very fine domed ceiling
rising, before the dome is commenced, from a
square to an octagon and from that to a sixteen-
sided figure. To the east is an assembly hall of
white marble, with fine lattice screens (restored).
Two of the tombs have beautiful white marble
doors, elaborately ornamented in low relief.
The great tombs of Nizam-ud-din and of Khusr u
form two separate buildings, of white marble
encased in lattice screens of the most exquisite
carved work. The shrines themselves are covered
with bright silk palls with canopies over them and
2 L
266 NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DELHI
ostrich eggs and gewgaws hang from the canopies.
All important Moslem tombs have, besides the
Mosque, an endowed college of Moolahs attached :
they say prayers at stated times, read the Koran
over the grave twice a day, and spend the intervals
in teaching the youth of the neighbourhood to
read the Koran and hate the unbeliever. The result
is, no doubt, not very conducive to living peaceably
with your neighbour, but the process pleases the
eye. Picturesque groups of figures sit about on
the marble pavement. Here is a very small boy
being taught to read out of a great tome ; there a
venerable patriarch is instructing a lad out of the
Koran ; and in another part a young man is care-
fully copying a manuscript, with his " style " the
floor forming his desk, and he laboriously leaning
over and slowly drawing out the letters.
Besides the large tomb, there are innumerable
small ones, many of which would be well worth
studying anywhere else. Some of these are over-
hung by great shady trees, and in the shady or
sheltered nooks sit many old men, in various
stages of decrepitude. They, and the cats, which
seemed to haunt the place, reminded me of the
Algerian marabouts, where the old people, who
have come to end their days in the holy precincts,
sit hugging cats to keep them warm. The whole
group is wonderfully beautiful, and the place is
certainly one of the most attractive near Delhi ;
the quiet life about it adds an indescribable charm
not easily forgotten.
CHAPTER XIII
AMBALLA: A CANTONMENT
ON a bright, but sharply fresh, early morning at
the end of February, we reached Amballa after a
night journey from Delhi to pay a visit to Mr.
Leslie Smith, the Divisional Judge of the district.
He met us at the station and drove us up to his
house, two miles off, at the further side of the can-
tonment. It was a pleasant drive under avenues
of fine peepul trees, and along straight level roads
flanked on either side by large shady compounds
enclosing within low, whitewashed walls and rose
hedges trim deep-roofed bungalows, festooned
with masses of crimson bougainvillea and of big-
nonia bright with orange-coloured flowers. In the
distance the view, northwards across the plain,
was bounded by blue mountains topped by faint
indications of glorious snowy Himalayas. Some of
these giant peaks, fading into the delicate blue sky,
beyond Simla, must be fully two hundred miles
away.
Amballa is one of the proverbially happy places
without a history ; a town has only existed here
since the comparatively late date of 1400, and
nothing of any importance is recorded of it till the
268 AMBALLA
district came into the hands of the British in 1823.
Then, it was chosen as the station for the political
agent of the province, and in 1843 a cantonment
was established a few miles south of the now well-
nigh vanished unwalled old town. It is the head-
quarters of a district lying between the Sutlej and
the Jumna the Himalayas and the native state of
Patiala which is the sacred land of the misty days
of Hindu epic romance and the last home of the
five demi-god brothers, the Pandavas, before they
left the plains to bury themselves in some unknown
spot amongst the eternal snows of the Himalayas.
There is, however, little trace of mystery or poetry
in the crisp, brisk military atmosphere of the busy
little town: it lies on the Grand Trunk road, that
most fascinating of highways the "broad smiling
river of life" with new people and new sights at
every stride, endeared to us all by the days spent
on it by Kim, the " little friend of all the world "
and his Lama. Its double avenue runs fifteen hun-
dred miles across India, and Amballa is close to
the place where the road to Simla and the Hill
stations turns off, and has long been a centre of
supply for the Europeans up there. It is in a capi-
tally healthy situation, and though no doubt very
trying in the hot weather, it was fresh enough then.
The temperature was cooler than anything we had
hitherto enjoyed in India : experience warned us
that it would be considered rather tactless to con-
gratulate any of our friends in India on the climate
of the place they lived in, but it was undeniable
that a good deal of rain had fallen here, whereas
AN ATTRACTIVE STATION 269
we had met with none elsewhere, and that there
really were refreshing indications of green grass.
The neighbourhood of the hills, with their snow
and roaring torrents, gives to the atmosphere a
dampness that lends beauty to the landscape ; and
OUTSIDK TIIK CANTONMKXT
the surrounding district is well wooded with fine
dark green groves of mango, with sissoos, mul-
berry, banyan, and the ubiquitous peepul tree.
The attraction of this station is that it is soclos^
to the hills that wives and children can easily
escape, for the hot weather, to Kasauli, six thousand
feet above the plains, and overlooking the Kalka
valley, where, when the railway then projected was
opened, a run of three hours would enable the men
270 AMBALLA
to join them for the week end. At Kalka the Simla
people used, in old days, having passed the ford
over the Ghaggur river half-way, to leave their dak
gharry from Amballa and take to the tonga. In
flood-time that ford often involved considerable
delay for passengers, and the mails were carried
over by an elephant. All these romantic incidents
have faded into the past now, and by a light rail-
FROM THE MAIDAN
way to Simla one is very prosaically "wheeled to
reach the eagles' haunt " in no time.
Amballa is said to be a very good specimen of
an English cantonment : at the time of our visit
there were five thousand troops there, including the
yth Dragoon Guards, 2nd Battalion Queen's West
Surrey, I4th West Yorks, King's Own Scottish
Borderers, 2nd Battery Royal Horse Artillery,
2nd Mounted Battery (partly native), loth Bengal
Lancers, and the 23rd Pioneers. It stretches out on
a vast flat plain about seventy miles south of the
first slopes of the Himalayas and is planned upon
rectangular roads. The central part is occupied by
the bungalows of the officers, the shops, the club,
and the church, all surrounded by large com-
pounds. To the West are rows of barrack buildings
separated from the centre by small maidans flat
272 AMBALLA
open commons, green in favourable circumstances
and dotted with trees and beyond are much larger
open spaces stretching for miles around the can-
tonment. These form parade-grounds, grounds for
military manoeuvres, and are available for polo and
cricket. To the North is a golf links, and there,
quite at the extremity of the cantonment near the
gymkana or recreation-ground, is Paget Park,
where was our host's house. It is attached to the
post which he holds, and is said to be one of the
best in Amballa and the only civilian's house in
the military lines, the civil lines being away to the
West. I understand it was rather a Naboth's vine-
yard and regarded* with covetous eyes by the
general commanding the district. It stands in a
good garden with the usual little water-channels
surrounding theflower beds ; they are filled from the
droning Persian wheel, where a drowsy boy, curled
up behind the patient oxen, sends them circling
round the well, and turning runnels of clear water to
freshen the lemon and rose bushes ; the garden in
their season abounds in roses, but the time of roses
is not yet. Close by is a tank with a picturesque
temple, where I sketched ; this is one of the few
remaining fragments of old Amballa, and I had to
make the most of it, and of some wonderfully big
banyan trees, and another tank, surrounded by
ruined temples. I was also fortunate enough to
secure, for the morning, a splendid camel sowar of
the loth Bengal Lancers, who came and sat to me
on his camel, in its scarlet Marie Stuart cap and
saddle-cloth, outside the verandah of my bedroom.
THE TOUT
273
Unfortunately our conversation was limited, but an
obliging Moonshee glorified my sketch by writing
Shams ud-din Khan's name and status in splendid
picturesque characters below it.
It was a rest to be free from that most imperti-
nent, persistent individual, the Delhi tout, who
had been boring us to death for the last few days,
His name is legion, he lay in wait at every corner,
and with his confreres crowded round us in the
THE HOUSE OF THE DIVISIONAL JUDGE
street, and climbed, uninvited, on to the carriage,
thrusting his employer's cards into his victim's
face. We were besieged by him at the hotel door
and even stormed in our bedrooms. It is very
difficult to maintain an air of indifference to all
this persecution, and at last I got so exasperated
that I threatened violence with sticks and umbrellas
nothing short of this will keep the tout at bay.
It was good also to be in a comfortable house
with decent food, after the very indifferent fare at
Indian hotels and to get milk which one knew was
not contaminated with typhoid germs. It is not
2 M
274
AMBALLA
safetodrink milk in India unless one has a tolerably
intimate acquaintance with the individual cow and
its ways. The real white brahmini cow with its
black points, wide muzzle, and long drooping ears
who supplies the milk for English, or native
domestic use, is ^Purdah lady, secluded for life, and
BANYAN TREE
she never strays beyond the stable or the courtyard,
separated from the neighbouring domain by a
low mud wall ; she is fed by her own attendant,
who in times of scarcity will wander far afield,
seeking fodder for his charge. The other cows,
who supply the milk of commerce, are those one
sees at large, picking up a doubtful living in the
streets and bazaars : the ordinary milk is therefore
a fruitful source of infection.
THE CANTONMENT 275
One of our first thoughts on arriving was to in-
quire for Furse, whom \ve had last encountered
in the train coming here to be nursed through
typhoid fever ; he seemed to be very well looked
after in the hospital and with countless kind friends
watching his recovery.
The cantonment had been rather in mourning
lately, for the general died the week before, and a
poor man, who had dined with our host the day
before, w r as killed on the polo ground. Another
man, General - , had also just died, poisoned
by his servants, in whose favour he had very
foolishly made a will. It was said that no traces
of the poison could be found, but the doctors
appear to have no doubt of it, and I am told
the natives know of poisons which leave no trace
at all.
People say that Amballa is a deadly dull place^
but we came in for census holidays and a polo
tournament and there appeared to be no end of
amusement for the next week or so. Tent-pegging,
polo, and races were the order of the day, dinner-
parties and theatricals of the night, and we had a
delightful time and met some very pleasant people,
including Mrs. Nairn, wife of the Inspector-General
of Artillery, whose daughter was just about to
marry Capt. Mercer, one of Lord Roberts' A.D.C.s,
and some other agreeable R.H.A. people, Captain
Eardley Wilmot ; Lord Teignmouth's brother,
Major Shore ; and Mrs Knox and her sister, Miss
Dundas of Arniston ; Colonel and Mrs. Elliot
Lockhart, relations of the Davisons of Muirhouse,
276
AMBALLA
commanding the R.H.A. here ; and Sir John
Jervis White Jervis and his wife.
We went to see one of the polo tournament
matches they were playing off the finals ist
West Yorkshire (quartered here) against Bareilly
and Jallunder Rifle Brigade teams. As the Rifle
Brigade teams had each six or eight good ponies
against the West York two apiece, it seemed a great
THE CROWD
triumph of good play when they won the final. On
the ground I met Major Noyes, who commands
the i st West Yorks here : he was very keen about
the game, and the enthusiasm of the Tommies was
immense. Major Noyes had come out with us as
far as Aden and was expecting his Colonelcy daily.
The tent-pegging amongst native officers of
Bengal Cavalry Regiments was one of the prettiest
sights I had seen in India. It was a lovely day and
almost the first we had had any sun since we arrived.
After breakfast we Avent to the maidan close by to
TENT PEGGING
277
the N.W., and the wide plain formed a very pretty
picture, with the tents and shifting kaleidoscope of
gay-coloured crowds, in which every figure was a
study in colour, against a background of blue Hima-
ui'tyW
jflj*
A COMPETITOR
layas, capped with snow. The brightly dressed
native audience, onlookers and competitors
some of them wild looking Pathans and frontier
tribesmen in gorgeous clothes were ranged in two
long rows, on either side of the course, eagerly
watching each rideras, with body bent low and poised
spear, he comes galloping down, shouting wildly
278
AMBALLA
till he either misses the peg or hits it, and swings
it, on the point of his lance, round his high-coned
blue turban with the flashing steel quoit then a
murmer of excited approval passed through the
crowd. All this in brilliant sunshine, with a back-
ground of trees and grey-blue
mountains and far off snow-peaks,
was a scene never to be forgotten.
It was a grand opportunity for
studying variety in the dress of
the people ; some were gloriously
apparelled in their own native cos-
tume, and others were in bright
uniforms. The uniforms of the
loth Bengal Lancers, many of
Avhom are Sikhs, with their
blue and red lance-pennons, blue
kurta or long coat, white breeches,
red cummerbund, and the blue
cone-shaped lungi, or turban, particularly pleased
my eye. I was introduced to several distinguished
personages, and specially remember a gentleman
in dark green silk, who was said to trace his
descent to the time of Abraham or rather that it
had been done for him. I was immensely glad we
had not missed it all, though it involved our fore-
going a visit to Peshawur.
The night of March 3 found me at Amballa sta-
tion, starting, with my " boy " Lobo, on an expedi-
tion to the North- West. My companion was not
well and preferred a few quiet days at Amballa;
but, besides my desire to see Lahore and Amritzar,
ONE OF THE CROWD
NATIVE PASSENGERS 279
I was driven to Lahore by a very prosaic search
for a dentist, who, it appeared, was not to be found
elsewhere in the North- West. At Delhi such a per-
son is unknown, andthe inhabitants have to depend
on a travelling dentist who goes from place to place.
An Indian railway station is always rather an
entertaining place : the amount of native traffic is
astounding, and the stations are always filled with
a jabbering crowd. I believe that, if a native is to
leave by a morning train, he comes to the station
overnight, and takes his ticket, and, not troubling
about time-tables, sleeps there, so as to be sure of
catching it. You find them on the platform, outside
the ticket office, lying asleep, with heads covered,
rolled in their cotton quilts, huddled up on each
other in indistinguishable heaps, like bodies on a
battlefield. The third-class waiting-room is a
large hall with iron gratings for doors, rather like a
cage in a menagerie: you look through the gratings
and see all kinds of strangely garbed people sitting
and lying about. They are not allowed on the plat-
form, till nearly time for their train : when the train
comes in the cage is opened and they spring to life,
and with cries and shouts in which the water-
sellers and sellers of sweets join they all bustle
down the long platform, gathering up their bundles
and, with most un-Oriental lack of dignity, push
and run to the train ; there they may be seen pre-
sently cooped up in the crate-like carriages, lying
on the floor and standing on the seats, in great con-
fusion, but apparent content.
My host came to see me off and he introduced me
280 AMBALLA
to a fellow traveller, whom he chanced to know ; he
shared my compartment all the -way to Lahore,
where he lived. Perhaps he was a cynic who, having
seen much of the seamy side of men and institu-
tions, took a gloomy view of life and its amenities;
at any rate, he spent the night most uncomfortably,
SWEET-SELLERS
and, before leaving, told me he was busy and could
do nothing for me. I had experienced a good deal
of the kind and sociable ways of Englishmen in
India, and no doubt I had had more than I de-
served, of generous hospitality in other places.
Soon after achilly sunrise I found myself driving,
along a winding road lined with casuarinas, to
Nedou's hotel; Sir James Lyall, with whom we
were to have stayed, had been obliged to go into
camp, just at the time of my visit to Lahore.
CHAPTER XIV
LAHORE THE NORTHERN GATE
IN old days, he who held Lahore held India, for
it stands at the sluice-gates through which, from
the north-west since the time of Alexander the
flood of many successive generations of India's
conquerors has swept. Into Lahore poured the
first Mohammedan invaders at the end of the
seventh century, and looted the great Brahminical
city of which, years before, the Chinese Buddhist
pilgrims, Fo-Hian and Hiuen-Tsiang, had de-
scribed the splendour. Again, three centuries
later, the ten thousand picked horsemen of Mah-
moud of Ghazni burst, "like a foaming torrent,"
through the barriers and overwhelmed Jai Pal, the
Rajput king of Lahore, at Peshawur. He was
carried off, with rich spoils, into captivity, but re-
leased on promising a tribute : the disgrace, how-
ever, broke his heart, and mounting a pyre, he had
had constructed, he applied the torch with his own
hands, and perished in the flames. The burden of
the tribute passed to his son, An'ang Pal, who was
true to his inherited engagements, though other
subjugated Rajahs' were less loyal, and the northern
Sultan returned in wrath and defeatingthe largest
2 N
282 LAHORE
army India had ever mustered gained a firm foot-
ing in Hindustan. He occupied Lahore, which
remained the capital of the Musalman Empire
until 1194, when Mohammad Ghori, or Shahab-
ud-din, whose dominions extended from Tibet to
the Caspian, transferred the metropolis to Delhi.
In the last years of the fourteenth century La-
hore fell before the invasion of the lame Timur, and
when another 140 years had elapsed, it was once
again sacked and plundered by the great Babar in
1526, who pushed his invasion further, and, after
the victory of Paniput, founded the Empire of the
Moguls. From that time Lahore ranked as one of
the great capitals of the East, and Milton, no doubt
basing his estimate on Mr. William Finch's remark,
" This is without doubt one of the greatest cities of
the East," coupled it with Agra in the well-
known lines
Samarckand by Oxus, Timur's throne,
To Pekin, of Simoean kings, and then
To Agra and Lahor of Great Mogul
Down to the golden Chersonese.
The Mogul Emperors lived here at intervals,
and the four great builders of the dynasty are
all represented in Lahore : Akbar by the mixed
Saracenic and Hindu architecture in the Fort and
walls, Jehangir and Shah Jehan by their splendid
palaces, and the fanatical Aurangzeb by the great
Mosque. Subsequently the city became the scene
of perpetual pillage and loot until the establish-
ment of the Sikh kingdom under Ranjit Sing, a
magnificent figure, who welded the Sikhs, under
THE SIKHS 283
European officers, into the strongest native power
in India ; he was always a faithful ally of the
British, and it was not till after his death, that two
great wars led to the annexation of his kingdom.
The original cradle of the Sikhs with their war-
like habits and traditions and theocratic enthu-
siasm lies in an upland district between the
Sutlej and the Ravi. They are not a distinct race,
though chiefly Jats; but a well-disciplined religious
and military democratic brotherhood of re-
formed Hindus, and Sir Monier Williams appears
to think them most akin to the worshippers of
Vishnu. They owe their origin to Nanak, who
was born, of a farmer's family, on the banks of
the River Ravi fourteen years before the birth
of Martin Luther (1469). He spoke as a divinely
inspired teacher, and the character of his message
and its influence, in the early days when the
Granth their sacred book was written, before
corruption and degeneracy crept in, was such
that Bishop French of Lahore says, that to those of
his Sikh hearers, who were well up in their own
sacred writings, quotations from the Gospels, or
Early Fathers, seemed to express spiritual truths
with which they were familiar. Sikh signifies
literally " a disciple, " and at first they were little else
than a body of seekers after the divine way of truth
and peace of mind. Since Nanak's day, however,
the system has been consolidated, and much modi-
fied, by successive Gurus, or teachers. Under the
fifth Guru Arjun (1581-1606) they became a poli-
tical community : he came into collision with the
284 LAHORE
Mohammedans and died a prisoner in Lahore under
Jehangir. It was Arjun who compiled the Granth
or Holy Book an object of immense venera-
tion amongst the Sikhs: the sayings and doctrines
of Nanak are comprised in one divisionof the book,
called the " Japji," which the true Sikh is directed
to read every morning, as containing the key to the
teaching of all the Gurus. It is said to be " noble
in spirit, poetical in form, and worthy to be classed
with some of the noblest of the Hebrew Psalms,"
and to express a mysticism comparable to that of
Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey full of
a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns
. . . and in the mind of man.
Nanak dwells specially on the character of God,
as a self-conscious Being, who loves and cares for
His creatures, who hears their prayers and enters
into personal relations with them. He taught that
the royal road to the knowledge of God and to
intercourse with Him, was neither by intellectual
knowledge nor ritual "good deeds," but through
"remembrance of the Name" or meditation on
the character of God conformity to His Will, and
right conduct ; also that the Immanent Spirit
reveals Himself amidst the businessof life aswell
as in the solitary places if the heart be intent on
hearing His voice and doing His Will. The
moral standard of the first Sikhs was a high one ;
gambling and immorality were punishable offences;
falsehood, slander, and fornication were branded
GURU GOVIND 285
as deadly sins; truthfulness, honesty, and kindness
were inculcated. And by Nanak's doctrine, "There
is no Hindu and no Mussalman," all caste divisions
were swept away in the brotherhood. The later
Gurus, however, preached the duty of destroying
the enemies of the faith, and soon, the original aim
of the founder was frustrated and forgotten.
Under the later Moguls, the Sikhs endured bitter
persecution, but they gained in strength, and gradu-
ally developed from a religious order into a military
community known as the Kalsa, or elect. Though con-
stantly at war with their Mohammedan rulers, and
representing like the Mahrattas in the south the
Hindu reaction, and formingone of the main causes
of the internal disintegration of the Empire, yet
they constituted a protection against attack from
outside, and for many years kept back the tide of
further Afghan invasion. The last Guru who had
any pretensions to beingaspiritual leader was Guru
Govind (1721). He established the political inde-
pendence of his followers, and, after him, the rule
of the Guruship was abolished and only military
leaders were elected. The contrast between this
later history of the Sikhs when they lived only
for the holy war, with its tale of slaughter and
bloodshed and the precepts of Nanak, is absolute.
In the eighteenth century the military prowess
of the Sikhs reached its zenith, for, after a long
struggle with the Afghans, they finally won the
supremacy of the Punjab in a battle near Amritzar
in 1764. They then established themselves firmly
in Lahore, which became the military centre of their
286 LAHORE
kingdom, but was constantly robbed to glorify the
religious centre, Amritzar. They ruled the north-
west for a century, and became a nation of free-
booters, sweeping down and over-running the ad-
jacent country like locusts. They destroyed the
crops and the fine groves of trees, the legacy of the
piety of past generations ; and they massacred the
populations. They were then said to be "false, san-
guinary, faithless, and addicted to plunder and the
acquirement of wealth by any means however nefa-
rious." After Ranjit Sing's death they invaded
British territory in 1845, an d began the first
Sikh War, which led ultimately to the annexation
in 1849. Then they were enlisted in small numbers
in the Sepoy regiments. On the outbreak of the
Mutiny Lord Lawrence enrolled many more, and
they behaved w r ith such conspicuous loyalty as to
have justly earned the reputation of the most
gallant and faithful soldiers of the Indian Empire.
The Sikhs differ from all the Hindu sects in that
they are " not born but made " ; they are not idol-
aters, and welcome all castes in the community.
Like the Nazarite of old, the initiated Sikh never
shaves or cuts his hair ; and tobacco is forbidden
him. His beard is divided in the middle, and pass-
ing behind his ears is twisted in a coil with his hair,
under the dark blue high-coned turban in which he
wears a miniature steel quoit.
When the kingdom of Ranjit Sing came into
possession of the British at the end of the second
Sikh War (1849) the district was taken by the
East India Company from Maharajah Dhuleep
THE KOHINOOR 287
Sing, and with it came into their possession
the famous diamond, the Kohinoor. After the
murder of Nadir Shah in 1739 this historic stone
had passed through many vicissitudes, and came
at last, in a much mutilated condition as the
price of the liberty of Shah Soojah, its blind and
decrepit royal owner into the hands of Ranjit
Sing. He left on his death-bed instructions that it
was to be sent to Jagganath, but his son retained it,
amongst his treasures, until the day when it was
personally entrusted to Lord Lawrence for trans-
mission to the Queen. One of the quaintest of its
many adventures then followed. Lord Lawrence
placed the small box, in its cotton wrappings, that
contained it, in his waistcoat pocket, and promptly
forgot all about it until, six weeks later, he was
called upon to send it home. Then the circum-
stances flashed across his mind, and with much
anxiety he hastily summoned his bearer, and in-
quired whether he recollected the box being in his
pocket some time before. Theservant had found it,
and, with the care of a good native servant,
though he thought it contained only a worthless
piece of glass, had luckily put it carefully away in
a battered tin box, and, to Lord Lawrence's great
relief, was able to produce it at once.
Since Lahore came into our hands a second town
has grown up outside the old city : the moat has
been filled in and planted with a shady belt of
garden, forming a green girdle round Akbar's and
Ranjit Sing's walls, with their twelve gates. It
is a city of gardens where all sorts of trees and
288 LAHORE
shrubs flourish : the roses, I believe, are something
to rave about, and mulberry, guava, orange, vine,
and peaches and plums bear splendid crops the
scarlet-flowered pomegranates in the gardens, and
the green meadows of the Champ de Mars, near the
town, form a delightful foreground to the distant
views. On very bright days, when the air is not too
much charged with dust, the snow-clad Himalayas
come into sight, far far away, stretching their mas-
sive, gigantic, and noble forms proudly, above the
clouds, into the blue heavens. The middle distance
is perfectly flat: it is fertile, but depends much on
irrigation, and when not irrigated by canal water,
tends to become a mere barren desert or steppe
dotted with stunted camel-broom and wormwood
and other shrubs; clusters of mud or reed huts
occur here and there, by the side of a muddy pond,
and are dignified by the name of village.
I found a great deal to attract me in the won-
derful walled city of Lahore ; though the buildings
all recall Delhi and Agra, and seemed on rather a
lower level of interest, yet there are certain things
which are unique and essentially characteristic of
the place, and these, in themselves alone, are well
worth coming here to see they help one to imagine
what the town was like in the old days of its splen-
dour, when the Persian poet used it as an instance
of transcendent attainment :
God has made by His own power,
One city great, one city small,
Not every town becomes a Delhi or Lahore.
My first care was to get the Handbook descrip-
THE FORT 289
tions as correct as possible ; I found it no easy task,
and it occupied the whole livelong day, as there was
no one to help me, and the only book relating to
the place shirked all the difficulties and swallowed
all the old blunders. Immediately after breakfast,
I drove off to see the sights. The Fort is one
of the chief objects of interest ; but owing to
the absence of a reliable guide I was much put to
it to understand and unravel its intricacies. There
used to be an intelligent non-commissioned officer
there, who knew something about the place, but
he with the whole garrison had gone, only two
days before, and had been replaced by a new lot,
who were more ignorant of the place than I was
myself.
Lahore Fort in its palmy days must have been
a splendid place, perhaps equal, or approaching in
beauty to that at Delhi. But vandalism, British
and other, has robbed it of most of its splendour.
The outside of the Palace of Akbar, which faces
the deep ditch and overlooks the outer wall, is
profusely decorated with incaustic tiles and the
mosaics of tile work, called Kashi or Nak Kashi
work, i.e., pottery made of the same material as
tiles, but in all kinds of odd shapes and repre-
senting differentquaint subjects combats between
animals, tigers and bulls, elephants, dragons. In
the spandrils of some of the window-arches there
are splendid flying angels, with girdles and long
tassels, each bearing in its hand something which,
from below, looks like a lamb or possibly a bird.
This very unorthodox decoration according to
2 o
2 9 o LAHORE
Mohammedan doctrine is attributable to the time
of Jehangir, who preferred to live here rather than
at Agra and contributed much to the splendour
and prosperity of Lahore ; even in the time of
Akbar its bazaars stretched far over the now deso-
late tract beyond the walls. Jehangir is said to
have given so much encouragement to the Portu-
guese Missionaries that he allowed a figure of the
Madonna to appear on one of his buildings and
used a rosary on which were figuresof Christ and the
Virgin. It is said that with his full approval several
members of his family were baptized : there is,
however, considerable doubt as to the real extent
of Christian influence at the Mogul Court. Cer-
tainly in Jehangir's case, the influence does not
appear to have affected in any way his life and moral
character. Sir Thomas Roe the Ambassador from
James I. bears witness to the drinking bouts to
which he was addicted in private, and to the brutal
ferocity of his treatment of those who incurred
his displeasure. Prince Khusru, his eldest son
whose tomb we saw at Allahabad for a short time
held Lahore against him, but, with his supporters,
fell into his father's hands : Jehangir caused seven
hundred of Khusru's followers to be impaled in a
line outside the gate of Lahore Fort, and he had
the unfortunate Khusru, loaded with chains, and
carried on an elephant, down the line, to witness
the terrible spectacle of their prolonged sufferings.
Khusru, who inherited something of Babar's tem-
perament, was much affected, and for years re-
mained a prey to the deepest melancholy : his
PALACES 291
subsequent fate, as his father's prisoner, excited
much interest and he was for long the popular hero
of his day.
The palace in the Fort was built round three
sides of a large central courtyard, with a garden in
the middle, and a lovely pavilion, with a richly
sculptured verandah, overlooking the Ravi on the
fourth side. The curious red sandstone corbels of
part of the palace twisted into the likeness of pea-
cocks, monkeys, elephants, and griffons are quite
Hindu in character, and appear to date from
Akbar's time. It is not very easy to realise what
the palace was in old days, as it has suffered so
terribly from Sikh and European alterations, that
little of its original form remains. The beautiful
little white marble mosque, the Moti Musjid, with
its three domes was, I found, the strong room of
the Fort and secured with many padlocks and sen-
tries, who did not allow me even to approach it ;
whilst another beautiful white marble building of
Jehangir, the Diwan-i-Khas, which stands near his
red sandstone Kwabgah, or sleeping palace, was
used as a garrison church at the time of my visit.
It is of a beautiful simplicity of design and is sup-
ported on thirty-two delicate pillars. Both these
buildings have now been disencumbered of their
European tenants, but the Diwan-i-Am, a grand
hall near the centre of the Fort, is entirely spoilt
by alterations, modern walls and whitewash, and
converted into barracks ; and the Shish Mahal
or Palaceof Mirrors, adelicatelybeautifulbuilding
of rather later period and attributed to Shah Jehan
292 LAHORE
and Aurangzeb though in more or less perfect
condition, has been encrusted by Ranjit Sing,
who used to hold his Durbars there, with a mosaic
of looking-glass, more in harmony with modern
oriental taste than with ours and quite out of key
with the feeling of the building.
From the windows of this hall northwards there
is a beautiful view over the Almond Gardens and
plain beyond to the Ravi, a mile or two away.
Before Aurangzeb's too successful attempt to pre-
vent inundations by diverting the course of the
stream, the river ran just below the Fort. Where
its broad bright blue stream now flows to join the
Indus, stands Jehangir's beautiful tomb, on the
Shahdera, which Ranjit Sing robbed to form the
Bara Darri, a rich and fanciful gem of a marble
pavilion standingin the tangledgarden the Hazuri
Bagh which separates the Fort from Aurang-
zeb's great cathedral mosque.
Near here are the sacred places of the Sikhs ;
amongst them the humble shrine of their fifth
Guru Arjun Mall, the compiler of the Granth,
who is believed to have perished as a martyr, in the
Ravi, on this spot and the Sanadh of Ranjit
Sing, a much more pretentious mausoleum, with
its round roof and projecting balconies. Above his
ashes, in the centre of a marble platform, is a large
lotus flower carved in marble and surrounded by
eleven smaller flowers: the central flower covers the
ashes of the great Maharaja and the others cover
those of his wives, who became sati and under-
went cremation with their husband.
THE GREAT MOSQUE 293
Aurangzeb's mosque, the Badshahi Musjid, as
it is called, is a fine and stately example of that
not by any means the best period ; its general
effect is marred by the absence of the crowning
cupolas to the red sandstone minarets ; being
damaged in 1880 by an earthquake, the tops were
taken down, leaving the minarets looking, for all
the world, like factory chimneys, though they appear
massive and imposing as they rise above the large
THE KORT AND JUMMA MUSJID
and shady trees of the mosque courtyard. The
mosque was builtbyAurangzeb, withtheconfiscated
funds of his elder brother, Dara Shikoh, whom
having safely disposed of his father, Shah Jehan, in
Agra Fort he murdered in order to secure the suc-
cession to the throne. After a long pursuit Aurang-
zebhad captured Dara near Ahmedabad and bring-
ing him to Delhi paraded him through the streets,
amid circumstances of great indignity; he then sub-
mitted him to a mock trial, and, finally by the hand
of his personal enemy, sent and murdered him in
prison. His body was exposed to the populace on
an elephant, and the head was then brought on a
294 LAHORE
silver dish to Aurangzeb. It is hardly surprising
that the mosque should never have been afavourite
place of prayer.
When the Sikhs had the upper hand in Lahore
they, in their turn, persecuted the Mohammedans,
and desecrating the mosque made a magazine of
it: it was not till 1850 that the Mohammedans ob-
tained permission from the British Government to
restore the mosque to its original use, and they
collected large sums of money which they spent on
its cleansing and restoration ; it has unfortunately
suffered terribly again from the earthquake of 1905.
In a chamber above the gateway are kept some
sacred relics of the Prophet and of Hasan and
Husein which used to be in the Fort. It took the
priest in charge five minutes to open the padlocks
to the various doors enclosing them, and then,
before showing them off, he made us wait whilst he
saidatedious and monotonous prayer. Thenwesaw
the pugaree and slippers of the prophet and a hair
of his beard, and various specimens of his hand-
writing. Dusty, fusty things they are, but the old
priest, who showed them to us, was very anxious
to impress upon us their beauty and unique value.
My second morning at Lahore, I started before the
sun was up for a drive of six miles to Shahdera.
It was bitterly cold and frost covered the grass,
until the first horizontal rays of the sun were felt,
and then the frost suddenly disappeared and by
8.30 it had become quite hot. Lahore is very hot
in summer, but in winter the frost is quite severe,
and the natives used, I am told, to collect ice to
THE RIVER RAVI
295
store, in small flat pans, and presented a very busy
scene before sunrise men, women, and children
ice-picking. It was rather a pretty drive to the
river, under avenues of acacia, through the very
flat country all under cultivation, till on a bridge
of boats we crossed the broad and bright blue Ravi,
flowing down to join the Indus. The natives have
curious ways of fishing in these rivers, an earthen-
ware pot is floated down the stream, on which the
fisherman rests his stomach, lying flat and paddling
THE BRIDGE OF BOATS
with his hands and feet : at a propitious moment
he flings abroad a net, over the surface of the
stream ; he throws the fish thus caught into his
earthenware pot and paddles on again. Sometimes
these figures have a very droll look, only the head
and neck of the fisherman being seen above the
water, with a small part of the red earthenware pot
and the uplifted staff to which the net is fastened.
Now and then large numbers of them are carried
down stream on floats, with nothing appearing
above water but their turbaned heads ; these have
a very weird appearance, shouting and singing as
they bob up and down on their way down the river.
296 LAHORE
A friend described to me another original method
of river navigation which they practise. Six or
eight chatties with large open mouths are lashed
together on the underside of a charpoy or wood
and string bedstead in such a manner that the
mouths of the chatties open downwards. This
contrivance is then carried to the water and care-
fully lowered, so that each chatty remains full of
air. This forms a raft of sufficient buoyancy to carry
a passenger, and it is manoeuvred by the fisherman
seated astride on a net-full of empty gourds : thus
he rides through the water, being above it from
the waist upwards, and controls and directs the
primitive craft.
Shahdera, which I reached at about eight o'clock,
is a low square building of red sandstone and
marble, raised on a platform with a big minaret at
each of the four corners, a wide marble terrace above
it forms the roof. The cenotaph, beautifully de-
corated with pietra-dura work, is in the centre of
the building, in a small octagonal chamber with
pierced marble screens on each side ; a large tang-
led garden, containing a few stray flowers, sur-
rounds it all. This was once the Dilkusha garden
or pie asaunce of Jehangir's beautiful and capable
wife, Noor Jehan, who with her father and brother,
Asaf Khan, completely dominated the cruel, but
pleasure-loving Jehangir and his empire towards
the end of his life. Noor Jehan was the daughter
of a needy Persian refugee, who with his son obtained
employment and rose to well deserved honour at
Akbar's court. Jehangir fell in love with the grace-
SHAHDERA 297
ful and accomplished girl whom he saw in his
father's harem perhaps at one of the fairs Bernier
describes and though they married her to Sher
Afgan, a Persian, to whom Akbar gave the gover-
norship of Burdwan in Bengal, Jehangir did not
rest until he had had Sher Afgan murdered
and Noor Jehan brought back to Agra. It was
not, however, till he had been six years Emperor
that she consented to marry him ; then she ob-
tained an ascendency over him unparalleled in
the East. Her name appears with Jehangir's on
coins and her will was law in all affairs of state.
Her father became prime minister and her brother
received some other high appointment ; her niece
Muntaz Mahal she married to Shah Jehan. Fortu-
nately the family were wise and upright and their
swaybeneficial to the Empire. She survived Jehan-
gir's death of asthma for twenty years, but lived
in obscurity and, in sign of mourning, never wore
anything again but white. Her tomb, near Jehan-
gir's at Shahdera, was completely ruined to adorn
Amritzar: that of her brother Asaf Khan, the father
of Muntaz Mahal stands in the middle of another
garden to the west of the Serai, and was most
sadly treated by Ranjit Sing and robbed of all its
veneer of marble and stone ; there is still, however,
a good deal of beautiful Nak Kashi work sticking
to the portal ceilings.
Returning to the city to breakfast, I went to
sketch about ten having interviewed my dentist
again and hoped to have a field day of it, in the
unique native streets.
2 I'
298 LAHORE
The old town is delightfully picturesque, and
quite a treasure-house for sketching. It consists of
a network of narrow, tortuous streets of high, brown
brick, flat-roofed houses with the usual hot and gay
bazaars below. Here bullock carts and the huge
mouse-coloured bulls shoulder their way through
the variegated crowd of many tribes and nations
which throng this northern frontier town, and by
their warlike bearing, and more sympathetic, warm-
hearted aspect, are a contrast to that of the natives
further south. Looking down upon the streets are
the most fascinating oriel windows, and beautifully
carved balconies, of all manner of unexpected
shapes ; they stick to the sides of the walls like
nests of swallows or bees, and make the narrow
Lahore lanes, often ending in culs de sac, some of
the most taking in the world. There is an infinite
variety in the endless crowded rows of picturesque
projections. All the windows are ornamented, and
shut in, with wooden screens of delicately beauti-
ful lattice work, and the overhanging wooded bal-
conies, on which they often open are not only carved
with elaborate designs, but painted with bold blue
and red devices, so that no space fails to make its
appeal to the eye. In the centre of the old town is
the mosque of Vizir Khan, a beautiful building, all
inlaid with mosaicsof incaustic tile\vork, and ablaze
with glorious colour glittering in the sun : in and
about it, in the ceaseless play of light and shade,
are throngs of natives of the most picturesque
description, including many Pathans, fellow
countrymen of Kim's ally Maboub Ali, who come
NARROW STREETS
299
here for horse-dealing and other trade ; and a few
supercilious looking camels, who appear to regard
their surroundings with supreme indifference.
WINDOWS LIKE BEES' NESTS
Owing to the narrowness of the street, and to
the dense throng of passers-by, I was compelled
to charter a rickety ticcaghari and anchor it in the
position from which I wanted to make my sketch.
;oo
LAHORE
It was as good a subject as I could have wished to
have : before me was a massive archway spanning
the street intensely dark in its cavernous recesses
and under it, a jostling crowd was passing and re-
A STREET WINDOW
passing in garments of every vivid colour though
the blue, the Sikh colour, predominated looking
brilliant, by contrast, as they stepped into the sun-
light from beneath the shade. On either side were
shops and stalls, buyers and sellers : and the air
was full of many voices. Above the heads of the
crowd, through the archway, I could see one of
THE MUSEUM 301
many coloured minarets of Vizir Khan's mosque
soaring up into the blue sky ; and, while I was at
work, a superb figure huge, and with the bearing
of a prince came striding towards me
and seemed to give a central and
completing touch to this gay scene.
Encompassed by these narrow
streets is a Sikh temple with a fine
well. To get at it I entered a court-
yard from a back lane ; there I en-
countered an old man who could not
make out why on earth I wanted to
see the well. The door to the staircase
was locked, and he put so many diffi-
culties in the way of getting the key,
and was so mysterious altogether,
that I was at last having no time to
lose obliged to give it up as a bad
job, and go on to the Museum, where
is the finest collection of Buddhist
sculptures in existence. Some of them are really
most artistic, and display curious traces of Greek
influence in the feeling and execution. They
come from the Buddhist sacred places in the
north, and the cro\vded friezes once covered the
brick stupas, with endless series of representa-
tions of the beautiful tale of Sakya Muni's life and
death and miracles the familiar scenes in which
he is represented with the begging bowl, or seated
under the bo-tree in meditation, or on a lotus as
the object of adoring veneration. One curious and
quaint object which attracted my attention was a
A CURIOUS COLUMN
302 LAHORE
red sandstone Buddhist column about ten feet high,
which came from near Jhelum : it had a large and
solemn head carved upon it and projecting from it,
near the top, some five or six inches.
Unluckily, I had no time to visit the famous rose
gardens, five miles out at Shalimar :
Where Sultan after Sultan, with his pomp,
Abode his hour or two and went his way.
Irani, indeed, is gone with all its rose,
And Jamshy'd's sev'n-ring'd cup, where no one knows ;
But still a ruby kindles in the vine,
And many a garden by the water blows.
Great groves of mango and gigantic fig and orange
trees, over two hundred years old, still spread round
the old palace, and they and the beautiful marble-
bordered lakes swarm with birds and squirrels.
In Lahore, as in most other places in India, in the
town and country alike, are countless numbers of
birds which, never molested by the natives, are as
tame as possible. The blue rock pigeons come
down on theroofsand courtyards in clouds, making
the place where they alight, quite blue. In the old
buildings all the holes and corners are inhabited
by green parrots, with red bills, who poke out their
cheeky noses at every turn, and fly fussily about
over one's head chattering as vociferously as the
natives below. Along the country road the most
common birds are the minah and the turtle-dove :
then there are huge cranes, all tamer than barn-
door fowls at home. As to noxious beasts I met
none anywhere in India. The snakes were all
underground, except those in the possession of
KIM 303
the charmers, and they are not in the habit of roam-
ing at large. I saw plenty of bees by the way, hang-
ing to rocks and palaces, but I did not molest
them, and they refrained from interfering with
me. Everywhere there were grey-hooded crows
(Coruus splendens\ and any number of kites, who
are fellow partners in the scavenger business.
Wherever there were trees there were swarms of
squirrels of a buff colour, with dark stripes, and as I
sat and sketched theycame and played aboutalmost
between my feet; they are quite as little shy as the
funny little girls nice bright-eyed little bejewelled
urchins in the blue Sikh colour, with flashing white
teeth who approach the stranger with curiosity.
Outside the old Museum building is the famous
green bronze gun called the Zamzamah, or the
lion's roar, possession of which, is said to carry
with it supremacy in the North-West, on which
Kim sat astride, and kicked with his hard little
heels when he first made the acquaintance of his
lama and laid the foundation of that quest for the
River of the Arrow, which was to cleanse from sin,
and has taken so many of us deeper into the heart
of India than would endless years of personal pil-
grimage on its highways.
CHAPTER XV
AMRITZAR: THE POOL OF IMMORTALITY
ON my way back to Amballa to pick up my com-
panion I stopped at Amritzar, and spent twelve
hours there. Twelve days would not have been too
much, for it is a paradise for sketching, but I did
hardly anything there, or at Lahore, on account of
the Handbook work. I found the days were all
twenty-four hours too short : what time I had to
sketch only resulted in failure, which was a sad
pity, for it is a quite unique place. In spite of its
being such an extremely modern city and a place
of to-day, rather than of yesterday its solid pros-
perity was all of a purely native and leisurely
character, with hardly a touch of the West about
it, and the town and the people alone are all most
picturesque in themselves. Nothing, however, that
I have ever seen can compare with the Golden
Temple, in its own particular way, and it is quite
as impossible to describe adequately its towers and
minarets and other sacred spots and things, in and
around its precincts, as it would be to describe a
beautiful dream. The whole thing is like a dream,
too strange and in some ways too beautiful to
describe.
2 O
306 AMRITZAR
Amritzar is the religious headquarters of the
Sikhs ; and the centre of the town, towards which
sets the tide in the crowded streets, is the celebrated
Golden Temple, standing on an islet in the middle
of the great Sacred Tank ; this gives its name
Amritt-sar, or Pool of the Water of Life, to the
town. It takes some time for a Western Christian
into whose religious life water, with all its sym-
bolism, only enters in the very elementary sprink-
lingbestowed in the initial baptismal rite to grasp
fully the immense part water and bathing play in
the religion and worship of the Oriental, and more
especially in that of the Hindu. The sacred tank
is really as important as the Temple, and perhaps
more essential to their devotion. Prayers may be
said in the most rudimentary shrine in a dumpy
black temple under a banyan tree, or in a sacred
grove ; before a tree or a marigold-wreathed black
stone bedaubed with red paint, or chipped rudely
to a blunt point; in the open under the horizontal
rays of the rising sun : but all acts of ceremonial
worship and even the morning prayer from the
Veda, prescribed to all high-caste worshippers
demand a preceding ceremonial bathing in the
cleansing stream or tank. It matters little that the
water is anything but clean, strewn with floating
flowers and leaves from the worship of past days,
and, as at Benares, contaminated in many other
ways the idea is there. It is a curious fact, so
closely is washing bound up with their religion,
that Hindu converts, in leaving their old faith,
leave off the useful habit, and "want of cleanli-
THE GOLDEN TEMPLE 307
ness " is mentioned by missionaries as one of the
defects of Hindu Christians.
The initiated Sikhs enter the brotherhood by
baptism, so it seems quite fitting that when their
apostle Ram Das, the fourth Guru, founded the
sacred city in 1570 on a site devoted to the pur-
pose by Akbar he should have set their temple,
their Mount Sion, not on a hill, but in the middle of
an ancient artificial tank; this he restored, leaving
it to his son Arjun Guru, the compiler of the
Granth, to complete the great temple, and see a
flourishing town spring up around this focus of the
aspirations of the brotherhood.
By this time the Sikhs had entered the troubled
paths of politics, and they paid the penalty when in
1761 the Mohammedans destroyed the town, blew
up the temple, and desecrated its foundations by
bathing them in bullocks' blood. The Sikhs, how-
ever, soon possessed themselves of it again, and
when in 1802 Ranjit Sing seized Amritzar, from a
rival faction of his brotherhood, he spared neither
pains nor the splendid palaces and tombs of his
predecessors in Lahore to enrich and glorify the
" Darbar Sahib," or Great Temple, of the com-
munity.
The Shrine is led up to, from the west, by a mag-
nificent gateway with silver doors. Through this
the pilgrim enters, to find himself confronted by a
literally dazzling vision, for the temple is covered
from the tops of its many domes to within a short
distance of the ground walls, roofs, cupolas, and
all with plates of gold on copper. All this
3 o8 AMRITZAR
shimmering glory " shines in the sun like a blazing
altar," and is then reflected in the dancing grey-
green water of the oblong pool, in the centre of
which it is set, and is made more brilliant by the
beautiful white marble terrace inlaid with coloured
marble from Jaipur framing the sacred tank,
whence steps, every here and there, descend to the
water's edge. A marble causeway leads across the
pool to the island platform of the little temple, a
marble balustrade on either hand, and tall columns
with gilt lamps surmounting them, rise above the
crowd of flower-laden pilgrims that continually
streams across. Around the marble pavement, bor-
dering the pool, are the Bunggas or palaces and
chapels of Sikh chiefs Rajas and Maharajas
who come, from time to time, to pay their devoirs at
the shrine: and sitting on the wide footway of the
terrace which skirts the palaces below, under tem-
porary shelters, are sellers of flowers, charms, and
rosaries, and such like gauds. In old days, every
Sikh carried a formidable spear-head or quoit in
his head-dress; but now they content themselves,
as a rule, with miniature copies in their pugarees :
only fanatical Akalis go about crowned with full-
sized chakkas. The miniature weapons are also
for sale beside the marigold and jasmine flowers.
The Golden Temple is a small, square, rather ir-
regular building, that has been compared to St.
Mark's at Venice, and certainly there is a resem-
blance in the manner that the first sight of it, across
the wide square, bursts upon one, and in the way
it is enriched with the spoils of older generations
THE HOLY OF HOLIES 309
and cities : six or eight feet from the ground, the
sheets of gold give way to an encrustation of
marbles, carved and inlaid with flowers and birds in
precious stones, that come from Jehangir's palace
and tomb and other Mohammedan buildings.
No shoe is allowed to enter the temple precincts.
My yellow-legged policeman-guide took my boots
off at the outer gate, and had my feet swathed in
voluminous coverings of red cloth, tied about my
ankles ; but even with these, one must not venture
to enter the temple, except by one particular door,
and then, must not penetrate beyond a few paces,
for fear of desecrating the holy place. This conces-
sion even would not be granted by the Sikhs to
any one but their conquerors. I found I must not
so much as rest my foot, on the edge of the door-
ways, in the other three sides : not even to stretch
inwards, and copy a pattern upon the silver doors.
It is a picturesque sight which greets one on enter-
ing the precincts by the permitted door. The in-
terior of the temple is a small square chamber,
surmounted by a dome and profusely decorated
with painting and gilding. Under a canopy, on the
east side sits, on the floor, the venerable high priest
in white robes, with a great cushion, or ottoman, in
front of him. Upon this he rests the Granth, or
Sacred Book when he has taken it out of various
embroidered wrappings and he reads aloud from
this from time to time, or else receives in silence
the offerings of the pilgrims : they come in a con-
stant stream, and, if they do not give directly to
him, cast their offerings of cowries, coins, or flowers
3 io AMRITZAR
for the temple into a sheet spread out, to re-
ceive them, in the centre of the floor. Then, taking
their places amongst the crowd, they squat down
around the sheet in a ring and chant verses out of
the sacred book, to the sound of string music from
quaint citharas, played by four or five old musicians
seated in a corner at one side, whilst other priests
wave fans above the Sacred Book. Under the dome
above is a chamber where it is said the Guru, the
founder of the temple, and his successors, used to sit
and meditate: this little place, like the other sacred
spots, is swept out with a broom of peacock's
feathers, which was the only movable object in this
shrine on my visit. The marvellous treasures of
gold and silver poles and maces and jewelled cano-
pies, and pearl and diamond ornaments, used when
the Book is carried in procession, are kept above the
entrance gateway ; and the gilded sacred ark, con-
taining the vessels for the initiatory rite and the
sword of Guru Govind, are laid by in another shrine,
where the neophytes are baptized and initiated into
thebrotherhood,by a quaint symbolic ceremonial in
which water and steel, bread and honey, play a part.
I made a sketch of the temple from the causeway
leading to it, but I was somewhat handicapped in
my work by the fact that I was not allowed to sit
down except on the pavement. I had provided my-
self with a campstool, but, on attempting to make
use of it, several persons in authority at once rushed
to me and remonstrated. It was too great a liberty
to take, in so sacred a spot, and was considered an
act of desecration, so I had no course but to sub-
THE BABA ATAL TOWER 311
mit. This objection to the use of a chair is not
confined to the precincts of the Golden Temple ; I
met with it in other sacred places as well, and
amongst the Mohammedans: theuseofan umbrella
for shelter, from sun or rain, is, in such places,
equally objectionable to the native mind.
Beyond, onthe further sideof the tank, rise two tall
minarets and a quaintly picturesque tower of seven
or eight stories high; this is the Baba Atal Tower,
and it contains the tomb or ashes of Atal Rai the son
of Guru Govind. He is said to have miraculously
restored a child to life, and being reproved, by the
Guru, for using supernatural powers in this way,
instead of only for the attainment of purity and
holiness of life, he said, that as he had withdrawn
a life which the Deity required, he would yield up
his own instead, and so lay down and died.
Devotees, on entering his shrine, make offerings
of bread or flowers, and falling down, before the
step of the platform upon which the tomb rests,
shampoo the step, in an odd manner, with their
hands. I went up the staircase, and a wooden ladder,
some one hundred and thirty feet tothe summit, and
there I got a grand, though map-like, view of the
town with its temples, set about with green spaces
and avenues of trees, and across the plain to the
misty mountains. Amongst the woods a mile away
I sawSt. Paul'sChurch: a friend of mine, Miss Pol-
lock, worked here as a missionary, and I believe
Amritzar is a strong centre of work amongst the
zenanas. The great garden of thirty acres which lies
about the base of the tower, is full of orange, pome-
312 AMRITZAR
granate, and other taller trees, and in them were
clusters of great bats, or flying foxes, hanging from
the branches. My guide told me that the people
believed these creatures were the ghosts of departed
priests, because they hang about all day and do
nothing.
Apart from the interest of the temple, I was glad
to see the Sikhs in their headquarters at home so
to speak ; but somehow I was a little disappointed
with their appearance : for they do not all show
evidence of the stately, manly character, which has
carried their name far and wide, as do the picked
specimens one sees elsewhere. Amongst them there
was a great sprinkling of Pathans, and rough,
hardy, picturesque-looking men from the moun-
tains, clad in coarse garments and furs. They were
usually traders from the north-Kashmiris, Afghans,
Bokhariots, Beluchis, Persians, Tibetans, Yark-
andis who bring down the raw materials of the
shawls and carpets for which Amritzar is famous,
and also fine specimens of their own national
manufactures and embroideries. I spent an hour
bargaining for some praying carpets and a bit of
crimson silk, embroidered with rows of blue and
orange peacocks, which took my fancy, before, late
at night, I tore myself away from Amritzar.
THANESAR: THE CRADLE OF THE
HINDU RACE
LESLIE SMITH had given me such an interesting
account of Thanesar, where last year he spent some
time as Deputy Commissioner, that I determined
to stop there on the way from Amballa to Delhi.
It required a little arrangement to manage this, as,
though Thanesar was on a new direct railway line,
the trains did not run conveniently. Finally we
decided to go by road : my host drove me thirteen
miles in his turn-turn, or dogcart, and then,
following Father Benson's example, we took to
native ekkas.
It was very cold when we left Amballa at
6.30 A.M. by the grand trunk road which links
Calcutta to Peshawur. This road, for the greater
part of its one thousand five hundred miles, runs
under a double avenue of mango, sisso * or acacia
trees ; quaint old-world vehicles creak and groan
along it in a continual stream, and perpetually
changing groups of strange, interesting wayfarers
pass across the flickering light and shadow of its
dusty track. Along this great avenue we drove, in
the early morning light, in many places on an em-
* Dalbcrgia sisso Roxb.
'2 R
3 i 4 THANESAR
bankment, a protection against the floods ; between
the bolls of the acacia or tamarind trees, we had
glimpses of the sky-encircled plain, with wide
stretches of waving green wheat, from which rose,
like dark islands, the little mud villages : they
stand on low mounds, inside high stone walls that
serve as a defence from outside attack and an en-
closure for thecattle. Beside thevillage liesthepond
or tank, excavated to form sun-dried mud walls :
here come the women, with children astride their
hip, for the day's supply of water, which they filter
through a corner of their veils into the brass water-
pots, before they set them on their stately heads.
John Lawrence once overcame one of these
walled village communites which had too long
obstinately refused to pay arrears of land tax,
by the peaceful expedient of posting on the tracks
leading to the pastures small knots of police, who
turned back into the village the lowing cattle, as
they issued from the gates at dawn. Before midday
the inhabitants capitulated, and, without his having
to bring the guns into action always with him the
last resource the long overdue taxes were paid.
It was in this district that John Lawrence laid
the foundations of his intimate acquaintance with
the needs and character of the agricultural native.
For two years he lived here, as Acting Collector-
Magistrate, almost continually in the saddle, and on
terms of great intimacy with these sturdy farmers
and native gentry : he adopted much of their habits
and costume and acquired an extraordinary degree
of intimacy with their language, which he used so
THE JATS 315
habitually that at one time his English seemed
almost forgotten.
The Jats, who form the bulk of the population
here, are a handsome, tall, strong, manly race of
northern origin. They show an interesting dis-
content with Hinduism, and are mostly Sikhs
or Mohammedans. Strongly attached to their
village communities and land, they make splendid
soldiers, and cultivate their flat, green and fertile
country with careful industry. The whole country
is quite flat, no wooded hills rise above the wav-
ing sea of green young wheat or break the horizon,
which runs in a complete circle like that of the sea.
The moisture from not distant streams gives
freshness and beauty to the land : there is a
"drowsy buzz of small life in hot sunshine, a
cooing of doves, and a sleepy drone of well-wheels
across the fields " as the slow oxen circle round
the well, sending runnels of fresh water on to the
thirsty land. A few years back the Punjab seemed,
I am told, to be on the eve of a great advance in
material prosperity. Even desert wastes were
beginning to blossom in response to the magnifi-
cent irrigation schemes of the Government, and
in the virgin soil the wheat, it is said, grew higher
than a man's head ; but the plague, which, since
the days of the Moguls, had not been known here,
spread, in 1897, fr m Bombay to the Punjab,
and has since completely clouded this bright
prospect. Last year hardly a village was spared ;
in some districts agriculture was at a standstill
and the crops rotted on the ground, and in the
3 i6 THANESAR
first six months of 1905 one in every seventy- five
of the population succumbed to the ravages of
this terrible scourge. I am assured by a high
authority that no such devastating epidemic has
occurred since the fourteenth century, and that
whereas during the first year of the outbreaks in
India, Sept. '96 to Sept. '97, the deaths amounted
to 30,000, the fatal cases in the first six months of
1905 often exceeded 40,000 a week. The total
mortality in India from plague in 1904 was
1,040,000, while in 1905 from Jan. i to Apr. 29
687,705 deaths from plague were registered.
At Shahabad we left the turn-turn, got a frugal
breakfast at the rest-house, and having stowed our
legs away in the two ekkas awaiting us, drove off
at a rattling pace. The ponies which draw these
ekkas are weedy, unpromising-looking brutes, with
no chests, but, with light loads and for short dis-
tances, they are very fast. The seat of an ekka is
of canvas, laced together near the front : it is ideal
for the cross-legged native, but not satisfactory to
the European ; for him, one would suppose, there
could be no more uncomfortable conveyance. How-
ever, my host introduced me to a capital dodge,
which consisted in getting part of the canvas un-
laced, and hanging one's legs down inside : the
result was eminently satisfactory.
We started briskly and seemed to fly past the
milestones, covering the whole sixteen miles at
the rate of ten miles an hour. The last part of the
way, when we left the trunk road and struck into
the old Mogul road to the west, is very rough,
THE MAHABARATA 317
for, though Thanesar is one of the oldest, most
famous towns in India, and was once a centre, riot
only of religious interest but of trade with the
north, the main stream of modern Indian life leaves
it on one side. It was, however, very amusing to
watch the game in the jungle, on either side of the
road, and the number and the variety of the birds
we saw as we passed along was quite extraordinary.
Saras, great grey cranes, paddy-birds, parrots,
doves, king-crows, etc. these were innumerable
and all as tame as possible: even the jackals came
close up to the roadside, and sat down complacently
to watch us pass.
Thanesar lies in the centre of Kurakshetra, the
great plain between the two " divine rivers," the
Saraswati and the Ghaggar, where the battles
described in the Mahabarata took place. It is the
Holy Land of the Hindu faith, and it teems with
traditions of the great conflicts of the five Pandava
brothers and their cousins the Kauravas in the
fourteenth century B.C.
The Mahabarata is an immensely long epic
poem recording the exploits of those Hindu heroes
of antiquity, and, like the Iliad, it is the source to
which many tribes and chiefs endeavour to trace
their ancestors ; it has always exercised great in-
fluence over the masses of the Hindu people, and
is still often in their thoughts ; from its pages are
drawn many of their religious ideals. Its present
form is evidently not that in which it originally
took shape, as is indicated by the name l^yasa
" the arranger," given to the traditional author, and
318 THANESAR
it has probably been worked over, more than once,
by Buddhists and Brahmans to make it square
with their own individual doctrines and customs,
for grotesquely wild episodes occur, side by side
with passages full of graceful pathos, and contrast
strangely with the romantic love for fine scenery,
and with the tender appreciation of love and devo-
tion, mercy and forgiveness, which characterise the
whole.
The heroes of the poem, the five Pandava
brothers, having been dispossessed of their grand-
father's dominions by their cousins the Kauravas,
established the kingdom of Delhi ; the King,
the eldest brother, subsequently lost the kingdom
over a game of dice ; and as a penalty he retired
for twelve years into the forests. His return to
public life was followed by a series of fierce battles,
ending in the annihilation of the Kauravas. The
Pandavas, however, found the game of life had not
been worth the candle ; and the king, with his four
brothers, accompanied, like Tobias, by a faithful
dog, set out on a pilgrimage to Mount Mesu,
Indra's Heaven, hoping that there, at any rate, he
would find full satisfaction. Before he reached the
gates, however, all had dropped back and given up
the quest except the faithful dog, and he was re-
fused admittance. The Pandava would not enter
without his faithful follower, or his brothers, who
were expiating their sins in the nether world. Ulti-
mately Indra relented, and they were all admitted
to eternal bliss in a Paradise among the hidden
recesses of the Himalayas.
A BATTLEFIELD 319
Few shrines now exist dedicated to the Pan-
davas, but there are traces of their worship
scattered over the whole of India ; any marvels
or prodigies are attributed to them.
Five rough stones, smeared with red paint,
sometimes set up in the fields, represent them as
guardians of the crops. Their characters are as
well known and as much venerated as ever ; and
the scenes where the great drama of their lives
was played out interest all Hindus ; the ground
for miles round Thanesar is holy, and nearly four
hundred spots are consecrated to the memory of
incidents connected with the heroes.
Ever since those half mythical days the district
round Thanesar and Paniput has been the great
battlefield where the fate of India has been decided.
Here was made the most determined stand to the
successive invasions from the north. It was the
scene of victory when the young Akbar, the first
of the great Moguls, won back the empire his father
had lost : here the Persian invasion under Nadir
Shah shattered the forces of the Moguls, and
here took place the tragic and touching incidents
of the rout of the Mahrattas, when the Afghan,
Ahmed Shah, deprived them for all time of their
northern conquests.
The town of Thanesar was sacked more than
once by Mohammedans, and in 1194 Shahab-ud-
din defeated Prithvi Raja here, and subsequently
swept away the hundreds of Hindu temples which
the Chinese pilgrims, at the time of Alfred the
Great, describe as seen clustered round the ancient
320 THANESAR
city, on its mound, and the far-famed Sacred
Tank.
There are now no Hindu monuments left. The
Mohammedan town and fort are in ruins, but once it
was clearly a place of considerable importance. The
most conspicuous and perfect building now is the
octagonal tomb of Shekh Chihli of cafe'-aM-lait
marble, with a white marble dome and latticed
windows. This stands upon a small octagonal plat-
form, with a low parapet, raised on a high square
terrace ; small domed pavilions, formerly covered
with Nakshi work stand, one at each corner and
two on each side ; on the west side, however, they
give place to another tomb, an oblong building of
drab sandstone, with deep eaves or drip-stones.
To the south of the raised terrace is a small brick
courtyard and mosque, and, within a stone's throw,
a beautiful little red sandstone building the Lai
Musjid. Here the eight carved columns, with flat
domes between and the south window are all
beautifully carved, and reminded me of the work at
Fatehpur Sikri. Some of the architraves of the
houses, in the rather squalid town, are beautifully
carved; otherwise there is nothing to see with the
exception, perhaps, of a large house, near the en-
trance to the town, covered with Hindu frescoes,
some in low relief and very rude and uncouth.
The raison d'etre of the whole place, however, is
the famous old Hindu sacred tank; this still exists,
and, on the occasion of an eclipse, continues to be
as it has been from the earliest times the ren-
dezvous of thousands of devout Hindus, seeking
PILGRIMS 321
purification from past transgressions by bathing
and prayer. This shallow lake, measuring about
3500 by 1900 ft., is fed by the sacred waters of the
Saraswati river, the first sacred river venerated in
India. No crime was too black to be washed white
in its waters, Into this lake, so runs the legend,
flows at the time of the eclipse the water of all other
sacred pools and rivers in India. He, therefore, who
then bathes in its waters obtains the virtue and
merits which would be acquired by bathing in all.
At an eclipse not long ago, it was computed that as
manyas 2OO,ooopeople had visited these miraculous
waters of cleansing ; some of these trusting souls,
come from places at as great a distance and as
far apart as the Himalayas and Cape Comorin.
Thousands of families come in railway cattle
trucks, many in bullock waggons but the greater
number of these patient saffron-clad pilgrims, de-
sirous to save their souls alive, still trudge the
weary miles on foot, in priest-led processions, bear-
ing bamboos with fluttering flags, and chanting the
songs their fathers sang as they toiled along the
selfsame road to Thanesar. The twice-born Brah-
mans and yogis, of course, reap rich harvests,
as an offering is an essential part of the puri-
fication, and every pilgrim leaves something of
value behind ; the rich Raja may leave a wife, the
poor man an article of clothing, and the women
fling their jewelled bracelets far into the waters of
the sacred pool, where, no doubt, they do not long
remain !
The authorities watch over the pilgrims with
2 S
322 THANESAR
minute and detailed care ; special trains are run,
wells are dug, roads are made, even turfed over, I
believe, to save them from the dust, and lost and
straying children are herded and cried by a bellman.
As the time of the eclipse draws near, expectant
multitudes collect on the brink like the throngs
atthepoolofBethesda patiently but eagerly await-
ingthefateful, mysterious moment,to stepdown and
be cleansed. In the dangerous rush at the critical
time awkward accidents occur, and the old and
helpless sometimes go under, and have to be
rescued by some stalwart representative of the
paternal Government.
In spite of all precautions hospitals, isolation
camps and doctors these gatherings are always
rather anxious work. A great pilgrimage had
been expected there the previous June, just at the
end of the dry season, when the hot weather was at
its height; but those responsible for the safety and
well-being of the pious throngs knew that if they
assembled there, in that weather and at that time,
an outbreak of cholera or some other epidemic
would certainly ensue. There was hardly any water
in the tank and that little was of the most un-
desirable description and for some reason con-
siderable difficulty also lay in the way of supplying
the multitude with food ; fortunately, with the aid
of innumerabletelegrams flashed to station-masters
and others all over India, the assembly of pilgrims
was prevented.
It is said that the necessary sanitary precautions
insisted on by their Western rulers, with their
WATER-FOWL 323
prying eyes and inquiring noses, have done more
to counteract the deeply ingrained native habit of
pilgrimage than the taxes on pilgrimages levied
by the Moguls, in spite of the increased facilities
for reaching the goal.
The temples which once surrounded the tank
have now for the most part fallen into decay, and
their ruins are overshadowed by great trees. Long
flights of steps lead down to the water's edge, and,
on the north side a causeway stretches out into the
middle of the sacred lake, where, on a little island,
stands the most perfect temple remaining. Close
to this causeway is another parallel to it, and they
both stretch out to other islands and other ruins
beyond, in the middle of the lake.
The whole neighbourhood of the water is alive
with water-fowl, from the pelican to the snipe. I
never saw so many and such variety all together.
We sat down, on one of the further islands, to
sketch and eat our lunch, and it was then that we
first spotted the snowy pelicans basking on the
bank, but we were not quite sure of them until
we sent a man round to the east, to put them
up : then there was no mistake ; they came sailing
along on their great wings quite close to where we
sat. Then there were storks and cranes with long
drooping plumes, and coot, dabchick and duck
swimming placidly about or standing, as it were,
on their heads, in the shallow water so that only
rows of pointed tails met our view, as they investi-
gated something interesting in the mud at the
bottom. I was interested in a curious bird called
324 THANESAR
the snake-bird, which swims about with the water
over his back, so that there is nothing to be seen
above it but his head and long neck ; in the dis-
tance this looks for all the world like a snake
gliding in great loops over the face of the water.
At Thanesar station I joined the train in which
my companion came from Amballa. We passed
nothing of any consequence on our way to Delhi,
except the small walled town of Kurnool, on our
right, and further on, to our left, Paniput. Here,
crowds of well-dressed, unsophisticated natives,
some of them very picturesque, had congregated to
see the train, which was still a nine days' wonder.
This Holy Land of the Hindu faith was also the
first permanent home of the twice-born castes and
of their earliest princes and sages. It is the spot
where their religion and caste system took shape ;
the cradle, in fact, of the Hindu race.
The original races of India consisted of the non-
Aryan, aboriginal, casteless tribes, who inhabit the
jungles or hill districts : Bhils in the Vindhya
Mountains, Santals in Lower Bengal, Kohls in the
Central Provinces. The Aryans professing the
Brahmanic faith followed, and to them belong all
the higher or " twice-born " castes, who wear the
sacred thread. The religion of the aboriginal
tribes is described in the Indian census as "Ani-
mism," and includes a variety of primitive cults.
They believe in a supreme spirit, who is beneficent,
and may be relied on to act according to precedent
withoutanyspecial attention ontheir part ; butthere
are certain things stones, trees, animals, fetishes
CASTELESS TRIBES 325
or tools, the spirits of the departed or menorwomen
considered specially holy or powerful all of which
they believe to be possessed of occult power, con-
trolling the course of nature and the human mind ;
these, as their probable intentions are uncertain,
require to be propitiated. Them therefore, they
worship with sacrifices and varied rites, and when
they do not succeed in obtaining their end by these
means, upbraid the delinquent in no measured
terms.
These non-Aryan races have, to a great extent,
been transformed into the lower Hindu castes ; and
under the stress of the antagonism and assimila-
tion of the two races, Hinduism has developed. It is
a religion of marvellous vitality and has withstood
the impact of more than one great faith. Zoroas-
triaAism, Buddhism andMohammedanism haveall
made converts, but have been powerless to destroy
it, for it alters, endures and assimilates perpetually,
and remains at the core untouched. It seems to be
now changing again, in consequence of its contact
with Christianity and Western thought. The pro-
cess of melting into Hinduism proceeded slowly in
the past, but has considerably quickened since
British rule introduced material civilisation and
prosperity ; for the first step upward in the ladder
of Indian social life consists in passing from the
ranks of the unclassified outcast to a definite posi-
tion in the Hindu caste system. It is now pro-
ceeding so rapidly there will soon be only a small
remnant clinging to the aboriginal rites and
customs.
326 THANESAR
Dr. Ramsay points out that in the first days
Christianity took the firmest root in those parts of
Asia Minor which were just feeling the touch of
Graeco-Roman civilisation, where ' men's minds
were in a state of transition, awaking from stagna-
tion into an attitude of expectancy ; and some of
those who have studied the mind of the East
believe that the small remnant of the unsettled
non-Aryan races will prove the pioneers of the
Indian Church.
Entrance into the Hindu social system means
adopting to a great extent the Brahmanic religion ;
and whilst he keeps most of his old faiths and prac-
tices, the social aspirant adds to them all the essen-
tial doctrines and customs of Brahmanism. These,
according to Sir Alfred Lyall, comprise acceptance
of the Brahmanic scriptures and traditions as the
standard of orthodoxy ; adoration of the Brahmanic
gods and their incarnations ; veneration of the
sacred cow ; the recognition of the presence of the
Brahman as necessary to all essential religious rites:
as well as amalgamation in one of the lower castes.
This, of course, carries with it obedience to the rules
regulating the two great outward and visible signs
of caste fellowship intermarriage and sharing of
food which are the bonds uniting and isolating
the different groups or castes.
I had a practical illustration of the working of
the rules of caste, whilst waiting at the station for
the train which was to bring my companion and
the luggage. I thought I would clean off a spot of
paint from I think my paintbox, and seeing a
HINDU PANI 327
large iron pot full of water, I put my finger into it
for this purpose, upon which there was no end of a
hullabulloo : " Hindu pani, Hindu pani," half a
dozen people shouted, and came up and pointed and
gesticulated around me. Without thought, I had
defiled their drinking water, which apparently had
come from far, and laid myself open to the fine
which is the penalty for defiling the food of even
the lowest caste. A few pice, however, soon satis-
fied the poor things and put matters right by
enabling them to send a Hindu pani-wala to fetch
more. The Bheesties, with brown goatskin bags,
are generally Mohammedans, and very rigid high-
caste Hindus are usually careful to fetch water for
themselves, or to have it fetched by their wives.
It is, of course, only under the exigencies of pro-
longed travel that there can be any difficulty in
doing so, and then the less rigid will take water
from any Bheestie,but the more scrupulous may be
heard, when a train halts at a station, calling
aloud for a " Hindu pani-wala." This trifling inci-
dent is significant of the difficulties which meet
the ignorant European in his first approaches to
intercourse with the Hindoo difficulties which
seem to increase with each endeavour to under-
stand the native point of view. It is perhaps
part of the fascination the East exercises over so
many, that the true methods and working of its
inner mind and life still have all the attraction of
a mystery.
Only by living, as John Lawrence did, really
amongst the people, can a proper estimate be formed
328 THANESAR
of the best side of Indian character. In the inner
domestic life of a people its truest, deepest character
always betrays itself: and those who have the
deepest acquaintance with the heart of Indian life,
under its best aspects, tell us continually that the
family life the solidarity, mutual trust and affec-
tion in a family consisting, perhaps, of even more
than a hundred persons is most striking. The won-
derful tenderness of the Jat in ''Kim" to his sick
* j
child, is, we are assured, but a faithful transcript
from daily life in the Punjab: and the intense mutual
affection existing between a man and his mother is
equally touching. Of course, the relation between
husband and wife is absolutely one-sided, and con-
sequently from the higher point of view of
Christian civilisation false and distorted. Such
supreme devotion and utter self-abasement and
self-sacrifice as those of the Hindu wife to her hus-
band should be accorded only to a divine master,
and, diverted to a human object, they are liable to
the gravest abuse and distortion : yet they are evi-
dence of capacities which, if properly exercised,
would fall into line, and find a place in develop-
ments which we can but dimly foreshadow.
Within the caste and family the standard of
honesty and honour, in business dealings, appears
to approximate rather to the estimate of early tra-
vellers who noticed the marked truthfulness of
the natives than to that shown in official rela-
tions with their present rulers. Quite distant re-
lations pay family debts with scrupulous honour,
as though they were personal ; they will provide for
CASTE REGULATIONS 329
the entire education of poorer relations : and ser-
vants left with the charge of young orphans and
their property will fulfil the trust for years with the
most scrupulous loyalty. In the life of the village
community, where all, in virtue of their race, have
a claim to a share in the harvest (perhaps consist-
ing only of so many handfuls of grain, bundles
of straw, leaves of tobacco or pods of chili), the
rights of no one however old, decrepit or useless
will ever be forgotten. Members of a caste
will take infinite trouble to help each other, and
will undertake and carry out duties and charities,
which would be quite impossible to execute with-
out absolute mutual trust, and a recognised sense
of responsibility on the part of the acting heads of
the community.
The Englishman usually comes across only the
ridiculous and vexatious side of caste regulations
he sees the newly purified priest flatten himself
against the wall to avoid contact with the unclean
European ; or the Brahmin, naked but for his
waistcloth, and the sacred thread of the twice-born
over his shoulders, preparing his meal in a small
square space, " isolated " by a two-inch mud-wall
between the world and his purity ; then he sees
the outline of a Western shadow cross the sacred
spot, and immediately the whole meal the cake
carefully baked on the ashes, the curds on the leaf
plate, the lotaful of milk is thrown away as un-
clean. He, not unnaturally, sums it all up as non-
sensical, unpractical, and degrading slavery to
senseless, pettifogging rules. He hears the stories
2 T
330 THANESAR
told of perjury in the law courts, and is assured by
civil servants of great experience, who regard the
native with sympathetic interest, that not a single
native is to be trusted, that corruption and bribery
are ubiquitous amongst all classes, from the gaol-
warder to the county-court judge. All this is, alas,
too true, and cannot be stated too strongly. But it
is fair to remember that the Hindu has served an
apprenticeship, through centuries of tyranny, in the
use of the weapons of the oppressed, and that India
is not the only land where men, considering them-
selves respectable members of society, have stan-
dards for professional conduct which they would
not apply in private affairs.
There are two sides to native life; unfortunately
the inner side of the family and caste life in India
forming by far the greater part of the national
existence is that which the Englishman usually
sees least. John Lawrence had an intimate acquaint-
ance with two of the most typical classes of the
race : the agricultural people of the Punjab, and
the city population of the big towns. No one
could have fuller knowledge of the shady side of
India : his life is filled with tales of murders,
dacoity, and of the duplicity of recalcitrant village
communities, as well as of individuals ; but he also
knew the wonderful patience, sobriety and cheer-
fulness of the poor ; the deep religious instinct of
the nation ; and the extraordinary ease with which
a man of sympathetic instinct can maintain law
and order amongst these vast multitudes. It is
interesting to see that the underlying note struck
LAWRENCE'S ATTITUDE 331
in his advice to subordinates or newcomers was
always, " Do not be hard " " You must not be
high-handed," and that his reminiscences of his
own intercourse with natives were always sympa-
thetic, and often abounded in evidences of great
and tender affection.
AN OLD SIKH
CHAPTER XVII
ALWAR
WHEN we left Delhi on our way to stop with the
Commissioner at Ajmere, we did not know, owing
to conflicting telegrams, whether to go on there
direct, or to stop at Alwar ; however, we arranged
that if we foujid no telegram awaiting us at Alwar
Station we would remain there.
Alwar is one of the twenty native states of
Rajputana, which centre round the small British
territory of Ajmere Marwar.
Across Rajputana, in a diagonal line north-east
and south-west, run the Aravalis, a chain of
mountains interrupted by valleys. To the north-
west of them is a vast sandy desert, ridged
with long, low isolated sandhills in parallel lines.
To the east, where lies Alwar, hills and wooded
valleys alternate with richly cultivated table-
lands. Great herds of camels, horses, and sheep
feed on the uplands.
The Rajputs are the sole remaining represen-
tatives of the most ancient political communities
of India. Before the Moslem invasion they ruled
over all the chief cities of the North of India, and
the rich plains of the Ganges to the borders of
334 ALWAR
Bengal. Subdued by the invaders, some submitted
to the conqueror's rule and remained on the fertile
plains, but the pure-blooded chiefs and their im-
mediate followers withdrew to the uplands ; and
there, in the difficult mountainous or sandy country
of central India, they subdued the aboriginal tribes
and built themselves hill-fortresses, where for
centuries they maintained their independence, and
in a career of perpetual forays and feuds retained
their character of dauntless warriors. There are
still a good many of the aboriginal casteless tribes
Bhils and Minas remaining amongst the agricul-
tural population, and the Rajputs, though the
ruling race, are by no means in the majority ; and
are never the cultivators of the soil, but only the
feudal lords. The original native dynasties of
Rajputana still preserve unaltered most of their
ancestral constitution and customs, which are
unlike anything else remaining in India. This
primitive civilisation owes its continued existence
probably to the English, for, having survived the
levelling influence of the Mogul Empire, Rajpu-
tana was, later on, like the rest of India, overrun
by the Mahrattas, and they dominated and devas-
tated the Province, and had nearly extinguished
the clans, when the British power intervened, and
rescued Rajistan, the land of princes, from its
impending fate.
As we approached Alwar we came amongst hills
of considerable height and fine trees, and in the
fields and alongside of the railway we passed
numbers of natives. The women were wearing the
A NATIVE STATE 335
brightest of dresses some of the prettiest, or, at
any rate, the most effective I had seen chiefly
dark red with yellow embroidery. Many of the
men, who were not working in the fields, carried
long staves and still longer guns, a sure sign that
we had entered a native state.
On arriving at Alwar about 4 P.M. I made a
bolt for the telegraph office, but there was no mes-
sage for me, and the question then arose, could we
find accommodation before the train started again.
I inquired about the Rest-house and heard that the
Dak Bungalow close by was occupied, and no
room available there : the Maharaja's private
station was also full. This put us in a great
dilemma. While the train waited I fled to the Dak
Bungalow and found a number of natives, none of
whom could speak any language but his own. One
of them, however, went in and told his master, the
temporary occupant of the Dak Bungalow, " There
is a sahib here who cannot speak English." His
master promptly came out, and on my explaining
the difficulty, as shortly as I could, he said that it
was quite true there was no room. I was turning
to hurry back and re-embark bag and baggage in
the train, which was on the point of starting, when
he exclaimed : " Stay, there is the tent." I jumped
at the word. " Tent," I said, " what tent ? " and he
pointed to a very dusty affair in the corner of the
compound of the Dak Bungalow. I looked in and
saw it would do at a pinch and decided to stop. It
was terribly dusty, but we had it cleaned out, and
whilst we were settling ourselves my friend of the
336 ALWAR
Bungalow Mr. Angus Macdonald and his wife
gave us tea. He was the Maharaja's engineer.
They and their household were occupying the Dak
Bungalow until a house was made ready for them.
We were saved from a doubtful picnic in our
dusty tent by their hospitality, and met at dinner
Captain Tait, who has command of the Maharaja's
forces, and Miss Abbot, the daughter of the resi-
dent, who was staying with them.
Meantime I wrote to the Maharaja's secre-
tary to ask for a carriage, and a victoria and pair
soon appeared. This is the usual and only mode of
procedure in these native states : the traveller is
entirely dependent on the Maharaja, who is always
graciously ready to supply the carriages, which
otherwise it would be impossible to get.
There had been a fair in the neighbourhood and
there were crowds of picturesque people about,
dressed in holiday attire, and very bright and ani-
mated they made the scene.
After driving about a mile along a shady road,
under fine trees, we reached one of the five gates
of the city, which is placed at the entrance to a
circle of hills and built in amphitheatre form on
the sunny slope of a hill, crowned with palaces
and with its sides covered with rich vegetation,
but rising above into fantastically jagged peaks of
glistening quartz.
The town is protected by a rampart and moat
all round except where the range of rocky hills
a marked feature of this state protects the city
from attack. Passing a great brass gun guarding
SHRINE AT THE CROSSWAYS 337
the gateway and beneath the archway we found
ourselves in a whitewashed street of irregular
houses : at the far end rose the picturesque fort,
with its encircling walls on the conical hill some
900 feet high, which formed a grey and misty
THE MAIN STREET
background to the vista of sunny street filled with
gay figures.
At a place where four roads meet, a curious
gateway opens four ways over the crossing of the
streets, and supports the tomb of Firoz Shah's
brother ; beneath, in one of the corners, is a shrine.
It was interesting to watch the people going up
the steps to this little place, ringing a bell, going
2 u
338 ALWAR
through certain formalities and acts of reverence,
and then coming down and going on their way.
We went up the narrow street lined with bright
shops, through more gateways to a temple of
Juggernaut, and then, close under the hill, we came
to the city Palace of the Maharaja, who, however,
does not live here but two or three miles out of the
town in a palace overlooking a pleasant piece of
water.
Until the last century Alwar state was divided
into a number of petty chieftainships owing alle-
giance to Jeypore and Bhartpur, and the founder
of the present house, having carved himself out
an independent State whilst the Moguls, Jats, and
Mahrattas were at war, had the prescience to ally
himself with the British, who rewarded his per-
spicacity with a large addition of territory. His
successors, however, had not such an eye for the
winning side, and before they settled down gave
some trouble to their allies.
The present Maharaja is celebrated for his
cavalry, devotes his superfluous energy to horse-
breeding, and has a fine stud of several thousand
horses. Hehasalsoshown himself philanthropically
inclined, and was one of the first native chiefs to
support Lady Dufferin's Fund.
We passed within high walls, by an imposing
gateway, into the city Palace, built, at the end of the
eighteenth century, on a terrace stretching the
whole length of the town ; then passing through
many courts we came to the State Apartments, the
Durbar Hall, the Armoury, Treasury, and Library,
THE CITY PALACE 339
all reached by gently sloping corridors instead of
stairs. At the back of the Palace is a most
picturesque tank, with marble steps and pavilions
reflected in the water, and, raised high on a terrace
of pink sandstone on the South side, is an
elaborately ornamented building with a wide, low
dome culminating in a pinnacle, the marble ceno-
taph of Maharaja Bakhtawar Sing. On the East
side of the tank, at the head of a stately flight of
stairs, stands, in long array, the Palace and Zenana,
"with cool arcades for the ladies fair," where
All their womanhood has been,
Hen-cooped behind a marble screen,
And they count their pearls and doze.
It is of marble and profusely decorated ; but is so
cut up with oriel windows and turrets, deep arch-
ways and balconies, and has such a perplexing
confusion of domes and cupolas above, that it fails
to be a grand building, and the eye is distracted
in searching for a unity and repose which it does
not find. At the same time it undoubtedly
possesses picturesque features which are enhanced
by the effect of the stern, rocky heights rising
immediately behind it.
We looked across the deep tank at our feet, over
the town and wooded plain to the mountains
beyond. Myriads of Rock pigeons were flying
about making the ground blue wherethey alighted,
and there are countless peacocks the sacred bird
that is never molested, being sacred to Saraswati,
the goddess whopresidesover birthsand marriages.
These looked very beautiful, perched upon the old
340 ALWAR
red sandstone walls or strutting about over the
marble pavements. Squirrels were to be seen
everywhere here as elsewhere.
During the night fell torrents of rain, the first
we had experienced since we landed in India. It is
curious it should have fallen the only night when
we were not sleeping in a house : our tent, how-
ever, luckily kept all the rain out.
I went into the town early, as it had cleared up
and was quite dry again, and my companion joined
me there. We had previously made an appoint-
ment at the Palace with the Maharaja's secretary
who was to show us the sights, but after waiting an
hour with no sign of the custodian we were on the
point of going away when, with a truly Oriental
appreciation of the value of time, the keeper of the
Armoury appeared. He turned out to be a great
enthusiast, and treated the sabres and other
weapons studded with jewels as though they
were his children. He seemed quite pleased with
our visit, and nearly kissed our feet when we said
good-bye. The Treasury is, I believe, well worth
seeing, but its custodian did not appear. We saw
the Library, however, and, amongst other very
valuable manuscripts, a fine copy of the " Gulis-
tan," beautifully illustrated with miniature paint-
ings. It is the joint work of three men : a German
engrossed the MS., a native of Delhi painted the
miniatures, and a Punjabi did the scrolls. I believe
it cost 500,000 rupees.
After breakfast with the Angus Macdonalds he
took me to see the tomb of Faith Jung (1547) close
VIOLENT THUNDERSTORM 341
to the railway station, a large building with a very
ugly exterior, which is now converted into corn
stores for the Maharaja's horses. The interior,
however, is fine, the dome being raised on penden-
tives from a square to the sixteen-sided base upon
which it rests. There is a great deal of fine plaster
work in relief on the walls of the building, patterns
with flat surface and rectangular mouldings like
those of the Alhambra and Bijapur. The Angus
Macdonalds, who were continuously most kind,
came to see us off in the train at the close of our
pleasant twenty-four hours' stay in Alwar.
Soon after we started such a thunderstorm,
accompanied by torrents of rain, broke upon us
as I do not ever remember to have seen before.
The lightning was incessant, and when it became
dark it illuminated the country in a marvellous
way showing us that it was flooded with water.
We passed through a pretty district where there
are large trees with thick bright foliage, and rugged
hills of fantastic shapes in the background.
AJMERE
CHAPTER XVIII
AJMERE
AT Alwar we had heard that we were expected at
Ajmere by Colonel and Mrs. Biddulph, and conse-
quently, at 3 A.M. on March 12, we disembarked
from the train at Ajmere station, in a storm of rain
and wind. A chuprassie was waiting for us, and
before long we were comfortably installed iji
delightful rooms in Shah Jehan's palace on the
lake, where lived our friend the Commissioner.
Following our Alwar experiences this seemed to
us most luxurious, and we were glad to turn in for
a good rest, after some " hump " sandwiches. The
hump, by the way, is that of the native ox (zebu),
and quite one of the best things of its kind in
India.
When I opened the window at daylight and
344 AJMERE
walked out on the white marble balcony, an exqui-
sitely beautiful and peaceful scene lay before me. I
found myself overhanging the shining levels of a
lovely lake, surrounded by most picturesque hills,
and with a glorious flood of light from the rising
sun shining on the high rugged rosy granite peaks
to the south-west. I lost no time in getting out my
sketching materials and setting to work. The
Commissioner's house, at the time of my visit,
stood upon the great bund or embankment
which dams up the water in the valley of the river
Luni, and forms the lake called the Ana Sagar or
Sea of Ana, after its maker, Ana Raja, a Chauhan
Rajput of the eleventh century. He was the great-
great-grandfather of the heroic Prithvi Raja, king
of Delhi and Ajmere, the last champion of Hindu
independence in the north of India, who was over-
come and cruelly put to death, in cold blood, at
Delhi in 1194 by the Mohammedans under
Shahab-ud-din.
On the western side of the lake, which is several
miles round, lies the walled town of Ajmere, with
its stately gateways, in a lovely valley or basin,
shady with fine trees and bright with gardens of
orange, rose and pomegranate. Above the town
rises a steep and majestic conical hill, an isolated
spur of the rocky Aravali range. The celebrated
fortress of Taraghur, which, at a height of three
thousand feet crowns the summit of this hill, is said
to be the work of the Chauhan Rajput, Aja Pal, the
shepherd king, who founded Ajmere A.D. 145 and
ended his life as a yogi, in a mountain gorge, a few
AJMERE 345
miles from the town, which bears his name. The
bare, sharp, rocky peaks of the Aravali hills, which
form such a fascinating background to all views of
Ajmere, in its setting of green gardens, are full of
gorges and ravines, where quaint, spiky cactus-
LOOKING DOWN ON THE ANA SAGAR
plants form the only vegetation. This range, of
which we had seen the north-eastern end above the
Kutub at Delhi, is at its highest in the Ajmere dis-
trict and terminates south-west in the isolated
group of temple-covered peaks, Mount Abu, or
the "Saint's Pinnacle,'" which Tod in his fascina-
2 x
346 AJMERE
ting "Annals of Rajputana" calls the Olympus of
the Rajputs.
The green oasis in the Ajmere valley is the result
of several of the banked-up pools of water charac-
teristic of this country. Besides the Ana Sagar
Lake, there are two others near the town : one, the
Visala Tal, has a picturesque shrine on an island in
the centre, and was the work of Visaldeo,the grand-
father of Ana Raja, who ruled here about the
time of the first early Mohammedan invasion,
when, about 1025, Mahmoud of Ghazni passed
like a devastating flame through Ajmere, on
his way to destroy Sommath and its celebrated
temples. He effectively destroyed Ajmere and
its temples, but the people took refuge in the
Taraghur Fort, and when, on his return, Mah-
moud was decoyed into the sandy deserts of
Marwar, the " land of death," where his people
perished in thousands from thirst, the Rajputs
descended from the heights and took their revenge.
After his army had returned to the north the Rajput
clans, Rahtores and Chauhans, Solaukhyas, Geh-
lots, Sesodias and Kachwahas returned to their
territories as before, and to the celebrated feuds
between Rahtores and Chauhans which fill the
annals of the twelfth century with episodes as
romantic and fantastic as the tales of chivalry of the
same period in mediaeval Europe, and, continuing
till Victorian days, have inspired more than one
English writer. After Shahab-ud-din's and Kutub-
ud-din's invasion a century later, though they
fought with desperate valour under Prithvi Raja,
RAJPUT AMBITIONS 347
the Rajputs lost Delhi, Ajmere and most of the
open country, and were driven back to found new
fortress-homes in the rougher and less attractive
districts, from which they have never been dis-
turbed, where the pure-blooded Rajput clans have
maintained a semi-feudal independence and per-
petuated their primitive customs to this day. They
lost Malwa and Gujrat, and the independent
Mohammedan kingdoms, established there, main-
tained themselves until the time of Henry VIII.,
when the famous and brilliant Rana Sanga of
Oodeypore, chief of the Sesodia clan, succeeded in
turning out the Mohammedans and in restoring
the Rajput ascendency there. Though in peace
no Rajput but those of his own name owed him
allegiance, yet his uncompromising hostility to the
Moslems, and his indomitable spirit, made him
the " war lord " amongst the clans, and he might
even have succeeded in consolidating an empire
of Central India but that at this moment the fresh
tide of invasion from the north-west swept down
over India under Babar, who was inspired by the
same aims, and the Mohammedan cavalry again
proved irresistible. Rana Sanga and all the
chilvalry of Rajistan were mown down at Fatehpur
Sikri in 1 527, and all their hopes shattered for ever.
The destruction of Rajput ambitions was com-
pleted by the genius of Akbar, who recovered Aj-
mere and spent a good deal of time in that town,
which, for six centuries, has been the key to politi-
cal predominance in this country of seething, tur-
bulent rival clans and factions. Akbar undermined
348 AJMERE
the Rajput policy of splendid isolation by attach-
ing them to his person and house by marriage, and
to his empire by high commands as governors and
generals. In their own country he respected their
authority, but though they maintained a certain
amount of independence, and by no means occu-
pied the same position as the Afghan and Persian
Emirs of his regular army, yet they all, except the
indomitable Sesodia clan of Oodeypore, became in
reality feudatories of the Moguls. Akbar married
two Rajput princesses : Miriam, the daughter of
the Raja of Jeypore, who, from the character of the
frescoes in her palace at Fatehpur Sikri, has been
supposed to have been converted to Christianity ;
and Jodhbar, the sister of Udai Singh of Jodpur.
The two Mogul Emperors, Jehangir and Shah
Jehan, the unlucky Prince Khusru and Aurang-
zeb's son Shah Alam, all had Rajput mothers, and
relied on their connections here to support them in
their struggles for the throne. As long as an Em-
peror remained to claim their allegiance the chiefs
fulfilled their obligations. Later on they attempted
to regain their independence and shared in the
general disorganisation of India. The Mahrattas,
under Holkar and Sindhia, bled the country by
their claim to one-fourth of the State revenue, and
ravaged and destroyed, here as elsewhere, till, the
clans being utterly exhausted by thirty years inces-
sant war, and the Rajput chieftainships threatened
with extinction, the English, under Lake and
Wellesley, partially freed Rajputana from the
Mahratta oppression and withdrew, restoring to the
KISHNA KOMARI 349
chiefs their independence, but leaving them to their
fate. The Rajput clans, however, areentirely lacking
in any instinct of federation, and the whole country
was overrun for ten years or more by freebooting
Pindaris, numbering some 30,000 in all, who
" Rode with Nawab Amir Khan in the old Maratha war :
From the Dekhan to the Himalay five hundred of one clan.
They asked no leave of prince or chief as they swept thro'
Hindusthan,"
plundering freely. The old intertribal feuds also
revived, and the famous contest between the rival
chiefs of Jeypore and Jodhpur for the hand of an
Oodeypore princess brought their clans to the verge
of destruction : Mahrattas and Pindaris joined in
the contest, which involved the whole country.
The romance of the story is unfortunately rather
tarnished when it appears that this chivalrous con-
test ended in a compromise, according to which
matters \vere simplified by poisoning the unfor-
tunate lady, the heroine of the tale.
The Princess Kishna Komari (" the virgin ") was
sixteen years of age, and being a Sesodia, "a
Child of the Sun," of the noblest blood in India.
She was exquisitely beautiful, and had been be-
trothed in her eighth year to Raja Bheem Sing, of
Jodhpur. He died in 1804, and two years later her
father, the weak and foolish Maharana of Oodeypore
returned afavourable answer to Juggut Sing of Jey-
pore, who had sent an embassy,with three thousand
men, to ask the hand of the beautiful and attractive
Kishna. Raja Maun Sing, of Jodhpur, then in-
tervened, supported, for pecuniary reasons, by
350 AJMERE
Sindhia, with eight thousand men, and advanced
his pretensions on the ground that the Princess
had been affianced to the throne of Jodhpur, and
therefore he, as its present occupant, claimed her
as his right. The three kingdoms then became
involved in a bitter triangular duel. Jodhpur en-
dured an eight months' siege, the deserts were
strewn with the bones of the slain, and four years
incessant warfare reduced the kingdoms to the
lowest ebb, yet neither side would withdraw their
claim. Amir Khan had sometimes sided with one
party and sometimes with the other. He now
threatened the Maharana of Oodeypore with the
disgrace of seeing his palace stormed, and winning
over the Sesodia's minister Ajit, induced the
Maharana to agree to sacrifice his daughter.
Komari showed the spirit of her ancestors and
rose to the height of the situation, like Iphigenia
or Andromeda. As her life was made the price of
peace, she agreed, in spite of her mother's lamenta-
tions, to die, and save her father's family and
house from becoming a prey to the* Mahratta and
Pindari hordes. She could fall by no common
hand, so a blood relation was persuaded to under-
take the deed : confronted with the victim, his
courage failed. " She was then excused the steel,
and a cup was prepared. Three times the valiant
Princess, with a prayer for her father, accepted the
poison, and three times it failed to take effect ;
then they gave her opium, and she slept away."
Colonel Tod, who knew the actors in this
tragedy, says that her mother lost her reason and
PAX BRITANNICA 351
died raving a few days later, and that when the
deed was known, a brave chieftain of the same
clan rushed into the Maharana's presence and
cursing him, with his minister, as a disgrace to
the race, laid on the throne of Oodeypore the ban
of never having a direct male heir. Of the Maha-
rana's ninety-five children only one survived him,
his queens refused to perform sati on his pyre, and
to none of his six immediate successors was an
heir born. Ajit's wife and two sons died within
a month, and he spent the remainder of his des-
picable existence wandering as a Yogi from shrine
to shrine in the vain endeavour to purify himself
from the innocent blood of Kishna.
Before long, the minor chiefs called in the
British, as the paramount power, to restore order.
Lord Hastings intervened, and in 1819 broke up
the Pindari camps, and excluding Holkar and
Sindhia from Rajputana, ended the general
scramble for territory by recognising and de-
fining the lawful possessions of each State ; treaties
were executed with the English Government,
which, as suzerain, was established in Ajmere.
The tribute payable to the Mahrattas was made
payable to us, and we receive it to this day. The
old days of banditti and plundering predatory
bands were at an end, and the Commissioner
established in Shah Jehan's palace on the Ana
Sagar Lake is a symbol of the Pax Britannica,
which ever since has reigned in this land of per-
petual strife. How soon, one wonders, would the
old scenes of disorder return, and Rajputana, now
352 AJMERE
one of the most delightful parts of the peninsula,
relapse into the confusion from which we rescued
it, were the power which keeps India from des-
troying herself withdrawn ?
The palace of Shah Jehan, in which we were
staying, consisted originally, Colonel Biddulph
THE COMMISSIONER S HOUSE
told me, of four marble Baradaris or summer-
houses on the Bund, the precincts of which were
devoted to the use of the ladies of his court, who
were thus enabled to enjoy a considerable amount
of liberty without observation : Shah Jehan him-
self inhabited Akbar's palace in the town. His
buildings on the Bund have now been restored
according to the original design, but at the time
of my visit three of these summer-houses were
CROCODILES ON THE MARCH 353
used as the public library, and as official resi-
dences for the Commissioner, the Civil Surgeon.
The walls of my room were of white marble,
and the columns and arches on one side, and
beautiful little niches in rows on the other, sug-
gested its past beauties. The balcony over the
lake was a continual delight. Though I could see
nothing of them, there was a colony of otters under
the house amongst the rocks. I believe there were
also a number of crocodiles in the lake, but they
were also " lying low." During a terrible drought,
from which the country suffered not long ago, the
Ana Sagar completely dried up, and Colonel Bid-
dulph told me that when the last of the water had
disappeared, thecrocodiles which inhabited the lake
organised themselves into a band and decamped,
marching off in a body to the sacred lake of Push-
kar, across the hills. What instinct or intelligence
led them to do this, and how they knew of the
existence of water elsewhere, it is difficult to under-
stand.
The weather was very cold on this lofty plateau,
and it soon began to rain again, and continued to
do so off and on all day. Of course we never went
anywhere in India without encountering ' ' unprece-
dented weather." Here, in a spot where, as a rule,
at this time of year, people sit and pant, with
the earth like hot copper and the sky like burn-
ished steel, we found ourselves with closed doors
and windows, in greatcoats, writing by candle-
light at midday, with the rain pouring down out-
side. However, between the showers we took a
2 Y
354 AJMERE
walk by the side of the lake and through the
Daulat Bagh, Jehangir's "garden of splendour"
at the outlet of the waters : here he disported
himself under the avenues of trees, in the state-
coach sent him by James I. , when Sir Thomas Roe
was Ambassador to the Court of the Great Mogul
from 1616-18, and was entertained by the Em-
peror at a banquet on the Bund, where also he
witnessed the submission of Rana Umra Sing,
the last Rajput chief to bow his proud head to
the new order.
Outside the city to the east still stands the noble
gateway of the Palace of Akbar, characterised by
Sir Thomas Roe as a " house of pleasure of the
king's, a place of much melancholy, delight, and
security/' About the same date as Sir Thomas Roe,
another Englishman, Thomas Coryat, the first
globe-trotter, visited Ajmere in 1616, coming on
foot from Jerusalem, and quaintly pluming him-
self on having spent only 2 los. on the way.
The bad weather did not last long, and the
lovely, though chilly, days were all too short for
all we found to do and see. I usually' began to
sketch, in a fur coat, before breakfast, and one day
w r e were up early and drove to see the celebrated
Arhai din ka Johmpra Mosque, or " Hut of two
half-days," in a ravine at the back of the old native
town, a curious and interesting building much
resembling that at the Kutub : it owes its origin
to the same causes, and dates from about the same
time. Originally there was a fine Jain temple
here. Colonel Cunningham thinks it is of the
A NOBLE MOSQUE 355
tenth century, though it has been assigned a much
earlier date. This was pulled about and con-
verted by Altamsh (1236) into a mosque, with a
fine yellow sandstone screen of high Hindu arches
in front of the west side. Probably the pillars now
standing are arranged in the same way as when
they formed part of the courtyard of the Jain
temple, but the western side, with its nine domes,
is all that now remains intact. The pillars are more
beautiful than those in the mosque at Delhi, being
taller and of greater purity of design. They show
great originality and a most fertile creative
imagination. But it is the grandeur of conception
of Altamsh's great screen of splendid arches, with
their wonderful decoration of Cufic and Togra in-
scriptions, which, executed with exquisite refine-
ment and beauty of detail by the patient Hindu
artists, makes this mosque one of the most inter-
esting monuments of India, and, perhaps as en-
thusiasts like Colonel Cunningham think, puts it
on a line with the noblest buildings in the world.
The sculpture and decoration is most intricate and
elaborate. In places there are graceful scrolls of
stiff conventional design deeply incised, with bands
of inscription running across them on a different
level, raised slightly above, or, rather, not cut so
deeply into the stone as the scrolls.
We went on to the Dargah close by, a strange
and attractive group of buildings clustering round
the burial-place of the famous saint, Khwajah
Sahib Mohin-ud-din, who died here in the I2th
century.
356 AJMERE
He was the first of the famous family of Chisti
saints and politicians, and came from Ghor, in the
mountains to the East of Herat, and was at
Ajmere in 1143 at the time when Shahab-ud-din
put Prithvi Raja to death. Shrines of six or
seven members of the same family who lived
during the following 400 years exist in different
parts of India, and are much venerated. The
tomb of any one specially noted for asceticism, or
with a reputation for occult or supernatural powers,
usually does become a place of pilgrimage, where
a large concourse of people gathers to make offer-
ings of food to the poor, and to implore the inter-
cession of the departed, whose family usually find
the guardianship of the shrine or Dargah, around
which an annual religious assembly and fair grows
up, a most lucrative hereditary profession. Now
and then amongst the wilder people of the north,
a holy man has been strangled by the inhabitants
of a village for the sake of the benefits, moral and
material, which will accrue to those who possess
his sacred bones.
Akbar had a great veneration for this Chisti
saint, which led him to build a mosque in the
precincts of the tomb, an example which Shah
Jehan followed. Akbar was continually on the
road between Fatehpur Sikri and here, and in
January 1569, made the pilgrimage to the shrine,
on foot from Agra, with all his family, hoping to
obtain, by means of the saint's powerful protection,
a much-desired son. The Emperor's pilgrimage
lasted nearly a month : he and his company
A SACRED SHRINE 357
travelled in procession at the rate of about fourteen
miles a day, along roads spread with carpets and
with Kanats, or walls of cloth, raised on either side.
The resting-places were marked by the small
menars or towers of brick, one of which I sketched
near Agra (p. 187). Until then all Akbar's sons
had died in infancy, and the story goes that the
Chisti pir, or holy man, appeared to him in a dream
at the Ajmere Dargah, and evidently wishing to
keep so good a client in the family, sent him back
to Agra to sit at the feet of another saint of the
same lineage Selim Chisti who lived to the age
of ninety-two, on the hill of Fatehpur Sikri, and
there the following August, in a little stone build-
ing close to the hermit's cave, a son was born to
Akbar, who lived and subsequently became the
Emperor Jehangir.
It is curious to find the shrine of the saint at
Ajmere still reverenced by Mohammedans and
Hindus alike, but Moslems and Hindus join
promiscuously in their devotions and charities at
many shrines, apparently irrespective of the
specific creed of the holy man commemorated.
Amongst other instances is that of the tomb, near
Meerut, of a Hindu Saint, Manohar Nath, who is
said to have taken the Samadhi* that is to say,
buried himself alive as a sacrifice to the gods, and
* Instances of this sacrifice as being made by men with whom
they were personally acquainted, are mentioned by Sir William
Sleeman and John Lawrence, both of whom did their utmost, in
vain, to dissuade the devotees. Very holy men amongst the
Hindus are not burned but buried, and they are believed to lie in
a state of trance in the tomb, which is known as a Samadh.
358 AJMERE
this shrine is venerated by as many Mohammedan
as Hindu pilgrims, and there seems but little
difference in the manner of expressing their devo-
tion. Indeed, in many parts of India, Moham-
medans are said to be only distinguished from
Hindus by being worshippers of saints instead of
images. They
" Bow to graven sepulchres, and adore a martyr's stone,
Who pray to a dead hermit that should pray to God alone ; "
and do not by any means
" Shun the Hindu festivals, the tinkling of the bell,
The dancing, the idolatries,"
for the two religious bodies often share the same
festivals and venerate Moolah or Brahman priest,
fakir or yogi indiscriminately. Akbar's spirit of
tolerance which benefited India so greatly was
certainly fatal to the spread of Islam, and there-
fore ruinous to its character, for Mohammedanism
withers and dies when it ceases to expand.
The chief entrance to the Dargah, from the
crowded street, is beneath a whitewashed archway
of great height, on either side of which, surrounded
by a medley of arches, miniature cupolas, pillars
and trees, are two huge iron cauldrons some ten or
fifteen feet across. On certain festal occasions, and
when rich pilgrims give an alms of 200 to 300
for the purpose, these are filled with rice, raisins,
sugar, spices and ghee, which, when cooked by
enormous fires lighted beneath the cauldrons, is
in part doled out to the poor pilgrims. The
members of certain privileged families, clothed in
THE DARGAH 359
rags and enveloped in wadding, are then allowed
to jump into the still hot cauldron and scramble
for the remains. It must be a disgusting sight,
and on account of the heat of the cauldrons a
somewhat dangerous feat.
The glistening white marble tomb of the saint is
very picturesque : surrounded by fine marble lattice
screens, it is all dark and mysterious within, and
rich-coloured draperies and awnings shroud the
holy place, and shelter the doorways. The grey
misty mountain peaks made a beautiful and quiet
background to this vivid scene, which was partially
veiled by the green branches of one of the gnarled
and twisted trees shading the enclosure. The tree
had dropped out of the perpendicular, and was sup-
ported by a finely carved yellow sandstone pillar.
The brightly clad crowds of pilgrims about the
Dargah have the reputation of being very fanatical
and at times troublesome : we had had to envelop
our feet in list boots before being allowed to enter
the courtyard, and no infidel is permitted to
approach the tomb. When I wished to sketch, I
was, as at Amritzar, prevented from using my
camp-stool, or even putting up a white umbrella.
Deep in the rocky mountain-side at the back of
the Dargah is a long, narrow, natural cleft, the
sides of which are faced with irregular flights of
steep steps descending to a deep tank below, and
ascending to tortuous and irregular terraces and
platforms which follow the trend of the rock.
Above them rise the enclosing walls of the Dargah
and neighbouring buildings, and I found a shady
360 AJMERE
and comparatively quiet spot, partly sheltered by
these walls, from which to sketch this curious and
~ --fc
A PICTURESQUE CORNER
unique scene. It proved less quiet than I had ex-
pected, not only because at no little distance from
me a constant stream of women in dark red and
SKETCHING UNDER DIFFICULTIES 3 6x
blue saris ascended and descended, with their
waterpots on their heads, but because, when my
work was only partly done, I discovered that I had
become an object of curiosity and perhaps of
fanatical jealousy to a party of young ruffians who
were watching me from a coign of vantage upon
the walls above. At first I took no notice of the
noise they made, but when brickbats began to fly
about my head I thought it time to move to a spot
where missiles could not reach me, and there I
finished my sketch in peace. Next time I sketched
at the Dargah I took a chuprassie, in a scarlet coat,
whose presence enabled me to work, free from the
pestering attentions of the boys who, in all
countries, delight to vex the soul of the harmless
artist. Everywhere else in Ajmere I dispensed with
his services, and Mrs. Biddulph's pony, " Dumps,"
a jolly little cream-coloured country-bred beast,
took me to my "spot" and back, and I met with
no impediment except that the poor pony was
vastly terrified by an encounter with two parties
of men leading bears.
The days were all twenty-four hours too short
in this fascinating spot, which has all the charm
of ancient India without the evils which must
have so greatly marred the romantic days of
purely native rule.
2 z
CHAPTER XIX
JODHPUR
IT had been our intention to retrace our steps from
Ajmere to Jeypore, but Colonel Biddulph kindly
suggested that we should, instead, go with him
to Jodhpur, a wonderful fortress and old town in
the desert of Marwar. This enabled us to see an
older, less well known, and less sophisticated
native State under very delightful auspices. As our
train did not leave till three in the morning Colonel
Biddulph arranged to have a carriage, with two
compartments, put on a siding for us : in it we took
up our quarters before 1 1 P.M., were hooked on at
3 A.M., and woke at seven next morning to find
ourselves at Marwar, the junction for Jodhpur. It
was sixty miles on to Jodhpur, the train took six
hours, and in consequence of this remarkable speed
was familiarly known as the " Flying Hindu."
We were here to the west of the Aravali
Mountains and on the edge of a vast desert, ridged
with long, low, isolated sand-hills. Though the flat
arid plain appeared to me to be absolutely bare, I
believe wheat, barley, and millet crops are taken
off it, in places where the overflow of the River
Luni, which rises in the Ajmere Lake, fertilises the
364 JODHPUR
soil by overflowing its banks, or where wells, sunk
in its bed, provide irrigation. There was, however,
literally hardly a tree or house all the sixty miles to
Jodhpur, and until the Maharaja connected his city
by a narrow-gauge railway with the main line
there was no road; the track left in the sand by the
last camel-caravan formed the only road to the
capital, isolated like a ship at sea in the midst of a
desert. A few prickly shrubs, and tufts of withered
grass nourished scattered flocks of skinny goats,
and the monotony of the prospect was only relieved
by occasional views of bold and picturesque conical
rocks and hills, seven hundred or eight hundred
feet high, which appeared on the horizon and,
as we proceeded, passed away out of sight. Once or
twice the train, running over its unfenced line,
scared away a wild pig or a wolf from the track;
after passing an oasis with a ruined temple over-
hung by trees and few huts, we encountered a
country Thakur or noble, riding a camel, with his
servant seated behind him holding his hookah ;
or a string of laden camels following in single file
one of the Marwari traders, who are found all over
India, and may be known by their peculiar turban.
Jodhpur or Marwar, the largest of the Rajputana
States, is about the size of Ireland, and has been
ruled for the last five hundred years by a Maha-
raja of the noble clan of Rahtore, probably one
of the purest blooded families in the world, for
though they cannot boast quite so long a pedigree
as the Sesodias of Oodeypore, yet they trace their
genealogy clear back, in lineal descent from male
JODHA 365
to male, about 1360 years. They were Kings of
Canouj, one of the four great monarchies of the
ancient India, certainly as early as the fifth century,
and most probably even before Christ.
When the Mohammedans first invaded India
they found the Rajput princes of the Chohan line
ruling over the Delhi kingdom, and the great
kingdom of Canouj, extending from Nepal to
Ajmere, in the hands of the Rahtores, whom, in
his second invasion, Shahab-ud-din defeated .in a
great battle on the banks of the Jumna, 1 194, and
utterly destroyed their capital, its temples and
palaces. The king and the moredauntless of the clan
then retreated to Marwar, and established them-
selves at Mandor, then the capital of this " region
of death." In the early part of the fifteenth cen-
tury, Rao Rimmull, the Raja, having treacherously
attempted to usurp the throne of the infant Seso-
dia Rana of Chitore, his grandson, was slain by the
child's nearest blood relation and Mandor taken.
One of his twenty-four sons, Jodha, finally re-
established his father's kingdom, and, at no great
distance, built the fortress city of Jodhpur, which
became the capital, and from his twenty-three
other sons the peers of the Rahtore Rajput race
trace their descent.
About six or eight miles before reaching Jodh-
pur the great rock of the Fort came in sight. It
was built by Jodha on a yellow-red sandstone rock,
an isolated spur of a small range of hills, in obedi-
ence to the behest of a yogi, who lived in a rocky
ravine in the neighbourhood. It is a stupendous
366 JODHPUR
affair, and rising four hundred feet abruptly above
the plain reminded me of Stirling Castle on a large
scale.
A mile short of the station we passed the bun-
galow of Major Loch, with whom we were to stay.
His chuprassie ran out from the house at the
approach of the train and jogged along by its side,
then he put on a little pace, and arriving some time
before the Flying Hindu, was ready to receive us
when we drew up. On the platform crowded as
usual with natives we were greeted by Major
Loch, and before long we were comfortably estab-
lished under his hospitable roof within sight of the
great rock. At its feet lies the old walled city, un-
touched by the finger of the moderniser or im-
prover, but from the spot from which I made my
first sketch this is hidden by a dark belt of trees
stretching for some distance along the base of the
rock, and rendered especially noticeable by the
contrast of its foliage with the barren rock on the
one side, and the desert on the other. It was so
hot that not till late in the afternoon did we start
with our host for the Fort, past the modern
kutcheri or public offices, and a park laid out in
squares, where the camp for the Maharaja's
specially distinguished visitors is pitched. We
went round several very curious groups of rocks
which rise abruptly out of the plain insignificant
compared to the rock of the Fort, but in themselves
nevertheless rather imposing. One, like a ship in
shape, has been surmounted by a building a freak
of the Maharaja's exactly following its contour.
THE RAHTORE PALACE 367
At last, by the newly engineered road, which
takes the place of the very steep step-like old ap-
proach, we wound our way up to the romantic
Citadel. The steeply ascending road passes be-
tween strong walls and under seven high massive
gateways. Above rises, stage upon stage, the
palace, which generations of Rahtore princes, like
genii in a fairy tale, have reared upon bastions
on the edge of a perpendicular cliff, at least one
hundred and twenty feet high, and whence they
have for centuries gazed across the desert to the
confines of their kingdom. Two great zigzags
brought us to the top of the rock, where solid
sandstone walls and towers, rising tier above tier,
many storeys high, are in strong contrast with
the delicately carved lattice-work windows which
break the rugged surface and blend it to one har-
monious whole. The most ancient portions are the
most beautiful. Some are of the hard grey marble
of the country ; others, of brownish-pink or warm
yellow sandstone, have the front completely covered
with an elaborate veined network of raised tracery
" finished with the finger-nail " and spreading like
a cobweb, as one may see some great vine climb,'
over wall and window alike. In other places, hooded
canopies of stone, carved and drooping on either
side, like an overhanging eyebrow, protect the win-
dow-casements and balconies from the glaring sun.
In still another place, the solid bastion rises sixty
feet, like Giotto's tower, without a break, and then
bursts into thickly clustered balconies and canopies.
In a scene such as this, at a turn of the road, I
368 JODHPUR
found a suitable spot for a sketch. Before me was
a lofty whitewashed gateway, with the palace tower-
ing above, and past me went an ever-moving crowd,
of strangely dressed natives from the Bikanaer
desert, laden camels with their drivers, and groups
of women carrying waterpots and other weights
upon their heads, and an occasional elephant
bearing a richly robed visitor for the palace.
On the wall within the last entrance gate to the
Fort is a row of hands, carved on the stone and
painted red. These are the marks of the hands of
thirty-five widows of successive deceased ancestors
of the Maharaja, who have in their turn become
sati on the death of their husbands ; as they passed
out of the Fort on their way to the funeral pyre
at Mandor, the old capital, they had the impress of
their hands traced upon the wall, in token of their
vow to die with their lord and master. The impress
of a crimsoned hand is often to be seen on door or
wall in India : and it is usually the sign that some
one had " set to their seal " and ratified a vow
of consecration. In the old deeds .of Indian
mediaeval times maybe seen the impressed outline
of the hand of the signatory emperor or chief,
dipped in ink, and laid upon the chart or letter,
just as the mark of the Sultan's thumb still remains
the Turkish equivalent to our Broad Arrow.
The last little red hand traced on the gateway
of Jodhpur Fort is that of the widow of the
grandfather of the present Maharaja Jeswant
Sing. His son, the father of this man, was the
" Rajput chief of the old school," whose deathbed
A RAJPUT CHIEF 369
meditation, in his garden palace at the foot of
Jodhpur cliff, is the theme of the well-known lines
in " Verses written in India " :
And why say ye that I must leave
This pleasure-garden, where the sun
Is baffled by the boughs that weave
Their shade o'er my pavilion ?
Why should I move ? I love the place ;
The dawn is fresh, the nights are still ;
Ah, yes ! I see it in your face,
My latest dawn and night are nigh,
And of my clan a chief must die
Within the ancestral rampart's fold,
Paced by the listening sentinel,
Where ancient cannon, and beldames old
As the gun:?, peer down from the citadel.
Once more, once only, they shall bear
My litter up the steep ascent
That pierces, mounting stair on stair,
The inmost ring of battlement.
Oft-times that frowning gate I've pass'd
(This time, but one, shall be the last),
Where the tribal daemon's image stands
Crowning the arch, and on the side
Are scarlet prints of woman's hands.
Farewell ! and forth must the lady ride,
Her face unveiled, in rich attire,
She strikes the stone with fingers red,
" Farewell ! the palace, to the pyre
We follow, widows of the dead ! "
Nowadays, the wives of dead chiefs, not being
allowed to commit sati, are sent to end their
days in the old palace. We were told that about
three hundred women were shut up there, wives
of late brothers or cousins of the royal house ;
and lately all the wives of the present man and
3A
370 JODHPUR
his brother had been sent there too. Poor things,
it must be terribly dreary, and hot in summer ;
but as a Rajput lady is brought up to feel, that
from her birth her " life is a sacrifice," and
that it is only of her father's clemency she was
not sent to the shades by a dose of opium as
soon as she saw the light, perhaps the semblance
of life, which is her portion up here, appears
by contrast a precious gift. The perusal of
Colonel Tod's Annals of "the Land of Princes"
raises a marvellously fascinating picture of the
strangely poetical life and ideals of this tenacious
race, which has maintained its character unim-
paired, and clung to its customs and codes of
honour undismayed through so many revo-
lutions of the wheel of the centuries. The
grandeur of their conception of the immortality
of the race, and of the paramount importance, of
the ''good name," which far transcends the
momentary interests of the individual's present
existence of fleeting pleasure or pain, cannot
fail to inspire a great admiration for their stead-
fast grasp of a fine idea and their patient
untiring self-sacrificing devotion to the details of
duty as they see it. "All is unstable," their
poets cry ; " life is like the scintillation of a fire-
fly ; house and land depart, but a good name
endures for ever." We have been constrained
in the interests of true righteousness, as it has
shown itself to us, to forbid many of the certainly
indefensible customs and practices in which their
ideals took shape. Yet it cannot but be a cause
COOL DARK HALLS 371
of anxiety to all who value a strong and manly
character, lest our attempt to preserve the race
in its characteristic civilisation should be stulti-
fied by this necessary curtailment of the natural
expression of their ideals : and the ennobling
conceptions be destroyed that have from time
immemorial been the preserving salt of the race.
We penetrated the cool dark passages of the
palace, and found most of the halls within the
thick walls, through which the sun never pene-
trated, were of the usual rather disappointing
kind. They showed a gradual decline in taste,
from the early decorations of the sixteenth and
seventeenth century, when the walls were covered
with blue and gold and crimson, like the illumina-
tion of a vellum page, to the tortured mirror-
mosaic of the halls of the last generation. The
pictures range from quaint native paintings of
Shah Jehan and the other Mogul emperors, to
old-fashioned prints of English hunting scenes,
and show how the Rahtores have marched with
the times and adapted their tastes to those of
their suzerains. But the treasury was charac-
teristically Eastern, with such a show of jewels
as dazzled Aladdin in the cave; some splendid
stones, pearls and emeralds as big as pigeon's
eggs, tiaras, necklaces and rings, many very
ugly things and many of great beauty ; jewelled
weapons and sheaths, and splendid silver and
silver-gilt trappings for horses and elephants,
silver horse-collars and silver ear-rings for the
elephants, at least half the size of my head.
372 JODHPUR
From the balconies, overhanging like swallows'
nests, the sheer and dizzy precipice of wall and
rock, the vast view sweeps away, in endless
stretches of delicate desert tints, for miles, to a dis-
tance melting in lilac-grey haze into the amber sky :
lines of dust mark the track of the cattle stringing
home from pasture. Spread out like a map at our
feet lay the old city, at the foot of the rock, in its
girdle of green, with flat-roofed houses, the red
sandstone palaces of the Thakoors, and the
pyramidal points of its 400 temples peering above
the trees. Here, as in other places in this land, the
bulk of the population by no means belongs to the
noble ruling race of Rajputs, of which the poorest
member is kin to the King, and would not put his
hand to a plough or to any occupation which might
be deemed beneath the dignity of a warrior who
bows only to the sun, his horse and his sword.
There is, however, a large population of miscel-
laneous castes in the city : Brahmans and Charans
and others, from whose ranks come those who carry
on the work of civil administration, and those who
fill the frequently hereditary offices in the chiefs
court and cabinet, or keep the traditions and re-
cords of the past ages and the genealogies. The
trading classes are usually Jains, and they are
frequently descended from Rajputs, who have not
maintained in its purity the rigid marriage law of
the land, and have therefore lost the right to a
place in the " libro d'oro " of the pure-blooded clans,
with whom their ruler even is reckoned only
first amongst equals. A greater contrast to the
RIGID MARRIAGE LAWS 373
servile attitude of the Mogul courtiers, towards
their lord, can hardly be conceived : no doubt
this partly accounts for the dignified and frank
and open bearing of the members of the clans.
Every member of a pure-blooded clan is a gentle-
man of high degree, and with his tall, erect carriage
and graceful, manly bearing, his strong black beard
parted in the middle and brushed back, like tiger's
whiskers, towards his ears and then knotted at the
top of his head, he looks every inch the son of
century-long lineage of warrior ancestors. His chi-
valrous high-minded sense of honour, the simple,
straightforward, easy courtesy of his manners
a combination of self-reliant independence and
perfect consideration for others are worthy of the
best traditions of the age of chivalry.
The peculiarly strict marriage laws must make
it no easy matter to arrange a suitable marriage for
a Rajput. For here, in the land where still exist
the best specimens of early institutions, the tribal
period has survived, and the primitive marriage
customs of the very earliest days are still preserved.
In those days, citizenship and country and ruler
counted for nothing, and religion and kinship were
of supreme importance in determining a man's life.
Here marriage is not only limited to the ranks
of those of the same religion, or caste, but abso-
lutely prohibited amongst blood relations, of even
the most remote degree, who in any way trace their
descent to a common ancestor, real or reputed The
difficulties which arise may be imagined when, as a
high authority tells us, " widespread and numerous
374 JODHPUR
clans are nothing else but great circles of blood
relationships, including perhaps a hundred thou-
sand persons who cannot lawfully intermarry." A
clan of pure Rajputs may be scattered abroad
under half a dozen different rulers, but neverthe-
less they hold marriage between two members of
the clan as quite beyond the bounds of possibility.
And a Rajput clansman, whose family has left
the ancestral home, if he returned to take a wife,
or to marry a daughter, would have to submit his
genealogy to run the gauntlet of very strict and
careful inquiry, to satisfy the scruples of those with
whom he meditated an alliance, that there was
neither a common ancestor nor a mesalliance in
the family. No wonder that a Rajput is brought up
to be able to recite his own genealogy, and that there
is a special class, a hereditary College of Heralds,
whose duty it is to preserve the records and pedi-
grees of the clans.
Udai Sing, the son of the Jodhpur ruler whom
Akbar subdued, was sent as a hostage to the court
at Agra, and he only obtained the restoration of
the former possessions of his house by giving his
sister Jodhbai as wife to the Emperor : it was not
until considerably more than a century later that
the proud Sesodias of Oodeypore, who had main-
tained their independence, readmitted the Rahtores
to the privilege of intermarriage with their clan,
which had been forfeited by the mesalliance. And
even then the Sesodias only made the concession
on the condition that the son of the Oodeypore
princess should always succeed to the State.
BRIDAL FEUDS 375
This difficulty in forming suitable alliances and
providing husbands for daughters, who yet must
not remain unmarried, to some extent accounts for
the two pernicious practices of female infanticide
and polygamy. It is no doubt the originating cause
of many of the romantic feuds and the raids and
contests for the hand of a Rajput princess which
fill the annals of this country. For the supply of
wives lay entirely in the hands of neighbouring and
perhaps rival clans, who might at any moment, on
some nice point of honour or jealous punctilio,
refuse to give their daughter. Rajput history
is thus filled with disputes over brides and be-
trothals. The peculiar laws of succession opened
the way also for interference of the wife's kinsfolk
and to bitter quarrels such as that which indirectly
led to the foundation of Jodhpur.
On our first visit to the Fort we retraced our
steps, down the steep way, crowded with people and
camels, by which we had come up, but next time I
sketched up there I passed down into the town soon
after sunset, by a steep road between high walls,
and under picturesque gateways, by a way I had
not been before. At every turn, a new picture
seemed to unfold and made me long to sketch, but
I had already made the mistake of trying to do too
much in the time at my disposal, and now it was
getting dark. At the lowest gateway, a carriage
was waiting for me, and we drove off at the most
reckless speed through the narrow streets. I could
not prevail on the coachman who, by the way, had
been educated at Agra College and spoke English
376 JODHPUR
to go more slowly. I was sorry, as there is
much in the houses of this quaint old city
which is picturesque and architecturally beautiful.
The most ordinary houses are covered with ex-
quisite stone work, traceries and carved latticed
windows ; overhanging cornices, with drooping
pendants, catch the light at every turn, whilst the
projecting, hooded, crescent-shaped eaves, which
some one aptly compares to drooping gulls' wings,
cast deep shadows on the surface. But all this, and
the fountains within marble balustrades under the
shelter of fine trees ; the groups of women with
brass pots, draped in brick-red and old-gold em-
broidered saris ; the market with sacks of golden
corn, and traders squatting under plaited straw
umbrellas, all flashed past me in dazzling pictures,
as we dashed through the town, scattering the
people on both sides, and running the most im-
minent risk it seemed to me of cutting off toes
and even ending lives.
In Major Loch's house I met a high-caste
Brahman gentleman, Chatter Booj, in pink pug-
garee and orange-coloured robes, who acted under
my host in the business of superintending the Ma-
haraja's land revenue and department of Woods
and Forests. His brother, Hans Raj or the Royal
Goose kindly piloted me on another sketching
expedition to the old town. We started soon after
ten o'clock breakfast, but the sun was burning hot
hotter than anything I had experienced before
when we got out in the Dhan Mandi (wheat
market) to look round. It was full of local colour,
AN ORIENTAL MENAGE 377
but really the heat was too great for me to feel able
to take much interest in anything, and we drove
on past the Gutab Sagar, a large tank surrounded
by temples, to the foot of the steep ascent to the
Castle where I made my first sketch. We went
into the Talati Mai, once a beautiful palace, now
sadly knocked about and disfigured with white-
wash, and used as the Durbar High School, with
an Englishwoman as head. As we entered the girls'
side, a little damsel rushed up to my companion
and hugged him ; this was his little niece, a
daughter of Chatter Booj.
The Maharaja's little daughter of thirteen had
an English governess, whom we met at dinner, and
thought must have rather a dull time in her very
Oriental manage. Her pupil was very strictly
purdah, and only allowed to put her nose out of
the house after dark. She and her governess and
women were locked into the upper part of the
house at night, by the guard who kept the key.
The skirt of her best frock, I heard, consisted of
an elaborate combination of wedge-shaped pieces
of different sizes, and measured fifty yards round
the hem. The Court dresses of the men of the
Sing family seem to be made on much the same
plan, and consist of pink muslin petticoats, con-
taining at least one hundred yards of muslin, but
tied in halfway down with scarves, so that the
lower part stands stiffly out. They sway about
when the wearer moves, and must be very difficult
to manage with dignity. The whole family are, as
one would expect from the family traditions, de-
378 JODHPUR
voted to horses and hunting, and great sportsmen,
and said not to know what fear is. The story goes
that once when the Maharaja and his brother
Maharaj Purtab Sing were young, emulating the
achievements of their ancestors, they entered un-
attended a lion's cave with a lantern, and no
weapon but a club, and bearded and brained him
in his lair.
This country is celebrated all over India for
pig-sticking, and the pigs are strictly preserved.
Arrangements were kindly made by the Maha-
raja's brother, Maharaj Purtab Sing, for us to
have a day's sport ; and under his auspices we
started off in a four-in-hand at six o'clock one morn-
ing, before it was light, forthe rendezvous, about five
miles distant. Major Loch had unfortunately broken
his arm, and, of course, could not come with us,
so the party consisted of Purtab Sing, in a lovely
pale pink turban ; Colonel Paulet, the Resident,
Colonel Biddulph, and myself. As Ave galloped to
the scene of action Colonel Paulet, hearing that I
had not had any pig-sticking before, very kindly
gave me some useful hints, showing me how to
hold my spear, and warned me, above all things,
not to strike a pig, if his line of progress converged
with mine ; otherwise, he said, if I got the spear
home, and the pig got in front of my horse, he
would infallibly give me a fall. Curiously enough,
this very fate befell him, and he got a nasty
spill, which shook him a good deal. For a short
time we were afraid he was seriously hurt, for
he lay on his back, and we thought the pony
A BULLOCK CART 379
had rolled over him. However, he was able to be
driven home, and we were relieved to find he was
not really injured, but the incident put an end to
pig-sticking for that day. We had a splendid gallop,
however, and I enjoyed it immensely. I was
mounted on a beautiful bay, about fifteen hands,
who carried me well, though he was not quite so
fast as others in the field. Colonel Biddulph got
the first spear, and by some lucky accident I got
the second. The second pig, evading both Purtab
Sing and the Colonel, turned to charge, and ran
right on to my spear, which he received full on the
side of the head, and was very soon despatched by
some one else.
I spent part of my spare time after breakfast one
morning with Mrs. Biddulph, drawing one of the
rough bullock carts of the country, which are
most delightfully archaic in construction, consist-
ing simply of very solid wheels and a sideless
platform. The carts reminded me of a story which
a friend, a Kentish squire, used to tell. He made
a journey in Palestine, and, being an admirable
draughtsman, brought home a number of ex-
cellent sketches. One winter evening, after his
return, the squire gave a lecture to his village, and
showed a number of his drawings. Amongst them
was a cart very similar to that which I drew at
Jodhpur, and the squire explained to his audience
that it was a type of the most primitive con-
veyance known, and that it had existed in precisely
this same form in Palestine from the earliest times,
and indeed that it was probably a cart or waggon
380 JODHPUR
of this description that Joseph had sent down
from Egypt to bring his father and his household
goods from Canaan. Afterwards an old farmer
came up and expressed his great interest in all he
had heard, adding that there was one thing above
all others which had interested him, and that was
the cart. " For now," he said, " I understand why
Joseph said to his brethren, ' See that, ye fall not
out by the way.' '
On the site of the original capital of Marwar,
between three and four miles from Jodhpur, there
is now only a heap of ruins, a few houses, and a cool
garden with shady trees. The water here is good,
and so for centuries the women of Jodhpur have
been in the habit of trudging out every morning
to draw water, as that in the town was brackish
and so scanty that in dry seasons citizens moved
elsewhere. The present Maharaja, Jeswant Sing,
constructed a canal to supply the town, and a great
reservoir or tank for storing it ; but I understand
the people still prefer to send their women to fetch
it from the old spot, and regard the water that comes
up to the top of the Fort in iron pipes as distinctly
uncanny.
In the shady garden stand tombs of the Kings.
When the Rajput warrior fell in battle he was
not burnt, but buried where he fell, under a cairn.
Usually, however, he was carried forth armed at all
points with shield and sword,
" High-seated, swathed in many a shawl,
By priests who scatter flowers, and mourn ; "
to the pyre which filled a deep trench and there,.
A MEMORIAL SERVICE 381
his head laid on the knees of his queen, his body
was consumed amidst the eddying smoke of the
funeral pyre. With one Rajput king eighty-four
widows perished in the flames. The elaborate tombs
over their ashes here are of red sandstone, and
consist each of a circular or octagonal hall sup-
ported by columns, approached by steep steps and
crowned by a flat dome. At the side opposite the
entrance is a small square sanctuary, with a high
flame-shaped ribbed and fluted dome above it.
Most of the tombs are in the Jain style of architec-
ture, and all but the most recent are covered outside
and inside with a profusion of elaborate sculpures,
and innumerable bats hang in clusters from the
ceilings. Monkeys had made their home here too,
and I made acquaintance with a huge grey ape
whose tail was quite the longest I had seen, and
hung down like a bell-rope over the wall upon which
he sat. Until I had closely investigated the matter
I could not believe it was all his personal property.
However the monkeys and bats had not the place
quite to themselves, for in one tomb which we entered
a memorial service was going on. Before the altar
stood a man burning incense (loban), waving his
hands backwards and forwards. He then rang a
bell, and an old woman beat a gong with much
assiduity, until we came ; then her attention was
concentrated in an attempt to persuade Major Loch
to give her one hundred rupees, which she said
would provide for her for the rest of her days.
Much too soon came the moment when we had
to begin to prepare to leave India and all its charms
382 JODHPUR
and wonders, and queer sounds and smells, and the
unaccustomed ways of its picturesque people. We
were very sorry when, after saying good-bye to our
kind host, the train drew up in front of his house to
take Colonel and Mrs. Biddulph on board. They
were bound for Ajmere, and we went together to
Mar war, where at seven o'clock we settled ourselves
in the train for the night. Next day, March 18, we
spent some hours in Ahmedabad in the greatest
heat we had experienced, which quite sapped our
energy. In the circumstances to plunge into sight-
seeing, with as much determination as the interest
of the place and the short time at our disposal really
demanded, was impossible. Still we managed to see
many of the interesting buildings for which the
place is justly celebrated. First, the Jumma Musjid,
with its two-hundred-and-sixty pillars and fifteen
domes a fifteenth-century building raised by
Sultan Ahmad I., beside which is his mausoleum,
and beyond the tombs of his Queens ; and the cele-
brated lattice windows carved in yellow sandstone,
in the Sidi Said's mosque said to be the finest
work of its kind that exists.
We went also to a Turcoman mosque, rather
severe in style, and to the tomb and mosque of Rani
Sipri (a daughter of Ahmad Shah). These are two
beautiful little buildings of yellow sandstone, rich
in carving and most delicate lattice work. This was
all we felt up to. I have a very vivid recollection of
feeling the force of the sun to such an extent that
I put up an umbrella between my solar topee and
the roof of the ticca-gharry. After lunch at the rail-
AHMEDABAD
383
way station I spent the afternoon sketchingamongst
a dense crowd of Hindus, fanned all the while by
one of them, and feeling as though I were sitting
at the mouth of a blast furnace; the centre of attrac-
tion in my subject was a Jain feeding-place for birds
like a glorified pigeon-cote : a familiar object in
this city of the Jains. By 9.30 P.M. we were in the
train for Bombay.
The marvels of Ahmedabad did not obliterate
from our minds the vivid impression of Rajputana
and the Rajputs.
A MARWARI TRADER
CHAPTER XX
CEYLON
OUR first impressions of Colombo were those of
enchantment. To be on shore once again, after the
voyage from Brindisi, was in itself a delight, but
over and above that was the novelty of the whole
scene. Wherever I had been before I had recognised
something familiar, but here everything was new.
People, dress, vegetation, houses, all were strange,
and all were more or less beautiful in their way.
The people were refreshingly unlike those we had
just left on board ship. The women with little
clothing, the men with less and less, and the
children with none. This state of things does
not appear odd, on account of the strange rich
colour of their glossy red or brown skins, and also
perhaps because of the beauty and suppleness of
their figures, and the absence of self-conscious-
ness in their stately bearing. Many of the men
wear little more than a duster round their loins
(these are for the most part of the coolie class),
others have what looks like a white tablecloth
;86
CEYLON
wound round their waist extending to their heels,
and a white jacket. Their hair is drawn back into
a tight knot at the back of the head, and kept in its
place with a tortoiseshell comb, making them look
from behind like women. The women wear a kind
of silk petticoat, and short jacket which barely
NATIVE DRESS
meets it, sometimes also a scarf over their bodies,
necklaces of beads round their necks, and orna-
ments in their noses. Very frequently the whole of
a child's costume consists of a string of beads
round its waist. Unfortunately, the effect of civili-
sation and fashion is beginning to show itself, and
here and there natives are seen in European dress,
or in British prints instead of the native cloths.
COLOMBO 387
It was a pleasant change, from the crowded and
noisy saloon of the ship, to breakfast in the cool
spacious hall of the Grand Oriental Hotel, with
tables covered with gorgeous flowers and a pro-
fusion of mangoes and other fruit, and to be waited
on by noiseless, slipperless brown gnomes, instead
of by cockney stewards. After breakfast we drove
in rikshaws along deep red-coloured roads, nicely
watered by the rain of the night before,and through
the native town, embowered in unfamiliar trees, all
bright-green and fresh looking, some of them
beautifully covered with clusters of brilliant
flowers, high up to the top of their lofty boughs, and
some heavy with fruit ; among them were bread-
fruit and jack-fruit trees. The flamboyant tree
(Princiana agio) with its flat top was just then in
full bloom : it is of no great height, grows very
much like an acacia, and is covered with clusters of
brilliant orange-red flowers. It lines the wide roads,
hangs over the water's edge, and is seen in all the
gardens. Here andthere the bougainvilleas hung in
great festoons, whilst everywhere tall palms of
various kinds sheltered the houses or grew down
to the water's edge. Beneath the larger trees all
manner of flowering and leaf plants and shrubs,
such as scarlet hibiscus and crotons, were to be
seen in and around the small gardens in front
of the low native houses, of which the gently
sloping roofs tiled, or thatched with palm-leaves,
project outwards to form a deep verandah, where
the native delights to sit or squat, and transact his
business. Some of the shops are hung with plan-
388
CEYLON
tains and bananas, delicious mangoes, pines, dark
green oranges, and tree-tomatoes, whilst others are
bright with native wares, stuffs, &c. It was very
curious and amusing to pass through this quietly
busy little town, in and out amongst the crowds of
people, the carts drawn by
tiny little buffaloes, and the
jinnrikshaws.
Later on in the day
when we went to call on
the Governor, Sir Arthur
Gordon/* whom we did not
find at home, the town was
alive with P. & O. passen-
gers spending their money
RESTING with true Australian liber-
ality, but by seven o'clock
comparative quiet reigned. The intense heat
warned us that it would be wise to start for Kandy
as soon as possible. Our preparations for leaving
at seven o'clock the next morning were superin-
tended, with much apparent interest, by a green
lizard, about two feet long, which came out from
among the rafters for his supper of flies, and gazed at
us intently. There are no words to describe the heat.
Fortunately it rained hard in the night, and the
air was comparatively cool when we left Colombo
next morning. Before starting I had written to Sir
Arthur Gordon to say that the heat was driving us
up to the mountains, and at the third station a long
telegraphic message was handed in, expressing his
* Now Lord Stanmore.
THE ASCENT TO KANDY 389
regret at not having known sooner of our being in
Colombo, and kindly asking us to stay with him
in Kandy when he came up there. For about two
hours the train kept on the level through jungle,
marsh, and paddy-field, and we passed herds of
dusty brown buffaloes. Though luxuriantly green,
it is a terribly unhealthy district : indeed I was told
that, when making the railway, it was found neces-
sary to take the coolies back to Colombo every
evening, to avoid the deadly night air of this neigh-
bourhood. Having traversed this flat bitof country,
we took on a powerful engine, and began the beauti-
ful ascent to Kandy, climbing by many zigzags the
precipitous side of a rocky mountain into a cooler
climate. At every turn fresh and more beautiful
views opened out before us on the right, extending
over a sea of vivid green jungle which receded ever
further below us and melted away into deep blue.
Ridge upon ridge of dark mountain lay beyond,
culminating in the heights about Adam's Peak.
After reaching the summit of the pass at a height
of 1600 feet, the line descended a little to Perade-
niya, and before midday we reached Kandy. Before
the Government cut the new road from Colombo to
Kandy, this journey took seven days to accomplish ;
we had done it in four hours.
On the way to the Queen's Hotel we passed a
stately old gentleman who might have been taken
for a doctor of divinity had he worn other clothes
than a white duster round his middle. His costume
was completed by an umbrella, a tortoiseshell
comb, and a pair of gold spectacles.
390 CEYLON
It was good to be in a comfortable room over-
looking the beautiful lake, facing the richly wooded
hills on the further side, with the pleasant sound
of the rustling leaves of the mango-tree coming in
through the open window.
In the late afternoon we drove to the celebrated
Botanical Gardens of Peradeniya, about three
miles off, on the banks of the great river of
Ceylon, the Mahawelli Ganga. The gardens
extend over one hundred and fifty acres, and, as
all kinds of plants have been imported here for
the sake of making experiments, they are full of
beautiful and interesting trees and plants, both
European and exotic. Near the entrance there is
a very fine avenue of india-rubber trees (Ficus
elastica), and inside the gardens there is an equally
good specimen of this same tree. It must be
eighty feet high, and is immensely wide-spreading,
with crowded projecting roots, like small mountain
ranges, running away from the great trunk. These
roots are as big as crocodiles, and remind one of
those animals both on account of their shape and of
the lines which they take. The branches throw
down suckers to the earth or to the roots, and these,
attaching themselves below, become independent
trunks. For all the tree is so big, it was not planted
more than fifty years ago. Here was \h&Amkerstia
nobilis, from Malacca, a forest tree covered with
beautiful rich red flowers hanging in festoons all
over it. We saw besides nutmeg- and clove-trees,
cabbage-palms, travellers' trees (belonging to the
same order as the banana) which grow in the
PERADENIYA
shape of a fan, areca-nut palms, talipot, and the
wonderful coco de mer of the Seychelles, for one
specimen of which the Emperor Rudolph II.
offered four thousand florins, on account of the
medicinal qualities which it was supposed to
A FICUS ELASTICA, PEKADENIYA
possess. The Nicolaia hemisphcerica, the most
original plant that I have ever come across, was
there also. It flowers close to the ground, with a
red lily-like bloom on a thick succulent stalk, and
grows, bamboo-fashion, in a tall shrub. The giant
bamboos are said to grow at the rate of from eight
to twelve inches in twenty-four hours.
As usual in these parts, the twilight lasted but
392
CEYLON
a very short time, and we had to drive home in
the dark.
I was up early the following morning, and at
7 A.M. started on a delightful two-mile walk. It was
hot, but not too hot, and everything was wringing
wet, after heavy rain in the night. I took my way
along LadyHorton's Drive, a road which runs right
round the lake, and winds about the base of the
hills. This lake, formed by building a dam across
the valley, was made by the last Raja of Kandy,
and is a delightful sheet of water ; its banks are
covered with luxuriantly growing trees, bright
flowers and flowering shrubs.
On the far side of the lake, upon a hill, and a
little above the road, stands a Buddhist temple,
very curious and picturesque, though not nearly as
important as the famous temple of the "Dalada " or
sacred tooth. As I approached the latter temple I
THE TEMPLE OF THE TOOTH 393
fell in with a Mohammedan from Colombo, who
told me that he was a clerk in the Treasury, on sick
leave. He was a pleasant old fellow, and had his
little boy of five with him. The father wore a tall,
thimble-shaped, red and white straw hat, without
brim, on the top of his shaven head, and the usual
coloured cloth in the place of trousers. We visited
the temple together, and he told me many interesting
things about this celebrated shrine, which is one of
the most sacred spots of Buddhism, and was built
to receive the tooth of Buddha, brought to Ceylon
by a devout princess, about fifteen hundred years
ago, hidden for safety in her hair. Here the tooth
remained until, in 1560, when it was solemnly
burnt by the Portuguese Archbishop of Goa. A
new tooth appeared soon after, and is still in the
temple, but it measures about two inches in
length, and has the appearance of having belonged
to a crocodile.
The temple, though not grand or imposing, is
one of the most picturesque buildings in Ceylon,
and when crowded with dark figures, as it was a
few hours later, simply gorgeous. It stands with its
back against a wooded hill ; at its feet lies the long
moat or tank, alive with tortoises, and crossed by a
small bridge between two carved stone elephants.
Above, an enclosing battlemented wall looks out
upon a fiat expanse of the greenest grass, dotted
over with trees, and fed down by a few humped
cows.
Several flights of steps lead to an elaborately
sculptured doorway and within an ante-chapel, or
394 CEYLON
vestibule, opening on the inner side to a court-
yard, I managed to get a sketch. In the centre
of the courtyard, and occupying the greater part
of it, is the sacred building, a kind of Holy of
Holies, containing seven shrines of diminishing
size, in which the relic is hidden. No ordinary
mortal may pass the veiled doorway of this sanc-
tuary. This mysterious entrance formed the centre
of my sketch. The projecting roof above is sup-
ported by massive wooden pillars, whilst the walls,
corbels and ceilings are profusely decorated in
bright colours with painted figures, grotesque
monsters and floral patterns. To one side of the
steps, guarding, as it were, the approach, stands
a grotesque figure of a demon-tiger, in high
relief.
At the foot of the steps is a circular carved
stone, like an inverted soup-plate let into the
pavement. This is one of the stones popularly
known in Ceylon as moon-stones, and quite
peculiar to the Island, nothing of the sort having
been found in India or elsewhere. They are usually
elaborately carved with processions of animals and
rich scroll work. Upon it an orange-robed priest
knelt at his devotions, whilst an everchanging
crowd of silent, shoeless worshippers came and
went in endless succession, all provided with
votive offerings of flowers. These, lying about in
shallow baskets, were being sold at every corner
of the temple, making patches of bright colour on
the floor, and filling the air with sweet perfume.
The worshippers were very interesting to watch ;
BUDDHISM 395
they were devout in manner, and some of their
attitudes of worship were very beautiful.
Buddhism was first preached in Ceylon by
Mahinda, son of King Asoka, about B.C. 250. At
the Buddhist Council of Patna it was deter-
mined to send out missionaries to spread the
religion of Buddha, and the king's son was one
of the first to go, accompanied by his sister, a
Buddhist nun. The Buddhism of Ceylon is
amongst the purest and simplest now in existence,
but even there has been much corrupted and com-
plicated by additions, especially by the absorption
of demon-worship from the old original religion
of the Sinhalese. The Buddhists of Ceylon, like
those of Burma and Siam, follow the teachings
of the Lesser Vehicle, that is to say of the scrip-
tures known as the Hina-Yana, whereas the
Buddhists of the north adhere to the Greater
Vehicle or Maha-Yana, which contains, besides
the original scriptures, many books of Commen-
taries on them. The corruptions of the Maha-
Yana have nevertheless to some extent penetrated
to Ceylon, and the Buddhism found there is very
far removed from the original ascetic and severe
philosophy of Sakya Muni. No doubt that system
was too arid, and had too little of the true charac-
teristics of a religion about it to satisfy the wants
and aspirations of the heart of the ordinary com-
mon mortal. Out of the Buddha's agnostic philo-
sophy, therefore, has arisen a polytheistic religion,
with priests and temples, gods and demons, which
is that prevailing here.
396 CEYLON
The little town of Kandy itself possesses no
fine buildings or architectural features worthy of
note; but the irregularity of its low buildings, the
bright awnings, the deep shadows in the frontless
shops, the fruit and other wares, the overhanging
palms, the stray yellow and crimson croton bushes,
and above all the people, with their many-tinted
skins, varying from Indian red to chocolate, and
A STREET BARBEK
their scanty, but many-coloured clothes, form an
ever changing melange of colour, and a study in
movement which are in the highest degree fasci-
nating and picturesque. I sat myself down in the
street, and, to the amusement of the little urchins
of the neighbourhood, naked and fat, endeavoured
to portray a representative bit of Kandy life,
though I was unfortunately unable to introduce
either crotons or palms on this occasion.
Knowing that a friend in England had a coffee
plantation in this neighbourhood, and finding that
Pallekelly, seven miles off, belonged to a person
of the same name, we started, at 7.30 the next
PALLEKELLY 397
morning, to drive there. After two false starts,
due to difficulties with the horses, we finally left
with a pair which got over the ground well, but
we had wasted an hour, and it was now 8.30. We
had the honour and glory of a syce to run with
us ; but he sat at our feet most of the way. He
wore a red turban and a pair of very old
Gordon tartan trousers, cut short at the
knee. The drive, most of the way by the
river side, is very beautiful, passing
through every variety of wooded land-
scape, with here and there a hamlet of
native huts half buried amongst the palms
and jack-fruit-trees, beneath the shade of
w T hich were goats, and babies and chickens,
hobbled by a string to a piece of wood.
Beyond the orange-coloured river, end-"
less forests stretch away to ridges of beautiful
blue mountains.
After driving about six miles we came to a
ferry in which horses, trap and all, were punted
across, and almost immediately after entered the
plantation of Pallekelly. On arrival we found that
the estate was the property, not of our friend but of
his brother, who was absent, and we were in some
doubt as to our welcome, coming unexpectedly
and as strangers, but were quite put at our ease by
the very kind reception given us by Mr. Vollar,
the manager, whose wife was a daughter of Mr.
Tytler, to whom the estate originally belonged,
a celebrated planter, and the first cultivator of
cocoa. Mr. Vollar had just come in (ten o'clock)
398 CEYLON
from his morning's work, but put on his hat to
take us out and show us some of the mysteries of
cocoa-growing.
On this estate coffee is almost a thing of the
past, and there is little tea grown ; it is almost
entirely given over to the cultivation of cocoa,
which seems to thrive well here. The chief crop
is gathered in the autumn, but a small crop is
also picked in the early summer, and this we saw
ripening whilst the tiny little flower for the
autumn fruit (it gro\vs straight from the stem of
the plant) was coming out. He showed us how
the young cocoa plants are protected from the sun
by branches from other trees, and what the seed
or cocoa-nibs are like inside the great pod ; also
how india-rubber is gathered, and how the fungus
in the coffee leaf shows itself. The heat drove us
in at about eleven o'clock, and then we were intro-
duced to Mrs. Vollar, and found that we had
many friends and interests in common.
Sketching in the tropics I found no easy matter
on account of vegetation which clothes the whole
face of the world in the richest greens. Nothing-
is more beautiful to the eye than this verdure, but
it is hard to paint, and moreover it was all new to
me. I attempted a sketch, but with indifferent
success, of the jungle-clothed mountains around
Pallekelly, culminating in a dark peak about
which the clouds were beginning to gather. One
feature of the scene which added interest, though
it enhanced my difficulties, was the extraordinary
variety of vegetation. Every tree seemed to have
THE TEMPLE FLOWER 399
a neighbour of a different species, most of them
festooned with creepers and parasites; and above
them, at intervals, projected the feathery heads of
a dozen different kinds of palm, and beneath were
broad-leaved bananas and a dense undergrowth
with ferns and spiky grass appearing wherever the
tangle would permit.
On our return drive our syce picked us all kinds
of flowers scarlet and crimson hibiscus, the
temple flower, or champac (Michilia chainpacci),
which belongs to the Magnolia order, and is like
a magnified orange-blossom with a yellow centre.
It smells delicious, and is much used in the Bud-
dhist temples. Amongst other common plants
which grow in the hedgerows are the sensitive
plant, and a little orange and pink flower, like a
bramble, which smells like black currants. This is
the Lantarna, one of the greatest pests the planter
of Ceylon has to contend against. It was, I believe,
originally imported from America, and, like many
other things not indigenous, it grows with such
vigour and strength that, in places, it has prac-
tically taken possession of the land and is very
hard to exterminate.
We had rain and thunder daily, and every day
they came on at an hour earlier than the previous
clay. It was the time of the little monsoon, and
the weather might clear at any moment, then it
would be very fine for two or three weeks, until
the great south-west monsoon broke.
Two days later wewent to stay with the Governor
at the Pavilion, where we were a party of five, our
400
CEYLON
kind host, Captain Christopher, the A. B.C., and
Mr. Liddell, Sir Arthur's secretary and ourselves.
The Pavilion is a large white classical building
with deep verandahs, long wide corridors and big
rooms with windows in every possible place. It is
merely a wing of the house originally planned,
and the hall is used as a dining-room, a great
room with twelve doorways into
verandahs and corridors, always
kept open to court the air. The
" peons " or government messen-
gers, and servants, whose livery
consists of white linen coats with
red, gold, and black lace, a linen
cloth round their waists and down
to the feet, which are bare, and
the usual tortoiseshell combs,
waited at dinner, as well as a
magnificent black man with a red
turban and a twisted ivory boar's
tusk hanging on his breast. He
was his Excellency's Fijian valet,
a tremendous hero among the
ladies' maids at home, and said
to be a great hand at traveller's tales. When he
was in Europe he went with his master to Den-
mark, and there, before an august assemblage
including many crowned heads, was called upon to
show how to " make fire " according to the Fijian
method. On returning to his native land he told
many tales too good to be true, but the only one
he could not get his compatriots to believe was
A GOVERNMENT-HOUSE
PEON
THE PAVILION GARDEN 401
the veracious account of his making fire before the
Kings and Emperors of Europe.
We made acquaintance with some excellent fruit
which I had never seen before, including guavas
and the mangosteen. This is a dark purple fruit,
the size of an orange, with light green excres-
cences at the point where the fruit joins the stalk.
The part eaten is the centre, which is snow-white,
and in form like six or seven pips of an orange,
embedded in a soft rose-coloured substance about
a quarter of an inch thick, which intervenes between
the white centre and the rind.
The great charm of the Pavilion lies in the gar-
den, full of cinnamons and nutmegs, with gardenias
growing like roses, and choice and curious trees and
shrubs about delightful green lawns. It is difficult
to remember all their names, but amongst others
Sir Arthur pointed out the tallow-candle tree, which
has a little white lily-shaped flower springing
straight out of the stem, and fruit which bears a
most extraordinary resemblance to that homely
household necessary ; a fine specimen of the fan-
shaped traveller's palm, with its great flat leaves,
at the base of which the thirsty traveller may find a
reservoir of water ; and a huge cotton-tree, with its
straight wide-spreading branches ; it is a deciduous
tree, and was then without leaves, but had a sprink-
ling of large crimson flowers. Beneath it were
tethered two beautiful little deer and a fawn, which
Sir Arthur fed with plantains. They were quite
tame, and ate the fruit out of his hand.
The Secretaries lived in a bungalow in the gar-
3 E
402 CEYLON
den, and they told us that when they walked home
at night they carried lanterns, in order to see and
avoid the snakes, of which there are many, includ-
ing two poisonous kinds, the cobra and the tic-
plonga,a name applied to several species ofviperine
snakes, one of them being of a brilliant emerald-
green colour.
One morning at 6.30, before the sun had quite
penetrated through the thick mists, we found our-
selves, a party of four, in the four-seated victoria,
bowling along the Peradeniya road. Theplan was to
drive about seven miles, there to meet riding
horses, visit three temples among the hills, meet
the carriage again in another valley, and drive
home. It was a delightful expedition, and gave us
an insight into the byways of Ceylon, which, but
for Sir Arthur, we should never have had. The
weather was brilliant and hot until we rejoined the
carriage at 2.30, and then a deluge of rain burst
upon us, and it was all that we could do to keep
dry. At the place where we took to the saddle we
came across two elephants, the first we had seen in
Ceylon, engaged in some agricultural work.
My companion was mounted on Sir Arthur's
favourite pony, Janet, which has won many races in
the island in her day, and was a pretty little beast.
I rode with Sir Arthur, followed by his two syces,
on foot, as their custom is. They wear white tunics
and short trousers to the knee, below is bare leg
and shoeless foot. The Governor being in mourn-
ing they wore black turbans and cummerbunds.
One of them carried a plume of horse-hair to whisk
GALANGOLLA
403
away the importunate fly from his Excellency's
horse. We had a most varied ride up hill and down
dale, skirting paddy-fields with dun-coloured
buffaloes wallowing in the wet mud, through
dense jungle, a tangle of palms, bananas, jack-fruit
trees, bamboos, creepers, in shade and sunlight,
past hamlets and scattered cottages, with half-nude
people standing to stare at or to salaam to the
Governor.
Here and there we got fine views of abrupt and
peaked hills, blue in the distance, and densely
clothed with forest, except where tea-planters had
scarified and disfigured the hill sides ;
here and there the red rocky soil
showed through.
About three miles brought us to
the first Buddhist temple of Galan-
golla, a comparatively modern build-
ing, but in a very remarkable position,
under the shadow of a huge boulder
rock. As we approached, we were met
by an important native, the head of a
district, who showed us over the
temple. We had heard that he would
appear in native dress with a quaint ONE OF THE CROWD
hat like that of the great Panjandrum
covered with gold lace, but he apparently preferred
European costume, and, instead of being a thing of
beauty, he looked with the white cloth round his
legs and a black coat like a grocer's assistant.
The exterior of this temple is built in a mongrel
Italian style, and is whitewashed. We entered to
404 CEYLON
find ourselves in a dark vaulted chamber, opening
into a long slip of a room, containing a colossal re-
cumbent figure of Buddha, very gaudily painted.
It must have been twenty-five feet in length. At the
head and the feet were large upright figures, and
all over the walls paintings of Buddhas and saints,
drawn in a very archaic style, and gaudy in colour.
In the first chamber, also frescoed, is kept a silver
tabernacle, in which is deposited the sacred relic.
On high days it is carried forth upon the back of an
elephant. The chief figure and shrine of Buddha
was, however, upstairs, amongst a crowd of yellow-
robed priests and natives. The bell-shaped dagoba
in the centre of the chamber is the permanent
abode of the relic, and is hung with jewelled offer-
ings, and surrounded by smaller gilt replicas of it-
self of all sizes. Around the room, like Egyptian
mummies, are arranged stiff painted figures of
saints, moulded in plaster, and larger than life.
Amongst them, but much smaller, is the figure of
the still living founder of the temple. We tried to
get some explanation from the priests as to the
meaning of certain frescoes illustrating the life of
Buddha, but they could not agree upon any consis-
tent account. I found on inquiry that Dagoba a
word the meaning of which mystified me consider-
ably is really synonymous with the Pagoda,
familiar from childish days as representing all the
magic of the East. Both words are corruptions of
the Pali word Dagaba. Originally a Dagoba was a
casket made to contain some relic of the Buddha or
some specially venerated follower. These caskets
DAGOBAS
405
were placed inside a Chaitya or Stupa, a structure
of a conical shape tapering upwards, built either
inside an assembly hall or in the open. Eventually,
A DAGOBA AT KANDY
the Dagoba or Pagoda came to mean the whole
monument as well as the relic casket inside it, and
it was used as a temple or place of worship. There
are Dagobas of every size, two of the largest being
406 CEYLON
the enormous Rangoon Pagoda, and the Dagoba at
Anuradhapura, in Ceylon. The original Dagobas
were generally bell- shaped, and the usual form in
Ceylon is of that shape still ; but as time passed
the shape sometimes became modified, and they
were made more and more elaborate : the later ones
are often raised upon a base of one or more tiers of
masonry, and are much decorated generally with
images of the Buddha and ending in tapering
finials of umbrella-shaped ornament.
Having seen the temple, the Governor took
some photographs, and I made a sketch. The rest of
the party seemed to get a great deal of satisfaction
out of the milk from some green cocoa-nuts, called
in this state corumbas. We then rode on to the
temple of Gadaladenya, passing on the way another
ruder temple, covered outside with rough life-sized
representations of elephants.
When riding through a clearing in the forest I
noticed a brilliant green bush with gorgeous
crimson flowers upon it ; and when I came quite
close I saw upon its branches a very beautiful
chameleon, blinking in the sun. It had a brilliant
green body and a crimson head, exactly matching
the bush. There appearto be quantitiesof leechesin
these parts, and several of our horses which had been
standing in swampy ground were bitten by them.
Gadaladenya, quite the most picturesque of the
three temples we saw, is built upon the smooth
surface of a rock overlooking a valley and backed
by jungle. A huge Dagoba of stone protected by a
tiled roof stands a little in front of it. The temple is
GADALADENYA
407
partly of very picturesque red brick, and elephants
of the size of ponies project from the wall, cut in the
brick, and helped out with plaster. The pillars and
other details about the entrance to the temple are
also ornamented with sculpture, and within is a
colossal seated figure of Buddha, in the conven-
A SINHALESE TEMPLE, GADALADENYA
tional attitude of meditation, surrounded by offer-
ings. Buddha is usually represented in one of three
seated attitudes, either with his hands crossed in
front of himincontemplation,orwith his righthand
raised signifying teaching, or with the same hand
pointing downwards in the act of renouncing the
world : his right arm and shoulder are always bare,
and his robes are draped from his left shoulder over
his left side. It was getting very hot, so, after pho-
tographing and sketching, we hurried on through
the jungle to Lanka Telika,a temple finely situated
high above the valley, and approached through
4 o8 CEYLON
groves of cocoa-nut palms by flights of rude steps
partly cut in the rock itself. More elaborate
refreshments were here provided for us by the
Rhatamahatmer, or head of the district, and as we
had had our early tea at six and it was now past
noon, we were very thankful for his milk, oranges,
and biscuits. We sat in a little shed in front of the
temple, with a grand view over forest and blue
( Teaching)
(Contemplating) \ (Renouncing the Wor/c/J
THE THREE USUAL ASPECTS OF THE SEATED BUDDHA
hills ; but the clouds were already rolling up and
warned us to hasten on our way.
We had about five miles to ride to the carriage,
along a winding and picturesque road with ever-
changing views, but the quickly gathering clouds
overhead distracted our attention, and before long
the rain was upon us.
Though it was somewhat damping to our sight-
seeing ardour, it was very beautiful, especially from
a height, to watch the great rain-clouds blowing up
from the sea every afternoon and culminating in a
deluge of rain. The clear blue sky of the morning
gradually becomes flecked with white woolly
clouds, and shadows travel rapidly over the sunny
THE LITTLE MONSOON 409
green landscape. On they come thicker and thicker,
the white turns to grey, the blue sky rapidly dis-
appears, and the grey gives place to black, casting
the whole landscape into a deep blue gloom, then
a nebulous mass, more dense than its predecessors,
charged with electricity, sweeps over the high
mountains, there is a vivid flash of forked fire and
an almost simultaneous roar of thunder, and a
deluge of water falls in a great grey veil over hill
and vale, and swirling onwards warns us that no
time must be lost in seeking shelter if we wish to
preserve a dry thread to our backs.
We reached the little hamlet where the carriage
was waiting, and were conducted by the head man
of the village to his house, where the luncheon
basket had already found its way. The verandah
was hung with white sheets, and all the chairs were
covered with white cloth of different kinds. This
is a great mark of honour to a distinguished
person. The old gentleman our host was a
quaint figure ; he had a good deal of grey hair
about him, and was clothed about the middle with
one garment. On his head he wore a small cap,
which from his constant and abject salaaming was
generally about the level of his waist.
I used to go out when at the Pavilion at 6 A.M.,
and I have seldom done any sketching in more
pleasant circumstances. My friends at the Secre-
tary's bungalow would find me out at some temple
gateway or by the lake side, and send a dignified
peon with a kind message or some refreshment,
when they thought I should be weary, or a choice
3 F
4io
CEYLON
cigar in an envelope with " On Her Majesty's
Service " stamped upon it.
Close to the Pavilion is the ancient Palace of
the Kings of Kandy, which the Governor took us
to see. Originally it was a massive building with
thick walls and ornamented with sculptured
figures of the sun, the moon and elephants ; but
A SHOP IN KANDY
what remains of the structure has been patched up,
and with the addition of a deep verandah covered
with creepers serves as the Government Agent's
house. Beyond it, we came to the Court House, a
building open on all sides to the air, of dark brown
wood with a deep tiled roof, supported by pillars
and beams, most beautifully and elaborately carved
with intricate patterns, the corbels terminating in
representations of the lotus. The pillars are cut in
sections, rectangular and octagonal sided. Here in
THE MAHAWELLI GANGHA 411
this beautiful hall our friend Judge Lawrie held
his court, and there I found him, somewhat late in
the day, at work. We then paid a visit to the
Temple of the Tooth, and Sir Arthur took us into
the library attached to it, which contains many
native books with elaborate silver bindings, or with
lacquer covers. The books are written on palm-
leaves cut into strips, about 18 inches to 2 feet
long by 2^ inches broad, and the leaves are strung
together by a cord. From the balcony around the
library we looked down upon the tank and watched
the tortoises swimming about.
This afternoon for the first time it cleared up, and
at 4.30 we took a charming drive by the terraced
road which winds through the forest-covered hill
at the back of the Pavilion, and along Lady
Gordon's and Lady Horton'sdrives. The views over
the valley of the Mahawelli Gangha river eastwards
towards the blue mountains were exquisite, and
the colouring seemed to me far more intense than
that of any other landscape that I had ever seen.
Before leaving for Colombo we paid a visit to
Judge Lawrie at Peradeniya, our baggage going
before in a bullock cart. His house was an old-
fashioned one-storeyed bungalow, consisting of a
row of rooms with deep verandahs on either side,
and surrounded by a good garden and lawns dotted
over with the usual mango and jack-trees. It looks
eastward, over cocoa-nutgroves and tea plantations,
towards the steep wooded hills, which begin to rise
close by. To the south there is a pretty distant view.
After a very hot night, and a strenuous encounter
4 i2 CEYLON
with mosquitoes, our host took us before breakfast
next morning, to inspect a neighbouring tea factory.
It is interesting to see both the plant itself growing
and the process by which it is prepared for the
market. The first three leaves of each shoot are
picked, then dried on trays of jute, where they partly
ferment, then rolled in a semi-hot condition by a
huge rotary roller; after this they are shaken about
and dried in a hot close machine, and finally passed
over a sieve containing holes of three sizes. The
small leaf at the top of the shoot, the second, and
the third and largest leaf, are by this process sorted
and separated. The small leaves form the finest,
and the large the coarsest tea.
Whilst I was at the bungalow I found that a
little swallow (Hirundo javanicd) with a red breast
had built a nest on the ceiling of my room, and he
came flying in and out through the ventilator above
the window. Some of the bees of Ceylon are black
and as large as stagbeetles, and there are no end
of Palm squirrels (Sciurus palmarum] in the trees,
tiny little mouse-coloured fellows with dark stripes
down their backs. There were dozens of them in
the trees by our window at the Pavilion, and they
used to chase one another up and down the
branches like boys let loose from school.
When we were shown some photographs, in
opening the frame of one of them, we discovered
within, between the doors and the glass, a little
wasp's nest made of hard red clay. On taking it off
we found the grub and six or seven spiders laid up
in store for its provision. It was in the act of con-
MR. CAMERON 413
suming one when we discovered it. By the time the
larder is exhausted the wasp is fledged and ready to
make his appearance in the world. The nest was
about one and a half inch square.
We packed up our traps at noon on the following
day, and, with a coolie to each box, marched to the
Peradeniya Station, two hundred yards off, to catch
the train.
We had some very severe showers on our way
down to Colombo in the plain, passing once more
all the glorious views which the line affords the
dense jungle, the new green paddy-fields, the bright
croton-planted stations, and the red water-lilies in
the ponds. At the last station before reaching
Colombo we were met by Mr. Hardinge Cameron,
at that time Mayor of Colombo, the son of Mrs.
Cameron, whose beautiful photographs are so
well known. He kindly drove us into the town
through extensive cinnamon groves or plantations,
now left very much to look after themselves, and
out beyond the town boundary, through a bit of
jungle, past some native villages or hamlets. We
bowled along smooth red roads, between groves of
lovely trees, and avenues of palms. Flowering
shrubs and bright-leaved plants covered and sur-
rounded the bungalows, each snugly situated in its
own compound.
We spent a day or two at the hotel during Sir
Arthur's absence at Ratnapura, having unfortu-
nately been obliged to give up going there with
him. We had some lovely evening drives with Mr.
Cameron and his friend Mr. Williams, and dined
414 CEYLON
with him in his charming bungalow close to one
of the many lakes.
One day he took me to see the market,which sur-
rounds the town-hall. It is rich in sketchable bits
for an artist, in spite of the fact that the chief build-
ings are made of cast iron. The subtle litheness of
the figures and the profusion and gorgeous colours
of the fruits are most attractive. There I set to
work to make a sketch, watched over by a mayoral
peon in white linen, with a green ribbon and silver
badge across his shoulder. In spite of torrents of
rain I had some golf on the links by the sea, but
found that the climate or the borrowed clubs did
not suit my play.
On Sir Arthur's return we migrated to the cool
lofty corridors and halls of Government House. It
is a large building, and to find our rooms we had
to walk what seemed an interminable distance from
the hall, along a verandah, with the rain pouring
down in torrents outside, to a distant wing of the
house. But the rooms, when we got to them, were
delightfully big and airy.
The Governor was, as always, most kind, and
told us all about his visit to Ratnapura. We
listened, not without many a regret, to his account
of the fine native dresses and other splendours of
the Durbar which we had missed.
When we went to smoke his Excellency gave
me a volume (1855-6) of his father's* corres-
pondence to look at. He was editing the letters,
and seemed engrossed in the subject. I found
* The fourth Earl of Aberdeen.
QUEEN'S HOUSE 415
much that was most interesting in the book, espe-
cially about the time of Lord Aberdeen 's resigna-
tion. The letter he received from the Queen on that
occasion is quite touching. Many of the links be-
tween the letters are filled up by extracts from
Sir Arthur's own most interesting and beautifully
written journal. It containsan excellent description
of his journey with Gladstone to the Ionian Islands
and Greece when Gladstone distinguished him-
self by making an admirable speech in Italian.
Queen's House is aratherdull building, standing
in the middle of the town. Its redeeming feature is
the garden, and on our last day I made a sketch of
the giant banyan tree in it, and of the tame pelican
and the crane who patrol the bright lawn of the
Queen's House and are most amusing in their odd
ways, as are also the numerous crows with dark
grey necks (Cormis splei'idens) which swarm about
Colombo. They are daring thieves, and one flew
into the dining-room before we had left it, and
tried to fly away with something, while Bangle,
his Excellency's black dachshund, was being fed.
Bangle went everywhere with the Governor,
whether riding, driving, walking, or working. He
sits outside the chapel waiting for him, and plants
himself upon the desk, or walks about amongst
the papers on his writing table.
In the afternoon Sir Arthur drove us to the
reservoir. It is east of the town, upon rising
ground, and commands a splendid view to the
mountains eastwards, and westwards over the town
to the sea. The curious feature in this view is that
416
CEYLON
although it overlooks a city of 120,000 inhabitants
there is not a house to be seen no sign of dwell-
ing or of human life except a church spire, a dome,
and two or three tall chimneys. Everything is
hidden awayamongst the umbrella-like palm-trees.
We dined early, and had to bustle off imme-
diately after to the harbour, carrying with us a
magnificent orchid (Dendrobium macarthii) which
Sir Arthur had cut on his journey from Ratna-
pura, in the jungle, on purpose for us. It is a
splendid mauve flower, growing in clusters on a
long stem. He had to cut off a piece of the branch
of the tree in order to get it. Captain Christopher
accompanied us on board our steamer in the
Government barge, rowed by eight swarthy natives.
We were not much too soon. We found Mr.
Cameron and Mr. Williams there, and we were
glad to have an opportunity to say good-bye and
thank them for their kindness. Then we had to
bid farewell to Christopher and to lovely Ceylon
with all its delights ; and so, pitching, we got out
of harbour.
IN COLOMBO HARBOBR
A YOUNG ELEPHANT AT KANDY
CHAPTER XXI
CEYLON
EIGHT months later I awoke one December morn-
ing to find myself once more off the coast of Ceylon,
and going on deck saw the sun rise gloriously be-
hind Adam's Peak, which stood up amongst the
surrounding mountains clear against the Eastern
sky.
By 7 o'clock we were in Colombo harbour, and
Captain Pirie, Sir Arthur Havelock's A.D.C., had
come on board with a kind note of welcome from
Lady Havelock. We left the ship in the Governor's
familiar boat, with its eight swarthy rowers, and
made our way to the shore.
Our host and hostess had gone to the Pavilion
for Christmas, and in the course of the day we
started for Kandy to join them.
The heat,which had been oppressive in Colombo,
4 i8 CEYLON
gave place to delicious coolness as we ascended to
the higher altitude.
The party at the Pavilion consisted, besides the
family and ourselves, of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert
Oakley; Captain Pirie, the A.D.C., and the Secre-
tary, Mr. Gerald Brown: with them, in a tempera-
ture of 80, we spent a very pleasant Christmas-
tide, taking part in all the time-honoured customs
that are associated at home with bare trees and
frostbound earth, under a canopy of blue and sur-
rounded by that wealth of vegetation which only the
tropics can give. Lady Havelock's mongoose
formed a not unimportant member of the party.
This funny little beast was a great pet, crying to be
let out of its cage, and then rushing about, playing
with the dogs, with whom it was quite able to hold
its own. Now and then it used to get on to the lun-
cheon table and steal a piece of meat or a bunch of
grapes off some one's plate, and was not the least
abashed by anything.
We spent many pleasant days at the Pavilion,
partly amongst the surroundings of Kandy with
which we were familiar, and partly in long rides
and expeditions further afield. On one of these, to
the neighbourhood of Hangerinkette, I was much
astonished to notice the marvellous way in which
our native attendants, on foot and heavily laden,
would, unobserved, pass us on the road, though
we were on horseback, and arrive at the destination
first.
On another occasion we went to Dambool to see
the famous rock temples.
ALU VIHARA 419
We started, a large party, in the Governor's
saloon for a twenty miles' run to Matale. Part of
the way I rode on the engine with Captain Pirie,
and greatly enjoyed the beautiful country, dense
woods alternating with stretches of paddy-fields
in the valleys, with small villages of mud huts
amongst the cocoa-nut groves, and bold mountains
rising beyond. On arriving at Matale we found the
carriages and red liveries waiting for us, and drove
off through the gay and picturesque little town,
thronged with natives in bright clothes, and two
READY TO START
miles beyond, along a well-shaded and level road,
to the Monastery of Alu Vihara. This monastery
consists of a series of small temples, occupying
wedge-shaped cavities in a group of gigantic gneiss
rocks, which at some remote period must have
fallen from the overhanging mountains behind
them. They stand on a height above the road, and
are approached by a winding path, up steep flights
of steps and over slopes of rock : a few minutes'
walk brought us face to face with them.
It is said that in this temple or temples scribes
were employed by a Sinhalese king to reduce to
writing the doctrines of Buddha. It is certainly
probable that writing was unknown at the time of
Buddha, and many people think that the canon
420 CEYLON
of Buddhist scriptures, till then handed down
orally, was first written down in Ceylon about
B.C. 85.
In one of the rock chambers is a huge recumbent
figure of Buddha, some 40 feet in length, cut out
of the solid rock. The interior of the temples, pro-
fusely decorated, was being thickly repainted with
oil paint of the brightest colours. A law, passed by
Sir Arthur Gordon, compels the priests to render
a periodical account of the expenditure of their
funds, which are considerable, consequently they
were everywhere actively wielding the paint-brush
so as to make as much show as possible, and
carving new r effigies of Buddha. At the top of one
of these great rocks there is an artificial indenta-
tion, representing a huge footprint some three feet
long. This is, of course, one of the many footprints
of the founder of the faith to be found in Buddhist
countries; the most celebrated being that upon
Adam's Peak. To reach the indentation it is
necessary to climb up the face of the rock by
roughly-hewn steps.
Soon we heard the horn of the coach, a wag-
gonette with two horses, which we had engaged
to take us to Dambool, and we had to hurry down
to catch it, whilst the rest of our party returned to
Kandy.
The road slopes almost imperceptibly down-
wards, in a northerly direction, towards the
plain, and passes for the most part through thick
impenetrable jungle. We changed horses about
four times, and at one of the stopping-places we
THE JUNGLE 421
found a clean, airy resthouse, where we got a cup
of tea.
Some of our horses had odd tricks, and the
natives had recourse to odder expedients for
getting them harnessed and under way. On one
occasion the horse was hidden behind a bend in
the road and the coach had to be drawn 100 yards
along it, without horses, to join him. With the
aid of a leather loop twisted tight round his nose
by means of a stick (a " twich ") he was harnessed
in less than no time, and as soon as the pole was
brought along side of him, the coach was started,
and two or three men running beside him fastened
the traces and pole-chain while he was going ; after a
few plunges, he went all right for the rest of the way.
Scattered about the country on either side of
the road were curious dome-shaped hills and rocks
of gneiss like those at Alu Vihara and those which
we had yet to see at Dambool : the rock itself is of
a warm-brown colour, full of crystals, and where
the surface is exposed to the weather becomes
quite black.
We passed some fine big cotton trees on our way,
and their splendid crimson bell-shaped flowers,
which come out before the leaves, like cherry or
peach-blossom, we greatly admired. I believe the
jungle through which we passed contains trees of
many different kinds, including ebony, ironwood
and satinwood, but we saw no others of any size.
Of flowers there were not many out just then ;
the most conspicuous was the Gloriosa superba
or jungle-flower, a climbing lily with a hand-
422
CEYLON
some red and orange blossom ; but we noticed a
great variety of birds, and amongst them a
brilliant bright green bee-eater (inerops viridis),
about the size of a large thrush, and a fly-catching
bird (probably Decrurus ccerulescens) of far more
modest appearance black with a white waistcoat
THE TEMPLE AT DAM BOOL
and a long black tail. There were also the crow-
pheasant, a kind of cuckoo, a large dark bird about
the size of a small pheasant, with bronze wings, and
a small pigeon or dove, which flew about in front
of the coach and seemed very tame. Jungle-fowl,
one of the finest birds in the islands, hornbills,
and many other birds are also to be found there.
The sun was rapidly sinking as we approached
Dambool. A path to the left, just short of the
DAMBOOL 423
village, strikes upwards over the rounded surface
of one of the gneiss rocks, then winds amongst
fallen boulders and bushes and up steep steps
towards another stretch of rock like the first; after
eight or ten minutes' walk we found ourselves at
the temple gate. Here the resthouse-keeper from
Dambool overtook us with a lantern, for when the
sun sinks it soon gets dark, and the way is far
from easy to find.
This cave temple, from its antiquity, its size
and the richness of its decoration, is the most re-
nowned in Ceylon ; it is divided into five chambers
of unequal size, formed in a natural wedge-shaped
cavity of the rock, and in front of this long cave
is a platform looking over the plain and the hills
westward and down the wooded slopes imme-
diately below. In the large trees, including, of
course, a sacred Bo-tree (Ficiis religiosa\ growing
on and about the edge of this platform, there are
crowds of monkeys chattering and swinging them-
selves from bough to bough. A richly sculptured
doorway opens into the first temple, in the least
deep part of the cave, where there is a colossal
recumbent figure of Buddha, about 40 feet long,
carved out of the rock ; his elbow rests on his
pillow, which is in creases, indicating the weight
which draws it down. This is the attitude which
represents the Buddha as sinking into complete
Nirvana.
The other temples entered from a balcony or
gallery, partly of rock and partly masonry are
larger, and crowded with figures of Buddha,.
424
CEYLON
mostly seated, and with gigantic figures of some
of the Kings of Kandy. The walls and roof are
covered with oil paintings of angels standing on
clouds, with nimbi round their heads, illustrating
the history of Buddhism, the Landing of Wejayo,
the Preaching of Mahinda and the contest between
THE BALCONY IN FRONT OF THE TEMPLE
Destigaimanu and Elate, in which the combatants
are mounted on elephants. The table in front of
the great Dagoba, where the worshippers lay their
offerings of flowers, was covered with a cloth,
much stained by the surrounding lamps and
candles. I was attracted by a mark upon it, and
looking closer discovered it to be a large cotton
handkerchief with a printed portrait of Lord
Dufferin upon it.
SINHALESE POISONS 425
By the time we had seen these temples and
a dripping well of clear water, which falls from the
middle of the ceiling into a small tank below, the
sun had set in a glory of gold, and the effect was
very striking as we looked out from the darkness
of the temple, through the pointed arch of the
doorway, the reflected light streaming in on dim
figures of worshippers and yellow-robed priests
flitting about.
As it was so dark it was no good loitering any
longer in this interesting spot, so we turned our
steps towards the village. With the aid of the
lantern we had no difficulty in finding the way,
through the one-street village of native mud
houses, thatched with palm leaves and nestling
amongst trees, to the resthouse in the centre of its
little lawn-surrounded compound. There we found
the Chief of Police, just arrived by a long road
journey from Trinkomalee. We dined together,
and he had some odd stories to tell about Sinhalese
prisoners. The reduction of prisoners' food was
one of the questions of the day in Ceylon : the
prisoners were said to have been hitherto too
well fed, and the prisons consequently had become
fuller than ever before. The prison diet included
chillies and other luxuries, and the prison curries
were celebrated for their excellence. Under a
new system the authorities were, very wisely,
trying to make the prison food a little less
attractive, and the result was that the prisoners
had made complaints and were petitioning the
authorities for a return to better fare. They said
3H
426 CEYLON
that they came to prison on the understanding
that they were to have chillies and good curries,
and accused the Government of breach of contract
in not giving them what they thought they had
the right to expect. The women appear to be less
attracted by the good fare than the men, for there
were in the Island then only 25 women prisoners
as against 3000 men.
A friend at Kandy had strongly recommended
me not to leave Dambool without seeing the rock
fortress at Sigiri, eleven miles distant, so I pro-
ceeded to make arrangements, and eventually
found a man with a bullock cart, the only form of
conveyance, who agreed to provide me with a pair
of trotting bullocks and a light cart on payment of
fifteen rupees : he explained that he could not do
it for less, as it was necessary to send on two
extra coolies, six miles ahead, with the relay of
bullocks, on account of the elephants which stray
across the road at night, and might interfere with
the cattle if they had not sufficient protection. I
was also told that there were plenty of cheeta and
elk about Sigiri and its neighbourhood.
We were up betimes the following morning, and
I got under way at seven, but the light waggon
proved to be very much the reverse and too heavy
for the tiny bullocks to trot with, and those sent
on were the ordinary heavy goers ; however, the
road was in part a mere track through the thick
jungle, and so rough and circuitous, on account of
tree trunks, that I doubt whether we could have
trotted much even if we had had other kine. We
BULLOCK CARTS 427
took three hours to do the eleven miles, and a
pretty tedious drive it was. The road is almost
level all the way, and the forest is so thick and
interlaced overhead with branches that nothing
could be seen beyond a few yards distant.
The ordinary bullock cart of Ceylon is a spring-
less affair, a mere platform on two wheels, with a
palmleaf hood projecting beyond it fore and aft.
On it a driver with taste, sometimes hangs a
SIGIRI RISING OUT OF THE JUNGLE
flower-pot or can, and in it plants a gourd or some
such plant, which trails all over the hood. We
had nothing of that sort, however. The resthouse-
keeper supplied me with a mattress and a pillow,
and if I did not lie down I had to sit cross-legged
or dangle my legs out at the back. The " boy "
who accompanied me as guide and interpreter
was incapable of acting in either capacity, for he
had never been to Sigiri, and his English vocabu-
lary was of the most limited. He was like a very
unattractive old woman, with a red petticoat and
grey hair in a knot at the back. A group of three
or four huts are the only human habitations to be
seen along the route.
428 CEYLON
Sigiri is an immense rock, 400 feet in height,
with almost perpendicular or, in fact, overhanging
sides rising abruptly out of the plain, very much
in the same way that the Bass Rock emerges above
and out of the sea. In this rock-fortress the parri-
cide King Karyapa found asylum in the fifth
century, after obtaining the throne of Ceylon by
the murder of his father, Dhatu Sena. It stands
in the heart of the great central forest, and the
only habitation near it is an empty bungalow,
which affords shelter to any one who may wish
to stop there, but contains nothing whatever in
the form of furniture. A path from it leads to
the steep slopes which form the base of the rock.
On them are the remains of what was once a royal
palace. An immense boulder has had its top sliced
off to form the floor of a hall, which is still
surrounded by a roughly-moulded and hewn stone
cornice. Here and there are putlog holes, which
seem to imply a continuation in woodwork, and on
one side is a higher rock furnished with incised
steps which lead to a flat place on its summit,
with a hewn tank, about 10 feet by 5 feet, for
the storage of water. Close by I noticed a large
forest tree swaying about as if blown by a strong
wind ; on looking a second time I saw that its
branches were crowded with apes jumping from
bough to bough, some frightened, as I imagined,
by our approach, some simply swaying the branches
for fun.
A scramble over loose stones and along a narrow
gutter-like path hewn out of the steep side of the
SIGIRI
429
rock, then a climb upon a bamboo ladder, brought
us to a gallery along the side of the rock with
a high masonry balustrade or wall on the outside
and the rock above projecting over head. This
gallery used, I believe, in former days to w r ind in
spiral fashion up to the top of the rock ; but now,
unfortunately, it has been broken down, and we
W~'- - -^-^"
soon came to an abrupt halt, with a deep drop in
front of us, where the wall and footway were broken
away. I had to content myself with the extremely
beautiful view towards Matale across the dense sea
of jungle which surrounds the rock.
Above this gallery, but only to be reached by
rope ladders, of which we had none, is a curious
cavity or pocket in the rock, with its ceiling covered
with frescoes representing, I was told, remarkably
430
CEYLON
well-drawn life-sized figures. A namesake of mine
had recently climbed up to this pocket and had
made tracings of the frescoes ; he said the place was
now the stronghold of swallows and hornets, which
If
5) ^n & C~
DEGALDURUWA
resent the intrusion of strangers. At the foot of
the rock is a marshy tank, the haunt of crocodiles.
The drive back was tedious and uneventful,
except that in a small forest village through which
I passed I encountered an albino woman : her hair
was light and colourless, and her skin was much
freckled, the simplicity of her costume accentuated
PILGRIMS 431
the strangeness of her appearance. For the last
mile we found the road thronged with pilgrims
returning from Anuradhapura. A highly pictu-
resque and motley crew, with brilliant garments
and bright red umbrellas ; all the old people were
in bullock carts and the younger ones on foot ;
amongst them were many priests in their orange-
coloured robes.
I reached Dambool at five, with only just time
enough before nightfall to rush up to the temple
again and make a few pencil sketches. It waS quite
dark when I left the dim lights of the temple and
began my return walk. I soon found that it was
hopeless to try and find my way down the steep
rock, except by a more rapid descent than I cared
for, and I returned to the temple, where I found a
native sufficiently intelligent to understand what
I wanted, and with him as my guide and lighted
by a screw of paper dipped in tallow, which
smoked and smelled atrociously, we made our way
through the darkness and found a man from the
resthouse, at the bottom, looking for me with the
lantern.
In the Trincomalee bullock cart next morning
at seven we started back to Matale. On the road we
passed an elephant engaged in some agricultural
affairs. The country was looking beautiful, and the
distant hills blue and ethereal.
We breakfasted at the resthouse at Matale, and
there Captain Pirie's servant found us out. He
was a beautiful person, with a pea-green jacket and
a cream-coloured turban, and had come to Matale
432 CEYLON
to see his little child, who was ill with measles.
To be followed by such a magnificent person threw
quite a halo of importance around us. He saw us
off at the station on our way back to the Pavilion,
DOORWAY IN THE TEMPLE OF DEGALDURUWA
and brought us a packet of tomatoes which he had
gathered in his garden.
In the early morning of New Year's Day, we
joined a large party in a most delightful ride. We
crossed the river by the ferry, three horses at a
time, then rode up a narrow path beside paddy-
fields, amongst scattered mud cottages and beneath
cocoa-nut palms, to the temple of Degalduruwa
Vihara, built in a niche under a great rock, like
Dambool on a small scale. The ante-temple is
THE BO-TREE 433
supported by picturesque octagonal pillars. The
whole place in fact is very picturesque, and I
wished I had had more time for a sketch. A jolly
thick-set priest (he calls himself the incumbent
priest), who spoke a little English, showed us
round, and then took us past his o\vn house to a
platform above the rock where is a good Dagoba
and a fine Bo-tree.
The Bo- or Bodhi-trees, everywhere found grow-
ing near Buddhist temples, monasteries, or Dago-
bas, are peepul trees (Ficus religiosd). They are
especially venerated because Guatama Sakya Muni
acquired Buddhahood when meditating beneath
one at Buddha-Gaya. At Anuradhapura there
is a Bo-tree of special sanctity. The legend says
that Sangmitta, the sister of Mahinda, came to
Ceylon with him about B.C. 250 when he preached
Buddhism to the Sinhalese and, in a golden vase,
brought with her a branch of the sacred tree of
Buddha-Gaya. This was planted at Anuradhapura,
and the Buddhists of Ceylon fully believe that the
identical tree still exists there. All the other Bo-
trees of Ceylon are said to have been grown from it.
A few days later I started for Nuwera Eliya,
in dull and rainy weather, leaving Kandy by the
seven o'clock train.
The line turns off at Peradeniya, and gradually
rising passes through most varied scenery,
amongst paddy-fields and palm-groves, through
dense jungle, out of one valley into another, over
small passes, round hills, backwards and for-
wards, in and out, until I was quite confused
434
CEYLON
as to the direction of my destination. About
half way a very splendid view broke upon us. The
mountains are very fine and bold. The train had
climbed high up on the steep side of one of them,
and we looked down, to a great depth, upon dense
jungle, then, higher, through a wide gap in the
range, to a far off sea of low broken hills with the
ON 1 THE WAY TO NU\VERA ELIYA
misty plain beyond. If it had been clear, I might
have seen the sea itself still further off. From time
to time, I caught glimpses of Adam's Peak,
amongst the clouds towering above all its neigh-
bours.
On all sides jungle was giving place to planta-
tion, and soon the whole poetry of the scene will
be spoiled by tea, but it still retains some of its
interest.
I reached Nanu Oya station, 5291 feet above
Kandy,* between 12.20 and i o'clock, and taking
* Nuwera Eliya is about 6210 ft. above sea level.
NUWERA ELIYA
435
my place in the coach and, in a drizzle, began the
ascent of four miles to Nuwera Eliya, by a well
engineered mountain road, through a densely
wooded valley, reminding me of the New Zealand
bush; then, emerging on an upland valley, I reached
my destination, and found comfortable quarters at
the Club. After lunch, though the drizzle had
turned to a downpour, I engaged a trap and started
LOOKING AT THE TRAIN
for Kandapola, seven miles off, to visit a plantation
belonging to Mr. Frederick Gubbins.
The scattered bungalows of Nuwera Eliya, with
their thatched and shingle roofs and whitewashed
walls and chimneys, surrounded by bright gardens,
the dark foliaged trees, the gorse, the low swampy
ground, the golf links, and the mist about the
hills reminded me very much of Scotland. The
road I took must be a beautiful one in fine
weather ; it passes through a short, but fine gorge,
with a considerable waterfall.
At the end of six miles I was brought to a stand-
still and told that I must follow a footpath through
436 CEYLON
thick grass to get to Kandapola. It was raining in
torrents, and as I did not appreciate the prospect of
the drive back with wet legs, Hooded about for some
expedientforprotectingthem: fortunately there were
two lonely shops (potiques as they call them here)
close by, so I looked into them to see what I could
get for extemporised gaiters. Nothing met my eye
but chillies, rice, and other grains and nuts, until at
last I caught sight of a grass basket, stuffed into the
roof to keep the wet out. I pointed to it and then
to my legs, and presently a fairly clean basket was
produced and cut in two ; my legs were bound up
in it with the aid of a bit of coir rope, and I started
well protected on my way. A pretty path amongst
rhododendron bushes and through woods, mostly
of gum trees, brought me to Mr. Gubbins' bun-
galow. I found him in " the store," and after a long
and pleasant talk with him he showed me over the
tea factory where the tea was being picked. He
introduced me to his wife, who gave me tea, and
he eventually escorted me back to the high road
and my dripping trap.
The following day I was up at six, and as the
weather was* then fine, though overcast, I ordered
my trap, and before long was on my way to the
celebrated Botanic Gardens at Hakgalla. We soon
drove into the clouds, and though we got out of
them again from time to time, I cannot say that I
saw the country under the most'favourable auspices.
There are great quantities of rhododendrons
about Nuwera Eliya, all of a deep crimson colour,
which must be most beautiful when they are in full
HAKGALLA GARDENS 437
bloom in May. I only saw a few stray blossoms
here and there. The plant grows to the size of a
considerable tree- here from twenty to thirty feet
high, with rough gnarled stems as thick as a man's
body, but for the most part it is only seen in the
familiar form of a big bush. In the hedgerows and
by the roadside grow myrtle and habrothamnus,the
fine trumpet-flower datura, cistus, purple, red, and
white, a handsome big reed or lily with a yellow
flower, andthe splendid bigLobelia exce/sis^spike-
shaped lavender flower growing eight to ten feet
high, as freely as a foxglove. They say the white
juice from it is a strong poison. In the gullies \vere
quantities of tree ferns. The road from Nuwera
Eliya passes down the valley, past the lake, and
through a steep well-wooded gorge, with a bright
clear mountain stream flowing through it. The
Hakgalla Gardens are at the mouth of this gorge,
and on the edge of the high country overlooking
the lower hills and the plains beyond on the east
side of the island. It is a glorious view, but I no
sooner had had a glimpse of it when rolling clouds
came up and blotted it all out.
The climate here is such that all manner of
flowers and plants of temperate climates flourish,
and, combined with much natural vegetation, form
the most beautiful garden imaginable, though of a
character absolutely distinct from that at Pera-
deniya, where the vegetation is entirely tropical.
There the majestic trees form one of its most
striking features. Here the trees are of no great
size, and the smaller plants form the main attrac-
438 CEYLON
tion. Peradeniya, moreover, is much more extensive
than this garden.
I was shown round by the head gardener, who is
a Sinhalese, and noticed a great number of Austra-
lian trees and shrubs, including the Melanoxylon
(leafless acacia), the blue gum, and the bottle-
brush, also the black-birch, and the flax of New
Zealand, a Bocconia (John Crow bush), with very
fine foliage, and a good collection of tree ferns.
I returned in the rain to breakfast at the Club,
and then went out, across a corner of the golf links,
to see the Queen's Cottage (the summer residence
of the Governor), a rambling and picturesque place,
surrounded by a garden bright with flowers.
Two rickshaws were chartered to take me down
to the station, one for my baggage and the other for
myself; and off I started, in a drizzle, having chosen
the least shaky of the two conveyances for my own
person. I congratulated myself that I was not
inside the one which contained my effects, as I saw
it trundling along in front of me with one of the
wheels w r obbling portentously, and after turning
some very sharp corners down hill, with a precipice
on my right, was still more of the same way of
thinking, when suddenly I heard a crunching sound
on my left, and next moment I found myself spread
about on the road, my own left wheel having en-
tirely collapsed. I picked myself up, none the
worse, and was thankful I had only a mile to walk
to the station and sufficient time to catch the train.
If the smash had occurred a couple of miles higher
up the road I should have been done for. The poor
THE BISHOP'S BUNGALOW
439
coolie looked somewhat disconsolate, but I paid
him his fare and was glad to think that the machine
was not his own property.
Five hours' journey brought me back to Kandy.
The next day was a sad one, for we had to leave
our kind friends and the delights of the Pavilion
for the sea and the unknown. As we descended
from Kandy we emerged from the clouds, and in
Colombo found ourselves once more in sunshine.
The last people we saw in Ceylon w r ere the Bishop
and Mrs. Coplestone, with whom we breakfasted
in their charming bungalow, prettily situated in
a garden at the far end of the lake near Victoria
Park.
THE
BISHOP'S GAKDFN, COLOMBO
IIGHRQAD OF EMPIRE
Miles
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST
OF SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS MENTIONED
An additional Table of Dates relating to the History of Delhi
will be found on p. 242
B.C.
1400 Traditional date of the wars between the Pandavas and
Kauravas (recounted in the Mahabarata i;.c. 240), and of
the founding of Indraput near Delhi.
? Jain faith flourishes in India.
638-543 Sakiya Muni preaches in the deer-park near Benares.
258 King Asoka spreads the Buddhist faith.
Earliest known Buddhist sculptures.
327 Alexander the Great invades India.
145 Aja Pal founds Ajmere.
275 Gwalior was founded by Kachwaha Rajputs.
399 Chinese Pilgrim Fo Hian visits India.
400 Benares reverts to Brahmanism.
629 Chinese Pilgrim Hiuen Tsiang visits India.
642 Parsis settle in India.
664 First incursion into India of Mohammedans.
t-.Soo Brahmanic revival Caves of Elephanta.
976 Jai Pal, Rajput King of Lahore, defeated at Peshawur.
1011-17 Mahmud of. Ghazni captures Thanesar and Canouj.
1090 Sas Bahu Temples at Gwalior built.
1 190 Kutub Minar commenced.
1194 Shahab-ud-din invades India, defeats Prithvi Raja at
Thanesar, and conquers Ajmere, Canouj, and Delhi,
i 225-54 Rajputs regain Gwalior Urwahi Sculptures.
1236 Arhai-din-ka-Johmpra Mosque, Ajmere.
442 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST
A.D.
1469 Nanuk, founder of Sikh religion, born near Lahore.
1501 Yusaf Khan founds Mohammedan kingdom of Bijapur.
1527 Babar defeats Rajputs at Fatepur Sikri.
1556 Akbar consolidates the Mogul Empire. *
1581 The Guru Arjun compiles the Granth.
1605 Jehangir.
1628 Shah Jehan.
1630-50 Taj Mahal built.
1657 Shivaji lays the foundation of the Mahratta power.
1686 Aurangzeb conquers Bijapur.
East India Company established on the Hooghly.
1 756 Black Hole of Calcutta.
1757 Battle of Plassy.
1761 Ahmed Shah defeats the Mahrattas at Paneput.
1764 The Sikhs gain the supremacy of the Punjab.
1765 Clive lays the foundation of the Indian Empire by claiming
the right to receive the Revenues of Bengal, Behar, and
Orissa.
1802 Ranjit Sing seizes Amritzar.
1803 Lord Lake takes Agra and Delhi.
1818 Battle of Kirkee, end of Mahratta rule.
1819 Lord Hastings extends British suzerainty to Rajputana.
1823 Bishop Heber at Delhi.
1 830 Sir William Sleeman commences operations against the Thugs.
1845 First Sikh War.
1849 Annexation of the Punjab.
1857 Mutiny.
1858 Queen Victoria proclaimed direct Sovereign over all Indian
territories.
1875 Prince of Wales visits India.
1 896 Plague in Bombay (first visitation).
ABBOT, Miss, 336
Aberdeen, Lord, 415
Abu, Mount, or the "Saint's Pin-
nacle," 345
Adam's Peak, Ceylon, 417, 434
Aden, 3
Adil Shah, Muhammad, 74
Adil Shahi dynasty, founded by Yusaf
Khan, 69
Adinath, founder of the Jains, 212
Afghans, the, 231
Agra, 159-184 ; Fort, 160, 162, 163
Ahmad I., Sultan (Adil Shahi
dynasty), 382
Ahmed Shah Abdali, the Afghan, 45,
319
Ahmedabab, 382, 383
Aitken, his article on " The Byle " in
Monthly Review, 250
Aja Pal, the Chauhan Rajput, founder
of Ajmere, 344
A Ji*> 35: 35i
Ajmere, 343-361 ; Lake, 363
Akalis, the, 308
Akbar, Emperor, 89, 92, 158, 175,
185, 188, 191, 194, 203, 282, 297,
3 J 9. 347. 34 8 . 356 ; his Audience
Hall at Allahabad, 94 ; his Kwab-
ghar or "House of Dreams," at
Fatehpur Sikri, 192 ; King of
Delhi, 230, 235, 239, 252 ; his palace
at Lahore, 289 ; and at Ajmere, 354
Akharas, the, 100, 102
Akshai Bar, the ever-living Banyan
Tree (Allahabad), 94
Alakias, the, 101
Alam, Shah, 89, 348
Ala-ud-din Khilji, 130, 253, 254, 263
AH Adil Shahi., 75, 77
Allahabad, 87-102
Allnutt, Mr., of the Delhi Brother-
hood, 259
Almond Gardens, Lahore, 292
Altamsh, 254, 255, 355
Alu Vihara monastery, Ceylon, 419
Alwar, 333-341
Amballa, 219, 220, 267-280
Amir Jumla, 238
Amir Khan, 350
Amritzar : The Pool of Immortality
285, 286, 305-312
Ana Raja, 344
Ana Sagar Lake, Ajmere, 344, 353
Anand Mahal, " Palace of Delight,"
Bijapur, 82
Anang Pal, 247, 281
Andersen, Hans, 237
Annapurna (goddess of daily bread),
temple of, Benares. 133
Anuradhapura, Ceylon, 406, 433
Apollo Bunder Quay, Bombay, 11,41
Arabs, difficulty of sketching, 183
Aravali Mountains, Ajmere. 344, 345,
363
Archaeology, Department of, 197
Ardagh, Colonel, 113
Arhai-din-ka-Johmpra mosque, Aj-
mere, 354
Arjmand Banu, or Muntazi Mahal,
Shahjehan's Persian wife, 162,297
444
INDEX
Arjun Mall. 5th Sikh Guru. 283, 284,
292, 307
Aryans, the, 324
Asaf Khan, 296, 297
Ashi Ghat, Benares, 139
Asoka, the Buddhist king, 90, in,
246 ; Laths of, 244
Asra-i-Sharif, " Palace of the Hair of
the Noble One," Bijapur, So
Atal Rai, 311
Auckland, Lord. 119
Aurangzeb, 44, 67, 70, 80, 82, 162,
224, 239-241, 282, 292 ; his mosque,
Badshahi Musjid, at Lahore, 293
Austin, of Bordeaux, a French crafts-
man at Agra, 164
BABA ATAL TOWER, Golden Temple,
Amritzar, 311
Bab-el-Mandeb, Straits of, 2
Babar, Emperor, 209, 213, 247, 251,
252, 264, 282, 347
Back Bay, Bombay, 7
Badli-ki-Sarai, Delhi, 220
Badshahi Musjid, Aurangzeb's mosque
at Lahore, 293
Bahmani, Sultan Muhammad, 69
Bairagis, the, 101
Bakhtawar Singh's marble cenotaph
at Alwar, 339
Baniyas, or traders, claim to be true
Vaisyas, 49
Bankepore, 125
Bara Darri, the Lahore, 292
Barnard, General Sir Harry, 219,220
Barrackpur, 122
Bawa-Malang hill, 7
Beauchamp, Sir R. , 19
Benares, 129-145
Benett, Mr., Permanent Secretary,
Allahabad, 89
Bengal, 106, 117
Benson, Father, of Cowley, 102, 172, 173
Beresford, Lord William, 113
Bernier, M., a French physician at
Agra, 159, 218, 235,236, 239, 297
Bhairava, the god, 18
Bheem Singh. Raja of Jodhpur. 349
Bheesti, water-carrier, 47
Bhendi bazaar, Bombay, 32
Bhils, the, of the Vindhya Mountains,
3 2 4. 334
Bhisma, the San Sebastian of 'the
Mahabharata, 101
Bhor Ghat. 8
Bibi Garhand Well, Cawnpore, 153,
'57
Bickersteth, Dr., Bishop of Japan, 258
Bidar. State of, 69
Biddulph, Colonel John, 343, 352,
353. 363. 3?8, 379. 382
Biddulph, Mrs., 343, 361,379, 382
Bijapur, 65-85
Bir Bal, the Ak bar's Prime Minister,
194
Bisheshwar or Shiva, the poison god,
131
Biskra, 65
Bitter Lakes, 2
Bo- or Bodhi-tree, Ceylon, 433
Bombay, 7-39
Botanical Gardens, Calcutta, 118
Brahm, the supreme spirit, 53
Brahma, the god. the creator, 17, 18,
53, 54
Brahmans, 49 ; the Mahratta, 43, 44 ;
their religion, 57, 58 ; bad reputa-
tion of the Poona, 59 ; trained in
astrology at Benares, 139
Brindisi, 2
Brown, Gerald, Sir Arthur Have-
lock's Secretary, 418
Bubujee Khanum, Queen, her defence
of the Bijapur citadel, 79
Buddha, religion of, in ; Hindus
destroy temple of, 156; his three
seated attitudes, 407, 408 (sec a/sc
Sakya Muni)
Buddhists, in Ceylon, 395 ; the
sacred Bo-tree, 433
Buland Darwaza, " Gate of Victory."
Fatehpur Sikri, 190
INDEX
Bullock-cart. 1 1, 15, 250 ; Jodhpur,
379 ; Ceylon, 426, 427
Burdwan, Maharaja of, 120
Burgess, Dr. James, 157
Burke, Edmund, 114
Burn-Murdoch, R.E., Colonel and
Mrs., 15, 34, 88
Burning Ghat, Benares, 144
Byculla, Bombay, 29
CAIRO, 2
Calcutta, 103-128
Cambridge .Brotherhood, the, in
Delhi, 228 ; 258-260
Cameron, Hardinge, Mayor of
Colombo, 413-416
Campbell. Sir Colin, 150
Canning, Lord and Lady, 116, 122,
123, 197
Canning Town, or Modern Allahabad,
90
Canouj, kingdom of, 365
Carey, James, Baptist Missionary at
Serampore, 124
Caste, rules and marks of, 50, 51,
325-329
Cawnpore, 151-158
Ceylon. 5, 6, 385-439
Chandernagore, French settlement of,
i 20, 123
Chandni Chauk, Delhi, 226
Chandra, the moon god, 18
C/iaprassi, badge-bearer, 48
Charles II. , 8
Charnock, Job, 104
Chatter Booj, 376
Chauhan Rajput clan, 346, 365
Chawl, or lodging-house, 37
Chihli, Sheikh , his tomb at Thanesar,
320
Chinsurah, 120
Christianity, its progress in India, 62 ;
contrasted with Hinduism, 155
Christopher, Captain, 400, 416
City Palace, Alwar, 338, 339
445
Clarke', R., Deputy Commissioner,
Delhi, 220
Clark's Hotel, Benares, 129
Clewes, Captain, 41, 42, 51
Clive, Lord, 106, 114
Colaba Point, Bombay, 7
Colombo, 4, 385-386
Colvin, Sir Auckland, 89
Coplestone, Dr. , Bishop of Colombo,
439
Coryat, Thomas, 354
Cousen's book on India, 66
Cow Temple, Benares, 133
Craftsmen, native Indian, 35
Crawford Market, Bombay, 12, 29
Crete, 2
Crocodiles at Ajmere, 353
Cunningham, Colonel D. D.. 354, 355
Cunningham, General, 197
Curzon, Lord, ix., 197
DACOITS, 136, 137
Dagoba, the, in Ceylon, 404-406
Dalada or Sacred Tooth Temple.
Ceylon, 392-394
Dalhousie. Lord, 115
Dambool rock-cut temples, Ceylon,
7, 423, 424
Danish settlement of Serampore, 120,
123
Dara Shikoh, Aurangzeb's brother,
293
Dargah, of Nizam-ud-din, Delhi. 263-
265 ; of Kwhajah Sahib Mohin-ud-
din, Ajmere, 355-361
Daulat Bagh, Ajmere, 354
Deccan plateau, 8, 42
Degalduruwa Vihara temple, Ceylon.
430-432
Delhi, 217-241 ; Palace, 229-236,
239 ; neighbourhood of, 243-266
Delhi Brotherhood, the, 228, 258-260
Delhi Gate, Agra, 164
Delwar Khan, 176, 179
Deo Prayag, 96
446
INDEX
Deutsch, Leo, 264
Devi, Durga, Kali, or Parbati,
Shiva's wife, 53, 55, 56, 134, 136-
138
Dhan Mandi, wheat market, Jodhpur,
376
Dhava Raja, 253
Dhobi, washerman, 47
Dhuleep Singh, Maharaja, 286
Dilhu Raja, 246
Din Panah Fort, or Purana Kila,
Delhi, 247
Doab, the, 89
Docks, Bombay, 29
Dufferin, Lady, 338
Dufferin, Lord, 424
Dundas of Arniston, Miss, 275
Durga, Pali, or Parbati, Shiva's
wife, 53, 55, 56, 134. 136-138
Durga, Temple of, Benares, 134, 138
Durga-puja, Hindu religious festival,
138
DurwfM. doorkeeper, 48
Durzi, tailor, 48
Dutch, and Chinsurah, 120
EAST INDIA BILL, Pitt's. 114; Lord
Stanley's, 116
East India Company, 8, 90, 104, 106,
114-116, 120, 162, 232, 286
Eden Garden, Calcutta, 119
Edward VII., King (then Prince of
Wales), 238
Egypt, 2
Ekka, the, 145, 173, 316
Elephanta, caves of, 17
Elgin, Lord, 197
Ellenborough, Lord, 116
Elphinstone, Mountstuart, 46, 70
Elwin, The Rev. Whitwell, at one
time Editor of Quarterly Review, 60
FAKIRS, 99-101
Fat eh Jung's Tomb, Alwar, 340
Fatehpur Sikri : the Windsor of the
Great Mogul, 158, 185-198
Fergusson, James, History of Indian
and Eastern Architecture, 15, 75, 158,
170, 190, 194, 197, 208
Fergusson, Sir James, 19
Finch, William, 257,282
Firoz Shah Tughlak, 219, 227, 243,
244, 251, 252, 254, 256, 257, 264
Firozabad, 244
Fo-Hian, Chinese Buddhist pilgrim,
281
Forrest, Professor, 103, 114, 115, 221
Fraser, William, murdered at Delhi,
228
French, at Chandernagore, 120, 123
French, Bishop, of Lahore, 227, 259,
283
Frere, Sir Bartle, 14, 34, 58, 70, 258
Furse, R.H.A., D.S.O., Captain, 113,
149. 275
GADALADENYA, temple of, Ceylon,
406, 407
Gaekwars, the, 45
Gagan Mahal, "Hall of Audience,"
Bijapur, 82
Galangolla, Buddhist temple of
Ceylon, 403
Ganesh, Shiva's son, elephant-
headed god of good luck, 18, 53,
55-57. 132
Ganges river, 18, 89. 96, 97, 129, 130,
139-145
Gangotri, 96
Garden Reach, Calcutta, 118
Garikdasias, the, 101
Gautamas, dynasty of the, 246
Gebel Attakah, 2
Gehlots, Rajput clan, 346
Ghaggar river, 270, 317
Ghats, the, 41
Ghaus, Muhammad, 203
Ghazni, dynasty, 253 ; Mahmud of,
346
Gibraltar, i
INDEX
447
Gladstone, Sir John, 19
Gladstone, W. E., 415
Goa, Portuguese Archbishop of, 393
Gol Gumbaz, " Round Dome," Bija-
pur, 66. 74-77
Golden Temple, Benares, 131, 132,
139 ; Amritzar, 305-312
Gordon, General, Military Secretary
to Embassy at Teheran, 113
Gordon, Sir Arthur (Lord Stanmore),
Governor of Ceylon, 388, 401, 402,
411, 414-416, 420
Govind, Sikh Guru, 285, 310
Grand Oriental Hotel, Colombo, 387
Grand Trunk road, India, 268, 313
Granth, the Sikh sacred book, 283,
284, 309, 310
Gubbins, Frederick, 435, 436
Gujari Palace, Gvvalior, 204
Gurus, Sikh, 283-285
Gutab Sagar, Jodhpur, 377
Gwalior : Sindhia's Capital, 199-215 ;
Fort, 199, 203, 206 ; Palace, 207
HAKGALLA BOTANICAL GARDENS,
Ceylon, 436, 437
Hakkery, or bullock -cart, 250
Hangerinkette, Ceylon, 418
Hans Raj, 376
Hanson, Mrs. Arthur, 27
Hanuman, the monkey god, 53, 55
Hardwar, 56, 96
Hastings, Lord, 351
Hathi Pol, or Elephant Gate, Fateh-
pur Sikri, 188 ; Gwalior Fort, 206
Havelock, General, 150
Havelock, Lady, 417
Havelock, Sir Arthur, 418
Hazuri Bagh, Lahore, 292
Heber, Bishop, Journal, 62, 223, 230,
231, 265
Hill's Hotel, Lucknow, 148
Hina-Yana, the Lesser Vehicle of the
Buddhist Scriptures, 395
Hindu Kush, 217
" Hindu pani," 327
Hindus, their dress, 22 ; distinctive
marks, 24 ; their caste system, 48,
325-329 ; their belief, 54, 58 ; wor-
ship the Malik-i-Maidan, Bijapur,
80; their veneration for the Ganges,
89 ; Prayag, their popular place of
pilgrimage at Allahabad, 90 ; in
the grip of ceremonial ritual, 143 ;
contrasted with Christians, 154-
156 ; destroy Buddhist temples, 196:
their religion irreconcilable with
Mohammedanism, 228 ; Thanesar
the cradle of their race, 313-331 ;
their Sacred Tank at Thanesar,
320-322
Hiouen Thsang, Chinese Buddhist,
95. 281
Hodson's Horse, 262
Holkar, Maharaja, 45, 46, 62, 219,
348. 35i
Holmes, History of the Mutiny, 149, 152
Home, Lieutenant, 221
Hooghly river, 105, 107, 120, 125
Hotgi Junction, 65
Hubner, Baron, 218
Humayun, Baber's son, 252 ; his
tomb near Delhi, 261, 262
IBRAHIM II. (Adil Shahi dynasty), 74,
82.83
Ibrahim Roza, Bijapur, 74, 83
Idar, near Ahmedabad, 53
Imad-ud-din Gargastani, Khojah, a
Persian merchant, 68, 69
Indian Ocean, 3
Indra, the god, 18, 318
Indraput, 246, 247
Ionian Islands, 2, 415
Itarsi Junction, 88
Itimad-ud-Daulah's tomb, Agra, 179
JAGGANATH, 96
Jai Pal, Rajput king of Lahore, 281
448
INDEX
Jai Singh's Observatory. Benares. 139
Jain rock-carvings, Gwalior, 200, 205
Jain Tirthankers, 209, 211,212
Jains, the, 211,213; the great temple-
builders of India, 212
James I., 92, 158, 290, 354
Jat Rana of Gohad, 200
Jats, the, 315
Jehan, Emperor, Shah, 93, 158-163,
169, 172, 175, 218, 229, 232, 238, 265,
282, 291, 293. 297, 348, 352, 356 ; his
fort at Delhi, 222
Jehangir, Emperor, 02, 93, 158, 179,
194, 282, 290-292, 296, 297, 348,
354, 357
Jehanira, Shah Jehan's daughter, 162,
172, 265
Jervis, Sir John Jervis White, 276
Jervois, Captain, The Hon. St. Leger,
19
Jesuits, 175
Jeswant Singh, Maraja of Jodhpur,
368, 380
Jhansi, the Rani of, 200
Jodha. 365
Jodhbai, Akbar's wife, 348
Jodhpur, or Marwar, 350, 363-383 ;
Fort. 367, 368
Johar Sacrifice, the, 207
Jones, Sir John, 232
Juggut Singh, of Jeypore, 343
Jumla, Amir, 238
Jumma Musjid, Bijapur, 77 ; Agra
161, 171, 172 ; Delhi, 222-224, 226;
Ahmedabad, 382
Jumna rivet, 18, 89, 95, 162, 199, 219,
222, 268 ; canals, 227
KACHAWA, Rajput clan, 199, 346
Kalan Musjid, " Black Mosque,"
Delhi, 243-245
Kali, Durga, Devi, or Parbati, Shiva's
wife, 55, 56
Kalighat, 105
Kalka, 269, 270
Kandapola, Ceylon, 436
Kandy, 389, 396, ,39; kings of, 410, 424
A'auphattis, 101
Karam Palace, Gwalior, 208
Kartikkeya, god of war, Shiva's six-
headed son, 53, 55
Kasauli, 269
Kashmere Gate, Delhi, 221
Kauravas, the, 317, 318
Keith, Major, 210
Kellner, 218
Khadakwazla, artificial lake of, 52, 63
Khan, Amir, 350
Khan Muhammad's tomb, Bijapur, 72
Khansama, head-man, 46
Khidmatgar, man-servant, &c., 47
Khojah Imad-ud-din Gargastani, a
Persian merchant, 68, 69
Khusru, Prince, Akbar's grandson,
92,93, 264,265,290, 348
Khusru Bagh, Allahabad, 92
Khwabghar, or "House of Dreams,"
Akbar's sleeping apartment at
Fatehpur Sikri, 192 ; Jehangir's at
Lahore, 291
King and Co., 10
Kirkee, battle of, 46, 52, 57
Kishna Komari, Princess, 349. 350
Knox, Mrs., 275
Koh-i-noor, 231, 238, 287
Kohls, in the Central Provinces, 324
Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu , 56
Kshatriyas, or soldiers-caste, 49
Kurakshetra plain, 317
Kurnool, 324
Kutub-ud-din, 200, 253, 346
Kutub Minar, Delhi, 247-249, 252-254
LAHORE, 281-303 ; Fort, 289
Lahore Gate, Delhi, 229
Lake, Lord, 162, 219, 230, 348
Lakshmi, Vishnu's wife, 55, 56
Lai Musjid, Thanesar, 320
Lanka Telika temple, Ceylon, 407
Lashkar, the, Gwalior, 201, 213. 215
INDEX
449
Laths of Asoka, the, 244
Lawrence, Lord, 221, 286, 287, 314,
327, 330, 331
Lawrence, Sir Henry, 149, 150
Lawrie, Judge, 411
Lefroy, Mr., of the Delhi Brother-
hood, 259
Liddell, Mr., Sir Arthur Gordon's
Secretary, 400
Lobo, John, a "Goa Boy," author's
servant, 10, 63, 151, 213, 278
Loch, Major, 366, 376, 378
Lockhart, Colonel and Mrs. Elliot,
275
Lodi Sultans, the, 251
Lota, a spherical wide-mouthed vessel,
133
Lucknow, 148-151
Ludlow Castle, Delhi, 221
Luni river, 344, 363
Lyall, Sir Alfred, 158, 326
Lyall, Sir James, 280
MACDONALD, Angus, 336, 340, 341
Mahabaleshwa hill-station, 52
Mahabharata, the, 246
Mahadeo, a name of Shiva, 56, 133
Maharashtra, "the great Province,"
42
Mahavira, the last of the Tirthankers,
211, 212
Mahawelli Gangha river, Ceylon, 390,
411
Maha-Yana, the Greater Vehicle,
Buddhist scriptures, 395
Mahidpur, battle of, 46
Mahinda, Asoka's son, 395, 433
Mahmud of Ghazni, 346
Mahmud of Ghor, or Shahab-ud-din,
89, 253, 282, 319, 344, 346, 365
Mahrattas, the, 8, 42-46, 89, 231,319,
348 ; their raids, 45 ; and war, 46
Maidan, the, Allahabad, 91 ; Calcutta,
103, 104, 118
Makka Musjid, Bijapur, 83
Malabar Coast, 4, 5 ; Court, 37 ;
Hill, 15, 39 ; Point, 7, 13, 15, 19
Malcolm, Sir John, 46
Mali, gardener, 48
Malik Karim-ud-din mosque, Bijapur,
83
Malik-i-Maidan (" King of the
Plain "), big gun, Bijapur, 80
Malta, i
Man Mandir Ghat, Benares, 139
Man Singh, palace of, Gwalior, 200,
205, 207
Mandor, 365
Manohar Nath, a Hindu Saint, tomb
of . 357
Marochetti, Baron, 154
Marshman, Baptist missionary at
Serampore, 124
Martyn, Harry, 157
Marwar, or Jodhpur, 350, 363-383
Massacre Ghat, Cawnpore, 153, 154
Matale, Ceylon, 419, 431
Maun Sing, Raja of Jodhpur, 349
Maurice, F. D., 225
May, Colonel, 148
Meerut, 219
Mehtar Mahal, Bijapur, 78
Mela, at Allahabad, 95-102
Mercer, Captain, 275
Mesu, Mount, 318
Milk in India, 274
Milton, John, 252
Mina Bazaar, Agra, 163
Minas, the, 334
Miriam, Jehangir's mother, Akbar'
wife, 194, 348
Missionaries, their experience in
Poona, 61
Mogul dynasty, founded by Baber,
252
Mogul Empire, Agra the centre of, 159
Mogul Serai Station, 129
Mohammedan religion, 225, 357, 358 ;
irreconcilable with Hinduism, 228
Mohin-ud-din, Kwajah Sahib, his
tomb at Ajmere, 355
^ I.
450
INDEX
Moti Musjid, " Pearl Mosque." Agra,
170 ; Delhi, 233 ; Lahore, 291
Muhammad Bahmani, Sultan, 69
Muhammad Tughlak, 251
Muntazi Mahal, or Arjmand Banu,
Shah Jehan's Persian wife, 162,
297
Murad, Sultan of Turkey, 68
Musafir Khana, at Gwalior, 202
Mutto river, 50
Muttra Road, the Appian Way of
Agra, 176
NADIR Shah, 230, 287, 319
Nagina Musjid, "Toy Mosque,"
Agra, 162, 163
Nairn, Mrs., 275
Nak Kashi work, 289, 297, 320
Nana Sahib, 46, 152-154
Nanak, founder of Sikhs, 283-285
Nandi, or Sacred Bull, 18, 131
Nanu Oya station, Ceylon, 434
Napier of Magdala, Lord, 200, 219
Naubat Khana, Delhi, 236
Nawab of Oude, 90
Nedou's Hotel, Lahore, 288
Nerbudda river, 199
Nicholson, John, 221
Nirmalas, the, 101
Nirvana, no, in, 130
Nizam-ud-din's Dargah, Delhi, 263-
265
Noor Jehan, 158, 179, 296, 297
Noyes, Major, 276
Nuwera Eliya, Ceylon, 435-437
OAKLEY, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert, 418
Orcagna, his pictures of the mouth
of Hell, 80
Orpheus Mosaic, Delhi Palace, 196,
232
Oude, Nawabs and Kings of, 148
PACHISI Court, Fatehpur Sikn, 194
Paget Park, Amballa, 272
Pallekelly, Ceylon, 397
Palmerston, Lord, 116
Panch Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, 192
Pandavas, the, 246, 268, 317-319
Paniput, battle of, 45, 252, 282, 319
Parasnath, statue of, Gwalior, 212
Parbati, Durga, Kali. &c., Shiva's
wife, 18, 53, 55
Parbati Lake and Hill, 51-53
Parell, 19
Parsis, their dress, 22, 26 ; their
Towers of Silence, 24-26 ; perse-
cuted by Mohammedans, 26 ; their
religion, 27, 28
Pathan tombs, 196 ; conquerors. 253
Paul, Emperor of Russia. 261
Paulet, Colonel, 378
Peacock Throne, Delhi, 231-233, 238
Pennefather, LL.D., F.W., 117, 165
Peradeniya, Ceylon, 389, 413, 433 ;
Botanical Gardens of, 390
Perim, 2
Perkins, Sir /Eneas, in command of
Lucknow district, 148
Peshwa of Poona, the, 57
Pindaris of Rajputana, 46, 349, 351
Pirie, Captain, 417-419, 431
Pitt's East India Bill, 114
Plague, at Bombay, 38, 39 ; in the
Punjab, 39,315
Pollock, Miss, 311
Poona, 41-63
Portuguese, 8,120; missionaries, 290
Poshkara, or Pokhar, near Ajmere, 53
Pottery, Bombay, 34
Prayag, place of Hindu pilgrimage a
Allahabad, 90
Pretyman, General, 159, 173
Prison diet, Sinhalese, 425
Prithvi Raja, the Rajput ruler, 253.
3 J 9. 344. 346, 356
Punjab, the, 220, 221 ; plague in the,
39- 315 ; conquered by the Sikhs,
285
INDEX
Punkah-viola, 48
Purtab Singh, 378, 379
Pushkar Lake, 353
QUEEN'S Hotel, Kandy, 389
Queen's House, Colombo, 415
RAHTORES, Rajput clan, 346, 365,
367-369
Rajistan, 334, 347
Rajputana. 46, 246, 333, 334, 348, 551
Rajputs, 45, 49, 333, 334; their clans,
346-350 ; their strict marriage laws,
372-374 ; their bridal feuds, 375
Ram Das, 4th Sikh Guru, 307
Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu,
55. 56
Ramsay, Dr., 326
Rana Sanga of Oodeypore, chief of
Sesodia clan, 347
Rana Umra Singh, the last Rajput
chief, 354
Ranjit Singh, 282, 286, 287, 292, 307
Rao, Sir Dinkar, 200
Rao Rimmull, Raja, 365
Ravi river, 273, 292, 295
Red Sea, 2
Rhatamahatma, head of Ceylon
district, 408
Rhodes, Colonel F. , 19
Ridge, the, Delhi, 220
Roberts, Lord, 113, 152, 219
Roe, Sir Thomas, James I. 's ambas-
sador, 92, 158, 179, 290, 354
Rose, Sir Hugh, 200
Rousselet, M., the French traveller,
209, 211
Rudolph II., Emperor, 391
SADHCS, the, 101
Safdar Jang's mausoleum, near Delhi,
25 r
Saftar Khan, 79
Sagar, 96
Sakya Muni, his doctrine of Nirvana.
no, in, 130, 246, 301, 395, 433 ;
his teacher Mahavira, 211
Salim Chisti, 190, 357
Salkeld, Lieutenant, 221
Salsette, Island of, 8
Saman Burj, " Jasmin Tower," Agra,
160, 163
Sanga, Rana, of Oodeypore, 347
Sangmitta, 433
Santals, in Lower Bengal, 324
Sarasvati, Brahma's wife, 55, 56
Saraswati river, 18, 95, 96, 317, 321
Sarnath, 130
Sas Bahu temples, Gwalior, 209
Sat Manjli, " Palaceof Seven Storeys, ' '
Bijapur, 78
Satara hills, 52
Sati Chaura Gate, Cawnpore, 153
School of Art, Bombay, 35
Scobell, Sir Andrew, 113
Serampore, 120, 124
Sesodia, Rajput clan, 346-348, 364
Seths, the, native bankers at Muttra,
176
Shah Jehan, Emperor, 93, 158-163.
169, 172, 175, 218, 229, 232, 238,
265, 282, 291, 293, 297, 348, 352,
356 ; his fort at Delhi, 222
Shah Jehanabad, modern city of
Delhi, 214, 244
Shahabad, 316
Shahab-ud-din, or Mahmud of Ghor,
89, 253, 282, 319, 344, 346, 365
Shahdera, 292, 294, 296, 297
Shahpur Gate, Bijapur, 80, 83
Shalimar, 302
Shams-ud-din, Nawab, 227
Sher Afgan, 297
Sher Shah, 219, 247, 248, 252
Sherbatov, Prince and Princess, 19
Shish Mahal, "Palace of Mirrors."
Lahore, 291
Shiva, the Destroyer and Re-Creator
17, 18, 23, 50, 53, 131, 132
452
INDEX
Shivaji, 44
Sholapur station, 65
Shore, Major, 275
Sidi Said's mosque, Ahmedabad, 383
Sigiri rock- fort, Ceylon, 426-429
Sikandra, 174, 175
Sikhs, 282-286; Amritzar the re-
ligious headquarters of, 306, 307
Sinai, Mount, 3
Sindhia, Maharaja, 45, 46, 200, 201,
213, 348. 35. 351
Sindhia, Maharaja Sir Madho Rao,
201
Singhgarh, rock of, 51
Sinhalese prison diet, 425
Sleeman, Sir William, 137, 357
Smith, E \V., archaeologist and
architect, 188-190, 195
Smith, LL.D., George, 124
Smith, Leslie, Divisional Judge of
Amballa District, 267, 313
S.P.G., at Cawnpore, 157
Solaukhya, Rajput clan, 346
Soojah, Shah, 287
Spratt, R.A., Major (now Colonel
Spratt Bowring), 46,51,59,64, 66, 68
Stephen, Carr, 243
Stevens, F. W., of the G.I. P., 14
Sudras, or servants-caste, 49
Suez Canal, 2
Sumatra, Island of, 120
Sunyasis, the, or devotees, 101
Surya, god of the sun, 53
Sutlej river, 268, 283
TAIT, Captain, 336
Taj Mahal, Agra, 162, 165-169
Talati Mai, Jodhpur, 377
Tank, Sacred, Thanesar, 320-322
Taraghur fort, Ajmere, 344, 346
Tavernier, French traveller and
jeweller at Agra, 169
Taylor, Meadows, on Bijapur, 85
Teli Ka Mandir, "Oilman's Temple,"
Gwalior, 209
Terry, George, 84
Thanesar : Cradle of the Hindu Race,
313-331
Thornhill, Mark, 176-178
Thugs, 136, 137
Timur, or Tamerlane, 251, 282
Tirthankers, Jain, 209, 211, 212
Tod, Colonel, Annals of Rajputana,
345- 346. 350, 37
Tooth, Temple of the, or Dalada,
Ceylon, 392-394, 411
Toramana, 199
Touar Rajputs, 200
Towers of Silence, 24-26. 28
Trade-castes, 49
Tughlak Sultans, the, 257
Tughlakabad, 256, 257
Tytler, Mr, , 397
UDAI Singh, of Jodhpur, 348
Umra Singh, Rana, the last Rajput
chief, 354
Urwahi valley, 210
VAISYAS, agriculturists-caste, 49
Victoria Station, Bombay, 12
Vikram Palace, Gwalior, 208
Vindhya Mountains, 324
Visala Tal Lake, Ajmere, 346
Visaldeo, 346
Vishnu, the Preserver, 17, 18, 50, 53,
54, 59 ; incarnate in the form of
Buddha, 56
Vizir Khan's mosque, Lahore, 298
Vollar, Mr. and Mrs., 397, 398
WALKESHWAR. temple of Shiva at
Malabar Point, 23
Wallich, Dr., 118
Wantage Sisters, in Poona, 61
Watson's Hotel, Bombay, 88
Watts, G. F., his " Dying Warrior,"
27
INDEX
453
Way, Sir Samuel, Chief Justice of
South Australia, 117, 170
Wellesley, Lord, 112, 348
Westcott, Bishop, 157
Western Ghats, The, 6, 42
Wheeler, Sir Hugh, 152
Williams, Mr., 413, 416
Williams, Sir Monier, 48, 283 ; on
worship of Vishnu, 56
Willoughby, Lieutenant, 221
Wilmot, Captain Eardley. 275
Wilson, General Archdale, 219
Winter, Mr. and Mrs., 258
Wordsworth, W., 7 'intern Abbey, 284
YACHT Club, Bombay, n
Yogis, the, 23, 24, 99-101
Yule, Colonel, 153
Yusaf Khan, Sultan of Bijapur, 67-69
ZAMZAMAH, the green bronze gun,
Lahore, 303
Zend Avesta, the, 27
Zoological Gardens, Calcutta. 117, 118
FIJSTIS
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