VIII

FATTEHPUR-SIKRI

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HE air is crisp and bright on the December morning we leave Agra to drive to Fattehpur-Sikri. We pass fields waving in green wheat, with patches of bright red poppies scattered about. From them there comes the monotonous wail of the ryot's song as he drives the bullocks that draw the water from the well, and from the cluster of bushes there arises the shrill cry of the partridge. Peasants strong and well knit, and young girls with graceful figures, are tramping to the town to sell their produce. Fine white oxen with spreading horns dragging heavy carts go by. Large substantial villages are passed and naked urchins with large eyes ask for bucksheesh as we stop at the roadside well to change horses. Then we see in the horizon a stone wall with battlements and round towers, and within it rises a rocky high ridge crowned with buildings. This is Fattehpur-Sikri, the summer residence of the great Akbar. The legend of its foundation is familiar to all. Akbar returning from one of his campaigns halted at the foot of the hill. this time he and his wife-a Hindu princess of the Jeypore family were in deep grief at the loss of their twin children. On the top of the hill resided a very famous and holy hermit, Shekh Salem Chishli, who promised them a son and heir if they would take up their abode at the place. They consented, and either the salubrity of the air or the spiritual exertions of the holy Father led to the birth of a son, who was called Salem, which name he bore till he mounted the throne as Emperor Jehangir. The tomb of the holy man

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stands on the highest part of the plateau, and is surrounded by high red walls, which gave it the appearance of a fortress. Approaching it from the Dafter Khana, or Record Office, of Akbar, now used as a travellers' bungalow, we come to a fine gateway, passing through which we enter a quadrangle of about five hundred feet square, with a very lofty and majestic cloister all round. Bishop Heber rightly said that there is no quadrangle either in Oxford or Cambridge fit to be compared with it, either in size or majestic proportions or beauty of architecture. Opposite rises a majestic mosque, and on the right is the marble mausoleum of the Saint, surrounded by the tombs of his descendants. "One cannot but feel deeply impressed on entering this silent and deserted court; the long sombre galleries, surmounted by a thousand cupolas; the gigantic gateway resembling a propylon of Karnak; and the noble mosque which forms a dark red framework to the mausoleum of the Saint, the dazzling whiteness of which is heightened by the foliage of the trees overhanging it. In the whole effect there is a mixture of severe grandeur and soft harmony which has always characterized Indian Islamism." The tomb of the Saint is entirely of white marble, and the walls are nothing but a curtain carved in open fretwork of the most exquisite geometrical patterns. A deep cornice of marble upheld by brackets of the most elaborate Hindu design intercept the rays of the sun. Behind an inner screen inlaid with mother-of-pearl, is the sarcophagus of the Saint, which is also inlaid with mother-of-pearl and covered with rich stuffs. Numerous dirty strings are tied in the holes of the screen. They have been placed there by women who are desirous that the spirit of the Saint thould do for them what the prayers of the Saint did for the wife of Akbar. Near the tomb is the mosque which Fergusson considers to be one of the finest in India. A chronogram over the main arch informs us that it is the duplicate of the Holy Place at Mecca,

and that it was built in 1571. It is crowned with three domes, and a handsome arch leads to the central chapel, whose vaulted roof is ornamented with a variety of geometrical patterns painted in the most delicate tints, and the floor is paved with marble. On each side of the central mosque are chapels with lofty square Hindu pillars. From the mosque we proceed to the great northern gateway. But to speak of it as a gateway conveys no meaning of the building. It is a triumphal arch, and compared with it the Arch of Constantine or the Arch of Titus is poor. It was erected to commemorate the conquest of Khandesh by Akbar. An inscription below the spring of the arches illustrates how the pride and arrogance of the Muslim is united with extreme religious humility. In the height of his triumph the victorious Emperor remembered, “Said Jesus, on whom be peace! The world is a bridge; pass over it, but build no house on it. He who hopeth for an hour, may hope for an eternity. The world is but an hour, spend it in devotion, the rest is unseen." Passing through a half domical entrance we reach some lofty steps, from which we look down upon ruined palaces and mosques encircled by the walls of the Imperial city; and beyond the stone battlements stretches a green country, and the monotony of the wide plain is broken by the dim outlines of blue hills. Descending the steps and walking through a narrow lane we arrive at an old mosque, which probably had once been a Hindu temple, for it is entirely Hindu in its character, and between Hindu pillars have been inserted arches. The curved brackets are exactly similar to those in the Saint's tomb. It is said that the mosque was built by the stonecutters of the neighbourhood for Salem, and that here he taught his disciples. Near the mosque is an enclosure with a tomb, where lies buried Salem's son. Legend states that the infant one day noticed his sire was dejected. Though only six months of age and he had never spoken before, he