serving; and the head on the right, Siva, or the destructive or changing attribute.

THE figure with one breast has been thought by most to represent an Amazon; it, however, appears to me a representation of the consort of Siva, exhibiting the active power of her lord; not only as Bawani, or courage, but as Isani, or the goddess of nature, considered as male and female, and presiding over generation, and also as Durga. Here we find the bull of Iswara (one of Siva's names) and the figure bearing his trisulc, or trident. The beautiful figure on the elephant is, I imagine, Cama, or the Hindu God of Love; the figure with four heads, supported by birds, is a representation of Brahma; and that with four arms, mounted on the shoulders of another, is Vishnu.

THE two principal figures in the niche to the left, represent, perhaps, Siva and his Goddess as Parvati. Here, as before, we observe Brahma and Vishnu in the back ground.

THE terrific figure with eight arms has been much talked of; some will have it to represent Solomon, threatening to divide the harlot's child; others, with more reason on their side, suppose it to represent the tyrant Cansa, attempting the life of the infant God Crishna, when fostered by the herdsman Ananda. To me, the third attribute, or the destroyer in action, appears too well represented to be mistaken. The distant. scene, where the smaller figures appear in distress and pain, is perhaps the infernal regions. The figure about to be destroyed, does not seem to me an infant, but a full grown person; if, indeed, the destroyer was

of

of the human size, the figure in question would bear the proper proportion as an infant; but as he is of enormous magnitude, a human being, full grown,' would appear but an infant by the side of him; and thus it is, I imagine, that people have been deceived : a case by no means uncommon in circumstances like the present.

THE sitting male and female figures, having a bull couching at the feet of the former, are Siva and his Goddess; and thus are they represented in the pago.. das of the present day.

No person can mistake the figure with the human. body and elephant's head for any other than Ganesa, the Hindu God of Wisdom, and the first born of Siva; and thus is he represented at present.

FROM what has been advanced, it will appear incontestible, I imagine, that this is a Hindu temple; whence the Lingam is a testimony sufficient of Siva's having presided here, without the other evidences which the intelligent in the Hindu mythology will have discovered in the course of this account.

To deduce the era of the fabrication of this stricture is not so easy a task; but it was, no doubt, posterior to the great schism in the Hindu religion, which, according to the Puranas, I learn, happened at a period coeval with our date of the creation. Be this as it may, we have accounts of powerful princes who ruled this part of the country of a later date, particularly of one who usurped the government in the ninetieth year of the Christian æra, famed for a passion for architecture. Many worse hypothesis have VOL. IV.

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been,

been, than one which might be formed of his having founded the cave; but I am led to imagine, no certain conclusions on this dark subject could be drawn from the sources of information open at present.

CCOUNT

XXXII.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE PRESENT STATE OF DELHI.

BY LIEUTENANT W. FRANKLIN.

THE

HE once celebrated city of Delhi, the capital of Mussulman sovereignty in Hindostan, and, in more early times, the seat of Hindu dominion over northern India, has employed the pen of many dif ferent authors, Asiatic and European; though of the latter in a less degree than might have been expected.

THE following account of the present state of this ancient city, is extracted from a journal of observations made during an official tour through the Dovab and the adjacent districts, in company with Captain Reynolds, of the Bombay establishment, appointed by the Bengal government to survey that part of the country in the year 1793.

Ir cannot be supposed to contain much new information on things already described by others; but, as a faithful statement of the actual condition of the

once

once flourishing metropolis of a great kingdom now in ruins, it may be acceptable; and in this hope it is offered, with deference, to the Society; who will judge whether it be deserving of more general diffusion by publication with their more important researches.

THE extent of the ruins of old Delhi cannot, I suppose, be less than a circumference of twenty miles, reckoning from the gardens of Shalimar, on the north-west, to the Kuttub Minar on the south-east; and proceeding from thence along the heart of the old city by way of the mausoleum of Nizam-u-deen, on which stands Humaioom's tomb, and the old fort of Delhi on the banks of the Jumna, to the Ajmeregate of Shah Jehanabad.

THE environs to the north-west are crowded with the remains of spacious gardens and country-houses of the nobility, which were formerly abundantly supplied with water by means of the noble canal dug by Ali Mirdan Khan, and which formerly extended from above Paniput quite down to Delhi, where it joined the Jumna; fertilizing in its course a tract of more than ninety miles in length, and bestowing comfort and affluence on those who lived within its extent. This canal, as it ran through the suburbs of Mogul Parah, nearly three miles in length, was about twentyfive feet deep, and about as much in breadth, cut from the solid stone-quarry, on each side, from which most of the houses in the neighbourhood have been built. It had small bridges erected over it at different 3 K 2

places,

places, some of which communicated with the garden-houses of the nobility.

In the year of the Hegiree 1041 (A. C. 1631-2) the Emperor Shah Jehan founded the present city and palace of Shah-Jehanabad, which he made his capital during the remainder of his reign. The new city of Shah-Jehanabad lies on the western bank of the Jumna, in latitude 28° 36′ north. The city is about seven miles in circumference, and is surrounded on three sides by a wall of brick and stone; a parapet runs along the whole, with loop holes for musquetry; but there are no cannon planted on the ramparts. The city has seven gates; viz. Lahore gate, Ajmere gate, Turkoman gate, Delhi gate, Moor gate, Cabul gate, and Cashmere gate; all of which are built of freestone, and have handsome arched entrances of stone, where the guards of the city keep watch. Near the Ajmere gate is a Madriffa, or college, erected by Ghazi-u-deen Khan, nephew of Nizam-ul-Moolluck : it is built of red stone, and situated at the centre of a spacious quadrangle, with a stone fountain. At the upper end of the area is a handsome mosque built of red stone, inlaid with white marble. The apartments for the students are on the sides of the square, divided into separate chambers, which are small, but commodious. The tomb of Ghazi is in the corner of the square, surrounded by a shrine of white marble, pierced with lattice-work. The college is now shut up, and without inhabitants. In the neighbourhood of the Cabul gate is a garden, called Tees Huzzari Baug, in which is the tomb of the Queen Malka Zemani,