The palace is now employed as an armoury. It contains complete arms
for 40,000 men, and there is also a quantity of heavy ordnance.
In one of the courts stands a metal column thirty-six feet high,
called Feroze-Schachs-Laht, which is very well preserved, is covered
with inscriptions, and is surmounted by a lion.
A second curiosity in the fort is a small unimportant temple, now
much dilapidated, which is considered as very sacred by the Hindoos.
To their great sorrow they are not allowed to visit it, as the fort
is not open to them. One of the officers told me that, a short time
since, a very rich Hindoo made a pilgrimage here, and offered the
commandant of the fortress 20,000 rupees (2,000 pounds) to allow him
to make his devotions in this temple. The commandant could not
permit it.
This fortress also has its tradition: - "When the Sultan Akbar
commenced building it, every wall immediately fell in. An oracle
said that he would not succeed in its erection before a man
voluntarily offered himself as a sacrifice. Such an one presented
himself, and made only one condition, that the fortress and town
should bear his name. The man was called Brog, and the town is,
even at this time, more frequently called Brog by the Hindoos than
Allahabad."
In memory of the heroic man, a temple was erected near the fortress,
under ground, where he is interred. Many pilgrims come here
annually. The temple is quite dark; lights or torches must be used
on entering it. It resembles, on the whole, a large handsome
cellar, the roof of which rests upon a number of plain columns. The
walls are full of niches, which are occupied by idols and figures of
deities. A leafless tree is shown as a great curiosity, which grew
in the temple and made its way through the stone roof.
I also visited a fine large garden, in which stood four Mahomedan
mausoleums. The largest contains a sarcophagus of white marble,
which is surrounded by wooden galleries extremely richly and
handsomely decorated with mother-of-pearl. Here rests the Sultan
Koshru, son of Jehanpuira. Two smaller sarcophagi contain children
of the sultan. The walls are painted with stiff flowers and
miserable trees, between which are some inscriptions.
One part of the wall is covered with a small curtain. The guide
pushed it with great devotion on one side, and showed me the
impression of a colossal open hand. He told me that a great-great-
uncle of Mohamet once came here to pray. He was powerful, large,
and clumsy; when raising himself up, he stumbled against the wall
and left the impression of his sacred hand.
These four monuments are said to be upwards of 250 years old.
