But what are a few drops in an immeasurable sea?
CHAPTER XIII. ALLAHABAD, AGRA, AND DELHI.
ALLAHABAD - CAUNIPOOR - AGRA - THE MAUSOLEUM OF SULTAN AKBAR - TAJ-
MEHAL - THE RUINED TOWN OF FATIPOOR - SIKRI - DELHI - THE MAIN STREET -
PUBLIC PROCESSIONS - THE EMPEROR'S PALACE - PALACES AND MOSQUES - OLD
DELHI - REMARKABLE RUINS - THE ENGLISH MILITARY STATION.
From Benares, Mr. Law and myself travelled in a post-dock to
Allahabad. The distance, which amounts to seventy-six miles,
occupies about twelve or thirteen hours. We left the sacred town on
the 7th of January, 1848, at 6 o'clock in the evening, and early in
the morning found ourselves already near Allahabad, at a long bridge
of boats which here crosses the Ganges.
We left the post-dock, and were carried in palanquins to the hotel,
about a mile further on. When we arrived there, we found it so
occupied by some officers of a regiment on the march, that my
travelling companion was received only upon condition that he would
content himself with a place in the public-room. In these
circumstances, nothing remained for me but to make use of my letter
of introduction to Dr. Angus.
My arrival placed the good old gentleman in no little embarrassment:
his house was also already filled with travellers. His sister, Mrs.
Spencer, however, with great kindness, at once offered me half of
her own sleeping apartment.
Allahabad has 25,000 inhabitants. It lies partly upon the Jumna
(Deschumna), partly on the Ganges. It is not one of the largest and
handsomest, although it is one of the sacred towns, and is visited
by many pilgrims. The Europeans reside in handsome garden-houses
outside the town.
Among the objects of interest, the fortress with the palace is the
most remarkable. It was built during the reign of the Sultan Akbar.
It is situated at the junction of the Jumna with the Ganges.
The fortress has been much strengthened with new works by the
English. It serves now as the principal depot of arms in British
India.
The palace is a rather ordinary building; only a few of the saloons
are remarkable for their interior division. There are some which
are intersected by three rows of columns, forming three adjoining
arcades. In others, a few steps lead into small apartments which
are situated in the saloon itself, and resemble large private boxes
in theatres.
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. They
are constructed of large blocks of stone, and richly decorated with
arabesques, friezes, reliefs, etc. The sepulchre of Koshru and the
impression of the hand are much venerated by the Mahomedans.
The garden afforded me more pleasure than the monuments - especially
on account of the enormous tamarind-trees. I thought that I had
seen the largest in Brazil, but the ground, or perhaps the climate,
here appears more favourable to this species of trees. Not only is
the garden full of such magnificent specimens, but there are
beautiful avenues of them round the town.
