A Handbook to Agra and the Taj, Sikandra, Fatehpur-Sikri and the Neighbourhood

Part 1

A Handbook to Agra and the Taj Sikandra, Fatehpur-Sikri and the Neighbourhood

by E.B. Havell, ARCA.

1904

Preface

This little book is not intended for a history or archæological treatise, but to assist those who visit, or have visited, Agra, to an intelligent understanding of one of the greatest epochs of Indian Art. In the historical part of it, I have omitted unimportant names and dates, and only attempted to give such a sketch of the personality of the greatest of the Great Moguls, and of the times in which they lived, as is necessary for an appreciation of the wonderful monuments they left behind them. India is the only part of the British Empire where art is still a living reality, a portion of the people's spiritual possessions. We, in our ignorance and affectation of superiority, make efforts to improve it with Western ideas; but, so far, have only succeeded in doing it incalculable harm. It would be wiser if we would first attempt to understand it.

Among many works to which I owe valuable information, I should name especially Erskine's translation of Babar's "Memoirs;" Muhammad Latifs "Agra, Historical and Descriptive;" and Edmund Smith's "Fatehpur-Sikri." My acknowledgments are due to Babu Abanindro Nath Tagore, Mr. A. Polwhele, Executive Engineer, Agra, and to Mr. J.H. Marshall, Director-General of the Archæological Survey of India, for kind assistance rendered. I am particularly indebted to Messrs. Johnston and Hoffman, of Calcutta, for allowing me to make use of their valuable collection of photographs for the illustrations.

In quoting from "Bernier's Travels," I have used Constable's translation, with Messrs. A. Constable & Co.'s kind permission. To the Editor of the Nineteenth Century and After I owe permission to make use of my article on "The Taj and its Designers," published in that Review, June, 1903.

CALCUTTA,

January, 1904.

Contents

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION

The Great Moguls--I. Babar--Babar's Connection with Agra--II. Humayun--Interregnum: Shere Shah--III. Akbar--Akbar's Connection with Agra--IV. Jahangir--Jahangir's Connection with Agra--V. Shah Jahan--The Monuments of Shah Jahan's Reign at Agra--VI. Aurangzîb--Agra and the Later Mogul Emperors--Agra in the Mutiny.

THE FORT

The Mûti Masjid--The Dersane Darwaza--The Dîwan-i-âm--Jahangir's Cistern--The Tomb of Mr. Colvin--The Inner Mîna Bazar--The Chitore Gates--The Hindu Temple--The Machhi Bhawan--The Najina Masjid--The Dîwan-i-Khas--Jahangir's Throne--The Baths--The Samman Burj--The Khas Mahal--The Underground Chambers--The Anguri Bagh--Shish Mahal--The "Somnath" Gates--The Jahangiri Mahal--The Sahmgarh.

THE JÂMI MASJID

THE TAJ

The building of the Taj--The Intention of the Taj--Description.

ITMÂD-UD-DAULAH'S TOMB

THE CHÎNÎ-KA-RAUZA

THE RAM BAGH

The Zuhara Bagh.

SIKANDRA

Akbar's Tomb--The Kanch Mahal--Suraj-Bhan-ka Bagh--Mariam Zâmâni's Tomb.

OTHER BUILDINGS AND TOMBS AT OR NEAR AGRA

The Kali Masjid--Alawal Bilawal--The Hamman--The Roman Catholic Cemetery.

FATEHPUR SIKRI

The Agra Gate--The Naubat Khana--The Mint--The Daftar Khana--The Palace--The Kwâbgâh--The Turkish Sultana's House--Hakim's Baths--Pachisi Board--The Dîwan-i-Khâs--The Ankh-Michauli--The Yogi's Seat--The Hospital--The Dîwan-i-âm--The Panch Mahal--Miriam's Kothi--Jodh Baí's Palace--Rajah Birbal's House, or Birbal's Daughter's House--The Hathi Pol and Adjoining Buildings--The Jâmi Masjid, or Cathedral Mosque--The Baland Darwaza--The Stone-Cutters' Mosque--The Houses of Abul Fazl and Faizi.

Bharatpur and Other Places in the Vicinity of Agra:--Bharatpur--Govardhan--Muttra--Bindrâban.

Part 2

INDEX

List of Illustrations

The Taj Mahal

Plate I. A State Document with Shah Jahan's "Royal Hand and Seal"

Plate II. Shah Jahan, From an Old Indian Miniature

Plate III. The Inner Delhi Gate, or Hathi Pol, Agra Fort

Plate IV. Marble Balcony, Overlooking the Inner Mîna Bazar, Agra Fort

Plate V. The Samman Burj, Agra Fort

Plate VI. Inner Courtyard of the Jahangiri Mahal, Agra Fort

Plate VII. Marble Screen Enclosing the Tombs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan

Plate VIII. Itmâd-ud-daulah's Tomb, Agra

Plate IX. Interior of the Upper Pavilion, Itmâd-ud-daulah's Tomb

Plate X. Marble Sarcophagus on the Upper Story of Akbar's Tomb, Sikandra

Plate XI. Interior of The Dîwan-i-Khâs, Fatehpur Sikri

Plate XII. Rajah Birbal's Daughter's House, Fatehpur Sikri

Plate XIII. The Baland Darwaza, Fatehpur Sikri

Plans

Agra Fort. Plan of the Palaces

Fatehpur Sikri. Plan Showing the Position of the Buildings

Fatehpur Sikri. Plan Showing the Walls and Gates

Fatehpur Sikri. Plan of Jodh Bai's Palace

AGRA

Historical Introduction

Agra has two histories: one of the ancient city on the east, or left, bank of the river Jumna, going back so far as to be lost in the legends of Krishna and of the heroes of the Mâhabhârata; the other of the modern city, founded by Akbar in A.D. 1558, on the right bank of the river, and among Muhammadans still retaining its name of Akbarabad, which is intimately associated with the romance of the Great Moguls, and known throughout the world as the city of the Taj.

Of ancient Agra little now remains except a few traces of the foundations. It was a place of importance under various Hindu dynasties previous to the Muhammadan invasions of India, but its chequered fortunes down to the beginning of the sixteenth century are the usual tale of siege and capture by Hindu or Mussulman, and possess little historical interest.

In A.D. 1505 Sultan Sikandar Lodi, the last but one of the Afghan dynasty at Delhi, rebuilt Agra and made it the seat of government. Sikandra, the burial-place of Akbar, is named after him, and there he built a garden-house which subsequently became the tomb of Mariam Zâmâni, one of Akbar's wives. The son of Sultan Sikandar, Ibrahim Lodi, was defeated and slain by Babar at Panipat, near Delhi, in 1526, and from that time Agra became one of the principal cities of the Mogul Empire which Babar founded.

The Great Moguls.--I. Babar.

Though very few memorials of Babar's short but brilliant reign still exist at Agra, the life of this remarkable man is so important a part of the Mogul dynasty that it must not be passed over by the intelligent tourist or student of Mogul art. It was Babar's sunny disposition, and the love of nature characteristic of his race, that brought back into Indian art the note of joyousness which it had not known since the days of Buddhism. Babar is one of the most striking figures in Eastern history. He was descended from Tamerlane, or Timur, on his father's side, and, on his mother's, from Chinghiz Khan. In the year 1494, at the age of twelve, he became king of Farghana, a small kingdom of Central Asia, now known as Kokand. His sovereignty, however, was of a very precarious tenure, for he was surrounded on all sides by a horde of rapacious, intriguing relatives, scrambling for the fragments of Timur's empire. With hardly a trustworthy ally except a remarkably clever and courageous old grandmother, he struggled for three years to retain his birthright. Then, acting on a sudden inspiration, he made a dash for Samarkand, the ancient capital of Timur, and won it. In his delightful memoirs Babar describes how, with boyish glee, he paced the ramparts himself, wandered from palace to palace, and revelled in the fruit-gardens of what was then one of the finest cities of Asia. But in less than a hundred days, most of his shifty Mongol troops, disappointed in not finding as much booty as they expected, deserted and joined a party of his enemies, who straightway attacked Andijan, the capital of Farghana, where Babar had left his mother and grandmother. Before he could come to their rescue Andijan had fallen, and at the same time Samarkand, which he had left, was occupied by another of his numerous rivals. This double misfortune caused still more of his followers to leave him, and he found himself without a kingdom, except the little town of Khojend, and with only two hundred men. For almost the only time in his life he gave way utterly to despair. "I became a prey to melancholy and vexation; I was reduced to a sore distressed state and wept much."

Part 3

Before long, however, Babar, rejoined by his mother and grandmother, whom the captors of Andijan had spared, taking advantage of another turn in the wheel of fortune, recovered his kingdom of Farghana, but lost the greater part of it again through another desertion of his "Mongol rascals." A second time, with only a handful of men, he surprised and captured Samarkand (A.D. 1500). In the following year he rashly sallied out against Shaibani, the most formidable of his adversaries, was defeated, and, after vainly trying to hold the city against the victors, was forced to fly under cover of the night. This time he did not weep, but consoled himself next morning by riding a headlong race with two of his companions. Reaching a village, where they found "nice fat flesh, bread of fine flour well baked, sweet melons, and excellent grapes in great abundance," Babar declared that in all his life he never enjoyed himself so much or felt so keenly the pleasures of peace and plenty.

He now took refuge among the hills near Uratipa, finding amusement in observing the life of the villagers, and especially in conversing with the mother of the headman, an old lady of a hundred and eleven, whose descendants, to the number of ninety-six, lived in the country round about. One of her relatives had served in the army with which Timur had invaded India, and she entertained the future Emperor of Hindustan by telling him stories of his ancestor's adventures.

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