Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official Part 36

11. The testimony of Tavernier is doubtless correct if understood as referring to the whole complex of buildings connected with the mausoleum. He visited Agra several times. He left India in January, 1654, returning to the country in 1659. Work on the Taj began in 1632, and so appears to have been completed about the close of, 1653 (Tavernier, _Travels_, transl. Ball, vol. i, pp. xxi, xxii, 25, 110, 142, 149). The latest dated inscription, that of the calligraphist Amanat Khan at the entrance to the domed mausoleum, was recorded in the twelfth year of the reign, A.H. 1048, equivalent to A.D. 1638-9.

That year may be taken as the date of the completion of the mausoleum itself, as distinguished from the great ma.s.s of supplementary structures.

12. Various records of the cost differ enormously, apparently because they refer to different things. If all the buildings and the vast value of the materials be included, the highest estimate, namely, four and a half millions of pounds sterling, in round numbers, is not excessive (_H.F.A._, 1911, p. 415) The figures are recorded with minute accuracy as 411 lakhs, 48,826 rupees, 7 annas, and 6 pies. A _karor_ (crore) is 100 lakhs, or 10 millions.

13. The enclosure occupies a s.p.a.ce of more than forty-two acres.

14. This statement, though commonly made, is erroneous. The building is named the 'a.s.sembly house' (jama'at khana), or 'guest-house'

(mihman khana) and was intended as the place for the congregation to a.s.semble before prayers, or on the anniversaries of the deaths of the Emperor Shah Jahan or his consort. Taj Mahal (Muh. Latif, _Agra_, p.

113). Of course, it also serves as an architectural balance for the mosque.

15. The gardens of the Taj have been much improved since the author's time, and are now under the care of a skilled European superintendent, and full of beautiful shrubs and trees. The author's measurements of the quadrangle seem to be wrong. Different figures are given by Moin-ud-din (_Hist. of the Taj_, p. 29) and Fergusson (ed. 1910, vol. ii, p. 313). No official survey is available.

16. The white marble that forms the substance of the building came, Mr. Keene thinks, from Makrana near Jaipur, but according to Mr.

Hacket (_Records of the Geographical Survey of India_, x. 84), from Raiwala in Jaipur, near the Alwar border [note]. The account of these marbles given in the _Rajputana Gazetteer_, 1st ed. (ii. 127) favours Mr. Keene's view' (_N.W.P. Gazetteer_, 1st ed., vol. vii, p. 707).

The ornamental stones used for the inlay work in the Taj are lapis lazuli, jasper, heliotrope, Chalcedon agate, chalcedony, cornelian, sarde, plasma (or quartz and chlorite), yellow and striped marble, clay slate, and nephrite, or jade (_Dr. Voysey, in Asiatic Researches_, vol. xv, p. 429, quoted by V. Bail in _Records of the Geological Survey of India_, vii. 109). Moin-ud-din (pp. 27-9) gives a longer list, from the custodians' Persian account.

17. There is some exaggeration in this statement. Shah Jahan's concern was with his wife's tomb, and his fortified palaces, more than with 'the cities'.

18. Sleeman's talk about Austin de Bordeaux is wholly based on his misreading of _Ustan_ for _Ustad_, meaning 'Master', in the Persian account, which names Muhammed-i-isa Afandi (Effendi) as the chief designer. He had the t.i.tle of Ustad, and some versions represent Muhammad Sharif, the second draughtsman, as his son. Muhammad, the son of isa ('Jesus'), apparently was a Turk. He had the Turkish t.i.tle of 'Effendi', and the Persian MS. used by Moin-ud-din a.s.serts that he came from Turkey. The same authority states that Muhammad Sharif was a native of Samarkand.

Austin de Bordeaux was wholly distinct from Muhammad-i-isa, Ustad Afandi, and there is no reason to suppose that he had anything to do with the Taj. Sleeman's story about his work at Agra and his death comes from Tavernier (i. 108, transl. Ball: see next note). Austin was in the service of Jahangir as early as 1621, and probably came out to India from Persia in 1614. He is described as an engineer (_ingenieur_), and is recorded to have made a golden throne for Jahangir (_J.R.A.S._, 1910, pp. 494, 1343-5). Sleeman's misreading of _ustad_ as _ustan_, and his consequent blunders, have misled innumerable writers. In cursive Persian the misreading is easy and natural. He took Ustan as intended for 'Austin'. Certain marks in the garden on the other side of the river indicate the spot where Shah Jahan had begun work on his own tomb. Aurangzeb, as Tavernier observes, was 'not disposed to complete it' (see _A.S.R._, iv. 180).

For a summary of the controversy concerning the alleged share of Geronimo Veroneo in the design of the Taj, see _H.F.A._, 1911, pp.

416-18. Personally, I am of opinion, as I was more than twenty years ago, that 'the incomparable Taj is the product of a combination of European and Asiatic genius'. That opinion makes some people very angry.

19. I would not be thought very positive upon this point, I think I am right, but feel that I may be wrong. Tavernier says that Shah Jahan was obliged to give up his intention of completing a silver ceiling to the great hall in the palace, because Austin de Bordeaux had been killed, and no other person could venture to attempt it.

Ustan [_sic_] isa, in all the Persian accounts, stands first among the salaried architects. [W. H. S.] Tavernier's words are, 'Shah Jahan had intended to cover the arch of a great gallery which is on the right hand with silver, and a Frenchman, named Augustin de Bordeaux, was to have done the work. But the Great Mogul, seeing there was no one in his kingdom who was more capable to send to Goa to negotiate an affair with the Portuguese, the work was not done, for, as the ability of Augustin was feared, he was poisoned on his return from Cochin.' (_Tavernier_, transl. Ball, vol. i, p. 108. ) The statement that Austin had 'finished the palace at Delhi, and the mausoleum and palace of Agra' is not warranted by any evidence known to the editor.

20. Akbar erected his works on the site of an older fort, named Badalgarh, presumably of Hindu origin, 'which was of brick, and had become ruinous.' No existing building within the precincts can be referred with certainty to an earlier date than that of Akbar. The erection began in A.H. 972, corresponding to A.D. 1564-5, and the work continued for eight (or, according to another authority, four) years, costing 3,500,000 rupees, or about 350,000 sterling. The walls are of rubble, faced with red sandstone. The best account is the article by Nur Baksh, ent.i.tled 'The Agra Fort and its Buildings', in _A.S. Ann. Rep._, 1903-4, pp. 164-93.

21. It is difficult to understand how men like the Marquis of Hastings and Lord William Bentinck could have been guilty of such barbarous stupidity. But the fact is beyond doubt, and numberless officials of less exalted rank must share the disgrace of the ruin and spoliation, which, both at Agra and Delhi, have destroyed two n.o.ble palaces, and left but a few disconnected fragments. Fergusson's indignant protests (_History of Indian and Eastern Architecture_, ed.

1910, vol. ii, p. 312, &c.) are none too strong. Sir John Strachey, who was Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces in 1876, is ent.i.tled to the credit of having done all that lay in his power to remedy the effects of the parsimony and neglect of his predecessors.

The buildings which remain at both Agra and Delhi are now well cared for, and large sums are spent yearly on their reparation and conservation. The credit for the modern policy of reverence for the ancient monuments is due to Lord Curzon more than to any one else.

22. This date is erroneous. The inscription is dated A.H. 1063, in the 26th year of Shah Jahan, equivalent practically to A.D. 1653. It is given in full, with both text and translation, in _A.S. Ann. Rep._ for 1903-4, p. 183. It states that the building was erected in the course of seven years at a cost of 300,000 rupees, which = 33,750, at the rate of 2_s_. 3_d_. to the rupee current at the time. Errors on the subject disfigure most of the guide-books and other works commonly read.

23. The beauty of the Moti Masjid, like that of most mosques, is all internal. The exterior is ugly. The interior deserves all praise.

Fergusson describes this mosque as 'one of the purest and most elegant buildings of its cla.s.s to be found anywhere', and truly observes that 'the moment you enter by the eastern gateway the effect of its courtyard is surpa.s.singly beautiful'. 'I hardly know anywhere', he adds, 'of a building so perfectly pure and elegant.'

(_Ind. and E. Arch._, ed. 1910, vol. ii, p. 317. See also _H.F.A._, p. 412, fig. 242.)

24. I would, however, here enter my humble protest against the quadrille and tiffin [_scil._ lunch] parties, which are sometimes given to the European ladies and gentlemen of the station at this imperial tomb; drinking and dancing are, no doubt, very good things in their season, even in a hot climate, but they are sadly out of place in a sepulchre, and never fail to shock the good feelings of sober-minded people when given there. Good church music gives us great pleasure, without exciting us to dancing or drinking; the Taj does the same, at least to the sober-minded. [W. H. S.] The regulations now in force prevent any unseemly proceedings. The gardens at the Taj, of Itimad-ud-daula's tomb, of Akbar's mausoleum at Sikandara, and the Ram Bagh, are kept up by means of income derived from crown lands, aided by liberal grants from Government.

25. The anthor's curiously meagre description of the magnificent mausoleum of Akbar is, in the original edition, supplemented by coloured plates, prepared apparently from drawings by Indian artists.

The structure is absolutely unique, being a square pyramid of five stories, the uppermost of which is built of pure white marble, while the four lower ones are of red sandstone. All earlier descriptions of the building have been superseded by the posthumous work of E. W.

Smith, a splendidly ill.u.s.trated quarto, ent.i.tled, _Akbar's Tomb, Sikandarah, Agra_, Allahabad Government Press, 1909, being vol. x.x.xv of A. S. India. Work had been begun in the lifetime of Akbar. The lower part of the enclosing wall of the park dates from his reign.

The whole of the mausoleum itself probably is to be a.s.signed to the reign of Jahangir, who in 1608 disapproved of the structure which had been three or four years in course of erection, and caused the design to be altered to please himself. The work was finished in 1613 at a cost of five millions of rupees (50 lakhs, more than half a million of pounds sterling). The exquisitely carved cenotaph on the top story is inadequately described by Sleeman as 'another marble slab'. It is a single block of marble 3 1/4 feet high. The tomb in the vault 'is perfectly plain with the exception of a few mouldings'.

26. The ninety-nine names of G.o.d do not occur in the Koran. They are enumerated in chapter 1 of Book X of the 'Mishkat-ul-Masabih' (see note 10, Chapter 5 _ante_): 'Abu Hurairah said, "Verily there are ninety-nine names for G.o.d; and whoever counts them shall enter into paradise. He is Allaho, than which there is no other; Al-Rahman-ul- Rahimo, the compa.s.sionate and merciful," &c., &c.' (Matthews, vol. i, p. 542.) The list is reproduced in the introduction to Palmer's translation of the Koran, and in Bosworth-Smith, _Muhammad and Muhammadanism_.

27. The court, 70 feet square, of the topmost story, is open to the sky, but the original intention was to provide a light dome, presumably similar to that built a little later to crown the mausoleum of Itimad-ud-daula. Finch, the traveller, who was at Agra about 1611, was informed that the cenotaph was 'to be inarched over with the most curious white and speckled marble, and to be seeled all within with pure sheet gold, richly inwrought.' The reason for omitting the dome is not recorded.

28. The area is much larger than 40 acres, being really about 150 acres. Each side is approximately 3 1/2 furlongs.

29. This remarkable eulogium is quoted with approval by another enthusiastic admirer of Akbar, Count von Noer (Prince Frederick Augustus of Schleswig-Holstein), who observes that 'as Akbar was unique amongst his contemporaries, so was his place of burial among Indian tombs--indeed, one may say with confidence, among the sepulchres of Asia.' (_The Emperor Akbar, a Contribution towards the History of India in the 16th Century_, by Frederick Augustus, Count of Noer; edited from the Author's papers by Dr. Gustav von Buchwald; translated from the German by Annette S. Beveridge. Calcutta, 1890.) This work of Count von Noer, unsatisfactory though it is in many respects, is still the best exiting modern account of Akbar's reign.

The competent scholar who will undertake the exhaustive treatment of the life and reign of Akbar will be in possession of perhaps the finest great historical subject as yet unappropriated. The editor long cherished the idea of writing such an exhaustive work, but if he should now attempt to deal with the fascinating theme, he must be content with a less ambitions performance. Colonel Malleson's little book in the 'Rulers of India' series, although serviceable as a sketch, adds nothing to the world's knowledge. Akbar's reign (1556- 1605) was almost exactly coincident with that of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603). The character and deeds of the Indian monarch will bear criticism as well as those of his great English contemporary. 'In dealing', observes Mr. Lane-Poole, 'with the difficulties arising in the Government of a peculiarly heterogeneous empire, he stands absently supreme among Oriental sovereigns, and may even challenge comparison with the greatest of European rulers.'

Unhappily, there is reason to believe that the marble slab no longer covers the bones of Akbar. Manucci states positively that 'During the time that Aurangzeb was actively at war with s.h.i.+va Ji [_scil._ the Marathas], the villagers of whom I spoke before broke into the mausoleum in the year 1691 [in words], and after stealing all the stones and all the gold work to be found, extracted the king's bones and had the temerity to throw them on a fire and burn them' (_Storia do Mogor_, i. 142). The statement is repeated with some additional particulars in a later pa.s.sage, which concludes with the words: 'Dragging out the bones of Akbar, they threw them angrily into the fire and burnt them' (ibid. ii. 320). Irvine notes that the plundering of the tomb by the Jats is mentioned in detail by only one other writer, Ishar Das Nagar, author of the _Fatuhat-I-Alamgiri_, a ma.n.u.script in the British Museum. Manucci seems to be the sole authority for the alleged burning of Akbar's bones. I should be glad to disbelieve him, but cannot find any reason for doing so.

CHAPTER 52

Nur Jahan, the Aunt of the Empress Nur Mahal, over whose Remains the Taj is built.[1]

I crossed over the river Jumna one morning to look at the tomb of Itimad-ud-daula, the most remarkable mausoleum in the neighbourhood after those of Akbar and the Taj. On my way back, I asked one of the boatmen who was rowing me who had built what appeared to me a new dome within the fort. 'One of the Emperors, of course,' said he.

'What makes you think so?'

'Because such things are made only by Emperors,' replied the man quietly, without relaxing his pull at the oar.

'True, very true,' said an old Musalman trooper, with large white whiskers and moustachios, who had dismounted to follow me across the river, with a melancholy shake of the head, 'very true; who but Emperors could do such things as these?'

Encouraged by the trooper, the boatman continued:--'The Jats and the Marathas did nothing but pull down and destroy while they held their _accursed dominion_ here; and the European gentlemen who now govern seem to have no pleasure in building anything but _factories, courts of justice, and jails_.'

Feeling as an Englishman, as we all must sometimes do, be where we will, I could hardly help wis.h.i.+ng that the beautiful panels and pillars of the bath-room had fetched a better price, and that palace, Taj, and all at Agra, had gone to the hammer--so sadly do they exalt the past at the expense of the present in the imaginations of the people.

The tomb contains in the centre the remains of Khwaja Ghias,[2] one of the most prominent characters of the reign of Jahangir, and those of his wife. The remains of the other members of his family repose in rooms all round them; and are covered with slabs of marble richly cut. It is an exceedingly beautiful building, but a great part of the most valuable stones of the mosaic work have been picked out and stolen, and the whole is about to be sold by auction, by a decree of the civil court, to pay the debt of the present proprietor, who is entirely unconnected with the family whose members repose under it, and especially indifferent as to what becomes of their bones. The building and garden in which it stands were, some sixty years ago, given away, I believe, by Najif Khan, the prime minister, to one of his nephews, to whose family it still belongs.[3] Khwaja Ghias, a native of Western Tartary, left that country for India, where he had some relations at the imperial court, who seemed likely to be able to secure his advancement. He was a man of handsome person, and of good education and address. He set out with his wife, a bullock, and a small sum of money, which he realized by the sale of all his other property. The wife, who was pregnant, rode upon the bullock, while he walked by her side. Their stock of money had become exhausted, and they had been three days without food in the great desert, when she was taken in labour, and gave birth to a daughter. The mother could hardly keep her seat on the bullock, and the father had become too exhausted to afford her any support; and in their distress they agreed to abandon the infant. They covered it over with leaves, and towards evening pursued their journey. When they had gone on about a mile, and had lost sight of the solitary shrub under which they had left their child, the mother, in an agony of grief, threw herself from the bullock upon the ground, exclaiming, 'My child, my child!'

Ghias could not resist this appeal. He went back to the spot, took up his child, and brought it to its mother's breast. Some travellers soon after came up, and relieved their distress, and they reached Lah.o.r.e, where the Emperor Akbar then held his court.[4]

asaf Khan, a distant relation of Ghias, held a high place at court, and was much in the confidence of the Emperor. He made his kinsman his private secretary. Much pleased with his diligence and ability, asaf soon brought his merits to the special notice of Akbar, who raised him to the command of a thousand horse, and soon after appointed him master of the household. From this he was promoted afterwards to that of Itimad-ud-daula, or high treasurer, one of the first ministers.[5]

The daughter who had been born in the desert became celebrated for her great beauty, parts, and accomplishments, and won the affections of the eldest son of the Emperor, the Prince Salim, who saw her unveiled, by accident, at a party given by her father. She had been betrothed before this to Sher Afgan, a Turkoman gentleman of rank at court, and of great repute for his high spirit, strength, and courage.[6] Salim in vain entreated his father to interpose his authority to make him resign his claim in his favour; and she became the wife of Sher Afgan. Salim dare not, during his father's life, make any open attempt to revenge himself; but he, and those courtiers who thought it their interest to wors.h.i.+p the rising sun, soon made his [Afgan's] residence at the capital disagreeable, and he retired with his wife to Bengal, where he obtained from the governor the superintendency of the district of Bardwan.

Salim succeeded his father on the throne;[7] and, no longer restrained by his (_scil._ Akbar's) rigid sense of justice, he recalled Sher Afgan to court at Delhi. He was promoted to high offices, and concluded that time had removed from the Emperor's mind all feelings of love for his wife, and of resentment against his successful rival--but he was mistaken; Salim had never forgiven him, nor had the desire to possess his wife at all diminished. A Muhammadan of such high feeling and station would, the Emperor knew, never survive the dishonour, or suspected dishonour, of his wife; and to possess her he must make away with the husband. He dared not do this openly, because he dreaded the universal odium in which he knew it would involve him; and he made several unsuccessful attempts to get him removed by means that might not appear to have been contrived or executed by his orders. At one time he designedly, in his own presence, placed him in a situation where the pride of the chief made him contend, single-handed, with a large tiger, which he killed; and, at another, with a mad elephant, whose proboscis he cut off with his sword; but the Emperor's motives in all these attempts to put him foremost in situations of danger became so manifest that Sher Afgan solicited, and obtained, permission to retire with his wife to Bengal.

The governor of this province, Kutb,[8] having been made acquainted with the Emperor's desire to have the chief made away with, hired forty ruffians, who stole into his house one night. There happened to be n.o.body else in the house; but one of the party, touched by remorse on seeing so fine a man about to be murdered in his sleep, called out to him to defend himself. He seized his sword, placed himself in one corner of the room, and defended himself so well that nearly one-half of the party are said to have been killed or wounded. The rest all made off, persuaded that he was endowed with supernatural force.

After this escape he retired from Tanda, the capital of Bengal,[9] to his old residence of Bardwan. Soon after, Kutb came to the city with a splendid retinue, on pretence of making a tour of inspection through the provinces under his charge, but in reality for the sole purpose of making away with Sher Afgan, who as soon as he heard of his approach, came out some miles to meet him on horseback, attended by only two followers. He was received with marks of great consideration, and he and the governor rode on for some time side by side, talking of their mutual friends, and the happy days they had spent together at the capital. At last, as they were about to enter the city, the governor suddenly called for his elephant of state, and mounted, saying it would be necessary for him to pa.s.s through the city on the first visit in some state. Sher sat on horseback while he mounted, but one of the governor's pikemen struck his horse, and began to drive him before them. Sher drew his sword, and, seeing all the governor's followers with theirs ready drawn to attack him, he concluded at once that the affront had been put upon him by the orders of Kutb, and with the design to provoke him to an unequal fight. Determined to have his life first, he spurred his horse upon the elephant, and killed Kutb with his spear. He now attacked the princ.i.p.al of officers, and five n.o.blemen of the first rank fell by his sword. All the crowd now rolled back, and formed a circle round Sher and his two companions, and galled them with arrows and musket b.a.l.l.s from a distance. His horse fell under him and expired; and, having received six b.a.l.l.s and several arrows in his body, Sher himself at last fell exhausted to the ground; and the crowd, seeing the sword drop from his grasp, rushed in and cut him to pieces.[l0]

His widow was sent, 'nothing loth', to court, with her only child, a daughter. She was graciously received by the Emperor's mother, and had apartments a.s.signed her in the palace; but the Emperor himself is said not to have seen her for four years, during which time the fame of her beauty, talents, and accomplishments filled the palace and city. After the expiration of this time the feelings, whatever they were, which prevented his seeing her, subsided; and when he at last surprised her with a visit, he found her to exceed all that his imagination had painted since their last separation. In a few days their marriage was celebrated with great magnificence;[11] and from that hour the Emperor resigned the reins of government almost entirely into her hands; and, till his death, under the name first of Nur Mahall, 'Light of the Palace', and afterwards of Nur Jahan, 'Light of the World ', she ruled the destinies of this great empire.

Her father was now raised from the station of high treasurer to that of prime minister. Her two brothers obtained the t.i.tles of asaf Jah and Itikad Khan; and the relations of the family poured in from Tartary in search of employment, as soon as they heard of their success.[12] Nur Jahan had by Sher Afgan, as I have stated, one daughter; but she had never any child by the Emperor Jahangir.[13]

asaf Jah became prime minister on the death of his father; and, in spite of his sister, he managed to secure the crown to Shah Jahan, the third son of Jahangir, who had married his daughter, the lady over whose remains the Taj was afterwards built. Jahangir's eldest son, Khusru, had his eyes put out by his father's orders for repeated rebellions, to which he had been instigated by a desire to revenge his mother's murder, and by the ambition of her brother, the Hindoo prince, Man Singh,[14] who wished to see his own nephew on the throne, and by his wife's father, the prime minister of Akbar, Khan Azam.[15] Nur Jahan had invited the mother of Khusru, the sister of Raja Man Singh, to look with her down a well in the courtyard of her apartments by moonlight, and as she did so she threw her in. As soon as she saw that she had ceased to struggle she gave the alarm, and pretended that she had fallen in by accident.[16]

By the murder of the mother of the heir-apparent she expected to secure the throne to a creature of her own. Khusru was treated with great kindness by his father, after he had been barbarously deprived of sight;[17] but when his brother, Shah Jahan, was appointed to the government of Southern India, he pretended great solicitude about the comforts of his _poor blind brother_, which he thought would not be attended to at court, and took him with him to his government in the Deccan, where he got him a.s.sa.s.sinated, as the only sure mode of securing the throne to himself.[18] Parwiz, the second son, died a natural death;[19] so also did his only son; and so also Daniyal, the fourth son of the Emperor.[20] Nur Jahan's daughter by Sher Afgan had married Shahryar, a young son of the Emperor by a concubine; and, just before his death he (the Emperor), at the instigation of Nur Jahan, named this son as his successor in his will. He was placed upon the throne, and put in possession of the treasury, and at the head of a respectable army;[21] but the Empress's brother, asaf, designed the throne for his own son-in-law, Shah Jahan; and, as soon as the Emperor died, he put up a puppet to amuse the people till he could come up with his army from the Deccan--Bulaki, the eldest son of the deceased Khusru. Shahryar's troops were defeated; he was taken prisoner, and had his eyes put out forthwith, and the Empress was put into close confinement. As Shah Jahan approached Lah.o.r.e with his army, asaf put his puppet, Bulaki, and his younger brother, with the two young sons of Daniyal, into prison, where they were strangled by a messenger sent on for the purpose by Shah Jahan, with the sanction of asaf.[22] This measure left no male heir alive of the house of Timur (Tamerlane) in Hindustan, save Shah Jahan himself and his four sons. Dara was then thirteen years of age, Shuja twelve, Aurangzeb ten, and Murad four;[23] and all were present to learn from their father this sad lesson--that such of them who might be alive on his death, save one, must, with their sons, be hunted down and destroyed like mad dogs, lest they might get into the hands of the disaffected, and be made the tools of faction.

Monsieur de Thevenot, who visited Agra, as I have before stated, in 1666, says, 'Some affirm that there are twenty-five thousand Christian families in Agra; but all do not agree in that. The Dutch have a factory in the town, but the English have now none, because it did not turn to account.' The number must have been great, or so sober a man as Monsieur Thevenot would not have thought such an estimate worthy to be quoted without contradiction.[24] They were all, except those connected with the single Dutch factory, maintained from the salaries of office; and they gradually disappeared as their offices became filled with Muhammadans and Hindoos. The duties of the artillery, its a.r.s.enals, and foundries, were the chief foundation upon which the superstructure of Christianity then stood in India.

These duties were everywhere entrusted exclusively to Europeans, and all Europeans were Christians, and, under Shah Jahan, permitted freely to follow their own modes of wors.h.i.+p. They were, too. Roman Catholic, and spent the greater part of their incomes in the maintenance of priests. But they could never forget that they were strangers in the land, and held their offices upon a precarious tenure; and, consequently, they never felt disposed to expend the little wealth they had in raising durable tombs, churches, and other public buildings, to tell posterity who or what they were. Present physical enjoyment, and the prayers of their priests for a good berth in the next world, were the only objects of their ambition.