[1] We had
obtained from the Begam permission to occupy this palace during our
stay. It was elegantly furnished, the servants were all exceedingly
attentive, and we were very happy.
The Kutb Minar stands upon the back of the sandstone range of low
hills, and the road descends over the north-eastern face of this
range for half a mile, and then passes over a level plain all the way
to the new city, which lies on the right bank of the river Jumna. The
whole plain is literally covered with the remains of splendid
Muhammadan mosques and mausoleums. These Muhammadans seem as if they
had always in their thoughts the saying of Christ which Akbar has
inscribed on the gateway at Fathpur Sikri: 'Life is a bridge which
you are to pass over, and not to build your dwellings upon.'[2] The
buildings which they have left behind them have almost all a
reference to a future state--they laid out their means in a church,
in which the Deity might be propitiated; in a tomb where leaned and
pious men might chant their Koran over their remains, and youth be
instructed in their duties; in a serai, a bridge, a canal built
gratuitously for the public good, that those who enjoyed these
advantages from generation to generation might pray for the repose of
their souls.
Pages:
1067
1068
1069
1070
1071
1072
1073
1074
1075
1076
1077
1078
1079
1080
1081
1082
1083
1084
1085
1086
1087
1088
1089
1090
1091