E. B. (Ernest Binfield) Havell - A Handbook to Agra and the Taj, Sikandra, Fatehpur-Sikri and the Neighbourhood

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 archological 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 Archological 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.

January, 1904.

Contents

The Great MogulsI. BabarBabar's Connection with
AgraII. HumayunInterregnum: Shere ShahIII. AkbarAkbar's
Connection with AgraIV. JahangirJahangir's Connection with
AgraV. Shah JahanThe Monuments of Shah Jahan's Reign at
AgraVI. AurangzbAgra and the Later Mogul EmperorsAgra in
the Mutiny.

The Mti MasjidThe Dersane DarwazaThe Dwan-i-mJahangir's
CisternThe Tomb of Mr. ColvinThe Inner Mna BazarThe Chitore
GatesThe Hindu TempleThe Machhi BhawanThe Najina MasjidThe
Dwan-i-KhasJahangir's ThroneThe BathsThe Samman BurjThe Khas
MahalThe Underground ChambersThe Anguri BaghShish MahalThe
"Somnath" GatesThe Jahangiri MahalThe Sahmgarh.

The building of the TajThe Intention of the TajDescription.

The Zuhara Bagh.

Akbar's TombThe Kanch MahalSuraj-Bhan-ka BaghMariam Zmni's
Tomb.

The Kali MasjidAlawal BilawalThe HammanThe Roman Catholic
Cemetery.

The Agra GateThe Naubat KhanaThe MintThe Daftar KhanaThe
PalaceThe KwbghThe Turkish Sultana's HouseHakim's
BathsPachisi BoardThe Dwan-i-KhsThe Ankh-MichauliThe
Yogi's SeatThe HospitalThe Dwan-i-mThe Panch MahalMiriam's
KothiJodh Ba's PalaceRajah Birbal's House, or Birbal's Daughter's
HouseThe Hathi Pol and Adjoining BuildingsThe Jmi Masjid, or
Cathedral MosqueThe Baland DarwazaThe Stone-Cutters' MosqueThe
Houses of Abul Fazl and Faizi.

Bharatpur and Other Places in the Vicinity of
Agra:BharatpurGovardhanMuttraBindrban.

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 Mna 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. Itmd-ud-daulah's Tomb, Agra

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

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

Plate XI. Interior of The Dwan-i-Khs, 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

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 Mhabhrata; 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 Zmni, 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."