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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

THE TOMB OF ITMAD- UD-DA ULAH AT AGRA.

if not superior to those manufactured in Europe. Personally, he is not practically acquainted with the art of mural painting as practised in India, and is indebted to an experienced native artist for information ; whilst in preparing the paper the Encycloj5adia Britannica has been consulted.

The illustrations were prepared in the office of the Curator of Ancient Monuments in 1883.

on the left bank of the Jumna is the tomb of Ghiâs Beg, called by Sir W. Sleeman, Khwåjah Accas, a Persian, who was the father of Nûr Jahân, and her brother, Asaf Khân, and became high treasurer of Jahângîr. This mausoleum is 69 feet 2 inches square. It is entirely encased with white marble externally, and partly internally, the interior being beautifully inlaid with mosaic work. There is an octagonal tower at each corner, of which seven sides are visible, and project from the building; each side being 4 feet 9 inches broad. It contains nine chambers, four of them 23 feet 41 inches long, and 13 feet 1– inches broad. The four corner chambers are 13 feet r 4 inches square, and the central chamber is 22 feet i inch square. The outer walls are 5 feet 6 inches thick; the side partition walls, 4 feet 21 inches, and the central partition walls, 4 feet 91 inches. In each of the four sides there is an arched entrance 7 feet 8 inches broad. On each side of each of these entrances is a window 3 feet ro inches broad, filled with exquisite marble lattice-work. Between these and the corner towers are arched window recesses 6 feet 6 inches broad externally, and 3 feet io inches internally. In the centre of these windows is perforated marble lattice-work. Each chamber has a door leading into the next, but the central has only one open door, the other three being filled with marble lattice-work. The actual door in this chamber is on the south side. In the central chamber are two marble tombs of Ghiâs Beg and his wife, on a platform of variegated stone 6 feet 6 inches by 5 feet 5 inches. The husband's tomb is a little to the west.

There are seven tombs altogether in the mausoleum—two in the north-east corner chamber, and one in each of the three other corner chambers. The tombs lie north and south, according to the usual custom. The sides of the central chamber are lined with marble, inlaid with mosaics, representing flowers, but the roof is lined with stucco, adorned with flowers and other devices in gilding. The side chambers are panelled to 4 feet 4 inches from the floor with slabs of marble inlaid with mosaic work, but the upper part of the walls and the ceiling are lined with plaster, ornamented with paintings of flowers and long-necked vases. In the thickness of the outer walls of the south chamber there are two flights of stairs, which ascend to the second story, on which is a marble pavilion, 25 feet 8 inches square, on a platform 38 feet square. The roof is canopy-shaped, with broad sloping eaves, and marble slabs. The sides are of perforated marble lattice-work, and divided into twelve compartments

by marble pillars.   In the centre of the chamber are two marble cenotaphs, counterparts of those below.
The whole of the flat roof of the lower story is paved with marble. The octagonal towers, faced with marble, at each corner of the mausoleum spread out into balconies supported by brackets at the level of the roof. Above, the towers become circular, and rise until they again spread out into graceful balconies supported by brackets, and surmounted by marble domed cupolas, each supported on eight slender marble pillars. There was a marble railing along the platform of the roof, which has been destroyed, probably by the Jåts, who are also said to have stolen the inlaid stones of the mosaic.

The mausoleum is on a raised platform of red sandstone, 15o feet ro inches long, and between 3o and 4o feet broad. It is surrounded by a walled inclosure, except towards the river or west front. In the centre of the east side is a gateway 64 feet long and 3o feet broad. The walled inclosure is 540 feet long on each side, and has towers of red sandstone at the corners.

-There is one building—the tomb known as that of Itmad-ud-daulah—at Agra, however, which certainly belongs to the reign of Jahângîr, and, though not erected by the monarch himself, cannot be passed over, not only from its own beauty of design, but also because it marks an epoch in the style to which it belongs. It is situated on the left bank of the river, in the midst of a garden surrounded by a wall measuring 540 feet on each side. In the centre of this, on a raised platform, stands the tomb itself, a square measuring 69 feet on each side. It is two .storeys in height, and at each angle is an octagonal tower, surmounted by an open pavilion. The towers, however, are rather squat in proportion, and the general design of the building very far from being so pleasing as that of many less pretentious tombs in the neighbourhood. Had it, indeed, been built in red sandstone, or even with an inlay of white marble like that of Humayun, it would not have attracted much attention. Its real merit consists in being wholly in white marble, and being covered throughout with a mosaic in " pietro duro"—the first, apparently, and certainly one of the most splendid, examples of that class of ornamentation in India.

* Edward B. Eastwick, Murray's " Handbook for Bengal.' t Fergusson's "History of Indian and Eastern Architecture."