[29] Literally, "has existed during the four jugas," or fabulous ages of the Hindus, i.e., since the creation of the world.
[30] The Bhakha, or Bhasha, par excellence, is the Hindu dialect spoken in the neighbourhood of Agra, Mathura, &c. in the Braj district; it is a very soft language, and much admired in Upper Hindustan, and is well adapted for light poetry. Dr. Gilchrist has given some examples of it in his grammar of the Hindustani language, and numerous specimens of it are to be found in the Prem Sagar, and other works published more recently.
[31] Mahmud, the first monarch of the dynasty of Ghazni, was the son of the famous Sabaktagin. Ha invaded Hindustan in A.H. 392, or A.D. 1002. The dynasty was called Ghaznawi, from its capital Ghazna, or as now commonly written Ghazni.
[32] Two dynasties of kings who reigned in Upper Hindustan before the race of Taimur.
[33] Timur, (or Taimur as it is pronounced in India) invaded Hindustan A.D. 1398.
[34] The bazar, that part of a city where there are most shops; but the word is applied to various parts of a city, where various articles are sold, as the cloth bazar, the jewel bazar, &c.
[35] Shahjahan was the most magnificent king of Dilli, of the race of Taimur, Sahib Kiran was one of his titles, and means, Prince of the Happy Conjunction; i.e. the conjunction of two or more auspicious planets in one of the signs of the Zodiac at the hour of birth. Such was the case at the birth of Taimur, who was the first we read of as Sahib-Kiran. As a contradistinction, Shahjahan is generally called Sahib Kirani Sani, or the second Sahib Kiran. It never waw applied, as Ferdinand Smith states, to all the emperors of Dilli. It may be mentioned, that a very extraordinary conjunction of the planets in the sign Libra took place in A.D. 1185, just about the period of Jangis Khan's appearance as a conqueror; but I am not aware that he was thence called a Sahib Kiran, as he did not happen to be born under the said conjunction.
[36] The fort, or rather fortified place, of Dilli, and the great mosque, called the Juma' Masjid.
[37] The famous Takhti Ta,us, or peacock throne, made by the magnificent Shahjahan, the richest throne in the world; it was valued at seven millions sterling. Tavernier, the French jeweller and traveller, saw it and describes it in his work. It was carried away by Nadir Shah when he plundered Dilli in 1739.
[38] The expensive and useless canal which brought fresh water to Dilli, whilst the limpid and salutary stream of the Jumna flowed under its walls. The advantages of irrigation to the country, through which it passed, were nothing compared to the expense of its construction.