SULTAN KHUSRŪ’S MAUSOLEUM.
The sarā’e, or caravansary, at Allahabad, built by Sultan Khusrū, is a noble one, and the gateway through which you pass to the bāghīcha, or garden bearing his name, is very fine. The garden is a large space of ground, enclosed by a high wall, containing three tombs and a baithakhāna, or pavilion. These palace-like tombs, amongst which is that of Sultan Khusrū’s, are splendid mausoleums. Tho first and largest monument is that of the Sultan, in which he is buried; it is a handsome building, and within it is deposited a beautifully-illuminated kurān. Sultan Khusrū married a daughter of the Wuzeer Azim Khan; he was the son of Jehāngīr, and his mother was the daughter of the Rajpūt Prince Bagwandas, of Amber. The other monuments are those of Noorjahān and the Jodh Bā’ī; the fourth building is a pavilion, in which visitors are allowed to live for a short time, during a visit to the garden. Around the tombs are some of the finest and most beautiful tamarind-trees. These trees, called by the natives imlī, are generally found around or sheltering the tombs of revered or sacred characters. The natives are impressed with a notion that it is dangerous to sleep under the tamarind-tree, especially during the night.
Just beyond the gates of the sarā’e, is a bāolī, a magnificent well, with underground apartments; it is a most remarkable and curious place, and the well is a noble one.
A company of pilgrims, carriers of holy water, are en route to the junction, to fill their bottles at the benī, or bathing-place. They are passing some of the tombs of the faithful.
In the foreground are some aloes. In India the hedges are full of this plant, and it flowers annually.
THE GRAM GRINDER.
In front of a native village a woman is spinning, and on the right is another Hindū woman, a gram grinder. Gram (chāna, cicer arietinum, chick pea) is used for the food of horses in India. It is ground in a chakkī, or mill, which is formed of two flat circular stones, the lower of which is generally fixed in the earth, and from its centre a peg passes through a hole in the upper stone, and forms a pivot on which the upper stone works. The gram is put in through this hole in the upper stone, and the flour works out at the edges between the two stones. When there is much work to be done, two women will sit on the ground and grind the same mill, which is placed between their legs. This is the sort of mill spoken of in Scripture: “Two women were grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken and the other left.” Matt. xxiv. 41.
Two children are playing with some meal in a basket; one of them is adorned with a number of charms, fastened on a string. The ta’wīz, or charm, is an armlet, to ward off evil spirits, and all misfortune. The native beds, resting against the wall on the right, serve as beds by night, and as resting-places by day.
