CHAPTER XXXI.
PLEASANT DAYS IN AGRA.
The Fort—The Mosque of Pearl—The Jāhangeeree Mahul—Mher-ul-Nissa—Selīm Ghar—The Palace in the Fort—The Dewanī Khas—Noor-jahān Burj—Zenāna Masjid—The Shīsha-Mahal—Hall of Audience—The Vault of Secret Murder—The Black Marble Slab—The Throne of Akbar—The Steam Baths—The Worship of the Rising Sun—View from the Bridge of Boats on the Jumna.
1835, Feb. 3rd.—I visited the Fort: one I particularly admire; it is perfectly native. An engineer will perhaps say it wants the strength of an European fortification. An admirer of the picturesque, it pleases me better than one more regularly and scientifically built. There are two gateways; the principal one is called the Delhi Gate, and to the second, named after the Rajah Umrāo Sing, is attached a tradition. Akbar demolished the old Fort of Agra, and replaced it in four years by one of red freestone. It contains innumerable buildings of high interest, among which, its brightest ornament, is the
MOOTEE MASJID, THE MOSQUE OF PEARL.
From the gate of entrance you do not expect to see much, the mosque being completely hidden by a high screen of stone. Having passed the gate, you find yourself in a court of marble one hundred and fifty feet square. On the opposite side is the mosque itself; its seven arches of Gothic mould are surmounted by three domes, of oval form, and nine cupolas; the interior is formed of arches, three in depth. The mosque fills up one side of the court; on the right and left are ranges of arcades and two gateways. It is built entirely of white marble, finely carved; the arches are deeply scalloped, and extremely beautiful. Next to the Tāj, I prefer the Mootee Masjid to any building I have seen. It was built by Shāhjahān, and completed in the year 1656. It is in good repair, but is seldom used as a place of worship. It has no ornamental work in mosaic of precious stones, but is elegant and lovely in its simplicity.
The Jahāngeeree Mahul, or Palace of Jahāngeer, which is in the Fort, was built by Akbar; the whole is of red freestone, richly carved, but greatly in decay. I viewed this palace with the greatest interest, thinking it might be the one in which Jahāngeer confined the beautiful Mher-ul-Nissa, the Sun of Women, for four years, ere she became his favourite sultana. History relates, that Selim, the son of Akbar, in his youth, ere he took the pompous title of Jahāngeer, the Conqueror of the World, beheld and became enamoured of Mher-ul-Nissa, the betrothed of Sher Afgan, a Turkomanian nobleman of high renown, whom she afterwards married. He was a man who had served with great reputation in the wars of Akbar, and was dignified by the title of Sher Afgan, or the Overthrower of the Lion.
The passion which Jahāngeer had repressed returned with redoubled violence when he mounted the throne, and after several ineffectual attempts to take the life of Sher Afgan, he at length succeeded. The brave man, after a noble resistance, fell, six balls having entered his body. The officer who, by the command of the Emperor, had committed this murder, hastened to the house of Sher Afgan, and sent Mher-ul-Nissa, with all imaginable care, to Delhi. The Emperor’s mother received her with great tenderness, but Jahāngeer refused to see her; probably remorse had taken possession of his soul. Be that as it may, he gave orders to shut her up in one of the worst apartments of the palace. He would not deign to behold her; and, contrary to his usual munificence to women, he allowed her but fourteen ānās, less than two shillings a day, for the subsistence of herself and some female slaves. This coldness, unless the offspring of remorse, was unaccountable towards a woman whom he had passionately loved when not in his power.
Mher-ul-Nissa was a woman of haughty spirit, and disappointment preyed upon her mind; she trusted to the amazing power of her own beauty, which, to conquer, required only to be seen; as the Emperor persisted in his refusal to see the widow of Sher Afgan, she had recourse to the following expedient: to raise her own reputation in the palace, and to support herself and her slaves with more decency than the scanty pittance allowed her would admit, she called forth her invention and taste, in working some pieces of admirable tapestry and embroidery, in painting silks with exquisite delicacy, and in inventing female ornaments of every kind; these articles were carried by her slaves to the different apartments of the zenāna, and to the harems of the great officers of state. They were bought with the greatest avidity; nothing was fashionable amongst the ladies of Agra and Delhi but the work of her hands. She accumulated by this means a considerable sum of money, with which she repaired and beautified her apartments, and clothed her slaves in the richest tissues and brocades; whilst she herself affected a very plain and simple dress.
In this situation the widow of Sher Afgan continued for four years, without having once seen the Emperor. Her fame reached his ears from every apartment of the zenāna, and from all quarters: curiosity vanquished his resolution; he resolved to surprise her, and suddenly and unexpectedly entering her apartments, found every thing so elegant and magnificent that he was struck with amazement. But the greatest ornament of the whole was the beautiful Mher-ul-Nissa herself, in a plain dress of white muslin, whilst her slaves were attired in rich brocades. She received the Emperor with the usual salām, touching first the ground, and then her forehead, with her right hand; she was silent, and stood with downcast eyes. Jahāngeer remained equally silent for some time, in admiration of her stature, shape, beauty, grace, and that inexpressible voluptuousness of mien, he found impossible to resist.