There is a remarkable entrance called the Elephant Gate, below which is the Elephant Minār, to which we walked by moonlight; on the top of this minār Akbar used to sit; game, of all descriptions, was driven towards it from the surrounding country, which the Emperor from that spot could shoot at his ease. “When death approaches the game, it goes towards the sportsman[143].” This tower is studded with elephants’ tusks, carved in white stone.
The people showed me the skin of a leopard that was shot a year ago amongst the ruins. I requested my companion during this ramble to take a stick, for fear of the wolves, who, the week before, had torn a native child to pieces under the walls; the bones and bangles of the poor child had been brought to my companion, who was the magistrate.
The tomb of the Jhod Bā’ī, who was a Rajpootnee daughter of the Hindoo chief of Jhodpore, by tradition beautiful and amiable, is still to be seen on the Chand-maree, the artillery practice ground, a few miles from Fathīpoor Sicri. It was in ruins, but still you could trace its form and dome. Some artillery officers, out of pure idleness and ignorance, I suppose, about a year ago, blew up the dome of this tomb by way of getting rid of some damaged powder! The sacrilege of destroying the tomb of the mother of Jahāngeer, and the wife of Akbar Shāh!
The whole of the buildings at Sicri were built by Akbar; at this place he resided, and held his court: it is most interesting to wander over the ruins.
In the “Rambles of an Indian Official” it is mentioned,—“Sheikh Saleem had, he declared, gone more than twenty times on pilgrimage to the tomb of the holy prophet; and was not much pleased to have his repose so much disturbed by all the noise and bustle of the imperial court. At last, Akbar wanted to surround the hill by regular fortifications; and the sheikh could stand it no longer. ‘Either you or I must leave this hill,’ said he to the Emperor; ‘if the efficacy of my prayers is no longer to be relied upon, let me depart in peace!’ ‘If it be your Majesty’s will,’ replied the Emperor, ‘that one of us should go, let it be your slave, I pray.’ The old story: there is nothing like relying upon the efficacy of our prayers, say the priests—nothing like relying upon that of our sharp swords, say the soldiers; and as nations advance from barbarism, they generally contrive to divide between them the surplus produce of the land and labour of society. The old hermit consented to remain, and pointed out Agra as a place which he thought would answer the Emperor’s purpose extremely well! Agra—then an unpeopled waste—soon became a city, and Futtehpore Sicri was deserted.”
The influenza having attacked our party, and my having fallen ill from being drenched in a severe storm, on my return to Agra, which increased the cough and cold from which I was suffering, prevented our prosecuting the tour we had planned for visiting Deeg, Burtpore, and other remarkable places.
Extract from “the Asiatic Journal” of Oct. 1844.
“SKETCHES OF REMARKABLE LIVING CHARACTERS IN INDIA.”
No. 1.—COLONEL GARDNER.—THE BEGAM SUMROO.
“A few years ago India presented a wide field for adventure: the distracted state of the country, the ambitious projects and conflicting interests of native princes, were highly favourable circumstances to those who brought with them a competent knowledge of the art of war, and of military discipline; and who preferred a wild, erratic, roving life, amongst the children of the soil, to the regular service of the India Company. There are two individuals still living in the Bengal Presidency, and occupying a distinguished, though singular position in society, whose eventful career, if circumstantially related, could not fail to prove highly interesting. The general outlines of the history of the Begam Sumroo, and of Colonel Gardner, of Khāsgunge, are known to every person who has visited the theatre of their exploits, but very few are acquainted with the details; for such is the shifting nature of Anglo-Indian society, that it is impossible to gain more than the passing information of the day, in places rendered memorable from circumstances of universal notoriety, but of which nobody can give the particulars.