Delhi and Its Ancient Mohammedan Ruins
Delhi, the ancient Mogul capital of India, is an interesting city, not only because of its present-day life but because it contains so many memorials of the Mohammedan conquest of the country. The ancient Moslem emperors were men who did things. Above all else they were builders, who constructed tombs, palaces and mosques that have survived for nearly four hundred years. They builded for all time, rearing massive walls of masonry that the most powerful British guns during the mutiny were unable to batter down. They built their own tombs in such enduring fashion that we may look upon them to-day as they were when these despots completed them. Akbar, Shah Jehan, Humayan and Aurungzeb each erected scores of buildings that have survived the ravages of time and the more destructive work of greedy mercenaries in time of war. In and around Delhi are scores of these tombs in various stages of decay. Those which have been cared for are splendid specimens of the best architecture of the sixteenth century.
Indian brick is the cheapest building material in the world. The Indian brick of to-day looks very much like the cheapest brick used in American cities to fill in the inside of walls; but the brick made in the time of Shah Jehan and Humayan and used by them was a flat tile brick, hard as stone, set in mortar that has resisted the elements for over three hundred years. When the roofs of these Moslem tombs and palaces fell in, then the work of disintegration followed rapidly. The plaster scaled off the front and sides, and the rows on rows of brick were exposed; but it is astonishing that these massive walls have not crumbled to dust in all these years. In most cases the imposing arched doorways of red sandstone have survived. These doorways, beautifully arched, may be seen on both sides of the road leading out of Delhi to the old city, eleven miles distant, which was the capital of the Mogul emperors until Aurungzeb moved it to Delhi. In a radius of fifteen miles from Delhi tombs and palaces that cost hundreds of millions of rupees were built by these Moslem despots and their viceroys. Most of them are now in ruins, but from the top of the Kutab Minar one may count a score of tombs with their domes and cupolas still intact. Into these tombs was poured much of the treasure wrung from the poverty-stricken Hindoo tillers of the soil.
Few sights in this world are more impressive than this birdseye view of the remains of the Mogul emperors who ruled northern India for over three centuries. In one of the poorest and the most densely populated countries of the world these despots reared marvels of architecture which have amazed modern experts. They accomplished these wonders in stone mainly because, with power of life and death, they were able to impress thousands of coolies and force them to rear the walls of their palaces and tombs. Building materials were very cheap, so that most of the treasure expended by these rulers went into the elaborate ornamentation of walls and ceilings with precious stones and carved ivory and marble. No description that I have ever read gives any adequate idea of the number and the massiveness of these remains of bygone imperial splendor, and this magnificence is made more impressive by contrast with the squalid poverty of the common people—the tillers of the soil, the drawers of water, who live in wretched huts, with earthen floors, no windows and no comforts. These dwellings are crowded together in small villages; the family cow or goat occupies a part of the dwelling, a small fire gives warmth only to one standing directly over it, and the smoke pours out the open door or filters through holes in the thatched roof.
As the native lived three hundred years ago so does he live to-day. He uses kerosene instead of the old nut or fish oil, but that is almost the only change. In the cultivation of the soil and in all kinds of manufacture the same methods are in use now as when Akbar wrested North India from its Hindoo rulers. The same crude bullock carts carry produce to Delhi, with wheels that have felloes a foot thick and only four spokes. Many of these wheels have no tires. In some cases camels supply the place of bullocks as beasts of burden, especially in the dry country north of Delhi. The coolie draws water from the wells for irrigation just as his ancestors did three centuries ago. He uses bullocks on an arastra that turns over a big wheel with a chain of buckets. On small farms this work is done by men. All the processes of irrigation are ancient and cumbersome and would not be tolerated for a day in any land where labor is valuable.
Delhi is very rich in memorials of the Mogul conquerors. Near the Lahore gate is the palace, one of the noblest remains of the Mohammedan period. A vaulted arcade leads to the outer court, at one end of which is a splendid band gallery, with a dado of red sandstone, finely carved. On the farther side is the Dwan-i-'Am or Hall of Public Audience, with noble arches and columns, at the back of which, in a raised recess, the emperor sat on his peacock throne, formed of two peacocks, with bodies and wings of solid gold inlaid with rubies, diamonds and emeralds. Over it was a canopy of gold supported by twelve pillars, all richly ornamented. This magnificent work was taken away by Nadir Pasha. The palace contains many other beautiful rooms, among which may be mentioned the royal apartments, with a marble channel in the floor, through which rosewater flowed to the queen's dressing-room and bath.
The most notable mosque in Delhi is the Jama Mashid, built of red sandstone and white marble. It has a noble entrance and a great quadrangle, three hundred and twenty-five feet square, with a fountain in the center. In a pavilion in one corner are relics of Mohammed, shown with great apparent reverence to the skeptical tourist. Near by is the Kalar Masjid or Black Mosque, built in the style of the early Arabian architecture.
Eleven miles from Delhi are many tombs of the Mogul emperors, including the Kutab Minar or great column of red sandstone, with a fine mosque near at hand. Kutab was a viceroy when he began this splendid column, two hundred and thirty-eight feet high, with a base diameter of forty-seven feet three inches. The first three stories are of red sandstone and the two upper stories are faced with white marble. The summit, which is reached by three hundred and seventy-nine steps, gives a superb view of the surrounding country, with its many fine Moslem tombs.