“And that shall be said by all coming generations,” replied Faizi, “both in the East and West. The title of ‘the Great’ has been given by favourites and flatterers to many a prince, but with little right. To be truly great means that a ruler knows how to govern himself as well as others, and to give up his life to sorrow and trouble for the welfare of his fellow-men; and it was in this that he who rests yonder was great. There have been princes, and there still may be more, whose names in the world’s history will be better known than his; and it is possible that there may be those who will win still higher fame, but seldom in history can one point to the name of a ruler who, in the midst of his greatness, knew, like Akbar, how to remain a man in the most beautiful and noblest meaning of the word. And now,” concluded Faizi, clasping the hands of Siddha and Iravati, “farewell. Think of me sometimes, when I am far from here. You can do so now without bitterness; and this also takes from me a burden which I have often found hard to bear.”
For some time after Faizi had left them, Siddha and Iravati remained in the park. At last they left the spot where they had come to render a last silent homage to the memory of the Great Emperor.
“So they all pass away,” said Siddha, musingly, as they turned towards home; “all we have learnt to know and reverence. He who has just left us, in all probability we shall see no more. But such men as Akbar, Faizi, and Abú-l Fazl do not die when death ends their lives here; they live in the memory they leave us, and in their works. The thought of them animates those who come after them; and is not that true immortality?”
[1] Akbar died in October 1605, aged sixty-three. There is grave suspicion that he was poisoned at the instigation of his son Salim, who ascended the throne under the name of Jahangir. He was buried at Sikandra, about four miles from Agra, and a splendid mausoleum was erected over his grave. The building was commenced by himself; and Mr. Fergusson says that it is quite unlike any other tomb built in India either before or since, and of a design borrowed from a Hindu or Buddhist model. It stands in an extensive garden, and is approached by one noble gateway. In the centre of the garden, on a raised platform, stands the tomb, of a pyramidal form. The lower storey measures 320 feet each way, exclusive of the angle towers. It is thirty feet high, and is pierced by ten great arches on each face, with a larger entrance in the centre. On this terrace stands another far more ornate, measuring 186 feet on each side, and fourteen feet nine inches in height. A third and fourth of similar design stand on this, all being of red sandstone. Within and above the last is a white marble enclosure, its outer wall entirely composed of marble trellis work of the most beautiful patterns. Inside is the tombstone, a splendid piece of arabesque tracery. But the mortal remains repose under a plainer stone in a vaulted chamber in the basement.—Fergusson’s “Indian Architecture,” p. 583.
The Earl of Northbrook, when Viceroy of India, presented a rich carpet to the tomb at Sikandra, to be placed over the stone which covers the remains of the greatest ruler of India.
[2] Salim, under the name of Jahangir, reigned from 1605 to 1627. His mother was a Rajpút. He was cruel, avaricious, and debauched. He suppressed the rebellion of his son Khusru with the most horrible cruelties. In 1608 Captain William Hawkins landed at Surat, and was received with great favour by Jahangir at Agra. But, after two years, he failed in securing trading privileges for the East India Company, and left Agra in 1611. The influence of Nur Mahal, his favourite wife, was paramount over Jahangir; but he had no children by her. Of his four sons, he kept the eldest, Khusru, in prison for rebellion. Parwiz, the second, was a drunkard. Khurram, afterwards known as Shah Jahan, succeeded his father. Shahryar was the youngest. In 1615 Sir Thomas Roe arrived at the court of Jahangir, as ambassador from James I., and remained until 1618. Jahangir died on October 12th, 1627, and was succeeded by his rebellious son as Shah Jahan.
[3] Shah Jahan reigned from 1628 to 1658.
[4] Aurangzíb reigned from 1658 to 1707.
[5] It was Nur Mahal who induced Jahangir to be more moderate in his cups.