638 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1813. 



AHMEDABAD. 



The imperial city of Ahmedabad 

 is situated in the latitude of 23o 

 north, and in 72o 37' east longi- 

 tude, and is built on the river Sa- 

 bermatty, which washes its western 

 walls. From being formerly one 

 of the largest capitals in the east, 

 it is now only five miles and three 

 quarters in circumference, sur- 

 rounded by a high wall, with irre- 

 gular towers every fifty yards, in 

 the usual style of Indian fortifica- 

 tions : there are twelve principal 

 gates, and several smaller sally- 

 ports. 



On every side nodding mina- 

 rets, decaying palaces, and moul- 

 dering aqueducts, indicate the for- 

 mer magnificence of Ahmedabad. 

 It was then enriched by commerce, 

 peopled by industry, and adorned 

 by wealth. Long wars, unstable 

 and oppressive governments, and 

 the fluctuations of human esta- 

 blishments, have brought it to a 

 state of decay from which it seems 

 doomed never to recover. 



Ahmedabad, like other proud ca- 

 pitals, seemed hastening to its dis- 

 solution ; from covering an extent 

 of thirty miles, it had dwindled to 

 less than six ; much of that space, 

 even within the walls, was covered 

 with ruins, or appropriated to corn- 

 fields and fruit-gardens. Some of 

 the streets were broad, but not 

 planted with rows of trees, as men- 

 tioned by Mandesloe, and other 

 travellers ; neither are they paved. 

 The triumphal arches, or three 

 united gates, in the principal 

 streets, with the grand entrance to 

 the durbar, still remain. The 

 mosques and palaces of the Pat- 

 tans still give evidence of their ori- 

 ginal magnificence. The streets 

 nerc spacious and riguiar; the 



temples, aqueducts, fountains, ca- 

 ravansaries, and courts of justice, 

 well arranged. Commerce, art, 

 and science, met with ever)' en- 

 couragement ; when a splendid 

 court was kept in this city, it was 

 then the resort of merchants, ar- 

 tists, and travellers of every de- 

 scription ; it now exhibits solitude, 

 poverty, and desolation ! 



CELHI. 



The ruins of serais, mosques, 

 mausoleums, and other magnificent 

 structures, commenced about three 

 or four miles before the entrance 

 of the present city. Amidst the 

 melancholy heaps, tiie tomb of the 

 emperor Humaioon, still in perfect 

 preservation, stands conspicuous ; 

 the obelisk of Cutbal Deen is equally 

 so, at a distance on the left. About 

 a mile and a half from the gate of 

 the new city of Shah Jehanabad is 

 the old fort, standing in the midst 

 of the ruins of the old city of Delhi; 

 it is a most ponderous structure, 

 and of great antiquity ; but the ex- 

 cellence of its masonry, notwith- 

 standing it was totally neglected, j 

 has, in general, withstood the ra- \ 

 vages of time. 



The old city of Delhi is an en- 

 tire scene of desolation; not a hu- 

 man being to be seen in the ancient I 

 metropolis of this vast empire. 



We entered the new city at 

 the Delhi gate, leading to a long 

 street of a miserable appearance, 

 containing one very handsome mus- 

 jid, with gilded do.nes; from 

 thence we were conducted along 

 one face of the fort, to the house, 

 or rather palace, allotted for our 

 accommodation. It was a spacious 

 edifice, or rather a multiplication 

 of courts and edifices, built by 

 Sufdcr Jung : still belonging to his 

 descendant; Asoph-ul-Dowlah, and 



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