68 THE KOH-I-NOOR. 



scarlet and crimson, braided with ^old and silver, and 

 all were armed with swords and tidwar. 



Amongst public buildings, the most conspicuous is 

 the Jumma Musjid, an enormous mosque erected by- 

 Shah Jehan in 1641. It stands at the extreme end of 

 a large quadrangular court, with arcades on each side, 

 and is approached by a flight of steps ; the architecture 

 is that of other Mahomedan structures, with large 

 entrance gate, minarets, &c., and built of red stone, 

 except the cupolas, which are of white marble. The 

 whole is very impressive from its size, solidity, and rich 

 material. 



The Mogul's palace, of which only a portion now 

 remains, must have been very similar to that at Agra, 

 a cluster of towers and battlements still marking its 

 extent. The throne room, open, and supported by 

 columns and arches, still exists, and the emperor's seat 

 is of white marble of very simple design. Here stood 

 in former times the famous Peacock throne, of which 

 the " Koh-i-noor," or " Mountain of Light," was the 

 princijDal ornament. The jewel had been carried off in 

 1739 by Nadir Shah, the Persian conqueror of Hin- 

 dustan, whose successor, Shah Soojah, the exiled 

 monarch of Cabul, in 1815 was forced to hand it over 

 to Runjeet Singh, the last Maharajah of the Punjab, 

 when the former sought refuge with him after his 



