AGRA 59 



ing king apparently having built for himself and his 

 wives entirely new apartments ; and as there were 

 many kings and very many wives, the halls, mosques, 

 chambers, and secret passages of the palace seem 

 to have no end. It is here that you first begin to 

 appreciate the marvellous workmanship of the 

 Mogul designers and decorators. Nothing could be 

 more charmingly and delicately carried out than the 

 carving of the marble walls and the inlaid work of 

 every color of stone, agate, jasper, lapis-lazuli, 

 malachite, and hosts of others, with more pre- 

 cious stones frequently finding place in the centre of 

 some slab or panel. The finest precision, the most 

 perfect taste, the truest artistic touch, is universally 

 evident in their work and reminds one continually 

 of the mosaics of Italy. 



This is especially marked in the apartments set 

 aside for the Sultan's zenana. The ladies of the 

 court had little liberty in those days, but their 

 prison, if it could be called such, was made as beau- 

 tiful and attractive as taste and money could ac- 

 complish. They could sit in their rooms high up 

 above the battlements of the fort, and, protected 

 by lace-like marble screens, could look out over the 

 city and watch the busy life below. They had 

 courtyards for walking, and gardens and great 

 fountain-baths, all laid out high above the public 



