DELHI. 



597 



Delhi, under the most grievous oppression, and in constant 

 -"-V™"' dread of being pillaged, have, for many years, scarcely 

 dared to rear for themselves the means of a scanty sub- 

 sistence. We fervently hope, that, under the milder 

 influence of the British jurisdiction, which now extends 

 to Delhi, confidence and industry will revive ; and that 

 the people will reap all the advantages which nature 

 has placed within their reach. This province is now 

 divided into eight circars or districts, namely, Shah- 

 jehanabad, Serhmd, Hissar, Feiroozeh, ,Schaurunpore, 

 Sumbal, Bedaoon, Narnoul. These are again sub- 

 divided into 289 inferior districts, yielding, accord- 

 ing to the imperial register, a revenue of seventy- 

 four crore, sixty-three lacks of dams, equivalent to 

 L. 1 ,850,000 sterling, {k ) 



DELHI, the chief town of the above province, was 

 once the capital of Mussulman sovereignty in Hindos- 

 tan, and at a remoter period, the seat of Hindu domi- 

 nion over northern India. It is said, by some histori- 

 ans, to have been founded by Rajah Delu, who reign- 

 ed in Hindostan prior to the invasion of Alexander the 

 Great. Others ascribe its erection to Rajah Pettouvar, 

 who flourished at a much later period. Its name in 

 Sanscrit is Indraput, or the abode of Indra, one of the 

 Hindu deities ; and it is thus distinguished in the royal 

 diplomas of the chancery office. It is first mentioned 

 as the capital of Hindostan about the year 1200. Ri- 

 sing in importance as Canouge declined, it continued 

 the unrivalled capital of India till the year 1 398, when 

 it was reduced, almost without a battle, by the resist- 

 less Tamerlane. It was on the month of December in 

 that year, that this stern conqueror entered the city, 

 planted on its Avails the great standard of the Tartarian 

 empire, and seated in all the pride of conquest on the 

 throne of India, received the prostrate homage of the 

 nobility of both nations. The wanton insolence, and the 

 cruel ravages of the conquerors, having at length roused 

 the inhabitants to resistance, Delhi, with all its fine 

 monuments of art, was devoted to pillage ; and, on the 

 13th of January, this imperial city was reduced to a 

 heap of ruins. Under succeeding sovereigns, however, 

 it recovered part of its former splendour, and was still 

 accounted the capital of Hindostan, till Akbar, transfer- 

 ring the seat of royalty to Agra, towards the close of the 

 sixteenth century, completed the destruction of Delhi. 

 Of the ruins of this once superb city, the extent is not 

 less than a circumference of twenty miles ; and the en- 

 virons to the north and south are crowded with the re- 

 mains of spacious gardens and country houses of the 

 nobility. 



About the year 1631, Shah Jehan, grandson of Ak- 

 bar, with the view of eternizing his memory, founded 

 a town near the ruins of old Delhi, which received the 

 name of Shah Jehan Abad, or the colony of Shah Je- 

 han. By this name the modern Delhi continues till this 

 day to be distinguished in Hindostan. It is situated 

 in a champaigne country, on the western bank of the 

 Jumna, a river, says Bernier. resembling the Loire. It 

 is about seven miles in circumference ; and, except on 

 the side next the river, is surrounded by a wall of brick 

 and stone. A parapet runs along the whole, but there 

 are no cannon planted on the ramparts. The seven 

 gates of the city, called the Lahore gate, Delhi gate, 

 Agimere gate, Turkoman gate, Moor gate, Cabul gate, 

 Cashmere gate, are built of stone, and have handsome 

 arched entrances, where the guards of the city keep 

 watch. The fortress, containing the Mahal or Seraglio, 

 and other royal apartments, stands between the town 

 and the river; from which it was separated by an area 



of considerable extent, where elephants used to be ex- 

 ercised, and where the militia of the Omrahs and Ra- 

 jahs were frequently mustered before the king, who re- 

 viewed them from the windows of one of his apart- 

 ments. The walls of the fortress were encompassed, 

 except towards the river, by a ditch lined with free- 

 stone. Around this ditch was a spacious garden, be- 

 yond which was the great street, the place royal, where 

 were erected the tents of the rajahs, who held there 

 alternately their weekly guard. At the entrance to the 

 palace, when Bernier wrote his description of it, were 

 two stone figures, representing the rajah of Chittore 

 and his brother Potta, seated on two elephants. These 

 figures were afterwards removed by order of Aureng- 

 zebe, as tending to favour idolatry ; and the place, on 

 which they stood, he enclosed with a screen of red 

 stone, which has very much disfigured the entrance. 

 After entering the palace, the first object that attracts 

 attention is the Deroaun Aum, or public hall of audi- 

 ence, a noble edifice, situated at the upper end of a 

 spacious square. All round the square are apartments 

 of two stories in height, the walls and front of which, 

 while the empire retained its splendour, were richly 

 adorned with tapestry, velvets, and silks, the rajahs 

 and omrahs vying with each other in the magnificence 

 of their decorations. A handsome gateway leads from 

 the Dewaun Aum to the Dewaun Khass, situated like- 

 wise at the upper end of a spacious square, elevated up- 

 on a terrass of marble about four feet in height. This 

 edifice, which is 150 feet in length by 40 in breadth, 

 was, in better days, adorned with wonderful magnifi- 

 cence ; and, though repeatedly despoiled by successive 

 invaders, still retains sufficient splendour to excite ad- 

 miration. The roof is flat, supported by numerous co- 

 lumns of fine white marble, which have been richly 

 ornamented with inlaid flower- work of different colour- 

 ed stones : The corners and borders have been decora- 

 ted with frieze and sculptured work. The ceiling was 

 formerly incrusted, through its whole extent, with a rich 

 'foliage of silver, which has long since been taken away. 

 In the compartments of the walls the inlaying is exqui- 

 sitely delicate. Around the exterior of the building, 

 in the cornice, is an inscription in letters of gold, upon 

 a ground of white marble, to the folloAving effect : " If 



there be a paradise upon earth, this is it, — 'tis this 'tis 



this." The terrace of this building is composed of large 

 slabs of white marble, and on the top are four pavilions, 

 or cupolas, of the same materials. A little to the north- 

 ward of the Dewaun Khass are the royal baths, built 

 by the Emperor Shah Jehan. They consist of three 

 very large rooms, surmounted by domes of white mar- 

 ble. The walls within are lined with marble, about 

 two-thirds of their height, having beautiful borders of 

 flowers, worked cornelians, and other stones, executed 

 with much taste. The floors are paved with marble 

 in large slabs. From fountains in the centre, the water 

 is conveyed by pipes to the different apartments ; and 

 large reservoirs of marble, four feet in depth, are pla- 

 ced in the walls. The light is admitted from the roof 

 by windows of stained glass; and capacious stoves, 

 with iron-gratings, are placed underneath each sepa- 

 rate apartment. Adjoining to the baths is a very fine 

 mosque. In the royal gardens is a very large octagon 

 room, lined with marble, which faces the Jumna : It 

 was through the window of this room that the late 

 heir-apparent, Mirza Juwaun Bukht, made his escape 

 in 1784, when he fled to Lucknow. Great part of the 

 palace has been destroyed by the late invaders ; the 

 Rohillas, in particular, have stripped many of the rooms 

 1 



Delhi. 



