BI^APUR. ■ .443 



them from this palace to a grand edifice which he ereded clofe 



to th.e eadern wall of the Citadel, and communicating with it, 



and which he at firfl intended for his own PalacCo By another 



account it appears that they were depofited by Aurengzeb in the 



palace of Muh'ammf.d, which is now called Afdr-i'Sharif^ from 



the holy relics, it is ftill beiieve"d to contain^ This abfurd (lory of 



the Afdr-i'Sharif is alluded to by Ferishta, who relates that, Mi-R. 



Muh'ammeb, Saltc Kamadani, a venerable Saiyid^ arriving near 



Bijapur^ (p) and. bringing; with him fome hairs of th.e prophet, 



ihe Sultan, (q) eager to pay his refpecVs to fiich valuable relics, 



went out to meet him 1 and having conducled him into the 



City entertained him with royal magnificence far many days. 



He endeavoured to prevail iinon him to fix his relidence at hts 



court, but the holy-man was earnefl to perform the pilgrimage 



to Mecca-^ and at his departure the Sultam conferred upon him 



many rich prefents, and received from him tv/o of the facred hairs, 



which he placed with care in a golden fhrine fet with jewels, and 



conftantly vifited it every Friday night and upon all holy-days. None 



have now accefs to them, but thofe who are intereHed in the im- 



pofture, or who are fuperftitious enough to believe it a reality. The 



dimenfions of the hall of this palace, will givQ fome idea of the whole 



building, it it about 50 paces long, and 15 broad, and it's height 



may be 75 feet. It's front has one large arch in the centre, and a 



fmaller one on each fide. Immediately before the hall is a grand re- 



fervoir 75 yards long, 60 broad, and 6 deep, into which projeds a 



fmall terrace, from the central arch, with a wooden railing round 



it. The greateft part of the palace is in ruins. At one end of the 



hall lies a large flab of yellow flone richly veined, nearly 6 feet long, 



2 feet broad, and one fpan thick. It is of the fame kind as the 



(!^.) 1695. A. D. 

 {•i ) Ibiahioa 2d. 



