SHERE SHAH. 
123 
brity, about thirty miles south-west of Buxar. It is 
distinguished as the burial-place of Shere Shah, an emi- 
nent Afghan prince,, who expelled the father of the 
great Akbar from Hindostan. The remains of Shere 
Shah were deposited in a mausoleum of considerable 
magnificence, built in the centre of a large tank, which 
is about a mile in circumference, surrounded by strong 
masonry. The dome is remarkably elegant, and en- 
compassed by three turreted parapets having several 
small circular towers at regular intervals. The base 
of the mausoleum is a large square, in the centre 
of which the principal structure stands. It is octago- 
nal and flanked at each angle of the quadrangular 
basement by a low-domed tower, scarcely less magni- 
ficent than the parent edifice from which it is detach- 
ed ; yet to the beholders eye on the opposite shore 
the four smaller domes appear to be a part of the main 
building, though in reality they have no immediate 
connexion with it. The interior of the mausoleum is 
plain, but there is a gloomy grandeur about it which 
awakens feelings rather painful than agreeable. The 
remains of Shere Shah, with those of several members 
of his family, are deposited in the lower story. The 
ruins of a bridge which formerly communicated with 
the mausoleum are still visible upon the eastern side 
of the tank. This fine structure is rapidly falling to 
decay, and the beautiful reddish stone of which it is 
composed is greatly discoloured by age and neglect. 
Shere Shah was an Afghan prince, who rendered 
himself famous by dethroning Humaioon, son of the 
heroic Baber. After a splendid career of military suc- 
cess, he became emperor of Hindostan, over which he 
