1830.] 
an Ancient Hindu City. 
345 
insulted monarch, enraged at the presumption this bold demand exhibited, drew 
his sabre, aud dividing the rope at one desperate cut, dashed the vain, foolish 
mummer to the unknown bottom of the pit! 
To give an idea of the ground on which Mandti stands, it will be sufficient to 
explain, that it is built on a point of land, separated almost entirely from the range 
(the extreme termination of which it is, in fact) forming one boundary to the valley 
of the Nerbaddah, and which is, except by a narrow strip, completely isola- 
ted. The position is very elevated ; naturally of great strength, except in one part ; 
and therefore enjoying almost every advantage an inland town can well possess.— It 
was along this narrow neck that I entered it. Of an altitude considerably less 
than the main land, you have to make a steep descent, somewhat diminished, how- 
ever, by a heavy stone causeway or bridge of large dimensions, ending in a 
handsome gateway, strongly fortified and flanked, through which I passed, and 
found myself on the commencement of abroad road, gently ascending to the town 
above, ami cut out of the hill, on the surface of which it is built. This road 
is paved, and the stones worn with ruts, tell what a bustling, busy, thronged 
thoroughfare it must have been. It is also bounded on the outside by a parapet, 
commanding the pas.-age below, and having iron cannon, of rude construction, still 
lying in the embrasures. 
On searching the summit, a sharp turn to the right placed me before another 
gate, which gives entrance to the place. Whether on this, or the former, I cannot 
just now call to recollection, but on one of them, I observed a slab of white marble, 
engraved with the date of a visit made by the Emperor Acber. It wa# very 
beautifully executed in the Persian character, and unlike what is usually seen in 
India— in alto relievo. I was told, by my guide, that the same curiosity hunter had 
removed this inscription some few months before, but was afterwards obliged to 
replace it by order of Sir David Ochterlony, who justly considered it an act of idle 
spoliation. I shall hereafter have occasion, however, to remark, that Sir David's 
own presence in Mandu was not entirely unaccompanied by a robbery of the 
same sort, or if different, more inexcusable than that I have alluded to. Return- 
ing to the last mentioned gate, a regular street commences, confined in breadth, 
but bordered with dwellings far less dilapidated than I could have thought. 
Bending my steps onwards, nothing unusual invites the stranger to pause, until a 
noble arch, directly across the street, commands a halt.— 1 think I never saw 
one of greater altitude, or more graceful curve. The light slender fluted columns, 
springing up from earth to heaven, aud meeting above, exceeded all that I remem- 
ber of the Gothic in my own country. After indulging my taste here for architec- 
tural beauties until the day was too far advanced to allow of farther investigation 
or delay it became desirable to adjourn, where protection from the sun might 
be badland accepting the advice of the guides, an airy abode was quickly 
selected’ not very distant, and the common resort, I understood, of nil the 
lAhih Lsr frequenting Mandu. After ascending a long flight of broken 
Sahib Log j , way |i ne d w j t [, mar ble, and deeply cut with a border 
of'eitracts fron. the Koran.’ I discovered myself in a vaulted cl, amber of 
of extiacts i windows of fret work, ingeniously carved. A cooler, or 
an octangular shape, with windows oDret^^ ^ ^ of u 
moie agreeab uremcnt & c . I feci diffident in giving any statement of its 
lection regaid J d formed the roof, and the building itself was only a part 
real size A .^ L cenL of the front side of which it was. That portion of it 
of a quadrangle, the centre l ^ opposit e, and formed the rear face. It 
used for the holy o^ces of p ) ,& PP £ inliabited) by long an d rather low 
was connected with the pru p » . f veran dabs had been erected parallel 
arched colonnades. It was » > * disp „ s «l apart, at equal dia- 
to. “djorntugoneanoaer .and r H Mled; ,„d though every 
tances. On two of the co • » ? on | v a f eW yards of it were actually 
part of this edifice was more or .P . .. of pijre white marble, may be wen 
level with the earth. A ri y devoted to religious purposes. Flights of 
in a neglected state, m the hastily quitted their nests ; until again 
wild pigeons, alarmed by m y P ; . j n which I unwillingly disturbed them, 
left to retake that possession of just f r0 m the point where the 
Around the apartment which I rnice 0 f inlaid work encircled it, of 
dome commenced, a curious orna great to allow of my speaking 
a variegated coloured pattern: the distance ^ ^ dormitorv , B little to 
positively as to the material emp V ^ protruding above the ground, 
the left, and opposite, a long pole °! “ ‘ haWng resisted every effort hitherto 
some ten or twelve feet, was pointed out as naiu D 
