41 
H I N D O 
whofe fliining armour and gorgeous enfigns diffufed a gran¬ 
deur round them, that added greatly to the magnificence 
of the fcene. 
But the external appearance of this ftupendous fabric 
bore no comparifon with the beauty and richnefs of its in¬ 
terior. Mandeflo, who yifited Agra in 1638, and law that 
city in the meridian of its glory, after informing us that 
the palace was altogether the grandeft objeCt he had ever 
beheld, fays, “that at the farther end of the third court 
you faw a row of filver pillars under a piazza, and beyond 
this court was the prefence-chamber; that this, more fpa- 
cious apartment was adorned with a row of golden pil¬ 
lars of a fmaller fiz'e, and within the balultrade was the 
royal throne of maAive gold, incrufted over with dia¬ 
monds, pearls, and other precious ftones ; that above this 
throne was a gallery, where the Mogul appeared every 
day, at a certain hour, to hear and redrefs the. complaints 
of his fubjeCts; and that no perfons wliatfoever, befides 
the king’s fons, were admitted within the area of thofe 
golden pillars.” He mentions likewiie an apartment re¬ 
markable for its tower, which was covered with maAive 
gold, and, for the treafure which it contained, having 
eight large vaults filled with gold, filver, and precious 
ftones, the value of which was ineftimable. 
Tavernier, who vifited Agra in the decline of its glory, 
about the end of the feventeenth century, furveyed' the 
infide of this fplendid palace ; and, among other proofs 
of its magnificence, makes particular mention of a lattice- 
work of emeralds and rubies, intended to reprefent to the 
life “ grapes when they are green, and when they begin 
to grow red. But this defign, which made fuch a noife 
in the world, and required more riches than all the world 
could afford to perfeCt, ftill remains unfinifired, there be¬ 
ing only three ftocks of a vine in gold, with their leaves, 
as the reft ought to have been, enamelled according to 
their natural colours, with emeralds, rubies, and other 
precious ftones, wrought into the fafiiion of grapes.” But 
this fplendid idea was not without parallel amidft the 
magnificence of eaftern courts ; for we find in Curtius, 
lib. viii. c. 9, amidft his luxuriant defcription of the ftate 
and pageantry of an Indian monarch, mention made of 
the golden vines that twined round thofe ornamented co¬ 
lumns of the fame metal, which fupported his palace ; 
amidft whofe branches artificial birds of filver, in imita¬ 
tion of thofe mod elteemed in India, were difpofed with 
the niceft art, and the trueft imitation of nature, by the 
ctirious defigner. 
Determined alfo to make the city of Agra at once the 
wonder and envy of the Eaft, and to bury both its former 
name and obfcurity in equal oblivion, the fultan gave his 
own name to the rifing capital, and called it Akbarabad. 
That its extenfive accommodations might be adapted to 
every purpofe, Akbar ereCted in it many fumptuous cara- 
vanferas, fpacious bazars, and ftately mofques. He like- 
wife invited foreigners from all nations to* come and fet¬ 
tle there} built them factories, permitted them the free 
ufe of their religion, and indulged them in various immu¬ 
nities. In particular, eftimating the great importance of 
the Portuguefe nation at that period in enlarging the com¬ 
merce of India, he endeavoured to eftabliih a firm con¬ 
nection with that enterprifing people ; folicited the "court 
of Portugal to fend mifiioners to inftruCt his fubjects in 
the principles of Chriftianity; and permitted the Jeftiits 
to ereCt a church, and found a college, in his new city, 
which he himielf endowed-with a penfion from the royal 
treafury. By thefe liberal and politic exertions, Agra, or 
Akbarabad, from being a town of fmall note, foon be¬ 
came the molt flourifhing city of HindoOftan. 
Befides this valt undertaking, other princely defigns 
occupied the attention of Akbar. His maufolea, intend¬ 
ed to be the fepulchres of his family, at Secundri, but 
which he did not live to complete, have no rivals of their 
kind in Afia; and the immenfe caftle at Allahabad, the 
point of confluence of the Ganges and Jumna, deferves 
particular notice, as being conltruCied of vaft malfes of 
Vol. X. No. 639. 
OS T A N. 
hewn ftone, brought from quarries at a great diftance; 
and at a vaft expence of human induftry and labour. It 
contained within its area a magnificent palace, whither 
the fultan occafionally reforted in the fcorching heats of 
fummer, to breathe the cooler air of the Ganges, and 
make excurfions on its furface. Nor was pleafure alone 
confulted in its erection; it was defignc-d for a grand de¬ 
pot of arms, to overawe the adjoining country ; being one 
of a vaft chain of fortreffes that extended nearly in a line 
from Lahore to Chunar Gur, on the Ganges; all of which 
were railed by Akbar, as a fecurity to the empire, from the. 
confines of Perfia to the borders of Bengal. 
But thefe princely occupations, directed to the various 
purppfes of public utility, were unfortunately to give way 
to the renewed defolations of war. In the year 157a, a 
dangerous rebellion broke out in Guzerat, under the in¬ 
citement of Ibrahim and Mohammed Huffein, who made 
a defperate effort to lhake off the Mogul yoke. Akbar, 
having procured dromedaries of great fwiftnefs, and fe- 
leCted the molt refolute chieftains, and choiceft of his 
veteran bands, travelled four hundred cofs in feven 
days, and fixed his tents under the walls of Ahmedabad. 
The enemy, already in poffeflion of the whole coaft, were 
in full march to befiege that capital. But the unexpected 
arrival of Akbar, who was now joined by Azim Khan, 
Itruck them with fuch confternation, that they retreated 
before his army in great diforder. The fultan, prelfing 
clofely at their heels, brought them to an engagement; 
in which the rebel commander Ibrahim being (lain, the 
rout became univerfal, and the carnage terrible. Akbar 
fortified Ahmedabad in the ftrongeft manner againft any 
future affaults, rebuilt the caftie upon an extenfive fcalc, 
and furrounded both that and the city with a wall of great 
thicknefs and extent. In this expedition he was attended 
by his eldeft fon Shah Selim, who greatly fignalized him- 
felf in the engagement, and to whom fbme hiftorians at¬ 
tribute the glory of the conqueft of Guzerat. 
Bengal likewife, under the Patan chiefs, once more 
ftruggled for independence. At the head of fifty thou- 
fand horfe, and fix hundred elephants, Akbar paifed the 
Ganges, in 1576, and laid fiege to Patna ; within whofe 
walls Shah Daood, a fenfual and pufillanimous prince, had 
fhtrt liimfelf up ; nor could the emperor, though for fix 
months his army lay before the city, by any efforts bring 
hitn to an engagement. On the feventh it was taken by 
llorm, when numbers of the unfortunate inhabitants were 
put to the fword. After the reduction of Patna, and 
many other confiderable places, Akbar marched to Priag, 
now' Allahabad, which was the principal bulwark of the 
Patan kingdom. Having invefted and taken it, he next 
turned his arms againft the declining power of the rajahs, 
and took fuccefiively the fortreffes of Rantimpore, in the 
province of Malva ; Rhotas, in Behar ; and Jalour, in the 
deiert of Bando, in Agimere. Thefe rajahs, finding that 
all cppofition to fo invincible an enemy w\as ineffectual, 
made the beft terms they were able with him, and w'ere 
won w'itli his clemency, and pleated with his generofity ; 
for he left them in full poffeflion of their hereditary do¬ 
mains ; requiring only an annual tribute, moderately pro¬ 
portioned to their own revenues, to be remitted tc his 
court, and a ftipulated body of forces to be maintained 
by each, for the protection of the empire. 
But the grandeft projeCt formed by the warlike genius 
of fultan Akbar, was that which had for its object the 
conqueft of thofe extenfive territories included in the 
Deccan, or foutkern peninfula, which that word denotes. 
Thefe, according to the accurate Mr. Maurice, confuted 
of the kingdoms of Belagate, Vifiapour, Golconda, and the 
Carnatic, or Bilhagur. The fultan, to put in force this 
projeCt, difpatched four heralds to the courts of the four 
kings reigning in Deccan, proposing terms of an alliance 
with them. But thofe fovereigns were by no means blind 
to the covert view's of Akbar; and, rejecting therefore 
his proffers of alliance, difmifled his heralds with con¬ 
tempt, As this was precilely what Akbar expcCted, he 
M prepared 
