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 Chap. VI. 1

REIGN OF AKBER.

143

and citadels of Agra and Allahabad, the touudatioii oi" the city of Futti[)(X)r on the site of the village of Sikra, for which, as the birth-place of two of iiis sons, he had conceived a strong partiality ; the splendid })alace erected in that city for his own residence, and near it a mosque remarkable for the beauty and majestic proportions of its architecture; and the white marble mosque and palace of Agra, in both of which simplicity and elegance are happily combined.

A. I). 1G06.

Chalees Sitoon, Axlauauao. ' — DauieU's Oriental Scenery.

Another work of Akber, though not strictly of a pubHc nature, is the tomb of Akters ,.iii,-

lie worKs,

his father Hoomayoon at Delhi. Its commanding position, its magnitude and solidity, and its stupendous dome of white marble, have long made it celeln'ated as one of the greatest of his structures ; while a new interest has recently been given to it as the scene of the capture of the last and, all things considered, the most worthless representative of the Great Mogul — the present (January, 1 858) so-called King of Delhi. It would be unpardonable, in referring to the per- formances of Akbers reiffn, not to mention anotiier work which, though of a very different nature from any of the above, might have shed gi-eater lustre on his reign than the most celebrated of them This work was a translation of the His order for

^ • L -r • T 1 1 i»ii' -IT - !•" Persian

gospels nito Persian. It was undertaken by Akbers special directions, and in- translation trasted to a Portuguese missionary, who, unfortunately, in.stead of executing it gosp'^u. faithfully, committed what is called a pious fraud, and produced a spurious translation, disfigured and adulterated by lying Popi.sli legends. The sad con- sequence is, that a work which, issued under the au.spices of the Great Mogul, might have given a knowledge of pure Christianity in influential quarters which could not otherwise be reached, has only had the effect of presenting it under a debased and ])olluted form.

' " The most beautiful tiling [at Allaiiabadl was the pavilion of the Chaleea Sitoon, or forty pillars, RO called from having that number on the principal floor, ilisposeil in two concentric octagonal ranges; one internal of si.tcen pillars, the other outside of

twenty-four; above this, supported by the inner colon- nade, wa.s an upper range of pillars crowned by a dome. This building has entirely disappeared, its materials being wanted to repair the fortifications." — Fergussou's Hand-Iiook of Architecture.