Page:Bulandshahr- Or, Sketches of an Indian District- Social, Historical and Architectural.djvu/107

 performance could scarcely be found in the largest town in the Province. The successful transformation of the spot is so fully appreciated by the citizens, that since then they have readily fallen in with any scheme that I have proposed, in perfect confidence that the result will prove satisfactory. The well in the square, which is a very favourite one, with people drawing water from it all day long, at the same time that the pavement was made was cleaned and repaired and enclosed with a very elegant stone-screen at an outlay of Rs. 200. There was also added for the accommodation of a Brahman, who supplies a draught of drinking water to the thirsty wayfarer, a prettily decorated square stone cell, or Piydo. This is surmounted by a lofty hexagonal shaft of masonry tapering up to a stone finial, with tier upon tier of little niches on all its sides from top to bottom, in which lamps are placed whenever there is an illumination of the town. This was the gift of Chaudhri Bijay Siṅh of Sikri, and cost Rs. 500.

In a line with Mihrbán Ali's house is a temple with a high spire in the background, built by a Hindu widow. The front was first of brick, but in order not to be outdone in magnificence by her Muhammadan neighbour, it was no sooner finished than she pulled it down and rebuilt it in stone as it now appears.

On the north side of the square was a narrow strip of ground occupied by some miserable hovels, which I have pulled down, and in their place erected a handsome double-storied range of buildings, with seven shops in the basement, and a convenient set of rooms above which are let out as a Banker's offices. This façade also is of carved stone, with a slight inter-mixture of red brick. The property belongs to Munawar Ali Khan, who has the misfortune to be of weak intellect. His estate, which is a considerable one, lying chiefly in the Muradabad district, is therefore administered by the Court of Wards. The family, originally Hindu, has been connected with the town of Bulandshahr, ever since its very first settlement under the name of Baran, more than three thousand years ago. It was therefore only fitting that the scion of so ancient a stock should be locally represented by something more sightly and substantial than a ruinous line of mud hovels. Accordingly I drew attention to the matter in the proper official quarter, and eventually obtained sanction for the removal of the old tumble-down sheds—which were a disgrace to the administration of the estate—and for the expenditure of Rs. 9,000 on the new block, which was completed in 1882.