Page:The Architecture of Ancient Delhi Especially the Buildings Around the Kutb Minar 1872 by Henry Hardy Cole.djvu/188

 career. 124 Tomb of Adam Khan. openings correspond with the central arches of each of the octagonal sides of the verandah, and above the terrace of the verandah is a dome, which rises from a sixteen-sided wall to a height of about one hundred feet above the floor of the tomb. The whole building is raised on a large octagonal terrace about twelve feet from the ground ; the walls enclosing the terrace are loop-holed, as if for the purposes of defence, and at each angle is situated a small tower. The great peculiarity of the building consists in a staircase, constructed after the fashion of a labyrinth in the thick walls surrounding the inner chamber. This staircase in one direction reaches the terrace above the verandah in a few steps, whilst in another direction it winds up and down round the building, finally ending against a dead wall. Visitors thus frequently become lost, and much merriment is caused in their endeavours to find their way out again. Adam Khan's Adam Khan Anka, son of Maham Anka, was foster-brother to the Emperor Akbar. In the year a. d. 15 GO he was appointed to the command of an army which had been called together for the conquest of Malwa. The ruler of that country, Baz Bahadur, was a man of great indolence and could not be induced to undertake the necessary preparations for defence until the enemy had advanced to the very gates of his capital. Adam Khan in consequence achieved an easy victory, succeeded in capturing the property of Baz Bahadur and appropriated the ladies of his harem. 1 To the Emperor his master he sent only a few elephants out of a large accumulation of valuable booty; and Akbar, conceiving from this mark of indifierence that Adam intended to render himself independent, at once marched towards bun, and arrived before Sarangpiir where Adam Khan, unaware of the king's approach, was on the point of leaving the city to besiege Gangrar ; but, meetino- the Emperor outside the walls, he accompanied his royal master with many signs 1 An affecting incident occurred on this occasion. Baz Bahadur had a Hindu mistress, who is said to have been one of the most beautiful women ever seen in India. She was as accomplished as she was fair, and was celebrated for her verses in the Hindu language. She fell into the hands of Adam Khan on the flight of Baz Bahadur, and finding herself unable to resist his importunities and threatened violence, she appointed an hour to receive him, put on her most splendid dress, on which she sprinkled the richest perfumes, and lay down on a couch with her mantle drawn over her face. Her attendants thought she had fallen to sleep, but on endeavouring to wake her on the approach of the Khan, they found she had taken poison, and was already dead. (Khafi Khan quoted by Elphinstoue in his " History of India," vol. ii. p. 262.)