Page:The Seven Cities of Delhi.djvu/24

 greatness, and the abandoned cities are difficult to distinguish on the deserted plains.

Before we proceed to examine the monuments in any detail, or to recount the history attached to them, it is desirable that the reader should be well acquainted with their situation. The most convenient way to ensure this is to follow itineraries, which will conduct him within sight of all the important monuments; the principal features of these will be noticed, so as to fix their significance in the mind. It should be under- stood that, in unfolding the panoramas, we shall follow the direction taken by the hands of a clock—that is, from left to right. The position of the various buildings is given left or right of the direction in which the road is leading.

Modern Delhi is still contained within the walls of Shāhjahānābād, the last of the seven cities, and built by the third great Moghal emperor, whose name is so well known as the builder of that magnificent mausoleum at Agra, commonly known as the "Tāj Mahāl," and the admiration of the world. The walls, starting from the Water Bastion on the north face, run practically west for five-sixths of a mile to the Mori Bastion, and thence curve in a great arc, of a length of nearly three miles, to the river at the Wellesley Bastion; they then follow the river-bank to the Water