Detail of Italian city of Agra was built in the form of a crescent along the banks of the Jumna ; its walls were constructed with stones of great size, hard, mid of a reddish colour resembling jasper. It was four miles in extent, and consisted of three courts, with many stately por ticoes, galleries, and turrets, all richly painted and gilt, and some overlaid with plates of gold. The first court was built round with arches, which affiirded shade; the second was for the great ontrahs and ministers of' state, who had here their apartments for transacting public business; and the third court, within which was the seraglio, consisted entirely of state apartments of the emperor, hung round with the richest silks of Persia. Behind these were the row al gardens. In front of the palace, towards the river, a large area was left for the exercise of the royal elephants, and for battles of the wild beasts ; and in a square which separated the palace from the city. a numerous army lay constantly encamped. Nan desto, who visited Agra in 1638, then in the zenith of its glory, says, it was surrounded by a wall of freestone and a broad ditch, with a drawbridge at each of its gates. He states, that at the fitrther end of the third court, under a piazza, were a row of silver pillars ; that beyond this was the with golden pillars ; that within a balus trade was the royal throne of massy gold, almost incrusted with diamonds, pearls, and other precious stones ; that above this throne was a gallery, where the Mogul appeared every day at a certain hour, to hear and redress the complaints of his subjects; and that no person but the king's sons were admitted behind these golden pillars. He mentions also an apartment remarkable for its tower, which was covered with massy gold, and for the treasure it contained, having eight large vaults filled with gold, silver, and. precious stones. Tavernier, who visited the Agra near the end of the 17th cen tury, and in the absence of the court had permission to examine the inside, describes a gallery, the ceiling of which was decorated with branched work of gold and azure, and the walls hung with rich tapestry. The gallery which fronted the river, the monarch had proposed to coverover with a sort of lattice-work of emeralds and rubies to represent grapes with their leaves when they are green, and when they begin to grow red ; but this design then remained imperfect, there being only three stocks of a vine in gold, with their leaves enamelled with emeralds, and rubies representing grapes; being a specimen of what was intended for the whole.
We have been thus minute in the description of the palace of Agra, because, having been built by one of' the most en lightened princes of the East, it aftbrds a perfect specimen of the scale upon which the monarchs of those extensive and rich countries acted. And it will be allowed, that the estab lishments of Akbar and his great rajahs, occupying four miles along the banks of the and connected with a handsome and prosperous city, must have produced a picture sufficiently splendid, and emblematic of the wealth and power of the prince who erected it.
At Cuttek, or Cuttack, the capital of' Orissa, there is a fine palace. It consists of nine distinct buildings :-1. for ele phants, camels, and horses ; 2. for artillery, military stores, and quarters for the guards; 3. for porters and watchmen; 4. for artificers ; 5. for kitchens ; 6. for the rajah's public
apartments; 7. for the transaction of private business; S. where the women reside ; 9. the rajah's sleeping apartments.
The specimens here selected being the most noted, will, we trust, convey an idea of the nature of the Indian cities and palaces ; and we shall therefore proceed to consider their sacred edifices.
We have already stated. that these were of five different sorts ; that is, 1. pyramids ; 2. excavations; 3. square or oblong courts; 4. in the form of a cross; and 5. perfectly circular.
I. We are here at a hiss to determine whether or not the construction of Indian pyramids preceded that of their exca vations. Tii construct a ramid of rude stones, is certainly a much simpler operation than forming a cavern ornamented with sculpture ; so that althouJt it may be conceived that mankind might, for the purposes of IA orship, make use of' the simple plain em ern. either natural or artificial, previous to the construction of buildings of great magnitnde on the sur f:ice yet it is not very probable that the sp'endid excava tions of Elephare a and Vellore. in ++ hick were rich sculptures, and even pyramids cut out of the solid rock, could have pre. ceded a rude pyramid on the stt face. But as the purposes to which the pyramids of I )eu gut r and Tanjore arc appropriated partake very of the nature of the cavern, their entrance doors being very small, their interior being lighted by means of lamps, and the middle chamber by one lamp only ; there is some reason for supposing, that in places where rocky eminences were not conveniently situated, or from motives now unknown, some change of ideas taking place, these pyramids might be constructed for purposes similar to the original cave' n or g' Otto, in the same manner as the Egyptian pyramids are considered to have been done with regard to the tombs of the Thebaid. The external faces of the pyramids of Deogur and Tanjore are very rude.
2. In regard to excavations, they are numerous and exten sive. In some instances, they are very simple and plain ; in others, highly ornamented with architectural forms and sculp tures. From Captain Wilson's paper in the bth volume of the Asiatic Researches, we learn, that an oxtensi, e branch of the Caucasus was mooed by the Greeks:, Pmapamis, from Pura P(ni, the pure and excellent city of \rand, commonly called Bamaiya. It is situated on the road between Balkh and Cabul, where vast numbers of apartments are cut out rocks. sumo of thetn so large that they are supposed to have been temples. And Abul Fa zel says, that in the Cashmere, in the middle of the tnomitains, 12,000 apartments were cut in the solid rock. At this place there were 700 places where the figure of a serpent was sculptured.
Adhonurh neither the precise form nor dimensions arm given, yet from the great number of excavations, and the place being noticed by the Greeks, it must, in former ages, have been of importance, at least, for its sanctity ; and its situation between India and Persia renders it still an interest ing subject of inquiry.
In other parts of India, the exeavated temples have fallen more fiequently under the observation of scientific persons, w ho have, with laudable industry, furnished the piddle with exact representations, and full details ing them. The three principal ones, and which our limits will only enable us to notice, are Elephanta, Salsette, :01d \'ellore or Ellora.