for so Shah Jehan esteemed her. The name of the tomb, Taj Mahal, means, The Crown of Edifices, or Palaces—from Taj, a crown, and Mahal, a palace. It is worthy of its title, and is under the special care of the English Government, and will no doubt be preserved in its present perfect and stainless condition for its own sake, and because it is and must ever remain—notwithstanding the sins and frailties of the couple who beneath its dome await the call to judgment—the most perfect and beautiful testimonial to the virtues of a wife ever raised by an affectionate husband.
Among the thousands of her sex who have visited the Taj, and felt its peculiar fascination over the susceptible heart of sentimental women, Lady Sleeman was not the first, as she certainly will not be the last, to realize the emotion which is recorded of her. Retiring from the Taj, lost in reflection and admiration, she was asked by her husband what she thought of the Taj? Her prompt reply was, “I cannot tell you what I think, for I know not how to criticise such a building; but I can tell you what I feel—I would die to-morrow to have such another put over me!”
A short distance from the Taj we reach the beautiful tomb of the Premier of the great Emperor Akbar. This splendid pile of white marble, delicately carved into fret-work, its screens and tessellated enamels being very fine, is situated on the right hand of the road as you enter the city of Agra.
The tomb is not only beautiful in itself, and one of the most interesting specimens of Mogul architecture to be met with, even in a city so replete with artistic triumphs as was once imperial Agra, the creation of the renowned Akbar; but there is a history connected with it so romantic, illustrated by Sleeman and Martin, that it is worthy of its high place among the curiosities of Oriental life.
This structure was raised by the famous Noor Jehan, in loving remembrance of her father, Khwaja Accas, one of the most prominent characters in the history of India during the reign of Akbar. The liberality and fame of the greatest monarch that ever ruled India, and the patronage he extended to men of genius and worth, attracted to his Court from Persia and the adjacent nations those
