they rose in radiant piles from the floor. In the midst of them were temples of silver filagree, eight or ten feet high and studded with precious stones. There were ancient banners of the Nawábs of Oudh, with sentences from the Koran embroidered on cloth of gold: gigantic bands of silver covered with talismanic words; sacred shields studded with the name of God; swords of Khorasan steel, lances, and halberds; the turbans of renowned Commanders; and several pulpits of peculiar sanctity."
During the Moharrum[1] festival the Imambara illuminated, and one night, the sixth of the new moon, is epecially set apart for European visitors as at the Shah Najaf and Husainabad.
24.—RUMI DARWAZA
The Rumi Darwaza, or Turkish gate, is supposed to be a facsimile of one of the gates of Constantinople, but persons who have visited Constantinople declare that there is no gate standing there now which at all corresonds with this one, and the only inference to be drawn that the Nawáb-Vazier, Asuf-ud-daulá, was probably the victim of a deception. This gate is a structure of massive proportions, faced on both sides, with some imitation of leaves which rise from the base and radiate above the spring line forming a pointed arch. The archway is surmounted by a turret which completes the design Both the Rumi Darwaza and the Great Imambara were begun in a year of tremendous famine, and were partly undertaken in order to provide the starving population with bread.
25.—THE HUSAINABAD CLOCK TOWER.[2]
This tower, which is of recent date (1881), is fully detailed below:—
At the suggestion, and through the influence of the
- ↑ Moharrum signifies most sacred, and is applied to a fast and solemn mourning which is observed chiefly by the Shiahs, one of the two great sects of Mahomedans, the other being the Sunnies, so called from their belief in Sunna, or traditions of Mahomed, as a supplement to the Korán (Mahomedan Bible), and almost of equal authority, which the latter accept whilst the Shiahs reject it. This fast is kept for 10 days and is called Ashra from the Arabic signifying ten, to commemorate the death of Husain, younger son of Ali and grandson of the prophet Mahomed. Husain was murdered at Karbala in Turkish Arabia.
- ↑ On 13th September, 1894, when the flood was at its greatest height, the water rose above the stone platform which forms the base of the tower.
