Note 131 — PART I.—DESCRIPTION.

Terry notices that among the piles of buildings that held their heads above ruin were not a few unfrequented mosques or Muhammadan churches. Though the people who attended the king were marvellously straitened for room to put their most excellent horses, none would use the churches as stables, even though they were forsaken and out of use. This abstinence seems to have been voluntary, as Roe’s servants, who were sent in advance, took possession of a fair court with walled enclosure in which was a goodly temple and a tomb. It was the best in the whole circuit of Mándu, the only drawback being that it was two miles from the king’s house.131 The air was wholesome and the prospect was pleasant, as it was on the edge of the hill.132 The emperor, perhaps referring rather to the south of the hill, which from the elaborate building and repairs carried out in advance by Abdul Karím seems to have been called the New City, gives a less deserted impression of Mándu. He writes (24th March 1617): Many buildings and relics of the old kings are still standing, for as yet decay has not fallen upon the city. On the 24th I rode to see the royal edifices. First I visited the Jámá Masjid built by Sultán Hoshang Ghori. It is a very lofty building and erected entirely of hewn stone. Although it has been standing 180 years it looks as if built to-day. Then I visited the sepulchres of the kings and rulers of the Khilji dynasty, among which is the sepulchre of the eternally cursed Násir-ud-dín.133 Sher Sháh to show his horror of Násir-ud-dín, the father-slayer, ordered his people to beat Násir-ud-dín’s tomb with sticks. Jehángir also kicked the grave. Then he ordered the tomb to be opened and the remains to be taken out and burnt. Finally, fearing the remains might pollute the eternal light, he ordered the ashes to be thrown into the Narbada.134