Mathura A District Memoir Chapter-6

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Mathura A District Memoir By F.S.Growse Chapter-1 Chapter-2 Chapter-3 Chapter-4 Chapter-5 Chapter-6 Chapter-7 Chapter-8 Chapter-9 Chapter-10 Chapter-11 Chapter-12 Chapter-13

THE HINDU CITY OF MATHURA.

On the decline of Buddhism, Mathura acquired that character for sanctity which it still retains, as the reputed birth-place of the deified Krishna. Or, more probably, the triumph of Buddhism was a mere episode, on the conclusion of which the city recovered a character which it had before enjoyed at a much earlier period ; for it may be inferred from the language of the Greek geographers that Brahmanism was in their time the religion of the country, while Hindu tradition is uniform in maintaining its claims both to holiness and antiquity. Thus it is represented as the second of the capitals of the Lunar race, which were in succession Prayag, Mathura, Kusasthali,. and Dwaraka ; and in the following well-known couplet it is ranked among the seven sanc tuaries of Hindustan:-

Kasi kanti cha Mayakya twayodhyi Dwravatyapi
Mathuravantika chaita sapta puryo tra mokshadah.

At the present day it has no lack of stately edifices, with which, as described of old in the Harivansa, " it rises beautiful as the cresent moon over the dark stream of the Jamuna ;

अर्द्धचन्द्रप्रतीकाशा यमुनातीरशोभिता ।।

but they are all modern. The neighbourhood is crowded with sacred sites, which for many generations have been reverenced as the traditionary scenes of Krishna's adventures; but, thanks to Muhammadan intolerance, there is not a single building of any antiquity either in the city itself or its environs. Its most famous temple—that dedicated to Kesava Deva—was destroyed, as already mentioned, in 1669, the eleventh year of the reign of the icnoclastic Aurangzeb. The mosque erected on its ruins is a building of little architectural value, but the natural advantages of its lofty and isolated position render it a striking feature in the landscape. The so-called katra, in which it stands, a place to which frequent allusion has been made in the previous chapter, is an oblong enclosure, like a sarae, 104 feet in length by 653 feet in breadth. In its centre is a raised terrace, 172 feet long and 86 feet broad, upon which now stands the mosque, occupying its entire length, but only 60 feet of its breadth. About five feet lower is another terrace, measuring 286 feet by 268. There may still be observed, let into the Muhammadan pavement, some votive tablets with Nigari inscriptions, dated Sambat 1713 and 1720, corresponding to 1656 and 1663 A. D. In the latter year the temple attracted the notice of the traveller Bernier, who writes :—" Between Delhi and Agra, a distance of fifty or sixty leagues, there are no fine towns ; the whole road is cheerless and uninteresting ; nothing is worthy of observation but Mathura where an an cient and magnificent pagan temple is still to be seen." The plinth of the temple-wall may be traced to this day at the back of the mosque and at right angles to it for a distance of 163 feet ; but not a vestige of the superstruc ture has been allowed to remain.
The following description of this famous building is given by Tavernier, who visited it about the year 1650. He writes :—" After the temples of Jagre nath and Banarous, the most important is that of Matura, about 18 kos from Agra on the road to Delhi. It is one of the most sumptuous edifices in all India, and the place where there used to be formerly the greatest concourse of pilgrims ; but now they are not so many, the Hindus having gradually lost their previous veneration for the temple, on account of the Jamuna, which used to pass close by, now having changed its bed and formed a new channel half a league away. For, after bathing in the river, they lose too much time in returning to the temple, and on the way might come across something to render them unclean.
The temple is of such a vast size that, though in a hollow, one can see it five or six kos off, the building being very lofty and very magnificent. The stone used in it is of a reddish tint, brought from a large quarry near Agra. It splits like our slate, and you can have slabs 15 feet long and nine or ten broad and only some six inches thick ; in fact, you can split them just as you like and according to your requirements, while you can also have fine columns. The whole of the fort at Agra, the walls of Jehanabad, the king's palace, and some of the houses of the nobles are built of this stone. To return to the temple.—It is set on a large octagonal platform, which is all faced with out stone, and has round' about it two bands of many kinds of animals, but particularly monkeys, in relief ; the one band being only two feet off the ground level, the other two feet from the top. The ascent is by two staircases of 15 or 16 steps each ; the steps being only two feet in length, so that two people cannot mount abreast. One of these staircases leads to the grand entrance of the temple, the other to the back of the choir. The temple, however, occupies only half the platform, the other half making a grand square in front. Like other temples, it is in the form of a cross, and has a great dome in the middle with two rather smaller at the end. Outside, the building is covered from top to bottom with figures of animals, such as rams, monkeys, and elephants, carved in stone : and all round there and nothing but niches occupied by different monsters. In each of the three towers there are, at every stage from the base to the pinnacle, windows five or six feet high, each provided with a kind of balcony where four persons can sit. Each balcony is covered with a little vault, supported some by four, others by eight columns arranged in pairs and all touching. Round these towers there are yet more niches full of figures representing demons ; one has four arms, another four legs ; some, human heads on bodies of horned beasts with long tails twining round their thighs. There are also many figures of monkeys, and it is quite shocking to have before one's eyes such a host of monstrosities.
The pagoda has only one entrance, which is very lofty, with many columns and images of men and beasts on either side. The choir is enclosed by a screen composed of stone pillars, five or 6 inches in diameter, and no one is allowed inside but the chief Brahmans, who make use of a little secret door which I could not discover. When in the temple, I asked some of the Brahmans if I could see the great Ram Ram, meaning the great idol. They replied that if I would give them something, they would go and ask permission of their superior: which they did as soon as I had put in their hands a couple of rupees. After waiting about half an hour, the Brahmans opened a door on the inside in the middle of the screen—outside, the screen is entirely closed—and, at about 15 or 16 feet from the door, I saw, as it were, a square altar, covered with old gold and silver brocade, and on it the great idol that they call Ram Ram. The head only is visible and is of very black marble, with what seemed to be two rubies for eyes. The whole body from the neck to the feet was covered with an embroidered robe of red velvet and no arms could be seen. There were two other idols, one on either side, two feet high, or thereabouts, and got up in the same style, only with white faces ; these they called Becchor. I also noticed in the temple a structure 15 or 16 feet square, and from 12 to 15 feet high, covered with coloured clothes representing all sorts of demons. This structure was raised on four little wheels, and they told me it was the moveable altar on which they set the great god on high feast days, when he goes to visit the other gods, and when they take him to the river with all the people on their chief holiday."
From the above description, the temple would seem to have been crowded with coarse figure-sculptures, and not in such pure taste as the somewhat older temple of Govind Deva at Brinda-ban ; but it must still have been a most sumptuous and imposing edifice, and we cannot but detest the bigotry of the barbarian who destroyed it. At the time of its demolition it had been in exist ence only some fifty years. but it is certain that an earlier shrine, or series of shrines, on the same site and under the same dedication, had been famous for many ages. Thus it is said in the Varaha Purana-

Na Kesava samo deva na Mathura samo dvija
No god like Kesava, and no Brahman like a Mathuriya Chaube.

In still earlier times the site now wrested by the Muhammadans from the Hindus had been seized by the Hindus themselves to the prejudice of another religion, as is attested by the Buddhist remains which we have already deseribed as found there. With regard to the change in the course of the stream, all engineers whom I have consulted are unanimous in declaring that the main channel of the Jamuna can never in historic time have been at the foot of the temple, as Tavernier imagined. The traces of fluvial action, which he observed, are unmistakeable, but they date from the most remote antiquity. This, however, need not occasion any difficulty: for, as Madhu-puri, the first capital, was established at a point which clearly the Jamnna could never have reached, there is no improbability in supposing that the second capital also, though much nearer the stream, was not actually on its bank. The temples which Fa Hian mentions as being on the other side of the river were probably situate at Isapur and Mall-ban. It is also to be noted that a tributary stream, the bed of which is now partly occupied by the Delhi road, did certainly flow past the katra. This being joined, at the point still called the Sangam, or ' confluence,' by another considerable water-course from the opposite direction, fell into the channel now crossed by the Seth's bridge, and so reached the Jamuna.
In anticipation of Aurangzeb's raid, the ancient image of Kesava Deva was removed by Rana Raj Sinh of Mewar, and was set up on the spot where, as they journeyed, the wheels of the chariot sank in the deep sand and refused to be extricated. It happened to be an obscure little village, then called Siarh, on the Banas, 22 miles north-east of Udaypur. But the old name is now lost in the celebrity of the temple of Nath Ji, ' the Lord,' which gives its designation to the town of Nath-dwara, which has grown up round it. This is the most highly venerated of all the statues of Krishna. There are seven others of great repute, which also deserve mention here, as a large proportion of them came from the neighbourhood of Mathura, viz.; Nava-nita, which is also at Nath-dwara ; Mathura-nath at Kota ; Dwaraka-nath at Kankarauli, brought from Kanauj ; Bal Kishan at Surat, from Maha-ban ; Bitthal-nath or Pandu-rang at Kota, from Banaras ; Madan Mohan from Brindi-ban ; and Gokul-nath and Gokul chandrami, both from Gokul. These two last were at Jaypur till a few years ago, when, in consequence of the Maharaja's dislike to all the votaries of Vishnu, they were removed to Kam-ban in Bharat-pur territory. In all pro bability before very long they will be brought back to their original homes.
At the back of the katra is the modern temple of Kesava Deva, a cloistered quadrangle of no particular archtectural merit and, except on special occasions, little frequented, in consequence of its distance from the main town. It is supported by an annual endowment of Rs. 1,027, the rents of the village of Undi in the Chhata pargana. Close by is a very large quadrangular tank of solid masonry, called the Potara-kund, in which, as the name denotes, Krish na's ' baby linen' was washed. There is little or no architectural decoration, but the great size and massiveness of the work render it imposing, while the effect is much enhanced by the venerable trees which overhang the enclosing wall. Unfortunately, the soil is so porous that the supply of water is rapidly absorbed, and in every season but the rains the long flights of steps are dry to their very base. Its last restoration was made, at considerable cost, in 1850, by the kamdar of the Gwaliar Raj. It might now be easily filled from the canal. A small cell on the margin of the tank, called indifferently Kara-grah, ‘ the prison-house,' or Janm-bhumi, the birth-place,' marks the spot where Vasu deva and Devaki were kept in confinement, and where their son Krishna was born. The adjoining suburb, in its name Mallpura, commemorates, it is said, Kansa's two famous mallas, i. e., ‘wrestlers,' Chanura and Mushtika. At the back of the Potara-kund and within the circuit of the Dhul-kot, or old ramparts of the city, is a very large mound (where a railway engineer had a house before the Mutiny) which would seem to have been the site of some large Bud dhist establishment. It is strewn with broken bits of stone and fragments of sculpture, and I found in particular two large but headless and armless and other-wise mutilated figures of Buddha seated and fully clothed. In this respect they agreed with all the figures found in this particular neighbourhood, as also in the position of the hands, which are not crossed on the feet, but the right is raised in admonition, while the left rests on the thigh. At the Kankali tila the statues are mostly nude ; and at the Jamalpur mound they are more commonly standing than seated.
In connection with the discovery of Buddhist antiquities, allusion has already been made to the temple of Bhutesvar Mahadeva, which overlooks the old and ruinous Balbhadra-kund. In its present form it is a quadrangle of ordinary character with pyramidal tower and cloister built by the Mahrattas towards the end of last century. The site has probably been occupied by successive reli gious buildings from most remote antiquity, and was at one time the centre of the town of Mathura, which has now moved away from it more than a mile to the east. In the earlier days of Brahmanism, before the development of the Krishna cultus, it may be surmised that Bhutesvar was the special local divinity. There are in Braj three other shrines of Mahadeva, which are also of high traditional repute in spite of the meanness of their modern accessories, viv., Kamesvar at Kama, Chakresvar at Gobardhan, and Gopesvar at Brinda ban. A mela is held by the Balbhadra-kund on the full moon of Sravan, the feast of the Saluno. The pond was partially cleaned out and repaired as a relief work during the late famine, and, as the Aring navigation channel terminates in a reservoir close by, there will now be no difficulty in keeping it always filled with water. This branch of the canal has a length of eight or nine miles, with two locks, one at Ganesra, the other immediately opposite the Chaurasi temple. For some little disstance it runs directly under the Dhul-kot, or old city wall. Of the many little shrines that cluster about the Balbhadra-kund, one is dedicated to Bahama under his title of Dau-ji, ‘the elder brother; ' another to Ganes, ant a third to Nar-Sinha, ' the man-lion,' the fourth incarnation of Vishnu. According to the legend, there was an impious king, by name Hiranya Kasipu, who claimed universal sovereignty over all powers on earth, in heaven, and hell. No one had the hardihood to oppose him, save his own son, the pious prince Prahlad, who was for ever singing the praises of the great god Vishnu. “If," said the king, " your god is everywhere present, let him now show himself in this pillar which I strike." At the word the pillar parted in twain and revealed the god in terrible form, half lion half man, who seized the boastful monarch and tore him in pieces and devoured him.
In an adjoining orchard called the Kazi's bagh is a small modern mosque, and in connection with it a curious square building of red sand-stone. It now encloses a Muhammadan tomb, and in all probability was originally constructed for that purpose, though it has nothing Saracenic about it and is a good specimen of the pure Hindu style of architecture, with characteristic columns and square architraves supported on brackets instead of arches. Similarly, almost all the oldest buildings that now remain in and about the city are houses or tombs that were constructed for Muhammadans by Hindus and in purely Hindu style. At the present day all the new buildings are intended for Hindu use, but their architectural forms have been greatly modified by Muhammadan influences.
After leaving the great entrance to the katra, the Dehli road passes a ma sonry well called ' Kubja's' in commemoration of the miracle which Krishna wrought in straightening the hump-backed maiden who met him there. The turn to the right leads into the city by the Brinda-ban gate, under the Ambarisha hill, and past the Shahganj sarae, which has a once handsome, but now sadly ruinous, stone front. In the Muhammadan burial-ground, on the opposite side of the street, is a fine large stone Chhattri, similar to the one near the Idgah at Maha-ban, which commemorates Ali Khan, the local Governor of that town. It is probably of the reign of Akbar, and is said to cover the ashes of a certain Khwaja. Nearer the roadside is an unfinished square stone building with very elegant tracery, which is said to have been commenced as the monument of some grandee of Darbangha. The handsome bridge which here crosses the natural water-course known as the Sarasvati Sangam, or ' confluence of the Sarasvati,' was built by Seth Laxmi Chand in 1849.
To the right of it is a temple of Mahadeva, which forms a very conspicuous object. It was built in the year 1850 by Ajudhya Prasad of Lucknow, and the court-yard is in the debased style of architecture for which that city is no torious. Close by is a walled garden with another temple to the same divinity and a much frequented stone ghat on the river-bank, all constructed at the cost of Sri Gopal, the head of the money-changers in the city, who is now represent ed by his son Radha Krishan. Round the garden wall on the inner side are rooms for the accommodation of pilgrims, the arches being filled in with doors and panels of reticulated tracery, in wood. A daily distribution of grain is here made to the poor. The adjoining hill is called Kailas, and on its slope is the shrine of Gokarnesvar, who is represented as a giant seated figure, with enormous eyes and long hair and beard and moustaches. In one hand is what appears to be a wine cup, in the other some flowers or grapes. The stone is much worn. The figure is certainly of great antiquity and might have been originally intend ed to represent some Indo-Scythian king. In a niche in the wall are two small statues, about 11/2 foot high, called by the Brahmans Sati and Parvati. They really are both well executed and early figures of Buddha, seated and preaching. One has lost the right hand. In the same set of buildings is the tomb of Gauta ma Rishi. Now, Gokarna is the name of a place near the Malabar coast where Bhagirath practised austerities before he brought down the Ganges from heaven, and Gotama (not Gautama) is the author of some of the hymns in the Rig Veda ; so that both names might be connected with Hinduism ; but both are also Buddhist, and this fact, combined with the existence of unmis takeably Buddhist sculptures on the spot, may be taken as proof that this is one of the old Buddhist sites. Gautama, it need scarcely be said, is one of the commonest names of Buddha himself, and Gokarnesvar is one of the eight great Vita-ragas, or passionless deified saints.
Immediately under the bridge is a shrine bearing the singular name of Gargi Sargi, or as it is sometimes called the Great and Little Pathawari. They are said to have been the two wives of Gokarn, who when translated to heaven became the equal of Mahadeva. The mantra to be repeated in honour of the younger lady runs as follows:-

शार्गीदेवि नमस्तुभ्यमृषिपत्नि मनोरमे ।
शुभगे वरदे गौरि सर्वदा सिद्धिदायिनी ।।

“Honour to thee, O divine Sargi, the Rishi's beautiful wife, happy mother, beneficent incarnation of Gauri, ever bestowing success."
Here are several other groups of rude vermilion-stained stones, some in the open, some housed in shrines of their own, which do duty for Bhairav, Sitala Devi, and Masani. Two fragments are of Buddhist type : one a rail, the other a sculpture of Maya Devi standing under a pillar with bell-shaped capi tal. Opposite the Kailas hill, across the road, is an open plain, where the sports of the Ram Lila are celebrated on the festival of the Dasahara. Close by is a tank called the Sarasvati-kund, measuring 125 feet square. Owing to some fault in the construction, it is almost always dry, and the adjoining build ings have also rather a ruinous and deserted appearance. We learn, however, from the following inscription, which is on a tablet over the entrance to the temple, that the last restoration was completed so recently as the year 1846:
श्रीमत् परमहंस परिव्राजकाचार्य्य श्री० स्वामी परमहंसजी तच्चरण सेवापरायण बलदेव देव गोस्वामी बासी मथुराजी दशावतार की गली के नें सरस्वती कुण्ड को जीर्णोद्धार सर्व ओर तें तथा जीवन सरस्वती को मन्दिर श्रीमूर्ति प्रतिष्ठा सुद्धां बनवायो मार्फत छोटेलाल मन्नूलाल सनाढा की उस्तां चुन्नी में लागत रुपया २७३५) मिती कार्त्तिक शु. १३ संवत १९०३ ।।
The above, which exhibits several peculiarities, both in style and phraseo logy, may be rendered as follows : —" Baladeva Gosain, resident of the Da savatar Gali of Mathura, the devoted servant of the venerable contemplative ascetic the right reverend Swami Paramhans thoroughly restored from ruin the Saras vati-kund, and built this new temple and in due form set up a god in it. His agents were Chhote Lal and Mannu Lal, Sanadhs; the head of the works Chunni : the cost Rs. 2,735. Kartik sudi 13th, Sambat 1903." The Swami's actual name was Narayan, and his disciple, Baladeva, was a foundling whom he picked up in the street. Both were Pandits of high local repute.
At no great distance is the temple of Maha Vidya Devi. The original image with that dedication is said to have been set up by the Pndavas ; the present shrine, a Sikhara of ordinary character in a small quadrangle, was built by the Peshwa towards the end of last century. The hill upon which it stands is ascended by flights of masonry steps between 30 and 40 in number. At the foot is a small dry tank, completely overgown with a dense jungle of ber, pilu, and hins. In the court-yard, which occupies the entire plateau, is a karil tree said to be of enormous age, under which were to be seen, among other fragments, a Buddhist pillar carved with the figure of Maya Devi under the sal-tree, and a square stone box with a seated Buddha on each of its four sides. Two melas are held here on the 8th of the light fortnight of Chait and Kuwar. This again, like Gokarnesvar, is unquestionably one of the old Buddhist sites, with its name still unchanged ; for Mahavidya or Vidya Devi is, strictly speaking, a Buddhist goddess.
The Jaysinh-pura Khera, which overlooks the Sarasvati Sangam and is sepa rated by a deep ravine from the Mahavidya hill, is of great extent and has been tunnelled all over in search for bricks. Several Buddhist sculptures have been found at different times and collected at a shrine of Chamunda Devi, which is immediately under the khera at the back of Seth Mangi Lal's new garden, whence I brought away some of the best for the museum. Across the road, under Jay Sinh's old palace, I found, in the bed of the river, near the ghat erected by one of Sindhia's generals and hence called the Senapati's, a draped Buddhist figure of the earliest period, with a Pali inscription at the base, so much obliterated by the washermen, who had used it for beating linen upon, that only a few letters here and there were legible. The figure had lost both head and hands, but was otherwise in good preservation.
At several of the holy places, as we have had oocasion to remark, a large tank forms one of the principal features ; but the only one that can be called a success is the Siva tal, not far from the Kankali tila. This is a spacious quadrangular basin of great depth and always well supplied with water. It is enclosed in high boundary wall with corner kiosques and a small arched doorway in the centre of three its sides: On the fourth side is the slope for watering cattle or ' go-ghat,' with two memorial inscriptions facing each ether, the one in Sanskrit, the other in Persian; from which we learn that the tank was con structed by order of Raja Patni Mall (of Banaras) in the year 1807 A.D.
In the holy circuit of Mathura, reverenced by the gods, pure home of the votaries of Siva, is a sacred place, whose virtues are told in the Varaha Purina, inaccessible by men save through the efficacy of virtuous deeds performed in a previous state of existence ; chief of all sacred places, giver of special graces : a pellucid lake, whose praises no length of time would suffice fully to tell. After a careful survey and employing the best of architects, who adorned it with tracery of varied design, the ceremony of its donation was performed by Raja Patni Mall through the Brahmans, causing gladness like that which arises from the touch of the foot of Vishnu, rejoicing even the gods. In the year of the (4) oceans, the (6) members, the (8) elephants, and the (solitary) moon (that is, Sambat 1864) on Friday, the 10th of the light fortnight of the month Jeth". He is the one who is asked for help and who is constantly worshipped. The famous remains of this ancient shrine in the neighbourhood of Mathura, the place of pilgrimage from all six quarters, have now been renewed. When the old buildings of the goal of good deeds, the bestower of benefits on all the people of the world, the centre of public gratitude, Raja Patni Mall, Bahadur, fountain of excellent virtue; then the year of its construction - for the remembrance of all world - was to be 1222 .Thought (or the poet Zaka) suggested the following tarikh according to the abjad reckoning [illegible] water of life.” The design and execution are both of singular excellence and reflect the highest credit on the architect whom he employed; the sculptured arcades, which project far into the center of the basin and break up the long flights of steps into three compartments on each side, being especially graceful. The place is visited by a large number of bathers from the neigbourhood every morning and is the scene of an annual mela held on the 11th of the dark fortnight of the month Bhadon. Outside the enclosure is a small temple in the same style of architecture dedicated to Mahadeva under the title of Achalesvar. In the Manoharpur quarter of the city is a large temple of the Raja’s foundation, bearing the title of Dirgha Vishnu. The name is unusual and refers to the ‘gigantic’ stature which the boy Krishna assumed when he entered the arena to fight with Kansa’s champions, Chanura and Mushtika. The Raja’s dwelling-house is still standing , on the Nakarchi tila, and was recently occupied for a time as a normal school for the training of female teachers. He is further commemorated by another small shrine near the Holi gate of the city, which he rebuilt in honour of Vira-bhadra, the terrible being created by Siva and Devi in their wrath, to disturb the sacrifice of Daksha, a ceremony to which they had not been invited. His great ambition was to rebuild the ancient temple of Kesava Deva, and with this view he had gradually acquired a considerable part of the site. But as some of the Muhammadans, who had occupied the ground for nearly two centuries, refused to be bought out and the law upheld them in their refusal, he was at last, and after great expense has been incurred, reluctantly obliged to abandon the idea. Should a stranger visit the tank early in the morning and enquire of any Hindu he meets there by whom it was constructed, he will find considerable difficulty in eliciting a straightforward answer. The Raja, it is said, was a man of such delicate constitution that he never could take at one time more than a very few morsels even of the simplest food; hence arises a belief that any one, who mentions him by name the first thing in the morning, will, like him, have to pass the day fasting.
From the katra, the centre of all the localities which we have hitherto been describing, a fine broad road has been carried through the high ridge, which appears to have been at one time part of the mediaeval city wall, down to the edge of the river. On the right-hand side is the stone-cutters' quarter with the small old temple of Bankhandi Mahadeva, near which is a high mound, lying back from the main streets between the dispensary and the kotwali, and now crown ed by a ruinous little shrine dedicated to Bihari ; from this I brought a Bud dhist pillar, bearing the figure of a dancing-girl, with a leonine monster at her feet and over her head a group representing a teacher of the law seated under an umbrella addressing an audience of ten persons. To the left of the road is the suburb of Manoharpur, with a mosque which, as we Iearn from the following inscription over the centre arch, was erected in the year 1158 Hijri, i. e. 1745 A.D., during the reign of Muhammad Shah :- In the reign of Shah Muhammad Shah, Abdurrashid built this mosque: thought suggested the tarikh, ‘He built a beautiful mosque.' [A. H. 1158; or A.D. 1745].
From an adjoining street, where it had been built up into a mud wall, I removed to the museum a stone fragment of exceptional interest. It is only a small headless seated nude figure and, to judge from the style of the sculpture and the ill-formed letters in the Pali inscription at the base, is of no very great antiquity. Under it is a row of six standing figures, three on either side of a central chakra. The inscription records nothing whatever beyond the date, but this is given both in words and figures as follows : Samvatsare sapta panyase 57 hemanta tritiye divase trayadase asya purvayam, that is to say ‘in the year fifty-seven (57) on the thirteenth day of the third winter month.' It is curious in two ways : first, because it definitely fixes, beyond any possibility of doubt, the value of the symbol representing 50 ; and secondly, because if the date is really the year 57 of the same era as that employed in the inscriptions of Kanishka and Huvishka, it is the earliest unmistakeable Jaina figure yet found in the neighbourhood. The computation by seasons certainly favours the idea of antiquity and the argument for its modern date, derived from the character of the sculpture and of the lettering, may be deceptive ; for at any period different styles both of carving and writing may exist simultaneously ; yet probably the solution of the difficulty is to be found in Mr. Thomas's theory already mentioned, according to which the date is not given in full, but specifies only the year of the century, omitting the century itself, as being at the time well known.
In the streets are many broken Buddhist pillars and other sculptures. The road was constructed in the collectorate of Mr. Best, and in the progress of the work a column was found bearing an inscription in some ancient character ; to reduce the size of the stone, the inscribed face was ruthlessly cut away, and it was then converted into a buttress for a bridge. As it approaches the river, the road opens out into a fine square, with graceful arcades of carved stone. These are the property of the Maharaja of Bharat-pur and Gosain Purushottam Ial, and, though ordinarily they have rather a deserted appearance, on the ocasion of any great local festival they let for as much as Rs. 2 to 3 each a day. On the other side of the square opposite the road is a pontoon bridge, which was opened for traffic in 1870. The tolls were farmed for the large sum of Rs. 40,500 a year: whence it is obvious that any reasonable outlay incurred in its construction would soon have been repaid. But, unfortunately, everything was sacrificed to a false economy ; it was made so narrow that it could not allow of two carts passing, and so weak that it could not bear even a single cart if heavily laden. Thus it was no sooner opened than it broke down ; and repairs were in constant progress, till the night of the 13th of August, 1871, when it was completely swept away by a heavy flood. It was immediately reconstructed ; but it is impossible that it should ever present a satisfactory ap pearance, while at the same time its cost has been excessive. It may be hoped that it will, before many years are over, be superseded by a masonry bridge in connection with the railway, which at present pays for its use a fixed annual sum of Rs. 4,044: its original value having been put at Rs. 1,15,566.
The city stretches for about a mile and-a-half along the right bank of the Jamuna, and from the opposite side has a very striking and picturesque appearance, which is owing not a little to the broken character of the ground on which it is built. Were it not for this peculiarity of site, the almost total absence of towers and spires would be felt as a great drawback ; for all the large modern temples have no sikharas, as are usually seen in similar edifices, but are simple cloistered quadrangles of uniform height. The only exceptions are the lofty minarets of the Jama Masjid on the one side, and the campanile of the English Church seen through the trees in the distance below.
Looking up the stream, the most prominent object is the old Fort, or rather its massive sub-structure, for that is all that now remains, called by the people Kane-ka-kila. Whatever its legendary antiquity, it was rebuilt in historical times by Raja Man Sinh of Jaypur, the chief of the Hindu princes at Akbar's Court. At a later period it was the occasional residence of Man Sinh's still more famous successor on the throne of Amber, the great astronomer Sawai Jay Sinh, who commenced his long reign of 44 years in 1699 A.D. Till the day of his death he was engaged in almost constant warfare, but is less known to pos terity by his military successes, brilliant though they were, than by his enlight ened civil administration and still more exceptional literary achievements. At the outset he made a false move; for in the war of succession that ensued upon the death of Aurangzeb, he attached himself to prince Bedar Bakht and fought by his side in the fatal battle of Dhol-pur. One of the first acts of Shah Alam, on his consequent elevation to the throne, was to sequester the principality of Amber. An Imperial Governor was sent to take possession, but Jay Sinh drove him out sword in hand, and then formed a league with Ajit Sinh of Marwar for mutual protection. From that day forward he was prominently concerned in all the troubles and warfare of that anarchie period, but never again on the losing side. In 1721, he was appointed Governor of the Province of Agra and later of Malwa ; but he gradually loosened his connection with the Court of Delhi, from a conviction that the dissolution of the Muhammadan empire was inevitable, and concluded terms with the Mahrattas. At his accession, Amber consisted only of the three parganas of Amber, Deosa, and Barsao, as the Shaikhawats had made themselves independent and the western tracts had been attached to Ajmer. He not only recovered all that his ancestors had lost, but further extended his frontiers by the reduction of the Bargujars of Deoti and Rajaur and made his State worthy to be called the dominious of a Raja—a title which he was the first of his line to assume. The new capital, which he founded, he called after his own name Jaypur, and it is still to the present day the only native city in India built upon a regular plan ; the only one also, it must unfortunately be added, in which the street architecture is absolutely bad and systematically false and pretentious ; though it is the fashion for Anglo-Indians to admire it. He is said to have been assisted in the execution of his design by an architect from Bengal. In consequence of his profound knowledge of astronomy, he was entrusted by Muhammad Shah with the reformation of the calendar. To ensure that amount of accuracy which he considered the small instruments in ordinary use must always fail to command, he constructed observatories with instruments of his own, invention on a gigantic scale. One of these was on the top of the Mathura Fort, the others at Delhi, Jaypur, Ujaiyin, and Banaras. His success was so signal that he was able to detect errors in the tables of De la Hire, which had been communicated to him by the King of Portugal. His own tables were completed in 1728 and are those still used by native astronomers. He died in 1743. His voluminous correspondence is said by Tod'still to exist and his acts to be recorded in a miscellaneous diary entitled Kalpadruma and a collection of anecdotes called the Eksau nau gun Jay Sinh ka.
The whole of the Mathura observatory has now disappeared. A little before the mutiny the buildings were sold to the great Government contractor, Joti Prasad, who destroyed them for the sake of the materials. Certainly, they had ceased to be of any practical use; but they were of interest, both in the history of science and as a memorial of one of the most remarkable men in the long line of Indian sovereigns and their inconsiderate demolition is a matter for regret. The old hall of audience, which is outside, the actual Fort, is a handsome and substantial building divided into three aisles by ranges of red sand-stone pillars. Soon after the mutiny it was converted into a school and, in order to render it as unsightly as such Government buildings ordinarily are, the front arches were all blocked up with a mud wall which concealed every trace of them. Quite by an accident I discovered their existence and, after opening them out again, filled in their heads with iron bars set in a wooden frame and the lower part with a slight masonry wall, thus preserving all the architectural effect without any sacrifice of convenience.
About the centre of the river front is the most sacred of all the ghats, marking the spot where Krishna sat down to take ' rest' after he had slain the tyrant Kansa and hence called the ' Visrant' Ghat. The small open court has a series of marble arches facing the water, which distinguishes it from all the other landing-places ; and on the other three aides are various buildings erected at intervals during the last century and-a-half by several princely families ; bat none of them possesses any architectural beauty. The river here swarms with turtles of an enormous size, which are considered in a way sacred, and generally receive a handful or two of grain from every visitor. Close by is a natural water-course, said to have been caused by the passage of Kansa's giant body, as it was dragged down to the river to be burnt, and hence called the ' Kans Khar.' The following lines in the Vishnu Purana are alleged in support of the tradition : —

गौरवेणातिमहता परिखा तेन कृष्यता ।
कृता कंसस्य देहेन वेगेनेब महाम्भस: ।।

By-the trailing body of Kansa, with its prodigious weight, a channel was made as by the rush of a mighty stream." It is now arched over, like the Fleet river in London, and for many years formed one of the main sewers of the town ; a circumstance which possibly did not affect the sanctity, but certainly detracted somewhat from the material purity of this favourite bathing place. It is now being closed, as it was throught to have contributed not a little to the abnormal sickness which has lately prevailed in the city.
With reference to this spot a story is told in the Bhakt Mala, of Kesav Bhatt, one of the most celebrated of the Vaishnava teachers. After spreading his doctrines through all the chief cities of India and demolishing every argument that the most learned Pandits could bring against him, he was himself unable to reply to the questions put him by Chaitanya, though at the time a child only seven years of age. Thereupon he abandoned the career of a controversialist and retired to his native country Kashmir, where he remained in solitude, absorbed in humble and devout meditation, till roused to action by news of the tyranny that prevailed at Mathura. For the Muhammadans had set up a diabolical engine at the Visrant Ghat, which perforce circumcised every Hindu who went there to bathe. Hearing this, he gathered together a thousand of his disciples and on arriving at Mathura went straight to the spot, where the Governor's myrmidons set upon him and thought to bring him too under the yoke of Islam. But he broke the engine in pieces and threw it into the river. An army was then sent against him, but not a man of it escaped ; for he slew the greater number with the sword and the rest were dri ven into the Jamuna and drowned.
For this legend it is possible there may be some slight historical foundation ; the next to be told can at the best be regarded as only a pious. It is given in the Mathura Mahatmya, or Religious Chronicle of Mathura, which is an interpolation on the fiction Varaha Purina, though of sufficient extent to be itself divided into 29 sections. After expatiating in the most extravagant terms on the learning, piety and other virtues of the Mathuriya Chaubes, and the incomparable sanctity of the city in which they dwell, it briefly enumerates the twelve Vanas, or woods, that are included in the perambulation of the land of Brij, and then at greater length describes the principal shrines which the pilgrim is bound to visit in the capital itself. As a rule, no attempt is made to explain either the names borne by the different holy places, or the origin of their reputed sanctity ; but their virtue is attested by the recital of some of the miracles, which have been worked through their supernatural influence, such as the following :—
"Once upon a time there was a Brahman living at Ujjaiyin, who negIected all his religious duties, never bathed, never said a prayer, never went near a temple. One night, when out with a gang of thieves, he was surprised by the city watchmen, and in running away from them fell down a dry well and broke his neck. His ghost was doomed to haunt the place, and was so fierce that it would tear to pieces and devour every one who came near it. This went on for many years, till at last one day a band of travellers happened to pitch their tents by the well, and among their number was a very holy and learned Brahman. So soon as he knew how the neighbourhood was afflicted, he had recourse to his spells and compelled the evil spirit to appear before him. Discovering, in the course of his examination, that the wretched creature had in his lifetime been a Brahman, he was moved with pity for him and promised to do all in his power to alleviate his sentence. Whereupon the ghost begged him to go straight to Mathura, and bathe on his behalf at the Visrant Ghat, ' for,' said he, ' I once in my life went into a temple of Vishnu, and heard the priest repeat this holy name and tell its wondrous saving power.' The Brah man had often bathed there and readily agreed to transfer the merit of one such ablution. The words of consent had no sooner passed his lips than the guilty soul was absolved from all further suffering.
On the other side of this sacred spot, a number of minor ghats stretch up and down the river, those to the north being called the uttar kot and those to the south the dakshin kot. They are invariably represented as twenty-four in all, twelve in either set ; but there is a considerable discrepancy as to the parti cular names. The following list was supplied by a Pandit of high local repute, Makhan Misr, a Gaur Brahman, from whose extensive library of manuscripts I was able to procure almost every Sanskrit work that I had occasion to consult.
To the north : Ganes Ghat ; Manasa Ghat ; Dasasvamedha Ghat, under the hill of Ambarisha ; Chakra-tirtha Ghat ; Krishna-Ganga Ghat, with the shrine of Kalinjaresvar Mahadeva ; Som-tirtha Gat, more commmonly, called Vasudeva Ghat or Shaikh Ghat ; Brahmalok Ghat ; Ghantabharan Ghat : Dhara-patan Ghat ; Sangaman-tirtha Ghat, otherwise called Vaikunth Ghat ; Nava-tirtha Ghat ; and Asikunda Ghat.
To the south : Avimukta Ghat ; Visranti Ghat ; Prag Ghat ; Kankhal Ghat ; Tinduk Ghat ; Surya Ghat ; Chinta-mani Ghat ; Dhruva Ghat ; Rishi Ghat ; Moksha Ghat ; Koti Ghat ; and Buddh Ghat.
The more common division is to include the Avimukta Ghat in the first set, from which the Manasa is then omitted ; to except the Visrant Ghat alto gether from the number of the twenty-four ; and to begin the second series with the Balabhadra and the Jog Ghat. By the former of these two are the Satghara or ‘seven chapels,' commemorating Krishna's seven favourite titles, and the shrine of Gata Sram or ' ended toil.' The Jog Ghat is supposed to mark the spot where Joga-Nidra. the infant daughter of Nanda and Jasoda, whom Vasudeva had substituted for his own child Krishna, was dashed to the ground by Kansa and thence in new form ascended to heaven as the goddess Durga. Between it and the Prig Ghat (where is the shrine of Beni Madho) is one of more modern date called Sringar Ghat, with two temples dedicated respectively to Pipalesvar Mahadeva and Batuk-nath : by Prig Ghat is also the shrine of Ramesvar Mahadeva. Two other ghats occupy far more con spicuous sites than any of the above, but are included in no list, as being devoid of any legendary reputation. The first bears the name of Sami Ghat, not, as might be supposed, a corruption of swami, but of Samhne, ‘opposite,' as it faces the main street of the city, where is a mansion of carved stone built by the famous Rup Ram, Katara, of Barsana. The second is the Bengali Ghat, at the foot of the pontoon bridge and close to a large house, the property of the Raja of Jhalra-pattan. It is so called from having been built by the Gosain of the temple of Gobind Deva at Brinda-ban, the head of the Bengali Vaishnavas, who has a residence on the opposite side of the street. The end of the ghat adjoining the Raja of Jhalra-pattan's house has been left unfinished, as the right to the ground forms the subject of a dispute between the Raja and the Gosain. Most of the ghats refer in their names to well-known legends and are of no special historical or architectural interest. The list is appropriately headed by one dedicated to Ganes, the god invoked at the commencement of every undertaking ; the second and third are both sacred to Siva—the one com­memorating the Manasa lake, a famous place of pilgrimage on mount Kailas in the Himalayas ; the other the Dasasvamedh Ghat, the holiest spot in Siva's city of Banaras. The fourth or Chakra-tirtha, with the hill of Ambarisha, refers to Vishnu's magic discus, chakra, with which he defended his votary Ambarisha against the assaults of the Sivite Durvasas. The hill is between 60 and 70 feet high, and according to popular rumour there is in the centre of it a cave containing an enormous treasure. I did not expect to discover this, but as General Cunningham had told me of a gold coin of Apollodotus that had been found there, I got some men to dig, thinking it not unlikely something might turn up. The only reward for my trouble was a small fragment of Buddhist sculpture representing a devotee under a niche with the rail pattern below and the capitals of the pillars of Indo-Ionic type. This however was sufficient proof of the great antiquity and also of the Buddhist occupation of the mound.
The temple of Mahadeva at the Ganga Krishan Ghat has some very rich and delicate reticulated stone tracery, and all the work about this ghat is exceptionally good, both in design and execution. It was done, a little before the mutiny, under the immediate superientendence of the Brahman then in charge of the shrine, Baladeva Byas by name. The title Kalinjaresvar would seem to be a mistake for Kalindisvar : Kalindi being a name of the Jamuna, which takes its rise in' the Kalindi range. A little above the ghat is an old red stone chhattri, which has a singularly graceful finial.
A little below the Sami Ghat is a small mosque and group of tombs com memorating a Muhammadan saint, Makhdum Shah Wilayat, of Hirat. The tombs date apparently from the sixteenth century and the architecture is in all its details so essentially of Hindu design that, were it not for the word ' Allah' introduced here and there into the sculptured decorations, there would be nothing to distinguish them from Hindu chhattris. The Muhammadans call this the Shaikh Ghat, while the Hindus maintain that the sord is not Shaikh, but Shesh, the name of the thousand-headed serpent that forms Vishnu's couch and canopy. This is probable enough, for the final cerebral sibilant is vulgarly pronounced and indeed often written as the guttural kh. After long dispute between the two parties as to who should have the privilege of rebuilding the ghat, the work was taken in hand in 1875 by Vilayat Husain, the Seth's house agent, who also added a mosque and gave no little offence thereby. He died in 1879, leaving one minaret of the mosque still unfinished.
The word Ghantabharan (which would be derived from ghanta, ' a bell,' and bharan, ‘bearing,') is in the Vraj-bhakti-vilas perhaps more correctly written Ghantabhan, bhan meaning ' sound.' The allusion is to the bell, by the ringing of which Vishnu is roused from his four months' slumber on the 11th of the month Kartik.
The name Dharapatan (from dhara, 'a stream,,' and patan, ' falling,') probably referred primarily to the position of the ghat, which is on a projecting point where it bears the full force of the ' fall of the stream.' But in the Mahat mya it is explained by the following legend :—" Once upon a time, a woman, whose home was on the bank of the Ganges, came on a pilgrimage to Mathura and arrived there on the 12th of Kartik. As she was stepping into a boat near the place where now is the Dhara-patan Ghat, she fell over and was drowned. By virtue of this immersion in the sacred flood, she was born again in an exalted position as the daughter of the king of Bananas, and, under the name of the Rani Pivari, was married to Kshatra-dhanu, the king of Surashtra, by whom she had seven sons and five daughters. Upon one occasion when the royal pair were comparing notes, it came to light that he too had undergone a very simi lar experience : for, originally he had been a wild savage who had come over to Mathura from the Naimisha forest and was crossing the Jamuna with his shoes balanced on the top of his head, when they fell off into the water. He dipped down to recover them and was swept away by the torrent and drowned. Every stain of sin being thus washed out of his body, when he again took birth it was no longer as a barbarous Nisbadha, or wild man of the woods, but as a noble Kshatriya king."
Dhruva who gives a name to one of the most southern of the ghats was, according to the legend, the son of a king by name Uttana-pada. Indignant at the slights put upon him by his stepmother, he left his father's palace to make a name for himself in the world. By the advice of the seven great Rishis, Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Kratu, Pulaha, and Vasishta, he repaired to Madhu-ban near Mathura, and there, absorbed in the contemplation of Vishnu, continued for seven years a course of the severest penance. At last the god appeared to him in person and promised to grant him any boon he might desire. His request was for a station exalted above every station and which should en dure for ever ; whereupon he was translated to heaven as the polar star together with his mother Suniti.
On the Dhruva tila, or hill at the back of the ghat, is a small temple, built Sambat 1894, in place of an older shrine, of which the ruins remain close by, dedicated to Dhruva Ji. Here I found a set of Buddhist posts, with the cross rails and top bar all complete, cut out of a single slab of stone, measuring two feet two inches square. The Pujaris, or priests in charge, by name Damodar Das and Chhote Lal, belong to the Sanakadi or Nimbarak Sampradaya of Vaishnavas, and produce a manuscript pedigree in Sanskrit in proof of their direct spiritual descent from Kesava Bhatt, one of Nimbarak's successors, who is regarded as the head of the secular, or Grihastha, sub-division of the sect, as his brother-in-law, Hari Vyasa, was of the celibate, or Virakta, order. In the temple are figures of Radha Krishan, whom the Nimbaraks have adopted as their special patrons. The list of superiors, or Guru-parampara, as it is called, runs as follows :-‑

I.-1 Hansavatar ; 2 Sanakadi ; 3 Narada; 4 Nimbarak Swami: all deified characters.
II.—1 Srinivasacharya ; 2 Biswacharya ; 3 Purashottam ; 4 Bilasa ; 5 Sarupa ; 6 Madhava ; 7 Balbhadra ; 8 Padma ; 9 Syama ; 10 Gopala ; 11 Kripala; 12 Deva : all distingushed by the title of Acharya.
IIl—1 Sunder Bhatt ; 2 Padma-nabha ; 3 Sri Rama-chandra ; 4 Barman ; 5 Sri Krishna ; 6 Padmakara ; 7 Sravan ; 8 Bhuri 9 Madhava ; 10 Syama ; 11 Gopala ; 12 Sri-bal, or Balbhadra ; 13 Gopinath ; 14 Kesava ; 15 Gangal ; 16 Kesava Kashmiri ; 17 Sri Bhatt ; 18 Kesava Bimani : all bearing the title of Bhatt.
IV.—1 Giridhar Gosain ; 2 Ballabh Lal ; 3 Mukund Lal ; 4 Nand Lal ; 5 Mohan Lal ; 6 Ram Ji Lal ; 7 Manu Lal ; 8 Radha Lal ; 9 Kanhaiya Lal ; and 10 Damodar Das : all bearing the title of Gosain.

The Nimbaraks have also a temple at Brindaban, dedicated to Rasak Bihari, and some account of their tenets will be given in connection with that town. Their distinguishing sectarial mark consists of two white perpendicular streaks on the forehead with a black spot in the centre. The natural parents of their founder are said to have been named Aruna Rishi and Jayanti. The Tinduk Ghat, according to the Mahatmya, is so called after a barber who lived at Kampilya, the capital of panchala, in the reign of King Devadatta. After losing all his family, he cane to live at Mathura and there practised such rigorous austerities and bathed so constantly in the sanctifying stream of the Jamuna, that after death he tool; birth once more as a high-caste Brahman.
The legend of the Asikunda Ghat is told on this wise : --A pious king, by name Sumati, had started on a pilgrimage, but died before he was able to com plete it. His son, Vimati, on succeeding to the throne, was visited by the sage Narad, who, at the time of taking his departure, uttered this oracular sentence : ' A pious son settles his father's debts.' After consulting with his ministers, the prince concluded that the debt was a debt of vengeance, which he was bound to exact from the places of pilgrimages, which had tempted his father to undertake the fatal journey. Accordingly, having ascertained that every holy place paid an annual visit in the season of the rains to the city of Mathura, he assembled an army and marched thither with full intent to destroy them all. They fled in terror to Kalpa-grams to implore the aid of Vishnu, who at last yielded to their entreaties, and assuming the form of a boar joined in combat with King Vimati on the bank of the Jamuna and slew him. In the fray, the point of the divine sword, 'asi,' snapped off and fell to the ground ; whence the ghat to this day is called Asi-kunda Ghat, and the plain adjoining it Varaha Kshetra, or ' the field of the boar.'
Before finally leaving the river-side, one other building claims a few words viz., ‘ the Sati Burj.' This is a slender quadrangular tower of red sand-stone commemorating the self-sacrifice of some faithful wife. According to the best authenticated tradition, she is said to have been the queen of Raja Bihar Mal of Jaypur and the mother of the famous Raja Bhagavan Das, by whom the monument was erected in the year 1570 A.D. It has, as it now stands, a total height of 55 feet and is in four stories: the lowest forms a solid basement ; the second and third are lighted by square windows and are supplied with an internal staircase. The exterior is ornamented with rude bas-reliefs of elephants and other devices, but is in a very ruinous condition. The tower was originally of much greater height; but all the upper part was destroyed, it is said, by Aurangzeb. The exceedingly ugly and incongruous plaster dome, which now surmounts the building, was apparently added about the beginning of the present century. It no doubt helps to preserve what yet remains of the original work, but it sadly detracts from its architectural effect. I had hoped that the reigning Maharaja might be induced to undertake the complete restoration of this interesting family monument, and if the matter had been properly represented to him, he would in all probability have consented to do so. It is not at all likely that anything will be done now; but the design that I had prepared may be thought worthy of preservation. No small amount of time and thought was bestowed upon it; and I hope that architects will consider it both a pleasing object in itself and also a faithful reproduction of the destroyed original.
At the time when it was built, that is, at the end of the 16th century, it may be presumed that the city of Mathura occupied its old position in the neighbourhood of the katra, and that the river-bank was used as the ordinary place for the cremation of the dead. Several cenotaphs of about the same period still remain, being mostly in old Hindu style, with brackets of good and varied design. The two largest bear the dates 1638 and 1715 Sambat, coresponding to 1581 and 1638 A.D. They had all been taken possession of by the Chaubes, who blocked up the arches with mud or rough brick-work and converted them into lodging-houses, which they rented to pilgrims. In 1875 I had them all opened out when widening and paving the street along the river-bank. This work was left unfinished, but enough had been done to ren­der the street, though still narrow, the most picturesque in the city. Many of the ghats had been repaired, while the removal of a number of obstructions had opened out a view not only of the river but also of the houses and temples on the land site. Some of these are very graceful specimens of architecture, in particular the house of Purushottam Lal, the Gokul Gosain, close to the Bengali ghat, which has a most elaborate facade and a balcony displaying a great variety of patterns of reticulated tracery.

Immediately below the last of the ghats and opposite the Sadr Bazar, which has a population of some 6,000 souls and forms a small town by itself, entirely distinct both from the city and the European quarters, are two large walled gardens on the river-bank. One of these, called the Jamuna bagh, is the property of the Seth. It is well kept up and contains two very handsome chhattris, or cenotaphs, in memory of Parikh Ji, the founder of the family, and Mani Ram, his successor. The latter, built in the year of the chauranawe famine, 1837 A. D., is of exceedingly beautiful and elaborate design : perhaps the most perfect specimen ever executed of the reticulated stone tracery, for which Mathura is famous. It has been purposely made a little lower any smaller than the earlier monument, the caves of which at one corner complete- ly overhang it. The adjoining garden, which may be of even greater extent has a small house and enclosed court-yard, in the native style, on the bank of the river, and in the centre, an obelisk of white stone raised on a very high and substantial plinth of the same material with the following inscription :"Errected to the memory of Robert Sutherland, Colonel in Maharaj Daulat Rao Scindia's service, who departed this life on the 20th July, 1804, aged 36 years. Also in remembrance of his son, C. P. Sutherland (a very promising youth), who died at Hindia on the 14th October, 1801, aged 3 years." The monument is kept in repair by the grandson, Captain S. S. Sutherland, of the Police Department. Colonel Sutherland was the officer whom De Boigne, on his retirement in 1795, left in command of the brigade stationed at Mathura, one of three that he had raised in the service of Madho Ji Sindhia. The Mahratta Commander-in-Chief, who also had his head-quarters at Mathura, was at that time one Jagu Bapu, who was probably the Senapat of whom local tradition still speaks. In 1797 he was superseded by Perron, to whom Daulat Rao had given the supreme command of all his forces and who thereupon establish ed himself at Kol, as virtual sovereign of the country: In the following year he discharged Sutherland for intriguing with the other Mahratta chiefs, but not long after he recovered his post through the interest of his father-in-law, Colonel John Hessing, to whose memory is erected the very fine monument in the Catholic cemetry at Agra, which Jacquemont considered superior to the Taj. In 1813 Sutherland, like the other British officers in Sindhia's service, received a pension from the Government, but he lived only one year to enjoy it.