He seated himself in an easy-chair, and took from his pocket a
little book, to which he occasionally referred.
"Agra, on the whole, is the handsomest city of Upper India, though of
course there may be some difference of opinion in this matter," he began.
"It is eight hundred and forty-one miles north-west of Calcutta, and one
hundred and forty south-east of Delhi. Like Delhi, it is on the Jumna,
which is here crossed by a floating bridge. One of the most prominent
buildings is the fortress of Akbar, and you must know something of this
sovereign in order to understand Agra.
"He was known as Akbar the Great, the Mogul emperor of India, and the
greatest Asiatic monarch of modern times. He was the son of Houmayoun,
whose mausoleum you visited at Delhi. The father was robbed of his throne,
and retreated to Persia; and it was on the way there that Akbar was born,
in 1542. After an exile of twelve years, Houmayoun recovered his throne,
but lost his life within a year after his return. The government was
committed to the care of a regent, who became a tyrant; and the young
prince took possession of it himself at the age of eighteen.
"At this time only a few provinces were subject to the rule of his father;
but in a dozen years Akbar had made himself master of all the country north
of the Vindhya Mountains, or of a line drawn from Baroda to Calcutta,
though he was not so fortunate in subduing the southern portion of the
peninsula.
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