an be
referred with certainty to an earlier date than that of Akbar. The
erection began in A.H. 972, corresponding to A.D. 1564-5, and the
work continued for eight (or, according to another authority, four)
years, costing 3,500,000 rupees, or about L350,000 sterling. The
walls are of rubble, faced with red sandstone. The best account is
the article by Nur Baksh, entitled 'The Agra Fort and its Buildings',
in _A.S. Ann. Rep._, 1903-4, pp. 164-93.

21. It is difficult to understand how men like the Marquis of
Hastings and Lord William Bentinck could have been guilty of such
barbarous stupidity. But the fact is beyond doubt, and numberless
officials of less exalted rank must share the disgrace of the ruin
and spoliation, which, both at Agra and Delhi, have destroyed two
noble palaces, and left but a few disconnected fragments. Fergusson's
indignant protests (_History of Indian and Eastern Architecture_, ed.
1910, vol. ii, p. 312, &c.) are none too strong. Sir John Strachey,
who was Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces in 1876,
is entitled to the credit of having done all that lay in his power to
remedy the effects of the parsimony and neglect of his predecessors.
The buildings which remain at both Agra and Delhi are now well cared
for, and large sums are spent yearly on their reparation and
conservation. The credit for the modern policy of reverence for the
ancient monuments is due to Lord Curzon more than to any one else.

22. This date is erroneous. The inscription is dated A.H. 1063, in
the 26th year of Shah Jahan, equivalent practically to A.D. 1653. It
is given in full, with both text and translation, in _A.S. Ann. Rep._
for 1903-4, p. 183. It states that the building was erected in the
course of seven years at a cost of 300,000 rupees, which = L33,750,
at the rate of 2_s_. 3_d_. to the rupee current at the time. Errors
on the subject disfigure most of the guide-books and other works
commonly read.

23. The beauty of the Moti Masjid, like that of most mosques, is all
internal. The exterior is ugly. The interior deserves all praise.
Fergusson describes this mosque as 'one of the purest and most
elegant buildings of its class to be found anywhere', and truly
observes that 'the moment you enter by the eastern gateway the effect
of its courtyard is surpassingly beautiful'. 'I hardly know
anywhere', he adds, 'of a building so perfectly pure and elegant.'
(_Ind. and E. Arch._, ed. 1910, vol. ii, p. 317. Se