sipation, was known first by the name of _Nour Mehalle_, the Light
of the Seraglio, and afterwards by that of _Nour-Jehan-Begum_, the
Light of the World.' (Bernier, _Travels_, ed. Constable, and V. A.
Smith, 1914, p. 5.)

2. Properly, Ghias-ud-din, meaning 'succourer of religion'. The word
Ghias cannot stand as a name by itself.

3. The author's slight description of Itimad-ud-daula's exquisite
sepulchre is, in the original edition, illustrated by two coloured
plates, one of the exterior, and the other of the interior
(restored). The lack of grandeur in this building is amply atoned for
by its elegance and marvellous beauty of detail. An inscription,
dated A.H. 1027 = A.D. 1618, alleged to exist in connexion with the
building, has not, apparently, been published. (_N.W.P. Gazetteer_,
1st ed., vol. vii, p. 687.)

Fergusson's description and just criticism deserve quotation. 'The
tomb known as that of Itimad-ud-daula, at Agra, . . . cannot be
passed over, not only from its own beauty of design, but also because
it marks an epoch in the style to which it belongs. It was erected by
Nur-Jahan in memory of her father, who died in 1621, and [it] was
completed in 1628. It is situated on the left bank of the river, in
the midst of a garden surrounded by a wall measuring 540 feet on each
side. In the centre of this, on a raised platform, stands the tomb
itself, a square measuring 69 feet on each side. It is two stories in
height, and at each angle is an octagonal tower, surmounted by an
open pavilion. The towers, however, are rather squat in proportion,
and the general design of the building very far from being so
pleasing as that of many less pretentious tombs in the neighbourhood.
Had it, indeed, been built in red sandstone, or even with an inlay of
white marble like that of Humayun, it would not have attracted much
attention, its real merit consists in being wholly in white marble,
and being covered throughout with a mosaic in 'pietra dura'--the
first, apparently, and certainly one of the most splendid, examples
of that class of ornamentation in India....

'As one of the first, the tomb of Itimad-ud-daula was certainly one
of the least successful specimens of its class. The patterns do not
quite fit the places where they are put, and the spaces are not
always those best suited for this style of decoration. [Altogether I
cannot help fancying that the Italians had more to do with the design
of this building than was at all