Page 78 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat

78 EARLY ENGLISH ADVENTURERS IN THE EAST

: the purpose, but the Englishman “ went so strong and
well provided” that the hired assailants called off their
1
bargain. Subsequently Hawkins discovered another con­
spiracy in which Makarrab Khan was concerned. In this
instance his own coachman was employed either to kill
him while he slept or put poison in his food, and probably
would have accomplished his purpose had not the man,
when intoxicated, spoken too openly of his intentions.
Despite the dangers which beset him Hawkins arrived in
. i
good health at Agra on April 16, 1609, two and a half
months after his departure from Surat.
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Agra at this juncture was the capital of the Mogul
Empire. It was not until a later period, during the reign of
: Shah Jehan, that Delhi was made the regular seat of
.government. Even Agra, at the time of Hawkins’ visit,
i
was devoid of some of the features which have made it
famous. The matchless Taj Mahal had still to be built
on the banks of the swift flowing Jumna. The beautiful
tomb of Itmud Dowlah, Shah Jehan’s famous minister,
• i i!
was also a thing of the future. The extensive fort, with
its high red sandstone walls, to become prominent in after
'
•!i years as the scene of some of the most stirring episodes of
: "the great Sepoy Mutiny, was, however, in existence, and
i' within its walls the exquisite Pearl Mosque, that gem of
Saracenic art, opened its portals to the faithful, while
in the adjacent apartments of the Palace the ladies of
'
Jehangir’s harem lived their uneventful lives behind the
white marble walls whose intricate tracery excites to-day
"the wonder and admiration of the personally conducted
■
tourist from Europe.
The city itself was a far larger and more imposing place
^han the rather squalid and sleepy mofussil town which