The Fortress and Palace of Gwalior by Esther Singleton

LOUIS ROUSSELET

The ancient city of Gwalior, which must not be confounded with the / modern town of that name, nor with the Mahratta camp of the Scindias, / is situated on the summit of a steep and isolated rock, 342 feet in / height at the north end, where it is highest, and a mile and a half / in length; its greatest breadth is 300 yards. Its position and the / exterior appearance of its fortifications, behind which rise numerous / monuments, remind one of Chittore, the famous capital of Meywar.

This rock, which is a block of basalt topped with sandstone, stands / like a sentinel at the entrance of a valley; and above the slopes at / its foot rise pointed cliffs, forming natural ramparts, on which are / built the fortifications of the town.

Tradition places the date of the founding of Gwalior several centuries / before the Christian era. The attention of the Aryan colonists from the / valley of the Chumbul probably was early attracted by the admirable / position of this rock. The first to establish themselves here were no / doubt the Anchorites, who were sent forth in such numbers by the Indian / schools of philosophy in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries before / the Christian era, as is attested by the numerous caverns, formed by / man, in the sides of the rock. In 773, Rajah Sourya Sena completed / a system of defence round the plateau by constructing ramparts. The / Kâchwas held the fortress until the reign of Tej Pal Doula, who, upon / being expelled by the Chohans in 967, founded the dynasty of Ambîr. / Sultan Shahab Oudin's generalissimo, Koutub Eibeck, took it from the / Chohans in 1196; and thirty-eight years later it was again taken by / the Emperor Altamsh after a long siege. In 1410, the Touar Rajpoots / got possession of it, and held it until 1519, when it was finally / attached to the crown of Delhi by Ibrahim Lodi. At the dismemberment / of the Mogul Empire, it fell alternately into the hands of the Jâts / and Mahrattas. In 1779, it was garrisoned by Scindia, from whom it was / taken by a British force under Major Popham, and it was again made over / to Scindia by the treaty of 1805.

But the vicissitudes of the ancient fortress did not end here. In / 1857, the Maharajah Scindia having refused to countenance the revolt, / the rebels, under the command of one of Nana Sahib's captains, took / the place; but General Sir Hugh Rose dislodged them by planting / his batteries on the surrounding heights, and, for the purpose of / protecting the young king from his rebellious subjects, the English / kept possession of the plateau.

The present town of Gwalior extends to the north and east of the / fortress, being hemmed in between the rock and the river Sawunrika. / It was a large and handsome settlement, containing thirty or forty / thousand inhabitants; but the founding of a new capital by the / Scindias, at a distance of about two miles was a death-blow to its / grandeur, the higher branches of trade and the nobility having followed / the Court to Lashkar. The architecture of its stone houses is, for the / most part, handsome; but the streets are narrow and crooked. It is / probable that at one time there was a large suburb round the foot of / the ascent leading to the fortress, but it was not until the Sixteenth / Century that the town assumed its present proportions. There are / no monuments to be found of an earlier date; and the two worthy of / remark are the Jummah Musjid, a handsome mosque, flanked by two lofty / minarets, and the Hatti Durwaza, or "Gate of the Elephants," a curious / triumphal arch, situated on a mound at the entrance to the town.

The bazaars of Gwalior contain several manufactures peculiar to the / place, such as silken fabrics, embroidered in gold, for turbans; / _saris_, or cotton scarfs for women, and curious stuffs in the / most brilliant colours. A very fair trade is carried on in these / articles.

Two flights of steps, one on the east and the other on the west, lead / up to the fortress; of which that on the east is a notable achievement, / since it had to be cut out of the solid rock. It is the more ancient of / the two; and, although on a very steep incline, it is practicable for / horses and elephants.

In order to reach this elevation, you must traverse the whole length / of the lower town; and the entrance to it is guarded by an embattled / fortification and guard-houses. Hidden among the trees, at a short / distance, stands a large palace, the exterior of which is ornamented / with bright blue enamel. Five monumental gates, placed at intervals, / and still armed with portcullis and heavy iron doors, guard the access / to the fortress. From the first, which is a splendid triumphal arch / with a Saracenic archway, and surmounted by a tier of small columns, / commences the causeway, which, although wide and well kept, is a long / and fatiguing ascent; and thence also commences a series of monuments, / bas-reliefs, caverns, and cisterns, forming a natural museum of great / interest to the archeologist. Even the rocks which overhang the road / merit his attention, for they contain numerous chambers, altars and / statues, which are reached by narrow paths, requiring a steady head and / a sure and practised foot.

Between the third and fourth gate are some huge tanks, excavated out / of the solid rock, and fed by springs. The capitals of the pillars / which support the ceiling appear above the water, and one can scarcely / distinguish the bottom in the obscurity. Near these tanks the surface / of the rock, which has been made smooth and even, is covered with / numerous bas-reliefs; one of the largest of which, representing an / elephant and rider, still is easily distinguishable in spite of / considerable mutilation; and further on is a head of Siva.