Travels in India (Tavernier) 19.8

19.8

but this design, which made a great noise throughout the world, and which required more wealth than he had been able to furnish, remains unfinished, only having two or three wreaths of gold with their leaves, as all the rest ought to be, and enamelled in their natural colours, emeralds, rubies, and garnets making the grapes. About the middle of the court you see a great tank for bathing, of forty feet in diameter, and of a single piece of sandstone, with steps cut in the stone itself, both within and without. As for the tombs which are in Agra and its environs, there are some which are very beautiful, and there is not one of the eunuchs in the King’s harem who is not ambitious to have a magnificent tomb built for himself. When they have amassed large sums they earnestly desire to go to Mecca, and to take with them rich presents ; but the Great Mogul, who does not wish the money to leave his country, very seldom grants them permission, and consequently, not knowing what to do with their wealth, they expend the greater part of it in these burying-places, in order to leave some monument to their names. Of all the tombs which one sees at Agra, that of the wife of Shah Jahan is the most splendid. He purposely made it near the Tasimacan, where all foreigners come, so that the whole world should see and admire its magnificence.