cradle of th a t new community of “ soldier-priests,” and
the great feature of the city is the “ Golden Temple,”
in the sacred pool or reservoir called “ Immortality,”
to which the faithful crowd morning and evening to
hear the holy text chanted, during which performance
they throw money and grain upon the circular platform,
in the centre of which the priest squats with his
“ Grunth.” Eunjeet Singh, the last native ruler of the
Punjab, built this temple, in the shape of an irregular
square, with gateways, domes, and galleries; its exterior
laid over with thin plates of gold, and its interior
painted in Oriental fashion. The whole forms a pretty
object, and very original. There is little else to interest
one in this town, which is surrounded by a high wall;
its streets and houses do not differ from those I have
described elsewhere, but the city is considered to be
wealthy, from its large trade with Cashmere and
Thibet i indeed, it is the market, par excellence, for
shawls and silks.
Barely thirty miles due west from Amritzar, is
Lahore, the capital of the Punjab, a large military
station. There is an old palace, also the magnificent
mausoleum of Jehangeer, a couple of miles from the
town, and the large white marble tomb of Eunjeet
Singh , also that of Earn Chunda, one of his widows, a
somewhat eccentric lady, of whom it was told that,
when implored by Sikh deputies to aid them marching
on Calcutta, she suddenly drew aside the purdah, and
threw. her pyjamas at them. Besides, there is the
usual host of mosques, tombs, and temples, all worth a
visit, but their respective architecture in no way
different from what has been already described—I shall
let it pass. The Mohamedans having subjugated the
Punjab early in the eleventh century, accounts for the
great number of their religious monuments, many now
in ruins.
Of modern institutions, there is a good college
and a museum. The latter contains an interesting
collection of sculptures and architectural fragments of
old Buddhist remains in the Peshawur valley, which
are now being moulded and photographed for the
British Museum. I t has been stated that much importance
is attached to them, owing to the evidence of
strong Greek influence, supposed to have come from
Bactria into Afghanistan, and thence penetrated into
Cashmere and India. My own opinion, however, is that
the Hellenic influence upon Indian art has been very
feeble, and by no means permanent; indeed, after
careful examination of existing ruins, I should say th a t
it seems to have completely lost its effect a t a very
early period, and that in nearly every example an