A doorway at the back of the Diwan-i-khas leads to the beautiful two-storied pavilion, surmounting one of the most projecting of the circular bastions on the river face, and known as the Samman Burj, “the Jasmine Tower” (Plate V.).  The style of the inlaid work shows it to be earlier in date than the Diwan-i-khas, and supports Fergusson’s conjecture that it was built by Jahangir.  In that case it must have been the apartment of his Empress, the beautiful and accomplished Nur Mahal.  It was afterwards occupied by Mumtaz Mahal, the lady of the Taj.  Here, also, in full view of the famous monument he had raised to her memory, died her husband, Shah Jahan—­sensualist, perhaps, but true to his last hours to one great master-passion.  The faithful Jahanara, who shared his captivity for seven years, attended him on his death-bed, and, as the shades of night closed in and hid the Taj from view—­praying Divine forgiveness for his sins, and with a few consoling words to his daughter—­he went to join his beloved!

After the rites prescribed by the Muhammadan law, the body was placed in a coffin of sandalwood and conveyed by the passage which leads from the Samman Burj to the low gate beneath it, which was specially opened for the occasion.  Thence, followed by a procession of mourners, it was carried out of the Fort through the Sher Haji gate, nearly opposite (now closed), and conveyed across the arm of the river to its last resting-place in the Taj.

The death of Shah Jahan and his funeral are minutely described by Mulla Muhammad Kazim in his “Alamgir Nama.”  The guides wrongly point out a pavilion in the Jahangiri Mahal as the place where he died.

In front of the Samman Burj is a beautiful little fountain hollowed in the floor; on one side of the courtyard is a raised platform laid out in squares of black marble for the game of pachisi, an Eastern backgammon. [7]

The Khas Mahal.

From the Samman Burj we step into the next set of apartments of the zanana, connecting with the Khas Mahal and a similar set on the other side.  This part of the zanana forms the east, or river side, of the Anguri Bagh, or Grape Garden.  There is an indescribable grace and charm about all this quarter of the palace, to which the beauty of the material, the perfect taste of the ornament and elegance of the proportions, the delightful background of the landscape, and the historical associations all contribute.  It should be seen towards evening, not in the full glare of the morning sun.

When the afterglow fills the sky, burnishes the gilded roofs, and turns the marble to rose-colour, imagination may re-people these lovely pavilions with fair Indian women—­revel in the feast of colour in saris, brocades, and carpets; in the gold, azure, and crimson of the painted ceilings; and listen to the water splashing in the fountains and gurgling over the carved water-shoots—­a scene of voluptuous beauty such as the world has rarely known since the wealth and elegance of Rome filled the palaces and villas of Pompei.