THE MINT.—­Some distance beyond the Naubat Khana, on the right, is a large building believed to have been the Imperial Mint.  Rare specimens of gold, silver, and copper coins from the Fatehpur Mint are in the British Museum.  The brick domes of this building are interesting, as they are probably the earliest examples in India of the use of radiating courses instead of horizontal layers in dome construction.

Opposite to the Mint is a smaller building known as the Treasury.

THE DAFTAR KHANA.—­Passing through the great quadrangle of the Diwan-i-am, the visitor arrives at the Daftar Khana, or Record Chamber, now adapted for a travellers’ rest-house.  This was Akbar’s office, and is immediately opposite to his own sanctum, the Kwabgah, and the principal buildings of the Imperial Palace.  A staircase in the south-east room leads to the roof, from which a fine view of the city and surrounding country can be obtained.  The principal buildings can be easily identified by help of the plan.

THE PALACE.—­A door in the side of the quadrangle, opposite to the Daftar Khana, leads into Akbar’s palace, the Mahal-i-Khas.  The two-storied building on the left on entering contains Akbar’s private apartments.  The first room on the ground floor is panelled into numerous recesses for keeping books, documents, or valuables.  There are some remains of painted decoration representing flowers, such as the tulip, poppy, and almond flower, executed with much vigour and technical skill.  Behind this is a chamber which, according to Edmund Smith, was used by a Hindu priest attached to Akbar’s court.  It contains a stone platform raised on pillars, upon which he is said to have performed his devotions.  It was more probably intended for Akbar’s own gaddi, or throne.  A door in the west wall leads into the cloisters, which formerly connected Akbar’s apartments with the Daftar Khana and with Jodh Bai’s palace.

THE KWABGAH, or sleeping apartment, is a small pavilion on the roof.  Originally the walls were entirely covered by fresco paintings, but only a few fragments now remain.  Unfortunately, these have been protected by a coat of varnish, which reduces them all to a dull monochrome.  It is to be regretted that a more scientific method of preserving them was not adopted.  They are all in the Persian style, and, except for the Chinese element which is often present in Persian art, there is no ground for Edmund Smith’s supposition that Chinese artists were employed here.

On the side window over the eastern doorway is a painting of a winged figure, in front of a rock cave, supporting a new-born babe in its arms.  In all probability it refers to the birth of Jahangir in the cell of the Saint Salim Chishti, which Akbar, no doubt, thought miraculous.  Many archaeologists make the great mistake of attributing every winged figure in these decorations to some Biblical story.  Heavenly beings with wings, the inhabitants of Paradise, spirits of the air, or “angels,” are very common in Persian and Indian painting, and are by no means a monopoly of European artists.