It is known that Akbar took a great interest in painting.  Abul Fazl, in the “Ain-i-Akbari,” states that “His Majesty from the earliest youth has shown a great predilection for the art, and gives it every encouragement, as he looks upon it as a means both of study and amusement.  Hence the art flourishes, and many painters have obtained great reputations.  The works of all painters are weekly laid before his Majesty by the Daroghas and the clerks; he confers rewards according to the excellence of workmanship, or increases their monthly salaries.  Much progress was made in the commodities required by painters, and the correct prices of such articles were carefully ascertained.”

Akbar himself remarked, “Bigoted followers of the law are hostile to the art of painting, but their eyes now see the truth.  There are many that hate painting, but such men I dislike.  It appears to me as if a painter had a peculiar means of recognizing God; for a painter, in sketching anything that has life and in drawing its limbs, must feel that he cannot bestow personality upon his work, and is thus forced to think of God, the giver of life, and will thus increase his knowledge.”  The enlightened court of Akbar was evidently a paradise for artists.

Opposite to Akbar’s apartments is a large square tank with a platform in the centre, approached by four narrow stone paths.  The tank was filled from the waterworks near the Elephant Gate, and the water was kept constantly fresh by an overflow channel connecting with the tank at the back of the Diwan-i-Khas.

THE TURKISH SULTANA’S HOUSE.—­In the north-east angle of the Mahal-i-Khas quadrangle is a small, picturesque building, one of the gems of Fatehpur, called the Turkish Sultana’s House.  It contains only a single apartment, surrounded by a verandah, but in the carving of every surface within and without there is a wealth of invention and decorative skill rarely achieved even by the Mogul artists.  The dado panels are especially remarkable for the charming conventionalized rendering of trees, flowers, birds, and animals.  They have suffered much from the hands of some of Aurangzib’s fanatical followers, and all the representations of animate nature have been mutilated.  The carving was intended as a groundwork for painting and gilding which were never added, for the Fatehpur Palace was abandoned even before it was finished.  Nothing is known with certainty of the lady who inhabited this delightful bower, but she must have been one of Akbar’s favourites.  A covered passage connected the house with the Kwabgah, and also with another block of buildings of no special interest, known as the Girls’ School.

A staircase from the south verandah leads down to some interesting baths outside the south-west corner of the Diwan-i-am quadrangle, which were probably for the use of the Turkish Sultana.  They are worth seeing, though not so fine as the so-called HAKIM’S BATHS.  The latter, which are situated just opposite to these baths, on the steep slope of the ridge, are the finest of their kind existing in India.  They form an extensive hydropathic establishment, decorated in the most excellent taste with polished plaster and sgraffito, or cut-plaster work.  Undoubtedly they were used by Akbar himself, and they derive their present name from their close proximity to the quarters occupied by the Hakims, or doctors.