of which numerous remains are still extant. There was also a city
near the present Kutb Minar, built by a Hindu rajah, about 57
B.C. according to General Cunningham. This was the original (or
old) Dilli or Dehli, a name of unascertained origin. It appears
to have been deserted during the invasion of Mahmud of Ghazni,
but afterwards rebuilt about 1060 A.D. The last built of all the
ancient towns was the Din Panah of Humayun, nearly on the site of
the old Hindu town; but it had gone greatly to decay during the
long absence of his son and grandson at Agra and elsewhere.

At length New Dehli—the present city—was founded by Shahjahan,
the great-grandson of Humayun, and received the name, by which it
is still known to Mohamudans, of Shahjahanabad. The city is seven
miles round, with seven gates, the palace or citadel one-tenth of
the area. Both are a sort of irregular semicircle on the right
bank of the Jamna, which river forms their eastern arc. The plain
is about 800 feet above the level of the sea, and is bordered at
some distance by a low range of hills, and receiving the drainage
of the Mewat Highlands. The greatest heat is in June, when the
mean temperature in the shade is 92¡ F.; but it falls as low as
53¡ in January. The situation—as will be seen by the map—is
extremely well chosen as the administrative centre of Hindustan;
it must always be a place of commercial importance, and the
climate has no peculiar defect. The only local disorder is a very
malignant sore, which may perhaps be due to the brackishness of
the water. This would account for the numerous and expensive
canals and aqueducts which have been constructed at different
periods to bring water from remote and pure sources. Here
Shahjahan founded, in 1645 A.D., a splendid fortified palace,
which continued to be occupied by his descendants down to the