s finished in the twenty-seventh year of his reign (1582)
the Emperor honoured it with his presence. An inscription discovered
by Edmund Smith upon the capital of a pilaster in the west facade of
the building, states that it was erected in Samvat 1629 (A.D. 1572),
ten years before this date, and three years after the commencement
of the city.

Though the Rajah was one of Akbar's most trusted friends, his palace
would hardly be placed within the enclosure of the Emperor's own
zanana and connected with it; nor is it likely that Akbar would
provide Birbal with a residence so incomparably more magnificent than
those he gave to his other two intimate friends, Abul Fazl and Faizi,
by the side of the great mosque.

All the probabilities are that this was one of the imperial palaces
occupied by Akbar's wives, which were the first buildings erected at
Fatehpur. Fergusson's assumption that Birbal's daughter was one of
Akbar's wives would explain everything; but the fact that Abul Fazl
makes no mention of such a daughter, is very good evidence that Akbar
was not connected with Birbal by marriage.

The house is a two-storied building, splendidly ornamented with
carving, both inside and out. From the construction, it would appear
that Hindus were the architects; but the decoration, from which it is
easy to discover the taste of the occupants, is nearly all Arabian or
Persian in style, and conveys no suggestion that the palace was built
for a Hindu rajah or his daughter. Though on a much smaller scale,
it is of the same type as Akbar's splendid palace in the Agra Fort,
and was evidently intended for one of the highest rank in the imperial
zanana. [16]

The Hathi Pol and Adjoining Buildings.

Close under Birbal's house is the main road leading down to the great
lake--now drained, the embankment of which formed the north-west
boundary of the city. It passes through the gateway called the Hathi
Pol, or Elephant Gate, from the two great stone elephants, mutilated by
Aurangzib, standing on either side of the outer archway. On the left of
the gateway are two buildings, the so-called Pigeon's House, probably
intended for a magazine; and the Sangin Burj, a great bastion supposed
to be part of the fortifications begun by Akbar and left unfinished,
owing to the objections of Shaikh Salim Chishti. A little beyond this,
on the right, are the remains of the waterworks which supplied the
whole city. Opposite to these, is the great travel