Jacques-Edouard Berger
travelled the world, photographing every great historical site he
saw. The glory of the collection is the 100,000 slides he took, many
of them superb. The limitation of the collection is that these slides
are inadequately labelled, and sometimes confusingly grouped or even
(in a few cases) erroneously identified.
Here is a list of the
Berger Collection locations that were part of Ghalib's Agra and Delhi,
with hyperlinks to the proper part of the site. Note that many of
the locations provide several sets of images (the small numbers under
the name at the top of the frame), each of which has
many twelve-image pages. I give the spellings and arrangement as they
appear in the alphabetical Berger list, together with my comments.
Agra:
*Itimad-ud-Daulah
-- The tomb of Itimad ud-Daulah, Jahangir's chief minister
and father of the empress Nur Jahan. Built by Nur Jahan on the banks
of the Jumna, it was completed in 1628. (Two sets of images.) Ghazals
117 to 127, ending in o , show Itimad ud-Daulah's
tomb.
*Fatehpur
Sikri -- Akbar's own city, built under his personal supervision
in the early 1570's. It was soon abandoned for lack of water, and
so is very well preserved. (Four sets of images.) Ghazals1-48,
ending in alif , show images from Fatahpur Sikri.
*Agra
Fort Rouge -- The Agra Fort was worked on by all the Mughal
emperors from Akbar onwards. (Four sets of images.) Ghazals
ending in e show images from the Agra Fort.
*Sikandra
-- This is where Akbar is buried; he started to build his own
tomb, but after his death Jahangir redesigned it, and the work was
not completed until 1613. The marble inlay work on the Ghalib index
page comes from Sikandara. (One set of images.) Ghazals 57-71,
ending in d , r , and
z , show images from Sikandra.
*Taj
Mahal -- The greatest glory of Mughal architecture, it
was built by Shah Jahan for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died
in 1631. The Taj too is on the banks of the Jumna. (Three sets of
images.) The Taj is so overpoweringly famous that I haven't shown
images of it here.
Dehli:
*Fort
Rouge -- The famous "Red Fort" in Delhi, largely
the creation of Shah Jahan, with Aurangzeb adding the Moti Masjid.
(Two sets of images.) Ghazals ending in ii
show images from the Red Fort.
*Qutb
Minar and *Quwwat-ul-Islam
-- Begun in 1192 by Qutb ud-Din Aibak, first of the Delhi Sultanate
rulers, the mosque complex was continued by his successor Iltutmish.
The Qutb Minar and the Quvvat ul-Islam Mosque are located within the
same complex. (One set of images apiece.) Ghazals 84-116,
ending in n , show images from the Qutb/Quvvat
complex.
*Tughluqabad
-- This now-ruined fortress complex was built by Sultan Ghiyas
ud-Din Tughluq, r.1320-25, and contains his tomb. (One set of images.)
Ghazals 49-53, ending in b and t
, show images from Tughluqabad.
*Humayun
-- Humayun's tomb, built by his widow, Hajji Begam, in 1564.
The background design of these introductory pages is from Humayun's
tomb, looking up at the roof of the dome. (Two sets of images.) Ghazals
72-76, ending in s , sh
, (( , and f , show images
of Humayun's tomb.
*Jantar
-- The Jantar Mantar in Delhi is one of several astronomical
observatories built in different cities by Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur
in the 1720's. (One set of images.) Ghazals 54-56, ending
in j and ch , show images
of the Jantar Mantar.
*Isa
Khan -- The tomb of Isa Khan, a nobleman of Sher Shah Sur's
court (1440-45). This tomb is located in the compound of Humayun's
Tomb, but has no connection with it. (One set of images.) Ghazals
128-129, ending in h , show images of the tomb
of Isa Khan.
*Jardins
Lodis -- The tomb of Sikandar Lodhi (r.1489-1517),
along with other monuments from the period, which have now been incorporated
into a popular garden and park complex. (One set of images.)
Ghazals 77-83, ending in k , g,
l , and m , show images
of the Lodhi tombs.
TO SUPPLEMENT these images,
I've put on line a few others that I find especially worth contemplating--
I call them *EVOCATIONS*
of Ghalib's life and times.
