23 DECEMBER 1905, Page 2

The Prince and Princess of Wales, starting from Agra, paid

a visit on Tuesday to Fatehpur Sikri, the deserted city which for a few years was the centre and capital of the dominions of the great Akbar. What lends peculiar interest to Fatehpur, as we are reminded in the extremely interesting despatch of the Times correspondent, is the fact that the great Mussulman conqueror, with politic liberality of view,

built this model city in the purest style of Hindu archi- tecture. Though it has not been dwelt in for nearly three oentmies, Fatehpur, profiting by- its isolation, has suffered less from the scourge of invasion than many other Indian cities, while, thanks to Lord Curzon's keen and enlightened interest in the preservation of the historical monuments of India, the work of repairing and restoring Akbar's palace and his mausoleum at Sikandra has been carried out with remark. able skill and completeness. On Wednesday the Prince and Princess visited Gwalior, and were entertained with great magnificence by the Maharajah Sindhia, who is not only the leader of the Mahratta chiefs, but honourably distinguished among the ruling' Princes' of India by his energy and en- lightened views.