Through all the troublous times, in which the fort has been besieged, taken and retaken, looted by the Jats, turned into a barracks by the English, this zenana quarter of the palace seems to have been more or less respected; and an indefinable charm still pervades these buildings and lingers in the cool green shadows of their arches. Viewed from the open garden square, these palace rooms form a wonderful group; all are still perfect, save only for an ugly modern marble rail which catches the eye, disfiguring and stunting the proportions of the upper story of the Jasmine Tower.
Among the many improvements that were made by Lord Curzon in the fort was the clearance of the wire-netting fern houses and bedraggled shrubs which at one time disfigured the Anguri Bagh.
Wherever one wanders throughout India, the name of Lord Curzon rises up in connection with some fine work of restoration-a sort of beneficent djinn, whose good deeds lose nothing in the telling. Everywhere from guardians of the ancient gates the same tale meets the ear: 'In the days of Curzon Lat-Sahib it was done '; 'Behold, Huzoor, the Great Lat-Sahib commanded, and it rose again from the ground'; and Indians and Englishmen alike owe him a great debt of gratitude for his timely rescue of many magnificent old Indian buildings and works of art. It is little short of marvellous, even for the East, to find how one man has inspired and accomplished so much good work in so short a time. It is not to be wondered at that his work stopped short at archaeology; and that though the Mughal gardens were cleared of much accumulated overgrowth and rubbish, there has been so far no serious attempt to revive the old garden-craft in its artistic and symbolic aspects.
