Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/363

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GWALIOR GWINNETT 349 died in 182T, and was succeeded by Mugut Bow, on whose death without children in 1843 the country fell into confusion and anarchy, which led to the interposition of the British ; they restored order, and established the author- ity of the legitimate sovereign, Bhagerut Row Sindia, a boy eight years of age, who attained his majority in 1853. By a treaty concluded Jan. 13, 1844, it was stipulated that Sindia might maintain a military force not exceeding 9,000 men. Besides this, he was bound to maintain and pay about an equal number of the sepoys organized and commanded by Brit- ish officers*. The last body was termed the Gwalior contingent, and was mainly stationed at the fortress of Gwalior. During the sepoy mutiny in 1857 it joined in the revolt, mur- dered or put to flight its European officers, and demanded that Sindia should lead them against the British at Agra. The maharajah, however, remained faithful to the British, and Gwalior. exerted himself to prevent the contingent from taking the field ; but in May, 1858, the muti- neers commanded by Tantia Topee and Row Sahib, nephew of Nana Sahib, having been de- feated and hard pressed by Sir Hugh Rose at Calpee, suddenly marched upon Gwalior, in- tending to make it a place of refuge. Sindia met them with his native troops a few miles from Gwalior, and gave them battle, June 1, but was deserted, and fled to Agra. The mu- tineers made Row Sahib maharajah of Gwa- lior. Sir Hugh Rose, however, shortly after reinstated Sindia. II. A city, capital of the district, in lat. 26 13' K, Ion. 78 15' E., 65 m. S. of Agra, and 175 m. S. by E. of Delhi; pop. about 30,000. It stands at the foot of a high rock crowned by the fortress, and contains the tomb of Mohammed Ghous, a famous saint of the time of the emperor Akbar, a very beauti- ful building of white sandstone, with a cupola covered with blue porcelain tiles. Gunpowder and fireworks are made here, and there are cannon founderies. The rock, on the summit of which the fortress is built, is of sandstone, capped in some places with basalt. The face is perpendicular, and in some places the upper part overhangs the lower. The greatest length of the rock from N. E. to S. W. is 1 m., the greatest breadth 300 yards. The height where it is greatest at the N. end is 342 ft. On the E. face several colossal figures are sculptured in bold relief. The entrance to the fortress is toward the 1ST. end of the E. side : first, by means of a steep road, and higher up by steps cut in the face of the rock, of such a size and inclination that elephants can ascend them. This staircase is protected on the outer side by a massive stone wall, and is swept by several cannon pointing down it. The passage to the interior is through a succession of seven gates. The fort contains a palace and two remarkable pyramidal buildings of red stone in the most ancient style of Hindoo architecture. The for- tress of Gwalior was built in 773 by Surya Sena, rajah of the ad- jacent territory. In 1023 it was unsuccess- fully besieged by Mah- moud of Ghuznee. Af- ter many sieges and passing through vari- ous hands, it was taken by stratagem by Baber in 1526. Subsequent- ly Akbar made it a state prison. After the dismemberment of the empire of Delhi it fell into the hands of the Sindia family, from whom it was taken by the English in 1780. It was recovered by Sindia in 1784, was again taken by the Brit- ish in 1803, and again restored in 1805, and from 1844 garrisoned by the Gwalior contin- gent under British officers. GWILT, Joseph, an English architect, born in Southwark, Jan. 11, 1784, died at Henley, Sept. 14, 1863. His principal architectural works are Markham castle near Sligo, and Charlton church, near Woolwich. He published Notitia ArcJiitectonica Italiana (1818), a translation of Vitruvius (1826), and an " Encyclopasdia of Architecture " (1842), and edited Nicholson's " Principles of Architecture " (1848). GWIMETT, a N. county of Georgia, bounded N. W. by the Chattahoochee river, and drained by head streams of the Appalachee, Yellow, and Ulcofauhachee ; area, 550 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 12,431, of whom 2,159 were colored. It is traversed by the Atlanta and Richmond Air-Line railroad. It is rich in minerals, in-