Unless you know it is there, tucked away behind a stone wall, you would be forgiven for driving past the Catholic Cemetery Agra, India without stopping. However, if your eye catches the red sandstone dome of what appears to be a mini Taj Mahal, your interest may be piqued. Decide to spend a few minutes walking amongst the tombs of the departed souls, whose deeds are blended into the past and forgotten, and you will realize just what a magnet India was in the 1500-1800s for entrepreneurs, adventurers, and neer-do-wells.

We stop to visit on a sweltering summer afternoon. As we are the only visitors to the cemetery, the caretaker goes out of his way to explain what we are seeing, adding anecdotes and stories that might not reflect fact. He scurries about, bringing pails of water to wash off the grime so that we can read and photograph the epitaph inscriptions more easily.

Without a doubt, the most striking tomb in the cemetery is the “Red Taj” as it is known locally. Within lie the remains of Col John William Hessing, a soldier of fortune and native of Utrecht, Holland, who made a name for himself as the Commandant of Agra in 1799 in the service of the local ruler, before dying in 1803. The tomb, built by his wife, copies the architecture of the Taj Mahal but on a smaller scale. There are turrets, chhatris, and arched niches as well as a cross on the top. Money ran out before the minarets could be built.

To the north of the Red Taj is a pyramid-shaped tomb sitting on a square-sided base. The only inscription states that “the four children of General Perron” are buried inside. There are no dates but it is believed that the children died in the 1790s. But who exactly was “General Perron?” Search hard enough in obscure history books, and you will find that he was a simple sailor in the French navy (named Pierre Cuillier), who jumped ship, adopted the nom de guerre of Perron and made a name in the service of the Indian rulers, creating an army for himself in the process. Having been defeated by the British, he surrendered and eventually returned to France where he lived out his life in luxury.

Not far away is the tomb of another European soldier of fortune, Walter Reinhardt (of undetermined nationality) who, starting out as a private, managed to raise his own personal army in Agra. In the process, he married an Indian woman, Begum Samru, and ruled over her capital, Sardhana, for a brief time (Begum Samru is considered to be the only Catholic ruler of India, having converted to Catholicism after Reinhardt’s death, when she assumed command of his army).

Immediately beyond the Perron Pyramid sits an octagonal tomb with white-washed walls and a hexagonal dome with a cross on top.  Strips of cloth and even plastic bags adorn the sandstone screen door. Normally, these are the types of offers you would find at a Hindu or Muslim holy site. Inside, amidst the fresh marigolds and incense, a plaque on the wall reveals that this is the final resting place of a number of Jesuit monks or priests who died in Agra in the 1600s; they include Italians, Portuguese and French. A plaque on the opposite wall indicates that, originally, this was the tomb of Khwaja Mortenepus, an Armenian merchant whose name has clearly been lost in translation. The Armenian bishop, Zakur of Tabriz is also buried inside.

The oldest graves in the cemetery belong to Armenian merchants who came to Agra in the mid-1500s. What is striking about these tombstones is the mixture of eastern and western symbolism. As well as being written in Armenian, the epithets of many include Latin and Muslim scripts. It was Akbar the Great who invited the Armenians to establish a colony in Agra, even taking an Armenian woman as one of his Queens and appointing another as the court doctor.

Italians are also well represented amongst the tombs, most dating from the early 1600s. Their tombstones are decorated with a mixture of eastern and western scripts and styles. Amongst these is the grave of Geronimo Veroneo, an Italian jeweler who died in Agra in 1640. In Italy he is considered by some to have been “The architect of the Taj Mahal” but there is nothing to support this claim. According to a story related by the groundskeeper, another Italian jeweler buried here, Hortenzio Bronzoni, worked on the Great Mogul Diamond (which has since disappeared) and was fined by the king for botching the cutting of the stone. A search through historical records, however, speaks of an Italian named Hortenzio Borgis as the individual who worked on the Great Mogul Diamond. Were there two Italian jewelers named Hortenzio in Agra at the same time or is the name on the grave the result of poor translation?

Finally, there is a large eight-sided sandstone tomb, complete with carvings, pointed arches and a dome that belongs to Francis Ellis, an Englishman, who died in 1868. All around the tomb are multiple gravestones belonging to other members of the Ellis family who perished in India, including babies and young children.

As you complete your tour of the cemetery, exploring tombs and reading epitaphs, you can’t help but reflect on the fact that India was a magnet for so many different nationalities besides the British who came seeking adventure, fame or fortune. Their individual places in history are lost in the dust of time. All that is left are their tombstones with their enigmatic inscriptions.

IF YOU GO
The graveyard is formally known as the Roman Catholic Cemetery Agra. It is located on the Dayal Bagh Road near National Highway 2 which links Agra and Delhi. It is open from sunrise to sunset. There is no entry fee but the caretaker will expect a tip, especially if he has shown you around.

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