No More Learning

Predominantly
the ornamentation was Islamic. Only here and there are Indian
features observable, but we cannot doubt that the craftsmen
employed were Indian or that they were working with designs to
which they were little accustomed. That this tomb is the resting-
place of Iltutmish is the common belief to which colour is lent by
its location immediately behind Iltutmish's extension of the
mosque. On the other hand, some doubt as to its identity is cast
by a passage in the Futūhāt-i-Firuz Shāhi, where the Emperor
speaks of having restored some fallen pillars and four towers at the
Mausoleum of Iltutinish'-a description which manifestly does
not apply to this tomb. Probably the writer of the memoir is at
fault, the building to which he refers being not the tomb of
Iltutmish himself, but one about two miles distant, now known as
'Sultān Ghāri,' which the Emperor built in 1231-32 for his son and
which there is good reason, therefore, for regarding as the oldest
building of its class in India. In this earlier tomb the pillars,
capitals, architraves and most of the decorative motifs are purely
Hindu, and though arches and domes figure prominently in its
design, they are constructed, like all the arches and domes of this
period, on the Hindu corbel principle. The plan, too, of the Sultā.
Ghāri is quite unlike that of Iltutmish's tomb and, indeed, unlike
that of any other tomb in India. It stands in the middle of a
square fortress-like enclosure with round turrets at the four
corners and an arched entrance, approached by a flight of steps,
on its eastern side. Walls and turrets alike are pierced by arched
openings. At the back of the gateway is a pillared portico carried
on Hindu pillars; and opposite to it on the west is a second portico
flanked by colonnades extending from side to side of the enclosure
This second portico, which is square and covered by a dome,
served as a mosque and was provided with a mihrāb in its back
wall embellished with inscriptions in Naskh and Kufic characters.
The tomb in the centre-an octagonal chamber with flat roof sup-
ported on pillars-is sunk to about two-thirds of its height below
the ground level, a fact to which it owes its name of 'Sultan of the
Cave. Most of the enclosure, let it be added, is of grey granite,
but the mosque and entrance portico as well as the exterior facing
of the tomb are of white marble.
Among other buildings associated with the name of Iltutmish,
a
-


## p. 581 (#631) ############################################

XXII ]
APPEARANCE OF THE TRUE ARCH
581
the most celebrated is the Arhāi-din-ka-Jhompra at Ajmer, which
Qutb-ud-din Aibak had built in 1200 A. D. and which Iltutmish sub-
sequently beautified with a screen. The story goes that Qutb-ud-
din finished the original building in two-and-a-half days, whence
its singular name of 'Two-and-a-half days hut, but a more
plausible explanation is that the name dates from Marāthā times,
when an annual melā or fair was held there, lasting two-and-a-half
days. Whatever the origin of the name, the mosque of Qutb-ud-din
is more likely to have taken two-and-a-half years than two-and-a-
half days to erect. In style and construction it closely resembles
its older rival at Delhi, but its area is more than double as large
and the several parts of the edifice are correspondingly more
spacious and dignified. At Delhi, the planning of the prayer
chamber had been done on makeshift lines, the colonnades being
too constricted and the pillars in them too low and crowded. At
Ajmer, these defects were remedied. A single broad aisle on three
sides of the open court took the place of the two or three narrow
ones at Delhi and the arrangement of domes and pillars in the
prayer chamber was made strictly uniform and symmetrical. Both
mosques were built out of the spoils of Hindu temples, but at
Ajmer the architect went to work more boldly and, despite the
multiplicity of his materials and their strange fantastic forms, he
succeeded nevertheless in creating out of them a hall of really
solemn beauty-fit setting for the exquisitely carved mihrāb of
white marble set in its western wall (Pl. VI). A further note of
distinction was given to this mosque by the addition of circular
bastions, fluted and banded like the Qutb minar, at the two corners
of its eastern facade. But if Qutb-ud-din's mosque at Ajmer was
an improvement on its predecessor at Delhi, the same cannot be
said of the screen, magnificent as it undoubtedly was, which
Iltutmish threw across the front of the prayer chamber. It had the
advantage of being a third again as broad as Qutb-ud-din's screen
and vastly more massive ; its engrailed arches were a pleasing
;
novelty, its decorative reliefs admirable of their kind, and its
workmanship beyond reproach. Yet, with all its grandeur and
perfection of technique, it missed the delicate and subtle beauty
of its rival. Mathematically it was correct to the minutest detail,
but mathematical precision is not architecture and no amount of
accuracy with compass and ruler can make up for lack of natural
artistry. The two minarets set meaninglessly on the top of the
central archway, the inappropriate niches and tiny medallions in
the spandrels, and the abrupt determination of the base mouldings


## p. 582 (#632) ############################################

582
[CH.
THE MONUMENTS OF MUSLIM INDIA
sufficiently betray the limitations of the designer, who produced
in this screen rather a tour de force of technical excellence than
an artistic triumph.
Between the death of Iltutmish in 1236 and the accession of
'Alā-ud-din Khaljī the story of architecture at Delhi is all but a
blank. The only monument of note that throws light on its
progress in the interval is the tomb of Balban' (1266-86) which
stands in the south-east quarter of the Qal'a-i-Rāi Pilhaura. It is
a simple structure comprising a square domed chamber, 38 inches
across, with an arched entrance in each of its sides and a smaller
chamber to the east and west, in one of which was the grave of
Khān Shahīd, the son of the Emperor, who fell in battle against
the Mongols (1285-86). Unfortunately, every trace of decoration
has perished from the tomb and what is left of it is a mere shell,
but the presence of arches built on true scientific principles is an
innovation that deserves notice. In every building of Qutb-ud-din
and Iltutmish that has been described, the arches were constructed
not with youssoirs, as they ordinarily are, but in corbelled horizontal
courses, the fact being that, in their ignorance of arch construc-
tion, the Hindu craftsmen engaged on these structures had to
resort to their own traditional methods of dome building. The
appearance, then of the true arch in the tomb of Balban marks a
definite advance in construction and at the same time is sympto-
matic of a general reaction against Hindu influences. This reaction
had already made itself felt during the reign of Iltutmish and,
though we have no means of following it stage by stage, it is
evident that it must have gathered considerable strength in the
half century succeeding his death. For by the time the Khaljīs
came upon the scene Muslim building traditions had already
become firmly established on Indian soil, with the result that not
only had methods of construction been revolutionised but ornament
had come to be treated more as an integral factor and less as
quasi-independent accessory of architecture.
The effect of these developments upon the style of the Khalji
period is clearly evidenced in the two principal monuments of
'Alā-ud-din's reign : the Jama'at Khāna Masjid at the Dargah of
Nizām-ud-din Auliyā and the 'Alāi Darwāza at the Qutb. The
former is the earliest example in India of a mosque built wholly in
accordance with Muhammadan ideas and with materials specially
quarried for the purpose. It is of red sandstone and consists of
1 For a minar built at Koil in the ‘Aligarh District by Balban which was
demolished in 1862, see Aligarh Gazetteer, vol. v, p. 218.
a


## p. 583 (#633) ############################################

XXIII ]
APPEARANCE OF THE TRUE ARCH
583
three chambers : a square one in the centre and an oblong one on
either side, each entered through a broad archway in the facade.
All three entrances, as well as two smaller ones between them, are
framed in bands of Quranic inscriptions and embellished with lotus
cuspings The central chamber is covered by a single dome (38
inches diameter) supported at the corners on fourfold squinch
arches. Around the base of the dome, internally, are eight arched
niches, four closed and four pierced through the thickness of the
masonry. The side chambers, which are divided at their middle by
a double arch and roofed by two small domes, differ from the central
one in that their walls are of plastered rubble instead of sandstone,
while their domes are supported on triangular pendentives instead
of squinches. Originally, it is said, the building was intended by
its author, Khizr Khān, son of 'Alā-ud-din, not as a mosque but
as a tomb for Shaikh Nizām-ud-din and consisted of the central
chamber only, the side wings being added in the early Tugluq
period when it was converted into a mosque, while further altera-
tions and repairs are mentioned in the Thamarātu-l-Quds as having
been executed during the reign of Akbar. These last are patent at a
glance and include, besides other items, the screens in the side
portals (visible in Pl. VII) and the painted decorations in the interior
of the prayer chamber, all of which are typical of the Mughul period.
But that the side wings were a later addition is more than question-
able ; the design of the whole facade is so homogeneous and so nobly
planned, that it is well nigh incredible that it could have been the
creation of two different epochs or that the new work could have
been so cleverly dove-tailed into the old and the new carvings
imitated so skilfully as to defy detection.
The 'Alāſ Darwāza, built in 1311, was the southern gateway
leading into 'Alā-ud-dīn's extension of the Quwwat-ul-Islām
mosque. Though the only one of his buildings at Qütb which has
not fallen to ruin, its state of preservation is far from perfect, a
pillared portico which once veiled its northern entrance having
completely vanished and its walls being sadly damaged and
incorrectly restored. In spite, however, of its mutilations the
'Alāi Darwāza is one of the most treasured gems of Islamic archi-
tecture. Like the tomb of Iltutmish, it consists of a square hall
roofed by a single dome, with arched entrances piercing each of its
four walls; and like that tomb, also, it is of red sandstone relieved
by white marble and freely adorned with bands of Quranic texts
or formal arabesques. But there the likeness ends.
feature whether structural or decorative, the 'Alāi Darwāza is
In every


## p. 584 (#634) ############################################

584
( CH.
THE MONUMENTS OF MUSLIM INDIA
incomparably the finer of the two monuments. Seen at a distance
its well-proportioned lineaments are accentuated by the alternating
red and white colour of its walls; and an added dignity is given
by the high plinth on which it stands. At closer range, the harmony
of form and colour is enhanced by the wealth of lace-like decorations
graven on every square foot of its exterior walls. Then, as one
passes into the hall, this effect of warm sumptuous beauty gives
place to one of quiet solemnity, to which every feature of the interior
seems to contribute : the subdued red of the sandstone, the staleli-
ness of the portals, the plain expanse of dome, the shapely horse-
shoe arches that support it, and the bold geometric patterning of
walls and window screens. The key-notes of this building are its
perfect symmetry and the structural propriety of all its parts.
Whoever the architect may have been, he was a man of irreproach-
able taste, who was not satisfied merely with repeating traditional
ideas, but who set himself to think out and perfect every detail of
his creation.
Among other monuments of ‘Alā-ud-din at Delhi two that merit
notice are the City of Siri-the second of the seven cities of Delhi
-and the Hauz-i-Alāi or Hauz-i-Khās tank on the banks of which
the army of Tīmūr encamped after his defeat of Mahmud Tughluq.
To the latter there will be occasion to allude again in connexion
with the buildings of Firūz Shāh Tughluq'. The former was built
by 'Alā-ud-din about 1303 in order to protect the ever-growing
population of the suburbs. Nothing is now left of this city except
some fragments of the encircling walls, but even these few remnants,
with their round and tapering bastions, their lines of loopholes,
their flame-shaped battlements inscribed with the Kalima, and their
inner berm supported on an arched gallery, are of value and interest
for the light they throw on the military architecture of the period.
With the transfer of the throne of Delhi from the Khalji to the
Tughluq dynasty, the architecture of the Imperial capital entered
on a new and more austere phase. The days of its first youthful
splendour and prodigal luxuriance were over, Lavish display of
ornament and richness of detail now began to give place to a
chaste sobriety which, as time went on, developed into a severe
and puritanical simplicity. At first the change was due to the
urgent need for economy and to the general revulsion of feeling
against the excesses of the Khalji régime. Public opinion had
been outraged by the reckless follies of 'Alā-ud-din and still more
1 See p. 590 infra.


## p. 585 (#635) ############################################

XXII ]
TUGHLUQĀBĀD
585
by the revolting vices of Qutb-ud-din Mubārak and his outcast
minion Khusrav Khān. It was not, therefore, to be wondered at if
Ghiyās-ud-din Tughluq sought to break away from the past and,
even in the matter of architecture, to avoid anything which might
savour of the wanton extravagance of his predecessors. Later on,
however, other causes contributed to intensify the plainness and
severity of Tughluq architecture. One of these was the extreme
religious bigotry of Muhammad bin Tughluq and his cousin Firūz
Shāh, which led them to discountenance any but the most scrupu-
lously orthodox and austere forms of religious architecture.
Another was the loss of State revenues consequent on the defec-
tion of the outlying provinces which made it increasingly difficult
to finance vast building schemes such as those projected by Firūz
Shāh. Yet a third cause which severely handicapped the architects
was the decay of skilled craftsmanship during the reign of
Muhammad bin Tughluq, when the whole population of Delhi was
forcibly transferred to Daulatābād and the city itself given over to
desolation. Writing some years after the event Ibn Batūta tells us
that the capital was ‘emply and abandoned with but a small
population, and from all we know of its condition after Firūz
Shāh's succession to the throne, it is clear that Delhi was still
suffering from the consequences of this disastrous migration which
resulted in the dispersal of her skilled craftsmen and artisans, in
the effectual loss of their traditions, and in the general neglect and
ruin of her monuments. Thus the architects of the Tughluq period
were beset on every hand by restrictions and difficulties which
made it impossible for them to emulate the works of their pre-
decessors under the Slave and Khalji kings. All this is clearly
demonstrated in the buildings they have left us. Ghiyās-ud-din
reigned only four years (1321-25), and there are but two monu-
ments of his of any consequence, namely, the city of Tughluqābād -
the third of the Seven Cities-and the sepulchre which he built for
himself beneath its walls. But both of these monuments
eloquent of the rapidly changing spirit of Imperial architecture.
Few strongholds of antiquity are more imposing in their ruin than
Tughluqābād. Its cyclopean walls, towering grey and sombre above
the smiling landscape ; colossal, splayed-out bastions; frowning
battlements; tiers on tiers of narrow loopholes ; steep entrance-
ways; and lofty narrow portals : all these contribute to produce
an impression of unassailable strength and melancholy grandeur.
Within the walls all is now desolation, but, amid the labyrinth of
rụined streets and buildings, the precincts of the Royal Palace
are


## p. 586 (#636) ############################################

586
( ch.
THE MONUMENTS OF MUSLIM INDIA
once roofed with tiles of glittering gilt are still discernible ; and
so too is the citadel rising high above the rest of the town and
protected by its own double or triple lines of defence. But, with
all their seeming impregnability, the fortifications of Tughluqābād
were in reality but very poorly built, consisting of nothing but a
core of loose rubble with a facing of ashlar granite, and it is only
too evident that they must have been put together in great haste,
owing perhaps to some imminent peril from the Mongols.
Though almost equally simple and massive, the tomb of the
Emperor is of less forbidding aspect. Let the reader picture to
himself an island castle set (as it used to be) in the midst of a lake
a
and forming an outwork, as it were, to the overshadowing city,
with which it was connected by a narrow causeway. Above its
embattled ramparts and in sharp contrast with their monotonous
grey, rises the red and white fabric of the mausoleum. The marble
and sandstone of which it is built are treated in a strikingly novel
fashion. Up to the springing of the arches the structure is wholly
of red sandstone, but above that point the red walls are relieved
by bands and panels of marble ; and the crowning dome is
entirely of marble. The effect of the treatment and particularly
of the glistening expanse of white dome is to impart a certain
lightness and diversity to the structure ; but the impression
nevertheless conveyed by its battering walls and sturdy pro-
portions is essentially one of simplicity and strength. Assuredly
no resting-place could have been devised more befitting the stern
warrior who founded the Tughluq dynasty! That there are defects
in its design, need hardly be said. The sloping pilasters, for example;
the unduly small merlons; the crudely disposed panels and bands
of marble : all these are features that might easily have been im-
proved on. These, however, are but minor blemishes and, clearly
as they show the incipient tendencies of the new style, they do not
seriously impair the solemn grandeur of the Tomb? .
Muhammad bin Tughluq, the son of Ghiyās-ud-din, was the
author of few monuments at Delhi. In the first two years of his
reign he founded the small fortress of 'Adilābād and the city of
Jahānpanāh, and on the transfer of the capital to Daulatābād he
must have thrown himself wholeheartedly into the lay-out and
1 By the side of Ghiyās-ud-din there also rests in this sepulchre his son
Muhammad bin Tughluq. It was at the grave of the latter that Firūz Shāh perform-
ed an act of almost quixotic piety. Having brought together all the
victims he could find of his cousin's misdeeds or their descendants, he compensated
them for what they had suffered, and taking their duly attested receipts deposited
them in the grave of the dead Emperor,
:


## p. 587 (#637) ############################################

XXII ]
THE PUBLIC WORKS OF FIRUZ SHĀH
587
construction of his new city, of which more will be said when we
come to deal whith the monuments of the Deccan. After the failure
of his plans in the south, however, he seems to have lost all interest
in Delhi, nay, even to have conceived a positive aversion to it, and
he did nothing further to beautify or improve it. 'Ādilābād, which
was merely an outwork of the larger city of Tughluqābād and
almost identical with it in style, calls for no comment. Jahānpanāh
(the 'World Refuge') he made by linking up the walls of Old Delhi
on the one side and Siri on the other and so enclosing the suburbs
that had grown up between them. The fortifications themselves of
this new city (they are some 12 yards in thickness and constructed
of rough rubble in lime) are now all but level with the ground and
in some places barely traceable; but an interesting object connected
with them is a double-storeyed bridge of seven spans, with sub-
sidiary arches and a tower at each end, which served as a regulator
for drawing off the waters of a lake inside the walls. Then, at a
little distance within the walls, there is the Bijai Mandal, a terraced
tower-like structure which evidently formed part of a small palace
and which is noteworthy for the presence of horse-shoe arches
copied somewhat indifferently from Khalji prototypes, as well
as of intersecting vaulting which was afterwards to become a
characteristic feature of Tughluq architecture. Lastly, there is,
immediately below the Bijai Mandal and probably of about the
same age, a square nameless tomb of rough rubble and plaster,
crowned by a low Byzantine-looking dome and fenestrated drum,
which for beauty of proportions, both inside and out, is unsurpassed
by any other example of Tughluq architecture.
Fīruz Shāh, the third of the Tughluq kings, was an indefatigable
builder. Shams-i-Sirāj enumerates a long list, and Firishta a still
longer, of the cities, forts, palaces, embankments, mosques, tombs and
other edifices of which he was the author; and the former supplies
us with the names of the two chief architects, Malik Ghāzi Shahna
and ‘Abdu-l-Haqq, who assisted him in carrying out his schemes.
One of the best known of his palace-cities, which he founded on his
way to Bengal, was Jaunpur; others, hardly less famous, were
Fathābād and Hisār Firūza. At Delhi he built the palace-fort of
Firūzābād, which henceforth became his official residence at the
capital, and for the convenience of Muslim travellers he provided
no less than 120 rest-houses. But most valuable of all his public
works were the canals (one of which, the ‘Old Jumna Canal,' is
still in use) by which he brought water to his new settlements and
at the same time irrigated the intervening tracts. Nor did these


## p. 588 (#638) ############################################

588
(CH.
THE MONUMENTS OF MUSLIM INDIA
undertakings, numerous as they were, exhaust the sum of his
activities. With a piety all too rare among Oriental potentates, he
renovated or rebuilt many of the monuments of former times which
had fallen into disrepair, and even went so far, as he tells us in his
autobiography? , as to give these works precedence over his own
building schemes.
Operations on such a vast scale necessarily demanded an
organised system of financial control, and we learn from the
Ta'rīkh-i-Fīrūz Shāhi that a plan of every proposed edifice had
to be made by the architect and scrutinised by the financial officer
(Dīwān-i-Wizārat) responsible for the provision of funds. Whether
the Finance Department was at liberty to modify the designs sub-
mitted to it is not stated, but it is quite clear that the strictest
economy was enforced, and the effect of this economy coupled with
the other restrictions under which the architects of Firuz Shāh
had to struggle is only too apparent in their buildings. Like the
monuments of the first Tughluq, these are virile and strong, wholly
sincere in purpose and free from sham; but, with few exceptions,
their construction is cheaper and their appearance incomparably
colder and more vacuous. Red sandstone and marble, which had
previously been used with telling effect, are now rarely seen; even
in the most important edifices their place is taken by rubble and
plaster. Local granite, to be sure, is employed for short heavy
pillars and a few other members, but it too is generally plastered
over or whitewashed and little attempt is made to turn its colour
or texture to account. When first erected, these buildings of Fīrūz
Shāh, like any Indian edifices of to-day, were dazzling white and,
needless to say, had nothing in their aspect of the dark and sombre
melancholy which age has imparted to them. Yet even their pristine
whiteness could not atone for the monotonous bareness of their
walls. What little surface ornament there was generally took the
form of inscribed borders, medallions in the arch spandrels and
such-like simple and conventional devices. Of the rich imaginative
designs in which the Indian fancy rejoices, there were none ; nor,
on the other hand, was there, save in rare cases, that sense of
aerial spaciousness which is able on occasion to compensate for
the absence of decorative beauty. The virtues of this architecture
reside in its vigour and straightforwardness ; in its simple broad
effects; and in the purposefulness with which it evolved new
1 The description of these archaeological repairs in the Futiīhāt-i-Fīruz Shāhi
contains interesting information concerning the ancient monuments of Old Delhi,
1
1


## p. 589 (#639) ############################################

XXIII )
THE PUBLIC WORKS OF FIROZ SHẢH
589
structural features or adapted old ones to its needs—the multi-
domed roofing, for example, or the tapering minaret-like buttresses
at the quoins. Its faults are seen in the monotonous reiteration
of these self-same features, in the prosaic nakedness of its ideas,
and in the dearth of everything that might make for picturesque
charm or elegance. How much this architecture suffered from the
Jack of Hindu craftsmanship can best be gauged by comparing it
with the work of the Lodi or early Mughul periods, when the magic
touch of Hindu genius had again endowed it with life and warmth
The fact, however, that under the Tughluq dynasty Hindu influence
was from one cause or another reduced to its lowest ebb, must not
be taken to imply that it was altogether a negligible factor. The
architects who designed these Tughluq buildings and the workmen
who constructed them, though possessed, perhaps, of no exceptional
skill, and though hampered by many restrictions, had nevertheless
been born and bred amid Indian surroundings, and could not help
expressing themselves in terms of Indian thought. Try as they
might to adhere to the established formulas of Muslim art, they
inevitably fell back on the forms and motifs with which they were
familiar. Thus it came about that the flat lintel frequently usurped
the place of the pointed arch, and that pillars, brackets, balconied
windows, caves and railings, besides a score of other features of
Hindu origin, took their place naturally in an otherwise Muham-
madan setting; and thus, too, it happened that much of the mentality
underlying and controlling the design was fundamentally Hindu. It
cannot be strongly emphasised that the longer the Muham-
madans remained in India, the more deeply imbued did their art
become with Indian feeling. Even though every individual detail
of a building might be derived from an external source (a con-
tingency that rarely happened), it still remained true that the brain
which conceived the whole was working in obedience to Indian
precept. Had Indian imagination been allowed freer play at this
period in the development of Indo-Islamic architecture, a much
higher level of aesthetic beauty would undoubtedly have resulted.
As it is, we must be grateful that this imagination was not wholly
absent.
Of the many monuments of Firüz Shāh which have survived at
Delhi, the most considerable is the Kotla Firüz Shāh : the palace-
fort or citadel which the Emperor built whithin his new city of
Firūzābād'. If credence can be given to the description of Shams-
1 The tendency at Delhi, as in many ancient cities of the east, was to extend
the city always in the direction of the prevailing cool win is, that is, towards the
north.
:


## p. 590 (#640) ############################################

590
(CH.
THE MONUMENTS OF MUSLIM INDIA
i Sirāj, the city was more than double the size of Shāhjahānābād,
,
extending from the ridge on the north almost as far as the Hauz.
i Khās on the south and embracing a large part of modern Delhi.
Among other edifices it is said to have boasted eight public mosques
and one private mosque, besides three palaces and serveral royal
hunting boxes. It is not unlikely, however, that the size and
magnificence of the city were much overstated by conte nporary
historians ; for their accounts find little confirmation in the few
monuments that chance has preserved, while, on the other hand
they are discounted by the fact that Old Delhi and its extensions
were still the centre of civic life in the time of Timur. Of the
Kotla and its various buildings, as they once appeared, a graphic
picture is afforded by Mr Page's bird's-eye view (Pl. IX). Note-
worthy features of its fortifications are the machicoulis which now
for the first time make their appearance in India, and the absence
of any raised berm or gallery to give access to the double lines of
loopholes -a phenomenon that can only be accounted for on the
assumption that the berms were constructed, or intended to be
constructed, of wood. Within the walls the best preserved monu-
ments are the Jāmi' Masjid and a pyramidal structure crowned by
a pillar of Asoka. The former was an imposing building of two
storeys, with arcades and chambers on three sides of the ground
floor and with deep triple aisles (now fallen) around the open
court of the mosque above. Its other features-rubble and plaster
masonry, high bare walls, multiplicity of sma'l domes, squinch
arches, battlemented neckings and crestings-all these are typical
of the prevailing style and call for no particular remark. The pillar
of Asoka which stood in front of the mosque came from the village
of Tobrā in the Ambāla district and was one of two such pillars
which Firūz Shāh erected at Delhi ; the other, which was brought
from the neighbourhood of Meerut, being set up in the Kushk-i
Shikār palace on the ridge. The methods adopted for lowering,
transporting and re-erecting this famous monolith are described at
length by Shams-i-Sirāj, who relates how it was lowered on to beds
of silk cotton, encased in reeds and raw skins, and hauled to the
banks of the Jumna on a carriage with 42 wheels ; how the Sultan
came to meet it in person and how it was then transferred to boats
and so taken to Firūzābād. He tells, too, of how it was lifted, stage
by stage, on to the top of the pyramid, and there with the help of
windlasses and stout ropes raised to the perpendicular. Evidently
the shifting and setting up of this pillar was regarded as a remark-
able feat of engineering, and considering the indifferent mechanical


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xxII)
TOMB OF TILANGĀNİ
591
و
appliances then available, the engineers had every reason to be
proud of their achievement. It may be remarked, however, that
the weight of the pillar was less than 40 tons-a very insignificant
bulk compared with the 700 or 800 ton blocks handled with no
better contrivances by the Romans at Baalbek, or the still heavier
blocks used by the ancient Egyptians,
A smaller, but architecturally more striking, group of monuments
is that forming the Collegel and Tomb which Firūz Shāh built for
hinıself at the Hauz-i-Khās on the remains of an older structure of
'Alā-ud-din Khalji. Much of the College is now in ruins and its
interior planning is too intricate to admit of detailed description
here ; it must suffice, therefore, to observe that the tomb is at the
south-east corner of the lake and that the College buildings extend
some 250 feet on its western and over 400 feet on its northern side ;
that the latter are double storeyed on the lake front, single storeyed
behind; and that for the most part they consist of arcades or colon-
nades, two or three bays deep, interrupted at intervals by square
domed halls. The happy grouping of these buildings as seen from the
lake (Fig. 19), the effective combination in their facades of Hindu
column and Muslim arch, and their exceptionally decorative appear-
ance, all combine to place them on a higher plane than the other
monuments of Firuz Shāh's reign and to make of them, indeed, one
of the most attractive groups at Delhi. The tomb of the Emperor,
which is the central and dominating feature of the whole, is a square
structure (44 ft. 6 in. externally) with slightly battering walls and is
surmounted by a single dome raised on an octagonal drum. Its
marble and sandstone cornice, battlements adorned with floral
reliefs, and coloured plaster decorations of the interior, are part
of the repairs executed by Sultān Sikandar Lodi at the beginning
of the sixteenth century, but even without these later embellish-
ments its simple dignity and unpretentiousness must always have
commanded admiration.
Another mausoleum of exceptional interest both on historic
and on architectural grounds is that of Khān-i-Jahān Tilangāni, the
Prime Minister of Fjūz Shāh, who died in 1368-69. It is situate a
little south of the Dargah of Nizām-ud-din, alongside the Kālī (or
Sanjar) Masjid, which Khān-i-Jahān Jauna Shāh built two years
after his father's death. The enclosure in which it stands is of the
1 The theory that this College was originally intended as a palace is supported
neither by the plan of the building, which is unsuited to a palace, nor by the
presence of the tomb, which would be out of place in a palace but to which the
College is a natural adjunct.


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( CH.
THE MONUMENTS OF MUSLIM INDIA
usual fortress-like character. But the tomb itself marks an entirely
new departure. Instead of being square, like all its predecessors at
Delhi, the tomb chamber is octagonal surmounted by a single dome
and encompassed ay a low arched verandah. Thus its form generally
resembles that of the Dome of the Rock (Qubbat-us-Sakhra) at
Jerusalem, from which it may, indeed, have been ultimately derived.
But the very dissimilar materials of which it is built - grey granite
and red sandstone, white marble and plaster-and the essentially
Indian character of its component parts produce an effect widely
different from that of its tile-enamelled prototype. Being the first
attempt of its kind, it need hardly be said that its architecture is
far from being faultless. The domes, for example, both central and
subsidiary, are too squat, the verandah arches too low, and in other
respects the elevation Jacks symmetry and finish. These defects,
however, are not without interest, since they show us more clearly
than anything else could have done the difficulties which the archi-
tect had to face in essaying this novel type of funeral monument.
In the century following, the Tilangāni tomb became the standard
pattern for the royal tombs of the Sayyid and Afghān dynasties,
and one by one we shall trace the steps by which the initial defects
were removed and the design gradually improved upon and elabo-
rated until it reached its final consummation in the magnificent
mausoleum of Sher Shāh. The mosques of Firūz Shāh's reign are
for the most part remarkably uniform in style. Constructed of
rubble and plaster, with pillars, caves and brackets of local grey
granite, they are characterised by boldly projecting gateways,
multi-domed roofs, tapering turrets engaged at the quoins and
Hindu caves and brackets. But while these are factors common
to almost all buildings of this class, here and there may be found
an example distinguished by features of an exceptional kind. Thus
the Kāli Masjid which Jauna Shāh built in connexion with his
father's tomb is planned on quite unusual lines. Instead of the
area in front of the prayer chamber being an open court, it is
divided into four by arcades crossing it at right angles, one arcade
linking the eastern entrance with the middle bay of the prayer
chamber, the other linking the northern and southern entrances.
A still finer and better preser ved masjid designed on the same
cruciform plan and also attributed to Jauna Shāh is in the village
of Khirki in Jahānpanāh. But though this treatment of the court.
yard had the advantage of affording shelter to the worshippers and
incidentally of relieving the nakedness of the interior, it failed to
supplant the more orthodox plan, and was not repeated at the


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xxm )
TOMBS OF THE SAYYIDS
593
other mosques of this period such as the Begampuri mosque in
Jahānpanāh or the Kalān Masjid in Shahjahānābād, which Jauna
Shāh himself afterwards erected. Again, in the Kalān and Khirki
examples there is a lower takkhāna storey resembling that in the
Jāmi Masjid at Fīrūzābād ; and at the Begampuri mosque, which
was the principal place of worship in Jahānpanāh, there is a heavy
arched screen in front of the central liwān of the prayer chamber,
which in point of organic unity is as inappropriate as the screen in
front of the Quwwat-ul-Islām mosque. Finally, in the mosque of
Shāh 'Alam at Tīmūrpur, there occurs the earliest example at Delhi
of a ladies' gallery in the rear corner of the prayer chamber, which
henceforth was to become the orthodox position for these galleries.
The only other monument of the Tughluq period that need be
mentioned is the tomb of the Saint, Kabir-ud-din Auliyā, locally
known as the Lāl Gumbad, which there is reason to believe was
erected in the reign of Nāsir-ud-din Mahmud Shāh (1389–92).
In
general form as well as in materials it is clearly a copy, and a very
indifferent copy, of the tomb of Tughluq Shāh. Nevertheless it
possesses a certain interest if only because it indicates a reviving
sympathy for the more animated colouristic style of the Khalji and
early Tughluq periods, which had then been out of fashion for more
than half a century. Happily the new movement which this tomb
seems, as it were, to inaugurate, was destined to find expression in
something more than the slavish imitation of antique models. Out
of the universal chaos which followed on the invasion of Tīmūr,
there emerged a vigorous and catholic spirit of design-a spirit
replete with creative energy and imagination-which under the
Sayyid and Lodi dynasties gave encouragement once more to the
latent genius of Hindūstān and at the same time derived new
inspiration from the never failing source of Islamic art in Persia.
To revive again the fresh, spontaneous beauty of thirteenth-
century architecture was no longer feasible. Through mutual re-
action and other causes Muslim and Hindu ideals alike had
undergone too much change in the interval. However much the
new generation might strive to emulate the old models, however
much it might elaborate their form or improve upon their colour,
it could never hope to recapture their poetry. The prosaic for-
mality or Tughluq architecture, and the habit which had grown up
of designing buildings largely in accordance with set conventional
rules, had left an indelible mark on Indo-Saracenic architecture.
Henceforth, in spite of its returning animation, the style could not
escape being more or less laboured and self-conscious. It struggled
38
C. H. I. III.


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$94
(CH.
THE MONUMENTS OF MUSLIM INDIA
a
hard to find scope for inventiveness and individuality, and in a large
measure it succeeded, but it could never wholly shake off the deaden-
ing effect of the Tughluq period.
In the shrunken empire to which the Sayyid and Lodi kings
succeeded the resources at their command were too limited to
permit of any vast and ambitious schemes of building, and we
shall find that, with few exceptions, the chief and best examples of
architecture during this period are the tombs of the kings and
noble. Of the royal tombs, all those that can now be identified
with certainty1 follow the model of the Tilangāni tomb described
above, but each successive structure marks an advance on the
design of its predecessor. The earliest of the series is the mausoleum
of Mubārak Shāh Sayyid situated in the village of Mubārakpur.
Here, the central dome was raised substantially higher than in the
original prototype, pinnacles (guldastas) were added at the angles
of the polygonal drum, and the summit was crowned with a novel
and striking feature in the form of an arched lantern in place of the
usual finial. The height of the verandah, too, was increased, and the
eight subsidiary domes, which in the Tilangāni tomb had proved
too low and insignificant, were replaced by pillared kiosks (chhatrīs).
In the next example, the tomb of Muhammad Shāh, which is
reputed to have been erected by his son and successor 'Alā-ud-din
'Alam Shāh-the architects went a step further, increasing still
more the height of the central dome and subordinate kiosks,
adding a second range of pinnacles on the angles of the verandah
cresting and in other ways developing the symmetry and cohesion
of the several parts. Many of the details of this Sayyid architecture,
both constructional and decorative, were, it need hardly be said,
inherited from the preceding age, and a few of them, like the
effective patterning of the pierced stone screens, can be traced as
far back as the early thirteenth century. On the other hand, some
of its distinctive traits—the use of blue enamelled tiling to give
emphasis to decorative features, the elaborate and highly refined
treatment of surface ornament incised on plaster and embellished
with colours, the lotus finials on the domes and certain other
Hindu or quasi-Hindu motifs-all these were innovations, and
destined to exert important influence on the subsequent
development of this school. In the mausoleum of Sikandar Lodi,
which is believed to have been erected by his son and successor
1 The tomb of Buhlūl Shah, the founder of the dynasty, is said to be a low
square building of somewhat mean appearance at Raushan Chiragh, Delhi; but its
identity is far from certain.
an
а


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xxii)
TOMBS OF THE SAYYIDS
595
Ibrāhīm Lodi in 1517-18, the use of enamelled tiles was much
extended, the tiles of several colours-green, yellow, bright azure,
and dark blue-being disposed in a variety of patterns both inside
and outside the building, and in other respects also there was
a marked tendency towards a richer and more lavish display of
ornament. But a still more important feature of this tomb was the
use made in it of the double dome. This structural expedient,
which originated probably in Syria, and passed thence through
'Irāq to Persia and India, was invented in order to preserve the
symmetry and relative proportions of the interior as well as of the
exterior. So long as the dome was not hidden from view by the
sub-structure projecting in front of it, no difficulty was experienced
in fashioning it to suit the proportions of the body of the building.
Indeed, the single domes of some of the Khalji and Tughluq monu-
ments are as perfectly formed as any in the world. But when the
design of the structure was such as to necessitate the dome being
elevated on a lofty drum, the interior forthwith became stilted and
disproportionately high in comparison with its width. It was
with a view to correct this fault that the separate inner and outer
domes were devised. The invention, which at Delhi made its
appearance for the first time in the tomb of Shihāb-ud-din Tāj Khān
(A. D. 1501) and a little later was repeated in this tomb of Sikandar
Shāh, played, as we shall see later, an all-important part in the
evolution of Mughul architecture, which but for it could never
have achieved such wonderful symmetry.
While the royal tombs of this period thus follow an established
and more or less uniform pattern, the contemporary tombs of the
nobles branch out into a new and distinctive type, which, though
more common place and prosaic, is nevertheless not without much
dignity and strength. Among the host of monuments of this class
with which the plains of Delhi are bestrewn, the finest examples are
the tombs of Bare Khān and Chhote Khān, the Barā Gumbad (A. D.
1494), the Shīsh Gumbad, the tomb of Shihāb-ud-din Tāj Khān
(1501) and the two tombs known as the Dādi-ka-Gumbad and Poli
ka Gumbad. From the illustrations reproduced in Plate XIII the gen.
eral characteristics of the whole class can readily be gauged. They are
square solid looking buildings with domes carried on squinch arches
and an octagonal pillared kiosk rising from each corner of the roof.
1 Another noteworthy feature of Sikandar Lodi's tomb is the spacious and
quasi-ornamental character of its walled enclosure which occupies a place midway
between the fortified enclaves of the Tughluq tombs and the decorative gardens of
the Mughul, for which it seems clearly to be preparing the way.
38-2


## p. 596 (#646) ############################################

596
( CH.
THE MONUMENTS OF MUSLIM INDIA
In the middle of each side is a high arched bay projecting slightly
from the body of the building and for the rest the facades are, as
a rule, divided into two or three storeys and further relieved by a
series of shallow arched recesses or of window openings pierced
through the thickness of the walls. In other respects they resemble
the octagonal tombs described above ; their grey granite walls
embellished with red sandstone and enamelled tilework, their
lofty drums and domes, their battlemented
parapets, their
pinnacles and lotus finials, their brackets and mouldings and
decorative designs incised on plaster and picked out in colours-
all these being similar in character and following the same course
of development as the corresponding features in the tombs of the
kings. It is to be observed, however, that unlike the royal mau-
solea, these square tombs possess no walled enclosures around them,
though on the other hand there are several instances of mosques
being appended. At the tomb of Tāj Khān, for example, there is
an open ‘Idgāh-a simple battlemented wall provided with a
mihrāb and flanked by turrets at the corners-though whether it
was erected along with the tomb is open to question, since the
tomb itself is furnished with its own mihrab, which takes the
place of the doorway on the western side. Attached to the Barā
Gumbad again was a walled court with a highly ornate mosque on
one side and a low arched structure corresponding to it on the
other. The mosque is particularly interesting ; for while its
tahkhāna basement and tapering turrets at the rear quoins are
strongly reminiscent of the Tughluq style, in other respects it
presents striking differences, notably in the diversified treatment
of the five arched bays into which the facade is divided, in the
increased size of its domes, in its effective balconied windows, and
above all in the exquisitely fine plaster ornament with which the
eastern facade and whole interior of the prayer chamber are
covered. Another and much more imposing masjid of the same
period is the Moth-ki-Masjid built by the Prime Minister of
Sikandar Shāh. Not only is it the largest structure of its class
erected during this period (the prayer chamber
124 ft. 6 in. from end to end), but it epitomises in itself all that
is best in the architecture of the Lodis. It cannot aspire to the
poetic refinement which characterised some of the Slave and
Khalji monuments ; nor can it pretend to the rhythmic perfection
1 The surface decoration in this mosque is of exceptional value for the reason
that there are so few buildings in which the plaster work has survived, though
many must once have been embellished in the same manner.
measures


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XXIII ]
MULTĀN
597
found in the later Mughul style ; but, if it lacks these qualities,
and if it betrays a certain organic looseness, it displays on the
other hand a freedom of imagination, a bold diversity of design, an
appreciation of contrasting light and shade and a sense of harmony
in line and colour, which combine to make it one of the most
spirited and picturesque buildings of its kind in the whole range
of Islamic art. The storeyed open towers at the rear corners of
the building are especially happy adjuncts in place of the usual
slender minarets; the interior of the prayer chamber, though
hardly spacious enough, is dignified; the domes are better spaced
and the arched openings of the facade are better proportioned
than in the Barā Gumbad mosque ; in addition to which the
surface decoration of both the mosque and gateway gains in
effectiveness by being more restrained, while the freer use of white
marble and coloured tiling in combination with red sandstone
imparts a more animated note to the whole.
PROVINCIAL STYLES
Multān.
When, in a subsequent volume of this history, we came to deal
with the sumptuous monuments of the Mughuls, we shall see what
a profound influence the work of the Lodīs exerted on the shaping
of their style. But before we follow up the further progress of this
architecture at the Imperial capital, we must hark back for a while
and consider how it had meanwhile been developing in the out-
lying provinces of the Empire and in the various independent
kingdoms that came into being between the thirteen and fifteenth
centuries. Of these lesser centres of Indo-Muslim power, the first
to claim attention is Multān ; not because its few surviving monu-
ments are either as ancient or as magnificent as many elsewhere,
but because it was one of the earliest cities to be occupied by the
Muhammadans and for this and other reasons was relatively little
under the influence of Hinduism.
Thrice conquered by the Arabs in the eighth and ninth
centuries, Multān never again reverted into Indian hands.
hundred years (A. D. 879-980) it was the capital of an independent
Arab State, and from the Arabs it passed in turn to the Karma-
tians, the Ghaznavids, a second time to the Karmatians, and then to
the Ghūrids ; after which it was incorporated in the principality of
Nāsir-ud-din Qubācha and was finally annexed by Iltutmish.
that time onwards it remained feudatory to Delhi, reasserting its
independence only between the years 1457 and 1525, when the
For a


## p. 598 (#648) ############################################

598
( cu!
THE MONUMENTS OF MUSLIM INDIA
1
Langāhs were in power. During these several centuries of con-
tinuous Muslim rule, many monuments of note must have been
erected in the city. As early, indeed, as A. D. 712 a mosque with
minarets is said to have been built by Muhammad ibn Qāsim, and
in 985 we hear of the far-famed temple of Aditya, the Sun-God,
being demolished by the Karmatians and of another mosque being
reared on its ruins. But of these early structures no vestige is now
left, and, strangely enough, Multān does not possess a single mosque
that can be referred to pre-Mughul times. Such monuments -
they are only five in number-as are reputed to have been founded
before 1526, are all tombs of saints, and two out of the five have
been so extensively renovated as to be little more than mere
semblances of their former selves, while a third-the shrine of
Shāh Yusuf Gardīzi, said to date from A. D. 1152-has been wholly
reconstructed and modernised. Yet in spite of their renovations
the two tombs in question are not devoid of interest. One is the
resting-place of Bahāu-l-Haqq, who died in 1262, and according to
popular belief was built by the saint himself, but it was seriously
damaged during the siege of 1849 and since then has been com-
pletely restored. The other is the tomb of Shams-ud-din (dec.
1276), who is locally known as Shams-i-Tabrizi, but is not to be
confused with the more famous Persian saint of that name. The
original structure is said to have been erected by his grandson a
generation or more after his death, but having fallen into ruin it was
rebuilt in A. D. 1780 by one Seth Mihr 'Ali, a disciple of the family.
Both monuments are designed on the same lines and consist of a
square tomb chamber, with walls battering on the outside , sur-
mounted by a lofty octagon and crowned by a hemispherical dome.
Concealed as their fabrics are beneath modern plaster and glazed
tilework , it is not possible to determine how much of them has
been restored, but comparing them one with the other, and also
with other tombs in the neighbourhood, it can hardly be doubted
that their present form is substantially that of the originals and
that they represent an earlier stage than the tomb of Shāh Rukn-
i-'Alam in the development of the local Multān style. In this con-
nexion, the tomb of Shādnā Shahid, who died a martyr's death in
1270, is particularly instructive ; for though relatively insignificant
( it is only 18 ft. 6 in. square inside), its original fabric has not been
greatly interfered with, and, denuded as it now is of its plaster
facing, it affords an excellent illustration of the methods of con-
struction then in vogue.
Here also the form of the structure is
identical with that of the two tombs already described, though the
9


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XXIII ]
BENGAL
599
.
dome, be it noted, is somewhat lower and more in accord with
what we should expect at this period. On the other hand, the
tomb of Rukn-i-Alam, the grandson of Bahāu-l-Haqq, which
Ghiyās-ud-din Tughluq caused to be built between the years 1320
and 1324, exhibits a marked advance on its predecessors. Taken
all in all, indeed, this tomb of Rukn-i-'Ālam is one of the most
splendid memorials ever erected in honour of the dead. Its height,
measured to the top of its crowning finial, is 115, its diameter 90
feet. Instead of being square, however as the earlier examples
were, the body of the tomb is an octagon-a feature which vastly
enhances the symmetry of the whole, while any suggestion of weak-
ness, to which the octagonal form might have giving rise, is cleverly
avoided by buttressing the outer quoins with engaged and tapering
minarets. The superb surface decorations which distinguish this
building have been widely renovated in the course of the centuries,
but though many of the details have undoubtedly been changed,
there is no reason to suppose that their general character—the
bands of carved timbering let into the walls, the elaborately
chiselled brickwork, and the richly coloured tilling-is markedly
different from the original. Compared with the memorials of the
Sayyid and Lodī kings at Delhi, or with the still more magnificent
tomb of Sher Shāh at Sahsarām, it must be conceded that in the
matter of surface ornament and particularly of brilliant colour
effects, the tomb of Rukn-i-'Alam has the advantage. On the other
hand, what it gains in these respects it loses in rhythmic grace and
in the poetry of composition. The difference between these monu-
ments-is the difference largely between the Persian and the Indian
ideals. For despite the presence of many obviously Indian features
in the tomb of Rukn-i-'Ālam, and despite the local character of
much of its craftsmanship, based on pre-Muslim traditions the
spirit underlying its design is largely Persian, while that of Sher
Shāh's tomb has gone far to becoming Indian.
Bengal.
In India, as in Persia and 'Irāq, brick had been used as a
building material almost from time immemorial, and even as early
as the Gupta period the art of chiselling wall surfaces and of
beautifying them with carvings in relief had reached a high state
of perfection. We need not wonder, therefore, at the exquisite
craftsmanship which the early Muhammadan buildings of India
exhibit in their brickwork. But there is one all-important feature,
as we have already seen, in which the indigenous architecture of


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600
[ ch.
THE MONUMENTS OF MUSLIM INDIA
a
the Peninsula, whether of brick or stone, differed fundamentally
from Islamic. Save on the rarest occasions it made no use of any
other binding material for its masonry but, mud, and as a conse-
quence found itself unable to aspire to any of those spacious effects
which the arch and vault and dome subsequently made possible.
In Multān and Delhi, fortunately, and wherever else Islamic tradi-
tions established themselves in sufficient strength, these limitations
of indigenous building made little or no impression upon the suc-
ceeding styles of the Muslims. But in the more distant parts of the
Empire, where the conquerors were relatively few in number and
little in touch with the outer world of Islam, their architecture took
its character largely from the pre-existing monuments of the locality.
This is a fact that comes out prominently if we turn our eyes from
the plains of the Punjab to the far-off Province of Bengal which
was annexed by Muhammad Bakhtyār Khān as early as 1198-99,
within five years, that is to say, of the conquest of Delhi itself. In
this low-lying and tropical country, the destructive forces of nature
and the still more destructive agency of man have spared few
monuments of the Hindu period, but on the strength of such scanty
remains as have survived and from the indications afforded by
later examples it may safely be inferred that, although stone was
freely employed wherever it could be procured, brick, timber and bam-
boo were the principal building materials in use ; and that among
the most salient features of this older Bengal architecture were a
peculiar form of curvilinear roof, commonly known as Bengali,
square brick pillars of stunted proportions as well as more slender
ones of stone, and carved or moulded surface decorations of almost
ultra-refined elegance. It is safe to infer also that pointed arches
of small dimensions constructed on the corbel system were not
unknown to the Bengalis in the pre-Muslim days. These were the
main characteristcis of the style which the Muhammadans found
prevalent on their arrival, and which, with the help of their own
traditions, they proceeded forthwith to develop and expand.
Considering the almost unexampled opportunities which the
riches of Bengal opened out to the conquerors, the inborn artistry
and adaptability of its craftsmen, and the immense superiority of
Islamic methods of construction, it might well have been thought
that the resulting school of architecture would have been second to
none in India. As a fact, it proved one of the least successful.
Seen in the mass the wide-flung ruins of Gaur and Pāndua, where
the Muhammadans successively established their capital, make an
imposing array and convey an impressive idea of the wealth and


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XXII ]
BENGAL
601
-
luxury of their authors. But, with few exceptions, the individual
buildings are disappointing. They lack the imagination necessary
to adapt the form to the size; their component parts are often out
of proportion; their pillars sometimes too cumbersome, sometimes
unduly slight; and the form of their Bengali roofs, originally
intended for bamboo and timber construction, shows less appro-
priately in brick or stone. The low relief work of their wall surfaces,
too, though exquisite in itself and admirably adapted to interior
details, is generally too delicate and hyper-refined for the decora-
tion of exterior facades, while the designs and application of their
enamelled tiles betray a singular poverty of imagination. Yet, in
spite of its manifest shortcomings, there is an originality about
this Bengal school-a certain spontaneous artistry and freedom
from convention which can hardly fail to command admiration;
and, though the style as a whole does not rise to the same high
level as some other local styles, nevertheless it was capable
on rare occasions of producing results, such as the Dākhil Dar-
wāza, which are unsurpassed by anything of their kind in the
East.
It was at Gaur, or Lakhnāuti, the former capital of the rich
Pāla and Sena dynasts, where the Muslims established their seat
of government, that their first building operations in Bengal were
started. Mosques, palaces and the like they must have provided
for themselves immediately after their arrival, doubtless by appro-
priating and, if necessary, ruthlessly despoiling the buildings of the
Hindus; and before twenty years had elapsed we hear of the Sultān
Ghiyās-ud-din (Hisām-ud-din 'Iwaz) constructing raised causeways
across the low marshy country to serve as military roads and erect-
ing a madrasah, caravansarais and other edifices at his capital.
Curiously enough, however, it is not at Gaur, but at Tribeni in the
Hughli District, that the oldest remains of Muslim buildings have
survived. These are the tomb and mosque of Zafar Khān Ghāzi.
The former is built largely out of the materials taken from a
temple of Krishna, which formerly stood on the same spot but
is now so mutilated as to have lost most of its architectural value.
The neighbouring mosque is reputed to have been built, at any
rate in its present form, during the reign of Sultān 'Alā-ud-din
Husain Shāh (1493–1518). Be this date correct or not, the mosque
is certainly much later than the neighbouring tomb; but framing
the central mihrāb, and obviously transferred here from some older
1 The mosque has been wrongly thought by some writers to be contemporary
with the inscription of A. D. 1298; cf. J. A. S. B. vol. vi, 1910, p. 23.


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602
[ch.
THE MONUMENTS OF MUSLIM INDIA
one
monument, is a stone border bearing an Arabic inscription which
records the conquest of Southern Bengal by Zafar Khān in A. D. 1298
during the reign of Sultān Rukn-ud-din Kai-kāūs. Slightly later
than these remains at Tribeni is the Sālik mosque at Basīrhāt in
the Twenty Four Parganas, which was founded originally in A. D. 1305,
but has been completely renovated in modern times. With these
unimportant exceptions, however, the history of this Bengal style
is a blank until we come to the reign of Sikandar Shāh (1358–89),
and by a strange concidence the first monument that we then meet
-the far-famed Ādina Masjid which the Emperor erected in the
new capital of Pāndua-was also the most ambitious structure of
its kind ever essayed in Eastern India. In area, this masjid was
almost as big as the Great Mosque of Damascus': 507} feet from
north to south by 285} from east to west. But though it was
regarded in Bengal as one of the 'Wonders of the World,' its design
was far from being worthy of its size. Imagine an immense open
quadrangle, more than twice as long as it was broad, bounded on
its four sides by arched screens, every archway (and there were 88
in all visible from the court) identical with its fellows and every
surmounted by an identical dome, with nothing to relieve
the monotony of the whole save a single archway which, rising higher
and wider than the rest, fronted the vaulted liwān in the middle
of the western side. Even the domed gateways, which usually
interrupt the long lines of cloisters, are absent, the only entrances
into this remarkable masjid being two small doorways in the back
wall for the use of the king, a small arched opening for the public
in the middle of the east side, and another public entrance, probably
added as an afterthought, at the south-east corner. Imagine, too,
the interior of the cloisters divided into 375 bays—five deep on the
western and three deep on the other sides-each a replica of its
neighbour and each roofed by a precisely similar dome, with no
variation whatsoever except where a royal gallery (bädshāh-kā.
takht) extending over eighteen bays in the northern wing of the
prayer chamber is carried on ponderous pillars of Hindu pattern.
Surely no place of worship was ever devised of such magnitude
and with so little sense for the beautiful ! Considered by themselves,
the several parts and the details are admirable enough : the arcaded
aisles, for instance, are dignified; the vaulted liwān is well pro-
portioned and pleasing and the mihrāb is as exquisite a piece of
carving as can be found in India. But no amount of perfection
1 Fergusson was incorrect in stating that the dimensions and ground plan of the
two mosques were identical,


## p. 603 (#653) ############################################

XXIII ]
THE EKLĀKHI TOMB AT PANDUA
603
in its parts can compensate for the lack of organic composition
and due proportion in the economy of the whole. Its design, as
Cunningham rightly observed, is more suitable for a caravansarai
than a mosque. It is monotonous and commonplace. Fortunately
for the Bengal school, the experiment of building on so gigantic
a scale was not afterwards · repeated, and though the charge of
monotony could legitimately be brought against some other mem-
bers of the same group, the defect is never so glaringly apparent as
it is in the Ādina Masjid.
To the reign of Sikandar Shāh are also ascribed several other
monuments including the mosque and minar at Chhotā Pāndua
in the Hughli District and the mosque and tomb of Akhi Sirāj-
ud-din at Gaur. But though the two former are supposed to have
been erected by Shāh Saif-ud-din, a nephew of Firüz Shāh Tughluq,
it is obvious that their style belongs to the fifteenth rather than
the fourteenth century; while the two latter were so extensively
restored in 1510 as to have lost practically all value as examples
of fourteenth-century work.
Whatever buildings may have been erected under the short-
lived dynasty of Rāja Kāns, which interrupted the Iliyās Shāh
succession between the years 1409 and 1438, the only one of note
now generally assigned to it is the Eklākhi tomb at Pāndua.
According to tradition, as recorded in the Riyāz-us-Salātin, this
is the tomb of Jalāl-ud-dīn Muhammad Shāh, the proselyte son of
Rāja Kāns, who was converted to Islam by the Saint Nür Qutb-i-
'Ālam. Be this tradition correct or not, the tomb is one of the
finest in Bengal and peculiarly interesting as the prototype on
which, strange to say, many mosques in this part of India were
subsequently modelled. Its design is simple : a square, rather low
structure 75 feet each way, with gently curving cornice and octa-
gonal turret at each corner— the whole surmounted by a single
domes, which is carried on squinch arches and supported besides by
pillars. The fabric is of brick, helped out with slabs of dark horn-
blende taken from Hindu temples ; and, as usual, the decoration of
the exterior is executed in moulded terracotta or carved brick,
glazed tiles being employed only in the overhanging cornices. The
interior was originally decorated with painted flowers and other
devices, but only faint traces of this ornamentation are now visible.
Compared with the tomb of Rukn-i-'Alam at Multān, or the con-
temporay monuments of the Sayyid kings of Delhi, the Eklākhi
tomb connot be pronounced a great achievement. Its general lines
are not unpleasing; there is merit in the treatment of the curved,


## p. 604 (#654) ############################################

604
(ch.
THE MONUMENTS OF MUSLIM INDIA
more
numerous.
overhanging cornice the corner turrets are effective ; and there is
great beauty and variety in the low terracotta relief work. It fails,
however, because it lacks the height and dignity so essential to
monuments of this kind, and-more important still — because too
much thought has been given to surface decoration, too little to
structural formative beauty. This is a weakness common to most
buildings of the Bengal school, and one which they share with the
generality of the monuments of Eastern Persia. In both places the
architects were apt to regard the fabric of a structure rather as
a vehicle for ornament than as a thing of beauty in itself ; and
as often as not they seem incapable of thinking freely of three
dimensions. In the few rare instances in Bengal, such as the
Dakhil Darwāza at Gaur, where structural and decorative beauty
went hand in hand, the result was as perfect an example of brick
architecture as can be found anywhere in the world.
After the expulsion of Rāja Kāns's House in 1438, the buildings
of the restored Iliyās Shāh dynasty become
Besides other monuments of lesser note, there are the Sath Gum-
bad mosque and tomb of Khān-i-Jahān 'Ali at Bagerhāt, both
dating from about 1459; while at Gaur there is the Dākhil Gate-
way, believed to have been built by Bārbak Shāh (1459–74), the
Tāntīpāra, Daras Bāri and Lotan masjids ascribed to his son,
Yusuf Shāh (1474-81), and the Gunmant mosque erected probably
a few years later. Of these the first mentioned - the Sath Gumbad
mosque-is noteworthy for its cornet turrets, which are strongly
reminiscent of Tughluq architecture, and for the unusual treatment
of its frontal cornice, which instead of being curvilinear, slopes
away in straight lines from a small triangular pediment over the
central bay. The interior is a fine spacious apartment albeit some-
what marred by the exaggerated slenderness of its stone pillars.
The Dākhil Darwāza--the most striking of several gateways at
Gaur-is a superb example of what can be achieved in brick and
terracotta. Sixty feet in height by 113 feet from back to front, it
consists of a central arched passage with guard rooms on either side.
At each of its four corners is a five-storeyed tapering turret, once
crowned by a dome. Walls and turrets alike are relieved by string
courses and mouldings, and adorned further with sunk panels,
niches and rosettes and other motifs of Hindu origin, among which
the chain and bell, battlement and quatrefoil are conspicuous.
But the outstanding merit of this gateway is the surprising bold-
ness of its design and the masterly skill with which its facades have
been broken up and diversified by alternating effects of light and
a


## p. 605 (#655) ############################################

a
XXII ) THE DAKHIL DARWĀZA AT GAUR
605
shade. Between the Dākhil Gateway and the Tāntipāra masjid
erected (if we may accept the traditional dates) only ten years
later, there is a marked divergence of style. The latter-an oblong
brick structure of two aisles divided by stone pillars down the
centre-has suffered sadly from the effects of time. Its roof has
gone entirely and large sections of its walls have collapsed. Yet,
even in its ruin, it is still an object of beauty. Cunningham con-
sidered it the finest edifice of all in Gaur, and if perfection of
detail were the criterion of good architecture, his opinion would
be fully justified. In the matter of superficial ornament, indeed,
the Tāntīpāra masjid marks the zenith of the Bengal school. In
other respects, however, it shows signs of incipient decadence.
Where the Dākhil Gateway is virile, the masjid is effeminate ;
where the former is free and spontaneous, the latter is mannered
and formal; and even its lace-like ornamentation, beautiful as it is
in itself, must be admitted to be verging on the meretricious. The
same remarks apply also to the decoration of the Daras Bāri mosque
which belongs to about the same age but is even more sorely
battered than the Tāntipära, The Lotan masjid which is another
of the monuments ascribed to Yūsuf Shāh is the best surviving
example of type of mosque peculiar to Bengal. It is said to take
its name (otherwise Lattan or Nattan) from Nattu, a favourite
dancing girl of the Emperor. Like the Chamkhan masjid, which
appears from its style to be somewhat older but is neither so large
nor so well preserved, it is constructed of brick and consists of a
square prayer chamber-manifestly built on the model of the
Eklākhi tomb-with an arched verandah added on to its eastern
side, the whole structure measuring 721 feet long by 52 feet wide.
Inside and out, the brickwork was once covered with glazed tiles
of blue, white yellow, and green. Much of this tilework has now
perished, but what remains it does not suggest that it could ever
have been very attractive.