Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/243

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CHAP. III. DELHI. 201 its colonnades would be about 370 ft. from north to south and 230 ft. from east to west, and so enclosing the Qutb Minar. The tomb of Altamsh was built just to the west of the north end of the enlarged mosque. Again 'Alau-d-Din Khalji (1296-1316) projected further extensions : he removed the east wall of Altamsh's court about 155 ft, extending the south wall and its colonnade so as to make the new court 385 ft. from east to west, and constructing the beautiful 'Alai-Darwaza on that side. Close to this gateway is the small tomb of Imam Muhammad 'Ali Zamin, about 24 ft. square, erected about 1535, of sandstone and marble. On the north the Sultan projected doubling the previous court making it altogether over 700 ft. from north to south, and in this north half he began the 'Alai Minar which was intended to be of double the dimensions of the other ; but besides this and the piers for the fagade of the extended mosque nothing more seems to have been done in this north extension. 'Alau-d-Din's tomb now in ruins is to the south-west of the enclosure. To understand the architecture, it is necessary to bear in mind that all the pillars are of Hindu, and all the walls of Muhammadan, architecture. It may possibly be questioned to what extent the pillars now stand as originally arranged by the Hindus. But it seems certain that they have all been re-arranged by the conquerors. And it is quite evident that the enclosing walls were erected by the Moslims, since all the stringcourses are covered with ornaments in their style, and all the openings possess pointed arches, which the Hindus never used. On the whole, it thus seems that the entire structure was re-arranged in the form we now see it by the Muhammadans. The celebrated mosque at Kanauj was originally a Hindu or Jaina temple, and is re- arranged on a plan precisely similar to that of the mosque of 'Amru at Old Cairo. 1 The roof and domes are all of Jaina archi- tecture, so that no trace of the Moorish style is to be seen internally ; but the exterior is as purely of Muhammadan architecture. There is another mosque at Dhar, near Mandu, of more modern date, and, doubtless, a re-arrangement of a Hindu or Jaina temple. Another, in the fort at Jaunpur, as well as other mosques at Ahmadabad and elsewhere, all show the same system of taking down and re-arranging the materials on a different plan. If, therefore, the pillars at the Qutb were in situ, the case would be exceptional ; 2 but I cannot, nevertheless, help suspecting that 1 'History of Ancient and Medieval Architecture,' vol. ii. Woodcut No. 977 (p. 526). 2 Gen. Cuuningham found an inscrip- tion on the wall recording that twenty- seven temples of the Hindu's had been pulled down to provide materials for this mosque ('Archaeological Reports,' vol. i.