Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/247

CHAP. III. DELHI. 205 known to exist anywhere. The stone being particularly hard and good, the carving retains its freshness to the present day, and is only destroyed above the arches, where the faulty Hindu construction has superinduced pre- mature decay. The Qutb Minar, or great minaret at the south-east corner of the first mosque, is 48 ft. 4 in. in diameter at the base, and, when measured in 1794, was 242 ft. in height. 1 Even then, however, its capital was ruined, so that some 10 ft, or perhaps 20 ft, must be added to this to complete its original elevation. It is orna- mented by four boldly-projecting balconies ; one at 97 ft, the second at 148 ft, the third at 188 ft, and the fourth at 214 ft from the ground ; between which are richly- sculptured raised belts containing inscriptions. 2 In the lower storey the twenty - four projecting ribs which form the flutes are alter- nately angular and circular ; in the second circular, and in the third angular only. Above this the minar is plain, and principally of white marble, with belts of the same red sandstone of which the three lower storeys are composed (Woodcut No. 372). It is not clear whether the angular flutings are copied from some peculiarity found in the minarets at Khurasan and further westward, or whether they are derived from the forms of the temples of the Jains. The 372. Qutb Minar. (From a Sketch by the Author.) 1 'Asiatic Researches,' vol. iv. p. 313. Its height, according to Gen. Cunning- ham, is (after the removal of the modern pavilion) 238 ft. I in. 'Archaeological Reports,' vol. i. p. 196. 2 On the basement storey are six bands of inscriptions the lowest con- tains the designation and titles of Qutbu- d-Din Ibak (1206-1210); the second, the titles and praise of Muhammad ibn (1193-1206); the third, a verse from Sura 59 of the Qoran ; the fourth as in the second ; the fifth, 97 Arabic names of God ; and the sixth a verse from Sura 2 of the Qoran. The place for the call to prayer was upon the second storey. Carr Stephens, * Archaeology of Delhi,' pp. 5f-