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so successfully begun, and before the death of the latter, in 1235, the empire of northern India had permanently passed from the hands of the Hindus to those of their Mahometan conquerors.

For three centuries the empire continued under a succession of Turkish, or as they are usually called, of Pathan dynasties. These monarchs exhibited a continued vigour and energy very unusual in the East, and they not only sustained but increased and consolidated this newly acquired accession to the dominions of the faithful, when, in 1494, Baber, the 4th in descent from Tamerlane, invaded Hindostan, and finally established the celebrated dynasty of the Moguls, which during six succeeding reigns, extending over the extraordinary period of more than two centuries, reached a degree of splendour and of solid power almost unknown in the East. On the death of Aurungzebe, in 1707, the empire fell to pieces, and was a prey to anarchy till after the battle of Plassy in 1757, when it virtually fell into the hands of the English. We have now held it for nearly a century, but whether for good or for evil remains to be seen. Certain it is that our influence has been fatal as far as architecture or art is concerned. Wherever our power is fairly established, the natives have ceased to build with taste, and we have even laboured to obliterate all traces of former architectural beauty. It may be that the good we have done may more than compensate for this; but it is painful to think that this has been gained at the sacrifice of much that was beautiful and refined.

KOOTUB.

By far the most interesting group of ruins that exist in India, or perhaps in any part of the world, is that which is grouped round the tall column of Victory which Kootub erected at Delhi within the precincts of the palace of the unfortunate Pirthay Raja, to celebrate his conquest of the Hindus.

Even in situation these ruins are singularly beautiful, for they stand on the gentle slope of a hill overlooking a plain that once had been apparently a lake, and afterwards became the site of three successive capitals of the East. In front are the ruins of Togluckabad, the gigantic fort of an old Pathan chief; and farther north the plain is still covered with the ruins of Old Delhi, the capital of the later Pathans and earlier Moguls. Beyond that, at the distance of 9 or 10 miles, are seen the towers of Shahjehanabad, the modern capital, and still the seat of the nominal monarchy of the Great Mogul. Still farther north are situated the civil station and cantonments of the British rulers of the country. It is a fortunate circumstance that these were not placed here, as at Agra, în the midst of the ruins, for it is to this that we owe their preservation. But for the distance it is probable that marble columns would have been taken for all purposes for which they might have been available, with a total disregard for the beauty and interest of the remains thereby annihilated. Even as it is, the buildings belonging to the celebrated Shahlimar gardens, which were the only buildings of importance in the neighbourhood of the English

station, have disappeared; but this is of slight importance as compared with the ruins to the south.'

The general arrangement of the principal ruins will be understood from woodcut No. 335, which was taken with great care, though the

335.

At one time a better influence seems to have prevailed, and some money was spent in repairing the Kootub Minar. It

is true this was done in the worst possible taste. A door was added in the true style of Strawberry Hill Gothic; and a kiosk was stuck on its summit copied from the garden pavilion of some modern dwelling in Delhi, and balustrades added to the balconies in the

same taste. A dome, too, surmounted the whole; but as this was of lath and plaster, or some such material, it has disappeared long ago, and it would be well if the other improvements had so also; but the masonry was repaired and consolidated, and we must therefore be thankful that so much was done, and not grumble at the mode.

scale to which it has been necessary to reduce it prevents all its peculiarities from being seen. To understand it, it is necessary to bear in mind that all the pillars are of Hindu, and all the walls of Mahometan architecture.

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It is by no means easy to determine whether the pillars now stand as originally arranged by the Hindus, or whether they have been taken down and re-arranged by the conquerors. In this instance it seems most probable that the former was the case, and that they were open colonnades surrounding the palace of Pirthay Raja. But supposing this to be so with regard to the pillars, it is quite evident that all the enclosing walls were erected by the Moslems, all the string-courses being covered with ornaments in their style, and all the openings possessing pointed arches, which the Hindus never used. If this is so, it is the only instance known of Hindu pillars being left undisturbed. The celebrated contemporary mosque at Canouge is undoubtedly a Jaina temple, rearranged on a plan precisely similar to that of the mosque of Amrou at Old Cairo (woodcut No. 313); but as the roof and domes are all of Jaina architecture, no trace of the Moorish style is to be seen internally the exterior is as purely of Mahometan architecture. There is another mosque at Dhar, near Mandoo, of much more modern date, which is without doubt a Jaina temple re-arranged, as explained p. 80. Another in the fort at Jaunpore, as well as fragments of other mosques elsewhere, all show the same system of taking down and rearranging the materials on a different plan. If therefore the pillars at Kootub are in situ, it is the only instance known of such being the It may perhaps be necessary to explain that there could be no difficulty in taking down and rebuilding any of these erections, for the joints of the pillars are all fitted with the precision that Hindu patience alone could give; and each compartment of the roof is composed of 9 stones-4 architraves, 4 angular and 1 central slab, as explained in diagram No. 47, p. 74, and all so exactly fitted, and so little dependent on cement, as easily to be taken down and put up again. The same is true of the domes, all which, being honestly and fairly fitted, would suffer no damage from the process of removal.

case.

The section (woodcut No. 336) of one half of the principal colonnade (the one facing the great series of arches) will explain its form better than words can do. It is so purely Jaina, that it should perhaps have been introduced in speaking of that style; but as making

a part of the earliest mosque in India, I have preferred introducing it in this place. The pillars used here are of the same order, and similar to those used on Mount Abu (shown in woodcut No. 44), except that those at Old Delhi are much richer and more elaborate. They belong probably to the 9th or 10th century, and are among the few examples to be found in India that seem to be overloaded with ornament-there not being one inch of plain surface from the capital to the base. Still the ornament is so sharp and so beautifully executed, and the effect, in their present state of decay and ruin, so picturesque, that it is very difficult to find fault with what is so beautiful. In some instances the figures that were on the shafts of the pillars have been cut off, as offensive to Mahometan strictness with regard to idolatrous images; but on the roof and less seen parts, the crossed-legged figues of the Jaina saints, and other emblems of that religion, may still be detected.

337.

The glory of the mosque, however, is not in these Hindu remains, but in the great range of arches on the eastern side, extending north and south for about 385 ft., and consisting of 3 greater and 8 smaller arches; the central one being 22 ft. wide and 53 high; the larger side arches 24 ft. 4 in., and about the same height as the central arch; the smaller arches are about half these dimensions, and unfortunately

are generally very much ruined. Behind this, at the distance of 32 ft., are the foundations of another wall; but whether intended to be carried as high as that in front is by no means apparent. It seems probable that the Hindu pillars between the two screens were the only part that was proposed to be covered, some of them being built into the back part of the great arches, and all above them is quite plain and smooth, without the least indication of any intention to construct a vault or roof of any sort. Besides this, a roof is by no means an essential part of a mosque; a wall facing Mecca is all that is required, and frequently in India is all that is built, though sometimes an enclosure is added in front of it to protect the worshippers from interruption. Roofed colonnades are of course not only convenient but ornamental accompaniments, yet far from being indispensable.

The history of this mosque, as told in its construction, is as curious as anything about it. It seems the Afghan conquerors had a tolerably distinct idea that pointed arches were the true form of architectural openings; but being without science sufficient to construct them, they left the Hindu architects and builders whom they employed to follow their own devices as to the mode by which this form was to be attained. The Hindus, however, up to this time had never built arches, nor indeed did they for centuries afterwards. Accordingly they proceeded to make the pointed openings on the same principle upon which they built their domes. They carried them up in horizontal courses as far as they could, and then closed them by long slabs meeting at the top, the construction being in fact that of the arch of the aqueduct at Tusculum, shown in woodcut No. 239. The same architects were employed by their masters to ornament the faces of these arches, and did so by copying and repeating the ornaments on the pillars and friezes on the opposite sides of the court, covering the whole with a lace-work of intricate and delicate carving, such as no mosque ever received before or since; and though it is perhaps in a great measure thrown away and lost when used on such a scale, it is without a single exception the most exquisite specimen of its class known to exist anywhere. The stone being particularly hard and good, it retains its freshness to the present day, and

338.