History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c19.s17.40

v1.c19.s17.40

Even the mixed style above mentioned, however, died out wherever the Europeans settled, or their influence extended. The modern palaces of the Nawâbs of the Karnatik, of the Râjas of Râmnâd and Travankor, are all in the bastard Italian style, adopted by the Nawâbs of Lucknow and the Bâbus of Calcutta. Sometimes, it must be confessed, the buildings are imposing from their mass, and picturesque from their variety of outline, but the details are always detestable; first, from being bad copies of a style that was not understood or appreciated, but also, generally, from their being unsuited for the use to which they were applied. To these defects, it must be added, that the whole style is generally characterised by a vulgarity it is difficult to understand in a people who have generally shown themselves capable of so much refinement in former times.