History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c26.s8: Buildings in the Provinces.
History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c26.s8
- Language
- English
Buildings in the Provinces.
v2.c26.s8.1
In addition to the numerous edifices that adorn the capital, there are, as hinted above, several in the provincial capitals that are well worthy of notice. Among these the Jâmi' Masjid at Cambay or Kambhât, is one of the most splendid. It was erected in A.D. 1325, in the time of Muhammad II. ibn Tughlaq, and is only inferior to that of the capital in size. It measures over all 200 ft. by 210 ft., and its internal court 120 ft. by 135 ft. Except being somewhat smaller in scale, its plan and arrangements are almost identical with those of the Altamsh Mosque (Woodcuts Nos. 375, 376) at Ajmîr: but, when it is looked into, it would be difficult to conceive two buildings more essentially different than these two are. The screen of arches at Cambay, only three in number, are plain even to baldness, and low, in order to fit the dimensions of the Hindû or Jaina pillars of the interior. These latter are all borrowed from desecrated temples, and in this instance certainly rearranged without much attention to congruity or architectural effect. Still the effect is picturesque, and the parts being employed for the purposes for which they were designed, there is no offensive incongruity anywhere.
v2.c26.s8.2
One of the most remarkable features in this mosque is the tomb, which its founder, 'Umar bin-Ahmad al Kâzarûnî, in 1333, erected for himself. It stands in an enclosure about 49 ft. wide along the south end of the court, is wholly composed of Hindû remains, and is two storeys in height, and was crowned with a dome 37 ft. in diameter. The parts, however—borrowed, apparently, from different buildings—were so badly fitted together that, after standing some three centuries, it fell in, and has since remained a ruin, singularly picturesque in form and exquisite in detail, but a monument of the folly of employing building materials for any purpose but that for which they were designed.¹
v2.c26.s8.3
¹ For an account and drawings of the Cambay Mosque, etc., see 'Archæological Survey of Western India,' vol. vi. pp. 23-29 and plate 17 to 24.
v2.c26.s8.4
There is another mosque at Bharoch, not unlike this one in design but smaller, being only 135 ft. over all north and south, and it has—now, at least—no courtyard; but some of its details, borrowed from Hindû temples, are very beautiful.¹
v2.c26.s8.5
¹ 'Archæological Survey of Western India,' vol. vi. pp. 20 *et seqq.* and plates 2-16.
v2.c26.s8.6
About 80 miles south-east from Ahmadâbâd is Châmpânîr, which was subjugated by Mahmûd Begarah in 1484 and made
v2.c26.s8.7
399. Plan of the Jâmi' Masjid at Châmpânîr. Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
v2.c26.s8.8
his new capital. Here he erected a Jâmi' Masjid, which was finished in 1508 and may fairly be regarded as architecturally the finest in Gujarât. It measures outside 178 ft. from north to south by 216 ft. from west to east. The court in front had open arcades on three sides, now much ruined, and was entered from minor porches on the north and south with a larger and richly carved one on the east front. The mosque itself is in tolerable preservation and of large size, being 169 ft. 6 in. in length by 81 ft. inside the walls, and, like that at Ahmadâbâd, it has three rows of domes but quite differently arranged. There are, as will be seen from the plan (Woodcut No. 399), four domes in the front and back rows and in the middle only three, but disposed opposite the spaces separating the domes in the other rows. By this peculiar arrangement these eleven domes, each 20 ft. 6 in. in diameter, provide for seven mihrâbs or qiblas in the west wall. There are five arched entrances—the central one, as usual, being the loftiest and double the width of the others. On each side of it rise the minârs to a height of 100 ft., and the façade wall, for a width of 51 ft., is raised to a height of nearly 50 ft. The central dome, with the area within the entrance, rises behind this to a height of three storeys with their two galleries. At the four corners of the mosque are turrets 50 ft. high, carved up to the roof level, but above they are plain and have a rather clumsy appearance.¹
v2.c26.s8.9
¹ For an illustrated account of this mosque, see 'Archæological Survey of Western India,' vol. vi. pp. 39ff. and plates 56-65.
v2.c26.s8.10
400. Plan of Tomb of Mubârak Sayyid, near Mahmûdâbâd. Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
v2.c26.s8.11
There are also two very beautiful mosques at Dholkâ, a city 23 miles south-west from Ahmadâbâd. One of them, known as Hilâl Khân Qâzi's, measures inside the walls 142 ft. from north to south, by 147 ft., inclusive of the Masjid, which is 35 ft. deep. It has three arches in the central and higher part of the façade, and a smaller opening—for a perforated stone window, in each wing. It was erected in 1333, and has two small turrets over the front, a fine marble *mimbar* or pulpit, a beautiful roof of panels taken from Hindû temples, and a remarkably fine porch and doorway at the entrance to the court.² The second is the Jâmi' Masjid, measuring 142 ft. from north to south inside, also with five domes—three in the middle of the façade, and one in each of the wings. It was erected about 1485, with minarets on each side the central arch of a pattern similar to those at Ahmadâbâd. A third mosque, erected in 1361 almost entirely of materials from Hindû temples, is known as the Tânkâ Masjid.¹
v2.c26.s8.12
² 'Archæological Survey of Western India,' vol. vi. pp. 30f., and plates 25 to 34.
v2.c26.s8.13
¹ ‘Archæological Survey of Western India,’ vol. vi. pp. 32f. and plates 28-34; pp. 36f. and plates 50-54.
v2.c26.s8.14
The most beautiful, however, of these provincial examples is the tomb at Mahmûdâbâd, of its class one of the most beautiful in India (Woodcuts Nos. 400 and 401). It was erected in the reign of Mahmûd Begarah, A.D. 1484, for Mubârak Sayyid, one of his ministers. It was under the same sovereign that the tomb of Qutbu-l ‘Âlam was erected at Batwâ, described
v2.c26.s8.15
401. Tomb of Mubârak Sayyid, near Mahmûdâbâd. (From a Photograph.)
v2.c26.s8.16
above (Woodcut No. 398), and is said to have been designed by the same architect. This is, however, a far more successful example, and though small—it is only 94 ft. square, exclusive of the porch—there is a simplicity about its plan, a solidity and balance of parts in the design, which is not always found in these tombs, and has rarely, if ever, been surpassed in any tomb in India. The details, too, are all elegant and appropriate, so that it only wants somewhat increased dimensions to rank among the very first of its class. Its constructive arrangements, too, are so perfect that no alterations in them would be required, if the scale had been very much increased.
v2.c26.s8.17
The tomb itself is surrounded by a screen of perforated stone-work of the very finest tracery, and with its double verandah aids in giving the sepulchral chamber that seclusion and repose so indispensable in a mausoleum.¹
v2.c26.s8.18
¹ 'Archæological Survey of Western India,' vol. vi. pp. 45f. and plates 1, 71 to 75. For a fuller account of the Muhammadan architecture of Gujarât with numerous drawings and photographs, vols. vi. to ix. of the same Western India Survey may be consulted.