History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c31.s3.2

v2.c31.s3.2

One probably of his earliest works was the mausoleum, which he erected over the remains of his father, Humâyûn, at Delhi. Though it certainly was finished by Akbar, it was commenced by his widow, Hâjî Begam Maryam-makânî, and completed in 1565, at a cost of fifteen lâkhs of rupees; for, as frequently remarked in the previous pages of this work, the great architectural peculiarity of the Tartar or Mongolian races is their tomb-building propensity, in which they are so strongly distinguished from the Aryan, and also from the great Semitic families, with whom they divide the greater part of the habitable globe. Nowhere is this more forcibly illustrated than in India—where the tombs of the Pathâns and Mughals form a complete and unbroken series of architectural monuments from the first years of the Moslim invasion to the present hour.