A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c18.57

c18.57

We now pass on to the Indo-Persian styles of the North, the only forms of Muhammadan architecture in India familiar to the world in general. The short-lived and unstable Sūr dynasty (1540–55), of which Shēr Shah was the most distinguished member, had such a hard fight for existence that it could not have been expected to pay much attention to architecture. Nevertheless, several meritorious buildings are due to the Sūr Sultans, and the mausoleum of Shēr Shah at Sahasrām (Sasseram), built on a lofty plinth in the midst of a lake, is one of the best designed and most beautiful buildings in India, unequalled among the earlier buildings in the northern provinces for grandeur and dignity. Cunningham was half inclined to prefer it even to the Tāj. The dome, although not equal in size to the Gōl Gumbaz of Bījāpur, is 13 feet wider than that of the Agra monument.¹ Externally, the architecture is wholly Muhammadan, but Hindu corbelling and horizontal architraves are used in all the inner doorways, as at Jaunpur. The style may be described as intermediate between the austerity of the Tughlak buildings and the feminine grace of Shahjahān’s masterpiece. Plate XCV may suffice to give a good notion of the merits of this admirable style. The plan is octagonal, and coloured glazed tiles were used for decoration. Both the octagonal form and the glazed tiles were importations from Persia.²