The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c23.s4.150

v4.c23.s4.150

The finest example of this phase of Mughul building is Wazīr Khān's mosque erected in 1634, but there are many others, such as the Gulābī Bāgh, the Chauburjī, and 'Alī Mardān Khān's tomb, all at Lahore, while as far distant as Āgra the tomb of Afzal Khān of Lahore known as the "Chīnī kā Rauza" is of the same type. The mosque of Wazīr Khān, a most picturesque structure, consists of the customary arrangement of buildings enclosing a brick-paved courtyard, with the entrance-gateway, cloisters and sanctuary all in their accepted positions. Four octagonal minarets rise from the corners, and the domes which roof the sanctuary and the gateway are of the low-pitched "Lodī" order. Much of the surface decoration, which comprises not only tiles but in the interior patterns painted in distemper, has become considerably abraded, although sufficient remains to show what a gorgeous glow of colour this building presented when first erected. The walls are flat except for an occasional cornice, oriel window, or balcony, and are divided up into shallow sunk compartments for the reception of the glazed patterns. The fertility of design and the diversity of colour in the scheme are amazing, and although in its present state a somewhat vivid yellow is inclined to predominate, each panel, spandrel and border is in itself a work of art, rivalling in the brilliancy of its hues the sheen of the blue jays and green parrots which flit about its walls. There could be no finer illustration of that ardent desire for a display of exuberant colour innate in the east than these glazed tile buildings of the Punjab.