The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c23.s4.169

v4.c23.s4.169

The Gol Gumbaz, however, is a building which depicts the Bījāpur style in what may be termed its masculine aspect, while its colossal size is perhaps its most distinctive characteristic. For the opposite of all these qualities there is the comparatively small edifice known as the Mihtar Mahall erected in 1620, one of those rich gems of the builder’s art which the Indian’s mind at times found such delight in producing, and in the decoration of which his most skilled craftsmen expended their ungrudging care. Although called a *mahall*, or palace, this structure is really a gateway to the inner courtyard of a mosque which lies a little way behind it. But it is something more than a mere entrance, for it is a tall graceful building with an upper storey containing an assembly room, and above this again is an open terrace surrounded by a high wall with oriel windows and a perforated parapet. On each side of the façade are two slender ornamental minarets of a type characteristic of the Bījāpur style, but it is the projecting balcony window filling in the entire space between that is the most striking feature. It is thrown out from the wall on a series of closely set carved brackets, and the wide eaves-board is supported by struts of stone so finely wrought with the chisel as to have every appearance of wood. Perhaps in its imitation of other and more plastic materials, and its delicate prettiness as a whole, this charming little structure is open to criticism; it conveys the impression that its designer had been commissioned to prepare a miniature masterpiece complete in every detail regardless of time or cost, and had been allowed a free hand in the matter. The manner in which he played with the stone as if it were clay in reproducing mouldings, joggled joints, and particularly the sunk coffers in the ceiling of the ground storey, show the exuberance of his fancy and the sheer delight he took in his task.