The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c23.s4.92.3

v4.c23.s4.92.3

Access to the mausoleum is obtained by means of a causeway built across the water, the entrance to which is through a square domed guardroom on the northern side of the tank. The causeway has become much ruined, but its original character may be judged from a somewhat similar approach to the remains of Salīm Shāh’s tomb, another monument of the group, also located in a large artificial lake. Although resembling a bridge it contains no arches, but consists of a succession of piers with the intervening spaces spanned by lintels and corbels, the piers being ornamented by kiosks and projecting balconies. In the course of building the mausoleum of Sher Shāh a curious error in orientation seems to have occurred, there being a difference of eight degrees between the alignment of the stepped plinth and that of the terrace above. The latter faces the true north, but the mistake in the direction of the foundations was evidently discovered and the required correction made while the building was in progress, a fact which must have added considerably to the difficulties of its construction; although noticeable, it does not materially detract from the general appearance (Fig. 5).