The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c30.18

v3.c30.18

Its nucleus is the Jāmi‘ or Quwwat-ul-Islām mosque founded in 1191 A.D. by Qutb-ud-dīn Aibak to commemorate the capture of Delhi and dedicated, as its name implies, ‘to the Might of Islam.’ Raised on a lofty plinth and approached through gateways set in three of its sides, its plan is typical of the majority of mosques; it consists, that is to say, of an open quadrangle enclosed by colonnades, of which the western one constituted the prayer chamber, the only unusual feature being the presence of entresol galleries at the four corners of the colonnades instead of at the sides of the prayer chamber. Seen from within or without, the building, as originally designed, presented an essentially Hindu appearance. Half of the plinth on which it stood had actually been the basement of a Hindu temple and the rest of the structure—walls, columns, capitals, architraves and ceilings—was composed of materials stripped from the shrines of the unbelievers, twenty-seven of which, so one of the inscriptions informs us, had gone to the making of this one mosque. Indeed, save for the five mihrābs in the back wall, there was scarcely a feature in the whole building to proclaim its Muslim character. A design so alien to their own traditions was hardly likely to satisfy the sentiments of the Muhammadans, and within two years of its completion (i.e. in 1198 A.D.) an arched screen of characteristically Muhammadan design was thrown across the whole front of the prayer chamber. It is this screen above all else that is the making of the Quwwat-ul-Islām masjid. Simple as it is in form—it consists merely of a lofty central arch (53 feet in height) flanked on either side by two lesser arches which once supported smaller ones above—it would be hard to imagine carvings more superbly ornate than these which enrich its façade: band on band of sacred texts, their Tughrā characters entwined with curling leaves, and sinuous tendrils, side by side with floral scrolls and flowing arabesques or geometric traceries of surpassing richness. No doubt it was a Muslim calligraphist who set out the scheme and penned in the texts, but it was only an Indian brain that could have devised such a wealth of ornament and only Indian hands that could have carved it to such perfection. In spite, however, of all its beauty it cannot be pretended that this screen is an architectural success. It is too obviously an afterthought, not an integral, organic part of the structure: too vast and over-powering to harmonise with the relatively low colonnades of the courtyard, and still more out of keeping with the slight elegant pillars of the hall behind. The pity is that the precedent set by this, the earliest mosque in Delhi, was destined to be followed in many subsequent buildings and to exercise a baneful influence on their style.