The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c30.23

v3.c30.23

The reaction against Indianisation which is so marked a feature of this mīnār¹ is noticeable also in Iltutmish’s extensions of the Quwwat-ul-Islām screen and of the little tomb—said to be that of Iltutmish—which stands behind the north-west corner of the mosque. Here, however, the Muslim elements have been less successful in dominating the Hindu, with the result that the style is vacillating and nerveless, possessing neither the tectonic strength and purposefulness of the former, nor the picturesque artistry of the latter. In its form and dimensions the tomb is quite unpretentious; a simple square chamber, less than 30 ft. across, of red sandstone within and of grey quartzite relieved by red sandstone without. In three of its sides are arched entrances, and on the fourth a mihrāb flanked by two smaller ones, while thrown across the corners are squinch arches supporting a domical roof, which like many Syrian and Egyptian domes was probably constructed in part of wood. But if the structure was simple, its decoration could scarcely have been more elaborate. The lofty entrance bays without and almost the entire surface of the walls within were covered from floor to ceiling with Quranic texts in Naskh and Tughrā and Kufic characters, or with formal arabesques and geometric diapers as bewildering as they were varied, and the ornate effect of the whole was further increased by picking out the background of the white marble reliefs in colours. Predominantly the ornamentation was Islamic. Only here and there are Indian features observable, but we cannot doubt that the craftsmen employed were Indian or that they were working with designs to which they were little accustomed. That this tomb is the resting-place of Iltutmish is the common belief to which colour is lent by its location immediately behind Iltutmish's extension of the mosque. On the other hand, some doubt as to its identity is cast by a passage in the *Futūhāt-i-Fīrūz Shāhī*, where the Emperor speaks of having restored some fallen pillars and four towers at the 'Mausoleum of Iltutmish'—a description which manifestly does not apply to this tomb. Probably the writer of the memoir is at fault, the building to which he refers being not the tomb of Iltutmish himself, but one about two miles distant, now known as 'Sultān Ghārī,' which the Emperor built in 1231-32 for his son and which there is good reason, therefore, for regarding as the oldest building of its class in India. In this earlier tomb the pillars, capitals, architraves and most of the decorative motifs are purely Hindu, and though arches and domes figure prominently in its design, they are constructed, like all the arches and domes of this period, on the Hindu corbel principle. The plan, too, of the Sultān Ghārī is quite unlike that of Iltutmish's tomb and, indeed, unlike that of any other tomb in India. It stands in the middle of a square fortress-like enclosure with round turrets at the four corners and an arched entrance, approached by a flight of steps, on its eastern side. Walls and turrets alike are pierced by arched openings. At the back of the gateway is a pillared portico carried on Hindu pillars; and opposite to it on the west is a second portico flanked by colonnades extending from side to side of the enclosure. This second portico, which is square and covered by a dome, served as a mosque and was provided with a mihrāb in its back wall embellished with inscriptions in Naskh and Kufic characters. The tomb in the centre—an octagonal chamber with flat roof supported on pillars—is sunk to about two-thirds of its height below the ground level, a fact to which it owes its name of 'Sultan of the Cave.' Most of the enclosure, let it be added, is of grey granite, but the mosque and entrance portico as well as the exterior facing of the tomb are of white marble.