The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c30.33

v3.c30.33

Though almost equally simple and massive, the tomb of the Emperor is of less forbidding aspect. Let the reader picture to himself an island castle set (as it used to be) in the midst of a lake and forming an outwork, as it were, to the overshadowing city, with which it was connected by a narrow causeway. Above its embattled ramparts and in sharp contrast with their monotonous grey, rises the red and white fabric of the mausoleum. The marble and sandstone of which it is built are treated in a strikingly novel fashion. Up to the springing of the arches the structure is wholly of red sandstone, but above that point the red walls are relieved by bands and panels of marble; and the crowning dome is entirely of marble. The effect of this treatment and particularly of the glistening expanse of white dome is to impart a certain lightness and diversity to the structure; but the impression nevertheless conveyed by its battering walls and sturdy proportions is essentially one of simplicity and strength. Assuredly no resting-place could have been devised more befitting the stern warrior who founded the Tughluq dynasty! That there are defects in its design, need hardly be said. The sloping pilasters, for example; the unduly small merlons; the crudely disposed panels and bands of marble: all these are features that might easily have been improved on. These, however, are but minor blemishes and, clearly as they show the incipient tendencies of the new style, they do not seriously impair the solemn grandeur of the Tomb¹.