The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c30.38.1

v3.c30.38.1

Operations on such a vast scale necessarily demanded an organised system of financial control, and we learn from the *Ta'rīkh-i-Fīrūz Shāhī* that a plan of every proposed edifice had to be made by the architect and scrutinised by the financial officer (Dīwān-i-Wizārat) responsible for the provision of funds. Whether the Finance Department was at liberty to modify the designs submitted to it is not stated, but it is quite clear that the strictest economy was enforced, and the effect of this economy coupled with the other restrictions under which the architects of Fīrūz Shāh had to struggle is only too apparent in their buildings. Like the monuments of the first Tughluq, these are virile and strong, wholly sincere in purpose and free from sham; but, with few exceptions, their construction is cheaper and their appearance incomparably colder and more vacuous. Red sandstone and marble, which had previously been used with telling effect, are now rarely seen; even in the most important edifices their place is taken by rubble and plaster. Local granite, to be sure, is employed for short heavy pillars and a few other members, but it too is generally plastered over or whitewashed and little attempt is made to turn its colour or texture to account. When first erected, these buildings of Fīrūz Shāh, like any Indian edifices of to-day, were dazzling white and, needless to say, had nothing in their aspect of the dark and sombre melancholy which age has imparted to them.