The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c30.45

v3.c30.45

In the shrunken empire to which the Sayyid and Lodī kings succeeded the resources at their command were too limited to permit of any vast and ambitious schemes of building, and we shall find that, with few exceptions, the chief and best examples of architecture during this period are the tombs of the kings and nobles. Of the royal tombs, all those that can now be identified with certainty¹ follow the model of the Tilangānī tomb described above, but each successive structure marks an advance on the design of its predecessor. The earliest of the series is the mausoleum of Mubārak Shāh Sayyid situated in the village of Mubārakpur. Here, the central dome was raised substantially higher than in the original prototype, pinnacles (*guldastas*) were added at the angles of the polygonal drum, and the summit was crowned with a novel and striking feature in the form of an arched lantern in place of the usual finial. The height of the verandah, too, was increased, and the eight subsidiary domes, which in the Tilangānī tomb had proved too low and insignificant, were replaced by pillared kiosks (*chhatrīs*). In the next example—the tomb of Muhammad Shāh, which is reputed to have been erected by his son and successor ‘Alā-ud-dīn ‘Ālam Shāh—the architects went a step further, increasing still more the height of the central dome and subordinate kiosks, adding a second range of pinnacles on the angles of the verandah cresting and in other ways developing the symmetry and cohesion of the several parts. Many of the details of this Sayyid architecture, both constructional and decorative, were, it need hardly be said, inherited from the preceding age, and a few of them, like the effective patterning of the pierced stone screens, can be traced as far back as the early thirteenth century. On the other hand, some of its distinctive traits—the use of blue enamelled tiling to give emphasis to decorative features, the elaborate and highly refined treatment of surface ornament incised on plaster and embellished with colours, the lotus finials on the domes and certain other Hindu or quasi-Hindu motifs—all these were innovations, and destined to exert an important influence on the subsequent development of this school. In the mausoleum of Sikandar Lodī, which is believed to have been erected by his son and successor Ibrāhīm Lodī in 1517–18, the use of enamelled tiles was much extended, the tiles of several colours—green, yellow, bright azure, and dark blue—being disposed in a variety of patterns both inside and outside the building, and in other respects also there was a marked tendency towards a richer and more lavish display of ornament. But a still more important feature of this tomb was the use made in it of the double dome¹. This structural expedient, which originated probably in Syria, and passed thence through 'Irāq to Persia and India, was invented in order to preserve the symmetry and relative proportions of the interior as well as of the exterior. So long as the dome was not hidden from view by the sub-structure projecting in front of it, no difficulty was experienced in fashioning it to suit the proportions of the body of the building. Indeed, the single domes of some of the Khaljī and Tughluq monuments are as perfectly formed as any in the world. But when the design of the structure was such as to necessitate the dome being elevated on a lofty drum, the interior forthwith became stilted and disproportionately high in comparison with its width. It was with a view to correct this fault that the separate inner and outer domes were devised. The invention, which at Delhi made its appearance for the first time in the tomb of Shihāb-ud-dīn Tāj Khān (\textsc{a.d.} 1501) and a little later was repeated in this tomb of Sikandar Shāh, played, as we shall see later, an all-important part in the evolution of Moghul architecture, which but for it could never have achieved such wonderful symmetry.