The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c30.8.3

v3.c30.8.3

For us the minars are especially interesting as being the prototypes of the famous Qutb minar at Delhi and analogous to the towers of Dāmghān in Persia and at Mujdah and Tāūq in Mesopotamia⁴. Up to half a century ago they were standing to a height of about 140 feet, and at that time consisted of two storeys, the lower star-shaped in plan, the upper round, both built of brick and embellished with elaborate designs in terra-cotta¹. The tomb of Maḥmūd Yamīn-ud-Daula (999–1030 a.d.) which was also of brick has been completely modernised by restoration, the only feature preserved intact being its richly carved doors which were brought from Ghaznī by the British in 1842 and are now in the Fort at Āgra. These doors are of deodar wood, divided into panels and adorned with six pointed stars and simple geometric figures; the stars and figures, as well as the vertical styles between the leaves, being carved into a variety of interlacing designs or flowing arabesques, and the whole further enriched with decorative hinges and bands of ironwork.