The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c30.s1.10.2

v3.c30.s1.10.2

Walls and turrets alike are relieved by string courses and mouldings, and adorned further with sunk panels, niches and rosettes and other motifs of Hindu origin, among which the chain and bell, battlement and quatrefoil are conspicuous. But the outstanding merit of this gateway is the surprising boldness of its design and the masterly skill with which its façades have been broken up and diversified by alternating effects of light and shade. Between the Dākhil Gateway and the Tāntīpāra *masjid* erected (if we may accept the traditional dates) only ten years later, there is a marked divergence of style. The latter—an oblong brick structure of two aisles divided by stone pillars down the centre—has suffered sadly from the effects of time. Its roof has gone entirely and large sections of its walls have collapsed. Yet, even in its ruin, it is still an object of beauty. Cunningham considered it the finest edifice of all in Gaur, and if perfection of detail were the criterion of good architecture, his opinion would be fully justified. In the matter of superficial ornament, indeed, the Tāntīpāra *masjid* marks the zenith of the Bengal school. In other respects, however, it shows signs of incipient decadence. Where the Dākhil Gateway is virile, the *masjid* is effeminate; where the former is free and spontaneous, the latter is mannered and formal; and even its lace-like ornamentation, beautiful as it is in itself, must be admitted to be verging on the meretricious.