The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c30.s1.10.4

v3.c30.s1.10.4

It misses the picturesque and imaginative colouring of the tile-enamelled buildings of Persia, and equally it misses the charm of reticence and restraint which characterise the use of coloured tilework at Multān and Delhi. That it could have appealed much to the taste of artists who were capable of designing the Dākhil Gateway or the Tāntīpāra *masjid* is *primâ facie* unlikely, and its presence can only be accounted for on the supposition that coloured tiling was considered the fashionable thing at the moment for mosques, and that no better tiles than these were obtainable in Bengal. Glazed tilework was used also in the Gunmant mosque at Gaur, but here the coloured decoration was supplemented by reliefs on stone or plaster, and it is significant that the latter was employed in the most conspicuous part of the building, i.e. in the main hall of the prayer chamber, whereas the tilework was relegated to a subordinate position in the wings. The ground plan of this masjid is not unlike that of the Ādīna. It consists, that is to say, of a central vaulted hall (51 × 17 feet) flanked to right and left by an arcaded wing, each wing divided into twelve bays (viz. three aisles with four openings to the front) and roofed with as many domes. The wings are in no way remarkable, but the central hall, with its stone masonry and decorative reliefs embossed on the soffit of the vaulted roof, is a fresh departure inaugurating, as we shall see, a new phase in the history of this school.