The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c30.s1.17.2

v3.c30.s1.17.2

The fact was that minars of such dimensions could not by any conceivable means be brought into harmony with the design of the prayer chamber, unless the latter was to be radically altered. This is the reason why in some of the later mosques, such as that of Muhāfiz Khān, we find the height of the minarets reduced and that of the prayer chamber increased—much to the advantage of the composition as a whole. It was not, however, until the minaret was transformed into a merely ornamental and symbolic appendage that the problem from an aesthetic standpoint was successfully solved and then only at the expense of utility. Mosques with this form of ornamental minaret first made their appearance at Ahmadābād in the opening years of the sixteenth century, the best example and one of the earliest being that of Rānī Sīparī (1514) which belongs to the reign of Muzaffar Shāh II, while another was the mosque of Shāh Khūb Sayyid (1538). The former was judged by Fergusson to be one of the most exquisite structures in the world, and his judgement was not exaggerated. East or West, it would be difficult to single out a building in which the parts are more harmoniously blended or in which balance, symmetry and decorative rhythm combine to produce a more perfect effect.