The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c30.s1.2.3

v3.c30.s1.2.3

square inside), its original fabric has not been greatly interfered with, and, denuded as it now is of its plaster facing, it affords an excellent illustration of the methods of construction then in vogue. Here also the form of the structure is identical with that of the two tombs already described, though the dome, be it noted, is somewhat lower and more in accord with what we should expect at this period. On the other hand, the tomb of Rukn-i-‘Ālam, the grandson of Bahāu-l-Haqq, which Ghiyās-ud-dīn Tughluq caused to be built between the years 1320 and 1324, exhibits a marked advance on its predecessors. Taken all in all, indeed, this tomb of Rukn-i-‘Ālam is one of the most splendid memorials ever erected in honour of the dead. Its height, measured to the top of its crowning finial, is 115, its diameter 90 feet. Instead of being square, however, as the earlier examples were, the body of the tomb is an octagon—a feature which vastly enhances the symmetry of the whole, while any suggestion of weakness, to which the octagonal form might have given rise, is cleverly avoided by buttressing the outer quoins with engaged and tapering minarets.