Twilight of the Sultanate c16.s1.3

c16.s1.3

The buildings constructed during the Saiyyad and the Lodī regime fall into two groups, (*a*) tombs and (*b*) mosques. The tomb-construction began to take a definite shape. It was based on two different conventions, one octagonal in plan and the other square. The prototypes of the first pattern are the three royal tombs of Mubārak Shāh Saiyyad (died 1434), Muhammad Saiyyad (d. 1445) and Sikandar Lodī (d. 1517). They deserve a detailed study for they reveal the stages in the evolution of the octagonal process which had begun in the tomb of Khan-i-Jahān Telangānī, the Prime Minister of Fīrōz Shāh, constructed in 1368-69¹, and found its culmination in the magnificent mausoleum of Sher Shāh Sūr. This type remained popular for well-nigh two centuries, and even provided the inspiration for some of Akbar's monuments.