Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/714

 656 COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE. influenced by the architecture of the Sassanian empire (a.d. 226-641), which it transplanted. In the time of Haroun-el- Raschid (786-809), Bagdad, the capital of the Abbasides dynasty, was the centre of the arts and sciences. Omar Khayyam (1075-1 125) was the Astronomer- Poet of Persia. Turkey. — Constantinople was conquered in a.d. 1453 by the Seljiik Turks, who in 1299 had commenced their conquering career under Osman I. in Bithynia. This marks the period of Byzantine influence on later Saracenic architecture, for S. Sophia, the great Byzantine cathedral, is henceforth the motif of the style. The Indian States began to fall into the hands of Mahometan invaders in a.d. iooo. The Pathan dynasty (i 193-1554) included the whole of North India. There were besides several inde- pendent kingdoms with capitals at Jaunpore, Gujerat, Malwa, Bengal, Kalbergah, Bijapur, Golconda and others. The Mogul Empire (1526- 1857) was founded by Babar, who consolidated the Moslem Empire by the gradual absorption of the petty kingdoms. To this dynasty, especially at the capitals, Delhi, and Futtehpore Sikri, and Agra, belong the best known examples. Akbar the Great (1556-1605) removed the capital from Delhi to Agra, and afterwards founded Futtehpore Sikri as the capital of the empire. Shah Jahan (1628-1658) raised the Mogul Empire to its highest strength and magnificence. He erected buildings in North India, forming splendid memorials of the Mogul dynasty as the " Taj Mehal " and the " Pearl Mosque " at Agra, the " Great Mosque" and Palace at Delhi, the latter celebrated for its " Dewan Khas," or court of audience. From 1720-1761 the Mogul Empire was declining. Invaders came from Central Asia, and others (French and English) from the south. Titular emperors only, ruled from this period. For a chronological summary of the dynasties, Sir W. Hunter's book should be consulted. 2. ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER. It is difficult to express the character which the style possesses, because of the varied nature it took in countries whose inhabitants differed widely in origin, and whose local types of architecture influenced that of the new religion. Mosques, tombs and dwelling-houses form the most important buildings. The mosques were undoubtedly more internal than external in their architecture, thus resembling the Egyptian temples. Within the inclosing wall the forest of columns and the low flat roofs in the earlier mosques, and the richly decorated wall surfaces and domes of the later periods, have especial character. I