Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/729

 SARACENIC ARCHITECTURE. 67I supported on massive circular pillars and is surrounded by semi- domes, and in the four angles, bringing the plan to a square, are smaller domes. Blue tiles form a special feature of the interior. There are six minarets, marking the boundaries of the mosque and forecourt. The fountains at Constantinople and other Eastern cities are special features ^f interest (No. 293). They have a niche on each face and wide-spreading eaves to the roof. The water tank, inclosed by a grating or grille, from which the metal cups are filled, occupies a central position. The exterior is often faced with marble or ornamented in plaster or glazed tiles, having arabesques and inscriptions in gold letters on blue and green grounds. {g.) INDIAN SARACENIC. As already mentioned (page 610), Indian Saracenic must have been influenced by the remains of the Sassanian Empire (a.d. 226- 641). The various dynasties, with their dates, have been given under Historical (page 656). These periods overlap consider- ably, and render the progress of the style difficult to classify shortly. Only a few of the principal structures can be even mentioned. The use of marble and sandstone gives a monu- mental character to the buildings, not possessed by other types of Saracenic architecture. The dome on the square plan is used, but the stalactite pendentive appears to have been uncommon, its place being taken by a peculiar form of arching and cor- belling in horizontal courses (No. 294 j). Colossal pointed portal arches, with semi-domes (No. 294E)and round minarets,are special features. Delhi, the capital of the Pathan dynasty in the thirteenth century, became the capital of the Indian Mahometan Empire, and may be compared in its architectural importance with Athens, Rome, or Constantinople. Amongst numerous ruins of mosques and tombs are the Kutub Mosque and Kutub Minaret, a fine model of the latter being at the Indian Museum, South Kensington. The Tomb of Shere Shah, at Sasseram, stands on a platform with angle pavilions, in the middle of a sheet of water. It is octagonal on plan, surmounted by a dome, as are also the angles at the receding stages. The Jumma Musjid (/.^., principal mosque), Jaunpore (1419), and the Atala Musjid, have pointed keel-arches and bracket capitals, with roofs of flat slabs. The Jumma Musjid, Ahmedabad (1411), shows the influence of Hindu trabeated architecture in conjunction with the pointed arch. It has fifteen domes of different heights, each supported on twelve pillars.