Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/733

 SARACENIC ARCHITECTURE. 675 The celebrated Jumma Musjid, Mandu (1405-1432), consists of an inclosed space 290 feet by 275 feet, having a square court- yard, surrounded on each side by arcades of eleven pointed arches. The piers supporting these are of red sandstone, and numberless pointed domes crown the spaces between them. The Adinah Mosque is at Gaur, the ancient capital of Bengal. The arcades surrounding the rectangle are crowned by no less than 385 domes of similar design. The architecture of this province is influenced by the absence of stone. Brick is the building material, and an essentially arcuated style is the result. At Kalburgah is a mosque which is a deviation from the normal type, in that the whole area, 216 feet by 176 feet, was roofed in by a series of domes, light being introduced through high pointed arched openings in the outer walls. Bijapur possesses some famous examples, erected under the Adil Shaki dynasty. The Jumma Musjid, Bijapur (a. d. 1557- 1579) (No. 294 H, j), occupies a rectangle of 257 feet by 331 feet. It consists of a series of squares, each covered with a flat dome. In this building and the Tomb of Mahmvid are domes with singular pendentives. The latter building has a dome, 97 feet in diameter, placed on a platform formed by intersecting pendentive arches carried from each alternate pier ; thus the space to be covered is reduced, and the weight of the pendentives acting inwards tends to counteract the outward thrust of the dome, as at the Jumma Musjid, Bijapur (No. 294 j). Mogul Architecture. — -The architecture of all previous periods was eclipsed by the architecture of the Mogul dynasty (a.d. 1526- 1761). Some of the principal examples are tombs, and were erected at Agra, the capital. These were mostly octagonal, erected on a garden platform, and laid out with ornamental foun- tains, the angles and entrances being accentuated by domed pavilions. Such tombs were, during the lifetime of the founder, used as festal halls. At Futtehpore-Sikhri, King Akbar (1556-1605) erected a group of important buildings, one of which is the Mosque (No. 294 d, e). This is a three-domed structure, 290 feet by 80 feet, occupying one side of an open court, the whole inclosure measuring 550 feet by 470 feet, and containing two royal tombs. The southern and western gateways are specially noteworthy (Nos. 294 e and 295) as being of a style which prevailed throughout the period, and which may be contrasted with the Greek, Roman and Gothic styles in the treatment of entrance gateways. In the example (No. 295) the doorway is placed at the back of a recessed opening which is crowned by a semi-dome. By this means the openings led up to the high inclosing arch of the outer wall by an easy gradation, giving all the size and dignity required for a noble portal without disturbing the aesthetic qualities of scale. X X 2