Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/368

 360 LUC arches are the finest features; constructively they leave little to be desired, except a better material. The Rúmi Darwáza is a raagnificent gateway standing almost alone, yet the abutments are so contrived as to remove all appearance of heaviness; it is almost.sixty feet high to the appex of the arch, which, indeed, is rather an alcove than an arch; the gateway is but the half of a huge dome, cut down perpendicularly, and the passage is a comparatively small square doorway in the base. A sensible change took place when Saádat Ali Khan ascended the throne. He gave up half his dominions to the English, who unjustly, according to Sir Henry Lawrence, placed him on the throne in preference to the late king's son. Thenceforth Oudh was protected by foreign troops quartered in its citadels; the sovereign was à rere puppet as regards foreign relations; he was protected from rebellion or popular outbreaks by an armed force which could not partake of pational discontent, or shake his throne. Henceforth the architecture was not national, because there was no nation: nor was it pure because a double Government and constant interference insensibly forced the architects into an awkward mimicry of the models then followed in England, nor was it devoted to popular needs; thenceforth the royal funds were not spent upon mosques, wells, forts, or bridges; palace after palace was erected, each more ungraceful and extravagant than the last. One modest mansion rented from a private family had satisfied the soldier chief, Saádat Khan, who was generally in the field; and this was thought enough during the first three reigns. One palace only sufficed the prodigal Asif- ad-daula who spent a million on the imámbára alone, and millions more on the chauk, bazárs, market places, and bridges which he built to encourage commerce. Saadat Ali Khan although economical built several small palaces; but with Nasír-ud-dín Haidar commenced an era of extra- vagant expenditure on purely personal objects. In the Chhatar Manzil lived the king's wives, in the Qaisar Pasand and other buildings his concubines, in the Shah Manzil his wild beasts. He himself lived in the Farhat Bakhsh, the Huzur Bágh, at Bibiápur, Chinhat, Nawabganj, and numerous other palaces. Wájid Ali Shah bad 360 concubines, each with a separate range of apartments. The style was now avowedly and openly copied from European models. The Chhatar Manzil, if it were not for the gilt umbrella on the top, is an exaggerated copy of such a building as a retired hosier might erect and call Rose Villa. There is little to rernark_further on this subject. The most debased examples of architecture in India are to be found in Lucknow. There are portions of the Qaisar Bágh compared to which the willow pattern or the pagodas on a tea caddy are works of art. In Lucknow alone has the oriental falsified Fergusson's maxim and become vulgar. Withal there are very many buildings whose sky line and general plan are commenda- ble. Seen from a distance, too, the fantastic domes and pinnacles of the Martiniere, Chhatar Manzil, and Qaisar Bágh are very picturesque, while the more ancient tombs and minarets rise proudly and rebukingly above them, often dark grey with moss, or green with grass, while the others are blazing with gold,