Page:Historic Landmarks of the Deccan.djvu/222

210 The first work taken in hand was the laying out of four bazars, at the entrance of each of which a great arch was erected on the principal road, the space within the arches being designated the Charkaman, or "four arches," which name it still retains. The arches are large, plain Pathan arches covered with stucco, possessing neither beauty or interest.

To the south of this space was erected the Char Minar, already mentioned, which is to this day the most conspicuous object in the city of Haidarabad, and is represented as such on the obverse of the modern Haidarabad rupee. The Char Minar is a large building, square in plan, having an arch in each of its faces and a lofty decagonal minaret at each of its angles. The minarets are surmounted by small domes with gilt terminals, and each is surrounded by three galleries, two single and one double, of the typical Qutb Shahi pattern. The parapet of the building is adorned with panels of lattice work, in great variety of design, and below it runs a small arcade. Next comes an ornamental cornice, and below this again a larger arcade, and another ornamental cornice. The Char Minar was originally designed as a college, or the central hall of a college, but now does duty as a central police station for the city.

One of the earliest buildings to be taken in hand by a devout Muhammadan sovereign founding a new city in the j'amt masjiii, or principal mosque, where all the inhabitants may meet for the general Friday prayers. This was founded in A. H. 1006 (A.D. 1597-98) as a Persian inscription over the gateway informs us. Most visitors to Haidarabad, misled by inaccurate guides and guide-books, consider the huge mosque now known as the Mecca masjid, undoubtedly the finest mosque in the city, to be the jami masjid, but this is not so. The far less pretentious building, with a somewhat mean entrance opening on the eastern side of the main street of the city, a short distance to the north of the Char Minar, was built as the jami masjid, and has remained so since it was founded, in spite of the superior size and magnificence of the Mecca masjid.

The next work to be undertaken was the throwing of a bridge over the river Musi, to connect the new city on its south bank with the old fortress capital of Golconda. This bridge still exists, and is known as