Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/248

 206 INDIAN SARACENIC ARCHITECTURE. BOOK VII. forms of the bases of the minarets at Ghazni appear to lend probability to the first hypothesis ; but the star-like form of many temples principally Jaina in Mysore and elsewhere (ante, vol. i., pp. 439 et seqq) would seem to countenance the idea of their being of Hindu origin. No star-like forms have yet, however, been found so far north, and their destruction has been too complete for us to hope that they may be found now. Be this as it may, it is probably not too much to assert that the Qutb Minar is the most beautiful example of its class known to exist anywhere. The rival that will occur at once to most people is the campanile at Florence, built by Giotto. That is, it is true, 30 ft. taller, but it is crushed by the mass of the cathedral alongside ; and, beautiful though it is, it wants that poetry of design and exquisite finish of detail which marks every moulding of the minar. It might have been better if the slope of the sides had been at a higher angle, but that is only apparent when seen at a distance ; when viewed from the court of the mosque its form is perfect, and, under any aspect, is preferable to the prosaic squareness of the outline of the Italian example. The only Muhammadan building known to be taller than this is the minaret of the mosque of Hasan, at Cairo ; l but as the pillar at Old Delhi is a wholly independent building, it has a far nobler appearance, and both in design and finish far surpasses not only its Egyptian rival, but any building of its class known to me in the whole world. This, however, must not be looked at as if erected for the same purposes as those usually attached to mosques elsewhere. It was designed, but perhaps not solely, as a place from which the mu'azzin should call to prayers, though its lower gallery was used for that purpose, but probably also as a tower of Victory a Jaya Stambha in fact an emblem of conquest, which the Hindus could only too easily understand and appreciate. At the distance of 470 ft. north of this one a second minar was commenced in 1311, by 'Alau-d-Din Khalji, of twice its dimensions, or 254 ft. in circumference. It was only carried up to the height of 75 ft. above the plinth, and abandoned, probably in consequence of the death of its founder in 1316.2 The date of all these buildings is known with sufficient exactness from the inscriptions which they bear, 3 from which it 1 ' History of Ancient and Medieval Architecture,' vol. ii. p. 532, and Wood- cut No. 982. 2 It has been supposed that it was erected in memory of Qutbu-d-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki of Ush, a notable Muhammadan Pir or saint, who died here in 1235 Raverty's 'Tabaqat-i- Nasiri,' pp. 621-622, notes. The tomb or Dargah of Khwajah Qutb Sahib stands about three furlongs S.S.W. from the minars. 3 Translated by Walter Ewer, ' Asiatic Researches,' vol. xiv. p. 480. See also Cunningham, * Archaeological Reports,' vol. i. pp. 132 et seqq.