Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/271

 CHAP. IV. JAUNPUR. 227 being occupied by three inner aisles belonging to the court, the fourth forming a series of cells opening outwardly, with a verandah supported by the outer row of pillars. All this is so like a Hindu arrangement that one might almost at first sight be tempted, like Baron Hiigel, to fancy it was originally a Buddhist monastery. He failed to remark, how- ever, that both here and in the Jami' Masjid the cells open outwardly, and in the latter are below the level of the courtyard of the mosque an arrangement common enough in Muhammadan, but never found in Buddhist, buildings. Its gateways, however, which are the principal ornaments of the outer court, are purely Saracenic, and the western face is adorned by three propylons the central one 73 ft. 6 in. high by 64 ft. 6 in. wide at the base, and two smaller, each 31 ft. 3 in. high and 23 ft 6 in. wide, similar to that represented in the last woodcut, but richer and more beautiful, while its interior domes and roofs are superior to any other specimen of Muhammadan art I am acquainted with of so early an age. They are, too, perhaps, more striking here, because, though in juxtaposition with the quasi-Hinduism of the court, they exhibit the arched style of the Saracenic architects in as great a degree of completeness as it exhibited at any subsequent period. 1 The other buildings hardly require particular mention, though, as transition specimens between the two styles, these Jaunpur examples possess a simplicity and grandeur not often met with in this style. An appearance of strength, moreover, is imparted to them by their sloping walls, which is foreign to our general conception of Saracenic art, though at Tughlaqabad and elsewhere it is carried even further than at Jaunpur. Among the Afghans of India the expression of strength is as characteristic of the style as massiveness is of that of the Normans in England. In India it is found conjoined with a degree of refinement seldom met with elsewhere, and totally free from the coarse- ness which in other countries usually besets vigour and boldness of design. The peculiarities of this style are by no means confined to the capital; they prevail at Ghazipur, and as far north as Kanauj, while at Benares the examples are frequent. In the suburbs of that city, at a place called the Bakariya Kund, 2 there is a group of tombs, as mentioned above, and other build- 1 ' Sharqi Architecture of Jaunpur,' pp. 3 et seqq. and plates 29 to 40. A few of the pillars are from Hindu temples. 2 If the buildings of the Bakariya Kund had been found within 20 miles of Ahmad&bad where there are dozens exactly like them they would hardly have deserved a passing remark. Any one familiar with the style would have assigned them a date A.D. 1450, or thereabouts and would hardly have troubled himself to enquire who built them, they are so like all others of the same age.