Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/323

 CHAP. IX. BIJAPUR. 277 It is evident from an inspection of the figure, or from any section of the dome, how easy it must be to construct the first segment from the springing ; and if this is very solidly built and placed on an immoveable basis, the architect may play with the rest ; and he must be clumsy indeed if he cannot make it perfectly stable. In the East, they did play with their domes, and made them of all sorts of fantastic forms, seeking to please the eye more than to consult the engineering neces- sities of the case, and yet it is the rarest possible contingency to find a dome that has fallen through faults in the construction. In Europe architects have been timid and unskilled in dome-building ; but with our present engineering knowledge it would be easy to construct far larger and more daring domes than even this of Muhammad's tomb, without the smallest fear of accident. The external ordonnance of this building is as beautiful as that of the interior. At each angle stands an octagonal tower eight storeys high, simple and bold in its proportions, and crowned by a dome of great elegance. The lower part of the building is plain and solid, pierced only with such openings as are requisite to admit light and air ; at the height of 83 ft. a cornice projects to the extent of 12 ft. from the wall, or nearly twice as much as the boldest European architect ever attempted. Above this an open gallery gives lightness and finish to the whole, each face being further relieved by two small minarets. The same daring system of construction was carried out by the architects of Bijapur in their civil buildings. The great Audience Hall or Gagan Mahall (A.D. 1561), for instance (Wood- cut No. 419), opens in front with a central arch 60 ft. 9 in. wide, which, had it been sufficiently abutted, might have been a grand architectural feature ; as it is, it is too like an engineering work to be satisfactory. Its cornice was in wood, and some of its supports are still in their places. Indeed, it is one of the peculiarities of the architecture of this city that, like the English architects in their roofs, those of Bijapur clung to wood as a constructive expedient long after^ its use had been abandoned in other parts of India. The Asar-i-Mubarak or Asar Mahall, is entirely open on one side, the roof being supported only by two wooden pillars with immense bracket- capitals ; and the internal ornaments are in the same material. The result of this practice was the same at Bijapur as in England far greater depth of framing and greater richness in archi- tectural ornamentation, and an intolerance of constructive awkwardness which led to the happiest results in both countries. Among the edifices in the city is the Sat-Manzila, one of