Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/372

 3 2o INDIAN SARACENIC ARCHITECTURE. BOOK VII. and domes of the mosque itself, make up a design where all the parts are pleasingly subordinated to one another, but at the same time produce a whole of great variety and elegance. The mosque itself is 201 ft. in length by 120 ft., and is flanked by two minars 130 ft. high, formed in alternate vertical stripes of sand- stone and white marble, and crowned by light marble pavilions. Its principal gateway cannot be compared with that at Fathpur Sikri (Woodcut No. 425) ; but it is a noble portal, and from its smaller dimensions more in harmony with the objects by which it is surrounded. It is not a little singular, looking at the magnificent mosque which Akbar built in his palace at Fathpur Sikri, and the Moti Masjid, with which Shah Jah^n adorned the palace at Agra, that he should have provided no place of worship in his palace at Delhi. The little Moti mosque that is now found there was added by Aurangzib, and, though pretty enough in itself, is very small, only 60 ft. square over all, and utterly unworthy of such a palace. There is no place of prayer, within the palace walls, of the time of Shah Jahan, nor, apparently, any intention of providing one. The Jami' Masjid was so near,and so apparently part of the same design, that it seems to have been considered sufficient to supply this apparently anomalous deficiency. It stands in the market place facing the Delhi gate of the fort on a platform about 1 1 ft. high, reached by steps in front and on the south side, but the great gateway in front was pulled down by the British during the Mutiny. It occupies but a small area 130 ft. by 100 ft. and has five entrances. Its three domes, without necks, are a sort of compromise between the earlier flat dome and the tall form, subsequently introduced. They are of red sandstone with zigzag bands of white marble circling round them, not without beauty, if appropriate to the building on which they A are placed. The mosque was built for, or in honour of, Jahan Ara Begam, the noble and accomplished daughter of Shah Jahan, in 1644-48. AURANGZlB, OR 'ALAMGlR, A.D. 1658-1707. There are few things more startling in the history of this style than the rapid decline of taste that set in with the acces- sion of Aurangzib. The power of the Mughal empire reached its culminating point in his reign, and there were at least no external signs of decay visible before the end of his reign. Even if his morose disposition did not lead him to spend much money on palaces or civil buildings, his religious fanaticism might, one would think, have led him to surpass his predecessors in the extent or splendour of their mosques or religious establishments.