Page:The Architecture of Ancient Delhi Especially the Buildings Around the Kutb Minar 1872 by Henry Hardy Cole.djvu/180

120 erection occurred during the sovereignty of the Afghans, just before the Mogul invasion. In the present example the traces are left of the early adopted plan of using the columns of a Hindu building, and of replacing them to support the superstructure of a Pathan tomb. Here the supporting pilasters are of a Hindu character, and were no doubt made expressly for the building; they are placed round a square apartment of about sixteen feet interior dimension. The wall to the west, as is usual in most tombs, is filled up by an ornamental niche or “mihrah” (see Photograph XXIII), which occupies a position in the centre. On the three other sides of the building the intervals between the pilasters are filled in with screens of red sandstone perforated with a variety of very pleasing geometric traceries. The small entrance faces the south, and above the lintel is a marble slab with an inscription in Arabic characters. A marble sarcophagus occupies the centre of the square apartment and rests on a marble floor. The square form of the building passes through the usual process of changing to an octagon in order to support a semi-circular dome about twenty-five feet high. A stone eave projecting about three feet above the caps of the pilasters on all four sides, protects the open screen work from glare and rain.