Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 2.djvu/240



declared, 'Whosoever erects a temple to the true God on earth, shall receive six such dwellings in Paradise.'—The Minār, the dwelling of the king of kings, Shems-ul-dunyā-wa-ud-din, now in peace and pardon,—(be his tomb protected, and his place assigned in Heaven!)—was injured by lightning in the reign of the exalted monarch, Secunder, the son of Behlol—(may his power and empire last for ever, and his reign be glorious!): and therefore his slave, Futteh Khan, the son of Musnud Ali, the liberal of liberals, and the meritorious servant of the king, repaired it according to command, the 13th of Rubi-ul-Akber, in the year 909."

March 30th, 1825.

Franklin's account of this pillar is as follows:—"The Coottub Minar is situated near, and derives its name from, the tomb of Khaja Cuttubadeen. His disciple, Shemsadeen, of the family of Ghazi, erected this column, anno Hijira, 770. The column has a most stupendous appearance: conceive a shaft of sixty feet diameter, composed partly of red stone, partly of white marble, rising to the height of two hundred and fifty feet.

"Ascending this pillar, relief is afforded by four projecting galleries of red stone; tapering towards the summit, it was crowned with an octagonal pavilion, which perhaps would have contained at least a dozen persons. Each of the galleries are most richly, though differently, ornamented: the column is relieved and rendered strikingly bold by convex and angular projections.

"Within this grand tower is a circular staircase of three hundred and eighty steps of red stone; there are, at intervals, landing-places, which communicate with the windows; from the octagon on the summit the view is strikingly grand. Inscriptions in several parts twelve inches in breadth, embrace the column; these contain verses from the khoran, in the Arabic character. The galleries are supported by sculptured ornaments, of which the richness is greatly heightened by a profusion of frieze-work."