Aibeg in about A. D. 1200, and completed by Altamish in about 1220.

118. The other view which attributes the foundation of the pillar to Altamish is based chiefly, I believe, on the statements of Abulfeda and Shams-i-Siraj, which are supported by the inscription of Sikan. dar Lodi over the entrance door of the pillar. Syad Ahmad refers to the inscription over the doorway of the second story, which records that Altamish ordered the completion of the Minar, as a proof that he did not commence it. But another inscription over the doorway of the fourth story seems to be equally explicit in assigning the beginning of the Minar to Altamish. Both Syad Ahmad and Nawab Zia-uddin give the same translation of this inscription, namely, that "the erection of this building was ordered during the reign of Shamsuddin Altamish." It is possible, however, that the order recorded in this inscription may refer to the fourth story only, and as this limited view of its meaning will bring the two otherwise conflicting inscriptions into strict accord with each other, I think that it may be accepted as the most probable intention of the inscriber. The statements of Abulfeda, Shams-i-Sirâj, and Sikandar Lodi, all of which agree in calling this pillar the Minar of Altamish, may, perhaps, be explained as conveying only the popular opinion, and are certainly not entitled to the same weight as the two inscriptions on the basement story which record the name and titles of Muhammad Bin Sâm, the Suzerain of Kutb-uddin Aibeg, whose name is now attached to the pillar. The absence of Altamish's name in the inscription of the lower story is, I think, a conclusive proof that he himself did not claim it as his own work.

119. According to Syad Ahmad, the Emperor Altamish erected five stories in addition to the basement story, and another story was afterwards added by Firuz Shah; thus making, altogether, seven stories, of which he says that "two have fallen down and five remain to this day." But both of these statements I believe to be erroneous, for the mention of 360 steps by Abulfeda in about A. D. 1300, makes it certain that the Minar, as completed by Altamish, could not have been higher than the present one, which has 379 steps. The five stories of Altamish must therefore have included the basement story, which, although begun by Aibeg, was most probably completed by himself. In this state the Minar must have remained until the reign

of Firuz Tughlak, when, having been struck by lightning, it was repaired by that Emperor in A. H. 770, or A. D. 1368. The nature and extent of his repairs may, I think, be gathered from the inscriptions; thus, the inscription of the fifth story is placed over the doorway, and there is no record of any other Emperor on this story. I conclude, therefore, that the whole of the fifth story was rebuilt by Firuz Shah. But as there are two inscriptions of his reign recorded on the fourth story, I infer that he must have made some repairs to it also, although these repairs could not have been extensive, as the inscription over the doorway of this story belongs to the reign of Altamish. Under this view, the Kutb Minar has always consisted of five stories, from the time of its completion by Altamish in about A. D. 1220, down to the present day.

120. Of the same age as the Kutb Minar is the tomb of the Emperor Altamish, who died in A. H. 633, or A. D. 1235. It is situated just outside the north-west corner of the Great Mosque, as enlarged by Altamish himself. The interior is a square of 29 feet, with walls 7 feet thick, making the exterior a square of 44 feet. The main entrance is to the east, but there are also openings to the north and south; and to the west there is a niche, such as is usually found in a small Mosque. The interior walls are decorated throughout with elaborate and highly finished ornament of great beauty. But there is no dome to the building, and as there are no ruins lying about, it seems probable that the tomb was never finished, and that we see it now just in the same state as it was left about the time of the King's death.

121. The only other buildings connected with the Great Mosque of Delhi are the beautiful south gateway of the quadrangle, and the gigantic unfinished Minar, both of which were the work of Ala-uddin Khilji, who reigned from A. D. 1296 to 1316. The south gateway is called by Syad Ahmad the Alai Darwáza or “Gate of Ala-uddin ;" but this appellation is not known to the people. The age of the building is, however, quite certain, as the name of Ala-uddin is severa times repeated in the Arabic inscriptions over three of the entrances, with the addition of his well known title of Sikandar Sâni, and the date of A. H. 710, or A. D. 1310. This date had already been anticipated, from the style of the building, by Mr. Fergusson, who considered the gateway as at least a century more modern than the

tomb of Altamish. The building is a square of 344 feet inside, and 56 feet outside, the walls being 11 feet thick. On each side there is a lofty doorway, with a pointed horse-shoe arch; the outer edge of the arch being fretted, and the underside panelled. The corners of the square are cut off by bold niches, the head of each niche being formed by a series of five pointed horse-shoe arches, lessening in size as they retire towards the angle. The effect of this arrangement is massive and beautiful, and justly merits the praise which Mr. Fergusson has bestowed upon it, as "more simply elegant than any other Indian example with which he was acquainted." The interior walls are decorated with a chequered pattern of singular beauty. In each corner there are two windows, of the same shape and style as the doorways, but only one-third of their size. These are closed by massive screens of marble lattice-work. The exterior walls are panelled and inlaid with broad bands of white marble, the effect of which is certainly pleasing. The walls are crowned by a battlemented parapet and surmounted by a hemispherical dome. For the exterior view of the building this dome is, perhaps, too low, but the interior view is perfect, and, taken altogether, I consider that the gateway of Ala-uddin is the most beautiful specimen of Pathân architecture that I have seen.

stands due north from This massive pillar is

122. The unfinished Minar of Ala-uddin the Kutb Minar at a distance of 425 feet. built wholly of the rough shapeless grey stone of the country, and the surface is so uneven, that there can be no doubt it was the Architect's intention either to have faced it with red stone, or to have covered it with plaster. The Minar stands upon a plinth 4 feet in width, and the same in height, which is raised upon a terrace 21 feet in breadth and 7 in height. The rough mass of the superstructure is 257 feet in circumference, and 82 feet in diameter; but with a facing of red stone, this diameter would have been increased to at least 85 feet, or nearly double that of the Kutb Minar, as is usually stated by the people. The entrance is on the east side, and on the north, at same height, there is a window intended to light the spiral stair-case. But the steps were never commenced, and there is only a circular passage 9 feet 9 inches wide around the central pillar, which is 26 feet in diameter. The thickness of the outer wall is 18 feet 3 inches, the *Handbook of Architecture, I. 433

whole pillar being 82 feet in diameter, as noted above. The total height of the column, as it now stands, is about 75 feet above the plinth, or 87 feet above the ground level. The outer face of the wall is divided into 32 sides of 8 feet and inch each. The form of each face or flute is difficult to describe, but it may be likened to the shape of a crown work in fortification, or to that of an old Roman M, with shallow body and long widely-splayed limbs. I think it probable that the central angle of each face, as it now exists in the rough stone, would have been modified in the red stone facing into a shallow curved flute. The flutes would have been 4 feet wide and 4 feet apart, with a deep angle between them. The plinth is also divided into 32 straight faces, or projections, which are separated by the same number of depressions of equal breadth, the whole being exactly like a gigantic cogwheel. Syad Ahmad states that the building of this Minar was commenced in A. H. 711, or A. D. 1311; but as Ala-uddin did not die until A. D. 1316, the work was probably stopped some time before the end of his reign. I suspect, indeed, that the work was actually stopped in the following year, as I find from Ferishta that in A. D. 1312 the King became so extremely ill, that his wife and son entirely neglected him, while his Minister exercised all the powers of the State, and even aspired to the throne. As the King never rallied, it seems not improbable that all the expensive works of Ala-uddin then in progress may have been stopped by the Minister, who wished to secure the money for himself.

SIRI, OR KILAH ALAI.

123. The Fort of Siri, with Ala-uddin's celebrated Palace of "The thousand pillars," has been identified by Messrs. Cope and Lewis, and also by Lieutenant Burgess, the Surveyor of the ruins of Delhi, with the citadel of Rai Pithora's fort, in the midst of which stands the Kutb Minar. But in describing this fort, I have already brought forward strong reasons to show that it was the ancient Lâlkot of Anang Pâl, and I now propose to follow up the same argument by proving that the true site of Siri was the old ruined fort to the northeast of Rai Pithora's fort, which is at present called Shâhpur. A glance at the Sketch Map of the ruins of Delhi, which accompanies this account, is all that is necessary to make the following argument quite clear.

124. Sharif-uddin, the historian of Timur, describes Delhi as eonsisting of three cities, and as quite distinct from Firuzabad, near which the conqueror's camp was pitched. These three cities were Siri, Jahan panah, and old Delhi. To the north-east was Siri, the walls of which formed a circle, and to the south-west was old Delhi similar in form, but larger than Siri, and the space between the two forts, which was much larger than old Delhi, was Jahan-panah. The relative sizes and positions of the three cities are here so accurately described, that it is quite impossible to mistake them. Siri answers exactly to Shahpur, not only in size and position, but also in shape; for, though not circular, it is certainly oval. To the south-west of Shâhpur lies the fort of Rai Pithora, which therefore corresponds exactly with the old Delhi of Sharif-uddin, both in its size and in its position, and somewhat also in its form, which may be described as an oblong square with the corners cut off. The name of old Delhi was appropriately applied to the fort of Rai Pithora as by far the most ancient of the three cities. Between Siri and old Delhi was Jahânpanah, a name which is still applied to the old walled city between Shâhpur and Rai Pithora's fort; and as the size of this city is more than double that of Rai Pithora's fort, there can be no doubt whatever of its identity with the Jahân-panâh of former days.

125. I now turn to Ferishta's account of Turghai Khan's invasion of India during the reign of Ala-uddin, the founder of Siri. In A. H. 703, or A. D. 1303, the Mogul Chief reached Delhi with 120,000 horse, and encamped on the bank of the Jumna, most probably about the spot where Humayun's tomb now stands, as that is the nearest point of the river towards old Delhi. "The King," as Ferishta relates, "was in no condition to face the enemy on equal terms, and therefore contented himself with entrenching his Infantry on the plain beyond the suburbs till he could collect the Forces of the distant districts." But after the lapse of two months, the Mogul Troops were seized with a panic, and retreated precipitately to their own country. The historian then relates that "Ala-uddin, relieved from the perils of this invasion, caused a Palace to be built on the spot where he had entrenched himself, and directed the citadel of old Delhi to be pulled down and built anew." Now the spot where the King entrenched himself may be fixed with some precision, partly from Ferishta's description that it was outside the suburbs, and