It is a form evidently borrowed from the square pier of the Jains, but so altered and so simplified, that it requires some ingenuity to recognise its origin in its new combination.
287. Tomb of Shere Shah at Sasseram. No scale.
The series of Pathan tombs closes with that of Shere Shah ([Woodcut No. 287]), the last but one and the most illustrious of his race. It is situated on a square terrace in the middle of a large tank, near Sasseram, in Shahabad, and, from its locality and its design, is now a singularly picturesque object ([Woodcut No. 288]). Its dimensions too are considerable.[508] Its base is an octagon, 54 ft. on each side externally. In the interior a gallery, 10 ft. wide, surrounds the central apartment, which is surmounted by a dome 65 ft. in diameter, beneath which stands the tomb of the founder and of some of his favourite companions in arms.
288. Tomb of Shere Shah. (From a Photograph.)
On the exterior, the terrace on which it stands is ornamented by bold octagonal pavilions in the angles, which support appropriately the central dome, and the little bracketed kiosks between them break pleasingly the outline. In the same manner the octagonal kiosks that cluster round the drum of the dome, and the dome itself, relieve the monotony of the composition without detracting from its solidity or apparent solemnity. Altogether, as a royal tomb of the second class, there are few that surpass it in India, either for beauty of outline or appropriateness of detail. Originally it was connected with the mainland by a bridge, which fortunately was broken down before the grand trunk road passed near. But for this, it would probably have been utilised before now.
The mosques of the Pathans bore the same aspect as their tombs. The so-called Kala Musjid in the present city of Delhi, and finished, according to an inscription on its walls, in A.D. 1389, is in a style not unlike the tomb ([Woodcut No. 286]), but more massive, and even less ornamented. This severe simplicity seems to have been the characteristic of the latter part of the 14th century, and may have been a protest of the more puritanical Moslem spirit against the Hindu exuberance which characterised both the 13th and the 15th centuries. A reaction, however, took place, and the late Pathan style of Delhi was hardly less rich, and certainly far more appropriate for the purposes to which it was devoted than the first style, as exhibited in the buildings at the Kutub.