296. Elevation of the Queen’s Mosque, Mirzapore. Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
297. Section of Diagram explanatory of the Mosques at Ahmedabad.
The plan and lateral extension of the Jumma Musjid are exceptional. The usual form taken by the mosques at Ahmedabad was that of the Queen’s Mosque at Mirzapore, and consists of three domes standing on twelve pillars each, with the central part so raised as to admit light to the interior. The mode in which this was effected will be understood from the annexed diagram ([Woodcut No. 297]). The pillars which support the central domes are twice as high as those of the side domes, and two rows of dwarf columns stand on the roof to make up the height. In front of these internally is a solid balustrade, which is generally most richly ornamented by carving. Thus arranged, it will be perceived that the necessary amount of light is introduced, as in the drum of a Byzantine dome, but in a more artistic manner. The sun’s rays can never fall on the floor, or even so low as the head of any one standing there. The light is reflected from the external roof into the dome, and perfect ventilation is obtained, with the most pleasing effect of illumination without glare. In order further to guard against the last dreaded contingency, in most of these mosques a screen of perforated stonework was introduced between the outer dwarf columns. These screens were frequently of the most exquisite beauty, and in consequence have very generally been removed.
There are three or four mosques at Ahmedabad, built on the same pattern as that last described, but as the style progressed it became more and more Indian. The arches in front were frequently omitted, and only a screen of columns appeared, supported by two minarets, one at each angle. This system was carried to its greatest extent at Sirkej, about five miles from the city. Mohammed Shah, in A.D. 1445, commenced erecting a tomb (A on Woodcut No. 298) here, in honour of Ahmed Gunj Buksh, the friend and adviser of his father. The style of these buildings may be judged of from the woodcut (No. [299], page 532), representing the pavilion of sixteen pillars in front of this tomb (I in Woodcut No. 298). They are of the usual simple outline of the style—a tall, square base; the shafts square, and with no ornament except a countersinking on the angles, and crowned with a moderately projecting bracket-capital. The building is roofed with nine small domes, insignificant in themselves, but both internally and externally forming as pleasing a mode of roofing as ever was applied to such a small detached building of this class. The mosque (D) was completed in A.D. 1451, and Mahmúd Begurra added afterwards a tomb for himself (B) and one for his wife Rajbaie (C). With their accompanying palaces and tombs these make up one of the most important groups in the neighbourhood. The whole are constructed without a single arch; all the pillars have the usual bracket capitals of the Hindus, and all the domes are on the horizontal principle. In the large tomb an attempt has been made to get a larger dome than the usual octagonal arrangement would admit of, but not quite successfully. The octagon does not accord with the substructure, and either wider spaces ought to have been introduced or a polygon of a greater number of sides employed. The mosque is the perfection of elegant simplicity, and is an improvement on the plan of the Jumma Musjid. There are five domes in a line, as there, but they are placed nearer to one another, and though of greater diameter the width of the whole is less, and they are only two ranges in depth. Except the
298. Plan of Tombs and Mosque at Sirkej. (From a Sketch by T. C. Hope, Esq.) Scale 100 Ft. to 1 in.