202 



Notes on the Topography &c. of Delhi. 

 Sketch of Windows in F y G. 



[No. 4, 





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The absence of voussoirs proves that the former dates from the 

 early part of the 13th century ; whilst the date of the latter is deter- 

 mined by the red sandstone gratings fixed in the windows, which 

 are identical in style with those in the Alai Durwaza ; into the walls 

 of which at F, G, they have been carefully bonded from the very first, 

 the whole forming one work, the date of which is fixed by the in- 

 scriptions on the gateway. 



Lastly, the great arches are quite different in style,* the piers in 

 the central portion are square on plan, they have no niches in them, 

 and the jambs are left uncut ; the arches have no impostf and are 

 slightly ogee in the head ; and the ornamentation is simple, mono- 

 tonous, and decidedly Hindu in character. 



The side arches are on a lower level than the central ones ; the 

 piers have arched niches ; and their jambs are cut into octagons and 

 ballusters : the arch springs from a cap to one of these latter, which 

 does duty as an impost, and it is pointed in the head and not ogee, 

 whilst the ornament is later in date and more elaborate. (Fig. 6 and 7.) 



All these peculiarities are repeated in Altamsh's tomb, and we are 

 thus enabled to fix the date of its construction. It must have been 

 erected by the same builders and at the same time as the north and 

 south wings of the mosque, i. e. in the king's own lifetime, and not 



* See Fig. 5, plate XXIII. 



f As I have said before, tlie impost to the centremost is "an addition of 

 Captain Wickham's. It should be removed. 



