1866.] 



Notes on the Topography dec. of Delhi. 



217 



Note A. 



The existing remains of the Lall Mahal comprise a small domed 

 chamher, a large double storied pavilion, and a few remains of the 

 original enclosure wall built into work of a later date. 



In the lower or basement story of the main building, there are 

 several arches of the shape always employed by Ala-u-din, and which 

 can be easily identified as his work. The upper story is composed 

 almost wholly of red sandstone, (whence the name of " Lall Mahal,") 

 and is supported on pillars, so as to form an open hall. It has the 

 appearance of a number of small pavilions, covered with stepped and 

 sloping roofs, grouped around a central dome, which is, in section, 

 a true oval pointed at the apex. This is a shape commonly employed 

 at the commencement of the 14th century. 



Small pavilions like the above reappear as a common feature in the 

 architecture of the 16th century, and are much used by Akhbar in his 

 various buildings ; but an examination of these later ones shews that 

 Plan looking up. they are always* domed under the sloping 



roof, whereas those in the Lall Mahal are 

 ceiled with large flat stones in the Jaina 

 style, like those in the colonnades of the 

 Kutb-ul-Islam Musjid. This arrangement, 

 so far as Mahommedan architecture is con- 

 cerned, is peculiar to the work of Kutb-u- 

 din Eibeg, Altamsh, and Ala-u-din. 

 The style of the ornamentation, of the battlements, and of the 

 mouldings so strongly resembles that in the " Alai Darwaza" at the 

 Kutb that there can be no reasonable doubt as to the two buildings 

 having been designed and built at the same period ; and we have thus 

 ample warrant for describing the Lall Mahal as the work of Ala- 

 u-din. 



* In Delhi at least ; I have never had an opportunity of examining those 

 at Shahdeara or Futtelipore Sikri, 



