xlviii 



He-port of the ArcTicBological Survey, 



King himself, in the long inscription over the inner archway of the 

 east entrance. The date is given by Syad Ahmad as 587, but this 

 difference in the unit has been caused by his own omission of the two 

 points of the initial letter of the word Tisa, £**3, or nine, instead of 

 Saba, £**», or " seven," as he has got it. In this inscription, as well 

 as in the shorter one over the outer archway of fche same gate, Kutb- 

 uddin refrains from calling himself by the title of Sultan, which he 

 bestows on his Suzerain Muaz-uddin in the inscription over the north 

 gateway. This last inscription is dated in A. H. 592. And here 

 again I have to notice the omission of two points in the Syad's copy 

 of the second number of the date. In my copy, which was taken in 

 1889, I find the word e>-fc***3, tisa'in, or "ninety," quite complete. In 

 this inscription it is recorded that the foundation of the Masjid was 

 laid in the reign of the Sultan Muaz-uddin Muhammad, Un Sam (in 

 the time of the Khalif) Naser, Chief of the Faithful. The date of 

 A. H. 592, or A. D. 1196, must therefore I think, be referred to the 

 completion of the building. It is true that three years may seem but 

 a short time for the completion of this large Mosque, yet, when we 

 remember that the whole of the stones were obtained ready squared 

 from the Hindu temples on the spot, our wonder will cease, and any 

 doubts that might have arisen in our minds will be dissipated at once. 

 92. The Jama Masjid is not so large as many buildings of the 

 same kind that have been raised in later years, such as the great 

 Mosques of Jonpur and others ; but it is still unrivalled for its grand 

 line of gigantic arches, and for the graceful beauty of the flowered 

 tracery which covers its walls. The front of the Masjid is a wall 

 8 feet thick, pierced by a line of seven noble arches. The centre arch 

 is 22 feet wide and nearly 53 feet in height, and the side arches are 

 10 feet wide and 24 feet high. Through these gigantic arches the 

 first Musalmans of Delhi entered a magnificent room 135 feet long 

 and 31 feet broad, the roof of which was supported on five rows of 

 the tallest and finest of the Hindu pillars. The Mosque is approached 

 through a cloistered court, 145 feet in length from east to west, and 

 96 feet in width. In the midst of the west half of this court, stands 

 the celebrated Iron Pillar, surrounded by cloisters formed of several 

 rows of Hindu columns of infinite variety of design, and of most 

 delicate execution. There are three entrances to the court of the 

 Masjid, each 10 feet in width, of which the eastern entrance was the 



