I Report of the ArcTiceological Survey. 



additions to the Jama Masjid, but as new and separate Mosques. I 

 infer this from the existence of a large niche in the middle of the rear 

 wall of the north wing, which, as far as my observation goes, is the 

 usual mode of construction for the middle of the back wall of every 

 large Mosque. The whole front of the Jama Masjid, with its new 

 additions, is 384 feet in length, which is also the length of its cloistered 

 court. The wall on the south side of the court, as well as the south 

 end of the east wall, are fortunately in good preservation, and, as 

 about three-fourths of the columns are still standing, we are able to 

 measure the size of the enclosure with precision, and to reckon the 

 number of columns with tolerable certainty. The number of columns 

 must have been as nearly as possible 600, and as each of them consists 

 of two Hindu shafts, the whole number of Hindu pillars thus brought 

 into use could not have been less than 1,200. By my measurements 

 the court is a square of 362 feet inside the walls, of which the west 

 wall, which is the front of the Masjid, is only 8 feet thick, the other 

 walls being 11 feet thick. The whole area covered by the Masjid and 

 its court is therefore 420 feet by 384 feet ; and exactly in the middle 

 of the south side of this great quadrangle stands the majestic column 

 called Kutb Minor, within 11 feet of the line of cloister pillars. 



95. During the present century, much speculation has been wasted 

 as to the origin of the Kutb Minar, whether it is a purely Muharn- 

 madan building, or a Hindu building altered and completed by the 

 conquerors. The latter is undoubtedly the common belief of the 

 people, who say that the pillar was built by Eai Pithora for the pur- 

 pose of giving his daughter a view of the River Jumna. Some people 

 even say that the intention was to obtain a view of the Ganges, and 

 that, the Kutb Minar having failed to secure this, a second pillar of 

 double the size was commenced, but the work was interrupted by the 

 conquest of the Musalmans, The first part of this tradition was warmly 

 adopted by Sir T. Metcalfe, and it has since found a strong advocate 

 in Syad Ahmad, whose remarks are quoted with approval by Mr. 

 Cooper in his recent hand-book for Delhi. Syad Ahmad, however, 

 refers only the basement story to Eai Pithora ; but this admission 

 involves the whole design of the column, which preserves the same 

 marked character throughout all the different stories. The Hindu 

 theory has found a stout opponent in Colonel Sleeman, who argues 

 that the great slope of the building " is the peculiar characteristic of 



