Heport of the Archaeological Survey. li 



all architecture of the Pathans," and that the arches of the Great 

 Mosque close by it " all correspond in design, proportion, and execution 

 to the tower." 



96. Mr. Cooper # recapitulates Syad Ahmad's arguments, and 

 finally states as his opinion that it " remains an open question whether 

 this magnificent pillar was commenced by the Hindus or Muham- 

 madans." I must confess, however, that I am myself quite satisfied 

 that the building is entirely a Muhammadan one, both as to origin 

 and to design ; although, no doubt, many, perhaps all, of the beauti- 

 ful details of the richly decorated balconies may be Hindu. To me 

 these decorations seem to be purely Hindu, and just such as may be 

 seen in the honeycomb enrichments of the domes of most of the old 

 Hindu temples. The arguments brought forward in support of the 

 Hindu origin of the column are the following : — 



97. 1st. — " That there is only one Minar, which is contrary to 

 the practice of the Muhammadans, who always give two Minars to 

 their Masjids." I allow that this has been the practice of the Muham- 

 madans for the last three hundred years at least, and I will even 

 admit that the little corner turrets or pinnacles of the Kola, or Kaldn, 

 Masjid of Firuz Shah, may be looked upon as Minars. This would 

 extend the period of the use of two Minars to the middle of the 14th 

 century ; but it must be remembered that these little turrets of 

 Firuz Shah's Masjid are not what the Musalmans called Mazinahs, 

 or lofty towers, from the top of which the Muaszin calls the faithful 

 to prayer. But the Kutb Minar is a Mazinah ; and that it was the 

 practice of the early Muhammadans to build a single tower, we have 

 the most distinct and satisfactory proofs in the two Minars of Ghazni, 

 which could not have belonged to one Masjid, as they are half a mile 

 apart, and of different sizes. These Minars were built by Mahmud 

 in the early part of the 11th century, or about 180 years prior to the 

 erection of the Kutb Minar. Another equally decisive proof of this 

 practice is the solitary Minar at Koel, which was built in A. H. 652, 

 or A. D. 1254, by Kuilugh Khan during the reign of Nasiruddin 

 Mahmud, the youngest son of Altamish, in whose time the Kutb 

 Minar itself was completed. These still existing Minars of Ghazni 

 and Koel show that it was the practice of the early Muhammadans to 



# Hand-book for Delhi, p. 73. 



& 2 



