lxiv 



Report of the Archaeological Survey. 



of Firuz Tughlak, when, having been struck by lightning, it was 

 repaired by that Emperor in A. H. 770, or A. D. 1368. The nature 

 and extent of his repairs may, I think, be gathered from the inscrip- 

 tions ; thus, the inscription of the fifth story is placed over the door- 

 way, and there is no record of any other Emperor on this story. I 

 conclude, therefore, that the whole of the fifth story was rebuilt by 

 Firuz Shah. But as there are two inscriptions of his reign recorded 

 on the fourth story, I infer that he must have made some repairs to 

 it also, although these repairs could not have been extensive, as the 

 inscription over the doorway of this story belongs to the reign of 

 Altamish. Under this view, the Kutb Minar has always consisted of 

 five stories, from the time of its completion by Altamish in about 

 A. D. 1220, down to the present day. 



120. Of the same age as the Kutb Minar is the tomb of the 

 Emperor Altamish, who died in A. H. 633, or A. D. 1235. It is 

 situated just outside the north-west corner of the Great Mosque, as 

 enlarged by Altamish himself. The interior is a square of 29|- feet, 

 with walls 7i feet thick, making the exterior a square of 44 feet. 

 The main entrance is to the east, but there are also openings to the 

 north and south ; and to the west there is a niche, such as is usually 

 found in a small Mosque. The interior walls are decorated through- 

 out with elaborate and highly finished ornament of great beauty. 

 But there is no dome to the building, and as there are no ruins lying 

 about, it seems probable that the tomb was never finished, and that 

 we see it now just in the same state as it was left about the time of 

 the King's death. 



121. The only other buildings connected with the Great Mosque 

 of Delhi are the beautiful south gateway of the quadrangle, and the 

 gigantic unfinished Minar, both of which were the work of Ala-uddin 

 Khilji, who reigned from A. D. 1296 to 1316. The south gateway 

 is called by Syad Ahmad the Alai Darwdza or " Gate of Ala-uddin;" 

 but this appellation is not known to the people. The age of the 

 building is, however, quite certain, as the name of Ala-uddin is severs^ 

 times repeated in the Arabic inscriptions over three of the entrances, 

 with the addition of his well known title of Sikcmdar Sdni, and the 

 date of A. H. 710, or A. D. 1310. This date had already been 

 anticipated, from the style of the building, by Mr. Fergusson, who 

 considered the gateway as at least a century more modern than the 



