72 Notes on Old Delhi. [No. 2, 



country is now seemingly sterile as well as deserted, point to a pro- 

 cess of desiccation going on there, or in the country at large, and 

 felt the sooner in these Highlands ? 



The Great Mosque of the Qutb. 

 The Colonnade. 



The features of the colonnades in the mosque of Qutbud-dm, as 

 detailed by General Cunningham are, I conceive, such as to settle 

 finally the question that the pillars are not in their original posi- 

 tions, hut have been removed by the Muhammadans, as recorded 

 over the eastern gateway, from the Hindu temples of the town. 

 The fact that these beautifid Hindu columns were covered with 

 plaster by the idol-hating conqueror does not rest on an inference 

 from the presence of one or two groups of sculptured figures, as 

 Cunningham appears to put it at p. xlix of his Paper, but in 

 sheltered spots the plaster can even now be picked from the more 

 deeply carved stones : besides the columns, and especially the capi- 

 tals, are constantly adorned with human or divine figures which 

 although usually mutilated in the face must still have stunk in the 

 nostrils of Qutbud-din and his savage hordes. 



In reference to Cunningham's remark at p. x, that ft a single 

 pillar amongst the many hundreds that now form the colonnades of 

 the Qutb Manar, may perhaps belong to the old city, that is the town 

 anterior to the Tun war dynasty, as it bears a figure either of Buddha 

 the Ascetic seated in contemplation, or of one of the Jain hierarchs," 

 I would remark that in the south colonnade, and in the roofs of the 

 S. E. and N. E. galleries, are several figures of seated Buddhas, or 

 figures which answer exactly to the seated Buddhas of Benares and 

 Ceylon, (I add this as I have unfortunately no knowledge of Jain 

 sculptures). I should therefore be inclined to believe that, besides 

 the column alluded to in the foregoing extract, no less than six of 

 the lozenge-shaped roof compartments belong to the Buddhist 

 period of Delhi. The pillars froni the temples to which these roof 

 compartments belonged, probably stood in that portion of the south 

 cloister which has now been destroyed. 



The sculptures on these Hindu columns give us some light, 

 although but little, on the garb and appearance of the people of 



