MOSQUE OF SULTAN KHODABUND. 
279 
Mr. Morier’s accurate delineation of this fine, though now 
mouldering fabric, has hardly left any thing more to be said; but 
to omit entirely its description here, because another had else- 
where done it so well, would leave so great a blank in my own 
account of the city, that I shall shortly describe the falling mau¬ 
soleum, as it appeared to me a few years after it had been visited 
by Mr. Morier. 
The height of the dome certainly exce eds o ne hundred and 
thirty feet: t he d i ameter of the circ le below is th irty -three paces. 
The whole interior of the building presents one uninterrupted 
space; but to the south, is a large distinct ch amber, choked up 
with rubbish; under the floor of which, I was told, are three 
immense vaulted rooms ; the e ntr ance t o them is now lost, under 
the ruins above; but in o ne, stands the tomb of the Sultan 
Mahomed Khodah nm h raised from the eartlp The inside of the 
whole mosque, 'which covers these royal remains, is beautifully 
painted, and tiled with varied porcelain. Much gilding is yet to 
be seen upon the upright and transverse lines of decoration; 
amongst which, it is said, the whole Koran is written in orna¬ 
mented characters. It required a Mussulman’s eye to find them 
out, in the varied labyrinth of arabesque patterns with which 
they were surrounded. Formerly, the who le buildi ng was inclose d 
within a square, of three hundred yarc^s . Its ditch is still visible 
to a great depth; and at the north-west angle , stand s part of a 
large tower, and a wall, forty feet in heig ht, built o f fine la rge 
square masses of hewn stone , excellently^ cemen ted togeth er; 
the thickness of the wall being twelve feet. On the top, still 
remain a number of the pedestals, belonging to the machicolated 
parapet. Two Arabic inscriptions are yet distinct on the wall 
and the tower; but I could not find any person to translate them. 
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