96 
C. E. Yate —Notes on the City of Hirat. 
[No. 2, 
I now come to the Musalla, formerly, I suppose, the grandest build¬ 
ing anywhere in this part of the world, but now in ruins and under 
orders from the Amir ’Abdu-r-Rahman in course of demolition. The 
so-called Musalla in reality consists of the remains of three separate 
buildings, running north-east and south-west, and covering a total space 
of nearly 600 yards from end to end. 
Of the Madrasah or college nothing but two high arches and four 
minarets remain. The arches must be at least some 60 feet in height 
and are covered with the remains of fine tile work of beautiful and 
artistic designs. The tile work on the minarets seems to have been 
mostly worn off by stress of weather, while inside the arches the tiles 
in some places are still perfect. The minarets of the Madrasah appear 
taller than those of the Musalla and must be between 120 and 150 feet 
in height. There is a tradition that the present remains formed portions 
of two colleges, known in Turk! as the Kosh Madrasah or pair of col¬ 
leges, which are said to have been built by Shah Rukh Mirza. At the 
western end of the ruins there is a large, handsome black marble tomb 
with a well-carved inscription in Arabic, bearing the date A. H. 843 or 
A. D. 1440. The inscription is broken and covered with dirt, but the 
following was deciphered, showing that it is the tomb of Bayaqra, son 
of ’Umar Shaikh, the son of Amir Timur:— 
O'* 
Jp 
Jj OJ ^ O w f G I y M 'C * — 
^UaJLJI ^j) tfibb JjJ) ^ L-XUJ) ^ ZljjJJ yxs* 
S 
W 
i 
( 20 ) 
/ / /■ 
4 
// x / 
i 4 ♦♦ 
9<* 
the 
‘ j ^s 9 y vs vjr e/'-’ ^ 
The domed building called the tomb of Shall Rukh stands between 
Madrasah and the Musalla. It is faced on the east by an archway 
and by one solitary minaret, still covered with tilo work. Tho dome, 
too, was once covered with blue tiles, but is now sadly out of repair. 
Within tho dome thore are six tombstones lying scattered about, all 
of black marble, engraved in Arabic in the Khat-i-Suls chamctcr. Tho 
principal of these and tho ono that gives tho name to the building, 
though the latest in date, is tho tombstone of Shah Rukh, but instead 
of marking tho tomb of tho great Sluih Rukh, tho son of the Amir 
Timur, and tho founder of tho Madrasah as T was given to understand, 
it appears from tho following inscription that it is the tomb of some 
other Sluili Rukh, a great-great-grandson of the Amir Timur, who died 
47 years after tho death of the real Sluih Rukh. 
Tho inscription is as follows:— 
^ / o. 
9 
i -1-0 
r 
* CO 
UK I 
os* 
9 9 9 
C 
A xXxC 
so 9 
■ J 
c>r 
9 * 
' 5 J 
s s c # 
l!/ \J 
( 21 ) 
