Bayana: The Sources of Mughal Architecture 9781474460750

Citation preview

BAYANA

Le plus mauvais parti que les princes d’Asie aient pu prendre, c’est de se cacher comme ils font. Ils veulent se rendre plus respectables; mais ils font respecter la Royauté, et non pas le Roi, et attachent l’esprit des sujets à un certain trône, et non pas à une certaine personne. Cette puissance invisible qui gouverne est toujours la même pour le Peuple. Quoique dix rois, qu’il ne connaît que de nom, se soient égorgés l’un après l’autre, il ne sent aucune différence; c’est comme s’il avait été gouverné successivement par des Esprits. (Asian kings could have taken no worse course than to hide themselves as they do. They intend to inspire greater respect, but they inspire respect for royalty, not for the king, and fix their subjects’ mind on a particular throne, not on a particular person. This invisible ruling power always remains identical for the people. Even if a dozen kings, whom they know only by name, were to slaughter each other in turn, they would not be aware of any difference: it would be as if they had been governed by a succession of phantoms.) Montesquieu, Lettres Persanes, Letter 103

BAYANA THE SOURCES OF MUGHAL ARCHITECTURE

MEHRDAD SHOKOOHY and NATALIE H. SHOKOOHY

Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutting-edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance. For more information visit our website: edinburghuniversitypress.com © Mehrdad Shokoohy and Natalie H. Shokoohy, 2020 Edinburgh University Press Ltd The Tun – Holyrood Road 12 (2f) Jackson’s Entry Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Typeset in Trump Mediaeval LT 11/14pt by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and printed and bound in Great Britain A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4744 6072 9 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 4744 6075 0 (webready PDF) ISBN 978 1 4744 6074 3 (epub) The right of Mehrdad Shokoohy and Natalie H. Shokoohy to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498). Published with the support of the University of Edinburgh Scholarly Publishing Initiatives Fund.

.

Contents

Method of Transliterationvii Abbreviationsviii CHAPTER 1 Introduction1 CHAPTER 2 History14    The conquest of Bayana 16   The extent of the region of Bayana 28   Thirteenth and fourteenth centuries 31    TÈmËr’s invasion and the rise of the Au˙adÈs49    The LodÈ dominance 71    Båbur and the rise of the Mughals 82   The decline: the SËrÈ episode 89    The Mahdi 92   Akbar and the later Mughals 96 CHAPTER 3 The Three Towns101    Bayana Town: Sul†ånkËt and the later town 104   The Tahangar or Vijayamandargarh fort and its town 113    Sikandra 156 CHAPTER 4 Early Monuments: Twelfth–Fourteenth Centuries163    The Ghurid period: the buildings of Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul166    The KhaljÈ and Tughluq periods: 1290–1320, 1320–1413 220 CHAPTER 5 Mosques and Minarets239   Mosques with traditional plans 242   Small neighbourhood mosques 280   Emergence of a new mosque plan 292    Minarets 320

vi BAYANA CHAPTER 6 The Chatrī : its Origin, its Basic Forms and its Variants in Bayana330    Typology 334 CHAPTER 7 Waterworks369    Wells 372    Reservoirs: Typology 374   1: Natural depressions made into reservoirs 376   2: Large reservoirs with steps on all sides 383   3: Step-wells 396 CHAPTER 8 Domestic Architecture415    Structure and methods of construction 418    Typology 420 CHAPTER 9 Mansions, Semi-public Buildings and Later Monuments461 CHAPTER 10 Historic Edifices in the Towns and Villages of the Bayana Region490    Dholpur 490    Khanwa 505    Nagar–Sikri 515    Sikri 529 CHAPTER 11 Epilogue533 Appendix I Historical Inscriptions of Bayana and its Region537 Appendix II The Genealogy of the Auhadıˉs of Bayana610 ˙ Tombs611 Appendix III Funerary Chatrıˉs and Other Bibliography706 Index720 

Method of Transliteration

 å a u b p t th j ch ˙ kh d

‫ ء‬ ‫ آ‬ ‫ ا‬ ُ‫ ا‬ ‫ ب‬ ‫ پ‬ ‫ ت‬ ‫ ث‬ ‫ ج‬ ‫ چ‬ ‫ ح‬ ‫ خ‬ ‫ د‬

dh r z zh s sh ß ∂ † Ω  gh f

‫ ذ‬ ‫ ر‬ ‫ ز‬ ‫ ژ‬ ‫ س‬ ‫ ش‬ ‫ ص‬ ‫ ض‬ ‫ ط‬ ‫ ظ‬ ‫ ع‬ ‫ غ‬ ‫ ف‬

q ‫ ق‬ k ‫ ک‬ g ‫ گ‬ l ‫ ل‬ m ‫ م‬ n ‫ ن‬ w ‫ و‬ Ë ‫ ُو‬ au aw ‫َّو‬ h ‫ هـ‬ È ‫ ي‬ ai ay ‫ی‬ َ y ‫ ی‬

Abbreviations

Aˉ ı¯n-i Akbarı¯ (Pers.): Abul-fa∂l AllåmÈ FahhåmÈ b. Mubårak NågËrÈ, ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), H. Blochmann (ed.) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Biblioteca Indica, No. 58, 1872–7), I, 1872; II, 1877. ˉ  Aı¯n-i Akbarı¯ (tr.): The Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazl-i-Allami, 3 vols, I, H. Blochmann (tr.); II and III, H. S. Jarrett (tr.) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 61, 1868–94); 2nd edn, A Gazetteer and Administrative Manual of Akbar’s Empire and Past History of India, corrected and annotated by JaduNath Sarkar (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 270, II, 1949). Akbar naˉ ma (Pers.): Shaikh Abul-Fa∂l AllåmÈ, FahhåmÈ, b. (Shaikh) Mubårak NågËrÈ, Akbar nåma (Pers.), Maulvi Abdu’r-Rahim (ed.), 3 vols (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 79, 1877–86), I, 1877; II, 1879; III, 1886. Akbar naˉ ma (tr.): Abul-Fazl ibn Mubarak, called AllåmÈ, The Akbar Nama of Abu-l-Fazl: (History of the Reign of Akbar including an Account of His Predecessors), H. Beveridge (tr.), 3 vols (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 138, 1897–1939). Arberry: Arberry, A. J., The Koran Interpreted, 2 vols (London and New York: Allen & Unwin and Macmillan, 1955). ARIE: Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy. ASI: Archaeological Survey of India. ASINC: Annual Progress Report of the Superintendent, Muhammadan and British Monuments, Northern Circle. ASIR: Archaeological Survey of India Reports (Cunningham series). ASWI: Archaeological Survey of Western India. BAI: Bulletin of the Asia Institute (Bloomfield Hills, MI). Barnı¯ (Pers.): Îiyå al-dÈn BarnÈ, TårÈkh-i FÈrËz ShåhÈ, W. N. Lees, S. Ahmad Khan and Kabiru’d-Din (eds) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 33, 1862). Barnı¯ (tr.): in Elliot, III (London, 1872), chapter 15, ‘TårÈkh-i FÈroz ShåhÈ, of Ziyåu-d dÈn, BarnÈ’, pp. 93–268.

abbreviations

CII: M. Shokoohy, Rajasthan I, Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum, Part IV, Persian Inscriptions down to the Safavid Period, vol. XLIX, India: State of Rajasthan (London: Lund Humphries, distribution: School of Oriental and African Studies, 1986). EIAPS: Epigraphia Indica, Arabic and Persian Supplement. EIM: Epigraphia Indo-Moslemica. Elliot: Henry Miers and Dowson, John, The History of India as Told by its Own Historians: the Muhammadan Period, 8 vols (London, 1867–77). Firishta (Pers.): Mu˙ammad Qåsim b. HindË Shåh, known as Firishta, Gulshan-i IbråhÈmÈ known as TårÈkh-i Firishta (Pers.), 2 vols (with addenda bound together) (Lucknow: Nevil Kishore, 1864). Firishta (tr.): John Briggs (tr.), History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India till the year a.d. 1612 translated from the Original Persian of Mahomed Kasim Ferishta, 4 vols (London, 1829). Hisaˉ r-i Fı¯ru¯ za: M. Shokoohy and N. H. Shokoohy, Óißår-i FÈrËza, Sultanate and ˙ ˙  Early Mughal Architecture in the District of Hisar, India (London: Monographs on Art Archaeology and Architecture, 1988). HL: Horovitz, Josef, ‘A list of the published Mohammadan inscriptions of India’, EIM, 1909–10, pp. 30–144. Ibn Battu¯ ta (Ar.): Mu˙ammad b. Abd’ullåh called Ibn Ba††Ë†a, Tu˙fat al-nuΩΩår ˙  ˙  ˙  al-amßår wa ajåib al-asfår, known as Ra˙la (Ar.), Talal Harb (ed.) fÈ gharåib (Beirut, 1987). Ibn Battu¯ ta (tr.): The Travels of Ibn Ba††Ë†a a.d. 1325–1354, 5 vols, I–III, H. A. ˙  ˙  ˙ (tr.), C. Defrémery and B. R. Sanguinetti (eds); IV, H. A. R. Gibb (tr.), R. Gibb completed by C. F. Beckingham (tr.); V index, A. D. H. Bivar (compiler) (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1958–2000) I, 1958; II, 1962; III, 1971; IV, 1994; V, 2000. Jahaˉ ngı¯r naˉ ma (Pers.): NËr al-dÈn Mu˙ammad JahångÈr GËrkånÈ (emperor), JahångÈr nåma or TËzuk-i JahångÈrÈ (Pers.), Muhammad Hashim (ed.) (Tehran, hs 1359/1980). Jahaˉ ngı¯r naˉ ma (tr.): The TËzuk-i-JahångÈrÈ or Memoirs of JahångÈr, Alexander Rogers (tr.), Henry Beveridge (ed.), 2 vols (London: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund, New Series, vols XIX and XXII) I, 1909; II, 1914. MHJ: Medieval History Journal (New Delhi: Sage Publications India). Muhammad Ali: Muhammad Ali, Maulana, The Holy Qu’ran Containing Arabic Text with English Translation and Commentary, 2nd edn (Lahore, Punjab, India: Ahmadiyya anjuman-i-ishaåt-i-Islåm, 1934). Muntakhab al-tawaˉ rı¯kh (Pers.): Abd’ul-Qådir b. MulËk Shåh BadåwunÈ, known as al-BadåonÈ, Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), 3 vols, Maulawi Ahmad Ali; Kabir al-dÈn Ahmad and William Nassau Lees (eds) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 51, 1968–9), I, 1868; II, 1864; III, 1869. Muntakhab al-tawaˉ rı¯kh (tr.): Muntakhabu-t-tawårÈkh (tr.), 3 vols, I, George G. A. Ranking (ed., tr.); II, W. H. Lowe (tr.); III, T.W. Haig (tr.) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Biblioteca Indica, No. 97, 1884–1925).

ix

x BAYANA Nagaur: M. Shokoohy and N. H. Shokoohy, Nagaur, Sultanate and Early Mughal History and Architecture of the District of Nagaur, India (London: Royal Asiatic Society Monograph XXVIII, distribution: Routledge, 1993). PMIR: Z. A. Desai, Published Muslim Inscriptions of Rajasthan (Jaipur: Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Rajasthan, 1971). Shams-i Siraˉ j (Pers.): Shams-i Siråj AfÈf, TårÈkh-i FÈrËz ShåhÈ (Pers.), Vilayat Husayn (ed.) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 119, 1891). Shams-i Siraˉ j (tr.): in Elliot, III (London: 1871), chapter 16, ‘Tarikh-i-Firoz ShahÈ of Shams-i Siråj AfÈf’, pp. 269–373. Tabaqaˉ t-i Akbarı¯ (Pers.): Khwåja NiΩåm al-dÈn A˙mad b. Mu˙ammad MuqÈm ˙  HirawÈ, Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), 3 vols (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 223, 1927–35), I (1927) and II (1931), B. De (ed.); III, B. De and M. Hidayat Hosain (eds), 1935. Tabaqaˉ t-i Akbarı¯ (tr.): Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (tr.), Brajendranath De (tr.) and Beni ˙  Pradashad (ed.), 3 vols (vol. II in two parts) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 225, 1927–39), I, 1927; II, 1936; III, i­–ii, 1939. Tabaqaˉ t-i Naˉ sirı¯ (Pers.): Minhåj-i Siråj JauzjånÈ, Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), Abd’ul˙  Hai Habibi ˙ (ed.), 2 vols (bound together) (Tehran, 1984). Tabaqaˉ t-i Naˉ sirı¯ (tr.): Maulånå Minhåj-ud-dÈn AbË Umar i-Uthmån, Êabaqåt-i ˙  NåßirÈ a General ˙  History of the Mu˙ammadan Dynasties of Asia including Hindustån from a.h. 194 (810 a.d.) to a.h. 658 (1260 a.d.) and the Irruption of the Infidel Mughals into Islåm, H. G. Raverty (tr.), 2 vols (London: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Biblioteca Indica, No. 78, 1881). Taˉ rı¯kh-i Daˉ wudı¯ (Pers.): Abd’ullåh, TårÈkh-i DåwudÈ (TårÈkh-i-Daudi), Shaikh Abdur Rasheed (ed.) (Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University [1954], Persian text offset repr. with additional English introduction by Iqtidar Husain Siddiqi, 1969). Taˉ rı¯kh-i Daˉ wudı¯ (tr.): in Elliot, IV (London, 1872), chapter 33, ‘TårÈkh-i DåËdÈ, of Abdu-lla’, pp. 434–513. Taˉ rı¯kh-i Khaˉ n Jahaˉ nı¯ (Pers.): Khwåja Nimat’ullåh b. Khwåja ÓabÈb’ullåh alHirawÈ, TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ wa makhzan-i AfghånÈ (Pers.), Sayyid Muhammad Imam al-din (ed.), 2 vols (Dacca: I, Asiatic Society of Pakistan, No. 4, 1960; II, Asiatic Society of Pakistan, No. 10, 1962). Taˉ rı¯kh-i Khaˉ n Jahaˉ nı¯ (tr.): in Elliot, V (London, 1873), chapter 35, ‘Makhzan-i AfghånÈ and TårÈkh-i Khån Jahån LodÈ, of Niamatu-lla’, pp. 67–115. Taˉ rı¯kh-i Mubaˉ rak Shaˉ hı¯ (Pers.): Ya˙yå b. A˙mad b. Abd’ullåh al-SihrindÈ, TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ of Ya˙yå b. A˙mad b. Abdullåh as-SihrindÈ, M. Hidayat Hosain (ed.) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 254, 1931). Taˉ rı¯kh-i Mubaˉ rak Shaˉ hı¯ (tr.): in Elliot, IV (London, 1872), chapter 21, ‘TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ of Ya˙yå bin A˙mad’, pp. 6–88. Taˉ rı¯kh-i Shaˉ hı¯ (Pers.): A˙mad Yådgår, TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ also known as TårÈkh-i salå†Èn-i Afåghina a History of the Sul†åns of Delhi from the Time of BahlËl

abbreviations

LËdÈ (a.h. 855–894) to the Entry of Emperor Akbar into Delhi in a.h. 964, M. Hidayat Hosain (ed.) (Calcutta: Bibliotheca Indica, No. 257, 1939). Taˉ rı¯kh-i Shaˉ hı¯ (tr.): in Elliot, V (London, 1873), chapter 34, ‘TårÈkh-i salå†Èn-i Afåghana, of Ahmad Yådgår’, pp. 1–66. Taˉ rı¯kh-i Shı¯r Shaˉ hı¯ (Pers.): Abbås Khån SarwånÈ, TårÈkh-i ShÈr ShåhÈ (TårÈkh-i-Sher ShåhÈ) (titled originally by author Tu˙fa-yi Akbar ShåhÈ) Sayyid Muhammad Imam al-din (ed.), 2 vols (Dacca: University of Dacca, Pakistan, 1964), I, Persian text; II, English translation. Taˉ rı¯kh-i Shı¯r Shaˉ hı¯ (tr.): in Elliot, IV (London, 1872), chapter 32, ‘TårÈkh-i Sher ShåhÈ or Tu˙fat-i Akbar ShåhÈ, of Abbås Khån, SarwånÈ’, pp. 301–433. Tughluqabad: M. Shokoohy and N. H. Shokoohy, Tughluqabad: a Paradigm for Indo-Islamic Urban Planning and its Architectural Components (London: Araxus Books, Monograph of the Society of South Asian Studies, British Academy, 2007). Wetzel: Wetzel, Friedrich, Islamische Grabbauten in Indien ([Leipzig, 1918] Osnabrück: Zeller, repr. 1970). Yamamoto: Yamamoto, Tatsuro, Matsuo Ara and Tokifusa Tsukinowa, Delhi: Architectural Remains of the Delhi Sultanate Period, 3 vols (Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo, 1967–70), I, 1967; II, 1968; III, 1970.

xi

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

The first stage that we arrived was Tilbat (or Tilbut), which was two leagues and a third from the capital Delhi, from there we travelled to Au and to HÈlau and then to Bayana. It is a great city and has fine buildings and attractive bazaars, and its Jåmi is one of the finest mosques, with walls and ceilings all of stone. Ibn Ba††Ë†a1 Bayana, were it not for its shortage of water, might have been the capital of India. Situated in south-eastern Rajasthan, Bayana held a strategic position on the ancient route from Delhi to Gwalior and the Deccan, which combined with an almost impregnable fort and natural and agricultural resources made it a prized possession of its mediaeval Hindu rulers, and attracted the attention of the Muslim conquerors of India, who took over the region in the last decade of the twelfth century and created some of the finest Ghurid monuments in their new centre of power. Ibn Ba††Ë†a, who had seen many fine mosques and great cities of the world from Cordoba to Cairo, Delhi and Khanbaliq (Beijing) visited Bayana in 1342 and found the built area so impressive that he called Bayana a ‘great city’ and its congregational mosque ‘one of the finest’. The mosque still stands, along with many outstanding monuments in the city itself, near the formidable fort (Plate 1.1) and the garden city of Sikandra founded by Sikandar LodÈ, both with many fine monuments, which attest to the Bayana builders’ skills. The town in the fort also preserves its street layout, gates and markets. The fort is exceptional in India, retaining not only palatial dwellings, but also ordinary houses of the fifteenth to early sixteenth century, which were built of standardised stone components. To tackle the question of water supply in this desert region, the builders and their patrons manipulated the available water to the utmost for practical purposes, but also embellished their reservoirs and step-wells to provide Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), p. 545; (tr.), IV, p. 775. Our translation is given for:

1





‫نزل ِهیلو َو‬ ِ ‫نزل أو َو َرحلنا منه إلی َم‬ ِ ‫فکان نزولنا في أوَّل مرحلة بمنزل ْتلبَت علی مسافة فر َسخین وثُلث ِمن َحضْ رة دهلي َو َرحلنا منه إلی َم‬ .‫مسجدها الجامع من أبدع المساجد و حیطانه و سقفه حجارة‬ ‫َرحلنا منه إلی مدینة بیانه مدینة کبیرة حسنة البناء ملیحة األسواق و‬ ٍ

2 BAYANA

Plate 1.1  Bayana Fort, view from inside the fort looking west towards the fortifications of the citadel which stand on a rampart of solid rock, with a buffer of bare red sandstone in the foreground separating it from the inhabited areas. Anyone who approached the citadel would be exposed to the watchers guarding the towers.

private and public places of resort. One should bear in mind that the great cities of the Mughals, Agra and Fathpur Sikri were once merely villages under the territory of Bayana. Bayana was historically a key player among the independent states and principalities that flourished between TÈmËr’s (Tamerlane’s) invasion of Delhi in 1398, which terminated the empire of the Delhi sultanate, and the rise of the Mughal Empire in the third decade of the sixteenth century. The region was controlled in the fifteenth century by the Au˙adÈ family who bore the title of khån and while not claiming to be sultans, ruled independently from Delhi and occasionally took sides with the SharqÈ sultans of Jaunpur. In architecture, in addition to the mosque from the very first years of the Islamic conquest (end of the twelfth century), Bayana has a range of mosques, shrines and waterworks of the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries demonstrating that in style Bayana did not conform to that of Delhi – which dominated the architecture of the northern regions – but developed its own repertoire that later paved the way for the early Mughal architecture, best seen in Fathpur Sikri. Yet in spite of the many historical references to Bayana, epigraphic records and numerous archaeological and architectural remains, until the presentation of

ONE: introduction

Natalie H. Shokoohy’s doctoral thesis2 and the publication of a number of articles by the present authors in academic periodicals3 there had been virtually no serious study of the region and its history, mainly due to the obscurity into which the town had sunk after the centre of power moved to Agra. Bayana’s location, 50 km south of Bharatpur, 70 km south-west of Agra and 160 km south of Delhi (Figures 1.1–1.2) places it in the Delhi­–Agra–Fathpur Sikri triangle, now the hub of modern development in northern India. The historic town is on the eastern foot of a hill, while the fort stands 6 km to the west of the town, on the summit of the hill at a height of between 250 and 350 m. In the last decade of the fifteenth century and during the reign of Sikandar LodÈ a new town, known as Sikandra, was planned in the fields between the fort and the old town but was probably never completed (Plate 1.2). The terrain is dry and inhospitable, with agriculture depending on sometimes insufficient seasonal rainfall and irrigation from wells, the water of which is often brackish. The River GambhÈr, which passes about 1 km to the east of the town, irrigates some of the fields, but the river is seasonal and has little or no water in the dryer years. In spite of the arid climate, Bayana was the centre of a relatively prosperous province well known for its products, including superior mangoes,4 refined white sugar exported to all regions of India, and high quality indigo, exported as far as the Middle East and Europe.5 The most important product of Bayana was not, however, agricultural, N. H. Shokoohy, ‘Au˙adÈ and LodÈ architecture of Bayana, Rajasthan (1400–1526)’, London Metropolitan University, 2005 (supervised by Robert Harbison and George Michell). 3 M. Shokoohy and N. H. Shokoohy, ‘The Architecture of Baha al-din Tughrul in the region of Bayana, Rajasthan’, Muqarnas IV (1987): 114–32 (reprinted in Architecture of Mediaeval India: Forms, Contexts, Histories (New Delhi, 2001), pp. 413–28; Shokoohy and Shokoohy, ‘Indian Subcontinent, 11th–16th Century, (b) North India (Sultanates)’, The Grove Dictionary of Art (London/New York: 1996), XV, pp. 338–46; Shokoohy and Shokoohy, ‘A history of Bayana – Part 1: from the Muslim conquest to the end of the Tughluq period’, MHJ VII, ii (2004): 279–324; Shokoohy and Shokoohy, ‘A history of Bayana – Part 2: from the rise of the Au˙adÈs to the early Mughal period (fifteenth–­seventeenth centuries)’, MHJ, VIII, ii (2005): 323–400; Shokoohy and Shokoohy, ‘Bayana’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three (Leiden/Boston, 2017), pp. 47–52, figs 1–3; N. Shokoohy: ‘Waterworks of mediaeval Bayana, Rajasthan’, BAI, XVIII ([2004] 2008: 19–42. The following papers by M. and N. H. Shokoohy also consider the monuments of Bayana in the wider context of the history and development of Indian architecture: Shokoohy and Shokoohy, ‘Domestic dwellings in Muslim India; mediaeval house plans’, BAI, XIV ([2000] 2003): 89–110; Shokoohy and Shokoohy, ‘The chatrÈ in Indian architecture: Persian wooden canopies materialised in stone’, BAI, XV ([2001] 2005): 129–50; Shokoohy and Shokoohy, ‘The Indian  Èdgåh and its Persian prototype the namåzgåh or mußallå’, in Patricia L. Baker and Barbara Brend (eds), Sifting Sands, Reading Signs: Studies in Honour of Professor Géza Fehérvári (London, 2006), pp. 105–19; Shokoohy and Shokoohy, ‘The mosques of Bayana, Rajasthan, and the emergence of a prototype for the mosques of the Mughals’, MHJ, XIII, ii (2010): 153–97. A few phrases or sentences from these articles sometimes appear on websites, not always properly digested, and often jumbled in with local stories. 4 Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, pp. 409–10; (tr.), p. 1526; Å Èn-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 442, (tr.), II, pp. 191–2. 5 K. K. Trivedi, ‘Innovation and change in indigo production in Bayana, Eastern Rajasthan’, Studies in History, X, i (1994): 69; Jenny Balfour-Paul, Indigo (London, 1998), pp. 45–6. For an archaeological report on the surviving indigo vats, see Iqtidar Alam Khan, ‘Pre-modern indigo vats of Bayana’, Journal of Islamic Environmental Design, Rome (1986): pt ii, pp. 92–8. 2

3

4 BAYANA

Figure 1.1  Map of the Indian subcontinent and part of Greater Khuråsån (north-eastern Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), showing major historic towns.

but the red sandstone that formed the rocky hills rising out of the plain throughout the terrain. The quarries of the region provided stone for forts, cities and some of the most elegant edifices of northern India, including Fathpur Sikri6 (Plate 1.3), built almost entirely of stone from a quarry at Garh a few miles south of Bayana. In the construction boom of today’s India, Bayana – after many years of neglect – has once again become a centre of export of sandstone, and stone-cutting yards have mushroomed outside the town, with many newcomers being employed in

Saiyid Athar Abbas Rizvi and Vincent John Adams Flynn, Fat˙pur SÈkrÈ (Bombay, 1975), p. 14.

6

ONE: introduction

Plate 1.2  Bayana Fort and the unfinished town of Sikandra; a mosaic satellite image from Google Earth images, 2011. Key: A citadel or upper fort; B west gate system of citadel; C fortified buffer area of citadel’s west gate system; D unbuilt fortified area of citadel’s east gate system; E East Enclosure; F fortified buffer area of citadel’s east gate; G North Enclosure; H fields between Mor Tålåb and Sikandra; I partly built site of the LodÈ town of Sikandra; J fortified buffer of the citadel’s postern gate.

Plate 1.3  The public palaces of Fathpur Sikri seen from the top of the multistoreyed colonnade known as the ‘Hawå Ma˙al’. The palaces, together with all other monuments, including the mosque of Shaikh SalÈm, the private pavilions and the fortifications, are all built with the red sandstone of the Bayana region, but Bayana’s influence on Fathpur Sikri goes far beyond building materials.

5

6 BAYANA the industry, resulting in the sudden expansion of the town, which had remained virtually within its centuries-old boundaries until a few decades ago.7 Bayana’s historic significance and propensity for expansion stem from its location on the ancient route from Delhi to Gwalior and the Deccan,8 and the position of its fort which was regarded as the most important staging-post between Delhi and Gwalior. Between these towns there were no other strongholds as large and well defended, and almost all the sultans of Delhi tried to gain control of Bayana at the beginning of their reigns. Many of them also used the fort as their base for campaigns against other neighbouring states, most of which were in the hands of local Hindu warlords. Several passages in the historical sources indicate that control of Bayana was the key to control of Delhi and eastern Rajasthan, but one of the best descriptions of the continuous local struggles is given by Ibn Ba††Ë†a,9 who was entangled in one of these conflicts at the beginning of his journey towards China as the ambassador of the court of Delhi in 743/1342–3: ‫ و لما بلغنا إلی مدینة کول بَلَغَنا أن بعض ُکفّار الهُنود حاصروا بلدة‬... ‫ثم رحلنا من بیانة فوصلنا إلی مدینة کول‬ ‫الجاللي و أحاطوا بها و هي علی مسافة سبعة أمیال من کول فقصدنا (الجاللي) و ال ُکفّار یقاتلون أهلها و قد أشرفوا‬ ‫علی التلف و لم یعلم الکفّار بنا حتی صدقنا الحملة علیهُم و هم في نحو ألف فارس و ثالثة آالف راجل فَقتلناهم عن‬ ‫ فکتبنا إلی السلطان بخبره و أقمنا في انتظار الجواب و کان ال ُکفّار في أثناء‬... ‫آخرهم و احتوینا علی خیلهم و أسلحتهم‬ ‫ذلک ینزلون من جبل هنالک منیع فیُغیرون علی نواحي بلدة الجاللي و کان أصحابنا یرکبون کل یوم مع أمیر تلک‬ .‫الناحیة لیعینوه علی مدافعتهم‬

We left Bayana for the town of Kuwil10 … when we arrived at Kuwil we heard that a company of Hindu infidels had put the town of JalålÈ11 under siege. JalålÈ is only seven miles from Kuwil and we went towards it (JalålÈ). The infidels were killing the townspeople and the rest were near to death. The infidels, about one thousand cavalry and three thousand infantry in strength, were unaware of us advancing and we abruptly made a surprise attack and killed them to the last man, taking their horses and arms … We reported the events to the sultan and remained there for his reply. During this time the infidels regularly descended from a neighbouring high mountain and attacked the surroundings of the town of JalålÈ, and every day members of our company were on horseback helping the governor of the town in repelling them. Ibn Ba††Ë†a continues his tale at some length, narrating his eventual capture by The town has now expanded in all directions and to the east the built-up area is now close to the river.  8 Shams-i Siråj (Pers.), p. 185; (tr.), III, p. 317.  9 Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), pp. 547–51; (tr.), IV, p. 776. Our translation is given. 10 Kuwil or KËl, now Koel, Koelo or Koil near modern Aligarh, north-east of Bayana. Gibb notes Aligarh as originally the name of its fort, now applied to the whole town. 11 A small town about 17 km east of Aligarh.  7

ONE: introduction

the Hindus and his escape in an area populated by ‘infidels’. After many days of fear, hunger and thirst he eventually arrived at a Hindu village, which was obedient to the Muslim governor of the small town of TåjpËra, two leagues from Kuwil. His account illustrates vividly the social condition of the Bayana region, where the key towns were in Muslim hands but the rest of the area and in particular the villages were populated by Hindus, more inclined to support the local Hindu warlords, who were still in command of their own armies and c­ ontrolled many of the smaller towns and forts. Under such circumstances Bayana developed as a Muslim city and today a large number of Muslim monuments can be found there, but of Hindu remains there are only fragments, some re-used in later buildings. The earliest archaeological study of Bayana was in 1871 when Carlleyle12 visited the area and studied the history of Bayana, in particular the pre-Islamic era. Carlleyle had little interest in the Islamic period, so in spite of Bayana being essentially a Muslim city he aimed to discover its pre-Islamic roots. A large portion of his report concerns the hypothetical origin of the old name of the city through local Hindu legends. He identifies Bayana with the name of Båñåsur, the son of Raja Bal, a descendant of Krishna. He also mentions the two early mosques, now known as Ukhå MandÈr and Ukhå Masjid and relates their name to Usha, the daughter of Raja Bal and the sister of Båñåsur. How far ancient Hindu legends are useful for tracing the origin of mosques – which according to the Muslim historians were built in a town founded by Muslims – is doubtful, but at the time archaeological exploration in India was still in its infancy. Carlleyle also identifies these mosques –­ which are built out of temple spoil – as temples converted to mosques. Although he gives a sketch plan of one of the buildings, he does not point out that there are fundamental differences between the layout and planning organisation of a mosque and a temple. The rest of his report is concerned with the fort, which is indeed of pre-Islamic origin. Again, on the basis of local traditions, he gives its name as Vijayamandargarh (Fort of the Temple of Victory) or Vijayagarh (Fort of Victory) and identifies it with the ancient town of SantipËr. While the name Vijayamandargarh does appear in a fifteenth-century inscription, there is no evidence in historical and inscriptional records for the name SantipËr (Plate 1.4). In spite of his Hindu preferences, Carlleyle reported numerous Islamic monuments, both in the fort and in the town, as well as many more scattered in the plain. Ten years later Cunningham13 visited the site with a particular interest in the Islamic history of the town. He provided a map of the region (Figure 1.2), studied a number of the inscriptions and was the first to note the rise of A. C. L. Carlleyle, Report of a Tour in Eastern Rajputana in 1871–2 and 1872–3, ASIR, VI (Calcutta, 1878), pp. 40–77, pls 4–8. 13 A. Cunningham, Report of a Tour in Eastern Rajputana in 1882–83, ASIR, XX (Calcutta, 1885): 60–93, pls 13–19. 12

7

8 BAYANA

Plate 1.4  Minaret of DåwËd Khån in the Bayana Fort and its sketch by Carlleyle on the left. Although a pioneer in the field and the first to describe the site, a century and a half ago, this illustration is an example of the inaccuracies in his report.

the Au˙adÈ rulers. Cunningham also noted the two old mosques and identified them as such:14 One of the largest buildings in Bayana is an old masjid now called Nohara, or the ‘cattle yard’, because cattle are now tethered in it. It is also used for storing bhËsa, or straw. I have ventured to call it Ukha Masjid for the sake of distinction, as the adjoining building which touches it, and is about the same size is called Ukha MandÈr, or ‘Temple of Ukha’ although it also was originally a masjid. Both buildings are chiefly made of old Hindu materials and now that time has restored them to a Hindu government, one has been turned into a temple and the other into a cattle-pen. Cunningham studied the inscription of the Ukha Masjid and gave its plan  – which, incidentally, is incorrect – and also gave the plan of an early fourteenth-century reservoir known as the Jhålar BåolÈ. He mentioned many more buildings, describing briefly only a few that he considered to be more important, but leaving out Ibid., p. 71.

14

ONE: introduction

Figure 1.2  Map of the region of Bayana (after Cunningham). The fort of Garh is given as Tahangarh.

a large number of the monuments, including, for example, one of the earliest mosques of the Au˙adÈ family in the fort. Since then, there has been no serious archaeological study of the site,15 but many of the inscriptions of Bayana have been published. In addition there have been two historical papers on the Au˙adÈ The only other study concerned with Bayana is Rajeev Bargoti, Bayana; a Concept of Historical Archaeology: the Pre-modern Urban Centre (Jaipur: Publication Scheme, 2003), but its historical outline, descriptions and the sketch drawings of some monuments could at best be called inaccurate. Nevertheless, among his drawings he includes a sketch plan of a post-Mughal mansion (the study of which is outside the scope of the present work) and he also mentions a step-well which will be referred to in its appropriate place.

15

9

10 BAYANA family16 and occasionally a brief description of some buildings and their pictures have been included in general books.17 The entire work of Cunningham and his assistants was criticised and its scientific and archaeological value dismissed even during his own time. In 1887, F. S. Growes reported to the Public Service Commission that ‘the unrevised lucubrations of General Cunningham’s assistants are a tissue of trivial narrative and the crudest theories’,18 and the Quarterly Review, July 1889, noted that ‘we trust that all future Reports issued by the Archaeological Department of the Government of India will be free from the defects which mar the usefulness and impair the authority of Sir Alexander Cunningham’s Series’.19 James Burgess sums up the period of Cunningham’s leadership of the Archaeological Survey of India as: General Cunningham[’s] … appointment was only for five years, but he continued to hold it for fifteen, and retired in 1885 in his seventy-second year. He formed no central establishment to collect results, but toured much himself and sent his assistants out to survey different places – all over India North of the Narmadå and in the Central Provinces, without reference apparently to styles or age. In the twenty-two volumes of his reports, including re-prints of those prepared in 1862–65, there are no proper monographs upon individual groups of remains or styles of art. They are essentially the reports of unconnected tours – half of them were the work of his assistants, were printed without revision, and are not scientific or reliable.20 Nevertheless, and in spite of shortcomings, the Cunningham series of reports are pioneering work and, in most cases, the first representation of important A. Halim, ‘Some minor dynasties of Northern India during the 15th Century’, Journal of Indian History, XXVI, iii (1948) no. 78 (Trivandrum, 1949), pp. 223–48; Sh. D. P. Sharma, ‘The Auhadi and the Jalwani dynasties of Bayana’, Indian History Congress, 19th Session (Agra, 1956), pp. 434–44. 17 See M. Shokoohy’s contribution on Indian architecture, ‘Az iszlám müvészet Indiában a korai iszlámtól a Nagy-Mughalok bukásáig’, in Géza Fehérvári, Az iszlám müvészet története (Budapest, 1987), pp. 215–17, colour pl. 182 and monochrome pls 163, 183. Also see works by (or edited by) Flood detailed in Chapter 4, notes 5, 12 and 41. Photographs, some in colour, are provided in Bianca Maria Alfieri, photographs by Federico Borromeo, Islamic Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent (London, 2000), pp. 23–5, 33–4, 44, 58. These include images of the ChaurasÈ Khamba mosque in Kaman, the Ukhå Masjid, the minaret of DåwËd Khån, a general view of the fort and two Mughal tombs: the JhåjhrÈ and the Tomb of Gulåb Khån or KalÈ Khan, but the text – mainly relying on the report of Carlleyle – is confused, often inaccurate, and sometimes misleading. The Bayana Fort is referred to by the recently invented name ‘Banasur Kila’. 18 James Burgess, ‘Sketch of archaeological research’, Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Extra Number, The Centenary Memorial Volume (1905), p. 141, quoting Proceedings of the Sub-Committee, Public Service Commission, Scientific Departments, 1887, p. 52. 19 Ibid. 20 Ibid., pp. 140–1. 16

ONE: introduction

archaeological remains in India, and they are often the only available reports until our times. While we should be aware of the deficiencies of these earlier reports, by no means should we undermine this ground-breaking work as we stand on the shoulders of pioneers such as Cunningham, Burgess, Führer21 and Cousens. The present work investigates Bayana’s history, and explores the archaeological and architectural remains of Bayana and its environs from the time of the Muslim conquest of the region up to the early Mughal period. As far as the sources are concerned, most of the published translations omit details which are important for the understanding of the history of Bayana, and some works have only been translated by Elliot and Dowson, who selected the passages that they regarded as important for the history of India in general, but often omitted detailed accounts such as are given by BarnÈ22 and Shams-i Siråj, as well as passages about notable Alois Anton Führer’s contributions are mainly on the Buddhist and early Hindu period, but the authenticity of his work has been seriously questioned, some even alleging that many of his findings were forgeries. See Andrew Huxley, ‘Dr. Führer’s Wanderjahr: the Early Career of a Victorian Archaeologist’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 3rd Series XX, iv (2004): 489–502; Charles Allen, The Buddha and Dr. Führer: an Archaeological Scandal (London, 2008). Führer’s only work on the Islamic architecture of India is on Jaunpur, carried out jointly with Edmund W. Smith, which is not just thorough and accurate, but the only authoritative report on the archaeology of the town to this day. See A. A. Führer and E. W. Smith, The Sharqi Architecture of Jaunpur (Calcutta: ASI, New Imperial Series, XI, 1889). 22 Some scholars spell the name of Îiyå al-dÈn BarnÈ as BaranÈ, while others, including Saiyid Ahmad Khan, editor of the Persian text of the TårÈkh-i FÈrËz ShåhÈ, and Elliot, translator of part of this work, prefer the spelling BarnÈ. It is not certain that the historian was from the town now pronounced Baran, as Îiyå al-dÈn mentions that his father, Muayid al-Mulk, who was the agent of ArkalÈ Khån, a son of Sultan Jalål al-dÈn KhaljÈ ‘had a grand and lofty house at KÈlËgharÈ’ (Pers., p. 209) and our historian was apparently brought up there, as he mentions (Pers., p. 127) that at the time of Sultan Kaiqubåd (r. 686–9/1287–90) he was still a small child. His maternal grandfather, who apparently provided much information about the reign of Balban, was agent of the chamberlain of the sultan, residing in Delhi (Pers., p. 61). On the few occasions (Pers., pp. 170, 244, 480) that Îiyå al-dÈn mentions Barn or Baran, he makes no reference to it being the town of his family’s origin. However, late in the year 695/1296 when Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ sat on the throne of Delhi he made the historian’s father in charge of Barn or Baran, and his uncle Alå al-Mulk in charge of Kara and Auda (Awadh) (Pers., p. 248). Îiyå al-dÈn might have linked his name to that of the town to which they moved, although by this time he would have been an adolescent.   The name Barn or Baran seems to derive from Sanskrit Varu≥a, the deity of the sky or universe, king of gods (and also lord of the seas and rivers). Many towns in India are named after this deity, including Varanasi, called by the Muslims binaras or banaras. While we do not know how the name Baran was pronounced in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, a clue to the pronunciation of the historian’s name appears in his own rhyming prose when he often refers to himself as: ‫( من که ضیاء برنی مولف تاریخ فیروزشاهی ام‬man ki ∂iyå-i barnÈ mualif-i tårÈk-i firËz shåhÈ-am: I who am Îiyå BarnÈ, author of the TarÈkh-i FÈrËz ShahÈ) (Pers., pp. 20, 123, 168, 602), a phrase that scans better if we read the word as barnÈ (to scan with shåhÈ) rather than baranÈ. He always shortens his first name to Îiyå instead of Îiyå al-dÈn for the same reason. On one occasion he refers to himself as: ‫( داعی دولت سلطانی ضیاء برنی‬då È-yi daulat-i sul†ånÈ, ∂iya-i BarnÈ: ‘praying for the felicity of the King, Îiyå-i BarnÈ’) (Pers., p. 22), again rhyming the words sul†ånÈ and barnÈ; and on another: ‫( دعا گوی ضیای برنی‬duå gËy ∂iyå-yi BarnÈ: ‘praying (for all), Îiyå-i BarnÈ’). For these reasons we have opted for the spelling BarnÈ, the way that the historian seems to have preferred to be addressed. Much information about the historian’s life is scattered in his own history, but 21

11

12 BAYANA personages. In addition, the translators, in spite of their undoubted expertise, were sometimes unfamiliar with colloquial expressions or shades of meaning. For example, in a quotation of the TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ by Elliot and Dowson (IV, 485, note 2) regarding the treatment by Islåm Shåh of his father’s former ­commanders the expression kËknårÈ såkht is given as ‘squeezed them as poppy heads are squeezed’, while the word kËknårÈ is a common expression meaning addiction to opium, and the commanders’ influence was neutralised by them being forced into becoming addicts.23 For these reasons many of the original Persian and Arabic texts are given and the authors’ own fresh translations are provided. The work is part of a larger project to investigate the many little-known or unstudied sultanate sites and monuments of northern and western India, initiated in 1980 and still continuing.24 Scholars are familiar with many books and articles on sites other than Bayana resulting from this project.25 Several papers have also been published regarding the history and the architectural significance of Bayana.26 In spite of its historical past, Bayana’s Muslim population is small, as the Muslims left the area during Partition and it has taken over half a century for the community to revive. During the infamous riots of 1947 that followed Partition in many areas of northern India, Bayana received its share of violence, vandalism and destruction. Many of the buildings, particularly tombs and shrines (some noted earlier by Cunningham), were devastated, and later their ruins were cleared away. Monuments or stones bearing Muslim inscriptions seem to have been particularly targeted. Many of the tombstones were smashed or thrown aside, for more i­nformation on his intellectual life and his learned associates, see Shaikh Abd al-Óaqq b. Saif al-dÈn Mu˙addith DihlawÈ, Akhbår al-akhyår fÈ asrår al-abrår (Delhi: ah 1332/1914), pp. 103–5. 23 See Ali Akbar Dehkhoda, Loghat-náma (Encyclopedic Dictionary) (Tehran: Tehran University, 1993–4), under the word kËknårÈ. 24 The authors wish to express their gratitude for the support of many institutions that assisted the project in northern and western India with generous grants. These institutions include, but are not limited to, the British Academy, Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum, School of Oriental and African Studies University of London, Society for South Asian Studies (British Academy), Spalding Trusts, Stein Arnold Fund and the Twenty-Seven Foundation (Institute of Historical Research, University of London). 25 For the books concerning sites in northern and western India, see M. Shokoohy, Rajasthan I, Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum, Part IV, vol. XLIX (London, 1986); M. Shokoohy and N. H. Shokoohy, Óißår-i FÈrËza, Sultanate and Early Mughal Architecture in the District of Hisar, India (London, 1988); M. Shokoohy, Haryana I: the Column of FÈrËz Shåh and other Islamic Inscriptions from the District of Hisar, Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum, Part IV, vol. XLVIII, (London, 1988); M. Shokoohy, Bhadreªvar: the Oldest Islamic Monuments in India (Leiden, 1988); M. Shokoohy and N. H. Shokoohy, Nagaur, Sultanate and Early Mughal History and Architecture of the District of Nagaur, India (London, 1993); M. and N. H. Shokoohy, Tughluqabad: a Paradigm for Indo-Islamic Urban Planning and its Architectural Components (London, 2007). For the Shokoohys’ list of publications and abstracts of articles as well as books on other areas of South Asia, see at: www.Shokoohy.com. Offprints of most of the papers are also available as PDFs on request from this site. 26 See note 3, above.

ONE: introduction

but left lying around on the site or nearby, while a number of important inscriptions, some already reported, were defaced and some were taken away from their original places. In the town of Bayana a number of the mosques reported by Cunningham could no longer be identified and we were told that they had been replaced by houses. Two such mosques ­– one of considerable importance, but which had escaped Cunningham’s attention, could be found and surveyed. Since the beginning of our project many more historical edifices discussed in this work, particularly small funerary chatrÈs have been demolished, and historic tombstone and artefacts – many inscribed – have been removed. We have, however, included in this work all those monuments and features which were extant during our fieldwork. In spite of the significant losses to Bayana’s architectural and cultural heritage the area still preserves a large number of monuments, many having strong local characteristics peculiar to the region. But more significant is Bayana’s influence on early Mughal architecture. In the fifteenth and early sixteenth century a particular type of mosque plan developed which later influenced the layout of Mughal mosques, and it will be demonstrated how many other elements of Bayana architecture appear later in the buildings of Fathpur Sikri and other early Mughal works.

13

CHAPTER TWO

History

After [defeating] JamshÈd,1 Îa˙˙åk2 became the king of the Arabs and with sorcery and tyranny took over the entire world … When a thousand years passed the Lord Almighty released the people of the world from his oppression and cruelty and the sovereignty of the land was bestowed upon AfrÈdËn3 who captured Îa˙˙åk and confined him in a well at Damåwand of Iråq4 … One Bas†åm ruled over the land of India (hindËstån) by the decree of Îa˙˙åk and this Bas†åm was an offspring of Îa˙˙åk … AfrÈdËn sent an army to take India; Bas†åm could not withstand AfrÈdËn’s forces, moved to the mountains of Shaqnån5 and Båmiyån and resided there. AfrÈdËn designated another force to follow him … In fear of AfrÈdËn’s army Bas†åm moved to GhËr and settled at the foot of Mount Margh … AfrÈdËn decided to prepare a third campaign to defeat and eliminate Bas†åm and his troops and capture him, but AfrÈdËn’s sons, TËr and Salm, treacherously killed their brother Ïraj who was on the throne of Iran and caused sorrow to King AfrÈdËn, who, troubled about discord, ignored punishing Bas†åm. As Bas†åm felt secure he moved to the inhabited region of the Mountains (jibål) and the vicinity of GhËr, sending his confidantes to AfrÈdËn begging for peace and AfrÈdËn accepted. When Bas†åm was granted pardon, his people with their belongings as well as the Arab tribes who were associated with Îa˙˙åk moved to the mountains of GhËr, and their number increased. As the Lord Almighty The legendary first king of Persia. The mythical challenger to the throne of the legendary kings of ancient Persia immortalised in FirdausÈ’s Shåhnåma, and regarded as a historical character in early Muslim histories. Some modern scholars identify him as a fictional reflection of the historic Azidahak, king of Medea and father-in-law of Cyrus the Great. 3 Better known in the Shåhnåma as FiraidËn, who was enthroned with the help of Kåva, a blacksmith who began a successful popular revolt against Îa˙˙åk. 4 Damåwand, celebrated in the Shåhnåma as the prison of Îa˙˙åk, is a (now-dormant) conical volcano in northern Iran, north-east of Tehran. Here the term Iråq refers to a historic region that included the west of present-day Iran and extended as far west as Mesopotamia. 5 Shaftån is given in the text, but A. Habibi, the editor of the Persian text, suggests that the term should read as Shaqnån, or Shaghnån, a mountain range in Afghanistan. The mountain is recorded in the tenth-century ÓudËd al ålam as Shaknån. See ÓudËd al ålam min al-mashriq il’almaghrib, Manoochehr Sotoodeh (ed.) (Tehran, 1962), pp. 27–8. 1 2

TWO: history

desired that pious kings and successful princes should spring from their roots He blessed those tribes and at the time of Islam they converted and from the mines of their origins the jewels of kingship were established in the land and over one thousand minbars and mi˙råbs were erected in place of the old idol temples and the message of Islam was proclaimed up to the furthermost lands of India which reach the sea of China. May the Lord’s mercy be upon them all. Thus, Minhåj-i Siråj6 – the principal historian of the Muslim conquest of India – using a deliberately modified version of the legends of the Shåhnåma – implies that the lands of India were from ancient times in the hands of the rulers of GhËr, legitimising the Muslim conquest of the subcontinent. The sultans of GhËr, their commanders and their armies are generally regarded to have been Turkic, but the historian’s reference to the settlement of Arab tribes, reflecting the historical fact that at the time of the Arab conquest of Sasanian Iran many Arab tribes settled in the Persian lands, seems to indicate that the population of GhËr – now in Afghanistan, but originally part of Greater Khuråsån7 – was not heterogeneous but was a fusion of Arabs, Persians and Turks, as remains the case in Afghanistan to this day. He is probably also alluding to his own KhuråsånÈ, rather than Turkic, origin. This mix of people from Greater Khuråsån who made up the Ghurid army and its camp followers – civilians, members of Sufi sects, religious personages, traders and artisans – had a significant impact on the population of Muslim India in general and on Bayana in particular. After the capture of Delhi in 588/1192–3, for the Ghurid army to retain its dominance in northern India it had also to secure the areas neighbouring Delhi before advancing to further kingdoms of the subcontinent. Before the fall of Delhi the armies of the Ghurid Sultan Mu˙ammad b. Såm had already taken over the region of Siwålik (present-day Haryana and eastern Rajasthan) and were in control Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), pp. 321–3; (tr.), I, pp. 305–10 (our translation is given):

6

‫ چون یکهزار سال از ملک او‬...‫ضحاک پادشاه عرب شد و همۀ دنیا بعد از جمشید بگرفت و به سحر و ظلم همۀ جهان در ضبط آورد‬ ‫بگذشت حق تعالی خلق دنیا را از [دست] تعدی و ظلم او خالص بخشید و ملک به افریدون رسید و ضحاک را بگرفت و در چاه دماوند‬ ‫ افریدون بجهت ضبط‬... ]‫ این بسطام از دست ضحاک مملکت هندوستان داشت و او یکی از فرزندان ضحاک [بود‬... ‫عراق حبس کرد‬ ‫ شفتان) و بامیان رفت و آنجا‬،‫ شکنان‬،‫هندوستان لشکر فرستاد بسطام را طاقت مقاومت لشکر افریدون نبود بجانب جبال شقنان (شغنان‬ ‫ بسطام درینوقت بسبب لشکر افریدون بغور آمد و در پای کوه زار مرغ سکونت‬... ‫ساکن شد دیگر بار لشکر افریدون در عقب او نامزد شد‬ ‫ خواست تا سیوم کرت لشکر نامزد قمع و قلع بسطام و اتباع او کند و او را بدست آرد پسران افریدون تور و سلم‬... ‫ افریدون‬... ‫ساخت‬ ‫برادر خود ایرج را که بر تخت ایران بود بغدر کشتند و شاه افریدون را بدان سبب دل نگرانی و تفرقه ظاهر شد بانتقام بسطام نرسید چون‬ ‫بسطام فرصت یافت روی بعمارت جبال و اطراف غور آورد معتمدان بخدمت شاه افریدون فرستاد و صلح طلبید و افریدون اجابت کرد‬ ‫بسطام چون امان یافت اتباع و اشیاع و قبایل عرب که متصالن ضحاک بودند از اطراف روی بجبال غور نهادند و در آن مملکت سکونت‬ ‫ساختند و عدد آن قبایل بسیار شد چون حق تعالی خواسته بود که از آن اصل پادشاهان دیندار و ملوک کامکار در رسند بران قبایل برکت‬ ‫کرد تا عهد اسالم دریافتند و از معدن صلب ایشان جواهر سلطنت در سلک جهانداری انتظام یافت و هزار و اند منبر و محراب بعوض‬ .‫بتکدهاء قدیم وضع شد و شعار اسالم تا نهایت بالد هندوستان که بدریای چین متصل است ظاهر گشت رحمهم هللا علیهم اجمعین‬ The author, Minhåj-i Siråj, came to India from Khuråsån at the time of Ïltutmish in 624/1226–7. His history was written under the patronage of Nåßir al-dÈn Ma˙mËd son of Ïltutmish, and records events up to 658/1260. 7 Comprising originally most parts of north-east Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and other areas of Central Asia.

15

16 BAYANA of the key fortresses of Ajmer, Hansi, Nagaur and SirsatÈ (Sirsa).8 In the political arena of twelfth-century Khuråsån the Ghurids were a relatively small and insignificant dynasty overshadowed by the mighty Seljuqs of Iran and Anatolia to their west and the Khwårazmshåhs of Transoxiana to their north. To advance their conquests the Ghurid sultans had little choice other than the Indian subcontinent for new territories. The sack of many Indian cities, including QanËj,9 Somnath10 and even probably Bayana, by Ma˙mËd of Ghazna over one and a half centuries earlier had already proved that, in spite of their mighty fortifications, Indian cities could not withstand prolonged siege and would eventually fall to well-equipped and determined armies without much struggle. This was perhaps an inspiration for Mu˙ammad b. Såm, who in his campaigns in India first took over Multan.11 This was already a Muslim city and for some time had been a stronghold of the later Ghaznavids, but control of Multan would open up his access to India. Over a decade later in 582/1186–7 the sultan took over Lahore and terminated the Ghaznavid dynasty, paving the way to vanquishing Delhi.12 After the fall of Delhi, Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak, a slave of the sultan and his most formidable army commander was made the governor of the town. Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak first took his army to the fort of KËl, in the region neighbouring Bayana, and later accompanied the sultan on the campaign to QanËj and Benares.13 The next stage in the conquest would inevitably be towards the south – the regions of Bayana and Gwalior.14 This was in the year 591/1194–5. The Conquest of Bayana The Muslim historians do not record either of the names Vijayamandargarh or Vijayagarh, but give both the name of the region and its mighty fort as Tahangar.15 Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 400–1; (tr.), I, pp. 468–71. Mu˙ammad b. Abd al-Jabbår al-UtbÈ, Al-tårÈkh al-yamÈnÈ (Arab.) (Cairo: ah 1286/1869–70), II, pp. 275–6; AbË Sharaf Nåßi˙ b. Ûafar JurfådiqånÈ, Tarjuma-yi tårÈkh-i yamÈnÈ (Pers.), Jafar Chear (ed.) (Tehran, 1966), pp. 382–6; for a translation of the Arabic text, see Elliot, II, chapter 2, ‘TårÈkh YamÈnÈ Kitåbu-l YamÈnÈ, of al-UtbÈ’, pp. 45–6; for a translation of the Persian text, see al-UtbÈ, The kitab-i yamini, Historical Memoirs of the AmÈr SabuktagÈn and the Sultån Ma˙mËd of Ghazna, James Reynolds (tr.) (London, 1858), pp. 450–62, in particular pp. 456–7. Al-UtbÈ was the secretary of Ma˙mËd of Ghazna. 10 The TårÈkh-i Ma˙mËdÈ, a detailed account of the court of Ma˙mËd written by his court historian Abu’l-Fa∂l Mu˙ammad b. Óusain Kåtib BaihaqÈ has been lost, but has been the basis of the accounts by later historians such as Khwand MÈr. For his account of the conquest of QanËj and Somnath, see Ghiyåth al-dÈn b. Humåm al-dÈn al-ÓusainÈ, known as Khwand MÈr, TårÈkh-i ˙abÈb al-siyar, Muhammad Dabir Siyaqi (ed.), 4 vols (Tehran: [hs 1333/1954] repr. hs 1353/1975), II, pp. 352–5; (tr.), Elliot, IV, 1872, pp. 180–3. The probable attack on Bayana will be discussed below. 11 Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, p. 396; (tr.), I, p. 449, giving the date as 571/1175–6. 12 Ibid. (Pers.), I, p. 398; (tr.), I, pp. 455–6. 13 Ibid. (Pers.), I, pp. 401, 417; (tr.), I, pp. 470, 516. 14 Ibid. 15 Raverty gives the name as Tahankir or Tahangir (also spelled ThankÈr or ThangÈr), but considered that it was the same as the fort of Bayana. See ibid. (tr.), I, pp. 470–1, n. 3; p. 520, n. 2. Elliot,  8  9

TWO: history

The present town of Bayana, as we shall see, was not yet founded. Cunningham, perhaps on the basis of a passage in the Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh,16 and the Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ17 considered Tahangar to be a different fort from Vijayamandargarh and suggested it to be a site near the present village of Garh, 25 km (14 miles) south of Bayana and the same distance east of Hindaun.18 However, there is little evidence to support this suggestion as Firishta clearly states that Tahangar is the same as the fort of Bayana:19 .‫ از غزنین روانه گردید و قلعۀ تهنگر که درینوقت به بیانه شهرت دارد فتح کرد‬... )‫سلطان شهاب الدین (محمد بن سام‬ Sultan Shihåb al-dÈn (Mu˙ammad b. Såm) left GhaznÈn and conquered the fort of Tahangar, which in our time is known as Bayana. Furthermore, an inscription20 dated 803/1400–1 and originally set over one of the gates of the fort records the name of the fort as Tahångarh, indicating that the original name was still in use at least until the beginning of the fifteenth century.21 The names Vijayamandar or Vijayamandargarh both seem to have been resurrected in the nineteenth century – by Carlleyle and others –­ on the basis of earlier Sanskrit inscriptions.22 however, gives Thankar in his translation of the Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (II, pp. 200, 304), and in his translation of Tåj al-maåthir (II, ‘Tåju-l Ma-åsir of Óasan NiΩåmÈ’, pp. 226–7) gives Thangar, with a note to Firishta: ‘Thangar, which is now called Biåna’. 16 Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 322; (tr.), I, p. 425. 17 Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 334. Cunningham may have misinterpreted the passage, as it does not clearly indicate that Tahangar is a fort other than that of Bayana: ‫چون سلطان از والیت بیانه و آنحدود نیز جمعیت خاطر بهم رسانیده بجانب تهنکر نهضت فرموده و از آنجا بقصبۀ باري رسیده آن پرگنه را‬ .‫از پسران مبارک خان تغیر داده بشیخ زاده مکن سپرده بدهلپور رفت‬ When Sultan (Sikandar LodÈ) felt secure about the territory of Bayana and its neighbourhood he went towards Tahankar and from there to the village of BårÈ, took that district from the sons of Mubårak Khån and bestowed it on Shaikh-zåda Makan and left for Dholpur. The passage could be read simply as the sultan went to Bari via the fort of Bayana. Bari and Dholpur are both south of Bayana. 18 ASIR, XX, pp. 88–92. 19 Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 59. (tr.), I, p. 179. Briggs omits Tahangar and translates this passage as: ‘in the following year, Mahomed Ghoory returned to Hindustan, and proceeding to Byana took it’. 20 Appendix I, inscription No. 15. 21 The TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ, written in c. 1434, however, mentions a ‘fort of TahankÈr’ in the control of a local raja, apparently in the vicinity of Gwalior, see TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 206; (tr.), IV, p. 62, Elliot translates the name as Bhangar, apparently a scribal error in his manuscript of the Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ, which he uses at this point as a substitute for his d ­ efective manuscript of the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ. The Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 322; (tr.), I, p. 425 n. 3, used by Cunningham as noted above, also mentions this fort. The Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh is later than the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ and seems to have used this source extensively. It is possible that at this time there was more than one fort with the same name, or perhaps by this time Garh was reinterpreted to be the same as the Tahangar of earlier histories. 22 The latest record of the term Vijayamandargarh appears in the Sanskrit inscription of the BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån built in the fort in 1496 (Appendix I, inscription No. 29). The name may have

17

18 BAYANA In Garh there are dilapidated ruins of a fort in the area that seem to be of preIslamic origin, as indicated by a Sanskrit inscription dated vs 1244/ad 1187 on a column of the gate. But the fort is much smaller than that of Bayana and unlike Vijayamandargarh there are no grand edifices of pre- or early Islamic origin there. The fort at Garh must have been one of the many strongholds in the region, apparently abandoned during the Islamic period, until it was reinstated at the time of IbråhÈm Shåh LodÈ on 1 Rajab 925/29 June 1519, by one Ålam (or Ålim) Khån b. Mujåhid Khån, the fief-holder of the district whose name appears in the inscription of the gate fixed on its northern tower.23 In this inscription the name of the fort is recorded as Islåmåbåd. There is also a mosque inside the fort with an inscription24 of Islåm Shåh SËrÈ dated 953/1546–7, indicating that the fort remained in use for a few decades, but it seems that it was abandoned early in the Mughal period. Considering the diminutive size of the fort at Garh and its distance from Bayana it is difficult to propose the Muslim historians’ Tahangar – frequently quoted to be near Bayana ­– as any other than the fort of Vijayamandargarh. Regarding the original names of the fort of Vijayamandargarh and the town of Bayana, three Sanskrit inscriptions have been found in the area all giving the preIslamic name of the fort as √rÈpathå.25 If this name is to be accepted – and there is little evidence to the contrary – it might be possible to suggest that the Muslim’s Tahangar derives from the name √rÈpathågarh (√rÈpathå fort). The later town on the plain as well as the region are, however, always referred to by Minhåj-i Siråj26 as Bhayåna, which appears clearly to be an Indian name, Persianised to Bayåna at some time in the fourteenth century and referred to by Ibn Ba††Ë†a27 and BarnÈ.28 been current among the nineteenth-century Hindu population of Bayana, and was picked up by Carlleyle and others. 23 Appendix I, inscription No. 31. 24 Appendix I, inscription No. 40. 25 J. F. Fleet, ‘Sanskṛit and Old-Kanarese Inscriptions’, Indian Antiquary XIV (1885), inscription No. CLI: ‘Byånå stone-inscription of the Adhiråja Vijaya. Samvat 1100’, pp. 8–12; J. F. Fleet, ‘Sripatha, the Ancient Sanskrit Name of Byana’, Indian Antiquary XV (1886), p. 239. Fleet dismisses Carlleyle’s speculation that the ancient name of the fort was √åntipur noting: ‘The name of √åntipura may be connected with the locality; I can only say that, on the occasion of my visit, I could not obtain any information in support of it. But this much is certain – that the name √åntipura does not occur in the other inscription at Byånå, at the foot of a pillar in the ‘UkhaMandar’’ (Indian Antiquary XIV, p. 9). Fleet also dismisses Cunningham’s suggestion that the ancient name was Pathayåmpuri noting: ‘General Cunningham gives the ancient name of the town as Pathayåmpuri, and adds – “This I believe to have been the original name of the place, and also of the present name of Bayåna. For, by the simple elision of the th, Payåmpuri, or Bayånpur, might easily be shortened to Bayåna.” It seems sufficient to add here that no such name as Pathayåmpuri ever existed; it is simply a mistake originating in a total misunderstanding of the locative case ªrÈ-√rÈpathåyåmpuri, “at the glorious city of √rÈpathå” in line 6 of the Byånå inscription’ (Indian Antiquary XV, p. 239). Also see Appendix I, inscription No. 1. 26 Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 421, 295; II, pp. 20, 34, 42, 44, 62, 78, 79; (tr.), I, pp. 520, 545; II, pp. 747, 767, 787. 27 Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), pp. 545, 557; (tr.), IV, p. 775. 28 See, for example, BarnÈ (Pers.), pp. 111, 240, 288; (tr.), III, p. 317, follows the spelling of the earlier sources and continues to record the name as Bhayåna.

TWO: history

The old pronunciation, however, seems to have also remained and in the second half of the fourteenth century Shams-i Siråj still refers to the town as Bhayåna.29 Later historians usually use the present form of the name unless taking their information directly from earlier sources. The Muslims’ attack on the fort must have had a great impact on the local population as it has entered vernacular traditions and its memory is preserved in the local saying:30 Igåreh so tihatr, Phåg tÈj, Rabiwår, Bijayamandargarh torhiya Abu Bakr Kandhår. In 1173 on the third of Phålgun, Sunday, Vijayamandargarh was taken by AbË Bakr Qandhår. Cunningham notes that if the Vikrama era is considered, the year 1173 corresponds with ad 1116, too early for the Ghurid conquest, and if the date is to be taken to refer to the Saka era it would correspond with ad 1251, which would be too late. Cunningham goes to some lengths to square up the date with Muslim events, but his arguments are not entirely convincing. It seems, perhaps, unnecessary to attempt to make a local saying represent an exact historical record. Its significance is more that the repercussions of the event were so great that they entered collective memory. It is interesting that both Carlleyle and Cunningham record that in Bayana some people did not relate this event to the Ghurid conquest but to a campaign by Ma˙mËd of Ghazna. This claim cannot be dismissed entirely as in his campaign to QanËj in ad 1018, Ma˙mËd did indeed pass through the vicinity of Bayana and attacked and destroyed the temple-city of Mathura to such an extent that the city never again recovered its ancient glory.31 Although al-UtbÈ does not name √rÈpathå or Tahangar he mentions that during the campaign many towns and forts were attacked including the fort of Barana.32 The rhyme about Bayana may indeed be a distorted reflection of a faded memory. Shams-i Siråj (Pers.), p. 185. (tr.), III, p. 317. ASIR, XX, p. 60. The saying is narrated with some variations and Carlleyle (ASIR, VI, p. 55) records another version: ‘Gyåreh so tihatr, Subh Somindwår – Bijehmandargarh toryon Abubakr Kandhår’ (‘In the year 1173, early on a Monday morning, Vijayamandargarh was crushed by AbË Bakr Qandhår’). 31 Mu˙ammad b. Abd al-Jabbår al-UtbÈ, Al-tårÈkh al-yamÈnÈ, II, pp. 272–5; and the 603/1206–7 Persian translation with additional information by AbË Sharaf Nåßi˙ b. Ûafar JurfådiqånÈ, Tarjuma-yi tårÈkh-i yamÈnÈ (Tehran, 1978, p. 381). For a translation of the Persian text, see al-UtbÈ, The kitab-i yamini, Historical Memoirs of the AmÈr SabuktagÈn and the Sul†ån Ma˙mËd of Ghazna, pp. 454–5; for a translation of the Arabic text, see Elliot, II (1869), pp. 44–5. 32 Al-UtbÈ, Al-tårÈkh al-yamÈnÈ, II, pp. 272–5; JurfådiqånÈ, Tarjuma-yi tårÈkh-i yamÈnÈ, p. 379. The date is shortly after 20 Rajab 409/2 December 1018, when Ma˙mËd crossed the River Jumna. Elliot (II, pp. 42–3, 52 and 458) interprets the place as Barba or Baran and suggests it may be the old name of Bulandshahr, south-east of Delhi. Barana is likely to be an Arabised spelling of the Sanskrit word varun∙a often used as a place name in India. However, in the Arabic script the words Barana and Bayana are also closely similar, and scribal errors with unfamiliar names are common in the histories. 29 30

19

20 BAYANA The personage AbË Bakr Qandhår is more problematic. His name suggests that he was from the town of Qandahår in Khuråsån, but no AbË Bakr is known amongst the army commanders of Ma˙mËd of Ghazna or Mu˙ammad b. Såm. The only exception is one AbË Bakr b. A˙mad of Herat, who was responsible for the construction of a mosque in Ajmer in 596/1198–9, five years after the conquest of Bayana, but he is known only through one inscription33 and his name does not appear in the Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ. The personage in Bayana may not be the same as this AbË Bakr, but he does not seem to be entirely legendary, as there is a tomb attributed to him in the town of Bayana. The population of Bayana apparently regarded the tomb as a shrine, and it is still revered and was spared from the post-Partition vandalism. The tomb (B.24,) has recently been modernised,34 but it used to have a canopy (Plate 2.1) above and an undated tombstone more in the style of the fifteenth and sixteenth century – perhaps replacing an earlier one. The location of the tomb, 6 km away from the fort, is somewhat surprising, as – if we accept the record of Minhåj-i Siråj discussed below that the town of Bayana was founded after the Ghurid conquest of Tahangar – it would be unusual, but not entirely unfeasible, to find AbË Bakr’s tomb so far away. It should also be noted that in many places in India Ma˙mËd’s adventures have left their mark. For example, in Somanth35 and other sites in Saurashtra there are tombs attributed to the martyred soldiers of Ma˙mËd, still revered by the local Muslims. In the absence of more historical records any further suggestions would be speculative. The Ghurid conquest, however, is fairly well documented, although at first glance it is not always clear whether the sultan himself took part in the campaign or if it was left to the army of Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak. Minhåj-i Siråj records in one place the conquest of Tahangar under the achievements of Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak,36 but in another passages he implies that the sultan himself was present:37 ‫در ظل حمایت آن سلطان غازی و عادل طاب ثراه بندۀ او ملک قطب الدین را نصرت بخشید و تا والیت اطراف‬ .‫ممالک هند را فتح میکرد چنانچه بالد نهرواله و تهنکر و قلعۀ کالیور و بداون جمله فتح کرد‬ Under the shadow of the protection of the just and victorious sultan, may his dust be fragrant, his slave Malik Qu†b al-dÈn was given the victory in his ‘Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for June 1848’, Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, XVII, i (1848), p. 553 (facsimile sent to the Society by E. S. Brandreth); ASIR, II, p. 261; HL, ­inscription No. 113. 34 Appendix III, no. 55. 35 M. Shokoohy, ‘The legacy of Islam in Somnath’, BSOAS, LXXV, ii (2012), p. 304. 36 Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, p. 417 (Minhåj-i Siråj is ambiguous at this point and simply notes ‘in the year 591 (1194–5) the fort of Tahangar was taken’ without emphasising that it was taken by Qu†b al-dÈn); also see (tr.), I, p. 516. 37 Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, p. 401. Our translation is given here; for Raverty’s translation of this passage, see (tr.), I, pp. 470–1, also see p. 470 n. 3, where Raverty points out that the campaign on Tahangar was led by the sultan himself. 33

‫‪21‬‬

‫ ‪TWO: history‬‬

‫‪Plate 2.1  Bayana town, the Au˙adÈ Graveyard, the structure over the tomb of AbË Bakr‬‬ ‫‪QandahårÈ or BË-Qandhår as it stood in 1980. The building seems to have been constructed at‬‬ ‫‪some time after 1882 and perhaps early in the twentieth century. The three arched openings of the‬‬ ‫‪portico stand on old columns and pilasters, but have European style semicircular arches. The‬‬ ‫‪building has now been removed leaving the tomb in the open.‬‬

‫‪conquest of the territories of India so that the regions of Naharwåla, Tahangar,‬‬ ‫‪Gwalior Fort and Badaon were all taken.‬‬ ‫‪Elsewhere, however, Minhåj-i Siråj states clearly that not only was the sultan‬‬ ‫‪himself responsible for the conquest of Bayana, but also that a main personage‬‬ ‫‪accompanying the sultan was Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul, another of his slaves and army‬‬ ‫‪commanders, and not Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak:38‬‬ ‫ملک بهاء الدین طغرل نیکو سیرت (بود) بغایت منصف و غریب نواز و بتواضع آراسته و او از بندگان قدیم عهد‬ ‫سلطان غازی معز الدین (و الدنیا) بود و او را به تربیت بزرگ گردانیده بود و حصار تهنکر (تهنگر) که والیت‬ ‫بهیانه بود بدان رای مضاف بوده است چون فتح کرد بدو تفویض فرمود او آن بالد را معمور گردانید و از اطراف‬ ‫هندوستان و خراسان تجار و معارف روی بدو نهادند جمله را خانه و اسباب (می) بخشید و ملک ایشان میگردانید تا‬ ‫بدین سبب نزدیک او ساکن میشدند چون سکونت قلعۀ تهنکر او را و حشم او را موافق نیامد در والیت بهیانه شهر‬ ‫سلطان کوت بنا کرد و اندران جا سکونت ساخت و بطرف کالیور مدام سوار میفرستاد و بعد از آنچه سلطان غازی‬ ‫از باالی حصار کالیور باز گشت او را فرمود که این قلعه ترا مسلم می باید کرد بدین اشارت بهاء الدین طغرل‬ ‫فوجی از حشم خود بپای قلعۀ کالیور ساکن کرد و بنزدیک قلعه بر دو فرسنگی حصار بنا کرد تا سوار مسلمانان‬ ‫شب آنجا باشند و هر روز بپای قلعه بتازند مدت یکسال برین قرار بودند چون کار بر اهل (قلعۀ) کالیور تنگ شد به‬ ‫نزدیک سلطان قطب الدین رسل فرستادند و قلعه بسلطان قطب الدین دادند و میان ملک بهاء الدین طغرل و سلطان‬ ‫اندک (مایه) غباری بود و ملک بهاء الدین طغرل بس نیکو اعتقاد بود و از وی در دیار بهیانه آثار خیر بسیار ماند و‬ ‫درگذشت و برحمت حق پیوست رحمة هللا علیهم‪.‬‬ ‫‪Malik Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul was of handsome disposition, very just and kind to‬‬ ‫‪the needy or strangers (gharÈb nawåz). He was a slave of long-standing of the‬‬ ‫‪ Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, p. 421; (tr.), I, pp. 544–7. Our translation is given here.‬‬

‫‪38‬‬

22 BAYANA victorious sultan (sul†ån-i ghåzÈ) Muizz al-dÈn [Mu˙ammad b. Såm] who had brought him up and given him a good education. The fortress of Tahangar was in the territory of Bhayåna and was part of the realm of the råi.39 When the sultan conquered it, he gave it to Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul who made that territory prosperous. Merchants and men of distinction from different parts of HindËstån and Khuråsån joined him and he gave all of them houses and resources which were to be their own property, and for this reason they settled near him. As he and his army found the fort of Tahangar unsuitable he built the town of Sul†ånkËt in the territory of Bhayåna, and here he made his abode. From there he sent troops of cavalry towards GålÈwar (Gwalior) constantly, because when the victorious sultan [Mu˙ammad b. Såm] had returned from the foot of the fort of GålÈwar he had commanded Bahå al-dÈn to take over that fortress. On this order Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul stationed a troop of his army at the foot of the fort of GålÈwar, then at a distance of two leagues he built another fort to house the Muslim cavalry at night, and they attacked the fort every day.40 They continued in this manner for one year and when the people of GålÈwar were reduced to dire straits they sent emissaries to Sultan Qu†b al-dÈn [Aibak] and surrendered the fort to him. There was a speck of the dust of vexation between Malik Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul and Sultan Qu†b al-dÈn. Malik Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul was extremely benevolent and in the region of Bhayåna numerous beneficial monuments of his have remained. He died and was received into the mercy of the Lord. The passage makes some significant points: it is clear that Tahangar was the name of the fort and Bhayåna of the region; Sul†ånkËt, built by Bahå al-dÈn, is the first Muslim city recorded by historians to have been built in India; the town had strong ties with KhuråsånÈs, whose names, as we shall see, appear again and again in the later records; and above all it conveys a sense of the character of Bahå al-dÈn himself, his ‘beneficial monuments’ and the dates of the major events of his life. What is manifested by this passage is that Bahå al-dÈn was operating in the region under the direct orders of Mu˙ammad b. Såm and that he was not only independent from Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak, but was his rival. This means that the surrender of the fort of Gwalior to Qu†b al-dÈn must have taken place after the death of Mu˙ammad b. Såm, when Qu†b al-dÈn was already the sultan of Delhi, as there is no indication of Mu˙ammad b. Såm having interfered in the matter. That Persian spelling of the Sanskrit rao and later word råja. Minhåj-i Siråj does not mention which raja was in charge of Tahangar – the ill-fated Råi PithËrå, or Gauband, the raja of Delhi who was killed near SirsatÈ together with PithËrå, or another regional raja such as that of Gwalior. Óasan NiΩåmÈ gives the name of the råÈ as Kuwar Pål or KË Pål, see Elliot, II, pp. 226–7. 40 The siege of Gwalior was typical of Muslim tactics for taking Hindu cities, first adopted by Ma˙mËd of Ghazna. Instead of engaging with the Indian forces, Bahå al-dÈn put the town under siege until the inhabitants ran out of resources and provisions. Surrendering the fort to Qu†b al-dÈn rather than to Bahå al-dÈn was a cunning move by the Raja of Gwalior, fanning the rivalry between the two warlords. 39

TWO: history

Plate 2.2  Kaman, the ChaurasÈ Khamba mosque, general view from the south-east.

Minhåj-i Siråj twice mentions the title of sultan for Qu†b al-dÈn also helps to assign a date to the event, as Qu†b al-dÈn bore the royal title for only a little more than four years before he died in 1210–11. The date of Bahå al-dÈn’s death is not given, but from the Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ it appears that he predeceased Qu†b al-dÈn. Bahå al-dÈn’s governorship of Bayana therefore spanned the period 1195–1210, less than fifteen years. Bahå al-dÈn’s ‘abode’ in Bayana has long disappeared, but a few of his ‘beneficial monuments’ – public and religious buildings – have survived and are amongst the very few early conquest buildings, and their continued existence adds significantly to our knowledge of early sultanate architecture. Among these buildings are the Ukhå MandÈr mosque and a prayer wall (Èdgåh or namåzgåh) in Bayana and a mosque known as ChaurasÈ Khamba (Plate 2.2) in the village of Kaman.41 The borders around the entrance of the mosque bear an inscription42 that has been damaged and perhaps partially defaced, but what remains from its content provides interesting information about Bahå al-dÈn (Plate 2.3): ]‫ [بهاء الدولة و الـ‬... )‫ در السلطان [الـ] ـعالم العادل االعظم الملک الملوک الـ [تر] ک [و العرب و العجم] (؟‬... )‫ پادشاه و السلطان جهان پهلوان طغرل السلطانی و امر ببناء هذا البقعة لطیف ایاز بن االمیر اسفندیار (؟‬... )‫دین (؟‬ ... ‫السلطانی‬ [During the reign of] … the wise, just and great sultan, the noble of the nobles among the Turks, Arabs and Persians … Bahå al-daula wa al-dÈn43 … the Kaman is a village in the district of Bharatpur, about 54 km (34 miles) north-west of Bharatpur and 98 km (61 miles) north of Bayana. For earlier publications on Kaman, see Bhagwanlal Indraji Pandit, ‘Inscription from Kama or Kamavana’, Indian Antiquary X (1880) pp. 34–6; ASIR, XX, pp. 54–60; R. D. Banerji, Progress Report of the Archaeological Survey of India, Western Circle (1919), pp. 64–5, pls 22, 27. Cunningham and Banerji call the mosque Chausath Khambå (the Sixty-four Columns), but other sources give ChaurasÈ Khambå (the Eighty-four Columns), the name still current locally. The mosque together with other early monuments is described in Chapter 3. 42 Appendix I, inscription No. 2. 43 Full title of Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul meaning literally ‘The Light of the State and the Faith’. 41

23

24 BAYANA

Plate 2.3  ChaurasÈ Khamba, inscription around the east entrance, top image: text on the right jamb, second: remaining fragments on the lintel; third and fourth: text on the left jamb.

TWO: history

s­ overeign and sultan, the world hero (jahån pahlawån), Êughrul, the royal slave, the construction of this pleasant edifice was ordered by Ayåz b. AmÈr Isfandiyår, the royal slave. At first glance it seems odd to find Bahå al-dÈn referring to himself as sultan, but regarding the ‘speck of the dust of vexation between Malik Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul and Sultan Qu†b al-dÈn’ it appears that after the death of Mu˙ammad b. Såm, Bahå al-dÈn did not accept Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak as his sovereign and declared himself sultan. Minhåj-i Siråj confirms this matter:44 ‫اما بعد … بذکر سالطین که بندگان حضرت و چاکران سلطان غازی معزالدین محمد سام طاب ثراه بودند و در‬ … ‫ممالک هندوستان بتخت سلطنت نشستند و سریر آن پادشاه بدیشان رسید همچنانکه بر لفظ مبارک او رفته بود‬ ‫میراث دار پادشاهی گشتند تارک مبارک ایشان بتاج ملک ارثی آن پادشاه متوج گشت … االول منهم السلطان قطب‬ ‫الدین المعزی … الثانی منهم آرامشاه بن سلطان قطب الدین علیه رحمه … الثالث منهم الملک ناصرالدین قباچه‬ ‫المعزی … الرابع بهاء الدین طغرل (السلطانی) المعزی … الخامس الملک الغازی (اختیارالدین) محمد بختیار‬ .‫الخلجی بدیار لکهنوتی‬ I now speak of those slaves of his majesty and those servants of the holy warrior Sultan Muizz al-dÈn Mu˙ammad b. Såm, may his grave be fragrant, who in the countries of India sat on the royal seat, and inherited the throne of that king as had been revealed by his blessed words … They inherited sovereignty and their glorious heads were decorated with the royal crown of that monarch in his lands they inherited … The first of them was Sultan Qu†b al-dÈn al-MuizzÈ … the second, Åråmshåh b. Sultan Qu†b al-dÈn45 … the third Malik Nåßir al-dÈn Qabåcha al-MuizzÈ,46 the fourth Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul al-Sul†ånÈ al-MuizzÈ, the fifth the holy warrior Malik Ikhtiyår al-dÈn Mu˙ammad Bakhtiyår al-KhaljÈ in the region of LakhnautÈ (Bengal). The word al-MuizzÈ signifies that the personage was a slave of Muizz al-dÈn Mu˙ammad b. Såm. Bearing the title of royal slave was an honour and the early sultans of India, including Ïltutmish, declared it in their inscriptions.47 Mu˙ammad Bakhtiyår, a nobleman of the KhaljÈ clan, was not a slave, nor was Åråmshåh, even though his father, Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak, was. What is less clear in the inscription at Kaman is its date. Cunningham, who could not decipher the Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 415–22; (tr.), I, pp. 508–10 and 544. Our translation is given here. The later Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 46; (tr.), I, pp. 48–9, also records Bahå al-dÈn as sultan, but this author’s information may have been taken from the Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ. 45 The king of GhaznÈn for a short period. 46 The sultan of Sind and Multan. 47 See, for example, the inscription of Ïltutmish on the screen wall of Aṛha’i din kå Jhon∙pṛa at Ajmer in EIM, 1911–12, p. 30; CII, p. 13, pls 3–4. Army commanders and courtiers who were royal slaves also declared this in their inscriptions, see, for example, ibid., pp. 58–9, two inscriptions in Bari Khatu, one of Malik al-sharq Saif al-daula Óusain al-sul†ånÈ (a slave of Balban) and the other of Shams al-daula Båbakr al-sul†ånÈ, Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq’s governor of Ajmer. 44

25

26 BAYANA date, attributed the inscription to the time of Ïltutmish, but as we have already noted Bahå al-dÈn is unlikely to have lived after 1210 and there is no mention of him in later events. The date of the inscription is now barely visible, but the 1965 Annual Report of Indian Epigraphy listed the inscription with the date as Rama∂ån 600/May–June 1204. At this date Mu˙ammad b. Såm was still alive and Bahå al-dÈn would not have called himself sultan. The date must, therefore be between Mu˙ammad b. Såm’s assassination in 602/120648 and Qu†b al-dÈn’s death playing polo in 607/1210–11.49 Ayåz b. AmÈr Isfandiyår mentioned in the Kaman inscription must have been the fief-holder of the town under Bahå al-dÈn. Another point in the inscription of Bahå al-dÈn is his proclamation to be the sultan of the Turks, the Arabs and the Persians. Mu˙ammad b. Såm and many of the early sultans of India use this title,50 but the significance and rationale of this phrase has not been fully evaluated. After the fall of the Sasanian Empire many Arab tribes were given large tracts of land in Iran51 as well as in Greater Khuråsån.52 Since the ninth century and the days of the Samanids, if not earlier, Khuråsån was Mu˙ammad b. Såm was assassinated by a Shi’ite on 3 Shabån 602/15 March 1206. See Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 403–4; (tr.), I, pp. 484–5; TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 12; not translated in Elliot. 49 Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak died in an accident while playing polo in ah 607. See Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, p. 418; (tr.), I, p. 528; TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 16; not translated in Elliot. 50 See, for example, Mubårak Shåh KhaljÈ’s title in Appendix I, inscription No. 10, or Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq’s title in the inscription in the shrine of Ma˙mËd Qattål at Bari Khatu in EIAPS, 1962, pp. 11–12; CII, pp. 58–9, pl. 56b. It is interesting that in two of Mu˙ammad b. Såm’s inscriptions on the Qu†b Minår, the title of the sultan includes only the phrase maulå mulËk al-arab wa al-ajam (master of the princes of Arabs and Persians) and those of Ïltutmish on the minaret include the phrase mufkhir or fåkhir mulËk al-arab wa al-ajam (the pride of the princes of Arabs and Persians), both omitting the Turks. See J. A. Page, An Historical Memoir on the Qutb: Delhi (Calcutta: Memoirs of the ASI, No. 22, 1926), pp. 30–3. Other examples mentioning all three communities, or a combination of two, are numerous. 51 See, for example, Mu˙ammad b. Jafar b. JarÈr al-ÊabarÈ, TårÈkh al-rusul wa al-mulËk (Annales quos scripsit Abu Djafar Mohammed ibn Djarir at-Tabari) (Arab.), M. J. de Goeje (ed.) (Leiden, 1893), V, pp. 2647–8: 48

ً‫و ل ّما فصل اهل الکوفة من حُلوان و أفضوا الی ماهَ هجموا علی قلعة فی مرج فیها مسلحة فاستنزلوهم و کان اوّل الفتح و انزلوا مکانهم خیال‬ ‫یمسکون بالقلعة فس َّموا ُم َعسْکرهم بالمرج مرج القلعة ثم ساروا من مرج القلعة نحو نهاوند حتّی اذا انتهوا الی قلعة فیها قوم خلَّفوا علیها النُّ َسیْر‬ ‫ فیما بین مرج القلعة و بین نهاوند مما مرّوا به قبل‬... ‫ عجْ لی و ال َحنَف ّی اقامو مع النُّسیر علی القلعة‬... ‫بن ثَوْ ر فی ِعجْ ل و َحنیفة فنُسبت الیه‬ .‫صفاتها‬ ِ ِ‫ذلک فیما استقرّوا من المرج الیها ب‬ When the people of KËfa left Hulwån and reached Måh they attacked a fort at Marj with armed men in it. They took it and this was the beginning of the conquest. They housed an army there and named that barrack the Fort of Marj (marj al-qala). From there they went towards Nahåwand and they reached a populated fort. Nusayr bin Thaur and people of [the tribes of] Ijl and Óanifa were left there, which took its name after him … The IjlÈs and ÓanafÈs resided with him in that fort … In this manner between the Fort of Marj and Nahåwand, wherever they (the Arab tribes) passed through or resided, places were named after them. 52 Settling Arabs in conquered lands and imposing them on the local population is described in this passage of AbË-Bakr Mu˙ammad b. Jafar al-NirshakhÈ, TårÈkh-i Bukhårå (Pers.), Mudarris Razawi (ed.) (Tehran, hs 1351/1972), p. 42:

TWO: history

also populated by Turkic settlers from Central Asia, first as plundering marauders,53 later as mercenaries of the Abbasids, and then as the forces of the Samanid and other Persian-speaking courts,54 gradually settling in the villages surrounding Persian-speaking towns and eventually evolving as conquering dynasties, including the Ghaznavids, the Seljuqs and the Ghurids. The thirteenth-century population of Khuråsån, from whom the Ghurids and the early sultans of India drew their armies, was therefore an amalgamation of Turks, Persians and some Arabs. The title used by Bahå al-dÈn – and other early Indian sultans – was not therefore an exaggerated grandiose proclamation, but a simple statement of fact. Neither in Kaman nor in the present-day town of Bayana (Figure 3.2) has the old urban fabric been preserved. The organisation of the urban space within the fort of Bayana corresponds entirely with that of a Muslim fortified city, but hardly anything in the fort is datable to the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries and its present urban layout is more likely to date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries (Figures 3.3, 3.5, 3.8). The pre-Islamic Tahangar would have been arranged differently, and this may have been what Bahå al-dÈn and his army found unsuitable, leading him to build the town of Sul†ånkËt. The new town, partly settled by people from Khuråsån, could have been modelled on a Perso-Islamic urban plan, ‫قتیبة بن مسلم به بخارا در آمد و بخارا را بگرفت اهل بخارا را فرمود تا یک نیمه از خانها و ضیاع خویش عرب را دادند قومی بودند در‬ ‫بخارا که ایشان را کشکثان گفتندی و ایشان مردمانی بودند با حرمت و قدر و منزلت … غربا بودند اصیل و بازرگانان بودند و توانگر‬ ‫بودند پس قتیبة الحاح کرد اندر قسمت خانها و اسباب ایشان خانها و اسباب خویش جمله گذاشتند به عرب و از بیرون شهر هفتصد کوشک‬ .‫بنا کردند‬ [When] Qutayba bin Muslim came to Bukhara and took over the town he ordered the townspeople of Bukhara to give half of their houses and estates to the Arabs. There was a group of people in Bukhara who were known as Kashkathån [Kushkathån or Kishkathån], and they were people of dignity, honourable and respectful … They were well-born foreigners and were wealthy merchants. When Qutayba insisted on dividing their houses and chattels they left all their homes and chattels to the Arabs and built [themselves] seven hundred mansions outside the town. Bukhara, a major town on the Silk Route, had merchant settlements from many parts of the world. The origin of the Kashkathån (plural of Kashkath, Kushkath or Kishkath) is not known. Schefer suggests that they may be the remnant of settlers from Kushan, but we could equally speculate that they were a community of Cherkas (of present-day Ukraine) or merchants from Kashgar (in present-day China). Another possibility is that they were from the town of Kash (or Kish) on the bank of the River HÈrmand (Helmand) in present-day Afghanistan, with their name in Bukhara dialect being kashkasån, meaning literally ‘people of Kash’. There was also the town of Kush 20 leagues (about 60 km) from Samarqand and not very far from Bukhara, but it is unlikely that people from Kush would have been regarded in Bukhara as ‘foreigners’. For Schefer’s edition, see Description topographique et historique de Boukhara par Mohammed Nerchakhy (Pers.), Charles Schefer (ed.) (Paris, 1892), pp. 28–9. For the location of the two towns of Kash and Kush, see ÓudËd al ålam min al-mashriq ilal-maghrib (Pers.) (Tehran, [1962] 1983), p. 102 (town on the bank of the River HÈrmand); p. 108 (town near Bukhara); Abu Is˙åq IbråhÈm b. Mu˙ammad al-I߆akhrÈ, Al-masålik wa al-mamålik (Ar.) (Cairo, 1961), p. 139 (Kash); p. 181 (Kush); Abu Is˙åq IbråhÈm b. Mu˙ammad al-I߆akhrÈ Masålik wa mamålik (Pers.), I. Afshar (ed.) (Tehran, 1961), p. 192 (Kash given as Kas); p. 254 (Kush). 53 TårÈkh-i Bukhårå, RazawÈ (ed.), p. 47; TårÈkh-i Bukhårå, Schefer (ed.), p. 32. 54 al-I߆akhrÈ, Al-Masålik wa mamålik (Ar.), p. 164; (Pers.), p. 230.

27

28 BAYANA and, if it had such a plan, the Ukhå MandÈr mosque – its congregational mosque – would have been in the heart of the town, although the mosque is now to be found on the outskirts of the built-up area, the core of which appears to have expanded at later dates eastwards towards the level plain. The Extent of the Region of Bayana An early indication of the territory of Bayana appears in the account of Minhåj-i Siråj55 implying that from the west it bordered the region of Siwålik, which included the western regions of the present states of Haryana and Rajasthan, including Ajmer. The other borders are not clearly defined, but the historian speaks of three towns as the key strongholds of the territories neighbouring Bayana: Delhi to the north, KËl to the east and Gwalior to the south. This also corresponds with Ibn Ba††Ë†a’s record in connection with his journey to China,56 and indicates that the boundaries of the territory changed little during the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Kaman, about 100 km (63 miles) south of Delhi, was probably the northernmost town of the Bayana region, and the construction of a substantial mosque there may have been a demonstration of Bahå al-dÈn’s authority at the border of his territory with that of Qu†b al-dÈn. A more detailed account of the Bayana territory in the seventeenth century is given in the ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ. Although the area appears to have been reduced it still included the modern districts of Mathura, Bharatpur and Karauli, and earlier in the fifteenth and sixteenth century Agra, and from time to time Dholpur:57 ‫ت آگره چهل و چهار پرگنه چهار دستور العمل‬ ِ ‫سرکار دارالخالف‬ ِ ‫حویلي آگره چنوار جلیسر بلدۀ آگره دهلپور مهاون‬ – ‫دستور‬ ‫یک‬ ‫محل‬ ‫شش‬ ‫غیره‬ ‫و‬ ‫آگره‬ ‫حویلي‬ ٔ ٔ ‫ محل اودیهي اود اول بهساور توده بهیم بناور چوسته‬٢ ‫بیانه و غیره سي و سه محل یک دستور – حویلی بیانه‬ ‫خانوا رجهوهر فتحپورعرف سکري سیونکر سیونکری متهرا مهولی منگوتله بهسکر وزیرپور هیلک هندَون‬ ‫راپري باري بجواره‬ ‫اتاوه وغیره سه محل یک دستور – اتاوه روپري هتکانت‬ ‫منداور و غیره دو محل یک دستور – منداور کهتونمر‬ The province (sarkår) of the Royal Capital, Agra, has forty-four regions (pargana) and four codes (dastËr, i.e. one code for each district). – The neighbourhood of Agra etc., six towns (ma˙al)58 one code: the suburbs of Agra, Chanwår, JalÈsar, the town of Agra, Dholpur and Mahåwan. Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 400–1; (tr.), I, pp. 468–71. See Introduction. 57 ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 356; our translation, also see (tr.), II, p. 183. Jarrett uses the term ‘code’ to express the word dastËr, meaning the royal decrees regarding collection of taxes and provision of armed men from an area. 58 Ma˙al, meaning place, is used in this context to signify cities, towns and large villages and settlements. 55 56

29

TWO: history

– Bayana etc. thirty-three towns, one code: two towns in the area of Bayana; AudÈhÈ, Aud, Aul, Bahusåwar, Tauda BhÈm, Banåwar, ChËsta (Chaustaha), Khånwå, RajhËhar, FathpËr known as SikrÈ, SÈwankar SÈwankarÈ, Mathurå, MahaulÈ, MangËtala, Bhaskar, WazÈrpËr, HÈlak, Hindaun, RåprÈ, BårÈ, Bajwåra. – Itåwa etc. three towns, one code: Itåwa, RauprÈ, Hatkånat. – Mandåwar, two towns, one code: Mandåwar, KhatËnamar. Elsewhere the ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ 59 records that in former times Agra was also originally part of the territory of Bayana: ‫سکندر لودهی پای تخت گردانیده گیتی‬ ‫اگره بزرگ شهریست خوش هوا … در باستان دهی بود از بیانه سلطان‬ ِ .‫خداوند آنرا بر آراست و بیهمال شهری بروی کار آمد‬ Agra is a great city with a pleasant climate … In the old times it was a village of Bayana, Sultan Sikandar LodhÈ made it the capital and the Master of the World (the Emperor Akbar) embellished it and thus a matchless city has arisen. The resources of Bayana and the towns of its region under the Emperor Akbar’s administration are also listed in the ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ, although it should be borne in mind that at that time, and after the development of Agra as a centre of wealth and power, the resources of Bayana had already declined significantly:60

Town

Area in Revenue62 SuyËrghål64 Castes 61 in dåm63 in dåm bÈgha & biswa

Aul AudÈhÈ

153,377:9 274,067

5,509,477 2,884,365

81,542 78,165

Aud

203,505

1,003,848

36,870

Cavalry

RåjpËt, Bråhman 1,000 RåjpËt, Bråhman, 20 etc. Shaikhzåda 100

Infantry 1,000 500 500

ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 441. Our translation, also see (tr.), II, p. 191. ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 443–4. Towns and villages such as JalÈsar, Jauwår, DhËlpËr, Khatunmar, Mahåwan, Mandåwar and Hatkånat are not given above as they were not always, or perhaps ever, within the old territory of Bayana. However, to complete the table of the ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ these localities are listed in n. 65 below. See also (tr.), II, pp. 193–4. 61 BÈgha: a measure of land equal to about five-eighths of an acre or 2,530 m2, biswa: one-twentieth of a bÈgha, equal to 126.5 m2. 62 The land revenues listed in the ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ are the taxes payable to the royal court and reflect only a proportion – or what was regarded as the surplus – of the revenue of each town to be paid into the imperial coffers. A fair proportion would have been retained by the local landlords, fief-holders and governors for their sustenance. The system as given in the ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ does not appear to have been devised by Akbar but was much older; a similar system is noted by BarnÈ (Pers. p. 288), set up – or reformed – by Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ three centuries earlier. 63 Dåm: a unit of currency, equal at that time to one-fortieth of one Mughal Rupee. 64 SuyËrghål was an assignment of land for charitable purposes, the revenue of which was endowed to a religious or public institution for its subsistence. The word was also applied to a grant of land revenue without any conditions, such as stipulations of cavalry or infantry to be maintained. 59 60

30 BAYANA

Town

Area in Revenue62 SuyËrghål64 Castes in dåm bÈgha & biswa61 in dåm63

Bayana with suburbs, has a stone fort BårÈ Bahusåwar Banåwar Tauda BhÈm Bhaskar

235,442

7,110,104

562,205

AhÈr, Jåt

276,964 303,509 12,880 264,103:11 43,009

5,064,158 5,505,460 155,360 3,737,075 2,891,100

57,414 255,460 – 13,361 15,325

4,182,048

674,315

RåjpËt, Panwår Different RåjpËts BadgËjar RåjpËt, TahÈtar RåjpËt, Bråhman, AhÈr RåjpËt, Bråhman, Jåt, AhÈr RåjpËt, Jåt Chauhån, descendants of Råwat Båhan RåjpËt RåjpËt, Chauhån ChisthtÈ Shaikhzåda, RåjpËt, Sankarwål

Chaustaha

97,434

Khånwå 5,334 RåprÈ, has a 477,201:11 brick fort

2,912,495 222,628 13,508,035 173,407

RåjhËhar 318,285 SÈwankar90,599 SÈwankarÈ FathpËr, 202,723:18 has a stone fort Mathurå, 37,347 has a brick fort MahaulÈ 66,690 MangËtala 74,974 WazÈrpËr 71,328 Hindaun 432,930

1,694,208 985,700

48,023 7,822

8,494,005

597,346

1,155,807

69,770

1,501,246 1,148,075 2,009,255 9,049,831

– 79,355 9,255 301,980

HÈlak

2,789,494

30,531

137,421

Cavalry

RåjpËt etc. RåjpËt etc. RåjpËt RåjpËt, Bråhman, Jåt Different RåjpËts

Infantry

50

100

300 50 30 100 20

7,000 1,500 400 1,000 700

50

1,000

30 200

4,000 4,000

20 70

300 500

500

4,000 –

–

30 20 20 100

500 400 300 1,000

20

500

In this list we have excluded the region of Agra as it had undergone substantial transformation under the Mughals and its revenue at this time may not represent that of its former days.65 Fathpur Sikri, once a modest town but still listed in The following towns have been excluded in our table as they were not always – or perhaps ever – within the old territory of Bayana. They are given here to complete the table in the ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ:

65

Town

Area in bÈgha & biswa

Revenue in dåm

SuyËrghål in dåm

Castes

Cavalry

Infantry

JalÈsar, has a brick fort

904,733

6,835,400

412,080

GhalËt SËraj

400

5,000

Jauwår (Chandwar) has a brick fort on the River Jumna DhËlpËr (Dholpur) has a brick fort on the Chanbal Khatunmar

407,652

1,442,250

60,342

Bånkara Chauhån

200

7,000

284,037

9,729,311

255,747

Sankarwål

200

4,000

96,760

745,951

—

RåjpËt, Jåt

50

300

31

TWO: history

the district of Bayana, had also developed under Akbar to a substantial size and its revenue reflects its new status. The revenue of ‘the two towns’ of Bayana, however, is surprisingly low indicating that the towns had already declined. As we shall see, the ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ indicates elsewhere that at the end of the sixteenth century Bayana had already been reduced in size and many parts were apparently left in ruins. Nevertheless, even at this period the territory of Bayana is still relatively large and with adequate resources. In earlier times the region might have been even more prosperous with enough revenue for the local governor to be independent and self-sufficient, but still not in a position to sustain a substantial force capable of challenging Delhi. The history of Bayana is therefore shaped by its geography and its mainly agricultural economy. Only at times when the sultanate of Delhi was in decline could the rulers of Bayana enjoy some autonomy, or by joining forces with other regional sultanates challenge Delhi, but whenever Delhi power was restored Bayana would inevitably fall back on its own domains. Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul had an exceptional position as it had been bestowed upon him by Mu˙ammad b. Såm. He also enjoyed the command of a loyal non-Indian army brought from Khuråsån, and to further sustain his position settled other newcomers from Khuråsån, the ‘merchants and men of distinction’ in his newly built city. Perhaps if he had lived long enough he would have also seen the eclipse of his short-lived sultanate under the shadow of the ever-growing power of Delhi. Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries During peacetime Bayana was not of prime concern to the Delhi historians and  is  mentioned sparingly by Minhåj-i Siråj, BarnÈ and Shams-i Siråj. Nevertheless, with the help of the surviving inscriptions in the region and o ­ ccasional and uneven remarks by the historians it is possible to provide a broad view of the regional history. Little is known about the fate of Bayana after the death of Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul, and Cunningham66 suggests that it must have reverted into the hands of the local rajas as the conquest of Tahangar is recorded in the Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ67 under the achievements of Shams al-dÈn Ïltutmish. There is no doubt that Town

Area in bÈgha & biswa

Revenue in dåm

SuyËrghål in dåm

Castes

Mahåwan, has a brick fort

290,703

6,784,780

284,787

Mandåwar Hatkånat, has a brick fort

10,190 606,991:12

132,500 5,693,807

— 43,231

Bråhman, etc. Chauhån Chauhån Bhaduriya

Cavalry

Infantry

200

2,000

150 2,000

800 20,000

ASIR, XX, p. 62. The conquest of Tahangar is mentioned only in some copies of the Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ and the published edition omits this. Throughout the fairly detailed account of Ïltutmish the Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ does not mention any campaign towards Tahangar. See Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 440–52, particularly p. 452, n. 5; (tr.), I, 597–628, particularly pp. 627–8. Tahangar is not mentioned in the list of Ïltutmish’s conquests even in the manuscripts used by Raverty.

66 67

32 BAYANA the Hindus remained a force in the area, not just at the time of Ïltutmish, but ­generations later as indicated by a Sanskrit inscription in Bayana, which apparently escaped the attention of Cunningham. The inscription68 is on ­ a reused stone on one of the jambs of the north-eastern doorway of a reservoir known as the Jhålar BåolÈ, recording the name of one Råjpat and dated vs 1325/ad 1268. The date corresponds with ah 666–7, well after the time of Ïltutmish and during the reign of Ghiyåth al-dÈn Balban, when the region was in Muslim hands. If the date of the inscription has been correctly deciphered it may have been brought from ­elsewhere in the neighbourhood and reused in the Muslim ­reservoir, perhaps as a symbol of Muslim domination. According to Ibn Ba††Ë†a,69 even at the time of Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq, while Muslims were in firm control of the towns, outside their ­vicinities they still faced challenges from the Hindus. In Bayana it is likely that after Bahå al-dÈn’s death one of his descendants or army commanders was chosen to replace him and the region remained in Muslim hands. This was a practice that the Ghurid commanders also exercised in Delhi to secure their dominance – if not their survival – in recently conquered Hindu lands. Ïltutmish’s conquest of Tahangar must have been no more than one of the many campaigns that he undertook to various regions of India to establish his sovereignty. The campaign may have concluded peacefully, as it is not described by the historian, but merely noted.70 The most likely scenario is that the ruler of Bayana submitted to Ïltutmish and was restored to his position as governor by the sultan. Ïltutmish appears to have had a high regard for Bahå al-dÈn and married off his daughter to one of the royal courtiers:71 ‫سلطان سعید شهید شمس الدین در عهد حیات خود فرزند ملک بهاء الدین طغرل بهیانه را در حبالۀ او (تاج الدین‬ ‫سنجر ارسالن خان) فرموده بود آن والیت و اطراف در اوایل عهد اسالم عمارت کردۀ ملک بهاء الدین بود بدین‬ .‫وسیلت در عهد ناصری خلد ملکه بهیانه اقطاع ارسالن خان شد‬ During his life, the late martyred sultan (Shams al-dÈn Ïltutmish) wedded a child of Malik Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul to him (Malik Arsalån Khån). In the early days of Islam that territory and its regions were built up by Malik Bahå al-dÈn. By reason of this arrangement during the NåßirÈ era the governorship of Bayana was bestowed upon him (Arsalån Khån). Minhåj-i Siråj again emphasises that Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul was responsible for the development of Bayana. The historian also states that Arsalån Khån was not governor of Bayana at the time of Ïltutmish, but a generation later, at the time of See Appendix I, inscription No. 3. As described above in the Introduction. 70 Also see Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 66. 71 Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), II, p. 34. Our translation is given, also see (tr.), II, p. 767. 68 69

TWO: history

Nåßir al-dÈn Ma˙mËd (1246–66). Arsalån Khån did not remain governor for long and was later promoted to other posts. The names of the governors of Bayana under Ïltutmish and his immediate successors, before Ma˙mËd, are not known except that Minhåj-i Siråj mentions that at the time of Ïltutmish’s campaign against the raja of Kålanjar in 632/1234–5, the sultan nominated the armies of Bayana, Sul†ånkËt, QanËj, Mathura (mahur), Mahåwan and Gwalior (kålÈwar) for this operation under the command of Malik Nußrat al-dÈn TåisÈ (or TayisÈ) MuizzÈ.72 His title shows that he was one of the slaves of Mu˙ammad b. Såm and as at least three of the towns were in the Bayana region – with the names of Bayana and Sul†ånkËt mentioned first – it is likely that Nußrat al-dÈn was in charge of this region. The historian, who knew the commander in person, praises his courage and ability to lead the army, and mentions: .‫ندیده‬

‫این داعی (شمس سراج) از لفظ نصرت الدین تایسی شنید که هرگز در هندوستان هیچ خصم پشت من‬

I heard it from Nußrat al-dÈn TåisÈ’s own mouth: ‘In India no enemy has ever seen my back’. One of the governors of Bayana after the death of Ïltutmish was his slave Malik Ikhtiyår al-dÈn Qaråqush Khån73 who had entered the sultan’s service first as his personal cup-bearer (såqÈ-yi khåßß) – a low rank, but a position of trust. He rose to the rank of governor and eventually was given the governorship of Multan and the title of Qaråqush Khån. During the turbulent events that followed the death of Ïltutmish he remained loyal to Ïltutmish’s daughter Sultan Ra∂iya (634–7/1236–40), who made him governor of Bayana where he remained until Ra∂iya’s removal from the throne and death. Although Ikhtiyår al-dÈn offered his loyalty to the next sultan, Muizz al-dÈn Bahråm (637–9/1239–42) and left Bayana to join his court, Muizz al-dÈn did not trust him and put him in confinement. The next sultan Alå al-dÈn MasËd (639–44/1241–7) released him and made him his lord chamberlain (amÈr ˙åjib). On 25 Jumådå I, 644/8 October 1246, and during the last year of his reign Alå al-dÈn once again made Qaråqush Khån governor of Bayana, but he died in a battle a few months later in the same year. Minhåj-i Siråj gives some detailed information on a chain of Bayana governors under the next sultan, Nåßir al-dÈn Ma˙mËd b. Ïltutmish, who was the historian’s patron. The Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ is named after this sultan and gives year-by-year accounts of his reign. At this time the governorship of Bayana appears to have been a promotional post, given for a relatively short period to Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), II, pp. 62–3; (tr.), II, pp. 824–5. Elsewhere the Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, p. 458; (tr.), I, pp. 639–40, mentions that at the time of Ïltutmish’s daughter Sultan Ra∂iya, Malik Nußrat al-dÈn was the governor of Auda and brought his army to Delhi in support of the sultan, but was captured by the rebellious forces near Delhi and died of an illness. 73 Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), II, pp. 19–20; (tr.), I, pp. 746–7. 72

33

34 BAYANA the sultan’s close courtiers, who were later moved to other regions or to higher office. In the early years of his reign the governor of the region was Qutluq Khån, one of his top ranking commanders and a rival of Uluq Khån. Qutluq Khån maintained his post at least until 650/1252–3,74 but was replaced by Arsalån Khån KhwårazmÈ.75 This was the personage who married Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul’s daughter and the sultan bestowed Bayana upon him partly in memory of Bahå al-dÈn and to honour his daughter. However, Arsalån Khån did not remain in the region for more than a year and was given other posts. Eventually he rebelled against the sultan, took an army to Bengal without the sultan’s permission and sacked its capital LakhnautÈ, but on his return was confronted by the army of Izz al-dÈn Balban, the sultan’s governor of Bengal and was captured and apparently killed. The next governor recorded by Minhåj-i Siråj is Malik Badr al-dÈn Sunqur (or Sanqar) ÍËfÈ, who held the post until 657/1258–9. In this year Malik Izz al-dÈn Balban KashlË Khån, the rebellious governor of Bengal marched towards Delhi and Badr al-dÈn took the army of Bayana to Delhi, defeated Izz al-dÈn and received the title of Nußrat Khån from the sultan.76 The historian notes that Badr al-dÈn had a massive army and we see that half a century after the Muslim conquest of the region the power of Bayana’s army could still play a vital role in the fate of the sultanate of Delhi – a recurring phenomenon in the history of the region. After the defeat of Izz al-dÈn, the sultan rewarded Nußrat Khån by making him governor of a vast territory in the north-western provinces of the empire which included Tabarhanda, Sanåm and up to Åb-i BÈyåh.77 Minhåj-i Siråj notes that by the time of the completion of the Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ Nußrat Khån was still in the same post and apparently remained there until the time of Sultan Balban. After Nußrat Khån, the governorship of Bayana was given to Malik ShÈr Khån on 21 Íafar 657/17 February 1259,78 and again Minhåj-i Siråj notes that at the time of the completion of his work in Rajab 658/June–July 1260 Malik ShÈr Khån was still the governor of Bayana. ShÈr Khån79 was a cousin of Uluq Khån but they were bitter rivals. Later, apparently after Uluq Khån took the throne of Delhi as Sultan Ghiyåth al-dÈn Balban, ShÈr Khån refused to attend his court and was eventually killed, after drinking poisoned beer prepared by Balban’s agents in the khan’s household.

Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), II, p. 63; (tr.), II, p. 825. Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), II, pp. 33–6; (tr.), II, pp. 766–74. 76 Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), II, pp. 42–3; (tr.), II, pp. 787–8. 77 An area in the Punjab on the way from Delhi to Multan. The area is recorded as Åb-i Siyåh (the black river) in some later works, but Åb-i Biyåh is the more appropriate spelling. 78 Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, p. 495; (tr.), I, pp. 712–13. 79 Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), II, pp. 43–4; (tr.), II, pp. 791–4; BarnÈ (Pers.), p. 65; (tr.), III, pp. 108–9. BarnÈ does not record ShÈr Khån’s position as governor of Bayana, but mentions him as governor of Sind and the north-eastern regions of the empire, a position he held earlier in his career before 657/1259. 74 75

TWO: history

BarnÈ’s TårÈkh-i FÈrËz ShåhÈ (completed in 758/1356–7)80 is generally silent on the affairs at Bayana during the reign of the KhaljÈs and Tughluqs, perhaps because the Delhi empire was at the peak of its power and Bayana did not have an important role in the political arena. An inscription found in Kaman, however, furnishes us with the name of one of Balban’s governors of the region.81 The epigraph, dated 1 Rama∂ån 669/15 June 1271, was originally from a well, and records its restoration by Khån-i AΩam Malik-i MulËk al-Sharq Nußrat Khån the governor (muq†i) of the region (khi††a) of Bayana under the superintendence of IbråhÈm AbË Bakr NushÈrwån Khalj. This Nußrat Khån seems to be the same as Malik Badr al-dÈn Sunqur Nußrat, who had already been governor of the region before ShÈr Khån and must have been appointed to his earlier position after ShÈr Khån’s assassination. The position of IbråhÈm AbË Bakr NushÈrwån Khalj is not mentioned in the inscription, but its composition indicates that he must have been the fief-holder of the town. The text has a further significance in that it still records Kaman as a town in the region of Bayana, indicating that Bayana’s boundaries did not change during the thirteenth century. In 692/1293 Jalål al-dÈn FÈrËz Shåh, the founder of the KhaljÈ dynasty, visited Bayana en route to Delhi after his successful campaign to JhåÈn and Målwa. According to the court poet, AmÈr Khusrau,82 ‘as the road was difficult on account of rivers and hills’ the sultan allowed his commanders to march in any direction they chose while he proceeded at a more leisurely pace in the rear. The obstacles on the route may not have been the terrain, but the forces of the Hindu warlords, whom the poet chose to ignore. The commanders were apparently clearing the route to enable the sultan to pass without harassment. While BarnÈ is silent on the political events of this time he does mention the significance of the Sayyids of Bayana who, together with the Sayyids of some other regions, migrated to India at the time of Balban after the devastation of their homelands by ChangÈz Khån.83 The Sayyids of Bayana, originally from Khuråsån and other parts of Central Asia and Iran, were respected throughout the sultanate for many generations and during the later periods some held important religious posts. According to BarnÈ:84 ‫و هم در عصر عالئي سادات صحیح النسب سادات بیانه بودند که تا غایت تمام جمعیت اوالد و احفاد ایشان تا امروز‬ ‫در بیانه موجود است و بیانه بوجود میمون سادات بیانه مشرف است و پیوسته مشرف بوده اند و در تمام عهد و‬ ‫عصر عالئي چند سادات سه کس قضای ممالک یافتند و یک کس نیابت قضا از پیش تخت یافت در اول عصر‬ ‫ و بعد ازو قاضی جالل الدین‬... ‫ بود و سالها نیابت قضا داشت صدر جهان شد‬... ‫عالئی قاضي صدرالدین عارف‬ BarnÈ (Pers.), p. 23; (tr.), III, p. 94. Appendix I, inscription No. 4. 82 AmÈr Khusrau DihlawÈ (tr.), in Elliot, III (1871), appendix A, ‘Poems of AmÈr KhusrË’, 2, ‘Ghurratu-l kamål, Miftåhu-l futËh’ (abstract), pp. 542–3 (the authors did not have access to the original Persian text. 83 BarnÈ (Pers.), p. 111, not translated in Elliot. 84 BarnÈ (Pers.), pp. 351–2, not translated in Elliot. 80 81

35

36 BAYANA ‫ولوالجي نایب قاضی از پیش تخت شد و صدر جهانی موالنای ضیاء الدین بیانه که قاضی لشکر بود و بتفنن علوم‬ ‫آراسته یافت و با چندان علمي که قاضي ضیاء الدین بیانه متحلی بود ولیکن مکنتي و حشمتی و صالبتی نداشت‬ ‫دیوان قضا را چندان رونق نماند … و در آخر عصر عالئی … سلطان عالء الدین … قضاء مملکت دهلي که‬ ‫مسندي بس بزرگ است و نزیبد مگر بزرگان و بزرگزادگان را که بوجود علم و نسب بتقوی و حسب آراسته باشند‬ ‫بملک التجار حمید الدین ملتانی که چاکر خانه و پرده دار و کلید دار کوشک او بود بدو تفویض کرد و ذکر اوصاف‬ .‫آن ملک التجار در تاریخ کردن الیق نیست‬ During the AlåÈ era (the reign of Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ) the Sayyids of Bayana were amongst those with authentic genealogies. All their children and descendants still live in that town and Bayana has been blessed by the auspicious presence of these Sayyids. During the AlåÈ era, of all the Sayyids only three held the office of qå∂È (religious judge) of the Kingdom and one received the office of Deputy Judge by the Throne. At the beginning of the AlåÈ era, AΩam Íadr al-dÈn Årif … who had been Deputy Judge for a long time was appointed AΩam-i Jahån (title for the AΩam of the Kingdom) … After him AΩam Jalål al-dÈn WalwålajÈ received from the Throne the office of Deputy Judge, and Maulånå Îiyå al-dÈn of Bayana was appointed AΩam-i Jahån. He was the qå∂È of the army and was adorned with all branches of knowledge. Although AΩam al-dÈn of Bayana was adorned with the highest level of scholarship he lacked authority, majesty and power; and the office of Judge was left with little credence. Later in the AlåÈ era … Sultan Alå al-dÈn elevated Malik al-Tujjår (the Chief Merchant) ÓamÈd al-dÈn MultånÈ to the position of qå∂È of the territories of Delhi. This is a dignified office and does not suit any but the most honourable nobles and those of learned lineage, ornamented with knowledge and piety. He was (on the contrary) a house servant, a chamberlain (parda dår) and key-bearer of the royal palace and the personality flaws of this Malik al-Tujjår are not worth recording in history. BarnÈ continues his criticism of Malik al-Tujjår and links this unsuitable appointment to the unjust, impious and sometimes blasphemous behaviour of Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ himself, a military man (Plate 2.4) who was not of Turkish origin, and whose moral code – probably associated with the habits of his clan85 – often met with the historian’s disapproval. Nevertheless, BarnÈ mentions among Alå al-dÈn’s

The tenth-century geographer al-I߆akhrÈ, Masålik wa mamålik (Pers.) (Tehran, 1961), p. 196; Al-masålik wa al-mamålik (Ar.) (Cairo, 1961), p. 141, records that the KhaljÈs were a clan of Turks who settled between Sistån and Hindustan. They seem, however, to have been of another origin, with customs and practices considered unusual and sometimes unacceptable to the Muslims. See, for example, a quotation from A˙mad RåzÈ’s Haft IqlÈm given as an addenda in Mu˙ammad NirshakhÈ, TårÈkh-i Bukhårå (Description topographique et historique de Boukhara par Mohammed Nerchakhy) (Pers.) (Paris, 1892), p. 286:

85

‫خلج اندک جماعتی بوده اند و خواهر را زن میکرده اند اما زن زیاده بر یک شوهر نمیکرده و مهر زن جمیع مملوکات شوهر بوده و پادشاه‬ ‫ایشان را زن نبوده که اگر زن میکرد بر فور بقتل می رسید‬.

TWO: history

37

Plate 2.4  A battle scene of Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ depicted in a 1011/1602–3 manuscript of the collected poems (dÈwån) of AmÈr Khusrau DihlawÈ by MushkÈn Qalam, JahångÈr’s court calligrapher. AmÈr Khusrau was the court poet of Alå al-dÈn, and praised the sultan in many of his works, but the miniature follows sixteenth- and seventeenth-century conventions. Nevertheless, the camel indicates a battle in an arid area of Rajasthan or north-west India. The sultan, on a white stallion, is shown with a paler complexion than the Indian warriors. Reproduced courtesy of Walters Art Museum. Divan-i Hasan, Ms. W. 0650, fol. 184b.

38 BAYANA courtiers another of the distinguished Sayyids of Bayana, AΩam MughÈth al-dÈn.86 He was the only religious personage who was trusted by the sultan,87 who usually kept himself away from religious leaders, as a state of mutual distrust existed between them and the sultans. On one occasion during the campaign in Arankal (Warangal), led by KåfËr Hizår DÈnårÈ in 710/1310–11, the sultan, who had not heard news of the army for some time, sent MughÈth al-dÈn and another courtier, Malik Qarå Beg to ask Shaikh NiΩåm al-dÈn Auliyå about the fate of the army and the shaikh noted that it would return victorious.88 This was one of Alå al-dÈn’s ways of preventing rumour-mongering about the state of the army when it was far from Delhi on its long but successful campaign in south India. In later periods the names of other renowned religious personages from Bayana appear. Their honour and esteem are even reflected in the seventeenth-century ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ,89 which mentions that ‘it is the place of the shrines of many distinguished men’. However, with the migration of the Muslims from the town in 1947, what had remained of these traditions was lost and today in Bayana, although there has been a revival of interest, hardly any of the surviving tombs are known to be associated with such personages.

The Khalj were a small group of people. They married their sisters but a woman did not marry more than one husband and the dowry of a woman was the entire property of her husband. Their king never married and if he did take a wife he would be killed immediately. This passage implies a non-Muslim origin for them and explains some of the supposed peculiarities of the KhaljÈ sultans of Delhi. While some Muslim sultans – and other notables – were known for their homosexual relations with young boys, the KhaljÈ sultans had such relationships with adults, who in some cases were also the commanders of their armies. BarnÈ (Pers.), pp. 175–6, also states clearly that the KhaljÈs were not Turks: ‫در تاریخ شهور سنه ثمان و ثمانین و ستمائه سلطان جالل الدین فیروز خلجي در کوشک کیلوگهري بر تخت پادشاهي جلوس کرد چند گاه از‬ ‫جهت آنکه خلق شهر که در مدت هشتاد سال پروردۀ ملک ترکان بودند پادشاهي خلجیان ایشان را دشوار مینمود سلطان جالل الدین درون‬ .‫ و ایشان را عجب مینمود که خلجیان چگونه بجای ترکان بر تخت نشینند و پادشاهي از اصل ترکان در اصلي دیگر رود‬... ‫شهر نرفت‬ In the year six hundred and eighty-eight Sultan Jalål al-dÈn FÈrËz KhaljÈ sat on the royal throne in the palace at KÈlËgharÈ. For some time Sultan Jalål al-dÈn did not go into the city as the townspeople [of Delhi], who for eighty years had flourished under the rule of the Turks, found it difficult to accept the sovereignty of the KhaljÈs … and wondered how the KhaljÈs could take the throne of the Turks and sovereignty be transferred from Turkic blood (aßl) to another blood.   86 BarnÈ (Pers.), pp. 240, 353; not translated in Elliot. 87 BarnÈ (Pers.), pp. 289–97; (tr.), III, pp. 183–8, gives accounts of long discussions between MughÈth al-dÈn and the sultan on affairs of state and religion. MughÈth al-dÈn openly criticises the sultan, but the sultan listens calmly telling him that although he is a learned man, he has no experience in the affairs of the country. The next day the sultan gave the Qå∂È – who was fearful of his life – the robe he was wearing as well as 2,000 tankas. 88 Ibid. (Pers.), pp. 330–1. The passage is not translated in Elliot. 89 ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 442; (tr.), II, p. 192.

TWO: history

On the political and strategic fronts, the region retained its importance during Alå al-dÈn’s reign90 and its governorship was given to the sultan’s brother, Uluq Khån.91 His original name was Almås Beg92 and he received his title on the sultan’s enthronement in 695/1295–6. He remained loyal to his brother throughout his life and together with the sultan carried out a major campaign in RanthanbËr. After a long and bloody battle the fortress was captured and Alå al-dÈn gave the fort and the region to Uluq Khån, who was later chosen to lead the army on the campaign to the region of Mabar (Madura in south India) and prepared a massive army, but died suddenly before marching south.93 The campaign was later led by KåfËr Hizår DÈnårÈ.94 In addition to BarnÈ’s account, we know of two other personalities active in Bayana during this time through their inscriptions. The first is Mu˙ammad b. Sunqur (or Sanqar),95 whose name suggests that he must be the son of Badr al-dÈn Nußrat Khån Sunqur ÍËfÈ, twice appointed governor of Bayana. The record is fragmentary and the position of Mu˙ammad b. Sunqur in Bayana is not known. Nevertheless, the inscription records the construction of a charitable work – a public or religious building – indicating that Mu˙ammad, who must have donated the cost of the work, would have been a wealthy public figure. It is not unlikely that he was for a time the governor or fief-holder of Bayana, as it was customary to appoint a son to his father’s post. The second personage is one Abd al-Malik b. AbÈ Bakr al-BukhårÈ, known as MughÈth al-dÈn.96 The two published records of his inscription vary slightly. Cunningham misreads the phrase bi-˙ukm al-kha†Èr meaning ‘on the sultan’s dignified order’ as ‘al-˙åkim bi jibal al-khi††a’, making it a title of the builder: ‘al-˙åkim’, a fief-holder or administrator (a rank below that of muq†i, the governor, a post reserved for courtiers and given by the sultan himself) ‘in the hill region’. Yazdani,97 who examined the inscription in 1917–18, did not agree with this reading, but did not offer an alternative title. The inscription, dated 1 Mu˙arram 705/24 July 1305, belonged originally to a small mosque known as Qå∂Èyun kÈ Masjid (Mosque of the Judges) apparently in the Qå∂Èpara neighbourhood (ma˙alla), but the mosque has long been demolished and the inscription lost. The mosque In addition to the inscriptional evidence in Bayana, two inscriptions of the time of Alå al-dÈn have also been found in SÈkrÈ, once a village in the territory of Bayana and later the site of the emperor Akbar’s city of Fathpur Sikri. See Appendix I, inscriptions Nos 6 and 8. 91 BarnÈ (Pers.), p. 272; (tr.), III, pp. 171–2. 92 BarnÈ (Pers.), p. 230; (tr.), III, p. 152. 93 BarnÈ, (Pers.), p. 283; (tr.), p. 179. 94 The campaign began on Tuesday, 24 Jumådå II 710/18 November 1310, and on KåfËr’s successful return on Monday, 4 Jumådå II 711/18 October 1311, he was greeted by the sultan with great pomp and circumstance. See AmÈr Khusrau DihlawÈ, Khazåin al-futË˙ (Aligarh, n.d. but c. 1927), pp. 126, 181. 95 Appendix I, inscription No. 7. 96 For a fresh reading of the surviving impression of this epigraph, see Appendix I, inscription No. 5. The name MughÈth al-dÈn seems to be clear. 97 EIM, 1917–18, pp. 19–20, pl. 5. 90

39

40 BAYANA seems to have been well-preserved and in use when first reported by Cunningham.98 MughÈth al-dÈn, the title of AbÈ Bakr, and the name of the mosque alludes to AbÈ Bakr being the same as the well-known AΩam MughÈth al-dÈn, a suggestion already made by Yazdani, and apparent in our fresh reading of the published impression. AbÈ Bakr being from Bukhara is, however, worthy of attention as this was one of the most prosperous cities of Khuråsån and for a long time its capital before being devastated by the Mongols in 1220–1. AbÈ Bakr is, therefore, yet another personage from Khuråsån – or of KhuråsånÈ ancestry – active in the region of Bayana in the early fourteenth century. The governor of Bayana under the next KhaljÈ sultan, Mubårak Shåh ­(1316–20) is known through three of his inscriptions in Bayana. Two of them,99 dated 718/1318–19, are from a large and impressive reservoir known as the Jhålar BåolÈ, and another,100 of 720/1320–1, is from the Ukhå Masjid (Plate 2.5). The name of the governor is given as Malik KåfËr Sul†ånÈ, indicating that he was a royal slave. Cunningham101 suggests that he must be the same as the well-known Malik KåfËr Hizår DÈnårÈ, a eunuch, and the most trusted slave and army commander of Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ, and concludes: The great Malik KåfËr, the conqueror of Southern India was killed two years before the date of this building (Jhålar BåolÈ) and four years before the date of the Ukhå Masjid. It is possible that he might have begun both of these works and that they were finished after his death. Cunningham’s suggestion is implausible, as the usual practice in Islamic inscriptions is to give the name of the person responsible for the construction of the building at the date of its completion. On a few occasions where the person who had commenced the work died and the building was completed by someone else the inscriptions state the matter or allude to it.102 Furthermore, KåfËr Hizår DÈnårÈ did not die under dignified circumstances. During the life of Alå al-dÈn all the nobles and courtiers resented KåfËr’s power and his close relationship – of an openly homosexual nature – with the sultan.103 On the death of Alå al-dÈn they ganged together and assassinated him.104 It is almost inconceivable that the KhaljÈ courtiers would then honour his name in inscriptions written a few years after his murder. In fact for several decades KåfËr’s grave in Delhi was left dilapidated ASIR, XX, p. 76. Based on Cunningham’s description of the mosque and its measurements, a conjectural impression of its plan and elevation is given in Chapter 3.   99 Appendix I, inscription Nos 9 and 10. 100 Appendix I, inscription No. 11. 101 ASIR, XX, pp. 69–70. 102 See, for example, the inscriptions of the NabÈ Qå∂È Masjid at Nagaur (Nagaur, p. 31), and the Jåmi al-KabÈr at Kayalpatnam in M. Shokoohy, Muslim Architecture of South India (London, 2003), p. 78. 103 BarnÈ (Pers.), pp. 251, 337, 390–1; (tr.), pp. 163, 207–8. 104 BarnÈ (Pers.), p. 376; (tr.), pp. 209–10.   98

TWO: history

Plate 2.5  Ukhå Masjid, an extension to the Ukhå MandÈr mosque built in 720/1320–1 by KåfËr Sul†ånÈ, Mubårak Shåh KhaljÈ’s governor of Bayana.

until FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq (1351–88) built a monument over it. FÈrËz Shåh himself writes:105 ‫مقبرۀ ملک تاج الملک کافوری که وزیر بزرگ سلطان عالء الدین بود و عقل و کیاست وافر داشت و بسیارملک او‬ ‫گرفته بود که در آنجا پای اسپان بادشاهان ماضیه نه رفته بود و خطبۀ سلطان عالء الدین اظهار کرده بود و پنجاه و‬ ‫دو هزار سوار داشت مزار او به زمین برابر شده بود و مقبره پست گشته از سر مقبره تعمیر کنانیده شد که او دولت‬ ‫خواه حالل خوار بود‬ As to the tomb of Malik Tåj al-Mulk KåfËrÈ who had been the grand vizier of Sultan Alå al-dÈn, and had immense wisdom and intellect and had conquered many territories where the horses’ hooves of earlier sultans had never trodden, proclaiming the name of Sultan Alå al-dÈn there, and who had been master of fifty-two thousand cavalry, his grave had been levelled and his tomb neglected. A new tomb was constructed for him, as he was a faithful and true servant of the kingdom.

FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq, FutË˙åt-i FÈrËz ShåhÈ (Aligarh, 1954), p. 14; (tr.), Elliot, III, p. 384. Our translation is given.

105

41

42 BAYANA KåfËr Sul†ånÈ of Bayana must, therefore, be different from KåfËr Hizår DÈnårÈ. KåfËr, meaning camphor ­ – remarkable for its white colour – was a common name in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century India and might have been especially popular as a name for black slaves.106 Many personages of this name are known through history, amongst them three in the court of Mubårak Shåh KhaljÈ. One is Malik KåfËr of the haramserai (sultan’s harem) and another, known as Malik MughÈth al-dÈn KåfËrÈ, was a deputy vizier.107 The third is Malik KåfËr Muhr Dår (the keeper of the royal seal). It is this personage who was the governor of Bayana at this time as his position is clearly mentioned in his inscription over the entrance of the Ukhå Masjid.108 As for the other KåfËrs, Malik KåfËr of the haramserai must have been a eunuch in charge of the administration as well as the small legion of armed eunuchs of the harem. His position was central to the private life of the sultan and it is unlikely that he could have been appointed to a post outside the palace such as governorship of a region. The other, Malik MughÈth al-dÈn KåfËrÈ bears a title that indicates he was a man learned in religious matters. According to an old Persian proverb, still current: ‫‘( بر عکس نهند نام زنگی کافور‬in reverse they name a black man Camphor (KåfËr)’). The eleventh- to early twelfth-century poet of the Ghaznavid court, SanåÈ GhaznawÈ alludes to the saying:

106

‫ لیک رخشان سیه تر از عنبر‬

‫خادماننـد نـامشان کافـور‬

There are servants whose name is Camphor, but their faces are blacker than ambergris. The aphorism is used at least twice by Maulånå Jalål al-dÈn Mu˙ammad BalkhÈ (c. 1207–73), better known as MaulawÈ and RËmÈ: ‫مر اسیران را لقب کردند شاه عکس چون کافور نام آن سیاه‬ Slaves are often given the nickname ‘king’ in reverse, as with Camphor for the name of a black man ‫نیست اینها بر خدا اسم علم  که سیه کافور دارد نام هم‬ Not even the ‘Names of All Things’ applies to God, as they are many blacks who are called Camphor. Typical of Sufi writing the word alim in this verse has multiple meanings, including ‘knowledge’ and ‘the universe’, but it seems that Maulånå was also alluding to Quran, II, 29: .‫َي ٍء َعلِي ٌم‬ َ َ‫هُ َو الَّ ِذي َخل‬ ٍ ‫ض َج ِميعًا ثُ َّم ا ْستَ َو ٰى إِلَى ال َّس َما ِء فَ َسوَّاهُنَّ َس ْب َع َس َما َوا‬ ْ ‫ت َوهُ َو بِ ُكلِّ ش‬ ِ ْ‫ق لَ ُك ْم َما فِي ْالَر‬ It is He who created for you all that is in the earth, then He lifted Himself to heaven and levelled them seven heavens; and He has knowledge of everything. (Arberry, I, pp. 32–3) See Ali Akbar Dehkhoda, Amthål wa ˙ikam (18 vols), I, 6th edn (Tehran, 1363/1984), p. 423. There is, however, no concrete indication in the historical sources that KåfËr Hizår DÈnårÈ was of African origin. 107 BarnÈ (Pers.), pp. 379–80; not translated in Elliot. 108 Appendix I, inscription No. 11. The confusion about the identity of Malik KåfËr is a result of the failure of Cunningham and Yazdani to decipher the inscription fully; otherwise they would have noted his title given in the text.

TWO: history

Malik KåfËr Muhr Dår remained active in the political arena even after Mubårak Shåh was assassinated and the pretender Khusrau Khån’s short rule ended, as when Ghiyåth al-dÈn Tughluq (1320–5) took the throne of Delhi, he retained most of the loyal trusted nobles of the KhaljÈ court, including Malik KåfËr Muhr Dår. He entered the service of the sultan’s son Malik JËnå (later Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq) and when JËnå was in DÈvgÈr (Daulatabad) together with a few other courtiers, including one Ubaid the poet, KåfËr entered into a conspiracy to eliminate Ghiyåth al-dÈn and enthrone JËnå. The conspiracy failed, Malik JËnå – who was himself involved – denied any association with the conspirators and on the order of his father captured Malik KåfËr, Ubaid and many others and sent them to Delhi. They were all hanged in the town square of SÈrÈ, the town built near old Delhi by Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ which was still the capital at that time.109 The governors of Bayana during the reign of Ghiyåth al-dÈn Tughluq are not known, but a governor under his son Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq seems to have been one Tamur (or Taman) Mu˙ammad Afghån BaghlÈ, whose tomb, dated 1 RabÈ I, 730/23 December 1329, stood in Hindaun,110 but was demolished at the time of Partition. The tomb’s inscription has, however, survived, giving his titles as Malik-i MulËk-i Sharq (prince of the princes of the Orient) and GhåzÈ (holy warrior), the first being a high-ranking title reserved for commanders and courtiers close to the sultan, and also borne by Nußrat Khån. The second title alludes to bravery in battle against the ‘infidels’.111 The tomb constructed by Tamur Mu˙ammad’s wife SamrË, daughter of MandË Afghån, provides the first record of Afghan families in the Bayana region. Hindaun, 38 km south-west of Bayana, was listed in the ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ as one of the towns of Bayana and other inscriptions in Hindaun show that it had been within this region since earlier times. Although the inscription does not give the position of Tamur Mu˙ammad, it would be unlikely for a personage of his rank to operate and die in the region unless he was the governor (muq†i). It was during the reign of Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq that Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Plate 6.2) visited Bayana at some time during Íafar–RabÈ I, 743/July–August 1342, early in his long and adventurous journey as an emissary from Delhi to China. As usual with Ibn Ba††Ë†a, his account is brief but gives an insight into the town and the affairs of some of its personalities, including two of its governors:112

BarnÈ (Pers.), pp. 448–9; (tr.), III, pp. 232–3. Appendix, inscription No. 12. The name is not entirely clear in the ink rubbing of the inscription. In the publications the name is deciphered as Taman, which is not a known word, but could be a misreading of the word Tamur (which could also be pronounced as Tamar or TimËr), a variation of TÈmËr and a common Turkish and Afghan name current in this period. See, for example, Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 470, 476; II, pp. 15–18; TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 43, 45, 85; not translated in Elliot. 111 The title is also sometimes given posthumously if the person is killed in a battle against a nonMuslim army, but on such occasions the word shahÈd (martyr) is usually added, which in this inscription is not the case. 112 Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Arab.), pp. 542–5; (tr.), IV, pp. 774–5. The authors’ translation is given here. 109 110

43

44 BAYANA ‫و عین السلطان للسفر معي بهذه الهدیة األمیر ظهیر ال ّدین الزنجاني و هو من فضالء أهل العلم و الفتی کافور‬ ‫الشرابدار و إلیه سلمت الهدیة و بعث معنا األمیر محمد الهروي في ألف فارس لیوصلنا إلی الموضع الذي نرکب منه‬ ‫البحر و توجه صحبتنا أرسال ملک الصین و هم خمسة عشر رجالً یسمی کبیرهم تُرسي و ُخدامهم نحو مائة رجل و‬ ‫انفصالنا في جمع کبیر و محلة عظیمة و أمر لنا السلطان بالضیافة مدة سفرنا ببالده و کان سفرنا في السابع عشر لشهر‬ ‫صفر سنة ثالث و اربعین… فکان نزولنا في أوّل مرحلة بمنزل ْتلبَت علی مسافة فرسخین و ثلث من حضرة دهلي و‬ ‫رحلنا منه إلی منزل أو و رحلنا منه إلی منزل هیلو و رحلنا منه إلی مدینة بیانه مدینة کبیرة حسنة البناء ملیحة األسواق‬ ‫و مسجدها الجامع من أبدع المساجد و حیطانه و سقفه حجارة و األمیر بها مظفّر بن الدایة و اُمه هي دایة السلطان و‬ ‫کان بها الملک مجیر بن أبي الرجاء أحد کبراء الملوک و قد تقدم ذکره و هو ینتسب في قریش و فیه تجیر و له ظلم‬ ‫کثیر قتل من أهل هذه المدینة جملة و مثل بکثیر منهم و لقد رأیت من أهلها رجالً حسن الهیئة قاعداً في أسطوان منزله‬ ‫و هو مقطوع الیدین و الرجلین و قدم السلطان مرة علی هذه المدینة فتشکی الناس من الملک مجیر المذکور فأمر‬ ‫السلطان بالقبض علیه و جُعلت في عنقه الجامعة و کان یقعد بالدیوان بین یدي الوزیر و أهل البلد یکتبون علیه المظالم‬ ‫فأمر السلطان بارضائهم فأرضاهم باألموال ثم قتله بعد ذلک و من کبار أهل هذه المدینه اإلمام العالم عز ال ّدین الزبیري‬ ‫من ذریة الزبیر بن العوام رضي هللا عنه أحد کبار الفقهاء الصلحاء لقیته بکالیور عند الملک عزال ّدین البناتي المعروف‬ .‫بأعظم ملک‬ For this journey the sultan appointed AmÈr ÛahÈr al-dÈn ZanjånÈ, a learned man, and KåfËr the wine-bearer who was in charge of the presents, and also ordered AmÈr Mu˙ammad HirawÈ to escort us with one thousand cavalry up to the coast. The nobles of China who were fifteen and whose principal was called TursÈ together with approximately one hundred of their servants also accompanied us. In this manner with a multitude of companions we travelled as a large camp and the sultan ordered that we should be hosted in every town of the land that we passed through. We began our journey on the seventeenth Íafar of the year forty-three … The first stage that we arrived was Tilbat (or Tilbut), which was two leagues and a third from Delhi, from there we travelled to Au and to HÈlau113 and then to Bayana. It is a great city and has fine buildings and attractive bazaars, and its Jåmi is one of the finest mosques, with walls and ceilings all of stone. The governor is MuΩaffar b. Dåya, whose mother was the nurse (dåya) of the sultan. Before him (AmÈr MuΩaffar) the governorship was in the hands of Malik MujÈr b. AbÈ al-Rajå who was one of the more exalted nobles of the court and we have already mentioned him. Malik MujÈr claimed to be related to the Quraish clan114 and was a cruel and callous man who had killed many people of the town and mutilated many others. In the town I saw a well-proportioned man, whose arms and both legs had been mutilated, sitting in the front colonnade of his house. When the sultan arrived at the town people protested against Malik MujÈr. The Sultan ordered him to be arrested, put his neck in a chain and sat him in the royal court (dÈwån) next to the Vizier. The people of the town submitted their complaints in writing and the sultan ordered that he (Malik MujÈr) should appease them by paying them riches. The sultan then ordered him to be executed. Amongst the noblemen of this town is the Probably Aul and HÈlak of the ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ. The clan of the family of the Prophet at Mecca.

113 114

TWO: history

learned Imåm Izz al-dÈn ZubairÈ, a descendant of Zubair b. al-Awåm, may God be pleased with him, who is amongst the outstanding theologians (fuqahå) and pious men. I met him in Gwalior115 in the company of Malik Izz al-dÈn BantånÈ known as AΩam Malik. Ibn Ba††Ë†a’s description elucidates a number of points. The route from Delhi to Bayana could be covered in three stages, two of which were apparently in the Bayana territory. In other words, the boundaries of the Bayana territory were only one stage away from the vicinity of the capital. This is confirmed by the inscriptions of Kaman and explains the Delhi sultans’ concern over maintaining firm control of the region and choosing loyal courtiers or close relations as its governors. Ibn Ba††Ë†a describes Bayana as a city (madÈna) not a town (qaßaba) and mentions that it was large and had several bazaars (aswåq). The extent of the built area must indeed have been impressive to prompt someone who had seen the great cities of the world from Cordoba to Cairo, Delhi and Beijing to call Bayana a ‘great city’ (madÈna kabÈra). It seems, however, that he stayed only in the town of Bayana and did not visit the Tahangar fort – which is not visible from the town ­– otherwise he might have at least mentioned it in passing. It is difficult to believe that the imposing fortification and its majestic setting over the hill would escape the attention of visitors. From Bayana the company went north-east towards Kul (Aligarh), and on this route the fort on the western hills would have been out of sight. The fine Jåmi or congregational mosque must be the complex of the Ukhå MandÈr mosque and its extension the Ukhå Masjid (Figures 4.5–4.7, Plates 2.5 and 4.33–4.40), which had been built only twenty-three years before Ibn Ba††Ë†a’s visit. The airy interior with its plain but finely carved red sandstone is impressive even today. His description should not therefore be seen as an exaggeration. The bazaars and other buildings of this period, have, however, all disappeared. Ibn Ba††Ë†a also mentions two of the religious personages from Bayana who resided elsewhere and two of the governors: Malik MuΩaffar and Malik MujÈr. The first is little known. BarnÈ does not list a MuΩaffar amongst the nobles of the court,116 but in the turbulent years at the end of the sultan’s reign, sometime after 754/1353–4, one Malik MuΩaffar is mentioned as having been appointed to help Shaikh Muizz al-dÈn, the governor of Gujarat, control the region.117 The rebels, however, captured the governor and killed Malik MuΩaffar. There is no other information to establish whether or not this Malik is the same as MuΩaffar b. Dåya. Here Ibn Ba††Ë†a may have made a slip, as he mentions elsewhere, (Ar.), p. 557; (tr.), IV, p. 791, that he met Izz al-dÈn al-ZubairÈ, together with WajÈh al-dÈn al-BayånÈ, another religious personage from Bayana, in Chanderi in the company of Malik Izz al-dÈn al-BanatånÈ, who was the governor of this region. 116 BarnÈ (Pers.), pp. 454–5; not translated in Elliot. 117 Ibid. (Pers.), pp. 515–16; for the date see p. 507; (tr.), p. 259; TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 112; not translated in Elliot. 115

45

46 BAYANA

Plate 2.6  Ibn Ba††u†a and a servant, details of an engraving published in 1878 from a painting by the French artist and illustrator Léon Bennet (1839–1917) in Jules Verne, Les Grands voyages et les grands voyageurs: Découverte de la Terre (J. Hetzel) Paris, 1878, p. 81 (in public domain).

Malik MujÈr, on the other hand is well known as a right-hand man of Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq.118 Ibn Ba††Ë†a119 gives Malik MujÈr’s position in the royal processions as being side by side with the vizier and Malik KabÈr QabËla and just behind the sultan’s close relatives, including the chamberlain, Malik FÈrËz (later FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq), who followed the royal standards. Elsewhere120 he mentions Ghiyåth al-dÈn Dåmghån Shåh (one of Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq’s rebellious commanders who later entertained Ibn Ba††Ë†a as the independent sultan of Mabar) as being Shams-i Siråj (Pers.), pp. 451–4, gives a very different story about the execution of Malik MujÈr, mentioning that he was beheaded in Delhi on the order of Malik KabÈr, who then wrote to the sultan with the news. However, the historian, writing a generation later than Ibn Ba††Ë†a, mentions that he had only heard the story. The passage is not translated in Elliot. See (tr.), III, p. 373. 119 Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), p. 469; (tr.), III, pp. 664–5. 120 Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), p. 607; (tr.), IV, p. 858. 118

TWO: history

originally amongst the cavalry of Malik MujÈr. At the beginning of the reign of Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq, Bahå al-dÈn Gushtåsb, a nephew of Ghiyåth al-dÈn Tughluq, did not accept Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq’s sovereignty. Malik MujÈr and Khwåja Jahån, the vizier, were sent against Gushtåsb and after several battles captured him and had him brutally murdered on the sultan’s orders.121 In 729/1328–9, well before MujÈr was made governor of Bayana, the sultan put him in charge of the reconstruction of the fort of KulåpËr.122 BarnÈ123 mentions Malik MujÈr together with a few other commanders as people who knew little except the killing of fellow Muslims and whose brutality contributed to the decline of the Tughluq empire. After the name of Malik MujÈr the historian adds: ‘May one hundred thousand curses of God be upon him’. Finally, Ibn Ba††Ë†a mentions that Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq himself spent some time in the town and took an interest in it and its people. Visits to Bayana by the Delhi sultans are not usually noted, but Bayana’s proximity and position on the route to the southern provinces indicate that it would have been a routine stopping point, but this was recorded only in the context of other events, as, for example, when Shams-i Siråj124 records Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq’s successor, FÈrËz Shåh pausing in Bayana: ‫سواري شکار سمت دولت آباد کرد و بدان جانب‬ ‫نقل است حضرت فیروز شاه بعد از آمدن از مهم لکهنوتي اتفاق‬ ٔ ‫رخ آورد راویان محقق و شارحان مدقق برین مورخ ضعیف شمس سراج عفیف روایت کرده و برین نوع باز نموده‬ ‫که حضرت شاه فیروز مستعد شده تمام حشم و کل خدم ده یازده ها یافته سلطان فیروز با دو دهلیز و دو بارگاه و دو‬ ‫خوابگاه و با مراتب و حشم جانب دولت آباد روان شد بکوچ متواتر تا بهیانه رسید در حد بهیانه قدری آرمید سبب‬ .‫مصلحت ِملکي بالهام َملکي عنان مراجعت سمت دهلی گردانید‬ It is narrated that after returning from LakhnautÈ His Majesty FÈrËz Shåh decided on riding to hunt in the vicinity of Daulatabad and turned towards that direction. Knowledgeable reporters and scrupulous commentators informed this humble historian, Shams-i Siråj-i AfÈf, 125 and narrated in this manner, that His royal Majesty FÈrËz prepared the entire army and all the servants who had received positions of (heading) tens and elevens (dah-yåzdah-hå yåfta). Sultan FÈrËz, accompanied by sets (of tents) for two administrative courts (dihlÈz)126 and two royal courts (bårgåh) and two sleeping tents, together with all ­administrative Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), pp. 495–6; (tr.), III, p. 710. TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 101; not translated in Elliot. 123 BarnÈ (Pers.), p. 472; not translated in Elliot. 124 Shams-i Siråj (Pers.), p. 185. Elliot (tr.), III, p. 317, gives only a summary, missing out the details of the royal camp and what the text implies. 125 The historian emphasises that he was not accompanying the sultan and his army on this campaign. 126 DihlÈz means a vestibule, or the area between two gates or the gate and the palace. The chambers in this area were occupied by guards, scribes and administrative personnel. The organisation of the royal camp was similar to that of a palace and here the historian uses the terms associated with a palace. 121 122

47

48 BAYANA personnel and the army, went towards Daulatabad. He travelled briskly from one stage to another until he reached Bhayåna. In the vicinity of Bhayåna he rested for a while and with a divine vision concerning the prudent care of the country he returned to Delhi. Shams-i Siråj’s account is a carefully worded understatement regarding an aborted military campaign. FÈrËz Shåh’s pragmatic decision in Bayana was a characteristic but key resolution that shaped his reign and confirmed the already altered map of Muslim India. As the affair of Malik MujÈr had shown, Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq’s hectic maladministration and mistreatment of his army commanders had resulted in rebellion in most provinces of the empire, with the governors declaring themselves independent sultans. The most extreme situation was in the south: in Mabar Alå al-dÈn A˙san Shåh had declared his independence, while in the Deccan Óasan GångË had taken the throne as Alå al-dÈn Bahman Shåh and established the BahmanÈ dynasty. To suppress rebellion Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq’s final years had been spent in vain on the battleground until he eventually died of illness during his campaign in Sind and FÈrËz Shåh came to power. The sultan’s ‘hunting expedition’ to the vicinity of Daulatabad was a fully-fledged military campaign on the Deccan and perhaps beyond. At Bayana he had to come to a decision: either to return and part with more than half the empire – and its revenues – keeping only the territories of northern and western India, or risk years on the battlefield trying to pull the empire together, with no guarantee of success. FÈrËz Shåh settled on the former, returned to Delhi and enjoyed a long, prosperous and peaceful reign. His architectural and engineering achievements mark most regions of northern India, but in Bayana none of his monuments survive. The only reminiscence of his reign is a fragmentary inscription127 found on the site of a large platform (B.42) with two chatrÈ tombs nearby, north of the town of Bayana. The platform is said to be the site of a mosque, but little remains to establish the true function of the original building. With the death of FÈrËz Shåh the Delhi sultanate declined rapidly. A number of sultans succeeded one another, each supported by rival courtiers and regional governors. Bayana’s position is not very clear, but none of the histories mention a rebellion or disruption in the region and is likely that it remained part of the Tughluq sultanate. An epitaph128 of this period is found in Hindaun recording the death of the wife of BÈr Khån TurmatÈ on 6 Shabån 791/31 July 1389. The date corresponds with the reign of Sultan Mu˙ammad Shåh b. FÈrËz Shåh, and the khan must have been a nobleman of the court and was perhaps the regional governor. The only noble with a similar name known in this period is BÈr Khån Afghån129 who was appointed by FÈrËz Shåh as governor of Bihar in 779/1377–8, some twelve Appendix I, inscription No. 13. Appendix I, inscription No. 14. 129 TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 133; (tr.), IV, p. 13. The TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ is an account of the court of Mubårak Shåh Sayyid (824–38/1421–34) and is contemporary with post-Timurid events. 127 128

TWO: history

years earlier than the date of the epitaph. It is possible he was transferred to the region of Bayana later in the reign of FÈrËz Shåh or by his son Mu˙ammad Shåh. An illustration of the epigraph or a transcription of the text has not been published and the reading cannot be verified, but TurmatÈ could be a misreading for TirmizÈ relating to the town of Tirmidh (Termez), north of Balkh in Khuråsån (now in Uzbekistan on the border with Afghanistan). If this were so they might be one and the same person. A few years later in Shabån 797/June 1395, the last Tughluq sultan, Nåßir al-dÈn Ma˙mËd Shåh, went to Bayana with his chamberlain Abd al-RashÈd Saådat Khån on a campaign towards Gwalior.130 The campaign was, however, aborted as the sultan had to return to Delhi to put down a rebellion which led to a split in the House of Tughluq and left two kings in Delhi: Ma˙mËd Shåh, in the old city, and Nußrat Shåh ­– a grandson of FÈrËz Shåh – in FÈrËzåbåd, FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq’s capital at Delhi. Amongst the leaders of the rebellion was one MallË or MalË, who eventually changed his alliance again, returned to Ma˙mËd Shåh’s camp, received the title of Iqbål Khån and was put in charge of the old Delhi capital, SÈrÈ.131 For the next decade he played an important role in the political arena of northern India and Bayana. Tīmūr’s Invasion and the Rise of the Auḥadīs The split in the House of Tughluq and continuous fighting between the two camps reduced the power of Delhi to a small neighbouring region, and according to the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ ‘the emirs and the governors of all regions were ruling independently as kings’.132 It is at this time that Shams Khån Au˙adÈ took over control of Bayana.133 Little is known about Shams Khån prior to this period. The historical sources are silent about his character, but his name appears first in the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ with the title khån and the narrative alludes to him as being already the governor of the region, before pursuing independence. Our knowledge, however, comes from the epigraphs of the family. While there is no epigraphic record from Shams Khån himself, two inscriptions record the lineage of the Au˙adÈ khans of Bayana.134 These inscriptions are on the minaret of DåwËd Khån in the fort of Bayana and we shall discuss the khan and the minaret later, but the inscriptions themselves are central to our knowledge of the family. One of the inscriptions is in two lines on a lintel over the door of the minaret135

132 133 134

Ibid. (Pers.), pp. 156, 158; (tr.), IV, p. 30. According to this source Abd al-RashÈd was a royal slave. Ibid. (Pers.), p. 160; (tr.), IV, p. 31; Firishta (Pers.), I, pp. 154–5; (tr.), I, p. 479. TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 160–1, also see p. 168; (tr.), IV, pp. 31, 36–7. Ibid. (Pers.), p. 169; (tr.), IV, pp. 37–8; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 159; (tr.), I, p. 498. With the help of the Au˙adÈ inscriptions and passages in the historical sources we have been able to establish a genealogy of the Au˙adÈ khans, given in Appendix II. 135 Appendix I, inscription No. 22. 130 131

49

50 BAYANA and the other in one line running on a string course at the top of the first tier.136 Combining the similar texts we arrive at the information that the minaret was built in 861/1456–7 by: ‫مسند عالی و منصب معالی خان جهان تهمتن کیهان ناصر لواء الشریعة هادم ارکان البدعة کامل العز و الوقار شاطر‬ ‫الستم و االعتساف و قامع الفجره و المشرکین [ما] نع الکفره و المتمردین قاهر اعدا د[یـ] ن و دولة حافظ اولیاء ملک‬ ‫و ملت سراج الدولت و الدین اعظم همایون داود خان بن مسند عالی محمد خان بن مسند عالی اوحد خان بن مسند‬ ‫عالی معین خان بن شمس االولیاء صدیقی المعروف باالوحدی‬ Masnad-i ÅlÈ and (the holder of) the most eminent position, the Khån of the world, the hero of the universe, the defender of the banner of the faith, the obliterator of the pillars of schism, perfect in glory and modesty, smasher of tyranny and oppression and subduer of fornication and the infidels, prohibiter of blasphemy and rebellion, conqueror of the enemies of the Faith and the state, protector of the dominion and the people, illuminator of the state and religion, the supremely fortunate DåwËd Khån son of Masnad-i ÅlÈ Mu˙ammad Khån son of Masnad-i ÅlÈ Au˙ad Khån son of Masnad-i ÅlÈ MuÈn Khån, son of Shams al-Auliyå ÍiddÈqÈ known as Au˙adÈ. From the text of the inscriptions it is clear that DåwËd Khån’s great-grandfather was MuÈn Khån ÍiddÈqÈ,137 who was also known as Au˙adÈ. Although the inscriptions do not mention Shams Khån, they mention MuÈn Khån as the father of Au˙ad Khån who, as we shall see, was probably a brother or a nephew of Shams Khån. MuÈn Khån, together with all other ruling khans, is mentioned with the title Masnad-i ÅlÈ (lit. sublime seat/sublime presence) – a high-ranking title reserved for the most trusted Tughluq commanders.138 It was later adopted by the autonomous regional governors such as the independent khans of Nagaur139 contemporaries of the Au˙adÈs. It is not certain whether the title was given to MuÈn Khån by a Tughluq sultan or was affixed to his name posthumously by his successors, who also adopted the title for themselves. Nevertheless, the title khan alone leaves little doubt that MuÈn was in the service of the court and was probably posted as governor of Bayana sometime earlier. In the inscription Appendix I, inscription No. 24. The word ßiddÈqÈ (relating to a faithful witness of the truth) and the word ßadÈqÈ (relating to a sincere friend) are written similarly and are usually indistinguishable, but in the inscription around the minaret the kasra under ßåd and tashdÈd over dål leave little doubt that the name was ÍiddÈqÈ. 138 In this period, for example, Khi∂r Khån, the Tughluq governor of Multan who after TÈmËr’s invasion took the throne of Delhi, bore the title. See TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 161; (tr.), IV, p. 32 (the translation omits the title). 139 See, for example, the title of Mujåhid Khån in an inscription of 2 Rama∂ån 865/11 June 1461, in Z. A. Desai, ‘Inscriptions of the Khånzådas of Nagaur’, EIAPS (1970), pp. 28–9; CII, p. 70; and that of FÈrËz Khån in his inscription of 874/1469–70 in M. A. Chaghtai, ‘Some Inscriptions from Jodhpur State’, EIM (1949–50), pp. 21–2; CII, p. 65. 136 137

TWO: history

around the shaft the father of MuÈn Khån is recorded as Shams al-Auliyå ÍiddÈqÈ. We might assume that Shams al-Auliyå is the same as Shams Khån, but Shams al-Auliyå (the sun of the guardians of the faith) is a religious rather than a court title. The chronology and other known factors also make it difficult to conclude with certainty that these personages are the same. It is probable that Shams Khån was a son of Shams al-Auliyå ÍiddÈqÈ and his name reflects his father’s title. It is also worthy of attention that the head of the Au˙adÈ family was a religious personage.140 If he were one of the many shaikhs of Bayana – for whom the town had a reputation since the fourteenth century – it might explain the local support for the family, which retained its position of power for nearly a century. In the list of the religious accomplishments of DåwËd Khån an ambiguous phrase stands out. Just after the mention of nåßir liwåy al-sharÈa (the defender of the banner of the faith) and before a list of his efforts to uproot the evils of infidelity comes the phrase hådim arkån al-bida (obliterator of the pillars of schism). This is a Sunni expression for purging the spread of Shi’ite doctrine. The inscription, therefore, indicates that the Au˙adÈs themselves and the general Muslim population of Bayana were Sunni, but that Shi’ite elements were also present there at this time and were perhaps resented by the dominant sect. We shall see that at least from the fifteenth century Shi’ite ideology had been spreading in Bayana, if not on a great scale, at least amongst the community of the Sufi shaikhs and their followers. The phrase ‘pillars of schism’ seems to allude to the Shi’ite leaders of Bayana, who, if we take the inscription literally, must have been banished by the khan. However, in a Muslim community the influence and power of religious leaders often exceeds that of the ruler. In the case of DåwËd Khån, it might be safer to assume that, unless his claim in the inscription is nothing more than hollow rhetoric, he could perhaps have attempted to curtail their proselytising. Later events show that the Shi’ite element not only survived in Bayana, but gained popularity, eventually leading to the appearance of a Mahdi. In 801/1398–9, TÈmËr, taking advantage of the disintegration of the power of the Delhi sultanate, invaded northern India meeting little resistance. Iqbål Khån confronted TÈmËr near Delhi, but was defeated and Delhi was sacked.141 Ma˙mËd Shåh escaped to Gujarat and Iqbål Khån to the village of Baran (now Bulandshahr). Whoever was left in Delhi was captured, and apart from Khi∂r Khån all other nobles and courtiers were put to death or confined. In the same year, TÈmËr left India leaving Khi∂r Khån as governor of Sind, Multan and DÈbålpËr. Iqbål Khån The name Au˙adÈ may indicate that the family were followers of a certain Sufi shaikh with a similar name. There were a number of such shaikhs, but amongst them the most distinguished was Abi’l-Fakhr Shaikh Au˙ad al-dÈn KirmånÈ, known as Au˙adÈ KirmånÈ (d. 637/1239–40), whose teachings, as we shall see, were well known in India and particularly amongst the religious personages of Bayana. For a brief description of the shaikh’s life, see Khwand MÈr, TårÈkh-i ÓabÈb al-Siyar (Pers.), III, pp. 116, 220–1. For a bibliography of the shaikh’s work and related material, see Dehkhoda, Loghat-náma, under Au˙adÈ KirmånÈ. 141 Memoirs of TÈmËr known as MalfËΩåt-i TÈmËrÈ or TuzËk-i TÈmËrÈ (tr.), Elliot, III, pp. 438–48; TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 166–7; (tr.), IV, p. 35; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 158; (tr.), I, p. 493. 140

51

52 BAYANA eventually returned to Delhi and encouraged people who had escaped the city at the time of the invasion to return and resettle. While the powerless Ma˙mËd nominally remained as sultan, Iqbål Khån was the man who really held power in Delhi. Elsewhere other governors declared their independence, leading to the establishment of the sultanates of Gujarat, Jaunpur and Målwa, but Bayana was too close to Delhi for Iqbål Khån to tolerate Shams Khån. In RabÈ I, 802/November 1399 Iqbål Khån marched against Bayana and Shams Khån, was defeated on the battlefield, retreated to the town losing only two elephants.142 A year later Iqbål Khån first made an alliance with Shams Khån, but later captured him by stratagem and put him to death.143 A fragmentary inscription of Iqbål Khån144 in Bayana dated 803/1400–1 not only throws light on the history of the town, but also on the history of northern India during this chaotic period. According to the inscription, the confusion and hardship created by TÈmËr’s invasion led to the desertion of the town of Bayana and the flight of the population to its fort. The name of the reigning sultan is given as Nåßir al-dÈn Ma˙mËd Shåh and the inscription also seems to state that after peace was re-established through the efforts of Iqbål Khån the town was rehabilitated and mosques and other buildings reconstructed. In this inscription the name of the fort is given as Tahångarh, which, as already discussed, leaves no doubt that the fort was still known by its old name, even if by this time the Muntakhab altawårÈkh, perhaps erroneously, associates the name with the fort at Garh, leading Cunningham and others astray. TÈmËr did not actually attack Bayana, but his reputation for massacring local populations as he marched could have caused people to take the precaution, usual at the time, of moving to strongholds or dispersing and hiding in villages. It is also possible that the depopulation was caused by Iqbål Khån himself as a result of his conflict with and assassination of Shams Khån. The inscription, however, indicates that at the time of writing Iqbål Khån was still acknowledging Ma˙mËd Shåh as the sovereign and implies that Iqbål Khån must have gone to Bayana himself, taking some trouble to reassure the population of his good intentions and their safety under his protection – a strategy he had used to good effect in Delhi after TÈmËr. This is the only reference to the deployment of elephants in battles by the khans of Bayana. As we have already seen, Abu’l-Fa∂l, in the ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ, records that Bayana and its region did not provide elephants as part of their tribute to the court. As discussed in Chapter 3, the surviving gates of Bayana fort are unusual in being too small for the easy passage of elephants with or without howdahs. The present gates could date from later reconstruction during the LodÈ period, but we may only assume that either the record of the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ is erroneous at this point or that elephants were employed in Bayana in earlier times although there are no other records of them. 143 TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 169–70; (tr.), IV, pp. 37–8; also see Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 272; (tr.), I, p. 359; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 159; (tr.), I, pp. 498–9, gives the date as 803. 144 Appendix I, inscription No. 15. 142

TWO: history

Iqbål Khån could not have stayed long in Bayana as a year later he was in Delhi, and for the next few years was engaged in perpetual struggle with other regional rulers. Eventually on 19 Jumådå I, 808/12 November 1405, he was killed on the battlefield fighting the army of Khi∂r Khån.145 Some years later, in 815/1412–13, Ma˙mËd Shåh died and on RabÈ I, 817/23 May 1414 Khi∂r Khån took over Delhi, declaring himself sultan and establishing the Sayyid dynasty.146 From the death of Shams Khån in 803/1400–1, for over fifteen years the histories are silent regarding the affairs of Bayana, but later accounts make it clear that the area remained in the hands of the Au˙adÈ family. In 819/1416–17, Khi∂r Khån sent a force under the command of his vizier Malik Tåj al-Mulk Tu˙fa against Gwalior and according to the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ – a contemporary account of the court of Delhi – ‘in the vicinity of Bayana he met Malik KarÈm al-Mulk, the brother of Shams Khån Au˙adÈ and then marched towards Gwalior’.147 The campaign against Gwalior was fruitless (Plate 2.7) and Tåj al-Mulk, on his way to Delhi, returned to Bayana receiving tributes from KarÈm al-Mulk.148 Whatever the intentions of Tåj al-Mulk may have been, it is clear that he did not engage with KarÈm al-Mulk, virtually accepting his autonomy. In the inscription giving the genealogy of the Au˙adÈs, KarÈm al-Mulk is not mentioned and apart from being a brother of Shams Khån his relationship with the later khans of the family is not entirely certain.149 KarÈm al-Mulk (provider of benefit for the dominion) is a title and not a name. Cunningham150 suggests that KarÈm al-Mulk must be the same as Au˙ad Khån b. MuÈn Khån. This is not entirely unlikely as an inscription of the time of Au˙ad Khån151 has been found in the TaletÈ Masjid in the fort dated Rama∂ån 823/September–October 1420, only four years after this event. If we accept Cunningham’s suggestion we should conclude that KarÈm al-Mulk could have succeeded his brother after his assassination and with the turbulent situation at Delhi might have remained in control of the region without any outside challenge. With the unification of Delhi under Khi∂r Khån, it is possible that Tåj al-Mulk was sent to subjugate the khan, as implied by the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ, but by this time he must have been strong enough to persuade Tåj al-Mulk to accept some tribute and leave the region without a confrontation. TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 174; (tr.), IV, p. 40; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 160; (tr.), I, p. 502. 146 TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 180–1; (tr.), IV, pp. 44–5; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 161 (tr.), I, p. 505. 147 TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 185; (tr.), IV, p. 48. 148 TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 186; (tr.), IV, p. 49; Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 287; (tr.), I, p. 378; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 162; (tr.), I, p. 509. 149 See Appendix II. 150 ASIR, XX, p. 63. 151 Appendix I, inscription No. 16. 145

53

54 BAYANA

Plate 2.7  The fort of Gwalior, from inside the main gate. Relying on their impregnable fort, the rajas of Gwalior kept their independence in most periods of Muslim dominance, and whenever forced to they submitted nominally to the sultanate of Delhi, but kept their autonomy. The Au˙adÈs of Bayana and rajas of Gwalior avoided confronting each other and focused on repelling threats from Delhi.

The historical accounts, however, do not readily confirm Cunningham’s proposition. It might be argued that there is nothing surprising in Au˙ad Khån’s name not being mentioned in this passage of the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ, as in this and other sources the personages are often referred to only by their titles. It could also be said that the reason that KarÈm al-Mulk is not mentioned as a khan might indicate that this title, not bestowed by the court of Delhi, was not acknowledged there. However, elsewhere in the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ, quoted below, Au˙ad Khån is mentioned by his name and title regarding the affairs of his son and the historian does not give any allusion to Au˙ad Khån being the same as KarÈm al-Mulk. It seems, therefore, probable that KarÈm al-Mulk was a different personage of the Au˙adÈ family. In this case we may consider that he must have died sometime between 819 and 823 and have been succeeded by Au˙ad Khån, who could have been KarÈm al-Mulk’s son or nephew. If the former were the case we might assume that KarÈm al-Mulk was the title of MuÈn Khån, and in the latter case that KarÈm al-Mulk was a brother of Shams Khån and MuÈn Khån who succeeded one another. The inscription of the TaletÈ Masjid does not acknowledge any sultan and gives the name of the ruler as the Great Khån (khån-i kabÈr) Au˙ad Khån. It also records

TWO: history

that the mosque and a well were constructed out of the wealth of an exalted prince (malik-i muaΩΩam) whose name is not clear.152 His title, however, shows that by this time the Au˙adÈs had their own pseudo-royal court and bestowed titles on their courtiers. Other inscriptions of the Au˙adÈs also give the name of additional maliks. In 824/1421 Khi∂r Khån embarked on another campaign towards the south,153 first against the region of MÈwåt154 to the north of Bayana and then against Gwalior. Early during the campaign and on 8 Mu˙arram/13 January, Malik Tåj al-Mulk died and his position was given to his eldest son Sikandar. The sultan continued to march towards Gwalior, but apparently avoided a confrontation with Bayana, as there is no mention of one in the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ or in Firishta. The raja of Gwalior once again took refuge in his fort, and the sultan confined himself to ransacking the region. He suddenly fell ill and hurried back to Delhi but died on his arrival there on 17 Jumådå I 824/20 May 1421. Au˙ad Khån died a few months later – on the fourteenth hour of Saturday, 15 Rama∂ån 824/13 September 1421, according to his epitaph.155 If he is the same person as KarÈm al-Mulk he must have ruled in Bayana for twenty-one years, and if he were a successor of KarÈm al-Mulk for between one to five years. Au˙ad Khån’s mausoleum (Figure III.11, Plates 2.8, III.11a–b)156 is an impressive chatrÈ with twelve finely carved columns in a graveyard north of the town of Bayana. The dated tombstone – disturbed but still in situ until the 1980s – has since been removed and its whereabouts is unknown. Au˙ad Khån’s successor was apparently his brother Mubårak Khån, who must have ruled for over a year, but was murdered by Au˙ad Khån’s son perhaps in 825 or 826. The report of the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ is brief but informative:157 ‫ت گوالیر عزیمت فرمود چون نزدیک‬ ِ ‫در سنۀ ست و عشرین و ثمانمائه … خداوند عالم … با لشکرهای قاهره سم‬ ‫اعلی بغي ورزیده‬ ‫اودر خود را بغدر کشته بود از رایات‬ ‫خطۀ بیانه رسید پسر اوحد خان امیر بیانه مبارکخان‬ ٰ ِ ‫اعلی در دامن کو ِه مذکور نزول فرمود بعد مدتي پسر اوحد خان‬ ‫حصار بیانه خراب کرده باالی کوه بر آمد رایات‬ ٰ ‫ت‬ ‫سم‬ ‫آنجا‬ ‫از‬ ‫سعادت‬ ‫و‬ ‫بدولت‬ ‫اعلی‬ ‫رایات‬ ‫درآورد‬ ‫اطاعت‬ ‫ربقۀ‬ ‫در‬ ‫مذکور عاجز شد و مبلغی مال و خدمتی داده سر‬ ٰ ِ .‫گوالیر… نهضت کرد‬ In the year eight hundred and twenty-six … the Lord of the World (i.e., the sultan) … with his triumphant armies marched towards Gwalior. When he The inscription has been lost and the name of the emir is not clear in the published tracings and ink-rubbings; it is suggested to be TÈmËr or Mu˙taf, but the most probable reading is MuhtË, which also conforms to the meter of the verse. 153 TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 192; (tr.), IV, p. 53; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 163; (tr.), I, p. 512. 154 MÈwåt was the area bordering the south-west of Delhi with its major towns including Alwar, Andor, Sarheta and Tijara. In the post-Timurid period MÈwåt was also under the control of some semi-autonomous khans, reducing the power of the Delhi sultanate only to the region of Delhi and parts of the Punjab to the north. 155 Appendix I, inscription No. 17. 156 Appendix III, No 11. 157 TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 200–2; (tr.), IV, p. 60. 152

55

56 BAYANA

Plate 2.8  Bayana town, Tomb of Au˙ad Khån (B. 37). Although neglected and deteriorating rapidly, it is still one of the finest chatrÈ tombs in the region.

arrived near the region of Bayana Au˙ad Khån’s son, the Emir of Bayana who had killed his uncle Mubårak Khån, rebelled against His Majesty, destroyed the walls of Bayana and took up a position on the top of the hill. His Majesty camped at the foot of the hill. After some time the son of the said Au˙ad Khån was reduced to extremities, paid some riches and tribute and put his neck in the collar of obedience. His majesty departed for Gwalior with wealth and good fortune. In spite of the emphatic remarks by Ya˙yå b. A˙mad – Mubårak Shåh’s court historian – on the success of the sultan’s campaign, it is clear that, as with his predecessor, Mubårak Shåh Sayyid was unable to seize the fort and left Bayana without gaining the upper hand. If, as is claimed, the khan paid some tribute, it must have been nominal. The historian’s mention of the khan destroying the walls of Bayana must refer to the walls of the town, which was spread over the plain and difficult to defend. The khan, who took refuge in the fort, did not apparently want the enemy to use the town as a stronghold. In this passage the historian

TWO: history

does not mention the khan by name, and there is some uncertainty about his true identity. Firishta, writing at the time of the Mughal Emperor JahångÈr,158 using earlier sources, records Mubårak Shåh’s arrival near Bayana:159 ‫مبارک شاه … چون به بیانه رسید معلوم شد که امیر خان بن دا ُود خان بن شمس خان حاکم بیانه مبارک خان عموی‬ ‫خود را کشته و بیانه را خراب ساخته بقصد مخالفت باالی کوه متحصن شده است‬ When Mubårak Shåh arrived in Bayana it was revealed that AmÈr Khån b. DåwËd Khån b. Shams Khån had killed his uncle Mubårak Khån, destroyed Bayana and taken refuge as a rebel in the fort on the mountain. So far there has been no critical edition of the Persian text of Firishta, but from the published lithograph it is difficult to square up his account.160 If AmÈr Khån was the son of DåwËd Khån, and a grandson of Shams Khån, Mubårak Khån could not have been his uncle, but was probably his cousin. The account also contradicts the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ and others161 that the ruling khan was a son of Au˙ad Khån.162 If Firishta was not using a source unknown to us, we may assume that he might have used an erroneous manuscript of the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ, in which the phrase ‘the Emir of Bayana’ (the fief-holder of Bayana) might have been given as ‘AmÈr Khån of Bayana’. If this is the case we would still be in the dark as to the identity of DåwËd Khån b. Shams Khån, which cannot be verified through other sources. It seems, therefore, more reasonable to rely on the account of the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ – which is contemporary with the event, and the following passages quoted below which leave little doubt that ‘the son of Au˙ad Khån’ was the same as Mu˙ammad Khån.163 This account also confirms the Au˙adÈ’s own inscriptions already mentioned. It should also be noted that for the court of Delhi this event was relatively insignificant and the sultan could not have stayed in Bayana for long. His main concern was to defend his kingdom from Alap (or Alp) Khån, the Målwa sultan HËshang Shåh’s governor of Dahår, who had advanced as far as Gwalior, threatening Delhi. The TårÈkh-i Firishta was completed in 1015/1606–7. For the date of completion and a list of the sources used by the author (some of which are now lost), see Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 4; (tr.), I, xlvii–li. 159 Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 165; (tr.), I, p. 517. Our translation is given. In another passage AmÈr Khån is stated to be a brother of Mu˙ammad Khån. 160 Cunningham (ASIR, XX, 65), who did not have access to the original text of the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ, also seems to have been confused over this matter. He apparently follows the Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (noted below) in presuming AmÈr Khån to be the ruler of Bayana, a brother of Mu˙ammad Khån and a son of Au˙ad Khån b. MuÈn Khån. He ignores Firishta’s statement regarding AmÈr Khån’s father and grandfather. 161 Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, pp. 291–2; (tr.), I, p. 385, follows closely the account of Ya˙yå b. A˙mad, TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ and indicates that the ruler was a son of Au˙ad Khån. 162 Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 275, (tr.), I, pp. 305–6, gives the name of the khan as AmÈr Khån, but says that he was the son of Au˙ad Khån. 163 Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 165; (tr.), I, p. 519, states that Mu˙ammad Khån was a brother of AmÈr Khån and took his place after his death. 158

57

‫‪58 BAYANA‬‬ ‫‪The Au˙adÈ khan would have been aware of the situation and only needed to hold‬‬ ‫‪on to his fort and wait – which, it seems, is what he did.‬‬ ‫‪Three years later, when the affairs of Delhi were better settled a more confi‬‬‫‪dent Mubårak Shåh marched again to Bayana, this time determined to subjugate‬‬ ‫‪Mu˙ammad Khån. The events that followed determined the balance of power in‬‬ ‫‪the region for the next few generations:164‬‬ ‫محمد خان پسر اوحد خان امیر بیانه حصاری شده خلق بیانه را خراب کرده در حصاری که باالی کوه ساخته است‬ ‫ت کوه با لشکر منصور محاربه میکرد دوم ماه ربیع اآلخر سنة المذکور (‪ )٨٢٩‬لشکر‬ ‫بدوید و شانزده روز بق ّو ِ‬ ‫منصور مقابل محمد خان دهووه کرد خداوند عالم با لشکر جرّار و مردان نامدار از پس پشت دروازۀ کوه باال بر آمد‬ ‫چون پسر اوحد خان خبر یافت طاقت نتوانست آورد منهزم شده درون حصار در آمد چون پیشتر پیوستند محمد خان‬ ‫جمع خود تزلزلي و در قلعۀ خود تخلّلي دید دست و پای گم کرده بضرورت دستار در گلو انداخته‬ ‫اوحدی مذکور در‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫بشرف خاکبوس مشرّف گشت خدایگان گیتی مدار و پادشاه نوشیروان ِشعار‬ ‫و‬ ‫آمد‬ ‫بیرون‬ ‫در‬ ‫از‬ ‫ساخته‬ ‫و پای از سر‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫جنس نقود و نفایس و اسپ و اسلحه و رخت و کاال‬ ‫جان او را اماني و تنش را از سر جاني ارزاني فرمود آنچه از‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫اعلی چند روز در خطۀ مذکور‬ ‫بندگي رایات‬ ‫گردانید‬ ‫کش‬ ‫اسپان لشکر منصور پیش‬ ‫درون قلعه داشت بوجه نعل بهای‬ ‫ٰ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ٔ‬ ‫مقام ساخت خیل و تبار او از قلعۀ مذکور بیرون کشید و بحضرت فرستاد و برای سکونت ایشان کوشک جهان پناه‬ ‫اقطاع شق بیانه بحوالۀ ملک مقبل خاني بندۀ خویش گردانیده نیابت شق مذکور و پرگنۀ سیکری ملک‬ ‫تعیین کرد و‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫خیر ال ّدین تحفه را داد‪.‬‬ ‫در ماه جمادی اآلخر سنة المذکور … بعد چند روز محمد خان مذکور از حضرت با زن و بچه تحاشي نموده میان‬ ‫میوات رفت بعضی مردم که خیل او جابجا متفرق بودند جمع شدند هم چنان شنید که ملک مقبل با کل لشکر سمت‬ ‫ان‬ ‫مهر مهاون سواری کرده است و ملک خیر الدین تحفه را در قلعه گذاشته خطّۀ بیانه خالي است بر اعتماد س ّک ِ‬ ‫خلق خطه و والیت بیشتری او را پیوستند بعد چند روز‬ ‫خطه و مق ّدمان والیت با جمعی معدود یکایک در بیانه رفت‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫قلعه را نیز قابض گشت و لشکری که در بیانه نامزدی مانده بود باز گشته در شهر آمد خداوند عالم اقطاع بیانه از‬ ‫ملک مقبل تحویل کرده بحوالۀ ملک مبارز گردانید و او با عساکر قاهره برای دفع شر او فرستاد چون لشکر منصور‬ ‫نزدیک رسید محمد خان مذکور در قلعه حصاری شد ملک مبارز خطۀ بیانه را با کل والیت در قبض خویش آورد‬ ‫محمد خان مذکور جمعیتی که داشت بتمام در قلعۀ مذکور گذاشته خود بشرقي رفت هم چنان ملک مبارز را نیز برای‬ ‫مصلحت در حضرت طلب شد بکوچ متواتر باز گشت در حضرت آمد در ماه محرم سنه احدی و ثالثین و ثمانمائه‬ ‫خداوند عالم می خواست که طرف بیانه سواری فرماید اثنای آن رسوالن قادر خان امیر کالپي در حضرت رسیدند و‬ ‫سواری بیانه فسخ کرده مقابل شرقي روان شد‪.‬‬ ‫کیفیت آمدن شرقي عرضه داشتند خدایگان گیتي مدار عزم‬ ‫ٔ‬ ‫‪Mu˙ammad Khån, the son of Au˙ad Khån and the emir of Bayana, took refuge‬‬ ‫‪within the walls, but destroyed the population of Bayana165 and hurried to his‬‬ ‫‪ TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 205–7. (tr.), IV, p. 62. At this point Elliot uses a manuscript of‬‬ ‫‪the Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ as a substitute for his defective manuscript of the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ.‬‬ ‫‪See Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 276–7; (tr.), 1, p. 307; and Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 165; (tr.), I, pp.‬‬ ‫‪519–20, both giving brief accounts of the events and the date as ah 830/1426–7.‬‬ ‫‪165‬‬ ‫‪ This statement hardly makes sense, as it would not have been to the khan’s advantage to destroy‬‬ ‫‪his own people who were his power base. The editor of the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ notes (p. 205,‬‬ ‫‪n. 1) that in another copy the verb burd is given, instead of bidawÈd. This would change the‬‬ ‫‪meaning of the sentence to: ‘he ruined the life of people of the town, taking them to the fortifica‬‬‫‪tion that he had built over the mountain’. The historian of the Delhi court twists the event to a‬‬ ‫‪negative statement, while the khan’s strategy seems to have been to move the population to the‬‬ ‫‪safety of the fort. Another explanation may be that the word khalq (people) is a misreading by‬‬ ‫‪164‬‬

TWO: history

fort, which he had built on the hill. Protected by the might of the hill he fought the victorious army for sixteen days. On the second of RabÈ II of that year (829/11 February 1426) the victorious army continued charging against Mu˙ammad Khån. The Lord of the World with his brave army and notable men climbed the hill just behind the gate. When Au˙ad Khån’s son heard the news he could no longer hold out; he retreated and took refuge within the citadel. When reinforcements appeared166 the said Mu˙ammad Khån Au˙adÈ observed a trembling in his army and breaches in his fort. He lost his nerve, and in desperation put a shawl around his neck (signifying a noose) and emerged from the fort. He was honoured by being permitted to kiss the earth beneath the foot (of the sultan). The Lord of the Firmament of the Universe, the King, with the magnanimity of AnËshÈrwån,167 spared his soul and gave his body new life. Whatever he had of possessions, riches, treasures, horses, arms, cloth and other goods he submitted to the sultan in token of the value of the horseshoes of the victorious army. His majesty stayed there for some time. He then removed his (Mu˙ammad’s) family and clan from the said fort, sent them to his capital (i.e., Delhi) and designated the palace of Jahånpanåh for their residence.168 He assigned the lands (i.e., the governorship) of the region of Bayana to his slave Malik Muqbil KhånÈ, and appointed Malik Khair al-dÈn Tu˙fa as the deputy governor and also gave him the district of SÈkrÈ169…

the editor or a scribal error in the surviving manuscripts for the word ˙ißår (walls) which are fairly close in the Perso-Arabic script. If this were the case it would mean that Mu˙ammad Khån destroyed the walls of the town before taking refuge in the fort. We have already seen that this was his strategy on an earlier occasion, when he was threatened by the Delhi army. 166 May also be read as ‘when they came closer’, i.e., when they intensified the siege. 167 The Sasanian emperor of Persia, known in Islamic literature as AnËshÈrwån the Just for his legendary Solomon-like acts of justice. The histories, however, do not entirely support this depiction of his character. 168 The palace built by Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq described in some detail by Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), pp. 465–6; pp. 469–70; (tr.), III, pp. 658–9, 666. The ruins of Bijai Mandal in Delhi are believed to be part of the palace of Jahånpanåh. For architectural and archaeological reports, see Syud (Sayyid) Ahmad Khan, Asar-oos-Sunadid (Åthår al-ßanådÈd) (Delhi, 1854), chapter 2, pp. 22–3; ASINC, 1914, pp. 39–40, pl. 25; Maulvi Ûafar Hasan and J. A. Page et al., Monuments of Delhi, Lasting Splendour of the Great Mughals and Others (Allahabad: Archaeological Survey of India, Northern Circle (ASINC) [1920], repr. New Delhi, 1997), 1920, III, p. 157, monument No. 272; ASIAR, 1924–5, pp. 5, 9; ASIAR, 1928–9, p. 12, pls 1c–d; ASIAR, 1929–30, p. 14; John Marshall, ‘The Monuments of Muslim India’, in W. Haig (ed.), The Cambridge History of India, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1928), vol. 3, p. 587; Yamamoto, I, p. 103, No. O.6; A. Welch and H. Crane, ‘The Tughluqs: Master Builders of the Delhi Sultanate’, Muqarnas I (1983), pp. 148–50. Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 292; (tr.), I, p. 386 and Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 165, mention that the khan and his family were housed in the palace of Jahån-namå, built by FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq. This palace, which was located to the north of Delhi, has not survived. See Khan, Åthår al-ßanådÈd, chapter 2, p. 25; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 156; (tr.), I, p. 519, does not mention the Jahån namå and gives only ‘to Delhi’. 169 This seems to be the first historical record that mentions the town of SÈkrÈ and it alludes to its district as being part of the region of Bayana.

59

60 BAYANA In the month of Jumådå II (829)/April–May (1426) … after a few days the said Mu˙ammad Khån with his wives and children betrayed (the sultan) and went to MÈwåt. Many of his (Mu˙ammad’s) people who had been scattered in different places gathered around him. He also heard that Malik Muqbil was riding towards Mahåwan with all his forces and had left the fort in the hands of Malik Khair al-dÈn Tu˙fa, leaving the region of Bayana clear (i.e., defenceless). He (Mu˙ammad Khån) with a few of his people returned to Bayana one by one relying on the support of the population of the region and the nobles of the territory. Most people of the region and territory gathered around him and after a few days he also took control of the fort.170 The forces which had been assigned to Bayana returned to the city (Delhi). The Lord of the World dismissed Malik Muqbil from the governorship of Bayana and bestowed it upon Malik Mubåriz, and sent him with triumphant forces to put an end to his (Mu˙ammad’s) wickedness. When the victorious army reached nearby, the said Mu˙ammad Khån took refuge in the fort and Malik Mubåriz took over the whole region. Mu˙ammad Khån kept all his men in the fort and went to the SharqÈ (sultan of Jaunpur), and as a matter of expedience Malik Mubåriz was recalled to his Majesty’s court. The Malik returned to the court by uninterrupted marches. In Mu˙arram of the year eight hundred and thirty-one (October–November 1427) the Lord of the World had decided to ride to Bayana when messengers of Qådir Khån, the Governor of KålpÈ arrived at court and announced that the SharqÈ was advancing. The Lord of the World abandoned his plan of riding towards Bayana and moved against the SharqÈ. This passage shows clearly that the Au˙adÈs enjoyed the support of the population of Bayana – an unusual state of affairs in mediaeval India, where the power-base of Muslim rulers was their armies and courtiers. The general population – Muslim or Hindu – was aloof from political power struggles and was usually their victim. Another interesting point, which can be detected in these quotations and elsewhere in this source, is that the sultans habitually chose the autumn and winter months for their campaigns. The dry season and cooler temperature in northern India is more favourable for military operations, but the cunning Mu˙ammad Khån chose to escape from Delhi at the hottest time of the year and just before the beginning of the monsoon, knowing well that it would be difficult for Mubårak Shåh to chase him during the rains and floods of June and July. At this time IbråhÈm Shåh was on the throne of Jaunpur, but as his sultanate was not recognised by Delhi in their court history he is always referred to as ‘the SharqÈ’. The title Malik al-Sharq (prince of the Orient) was first bestowed The historian implies that the khan and his close associates first entered the town, one by one, in disguise, enjoined the support of the townspeople, and then took over the fort. This passage confirms our suggestion that he would not have ‘destroyed’ the population of the town, but might have demolished the walls.

170

TWO: history

upon the governors of Jaunpur by the Tughluqs, but after TÈmËr’s invasion Khwåja Jahån, the last Tughluq governor, declared himself independent with the title Sul†ån al-Sharq (king of the Orient). The court of Delhi continued to give the title of Malik al-Sharq to other high-ranking nobles, but it was no more than a ceremonial designation. Mu˙ammad Khån’s retreat to the court of Jaunpur marks the beginning of a powerful alliance between the two regions that lasted until the fall of the SharqÈ sultanate; during that period Bayana remained outside the ambitions of the sultans of Delhi. The ambiguous account of recalling Malik Mubåriz ‘as a matter of expedience’ seems to indicate that his forces were inadequate to confront the SharqÈ army and the sultan was not at this time in a position to engage in a battle with the joint forces of Bayana and Jaunpur. Although the historian of the Delhi court is not explicit it is clear from his account that as Mubåriz Khån was absent, Mu˙ammad Khån could return to Bayana and for nearly two years Mubårak Shåh was unable to ride against him. The Delhi sultan was faced with a more urgent matter: the SharqÈ was moving towards him with a massive army. In the confrontations that followed171 neither side could gain a decisive victory, but the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ records that after several months’ struggle the SharqÈ sultan eventually retreated towards Jaunpur and in Jumådå II/March–April 1428 Mubårak Shåh returned to Bayana:172 ‫اعلی‬ ‫محمد خان اوحدی سبب آنکه با شرقي پیوسته بود در خاطر هراس داشت باالی قلعه متحصّر شد بندگی رایات‬ ٰ ‫ت استحکام‬ ِ ‫قلعۀ مذکور را گرد گرفته نزول فرمود قلعۀ مذکور اگرچه از غایت ارتفاع سر بآسمان مي سود و از نهای‬ ‫سار خاکسار نقصان پذیرفت و باد غرور ایشان از‬ ‫اقبال‬ ‫قابل فتح نبود فا ّما از‬ ِ ‫خدایگان گیتي مدار آ‬ ِ ِ ِ ‫ب آن طایفۀ نگون‬ ‫ت دست آویز ماند نه مجال پای گریز برین نمط مدت هفت روز درون قلعه‬ ‫قهر‬ ِ ‫لشکر منصور فرو نشست نه قو‬ ِ ِ ِ ‫آتش‬ ٰ ُ ْ َ ‫ت‬ ‫عاطف‬ ‫فرط‬ ‫از‬ ‫الی‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ت‬ ‫هللا‬ ‫ه‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ا‬ ‫اعلی‬ ‫رایات‬ ‫بندگي‬ ‫خواست‬ ‫امان‬ ‫شده‬ ‫زینهاری‬ ‫بضرورت‬ ‫آخراالمر‬ ‫بودند‬ ‫ّر‬ ‫ص‬ ‫متح‬ ٰ ٰ ُ َ ِ ِ ُ ‫تشریف اماني مشرّف گردانید لشکر را فرمان داد تا‬ ‫سر جرایم او درگذشت و به‬ ِ ِ ‫مهر مسلمانی از‬ ِ ‫خسروانی و شفقت‬ ‫ب قَ ْدرُه محمد خان مذکور از درون‬ َ ِّ‫از گر ِد قلعۀ مذکور دور شوند همچنان کردند بتاریخ بیست و ششم ماه رجب رُج‬ ‫شهر خراب همانجا‬ ‫اعلی چند روز برای استمالت آن‬ ‫قلعه با خلق خویش بیرون آمده سمت میوات رفت بندگي رایات‬ ٰ ِ … ‫ت قلعه اهتمام تمام داشت ملک الشرق ملک محمود حسن را‬ ‫ضبط‬ ‫مقام ساخت چون برای‬ ِ ‫اقطاع بیانه و محافظ‬ ِ ِ ‫اقطاع بیانه نامزد کرد و اقطاع بیانه با مضافات و نواحی آن بتمام بحوالۀ او‬ ‫ضبط‬ ‫برای محافظت قلعۀ مذکور و‬ ِ ِ ‫بکام دوستان کنارۀ آب جون گرفته سمت شهر مراجعت فرمود پانزدهم ماه شعبان سنۀ احدی و ثالثین و‬ ِ ‫گردانیده خود‬ .‫بطالع سعد درون شهر درآمد و در کوشک سیری نزول کرد‬ ‫ثمانمائه‬ ِ Mu˙ammad Khån Au˙adÈ, who had made an alliance with the SharqÈ, was fearful. He took refuge high up in his fort. The army of His Majesty surrounded the fort and laid siege to it. Although the said fort was so lofty that it reached the sky and was so strong that it was impregnable, because of the good fortune of the Lord of the Firmament of the Universe, the water supply of that hapless TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 207–10; (tr.), IV, pp. 64–5; also see Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 293; (tr.), I, pp. 386–7; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 278–9; (tr.), pp. 309–10; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 166; II, p. 306; (tr.), I, p. 521; IV, p. 366. 172 TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 209–11, our translation is given; (tr.), IV, pp. 65–6. 171

61

62 BAYANA clan began to diminish and the wind of their pride died out in the fire of the wrath of the victorious army. Their arms lost the power to fight, and their legs to flee. They resisted in the fort under such conditions for seven days, and at the end were reduced to plea for mercy. His Majesty, may God most high increase his greatness, for his endless royal kindness and his love and compassion for Muslims, forgave all his (Mu˙ammad’s) transgressions and gave him the honour of a safe audience. He ordered the army to retreat from surrounding that fort and they did so. On the 26th of the revered month of Rajab (11 May 1428) the said Mu˙ammad Khån and his clan came out of his fort and left for MÈwåt. His Majesty stayed there for a few days to conciliate that devastated city. As he was committed fully to retaining the region and to safeguarding the fort … he nominated Malik al-Sharq Malik Ma˙mËd Óasan to guard the said fort and to collect the revenue of Bayana, and bestowed upon him the revenue (the governorship) of Bayana with all its territories and districts. Then he (Mubårak Shåh) to the delight of his friends took to the bank of the River Jumna and returned to the city (Delhi). On 15 Shabån 831 (30 May 1428) he entered the city with favourable omens and resided in the palace of SÈrÈ.173 For a short while Bayana seemed to be securely in the hands of Mubårak Shåh. His court historian does not make any mention of it until the events of 833/1429– 30 when the sultan passed through the region on his campaign against the raja of Gwalior and there is no mention of the Au˙adÈs or any other resistance from Bayana.174 After his return to Delhi the sultan was occupied with a rebellion in Multan that lasted over two years. The sultan’s army was under the command of Malik al-Sharq Imåd al-Mulk Malik Ma˙mËd Óasan, who was also in charge of the revenue of Multan,175 and does not seem to have spent much time in Bayana. In the last months of 834/July–August 1431, the sultan discharged Ma˙mËd Óasan from the governorship of Multan and although the insurrection there had not come to an end, in Rama∂ån 835/May 1432, he was sent back to the regions of Bayana and KålpËr ‘to punish the corrupt ones of those areas and the gangs of infidels’.176 By infidels the historian presumably means the Hindus of KålpËr. The Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh177 also mentions that Mu˙ammad Khån had made an alliance with Probably the palace built by Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ, which survived through the Tughluq period and is mentioned by BarnÈ, TårÈkh-i FÈrËz ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 496 (not translated in Elliot), and described in some detail by Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Arab.), p. 479; (tr.), III, p. 619. From other passages of the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ it appears that the Sayyids did not build palaces of their own, usually residing in former Tughluq palaces. 174 TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 214; (tr.), IV, p. 67. 175 Ibid. (Pers.), pp. 222–3; (tr.), IV, p. 72. 176 Ibid. (Pers.), p. 225; (tr.), IV, p. 74, gives the month as Rajab; also see Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 279; (tr.), I, p. 311, giving the year as 832, but the dates of the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ, contemporary to the events, are more reliable. 177 Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 293; (tr.), I, p. 387, also mentions that Ma˙mËd Óasan received the title of Imåd al-Mulk as a reward for punishing Mu˙ammad Khån. 173

TWO: history

the Hindus. However, ‘the corrupt ones of Bayana’ seems to indicate that by this time Bayana was once again slipping out of the hands of the sultan. In the same year Ma˙mËd Óasan and his army returned from Bayana and joined the sultan in Tijara at the end of the sultan’s campaign to MÈwåt.178 The sultan immediately sent him on another campaign against Gwalior and Utåwa. The outcome of his campaign to Bayana is not known. In Shawwål 836/May–June 1433, while Mubårak Shåh was still involved with the affairs of Multan and Lahore, he once again made Ma˙mËd Óasan the governor of Lahore, DÈbålpËr and Jålandar (Jalandar) and bestowed the revenue of Bayana on Malik Shams al-Mulk.179 Nine months later, on 9 Rajab 837/19 February 1434, when the sultan was preparing to meet his rival the SharqÈ sultan on the battlefield and was supervising the construction of his new Delhi capital, Mubårakåbåd, he was assassinated by some of his Hindu courtiers, led by Sarwar al-Mulk, at the time of the Friday prayer in his new city.180 From the time Mu˙ammad Khån left for MÈwåt in 1428 we hear nothing of the khan. On the surface it might appear that in the final years of Mubårak Shåh Bayana was firmly in the control of Delhi, but as we have seen the so-called Delhi governors of Bayana hardly ever stayed in the region. The campaign in 1432 against Bayana hints that Delhi’s authority over Bayana may not have been as firm as the historian would lead us to believe, and only after the death of Mubårak Shåh does he let us know that in the same year Bayana was firmly in the hands of one YËsuf Khån Au˙adÈ. As with many other governors of Mubårak Shåh’s court, the position of the Delhi-appointed Bayana governors seems to have been nominal, with Delhi unable to control the region or collect its revenue. Their appointment simply marked Delhi’s disapproval of autonomy among regional powers, although Delhi did not have the power or resources to impose its supremacy over them. In the inscriptions giving the lineage of one branch of the Au˙adÈ family YËsuf Khån is not mentioned, but in another inscription of YËsuf Khån, noted below, his father is stated to be Mubårak Khån. Cunningham,181 who was unaware of this inscription, presumed that YËsuf was Mu˙ammad Khån’s son, but this is not, of course, the case. He was a cousin of Mu˙ammad Khån and had killed his own father to take his place. The fate of Mu˙ammad Khån is unknown. While he might have died in MÈwåt and YËsuf Khån could have seized the opportunity to take his place, there is a possibility that he did not die and was able to return to power at a later date as discussed below. Cunningham’s assumption was probably based on TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 227; (tr.), IV, p. 75; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 284; (tr.), I, pp. 316–17; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 168; (tr.), I, p. 527, gives the sultan’s camp as being near PånÈpat, on the banks of the Jumna, and the year as 835. 179 TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 231; (tr.), IV, p. 77. 180 Ibid. (Pers.), pp. 234–5; (tr.), IV, p. 79; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 287; (tr.), I, pp. 321–2; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 169; (tr.), I, p. 530, gives the date as 839 in error, but Briggs gives the date correctly as 837 in his own Persian text, I, p. 308. 181 ASIR, XX, p. 65. 178

63

64 BAYANA the general practice of sons succeeding fathers, usual in most courts of India, but it is interesting to see that, unlike elsewhere in India, with the Au˙adÈs different members of the family could succeed each other. In the events following the assassination of Mubårak Shåh, his nephew, Mu˙ammad Shåh – a grandson of Khi∂r Khån – was enthroned in Delhi, but power was in the hands of Sarwar al-Mulk who gave Bayana to SidhÈpål (Sidhi Påla) one of Mubårak Shåh’s murderers. SidhÈpål sent his black slave RånË with a large army to take over the region:182 ‫) نزدیک خطۀ بیانه رسید بتاریخ دوازدهم ماه درون خطه درآمد و شب آنجا مقام‬٨٣٧( ‫در ماه شعبان سنة المذکور‬ ‫کرد و مي خواست که قلعۀ سلطان گیر را آن بی تدبیر قابض شود روز دیگر با کل حشم و خدم مستعد با اسپ و‬ ‫سالح آن کافر بی فالح سوار شد یوسف خان اوحدی را از آمدن او خبر کردند از قصبۀ هندوان کشش و کوشش کرد‬ ‫و بیدرنگ مستعد جنگ با جمعیت بسیار و سوار و پیاده بیشمار پیش آمد نزدیک حظیرۀ شاهزاده هر دو جانب صفها‬ ‫کافر حرام خوار و شریر‬ ‫ت استقامت نتوانست آورد هم به حملۀ اول گرد از نها ِد آن‬ ِ ‫کشیده بحرب پیوستند چون طاق‬ ِ ‫علف تیغ بیدریغ گشتند سر پلید آن شوم را بریده در دروازه آویختند‬ ‫او‬ ‫لشکر‬ ‫بیشتر‬ ‫و‬ ‫نابکار برآوردند رانو سیه لعین‬ ِ ‫و کل خیل خانۀ او از زن و بچه بر دست لشکر اسالم اسیر گشته خدای تعالی که ناصر دین اسالم است یوسف خان‬ .‫را فتحي بخشید و توفیق آن داد که انتقام خون مبارک شاه ازان پلید گمراه کشید‬ In Shabån of that year he (RånË) reached the territory of Bayana and on the 12th of the month (12 Shabån 837/24 March 1434) arrived there and camped at night. That fool desired to take over the fort, fit only to be taken by the sultan. The next day that doomed infidel mounted alongside with his army and subordinates all well-prepared, on horseback and armed. They informed YËsuf Khån Au˙adÈ of his arrival. In the town of Hinduwån (Hindaun) with great effort and without delay he prepared a large gathering of cavalry and infantry and marched forward. Near the Shrine of Shåhzåda the two sides lined up and engaged in battle. As he (RånË) was unable to withstand them, on the first charge they took the dust out of the soul of that treacherous infidel and disrespectful thug. That accursed black RånË and most of his army became the fodder of their avenging swords. They cut off the filthy head of that vile man and hung it on the gate, and all of his camp together with the women and children were captured by the army of Islam. The Mighty Lord who is the Conqueror of the Faith of Islam granted YËsuf Khån the victory and gave him the accomplishment of taking vengeance for the blood of Mubårak Shåh from that polluted heathen. This was the first successful resistance against the assassins of Mubårak Shåh, and led to a series of events that culminated in other nobles and courtiers as well TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 238–9; (tr.), IV, p. 81. Our translation is given here. Also see Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 300; (tr.), I, p. 395, giving the name of SidhÈpål’s slave as RånËn. The Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 288; (tr.), p. 323, gives an entirely different name, AbËsha (AbËshah), which may have been RånË’s nickname. See Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 169 (who gives the same name as RånËshah, but there are a number of errors in the printed text of this paragraph); (tr.), I, p. 533 (again has an error in the date).

182

TWO: history

as the sultan himself standing against the assassins and eventually putting them all to death. In RabÈ II 838/November–December 1434, YËsuf Khån together with other regional governors received in the Delhi court ‘the regal kindness and the royal compassion’183 – the closing words of the TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ – ­indicating that at least for the time being the Au˙adÈs were recognised in Delhi as the true masters of Bayana. YËsuf Khån ruled at least for another five years as an inscription in Hindaun dated 10 Rama∂ån 842/24 February 1439 at the PalwalÈ Masjid or RangrazËn kÈ Masjid (the mosque of the dyers) records the completion of the mosque by Malik Khair al-dÈn during the reign of YËsuf Khån b. Mubårak Khån Au˙adÈ.184 In this inscription the name of YËsuf Khån’s father is given clarifying YËsuf’s relationship with other members of the family. Malik Khair al-dÈn must have been in charge of Hindaun. The inscription cites YËsuf Khån as the ruler and does not acknowledge any sultan as his sovereign. Another inscription of this period is also found in Hindaun. It is the epitaph of a woman who died on 25 Rama∂ån 846/27 January 1443, whose name is not entirely clear but which may be read as BÈbÈ RåsËlÈ.185 Her title BÈbÈ (lady) indicates that she was of a noble family but nothing else in known about her and it is not certain if she was of the Au˙adÈ family or related to one of their local fief-holders. The next ruler of Bayana seems once more to be Mu˙ammad Khån, as we learn from the bilingual inscription of the Gindoria well,186 the source of water for the production of the famous white sugar of Bayana. The well itself is of considerable age and the inscription records in Persian and in Sanskrit its restoration during the time of Mu˙ammad Khån with the date given both in Hijra and in Vikrama eras as ah 850 and vs 1503 (1446). The text is illuminating for our understanding of the politics and social composition of Bayana. The Muslim historians of India pay little attention to the Hindu population and references to Hindus are often tainted with words such as heathen and infidel. In Bayana, too, through the Muslim records we hear only about the Muslim population and considering that the town was founded by the Muslims it might be inferred that the Hindu population – if it existed – would have been small. However, the majority of the population of India did not, of course, convert to Islam, but learned to live with the Muslims, whether of Indian or of foreign origin. It is possible that in Bayana, as elsewhere in India, the Muslim population was in a minority even at the time of the Au˙adÈs or their predecessors. In the absence of any historic temple or other TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 243–4; (tr.), IV, p. 84. (The last folio of Elliot’s manuscript appears to have been missing and his translation ends with an incomplete sentence. Elliot had completed the narrative from the accounts of the Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ.) See Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 290; (tr.), I, p. 326. 184 Appendix I, inscription No. 18. The inscription belongs to an earlier mosque, which no longer stands, and the present mosque is modern. 185 Appendix I, inscription No. 19. 186 Appendix I, inscription No. 20. For the well (B.18), see Chapter 3. 183

65

66 BAYANA marks of Hindu ­presence in Bayana this inscription is evidence of the community and the knowledge of Sanskrit amongst its learned members. In the Sanskrit text Mu˙ammad Khån is noted as the prosperous ruler (råjye vartamåne). The name of the person responsible for the restoration of the well is given as Thåkur Amrå Singh, whose title Singh suggests that he was probably a noble related to the Rajputs of Rajasthan. The mention of his name and the ruler’s in the same text indicates that he was in the service of the khan. As Hindus and Muslims did not use the same water, an inscription with a Sanskrit text shows that the well was for the exclusive use of Hindus, and that the nearby area would have been designated for this community. The record of Mu˙ammad Khån having the title of Masnad-i ÅlÈ is also worthy of consideration. It could perhaps be assumed that this Mu˙ammad Khån is different from the Mu˙ammad Khån b. Au˙ad Khån who was forced out to MÈwåt, but in this case one would expect the name of the father to be given to distinguish the new ruler from his predecessor. In the surviving records there is no other indication that another Mu˙ammad Khån was in charge of Bayana and the lineage of the later khans leads back to Mu˙ammad Khån b. Au˙ad Khån. It is, therefore, likely that the ruler mentioned in the Gindoria well inscription is the same as Mu˙ammad Khån b. Au˙ad Khån, who must have returned to Bayana sometime between 1439 and 1440. The Delhi historians are silent on this episode. If this Mu˙ammad Khån is indeed the same as the earlier personage it is not known whether he returned to Bayana peacefully after the death of his cousin, or if in pursuit of regaining power he confronted, deposed or killed YËsuf Khån. During this period and in 844/1440–1 or a year later, the Målwa sultan Ma˙mËd KhaljÈ, aware of the fragility of Delhi’s power seized the opportunity to advance against Delhi.187 The khan of Bayana together with other regional rulers made an alliance with Ma˙mËd, but it is uncertain if any of them actually provided troops. Firishta188 records that at the time Mu˙ammad Khån was in charge of Bayana and sent his son Wå˙id Khån to pay tribute to the KhaljÈ sultan to avert a confrontation with him. Firishta’s account confirms the information of the Gindoria well that in 850 Mu˙ammad Khån was indeed in power, but his son, Wå˙id Khån,189 is not recorded elsewhere and did not succeed his father. He could have been a younger son of Mu˙ammad Khån, otherwise unknown. The account of the Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ, however, is different. In one place190 it gives the date as the end of 845 and elsewhere notes the date as 844.191 On both occasions, however, the Au˙adÈ in charge is given as YËsuf Khån, noting that in Hindaun Ma˙mËd was received by the khan. If we could rely on the accounts of Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 171; (tr.), I, p. 537, gives the date as ah 844. Firishta (Pers.), II, p. 249; (tr.), IV, pp. 205–6. In this passage the date is given as ah 850. 189 Wå˙id Khån is a possible name, but with regard to the family background of the Au˙adÈs it is also probable that the recorded name could be a scribal error for Au˙ad Khån. 190 Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), III, p. 322; (tr.), p. 509. 191 Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 291; (tr.), I, pp. 328–9. 187 188

TWO: history

both the Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ and Firishta we might conclude that the relationship between Mu˙ammad Khån and YËsuf Khån was probably amicable and when the former repossessed Bayana the latter returned to his fiefdom of Hindaun. However, the Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ does not mention Mu˙ammad Khån and implies that at this time the only Au˙adÈ in charge was YËsuf Khån. If this were the case Mu˙ammad Khån must have returned to Bayana at a later date. In the Målwa confrontation with Delhi neither side scored a significant success and Ma˙mËd, alert to the manoeuvres of his arch-rival – the sultan of Gujarat – towards Mandu, made a hasty peace with Mu˙ammad Shåh and left the region. This brief episode does not seem to have had a lasting effect on the political scene in Bayana. Målwa was far from Delhi and often engaged in local conflict. The future events show that the major players in the region remained the sultanates of Delhi and Jaunpur. Mu˙ammad Khån must have died soon after 850/1446 as the TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ192 states that when Alå al-dÈn succeeded the throne of his father Mu˙ammad Shåh Sayyid, the ruler of Bayana was DåwËd Khån Au˙adÈ. An epitaph193 in the Au˙adÈ Graveyard in the town of Bayana records DåwËd Khån as the ruler. DåwËd Khån was the son of Mu˙ammad b. Au˙ad Khån, and that he succeeded his father furnishes further evidence for establishing the true identity of the Mu˙ammad Khån of the Gindoria well. The text of this epitaph has not yet been studied fully, but what can be read provides interesting information on the Au˙adÈs. The tomb bears a long inscription recording the death of Malik al-Sharq Malik Badr Miyån on 8 Rama∂ån 854/16 October 1450, and gives the name of DåwËd Khån Au˙adÈ as DåwËd Shåh (Plate 2.9). The epitaph also mentions a khalq-i Khuråsån (an army or a community of KhuråsånÈs) who were apparently in mourning for the loss of their leader. This is the only occasion that we come across one of the Au˙adÈs with the royal title of shåh. The date corresponds with the final days of the Sayyid dynasty in Delhi and the transition to the rise of the LodÈs, described vividly in the TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ:194 ‫درین اثنا سلطان محمد وفات یافته پسرش عالء الدین نام بر تخت برآمد این عالء الدین مردی زبون بخت بصورت‬ ‫و سیرت مالیم طور و شرمناک خوی بوده چون بپادشاهی مناسبت نداشته اکثر امرا که بصوبها بودند ملوک طوایف‬ TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 134–5; (tr.), V, p. 74. The work is a general history of the Afghans completed in 1021/1612 under the patronage of Khån-i Jahån LodÈ, an Afghan general of the Mughals. 193 Appendix I, inscription No. 21. Unlike most inscriptions in Bayana, which have been lost in the past, many since the 1980s, this epitaph was still in situ in our survey in 2004. 194 TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 5, our translation is given here; the passage is not translated in Elliot; the TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), p. 134; (tr.), V, p. 74, gives a similar account but omits the personality of the sultan. Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 172; (tr.), I, pp. 540–1 and Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 296–7; (tr.), I, p. 335, also give a similar account and notes that Bayana was in the hands of DåwËd Khån Au˙adÈ. Also see TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), p. 7 (not translated in Elliot). The TårÈkh-i DåwËd is an anecdotal account of the Afghan rulers of Hindustan, completed in 983/1575. 192

67

68 BAYANA

Plate 2.9  Inscription on the tomb of Malik Badr Miyån, details showing the lines mentioning the people of Khuråsån at top right and DåwËd Khån as DåwËd Shåh at bottom left.

‫شدند لودیان بلطایف الحیل از الهور تا پانی پته در تصرف خود در آوردند احمد خان میواتی از مهرولی تا الدو‬ .‫سرای که قریب دهلی است در ضبط درآورد سلطان عالء الدین بشهر دهلی با دو سه پرگنۀ دیگر پادشاهی میکرد‬ At this time Sultan Mu˙ammad had died and his son Alå al-dÈn (Ålam Shåh) was on the throne. This Alå al-dÈn was an ill-starred man. He was gentle in his face and in his comportment and was temperamentally shy. When he sat on the throne most of the emirs who were in different territories became autonomous [without any justification]. The LodÈs took over Lahore and PånÈpat with fine artfulness. A˙mad Khån MÈwåtÈ took possession of Mehrauli up to LådË Saråi,195 which is in the vicinity of Delhi. Sultan Alå al-dÈn was the sovereign of only the city of Delhi and two or three other districts. The disintegration of Sayyid power in Delhi must have given the Au˙adÈs a brief chance to seize the opportunity to proclaim themselves as sovereign, but the title of shåh does not appear again in later inscriptions of DåwËd Khån. The title of Malik al-Sharq for Badr Miyån is also equally worthy of attention. We have noted that this was a grand title in the Tughluq and the Sayyid courts bestowed on their high-ranking commanders, including one Imåd al-Mulk Malik Ma˙mËd Óasan, Mubårak Shåh’s nominal governor of Bayana. In spite of the autonomy of the Au˙adÈs, they seem to have observed their position as khans in the hierarchy of the time. For example, there are no coins found in their names and it appears that they never minted their own coins. It would have been above their status to bestow the title of Malik al-Sharq on their courtiers, except perhaps in the short period when DåwËd Khån felt confident enough to proclaim himself sultan and to bestow titles reserved for the court of Delhi. Another significant point in the inscription is a reference to the ‘people of Khuråsån’, Badr Miyån’s clan or army. Bayana was, of course, populated by Areas attached to the old city of Delhi (Qala Råi PithËrå). LådË Saråi is less than 1 km away to the north-east of the mosque of Quwwat al-Islåm. Both areas are now built-up suburbs of New Delhi. Alå al-dÈn was apparently confined to the walled city of Delhi and its immediate neighbourhoods to the north, a territory smaller than that of a fief-holder. He was sultan only in name.

195

TWO: history

KhuråsånÈs from the very beginning of its establishment and in the thirteenth century many more KhuråsånÈs, including religious leaders – the Sayyids of Bayana – came from this north-eastern Iranian province. It is interesting to see that in the mid-fifteenth century, two and a half centuries after the establishment of Muslim Bayana, the identity of the KhuråsånÈs as a separate community was still distinct. We can only conclude that Bayana’s ties with Khuråsån ­continued into the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Furthermore, the Au˙adÈs relied on this community as their power base, and if they were not themselves members of it, their high-ranking commanders would have been. On the other hand, if the founder of the Au˙adÈs – who had the religious title Shams al-Auliyå – was originally one of the religious leaders of the town, the likelihood that the Au˙adÈs themselves were from the KhuråsånÈ community would be even greater. Further information on the KhuråsånÈ population of Bayana is furnished by the epitaph of one Sayyid FËlåd Mu˙ammad KhuråsånÈ (S.4), a young soldier who was killed in a battle with the ‘infidels’ (Hindus).196 The date of the epitaph has not survived, but the partially surviving long inscription gives many other details. FËlåd Mu˙ammad was a Sayyid and probably related to or was one of the young members of the ‘Sayyids of Bayana’, the assembly of learned men, mystic saints and religious leaders of the community. He is stated to have been a friend or follower of Tåj al-dÈn Mu˙ammad BadakhshånÈ, whose name suggests that he was from the region of Badakhshån, also in Khuråsån. The inscription ends with a significant declaration: ‘we are the admirers of the descendants of AlÈ’ (hastÈm mu˙ibb-i aulåd-i AlÈ). This is a Shi’ite profession leaving little doubt that FËlåd Mu˙ammad was a Shi’ite. Moreover, the words ‘we are’ imply that there was a strong Shi’ite element in the entire community. It should be also noted that it was during this period that Shi’ite influence penetrated into India, both in the south through the religious tendencies of the Deccan court and also in the north, later consolidated in the city of Lucknow. The appearance of a Mahdi at a later time in Bayana, described below, also indicates a strong inclination towards Shi’ite doctrine there. In the political scene of Delhi, Sultan Alå al-dÈn was virtually exiled to Badaon, and eventually abdicated, handing over the sultanate to BahlËl LodÈ who was enthroned on 27 Mu˙arram 855/29 February 1451, with the name Abu’l-MuΩaffar BahlËl Shåh.197 During his long reign, which spanned more than thirty-eight years, he spent most of his time consolidating his sultanate and in conflict with the SharqÈ sultans of Jaunpur. In the power struggle between the two kingdoms Bayana once again took sides with Jaunpur. Appendix I, inscription No. 56. Although the date is missing the epitaph probably dates from the mid-fifteenth century. For the position of the grave see Figure 3.1. 197 TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 9–10; not translated in Elliot; TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), p. 10; not translated in Elliot; TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 140–1; (tr.), V, p. 77; and the Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 298; (tr.), I, p. 337, give the date as 17 RabÈ I 855; also see Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 175; (tr.), I, p. 543. 196

69

70 BAYANA

Plate 2.10  Bayana Fort, a distant view from the east. The minaret of DåwËd Khån still stands as a landmark, even though it has lost its upper tier.

DåwËd Khån ruled at least until 862/1457–8. A year earlier he ordered the ­building of a minaret for the main mosque (F. 15) in the fort, which seems to have been completed in 862. The mosque appears to be of an earlier period, but the minaret was apparently built not just as addition to the mosque but as a feature to be seen from a distance as a demonstration of Au˙adÈ power (Plate 2.10). Although only the two lower registers of the minaret have survived, it is still the most outstanding feature in the fort, visible for miles. The minaret bears a number of historical and religious inscriptions,198 which together proclaim the already noted genealogy of DåwËd Khån as well as furnishing the information that it was constructed on the orders of one MufÈd Khån AqdåÈ under the instructions of DåwËd Khån. One of the inscriptions199 on a semi-circular stone, now detached, but originally set under the arch of the entrance to the minaret, proclaims that it was constructed during the reign of Nåßir al-dÈn Mu˙ammad Shåh SharqÈ (of Jaunpur) and gives the name of the khan after the sultan. The inscription might be an after-thought as the inscription on the lintel with the foundation date gives 861, and Nåßir al-dÈn Mu˙ammad reigned only for five Appendix I, inscription Nos 22–6. Appendix I, inscription No. 26.

198 199

TWO: history

months in 862. No other inscription mentions the SharqÈ sultan, but it indicates that with the rise of Sultan BahlËl’s power in Delhi the Au˙adÈs had once again made an alliance with the SharqÈ sultans, virtually accepting their sovereignty. An epitaph200 related to the Au˙adÈs and dating from the time of DåwËd Khån is worthy of attention. The epitaph was on the grave of a man201 who is buried in the chatrÈ tomb of Au˙ad Khån. The name of the personage is not recorded or has not survived but the date of his death can be read as 20 Íafar 862/7 January 1458. The fact that he is buried beside Au˙ad Khån indicates that he would have been a close relative of the khan. The tombstone is a ready-made slab with fine Quranic carving, but the letters of the dated text are outlined and left uncarved, with a few letters not outlined at all, indicating that the personage was buried in haste without time to carve him a proper tombstone, let alone build him a dedicated tomb. With the name missing we can only speculate that the grave may belong to DåwËd Khån himself who probably died shortly after the construction of the minaret, or perhaps one of his brothers, sons or close relatives. The only known relative of DåwËd Khån was his brother Wå˙id Khån who was sent to pay tribute to Sultan Ma˙mËd KhaljÈ, but DåwËd would certainly have had many other close family members not recorded in histories. The Lodiˉ Dominance The inscriptions on the minaret and the unnamed gravestone are the last records of the Au˙adÈs and it seems that the power of the family came to an abrupt end after this date. Nevertheless, although the Au˙adÈs never again appear as rulers of Bayana, the family might have survived and some of its members could have maintained offices with ranks lower than khan. An epitaph dated Jumådå II 869/ January–February 1465202 and found in the town of Bayana may provide an indication of the political changes there. The full text of the epitaph has not been published, but its content is reported to record the death of His Holiness Shaikh AΩam al-dÈn, whose name suggests that he was one of the religious leaders of Bayana. Although the inscription does not mention the Au˙adÈs, it records the name of one AmÈr Ghiyåth (b.?) Mu˙ammad, whose position is not known but who appears to have been a lower-ranking military personage (an emir rather than a khan) connected with the period of transition. At this time a personage known as A˙mad Khån JalwånÈ appears suddenly on the Bayana stage. The fate of DåwËd Khån is unknown, and there is no Appendix I, inscription No. 27. For the apparent differences between the tombstones of men and women, see below Chapter 3, section ‘The Historic Graveyard, Tombstones and their Stylistic Traits’. 202 Appendix I, inscription No. 28. 200 201

71

72 BAYANA firm evidence to establish the background of A˙mad Khån.203 The Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ204 records both A˙mad Khån’s father YËsuf Khån and brother AlÈ Khån as nobles of the court of BahlËl LodÈ. This may be a possibility, and we may assume that in the early years of his reign BahlËl or his army took over Bayana, deposed or killed DåwËd Khån, and bestowed its governorship on the JalwånÈs. However, if the JalwånÈs came to power in Bayana by other means and accepted the ­sovereignty of Delhi, they would have still been listed as subordinates of the sultan. Their origins and the way they gained power in Bayana, therefore, still remain obscure.205 The JalwånÈs appear to have been a clan of Afghans and one of the latest p ­ ersonages with this name recorded in the histories is an Afghan general of ShÈr Shåh SËr (1538–45), Jalål Khån, who brought a fresh army to Rajasthan saving the sultan from an anticipated defeat by the Jodhpur Raja Maldev at Ajmer.206 If the JalwånÈs did initially accept the sovereignty of BahlËl, later and during the reign of the SharqÈ Sultan Óusain Shåh, A˙mad Khån switched his alliance, acknowledged Óusain Shåh in the Friday sermon, minted coins in his name and informed Óusain Shåh to this effect.207 The struggle between the two courts continued, but in 894 BahlËl died and on 17 Shabån/16 April 1489 was succeeded by his son Sikandar LodÈ.208 A few years later Sikandar found the opportunity to march towards Bayana. At this time Ashraf (or Sharaf), the son of A˙mad Khån, Halim’s opinion that YËsuf Khån JalwånÈ and YËsuf Khån Au˙adÈ may be the same person has no historical basis and is also unlikely, as there is no reason to believe the Au˙adÈs, apparently proud of their genealogy, would drop their association with their own family and adopt another family or clan name. Sharma’s speculation that A˙mad Khån could have been a descendant of Jalål Khån of MÈwåt and related to one Ahardu who is presumed to be the same as Au˙ad Khån is also conjectural and far-fetched. See, respectively, Halim, ‘Some Minor Dynasties of Northern India during the 15th Century’, pp. 224–5; Sharma, ‘The Auhadi and the Jalwani Dynasties of Bayana’, pp. 435 and 441, n. 9. 204 Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 299, 308; (tr.), I, pp. 337, 347. YËsuf Khån is also mentioned in Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 174; (tr.), I, pp. 549–50, omits the relevant passage, but includes a mention of A˙mad Khån at p. 556. 205 A personage known as Abå Bakr JalwånÈ is known through his mosque, which still stands in the Khånaqåh of Chahår Qu†b at Hansi, bearing an inscription dated 21 Rajab 896/30 May 1491, when the khånaqåh was under the guidance of Shaikh FarÈd Ganj-i Shikkar. The inscription falls into the early years of Sikandar LodÈ, whose name is acknowledged in the inscription, but the position of Abå Bakr is not clear except that he humbly calls himself a follower of Shaikh Jamål al-Óaqq (Shaikh Jamål al-dÈn HånsawÈ, the founder of the Sufi order in Hansi). This is one of the earliest records of the JalwånÈs outside Bayana, but the relationship between Abå Bakr and the JalwånÈs of Bayana is not certain. See Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 103–4. 206 Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 228; (tr.), II, p. 122. 207 TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, p. 156; (tr.), V, p. 86; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 308; (tr.), I, p. 347; Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 308; (tr.), I, p. 405; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 177; (tr.), I, p. 556. 208 TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 34–5 (Elliot (tr.) V, omits the entire chapter on Sikandar LodÈ); TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 168–70; (tr.); V, p. 91; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 313–14; (tr.), I, pp. 354–5; TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), p. 34; (tr.), IV, p. 444 gives 7 Shabån; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 179; (tr.), I, pp. 561–3 only mentions the year. 203

TWO: history

was in charge of Bayana and had declared himself sultan. At first he decided to accept the sovereignty of Sikandar and went to his camp:209 ‫سلطان (سکندر) بطرف بیانه حرکت نمود سلطان اشرف پسر احمد خان سلطان جلوانی از راه انقیاد پیش آمد سلطان‬ ‫فرمود بیانه بگذار تا عوض آن جلیسر و چندوار و مارهره و سکیت بتو داده شود سلطان اشرف عمرخان سروانی‬ ‫را همراه گرفته به بیانه آمد تا کلیدهای قلعه را باو سپارد چون بقلعه درآمد از بیخردی و نا تجربگی روزگار سپر‬ ‫بغی بر روی خود کشید نقض عهد نموده قلعه بیانه را محکم ساخت درین اثناء سلطان بجانب آگره که موضعی بود‬ ‫از توابع بیانه به شکار ماهی و دفع رطوبت و حرارت هوا کنار دریای جون آمده بود هیبت خان جلوانی که از توابع‬ ‫سلطان اشرف بود در قلعۀ آگره متحصن گشت سلطان چند کس را از امرا بر سر آگره گذاشته خود باز به بیانه رفت‬ ‫ سبع و‬٨٩٧ ‫و در محاصره مبالغه فرمود چون کار بر سلطان اشرف تنگ شد از روی عجز امان خواست و در سنه‬ ‫تسعین و ثمانمایه بیانه فتح شد سلطان آن محال را بخانخانان فرملی مقرر داشت و سلطان اشرف را اخراج نمود و‬ .‫خود بجانب دهلی مراجعت کرد‬ Sultan (Sikandar LodÈ) marched towards Bayana. Sultan Ashraf210 the son of A˙mad Khån, the JalwånÈ sultan, arrived in a manner of submission. The sultan (Sikandar) ordered: ‘Leave Bayana and instead (the governorship of) JalÈsar, Chandawår, Mårhara and Sakiyat would be bestowed upon you’.211 Sultan Ashraf took Umar Khån SarwånÈ212 with himself and came to Bayana to hand over the keys of the fort to him. When he (Ashraf) entered the fort, out of foolishness and lack of experience in life, he covered himself with the shield of treason, broke his promises and strengthened the fort. At this time the sultan was near Agra, which was a vicinity in the territory of Bayana, and on the bank of the Jumna was engaged in fishing and keeping off the humidity and heat. Haibat Khån JalwånÈ, who was a subordinate of Sultan Ashraf, took refuge in the fort of Agra. The sultan left some of his emirs in Agra and himself went to Bayana and persevered in besieging it. When the position of Sultan Ashraf became arduous, out of desperation he asked for mercy. In the year 897 (1491–2) Bayana was taken. The sultan gave that region to Khån-i Khånån FarmulÈ, dismissed Sultan Ashraf, and then returned to Delhi. TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 174–5; (tr.), V, pp. 92–3. Our translation is given here. The TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 36–7 (not translated in Elliot), gives the event slightly differently and mentions that after the conquest of Bayana Ïså Khån was appointed governor. An inscription in Bayana, however, confirms the account of the TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ. The TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), pp. 44–6; (tr.), IV, pp. 455–6, does not give any details but records that Sikandar made two successful campaigns to Bayana, one during the first year of his reign and another after defeating Bårbak Shåh of Jaunpur. 210 In the later histories Ashraf’s name is given as Sul†ån Sharaf. See Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 316; (tr.), I, pp. 358–9; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 180; (tr.), I, p. 569; Muntakhab al-TawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 315; (tr.), I, p. 414, gives the name as Sul†ån Sharq, which must be a misspelling of Sul†ån Sharaf. 211 JalÈsar is a town about 60 km (38 miles) east of the Jumna River and Mathura. See The Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edn (Oxford, 1908), V, p. 17; Mårhara is about 20 km north of Utåwa. Sikandar seems to have been offering Sultan Ashraf a region outside – but near – the territory of Bayana. The region was controlled previously by the SharqÈ sultans and it seems that at this time it had been recently annexed to the Delhi territory. 212 Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 180 (records the name as ShirwånÈ or SharwånÈ); (tr.), I, p. 566. 209

73

74 BAYANA There are a number of points in this passage that require comment. This is the third time in the Muslim history of Bayana that we witness an ambitious ruler of Bayana feeling strong enough to proclaim himself sultan, but, as on other occasions, his sultanate was short-lived. Bayana’s resources seem never to have been adequate for such rulers to gather and sustain large forces fit to defeat or even repel those of the neighbouring sultanates. Its fort, strong enough to withstand any attack, did not have an appropriate water supply to last through a long siege and on this occasion, as in the case of Mu˙ammad Khån Au˙adÈ, Sultan Ashraf had no other choice but to surrender. The historian mentions him being dismissed, implying that he was not put to death, but was stripped of rank and sent away. There is no mention of Ashraf in later dates and he fades into obscurity.213 Later, and during the reign of IbråhÈm Shåh LodÈ, we come across one Daryå Khån JalwånÈ214 who was the governor of PånÈpat, but his probable relationship with the JalwånÈs of Bayana is not certain. Haibat Khån must have been the fief-holder of Agra. His name JalwånÈ indicates that he was a relative of – or from the same clan as – Sultan Ashraf. This seems to be the earliest record of the existence of a fort in Agra. The histories of Sikandar LodÈ imply that Agra was built on virgin ground, but this passage and other earlier mentions of Agra seem to suggest that it already existed at least as a defensive fortified post well before it was chosen as Sikandar LodÈ’s capital. The TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ215 mentions that Agra was a pre-Islamic fort in the territory of the raja of Mathura and was destroyed by Ma˙mËd of Ghazna. It survived only as a small village. The TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ often relates the legends and folklore beliefs of the time, but there may be a grain of truth in the story, as Ma˙mËd of Ghazna did indeed attack Mathura on his well-known campaign to QanËj and as he advanced he sacked many other forts including perhaps Bayana. The fort of Agra could have been yet another such stronghold. How much – if any – of the old fort was maintained during the Islamic period and was later incorporated into the LodÈ town is not known, as the present fort is a Mughal work of the sixteenth century and later. Khån-i Khånån FarmulÈ,216 who was placed in charge of Bayana, was one of the most important and trusted nobles of BahlËl’s court. When his son Sikandar was born his upbringing was entrusted to Khån-i Khånån FarmulÈ.217 In the campaign against the raja of Udaipur the bravery of the khan and another commander Qu†b Sh. D. P. Sharma’s speculation that Sultan Ashraf might be the same as Íafdar Khån JalwånÈ, a courtier of Sikandar LodÈ is conjectural and is not supported by the historical sources. See Sharma, ‘The Auhadi and the Jalwani Dynasties of Bayana’, p. 441. 214 TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 106; not translated in Elliot. The name JalwånÈ at this point may be a scribal error for SarwånÈ as there are no other records of Daryå Khån JalwånÈ, but Daryå Khån SarwånÈ is a known personality in the LodÈ court and is noted below as a guest of Haibat Khån in his garden at Bayana. 215 TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), p. 40; (tr.), IV, p. 450. 216 His name in the TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ and Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 180, is misspelled as QarmalÈ or QarmulÈ; (tr.), I, p. 569 gives Firmully. 217 TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 19; not translated in Elliot. 213

TWO: history

Khån led to victory.218 When BahlËl died it was again Khån-i Khånån who secured Sikandar LodÈ’s ascent to the throne.219 Khån-i Khånån might have been related to – or of the same clan as – a number of other FarmulÈs in the LodÈ court, including A˙mad Khån FarmulÈ,220 Daulat Khån,221 Mu˙ammad Khån,222 as well as Tåtår Khån and his son.223 They might have all been connected with Shaikh SaÈd FarmulÈ,224 a religious personage at the time of BahlËl. Khån-i Khånån’s appointment to the governorship of Bayana shows the importance that Sikandar attached to the control of Bayana. A bilingual inscription225 of Khån-i Khånån is found in a step-well (båolÈ) (F.4) in the fort of Bayana recording in Persian and in Sanskrit the date of its completion in ah 901/ve 1553 and Saka Era 1418/ad 1496. The Sanskrit text gives the name of Khån-i Khånån’s father as Shaikh Imåd of the House of Shaikh Mu˙ammad.226 This is yet another Sanskrit inscription of the Muslim rulers in Bayana, indicating their regard for the Hindu population. The BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån is likely to have been constructed to provide water for Hindus exclusively. The new governor from Delhi might have been trying to demonstrate that he was as sympathetic to them as the earlier Au˙adÈ rulers had been. The step-well is one of the better-preserved and finer structures of Bayana, and its design and decorative features display the architectural development of the region and its links with early Mughal architecture (Plate 2.11). The inscription, however, may have a further importance. Before Sikandar LodÈ decided to designate Agra as his capital,227 it seems that he had Bayana in mind and founded there the town of Sikandra228 – well known for its gardens – between the fort and the town of Bayana. The date of the inscription may be associated with the time of the foundation of the new town and the addition of other public buildings to the older settlements. Other inscriptions in Sikandra also show that even after the shift of the capital to Agra the development of Sikandra continued well into the reign of IbråhÈm Shåh LodÈ. Ibid. (Pers.), p. 20; (tr.), p. 5. Ibid. (Pers.), p. 35; not translated in Elliot. 220 Ibid. (Pers.), pp. 58–9, 60; not translated in Elliot. 221 Ibid. (Pers.), p. 61; not translated in Elliot. 222 Ibid. (Pers.), pp. 38, 41, 65, 172; not translated in Elliot. 223 Ibid. (Pers.), pp. 53–4; not translated in Elliot; JahångÈr nåma (Pers.), p. 113, notes that the FarmulÈs were an Afghan clan from Kabul. 224 TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 31–2; not translated in Elliot. For a list of the FarmulÈs in the court of Sikandar LodÈ, also see Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 314–15; (tr.), I, pp. 356–7. 225 Appendix I, inscription no. 29. 226 Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 314, (tr.), I, p. 356, records Khån-i Khånån’s name as Mu˙ammad, and without naming his father, lists him as the son of a shaikh. It also records the name of one of Khån-i Khånån’s son as Imåd, who must have been named after his grandfather. 227 ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 441; (tr.), II, p. 191; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 183; (tr.), I, p. 578, states that the choice of Agra was related to the desire of the sultan to take over Gwalior. Also see the passage on the construction of Agra in the TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ given below. 228 TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 109; (tr.), V, p. 33. 218 219

75

76 BAYANA

Plate 2.11  Bayana fort, the step-well of Khån-i Khånån (F.4). The planning, use of building materials and details of the carvings, particularly those of the capital brackets of the middle level, are all precursors of the architecture of Akbar’s Fathpur Sikri.

Khån-i Khånån remained governor of Bayana until his death in or soon after 906/1500–1 and Sikandar gave the region to his two sons. However, a passage in the TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ indicates that after the death of Khån-i Khånån a rebellion in Bayana forced his sons to retreat from the region:229 ‫درین اثناء خبر فوت خانخانان فرملی حاکم بیانه رسید سلطان بیانه را بعماد و سلیمان پسران خانخانان مقرر داشت‬ ‫و چون بیانه بواسطۀ استحکام قلعه و سر حد محل بغی و فساد شده بود عماد و سلیمان با متعلقان خود بنا بر بعضی‬ ‫مالحظه به سنبهل رسیدند سلطان بیانه را از ایشان تغییر داده بخواصخان عنایت کرد و بعد از چند روز صفدرخان‬ .‫ عماد و سلیمان را … پرگنات دیگر عنایت شد‬.‫بعملداری آگره که از مضافات بیانه بود تعیین شد‬ At this time the news of the death of Khån-i Khånån FarmulÈ arrived. The sultan gave Bayana to his (Khån-i Khånån’s) sons Imåd230 and Sulaimån,231 but because TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 190–1; (tr.), V, p. 97. Our translation is given here. Also see Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 324; (tr.), I, p. 369; Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, pp. 318–19; (tr.), I, pp. 418–19. 230 Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 183; (tr.), I, pp. 577–8, gives the name as A˙mad. 231 Elsewhere in Firishta the name is given as Miyån Sulaimån, see TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, p. 209; (tr.), V, p. 104, omits the name Miyån. The record of the name as sultan in Muntakhab 229

TWO: history

of the strength of the fort and the borders of Bayana it had become a place of treachery and corruption. For reasons of prudence Imåd and Sulaimån with their relatives arrived at Sanbhal (Sanbhar). The sultan took Bayana from them and bestowed it upon Khwåß Khån and after a few days Íafdar Khån was made the fief-holder of Agra which was a subsidiary of Bayana … Other regions were bestowed upon Imåd and Sulaimån. The nature of the unrest seems to have been caused by a Hindu uprising instigated by Manakdev, the raja of Gwalior. The sultan’s governors were clearly unable to contain the rebellion and had to flee from – or were forced out of – Bayana. The unrest must have been widespread not just in Bayana but in the entire region, as Khwåß Khån was first sent to take over the fort of Dholpur232 on Gwalior’s border with Bayana. His forces were unable to succeed and eventually the sultan himself marched to the region and forced the raja into a peace treaty, but let him keep Dholpur.233 The TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ then continues with a brief but important passage concerning Bayana: 234 ‫چون بدهولپور رسید آن محال را نیز براجه مانکدیو بخشیده به بیانه که مستقر سریر خالفت بود تشریف آورد و ایام‬ ‫ عشر و تسعمائه جهت تسخیر قلعۀ‬٩١٠ ‫برسات را در آنجا بانجام رسانید و بعد از طلوع سهیل در ماه رمضان سنۀ‬ .‫مندرایل لوای عزیمت بر افراخت‬ When he (the sultan) reached Dholpur he bestowed it upon Raja Manakdev and then arrived in Bayana, which was the house of the royal throne, and stayed there during the rainy season (barsåt). After the rising of the star Canopus (i.e., the beginning of spring) of the month of Rama∂ån 910 (February– March 1505) he raised the standards for the conquest of fort of Mandaråyl (Mandåwar).235 This is the only record that mentions Bayana as the LodÈ capital and that the sultan resided in the city for a fairly long period, presumably in the new town which must have been at least partially constructed. The reasons for the choice of Bayana as the new capital are not given, but the events of the time, Sikandar’s constant struggle first with Bayana and Jaunpur – which was also eventually annexed to his territory – and later with Gwalior and other rajas must have all been contributing factors to his decision. However, the sultan soon discovered the al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 318, must be a scribal error for Sulaimån; (tr.), I, p. 418, gives the name correctly as Sulaimån. 232 TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, p. 194; (tr.), V, p. 97; TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), p. 60; (tr.), IV, p. 465. 233 Later Sikandar took it away from the raja and gave it to Muizz al-dÈn. TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, p. 196; (tr.), V, p. 99. 234 Ibid. (Pers.), I, pp. 193–4; (tr.), V, p. 98. Our translation is given here. 235 One of the districts of Bayana. See ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 356; (tr.), II, p. 183.

77

78 BAYANA shortcomings of Bayana – its hot climate and the shortage of water limiting its suitability for maintaining a large army in the vicinity:236 ‫همدرین سال حرارت هوا بنوعی طغیان پذیرفت که اکثر خالیق به تپ محرق وبیماری صعب گرفتار شدند و اکثر‬ ‫اوقات جاگیر داران و رعایا ریز وعمال خالصه از متمردان و مفسدان کنار آب جون سرکار بیانه در مزاحمت بودند‬ ‫و مکرراً عرضداشت می کردند و سلطان همیشه درین فکر بود که در کنار دریا جای مناسب دیده شهری آبادان‬ ‫ احدی و عشر و تسعمایه سلطان عزیمت نمود که آن نیت و اراده را از قوت بفعل آرد‬٩١١ ‫سازد بنا بر آن در سنه‬ ‫و جای که سالطین نشین باشد و محل اجتماع سپاه تواند بود و متمردان نواحی مطیع و منقاد و دایم پایمال و زبون‬ ‫توانند بود آبادان کند پس برین نیت از دهلی چند کس را از اهل و دانش و تمیز و صاحب فراست تعیین نمودند تا‬ ‫کنار دریا مالحظه نموده بروند هر جا مناسب دانند بعرض رسانند آن جماعة بر کشتی نشسته از دهلی روانه شدند‬ ‫و هر دو جانب را دیده و تاکید نموده می رفتند تا آنکه باین محل که الحال آگره آبادان است رسیدند و آن را پسندیده‬ ‫بعرض رسانیدند سلطان خود از دهلی کوچ کرده بقصبه متهرا آمد و از آنجا بر کشتی نشسته تفرج و سیر کنان و‬ ‫شکار افکنان باین مکان رسیدند و بلندی برای آبادانی الیق دید از مهتر مالحان که نائیک نام داشت و کشتی خاصه‬ ‫می راند پرسید که ازین دو بلندی کدام یکی الیق است نائیک گفت بلندی که آگره است یعنی بلندی پیش نکو است‬ ‫سلطان تبسم نمود و گفت نام این شهر هم آگره باشد پس فاتحه خوانده در ساعت سعد در رقبه موضع بسهی و موضع‬ ‫پویه من اعمال پرگنه دولی سرکار بیانه شهر آبادان شد و از جمله پنجاه و دو پرگنه سرکار بیانه نه پرگنه جدا ساخته‬ .‫داخل آگره کردند از آن باز این شهر روی در آبادانی دارد و دارالخالفه سالطین هند گشت‬ In this year the heat increased to a degree that most of the people were struck by burning fever and deadly diseases. Also most of the time the local landowners (jågÈrdårån) and the tax agents along the banks of the River Jumna in the region of Bayana were troubled consistently by rebellious and corrupt people and were sending pleas (to the court) for help. For a long time the sultan was thinking of finding a suitable place on the bank of the river to build a city there. Therefore, in the year 911 (1505–6) the sultan proceeded to bring his ideas and hopes from theory to deed, and build a place which would be suitable for a seat of the sultans and for gathering the army, where the local rebels could be restrained in obedience and conformity, and always kept under the heel in humility. For this reason they brought from Delhi some intelligent, wise and learned men to inspect the banks of the river and report on any suitable places they could find. They embarked by boat and began from Delhi inspecting and investigating both banks of the river until they reached the site, on which Agra is now prospering. The sultan himself left Delhi for Mathura and there he embarked by boat and travelled at leisure observing the sights and hunting along the way arrived at that place. When they reached that site he saw that there were high grounds suitable for construction. He asked the chief of the sailors, who was called NåÈk (Nayak)237 and was the pilot of the royal boat, ‘Which one of the two high grounds here is more suitable?’ NåÈk said ‘The one which is ågra (Sanskrit: agra, more prominent), the closer one, is the better one.’ The sultan smiled and TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 194–6; (tr.), V, pp. 98–9. His name suggests that he was a south Indian, probably from Tamil Nadu, which has a long maritime tradition.

236 237

TWO: history

said: ‘Thus this town shall be called Ågra.’ Then he prayed and at an auspicious hour on the sites of BasahÈ and PËya238 in the district of DaulÈ of the region of Bayana a town was built. He took nine districts out of the fifty-two districts of Bayana and allocated them to Agra. From that time this town has been prospering and has been the capital of the sultans of India. In this passage the historian implies that the land was virgin ground, but we have seen that earlier he speaks of a fort there which was apparently the seat of a local fief-holder. The Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh also records that the citadel of Agra existed before and was called Badalgarh.239 Whatever the earlier condition of Agra might have been, when the new town was still in the early stages of construction another major event aided the shift of the centre of local power – and probably the population – from Bayana to Agra:240 ‫ احدی و عشر و تسعمایه در آگره زلزله عظیم واقع شد چنانچه‬٩١١ ‫درین اثناء روز یکشنبه سوم ماه صفر سنه‬ ‫کوهها به لرزه در آمدند و عمارات عالی از هم فرو ریختند و خالیق بسیار تلف شدند زنده ها قیامت انگاشتند و مرده‬ .‫ها حشر پنداشتند و از زمان آدم تا حال این نوع زلزله در هندوستان بوقوع نیامد و در هیچ تاریخی مسطور نیست‬ At this time and on Sunday third of Íafar of the year 911 (6 July 1505) a massive earthquake occurred in Agra which shook the mountains. Grand buildings collapsed and a large number of people perished. Those who were alive assumed that it was doomsday and those who were dead imagined that it was the day of judgement. From the time of Adam to this time no such earth tremor had ever happened in India and such an event has not been recorded in histories. The historian indicates clearly that the epicentre of the earthquake was near Agra. The nearby Bayana must have, therefore, been hit by this tremor. Most of the houses in the town inside the fort seem to have been destroyed and abandoned. An account in the ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ, written a generation later, and quoted below,241 describes the town in the fort as a ruinous site where people dug to find household utensils and weapons. Later the stones of the demolished houses were used for makeshift repairs to buildings that had survived the tremor, and life continued in the fort on a much-reduced scale. In the final phase of the settlement in the fort in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century some new houses were built, and these buildings have partially survived. Even today the remains of the fort are a testimony to its former strength and grandeur. The abandoned ruins of the old Apparently the former names of the two hills or villages on which Agra was built. Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 429; (tr.), I, p. 551. 240 TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 196–7; (tr.), V, p. 99. Our translation is given here. Also see Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, pp. 319–20; (tr.), I, pp. 421–2; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 325–6; (tr.), I, p. 372; TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), pp. 60–1; (tr.), IV, pp. 465–6; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 183; (tr.), I, p. 579. 241 See opening of Chapter 3. 238 239

79

80 BAYANA town inside the fort also provide an opportunity to study the urban fabric as well as the domestic architecture of an unaltered fourteenth- and fifteenth-century town. Nevertheless, not all buildings were destroyed by the earthquake. Some grander, better built structures survived, including the old mosques of Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul and Mubårak Shåh KhaljÈ in Bayana town, as well as many Au˙adÈ and LodÈ buildings such as the minaret of DåwËd Khån in the fort and the Grand Mosque of Sikandra nearby. If there was damage to the religious and public buildings it seems they were repaired. In 922/1516–17, the sultan spent four months in the vicinity of Bayana, hunting and consulting with Bayana’s religious leaders, particularly Sayyid Nimat’ullåh and Shaikh ÓusainÈ.242 The gradual reduction in Bayana’s population after the earthquake is more likely to have been caused by the growth of Agra, as many people must have migrated to this new centre of wealth and power. From the beginning of the establishment of Agra Sikandar LodÈ spent most of his time there and in the vicinity of Dholpur, which was on the Bayana–Gwalior border and vital for Sikandar LodÈ to keep under control. The sultan resided in Dholpur243 for many months at a time and ‘built palaces and other buildings at every stage between Agra and Dholpur’.244 In Dholpur there is a small compound containing the tomb of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna, apparently Sikandar LodÈ’s mother.245 The date of her epitaph is not entirely clear, but may be deciphered with some certainty as 14 Shabån 922/12 September 1516. A year later, Sikandar LodÈ died and was succeeded by his son IbråhÈm Shåh.246 Bayana itself is hardly mentioned again in the LodÈ histories, but a number of inscriptions in Bayana record that sometime after the capital moved to Agra one NiΩåm Khån b. Mujåhid Khån was the governor of Bayana. In a copy of the TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ the names of NiΩåm Khån and one of his brothers, Ålam Khån, appear amongst the courtiers of IbråhÈm Shåh.247 This would be expected as by this time Bayana was a part of LodÈ territory and its governors – whether of local origin or otherwise – would have been regarded as the sultan’s subordinates, but the origin of the khans is not entirely clear. Firishta (Pers.), I, pp. 185–6; (tr.), I, pp. 584–5, omits details, although the information is given in Briggs’s own edition of the Persian text, Tarikh-i-Ferishta (Bombay, 1831), I, p. 342. Also see Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 334; (tr.), I, p. 383. During this season the sultan received his governor of RanthanbËr, a stronghold often disputed between Gwalior and Delhi, but at this time firmly in LodÈ hands. The ruins of the fort of RanthanbËr have never been studied properly and the area including the fort is now designated as a wildlife sanctuary. 243 TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, p. 197; (tr.), V, p. 100. 244 TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, p. 208; not translated in Elliot; Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 321; (tr.), I, p. 423; Firishta (Pers.), I, pp. 185–6; (tr.), I, p. 583. 245 Appendix I, inscription No. 30. For the possible identity of the BÈbÈ and a description of her mosque and tomb, see Chapter 10, ‘Regional Monuments’. 246 Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, pp. 322–3; (tr.), I, pp. 425–6; TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 64–6; (tr.), V, p. 7; TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 229–30; (tr.), V, p. 104; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 334–5; (tr.), I, p. 384; Firishta (Pers.), I, pp. 186, 188; (tr.), I, pp. 585, 590–1. 247 TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 65; not translated in Elliot. 242

TWO: history

An inscription of NiΩåm Khån is to be found in the town of Bayana, in situ over the entrance of an unfinished minaret248 (B.3) erected next to the Ukhå MandÈr mosque. The inscription is dated 926/1519–20 and a verse in Persian records the construction of the minaret by NiΩåm Khån b. Mujåhid Khån during the reign of IbråhÈm Shåh LodÈ. NiΩåm Khån is mentioned with the grand title Masnad-i ÅlÈ, which, unlike that of the earlier khans, must have been bestowed upon him by the sultan. The minaret may indicate that by this time the remaining population living in the fort was gradually moving down to the plain – to Sikandra and the town of Bayana. Indeed, all other inscriptions of the time of IbråhÈm Shåh are also in these two sites, confirming such a move. It is possible that the earthquake damage in the fort was greater than in the plain and the residents of the fort who had lost their homes found it more practical – and perhaps also more economical – to build their new abodes in the plain. It is in this period that Sikandra developed into a pleasant garden city, and became the residence of many of the nobles. A description of a recreational gathering of the nobles of the time is given in the TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ:249 ‫نواحی بیانه بشکار رفته بود در باغ‬ ‫هیبت خان گرگ انداز بود خطاب گرگ اندازی ازان یافته بود که روزی در‬ ٔ ‫سکندره جشنی ترتیب داده دریا خان سروانی و محمود خان لودی و دولت خان از امرا در مجلس نشسته بودند نا گاه‬ ‫دو گرگ کالن میشی را در ربودند غریو از شبانان برخاست هیبت خان بقضای حاجت رفته می آمد گرگان نزدیک‬ ‫او رسیدند تیر و کمان از خدمتکاران گرفت بغایت سخت انداز بود چون تیر از شست او گشاد یافت از آن دو گرگ‬ ‫پرّان گذشته بر زمین نشست از آن روز بدان لقب ملقّب شد در مجلس چندان می بخشید که خلق را حیرت بار آوردی‬ ‫جشن خان که‬ ‫روزی شاعری مومن نام ساکن بیانه قطعۀ در وصف خان عالی شان بگفت و بقوّاالن داد تا در روز‬ ِ ‫دران مجلس امرای کبار باشند بحضور خان بخوانند قوّاالن روز جشن بخواندند بساطی که دران روز برو نشسته بود‬ .‫بآن شاعر داد و هفت هزار تنکه بقوّاالن انعام داد پایۀ سخاوت او از این جا قیاس باید کرد‬ Haibat Khån was ‘the wolf slayer’. He had earned the title because one day he had gone hunting in the vicinity of Bayana. In a garden at Sikandra he held a celebration. Amongst the ranks of the emirs Daryå Khån SarwånÈ, Ma˙mËd Khån LodÈ and Daulat Khån were present. Suddenly two large wolves snatched a ewe from the flock. Cries from the shepherds rang out. Haibat Khån had gone to answer a call of nature and was returning. The wolves came near him. He took a bow and arrow from the servants. He was a strong sharpshooter. When the arrow flew from his thumb it passed through those two wolves and hit the ground. From that day on he was given that title. In his gatherings he was so open-handed that people would be astonished. One day a poet of Bayana called Mumin composed a piece in praise of the noble khan and gave it to the singers to recite it in his presence on a day the kh­an was entertaining the other h ­ igh-ranking emirs. The singers sang it on the day of the celebration. He (the khan) gave the trappings of his dais to the poet, and seven Appendix I, inscription No. 33. TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 109–10; (tr.), V, pp. 33–4. Our translation is given here.

248 249

81

82 BAYANA thousand tankas to the singers. By this the scale of his generosity could be measured. Another inscription of the time of NiΩåm Khån is found in a small mosque in Sikandra (S.5).250 The inscription is on a partly defaced or worn-out slab on the central lintel of the mosque recording its construction. The name of NiΩåm Khån has not survived, but the words ‘the son of Mujåhid Khån’ are preserved as well as part of the name of Mujåhid’s father, which may be read as Shams Khån. A third inscription is found also in situ on a step-well (B.34) in the fields to the north of the town of Bayana.251 The inscription is partly eroded and the name of the khan is not entirely clear. While the name is more likely to be NiΩåm Khån, there is a possibility that it could be read as Mu†åm Khån b. Mujåhid Khån, which in this case would be a brother of NiΩåm Khån. Ålam (or Ålim) Khån, the better-known brother of NiΩåm Khån, was the fief-holder of Garh. We have already noted that the fort seems to have been restored at the time of IbråhÈm Shåh LodÈ and an inscription252 of Ålam Khån dated 1 Rajab 925/29 June 1519 has been found on a tower in the fort. Bābur and the Rise of the Mughals Both NiΩåm Khån and Ålam Khån were still in their posts when Båbur invaded India in 932/1525–6 and ended the LodÈ dynasty (Plate 2.12). At first NiΩåm Khån resisted the invaders and defeated Ålam Khån who had submitted to Båbur, but after some time, when Rånå Sanga253 joined forces with Óasan Khån the governor of MÈwåt and marched towards Bayana with an army of 180,000 cavalry and several hundred infantry, NiΩåm Khån sent RafÈ al-dÈn ÍafawÈ, a Sayyid and a well-known religious personage of the time, to Båbur to plead submission.254 Båbur asked him to hand over the fort and when NiΩåm Khån did not accept these terms Båbur sent a force to Bayana and set a siege to the fort. Eventually, NiΩåm Khån submitted and Båbur gave him the governorship of an area of Du Åb255 with 252 253

Appendix I, inscription No. 32. Appendix I, inscription No. 34. Appendix I, inscription No. 31. James Tod, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan (London, 1920), I, pp. 349, 353–5. Tod, II, p. 956, notes that Maldev, the raja of Mårwår, joined forces with Rånå Sanga, but lost his eldest and perhaps only son, Raemall, in the battle. 254 Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 338; (tr.), I, p. 445; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, pp. 20–2; (tr.), II, pp. 29–31; Akbar nåma (Pers.), I, pp. 100–7 (tr.), I, pp. 250–61, gives a detailed account of the event. 255 Du åb or miyån du åb (Persian: between two rivers) was an area between the Ganges and the Jumna in the vicinity of Delhi, spreading northward to include the regions of Såmåna, SålËra MÈrut (modern Meerut) and MÈrtha, see, for example, BarnÈ (Pers.), pp. 468–9, 473, 479; (tr.), III, pp. 238, 242; Shams Siråj (Pers.), pp. 313, 452; (tr.), III, p. 353; TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 146, 160, 165, 167; (tr.), IV, pp. 34, 36. 250 251

TWO: history

Plate 2.12  Battle scene from a Mughal copy of the memoirs of Båbur depicting Båbur in his triumphant confrontation with IbråhÈm Shåh LodÈ at Panipat, in which IbråhÈm valiantly faced his enemies until he lost his life. Reproduced courtesy of Walters Art Museum. Memoirs of Båbur; Båburnåmah, Ms. W. 596, fol. 14a.

83

84 BAYANA an annual revenue of 20 lakhs (2 million) tanka. 256 The forces of Rånå Sanga and Óasan Khån were also defeated by Båbur’s army in a battle at Khanwa,257 a village of Bayana.258 Rånå Sanga, severely wounded, fled first to MÈwåt and then to Baswa, about 136 km (85 miles) north-west of Jaipur where he died on his way back to his capital Chitor.259 NiΩåm Khån also seems to have left the region and this may be a reason for his minaret being left unfinished. However, the date of the minaret is several years before this time, indicating that its construction was not progressing speedily even in the earlier years. A partially damaged inscription260 in the fort of Bayana shows that the transition of power in Bayana was not entirely smooth. The inscription is now lost, but is reported to have been fixed on the northern gate of the fort, commemorating the death of a young artillery soldier (naftdår) who died when the explosive he was laying to destroy the iron gate blew up prematurely. The name of the governor of the town is given as AmÈr DËst. The inscription is self-explanatory, indicating that a battle must have taken place and explosives were used. This is by no means the first indication of the use of explosives in India, as not only were Båbur’s forces already familiar with gunpowder, it had also been known in India since at least the late fifteenth century. An earlier record of the application of explosives is, for example, in a battle over the fort of Mandasur, where the forces of the Gujarat Sultan Ma˙mËd Baigara (863–917/1458–1511) dug a small tunnel under one of the bastions and exploded gunpowder inside the tunnel with a dynamite effect, bringing down the bastion.261 In spite of the earthquake damage, it seems that with Båbur’s advance NiΩåm Khån – like many of his predecessors – must have taken refuge in the fort, but soon realised that with the introduction of explosives the days of his mediaeval fortification were near an end. The inscription seems to have been set up sometime later by the new governor to show the respect paid by the Mughal nobility to ordinary soldiers who lost their lives in battle. On another occasion when Båbur’s successor HumåyËn was fighting his rival ShÈr Shåh SËr near the town of Hisar he

Annette Suzannah Beveridge (tr.), The Båbur-nåma in English (London, 1922), II, p. 539; Firishta (Pers.), I, pp. 207–8; (tr.), II, pp. 49–51. NiΩåm Khån remained loyal to Båbur and in the ­well-known battle of Khanwa led the left flank of Båbur’s army, see Båbur-nåma (tr.), II, pp. 567, 678. 257 Khanwa has preserved a number of historical structures discussed in Chapter 10 and Appendix III. 258 Båbur nåma (tr.), II, pp. 568–73; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 209; (tr.), II, pp. 54–5; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, pp. 24–5; (tr.), II, pp. 34–8; TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 116–19; (tr.), V, pp. 35–7; JahångÈr nåma (Pers.), p. 142; (tr.), I, p. 250. 259 Tod, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, I, pp. 355–6; II, p. 953. 260 Appendix I, inscription No. 35. 261 Abd’ullåh Mu˙ammad, Ûafar ul-wålih bi MuΩaffar wa ålih (Arab.), I, p. 114; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), III, pp. 189–90; (tr.), III, p. 316; Firishta (Pers.), II, p. 210; (tr.), III, p. 56. The method was later widely used elsewhere by other forces in the Deccan and Gujarat, see Firishta (Pers.), II, p. 220; (tr.), III, p. 71. 256

85

TWO: history

generously built large tomb chambers – fit for noblemen – for his ordinary soldiers who had stood by him and fallen on the battlefield.262 The name of the fief-holder or governor of Hindaun is also known through two inscriptions of a tomb in that town.263 The dates of the inscriptions are not certain and can be read as 15 Rajab 913/20 November 1507 or 16 Rajab 933/18 April 1527, but both inscriptions record the death of a lady called BÈbÈ KhadÈja, daughter of AΩam KarÈm al-dÈn BukhårÈ of Mahåwan and the wife of AΩam Burhån al-dÈn b. AΩam Siråj al-dÈn. One of the inscriptions apparently states that AΩam Burhån al-dÈn was the governor of the region. Only a brief summary of the content of this inscription has been published and the full text still awaits detailed study. However, if the reading is correct it is unusual to see a qå∂È (religious judge) being appointed as a governor. Such personages are usually in charge of the magisterial and religious affairs of the towns. In Bayana, AmÈr DËst seems to have still been in charge when Båbur died in his garden at Agra264 on 5 Jumådå I, 937/25 December 1530. An inscription265 in the town of Bayana, originally on a column of a chatrÈ tomb which is now in ruins and of which only some structural elements have survived, records that the shrine was constructed by AmÈr DËst. In Appendix I, differences in the two earlier readings have been noted: in one the name is given as AmÈr YËsuf b. AmÈr IbråhÈm HirawÈ with the date as 937/1530–1, and in the other AmÈr DËst b. AmÈr IbråhÈm Au˙adÈ with the date as 807/1404–5. In fieldwork in 2004 the inscription was re-investigated on site, and a fresh reading of the inscription is suggested here266 (Plate 2.13). The other sides of the columns bear Quranic inscriptions. ‫بِسْم هللاِ الرّحْ َمن الرّحیم‬ ُ‫اَ ْشهَ ُد اَ ْن َل اِ ٰلهَ اِالَهلل َوحْ َدهُ َل َشریک لَه‬ ُ‫َواَ ْشهَ ُد اَ َّن ُم َح ّمداً َعبْدهُ َو َرسُولَه‬ ‫بسعی و اهتمام امیر [د] وست‬ ‫ابن امیر [ا]برا [هـ ] ـیم ا [و حـ] ـدی (؟ هروی ؟) غفرهللا‬ ‫المومنین‬ ٔ ‫له و لوالدی و لجمیع‬ ‫المومنات و المسلِمین و المسلمات‬ ٔ ‫و‬ .٩)٣(٧ ‫سنه‬ For the inscriptions, see H. Blochmann, ‘Delmerick’s Inscriptions from Óißår FÈrËza’, Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for April 1877, pp. 97–8, inscriptions Nos. 7–9; S. R. Phogat, Inscriptions of Haryana (Kurukshetra, 1978), pp. 84–5; M. Shokoohy, Haryana I, pp. 40–1. For the monuments, see Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 64–71, tombs 12–22. 263 Appendix I, inscriptions Nos. 36 and 37. 264 Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, p. 26; (tr.), II, pp. 39–40; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 211; (tr.), II, pp. 64–5. The day varies in some histories, TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 129; (tr.), V, p. 43, gives 4 Jumådå I and Akbar nåma (Pers.), I, p. 118; (tr.), I, p. 277, gives 6 Jumådå I. 265 Appendix I, inscription No. 38. 266 Diacritics are as close as possible to what appear in the Arabic text; the Persian text is, as usual, without diacritics. 262

86 BAYANA

Plate 2.13  Bayana town, the south face of a column (B.49) from a ruined structure bearing the name AmÈr DËst, and other historical information.

TWO: history

1: In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful. 2: I profess that there is no God but God. He is the Only One and He has no partner 3: and I profess that Mu˙ammad is his Servant and his Messenger. 4: (Built) with the effort and endeavour of AmÈr [D]Ëst 5: son of AmÈr [I]bråhÈm [Au]˙ådÈ ? (or [Hi]rawÈ) may God forgive 6: him and his father and all believers, men 7: and women and Muslim men and women 8: in the year 9[3]7 (1530–1). While the Quranic sections of the inscription are in naskhÈ script, the historical part is in a cursive script almost in the style of nastalÈq. This style was introduced to India from Iran only in the Mughal period. The inscription in Bayana is amongst the first examples of nastalÈq script267 on stone in India, if not indeed the first. The naskhÈ script, common in earlier periods for all types of inscriptions, was used only for the Quranic and religious texts on this slab. We can therefore safely consider the inscription as a Mughal record. The date, given in figures rather than in letters, as is usual in earlier inscriptions of Bayana, has not survived well, but 807/1404–5 is far too early for an inscription in nastalÈq. The earlier reading of 937/1530–1 – presumably made when the date was preserved in a better ­condition – is more likely as it corresponds with the year that Båbur died and was succeeded by his son and crown prince HumåyËn. The name of the personage for whom the chatrÈ tomb was constructed is not given, but the name of the patron can be read with some certainty as AmÈr DËst, leaving little doubt that the personage is the same as Båbur’s governor of Bayana recorded in the inscription in the fort already noted. The name of the father is not well preserved, but IbråhÈm, also suggested in both earlier readings, matches best with the remaining letters of the name. The following word, also partly damaged, could be suggested to be HirawÈ (from the town of Herat, one of the capitals of old Khuråsån), but the traces of a long stroke of the Arabic letter alif at the beginning of the word and the letter before ‘i’ (yå) seemingly very similar to the letter ‘d’ (dål) which appear in the words ‘dËst’ and ‘li-wålidÈ’, make the reading of Au˙adÈ probable, although not entirely certain. The personage buried in the lost chatrÈ still remains unknown, but AmÈr DËst’s prayer for his father may be evidence that the chatrÈ was intended for his father AmÈr IbråhÈm. On the other hand, the prayer for all believers and Muslims indicates that the building could have been a shrine, perhaps the tomb of one of the The script is generally accepted to have been invented by the renowned Persian calligrapher MÈr AlÈ TabrÈzÈ in 827/1423–4, but specimens of well-developed nastalÈq can be found in the late fourteenth century. See, for example, the Bibliothèque National, Paris, manuscripts of Ajåib al-MakhlËqåt copied in 1388 by A˙mad al-HirawÈ, and KalÈla wa Dimna copied in 1392 by ÓåfiΩ IbråhÈm in Ralph Pinder-Wilson, Basil Gray et al., The Arts of Islam (London, 1976), p. 333. The script appears to have developed gradually, probably from the mid-fourteenth century, reaching maturity before the fifteenth century.

267

87

88 BAYANA Sufi shaikhs or religious leaders of the town. These possibilities do not invalidate each other, as IbråhÈm could have been buried next to a religious personage and the structure built to house both tombs. If the reading of the word Au˙adÈ can be accepted it might be an indication that the Au˙adÈ family survived after 861/1456–7 and members of the family continued to live in Bayana, some of whom might have entered the service of the later rulers. The title of amÈr for the father of AmÈr DËst shows that he was also a member of the nobility, although not of the rank of the khans. Whether or not they were of the Au˙adÈ family, the name of AmÈr DËst and his father do not appear amongst the nobles of the LodÈ court, and they must have maintained only a modest position in the service of the local governors. With the removal of the LodÈ nobility Båbur could have chosen AmÈr DËst as a respectable local emir unaffiliated to the LodÈ court, who could be trusted to remain loyal to the new Mughals. This would, of course, be the case only if the emir was not already a member of the Mughal administration, coming to India together with Båbur. Bayana remained part of the Mughal Empire and as we have already seen from the accounts of the ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ, it was reduced to a region of the province of Agra, and the fort downgraded to a provincial stronghold. On one occasion the fort was also used as a royal prison, when early in his reign HumåyËn confined Mu˙ammad Zamån there. Mu˙ammad Zamån b. BadÈ al-Zamån was a cousin of HumåyËn and a grandson of the Khuråsån sultan Óusain Båyqarå (Baiqarå). In the constant infighting between the later Mongol princes, Mu˙ammad Zamån had escaped from Balkh and took refuge in the court of Båbur, but early in the reign of HumåyËn he rebelled and was imprisoned in Bayana.268 He soon escaped and took refuge in the court of the Gujarat Sultan Bahådur, who also had his eye on the Mughal throne. Apparently under the influence of Mu˙ammad Zamån, Bahådur marched towards Agra where Tåtår Khån LodÈ,269 one of his major army commanders and the son of Alå al-dÈn Ålam Khån, took over Bayana. However, in a fierce battle with HumåyËn’s brother MÈrzå Hindål near Agra, Tåtår and his men perished and Bayana remained in Mughal hands. Throughout his reign HumåyËn was faced with many challenges, not only from Bahådur Shåh and ShÈr Shåh SËr, who eventually forced him out of India, but also by his own brothers, Kåmrån and Hindål. When in 945/1538–9 HumåyËn marched to Bengal270 he left MÈrzå Hindål in his place, but Hindål seized the opportunity to Akbar nåma, (Pers.), I, p. 124; (tr.), I, p. 289; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 213, II, p. 222; (tr.), II, p. 73; IV, p. 124 (gives the date as 940); Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, p. 30; (tr.), II, p. 46; TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 134–6; also see TårÈkh-i ShÈr ShåhÈ (Pers.), I, p. 95. 269 Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 345; (tr.), I, pp. 452–3; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, p. 31; (tr.), II, p. 48; Akbar nåma (Pers.), I, pp. 128–9; (tr.), I, pp. 296–8. 270 Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, pp. 42, 100; (tr.), II, pp. 66, 163, gives the date as 943; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 217; (tr.), II, pp. 84–5, gives the date as 945. Akbar nåma (Pers.), I, pp. 153–5; (tr.), I, pp. 335–7, gives the date of the conquest of Bengal as 945 and notes that Shaikh BahlËl was sent at that time. 268

TWO: history

declare himself sovereign. During this time the Mughal administrator of Bayana was one Mu˙ammad who had the post of bakhshÈ.271 In the Mughal court the bakhshÈ was the army paymaster and regional collector of taxes, but apparently with considerable powers, which allowed him to act as the chief administrator and sometimes virtually as a fief-holder or governor.272 Two edifices of the time of Mu˙ammad have survived in the fort of Bayana. One is the shrine of his spiritual leader Shaikh BahlËl, who was killed by MÈrzå Hindål in Agra and his body taken to Bayana for burial by Mu˙ammad.273 The other is the Imårat-i BådgÈr274 (Plate 2.14), a pavilion much in the spirit of Akbar’s building with the same name in Fathpur Sikri, but much earlier, dating from 940/1533–4 and erected in the unbuilt area near the eastern gate of the east enclosure of the fort looking over the fields of Sikandra. It seems that by this time the western built-up area of the fort was mostly abandoned and was no longer regarded as suitable for a noble structure and the bakhshÈ chose an area easily accessible from Bayana and Sikandra, and well away from the area damaged by the earthquake. The Decline: the Sūrī Episode The infighting in the Mughal court lead to the disintegration of Mughal authority and finally ShÈr Shåh seized power and forced HumåyËn to take refuge in the Safavid court of Persia. ShÈr Shåh returned the capital to Delhi and sometime later in a campaign to Ajmer defeated Raja Maldev in a ferocious and bloody battle, taking over most regions of east and south Rajasthan, including Ajmer and Nagaur, and left his eldest son Ådil Khån in charge of the region of RanthanbËr.275 He also kept a permanent division of the army and a garrison of 500 matchlock men in the fort of Bayana.276

Mu˙ammad seems to be the same as Sul†ån Mu˙ammad, Båbur’s army paymaster, see Beveridge (tr.), Båbur nåma, II, p. 568; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 209; (tr.), II, p. 58. He was present in Bayana and took part in the battle against Rånå Sanga. He might have been appointed by Båbur to serve in Bayana under AmÈr DËst and have remained in his post after the death of the emir. 272 The position was later adopted by the British administration, and the office of district collector still remains, with responsibilities comparable to those of Mughal times. 273 For Shaikh BahlËl, see Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, pp. 42, 100; (tr.), II, pp. 66, 163; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 217; (tr.), II, p. 85; TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 151; not translated in Elliot; TårÈkh-i ShÈr ShåhÈ (Pers.), I, p. 126. For the Tomb of Shaikh BahlËl or Shåh Phul, see Appendix III, inscription No. 55. 274 See the description of the Imårat-i BådgÈr in Chapter 9, and Appendix I, inscription no. 39. 275 TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), pp. 157–8; not translated in Elliot; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 228; (tr.), II, p. 123; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, p. 105; (tr.), II, pp. 171–2; TårÈkh-i ShÈr ShåhÈ (Pers.), I, p. 179; (tr.), IV, pp. 405–6. 276 TårÈkh-i ShÈr ShåhÈ, pp. 212, 215; (tr.), IV, p. 416; TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), p. 130, and its addenda, p. 215; not translated in Elliot; also see the translation of Shaikh Rizq’ullåh MushtåqÈ, Wåqiåt-i MushtåqÈ, in Elliot, IV, appendix G, p. 551. According to these sources ShÈr Shåh had 20,000 or 25,000 matchlock men and, as part of his military strategy, kept a force in each fort relative to the requirements of the region. 271

89

90 BAYANA

Plate 2.14  Bayana fort, the Imårat-i BådgÈr (F.33). Left: an impression of the structure as depicted by James Tod; Right: as seen from the site of unfinished town of Sikandra. From Tod’s viewpoint the cliff would actually be much wider than presented and the pavilion far smaller, but the artist endeavoured to capture in one image the grandiose effect of the fort of Bayana (Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, vol. I: figure facing p. 352).

At the time of ShÈr Shåh’s successor Islåm Shåh277 (952–61/1545–54) Bayana remained as part of the domain of Ådil Khån, who, as the eldest son of ShÈr Shåh, had a legitimate claim to the throne, but accepted Islåm Shåh’s succession.278 His name is given as Islåm Shåh in most sources and in some of his inscriptions, but the Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh records his name as IslÈm Shåh (scripto defectivo for Islåm) and Firishta as SalÈm Shåh. The inscription at Garh also records the name as IslÈm. According to the TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), pp. 164–5; (tr.), IV, pp. 478–9, his name was Islåm Shåh but the common people (awåm al-nås) called him IslÈm Shåh. According to the Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, p. 107; (tr.), II, pp. 176–7 (our translation given):

277

‫در تاریخ پانزدهم شهر ربیع االول سنه اثنی و خمسین و تسعمائه در پای قلعه کلینجر جلوس کرده مخاطب باسالم شاه گشت و بر زبان اهل‬ .‫هند سلیم شاه و بر زبان لشکر مغول سلیم خان مذکور است‬ On the fifteenth of RabÈ I of the year nine hundred and fifty-two (27 May 1545) at the foot (of the ramparts) of the fort of KalÈnjar he sat on the throne and took the name Islåm Shåh, which in the tongue of the people of India is SalÈm Shåh and in that of the Mughal army SalÈm Khån (i.e., they did not accept his claim to the throne). 278 TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 355–7; not translated by Elliot; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, pp. 108–9; (tr.), II, p. 178; Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, pp. 377–8; (tr.), I, pp. 487–9; TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 237–8; Elliot, V, omits all chapters from the death of Båbur to the reign of Mu˙ammad Shåh AdlÈ; TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), pp. 166–7; (tr.), IV, p. 482; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 229; (tr.), II, p. 128.

TWO: history

An epigraphic record of this time is found in the region acknowledging Islåm Shåh as the sultan. The inscription279 is dated 953/1546–7 – only a year after his succession – and records the construction of a mosque at the fort of Garh by one Khwåja Khi∂r son of (?) Daryå Khån. The name of the governor is given as the Khån-i AΩam and Khåqån-i MuaΩΩam Shams Khån, but it is not clear whether he was the governor of the region or the fief-holder of the town. His name does not appear in the TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ list of Islåm Shåh’s nobles and courtiers, but he seems to be the same as Shams Khån NiyåzÈ, a major noble of the SËrÈ court who was in favour of the sultanate of Ådil Khån. To neutralise the potential threat from him, the distrustful Islåm Shåh forced him – and many others of his father’s commanders who were not executed –­ to become addicted to opium.280 Shams Khån is mentioned in the TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ as one of the major emirs (umarå-yi kibår), indicating that he was of a rank to be the governor, probably appointed by ShÈr Shåh himself to act as a subordinate of Ådil Khån. When Ådil Khån accepted the sovereignty of his younger brother, Islåm Shåh confirmed Ådil Khån’s former position bestowed on him by their father and asked Ådil Khån to reside in Bayana instead of RanthanbËr. The sultan also sent two of his chief commanders, Khwåß Khån and Ïså Khån NiyåzÈ,281 to accompany the prince.282 However, the sultan, distrustful of his brother, soon conspired to have him arrested, but Ådil Khån heard the news and fled to Khwåß Khån who was at that time in MÈwåt. Khwåß Khån took sides with Ådil Khån, who also enjoyed the support of a large part of the SËrÈ army, and they rebelled against Islåm Shåh. In the following events Islåm Shåh eventually succeeded in putting down the rebellion. Ådil Khån escaped to Patna, and, according to Firishta, ‘disappeared there and no one heard any news of him or found out what his fate was’.283 Khwåß Khån escaped to Kumaun, but was eventually lured into trusting the sultan on the promise of freedom, although when he gave himself up was put to death.284

Appendix I, inscription No. 40. TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 234, 241; (tr.), IV, p. 485, n. 2, misunderstands the phrase kËknårÈ såkht, see Introduction, n. 23. TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), p. 169; (tr.), IV, pp. 484–5, gives a similar account but mentions Shams Khån as one of those who was put to death. 281 It appears from Firishta that the NiyåzÈs were an Afghan clan, and it is possible that the Shams Khån NiyåzÈ noted above was related to Ïså Khån. 282 Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, pp. 376–7; (tr.), I, pp. 486–8; TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), p. 167; (tr.), IV, p. 482; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 229; (tr.), II, p. 129. 283 Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 230; (tr.), II, pp. 129–32; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, pp. 109–10; (tr.), II, pp. 179–82, gives a similar account. 284 TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 250–4; (tr.), IV, p. 485, n. 3. TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), p. 169; (tr.), IV, pp. 483–5, records that on a trivial accusation Islåm Shåh ordered Khwåß Khån – who bore the title of Majlis-i ÅlÈ – to be hanged. For an account of the life of Khwåß Khån based on various historical records, see Elliot, IV, 1872, appendix E, pp. 528–32. 279 280

91

92 BAYANA The Mahdi During the reign of Islåm Shåh Bayana was the scene of a social upheaval, which spread through northern India and even left its mark on the SËrÈ court. This was the appearance of a Mahdi in Bayana.285 A Mahdi is an absent saviour imam whose return is promised by some sects of Muslims, including the Shi’ite, to rejuvenate Islam and re-establish the true Islamic order. Throughout Muslim history several Mahdis have appeared, each gathering a personal cult, but often feared and distrusted by the authorities and the clerical establishment. The Mahdi of Bayana was a learned scholar known as Shaikh AlåÈ, whose father Óasan was one of the respected shaikhs of Bengal. Óasan and his younger brother Shaikh Naßr’ullåh left Bengal for the pilgrimage to Mecca and on their return resided in Bayana, which as we have seen was at the time a centre of Muslim scholarship. After Óasan’s death Shaikh AlåÈ took his place teaching and with his extensive knowledge of the Quran and scholastic texts became senior to the other shaikhs. At this time a Shaikh Miyån Abd’ullåh NiyåzÈ, a follower of the Sufi Shaikh SalÈm ChÈshtÈ,286 also resided in Bayana. Miyån Abd’ullåh had become a devotee of Sayyid Mu˙ammad JaunpËrÈ, who had claimed to be the Mahdi sometime earlier, and had chosen a life of chastity away from people, residing outside the town in the corner of a garden. Under the influence of Miyån Abd’ullåh’s pious and ascetic way of life Shaikh AlåÈ began to explore what he considered to be the true path of Islam, abandoned his former position and eventually claimed to be the Mahdi. His immense and detailed knowledge of the Quran allowed him to overcome other scholars in debate and he gradually gathered a large number of followers (Plate 2.15). The Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh gives a vivid description of the events:287 ‫جمعی کثیر از احباب و اصحاب که با وی جهت اتحاد و اعتقاد داشتند بعضي مجرد و بعضي متاهل صحبت او را‬ ‫بجان اختیار کرده راه سلوک را بقدم توکل سپرده سیصد خانه دار مردم بي کسب و تجارت و زراعت و حرفت دیگر‬ ‫روس افراد بطریق سویت و عدالت میکردند و فحوای‬ ٔ ‫بسر مي بردند و هر گاه چیزي از غیب میرسید قسمت بر‬ ‫کریمۀ ِر ٰجا ٌل ٰل تُ ْل ِه ْی ِه ُم تِ ٰجا َرةٌ َّو ٰل بَ ْی ٌع ع َْن ِذ ْک ِرهللاِ را شعار خود ساخته اگر از گرسنگی می مردند هم دم نمی زدند و‬ ‫اگر کسي ترک عزیمت بموجب قرارداد ایشان داده کسبی میکرد البته ده یک در راه خدای تعالی صرف می نمود و‬ .‫دو وقت بعد از نماز فجر و نماز دیگر صغار و کبار در آن دایره جمع آمده بیان قرآن می شنیدند‬

A fairly detailed account of this event is given in Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, pp. 394–409; (tr.), I, pp. 507–25; and in TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 378–85; not translated in Elliot; also see Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, pp. 115–18; (tr.), II, pp. 190–6; Firishta (Pers.), I, pp. 232–3; (tr.), II, pp. 138–41. The accounts vary in some details; the main difference being that according to the Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ and the TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ Shaikh AlåÈ did not claim to be the Mahdi himself but, as with Shaikh Abd’ullåh, was a follower of an earlier Mahdi, Sayyid Mu˙ammad JaunpËrÈ. Cunningham, apparently confused by unusual and non-standard spellings in Brigg’s translation of Firishta, gives the name of Shaikh AlåÈ erroneously as Shaikh IlåhÈ. 286 Shaikh SalÈm was at this time residing at SÈkrÈ, a village in the region of Bayana, later chosen by Akbar for his capital Fat˙pËr, to honour the shaikh. 287 Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 397; (tr.), I, pp. 510–11. Our translation is given here. 285

TWO: history

Plate 2.15  ‘Young and old gathered together twice a day after the dawn and afternoon prayers for discussions on the Quran’. A Mughal painting of 1605 depicting a shaikh with his followers in a secluded gathering in a pleasant landscape. Such assemblies were part of the tradition of Muslim teaching and learning. The shaikh in this painting has a book in his hand, most likely the Quran, to which he seems to be referring (Stapleton Collection).

93

94 BAYANA A large number of his devotees and followers who believed in him and conceded with his doctrine, some unwed and some wedded, took his words to heart and trod the way of devotion with the steps of trust in God. Three hundred households lived a life (of austerity) by abandoning their occupations, trades, cultivation and other vocations. If anything came their way by invisible heavenly means they divided it between the heads of the groups in an equal and just manner. They made the holy words ‘men, do not divert your minds to commerce and do not trade instead of praying to God’288 their motto, and if they were dying of hunger they would not say a word. If one of them abandoned the way of their established rule and entered into trade he would, instead, spend one tenth of his profit towards the path of God. Young and old gathered together twice a day after the dawn and afternoon prayers for discussions on the Quran. It seems that the inner circle of the cult was expected to abandon material life, but other followers who believed in Shaikh AlåÈ’s principles but continued with their ordinary life paid 10 per cent of their income to the shaikh, and this was the source of his ‘invisible heavenly means’. Many left their families, while in some cases their brothers, fathers and even their wives also joined the Mahdi. The mahdawÈs – the followers – were not harmless ascetics, but an armed militia who forced upon others the strict precepts of Islam, notably to oblige the people to observe the rules and prevent them from wrongdoing.289 The regional rulers, out of intimidation, fear of unpopularity or perhaps genuine respect for the shaikh, often gave the mahdawÈs a helping hand or at least ignored their activities. Miyån Abd’ullåh, whose devotion was a private matter and who did not approve of a cult gathering in his name around Shaikh AlåÈ, criticised the shaikh and eventually advised him to leave for Óijåz (western Arabia). He first accepted and set off with 500–700 households of his followers, but went only as far as Jhodpur and returned to Bayana. The power and influence of the Mahdi increased to the extent that every day Islåm Shåh heard that another of his courtiers had joined the circle of Shaikh AlåÈ. He was brought to court to stand trial, but on every occasion vanquished the established clerics in debate. Islåm Shåh even offered to make him the chief of the Muslim scholars in his domain if he would relinquish his claim to being the Mahdi, but the shaikh declined. At the end, in an outbreak of plague in 955/1548–9, Shaikh AlåÈ was infected and while dying was brought again to the sultan who ordered him to be flogged. The shaikh died under the third stroke of Quran, XXIV, 37. TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, p. 398. The enforcement of right and wrong is perceived to be a duty of every Muslim as emphasised in Quran III, 110:

288 289



ْ ‫ُك ْنتُ ْم َخ ْي َر أُ َّم ٍة أُ ْخ ِر َج‬ ِ َّ‫َر َوتُ ْؤ ِمنُونَ بِالل‬ ِ ‫اس تَأْ ُمرُونَ بِ ْال َم ْعر‬ ِ َّ‫ت لِلن‬ ِ ‫ُوف َوتَ ْنهَوْ نَ ع َِن ْال ُم ْنك‬

(‘You are the best nation ever brought forth to men, bidding to honour and forbidding dishonour and believing in God’).

95

TWO: history

the lash. The TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ290 mentions that before his death the shaikh told Islåm Shåh that if he wished to seek truth he should understand the meaning of the couplet of Shaikh Au˙ad al-dÈn KirmånÈ on the oneness of the Truth:291 ‫چه جان چه تن جملگی خویشتنم‬ ‫گر شاد کنم آن دگـری را که منم‬

‫مـن یـک جانم که صد هـزار است تنـم‬ ‫خود را دگری ساخته ام این عجب است‬

I am one soul, but one hundred thousand is my body; whether soul or body, the whole is what I am. I have made myself into the other, but why marvel if I could make blissful that other who is I? Shaikh AlåÈ’s choice of a couplet by Au˙adÈ KirmanÈ might have been coincidence, but there may have been adherents to the mystic views of Shaikh Au˙ad al-dÈn in Bayana from much earlier times and even the Au˙adÈs might have taken their names after this celebrated Sufi. Even Miyån Abd’ullåh did not escape the purge. In the same year, while he was still in Bayana, the sultan, encamped nearby, ordered Miyån Bahuwa LauhånÈ, the fief-holder (håkim) of the town to arrest him and send him to the camp. Miyån Bahuwa, who was himself a follower of the shaikh, suggested he should leave Bayana and let the sultan forget the affair, but he declined and when he met the sultan said ‘Peace be upon you’. The courtiers tried to force him to yield and greet the sultan in the appropriate manner and he replied ‘I used the salutation with which the Muslims used to greet the Prophet’. On the order of the sultan he was kicked and flogged and left for dead. He survived, however, and left Bayana for Afghanistan, eventually residing in Sarhind. In 993/1585, when the emperor Akbar visited Sarhind he endowed a piece of land for him and his children to live off its revenue. The shaikh died in 1000/1591–2 at the age of about ninety. An inscription292 of the period following the death of the Mahdi has been found in Bayana dating from 957/1550–1 and is reported to have been on a lintel of the city gate near the Ta˙ßÈl (revenue) Office at Bayana. The inscription can no longer be traced and its text has not been published, but its much damaged content is reported to record the construction of a pleasant abode (?) by Masnad-i ÅlÈ Sarfaråz Khån during the reign of Islåm Shåh. There is no mention of a Sarfaråz Khån in the court of Islåm Shåh, but several sources mention one Sarmast Khån in the court.293 It is possible that the name in the inscription was Sarmast Khån The account of the TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), pp. 184–5; (tr.), IV, pp. 501–4, is similar to the others but mentions that Shaikh AlåÈ claimed to be the Mahdi himself. 291 TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), p. 186; Elliot’s translation, IV, p. 504, does not convey the ambiguous nature of the couplet and omits the last stanza – the emphatic point. 292 Appendix I, inscription No. 41. 293 TårÈkh-i ShÈr ShåhÈ (Pers.), I, p. 40; (tr.), IV, p. 321; TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 234; not translated in Elliot; TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), pp. 194–5; not translated in Elliot; Firishta, I, p. 233; (tr.), II, p. 144. 290

96 BAYANA and had been deciphered wrongly, but in the absence of a detailed study of the inscription no further suggestion can be made. We have seen that the fi ­ ef-holder of Bayana in 955/1548–9 was Miyån Bahuwa LauhånÈ. The Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh does not give his title, and he may have been a subordinate of Sarfaråz Khån or Sarmast Khån, who, if he did indeed bear the title of Masnad-i ÅlÈ, must have been the governor of the region, bearing the grand title of his predecessors. It is also possible that he had replaced Miyån Bahuwa sometime after 955/1548–9. Neither is the nature of the ‘pleasant abode’ mentioned in the inscription certain nor the question of whether or not the inscription originally belonged to the city gate. Another inscription is also reported to have been found there, bearing a Quranic text.294 It is unusual to carve a Quranic inscription on a city gate and if the two inscriptions are related they may have been associated with a religious edifice such as the abode of a Sufi shaikh (khånaqåh). Akbar and the Later Mughals Islåm Shåh spent most of his time on the battlefield and later in his life made Gwalior his capital where he eventually died of a painful and incurable tumour on 24 Rajab 961/25 June 1554.295 An inscription296 of this period can be found in Bayana dated Shawwål 961/August September 1554, only a few months after his death, recording the construction of a mosque for the merit of Sayyid MÈrån, presumably one of the religious personages of the town, by Daulat Khån b. Daryå Khån Lau˙ånÈ. Daulat Khån’s father was a well-known army commander of ShÈr Shåh.297 Daulat Khån himself is also known,298 but his position in Bayana is not clear.299 The TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ300 states that the fief-holder or governor of Bayana at this time was Óaidar Mu˙ammad GhåzÈ Khån SËr, one of the notable emirs of ShÈr Shåh and Islåm Shåh.301 Firishta, on the other hand, asserts that GhåzÈ Khån was the fief-holder of Hindaun,302 while the Akbar nåma and the Appendix I, inscription No. 42. TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 270–2; not translated in Elliot; the month of his death varies in different sources. See TårÈkh-i DåwudÈ, pp. 186–7, giving the date as 960, but (tr.), IV, 505, gives the date 961. 296 Appendix 1, inscription No. 43. 297 TårÈkh-i ShÈr ShåhÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 46–7; (tr.), IV, p. 325; TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 189, 192; not translated in Elliot. 298 TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), p. 196; not translated in Elliot; TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, p. 393, records the name as NauhånÈ which may be a misprint; but (tr.), V, p. 110, gives the correct name; Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 234; (tr.), II, p. 145; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, p. 119; (tr.), II, p. 198, notes that Daulat Khån was a new Muslim, i.e., a convert. 299 This Daulat Khån should not be confused with Daulat Khån Aujiyålå (or Ajiyåra) b. Sazåwul Khån, an adopted son of Shujå Khån and a catamite of Islåm Shåh. See TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), p. 173; (tr.), IV, p. 489. 300 TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, p. 395; not translated in Elliot. 301 TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 172, 258–63; not translated in Elliot. 302 Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 234; (tr.), II, p. 146. 294 295

TWO: history

Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh303 remark that he resided in Hindaun but was also in charge of Bayana. Daulat Khån could have been simply a devotee of the Mahdi and the patron of the mosque built for his successor Sayyid MÈrån, but not a permanent resident of Bayana. On the other hand, Daulat Khån could have been one of GhåzÈ Khån’s subordinates and if GhåzÈ governed the region from Hindaun, Daulat could have been the fief-holder of Bayana. There is also a possibility that Daulat Khån was the title of Miyån Bahuwa LauhånÈ who was indeed a devotee of the Mahdi, but this cannot be verified. The LauhånÈs – as with the NiyåzÈs and FarmulÈs – were Afghan clans and many of their members, not necessarily related to each other, served in the SËrÈ court. The death of Islåm Shåh was followed by a period of internal strife between the members of the SËrÈ family with a number of successors each ruling for a short period, some simultaneously. In the final episode of the SËrÈ dynasty, A˙mad Khån SËr in the Punjab declared himself sultan and called himself Sikandar Shåh, while in Gwalior Mu˙ammad Shåh AdlÈ, a nephew of Islåm Shåh, claimed the throne and made a certain HÈmË – a Hindu – his chief army commander.304 HÈmË was originally a humble grocer who was first made superintendent of the bazaar, gradually entering Mu˙ammad’s circle and climbing in rank, but was not well received by the other Afghans. IbråhÈm Khån SËr, the son of GhåzÈ Khån, did not accept the sovereignty of either Mu˙ammad or A˙mad Khån and declared himself IbråhÈm Shåh. Daulat Khån LauhånÈ took sides with IbråhÈm305 and IbråhÈm made Bayana his headquarters. During this period HumåyËn and the Mughals were regaining their power. The struggle between the three SËrÈ kings continued. On one occasion GhåzÈ Khån even took over Agra and while inspecting the provisions of the fort a spark from a lamp set fire to the powder magazine and part of the fort exploded, throwing body parts and blocks of stone to the opposite bank of the river.306 On another occasion HÈmË set a three-month siege on the fort of Bayana and in spite of GhåzÈ Khån sending provisions from Hindaun to the fort via the mountains, the region was devastated by HÈmË. The conditions worsened when a famine struck northern India. Eventually, IbråhÈm Shåh fled to Bengal Akbar nåma (Pers.), I, p. 339; (tr.), I, p. 619; Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 428; (tr.), I, p. 549. 304 Akbar nåma (Pers.), I, pp. 337–8; (tr.), I, pp. 616–17; TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), p. 193; (tr.), IV, p. 506, gives his name as HÈmËn. 305 Firishta (Pers.), I, pp. 234–5; (tr.), II, p. 149; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, pp. 121–3; II, pp. 201–4; TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 394–9; (tr.), V, p. 110; TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), pp. 197–201; (tr.), IV, pp. 507–8. The account of TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 283–9, is somewhat different. According to this source at this time Junaid Khån the son of A˙mad Khån was in charge (wålÈ) of Bayana. He had a strong force and conducted raids as far as Ajmer. Daulat Khån was in his service and when HÈmË marched towards Bayana Daulat Khån faced him, but was killed in the battle together with a large number of his forces. Junaid Khån survived and took refuge in the fort. HÈmË’s success raised his status in the court and Mu˙ammad gave him a crimson robe adorned with jewels. The TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ, however, implies that this event happened before IbråhÈm Shåh’s revolt against Mu˙ammad Shåh. 306 Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, p. 429; (tr.), I, pp. 550–1. 303

97

98 BAYANA and was later killed, and HÈmË was killed in Panipat in a confrontation with the Mughal army. The accounts of these events differ in various sources indicating the chaotic state of affairs of the time. GhåzÈ Khån remained in control of Bayana until 963/1555–6 when Akbar sent Óaidar Mu˙ammad Khån Åkhta BaigÈ to Bayana.307 GhåzÈ Khån first held fast in the fort, but was tricked by Óaidar Mu˙ammad promising him a royal pardon. When he emerged from the fort he, his wife and his children were all put to death and their heads were sent to the emperor, who, displeased and distrustful of Óaidar’s unsanctioned action, sent a bakhshÈ, MÈr Shihåb al-dÈn A˙mad NÈshåpËrÈ – who was in charge of royal accounts – to investigate and look into the wealth of GhåzÈ Khån. Óaidar Khån concealed the jewels but declared the rest.308 From this time the region became part of the Mughal Empire and was made a district of the province of Agra. We have seen the accounts of the ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ concerning Bayana. There are a number of inscriptions of the time of Akbar in the region,309 two of them are by one of his well-known courtiers, MÈr Mu˙ammad MaßËm NåmÈ BakkarÈ who was in the habit of carving inscriptions on monuments wherever he passed through.310 One of these inscriptions,311 dated 1008 (1599–1600), is on a substantial mosque known as Ïdgåh Masjid at Barambad near Bayana. The ‘graffiti’ inscription is in a fine nastalÈq script, carved on a pilaster of one of the chatrÈs flanking the eastern entrance of the mosque and is similar in composition to NåmÈ’s other graffiti. The other inscription by NåmÈ, dated 1010 (1601–2), was found in a chatrÈ (now apparently destroyed) to the south of the town recording that Akbar visited Bayana on his return from his campaign to the Deccan and KhåndÈs (Khåndesh).312 As in the past, during the reign of Akbar the fort of Bayana was used occasionally as a prison.313 Akbar nåma (Pers.), I, p. 351; (tr.), I, p. 635. Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, pp. 463–4; (tr.), I, pp. 597–8; Akbar nåma (Pers.), I, p. 354; (tr.), I, p. 638, mentions that Óaidar Mu˙ammad was not immediately punished but was eventually put to death. 309 Appendix I, inscriptions Nos 44–8. 310 For some of the inscriptions of MÈr Mu˙ammad MaßËm in Rajasthan, see ARIE, 1961–2, inscriptions Nos D. 222–37 at Jaisalmer; EIM, 1944–50, pp. 41–2, inscriptions on the Buland Darwåza at Nagaur written on MÈr Mu˙ammad’s way to and on his return from Iran; ARIE, 1961–2, inscription No. D. 246 at the AkbarÈ Masjid, and 1965–6, inscription No. D. 364 at the Baṛe PÈr Íå˙ib Dargåh, both in Nagaur; EIM, 1923–4, p. 20, inscription on the TÈn Darwåza at Naraina; ARIE, 1965–6, inscriptions Nos D. 359, D. 361 in the shrine of PÈr ÛuhËr al-dÈn at Loharpura; EIM, 1923–4, p. 21, inscription wrongly noted to be in the Jaipur Museum, but is in situ on a column of the tomb of Gurg AlÈ Shåh at Chatsu; ARIE, 1958–9, inscriptions Nos D. 172–4; and 1966–7, inscription No. D. 199, all in the shrine of Khwåja Is˙åq MaghribÈ in Khatu. Inscriptions in other regions are numerous. During his visit to Iran MÈr Mu˙ammad MaßËm also left a few similar commemorative inscriptions there. For an example in the Masjid-i AlÈ in Isfahan, see André Godard, Ißfahån, Åthår-é Ïrån, II, i, 1937, p. 72. 311 Appendix I, inscription No. 47. 312 Appendix I, inscription No. 48. 313 See, for example, Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, p. 140; (tr.), II, p. 232, recording that in the third year of the reign of Akbar, his grand vizier Khån-i Khånån imprisoned his unfaithful agent PÈr 307 308

TWO: history

Plate 2.16  Barambad, the gate to the garden and reservoir built in 1022/1613–14 by JahångÈr’s mother, Maryam ZamånÈ.

99

100 BAYANA JahångÈr314 also visited Bayana in 1022/1613–14 and for a period his mother Maryam ZamånÈ lived in the nearby village of Barambad and built a garden and a step-well there (Plate 2.16). The garden has long since disappeared, but the impressive step-well and the gate to the garden and the step-well have survived bearing a little known inscription315 in a fine nastalÈq recording their construction in 1022/1613–14. The date falls in the same year as JahångÈr’s first visit to Bayana, but on this occasion he does not mention the garden, which might have still been under construction. However, he returned to Bayana in 1028/1618–19, and this time visited the garden and the step-well and noted them in his memoirs.316 Later in the reign of JahångÈr, MÈr Mu˙ammad MaßËm was made the governor of Hindaun.317 A number of inscriptions dating from later Mughal emperors are found in Hindaun,318 but there are no epigraphic records of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Bayana, an indication that as an active urban centre it was deteriorating rapidly. Finally, with the break-up of the Mughal Empire in the eighteenth century Bayana fell into the hands of the Hindu Jåts and became part of the kingdom of Bharatpur.319 The citadel of the fort has an area where old houses had been restored and a small mansion built, presumably by the Jåts, who cleared the ruins and occupied the fort for a short while, but in the nineteenth century when Carlleyle and Cunningham visited Bayana the fort was already long abandoned. Today the town of Bayana (the old Sul†ånkËt) is a small but growing provincial town in the district of Bharatpur. The village of Sikandra occupies a major part of the never-completed town of Sikandra, scattered remains of which lie in ruins to the east of the fort while the famous gardens of Sikandra have reverted to farmland with occasional old monuments. The lofty fort towers above and the ruins of the town in the fort, little disturbed for 300 years, silently preserve their secrets.

Mu˙ammad Khån in Bayana, and Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, p. 145; (tr.), II, pp. 241–2, recording that in the fifth year of Akbar’s reign Khån-i Khånån, who was by this time out of favour and was on his way to Mecca, arrived in Bayana and released Mu˙ammad AmÈn DÈwåna, a courtier who was imprisoned there. 314 JahångÈr nåma (Pers.), p. 292; (tr.), II, p. 63. 315 Appendix I, inscription No. 49. Maryam died ten years later in 1032/1622–3. See JahångÈr nåma (Pers.), p. 412; (tr.), II, p. 261, for the description of the features, see Chapter 7, ‘Waterworks’ and Plates 7.31, 7.32. 316 JahångÈr nåma (Pers.), p. 293; (tr.), II, p. 64. 317 Appendix I, inscription No. 50. 318 Appendix I, inscriptions Nos 51–4. 319 ASIR, XX, pp. 68–9. For an account of the brief history of the Jåts, from their rise to power in the mid-eighteenth century and the establishment of a territory for themselves, until the capture of Balwant Singh by Lord Combermere in 1826, see Tod, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, III, pp. 1357–60. After this date a chain of rajas succeeded each other, but under British supremacy.

CHAPTER THREE

The Three Towns

In ancient times Bayana was a great fortified city. It has a fort, within which are many mansions and cellars. People still find therein weapons of war and copper utensils. Therein is a lofty minaret. Choice mangoes are produced there, some of which are over one sīr1 in weight. They make refined sugar, extremely white. There is a well the water of which is mixed with white sugar for making cakes of approximately one sīr each, and they call them kandaura. The cakes do not solidify with any other water. They take them to faraway lands as a rarity. Excellent indigo [is also produced there], each man2 of which is worth between ten to twelve Rupees. Also choice henna is produced. It is the resting place of many eminent men. Thus, the Āʾīn-i Akbarī3 describes Bayana in its decline, devastated by the earthquake a generation earlier and with many buildings – particularly those in the fort – left in ruins. The abandoned buildings were free for all to dig in the rubble for valuable metal objects and other salvage. Nevertheless, the town still sustained its economy through agricultural and industrial products, well known throughout India, as well as indigo of world renown.4 In this passage the Āʾīn-i Akbarī does Sīr is a measure of weight the amount of which varies in different regions and at different times. Jarrett gives 1 Mughal sīr to be about 1 kg (about 2 lbs). See Āʾīn-i Akbarī (tr.), II, p. 192. Also see H. Yule and A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson (London, 1903), pp. 807–8, under seer. 2 Man Anglicised to maund, is a larger measure of weight, which also differs in various regions from a few kilos to over 40 kg. In eighteenth-century northern India a man used for weighing indigo was about 24 kg (about 53 lbs). Yule and Burnell, Hobson-Jobson, pp. 563–5. 3 Āʾīn-i Akbarī (Pers.), I, p. 442: 1



‫افراز جنگ و مسین آوند یابند و‬ ‫بیانه در باستانی زمان سترگ مصری بود قلعۀ دارد بسا کاخ و ته خانه درو هنوز مردم ازان دست‬ ِ ‫شکر سفید را بوزن‬ ‫ب آن‬ ِ ‫مناره ایست بس بلند گزین انبه پدید آید و برخی از یک سیری افزون شود شکر بس سفید سازند چاهی است که بآ‬ ِ ‫یک سیر کم و بیش قرصها بر بندند و آنرا َک ْندَوْ َره گویند و بدیگر آبها بستگی نپذیرد و بدوردستها ارمغاني برند و نیل شایسته شود منی از ده‬ .‫تا دوازده روپیه و حنا بس گزین بهم رسد تربت جای بسیاری گزیدگان‬

Our translation is given here. For Jarrett’s translation, see Āʾīn-i Akbarī (tr.), II, pp. 191–2. 4 For an archaeological report on the surviving indigo vats, see Iqtidar Alam Khan, ‘Pre-modern indigo vats of Bayana’, pp. 92–8. Also see Introduction, particularly n. 5.

102 BAYANA not distinguish between the three towns of Bayana (Figure 3.1),5 but elsewhere it records Bayana as two towns, one being the present town of Bayana – the old Sulṭānkūt – which historical sources describe as having its own fortifications, while the identity of the other town is not clear, as by this time the historic town in the fort apparently lay in ruins, and Sikandra, built in the vicinity of the fort, was left incomplete. It is likely that the Āʾīn-i Akbarī regards the vestiges of the old town in the fort and whatever of Sikandra was occupied as one settlement. By this time the Sikandra community appears to have consisted mainly of those who had moved to the plain after the earthquake of 6 July 1505. The well used for producing kandaura6 is the famous Gindoria well (B.18) still in use in Bayana town and well maintained, with its refreshing water a source of drinking water for a large community. It is an ancient square well measuring 3.70 m at each side, without any structure above; the sides of the well are lined with large blocks of grey stone, and the upper parts have been relined several times. Its old bilingual inscription,7 records in Persian and Sanskrit its restoration during the time of Muḥammad Khån Au˙adÈ, in ah 850 and vs 1503/ad 1446, but the well is much older. The mention of the well in the ÅʾÈn-i AkbarÈ8 also leaves little doubt that one of the two towns is the present town of Bayana (Figure 3.2). While the ÅʾÈn-i AkbarÈ is silent on the issue, it seems clear that the production of white sugar in Bayana was a speciality of the Hindus, although as the histories indicate, for consumption by Muslims. Muslim towns usually share a common planning strategy which makes their morphology comparable – if not similar – to each other, but such similarities cannot readily be drawn from the three towns of Bayana today, as the state of preservation of the old layout differs greatly between the three sites. As a living built environment the fabric of the present town maintains only some of its older layout and is continuously growing and changing. In Sikandra, apart from parts of the old town walls and a few monuments little else has survived and the gardens and mango orchards have reverted to farmland, but seen in their urban context the remaining monuments can still throw light on the intended plan of the town and its suburban gardens. In the fort, on the other hand, most of Bayana, 26º 55´N, 77º 18´E. Our detailed map of Bayana and its environs is based on Map of Dholpur Region (Washington, DC: US Army Map Service, India and Pakistan Series, 1968), map No. NG43-8; also see The Imperial Gazetteer of India, III, p. 137. Details on our maps have been confirmed using Google Earth satellite images of the town and region. A mosaic image showing the features of the fort was also produced and is given in the Introduction. The town and neighbouring villages have exploded in size during the last thirty years, blurring the boundaries of the old settlements and new developments. 6 Gin·daur· å (Hindi): a cake of solid sugar (usually distributed among relatives at marriages). See John T. Platts, A Dictionary of UrdË, Classical HindÈ and English (London, 1930) under َ‫گندوڙا‬. The names of the well and the sugar-cakes appear to be related. 7 Appendix I, inscription No. 20, also discussed in Chapter 2 concerning Mu˙ammad Khån Au˙adÈ’s return to power. 8 ÅʾÈn-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 442; (tr.), II, pp. 191–2. 5

THREE: the three towns

103

Figure 3.1  Map of Bayana and environs (built-up area of the present town marked with dotted hatched lines) showing the Fort about six kilometres to its south-west; the unfinished town of Sikandra between Bayana and the Fort; the River Gambhir and the village of Barambad to the east. The key shows the location of only some of the monuments, mainly those outside the areas of the other detailed maps. Key: Bayana Town: B.1 Mosque of Ukhå MandÈr; B.2 Ukhå Masjid; B.40 Ruins of WazÈr Khån kå Gunbad; B.41 octagonal chatrÈ with corbelled dome north–west of the  Ïdgåh; B.42 Old platform behind  Ïdgåh; B.43  Ïdgåh; B.44 BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån; B.45 Jhålar BåolÈ; B.46 Pahår.È (or PÈr Mastån) Masjid; B.47 Square chatrÈ with four columns and corbelled dome south of road to Fathpur Sikri; B.48 Square chatrÈ with four columns (dome missing). Barambad: BR.1  Ïdgåh Masjid; BR.2 chatrÈ with four columns and corbelled dome; BR.3 chatrÈ with eight columns and corbelled dome; BR.4 chatrÈ with four columns and corbelled dome, now walled up; BR.5 båolÈ and gateway to the garden of Maryam ZamånÈ. Sikandra: S.1 LodÈ Jåmi ; S.2 Square four-columned chatrÈ tomb with a false dome; S.3 gateway; S.4 tomb of FËlåd Mu˙ammad; S.5 mosque of NiΩåm Khån b. Mujåhid Khån; S.6 La l Darwåza; S.7 octagonal chatrÈ tomb with corbelled dome; S.8 hexagonal chatrÈ tomb with corbelled done; S.9 four-columned chatrÈ tomb with a false dome; S.10 southern mosque of red sandstone with domed gateway, S.11 rectangular canopied tomb with eight columns and two corbelled domes; S.12 square building walled on one side; S.13 square chamber built of rubble stone with corbelled dome; S.14 båolÈ with three underground levels; S.15 mosque of red sandstone, probably Mughal; S.16 mosque built of rubble stone, plastered over, with three mi˙råbs and flat roof; S.17 twelve-columned chatrÈ tomb with later additions; S. 18 square chatrÈ tomb; S.19 Bar.e Kamar; S.20 chatrÈ with nine columns on plain to west of Fort; S.21 domed chamber on plain to south of Fort; S.22 domed chamber; S.23 domed chamber; S.24 chatrÈ with four columns west of Fort; S.25 chatrÈ with four columns and true dome south of Fort; S.26 house.

104 BAYANA the ruins of its historic city have remained without much alteration since the 1505 earthquake, providing us with an opportunity to decipher the urban layout. There is yet another settlement, a fourth ‘town’, or rather an outer extension of the town in the citadel, spread below it to the north, and again in ruins. As the condition of each of these settlements differs they need to be considered separately to establish the possible relationships between their planning. Bayana Town: Sulṭānkūt and the Later Town Sul†ånkËt is the earliest Islamic city recorded to have been purpose-built in India and it would have been interesting if some traces of it had survived which could provide evidence of its layout, but apart from two structures – the Ukhå MandÈr mosque (B.1) and the ʿÏdgåh (B.43) – datable to the time of Bahåʾ al-dÈn Êughrul and two others dating from the time of Mubårak Shåh KhaljÈ9 – the extension to the Ukhå MandÈr mosque (B.2) and the Jhålar BåʾolÈ (B.45) – no structure of the early town has survived. The Jhålar BåʾolÈ is about 3 km (2 miles) outside the perimeter of the old town, and the ʿÏdgåh was also originally outside the town, where such features are always sited. The mosque and its extension – praised for its fine structure by Ibn Ba††Ë†a – would have been in the core of Sul†ånkËt. The position of the mosque at the western edge of the present built-up area suggests that the site of the town has reduced in size or has shifted eastward so that the perimeters of the present town are unlikely to correspond with those of Sul†ånkËt. In Bayana there was yet another building of the KhaljÈ period, the Qå∂ÈyËn k­È Masjid (Mosque of the Judges), apparently in the Qå∂Èpara Ma˙alla (judges’ quarter).10 Although this mosque and its dated inscription11 have now disappeared, the surviving text indicates that the mosque was constructed by a well-known judge, Qå∂È MughÈth al-dÈn, perhaps signifying that the occupation of the residents of this neighbourhood remained connected with the judiciary from the thirteenth century until the migration of the Muslims from the town. The original location of the mosque at the south-east of the present town helps to throw some light on the size and urban limits of Sul†ånkËt. Islamic cities have a distinctive layout, consisting usually of a fort set on high ground at one side of a walled town.12 This planning principle had developed The early monuments are discussed in Chapter 4. Numbers in brackets refer to Figures 3.1 and 3.2. ASIR, XX, p. 76. Cunningham does not state that the mosque was in the Qå∂Èpara Ma˙alla, but mentions that near the mosque was another inscription recording the construction of a madrasa by another judge, Qå∂È RafÈʿ al-dÈn Mu˙ammad, in Shawwål 1080/1669–70 and at the time of the emperor AurangzÈb, indicating that the area was occupied continuously by judges. Cunningham  also reports another old mosque in the Qå∂Èpara Ma˙alla; this mosque has also disappeared, but seems to have been of the thirteenth or early fourteenth century and will be discussed in Chapter 4. 11 Appendix I, inscription No. 5. 12 For a comprehensive study of the literature on Islamic cities, see Masashi Haneda and Toru Miura (eds), Islamic Urban Studies, Historical Review and Perspectives (London, 1994). For the principles of Islamic urban planning in India versus Hindu urban forms, see Tughluqabad, pp. 9–27.

 9

10

THREE: the three towns

in the Middle East many centuries before Islam, based on military and defensive strategy rather than any religious ideology, in contrast to Hindu planning principles where concentric diagrams relating to the caste structure of Hindu society and the concept of the city as an earthly image of the cosmos dictate the organisation and layout.13 In a Muslim town the palaces of the ruler and offices for administration are usually located at one side of the fort. On some occasions this part is also enclosed, forming a citadel. The town (known as shahristån) can be subdivided into walled sections forming two areas: the upper town (bålå shahr) occupied usually by the nobility and privileged citizens, and the lower town (påʾÈn shahr) for the rest of the public. Although these features are hard to distinguish in the present town of Bayana we shall see that they are largely preserved in the remains of the town in the fort. Because the urban features of Sul†ånkËt have disappeared it is difficult to suggest whether or not Bahåʾ al-dÈn Êughrul’s town was constructed on a traditional Muslim type of urban layout, although later Indo-Muslim cities all followed the Muslim planning principles. The position of the mosque, however, may contain a clue. The congregational mosque, known as the Jåmiʿ (place of congregation) or Friday14 Mosque is usually situated at the centre of the town with a processional street connecting the mosque with the main gate of the fort. The mosque is usually built by the ruler as a symbol of his devotion to the faith and to serve as an interface between the sovereign and the public. It is a duty of the ruler to attend the public Friday prayers as well as the main religious festivals, although the sultans and their representatives varied in their observance of these obligations. In a town there would also be many other smaller mosques, built by the nobility or wealthy residents of the neighbourhood for daily observances. In Bayana the large size of the Ukhå MandÈr mosque and its impressive addition (Plate 3.1) leaves little doubt that it was the Jåmiʿ of Sul†ånkËt, and therefore must have been located somewhere in the core of the town. The town probably spread north of the hill and eastward as far at least as the ‘Kazipara’ or Qå∂Èpara Ma˙alla, to the south-east of the present town, where the Qå∂È mosque used to stand. If Sul†ånkËt also had its own fort or a walled enclosure, which housed the ‘abode’ of Bahåʾ al-dÈn mentioned by Minhåj-i Siråj, the most suitable position for it would have been on the hill to the south of the Mosque of Ukhå MandÈr. There are some traces of structures on the hill, including the shrine of PÈr Mu߆afå (B.7),15 but they seem to be of later dates and nothing survives that could be attributed to the late twelfth or the thirteenth century.

For the Hindu principles of planning towns and cities, see Parasanna Kumar Acharya, Architecture of Manasara (London, 1934), IV, pp. 93–8; M. A. Ananthalwar and Alexander Rea (eds) and A. V. Thiagaraja Iyer (compiler), Indian Architecture (Delhi, 1980), I, pp. 158–73. 14 In the Muslim world Friday is called jumʿa: ‘the day of congregation’. 15 Appendix III, inscription No. 45. 13

105

106 BAYANA

Plate 3.1  The Ukhå MandÈr mosque, in the foreground, with its extension the Ukhå Masjid to the left. Although now on the outskirts of the present town these are still among the most prominent historic buildings of Bayana.

Figure 3.2  Bayana town, plan showing the old built up area to the south and the surviving parts of the AbË Qandahår or Au˙adÈ Graveyard to the north, now framed within four modern streets. The town is now growing northwards and most of the areas north of the old core of the town are now being built up. Key: B.1 mosque of Ukhå MandÈr; B.2 Ukhå Masjid; B.3 Ukhå Minår; B.4 ruins; B.5 Jåt mansion; B.6 BhitarÈ BåharÈ Masjid (rebuilt partly as a house, partly as a temple); B.7 canopied building on the mountain west of the town known as the tomb of PÈr Mu߆afå or Pahår.È Gunbad; B.8 north wall of a building, possibly a tomb; B.9 Jåmi mosque (modern); B.10 modern house on site of an old mosque, completely destroyed; B.11 old complex partly used as high school, perhaps originally a madrassa or khånaqåh; B.12 MuftÈyËn kÈ Masjid; B.13 tomb of Gulåb Khån; B.14 tank near JhåjhrÈ; B.15 JhåjhrÈ; B.16 Khoja kå well; B.17 SaraijÈ Ma˙alla, old mosque converted to a house with only the qibla wall remaining; B.18 Gindoria (gin.daur. å) well; B.19 Lal Darwåza; B.20 modern house on the site of a demolished mosque; B.21 TålakÈnÈ Masjid; B.22 chatrÈ with four columns and corbelled dome (probably part of a canopied building); B.23 four-columned chatrÈ with corbelled dome covered by brick dome, known as Jahån PÈr; B.24 tomb of BË Qandhår or AbËbakr QandahårÈ; B.25 platform with dated grave, known locally as Pandisan; B.26 four-columned chatrÈ with ribbed dome; B.27 six-columned chatrÈ with corbelled dome; B.28 twelve-columned chatrÈ enclosed with slabs of pierced stone with hemispherical dome; B.29 fourcolumned chatrÈ with missing dome; B.30 twelve-columned chatrÈ tomb with high corbelled dome; B.31 ruins of square masonry and brick chamber with four openings and a dome; B.32 canopied building with six columns (domes are missing); B.33 four-columned chatrÈ with corbelled dome; B.34 ruined båolÈ; B.35 four-columned chatrÈ with missing dome; B.36 fourcolumned chatrÈ with two graves (dome missing); B.37 tomb of Au˙ad Khån, a twelve-columned chatrÈ with corbelled dome and two graves; B.38 four-columned chatrÈ with corbelled dome plastered over; B.39 four-columned chatrÈ with corbelled dome; B.49 inscribed column bearing the name of AmÈr DËst.

THREE: the three towns

107

108 BAYANA

The late mediaeval town, its street pattern and town gates The old street pattern of the town is, however, of considerable age and is marked by monuments of various periods, from the fifteenth century up to Mughal times, spread throughout the urban fabric. The Au˙adÈ town walls or those of later periods have not survived, but the positions of some of the gates are known and at least two were standing until recent years. One was at the south of the town near the Revenue Office (ta˙ßÈl) and on a lintel bore an inscription16 of the time of Islåm Shåh dated 957/1550–1. Another, known as Laʿl Darwåza (‘red gate’ B.19), was to the east of the town and was probably Mughal. These gates must have been roughly on the sites of the older ones. With the many attacks on the town of Bayana, the later dates for the gates are not surprising, particularly in the light of reports that on at least two occasions the Au˙adÈs themselves destroyed the walls when retreating to the fort in order to prevent their enemies using the town as a stronghold. Although the modern town is developing northwards, the old street layout at the south of the present town and the position of the gates gives a clear indication of the size and configuration of historic Bayana. The present north–south road leading to Bharatpur is relatively modern, but probably follows the path of an older route to the north. At its south end the road turns south-west towards Sikandra, the fort, and eventually Hindaun, skirting the hills, but always remaining on the plain. This part of the road probably follows the path of the historic route, and we shall see that the town of Sikandra was planned to be built on its northern side with fields and gardens on both sides. Within the town walls of Bayana this road was probably a main north–south route, but the spinal road of the town was a fairly straight east–west road with the Laʿl Darwåza (B.19) marking the old city limit at the east, then continuing north-eastward outside the walls and towards Barambad, Sikri and Agra. This is one of the most ancient routes, which crossed the River Gambhir at a ford and was virtually unchanged until the 1980s. While it could be travelled on foot, on horseback or with some difficulty by bullock cart, it was almost impossible for modern visitors to reach Bayana via Agra, but the road has now been modernised with a bridge at the point of the river crossing. Within the town the road turns into an active and lively bazaar with organic clusters of residential neighbourhoods on its northern and southern sides. Although the Muslims had left the town the original Muslim names of the neighbourhoods, such as MuftÈpara17 and Qå∂Èpara, have survived and are in common use. New Hindu neighbourhoods, distinguished by their name bastÈ (settlement), also put down roots after Partition, particularly those of the Harijans (‘untouchables’) who were not allowed to settle within the towns until recently. Following old Hindu traditions, these areas developed at the edges of the town outside the traditional built-up areas. Appendix I, inscription No. 4. MuftÈ: magistrate, expounder of Islamic law, jurisconsult who notifies the decisions of the law.

16 17

THREE: the three towns

Although from the historical records it appears that the Au˙adÈs had their mansions within or near the town of Bayana, there is no indication of their whereabouts. The rulers’ main mansion was in the fort, where its ruins still stand (F.7), but as with the rulers of other regions the Au˙adÈs must have had a number of mansions and hunting lodges both inside and near the town as well as elsewhere in their territories. During the Au˙adÈ and later periods, therefore, there was no need for the construction of a separate fort on the plain to house their residences and there is no evidence of a fort or citadel there. This is not surprising, as the eventful history of this period has illustrated that the town of Bayana ­– laid out on the plain – was vulnerable to outside forces and the safest place for the rulers was always the Tahangar fort. The historic graveyard, tombstones and their stylistic traits One of the features of Muslim cities is their graveyards. Muslims traditionally bury their dead outside the city walls in one or several designated areas, often within easy access of a town gate. Proximity to the shrine of a revered saint is considered desirable, so such areas often become cemeteries. It is also traditional for religious personages to be buried where they lived and taught – such as a madrasa or a khånaqåh. In addition, wealthy individuals are occasionally interred in their own property, particularly in gardens outside the town walls. In Bayana all these types of site for mausolea are found. The most interesting is a once vast graveyard originally less than 1 km (about half a mile) to the north of the perimeter of the old town, but a large part of the area has now been encroached on by modern developments. The graveyard seems to have developed originally around the shrine of AbË Bakr QandahårÈ (B.24), so it is sometimes referred to as the BË Qandhår Graveyard, and includes a large number of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century tombstones (Plate 3.2) as well as the tombs of some of the members of the Au˙adÈ family. We have, therefore, referred to it as the Au˙adÈ Graveyard; its important monuments are discussed in Chapter 6 and Appendix III. The design of the tombstones found in this graveyard and elsewhere in the area helps significantly in the dating of many buildings and sites in Bayana. The style of tombstones in India varies in different regions and in different historical periods. The subject has not yet been fully studied and there is no doubt that detailed analysis of tombstones would reveal many aspects of social history and cultural connections between different regions.18 The Bayana tombstones differ considerably in design from those of thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Delhi, where the topmost stone occasionally has a gabled top or, more often, For the distinct design of tombstones in the coastal region of Gujarat, see M. Shokoohy, Bhadreªvar, pp. 17–18; M. and N. H. Shokoohy, ‘The island of Diu, its architecture and historical remains’, South Asian Studies, XXVI, ii (2010), pp. 164–6, 179, fig. 30; and for those in southern India, see M. Shokoohy, Muslim Architecture of South India, pp. 275–90.

18

109

110 BAYANA

Plate 3.2  The BË Qandhår or Au˙adÈ Graveyard looking towards ChatrÈ B.33 to the left and Canopy B.32 to the right. Until recently a large number of dislodged tombstones, datable to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, were scattered on the site, but most of them have now been removed and their whereabouts are unknown.

Plate 3.3  Left: tomb attributed to Ïltutmish near the Quwwat al-Islåm mosque, Delhi; right: tombs of Ghiyath al-dÈn Tughluq and to its right that of Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq, Tughluqabad, near Delhi.

THREE: the three towns

a solid arched profile as can be seen in the tombs of Ïltutmish,19 Ûafar Khån, Ghiyath al-dÈn Tughluq and Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq (Plate 3.3).20 This style is not seen in Bayana until the Mughal period,21 and all earlier tombstones of the Au˙adÈ and LodÈ periods can be distinguished by their flat top slab over a stepped plinth or a more modest stepped form. The steps are usually plain or with restrained decoration, but the sides of the tombs often bear carvings or sometimes inscriptions. The slab above is traditionally carved in the form of a flat arched niche or mi˙råb, often with an inscribed border bearing a Qurʾanic inscription. In the centre of the niche there is usually a rosette and below it a rectangular feature that, judging from the tombs of named persons, seems to indicate the gender of the deceased. On the tombstone of a male the feature is extruded in a prism-like form and has a solid arched profile (Plate 3.4), a miniature representation of the top stones of Delhi. For the tomb of a female it is left as a flat rectangle carved in relief. The forms of the tombstones of Bayana are in general closer to those of the same period in inland Gujarat,22 where, again, the tombs have flat top slabs carved with arched mi˙råbs. The similarity of the tombs of the two regions should not be dismissed as simple coincidence. For example, in both regions the features described distinguish the tombs of males and females. While the historical records are silent on the cultural relationship between Bayana and Gujarat, these tombstones may be silent witnesses of Bayana’s cultural interchange with other regions. Apart from the Au˙adÈ Graveyard and another to the east of the town23 graves and funerary monuments with pre-Mughal tombstones can be found dotted about outside the built-up areas of Bayana, Sikandra and the town in the fort. Except in the case of shrines, it is not common to bury people within a walled town so graves help to determine the perimeters of old built-up areas, even if a city has later expanded. In Bayana the area between the old fabric and the Au˙adÈ Graveyard is now rapidly being built up. It is difficult to determine the function of this space in the past, but as there is little evidence of old buildings it is likely that the area was outside the walls and occupied by gardens and orchards. Further north of the graveyard were more gardens, indicated by the survival of at least two grand reservoirs, the Jhålar BåʾolÈ (B.45) and the NiΩåm Khån BåʾolÈ (B.44), as well as open fields where the army could camp. The sizeable prayer wall (B.43) a­ ssociated Page, An Historical Memoir on the Qutb, pp. 13–14, pls 11, 12a. Tughluqabad, p. 198, pl. 11.8; p. 201, pl. 11.11. 21 See Appendix III, no. 5, F. 29. 22 See, for example, tombs in the courtyard of the Haybat Khån’s mosque, in the Qu†b-i ʿÅlam shrine and the Shaikh b. ʿAbd’ullåh al-IdrËs shrine in John Burton-Page, ‘Mosques and tombs’, in George Michell and Snehal Shah (eds), Mediaeval Ahmadabad, Marg, XXXIX, iii (Bombay, 1988), p. 38, fig. 2; p. 75, fig. 20; p. 111, fig. 42, respectively; also see the tombs of A˙mad Shåh’s wives in James Burgess, The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad, Part I, a.d. 1412–1520 (London, 1900), pp. 39–40, pls 8, 38, 45. 23 The graveyard was originally outside the Laʿl Darwåza in an area now between the railway and the Gambhir River. For illustrations of the area and two monuments (B.47–8), see Appendix III, Nos 4 and 32. 19 20

111

112 BAYANA

Plate 3.4  The top slab of the Tomb of Au˙ad Khån (d. 15 Rama∂ån 823/13 September 1421). The slab is carved with features characteristic of the tombs of the fifteenth and sixteenth century in Bayana. The mi˙råb-style niche is framed with Quranic inscriptions, most of which have been chipped off, and in the middle is a rosette and the small prism-like form on a rectangular base with a solid arched profile indicating the burial of a male.

with old Sul†ånkËt was particularly well located for such large gatherings, while the reservoirs, in particular the Jhålar BåʾolÈ with its shady porticoes, could have also been intended for the use of the army when encamped. Modern developments The rapid development of India during the last three decades has not left Bayana untouched. The explosion of building construction in Delhi, Gurgaon and the Delhi–Agra Corridor has created a huge demand for building materials. Bayana, which was until the 1980s a small agricultural town, has now been rediscovered for its wealth of red sandstone quarries, and masons’ yards have been set up in many locations particularly alongside the Bharatpur road. The new prosperity and rapid population growth have caused the town to expand in all directions, but mainly towards the north. Our plan of the historic town is based on a municipal plan in use in the 1980s, which when compared with another plan prepared under British administration early in the twentieth century24 reveals that there had been The sole copy of the plan, in poor condition, is preserved in the municipal office at Bayana.

24

THREE: the three towns

little change in the urban fabric until recent years. At present, however, the area between the town and the Au˙adÈ Graveyard shown in our plan as open fields has been built up entirely and urban sprawl is covering the areas to the east of the railway. Towards the north buildings are now encroaching on the site of the historic ʿÏdgåh (B.43), but in 2004 the structure was still untouched. It would not be surprising if the urban sprawl soon reaches as far as the Jhålar BåʾolÈ. Most of the historic buildings of Bayana discussed in the following chapters are not registered as protected monuments and if they are not given urgent attention many may be cleared away to give way to modern buildings. A similar situation applies to the villages of Sikandra, Barambad and other neighbouring areas, but the fort, still uninhabited, without water supply and difficult to reach, has remained undeveloped.25 The Tahangar or Vijayamandargarh Fort and its Town Even after five centuries the marks of the 1505 earthquake are still visible in the ruins of the town inside the fort. While vast areas were razed to the ground, here and there a partially damaged building stands – a characteristic of earthquake destruction. Some buildings are better preserved than others, and most of the surviving buildings have traces of makeshift repairs by later squatters. It seems that after the earthquake the town never revived and as a result the layout of the historic fabric is preserved with little change along with some of the domestic dwellings. Survival of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century houses in India – or indeed elsewhere in the world – is unusual and so we shall give considerable attention to these buildings in Chapter 8, but here we shall be confined to an outline of the fort and its mediaeval town. The fortification walls and land features In spite of the fort’s ancient origin, apart from a monolithic commemorative column and scattered temple spoil, some re-used in the main mosque and elsewhere, little remains from the pre-Islamic period. Almost all the fortification walls and the ramparts (Figure 3.3, Plate 3.5) appear to be of the Muslim type or have been repaired so many times during the period of Muslim dominance that their original form is hard to determine. The fortification walls have already been described by Carlleyle in some detail:26 The whole extent of the fortifications is 7,527 feet [2,294 m] or about a mile and a half [2.4 km] from east to west. To this I may add that from the wall on Nevertheless, many tombstones and carved panels from old buildings, formerly in situ in the fort, have been cleared away, presumably for sale in the shady antiques market. 26 ASIR, VI, pp. 56–8. 25

113

114 BAYANA the crest of a precipice to the south to a wall along the heights to the north the distance is about 3,360 feet [1024 m]; so that this must have been the most extensive fortification in India, with the exception of Chitor.27 But this includes several different lines and enclosures of fortifications, which, although connected with one another, have been added at various times by successive possessors of the fortress. The fortifications, as I before stated, are situated on two lofty rocky spurs, or projections which run out east and west respectively at the south-western extremity of the great granitic range of precipitous heights which extend for about 8 miles [12.8 km] to the west of Baiåna. The fortifications also extend for a considerable distance along a ridge of the heights to the north. The height of the range here cannot be less than 600 feet [183 m] from the plain, if not, in some places even more. On the narrow spur which runs out to the point westwards is situated a sort of inner fort or fortified enclosure, somewhat divided off from the rest, which represents the real ancient fort which was the original nucleus of the whole. This latter may, for convenience sake, be called the inner fort or citadel; but it is this portion which occupies the actual site of the ancient fortress … This separate part of the fortifications constituting a fort in itself is about 2,140 feet [652 m] in length from east to west by from 600 to 700 feet [183–213 m] in breadth from north to south. It is divided off from another larger fortified enclosure, which lies to the east of the former, by a strong fortification wall, and also partly by a deep gorge which cuts in from the south, and by another lesser gorge, or indentation, which runs in a little way from the north. There is an upper gateway at the south-eastern corner of this old fort, and a causeway runs down from it into the southern dividing gorge before referred to, which has a fortification wall running across the mouth of it, and which thus shuts it in, leaving simply a narrow passage below, forming a lower gateway, for ingress and egress. There is a second upper gateway at the north-western extremity of the fort, where it runs westwards into a narrow point, and where it becomes not more than about 131 feet [40 m] in breadth. Within this gate, and about 150 feet [45.7 m] to the eastwards of it, where the fort commences to widen out, there is an inner gateway, which leads directly into the main body of the fort. These are the only gateways proper to this old fort. Carlleyle’s observation that the enclosed fortified area at the south-west end of the fort must be the site of the ancient fortification of Vijayamandargarh seems to be correct. This area forms a tableland (A) and sloping gateway system (B) to its west at the top of a rocky hill with steep slopes at the north and high cliffs on the other sides. However, unfamiliar with the principles of Muslim fortifications Carlleyle goes to some length to describe this part as a separate ‘fort in itself’. It could indeed be called the citadel, but as it contains not only the ruler’s mansion but also major The fortress of Gwalior is 3.2 km (2 miles) in length (Carlleyle’s note).

27

THREE: the three towns

Figure 3.3  Plan of Bayana Fort (Tahangar, Vijayamandargarh or Vijayagarh), showing the citadel or upper fort (A) at the west of the complex, a large fortified enclosure (E) to the east of the citadel, and another large enclosure (G) to the north of the other two. On the plain below, the dotted lines to the east of the fort show the layout of the unfinished town walls of Sikandra (I), but the gardens of Sikandra appear to have spread outside these walls to the south of the fort and the town and north of the River Gambhir. Key: A Citadel or upper fort; B west gate system of citadel; C fortified buffer area of citadel’s west gate system; D unbuilt fortified area of citadel’s east gate system; E East Enclosure; F fortified buffer area of citadel’s east gate; G North Enclosure; H fields between Mor Tålåb and Sikandra; I partly built site of the LodÈ town of Sikandra; J fortified buffer of the citadel’s postern gate.

elements of the town it corresponds more closely to the upper town of a Middle Eastern city and to the Muslim city of Delhi. The similarity between Bayana and Delhi is worth considering as they both developed from small Hindu fortresses into elaborate Muslim cities. After the fall of Delhi the Muslims first occupied the Hindu fortress, which they called Qalʿa Råi PithËrå (the fort of Råi PithËrå) (Figure 3.4) after the name of the last Hindu ruler of the region. Ancient Hindu fortresses, which enclosed the temple and temple-palaces housing the ruler and a small population of high-caste citizens, are relatively smaller than Muslim forts. As with Bayana, in Delhi the Muslims did not find the layout of Qalʿa Råi PithËrå entirely convenient, and first divided it into a citadel (Lal Kot in the plan) at the west and a town at the east, in the core of which they built the famous Quwwat al-Islåm mosque28 and the Qu†b Minår. With the rapid growth of the Muslim population The name meaning ‘The might of Islam’ alludes to its role as a symbol of conquest. For a full survey of the mosque and the Qu†b Minår, see Page, An Historical Memoir on the Qutb. See also

28

115

116 BAYANA

Plate 3.5  Bayana fort, view from Area D looking south-west towards the south-eastern ramparts of the citadel, the site of the ancient Vijayamandargarh fort which encloses a fifteenth- to sixteenth-century town. Prominent structures of the town can be seen above the walls, including the minaret of DåwËd Khån Au˙adÈ (F.15b) and a pre-Islamic commemorative column (låt) (F.15c) at the far left. Some of the southern fortification works of Area D can also be seen in the foreground.

in the early thirteenth century the town was soon enlarged again to about four times its o ­ riginal size. The new fortified area lay at the north and the east of the older town, again conforming with the Muslim principle of avoiding concentric planning and keeping the fortified areas adjacent to each other. In spite of its Hindu origin, the Delhi of the thirteenth century had, therefore, developed into an entirely Muslim city with a fort or citadel at one side, and a town (shahristån) divided into an upper town (bålå shahr), and a recently developed lower town (påʾÈn shahr). Delhi was probably not the first town in India with such a plan; the remains of Banbhore in Sind have revealed a town with a similar layout. Banbhore is the site of the ancient city of Daibul, taken by the Muslims in 94/712–13 and an inscription in the ruins of its main mosque is dated 109/727,29 making it one of the earliest mosques in the world. The town was originally a port, but following changes in the coastline the site has been abandoned for many centuries. Tahangar’s adaptation was therefore following an established precedent. Maulvi Muhammad Ashraf Husain, Record of all the Quranic and Non-historical Epigraphs on the Protected Monuments in the Delhi Province (Calcutta: Memoirs of the ASI, XLVII, 1936), pp. 96–118. Ibn Ba††Ë†a gives a vivid description, see (Ar.), pp. 439–40; (tr.), III, pp. 621–2. The mosque, a major tourist attraction in Delhi, is discussed and illustrated in most modern works concerned with Indo-Muslim architecture. 29 F. A. Khan, Banbhore (Karachi, 1969), pp. 7–8, 28–30, general plan of Banbhore site facing p. 7.

THREE: the three towns

117

Figure 3.4  Plan of early Islamic Delhi incorporating the pre-Islamic citadel (Lal Kot) and the late twelfthand early thirteenth-century extensions as found in the second half of the nineteenth century. Most of the areas have now been built over and, with the exception of the compound of the Quwwat al-Islåm mosque and part of the ramparts of the ancient citadel, all other features have now disappeared. The names attributed to the areas are not entirely correct. Kila Ray Pithura (Qal a Råi PithËrå) is in fact the name given by the early Muslim historians to the pre-Islamic fort and should be more strictly applied only to what is called Lal Kot (La l KËt: red fort). What is listed as Alauddin’s (Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ’s) Citadel was in fact the earliest part of the Muslim town developed by Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak and Ïltutmish, almost a century before Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ. The area marked as ‘Kila Ray Pithura’ developed slightly later and is most likely to have been completed by the time of Sultan Balban, making the town conform entirely to the planning principles of a Perso-Islamic town. Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ’s contribution to Delhi was a new town called SÈrÈ, built at some distance to the east of the early Muslim Delhi (map from Cunningham, ASIR, IV, pl. 36).

118 BAYANA Carlleyle continues by describing the fort and monuments at some length. His description of physical aspects, based on his own observations, is accurate, but his historical attribution of many features, apparently reiterating the opinion of local pundits is not reliable. For example, he describes many parts of the fortifications as having been built by the Jåts, or by the maharajas of Bharatpur in the eighteenth century. Although some parts of the walls might have been repaired or short sections reconstructed in the eighteenth century, the walls are generally much older and date from various Muslim periods. He also confuses Mu˙ammad Shåh SharqÈ of the inscription on the minaret of DåwËd Khån (Plate 1.4) with Mu˙ammad Shåh Sayyid of Delhi30 and describes the bilingual inscription of the BåʾolÈ of Khån-i Khånån as ‘modern’31 and the ʿImårat-i BådgÈr as being ‘built by the Rajas of Bharatpur’.32 Separate fortified areas The main body of the fort occupies the tableland of a hill with the larger part, Enclosure E in a roughly rectangular outline to the east of the citadel (A) and areas of its gate systems (B and D). The site of the ancient fort may form the outline of the Muslim citadel (upper town or upper fort) as while the old wall and the sites of the gates of the ancient fort have been maintained the built-up area has been extended into the slopping ground to its north-west (C). This area (Plate 3.6) has been enclosed with another fortification wall which runs from the north-west corner of the ancient fort northward then turns west and south to join the west corner of the old walls. The area was designed originally as a buffer zone for the protection of the west gate system of the citadel and although uncommon in other Muslim fortifications in India, in Bayana each of the gates of the citadel and the East Enclosure (Figure 3.5) has an outer protective wall enclosing a sizeable area, which is left unbuilt (Areas C, F and J). However, during the LodÈ period Area C was built over33 apparently to extend the urban development at the peak of the prosperity of the settlement in the fort. Not only did the walls of these buffer zones provide a line of defence; if the enemy managed to breach the walls they would then be exposed to the forces defending the fort itself. Although the tradition of several layers of outer fortifications appears to have existed for Hindu fortifications, they are usually layers of defensive walls and not designed specifically to provide a defensive zone for a gate. In Bayana these enclosures appear to be of Islamic origin and one (Area J) seem to have been added in the later phases of the life of the fort to protect a postern gate (F.48) to the citadel. These well-preserved walls, which opened to the North Enclosure (G) via a gate (F.49), still retain most of their original ASIR, VI, 58. These errors are repeated by Alfieri, relying on Carlleyle, without following up later publications. See Alfieri, Islamic Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, pp. 34, 58. 31 ASIR, VI, p. 69. 32 Ibid., p. 72. 33 As signified by the BåʾolÈ of Khån-i Khånån (F.4) dated 8 Rama∂ån 901/21 May 1496. 30

THREE: the three towns

Plate 3.6  View from the Governor’s Mansion (F.7) at the west end of the citadel looking northwest towards Area C and the north-western side of the North Enclosure (Area G). Beyond the walls and bastions of Area C are the remains of a lower town in the valley including a minaret (F.44). A long bazaar flanked by shops (F.40) leads west alongside the walls and a track further on leads to the TaletÈ Darwåza (lower gate) (F.1) and continues in the fields beyond. The western walls of the North Enclosure can be seen stretching in a fairly straight line in the valley before joining the northern walls, which are again built on the ridges of the hills.

features, including chatrÈs as observation posts (Plate 3.7) which are lighter and different in construction from the rest of the fort. The survival of detailed features such as the chatrÈs may indicate a LodÈ or early Mughal date, perhaps from a time after the 1505 earthquake during an attempt to rehabilitate the fort. Area C itself is within a much larger fortified area (G), which lies to the north of the citadel, and we refer to it as the North Enclosure. Its walls begin at the western corner of enclosure C and run north-eastward down into the valley continuing on the plain before rising again over a hill and turning south-east over the crest of a hill. Descending again to the plain the walls run in a fairly straight line towards the east, protected by a corner bastion (F.46) and then towards the south. At this point there is a postern gate (F.45), which seems to have been opened at the time of Sikandar LodÈ to give access to his new town, Sikandra. Further to the north-east, the fields (H) slope down towards an open basin with a lake-sized natural reservoir known as Mor Tålåb. There has been an attempt to line this tålåb to provide a better water supply for the fort, but it is not certain whether the lining walls of the tålåb date from the time of Sikandar LodÈ or earlier. Within the fort only a small

119

120 BAYANA

Figure 3.5  The East Enclosure of the Fort (E), also showing the east part of the North Enclosure (G) and the unfinished town of Sikandra (I). Key: F.18 east gate of fort to the citadel (see Figure 3.9); F.19 house, single storey with plain columns; F.20 ruined house with gateway and north-facing Èwån; F.21 ruined ceremonial gateway (with flanking chatrÈs) (see Figure 3.7); F.22 ruined house with central courtyard; F.23 reservoir (båolÈ) built of small bricks and plastered over; F.24 house (semi-detached) adjacent to house F.25 to east; F.25 house (semi-detached) adjacent to house F.24 to west; F.26 house (semi-detached) adjacent to house F.27 to east; F.27 house (semi-detached) adjacent to house F.26 to west; F.28 house (detached) south-east of group of semi-detached houses; F.29 square chatrÈ tomb with four columns (dome missing); F.30 square tomb with a flat roof and nine columns; F.31 canopied building with two corbelled domes; F.32 chatrÈ with four columns; F.33  Imårat-i BådgÈr; F.34 ruined chatrÈ with eight columns; F.35 shrine of Shaikh BahlËl or ‘PÈr PhËl’, tomb converted to temple; F.36 east gate system of the fort (see Figure 3.6); F.37 dam on a southern seasonal floodwater course; F.38 dam on a western seasonal floodwater course; F.39 mosque of a late date, probably Jåt; F.45 gate towards Mor Tålåb; F.46 corner tower with cannon emplacement; F.47 seasonal reservoir. Sikandra: S.1 mosque of grey sandstone (LodÈ jåmi ); S.3a gateway (with corbels supporting horizontal lintels); S.3b unbuilt gate.

part of Area G has ever been built up (Figure 3.8) marked with the ruins of a bazaar (F.40) and the TaletÈ Masjid (F.2). In short, Bayana fort is divided – both conceptually and practically – into three main enclosures: the site of the ancient fort (A) – together with its extension into the buffer zone (C) – heavily built-up and also housing the ruler’s residence; an extensive East Enclosure (E) nearly 1.5 km long and over 0.5 km wide, set on the heights but slightly below the level of the ancient fort;34 and another trapezoid Carlleyle (ASIR, VI, p. 72) suggests that this area might originally have been the site of the preIslamic town, but at present there are no traces of any pre-Islamic remains in the area.

34

THREE: the three towns

Plate 3.7  The walls of Area J seen from the North Enclosure (G) looking south-east. Unlike other parts of the fort where the walls are heavily reinforced with towers these walls have little reinforcement, but are provided with chatrÈs as observation towers at regular intervals.

enclosure (G) to the north. Vast areas of the East and North Enclosures were fields and farmland and were never intended to be built up as they were reserved for providing fresh agricultural produce for the occupants and fodder for livestock and horses during long sieges, ensuring the self-sufficiency of the fort. Farmland of this type is part of the design of Islamic forts and similar areas can be found in many forts in India, including Tughluqabad,35 Bidar,36 Mandu37 and Chanderi.38 In some of these forts the arable land is supplied by streams of fresh water and large natural or man-made reservoirs, but in Bayana the inadequate water supply makes these areas almost entirely dry at the end of the dry season,39 and we have seen the consequences of this problem on the history of the town.

Tughluqabad, p. 28, fig. 5.1; p. 93, pl. 7.1; pp. 134–6. Ghulam Yazdani, Bidar, its History and Monuments (Oxford, 1947), pp. 79–80, archaeological map of Bidar fort on front end-papers. 37 Ghulam Yazdani, Mandu the City of Joy (Oxford, 1929), map of Mandu fort at end. 38 Kanhaiya Lal Sharma, Chanderi 1990–1995 (Paris, 1999), II, figs 3 and 6. 39 Carlleyle (ASIR, VI, p. 71) mentions that at the deep slopes of the south-east corner of the Northern Enclosure: ‘A beautiful little stream of cold water runs down this gorge, breaking into short falls and basin-like pools here and there, in which I saw swarms of little fish.’ During fieldwork in Bayana, carried out in dry seasons, only the dry beds of such streams and pools could be seen. Even Mor Tålåb dries out in the summer. Water sources in the fort are discussed in Chapter 7. 35 36

121

122 BAYANA East Enclosure Unlike most Islamic forts which have numerous gates40 Bayana Fort has very few. This is partly due to the topography of the fort, the ramparts of which stand mostly on steep and inaccessible cliffs. A main approach to the fort is from the west described below, but the approach from Bayana town is from the east (Figure 3.5, Plate 3.39) via Sikandra. Each of these gates – and the gate to the citadel – are far more than the simple gateways with an outer and an inner gate as seen in most forts, and consist of sophisticated and heavily fortified systems of several gates, ramps and steps. At the southern corner of the east wall of the East Enclosure a bending ramp in Area I leads up to the remains to the eastern gate system (F.36). Area I could be regarded as the defensible outer buffer zone of the east gate, but the site was later designated for the town of Sikandra and its defensive walls were left unfinished. It is likely that, as with other gates, a smaller walled area once existed in front of the east gate, but was later cleared away to provide space for Sikandar LodÈ’s new town. East gate of the fort opening to Area E The original stepped ramp is now in ruins and later steps have been built to provide access to the fort, leaving little of their original configuration as some of the natural rock seems to have collapsed in subsequent landslides (Plate 3.8). The entrance system is partly excavated into the living rock and partly constructed (Figure 3.6). The stepped ramp leads to the south-east corner (a) of a rectangular court which may have had a gate, and conceals an existing gate (b) constructed at the middle of the western wall (Plate 3.9). The gateway itself is a simple and fairly small trabeated opening protected originally by a two-leaved wooden door. Its size might have been advantageous for its defence, but the gate is slightly small for a monument of this size and is unsuitable for the easy traffic of elephants with or without howdahs. Indeed, all the other gates of the fort and the citadel are too small for elephants to pass through easily. This is unusual for city or citadel gates in India, as elephants were employed for all types of everyday work both by the army and for farming and construction. In addition, elephants were a status symbol, and their number was a measure of the prestige and power of the rulers. However, it is notable that in the history of Bayana there is no reference to the employment of elephants except on one occasion concerning Shams Khån Au˙adÈ’s loss of two elephants in a battle.41 It should also be noted that where the ÅʾÈn-i AkbarÈ records the obligations of each province and districts regarding the Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), p. 439; (tr.), III, pp. 621–2, tells us that Delhi had twenty-eight gates. Tughluqabad (Tughluqabad, p. 28, fig. 5.1) excluding its annex, ʿÅdilåbåd, has fifteen main gates as well as some postern gates, while the surviving walls of Bidar (see n. 36 above) have at least nine main gates and a number of postern gates. 41 See Chapter 2, n. 142. 40

THREE: the three towns

Plate 3.8  View of the southern portion of the east rampart of the fortified East Enclosure (E) and the ruins of the eastern approach to the fort and its gateway system (F.36) from the fields of Sikandra looking north-west. In the foreground is the hexagonal chatrÈ (S.8) and over the ramparts stand (from left to right) the  Imårat-i BådgÈr (F.33), the shrine of Shaikh BahlËl (F.35) and the ruined chatrÈ with eight columns (F.34). Below the shrine part of the winding path to the gate can also be seen.

provision of elephants for the royal stables, Bayana’s share is nil. While unusual in India, it seems that the Bayana rulers – at least from the early fifteenth century on – did not employ elephants either in their armies or in their ceremonies and the size of the gates further elucidates this point. The middle gate (b) of the East Enclosure opens to a rocky area with a steep stepped ramp in the middle running west and then turning north, ascending to the upper gate (c). This open area is well below the level of the fort (Plate 3.10) and if an enemy could breach the middle gate it would be exposed to the arrows and missiles of the defending forces from the surrounding walls. The upper gate is similar to the middle gate both in size and construction.

123

124 BAYANA

Figure 3.6  Bayana Fort, the eastern gateway system (F.36) of the East Enclosure, sketch diagram (scale approximate) Key: a lower gate (entry point to the gateway system); b middle gate; c upper gate.

Plate 3.9  Eastern entrance system (F.36) of the East Enclosure, view from the end of the stepped ramp (a) looking north-west towards the outer side of the middle gate (b).

THREE: the three towns

Plate 3.10  Eastern entrance system of the East Enclosure, open area between the middle and upper gate looking north-east with the upper gate (c) at top left and the middle gate (b) at the bottom right. The upper gate still retains a dilapidated leaf of its old doors, which may date from the last phase of the life of the fort. The arched portal standing above the gateway system is the entrance to the tomb of Shaikh BahlËl and dates from the Mughal period.

East Enclosure (Area E), its topography and other features The entrance system was probably a secondary approach to the fort in the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, but as we shall see in our discussion of Sikandra, the east end of the East Enclosure seems later to have been designated by Sikandar LodÈ for a palace and citadel for his new capital on the plain below. On a high point in the fort to the east of the upper gate is the shrine of Shaikh BahlËl (F.35),42 set almost at the northern edge of the gateway system, and further away to the south-west of the gate stands the ʿImårat-i BådgÈr43 (F.33), both dating from the Mughal period when the fort was in rapid decline. The fields within the East Enclosure are fairly level and have a thin surface deposit of soil over the rocks, except at the north-east where flood waters have Appendix III, No. 57. Discussed in Chapter 9.

42 43

125

126 BAYANA created a steep declivity, and at the south-west where a large reservoir (F.23) occupies the site of a natural depression, and further to the west (Area D), where bare rocks separate the enclosure from the citadel. From the inner gate (F.36c) a path leads east towards the citadel, keeping to the north of the reservoir and curving slightly northward skirting the declivity. The reservoir, still containing water (Plate 3.11), must have been a main water supply for the fort and was maintained throughout its history, but at the eastern side of the East Enclosure are also two small dams (F.37–F.38) apparently constructed to take advantage of occasional flash floods.44 Along the path there is a seasonal pond as well as a number of tomb structures, probably shrines of religious personages or tombs of notables buried in their private land, orchards or gardens. In some areas, particularly on the northern side of the route, there are remnants of structures, probably houses, but as a whole no area of the East Enclosure was designated as a graveyard. Five houses with similar plans (F.24–F.28) are to be found to the south of the reservoir in an area near the southern fortification walls (Figure 8.10), and it is possible that these houses were constructed by an extended family on their own land outside the built-up areas of the fort. These buildings are amongst the bestpreserved domestic dwellings in Bayana and, together with other houses found in the urban areas of the fort, represent some of the earliest examples of fifteenthand sixteenth-century domestic architecture in India. To the north of the reservoir, the route is transformed to a grid pattern of urban streets (Plate 3.12). It first crosses the remains of a north–south street and then enters a small urban square with a number of other streets opening to it. The whole area surrounding the square is covered by the ruins of houses, probably damaged or destroyed in the 1505 earthquake, but a few houses – or portions of houses – which still stand (F.19–F.20, F.22) seem to have been poorly repaired and occupied at later dates. Apart from the standing buildings, the walls and foundations of many other houses have survived but are buried under fallen debris. A simple clearing up of the area –­ let alone an archaeological excavation – would be likely to reveal many more examples of the mediaeval domestic buildings of India. In Middle Eastern cities the so-called upper town was often designated for the nobility and more affluent people and the lower town for the rest of the citizens. In Bayana the spread of the urban environment in the eastern fortified area outside the citadel may at first glance appear to be comparable to a Middle Eastern lower town or, given the composition of Indian society, it could be interpreted as being for non-Muslim communities. However, neither proposition seems to be entirely the case. Some houses bear Quranic inscriptions, leaving no doubt that they were occupied by Muslims, and while the houses are of various sizes and plans – many on a modest scale, some are fairly substantial. As a whole the quality of the larger For the reservoir and the dams, see Chapter 7.

44

THREE: the three towns

Plate 3.11  Bayana Fort, the large reservoir (F.23) at the bottom of the canyon at the western side of the East Enclosure, providing a main source of water for the population and cultivation in the fort. View from the north-east with the minaret of DåwËd Khån (F. 15 b) in the far distance.

houses seems to be comparable with those inside the citadel, indicating that even if the population of the East Enclosure were of lower social rank, their financial status would not have been much different from those living inside the upper fort. This urban enclave may simply be part of the natural growth of the town in the fifteenth century, at the peak of its prosperity, when scarcity of building sites within the citadel or upper fort led to new developments outside the gates. The monumental gateway At the west end of the east–west street (Plate 3.12) are the remains of a monumental gateway (F.21) that marked the approach towards the east gate of the citadel. Only the foundations at the western side and the lower parts of the structure at the eastern side have survived (Plates 3.13, 3.14), but enough remains to provide a fairly accurate plan and a conjectural reconstruction of its general appearance (Figure 3.7). The north and south sides of the gate were attached to the adjoining buildings, but there are no indications of fortification walls in this area. It seems it was a ceremonial gateway to an urban square, typical of Indo-Muslim ­architecture;

127

128 BAYANA

Plate 3.12  Bayana Fort, remains of the main street of the urban development at the west end of Area E. The street leads to a monumental gate (F.21) marking the end of the town and opening to the approach towards the citadel through the buffer zone D.

Figure 3.7  Bayana Fort, the urban site in the East Enclosure, ceremonial gate (F.21) at the western end of the urban square, plan and conjectural reconstruction of the eastern façade facing the square. The suggested height of the original structure is based on the proportions of the surviving span of the arch to its height, as seen in other monuments and gates in Bayana. The multistoreyed canopied structures (chatrÈs) could have been in only two levels like those in the gate of the governor’s mansion in the citadel described in Chapter 9, but the suggested three-tiered chatrÈs are based on similar types of gates found elsewhere in Rajasthan. The chatrÈs on the roof are conjectural and are again based on similar features seen on other gates in Rajasthan as well as chatrÈs on the roofs of the flanking structures of the east gate (F.18) of the citadel.

THREE: the three towns

standing examples include the TÈn Darwåza (triple gate) of Ahmadabad45 and the TÈn Darwåza of Nagaur.46 Both these adorn a sizeable urban square and each has three arched openings with the central one slightly larger than the others. The form of the ceremonial gate at Bayana was, however, different. It had a single opening with two interconnected chambers built into the piers at each side. These chambers stood on a platform at least a metre above the ground and were openfronted towards the vault of the gate. The western façade of the gate – facing the unbuilt buffer area (D) between the town and the citadel – is plain but at the eastern side facing the square the gate was flanked by two multistoreyed canopied structures (chatrÈs).47 Although only two columns still stand the large number of fallen columns and lintels still scattered around the platforms of the chatrÈs indicate that they were in more than one level – at least two and probably three levels as suggested in our conjectural reconstruction. Such a form would not be unusual and gates with a similar design can be found elsewhere in Rajasthan, including the early fourteenth-century Buland Darwåza (high or lofty gate) at Nagaur 48 and the Buland Darwåza of Ajmer,49 both flanked on their outer façades by three-tiered chatrÈs. However, a close example can also be found in Bayana itself in the gate to the Governor’s Mansion (F.7, Plates 9.1, 9.2), but in this case the multistoreyed chatrÈs are in two tiers. The tradition of building such gates continued in the Mughal period, and an example built with red sandstone has survived at Chatta some 60 km (37 miles) north of Agra.50 Citadel or Upper Fort Behind the ceremonial gate is a vast unbuilt area (D, Figure 3.5) of uneven solid rock (Plate 3.15), which acts as a buffer zone for the eastern gate of the citadel and extends along its eastern walls. No construction seems to have been allowed in this zone and its minimal vegetation would expose any movement to the citadel’s watchmen. The monumental gate (F.21) at the west end of the lower town could therefore be perceived as a first gate to the citadel (Figure 3.8). Although not heavily defensible, it could control domestic traffic between town and citadel. Behind the gate a path runs north-westward across Area D, then skirts the fort walls to reach the citadel’s substantial eastern entrance system described by Carlleyle, with its Burgess, The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad, Part I, p. 25, pls 6 and 28–9. Nagaur, pp. 48–50, fig. 22, pl. 18a. 47 ChatrÈs, their possible origins and their development are discussed in Chapter 6 and the funerary chatrÈs in Appendix III. 48 Nagaur, pp. 33–6, figs 11–12, pls 7–9; also see Chapter 6. 49 For a description, see Thomas Duer Broughton, Letters from the Maratta Camp (London, 1892), pp. 225–6; H. B. Sarda, Ajmer: Historical and Descriptive (Ajmer, 1911), pp. 90, 93–4 and pl. facing p. 94. The structure has not yet been studied in detail and the date is not certain. See Nagaur, pp. 17, 36. 50 Catherine B. Asher, The New Cambridge History of India, vol. I:4, Architecture of Mughal India (Cambridge, 1992), pp. 143–4, pl. 80. 45 46

129

130 BAYANA

Plate 3.13  The ruins of the ceremonial gate (F.21) opening to a street that led to the eastern gate of the citadel. View from the square looking north-west to the remains of the platform of the chatrÈs at the north side of the eastern elevation. A large number of columns scattered on the ground indicate that the feature had multistoreyed chatrÈs, probably in two or three levels.

Plate 3.14  The ruins of the ceremonial gate (F.21), view from the square looking west to the remains of the opening of the gate and the chambers at its north side.

THREE: the three towns

five gates (F.18) (Figure 3.9). At the south-east corner of this gateway system, a gate (F.18a) connects the unbuilt Area D with the buffer zone F to the south of the citadel (Plate 3.16). Because of the natural defences of the fan-shaped cliff reinforced by a defensive wall (Plate 3.17), the plain below is only accessible by a ramp at the western side that winds down from the gate. The wall within the valley is now partly in ruins and little remains of a gateway (F.50) that opened originally to the road from Bayana to Hindaun and to the fertile fields beyond. The citadel’s east gate system (F.18) The first gate of this complex gateway system is, as usual, a simple rectangular opening with a short passage through, but on the fortification walls flanking the south of the gate is a guardhouse (h), a small utilitarian three-bayed portico with a chamber at each end, a form seen in residential buildings of Bayana and elsewhere. From here a dog-legged stepped ramp leads to another gate (b) set at a right angle to the ramp. This gate opens to an unroofed corridor with another gate (c) at the end, again set at a right angle to gate b. Gate c opens to a yard with a ramp to its north, bending twice before reaching the fourth gate (d) which opens to open ground in front of a fifth gate (e). The whole system is heavily fortified and overlooked by the massive walls and bastions of the citadel to enable guards to monitor

Plate 3.15  View from the west end of the East Enclosure looking towards the citadel, with the unbuilt Area D, where bare rocks act as a buffer zone for the eastern entrance system of the citadel. In the background the eastern walls of the citadel can be seen with the minaret of DåwËd Khån and the ancient inscribed låt standing as landmarks. In the centre some of the fortification walls of the entrance system (F.18) can also be seen.

131

132 BAYANA

Figure 3.8  Bayana Fort, the citadel. Key: F.1 TaletÈ Darwåza (lower gate); F.2 TaletÈ Masjid; F.3 building of red sandstone to west of BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån; F.4 BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån; F.5 gate opening from buffer area of the citadel’s west gate to North Enclosure; F.6a upper gate of the citadel’s west gate system; F.6b middle gate of the citadel’s west gate system; F.7 Governor’s Mansion, enclosure and gateway; F.8 rectangular building with a flat roof; F.9 rectangular building with a flat roof (probably residential, with later fired-brick restoration); F.10 house with three rooms and an Èwån; F.11 mosque with three small openings, in the citadel; F.12 building with twenty-six columns and rubble stone walls (storehouse); F.13a building complex north of Mosque of DåwËd Khån, northern structure; F.13b building complex north of Mosque of DåwËd Khån, western structure; F.14a complex of Jåt buildings, old structure converted for re-occupation; F.14b complex of Jåt buildings, new mansion built by the Jåts; F.15 mosque and minår of DåwËd Khån Au˙adÈ and the old låt: a. mosque, b. minår, c. låt; F.16 chatrÈ tomb with carved columns and ribbed dome (possibly Mughal); F.17 building on top of the north-east tower of citadel; F.18 east gate of fort to the citadel (see Figure 3.9); F.40 ruins of bazaar and houses near bazaar built with rubble stone; F.41 postern gate with narrow vaulted corridor; F.42 old gate, blocked up; F.43 postern gate; F.44 minaret; F.48 postern gate of citadel; F.49 gate of the buffer area of citadel’s postern gate; F.50 site of a ruined gate.

THREE: the three towns

Plate 3.16  The citadel, eastern entrance system (F.18) from buffer Area D. Right: view looking south-west with the lower gate (a) in the centre foreground, leading to the outside of the fort, and the stepped ramp at its right ascending towards the middle and upper gates. Left: view of the same gate looking south and showing the guardhouse (h) above the wall.

Plate 3.17  View from the lower gate (F.18a) of the citadel’s eastern entrance system, looking south-west towards the cliffs which create a natural buffer zone (F) reinforced with a defensive wall which is now partly in ruins. Beyond the wall is the arable land of Sikandra to the south of the fort.

133

134 BAYANA

Figure 3.9  Bayana Fort, eastern entrance system of the citadel (F.18), sketch plan (scale approximate). Key: a lower gate to the fields of Sikandra, b outer middle gate, c inner middle gate, d outer upper gate, e inner upper gate, f southern colonnade, g northern colonnade, h guard house, i chatrÈ over the tower, j postern gate.

and defend the system (Plate 3.18). This is perhaps the reason that the concept of gatehouses with roofed corridors – usual in other Islamic forts – has been avoided even for the corridor of the two middle gates b and c, which otherwise follow the plan of a conventional gatehouse. Gate e opens directly to a street on the tableland of the citadel. The gate is fairly well preserved and its present form consists of a short, straight vaulted portal with an arched opening at each side leading to a staircase to the upper level. The vault is unusually tall in proportion to its span, but its height is divided by a gallery

135

THREE: the three towns

Plate 3.18  The citadel, eastern entrance system (F.18), view of the ramps between the middle and upper gates looking towards gate (d). The chatrÈ over the bastion to the south of the inner upper gate (e) can also be seen. The unroofed system is defensible from the bastions of the citadel.

accessed by the stairs built into the piers of the vault. On the outer face of the vault the entrance is as usual a simple rectangular door framed by stone jambs, a lintel and a threshold, and the gallery has a solid wall with no opening, but on the inner side the vault is entirely open (Plate 3.19). In spite of the grand vault, the portal itself and all other outer gates are again too small for the easy traffic of elephants particularly with howdahs. On the top of the fortification wall at the north side of the gate stands a fourcolumned chatrÈ (i) that has lost its dome. It seems that a similar chatrÈ once stood on the southern wall. While these chatrÈs would have an ornamental function, punctuating the skyline of the gate, they would also provide shade and shelter for the guards when used as observation posts. The citadel (Area A), its topography and urban form Entering the citadel, the street is for a short distance paved with blocks of stone, but after a few metres the paving stones are disturbed and appear to have been extracted, apparently for walling-up the nearby colonnades. Mediaeval streets in India often have a dirt surface, although paved streets are also known, and

136 BAYANA

Plate 3.19  The eastern entrance system (F.18) in 1981, view from the west (within the citadel) looking towards the inner gate (e), showing the high vault divided in the middle by a gallery and the relatively small rectangular doorway in the eastern face of the gateway. The four-columned chatrÈ on the fortification wall at the left of the portal can be seen as well as the colonnaded porticoes (f and g) attached to the gate and flanking the street. The haphazardly constructed walls between the columns date from later periods when the colonnades were occupied by squatters.

in early fourteenth-century Tughluqabad a portion of a street has been found to have been paved in the same manner as seen here in Bayana.51 The paved street in Tughluqabad even had a drainage system at one side. Not all streets in Tughluqabad, however, appear to have been paved and it is difficult to say to what extent the urban streets in the fort of Bayana would have been, but it appears that there was at least one other paved street running along the south of the citadel and leading to the ruler’s mansion (F.7). Flanking the street by the east gate are two colonnaded porticoes (f and g) abutting the eastern defensive walls but not keyed into them. The colonnades appear to have been added subsequently, and have finely carved monolithic columns and brackets of red sandstone (Plate 3.20) characteristic of Bayana architecture. Both porticoes have been occupied in later periods and the spaces between the columns have been haphazardly walled up –­ a fate shared by most standing structures in the fort ­– altering the original appearance of the buildings. The porticoes are not of the same size or symmetrical in design, and might have been constructed at different Tughluqabad, pp. 137, 140, pl. 8.5.

51

137

THREE: the three towns

Plate 3.20  The inner gate of the citadel (F.18 e) in 2004. The debris in the street and the makeshift walls of later squatters have been removed and the structure partially restored, exposing the finely carved columns. Above: the gate with the portico (f) at its south-western side. Below: the north-eastern portico (g).

times, but both stand on platforms over 0.70 m high. The original function is not certain, but guard-rooms and colonnades for the public associated with gates and sometimes built into the structure are common in India and elsewhere. We may presume that these colonnades had a similar function. Passing the porticoes towards the north-west, the street continues in a fairly straight line to reach an open area, where an uneven path trod by later occupants turns southwards towards the main mosque (F.15) of the citadel and town in the fort. Flanking the street and path, foundations and the lower parts of walls of houses can be seen buried under debris; without clearing the site their layout cannot be determined. Nevertheless, it is evident that the town was compactly built with most of the house plots probably adjoining each other. The open area at the west end of the paved street might have been an urban square, but the site has been disturbed. The southern and western sides are covered with debris, while the north has been cleared away by later occupants making the original perimeter uncertain. To the north of this area stand the ruins of two structures (F.13a–b) that might have been part of an elaborate house. These structures seem to have been

138 BAYANA restored and re-occupied at the time of the Jåts, and their original function is no longer apparent. Continuing along the trodden path, probably on the remains of an original street towards the south-west, are more houses and other structures including a small mansion of the time of the Jåts (F.14b). The path leads to another open area with the minaret of DåwËd Khån Au˙adÈ (F.15b) set within it at the north-west and the mosque (F.15a) at its western side. The north entrance of the mosque also opens to this area, which was probably the main urban square as a broad open space by the Jåmiʿ conforms to traditional Indo-Muslim urban morphology. Such squares are seen in Tughluqabad52 and Ahmadabad,53 although that of Ahmadabad was later occupied by the tomb of A˙mad Shåh and his wives. The mosque and minaret of DåwËd Khån are of considerable importance and we have seen the inscriptions of the minaret in their historical context. The structures themselves will be discussed in Chapter 5, but here we should consider the location of the mosque in relation to its urban setting as well as to other features of the town in the fort. At present the remains of at least one other mosque (F.11) can be recognised nearby; it is fairly small, and it is likely that there were a number of other small neighbourhood mosques, no longer extant. DåwËd Khån’s mosque, however, is a large structure and its additional ‘lofty minaret’ – worthy of being noted in the ÅʾÈn-i AkbarÈ54 – leaves little doubt that at least during the Au˙adÈ period it was the congregational mosque or Jåmiʿ of the fort. The south of this square opened to an east–west street that runs parallel to the south wall of the upper fort and leads at its western end to the gate of the ruler’s mansion (F.7). The layout of this street is rather unusual in Indo-Muslim urban morphology, as evidence shows that in all royal mosques in India the private chamber for the ruler ‒ the shåh nishÈn or mulËk khåna ‒ is always at the north side of the prayer hall and wherever possible the rulers entered the mosque from its north side. In the Muslim-designed cities of India when the palace is at the west of the mosque such streets usually run towards the northern side of the mosque. If such a street ever existed in the fort it is not discernible today. However, the town in Bayana fort was not a royal city, nor was it designed based on the pattern of a Muslim town. It developed organically from an ancient layout and although some effort was made to conform to Muslim urban patterns, the details were constrained by topography and the probability that the area between the mosque and the ruler’s mansion was already built up, leaving only the open area to the north of the wall to lay out the new street to the ruler’s mansion. With the lack of evidence for any street leading from the mansion to the north of the mosque we may safely Tughluqabad, p. 28, fig. 5.1; pp. 138–9, pl. 8.2. Ibid., p. 169, fig. 9.2; Burgess, The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad, Part I, p. 37, pl. 2. 54 ÅʾÈn-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 442; (tr.), II, pp. 191–2, our translation is given above and the Persian text in n. 3. 52 53

THREE: the three towns

assume that the existing street was the original processional route taken by the ruler to attend the Friday public prayers, an important weekly event essential for consolidating the ruler’s relationship not only with the public, but, more importantly, with the religious leaders, whose influence on the people was often greater than that of the ruler. The Friday prayer also had a political function. During the sermon delivered by the imam the name of the regional ruler and the sovereign would be declared. In addition to other measures available to the local rulers, such as proclaiming – or omitting – the name of the sovereign on inscriptions or coins, the weekly sermon was the most direct way of informing the population – literate or otherwise – of the town’s political affiliations. For the Au˙adÈs and the JalwånÈs, who switched their alliances periodically and claimed independence most of the time, the weekly sermon would have been the primary platform for communicating with their people. The ancient column A landmark for miles around is the obelisk-like ancient Indian column (låt or låth) (F.15c) of red sandstone standing about 9 m high and set on a tapering square platform near the fortification wall (Figure 3.10, Plate 3.21) about 14 m to the south-west of the mosque. The låt is square at the base for about a metre but its main body is octagonal, tapering slightly towards the broken-off top; according to Carlleyle it might have originally been surmounted by a capital. A considerable part of the column is set into the platform for stability, but the base is not original, as part of the stonework, now fallen, reveals some ancient stones used as the original support, which was topped with a lobed circular feature in the form of an åmalaka. The column, studied in some depth by Carlleyle and Cunningham,55 bears an inscription of one Raja Vishnu Varddhana VarÈkin dated 428, probably corresponding to ad 371. This is the only pre-Islamic monument in the fort and its erection in that location, let alone its survival, requires attention. Carlleyle and Cunningham took it for granted that the låt had been standing in situ since its erection in the pre-Islamic past. This is unlikely, as the early Muslim invaders made a point of destroying temples, palaces and other Hindu edifices as a pious religious duty and a mark of conquest. As elsewhere in India, temple spoil characterises the Bayana monuments of the period of conquest. An inscribed Hindu symbol, as prominent as this låt, could not have escaped attention and would have been destroyed at once. Then again, if Bayana had indeed been sacked by Ma˙mËd of Ghazna he would not have left such a commanding monument of the ‘infidels’ for later invaders to appropriate as their trophy. ASIR, VI, pp. 59–62; ASIR, XX, pp. 81–2. The inscription was translated by G. Bühler, an authority of the time on ancient Indian languages, and is given both by Carlleyle and Cunningham. The era is not mentioned with the date, and Cunningham suggests that the year 428 is more likely to refer to the Vikramåditya era corresponding to ad 371, rather than the Saka era corresponding to ad 506 proposed in the earlier publication.

55

139

140 BAYANA

Figure 3.10 (left)  Bayana Fort, the citadel, inscribed ancient Indian column (låt) erected near the congregational mosque. The transcription of the inscription is also given (from Carlleyle, ASIR, IV, pl. 8). Plate 3.21 (right)  The ancient column or låt (F.15c) in the citadel, view from the west showing the base constructed of stone blocks, a corner of which has fallen revealing the ancient stones, including a lobed circular block in the form of an åmalaka, used in the original base.

On the other hand, after the conquest there was a tradition amongst the Muslims to re-erect early Hindu columns in or near their mosques, again as a symbol of dominance over the Hindus. Several such låts still stand, among which are the iron pillar at the Quwwat al-Islåm mosque in Delhi,56 probably re-erected by Ïltutmish; the column of FÈrËz Shåh in Fatehabad;57 and the columns at the Låt Page, An Historical Memoir on the Qutb, pp. 10, 44–5, pls (photographs) 2, 10b. Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), p. 439; (tr.), III, p. 622 also gives a description of the column. 57 Hisår-i FÈrËza, pp. 18–19. 56

THREE: the three towns

ki Masjid in Hisar58 and Kotla FÈrËz Shåh in Delhi,59 all re-erected by FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq. Some of these columns were brought from a considerable distance to their present positions, mostly to serve as symbolic minarets and always denoted in the Muslim histories as minår. It is therefore likely that the column at Bayana was also erected in its present position by the Muslims themselves perhaps in association with their congregational mosque, well before DåwËd Khån built his new and massive minaret nearby. Other features of Area A Returning to the area north of the låt, from the probable urban square at the east it seems that an east–west street was originally laid as far as the walls north of the compound of the ruler’s mansion (F.7), but the ground along this route is filled with debris and the outline of the street is not entirely clear; it probably turned south to arrive at the mansion compound. In the middle of this route, to its north, is a long, narrow, apparently utilitarian structure (F.12). The building (Plate 3.22) originally had a row of plain columns in the middle, some of which still stand, and was enclosed by a thick wall reinforced by pilasters in the front wall. The back wall has no windows, but there are two windows in each of the side walls and a few in the front, set between the pilasters, providing light and ventilation. The date and function of the structure are not certain, but it is clear that it was not residential. At some periods of its life it might have functioned as a granary or military installation, probably an armoury, and it could be one of the ‘cellars’ referred to in the ÅʾÈn-i AkbarÈ. The structure seems to have been part of a larger group of buildings surrounded by an enclosure wall, the ruins of which can still be recognised and, according to Carlleyle, at the time of the Jåts this or a nearby building was used as a powder magazine, which on one occasion exploded and knocked down the top tier of the minaret of DåwËd Khån.60 Apart from this compound, the rest of the area within the citadel seems to have been mainly residential with some houses still standing; the better preserved ones (F.9, F.10 and F.17) are discussed in Chapter 8. The residential district is particularly compact at the narrow western end of this area in the vicinity of the ruler’s mansion (F.7) set between the southern cliff and the ancient ramparts.

Ibid., pp. 32–6. For the history of the monument, see J. A. Page, A Memoir on Kotla FÈrËz Shåh, Delhi with a Translation of Sirat-i-Firozshahi, Mohammad Hamid Kuraishi (tr.) (Delhi: Memoirs of the ASI, No. 52, 1937), pp. 3–5, 33–42, and Persian transcript 25 pp., pls 2–3, 5–6. For a detailed survey, see J. A. Page, Annual Progress Report of the Superintendent, Muhammadan and British Monuments, Northern Circle, for the year ending 31st March 1916 (Allahabad, 1916), p. 10, pls 16–17; also see Welch and Crane, ‘The Tughluqs’, pp. 133–5. 60 ASIR, VI, pp. 68–9. 58 59

141

142 BAYANA

Plate 3.22  The citadel, a roughly constructed long and narrow structure (F.12) of uncertain function, probably military. Left: interior showing a row of tall columns supporting the roof. Right: view from the opposite side where the roof has been partially lost but some columns still stand. The ground level outside the structure clearly indicates that the building was built below ground. The Å Èn-i AkbarÈ’s mention of cellars (tah khåna) may be a reference to structures such as these.

The citadel’s west gate system (Area B) To the south-east of the mansion is a small open field sloping westward and leading to the upper gate (F.6a) of the citadel’s western entrance system. This gate seems to have been built into the walls over the ancient ramparts of the citadel (Plate 3.23), although it has been restored many times and the upper parts, probably vaulted in a manner similar to the upper gate of the eastern entrance (Plates 3.19, 3.20), have fallen. To the south of the outer (western) face of the gate is a chamber, probably added in the final phases of the life of the fort and incorporating temple spoil, including finely carved column shafts, probably found on site. In addition, a niche, apparently built into the wall of the gate by the Jåts and suitable for housing the image of a deity, seems to feature older carved stones (Plate 3.24). The upper gate (F.6a) opens to Area B – an open space sloping down northward – heavily fortified, with a stepped ramp, leading down from the upper gate to another gate (F.6b) in the middle of the northern wall (Plate 3.25). This gate may be considered the middle gate of the system and was again similar in form to the upper gate (F.6a) and that of the eastern gate system (F.18e). In gate F.6b again, the vault of the upper chamber has fallen, but part of the walls and the window towards the outer face of the gate have survived. Outside the gate a set of wide steps across the space between the flanking towers descends to a fortified outer court with a small gate (F.6c) in the eastern side. Such broad steps and outer courts are fairly common in Muslim fortifications and a similar arrangement can be seen in most gates of

143

THREE: the three towns

Plate 3.23  The upper gate (F.6a) of the western entrance system of the citadel, view from the west looking at the outer face of the gate with a chamber to its south (right), which seems to be of the latest phase of the life of the fort and incorporates finely carved ancient columns, presumably found in the ruins of earlier buildings in the citadel. Above the gate was a chamber, open fronted on the inner side, but with a window on the outer side, of which only the lower part of the wall and the sill of the window have survived.

Plate 3.24  A niche apparently built by the Jåts into the wall of the upper gate (F.6a) of the western entrance system to house the image of a deity. The columns and the carved stone above the niche may be old re-used spoil.

144 BAYANA

Plate 3.25  View of the middle gate (F.6b) facing Area B. The vault above the gate has fallen, but enough remains to show its similarity to the upper gate of this system as well as that of the eastern entrance. The gates of Bayana fort have a characteristic pattern, distinct from other Muslim forts.

Tughluqabad.61 However, although in Bayana the present fortification of the outer court seems to be entirely Islamic in arrangement, it might have been an addition or a reconstruction of an earlier feature. Area C Passing through the gate of the outer court a bending stepped ramp descends sharply within the lower fortified buffer area (C). This area is roughly triangular in plan with a massive bastion at its western point, which can be seen as a landmark from a distance on the old route to Hindaun. The steeply sloping ground is unsuitable for the construction of houses, and as a whole there seem to have been fewer buildings here than in the East Enclosure. Nevertheless, the more level ground near its northern wall also appears to have been residential. The foundations of many buildings can still be seen, in particular the ruins of a fine building of red sandstone (F.3) a short distance to the west of the BåʾolÈ of Khån-i Khånån (F.4). The house is now in ruins and its layout is not clear, but it seems that it was fairly substantial and its surviving structural elements display finely carved details Tughluqabad, pp. 27–61.

61

145

THREE: the three towns

similar to those found in the båʾolÈ. If the building were not associated with Khån-i Khånån himself its date is likely to be close to that of the båʾolÈ.62 We have already discussed the bilingual inscription of this båʾolÈ, noting that the Sanskrit version indicates that the reservoir was for the use of the Hindu population of the fort. It is probable that during the LodÈ period the northern extension of the citadel was adapted to accommodate a Hindu neighbourhood (ma˙alla).

Plate 3.26  Gate (F.5) at the north-east corner of Area C, view of the outer (eastern) face. Above the decorated upper course of the frame of the opening is a band of blue tiles, which except in a few places have lost their surface glaze, and above them the panel with traces of a two-line inscription.

Gate F.5 The stepped ramp forks to the east and leads to a gate (F.5) at the north-east corner of Area C (Plate 3.26), which may be considered as the lower gate of the buffer area. Unlike most other gates, which are utilitarian with little ornamentation, the stone work is finely carved and the column shafts are decorated with various motifs including rows of arabesque vine motifs, diamonds and beads, and Carlleyle (ASIR, VI, p. 69) calls the building ‘modern’ and attributes it to the Jåt Raja Randhir Singh, but in every detail the structural elements are similar to those of the late fifteenth-century båʾolÈ, also designated as ‘modern’ by Carlleyle.

62

146 BAYANA

Plate 3.27  Gate ( F.5) at the north-east corner of Area C, seen from the south-east, looking through the corridor with its niches for guards and finely carved columns and capitals.

twisted rope motifs (Plate 3.27). When during the LodÈ period Area C developed as an urban area, this would have been the main public access between the North Enclosure (G) and Area C, which would account for the finer appearance of the gate. It should also be noted that the details of the carving are similar to those seen both in LodÈ and in early Mughal architecture. Many gates of the fort had inscriptions and several were reported in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but none of these inscriptions have survived. Above the outer face of this gate too there is a panel that seems to have borne an inscription in two

THREE: the three towns

lines, but the surface is eroded or, as with many Muslim inscriptions in Bayana, obliterated and we have no documentation on its date. Below the panel runs a band of blue tiles and, as we shall see in other chapters, many of the buildings datable to the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries in Bayana were decorated in this way. Other dated monuments in the vicinity, including the TaletÈ Masjid and the BåʾolÈ of Khån-i Khånån are from this period and a similar date for the gate is also likely. Although a Mughal date cannot be ruled out, if an earlier date can be accepted the gate would provide further evidence of a direct influence of Bayana on early Mughal architecture. In the history of the region we have seen how Agra and Fathpur Sikri gradually replaced Bayana. In many other monuments of Bayana the evidence of a transfer of Bayana’s architectural traditions to Agra and Fathpur Sikri could be observed. Outside the gate are the traces of a paved road, which soon disappear under the debris. Nevertheless, it is clear that the road must have passed through the town in Area G, and eventually via the TaletÈ Darwåzå ‘lower gate’ (F.1) to the fields west of the fort.63 This route and its own complex gate system ending at the Governor’s Mansion seems to have been a main approach to the citadel, although it opens towards the direction of Hindaun – in an opposite direction to the town of Bayana. The governor’s route to Bayana town must have been through the eastern gateway system directly via gate F.18, through Area F to gate F.50. The east gate (F.36) of the East Enclosure would have been a secondary route for the population of the fort, although it later became Sikandar LodÈ’s principal access to the site of his Sikandra (I). Gate F.43 Returning to Area C, near the BåʾolÈ of Khån-i Khånån and in the middle of the northern wall of Area C is a postern gate (F.43). This gate is fairly small and seems to interrupt the fortification wall at this point.64 It might have been opened during the LodÈ period when the båʾolÈ and apparently other structures in Area C were built. However, the gate has been later altered again by the addition of ramps, which could allow transport of cannons to the dog-legged passage of the gate and to the top of the walls (Plate 3.28). These alterations must be from the last phase of the life of the fort and perhaps from the brief period of its occupation by the Jåts.

In our drawing the suggested outline of the original street is shown with larger broken lines and the present trodden path with smaller broken lines. 64 For a photograph of the walls, see Chapter 6, Plate 6.2: the postern gate is not discernible, but is between the two towers at the left of the photograph. 63

147

148 BAYANA

Plate 3.28  The postern gate (F.43) in the middle of the northern wall of Area C, view of the interior of the corridor looking west and showing the ramp to the top of the walls. The smooth surface of the ramp and its angle are characteristic of ramps built in many forts in India after the introduction of cannon. The entrance to Area C is to the right at the end of the dog-legged corridor.

North Enclosure (Area G) The lower two gates of Area C (F.5 and F.43) provide access from the North Enclosure (G) to the citadel (Plate 3.29). The heavily fortified North Enclosure (Figures 3.3, 3.5, 3.8) is almost as large as Area E of the fort. The western walls of Area G are on even ground fortified with bastions rectangular in plan, but at the northern side the walls follow the contour of the land (Plate 3.30) and are provided with round bastions, the corner ones being particularly massive. That at the north-east corner (F.46) has later been adapted to house a large cannon, mounted originally on a circular emplacement allowing it to be rotated (Plate 3.31). Within the enclosure a ramp has been built along the eastern wall to facilitate moving cannons to the top of the bastion (Plate 3.32). Stones of a lighter colour than the old work clearly indicate the subsequent additions while revealing that the walls themselves date well before the introduction of cannon. We have noted the ramp for cannon in the postern gate (F.43), but in that case the width of the ramp and the platform on the wall indicate that only small cannon could have been employed. The site of the emplacement over bastion F.46 and the width of the ramp show that a cannon of considerable size was once mounted there. Although cannons were used in India at least from the early sixteenth century, in northern India

THREE: the three towns

Plate 3.29  The North Enclosure (G) from the northern walls of the East Enclosure (E) looking west. The valley between two hills forming the North Enclosure was never built up except a small area at the south-west end. The rest was left as fields, now abandoned and overgrown. In the background the western wall of the enclosure can be seen and beyond it the fields and distant hills.

large-sized cannon are more likely to date from the time of the Mughals and the conversion of the bastion may date from this period or perhaps even as late the last phase of the life of the fort under the Jåts. Immediately to the south of this bastion is a gate (F.45) (Plate 3.32), which, as noted, might have been opened at a later date to provide access to the unfinished enclosure of Sikandra. The Northern Enclosure could be described as two parts with different topographic characteristics: a long rectangular eastern area and a larger trapezoid area at the west. There are indications such as a seasonal reservoir (F.47) that the eastern area was probably farmed. The north-western side of the trapezoid area is uneven, its northern side on steep hills was not suitable for either construction or farming, but the southern side, immediately to the north of Area C, is on even ground and was inhabited (Plate 3.6) at least since the early fifteenth century, with the remains of houses, a bazaar (F.40), an unfinished minaret (F.44) and the TaletÈ Masjid (F.2) datable to Rama∂ån 823/September–October 1420. The mosque is of considerable importance and will be discussed in Chapter 5, but the town, literally on lower ground, could be designated as the lower town, although the expressions ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ towns did not necessarily reflect the topography of Muslim cities, but rather the social hierarchy.

149

150 BAYANA

Plate 3.30  The northern fortification walls of the North Enclosure (G) from the east looking west. A walk over 2 m wide runs behind the battlements along the length of the walls with steps to the enclosure at intervals. In the background to the right the continuation of the walls on the ridges of the hills in the distance can be seen and on the far left is the citadel with the minaret of DåwËd Khån (F.15b) as a landmark.

Plate 3.31  The round bastion (F.46) at the north-east corner of the North Enclosure, with the cannon emplacement. In the foreground is the top of the ramp for hauling cannon.

THREE: the three towns

Plate 3.32  The gate (F.45) at the north-east corner of the walls of the North Enclosure opening to the unbuilt area intended to be within the enclosure of Sikandra (Area I). To its left is one of the flights of steps that provide access to the walks over the walls, and in the foreground is the lower end of the ramp built for the transport of cannon to the corner tower (F.46).

Bazaar street and shops (F.40) The paved street in Area G associated with gate F.5 – now buried under debris – seems to have begun to the south of an unfinished minaret (F.44), run west to the bazaar (F.40) and on to a blocked-up gate (F.42). In the bazaar street, parallel to the wall of Area C, the platforms of the flanking shops and foundations of the structures behind can be made out. The lower parts of the shops are well preserved with enough remaining to distinguish features such as arched niches in the walls and sometimes doors communicating with the shopkeepers’ dwellings or storage spaces at the rear. Gate F.42 and postern gate F.41 At the south-west corner of Area G, gate F.42, now walled up from the outside, seems to be of considerable age (Plate 3.33) and may have been the original lower gate giving access from the west to the citadel. The gate opened into a rectangular enclosure and had the remains of a platform on the inner side but seems to have been abandoned, perhaps following an attack, and whatever its fate may have

151

152 BAYANA

Plate 3.33  View from outside the southern end of the western walls of the North Enclosure (G), looking east with the outer opening of the postern gate (F.41) to the left and the site of an older gate (F.42) that has been blocked higher up to the right near the rectangular bastion.

been, a portion of the wall immediately to its north appears to have been reconstructed incorporating a postern gate (F.41) in the form of a small vaulted tunnel just adequate for a man to walk through, which could have been closed by shutters slotting into the grooves that have remained at the outer end on both sides of the opening. Taletıˉ Darwaˉ za (F.1) and built-up part of Area G A more prominent gate, further up the western wall is the well-preserved TaletÈ Darwåza (F.1), opening to a square with the TaletÈ Masjid (F.2) to its north. Remains of another straight street from this gate to the eastern gate (F.5) form a triangular area served by three wells; this may represent the built-up area of the Northern Enclosure, but standing remains are concentrated in the bazaar, which may have been reconstructed or kept up while Area G reverted to farmland. We can assume this because the built-up area of the Northern Enclosure is entirely different in construction from the other built-up areas of the fort. The traditional method of building in Bayana is based on trabeate structures, usually with flat roofs and monolithic columns, beams and brackets, as seen in the citadel in the colonnades of its upper east gate (F.18f and g: Figure 3.9, Plate 3.20) and appearing extensively in public and residential buildings in the fort and elsewhere. The remains in Area

THREE: the three towns

G, however, are built of rubble stone and thick piers which apparently supported vaults and domes, now collapsed but traceable in places. This method of construction was probably first introduced to Bayana to a very limited extent during the LodÈ period, but was more extensively employed in the late and post-Mughal periods. Even in the Mughal period the trabeate method remained dominant and a few known Mughal buildings in Bayana still conformed to the traditional method. The different type of structures in Area G can therefore be taken as evidence of a later date for the development of this site. Carlleyle mentions that the bazaar was built by the Jåts, presumably in the eighteenth century. This might be the case, as there seems to have been an attempt in that period to rehabilitate the town, as evidenced by a well-preserved eighteenth-century mansion in the citadel. However, we have seen that Carlleyle’s dating is unreliable and often misleading. In the case of this area he notes:65 There are also a few totally dilapidated ruins of old buildings scattered throughout the valley. One old building, near the deserted bazaar, appears to have been a temple, and shows the remains of somewhat elaborate sculpture on its walls. This building looked really old – perhaps even ancient; but the other houses near it are modern. The ‘temple’ to which he refers is the TaletÈ Masjid (F.2), which was later correctly identified by Cunningham,66 who also noticed an inscription from the time of Au˙ad Khån there dated Rama∂ån 823/September–October 1420.67 This is one of the most significant mosques of Bayana and will be discussed in Chapter 5. Such a well-constructed and sizeable mosque indicates occupation of the site at least from the early fifteenth century, but Carlleyle is right to suggest that the present bazaar and houses were of much later dates. If they were not by the Jåts they still could not be earlier than the time of the LodÈs. The fortification walls and their age Carlleyle also attributed the western and northern walls of the Northern Enclosure as well as the TaletÈ Darwåza to the Jåts. There are indeed well-preserved parts of the walls that are constructed differently from the rest. Muslim and mediaeval fortification walls usually have round bastions, although angular bastions are found occasionally, usually relating to particular contours of the site, or to the design of structures within the walls.68 Bayana followed the norm with round bastions (Plates 3.15–3.16), the exceptions being the western wall of the North Enclosure, ASIR, VI, pp. 70–1. ASIR, XX, pp. 82–3. 67 See Appendix I, inscription No. 16. 68 See, for example, a square and a semi-octagonal tower in the citadel of Hisar, corresponding with the design of the utility areas of the palace, Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 17–32, figs 6–7, pls IIa and IVc. 65 66

153

154 BAYANA

Plate 3.34  Bayana fort, TaletÈ Darwåza (F.1) in the western wall of the North Enclosure. View from the west, looking at the outer façade of the gate showing the two portals at either side of a simple short passage with a straight run corresponding with the thickness of the wall. The gate and walls bear the marks of various attacks and show at least three different phases of construction. The lower parts of the walls are constructed with large blocks of stone tightly set together with little or no mortar. Above this is an upper layer of later repairs which run down both jambs of the gate, indicating that it was reconstructed following an attack. The third phase of structural work can be seen at the top of the wall which includes the arrow-slits, and is built with small sized rubble stone.

from the TaletÈ Darwåza running south where towers rectangular in plan occur at regular intervals; the eastern run of the northern wall; and occasional other bastions. The TaletÈ Darwåza (Plate 3.34) is flanked by two such towers and has an unusual form for an Islamic gate in that it lacks a vaulted or arched portal. Instead, the short straight passage through the wall has only a simple rectangular portal on the inner and outer sides, each with a monolithic lintel supported on corbels set over carved stone jambs. Similar arrangements can be seen in the main gate to Area C (F.5) and the gate (F.45) at the north-east corner of the North Enclosure. This type of gate is associated with Hindu forts, while wherever the Muslims built a rectangular portal, they set it in within a vault – as seen in the gates of the citadel of Bayana – or framed it within an arched façade. It might therefore seem reasonable to suppose that the walls and the gate were built by the Jåts, intentionally reverting to earlier Hindu traditions in fort building. However, there are a number of problems with such a proposition. Compared with walls of Sikandar LodÈ’s era or of the Mughal period, let alone with those of the later dates, the walls are far too

THREE: the three towns

massive. As for the form of the TaletÈ Darwåza, a similar type of gate (S.3) can be found in the unfinished town walls of Sikandra. Furthermore, in the western part of the North Enclosure the walls do not appear to have been built at one time, but in at least three different phases. The lower parts are constructed with fairly large blocks of stone tightly set with little or no mortar. This part of the wall is heavily battered and is similar in construction to the work of other mediaeval forts. Above it is an upper layer, which cannot be traced all along the wall but only in some sections, indicating later repairs, presumably wherever the wall was damaged after an attack. The repair work is coarsely built with smaller stones, and perhaps hastily. It is particularly noticeable around the TaletÈ Darwåza where the repair work runs down both jambs, showing that the gate might have been demolished in an attack and had to be secured quickly. The third phase occurs at the top where the walls and arrow slits are built of small rubble stone (Plate 3.35). The walls themselves, therefore, must be of considerable age, continuously repaired after each battle, with the latest phase at the top probably built during the Mughal period or by the Jåts. Concerning the fortification, in some places there seems to have been no need for bastions or even proper walling, as the ridge of natural cliffs acted as an inaccessible wall protecting the enclosure. In other places short runs of walling between

Plate 3.35  TaletÈ Darwåza, view from the south-east within the town. The roughly built supporting structure with a niche must be from a late phase in the life of the fort. To the right is the south-west corner of the TaletÈ Masjid.

155

156 BAYANA cliffs block an enemy’s potential access point through a gorge or canyon. The battlements, wherever they have survived, are arch-shaped; a common ­characteristic of Muslim work in India and whatever survives today is datable to the Islamic period, even in the citadel, the probable site of the ancient fortification. Sikandra Sikandar LodÈ’s grand project of a new capital bearing his name at Bayana never materialised and what remains of the Sikandra there includes only fragments of its town walls and a handful of monuments within and outside them (Figures 3.1, 3.5). Nevertheless, the scanty remains represent the site of a city just emerging from concept to reality, and highlight the priorities for construction of an early sixteenth-century town. In the vicinity of Delhi, Tughluqabad, another short-lived town, provides some information about early fourteenth-century methods of constructing a city on virgin ground. Tughluqabad was also intended to be a capital and was conceived and constructed in about two years. In thirteenth–fifteenth-century towns, historians record that it was usual practice for the fortification walls to be raised by the army, while public and residential buildings were constructed simultaneously within the town by skilled builders to the order and under the supervision of the ruler and his nobles as well as other notables.69 The remains of Tughluqabad illustrate how the methods and strategies mentioned by the historians were realised on the ground.70 The tradition – though modified – continued for later cities,71 and we may assume that a similar method was employed for the construction of Sikandra. The new city was planned to lie in a basin east of the East Enclosure of the fort (Plate 3.36) using its eastern gate (F.36) as the access route from the town to the fort. Only a run of an unfinished wall remains at the northern side as well as part of the southern wall curving northward, apparently to join the unfinished northern segment. The remains indicate that the work had stared at the two ends and that the walls were intended to join up somewhere at the east of the town. In Tughluqabad, too, there are indications that the walls were constructed in segments. The town of Sikandra was on the north side of the old road from Bayana to Hindaun and the fertile fields which spread to the south of the town right up to the River Gambhir. In our drawings the outline of the Sikandra town limits is shown with a thin line enclosing an area of about 1.5 km2, less than a third of the size of Bayana fort and smaller than average for an Indian mediaeval capital. This would See, for example, the records concerning the construction of the towns of KÈlËgharÈ, Óißår-i FÈrËza and Bidar in the following publications, respectively, BarnÈ (Pers.), p. 176; (tr.), III, p. 136; Shams-i Siråj (Pers.), pp. 124–8; (tr.), III, pp. 298–300; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), III, pp. 23–5; (tr.), III, i, pp. 51–4. 70 Tughluqabad, pp. 32–7. 71 The method was clearly understood by the Mughal historian NiΩåm al-dÈn as shown in the Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ where he mentions the construction of Bidar.

69

THREE: the three towns

Plate 3.36  General view of the site of Sikandra, from the eastern walls of the East Enclosure of the fort looking east. Traces of part of the unfinished town wall can be seen to the right of the basin and to the left stand the ruins of the grand LodÈ Jåmi of Sikandra.

be surprising if the walled town were intended to be the capital, but the accounts of the TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ regarding the ‘gardens of Sikandra’ and numerous existing monuments outside the enclosure suggest that the walled town was probably only part of Sikandar LodÈ’s grand project, and may have been intended for the ordinary townsmen, traders and craftsmen while at least some of the mansions of the nobles and their large retinues were planned to be outside the town. The spread of the standing monuments in the fields of Sikandra in an area of about 6 km2, from the foot of the ramparts of the fort up to near the town of Bayana, shows that the whole of this area was included in the grand plan, linking Bayana town to the new walled town through an area of gardens, orchards and fields. The idea behind the project shares certain conceptual similarities with Agra. Although apart from the fort and a few monuments, little remains of old Agra and its environs, the remains of the gardens all along the River Jumna show that Agra – now buried under the modern city – was also intended to be a garden city.72 Agra as known to us is virtually a Mughal city and no significant LodÈ An early eighteenth-century map of Agra at Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II City Palace Museum, Jaipur, shows a large number of gardens along the banks of the river. Agra remained a garden city under the Mughals and although the gardens illustrated in the map are mainly Mughal, many may

72

157

158 BAYANA monuments have survived, but Sikandar LodÈ’s urban concepts can perhaps be traced in its urban layout. Again, as with Sikandra, the fort and a fairly small town were designed at one side of the River Jumna, while outside the walled town a large area was designated for gardens and orchards. It was in this v ­ icinity that Båbur laid out his famous garden, in which he died. As with Sikandra, some of the surviving monuments here are funerary, belonging to Mughal nobles interred in their own properties. One of the best examples is the tomb of Iʿtimåd al-daula in the middle of a pleasant formal garden (Plate 6.30). Traces of many other gardens, ­including avenues and water-courses, can still be found  in  the now ­privately-owned orchards and nurseries on the banks of the river. While in Agra the older fort was insignificant and had to be reconstructed by Sikandar LodÈ on a grander scale, in Bayana the fort was formidable, and, indeed, was one of the reasons for the choice of the place for the new capital. However, the setting of the new town at the east of the fort indicates that Sikandar LodÈ must have intended to build a new citadel at the south-east corner of the East Enclosure (Area E), immediately accessible to Sikandra via the east gate (F.36). It is traditional that a citadel should have a short – if not direct – access to the town and it would have been impractical for Sikandar LodÈ to use the old citadel to the west for this purpose. There is, however, little evidence in the East Enclosure to suggest that the construction of a new citadel had advanced before the project was abandoned. The only possible LodÈ works may be the present configuration of the east gate system (Figure 3.6, Plates 3.9–3.10) and above it, in the East Enclosure, a massive platform that has partly survived and has a commanding view over the surrounding fields in the fort as well as over Sikandra; the platform might have been intended as the site for a new palace. It became the burial place of Shaikh BahlËl (Plate III.55).73 Town walls and gates Unlike the formidable walls of the fort, the Sikandra town walls were not exceptionally strong: at base they were less than 3 m thick, built with stone and mortar. This is not unusual for a sixteenth-century town wall because by this time gunpowder was known in India and sappers could tunnel under the walls and blow them up. The walls of Sikandra were designed mainly for security against acts of banditry as well as for control of traffic in and out of the town, rather than for withstanding major assault. One of the better-preserved sections of the south-east be on the sites of the earlier ones. For the reproduction of a part of this map, see John M. Fritz and George Michell, ‘Archaeology of the Garden’, in Elizabeth B. Moynihan (ed.), The Moonlight Garden: New Discoveries at the Taj Mahal (Seattle­/Washington, DC, 2000), pp. 80–1, fig. 1; also see Sylvia Crowe et al., The Gardens of Mughal India: a History and Guide (London. 1972), p. 63; Ebba Koch and Richard André Barraud, The Complete Taj Mahal: and the Riverfront Gardens of Agra (London: Thames & Hudson, 2006), pp. 22–81, particularly p. 22 (the c. 1720 plan of Agra and its gardens) and pp. 30–1 (identifying the forty-four gardens and their owners). 73 For Shaikh BahlËl, see Chapter 2 and Appendix III, Tomb No. 57.

THREE: the three towns

Figure 3.11  Sikandra, unfinished gateway (S.3a) with corbels supporting horizontal lintels to the east of the LodÈ Jåmi .

wall of the town includes the remains of an unfinished gate (S.3a) (Figure 3.11, Plates 3.37, 3.38). The stonework of the wall is fairly coarse and was probably intended to be plastered over or rendered with lime cement. The gate consists of two similar portals on the outer and inner faces of the wall, with carved stone jambs and three layers of corbelled blocks set over the square capitals to support the lintels. The passage between the portals has a flat ceiling formed of stone slabs resting on the lintels. This form of gate is closely similar to that of the TaletÈ Darwåza and of the gates to the North Enclosure (F.5) and in its north-west corner (F.45), but as the upper parts of the gate are unbuilt it is not entirely certain whether or not it would have had a vault above the gate like that over the east gate of the citadel, or perhaps only decorative arched niches above the portals on each face. While the portals are large enough for the passage of elephants, the gate does not have the grand layout of town gates of the period, which usually project out from the walls at one or both sides, sometimes with side niches and stairs to upper chambers, an example of which is seen in another gate – probably to a garden – in Sikandra itself (S.6).74 It is, of course, possible that Gate S.3a was intended to have a grander façade unrealised in its present unfinished condition. Laʿl Darwåza is discussed in Chapter 9.

74

159

160 BAYANA

Plate 3.37  Sikandra, a section of the unfinished town wall and a gate (S.3a) at the south of the town, seen from the south-west.

The construction of Gate S.3a, slightly more advanced than that of the wall, shows, however, that at least in this case the gate and wall were under construction at the same time. This is not always the case where the walls were put up by soldiers leaving the space for more elaborately designed gatehouses to be inserted by skilled masons. The practice is particularly evident in Tughluqabad, where long stretches of the walls are constructed on uneven contours and the gate builders had to resolve the problem of fitting the massive gatehouses in between unaligned lengths of wall.75 The urban layout and its components A town abandoned and unfinished provides insights as to how the design was perceived and executed and what the priorities were for establishing infrastructure such as roads and water supply, as well as which buildings were considered to be important enough to be constructed first. Within the town the ruinous foundations of some structures indicate that, as with Tughluqabad and other towns designed on virgin land, in Sikandra, too, the construction of the town and its wall must have started simultaneously. Although there are traces of some large enclosures, none seem to have been designated as Sikandar’s palace. If, as suggested, it was intended Tughluqabad, pp. 35–6.

75

THREE: the three towns

Plate 3.38  Sikandra, south-east view of the unfinished town gate (S.3a), showing the structural details of both the inner and outer portals as well as the slabs set across the lintels of the portals to provide the flat ceiling of the passage below. The ceiling, still standing until the 1980s, has now fallen.

that the palace be built in the fort, a royal mansion in the town would be secondary to establishing the main mosque and the infrastructure. From the surface remains the original street layout of Sikandra is hard to establish. At present paths can be discerned linking the eastern gate (S.3a) to that of Enclosure E (F.36), as well as around the mosque and reservoir, and towards the southern and eastern walls, but these routes, which pass over the debris of old landslides, do not seem to be part of a formal original layout. The construction of the town may not have been advanced enough for the streets to have been completed at the time the site was abandoned, even if they had been marked, as was the usual practice. Nevertheless, the most important building in Sikandra, the new congregational or Jåmiʿ mosque (S.1) was completed and was even in use. This building is now in ruins, but was apparently better preserved when seen by Cunningham in the 1880s and today enough still remains for a full survey. We shall discuss the building together with other mosques in Chapter 5, but its location also provides some information about the intended fabric of the town. The mosque is set about 150 m to the east of the ramparts of the fort, and as it has façades at all four sides it seems that streets or open spaces were intended all around it. It was built on a massive platform, itself erected on high ground, and the land on which it stands slopes down to the east, so the skyline of the mosque with its three grand domes – now fallen – would

161

162 BAYANA

Plate 3.39  General view of the ruins of the walled town of Sikandra from the western banks of the reservoir looking west to the eastern ramparts of the fort. Over the rampart stand the  Imårat-i BådgÈr (F.33) to the left and the ruined chatrÈ with eight columns (F.34) to the right. The Shrine of Shaikh BahlËl (F.35) can also be seen next to the east gate system of the fort (F.36).

be visible from a distance. This would have been the core of the town, where a main urban square would have probably been located to which the main streets, bazaars and gates would have led. The grand scale of the mosque was essential to balance the view of it against the majestic backdrop of the eastern ramparts of the fort (Plates 3.39, 5.23, 5.27) from which the sultan would progress to attend the Friday prayers. The whole concept of the layout stands as a statement of the ruler’s temporal and spiritual role. To the east of the mosque and almost in the middle of the town a large reservoir was planned, set within a natural basin which would collect the monsoon water, as it still does. The reservoir is less than a tenth of the size of Mor Tålåb in the fields a good distance away to the north-east of the town, but the reservoir within the walls would have been more practical for the everyday use of the townspeople. Within the walls little else seems to have been completed. The move to the new capital at Agra meant the cessation of construction, and this was compounded by the devastating earthquake of 1505, which caused the fort to be virtually abandoned. The remnants of the population seem to have taken temporary refuge in the fields on the plain, their settlement gradually growing to become the present sizeable village of Sikandra. Of Sikandar LodÈ’s vision of a new capital at Bayana only a village alludes to his name.

CHAPTER FOUR

Early Monuments: Twelfth–Fourteenth Centuries

During the first two decades after the conquest, the Muslim builders employed traditional Indian trabeate building methods for their mosques and other buildings. Temples were demolished methodically, their stones collected carefully and reassembled in the new Muslim buildings, but with different concepts and on an entirely different layout. In a temple, the gates and halls barred non-Hindus, outcastes and low castes from entry. Even for those allowed to enter, the dark inner sanctum was reserved for the Brahmins who performed the ritual. A mosque, on the other hand, was a bright airy hall open to all, and required light and air with high ceilings to correspond with the scale of the plan. To build a mosque out of temple material, column shafts, sometimes two or three, were superimposed, surmounted with bracket capitals supporting stone lintels bearing the load of the flat roof slabs. If, in the first few decades of the conquest, the Muslims did not have many skilled dome-builders, they were able to reassemble the corbelled domes of older temples to give their buildings the required familiar appearance. The local – Hindu or Jain – labour force must have been employed, but the design of the buildings and the historical and religious inscriptions reveal the presence of skilled Muslim designers and calligraphers among the first generation of settlers. The buildings are therefore truly Islamic both in concept and design. The betterknown early mosques: the Quwwat al-Islåm1 in Delhi (Plate 4.1) and the Ar· ha’i din kå Jhon∙ pr· a2 in Ajmer (Plate 4.2) share a similar plan, orientated to face the See Chapter 3, n. 28. The traditional name for this main congregational mosque, which, like the Quwwat al-Islåm, was built to demonstrate the power of the conquerors, means ‘the hut built in two and a half days’ referring to its speedy construction. Surveys in A. Cunningham, ‘Report of 1864–65, Ajmer, or Ajaymer’, Four Reports Made in the Years 1862–63–64–65, ASIR, II, 1871, pp. 259–63; pls 73–4; Report of a Tour in the Panjåb and RåjpËthåna in 1883–4, ASIR, XXIII, 1887, pp. 35–7, pl. 10; James Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture (London, 1876), pp. 510–13; Fergusson, J. Burgess (ed.), II (London, rev. edn, 1910), II, pp. 210–11. See also Marshall, ‘The Monuments of Muslim India’, III, p. 581, pl. 5, fig. 9; Brown, Indian Architecture (Islamic Period) (Bombay, [1942] 1981), p. 12, pl. 6, fig. 2. The mosque has been the subject of many scholarly and popular studies throughout the twentieth century and some recent works, but no later systematic survey has been carried out so far.

1 2

164 BAYANA

Plate 4.1  Delhi, the Quwwat al-Islåm mosque, interior of the eastern colonnade of the original mosque, showing the central corbelled dome and colonnade, all made of temple spoil reassembled to form a spacious airy quadrangle where a congregation several hundred strong could perform the prayers together. The mosque was built by Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak in the last decade of the twelfth century, and was later expanded on three sides with an extension completed in 1229 by Ïltutmish. The mosque was further extended by Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ.

direction of Mecca (the qibla) and each consists of a colonnaded prayer hall at the western end of a courtyard, which is also surrounded by a colonnade at the other three sides. For almost a century these two mosques were regarded as practically the only monuments of the first decade of the conquest, 3 but since the 1980s other mosques have gradually come to light, one in Bari Khatu in Rajasthan4 and two in the region of Bayana.5 Studies by Fergusson, Indian and Eastern Architecture (1910), II, pp. 198–214; and Marshall, ‘The monuments of Muslim India’, pp. 575–6, 581, established this trend, which remained unchallenged until the 1980s. The perception was reinforced by Brown in Indian Architecture (Islamic Period), which has been reprinted regularly, see (Bombay, 1981), pp. 9–13. 4 Nagaur, pp. 107–10. Also see Shokoohy and Shokoohy, ‘Indian Subcontinent, 11th–16th Century, (c) West (Gujarat and Nagaur)’, The Grove Dictionary of Art, 1996, XV, pp. 346–51. For a discussion on the entrance chatrÈ of this mosque, see Chapter 6. 5 Discussed here at length, for earlier reports see Chapter 1, n. 3; also see Alfieri, Islamic Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, pp. 23, 25, 44; Michael W. Meister, ‘Indian Islam’s Lotus Throne: 3

FOUR: early monuments

Plate 4.2  Ajmer, Ar.ha’i din kå Jho†pr.a, similar in concept to the Quwwat al-Islåm mosque, a colonnaded structure with a central courtyard. View from the courtyard looking west towards the prayer hall built following the Ghurid conquest in 588/1192–3, again using temple spoil, but with columns formed of three superimposed column shafts, fronted by a purpose-built screen wall added by Ïltutmish in c. 623/1225–6.

The plan of these mosques follows that of early Arab mosques and is referred to as the Arab-type plan.6 While by this time in Iran and Central Asia this type of plan had already been abandoned, older mosques on this layout still existed and some, such as the Jåmiʿ of Isfahan,7 were being converted to a new style (Plate 6.8) based on an indigenous plan type, originating from pre-Islamic palaces and fire Kaman and Khatu Kalan’, in Finbarr Barry Flood (ed.), Piety and Politics in the Early Indian Mosque (Oxford, 2008), pp. 253–9; Finbarr Barry Flood, Objects of Translation, Material Culture and Mediaeval ‘Hindu–Muslim’ Encounter (Princeton, 2009), pp. 144–8, 163–8, 175–9. 6 Some recent writers refer to this type of plan as hypostyle, using the terminology of Western classical architecture (verging on the Eurocentric), rather than the usual architectural vocabulary for Muslim structures. For the Arab-type plan and the Persian type with Èwåns, see André Godard, ‘Les anciennes mosquées de l’Iran’, Åthár-é Irán, I (1936), pp. 187–210, particularly pp. 187, 192; Ernst Diez, ‘The Architecture of the Islamic Period: (B) The Principles and Types’; and Eric Schroeder, ‘(C) Standing Monuments of the First Period’, both in A. U. Pope (ed.), A Survey of Persian Art (London/Tokyo: Oxford University Press, Meiji Shobo, 1977), III, pp. 920–1; 933–4. 7 André Godard, ‘Historique du Masdjid-é Djumʿa de Isfahån’, Åthår-é Ïrån I (1936), pp. 213–82, particularly the Abbasid period, p. 277; Godard, ‘Isfahan’, pp. 20–6; Eugenio Galdieri, Ißfahån: Mas©id-i G˘umʿa, 3 vols (Rome: IsMEO, 1972–84); I, Photographs and Preliminary Report, 1972, for Arab plans: pp. 375–8; II, Il periodo al-i BËyide – The Al-i BËyid Period, 1973, deals entirely with mosques with the Arab-type plan, but see in particular pp. 30–4 and figs 3–15.

165

166 BAYANA temples. In the new style the central ­courtyard was surrounded by vaulted and domed structures with one or more large open-fronted vaulted halls, known as Èwån, facing the courtyard. Spoil from trabeate Indian temples were not suitable for such a style, but in Delhi and Ajmer a non-load-bearing screen wall was added in front of the prayer hall to imitate the form of the grand arch of the central Èwån and the smaller flanking arches c­ orresponding with those of the open vaults facing the courtyard in Persian mosques. The Ghurid Period: the Buildings of Bahāʾ al-dīn Ṭughrul Apart from the Quwwat al-Islåm and Ar· ha’i din kå Jhon∙ pr· a, other monuments and inscriptions of this period8 pointed to numerous other structures having been constructed in the early days of the conquest, some still standing, including the buildings of Bahåʾ al-dÈn Êughrul in the Bayana region, the tomb known as Sul†ån GhårÈ9 built by Ïltutmish for his deceased son in Delhi and others which retain only traces of their origin, such as the Jåmiʿ of Badaon,10 of the time of Ïltutmish but entirely reconstructed at later dates with little of its original plan or structure remaining. The monuments of Bahåʾ al-dÈn Êughrul are from many points of view more informative than those at Delhi and Ajmer – they are better preserved and have retained architectural features, including the private prayer areas for the ruler with their particular arrangements for entry, lost in Ar· ha’i din kå Jhon∙ pr· a and only partially preserved in the Quwwat al-Islåm.11 The mosques of Bahåʾ al-dÈn are also smaller than the other two and lack the arched screen walls; the strict appearance of a building on an Arab-type plan is therefore maintained. Many of these features appear regularly in later Indo-Muslim buildings, and their survival in the mosques of Bahåʾ al-dÈn helps us to trace the origin of such features back to the very beginning of the establishment of Islam in India.

See, for example, the inscription of the mosque of Hansi, which was built during the reign of Mu˙ammad b. Såm, but which has not survived except for a few carved and inscribed pieces of stone, and also the now lost inscription of a small mosque at Palwal built during the reign of Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak and in use until the early twentieth century, but now converted to a temple, in HL, 92, Nos 754–7; and Maulvi Muhammad Shuʿaib, ‘Inscriptions from Palwal’, EIM (1911–12), pp. 2–3, pls 9 and 12, respectively. The mosque of Palwal (Plates 4.31–4.32) is described below. For the remains of the mosque at Hansi, see Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 90–2, pls 20b, 21a–c.  9 Survey by S. A. A. Naqvi, ‘Sul†ån GhårÈ, Delhi’, Ancient India III (1947), pp. 4–10; also see Wetzel, pp. 106–7; Yamamoto, I, p. 71, T.1, pls 73–4; II, pp. 113–16. The tomb is mentioned in many other sources and was restored in 1981–2. 10 A. Cunningham, Report of a Tour in the Gangetic Provinces 1875–76 and 1877–88, ASIR, XI, Calcutta, 1880, pp. 1–11, Ïltutmish’s inscription: p. 5, pl. 3; HL, No. 22, pl. 29; J. F. Blakiston, The Jami Masjid at Badaun and Other Buildings in the United Provinces (Calcutta: Memoirs of the ASI, No. 19, 1926), pp. 1–5, inscription on p. 2. 11 Page, Memoir on the Qu†b, pl. (drawings) 2.  8

FOUR: early monuments

The Chaurasıˉ Khamba Mosque at Kaman The mosque (Plate 2.2), known as the ChaurasÈ Khamba (Eighty-four Columns) is within the area of the ruined walls of the old fort, to the west of the present village of Kaman.12 The mosque measures 36.58 m × 24.24 m and is built around a central courtyard (Figure 4.1), with a single mi˙råb (prayer niche) in the centre of the western wall, a main entrance to the east (Plate 4.3), and another smaller entrance at the western corner of the northern wall (Plate 4.4), which leads to the royal gallery in the form of a small mezzanine in the north-western corner of the colonnade (Figure 4.2, Plate 4.8). The temple spoil used in the construction is finely carved with garlands, rosettes, pot and foliage motifs, as well as figurative designs, but the blocks of mixed red and grey sandstone used for the walls are in general set with their plain sides outwards. As in the Quwwat al-Islåm, the columns are each formed of two superimposed column shafts to give the required height.13 Application of human likenesses is forbidden in the decoration of mosques, and, as with Delhi and Ajmer, in the ChaurasÈ Khamba such images have been defaced wherever they could be seen (Plate 4.5), but left almost untouched if they were out of sight. Again, as in Delhi and Ajmer, a number of column shafts are upside down, particularly those set as the upper register. This might have been intentional wherever the upper shaft fitted better if upside down. A precedent for destroying human images is noted by the Ghaznavid Sultan Ma˙mËd’s court historian, Al-ʿUtbÈ, who tells us that when his patron rebuilt the Jåmiʿ of Ghazna (in 417/1026–7) out of the wealth of his booty from Mathura and KanËj:14

See Chapter 2, n. 41. Also see Flood, Objects of Translation, pp. 144–8, 163–8, 175–9. The mosque is also noted by several authors in Flood, Piety and Politics in the Early Indian Mosque, including F. B. Flood, ‘Introduction’, pp. xxvi–xxvii; André Wink, ‘The idols of Hind’, p. 48; Meister, ‘Indian Islam’s Lotus Throne’, pp. 253–9. 13 The columns of the prayer hall of Ar· ha’i din kå Jhon∙pr· a consist of three superimposed ancient shafts. 14 Reynolds (tr.), The kitåb-i yamÈnÈ, pp. 464–5, quoted here. For the original Persian text, see AbË Sharaf Nåßi˙ b. Ûafar JurfådiqånÈ, Tarjuma-yi tårÈkh-i yamÈnÈ, (Pers.) Jaʿfar Shiʿår (Chear, ed.) (Tehran, 1966), p. 387: 12

‫اجسام اصنام و ابدان أوْ ثان فرو می ریختند و‬ ‫در تزیین و تمویه آن بزخارف زر ناب اختصار نکردند بلکه شفشفه های زر از قُدو ِد بُدود و‬ ِ .‫بر درها و دیوارها می بستند‬

This is JurfådiqånÈ’s free translation of Mu˙ammad b. ʿAbd al-Jabbår al-ʿUtbÈ, Al-tårÈkh al-yamÈnÈ, in the margin of A˙mad b. AlÈ al-ManÈnÈ, Al-fat˙ al-wahabÈ alå tårÈkh AbÈ Naßr al- UtbÈ (Cairo, ah 1286/1869–70; repr. ah 1313/1895–6), II, p. 295: ‫و صح لهم تکلیف ما الیطاق و لیس بصفائح الزریاب فقط لکثه ضبات الذهب االحمر أفرغت عن صور االصنام المجذوذه و البددة المأخوده‬ .‫فطفقت تعرض علی النار بعدان کانت آلهة للکفار و تضرب بالمطارق‬

The Arabic word zaryåb derives apparently from the Persian term zaråb or zarÈ-åb (liquid gold, paint made out of gold), but JurfådiqånÈ interprets it as zar-i nåb (pure gold).

167

168 BAYANA They spared not the purest gold in their painting and gilding, nay they employed lumps of gold; and they crushed the body-like idols and corporeal images, and fastened them into the doors and walls.

Figure 4.1  Kaman, ChaurasÈ Khamba Masjid, ground plan.

Figure 4.2 ChaurasÈ Khamba Masjid, upper level, plan of the north-west corner of the prayer hall showing the minbar and the royal gallery with its own access via the flight of steps outside.

FOUR: early monuments

Plate 4.3  Kaman, ChaurasÈ Khamba Masjid, view of the main entrance gateway flanked by colonnades instead of an eastern wall. The outer arched portal has been reconstructed with a fourcentred arch, characteristic of Mughal architecture, but the inner arch with a more tangential profile may date from an earlier restoration.

The colonnade at Kaman is walled only on the southern and western sides, as well as on the north-west corner of the northern wall which encloses the prayer hall and the upper gallery. The southern wall has three rectangular niches on the interior, while the northern and eastern sides have an unusual design as they share a raised platform 1.76 m high with two rows of columns built on it (Figures 4.1, 4.3, Plates 4.4–4.6). The platforms are high enough for the interior to be out of view from outside and a single column shaft forms each of the columns for these colonnades. Eave stones, many now missing, have been set in the reconstructed upper part of the walls and the face of the parapet around the roof is clad with stone panels carved in relief in the form of battlements, all of relatively later dates. The mosque has twice been restored. In the first restoration, parts of the walls and the parapets were repaired with stone rubble set in mortar, and in the second, the upper parts of the walls and parts of the parapet were reinforced by brick faced with sandstone.15 Both restorations were, however, minor, and except for the main entrance portal (Plate 4.3) do not affect the original appearance of the mosque. As with the exterior, there are eave stones set around the inside of the colonnade, but like those of the exterior of the mosque they are set in rubble and brick and are a later addition. Most of another addition – a parapet formed of rubble and brick and faced with stone carved to represent a row of arch-shaped merlons – is now missing.

15

169

170 BAYANA

Plate 4.4 ChaurasÈ Khamba Masjid, exterior of the western end showing the steps leading to the canopy in front of the entrance to the royal gallery. Part of the colonnaded platform built instead of a north wall for the courtyard can also be seen.

Plate 4.5 ChaurasÈ Khamba Masjid, images in human form on the columns are defaced, as seen on the left, but decorative patterns and even images of animals such as the elephant heads at the base of the columns of the entrance to the royal mezzanine, seen on the right, are retained. These bases were probably capitals of ancient columns.

FOUR: early monuments

Plate 4.6 ChaurasÈ Khamba Masjid, exterior view of the south-east corner showing the colonnaded platform built instead of a wall. Some of the eave stones, set in the reconstructed upper part of the walls, and the parapet around the roof clad with panels in the shape of battlements can also be seen, but these features date from later restorations.

The east entrance projects outwards on the exterior to form a chamber with heavy piers, which seem to be original, but its upper parts and roof have been reconstructed forming two shallow four-centred arches over the threshold leading to the chamber. The four-centred profile of the arches, characteristic of the Mughal period, suggests that they must be of the late sixteenth or seventeenth century. The threshold leads to the chamber, the floor of which is three steps lower than the present ground level.16 On the opposite side of the chamber is the entrance to the mosque, still in its original rectangular form (Plate 4.7). Above the doorway are two reused monolithic slabs carved to form a row of miniature shrines. The stonework around the entrance has been re-dressed and carved with the historical inscription bearing Bahåʾ al-dÈn’s name.17 In the north and south walls of the gateway two flights of steps lead from the eastern colonnade to the roof of the gate. Inside the mosque the prayer hall (Plate 4.8) is three aisles deep and nine bays wide, corresponding with the width of the eastern colonnade, which is only two aisles deep with a further set of shorter columns set above the raised platform The steps themselves are now broken, however, the original floor of the mosque might have been at the same level or even higher than the outside, but it seems that by the time of the Mughals the outside level had risen considerably with the accumulation of older debris and natural earth. 17 See Chapter 2, Plate 2.3; Appendix I, inscription No. 2. 16

171

172 BAYANA

Plate 4.7 ChaurasÈ Khamba Masjid, original rectangular entrance portal preserved under the additional arch of a later date. The flat ceiling of the original gate and part of the damaged inscription of Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul that borders the entrance can also be seen.

flanking the entrance.18 The building is roofed by stone slabs resting on lintels, but the northern gallery has no cross-lintels. In front of the mi˙råb is another small corbelled dome, reassembled, and retaining its original carvings (Plate 4.9). The colonnades at the north and south of the courtyard are each seven bays wide and The distance between the columns varies between 1.95 m and 2.15 m, except in the middle aisle of the prayer hall, which is about 0.2 m narrower than the rest.

18

FOUR: early monuments

173

Plate 4.8 ChaurasÈ Khamba Masjid, view of the prayer hall at the western (qibla) side, also showing the central mi˙råb, the minbar and, to the right, the royal enclosure or shåh-nishÈn in the form of a mezzanine.

Plate 4.9 ChaurasÈ Khamba Masjid, the qibla colonnade, the small corbelled dome carefully reassembled from temple spoil over the unit above the mi˙råb.

174 BAYANA one aisle deep, but at the northern side the columns on the raised platform do not line up with those of the colonnade, as they are set closer together forming a raised portico, thirteen bays wide on the northern façade of the mosque (Plates 4.4, 4.6). The main mi˙råb (Plate 4.10) set in the centre of the qibla wall, is rectangular in plan19 and projects behind the rear wall. The mi˙råb has a slightly ogee twocentred arch within a rectangular frame bearing a damaged inscription that seems to be Qurʾan 48: 1–5, well suited for a mosque of the early days of the conquest.20 The inside of the arch is carved with a border with a pierced scroll motif, now badly damaged, supported by vase-shaped capitals that originally rested on pilasters, now lost. The spandrels of the arch are inscribed with the Muslim Profession of Faith.21 The stones are carved to represent an arch with pilasters and a finely carved pierced fringe, echoing the design of the real arch.22 In form and all details the mi˙råb is comparable to those in the mosques of Iran and Central Asia, and the Islamic decorative patterns and calligraphy reveal that it must have been the work of a skilled Muslim designer. The carved decoration of the mi˙råb was all executed specifically for it, and we shall see that similar designs appear on the mi˙råbs of the Ukhå MandÈr mosque of Bayana. Apart from the historical inscription around the entrance, the embellishment of the mi˙råb is the only major representation of Islamic decorative design in the Kaman mosque. The mi˙råb is the focal point of a prayer hall and, as with all other early sultanate mosques, the Muslim ornamentation here must have meant more to the congregation than a mere decorative display or a mark of piety, and was a political statement of their dominance. For a discussion on the significance of the plan of a mi˙råb, see Nagaur, pp. 109–10. As a general rule, a rectangular plan denotes the influence of Khuråsån and the eastern Islamic lands, while mi˙råbs with semicircular plans are the norm in Arabia, Syria and North Africa. The semicircular plan also occurs occasionally in the early mosques of Khuråsån up to the beginning of the eleventh century, but was abandoned in favour of the Persian plan. 20 These are the opening verses of the chapter (sËra) al-Fat˙ (Victory), which has twenty-nine verses relating to the righteousness of Muslims and their eventual victory over infidels and idolaters: 19

* ‫ص َراطًا ُم ْستَقِي ًما‬ َ َ‫ك َويَ ْه ِدي‬ َ ‫ك َو َما تَأ َ َّخ َر َويُتِ َّم نِ ْع َمتَهُ َعلَ ْي‬ َ ِ‫ك للاَّ ُ َما تَقَ َّد َم ِم ْن َذ ْنب‬ َ َ‫ك فَ ْتحًا ُمبِينًا * لِيَ ْغفِ َر ل‬ َ َ‫بسم هللا الرّحمن الرّحیم * إِنَّا فَتَحْ نَا ل‬ ِ ‫ك‬ َ ْ َ َّ‫للا‬ َّ ُ ْ ُ ْ ْ ُ ً َ ْ َ ُ َ َ ْ‫ر‬ َّ َّ ‫ض َوكانَ ُ َعلِي ًما‬ ‫ت َوال‬ ُ ‫َويَ ْن‬ َ ‫ص َر‬ ِ ‫ب ال ُمؤ ِمنِينَ لِيَزدَادُوا إِي َمانا َم َع إِي َمانِ ِه ْم َو ِلِ ُجنود الس َما َوا‬ ِ ‫َزي ًزا * هُ َو الَّ ِذي أنز َل الس ِكينة فِي قلو‬ ِ ‫ك للاَّ ُ نَصْ رًا ع‬ ِ .‫َظي ًما‬ َ ِ‫ت تَجْ ِري ِم ْن تَحْ تِهَا ْالَ ْنهَا ُر خَالِ ِدينَ فِيهَا َويُ َكفِّ َر َع ْنهُ ْم َسيِّئَاتِ ِه ْم َو َكانَ ٰ َذل‬ ٍ ‫ت َجنَّا‬ ِ ‫ك ِع ْن َد للاَّ ِ فَوْ ًزا ع‬ ِ ‫َح ِكي ًما * لِيُ ْد ِخ َل ْال ُم ْؤ ِمنِينَ َو ْال ُم ْؤ ِمنَا‬ In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Companionate. Surely We have given thee a manifest victory, that God may forgive thee thy former and thy latter sins, and complete His blessing upon thee, and guide thee on a straight path, and that God may help thee with mighty help. It is He who sent down the Shechina into the hearts of the believers, that they might add faith to their faith – to God belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth; God is All-knowing, All-wise – and that He may admit the believers, men and women alike, into gardens underneath which rivers flow, therein to dwell forever, and acquit them of their evil deeds; that is in God’s sight a mighty triumph. (Arberry, II, p. 225) 21 َ The shahåda: ‘there is no god but God, Mu˙ammad is the Messenger of God’ (‫;)ل اِ ٰلهَ اِ َالهلل ُم َح َّمد َرسُول هللا‬ appearing commonly on mosques, minarets, tombs and gravestones. Several examples can be found in Appendix I. 22 One of the four slabs of stone used for the back wall of the mi˙råb has been replaced by later brickwork restoration.

175

FOUR: early monuments

Plate 4.10 ChaurasÈ Khamba Masjid, the mi˙råb. The pierced stone fringe once stood over two engaged columns, now lost, but their bases and capitals remain. The Profession of Faith on the spandrels takes the place of the usual rosettes which are here reduced to two small features below the text.

Apart from a small auxiliary mi˙råb in the mezzanine (Plate 4.13), the ChaurasÈ Khamba has only the single mi˙råb in the centre of the qibla wall. This matter needs some consideration as two of the other early mosques, Ar· ha’i din kå Jho≥pr· a and the ShåhÈ Mosque of Khatu, also have a single mi˙råb each, while other mosques, including the Quwwat al-Islåm and the Ukhå MandÈr mosque at Bayana have multiple mi˙råbs. The insertion of a single mi˙råb in the qibla wall has been a long tradition in Iran and western Khuråsån. Little remains of the large mosques of the twelfth century or earlier in Central Asia and what does survive indicates that in this region, too, prayer halls had a single mi˙råb. However, the lack of firm evidence does not exclude the possibility of the existence of mosques with multiple mi˙råbs in this region.23 In northern India the single mi˙råbs in The Ghaznavid mosque of ÓåjÈ Piyåda in Balkh, Afghanistan, has a single semi-circular mi˙råb, which also projects outside the wall. On either side of the mi˙råb is a niche, square in plan

23

176 BAYANA the three early mosques show direct associations with Persian architecture, but if the multi-mi˙råb concept does not originate from Central Asia its introduction to India in the early days of Ghurid dominance marks the beginning of an intellectual and artistic readiness to explore new designs. Almost all later large sultanate mosques have several mi˙råbs. To the right of the mi˙råb stands a stone pulpit (minbar)24 (Plates 4.11 and 6.6) that has a flight of steps leading up to the speaker’s platform, with a passage ­underneath. The stones are temple spoil, but the way in which they have been set – in three registers with the vertical slabs that fill each register set alternately in recess and relief between four longer horizontal slabs – appears to be an imitation of the wooden minbars common in Iran during this period. The back wall of the platform has an arch-shaped backrest, and over the platform is a carved stone canopy or chatrÈ made out of a carefully reassembled Indian dome with a lotus motif on the underside (Plate 4.12). No balustrade remains. The reused stones of the minbar are so like those of the mosque as to suggest that they were salvaged from the same temples, and therefore suggest that the minbar would be contemporary with the mosque. This minbar is the only known example dating from the early Islamic period in India. No trace of any minbar survives in any of the early sultanate mosques, but since the minbar is one of the liturgical requirements of a mosque, or at least of a congregational mosque, these mosques must have had them. The unique minbar of the ChaurasÈ Khamba therefore gives us some idea of the appearance of the early Indian minbars. Following the arrangement of the wooden minbars of Iran, in India they were executed in wood or stone. In the north-west corner of the prayer hall is a mezzanine (Figures 4.2, 4.3, Plates 4.6, 4.8, 4.11, 4.13) supported on four columns and originally screened from the general gaze by pierced stonework screens known as jålÈ. The stone screens are now lost, but slots in the lintels around the gallery show how they were fixed. The gallery has its own small, plain mi˙råb (Plate 4.13) – decorated only with a rosette in the centre of its back wall – and is entered from the outside by a flight of steps in the western corner and the landing at the top has a flat roof supported by columns and lintels (Plate 4.4). Two of these columns rest on bases made from reused capitals; their carved decoration includes elephants’ heads (Plate 4.5) ­probably reused for their artistic quality as well as their association with indomitable strength. The Muslims do not seem to have objected to animal figures as they are also left intact elsewhere in the mosque. A similar secluded gallery can also be found in the Ukhå MandÈr mosque in Bayana, as well as in later royal or congregational mosques in India, but those in and without a projection, but not enough remains of the mosque to suggest whether or not they functioned as auxiliary mi˙råbs. See Galina A. Pugachenkova, ‘Les monuments peu connues de l’architecture médiévale de l’Afghanistan’, Afghanistan XXI, I (1968), pp. 18–27; Souren A. Melikian-Chirvani, ‘La plus ancienne mosquée de Balkh’, Arts Asiatiques, XX (1969), pp. 3–20. 24 For a further discussion on this minbar and its chatrÈ as well as references to the comparative material, see Chapter 6 and Plates 6.6, 6.32.

177

FOUR: early monuments

Plate 4.11 ChaurasÈ Khamba Masjid, the minbar seen from the south. The carved panels of spoil, decorated with pot and foliage and sinusoidal floral patterns knows as vartulå, are set alternately in recess and relief, forming the sides of the steps. The arrangement of the slabs imitates the early wooden minbars of the Iranian world. Behind the minbar the royal mezzanine can be seen. The two features are aligned so that the ruler could see the speaker from the privacy of the pierced stone panels (jålÈ) which once surrounded the mezzanine.

the region of Bayana are among the earliest specimens of their kind. Such galleries, known in India as mulËk khåna (royal chamber) or shåh-nishÈn (royal seat), were for the exclusive use of the sultan or his local governor during the Friday prayers and other occasions when he attended the mosque. Their appearance in a mosque is an indication of the royal status of the building, and other local mosques regardless of their size did not have such galleries. While the concept of the royal gallery may not fit the egalitarian and puritan ideals of the early Muslims, the feature is known from the time of the early caliphs and the gallery of the Great Mosque of Damascus was described by the tenth-century geographer al-MuqaddasÈ:25 AbË ʿAbd’ullåh Mu˙ammad b. A˙mad al-MuqaddasÈ, A˙san al-taqåsÈm fÈ maʿrifat al-aqålÈm (Ar.), Jan de Goeje (ed.) (Leiden, 1906), pp. 157–9.

25

178 BAYANA

Plate 4.12 ChaurasÈ Khamba Masjid, the dome of the canopy over the speaker’s platform of the minbar. As with the rest of the mosque and the minbar, the dome, in the form of concentric lotus flowers, is of temple spoil carefully reassembled. The design corresponding with the lobed form of a textile parasol must have been regarded as particularly suitable for the canopy of a minbar.

Figure 4.3 ChaurasÈ Khamba Masjid, longitudinal section A–A through the entrance, the colonnaded court and the mi˙råb also showing a colonnaded platform rather than a wall on the northern side.

‫و فی المحراب و حوله فصوص عقیقیة و فیروزجیَّة کاکبر ما یکون من الفصوص و علی المیسرة محراب آخر دون هذا للسلطان و قد کان‬ ُ ‫فسمعت انه انفق علیه خمسمائة دینار حتَّی عاد علی ما کان … و من الخضراء و هی دار السلطان ابواب الی المقصورة مصفَّحة‬ ‫تشعَّث وسطه‬ ‫مطلیَّة‬ Our translation given, for another translation, see AbË ʿAbd’ullåh Mu˙ammad b. A˙mad alMuqaddasÈ, The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions: a Translation of A˙san al-taqåsÈm fÈ maʿrifat al-aqålÈm (completed 375/985–6), Basil Anthony Collins (tr.), rev. Muhammad Hamid al-Tai (Reading, 1994), pp. 145–6.

FOUR: early monuments

Plate 4.13 ChaurasÈ Khamba Masjid, the north end of the prayer hall from the south showing the shåh-nishÈn or royal gallery and its own private mi˙råb. The space between the outer columns of the shåh-nishÈn was originally fitted with pierced stone screens, now lost, providing a private space for the ruler to perform his religious observances.

Within the mi˙råb and surrounding it the stones are incised and set with the largest carnelians and turquoises which could be found, and to the left is another smaller mi˙råb, the middle of which was dilapidated, but I heard that he spent five hundred dinars to restore it to its former condition … (behind the mosque) from the al-Kha∂råʾ,26 which is the sultan’s residence, gold-plated doors open into the maqßËra. Although a KhuråsånÈ example of a royal gallery has not survived, a description of one built by the Ghaznavid Sultan Ma˙mËd in his early eleventh-century Jåmiʿ at Ghazna is given by al-ʿUtbÈ:27 According to Ranking, the palace was built by the Umayyad Muʿåwiyah when he was governor of Syria. It was called al-Khadhråʾ for its green dome and stood at the back of the southern wall of the Great Mosque, see al-MuqaddasÈ, A˙sanu-t-taqåsÈm fÈ Maʿrifati-l-aqålim known as alMuqaddasÈ, G. S. A. Ranking (tr.) (Calcutta, 1897), p. 262. 27 Mu˙ammad b. ʿAbd al-Jabbår al-ʿUtbÈ, Al-tårÈkh al-yamÈnÈ, II, pp. 296–7; and the 603/1206–7 Persian translation by JurfådiqånÈ, Tarjuma-yi tårÈkh-i yamÈnÈ, pp. 387–8. The translated quotation considers both texts, but is based on JurfådiqånÈ:

26

179

180 BAYANA The Sultan commanded a closet to be constructed, for his own use; he commanded also the fabric to be square, with expanding porches and with interlacing curvatures, and the walls of the gates lofty and projecting. They collected white marble to cover the pavement, and on the square border of the mi˙råb28 they delineated golden paintings, shaded with lapis lazuli. So great was the splendour, gilding, decoration and colouring of this mosque that everyone who saw it took the finger of wonder to his mouth, and said, ‘Oh thou who hast beheld the mosque of Damascus … come and witness the mosque of Ghazna … They contrived a passage from the royal palace to the closet of the mosque, that he might be covered from the gaze of eyes and meeting the view of the people, and that the Sultan, at needful times, might, with full quiet and repose, proceed by that passage to accomplish his devotions. The royal galleries in the early Indian mosques have also been recorded in histories. On one occasion Shams-i Siråj29 refers to that of the Jåmiʿ mosque of Hansi, in connection with the early days of the reign of FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq, when he was striving to rectify the affairs of the country and to calm the suspicions of the religious leaders after many years of misgovernment by his predecessor Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq: ‫ بسوي مسجد گام زدند حضرت فیروز شاه ازان جایگاه باز گشته خدمت‬... )‫خدمت شیخ (قطب الدین منوّر هانسوی‬ ‫شیخ در مسجد جمعه رفته حضرت فیروز شاه در بنگاه آمده و مستعد شده براي اداي نماز جمعه باز درون حصار‬ ‫مستثنی در محل ملوک خانه نشسته و خدمت شیخ اهل صفا در مقام‬ ‫شهر هانسي رفته معهذا حضرت فیروز شاه‬ ٰ ‫علیحده بود که آن محل قدیم و مقام عبادت مستقیم از آن بزرگان خدمت شیخ است از ملوک خانه نظرسلطان فیروز‬ .‫لباده شوشتري بخط لعل و سیاه براي خدمت شیخ فرستاد‬ ٔ ‫برحضرت شیخ افتاد حضرت فیروز شاه‬ His Reverence the Shaikh (Qu†b al-dÈn Munawwar HånsawÈ) … progressed towards the mosque. His Majesty FÈrËz Shåh returned from that place (from outside the door of the HånsawÈ’s khånaqåh),30 while the Shaikh went to the ‫سلطان یک خانه از برای متعبَّد خویش ترتیب فرمود و در تربیع بنا و توسیع فناء و تشکیل اعطاف و ارجا ِء آن ابواب تأنّق تقدیم رفت و ازار‬ ‫و فرش آن از سنگ رخام فراهم آوردند و پیرامن هر مربّعی از مربّعات آن خطّی از زر در کشیدند و بالژورد تکحیل کردند و از تلوین و‬ ‫ بیا و مسجد‬... ‫تزیین بجایی رسانیدند که هر کس که می دید انگشت تعجّب در دندان می گرفت و می گفت ای آنکه مسجد دمشق را دیده ای‬ ‫ و از سرای امارت با حظیرۀ مسجد راهی ترتیب دادند که از مطمح ابصار و موقف نُظّار پوشیده بود و سلطان در‬... ‫غزنه مشاهدت کن‬ .‫اوقات حاجات با سکینتی تمام و طمأنینتی کامل از بهر ادا ِء فریضه بدان راه بمسجد رفتی‬

For another translation, see Reynolds (tr.), The kitåb-i yamÈnÈ, pp. 465–6. The mi˙råb is mentioned only in the Arabic text. The Persian text gives ‘the sides of each square pattern of its very many squares’. Here ‘square’ means the border of geometric and perhaps floral patterns. 29 Shams-i Siråj (Pers.), p. 80, our translation given; (tr.), III, p. 287, summarises the passage and omits the mention of the sultan attending the Friday prayers. 30 Ibid. (Pers.), p. 78, FÈrËz Shåh had gone to pay his respects to Qu†b al-dÈn, but the shaikh ‒ ­apparently trying to avoid inviting the sultan in ‒ ‘happened’ to be just outside the door of his khånaqåh when the sultan arrived. The sultan was in a conciliatory mood, but at this stage the shaikh was still uncompromising. For the khånaqåh and a brief history of the HånsawÈ shaikhs, see Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 97–104. 28

FOUR: early monuments

mosque. His majesty arrived at the camp, clothed himself for the Friday prayer and again entered the town walls of Hansi. But his Majesty FÈrËz Shåh sat exclusively in the mulËk khåna and His Reverence the Shaikh of the Followers the Faith was in a different place, specified from olden times as the place for the prayers of the Shaikh’s ancestors.31 From the mulËk khåna Sul†ån FÈrËz observed His Reverence the Shaikh. His Majesty sent the Shaikh a ShËshtarÈ32 robe inscribed in red and black. The mosque mentioned by Shams-i Siråj may be the same as the Ghurid mosque in the fort of Hansi, which has not survived, but must have still been the Jåmiʿ of the town in the mid-fourteenth century. We have noted33 that the foundation inscription of the mosque is still on the site – recording its construction at the time of Mu˙ammad b. Såm – together with some of its other inscriptions and loose structural fragments. The stones are finely carved temple spoil, which include segments of Indian corbelled domes, but there are also a few pieces with Islamic designs, including two engaged columns which might have come from the jambs of the original mi˙råb. From the description of Shams-i Siråj it is clear that as with the royal gallery of the mosque at Kaman, that of Hansi was also a secluded area, but with a view onto the prayer hall. On another occasion, the Emperor JahångÈr34 mentions in his memoirs the royal gallery of the Jåmiʿ of Ahmadabad,35 which he visited during his tour of Gujarat in 1027/1617–18, the twelfth year of his reign: ‫به جانب دست راست منبر متصل به کنج مقصوره شاه نشین جدا کرده و از میان ستونها به تخته سنگ تراشیده اند‬ ‫و دور آن را تا سقف مقصوره پنجره سنگ نشانیده اند غرض آنکه چون پادشاه به نماز جمعه و عید حاضر شود با‬ .‫جمعی از مخصوصان و مقربان خود بران باال رفته ادای صلوة نماید و آن را به اصطالح آن ملک ملوکخانه گویند‬ On the right-hand side of the pulpit attached to the corner of the prayer hall they have made a separate royal gallery (shåh-nishÈn) and they have enclosed the The historian implies that the ancestral position of the HånsawÈ shaikhs was in the prayer hall, but not necessarily in front of the mi˙råb, where the imam would lead the Friday prayer. Although revered by followers of their Sufi sect as well as by other townspeople, the shaikhs would have chosen a corner of the prayer hall as a sign of humility. 32 ShËshtar, in the south-western Iranian province of Khuzestan (khËzistån), is a town known historically for fine textiles, incorporating red and black decoration, often with inscriptions on the borders. The town is near – and takes its name from – Susa (Shusha), the capital of ancient Elam. 33 See n. 8 above. 34 JahångÈr nåma (Pers.), p. 242; (tr.) pp. 424–5. Our translation is given. For the use of the term mulËk-khåna in Gujarat, also see Sikandar b. Mu˙ammad ManjhË b. Akbar, Mirʾåt-i SikandarÈ (Pers.) (Baroda, 1961), p. 38. 35 Both in the old Jåmiʿ of A˙mad Shåh in the citadel and the grand Jåmiʿ that he built later in the town, the mulËk khåna has survived and in both cases the gallery is entered via a flight of steps ascending to a separate entrance on the northern exterior of the prayer hall. See Burgess, The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad, Part I, pp. 17–18, pl. 11; pp. 12–13 (A˙mad Shåh’s old Jåmiʿ); p. 34, pls 32–3 (Grand Jåmiʿ). 31

181

182 BAYANA space between the columns with carved stone panels, and set up pierced stone windows right up to the roof of the prayer hall so that when the king arrives for the Friday and the festive (ʿÈd) prayers he goes up to the gallery together with his intimates and companions to perform their prayers. And in that land (Gujarat) they call it mulËk-khåna. Both mulËk-khåna and shåh-nishÈn are Persian terms, but from the account of JahångÈr it appears that shåh-nishÈn was perhaps a more modern expression brought to India by the Mughals. It is, however, interesting that the Mughal congregational mosques do not have this feature, as, by the sixteenth century, mosque design and the manner in which the emperors attended prayers had undergone considerable changes and these galleries were already old-fashioned. This is perhaps the reason that in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the names and the original function of these galleries were gradually forgotten.36 The separate entrance of the royal gallery also needs some consideration. This was probably of some political significance, and may have been related to the issue of whether the congregation should show more respect and courtesy to the imam or to the sultan. If the sultan could enter or leave the mosque privately at any time – with or without the presence of the imam – the congregation could continue their devotions uninterrupted. At the same time, if the sultan was in his secluded gallery and the imam entered the mosque, as the sultan was out of sight the congregation could acknowledge the imam as the representative of the faith, while the sultan did not need to make any public demonstration of humility to the religious leader. A separate entrance to the royal gallery would serve the purpose of maintaining the delicate balance between the relationships of the secular rulers with the religious authorities, which was not devoid of friction. The location of the royal gallery at the northern side of the prayer hall is also significant, as at the time of the Friday prayer, when everyone is facing Mecca the position of the sultan would be at the right-hand side of the imam. We shall see that the royal gallery of the mosque in Bayana is also located in a similar position and has its own separate entrance. In Ajmer the northern side of the prayer hall of Ar· ha’i din kå Jhon∙ pr· a has not survived, but the earliest part of the Quwwat al-Islåm has a domed mezzanine in the north-west corner with access from the northern exterior (now within Ïltutmish’s extension),37 and in many later mosques such royal galleries can be found. An example is in the Låt kÈ Masjid in Hisar,

Such galleries are now known popularly as zanåna (women’s gallery) and this term sometimes appears in the publications of earlier scholars, but the name has no historical basis nor does it derive from the present use of such galleries. As with the Middle East, in northern India women enter the mosque together with the men, but occupy a separate part of the floor without any physical barrier between the sexes. In southern India women are barred entirely from entering mosques, although this is wholly against Muslim practice elsewhere in the world. 37 Page, An Historical Memoir on the Qutb, pl. (drawings) 2. 36

FOUR: early monuments

designed and built between 1356 and 1358 by FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq.38 The structure is located in the citadel and close to the palaces, and was more likely to be a royal mosque rather than the Jåmiʿ, which would have been expected to be in the town. Nevertheless, the gallery has a separate entrance built as a corridor and flight of steps within the northern wall of the mosque with two ways of entering: one from the northern arcade, avoiding entry to the prayer hall at the time of public prayers, and the other from the prayer hall itself, which could have been used when the sultan visited the mosque privately. In Hisar and elsewhere in mosques which have a shåh-nishÈn, the gallery is again always in the form of a mezzanine at the northern end of the prayer hall. Examples are the Jåmiʿ Masjid of Mandu39 and the ÅdÈna Masjid at Pandua,40 in both of which the galleries have their own separate entrances. That in the ÅdÈna Masjid is still referred to as takht-i shåhÈ (royal platform or royal throne). The ChaurasÈ Khamba is the only extant early sultanate mosque to retain all its original features. Situated in a small border town in the region of Bayana it marked the extent of the territory of Bahåʾ al-dÈn Êughrul, and its elaborate inscription around the entrance was there to declare this fact to all who entered. Although the mosque was built on a fairly modest scale and was not lavishly embellished, its intact colonnade on an Arab-type plan, its elaborately decorated mi˙råb and its unique minbar combine to provide an excellent example of a mosque of the period. The Ukhaˉ Mandıˉr mosque Two other buildings associated with Bahåʾ al-dÈn Êughrul are in the town of Bayana. They are a mosque converted to a temple and known as the Ukhå MandÈr, and a prayer wall (ʿÈdgåh) described below, built on open ground outside the town. The Ukhå MandÈr,41 a large mosque situated to the west of the town, is part of a Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 33–7 and pls VIIIa–c. Yazdani, Mandu the City of Joy, p. 56, pls 6, 10. 40 Survey in A. Cunningham, Report of a Tour in Bihar and Bengal, ASIR, XV, 1882, pp. 90–3, pl. 25; for a discussion on the function of the gallery, see Muhammad Abdul Qadir, ‘The so-called ladies’ gallery in the early mosques of Bangladesh’, Journal of Varendra Research Museum VII (1981–2, 1985), pp. 161–72; also see ʿÅbid ʿAlÈ Khån, Memoirs of Gaur and Pandua (Calcutta, 1931), pp. 127–40, pl. 7; Catherine B. Asher, ‘Inventory of key monuments’, in G. Michell (ed.), The Islamic Heritage of Bengal (Paris, 1984), pp. 109–11; Parween Hasan, ‘Sultanate mosques and continuity in Bengal architecture’, Muqarnas VI (1989), pp. 58–9. Later publications use Cunningham’s survey plan. 41 For previous reports, see Carlleyle, ASIR, VI, 1878, pp. 50–1, pls 4–6; Cunningham, ASIR, XX, p. 71; Marshall, ‘The monuments of Muslim India’, p. 622. Also see Sunil Kumar, ‘Qu†b and modern memory’, in Suvir Kaul (ed.), The Partitions of Memory (New Delhi, 2001), p. 162; Flood, Objects of Translation, pp. 139, 296 n. 9. In his discussion of the mosques of the early conquest period Flood, referring to the present authors’ earlier publication in Muqarnas notes: ‘It has been suggested that the congregational mosque at nearby Bayana (now known as Ukha Mandir) dates from the same period. While it resembles the Kaman mosque in its formal aspects, the flat, twodimensional, geometrized style of the mosque’s stone carving, especially around the mi˙råb, is quite different from those found in Kaman; there are analogies in the style of the carving on the 38 39

183

184 BAYANA

Plate 4.14  Bayana, the mosque of Ukhå MandÈr, present view of the eastern façade. The present colonnade is modern and the original open colonnade has been walled up, changing the appearance of the mosque dramatically.

complex which includes an extension dating from 1320 known as the Ukhå Masjid (Plates 2.5, 3.1, 4.33–4.40), discussed below, as well as an unfinished minaret dated 926/1519–20 and known as the Ukhå Minår (Plates 5.63, 5.64), which will be discussed with other structures of the LodÈ period. The Ukhå MandÈr is a colonnaded building constructed of sandstone incorporating temple spoil, on an Arab-type plan (Plates 4.14, 4.15) originally walled on three sides and left open on the east, where there is a monumental entrance gateway (Figures 4.5–4.7).42 In the north-western corner of the colonnade, as in

screens added to the mosques at Ajmer and Delhi by sultan Ïltutmish (d. 633/1236). Based on these analogies, it seems likely that at least parts of the Bayana mosque should be dated to the 1220s.’ Without entering to any discussion on ‘stylistic’ grounds we may assume that Flood may have been unfamiliar with the detailed history of Bayana, otherwise it is inconceivable to suggest that Bahåʾ al-dÈn Êughrul would have built a mosque in a small town on the outskirts of his territory without constructing a full-blown congregational mosque in his own capital, which he founded. An alteration of the Bayana mosque in the 1220s, less than a generation after the time of Bahåʾ al-dÈn, is also unlikely as such a well-constructed mosque, which stood in good condition a century later when KåfËr built its extension (and still stands firm today), would not have been in need of restoration at the time of Ïltutmish. As for the mi˙råb, its close resemblance to that of Kaman is discussed below. 42 The building is 23.89 m wide × 34.5 m in length on the interior.

FOUR: early monuments

Plate 4.15  The mosque of Ukhå MandÈr, view from the courtyard looking at the prayer hall. The arches and walls between the columns are modern.

the Kaman mosque, is the mulËk-khåna or shåh-nishÈn, again in the form of a mezzanine gallery with its own separate entrance via a staircase in the western end of the northern wall. There seem to have been at least four entrances to the mosque in the northern wall, and windows in the northern and western walls. The northern doorways and most of the windows are now blocked, but there is an entrance to the mosque in the northern wall, which might not have been part of the openings of the original design. There are three mi˙råbs in the main prayer hall of the mosque, and a fourth in the royal gallery. The conversion of the mosque to a temple (Figure 4.4, Plates 4.14–4.16) appears to have taken place more than two centuries ago and has superficially altered the appearance of the building. Parts of the colonnade have been walled up, and the eastern side is no longer open, but has a roofed portico. Platforms have been built under the prayer hall and the north and south colonnades, and between the columns facing into the courtyard a series of lobed arches have been inserted. However, these later additions have not disturbed the original structure, most of which is still visible. The main gateway has kept all its original features (Plate 4.17). It has a corbelled arch of blocks of red sandstone built in the same manner as those of the screen walls in the mosques of Delhi and Ajmer – a form used only in the early years of the sultanate. Under the arch the gateway is divided into two tiers: a roofed passage leading to the entrance doorway; and an upper tier with a window

185

186 BAYANA

Plate 4.16  The mosque of Ukhå MandÈr, view from the prayer hall to the central courtyard showing the original colonnade with later additional arches and platforms partly masking the original structural columns. Nevertheless, the original columns with two old shafts set one on top of the other can still be seen. Most of the column shafts of the prayer hall are circular.

with a pierced stonework screen, in front of which is a balcony corresponding with the level of the roof of the mosque. The flat roof of the passage is supported by two stone lintels standing on corbelled brackets, and a chamber has been built at later dates on the roof of this passage behind the window of the upper tier. The chamber may date from the time of the conversion of the mosque to a temple, perhaps replacing an earlier gallery with a view through the surviving window. Above the rectangular doorway to the mosque the remnants of an

FOUR: early monuments

Figure 4.4  The mosque of Ukhå MandÈr (B.1), plan of the building showing the present condition. The shaded areas show later additions from the time of its conversion to a temple.

almost o ­ bliterated two-line inscription can be seen but not read. It must have been defaced sometime before 1871 when Carlleyle first visited the building, as he makes no mention of it. As in the Quwwat al-Islåm and the ChaurasÈ Khamba, so in the mosque of Ukhå MandÈr each of the columns of the colonnade are formed of two superimposed reused monolithic column shafts (Plates 4.16, 4.21). A number of the column shafts are cylindrical and it seems that this type of column was common for temples in the vicinity as reused cylindrical shafts appear in other early Muslim buildings of Bayana. The roof is made of slabs of stone resting on lintels supported by brackets, with one small corbelled dome, reconstructed from an earlier b ­ uilding, in front of the central mi˙råb. The central mi˙råb (Plate 4.18), rectangular in plan, projects from the back of the qibla wall and is embellished with a large slab of stone carved in the form of a two-centred arch bordered with a pierced scroll motif very similar to that of the mi˙råb of the Kaman mosque. Such pierced stone fringes are seen only in Bayana and Kaman and do not appear in the other early sultanate buildings, including

187

188 BAYANA

Figure 4.5  The mosque of Ukhå MandÈr and the Ukhå Masjid (B.2) on its south side, ground plan showing original condition.

FOUR: early monuments

Figure 4.6  The mosque of Ukhå MandÈr and the Ukhå Masjid, upper level plan showing original condition.

Figure 4.7  The mosque of Ukhå MandÈr, longitudinal section A–A through the entrance, courtyard, and prayer hall.

189

190 BAYANA

Plate 4.17  The mosque of Ukhå MandÈr, entrance portal from outside. The corbelled arch of the portal is a characteristic of the architecture of the first few decades of the conquest. Behind the arch, the ceiling of the gate is flat and on the back of the arch pierced stone screens (jålÈ) are set into the windows, apparently of an original room which has been replaced by a modern chamber. In front of the window is a small balcony supported by corbelled brackets.

those of the time of Ïltutmish.43 Carved engaged columns, now broken, are set below the imposts of the arch and, again, as in the ChaurasÈ Khamba, the back wall has decorative pilasters and a border carved in low relief to echo the pierced scroll motif. The inscription of the central mi˙råb, like that of the entrance, has been defaced, but the fine decorative carving remains. The similarity between the two mi˙råbs indicates that if they were not designed by the same person, they belonged to the same coterie of designers who were employed in the court of Bahåʾ al-dÈn. The two smaller mi˙råbs (Plate 4.19) on either side of the central one are also rectangular in plan, but do not project on the exterior. They are elaborately carved and have roundels in the spandrels and in the field of the arch The original mi˙råb of the Quwwat al-Islåm has not survived. Those of Ar· ha’i din kå Jho≥pr· a and Khatu have lobed arches without fringes, and the buildings datable to the time of Ïltutmish, such as the tomb attributed to him in the Quwwat al-Islåm compound and Sul†ån GhårÈ have lobed fringes, which became popular at later dates and appear in many buildings including the Ukhå Masjid.

43

191

FOUR: early monuments

Plate 4.18  The mosque of Ukhå MandÈr, the central mi˙råb. The pierced scroll motif on the fringe of the arch is closely similar to that of the mi˙råb of the ChaurasÈ Khamba.

of the back wall. The arch of the northern mi˙råb is original and appears to have had a pierced stone fringe, which has been chipped off, but the arch of the southern mi˙råb seems to have been replaced at a later date. There is now no pulpit to be seen and no indication if the minbar, which must have once existed, was constructed of stone or of wood. The royal gallery (Plate 4.20) in the north-east corner of the prayer hall is built on slabs of stone resting on lintels supported on columns and brackets. Column shafts set on the platform support the roof, and the balcony is screened from the mosque by pierced stonework; similar screens were used to let in light from the outside through two windows, now blocked. The original entrance to this gallery was from the outside via a flight of stone steps built into the north wall. This entrance has been blocked, and the gallery is now reached from steps inside the mosque, through a new opening in the screen. This reconstruction again seems to be part of the conversion, but the secluded area for the ruler, with its own mi˙råb, is otherwise in its original state. The roof is accessible via two sets of stairs built into the piers of the entrance gate (Plate 4.21). The access is again closely similar to that for the mosque at Kaman, indicating perhaps that if the two are not the work of the same designer,

192 BAYANA

Plate 4.19  The mosque of Ukhå MandÈr. Left: the mi˙råb to the south of the central mi˙råb. Right: that to the north. The northern mi˙råb seems original while the arched block and the lintel inserted at the springing line of the arch of the southern mi˙råb seem to be a later alteration.

a similar pattern was used. It seems, therefore, that the original entrance of the ChaurasÈ Khamba might also have had a corbelled arch similar to the Ukhå Masjid, later replaced with the present portal. The exact date of the construction of the Ukhå MandÈr mosque is not known: no dated inscription or other source providing a date has survived. Its extension, known as the Ukhå Masjid, is dated 720/1320–1; therefore the original building must be earlier. The corbelled arch of the gateway, a characteristic of the early conquest mosques and similar to those of Delhi and Ajmer, leaves little doubt that the mosque dates from the first two decades of the conquest. On stylistic grounds in particular, the similarity of its mi˙råb with that of Kaman, as well as other design components, again point to the proximity of their dates. All this leaves little doubt that the building must have been founded by Bahåʾ al-dÈn Êughrul, between 1195 and 1210, as the congregational mosque of his new town of Sul†ånkËt. While in general layout and other details the ChaurasÈ Khamba and Ukhå MandÈr mosques are comparable, the Bayana mosque is slightly larger and its northern and southern colonnades are two aisles deep rather than one. It does not have the

193

FOUR: early monuments

Plate 4.20  The mosque of Ukhå MandÈr, the mezzanine or royal gallery (shåh-nishÈn). In this mosque the pierced stone screens, lost in the royal gallery of Kaman, are mostly preserved.

Plate 4.21  The mosque of Ukhå MandÈr, interior view of the eastern colonnade looking south and showing one of the two sets of steps leading to the roof from either side of the entrance gateway.

unusual colonnaded platform seen on the northern side of the ChaurasÈ Khamba, but instead a more conventional wall pierced by a number of doors giving a view into the mosque. The main east elevations of the two mosques, each comprising a large and impressive entrance portal flanked by colonnades, are closely comparable and peculiar to the mosques of Bahåʾ al-dÈn Êughrul. From what remains from the mosques at Ajmer and Delhi it appears that the colonnades of the courtyards were enclosed by conventional walls with entrances in the middle of the eastern, northern and southern walls. There is little doubt that, by departing from the norms, if the architects of Bahåʾ al-dÈn were not making a demonstration of his independence they were at least displaying significant freedom of expression in design within the acceptable conventions.

194 BAYANA The ʿIˉdgaˉh The prayer wall, known as the ʿÏdgåh (literally place for festivals) is about 1 km north-west of the town (Figure 3.1, B.43) and is a free-standing wall about 60 m long built of reused blocks of sandstone laid in courses. It has a central mi˙råb flanked by four smaller niches on either side, with a tower at each end of the wall and a platform in front (Figure 4.8, Plate 4.22). Prayer walls of this kind, suitable for large open-air gatherings, are commonly found in India, on the outskirts of towns and villages, where Muslims gather for prayer during a few particular festive days of the calendar,44 but nowadays are left deserted for the rest of the year. The structures, dating to later than our specimen in Bayana, while sharing many similar features, are simpler and consist of a sizeable wall, often with a reinforcing pier or tower at each end and a mi˙råb in the centre, the rear of the wall being plain, apart from the mi˙råb projecting usually behind the wall. Many of the larger ʿÈdgåhs have subsidiary mi˙råbs at either side of the central one, set at regular intervals, but these mi˙råbs do not usually project. One of the latest examples displaying these features is the ʿÏdgåh of Nagaur (Plate 4.23). As with the example in Bayana, the prayer walls are set facing an open field, away from buildings, tombs and graveyards, and are often ‒ but not always ‒ without a fence or wall to distinguish the limits of the prayer ground associated with the qibla wall. The size of the gathering is not, therefore, usually constrained by a specifically marked space. Each town or village traditionally has only one ʿÈdgåh, and if in the past a town expanded, and the building of a new prayer wall away from the built-up area was deemed necessary, the older ʿÈdgåh would usually be demolished. The role of the ʿÈdgåh in the life of the people apparently went well beyond a simple congregation place for prayer, as on those festive days the gathering had an atmosphere of celebration, joy and fun.45 Such a scene in pre-Partition India, with the whole town turning out, and hawkers selling sweets and knick-knacks on the way, is depicted by the Urdu writer Prem Chand in his short story ‘ʿÏdgåh’.46 However, in modern times in many of the larger cities of India the tradition of gathering for Muslim festivals is declining, and with the sudden expansion of towns and villages some ʿÈdgåhs have been demolished altogether to make way for new buildings, a fate now endangering that in Bayana.

The two main festivals celebrated in public by all the townspeople are ʿÈd al-a∂˙å or ʿÈd-i qurbån at the end of the Óajj on 10 Dhiʾl-Óajja, with sacrifices, and ʿÈd-al-fi†r on 1 Íafar following the fast of Rama∂ån. 45 In addition to the formal ʿÈdgåh of a town, from the fifteenth century on a trend for building prayer walls for tombs or shrines developed in northern and western India. These walls are usually small and mark the direction of the qibla for those who gather to pay their respects at the tomb. Such walls are not called ʿÈdgåh and should not be confused with the features under discussion. 46 Munshi Prem Chand, Majmoa Munshi Prem Chand: Afsanay (Lahore, 2002), pp. 748–76. For a translation by Madan Gupta under the title ‘A Toy for Hamid’, see Madan Gopal (tr.), The Best of Prem Chand (Delhi, 1977), II, pp. 547–72. 44

FOUR: early monuments

Figure 4.8  Bayana, the Ïdgåh, plan of the prayer ground and east elevation of the prayer wall. The low walls enclosing the site are later additions.

The term ʿÈdgåh is fairly recent; in spite of the old origin of the prayer walls in India, the term appears only from about the sixteenth century. The older and more appropriate name appearing on the inscriptions of earlier examples in India is namåzgåh.47 This term is a Persian translation of the Arabic mußallå48 (place for prayer), and seems to have been imported from Iran and Central Asia to India with the Ghurid conquest. The tradition of establishing mußallås is still strong in the Arab world, and many modern mußallås or those only a few hundred years old are still in use, though none is quite similar to an Indian ʿÈdgåh. For example, Moroccan mußallås are large enclosures with mi˙råbs in the qibla wall.49 In Iran, however, the tradition has long been abandoned and the sites are mostly deserted, The word was used widely in pre-Mughal India and appears on some inscriptions, for example, that of the ʿÈdgåh of Jalor, built in 718/1318, described below. For its inscription, see EIM (1935–6), p. 49; EIAPS (1972), pp. 12–19. 48 The Arabic term is used by Ibn Ba††Ë†a when referring to the prayer ground of Delhi. See below, n. 94. 49 See Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edn (EI2), under ‘Mußallå’. 47

195

196 BAYANA

Plate 4.22  Bayana, the historic namåzgåh or Èdgåh, general view of the prayer wall from the north-east, with the ruins of the secondary enclosure wall in the foreground.

Plate 4.23  Nagaur, the present Èdgåh of recent origin, built outside the town walls, but away from the site of the older Èdgåh which is now in ruins. The present Èdgåh conforms to tradition, having all the conventional features, including the central mi˙råb, with a minbar to its north as well as subsidiary mi˙råbs, and slim turrets at each end rather than more substantial towers. Following an old Indian tradition the stone minbar is surmounted by a domed canopy known in India as a chatrÈ.

FOUR: early monuments

turned into graveyards or built over with other religious institutions. In many cases only the name has been preserved as that of a locality or neighbourhood. However, the scanty archaeological remains, combined with a wealth of literary evidence, help establish the origin of the concept and the development of the form. As with the Indian ʿÈdgåhs, their roots and development have lacked scholarly study,50 so an examination of the appearance of such structures from the earliest days of the expansion of Islam to their subsequent development outside India would inform our understanding of the date and the features of the ʿÏdgåh of Bayana and its role in the progression of the form in later Indian examples. The Persian namaˉzgaˉh or musallaˉ ˙ In Iran both terms have been used: namåzgåh more commonly in earlier times and mußallå51 in later periods. The custom of using such open grounds goes back to the early days of the Arab conquest. According to the TårÈkh-i Bukhårå52 one of the earliest prayer grounds was built in Bukhara, by Qutaiba b. Muslim, the Arab governor of the town, soon after the conquest of the region in 86/705. ‫چون قتیبه بن مسلم مسجد جامع بنا کرد اندرون حصار بود از اندرون شهر و آن حوالی را ریگستان می خوانند آن‬ ‫موضع را نمازگاه عید کرد و مسلمانان را بیرون آورد تا نماز عید کردند و مردمان را فرمود تا سالح با خود بیرون‬ ‫آوردند به سبب آنکه اسالم هنوز نو بود و مسلمانان از کافران ایمن نبودند و امروز سنت مانده است تا هر که اهل‬ ‫سالح باشند با خویشتن بیرون آرند و آن دروازه را دروازۀ سرای معبد خوانند و این معبد الخیل امیر بخارا بوده‬ ‫است و بدین نمازگاه سالهای بسیار نماز عید گذارده اند نمی گنجیده اند امیر سدید منصور بن نوح نصر بر راه سمتین‬ ‫حایطها و باغهای با نزهت بخرید به قیمت بسیار و مال بسیار در آن خرج کرده آنرا نمازگاه عید ساخت و منبر و‬ ‫محراب نیکو فرمود و میلها فرمود ساختند تا مکبران بر آن میلها تکبیر گویند تا مردمان بشنوند و از موضع نمازگاه‬ ‫تا به حصار بخارا مقدار نیم فرسنگ بودی همه پر مردم بودی و سالهای بسیار نماز عید آنجا کردند و این تاریخ سال‬ ‫سیصد و شست بود آن نمازگاه تا به روزگار ارسالن خان بود ارسالن خان فرمود تا نمازگاه به نزدیک شهر کردند‬ .‫تا مردمان را رنج نباشد‬ When Qutayba b. Muslim built a jåmiʿ mosque [in Bukhara] it was inside the fortification walls. In the town53 in an area that is called the sandy ground The only earlier study on the field is by Shokoohy and Shokoohy, ‘The Indian ʿÈdgåh and its Persian prototype the namåzgåh or mußallå’, pp. 105–19, figs 1–15. The content of the article has been incorporated and expanded here. 51 In Persian mußallå is spelled sometimes in its Arabic form ending with the letter ya (‫ )مصلّ ٰی‬or ّ in a Persianised form ending with å (‫)مصل‬. For a bibliography, see Dehkhoda, Loghat-náma (also available online at: https://www.parsi.wiki), under both spellings of mußallå. 52 AbË-Bakr Mu˙ammad b. Jaʿfar al-NirshakhÈ, TårÈkh-i Bukhårå (Pers.) (Tehran, hs 1351/1972), pp. 71–2; Schefer (ed.), Description topographique et historique de Boukhara par Mohammed Nerchakhy, pp. 50–1. The TårÈkh-i Bukhårå records the time of Qutaiba to be during the caliphate of Muʿåwiyya, but Qutaiba was a commander under Óajjåj at the time of WalÈd b. ʿAbd al-Malak. 53 The text reads ‘within the town’ (andarËn-i shahr) which, if correct, may mean that the very early namåzgåhs might not necessarily have been built outside the towns. The text could also be interpreted as referring to the part of the town that was outside the walls, as according to the 50

197

198 BAYANA (rÈgistån) he designated a tract as the namåzgåh, and brought out the Muslims to perform their prayer for the festival (ʿÈd). He ordered that the people bring their arms with them, as Islam was still new and Muslims were not safe from the infidels. The tradition has still remained that all those who bear arms (i.e., soldiers) bring them with them. The [nearby] gate54 is called the Gate to the Temple-ground and that used to be the temple of the cavalry (al-khail) of the Emir of Bukhara.55 For many years the ʿÈd prayer was performed in this namåzgåh, until the assembly could no longer be contained on the site. The mighty Emir ManßËr b. NËh b. Naßr bought at a high price some enclosures and lush gardens on the route to SamatÈn.56 He spent more riches there and made it into the namåzgåh for the festivals, and built there a fine minbar and mi˙råb and ordered towers (mÈlhå) to be constructed for the muʾadhdhin to call from those towers so that all the people could hear them. From the site of that prayer ground to the town walls of Bukhara there was the distance of half a league (farsang),57 all settled with people. For many years people performed their ʿÈd prayers there and this [was founded] in the year three hundred and sixty (ad 970–1). This namåzgåh lasted until the days of Arsalån Khån. He ordered a prayer ground to be established nearer to the town so people would not suffer [inconvenience]. From this text it is not clear whether or not there were significant structures or even an actual wall on the site of the first prayer ground. There is only a hint same source Bukhara was at the time of the composition of the book a large metropolis, with a fort (˙ißår) and a town (shåristån) and also other built-up areas on the outskirts. Furthermore, elsewhere in the TårÈkh-i Bukhårå (Schefer (ed.), pp. 33–4; TårÈkh-i Bukhårå, Razawi (ed.), pp. 48–9) it is recorded that the old town of Bukhara did not have a fortification wall. A wall was constructed only in 235/839–40, and reconstructed many times at later dates. It is therefore possible that the position of the old namåzgåh is given according to the layout of the town at the time of the author, when the town had greatly expanded and the site of the old namåzgåh was by then within the town walls. However, there is a third possibility. At this point the text does not read fluently indicating that some words may be missing. The original text might have read: andar bÈrËn-i shahr, ‘outside the town’ or even: andar bÈrËn-i darwåza-yi shahr, ‘outside the gate of the town’ as stated in the same passage further below. It should also be noted that the author mentions that ‘Qutayaba … brought out the Muslims to perform their ʿÈd prayer’ (musalmånån bÈrËn åward tå namåz-iʿÈd kunand), which could be understood as him bringing them out of the town. 54 The gate was apparently near the prayer ground and while their association with each other is not emphasised it is conventional for places outside the town wall to be referred to by the closest gate. 55 A revealing point: Qutayba seems to have chosen the location of the first namåzgåh strategically, to be on the site of the temple of the (presumably Zoroastrian) soldiers of the defeated ruler of Bukhara, and also ordered his people to attend for prayer fully armed. 56 Or Samatain, or according to another copy SÈmtan, a location outside Bukhara, south-west of the old town. 57 Farsang or parsang is an ancient Persian measure of distance equal to 4,443 gaz (a measure over 1 m). In modern days it is taken to be about 6 km (3.7 miles). The namåzgåh was therefore well out of the town, but still with built-up areas all the way to it.

FOUR: early monuments

that the prayer ground might have been on the site of a pre-Islamic temple and it is also stated that the ground had a limited capacity. The namåzgåh of the Samanid ManßËr b. NËh (c. 350–65/962–75), however, had a structure with a mi˙råb and towers or turrets for the Callers to Prayer. The third namåzgåh is again not described except that it was built by Arsalån Khån (c. 496–525/1102–31), the autonomous governor of Bukhara under the Seljuq Sultan Sanjar. The prayer ground was apparently in use when the TårÈkh-i Bukhårå was written and the author did not feel a description was necessary. The TårÈkh-i Bukhårå also records two of the main characteristics of a namåzgåh, which distinguish it from a mosque. The first is that the faithful could enter the ground and perform their prayers whilst armed; the second that the prayer ground was outside the town walls, sometimes at a considerable distance. These attributes of a namåzgåh made it particularly suitable for the gathering of the Muslim army, and appear to have been significant in introducing the namåzgåh to India in the very early days of the Ghurid conquest ‒ a concept perhaps not much different from that of Qutayba and probably other early Arab commanders in setting up such prayer grounds in the newly conquered Iranian lands. Prayer grounds were not confined to the Persian world. The Muslim records show that by the tenth and eleventh centuries prayer grounds also existed in many parts of the Arab world. One such on the plain of ʿArafa near Mecca, in the heartland of the Muslim world, was described in the tenth century by al-MuqaddasÈ:58 ‫والمصلّی علی حافة وادی ُع َرنة علی تخوم عرفة و ال یجوز الوقوف بالوادی و من خرج الیه قبل غیبوبة الشمس و‬ ‫جب علیه دم و علی ح ّد عرفة اعالم بیض و فی المصلّی منبر من اآلج ّر و خلفه حوض کبیر‬ The mußallå is on the edge of the valley of ʿUrana within the vicinity of ʿArafa.59 Staying in the valley itself is not permitted, and anyone who might venture there before sunset is obliged to compensate by a blood sacrifice. On the boundary of ʿArafa stand white (marking) pillars. In the mußallå there is a pulpit of baked brick and behind it is a large reservoir. He also mentions a mußallå at Cairo60 for the gatherings during the two festivals: ‫القاهرة مدینة بناها َجوْ هَر الفاطم ّْی ل َّما فتح مصر و قهر من فیها کبیرة حسنة بها جامع به ّی و قصر السلطان وسطها‬ .‫ و مصلّی العید من ورائها و المقابر بین المصر و الجبل‬... ‫محصَّنة بابواب مح َّددة‬

al-MuqaddasÈ, A˙san al-taqåsÈm fÈ maʿrifat al-aqålÈm (Ar.), p. 77. Our translation, for another translation, see al-MuqaddasÈ, The Best Divisions for Knowledge, Collins (tr.), p. 76. 59 ʿArafa, at the foot of Jabal al-Ra˙mah (the Mount of Mercy), near Mecca, is an important site in Islam. It was, according to al-MuqaddasÈ, a fertile village at that time with fields of wheat, green vegetables and melons. Many of Mecca’s residents also had houses in the village. 60 al-MuqaddasÈ, A˙san al-taqåsÈm fÈ maʿrifat al-aqålÈm (Ar.), p. 200; our translation. For another translation, see al-MuqaddasÈ, The Best Divisions for Knowledge, Collins (tr.), p. 184. 58

199

200 BAYANA Cairo (al-qåhira) is a town built by the Fatimid Jauhar, after he took over Egypt and subjugated whoever lived there. (The city) is large and well-built, and inside it is an excellent Jåmiʿ. The sultan’s palace stands in the centre, fortified and with ironclad gates … The mußallå for the festivals (al-ʿaid) is outside (the city) and the graveyard is between the city and the hills. A tenth–eleventh-century example in the northern Iranian town of Åmul has been recorded by the Ghaznavid court historian BayhaqÈ as accommodating a gathering of over half a million people.61 ‫االولی و افزون از پانصد و ششصد هزار مرد بیرون آمده‬ ‫امیر بشتاب براند و بآمل رسید روز آدینه ششم جمادی‬ ٰ ‫بودند و مردمان پاکیره روی و نیکوتر… و امیر رضي هللا عنه از نمازگاه شهر راه بتافت با فوجی از غالمان‬ .‫خواص و بکرانۀ شهر بگذشت و بر دیگر جانب شهر مقدار نیم فرسنگی خیمه زده بودند فرود آمد‬ The Emir (MasʿËd) rode hastily and arrived in Åmul. It was Friday the sixth of Jumådå I (19 March 1035), and over five or six hundred thousand men had come out of the town. They were all very clean and well groomed … The Emir, God be pleased with him, left their prayer field (namåzgåh), and together with a troop of his slaves skirted the town, and camped at the other side of the town half a league away. From such records it is clear that from the early days of Islam at least major cities had prayer grounds outside the town walls, and their initial function was to provide a gathering place for festival days. Although before the sixteenth century in India they were never referred to as ʿÈdgåh, this fairly recent Indian term seems relevant. The descriptions in the historical records, occasionally mentioning the presence of structures and minbars on the sites, are, however, not detailed enough to give a true impression of their actual form and no examples datable to earlier than the eleventh century have survived. Perhaps the most renowned among such sites is the mußallå of Shiraz, immortalised by the poet ÓåfiΩ (c. 726–91/1325–89),62 who describes it in his lyric poems (ghazal) as a breezy verdant place, favoured by nonconformists of the time such as himself63 for excursions involving eating, drinking and relaxation. At the time of ÓåfiΩ the site was still outside the town, and probably still in use. It is also Abuʾl-fa∂l Mu˙ammad b. Óusain Kåtib BaihaqÈ, TårÈkh-i MasʿËdÈ known as TårÈkh-i BaihaqÈ (Pers.) Saʿid Nafisi (ed.) (Tehran, [1940] repr. c. 1970s), I, p. 554. 62 A date for the death of ÓåfiΩ, offered by the preface of his collected works (dÈwån), is 791, but according to the TårÈkh-i ˙abÈb al-siyar it is 792. See Khwand MÈr, TårÈkh-i ÓabÈb al-siyar, III, p. 316. For a brief introduction to ÓåfiΩ’s life and poetry, see Arthur J. Arberry, Fifty Poems of ÓåfiΩ (Cambridge, 1947), pp. 1–34, especially p. 8, mentioning his tomb at the mußallå of Shiraz. 63 ÓåfiΩ refers to the mußallå at least four times. Three examples translated by Arberry, Fifty Poems of ÓåfiΩ, pp. 85, 96, 110, read: ‘A stream so clear as Rocnabad, / A bower so sweet as Mosellay’; ‘The murmuring stream of Ruknabad, the breeze / That blows from out Mosalla’s fair pleasaunce’; ‘Flowers from Jafarabad, / Made of flowers; / Thou for half-way house hast had / Musella’s bowers’. 61

FOUR: early monuments

believed that he was buried in that vicinity, and his tomb, now well within the built-up area of the city, is a place of pilgrimage for Persians. ÓåfiΩ’s predecessor, SaʿdÈ, in a moral tale in the Gulistån describes how the mußallå of Shiraz was used for recreation:64 ّ ‫بمصلی‬ ‫چنانکه یکی را از ملوک پارس نگینی گرانمایه بر انگشتری بود باری بحکم تفرّج با تنی چند از خاصّان‬ ‫شیراز برون رفت فرمود تا انگشتری را بر گنبد عضد نصب کردند تا هر که تیر از حلقۀ انگشتری بگذراند خاتم او‬ ‫را باشد اتفاقا چهارصد حکم انداز که در خدمت او بودند جمله خطا کردند مگر کودکی بر بام رباطی که ببازیچه‬ ‫تیر از هر طرفی می انداخت باد صبا تیر او را بحلقۀ انگشتری در بگذرانید و خلعت و نعمت یافت و خاتم بوی‬ .‫ارزانی داشتند پسر تیر و کمان را بسوخت گفتند چرا کردی گفت تا رونق نخستین بر جای ماند‬ Thus it was that one of the kings of Persia ‒ may God Most High watch over him! ‒ had a costly stone in a ring. Once, by way of recreation, he went out with some of his principal officers into the public prayer ground (mußallå) of ShÈråz: he commanded (it), and so they put up the ring on the cupola of ʿAzud’s mausoleum,65 with the view that whoever should put an arrow through the circle of the ring, the ring should be his. It so happened that there were four hundred skilful archers in attendance on the monarch; they discharged their arrows, (and) all missed. But a boy who, on the roof of a caravansary, was shooting arrows in all directions ‒ a favouring breeze carried his arrow through the circle of the ring. He obtained a robe of honour and money, and they gave him the ring. They related that the boy burnt his bow and arrows. People said to him, ‘Why hast thou acted thus?’ He replied, ‘In order that my first glory may remain intact.’ From this quotation it is clear that even a century before ÓåfiΩ the site of the mußallå had already developed into a place for recreation. There were also some For the Persian text, see Shaikh Mußli˙ al-dÈn SaʿdÈ, Kulliyåt-i SaʿdÈ, Muhammad ʿAli Furughi (ed.) (Tehran, hs 1363/1974), p. 119. Translation here is given from Shaikh Mußli˙uʾd-dÈn SaʿdÈ of ShÈråz, The Gulistan or Rose Garden, John T. Platts (tr.) (London, 1873), pp. 181–2. Platts used a text with a number of additional words not found in the authoritative modern editions. For another translation, see Shaikh Mußli˙uʾd-dÈn SaʿdÈ of ShÈråz, The Gulistån or Rose-Garden, Edward B. Eastwick (tr.) (Hertford, 1852), pp. 192–3. 65 Platts translates gunbad-i ʿA∂ud as ‘the cupola of ʿAzud’s mausoleum’, but it may mean simply ʿA∂ud’s dome. It is possible that the dome was the dome of the mußallå. SaʿdÈ does not tell us who this ʿA∂ud was, as presumably every townsman of the time knew the dome. The most likely personage would be the Buyid Emir ʿA∂ud al-daula Fanåh Khusrau (r. 338–72/949–82), the emir of Fårs who ruled as far as present-day Iraq. If the dome were part of the mußallå, this would indicate that domes were a feature of prayer grounds in Iran as early as the Buyid period. As for the mausoleum, Khwand MÈr (TårÈkh-i ÓabÈb al-siyar, II, p. 427) records that the emir was buried near the shrine of ʿAlÈ b. AbÈ Êålib in Najaf and notes the location of the tomb and its inscription. SaʿdÈ’s ʿA∂ud could not be the other known personage of Fårs, the learned ʿA∂ud al-dÈn AijÈ (or ÏjÈ) whose name was Maulånå ʿAbdʾul-Ra˙mån b. A˙mad, as he was a contemporary of ÓåfiΩ, and is praised in one of his odes beginning with bi ʿahd-i sal†anat-i Shåh Shaikh AbË Is˙åq (‘at the time of the reign of Shåh Shaikh AbË Is˙åq …’). If, as Platts implies, SaʿdÈ is indeed referring to the tomb of the Buyid ʿA∂ud, the question of his burial place may require further investigation.

64

201

202 BAYANA

Figure 4.9  Yazd, Iran, the Masjid-i Mußallå-yi AtÈq, known locally as Masjid-i Gaudål-i Mußallå (the mosque of the pit of the mußallå). Above: plan of lower courtyard; below: upper courtyard, each surrounded by chambers for scholars and with a chapel for prayer in the qibla wall. After Godard.

structures nearby, including a domed tomb and a caravanserai, but SaʿdÈ says little about the mußallå itself or whether or not it was still in use for the ʿÈd prayers. In other towns in Iran, where the sites have been reconstructed later, it is difficult to judge to what extent ‒ if at all – the older layout of the namåzgåh or mußallå has been incorporated in later structures. A well-known example is the old mußallå (mußallå-yi ʿatÈq) of Yazd. Again, the site is now in a built-up area, and it is occupied by a religious institution known as the Masjid-i Mußallå, which in spite of its name was built as a madrasa (theological college). However, it is known that the site was, as would be expected, outside the old town,66 and in its vicinity there were also a madrasa67 and a mosque,68 built originally in 725/1324–5, but destroyed in a flood in 860/1455–6. The madrasa recorded in the Jaʿfar b. Mu˙ammad JaʿfarÈ, TårÈkh-i Yazd (Tehran, 1960), pp. 65, 133. Ibid., p. 150. 68 A˙mad b. Óusain b. ʿAlÈ Kåtib, TårÈkh-i jadÈd-i Yazd (Tehran, 1966), pp. 117–18.

66

67

FOUR: early monuments

TårÈkh-i Yazd may be the same as the present Masjid-i Mußallå.69 The present building (Figure 4.9) consists of two courtyards: one in what is known locally as a ‘pit’ (gaudål) within the larger one. The layout is unusual, but the courtyard below the ground has the plan of a conventional madrasa with chambers for resident scholars on three sides and a prayer room on the qibla side. The courtyard above is a trapezoid site with chambers on two sides, including the qibla, with corresponding niches in the walls of the other sides. In the middle of the qibla side, a small prayer hall takes the place of a few chambers. The presence of such rooms for prayer is traditional in all madrasas, but in this case might account for the building now being referred to as a mosque. The upper courtyard is of considerable size, measuring about 100 m long and 81 m wide at the qibla side. It might indeed represent the site of an old mußallå, but it is difficult to say how much the original outline of the site would have been preserved, or the form of the original mußallå might have been echoed in the present structure, or at least in that of its qibla side. We shall return to this question later. There are, however, two even earlier structures datable prior to the Muslim conquest of India: the Lisån al-ar∂70 (lit. the voice of the earth) near the later Masjid-i Mußallå of Isfahan; and a prayer ground with the remains of an arcade uncovered at the camp (lashkargåh) of the Ghaznavid Sultan Ma˙mËd and his son MasʿËd in LashkarÈ Båzår71 near Bust in Afghanistan. Both are now in ruins. Nevertheless, an evaluation of these sites throws some light on the form of the early Persian namåzgåhs, and also provides an insight into the evolution of the form of the Indian ʿÈdgåhs. The Lisån al-ar∂ may go back to the early days of Islamic Iran. The mud ­brickwork – the oldest parts of the structure – retains fragments of carved stucco, which may be as early as the mid-tenth century. The structure is on the southeastern outskirts of Isfahan, and consisted of an enclosure of about 100 m square with a covered arcade two aisles deep at the qibla side and a mi˙råb in the form of an open-fronted, vaulted Èwån in the centre of the arcade72 (Figure 4.10). The site is one of the oldest ‒ if not the oldest ‒ surviving prayer grounds known so far. The vast area surrounding the Lisån al-ar∂ was later occupied by a burial ground with some graves dating to the Safavid period, but a survey of 1963 by the Iranian National Cartographic Centre73 indicates that the boundaries of the old site were still preserved intact and there were apparently no graves within the boundary André Godard, ‘Les monuments du feu’, Åthår-é Ïrån III, I (1938), pp. 73–80, figs 45–6, and the note at the end of part ii of the volume; Iraj Afshår, Yådigårhå-yi Yazd (Tehran, hs 1354/1975), II, pp. 286–8. The present building, however, dates from the Safavid period. 70 Eugenio Galdieri, ‘A hitherto unreported architectural complex at Ißfahan: the so-called “lesån al-ʿarz”, Preliminary Report’, East and West XXIII (1973), pp. 249–64. 71 Daniel Schlumberger, Lashkari Bazar (Paris, 1978), IA, pp. 67–9, pls 23, 93–6. 72 The prayer ground itself seems to have been walled at one stage of its life, but not enough remains to establish the number or position of the entrances. 73 Galdieri, ‘A hitherto unreported architectural complex at Ißfahan’, p. 251, fig. 2. 69

203

204 BAYANA

Figure 4.10  Isfahan, Iran, Lisån al-ar∂, plan of the namåzgåh, based on Galdieri’s 1973 survey.

of the namåzgåh.74 By the time the site was studied by Eugenio Galdieri in 1972–3 a large part of the north-eastern portion of the site had been built over. Nevertheless, what was found seems adequate to suggest the original layout of the plan in its earliest phases (Figure 4.11). As far as the date of the site is concerned, the construction method of the arcade ‒ mud-brick covered with stucco ‒ gives some indication, as it incorporates decoration, which, as Galdieri notes, is comparable with that of Såmarra and also of the sanctuary of NiΩåm al-Mulk in the Jåmiʿ of Isfahan.75 On the basis of the mud-brick work and particularly the stucco work,76 Galdieri justifiably suggests a mid-tenth-century date for the colonnade. Some tombs have been found in the chambers, which are later additions to the colonnade. The survey also shows that the area was already being developed as a residential zone. 75 Galdieri, ‘A hitherto unreported architectural complex at Ißfahan’, p. 255. 76 See particularly ibid., figs. 11–13. The design of the patterns and execution of the stucco seems to be closer to ninth-century motifs and a date earlier than mid-tenth century for the arcade cannot

74

FOUR: early monuments

Figure 4.11 Lisån al-ar∂, reconstruction drawings of qibla arcade in (A) tenth and (B) eleventh– twelfth centuries.

The additional Èwån was also found to have been covered with stucco, and seems to date not later than the Seljuq period, when the walls of the colonnade were covered by fired brick.77 The Lisån al-ar∂ appears to have been the early namåzgåh of Isfahan, apparently used until the Seljuq period. With the massive expansion of the town and the growth of its population in this period, the site was no longer adequate to hold the congregation and another mußallå, almost four times larger than the older one, was established about 1 km to the west of the Lisån al-ar∂. This site, still known as the Masjid-i Mußallå, includes a free-standing Èwån in place of the mi˙råb in the middle of the qibla wall, dating probably from the Timurid or be ruled out. Ibid., figs 28–9 show the fragments of the plasterwork of the added Èwån; one bearing an inscription in Kufic script seems distinctly later in style. 77 The rest of the structures on the site – mostly tomb chambers – are datable to the Safavid period onward, when the site was a burial ground.

205

206 BAYANA Safavid period, and a few other structures including a circular domed reservoir and a khånaqåh of later date built on the site of the prayer ground.78 Unlike the Lisån al-ar∂, where parts of the walls and some of the piers are still standing, the structure at Bust is in ruins and only the foundations have been revealed in excavations,79 but the date of the complex can be determined more closely. The site is located a few miles south of the fortified town of Bust and was chosen by the Ghaznavid Sultan Ma˙mËd (r. 998–1030) as his lashkargåh (army camp). The site, now deserted, is still known as Lashkargåh or LashkarÈ Båzår. Some of the buildings were constructed by Ma˙mËd and many more were added by his son and successor MasʿËd (r. 1030–40).80 At this time the area between the town and the Lashkargåh was filled with the mansions and gardens of the nobility. The sultan, while maintaining his palace in the citadel at Bust,81 also built a palace and several gardens in the Lashkargåh, where he spent many months of the year. The prayer hall with which we are concerned here, located on open ground to the south of the larger palace,82 is again in the form of a modular arcade two aisles deep (Figure 4.12). In the middle of the prayer hall, the rhythm of the arcade is interrupted by a larger unit occupying the space of two modules. This unit, square in plan, may originally have been domed or vaulted in the form of an Èwån, and on the qibla side there is a simple mi˙råb built into its wall. There is no enclosure around the prayer hall, and, even in later times when the area was apparently divided into smaller units, a vast area was left open in front of it. The site must have been designated as the prayer ground for the army and on occasions when the sultan was in his Lashkargåh at the time of public prayers he, his courtiers and the army commanders could assemble in the prayer hall while the troops, servants and others would gather behind them in the open. The Lashkargåh site was abandoned soon after the fall of the Ghaznavids and there are no later additions to the prayer hall, the foundations of which preserve the original layout without alteration.83 The similar layouts at Bust and the Lisån al-ar∂ at Isfahan provide a pattern for the design of Persian namåzgåhs in the period before the conquest of India. Unless future discoveries provide us with different models for prayer grounds, we can assume that by the tenth century the Iranian namåzgåh consisted of a long, narrow arcade serving as a prayer hall on the qibla side of an open ground. Galdieri, ‘A hitherto unreported architectural complex at Ißfahan’, pp. 262–3, figs 7, 30–1. Schlumberger, Lashkari Bazar, IA, pp. 54–7; IB, pls 3, 23, 50, 93–6. 80 BaihaqÈ, TårÈkh-i MasʿËdÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 165–6. 81 Géza Fehérvári and Mehrdad Shokoohy, ‘Archaeological Notes on Lashkari Bazar’, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes LXXII (1980), p. 92. 82 The entrance of the palace is at the north side, and the back wall of the palace faces the prayer ground without an obvious link between them. This may indicate that there was no direct relationship between the palace and the prayer ground, and that the latter might have been built prior to the former. 83 There was an older wall in the site incorporated into the qibla wall of the arcade, but no significant later additions or alterations to the prayer hall have been found. 78 79

FOUR: early monuments

Figure 4.12  Bust, Afghanistan, conjectural reconstruction of elevation and plan of the prayer hall at Lashkargåh (LashkarÈ Båzår), based on the survey of the foundations excavated by Schlumberger.

Originally the grounds do not appear to have been enclosed, but sometimes a wall was constructed later around the open ground, making the complex resemble a mosque with a prayer hall at one side of a courtyard. This is perhaps the reason why most of the prayer grounds in Iran were known as Masjid-i Mußallå; and, indeed, as we have seen, the site at Yazd was gradually transformed into a fully developed madrasa, while still preserving its old name. In Yazd, the size of the upper courtyard of the madrasa is comparable with that of the Lisån al-ar∂. Bearing in mind that Yazd was always a smaller town than Isfahan, the size of the courtyard for a possible prayer ground is noteworthy. Even more interesting is the structure of the chambers on the qibla side, which differ from those at the north-eastern side of the courtyard. If it were not for the modular structures now being walled up and divided into chambers, its arrangement with a wide central open hall flanked by smaller modules would be closely comparable with the arrangement of the arcades of our older examples. The additional Èwan of the Lisån al-ar∂ also needs particular attention. We shall see that its concept seems to have been reflected in the early ʿÈdgåhs of India, but its insertion into the older arcade represents a progressive trend of altering the older form of the Iranian mußallås. A few later surviving mußallås show that the idea of an arcade on the qibla side was gradually abandoned in favour of a single, but much grander feature marking the qibla. A good example is the mußallå of Êuruq84 near Mashhad, datable to c. 837/1433–4, where the concept of building an André Godard, ‘Les mußallås de Êuruk et de Meshhed’, Åthår-é Ïrån IV (1939), pp. 125–37, figs 107, 109–11.

84

207

208 BAYANA

Figure 4.13  Êuruq, Iran, plan of the structure of the mußallå, after Godard.

Figure 4.14  Mashhad, Iran, plan of the seventeenth-century mußallå, after Godard.

arcade has been abandoned entirely. Instead, on the qibla side of a vast open prayer ground, a single Èwån is constructed, flanked by arched niches and with a domed chamber behind it85 (Figure 4.13). The grand domed chamber86 would have acted There is a mi˙råb in the qibla side of the domed chamber; while we do not know how people utilised this structure during festivals, it is hard to believe that the imam would stand inside the domed chamber to lead the prayers, as it is customary for the imam to be seen by the congregation, who would be following his example in the open ground outside. We may perhaps assume that the Èwån itself constituted the mi˙råb, with the imam standing in front of it. 86 The chamber originally had a double-shelled dome, but the outer shell has fallen. 85

FOUR: early monuments

as a landmark ‒ a node ‒ marking the position of the prayer ground from a distance and indicating the direction of the qibla at the site. Another example is the mußallå of Mashhad, built in 1086/1675–6 and covered with fine mosaic tiles a year later.87 Here the structure consists of a high vaulted Èwån flanked by two small domed chambers, which rise up only to about a third of the height of the Èwån (Figure 4.14). We have already noted that in the later mußallå of Isfahan all minor features are relinquished in favour of a single large vaulted Èwån marking the qibla. The mußallås of Mashhad and Isfahan seem to represent the final phase in the development of the form of the structures in the Iranian prayer grounds, before the tradition of gathering at such sites was abandoned altogether.88 Bayana and the Indian ʿIˉdgaˉh Mu˙ammad b. Såm’s army commanders who arrived in India would have been familiar with the type of namåzgåh represented by those at Bust and Isfahan. Indeed, the example at Bust is particularly significant, as it was probably not just for festivals but for the daily prayers of the army. Such prayer grounds would have been necessary for the Ghurids, whose regime had no support amongst the Hindu population of India, and who had to rely entirely on military force. It appears that the Ghurids imported the concept of the prayer ground to India, but, perhaps to speed construction, reduced the hall to a plain prayer wall with a façade simulating the form of an arcade and Èwån. With such a simple device, as conquest progressed, they could quickly build a prayer wall in an open field near their camp to satisfy the religious requirements of the army. Grander mosques within the towns could come later. Dated examples, bearing inscriptions from as early as the time of Ïltutmish, existed in India until recent times. One such namåzgåh was the prayer wall at Hansi,89 built on the orders of AbË’l-fat˙ Ma˙mËd b. Ïltutmish, when he was the governor of the region.90 The ʿÏdgåh of Hansi was damaged at the time of Partition, when all the Muslims left the area. Over the years its stones have been used for building new structures and, by 1981, when the authors surveyed the sultanate site in Hansi, only a foundation trench about 1.5 m deep remained where the last

Godard, ‘Les mußallås de Êuruk et de Meshhed’, pp. 125–37, figs 108, 112–17. In Iran apart from the mußallås noted above only a few others are known. They include: Åzar Shahr in Tabriz of 761/1359–60; Sabzwar (old Baihaq) of the eighth/fourteenth century; Naʾin probably from of the eighteenth or nineteenth century. See Iranian Architecture of the Islamic Period, M. Y. Kiani (ed.) (Tehran, 1989), II, pp. 139–42. 89 HL, pp. 28–9; ARIE, 1971–2, No. D. 27. 90 Ma˙mËd was the governor of Hansi until 623/1226, when he was appointed governor of Awadh and took over Bengal. He died in Bengal in Jumada I 626/March–April 1229, during the lifetime of his father and was buried in Delhi in the tomb now known as Sul†ån GhårÈ. Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.) I, pp. 447, 453–4. For his tomb, see Naqvi, ‘Sultån GhårÈ, Delhi’, pp. 4–10. 87 88

209

210 BAYANA

Plate 4.24 Bayana Ïdgåh, the middle part from the east showing the central mi˙råb and four of the subsidiary flat mi˙råbs, each representing a corbelled lobed arch within a four-centred arch. The platform in the foreground may be a later alteration.

blocks had been unearthed.91 From the trench the general layout of a free-standing wall with a central mi˙råb and a tower at each end could be established. Another example was the ʿÈdgåh at Palwal with an inscription from the time of Ïltutmish dated Jumådå I 608/October–November 1211.92 Palwal was an early Muslim stronghold south of Delhi with an even earlier monument: a mosque built by Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak in Rama∂ån (?) 607/February–March 1211.93 The mosque still stands and has been converted into a temple, but the ʿÈdgåh ‒ or namåzgåh according to its inscription ‒ has disappeared. Other early ʿÈdgåhs are known through historical records. For example, Ibn Ba††Ë†a94 notes the mußallå of Delhi and records that it was outside the GhaznÈ Gate, presumably at the north or north-west of fourteenth-century Delhi. The site corresponds with the heavily built-up areas of Katwaria Sarai and Munirka; but at the time of Ibn Ba††Ë†a, apart from the namåzgåh, the area was distinguished as the site of the shrines of many celebrated Sufis, including Qu†b al-dÈn Bakhtiyår KåkÈ and ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn KirmånÈ, whose tomb was apparently in or behind the Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 109–10, pl. 25e. Shuʿaib, ‘Inscriptions from Palwal’, p. 3, pl. 21. The inscription recorded that the building was ordered by Badr al-dÈn SunqurtakÈn Sunqur, a chief army commander (al-isfahsålår). He was of Anatolian origin (rËmÈ) and is well known through the records of the Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (I, pp. 462–5). 93 EIM, 1911–12, pp. 2–3, pls 9, 22. Not mentioning the month, the inscription records ‘‫’فی شهر المبارک‬ (‘in the blessed month’). This is usually a reference to the month of Rama∂ån. 94 Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Arab.), pp. 439, 442. Also see (tr.), pp. 621, 624–6. 91 92

FOUR: early monuments

mi˙råb of the prayer wall. Ibn Ba††Ë†a seems to be referring to a thirteenth-century prayer wall, if not one built just after the conquest. He refers to the site as mußallå, and does not use the terms namåzgåh or ʿÈdgåh, which was apparently not yet current. As with most other areas of Delhi, the urban sprawl has left little of the historical past. The only surviving prayer walls attributed to the early years of the conquest are the heavily restored ʿÏdgåh of Badaon, said to date from the time of Ïltutmish, which we shall return to, and that in Bayana, which is still intact and preserves all its original features (Plate 4.24). This ʿÈdgåh is about 1 km north-west of the old town (Figure 3.1, B.43),95 and is likely to have been constructed at the time of Bahåʾ al-dÈn Êughrul. The free-standing wall with a central mi˙råb and eight smaller niches on either side is reinforced by tower at each end and with a platform in front (Figure 4.8). The platform is only a few centimetres high and is in fact a paved area in front of the prayer wall, similar to the pavement found in front of the prayer hall at Bust. An interesting feature of the Bayana ʿÏdgåh is its central mi˙råb (Plate 4.25), designed as a square chamber or Èwån projecting behind the qibla wall, and roofed by a corbelled dome cemented over to simulate the profile of an Islamic dome. We shall see that in later ʿÈdgåhs the central mi˙råb is simplified and the domed chamber entirely omitted, but in Bayana the chamber seems to be an attempt to create a modified version of the central feature of the earlier Persian arcades, as seen in Bust and particularly in the Lisån al-ar∂. In Bayana on the qibla side of the chamber a flat mi˙råb is carved in the wall to represent a lobed arch within a larger two-centred arch, with roundels in the spandrels and in the field of the arch. A border of floriated serpentine decoration closely resembles the decoration carved on part of the screen wall of the Quwwat al-Islåm in Delhi.96 While the Bayana ʿÏdgåh is built of temple spoil, the blocks have been re-dressed and carved specifically for it.97 In front of the mi˙råb is a corbelled arch, standing on two round columns in three registers taken from an older building. The other niches, four on each side of the mi˙råb, use the same technique, but each represents in profile a lobed arch within a four-centred arch. The lobes follow the lines of the stonework, producing an effect very different from examples where early sultanate lobed arches in stone imitate brickwork, as in the mi˙råb in the chamber here. The niches are surmounted by crenellations in the form of pointed arches, which also function as weights to hold the blocks of corbelled stone in The prayer wall was until recently an isolated monument in the middle of fields, but with the sudden growth of the town since the 1990s buildings are rapidly encroaching. The prayer wall does not seem to be recorded as a protected monument and it would be a great loss to early sultanate history and archaeology if the ʿÏdgåh is compromised in favour of unplanned urban sprawl in the name of progress. 96 Page, An Historical Memoir on the Qutb, pl. 3a. 97 Most of the blocks are turned back to front to hide the temple carvings, and Muslim-style decoration is applied sparingly, on the central mi˙råb only. 95

211

212 BAYANA

Plate 4.25 Bayana  Ïdgåh, central mi˙råb consisting of a chamber with a wide open arch in front combining the concepts of a vault and a domed chamber. The corbelled arch, built of horizontal layers of stone blocks sculpted to represent a true arch is characteristic of early sultanate structures.

place. These may be later additions, as it appears that some of the upper courses of the wall have been restored. The present minbar is not original and has been improvised out of a few blocks of stone placed to the right of the central mi˙råb; traces of the original minbar can still be seen in the wall. The round towers at each end of the wall (Figure 4.8, Plate 4.22) serve not only to balance the composition of the façade, but also to strengthen the structure. Corner towers have not been found at Bust or Isfahan as such a reinforcement is not necessary in an arcade. Their introduction in India might have been a necessity

FOUR: early monuments

Figure 4.15  Badaon, the ShamsÈ  Ïdgåh, plan and elevation.

to consolidate the structure, but it is also likely that they may refer to corner roof turrets in earlier Iranian namåzgåhs, no examples of which have survived. Inside each tower at Bayana is a round chamber and flight of steps leading to the top of the wall, which may have been used by the muʾadhdhin (caller to prayer). Both towers were originally roofed with corbelled domes, but these have long since disappeared, and later domes, apparently built over their remains, have also collapsed. The Bayana ʿÏdgåh has the characteristics of an early Indo-Islamic building, including a corbelled dome and corbelled arches, distinctive of the first two decades of the conquest. True arches and domes were built in Bayana as early as 1320 and it would be unlikely for craftsmen to abandon a new and successfully used technique for a less advanced one when constructing a sizeable building. The ʿÏdgåh must therefore date from the time when Bahåʾ al-dÈn Êughrul’s Sul†ånkËt was at the earliest stage of its development and a quickly built structure was essential for the army of the Faithful. If so, the ʿÏdgåh would be one of the first of the buildings mentioned by Minhåj-i Siråj to have been constructed by Bahåʾ al-dÈn in Bayana, and the earliest of its kind still standing. The combination of a larger arch for the central mi˙råb and smaller niches on either side is reminiscent of the form of an arcade with a central Èwån, and appears to have continued in the early ʿÈdgåhs and can be seen in that at Badaon (Figure 4.15, Plate 4.26), a key strategic town in northern India, conquered by Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak with Ïltutmish, who was installed as its governor before he was enthroned as sultan. The prayer wall of Badaon is still known as the ShamsÈ ʿÏdgåh,98 and although it has been restored with brick the original layout has A. Cunningham, Report of a Tour in the Gangetic Provinces, 1875–76 and 1877–78, ASIR, XI, 1880, pp. 3–4. Cunningham justifiably suggests that the prayer wall was constructed between 599/1202–3 and 606/1209–10, under Ïltutmish. However, his suggestion that it might originally have been covered with blue tiles is surely mistaken, since such a revetment would not have been used so early in India. If any tiles were added later, no traces now remain.

98

213

214 BAYANA

Plate 4.26  Badaon, the ShamsÈ  Ïdgåh in 1986, before its later restoration. Above: view from the east looking at the central mi˙råb and the minbar. Below: view from the north-east towards the central mi˙råb and the southern part. The opening to the right of the minbar enables the imam to approach the minbar without passing through the congregation.

been maintained, and parts of the original structure have survived including floral ­decorations framing the mi˙råb (Plate 4.27). The similarity of the Bayana and Badaon ʿÈdgåhs is apparent both in scale and layout, particularly the grand central arch representing the mi˙råb, but there are minor differences in design. In Badaon the corner towers are octagonal, that on the north partly in ruins and without its dome, and there are many flanking arches at each side of the mi˙råb. Restorations, however, have altered the general appearance of the building to some extent, particularly the profile of the arches, which are closer to those of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries than the late twelfth to early thirteenth centuries. Furthermore, the brick façade, once plastered over, can hardly be identified with early sultanate architecture. A fairly recent platform about 0.50 m high obscures the lower parts of the wall, while the onion-shaped profiles of the dome of the minbar canopy and to a lesser extent of the dome over the southern tower relate to the style of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century architecture of

FOUR: early monuments

Plate 4.27  ShamsÈ  Ïdgåh in 1986, the south side pier of the central mi˙råb. The vertical bands of decoration and some features such as the engaged columns on the jambs of the central arch are from the original structure, but the rest of the façade is restored with brickwork of later dates. reconstructed. The  Ïdgåh was later plastered over, obscuring the original carvings.

the Deccan rather than that of northern India. If it were not for the form of the plan and the preservation of some original decoration99 it would be hard to recognise the early origin of the building under the present façade. The similarity of the plans of Bayana and Badaon indicates that the layout was probably the usual pattern for Ghurid ʿÈdgåhs. The combination of a larger central arch for the mi˙råb and smaller niches on either side was clearly to Ghurid taste as it also The carved decoration seen in our photographs is no longer visible. See Finbarr Barry Flood, ‘Persianate trends in Sultanate architecture: the Great Mosque of Bada’un’, in Bernard O’Kane (ed.), The Iconography of Islamic Art: Studies in Honour of Robert Hillenbrand (Edinburgh, 2005), pp. 167–8, fig. 10.10. Flood’s photograph shows the carvings obliterated by modern plaster.

99

215

216 BAYANA

Plate 4.28 The ʿÏdgåh at Delhi, originally situated outside the western gate of SÈrÈ, Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ’s capital. Above: view from the south-east; below: from the south-west looking at the back of the ʿÏdgåh and showing the older central wall which is thicker and taller than the extension. As usual with Indian mosques and Èdgåhs the central mi˙råb projects outside the wall in the form of a buttress.

appears in the screen walls added to the Quwwat al-Islåm and to Ar· ha’i din kå Jhon∙ pr· a. Later ʿÈdgåhs show that by the end of the thirteenth century the Ghurid prototypes were simplified. The grand central arch was abandoned in favour of a mi˙råb built into the wall in the form of a simple niche, but sometimes with elaborate carving and inscriptions. Other components such as the auxiliary niches and towers at either end were maintained and appear in most of the later ʿÈdgåhs, such as that of RåprÈ (or ReparÈ), of the time of ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn KhaljÈ, and a small prayer wall at ShahpËr Jåt in Delhi also probably from the same period100 The ʿÏdgåh seems to date originally from the KhaljÈ period and is located just outside the western gate of SÈrÈ, ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn KhaljÈ’s capital at Delhi. The ʿÏdgåh is now in the middle of a built-up area, and is close to the Chor Minår, also from the time of ʿAlaʾ al-dÈn, apparently one of the many minarets built by ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn KhaljÈ to display the severed heads of defeated Mongol soldiers. This ʿÏdgåh should not be confused with that mentioned by Ibn Ba††Ë†a, which must have been a few miles to the west or south-west of this building. For the ʿÏdgåh, see Yamamoto, I, p. 62, No. M.56. For the Chor Minår, see ibid., p. 111, No. O.48; Hasan and Page et al., Monuments of Delhi, III, pp. 166–7, No. 289. Also see BarnÈ (Pers.), pp. 320–1, mentioning that one of such minårs was still standing at his time near the Badaon Gate, presumably an eastern gate of SÈrÈ.

100

FOUR: early monuments

Figure 4.16  The KhaljÈ  Ïdgåh at RaprÈ, plan and eastern elevation.

(Plate 4.28), but which, by the early fifteenth century, was in need of repair and in 807/1404–5 was extended from both ends.101 The ʿÏdgåh at RåprÈ,102 on the other hand, is one of the rare prayer walls of the time of ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn to have preserved its original features and bears an inscription recording its construction in 711/1311–12 by KåfËr Sul†ånÈ.103 This ʿÈdgåh, built a century later than those at Bayana and Badaon, displays a transformation of the design (Figure 4.16) and provides a prototype for later instances. The structure is considerably smaller than in the earlier examples. The central mi˙råb, while larger than the flanking ones, is no longer in the form of a vault or a chamber, but a simple niche, with auxiliary mi˙råbs on both sides, two of which are larger and deeper than the others, but not of the same size as that in the centre. To the north of the central mi˙råb is a minbar, which does not have a canopy but is marked by a small niche in the wall. Below the speaker’s seat is a narrow dog-legged corridor, which opens to the back of the structure, enabling the imam to enter from the rear of the building when the congregation had gathered. In Badaon there is such an entrance for the imam, but is situated just to the north of the minbar. Such an entrance also appears occasionally in Indian mosques, but is not a general feature The repairs and extension were carried out by the order of MalË or MallË Khån, who bore the title of Iqbål Khån and was initially the governor of SÈrÈ for the Tughluqs, but with their fall and TimËr’s invasion, for a period became autonomous in the Delhi region. The additions follow the conventional form, including a row of auxiliary mi˙råbs at either side of the central mi˙råb, and end towers. For MalË Khån, see TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 160; Firishta (Pers.), I, pp. 154–5. 102 A. C. L. Carlleyle, Report for the Year 1871–72, ‘Agra’, ASIR, IV, 1874, pp. 217–22, pl. 18. RåprÈ was a town within the region of Bayana and according to the ÅʾÈn-i AkbarÈ during the reign of Akbar it had a revenue of 13,508,035 dåm (see Chapter 2), one of the highest revenues among the towns and villages of the region, higher than that of Hindaun, indicating that at the time RåprÈ was large and prosperous. The ÅʾÈn-i AkbarÈ also records that it had a fort built of brick, but at the time of Carlleyle’s visit it was already in ruins. 103 He may be the well-known KåfËr Hizår DÈnårÈ, ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn’s trusted catamite and army commander, but perhaps not other KåfËrs such as Mubårak Shåh KhaljÈ’s governor of Bayana.

101

217

218 BAYANA

Figure 4.17  Jalor. Below and middle: plan and the eastern elevation of the  Ïdgåh as far as it was constructed; above: an impression of the elevation of the  Ïdgåh if it had been completed. The unbuilt parts are shown with dotted lines. Later additions are not shown.

of mosques and ʿÈdgåhs.104 As with Bayana, many ʿÈdgåhs have stairs to the top of their walls, which apart from providing access for maintenance could have also been used for the call for prayer. All later prayer walls follow the design concepts of the KhaljÈ ʿÈdgåhs except perhaps the ʿÈdgåh at Jalor (Figure 4.17, Plates 4.29–4.30), a grand project of Mubårak Shåh KhaljÈ, which attempted to surpass both in scale and elaboration all earlier prayer walls. We shall be discussing the grand projects of Mubark Shåh’s governor at Bayana, but Jalor and Gujarat had been annexed to the territories of the Delhi sultanate by Mubårak Shåh’s predecessor ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn KhaljÈ only a few years earlier.105 A display of power in this outpost of the Delhi sultanate must have been deemed necessary. During the short reign of Mubårak Shåh the construction of a grand ʿÈdgåh was commenced, and also perhaps the project for building a jåmiʿ out of temple spoil in the manner of mosques of early conquest.106 With the murder of Mubårak Shåh in 720/1320–1, and the chaotic period under his assassin, Khusrau

In RåprÈ a string course of glazed blue tiles runs along the wall above the mi˙råbs. However, the tiles seem to date from a later restoration, and as a whole the upper parts of the wall bear marks of such. In addition to the round towers at either end, the wall is reinforced by a number of buttresses at the back, the central one behind the main mi˙råb flanked by flights of steps leading to the top of the wall. 105 BarnÈ (Pers.), p. 323; TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 78. 106 The jåmiʿ, now known as the TËpkhåna Masjid, was, according to its inscription, completed on 1 Shaʿbån 723/5 August 1323, at the time of Giyåth al-dÈn Tughluq. See Progress Report of the ASI Western Circle, 1909, pp. 10 and 55; Chaghtai, ‘Some inscriptions from Jhodpur State, Rajputana’, pp. 31–2; CII, pp. 46–7. 104

FOUR: early monuments

Plate 4.29  Jalor, general view of the unfinished  Ïdgåh of Mubårk Shåh KhaljÈ from the east. The present main mi˙råb, surmounted by flanking minarets, is in fact the unfinished southern mi˙råb, tidied up at later dates for the wall to be used as an Èdgåh. The tower to the left is part of the original design, but on the right what was to be the central mi˙råb was left unfinished and the parts to its north were never built.

Khån, the projects were left unfinished.107 If completed the ʿÏdgåh would have been over 106 m long, nearly three times longer than the ʿÏdgåh at RåprÈ and twice as long as that at Bayana. Although somewhat different from all its predecessors, the Jalor Ïdgåh follows the early fourteenth-century design principles for such structures, but also relates to earlier prayer walls. The central mi˙råb is in the form of a niche, rather than a domed chamber, but is deep and on a grand scale, which, if finished, would have appeared as a shallow open-fronted Èwån or a grand vaulted entrance ­– a metaphoric gate to heaven. Two prominent auxiliary mi˙råbs were planned, though only one was constructed. They are, again, deep and impressive little Èwåns, rather than the usual niches seen in other fourteenth-century and later ʿÈdgåhs. However, the usual row of smaller auxiliary mi˙råbs has been omitted, and the central mi˙råb was designed to be flanked by two minarets, a feature not seen in the earlier examples.108 The southern minaret is slightly more complete, displaying alternating angular and lobed demi-shafts echoing the design of the Qu†b Minår. However, this pattern was not restricted to the Qu†b, and appears in many other early Muslim monuments of north India, including the turrets over the screen wall of Ar· ha’i din kå Jho≥pr· a,109 and those at the Ukhå Masjid, contemporary with the Jalor Ïdgåh. These turrets have all fallen, but the lower parts displaying the design still stand. In Jalor an arched opening was constructed in the base of the The unfinished ʿÈdgåh bears an inscription over what would have been the central mi˙råb recording its construction in 719/1319–20. See Z. A. Desai, ‘The Jalor Èdgåh inscription of Qutbud-din Mubårak Shåh KhaljÈ’, EIAPS (1972), pp. 12–19. 108 Turrets flanking the gates of mosques, the central Èwån or the arch were common features, as also seen in the Ukhå Masjid. Their appearance here seems to confirm the concept of a ‘gate to heaven’. 109 See above, n. 2. 107

219

220 BAYANA

Plate 4.30  The  Ïdgåh at Jalor, view of the grand central mi˙råb, which was built up to the top of the springing line of its semi-dome. The mi˙råb was designed to be flanked by two minarets, the lower parts of which echo the design of the Qu†b Minår of Delhi. The minaret to the north, seen at the right, had a grand arched opening as the entrance for the imam.

northern minaret as an entrance for the imam. In other monuments, when such an entrance is provided, it is usually a small opening and, as in the case of RåprÈ, is hidden under the minbar, but in Jalor it takes the form of a fairly grand arched portal in a dominating position. The minbar was never constructed, and it is not certain if a stone minbar was intended. Its location would have been between the central mi˙råb and the minaret to its north, but this portion of wall, like the corresponding portion to the south of the mi˙råb, is embellished with a string course and a carved niche divided into nine squares, imitating windows with pierced stone screens (jålÈ). Although the concept of a stone minbar cannot be ruled out, the lack of provision of a position for it on the wall may be an indication that a wooden minbar was intended here. With the death of Mubårak Shåh, the Tughluqs secured their power in Gujarat and in Jalor. They completed the mosque, but perhaps did not find it necessary to complete the ambitious and costly ʿÈdgåh. The site was used as the prayer ground but the prayer wall itself remained unfinished. Never again did anyone attempt to erect an ʿÈdgåh on such a grand scale anywhere in India.110 The Khalji and Tughluq Periods: 1290–1320, 1320–1413 With the departure of the remaining Muslims from Bayana during the twentieth century and particularly after Partition, many of the mosques in Bayana have For the major ʿÈdgåhs of the Tughluq period and later, see EI2, ‘Namåzgåh’.

110

FOUR: early monuments

been demolished and the few remaining structures are kept either as archaeological monuments or have been converted to houses or for other functions. Cunningham reported a number of mosques in Bayana, built with ‘Hindu pillars’, but it is not clear if he could always distinguish the difference between preIslamic and Muslim columns. By Hindu columns we may take it that he meant ones that were carved with distinctive Hindu – or Jain –­ motifs, floral and figurative. However, another type of column he describes seems to have been preIslamic. These columns are ‘round’, that is, the shafts are cylindrical, unlike Muslim columns, the shafts of which are square in plan and are a common element of later buildings. The Muslim columns themselves derive from another pre-Islamic form which we shall see in the Ukhå Masjid and in the Jhålar BåʾolÈ, but columns with cylindrical shafts do not appear in the later buildings of Bayana and wherever they can be found – including many in the Ukhå Mandir and two in the Ukhå Masjid ­– they are clearly reused temple spoil. The most important building with such columns is the mosque in the fort (F.15) associated with the Vishnu Vardhana Låt and the minaret of DåwËd Khån, probably the Au˙adÈ Jåmiʿ of the fort (Figures 5.1–5.4, Plates 5.3–5.8). This building will be discussed in the next chapter. The demolished mosques with round pillars reported by Cunningham therefore require some attention. The practice of constructing mosques out of temple spoil languished gradually after the KhaljÈ period, and indeed only a few Tughluq mosques employ reused material, and not always as a mark of conquest.111 The mosques with round columns in Bayana would therefore be datable to the thirteenth or early fourteenth centuries. One such mosque was the Qå∂Èpara Masjid, consisting of a prayer hall in five bays and two aisles, 9.6 m wide and 4.6 m deep inside (Figure 4.18). The mosque was constructed with different types of columns, ten of them square in plan and others circular, probably taken from different temples, but all finely carved. The different columns were apparently arranged with some care, with all columns facing the courtyard and the two middle columns of the inner row being round and the other ten, mostly set into the walls as pilasters or engaged columns, being square. The columns were 3.30 m high and the round shafts were 350 mm in diameter, surmounted by circular capitals, presumably similar to those in the Ukhå MandÈr mosque. At the time of Cunningham’s visit the mosque was apparently already in ruins. The building had no name and nothing of the qibla wall was left except its foundation. For example, the TËpkhåna Masjid at Jalor noted above. Other Tughluq mosques built of temple spoil can be found in Gujarat. See M. Shokoohy, ‘The legacy of Islam in Somnath’, pp. 297–355, particularly pp. 313–17. A further Tughluq building using temple material is the Låt ki Masjid in Hisar, but Hisar was constructed in a deserted area and the reused material seems to have been taken from temples already in ruins, rather than ones demolished for the purpose of building a mosque – an act that would have been uncharacteristic of FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq. For the historical description of the construction of the town, see Shams-i Siråj (Pers.), pp. 124–8; (tr.), III, pp. 289–300; for the mosque, see above, n. 38.

111

221

222 BAYANA

Figure 4.18  Qå∂Èpara Masjid, a conjectural impression of the plan and east elevation after Cunningham’s description and measurements.

Another mosque with round columns was the Sayyidpara Masjid, apparently on the same scale as the Qå∂Èpara Masjid and again in five bays and two aisles with round columns 450 mm in diameter. The columns seem to have been decidedly thick, comparable to those in the Ukhå Masjid and thicker than those used in the Jåmiʿ of the fort. The mosque was apparently still in a fair state of preservation and its features including its mi˙råb were intact, although the inscription over the mi˙råb was no longer legible. Cunningham also records three other small, undated mosques, the FaujdårÈ Masjid, the MuftÈyËn ki Masjid and the BhitarÈ-BåharÈ Masjid, which he describes as having been built with Hindu material. In the case of the BhitarÈ-BaharÈ Masjid (Figure 4.19), he reports that the prayer hall was about 8 m (24 ft) square, three bays wide and three aisles deep, ‘built entirely of Hindu materials’ and that ‘portions of the Hindu roof still remain over the middle compartments’, apparently a reference to re-assembled Hindu roof slabs or corbelled domes. At the east side of the courtyard there was another colonnade of two lines of six columns, probably forming a porch over the entrance of the mosque, although Cunningham suggests that it must have been ‘part of the cloister of the courtyard’. While there was no mention of round columns, Cunningham reports that there was a Sanskrit inscription dated ve 1100/ad 1043, leaving little doubt that the mosque was indeed constructed of

FOUR: early monuments

Figure 4.19  BhitarÈ-BåharÈ Masjid (B.6), a conjectural impression of the plan after Cunningham’s description and measurements.

temple spoil. It is said to have been destroyed after Partition and has been rebuilt, partly as a house and partly as a temple (B.6). In addition Cunningham reports another small mosque, the Qå∂Èyun ki Masjid (Mosque of the Judges), which bore an inscription dated 1 Mu˙arram 705/24 July 1305, over the entrance,112 already discussed in the context of the history of the region. The mosque has been demolished and the inscription lost, and although we cannot verify that the structure reported in the nineteenth century was indeed from the time of ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn, the inscription, nevertheless, confirms that an early fourteenth-century mosque once existed on the same site or nearby. Such a large number of early mosques on a modest scale in Bayana demonstrates that the present town is indeed on the site of historical Sul†ånkËt. The layout of such mosques – a simple colonnaded prayer hall at the west side of a courtyard – also represents a common type of mosque plan in India, employed continuously up to the present time. The surviving examples of such mosques in Bayana will be discussed in the next chapter. Elsewhere in the region of Bayana, however, three small mosques of this type have survived in Nagar adjoined to the old village of SikrÈ,113 the site of the later Fa†hpËr of the Emperor Akbar. The prayer halls of all these mosques are constructed of temple spoil, and, as with the Ukhå MandÈr mosque, their columns are made out of two ancient shafts, one set over the other, sometimes upside down. One of these mosques, known as the Am · biyawålÈ mosque, bears an inscription of ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn KhaljÈ dated 713/1313–14.114 These are amongst the earliest mosques of their kind, but the Appendix I, inscription No. 5. The mosques are discussed in Chapter 10. 114 Appendix I, inscription No. 6. 112 113

223

224 BAYANA

Figure 4.20  The mosque at Palwal. Above: plan of the building as it stands today, with the original walls shown outlined in black, the demolished original walls shown with broken lines and the walls built during and after the conversion with hatching; below: plan of the mosque in its original form.

oldest surviving example is at Palwal (Figure 4.20, Plates 4.31–4.32), noted for its inscription of the time of Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak above the minbar,115 but with the building’s conversion to a temple the epigraph’s present whereabouts are unknown. The original building was a small prayer hall seven bays wide and three aisles deep,116 but the qibla wall has been demolished and the number of the mi˙råbs could no longer be established. The columns have each a single See above, n. 92. On the interior the prayer hall measures about 12.75 m wide by 6 m deep. The central bay, 1.92 m wide, is considerably wider than the other bays. The column shafts, square in plan, are 0.30 m at each side and the circular shafts slightly thicker in diameter. The height of the columns, including their bases and capitals, is slightly over 2.10 m, while the height of the hall from the present ground level to the soffit of the original ceiling is about 2.70 m, with cross-lintels supporting the roof slabs. The additional modern roof built over the extension in front of the hall is supported by steel beams.

115 116

225

FOUR: early monuments

Plate 4.31  Palwal, mosque of Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak, converted to Lakshmi Narayan temple, interior view looking south. The columns, square in plan, were at the front of the open colonnaded hall; the covered space to their left is a twentieth-century addition.

Plate 4.32  The Palwal mosque in the early twentieth century: the minbar and inscription of Rama∂ån (?) 607/February– March 1211, the last year of the reign of Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak (from EIM, 1911–12). The original carved ornamentation can also be seen.

226 BAYANA reused shaft, some square in plan, and some circular. The additional walls, tiling and cement work have obscured the building’s original carvings and features to some extent, but the simple colonnaded prayer hall set in one side of a courtyard is a forerunner of the KhaljÈ examples. In spite of the disappearance of some of the smaller early mosques two outstanding monuments are still preserved in the town of Bayana: the extension to the Ukhå MandÈr mosque, known as the Ukhå Masjid and the Jhålar BåʾolÈ, both dating from the time of Mubårak Shåh KhaljÈ. The Jhålar BåʾolÈ is a large reservoir outside the town, and is not only the earliest dated reservoir in the region but also one of the earliest Muslim reservoirs still preserved. This finely designed båʾolÈ will be described together with other waterworks in Chapter 7, but the two monuments are close in date and built under the same patronage. They may well be the work of the same team of designers and builders, as similar structural features and decorative details appear in both the mosque and the reservoir. The Ukhaˉ Masjid The Ukhå Masjid117 (Figures 4.5, 4.6, 4.21) is attached to the south side of the Ukhå MandÈr mosque. The colonnades were once connected by two doorways, now blocked. As with the original mosque, the extension is also a colonnaded building on an Arab-type plan and its general layout follows that of the Ukhå MandÈr, but the Ukhå Masjid is narrower, measuring only 19 m × 37 m. The eastern elevation of the building (Plate 4.33), although different in details, corresponds broadly with the Ukhå MandÈr and consists of a monumental gateway flanked by open colonnades. The arched gateway leads to a doorway into the colonnade, and was ornamented with two small turrets (Plate 4.34), only the bases of which remain. They are stellate in plan, imitating on a small scale the form of the Qu†b Minår, and are similar to the form of the turrets in the screen wall of Ar· ha’i din kå Jho≥pr· a. Inside the mosque and in front of the entrance (Plate 4.35) are two columns larger in size than the rest, which, along with the pilasters of the inner side of the gate, support reused carved serpentine brackets that still retain their figurative decoration (Plate 4.36). These are purely decorative and add an elaborate touch to the entrance colonnade. Above the doorway of the entrance is an inscription, which was defaced during the disturbances of 1947, but had been recorded earlier.118 The lighter colour of the obliterated letters against the older weathered surface of the slab still allows some of the words to be deciphered with the aid of the published text. It stated that Cunningham, ASIR, XX, pp. 71–2. Unusually for Cunningham, his plan (pl. 13) is incorrect. It shows an additional row of columns forming a second aisle open to the outside on the north, where in fact there is a single aisle closed by the party wall with the Ukhå MandÈr. His description reflects the incorrect drawing, which also shows only one of the three mi˙råbs. 118 Appendix I, inscription No. 11. 117

FOUR: early monuments

Figure 4.21  The Ukhå Masjid, longitudinal section B–B through the entrance, courtyard and prayer hall.

Plate 4.33  The Ukhå Masjid, eastern façade showing the entrance portal with a true arch flanked by a two-tiered colonnade. To the right is the corner of the wall of the Ukhå MandÈr mosque.

the extension was built by KåfËr al-Sul†ånÈ, the governor of the town, in the year 720/1320–1, during the reign of the KhaljÈ Sultan Mubårak Shåh. Like the Ukhå MandÈr, the Ukhå Masjid has a colonnade built of reused materials, but the column shafts of the prayer hall (Plate 4.37), used one on top of the other to support the high ceiling, have been redressed. The north, south and east

227

228 BAYANA

Plate 4.34  The Ukhå Masjid, view of the back of the top of the entrance, standing high above the roof of the second level of the colonnade. The platform in the recess of the wall is faced with a pierced stone panel (jålÈ) seen in Plate 4.33, and might have been for the caller for prayer, as the complex did not have a minaret. The remaining bases of the turrets at either side of the roof can also be seen. In the foreground, the two flights of steps ascending to the roof meet at the centre.

Plate 4.35  The Ukhå Masjid, east end of the courtyard looking south-east and showing the entrance and the corner of the two-storeyed colonnade. All features, including the eave stones over the lower tier of the colonnade and the merlons around the roof, are original. Details of the two polygonal columns of the entrance can also be seen, each made up of two reused shafts surmounted by round capitals, as well as one of the three reused cusp brackets set between the tall cylindrical columns.

FOUR: early monuments

Plate 4.36  The Ukhå Masjid, interior, the passage of the entrance from the upper level looking north and showing details of the two other monolithic cusped brackets. They are decorated with rows of small human figures, which have not been defaced, probably because they could not be distinguished from a distance.

colonnades have an upper gallery, an unusual feature for an Indian mosque and probably an innovation of the KhaljÈ designers. As there are no other mosques with a similar design the precise function of the upper gallery is not known. It could, of course, house the overflow of the congregation and might have at some time been designated for ladies. The mosque also features relatively more advanced methods of construction, which had become common by the fourteenth century. These include the gateway having a four-centred true arch, and the roof in front of the central mi˙råb being provided with a small dome (Figure 4.21, Plate 4.38). The latter is set in a similar position to that of the Ukhå MandÈr, but rather than being corbelled it is a true ribbed dome, a type unknown in India during the early Islamic period and first seen in this structure. The dome consists of eight monolithic ribs set over the vertices of an octagonal transitional zone to meet at the top at a circular boss on the interior. The edges of the ribs have slots into which monolithic triangular curved slabs are fitted to close each segment. Although small, the feature seems to have been a model for many other ribbed and segmented domes appearing in monuments of later periods in Bayana, and which will be discussed in the following chapters. The central mi˙råb (Plate 4.39), rectangular in plan, projects from the rear wall; it has a finely carved lobed arch shaped out of blocks of stone supported by two

229

230 BAYANA

Plate 4.37  The Ukhå Masjid, view from the courtyard looking west towards the prayer hall.

Plate 4.38  The Ukhå Masjid, prayer hall looking towards the central mi˙råb, also showing the ribbed dome over the central unit of the second aisle above the mi˙råb. The dome is not a reassembled Indian feature, but is Islamic in design.

pronounced engaged columns similar to those of the entrance portal, but smaller and of a simplified design to fit the scale of the mi˙råb. On the rectangular frame and around the arch of the mi˙råb are inscriptions, now defaced and illegible. The two subsidiary mi˙råbs on either side of the main one have true arches, slightly ogee and two-centred (Plate 4.40). When the extension was built the wall of the original building seems to have been opened to make a connection between them, and an arched window with a pierced stone screen was placed above the opening

FOUR: early monuments

Plate 4.39  The Ukhå Masjid, details of the central mi˙råb.

231

232 BAYANA

Plate 4.40  The Ukhå Masjid, southern mi˙råb with a simple true arch and two engaged columns carved on the jambs, but not as decorative supports for the arch. The northern mi˙råb is similar to this one. On the floor is a loose block of stone carved with an engaged column and an obliterated inscribed border. It must have been a jamb, but does not belong to the mi˙råbs of the building, which are well preserved and their jambs intact.

between the two qibla colonnades. This door and window are aligned with the colonnade of the extension. When Ibn Ba††Ë†a visited Bayana in 1342 his remark that ‘its Jåmiʿ is one of the finest mosques, with walls and ceilings all of stone’ must have been about the Ukhå MandÈr mosque and particularly the sober, elegant and harmonious design of its extension, the Ukhå Masjid, which had been built only twenty-two

FOUR: early monuments

years earlier. His words are concise and well chosen. He does not praise the mosque for being expansive or grand, as in comparison with the great Jåmiʿ mosques of cities like Delhi this would not have been the case. He had seen exquisite mosques from Cordoba to Egypt, and from Persia to India and China. That he considered the Bayana mosque particularly fine should therefore be given some weight. Ibn Ba††Ë†a wrote his memoirs on his return to Morocco, many years after leaving India, yet it seems that the simple, subtle, well-balanced and impressive design of the mosque left a life-long impression on him. The reason for the construction of the Ukhå Masjid might have simply been the expansion of the Muslim population during the first decade of the ­establishment of the town. In Delhi, too, the Quwwat al-Islåm was extended by Ïltutmish and was again planned to be increased to many times its original size by ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn KhaljÈ, although the second project was never completed. However, the construction of a new jåmiʿ or an extension to an old one was never without a certain political dimension. It was a means for the ruler to make a tangible display of his concern for the people and the faith. The construction of another public amenity, the Jhålar BåʾolÈ, also confirms that the governor, KåfËr, had such matters in mind. From many points of view the Ukhå Masjid also represents a remarkable stage in the development of Indo-Muslim architecture, both locally and in the sultanates of North India. After over a century of Muslim supremacy demonstrations of Muslim dominance through the reuse of temple spoil were no longer relevant. Nevertheless, the temples – in ruins or otherwise – still provided ready-made building material. No longer in haste, the builders could now manipulate these materials, sort them according to their design, and redress them as required. Hindu or Jain elements with acceptable decorative elements, such as column shafts with simple ornaments or the arched brackets placed over the round columns of the entrance of the Ukhå Masjid, could be reused as they were. Others could be redressed to provide a harmonious finish. In the Ukhå Masjid and the Jhålar BåʾolÈ we see that the forms that would remain dominant in Bayana had already been established, and it can be observed that variations of them appear in the region right up to the decline of the town in the eighteenth century. The structure, however, is in sharp contrast to the architectural trends of the time in Delhi. In spite of the small ribbed dome and the true arches of the entrance and the mi˙råbs, the Ukhå Masjid still follows trabeate structural principles borrowed from ancient India architecture. From the time of the Mongol invasion in 1221 and the destruction of the great urban and cultural centres in Greater Khuråsån and northern Iran there had been an exodus of the nobility, learned men, craftsmen and artisans from these regions to India, which was regarded as a safe haven away from the uncertainties of their homelands. The effect of this influx is manifested in the buildings of the mid-thirteenth to the early fourteenth centuries in Delhi, where there is no trace of trabeate methods. Instead, all buildings of the time of Sultan Balban (1266–87) and later sultans are arcuate.

233

234 BAYANA Examples are the tomb of Balban himself119 and the ʿAlåʾÈ Madrasa,120 which are constructed entirely with true domes and vaults over massive piers conforming in every detail to Middle Eastern architecture. Judging from the surviving structures in the Delhi region it appears that by the beginning of the fourteenth century architectural trends were taking a direction that would diverge from the older Indian traditions altogether. Yet by the time of the Tughluq dynasty – in the mid-fourteenth century – the old Indian traditions would return and be amalgamated with Muslim forms to produce mature and well-developed design concepts which incorporated arcuate and trabeate principles in the same building. The Ukhå Masjid is proof that although no trabeated buildings of this period have survived in Delhi, the type had not been entirely abandoned,121 and if the form – associated with older buildings – were out of fashion in Delhi the method was still employed, at least in the provinces. The Tughluq period Although some of the undated buildings in Bayana may date from the Tughluq period no dated monuments of this time have survived. The only exception is a site outside the town and near the ʿÏdgåh where an inscription122 of FÈrËz Shåh has been uncovered. The inscription is fragmentary and preserves only parts of the title and the name of the sultan. What remains at the site is a retaining wall (B.42, Figure 4.22, Plates 4.41, 4.42) at the west side of a platform running north for about 7.80 m and then turning north-west with an angle of about 163º and continuing for about another 23.40 m. At both ends the retaining wall turns eastward at a right angle, but its traces are lost after a few metres, as at both ends stone has been pilfered. The platform has been filled in with rubble and gravel, probably taken from the west side which is a natural land depression and might have been made into a man-made lake. Nothing remains of the superstructure over the platform, but there seem to be traces of the foundation of a structure, the stones of which are partly pilfered. Although the building is lost the remains of the platform provides an opportunity to see how such platforms – common in Bayana and elsewhere – were constructed. According to the local people, the site is the remaining foundation platform of a mosque, and near the site is an octagonal funerary chatrÈ (B.41) that may date from the same period or slightly later and be an indication of a religious function Brown, Indian Architecture (Islamic Period), p. 15, pl. 101, fig. 1; Yamamoto, I, pp. 71–2, T.3, fig. 30. The tomb is in ruins, but the site has been cleared and the remains maintained and protected by the ASI, although it has not yet been studied to the extent it deserves. 120 Survey in Page, An Historical Memoir on the Qutb, pp. 14–15, pls (drawings) 2, 8, (photographs) 16 b–d. 121 From Ibn Ba††Ë†a’s description ((Ar.), p. 482; (tr.), III, p. 685) of the palace of the KhaljÈ Sultan Jalål al-dÈn FÈrËz Shåh (1290–96) in Delhi we learn that it was built of red sandstone and called ‘the Red Palace’; it was perhaps a trabeate structure, but nothing of the palace has survived. 122 Appendix I, inscription No. 13. 119

235

FOUR: early monuments

Figure 4.22  Platform of a building (B.42), probably of the time of FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq, plan and section A–A.

Plate 4.41  Bayana, the stonework of the platform of a ruined building, probably of the time of FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq. View from south-west looking north.

236 BAYANA

Plate 4.42  The same platform, view from the south looking north and showing the remaining portion of the southern side of the retaining wall, the in-fill of the core and in the background the remaining surface of the platform.

for the site. However, if the building were a mosque the qibla wall would be expected to be on a straight line and the angular plan of the western wall of the platform would be an unlikely formation. The function of the building cannot therefore be determined and while a secular type such as a mansion or hunting lodge cannot be ruled out, if the building were of a religious nature the most likely function would have been a madrasa (theological college). FÈrËz Shåh is known for the construction of many madrasas, some, such as those at the Óau∂ Khåß123 reservoir and over the Såt Pul124 dam in Delhi, both set on the banks of man-made lake-sized reservoirs. In Hisar the Jahåz Koti,125 also known to have been a madrasa built by FÈrËz Shåh, was set on a platform in the form of an island in the middle of a lake. Man-made lakes were a common characteristic of Muslim cities in India from the very beginning. These features were usually created outside the walls of a town in a natural depression, manipulated to collect rainwater during the BarnÈ (Pers.), pp. 562–4; Yamamoto, I, p. 107, No. O.24; Welch and Crane, ‘The Tughluqs’, pp. 140–3. Anthony Welch, ‘A medieval center of learning in India: The Hauz Khas Madrasa in Delhi’, Muqarnas XIII (1996), pp. 165–90. 124 For a detailed survey of the madrasa, see Yamamoto, III, pp. 57–68 and pl. 50 at the end of the book; also see Welch and Crane, ‘The Tughluqs’, pp. 154–5; Tughluqabad, pp. 185–8. 125 Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 47–51. 123

FOUR: early monuments

monsoon and retain it for many months, sometimes all year. They provided water mainly for farming purposes after the monsoon and the vast expanse of their surface also created a micro-climate, which kept the nearby town cooler and more humid in the dry seasons. One of the earliest of such lakes is the Óau∂-i ShamsÈ at Delhi, established by Shams al-dÈn Ïltutmish early in the thirteenth century126 and the practice was followed by many others. A reservoir of this type could, therefore, be expected in Bayana and this site seems a suitable place. However, limited observation around the presumed site of the lake revealed no obvious traces of manipulation of the site, such as dams, earth-banks and canals. Although the existence of a lake in this area could not be dismissed, the true nature of the retaining wall remains uncertain. The Tughluqs have left us a rich and sophisticated architecture both in the region of Delhi and elsewhere. Bayana was visited by at least two of the sultans, Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq and FÈrËz Shah, both renowned for the construction of numerous edifices throughout India. This was the period when, particularly under FÈrËz Shåh, combinations of arcuate and trabeate forms were refined and employed in buildings, and a third method was also devised utilising arches, vaults and domes over Indian-style columns with monolithic shafts.127 There is little doubt that Bayana must also have had its share of monuments of this period. The inscription of the governor Iqbål Khån in the fort128 shows that, at least at the end of the Tughluq reign and after TÈmËr’s invasion, the governor made an effort to reconstruct the fort and some of its buildings with the aim of repopulating the fort in 803/1400–1, but little is known of his actual constructions. The disappearance of dated Tughluq buildings leaves us with a gap of over a century in the architectural development of Bayana, as the next dated monument is the TåletÈ Masjid (F.2) of the Au˙adÈ period, dating from 823/1420. Nevertheless, there are many undated structures in Bayana that may date from the time of the Tughluqs or earlier and we shall see these buildings in their context in the following chapters. The surviving structures of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, however, illustrate the direction that Bayana architecture was to take in later periods. While at the beginning of the Islamic conquest and subsequent decades the structures at Bayana followed the common Ghurid practice of reusing temple spoil, later Earlier examples in Delhi are the Óau∂-i ShamsÈ established by Ïltutmish, the Óau∂-i ʿAlåʾÈ also known as Óau∂-i Khåß created by ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn KhaljÈ and the lake at Tughluqabad. Later examples are numerous. For the Óau∂-i ShamsÈ, see Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), p. 440; (tr.) III, p. 624; FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq, FutË˙åt-i FÈrËz ShåhÈ (Aligarh, 1954), p. 12; Also see Khan, Åthår al-ßanådÈd, chapter 3, p. 2 monument No. 11. For the Óau∂-i ʿAlåʾÈ or Óau∂-i Khåß, see Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), pp. 440–1; (tr.), III, pp. 624–5; FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq, FutË˙åt-i FÈrËz ShåhÈ, pp. 12–13; BarnÈ (Pers.), p. 562 (not translated in Elliot); Khan, Åthår al-ßanådÈd, chapter 3, p. 3 monument No. 19. For the lake at Tughluqabad, see Yamamoto, III, pp. 46–54; Tughluqabad, 28, pp. 179–88. 127 The best examples of such buildings are the palace at Hisar and the Madrasa of FÈrËz Shåh at Óau∂ Khåß in Delhi already noted. For the palace, see Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 19–32, particularly fig. 11 and pls 4–5. 128 Appendix I, inscription No. 15. 126

237

238 BAYANA the trabeate form originating from such buildings was refined and was widely employed. A similar development can be seen in the architecture of Gujarat,129 but in Gujarat the use of large corbelled domes became a prominent feature of the mosques.130 In the Bayana region, in spite of the introduction of a single small dome over the mi˙råb of the ChaurasÈ Khamba, and of the Ukhå MandÈr mosque and its extension, domes were not adopted for the main roofs of mosques, or indeed any other structural types except funerary buildings. Flat roofs made of stone slabs laid on stone lintels and covered with lime cement as seen in these mosques remain the prominent feature of Bayana architecture, both in mosques and in secular buildings. In the KhaljÈ period true arches were introduced in Bayana, but masonry vaults were not adopted and never appear significantly in later buildings. A main contribution of the Ghurid and the KhaljÈ designers in the architecture of the region is, however, their choice of decorative elements. The pierced stonework of the fringes of the Ukhå MandÈr and the ChaurasÈ Khamba mi˙råb arches are good examples of the refinement and care shown in the very few Islamic decorative elements of the time of Bahåʾ al-dÈn Êughrul. The calligraphy is also fine and shows the hand of skilled and literate artisans. Their competence is apparent in the Qurʾanic scripts around the mi˙råbs and particularly in the inscription bearing the name of Bahåʾ al-dÈn Êughrul around the entrance of the ChaurasÈ Khamba. In the KhaljÈ period, the form of the true arches and their spear-head fringes seen in the entrance of the Ukhå Masjid is comparable with those in Delhi and similar features can be seen there in the ʿAlåʾÈ Darwåza,131 although in Bayana the engaged columns supporting the arch are exaggeratedly more pronounced. In the entrance of the Ukhå Masjid an influence from Delhi may be observed, but in the context of the whole mosque and its trabeate structure Bayana traditions remain dominant.

James Burgess and Henry Cousens, Architectural Antiquities of Northern Gujarat (London, 1903), Gumada Masjid, p. 54, pls 23–4; Shaikh Jodh’s Masjid, p. 55, pls 27–9, both in A≥ahilavåda Pa††ana, and the old mosque at Munjpur, pls 72–3. 130 Ibid., Tomb of Shaikh FarÈd in A≥ahilavåda Pa††ana, pp. 42–3, pls 14–16, and Siddhapur Jåmiʿ, p. 68, pl. 45; Burgess, The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad, Part I (A˙mad Shåh’s old Jåmiʿ built of temple spoil), pp. 17–19, pls 3, 11–18, and all later mosques and shrines that follow. Also see Burton-Page, ‘Mosques and tombs’, pp. 7–119. 131 Survey and main study in Page, An Historical Memoir on the Qutb, pp. 14–15, pl. (drawings) 7, pls (photos.) 13a and 14a. The gate is noted in many later publications, often with colour illustrations. 129

CHAPTER FIVE

Mosques and Minarets

An urban and social feature of traditional Muslim towns is the small neighbourhood mosques that relate to the people of the locality, as opposed to the Jåmi or congregational mosque, which is a symbol of the town as a whole, and displays its past traditions and glory as well as its present wealth and distinction, secured by the ruling power of the time. While the sultan and his governors were responsible for the construction and upkeep of congregational mosques, the local mosques were built by wealthy and distinguished members of the locality, partly in response to genuine belief in their religious duty and partly to achieve or enhance their social status. In spite of the destruction of many mosques in Bayana, some after the violence following Partition, Bayana has still maintained a fair share of its old mosques, even though they are out of use. The mosque of Ukhå MandÈr and its extension the Ukhå Masjid, remained the Jåmi of the town and no other mosque in Bayana is on the same scale, but the town in the fort appears to have had its own Jåmi and when Sikandar LodÈ developed Sikandra a new Jåmi was designed for the new capital, the impressive ruins of which show that it was aimed to surpass the grandeur of the old Jåmi of Bayana. The present Muslim population in Bayana is now considerably larger than it was in the 1980s when the only functioning mosque was a modern structure built by the few Muslim butchers (qaßå È) who provided meat for the rest of the population.1 The mosque was constructed in the 1970s on the traditional plan for a small neighbourhood mosque, as a simple colonnaded structure consisting of a single aisle and five bays, of no architectural distinction, but what is interesting is the re-employment of six old columns, two as pilasters in the side walls of the prayer hall and four as supporting elements on the eastern elevation of the hall. These four columns are of ancient Indian origin with ‘round’ shafts (Plate 5.1), of a type already reported by Cunningham to have been used in the Qå∂Èpara Masjid, and not entirely unlikely to have been taken from the ruins of a mosque. The brackets are not authentic and it is not clear if the reused square bases are from Caste Hindus do not, of course, slaughter animals, but as some Hindus who observe the codes less strictly do consume meat, butchers in Indian towns are usually Muslim.

1

240 BAYANA

Plate 5.1  Bayana town, modern mosque employing materials from older structures. View of the prayer hall looking south-west showing the pre-Islamic column shafts. The brackets are redressed and have lost their original form and the square bases do not seem to belong to the same shafts. The circular capitals usual for columns of this type and seen in earlier buildings are also missing.

the same columns, but the shafts represent a common pre-Islamic type consisting in this case of four registers. The lower register is octagonal in plan with a round fluted register above and two plain round registers, separated by a collar, with the upper register decorated with garlands (ålamba). Originally the shafts would have been topped with circular capitals, cushion-shaped or with a cyma recta profile, carved with flutings as seen in the Ukhå Masjid, but the capitals are missing in this modern mosque. From the construction of the mosque it is clear that reusing building elements of an earlier mosque was aimed at providing some authenticity for the building. Even a stone block with a fragment of an Islamic inscription has been reused as a lintel over the columns of the central bay (Plate 5.2). The mosque has later been extended and another row of columns erected in the courtyard, perhaps to enlarge the prayer hall, but the columns of this second row, although old, may be of Islamic origin. In form and decoration, the columns are similar to those in the

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.2  Modern mosque in Bayana, carved block used as a lintel over the columns of the central bay of the prayer hall. The inscription, heavily whitewashed obscuring most of the letters, appears to be in Arabic, bearing a religious text.

colonnade around the courtyard of the Ukhå Masjid and many other columns of Muslim monuments of later dates. The plan of this mosque – consisting of a small colonnaded prayer hall taking the whole width of the western side of an enclosed courtyard – is the most common type of mosque plan in India and many such are to be found in Bayana, in the fort and in Sikandra. The Arab-type plan with a colonnade running around all sides of the courtyard was usually reserved for grander mosques.2 In fifteenth-century Bayana, however, a particular mosque plan developed that had not been seen elsewhere before, but that seems to have had a profound influence in the planning of the Mughal mosques. In addition, in the three towns of Bayana there are a number 2

There are also other types of mosque plan, such as the entirely roofed type appearing in southern India; another type that imitates the Persian two- or four-Èwån plan and is seen in the Begampuri Masjid in Delhi, or the type where the prayer hall is partially covered and has four small courtyards as in the KhirkÈ and Kalån (or KålÈ) Masjids in Delhi, but none of these types appear in Bayana and do not concern us here. For covered mosques of south India, see M. Shokoohy, Muslim Architecture of South India, most pages; for Begampuri, see ASIAR, 1912–13, ii, p. 128; 1926–7, p. 10; Marshall, ‘The monuments of Muslim India’, p. 593; Brown, India Architecture (Islamic Period), p. 24; Yamamoto, I, pp. 52–3, M.4; Welch and Crane, ‘The Tughluqs’, pp. 130–2. For the KhirkÈ and Kalån Masjids, see: ASIAR, 1909–10, 3; 1922–3, pp. 6–7; 1927–8, 8; 1929–30, pp. 13–14; Yamamoto, I, p. 53, M.6 and M.7; Marshall, ‘The monuments of Muslim India’, pp. 592–3; Brown, India Architecture (Islamic Period), p. 24; Welch and Crane, ‘The Tughluqs’, pp. 133, 137–9.

241

242 BAYANA of mosques each with a very small prayer hall consisting of a single aisle and three bays, often with no trace of a courtyard. These mosques also need to be considered in relation to each other. We shall therefore discuss the three types of mosques separately. Bayana also has two minarets, each associated with a mosque, but both minarets are separate structures added later. Although they date from two different periods, in style and design they seem to bear a closer relationship to each other than to their respective mosques. There is also a third small and unfinished minaret in the fort, which is of inferior construction and is apparently of a later date. These minarets shall also be discussed. Mosques with Traditional Plans The Auhadıˉ Jaˉmi of the Fort ˙ The most impressive mosque in the fort is associated with the ancient Vishnu Varddhana låt (Figure 3.10, Plate 3.21) erected in the citadel, at the eastern end of a processional street leading to the gate of the ruler’s palace in the western corner. Although the mosque might have originally been designed as a simple mediumsized mosque for the daily prayers of the occupants of the fort, we have already seen that the position of this mosque (Figure 3.8, F.15a) in relationship with the Au˙adÈ’s palace and the rest of the fifteenth-century town leaves little doubt that in the fifteenth century it must have been designated as the Jåmi of the fort, where the ruler, residing in the fort rather than the town, would attend the Friday prayers. Furthermore, the addition of a minaret to this mosque by DåwËd Khån Au˙adÈ in 851/1447–8 not only confirms the status of the building as the Au˙adÈ Jåmi, but also indicates that the mosque itself predates the minaret. The mosque, however, is not well preserved and while the ruined prayer hall and the eastern wall are partly intact many features and some walls are dilapidated. It seems that for a long time the building was abandoned and later occupied for other uses. Three chambers have been added to the back of the prayer hall and the three mi˙råbs have been demolished to provide access to the additional chambers (Figures 5.1–5.3). It is unlikely that such an alteration would have been made by Muslims, even if the mosque had been abandoned after the 1505 earthquake. It could, therefore, be assumed that the additional chambers and reuse of the mosque would date from the eighteenth century when the fort was briefly occupied by the Jåts. Nevertheless, enough remains of the structure and its plan to display the original form of the mosque (Figures 5.4, 5.5) at the time of DåwËd Khån, when the town was at the peak of its power and prosperity. The prayer hall (Plate 5.3), two aisles deep and seven bays wide, is constructed with reused columns of yellow sandstone in two registers, mostly octagonal below and circular above.3 The bays The prayer hall measures about 5.80 m × 15.50 m with the columns about 2.35 m from the ground to the lintels and about 0.36 m in diameter.

3

243

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Figure 5.1  Bayana fort, plan of the Jåmiʿ (F.15a) showing the present condition with three chambers added to the back of the prayer hall and the mi˙råbs demolished to provide doors to the chambers.

Figure 5.2  Bayana fort, the Jåmiʿ, east elevation of the prayer hall showing the present condition with the lost features represented by dotted lines. The outline of the mi˙råbs is based on the other surviving arches in the mosque.

are not all of the same width, and the central bay and the two side bays are slightly wider than the rest.4 The shafts stand on octagonal bases and above the shafts are octagonal capitals, which also appear to have been column bases originally and are somewhat disproportionate to the scale of the shafts. The cross-beamed roof 4

The central bay and the two side bays are a little over 2 m wide and other bays span about 1.82 m.

244 BAYANA

Figure 5.3  Bayana fort, the Jåmiʿ, section through the entrance canopy, prayer hall and additional chambers behind it, also showing the elevation of the surviving two tiers of DåwËd Khån’s minaret. The unusually large scale of the minaret in proportion to the mosque seems to have been intentional to ensure that the feature could be seen from several miles away on the plain.

structure seen in the Ukhå MandÈr and the Ukhå Masjid does not appear in this mosque; instead two rows of lintels along the length of the prayer hall are set above the brackets supporting the flat roof slabs, laid across the aisles each spanning over 2.45 m (Plate 5.4). The shafts and other reused elements are, however, plain, showing that they have been redressed removing the pre-Islamic decorations. This seems to denote that the mosque was not constructed immediately after the conquest, when Hindu and Jain carvings were intentionally preserved to display the fate of the temples of the ‘infidels’. Redressed temple spoil has already been seen in the early fourteenth-century Ukhå Masjid and it is likely that the Jåmi of the fort also dates from the same period or slightly later, but well before the date of the additional minaret. The rest of the building is purpose-built with the local red sandstone and provided with arched niches and windows. There were originally three mi˙råbs in

245

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Figure 5.4  Bayana fort, plan of the Jåmiʿ and the minaret of DåwËd Khån, original condition.

the prayer hall, the central one apparently larger than the others,5 and while the original form of the mi˙råbs is not preserved, a stone lintel bearing traces of two lines of an obliterated inscription lies near the central one (Plate 5.5). At both ends of the lintel the lower line of the inscription continues downward showing that originally this line was also carved on the jambs. This lintel might have originally belonged to the central mi˙råb, or perhaps a door in the mosque that has not survived. The inscription is almost entirely defaced leaving no evidence as to whether the text was historic or entirely religious. Both side walls of the prayer hall also have two arched openings, although some of them have been blocked (Plate 5.6). The arches are in an ogee shape but not The present central opening to the back chambers is 0.3 m wider than the others, which are about 0.84 m.

5

246 BAYANA

Figure 5.5  Bayana fort, section B–B through the Jåmiʿ, showing the original condition with the elevation of the minaret. The proposed original form of the uppermost tier, topped with a lantern, is suggested based on the form and proportions of the surviving tiers.

Plate 5.3  Bayana fort, the Jåmiʿ (F.15 a), general view of the prayer hall from the courtyard looking west.

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.4  Bayana fort, the Jåmiʿ, view of the prayer hall looking north towards one of the arched openings in the northern wall of the hall. The roof structure, supported by two lines of lintels over massive reused and partly redressed columns from ancient temples, can also be seen. Parts of the roof of the qibla aisle and the upper parts of the qibla wall are in ruins.

c­ onstructed as true arches, being formed of two blocks of stone set side by side, similar to those seen in the other early monuments of Bayana, confirming that the mosque would be earlier than the fifteenth century. Flanking the mi˙råbs and openings are small niches, probably for lamps, with lobed arches of an unusual design. At either side of each of these niches there are also smaller square niches, again for lamps or candles. The carefully designed and well-proportioned arched openings and niches further demonstrates that the mosque was constructed without haste and with attention to detail. The stonework is well dressed and finished, usually an indication that the stonework was meant to be seen, but at one stage the prayer hall has been plastered with a thin layer of gypsum and parts of the plasterwork are still preserved. This type of plastering is usually applied over finely finished stonework for wall paintings and some examples can be found in fragments of wall paintings in the residential pavilions at Fathpur Sikri. However, in this mosque no traces of coloured stucco are to be seen, and it is not certain at what stage in the life of the building plasterwork was applied. There is no secluded royal chamber (maqßËra or shåh-nishÈn) in the prayer hall, nor does its height allow space for a mezzanine – an indication that at the time of construction the mosque was perhaps not intended as a Jåmi or a royal mosque.

247

248 BAYANA

Plate 5.5  Bayana fort, the prayer hall of the Jåmiʿ looking west towards the central mi˙råb, which has been removed to provide a door to the chambers built behind the mosque. A lintel suitable for a mi˙råb or door, with traces of two lines of obliterated inscription, leans against the wall behind a plain slab.

Plate 5.6  Bayana fort, the south-west corner of the prayer hall of the Jåmiʿ showing the south end of the qibla wall and part of the south wall with an arched opening, now partly blocked, as well as a number of small lamp niches with lobed arches. Some of the plasterwork that once covered the entire prayer hall can also be seen, particularly on the spandrel of the arch of the opening.

249

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.7  Bayana fort, entrance of the Au˙adÈ Jåmiʿ. Above: view from the street side; the chatrÈ in front of the door might have originally been roofed with a true dome, as indicated by the wide span of the lintels, rather than by a heavier corbelled dome. Below: view from the courtyard showing that the entrance was flanked by platforms, and above the door remains of the lower part of an opening, indicating that the walls were extended much higher than the roof level of the exterior canopy.

Plate 5.8  Bayana fort, general view of the Jåmiʿ from the south showing the minaret of DåwËd Khån in the background, to the right of the remains of the entrance canopy of the mosque. The prayer hall can also be seen to the left, but is partly obscured by bushes.

250 BAYANA This is to be expected if the mosque dates from the thirteenth or fourteenth century as at that time the seat of the governor would have been in Sul†ånkËt. We have seen that when by the end of the fourteenth century the Au˙adÈs gained supremacy and made the fort a prominent element of their power base they remodelled the town in the fort and built their own mansion there. It must have been at this time that the mosque would have been designated as their Jåmi, but the Au˙adÈs did not claim to be royalty and, furthermore, by this time the construction of a shåh-nishÈn was no longer in vogue in northern India.6 To the east of the prayer hall is a courtyard measuring 15.50 m × 18.76 m, with the main entrance in the middle of the eastern wall flanked by an arched opening at either side (Plates 5.7, 5.8). The northern and southern walls are in ruins, but there are some remains that show that there might have been other entrances or arched openings on these sides. In front of the entrance on the street side is a four-columned domed chatrÈ attached to the wall, but the dome and other features around the roof are lost, including the eave stones and crenellations. The unusually wide span of the lintels, measuring over 2.70 m, shows that the canopy originally had a true dome, which would have been relatively lighter than a corbelled dome. The square columns of the chatrÈ are plain and in general the structure appears to be a later addition to the mosque, probably by the Au˙adÈs, when construction of true domes was exercised in some buildings.7 There are also the remains of some platforms near the entrance inside the courtyard, but again they seem to be of later dates and perhaps not associated with the original design. Muftıˉyuˉn kıˉ Masjid In the town of Bayana in the MuftÈpåra ma˙alla (magistrates’ quarter) there is a fairly large mosque (Figure 3.2, B.12), which escaped Cunningham’s attention, although he reported a much smaller mosque in the area, now lost. As with other Muslim monuments, this larger structure no longer functions as a mosque and was probably not in use even in his time. The building (Figure 5.6, Plate 5.9) stands on a high platform with a solid core fronted by a colonnaded gallery running under the prayer hall at the western side.8 There may have been similar galleries at the northern and southern sides, which have not survived. The mosque is at present entered from the north via a set of steps built into the platform, ascending to a simple door opening into the courtyard at the north-east corner of the prayer hall. The building, however, is not preserved intact and the steps and entrance are later additions. It seems that the structure was damaged long ago, probably in the 1505 earthquake, and that the galleries of None of the Sayyid, LodÈ, SurÈ or Mughal jåmi, or royal mosques have a mezzanine gallery for the shåh-nishÈn. 7 The development of dome-building in Bayana is discussed in Chapter 6. 8 The gallery is now divided into rooms, which are occupied as dwellings. 6

251

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Figure 5.6  Bayana town, MuftÈyËn kÈ Masjid (B.12), plan and transverse section through the central mi˙råb.

the northern and southern sides of the platform collapsed bringing down parts of the prayer hall. Whatever was left of the prayer hall and platform was restored at later dates, but portions of the restoration work have also been lost and the building left partially in ruins and unused. The prayer hall (Plate 5.10) appears to have been seven bays wide and three aisles deep originally, but both north and south ends have been lost. The north bay has been restored and the wall rebuilt with small-sized bricks of the Mughal type, clad with red sandstone. Some effort has been made to match the appearance of the cladding with the original walls built of dressed stone. The southern bay might have also been restored in the same fashion, but now the south end of the platform has fallen taking down the southern bay of the prayer hall. Some other parts of the platform have also collapsed and what is left of the mosque has been repaired again at a later date with walls constructed of rubble stone. The present entrance and the steps leading to it also seem to date from this latest phase of repairs. The original part of the colonnaded prayer hall (Plate 5.11) has a flat roof and the qibla wall has five of the mi˙råbs preserved, one in each bay. The central mi˙råb

252 BAYANA

Plate 5.9  Bayana town, MuftÈyËn kÈ Masjid (B.12), exterior from north towards the present entrance. The colonnade of the platform is walled, converting it to a dwelling with a door at the right side.

Plate 5.10 MuftÈyËn kÈ Masjid, general view of the prayer hall from the courtyard looking northwest. On the right the present entrance, built into a wall added in the latest phase of repair works, can also be seen.

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.11 MuftÈyËn kÈ Masjid. Right: interior view of the southern side of the prayer hall looking west. Left: details of a subsidiary mi˙råb to the south of the central mi˙råb. The arch of the mi˙råb has been damaged, but its ogee tip and the roundels on the spandrels have remained. The plain columns surmounted by capitals with varied decoration can also be seen.

is of the same size and profile as the others,9 but is marked by its projection outside the rear wall, making it clear that what has remained of the hall is indeed the middle bays. The plain columns are square in plan with the monolithic shafts 1.68 m high and 0.33 m at each side standing on square bases 0.33 m high. The measurements are not much different from those of the reused columns, or Muslim columns of the fourteenth–sixteenth century. The capitals bear some decoration but their designs vary, indicating that they might have come from earlier buildings or different workshops. The two stub-lintels above the columns of the central bay supporting the eave stones on the eastern façade of the prayer hall also bear finely carved rosettes, but there are no traces of unequivocal pre-Islamic carved motifs on any of the elements, and if the mosque is built at least partly of reused material, it must have been carefully redressed. There are no inscriptions in the building to help with establishing a date, but if we consider that some of the elements are redressed earlier building spoil, a fourteenth- or early fifteenth-century date may be suggested. The building is unlikely to date to later than the sixteenth century and, as noted, the damage to the building is likely to have been caused by the 1505 earthquake as the restoration work of the northern bay is of considerable age and unlikely to date later than the seventeenth century. We can therefore place the building in the Au˙adÈ period, if not earlier. 9

It is, of course, more common for the central mi˙råb to be slightly larger or deeper than the other mi˙råbs, but mi˙råbs of a similar size are not unusual.

253

254 BAYANA

Figure 5.7  Bayana town, TålakÈnÈ Masjid (B.21), plan showing the present condition. Dotted lines suggest the original features, now lost.

Taˉlakıˉnıˉ Masjid To the south-west of the Au˙adÈ Graveyard is the finely constructed TålakÈnÈ Masjid (Figure 3.2, B.21) built of red sandstone and standing on a high platform (Figures 5.7, 5.8). The name seems to be a corruption of the Sufi term al-tårikÈn alluding to those who abandon the world to follow the mystic way. A fairly small mosque, it was apparently located outside the town walls by the side of the road spurring north from the north gate of the town. All sides of the exterior are faced with dressed stone indicating that the building was on open ground and meant to be seen from all directions, and its platform, considerably higher than the prayer hall, gives the building a sense of prominence in the landscape even today. The mosque was originally entered via a flight of steps in the middle of the eastern side of the platform ascending to a wide landing in front of the only entrance to the mosque, leading to the courtyard. The southern jamb of the entrance together with the southern portion of the original eastern wall of the courtyard have survived, but the stairs are lost and the northern portion of the eastern wall together with the north-east side of the platform have collapsed, apparently a long time ago. The platform (Plate 5.12) has been reconstructed with rough stone blocks and without the large dressed facing blocks with which the mosque and its platform

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Figure 5.8 TålakÈnÈ Masjid, section A–A through the courtyard, prayer hall and central mi˙råb, and section B–B through the courtyard showing the eastern elevation of the prayer hall. Dotted lines again suggest the original features, now lost.

Plate 5.12  Bayana town, TålakÈnÈ Masjid (B.21), general view from the east showing part of the prayer hall and the eastern elevation of the platform and the surviving southern side of the eastern wall of the courtyard, as well as the southern jamb of the entrance. The northern portion of the eastern face of the platform with its stairs, built roughly of blocks of stone, dates from a later restoration and the surface does not match the original fine finish with dressed stone seen on the other side.

255

256 BAYANA were faced originally, and which are still preserved intact except at the points of the old restoration work. During the restoration a new set of steps was been built into the northern side of the eastern face of the platform ascending southward to the remains of the entrance. The rather haphazard restoration seems to have been aimed at securing the platform and making the building accessible and usable, without much attention being given to matching up the new work with the original. It also seems that there has been no attempt to reconstruct the fallen parts of the courtyard wall at the north-eastern side of the platform. The colonnaded prayer hall (Plate 5.13) is five bays wide and two aisles deep, measuring about 11.10 m × 4.85 m with the central bay slightly wider than the other bays. All the columns are uniform in size and in design (Plate 5.14) suggesting that they were purposely carved for the building.10 The bases are square in plan and moulded on the top with decorations on each face in the form of a curved triangular motif, a simplified version of a vajramastaka,11 which appears commonly on Indian column bases of both pre-Islamic and Muslim periods. Variations of this pattern, some even closer to the original design of a vajramastaka, can also be seen on many other column bases in Bayana. The shafts are in three registers: a short, plain square register below; a tall octagonal register in the middle, ending with a leaf pattern at each corner; and another square register on the top decorated at each face with two symmetrical deeply engraved curved lines resembling an upside-down f clef of a music staff. The pattern is a simplified version of the leaf motif seen below it on the same shafts and seems to be a highly stylised version of the pot-and-foliage motif known as kumbha keri,12 again a common feature on Indian columns, often more elaborately detailed. We have already seen a similar pattern on the columns of the side colonnades of the Ukhå Masjid, and variations of the pattern will also appear occasionally on other monuments. On the base of the top register and framed by the two incised curved lines a fairly delicate half floral pattern is carved in relief, but compared with the local Hindu columns of the same type, the carvings on the shaft are bold, stylised and perhaps slightly coarse. Above the shafts are square capitals in two moulded registers, supporting fairly plain brackets, above which rest the lintels. As with the Au˙adÈ Jåmi of the fort, the lintels run only along the length of the prayer hall, an arrangement different from the earlier Muslim monuments, where the roof structure is made of cross-beams. The northern and southern walls of the prayer hall each have a pair of rectangular windows (Plates 5.14, 5.15), probably once provided with pierced stone screens (jålÈ), but these are lost and the southern windows have been blocked. Each window is surmounted by a panel carved both on the inner and outer face The central bay spans 2.10 m and the other bays on average about 1.88 m. The shafts are 2.04 m tall with bases of about 0.33 m high. 11 For the original design and its variations in Hindu architecture, see Råmacandra Kaulåcåra, √ilpa prakåªa, mediaeval Orissan Sanskrit text on Temple Architecture, trans. Alice Boner and Sadåªiva Rath √armå (Leiden, 1966), pp. 22–5, 108–10, 161, pls 4, 44. 12 Ibid., pp. 31–3, 150, pl. 31. 10

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.13 TålakÈnÈ Masjid, the prayer hall from the courtyard looking north-west also showing part of the qibla wall.

Plate 5.14 TålakÈnÈ Masjid, prayer hall looking south-west towards the rectangular windows (now blocked) surmounted by stone panels carved with an arch motif. The south mi˙råb and details of the columns and the roof structure supported by lintels can also be seen.

257

258 BAYANA

Plate 5.15 TålakÈnÈ Masjid, exterior from the north-west showing the northern wall of the courtyard and prayer hall with two windows surmounted by panels carved in the shape of arches. On the left, the rough stonework belongs to the reconstruction of the fallen north-eastern portion of the platform. On the right, the back of the qibla (western) wall and the projection of the central mi˙råb can be seen.

with the shape of an arch. There are, however, no actual arches in the building and all representations of arches are carved out of stone panels. The prayer hall has three mi˙råbs, with the central mi˙råb being larger, deeper and more ornate than the other two (Figure 5.9, Plate 5.16) and projecting outside the wall (Plate 5.15). The slightly ogee arch of the central mi˙råb is again a stone panel carved in the form of an arch with a lobed fringe set above two engaged columns of Persian or Central Asian design – similar to those of the early monuments of the town – each with a vase motif below and above. The spandrels of the arch are adorned with two rosettes surrounded by scrolling vine motifs. The back panel of the mi˙råb is also decorated with an arch motif on flat slabs, reflecting the form of the outer arch but with a large rosette in the middle. This arch is, however, framed with a wide inscribed border bearing apparently a Quranic verse.13 The inscription is partly obliterated, but what remains shows highly skilful calligraphy in interlaced naskhÈ script of the fourteenth or early fifteenth century. Above the arched motif is another panel – filling up the field of the main arch – carved with a delicate interlaced vine motif. In Bayana hardly any other architectural decoration matches the quality of the decoration of this mi˙råb and particularly this panel. The other two mi˙råbs are closely similar in design and in general correspond The inscription begins with the opening phrase of a Quranic verse: bism’ illåh al-ra˙mån al-ra˙Èm (In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful), but is too damaged to be deciphered.

13

259

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Figure 5.9 TålakÈnÈ Masjid, details of central columns and mi˙råb. Dotted lines again suggest the original features, now lost.

with the form of the central mi˙råb, but are plainer. In the subsidiary mi˙råbs the main arch does not have the lobed fringe, the fields of the arches are plain, and the rosettes in the spandrels are on a plain background. The panels within each mi˙råb are again decorated with an arched motif with a rosette in the middle and framed by an inscribed border. Their texts are again Quranic, both bearing Quran, III, 18,14 carved in relief, but the naskhÈ script is coarser. Although the TålakÈnÈ Masjid is not dated, from the inscriptions and particularly that of the central mi˙råb it is possible to suggest a late fourteenth- or fifteenth-century date. This building is probably amongst the earliest surviving monuments in Bayana to have been built with its structural elements apparently purposely designed and carved for it. As the early fourteenth-century structures in Bayana still employ temple spoil, the suggested date, if acceptable, makes the building an early example of Au˙adÈ architecture. While the mosque is one of the finer monuments of Bayana for design and details, it looks back to the already established traditions of the region, avoiding the employment of structural elements such as domes and true arches current at this time elsewhere in north India. This architectural trend will continue to be seen in the monuments of Bayana. This verse of the Quran appears in some Muslim edifices in India and elsewhere and can be seen on DåwËd Khån’s minaret in Bayana. For the text and translation see Appendix I, inscription No. 25.

14

260 BAYANA

Plate 5.16 TålakÈnÈ Masjid: left: the elaborately ornamented and inscribed central mi˙råb; right: the northern mi˙råb, which is almost identical in design to the southern one.

Pıˉr Mastaˉn Masjid or Pahaˉırıˉ Masjid ˙ On the hills, about 1.5 km to the west of the Ukhå Masjid, in an unbuilt area between Bayana town, the fort and Sikandra stands a small solitary mosque (B.46) known as PÈr Mastån Masjid or PahåṛÈ Masjid (the hill mosque). The name, or rather the title, PÈr Mastån suggests that the mosque must have been associated with a Sufi pÈr (spiritual guide). No other information is known about this personage. The location of the mosque in an isolated place might indeed indicate that the building was constructed as a small chapel for the private use of an ascetic and his visiting disciples. However, PÈr Mastån should not necessarily be regarded as the founder or the person in whose honour the mosque was built, but one who might have resided in the building some time later, perhaps even after the mosque was no longer in common use. The prayer hall, three bays wide and two aisles deep, is almost square15 on the interior and stands over a raised platform above the level of another lower The prayer hall measures about 4.65 m × 4.70 m. The column shafts are only 1.4 m high and stand on bases 22 cm high.

15

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.17 PÈr Mastån Masjid or PahåṛÈ Masjid, general view from the north-west showing the prayer hall with its northern wall collapsed and the stone piled up in the foreground. On the left, the remains of the platform of the courtyard, which is considerably below the platform of the prayer hall, can be seen, and on the right, the projection of the mi˙råb on the back of the qibla wall, where some of the dressed stone of the surface of the wall is still preserved.

­ latform in front which was its courtyard, but little of the courtyard has survived. p The mosque (Figure 5.10), constructed of dressed red sandstone, is in a poor state of preservation and the northern wall of the prayer hall and most of the outer facing stones of the other walls have collapsed (Plate 5.17), but the interior of the hall is surprisingly well preserved and the roof is intact (Plate 5.18). The structure is closely similar to the TålakÈnÈ Masjid, with the lintels running along the length of the aisles, but in this mosque above the lintels is an extra set of slabs, cantilevered out at both sides providing a wider bed for the roof slabs and reducing their span. This arrangement occasionally appears in the buildings of the region but is not usual, as in other structures the roof slabs are commonly set directly over the lintels. The technique employed in this mosque may be responsible for the preservation of the roof, as the width of the aisles is about 2 m, just about the maximum for roofing with slabs of local sandstone without them cracking. The columns (Figure 5.10, Plates 5.18, 5.19) are purposely carved and the bases are decorated with a motif similar to those in the TålakÈnÈ Masjid and elsewhere. The shafts are in three registers, square above and below, and with bevelled edges in the middle, supporting fairly plain square capitals. The form of the column shafts represents the most common type in the region, which with small variations appears in many buildings. Above the capitals are the brackets, but although the beams run only in one direction the brackets are four-sided, of the type used for roof structures with cross-lintels. In this building the brackets that do not support a beam are each surmounted by a stub lintel – those on the eastern elevation of the hall are each decorated with a roundel.

261

262 BAYANA

Figure 5.10 PÈr Mastån Masjid or PahåṛÈ Masjid (B.46): left: plan and section A–A through the mi˙råb and eastern elevation of the prayer hall; right: details of a column on the eastern elevation of the prayer hall.

The single mi˙råb (Plate 5.19) is rectangular in plan and fairly plain. As with the TålakÈnÈ Masjid, instead of a true arch the form of an arch is carved in a slab fitted at the top – the only reference to an Islamic arch in the building. The building is not dated and there is no inscription that could help in establishing the date. However, the columns and other structural features are typical of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The damage to the building might have been caused by gradual deterioration, but destruction with parts of a building intact and other parts fallen is also characteristic of earthquake damage. Many of the buildings in the fort, particularly abandoned houses show the same phenomenon. If the PÈr Mastån Masjid was destroyed in the 1505 earthquake its date could be narrowed down to the fifteenth century.

263

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.18 PÈr Mastån Masjid, interior of the prayer hall looking south showing the roof structure, and on the right the mi˙råb, which is a rectangular niche with an arch carved out of a flat slab set into its upper part.

Plate 5.19 PÈr Mastån Masjid, view of the prayer hall from the courtyard looking toward the mi˙råb.

Ruinous structure in the fort In the residential area of the citadel amongst the houses between the Au˙adÈ Jåmi and the palace are the ruins of a structure (Figure 3.8, F.8), which has ­survived only partially and its original function is not certain but which could have been a neighbourhood mosque. The structure is orientated towards the qibla and has niches that might have been mi˙råbs, but in Bayana orientation alone is not sufficient to establish the function of a building, as most houses in

264 BAYANA

Plate 5.20  Bayana fort, structure F.8 in the citadel, interior of the surviving southern end of a hall looking towards the niches, probably mi˙råbs, in the qibla (western) wall. After the destruction the remains have been adapted, with the northern end walled up and the interior plastered. The true arches built above the niches may not be original, as they do not conform to the width of the niches below.

the fort have a similar orientation and some have niches in their western wall.16 What remains of the building is the southern end of the hall (Figure 5.11), which appears to have been destroyed, probably in the 1505 earthquake, with the surviving parts later being walled up and occupied as a house. The restored structure seems to have been used for a long time; the interior has been plastered and the niches fitted with shelves and surmounted with true arches, the width of which is smaller than the niches underneath and which may have been later alterations. True arches hardly appear in the buildings of Bayana prior the LodÈ period. The present state of the building represents a good example of the post-earthquake condition of the buildings in the fort where makeshift repairs have been carried out unskilfully, but often with some personal touches to make the ruins habitable. The hall was originally two aisles deep with a flat roof supported by cross-lintels over plain columns.17 Two of the surviving original bays each have a niche or mi˙råb on the qibla wall (Plate 5.20), with that to the north being wider and For examples, see Chapter 8, Fig. 8.1, structure F.9. The shafts are 1.98 m tall standing on bases 0.25 m high. The total height from ground to the lintels, including the height of the brackets, is about 2.80 m, an average height both for fifteenthcentury houses and small local mosques.

16 17

265

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Figure 5.11  Bayana fort, structure F.8 in the citadel, remains of the southern end of a hall, probably a mosque, plan and section. Its southern wall has been removed, and the remains of the colonnade on the north have been walled up.

deeper than the other.18 This arrangement corresponds with that of a prayer hall three bays wide originally, where a wider central bay and a wider mi˙råb would be expected. The central mi˙råb would normally project outside the wall, but in this case the walls have been restored and at present the northern niche does not have a projection. An alternative possibility is that the prayer hall might have originally been five bays wide, or even wider, but in this case the two surviving bays and mi˙råbs would be expected to be of similar sizes. Although the likelihood that the building was a mosque is strong, with the scanty remains it is difficult to establish with certainty the original function. Nevertheless, the arrangement of the front columns (Plate 5.21) of the hall, each composed of a pair of columns set side by side, is worthy of attention. In the architecture of northern India this arrangement appears first in the fourteenth century, and is reserved for palaces and grander public buildings such as mosques and madrasas. In Bayana buildings with paired columns on the front are not usual, The southern bay is 2.1 m wide and the northern bay 2.5 m.

18

266 BAYANA

Plate 5.21  Structure F.8 in the citadel: left: one of the paired front columns of the hall; right: exterior of the surviving southern end of a hall from the south-east showing the paired columns supporting the front. The base of the ruined wall on the left is original, but the northern wall, also partly fallen, is an old makeshift restoration to make the surviving remains habitable. All the original features around the roof are lost and stonework over the original lintels of the roof dates from later occupations, and was apparently set up to make the roof space usable.

and the form is seen only in the Grand Mosque of Sikandra and a house (F.10), where the method is discussed in more detail.19 A version with a single shaft, but rectangular – rather than square – in plan, with the narrow side facing the courtyard also appears in the Governor’s Mansion.20 Jaˉt Mosque In addition to the buildings noted here, in the East Enclosure of the fort there is a small mosque21 (Figure 3.5, F.39, Plate 5.22) built over the ruins of the houses in the built-up area outside the citadel. The well-preserved mosque is built of smallsized stones and its flat roof is supported by arches on piers 0.70 m thick, rather than on columns as seen in all other mosques in Bayana. The building differs from the older edifices in the fort both in structure and design, while its sound condition also indicates that it is of late date and was probably constructed in the eighteenth century, at the time of the Jåts, just before the fort was finally abandoned.

See Chapter 8, Fig. 8.3, structure F.10. See Chapter 9, structure F.7, Fig. 9.1, Pl. 9.6. 21 The prayer hall measures 5.91 m × 8.27 m on the interior. 19 20

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.22  Bayana fort, small mosque of a late date built over the ruins of earlier occupation, with small stones in the manner of brickwork and true arches. Left: general view; right: plan, west elevation and section A–A. Missing elements are shown with broken lines.

The Jaˉmi of Sikandra A new capital would need a new congregational mosque. This would be the first thought of any sultan such as Sikandar LodÈ when planning a new town. We have seen that when the plan of Sikandra was laid out one of the first major works undertaken was indeed a grand mosque. The brief seems to have specified that the building should be on a scale that would reflect the magnificence of the sultan himself, and should overshadow all older buildings in the vicinity, including the Jåmi of Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul. Further, the design should be traditional, to allude to the sultan’s respect for the past and religious traditions but yet incorporate structural innovations to reflect the technological advances of the time. And it did. The mosque (Figure 3.5, S.1), situated in the core of the walled town, is now in ruins, but even today its remains, with its three large domes – towering originally over many smaller ones – dominate the landscape (Plate 5.23). The prayer hall, over 33 m wide on the interior, is about 10 m wider than the Ukhå MandÈr mosque, and the length of mosque – prayer hall and courtyard together – exceeds 45 m on the interior, over 10 m longer than the Ukhå MandÈr. The ruins, which include an elegant mi˙råb (Plate 5.24), still represent one of the finest and largest mosques of the LodÈ period in north India. The building seems to have survived the 1505 earthquake, or more likely was completed after this date. It was apparently standing intact when visited by Carlleyle and later by Cunningham, who also prepared a plan of its prayer hall (Figure 5.12). With the present ruinous condition of the building, this earlier survey was helpful in understanding the original plan,

267

268 BAYANA

Plate 5.23  The Jåmiʿ of Sikandra (S.1), general view of the ruins of the prayer hall from the east with the ramparts of the fort over the hill in the background.

but Cunningham’s survey was incomplete, lacked details and did not include the courtyard and its features. Cunningham described the building as having been in a fair state of preservation, and his drawing did not record any part of the building in ruins. Today enough has remained of the building to allow us to present a fairly accurate set of survey drawings (Figures 5.13–5.15) and suggest some reconstruction drawings (Figures 5.16, 5.17). The entire mosque – the prayer hall and the courtyard – stands on a high platform, the core of which is solid, but has long galleries running at the southern, western and northern sides (Figures 5.13, 5.16, Plate 5.25).22 A number of rectangular openings give access and provide light to the galleries. The galleries – 2.17 m wide – have a flat ceiling with slabs set across the walls all along their length. The slabs cover an unusually wide span and as a result many of them Cunningham refers to these galleries and their openings as shops, built to be rented out and provide funds for the upkeep of the mosque. The galleries were not subdivided originally and even if they were planned to be later, what Cunningham suggests may not have been the case. Such galleries are common in fourteenth–sixteenth-century mosques and even in some later Mughal mosques and shrines. Sometimes these galleries are used as burial crypts, but often they are not designated for any specific function.

22

269

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.24  The Jåmiʿ of Sikandra, details of the central mi˙råb with its fine carving recalling the ornamentation of the Ukhå Masjid. The delicate open-work lobed fringe of the arch is lost. The partially surviving inscription of the outer border bears Quran II, 255, the Åyat al-KursÈ, and that around the arch of the mi˙råb bears the shahada. Some of the damage to the mosque seems to have been caused by vandalism.

Figure 5.12  The Jåmiʿ of Sikandra, Cunningham’s plan of the prayer hall. He shows double columns in front of the prayer hall, with corresponding double pilasters on the southern and northern walls (from ASIR, XX, pl. 18).

270 BAYANA

Figure 5.13  The Jåmiʿ of Sikandra (S.1), plan of the platform with galleries at three sides.

Figure 5.14  The Jåmiʿ of Sikandra, plan of the courtyard level showing the prayer hall and the domed canopy (chatrÈ) in the courtyard. Standing features are presented in solid black, walls and columns still traceable are shown in outline.

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Figure 5.15  The Jåmiʿ of Sikandra, section B–B through the prayer hall showing the present condition.

Figure 5.16  The Jåmiʿ of Sikandra, reconstructed section C–C through the courtyard showing the east elevation of the prayer hall in its probable original condition.

have cracked and the ceiling has collapsed in a number of places (Plate 5.26). The entrance to the mosque was in the middle of the eastern side, where there are no galleries, and a wide flight of steps gave access to the entrance originally. The steps have not survived, but their foundation core suggests that they might have been arranged in a pyramidal form ascending to a wide landing in front of the entrance. The entrance has also collapsed, but its piers have survived showing that it was originally in the form of a gate over 2.00 m wide under an apparently arched portal, 9.40 m wide. In spite of the large size of the mosque, there do not appear to have been ­colonnades around the courtyard, and the prayer hall alone dominated the western

271

272 BAYANA

Figure 5.17  The Jåmiʿ of Sikandra, reconstructed section A–A through the courtyard, the chatrÈ, prayer hall and central mi˙råb, showing the mosque in its probable original condition.

side (Plate 5.27). With the exception of two small domed units and parts of the three main domes (Plates 5.28, 5.29), the prayer hall has collapsed,23 but the remaining features show that it was constructed with columns with monolithic shafts supporting true arches, each spanning about 2.55 m and creating an arcade eleven bays wide. The columns of the front of the prayer hall were made of pairs of monolithic shafts set tightly together, now all fallen, but their corresponding double pilasters in the southern and northern walls still stand. Unlike other monuments in Bayana where red sandstone is dominant, this mosque is constructed with grey sandstone, with a limited use of dressed red sandstone where the stonework was to be left exposed. The squat column shafts are plain and each one stands over a square base and supports a square capital upon which the arches are constructed. On the interior the walls are of dressed stone up to the imposts of the arches. The rest of the stonework, both on the interior and on the exterior is rough and it seems that the building was intended to be plastered over, but plaster can only be seen on the exterior on the remains of the domes. The rest of the stonework appears to have been left exposed, perhaps indicating that the original scheme was not carried out entirely. It seems that, as with all other aspects of the structure, the design for the final appearance of the mosque was a deliberate departure from the traditional architecture of the region. The LodÈ buildings in Delhi are usually plastered over and on the interior the arches, squinches and other surfaces under the domes are often ornate with elaborate cut-stucco which may also include inscriptions.24 If this mosque were to be the Jåmi of Sikandra it is likely that a similar scheme was planned for the interior, but with the shift of the capital to Agra this expensive and time-consuming work was not carried out. The collapsed roof of the prayer hall and the debris of the domes covers the floor, but while, with the exception of a few columns, the rest are scattered on the ground and many pilfered, the walls, 1.15 m thick, and the pilasters, corresponding with the exact location of fallen columns, have survived, making it possible to determine the arrangement of the prayer hall with accuracy. 24 See, for example, the mosque at Båṛa Gunbad in LodÈ Park, Delhi in Yamamoto, I, pp. 58–9, M.35, pl. 42a and b; Brown, India Architecture (Islamic Period), p. 28. 23

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.25  The Jåmiʿ of Sikandra, exterior of the qibla wall looking south-east and showing the wall standing on a high platform with the remains of the three large domes. The outer projection of the central mi˙råb can also be seen as well as some of the openings to the gallery built into the platform.

Except for the three larger domes each square unit of the arcade supported a small dome. At the north-western and south-western corners of the prayer hall are the two large domes built over a high squinched transitional zone resting on a square base with two arches on each side. The central dome was even greater, set over an even larger and higher squinched transitional zone standing on a square floor plan with three arches on each side.25 The transitional zones were octagonal on the outside and would have risen high enough to be seen behind the parapet and crenellations around the roof. Such features, all imported from the architectural traditions of Delhi, had never been seen in Bayana before. Inside the prayer hall there are eleven mi˙råbs in the qibla wall, corresponding with the number of bays. All mi˙råbs are of a similar size and have a similar profile, with a solid slab in the form of an arch with lobed fringes and rosettes on the spandrels standing on engaged columns (Plates 5.24, 5.26, 5.28), except two: the central mi˙råb and that to its north. The central mi˙råb (Plates 5.24, 5.30) is slightly larger and more elaborate, with the central medallion of the back panel surmounted by a motif similar to a fleur-de-lis within an arched outline. The main ogee arch, with another fleur-de-lis above, originally had a very fine pierced stone fringe, now mostly broken, but clearly a reference to the fine carving of the KhaljÈ period seen in the fringes of the central mi˙råb of the Ukhå Masjid (Plate 4.39) and earlier in Kaman (Plate 4.10) and in the Ukhå MandÈr Mosque (Plate 4.18), perhaps expressing the continuity of sultanate dominance in the region. The Sikandra arch stands on pronounced corbels over finely carved squat engaged columns, and The central dome has a diameter of about 8.50 m and the other two larger domes each have a diameter of about 5.55 m.

25

273

274 BAYANA

Plate 5.26  The Jåmiʿ of Sikandra, interior of the prayer hall showing two of the secondary mi˙råbs. The ceiling of the gallery built into the platform below the mi˙råbs has fallen, showing the structure of the flat ceiling of the gallery as well as two of its openings.

Plate 5.27  The Jåmiʿ of Sikandra, remains of the south side of the prayer hall from the courtyard looking west. Parts of the southern and central domes and the squinches of their transitional zones can be seen as well as the central unit and part of its mi˙råb to the right.

275

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.28  The Jåmiʿ of Sikandra, view of the north-western corner of the southern dome looking north-west and showing the two surviving small domed units. To the left, part of one of the squinches of the southern dome can be seen, and the small squinch to the right belongs to the fallen dome of one of the small units.

the rectangular border surrounding the arch and spandrels is carved in a coarse naskhÈ script with the Profession of Faith, which commonly appears on tombs and mosques, but here is unusually followed by the phrase ‘God is the Pardoner’.26 The whole mi˙råb is set within a rectangular inscribed frame. The blocks at either side have fallen, but the single block on the top is in situ and bears the middle part of Quran II, 255, Åyat al-KursÈ (the Throne Verse),27 especially revered by Muslims, and, according to some traditions, the greatest verse of the Quran. The naskhÈ script is again unrefined and seems to be by the same hand as the other inscription. Although LodÈ inscriptions in Delhi are finer than these examples, as a whole the inscriptions of this period versus those of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries illustrate a steady decline in the skill of north Indian calligraphers, who were being gradually isolated from intercourse with their counterparts in Iran and Central Asia. ‫‘( بِسْم ِهللا الرّحْ َمن الرّحیم* اَ ْشهَ ُد اَ ْن َل اِ ٰلهَ اِ َالهلل َوحْ َدهُ َل شَریک لَهُ َواَ ْشهَ ُد اَنَّ ُم َح ّمداً َعبْدهُ َو َرسُولَهُ و هللا معافی‬I profess that there is no God but God. He is the Only One and He has no partner, and I profess that Mu˙ammad is his Servant and his Messenger, and God is the Pardoner’). 27 This verse is often used in mosques and tombs and also appears on the central mi˙råb of the TaletÈ Masjid described below. The verse is preserved in full on the tomb of Malik Badr Miyån, a noble of the court of DåwËd Khån Au˙adÈ; see Appendix I, inscription No. 21, where the text and translation of the verse is also given. 26

276 BAYANA

Plate 5.29  The Jåmiʿ of Sikandra, the two standing small domed units. Interior looking at the domes which are raised over corner squinches. In Delhi small domes are usually raised on pendentives, but the extra height provided by these squinches raises the domes above the level of the parapet and crenellations, to make them visible from the ground.

The mi˙råb to the north of the central mi˙råb is much smaller than those in other bays and is in the form of a flat niche with a simple ogee arch depicting in relief simpler motifs than those of the other mi˙råbs (Plate 5.30). This small feature instead of an ordinary mi˙råb in this position indicates that this bay was reserved for the installation of the minbar, which is always set to the right of the central mi˙råb. Although there is no trace of the minbar at present this arrangement confirms that the mosque was designed to be the Jåmi of Sikandra. If the minbar was ever installed it must have been of a perishable material, most likely wood, but it is also possible that with the shift of the capital to Agra and abandonment of the Sikandra project the mosque was never inaugurated as a jåmi and no minbar was installed. At either side of each mi˙råb are small arched niches for mosque lamps. Furthermore, above the central mi˙råb and the flat niche to its north there are two

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.30  The Jåmiʿ of Sikandra, qibla wall under the central dome showing the central mi˙råb, with the lamp niches at either side. To the right of the central mi˙råb the bay has a small flat niche instead of the usual secondary mi˙råb. This bay was apparently designated for the installation of a minbar, which would have been set up between the pilaster and the niche, a traditional position for a minbar, just north of the central mi˙råb.

slightly larger niches, and at either side of the niche over the central mi˙råb are two further smaller niches probably for extra lamps in this area when the Quran and other religious texts would have been recited. There are no openings into the qibla wall, but the northern and southern walls of the prayer hall each have four arched windows. On the exterior of each wall the window corresponding with the second aisle from the qibla has a small balcony (chhajjå) surmounted by a four-columned domed canopy (Plate 5.31). Such balconies do not appear in the earlier monuments of Bayana, but are common elsewhere in India and can also be seen in the LodÈ mosques of Delhi,28 as well as other fifteenth- and sixteenth-century monuments in north and west India.29 Their introduction in this building is yet another sign An example is the mosque at LodÈ Park mentioned in n. 24 above, another is Moth kÈ Masjid in Delhi, see Yamamoto, I, p. 59, M.36, ASIAR, 1924, pp. 5, 8–9; Brown, India Architecture (Islamic Period), p. 28; pl. 27. For an earlier example in Delhi, see the mosque at Óau∂-i Khåß in Yamamoto, I, p. 54, M.11. Other examples are numerous. 29 Balconies with surmounting chatrÈs seem to be north Indian in origin and can also be found outside Delhi in the buildings of the historic region of MÈwåt, neighbouring the north of the Bayana region. The form was later adopted by the Mughals. The monuments of MÈwåt are not yet systematically studied, but for an example see the tomb and mosque of Shåh Najm al-Óaqq in Sohna in ASIR, XX, pp. 135–6, and the Lal Masjid dating from the time of Akbar in Tijara in ASIR, 28

277

278 BAYANA

Plate 5.31  The Jåmiʿ of Sikandra, exterior view of the southern wall of the prayer hall showing the arched windows, one of which has a balcony surmounted by a four-columned chatrÈ. Parts of the larger south dome and its octagonal transitional zone, crenellated above, have also survived. The qibla wall can also be seen as well as some of the rectangular openings to the galleries of the raised platform.

that the mosque was intended to express the arrival of a new architectural – and political – regime. An interesting feature in the mosque is the remains of a large chatrÈ in the centre of the courtyard (Figures 5.14, 5.17, Plate III.16).30 The chatrÈ is in ruins, but its square platform still stands and some of its columns and other structural material are scattered on the site. From the remains it is clear that the chatrÈ was a fairly large example of its type, measuring about 9.60 m square in plan, with its dome supported by twelve columns, four at each side. The inclusion of a chatrÈ of this size in the middle of the courtyard of a Jåmi may at first be seen as surprising. In Bayana and elsewhere free-standing chatrÈs are usually funerary monuments and X, p. 117. A decorative version of such projecting balconies with columns, but without domes appears in many monuments of Gujarat such as the mosques of DastËr Khån, Mu˙åfiΩ Khån and RånÈ SiparÈ in Ahmadabad. See Burgess, The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad, Part I, pp. 76–81, 84–7, pls 94–104, pp. 106–10. Also see Burton-Page, ‘Mosques and tombs’, pp. 30–119, pls on pp. 44–4, 48–51, 58, 61, 82–3, 84, 86, 89 and 94–5. 30 Appendix III, No. 16.

FIVE: mosques and minarets

in the region of Delhi many examples can be found which are set in the centre of the courtyards of mosques, mostly dating from the Sayyid and LodÈ periods, but some earlier.31 These monuments are usually tombs of notables or religious personages. In the Delhi examples sometimes a mosque and a tomb were built at the same time as a complex, but occasionally – particularly in the case of religious personages – the tomb was built after their death in the mosque associated with their life. One of the earliest examples is the tomb of Khwåja NiΩåm al-dÈn in the compound of his residence, where a noble of Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ built the wellknown Jamåat-khåna mosque for the revered Sufi during his lifetime and the Khwåja was later buried in front of its prayer hall, although the tomb has been reconstructed many times.32 In Sikandra it is not known if the site of the chatrÈ was already the burial place of a religious personage and the site of the mosque was chosen to include his grave, or if the chatrÈ was designed to be used later on as the tomb of a local saint. Whatever the case may have been, it seems that with the inclusion of a shrine in the mosque Sikandar LodÈ intended to give the building a special status – above that of the older and more established mosques of the area – to ensure it would be visited more frequently both as a mosque and as a shine. The architecture of the mosque is a radical and intentional departure from the traditions of Bayana, but its structural principles and details are commonly seen in the architecture of Delhi. It is in Delhi that the great monuments of the Tughluq period were first constructed over high platforms, often with galleries built into them. Examples are numerous, amongst them the Jåmi of FÈrËzåbåd in Kotla FÈrËz Shåh. In this mosque, incidentally, the pyramidal arrangement of the stairs leading to the entrance is also comparable to the possible form of the stairs of the Sikandra mosque. Arches resting on columns with monolithic shafts that combine the traditional Hindu type of columns with Islamic arches is also a characteristic of the Tughluq architecture of Delhi, continued into the Sayyid and LodÈ periods. The most distinguishing Delhi feature is, however, the squinched domes, with the central one larger and raised higher than the others. In short, the Grand Mosque of Sikandra represents little of the local architecture, but is a Delhi mosque implanted in Bayana. If the minaret of DåwËd Khån was a political statement declaring the Au˙adÈ’s independence from Delhi, this mosque was Sikandar LodÈ’s counter-demonstration of Delhi’s supremacy over Bayana. The mosque was also the mark of a new era. If Sikandra were to replace Delhi as the capital, it would require architecture fit for a Delhi sultan, and this seems to have been perceived by the LodÈ builders to be the Tughluq and LodÈ traditions of the Delhi region.

One of the earliest examples, which has also been surveyed, is the mosque and tomb at WazÈråbåd north of Delhi, see Yamamoto, I, pp. 55–6; III, p. 69, fig. 34. Another is the mosque and tomb of MakhdËm Íå˙ib in Delhi, ibid., I, p. 58, M.33. Outside Delhi, the tomb and mosque of Shåh Najm al-Óaqq in Sohna mentioned in n. 30, above, is particularly comparable to the mosque in Sikandra. 32 Maulvi Zafar Hasan, A Guide to NiΩåm-ud dÈn (Calcutta, 1922), pp. 1–16. 31

279

280 BAYANA Small Neighbourhood Mosques Mosque converted to a house In the SarayjÈ or SarråjÈ Ma˙alla (leather workers’ neighbourhood) south of the QaßåÈ Ma˙alla (butchers’ neighbourhood) in the town of Bayana is a small mosque (Figure 3.2, B.17) now walled up and converted to a house, but still preserving most of its original features including the mi˙råbs (Figure 5.18, Plate 5.32). The mosque consisted originally of a small prayer hall, 5.52 m wide and probably about 2 m deep, but only the qibla wall and parts of the side walls have survived, while the front and a large part of the southern wall have been reconstructed with a modern wall with roughly squared stone blocks. The mosque has a flat ceiling and the original front elevation could have consisted of two columns and a pilaster on each of the northern and southern walls dividing it into three bays corresponding with the three mi˙råbs in the qibla wall, the central one being, as usual, wider the other two.33 The structure is constructed of blocks of red sandstone and the only decorative elements are on the arches of the mi˙råbs, carved with rosettes on the spandrels, those on the central mi˙råb larger and more elaborate than the others. The border of the arch of the central mi˙råb is also decorated with an interlaced rope pattern but the side mi˙råbs are plain. As a whole the mosque bears modest decoration of fairly standard motifs, but the forms of the mi˙råbs and their arches are worthy of attention. Unlike in the grander buildings, here the arches are not supported with decorative engaged columns carved into the jambs. Instead, they appear to be ‘hanging’ above the jambs with a hemispherical motif at each end. The arches themselves are ogee with the point of the arch of the central mi˙råb surmounted by a fleur-de-lis, and those of the side ones by a spear motif. However, apart from the ogee top, the twocentred – almost semi-circular – profile of the arches is of a type that appears only in the earlier buildings of Bayana and elsewhere in India. In Delhi after the midfourteenth century arches with a nearly two-centred profile hardly appear again. In Bayana the form can occasionally be found in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, but seems to have been abandoned in the Mughal period in favour of pronounced four-centred arches. The appearance of the form in this mosque suggests that the building predates this era, perhaps considerably. The stonework and particularly that of the mi˙råbs seems to have been intended to be seen, but at some time during the life of the mosque the interior has been plastered over. The plasterwork predates the modern conversion as it can be seen on all original walls including the surviving parts of the southern wall, but not on the modern reconstruction work. A skim of plaster has also been applied to The central mi˙råb is 1.03 m wide, and the other mi˙råbs are each about 0.77 m wide. They are all shallow and with the same depth of about 0.22 m.

33

281

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Figure 5.18  Bayana town, mosque B.17 converted to a house, plan and east elevation. In the plan the original walls are shown with thicker lines and modern alterations with lighter lines and hatching. The original position of the front columns and the probable form of the original elevation are also shown in both plan and elevation with dotted lines.

Plate 5.32  Mosque B.17, view of the prayer hall showing the central and southern mi˙råbs, as well as part of the southern wall. Unusually, part of the original southern wall has survived at the higher level, consolidated later with a stone shelf and a modern supporting wall below, which is set back slightly from the line of the original wall.

282 BAYANA the mi˙råbs, obscuring the sharpness of the carved decoration. The mosque represents a good example of a small local neighbourhood mosque, with appropriate but austere ornamentation. The mosque seems to have been located in a lessprivileged neighbourhood – as is indeed the case even today – and the community it served may account for its modest size and construction compared with the grandiose mosques of judges and magistrates. Small mosque in the citadel In the built-up area of the citadel between the Au˙adÈ Jåmi and the palace is a small mosque (Figure 3.8, F.11) with a narrow rectangular prayer hall five bays wide, walled all around except at the east where two columns divide the opening into three bays (Figure 5.19, Plate 5.33). Unlike other small mosques of this type, however, the whole of the eastern front is not open, as the bays at each end are walled. The prayer hall34 is roofed with simple flat slabs set across the length of the hall and supported by lintels resting above columns and corresponding pilasters. The solid stone walls, 0.70 m thick, do not carry the load of the roof slabs, a structural characteristic of trabeate architecture seen in most buildings of Bayana. The load-bearing columns, pilasters and lintels are plain and the walls are built with stones roughly squared on the surface indicating that the walls might have been originally plastered over. The single mi˙råb (Plate 5.34) is a simple niche with a true four-centred arch set in the middle of the central bay. The building is now in ruins, but as a whole it appears to have been plain with little or no decoration – a modest and unpretentious structure meant for everyday practical use. Above the mi˙råb there is a space for an inscription, but the slab has been lost and there are no indications of date other than the four-centred true arches of the mi˙råb and other niches suggesting that the building could not be earlier than the late fifteenth century – perhaps belonging to the last phase of the life of the town in the citadel.

The small prayer hall measures only 2.29 m × 7.18 m. The central bay, 1.60 m wide, is only about 5 cm wider than the adjoining bays, each with a small arched niche at the qibla side. The bays at each end are relatively narrow, measuring only 89 cm wide and they each have an even smaller niche for lamps. The northern and southern walls also have large arched niches flanked by smaller lamp niches.

34

283

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Figure 5.19  Bayana fort, small Mosque F.11 in the citadel, plan, section A–A through the prayer hall and eastern elevation showing the structure in its present condition with the original outline of the missing parts shown by dotted lines.

Plate 5.33  Bayana fort, Mosque F.11, general view from the east showing that in spite of its ruined state the three open bays of the eastern front and the flanking walls are still standing. Part of the features around the roof, including the eave stones with a plain parapet above, can also be seen.

284 BAYANA

Plate 5.34  Mosque F.11, interior view of the narrow rectangular prayer hall looking north and showing the mi˙råb on the left and the open-fronted central bays with their plain monolithic columns to the right.

Mosque with three domes in Sikandra (‘Mosque of Nizaˉm Khaˉn’) ˙ Outside the unfinished walls of Sikandra is a small mosque (Figure 3.1, S.5) about 0.5 km to the south-east of the town.35 The location of the mosque halfway between a step-well (S.14) and a monumental gate (S.6), probably of a garden36 shows that the mosque was originally within the area of the gardens of Sikandra, but there is no tomb or shrine associated with the building, suggesting that the mosque was possibly for everyday worship, perhaps within the private estate of a noble for the use of his family as well as his servants and associates. Although a simple building of a type commonly seen in northern India the mosque is of certain significance in Bayana. It is the only example of its type in Bayana to bear an inscription.37 Although the script is partly defaced or worn away, what has survived records the construction of the mosque at the time of a son of It stood in open fields, but with the expansion of the village of Sikandra it is now surrounded by modern houses. 36 The two monuments are discussed in Chapters 7 and 9, respectively. 37 Appendix I, inscription No. 32. 35

285

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.35  Sikandra, Mosque S.5, general view from north-east. Although the interior of the qibla wall is partly damaged and the prayer hall is half filled with rubble, the mosque is fairly well preserved and the domes are intact. The fluted corner towers can also be seen, and some still preserve part of the turret rising above the roof level. The damaged inscription, which still contains the words ‘at the time’ and ‘the son of Mujåhid Khån’, is in the middle of the central lintel.

Mujåhid Khån. We have already seen that the personage must be the same as NiΩåm Khån b. Mujåhid Khån, who was probably appointed as governor by Sikandar LodÈ and remained in charge of Bayana during the reign of IbråhÈm Shåh. This fixes the date of the building to sometime between 923 and 932 (1517–26). The mosque was therefore constructed after the earthquake of 1505 and this is perhaps a reason for its fair state of preservation, although it is now abandoned, partly filled with rubble and occasionally used as a storehouse by the local farmers (Plate 5.35). As with the Grand Mosque of Sikandra – and perhaps even more so – the building (Figure 5.20) employs the architectural vocabulary of Delhi yet in many details its structure refers to the traditions of Bayana, showing the hand of local builders in its construction. The building consists of a small prayer hall38 built essentially as a colonnaded structure in three bays with two free-standing columns in front and corresponding pilasters in the walls, supporting fairly plain stone lintels carrying the domed roof. The design of the columns with bevelled corners is similar to those already seen in the PÈr Mastån Masjid (Figure 5.10), as well as many other structures including the funerary buildings. The central dome is set on an octagonal base and is raised well above the other two, appearing superficially to be in a style commonly seen in Delhi. However, there is little similarity between the structural principles of these domes and those in Delhi where the form derives from the structure, and is usually achieved by raising the side domes on pendentives built into the walls, while the central dome is on squinches built over the walls creating an octagonal transitional zone.39 In this mosque, however, the true The prayer hall measures about 2.40 m × 6.75 m on the interior. The walls are over 0.60 m thick, and even thicker behind the central mi˙råb, the wide projection of which at the rear measures 2.66 m. 39 The principle appears is Delhi as early as in the Jamåat-khåna mosque dating from the KhaljÈ period (see n. 32, above). Later examples are numerous and include the mosque in the Baṛa Gunbad complex in Delhi, see Yamamoto, I, pp. 58–9, No. M.35. 38

286 BAYANA

Figure 5.20  Sikandra, Mosque S.5 built at the time of NiΩåm Khån, IbråhÈm LodÈ’s governor of Bayana, plan, eastern elevation and transverse section A–A.

domes are built over the lintels with triangular flat stone slabs at the corners. This is a method somewhat peculiar to the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century architecture of Bayana and also appears in many of the funerary chatrÈs discussed in the next chapter. In the case of this mosque, the trabeate units are not in fact square but measure about 1.99–2.05 m × 2.30 m, but the bases of the domes have been squared up by extra lintels set between the triangular slabs above the eastern and western lintels and cantilevered inward for about 15 cm to adjust the discrepancy. Apart from the open eastern front, the prayer hall is walled on the other sides with stone rubble plastered over, most of which still survives. The walls have arched windows at the northern and southern sides, but there are no openings in the qibla (western) wall where the central mi˙råb has a wide projection at the rear, ­dividing the back of the wall into three bays of almost similar sizes. This arrangement is again borrowed from the late fifteenth- and sixteenth-century

FIVE: mosques and minarets

architecture of Delhi,40 as in the earlier structures both in Delhi and Bayana as well as elsewhere the projection of the mi˙råb is relatively narrow marking the middle of the western wall. An interesting feature of the mosque is its corner towers, which also appear at either side of the projection of the mi˙råb. Each tower has an octagonal register below and a fluted register above, topped with small minarets or turrets (guldasta) rising above the roof level. The turrets themselves were in two registers, but their top registers are mostly in ruins. Similar columns appear in many of the LodÈ structures of Delhi and their zigzag fluting seems to refer to the design of the well-known Qu†b Minår. The origin of the form is even earlier and goes back to the eleventh-century minarets of Khurasan, examples of which still stand in Ghazna, the capital of the Ghaznavid sultanate.41 Similar turrets also appear in early mosques of India, including Aṛha’i din kå Jhon∙pṛa in Ajmer and, of course, in the Ukhå Masjid, but the form was later abandoned and revived in the fifteenth century. Its employment in this building together with other details, such as the form of the domes and the wide projection of the mi˙råb, seem to be once again a conscious attempt to produce a Delhi-style monument even though the local builders, more familiar with trabeate forms, did not follow the arcuate structural methods current in this period in Delhi. Mosque with flat roof in Sikandra About 2 km east of the Grand Mosque, and again outside the unfinished town walls, there is a second small mosque (Figure 3.1, S.16). Near this building stand the ruins of a substantial mosque (S.10) and a third small mosque (S.15), both discussed below. A cluster of mosques in a close proximity indicates that the area must have been built up. The area is near the modern village of Sikandra but the old houses, which must have surrounded these mosques, have long disappeared and the site has reverted to cultivated fields, although with the expansion of the modern village the area is now being built up again. Mosques and shrines are, It can be seen in the mosque of the Baṛa Gunbad complex as well as in Moth kÈ Masjid in Delhi, Yamamoto, I, 59, No. M.36. For examples outside Delhi, see the Chho†È Masjid in Hisar and mosque 2 in the Shåh Nimat’ullåh Rau∂a in Hansi in Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 76–7, 91, 94. 41 For early nineteenth-century sketches of the minarets showing them with their second tiers still standing, see James Atkinson, Sketches in Afghanistan (London, 1842), pp. 217–22; Keith A. Jackson, Views in Afghanistan, etc., from Sketches Taken during the Campaign of the Army of the Indus (London, 1842), pp. 11–12. For discussions on the minarets and the development of their form, see Ernst Diez, Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1st edn, III, 1936, pp. 226–31, under ‘Manara’; Eric Schroeder, ‘The Architecture of the Islamic Period: (F) SeljËq Period’; and A. U. Pope, ‘Architectural Ornament’, both in Pope (ed.), A Survey of Persian Art, III, pp. 983–6 and 1280–1, respectively. The minarets are mentioned in many modern works, see, for example, Finbarr Barry Flood, ‘Between Ghazna and Delhi: Lahore and its lost manåra’, in W. Ball and L. Harrow (eds), Cairo to Kabul (London, 2002), pp. 104–5, pl. 10.1. Flood also gives references to other recent publications. A colour illustration of James Atkinson’s painting of Ghazna’s two minarets in c. 1839 showing their upper tiers still standing is available on Wikipedia under ‘Ghazni’ (last accessed 7 March 2019).

40

287

288 BAYANA

Figure 5.21  Sikandra, Mosque S.16 with a flat roof, plan, east elevation and transverse section A–A. Missing elements are shown with dotted lines.

however, usually preserved, although with the departure of the Muslims these buildings are now also deteriorating rapidly and may soon disappear altogether. Nevertheless, their locations seem to indicate that when the construction of the town of Sikandra was abandoned it was this area, halfway between the town of Bayana and the fort, that developed as a settlement. Mosque S.16 (Figure 5.21, Plate 5.36) is similar to the so-called ‘Mosque of NiΩåm Khån’ (S.5) both in design and in size,42 but as a whole it is a simpler structure with a flat roof made out of slabs set across the prayer hall over the lintels. These are supported by the pilasters of the qibla wall and two free-standing columns and corresponding pilasters on the eastern façade. The column shafts are similar in design to those of the above mosque and the other structural elements are plain. The walls are built of stone rubble and plastered over, with wide arched windows in the north and south sides. The qibla wall has three mi˙råbs each similar in size to the windows of the flanking walls, but the central mi˙råb is deeper and slightly more elaborate. At either side of each mi˙råb, as well as the windows, are small arched lamp niches. The mosque measures about 2.40 m × 6.80 m on the interior.

42

FIVE: mosques and minarets

289

Plate 5.36  Sikandra, Mosque S.16, general view from the north-east. The lintels are made of red sandstone, but the columns are of a lighter colour, giving contrast to the otherwise plain façade.

Plate 5.37  Sikandra, Mosque S.16. Above: view from the north-west showing the northern and western walls of the mosque and the wide projection of the mi˙råb dividing the back wall into three panels of almost similar size, an arrangement also present in Mosque S.5. Below: view from the east showing the eastern elevation as well as the three mi˙råbs.

290 BAYANA On the exterior the corner towers are, as with the other mosque, in two registers, but both registers are octagonal and once had turrets, which have not survived. The roof had a fairly high parapet topped with arch-shaped crenellations, of which only a few still stand. Similar to the other example, the projection of the mi˙råb, 2.38 m wide (Plate 5.37), divides the back of the qibla wall into three equal bays, but in this case there are no towers at the corners of the projection. Above the roof, however there were two small turrets set on the corners of the parapet of the projection. These turrets were much slimmer than those topping the corner towers. Although there are no inscriptions in the mosque, its similarity to ‘NiΩåm Khån’s mosque’ and its general appearance resembling the LodÈ mosques of Delhi suggest that the building must date from the sixteenth century, probably from the time of IbråhÈm Shåh LodÈ, or perhaps slightly later, when, after the earthquake of 1505 the population of the fort was gradually moving to the plain with some people apparently settling there. ‘Mughal’ mosque About 300 m to the south of mosque S.16 are the ruins of another small mosque (Figure 3.1, S.15), which has lost its south wall and the southern part of the qibla wall as well as part of the roof. Nevertheless, enough has remained to allow us to study the plan and other architectural features. In general form and in structural principles the building is comparable with mosque S.16, but there are also marked differences, particularly in the decoration and details. The prayer hall (Figure 5.22, Plate 5.38), measuring about 6.10 m × 1.78 m, is slightly smaller than the other examples in Sikandra and in spite of the dilapidated state of the qibla wall, the central mi˙råb has survived, which is semi-octagonal in plan, markedly different from the usual local rectangular plan. In northern India semi-octagonal mi˙råbs are usually associated with the Mughal period and can be seen in many mosques.43 The appearance of the form in the Sikandra mosque seems to suggest that the building may date from this period. The slight outer projection of the mi˙råb, only 16 cm deep, is 1.32 m wide, marking the position of the mi˙råb but not dividing the wall, over 5.80 m long, into three equal sections. The feature seems to revert to the older local traditions, abandoning the LodÈ concept brought from Delhi. In spite of the ruinous state of the building the carved stonework bears refined decoration. The only surviving column of the prayer hall has a fluted octagonal shaft resting on a base with a curvilinear profile. The type is a departure from the square columns seen in the pre-Mughal architecture of the region, but variations of it appear in the Imårat-i BådgÈr in the fort dating from the time of the Emperor HumåyËn and a few funerary chatrÈs of apparently later origin, such as chatrÈs F.16 Examples are numerous, see, for example, the mi˙råbs of the MakhßËß Khån Mosque in Hajipur, the MÈrzå MaßËm Jåmi in Patna, the Jåmi of Ajmer and the Jåmi of Agra in Asher, Architecture of Mughal India, pp. 93, 159, 177 and 191, respectively.

43

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Figure 5.22  Sikandra, the ruined ‘Mughal’ Mosque S.15, plan, eastern elevation and transverse section A–A. The collapsed southern side of the mosque is shown with dotted lines.

and F.34 in the fort and B.7, known as the Tomb of PÈr Mu߆afå, in Bayana town, all discussed in the following chapters. In the mosque the form of the bracket capitals surmounting the columns also departs from the usual norms, being thinner and wider than usual and having a scrolling profile, again in a style common in the Mughal period. In Bayana, the pre-Mughal BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån (discussed in Chapter 7) also has elaborate capitals, but not quite in the same style of those seen in this mosque. The only other examples with comparable brackets in Bayana are the JhåjhrÈ (B.15)44 and an oblong funerary canopy (B.27),45 both datable to the Mughal period. In the mosque, on the eastern elevation another set of similar brackets ­supporting the eave stones is set above the capital brackets, taking the eave stones well above the lintels and allowing the carved details of the lintels to be seen. Although the building does not bear a date, from the semi-octagonal form of the mi˙råb and details of the decorative elements it seems clear that the mosque dates Appendix III, No. 54. Appendix III, No. 48.

44 45

291

292 BAYANA

Plate 5.38  Remains of the ‘Mughal’ Mosque S.15. Left: exterior from the south-west looking at the western wall. Right: from the south-east looking at the surviving parts of the structure including the only standing column, with a fluted octagonal shaft and Mughal-style bracket-capitol and base. The curvilinear forms are reflected inside in the pilasters.

from the Mughal period, perhaps from the late sixteenth century or more likely the early seventeenth century. The building therefore is the latest example of the small community mosques in the vicinity of the town of Bayana, although there must have been many others, some probably even later, which have perished. Even the ruins of this mosque, now in an advanced state of decay, are unlikely to last for many more years. Emergence of a New Mosque Plan During the fifteenth and early sixteenth century a particular mosque plan developed in Bayana, which had a profound effect on the mosque plans of the Mughal period. The main characteristic of the plan is the site of the prayer hall in relation to the courtyard. We have already seen the Arab-type plan of the large mosques, where a central courtyard is surrounded by a colonnade, and the plan favoured for smaller mosques where a prayer hall fills the western side of a courtyard. In both types

FIVE: mosques and minarets

the northern and southern walls of the prayer hall face the street and often have windows and balconies. In the case of earlier royal and congregational mosques, an entrance to the royal gallery also opens to the northern wall of the prayer hall. In the new plan, developed in Bayana, the prayer hall is set within the courtyard and attached to the western wall, but juts out into the courtyard that surrounds it on the northern and southern sides. The northern and southern walls of the prayer hall therefore stand within the courtyard. The plan does not seem to have been an innovation peculiar to one or two mosques at a particular period, but was widespread and applied to mosque design for over a century. Two such mosques have survived in the vicinity of Bayana, one the TaletÈ Masjid in the fort and the other the Ïdgåh Masjid in Barambad. A third, in a ruinous state, is in Sikandra, and a fourth, also in Sikandra, was described by Cunningham, but has now almost entirely disappeared and only some structural elements can be found on its site. There might have been even more mosques with such a plan. Taletıˉ Masjid The mosque46 (Figure 3.8, F.2) is situated in the North Enclosure of the fort near the TaletÈ Darwåza (‘lower gate’, F.1) and to the north of the ruinous market street (F.40). Cunningham was first to report a loose inscription, which he mentioned as bearing the date Rama∂ån 820/October–November 1417, found just outside the mosque, but the actual date is Rama∂ån 823/September–October 1420. In its historical context the inscription is of considerable importance as, apart from the confirmation of his death on his tomb, it is the only record of Au˙ad Khån independent from the accounts of the Delhi historians. The inscription47 declares in four lines of Persian verse the construction of a mosque and a well by the efforts of a noblemen (whose name is not very clear), at the time of Au˙ad Khån, who is referred to as the Great Khån (khån-i kabÈr) and no sultan is acknowledged as his sovereign. The inscription has since been lost, but its impression has been reported48 to have been from a carved slab measuring 1.04 m × 0.48 m (41 × 19 in), which could have fitted well over either of the two entrances of the mosque. In spite of the firm information provided by the inscription, Cunningham was led astray by graffiti on one of the columns dated ve 1578/ ad 152149 (Plate 5.39), The building was first noticed by Carlleyle (ASIR, VI, pp. 70–1), who considered it to be a temple, and later by Cunningham (ASIR, XX, pp. 82–3, pl. 17, no. 1), who correctly identified it as a mosque and reported its loose inscription. 47 Appendix I, inscription No. 16. 48 EIAPS, 1961, p. 60, pl. 20a, this source records that the inscription was in the mosque. 49 Cunningham did not mention – or could not make sense of – the content of the inscription, and it seems the text is either in a local dialect or composed by a poorly literate person. The text could be transcribed with some uncertainty as: sÈ yo savatå 1578 • masÈrmaya dhan∙∂a (?)• sabhayåyakåshai … (or Sabhamåghamåshai …). We agree with Cunningham in interpreting the date ‘savatå 1578’ as Vikrama Saṃvat, commonly used in the Devanagari inscriptions of the region. A √aka year would be unlikely, as it would correspond with ad 1656 – the last year of Shåh Jahån’s reign – which would 46

293

294 BAYANA

Plate 5.39  Bayana fort, TaletÈ Masjid (F.2), Devanagari inscription on one of the columns of the prayer hall dated ve 1578/ ad 1521.

and assuming that it was from an earlier temple concluded that the mosque must have been built out of temple spoil sometime after this date, while the foundation inscription would have belonged to another mosque. His conclusion is not credible on many counts, including that the TaletÈ is the only mosque in that area and there is indeed a well nearby, which may be the one mentioned in our inscription. The main problem with Cunningham’s assumption, however, is that the date of the presumed temple falls in the time of NiΩåm Khån b. Mujåhid Khån, the LodÈ governor of Bayana. It is hard to believe that NiΩåm Khån or his sovereign IbråhÈm Shåh would have countenanced the construction of an elaborate temple in Bayana, particularly in the light of their continuous hostility against the local Rajputs, especially the raja of Gwalior, which had been a main element in the LodÈs’ decision to shift the capital from Delhi – first to Bayana and eventually to Agra. Even more unlikely is the construction of a mosque out of temple spoil in the sixteenth or seventeenth century – that is to say, during the Mughal period – as this tradition was hardly exercised by the end of the thirteenth century and was abandoned by the end of fourteenth.50 The Devanagari text does not follow the style, formulae or conventions of a formal temple inscription, but is incised haphazardly on the side of a column shaft be far too late. The reading and meaning of the other two lines (not given by Cunningham) is not certain, but masÈrmaya may be a local spelling of masṛin∙aya dhan∙∂a, meaning ‘fine smoothing (i.e., carving) the stone’. The third line may be the name of the carver. 50 Some Gujarat sultans also tolerated the construction of temples in their territories, but they do not concern us here.

FIVE: mosques and minarets

in the manner of graffiti or the record of a local Hindu mason who was perhaps responsible for carving this particular shaft. This seems plausible when we consider that the date is only sixteen years after the earthquake, when mosques and public buildings were being restored in an attempt to repopulate the fort. Whichever building the Au˙adÈ inscription may refer to, it is clear from all details of the TaletÈ Masjid that the mosque is purpose-built and its structural style corresponds with that of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. We have therefore little reason to suppose any date for the building other than that of the Au˙adÈ inscription found on the spot. The foundation inscription of a mosque is usually fixed over a main entrance or over the central mi˙råb. In the case of the TaletÈ Masjid, the inscription of Rama∂ån 823/September–October 1420 might have been over its entrance, as there is no vacant space for a missing inscription over the central mi˙råb (Plate 5.45). This would also explain why the inscription was initially lying outside the mosque. The mosque (Figures 5.23–5.25) consists of a prayer hall (Plate 5.40), standing

Figure 5.23  Fort, TaletÈ Masjid (F.2), ground plan.

295

296 BAYANA

Figure 5.24 TaletÈ Masjid, east elevation of the prayer hall.

free on three sides but attached to the western wall of a courtyard.51 The prayer hall is flanked by the open space of the courtyard, 6.00 m wide at each side. This is the first time that such an entirely new and unconventional plan appears in any mosque in India. We should therefore consider more carefully its other architectural and decorative details, as many of these also appear in other mosques of similar layout in the region and some can be noted in Mughal architecture. The prayer hall is built with ashlar, but the walls of the courtyard are of roughly squared stone blocks rendered with thick plaster. The courtyard walls, however, are not fully preserved and parts of the walls, particularly at the eastern side, have fallen in places. The courtyard is entered via what appears to have been a flight of steps from the lower ground to the south leading up to a fairly plain entrance about 2.00 m wide in the southern wall. In this wall there are also arched windows opening to the courtyard (Plate 5.41) as well as two blind niches to the west of the western window corresponding with the windows on the southern wall of the prayer hall. The northern wall of the courtyard might, however, have been repaired or reconstructed at later dates as there are no windows in this wall and the niches are smaller in size and are set at a higher level than those of the southern wall. Unusually, the courtyard does not have an entrance in the eastern side, instead, there are five blind arched niches in the wall. It seems that the eastern wall did not face a street and probably adjoined a neighbouring building. The prayer hall (Plate 5.42), seven bays wide and two aisles deep, has a trabeate structure with a flat roof supported on cross-beams. The columns, capitals and brackets bear modest decorative carving. The shafts have bevelled corners, each highlighted with a decorative notch below and above, and the surface of the columns of the front of the hall are decorated with half lotus motifs (Figure 5.25, Plate 5.43). Other columns and their corresponding pilasters are less ornamented, but all columns share similar capitals carved with alternate darts and fleur-de-lis The prayer hall measures on the exterior about 18.00 m × 6.40 m, and the courtyard about 32.40 m × 30.00 m. The height of the prayer hall is about 3.20 m from floor to ceiling and the column shafts are just over 2.00 m tall.

51

297

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.40 TaletÈ Masjid in 1981, general view of the prayer hall from the south of the courtyard looking north-west, showing a decorative flat niche with a lobed arch on the south pier, and some of the surviving merlons standing over stringcourses around the roof. The upper course retains some of its band of blue tiles.

Plate 5.41 TaletÈ Masjid in 1981, view of the southern end of prayer hall from the courtyard looking south towards the arched windows in the southern wall. The southern entrance, now partly in ruins, is to the left of the windows. Carved details of a column of the prayer hall can be seen at the far right.

298 BAYANA

Figure 5.25 TaletÈ Masjid, east elevation, details of the central bay and the mi˙råb.

patterns. The decorative features are variations on types common in the Au˙adÈ and LodÈ buildings of the region. The columns are not, however, of similar sizes. Those at the front of the hall are rectangular in plan with the shafts measuring 0.42 m × 0.33 m, but the columns of the second row are 0.33 m square. This arrangement is a simplified version of the double columns fronting a hall, first seen in Tughluq architecture and also featured in many buildings of Bayana. A similar arrangement, but grander and more elaborate, also appears in the early Mughal architecture of Agra and Fathpur Sikri. The prayer hall is deteriorating rapidly. In 1981 the floor had already been dug up and many of the lintels of the ceiling were cracked and some had fallen. The arched panels of the mi˙råbs, apparently decorated with pierced-stone fringes, recalling those of the Ukhå MandÈr mosque and the TålakÈnÈ mosque, had already fallen or more probably had been destroyed by vandals. By 2004, the deterioration had progressed further. Large parts of the ceiling had fallen and many of the panels of the prayer wall had fallen or had been pilfered (Plates 5.44, 5.45). The pattern of partly intentional destruction was comparable to what could be seen elsewhere in Bayana, particularly in the Au˙adÈ Graveyard, where the ground had been stripped of numerous engraved tombstones, previously disturbed after the riots at the time of Partition, including those of the tomb of Au˙ad Khån. In the TaletÈ Masjid the prayer hall has windows in the northern and southern walls, each having an ogee-shaped arch, made out of two curved stones resting on the jambs (Plates 5.42, 5.44). The space between the curved segments and the frame of the window, corresponding with the spandrels of a true arch is filled with a simple slab. Similar arched openings appear in the Au˙adÈ Jåmi in the fort and in the TålakÈnÈ Masjid. Indeed, none of the other arch-shaped features in the TaletÈ

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.42 TaletÈ Masjid in 1981, interior of the prayer hall looking north with the remains of the three mi˙råbs on the left. The hall was at this time still in fair condition. Debris on the disturbed floor consisted mainly of fallen roof slabs as well as other material, including from the mi˙råbs. The arch-shaped windows of the northern wall of the prayer hall are at the right and there are small lobed arched niches in the walls at regular intervals.

Masjid, including the mi˙råbs have true arches. This is perhaps a good indication on stylistic grounds to confirm an Au˙adÈ date, although even after the LodÈ’s reintroduction of true arches the Bayana builders continued to construct arches out of large segments. An example appears in the niche framing the inscription of NiΩåm Khån in the Ukhå Minår (Plate 5.64). On the interior at each side of the windows there is a small lamp niche with a lobed arch, the top central lobe also having an ogee profile, like the niches set at regular intervals in the qibla wall. This type of arch is not common in northern India but appears in the Au˙adÈ Jåmi of the fort, which, as noted, is probably preAu˙adÈ in origin. More elaborate lobed arches occur in the buildings of JahångÈr and the late Mughals, but, as with many other features of Mughal architecture, their patterns may have been re-imported from Persian and Central Asian traditional forms of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The three mi˙råbs, all now dilapidated, are fairly similar but the central one (Plate 5.45) is slightly wider and deeper than the others. The mi˙råbs each had a slab carved in the form of an arch, now lost but set originally over two corbel stones extruding from the sides of the engaged columns of the jambs. What remained of the columns showed that each had a vase-shaped base with a squat fluted shaft

299

300 BAYANA

Plate 5.43 TaletÈ Masjid. Left: the southern pier of the prayer hall with a lobed arched niche, similar to those inside the hall. Right: details of a column of the front row of the hall decorated with a pointed arch motif above as well as two half-lotus patterns. The capitals are carved with a motif of alternate fleur-de-lis and dart patterns pointing downwards.

and a tall vase-shaped capital surmounted by another block faced with a carved niche. This block had a corbel supporting the arched-shaped panel. The field of the central mi˙råb is decorated with a rosette set above a flat arched niche with another rosette in the centre. Other mi˙råbs only have a single rosette each, carved on their back panels. The prominent feature of the central mi˙råb is a wide carved and inscribed border (Plate 5.46) bearing Quran II, 25552 in naskhÈ script. The calligraphy is not of the fine quality seen on the early monuments, but is fairly competent and comparable with that of the missing inscription of the time of Au˙ad Khån and that on his tomb. On the other hand, the calligraphy is superior to that of the inscriptions of Khån-i Khånån53 and NiΩåm Khån;54 this is yet another pointer to an Au˙adÈ date for the building. The inscription, still partly preserved in 1981, was framed with an outer band of scrolling vine motifs and an inner band of interwoven curling lines creating a Åyat al-KursÈ; for full text, see Appendix I, inscription No. 21. The surviving text illustrated here reads: ...ٌ‫َّح ِيم * اللَّهُ َل إِ ٰلَهَ إِلَّ هُ َو ْال َح ُّي ْالقَيُّو ُم َل تَأْ ُخ ُذهُ ِسنَة‬ ِ ‫الرَّحْ ٰ َم ِن الر‬... 53 Appendix I, inscription No. 29. 54 Appendix I, inscription No. 33. 52

FIVE: mosques and minarets

301

Plate 5.44 TaletÈ Masjid, detailed views of similar parts of the qibla wall in 1981, below, and in 2004, above, showing the extent of the deterioration. The missing red sandstone panels cladding the wall have fallen or been removed, exposing the structure made of rubble stone and mortar. However, the decorated string-courses deeply embedded in the wall survive, displaying blue tile inlay.

Plate 5.45 TaletÈ Masjid, the central mi˙råb in 1981, left, and in 2004, right. The mi˙råb was framed by a band of Quranic inscriptions and decorative patterns, most of which have been removed and the top lintel appears to have been cut. The arch and its southern jamb had already fallen in 1981, but the arch, carved apparently from a single slab, originally stood over corbels one of which was still preserved on the northern jamb, carved in the form of a squat fluted engaged column with vase-shaped base and capital, now hacked out. The panels of the back of the mi˙råb are carved with a rosette within a flat niche and above it a larger rosette which would have been framed by the arch.

302 BAYANA

Plate 5.46 TaletÈ Masjid, details in 1981 of the engaged column of the north jamb of the central mi˙råb and part of the inscribed border bearing Quran II, 255.

variety of endless knot patterns. The edge of the border was framed by a fine rope pattern. The border was, however, no longer intact and the panels at the south side of the mi˙råb had already fallen, with broken fragments being scattered on the floor of the prayer hall. On the exterior the prayer hall has a solemn presence and the decorative features are confined to the carvings of the front columns as well as to two niches – similar to the lamp niches of the interior. Other ornamental elements

FIVE: mosques and minarets

are expressed by structural features including the roof parapet with merlons in the familiar form of crenellations, over two string-courses; the upper course faced with turquoise-blue tiles, some of which have fallen and others have lost their glaze, but with enough remaining to show the original colour. Each of the crenellations also has an incised cruciform pattern in the centre, which appears to have also been inlaid with turquoise-blue tiles. There is further glazed tile work on the interior of the qibla wall, consisting of mainly white, yellow, turquoise and cobalt blue, and a panel over the central mi˙råb is decorated with cut glazed tiles, although most of the glaze has now flaked off. The application of elaborate glazed tiles, a characteristic of Middle Eastern and Central Asian architecture of this period, was not widespread in northern India. In the Deccan55 and in Bengal56 polychrome glazed tiles do appear, but in fifteenthcentury northern India glazed tile-work is usually limited to string-courses and simple geometric patterns often inlaid into stone. In Bayana turquoise and cobalt blue tiles appear frequently in other Au˙adÈ and LodÈ mosques and shrines, but their application remains limited to no more than what appears in the TaletÈ Masjid. On the exterior of the prayer hall below the string-courses were eave stones supported originally by lintels decorated with spear and half-diamond patterns and resting on the stub-lintels surmounting the capital brackets. Most of the eave stones have been broken, but their broken ends are still in situ. Returning to the question of the date of the building, in addition to the inscription of Rama∂ån 823/September–October 1420 reported on the site many other features of the structure also point to an early fifteenth-century date. If we accept that the inscription was indeed the foundation stone of the mosque, the TaletÈ Masjid should be regarded as the first surviving mosque with this entirely new and unconventional plan.

 Iˉdgaˉh Masjid The second mosque with a plan similar to the TaletÈ Masjid is located to the east of the River Gambhir, in a field just outside the village of Barambad (Figure 3.1, BR 1). The name Ïdgåh Masjid suggests that the building may have been constructed on or near the site of an Èdgåh serving the population of the village that, unlike today, was once a large and prosperous centre of indigo production.57 The mosque is fairly well preserved and while it does not bear a dated foundation inscription, Yazdani, Bidar, its History and Monuments, pp. 24, 35, 45–7, 172, 185, 200. Khån, Memoirs of Gaur and Pandua, pp. 53–5, 67, 72–5; also see Asher, ‘Inventory of key monuments’, pp. 73–4, 77. 57 Alam Khan, ‘Pre-modern indigo vats of Bayana’, pp. 92–7; Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi, ‘The design of pre-modern indigo vats in North India: a study of seventeenth and eighteenth century indigo vats of Bayana and Kol indigo tracts’, Journal of the Asiatic Society (Bengal) LI, iii (2009): 76–80 and figures in pp. 82–3. 55 56

303

304 BAYANA

Plate 5.47 Barambad, ʿldgåh Masjid (BR.1), the ‘graffiti’ inscription of Akbar’s courtier, MÈr Mu˙ammad MaʿßËm NåmÈ, written by his son MÈr Buzurg and dated 1007/1596–7, on the northwestern pilaster of the southern chatrÈ.

a ‘graffiti’ by a well-known personage enables us to establish a possible date of the building. While it could be called graffiti, it is in fact a dated inscription in a fine nastalÈq script, carved on a pilaster of the gateway and executed by MÈr Mu˙ammad MaßËm NåmÈ,58 a well-known courtier of the Emperor Akbar who, as we have already seen, used to carve inscriptions on monuments wherever he went.59 The verses and calligraphy (Plate 5.47) in the Ïdgåh Masjid resemble his other ‘graffiti’ and the date ah 1008 (1599–1600) proves beyond doubt that by then Appendix I, inscription No. 47. See Chapter 2, n. 310.

58 59

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Figure 5.26 Barambad, ʿÏdgåh Masjid (BR.1), plan. Not only is the plan similar to that of the TaletÈ Masjid, but so are the measurements, suggesting that the two buildings might have been laid on the ground from similar, if not the same, drawings.

Figure 5.27  ʿÏdgåh Masjid, axial section A­–A through the entrance, the prayer hall and the central mi˙råb looking south.

the Ïdgåh Masjid was an established monument; we can therefore ascribe the date of the building to at least the sixteenth century or perhaps earlier. The mosque (Figures 5.26–5.29) is in all respects similar to the TaletÈ Masjid and the close proximity of their measurements presented in Table 5.1, below, shows that the two buildings are not only based on a similar design, but may have been laid out from the same drawings. This may also explain the close similarity

305

306 BAYANA between the sizes of the structural elements. Furthermore, in the buildings of Bayana – whether residential dwellings or tombs and shrines – the structural elements generally fall into a few set standards, indicating that these materials may have been produced in masons’ yards in runs of more or less similar sizes for purchase by type and numbers required, and fitted together on site with little adjustment – a process similar to modern prefabrication. Many other details in the two mosques are also similar, including the use of a band of blue tiles above the eave stones and cruciform recesses in the crenellations, inlaid with tile. In this mosque the eave stones and the crenellations have survived mostly intact; the band of blue tiles remains mainly over the eastern entrance, while the tiles of the prayer hall have mostly disappeared. In the Ïdgåh Masjid crenellations also appear over the courtyard walls, which are intact at the eastern and southern sides, but in the north only a short segment of the original wall survives and the rest has been reconstructed later (Figure 5.26). Unlike the

Figure 5.28  ʿÏdgåh Masjid, transverse section B–B through the courtyard at a point where an original part of the northern wall has survived, looking west and showing the east elevation of the prayer hall.

Plate 5.48 Barambad, ʿldgåh Masjid, general view of the prayer hall from the courtyard looking west. Most of the features of the prayer hall, including the eave stones and crenellations are intact. The courtyard wall to the north (right) of the prayer hall has been reconstructed, but the southern wall is original and has preserved its large blind niches and crenellations.

FIVE: mosques and minarets

TaletÈ Masjid, in this mosque the arched niches in the walls are large and set at regular intervals (Plates 5.48, 5.59). These walls have no windows, but there is a small entrance in the southern wall, and there was presumably a corresponding opening in the north, which has not been maintained in the later reconstruction. The structure of the prayer hall (Plates 5.48–5.50), again seven bays wide and two aisles deep, is also close to that of the TaletÈ Masjid, with the roof supported on cross-beams, but the columns bear slightly less decoration. Unlike the TaletÈ, in Barambad the front columns are square, not rectangular in plan, and are of the same size. The capitals bear a motif of alternate fleur-de-lis and dart patterns, a variation of what appears in the TaletÈ Masjid, but larger in size and more pronounced. The surface of the shafts is, however, plain. The three mi˙råbs are again closely comparable with those in the TaletÈ Masjid, but in Barambad most of the details are preserved including the panels carved in the shape of slightly ogee arches set over the jambs. Again, the arched panel of the central mi˙råb (Plate 5.51) is set over corbels that are part of the capitals of the engaged columns. Above the central mi˙råb a rectangular panel appears to have been inscribed, but is now worn away or obliterated, and it is not clear if it once bore a foundation inscription or a religious text. Between the mi˙råbs are the usual small lamp niches, which in this mosque have conventional arches instead of the lobed profiles seen in the TaletÈ. The main feature in the mosque, not seen in the TaletÈ Masjid, is the eastern entrance (Figure 5.29, Plate 5.52). The doorway itself is a simple rectangular opening less than 2.00 m wide, but framed with a large arch flanked by two ­platforms ­surmounted by four-columned chatrÈs. The inscription of MÈr Mu˙ammad MaßËm is on the north-western pilaster of the southern chatrÈ. The

Plate 5.49  ʿldgåh Masjid, view towards the south-west of the courtyard. The walls of the open space south of the prayer hall are slightly higher, emphasising the space, while those of the rest of the courtyard are lower, giving a sense of a wider and grander space to the courtyard as a whole.

307

308 BAYANA

Plate 5.50  ʿldgåh Masjid, interior view of the prayer hall looking north showing the structure of the roof and the wide arched windows of the northern wall of the hall. The central and northern mi˙råbs can also be seen, as well as the columns of both the front and inner rows with their fairly plain shafts with bevelled edges and square capitals decorated with an alternate spear and fleurde-lis motif.

height of the entrance is twice that of the courtyard wall and considerably higher than the prayer hall, and although it is plain at the western side, its battered walls still stand distinct from the wall (Plate 5.53). The details of the entrance, including the glazed tiles, are very similar to those of the prayer hall, and it is reasonable to assume that the design is an integral part of the original work, but the grand scale, perhaps disproportionate to the rest of the building, might suggest that the entrance could be a later addition. If this were the case the mosque itself would be even earlier than the entrance, which is clearly earlier than the date of the inscription. The form of the entrance with flanking chatrÈs is, however, common and we have already noted other examples, including a ceremonial town gate (F.21) with multistoreyed chatrÈs in the fort (Figure 3.7). The chatrÈs of the Ïdgåh Masjid have ribbed domes (Plate 5.54), each constructed of eight monolithic ribs keyed together with a central boss with the space in between filled with stone panels, all finely finished and visible on the interior, but covered on the exterior with cement to give the expected ‘Muslim dome’ profile. The ribbed domes of these chatrÈs are the continuation of the tradition seen first in the early fourteenth-century Ukhå Masjid, and appear again in a number of funerary monuments of Bayana.

309

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.51  ʿÏdgåh Masjid, central mi˙råb. The arch of the mi˙råb is carved from a single slab, set on corbels of the capitals on the engaged columns. The mi˙råb is framed by a decorated border, above which the stones appear to have been inscribed, although little of the inscription has survived.

Figure 5.29  ʿÏdgåh Masjid, details of plan and axial section of the entrance.

310 BAYANA

Plate 5.52  ʿÏdgåh Masjid, exterior, the eastern wall of the courtyard with the main entrance portal flanked by two chatrÈs in the centre. Above: view from the south-east; below: from the east. Part of the wall on the right has been reconstructed, while the debris of the collapsed south-east corner can be seen on the left.

Plate 5.53  ʿÏdgåh Masjid, inner view of the eastern wall of the courtyard and the main entrance seen from the courtyard looking east. The entrance is an outstanding feature with battered sides twice as high as the wall.

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.54  ʿÏdgåh Masjid, interior view of the ribbed dome of the chatrÈ at the north side of the entrance. The arched niche in the wall under the dome can also be seen.

311

312 BAYANA

Mosques at Sikandra In Sikandra Cunningham60 reported two mosques closely similar in plan and construction, one in the north of the present village and one in the south. At his time both mosques, and particularly that in the north, were apparently still in a good state of preservation. He mentions that the northern one was of red sandstone, 16.15 m long × 5.95 m wide (53 ft × 19 ft 6 in) inside, with seven openings in front and two aisles formed of pillars, supporting a flat roof. At a distance of 26.21 m (86 ft) in front of the mosque he describes ‘a rather picturesque entrance with a small domed room on each side’. He reports a short Någari inscription dated Samvat 1577 (ad 1520), set upside down on a jamb of the doorway and concludes that it must be reused material from a temple and that the mosque would therefore be considerably later than 1520.61 Today the northern mosque has entirely disappeared and only some structural elements can be found on the site. The mosque seems to have been systematically dismantled and its stones pilfered for the construction of modern buildings. The inscribed date found by Cunningham seems to have been of a type similar to what we have seen on the column in the TaletÈ Masjid (Plate 5.39), and was probably the record of a stonemason. It is interesting that the date on the column of the northern Sikandra mosque was a year earlier than that in the TaletÈ Masjid, and again falls in the LodÈ period, when NiΩåm Khån was the governor of the region. If the dated inscription in the TaletÈ Masjid could be connected with restoration work, the date seen in the Sikandra mosque may relate to the time of its construction, although Cunningham did not actually find a foundation inscription there. The date of the record on the column is fifteen years after the earthquake, at the time when the population of the fort seems to have been moving down to the plain and settling in the newly established town of Sikandra. The expansion of the settlement must have required new mosques and the construction of the two large mosques may have been a response to the requirements of the growing population. As far as the southern mosque is concerned, in spite of its ruinous condition at the time of Cunningham, this structure (Figure 3.1, S.10) has survived (Plates 5.55–5.58). It seems that this mosque suffered a fate similar to that of the n ­ orthern one and most of the stones of the courtyard walls and prayer hall appear to have been pilfered, although enough still remains of the mosque to allow us to prepare fairly accurate drawings of the structure (Figures 5.30–5.33). In all respects the plan of the building is similar to the TaletÈ and the Ïdgåh Masjid, but while the size of the building is comparable, the measurements are not identical, showing that the same new principle of mosque plan had been applied without using the same or similar sketch drawings. The prayer hall is ASIR, XX, pp. 79–80. As mentioned in the context of the TaletÈ Masjid, a temple built or restored in Bayana during the reign of Sikandar LodÈ is inconceivable.

60 61

313

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.55  Sikandra, the southern mosque (S.10), the surviving colonnade of the prayer hall from the courtyard looking towards the qibla wall, little of which has survived. The encroaching modern buildings of Sikandra village stand in the background.

Figure 5.30  Sikandra, the southern mosque (S.10), plan. The parts fully preserved are shown with thicker lines and those that only remain at the lower levels with thinner lines. Reconstructed parts are represented with dotted lines.

314 BAYANA

Figure 5.31  Sikandra, the southern mosque (S.10), axial section A–A through the surviving entrance and prayer hall, looking north.

Plate 5.56  Mosque S.10, northern end of the prayer hall, built with columns with bevelled edges, in the style commonly seen in Bayana, and with finely carved capitals. The foundation of the northern wall of the prayer hall seems original, but the remains of a haphazard rubble wall at the western (qibla) side is by later squatters. The remains of the original wall of the courtyard are seen behind the northern columns of the colonnade.

Plate 5.57  Mosque S.10, remains of the northern portion of the western wall of the courtyard, still preserving one of its niches and its original plaster. Not only in layout, but also in its construction the wall is closely similar to those of the TaletÈ and the ʿÏdgåh Masjid.

315

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.58  Mosque S.10, exterior view of the remains of the platform of the courtyard with the ruined main entrance gate and its surviving flanking chatrÈs, seen from the northeast. The dome of the southern chatrÈ has partly collapsed revealing its ribbed structure.

Figure 5.32  Sikandra, the southern mosque (S.10), details of plan and axial section of the entrance.

Figure 5.33  Sikandra, the southern mosque (S.10), transverse section B–B through the courtyard showing the east elevation of the surviving prayer hall and the qibla wall of the courtyard, with missing parts shown by broken lines.

316 BAYANA Table 5.1  Rounded up measurements of the TaletÈ Masjid, the Ïdgåh Masjid and the mosque in Sikandra, all with similar plans. The Sikandra mosque is partly in ruins and some of its measurements are approximations taken from those of the corresponding elements, which have survived. Plan Mosque

courtyard length

courtyard width

prayer hall width ext.

prayer hall open area at each depth ext. sides of the hall

TaletÈ M. Ïdgåh M. Sikandra M. Cunningham’s measurements of destroyed Sikandra mosque

32.40 31.90 32.00 –

30.10 30.80 28.80 26.21

18.10 18.55 17.70 16.15 (interior) 17.65 (?) (exterior)

6.35 6.40 5.85 5.95

6.00 × 6.35 6.00 × 6.40 5.55 × 5.85 –

brackets height

lintels height

floor to ceiling height

0.33

0.36

3.20

0.36

0.36

3.26

Profile Mosque

column column shaft base height w × d × h

TaletÈ M.

0.30

Ïdgåh M.

0.33

capital height

0.33 × 0.33 × 2.01 0.20 0.33 × 0.42 × 2.01 0.33 × 0.33 × 2.02 0.19

again seven bays wide and two aisles deep with mi˙råbs in alternate bays. Only the lower parts of the qibla wall of the prayer hall have survived and the details of the mi˙råbs are lost. An interesting feature of the prayer hall, different from the other two mosques, is that each unit of the colonnade is rectangular – rather than square – in plan, measuring about 2.00 m wide but nearly 2.50 m deep. There were apparently two windows in the northern and southern walls of the prayer hall, but little of these walls remain today. The walls of the courtyard have also disappeared except in two positions: the qibla wall to the north of the colonnade, and part of the eastern wall preserving the original entrance. Together with the remains of the platform of the mosque, these two portions of the wall provide crucial information on the layout of the courtyard and its main entrance. The remaining part of the qibla wall has a small arched niche, on the lines of those seen in the TaletÈ Masjid and it is likely that  similar  niches decorated the rest of the courtyard walls. The entrance is  closely similar to that of the Ïdgåh Masjid, but slightly smaller in scale and more in proportion with the prayer hall. Here again, the chatrÈs flanking the entrance have ribbed domes closely similar to those of the Ïdgåh Masjid. In the entrance some of the glazed blue tiles have survived showing that in this mosque also blue tiles were employed in the same manner as in the former buildings.62 As far as the date of the southern mosque is concerned, in the absence of any inscription, and in spite of Cunningham’s inference that this building is earlier Cunningham also mentions that the mosque had some bands of blue glazed tiles.

62

FIVE: mosques and minarets

than the northern mosque, we can only suggest that the two mosques must be very close in date and associated with the short period of Sikandra’s prosperity at the end of the LodÈ period in the early sixteenth century. If we accept that the TaletÈ and the Ïdgåh Masjids are earlier in date than the Sikandra mosque, the slight differences in the planning of this mosque may indicate a degree of freedom developing in mosque design of the time. The three surviving mosques, and the ruinous fourth, with such a different and unconventional plan demonstrate that the design was not an isolated or one-off exercise. The plan seems to have developed in the fifteenth century and fairly early during the rule of the Au˙adÈs, but remained popular even at the time of the LodÈs, in spite of the LodÈs’ reintroduction of the Delhi style into the region. That the plan was initially an intentional departure from the established practice seems obvious, but the reason for such a deviation is perhaps less clear. The Bayana architects and builders appear to have worked independently – if not in some isolation – from those of Delhi and other surrounding regions. We have seen that while they were aware of the traditions of Delhi, they did not follow them, and in the case of, for example, domed buildings, they sometimes developed their own structural methods, some unconventional and some not entirely successful. The plan of the TaletÈ Masjid may have been simply a fresh exercise in mosque design, but could have also been a demonstration of the artistic freedom of the local architects, marking the political independence of their rulers emphasised in the inscriptions. Whatever the reasons behind the development of the new plan, during the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries it seems to have remained a strictly local practice and no other mosque with such a plan is found outside the vicinity of Bayana. The concept was later to have a profound effect on the planning of Mughal mosques. A reflection of the plan appears in the design of the Emperor Akbar’s mosque for Shaikh SalÈm ChishtÈ at Fathpur Sikri (Figure 5.34).63 Built of the finest red sandstone quarried in a village south of Bayana, in plan the prayer hall appears as an independent structure jutting out of the colonnade surrounding the courtyard (Plate 5.59). But in the courtyard the conventional Indian mosque plan is still maintained to some extent as the colonnades line up with the front elevation of the prayer hall. A generation or so later, however, the principle of the Bayana mosque plan appears without dilution in many of Shåh Jahån’s grand mosques, including the Ïdgåh Masjid of Agra64 and the Jåmi of Delhi (Figure 5.35).65 Although, as with other buildings of the period, the Ïdgåh Masjid of Agra is an arcuate rather than a trabeate structure, in plan the prayer hall – consisting of seven bays – stands Edmund W. Smith, The Moghul Architecture of Fathpur Sikri (Allahabad, 1894–8), pt. iv, pp. 1–15, pls 1–82; Attilio Petruccioli, Fathpur Sikri: Città del sole e delle acque (Rome, 1988), pp. 50–2, figs 58–71. 64 Asher, Architecture of Mughal India, pp. 233–6, pl. 148. 65 Ibid., p. 202; Brown, Indian Architecture (Islamic Period), pp. 105–6, fig. 1 facing p. 4. 63

317

318 BAYANA

Figure 5.34  Fathpur Sikri, the mosque of Shaikh SalÈm ChishtÈ, plan (after E. W. Smith).

Plate 5.59  Fathpur Sikri, the mosque of Shaikh SalÈm ChishtÈ, built with red sandstone from the Bayana region. The tall, slim columns of the colonnade, together with the capital brackets, display many features already seen on a modest scale in Bayana.

319

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Figure 5.35  Delhi, the Jåmiʿ mosque, plan.

Plate 5.60  Delhi, the Jåmiʿ of Shåhjahånåbåd, general view of the prayer hall. In spite of the arcaded structure and impressive arches and domes, in plan the prayer hall jutting out of the western wall of the courtyard is a grander version of the type first seen in Bayana.

free on three sides of the courtyard and is only attached to the western wall. The Jåmi of Delhi, perhaps the most significant mosque of Shåh Jahån’s period, has an arcade around the courtyard, but once again the prayer hall juts out of the qibla wall and is flanked by the open space of the courtyard (Plate 5.60). Although the traditional Indian mosque plan would not be abandoned, by the seventeenth century this innovative plan seems to have been much in favour and

320 BAYANA appears even in Shåh Jahån’s small private chapel known as NagÈna Masjid in the fort of Agra.66 One of the latest examples of the grand Mughal mosques on this plan is the BådshåhÈ or PådshåhÈ Masjid in Lahore,67 built in 1084/1673–4 at the time of AurangzÈb, a perhaps slightly less elegant version of the Jåmi of Delhi, and built on a similar scale. While Mughal architecture attracts the attention of visitors, laymen and scholars alike, Bayana and its complex art and architecture – the rightful predecessor of that of the Mughals – has remained relatively obscure. However, through the mosques and other buildings noted here the significance of the architecture of Bayana in the history of seventeenth-century north Indian culture is increasingly becoming apparent. The time is now ripe to give thorough attention not just to these structures alone, but to the formidable fort of Bayana and the numerous monuments spread in the fort and town of Bayana as well as throughout its region. Minarets Minarets, a distinguishing feature of Muslim towns, are usually built in association with a major mosque to demonstrate its status and provide a high point for the call to prayer. They are not, of course, a liturgical requirement, as the call to prayer can be made from any suitable place. The tradition of using minarets did not exist at the time of the Prophet or indeed in the early days of the expansion of Islam,68 and their form apparently derives from the towers and lighthouses set up to guide travellers and also the bell towers of churches. In Bayana, in addition to two massive minarets, that of DåwËd Khan in the fort (Figure 3.8, F.15b) and the Ukha Minår (Figure 3.2, B.3) in the town, both associated with the peak of Bayana’s prosperity, there is a poorly constructed unfinished small minaret to the east of the bazaar in the North Enclosure of the fort (Figure 3.8, F.44). The minaret of Daˉwuˉd Khaˉn The minaret associated with the Jåmi of the fort, and the most prominent feature in the citadel, worthy of being noted in the Å Èn-i AkbarÈ, is set close to the north-east corner of the mosque (Figures 5.1, 5.3–5.5; Plates 1.4, 5.8, 5.61). Only two tiers of the minaret have survived, yet these remains still tower over the ramparts of the citadel (Plate 3.5). We owe much of our knowledge of the Au˙adÈ Brown, Indian Architecture (Islamic Period), p. 102; Asher, Architecture of Mughal India, pp. 187–8, pl. 114. 67 Brown, Indian Architecture (Islamic Period), pp. 111–12, pl. 93; Asher, Architecture of Mughal India, pp. 257–9, pls 162–3. 68 There are some ˙adÈth (traditions) relating to the construction of minarets, an example of which appears twice in Bayana, but such traditions could not be authentic. See Appendix I, inscriptions Nos 26 and 33. 66

321

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.61 Bayana fort, minaret of DåwËd Khån, general view also showing two of the narrow arched apertures which provide light for the staircase.

family to the inscriptions on this structure (Plate 5.62), and we have already discussed their content in relation to the history of the region. The minaret was first reported by Carlleyle who mentioned it to be near an ‘old Hindu temple turned into a mosque by the Muhammadans’ and also provided an inaccurate drawing of the minaret showing the walls bowed to an exaggerated extent. Nevertheless, he gave a fairly accurate description of the minaret and also noted the eighteenthcentury explosion in the nearby powder magazine, which blew up the top tier of

322 BAYANA the minaret.69 Cunningham, who first studied the historical inscriptions of the entrance of the minaret,70 did not mention the mosque at all. He also did not mention the inscription around the top of the first tier,71 which together with those of the entrance enriches our knowledge of the family. The minaret, over 22.5 m high as it stands, is built of the local red sandstone with bands of white or rather cream stone (Plate 5.61).72 As usual with minarets, the outer profile is battered, gradually narrowing towards the top, but in this one in the middle of the lower tier, marked with a string course of yellow stone, the angle of battering increases slightly (Figure 5.3). A similar arrangement also appears at the upper tier, where greyish-blue tiles set between two bands of yellow stone mark the middle of the tier.73 Above the first tier the ruins of a balcony supported by corbelled brackets have survived (Plate 5.62), but the balcony of the upper tier has disappeared except the lowest course of the stonework, which, judging from the arrangement of the lower balcony, would have supported corbelled brackets. At the west side at ground level a rectangular door opens to a spiral staircase, which ascends anti-clockwise and gives access to the balconies. There are small apertures in the shaft, providing light for the staircase. The surviving elements are sufficient to enable us to suggest the approximate form and scale of the third tier, which, as usual with all minarets, would have been surmounted by a lantern (Figure 5.5). The lantern would have housed the chamber above the spiral staircase and the door opening to the top tier balcony. The historic inscriptions include one on the lintel of the door giving the genealogy of DåwËd Khån and records that the minaret was constructed in 861/1456–7,74 and another in a fine elongated naskhÈ script on a semi-circular slab originally in a niche over the lintel ­– in situ in the nineteenth century, but now detached and lying loose near the minaret – acknowledging the SharqÈ sultan Mu˙ammad Shåh as DåwËd Khån’s sovereign.75 On the right (southern) jamb of the door is yet another inscription recording that the minaret was constructed under the order of – the otherwise little known – MufÈd Khån of Aqdå (a town in central Iran). Perhaps the most important inscription is the one, executed in a single course of stone and set below the balcony of the lower tier of the minaret. As the inscription is carved on red sandstone, although fairly close to the ground, it is still difficult to decipher with the naked eye. This may be the reason that the inscription escaped Cunningham’s attention, but Carlleyle refers to it as being See Chapter 3, n. 60. Appendix I, inscriptions Nos 22 and 23 of 861/1456–7. 71 Appendix I, inscription No. 24. 72 The diameter near the ground is about 7.30 m and 5.44 m at the base of the upper tier. The lower tier is about 12.90 m high and the upper tier about 9.70 m. 73 The effect was perhaps responsible for Carlleyle’s erroneous engraving showing the minaret in the form of two superimposed pots, see Plate 1.4. 74 Appendix I, inscription No. 22. 75 Appendix I, inscription No. 23. 69 70

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.62  Minaret of DåwËd Khån. Below: details of the balcony of the first tier of the minaret and part of the inscription bearing the genealogy of DåwËd Khån. As the inscription and the shaft are of the same stone the inscription is barely visible from the ground. Above: details of the top of the second tier preserving some of the stonework that supported the corbelled brackets of the balcony of this tier and the Quranic inscription on two courses of white stone, but with some of the blocks set in the wrong order. The photograph was taken with a powerful telephoto lens as the text of the inscription is hardly legible from the ground.

in ‘Kufic’ characters76 and ‘to consist of religious sentences’. This inscription in naskhÈ script, however, bears the full genealogy of DåwËd Khån and is the only record that gives the name of the founder of the dynasty as Shams al-Auliyå ÍiddÈqÈ.77 In addition to this record there is a Quranic inscription (Plate 5.62)78 on two Carlleyle did not seem to be familiar with the different Arabic scripts and often refers to advanced naskhÈ scripts as Kufic. 77 Appendix I, inscription No. 24. 78 Appendix I, inscription No. 25. 76

323

324 BAYANA courses of white stone, probably marble, on the top of the second tier, just below the remains of the balcony, in a position corresponding with the historic inscription below. The text bearing Quran III, 18 and the beginning of 19 on the upper line and XLVIII, 1–3 on the lower line is correctly copied and carved, but some stones have been misplaced, breaking up the order of the verse – absolutely unacceptable for a quotation from the Quran – but the text is so high up that is not easily legible from the ground and might have escaped notice, otherwise it would have undoubtedly been rectified. However, the error gives us an insight about the setting of the inscription, indicating that the stones were prepared in a workshop and the text was first outlined on the stones and then carved, before being taken up to be set in place. There must have been a method of marking the order of the position of the stones, not much different from numbering used in modern restoration work when a structure is dismantled and re-erected. The error shows that at the level of design and execution of the inscriptions – and probably other decorative elements – literate and competent master craftsmen would have been employed, but that the construction was carried out by less skilled and most likely illiterate workmen, some probably Hindu. With the absence of detailed knowledge about the methods of construction of a historic building on this scale, this incident gives us yet another small but valuable insight into the methods of mediaeval builders and their level of sophistication. The content of these inscriptions and the grand scale of the minaret with its massive well-constructed structure, which withstood the earthquake of 1505, all determine that the minaret was not simply intended to be a devotional addition to their Jåmi, but was a demonstration of Au˙adÈ power. The acknowledgement of the SharqÈ sultan on a separate inscription seems to have been an afterthought, but other historical records show that there was a genuine affiliation with the east, calculated to divorce Bayana from the rising power of the LodÈs in Delhi once and for all. It is the irony of history that these inscriptions are also the last records of the Au˙adÈs, as soon after the construction of this edifice their power diminished and the family faded into obscurity. The Ukhaˉ Minaˉr or the minaret of Nizaˉm Khaˉn ˙ In Bayana town, the unfinished, but dated Ukhå Minår79 (Figure 3.2, B.3) is situated about 9.5 m from the north-east corner of the Ukhå MandÈr mosque, and was erected at the time of IbråhÈm Shah LodÈ. Although the construction of the minaret was abandoned below the level of the first balcony, it is clear that the feature was modelled after the minaret of DåwËd Khån, except that it was intended to be even bigger (Figure 5.36, Plate 5.63). The circular shaft of the minaret is set on an

Carlleyle, ASIR, VI, p. 51; Cunningham, ASIR, XX, pp. 73–4.

79

325

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Figure 5.36  Bayana town, the unfinished Ukhå Minår (B.3), plan and west elevation.

octagonal base, raised only 0.20 m above ground, and is again constructed with a combination of red sandstone and string-courses of white stone. The structure is built only up to a height of about 12 m, not quite reaching the base of the first balcony, but judging from the diameters of the edifice – over 8.50 m at the base and 7.85 m at the top – it appears to have been designed to be approximately 16 per cent taller than the minaret of DåwËd Khån. This would have made it a landmark in the town on the plain at the foot of the hills rising to the south and west of the Ukhå complex. As with the example in the fort, the entrance, in the form of a simple rectangular door, is at the western side, built nearly 1 m above ground and opening to a spiral staircase ascending anti-clockwise. Above the entrance is an ogee-arched niche housing a semi-circular inscription (Plate 5.64), similar in shape and the arrangement of its text to that of the minaret of DåwËd Khån, but in this case bearing only a religious text. However, an inscribed slab below it bears a historical

326 BAYANA

Plate 5.63  Bayana town, the Ukhå Minår (B.3), general view from the west showing the entrance and above it the arched niche that houses the religious and historic inscriptions.

text80 informing us that it was constructed in 926/1519–20 by NiΩåm Khån, at the time of IbråhÈm Shåh LodÈ. This is fifteen years after the earthquake, when some of the fort’s population were apparently abandoning the fort to settle in Bayana and Sikandra. In spite of the construction of the Grand Mosque in Sikandra during this period, the choice of the Ukhå complex for siting a massive minaret indicates Appendix I, inscription No. 33. Carlleyle, ASIR, VI, p. 51, mentioned that ‘there is a defaced inscription over the doorway, of which I had not an opportunity of taking an impression, but it did not seem to be of much importance’. The inscription is actually well preserved.

80

FIVE: mosques and minarets

Plate 5.64  The inscriptions over the door of the Ukhå Minår. The semi-circular slab above bears a religious text, closely similar in design to that of the minaret of DåwËd Khån, which seems to have been its model. The lower inscription is historical and records the construction of the minaret in 926/1519–20, presumably the date of commencement of the work.

327

328 BAYANA

Figure 5.37  Bayana fort, small unfinished minaret F.44, plan and section A–A.

Plate 5.65  Bayana fort, the unfinished minaret, view from north-west.

that at this time the Ukhå MandÈr mosque and its KhaljÈ extension were still functioning as the Jåmi of Bayana. Other buildings bearing inscriptions from the time of NiΩåm Khån elsewhere in Bayana, some already discussed, show that although by this time the capital – and the attention of IbråhÈm Shåh – had shifted to Agra, there was a genuine attempt by NiΩåm Khån to reconstruct Bayana and add new public edifices, perhaps to restore the confidence of the population and encourage them to stay in the locality. This is feasible in view of the ever-decreasing resources of IbråhÈm Shåh, who was being challenged by many of his own governors. The ambitious project of constructing a grand minaret, however, does not seem to have been progressing well. Six years after the date of the inscription Båbur invaded India and NiΩåm Khån eventually

mosques and minarets

submitted reluctantly to him and was given the governorship of another region. If the construction was abandoned at this time the project was indeed progressing very slowly, but it is possible that the work had been postponed or abandoned some time earlier. It is once again ironical that, as with the earlier minaret, the edifice designed to proclaim the riches, ambitions, aptitude and confidence of a ruler was in fact marking the end of an era. Minaret in the North Enclosure of the fort The unfinished small minaret (Figure 3.3, F.44) with an internal clockwise spiral staircase (Figure 5.37, Plate. 5.65) is built up only to the first balcony, but there are no visible remains of a related mosque. Although poorly constructed of rough stone it appears to imitate the minaret of DåwËd Khån. The structure, a pale imitation of the mighty monuments of Bayana’s past, seems to be a late construction, probably eighteenth century – the time of the Jåts – and may have been under construction shortly before the fort was abandoned.

329

CHAPTER SIX

The Chatrī: its Origin, its Basic Forms and its Variants in Bayana

A chatrÈ, a type of trabeate domed canopy, is a hallmark of traditional northern and western Indian architecture.1 The feature is so widespread that its presence is taken for granted without its origins and development being examined.2 The term derives from the Persian word chatr (Sanskrit chattra) meaning an umbrella or more appropriately a parasol, an archetypal symbol of the vault of heaven and thus sacred or secular supremacy and protection, with the Perso-Arabic suffix -È meaning related to. ChatrÈ, meaning therefore a parasol-like building, refers to any free-standing domed pavilion supported by columns with no walls. ChatrÈs are not just historical features; in 1912, when Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869– 1944) was appointed to design the city of New Delhi,3 as a dedicated student of western architecture he was sceptical of Indian traditions. On one occasion he called Mughal architecture ‘piffle’ and on another the Victorian Indo-British buildings ‘half-caste’.4 Nevertheless he approached the design of New Delhi with the requirements of the client in mind: a modern capital for the prized possession of The funerary chatrÈs of Delhi have been systematically recorded by Yamamoto, and a few of them were surveyed earlier by Wetzel, but in these works also the building form has been taken for granted as an aspect of Indian architecture, without considering the roots of the form. See Yamamoto, I, pp. 82–9, monuments Nos T.82–T.129; II, pp. 97–104 (detailed study of T.82); pp. 139–40 (T.94); pp. 141–2 (T.100); III, p. 69 (T.89); p. 40 (T.103); Wetzel, pp. 19–25. For the survey of some chatrÈs in Gujarat, see James Burgess, The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad, Part II, with Muslim and Hindu Remains in the Vicinity (London, 1905), pls 15–16 (chatrÈs of Bai ÓarÈr Wåv), pl. 23 (chatrÈ of Jethabhai MuljÈ’s Wåv) and pls 79–80 (the Hindu canopies of the tank at Kapatwanj which are not strictly speaking chatrÈs as they are not domed). Burgess and Cousens, Architectural Antiquities of Northern Gujarat, pls 30, 31, 34 (Qå∂È ki Rau∂a and chatrÈs of Khån Sarovar tank at Pattan), and pls 104–5 (chatrÈ of the step-well at Våyad). For the survey of some chatrÈs in Haryana and Rajasthan, see Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 106–8; Nagaur, pp. 33–43, 56–7, 86–7, 98–9, 107–10, 157–61. 2 An in-depth study of the feature was presented by M. and N. H. Shokoohy, ‘The ChatrÈ in Indian architecture’, pp. 129–50, some of the material from which is incorporated in this chapter. 3 For a study on the design and construction of New Delhi, see Robert Grant Irving, Indian Summer: Lutyens, Baker and Imperial Delhi (New Haven, 1981). Most of Lutyens’ original drawings are preserved in the archive of the Royal Institute of British Architects, see Margaret Richardson (compiler), Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects (London, 1973). 4 Irving, Indian Summer, p. 42. Lutyens was critical of his contemporary architects who were amalgamating Indian and Western design elements. 1

331

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

Plate 6.1  New Delhi, the south wing of Rashtrapati Bhavan, now the Ministry of Defence, incorporating Indian and western design details. In the foreground stands one of the two chatrÈs flanking the threshold of the complex, while the portico in the background refers to western neoclassical traditions. The lantern above the minaret-like tower is also western in details, but reflects the proportions of the chatrÈs. Other western features include the semi-circular arches and the columns of the portico, particularly the composite capitals and the treatment of the keystone of the partly trabeated niche below the chatrÈ. The Indian features include the eave stones, the treatment of the balcony in front of the chatrÈ, particularly its supporting brackets, and the use of jålÈ (open-work carved stone panels) around the balcony and in the roof parapets.

the British Empire – a grand city that would synthesise western and Indian design traditions and remain functional for years to come. Lord Hardinge, the viceroy, was keenly interested in traditional Indian architecture being reflected in the design, and Lutyens familiarised himself with the basic Indian forms, structural principles and traditional building materials, using the traditional red and buff (yellow) sandstone for the viceroy’s house – the very material of the architecture of Bayana and the early Mughals. The viceroy also wanted another feature: chatrÈs, without which Indian architecture did not seem to be complete. In a note in his sketchbook Lutyens made a little sketch of a chatrÈ and wrote: ‘chattris are stupid useless things’.5 Yet he dotted the roof of the viceroy’s house with small chatrÈs, which, together with other Indian features, such as eave stones and four small domes over the transitional zone of the central dome, complete the skyline.6 His chatrÈs, however, represent an interpretation rather than an adaptation of the form, but his colleague Herbert Baker, who designed many of the buildings of the Secretariat, absorbed Indian features in their original form and in the design of his buildings chatrÈs of various sizes highlight the skyline, and two very pleasant and impressive chatrÈs7 Ibid., p. 174, fig. 69. For his sketch of central dome showing the direct influence of Islamic design in his introduction of the small domes, see ibid., p. 171, fig. 65. 7 For the plan of the complex also showing the chatrÈs, see ibid., p. 283, fig. 194. 5 6

332 BAYANA punctuate the point where Raj Path, the processional street to the Secretariat, opens to the great plaza (Plate 6.1). Without these features the skyline and the entire perspective view of the Secretariat would have been very different. In the architecture of Bayana, the most widespread motif is the chatrÈ, which appears in all its standard variations as well as many experimental designs, most of which remain specific to the region and are hardly seen elsewhere. While this chapter considers the architectural form and its various types in Bayana and elsewhere, the number of specimens in Bayana is so numerous that, to avoid repetition but also record the surviving edifices, they are listed in Appendix III. While the edifices in each category – many of which have fallen or been demolished during the course of our study – may look similar, there are subtle differences in design that, apart from aesthetic interest, sometimes help to suggest their approximate date. In Bayana and elsewhere free-standing chatrÈs not related to a building are often funerary monuments, occurring as pavilions covering tombs (Plates 2.08, 3.02, 3.08), but in association with other buildings they are often over balconies or positioned on the roofs, mainly as decorative features accentuating the skyline. A variety of such chatrÈs have already appeared in the illustrations of the earlier

Plate 6.2  Bayana fort, fortification of Area C from Area G, near the TaletÈ Masjid, looking south. The tower to the right preserves a chatrÈ on top and that to the left another, over a balcony, opening to a chamber, now dilapidated. The well in the foreground may be the same as the one mentioned in the inscription of the TaletÈ Masjid.

333

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

Plate 6.3  Nagaur, the Buland Darwåza, gate built in 733/1333 to the shrine of Sufi Shaikh ÓamÈd al-dÈn ChishtÈ, known as Sul†ån al-TårikÈn. The three-tiered chatrÈs flanking the portal and the free-standing singlestorey chatrÈs on the roof are amongst the finest examples of their kind.

chapters, seen, for example, on the top of some of the towers or fortification walls (Plates 3.07, 6.2) as well as on gates, providing shelter from the sun for watchmen, like that over the north wing of the East Gate of the citadel (F.18, Plate 3.18). We have also seen that chatrÈs are occasionally attached at one side to a larger structure to form a shaded platform or balcony, such as those flanking the entrance of the Ïdgåh Masjid at Barambad (Plate 5.52) and the Southern Mosque at Sikandra (Plate 5.58). Where chatrÈs are positioned on the roofs of buildings adding interest to the skyline they are usually in a single storey, but multi-tiered examples appear occasionally, usually in two or three tiers topped with a dome, such as the famous fourteenth-century Buland Darwåza of Nagaur,8 which has a pair of three-tiered engaged chatrÈs flanking the entrance portal and two free-standing single-storeyed chatrÈs at roof level (Plate 6.3). These topmost chatrÈs are not easily accessible and their main purpose seems to be ornamental. At ground level the multistoreyed chatrÈs provide covered platforms while the middle tiers serve as balconies reached by a pair of internal staircases leading to the roof. In Bayana similar multistoreyed chatrÈs appear in the fort, at either side of the gate of the 8

Nagaur, pp. 33–6, figs 11–12, pls 7–9; also see Chapter 3.

334 BAYANA ruler’s mansion (F.7, Figure 9.1, Plate 9.2) and in a ruinous monumental gate marking the approach towards the east gate of the citadel (F.21, Figure 3.7). Other ornamental chatrÈs also appear over the platforms of the two step-wells (båolÈs) in Bayana (B.44, Plate 6.23) and Sikandra (S.14, Plate 7.29). Within buildings chatrÈs appear only in one context, as a canopy over the ­speaker’s seat of the minbar in the prayer hall of a mosque; an example in the region of Bayana is in the ChaurasÈ Khamba, discussed below. Many other examples have survived elsewhere in India. Much information can be gleaned from the tombstones in the funerary chatrÈs. While the inscribed dates of death relate to the date of the structure, other features provide a wider perspective relating to the development of the form of the tombstones and their relationship with those of other regions, or sometimes other countries. The masons’ yards of Bayana appear to have provided not just ready-made structural components, but as part of their stock had ready-made tombstones with finely carved religious scripts and other details, leaving a blank space for the name of the deceased and date to be carved at the time of ordering, often accounting for a variation in style of script. Unlike mass-production of building elements, the tradition of carving ready-made tombstones is common in the Islamic world, and the work of Gujarati masons was so highly regarded that it was exported not only to other parts of India9 but as far as Iran10 and the Yemen11 in the west and to Java in the east.12 Typology The most basic type for a chatrÈ consists of a square platform with four columns, one at each corner, with bracket capitals supporting monolithic lintels upon which stands a small dome. This may be a true or a corbelled dome (Plate 6.4), but in either case the transitional zone consists of four simple triangular slabs set at the corners of the roof. Other structural methods for the transitional zone such as squinches and pendentives – both imported to India by the Muslims –­do not usually appear in chatrÈs. A grander form is a chatrÈ with twelve columns, four at See, for example, the tombstone found at Quilon in M. Shokoohy, Muslim Architecture of South India, pp. 138–9. 10 Two cenotaphs have been found in Iran which appear to be of Indian origin, one in the Gujarati style dated 755/1354–5 found in MohËr, 50 km west of SÈråf, and the other undated but in the style of the ChaukhandÈ tombs of Sind found in PångarË about 150 km south-east of SÈråf. See Heinz Gaube, ‘Im Hinterland von Siraf: Das Tal von Galledar/Fal und seine Nachbargebiete’, Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran XIII (1980), p. 159, pl. 35 ii, and p. 160, pl. 35 iii, respectively. 11 Venetia Porter, ‘Three Tombstones from Ûafår’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1988), pp. 32–44. 12 Othman Mohd.Yatim and Abdul Halim Nasir, Epigrafi Islam terawal di nusantara (Kuala Lumpur, 1990), pp. 21–3, 32, 36, pls 4, 6–8; Annabel Teh Gallop, Early Views of Indonesia: Drawings from the British Library (London, 1995), pp. 54–5, fig. 42, pl. 14.  9

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

335

Plate 6.4  Corbelled dome covering ChatrÈ B.23 in the Au˙adÈ Graveyard (Appendix III, No. 28). Unlike a true dome where the load is evenly distributed through thin blocks of stone aligned along the curvature of the dome, creating a smooth interior surface, in corbelled domes, with their roots in ancient Indian architecture, heavy blocks of stone are laid horizontally in courses, each layer overlapping the course below.

the corners and eight more supporting the vertices of an octagonal transitional zone formed of eight monolithic lintels.13 Shorter lintels resting on these columns and the corner columns support triangular flat slabs over the corners. More elaborate types are usually variations on these two basic themes.14 Examples are the tomb of Au˙ad Khån in Bayana (Plate 2.8) and another next to it in the Au˙adÈ Graveyard.15 For the earliest examples of this type of chatrÈ in the region of Delhi, see Yamamoto, I, pp. 82–3, T.80–9; many later examples are given in the following pages. For the full study and survey of T.82, see Yamamoto, III, pp. 97–104, figs 51–3, pl. 31; for a survey of Yamamoto’s T.87, see Wetzel, pp. 16–17, figs 13–14, 16; for T.89, see Yamamoto, III, p. 69, fig. 34. Twelve-columned chatrÈs also appear as entrance porches in the mosques in Gujarat. For a list of the examples and their bibliography, see Salome Zajadacz-Hastenrath, ‘On the history of style of the tomb chattris in the Islamic architecture of Sind’, Central Asiatic Journal XLIV (2000), pp. 133–4. 14 Two examples of elaborate variations on the same theme are the early sixteenth-century tomb of Shaikh Alå al-dÈn NËr Tåj and an undated tomb near the Qu†b complex, both in Delhi, where the spans between the columns on each face are arched, with the central arch being larger than the others, although the structural principal remains trabeate with the domes standing on beams and brackets. See Yamamoto, I, p. 89, T.129 and T.130. For a survey of the second tomb, see Wetzel, pp. 69–70. 15 Appendix III, Nos 11 and 12.

13

336 BAYANA

Plate 6.5  Bayana, octagonal ChatrÈ B.41 north-west of the town, near the historic ʿÏdgåh. The platform has been destroyed and the tombstone is missing (Appendix III, No. 17).

Other variations include octagonal and hexagonal chatrÈs, where the corner columns are eliminated altogether and the columns are set at the vertices of an octagonal (Plate 6.5) or hexagonal (Plate 3.8) transitional zone. Numerous examples of such chatrÈs are preserved in the region of Delhi16 as well as in Bayana and other regions of Rajasthan.17 During the Sayyid period the octagonal form also appears as a decorative feature for chatrÈs set around the central dome of the grand royal tombs such as those of Mubårak Shåh (1421–34)18 and Mu˙ammad Shåh (1434–45),19 remaining in vogue in Mughal and SËrÈ architecture. 20 The dome – the parasol-like feature – is an integral part of a chatrÈ and flat-roofed colonnaded canopies are not, strictly speaking, chatrÈs although the term is sometimes used loosely for them. The region of Bayana not only has its share of almost all types of chatrÈ, it has Yamamoto, I, octagonal examples: p. 84, T.92–9; p. 86, T.106; p. 88, T.120–5; hexagonal examples: p. 84, T.97; p. 89, T.126–8. For the survey of two of these monuments (T.96 and T.97), see Wetzel, pp. 15–17. 17 See, for example, Nagaur, p. 87, fig. 35, pl. 24 and pp. 98–9, fig. 43. 18 Yamamoto, I, pp. 81–2, T.77; Wetzel, pp. 85–6. 19 Yamamoto, I, p. 82, T.78; survey in II, pp. 75–96; Wetzel, pp. 81–2. 20 Examples can be seen in the mosque and tomb of Ïså Khån at Delhi and the tomb of ShÈr Shåh at Sassaram. For the tomb at Delhi, which according to its inscription was built by Ïså Khån in 954/1547–8 and probably houses the grave of Islåm Shåh SËrÈ, see Wetzel, pp. 86–9; Khan, Åthår al-ßanådÈd, ch. 3, p. 53, monument No. 61, inscription No. 35. For a survey of the tomb of ShÈr Shåh, see Wetzel, pp. 96–105. 16

337

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

Plate 6.6  Kaman, ChaurasÈ Khamba, the oldest surviving minbar built from temple spoil, but imitating wooden minbars of the Islamic world with a canopy above the speaker’s seat.

also preserved one of the oldest datable sultanate specimens: that at the ChaurasÈ Khamba over its speaker’s platform (minbar) (Plate 6.6).21 At first glance the chatrÈs of Bayana appear to be little different from those found elsewhere, but closer examination reveals that there are some major variations between the common types and many of those found in Bayana. Departing from the well-practised, well-understood structural forms and experimenting with other methods – some unusual and not always entirely successful – is of considerable significance for our understanding of the extent to which the Bayana patrons and builders were prepared to explore design possibilities. However, before focusing on the Bayana chatrÈs we should first briefly investigate the building type in general and its appearance in Indian architecture. In spite of the widespread use of chatrÈs, it was Salome Zajadacz-Hastenrath,22 Also see Chapter 4, Fig. 4.2, Pls 4.11–4.12. Zajadacz-Hastenrath, ‘On the history of style of the tomb chattris’, pp. 131–57.

21 22

338 BAYANA who first pointed out that the domed chatrÈ is essentially Islamic in origin and does not appear as a free-standing structure in pre-Islamic architecture. She notes briefly the earliest known chatrÈs, but most of her work is concerned with the area of her interest, the sites at Makli Hill, Chaukhandi, Mangho PÈr and Khudåbåd, all in Pakistan. These monuments are relatively late and some of the examples show the continuation of the building type – sometimes in highly elaborate and decorated structures – until as late as the nineteenth century. Indian Prototypes To understand the form and its probable origin we should consider two very different strains: one in Persian architecture and the other in Indian – one conceptual and the other structural. From the structural point of view the trabeate form of a chatrÈ with its monolithic column shafts, bracket capitals and lintels, often surmounted by a corbelled dome is undoubtedly Indian, with its roots in pre-Islamic temple architecture. The nearest form to a chatrÈ is the maṇ∂apa or mukhaªålå23 in a northern Indian temple; a canopied porch or hall set in front of the ªikhara (spire) that towers over the inner sanctum, the garbhagṛiha. The maṇ∂apa is an integral part of the någara or northern Indian style of temple and appears in most of such buildings, usually erected on a plan based on a maṇ∂ala (sacred diagram). The maṇ∂apa is a colonnaded structure with a corbelled roof, and usually without walls, but sometimes with parapets, which may be in the form of seats around the periphery of the platform, as, for example, in the Durgå Temple at Aihole (Plate 6.7). Grand temples may have more than one maṇ∂apa, but even the smallest temples are expected to have at least one, sometimes consisting of a simple dome over four columns as in the temple near the Varaha Temple at Khajuraho (Plate 6.8). The corbelled domes of the early maṇ∂apas do not display on the exterior an Islamic domical appearance, but those built under the influence of Muslim architecture have adopted the domical profile. The maṇ∂apa may have been the Indian inspiration behind the Indo-Muslim chatrÈ, and in addition also provided ready-to-use components for the Muslim buildings of the early conquest. In någara temples the maṇ∂apa or mukhaªålå is usually the only part with columns and corbelled domes, as the ªikharas are constructed in solid form. In the first few decades of the conquest almost all Muslim buildings were constructed with spoil of such material.24 While the stone of the ªikharas would have been used for the mosque walls and plinths, the columns and The principles of northern Indian temples and their components are given in the Sanskrit canons on architecture (ªilpa-ªastra). See, for example, the description of the mukhaªålå in Kaulåcåra, √ilpa Prakåªa, Sanskrit text, pp. 6–8, verses 81–106; translation, pp. 17–21, original mediaeval diagrams in pls 2b and 2c. 24 See, for example, the inscription of the Quwwat al-Islåm mosque in Delhi, declaring that the spoil of twenty-seven temples was used in the construction of the Muslim edifice. Page, An Historical Memoir on the Qutb, p. 29, inscription No. 1. 23

339

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

Plate 6.7  The Durgå Temple at Aihole, view of the colonnaded ma≥∂apa or mukhaªala in front of the garbhagṛiha, over which was originally a tower (ªikhara) only part of which stands and does not appear in this photograph. The roof of the ma≥∂apa, also partly preserved, was originally in the form of a stepped pyramid and not a dome.

Plate 6.8  Khajuraho, small temple near the Varaha Temple (part of which is seen in the foreground), representing the simple form of small temples with a square ma≥∂apa supported by a pair of columns and a pair of pilasters. In this case the ªikhara of the temple is also well preserved.

340 BAYANA

Plate 6.9  Jåmiʿ mosque of Isfahan, Iran, general view of the north-western Èwån showing the traditional wooden canopy on the roof.

corbelled domes – apparently dismantled carefully for easy re-assembly – provided the material for the colonnaded and domed prayer halls, porches, corridors and chatrÈs. The introduction of Indian structural methods into Indo-Muslim architecture was, therefore, a direct adaptation of existing techniques, but to conform to the Muslim patrons’ taste the exterior conical shape of a corbelled dome would be covered with cement sculpted to the profile of a Middle Eastern dome. Persian Canopies The concept of building a funerary monument over a grave in India – where the dead are cremated – was a Muslim import. The idea of canopied structures on the roofs of buildings also appears to have been Persian, although the Persian examples seem to have been constructed mostly of timber. While few survive today, a good example is that on the roof of the north-west Èwån (open fronted vaulted hall) of the well-known Jåmi of Isfahan (Plate 6.9). The present building dates from the eleventh and twelfth centuries,25 but under the brickwork some columns of an earlier tenth-century mosque have been uncovered.26 The date of the canopy itself is not known and it might have been reconstructed in the sixteenth and ­seventeenth centuries,27 when the building was repaired and embellished extensively under For a detailed history of the mosque, see Godard, ‘Historique du Masdjid-é Djum‘a d’Ißfahån’, pp. 213–82; also see Schroeder, ‘The Architecture of the Islamic Period: (F) SeljËq Period’, pp. 990–3, 1004–9. For a detailed view of the roof showing the brick platform of the wooden canopy, see ibid., VIII (plates), pl. 283. 26 Galdieri, Isfahån: Mas©id-i Ğum‘a, II, Il periodo al-i BËyide – The Al-i BËyid Period, pp. 27–34. 27 The north-western Èwån is datable to 515/1121–2 when the mosque was converted from an 25

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

Safavid patronage. Nevertheless, the foundation platform on the roof – not visible from ground level – appears to be part of the original structure, and it is therefore likely that the present canopy – if not pre-Safavid itself – has replaced an earlier one. The canopy has a pyramidal roof supported by four columns, resting on the brick platform. The columns at each face are reinforced with two horizontal ties and two diagonal joists, which are fixed at the bottom to the corner columns and at the top to the centre of the lintels. As well as the example in the Jåmi, a number of other canopies have survived in Isfahan.28 A specimen on a pre-Safavid building is at the shrine of Darb-i Imåm,29 built in 857/1453–4 at the time of Jahånshåh Åq QËyËnlË, and housing the tomb of two religious personages as well as that of Jahånshåh’s mother (Plate 6.10). The canopy has a light pyramidal roof with eaves supported by slim wooden posts and is closely comparable to that of the Jåmi of Isfahan. Although its date is not known the canopy may be a part of the original fifteenth-century design and again of pre-Safavid origin.30 Another interesting canopy in Isfahan can be found above the portal of the HårËnÈya, also known as the HårËn-i Wilåyat (Plate 6.11).31 The building, many times restored, dates originally from 918/1512–13, during the time of the Safavid Shåh IsmåÈl, but well before Isfahan being chosen as the Safavid capital. The roof of the canopy is again supported by four wooden posts reinforced by diagonal joists, which are common features in the canopies of Isfahan. In this canopy, however, the roof has a domical profile and around the roof are prominent timber eaves on wooden brackets. A few other canopies dating from the Safavid period have also survived. One is in the Masjid-i ÓakÈm (1067–73/1656–63) standing above the southern Èwån.32 Arab plan to a four-Èwån plan. The latest restoration of the Èwån, concerned mainly with the renovation of its tile-work dates from 1112/1700–1, see Godard, ‘Historique du Masdjid-é Djuma d’Ißfahån’, pp. 224–6, 270–4. 28 For other canopies of this type in Isfahan not mentioned below, see Nosratollah Meshkati, A List of the Historical Sites and Ancient Monuments of Iran, H. A. S. Pessyan (tr.) (Tehran: 1974), pp. 56–7 (Masjid-i AlÈ-QulÈ Åqå, Masjid-i Sayyid and Masjid-i Mu˙ammad Jafar ÅbådaÈ, all from late Safavid period). The appearance of wooden canopies is not restricted to Isfahan and similar features can be found in other areas, for example, in the Jåmi of Qåin at Birjand (ibid., p. 76); Shrine of PÈr-i Zhinda PËsh at Turbat-i Jåm (ibid., pp. 78–9) and Madrasa IbråhÈm Khån in Kirman (ibid., p. 147). 29 Ibid., p. 33, monument reg. No. 217. For a main archaeological report on the monument, see A. Godard, ‘Isfahån’, pp. 47–57. 30 The site of Darb-i Imåm itself dates from before the time of Jahån Shåh (1438–67), and when the Shåh’s mother was buried there he constructed the present building in 1453, which has undergone many repairs, including during the Safavid period. 31 Recorded in Meshkati, A List of the Historical Sites, p. 37, monument reg. No. 220; main study by A. Godard, ‘Isfahån’, pp. 63–9; also see Arthur Upham Pope, ‘The Architecture of the Islamic Period, L. The Safavid Period’, in A Survey of Persian art, III, pp. 1166–7; VIII, pls 458–9. 32 For a colour illustration of this canopy, see Sheila R. Canby, The Golden Age of Persian Art, 1501–1722 (London, 1999), p. 133, pl. 122. For reports on the mosque, see Godard, ‘Isfahån’, pp. 152–4; Meshkati, A List of the Historical Sites, p. 51, monument reg. No. 223.

341

342 BAYANA

Plate 6.10  Isfahan, the shrine of Darb-i Imåm, view of the wooden canopy on the roof from the eastern courtyard before its modern restorations (from Åthår-é Ïrån, vol. II, i, fig. 18).

Plate 6.11  Isfahan, the HårËnÈya, also known as the HårËn-i Wilåyat, built by the Safavid Shåh IsmåʿÈl. Entrance Èwån showing the domed wooden canopy on the roof (from Åthår-é Ïrån, vol. II, i, fig. 22).

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

343

Plate 6.12  Isfahan, the Shåh Mosque, the canopy over the western Èwån of the main courtyard seen from the court of the private royal chapel at the south-west corner of the mosque, looking north. The canopy is positioned at a place where it can be seen not only from this location and the main courtyard, but also from the Maidån-i Shåh, the renowned royal square of Isfahan. The trellis and the joists between the corner columns seem to be modern.

This canopy, like the others, is square in plan and has the familiar diagonal joists, but each face has two additional vertical joists, which are lighter than the corner columns. A trellis also runs as a parapet around the canopy. Another example, also with trellises on all faces, is in the Shåh Mosque – the Safavid royal mosque (Plate 6.12), but the trellis seems to be fairly recent as a mid-nineteenth century engraving shows the canopy with a parapet but without the trellis.33 A brick version of such canopies also appears occasionally, particularly in the regions where wood is scarce. In these examples the brick piers are kept as slender as possible perhaps to relate to the original form and express the lightness of the feature. The brick versions are usually surmounted with a cupola. Examples in Isfahan can be found on the corners of the roof of the Imåmzåda A˙mad,34 which dates originally from the Seljuq period and houses a black stone dated 563/1167–8 Originally produced in Pascal Xavier Coste, Monuments modernes de la Perse (Paris, 1867), and reproduced in Kenneth Browne, ‘Maidan, problem and remedy’, Architectural Review CLIX, 951 (special issue on Isfahan) (1976), p. 282, fig. 1. 34 Meshkati, A List of the Historical Sites, p. 25, monument reg. No. 234. 33

344 BAYANA

Plate 6.13  The Jåmiʿ of ʿAqdå, Iran, the brick canopy over the dome of the prayer hall, view looking south with part of the town in the background. The canopy is a landmark visible from most roof tops.

said to have been one of the fragments of the låt at Somnath, brought as booty by Ma˙mËd of Ghazna and sent to the main cities of his empire. However, as usual with the monuments of Isfahan, the building has undergone many restorations and the date of the canopies is not certain. Another example is in the fairly small Jåmi of Aqdå,35 apparently a pre-Islamic building converted to a mosque in the eleventh or twelfth century and restored in 847/1443–4. Here the canopy is set at the peak of the dome (Plate 6.13), a landmark that can be observed not only from the small courtyard of the mosque but also from the town square in front of the Jåmi and from the roofs of most houses in the town. The mosque does not have a minaret and it is likely that in this case the canopy was also used for performing the adhån (the call to prayer). Although most of these buildings are well known, their canopies – of wood or brick – have received little attention from scholars, let alone study. The function of the canopies is also somewhat obscure. It might be argued that they could have been used for the call to prayer, but access to existing examples is often difficult. M. Shokoohy, ‘Two fire temples converted to mosques in Central Iran’, Acta Iranica XXIV (1985), pp. 545–72, figs 1–10, pls 23–37; translated into Persian in the Iranian Journal of Archaeology and History V, ii (1991), p. 564, fig. 9.

35

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

Plate 6.14  Details of an early fourteenth-century illustration from RashÈd al-dÈn’s Jåmiʿ al-tawårÈkh depicting Ma˙mËd of Ghazna’s attack on the fort of Zarang in SÈstån, south Iran, and showing a number of exposed canopies constructed with timber above the fortification walls. Archers are shown defending the walls, but from the parapets, rather than the higher and more commanding position of the canopies, where there is no cover (reproduced by permission © Edinburgh University Library, Or. Ms. 20, fol. 124v).

Their light structure, which does not impose a heavy load on the roof, enabled the designers to set them at virtually any position, but they often appear over the portals, the Èwåns or other dominant features of the buildings. It may be suggested that the surviving examples are merely the reminiscence of an earlier structural type, which had other functions, but their decorative quality might have been a reason for their survival in the religious buildings we have seen. The erection of wooden canopies on the roof of both public and domestic buildings seems to have once been widespread, as similar canopies are depicted in Persian miniatures of many periods. Examples are numerous, but one of the earlier representations of the feature is in an illustration of RashÈd al-dÈn’s Jåmi al-tawårÈkh completed in 1314 in the northern Iranian city of TabrÈz.36 The painting depicting Ma˙mËd of Ghazna’s attack on the fort of Zarang (Plate 6.14) shows a number of canopies above the fortification walls. All the canopies are shown to be constructed with timber, some resting on timber platforms and others on brick foundations, just like that of the Jåmi of Isfahan. A number of archers are represented defending the walls, but none occupy the canopies in spite of their higher and more commanding Eleanor Sims, Boris I. Marshak and Ernest J. Grube, Peerless Images: Persian Painting and Its Sources (New Haven, 2002), p. 94.

36

345

346 BAYANA position. The canopies, above the protective battlements of the wall and in full view of the enemy, would expose the archers to the enemy’s arrows, but whatever their original purpose, the decorative function of the canopies – highlighting the skyline – is very similar to that of the chatrÈs seen on the roofs of Indo-Muslim buildings and over fortification walls in Bayana and elsewhere in India. Another example is a hexagonal or octagonal canopy depicted on the top of a tower in a miniature of YazdÈ’s Zafarnåma illustrated in Herat c. 1480–5, showing TÈmËr’s attack on the fortress of Smyrna.37 The Knights of St John defending the tower are again not shown to occupy the canopy. Similar wooden structures – square, hexagonal or octagonal – appear in miniatures depicting the roofs of royal and domestic buildings; examples can be seen of a pavilion in the court of Sultan Bayqarå, in the Herat manuscript of SadÈ’s BËstån of 1488,38 and over an Èwån housing the Sasanian Emperor Khusrau and his wife ShÈrÈn in the TabrÈz manuscript of NiΩåmÈ’s Khamsa of c. 1539–43 (Plate 6.15).39 The position of the canopy depicted on the top of the Èwån is closely comparable with that of the surviving examples in the mosques of Isfahan. A mediaeval traveller to the Persian lands would have seen such canopies at every corner, over the walls and bastions of the forts, on the Èwåns and portals of palaces and mosques, and over the roofs of ordinary houses. Such canopies were fairly easy and inexpensive to erect and in addition to their decorative qualities they would provide shelter on the roof out of the rain and sun but exposed to the cool breeze. The employment of such canopies seems to have been so prevalent that they even appear over temporary or portable structures, for example, on a wooden kiosk depicted in a scene of the Shåhnåma showing Zål and RËdåba celebrating their wedding, in a manuscript of 1602.40 Another example of a temporary structure with a decorative roof-top canopy appears in a miniature attributed to Åqå MÈrak in the above-mentioned Khamsa (Plate 6.16).41 It is not, therefore surprising to see that the Muslims found in the temple spoil of India the ready-made materials for one of their favourite architectural features. In the actual surviving examples and those appearing in many miniature paintings, the roofs of the canopies are often represented as being in a pyramidal form, suitable for wooden structures. It is interesting that a pyramidal exterior surface also appears in Indo-Muslim architecture both over chatrÈs and over walled chambers. An early example of such roofs appears over the entrance chamber of the tomb of Sultan Balban (1266–87) built during his reign, in Delhi.42 Later pyramidal roofs in Delhi appear on numerous occasions.43 Elsewhere in northern India, examples Ibid., pp. 97–8. In miniatures it is usually difficult to distinguish a hexagonal structure from an octagonal one. 38 Ibid., pp. 117–18. 39 Ibid., pp.119–20. 40 Ibid., pp. 243–4. 41 Stuart Cary Welch, Royal Persian Manuscripts (London, 1976), pp. 77–8. 42 Yamamoto, I, pp. 71–2, T.3, fig. 30; for the construction of the tomb, see Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), p. 447; BarnÈ (Pers.), p. 122. 43 Examples include the chatrÈs of the tomb at Qadam SharÈf and another tomb near the Qu†b 37

347

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

Plate 6.15  An illustration from an early sixteenthcentury manuscript of NiΩåmÈ’s Khamsa depicting an Èwån housing the Sasanian Emperor Khusrau and his wife ShÈrÈn. The position of the canopy depicted on the top of the Èwån is closely comparable with that of the surviving examples in the mosques of Isfahan (reproduced by permission © The British Library Board, Or. 2265, f. 66 v.).

Plate 6.16  An illustration of the story of the physicians’ duel in NiΩåmÈ’s Khamsa depicting a garden pavilion with a decorative wooden kiosk on its roof (reproduced by permission © The British Library Board, Or. 2265, f. 26 v).

with pyramidal roofs can be found in the chatrÈs of the reservoir of Óau∂-i Mu߆afå Sar and its monumental gates built in 840/1436–7 at Naraina,44 and in the fields of complex, both in Delhi, as well as in the palace of FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq (1351–88) at his Delhi capital FÈrËzåbåd. For the chatrÈs of Qadam SharÈf and the tomb near the Qu†b, see Yamamoto, I, pp. 85–6, T.102; for those in FÈrËzåbåd, see Page, A Memoir on Kotla Firoz Shah, Delhi, p. 2, pl. 2. Page gives a conjectural reconstruction of the palaces, with all chatrÈs having pyramidal roofs, presumably on the model of the surviving roofs of the gates and other chambers. As no chatrÈs have survived we cannot be certain whether or not they existed in the positions represented, let alone whether they had pyramidal roofs or were domed. 44 Nagaur, pp. 155–63, figs 59–61 and p. 63, pls 52–4.

348 BAYANA

Plate 6.17  Sikandra, the Baṛe Kamar, a colonnaded pavilion with four-columned chatrÈs, their pyramidal roofs reminiscent of earlier forms found in Iran and depicted in miniatures.

Sikandra near Bayana in an innovative building known as the Baṛe Kamar (S.19)45 (Plate 6.17) described below. Mughal examples are numerous. Wooden Canopies in India Although from the earliest days of the Muslim conquest chatrÈs executed in stone appear in Indian monuments, the wooden canopies also seem to have existed there. As a whole early sultanate architecture is known to us as stone architecture, whether trabeate or arcuate, because nothing but stone structures of that period have survived. However, the historical records and archaeological findings indicate that wooden architecture of the highest quality with exquisite workmanship was also part of the repertoire. The perishable nature of wood is the main cause of the disappearance of such buildings. In addition, when they fell into decay their timber would usually be extracted for firewood or for application in other buildings. The extensive use of timber for the roof structures of the fourteenth-century buildings in Delhi is recorded by the Arab historian Ibn Fa∂l’ullåh al-UmarÈ

Appendix III, No. 47.

45

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

(697–749/1297–1348) in his description of Delhi at the time of Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq:46 ‫ان دهلی مدائن جمعت مدینة و لکل واحدة اسم معروف و انما دهلی واحدة منها و قد صار یطلق علی الجمیع اسمها‬ ‫و هی ممتدة طوال و عرضا یکون دَوْ ر ُع ْمرانها اربعین میال بناؤها بالحجر واآل ُج ّر و سقوفها بالخشاب و أرضها‬ ­‫مفروشة بحجر أبیض شبیه بالرخام و ال یُبْنی بها أکثر من طبقتین و فی بعضها طبقة واحدة‬ Delhi consists of several cities which have become united, and each of which has a name of its own. Delhi, which was one among them, has given its name to all the rest. It is both long and broad, and covers a space of about forty miles in circumference. The houses are built of stone and brick, and the roofs of wood. The floors are paved with a white stone, like marble. None of the houses are more than two storeys high and some only one. Recent archaeological explorations have revealed that buildings with wooden ceilings were indeed common in fourteenth-century India and examples can be found in Ghiyåth al-dÈn Tughluq’s palaces at Tughluqabad,47 in the BahmanÈ palaces of Bidar,48 and in the palace of FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq at Hisar.49 Ibn Ba††Ë†a50 also furnishes us with information on a palace of Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq, which was constructed primarily with timber: ٰ ‫دا ُر السلطان بدهلي تس ّمی دار َس‬ ‫ و بخارج الباب األوّل دکاکین یقع ُد علیها الجالّدون و هم‬... ‫ری و لها أبواب کثیرة‬ ‫ و بین البابین األوّل و الثاني ِدهلیز کبیر فیه دکاکین مبنیة من جهتیه یقع ُد علیها أه ُل النّوبة من‬... ‫الذین یقتلون الناس‬ ‫ُفضي إلی ال ِم ْشور الهائل الفسیح الساحة المس ّمی هزار اسطون و معنی ذلک ألف‬ ِ ‫ و هذا البابُ الثالث ی‬... ‫ُحفّاظ األبواب‬ ‫ساریة و هي سواري من خشب مدهونة علیها سقفُ خشب منقوشة أبد َع نقش یجلسُ الناسُ تحتِها و بهذا المشور یجلس‬ .‫السلطان الجلوس العام‬ The sultan’s residence in Delhi is called Dår Sarå and has many gates … Outside the first gate are niches (dakåkÈn)51 occupied by the executioners, whose ­occupation is to kill people … Between the first and the second gate is a great Shihåb al-dÈn Abu’l-Abbås A˙mad b. Ya˙yå, known as Ibn Fa∂l’ullåh al-UmarÈ, Waßf mamlikat al-hind wa al-sind (Bericht über Indien), Otto Spies (ed.) (Leipzig, 1943), p. 11. This publication is only a small part of al-UmarÈ’s Masålik al-abßår fÈ mamålik al-amßår, the translation is given from Elliot, III, Appendix C, p. 575. 47 Tughluqabad, pp. 125–8, pls 7.47, 7.50, 7.53; pp. 108–10, pl. 7.24. 48 Yazdani, Bidar, its History and Monuments, p. 64. 49 Óißår-i FÈrËza, p. 24, pl. 6a 50 Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), p. 466. 51 The word dakåkÈn (plural of dukkån) is apparently used in this passage to describe the vaulted niches both inside and outside the fort, as well as those flanking the corridor of the gatehouse. Surviving Tughluq gates at Ådilåbåd and Tughluqabad show that the corridors inside the gatehouses were indeed flanked by vaulted galleries and niches. Elsewhere in this passage the words dukkån and dakåkÈn are again used to describe niches and chambers around the courtyards of the palace, occupied by the guards, scribes, courtiers and other administrators. 46

349

350 BAYANA corridor in which niches are provided to house the watchmen who protect the gates … The third gate opens to a vast spacious (fasÈ˙ al-så˙a) audience hall which is called Hazår-us†Ën,52 meaning the hall of one thousand pillars. The columns are of oiled wood on which rests the wooden ceiling, decorated with wonderful motifs. People sit beneath this ceiling, and in this hall the sultan gives his public audiences. The palace was at Jahånpanåh, a city built in Delhi by Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq as his capital. The grand hall of Hizår SutËn – or Hazår-us†Ën – has not survived, but part of the palace complex of Jahånpanåh is still preserved in Delhi and is known as Bijai Mandal53 (Plate 6.18). The structure set within a large courtyard might have been part of the sultan’s private palaces, or perhaps even a sizeable garden pavilion. A hall at ground level has a flat roof upon which is an octagonal chamber built of stone, with the roof of the hall below as its terrace. The chamber appears to have been topped with a wooden canopy much in the style of those depicted in Persian miniatures. Two sets of stairs built into the walls of the chamber give access to the flat roof, on the floor of which are sockets which seem to have been provided to support the posts of a canopy (Plate 6.19).54 This feature is unlikely to have been constructed in stone as such sockets are irrelevant to the structural methods of Indian trabeate buildings, where stability comes from the downward force of the weight of the superimposed elements. The sockets also suggest that such a canopy might not have been permanent, but a feature that could be set up or dismantled as required. Whether permanent or temporary, the canopy of the Bijai Mandal was not unique and wooden pavilions are known to have existed on the roofs of Indian houses dating from some generations earlier. Ibn Ba††Ë†a gives the name of such Hazår-us†Ën is an archaic pronunciation of hizår or (hazår)-sutËn. The Persian texts of the period record the world for column or pillar as sutËn, but Ibn Ba††Ë†a’s record suggests that in his time the word was pronounced us†Ën. Ibn Ba††Ë†a’s record of Persian words, written independently from the Persian texts of the time, often differs from Persian spelling and is an invaluable source for studying the actual pronunciation of such words in the fourteenth century. For the Persian record of the name, see BarnÈ (Pers.), p. 468. 53 Bijai Mandal, from Sanskrit vijaya: victory, mandar: palace, temple. The Akhbår al-Akhyår records the Bijai Mandal as the palace of Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq and gives its Persian or Arabic name as badÈ manzil (the novel or wonderful house), implying that the modern Hindi name is the corruption of the Persian. See Shaikh Abd al-Óaqq b. Saif al-dÈn Mu˙addith DihlawÈ, Akhbår al-Akhyår fÈ asrår al-abrår, p. 61. For architectural and archaeological reports, see ASINC, 1914, pp. 39–40, pl. 25; ASIAR, 1924–5, p. 9; 1928–9, p. 12 pls 1c–d; 1929–30, p. 14; Hasan and Page et al., Monuments of Delhi, III, p. 157, monument No. 272; Marshall, ‘The monuments of Muslim India’, III, p. 587; Yamamoto, I, p. 103, No. O.6; Welch and Crane: ‘The Tughluqs’, pp. 148–50. Also see the Akhbår al-Akhyår, p. 61, recording that the building was constructed in the vicinity of the abodes of Shaikh NiΩåm al-dÈn Auliyå and Shaikh NajÈb al-dÈn, by Sul†ån Mu˙ammad Ådil (the Just) – a title of Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq, not often cited in the literature of the time, perhaps because of the brutality and unbalanced personality of the sultan. 54 In spite of several detailed studies of the building, listed above, so far little attention has been given to these sockets and the feature that they would have supported. 52

351

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

Plate 6.18  Delhi, Bijai Mandal, a part of the palaces of Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq at Delhi, general view. The surviving structure built of stone consists of a hall with an octagonal pavilion above, which was originally topped by a canopy probably constructed of timber.

Plate 6.19  Bijai Mandal, detail of one of the sockets on the roof of the octagonal pavilion, for supporting the posts of a light canopied structure.

canopies and describes one in connection with the assassination of KåfËr Hizår DÈnårÈ, the Lord Chancellor (malik nåib) of Sultan Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ (1296–1316), soon after the death of the sultan:55 ‫ فدخال علیه تلک اللَیْلة و هُو في بیت من ال َخ َشب مکسو بال ِملَف یسمونه ال ُخ َّر َمقَة ینام فیه أیّام ال َمطر فُوق َسطح‬... .‫القَصْ ر‬ Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), p. 454.

55

352 BAYANA They (the assassins) entered his house at night. Nåib Malik was in a wooden chamber covered by textile, which they call khurramqah.56 During the rainy season they sleep in it on the roof of their mansions. Ibn Ba††Ë†a’s passage leaves little doubt that not only were wooden roof pavilions common in fourteenth-century India, but that some were covered by textiles, just as they appear in Persian miniatures. He also mentions one of the functions of such canopies, but it is reasonable to assume that they could have been used not only at night as an airy place to sleep, sheltered from the rain, but also during the day for enjoying the breeze in the shade. The name is also interesting, as khurramqah is an Arabised record for the Indo-Persian term khurramgåh,57 which according to the Persian lexicons compiled in India58 means ‘a round tent’ originating from the Persian word khargåh,59 which not only carries the meaning of a tent supported by wooden posts, but also a place of ease – for rest, relaxation and delight.60 The evidence indicates that not only is the Indian chatrÈ, executed in stone, an architectural form derived from the Persian wooden canopies known as khargåh or khurramgåh, but that wooden versions with tent-like coverings also existed side by side with their stone counterparts at least up to the middle of the fourteenth century. The fact that very few stone chatrÈs appear in the thirteenth and early fourteenth century, but their number suddenly explodes in the fifteenth century and on, may indicate that up to the fourteenth century, when the construction of wooden canopies was still in vogue, stone chatrÈs were constructed sparingly and only on occasions when durability was required. It is perhaps for this reason that the stone form was initially adopted for the construction of tombs. From the Once again, Ibn Ba††Ë†a’s record of this Persian term seems to provide an insight into the spoken Persian of fourteenth-century India. The use of the letter q (qåf) for the Persian g (gåf), which does not exist in Arabic, is conventional, but using a short a in the suffix gah apparently reflects the way the word was pronounced, i.e., khurramgah rather than khuramgåh. The suffix gah occurs in mediaeval and modern Persian, but usually only in poetic contexts. Also see Ibn Ba††Ë†a (tr.), p. 643. 57 Although on this occasion Ibn Ba††Ë†a mentions only the Persian term and does not give its Arabic equivalent, such canopies were known in the Arab world by the term miΩalla (shady space, pavilion, tent) and were applied particularly to the canopies over the minbars such as those discussed below. Also see John Burton-Page, entry on miΩalla in Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edn, VII, 1990, p. 194–5; reprint with additional illustrations in John Burton-Page, Indian Islamic Architecture (Leiden, 2008), examples of chatrÈs over the minbars in pp. 47–9; pl. 13 (Jaunpur); pl. 19 (Cambay), pl. 33 (Chanderi). 58 Mu˙ammad Óusain Khalaf TabrÈzÈ, Burhån-i Qå†i, Muhammad Muin (ed.) (Tehran: hs 1362/1983), II, p. 736 (khargåh) and p. 739 (both khurramgåh and khurramgah); MÈr Jamål al-dÈn Óusain b. Fakhr al-dÈn Óasan InjË ShÈråzÈ, Farhang-i JahångÈrÈ, Rahim Afifi (ed.) (Mashhad: hs 1351/1972), I, p. 965 (khurramgåh and khurramgah); Mu˙ammad Pådishåh, known as Shåd, Farhang-i Åandråj, Muhammad Dabir Siyaqi (ed.) (Tehran: hs 1336/1957), II, pp. 1638–9 (khargåh, khargah); p. 1640 (khurramgåh and khurramgah). 59 Khargåh (Pers.) is a tent with a wooden structure covered by textiles as opposed to khayma (Ar. for Pers. chådur), a tent with tensile structure. 60 See Dehkhoda, Loghat-nåma, VI, pp. 8519–20 (khargåh); p. 8523 (khargah), p. 8535 (khurramgåh and khurramgah). 56

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

fifteenth century on the wooden canopies appear to have given way altogether to heavier, but more permanent, stone chatrÈs. Early Stone Chatrıˉs Apart from the specimen in Kaman the earliest datable stone canopies in the sultanate architecture of northern India appear in the mosque of Aṛha’i din kå Jhoṅpṛa at Ajmer.61 They are not entirely comparable with that of the minbar of the ChaurasÈ Khamba, although both mosques are from the first decade of the conquest. Unlike the specimen in Kaman, at Aṛha’i din kå Jhoṅpṛa the two canopies flanking the main entrance (Plate 6.20) seem to represent what we have already noted as an early adaptation of the maṇ∂apa in an Islamic building, assembled entirely out of temple spoil.62 Another canopy relating to the concept of a maṇ∂apa, and datable to the same period as the Kaman mosque, is over the entrance of the ShåhÈ Masjid at Khatu,63 in Rajasthan, north of Ajmer (Plate 6.21). The entrance is a complex structure in two storeys with double columns,64 and in the manner of the early conquest, the mosque is again built out of spoil, mainly from Jain temples. When looking for precedents for the Bayana chatrÈ tombs, the earliest chatrÈ associated with a tomb in northern India might have been over the crypt of the tomb of Nåßir al-dÈn Ma˙mËd, the son and crown prince of Ïltutmish who predeceased his father while campaigning in Bengal.65 His body was brought to Delhi and buried at Sul†ån GhårÈ, built by his father,66 but the earliest dated standing In spite of being one of the earliest sultanate mosques in India, Aṛha’i din kå Jhoṅpṛa has not yet been the subject of detailed survey and the extensive study it deserves. See Chapter 4, n. 2, for earlier reports; also Sarda, Ajmer, pp. 68–86; Michael W. Meister, ‘The two-and-a-half-day mosque’, Oriental Art XVIII, i (1972), pp. 57–63. 62 In the mosque the defaced images on the older elements have often been left for all to see as a demonstration of conquest, but the Arab plan of the mosque and finely carved Islamic patterns as well as historic and Quranic inscriptions show the involvement of Muslim masons in the construction. For examples of adaptive reuse and alteration of carvings, see Flood, Objects of Translation, pp. 168–71, figs 98 and 103–4. 63 Original report in Nagaur, pp. 107–10, pls 31a, 33c, 34a; also see Flood, Objects of Translation, pp. 170–2, figs 101, 105. 64 The mosque dates probably from 599/1202–3. The two-storeyed entrance adopts the twelve-­ columned form for the upper level, with the columns of the north and south sides of the entrance each made of two shafts set side by side, making the total number of columns twenty. In front of this chatrÈ a smaller four-columned chatrÈ is joined to the larger structure, sharing two of its columns. The composition of the entrance chatrÈs, while conforming to the layout of a maṇ∂apa, is also closely similar to the entrances of other Jain temples of the period. The unusual arrangement of the Khatu columns may therefore reflect older traditions. 65 Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, pp. 447, 453–4. 66 Naqvi, ‘Sultån GhårÈ, Delhi’, pp. 4–10. It is the earliest surviving sultanate tomb in Delhi and consists of a courtyard surrounded by a colonnade with Ma˙mËd’s grave in a crypt below the centre of the courtyard. The roof of the crypt stands above the level of the courtyard as an octagonal platform, suitable as the base for a chatrÈ, but no trace of one remains. The crypt, built of temple spoil has eight corner columns and four in the centre. Either of these sets of columns 61

353

354 BAYANA

Plate 6.20  Ajmer, the mosque of Aṛha’i din kå Jhoṅpṛa, eastern entrance. The chatrÈ on the lower platform has a low corbelled dome, but the two canopies flanking the entrance are not domed, although they might have originally been topped by corbelled or false domes as their present roofs date from modern restorations.

Plate 6.21  Khatu, entrance of the ShåhÈ Masjid surmounted by a four-columned chatrÈ attached to a larger one, much in the style of a pre-Islamic ma≥∂apa. The supports at the north and south sides of the larger chatrÈ are each made of a pair of columns set side by side. Left: general view of the entrance from the southeast. Right: plan and section of the chatrÈs in their present form with an approximate outline of the outer profile of the missing dome.

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

Plate 6.22  Mandor, panoramic view of the post-Mughal Rajput cenotaphs, built on the site of the ruinous ancient fort.

specimen is at Mehrauli, Delhi, dating from 777/1375–6.67 The feature is a twelvecolumned chatrÈ, square in plan with a true dome. The date falls in the middle of the long reign of FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq. Indeed, many other chatrÈs of Delhi seem to date from this period, among them some in the Madrasa of FÈrËz Shåh, built early in his reign on the bank of the reservoir known as Óau∂ Khåß. Many of these chatrÈ tombs are hexagonal or octagonal, and some have pairs of columns at each corner. Although not dated, most of these chatrÈs must be over the tombs of religious personages of the time of FÈrËz Shåh or soon afterward. They were probably learned men associated with the court or the madrasa; one, for example, is known to have been Sayyid A˙mad Khån, the scribe of FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq.68 The chatrÈ is hexagonal in plan, again with a pair of columns at each corner supporting a true dome. From the late fourteenth century, the chatrÈ form was frequently chosen for the construction of monumental tombs to the extent that by the Mughal period they had even been adopted by the Hindu rajas as memorial cenotaphs commemorating their cremation and the self-immolation (satÈ) of their wives (Plate 6.22).69 could have supported a chatrÈ, octagonal or square, but with nothing surviving we cannot make any firm suggestion. The actual tomb being in a crypt is a feature that does not reappear after the time of Ïltutmish until the Mughal period in northern India, with the JhåjhrÈ (Plate III.54) being an example in Bayana. 67 Yamamoto, I, pp. 82–3, T.82; full study in II, pp. 97–104. 68 Wetzel, p. 15. 69 For a study of the cenotaphs of the Jaisalmer Rajputs, see Melia Belli Bose, ‘Ancestors of the moon: Bhati mytho-history and memorial art at Bara Bagh, Jaisalmer’, Artibus Asiae LXXIV, ii (2014), pp. 241–55, figs 1–11, the notes of this paper are also guides to Rajput cenotaphs in other regions of Rajasthan; also see Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture (1910), II, pp. 164–9;

355

356 BAYANA Experimental Designs in Bayana In addition to representing all standard chatrÈ forms, Bayana architecture is notable for different experimental designs, which seem to have remained characteristic of the locality and are hardly seen elsewhere. Such designs include four-columned chatrÈs with flat roofs and false domes; rectangular canopies or joined chatrÈs with true or corbelled domes or flat roofs topped with false cupolas; a chatrÈ enclosed with panels to appear as a domed chamber; domed chatrÈs with eight columns and canopies with nine columns and flat roofs some surmounted by false domes. There were also certain experiments with building true domes which included ribbed domes with flat panels fitted between the ribs, already seen in the chatrÈs of the Ïdgåh Masjid and the mosque in Sikandra, but also appearing in funerary chatrÈs70 and canopies with curved pyramidal ceilings.71 The tradition of building a ‘chatrÈ’ with a flat roof and surmounting it with a false dome is a peculiarity of Bayana up to the time of the Mughals, and a dateable example stands above the platforms of the BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån (Plate 6.23), constructed between 923/1517–18 and 932/1525–6. Although not a funerary chatrÈ it represents a trend of probably earlier dates. Such chatrÈs were easier to erect, required little workmanship and were probably cheaper to build. Over the flat panels of the roof a cupola shape could be constructed to provide the external appearance of a domed chatrÈ. In the specimen of the BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån, the structure over the flat roof is actually a dome but in many others they were a solid mass. An example is ChatrÈ B.23 in the Au˙adÈ graveyard72 which had a solid dome appearing as raised over an elevated drum of a ‘transitional zone’, but in reality it is no more than a mass of rubble, cemented over and set on a flat corbelled dome. Other examples are numerous,73 and in most cases the false cupola, built of rubble and cement, with no structural stability, has been eroded by time. Structures with multiple columns supporting flat roofs have also survived, some with false domes above, such as a rectangular canopy with six columns in Bayana town (B.32, Plate 6.24),74 the false domes of which are lost, but the debris on the roof indicates that the canopy might have had two domes, one over each unit. The canopy imitates the appearance of other rectangular canopies in the form of two or three four-columned chatrÈs with true or corbelled domes joined together. Although not common, at least three examples, each with six columns and two corbelled domes, are found in the region, one in Bayana town (B.22), another in

H. B. W. Garrick, Report of a Tour in Punjab and Rajputana in 1883–84, ASIR XXIII, 1887, pp. 73–85, pl. XVII. 70 Appendix III, Nos 27, 42. 71 Appendix III, Nos 25, 48. 72 Appendix III, No. 28. 73 Appendix III, Nos 29–39. 74 Appendix III, No. 24.

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

Plate 6.23  Bayana, the chatrÈ of the step-well of NiΩåm Khån (B.44), with a false dome constructed over a flat roof. Left: ground-level view showing that the feature appears as a conventional domed chatrÈ. Centre: view of the chatrÈ from a lower level looking at the structure of the roof with flat slabs resting on a square base made out of four trapezoid slabs resting on triangular blocks set at the corners. One of the roof slabs is broken, showing the hollow centre of the false dome. Right: section drawing of the chatrÈ showing the roof structure.

Sikandra (S.11) and a third in the fort (F.31).75 Such canopies also appear very exceptionally elsewhere in northern India.76 An interesting specimen is a chatrÈ with twelve columns and a true dome, which pretends to be a domed chamber (B.28, Plate 6.25).77 The structure stands on a high platform and is constructed in the traditional form, but between the columns jålÈ screens or panels of red sandstone are set, giving the structure the appearance of a square domed chamber. On the inside, the central panel of the qibla side has a flat carved mi˙råb niche, further emphasising the impression of the interior of a square domed chamber. While in Delhi there are a few examples of chatrÈs with jålÈs slotted between the columns, their original chatrÈ form is not concealed. Another feature of the Bayana specimen, specific to the region, is its dome, which in principle is a true dome but, unusually, is constructed with relatively large thin panels laid vertically with each course curved inward to achieve an almost hemispherical finish. This experimental structure provides on the interior an illusion of a dome constructed of finely finished ashlar, but in spite of being intact, it is unstable and would fall at the slightest movement of the building, indicating that is was built after the earthquake. The structure of the dome may not have been unique to this building and some of the other roofless chatrÈs of Bayana could have had this type of dome. Appendix III, Nos 23, 22 and 21, respectively. See Chahår DÈwån, a rectangular canopy with ten columns and four domes at Hansi in Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 106–8, and a similar canopy called Mazår-i ShahÈdån at Nagaur in Nagaur, pp. 56–7, pls 21b and 22a, but the units of this second canopy do not seem to have been built all at the same time. 77 For a full description and the comparable chatrÈs in Delhi, see Appendix III, No. 26.

75 76

357

358 BAYANA

Plate 6.24  Au˙adÈ Graveyard, Structure B.32, a rectangular canopy or double chatrÈ, with a flat roof, once probably topped with a false dome or pair of domes covered with cement. Tombstones of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century style are scattered around.

Another experimental form is a square chatrÈ large enough to be constructed traditionally with twelve columns, but built with only eight: one at each corner and one in the middle of each face. As there are no columns to carry the load of the dome, at each end of the corner lintels or triangular corner slabs the load had to be carried by the lintels, which are no thicker than those in other chatrÈs. One would expect the lintels to crack in the middle and fall, but a specimen of the time of Sikandar LodÈ in Hindaun, built over the tomb of BÈbÈ KhadÈja, who died on 5 Rajab 913/20 November 1507,78 stands almost intact with fairly slim columns and a corbelled dome cemented over and topped with an amalaka (Plate 6.26). Other examples are ChatrÈs BR.3 in Barambad, again with a corbelled dome, finely carved columns and a string course of blue tiles above the eaves; F.16 in the fort, with a true ribbed dome and elaborately carved stonework; and F.34, again in the fort, but with the roof fallen.79 A flat roof and false dome would have undoubtedly been too heavy for the structure and the supporting elements of the chatrÈ could probably carry only the load of a true dome with a light, thin skin. This is perhaps the reason that the dome has not survived. In all these specimens the challenging Appendix I, No 36; Appendix III, No. 40. Appendix III, Nos 41–43.

78 79

359

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

Plate 6.25  Au˙adÈ Graveyard, ChatrÈ B.28 with twelve columns and a true dome, seen from the south-east. The spaces between the columns are enclosed with thin panels of red sandstone, but the eastern side is made into an entrance with flanking pierced stone screens (jålÈ). The flat slabs forming the dome can be seen where the cement cover has eroded. ChatrÈ B.26 is in the background.

Plate 6.26  Hindaun, the Tomb of BÈbÈ KhadÈja, a relatively large square chatrÈ with an unusual structure consisting of eight – rather than twelve – columns supporting a corbelled dome.

360 BAYANA

Plate 6.27  Bayana town, Canopy B.7, with nine columns known as the Tomb of PÈr Mu߆afå or PahårÈ Gunbad, view from the south. The octagonal columns stand on Mughal-style bases, but the north-western column has fallen.

and unusual design is an achievement showing the craftsmen’s understanding of the load-bearing properties of their local sandstone. Perhaps the most unusual, although widespread, but less challenging, design, is a square canopy with nine columns: one at each corner, one in the middle of each face and one in the centre of the structure. An example is the tomb of PÈr Mu߆afå near Bayana town (B.7, Plate 6.27),80 and F.30 in the fort and S.20 in Sikandra.81 In such a plan the structure is formed by four trabeated square units joined together, with a flat roof, some having the remains of a hollow false dome on top, adding to the weight.82 In spite of this, these ‘chatrÈs’ are more stable than those with eight columns as the elements are keyed together with the central column, middle lintels and roof slabs. Although not strictly chatrÈs, some were doubtless constructed to appear as such. Another experimental building is the Baṛe Kamar (big chamber) at Sikandra noted for its pyramidal roofs (S.19, Figure 6.1, Plates 6.17, 6.28, 6.29).83 This elegant Appendix III, No. 45. Appendix III, Nos 44 and 46, respectively. 82 The structure of a false dome is similar to that of a true dome, except that the foot of the dome is set on the flat base of the roof and has no interior view, but gives only the appearance of a domed building to the exterior of a flat-roofed structure. 83 Appendix III, No. 47. 80 81

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

colonnaded structure is square in plan and has four smaller squares projecting from the corners. The building is in two storeys with the upper storey consisting of five four-columned chatrÈs, a larger central one with a pyramidal roof recalling a khurramgåh, and four corner ones. The middle bays of the structure are slightly wider than the rest,84 making the central chatrÈ correspondingly larger, but the units are of the same height. The north-eastern corner unit of the building has, however, fallen and its structural elements are scattered on the ground. Parts of the buildings have also been walled up at later dates, presumably by local farmers who continue to use the building as a shed and stable. There are currently no tombstones present and it might be argued that the building had another function, such as a garden pavilion, but tombstones being removed is common – particularly in Sikandra, while the proximity of the building to other tombs – chatrÈs S.17 (No. 13) and S.18 (No. 34) – makes a funerary function the most likely one. The arrangement of the roof with a central feature – often a dome – and four corner chatrÈs can be found in numerous buildings. An early Mughal example is Dhakira kå Ma˙al near Sikandra of Agra,85 and other Mughal examples include the tomb of Ikhtiyår Khån at Chunar86 and the tomb of Daulat Khån at Maner.87 However, these buildings while partly colonnaded at ground level are all square in plan and differ from the Baṛe Kamar. Its plan, therefore, merits special attention, as it appears to be a colonnaded interpretation of a form seen in the type of square funerary chambers with a central chatrÈ and four corner towers or chatrÈs. Well-known examples include some of the early Mughal tombs such as that of Maryam ZamånÈ,88 the wife of Akbar and mother of JahångÈr, in Sikandra of Agra, and the tomb of JahångÈr’s father-in law Itimåd al-daula Ghiyåth Beg TihrånÈ (or ÊihrånÈ), in Agra (Plate 6.30).89 These royal buildings, both associated with JahångÈr and his wife NËr Jahån, are, of course, much grander and more elaborate The middle bays span about 2.60 m rather than 2.20 m for the rest of the structure. The columns of both levels measure 2.57 m from floor to ceiling and their plain square shafts are 1.57 m high. 85 ASINC, 1921, p. 11, pl. 2. 86 Asher, Architecture of Mughal India, pp. 150–3. 87 Ibid., pp. 153–4. 88 Carlleyle, ‘Agra’, ASIR, IV, p. 99, pl. 11 (Carlleyle’s plan of the building is accurate, but he wrongly attributes the building to be ‘the Båradari (palace) of Sikandar LodÈ, later the tomb of Maryam’); for a detailed description and survey drawings, see ASIAR, 1910, pp. 11, 94–6, pls 48–50. In plan and in scale the tomb of Maryam is more comparable to the tombs of JahångÈr and his wife NËr Jahån, both at Shåhdarra in Lahore, but these tombs do not have any chatrÈs. The tomb of JahångÈr has four corner towers surmounted by tall minarets, and the much plainer tomb of NËr Jahån has the corner towers, but no minarets or any other feature on the roof. For the tomb of JahångÈr, see ASIAR, 1906–7, pp. 12–14, pl. 4; ASINC, 1908, pl. 3; Asher, Architecture of Mughal India, pp. 172–3. For the tomb of NËr Jahån, see ASINC, 1911, pl. 5; ASINC, 1913, p. 11, pls 14–16. 89 The tomb of Itimåd al-daula is well known and mentioned in most works on Mughal architecture. For early reports of the monument, see Carlleyle, ‘Agra’, ASIR, IV, pp. 137–41; ASIAR, 1902–3, pp. 74–5; ASINC, 1905, pl. D. For a recent work and illustrations, see Asher, Architecture of Mughal India, pp. 130–5. 84

361

362 BAYANA

Figure 6.1  Sikandra, Baṛe Kamar (S.19), ground plan, plan of the upper level with five chatrÈs and section A–A.

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

Plate 6.28  Sikandra, Baṛe Kamar, an impressive square colonnaded structure with four smaller squares projecting from the corners. View from the south with the hill as a backdrop; the harmony of the structure with the natural configuration of the hill is expressive.

Plate 6.29  Baṛe Kamar, interior view of the ground level showing the roof structure with plain elements and only a rosette on the ceiling of the central unit, which may have marked the position of a tombstone below, now disappeared.

363

364 BAYANA

Plate 6.30  Tomb of Iʿtimåd al-daula Ghiyåth Beg TihrånÈ, the Persian grand vizier and father-in-law of Emperor JahangÈr, built by his daughter NËr Jahån in Agra. Although it differs in structure from the Baṛe Kamar, the concept of the roof elements with a central canopy and four corner ones is closely comparable.

than the Baṛe Kamar, and the Tomb of Itimåd al-daula is without doubt one of the gems of Mughal architecture. Nevertheless, the comparatively modest Baṛe Kamar expresses the spirit of the form with some strength. The similarity in concept of the plan with examples of the Mughal period may be regarded as an indication of the date of the building. However, a major difference between the Baṛe Kamar and those mentioned is that in Mughal tombs the grave is in a crypt, while there is no indication of the existence of such a feature in the Baṛe Kamar, which, as with the other funerary chatrÈs of Bayana stands on a platform and in all other structural features also compares with the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century buildings of the region. The general form of the Baṛe Kamar is also not without precedence in northern India. In the tomb of Qadam RasËl90 in Delhi, although the details differ, the plan and structure, together with the pyramidal roof of the upper level chatrÈs, are comparable with those of the Baṛe Kamar. With the absence of inscriptions, it is difficult to suggest an exact date for the Baṛe Kamar, but judging Yamamoto, I, p. 88, T.99.

90

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

from its structural form and its siting near other sixteenth-century structures a similar date for it is likely. Nevertheless, a Mughal date cannot be ruled out. In addition to the funerary chatrÈs there are a number of tomb chambers in Bayana, one, known as the tomb of Gulåb Khån,91 seems to be the only building in Bayana with a double-shelled dome, and another, the JhåjhrÈ,92 an elegant structure, somewhat between a chatrÈ and a square-domed chamber, with a crypt which houses the tombs. The Kaman Chatrıˉ over the Minbar: a Statement Returning to the question of the chatrÈ over the minbar of the ChaurasÈ Khamba, while there is no surviving minbar in the grand mosques of Quwwat al-Islåm or Aṛha’i din kå Jhoṅpṛa, or even the ShåhÈ Masjid, they would have originally had minbars constructed in stone or wood. Wooden minbars, elegantly carved, were the centrepieces of mosques and works by master carvers were well cared for. In spite of the perishable nature of wood a number of old minbars have survived in various parts of the Islamic world; one of the early examples, dated 466/1077 is in Abyåna in central Iran.93 At the four corners of its speaker’s platform are the bases of four posts which must have originally supported a wooden – or more likely a textile – canopy. Another fine example, where the wooden canopy has survived, is in the Jåmi of NåÈn (Plate 6.31).94 Examples in other Muslim lands include the Fatimid minbar of the shrine of al-Óusain at Asqalån,95 where over the speaker’s platform stands a domed canopy highly decorated with carved stalactite ­(muqarnas) work, and the Seljuq minbar of the mosque of Alå al-dÈn dated 550/1155 at Konya,96 where the canopy has a tall eight-sided pyramidal roof. In India, while no early wooden minbar has survived there are a few examples in the south, which date originally from the seventeenth century and were restored later, including the minbars of the Mithqålpaḷḷi at Calicut and of the Jåmi of that town.97 Each of these minbars preserves a wooden canopy above the speaker’s platform, reflecting the continuity of the tradition throughout Muslim India. A third minbar in Cochin is notable for having preserved the wooden posts of its textile canopy.98 Appendix III, No. 53. Appendix III, No. 54. 93 Javad Golmohammadi, entry under ‘minbar, 2. Architectural features: the Arab, Persian and Turkish lands’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edn, VII, 1990, p. 77, pl. 12.1. 94 Pope, A Survey of Persian Art, VIII, p. 265; M. B. Smith, ‘The wooden minbar in the Masdjid-i Djåmi, NåÈn’, Ars Islamica V (1938), pp. 21–2, figs 1–7. The minbar is dated Rajab 711/October– November 1311. 95 Golmohammadi, ‘minbar, 2’, p. 77, pl. 13.3; L.-H. Vincent et al., Hébron; Le Haram el-Khalil, sépulture des patriarches (Paris, 1923), I, pp. 219–25; II, pls 25–7. 96 Golmohammadi, ‘minbar, 2’, p. 78, pl. 15.1; J. H. Loytved, Konia, Inschriften der Seldschukidischen Bauten (Berlin, 1907), pp. 22–4. 97 M. Shokoohy, Muslim Architecture of South India, pp. 162–9, 180–3. 98 Ibid., pp. 231–4. This minbar has recently been dismantled and replaced with a modern one, built with a wooden canopy in the style of the traditional minbars of Kerala. 91 92

365

366 BAYANA

Plate 6.31  Iran, the Jåmiʿ of NåÈn, early fourteenth-century minbar, intricately carved and featuring lattice work balustrades. The canopy over the speaker’s platform imitates an arched structure complete with an inaccessible roof terrace.

The stone minbar at Kaman (Plates 4.11, 4.12, 6.6, 6.32) must be seen in the light of the wooden minbars. In this minbar the carved blocks for the sides, although temple spoil, are set like the decorated wooden panels found in Persian minbars of this period. The chatrÈ above the speaker’s platform could be considered a direct simulation in stone of the textile and wooden canopies of the Persian and Central Asian minbars, but a notable feature of the chatrÈ is its ceiling, finely carved in the form of a lotus, apparently taken entirely from a temple ceiling and re-assembled with care. The form fits well with the lobed configuration of a textile parasol, taking the meaning of the chatrÈ back to its source. The minbar in Kaman provides a prototype for many of the later stone examples, amongst which are the minbar of the ÅdÈna Masjid (1374) at Óa∂rat Pandua, Bengal99 (Plate 6.33), and that of the mosque of A˙mad Shåh (1414) at Ahmadabad, For a bibliography of the mosque, see Asher, ‘Inventory of key monuments’, pp. 109–11.

  99

SIX: THE six: the CHATRĪ chatr

367

Plate 6.32  Kaman, details of the stone minbar in the early thirteenth-century ChauråsÈ Khambå mosque, in the historical region of Bayana. This is the oldest surviving minbar in India and employs a reused temple dome in place of the textile canopy of many Iranian minbars.

Plate 6.33  The main mi˙råb and the minbar under the main Èwån of the ÅdÈna Masjid at Pandua, which has lost its vault. The canopy of the minbar has also lost its dome.

368 BAYANA Gujarat.100 These minbars and their chatrÈs are no longer coarse copies of earlier wooden forms, but are finely carved in a manner appropriate to the material. Within the prayer hall of the mosque these chatrÈs were not meant to protect the speaker from the elements: their meaning was symbolic. If the chatr (parasol) itself was a sign of royal authority in India,101 the chatrÈ – the parasol-like structure – above the head of the imam (the spiritual leader) of the mosque asserted the authority of Islam and its representative in the community – a power to which most sultans submitted. Those like Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ102 and Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq,103 who presumed to challenge it ended in confrontation with the religious leaders, to their own detriment. The chatrÈs were not, perhaps, ‘stupid useless things’ after all. They were symbolic representations of various concepts of Islamic culture deeply rooted in many layers of Indo-Iranian tradition.

For a detailed survey, see Burgess, The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad, Part I, pp. 17–19, pls 3, 11–13, details of the minbar in pl. 15; for a colour photograph of the minbar, see Burton-Page, ‘Mosques and tombs’, p. 36. 101 The parasol as a symbol of royalty was an ancient tradition widespread in the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia. In India, the red parasol was reserved solely for the sultan and later for the Mughal emperors. Only they could grant other princes the right to have a parasol, which they did very sparingly. See, for example, Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ (Pers.), I, p. 454, recording that Ïltutmish bestowed a red parasol upon Nåßir al-dÈn Ma˙mËd as a means of announcing publicly that he was the crown prince. Ma˙mËd’s tomb at Sul†ån GhårÈ has been described above (n. 66). For a record of the red parasol as royal symbol, see BarnÈ (Pers.), p. 334. 102 For Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ’s lack of interest in religious maters, see BarnÈ (Pers.), pp. 289–91. Later in his reign, however, he became an admirer of Khwåja NiΩåm al-dÈn Auliyå and imposed excessive religious observance upon his subjects, see ibid., pp. 345–6. 103 For Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq’s brutal treatment of religious leaders, see ibid., pp. 465–6, 472. 100

CHAPTER SEVEN

Waterworks

Here there was a båÈn, which in their language means a very broad well with a stone casing and steps by which you go down and reach the water. Some of them have stone pavilions, arcades, and seats in the centre and on the sides, and the kings and nobles of the country vie with one another in constructing them along the highroads where there is no water … When I reached the båÈn I drank some water from it and found on it some mustard shoots which had been dropped by their owner when he washed them. Some of these I ate and saved up the rest, then I lay down under a castor oil tree. While I was there about forty mailed horsemen came to the båÈn to get water and some of them entered the sown fields, then they went away, and God sealed their eyes that they did not see me. After them came about fifty others carrying arms and they too went down into the båÈn … they stayed at the båÈn washing their clothes and whiling away the time. At night their voices died away … Ibn Ba††Ë†a,1 a Moroccan who had travelled in many arid regions and knew well that water is an indispensable source of life, describes here his harrowing quest for water in the arid region of south-east Rajasthan, when he was separated from his entourage and lost, starving and in fear of capture in the wilderness near Bayana. His ordeal continues: Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), 549–50; (tr.), IV, 778–80, our translation is given.

1

‫ثم نزلت من ذلك الجبل إلى أرض مزروعة قطنا ً و بها أشجار الخروع وهنالك باين والباين عندهم بئر متسعة جداً مطوية بالحجارة‬ ‫لها درج يُنزل عليها إلى ِو ۫ر ِد الماء وبعضها يكون في وسطه وجوانبه القباب من الحجر والسقائف والمجالس ويتفاخر ملوك البالد وأمراؤها‬ ‫بعمارتها في الطرقات التي ال ماء بها … ولما وصلت إلى الباين شربت منه ووجدت عليه شيئا ً من عساليج الخردل قد سقطت لمن غسلها فأكلت‬ ‫منها وأدخرت باقيها ونمت تحت شجرة خروع فبينما أنا كذلك إذ ورد الباين نحو أربعين فارسا ً مدرعين فدخل بعضهم إلى المزرعة ثم ذهبوا‬ ‫ وأقمت بها بقية نهاري وأقاموا على الباين يغسلون ثيابهم‬...‫وطمس هللا أبصارهم دوني ثم جاء بعدهم نحو خمسين في السالح ونزلوا الباين‬ .‫ويلعبون فلما كان الليل هدأت أصواتهم‬ ‫و لما کان اليوم الثامن اشتد بي العطش وعدمت الماء ووصلت إلى قرية خراب فلم أجد بها حوضا ً وعادتهم بتلك القرى أن يصنعوا‬ ‫أحواضا ً …يجتمع بها ماء المطر فيشربون منه جميع السنة فاتبعت طريقا ً فافضت بي إلى بئر غير مطوية عليها حبل مصنوع من نبات األرض‬ ‫وليس فيه آنية ي ُ۫ستَقَى بها فربطت خرقة كانت على رأسي في الحبل وامتصصت ما تعلق بها في الماء فلم ي ُ۫روني فربطت خفي واستقيت به فلم‬ ‫يروني فاستقيت به ثانيا ً فانقطع الحبل ووقع الخف في البئر فربطت الخف اآلخر وشربت حتى رويت ثم قطعته فربطت أعاله على رجلي بحبل‬ .‫البئر وبخرق وجدتها هنالك‬



370 BAYANA On the eighth day I was consumed with thirst and I had no water at all. I came to a ruined village but found no tank in it. They have a custom in these villages of making tanks in which the rainwater collects, and this supplies them with drinking water all the year round. Then I went along a track and this brought me to an uncased well over which was a rope of vegetable fibre, but there was no vessel on it to draw water with. I took a piece of cloth which I had on my head and tied it to the rope and sucked the water that soaked into it, but that did not slake my thirst. I tied on my shoe next and drew up water in it, but that did not satisfy me either, so I drew water with it a second time, but the rope broke and the shoe fell back into the well. I then tied on the other shoe and drank till my thirst was assuaged. In such an environment, from the very beginning of the Islamic conquest the Bayana rulers employed all the main systems for managing water known in India, whereas rulers in areas with different climatic conditions utilised only some of the repertoire of traditional methods. Indeed, one of the oldest dated reservoirs built in India under Muslim patronage, the Jhålar BåolÈ, is to be found in Bayana. While the country retreats of the nobles in the intervening garden city of Sikandra have long ago reverted to farmland, the water management systems – seasonal ponds, dams, open reservoirs, step-wells and well shafts – have either continued to be used or have fallen into disrepair, but are evidence of the strategies used to maximise the retention of this scarce resource and their associated epigraphs open a window on prevailing social conditions. For the mediaeval farming economy, water, its preservation and development as well as the maintenance of its sources were of vital concern. In India, the Muslim newcomers had to learn new methods of manipulating water, which were entirely different from their experience in their homelands. In Iran and Central Asia the four seasons are distinct. Winters are cold and the land is frozen under snow and ice. Rain is scarce and limited to the few months of early spring, and summers are hot and dry. In such a climate agriculture is entirely dependent on irrigation. A few towns that had developed on river banks could benefit from a continuous water supply, but most towns were far from rivers or had irregular supplies from seasonal rivers, which often dried out when the water was most needed. The reliable sources in these regions were the underground water tables, accessed in the highlands and channelled to villages and towns via underground canals called qanåt, many miles long, with a series of well shafts along the way also allowing access to the canals at regular intervals for maintenance. The qanåt system2 could The term qanåt is apparently derived from the ancient Assyrian word ˙anË, meaning ‘rush’ and ‘reed’, which has also entered European languages as ‘canal’. The qanåt system has been extensively studied. For a description and bibliography, see A. K. S. Lambton, ‘anåt: 1. In Iran’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edn, 1978, IV, pp. 528–32. For a brief description and colour photographs, see Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Islamic Science: an Illustrated Study (London, 1976), pp. 213–15, pls 120–3.

2

SEVEN: waterworks

be supplemented by occasional round reservoirs (åb-anbår), which filled with spring rainwater, but were also fed by the shallow underground water table where available. A reservoir of this kind was traditionally covered by a large brick dome with ventilation holes, to keep the water fresh but protect it from rapid evaporation in the hot summer months. The climate in northern Indian differs from that of the Muslim homelands. The hot and humid Indian monsoon with torrential rainfall is followed by a long hot, dry season, becoming cooler in the winter months, but still dry. Great rivers pass through the land, but they are subject to regular flooding during and just after the monsoon. While many pre-Islamic towns and cities were built on riverbanks, the Muslims kept riparian land for farming, establishing their cities on the higher ground a few miles distant. Agra, founded beside the River Jumna, is almost the only exception. Nevertheless, the Muslims found in India long-established traditions for water management suitable for the climate. If the Muslims imported their own brand of architecture and urban planning, for water supply and water engineering they had a great deal to learn from existing Indian systems. In India large tanks on a geometric plan – often square – were common, but the Muslims created lake-sized reservoirs in natural depressions by damming seasonal watercourses and controlling the water by means of sophisticated sluice gates not only to provide water, but also to generate a micro-climate for their newly designed cities.3 The Tughluqs also excavated canals many miles long to take river water to irrigate arid regions and fill their lake-sized reservoirs.4 In the parched and inhospitable climate of south-east Rajasthan, for Bayana, which had grown because of its military and strategic location, the Muslims had to implement all methods of manipulating water – on various scales and with differing degrees of success, but perhaps never to a completely satisfactory end. Large engineering features were not, it seems, attempted, and with the lack of an abundant water supply may not have been practical, so in spite of its impregnable fortress and the ambitions of the rulers, it was shortage of water that was always a limiting factor in the development of the town into more than a provincial centre. The seasonal River GambhÈr (Figure 3.1) contributed little to direct irrigation of the nearby fields, although it helped to maintain a shallow water table in the fields on its banks, which, supplied with wells and reservoirs, provided the best of the arable land in the vicinity. Here to the south of the fort Sikandar LodÈ established his first garden city, perhaps a prototype for his Sikandra near Agra.5 In the rest of Two of the earliest examples recorded in the Muslim histories are the Óau∂-i ShamsÈ created by Shams al-dÈn Ïltutmish and the Óau∂-i AlåÈ (later called Óau∂-i Khåß) by Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ (see Chapter 4, n. 126). The sites of these reservoirs are known, but they are no longer in use. The surviving examples of sluice gates at Delhi are Såt Pul, which provided water for the Delhi town of SÈrÈ, and that of the lake at Tughluqabad. For Såt Pul, see Chapter 4, n. 124. For Tughluqabad, see Tughluqabad, pp. 179–88; Yamamoto, III, pp. 68–76 and pl. 51 at the end of the book. 4 Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 8–9, 16, 85 and figs 15, 34. 5 Discussed in Chapter 3.

3

371

372 BAYANA the surrounding areas of Bayana, people had to rely on limited supplies from wells and Indian-type reservoirs, and on manipulating rainwater as far as possible. Wells Traditional wells in Bayana, as in the rest of northern India,6 consist of circular – and occasionally square – shafts lined with stone. Unlike European or Middle Eastern wells, where the shafts are about a metre or so in diameter, the shafts of Indian wells are between 3 and 4 m wide and sometimes even wider. This enables several persons to enter the shaft at the same time to clean the well or carry out repairs on the stone lining. The depth differs, but the shaft is usually taken far enough down to reach the permanent water table, providing water throughout the year. Wells are excavated primarily for the provision of drinking water, but their excess water is sometimes used for agriculture or in cottage industries. Today, many of the Bayana wells are still in use, and some are equipped with electric pumps, with those in the site of Sikandra being used for irrigation during the dry season, and even some in the area of the abandoned fort are useful for nearby farmers. The Bayana wells were also important for the production of its highquality indigo, exported as far as the Middle East and Europe.7 The wells in Bayana, Sikandra and in the fort are difficult to date, as traditions have remained constant from pre-Islamic to modern times and dated inscriptions associated with wells are scarce. The inscription associated with a well in Kaman dated 1 Rama∂ån 669/15 June 12718 is not in situ and its provenance and the well itself are not known. We are told that the well, which had been founded some 150 years earlier, was restored under the superintendence of IbråhÈm AbË Bakr NushÈrwån Khalj by the order of Sultan Balban’s governor Nußrat Khån, and the Persian term chåh is used, as opposed to båÈn (reservoir), showing that it was an ordinary well, but demonstrating the pride a nobleman might take in maintaining one that had been cleared but ‘had again filled up with stone and broken earthenware, causing inconvenience to the people’. Kaman, as elsewhere in the region, has numerous wells, some of considerable age. Among these wells in Bayana is one mentioned in the verse inscription alluding to the desert environment and found in the site of the TåletÈ Masjid.9 The ‘Zamzam-like’ well may have been located in the northern area of the fort (Figure 3.8, area G), perhaps not far from the mosque. The bazaar area (F.40), south of the mosque, has a number of old wells, one in use and the others now dried up. There is also a functioning well outside the postern gate (Plate 3.33), but while a well just Yamamoto, I, pp. 92–94, Nos W.1–W.13. See Chapter 1, n. 5; also Bargoti, Bayana; a Concept of Historical Archaeology, pp. 22–8, 32, 118–20, and sketches Nos P48–P55. 8 Appendix I, inscription No. 4. See also Chapter 2, n. 81. 9 Chapter 5, nn. 46–9, Plate 5.40. Appendix I, inscription No. 16, present whereabouts unknown. Again, the term chåh is used. 6 7

SEVEN: waterworks

Plate 7.1  Bayana town, Khoja-kå well (B.16), with the tomb of Gulåb Khån (B.13) in the background. The well has a square shaft and the octagonal platform of the mouth of the shaft is also of considerable age, although, as with the lining of the shaft, it has been maintained and renovated constantly.

to the south east of the TåletÈ Masjid (Plate 6.2) is the most likely candidate for being the ‘Zamzam-like’ one, its identification remains uncertain. The appearance of a number of wells in the northern and eastern enclosures of the fort is a clue that these areas were partly farmed, a strategic part of Islamic fortification design, to ensure self-sufficiency in times of siege. Other wells in the town of Bayana, although not associated with any dated inscriptions, also appear to be of considerable age. One, to the south of the present town of Bayana (Figure 3.2, B.16, Plate 7.1) and known as Khoja-kå well is still in use and was probably outside the old town walls. Near this well is a step-well likely to be of old origin (B.14), but almost entirely reconstructed at the end of the eighteenth century (vs 1849/ad 1792) and noted below. Near the wells two of the best-preserved monuments in the town: the JhåjhrÈ (B.15)10 and the tomb of Gulåb Khån (B.13)11 are both datable to the Mughal period, and it is likely that the well itself is at least from the time of the Mughals, if not earlier. The name Khoja may be a corruption of khwåja, a title for a Muslim dignitary: often bestowed upon a learned scholar, a distinguished member of society or a notable merchant, but not a courtier. More to the point, the Appendix III, No. 54. Appendix III, No. 53.

10 11

373

374 BAYANA term is also used in India for members of a particular sect of IsmåÈlÈ Shi’ites, who formerly resided mainly in Sindh and Gujarat but are now widespread. If the name of the well refers to one of them, it would be evidence of their existence in Bayana. The most important well in Bayana is the celebrated Gindoria well (Figure 3.2, B.18), the one that bears a bilingual inscription of Mu˙ammad Khån Au˙adÈ12 (Plate I.20a–b) and is also noted in the ÅÈn-i AkbarÈ for its water with which white sugar cakes called kandaurah were made and exported as a speciality.13 The well has already been noted both with regard to the historical information provided in the inscription14 and the location of the well in its urban context. The well, still in use, does indeed have clear fresh water throughout the year, distinctly superior to that of the other wells, which in the dry season can become brackish. As we have seen, the well is probably ancient and the inscription of Mu˙ammad Khån dated ah 850 and vs 1503/ad 1446 refers only to a restoration that seems to have been limited to relining the upper parts of the shaft. Reservoirs: Typology Reservoirs in northern India are generally of two types. The lake-size reservoirs created in natural ground are often referred to by the Arabic term ˙au∂, and in certain areas of northern India, particularly Rajasthan, by the Persian term tålåb or sometimes its corrupt form tålåo. The other type, constructed with steps and other structures15 is known as båolÈ,16 a common name that seems to be derived from the Indo-Persian word båÈn, recorded not only in early Muslim histories and by Ibn Ba††Ë†a, but also in many inscriptions. These constructions are themselves of two different types described below. The term båolÈ is applied to both, and is sometimes applied loosely to all kinds of reservoirs. Lake-size Reservoirs The basic type of reservoir is formed by manipulating a natural depression that collects monsoon rainwater, as with the lake-size reservoirs of Delhi and ­elsewhere, but not all are on a grand scale. In Rajasthan, many such reservoirs, fairly small in

Appendix I, No. 20. Chapter 3, nn 1–3, 6, 7. 14 Chapter 2, n. 186, and associated discussion. 15 For a general study of Indian reservoirs, see Jutta Jain-Neubauer, The Stepwells of Gujarat in Art-Historical Perspective (New Delhi, 1981), esp. pp. 1–28, ‘characteristics of a stepwell’. For a survey of the ba’olÈs in the region of Delhi, see Yamamoto, I, pp. 94–7, reservoirs Nos W.18–30; III, pp. 34–9 (W.18); pp. 40–5 (W.26); for a simplified analysis of the types of reservoirs, see Julia A. B. Hegewald, Water Architecture in South Asia: a Study of Types, Developments and Meaning (Leiden, 2002), pp. 88–90. 16 The use of the term båolÈ (or båorÈ) is widespread in India, but in some states other terms are used. In Gujarat they are called wåv. 12 13

SEVEN: waterworks

size, still function; examples can be found in Nagaur and Naraina.17 The floor and banks may be formed of natural earth, with the shape following the contours of the land, and as the water soaks in and evaporates the moist and fertile floors of the reservoirs around the remaining pools of water allow fast-growing vegetables and other crops to be raised and harvested before the beginning of the next monsoon. A more advanced variation of the basic type appears when the natural form is preserved but the banks are lined with stone. Ramps, or stone stairs known as ghåt, give easy access to the water. Such reservoirs can sustain some water throughout the year, but many dry out by the end of the dry season. In Bayana several examples of both varieties have survived in the fort. In the town little remains of such features, but outside the town and to the north of the Ïdgåh stands the platform of a building datable to FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq18 which might have been set on the bank of an artificial lake, although not enough has survived to establish the existence of such a lake with certainty. Stepped Tanks The second category is the traditional Indian excavated tank, lined entirely with stone. These reservoirs are usually square in plan, but may be oblong or even polygonal or circular, the stone steps to the water usually being on two, three or often all four sides, giving the reservoir the form of an inverted truncated stepped pyramid with its apex at the bottom. The tanks are constructed in places were the underground water table is near the surface allowing clear water to seep through the base and stone lining. Rainwater is not usually channelled to these tanks, but during the monsoon when the ground is saturated, they may fill nearly to ground level. Whatever level the water sinks to in the dry season, the steps provide access for washing and bathing, but not usually for drinking. Apart from the steps, there is usually provision at one side for water to be drawn by buckets and thrown into channels, for irrigating nearby gardens or farmland. Details of the gear vary, but the principle is the same: stone brackets with pulleys, cantilevered over a vertical wall at one side, are set so the buckets can be hauled by bullocks or buffaloes. The origin of this type of reservoir seems to go back to well before the Islamic period, and the Muslims kept them maintained, as well as building their own. In the region of Bayana at least three such tanks have survived, one in Hindaun and another in a village on the way from Bayana to Hindaun, but the best example is the early fourteenth-century Jhålar BåolÈ outside Bayana town.

Nagaur, pp. 24–7, 155–7. See Chapter 4, Figure 4.22, Plates 4.41, 4.42; Appendix I, inscription No. 13.

17 18

375

376 BAYANA Step-wells The third type consists of a rectangular reservoir with a set of steps to one side leading down to the water level and a well with a circular shaft at the far end. The well has openings to the reservoir at each level and the shaft is often taken much deeper to gain access to lower water tables. During the monsoon, again, when the ground is saturated, the water rises in the well and in the connected stepped reservoir to near ground level, but later in the year the water gradually sinks down and the reservoir may dry out, but the well-shaft usually retains water throughout the year. The device for drawing water for agricultural purposes is usually fitted at the mouth of the well. Reservoirs of this type are usually referred to as stepwells in English, and they appear in many different designs, from the basic form to those with underground arcades and colonnades for people to enjoy the cooler environment produced by the deep shade of the walls and the water. The origin of the form may be Islamic, dating not earlier than the thirteenth century, as no pre- or early-Islamic examples that can be firmly dated are known.19 Examples in northern and western India, of both Muslim and Hindu origin, are numerous,20 and in Bayana several examples can be found,21 three of which – the BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån, the BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån and the båolÈ in the garden of Maryam ZamånÈ in Barambad – are dated. 1: Natural Depressions Made into Reservoirs Mor Taˉlaˉb The largest and perhaps most picturesque enhanced depression is the Mor Tålåb or ‘peacock lake’ (Figures 3.3, 7.1), a lake-sized feature north-east of the fort and the Burgess mentions an early example, the RånÈ Wåv at A≥ahilåvada P円a≥a, built under Hindu patronage well before the Muslim conquest, but the date is uncertain and its original form is not known. The wåv was largely demolished in the nineteenth century and little remains to determine whether or not the traditional date attributed to the feature is credible. See Burgess and Cousens, Architectural Antiquities of Northern Gujarat, pp. 37–8, pls III and XIII, fig. 1. 20 For examples in Delhi, see n. 15 above, for examples in Ahmadabad, see Burgess, The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad, Part II, pp. 4–9 (Bai HarÈr), pp. 10–13 (Adalaj), pp. 13–14 (Ïsanpur, Jiji Båbå and RånÈ Wåvs). For wåvs elsewhere in Gujarat, see James Burgess, Report on the Antiquities of Kå†hiåwåd and Kachh (London, 1876), p. 186 (Vethiyå Wåv near Mukhånå); Burgess and Cousens, Architectural Antiquities of Northern Gujarat, p. 94 (step-well at Loteªvara), p. 101 (wåv at Roho), pp. 112–13 (wåvs at Våyad and Måndwå); Henry Cousens, Somnåtha and Other Mediaeval Temples in Kåthiåwåd (Calcutta, 1931), p. 54 (step-wells at Mådhava), p. 59 (Dhåndalpur), p. 66 (Sadholi Wåv at Mångrol); M. Shokoohy, Bhadreªvar, pp. 35–7. The step-wells noted in these works are only a handful among many examples. In Rajasthan, too, step-wells of this type are numerous, but so far there has been little study of step-wells in this region. For a few examples, see Nagaur, pp. 26–9 (Ganeª BåolÈ and fortified step-well at Nagaur), pp. 145–6 (BaṛÈ BåolÈ at Ladnun). 21 Bayana and its region have numerous step-wells; we have confined our study to dated specimens, and one, in Sikandra, undated but closely comparable to the BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån. For another example in the vicinity, see Bargoti, Bayana; a Concept of Historical Archaeology, pp. 107–8. 19

377

SEVEN: waterworks

Figure 7.1  Mor Tålåb, site plan.

unfinished town of Sikandra. The perimeter of the reservoir follows the contours of the land, its irregular lining fitting within a rough circle about 300 m in diameter. There are remains of buildings and farmland around it, but the tålåb was not close to Sikandra, and would also have been beyond easy reach of the population of the fort, particularly during a siege. This may be a reason why, in spite of its considerable size, it did not alleviate the endemic shortage of water in the fort. Nevertheless, although, like the Delhi examples, it would have often been empty during the dry season, it once provided ample water for agriculture. The area is no longer cultivated, as the modern farms are concentrated to the south of the fort and the present village of Sikandra, on the site of the LodÈ gardens, is closer to the River GambhÈr and the higher water table. Sikandra reservoir The heart of the walled city of Sikandra was designated for a reservoir (Figures 3.5, 7.2, Plate 3.36), lined with stone and provided with ghats and platforms for drawing water, and fed by a channel in its south-east corner. The south and west walls of the reservoir are on fairly straight lines, but the other sides follow the contours of the ground. It is unclear whether the reservoir was left unfinished or, as with the Grand Mosque, was completed, but the stones of its retaining walls were later pilfered. It would have been a main source of water for the town and, despite its present ruined condition, still fills with monsoon rain, drying out gradually. Dammed reservoirs A much smaller reservoir formed by a dam is found inside the eastern end of the North Enclosure of the fort (Area G). Unlike Mor Tålåb, where the

378 BAYANA

Figure 7.2  Sikandra, site plan of the reservoir built in the first stages of establishing the ill-fated town.

­ epression is entirely natural, that in the fort is created by a long straight run d of the eastern fortification wall, which also acts as a dam (Figure 3.5, F.47, Plates 7.2, 7.3). Water running from the rocky heights to the north and south pours down a declivity and collects behind the wall, without which it would have dispersed in Area I, designated as the northern part of Sikandra. Although, as with other seasonal reservoirs, that behind the wall dries out by the end of the dry season, its soil is still moist in the months of April and May. The basin of the reservoir, is, however, fairly small and the shallow water accumulated there might have been used for limited cultivation of the surrounding fields. The eastern area of the Northern Enclosure consists mostly of bare red sandstone rocks and what little cultivable soil there is has accumulated around this reservoir. There has been a further attempt to make use of the rainwater in the fort. In the centre of the East Enclosure (Area E), the water accumulated in another seasonal pond would have been used for limited cultivation and at the east end of this enclosure the flood water would have been manipulated by a pair of small dams constructed with stone rubble (Figure 3.5, F.37 and F.38, Plate 7.4). Again, the trapped water would not have been considerable, but would have otherwise

SEVEN: waterworks

Plate 7.2  Bayana fort, eastern fortification wall of the North Enclosure (Area G) seen from the south-east showing the run of the wall from outside the fort. The straight run of the wall is built across a seasonal watercourse to capture floodwater cascading down the declivity. The construction of the wall differs from the rest of the fortification as it is built in several registers, with the lower ones progressively thicker to withstand the weight of the water. The greenery inside the fort seen behind the wall, in the month of May at the driest time of the year, indicates that the ground in this area preserves moisture throughout the year. The bare rocky hill at the south of the basin can also be seen. Almost all of the rainwater runs down these rocks into the basin.

Plate 7.3  Eastern fortification wall of the North Enclosure seen from inside the enclosure, showing the dried-out basin of the seasonal pond (F.47) at the end of the dry season. The lack of vegetation in the middle of the basin may be an indication that some water remains in this area for most of the year, preventing growth.

379

380 BAYANA flushed away within minutes. In the arid site of Area E, the dams, while not creating a permanent reservoir, would have maintained some precious water at least for a brief period. Main reservoir in the East Enclosure of the fort The only example of the more advanced version of the type is a well-preserved reservoir in the fort at the south-western end of the East Enclosure (Area E), set at the bottom of a canyon (Figure 3.5, F.23). The reservoir, over 50 m long, is created by a dam, about 20 m wide and over 12 m high, built at the western end of the canyon (Figure 7.3, Plates 3.11, 7.5, 7.6), trapping excess water from the central fields of the Eastern Enclosure as well as from the area near its northern walls. The wall of the dam is thicker at the bottom, appearing in two tiers. Flights of steps built by the side of the upper walls provide access to the flat platforms of the lower tiers. The other sides follow the contour of the gorge into which it has been constructed. At the lower levels the walls are lined with stone and a

Plate 7.4  Bayana fort, eastern side of the East Enclosure (Area E) looking south towards two dams created to manipulate the floodwater. In the background are ChatrÈs F.31 and F.32, and over the hill stands the ʿImårat-i BådgÈr (F.33).

SEVEN: waterworks

Figure 7.3  Bayana fort, the main reservoir (F.23) in Area E, outline of the site. Scale and some details are approximate.

number of straight flights of narrow steps built by the side of the walls of the reservoir descend to these levels to make the platforms by the water accessible at all seasons. The reservoir seems to be of considerable age, with signs of maintenance right up to the late Mughal period and the time of the Jåts in the eighteenth century. Rather than a geometric plan, it has been constructed within the rocky chasm, and the upper flights of steps and ghåts served as retaining walls and would have been above the water level all year, evidenced by the plaster covering the ghåts. These upper levels appear to date from the final phases of its use, as the platforms seem to have been heavily restored with small-sized bricks of the Mughal and post-Mughal type. This reservoir alone must have been the main source of water not just for the built-up area in the East Enclosure, but also for the citadel as well as providing a limited supply of water for irrigating the nearby gardens and cultivated fields in the Eastern Enclosure, vital during a siege. Although abandoned for over two centuries, the reservoir still holds water even in the hottest months of the dry season. However, being situated high on a rocky hill it does not reach the underground water table, but is solely fed with monsoon rainwater. Together with the other limited sources of water in the fort, the reservoir may have provided an adequate supply for the population in peace-time, but as the histories relate, in war-time the fort was often faced with water shortages which forced the rulers to submit to opposing forces.

381

382 BAYANA

Plate 7.5  Bayana fort, East Enclosure (Area E), reservoir F.23 created in the bottom of a canyon by building a dam at its western end. View from the east looking towards the dam. The water is still preserved in the reservoir, with broad ghåts reached via flights of steps giving access to the water.

Plate 7.6  Reservoir F.23 in Area E, view from south-west looking north-east. A smaller and lighter dam built at this end controls the flow of water into the reservoir. It also shows that the reservoir is set within the natural curvature of the ground and lined at the lower levels with stone. The stepped platforms above are built of – or lined with – brick and plastered over, suggesting that they were for access and were not habitually submerged when the reservoir filled up with monsoon rain.

SEVEN: waterworks

2: Large Reservoirs with Steps on all Sides Bayana town: reservoir in the Abuˉ Qandahaˉr Graveyard In the Au˙adÈ or AbË Qandahår Graveyard there are the remains of a båolÈ (Figure 3.2, B.34, Figure 7.4), which was originally lined with red and grey sandstone and probably fed by a short canal, again lined with stone blocks, at the eastern side. There may have been another inlet at the north-western side of the reservoir, but little of the original layout of the reservoir is preserved at this side. The båolÈ is in the middle of the cemetery and is surrounded by graves and funerary structures. Close to its south-east corner is a chatrÈ (B.35)22 with a flat roof, but it does not seem to have been related to the reservoir. Little now remains of the båolÈ (Plate 7.7) as the surviving channel has long been in ruins and water no longer accumulates in the cavity left in the site. Most of the stone lining of the walls has also been pilfered, but some of the prominent features of the reservoir could still be distinguished,23 such as a probable platform for drawing water. The present depth of the cavity is about 3.70 m, but the site is filled with debris and the original depth must have been considerably greater. At the northern side remains of ghåts once descending to the water have also been preserved. The båolÈ might have been used as a source of water for the graveyard, but it is unusual to find large reservoirs in Indian cemeteries, which, as with the rest of the Islamic world, could have a well or two, but are expected to be fairly dry with little greenery or trees. The dated tombstones are from the early fifteenth century, and, if by this time a graveyard had already been established in the area, it is likely that the reservoir would date back to the fourteenth century. The båolÈ, however, could be even earlier, from the time when the areas around the newly founded town were still farmed or planted as gardens, orchards or groves of the renowned Bayana mangoes.

Appendix III, No. 33. The channel, about 0.8 m wide and over 5 m long, leads on the eastern side to a wall, which was also originally lined with stone. This must have been the wall of another channel or part of another water feature, of which nothing else remains. At the western side the channel leads to a space, 8.75 m × 3.30 m wide, open to the main body of the reservoir. The eastern wall of the reservoir was vertical, with a platform above, but the southern and western walls have not survived, although it seems that at the reservoir was about 26 m × 16 m wide.

22 23

383

384 BAYANA

Figure 7.4  Bayana town, the Au˙adÈ Graveyard, site plan of a ruinous reservoir (B.34) originally lined with stone and with a channel, probably an inlet, at the east. Traces of steps or ghåts can be seen at the northern side of the reservoir. At the south-east the plan of nearby ChatrÈ B.35 is shown.

Plate 7.7  Bayana town, Au˙adÈ Graveyard, reservoir B.34, already ruinous in 1981. View looking north with some of the funerary monuments in the background. Little of the reservoir remains: most of the stone lining has disappeared, but to the right the remains of the stone steps descending to the surviving cavity and the surviving part of the eastern wall of the tank with a flat platform above can also be seen.

385

SEVEN: waterworks

Plate 7.8  Jhålar BåolÈ, exterior view of the north-eastern entrance, with the foundation inscription on the lintel over the entrance. As with the other entrances, it houses steps which descend to the colonnaded platform around the reservoir. Although not seen in the plate, this entrance has preserved parts of its dome.

Bayana town: the Jhaˉlar Baˉolıˉ The simple open reservoirs were utilitarian, but the Jhålar BåolÈ (Figure 3.1, B.45) is a grand monument with shady porticoes, for the enjoyment of a large number of people. It also bears two dated inscriptions of 718/1318–19, placing the reservoir amongst the earliest surviving monuments of Bayana. The inscriptions not only clarify details on the early fourteenth-century history of the region,24 but also provide direct information about the reservoir itself. The inscription fixed over the north-east entrance25 (Plate 7.8) records in Arabic the names of both the sultan and the patron of the building, KåfËr Sul†ånÈ.26 The other inscription,27 originally over Chapter 2, n. 99 and associated discussion. Appendix 1, inscription No. 10. 26 The same royal slave – and governor of Bayana – who was responsible for the construction of the Ukhå Masjid. See Chapter 4, and Appendix I, inscription No. 11. 27 Appendix I, inscription No. 9. 24 25

386 BAYANA

Plate 7.9  Jhålar BåolÈ, the south-eastern entrance from the colonnaded platform inside the reservoir looking south. A portion of the standing part of the colonnade has been blocked up with rubble, and some of the structural elements of the fallen parts can be seen scattered on the site.

the south-east entrance, but dislodged from its original position and left nearby, records in Persian the construction of the reservoir and refers to it as båÈn – the original term for båolÈ. It mentions the building as an elegant (bå-li†åfat) structure designed with four doors and four domes. The båolÈ, situated 3 km (2 miles) to the north of the perimeter of the old town, does indeed have four doors, each originally with a small dome which has since fallen. The reservoir, square in plan (Figure 7.5), is built mainly below ground level, but is designed to be seen from the outside as a low enclosure with the domed entrances at the corners standing well above the walls (Plate 7.9). Within each entrance a flight of steps descends to the level of a platform originally surrounded by a trabeate colonnade, most of the columns of which have fallen. Along with other structural elements – not yet pilfered – they are piled on the site. Nevertheless, at the north-eastern and south-eastern corners (Plates 7.10, 7.11) and in the middle of the western side, parts of the colonnade still stand, providing information on – and giving an impression of – the original form of the reservoir (Figure 7.6). The structural elements are closely comparable with those used in the two-storeyed colonnade that surrounds the Ukhå Masjid. The similarity is not restricted to the scale and dimensions of the elements,

SEVEN: waterworks

Figure 7.5  Bayana town, Jhålar BåolÈ (B.45), ground plan.

Figure 7.6  Jhålar BåolÈ, section A–A. The lost features are shown with broken lines and the levels below the water level, which could not be surveyed, are not shown.

387

388 BAYANA

Plate 7.10  Jhålar BåolÈ, general view of the reservoir looking south-east. Piles of fallen elements of the surrounding colonnade can be seen, some fallen off the steps and into the water, but some units of the colonnade still stand. The enclosed reservoir below ground level creates a microclimate with overgrown vegetation, palms and trees which – in the desert climate of the region – creates a haven for wildlife. Amongst the many birds seen on the site was the spotted kingfisher, which is rarely seen in Rajasthan.

Plate 7.11  Jhålar BåolÈ, view of the stepped platform at the east side of the reservoir showing the configuration of the steps. In spite of the abandoned and ruinous state of the structure, the tank itself still holds water up to the second level of the steps, even at the end of the dry season. To the right is the south-eastern entrance, which despite the missing dome still towers above the surrounding walls of the reservoir and over the surviving portion of the colonnade. The steps within the walls provide access to the roof of the colonnade, now fallen.

SEVEN: waterworks

but appears also in the details of the carvings, particularly those of the column shafts, their capitals and bases. As noted, at least some of the structural elements in the Ukhå Masjid are reused temple spoil, carefully selected and re-assembled. Temple spoil appears to have also been used in the Jhålar BåolÈ, as indicated by a Sanskrit inscription of vs 1325/ad 1268 taken from elsewhere and set into the wall of north-eastern entrance.28 It is not, however, clear to what extent the structural elements in the Jhålar BåolÈ are of pre-Islamic origin, as in Bayana traditional Indian ­patterns were employed for many centuries in later Islamic carvings (Plate 7.12). Within each side of the walls that enclose the colonnade are two flights of steps, once leading – both from outside and inside – to the roof of the colonnade. These steps, eight sets altogether, would have given access to the roof for maintenance, but were perhaps mainly designed to create free circulation between all parts of the amenity, and to extend the usable space to the roof, making it an agreeable spot for taking the air in the early mornings and evenings. The square reservoir occupies the centre of the structure (Plate 7.10) bordered by a platform over 2 m wide standing in front of the colonnade. At the edge is a step followed by a series of narrower stepped platforms descending to the water level. Each platform is well over 1 m below the one above and is accessed by a series of steps, each set having a pair of five treads in opposite directions leading to a landing with another step from the landing to the platform. The principle behind the configuration of the steps is not peculiar to the Jhålar BåolÈ and appears not only in Gujarat,29 but also occasionally in other reservoirs in Rajasthan,30 particularly those of pre-Islamic origin, but the design is more elaborate than the common form where simple steps all around the reservoir lead down to the water level, as with the reservoir in the East Enclosure of the fort (F.23, Plates 7.5, 7.6). The location of the båolÈ, not far from the river, may have been chosen for its relatively high water table, as even now in the dry seasons the water level does not usually descend much below the second platform of the abandoned tank. Most unusual and innovative in the design of the Jhålar BåolÈ are its enclosing walls.31 Reservoirs are traditionally set in open ground without surrounding walls. The enclosure of the Jhålar BåolÈ traps the moisture within and creates a micro-climate considerably cooler than the harsh desert environment outside. Appendix I, inscription No. 3. Also see Chapter 2, n. 68 and associated discussion. Burgess, Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad, Part II, p. 94 (Old Ku≥∂a at Kapadvanj); Burgess and Cousens, Architectural Antiquities of Northern Gujarat, pp. 79–80 (SËrya or Råma Ku≥∂a at Modhera). 30 See, for example, the Måduså BåolÈ at Didwana in Nagaur, pp. 97–8. 31 No earlier walled reservoirs have so far been identified, but a few later examples are known, amongst them the seventeenth-century Tåj BåurÈ (båolÈ) which is still in use at Bijapur, and the Chånd BåurÈ on which it was modelled. See Henry Cousens, BÈjåpËr and its Architectural Remains with an Historical Outline of the ‘Ådil ShåhÈ Dynasty (Bombay, 1916), pp. 123–4, fig. 28, pls CX, CXIV. 28 29

389

390 BAYANA

Plate 7.12  Jhålar BåolÈ, details of some of the architectural features. Left: one of the columns carved in the style of those seen in the Ukhå Masjid and which may be of pre-conquest origin. Right: details of one of the niches of the entrances, with its ogee arch and border of pearl and diamond patterns carved from a single block of stone.

Its cool and shady colonnade would have provided a pleasant retreat for its users and now that the reservoir is abandoned and overgrown it produces a haven for wildlife. The question remains as to why a fine monument on this scale should have been constructed so far away from the town, where the townspeople could not regularly use the water or visit the site for leisure. Elsewhere in India impressive reservoirs are often intended to attract people for recreation. A good example

SEVEN: waterworks

is the Kånkariyå Talåo32 a grand, nearly circular, polygonal reservoir outside the old town of Ahmadabad, noted by the Emperor JahångÈr who spent three days there,33 and still one of the main attractions of the town, where people promenade by its banks in the cool of the early evening. The Kånkariyå Talåo also provided water for irrigation of nearby fields as well as for a garden in the middle of the reservoir. In Bayana, the Jhålar BåolÈ might have also been partly used for irrigation. It might be argued that the reservoir could have been set in a garden owned or used by the governor and the nobility, but the wording of the inscriptions indicate that it was meant to be used by the public. In the Arabic text of one of the inscriptions the phrase taqabbul allåh minhu (‫‘ ;تَقبُل هللا منه‬may God accept it from him’) is a conventional reference to a charitable act for the public, and in the Persian inscription the phrase shud Èn båÈn banå bå Èn li†åfat dar guzar (‫‘ ;شد این بائین بنا با ایـن لَطافت دَر گذر‬this båÈn was constructed so elegantly in the public path’) leaves no doubt that the building was for public use. The most likely suggestion is that it was for the KhaljÈ army of KåfËr in camp. The fields to the north of the town already had the Ïdgåh (Plates 4.22, 4.24, 4.25) from a century before, probably built as the army prayer ground. The reservoir would have been a useful year-round resource for the townspeople such as tradesmen and people connected with the everyday life of the camp during peace-time, as well as the army. Hindaun: Jachchaw (Jachchaˉ) kıˉ Baˉolıˉ In the region of Bayana there are two other reservoirs comparable with the Jhålar BåolÈ, but without enclosing walls. One is the Jachchaw kÈ BåolÈ at Hindaun,34 which is probably of pre-Islamic origin, but has been maintained continuously and is still in use. The reservoir (Figure 7.7, Plates 7.13, 7.14), is located outside old Hindaun and to the south-south-east of the modern town, but still outside the encroaching built-up area, near a Muslim graveyard with tombstones datable to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.35 There are also two chatrÈs of considerable age nearby.36 The tank and steps resemble the Jhålar BåolÈ, but a broad ramp extends over the water to allow bullocks to be harnessed for hauling water, indicating agricultural use. The retaining walls stand well above ground level, but are not ornamented. However, there are a number of square platforms, suitable as bases for chatrÈs, indicating that shady domed canopies on

For a survey of the reservoir also known as Óau∂-i Qu†b, see Burgess, The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad, Part I, pp. 52–3, pls II, LXV. 33 JahångÈr nåma (tr.), I, p. 420. 34 The reservoir has not been studied previously, but is noted in ASIAR, 1925–6, p. 128. 35 Among them is the epitaph of BÈbÈ RåsËlÈ dated 25 Rama∂ån 846/27 January 1443; Appendix I, inscription No. 19. 36 Appendix III, No. 37 and the Tomb of BÈbÈ Khadija (No. 40) dated 5 Rajab 913/20 November 1507. 32

391

392 BAYANA

Figure 7.7  Hindaun, Jachchaw kÈ BåolÈ, plan and axial section A–A through the reservoir and the ramp for hauling water, extending over the water. Water drawn from the reservoir is now poured into a channel that runs at the east edge of the ramp, but the west side is reconstructed and a channel may have also been provided at this side, as shown in the drawing.

columns, open on all sides, might have been part of the design, which was not executed. The other reservoir is in Dhandora (Dhandhawali) village north-east of Hindaun on the route to Bayana.37 This reservoir is constructed entirely of red sandstone and appears to have been modelled after the Jhålar BåolÈ.

Again, the reservoir has not been studied but is briefly mentioned by Cunningham, ASIR, XX, 1882–3, p. 92: ‘Dhandora … possesses a curious old Baoli, or stone reservoir, from 80 to 90 feet square, with a continuous flight of twenty steps all round. At each corner there is a round tower with square open pillared baithak, or terrace, in front of each, overlooking the water. There are sixteen pillars in each of these rooms, which are placed across the corners … The Dhandora Baoli is similar to the Jhålar Baoli of Bayåna … on a smaller scale.’

37

SEVEN: waterworks

Plate 7.13  Hindaun, Jachchaw kÈ BåolÈ from the south-east corner looking north-west, with the ramp for hauling water to the right and one of the square platforms suitable for the base of a chatrÈ at the far left. There is, however, no evidence that a chatrÈ was ever constructed over it.

Plate 7.14  Jachchaw kÈ BåolÈ, looking east, with the ramp for hauling water to the left. The water level is at its lowest, at the end of dry season, and the lighter colour on the steps indicates that the normal level would be up to the top of the second series of steps. During the heavy monsoon rains the water could rise even higher.

393

394 BAYANA Baˉolıˉ to the south of Bayana town To the south of the Khoja-kå well, near the tomb of Gulåb Khån and close to the JhåjhrÈ is a square reservoir with steps at all sides (Figure 3.2, B.14, Plates 7.15, 7.16). The site again seems to have been chosen where the underground water table remains high throughout the year – apparent from the level of the water in the Khoja kå well and other nearby wells. The reservoir is surrounded by a wide platform and five steep steps lead to a wider landing, which appears to correspond with the approximate water level during the rainy season. Two further sets of seven steps access a second and third landing at the level of the water in the dry season, with further steps continuing down, but normally the third platform and the lower steps remain submerged even in the harshest of dry seasons. From the known position of the former gates of the town and the probable outline of the old town walls it appears that the reservoir was originally just outside their perimeter. The nearby monuments are Mughal, but the tank’s original date is unknown, as the båolÈ has been heavily reconstructed at later dates and is lined with thin slabs of red sandstone, a characteristic of post-Mughal and Jåt buildings. The reservoir also bears a foundation inscription in Devanagari script on a small marble plaque, recording the construction of the reservoir by the order

Plate 7.15  Bayana town, båolÈ (B.14) just outside the southern perimeter of the old town. View from the south looking north, with the nearby JhåjhrÈ (B.15) to the right and tomb of Gulåb Khån (B.13) to the left in the background. Two of the landings below ground level can be seen, but in an exceptionally dry year after several years of drought the third landing still remained submerged. The platform with a canopy with two columns near the north-west corner of the reservoir has recently been walled up and made into a pump-house for drawing water.

395

SEVEN: waterworks

Plate 7.16  BåolÈ B.14 to the south of the town, general view looking south. The båolÈ was originally open on all sides and the wall in the background is fairly modern. Taken at the end of the dry season in a normal year the water table is a little below the second landing. The water is still used and is drawn from the enclosure to the right through the pipes seen on the far right.

Plate 7.17  Foundation inscription of båolÈ B.14 in Devanagari script dated vs 1849 (ad 1792).

of Kundånanda, the son of Råma Haranarayana and Nanishankara Låla Baniya in vs 1847/ad 1790 (Plate 7.17). Together with a mansion in the fort and another in the town, the reservoir is one of the few structures associated with the Jåts in Bayana and apparently the only one for public use. As with most other old waterworks, the water is now extracted by an electric pump, installed on a platform at the north-west of the reservoir.

396 BAYANA

Plate 7.18  Bayana fort, the BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån (F.4), interior of the rectangular reservoir from the platform at Level 3, looking northwest.

3: Step-wells The Baˉolıˉ of Khaˉn-i Khaˉnaˉn One of the most striking buildings of Bayana, with features heralding those later to become familiar in Mughal architecture, is a rectangular step-well in the fort, situated in the outer enclosure of the western gate of the citadel (Figure 3.8, Area C, F.4, Plates 2.11, 7.18). While the outer enclosures of gates were essentially for defensive purposes and usually left unbuilt, this enclosure appears exceptionally to have been inhabited, with ruins of what seem to be residential buildings, mainly in the northern part near this step-well, where the ground is flatter. The bilingual Persian and Sanskrit inscription of the reservoir38 is significant as it indicates that the båolÈ, constructed under Muslim patronage, was most Appendix I, inscription No. 29.

38

SEVEN: waterworks

Plate 7.19  BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån, eastern end of the reservoir, looking south towards the second flight of steps which descend to the platform of Level 3. At the far left, part of the bilingual foundation inscription can be seen, set where only the users of the well would be able to see it.

probably for the exclusive use of the Hindu subjects.39 The inscription, dated 8 Rama∂ån 901/20 May 1496, is set on the eastern wall of the reservoir at the lower landing of the steps to Level 3, at a point where it can be seen only by those who have entered the båolÈ (Plate 7.19). The Persian version records in flowery verse its construction during the reign of Sikandar LodÈ under the supervision of Mukhtår Beg ‘according to the wish’ of Khån-i Khånån ‘by whose councils the surface of the world gleams, and basil diffuses its fragrance’. This Khån-i Khånån is, of course, Khån-i Khånån FarmulÈ, Sikandar LodÈ’s trusted governor of Bayana who held the post from 897/1492 until his death in or soon after 906/1500–1. The Sanskrit text contains much the same information (praising this ‘crest-jewel of rulers and cynosure of the learned’) giving the date as vs 1553 and Saka era 1418, which corresponds with the ÓijrÈ date. The opening of this version, however, is interesting:

See Chapter 2, n. 226 and Chapter 3, n. 62. In India Muslims and Hindus did not share their water sources, a practice still observed in village communities.

39

397

398 BAYANA Homage to the Remover of Obstacles whom exponents of Veda and Vedånta refer to as Highest Authority, others as Garu∂a, or Cause of the Motion of the Heavens or God. While direct mention of the name of any Hindu deity is carefully avoided, the reference to the Hindu holy scriptures and the mention of the remover of Obstacles (a title of Ga≥eªa) and of Garu∂a, the mythical bird and vehicle of Lord Vishnu, leave little doubt that the inscription was meant to appeal to the Hindu subjects, and also alludes to the reservoir being a charitable work. However, the båolÈ conforms to Muslim conventions and lacks any imagery related to water deities or any other Hindu icons. In general, the structure follows the usual configuration for this type of step-well, but the plan is more extensive and the design and details more elaborate (Figures 7.8, 7.9, Plate 7.20), befitting a structure provided for leisure as well as utility. The reservoir is entered at the eastern end through a small door, 1.76 m wide, in the middle of an enclosure stepping down to a platform, over 3.80 m wide with two sets of nine steps at the northern and southern ends. The entrance obscures the view from outside, making the aspect of the inside more striking as one enters. Apart from the broad steps to the water, this båolÈ has narrow staircases within the walls40 to access the landings and cool shady colonnades, unlike simpler step-wells such as the BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån described below, which has precarious ledges for reaching the seating areas. Both the first- and second-level colonnades wrap around the three sides of the rectangular reservoir, but at the third level the northern and southern sides are solid and are faced with walls decorated with flat arched niches, each with a smaller lamp niche in the middle. In the evening the flickering lamplight on the water and play of light on the decorative carvings would give the båolÈ yet another aspect. The colonnades all open to the shaft of the well at the western end. As usual with this type of step-well the rectangular reservoir narrows down at the lower levels and here, at Level 3, a platform surrounds the flight of wide steps, which descends to Level 4 (Plates 2.11, 7.21). Only this flight of steps corresponds in design to the regular layout of this type of step-well. The fourth level is in the form of a small chamber with four columns and as usual opens at the western side to the shaft of the well. Two other sets of narrow steps at the north-west and south-west corner of Level 3 also lead down to the chamber at Level 4. The BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån is set well above the level ground of the plain and The flights of steps at the northern and southern sides descend to a landing, which at its western side gives access to the colonnade of Level 1 by means of another flight of five steps leading up to an upper landing at the level of the colonnade. However, access to the lower levels and eventually to the water is by two further flights of steps, again over 3.80 m wide at the northern and southern side of the eastern end of the reservoir descending to a lower platform just four steps above Level 3. Access to Level 2 is provided by means of steps within an arched opening at the eastern end of the colonnade as well as two narrow sets of steps, 0.95 m wide, set within the colonnades, descending to the chambers of Level 3.

40

399

SEVEN: waterworks

Figure 7.8  Bayana fort, the BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån (F.4), plan showing the entrance and the colonnade at Level 1 above and below Levels 2 and 3. The underground colonnade at Level 2 can be entered from arched openings at its eastern end, and the narrow steps within the colonnade lead down to Level 3, at the western side of which more steps lead down to Level 4. The wide central flight of stairs also leads to Level 4.

the elaborate upper colonnades are considerably above the water table and would not have been submerged. Level 4, which follows the conventional design of the type, appears to have been where the main body of water collected, and could be accessed by the central steps. Even the platform and the arched niches of the third level seem to have usually been above the water table, but calcite deposits on the niches at about 1 m above the level of the platform indicate that at least during heavy monsoons this level could become partially submerged. The extensive fourstoreyed design is therefore a device to take a feature within the fort deep into the ground, while keeping it wide enough to allow light to reach all levels. With the upper levels above the water table and Level 3 only partially and occasionally submerged, the designers could focus on the details beyond simple considerations of function. An example is the experimental treatment of the two front columns

400 BAYANA

Figure 7.9  The BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån, section A–A, looking north through the four underground levels of the rectangular reservoir and the shaft of the well at the western end, which goes deeper to the lower water table to secure the water supply during severe dry seasons.

Plate 7.20  BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån, view from the north-east corner of the northern steps, looking south-west, showing in the foreground the openings of the colonnades at Levels 1 and 2. The platform at the far right gives access to the colonnade at Level 1 and the steps within the arched opening give access to Level 2. In the lower left corner are the central steps leading to the platform at Level 3. Remains of the plaster once covering the rough stonework can be seen.

SEVEN: waterworks

Plate 7.21  BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån, view from Level 3, looking south-west and showing the colonnade at its western end. The openings to the shaft of the well at the middle of the western end of the colonnades can also be seen. In the foreground is the rectangular stepped reservoir leading to a small chamber at Level 4. At Level 3 the two front columns – with their massive and elaborately decorated capitals and bracket capitals – are set on corbelled brackets.

401

402 BAYANA of the colonnade at the third level (Plates 7.18–7.21). These columns, instead of being set on the solid platform, stand on corbelled brackets, which seem to have been appropriate for the weight of the columns and the loads they support as they are still standing in spite of some dilapidation at other levels. Another interesting feature is the treatment of the appearance of the levels. While the columns of the top colonnades have a lighter structure by means of small and simple capital brackets, those of Level 2 have larger capitals surmounted by even larger bracket capitals. These brackets are each made out of three superimposed blocks, which become progressively larger. They are all elaborately carved and the middle blocks are decorated with hemispheres similar to those in some of the grander houses in the fort. In the centre of each upper block a rosette in high relief balances the effect of the pendant hemispheres. Although the column shafts, lintels and flat roof slabs of the first and second level are all of similar sizes,41 these heavy brackets make the colonnade of Level 2 appear much heavier than the one above. Level 3, with its solid walls decorated with flat arched niches, is even more massive and the walls of the central steps to Level 4 are plain and solid. This treatment emphasises visually the increasing lightness of the structure at higher levels, making a well-balanced harmony on the interior façades. This handling, although rare in pre-Mughal India, is not unheard of and appeared earlier in Tughluq architecture, for example, in the Madrasa of FÈrËz Shåh in Delhi and the palace of FÈrËz Shåh at Hisar. In these buildings the visual effect of lighter upper levels is achieved by constructing the lower levels with piers and arches, the middle level with arches resting on monolithic columns and the upper level with trabeate colonnades. Nevertheless, the BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån displays an advanced design for the LodÈ period, more sophisticated in its own way than their grander buildings in the region of Delhi. The båolÈ, built entirely of the local red sandstone, employs structural forms and detailed decoration all based on the architectural traditions of Bayana, but the design appears to be more highly evolved than that of any earlier building. The rough stonework of the walls was plastered (Plate 7.20) and would have contrasted with the dressed and carved stone. The structure, in many ways, represents the beginning of a breakthrough in the development of Bayana architecture, and were it not for the dated foundation inscription, the structure could easily be mistaken for an early Mughal work in the style of Akbar’s buildings at Fathpur Sikri. The firm date of the båolÈ establishes the building as a forerunner and predecessor of the Mughal architecture of the vicinity. The BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån dates to only nine years before the earthquake that destroyed the region in 1505, precipitating the decline of Bayana, apparently associated with a migration of artisans and craftsmen to the newly developing Agra. Through this building we may be witnessing the work of the Bayana builders and designers who were to create, a generation or so later, the red sandstone architecture of Fathpur Sikri.

The column shafts measure 28 cm square in plan, and the lintels span on average about 2.30 m.

41

SEVEN: waterworks

Figure 7.10  Bayana town, the BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån (B.44), ground plan (Level 1) above and plans of Levels 2 and 3 below.

Figure 7.11  BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån, longitudinal section A–A through the step-well and the chamber at its entrance. The position of the inscribed foundation stone on the wall of the steps to the right of the multistoreyed platforms is also indicated.

403

404 BAYANA

Plate 7.22  Bayana, the BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån (B.44) north of the town, view from the site of the original garden looking north showing the platform around the step-well with a chamber at the entrance of the steps to the left and a chatrÈ over the multistoreyed platforms adjacent to the shaft of the well on the right. The water is still in use for agriculture; the cable to the right provides electricity for the pump installed in the well.

The Baˉolıˉ of Nizaˉm Khaˉn, outside Bayana ˙ In the fields about 2 km to the north-west of the Ïdgåh is a more modest step-well (Figure 3.1, B.44) bearing an inscription in verse recording its construction in a garden during the reign of IbråhÈm Shåh LodÈ and also giving the name of NiΩåm (or Mu†åm?) Khån b. Mujåhid Khån,42 but part of the inscription is eroded and the role of the khan in the construction of the feature is not entirely clear. From the composition of the inscription it appears that the båolÈ was constructed by the order of the khan and the phrase bikardand dar Èn bågh båÈn banå (‫;بکردند درین باغ بائین بنا‬ ‘they built this båÈn in this garden’) is well-preserved, so it is certain that the step-well was chiefly for watering a private garden. However, in the badly eroded last line the words sËd (benefit), khåß (noblemen) and åm (common people) may Appendix I, inscription No. 34. In the 1987 report the name was suggested as Mu†åm Khån b. Mujåhid Khån, but further investigation of the inscription indicated that the reading of NiΩåm is more plausible. The two names are very similar in the Arabic script, and while the reading of Mu†åm cannot be ruled out, there is no historical evidence that NÈΩåm Khån had a brother by this name and we should perhaps regard NiΩåm Khån himself as more probable unless other and firmer evidence in support of the name Mu†åm comes to light. See Chapter 2, n. 251 and associated discussion.

42

405

SEVEN: waterworks

Plate 7.23  BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån, circular well set within an octagonal platform, seen from the south-west.

Plate 7.24  BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån, view from the platform at Level 2 looking up towards the chamber at the entry to the reservoir.

also be deciphered, along with the sentiment that this beneficial deed should last in perpetuity, alluding perhaps to an element of public access to the båolÈ. Of the date, only the word for nine hundred can be deciphered, but from the dates of NiΩåm Khån’s governorship of the region we can probably narrow the date down to 923–32/1517–26, over a decade after the 1505 earthquake. The båolÈ, like the unfinished Ukhå Minår,43 must have been part of the efforts for the reconstruction of Bayana, and it is likely to have been NiΩåm Khån’s own garden, or one of his noblemen’s. Although the step-well is in reasonably good condition nothing of the garden has survived. Nevertheless, the presence of a nobleman’s garden far to the north of the town of Bayana and well away from Sikandra shows the prosperity of Bayana even just after the earthquake, and also perhaps the LodÈ’s ambition to go on producing – or maintaining – garden cities when the development of Agra had already begun.44 The båolÈ follows the standard layout of the type with steps at the north-east See Chapter 5, Plates 5.63 and 5.64; Appendix I, inscription No. 33 Sikandar LodÈ created many other gardens between Bayana and Dholpur, mentioned in Chapter 10.

43 44

406 BAYANA descending to a circular well45 at the south-west (Figures 7.10, 7.11). At ground level a platform over 1 m high is built around the feature, with an octagonal outer perimeter around the circular well-shaft (Plates 7.22, 7.23). At the mouth of the shaft and opposite the steps a slab of stone, supported by corbelled blocks set into the lining of the shaft, forms part of the apparatus for drawing water directly from the well. The sockets, which originally supported a wheel, have also survived. Water can be drawn from such wells by ropes and leather buckets hauled by bullocks or water buffaloes and then poured into a trough opening to channels that flow to the irrigated plots. The tradition is still current in many parts of India, but here little trace can be found of the irrigation channels, and almost nothing of the layout of the garden. At the point of entry to the steps is a chamber46 set above the platform and entered via a flight of five steps from the north-east leading to an arched opening. On the other side of the chamber a similar arch opens to the steps and gives a panoramic view of the interior of the step-well (Plate 7.24). This small chamber seems to have been for the private use of the owners of the garden, who in the heat of the day could enjoy the coolness of the water and the breeze passing through the four openings. At either side of the opening to the step-well a staircase is built into the walls giving access to the roof, which would have provided an agreeable vantage point over the båolÈ and the panorama of the garden in the cool of the evenings and early mornings, similar in function to the roof of the colonnade in the Jhålar BåolÈ. The same concept has been applied here on a more private and domestic scale. The steps of the båolÈ itself descend to the varying water level, and in front of the shaft of the well are three platforms, topped by a four-columned chatrÈ at ground level. The chatrÈ is comparable in all respects to the funerary chatrÈs, but this example is of particular interest as it is one of the specimens with a flat roof with a false dome constructed above it – surviving here almost intact (Plates 6.23, 7.25, 7.26). Furthermore, the date of the construction confirms that the development of this unusual type – apparently peculiar to the region – goes back at least to the fifteenth century and was well established in the early sixteenth century. Below the chatrÈ, the platform at Level 2 has no direct access from the main steps and is entered by means of an auxiliary staircase built into the north-western wall and the platform. The platform at Level 3 is reached via two narrow ledges made out of flat slabs cantilevered from the side walls connecting the platform to an intermediary landing of the main steps. Walking on these ledges may appear somewhat perilous, but they are common in step-wells of this type and can be seen in the grand step-wells of Gujarat such as the Bai Har­Èr Wåv.47 The steps of the BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån continue down to a fourth level, but as usual the shaft The steps are 2.85 m wide, and the circular well 5.20 m in diameter. The chamber measures about 3.50 m × 2.40 m on the interior. 47 See above, n. 20. 45 46

407

SEVEN: waterworks

Plate 7.25  BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån, the reservoir seen from the chamber at the north-eastern end, looking through the multistoreyed platforms surmounted by a four-columned chatrÈ. Its well-proportioned dome is in fact a false dome built over a flat roof. The well-constructed side walls are provided with narrow cantilevered ledges at Level 3 for accessing its platform, but some of the stones on the right have cracked, making that side impassable.

Plate 7.26  BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån, view of the chatrÈ over the platform at Level 1, seen from the steps at Level 2 looking up. The chatrÈ, raised on a podium constructed over the platform, is a focal point for the surrounding garden. The structure of the flat ceiling of the chatrÈ, resting on triangular corner slabs, can be seen. One of the roof slabs is broken giving a glimpse of the cavity of the false dome above. In the centre of the photograph, below the platform, is the shaft of the well with corbels supporting the slab for the apparatus for drawing water directly from the well. On the wall to the right is the foundation inscription.

is deeper than the stepped reservoir, to reach a lower water table. The stepped part of the båolÈ can dry out in the summer. NiΩåm Khån remained the governor of Bayana until Båbur’s invasion. The båolÈ is therefore one of the last dated buildings of the LodÈ period. Its structure, while following the local traditions, also displays some LodÈ characteristics. The two entrances of the chamber have true four-centred arches similar in profile to those of the LodÈ and Mughal period. These arches are flatter and have sharper curved

408 BAYANA

Plate 7.27  BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån, interior of the chamber looking east and showing part of the arched entrance as well as the roof structure made out of flat slabs spanning the chamber and resting on lintels set into the walls but partly supported by pilasters.

haunches than those of the KhaljÈ monuments of Bayana. The dome of the chatrÈ, although false, again has the profile of a true dome and is well proportioned. Yet the båolÈ as a whole is a trabeated structure and its chamber has a flat ceiling of slabs resting on lintels supported by monolithic pilasters (Plate 7.27). The narrow width of the chamber is accounted for by the roof structure, as 2.40 m is almost the maximum span that can be covered by roof slabs of the local sandstone without the hazard of their cracking. Sikandra: step-well west of the modern village In the fields of Sikandra, half way between the town of Bayana and the walls of old Sikandra is a båolÈ (Figure 3.1, S.14) comparable in scale and layout to the BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån, but slightly less elaborate and with no entrance chamber. Although the area is cultivated, modern deep wells equipped with electric pumps have caused the water table to sink, and while the båolÈ does not dry out entirely in the crucial months of spring and summer, before the monsoon (Plate 7.28), the

409

SEVEN: waterworks

Plate 7.28  BåolÈ S.14 in the fields of Sikandra, the well from the south looking at the stone lined shaft. Water stands at the bottom of the well, but the båolÈ is disused, with the nearby fields irrigated by a deep well equipped with an electric pump.

Plate 7.29  BåolÈ S.14 at Sikandra from the east looking towards the multistoreyed platform with a chatrÈ at ground level. Although neglected, most of the original structural features remain. A narrow ledge which leads to an underground platform of the chatrÈ can be seen on the left.

stepped part of the reservoir is disused and deteriorating (Plate 7.29). It consists of a flight of steps, 3.32 m wide, at the south-eastern side, leading down to a well, 5.90 m in diameter, at the north-west (Figures 7.12, 7.13). At ground level a low platform, over 2 m wide ran originally around the well, narrowing to about 1.40 m around the opening of the steps. At the west side of the well the installation for drawing water incorporates a trough built on the platform and sloping out towards the remains of an irrigation channel. Again, the sockets for fitting a wheel have survived, but none of these features seem original, as the båolÈ remained in use apparently until modern times and the surrounding platform seems to have been reconstructed at later dates. As with the BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån, a multistoreyed platform is constructed at the juncture of the steps and the shaft, again surmounted at ground level (Level 1) by a four-columned chatrÈ which has a false dome over a flat roof, similar to that of the BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån. Fourteen steps descend to a landing at Level 2, and two long narrow ledges – less than 0.45 m wide – cantilevered out from the side walls

410 BAYANA

Figure 7.12  Sikandra, step-well in the fields between Bayana town and the fort, ground plan (Level 1) above and plan of the underground Levels 2–4 below.

Figure 7.13  Step-well at Sikandra, longitudinal section A–A.

provide the only access to the multistoreyed platform at this level. A further seventeen steps lead down to another landing with similar ledges leading to the platform at Level 3 (Plate 7.30) and fourteen more steps arrive at the platform at Level 4. As usual, the circular well would have been deeper, but has filled with earth and debris almost to the level of the lowest platform of the rectangular reservoir.

411

SEVEN: waterworks

Plate 7.30  The båolÈ at Sikandra, platform at Level 3 accessed by narrow ledges cantilevered out from the side walls, a broken part of which can be seen on the right.

There is no inscription in the structure and this type of båolÈ was common in the sultanate as well as the early Mughal period. It is therefore difficult to date, but judging from its similarity with the BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån, and its location in the fields of Sikandra we can suggest a late LodÈ date. The lack of an inscription or any buildings associated with it indicate that it was a functional structure, rather than a place of retreat, but it is not certain if it served only one of the renowned gardens of Sikandra or if the public also had some access to it. Barambad, baˉolıˉ in the garden of Maryam Zamaˉnıˉ In spite of Bayana’s decline in the Mughal period, it appears that persons of quality continued to reside and carry out new construction work in the region. One of the most notable was Emperor Akbar’s wife and mother of JahångÈr, Maryam ZamånÈ, who built a garden and a sizeable step-well in Barambad, a village just outside the town of Bayana (Figure 3.1, BR.5). Maryam seems to have spent some of the last years of her life in Barambad, which was probably part of her estates. Her garden and båolÈ were visited in 1028/1618–19 by JahångÈr and noted in his memoirs:48 JahångÈr nåma (Pers.), p. 293; our translation, also see (tr.), II, p. 64.

48

412 BAYANA

Plate 7.31  Barambad, BåolÈ of Maryam ZamånÈ, view from the reservoir looking towards the gate. Above the entrance is the gallery, running behind the front façade and opening to the rear balcony and side chambers. The reservoir in the foreground is a broad, fairly plain structure with steps set in line with the gate, accessing the water and flanking platforms at the underground levels. Courses of sandstone, cantilevered out from the inner walls, form narrow ledges, or perhaps drips, but do not seem to have been for accessing any missing features.

‫روز یکشنبه شانزدهم چهار و نیم کروه طی نموده در موضع بیره منزل شد چون باغ و باولی که به حکم حضرت‬ ‫مریم الزمانی در پرگنۀ جوست اساس یافته بر سر راه واقع بود به تماشای آن توجه فرمودم بی تکلف باولی‬ ‫عمارتیست عالی و به غایت خوب ساخته اند از کارفرمایان به تحقیق شد که مبلغ بیست هزار روپیه صرف این‬ .‫عمارت شده‬ On Sunday the 16th we marched four and a half korËh and set camp at Bairah. As the garden and the båolÈ which had been built by the order of Maryam al-ZamånÈ in JËsat District was on our way, we went to see it. Without exaggeration the båolÈ is a grand building and has been built remarkably well. I ascertained from the [construction] supervisors that a sum of twenty thousand rupees had been expended on this structure. Little remains of the garden today, but its gateway and step-well have survived, displaying the transition between the technology of the past, and the new ideas in design that were being introduced. The monument is dominated by the grand entrance to the garden (Plate 2.16), consisting of an arched portal flanked on the exterior by two arched niches at ground level and windows with balconies above. Within the arch is a rectangular opening, with pilasters surmounted with the usual bracket capitals supporting a monolithic lintel, and another balcony above. The gate is constructed of the local red sandstone, the three bays highlighted by narrow bands of marble inlay. Between the doorway and the balcony within the

SEVEN: waterworks

Plate 7.32  BåolÈ of Maryam ZamånÈ, view of the site of the garden with the gate to the left and the step-well to the right. Little remains of the garden and the structure in the background is not historic. In spite of the Mughal style façade, the trabeate structure of the gate can be seen, although the spaces between the columns have been walled up.

arch is the foundation inscription49 carved in marble recording the construction of the garden and the step-well – so delightful ‘that the heavens became as pale as straw with shame’ – in 1022/1613–14, six years before JahångÈr’s visit. The gate’s portal leads to a corridor flanked by colonnaded galleries, opening to the garden. At the rear of the portal, at the upper level, another gallery runs across the structure and opens to the balconies seen on the exterior façade, and at each end of the gallery is a chamber (Plates 7.31, 7.32). There may have been walls or other structures at both sides of the gate, but only a small portion of these remain. Within the garden, just behind the gate, the step-well is built on the same axis, giving it some prominence, although it is a simple structure with plain side walls. The central steps are flanked by platforms at three underground levels with the circular well at the far end. Additional flights of steps on either side of Level 2 access the garden rather than the gate. At the far end of the reservoir at the juncture of the well a three-storeyed arcade is open to the well at each level (Plate 7.33). The step-well seems to have remained in use long after the garden reverted to simple cultivated fields, and later structures have been constructed on the site of the garden, some near the well. What remains, however, is a good and perhaps unique specimen of a royal Mughal building in Bayana, representing the vocabulary of the Imperial architectural style, expressed by the four-centred Appendix 1, inscription No. 49. Also see Chapter 2, n. 315.

49

413

414 BAYANA

Plate 7.33  BåolÈ of Maryam ZamånÈ, view from the roof of the gate looking towards the båolÈ, also showing the wide mouth of the well in the background. The colonnade at the end of the reservoir, open to the well at all levels, can also be seen. All other features surrounding the stepwell appear to be of later dates.

arches derived from the Timurid and particularly Safavid architecture of Iran, while, behind the façade, the trabeate style of Bayana predominates. The step-well and particularly the gate represent on a more modest scale the transformation of the Bayana style to that of early Mughal architecture. Although details of many Bayana edifices appear prototypical of early Mughal architecture, the evidence of this genesis is most apparent in the waterworks. Details of the BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån, for example, appear a generation or two before they distinguish the early Mughal palaces. The concept of a monumental entrance to a private båolÈ, as seen in that of NiΩåm Khån, is carried out in the båolÈ of Maryam ZamånÈ, but here other features, some also traceable to the Muslim architecture of other regions, occur early on in Bayana, an example is the balconies with hipped roofs in the Jåmi of Sikandra (Plate 5.31) closely comparable with those of Maryam’s monumental gateway. The true impact of Bayana on Mughal architecture is not, however, limited to a particular type of plan or the use of red sandstone. It is the whole vocabulary of Bayana architecture, which was taken over by the early Mughals and is best represented in the imperial cities built on the sites of old villages of Bayana – the Red Fort of Agra and at Fathpur Sikri.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Domestic Architecture

Architectural studies on mediaeval India –­ Hindu or Muslim – often focus on places of worship, royal palaces, public buildings – such as reservoirs, bathhouses and theological colleges – and to some extent military structures. Residential buildings, which are the dominant feature of any built environment and greatly responsible for the characteristics of a town, are usually ignored or noted briefly. One reason is perhaps the modest scale of the domestic buildings in comparison with the grandiose quality of the religious, public and royal monuments, but another reason may be that in most archaeological sites little domestic architecture is left while in living mediaeval cities residential areas have been rebuilt so many times that in most cases even the old urban fabric can no longer be recognised. Nevertheless, in Bayana enough has survived, along with the scanty remains in other historic and archaeological sites, to provide grounds for investigating the mediaeval residential areas as well as the typology of domestic buildings. In the fort of Bayana, among several types of dwelling, a particular pavilion type – a hall flanked by chambers – appears again and again. This may at first glance appear peculiar to the region, but the type requires attention, as standing and well-preserved examples can also be found elsewhere. The study of Bayana’s residential buildings has, therefore, wider implications, as it lays the groundwork for a general understanding of the typology of Indian mediaeval houses and their design development. As with most civilisations, in ancient Indian towns t­ he common type of domestic dwelling seems to have evolved on an organic plan consisting of a few rooms set where convenient at one or two sides of a relatively small yard. Such dwellings can be found in sites as early as Mohenjo Daro1 and Harappå.2 The organic house plan probably remained the most prevalent type in mediaeval India, where a basic John Marshall, Mohenjo-daro and Indus Civilization (London, 1931), I, pp. 17–24, pls 4–6; III, pls 39, 53, 57; E. J. H. Mackay et al., Further Excavations at Mohenjo-daro, 1927–31 (New Delhi, 1937–8), I, pp. 143–6, 151–4; II, pls 13, 20. 2 Madho Sarup Vats, Excavations at Harappå (Delhi, 1940), I, pp. 14–15, 28–9, 78, 115, 131–2, 162, 185; II, pls 3, 15b, 19, 24, 26, 31, 37. 1

416 BAYANA building consisting of one or two rooms was first constructed and other rooms were added or occasionally demolished in later years. This type of house plan can still be found not only in Indian villages, but also in the poorer suburbs of large cities, where houses are not built to a preconceived design. The historical sources give some insight into the structural forms, building materials and even decorative details, but they are usually silent on the form of the house plans. The early Muslim geographers3 concerned with the Islamic communities in the Indian subcontinent do occasionally give brief mentions of the houses. For example, the tenth-century geographer al-MuqaddasÈ4 notes, regarding Sindh, that the buildings of al-ManßËra were of wood and clay, while the mosque was of stone and baked brick; he then tells us that Wayhind, although an important capital and bigger than al-ManßËra, had buildings of straw, cane and wood, which were subject to fire, and that the houses of al-Multån were handsome, like those of SÈråf, multistoreyed and built of teak wood. He also mentions that Qanuj was a large fortified city with a citadel and low buildings. Wood is not found in the surviving historic buildings in Bayana, and there is little evidence that it has ever been considered a major building material there. In the arid climate of Rajasthan trees for structural timber cannot be grown locally and lumber needs to be brought in from elsewhere. The other cause is, of course, the abundance of high-quality red sandstone nearby, which could be quarried at a relatively low cost. However, the extensive use of timber for roof structures in Islamic buildings is well known and those of fourteenth-century Delhi are recorded by the Arab historian Ibn Fa∂l’ullåh al-UmarÈ (697–749/1297–1348) in his description of the town at the time of Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq:5 ‫ان دهلی مدائن جمعت مدینة … بناؤها بالحجر و اآلج ّر و سقوفها بالخشاب و ارضها مفروشة بحجر أبیض شبیه‬ ‫بالرخام و ال ی ُ۫بنی بها اکثر من طبقتین و فی بعضها طبقة واحدة … قال الشیخ ابوبکر بن الخالل هذه دور دلّی العتیقة‬ DihlÈ consists of several cities which have become united … The houses are built of stone and brick, and the roofs of wood. The floors are paved with a white stone, like marble. None of the houses are more than two storeys high and some only one … But if I can believe Shaikh AbË Bakr bin Khallål, this description applies only to the old houses of DihlÈ.6

AbË Abd’ullåh Mu˙ammad b. Mu˙ammad al-IdrÈsÈ, Opus Geographicum (Ar.) (Naples–Rome, 1971), pp. 166–98. 4 al-MuqaddasÈ, A˙san al-taqåsÈm fÈ marifat al-aqålÈm (Ar.), pp. 479–80; al-MuqaddasÈ, The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions, Collins (tr.), pp. 420–1. 5 Ibn Fa∂l’ullåh al-UmarÈ, Waßf mamlikat al-hind wa al-sind (Leipzig, 1943), p. 11. For the full Arabic text and translation of this passage, see Tughluqabad, p. 71. The translation here is given from Elliot, III, appendix C, p. 575. 6 Al-UmarÈ’s note about the older houses in Delhi presumably refers to those remaining from the time of the KhaljÈs and of Ghiyåth al-dÈn Tughluq, and fits well with our findings at Tughluqabad. 3

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Al-UmarÈ’s account gives an impression of the built environment of the time, perhaps not dissimilar to that of Bayana, but sheds little light on the plans of the houses and their internal organisation. As far as building materials and the number of storeys are concerned, apart from the use of wood his account ties in with the findings in Bayana, but his mention of brick is incorrect. As with Bayana, brick was not used in Delhi before the seventeenth century and was introduced to northern India by the Mughals. He may have assumed that following the old Middle Eastern tradition, walls covered with stucco – common in Bayana as well as in Delhi – would be of brick rather than stone. In Delhi, mediaeval domestic architecture has not survived and our limited information on houses derives from the poorly preserved foundations of buildings found in the archaeological site of Tughluqabad. The dwellings standing in the fort of Bayana are therefore significant, as apart from the exceptional case of their survival, when studied within the context of material from other mediaeval sites, including Tughluqabad, they provide grounds for investigating residential sites in general and for studying the typology of domestic buildings.7 Close examination of the domestic architecture of Bayana provides insights into the characteristics and morphology of the town in the fort, and by extension those of other mediaeval towns. The study also helps us to understand the relationship between the planning of public and royal buildings and its interface with domestic dwellings. Although many of the Bayana houses bear auspicious religious inscriptions, none are dated. To establish a date, the town in the fort should be considered as a whole. Some of the ruins of the town can safely be dated from those public buildings that bear dated or datable inscriptions. Amongst such buildings are the TaletÈ Masjid datable to Rama∂ån 823/September–October 1420, the minaret of DåwËd Khån dated 861/1456–7 and the reservoir (båolÈ) of Khån-i Khånån dated 8 Rama∂ån 902/21 May 1496. The ruins of the residential areas that surround these historical monuments are therefore also likely to be datable to the fifteenth century – the period of prosperity for Bayana under the Au˙adÈs and Sikandar LodÈ. The site of the old town in the East Enclosure has retained numerous houses, but in our survey only a few better-preserved houses were studied, which represent a good sample of the domestic buildings and the variety of their plans. An archaeological survey of the town would no doubt provide us with plans of many more houses preserved at foundation level only or buried under debris. The surviving houses, including those studied, have all been re-occupied in later centuries, when the town had lost its importance and was reduced in size. At the end of the life of the town the houses were squatted in, probably by a small community of poor peasant farmers who continued to live there even for some time after the town was abandoned as an urban settlement. During this period not only houses 7

Some key examples of the Bayana houses are discussed with additional comparative material in the context of their origins and development in M. and N. H. Shokoohy, ‘Domestic dwellings in Muslim India’, pp. 89–110, figs 1–21.

417

418 BAYANA but even mosques and abandoned tombs and shrines were occupied, and stones salvaged from other buildings were used for makeshift repairs and the construction of partition walls for subdividing the buildings. The squatters’ building work is crude and can be easily identified so that when surveying the buildings it was possible to identify the plan and structure of the original buildings, even if in parts only the foundations were preserved. In the eighteenth century, when the fort apparently housed a small community under the Jåt Raja Bandhir Singh,8 a number of new houses in the post-Mughal style were constructed near the east gate of the citadel (Figure 3.8, F.14a–b, Plates 9.21, 9.22). This must have been the final urban settlement in the fort and when it was abandoned the houses were left without much alteration, and although there are some signs of later occupation many of these houses are preserved intact. The dry climate of Bayana has ensured that even the plain interior plasterwork with its final colour – often a blue tint made presumably from the local indigo – is preserved. If it were not for the shortage of water in the citadel the buildings would be almost habitable today. These buildings alone are worthy of separate research as they provide examples of the eighteenth-century houses of Rajasthan preserved in their original form.9 Although their detailed study is outside the period of interest of this work, some are highlighted in Chapter 9. Structure and Methods of Construction Apart from the various types of house plan discussed below, their structural system and the simple way of putting them up are of particular interest. In the construction of all houses trabeate structural systems appear to be the only methods applied – the same method that was employed for the construction of the mosques and, of course, the chatrÈs. In domestic dwellings one might have expected to see a combination of trabeate forms together with piers and arches, but arches appear only rarely in Bayana and where they do occur they are not integral to the structure of the house itself. The building material is the local sandstone formed into columns, pilasters, bracket capitals, lintels, roof slabs and cornices around the roofs. As with mosques, chatrÈs and båolÈs the columns consist of three elements, the base, the shaft and the capital, which is usually in the form of a square cushion supporting the bracket capitals. The roof slabs and most of the brackets are plain, but the columns and bracket capitals in the grander houses may have simple decorative carvings. The outside face of the lintels is also sometimes carved, or may have cross patterns inlaid with blue tiles, the only type of tile-work seen in Bayana. Some of the lintels set in the middle of the openings or above the entrances of the houses also bear Quranic or other religious inscriptions, regarded ASIR, VI, p. 69. The shady verandas of these houses provided a welcome retreat from the midday sun during the survey.

8 9

EIGHT: domestic architecture

as auspicious to pass under when entering or leaving the house. As with mosques, the open colonnades were protected from rain by means of eave stones set above the lintels and supported by the weight of the cornices above, but today only fragments of the eave stones and the cornices have survived in a few places. The walls are usually between 50 and 70 cm thick and built of blocks of red sandstone or more inferior grey sandstone squared up and sometimes finely hewn, but the final finish was usually a white plaster render, probably tinted or painted. The finer stonework of the columns, bracket capitals and lintels was exposed. Little or no mortar is used in the construction of the walls and the blocks, fairly well proportioned, are set dry and keyed together. The only ‘wet-work’ is the plaster rendering of the walls and a thin layer of cement on the roof to make it watertight. Some houses might have had crenellations around the roof built with rubble-stone and plastered over. Although little remains to establish if the houses had this feature, crenellations instead of parapets around roofs are a common feature in northern India and appear in most buildings large and small, as the roof is an important part of the living space.10 In a trabeate system the structural elements are fitted together with simple joggled joints, which prevent the elements slipping from their position, but the stability of the structure is secured almost entirely by gravity,11 each load-bearing element supporting the weight of the element above. The load of the roof slabs and the cement roof cover is transferred to the lintels, which in turn transfer the load to the bracket capitals, columns and bases. The only governing factor in the size of the elements is the load-bearing capability of the sandstone, which in Bayana dictates a thickness of at least 110–115 mm for the roof slabs, and a maximum span of about 2.5 m for the slabs and lintels, which the builders must have established by trial and error. The trabeate system is a pre-Islamic, tried and tested structural form in India. In Bayana, from the survey of the houses as well as other public and funerary structures, enough evidence was found to indicate that the local building industry had rationalised the system by standardising the size of all the components: the columns, pilasters, column bases, capitals, bracket capitals, lintels and even roof slabs and eave stones. With standardisation of the elements to a few sizes, runs of them could be produced and the builders would be able to obtain the required number of components and assemble them rapidly. The study of many lintels with inscriptions carrying blessings for the buildings indicates that even these lintels were apparently produced in specific masons’ yards and the builders could buy one with an appropriate inscription to set as the central beam of the front See, for example, Guy T. Petherbridge, ‘Vernacular architecture: the house and society’, in G. Michell (ed.), Architecture of the Islamic World: its History and Meaning (London, 1978), p. 184, photograph 26 of the roofs of Rajasthani houses used for sleeping. 11 Similar to tongue-and-groove in joinery. The joggled joints are in the centre of the bases, shafts, capitals and brackets and are not visible from outside, in a manner similar to what is known in western architecture as a ‘secret joggle’. 10

419

420 BAYANA colonnade or over the entrance. The carved decoration of the column shafts and other elements was fairly similar, but within the same pattern there was some variety in the way they were carved, indicating perhaps that various workshops used slightly different patterns, although the elements from one would fit those of the others with minimal adjustments. As a result, within one structure there are sometimes indications that materials from different sources have been used. The house plans are always modular to correspond with the standard-sized building components, but the variety of design is such that while there is a sense of unity and identity in the architecture of the town, as a whole there is little monotony in the appearance of the structures. So far Bayana is the only site in India that indicates the existence of the mass-production of building elements as a widespread commercial enterprise. There must have been skilled craftsmen in the masons’ yards who would have supervised the design and carving, but most of the work could be carried out by less skilled workers, each responsible for certain operations, thus reducing the cost of production. Simple methods of assembly must have also minimised the need for skilled labourers at the building sites, bringing down costs even further. Building a house or memorial edifice in Bayana must have been quick and relatively inexpensive. Typology Single-room Dwellings The houses vary in size from modest combinations of only one or a few rooms with a small yard to grand structures with large gardens and prominent entrance gates. The most common type of Bayana house, presumably for people of modest means, consists of a single room with plainly carved structural elements. An example is Structure F.19, near the northern wall of the East Enclosure (Figure 3.5, F.19), a simple colonnade probably walled on all sides, except where it was open towards the yard (Plate 8.1). The house is set at the edge of the hill looking down towards the inner north fortification walls – an impressive view, although it would probably only have been enjoyed from the flat roof, and not seen from within the house and courtyard. Another example, in the citadel, is Structure F.9 (Figure 3.8, F.9), which was again a simple chamber, in this case with a walled yard to the south. A relatively wide door on the south side of the chamber was flanked by two windows; more windows were provided on the northern and eastern sides, and three niches in the western wall (Figure 8.1, Plates 8.2–8.4).12 The ruinous eastern bay had been left The column shafts in this building measure 2.12 m, with the height of the bases 33 cm, the capitals 24 cm, the brackets and the lintels about 30 cm, making the height from floor to ceiling about 3.29 m. The dimensions of the elements in this structure are fairly average and broadly correspond with those of most of the other houses.

12

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Plate 8.1  Bayana fort, Structure F.19, a house consisting of a single room with a flat roof and plainly carved column shafts and lintels characteristic of other modest dwellings in the fort.

abandoned and a makeshift stone wall constructed by squatters to enclose the two surviving western bays. The remaining southern window had also been blocked up, and the western wall reinforced with an outer layer of brickwork. This latest repair, which may have blocked window openings, leaving the spaces as niches, would have dated from the last phase of occupation of the fort, as bricks do not appear in Bayana until the late and post-Mughal period. At first glance the structure, with its niches in the west towards the qibla, might appear to have originally been a mosque later converted to a dwelling. The orientation of the building, however, is not enough to determine if it was once a mosque, as in Bayana houses and mosques often have similar orientations. In fact, there is less variation in the orientation of the houses in Bayana than in the mosques and shrines, as most of the houses are oriented between 15º and 22º West of magnetic North, while the diversion in the mosques and shrines varies between 6º and 25º. The orientation of the qibla (direction of Mecca) in Bayana would be about 269º 8′ (i.e., 52′ South of geographic West),13 but in India an approximate western orientation appears to have been generally acceptable for religious buildings. In Using a common modern formula based on the method of Ibn al-Haitham (d. 430/1039). See C. Schoy, ‘ibla’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1st edn (Leiden, 1927), II, pp. 985–9; David A. King, ‘The sacred direction in Islam: a study of the interaction of religion and science in the Middle Ages’, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews X, iv (1985), p. 318; David A. King, ‘ibla’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edn (Leiden, 1986), V, pp. 82–8, particularly p. 85, where the methods of Ibn YËnus (d. 399/1009) and Ibn al-Haitham are given.

13

421

422 BAYANA

Figure 8.1  Bayana fort, citadel, Structure F.9, a simple dwelling consisting of a rectangular chamber, plan and section A–A.

Plate 8.2  Citadel, Structure F.9, exterior view of the private dwelling from the north. Part of the neatly laid original wall of the house can be seen on the right as well as a thin makeshift secondary partition built inside the house. The roof structure is also exposed and its details can be seen.

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Plate 8.3  Structure F.9, from the north-east. The fallen walls reveal details of the structural elements with half- and quarter-size pillars which fitted in the walls and appeared originally as pilasters. While the walls have fallen the roof still stands on the columns and these pilasters. The thick cement layer above the roof slabs served to make the structure watertight.

Plate 8.4  Structure F.9, interior view looking west. The columns, capitals, bracket capitals and lintels are plain, indicating that the house was constructed by someone of modest means. As with most other houses in the fort, the building bears the signs of later alterations. The niches in the western wall seem to be secondary.

423

424 BAYANA Bayana the mosques and shrines built on open ground would each have been laid out independently, while the orientation of the houses was predetermined by the layout of the streets, which also set the houses in alignment with the qibla. Such an orientation is not only considered auspicious, but in Bayana is also practical as the houses can then face north – usually with wide openings – while the southern side would be walled with relatively small windows, keeping the sun out and allowing the breeze to pass through the house. In addition, the form of structure F.9 does not conform to that of the local mosques, as no early mosque in Bayana consists of a simple covered hall walled on all sides. If it were a mosque the courtyard would be expected to be at the east, accessed by an open colonnade, not on the south. For similar reasons it could be established that the nearby Structure F.8 (Figure 5.11, Plates 5.20, 5.21) was indeed a mosque, although it had been used as a dwelling at later dates. A lofty house set on the north-eastern bastion of the citadel is Structure F.17 (Figure 3.8, F.17) – again consisting of a single hall – which differs from the other examples in that it has taller columns and a higher ceiling (Figure 8.2, Plates 8.5, 8.6). In this building the column shafts, with angular vertical mouldings of the kind common elsewhere, measured 2.61 m, and to enhance the sense of height

Figure 8.2  Bayana fort, citadel, Structure F.17, a high-ceilinged dwelling consisting of an almost square single chamber, plan and section A–A.

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Plate 8.5  Citadel, Structure F.17, the square single chamber with tall columns from the south, also showing the high platform of the building, which appears to have a basement chamber, but its entrance is now blocked.

Plate 8.6  Structure F.17, interior view, showing original walls still standing on the northern and part of the western sides.

425

426 BAYANA and slenderness the shafts have comparatively narrow bases, capitals, brackets and lintels,14 making the floor to ceiling height about 3.57 m. Again, the chamber was walled on all sides with two doors at each side. Today most of the walls are in ruins and the structure appears as an open colonnade from some angles, but the lower parts of the wall are preserved on all sides making the original form of the structure clear. Its setting on the northeast tower of the citadel, north of the eastern gate is striking, and the house is elevated further by being built on a relatively high platform which also contained a chamber, although the surroundings are now buried in debris blocking access to it. In spite of the modest single upper hall, the location of the building, its tall slim columns decorated with simple carvings, and the care taken in the choice of the site indicate some ambitions behind the design. The house might have been that of a better-off household, but still in the middling bracket. Multi-room Dwellings A more elaborate plan, resolved in a single unit set at one side of a courtyard can be seen in Structure F.10 (Figure 3.8, F.10), which is among the better-preserved houses in the citadel. The building is set to the east of a courtyard and consists of an open-fronted hall, now walled up, opening to the west with a long narrow room at the eastern side, a similar room at the north and a small room at the north-east corner (Figure 8.3, Plates 8.7–8.9).15 The columns are plain but the capital brackets are modestly decorated with mouldings. The floor to ceiling height is slightly less than 3 m, about the average for most of the houses, but the open front of the hall facing west is supported by a row of double columns set one in front of the other ­– a somewhat elaborate and perhaps pretentious design for a house of this scale. A simpler version of such double columns can also be found in some of the larger houses of Bayana such as Structures F.20 and F.24–F.28 discussed below. In these buildings the column shafts are plain but rectangular in plan. The capital brackets, however, while monolithic, are elaborately carved with multiple decorative features to resemble two brackets set side by side (Plates 8.12, 8.20–8.22). The form is seen in grander structures and public buildings such as mosques, and an example also appears in the small local mosque (F.8, Figure 5.11) in the citadel. The appearance of the form in Structure F.10 and the fact that it consisted of several rooms indicate that the dwelling would not be in the same category as those with a single hall or chamber. The use of the space in this house must have been slightly different from the others, with the colonnaded hall providing the more public space and the other rooms being more private, and suitable for storage and safekeeping The bases, capitals, brackets and lintels, measure, respectively, 27 cm, 15 cm, 26 cm and 28 cm high. 15 The open-fronted hall measures 5.40 m × 6.70 m; the long room at the northern side, 4.90 m × 1.88 m; the room at the east 6.70 m × 2.25 m; and the small corner room 1.88 m × 2.25 m. 14

427

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Figure 8.3  Bayana fort, Structure F.10, a house consisting of an openfronted hall and three rooms, plan, section A–A and west elevation.

valuables. As the hall faces west the afternoon sun would penetrate into it, but the rooms would still provide dark and shady spaces in the heat of the day. Houses consisting of one or a few rooms at one side of a courtyard are not unique to Bayana and have been the most common type of dwelling in India from ancient times to the present day. The plans of such buildings reflect the nature of the everyday activities conducted in the house, the way the space was used, and how public and private space was divided. To gain an insight into the life within a house like this, one can observe how dwellings of this nature, many still to be found in Bayana, are presently used. Life in such houses is simple and furniture, if it exists at all, is limited to a few essential objects such as portable beds with light timber frames criss-crossed with string or straps of woven jute (chårpayas) and one or more lockable trunks for storing clothes and more precious items. The utensils and tableware as well as jars and pitchers for drinking water are also kept indoors, the water usually in the coolest and shadiest corner. Most houses are provided with niches for lamps in which prized utensils and tableware are shelved. The mosque in SarayjÈ Ma˙alla, now converted to a house, is furnished in this way (Plate 5.32).

428 BAYANA

Plate 8.7  Bayana fort, House F.10, consisting of an open-fronted hall and three rooms, seen from the south. The main entrance is in the middle and to the left is what was originally an open colonnade with double columns, but which has been walled up by later squatters. Trees growing in the roof and walls will soon cause them to fall.

Plate 8.8 House F.10, colonnaded front hall looking north-west. To the left is the walled up open colonnade and in the middle the door opening to the north chamber. The door to its right opens to the long eastern chamber.

EIGHT: domestic architecture

429

Plate 8.9  House F.10, view of the same hall looking east. The door to the right is the main entrance and the other two doors open to the eastern chamber. The structural elements of this building are plain with modest decoration on the bracket capitals, and the walls are original displaying the method of construction with roughly shaped stone blocks laid with no mortar. This is one of the best-preserved houses in the fort.

The building and its open courtyard are used together as the living space. At cooler times of the day – early mornings and evenings – most activities, such as cooking, eating and simply sitting together, talking and passing the time, are conducted in the courtyard. The built structure provides shade in the heat of the day and shelter during occasional cold nights and in the rainy season. It also provides a sleeping area for female members of the household, but the men would usually sleep in the courtyard and on hot nights probably on the roof to benefit from the precious occasional breezes. Even a household living in a single room can be expected to have one or more servants. The servants share the same space with the masters, but keep their distance as to where they eat and sleep. The relationship is delicately balanced, but its limits are firmly understood by both sides. In these houses – and indeed all houses in Bayana – it is not surprising that there is no space for the kitchen. As is still the case today, the cooking space would have been in a corner of the courtyard, sometimes with stoves built of clay and fired with wood or cakes of dried cow-dung. Cooking was the responsibility of the servants and in more prosperous families a cook under the supervision of the lady of the house. The

430 BAYANA notion of a separate walled – though not necessarily roofed – kitchen only appears in the mansions and larger houses of the ruling classes and other well-to-do families. A surprising element in the Bayana houses was that none seemed to have a space that could be identified as a walled latrine.16 In traditional Hindu and Jain houses such a space did not, of course, exist, as in conformity with prescribed traditions these groups used open spaces and fields well away from their houses for defecation, but Muslims and particularly Muslim women are expected to use an enclosed space, out of sight. Inclusion of a latrine is therefore part of the planning of a Muslim house, while the majority of the Hindu houses in villages and more traditional urban environments still do not have latrines. The Quranic and other religious inscriptions on the lintels of many houses in Bayana leave little doubt that they were occupied by Muslims. The traditional privy in Muslim India consists of a small walled chamber, often without a roof, with a pit in the ground. It would be expected that at least some of the houses in Bayana must have retained such a place in a corner of the courtyard. However, it is possible that most residences did indeed have such outhouses, which must have been lost, at least above ground level, together with the walls and other features of the courtyards. If the sites of these houses were to be excavated examples of such latrines might well be found. Courtyard Plan Houses While all houses would be expected to have a yard, some were designed around a courtyard, although not always strictly a central courtyard, as the rooms seem to have occupied two or three sides. An example in the citadel is the compound of Structures F.13a and b (Figure 3.8. F.13, Plate 8.10), which probably constituted a single large dwelling set together with the courtyard on a platform. The structures are two colonnades of similar size, each probably consisting originally of an openfronted hall flanked by chambers, a type that will be discussed below in more detail. However, the original interior plan of the complex appears to have been disturbed during later occupations, which at one time seem to have included using it as a storehouse. Nevertheless, from what remains it is clear that the two structures shared the same courtyard, which was originally walled, and that the main entrance to the compound was through a gate, now ruinous, opening to this courtyard. In the core of the town in the East Enclosure a large number of houses appear to have been compactly built, some sharing one or two walls with the neighbouring property. Many of the houses appear to be on a courtyard plan, but they are in ruins and without excavation it is difficult to establish their outlines accurately. An example which is better preserved, and the plan of which could be sketched, is Some examples of old latrines have survived in the royal buildings in India, including those in the tomb of Ghiyåth al-dÈn Tughluq in Delhi, the palace of FÈrËz Shåh in Hisar and the palaces of Fathpur Sikri. For the pre-Mughal examples, see Tughluqabad, pp. 193–4, fig. 11.2, pl. 11.4; Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 28–9, fig. 10.

16

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Plate 8.10  Bayana fort, Structures F.13a and b, possibly a house, set on a platform. The two remaining colonnades have been later altered for various uses, but the grand scale of the building is still apparent, indicating the prosperity of the citizens in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Structure F 22 (Figures 8.4, 8.5, Plates 8.11, 8.12), standing near a ruined gateway to the south of a street leading to the citadel (Figure 3.5, F.22). The structure represents the type and scale of the houses of what seems to have been a fairly prosperous section of the population. This house was built on a platform and originally had at least two storeys, but the upper storeys have collapsed. The columns and the lintels are of red sandstone, but the walls are of red and grey sandstone and were originally plastered over, with some plaster still remaining. Small arched niches built into the walls represent an attempt to reflect the traditional architecture of other regions of northern India, but structural vaults and arches do not appear in the building, and even the simple narrow entrance corridor – which could easily be vaulted – has been built with a flat ceiling. The rooms to the north of the courtyard are in ruins, but a colonnaded hall to the west of the courtyard and two rooms on the south are still preserved. The private rooms must have been on the upper floor, of which little remains except the outer walls (Plate 8.13). The structural elements – such as columns, brackets, lintels and flat roof slabs – are similar to those of the other public and private buildings. The appearance of central courtyard plan in Bayana is not, of course, surprising; one would expect to see this type of layout as a dominant characteristic of private dwellings as it is probably one of the earliest types of organised plan. Although no domestic dwelling with a central courtyard dating from the early sultanate period stands, this type of plan was known in India from ancient times and appears first in the Buddhist monasteries.17 However, the form is not suitable for Hindu temples Examples are numerous, for the monasteries at Sanchi, see John Marshall and Alfred Foucher, The Monuments of SånchÈ (Delhi, 1947), I, pp. 71–82; III, pls 116–23. For Nalanda, see Annual Reports, ASI, Eastern Circle (1918–19), pp. 4–5, pl. 1; (1919–20), p. 34, pls 1–2; (1920–1), p. 34, pl. 1. For a reproduction of survey plans and a bibliography of excavations at Nalanda, see Mary L. Stewart, Nålandå Mahåvihåra: a Study of an Indian Påla Period Buddhist Site and British Historical Archaeology, 1861–1938 (Oxford, 1989), bibliography, pp. 253–62.

17

431

432 BAYANA

Figure 8.4  Bayana fort, sketch plan of the ground level of a multistoreyed house (Structure F.22) with a central courtyard, present condition.

Figure 8.5  Structure F.22, ground plan restored to show its original form.

Plate 8.11  Bayana fort, house with a central courtyard (Structure F.22), general view from outside looking west through the ruined wall into the courtyard and the colonnaded portico. The remains of the walls of upper floor can also be seen.

433

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Plate 8.12  Structure F.22, details of the columns and lintels of the portico, seen from the courtyard.

where the inner core of the temple is the central focal point, and if set in a walled enclosure – as in South India – it occupies the middle of the courtyard.18 A central courtyard plan usually indicates that even if the building were not constructed on a pre-drawn design the foundations must have at least been marked on the ground following an established – and well digested – design concept, adjusted in each case to fit the particular plot of land. In Muslim India the first surviving example of the central courtyard plan appears in mosques, such as the Quwwat al-Islåm in Delhi where the building is organised as a colonnaded structure around a courtyard, with the prayer hall as a deeper colonnade at the western side (Plate 4.1).19 Its plan follows an established form See amongst many examples the BṛihadȪvara temple at Tanjore in Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture (1876), pp. 342–45, fig. 190; Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture (1910), I, pp. 362–5, fig. 212; also see S. R. Balasubrahmanyam, Middle Chola Temples (Faridabad, 1975), p. 20; C. Sivaramamurti, The Chola Temples: TañjåvËr, Gaṅgaikoṇ∂achoḷpuram and Dåråsuram (New Delhi, 1984), pp. 14–21. 19 Page, An Historical Memoir on the Qutb, pp. 6–10, survey plan of the original mosque in pls (drawings) 1 and 2. 18

434 BAYANA

Plate 8.13  Structure F.22. Left: view from the courtyard looking south with the entrance at far left. The chamber by the entrance is isolated from other parts of the house and might have been a storeroom or a stable. Right: the eastern wall of the courtyard, which has preserved its original features including the small arched niches and surface plaster. The wall stands well above the ground level.

in mosque design; a similar plan can also be found in many mosques and other Muslim buildings of thirteenth-century Delhi, such as the tomb known as Sul†ån GhårÈ,20 and the Madrasa of Alå al-dÈn built behind the Quwwat al-Islåm mosque by Sultan Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ, although the madrasa occupies only three sides of the courtyard and the eastern side close to the mosque is walled with ornate arched niches corresponding with the doors of the chambers on the opposite side.21 Even if the central courtyard plan existed in pre-Islamic India, there is little doubt that the Muslims imported their own version of it along with structural forms such as domes and arches, as well as Islamic decorative patterns and calligraphic designs as an architectural package from Iran and Central Asia. It is in early fourteenth-century Tughluqabad, however, that the earliest ruins of several types of Muslim residential dwellings, including some with central courtyards, can be identified (Figure 8.6). As with Bayana, the residential areas of Tughluqabad were compactly built with narrow side lanes giving access to the main streets. The boundaries of individual houses are not defined, and each group of buildings with a number of courtyards set between the main streets and the side streets may indeed have been more than one dwelling. Again, as with Bayana, houses are mostly built on platforms between 0.7 m and 1.5 m above ground. Tughluqabad houses appear to have been planned around one or several courtyards, See Chapter 4, n. 9. Page, An Historical Memoir on the Qutb, pp. 17–18, survey plan in pl. (drawings) 8.

20 21

435

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Figure 8.6  The northern areas of early fourteenth-century Tughluqabad, showing the foundations of many structures with courtyard plans, including houses and some public buildings such as two sarais (wholesale markets) and a mosque.

Figure 8.7  Tughluqabad, house near Chaklakhåna gate at the north of the town, sketch plan of the foundations, showing a central courtyard and two Èwåns. The area to the south might have also been part of the same house. Key: 1 Entrance or corridor; 2 central courtyard; 3 north Èwån; 4 south Èwån.

436 BAYANA an example of which can be found in a house near the Chaklakhåna Gate (Figure 8.7).22 The house appears to include two open-fronted halls, known as Èwån, at the north and the south of a courtyard. The Èwån on the north opens to two large rooms and that on the south to a small rear chamber connected to side chambers. In western scholarship the term Èwån23 mostly refers to an open-fronted widespanning vault usually enclosed at the other three sides, often with doors leading to other chambers. Indeed, most of the grand Èwåns of mosques and palaces are of this type, but in Persian the term has a much wider meaning and refers not only to such vaults but also to any portico, balcony or roofed terrace,24 vaulted or with a flat roof supported by columns. In the domestic architecture of Iran and Central Asia, particularly in regions where wood is abundant, the flat-roofed feature is more common than the vaulted one. We should therefore consider the concept of open-fronted colonnades in the Bayana houses, including that in structure F.22, to be similar to that of an Èwån, but whether or not the term was applied locally is not known. In the house at Tughluqabad, constructed out of rubble stone and mortar, it is likely that the Èwåns were vaulted, but in other sites, including the palaces, while some vaulted features still stand, there is extensive evidence of the use of timber for the construction of light flat roofs.25 In a central courtyard plan where a house is organised around two or more courtyards the private and public space is usually organised horizontally. Many houses with such a plan still survive in the Middle East, but the house in Tughluqabad could also be regarded as such an example. To the south of the detailed unit the large trapezoid area seems to have consisted of another central courtyard with rooms around and two Èwåns, one on the north and one on the south side. If the remains belong to a single dwelling unit, one section – probably the southern one – would have been the public area where the head of the household and other male members could entertain guests and conduct their public affairs, while the other side would have included the private rooms and the parts of the house occupied by women. In Iran and northern India the public area is known as the bÈrËnÈ or outer court and the private area as the andarËnÈ or inner court.

Tughluqabad, pp. 148–9. The Èwån is an integral part of houses in Iran and Central Asia and derives from Sasanian (third– sixth century ad) house design, which itself may have earlier precedents. For an example of the planning of Sasanian houses, see Massoud Azarnush, The Sasanian Manor House at HåjÈåbåd, Iran (Florence, 1994), loose plans at the end of the book and particularly pp. 55–88, concerning the Èwån and the reconstruction of the plan of the manor house through comparison with other Sasanian and earlier residences. For a definition of Èwån, see Oleg Grabar, ‘Ïwån’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edn (Leiden, 1978), IV, pp. 287–9. 24 In classical Persian texts Èwån or aiwån appears with various meanings, including a platform, a vault, a roofed terrace and an open-fronted chamber. See the lexicons of Mu˙ammad Óusain Khalaf TabrÈzÈ, Burhån-i Qå†i, Muhammad Muin (ed.) (Tehran: hs 1362/1983), I, p. 200; Mu˙ammad Pådshåh, Farhang-i Anandråj, Muhammad Dabir Siyaki (ed.), I, p. 531; Dehkhoda, Loghat-náma, under the term ‫ایوان‬, also online at: https://www.parsi.wiki (last accessed 11 March 2019). 25 Tughluqabad, pp. 96, 108, 110, 125, 127–8, pls 7.24, 7.47, 7.50, 7.53. 22 23

437

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Figure 8.8  Chanderi, house of Kamål Singh, sketch plan and section, scale and details approximate.

Plate 8.14  Chanderi, the ancestral home of Kamål Singh, exterior façade from the east, showing the entrance to the private court and the lack of windows onto the street, typical of the domestic architecture of the town.

438 BAYANA Although Tughluqabad is now merely an archaeological site,26 historic houses with one or more courtyards can still be found in many of the towns of India. Some of the best-preserved houses of this type, still in use, can be found in Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh, some 386 km (240 miles) south of Agra. Chanderi was a defensive border town of the Sultanate of Målwa founded by Dilåwar Khån GhËrÈ (r. 1392–1405) to replace an older town with the same name nearby.27 The town was constructed a generation or so after Tughluqabad, and mansions dating from the seventeenth century or earlier are still in use, some as ancestral homes, and some divided into tenements. These houses, built by merchants and nobles, are often planned around one or a number of courtyards, and have more than one storey, often with a tower. The street façades are relatively plain (Plate 8.14) and the street level in particular usually has a sturdy gateway, and no windows, but the balconies and roof terraces – some with pavilions – give views onto the street, sometimes through pierced stonework screens to filter the light and give privacy to the interior. Some of these houses, such as that of Kamål Singh, east of the ruined Råj Ma˙al, are private residences, and their original layout remains with only minor alterations. Kamål Singh’s house was built with two courtyards (Figure 8.8), the larger outer court or bÈrËnÈ on the western side, with the main entrance and a colonnade at ground level, and the semi-public reception room or audience hall preserved as a spacious colonnaded hall in three bays and twelve aisles running the whole width of the northern side of the courtyard at the upper level, and connected with the western colonnade (Plate 8.15). At ground level the colonnade would be suitable for stabling and storage of goods. The inner and more secluded court or andarËnÈ is on the eastern side with colonnades on all sides and access to the corner tower (Plate 8.16). The planning organisation of this type of house is not in concept much different from that of a palace with separate public and private quarters, and we can assume that the palaces were following the principles used for domestic dwellings but on a much grander scale. In the citadel of Bayana the Governor’s Mansion (Figure 9.1, Plates 9.1–9.6) follows similar principles. Structure F.22 is, however, clearly a self-contained unit with a single courtyard and there is no evidence of its connection with other courtyards. The While the fort and the citadel of Tughluqabad, as well as the tomb of Ghiyåth al-dÈn Tughluq are protected monuments, the town and the lake of Tughluqabad have been left unprotected and in recent decades have been built over. Our timely survey of Tughluqabad is now the only record of the town, its urban form and infrastructure, as well as its public and private buildings. 27 The houses of Chanderi have not yet been investigated. For earlier archaeological studies, see ASIR, II, 1862–5, Report for 1864–5 (Simla, 1871), pp. 401–412; R. Nath, The Art of Chanderi: a Study of the 15th Century Monuments of Chanderi (New Delhi, 1979) (a brief note on the houses in pp. 27–8). For the early Målwa inscriptions in the new Chanderi, see S. A. Rahim and Z. A. Desai, ‘Inscriptions of the Sultans of Målwa’, EIAPS, 1964 (Calcutta, 1966), pp. 47–9, 51–3, 57–60; Z. A. Desai, ‘The Chanderi inscription of ‘Alåu’d-dÈn KhaljÈ’, EIAPS, 1968 (Calcutta, 1969), pp. 4–10. For some recent restoration work in Chanderi, see A. G. Krishna Menon, ‘Rethinking the Venice Charter: the Indian experience’, South Asian Studies X (1994), pp. 40–1. For a social and anthropological study, see K. L. Sharma, Chanderi 1990–1995, particularly the aerial photograph showing the old urban fabric and outline of the houses on p. 118, pl. 6. 26

439

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Plate 8.15  House of Kamål Singh, the more public western court (bÈrËnÈ) from the south, showing the colonnade (now partly walled up), and the audience hall on the upper level.

Plate 8.16  House of Kamål Singh, the more secluded eastern court (andarËnÈ) looking north-west, with the entrance to the stairs to the tower in the corner. Parts of the colonnades have been walled up later.

440 BAYANA ­ rganisation of private and public space in this type of plan differs from that seen o in Tughluqabad or Kamål Singh’s house. In Chanderi, on the other hand, many houses are organised around a single courtyard. An example is a house, west of the West Gate of the town near a reservoir known as the Kirat Sagar. The structure is a four-storeyed house with a single courtyard, which has a colonnaded entrance porch on the street side and two registers of airy balconies (Figure 8.9, Plates 8.17, 8.18), as well as high parapets giving seclusion to the flat-roofed terraces. Although now used as a tenement, this house also gives an impression of the grand houses of Chanderi, and the contrast between the environment of the street and that of

Figure 8.9  Chanderi, house with single courtyard, sketch plan and section, scale and details approximate.

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Plate 8.17  Chanderi, four-storeyed house west of the West Gate near Kirat Sagar, with the fortification walls in the background. At ground level the house looks inwards and there are no windows on the street, but the upper levels and roof terraces provided views. The house is now divided into a number of dwellings (Public Works Department NR 30).

Plate 8.18  Chanderi, house west of the West Gate, central courtyard looking north, showing the cantilevered balcony in front of the colonnades and chambers of the upper level. Decorative arches fill the space between the columns on the façade, but the building is trabeate with flat roofs (Public Works Department NR 30).

441

442 BAYANA the ­successively more private territory of the home. The setting of the houses along plain bare paved streets and lanes also give an impression of the likely ­environment of the town in the fort of Bayana. The organisation of private and public space in the house at Chanderi and in Structure F.22 was probably similar and is arranged vertically. The ground floor is more public at some times of the day, such as in the morning when street traders may have been allowed to enter. Domestic animals such as cows, buffaloes, goats and fowls could also be kept in part of the ground level, such as the single chamber at the south side of the house in Bayana, which could have been a stable or a storehouse. The house in Bayana is perhaps too small to have covered space for stabling mules, horses or livestock,28 but larger houses such as those in Chanderi could accommodate such animals. In the early evenings, guests of the head of the household could also gather in the ground level under the open-fronted c­ olonnade – the Èwån – which would serve as a receiving room. The upper floors provide private rooms for sitting, gatherings of the female members of the household and their guests, and sleeping. Usually the rooms would not have a single function but would have different uses according to the time of day. The space where the family gathers in the day may well be where they sleep. The roof level is also used as a living space, often for having supper, for intimate and private gatherings of the family in the evenings and for sleeping. To provide seclusion the roof space is usually walled – as in the example at Chanderi – or has high pierced stone panels (jåli) or often a combination of both. In houses on this scale it would still be usual for servants and maids not to have special quarters, but to share the space with the rest of the family – the maids living and sleeping in the upper rooms and the male servants usually at ground level. Houses with an Open-fronted Hall (ıˉwaˉ n) and Flanking Chambers Besides houses with a single chamber or those around a central courtyard, another type of house plan was favoured in Bayana: an open hall flanked by chambers. Structures F.13a and b have been noted for this pavilion type of arrangement, but a number of other, better preserved, examples could also be found. The form is an important type of house plan in India, which has not yet attracted the attention it deserves, although an early trace of the type can even be found in Tughluqabad, and standing and well-preserved examples of later dates occur elsewhere. Near the fortification wall to the south of the fort is a series of semi-detached houses, four of which are still standing (F.24–F.27), as well as a single unit (F.28) nearby (Figure 8.10, Plates 8.19, 8.20). The houses have identical plans to the type under consideration, each consisting of an open-fronted colonnaded hall or Èwån and rooms on either side. In each house the portico opens to the north It is likely that in the past, as today in Rajasthan and elsewhere in India, livestock would have been kept in the open – in the courtyard or even outside by the side of the wall of the house.

28

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Figure 8.10  Bayana fort, site plan of the Southern area of the fort near the fortification walls occupied by four semi-detached houses (Structures F.24–F.27) and a single unit (Structure F.28), all with similar plans.

Plate 8.19  Bayana fort, Southern area of the fort near the fortification walls, general view from the back of the semi-detached houses (Structures F.24–F.27) looking east towards the single unit (F.28) at the left. The vertical drop below the fortification walls is on the right.

(Plates 8.20–8.22), providing light and air but protected from direct sun by the rear wall. Each pair of houses is separated by a party wall and has an enclosed front garden to the north (Figure 8.11). The units are about 16 m apart and it is likely that there was a garden between each unit. In one of the units the entrance was better preserved and consisted of a flat-roofed corridor flanked by two small

443

444 BAYANA chambers open towards the garden and apparently closed on all the other three sides (Figure 8.10). The lintel of the entrance bears an Arabic inscription, which must have been of a religious nature, but is worn out and could not be deciphered (Plate 8.23). The entrances of the other units seem to have been on a similar layout and scale. As in all residential structures in Bayana, red sandstone is used for the exposed stonework, while the walls are built with mixed stone, originally plastered over. All structural units such as column shafts, capitals, brackets, lintels and the corbels for supporting the eave stones are of the same form and size, and decorated in a similar manner. Furthermore, the lintels above the front of the colonnades are all decorated with similar motifs, such as roundels with lotus patterns or crosses cut into the stone, inlaid with blue tiles. The central lintel of the colonnaded portico of one of the houses bears Quranic inscriptions in naskhÈ of the fifteenth-century style.29 The inscriptions indicate that Muslim families resided in the houses, and thus the question of the different types of house plan possibly being for different sections of the population, Muslim or Hindu (seen in some mediaeval Indian towns) does not arise. The houses are generally in a good state of preservation, but most of the openings have been blocked up with loose stones by squatters at later dates. In India the earliest known example of this type of plan appears in Tughluqabad in a cluster (Figure 8.12) at the north of the town.30 Again, it is possible to consider this cluster as two houses: a smaller one at the east and a larger one at the west, but the layout as a whole fits well with that of traditional Iranian and Middle Eastern dwellings, and it is more appropriate to consider the complex as a single residence, incorporating what appears to be a series of courtyards. The western cluster has the familiar plan with a central courtyard (4) and may have been more secluded. The long courtyard to the west (2) could have served as stables or kitchens and domestic offices. The open space to the south (6) seems to have been a garden and might have had an ornamental pool (7). The eastern cluster is, however, comparable in its planning organisation to our examples in Bayana, as it is not arranged around a central courtyard but has a front yard (3) facing the street, while at the back it opens to the garden (6). As in Bayana, the cluster itself consists of a north-facing hall or Èwån (5), flanked by chambers, but with another row of chambers behind. In this case, however, the proportions of the Èwån and the lack of foundations for columns inside it suggest that the Èwån is likely to have been vaulted. At first glance it could be presumed that the similarity between the planning of this structure and those in Bayana is coincidental and that in Tughluqabad the eastern structure is a simple annex to the western courtyard building. Although in India this is the first time that the plan has been identified, a house layout with a hall and side chambers – with or without auxiliary chambers Appendix I, inscription No. 57. The lintel bears Quran, CXII, 1–4, followed by LXI, 13; XII, end of 65 and II, 255. 30 Tughluqabad, pp. 149–51.

29

445

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Plate 8.20  Bayana fort. Above: four semi-detached houses seen from the courtyard of the western unit (F.24) looking south-east. The colonnaded portico of this unit can be seen on the right. Below: detail of the trabeate structure.

Figure 8.11  Bayana fort, plan of the two eastern units of the four semi-detached houses (structures F.26–F.27), each consisting of a colonnaded hall open towards the north and flanked by chambers. The entrance of the eastern unit has partially survived and consists of an entrance corridor flanked by two vaults open at the south side facing the garden.

446 BAYANA

Plate 8.21  The front columns of the portico of one of the semi-detached houses. While the houses are similar, their details differ. Compare, for example, the smooth surface of the hemispheres of the bracket capitals with the fluted ones in Plate 8.22.

Plate 8.22  Interior of the portico of one of the semi-detached houses, looking east towards the two doors of the eastern flanking chamber. The left door is blocked by the later occupiers. The more elaborately decorated front columns can be seen on the left and the plain interior columns on the right.

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Plate 8.23  Bayana fort, the surviving entrance of structure F.27, details of the right side of the lintel over the entrance bearing an apparently Quranic inscription which is worn out, as well as a cross cut into the stone, originally inlaid with blue tiles.

Figure 8.12  Tughluqabad, another house in the residential area at the north of the town, sketch plan. The house appears to have had a semi-public courtyard (bÈrËnÈ) with a shady north-facing Èwån for receiving guests, and two other more secluded courtyards with a series of chambers (andarËnÈ). Key: 1 Entrance corridor; 2 western courtyard, probably stables; 3 eastern courtyard (bÈrËnÈ); 4 central courtyard; 5 Èwån; 6 open area, probably garden; 7 depression in ground, probably an ornamental pool.

447

448 BAYANA

Figure 8.13  Perspective view of a traditional rural house with an Èwån and flanking chambers near Yazd in central Iran, sketched by André Godard in 1936 about a decade after its construction. Godard notes the similarity of the building with the palace at Ctesiphon (from Åthår-é Ïrån, vol. 1, p. 170, fig. 118).

Figure 8.14  The Sasanian palace at Ctesiphon with a grand Èwån flanked by corridors and chambers. The Èwån faces east, and while little remains of the western side of the building it seems that it was almost a mirror image of the eastern portion (from Pope, Survey, II, p. 544, fig. 155).

behind – is not unusual in the vernacular architecture of Iran and Central Asia. The type represents one of the most common plans for houses in the region of central Iran, particularly in the villages and towns between Kåshån and Yazd. Such houses have not yet been studied systematically to explore the evolution of the basic design and its variations, but were noted by Godard31 who gave a sketch view of one such house (Figure 8.13) and remarked on the similarity of its appearance to that of the grand palace of Ctesiphon. He also pointed out that the resemblance is not coincidental, but a sign of architectural traditions sustained from the Sasanian period to the present. André Godard, ‘Le Masdjed-é Djum‘a de NÈrÈz’, Åthår-é Ïrån I (1936), p. 172 and fig. 118 (on p. 170, reproduced here).

31

449

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Figure 8.15  The Sasanian palace at Damghan consisting of a grand Èwån with a domed throne room (shåh nishÈn) behind and flanked by two chambers facing a courtyard (from Pope, Survey, II, p. 579, fig. 166).

Except the great vault of Ctesiphon’s Èwån and part of the front wall of the palace little survives of the original plan of the building, but from the surviving foundations it appears that the layout of the palace consisted of a variation of two of this plan type set together back to back32 (Figure 8.14). Another variation of the type can be found in the Sasanian palace of Tepe Óißår,33 near Dåmghån, where a triple-aisled Èwån leads to a square domed chamber. As usual, the Èwån is flanked by two long and relatively narrow rooms (Figure 8.15). Although domestic architecture of the Sasanian period has not yet been fully studied it is reasonable to assume that, as with Islamic architecture, the plans of the palaces had much in common with those of domestic buildings, but on much grander scale with more elaborate details. The origin of this type of plan seems to be even older than the Sasanian period and could be traced back to Parthian or even earlier dates. In Gyaur Kala (qala or qila), the Hellenistic town of Merv, which remained populated throughout the Parthian, Sasanian and early Islamic periods, there are a number of early Muslim mansions or pavilion houses (kËshk), well known for the characteristic lobed surface of their outer walls.34 The houses display a number of features Oscar Reuther, ‘Såsånian Architecture, (A) History’, in Pope (ed.), A Survey of Persian Art, II, pp. 543–5. 33 Fiske Kimball, ‘The Såsånian Building at Dåmghån (Tepe Óißår)’, in Pope (ed.), A Survey of Persian Art, II, pp. 579–83. 34 Georgina Herrmann, Monuments of Merv: Traditional Buildings of the Karakum (London, 1999), pp. 65–74, 81–94, 141–72. 32

450 BAYANA ­emonstrating the continuation of pre-Islamic architectural forms of Central d Asia,35 which were also imported to India by the Muslims. A prominent feature of these houses is their high podium or platform, almost as high as the upper level. The upper level accommodates the living quarters, sometimes with a courtyard. The podium is not solid and usually contains a number of rooms, which are often windowless chambers with little or no natural light. In India this feature is seen first in the tomb of Sul†ån GhårÈ, already noted, where the platform houses the burial crypt of Ïltutmish’s son Abil-Fat˙ Ma˙mËd. Such platforms can also be found in the palaces and other public buildings of Tughluqabad,36 as well as other Tughluq buildings including FÈrËz Shåh’s palaces in Hisar37 and his royal mosque in Kotla FÈrËz Shåh,38 the site of the palaces in his Delhi capital FÈrËzåbåd. The high platform remains a dominant feature in the later architecture of India including that of the Mughal period. In Merv, the entrance is usually through a gate opening to the galleries within the platform, but in Islamic India the entrance is usually via a flight of steps to a gate at the level of the courtyard. Domestic buildings of Bayana were also constructed on platforms, but they seem to have been solid and generally below a metre in height. The pavilion houses of Merv display a variety of plans, which although they can be categorised into those with courtyard and those without – and some with a central domed chamber – they are never the same. Each building can be distinguished by its own particular plan indicating that the builders exercised free and diverse planning practices giving every building its own characteristics. Amongst the houses at least one seems to have had a plan with a vaulted Èwån and flanking chambers (Figure 8.16),39 a simpler and more basic plan than those found in Iran and India, but indicating that the type was already known in Central Asia. The north-western side of the building has not survived, and in her reconstruction Galina Pugachenkova,40 who first surveyed the building, suggests that this side might have been walled. A recent survey by Rejeb Akhmedov41 showing only the surviving features indicates, however, that the north-eastern side of the Èwån is more likely to have been open in the normal fashion, as represented in our drawing. Ibid., pp. 72–4. See, for example, the high platforms of the royal pavilion called the Jahån namå in the citadel, the royal pavilion behind the audience hall in the fort and the Jåmi in the town in Tughluqabad, pp. 76–82, 122–3, 151–61, respectively. 37 For a description of the dark chambers in the palaces of Hisar, see Shams-i Siråj (tr.), III, p. 299; for the survey of the palaces, see Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 17, 19–32, figs 5–11. 38 Page, A Memoir on Kotla FÈrËz Shåh, Delhi, pp. 6–7; survey in ASINC, 1915–16, pls 16–21; also see Welch and Crane, ‘The Tughluqs’, pp. 133–4. 39 Herrmann, Monuments of Merv, p. 158. 40 G. A. Pugachenkova, Puti razvitiya arkhitektury yuzhnogo Turkmenistana pory rabovladeniya i feodalizma (Moscow, 1958), IV, p. 150; for a reproduction of the plan, also see Mukhammed Mamedov and Ruslan Muradov, The Architecture of Turkmenistan: a Concise History (Moscow, 1998), p. 93. 41 Herrmann, Monuments of Merv, p. 158. 35 36

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Figure 8.16  The pavilion house (kËshk) at Merv, conjectural reconstruction of the plan on the basis of Pugachenkova’s survey of 1958 and Akhmedov’s 1998 survey.

The main difference between the buildings in Bayana and the earlier examples lies in the form of the open-fronted hall, which in Bayana takes the form of a colonnade. The type seems to be a variation on the older theme, not confined to the domestic architecture of Bayana but prevalent as an established layout for residential buildings. In Bidar, a few sixteenth- and seventeenth-century religious centres survive, known as khånaqåh. These were the lodges and residences of important Sufi shaikhs (mystic leaders) and gathering places for their followers, and all have north-facing flat-roofed open-fronted halls with flanking chambers, closely similar to our examples in Bayana. Bidar was made the capital of the BahmanÈ sultanate in 832/1428–9 by its ninth sultan A˙mad Shåh WalÈ,42 who demolished the old fort and built a new one many times larger. Although most of the BahmanÈ palaces in the fort were deliberately destroyed before they fell into the hands of the Mughal emperor AurangzÈb in 1657, the town survived, and, in spite of the rapid development of a new town outside the walls, the urban fabric of the old town has remained unaltered,43 ­preserving many monuments and religious buildings. As with all living cities, in spite of the preservation of the old urban layout the houses t­ hemselves have been reconstructed several times, and the present houses are not ­ particularly old. The khånaqåhs have, exceptionally, been preserved because of their religious ­significance. However, during recent decades some of the khånaqåhs have also Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (tr.), III, i, pp. 51–4. For a survey of the fort, the town and the major monuments of Bidar, see Yazdani, Bidar, its History and Monuments.

42 43

451

452 BAYANA been left to become dilapidated and may soon disappear.44 A khånaqåh was ­traditionally designed on the same lines as a house, to distinguish it from an orthodox religious institution such as a mosque or madrasa (theological college). Almost all the khånaqåhs follow the layout of the plan type under consideration and their north–south orientation also echoes that of the houses. The choice of orientation has a wider significance, for by avoiding an orientation towards the qibla, the khånaqåhs demonstrated their independence from the conventions of orthodox Islam, although the Sufi shaikhs and their disciples in India still observed their Islamic prayers and other religious duties. Amongst the earlier khånaqåhs are two relatively small buildings, one known as the BaṛÈ Khånaqåh of Ma˙bËb Sub˙ånÈ,45 dating probably from the sixteenth century and named after the epithet of Shaikh Abd al-Qådir GÈlånÈ, the founder of the Qådiriya sect, and the other the Khånaqåh of MakhdËm Shaikh Mu˙È al-dÈn QådirÈ, a leading sixteenth-century QådirÈ Shaikh of Bidar.46 Both these khånaqåhs are situated at the east of the town and have a similar plan, consisting of a flat-roofed hall or Èwån open towards the north with two chambers at the south-east and the south-west of the hall. In each of the khånaqåhs behind the colonnade is found a chamber opening to the middle of the southern wall. The chamber is known locally as shåh-nishÈn47 and similar chambers appear in the other khånaqåhs. The term shåh-nishÈn, meaning literally the ‘royal seat’, was originally used for the throne room in royal palaces, but was later given a wider meaning referring to the chamber – usually the noblest room in the house ­­– set behind an Èwån. The term is still in use in the traditional domestic architecture of India. A third khånaqåh of this type is that of Shåh Abu’l-Fai∂ to the south-east of Bidar. Shåh Abu’l-Fai∂ (811/1408–879/1474) was amongst the most prominent Sufi shaikhs of the town, highly venerated by the BahmanÈ sultans. The site is probably one of the oldest khånaqåhs of Bidar, but the structure has been restored many times. While the layout may be original, the present appearance of the buildings results mainly from the seventeenth- to nineteenth-century restorations (Figure 8.17, Plate 8.24). In its present form the hall is still close in plan to the other two examples, again consisting of a flat-roofed Èwån in two bays and five aisles with two chambers set at the south-east and south-west corners of the Èwån. As usual, the structure faces north and the façade consists of five arches opening to the garden. Three of the central arches are lobed and on the roof there is an arched parapet with a turret at each end, but all features around the roof are relatively late in date. For example, the Khånaqåh of Shåh AlÈ Óusain Qu†b-i thånÈ (d. 1482) (Yazdani, Bidar, its History and Monuments, pp. 110–11), north of the Khånaqåh of Shåh WalÈ’ullåh, is now in ruins, with only a few dilapidated walls still standing. The building was probably the oldest khånaqåh in the town. The ruins will no doubt be cleared away to make way for new construction. 45 Ibid., p. 111. 46 Ibid., pp. 112–13. 47 Ibid., pp. 48, 110. 44

453

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Figure 8.17  Bidar, the Khånaqåh of Shåh Abu’l-Fai∂, ground plan.

Plate 8.24  Bidar, the Khånaqåh of Shåh Abu’l-Fai∂, view from the garden looking south to the arcade.

Two of the larger and better preserved khånaqåhs of Bidar are that of Shåh WalÈ’ullåh al-ÓusainÈ48 and those of Ma˙bËb Sub˙ånÈ.49 The khånaqåh of Shåh Wali’ullåh consists of a hall, two aisles deep and three bays wide, with two interconnected chambers at each side (Figure 8.18, Plate 8.25). As usual, the building is Ibid., p. 110. The plan and elevation are produced from recent sketches by the present authors. For a brief note on the life of Shåh WalÈ’ullåh and a description of his tomb, see Yazdani, Bidar, its History and Monuments, p. 170. 49 Ibid., pp. 111–12. 48

454 BAYANA

Figure 8.18  Bidar, the Khånaqåh of Shåh WalÈ’ullåh, ground plan and north elevation.

Plate 8.25  Bidar, the Khånaqåh of Shåh WalÈ’ullåh al-ÓusainÈ, view from the courtyard, looking south-east towards the arcaded hall and flanking chambers. The wall to the left is recent, but behind it the arch of the chamber at the east side of the hall can still be seen.

455

EIGHT: domestic architecture

set on a platform, which has six steps along the front of the length of the hall. The parapet of the roof has a row of blind arched niches, except for five open arches, each above the axis of the opening below. The northern façade is adorned with four semi-octagonal buttresses, each of which was originally surmounted by a small turret (guldasta) rising above the parapet, but the turrets have not survived. In plan and in orientation the building is closely comparable with the houses at Bayana. The Khånaqåh of Ma˙bËb Sub˙ånÈ is a sizeable complex consisting of a gate dated 1054/1644–5, a mosque and two khånaqåhs: one known as BaṛÈ (larger) Khånaqåh and the other Chho†È (smaller) Khånaqåh dated 1069/1658–9 (Plate 8.26), both with a similar layout consisting of a north-facing hall, three bays wide, and both with a chamber at either side. The hall of the larger – and probably older – khånaqåh is three aisles deep and its flat roof is supported by four thick inner columns built of masonry and two slim wooden columns facing the courtyard. Its layout is in essence close to the Bayana specimens. The hall of the smaller khånaqåh is only a single aisle deep and has the usual three-arched opening. Both these khånaqåhs, as well as that of Shåh Wali’ullåh, also have a shåh-nishÈn chamber at the south side of their halls. The many examples of similar planning seen in the Bidar khånaqåhs are notable for the evidence they provide for the continuity of the tradition of an open Èwån as a dominant feature for residences.

Plate 8.26  Bidar, the Khånaqåh of Ma˙bËb Sub˙ånÈ complex. Above: the smaller khånaqåh with an arcade only one aisle deep, flanked by chambers; view from the courtyard looking south. Below: the larger khånaqåh, with a threeaisle deep colonnaded hall and flanking chambers, still intact, but in a dilapidated state. The similarity of layout with that of dwellings in Bayana is striking.

456 BAYANA

Figure 8.19  Julfå, Isfahan, house of Khwaja Petroª Veliganian, ground plan and section CC (from Karapetian, Ißfahån, 1974, figs 12–13).

In Iran, too, the continuity of the tradition is seen occasionally in the urban setting as well as in villages. Many of the seventeenth-century houses of the Armenian merchants of Julfå50 (the Armenian quarter of Isfahan) follow the same arrangement. In Julfå there are various traditional types of layout and ways of placing the dwellings within the plots, including houses with central courtyards and single blocks within walled enclosures.51 There are parallels between each of the types in Julfå and the houses at Bayana. A common layout in Julfå, however, is the plan with an Èwån and flanking chambers. The buildings are often in two storeys, but the plan of the upper floor is similar to that of the ground floor, except that the Èwån has a double-storey height with the upper chambers usually having windows opening onto the Èwån. (Figures 8.19, 8.20). Returning to the buildings in the fort of Bayana, although Structures F.24–F.28 all have similar plans and – in spite of minor variations in detail – seem to have been planned and probably constructed at the same time, if not by the same team of builders, at other sites the architects did not keep to the simple theme of a hall with flanking chambers. A variation on this plan can be found in a grander structure (Figure 3.5, F.20) near the northern section of the fortification walls. This building (Figure 8.21) has a gateway, again built with columns and lintels, leading to a courtyard (Plates 8.27, 8.28). To the east of the gate is a vaulted Karapet Karapetian, Ißfahån, New Julfa: le case degli Armeni, una raccolta di rilevamenti architettonici (The Houses of the Armenians: A Collection of Architectural Surveys) (Rome: IsMEO and Istituto Italiano di cultura di Tehran, 1974), III, i, ‘Restorations’, see in particular pp. 69–74 (‘House of Petroª’), 238–40 (‘House of Voskan’). 51 Ibid., fig. 10. 50

EIGHT: domestic architecture

457

Figure 8.20  Julfå, House of Khwaja Voskan, ground plan and north façade (from Karapetian, Ißfahån, 1974, fig. 194).

Figure 8.21  Bayana fort, Structure F.20, plan showing the remains of a house with a colonnaded hall and a room at the east side of a grand entrance flanked by vaulted chambers. It is likely that the plan was symmetrical and the ruinous western side was a mirror image of the eastern side.

458 BAYANA chamber facing outward, and it is likely that there was a corresponding chamber standing symmetrically on the western side of the gate. To the south-east of the courtyard is what appears to be the residence in the form of a colonnaded Èwån with five bays and two aisles but with only a single room at the western side. A mirror image of the structure seems to have once stood at the other side of the gate. In structural details the building is similar to those already seen and the front lintels have the kind of floral motifs and inlaid tile-work mentioned above, while the central lintel has again a Quranic inscription written in a pre-Mughal naskhÈ style of script.52 The two major types of house plan seen in Bayana – one with a central courtyard and the other with a hall or Èwån flanked by chambers – differ fundamentally both in design concept and use of space. In a courtyard plan the building looks inward and the courtyard is a main part of the circulation within the house and between rooms. The house excludes those who would not be welcome to enter into the courtyard, giving a great degree of privacy to all parts of the house facing the courtyard. In grand houses and palaces with several courtyards, one leading to the other, the degree of privacy is reinforced by the hierarchy of the courtyards, making the inner core well isolated from the public. On the other hand, in a house with a hall and flanking chambers the circulation is within the house itself, and a high degree of privacy cannot perhaps be achieved. In central Iran this type of plan appears particularly in the rural areas, where life has a greater degree of communal activity, members of the small community are all known to each other, and are often related, but the plan is not generally employed for residential buildings in the urban sites53 except where the structures can be set within an enclosed plot, because of the preference for privacy. The Julfå houses demonstrate that the privacy of a traditional house can be achieved by walling the plot, and by the setting of the structures on the plot and by the fenestration. Although the quarter was for the Christian community, the houses conform entirely to Middle Eastern conventions regarding seclusion. The urban houses therefore look inward to the courtyard or garden, and windows on the street are only provided, if at all, at the upper level. As with the Indian type, the plan of the Julfå houses also follows time-honoured arrangements, with the prominent central north-facing Èwån. Some of the Isfahan examples also have a smaller winter residence,54 which faces south and looks towards the main summer quarters, a welcome retreat from the icy cold and heavy snow of the Iranian winter. Unlike in Bayana, the main Èwåns of the Julfå houses were entered from the side, rather than the front, as the summer quarters ­sometimes

Appendix I, inscription No. 58. It contains Quran, II, 255. In Iran the pavilion-type plan has also been employed for grand gatehouses and occasionally for garden pavilions. The gatehouse plan has also been imported to India and appears in many Mughal gates. In these examples, however, the function differs from those of residential structures and the question of public and private space is irrelevant. 54 Karapetian, Ißfahån, New Julfa, pp. 260, 262. 52 53

EIGHT: domestic architecture

Plate 8.27  Bayana fort, Structure F.20, general view from the south (street side) of the house with an open-fronted colonnaded hall and a room on the east side of a grand entrance flanked by vaulted open fronted chambers.

Plate 8.28  The same house (Structure F.20), view from the north (courtyard), looking south.

459

460 BAYANA have a pool or water channel,55 or a balustrade to keep the central reception hall undisturbed by circulation.56 The Islamic view of protecting the privacy of women within the household is not a distinct feature of Iranian villages, where women contribute to many aspects of farming and their participation in everyday labour is indispensable. This has not been the case in traditional urban life, where men and women were segregated and women took little part in commercial or social affairs. The seclusion of women therefore played a major role in the preservation of traditional design in the central courtyard plan in urban houses, although modern housing in Iran looks towards the western or ‘international’ style for inspiration. In India, however, the plan with the Èwån and flanking chambers seems to appear from the early days in urban areas side by side with the central courtyard plan. The example in Tughluqabad could be interpreted as being suitable for a public reception area with the more private area being around the central courtyard, but in Bayana and Bidar the Èwån and flanking chambers make up the whole house. We may therefore assume that the Muslim communities of Bayana and Bidar had a notion of privacy different from that of the urban dwellers of Iran and Central Asia. In the houses of Bayana the relatively large garden of the houses could function as a buffer zone. The entrance to the garden is at the furthest distance from the house, and it is likely that the garden was planted with fruit trees and flowers in the traditional Indo-Islamic manner. Those – such as street traders – who could come to the gate but had no business entering the complex would hardly see the house through the garden. Only those who were invited could enter to be received in the garden or in the Èwån depending on their relationship with the master of the house. The chambers would have remained strictly private. If this was indeed the circulation and the arrangement for the hierarchy of public and private space in this type of house plan, it is not surprising that it was suitable for the lodges of the Sufi shaikhs of Bidar, which had to be welcoming for followers and strangers alike. It seems that some of the khånaqåhs had only a public court and that the shaikh’s wives and his household had their own private establishment in an adjoining or perhaps separate unit. However, the ‘abode’ of a shaikh could not be on a grand scale as it should reflect his humility and detachment from worldly life. Nevertheless, it needed to provide some degree of privacy and comfort for its residents, while as a khånaqåh the open hall and the yard or garden would provide a suitable space for regular gatherings of the disciples.

Ibid., pp. 260–1. Ibid., p. 219.

55 56

CHAPTER NINE

Mansions, Semi-public Buildings and Later Monuments

In Bayana historic buildings are often older than they look. Take, for example, a two-tiered colonnaded pavilion built of red sandstone, set on the top of a cliff at the edge of the south-east corner of the fort. The dramatic setting of the building and its form, recalling the tiered building at Fathpur Sikri known as the Hawå Ma˙al or Imårat-i BådgÈr (the airy mansion), has attracted the attention of visitors to Bayana since the seventeenth century. The Emperor JahångÈr took the trouble to go up to the fort with his harem and described the building and the story of its construction in his Memoir:1 ‫روز شنبه پانزدهم سه کروه طی نموده در سواد بیانه نزول اجالل اتفاق افتاد و خود و اهل حرم بتماشای باالی قلعه‬ ‫ محمد بخشی حضرت جنت آشیانی که حراست قلعه مذکور به عهده او مقرر بوده منزل ساخته مشرف بر‬.‫شتافتم‬ . ‫صحرا به غایت مرتفع و خوش هوا‬ On Saturday, the fifteenth,2 I marched three kurËh (six miles), set our exalted camp in the vicinity of Bayana and together with the harem hastened to see the spectacle from the top of the aforementioned fort. Mu˙ammad, the bakhshÈ (army pay master) of His Heaven Abiding Majesty (HumåyËn) who was in charge of the guardianship of the aforementioned fort has built a house overlooking the plain, of great height and pleasant breezes. In the nineteenth century, James Tod visited the pavilion, made drawings and published an engraving,3 dramatising the building and its setting (Plate 2.14). In addition to JahångÈr’s testimony, the building bears an inscription recording its construction at the time of HumåyËn in 940/1533–4.4 The date is only three years JahångÈr nåma (Pers.), p. 292, authors’ translation; for another translation, see JahångÈr nåma (tr.), II, p. 63. 2 Fifteenth of the month of Day in the thirteenth year of JahångÈr’s reign, corresponding with 17 Mu˙arram 1027/14 January 1618. 3 Tod, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, I, figure facing p. 352. 4 Appendix I, inscription No. 39. For an earlier report on the building, see Iqtidar Alam Khan, ‘New light on the history of two early Mughal monuments of Bayana’, Muqarnas VI (1989), pp. 75–80, 1

462 BAYANA after the death of Båbur and well before HumåyËn’s flight to the Safavid court of Iran. According to the perceived view of the development of architectural traditions in India, at this time what later came to be known as Mughal architecture had not yet emerged and would not appear for at least another two decades when it is first manifested in the tomb of HumåyËn. A few surviving buildings of the first period of HumåyËn’s reign, such as some tombs in Hisar5 built by the order of the emperor for his loyal soldiers who died on the battlefield, tend to confirm this view, as the tombs are entirely in the style of Sayyid and LodÈ architecture, which remained current even up to the early years of Akbar’s reign. Yet a careful examination of the pavilion in Bayana shows that certain details, such as column bases with a lobed pointed arch at each face, were present in Bayana decades before this became a norm in seventeenth-century Mughal architecture, particularly from the time of Shåh Jahån. Other historic buildings in Bayana have shown that the region had a highly developed style of architecture independent from the traditions of the Delhi sultanate; these include the Jhålar BåolÈ (Figure 7.6), a predecessor of the grand buildings of the Tughluq period, and the BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån FarmulÈ (Plate 7.18), a forerunner of Akbar’s architecture at Fathpur Sikri. So far, all the important monuments of the three towns of Bayana have been considered and their character, building types and functions examined, but a few other buildings, where either their exact function is unknown, or they are later than the period under consideration or which do not fall into the categories already discussed, need to be put in context. Some have a semi-public aspect, among them three mansions, one belonging to a pre-Mughal governor of Bayana and two others apparently built by the Jåts in the eighteenth century. There is also a pleasure pavilion of early Mughal origin and a gate, probably to one of the old gardens of Sikandra, as well as a building that seems to have housed a religious institution, probably associated with the well-known Sufis of Bayana. To complete the report on the survey of Bayana these monuments and their particular place in the architectural history of Bayana are therefore considered here. The Governor’s Mansion in the fort Bayana has not preserved the remains of royal palaces on a grand scale and it is unlikely that such structures ever existed there. The Delhi sultans visited Bayana, but did not usually remain, and even Sikandar LodÈ, while initially intending to make Bayana his capital, soon settled on Agra. As a result, it seems figs 1–3, 7, 9–11 (repr. without illustrations in Monica Juneja (ed.), Architecture in Medieval India: Forms, Contexts, Histories (New Delhi, 2001), pp. 362–9); see also M. and N. H. Shokoohy, ‘A history of Bayana – Part 2’, pp. 374–5, fig. 10. 5 Subhash Parihar, Mughal Monuments in the Punjab and Haryana (New Delhi, 1985), pp. 29–30; M. Shokoohy, Haryana I, pp. 40–1, pl. 90; Óißår-i FÈrËza: pp. 68–9, pl. 17d–f; Subhash Parihar, Some Aspects of Indo-Islamic Architecture (New Delhi, 1999), pp. 80–3.

NINE: mansions, semi-public buildings and later monuments

unlikely that any sultan built a palace in Bayana. Elsewhere in Rajasthan and Gwalior, where the Hindu rajas were in control – autonomous from Delhi and regarding themselves as India’s true nobility of ancient ancestry6 – grand palaces were built on a royal scale. Constant renovation means little remains of any such palaces dating from the pre-Mughal period,7 while the many surviving examples dating from the Mughal period display the influence of Mughal imperial architecture in their layout and structural forms, such as pointed and lobed arches as well as decorative details. Bayana, however, was built by Muslims and was run by governors who had to be constantly aware of their status at court and live in an appropriate style. A modest residence was a safer option than to commit the possibly fatal error of constructing a mansion grander than befitted their rank. In Bayana, even at the time of the Au˙adÈs, when the rulers sometimes acted autonomously and went as far as to omit the name of the sultan from their inscriptions, the khans on the whole observed their rank and stopped short of declaring themselves sultans. The few who were overconfident and adopted the title did not last long. We can therefore suppose that the rulers’ residences would have reflected their station. Although the historians record that the Au˙adÈ rulers resided in the town and in the fort of Bayana, while the LodÈ nobles lived in Sikandra, no traces of these residences remain in Bayana or Sikandra and the only example is to be found in the citadel. The structure (Figure 3.8, F.7) is situated at the western end of the citadel, near the western gate, in a commanding position on an inaccessible rock looking over the outer enclosure of the west gate of the citadel (Area B) and with a panoramic view over the Northern Enclosure of the fort (Area C). The location of the building and its scale, several times larger than any of the other domestic buildings, leave little doubt that this was the ‘palace’ or, perhaps more appropriately, the mansion of the ruler. The arrangement merits detailed consideration, as the layout and function of spaces within mansions of this period have not been studied previously. What remains of the structure today show that the mansion consisted of a number of trabeate structures arranged around two courtyards with an entrance at the southeastern corner (Figure 9.1). The entrance (1) appears to be the grandest and most impressive part of the complex (Plate 9.1) – the only part that ordinary citizens would have seen. It was therefore a means of displaying the wealth and status of the ruler to the townspeople. The entrance opens onto the avenue that runs at the southern side of the citadel linking the mansion to the Jåmi of the fort (F.15). On the exterior, the entrance consists of a rectangular portal set within a high, broad arch flanked by two-storeyed four-columned chatrÈs. For an account of the records of the different dynasties of the RåjpËts – the rajas of Rajasthan – see Tod, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan. 7 A part of the palace of Gwalior may be datable to pre-Mughal period, but in other sites such as Mandor and Chitor, the conquering Muslim armies left little of the palaces of the rajas. 6

463

464 BAYANA

Figure 9.1  Bayana fort, the Governor’s Mansion (F.7), sketch plan. Key: 1 The entrance portal; 2 unroofed corridor between the entrance and the outer court, also open to the south; 3 forecourt; 4 inner court; 5 old buildings on higher ground overlooking the courtyards; 6 ruins of later constructions; 7 later steps to an upper level; 8 post-Mughal chatrÈ, not associated with the older structures.

Plate 9.1  Bayana fort, the Governor’s Mansion (F.7), the entrance from the south-east.

NINE: mansions, semi-public buildings and later monuments

Plate 9.2  The Governor’s Mansion, details of the entrance and the two-tiered chatrÈ with a true dome flanking the northern side. Some inlaid blue tiles and parts of the white stucco in the field of the arch above the portal as well as a frieze below the upper floor of the chatrÈ are preserved.

We have already examined the ruinous ceremonial gate (Figure 3.7, F.21) with its flanking multistoreyed chatrÈs – a form that appears occasionally in Rajasthan.8 As usual, the structure of the entrance to the mansion is of red sandstone, but the field of the arch above the portal was originally plastered with white stucco inlaid with blue tiles. The façade of the walls and the arched openings to the chatrÈs were also plastered and had a further band of stucco running below the floor of the upper level of the chatrÈs (Plate 9.2). In addition, a cruciform inlay of blue tiles was also set into the red sandstone above the arch. The designer, using the freely available local material and traditional forms, seems to have made a successful attempt at producing an impressive yet modest portal set off by its well-balanced combination of colours. The portal opens to a dark dog-legged corridor, with a colonnaded platform at the south and two chambers at the north (Plate 9.3). The chambers and the platform must have been for guards, and each one gives access to a further chamber opening to one of the chatrÈs. The chatrÈs, are more than simple ornamental features, and functioned as observation platforms. The dog-legged corridor opens at the southwest to another corridor (2), which seems to have been roofless and led north to the southern courtyard (3). On the south side it had a small door opening directly 8

See Chapter 3, nn. 48–9.

465

466 BAYANA

Plate 9.3  The Governor’s Mansion, interior of the entrance looking north-east, showing the opening to the northern chambers and on the right the colonnaded platform which has double columns in front.

to the unbuilt area between the palace and the inner gate (F.6a) of the western gateway system of the citadel (Area B). On entering the mansion, one arrives first at the southern courtyard – a­ pparently a forecourt. It is surrounded on three sides with colonnades: that to the south is a simple colonnade five bays wide and two aisles deep, but the western colonnade has flanking chambers (Plate 9.4). We have already seen this layout used on its own as a plan for many houses in Bayana, elsewhere in India and in Iran and Central Asia. Here, as in some other courtyard houses in Bayana, the layout is applied as a unit, and is combined with similar units to synthesise the whole complex. The structural elements of all colonnades are of similar size and the columns are of similar height. The front columns of the colonnades are made of a pair of columns set side by side without a gap and surmounted with finely carved bracket capitals, an arrangement noted in a few other structures of Bayana,9 including the Jåmi of Sikandra.10 In the mansion they are employed all around the façades of the two courtyards. See, for example, Building F.8 in Chapter 5, Fig. 5.11, Pl. 5.21; and House F.10 in Chapter 8, Fig. 8.3, Pl. 8.7. 10 Chapter 5, Figs 5.14, 5.17.  9

NINE: mansions, semi-public buildings and later monuments

Plate 9.4  The Governor’s Mansion, the forecourt looking west towards the western colonnaded unit with the southern colonnade to the left. The steps in the centre leading to an upper level are of a later date and obscure parts of the façades of the original structures.

The eastern side of the courtyard has sharply sloping vacant ground and does not seem to have been built (Plate 9.5). On the slope there is a small chatrÈ (8), the function of which is not clear, but it is in the late or post-Mughal style with ‘elongated lotus shaped’ columns supporting lobed arches. It seems that the chatrÈ was erected in the final days of the life of the fort and, if it is of a funerary nature – a tomb or a Hindu cenotaph – it might even have been constructed when the building had already been abandoned. The forecourt is connected to the inner court (4) through another colonnade, again with side chambers, but open on both the northern and southern sides. The arrangement of the inner court is much the same as the forecourt, except that the northern colonnade (Plate 9.6), again flanked by chambers, has a c­ ommanding view over the outer fortifications of the western gate of the citadel and the Northern Enclosure of the fort (Areas B and C). This colonnade must have been the most prominent unit in the complex, yet in its scale and treatment of details is similar to the other units. As a whole the function of the complex cannot be readily explained. Although the entrance with a dog-legged corridor set at a right-angle to the rest of the complex prevents any view of the interior from outside, once one enters the forecourt one has a panoramic view of the whole complex. The colonnade connecting the two courtyards is fairly open and does not provide complete

467

468 BAYANA

Plate 9.5  The Governor’s Mansion, the forecourt looking south towards the entrance and the southern colonnade, a part of which can be seen to the right. To the left is a late seventeenth- or eighteenth-century chatrÈ built on the vacant sloping ground at the east of the forecourt.

privacy for the inner court, as might be expected. It could perhaps be assumed that the mansion was entirely for the private life of the governor and his family, but the arrangement of the two courts resembles that of the public areas of Muslim palaces. Furthermore, the complex is overlooked by the structures (5) that are at a higher level to the east of the courtyards. These buildings are now in ruins, but they appear to have been residential, compactly built with many rooms, and from their surviving structural elements it is clear that they are contemporary with the mansion. It is unlikely that the governor could have lived in a place that was overlooked by others, and it is more probable that the two courtyards were for the public life of the governor, where he held audiences and dealt with the affairs of his domain. Even in this case, the courtyards should not have been overlooked, unless the ruins on the higher level are part of the complex, perhaps the residential apartments. Although the connection between the two sides has not survived, it is possible that the slopes to the east of the courtyards were originally terraced with steps leading to the structures above. Outside the entrance, however, remains of steps ascending to the ruins have survived. The date of the complex is also uncertain. While the structural details are similar to the rest of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century buildings in the fort, it is difficult to establish whether the present form of the structure dates from the

NINE: mansions, semi-public buildings and later monuments

Plate 9.6  The Governor’s Mansion, the colonnade at the northern side of the inner court, interior view looking west towards the chamber at the end of the colonnade. The two doors of the chambers each have an arched window above. To the left, the front columns facing the courtyard are made of a pair of columns set tightly side by side without a gap. On the right, the original wall has fallen, but the roof is still supported by pilasters which are now exposed. Windows in the wall were open to the panoramic view of the North Enclosure of the fort.

time of the Au˙adÈs or if the complex was constructed or at least remodelled at the time of the LodÈs. There have also been some later additions to the buildings. At the south-west corner of the forecourt are the remains of a later construction with a flight of steps (7) built in front of the older structure obscuring parts of the façades (Plate 9.4). The steps ascend to the roof of the southern colonnade of the forecourt and on the roof are remains of later structures linked with the upper storey of the later building (6) in the south-west corner. Again, as with other buildings in the fort, there are also signs of later occupation after the site had been abandoned. Stones of many original walls have been pilfered and other walls have been constructed haphazardly in different places. Nevertheless, what has remained is among the very few surviving mansions or palaces of Muslim governors of the sultanate period.11

Another example is the remains of the governor’s mansion in the fort of Chanderi, but the site has not yet been properly studied. See Alexander Cunningham, Four Reports Made During the Years 1862–63 and 1864–65, ASIR, II (Simla, 1871), p. 405; Nath, The Art of Chanderi, p. 26, pls 16–17.

11

469

470 BAYANA

Figure 9.2  Bayana town, religious building in the high school compound (B.11), plan of the surviving structures over the platform. The area hatched with dotted lines is occupied by modern buildings and the gallery to the north of the compound is also of recent origin.

A religious structure in Bayana town In the compound of the modern secondary school of Bayana the ruins of an old structure (Figure 3.1, B.11) are preserved, now used partly as a store. There are some additions to the north of the structure, mostly from fairly recent periods, and with the development of the school, modern buildings are being built in the compound and it is likely that this old structure will be demolished soon to give way to modern buildings. The old structure, built with the local red sandstone, seems to have been part of a larger complex, which may have had a religious function, but what has survived (Figure 9.2) is a colonnade and a chamber over the western side of a high platform with a flight of stairs at its north-eastern corner leading to the entrance. Our information about the old origin of the site, its religious nature and its role in the town’s community derive from an extensive inscription carved on the eastern face of this staircase. The inscription12 was obliterated systematically a few decades ago, and the text, which could have provided first-hand independent historical information about the town, is no longer legible. Nevertheless, traces of the letters can still be distinguished in the brighter colour of the fresh surface of the stone, which contrasts with the fainter colour of the old weathered surface (Plates 9.7, 9.8). Appendix 1, inscription No. 55.

12

NINE: mansions, semi-public buildings and later monuments

Plate 9.7  Bayana town, religious building in the high school compound (B.11), original staircase preserving a defaced inscription on its eastern face. The entrance itself and the pilaster at its right are also of considerable age, but the two-storeyed building now incorporating the entrance is fairly modern.

Plate 9.8  Religious building in the high school compound, details of the defaced inscription on the eastern face of the stairs to the entrance.

471

472 BAYANA

Figure 9.3  Religious building in the high school compound, section A­–A across the colonnade and the courtyard, also showing the colonnaded gallery under the eastern side of the platform.

What can be deciphered shows that the text is in Persian inscribed by a skilled calligrapher in naskhÈ script, indicating that it dates from the pre-Mughal period, but it is difficult to attribute an exact date as the script was used throughout the sultanate period from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century. What may be suggested from the style of the script is that the inscription would not be later than the fifteenth century and may indeed be earlier. The text seems to have recorded a royal decree or public notice relating to charitable acts, which included the distribution of free bread. The name of the sultan seems to have been recorded, as the phrase dar ‘ahd-i daulat ‘at the time of the reign of …’ can be deciphered, but the name of the sultan is not preserved. The compound consisted of a courtyard over the platform with buildings on the western side and a colonnaded gallery two aisles deep built into the platform at the eastern side (Figure 9.3). There might have been another colonnaded structure over the lower gallery, but the roof of the front aisle of the gallery has fallen and only a niche, described below, has remained of an upper structure over it at the courtyard level. On the southern side of the platform the original wall of the courtyard (Plate 9.9) has survived marking the limit of the site at this side. The wall is about one m thick with stairs built into it giving access to the roof of the colonnade at the west of the courtyard. At the eastern end of the wall is a rectangular niche with the pilaster surmounted by a capital bracket. This niche seems to have originally been either a doorway to steps leading to the lower gallery or part of a colonnade that once stood at the eastern side of the courtyard, over the outer aisle of the gallery below. The structure at the western side of the courtyard consists of a colonnade seven bays wide and two aisles deep, opening originally towards the courtyard, but walled at the western side with a series of niches in the middle of each trabeate unit, except one which forms a window. The columns measure 30 cm square in plan and the shafts are carved with patterns similar to those seen in the Ukhå Masjid, Jhålar BåolÈ and some of the later Bayana buildings. The lintels span slightly over 2.10 m, an average span for trabeate units in Bayana. At present the

NINE: mansions, semi-public buildings and later monuments

Plate 9.9  Religious building in the high school compound, the courtyard looking south towards the original wall of the courtyard, which incorporates a staircase to the roof of the colonnade at the western side, now walled up, seen on the right. The eastern side of the courtyard has collapsed revealing part of the colonnaded gallery below.

Plate 9.10  Religious building in the high school compound, interior of the colonnade looking east towards the recent wall and showing the details of the columns with carved shafts.

front of the colonnade is walled up and two doors have been installed, turning the colonnade into a storage room for the school (Plate 9.10). The even number of the bays and the orientation of the building towards the qibla may be regarded as indications that the building is a mosque, but none of the niches project outside the wall. In the mosques of Bayana and elsewhere, the central mi˙råb at least is expected to project outside the wall, but as this form has been avoided here it is clear that the niches were not mi˙råbs and the structure was not a mosque.

473

474 BAYANA To the north of the colonnade is a square chamber, which seems originally to have been domed, with a main entrance at the eastern side, the frame of which is finely carved and is flanked by engaged columns rising from elongated vases with similar features above on either side of the jambs (Plate 9.11). This arrangement, originating from Persian architecture, appears regularly in sultanate buildings. In Bayana we have seen a similar feature in the Ukhå MandÈr mosque, the Ukhå Masjid and the TålakÈnÈ mosque, but perhaps more delicately executed in this chamber. At the qibla (western) side of the chamber is a mi˙råb, projected outside the wall (Plate 9.12). The chamber, with walls over 1 m thick, is clearly an old structure, but seems to be an addition to the colonnade as the stonework does not match up. In the southern wall of the chamber two openings give access to the colonnade, and corresponding doors opened originally from the chamber to another colonnade that ran along the north of the courtyard and was open on all sides, but this colonnade, partly reconstructed, is also walled up and made into storage. The presence of the mi˙råb in the chamber leaves little doubt that the compound was a religious establishment, and the chamber is therefore likely to have been a square tomb chamber or a prayer room. We have noted that the main colonnade could not have been a mosque, but the compound could have been either the abode of a Sufi shaikh (khånaqåh) or a theological college (madrasa). Bayana, well known for its Sufis, must have had many khånaqåhs, and any Muslim religious centre would have madrasas. Whether madrasa or khånaqåh the structure is unique in Bayana, as no other example of its kind has survived there. The domed square chamber is likely to be the burial place of the shaikh or the Sufi pÈr who taught – and most likely also lived – in the compound and according to tradition would be buried there after his death. The inscription announcing charitable acts must also have had a direct association with the compound, and would have been set up by the donors to inform the public of the activities of the institution, including provision of free food. Ibn Ba††Ë†a13 confirms that such activities were commonplace in the religious institutions of India, as indeed they still are all over the Islamic world. The formal tone of the inscription, however, may indicate that it was set up by the order of the governor or the sultan himself, as a statement of responsibility for meeting the costs of the charitable work, whether in person or by means of endowments of revenue from farms and villages. Apart from the style of the inscription there are many other features – such as the form of the column shafts and a slight battering in the wall of the colonnade – which indicate that the building is not later than the fifteenth century. Battered Ibn Ba††Ë†a (Ar.), p. 511; (tr.), III, p. 695, referring to the royal arrangements for the distribution of free grain at the time of a famine; and (Ar.), p. 535; (tr.) III, pp. 758–9, referring to arrangements made by Ibn Ba††Ë†a and paid for by the sultan for distributing free cooked meals when Ibn Ba††Ë†a was in charge of the mausoleum of Sultan Qu†b al-dÈn Mubårak Shåh. The complex included a madrasa with eighty students, eight scholars (muÈd) and a master teacher (mudarris). In such institutions the sultan or his close relatives met the expense of the charitable works.

13

NINE: mansions, semi-public buildings and later monuments

Plate 9.11  Religious building in the high school compound, the east entrance of the chamber with a mi˙råb. The carved door frame has, at either side of the jambs, a delicate engaged column rising out of an elongated vase at the base with a similar feature above the shaft.

Plate 9.12  Religious building in the high school compound, view of the back of the western wall of the colonnade, with a slightly battered wall to the right and the square chamber with projecting mi˙råb to the left. The stonework of the two sides does not match up, showing that the two buildings were not constructed at the same time.

475

476 BAYANA walls are a feature of Tughluq architecture and it is possible that the colonnade itself dates from the mid- to late fourteenth century with the chamber having been added shortly afterwards. This period would also coincide with the time of the celebrated Sufis of Bayana. La l Darwaˉza at Sikandra In the fields of Sikandra, about 0.5 km to the south-east of the unfinished city gate of Sikandra (Figure 3.1, S.3), stands a sizeable gate (S.6) known as the Lal Darwåza (the red gate) – a name derived from the colour of the local sandstone prominent in its construction (Plate 9.13). However, apart from the frames of the arches, the columns and the lintels, the rest of the stonework is rough and in a random mix of red, grey and yellow showing that the building must have originally been plastered over with the traditional white stucco. Little remains of the finish: the building is in a poor state of preservation and the roof and parts of the western wall have collapsed, but if the gateway was originally white highlighted with red stonework, it would have looked very different from how it does today. Nothing remains of the perimeter walls of the enclosure once graced by the Lal Darwåza. Near the gate and in an area which would have been outside the enclosure are an octagonal and a hexagonal chatrÈ (S.7, S.8), but on the other side of the gate, which would have been within the enclosure, there are fields with no traces of any old structure, indicating that the gate was probably erected for one of the gardens of Sikandra by a noble of the LodÈ or Mughal court. Judging from the land features and the location of the surrounding monuments it appears that the enclosure could have been up to 0.5 km in width and breath, not unusual for

Plate 9.13  Sikandra, La l Darwåza, east façade seen from the garden side.

NINE: mansions, semi-public buildings and later monuments

Figure 9.4  Sikandra, La l Darwåza (S.6), plan and section/east elevation A–A.

a grand garden, but the area of the estate to be enclosed, if the work were ever completed, might have occupied only part of the vacant area. The form of the gate (Figure 9.4), consisting of an arched corridor flanked by galleries, as well as its light structure also shows that it was not intended to be a defensive feature, but an impressive ceremonial gate to a private enclosure. The conceptual form of the gate is traditional14 and is comparable to the gate of Maryam’s step-well and garden in Barambad (Plates 2.16, 7.31, 7.32). The outer façade, which would have been more elaborate than the inner face, has not survived and only the entrance arch still stands. It consists of an arched portal framed within a larger arch, which is only partially preserved. The inner arch and the jambs of the outer arch are faced with sandstone, but the field of the outer arch, which is not well-preserved, seems to have been built with roughly shaped stone blocks and might have been plastered or intended for inscribed panels, in positions similar to those of Maryam’s gate. The arch opens to a corridor over 5 m wide with a flat roof formed of stone slabs laid along the length of the corridor which is only 4.40 m, and to keep the span to a minimum it is further reduced to about 3.90 m by lintels set into the walls, partly stepped out. The method is traditional, but intelligently applied here to give the feeling of a vaulted space as wide as the arches. The roof of the corridor, as well as the collapsed roof and upper floor of the side galleries, were supported by two-storeyed trabeate structures consisting at each level of a pair of columns and corresponding pilasters supporting sets of superimposed lintels (Plate 9.14). The columns are close to each other with a distance of about 1.10 m, making the ends of their capital brackets very close. Nevertheless, to secure stability each lintel is made of a single block running across the columns. This is perhaps the reason that while at ground level one of the columns at each side of the corridor has fallen, the trabeate modules still stand, but the instability of the structure means it may fall at any time. For a note on the principle of the plan and its application to garden gates, see Chapter 8, n. 53.

14

477

478 BAYANA

Plate 9.14  La l Darwåza, interior of the  corridor looking north-west, showing the trabeate structure of the sides of the corridor which also supported the floor, and the collapsed roof of the side chambers. The debris of the collapsed elements has filled up the floor. In spite of a column missing at the ground level at each side of the corridor the monolithic lintels have so far sustained the stability of the structure, which is now very fragile.

The inner face of the gate is in a better state of preservation (Plate 9.13). Access to the upper galleries was provided at this side by means of flights of steps built into the northern and southern walls. Such access is private and is always provided at the inner side of gates, and here, where there is no other firm indication as to which side is the inner or outer façade, these steps provide evidence that the eastern side was indeed the inner face. On this side the corridor ends with a single wide arch, simpler, perhaps, than the arch within an arch of the outside façade, but here the arch spans the whole width of the corridor and is as high as its doublestoreyed height. The arch is flanked by the windows of the side galleries, arched at the ground level but rectangular above, which opened originally to two small balconies. Although the balconies have not survived, the brackets that supported the floor and their pilasters, which in turn supported the canopies above the balconies, still remain. We have seen that such balconies are common in sultanate and Mughal architecture and examples in Bayana have survived in the Grand Mosque of Sikandra (Plate 5.31) and Maryam’s gate at Barambad (Plates 2.16, 7.32). The location of the structure in the fields outside the town of Sikandra, corresponding with the historical records speaking of the LodÈ nobles residing in such gardens, as well as other evidence, such as the inscription of the BåolÈ of

NINE: mansions, semi-public buildings and later monuments

NiΩåm Khån which records the construction of a garden in this period, all point to a LodÈ date for this gate. However, the four-centred profile of the arches of the portals – particularly that of the outer façade – is close to the style of Mughal arches. Four-centred arches with sharply curved haunches were also employed in the LodÈ period and examples can be seen in Delhi in the mosque complex of the Baṛå Gumbad,15 but LodÈ arches are almost tangential in profile, while in the Lal Darwåza the upper curve continues smoothly, much in the style of late ­sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Persian arches, brought to India by the Emperor HumåyËn, and appearing first in his own tomb.16 In Bayana, the LodÈ arches seen in the Grand Mosque of Sikandra (Plates 5.28, 5.29) and the niche of the inscription of the Ukhå Minår (Plate 5.64), while four-centred, are still close to the two-centred profile. The arches of the BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån (Plates 7.18, 7.19, 7.21), and the BåolÈ of NiΩåm Khån (Plates 7.24, 7.27), however, begin to develop to the proper four-centred profile. In the Lal Darwåza the arch of the inner face of the gate, as well as those of the windows of the ground floor side galleries are comparable in form to those in the two LodÈ baolÈs, but the outer arch is still closer to the Mughal examples. It might be possible to date the gate to the LodÈ period and suggest that the outer arch could have been remodelled in the Mughal period to fit to the taste of the time, but a Mughal date for the whole structure cannot be ruled out entirely.

 Imaˉrat-i Baˉdgıˉr in the fort (the Pavilion of Muhammad Bakshıˉ) ˙ A landmark of the East Enclosure of the fort is the Imårat-i BådgÈr (Figure 3.5, F.33) close to the eastern entrance, looking over the fields of Sikandra with a panoramic view to the horizon. Although a Mughal building and thus outside the main focus of this book, the pavilion is the earliest Mughal structure in the style associated with the grand buildings of Akbar and also indicates the direct link between the traditions of Bayana and those of the early Mughals. The trabeate structure is in two tiers standing on a solid platform built on a sharp slope, levelled with the ground at the western side and over 5 m high at the southern and eastern sides (Figure 9.5, Plate 9.15). At ground level it consists of a rectangular chamber with doors all round and surrounded by a colonnade. At the upper level is a further colonnade of three bays and eight columns, standing, not on the bases of the chamber below, as it might be expected, but at the middle of the southern edge of the terrace providing an uninterrupted view of the plain (Plates 9.16, 9.17). The lower and upper colonnades are in red sandstone, but the chamber is plastered with white stucco both on the interior and on the exterior. Brown, Indian Architecture (Islamic Period), pp. 27–8, pl. 104, i; Yamamoto, I, 1967, pp. 58–9. The tomb of HumåyËn is well known and a main tourist attraction of Delhi. For an example of an earlier report on the monument, see Brown, Indian Architecture (Islamic Period), pp. 89–90, pl. 62, and for a later description, see Asher, Architecture of Mughal India, pp. 43–7, pl. 18.

15 16

479

480 BAYANA

Figure 9.5  Bayana fort, the Imårat-i BådgÈr (F.33), ground and upper level plans and longitudinal section A–A.

Plate 9.15  Bayana fort, the Imårat-i BådgÈr (F.33), general view from the north.

Inside the chamber on two superimposed lintels spanning the room is an inscription17 in fine nastalÈq script (Plate 9.18) recording in Persian verse that the building was constructed during the reign of the Emperor HumåyËn in the year 940/1533– 4, making the building one of the earliest dated Mughal structures built only three years after the death of Båbur. The inscription does not mention the person Appendix 1, inscription No. 39.

17

NINE: mansions, semi-public buildings and later monuments

Plate 9.16  The Imårat-i BådgÈr, view from the north-west, showing the entrance to the stairs to the upper level, built into the wall of the central chamber at ground level, and the upper colonnade, which is set off-centre at the southern edge of the building to take full advantage of the view.

Plate 9.17  The Imårat-i BådgÈr, view from the north. The solid platform is levelled with the outside ground on the west side but stands well above the rocks at the east. It provides not only the optimum view of the surrounding area, but makes the building stand out as a landmark from the fields below.

481

482 BAYANA

Plate 9.18  The Imårat-i BådgÈr, interior of the chamber, showing the two inscribed lintels spanning it. There are no arched forms in the building and rectangular doors with square recessed panels above can be seen.

r­esponsible for the construction of the building, but our information that the structure is the work of one Mu˙ammad, HumåyËn’s bakhshÈ (army paymaster) who was in charge of Bayana, comes from the Emperor JahångÈr’s record of his visit. The style of the script is also worthy of attention as nastalÈq, devised in Iran a century earlier for writing on paper, was not apparently regarded as suitable for inscriptions on wood or stone in India until the arrival of the Mughals. The inscription of this pavilion seems to be one of the earliest examples of nastalÈq on a building, along with AmÈr DËst’s record on a column of a ruined chatrÈ (Plate 2.13) dated three years earlier.18 Bayana, therefore, provides us with some of the earliest examples of nastalÈq on monumental inscriptions of India. The concept of a building being constructed on a high point to provide a cool and airy place with a commanding view was not, of course, new in India. Remains of a Tughluq example, known as the imårat-i jahån namå (the building overlooking the world), can still be found in the ruins of the citadel of Tughluqabad built in 720–5/1320–5.19 It was a square chamber with three doors at each side and according to Ibn Ba††Ë†a20 was covered with golden bricks. Another example with the same name is known through historical sources to have been constructed by FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq a few miles to the north of Delhi, but this building has not survived.21 A third example, known as ‘RËpmatÈ’s Pavilions’ at Mandu,22 built Chapter 2, n. 267; Appendix I, inscription No. 38. Tughluqabad, pp. 76–81. 20 Ibn Ba††Ë†a, (Ar.), p. 461; (tr.), III, p. 655. 21 The building is noted by both TÈmËr and his historian Mu˙ammad Sharaf al-dÈn YazdÈ, who record that this jahån-namå was built by FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq on the top of a hill and apparently near the east bank of the Jumna River about 2 leagues (parasangs), or about 12 km from Delhi. The building and its surrounding areas were plundered by TÈmËr’s army in 801/1398–9 and was later used as a garrison. See translations of MalfËΩåt-i TÈmËrÈ and YazdÈ’s Ûafar nåma in Elliot, III, pp. 434, 495. 22 Yazdani, Mandu the City of Joy, pp. 97–100, pls 38–9. Yazdani suggests that it may have been a strategic look-out place for surveillance of the plains below, as well as having other functions 18 19

NINE: mansions, semi-public buildings and later monuments

Plate 9.19  The Imårat-i BådgÈr, outside of the chamber under the canopy from the north-west, showing the doors and the square recessed panels above them, corresponding with similar features on the interior. The column shafts with bevelled edges and the large bases with curved bevelled corners can also be seen.

in the early fifteenth century on a high eminence with a precipitous drop in an isolated spot at the far south of the fort, consists of two tiers of arcaded halls with battered walls, topped by two chatrÈs. Another example, slightly later in date than the building in Bayana, is a pavilion known as ShÈr Mandal in the PËråna Qila at Delhi, an octagonal building with a chatrÈ on its roof, known to have been constructed by ShÈr Shåh.23 The chatrÈ has a commanding view over the open ground within the fort, but the fortification walls block the view to the outside. Although later in date than the Imårat-i BådgÈr, in style it is significantly different from the Bayana example as it is an arcuate building constructed with solid piers and arched windows and niches. Incidentally, it was in this pavilion that HumåyËn met his death, when he fell down the steps leading to the roof only a year after his return from Iran, having repulsed the residue of SËrÈ resistance and re-established the Mughal Empire. In spite of its Mughal origin the pavilion in Bayana does not employ any arches or vaults, even as decorative features (Plate 9.19). The doors are all rectangular including possibly being at one time a khånaqåh. However, the building follows the concept of other pleasure pavilions of this type and it is more likely that it was originally designed with such a function in mind, but during the course of its life it could have been used for other purposes. 23 Brown, Indian Architecture (Islamic Period), p. 86; Y. D. Sharma, Delhi and its Neighbourhood (New Delhi, ASI, 2nd edn [1974], repr. 1982), pp. 38, 127.

483

484 BAYANA

Plate 9.20  Left: the Bayana Imårat-i BådgÈr, details of columns; right: Shåh Jahån’s palace in the Red Fort of Agra, details of the base of a column.

and above each door is a square recess, instead of a decorative arched niche. The columns are fairly plain with bevelled edges and the bracket capitals of the ground floor columns have the hanging hemispheres seen in many sixteenth-century buildings, including the BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån. The bases are, however, relatively larger than the earlier examples, with their top corners being bevelled with a curve similar to those seen in the chatrÈ tomb F.1624 and much in the style of later Mughal column bases (Plate 9.20). Following the traditional structural forms of Bayana, the general appearance of the building differs from the earlier examples mentioned above. From a distance the building appears in three tiers of stepped pyramidal profile: the lower tier being the solid base; the middle tiers, a lighter colonnade with a more solid core in the form of a chamber; and the top tier a much lighter colonnade. The structural form is a predecessor of the famous pavilion in Fathpur Sikri known as the Imårat-i BådgÈr or Hawå Ma˙al – a light structure in five tiers decreasing in size at each level. The pavilion in Bayana, built almost half a century before that in Fathpur Sikri, is perhaps a good demonstration of the way the architectural style of Bayana was adopted by the early Mughals, and later exported to Agra and Fathpur Sikri to be interpreted on a grand scale.

Appendix III, No. 42.

24

NINE: mansions, semi-public buildings and later monuments

The Jaˉt mansions In Rajasthan the late Mughal style of architecture was adopted by the Rajputs, who, after several centuries of struggle with the Delhi sultans, at the time of Akbar accepted his supremacy and became part of the Mughal court, retaining their traditional territories as appointed Mughal governors. With the decline of the Mughal Empire after the time of AurangzÈb, the Rajputs re-emerged as autonomous rulers of their territories and later were able to sustain their position by submitting to British supremacy. Under the Rajputs, Mughal architecture, while preserving its main principles, incorporated modern advances in construction and was transformed to what is now known as Rajput architecture: distinguished by lighter structures with thinner walls, larger rooms and more embellished – if not exaggerated – versions of Mughal architectural details.25 The architecture of this period is a subject on its own, and outside the field of the present study. Nevertheless, two Jåt residential buildings in Bayana represent the final phase of the traditional architecture in the region and deserve mention. The smaller example is in the fort (Figure 3.8, F.14b), situated between the eastern gate of the citadel and the Au˙adÈ Jåmi near an open area which might have been an old urban square. It has already been noted that in the final days of the life the fort this area was briefly occupied by the Jåts. They even built a mosque (Plate 5.22) for their Muslim troops; some of the old buildings were restored and used as houses and stores, and one as a powder magazine, which, when it exploded, destroyed the top tier of the minaret of DåwËd Khån.26 The Jåt residence in the citadel, a mansion, or perhaps a sizeable house, must have also been built at this time. It consists of a simple outer court enclosed by a wall, with the entrance at the northern side. There are no colonnades or other structures at the three sides of the court, and on the eastern side is the house with its entrance under a lobed arch and above the arch a balcony, the canopy of which is supported by three arches with slim columns in front and an arch at either side (Plate 9.21). The main entrance opens to a gallery with a flat ceiling and three arches facing the courtyard with chambers on either side. Similar galleries are constructed at the other three sides of the building, but that at the western side is deeper. Although the galleries and the chambers have flat ceilings, using the traditional trabeate system, the lobed arches of the galleries give an impression of a central courtyard surrounded by arcades (Plate 9.22). At the north-west and south-east corners of the courtyard two staircases give access to the upper level, which consists of open For a brief account of the better-preserved Rajput palaces including Gwalior, but mostly Mughal and post Mughal, see Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture (1876), pp. 475–88; Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture (1910), II, pp. 169–82. See also Giles Tillotson, The Rajput Palaces: the Development of an Architectural Style 1450–1750 (New Haven, 1987); Antonio Martinelli and George Michell, Princely Rajasthan: Rajput Palaces and Mansions (New York, 2004). 26 See Chapter 3, n. 60.

25

485

486 BAYANA

Plate 9.21  The fort, the Jåt mansion (F.14) in the citadel, outer court looking south-east towards the entrance to the house. The lobed arch and the balcony are of red sandstone, but the rest of the building was plastered with white stucco, most of which still survives, although the weathered surface of the plastered has turned grey.

Plate 9.22  The Jåt mansion in the citadel, inner court looking east. The central courtyard design is expressed by lobed arches at ground level and stuccoed walls above. The small door in the ground floor opens to a staircase and a similar door above accesses the stairs to the roof. The projecting slabs that look like eaves form a narrow walkway supported by corbelled brackets, providing the only circulation for the upper floor. Beneath the courtyard is a well-cistern with an octagonal well-head.

NINE: mansions, semi-public buildings and later monuments

terraces over the galleries flanked by chambers which are built over the chambers at the ground floor. The circulation around the upper level is provided by a fairly narrow walkway made out of thin stone slabs supported by corbelled brackets around the courtyard. This is a rather unusual – but not exceptional – kind of circulation, as although the walkway is wide enough for a person to pass over comfortably, it does not have any parapets and seems hazardous for two people to pass each other or to be used in the dark. The main use of the upper terraces must have been at night for people to sleep in the open air. To make the terraces private and include them in the living space of the house they are walled, each with a door in the middle opening to the walkway at the courtyard side but blind on the other side, except the western terrace which has an opening to the balcony above the entrance facing the outer court. The principle of the planning of the house is not new but goes back to the Islamic period, and a close comparison is the residence of Emperor Akbar at Fathpur Sikri known as the Jodh Bai palace,27 most likely the Shabistån-i Iqbål,28 mentioned in the Mughal sources. In Fathpur Sikri, too, the upper terraces are walled on the outer side to maintain privacy but are open at the courtyard side. These terraces are again over colonnades flanked by chambers, on a plan not similar to that of our example in Bayana, but on a much grander scale. The house, as a whole is built with blocks of stone, roughly hewn and plastered over, except on the ground level facing the courtyard, where the walls and columns were finely carved with patterns characteristic of the post-Mughal Rajput period and originally left exposed. The upper floor facing the courtyard, also rendered with stucco, must have given the house a bright and airy appearance. At later dates the exposed stonework of the ground floor has been whitewashed, and today the surface of the stucco is grey, effecting the original appearance of the building. Nevertheless, the house is still in a remarkably good state of preservation, except that some broken slabs of the walkway restrict free circulation at the upper level. The other Jåt residence is a large mansion (Figure 3.2, B.5, Plate 9.23) outside Bayana town, built to the west of the Ukhå complex, in a position that must have been just outside the town walls. The mansion is built entirely of finely finished red sandstone with the characteristic Rajput features such as lobed arches and slim columns with shafts in the form of fluted palm trunks. In plan the mansion is arranged around two courtyards. The outer courtyard has a monumental gateway, which still stands, but much of the structures adjoining the gateway have fallen. Opposite the gate once stood a large open-fronted hall reminiscent of the Persian and Mughal Èwåns, which also functioned as a grand portal to the inner court as at the end wall of the hall a fairly sizeable opening leads to the inner court, but there were other doors to the inner court from the side chambers. The portal is flanked by two large halls with high ceilings, but the rest of the buildings consist For a full survey and detailed study of Fathpur Sikri, see E. W. Smith, The Mogul Architecture of Fathpur Sikri; also see Petruccioli, Fathpur Sikri, pp. 138–9, figs 167, 170. 28 Rizvi and Flynn, Fat˙pur SÈkrÈ, pp. 46–8. 27

487

488 BAYANA

Plate 9.23  Bayana, the Jåt mansion (B.5) to the west of the town, general view showing the monumental gateway and the remains of two of the courts.

of numerous chambers and arcaded porticoes in two storeys, originally surrounding both the outer and inner courtyard (Plate 9.24). In addition, on the roof there are remains of some pavilions, which might have been domed, providing a striking skyline for the mansion, but little now remains of them. Throughout the work a detailed picture of the architectural history of Bayana has emerged through different types of buildings. The structures discussed in this chapter, while outside the building types studied earlier, represent particular aspects of the life and culture of Bayana, completing the wider perspective. The scale of the mansions, grander than domestic buildings but still moderate, even modest, and the restrained extent of the elaboration seen in the ruler’s palace, give us an insight into the life and the status of the local governors. The Imårat-i BadgÈr and the gate of the garden in Sikandra further widen our understanding of the life of the nobility, while the religious building in the present high school compound is of a different order. Apart from a few shrines attributed to some of the Sufi leaders of Bayana, this religious complex, which still remains to be defined as a madrasa or a khånaqåh, is the only surviving example of its kind relating to the life of the learned men of the town. The historical sources inform us that the influence of the Sufi shaikhs of Bayana spread far beyond the locality. Many of the shaikhs would be expected to have had their own khånaqåh or madrasa, and on their demise the institutions would be expected to continue under a nominated follower to maintain the teaching of their discipline. Bayana must have had many such institutions and the survival of only one example is somewhat surprising,

NINE: mansions, semi-public buildings and later monuments

Plate 9.24  Bayana, the Jåt mansion to the west of the town, outer court showing the continuance of trabeate structural principles and features such as paired columns for the façades, combined with decorative elements such as cusped arches used to give the semblance of arcades.

although it is perhaps the result of a complete loss of the tradition in Bayana after the decline of the town. The Jåts made some contribution to the architecture of Bayana, but their domination supressed Muslim influence and during Partition what was left of its Muslim community fled the town, leaving only the monuments to tell of their legacy.

489

CHAPTER TEN

Historic Edifices in the Towns and Villages of the Bayana Region

A study of Bayana would not be complete without looking beyond Bayana town, the fort and the immediate neighbourhood and considering at least some major buildings that have survived in the region. We have already noted the funerary chatrÈ of BÈbÈ KhadÈja (Plate 6.26) dating from the time of Sikandar LodÈ in Hindaun,1 and many others in Hindaun and elsewhere, noted in Appendix III, but there are also a number of mosques that deserve attention. Some are in a ruinous state, but many are still in use and revered by the local population, although they vary in architectural merit. In Nagar and Sikri – two villages of considerable age on the outskirts of the Emperor Akbar’s Fathpur Sikri – there are four mosques: three datable to the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries and the fourth probably from the Au˙adÈ period. In Khanwa, the scene of Babur’s bloody battle with Rånå Sanga, which sealed the establishment of Mughal dominance, three mosques can be found; one, now in ruins, known as the Karbalå Masjid, is set in a graveyard of the same name, surrounded by a number of chatrÈs.2 The name suggests a battleground, but Karbalå is the battlefield in Iraq where the third Shi’ite imam, Óusain, and his few followers were slain. The Sunni Båbur and his troops would hardly be associated with such a name, and the site must be related to a Shi’ite sect, whose presence in the region is attested to in Bayana’s history. Travelling south-west, Dholpur preserves the mosque and elegant tomb of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna. Dholpur On the border of the Bayana and Gwalior territory, Dholpur was originally a small town, situated some 56 km (35 miles) south of Agra and 32 km (20 miles) north-west of Gwalior (Figure 1.2).3 Dholpur’s name does not appear in the early Muslim history of Bayana; the armies of Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul encamped at Bayana Appendix I, inscriptions Nos 36, 37; Appendix III, No. 40. The chatrÈs of the Karbalå Graveyard are all discussed in Appendix III. 3 The geographical coordinates for Dholpur (Dhaulpur) are 26° 42ʹ 0ʺ North, 77° 54ʹ 0ʺ East. The road from Bayana to Dholpur, passing through Tantpur, Baseri and Nibhi, is much longer than the ancient track, but modern access to Dholpur is via the highway from Agra to Gwalior. 1

2

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

rather than Dholpur when in confrontation with the rajas of Gwalior, which may indicate that in spite of Dholpur being much closer the town did not have significant defences, and was under Gwalior’s control. The Au˙adÈs, too, do not seem to have had jurisdiction over Dholpur, but by the time of the LodÈs the town was eventually annexed to their dominion. The Å Èn-i AkbarÈ records that when Agra was made the capital, Dholpur was among the six districts taken out of the Bayana district and assimilated with the newly created region of Agra.4 Dholpur’s strategic importance increased under Sikandar LodÈ, and while building Agra as the new capital his ongoing strife with Gwalior obliged him to reside in Dholpur for prolonged periods.5 The Å Èn-i AkbarÈ also records that Dholpur had a brick fort on the bank of the Chanbal.6 The fort was indeed an old Hindu stronghold, which was apparently maintained and restored by the LodÈs and later reconstructed by ShÈr Shåh SËrÈ, remaining in occupation during the Mughal period. Its ruins, named after ShÈr Shåh, are now known as Shirgarh.7 There are some Mughal and post-Mughal remains in the fort and a few structures in and around the town, including the Bågh-i NÈlËfar or Lotus Garden, said to have been established by Båbur, and the KhånpËr Ma˙al and ShåhÈ Tålåb, both known to have been built by Shåh Jahån, but other than the tomb of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna, hardly any pre-Mughal monuments have been preserved there. Bıˉbıˉ Zarrıˉna: Sikandar Lodıˉ’s mother BÈbÈ ZarrÈna,8 ‘the lady of gold’, who died in the early sixteenth century, is known locally – and is also identified by Cunningham – as the mother of Sikandar LodÈ.9 There are some variations in the historical sources in recording the name of Sikandar’s mother.10 Her name, or perhaps honorific, is recorded in Firishta’s Persian text as ZÈbå (beautiful),11 and in Briggs’ translation as Zeina (ornament, by extension also meaning elegance, beauty).12 She was the daughter of a goldsmith  6  7

See Chapter 2, n. 57. Chapter 2, nn. 243–4. See above Chapter 2, nn. 60, 65. Shirgarh, as with many other forts in India, remained in use in later generations, with consequent alterations.  8 This section is based on the authors’ paper, ‘The Lady of Gold: Sikandar LodÈ’s mother (c. 837/1433–922/1516) and the tomb attributed to her at Dholpur, Rajasthan’, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies LXXXI, i (2018), pp. 83–102, figs 1–13.  9 ASIR, XX, pp. 113–14. 10 The main histories dealing with the LodÈ period were written a generation or two after the fall of the LodÈs, but close enough in date to be based on the accounts of the surviving members of the LodÈ court. Variations in names and accounts of events may derive from different narratives collected by the historians. 11 Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 179. 12 Briggs, Firishta (tr.) I, p. 563, gives in brackets: ‘whose name was Zeina, the daughter of a goldsmith, but raised to the King’s bed owing to her beauty’. These words seem to have come from a manuscript other than the one he edited and published, where the name is again given as ZÈbå, and does not include the comment about her beauty. See Tarikh-i Ferishta or History of the  4  5

491

492 BAYANA (zargar).13 Zeina (ZÈnat, ‫ )زینة‬could be a miss-spelling of ZarrÈna (‫ )زرّینه‬omitting the letter ‘r’. We may consider both texts to be slightly defective but both ZarrÈna, meaning ‘golden, made of gold’, and Zeina (ZÈnat), meaning ‘ornament or jewellery’, are suitable for a goldsmith’s daughter. In Islamic India it is unusual for the proper name of a woman, particularly a queen and the mother of a king, to be given in a historical text. In fact, many of the sources omit mentioning the name of Sikandar’s mother altogether. If she were referred to, it would be usual for a descriptive honorific to be used, and in this case we may assume that all recorded names, including ZarrÈna, would have been honorific. Apart from her name she is known to have been exceedingly beautiful and BahlËl fell in love with her:14 ‫حویلی مثال خلد برین ساخته بود گاه در‬ ‫نقل است در آن ایّام که بهلول خان حاکم آن شهر (سهرند) بود در بیرون قلعه‬ ٔ ‫آنجا ماندی در آن نواحی زرگری مسکن داشت هیما نام دختری داشت الله روی مشکین موی اتفاقا ً نظر بهلول خان‬ ‫بر وی افتاد شیفته شد و آن ماه سیما نیز دل به او داد او چون بر تخت سلطنت متم ّکن شد پدر او را خوشدل نموده در‬ ‫عقد در آورد شبی آن دختر در خواب دید که ماه از آسمان جدا شده در آغوش او افتاد فردا این خواب به بهلول شاه‬ ‫مغز سخن بشگافتند که از شکم این ملکۀ‬ ِ ‫بیان نمود چون از معبّران و کاهنان استفسار کرد معبّران موی شگاف چنین‬ .‫جهان پسری بر آید که تخت گیر و صاحب تاج گردد‬ It is said that in the days that BahlËl Khån was Governor of that town (Sihrind or Sirhind)15 he had built outside the fort a mansion comparable to the heavenly paradise. Sometimes he resided there. In those vicinities lived a goldsmith who had a daughter called HÈmå, with a face like a tulip and hair the colour of musk. It happened that BahlËl’s eye fell upon her. He was enchanted. That beauty with moon-like face also gave her heart to him. When he sat on the royal throne he satisfied the wishes of her father and married her. One day that girl dreamt that the moon became detached from the sky and fell into her bosom. The next day she told her dream to King BahlËl. When he asked its meaning from the interpreters and the Hindu priests (kåhinån),16 the hair-splitting interpreters opened Mohamedan Power in India till the year A.D. 1612 by Mahomed Kasim Ferishta of Astrabad (Pers.), John Briggs and Khairat Ali Khan Mushtaq (eds) (Bombay, 1831), I, p. 329. Briggs, however, notes that he collated his material from several manuscripts. 13 In India goldsmiths were, and still are, also jewellers. They are not, of course, members of the nobility, but rank high among the merchant class. 14 Tårikh-i ShåhÈ, (Pers.), p. 17 (not translated by Elliot). The published edition records the name of the goldsmith’s daughter as HÈmå (‫)هیما‬, but another manuscript (TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ, addenda, pp. 385–6) gives it as that of the father. HÈmå is not a Muslim name, but the Persian way of writing the Sanskrit hema (heman: gold) and this is perhaps what the non-Persian-speaking people called her. ‘Golden’ would be a suitable honorific for either. In this manuscript the love story of the price BahlËl and the goldsmith’s daughter is more flowery and elaborate. The text of the TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ, completed in 1054/1644–5, is peppered with non-Persian vernacular words. 15 A historic fortified town in the Punjab on the way from Delhi to Lahore. It remained one of the main strongholds of BahlËl where he stayed from time to time even after he became king of Delhi. 16 An interesting reference to consulting Brahmins for the interpretation of dreams. The LodÈ era was an age of superstition and fascination with myths about magical events. The TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ and the TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ reflect many popular legends current in that era.

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

the heart of the matter: that from the womb of this Queen of the World a son would be born who would gain the throne and would own the crown. The son was, of course, Sikandar who apparently inherited his mother’s looks:17 ‫نقاش‬ ‫سکندر لودی … در ایام شاهزادگی نظام خان خطاب داشته حق تعالی بغایت از حسن و زیبائی آراسته چنانکه‬ ِ .‫قضا نیکو تر از وی صورتی بر تخته هستی نکشیده … هر که نظر کردی دل با وی دادی‬ Sikandar LodÈ … in the days that he was a prince was called NiΩåm Khån. By the Almighty Lord he was adorned with exceeding elegance and beauty as though the painter of destiny had not drawn a face more pleasant than his on the tablet of life … whoever saw him lost his heart to him. The TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ continues with the affair of Shaikh Óasan’s unrequited love for the prince. Óasan, known as Shaikh Óasan MajzËb (the enchanted), was a grandson of Shaikh Abu’l-Alå and a highly respected religious personage.18 To put an end to the rumours19 of the shaikh’s forbidden love, in his court in the presence of others the young, probably beardless,20 prince punished the shaikh personally by putting his face into a hot brazier and then locking him up, although the shaikh was seen ‘miraculously’ walking in the bazaar the next day. Sikandar was not BahlËl’s eldest son21 and had many adversaries in court, but his mother was by no means a voiceless lady of the harem. During the last days of BahlËl’s life he was staying in Itåwa on route to Delhi. Sikandar was in Delhi and his mother advised him to remain in Delhi, safe from the conspiracies of the LodÈ clan who were determined to eliminate him and had influenced the sultan to summon him22 to Itåwa.23 She knew the LodÈ khans were determined to make Tårikh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), pp. 29–30. Shaikh Abd al-Óaqq b. Saif al-dÈn Mu˙addith DihlawÈ, Akhbår al-Akhyår fÈ asrår al-abrår, pp. 289–90. 19 The rumours were apparently widespread and are reflected in many sources. See, for example, ibid, p. 289: ‫‘( از قصبه راپری بود در دهلی سیر میکرد و با سلطان سکندر لودهی عشق میباخت‬He was from the village of RåprÈ, passing his time in Delhi and was in love with Sultan Sikandar LodhÈ’). TårÈkh-i DåwudÈ, p. 27, also mentions the persistent rumour. The work was completed 983/1575–6, long after  the  other  accounts. 20 Tårikh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 35, and TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), p. 35, record that Sikandar was enthroned at the age of eighteen, but TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, p. 171 (completed 1020/1611–12) and Firishta, I, p. 179, mention that when he succeeded to the throne he already had six sons, which is unlikely if he was only eighteen, unless he were much older when BahlËl died. This is not implausible as if he was born a year or two after his parents married, he would have been in his mid-thirties. However, the Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 314, attributes the six sons as BahlËl’s and not Sikandar’s. 21 TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), p. 12, gives the name of the eldest son as Khwåja BåyazÈd; Sikandar as the second son and Bårbak Shåh as the third, but Firishta (see quotation below) mentions that Bårbak was the eldest living son, as BåyazÈd had died during the life of the sultan. 22 Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 178; (tr.), I, p. 561; also see TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), pp. 34–5; TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ (Pers.), I, p. 168. 23 The town and district are now known as Etah (27º 38ʹ N, 78º 40ʹ E) in Utter Pradesh, 207 km (128 miles) from Delhi. See Chapter 2, n. 57. 17 18

493

494 BAYANA AΩam HumåyËn, BahlËl’s grandson, the successor and that the ailing sultan had agreed. Colluding with Umar Khån24 – one of the prominent emirs who also held the office of the vizier – she sent an envoi to her son asserting that if he came to Itåwa his life would be in danger. On the pretence of preparing for his journey, Sikandar delayed his departure until the sultan died while en route to Delhi.25 On BahlËl’s death the notables of the LodÈ clan disapproved of Sikandar as successor, but it was his mother who confronted them, supported only by Khån-i Khånån FarmulÈ, not of the LodÈ clan, but an outstanding courtier of BahlËl and in earlier days in charge of Sikandar’s upbringing:26 ‫چون بحکم قادر بیچون پادشاه بهلول لودهی در سفر مذکور برحمت حق پیوست امرا و ارکان دولت جمع شده قرعۀ‬ ‫مشورت در میان انداختند بعضی بپادشاهی اعظم همایون نبیرۀ پادشاه مرحوم رغبت نمودند و اکثری بپادشاهی‬ ‫باربکشاه که بزرگترین فرزندان زنده بود مائل گشتند درین وقت مادر سلطان سکندر زیبا نام که دختر زرگری و در‬ ‫آن سفر همراه پادشاه مبرور بود از عقب پرده بامرا گفت که پسرم لیاقت پادشاهی دارد و با شما سلوک نیکو خواهد‬ ‫نمود عیسی خان لودهی که پسر عم سلطان بهلول بود او را دشنام داده گفت پسر دختر زرگر پادشاهی را نشاید چه‬ ‫که مثلی مشهورست که کار درودگر از بوزینه راست نیاید خان خانان فرملی که بعنایت قوی بود این سخن شنیده‬ ‫گفت دیروز پادشاه مرده است امروز زن و پسر او را دشنام دادن و سخت گفتن چه الئق بود عیسی خان لودهی گفت‬ ‫تو از نوکری بیش نیستی میان خویشان و قرابتیان دخل مکن خان خانان در غضب شده گفت که من نوکر پادشاه‬ ‫سکندرم نه نوکر دیگری و از مجلس برخاسته آمد و با امرائی که با او متفق بودند نعش پادشاه را برداشته بقصبۀ‬ ‫جاللی رفت و پادشاه سکندر را طلبیده بر باالی بلندی که در کنار آب بیاه واقع است و آنرا کوشک سلطان فیروز‬ .‫میگویند بر سریر پادشاهی متمکن گردانیده بسلطان سکندر مخاطب گردانیدند‬ When according to the Decree of the Unfathomable Most Powerful, King BahlËl LodÈ27 received the Mercy of the Lord during the mentioned journey, the emirs and pillars of the state gathered, opening the topics of discussion. Some favoured AΩam HumåyËn, the grandson of the late king, but most preferred Bårbak Shåh, the eldest of the living sons, for king. At this time Sul†ån Sikandar’s mother, ZÈbå by name, who was the daughter of a goldsmith and was accompanying the late king, called to the emirs from behind the curtain saying: ‘My son is the one who is fit to be king and would treat you well.’ Ïså Khån LodÈ, who was a nephew of Sul†ån BahlËl, belittled her saying ‘The son of the daughter of a goldsmith is not fit to be a king, so says the well-known proverb that a carpenter’s work will not come out right done by a monkey.’28 Khån-i Khånån FarmulÈ, who Firishta records his name as Umar Khån ShirwånÈ (or SharwånÈ), see Chapter 2, n. 212, but other sources, give it as SarwånÈ, see, for example, the TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ, I, pp. 174–5; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ, I, p. 314. The SarwånÈs were an Afghan clan with a number of its members being nobles of Sikandar’s court. 25 Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), I, pp. 312–13; (tr.) I, p. 383, n. 3. 26 Firishta (Pers.), I, p. 179, (tr.) I, pp. 563–4; our translation is given. Also see TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (Pers.), p. 35; Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), I, p. 314; TårÈkh-i DåwËdÈ (Pers.), pp. 34–5; TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ, (Pers.), I, pp. 169–71. This last source mentions that the auspicious time for Sikandar’s enthronement was calculated from the movement of the stars by Brahmin astrologers (brahmanån-i akhtar shinås). 27 Firishta spells LodÈ (‫ )لودی‬as LodhÈ (‫)لودهی‬, but we have kept to the spelling common in other sources. 28 A Persian proverb derived from a tale in the KalÈla wa Dimna, an Arabic and Persian translation of the Panchatantra. See Abd’ullåh b. al-Muqaffa, Kitåb KalÈla wa Dimna (Ar.) (Cairo, 24

495

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

was a powerful person, on hearing this retorted: ‘Yesterday the king died and today how can it be proper to use vilifying defamatory words against his wife and his son?’ Ïså Khån LodÈ replied: ‘You are no more than a servant! Do not interfere with the family and relatives!’ Khån-i Khånån became angry; declaring: ‘I am the servant of King Sikandar and no one else’ and left the assembly. He came to the emirs who were allied to him, took the king’s corpse and went to the village of JalålÈ, then sent for King Sikandar and put him on the royal throne on the heights by the River Åb-i BÈyåh in the place called the Mansion of Sul†ån FÈrËz.29 They named him Sul†ån Sikandar. The Tomb and Mosque of Bıˉbıˉ Zarrıˉna The attribution of the tomb to Sikandar’s mother is credible, as the sultan, wary of challenges from the rajas of Gwalior, resided in Dholpur for long stretches of time and built many mansions and other buildings all along the Agra to Dholpur route.30 During the sultan’s stays in Dholpur, his mother – the senior lady and the authority of the harem – would have accompanied him, particularly when considering that in younger days, travelling with her husband, she was not of a retiring disposition. While there is still no firm documentation to confirm the local tradition of attributing the tomb to her – endorsed by Cunningham some one and a half centuries ago – the scale and elaborate design of the edifice indicates persuasively that it must belong to a noble lady. There are a number of inscriptions in the complex, some carved in relief over the mi˙råbs of the mosque, which, while eroded or intentionally obliterated, seem to be of a religious nature and might not have included dates, but the inscription of the tombstone of the Lady (Plate 10.1), again suffering from erosion and obscured by layers of whitewash, is slightly better preserved.31 What can be deciphered is, on the headstone, the beginning of Quran, II, 255 (åyat al-kursÈ) continuing on the right side and with the end of the verse on 1937), pp. 96–7; Abu’l MaålÈ Naßr’ullåh MunshÈ, KalÈla wa Dimna, Mujtaba Minuwi (ed.) (Pers.) (Tehran, hs 1392/2013), p. 62. For a translation, see BÈdpåÈ, Kalila and Dimna: or the fables of Bidpai, Wyndham Knatchbull (tr.) (Oxford, 1819), pp. 88–9. The proverb is immortalised by the twelfth-century Persian poet NiΩåmÈ GanjawÈ in his story of Khusraw and ShÈrÈn: ‫هوا بشکن کزو یاری نیاید که از بوزینه نجاری نیاید‬

which could be loosely translated as: ‘leave idle fancies aside, they bear no fruit, just as carpentry is no work for a monkey’. 29 The mansion must have been one of FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq’s hunting lodges, built between Delhi and Itåwa. The area was one of the hunting grounds of FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq as recorded in Shams-i Siråj (Pers.), p. 497. His better-known hunting lodge was KËshk-i Shikår near the village of MÈrtha in the Miyån Du Åb region, known for its Ashokan column re-erected there by F­ÈrËz Shåh, Shams-i Siråj (Pers.), pp. 313–14. Both of these mansions were built on the top of hills, presumably to provide panoramic views of the hunting grounds. For Miyån Du Åb, see Chapter 2, n. 255. 30 See Chapter 2, nn. 243–4. 31 Appendix I, inscription No. 30.

496 BAYANA the left side, followed by what seems to be Quran XXIII, 118, and on the foot of the tombstone the historical record: ]‫ وفات یافت بی بی [زرینه ؟ مر‬1 ]‫ حوم بتاریخ چهارد [هم ماه‬2 ]‫ ؟‬٩٢٢ ‫ شعبان روز [یکشنبه سنه‬3

Departed BÈbÈ [ZarrÈna], taken to the mercy (of God) on the date of the four[teenth of the month] of Shabån on [Sunday in the year 922 (?)]. The left side of the inscription is worn away. Letters within square brackets are no longer preserved and are reconstructed from a rendering – not an ink impression, which is more reliable for deciphering – by Cunningham (Plate 10.2), when the inscription was still in better condition, although we do not know to what extent it was preserved. At present no traces are left even of the name ZarrÈna, but if Sikandar’s mother was called ZÈbå, Zaina (pronounced ZÈnat (‫ )زینة‬in Persian), the letter represented as r in Cunningham’s rendering which makes the name zarrÈna may well have been the diacritic representing the vowel a over the letter z, confusing the name with ZarrÈna. Zaina or ZÈnat are still current women’s names in Iran and elsewhere. Nevertheless, we should perhaps trust Cunningham and others, as well as the local population, for the name. In Cunningham’s rendering the figure for the decade is clearly close to the Arabic numeral two making the date 922 (٩٢٢), but he reads the date as 942 (٩٤٢), presumably to square up the reading of the date of the month with a year when that date fell on a Sunday.32 The date of the BÈbÈ’s death, however, is noted in the Rajputana Gazetteer33 as 922, presumably taken from this inscription. We can, Cunningham transcribes the day of the week as Sunday (‫)یکشنبه‬, and the parts of the letters still preserved could correspond with his reading, but Thursday (‫ )پنجشنبه‬is also a possible reading. The day of the week as calculated mathematically does not necessarily correspond with the actual day of the week as perceived at the time, since the beginning of the Muslim lunar month derives from the confirmation of the observation of the crescent of the new moon, which may have been seen at different times or days in various places. 14 Shabån 942 corresponds with Sunday, 6 February 1536 and 14 Shabån 922 with Thursday, 15 or Friday, 16 February 1516 (depending on different methods of calculation). In either case, we should be cautious to take the day of the week as exact for a lunar (ÓijrÈ) date. It should also be borne in mind that 942 corresponds with the reign of HumåyËn and our calculation in the note below shows that if BÈbÈ ZarrÈna was indeed Sikandar’s mother, at the time of her death she would have been unrealistically old. The authors have compared the mathematical calculations with many dated epigraphic records and have found discrepancies of up to three days between the day of the week recorded in inscriptions (including those of Bayana) as opposed to those calculated mathematically (see M. Shokoohy’s review article: ‘Michael Mann, Hijri: a computer program to convert Hijri to Julian Dates’, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies LV, ii (1992), pp. 328–9). 33 Rajputana Gazetteer, I, p. 267, reports that the shrine was built in 944/1537–8 over the remains of ‘Mussummat Zurrina’ (apparently for ‫‘ معصومة زرّینه‬the innocent ZarrÈna’) who died in 922. 32

497

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

Plate 10.1  Dholpur, the historical inscription of the foot of the tomb of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna. The eroded text bears part of her name and the date of her death, probably Sunday, 14 Sha bån 922/12 September 1516.

Plate 10.2  Cunningham’s rendering of the inscription of the tomb of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna. The epitaph was in better condition when read by him (ASIR, XX, 1885, pl. 37).

therefore, safely assume that the reading of 922 is more reliable. If we accept this, she would have been in her eighties when she died.34 Sikandar himself died a year later and was buried in Delhi, in a tomb35 octagonal in plan with arches and domes much in the style of his predecessors, the Sayyids. Built entirely of red sandstone36 and in the trabeate structural method typical of Bayana, the tomb and mosque stand on high platform in an old graveyard. The elegant tomb is a square building on the west of a rectangular courtyard facing the mosque (Figures 10.1–10.4, Plate 10.3). Although the platform could house a crypt, its absence indicates that the tomb dates from the pre-Mughal era. A unifying design for the complex is expressed in the trabeate structure of both the mosque and the tomb, but there are subtle differences in detail. The shrine is likely to have been built soon after the death of the BÈbÈ (if not by her during her lifetime), while 944 is far too late as it falls to the time of the Mughal emperor HumåyËn and his struggles with ShÈr Shåh SËrÈ. 34 If we consider that Sikandar was enthroned in 894 at the age of eighteen, this would make the date of his conception nineteen years earlier in about 875, but BahlËl came to the throne in 855, twenty years earlier. If BahlËl married Sikandar’s mother soon after he became king when she was fifteen to eighteen years old she would have been born in about 837–840 and in her eighties when she died. However, if we ignore the testament about Sikandar’s age when he was enthroned and consider that he was born a few years after BahlËl married his mother, let us say about 857–860, he would have been in his mid-thirties when he was crowned and could have had six sons. His mother would have been younger when she gave birth, but would have still been born in about our suggested date, and in her eighties at the time of her death. Our rough calculation again points out that the date of 922 for the BÈbÈ’s death is more acceptable and 942 unlikely as she would have been over one hundred years old. 35 Survey in Wetzel, pp. 83–5, tomb 39, pls 46–51. Also see Yamamoto, I, p. 82, tomb 79, pls 102a and b. The tomb is in Lodi Park in Delhi, visited by many and often illustrated. 36 The building of the tomb and the interior of the mosque are whitewashed affecting their original appearance, but on the exterior of the mosque and the platform the red sandstone is left exposed.

498 BAYANA

Figure 10.1  Mosque and tomb of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna at Dholpur, ground plan. The complex is set on a prominent platform, but has no crypt. The tomb of the BÈbÈ is in the centre together with six other tombs at the east side of the tomb chamber. The area to the north of the dotted line in the courtyard seems to be later addition.

Figure 10.2  Mosque and tomb of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna, transverse section A–A through mosque and tomb.

The compound, set in the graveyard, is entered from the north, via steps and a modern gate with a semi-circular arch opening to the paved courtyard.37 The mausoleum (Plate 10.4) consists in plan of nine square units38 formed by sixteen columns The long rectangular courtyard seems to have measured originally about 15.4 m long and 7.30 m wide, but was extended later by a few metres to the north, and additional new steps and entrance (not shown in our drawings) built. 38 The tomb measures about 8.30 m at each side and each of the internal units measures 2.37 m square. The column shafts are slightly over 1.60 m high and 29 cm square in plan, resting on 37

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

Figure 10.3  Mosque and tomb of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna, plan at roof level. The mosque’s unusual roof colonnades with four domes and the chatrÈ over the central mi˙råb echo the central chatrÈ of the tomb.

Figure 10.4  Mosque and tomb of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna, section B–B through courtyard, showing elevation of mosque.

supporting a flat roof with slabs set directly on the lintels, except for the central unit where over the lintels are four triangular corner slabs and a further layer above formed of short lintels and triangular blocks creating an octagon to support square base blocks and surmounted by usual bracket capitals. The total height from the floor to the lintels is about 2.60 m and to the ceiling about 2.90 m.

499

500 BAYANA

Plate 10.3  Mosque and tomb of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna, northern façade. The severely dilapidated rear wall of the mosque can be seen on the left. The tomb in the foreground with a ‘Bengali’ roof dates from the late or post-Mughal era.

Plate 10.4  Tomb of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna, interior. View looking north-west showing the fine pierced stonework (now whitewashed) surrounding the cenotaph, and the raised roof over the BÈbÈ’s tomb.

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

Plate 10.5  Tomb and mosque of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna, view looking south-west. The central chatrÈ stands over the tomb. The compound is designed in such a way that each structure stands on its own and does not conflict with the other; as a result, from the east the tomb stands alone and the mosque can hardly be seen in the background.

the flat roof slabs. The floor of the central unit, housing the tomb of the BÈbÈ, is raised in the form of a low platform decorated with m ­ ouldings. The columns are plain, but pierced stone panels (jålÈ) are inserted between the exterior columns. The jålÈ screens are divided into six panels of almost the same size, except the middle of the western and southern sides where doors open to the tomb, each with an arch above, carved on a single panel as delicate pierced work, flanked by jålÈ panels. A variety of interlaced patterns are employed in the carved screens, giving a particular charm to the interior when light penetrates the screens and shadows of the patterns fall on the floor and the tombs. BÈbÈ ZarrÈna’s tomb is a grand solid sarcophagus in several registers standing on a base with a cyma recta profile embellished with lotus leaf motifs, an ancient Indian pattern, which also appears in sultanate buildings, but which can hardly be seen in Mughal architecture, another indication that the tomb is preMughal. Above this base is a long, narrow register decorated with an interlaced pointed arch pattern, but many layers of whitewash obscure most of the delicate carvings. The register is topped with a row of triangular mouldings, probably a highly stylised reminiscence of the vajramastaka, which adorned the parapets of ancient temples. The middle block bears Quranic inscriptions and the record of the demise of the lady. The top two registers are stepped and have the same row of triangular ornament, topped with a flat slab.

501

502 BAYANA There are six other tombs in the chamber, three similar in form to that of the BÈbÈ, but slightly smaller and less elaborate, but although none bear historical inscriptions, they must belong to her relatives. The elaborate form of the sarcophagi is not specific to these tombs and is seen in many of the more ornate tombstones of the Bayana region, including in ChatrÈ B.3039 in the Au˙adÈ Graveyard and the tomb of BÈbÈ KhadÈja40 in Hindaun, among others. On the outside, the slim columns and thin screens give a sense of lightness to the chamber (Plate 10.5). Around the roof the parapet is formed by two string-courses, the lower carved with interlaced lobed arches within each of which is a bell-shaped floral motif, and the narrower upper course has a simplified form of the same motif. The crenellations above the parapet are each carved on a separate panel consisting of a solid arch with a wide border and a central rosette. A prominent feature on the roof is a four-columned chatrÈ set over the central unit of the ceiling on a raised platform (Figures 10.1, 10.3). Its column shafts, octagonal in the middle and square at each end – a common type in Bayana – stand on cubic bases and footings with cyma recta profile. The crenellations of the chatrÈ are similar in shape and proportion to those of the tomb but are not individually formed, instead the patterns are carved on four panels, each set on one face, again, a treatment seen in many chatrÈs of the Bayana region. In contrast to the light structure of the tomb, the mosque – at the west of the courtyard – has thick solid walls, appearing as a massive structure on the exterior (Plate 10.6) but is in fact a simple prayer hall, two aisles deep and five bays wide (Figures 10.1–10.4, Plate 10.7), with the two side bays narrower than the rest.41 The column shafts are rectangular in plan, but the size of the narrow sides facing the courtyard corresponds with those of the tomb, retaining the aesthetic balance between the two structures while maintaining contrast. On the qibla wall there are five mi˙råbs with pointed arches (Plate 10.8) that resemble the pierced stone arch-forms above the entrance of the mausoleum, but built in solid stone. Furthermore, a harmonising balance with the open work of the tomb’s jålÈs is sustained by the inclusion of geometric tracery in the field of the arches and interlaced foliated fringes corresponding to those of the tomb’s screens.42 As usual only the central mi˙råb projects behind the exterior of the wall. Within the northern and southern walls of the prayer hall two staircases ascend Appendix III, No. 12. See Chapter 6, Plate 6.26; Appendix I, inscription No. 37; Appendix III, No. 40. 41 The prayer hall measures about 15.40 m × 9 m on the exterior. The walls are 1.60 m thick, the columns shafts measure 40 cm × 29 cm in plan, and the total height of columns correspond with those of the tomb. The aisles measure 3.13 m wide and the three middle bays 4.42 m on average with the side bays 1.90 m wide. 42 The whitewash of the interior and highlighting of the mi˙råbs with modern black paint has affected the original appearance of the features. In recent years, the back of the central mi˙råb has been painted with a crescent moon cradling a six-pointed star and the names of the Prophet and the three first Shi’ite imams (but omitting the names of the first three caliphs). Above the minbar these names are again painted, suggesting that the present congregation is Shi’ite. 39 40

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

Plate 10.6  Mosque of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna, view from west. The solidity of the plain sandstone of the arcade (which originally had jålÈs) and the chatrÈs, complement the lighter and more delicate tomb. Again, the design is such that from the west the mosque appears as a massive structure and obscures the view of the tomb.

Plate 10.7  Mosque of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna, view from the courtyard looking west. The crenellations reflect the pattern of those of the tomb, but those above the front façade are carved on panels and those of the upper colonnades are each carved on a separate slab. The game of similarity and contrast between the tomb and the mosque is maintained in every detail.

503

504 BAYANA

Plate 10.8  Mosque of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna, the prayer hall. The mi˙råbs and lamp niches are carved to reflect the patterns of the screens of the tomb. The whitewash highlighted with black paint is modern, as is the painted calligraphy.

Plate 10.9  Tomb of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna, view from the courtyard looking east. The delicately carved red sandstone would have appeared like the carvings on a precious rosewood or sandalwood box.

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

to the roof and into two colonnaded galleries, five bays wide and one aisle deep, stretching the whole width of the roof (Figures 10.2, 10.3). The galleries are open to the roof space but their backs are walled with stone panels; those at each end were originally carved with lattice work, although many are now broken or replaced with plain panels. These roof galleries do not appear elsewhere and are features peculiar to this mosque, which, while maintaining contrast to the tomb, include a harmonising reference expressed by small domes at each end of the roof of the galleries and a four-columned chatrÈ set over the projection of the central mi˙råb. While the roof would be a practical space for the caller to prayer to recite the adhån, an innovative aspect of the colonnades is the provision of a shady retreat above the mosque. The composition as a whole plays with similarity and contrast, moving the eye from one feature to another. The modest scale of the compound also seems intentional, as it suits the mother of a king, leaving the grander design for the tomb of the sultan himself. But there may have been another reason for the chosen scale. If the mausoleum were much larger it could not have been as light as it is and the balance between the size of the building and the finely carved screen work would have been lost. As it is, the chamber with its delicate jålÈ work (Plate 10.9) appears as an enlarged version of an ornamental box – a jewel box – of the type that used to be carved in ivory and are still fashioned in wood; a suitable form, perhaps, for the daughter of a goldsmith, and within it, the jewel – the mortal remains of the ‘Lady of Gold’. Khanwa One of the former villages of Bayana, Khanwa (or Khanua), some 60 km (38 miles) west of Agra, has been recorded in the Å Èn-i AkbarÈ as Khånwå (‫ )خانوا‬and in the Akbar nåma as Khånwa (‫)خانوه‬, with a fairly modest revenue of 2,912,495 dåm (72,812 Mughal rupees).43 The village was the battleground between Båbur and Rånå Sanga on Saturday, 13 Jumådå II 933 (16 March 1527),44 a few days after the governor of Bayana had, together with his emirs, submitted to Båbur. How far the village was affected by the battle (which must have taken place in the fields outside the built-up area) is not known,45 but Khanwa has preserved a number of houses of considerable age and other historic edifices,46 including a number of chatrÈs47 and three mosques: the Karbalå Masjid, the Dare or KhålÈ Masjid and the Jåmi. See Chapter 2, n. 60. Akbar nåma (Pers.), I, p. 106; also see Chapter 2, n. 258. In this case, the day of the week recorded in the Akbar nåma corresponds with that calculated mathematically for the Christian era. 45 Cunningham (ASIR, XX, p. 96) reports in 1882–3 that he searched in vain to establish the site of the battleground and tower of skulls that Båbur is said to have erected there but found nothing. It seems that all traces of such a battle had already disappeared even at that time. 46 The archaeological remains in Khanwa have escaped the attention of modern scholars, but for a brief note on the site and some of its edifices, see ibid. 47 All discussed in Appendix III. 43 44

505

506 BAYANA As in Bayana, the Khanwa edifices appear to have suffered greatly from the riots following Partition. The elders of the town narrated that many buildings were pulled down and stones were removed from numerous others, which are now in poor condition or in ruins. Nevertheless, unlike Bayana, Khanwa has retained a small Muslim community, who have preserved their sites and relate that a vast graveyard to the west of the village and known as the Karbalå48 Graveyard is that of Båbur’s soldiers fallen in battle. The very name of the graveyard, however, ­indicates otherwise, as Karbalå – once a desert in Iraq and now a large city and centre of Shi’ite pilgrimage – was the site of the martyrdom of the third Shi’ite imam, Óusain. It is unlikely that such a name would be associated with the Sunni Båbur and his army of the same sect. The name suggests, rather, that the area was a burial ground for Shi’ites, or perhaps even originally a place of conflict between the Shi’ites and their rivals, where the fallen warriors of the former were buried. Karbalaˉ Masjid At the eastern end of the graveyard (Figure III.9a) stand the ruins of the small but once elegant Karbalå Masjid set together with two four-columned chatrÈ tombs and a sizeable octagonal one,49 which is about 5.50 m to the west of the mosque. It is likely that these two structures were associated and probably of the same date. A short distance to the south of the mosque is an old well, the superstructure of which, consisting of a platform around the shaft and the stone supports for a wooden winch for drawing water, are scattered around. The well has a wide shaft lined with blocks of stone, the traditional arrangement. It may not be associated with the mosque and could be even earlier than it. In Muslim graveyards it is customary to have a source of water, as tradition dictates that the body must be washed and wrapped in a shroud before the prayer for the dead can be performed. While the prayer does not have to be performed in a mosque, the nearby mosque would have provided a suitable place. The mosque (Figure 10.5) consisted originally of a simple prayer hall, three bays wide and two aisles deep,50 but all the walls of the hall have been removed and while a few blocks are scattered around it seems that the stones have been systematically pilfered. Today only the skeleton of the mosque – the columns and pilasters – stand (Plate 10.10), still holding up the roof structure which consists of cross-beams supporting the flat slabs of the roof. On the eastern façade the parapet, a few of the eave stones and one of the panels carved in relief with lobed The area had apparently been the site of indigo production and the mosque and the well next to it, while associated with the graveyard, might have also been used by the indigo producers. See Rezavi, ‘The design of pre-modern indigo vats in North India’, p. 76. 49 Appendix III, Nos 9, 10 and 19. 50 The hall measures about 6.70 m × 4.60 m on the interior and the remains of the walls are 49 cm thick. 48

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

Figure 10.5  Khanwa, Karbalå Masjid, plan and eastern elevation. Lost features are shown with broken lines. The wall shown with thicker lines in the plan has survived only at ground level, partly visible over the deposit of sand.

507

Figure 10.6  Karbalå Masjid, details of the upper part of a column of the front elevation and its surmounting bracket.

Plate 10.10  Khanwa, the upstanding skeleton of the Karbalå Masjid from the southeast. All walls have fallen with some stones scattered around, but most have been pilfered. Even so, the parapet of the east façade and one of the slabs carved with decorative crenellations have survived.

508 BAYANA

Plate 10.11  Karbalå Masjid: above: the surviving slab carved with decorative crenellations; below: details of the ornamented brackets once supporting the eaves on the eastern façade.

Plate 10.12  Karbalå Masjid, detached panel of a mi˙råb or niche lying loose next to the mosque.

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

arch-shaped merlons have also survived, giving us enough information to produce an accurate plan and elevation of the original mosque. As a whole the mosque seems to have been fairly austere, with plain monolithic column shafts suitable for a graveyard chapel, with the exception of the capital brackets in the front façade which step outward and are adorned with upside-down bell shapes and curved pyramidal forms ending in two hexahedrons (Figure 10.6, Plate 10.11). Such patterns appear frequently on the monuments of Fathpur Sikri (Plate 5.59) and might be presumed to point to an early Mughal date for the mosque, but when the features are compared with those of Dare Masjid noted below and the BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån (Plates 7.18–7.21), dating a generation or two before the construction of Fathpur Sikri, it seems that a LodÈ date is more plausible. A simplified form of such patterns also appears in other buildings in Bayana, including in House F.22 in Bayana fort, almost certainly constructed before the earthquake of 1505 (Plate 8.12). While a firm date for the mosque remains uncertain, the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century may be suggested. With the exception of the two lower blocks of the mi˙råb nothing else has survived, but a panel, carved in the form of a pointed arch, was found lying loose on the ground (Plate 10.12). The four-centred arch is crowned with a five-segmented leaf pattern and on the spandrels are two fairly large rosettes. The panel may not be from the mi˙råb itself but could have been over a niche in the side walls, traces of which were found on the remains of the southern wall of the prayer hall, or over one of the windows which seem to have flanked the central mi˙råb. Similar panels have been seen in many structures of Bayana, including the MuftÈyËn kÈ Masjid (Plate 5.11), the TålakÈnÈ Masjid (Plates 5.13, 5.14) and elsewhere in the region. Dare or Khaˉlıˉ Masjid A mosque in the perimeter of the present village, but once apparently in a builtup area, the Dare or KhålÈ (Persian and Urdu: khålÈ: deserted, empty) Masjid is comparable in all aspects with the Karbalå mosque, but is slightly more elaborate. Nevertheless, with the migration of most Muslims from the area the mosque has been left abandoned, partially buried in sand and deteriorating rapidly. It is built entirely of red sandstone with plain monolithic column shafts and a roof structure supported, as with the Karbalå Masjid, on cross-beams, but the capital brackets are elaborately carved with hemispherical features suspended from square bases carved in the corners with leaf motifs much in the style of the brackets in the fifteenth-century structures in Bayana already noted. The walls were faced with dressed stone signifying that the stone surfaces were intended to be displayed and, unlike in Bayana, there is no indication of plasterwork. As with the Karbalå mosque, in plan the Dare is in three bays and two aisles,51 The hall measures 9.55 m × 6.70 m on the exterior and the walls are about 51 cm thick. The inner columns are 30 cm square in plan and the outer ones, rectangular in plan, measure 54 cm × 30 cm.

51

509

510 BAYANA

Figure 10.7  Khanwa, Dare or KhålÈ Masjid, plan, eastern elevation and details of one of the front columns of the prayer hall.

and has three mi˙råbs which are fairly well preserved with their four-centred arches adorned with lobed fringes standing on engaged columns (Figure 10.7, Plates 10.13,10.14).52 Cunningham reports that the mosque was built in 908/1502–3, presumably on the basis of the inscription that was then in place over the central mi˙råb.53 The slab has been removed and possibly destroyed during the riots, but its broad position is well preserved. The date falls into the reign of Sikandar LodÈ, and seven years after the construction of the BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån in the fort of Bayana. The northern and southern walls each have two niches with arches similar in profile to those of the mi˙råbs, but slightly simpler, carved in flat relief and supported on jambs made of simple monolithic blocks. The similarity of the columns, and particularly the brackets, with those of the Karbalå Masjid may indicate a similar date for the two buildings, but in the Dare Masjid the front columns are The central mi˙råb is slightly wider and deeper than the other two, 1.16 m wide and 0.52 m deep, including its engaged columns which are about 16 cm in diameter. The other two mi˙råbs are only a few centimetres narrower and less deep. 53 ASIR, XX, p. 96. Cunningham also notes that the mosque was already half buried under the sand that had accumulated from a number of seasonal floods of the nearby Bånganga River. He does not, however, mention whether or not the building was in use at the time. 52

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

Plate 10.13  Khanwå, Dare or KhålÈ Masjid: above: prayer hall from the south-east; below: from north-east showing the columns and brackets of the east façade as well as part of the interior.

rectangular in plan with the narrow side on the façade and a groove in the middle of the wider side, imitating a double column. To complete the effect, the columns are surmounted by two brackets supporting two lintels laid side by side. This arrangement is purely decorative and adds little to the structural stability of the building. The mosque displays all the features of the monuments of Bayana and its region and surpasses many in its refinement, but no historical building in Khanwa is under any type of legislative protection. While the interior of the Dare is still fairly well preserved, part of the arch of one of the niches of the south wall has collapsed (Plate 10.14) and some of the north wall has been haphazardly rebuilt with rough stonework, apparently when the mosque was still in use, before the emigration of the Muslims. Since then most of the roof slabs have fallen or been pilfered

511

512 BAYANA

Plate 10.14  Dare Masjid, interior of the prayer hall looking south, with the central mi˙råb on the right showing the place above for the inscribed slab, dated 908/1502–3, now missing.

exposing the interior to the elements. On the exterior only a small section of the eave stones has survived and other features of the roof parapet are all lost. Once a small elegant building, probably from the beginning of the sixteenth century – if not preserved by the local people who do not seem to have such an interest in mind – the mosque is destined to be lost, a fate shared with many other buildings of the region. Jaˉmi Masjid The mosque is in the heart of the Muslim neighbourhood of Khanwa and is well preserved and in use as the Jåmi of the village. The area seems to have been one of the oldest parts of the village, and around the mosque are a number of old structures, in ruinous condition, some incorporated into new dwellings. In the case of one, a fairly sizeable trabeate structure buried under the sand almost to the top of the column shafts, the brackets and the roof structure are still exposed. Although most of the roof slabs have been pilfered, the building may have had a religious function and was perhaps a mosque, much older than the present Jåmi. Over the ruins now stand simple huts of the present population, mostly built with spoil from older buildings. The Jåmi (Figure 10.8, Plates 10.15, 10.16) is a small mosque, comparable in size and in plan with the Karbalå Masjid, and consisting of three bays and two aisles,54 but differing considerably from the latter in detail. The column shafts In plan the hall measures 6.45 m × 4.85 m on the interior and 7.57 m × 5.54 m on the exterior. The

54

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

Figure 10.8  Khanwa, Jåmi Masjid, plan, axial section A–A and details of one of the columns of the eastern façade.

Plate 10.15  Khanwa, Jåmi Masjid, view from east.

513

514 BAYANA

Plate 10.16  Khanwa, Jåmi Masjid, interior looking north-west, showing two of the mi˙råbs as well as the niches on the northern wall, all with squat four-centred arches. The columns with octagonal shafts standing on high bases bevelled on the corners can also be seen.

are octagonal in plan, standing on fairly high bases with bevelled corners at the top. The shafts are surmounted by fairly tall capitals, square at the top, but also bevelled at the corners, harmonising with the bases while differing in detail. The brackets are simple, of the common type found in the region, but they are elongated and instead of having a curved profile are angular. The three mi˙råbs and the niches in the side walls are framed by simple mouldings and have fairly flat four-centred arches with sharply curved haunches characteristic of the seventeenth and ­eighteenth centuries. They stand on bracket motifs extruding from the plain jambs, and the spandrels are embellished with rosettes. Above the mi˙råbs and the niches is a band of diamonds and beads, otherwise the interior is fairly plain. Within the arches of the side walls are windows which may have been opened at later dates. The parapet around the roof and the four corner turrets55 also appear to date from later restorations.

octagonal shafts are 1.61 m tall, standing on bases 51 cm high and surmounted by capitals, 33 cm high, and brackets 37 cm high. The lintels are 55 cm high, making the height of the hall 3.37 m. 55 Cunningham, ASIR, XX, p. 96, reports a small mosque with four small minarets on the hills to the east of the town and next to the tomb of Pahår Pådshåh. The tomb was originally under a fourcolumned chatrÈ, now totally collapsed with only a few structural elements scattered around. There are no traces of a mosque near the tomb, but it is possible that Cunningham, writing his report from his notes at a later date, meant the Jåmi, but confused its location.

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

Nagar–Sikri To the north-east of Fathpur Sikri, the celebrated capital of the Emperor Akbar, are two small adjoining villages: Nagar and Sikri (SikrÈ, SÈkrÈ).56 The name Nagar (meaning town, city) suggests that in earlier times it was large enough to be regarded as an urban area with Sikri perhaps its suburb. In the initial days of BabËr’s preparation for confronting Rånå Sanga, Sikri was known for its sizeable reservoir suitable for providing water for the Mughal army. The Akbar nåma records:57 ‫غیر فصبۀ سکری … آبی دیگر‬ ِ ‫در‬ ِ ‫خاطر خطیر گذشت که درین نزدیکی آبي بزرگ که سپاه اقبال را وفا کند در‬ ‫روز دیگر‬ ‫لشکر مخالف سرعت نموده این آب را متصرّف شود بنا برین اندیشۀ صائب‬ ‫نشان نمیدهند دور نباشد که‬ ِ ِ ‫تعیین جای دولتخانه پیشتر فرستادند امیر‬ ‫جهت‬ ‫را‬ ‫ساربان‬ ‫د‬ ‫م‬ ‫مح‬ ‫درویش‬ ‫امیر‬ ‫و‬ ‫شدند‬ ‫فتحپور‬ ‫بآئین عظمت متوّجه‬ ّ ِ ِ ‫ول فتحپور که غدیریست پهناور و آبگیریست دریا صفت جائی شایسته قرار داد و آن عرصۀ‬ ِ ‫مذکور در نواحی َک‬ .‫ت فتح و نصرت شد‬ ِ ‫دلگشا مخیِّم سرادقا‬ It occurred to his (BåbËr’s) comprehensive mind that in this neighbourhood no other large expanse of water which could supply the fortunate army could be found except in the township (qaßaba) 58 of SikrÈ … It could be that the hostile troops might rush forward and take over this water. Based on such a well-considered idea, the next day he proceeded with grand ceremony towards Fat˙pËr.59 AmÈr DarwÈsh Mu˙ammad, Head of the Camel-corps (sårbån) was sent in advance to find an appropriate place for the royal encampment. The said Amir set up a suitable place by the Fat˙pËr basin60 which is a large expanse of Both forms of the spelling are recorded in the histories. Akbar nåma (Pers.), I, pp. 105–6. Our translation, for another translation, see (tr.), I, p. 260. 58 Mughal records usually refer to SikrÈ as a qaßaba, a term used to define a small town, a large village or a township. This confirms that Patan was large enough to justify its name. 59 Fathpur Sikri was not, of course, built at that time but, writing in – and for – the court of Akbar, Abu’l-Fa∂l often refers to SikrÈ as Fat˙pËr, even in passages that refer to the events of earlier dates. 60 Here Abu’l Fa∂l refers justifiably to the SikrÈ reservoir as the Fat˙pËr basin, as by the time of writing the Akbar nåma the reservoir was incorporated in the design of the new capital. Although now much reduced in size it has survived to the west of the village which occupies the site of the town of Fathpur Sikri, below the palaces and grand mosque. The historian confirms this in his Å Èn-i AkbarÈ (Pers.) I, ii, p. 442: 56 57



‫خدیو عالم واال صفّۀ و مناری و چوگانگاهی بر ساخته اند و تماشای فیل آنجا‬ ‫کنار آن‬ ‫پیوست شهر بزرگ گوالبی است دوازده کروه و در‬ ِ ِ .‫کنند‬ Adjoining the town there is a large reservoir twelve kurËh [in size], and by its side the Master of the World [i.e., Akbar] has built a grand platform, a minaret and a polo-ground. There, he reviews the elephants.

Twelve kurËh (Hindi karoh or kuroh) is about 38 km (24 miles), and must be an error, even if it refers to the circumference of the reservoir. The measure corresponds more closely to the distance between Agra and the reservoir. The text may be corrupt at this point and might have originally read ‘dar dawåzdah kurËhÈ’ meaning at a distance of twelve kurËh (from Agra).

515

516 BAYANA water and lake-size reservoir, and that pleasant ground became the site of the victorious and triumphant encampment. The reason for Akbar deciding to build his new capital at SikrÈ is well known and is narrated in the Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ:61 ‫چون چند مرتبه حضرت را فرزندان تولد شده نمانده بودند و حضرت والیت پناه حقایق آگاه عارف هللا شیخ سلیم‬ ‫چشتی که در قصبه سیکری که در دوازده کروهی آگره است ساکن بود از آنجای که حضرت خلیفه الهي را باین‬ ‫طایفه حسن ظن بسیار است بمالقات حضرت شیخ رفته روزی چند در منزل شیخ بودند و حضرت شیخ مژدۀ قدوم‬ ‫فرزندان سعادتمند رسانیده آنحضرت را انتعاش بوده چند مرتبه بمالقات شیخ رفته در هر مرتبه ده روز و بیست‬ ‫روز آنجا بوده عمارت عالي بر باالی کوه قریب خانقاه شیخ طرح انداختند و جهت شیخ نیز خانقاه جدید و مسجد‬ ‫عالی که امروز در ربع مسکون عدیل خود ندارد قریب منازل بادشاهی طرح انداخت … و چون یکی از حرمها‬ ‫حامله شد حضرت او را در منزل شیخ آورده گذاشتند و خود گاه در آگره و گاه در سیکری میبودند و سیکری را فتح‬ .‫پور نامیده عمارات از بازار و حمام طرح فرمودند‬ As on many occasions children were born to His Majesty but did not survive and the Refuge of the Land, Mindful of All Truths, Knowledgeable in the Divine Mysteries, Shaikh SalÈm ChishtÈ, lived in the township of Sikri (sÈkrÈ), which is twelve kurËh from Agra, and since His Majesty, the Divine Caliph, was greatly trustful of this sect (i.e. the ChishtÈ Sufi order) he went to visit the Shaikh and stayed in his abode for several days. The holy Shaikh pronounced the auspicious news (muzhda) of the arrival of many fortunate children, making His Majesty jubilant. He continued to visit the Shaikh and each time stayed there for ten or twenty days. He planned excellent buildings over the hill and near the khånaqåh of the Shaikh and built a new khånaqåh for the Shaikh as well as a stupendous mosque which has no rival in the inhabited quarter of the world, near the royal buildings … Whenever one of the wives were pregnant his majesty took her to the abode of the Shaikh and left her there. He himself resided sometimes in Agra and sometimes in Sikri and renamed Sikri Fat˙pËr, and built there many buildings such as a bazaar and a bathhouse.62 By the term children, the historian, of course, means male offspring to secure the succession, which Akbar’s household had lacked for the first decade of his reign. The son who was then born to Akbar was named after the shaikh as Sul†ån SalÈm MÈrzå, and later succeeded to the throne as the Emperor JahångÈr. In the planning of the new capital the grand mosque of Shaikh SalÈm and its adjoining palaces were intentionally designed to be outside the perimeter of Patan Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, p. 225. Our translation given, for another translation, see (tr.) p. 356. Also see Akbar nåma (Pers.), II. pp. 364–6; (tr.) p. 530. This account has been repeatedly noted in later histories and modern works. 62 A reference to building the town, the thoroughfare of which would have been the bazaar. Bathhouses were also features of substantial towns and a bathhouse has actually survived on the plain below the mosque and palace buildings, which occupy the flat areas of the hilltop. 61

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

and Sikri, while the town of Fathpur was even further to the south-west of the palace complex leaving the villages virtually intact, but the development of the new capital eclipsed the fame of the villages, and many of its people gradually settled in the new town and some migrated to Agra. Today the villages are no more than sizeable farming settlements with a large Muslim population which maintains a number of old mosques, but lacks the resources to carry out appropriate conservation, let alone restoration, of these historically significant monuments. Ambiyawaˉlıˉ Masjid ˙ The AṃbiyawålÈ Masjid is the only mosque with a dated inscription, originally on one long block but broken in three pieces and set into the eastern wall of the courtyard of the mosque. The inscription, in two lines of compacted and slightly uneven naskhÈ script, records the completion of the mosque on Wednesday, 12 Shawwal 713/30 January 1314 during the reign of Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ, giving the full title of the sultan.63 The inscription is not in situ, but its historical context fits well with the type and structural details of the mosque, and must belong to it unless it were brought from either of the two other early sultanate mosques in the village; plausible, but unlikely. The long, narrow block is of the type seen fixed over the entrances of Khalji buildings and not unlike those of the Jhalar BåolÈ, but earlier in date. The original eastern entrance of the mosque has not survived and the northern wall and part of the eastern wall are later in date. A section of the reconstructed eastern wall stands on partly buried columns, recalling other early sultanate buildings which had colonnaded open fronts, but in this case even the colonnaded front seems to be of later dates, as the mosque has undergone many repairs in its long life. The prayer hall (Figure 10.9, Plates 10.17, 10.18), five bays wide and two aisles deep,64 stands at the west side of a courtyard with entrances in the southern and eastern walls. The bays are uneven in size and the central and southern bays are considerably wider (up to 0.5 m) than the two northern bays, an unusual arrangement which requires particular attention as it has resulted in the single mi˙råb not being in the middle of the qibla wall. Parts of the walls of the prayer hall and the courtyard are original, and made of large blocks of dressed stone, most likely from temple spoil. A few stretches are reconstructed, apparently reusing the dressed stones of the original walls, and some later repairs are built with stone rubble. The columns are also reused temple elements and some attention had been given to their re-assembly. The column shafts inside the hall are all of similar type: octagonal at the lower register, fluted in the middle and circular at the top with a collar of diamond Appendix I, inscription No. 6. The prayer hall in its present form measures about 10.11 m × 3.10 m. The off-centre mi˙råb, 94 cm wide and 56 cm deep, is at a distance of 4.80 m from the south wall, but 4.37 m from the north wall. The uneven span of the bays, from south to north, are about 1.94, 1.83, 1.92 (central), 1.42 and 1.43 m. The courtyard corresponds in width to the prayer hall and is a little over 8.00 m in length.

63 64

517

518 BAYANA

Figure 10.9  Nagar–Sikri, Am · biyawålÈ Masjid, plan axial section A–A and east elevation of the prayer hall. In the section the position of the columns under the rebuilt eastern wall of the courtyard is shown.

patterns in the middle and another with a foliate pattern at the top (Plate 10.18). Some attention has also been given to the uniformity of the bases, octagonal in footprint, but the capitals vary and the brackets are made of roughly hewn blocks. The columns of the eastern façade (Plate 10.17), however, are not similar, the two on the southern side have shafts in three registers, square at the lower and upper parts and octagonal in the middle, and differing in decoration. The corresponding southern pilaster is also made of a shaft similar, but not identical, to the other two. The shafts of the two northern columns are closer in detail to those in the interior, although they are set on square bases. Careful examination revealed that the uneven span of the bays and the uneven and haphazard assembly of the columns may be the result of a major reconstruction of the building after a partial collapse of the northern side of the hall, probably as a result of the 1505 earthquake. This was particularly noticeable where the lintels supporting the roof were not set in an

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

Plate 10.17  Nagar–Sikri, Am · biyawålÈ Masjid, east elevation of the prayer hall. Various elements of temple spoil and plain blocks of stone have been utilised, and the uneven spacing and setting of the lintels indicate a haphazard reconstruction of the front bay; the southern end of the lintel on the right overlaps its bracket and is longer than would have been required for the span of the bay. Its pilaster has been substituted with a simple block of stone.

orderly way over the brackets. This could also point to a reason for the northern wall being reconstructed and the broken inscribed block being reset elsewhere in the mosque. The single mi˙råb (Plate 10.19), however, seems to be original and preserves most of its features. The two-centred lobed arch leaves little doubt that it dates from the early sultanate period, even though some of the very early Muslim arches in Delhi, and even the outer corbelled arch of the central mi˙råb of the Bayana Ïdgåh and the true arch of the Ukhå Masjid entrance, lean slightly towards an elementary four-centred form. But in the humble AṃbiyawålÈ, as with many other early arches in Bayana, a two-centred profile – easier to draw and implement – would have been sufficient. In this mi˙råb the arch has a lobed fringe, again similar to many already seen, and is framed with borders in three registers, the inner carved with a diamond and bead pattern, and the middle two with Quranic verses obscured by modern paint.65 The outer border is decorated with a fine pattern of eternal knots. The AṃbiyawålÈ must have been a neighbourhood mosque, and, if we accept its early fourteenth-century date, it does not seem to have been built out of the spoil of a temple intentionally demolished for its construction. In spite of some efforts The first verse runs from the right jamb right up to the middle of the left jamb and seems to be Quran II, 255. The second begins with the opening verse of the Quran, but the rest of the text is eroded.

65

519

520 BAYANA

Plate 10.18  Am · biyawålÈ Masjid, interior looking south. The southern wall has been partly reconstructed using large blocks of stone from the original walls, while above the wall of the outer aisle are fragments of blocks carved with Quranic texts and decorative patterns apparently salvaged from elsewhere.

Plate 10.19  Am · biyawålÈ Masjid, the mi˙råb, preserving its original twocentred arch with a lobed fringe and decorated and inscribed border. The cracked panel of the back of the mi˙råb is plain and may have replaced a dilapidated but decorated original during one of the restorations. The names of the Shi’ite imams and of the Prophet’s daughter are painted on the border, indicating a Shi’ite congregation.

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

to match the structural units, their details differ considerably, indicating that the structure was put together with whatever earlier material could be found nearby and parts such as the brackets which were not available were made specifically for the building. The local temples seem to have been demolished long before, perhaps as early as when Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul took over. The spoil of such temples was used in a more systematic way in the two other mosques described below. Jaˉmi (Pathaˉn) Masjid The largest and probably the oldest mosque is the Jåmi or Pathån Masjid (Plates 10.20, 10.21). Pathån is a name for the Afghan tribes that were present in India from the earliest day of the conquest, but the local name may have been given to the mosque later in its life when the LodÈs and the SËrÈs, who were of Pathån origin, ruled in the area. The name may alternatively be a corruption of the Sanskrit pattana meaning town or city, indicating that the mosque was the main mosque of the town. While the mosque is still the Jåmi of Nagar–SikrÈ, its size and solid structure, which even withstood the 1505 earthquake, may indicate that it was designated as the Jåmi or the ‘Town’s Mosque’ from the very start. The prayer hall stands at the west of an apparently large courtyard, the original perimeters of which can no longer be established, as the courtyard and indeed the lower parts of whole mosque are buried under many years of accumulated deposits. The prayer hall was originally eleven bays wide and three aisles deep but later, perhaps in the early decades of its life, a platform in the form of another bay was added to the northern side of the hall (Figure 10.10).66 The central bay is considerably wider than the other bays. Built of temple spoil, the columns are made of two older shafts put one over the other, much in the style of the ChaurasÈ Khamba and the mosque of Ukhå MandÈr, but the lower shafts are partly buried in the ground and judging from the size of the upper shafts the original floor could be some 1.20 m below the present level, which has been tidied up and paved with stone slabs (Plates 10.22, 10.23). The mosque has three mi˙råbs (Plate 10.23), the central one considerably larger than the other two. Its two-centred arch is not a true arch, but made up of carved stone blocks, recalling those of the early conquest in Bayana, but perhaps more interesting are the smaller side mi˙råbs, each having a threelobed arch hewn out of four blocks of stone. The profile of these mi˙råbs could only date from the thirteenth century if not from the very early days of the of

The original hall measures nearly 20.00 m wide and over 6.50 m deep on the interior. The central bay, spanning 2.10 m, is over 0.60 m wider than the other bays and the aisles become deeper towards the qibla wall: the outer aisle spanning 1.68 m, the middle 1.77 m, and that attached to the qibla wall 2.23 m. The additional platform on the northern side is 1.34 m wide. The walls of the prayer hall are 95 cm thick. The thickness of the reused columns varies between 28 cm and 33 cm. They are mostly square in plan, but some of those of the inner aisle are circular.

66

521

522 BAYANA

Figure 10.10  Nagar–Sikri, the Jåmi or Pathån Masjid, plan and axial section. In the section the original floor and parts of the elements now buried under ground are shown with broken lines.

Plate 10.20  Nagar–Sikri, the Jåmi or Pathån Masjid, view of the prayer hall from the courtyard looking west. The wider original central bay can be seen and on the far right is the additional bay housing the platform.

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

Plate 10.21  The Jåmi or Pathån Masjid, exterior view of the prayer hall looking south-west. On the right is the additional bay with the platform with columns made of single shafts supporting the roof. Its eave stones and parapet have fallen, perhaps as a result of its different construction. The raised floor of the prayer hall and part of the courtyard is paved with stone slabs.

Plate 10.22  The Jåmi or Pathån Masjid, interior looking north. The columns, composed of two reused shafts, are partly buried under the present floor. On the left the southern auxiliary mi˙råb with its three-lobed arch can be seen, also partly buried.

523

524 BAYANA

Plate 10.23  The Jåmi or Pathån Masjid, interior looking south-west. To the left is the tall central mi˙råb and to the right the northern auxiliary mi˙råb with its three-lobed arch resting on cylindrical engaged columns, all now partly buried.

the ­sultanate, and recalls the five-lobed form of the mi˙råbs of Aṛha’i din kå Jho≥pṛa67 in Ajmer and the ShåhÈ Masjid68 at Khatu, as well as the three-lobed ones at the KËh-i Jinnat also in Khatu, all in Rajasthan. This profile was later abandoned and one of the latest dated examples can be seen in the QanåtÈ Masjid,69 built in 700/1300–1 at the KËh-i Jinnat. Although the structure of the building already indicates a thirteenth-century date for the Jåmi, these mi˙råbs leave little doubt of an early date, perhaps in the first decades of the conquest. The arches of the two side mi˙råbs again stand on cylindrical engaged columns in several registers divided by mouldings, a feature of the central mi˙råb of the Èdgåh of Bayana (Plate 4.25). At roof level most of the eave stones are preserved and above them is the parapet in two registers, divided with a string course of relatively thin blocks of stone. The CII, pl. 1a. In addition to the mi˙råb, the dilapidated southern gate of the mosque has three openings, all having three-lobed arches very similar in profile to the examples in Nagar–Sikri. This gate has not been yet studied in detail. 68 CII. pl. 51; Nagaur, pl. 33a and b. 69 CII, pl. 57c; Nagaur, pl. 37b; for other three-lobed mi˙råbs in the mosques at Khatu, see ibid., pls 35b, 37d and 40b. This latter example is in the Dargåh Masjid, the construction of which, with columns composed of two superimposed reused shafts, is comparable to the Jåmi of Nagar–Sikri. 67

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

eave stones and their cushion of dressed stone blocks appear to be original, but the parapet seems to date from later repairs. The most interesting feature of the mosque is the addition of a platform at the northern end of the prayer hall. Mosques almost always have an odd number of bays: a central bay flanked by an equal number of bays at each side. The additional platform in this mosque means the prayer hall has twelve bays and puts the main mi˙råb off-centre. However, unlike the AṃbiyawålÈ, this mosque has not undergone major reconstruction and the addition of the platform has been intentional, while unconventional. At present, with the raised floor level and no prospect of excavation, it is not clear whether or not the lower part of the platform was solid or a void with an upper gallery. Such a gallery or balcony is likely to have stood on columns with single shafts, with further single shafts on the upper level to support the ceiling of the additional bay (Plate 10.21). Whether or not the platform was in the form of a balcony it would have been well over the original floor and could have been accessed by a set of steps from the courtyard. Having a raised platform at the north end of the hall conforms with the arrangement of the shåh nishÈn or mulËk khåna of the early mosques as seen in the ChaurasÈ Khamba (Plate 4.8) and mosque of Ukha MandÈr (Plate 4.20), but in these and other early mosques the shåh nishÈn is integral to the design and does not interrupt the symmetry of the bays. A possible interpretation for the feature in the Pathån Masjid is that it could have been added as an afterthought to house the regional governor, or even the sultan when visiting. The platform is again built with temple spoil, with column shafts, bases and brackets all similar in type to the elements used in the original prayer hall, signifying that the addition must have been made fairly early in the life of the mosque. Although not dated, the Jåmi or Pathån Masjid must be regarded as a significant specimen of the early sultanate period and a structure worthy of protection, excavation and restoration to its original distinction. Puraˉna Masjid A third sultanate edifice in Nagar–Sikri is a neighbourhood mosque simply referred to as ‘the mosque’ or the Puråna Masjid (meaning old mosque), but does not seem to have a name associated with the population of the neighbourhood, as since the building of Fathpur and the migration of most occupants of Sikri to Fathpur and Agra, many old neighbourhood names are forgotten. The mosque is seven bays wide and two aisles deep (Figure 10.11),70 and as with the AṃbiyawålÈ and the Pathån mosques utilises temple spoil. The columns, each consisting of a single shaft, are chosen with some attention to their aesthetics. Those of the front elevation (Plate 10.24) are square in plan in four registers, The hall measures about 14.30 m × 4.10 m on the interior, the column shafts are about 1.50 m and the height from floor to ceiling is about 2.50 m.

70

525

526 BAYANA

Figure 10.11  Nagar–Sikri, Puråna Masjid, plan, with secondary wall shown with hatching, axial section and detailed section of the mi˙råb showing the box built at the upper part of the original mi˙råb.

Plate 10.24  Nagar–Sikri, Puråna Masjid, exterior of the southern side of the prayer hall looking south-west into the hall. The two bays at the southern end have been walled up at later dates, but the wall of the southernmost bay has partly fallen.

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

Plate 10.25  Puråna Masjid, interior looking north and showing the reused columns with various patterns. Unlike the reused brackets of the front row columns, those of the inner row are plain and roughly hewn; like those in the Am · biyawålÈ, they may have been made for this building.

with the middle register bevelled at the corners and the register above decorated with the familiar corner leaf pattern separated from the top register with notches at the corners. The c­ apitals decorated with downward leaf motifs are also used for most outer columns, but the bases differ; some are highly decorated while others are plain. Inside the hall (Plate 10.25), some of the columns are octagonal below, polygonal sixteen-sided in the middle register and cylindrical above, set on octagonal bases, but others have only two octagonal and sixteen-sided registers on plain square bases. One at the northern end of the hall is entirely different in design. As with the AṃbiyawålÈ, the Puråna Masjid may have been constructed with the residue of temple spoil from edifices destroyed many decades before and scattered in the area. The mosque has undergone many repairs and restorations. The eave stones, partially preserved, are not original and the plain parapet of the roof built of stone rubble is of fairly recent origin. The peculiarity of this mosque is the unusual arrangement of its single mi˙råb, carried out at a later date (Figure 10.11, Plates 10.26, 10.27). The original tall mi˙råb is now partially hidden behind an awkward box with a rectangular opening

527

528 BAYANA

Plate 10.26  Puråna Masjid, central bay showing the composition of the columns of the front and second aisles, with the single mi˙råb in the background.

Plate 10.27  Puråna Masjid, the restored mi˙råb with its unusual outer panels and decorated back panels set in front of the original mi˙råb obscuring its features. The representation of the potted plants flanking the opening above the present arch is notable. Below them are three cartouches, the central one bearing the opening verse of the Quran. The mi˙råb originally had a wide border inscribed with Quran II, 255 (Åyat al-KursÈ), which is worn away, but a small fragment of it can be seen at the left.

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

built in front of it, and below the box is an inelegant two-centred arch made of two thin stone panels obscuring the original mi˙råb even further. The back of the visible part of the original mi˙råb is covered with large panels of stone resembling doors, decorated with an arabesque motif with an outer lobed-arch profile, all in shallow relief. On the outer panel of the box above the arch, a similar lobed arch is carved and the rectangular opening is flanked with the motifs of two potted plants, with an attempt to represent them realistically; that on the left has worn away. The panels covering the back of the mi˙råb have a line of inscription in poor calligraphy containing the Profession of Faith above the lobed-arch motif. The tops of the panels feature a circular hole, to reveal a missing stone set in the middle of the original mi˙råb, in a position commonly decorated with a rosette. It seems that the missing stone was something exceptional for a perfect circle to be carved to display it. It is likely that it would have been a black stone, epitomising the Black Stone – the meteorite – in the House of Kaba. The present circle is indeed painted black. The entire arrangement of the mi˙råb is not just unconventional, but somewhat bizarre. The motifs seem to imitate Mughal patterns, but disproportionately, particularly the realistic representation of potted plants, which does not appear in the Muslim architecture of India prior to the Mughal era. The present arrangement of the mi˙råb may therefore date from the late seventeenth or eighteenth century. As for the date of the mosque, the use of temple spoil leaves little doubt of its sultanate origin, but its similarity with the AṃbiyawålÈ may signify a late thirteenth- or more likely a fourteenth-century date. Sikri Mıˉwaˉtiyun kıˉ Masjid The MÈwåtiyun mosque is located just outside the perimeter of Nagar’s fortification walls, but in the area of Sikri. The local population refer to the whole area outside Nagar as Sikri, including Fathpur. The mosque’s name suggests that it was used by a group of people from the region of MÈwåt (Miwåt or Mewat) south of Delhi and north of the region of Bayana. During the decline of the Delhi sultanate MÈwåt also claimed autonomy and was more inclined to maintain a friendly relationship with the Au˙adÈs than with the Delhi sultanate. We have seen that in the events of 829/1426 Mu˙ammad Khån Au˙adÈ, under house arrest in Delhi, escaped to MÈwåt together with his wives and children and in the safety of the region gathered his people and retook Bayana.71 What is not clear is when a community of the MÈwåtÈs settled in Sikri, apparently outside the walls of Nagar, and whether they built the mosque or used an existing earlier one. The mosque differs considerably in style from those inside Nagar and consists of a relatively small hall, three bays wide and one aisle deep (Figure 10.12, Plate 10.28), See Chapter 2, n. 170.

71

529

530 BAYANA

Figure 10.12  Sikri, MÈwåtiyËn kÈ Masjid, plan, east elevation of the prayer hall and axial section.

Plate 10.28  Sikri, MÈwåtiyun kÈ Masjid, from the south-east. The columns, rectangular in plan and with a long vertical groove on the wider side, relate to numerous examples in Bayana. The thin brackets supporting the eaves are similar to those seen in Khanwa and elsewhere.

TEN: historic edifices in the towns and villages

Plate 10.29  MÈwåtiyËn kÈ Masjid from the south-west, showing the south wall of the prayer hall with its large arch-shaped window and the back of the qibla wall with the projection of the mi˙råb. Behind the mosque a segment of Nagar’s ruinous fortification walls can be seen.

with two columns in front and corresponding pilasters on the walls.72 The columns are rectangular in plan and with the long vertical groove on the side simulate double columns, recalling those in structure F.8 and the Governor’s Mansion in the citadel of Bayana (Plates 5.21 and 9.6) as well as those in the Dare Masjid at Khanwa (Plate 10.13), but in the Sikri mosque they are more ornamented. The shafts are set on bases moulded on the top with decorations on each face in the form of a curved triangular motif – a simplified vajramastaka – seen in many buildings of Bayana and its region. The shafts have the familiar upside-down leaf motifs, both at the top and the bottom, and the middle register is bevelled at the corners. The capitals bear three upside-down spear-head motifs resembling ­fleur-de-lis at each side. The pattern appears in Indian architecture of both pre-Islamic and Muslim buildings in many variations and a simpler version of it can be seen on the reused capitals of the front columns of the Puråna Masjid (Plate 10.26). The mosque is built with large blocks of dressed stone, and on the exterior (Plate 10.29) a string course decorated with spear-head motifs run around the perimeter at the bottom of the walls and another pronounced but plain string course runs in the middle. The rectangular projection of the single mi˙råb has a curved haunch at the top. In the northern and southern walls wide windows with two-centred, almost semi-circular, arches, ogee at the crown, are each carved out of a single stone slab for each face. However, the slabs are relatively thin and The prayer hall measures 6.17 m × 3.20 m on the interior and its floor to ceiling height is about 2.55 m. The monolithic column and pilaster shafts are 2.55 m tall. In plan the rectangular front columns measure 45 cm × 29 cm. The walls are 63 cm thick.

72

531

532 BAYANA

Plate 10.30  MÈwåtiyËn kÈ Masjid, interior of the qibla wall with the single mi˙råb flanked by pilasters similar in design to the front columns. The almost semi-circular arch of the mi˙råb harmonises with other arches of the mosque, but is more ornamented. The inscriptions on the frame and around the arch of the mi˙råb, highlighted in black paint, do not seem to be original to the mosque.

inside the windows curved blocks of stone finish the arch. Although the mosque is well preserved it seems to have been damaged at roof level and the top of the walls have been reconstructed at later dates with smaller blocks of roughly hewn stone, incorporating water spots at the rear. The roof slabs and probably the lintels also seem to have been rebuilt, but no attempt has been made to reconstruct a traditional parapet for the roof over the eave stones. On the interior, however, the original features of the mosque are well preserved, but the reconstruction of the upper part of the walls with roughly squared stone has been left exposed above the columns’ brackets (Plate 10.30). The single mi˙råb rests on plain jambs and, as with the other arched forms in the mosque, has an almost semi-circular arch, ogee at the top, decorated with a spear-head fringe in a pattern similar to a fleur-de-lis and crowned with another fleur-de-lis or leaf motif. The niches at either side of the mi˙råb are similar in form and size to the openings on the north and south walls. Several lines of religious inscriptions in poor calligraphy around the mi˙råb lack any date and are unlikely to have been carved when the mosque was built. With the absence of any historical inscription and the lack of knowledge of when the MÈwåtÈ community occupied the area it is difficult to assign a date. A Mughal origin – in an area which was greatly transformed at the time of Akbar – is probable, but the mosque also displays all the features of the buildings of the Au˙adÈ and LodÈ period, when Sikri was firmly under their control. If the reconstruction of the roof has anything to do with the 1505 earthquake it would have been built in the sixteenth century. A distinctive ‘undiscovered’ example.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Epilogue

Through the pages of this book, we have taken a journey across the Muslim history, culture, art and architecture of North India from the earliest day of its dominance, right up to the Mughal era. What began as a study of a region unfolded to open up a fresh view on our understanding of northern Indian Islam: its social structure, the balance between members of different sects in mediaeval times, their attitude to and interactions with the majority Hindu population, and, above all, how these societal issues governed the direction the rulers had to take to secure their position. While much may have been written about the history of North India, the inadequate – or in many cases non-existent –­ translations have left great gaps in historians’ knowledge. From the end of the twelfth century right up to the British dominance of the nineteenth century the literary language of northern India was Persian. The sultans – of Turkish and Persian origin, as well as converts from Hinduism – communicated in Persian. Their treaties, administrative reports and contractual documents, as well as the histories, biographies and Sufi works were all written in this language. While it was the language of the elite, and most ordinary people – apart from newcomers from Iran and Central Asia, taking refuge in the safety of India after the devastation of their homelands by the Mongol invaders – did not speak the language, the fact is that the corpus of Indo-Muslim ­literature is in Persian. As the language of culture and administration it was gradually supplanted under British dominance. After Independence the Hindudominated society of modern India has had little time for its Persian heritage and language, let alone the 600 years of Muslim contributions to Indian culture. Today hardly anyone in India and Bangladesh is familiar with Persian and even scholars of mediaeval history lack a command of the language. While a historian could hardly work on the mediaeval period in Europe without a command of Latin, for India the basic requirement of the ability to deal with material in the original languages seems to have been waived. Most modern authors rely mainly on the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century scholarly renderings and translations of the texts, prepared and published under the British. In Pakistan, there is an attempt to keep Persian alive, at least in academic circles, but much remains to be done.

534 BAYANA Outside India, the situation is no better. In Iran, there is little interest in Indian history and culture, with Iranian scholars occupied with their own history and literature. In the West, specialists in Persian language and literature have abundant material to examine and tend to consider India as outside their field of interest. Fresh study or translations of Indian Persian literature are considered either superfluous or marginal, even to academics. With the extensive economic growth and global influence of India, academic interest in the West and in India is now more focused on modern history, politics, art, cinema, and the effects of rapid and challenging economic development on social affairs and society. Yet the historic remains stand, some protected by the Archaeological Survey of India but many more left neglected to the point that unless the local community takes the lead – as in some South Indian towns, such as Kayalpatnam and Calicut – even if the monuments have survived, they are deteriorating rapidly. At the same time, protected monuments, when outside the main centres, are not safe from pilfering and deterioration, as seen in Bayana. Some fall due to neglect and lack of rudimentary repairs, while others are vandalised, with carved panels and inscriptions forced from the walls and roof parapets to be sold on the illicit market. When this study began in 1981, finely carved tombstones were scattered in hundreds, if not thousands, in the graveyards of Bayana and in areas of the fort and Sikandra. Today hardly any are left. Even the tomb of Au˙ad Khån did not escape: its inscribed tombstone with the date of the death of the khan has disappeared and its whereabouts are unknown, if it exists at all. Old structures, abandoned mosques and particularly chatrÈs, which were still standing in the 1980s, have collapsed or been pulled down and their structural elements have been pilfered, presumably sold if they had ornamental carvings or used in new buildings. Many of the buildings studied in this work are no longer extant, and their survey drawings and illustrations are the only record of their existence. This work has focused only on one region. Perhaps this may galvanise r­ esearchers. In the region of MÈwåt (Miwåt or Mewat) between Delhi and Bayana numerous monuments from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are left neglected, mostly unrecorded – even grand buildings with fine carved plasterwork. Neighbouring Delhi, the architecture of MÈwåt was more closely associated with that of the Delhi sultanate, but has its own flavour. With the urban expansion of Delhi towards the south a study of the surviving monuments of this area is a matter of urgency, to at least record them before they are gone. In Delhi itself the historic monuments of the Muslim era have been under threat and many destroyed in recent decades. There are, of course, those, such as the Red Fort and the Quwwat al-Islåm mosque, popularly known as the Qutub after the majestic minaret built by Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak, which are well preserved, with inflated ticket prices for foreign visitors providing a source of revenue for the Archaeological Survey of India, but in the expanding metropolis building land is scarce and the archaeological sites are targets. Mehrauli, the area surrounding the Quwwat al-Islåm and the site of the pre- and early-Islamic capital of northern India, once peppered

ELEVEN: epilogue

with monuments from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries is now virtually built over, with a few tombs, here and there, preserved. Before the recent developments no attempt had ever been made to excavate pre-Islamic and early Muslim Delhi. Equally, the other cities of Delhi: thirteenth-century KÈlËgharÈ and fourteen-century Jahånpanåh, have never been properly explored and have now been built over. The early fourteenth-century Tughluqabad escaped this kind of total devastation until the beginning of the present century, and the authors had the opportunity to study and survey the remains of the entire town in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, while the forts of Tughluqabad and Ådilåbåd, and the tomb of Ghiyåth al-dÈn Tughluq are preserved and partially open to visitors, the town, which had preserved its fourteenth-century urban fabric, is being entirely built over. Similarly, a large lake, almost the size of the town, which once provided water for the residents and created a cool micro-climate, integral to the design of the town, has also been divided into plots and partly built up. Returning to Bayana, our exploration of the three towns – and the region – has also revealed another dimension in the history of Muslim architecture of India. The journey ended in Sikri: the place of the interface between the past – Bayana’s long history of architecture, urban planning and culture – with the future – expressed in the first major urban endeavour of Akbar. At every step of our investigation we have been faced with similarities between the age-old traditions of Bayana and the newly arrived Mughal ideas. The true impact of Bayana on Mughal architecture, however, is not limited to a particular type of plan or the use of red sandstone. It is the whole vocabulary of Bayana architecture that was taken over by the early Mughals and is best represented in the imperial cities built on the sites of its old villages: the Red Fort at Agra and Fathpur, near the site of Sikri. It is therefore appropriate to see Mughal architecture within the perspective of the traditions of the whole region. It is in Fathpur Sikri that Bayana’s architecture finally evolves on a grand scale. The buildings of Fathpur Sikri never depart from the principles of the local traditions, but develop them, both in quality and quantity. Every detail is elaborated: the bracket capitals are enlarged and finely carved, and new motifs, some taken from elsewhere in Rajasthan and even Gujarat, are introduced. Wide columns instead of pairs of columns for the front rows of colonnades are adopted, often with the surfaces carved with Islamic arabesque patterns. Akbar’s private palace, known as the Shabistån-i Iqbål (now called Jodh Bai’s palace) is a trabeate structure of red sandstone with wide ornamented brackets and pyramidal domes, recalling the styles developed in Bayana. Akbar’s palaces in Agra are now mostly in ruins, but what remains of them again shows that they were trabeate structures, and display some of the ornamental details seen in Bayana but on a much grander and more elaborate scale. Such principles and details are also displayed in the building known as the ‘JahångÈrÈ Palace’, which is said to have been used by JahångÈr but together with its adjoining ‘AkbarÈ Palace’ is likely to be from the time of Akbar. Only in the buildings of Shåh Jahån do the builders depart from the traditional trabeate forms of the

535

536 BAYANA region, adapt masonry structural principles, and employ marble and white stucco as facing material. On no occasion in Fathpur Sikri are the Delhi traditions of massive piers and walls covered with plaster taken into account, but the qualities of the finest red sandstone are continually exploited. When at the time of the Mughals the town of Bayana began to decline, its architecture was simply transferred to the new town in its territory: Fathpur Sikri. Here, for the first time the riches of a great empire, beyond the imagination of any Bayana ruler, showed the heights that the local architectural traditions could achieve. By the disappearance of its monuments the significance of Bayana’s architecture is being effaced before even being fully recognised. This is perhaps the fate of all unprotected and even many protected monuments and sites. In every corner of India – in large cities, small towns and villages – and, of course, in parts of the Bayana region not covered by this work – many surviving structures, from substantial monuments and impressive reservoirs to humble four-columned chatrÈs, are neglected and uncared for. The rapid disappearance of such historical remains is not unique to India. In developing countries history is often set aside as being unconnected with progress. In India, with the ever-increasing focus on Hindu, and to some extent Buddhist, sites, what is being sacrificed are the remains of the Muslim era and more recently the period of British dominance. It is rather unfortunate to witness such gracious monuments, whether in larger towns or small villages, being left to deteriorate and eventually disappear. To quote a phrase from a paper prepared in 1873 by a committee, under the duke of Argyll, the then Secretary of State for India in London: ‘many of these monuments are such as, were they in Europe, would be cherished with the utmost care, and form the pride of the city, if not of the country which possessed them’.1 India has a bright future; it is regrettable if it ignores its glorious past.

Reported by Burgess, ‘Sketch of archaeological research’, pp. 144–5.

1

APPENDIX I

Historical Inscriptions of Bayana and its Region

Note: All inscriptions are in Bayana except where the locality is stated after the date. References to monument numbers as shown in our maps are given in brackets, with the prefix B for Bayana, F for fort, S for Sikandra and BR for Barambad. All photographs are by the authors; ink rubbings and tracings are from other sources, cited accordingly. Fresh readings are given for all inscriptions either from the previously published tracings and ink impressions or from our own photographs. These reading supersede all our earlier readings. 1 ve 1100/ad 1043

 anskrit inscription on a reused slab reported by Cunningham S to have been in a small mosque known as the BhitarÈ Båhari Masjid in the ward of this name, probably meaning partly in and partly outside the city walls, and which was built entirely out of reused temple spoil. Carlleyle, however, mentions that he could not establish the name of the mosque. The local name could also allude to it having been for both insiders and foreigners or outsiders. The mosque no longer exists. ASIR, VI, pp. 51–3, pl. 6; ASIR, XX, p. 77, pl. 10; J. F. Fleet, ‘Sanskrit and Old-Kanarese inscriptions’, Indian Antiquary XIV (1885), pp. 8–12, No. CLI, ‘Bayana stone inscription of the Adhiråja Vijaya, Samvat 1100’.

538 BAYANA

Plate I.1  Lost Sanskrit inscription of ve 1100/ad 1043 once in the BhitarÈ Båhari mosque. Left: from ASIR, VI, pl. 6; right: from ASIR, XX, pl. 10.

2 Rama∂ån c. 602–7/1206–11

 AMAN. Inscription of Bahaˉ  al-dı¯ n Tughrul in a mixture K ˙   of Arabic and Persian around the entrance of the mosque of ChauråsÈ Khamba (‘Eighty-four columns’) recording the construction of the mosque during the reign of Bahå al-dÈn who is referred to in this inscription as sultan. The mosque was built by the order of Ayaˉ z b. Amı¯ r Isfandiyaˉ r al-Sultaˉ nı¯ . (see ˙  Plate 2.3) On the right jamb of the entrance: )‫ در السلطان [الـ] ـعالم العادل االعظم الملک الملوک الـ [تر] ک [و العرب و العجم] (؟‬...

539

APPENDIX I

On the lintel: … ‫… خلد هللا ملکه و سلطانه‬ On the left jamb of the entrance: ‫… ]بهاء الدولة و الـ] دین (؟) … پادشاه و السلطان جهان پهلوان طغرل السلطانی و امر ببناء هذا البقعة لطیف ایاز‬ .‫بن االمیر اسفندیار (؟) السلطانی‬ [During the reign of] … the wise, just and great sultan, the noble of the nobles among the Turks, Arabs and Persians … Bahå al-daula wa al-dÈn1 … the sovereign and sultan, the world hero (jahån pahlawån), Êughrul, the royal slave, the construction of this pleasant edifice was ordered by Ayåz b. AmÈr Isfandiyår, the royal slave. ASIR, XX, p. 56; ARIE, 1965–66, No. D. 320; PMIR, p. 96, No. 303; CII, pp. 51–3, pl. 50; M. Shokoohy and N. H. Shokoohy, ‘The architecture of Bahå al-dÈn Tughrul in the region of Bayana, Rajasthan’, Muqarnas IV (1987), p. 115; fig. 1; MHJ, VII, ii, pp. 295, 320, No. 1. 3 vs 1325/1268

 anskrit inscription on one of the jambs of the north-eastern S doorway of the Jhålar BåolÈ (reservoir) (B.45) recording, the name of one Raˉ ipat and the date Tuesday of the bright fortnight of Vaisåkha vs 1325. The text is unpublished, but the information is noted in EIM to have been taken from John Marshall’s ‘Conservation note on Bayånå’, dated 20 September 1907. EIM, 1917–18, p. 39; PMIR, p. 43, No. 134; MHJ, VII, ii, p. 320, No. 2.

4 1 Rama∂ån 669/ 15 June 1271

 AMAN. Persian inscription of a well now in the State K Museum at Bharatpur recording that the 150-year-old well was repaired by Khaˉ n-i Azam Malik-i Muluˉ k al-Sharq Nusrat ˙  Khaˉ n the governor (muq†i˙ ) of the region (khi††a) of Bayana under the superintendence of Ibraˉ hı¯ m Abuˉ  Bakr Nushı¯ rwaˉ n Khalj during the reign of sultan Balban.2 EIM mentions that the back of the slab bears a Sanskrit text. (Plate I.4)

Full title of Bahå al-dÈn Êughrul meaning literally ‘The Light of the State and the Faith’. The ink impression of 1937–8 is not entirely clear and the calligraphy unskilled; some words are broken at the end of the lines, with the last letter at the beginning of the next, but the grammar is correct. The inscription is now lost.

1 2

‫‪540 BAYANA‬‬

‫‪Plate I.4  Lost inscription of a well dated 1 Rama∂ån 669/15 June 1271, from EIM, 1937–8, pl. 3a.‬‬

‫‪ 1‬بسم هللا الرّحمن الرّحیم‬ ‫‪ 2‬چاه بی سنة (؟) را کی بعد از صد [و] پنجاه سال عمارت کرده بودند‬ ‫‪ 3‬و بعد ازان بنوبت محمد حاجي (؟) راست کرده (؟) دو باره (؟) از سنگ و سفا‬ ‫‪ 4‬لینه پر شده چنان کی از سبب آن خالیق را مضرتی مي رسید‬ ‫‪ 5‬براست کردن اغاز کرده شد در غرّه ماه مبارک رمضا‬ ‫‪ 6‬ن سنه تسع و ستین و ستمائة تا اواخر ماه باتمام رسید‬ ‫‪ 7‬در اجالس خداوند عالم بادشاه بنی ادم غیاث ا‬ ‫‪ 8‬لدنیا و الدین ظل هللا فی العالمین خلد ملکه‬ ‫‪ 9‬و در نوبت خان اعظم ملک ملوک الشرق نصره‬ ‫‪ 10‬خان مقطع خطه بیانه دام عاله و کبّ اعدا‬ ‫‪ 11‬ه از دست بنده ضعیف ابراهیم ابوبکر نوشیروا‬ ‫‪ 12‬ن از نو (؟) راست گشت و کتبه (؟) الخطوط (؟) فی التاریخ المذکور‬ ‫‪ 13‬وهللا اعلم تمت‬

541

APPENDIX I

  1 In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate   2 this undated3 well which was constructed over one hundred and fifty years ago   3 and later at the time of Mu˙ammad ÓåjÈ4 had been cleared out (?) and had again filled up with stone and   4 broken earthenware, causing inconvenience to the people;   5 its clearing began on the first of the auspicious month of Rama∂ån   6 of the year six hundred and sixty-nine, and was completed by the end of that month.   7 during the reign of the lord of the world, the king of mankind   8 the benefactor of the world and the faith,5 the shade of God in all the worlds, may God preserve his kingdom;   9 and at the time of the great khan, prince of the princes of the Orient, Nußrat 10 Khån, governor of the region of Bayana, may God prolong his excellence and eliminate his enemies, 11 it was once again cleared by the hand of the humble servant IbråhÈm AbË Bakr NËshÈrwån 12 and these lines were written on the said date. 13 Only God knows all. End. EIM, 1937–8, pp. 5–6, pl. 3a; PMIR, pp. 51–2, No. 159 and 97, No. 305; MHJ, VII, ii, p. 320, No. 3. 5 1 Mu˙arram 705/ A  rabic inscription over the entrance door of the Qå∂ÈyËn ki 24 July 1305 Masjid, recording the restoration of a mosque and well by Abd al-Malik b. Abuˉ  Bakr al-Bukhaˉ rı¯  entitled Mughı¯ th or Mughı¯ th al-dı¯ n, during the reign of Alaˉ  al-dı¯ n Khaljı¯  .6 (Plate I.5) ‫ص قَطَا ٍة‬ ِ ‫قَال اَلنَبِ ُّي عَلیه ال َسالم َم ْن بَنَى َم‬ ِ ‫سجداً ِ َّلِ تعالی َولو َك َم ْف َح‬ ‫بَنَى للاَّ ُ لَه بَيتًا فِي ال َجنَّ ِة بحکم هذا الخبر بَنی و ج ّد َد عمارة هذا المسجد و البَئر‬ ‫بَعْد ما اندراسنا و بعد ما انطماسنا في عهد سلطَنت اَعلی سالطین ال َعرب و العجم صاحب‬ ‫التاج والخَاتَم ظل هللا في العالَم عَال ال ّدنیا َو الدین غوث االسالم‬ ‫و المسلمین مستعین (؟) الی هللا الملک سکندر الثانی مجیر (؟) اهل االیمان ابی المظفر محمد شاه السُلطان‬ ‫ال زالت اَعالم دولته منصورة َمنشورة اَض َعف عباد هللا البَاري عب ُد الملک بن اَبی بَکر‬ ‫البخاری الملقب بمغیث الدین بحکم (؟) الخطیر تقبل هللا منه فی الغره من المحرّم سنه خَمس و َسبعمائه‬

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

The reading of bÈ sana (undated) is uncertain. One would expect the name of the well at this point. The name Mu˙ammad ÓåjÈ is not entirely clear and is given after Yazdani’s reading of 1937–8. 5 A translation of ghiyåth al-dunya wa al-dÈn, the royal title of Balban. 6 The reading is given by comparing the tracing in ASI, XX and EIM, 1917–18. Our reading differs from Cunningham’s and Yazdani’s, which also differ from each other. The EIM ink impression is reproduced here, as it seems to have been closer to the carving of the now missing stone. 3 4

542 BAYANA

Plate I.5  Lost inscription of 1 Mu˙arram 705/24 July 1305, once at Qå∂Èyun ki Masjid, from EIM, 1917–18, pl. 5a.

1 The Prophet, may peace be upon him, says: ‘Anyone who builds a mosque for God, even as small as a sparrow’s nest 2 God will build him a house in Paradise’.7 According to this tradition the construction and renovation of the structure of this mosque and this well, This is a version of a well-known ˙adÈth also recorded by AbÈ Abd’ullåh Mu˙ammad IsmåÈl b. IbråhÈm b. Bardizbah al-JufÈ (maulåhum) al-BukhårÈ, Ía˙È˙ al-BukhårÈ (Cairo, 1386–97/1966–77), I, 303, Tradition No. 411: ‫ص قَطَا ٍة أَوْ أَصْ َغ َر بَنَى للاَّ ُ لَهُ بَ ْيتًا فِي ْال َجنَّ ِة‬ ِ ‫‘( َم ْن بَنَى َمس‬Whoever builds a mosque ِ ‫ْجدًا ِ َّلِ َك َم ْف َح‬ for God, [even] as small as a sparrow’s nest, or even smaller, God will build for him an abode in Paradise’). This tradition appears in many versions with slight variations. Apart from the versions of al-BukhårÈ, see Imam Abi’l-Óusain Muslim b. al-Óajjåj al-QushairÈ al-NÈsåbËrÈ, Ía˙È˙ Muslim, Mu˙ammad Fuåd Abd’ul-båqÈ (ed.) (Beirut, 1978), I, p. 378, Traditions Nos 24 and 25; IV, p. 2287, Traditions Nos 43 and 44; also see Ya˙ya’l-dÈn AbÈ ZakarrÈyå b. Sharaf al-NawwawÈ al-ShåfaÈ (631–76/1233–73), Shar˙-i Ía˙i˙ Muslim, Shaikh Khalil al-Mais (ed.) (Beirut, 1987), V, pp. 17–18, Tradition No. 25; Imam A˙mad b. Mu˙ammad b. Óanbal, known as Ibn Óanbal (164–241/­ 780–855), Al-Musnad, Ahmad Muhammad Shakir (ed.) (Cairo, 1949–55), I, p. 211, Tradition No. 126; p. 316, Tradition No. 376; pp. 346–7, Tradition No. 434; p. 379, Tradition No. 506; A. J. Wensinck, J. P. Mensing et al., Concordance et indices de la tradition musulman (Leiden, 1962), I, p. 221. The tradition is popular for mosque inscriptions.

7

543

APPENDIX I

3  after they were destroyed and obliterated, began during the reign of the noblest of the sultans of the Arabs and the Persians,8 the possessor of 4 the crown and (royal) seal, the shadow of God on earth, Alå al-dunyå wa al-dÈn (the highest of the world and the faith),9 the defender of Islam 5 and the Muslims, the seeker of help from God, the king, the second Alexander, the protector of the people of the faith (i.e., Islam), the father of conquest, Mu˙ammad Shåh, the Sultan, 6 may his royal banners remain victorious and spread wide, by the humblest of the slaves of God the Creator, Abd al-Malik b. AbÈ Bakr 7 al-BukhårÈ, known as MughÈth al-dÈn, on the (sultan’s) dignified order, may God accept it from him. On the first day of Mu˙arram of the year seven hundred and five. ASIR, XX, p. 76, pl. 14a; EIM, 1917–18, p. 20, pl. 5a; also see HL, No. 199; PMIR, p. 43 No. 135; MHJ, VII, ii, p. 320, No. 4. 6 12 Shawwål 713/ 30 January 1314

 AGAR-SIKRI. Persian inscription on the eastern wall of N AṃbiyawålÈ mosque recording the construction of the mosque during the reign of Alaˉ  al-dı¯ n Khaljı¯ .10 (Plate I. 6a–b)

)‫ تمام شد این عمارت مسجد در عهد خالفت پادشاه جهان خسرو زمان ناصر زمره مظلوم منتصف حمایت (؟‬1 ‫عموم عال الدنیا و الدین مغیث االسالم و المسلمین‬ ‫ القایم بحجة هللا ال ّداعی الی محجة هللا المخصوص بعنایت الرحمان ابوالمظفر محمد [شاه ؟] السلطان خلدت‬2 ‫خالفته بتاریخ روز چهارشنبه دوازدهم ماه شوال سنه ثلث عشر و سبعمائه‬ 1 The construction of this mosque was completed during the reign of the king of the world, the emperor (khusraw)11 of the age, the defender of the oppressed It is notable that the scribe omits mention of the Turks. Although many inscriptions only refer to Arabs and Persians, in this case this omission may not be a coincidence, since, in spite of the common assumption, the KhaljÈs were not Turks and were never fully accepted as sovereigns by the Turkish army commanders who ruled for over a century before the KhaljÈ takeover.  9 Together with sikandar-i thåni (the second Alexander) given in line 5, these were the full titles of the sultan. 10 The inscription, on a stone over 2.30 m long and 0.3 m high, is likely to have been carved on a lintel of a mosque, probably set over the mi˙råb or on the face of the central bay. The epigraph, broken into three pieces, is now incorporated in the reconstructed stone wall of the AṃbiyawålÈ. The inscription, in an unusual cursive naskhÈ by a competent hand, has few diacritical marks or even dots for distinguishing letters. As with many inscriptions, the published ink impression given in EIM, reproduced here, is not as clear as the actual text on the stone, shown in our photograph. 11 The name of two Sasanian emperors, often used in the Islamic period to emphasise the sovereign’s greatness.

 8

544 BAYANA

Plate I.6a  Inscription of 12 Shawwal 713/30 January 1314 in Am · biyawålÈ mosque: top: the inscribed block; below: details.

Plate I.6b  Inscription of 12 Shawwal 713/30 January 1314 in Am · biyawålÈ mosque, from EIM, 1917–18, pl. 11a.

545

APPENDIX I

people, the just guardian of the people, Alå al-dunyå wa al-dÈn, the protector of Islam and the Muslims, 2 the defender by Divine approval and the caller to the right path of God, distinguished by the favour of the Most Merciful, the father of conquest (abu’l-muΩaffar) Mu˙ammad (Shåh),12 the Sultan, may his sovereignty be eternal, on Wednesday the twelfth of the month of Shawwål in the year seven hundred and thirteen. EIM, 1917–18, pp. 31–2, pl. 11a; HL, No. 611; MHJ, VII, ii, p. 321, No. 5. 7 c. 1296–1316

 ragmentary Arabic inscription recording the construction of F a charitable work (khair) by Muhammad b. Sunqur (or Sanqar) ˙   ¯ . (Plate I.7) during the reign of Alaˉ  al-dı¯ n Khaljı

The inscription was already missing in 1917, when Yazdani mentioned it in a footnote without discussing its content, but reproduced Cunningham’s tracing. Cunningham records that it was on loose slab outside the Ukhå Masjid (B.2), carved in an ornamental †ughrå script ‘remarkable for its arrangement in pairs at equal distances of all the letters that possess long upright strokes’. The elongated vertical strokes are characteristic of late Kufic inscriptions, and the style of the script in this fragment resembles closely that of the early thirteenth-century epigraph containing a ˙adÈth carved over the eastern gate of Aṛha’i din kå Jhoṅpṛa at Ajmer.13 In short, the style of the script is about a century earlier than the time of Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ, but as ‘Mu˙ammad’, the name of the sultan, appears clearly in the tracing we must accept that it relates to Alå al-dÈn, since no earlier sultan of Delhi bears the name Mu˙ammad. The fragment of this apparently very fine inscription contains only the middle part of the text, which was originally in two lines, but the name of the sultan and the benefactor are preserved. … [‫ ]ا] بوالمظفرمحمد شاه السلطان خلد هللا ملکه و سلطانه و دا [م ؟‬... 1 … ‫ … ب الوارق الحدثان و بانی هذا الخیر العبد الضعیف محمد بن سنقر بعنایات هللا و‬2

1 The father of conquest Mu˙ammad Shåh, the sultan, may God prolong his kingdom and sovereignty and lengthen …

The word shåh would be expected to appear after the name of the sultan, but at this point the inscription is broken and the word could not be defined. 13 See CII, p. 14, pl. 7. 12

546 BAYANA

Plate I.7  Lost inscription from the time of the reign of Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ (c. 1296–1316), from EIM, 1917–18, pl. 24a.

2 … rejuvenator of the newly initiated, and the founder of this charitable work, the humble servant Mu˙ammad b. Sunqur (Sanqar?) seeking the favour of the Divine and … ASIR, XX, p. 72, pl. 14b; HL, No. 200; EIM, 1917–18, p. 8, No. 1, pl. 24a; PMIR, pp. 43–4, No. 136; MHJ, VII, ii, p. 321, No. 6. 8 c. 1296–1316

 IKRI. Loose inscription, now apparently lost, but once kept S in the Shrine of Shaikh SalÈm ChishtÈ recording the construction of a mosque during the reign of Alaˉ  al-dı¯ n Khaljı¯ .14 EIM, 1917–18, p. 31, No. 3; HL, No. 612; MHJ, VII, ii, p. 321, No. 7.

9 The inscription does not seem to have been seen by Horovitz or Yazdani; the latter quotes the former noting that a portion of its text was given in the Åthår-È AkbarÈ (Agra: ah 1324/1906–7, p. 190), apparently referring to the construction of a mosque during the reign of Alå al-dÈn KhaljÈ. This source was not accessible to the authors and the inscription seems to have been lost long ago.

14

547

APPENDIX I

718/1318–19

Inscription in Persian verse over the south-east doorway of Jhålar BåolÈ (B.45) recording the construction of the reservoir by Malik Kaˉ fuˉ r Sultaˉ nı¯  during the reign of Mubaˉ rak Shaˉ h   Khaljı¯ .15 (Plate I.9a–b) ˙ ْ ُ‫ دَر زَمان ُملک سُلطان الزمانه ق‬1 ‫طب دین مـالـک دارالـخالفـه شــهریــار بَــحر و بــَر‬ َ ‫ بَــندۀ درگـاه او کـافور سـلطانـی بــگـفت تـا شــد ایـن بـائین بنا بـا ایـن لطافـت دَر گذر‬2 ‫ چهار در با چهار گنبد بنـگر و تاریـخ آن  َسال و َماه از َسال هج َرت هفصد و هژده شمر‬3

1 At the time of the reign of the sultan of the age Qu†b-i dÈn,16 the lord of the capital, the sovereign over sea and land, 2 the slave of his court, KåfËr, the royal slave, ordered for this handsome reservoir17 to be constructed by the public path. 3 Observe its four gates with its four domes and for its date: count the years and the months seven hundred and eighteen from the time of the Óijra. ASIR, XX, p. 70, pl. 15, No. 2; HL, No. 201; EIM, 1917–18, pp. 38–40, pl. 13b; PMIR, 44, No. 137; CII, p. 17, pl. 8b; MHJ, VII, ii, p. 321, No. 8; BAI, XVIII, p. 25. 10 718/1318–19

I nscription in Arabic over the north-east doorway of the Jhålar BåolÈ (B.45) recording the construction of the reservoir by Malik Kaˉ fuˉ r Sultaˉ nı¯ during the reign of Mubaˉ rak Shaˉ h Khaljı¯ .18   (Plate I.10a–b) ˙

‫ [امر بناء هذه البائین اللطیفة فی عهد السلطان] العالم (؟) [العادل] المعظم [مولی ملوک العرب و العجم] قطب‬1 ‫الدنیا والدین‬ ‫وارث خالفَة دا ُود َو سلَیْمان اَبی المظفر خلیفة هللا مبارکشاه السُّلطان بن السُّلطان‬ ِ ‫ َغوْ ث اَ ِالسْالم و ال ُمسْلمین‬2 ‫ خَلدهللا خالفَتهُ ال َعبْد ال َراجی الی َرحْ م ِة ال َربانِی کافور السُّلطانی تَقبُل هللا منه فِی َسنَه ثَ َمان عَشر َو َسبْعمایَة تَم‬3 The well-preserved inscription is in three lines of verse by an experienced hand and, unlike many Indo-Persian compositions in verse, is grammatically correct and reads fluently. There are few diacritics, but many ornamental marks above the text and a few dots below, which are not related to the letters. 16 The Persian form for Qu†b al-dÈn (the pivot of the faith), the title of the sultan. 17 The old Indo-Persian expression båÈn is used for reservoir instead of the later and more common term båolÈ. 18 The inscription was originally in three lines; the top line is badly damaged but certain letters can still be recognised, including the name of the sultan at the end of the line. Words given in square brackets are based on other inscriptions of the time, particularly that of Mubårak Shåh at the Ukhå Masjid given below. The style of the inscription is similar to the one above the south-east doorway of Jhålar BåolÈ, but has more diacritics and fewer ornamental marks. 15

548 BAYANA

Plate I.9a  Persian inscription of Jhålar BåolÈ dated 718/1318–19.

Plate I.9b  Persian inscription of Jhålar BåolÈ: above: from ASIR, XX, pl. 15, No. 2; below: from EIM, 1917–18, pl. 13b.

1 [The construction of this handsome reservoir was ordered at the time of the sultan] of the world, [the just], the most elevated, [lord of the princes of the Arabs and the Persians] Qu†b al-dunyå wa al-dÈn 2 the defender of Islam and the Muslims, heir of the kingdoms of David and Solomon, father of victories, vicegerent of God, Mubårak Shåh, the sultan, son of the sultan, 3 may God prolong his sovereignty, by the seeker of Divine Mercy, KåfËr, the royal slave, may God accept it from him. In the year seven hundred and eighteen. End. ASIR, XX, p. 70, pl. 15, No. 3; HL, No. 202; EIM, 1917–18, p. 38, pl. 13a (lines 2–3 only); PMIR, p. 44, No. 138; CII, 17–18, pl. 8a; MHJ, VII, ii, p. 321, No. 9.

549

APPENDIX I

Plate I.10a  Arabic inscription of Jhålar BåolÈ dated 718/1318–19.

Plate I.10b  Lines 2 and 3 of Arabic inscription of Jhålar BåolÈ: above: from ASIR, XX, pl. 15, No. 3; below: from EIM, 1917–18, pl. 13a.

11 720/1320–1

 rabic inscription over the entrance gate of Ukhå Masjid or A Nohåra Masjid (B.2) recording the construction of the mosque by Kaˉ fuˉ r Sultaˉ nı¯  during the reign of Mubaˉ rak Shaˉ h Khaljı¯ .19 ˙  (Plate I.11a–b)

‫ امر بناء هذه العمارة المبارکه ال ّشریفه اللطیفه فی عَهد السلطان العالم العادل المعظم مولی ملوک الشرق (؟) العرب‬1 ‫و العجم مشید قواعد المساجد و بانی‬ ‫ الجُود و اَالکرام ِظل هللا فی االرض قُطب الدنیا والدین غوث االسْالم و ال ُمسْلمین مغیث المل ُوک و السّالطین‬2 ‫وارث خالفت داود و سلیمان ابی المظفّر خَلیفة هللا مبارک شاه‬ ‫ السُّلطان بن السُّلطان خلدهللا سلطانهُ ومد امره(؟) ال َعبد الراجی الی رحمة الغفّار کافور السُّلطانی م ّدعی بِمهردَار‬3 ‫فی سنه عشرین و سبعمائه‬ The inscription was intentionally obliterated, probably during the 1947 riots at the time of Partition, when the Muslim community left Bayana. Cunningham’s tracing in ASIR, XX, shows that at his time the inscription was in a good state of preservation, but Yazdani’s ink impression is not very clear. Our photograph of the inscription shows the present condition, nevertheless, many of the words and letters, particularly at the right side of the panel, can be clearly distinguished, as the colour of the defaced letters stands out in contrast to the weathered background.

19

550 BAYANA

Plate I.11a  Inscription of Ukhå Masjid dated 720/1320–1: above: from ASIR, XX, pl. 15, No.1; below: from EIM, 1917–18, pl. 13c.

Plate I.11b  Inscription of Ukhå Masjid, photograph showing its present obliterated condition.

551

APPENDIX I

1 The construction of this blessed and noble building was ordered at the time of the sultan of the world, the just, the most elevated, lord of the princes of the Orient,20 the Arabs and the Persians, the reviver of the institution of the mosque and establisher of 2 generosity and munificence, the shadow of God on earth, Qu†b al-dunyå wa al-dÈn, the defender of Islam and the Muslims, the protector of princes and kings, heir of the kingdoms of David and Solomon, father of victories, vicegerent of God, Mubårak Shåh 3 the sultan, son of the sultan, may God prolong his sovereignty and spread his commands,21 by the humble seeker of the forgiveness of the Most Merciful, KåfËr, the royal slave, boaster to be the Keeper of the Royal Seal.22 In the year seven hundred and twenty. ASIR, XX, p. 72, pl. 15, No. 1; HL, No. 203; EIM, 1917–18, p. 42, pl. 13c; PMIR, p. 44, No. 139; MHJ, VII, ii, p. 321, No. 10. 12 1 RabÈ I 730/23 December 1329

INDAUN. Loose slab from a tomb demolished after H Partition, recording in Persian the construction of a tomb for Malik-i MulËk-i Sharq Ikhtiyaˉ r al-daula wa al-dı¯ n Ghaˉ zı¯  Taman (Timan or Tamar) Muhammad Baghlı¯ (?) Afghaˉ n by his ˙  Afghån (during the reign of wife SamrË, daughter of MandË Muhammad b. Tughluq).23 (Plate I.12) ˙ 

‫ بسم هللا الرحمن الرحیم در عهد خدایگان سالطین وخلفاء روی زمین ابوالمجاهد محمد بن تُغلقشاه السُّلطان خَلد هللا‬1 ]‫ملکه و سلطانه بنا [ی این؟‬ ‫ مقبره [و] گنبد ملک ملوک الشرق اختیار الدولت و الدین غازی تمن (تمر؟) محمد بغلی (؟) مرحوم بانی این‬2 ‫خیر ُمسماة سمرو (؟) بنت مندو افغان قوم ملک مذکور کتب فی الغره ربیع االول سنه ثالثین و سبعمایة‬ The word expected at this point would be al-turk (the Turks). We have noted that, during the takeover by the KhaljÈs, their tribe was not accepted by the Turkish army commanders, but by the time of Mubårak Shåh many Turks had re-entered KhaljÈ service and it would not be unusual to see the term in an inscription. However, the word al-sharq is clear in the Cunningham tracing and we have followed this reading, even though al-turk (‫ )الترک‬and al-sharq (‫ )الشرق‬are similar and could be confused. 21 At this point the tracing is not clear and ‘spread his commands’ (‫ )مد امره‬may be offered as a reading. 22 He uses the term ‘boaster’ as a sign of humility, but the word muhr-dår (Keeper of the Royal Seal) is clear in the tracing, leaving no doubt about the identity of the royal slave. 23 The inscription has been lost; the end of the text seems to have been cut off in the 1957–8 ink impression, reproduced here. It is difficult to decipher the text fully and we have followed the earlier reading of the last part of the text with some reservations. The Afghan names of the personages are unfamiliar, and apart from the name Mu˙ammad none are Islamic, nevertheless they are possible names. The deceased bears the grand title of ‘Prince of the Princes of the Orient’, as well as Ikhtiyår al-dÈn, and it is surprising that such a personage is obscure in the histories of the time. 20

552 BAYANA

Plate I.12  Inscription of 1 RabÈ I 730/23 December 1329 from the time of Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq from EIAPS, 1957–8, pl. 9b.

1 In the name of God the Merciful the Compassionate. During the reign of the lord of the sultans and caliphs of the earth, Abu’l-mujåhid (father of holy wars) Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq Shåh, the sultan, may God prolong his dominion and sovereignty, this building is 2 the tomb and dome of the prince of the princes of the Orient Ikhtiyår aldaulat wa al-dÈn (favoured of the state and the faith) the holy warrior, the late Taman (Timan or Tamar?) Mu˙ammad BaghlÈ (?) Afghån. The founder of this beneficial structure is called SamrË, the daughter of MandË Afghån, wife of the said prince (malik). This was written on the first of RabÈ I of the year seven hundred and thirty. ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.163; EIAPS, 1957–8, pp. 34–5, pl. 9b; PMIR, p. 77, No. 242; MHJ, VII, ii, p. 322, No. 11. 13 c. 1351–88

 small fragment of an inscription recording part of the name A of Fı¯ ruˉ z Shaˉ h Tughluq found at the site of the mosque (B.42) near the Èdgåh. (Plate I. 13) … [‫… ابی المظفر فیر[وز] شـ [ـاه‬

… father of victories24 FÈr [Ëz] Sh [åh] … An attribute of the sultan, but not strictly his title, and often seen in royal inscriptions. The inscription could not be found and the reading is from the published ink impression.

24

553

APPENDIX I

Plate I.13  Inscription recording the name of FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq, from EIAPS, 1967, pl. 5a.

ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.119; EIAPS, 1967, p. 24, pl. 5a; PMIR, p. 45, No. 140; MHJ, VII, ii, p. 322, No. 12. 14 6 Shabån 791/31 July 1389

 INDAUN. Tombstone of the wife of Bı¯ r Khaˉ n Turmatı¯  H recording her death.25 ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.168; PMIR, p. 77, No. 243; MHJ, VII, ii, p. 322, No. 13.

15 803/1400–1

Bayana fort. Three slabs over the gateway called Chor Darwåza (secret or postern gate) bearing a fragmentary inscription recording the chaos and hardship created by Tı¯ muˉ r’s invasion, which led to the desertion of the place by people fleeing to the fort of Tahångarh (Tahangar) at the time of Mahmuˉ d Shaˉ h ˙  resumed Tughluq. It also seems to state that, after peace was through the efforts of Iqbaˉ l Khaˉ n, mosques and other buildings were reconstructed and the fort rehabilitated.26 ARIE, 1963–4, No. D.309; PMIR, p. 45, No. 141; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 389, No. 1.

16 Rama∂ån 823/ Sept.–Oct. 1420

 ayana fort. Loose slab in the TaletÈ Masjid (F.2) recording in B Persian verse the construction of a mosque and a well during the reign of Auhad Khaˉ n by the efforts of Malik-i MuaΩΩam ˙ 

The inscription is lost and no further information is available. No further information is available on this important and apparently lost inscription.

25 26

554 BAYANA

Plate I.16  Lost inscription of Au˙ad Khån, once in the TaletÈ Masjid, dated Rama∂ån 823/ September–October 1420. Above: from ASIR, XX, pl. 17, No. 1; below: from EIAPS, 1961, pl. 20a.

Muhtuˉ  (Muhtaf) (?) Khaˉ nı¯  out of his personal wealth.27 (Plate ˙  I.16) ‫بعــهد دولـت خـان کبیــر او َحـد خـان  پناه جمله جهان سرور زمین و زمان‬ ‫ملک ُم َعظّم ُمهتو (؟) خانی از سر صدق بنـا بکـرد چنیـن جـای طاعت رحمان‬ ‫بنَـزد او چه زمزم صفـت ز خالـص مـال قبــول بـاد بــدرگـاه خـالــِق َجنّــان‬ ‫ز هجـرت نبوي سال بود هیصد و بیست  دگــر سـه ســال بمـاه معظّـم رمضـان‬ The inscription seems to have been lost at least since the mid-twentieth century.

27

1 2 3 4

555

APPENDIX I

1 At the time of rule of the great khan, Au˙ad Khån; the refuge of the whole world and the sovereign of the land and the age, 2 the exalted prince (malik) MuhtË28 KhånÈ out of his beneficence built this place of worship of the Most Merciful (i.e., mosque); 3 near it he built this Zamzam-like29 well from his own legitimately earned wealth; may they be acceptable to the threshold of the Creator of the Heavens. 4 From the time of the flight of the Prophet the year was eight hundred30 and twenty plus three in the glorious month of Rama∂ån. ASIR, XX, p. 83, pl. 17, No. 1; HL, No. 252 (under Bijaigarh); EIAPS, 1961, pp. 60–1, pl. 20a; PMIR, p. 45, No. 142; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 389, No. 2; MHJ, XIII, ii, pp. 172–3, 175, fig. 11. 17 15 Rama∂ån 824/ 13 Sept. 1421

Epitaph of Auhad Khaˉ n in the Au˙adÈ Graveyard (AbË ˙  Qandahår Graveyard) recording in Persian verse the death of 31 the khan (B.37). (Plate I.17)

ُ ‫بیست چهـارم کـز اجـل امد پیـام‬ ‫صـد‬ َ ‫ َچهاردَه طاسی ز َشنبه پانزده از َمه صیام سـال هی‬1 ‫ شـد اَسیـر خـاک تـربت او َحـد خان جهـان کز امورش سرکشان کردند اِطاعت در زمان‬2 1 On the fourteenth hour of Saturday the fifteenth of the fasting month (i.e., Rama∂ån), in the year eight hundred and twenty-four, came the message from the Angel of Death. 2 By the dust of the grave was captured Au˙ad, the khan of the world, whose governance made the rebellious of the age obedient. ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.117; EIAPS, 1961, pp. 61–2, pl. 20b; PMIR, p. 46, No. 143; CII, p. 18, pl. 9; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 389, No. 3.

Cunningham reads the name TimËr, which is incorrect and Desai reads it as Mu˙taf, which is more probable, but MuhtË, suggested above, is the most likely and scans better. 29 The well or spring near the House of Kaba, which appeared miraculously when Hagar and her son were succumbing to thirst. Details differ in the Islamic and Judaeo-Christian accounts. 30 The word for eight hundred is given as hÈßad rather than the usual spelling hashtßad, and scans better, but the term appears in other inscriptions, and may have been the local dialect. 31 The tombstone with its elegantly composed verse was disturbed and turned upside-down during the riots of 1947, but had been left on site and the epitaph was in good state of preservation when it was photographed in 1981. It has since been removed and its whereabouts are unknown. 28

556 BAYANA

Plate I.17  Epitaph of Au˙ad Khån who died on 15 Rama∂ån 824/13 September 1421. Above: as found in situ in 1981; below: from EIAPS, 1961, pl. 20b.

18 10 Rama∂ån 842/24 Feb. 1439

 INDAUN. Persian inscription in PalwalÈ Masjid or RangrazËn H (Rangrezon) kÈ Masjid (dyers’ mosque) recording in verse the date of the completion of the mosque by Malik Khair al-dı¯ n during the reign of Yuˉ suf Khaˉ n b. Mubaˉ rak Khaˉ n Auh adı¯ .32 ˙   (Plate I.18) ‫ ]با] نی مسجد ملک هست خیرالدین عهد مجلس دام عالی هست این‬1 ‫ ]یو] سفخـان بن مبـارکخانسـت این  عاشـر رمضان شـده اتمـام ایـن‬2 ‫ ]در؟] سنـه بودسـت اثنــي اربعیـن  و ثمـان از مایـه بودسـت همیـن‬3

The poorly preserved foundation inscription has had about 10 cm cut out from its right side, and the building it records is unknown, but the stone seems to have been saved because of its religious associations and is set in the wall of a relatively recent mosque. The text is in three lines of verse, which hardly rhymes or scans properly. The slab was apparently not in situ when it was first reported in 1955–6 and later studied by Desai in 1961, as the ink impression shows that the right side had already been lost. It probably came from a long-lost mosque, and had been reused as building material, cut to fit to its new place, but was later rediscovered and because of its religious content re-set over the mi˙råb of a mosque, which was in turn demolished and the tablet was eventually installed in the present building.

32

557

APPENDIX I

Plate I.18  Inscription of 10 Rama∂ån 842/24 February 1439, now set in the PalwalÈ Masjid, Hindaun. Above: photograph of the slab; below: from EIAPS, 1961, pl. 20c.

1 The founder of this mosque is Malik Khair al-dÈn and this was at the time of Majlis-i ÅlÈ (the sublime presence) 2 YËsuf Khån b. Mubårak Khån. It was completed on the tenth of Rama∂ån 3 in the year eight hundred and forty-two. ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.171; EIAPS, 1961, pp. 62–3, pl. 20c; PMIR, pp. 77–8, No. 244; CII, p. 44, pl. 43a; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 389, No. 4.

558 BAYANA

Plate I.19  Epitaph of BÈbÈ RåsËlÈ who died on 25 Rama∂ån 846/27 January 1443.

19 25 Rama∂ån 846/27 Jan. 1443

 INDAUN. Epitaph of Bı¯ b¯ı  Raˉ suˉ lı¯  (?) recording in Persian her H death.33 (Plate I.19) ‫ وفات یافت بی بی راسولی (؟)      ارواح بشر (؟) جعلت بجمال هلل‬1 ‫ غفار در بیست و پنجم ماه مبارک   رمضان سنه ست و اربعین و ثمانمایه‬... 2

1 Departed Bibi RåsËlÈ, may the souls of mankind return to the presence of the Most Forgiving Lord, 2 on the twenty-fifth of the holy month of Rama∂ån in the year eight hundred and forty-six. CII, p. 44, pl. 43b; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 389, No. 5 20 850–vs 1503/1446 B  ilingual inscription in Persian and Sanskrit on the Gindoria well (B.18) recording the repairs to the well during the reign of Muh.ammad Kha¯n Auh.adı¯ by Tha¯kur Amra¯ Singh. (Plate I.20a–b) ‫مرمت کنانید این چاه را تهکور امره (؟) در عهد دولت مسند عالی محمد خان سنه خمسین و ثمان مائه‬ ThakËr Amra (?) restored this well during the time of the rule of Masnad-i ÅlÈ (‘the Lofty Seat’) Mu˙ammad Khån in the year eight hundred and fifty. The epitaph is in two lines and four sections, but it is not in couplets.

33

559

APPENDIX I

Plate I.20a  Bilingual inscription of Mu˙ammad Khån Au˙adÈ dated 850–vs 1503/1446 on the Gindoria well, present condition.

Cunningham notes that while he was unable to read the full text of either the Persian or the Sanskrit, he could decipher from the Persian the name of the khan and the date. He also mentions that the Sanskrit text records ‘the date of Samvat 1503 followed by the words Sri Muhammad Khån rájye vartamáne (during the prosperous rule of Muhammad Khån)’. He also mentions that the Sanskrit text ‘records the repair of the well by the Thákur Amara Sinha in Samvat 1503, on Saturday the 9th of the waning moon of Ashádha in Patháyá (Bayana)’. The stone is now partly eroded and the Sanskrit text, written in small characters is almost illegible.34 ASIR, XX, p. 79, pl. 17, No. 2; PMIR, p. 46, No. 144; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 389, No. 6.

Cunningham’s tracing, while it may have originally been clear has been smudged in reproduction and is difficult to read. We could decipher only the date in the first line of the Sanskrit text and the name of the khan, with some uncertainty, but more of the text could perhaps be deciphered by a Sanskrit specialist.

34

560 BAYANA

Plate I.20b  Bilingual inscription of the Gindoria well, from ASIR, XX, pl. 17, No. 2.

21 8 Rama∂ån 854/16 Oct. 1450

pitaph in Au˙adÈ Graveyard (AbË Qandahår Graveyard) E recording the death of Malik al-Sharq Malik Badr Miyaˉ n and giving the name of Daˉ wuˉ d Khaˉ n Auh adı¯  as Daˉ wuˉ d Shaˉ h. The ˙   ˉ saˉ n (an army or a comepitaph also mentions a khalq-i Khura munity of KhuråsånÈs). (Plate I.21a)

The tombstone was originally set on a platform, which was the base of a fairly grand chatrÈ with twelve columns. Its historical inscription is not yet fully deciphered and the personage buried there, a noble of the Au˙adÈ court, has been forgotten, yet the tomb is now regarded as a Muslim shrine and is known locally as Pandisan darg­åh (B.25). The tombstone, apparently disturbed in the 1947 riots, is nevertheless still in situ and is carved on all four sides in two registers, with the lower consisting of decorative interlaced arches and the upper, consisting of two large blocks of stone, is inscribed. The plain top of the slab indicates that there would have been other carved blocks covering the inscribed blocks. On three sides of the inscribed blocks is Quran II, 255 (Åyat al-KursÈ) carved in large naskhÈ script:

561

APPENDIX I

head of the stone (north side): ٌ‫َا ٰل اِ ٰلهَ اِ ٰ ّل هُ َو ْال َح ُّی القَیّ ُو ُم ٰل تَأ ُخ ُذهُ ِسنَة‬ east side: ‫ض َم ْن َذا الِّ ِذی یَ ْشفَ ُع ِع ْن َدهُ اِ ٰ ّل بِاِ ْذنِ ِه یَ ْعلَ ُم مٰ ا بَ ْینَ اَ ْی ِدی ِه ْم َو مٰ ا‬ ِ ‫َّو ٰل نَوْ ُم لَهُ مٰ ا فِی السَّمٰ ٰوا‬ ِ ْ‫ت َو مٰ ا فِی ْا َلر‬ west side: ٰ ٰ‫خَلفَهُ ْم َو ٰل ی ُِحیطوُنَ بِ َش ٌی ِّم ْن ِع ْل ِم ِه اِ ٰ ّل بِم‬ ‫ض َو ٰل یَ ُو ُدهُ ِح ْفظُهُمٰ ا َو هُ َو ْال َعلِ ُّی ال َع ِظی ُم‬ َ ْ‫ت َو َالَر‬ ِ ‫اشآ َء َو ِس َع ُکرْ ِسیُّهُ السَّمٰ ٰوا‬ God: there is no god but He, the Living, the Everlasting, Slumber seizes Him not, neither sleep; to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. Who is there that shall intercede with Him save by His leave? He knows what lies before them and what is after them, and they comprehend not anything of His knowledge save such as He wills. His Throne comprises the heavens and earth; the preserving of them oppresses Him not; He is the All-high, the All-glorious.35 On the foot of the tomb (at the south side) the long historical epitaph consists of twelve lines of Persian verse carved in five lines, each line divided into five rectangles, the last having a signature. The following information could be deciphered with some certainty. The epitaphs begin with the words ‫‘( وفات تاریخ‬the date of the death’) and line 3, box 4 contains the words ‫‘( خلق خراسان‬people of Khurasan’). A full line of verse could be deciphered in line 3 box 5 (first stanza) and line 4 box 1 (second stanza): ‫رحمت حق رفت فرو در زمین‬

‫ماه مبارک رمضان هشتمین‬

On the eighth day of the blessed month of Rama∂ån, the Gift of the Divine was interred in earth. Three lines of the verses in line 4, boxes 4 and 5, and line 5, boxes 1–4 could be deciphered as: ‫بود درین عصـر کسی دین پناه   منـصـب او آمـده داود شــاه‬ ‫رفت ملک بدر میان زین جهان   هیصد و پنجاه چهار آمـد برآن‬ ‫ سـبحان مطهر ز باغ کنشت   رفت ملک بدر میان در بهشت‬...

Arberry, I, p. 65 (given as Quran II, 256); for another translation, see Muhammad Ali, p. 46. The text and a translation of the Quran are also available at www.Quran.com.

35

562 BAYANA

Plate I.21a  Epitaph of Malik Badr Miyån who died on 8 Rama∂ån 854/16 October 1450, Quranic inscription. Top: head of the tomb; middle: east side; bottom: west side.

APPENDIX I

Plate I.21b  Epitaph of Malik Badr Miyån, historical record at the foot of the tomb. Above: the two slabs; middle: right slab; below: left slab.

563

564 BAYANA If there were in this era one who protected the Faith, his title comes as DåwËd Shåh. Malik Badr Miyån left this world in eight hundred and fifty-four. Praise of the Holy [came] from the garden of paradise:36 Malik Badr Miyån departed for heaven. The metre of the last line of verse does not fully correspond with the rest. The last box contains the name of the composer of the verses whose name cannot be deciphered with certainty but whose title Emir indicates that he was a member of the nobility and most probably an acquaintance of the diseased. ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.118; PMIR, p. 46, No. 145; CII, pp. 19–20, pls 13–15; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 390, No. 7. 22 861/1456–7

 ayana fort. Inscription in Arabic on the lintel of the entrance B of the minaret of DåwËd Khån (F.15b) recording the construction of the minaret by Daˉ wuˉ d Khaˉ n b. Muh ammad Khaˉ n ˙   Auh adı¯  and giving the genealogy of the khan. (Plate I.22a–b) ˙  

‫ اشار بناء هذه المناره المبارکه المسند العالی و المجمع المعالی اعظم همایون داود خان‬1 ‫ص ّدیقی المعروف باالوحدی خلد‬ ِ ‫ بن مسند عالی محمد خان بن مسند عالی اوحد خان بن مسند عالی معین خان‬2 .‫ملکه فی سنه احدی و ستین و ثمانمایه‬ 1 Ordered the construction of this blessed minaret Masnad al-ÅlÈ and most eminent of the assembly, the supremely fortunate DåwËd Khån 2 son of Masnad-i ÅlÈ Mu˙ammad Khån son of Masnad-i ÅlÈ Au˙ad Khån son of Masnad-i ÅlÈ MuÈn Khån [son of] ÍiddÈqÈ37 known as Au˙adÈ, may his reign be exalted, in the year eight hundred and sixty-one. ASIR, VI, p. 66; ASIR, XX, p. 85, pl. 17, No. 3 (lower slab); HL, No. 253; ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.123; PMIR, p. 47, No. 147; CII, pp. 26–7, pls 23–4; MHJ, VIII, ii, pp. 325, 390, No. 10.

If the reading of kunisht is correct. The word has two distinct meanings, one is a Zoroastrian fire temple (or any non-Muslim place of worship), the other, the deeds or nature of man. The translation as ‘paradise’ is used to allude to the holy nature of God. The word seems to have been chosen for its rhyme. 37 For the reading of the name ßiddÈqÈ rather than ßadÈqÈ, see Chapter 2, n. 137. 36

APPENDIX I

Plate I.22a  Inscription of 861/1456–7 on the entrance of the minaret of DåwËd Khån. Top: the inscribed lintel; middle: details of the right side; bottom: details of the left side.

565

566 BAYANA

Plate I.22b  Inscription on the entrance of the minaret, from ASIR, XX, pl. 17, No. 3.

23 861/1456–7

 ayana fort. Inscription (not dated but the text follows the B above dated text) on the jamb of the entrance of the minaret of Daˉ wuˉ d Khaˉ n (F.15b) recording the name of the founder as Mufı¯ d Khaˉ nı¯  or Mufı¯ d Khaˉ n Aqdaˉ ı¯ . The inscription is in two lines, the first in Persian and the second in Arabic. (Plate I.23)

‫ خدای عز و جل بران بنده رحمت کناد کی بنیت دعا گوی مسلمانان معمار این مناره منوره فاتحه بخواند‬1 May the Lord great and glorious be merciful unto that servant, who, with the intention of invoking blessings recites the fåti˙a (the opening SËra of the Quran) for the Muslim architects of this minaret. (‫ امر عماره هذا المناره المبارکة العبد الضعیف النحیف الراجی الی رحمة هللا تعالی مفید خان عقدا (ئی‬2 Ordered the construction of this blessed minaret the weak and frail servant, hopeful of the mercy of God the Most Exalted, MufÈd Khån of Aqdå.38 ASIR, XX, p. 85 (gives MufÈd KhånÈ); HL, No. 255; ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.124; PMIR, p. 47, No. 148; CII, p. 27, pl. 25 (gives MufÈd Khån); MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 390, No. 11. 24 861/1456–7

 ayana fort. Inscription39 (not dated but relates to the above B dated inscriptions) on the lower tier of the minaret of Da¯wu¯d Kha¯n (F.15b) giving the genealogy of the Au˙adÈ family as Da¯wu¯d Kha¯n b. Muh.ammad Kha¯n b. Auh.ad Kha¯n b. Muı¯ n Kha¯n b. Shams al-Aulia¯ S.iddı¯qı¯. (Plate I.24)

Aqdå is a small town in central Iran. Cunningham, probably unfamiliar with the town’s name, reads it as GhufrånÈ, but all letters of the word are clear in the inscription. 39 The text is in Arabic, but certain phrases such as khån-i jahån and tahamtan-i kayhån follow Persian grammar. This is not unusual in the Arabic inscriptions of northern India, as most were composed by Persian-speakers whose knowledge of Arabic was not faultless. 38

APPENDIX I

Plate I.23  Inscription on the jamb of the entrance of the minaret of DåwËd Khån: top: view of the whole block; below: details of the inscription.

567

568 BAYANA

Plate I.24  Inscription on the lower tier of the minaret of DåwËd Khån, recording the genealogy of the Au˙adÈ family. The beginning of the inscription is in the top frame with the rest in the following frames.

569

APPENDIX I

‫بنی هذه المنارة المبارکه مسند عالی و منصب معالی خان جهان تهمتن کیهان ناصر لواء الشریعة هادم ارکان‬ ‫البدعة کامل العز و الوقار شاطر الستم و االعتساف و قامع الفجره و المشرکین [ما] نع الکفره و المتمردین قاهر‬ ‫اعدا د[یـ] ن و دولة حافظ اولیاء ملک و ملت سراج الدولت و الدین اعظم همایون داود خان بن محمد خان بن‬ ‫اوحد خان بن معین خان بن شمس االولیاء صدیقی مد هللا عمره و دولته‬ Built this blessed minaret Masnad-i ÅlÈ and (the holder of) the most eminent position, the khan of the world, the hero of the universe, the defender of the banner of the faith, the obliterator of the pillars of schism, perfect in glory and modesty, smasher of tyranny and oppression and subduer of fornication and the infidels, prohibitor of blasphemy and rebellion, conqueror of the enemies of the Faith and the state, protector of the dominion and the people, illuminator of the state and religion, the supremely fortunate DåwËd Khån son of Mu˙ammad Khån son of Au˙ad Khån son of MuÈn Khån, son of Shams al-Auliyå ÍiddÈqÈ, may God lengthen his life and his reign. CII, pp. 28–9, pls 27–8; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 391, No. 12. 25 861/1456–7

 ayana fort. Quranic inscription (not dated but relates to the B above dated inscriptions) on the upper tier of the minaret of Daˉ wuˉ d Khaˉ n (F.15b).40 Line 1, Quran, III, 18 and beginning of 19; line 2, Quran XLVIII, 1–3. (Plate 5.62. Plate I.25)

‫ْط ٰل اِ ٰلهَ اِ ٰ ّل هُ َو ْال َع ِزی ُز ْال َح ِکی ُم * اِ َّن ال ِّدینَ ِع ْن َدهللاِ ْا ِالس ْٰل ُم‬ ِ ‫ َش ِه َدهللاُ اَنَّهُ ٰل اِ ٰلهَ اِ ٰ ّل هُ َو َو ْال َم ؐلئ َکةُ َو ا ُول ُوا ْال ِع ْل ِم ٰقآئما ً بِالقِس‬1 ُ‫ک َو مٰ ا تَا َ َّخ َر َو یُتِ َّم نِ ْع َمتَه‬ َ ِ‫ک هللاُ مٰ ا تَقَ َّد َم ِم ْن َذ ْنب‬ َ َ‫ک فَ ْتحا ً ُمبِینا ً * لِیَ ْغفِ َر ل‬ َ َ‫َّحیم * اِ ٰنّا فَتَحْ ٰنا ل‬ ِ ‫ بِس ِْم هللاِ اَلرَّحْ مٰ ِن الر‬2 ً‫َزیزا‬ ً ً ً ْ ٰ َ ْ‫َص‬ ْ ‫ع‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ن‬ ‫هللا‬ ‫ک‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ص‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ی‬ ‫و‬ * ‫ا‬ ‫یم‬ ‫ق‬ ‫ت‬ ‫س‬ ‫م‬ ‫ا‬ ‫اط‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ص‬ ُ ُ َ َ َ َ َ َ‫ک َو یَ ْه ِدی‬ َ ‫َعلَ ْی‬ ِ ُ ِ ‫ک‬ ِ 1 God bears witness that there is no god but He – and the angels, and men possessed of knowledge – upholding justice; there is no god but He, the Allmighty, the All-wise * The true religion with God is Islam.41 2 In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate * Surely We have given thee a manifest victory * that God may forgive thee thy former and thy latter sins, and complete His blessing upon thee, and guide thee on a straight path * and that God may help thee with mighty help.42 CII, p. 29, pls 29–30; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 391, No. 13. The verses are correctly copied and carved on many small blocks of stone, some of which have been misplaced, presumably by illiterate building labourers, breaking up the order of the verse. Although errors in quoting the Quran are unacceptable, the texts appear so high on the minaret that at ground level they can hardly be read and may not have been noticed. 41 Quran, III, 18 and beginning of 19, Arberry, I, p. 75; for another translation, see Muhammad Ali, pp. 55–6. 42 Quran, XLVIII, 1–3; Arberry, II, p. 225; for another translation, see Muhammad Ali, p. 508. 40

570 BAYANA

Plate I.25  Quranic inscription on the upper tier of the minaret of DåwËd Khån.

26 862/1457–8

 ayana fort. Semi-circular loose slab by the minaret of DåwËd B Khån (F.15b) once fixed over its entrance, recording the construction of the minaret by Da¯wu¯d Kha¯n b. Muh.ammad Kha¯n Auh.adı¯ during the reign of Na¯s.ir al-dı¯n Muh.ammad Sha¯h SharqÈ (of Jaunpur). (Plate I.26)

571

APPENDIX I

Plate I.26  Inscription of the minaret of DåwËd Khån dated 862/1457–8, once fixed over its entrance.

The inscription is in four lines; two lines carved horizontally in the middle of the stone bear the opening verse of the Quran above and the shahåda below: ‫ بِسْم هللاِ الرّحْ َمن الرّحیم‬1 ‫ َل اِ ٰلهَ اِالَهلل ُم َح َّمد َرسُول هللا‬2 The other two lines are carved following the curvature of the semi-circular slab, with the outer line containing the historical information in interlaced naskhÈ by a competent hand: ‫بناء هذه المناره فی عهد السلطان القایم العادل ناصرالدنیا و الدین ظل هللا فی العالمین محمد شاه خلد هللا ملکه مسند‬ ‫عالی اعظم همایون داود خان ابن خان المرحوم المغفور محمد خان ثراه جعل و الجنة ماواه‬ This minaret was constructed during the reign of the resolute sultan, the just, the defender of the world and the Faith,43 the shade of God on all worlds, Mu˙ammad Shåh, may God prolong his sovereignty, by Masnad-i ÅlÈ, the greatest of the fortunate, DåwËd Khån, the son of the late and pardoned (by the Lord) Mu˙ammad Khån, may he be taken into the Divine Mercy and be placed in paradise. While Inscription No. 23 on the lintel of the entrance of the minaret and set originally just below this inscription is dated clearly 861/1456–7, this inscription, the last of the Au˙adÈ records, acknowledges Mu˙ammad Shåh who ruled for only ‘Nåßir al-dunyå wa al-dÈn’ the title of the SharqÈ Sultan Mu˙ammad b. Ma˙mËd Shåh, a rare occasion where the title of this sultan has been recorded.

43

572 BAYANA for five months in 862. It seems that by this time the minaret had already been completed and this slab was set up later simply to acknowledge the Au˙adÈs’ new alliance with the SharqÈ sultanate. The inner line contains an obscure tradition concerning the construction of a minaret in a great Muslim city: ‫قال النبی علیه السالم من بنا مناره فی مصر من امصار المسلمین الجل اعلی (؟) کلمة هللا تعالی بنا هللا له قصر فی‬ ... ‫الجنة‬ The Prophet, May peace be upon him, says: ‘Anyone who builds a minaret in a great city amongst the great cities of Islam for the call to prayer to the words of God, God will build him a mansion in Paradise.’ This tradition could not be found in the major authorities such as Ía˙È˙ Muslim or Ía˙È˙ al-BukhårÈ, or indeed any other authorities. It seems to be a version of the tradition referring to the construction of mosques already seen in inscription No. 5. Regarding that the practice of building minarets for mosques was established generations after the death of the Prophet, the validity of this tradition is doubtful. Nevertheless, it expresses that, at this time, Bayana was grand enough for DåwËd Khån to declare it –with some exaggeration – as one of the great cities of the Muslim world. ASIR, VI, p. 66; ASIR, XX, p. 84, pl. 17, No. 3 (upper slab); HL, No. 253; ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.122; PMIR, pp. 46–7, No. 146; CII, p. 28, pl. 26; MHJ, VIII, ii, pp. 325, 390, No. 9. 27 20 Íafar 862/7 Jan. 1458

 pitaph in Au˙adÈ Graveyard (AbË Qandahår Graveyard), on E the top slab of the tomb next to the tomb of Au˙ad Khån (B.37) giving only the date, but not the name of the personage. (Plate I.27)

The border on three sides of the tombstone is carved with Quran II, 255 (Åyat al-KursÈ, common for epitaphs and already given above). The dated portion is outlined by a different hand and only the two first letters are carved in relief, leaving the rest unfinished. The carving seems to have been made in haste, as some words are not properly outlined, and the script is spread out with no space for hamza and short t at the end of the line. The word for two (athnå) is fairly legible and the rest of the date year is clear, but the letter for the month is not well preserved and could perhaps be read differently. Whatever the month may be hardly affects the significance of the epitaph, the date of which falls into the final years of Au˙adÈ power, suggesting that the tomb could have been that of one of the last Au˙adÈs, perhaps DåwËd Khån himself or one of his sons, brothers or close relations. The

573

APPENDIX I

Plate I.27  Epitaph dated 20 Íafar 862/7 January 1458: above: details of the date; below: the lower part of the tombstone.

main part of the inscription would have been carved on the centre of the stone, which, as appears in our photograph, has either been damaged or intentionally obliterated. The slab, carved in a similar way to many other tombstones of Bayana, seems to have been one of those mass-produced together with its religious text, leaving blank spaces for personal information according to the order. The surviving text reads: ]‫العشرین صفر فی السنه [ا] ثنی [و] ستین و ثمانما[ئة‬ twentieth of Íafar (?) in the year eight hundred and sixty-two. MHJ, VIII, 3ii, p. 350, fig. 4; p. 390, No. 8.

574 BAYANA 28 Jumådå II 869/ Jan.–Feb. 1465

 pitaph in the Au˙adÈ Graveyard (AbË Qandahår Graveyard) E recording the death of His Holiness Shaikh Sadr al-dı¯ n. It also mentions the name of one Amı¯ r Ghiyaˉ th (b.˙?) Muhammad.44 ˙  ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.116; PMIR, pp. 47–8, No. 149; MHJ, VIII, ii, pp. 391, No. 14.

29 8 Rama∂ån 901/ 21 May 1496

 ayana fort. Bilingual inscription in Persian and Sanskrit on B the BåolÈ of Khaˉ n-i Khaˉ naˉ n (F.4) recording the construction of the step-well inside the fort. (Plate I.29)

The Persian inscription is in seven lines of verse with two names in the eighth line. A portion of the inscription is damaged, apparently by musket shot, and conjectural readings of missing words are given in square brackets: ‫داور جمشیـــد عصـر و سـرور خســرو نشــان‬ ‫وانکه از خلق لطیفـش هست خوشبـو ضیــمران‬ ‫در بیـابـانـی نمـانـده شیـــر و در بـر آهــوان‬ ‫بــاد راضـی عز اسمـ [ش] باد خیـرش جاودان‬ ‫[تـا بـر آن] گوئـی کـزو آب خضـر زایــد روان‬ (‫[بهـر تاریخش] برید آمد ِوصالی با بنان (بیان؟‬ ‫بـود نــیز از هـجــرت پیـغــامبـر آخــر زمـان‬

‫منت ایـزد را کـه در عهــد ســکنـدار جهـان‬ ‫آنـکه از رای منیرش روی عالم را ضیاست‬ ‫بـر مـراد خـانخانـان کـز صـدای کـوس او‬ ‫مـیشـــود اجــرا ز خیــر حسبــةً ِل ز آن‬ ‫خاصه بـائینـی بعهـدش شد مرتب در حصـار‬ ]‫زاهتمام وافر و سعی ملک مختار (؟) [خان‬ ‫هشتم از ماه صیام و نهصد و [یک] بد فزون‬ ‫جودهری بیک نایب (؟) و کتبه نیکنام‬

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 By the Grace of God, at the time of the Alexander of the world, the just judge and JamshÈd45 of the age, the lord, bearer of the mark of sovereignty, 2 by whose bright counsels the surface of the world gleams and from whose delicate manners basil (∂aimarån) diffuses its fragrance, 3 according to the wish of Khån-i Khånån, at the sound of whose drum no lion remains in the desert or deer in the land, 4 his beneficial orders were carried out, pleasing to the Lord, may his (the Khån’s) glorious name be appreciated and may his worthy deeds remain eternal, 5 during his time this excellent reservoir (båÈn) was constructed in the fort, whence it might be said the water of immortality (åb-i khi∂r) flows. The epitaph could not be found. The legendary ancient king of Iran celebrated in the Shåhnåma, JamshÈd is regarded as the first monarch who was enthroned on the spring equinox, establishing the NaurËz, or New Year according to the solar calendar, still celebrated in the Iranian world. JamshÈd is also renowned as a just ruler, the founder of medical science, the discoverer of the vine and, among other accomplishments, the inventor of bows and arrows.

44 45

APPENDIX I

Plate I.29  Bilingual inscription in Persian and Sanskrit on the BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån dated 8 Rama∂ån 901/21 May 1496.

6 (Built) by the sustained effort and determination of Malik Mukhtår (?) Khån, and for its date the herald came to WißålÈ saying: 7 it was the eighth of the fasting month (Rama∂ån) of nine hundred and one from the flight of the Prophet eternal. 8 ChaudharÈ Beg (was) the superintendent, written by NÈknåm The inscriptions acknowledge Sikandar LodÈ, the sultan, and Khån-i Khånån FarmulÈ, the governor, as well as recording the person in charge of the project

575

576 BAYANA whose  name is not entirely clear but could be read as Mukhtår. One WißålÈ is given as the composer of the verses, and at the end of the text appears the  name  ChaudharÈ46 Beg as the superintendent. His name seems to be missing in the Sanskrit text, but his post as ‘the superintendent of the fort of Vijayamandargah’ could be deciphered. NÈknåm, whose name also appears in the Sanskrit text, is the writer and probably carver. The ungrammatical Sanskrit indicates that the composer of that part of the inscription, perhaps the Persian-named NÈknåm, had little knowledge of the language. There is a discrepancy of nine days between the Persian and the Sanskrit dates (corresponding with Saturday, 21 May and Sunday, 29 May 1496).47 If this is not another indication that the composer of the Sanskrit text lacked knowledge of Hindu culture, the discrepancy could simply be a slight difference in the dates of composition of the two texts. The Sanskrit text has been studied by Professor J. Clifford Wright of the School of Oriental and African Studies and published first in CII. His critical reading, translation and notes are reproduced here in full:   1 siddhi˙║  ªrÈga≥eªåya nama˙║ yaṃ brahmavedåṃtavido vadaṃti paraṃ pramå[≥]aṃ   2 g[a]ru∂aṃ tam anye│  viy[a]dgate[˙] kåra≥am Ȫvaraṃ vå tasmai namo vighnavinå[ª]anåya○║   3 ya˙ kßå[ṃ]ta˙ kalikålakalpavi†a[p]È sa˙ ccakr[i]cË∂åma≥i˙  vidyånaṃdavinodasuṃ   4 daramati˙ vidv[aj]jan[ai]kåªraya˙│ tasya ªrÈmati maṃgale vinayate ªrÈKhånakhånåtra tu○   5 våpÈ atra samagra yena racitå saṃvar≥yatåm ågatå║  så kṛ[tå] saṃvatsare [’]smin  6  ªriVikramådityaråjye│saṃvat 1553 ªåke 1418 va[r]ße│  åßå∂ha ba di 2   7 dvitÈyå│ ravivåsare║ uttaråßå∂hanakßatre│  s[e]kha Mahammada muªalamånavaṃªe se   8 kha Imåda tasyåtmaja˙ KhurumujÈ ªrÈKhånakhånå √rÈpathåsthåne Vijemaṃdiraga∂hadurga  9 råjaya(?) … … … … … … … … … ªrÈ Ne 10 kanåma ga∂hasya rakßapåla tasya│ Translations and notes (quotation marks indicate verses): Success. Homage to Ga≥eªa.

The ChaudharÈs were the court scribes. The day of the week as calculated mathematically does not necessarily correspond with the actual day of the week as perceived at the time, see Chapter 10, n. 32.

46 47

APPENDIX I

‘Homage to the Remover of Obstacles whom exponents of Veda and Vedånta refer to as Highest Authority,48 others as Garu∂a, or Cause of the Motion of the Heavens, or God.’ ‘Crest-jewel of rulers,49 he who is merciful, the cornucopia of the Kali Age, he, with a mind embellished by recreation devoted to the joy of learning, is the cynosure of the learned. It is in this his glorious felicitous domain that the √rÈ Khåna-khånå goes about his duties by whom a step-well has here been completed that merits celebration.’50 It was built51 in this year in the Vikramåditya Era. In the year 1553, in the √aka year 1418, day 2 (second) of the waning moon in Åßå∂ha, on Sunday, in the lunar mansion Uttararåßå∂ha,52 [affidavit] of the superintendent53 of [Vijayamandira] gaṛh, √rÈ Nekanåma (wrote it?) … … … … … … … the governorship (?) of Fort Vijayamandiragaṛh in √rÈpathåsthåna54 [of] KhurumjÈ √rÈ Khåna-kånå, son of √ekh Imåd,55 in the Muslim dynasty of √ekh Mahammad.56 Wr. Pramånaṃ: spacing suggests that -å- was in fact intended. (Italics have been used in the transcription to imply that a letter is either badly formed or broken; square brackets are used where the letter appears to be wrong.) 49 Sikandar LodÈ. 50 The last line of verse, i.e., all specific mention of the well, is written in the same grammarless jargon that is used in the following prose. Since otherwise the verses are sound, but nonsensically miscopied, it is clear that they have been plagiarised and adapted to the present purpose. 51 Cunningham, ASIR, XX, p. 87, has ‘This well (våpi) was built in the year …’ This suggests that he is paraphrasing a fragmentary reading våpÈ … racitå … saṃvatsare (p. 87, ‘the whole of the Sanskrit inscription has not yet been read; but, so far as I have been able to make it out, it seems to be as follows …’ Cunningham’s informants were evidently unaware that våpÈ … racitå is part of a verse text and separate from the prose postscript. The beginning of the postscript is broken, but så seems certain and kṛ probable; if so så kṛtå must be intended. 52 Sunday, 29 May 1496 ad. 53 ASIAR, 1972–3, confirms the reading of the tenth line (p. 50, ‘Mentions a certain N≠kanama [sic] as the rakshapåla of the fort’). The genitive could be the equivalent of a signature (the expressions haridåsaya, såkßÈ, vṛndåvanadåsa˙ and vißn. uvicitramatam are equivalent in documents). One would indeed assume that the rakßapåla would have to be named, and must therefore be Nekanåma. The Persian indicates otherwise, however (M. Shokoohy, ‘The superintendent was JaudarÈ Beg, and it was written by NÈknåm’) and there is a faint possibility that the letters preceding ªrÈnekanåma are likhati. 54 Cunningham (ASIR, XX, 87) has ‘in Devya-sthån of Vijayamandar-garh’, but these readings and the alleged construction are invented. The first name has only a casual resemblance to -davyå-, and the reconstruction *devya is not helpful; the reading -pathå- is not encouraging, but must be nearer the mark. ASIAR, 1972–3, p. 50, has ‘enjoying the territory of Vijayamandirgaṛh-durga’, which possibly confirms the reading råjya at the beginning of line 9. Otherwise it reads only ne(kanåma) from the end of this cramped and indistinct line, for which Cunningham had nothing to offer. 55 ASIAR, 1972–3, p. 50, has ‘Records the construction and completion of a step-well by [Khuruṁrum], son of Sheika Imåda … under ªrÈ-Khåna’, but this seems to be arrived at by constructing samagra … racitå (referring to Khåna-Khåna in the verse) together with KhurumujÈ in the postscript. The reading -rumujÈ seems quite clear, and there is no basis for separating the name from the following ªrikhånakhånå. Cunningham has ‘son of Shekh Imåd, the fortunate Khån Khånån’. 56 Cunningham has ‘by the victorious Khån Muhammad, son of Shekh Imåd, the fortunate Khån Khånån’. This implies a reading khana (standing for *khåna) mahammada, but sakha (standing 48

577

578 BAYANA ASIR, XX, pp. 87–8; HL, No. 254; ASIAR, 1972–3, p. 50; PMIR, p. 48, No. 150 (wrongly mentions that the inscription is on the TåletÈ Gate); CII, pp. 29–32, pl. 31; BAI, XVIII, p. 30; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 391, No. 15.

Plate I.30  Epitaph of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna, Quranic inscription on the right side of the tomb.

30 14 Shabån 922/ 12 Sept. 1516

DHOLPUR. Tombstone of Bı¯ b¯ı  Zarrı¯ na (Zaina or Zı¯ nat?) mother of Sikandar Lodı¯  recording the date of her death on a Sunday. (Plates 10.1, 10.2 and I.30)

The tomb and mosque are described in detail in Chapter 10. The epitaph has survived but is now badly eroded and parts of the Quranic text, the name of the BÈbÈ and the date of her death are no longer clear. The tomb is also heavily whitewashed and many layers of paint obscure some of the surviving letters. The for sekha as in the next phrase) is much more likely: there is no room for the vowel -e-, and -kha resembles kh in ªrikhåna below. His construction, omitting muªalamånavaṃªe, is clearly wrong; ASIAR, 1972–3, p. 50, omits both this and sakha mahammada.

579

APPENDIX I

remaining parts include, on the two sides of the tomb, Quran, II, 255 (Åyat alKursÈ) followed by what seems to be Quran XXIII, 118:57 on the head of the tomb: ‫ َا‬1 ‫ ٰل اِ ٰلهَ اِ ٰ ّل هُ َو ْال َح ُّی القَیّ ُو ُم‬2 ‫ ٰل تَأ ُخ ُذهُ ِسنَةٌ َّو ٰل‬3 on the right side: ‫ض‬ ِ ‫ ]نَوْ ُم لَهُ مٰ ا فِی السَّمٰ ٰو] ا‬1 ِ ْ‫ت َو مٰ ا فِی ْا َلر‬ ّ [ َ‫ ] َم ْن َذا الِّ ِذی] یَ ْشفَ ُع ِع ْن َدهُ اِ ٰل [بِاِ ْذنِ ِه یَ ْعلَ ُم مٰ ا بَ ْین‬2 0n the left side the rest of Quran, II, 255, followed by Quran XXIII, 118 (?): ٰ ٰ‫ ]اَ ْی ِدی ِه ْم َو مٰ ا خَلفَهُ ْم َو ٰل] ی ُِحیطوُنَ [بِ َش ٌی] ِّم ْن ِع ْل ِم ِه اِ ٰ ّل بِم‬1 ‫اشآ َء‬ ‫ض َو ٰل یَ ُو ُدهُ ِح ْفظُهُمٰ ا َو هُ َو‬ َ ْ‫ت َو َالَر‬ ِ ‫ َو ِس َع ُکرْ ِسیُّهُ السَّمٰ ٰوا‬2 ْ 3 ‫َّاح ِمين‬ ِ ‫]ال َعلِ ُّی ال َع ِظی ُم* َوقُلْ َربِّ ا ْغفِرْ َوارْ َح ْم َوأَ ْنتَ ] َخ ْي ُر الر‬ on the foot of the tombstone is the historical record: [‫ وفات یافت بی بی [زرینه ؟ مر‬1 [ ‫ حوم بتاریخ چهارد [هم ماه‬2 [‫ ؟‬٩٢٢ ‫ شعبان روز [یکشنبه سنه‬3 Departed BÈbÈ [ZarrÈna],58 taken to the mercy (of God) on the date of the four[teenth of the month] of Shabån on [Sunday in the year 922 (?)]. Rajputana Gazetteer, I, Calcutta, 1879, p. 267, ASIR, XX, p. 113, pl. 37; HL, No. 596; ARIE, 1963–4, No. D.310; PMIR, pp. 56–7, No. 177; CII, pp. 34–5, pl. 35; MHJ, VIII, ii, 391, No. 16; M. and N. H. Shokoohy, ‘The Lady of Gold: Sikandar LodÈ’s mother (c. 837/1433–922/1516) and the tomb attributed to her at Dholpur, Rajasthan’, pp. 89–92, figs 1–2.

Commonly carved on tombstones and already seen in inscriptions Nos 21 and 22 above. For its translation, see inscription No. 21 (Arberry, II, p. 45) of Quran XXIII, 118, which follows Quran II, 255 on the left side of the tomb: ‘And say: “My Lord, forgive and have mercy, for Thou art the best of the merciful”’. Other translations are similar to that of Arberry. 58 The tomb is traditionally known as that of Sikandar LodÈ’s mother. See Chapter 10 for detailed study of the inscription and comments on the name and date. 57

580 BAYANA

Plate I.31  Inscription of 1 Rajab 925/29 June 1519 at Garh, from ASIR, XX, pl. 19.

31 1 Rajab 925/29 June 1519

GARH. Inscription on the northern tower of the entrance gate recording the construction of a domed building during the ˉ lam Khaˉ n b. Mujaˉ hid Khaˉ n reign of Ibraˉ hı¯ m Shaˉ h Lodı¯  by A the Muq†i of the fort (named Islåmåbåd). (Plate I.31)

The inscription, read from Cunningham’s 1885 tracing, is in three lines with the third line in four stanzas of verse. The Persian text, with defective grammar, gives the name of the fort as Islåmåbåd: ‫ بخدمت امر سایه چتر همایون شاه العادل مبارک بن سکندر شاه بن بهلول شاه مده (؟) سلطنته و خلد ملکه بحین‬1 ‫خاک روبی کردن قلعه اسالم آباد عبدالضعیف عالم بن مجاهد خان ابن‬ ‫ المدید رأفت (؟) بنا کرد قرارگاه عالم پناه قلعه اسالم آباد سنه خمس وعشرین وتسعمایه من اوّل ماه رجب بکمال‬2 )‫حسن حال گرفت (؟‬ ‫ کرد این گنبد بنا چون گنبد خضرا مأب   مقطع خاص ابراهیم شاه کیخسرو جناب   اشرف االشراف‬3 ‫عالم خان از راه صواب   سال بیست و پنج با نهصد از روی حساب‬ 1 Serving on the order of the shadow of the blessed canopy of the just king Mubårak b. Sikandar Shåh b. BahlËl Shåh, may his sovereignty be prolonged and his kingdom be eternal, during removal of the debris (restoration) of the fort of Islåmåbåd this weak servant, Ålam (or Ålim) Khån b. Mujåhid Khån b. 2 … may his generosity be prolonged,59 built this rest-house for the refuge of the world (i.e., the sultan) in the fort of Islåmåbåd. On the first of the month of Rajab in the year nine hundred and twenty-five it was embellished to the utmost degree of pleasantness. 59

The reading of ‘‫ ’المدید رأفت‬is not clear in the tracing, and something seems to be missing between alif and låm, which might be the name of the ancestor. If the tracing were correct, the name of the ancestor would be expected to follow ‘‫’المدید رأفت‬, unless ‘‫ ’رأفت‬is also the name of the personage.

581

APPENDIX I

Plate I.32  Obliterated foundation stone on a lintel of a small mosque in Sikandra, still preserving the name Mujåhid Khån.

3 Constructed this domed building, alike to the dome of heaven, the chosen ­fief-holder of the Kaykhusrau-like60 IbråhÈm Shåh, the noble of the nobles Ålam Khån, with humility, counting the year as twenty-five and nine hundred. ASIR, XX, p. 91, pl. 19; HL, No. 1222; ARIE 1963–4, No. D.314; PMIR, pp. 75–6, No. 238; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 392, No. 17. 32 c. 923–32/ 1517–26

SIKANDRA. Defaced or worn out slab on the central lintel of a small mosque (S.5) recording the construction of a mosque at the time of [Nizaˉ m Khaˉ n] (?) b. Mujaˉ hid Khaˉ n. (Plate I.32) ˙  ‫بِسْم هللاِ الرّحْ َمن الرّحیم‬ .... ]‫بنا کرد این مسجـ [د‬ .............................. ......................... ‫نظ‬ )‫ [مسند عالی نظامخان] (؟‬.... ‫المعظم‬ )‫بن مجاهد خان بن شمـ [س خان] (؟‬

1 2 3 4 5 6

1 In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate. 2 Built this mosque … 3 ……………… 4 NiΩ …………………………

Kaykhusrau is the legendary ancient Persian king whose father Siyåwush was perfidiously killed by the king of TËrånzamÈn (Turkistan), Afråsiyåb. Kaykhusrau’s battles against Afråsiyåb to avenge his father’s death are immortalised in the Shåhnåma.

60

582 BAYANA

Plate I.33  Foundation stone of Ukhå Minår dated 926/1519–20.

5 the great … [Masnad-i ÅlÈ NiΩåm Khån]61 6 b. Mujåhid Khån b. Sh [ams Khån?] CII, pp. 22–3, pl. 19a; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 392, No. 18. 33 926/1519–20

Panels over the entrance of Ukhå Minår (B.3) recording the construction of the minaret by Nizaˉ m Khaˉ n (?) b. Mujaˉ hid Khaˉ n during the reign of Ibraˉ hı¯ m Shaˉ˙  h Lodı¯ . Composed by one Óåmid. (Plates 5.64, I.33)

Over the historical slab is a semi-circular panel, clearly imitating that of DåwËd Khån’s minaret in the fort (inscription No. 26 above) bearing the shahåda َ in the middle and around the margin of the panel, the same (‫)ل اِ ٰلهَ اِالَهلل ُم َح َّمد َرسُول هللا‬ tradition as that minaret (Plate 5.64). Below this is the rectangular foundation stone in nine lines of Persian verse (Plate I.33):

The name of NiΩåm Khån has not survived but is almost certain as his father’s name appears at the beginning of the next line.

61

583

APPENDIX I

‫داور جمشیـد عصـر و خسروي رستـم نشــان‬ ‫وانک از خلق لطیفش هست خوشبو ضیمران‬ ‫کش سزد ترغاني از خـاقـان و هم نوشیـروان‬ ‫بـاد راضـی حـق تعــالي یـاد خیـرش جـاودان‬ ‫از بــرای گــفتـــن بــانــکنمـاز هــر زمـان‬ ‫مسنـد عــالي نـظــامـخان مجــاهـد خـان بـدان‬ ‫بـالیــقیــن از هجــرت پیـغــامبـر آخــر زمان‬ ‫حامد مسکین زبانش شد روان زین سان از آن‬ ‫پــور قـارونست مسـکین بنـگر ای شـاه جهـان‬

‫در زمـــان دولــــت دوار دوران اوان‬ ‫راي منیرش روی عالم را ضیا ست‬ ِ ‫آنک از‬ ‫شــاه ابـراهیــم بـن اســکنـدر بهــلولشــاه‬ ‫مــي شـود اِجــراء خیـری حسبــة هلل ز آن‬ ‫او بنـا کــرده منــاره از پـی اعـالء صـوت‬ ‫بُــد بــامــر آمــر مـامور ِظــل هللا دهــر‬ ‫در شهـور سته و عشریـن ز نهصد بـد فزون‬ ‫چون بپرسی (؟) چند بیتی بهر آن تاریخ نغـز‬ ‫با فتور طبع کرده است بوالعجب این ترجمـه‬

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1 During the everlasting reign of the JamshÈd-like just one of the age, the king with the insignia of Rustam, 2 by whose (the king’s) bright counsels the surface of the world gleams, and from whose delicate manners basil (∂aimarån) diffuses its fragrance,62 3 King IbråhÈm, son of Iskandar (son) of BahlËl Shåh, whose guidance is worthy of the Khåqån (emperor of China) and of NaushÈrwån,63 4 His beneficial work was carried out conforming to the wish of God, may the Lord be pleased with him, may the memory of his beneficence last forever. 5 He had this minaret constructed to raise the sound for the call for prayer at all (the right) times. 6 This was carried out by the order of the rightful representative of the God’s shadow of the age, Masnad-i ÅlÈ NiΩåm Khån (son) of Mujåhid Khån, as you should know. 7 With certainty it was the year nine hundred and twenty-six from the time of the flight of the Prophet of the end of time.64 8 If you ask for a few lines of verse for this excellent date, the tongue of the humble Óåmid opened fluently; 9 with the freshness of his style, surprisingly (bul-ajab)65 he made this interpretation: see O Lord of the World that the son of QårËn66 was a destitute man. This line is the same as line 2 of the verse in the inscription the BaolÈ of Khån-i Khånån (inscription No. 29) and can be seen as a respectful acknowledgement of a master poet, common in Persian literature. As this inscription is only twenty-four years later than that of the BaolÈ, Óåmid could have known WißålÈ and might even have been his pupil. 63 The Sasanian emperor known as ‘the Just’ in spite of records to the contrary. 64 Åkhar-zamån meaning the end of time or doomsday is often used with reference to the Prophet Mu˙ammad, as he is believed to be God’s last messenger and after him no other prophet would appear. 65 The name of the composer, Óåmid is given in line 8, but bul-ajab, ‘father of wonders’ in line 9 could be read as the composer’s nom de plume. 66 A legendary personage with boundless wealth, sometimes identified as the cousin of Moses. He appears in Quran XXVIII, 76: 62

ُّ‫وز َما إِنَّ َمفَاتِ َحهُ لَتَنُو ُءا بِ ْالعُصْ بَ ِة أُولِي ْالقُ َّو ِة إِ ْذ قَا َل لَهُ قَوْ ُمهُ َل تَ ْف َرحْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ َل ي ُِحب‬ ِ ُ‫إِنَّ قَارُونَ َكانَ ِم ْن قَوْ ِم ُمو َس ٰى فَبَغ َٰى َعلَ ْي ِه ْم َوآتَ ْينَاهُ ِمنَ ْال ُكن‬ َ‫ْالفَ ِر ِحين‬

(‘Now Korah was of the people of Moses; he became insolent to them, for We had given him treasures such that the very keys of them were too heavy a burden for a company of men endowed with

584 BAYANA ASIR, XX, pp. 73–4; HL, No. 205; PMIR, p. 48, No. 151; CII, pp. 21–2, pl. 18; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 392, No. 20. 34 1 Rama∂ån 930 (?), and certainly c. 923–32/1517–26 Worn out inscription of a step-well (B.44) in the fields north of Bayana town, recording the construction of the well in a garden during the reign of Ibraˉ hı¯ m Shaˉ h Lodı¯  by Nizaˉ m Khaˉ n ˙  Khaˉ n. b. Mujaˉ hid Khaˉ n or by Mutaˉ m Khaˉ n (?) b. Mujaˉ hid   ˙ (Plate I.34) The foundation stone of the step-well is in five lines of verse, still in situ, but the right side containing the first stanzas of each line has been eroded by rainwater, leaving only the left side with the second stanzas decipherable as it is partly protected by the gallery of the reservoir (words in square brackets are conjectural): ‫ سنا   بـکردنـد دریــن بـاغ بـائــین بنـا‬.............................................. ‫ [جهان](؟)   ابـراهیم شـاه بن اسکندر سلطان‬..................................... ‫ واحد (؟)   نـظامخـان (؟) ابـن خان مجـاهد‬........................................ ‫[این] بسال نهصد وسی اول ماه صیام (؟)   بود هجرت گشت این بائین تمام‬ )‫[هست این از] (؟) بهر سود خاص و عام   باد دائم این عمل خیـر مـدام (؟‬

1 2 3 4 5

1 ……… splendour, built this step-well in this garden, 2 ……… [of the world], IbråhÈm Shåh b. Sikandar, the Sultan 3 ……… singular, NiΩåm67 Khån b. the Khån, Mujåhid. 4 This was in the year nine hundred and thirty on the first of the fasting month,68 from the time of the flight (of the Prophet) when this step-well was completed. 5 [This is for] the benefit of high and low. May this beneficial deed last in perpetuity. CII, pp. 23–4, pl. 19b; BAI, XV, pp. 139, 142, fig. 18; BAI, XVIII, pp. 31–2; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 392, No. 19.

strength. When his people said to him “Do not exult; God loves not those that exult”’ (Arberry, II, p. 94). Arberry uses the Old Testament name Korah (Numbers, XVI, 1–40), but in the Quran it is QårËn. For another translation, see Muhammad Ali, p. 395. 67 The first two letters of the name appear to be m †, probably Mu†åm Khån, an unusual name probably derived from †åmma (the day of judgement). The name of the father is clearly Mujåhid. The words NiΩåm and Mu†åm are very close, and as no brother of NiΩåm Khån is known to have been called Mu†åm, the name NiΩåm is more likely. 68 The letters are badly worn out and the date is not entirely clear.

585

APPENDIX I

Plate I.34  Foundation stone of a step-well built in c. 923–32/1517–26.

35 c. 932–7/1526–30

Bayana fort. Damaged slab69 on the southern face of the northern gate recording the death of an Arab youth who was a naf†dår (?) (i.e., an artillery man) who died when the mine laid to destroy the iron gate blew up. Also mentions the Emperor Baˉ bur and Amı¯ r Duˉ st as the governor. ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.125; PMIR, p. 48, No. 152; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 392, No. 21.

The inscription, probably from gate F.6b, could not be found and its full text has not been reported.

69

586 BAYANA

Plate I.36  Epitaph of BÈbÈ KhadÈja who died on 15 Rajab 933/17 April 1527 or 15 Rajab 913/20 November 1507 in Hindaun.

36 15 Rajab 933/17 April 1527 or 15 Rajab 913/20 Nov. 1507

HINDAUN. Epitaph in tomb near Prahlåd Kun∂ recording the death of Bı¯ b¯ı  Khadı¯ ja, daughter of Qaˉ d¯ı  Karı¯ m al-dı¯ n Bukhaˉ rı¯ of Mahåwan and wife of Qaˉ d˙ ¯ı  Burhaˉ n al-dı¯ n b. Qaˉ d¯ı   Siraˉ j al-dı¯ n. (Plate I.36) ˙  ˙ 

The tomb is assembled from several panels and slabs, all elaborately carved. Three sides of the tomb are decorated with arched motifs, each with a rosette in the middle, while the corners are in the form of engaged columns ‘supporting’ several tiers of stones, the top slab having a mi˙råb pattern in the manner of Bayana tombstones. The dated inscription runs in five lines at the foot of the tomb: ‫ وفات مرحومه مغفوره بیبی خدیجه‬1 ‫ طاب ثراه و جعل الجنة ماواه (؟) بنت قاضی‬2 ‫ کریم الدین نایب قصبه مهاون و زوجه‬3

587

APPENDIX I

‫ قاضی برهان الدین ابن قاضی سراج الدین‬4 [‫ متوفی (؟) بتاریخ پانزدهم ماه رجب [سنه] ثالث و ثالثین(؟) (عشر؟) و تسـ [ـعمائه‬5

1 Died, pardoned and was taken to the mercy of (God) BÈbÈ KhadÈja, 2  may her grave be fragrant and her dwelling be in paradise, daughter of Qå∂È 3 KarÈm al-dÈn, Superintendent of the town of Mahåwan, and the wife of 4 Qå∂È Burhån al-dÈn b. Qå∂È Siråj al-dÈn. 5 Died on the fifteenth of the month of Rajab in the year nine hundred and thirty-three (or 913?).70 ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.164 (gives the date as 933); PMIR, p. 78, No. 245; CII, pp. 43–4, pl. 42 (gives the date as 913); MHJ, VIII, ii, pp. 392–3, No. 22. 37 15 Rajab 933/ 17 April 1527 or 15 Rajab 913/20 Nov. 1507

HINDAUN. Inscription on the cornice on the southern side of the chatrÈ tomb near Prahlåd Kun∂ recording the death of Bı¯ b¯ı  Khadı¯ ja daughter of Qaˉ d¯ı  Karı¯ m al-dı¯ n Bukhaˉ rı¯  of Mahåwan and wife of the governor˙  of the region Qaˉ d¯ı  Burhaˉ n al-dı¯ n b. Qaˉ d¯ı   Siraˉ j al-dı¯ n, who is further mentioned˙ as the governor of ˙  Hindaun. ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.165; PMIR, p. 78, No. 246; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 393, No. 23.

38 937/1530–1 (or 807/1404–?)

Inscription in the Au˙adÈ Graveyard (AbË Qandahår Graveyard) recording the construction of a tomb through the efforts of Amı¯ r Duˉ st (?) b. Amı¯ r Ibra¯hı¯ m Auhadı¯  (or Hirawı¯ ). ˙  (Plates 2.13, I.38a–d)

The epigraph is on a commemorative column (B.49) inscribed on four sides (Plate I.38a), three sides bearing verses from the Quran and the forth the historical text. The north side (Plate I.38b) bears Quran II, 255–6. The text and translation of The date is no longer clear; on site the reading of 913 seemed probable, but the slab may have been in better condition in 1955 when it was first reported and we have followed the reading of 933. However, the day seems to be 15th (‫ )پانزدهم‬of Rajab or even 11th (‫ )یازدهم‬rather than 16th given in the earlier report.

70

588 BAYANA

Plate I.38a–d  General view and Quranic inscriptions on three sides of an inscribed column dated 937/1530–1 or 807/1404–5 recording the construction of a tomb through the efforts of AmÈr DËst: a: top left; b: top right; c: bottom left; d: bottom right. For the historical record, see Plate 2.13.

589

APPENDIX I

Verse 255, appearing in lines 1–8 is already given above (No. 21) and here is followed by: ‫ِّين‬ ِ ‫َل إِ ْك َراهَ فِي الد‬ َ‫قَ ْد تَبَيَّنَ الرُّ ْش ُد ِمن‬ َّ ُ ‫ت‬ ِ ‫َي فَ َم ْن يَ ْكفُرْ بِالطاغو‬ ِّ ‫ْالغ‬ ‫ك‬ َ ‫َوي ُْؤ ِم ْن بِاللَّ ِ فَقَ ِد ا ْستَ ْم َس‬ ‫صا َم‬ َ ِ‫بِ ْالعُرْ َو ِة ْال ُو ْثقَ ٰى َل ا ْنف‬ ‫لَهَا َوللاَّ ُ َس ِمي ٌع َعلِي ٌم‬

 9 10 11 12 13 14

No compulsion is there in religion. Rectitude has become clear from error. So whosoever disbelieves in idols and believes in God, has laid hold of the most firm handle, unbreaking; God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.71 On the east side (Plate I.38c) are Quran CIX, 1–6, followed by Quran CXII, 1–4: *‫  بِسْم هللاِ الرّحْ َمن الرّحیم‬1 ‫  قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا ْال َكافِرُونَ * َل أَ ْعبُ ُد‬2 َ‫  َما تَ ْعبُ ُدونَ * َو َل أَ ْنتُ ْم عَابِ ُدون‬3 *‫  َما أَ ْعبُدُ* َو َل أَنَا عَابِ ٌد َما َعبَ ْدتُ ْم‬4 ُ‫  َو َل أَ ْنتُ ْم عَابِ ُدونَ َما أَ ْعبُدُ* لَ ُك ْم ِدينُك ْم‬5 *‫ين‬ ِ ‫  َولِ َي ِد‬6 *‫  بِسْم هللاِ الرّحْ َمن الرّحیم‬7 *‫  قُلْ هُ َو للاَّ ُ أَ َح ٌد‬8 َّ ‫  للاَّ ُ ال‬9 ‫ص َمدُ* لَ ْم يَلِ ْد‬ ‫ َولَ ْم يُولَ ْد* َولَ ْم‬10 ‫ يَ ُك ْن لَهُ ُكفُ ًوا‬11 ‫ أَ َح ٌد* و ما توفیقی‬12 In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate* ‘Say: “O unbelievers* I serve not what you serve* and you are not serving what I serve* nor am I serving what you have served* neither are you serving what I have served.* To you your religion, and to me my religion”* (CIX, 1–6) In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate* Say: “He is God, One* God, the Everlasting Refuge* who has not begotten* and has not been begotten* and equal to Him is not anyone”*’ (CXII, 1–4).72 And may we receive divine guidance.73 The west side (Plate I.38d) bears Quran CXIII, 1–5, followed by Quran CXIV, 1–6: Arberry, I, p. 65; also see Muhammad Ali, pp. 46–7. Arberry, II, pp. 358, 361; also see Muhammad Ali, pp. 620, 622. 73 ‘And my we receive divine guidance’ (‫ )و ما توفیقی‬is not from the Quran, but a prayer added at the end of the quotations. 71 72

590 BAYANA ‫  بِسْم هللاِ الرّحْ َمن الرّحیم‬1 ‫ق* ِم ْن َش ِّر َما‬ ِ َ‫  قُلْ أَعُو ُذ بِ َربِّ ْالفَل‬2 *‫ب‬ َ َ‫ق إِ َذا َوق‬ ِ ‫  َخلَقَ* َو ِم ْن َشرِّ غ‬3 ٍ ‫َاس‬ ْ *‫ت فِي ال ُعقَ ِد‬ ِ ‫  َو ِم ْن َش ِّر النَّفَّاثَا‬4 *َ‫اس ٍد إِ َذا َح َسد‬ ِ ‫  َو ِم ْن َش ِّر َح‬5 *‫  بِسْم هللاِ الرّحْ َمن الرّحیم‬6 ِّ‫  قُلْ أَعُو ُذ بِ َرب‬7 َّ *‫اس‬ ِ ‫اس* َملِ ِك الن‬ ِ َّ‫  الن‬8 ٰ ِّ‫اس* ِم ْن َشر‬ ِ َّ‫  إِلَ ِه الن‬9 *‫اس‬ ِ َّ‫اس ْال َخن‬ ِ ‫ ْال َو ْس َو‬10 ُ‫ الَّ ِذي يُ َوس ِْوس‬11 َّ *‫اس‬ ُ ‫ فِي‬12 ِ ‫ُور الن‬ ِ ‫صد‬ ‫ ِمنَ ْال ِجنَّ ِة‬13 *‫اس‬ ِ َّ‫ َوالن‬14 In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate* ‘Say: “I take refuge with the Lord of the Daybreak* from the evil of what He has created* from the evil of darkness when it gathers* from the evil of the women who blow on knots* from the evil of an envier when he envies”* (CXIII, 1–5). In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate* Say “I take refuge with the Lord of men* the King of Men* the God of men* from the evil of the slinking whisperer* who whispers in the breasts of men* of jinn and men”*’. (CXIV, 1–5)74 On the south side (Plate 2.13) below the proclamation of faith is the historical text in nastalÈq75 script: ‫بِسْم هللاِ الرّحْ َمن الرّحیم‬ َُ‫اَ ْشهَ ُد اَ ْن َل اِ ٰلهَ اِالَهلل َوحْ َدهُ َل َشریک له‬ ُ‫َواَ ْشهَ ُد اَ َّن ُم َح ّمداً َعبْدهُ َو َرسُولَه‬ ‫بسعی و اهتمام امیر [د] وست‬ ‫ابن امیر [ا]برا [هـ ] ـیم ا [و حـ] ـدی (؟ هروی ؟) غفرهللا‬ ‫المومنین‬ ٔ ‫له و لوالدی و لجمیع‬ ‫المومنات و المسلِمین و المسلمات‬ ٔ ‫و‬ )‫ (؟‬٩)٣(٧ ‫سنه‬ 1 In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful. 2 I profess that there is no God but God. He is the Only One and He has no partner Arberry, II, pp. 362–3; also see Muhammad Ali, pp. 622–3. The Quranic verses are in the expected naskhÈ script, but the historical section is in nastalÈq, a cursive script developed in Iran in the late fourteenth to early fifteenth centuries, and appears in Indian inscriptions only from the time of the Mughals. This is its earliest appearance in Bayana and one of the earliest in Indian epigraphy. See Chapter 2, Pl. 2.13, for a detailed discussion of the historical text and its style.

74 75

591

APPENDIX I

3 and I profess that Mu˙ammad is his Servant and his Messenger. 4 (Built) with the effort and endeavour of AmÈr [D]Ëst 5 son of AmÈr [I]bråhÈm [Au]˙ådÈ (?) (or [Hi]rawÈ) may God forgive 6 him and his father and all believers, men 7 and women and Muslim men and women 8 in the year 9[3]7 (1530–1). ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.115 (gives YËsuf and the date as 937); PMIR, 49, No. 153; CII, pp. 18–19, pls 10–12 (gives DËst and the date as 807). MHJ, VIII, ii, pp. 370–2, fig. 9; p. 393, No. 24. AmÈr DËst may be the same as the governor under Båbur whose inscription of c. 932–7/1526–30 at the fort has already been noted. In this case, the date 937 is more probable. 39 940/1533–4

Bayana fort. Inscription on an interior lintel of the Imårat-i BådgÈr (F.33) recording in two lines of Persian verse, in nastalÈq script, its construction during the reign of Humaˉ yuˉ n. (See Plate 9.18) ‫در عهد همایون شه فرخنده سیر‬ ‫تــاریـخ تـو ماننـده قصـر قیصـر‬ ٩٤٠

‫ای قصر جنان که خوبیت گشته سمر‬ ‫ماننـده قصـر قیصـری زان رو شـد‬

1 O heavenly mansion whose splendour has become a legend; (built) at the time of the fortunate HumåyËn Shåh of exultant disposition. 2 Appearing equal to the palace of qaißar (Caesar) for the reason that your date equals qaßr-i qaißar76 (palace of Caesar). 3 940 Iqtidar Alam Khan, ‘New light on the history of two early Mughal monuments of Bayana’, pp. 78–80; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 393, No. 25. 40 953/1546–7

GARH. A partially damaged inscription from the mosque inside the fort recording its construction by Khwåja Khi∂r son of (?) Daryaˉ  Khaˉ n during the reign of Islaˉ m Shaˉ h Suˉ rı¯  and the governorship (?) of Kha¯n-i Az.am and Kha¯qa¯n-i Muaz.z.am Shams Kha¯n. (Plate I.40)

Månanda-yi qaßr-i qaißar makes 940 in the numerical alphabet:

76

200=‫ ر‬،90=‫ ص‬،10=‫ ی‬،100=‫ ق‬،200=‫ ر‬،90=‫ ص‬،100=‫ ق‬،5=‫ ه‬،4=‫ د‬،50=‫ ن‬،50=‫ ن‬،1=‫ ا‬،40=‫م‬

592 BAYANA

Plate I.40  Damaged inscription of the mosque at Garh dated 953/1546–7, from ASIR, XX, pl. 19.

The Persian inscription is read from Cunningham’s tracing, which is blank at both the lower corners, where the text was presumably damaged. Although most of the text is clear and decipherable, some words seem obscure and may have been traced without understanding. The year is given in Arabic and repeated in Persian. The beginning of line 6, which seems to have contained the day and the month, is blank. ‫بِسْم هللاِ الرّحْ َمن الرّحیم َل اِ ٰلهَ اِالَهلل ُم َح َّمد َرسُول هللا بنای هذه المسجد در عهد‬ ‫خداوند جهان قطب دایره زمان قایم مقام سُلیمان ناصر اهل ایمان اتابک‬ َّ‫اعظم شهنشاه معظم مالک الرقابُ [ا]المم مولی سالطین العرب و العجم مظفر الدنیا و الدین ابوالمظفر‬ ... ‫ و‬... ‫اسلیم شاه بن شیر شاه سلطان خلد هللا ملکه و سلطانه و اعلي امره و شانه‬ .... ‫]حسب االمرخـ] ـان اعظم و خاقان معظم شمسخان باهتمام (؟) خواجه خضر دریا خان‬ [‫…… در عهد ثلث خمسین و تسعمایه نهصد و پنجاه [و سه] سال از هجرت [نبوی‬

1 2 3 4 5 6 ‫ ]کـ] تبـ [ـه] جالل حسین (؟) سنبهي (؟) فاروقی‬7

1 In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate, there is no god but God, Mu˙ammad is his Messenger. This mosque was constructed during the reign of 2 the lord of the world, the centre of the circle of the age, successor of Solomon, defender of the people of faith, the eminent lord, 3 the great emperor (shahanshåh), guardian of all people, the lord of the sultans of the Arabs and the Persians,77 defender of the world and the faith, father of victory, 4 IslÈm Shåh b. ShÈr Shåh, the sultan, may God prolong his kingdom and his sovereignty and elevate his authority and his honour … 5 [On the order of] the great khan and the elevated lord, Shams Khån, with the effort of Khwåja Khi∂r (son) of Daryå Khån … The SËrÈ period is very late for using this phrase, but it seems that the composer borrowed this and other extravagant titles from earlier inscriptions.

77

593

APPENDIX I

6 … [of the month of …] in the year nine hundred and fifty-three of the flight [of the Prophet]. 7 Written by Jalål Óusain FårËqÈ of Sanbah (?)78 ASIR, XX, pp. 91–2, pl. 19; HL, No. 1223; ARIE, 1963–4, No. D.315; PMIR, p. 76, No. 239; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 393, No. 26. 41 957/1550–1

A much damaged inscription on a lintel of the City Gate near the Ta˙ßÈl (revenue) Office seems to record the construction of ¯ lı¯  Sarfaraˉ z Khaˉ n during the a pleasant abode (?) by Masnad-i A ˙  reign of Islaˉ m Shaˉ h Suˉ rı¯ .79 ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.114; PMIR, p. 49, No. 154; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 394, No. 27.

42 c. 957/1550–1

Undated religious inscription, reported to have been over the arch of the City Gate near the Ta˙ßÈl Office, containing Quran II, 255.80 It may be related to the dated inscription of the gate. ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.113; PMIR, p. 49, No. 155; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 394, No. 28.

43 Shawwål 961/ Aug.–Sept. 1554

Inscription reported on Jhålar BåolÈ (B.45), recording the construction of a mosque by Daulat Khaˉ n b. Daryaˉ  Khaˉ n Lauhaˉ nı¯ 81   for the merit of Sayyid Mı¯ raˉ n the successor of the Holy ˙Saint (Íå˙ib-i Wilåyat).82 (Plate I.43)

The reading of the words Óusain and Sanbah is not certain. Sanbah could mean the town of Sambhar, by the side of a salt lake of the same name between Bayana and Jaipur. 79 This and the following inscription could not be found. It may have been on the Lal Darwåzå (B.19). 80 This verse of the Quran, Åyat al-kursÈ, already seen on several epitaphs (inscriptions Nos 21, 27 and 30), although unusual for a commemorative inscription of a gate appears in Bayana on the lintels of some old houses (inscription No. 58 below). The original location given for this inscription, apparently the Lal Darwåza (B.19) may have been confused in the 1955–6 report, which was based on the ink impression received in that year. There are occasional errors regarding locations in ARIE. 81 PMIR gives the name as NË˙ånÈ, but this must be a misreading for Lau˙ånÈ, a well-known clan whose members served in the SËrÈ court. 82 The inscription could not be found and the mosque to which it refers no longer exists. The text is read here for the first time from Cunningham’s tracing (reproduced here), but he did not discuss the inscription in his report. The ARIE summary report with a provisional reading of the text has many errors, and all later mentions of this inscription (including ours in MHJ) relied on the erroneous ARIE report. 78

594 BAYANA

Plate I.43  Lost inscription from a mosque dated Shawwål 961/August–September 1554, from ASIR, XX, pl. 37.

‫ هُ َو الحي القیوم‬1 ‫ بِنَا و راست کنانید عمارت این مسجد بنیَّت حضرت سید میران حجت آن صاحب والیت‬2 ‫ قدس هللا سره بنده انور درگاه بانی دولت خان دریا خان لوحانی ماه شوال سنه احدی و ستین و تسعمایه‬3 1 He is Life Eternal. 2 Founded and built this mosque in fulfilment of a vow, for the blessed Sayyid Mirån, the successor of that Holy Saint, 3 may God bless his innermost thoughts. The founder (is) the servant of his illuminated threshold, Daulat Khån (son) of Daryå Khån Lau˙ånÈ. In the month of Shawwål of the year nine hundred and sixty-one. This is the only inscription in Bayana that seems to be associated directly with Shaikh AlåÈ (the Mahdi) and his disciples. While dated about six years after the death of Shaikh AlåÈ and a few months after the death of Islåm Shåh, the inscription clearly indicates that the Mahdi’s movement was still active in Bayana and could attract even such a personage as Daulat Khån, one of the nobles of the SËrÈ court and probably the fief-holder of Bayana. ASIR, XX, pl. 37; HL, No. 206; ARIE, 1962–3, No. D.190; PMIR, pp. 49–50, No. 156; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 394, No. 29. 44 973/1565–6

Two inscribed panels on the wall of the khånaqåh (hospice, Sufi centre) of Shaikh Sad’ullaˉ h recording that the shaikh built the khånaqåh during the reign of the Emperor Akbar.83 (Plate I.44)

The first panel contains three lines of fairly well composed Persian verse in nastalÈq script. In the ink impression, apparently prepared in 1955 but published in 1969 The khånaqåh or its original location is no longer known, and the inscriptions could not be found.

83

595

APPENDIX I

Plate I.44  Two inscribed panels dated 973/1565–6 on the wall of the khånaqåh of Shaikh Sad’ullåh, from EIAPS, 1969, pl. 8a.

(reproduced here), the lines appear in reverse order and it is not clear whether this is an error by those who took the impression or if the verses were originally carved in reverse order, an uncommon, but not entirely unacceptable practice: ‫که او با عدل و احسان در والیت آمده ٰوالی‬ ‫که قصـر عالی او از قصـور افراخته خـالی‬ ‫خرد گفتا که تاریـخش چو کـعبه خانقه عالی‬

‫ بـدوران جالل الدین مح ّمد اکبـر غازی‬1 ‫ بنا کرده چو کعبه خانقاهي شیخ سعد هللا‬2 ‫ چو تاریخ بنای خانقاهش از خرد جستم‬3

1 In the era of Jalål al-dÈn Mu˙ammad Akbar the holy warrior, who has become the ruler of the land with justice and beneficence, 2 Shaikh Sad’ullåh built a Kaba-like khånaqåh,84 the palatial elegance of which is free from blemish. 3 On my asking wisdom for his khånaqåh’s date, wisdom replied that its date is: ‘equal to an impeccable Kaba-like khånaqåh’85 The second panel contains another three lines of Persian verse, again in nastalÈq script, but poorly composed. Shaikh Sad’ullåh, known as a master of grammar (na˙wÈ) might have composed the verses on the first panel, but perhaps not these verses. He died in 989/1581–2 and was buried in his khånaqåh.86 ‫کو بملک شـاهنشه آمد‬ ‫خانقـاه چـون کعبه آمد‬ ‫خـانقــاه سعـد االه آمـد‬

‫ در زمان شه اکبر غازی‬1 ‫ کرد شیخ سعـد هللا مرکز‬2 ‫ چون شمرد تاریخ بنایش‬3

The abode of a Sufi shaikh where he also preached to his disciples. The date in numerical alphabet for ‘‫ ’چو کعبه خانقه عالی‬is equal to 973:

84 85

10 =‫ ی‬،30 =‫ ل‬،1 = ‫ ا‬،70 =‫ ع‬،5 = ‫ ه‬،100 =‫ ق‬،50 =‫ ن‬،1 = ‫ ا‬،600 =‫ خ‬،5 = ‫ ه‬،2 =‫ ب‬،70 =‫ ع‬،20 =‫ ک‬،6 =‫ و‬،3 =‫چ‬ Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), III, p. 108; (tr.) III, pp. 160–1.

86

596 BAYANA 1 During the reign of the warrior king Akbar who became the emperor of the land 2 Shaikh Sad’ullåh made this khånaqåh a focus, as is the House of Kaba. 3 When counting up the date of its construction, it came as ‘the khånaqåh of Sad-i ilåh’.87 ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.121; EIAPS, 1969, pp. 50–1, pl. 8a; PMIR, p. 50, No. 157; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 394, No. 30. 45 1005/1596–7

DHOLPUR. Epitaph of Saˉ diq Muhammad Khaˉ n recording his ˙  ˙  death. Transactions of the Archaeological Society, Agra, January– June 1875, p. iii, HL, No. 597; PMIR, p. 57, No. 178; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 394, No. 31.

46 1006/1597–8

DHOLPUR. Tomb of Saˉ diq Muhammad Khaˉ n recording its ˙  ˙  son Abd al-Rashı¯ d during construction by Saˉ diq Muh ammad’s   ˙  ˙ the reign of Emperor Akbar. Transactions of the Archaeological Society, Agra, January– June 1875, p. iii, HL, No. 598; PMIR, p. 57, No. 179; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 394, No. 32.

47 1008/1599–1600

BARAMBAD. Inscription of Mı¯ r Muhammad Masuˉ m Naˉ mı¯    Bakkarı¯  on the north-west pilaster of˙ the southern˙  chatrÈ of the entrance of the Ïdgåh Masjid (BR.1). (See Plate 5.47) ‫بنیاد زمانه همچو نقشی است بر آب‬ ‫بیـداری یکزمان و باقـی همه خواب‬

‫نامی بگشا چشم بصیرت دریاب‬ ‫با تو گویم که حاصل دنیا چیست‬ ‫قایله امیر محمد معصوم البکری‬ ‫مسکنتا ً و الترمزی اصالً و النامی‬ ١٠٠٨ ‫تخلصا ً حرر میر بزرگ سنه‬

NåmÈ open your eye of wisdom and comprehend that the foundation of one’s time is as an image drawn on water.

The word allåh is given in the inscription, but for its date in the numerical alphabet to work correctly, the word should be read as ilåh which also means God; ‘‫ ’خانقاه سعد االه آمد‬equals 973:

87

4=‫د‬، 40=‫م‬، 1=‫آ‬، 5=‫ه‬، 1=‫ا‬، 30=‫ل‬، 1=‫ا‬، 4=‫د‬، 70=‫ع‬، 60=‫س‬، 5=‫ه‬، 1=‫ا‬، 100=‫ق‬، 50=‫ن‬، 1=‫ا‬، 600=‫خ‬

597

APPENDIX I

I tell you what is the harvest of the world; wakeful you are only for a moment and the rest is (eternal) sleep. Composed by the humble AmÈr Mu˙ammad MaßËm, resident of Bakkar, originally from Tirmidh88 and known as al-NåmÈ,89 written by MÈr Buzurg,90 in the year 1008. MHJ, VIII, ii, pp. 384–5, fig. 11, p. 395, No. 33; MHJ, XIII, ii, pp. 180–2, fig. 15 (caption gives the date erroneously as 1007, but the text is correct). 48 1010/1601–2

An inscription of Mı¯r Muh.ammad Mas.u¯m Na¯mı¯ Bakkarı¯ on a column of a chatrÈ near the Jhåbri (JhåjhrÈ, B.15) recording that Emperor Akbar passed through the place after his conquest of the Deccan and Khåndesh.91 ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.120; PMIR, p. 50, No. 158; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 395, No. 34.

49 1022/1613–14

BARAMBAD. On the surviving gate of Maryam’s garden and well (BR.5), recording the construction of the well and the garden by the order of Maryam Zama¯nı¯ during the seventh year of the reign of the Emperor Jaha¯ngı¯r.

The inscription is in four lines of Persian verse, carved consecutively in two lines of nastalÈq script on three marble panels set below the parapet of the gate, with the middle panel twice as long than the flanking ones. The last stanza gives the date in alphabetic numerals: ‫جهان شد دلـکش از مه تا بماهی‬ ‫کــزو تـابنــده شـد نــور الـهـی‬ ‫ز شرمش خلد را شد چهره کاهی‬ ‫سنــه هـفــت جــلوس پــادشـاهـی‬

‫بعهد شاه نور ال ّدیـن جهـانگیـر‬ ‫بحـکم مـادرش مریــم زمـانـی‬ ‫مرتب گشـت باغ و بای دلکش‬ ‫خرد گفت از پی تاریخ هجری‬

1 2 3 4

Termez, a town in Greater Khuråsån, now a border town in Uzbekistan, north of Mazar-i Sharif in Afghanistan. 89 Al-nåmi, meaning renowned, was MÈr MaßËm’s poetical takhalluß, the nom de plume that he used to refer to himself in his poetry. 90 MÈr Buzurg was MÈr MaßËm’s son, not stated in this inscription, but in many of the other inscriptions. Both father and son were competent calligraphers and some of MÈr MaßËm’s inscriptions are in his own hand, others in his son’s. 91 The chatrÈ has long been demolished and the inscription lost. 88

598 BAYANA 1 At the time of Shåh NËr al-dÈn JahångÈr the world became pleasant to the heart, from the moon (in the sky) to the fish (in the sea). 2 Under the order of his mother, Maryam ZamånÈ, from whom shines a divine light, 3  This delightful garden and step-well were established (and) the heavens became pale as straw with shame. 4  Wisdom said for its ÓijrÈ date: ‘the seventh year of his majesty’s enthronement’.92 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1873, p. 159; HL, No. 207; PMIR, p. 27, No. 82; BAI, XVIII, pp. 36–8, fig. 15; MHJ, VIII, ii, pp. 386, 395, No. 35 50 RabÈ I 1033/ Dec. 1623–Jan. 1624

HINDAUN. Inscription over the central mi˙råb of the Khwåja AlÈ Takiya (religious gathering place) in KhårÈ ma˙alla recording the construction of the mosque by AlÈ Khån during the governorship of Sayyid Mı¯ r Muh.ammad Mas.u¯m (at the time of the Emperor Jahangı¯ r). ARIE, 1955–6, no. D. 162; PMIR, pp. 78–9, No. 247; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 395, No. 36.

51 19 Mu˙arram 1050/1 May 1640

HINDAUN. Inscription on the platform of a grave recording the construction of a well by Sayyid Qaˉ sim b. Uthmaˉ n (during the reign of Shaˉ h Jahaˉ n). ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.160; PMIR, p. 79, No. 248; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 395, No. 37.

52 1070/1659

HINDAUN. Inscription over the mi˙råb of Bårå Khambå mosque recording its construction during the second year of the reign of Aurangzı¯ b by Jalı¯ s Faˉ tima through the efforts of   ˉ qaˉ  Kamaˉ laˉ . (Plate˙I.52) Mı¯ r Fa¯d.il son of A

The inscription opens with the first verse of the Quran followed by the Pro­ clamation of Faith and four lines of verse, with each stanza given in a separate line.

‘‫ ’سنه هـفت جلوس پادشاهی‬equals 1022:

92

10=‫ ی‬،5=‫هـ‬، 1=‫ ا‬،300=‫ش‬، 4=‫ د‬،1=‫ ا‬،2=‫ پ‬،60=‫ س‬،6=‫ و‬،30=‫ ل‬،3=‫ج‬،400=‫ ت‬،80=‫ ف‬،5=‫ هـ‬،5=‫ هـ‬،50=‫ ن‬،60=‫س‬

‫‪599‬‬

‫ ‪APPENDIX I‬‬

‫‪Plate I.52  Inscription dated 19 Mu˙arram 1050/1 May 1640 on the platform of a grave in Hindaun‬‬ ‫‪recording the construction of a well, from EIM, 1923–4, pl. 7b.‬‬

‫‪1‬‬ ‫‪2‬‬ ‫‪3‬‬ ‫‪4‬‬ ‫‪5‬‬ ‫‪6‬‬ ‫‪7‬‬ ‫‪8‬‬ ‫‪9‬‬ ‫‪10‬‬ ‫‪11‬‬ ‫‪12‬‬

‫بِسْم هللاِ الرّحْ َمن الرّحیم‬ ‫َل اِ ٰلهَ اِالَهلل‬ ‫ُم َح َّمد َرسُول هللا‬ ‫بعهد شاه عالم گیر غازي‬ ‫که عالم را گرفت از مهر تا ماه‬ ‫جلیس (؟) فاطمه آل پیامبر‬ ‫بکرد این مسجد عالي سر راه‬ ‫شد اتمامش بسعی میر فاضل‬ ‫ولد آقا کماال رحمة هللا‬ ‫خرد گفت از پی تاریخ هجریش‬ ‫سنه (؟) …… [جـ]ـلوس شاه جم جاه‬ ‫سنه ‪١٠٧٠‬‬ ‫‪  1 In the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful,‬‬ ‫‪  2 There is no god but God,‬‬ ‫‪  3 Mu˙ammad is God’s Messenger.‬‬

600 BAYANA   4 At the time of the conqueror of the world,93 the Warrior king,   5 who took over the world from the sun to the moon,   6 JalÈs (?)94 Få†ima, a descendant of the Prophet,   7 built this splendid mosque by the public road.   8 It was completed with the efforts of MÈr Få∂il.   9 the son of Åqå Kamålå, may he be taken into the Mercy of God. 10 For its ÓijrÈ date wisdom declared 11 the year ………95 of the enthronement of the king whose glory is like JamshÈd 12 the year96 1070 EIM, 1923–4, pp. 24–5, pl. 7b; ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.156; PMIR, p. 79, No. 249; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 395, No. 38. 53 1070/1659–60

HINDAUN. Inscription over the central mi˙råb of the Kacheri mosque (courthouse mosque) recording its construction in the Dargåh of Shaˉ h Jafar of Mecca during the reign of Aurangzı¯ b ˉ qaˉ  Kamaˉ laˉ . by A ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.158; PMIR, pp. 79–80, No. 250; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 396, No. 39.

54 Rajab 1073/ Jan.–Feb. 1663

HINDAUN. Inscription on the frieze above the railings of ˉ qaˉ  Kamaˉ laˉ . 97 some graves recording the death of A ARIE, 1955–6, No. D.157; PMIR, p. 80, No. 251; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 396, No. 40.

Note: There are a few more inscriptions in Hindaun dating from the late and post-Mughal period not related to Bayana and not given here, see PMIR, pp. 80–2, ‘The conqueror of the world’ (ålamgÈr) is the formal title of the Emperor AurangzÈb. The ink impression is not clear at this point. JalÈs was given originally in the earlier reading in EIM, but as this Få†ima is declared to be a descendant of the Prophet the word may be Sayyida the feminine of Sayyid, used to signify descent from the Prophet. 95 At this point the ink impression is blank, indicating that the date had been obliterated. From the line above one would expect the ÓijrÈ date to follow; instead, the surviving line suggests that the date given in the numerical alphabet referred to the regnal year of AurangzÈb. The date might have been erased, perhaps because it was calculated erroneously. 96 There is some confusion in the date as appears in EIM. In the Persian text the date is given as 1074, which may be a misprint, and in translation as 1076/1665, which may have been the intention of Ghulam Yazdani, the editor, who studied the ink impression in its original size (see note below). In the reproduction, however, the numerical date appears as 1070, which would fall in the third year of AurangzÈb’s reign. 97 If this Åqå Kamålå is the same as the one mentioned in the previous inscription the EIM date would be wrong as it would record Åqå Kamålå building the mosque three years after his death. 93 94

601

APPENDIX I

Plate I.55a  Obliterated inscription datable to c. 824–38/1421–34 on the entrance platform of an old building in Bayana, right side.

Nos 252–7. There are also a number of undated inscriptions of historical interest in Bayana, which are listed below. 55 … … (fifteenth century) (c. 824–38/ 1421–34)

Defaced inscription on the entrance platform of an old building (B.11) now part of the High School compound, originally with a long text of a decree (farmån) or public notice of charitable acts and distribution of bread (?). (Plates I.55a–c; also see Plate 9.8)

The inscription was in naskhÈ script written in a competent hand in six lines on several blocks of stone. As all the Mughal inscriptions in Bayana, including those of the time Båbur (No. 38) and of the first period of Humåyun’s reign (No. 39) are in nastalÈq, the defaced inscription is likely to be from an earlier period. However, much of the inscription has been chipped away and little is left to determine the date or the ruler at the time, but from what could be read the third line seems to refer to distribution of bread, either free or with one out of ten being free (... ‫ نان رایگان (؟) از هر ده نانی‬...). One block, which contained a large part of the

602 BAYANA

Plate I.55b  Obliterated inscription datable to c. 824–38/1421–34, middle. The words nån-i råygån (free bread) can be seen in line 3 and the title of the sultan, muizz al-daulat wa al-dÈn, in line 6.

Plate I.55c  Obliterated inscription datable to c. 824–38/1421–34, left side.

603

APPENDIX I

right‑hand side of the inscription, has been obliterated completely. Elsewhere traces of letters can be seen in the brighter red of the fresh surface of the stone, which contrasts to the paler colour of the older weathered background. Best preserved is the closing sentence of Line 6 referring to a sultan. His name is lost and his title not clear, but could be suggested as Muizz al-dÈn: … ‫… در عهد شاه دولت پناه … عالم (؟) … الملوک و السّالطین مع ّز (؟) ال ّدولت و ال ّدین‬ … during the reign of the asylum of the empire, king … of the world … of princes and kings, Muizz al-daulat wa al-dÈn (the honour of the kingdom and the faith) … If the suggested reading is accepted, the only sultans with the title Muizz al-dÈn were Bahråm Shåh, one of Ïltutmish’s sons who ruled between 1240 and 1242; Kaiqubåd (r. 1287–90); and Mubårak Shåh Sayyid (r. 1421–34). The style of the script is closer to that of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, although on stylistic grounds alone an earlier date cannot be ruled out. The surviving parts of the building are also difficult to date and seem to have been restored and partly rebuilt at different times, but, as the inscriptions appear to have been carved on an existing building, a fifteenth-century date is safer to assume. This would put the inscription at the time of the Au˙adÈs, who were much involved with the affairs of Delhi and were eventually instrumental in saving the precarious throne of the Sayyids. Another point directs us to such a suggestion; the sultan’s name appears at the end of the inscription rather than at the beginning. This is most unusual, but we should bear in mind that the Au˙adÈs did not entirely accept Sayyid sovereignty and had a difficult, often confrontational relationship with Delhi. CII, pp. 20–1, pls 16–17; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 396, No. 41. 56 … … (midfifteenth century?)

Sikandra. Epitaph of Fuˉ laˉ d Muhammad who was in the ˙  killed after a brave fight company of an army of Khuråsån and against the infidels. (Plates I.56a–d)

The tombstone, dislodged from its original place, now lies to the east of the fort by the side of a destroyed chatrÈ which originally housed the grave of FËlåd Mu˙ammad (S.4), with its structural elements – column shafts, stone lintels and capital brackets – left scattered around. All four sides of the tombstone are inscribed with historical information in a crude naskhÈ script in Persian, and on the top of the stone there seems to have been another slab, now lost, which would have presumably been carved with Quranic verses. The long text is chipped in many places, obscuring the exact meaning, but as a whole it describes the bravery of FËlåd Mu˙ammad, a native of Khuråsån, in the battle that led to his death. Three sides of the tomb contain two lines of text except the left side, which

604 BAYANA

Plate I.56a  Epitaph of FËlåd Mu˙ammad in Sikandra, right side.

Plate I.56b  Epitaph of FËlåd Mu˙ammad, foot of the tombstone.

contains three. The narrative appears to begin on the right side of the head of the tombstone:98 This is probably one of the most informative inscriptions in Bayana, and yet the most problematic. Between the words and the lines are numerous marks in relief that do not seem to relate to the text, as though there had been an earlier inscription that had been removed for this new epitaph and these marks are the reminiscence of the old text. However, they may be enigmatic signs and symbols, which would have been understood by members of FËlåd Mu˙ammad’s sect, or they could simply be the remains of words, which have partly flaked off. The other problem is that the flow of the text is ambiguous and it is not clear if on each face of the stone the text continues on the

98

605

APPENDIX I

Plate I.56c  Epitaph of FËlåd Mu˙ammad, left side.

Plate I.56d  Epitaph of FËlåd Mu˙ammad, head of the tombstone.

‫ ]آ] مده سید فوالد محمد خراسانی از دوستی تاج الدین محمد بدخشانی این سید سالکی (؟) بود … تا یک پا‬1 ‫ ]بـ]ـود که جسم دوست او که زحمتی شد است و خود سی و پنج زخم تیر و نیزه خورد است ای دریغ از نو‬2 ‫جوانی نو جوانی تو‬ on the foot: ‫ جنگ کرده بتنهائی (؟) تنها از این هژده کو‬1 ‫ از پنجه (؟) جنگ دشمنان دوباره (؟) فرای (؟) حجام گرفتی‬2 line below, or if each line of the text continues on the other sides (except perhaps on the head of the tomb). The poor composition of the text and lack of good grammar also adds to the ambiguity of the content, nevertheless there is still a wealth of information in this unusual epitaph, which requires careful consideration.

606 BAYANA on the left side: ‫ ر (؟) زخم او داد تمام (؟) زهر هالهل دریغا جان سپرد یک ساعت را نواله بهاری دریغ از تو (نو؟) جوانی‬1 ‫توئی میر فوالد بهادری از دوستی تاج الدین محمد‬ ‫ کشتند دوستان دشمن جان او که در یک یکشبه (؟) … در رکاب (؟) او بندگی هللا می گفتند میزد خود کافران‬2 ‫تیغ جنگ می کشید یا هللا مددت می گفت‬ ‫ اشهد ان ال اله االهلل وحده ال شریک له و اشهد ان محمدا عبده و رسوله ○ یا هللا یا هللا یا هللا‬3 The flow of the text suggests that it ran continuously around the tomb except perhaps on the head of the stone. In this case, the text should be treated as follows: ‫ ]آ] مده سید فوالد محمد خراسانی از دوستی تاج الدین محمد بدخشانی این سید سالکی (؟) بود … تا یک پا‬1 ‫جنگ کرده بتنهائی (؟) تنها از این هژده کور (؟) زخم او داد تمام (؟) زهر هالهل دریغا جان سپرد یک ساعت‬ ‫را نواله بهاری دریغ از تو (نو؟) جوانی توئی میر فوالد بهادری از دوستی تاج الدین محمد‬ ‫ ]بـ]ـود که جسم دوست او که زحمتی شد است و خود سی و پنج زخم تیر و نیزه خورد است ای دریغ از نو‬2 ‫جوانی نو جوانی تو از پنجه (؟) جنگ دشمنان دوباره (؟) فرای (؟) لجام گرفتی کشتند دوستان دشمن جان‬ ‫او که در یک یکشبه (؟) … در رکاب (؟) او بندگی هللا می گفتند میزد خود کافران تیغ جنگ می کشید یا هللا‬ ‫مددت می گفت‬ ‫ اشهد ان ال اله االهلل وحده ال شریک له و اشهد ان محمدا عبده و رسوله ○ یا هللا یا هللا یا هللا‬3 1  [So it came that] Sayyid FËlåd Mu˙ammad (was) a friend of Tåj al-dÈn Mu˙ammad of Badakhshån.99 This Sayyid (i.e., FËlåd) was a seeker of truth (?) … [He] stood alone fighting and was hit by a multiple (?) of eighteen wounds, all tinged with deadly poison. Alas he died in a matter of one hour in the spring of his life; alas for this youth. You were the steel-like lord100 of bravery. It was your friendship with Tåj al-dÈn Mu˙ammad 2 that while the body of your friend had been injured with the wounds of ­thirty-five arrows and spears – O alas for that youth, that youth – he took firm the bridle and the comrades (in arms) killed your murderous enemies in one night (?). By the side of his stirrup they shouted ‘Servants of God’ and with his fighting blade he stroke down the infidels and shouted ‘God Helps’. 3 I profess that there is no God but God. He is the Only One and He has no partner. I profess that Mu˙ammad is his Servant and his Messenger. O God, O God, O God.101 Badakhshån is an eastern region of Greater Khuråsån, now partly in north-east Afghanistan and partly in Tajikistan, where a dialect of Persian also known as DarÈ, considered close to early mediaeval court Persian, is still spoken. 100 The Persian phrase here has a double meaning. FËlåd, the name of the personage, means steel, and mÈr (a short form of amÈr) is usually translated as prince or lord, but in its short form is often used to indicate that the personage is a Sayyid, as the descendants of the Prophet are perceived to be spiritual princes or lords. If the phrase is read as mÈr-i fËlåd-i bahådurÈ it carries the meaning given above, but if read as mÈr fËlåd-i bahådurÈ it simply means the brave Sayyid FËlåd. The composer of the text has played with the words to convey both meanings. 101 The translation aims to make sense of the fragmented and ungrammatical clauses. Often the pronoun tu (you) is used, but it is not always clear whether FËlåd Mu˙ammad or his friend Tåj   99

607

APPENDIX I

The most significant text is on the head of the tomb: [‫ هستیم محب اوالد العلی [ابن ابی طا‬1 [‫ لب (؟) ولی (؟) محّمد رحمـ [ـة هللا‬2 1 We are the admirers of the descendants of AlÈ [son of AbÈ Êålib] 2 the successor of Mu˙ammad, may the Mercy of God be with him (?).102 ‘We are the admirers of the descendants of AlÈ’ is an unmistakable Shi’ite Profession of Faith, leaving no doubt that FËlåd Mu˙ammad and his associates were all Shi’ites, a significant point in the composition of the mediaeval population of Bayana. CII, pp. 24–5, pls 20–2; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 349, fig. 3; p. 396, No. 42. 57 ……

Bayana Fort. Undated inscription on the lintel of one of the houses near the south wall of the fort bearing Quranic verses. (Plate I. 57)

Inside Bayana fort there is a group of five houses built as two pairs and a single unit (F.24–F.28), some of which bear Quranic inscriptions on the central lintels of their porticos. The choice of verses varies, but the style of carving, their proportion, size and position on the lintel are similar. While some are more elaborate than others,

Plate I.57  Bayana fort, undated inscription on the lintel of one of the houses, built before the 1505 earthquake. al-dÈn Mu˙ammad are being addressed. As a whole the text reads in the manner of a lament in Muslim – particularly Shi’ite – rituals of mourning, a practice called nau˙a khwånÈ, similar to the lamentations for the third Shi’ite imam and his handful of followers killed in battle on 10 Mu˙arram 61/10 October 680, commemorated yearly on the day of åshËrå. 102 The reading of this line is problematic; the word ‫( َولی‬the successor) is not at all clear and after the name of Mu˙ammad, the letter r is clear, and the following two letters seem to be ˙ and m, making the likeliest reading ‫( َرح َمة هللا‬may the Mercy of God be with him), as suggested above.

608 BAYANA their overall similarity suggests that they were mass-produced together with other prefabricated structural elements, which could be purchased and assembled with some speed when building a house. The texts are carved in two rectangular frames emphasised by rosettes. One example is presented here, with the inscription on the right side of the rosette bearing Quran CXII, 1–4, followed by LXI, part of 13 and then XII, the end of 64: ُ َّ‫بِسْم هللاِ الرّحْ َمن الرّحیم* قُلْ هُ َو للاَّ ُ أَ َح ٌد* للا‬ َّ ‫ال‬ ‫ص َمدُ* لَ ْم يَلِ ْد َولَ ْم يُولَ ْد* َولَ ْم يَ ُك ْن لَهُ ُكفُ ًوا‬ ْ َّ‫للا‬ ْ ِّ َ َ ْ ْ‫َص‬ * َ‫أَ َح ٌد* ن ٌر ِمنَ ِ َوفت ٌح ق ِريبٌ َوبَش ِر ال ُمؤ ِمنِين‬ َ‫َّاح ِمين‬ ِ ‫فَاللَّ ُ َخ ْي ٌر َحافِظًا َوهُ َو أَرْ َح ُم الر‬

1 2 3 4

In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate* Say: ‘He is God, One,* God, the Everlasting Refuge* who has not begotten* and has not been ­begotten* and equal to Him is not anyone’* (CXII, 1–4). Help from God and a nigh victory. Give thou good tidings to the believers!*(LXI, part of 13). Why, God is the best guardian, and He is the most merciful of the merciful (XII, end of 65). 103 The inscription on the left bears in five lines Quran II, 255, Åyat al-kursÈ. CII, p. 32, pl. 32; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 396, no. 43. 58 ……

Bayana fort. Inscription on the lintel of the hall of a house (F.20) near the northern wall of the fort bearing Quran, II, 255. (Plate I.58)

The inscription is in both style of calligraphy and other details similar to the one above and must be a product of Bayana’s industry for prefabricating structural elements. The crude script is comparable with that of the tomb of FËlåd Mu˙ammad (No. 56), and likely to be of the same period. In the present inscription the popular verse, Quran, II, 255, Åyat al-kursÈ ,104 is flanked by two rosettes and is carved in two panels on either side of a floral pattern within a square frame. In spite of more elaborate carving – indicating a more expensive product – as with the tomb of FËlåd Mu˙ammad there are certain inexplicable marks, unrelated to the text. If such marks in the tomb of FËlåd Mu˙ammad might be ignored, their appearance in a Quranic text is most unusual as such texts are transcribed with the utmost care, sometimes even including diacritics. In this inscription, although large parts of the text have flaked off, enough is left to decipher the verse which begins on the right panel and continues on the left one: Arberry, II, p. 361; II, p. 275; I, p. 261; also see Muhammad Ali, pp. 622, 555, 242. For translation, see inscription No. 21.

103 104

609

APPENDIX I

Plate I.58  Bayana fort, undated inscription on the lintel of another house built before the 1505 earthquake.



left panel

right panel

َ ‫ت‬ ‫بِسْم هللاِ الرّحْ َمن الرّحیم للاَّ ُ َل إِ ٰلَهَ إِلَّ هُ َو ْال َح ُّي ْالقَيُّو ُم‬ ِ ‫   ل تَأْ ُخ ُذهُ ِسنَةٌ َو َل نَوْ ٌم لَهُ َما فِي ال َّس َما َوا‬ ‫ض َم ْن َذا الَّ ِذي           يَ ْشفَ ُع ِع ْن َدهُ إِلَّ بِإِ ْذنِ ِه يَ ْعلَ ُم َما بَ ْينَ أَ ْي ِدي ِه ْم‬ ِ ْ‫َو َما فِي ْالَر‬ َ ْ ُ ‫ض‬ َ ْ‫ت َو ْالر‬ ِ ‫َو َما خ َْلفَهُ ْم َو َل ي ُِحيطونَ بِ َش ْي ٍء ِم ْن ِعل ِم ِه إِلَّ        بِ َما َشا َء َو ِس َع ُكرْ ِسيُّهُ ال َّس َما َوا‬ )more marks( ‫ ح ْفظُهُ َما َوهُ َو ْال َعلِ ُّي ْال َع ِظي ُم‬          ُ‫) َو َل يَ ُو ُده‬some marks( ِ

1 2 3 4

The two marks in the fourth line of the right side could be read as 32 in Devanagari script and the three marks immediately after the end of the text resemble the Arabic numerals 905, which could be interpreted as a date corresponding with the reign of Sikandar LodÈ as well as the governorship of Khån-i Khånån FarmulÈ, and six years before the earthquake that was to devastate Bayana. Such a date fits well with the history of the fort, the style of the buildings and the like­lihood that they were constructed before the earthquake, as is evident from their partial destruction and scattered structural material, characteristic of earthquake damage. Nevertheless, there are other unexplained marks, and their resemblance to numerals may be coincidental. CII, p. 32, pl. 33; MHJ, VIII, ii, p. 396, No. 44.

APPENDIX II

The Genealogy of the Auḥadīs of Bayana

Shams al-Auliya¯ʾ Ṣiddīqī, known as Auḥadī

Shams Kha¯n c. 800–3

Masnad-iʿĀlī Muʿīn Khān 803 (?) –?

= (?) Karīm al-Mulk active 819

(Da¯wu¯ d Kha¯n ?)

Muba¯rak Kha¯n 824–5 or 826

Masnad-iʿĀlī Auḥad Kha¯n active 823, d. 824

(Amīr Kha¯n ?)

Yūsuf Kha¯n active 837/1434 last record 842/1439

Masnad-iʿĀlī Muḥammad Kha¯n active 826/ last record 831/1428 returned to power in or before 1446 d. 1446

¯ lī Da¯wu¯ d Kha¯n Masnad-iʿA succeeded c. 854/1450 last record 862/1457–8 d. (?) 20 Safar 862/7 January1458

Wa¯ḥid Kha¯n active 850/1446 d. (?) 862/1457–8

Notes: The names of DåwËd KhÈn and AmÈr Khån in brackets appear only in Firishta and have not been verified by other sources. KarÈm al-Mulk is known as a brother of Shams Khån. If Shams Khån is not the same person as Shams al-Auliyå but rather his son, there is a possibility that KarÈm al-Mulk could be the same as MuʿÈn Khån, and that KarÈm al-Mulk was his title.

APPENDIX III

Funerary Chatrīs and Other Tombs

Bayana Builders and Funerary Architecture In Bayana, as with the rest of the Islamic world, funerary structures are the most common and best-preserved monuments, partly due to the respect given to the deceased, particularly if the building belongs to a religious personage. From certain points of view, such as structural details and surface decoration, these buildings represent the architecture of their time. However, funerary architecture has its own peculiar forms and vocabulary, often not entirely representative of other forms of design. In Bayana, for example, domes appear in the chatrÈs and square tomb chambers but are virtually unknown in any other types of building. The exceptions, as we have seen, are three small domes on the early monuments, two of which are re-assembled pre-Islamic corbelled domes. The other domed structure, the Jåmi of Sikandra, was an ‘alien’ form imported by Sikandar LodÈ from Delhi. The reason for a lack of interest in domes in Bayana cannot be explained simply by suggesting that the trabeate architecture favoured there did not essentially encourage the incorporation of domes into the structural form. Corbelled domes, at least, had a long tradition in pre-Islamic India and were incorporated into Muslim trabeate architecture from the very early days of the conquest, and extensive use of such domes can be seen in the mosque of Quwwat al-Islåm in Delhi and in Aṛha’i din kå Jhoṅpṛa at Ajmer. At later dates the combination of trabeate forms incorporating corbelled or true domes became characteristic of the Muslim architecture of Gujarat and also appears to some extent in the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century architecture of Rajasthan in areas such as Nagaur and Jalor.1 In Bayana, therefore, the choice of flat roofs for houses, mansions, mosques and madrasas must have been a matter of local taste and fashion. Tombs and shrines, on the other hand, were different. They were the architectural expression of Bayana being part of the larger Islamic world and domes were 1

The monuments of Jalor are not yet investigated. For a brief report on some, see Progress Report of the ASWI, 1909, pp. 6, 9–10, 55–6; inscriptions in EIM, 1935–6, p. 49; 1949–50, pp. 31–4; EIAPS, 1972, pp. 12–19.

612 BAYANA features which manifested this unity visually. This is perhaps why domes appear in different forms and sizes in Bayana, occasionally as true domes and often in the traditional corbelled form. Nevertheless, for a long time Bayana builders preferred the chatrÈ form for funerary s­ tructures as opposed to the square domed chambers commonly constructed elsewhere in the neighbouring region. In construction one should take into account practical and economic factors such as the availability of building materials, local labour costs and the mass-production of trabeate building elements such as lintels, column shafts, bases and bracket capitals, all of which are likely to have made the construction of a chatrÈ more practical and less costly than other types. However, another reason may have been the political isolation of Bayana, particularly during the autonomous reign of the Au˙adÈs who were challenging the power of Delhi. A revealing phenomenon is the appearance of false domes and domes with unusual structural details such as being built with what is closer to flat slabs – rather than stone blocks – put on top of each other to ‘sculpt’ the form as in tomb B.28 (No. 26) in the Au˙adÈ Graveyard. The large number of unusual domes seems to indicate that there must have been a general lack of knowledge of dome-building amongst the masons of Bayana, who used their ingenuity and skill to improvise methods for achieving the desired form. The LodÈ takeover of Bayana ended this isolation and some domes, particularly in the later monuments, show that skilled dome-builders – whether local or brought from elsewhere – were at work. In the final phase of the history of Bayana architecture and at the time of the Mughals, while for smaller and less significant buildings the tradition of false domes over flat roofs might have continued, the presence of master dome-builders is manifested in the domes of the JhåjhrÈ (B.15, No. 54) and the tomb of Gulåb Khån (B.13, No. 53). Funerary Chatrīs While the most common application for chatrÈs in Bayana is in funerary architecture, some tombs of other common types, such as square domed chambers are also found there and will be discussed separately. The open pavilions appear in all standard forms: square in plan with four or twelve columns, often with a corbelled dome, but a few with true domes. Other standard forms – octagonal in plan with eight columns or hexagonal with six columns – are also present, but what makes the specimens in Bayana outstanding is a variety of experimental forms, some of which hardly appear in any other region of India. With the departure of the Muslims of Bayana during Partition funerary chatrÈs and other tombs lost their religious significance and are now disappearing fast; many noted in earlier reports had already gone before our study and more have disappeared during the course of our investigation. A general study of chatrÈs of Bayana together with their history and development is given in Chapter 6, but a detailed survey of all standing funerary chatrÈs and other tombs in Bayana seems imperative as a matter of record, before they are lost forever. For the locations of the buildings listed below, see the

613

appendix iii

maps in Figures 3.1, 3.2, 3.5 and 3.8. The building numbers on the maps, prefixed B for Bayana, F for fort, S for Sikandra and BR for Baramabad, are given in the entries so that they can immediately be located on the maps. Standard Forms Chatrıˉs with Four Columns and Corbelled or True Domes Four-columned chatrÈs with corbelled or true domes, while relatively common, are not more popular than the other types. Well-preserved examples can be found in the town of Bayana, while others are in the fort, Sikandra, Barambad, Hindaun and Khanwa. 1. Chatriˉ B.33, Auhadiˉ Graveyard (Figure III.1, Plate III.1)  This is a good ˙ example of a well-preserved unadorned four-columned chatrÈ with a corbelled dome rendered with cement to imitate a true dome. As is commonly the case with the Bayana graves, the gravestone is missing. On the exterior of the dome runs a moulding near the upper limit of the haunch, where the curve of the decorative

Figure III.1  Bayana town, ChatrÈ tomb B.33, plan and section/elevation A–A, with the form of the lost crenellations shown by dotted lines.

614 BAYANA

Plate III.1  Au˙adÈ Graveyard, ChatrÈ B.33. The corbelled dome has stood the test of time, while above the parapet are the lower parts of a row of lost crenellations. The interior shows the supporting elements, including one of the simple bracket capitals over a column as well as the lintels and the triangular stone slabs acting as a transitional zone. The key stone is ornamented with a rosette on the soffit.

four-centred arch form changes. As with most other buildings in Bayana and elsewhere in northern India, above the parapet there was originally a row of crenellations, but only the lower parts of a few of these are still in place. The structure and proportions of ChatrÈ B.33 indicate the size and form of similar elements in other structures where these features are lost. 2. Chatriˉ B.38, Auhadiˉ Graveyard (Figure III.2, Plate III.2)  The modestly ˙ ­decorated chatrÈ on a plinth at the north-western end of the graveyard has ­patterns from the local repertoire. On the interior are triangular motifs pointing ­downwards – reminiscent of the lotus-leaf motif of pre-Islamic and more elaborately decorated Islamic corbelled domes – and a rosette for the central boss. The well-preserved eave stones are plain, but the damaged parapet was once faced with stone carved with a chequered pattern, probably inlaid with blue tiles. The crenellations above are also lost, together with part of the cement cover of the

appendix iii

Figure III.2  Bayana town, Au˙adÈ Graveyard, ChatrÈ tomb B.38, plan and section/elevation A–A. The tombstone on the platform and the details of decoration on the roof parapet are not shown.

Plate III.2  ChatrÈ B.38. The surviving panels of the roof parapet can be seen as well as the moulding around the dome, keyed into the corbelling. The plinth and undated tombstone are preserved, and the columns with their typical patterns are whitewashed, indicating continued reverence for the grave. The interior view shows the carved horizontal segments of the corbelled dome, a simple local variant of elaborate pre-Islamic corbelled domes. The central boss has a rosette.

615

616 BAYANA dome, but the moulding at the point of the change in the exterior curve of the dome remains – a stone course carved with diamond patterns and keyed into the corbelled layers of the roof structure. The plinth is well preserved, retaining a tombstone similar in form to fifteenth- and sixteenth-century examples nearby, but with no historic inscription. 3. Chatriˉ B.39, near the railway station (Figure III.3, Plate III.3) This chatrÈ was probably outside the old boundaries of the Au˙adÈ Graveyard. Parts of the high platform, which extends unusually on the west, have fallen, revealing that while the stone blocks forming its walls were the foundations for the columns,

Figure III.3  Bayana town, ChatrÈ tomb B.39, plan and section/elevation A–A.

Plate III.3  ChatrÈ B.39. Left: general view from south showing the relatively high extended platform and right: details of the north-east corner showing the structural elements and the wellpreserved crenellations with a cruciform pattern, inlaid originally with blue tile.

617

appendix iii

the core is filled with beaten earth and debris, clad with stone slabs. In many other chatrÈs the platform has not survived and the columns are now supported by the remaining stone blocks, so this example indicates their original structure. The crenellations around the roof are also well preserved, with each arch-shaped merlon carved with a cruciform pattern, once inlayed with blue tiles. Other structural elements are plain except the columns, which are chamfered at the corners in the Bayana manner. 4. Chatriˉ B.47, between the eastern extent of the town and the river, south of the road to Barambad and Fathpur Sikri (Figure III.4, Plates III.4, III.32) A fairly well-preserved chatrÈ, the platform and grave of which have been disturbed. The profile of the cement cover of the corbelled dome simulates that of the transitional zone of a true dome. A nearby standing chatrÈ (No. 32, B.48), as well as many tombstones and structural elements –­presumably of funerary chatrÈs –­scattered in the area, indicate that it was probably another graveyard, outside one of the old town gates, as is customary in Muslim cities.

Figure III.4  Bayana town, ChatrÈ tomb B.47, plan and section/elevation A–A.

618 BAYANA

Plate III.4  Bayana town, graveyard between the east gate and the Gambhir River with scattered tombstones and debris. ChatrÈ B.47 in the foreground has a corbelled dome, while ChatrÈ B.48 in the background has a flat ceiling and the remains of what may be a solid false dome.

5. Chatriˉ F.29, fort, area E, south of the road traversing the east enclosure (Figure III.5, Plate III.5)  The only example of the four-columned type of chatrÈ in the fort has lost its dome, which seems from the span of the lintels and lack of fallen segments of corbel stones to have had a true dome originally. In most chatrÈs the span between the columns is about 2.40–2.45 m. In this example, the span is 2.86 m, pointing to a lighter dome, characteristic of true domes with their comparatively thin skin as opposed to the massive weight of the segments of corbelled stones. If this were the case, the structure would be the only surviving four-columned funerary chatrÈ in Bayana to have had a true dome. Although the platform has been disturbed, the dislodged undated tombstone has the head of the stone carved with the Profession of Faith, and on the sides are Quran II, 255 (Åyat al-kursÈ) seen on many tombs, including on the Epitaph of Malik Badr Miyån,2 followed by Quran II, 256: ‫صا َم لَهَا‬ َ ‫ت َوي ُْؤ ِم ْن بِاللَّ ِ فَقَ ِد ا ْستَ ْم َس‬ َ ِ‫ك بِ ْالعُرْ َو ِة ْال ُو ْثقَ ٰى َل ا ْنف‬ ِ ‫ِّين قَ ْد تَبَيَّنَ الرُّ ْش ُد ِمنَ ْال َغ ِّي ۚ فَ َم ْن يَ ْكفُرْ بِالطَّا ُغو‬ ِ ‫َل إِ ْك َراهَ فِي الد‬ ‫َوللاَّ ُ َس ِمي ٌع َعلِي ٌم‬ No compulsion is there in religion. Rectitude has become clear from error. So whoever disbelieves in idols and believes in God, has laid hold of the most firm handle, unbreaking; God is All-hearing, All-knowing.3 This verse does not commonly appear after the Åyat al-kursÈ on epitaphs or mosque inscriptions, but an allusion to worshipers of God rather than idols seems appropriate for a Muslim tomb in Bayana, hinting at the existence of a Hindu B.25. Appendix I, inscription No. 21. Arberry, I, p. 65 (given as Quran II, 257); for another translation, see Muhammad Ali, p. 46.

2 3

619

appendix iii

Figure III.5  Bayana fort, ChatrÈ F.29, plan and section/elevation A–A. The probable true dome and other lost features are shown with dotted lines.

Plate III.5  ChatrÈ F.29: above: the remains, showing the unusually wide span between the columns and the dislodged tombstone inscribed with Quran II, 255–6, which may be LodÈ or Mughal; below: the tombstone carved with verse 256.

community, also attested to by the Sanskrit inscriptions of the Gindoria well and the BåolÈ of Khån-i Khånån.4 The form of the tombstone is of considerable interest as, unlike those of the Au˙adÈ period, which have a flat top, this tombstone is carved with a solid top with a gabled profile, a simplified version of a solid pointed vault – a style more common in northern India. This may be an indication that the tomb is of a later date, probably LodÈ or Mughal. Nearby is Canopy F.30 (No.44), also bearing Åyat al-kursÈ. 6. Chatriˉ BR.2, Barambad, south of the Iˉ dgaˉ h Masjid (Figure III.6, Plate III.6)  In Barambad there are two funerary chatrÈs with four columns and corbelled domes, both relatively well preserved. The first, ChatrÈ BR.2, retains a tombstone that is flat on the top and delicately carved with floral patterns on the sides. The upper tier of the tombstone is also decorated with four engaged Appendix I, inscriptions Nos 20 and 29, respectively.

4

620 BAYANA

Figure III.6  Barambad, ChatrÈ BR.2, plan and section/elevation A–A, also showing the tombstone still in situ.

Plate III.6  Barambad, ChatrÈ BR.2: above: view from the southwest; below: the western side of the tombstone showing the decoration carved on the side panels, including engaged columns at the corners of the upper tier.

621

appendix iii

columns on the corners, characteristic of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century tombs of Bayana. The columns and other structural details of the actual chatrÈ are, however, plain. 7. Chatriˉ BR.4, Barambad (Figure III.7, Plate III.7)  The second specimen in Barambad has now been walled up and made into a square chamber. The crenellations of both the chatrÈs have the usual cruciform pattern, once inlayed with blue tiles, but in BR.2 only a few of the crenellations have survived. In BR.4, the capitals and bases of the columns are carved with simple broken horizontal mouldings, and the shafts have the usual chamfering. The end-blocks over the bracket capitals on the façade are each decorated with a roundel. In Barambad, in addition to the funerary specimens, there are two other four-­ columned chatrÈs flanking the entrance of the Ïdgåh Masjid, one of which bears the ‘graffiti’ inscription of MÈr Mu˙ammad MaßËm (Plate 5.47) already discussed.5

Figure III.7  Barambad, ChatrÈ BR.4, with four columns, but now walled up, plan and section/ elevation A–A, modern walls are not shown.

Appendix 1, inscription No. 47.

5

622 BAYANA

Plate III.7  Barambad, ChatrÈ BR.4, general view of the structure, which, although it has been walled up, preserves all its original features.

8. Chatriˉ III, Hindaun (Figure III.8, Plate III.8)  The town, an integral part of the Bayana region, has preserved a number of chatrÈs comparable with those in Bayana. A well-proportioned example with a corbelled dome has been preserved north of the town, standing on a platform about 2.70 m on each side and over 0.4 m high. Its plain columns, together with the bases and bracket capitals are about 2.20 m high and the corbelled dome retains some of its cement cover, as well as an åmalaka-type6 of finial along with crenellations and eave stones indicating that the chatrÈ may be later than others of its type or built over the grave of some personage revered until recent times. On the disturbed platform the stone covers of two tombs are revealed, but the tombstones are missing.

Sanskrit term for the fruit of the Emblic Myrobalan (Emblica Officinalis Gærtn). In Hindu architecture the cushion-shaped feature is often ribbed, but in Muslim buildings it can be plain. In Hindu architecture the åmalaka is surmounted by another vase-shaped feature known as the kalaªå, but in Islamic buildings, while the two features may appear together sometimes only one or the other is used as the finial.

6

appendix iii

623

Plate III.8  Hindaun, ChatrÈ III, north of the town, the tomb and floor slabs have been removed, but other features, including eaves, crenellations, the finial of the dome and parts of its cement cover have remained intact. Left: general view; right: interior of the corbelled dome.

Figure III.8  Hindaun, four-columned ChatrÈ III, plan and section/elevation A–A.

624 BAYANA 9. Khanwa, Chatriˉ IV, Karbalaˉ Graveyard (Figures III.9a–b, Plates III.9a–b) The historic village of Bayana and the scene of Båbur’s battle with Rånå Sanga in 933/1527 has already been noted in Chapter 10 in relation to the Karbalå Masjid at the graveyard of the same name to the west of the village. Karbalå –­ the name of the site in Iraq where the third Shi’ite imam was slain – suggests that the graveyard and its edifices may be associated with the Shi’ite sect, and the choice of name also indicates that at least some of the graves must belong to those killed in a conflict with the forces of other sects or religions. Near the mosque are three chatrÈs and three others are scattered at some distance to the east and south-east of the mosque (Figure III.9a). ChatrÈ IV, about 3 m square in plan with unadorned columns, brackets and lintels, stands to the east of an octagonal chatrÈ in front of the mosque. While still standing, the square chatrÈ is in poor condition; its platform is buried in the ground and the thick cement cover of its corbelled dome has almost completely perished revealing the structure, rough on the outside for the cement to bond well with the stone, but smoothly carved on the interior, the usual practice.

Figure III.9a  Khanwa, site of the Karbalå Graveyard to the west of the town. Key: I Karbalå Masjid; II octagonal chatrÈ with corbelled dome; III four-columned chatrÈ with flat roof and probably a false dome; IV four-columned chatrÈ with corbelled dome; V tomb with an unusual orientation and no superstructure; VI old well; VII four-columned chatrÈ with flat roof and probable false dome; VIII chatrÈ with true dome made of large slabs; IX canopy with six columns, made of two square units.

625

appendix iii

Plate III.9a  Khanwa, the eastern area of the Karbalå Graveyard, looking north-east.

Figure III.9b  Khanwa, Karbalå Graveyard, ChatrÈ IV, plan and section A–A.

Plate III.9b  Khanwa, ChatrÈ IV, interior of the corbelled dome.

626 BAYANA 10. Chatriˉ VIII, Khanwa, Karbalaˉ Graveyard (Figure III.10, Plate III.10)  Standing at some distance to the south-west of the Karbalå mosque, and although again in poor condition, with the cement of its true dome lost and its platform buried in centuries of accumulated sand, this chatrÈ differs from ChatrÈ IV in all aspects. The structure of the true dome, although built of fairly large curved stone panels, is comparable with – but not entirely similar to – that of ChatrÈs B.26, B.28 and F.16 (Nos 27, 26, 42 below). It is raised on a drum, set on triangular blocks at the corners, and on the interior the panels of the drum are embellished with flat niches with pointed arches. The dome itself is plain on the interior, but with the keystone or boss carved in the form of an elaborate pendant. The column shafts, in three registers, square in plan at each end and bevelled at the corners, are closely similar to those in the PÈr Mastån or PahåṛÈ mosque in Bayana (Plate 5.19), and their bases are carved with a simplified vajramastaka pattern, again seen in many monuments of Bayana including in the TålakÈnÈ Masjid. The capitals are also decorated on each face with a foliated pattern enhanced with foliations at each corner. Such motifs feature in the Bayana chatrÈs, pointing to close links between the architecture of the towns and villages of the region, going

Figure III.10  Khanwa, ChatrÈ VIII: right: plan, section/elevation A–A; left: details of a column.

627

appendix iii

Plate III.10  Khanwa, the western area of the Karbalå Graveyard. Below: view towards the east with ChatrÈ VIII to the left and ChatrÈ VII to the right. The ruins of the Karbalå Masjid can be seen behind ChatrÈ VII. Above: ChatrÈ VIII, interior of the true dome built with panels over a transitional zone decorated with flat arched niches.

back to the Au˙adÈ period or earlier. However, in the middle of the platform the single tombstone, now half buried in sand, but with a solid top carved in the form of a solid pointed barrel vault, is close in style to the tombstone in ChatrÈ F.29 (No. 5), a form associated with northern India, signifying that the tomb may be LodÈ or Mughal. Chatrıˉs with Twelve Columns and Corbelled Domes Only four examples of twelve-columned chatrÈs still stand in the region, three in Bayana (one with a particularly significant date) and one in Hindaun. Two other datable examples, now in ruins, could also be identified and help to provide more accurate dating for this style and, indeed, other chatrÈs in Bayana. Their grander scale and consequent higher cost of construction indicates association with a ruler, member of the nobility or a revered religious personage. 11. Chatriˉ B.37, Auhadiˉ Graveyard, Tomb of Auhad Khaˉ n, d. 824/1421 ˙ ˙ (Figure III.11, Plates 2.8 and III.11)   The earliest and most significant of the twelve-columned examples is the tomb of Au˙ad Khån. The tomb was noticed

628 BAYANA

Plate III.11  Au˙adÈ or AbË Qandahår Graveyard, tomb of Au˙ad Khån. Below: view from the south-west; above: interior of the corbelled dome standing above a string course with a religious inscription.

by Cunningham,7 but the inscription on the tombstone escaped his attention. Nevertheless, he described the building as follows: There is a very handsome 12-pillared tomb, 19 feet square, covered by a HindË dome of overlapping stones … the whole building is still in very good order. There are two tombstones under the dome and several more outside surrounding the platform on which the pillared building stands. From its careful and solid execution it must have been the tomb of some person of consequence, but there is nothing about it to afford even a guess as to the owner. Cunningham’s comment is significant in that it shows that the old Muslim traditions of Bayana had already been lost over a century ago, and in spite of the existence of the inscribed tomb of a person prominent in the regional history, nothing was known about him or his tomb – a problem even more acute today. The chatrÈ, 7.10 m square, stands on a platform over 1 m high, with tall columns.8 ASIR, XX, 1885, pp. 77–8. The octagonal column shafts are 2.21 m high standing on octagonal bases, 38 cm wide and 49 cm

 7  8

629

appendix iii

Figure III.11  Bayana town, Au˙adÈ Graveyard, Tomb of Au˙ad Khån, plan and section/elevation A–A.

The platform and structural elements of the tomb are still fairly well preserved, but the eave stones and the parapet and crenellations around the roof are all lost. The columns are distinctly different from those of the other monuments and appear to have been purposely carved for this structure. The shafts have four registers with a decorated string course between the upper registers and a plain band between the lower ones. The bases are also decorated, but one column has its base left un-carved, indicating perhaps that the structure was completed in haste. In India rulers often built their tombs during their lifetime. Not all followed this tradition, but we know that many – including Sultan Balban9 and Ghiyåth al-dÈn Tughluq10 – high and support capital brackets about 60 cm high, making the total height of the columns 3.30 m.  9 Ibn Ba††u†a (Ar.), p. 447. 10 Ibn Ba††u†a (Ar.), p. 461. Tughluqabad, pp. 189–201; Yamamoto, II, p. 38. For the study of an inscription on the tomb of Ûafar Khån, buried in the tomb complex of Ghiyåth al-dÈn during the sultan’s lifetime, see Tughluqabad, p. 190; Hasan and Page et al., Monuments of Delhi, IV, pp. 2–5.

630 BAYANA did so. It is likely that the construction of this chatrÈ had been ordered by Au˙ad Khån himself but had to be completed hurriedly after his death. The corbelled dome is also relatively plain, the spear-head motifs ornamenting only two of the lower courses inside. Below these courses another is carved in fine relief with a religious text. The plainness of the ceiling, common in the Muslim corbelled domes of Bayana, could also be deliberate to distinguish them from the highly decorated Hindu and Jain domes. In the 1980s there were two tombs on the platform of the chatrÈ, both of which had been disturbed during the riots of 1947, but the inscribed tombstones had been left on the site. That of the tomb of Au˙ad Khån,11 recording his death on 15 Rama∂ån 824/13 September 1421 (Plates I.17a–b) has now disappeared and its whereabouts are unknown. The construction of the chatrÈ must have also been close to this date. The other tombstone, now also lost, was marked by the symbolic feature indicating the tomb of a man, and while in general form and details it was closely similar to that of Au˙ad Khån, it bore a date of 20 Íafar 862/7 January 1458 (Plate I.27), and was apparently a ready-made tombstone,12 inscribed in haste with incomplete lettering, but representing the burial of one of the last members of the family in the final days of the Au˙adÈ dynasty.13 12. Chatriˉ B.30, Auhadiˉ Graveyard (Figure III.12, Plates III.12a–b)  Near the ˙ tomb of Au˙ad Khån to its north-west stands a similar well-proportioned chatrÈ, but on a smaller scale.14 Although undated, it is well preserved with almost all original features intact. The single tombstone, with a flat top of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century type, comparable with that of Au˙ad Khån, indicates a similar date for the building. The columns are square and relatively plain, bevelled at the corners along the middle of the shaft with a further bevelled slit below and above. Variations of this method of carving the shafts are typical of the buildings of Bayana. The corbelled dome is decorated with spear-head motifs on alternate courses on the interior, while the exterior is cemented to represent the form of an Islamic dome with a four-centred profile standing on a relatively high drum and topped by a lotus motif with a stone pinnacle known as a kalaªå (Sanskrit: water pot).15 This feature appears commonly in Indian domes, but very few examples have survived in Bayana, although it is likely that other domes also had such a finial. Appendix I, inscription No. 17. As discussed in Chapters 6 and 8, the masons’ yards in Bayana produced not only ready-made building components, decorated and sometimes inscribed, but also tombstones with a space to add the particulars of the deceased. 13 Appendix I, inscription No. 27. 14 The platform measures 5.80 m on each side, with the column shafts measuring 1.99 m over bases 36 cm square and 44 cm high, and surmounted by square brackets about 50 cm high, making a total height of 2.93 cm to the lintels. 15 See n. 6 above. 11 12

appendix iii

Plate III.12a  ChatrÈ B.30, showing the well-preserved exterior cement cover of the dome and its drum as well as the crenellations and eave stones. In the background to its right is ChatrÈ B.28.

To rise the dome sufficiently to be able to achieve the effect of a high drum on the interior the five lower courses of the corbelled dome are set almost vertically, with a further narrow string course decorated with diamond patterns below the uppermost vertical course. This arrangement has enabled the builders to minimise the thickness of the outside cement – a reason perhaps for its good state of preservation. A similar arrangement can also be seen in a few other domes, but the drum on the exterior of most is simply created by a thick layer of cement, and there are no corresponding vertical courses of stonework on the interior. The crenellations around the roof stand over a frieze carved with a shallow pattern representing a row of three-lobed ogee arches. The crenellations themselves also have the usual arched profile with a cruciform inlay of blue tiles, some still in place. As a whole it appears that the tomb, as shown by the flat rectangular cartouche on the top slab, probably belonged to a female member of the Au˙adÈ family or one of their nobles. It was designed deliberately to be smaller and plainer than that of Au˙ad Khån. Indeed, in this graveyard none of the tombs surpass the scale of the chatrÈ of Au˙ad Khån, although in comparison with chatrÈs in the region of Delhi and elsewhere in India the Tomb of Au˙ad Khån is relatively modest.

631

632 BAYANA

Figure III.12  Au˙adÈ Graveyard, ChatrÈ B.30, with twelve columns, plan and section/south elevation A–A. The corbelled dome with the relatively thin cement cover gives an Islamicstyle four-centred profile over a drum on the exterior. The cross-shaped motifs on the crenellations were inlaid with blue tiles, some of which have survived.

Plate III.12b  ChatrÈ B.30, interior showing the corner columns as well as the lower courses of the corbelled dome laid vertically to create the form of a drum on the exterior. The tombstone in the middle is not dated but is closely comparable with that of Au˙ad Khån.

13. Chatriˉ S.17, north of the Bayana–Sikandra road (Figure III.13, Plate III.13)  Outside the town, on the road towards Sikandra and the fort there is another specimen of the twelve-columned type standing near the elegant structure known as Baṛe Kamar (S.19, No. 47). The chatrÈ is relatively large16 and comparable in scale to the Tomb of Au˙ad Khån, but its squat dome The square platform measures 7.46 m, and columns are about 3.11 m high.

16

633

appendix iii

Figure III.13  Sikandra, ChatrÈ S.17, with twelve columns, plan and section/east elevation A–A. The tombstones, laid on a north–south axis, are in their original position, but the two laid on an east–west axis do not correspond with usual Muslim burial practice.

over a wide span gives the structure an unusual appearance that is disproportionate for an Islamic building and perhaps closer in its superficial appearance to a Hindu mandapa. The well-preserved exterior cement work of the dome is topped with a ribbed cushion-shaped åmalaka. It was probably – but not necessarily – surmounted by a kalaªå finial. The åmalaka, a feature adopted from Hindu architecture, appears usually in the earlier Muslim buildings, but in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries it was substituted with a lotus motif. Although it seems that in the region of Bayana old traditions endured longer than elsewhere, as seen in the chatrÈs of the outlying towns, in this tomb the squat form of the dome, recalling those of the early sultanate buildings, might be another indication that the chatrÈ could be as early as the fourteenth century. The column shafts, having

634 BAYANA

Plate III.13  Sikandra, ChatrÈ S.17. The columns with bevelled edges, the squat dome and the three-lobed crenellations are distinctive. The wall in the shade behind the chatrÈ is part of a later enclosure with a mi˙råb and two graves. On the right is structure S.18 (No. 34) with four columns and a flat roof.

broad bevelled edges, making them appear almost octagonal in plan, are also not unusual for the early buildings in Bayana, such as the early fourteenth-century Ukhå Masjid and the Jhålar BåolÈ. It is possible that the later Bayana columns of this type were modelled after such prototypes. Another interesting feature of the building is the crenellations, which are threelobed with small pointed elements set in between. Some of the crenellations differ in size and shape; perhaps they were carved later to roughly match the original ones. A variation of the form also appears in ChatrÈ F.16 (No. 42) in the fort, which may be later in date than this example. There are four tombstones in ChatrÈ S.17, two of them with an unusual orientation. Muslims are buried with their face turned towards the right shoulder and facing Mecca. In India, therefore, the graves have a north–south orientation, but two of the tombstones are instead oriented east–west. These tombstones do not seem to have been repositioned and are perhaps associated with an obscure Muslim sect that believed that the head should be towards Mecca,17 otherwise their orientation would be difficult to explain. Adjacent to the west side of the chatrÈ there are two further tombs, which have later been enclosed by a low During the riots of 1947 and afterwards in Bayana many tombstones were disturbed and left lying in random directions, but apart from the two in this chatrÈ, a few other intact tombs with an east–west orientation could be found, such as No. 44 in the fort (F.30).

17

appendix iii

Plate III.14 Hindaun, ChatrÈ IV, with twelve columns, known as Baṛe Kamar, view from southwest.

wall with a mi˙råb at the qibla side. It therefore appears that the site had some religious significance and was perhaps one of the many shrines recorded in history to have existed in Bayana. 14. Chatriˉ IV, Hindaun, Bare Kamar (Figure III.14, Plate III.14)  Located to ˙ the north of Hindaun and near ChatrÈ III (No. 8), the larger ChatrÈ IV measures 6.25 m square and stands on a raised platform 1.56 m high, but in spite of having been whitewashed, indicating that it was once maintained, the surface blocks of the platform are gone, probably pilfered. The well-proportioned column shafts18 support a corbelled dome, giving the whole structure a harmonious scale. The dome and most other structural elements are plain and while the chatrÈ is not dated, the two tombs under the dome are on high plinths with their top cover in the form of a solid arch, a style usually associated with the LodÈ and Mughal period. Furthermore, the bevel-edged column shafts, a type common in the region, are closely similar to those of ChatrÈ I (No. 40) near Jachchaw BåolÈ housing the tomb of BÈbÈ KhadÈja who died on 15 Rajab 933/17 April 1527 or 913/20 November 1507,19 indicating that ChatrÈ IV may also be datable to the early sixteenth century. The chatrÈ is known locally as Baṛe Kamar (Urdu: baṛå kamarå, the big chamber), but has no association with the building of the same name in Bayana.

The columns are 38 cm square in plan and 1.97 m high, standing on plain bases 34 cm high. Appendix I, inscription No. 36.

18 19

635

636 BAYANA

Figure III.14  Hindaun, ChatrÈ IV, plan and section/elevation A–A.

15. Chatriˉ B. 25, Pandisan Dargaˉ h, Auhadiˉ Graveyard (Plates I.21a–b, ˙ III.15)  The platform of a chatrÈ, which appears to have had twelve columns, remains to the south of the road to the railway station. The building disappeared long ago, leaving only the platform and the plinth of its dated tombstone, which records the death of Malik al-Sharq Malik Badr Miyån on 8 Rama∂ån 854/16

appendix iii

Plate III.15  Bayana, platform of the now destroyed ChatrÈ B.25, with twelve columns, and the plinth of the tomb of Malik Badr Miyån decorated with a row of flat niches carved in relief around the platform, seen from the north.

October 1450 and giving the name of the ruler DåwËd Khån Au˙adÈ.20 Considered a Muslim shrine in the locality, little can be said of the chatrÈ itself, which would have been datable to the mid-fifteenth century, except that unlike the other chatrÈs, the sides of the platform are not plain, but carved with a row of flat niches with ogee arches, demonstrating that the chatrÈ itself was probably an impressive and ornate structure, the lengthy inscription also representing a person of consequence. 16. Chatriˉ in Sikandra Jaˉ mi (S.1) (Figures 5.14, 5.17, Plate III.16)  In addition to the chatrÈs noted, at least one other chatrÈ with twelve columns, now fallen, can be traced in the middle of the courtyard of the grand mosque of Sikandra, Sikandar LodÈ’s intended congregational mosque for his new town. Only the platform of the chatrÈ stands today measuring 9.65 m × 9.55 m, considerably larger than the tomb of Au˙ad Khån or any other chatrÈ in Bayana. The chatrÈ and its possible funerary character are discussed together with the mosque in Chapter 5, and reconstruction drawings given.

Appendix I, inscription No. 21.

20

637

638 BAYANA

Plate III.16  Scattered structural elements of the chatrÈ with twelve columns in the courtyard of the Sikandra Jåmi. Traces of the platform and the number of fallen column shafts made it possible to establish the form and scale of the original chatrÈ, as shown in the drawings of Mosque S.1.

Octagonal Chatrıˉs 17. Chatriˉ B.41, near Ïdgaˉ h (Figure III.17, Plate 6.5)  Only two examples of octagonal chatrÈs survive in Bayana, with a third in the village of Khanwa. ChatrÈ B.41 is to the north-west of Bayana, just north of the historic Ïdgåh (B.43) and west of the platform of an old building (B.42) where an inscription of FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq was found.21 The chatrÈ may be mid- or late-fourteenth century, but the tombstone together with the platform is lost, although the superstructure stands. The circumscribed circle of the octagonal platform measures about 5.90 m in diameter and the columns are set 1.54 m apart. The plain square columns support eight lintels, which act directly as a transitional zone upon which stands a neatly constructed corbelled dome with a wider lower course just under the springing of the squat drum-shaped profile of the cement work of the exterior of the dome. The drum is decorated with a pattern of crenellations in bas-relief in the cement. An outer set of true crenellations also ran around the dome, some of which are preserved. The dome itself has the usual four-centred profile, with the upper arcs near to tangential in form, raising the peak higher than in other examples, and is crowned with the usual lotus motif. If the chatrÈ does indeed date from the fourteenth century the profile of the dome, slightly different from those of the fifteenth century and later could be taken as an indication of the date, but the Appendix I, inscription No.13.

21

639

appendix iii

Figure III.17  Bayana town, octagonal ChatrÈ B.41, plan and section/south elevation A–A.

dome builders of Bayana, as elsewhere, experimented with shapes and profiles and the shape of a dome alone is not sufficient to determine the date. 18. Chatriˉ S.7, Sikandra, south of the road to Hindaun (Figure III.18, Plate III.18)  The octagonal chatrÈ at Sikandra, about 500 m to the south-east of the south-eastern corner of the fort, differs considerably in proportions from B.41 (No. 17) near the Bayana Ïdgåh. The Sikandra structure has also lost its tomb and the platform is disturbed, but the corbelled dome with its external cement cover made to simulate a squat profile set over a high drum conforms to many of the fifteenth- to sixteenth-century and later domes. The columns are short,22 and while columns of this scale can be seen in many of the smaller chatrÈs of Bayana, their employment in a building with a platform about 5.40 m wide has increased the general squat appearance. The chatrÈ may be the tomb of a LodÈ noble buried in his priviate garden. The columns are set 1.50 m apart and their relatively short shafts, measuring 1.70 m, stand over square plain bases, 37 cm high, and are surmounted with capitals and brackets of 47 cm, measuring altogether 2.54 m.

22

640 BAYANA

Figure III.18  Sikandra, Octagonal ChatrÈ S.7, plan and section/east elevation A–A.

Plate III.18  Octagonal ChatrÈ S.7. The exterior profile of the corbelled dome represents a fourcentred low dome rising over a high drum.

641

appendix iii

Figure III.19  Khanwa, Octagonal ChatrÈ II, plan and section A–A.

19. Khanwa, Octagonal Chatriˉ II, Karbalaˉ Graveyard (Figure III.19, Plate III.19)  The group of chatrÈs near the Karbalå Masjid (Figure III.9a, Plate III 9a) includes the octagonal ChatrÈ II, set about 5.50 m from the eastern front of the mosque, apparently associated with it and probably of a similar date. The octagonal plan of the chatrÈ sits within a circumscribed circle, 5.80 m in diameter, an average plan size, but the short column shafts and disproportionately heavy dome give the structure a squat appearance. The platform of the structure being, like the other edifices in the site, buried under accumulated sand compounds the squat effect, but judging from the nearby buildings, the platform could not have been high enough to create a visual balance. The lower courses of the corbelled dome are set almost vertically to provide an exterior impression of an

642 BAYANA

Plate III.19  Khanwa, octagonal ChatrÈ II: left: view from the east; right: interior of the corbelled dome, showing the ornamentation of the stonework.

octagonal transitional zone, with the dome itself showing fine stonework on the interior and a boss with a large rosette. The column shafts are relatively plain, but the capitals and the brackets are ornamented with mouldings. In between the lintels, corbelled stones are added at the transitional zone both on the interior and the exterior, the faces on the interior being decorated with smaller carved rosettes. The lost cement cover of the dome provides an opportunity to examine the exterior stonework, and the way the outer faces of the corbelled courses are left rough to increase their bonding with the cement – the usual practice in the construction of Islamic corbelled domes. From what remains, it seems that the cement cover would have had a four-centred profile over a high drum, similar to ChatrÈ S.7 (No. 18) in Sikandra. Hexagonal Chatrıˉ 20. Chatriˉ S.8, Sikandra, south of the road to Hindaun (Figure III.20, Plate III.20)  Only one hexagonal ChatrÈ could be found in the vicinity of Bayana, below the fort, near the octagonal ChatrÈ S.7 (No. 18). The two chatrÈs are comparable in structure, with columns of similar height and the domes and outer cement of

appendix iii

Figure III.20  Sikandra, Hexagonal ChatrÈ S.8, plan and section/east elevation A–A.

the same kind, but the proportions make them appear quite different, ChatrÈ S.8 is set on a relatively small platform, with the columns 1.47 m apart with their centres on the circumference of a circle 3.8 m in diameter, putting the height of the columns in aesthetic balance with the size of the dome. Attention has also been paid to the ornamentation of the columns, to distinguish the chatrÈ from more run-of-the-mill examples. The column shafts, 1.81 m high, feature the usual bevelled edges and grooves above and below, but also incised horizontal lines dividing the shafts into three registers. The taller middle register is further embellished: at the bottom with an incised ogee arch surmounted with a pattern like a fleur de lis, and at the top its mirror image. The bases are partly incised and partly carved with a spear-head motif flanked by foliage, while the capitals are carved on each face with a diamond pattern in the middle and triangular foliation at the edges. The patterns of the bases are a simplified version of carvings in Hindu and particularly Jain temples of the tenth–twelfth centuries, as seen re-used in the Ukhå Masjid (Plates 4.35, 4.38, 4.39). The decoration of the shafts also follows that of the Ukhå Masjid and appears with variations in ChatrÈ F.16 (No. 42) in the fort and in the canopied tomb B.27 (No. 48) in the Au˙adÈ Graveyard, both described below. The ornamentation is not peculiar to Bayana and appears in other regions of northern India.23 On the exterior some eave stones and crenellations and also a large part of the cement cover of the dome are still preserved, the profile of the dome simulating a squat dome raised on a high drum and surmounted with a small cushionshaped finial, a simplified version of an åmalaka without the lobes. The date of See, for example, the columns of the Ek DÈwån at Hansi, Óißår-i FÈrËza, pp. 107–8, pl. 25b.

23

643

644 BAYANA

Plate III.20  Sikandra, Hexagonal ChatrÈ S.8, below the fort. While the platform is partly disturbed, some eave stones, crenellations and a large part of the cement cover of the dome are preserved, along with the cushion-shaped finial similar to an åmalaka. Left: view from the south; right: a corner of the structure showing the details of the ornamented column shafts and capitals as well as part of the interior of the corbelled dome.

the ­building is uncertain as the platform and grave have been disturbed and the ­tombstone removed. Rectangular Canopies or Joined Chatrıˉs Rectangular canopies with two rows of columns, appearing as a series of domed chatrÈs joined together are not common, but are found occasionally in northern India, examples being the canopy known as the Chahår DÈwån near the shrine of Chahår Qu†b at Hansi24 and the tomb of Maulånå ÛahÈr al-dÈn known as Mazår-i ShahÈdån at Nagaur.25 The Chahår DÈwån consists of four small domes supported by two rows of five columns designed as a single structure, but the example at Ibid., pp. 106–8, pls 24b and 25a. Nagaur, pp. 55–7, pls 21b, 22a.

24 25

645

appendix iii

Nagaur, which also has two rows of five columns, has only three domes and one of the bays, narrower than the others, does not have a square plan suitable for the construction of a dome and is roofed with flat slabs. The structure appears to have been originally a canopy with six columns and two domes and a chatrÈ with four columns, joined together by a flat roof at a later date. It is even possible that the original form consisted of two chatrÈs joined later. The four examples in Bayana appear to have been designed from the start as rectangular canopies, each with six columns and two domes, but a canopy of this type in Khanwa seems to have a more complex structure.

Figure III.21  Bayana Fort, Rectangular Canopy F.31 with six columns and two domes, plan, longitudinal section A–A, south elevation.

646 BAYANA

Plate III.21  Bayana Fort, Rectangular Canopy F.31: below: general view from the south; above: interior showing how both domes rest on a single lintel spanning the middle pair of columns.

21. Rectangular Canopy F.31, Fort, north of the eastern gateway of Enclosure E (Figure III.21, Plate III.21)  The best preserved of the canopied buildings of Bayana is F.31 in the fort. Above a platform two corbelled domes abut each other on a single lintel supported by the middle pair of columns. The total height from the surface of the platform to the lintels is about 2.60 m and the span between all columns about 1.50 m. Although the length of the lintels varies slightly, the plan of the domes is still circular. The square column shafts and bases are plain and all other features of the structure, including the outer cement of the dome, crenellations and eave stones – some of which are still preserved – follow the usual pattern. 22. Canopy S.11, Sikandra, north of road to Bayana (Figure III.22, Plate III.22)  Canopy S.11 in Sikandra, again fairly well preserved, is slightly smaller than F.31 (No. 21), with the span between the columns measuring 2.41 m. The square columns are again plain, but the capitals are carved with downward flattened spear-head motifs, as is the top edge of the platform, while a similar pattern appears on alternating courses of the corbelled dome. A main difference between this structure and many others is in the treatment of the dome and its outer cement cover. In this building the corbelled dome is made of fewer courses, which are well proportioned on the interior but on the exterior the dome is not high enough to be covered by a cement layer in the required form. Solid domes with the required profile were, therefore, constructed over the roof. One dome still stands, while the

647

appendix iii

Figure III.22  Sikandra, Rectangular Canopy S.11, plan, south elevation, section A–A.

Plate III.22  Rectangular Canopy S.11. Below: view from the north showing the standing solid dome on the right, and the remains of the structure of the corbelled dome on the left, hardly rising above the parapet of the roof. Above: interior of the corbelled domes also showing the details of the columns with plain shafts and carved capitals.

other is partly in ruins, revealing how the outer profile was achieved. These domes are significant in displaying a transition from the construction of corbelled domes with Islamic outer profiles to the erection of false domes over flat roofs, a curious feature of many Bayana chatrÈs. The solid domes should not, however, be regarded as a departure from the earlier, well-established and perhaps more appropriate, structural forms, as in Bayana chatrÈs with true or corbelled domes continued to be constructed side by side with buildings having flat roofs and false domes. There are no tombstones in the structure to help with establishing a date, but the unusual orientation of the structure is worthy of attention. While mosques and tombs are orientated towards the qibla, a perceived and approximate orientation is usually acceptable in India. In Bayana, the orientation of different buildings varies, usually between 7º and 16º West of North, with a few earlier buildings having an even greater divergence towards the west.26 However, this structure is orientated For the direction of the true qibla and variations on the orientation of buildings in Bayana, see Chapters 4 and 8.

26

648 BAYANA about 7º East of North, an eastward diversion of nearly 14º from most of the other buildings. It could perhaps be suggested that the structure was not of religious nature, but canopies of this type are not known for any other type of building, such as garden pavilions. It could be that the building was originally a tomb and the diversion is simply an error, otherwise we should consider the possibility of it being one of Sikandra’s garden pavilions. 23. Canopy B.22, Auhadiˉ Graveyard (Figure III.23, Plate III.23)  The canopy at ˙ the south-west of the graveyard is partly in ruins and only one of the domes and four of the columns still stood in 1981, but the remains of the platform, part of which was still intact, indicate that it originally consisted of two domes and six columns. The remains of the transitional zone of the missing dome also confirm the original form. In scale the structure is closely comparable to Canopy S.11 (No. 22), with triangular corner slabs supporting the roof, but in this building the columns are carved with a variation of the traditional decorative patterns seen in ChatrÈ S.8 (No. 20).

Figure III.23  Bayana town, Au˙adÈ Graveyard, Canopy B.22, plan, section/south elevation A–A, details of a corner of the surviving elements. Missing portions are represented by dotted lines.

Plate III.23  Au˙adÈ Graveyard, Canopy B.22. The structure once had two domes and six columns, now only partially preserved. View from the south-west showing the standing dome and the remains of the rectangular platform. The carved decoration of the columns as well as the remaining eave stones and crenellations can also be seen.

649

appendix iii

24. Canopy B.32, Auhadiˉ Graveyard (Figure III.24, Plate 6.24)  A second ˙ canopy, north of the ruined båolÈ in the graveyard, is also in a poor state of ­preservation, and while the columns and part of the roof remain most other features are lost. The tombstones inside the canopy have also been removed, but a few tombstones scattered around the building might have originally been housed there. They are all datable to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and ­comparable with the tomb of Au˙ad Khån. It is likely that the canopy, like most features in the graveyard, also dates from this period. An interesting ­peculiarity is the roof, which is constructed of flat slabs, set over an octagonal transitional zone made out of triangular corner slabs and rectangular blocks in between. The zone formed by the triangles might be regarded as unnecessary structurally, as the slabs could have been put directly over the lintels, which span 2.48 m and are within the limits of the load-bearing properties of the local sandstone, spans of up to 2.5 m being covered in many mosques and houses. However, the reason for the introduction of a transitional zone seems to have been for supporting solid false domes, erected above the flat roof, in the manner characteristic of Bayana.

Figure III.24  Au˙adÈ Graveyard, Rectangular Canopy B.32 with six columns and a flat roof, plan, section A–A, south elevation. The missing elements, including the false domes, are represented by dotted lines.

650 BAYANA 25. Khanwa, Canopy IX, Karbalaˉ Graveyard (Figure III.25, Plate III.25) Some distance to the south-east of the Karbalå Masjid, and perhaps just outside the ­ perimeter of the old Karbalå Graveyard (Figure III.9a), stands an unusual canopy, the structural elements of which follow the norm, but one of the units has a pyramidal or hipped roof while the other roof is flat. The pyramidal roof is formed of layers of flat slabs set diagonally and consolidated at each corner with  a  trapezoid slab set over a rectangular one, pointing downward. The pyramid  is surmounted with a rectangular slab and a large lotus motif. The outer flat slabs, again set at an angle to produce the effect of a stepped pyramid, are bonded to those of the interior with rubble stone and cement. Variations of such pyramidal roofs appear in Tomb B.27 (No. 48) in the Au˙adÈ Graveyard and later in the LodÈ or Mughal tomb attributed to Aßaf Khån in Nadbai (Plate III.48b), another village in the vicinity of Bayana. The other unit in Canopy IX, with its surviving flat roof, might have had a solid dome, but in this particular case probably not.

Figure III.25  Khanwa, Rectangular Canopy IX with six columns, plan and section A–A.

Plate III.25  Khanwa, Canopy IX from south-west. Below: the northern unit with a pyramidal roof, which has lost most of the cement cover exposing the stone roof structure, is provided with what seems to have been designed as a portico to its south. Above: interior of the pyramidal roof, constructed with flat slabs and thinner horizontal blocks alternately, reinforced with triangular corner blocks for increased stability as well as aesthetic reasons.

appendix iii

As with the other remains in the Karbalå Graveyard, the platform of the canopy is entirely buried in accumulated sand. The columns are plain but uniform and the brackets over the capitals are all of the same type. The outward-facing brackets, which supported the now lost eave stones, are decorated with pendants, similar to those seen in many LodÈ and Mughal structures of the region. The sophistication of the design and construction of the roof may, however, be an indication of an even later date, perhaps seventeenth century. The floor of the platform is disturbed but it seems that a tomb, possibly two, was in the unit with the pyramidal roof and none under the flat roof, giving the impression that the whole structure was designed at the same time, with a portico for the unit with the hipped roof. Experimental Forms A large number of Bayana’s funerary structures depart from normal practice and represent experiments carried out by architects and builders to adapt concepts of other structural forms to the beam-and-bracket system and expand its limitations. The experimental structures, although not on a grand scale, are illuminating for architectural practice in Bayana. The trials may have been widespread and applied in other territories, but so far most of the unusual forms appear to have been restricted to the region of Bayana. Walled Chatrıˉs While chatrÈs are expected to be domed structures open on all sides, in northern and western India a number have the spaces between the columns blocked by pierced stonework screens known as jålÈ. In Delhi, for example, chatr­Ès of this type include the one known as the tomb of Íalå˙ al-dÈn DarwÈsh (d. 740/1339–40) to the north-west of Chirågh-i DihlÈ and just outside the perimeter of the old town of SÈrÈ.27 The tomb is probably slightly later than this date, but is a grand structure with a raised dome over a tall octagonal transitional zone supported by twelve columns with fine geometric jålÈ work set between the columns. Another is the well-known shrine of YusËf Qattål28 at KhirkÈ, built together with a small mosque to the west of Såt Pul, further south of SÈrÈ. The mosque is constructed with rubble stone but the chatrÈ is a finely ornamented structure, again with twelve columns and jålÈs featuring geometric patterns, composed mainly of squares and octagons. The mosque and tomb date from 903/1526–729 and, as with Yamamoto, I, p. 83, T.86. The building has not yet been fully studied. Yamamoto, I, p. 86, T.104; for a more detailed study and survey drawings, see Wetzel, pp. 23–4. 29 Sayyid Ahmad Khan gives a copy of the inscription which records that the building was constructed during the reign of Sikandar LodÈ by Shaikh Alå al-dÈn NËr Tåj, in Mu˙arram 903/ August–September 1497, but elsewhere notes that the tomb and mosque were constructed by Shaikh Alå al-dÈn in 933/1526–27. See Khan, Åthår al-ßanådÈd, chapter 3, table, p. 5; text pp. 46–7, and inscription No. 27, mentioning that the inscription had been lost. 27 28

651

652 BAYANA

Plate III.26  Walled ChatrÈ B.28, with twelve columns and a true dome. Left: from the south-west with the panel with a circular window on the left representing the mi˙råb on the interior. Thin panels of red sandstone and the pierced stone screens flanking the entrance and over the mi˙råb allude to the appearance of walled tombs. Right: interior looking at the southern corner of the eastern wall and showing the entrance and some of the jålÈ screens. Above the lintels the vertically laid stonework of the drum is carved with flat arched niches. One of the stub-lintels carved with a rosette can also be seen over a bracket capital in the corner.

many chatrÈs of Delhi, the true dome is erected on a raised octagon set directly over the lintels. 26. Walled Chatriˉ B.28, Auhadiˉ Graveyard (Figure III.26, Plates 6.25, ˙ III.26)  While in concept the apparently ‘walled’ ChatrÈ B.28 to the north of the old well in the graveyard might have been based on North Indian models, it differs from them in many respects. The large twelve-columned structure has a square plan about 6.50 m at each side erected on a platform 7.90 m square. Between the columns at the northern and southern sides instead of jålÈ screens plain panels of red sandstone are slotted into grooves in the lintels and floor.30 Only at the eastern side is the central bay made into a door with an arch-shaped jålÈ above and the flanking bays enclosed by jålÈs. The delicate play of light and shade through the decorative tracery is taken up on the qibla side where the central panel is carved, on the interior only, to represent a flat niche or mi˙råb with an ogee arch decorated with a floral motif and with two rosettes on the spandrels and a larger one in the middle of the niche. Above the mi˙råb a circular jålÈ with further rectangular jålÈs on either side correspond with those of the eastern wall. The other panels are plain both on the exterior and interior, simulating the impression of a The panels are 2.71 m long, between 60 cm and 72 cm wide and only 8 cm thick.

30

653

appendix iii

Figure III.26  Au˙adÈ Graveyard, Walled ChatrÈ B.28, with twelve columns and a true dome, plan and section/south elevation A–A, showing the present condition, with missing elements represented by dotted and broken lines.

domed chamber in an otherwise ordinary chatrÈ, and this effect could have been reinforced with plasterwork, but with no traces of plaster the designers seem to have opted to display the stonework. More unusual and idiosyncratic is the dome, which is in principle a true dome with the lower blocks slightly thicker than those above. However, a true dome, like an arch, is constructed with bricks or stone laid with mortar in narrow horizontal courses with each layer at a right angle to the downward pressure, whereas in this structure the dome is made of large slabs of stone laid vertically with little or no mortar, each course curved inward to achieve an almost hemispherical profile. The edges of the blocks are slightly rough on the exterior to enhance bonding with the outer cement, whereas on the interior they abut tightly and are dressed like ashlar work. The method is unorthodox and somewhat unstable, and the dome’s survival, bearing in mind the loss of the outer cement layer, is surprising. The dome is raised on a low drum, set in the usual way directly on the octagon formed by the lintels, but the drum is formed of a series of alternating wide and narrow rectangular blocks, laid vertically, the wider blocks being carved on the interior with flat arched niches.

654 BAYANA The unusual structure – also replicated in a few smaller chatrÈs such as ChatrÈs B.26 (No. 27), B.28 (No. 26), F.16 (No. 42) and ChatrÈ VIII at Khanwa (No. 10) – raises the question as to how far the builders were familiar with the usual traditions of construction with brick and rubble stone, seen commonly in northern India from the middle of the thirteenth century on. Masonry walls appear in many early buildings in Bayana and there are even a few small-sized chatrÈs with ­conventional true domes, but it may be argued that they are slightly later in date and their smaller domes required little skill in dome-building, which was – and still is – a specialised profession. Often for a sizeable building the dome-builders were highly-paid craftsmen separate from those who constructed the rest of the structure. Whatever the reason for the peculiarities of ChatrÈ B.28 may be, it is clear that the builders were bold enough to try their own experimental and innovative design. The display of the smooth stonework of the dome in particular shows that they were aware of their achievement, and the close-fitting stonework may be a reason for the long survival of the dome in spite of its theoretical lack of stability. Chatrıˉs with Ribbed Domes 27. Chatriˉ B.26, Auhadiˉ Graveyard (Figure III.27, Plate III.27)  Near Walled ˙ ChatrÈ B.28 stands a small four-columned chatrÈ distinguished by its ribbed

Figure III.27  Au˙adÈ Graveyard, ChatrÈ B.26 with four columns and a ribbed dome, plan and section/south elevation A–A, showing the present condition, with missing elements represented by dotted and broken lines.

appendix iii

Plate III.27  ChatrÈ B.26. Left: view from the north. Almost all of the outer features of its roof are lost exposing the ribbed structure of the dome. Right: interior of the ribbed dome, while the exterior was originally rendered with cement, the interior stonework was finely finished.

dome. The structure is in a poor state of preservation and the platform and its tombstone, as well as almost all of the exterior features including the eave stones, ­crenellations and the cement cover of the dome are lost, exposing the structure of the dome. Up to the level of the transitional zone the dome is formed in the conventional way with the zone created by triangular corner slabs, but above this layer a further layer with two triangular slabs set above each of the lower corner slabs provides support for the eight ribs, raised over the vertices of the octagon, meeting at a circular boss decorated with a rosette on the interior. Slots in the sides of the ribs hold five courses of thin flat slabs, covering each segment. The structure is otherwise plain and it seems that the main feature for display was the dome. Ribbed domes appear widely in brick structures of the Islamic world in the Ilkhanid and Timurid period, for example, in the Jåmi of Isfahan. In form the structural ribs may be seen only on the roof and not on the soffit. In some cases – and particularly in fourteenth-century northern India – a segmented dome may be represented on the interior by stucco imitating ribs, but the dome itself is built in

655

656 BAYANA the conventional manner. Nevertheless, a few ribbed domes appear in sultanate architecture including the small dome over the prayer hall in front of the central mi˙råb of the Ukhå Masjid (Plate 4.38), which might have been a model for the dome of our chatrÈ. In Bayana ribbed domes are a familiar feature seen in some non-funerary chatrÈs, including the four-columned ones flanking the entrances of the Ïdgåh Masjid in Barambad (Plate 5.54) and of Mosque S.10 (Plate 5.58) in Sikandra. A larger version of a ribbed dome is also constructed over the funerary ChatrÈ F.16 (No. 42) in the fort, discussed below, as it has other unusual characteristics. Chatrıˉ with a Double-shelled Dome Double-shelled domes were probably developed in the Islamic world at the end of the eleventh century, and two of the earliest such domes are found over the Tomb of Sultan Sanjar built in c. 1157 at Merv31 and over the mausoleum known as Jabal-i Sang, built in about 1186 at Kirmån32 – both monuments on a grand scale. The reason for the development of the form appears to have been to provide ­different curvatures for the interior and the exterior of the dome: one shell to conform to the scale and proportions of the chamber inside and another to give a sense of elegance and loftiness to the exterior. While during the Ilkhanid and Timurid periods the use of double-shelled domes was widespread in Iran and Central Asia, with the Timurid architects exaggerating the shape and the height of the outer shells to the extent that the domes in Samarqand stand several metres over their inner shell, in India the form was not adopted apart from a few ­examples on a modest scale dating from the Mughal period; among them an elegant square tomb chamber known as the tomb of Gulåb Khån (B.13, No. 53) in Bayana. Where a double-shelled dome is apparently raised above a small chatrÈ, however, it has quite a different function from those over substantial monuments. 28. Chatriˉ B.23, Shrine of Jahaˉ n Piˉr (Figure III.28, Plates 6.4, III.28) The small square chatrÈ at the north-western corner of the Au˙adÈ Graveyard has an unusual double-shelled dome which does not follow the conventions; the inner shell is a stone corbelled dome, while the outer shell is a true dome built of brick and mortar and raised over a drum. The chatrÈ is otherwise plain with relatively squat columns measuring only 2.08 m in total height with the shafts 1.37 m tall. The platform and grave are lost, but the traditional name, still preserved locally, For a general description, see Robert Hillenbrand, Islamic Architecture: Form and Function (Edinburgh, 1994), p. 279. Hillenbrand’s drawing of the building showing a thick single dome is inaccurate. For a detailed survey of the building showing the structure of the dome, see Anna Maksimovna Pribytkova, Stroitelnaya Kultura Srednei Asii v IX–XII vv (Moscow, 1973), pp. 142–51. 32 Schroeder, ‘The Architecture of the Islamic Period: (F) The SeljËq Period’, pp. 1016–20. 31

657

appendix iii

Figure III.28  Au˙adÈ Graveyard, ChatrÈ B.23, known as the Shrine of Jahån PÈr, with four columns and double-shelled dome, plan and section/ south elevation A–A.

Plate III.28  ChatrÈ B.23, known as the Shrine of Jahån PÈr. Below: view from the south-west showing the exterior of the double-shelled dome which has partly collapsed exposing the structure of the brick outer shell and the stone inner shell. Above: interior of the inner shell, a traditional shallow corbelled dome.

signifies that the tomb belonged to a local religious personage. Bricks appear rarely in Bayana and – as with the rest of northern India – only in structures of the Mughal period. The use of brick in the outer shell may be an indication of a late sixteenth- or seventeenth-century date, but it is more likely that the chatrÈ was built some time earlier, but, as a revered tomb, the dome was later embellished or restored. Removing the cement cover of the corbelled dome and adding the outer shell would make this otherwise modest chatrÈ more outstanding. With the shifts of population in Bayana since the eighteenth century and the almost total migration of the remaining Muslims in 1947 there are very few shrines in Bayana with their original names still known, a further indication of the ­importance of this one.

658 BAYANA Little remains of the other features; the tombstone, eave stones and crenellations are all lost. Part of the outer shell of the dome has also collapsed exposing the structure of the dome and leaving a hollow space of about half a metre at the top between the two domes. The dome may not be on a grand scale, but, as far as we know, it is the only example of its kind in India in which the two types of dome-building have been amalgamated. Whenever the outer shell may have been constructed, it seems clear that the builders were aiming for the impression of a low profile inside, combined with a lofty exterior, just as the builders of the grand Persian and Central Asian double-shelled domes had done. Departures from Norms Four-columned Chatrıˉs with Flat Roofs and False Domes The dome in the Shrine of Jahån PÈr may be interpreted not only as a doubleshelled structure, but also as an outer Islamic-style false dome set on the roof of a chatrÈ with a shallow corbelled dome. In this case, the feature would represent a link between the traditional type of chatrÈ and a departure from the norm of constructing a false dome over a flat roof, as in Rectangular Canopy B.32 (No. 24) and other examples. The practice seems to have been restricted to the region of Bayana, but the reason for its development is not certain; perhaps it was cheaper. If a desirable exterior appearance were sufficient, an unskilled builder would not need to worry about forming a well-proportioned inner curvature. It is not surprising that some of these false domes are almost solid, and whenever they were built as a shell the aim was only to minimise the weight, transferred to trapezoid slabs set commonly over the corner brackets. The proper structural properties of a dome are not employed, and many have partly or entirely collapsed. Another indication that economy might have been a reason behind the practice is that most – but not all – of the chatrÈs with false domes have little or no ornamentation on the stone elements – using presumably less expensive components from the range available. 29. Chatriˉ F.32, Fort, near eastern gate of Area E (Figure III.29, Plate III.29)  One of the best-preserved examples of structures with false domes is F.32, near Rectangular Canopy F.31 (No. 21). The almost intact dome has a hole in one side revealing that the false dome is hollow inside and the shell relatively thin. The chatrÈ is otherwise plain, with square columns supporting the lintels and the usual triangular corner slabs over them, with a further course of four trapezoid slabs supporting most of the weight of the dome and its drum. The outer surface of the dome is well proportioned, the profile imitating a low drum with a decorative string course running around the springing of the dome, but most other features around the roof are lost. No tombstones are left in this structure or in the nearby rectangular canopy, but the site seems to have been a shrine or small graveyard,

appendix iii

Figure III.29  Bayana fort, ChatrÈ F.32, with a false dome constructed over a flat roof, plan and section/south elevation A–A.

Plate III.29  Bayana fort, two tombs in the unbuilt eastern area of the fort. ChatrÈ F.32 (left) with a flat roof surmounted by a false dome. A hole in the dome reveals the thickness of the shell. To the right of F.32 stands Rectangular Canopy F.31 (No. 21) with two corbelled domes. Both structures have been partially walled up by secondary users at later dates.

659

660 BAYANA probably with a number of tombstones. As with several areas of the fort, the site seems to have been occupied by squatters at later dates, who could have removed the tombstones and also constructed makeshift walls, including a low wall at one side of each of the two old structures. The use of false domes does not appear to be a progressive chronological development but was exercised alongside the construction of more traditional corbelled or true domes. One of the best-preserved non-funerary chatrÈs with a flat roof and false dome can be found in the NiΩåm Khån BåolÈ (B.44, Plates 6.23, 7.25, 7.26) dating from the time of IbråhÈm Shåh LodÈ (1517–26). The practice must therefore have developed some time in the fifteenth century and become well established by the early sixteenth century. Another false dome, over a båolÈ in Sikandra (S.9), is also of this period (Plate 7.29). 30. Chatriˉ S.2, Sikandra, field south-east of Fort (Figure III.30, Plate III.30)  Other funerary chatrÈs of the false-domed type are in a relatively poor state of preservation and their domes have not survived intact. Two are to the east of the fort, just outside the perimeter of the walls attributed to Sikandar LodÈ. In ChatrÈ S.2 only the lower parts of the dome, built of stone rubble, still stand showing that it was again built as a ‘true’ dome fairly thick at the base and hollow inside. The dome rests on a flat roof, with triangular and trapezoid slabs similar

Figure III.30  Sikandra, ChatrÈ S.2, with a flat roof and the remains of a false dome, plan and section/south elevation A–A.

Plate III.30  Sikandra, ChatrÈ S.2, showing the remains of the false dome over the flat roof. The ruinous platform still preserves two undated tombstones with flat tops.

appendix iii

in construction to ChatrÈ F.32, an arrangement different from the roof structure of Rectangular Canopy B.32 (No. 24) with units of a similar size, but which seems to have become a norm for the chatrÈs with false domes as the weight was distributed better. All structural features are plain, except the capitals of the columns, decorated with flattened, downward pointing spear-head motifs, common in the region. The platform has almost entirely disappeared – its stones probably pilfered – but two tombstones with flat tops, each carved with a ‘mi˙råb’ design, are still preserved on the remains of the platform floor. They are of the fifteenth and sixteenth-century type, but do not bear any names or dates. 31. Chatriˉ S.9, Sikandra, east of the Fort (Figure III.31, Plate III.31)  ChatrÈ S.9 is fairly similar and on the same scale as S.2 (No. 30), including the structural principles of the flat roof and the carvings. Only the lower courses of the false dome have remained, which in this case are constructed with blocks of stone, roughly squared up; all other features including the platforms, eave

Plate III.31  Sikandra, ChatrÈ S.9, general view showing the ruinous condition of the chatrÈ and its platform, but with the structural elements still intact and the remains of a false dome preserved over the flat roof.

661

662 BAYANA

Figure III.31  Sikandra, ChatrÈ S.9, with flat roof and remains of a false dome, plan and section/south elevation A–A.

stones and crenellations have disappeared. In both chatrÈs only the capitals of the columns bear flattened, downward pointing spear-head motifs, common in the region. While there are no tombstones, the close similarity of this chatrÈ and ChatrÈ S.2, and their proximity may be an indication that they are close in date. 32. Chatriˉ B.48, east of Bayana, south of the road to Barambad and Fathpur Sikri (Figure III.32, Plate III.32)  The feature stands near ChatrÈ B.47 (No. 4) with its corbelled dome, but in all respects ChatrÈ B.48 is comparable to the two ­examples in Sikandra. The dome is in a ruinous state and only part of the drum stands on one side as well as a heap of rubble of the collapsed dome piled on the roof. The platform and eave stones are preserved, but the crenellations – if there were any – are lost. On the platform there is a single undated tombstone with a flat top. 33. Chatriˉ B.35, Auhadiˉ Graveyard, near the ruins of a reservoir (B.34) (Figure ˙ III.33, Plate III.33) The chatrÈ is plain but its structural elements and most of the eave stones are still preserved. On the interior the triangular corner slabs, surmounted by long trapezoid slabs, which would act as reinforcement and carry

663

appendix iii

Plate III.32  ChatrÈ B.48, with the remains of its false dome over the flat slabs of the roof. ChatrÈ B.47, with a corbelled dome cemented over with the profile of an Islamic dome, can be seen in the background.

Figure III.32  Bayana town, ChatrÈ B.48, with flat roof and remains of a false dome, plan and section/south elevation A–A.

664 BAYANA

Plate III.33  ChatrÈ B.35, showing the structure of the flat ceiling.

Figure III.33  Au˙adÈ Graveyard, ChatrÈ B.35, with flat roof, plan and section/south elevation A–A. The probable false dome over the flat roof is suggested by dotted lines.

the load, supported a false dome. Only small fragments of the base of the dome remain and while the platform still stands, the flat slabs of its surface have been pilfered and the tombstone removed. 34. Chatriˉ S.18, north of the road from Bayana to Sikandra (Figure III.34, Plate III.34) The chatrÈ is erected close to the twelve-columned ChatrÈ S.17 (No. 13) and the Baṛe Kamar (S.19, No. 47). Most of the plain architectural features have survived, including some of the eave stones and crenellations, which are in the form of solid pointed arches. The relatively wide span of the lintels and short column shafts gives a squat look to the edifice, which might have been compensated for by a high false dome, of which hardly anything remains. 35. Chatriˉ B.29, Auhadiˉ Graveyard (Figure III.35, Plate III.35) This chatrÈ ˙ and ChatrÈ B.36 (No. 36) make us consider another factor, as in these structures the columns bear carved decoration and the structure of the flat roof is unlikely to have been dictated by cost. Furthermore, in both chatrÈs the features around

665

appendix iii

Figure III.34  Sikandra, ChatrÈ S.18, with flat roof, plan and section/south elevation A–A.

Plate III.34  Sikandra, ChatrÈ S.18, view from the east. A corner of ChatrÈ S.17 can be seen on the left.

Plate III.35  ChatrÈ B.29, with columns decorated with carvings supporting a flat roof which has retained some of the features around the roof, including the frieze under the lost crenellations and the eave stones. A false dome over the roof might have collapsed or been left unbuilt.

666 BAYANA

Figure III.35  Au˙adÈ Graveyard, ChatrÈ B.29, with flat roof, plan, section/south elevation A–A, details of a column. A probable false dome over the flat roof is suggested by dotted lines, but its construction is not certain.

the roof are fairly well preserved. In our drawings the possibility of false domes over the flat roofs is suggested with dotted lines, but with other features of a roof being preserved one would expect to see at least some remains of the false dome. Although the existence of false domes over these two chatrÈs cannot be ruled out, it is also possible that they were originally designed as canopies with flat roofs, or that the chatrÈs were left unfinished and the intended false domes were never constructed. The platform of B.29, although preserved, has been disturbed and the tombstones removed. 36. Chatriˉ B.36, Auhadiˉ Graveyard (Figure III.36, Plate III.36)  This fairly ˙ well-preserved structure is in many respects comparable to ChatrÈ B.29 (No. 35), and furthermore has also retained its crenellations, elaborate in profile and carved on thin stone slabs. The tombstones have been vandalised, but the lower courses of two tombs were still to be found in the chatrÈ, while the top slabs have been removed but left beside the structure. Each slab has a flat top carved with a simple representation of a mi˙råb with a lobed arch, commonly seen in the graveyards of Bayana, a simplified version of the grander Au˙adÈ tombstones. 37. Hindaun, Chatriˉ II, north of Jachchaw kiˉ Baˉ oliˉ (Figure III.37, Plate III.37)  The structure is near the reservoir also known as Prahlåd Kun∂ and the tomb of BÈbÈ KhadÈja (No. 40) at the south-east of the town. While, as with other examples of this type, the dome (if it existed) has not survived the rest of

667

appendix iii

Figure III.36  Au˙adÈ Graveyard, ChatrÈ B.36, with flat roof, plan and section/ south elevation A–A. A probable false dome is suggested by dotted lines, but its construction is not certain.

Plate III.36  Au˙adÈ Graveyard, ChatrÈ B.36, with carved columns and a flat roof. The canopy can be seen as a complete building, but a dome may have been envisaged. The disturbed tombs and tombstones on the ground nearby can be seen.

Plate III.37  Hindaun, the fairly wellpreserved ChatrÈ II. A tombstone with flat top lies to the left beside the structure.

the structure is fairly well preserved. The structural elements are plain and the stone cladding of the platform has been pilfered, but some of the top fringe of the platform has survived, decorated with spear-head patterns pointing downwards. The structure has been whitewashed and low walls built at later dates for

668 BAYANA

Figure III.37  Hindaun, ChatrÈ II, with four columns and flat roof, plan and section/south elevation A–A.

s­ econdary use. By the side of the chatrÈ a tombstone with a flat top is in the form of a rectangular block with stepped base, much in the style of – but less elaborate than – the early sixteenth-century tomb of BÈbÈ KhadÈja. Another loose tombstone of a certain BÈbÈ RåsËlÈ is found in this area, dated 25 Rama∂ån 846/27 January 1443,33 and although only part of it is visible it seems to have been in the same style, indicating that ChatrÈ II, or at least the tombstone lying beside it, may date from the mid-fifteenth to mid-sixteenth century. 38. Khanwa, Chatriˉ III, north-east of the Karbalaˉ Masjid (Figure III.38, Plates III.9a and III.38)  This interesting and somewhat unusual chatrÈ stands a little distance to the north of the octagonal ChatrÈ II (No. 19) and the four-columned domed ChatrÈ IV (No. 9). ChatrÈ III, however, differs from these, not just because of its roof structure but in its unusual columns and their capitals, both octagonal in plan. The column bases are buried in accumulated sand and their details hidden, but might be similar to those of ChatrÈ VII (No. 39) in the same graveyard (Figure III.9a). The unusually tall capitals are in five registers with the corners of the lower registers in the form of spherical triangles curving upward. The top register is square in plan. Similar structural elements can also be seen in ChatrÈ VII, but no other capitals closely comparable with these specimens have so far been seen in Bayana or its region. The eave stones are broken off and the false dome has not survived, but a large amount of rubble stone on the roof could Appendix I, No. 19.

33

appendix iii

Plate III.38  Khanwa, ChatrÈ III. Left: view from north-west showing the rubble of the probable fallen dome. Right: a corner of the structure with the details of columns and the surviving part of the parapet of the roof. ChatrÈ IV is in the background.

Figure III.38  Khanwa, ChatrÈ III, with octagonal columns, plan and section A–A, with a possible dome shown with dotted lines.

669

670 BAYANA have formed the lost feature. The tombstones, if any, may be buried under the sand. 39. Khanwa, Chatriˉ VII, south-west of the Karbalaˉ Masjid (Figure III.39, Plates III.10 and III.39)  In all respects this chatrÈ is similar to ChatrÈ III (No.38), but apart from the lost false dome – if there were one – all other features are better preserved and the platform and the bases of the columns are exposed, showing the elaborate details. Each corner of the platform is carved in the form of a vase – a pattern seen on the bases of the engaged columns of the mosque. The faces of the platform have three recessed panels and the fringe at the top of the platform has the usual downward spear-head motifs. The bases of the columns are each made of two stones, the lower in the form of a cavetto ­moulding – a flat strip below and a concave one above. The upper block is carved on each face with a lobed

Figure III.39  Khanwa, ChatrÈ VII, plan, section/east elevation, details of a corner of the structure.

appendix iii

Plate III.39  Khanwa, ChatrÈ VII, view from the west with the Karbalå Masjid in the background to the left. To the right of the chatrÈ is a tombstone similar in profile to those in the structure.

arch form in relief – a feature common in mid- and late Mughal buildings. On the platform the two tombstones bear no names or dates, but we can consider that these two similar chatrÈs may both date from Mughal times. Chatrıˉs with Eight Columns and True or Corbelled Domes The structural form of a chatrÈ and the vertices of the transitional zone of its dome dictate the position and number of columns, as seen in numerous examples. In the Bayana region there are some chatrÈs with columns set in unconventional positions: one at each corner and one in the middle of each side. In size these eight-columned chatrÈs are comparable to those with twelve columns, but the load-bearing solution is devised as for those with four columns: above the lintels, large triangular slabs over the corners support either a true or a corbelled dome, the lighter weight of a true dome being more appropriate for this type. A dated example in Hindaun is discussed first to help establish the approximate date of others, undated, in Barambad and Bayana fort. 40. Hindaun, Chatriˉ I, Tomb of Biˉbiˉ Khadiˉja (Figure III.40, Plates 6.26, III.40)  This well-preserved building is the tomb of one BÈbÈ KhadÈja, daughter of Qå∂È KarÈm al-dÈn BukhårÈ of Mahåwan and wife of Qå∂È Burhån al-dÈn b. Qå∂È

671

672 BAYANA

Figure III.40  Hindaun, ChatrÈ I, the Tomb of BÈbÈ K˙adÈja, plan and section/west elevation A–A.

Siråj al-dÈn, the date of whose death is recorded as 15 Rajab 933/17 April 1527 or 913/20 November 1507.34 The tomb was presumably constructed by KhadÈja’s husband soon after her death. It is unusual for an edifice on this scale to have been built for a woman, unless her family wielded considerable local power and influence. The name of KhadÈja’s father indicates that they or their ancestors were originally from Bukhårå, an important city of Greater Khuråsån, and the title of qå∂È for both the father and her husband shows that they were religious judges. Her tomb has a high plinth, the panels of which are decorated with a row of flat arches, and at the corners engaged columns support a stepped rectangular pyramid form with a flat top. Such a tombstone would be more usual for a governor or even a sultan, rather than a woman, and again indicates the high status of the BÈbÈ, her family and her husband. In the chatrÈ this impressive tomb stands on the western side of the platform leaving the eastern side free for another tomb, probably intended for her husband, but the space has been left unoccupied. In relation to our study, it is the date, falling into the reign of Sikandar LodÈ, that requires attention as it testifies clearly that this type of structure is pre-Mughal in origin. ChatrÈs of this type have so far escaped the attention of scholars and little is known of their origin or development. They seem to have appeared in the Appendix I, Nos 36, 37.

34

673

appendix iii

Plate III.40  Hindaun, Tomb of BÈbÈ K˙adÈja, who died in 1507 or 1527. Above: interior of the corbelled dome. The method of construction, with triangular corner slabs as a transitional zone follows the usual system, but extra columns support the lintels. Below: the elaborate tombstone is closely similar to those of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Bayana.

region of Bayana in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but the type was probably abandoned early in the Mughal period. Outside Bayana, apart from one ­comparable – but not entirely analogous – example in Delhi, no other chatrÈs of this type have so far been reported. The tomb at Delhi,35 while similar in principle to the tombs at Bayana, differs in structural details including the form of the dome and the number of columns. The Delhi tomb has a pair of columns under the middle of each side instead of a single one, making twelve in all, although their position has the same structural function as those at Bayana. With no other parallel found elsewhere, the type can be regarded as a peculiarity of Bayana’s experimental architecture, hardly employed outside the region. 41. Barambad, Chatriˉ BR.3 (Figure III.41, Plate III.41)  Though undated, the structure is another well-preserved specimen of the eight-columned type. The columns are of the usual type with bevelled edges and are equidistant, set 2 m apart to support eight lintels, two on each face of the building. The heavy corbelled dome rises directly over the lintels and corner slabs with the lower courses curving very Yamamoto, I, p. 89, T.129. The tomb, located at Mehrauli, about 200 metres to the south-east of Jahåz Ma˙al, still awaits detailed study.

35

674 BAYANA

Plate III.41  Barambad, ChatrÈ BR.3, view from west. In the background stands the small ChatrÈ BR.4 with four columns (No. 7), which has been walled up and made into a chamber.

Figure III.41  Barambad, ChatrÈ BR.3, with eight columns and a corbelled dome, plan and section/south elevation A–A.

appendix iii

slightly inward and providing a collar for the drum-shaped form represented on the exterior. A decorative string course of red sandstone distinguishes the drum from the dome on the exterior. The interior of the dome is plain while the exterior has the profile of a tangential arch with sharply curved haunches, which is entirely created by cement work and is not reflected on the interior courses. As a whole the structure is plain, but has simple rosettes carved on the face of the stub lintels set above the capital brackets supporting the eave stones. Similar rosettes ornament the corresponding positions on the interior over the middle columns. A band of turquoise-blue tiles run on the surface of the frieze above the eave stones, a rare surviving example of tile-work. Other features of the structure are also fairly well preserved, including the crenellations carved with the usual cruciform inlay of blue tiles. The tombstone has been removed and the exact date of the building is unknown, but considering the form and decorative features of the building a person of consequence and a fifteenth- or early sixteenth-century date can be suggested. 42. Chatriˉ F.16, Fort, Area A (Figure III.42, Plates III.42a–b)  The third example of the twelve-columned type is built in the middle of a private yard or garden in the north-east of the fort. Parts of the enclosure wall and the ruins of the entrance gate to the yard still survive. The structure itself must have been the tomb of a venerable personage or even a shrine as its structural elements including the lintels are extensively decorated, but it was abandoned long ago and occupied by squatters who have haphazardly walled it up and made it into a chamber. In spite of the damage caused by the later occupants, the building has survived fairly well and its ribbed dome and most of the features are preserved although the carvings are covered by the secondary walls. Amongst the alterations has been the removal of the middle column of the southern side to provide space for a door, but the secondary walls support the original lintels, which would have otherwise collapsed, together with the dome. The tomb is on a modest scale,36 but slightly larger than the example in Barambad. The columns are similar to those of the other buildings, including the bevelled edges of the middle register of the shafts and the square registers at each end, while the layout of the decoration is also similar to ChatrÈs S.8, B.22, B.29 and B.36.37 However, in this building additional cursive and floral motifs are carved within the patterns. Similar motifs have also been executed on the lintels. This is the only chatrÈ in Bayana where the lintels are highly decorated, but an interesting feature of the building is the form of its column bases, which are not square, but have their corners cut with a convex curved surface. The form appears in the Imårat-i BådgÈr (F.33) dating from 940/1533–5, but is not seen in other earlier buildings of Bayana. It seems that the form probably developed in Bayana and was a prototype for the seventeenth-century Mughal column bases seen in the palaces The tomb measures in plan about 5.60 m square, with the columns set 2.22 m from each other. The columns are over 2.65 m high from the ground to the lintels with the shafts 1.87 m tall. 37 Nos 20, 23, 35 and 36, respectively. 36

675

676 BAYANA

Plate III.42a  Bayana fort, ChatrÈ F.16. Left: exterior showing the present condition with secondary walling made by later squatters, but still preserving most external features; right: details of a column showing the carved decoration of a shaft and its capital.

Figure III.42  Bayana fort, ChatrÈ F.16, with eight columns, plan, section/ south elevation A–A, details of a column. The secondary walls are shown with hatched lines and the removed column on the south side with dotted lines.

677

appendix iii

Plate III.42b  ChatrÈ F.16. Above: interior view of the ribbed dome standing on two circular courses over a sixteen-sided polygon, supported by the octagonal transitional zone on triangular corner slabs, each of which is decorated with a rosette within a square. Below: details of the base of a column. The general form of the base is similar to seventeenthcentury Mughal bases, but the decoration with the half rosette within an arch and two rosettes on the spandrels is a local pattern.

of Delhi and Agra. It may therefore be an indication that the chatrÈ is relatively late in date, corresponding with the final stages of prosperity of the fort. The decoration on the surface of the bases, however, consists of a half rosette within an arch and two rosettes on the spandrel, in harmony with local traditional motifs. The most interesting feature of the structure is, however, its ribbed dome (Plate III.42b). In this chatrÈ over the lintels there is an extra course decorated on the interior, its main function being to elevate the bed on which the eave stones are set, to better display the carvings on the lintels. Above this course is the octagonal transitional zone made of the usual triangular corner slabs, which in this case are decorated underneath with a rosette carved in high relief on a square bed. The dome is not, however, set directly on this zone, as above the octagon, to better spread of the weight of the dome, is another course in the form of a sixteen-sided polygon and above it two further cylindrical courses to elevate the drum. Over these courses twelve stone ribs are erected meeting at the top in a circular boss. The fields between the ribs are filled in the usual manner with courses of relatively flat slabs set on their sides as seen in the earlier examples. In the architecture of Bayana this chatrÈ merits particular attention. Not only it is a rare surviving example with highly decorated elements and an exceptionally sophisticated dome structure, demonstrating the skill of the local craftsmen, but

678 BAYANA also its probable late date suggests that the architectural traditions of Bayana continued to be exercised with little outside influence even at the time when the Imperial Mughal style of architecture –­with its centre at Agra only a few miles away – was transforming architectural forms throughout the subcontinent. 43. Chatriˉ F.34, fort, near eastern wall of Area E (Figure III.43, Plate III.43) The dome of ChatrÈ F.34, outside the built area of the fort to the north of the East Gate, has collapsed, but other structural elements, including the eight columns, the lintels and transitional zone, are all preserved. The columns of the traditional type have a simplified version of the bases seen in ChatrÈ F.16 (No. 42) and probably indicate a late LodÈ or early Mughal date for the tomb. The form, also seen in the Imårat-i BådgÈr (Plate 9.20) and a few other structures, seems to be a rudimentary prototype for the column bases of the seventeenth century and later. What remains of the roof structure indicates close similarity with that of F.16. There was again an extra course above the lintels, and, as the eave stones are lost, the outer form of this course, cantilevered slightly outward to support the eave stones, is visible. This detail is not unusual in northern and western Indian architecture, but in Bayana appears in only a few of the chatrÈs. Above the course is the usual transitional zone and an extra course, again in the form a sixteen-sided polygon, but all the upper courses are lost. Nevertheless, the polygonal course alone is a good indication that the building had a true or ribbed dome rather than a corbelled one. The lack of any segments from a corbelled or ribbed dome in the scattered debris around the building reinforces the suggestion of it having been a true dome. The platform of the tomb is partly preserved, but the grave seems to have been dug out, as has happened in one or two other cases in Bayana for unexplained reasons. Unlike ancient and prehistoric graves, which are expected to have numerous artefacts and are a common target of treasure hunters, Muslim graves contain no valuables. Tradition dictates that the naked corpse should be buried in a simple cotton or linen shroud without even a coffin. Desecration of these tombs may perhaps be a result of the 1947, or even earlier, acts of vandalism. Canopies with Nine Columns, Flat Roofs and Probable False Domes In Bayana there is a curious type of colonnaded canopy with nine columns, which cannot, strictly speaking, be called a chatrÈ, but the form may have developed from the eight-columned ones. The canopies are similar, each having four simple trabeate units of equal size making a square with three columns at each side and one in the middle. Only three examples have survived, but none is in a good state of preservation, indicating, perhaps, an experimental type that was not widespread. 44. Canopy F.30, Fort, Area E, north of the road traversing the enclosure (Figure III.44, Plates III.44a–b)  Canopy F.30 has preserved its flat roof and plain structural elements as well as the tombstone, which, while disturbed, seems to be

679

appendix iii

Figure III.43  Bayana fort, ChatrÈ F.34, with eight columns, plan and section/south elevation A–A. A true dome and other missing elements are represented with dotted lines.

Plate III.43  ChatrÈ F.34. The arrangement of the supporting courses of the missing dome indicate it might have been a true dome. Even in this ruinous state none of the lintels have cracked, demonstrating that they could bear the load of a dome, which may have collapsed for other reasons, such as the seismic event of 6 July 1505.

680 BAYANA

Figure III.44  Bayana fort, Canopy F.30, with nine columns, plan, section A–A, south elevation.

Plate III.44a  Canopy F.30, with nine columns and thin roof slabs set directly over the lintels, with no corner slabs to take the weight of a dome. The canopy may have been designed to have a simple flat roof.

681

appendix iii

Plate III.44b  Canopy F.30, the tombstone, apparently of a lady, in the style of the fifteenth and early sixteenth century, lies in the south-western unit, with the head towards the east rather than the north, a practice seen occasionally in the Bayana region.

still in situ. The tomb, however, is oriented east–west so the head is towards the west, an unusual practice for a Muslim burial, although two tombs with a similar orientation have already been seen in the twelve-columned ChatrÈ S.17 (No. 13) in Sikandra. The tombstone is of the usual fifteenth- and sixteenth-century style with three steps and an inscribed flat slab on top, bearing the Profession of Faith on the head and on the margins at either side Quran II, 255 (Åyat al-kursÈ), but no date or name. The field of the slab has the representation of a flat arched mi˙råb with a central roundel bearing the word Allåh. Below the roundel a flat rectangle may represent the tomb of a woman as opposed to the solid block with an arched profile signifying the tomb of a man. The tombstone is of the type mass-produced in Bayana, but the calligraphy is crude compared with that seen in the Au˙adÈ Graveyard and elsewhere. The unadorned elements of the structure support a flat roof consisting of thin slabs lying directly on the lintels. There are no triangular corner slabs to support a false dome or domes, implying perhaps that the canopy was not designed to have such domes, although some of the eave stones and the remains of a parapet round the roof still stand, which must have been surmounted by crenellations. 45. Canopy B.7, Tomb of Piˉr Mustafaˉ or Pahaˉ riˉ Gunbad (Figure III.45, Plates ˙˙ 6.27, III.45a–b)  On a hill at the south-west of Bayana looking over the town is

682 BAYANA

Plate III.45a  Canopy B.7, Tomb of PÈr Mu߆afå or PahårÈ Gunbad, general view from the south-east. The octagonal columns stand on Mughal-style bases.

Plate III.45b  Canopy B.7, Tomb of PÈr Mu߆afå or PahårÈ Gunbad, general view from the north-west showing the fallen unit and the platform made of large blocks of roughly hewed stone.

Figure III.45  Bayana town, Canopy B.7, with nine columns, known as the Tomb of PÈr Mu߆afå, plan and section A–A.

a dilapidated nine-columned canopy; not only is the platform lost but the grave also seems to have been dug out, while the north-western column has also fallen bringing down the roof at this corner. Nevertheless, it is associated with a named personage, being known locally as the tomb of one PÈr Mu߆afå, whose title pÈr suggests he was a Sufi teacher – probably one of the many religious personages recorded in the northern Indian histories, but whose traditions are lost entirely in the locality, apart from the occasional name. The position of the grave in the southeast unit is similar to that of Canopy F. 30 (No. 44), but this could be a coincidence and in both tombs the other portions might have been reserved for further burials.

683

appendix iii

The roof is worthy of attention, as each unit has the triangular corner slabs that indicate that there might have been four small false domes or probably a single large dome over the whole roof giving the structure the appearance of an eightcolumned chatrÈ, denoted by the local name, PahårÈ Gunbad, meaning the dome on the hill. The bases of the columns have their corners shaped with a convex curve, similar to those in found in the fort in the Imårat-i BådgÈr (Plate 9.20) as well as chatrÈs F.16 (No. 42) and F.34 (No. 43), which point to a late fifteenth- or more likely sixteenth-century date. The column shafts, however, are octagonal – a rare example in Bayana seen only in a more elaborate form in the tomb of Au˙ad Khån (B.37, No. 11) of 1421. 46. Canopy S.20 in the fields of Sikandra to the west of the Fort (Figure III.46, Plate III.46)  The canopy stood originally on a high platform, which has been dug out, probably to pilfer its stone. The structural elements are plain and only the capital brackets bear simple mouldings. As with the Tomb of PÈr Mu߆afå (B.7, No. 45), one of the corner columns has fallen bringing down the roof of its unit, exposing the core of the flat roof, which, apart from a lower layer of cement, has an extra thicker layer above, which may be from later repairs or the remains of a false dome.

Figure III.46  Sikandra, Canopy S.20, with nine columns and a flat roof, sketch plan and section A–A.

684 BAYANA

Plate III.46  Canopy S.20, general view from the east. The structural elements are all preserved, but the high platform is in ruins.

So far no other tombs of this type have been seen in any other regions of Rajasthan or indeed North India,38 and it appears that canopies with nine columns are peculiar to the Bayana region. If these structures – or at least B.7 – had a false dome the form should be regarded as a simplified and perhaps more economical version of the chatrÈs with eight columns and true or corbelled domes, themselves a peculiarity of Bayana. Nevertheless, there has been little detailed investigation on the sultanate architecture of Rajasthan and other examples of this type may exist that have not yet come to light. Other Tombs In Bayana there are only a few tomb chambers built with the thick piers, massive vaults and arches of rubble stone and mortar in the fifteenth- and sixteenth-­century North Indian style, as displayed in the grand Sayyid and LodÈ tombs of Delhi. Those ones that have survived in Bayana do not compare in scale with the Delhi tombs and are probably even later in date. However, before dealing with the masonry examples in Bayana we should perhaps consider two other ­structures, which are constructed with columns, beams and brackets, but could not be categorised as chatrÈs. 47. Bare Kamar S.19, north of the Bayana to Sikandra road (Figure 6.1, Plates ˙ 6.17, 6.28, 6.29, III.47)  The two-storeyed building known as the Baṛe Kamar (lit. large chamber) stands together with ChatrÈ S.17 (No. 13) and S.18 (No. 34) at the foot of a hill at the north-eastern end of the fields of Sikandra, about a mile outside the built-up area of Bayana. It has a fairly traditional structure, but an unusual plan: a single-storey colonnade, square in plan, composed of nine units The authors, who have carried out extensive survey projects in Haryana and Rajasthan, have not come across other examples of this type in these states.

38

appendix iii

Plate III.47  Baṛe Kamar, S.19, view from the north-west. The collapsed north-eastern corner unit can be seen, with the structural elements piled up on the site. The pyramidal roofs of the chatrÈs compare with those of the thirteenth–fifteenth-century examples in North India.

but with four two-storeyed ChatrÈs projecting from the four corners. On the centre of the roof of the square colonnade stands another chatrÈ, giving the building its unusual, but elegant appearance. All its chatrÈs have pyramidal roofs recalling those of a khurramgåh. There is no inscription on the building and if there were any tombstones they have been removed long ago, it is therefore difficult to suggest a date except that it may be from the LodÈ or early Mughal period. The Baṛe Kamar has been discussed extensively in Chapter 6. 48. Canopy B.27, Auhadiˉ Graveyard (Figures III.48a–b, Plates III.48a–b) In ˙ the northern part of the graveyard there is a curious oblong canopy on a platform, with six columns supporting a hipped roof. The column shafts and bases are of the kind found locally with varying degrees of elaboration, but the bracket capitals differ considerably from the usual type. The brackets once supporting the fallen eave stones are almost twice as long as those supporting the lintels, but they are slim, with a pronounced cyma recta trunk and small hemispherical hanging adornments at each end. The form could be associated with Mughal architecture as more elaborate examples appear in many of the royal buildings of Fathpur Sikri, Agra and Delhi. The oblong plan is also a departure from the usual square plan of the chatrÈs, while the structure of the roof is also notable, with a series of slim curved horizontal panels topped with a rectangular cap to form an ‘upside-down’ cradle reinforced by two stone ribs that spring from the middle columns. On the

685

686 BAYANA

Plate III.48a  Canopy Tomb B.27. Below: exterior from the south showing the long brackets for deep eaves, and the hipped roof with stone rubble over the structural panels, which would have been finished with smooth cement and perhaps finials. Above: interior, showing the soffit of the ceiling showing the slim panels fitted together and reinforced by brackets supported by the middle columns and secured with a flat slab as the keystone. The panels are finished smooth to be displayed without any rendering.

Figure III.48a  Bayana town, Au˙adÈ Graveyard, Oblong Canopy B.27, with a hipped roof, plan and section A–A.

exterior, the panels were consolidated with a layer of smaller rubble stones set with mortar and then cemented over, but most of the cement is lost, leaving the original exterior profile uncertain, but exposing the structure. The principle of the roof structure is similar to Canopy IX at Khanwa (No. 25), and the two must be close in date although the roof of the Khanwa specimen is constructed over a square plan. Most of the exterior elements, including the eave stones and other decorative elements, are lost, but enough has remained to indicate the original features. Above the eave stones ran a frieze originally clad with plain slabs of sandstone and above the frieze, instead of the usual crenellations, was another set of slabs carved in relief in the shape of crenellations with the usual cruciform patterns once inlayed with blue tiles. The structure represents a continuation and, at the same time, an evolution of the traditional architecture with a gradual introduction of outside influences. These forms appear in Bayana before the Mughal period, so the

687

appendix iii

Figure III.48b  Nadbai, Tomb attributed to Åßaf Khån, plan and section A–A.

Plate III.48b  Nadbai, Tomb attributed to Åßaf Khån, an oblong canopy with ten columns supporting a hipped roof with three finials, view from the north.

question is whether they influenced the neighbouring Fathpur Sikri and Agra or reappeared from there with the general movement of craftsmen, but the canopy is likely to be the product of the last phase of the architectural and artistic prosperity of Bayana in the early Mughal period. The form of this structure is not, however, unique in the region and another – much grander – example of the type has survived in the nearby town of Nadbai,39 once part of the territory of Bayana. The tomb (Figure III. 48b, Plate III.48b), at the west of the town, is attributed to the family of one Åßaf Khån. A bilingual inscription in Urdu and English recording its restoration in 1903 mentions that Åßaf Khån was the army commander of Sultan Shihåb al-dÈn GhËrÈ (Mu˙ammad b. Såm) in ah 729–30 (corresponding to ad 1215) and that he was buried there together with his two wives, a son, a daughter and one of his slaves.40 The inscription was set Nadbai is 35 km north-west of Bharatpur. The tomb has been noted in Progress Report of the ASWI, 1905, p. 25, but no description is given. 40 The inscription in Urdu and English is set on the north face of the platform. The English text records: ‘This cenotaph was erected by Asaf Khan the commander in chief of Sultan Shahab al-din Ghuri in Hijra year 729 and 730 corresponding to ad 1215. Asaf Khan’s two wives one son and one daughter died and were buried here. After some time he too died and was buried here. There is a grave of his slave on the platform. In ad 1902 Major Stratton political agent Eastern 39

688 BAYANA up by Major Stratton, Political Agent of the eastern states of Rajputana, who ordered the restoration work. Thanks to his efforts this unusual structure has ­survived, but the attribution and dates are inaccurate and not supported by historical ­sources.41 Nevertheless, they reflect local traditions still current at that time, and indicate the perception of the local Muslims with regard to their affiliation with those who had arrived in the region in the first decades of the conquest. The structure in Nadbai is raised on a plinth, itself in the middle of a platform over 12.50 m square and nearly 2.50 m high. The tomb attributed to Åßaf Khån’s slave is on the south-eastern side of the platform, but under the canopy there are only four, rather than five, graves. Whatever the history of Åßaf Khån and his family may be, the tomb is not of early origin and is more likely to date from the LodÈ or Mughal period. The oblong structure itself is closely similar in principle to the canopy in Bayana but is much larger, measuring in plan 6.80 m × 4.69 m, with three columns on the short sides, and four along the length of the structure. Although, like the buildings of Bayana, it is constructed with local red sandstone, the interior of the hipped ceiling is plastered and painted with geometric patterns. The painting seems to be original making it an exceptional example of surviving Muslim wall-painting in the Bayana region. 49. Sikandra, Canopy S.12 (Figure III.49, Plate III.49)  In the fields of Sikandra north of the road stands a flat-roofed canopy, built over a platform with two columns at the eastern side and a wall at the west. The columns with bevelled edges are of the type widely seen in the region, but the red sandstone wall is carefully built in alternate wide and narrow courses. The narrow courses are the same width as the wall, while the wide courses are thin panels put at either side of the wall with cavities in between – an experimental construction method not seen in any other buildings. The top course of the platform is finely carved with a band of floral pattern resembling a row of downward anthemions. The flat roof of simple slabs with no triangular corner slabs leaves no evidence of whether or not there was originally a false dome. States Rajputana visited this cenotaph and finding it in bad condition ordered necessary repairs be done to it. The work was commenced on 1st July and completed by the end of November 1903 ad.’ 41 The title Åßaf Khån was not used in the thirteenth century but is mainly associated with the Mughals. Among the personages with this title during the reigns of Akbar, JahångÈr and Shåh Jahån, the most famous were Abd al-MajÈd and YamÈn al-daula. Abd al-MajÈd was Akbar’s governor of Chitor and died in Burhånpur at the age of sixty-three, in the seventh year of JahångÈr’r reign (Akbar nåma (Pers.), II, p. 324; JahångÈr nåma (Pers.), pp. 10–11, 127; Elliot, V, pp. 328, 363–5). YamÈn al-daula was a brother of NËr Jahån, whose daughter Mumtåz Ma˙al married Shåh Jahån and was immortalised by her tomb, the Tåj Ma˙al. Shåh Jahån bestowed upon YamÈn al-daula the title of Khån-i Khånan. He died on 17 Shabån 1051/22 November 1641, and on the order of the emperor was buried near the tomb of JahångÈr (Shåh Jahån nåma, I, p. 226; II, pp. 289–90; III, p. 436; also see Elliot, VII, pp. 46, 68). The tomb at Nadbai could not, therefore, belong to either of these personages.

689

appendix iii

Figure III.49  Sikandra, Canopy S.12 built over a platform with two columns at the eastern side and a wall at the western side, plan and section A–A.

Plate III.49  Canopy S.12 from the north-east, showing the interior of the wall, the lower courses of which, along with the floor slabs, seem to have been pilfered. A finely carved band ornaments the edge of the platform.

Square Domed Chambers In the Islamic world the most common form for a tomb building is a square domed chamber. The form was introduced to India during the early years of the conquest and the earliest surviving example is the tomb attributed to Ïltutmish in Delhi.42 Numerous tomb chambers of this type have survived in almost every region controlled by the Delhi or local sultans. The principle of these structures – stemming from centuries of building with baked and unbaked brick in the Middle East – is based on the use of true arches and domes and bears almost no relationship with ancient Indian architectural traditions. The Muslims in India imported the Middle Eastern methods familiar to them, particularly during the second half of the thirteenth century but also introduced some traditional Indian features, mainly as decorative elements. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and during the Sayyid and LodÈ periods although the tombs of many of the sultans were designed on a different – octagonal – layout, grand square domed chambers were constructed for noblemen, religious personages and people of some means.43 In Bayana, however, the form does not seem to have ever put down strong roots, and only a few examples have survived, bearing little resemblance to the grand tombs of the Delhi region. An exception may have been the tomb of Khån-i

Page, An Historical Memoir on the Qutb, pp. 13–14, pls 5, 11–12. For some of the larger examples, see Yamamoto, pp. 77–9, T.49–56, smaller examples are numerous.

42 43

690 BAYANA Khånån FarmulÈ, the LodÈ governor of Bayana, which Cunningham44 reports to have once stood a short distance to the west of the Au˙adÈ Graveyard: There is a substantial tomb 29 feet 9 inches square inside and 37 feet 3 inches outside. The walls are 3 feet 9 inches thick; but the dome is gone. It is said to be the tomb of a certain Khån-i Khånån, who was probably the governor whom I have already noted as having died in ah 907 = 1501–02 ad. When Sikandar LodÈ chose Bayana as his capital there were attempts to depart from the local architectural traditions, and the introduction of the Delhi style has been observed in the Jåmi of Sikandra (Figure 5.15), as well as Mosque S.5 (Figure 5.20) and in the Lal Darwåza (Figure 9.4, Plates 9.13, 9.14). The tomb of Khån-i Khånan, now totally disappeared, may well have resembled the LodÈ tombs of Delhi. 50. Nadbai, domed chamber with battered walls (Figure III.50, Plates III.50a–b)  The most interesting square tomb chamber is not in the vicinity of Bayana, but at Nadbai. It stands to the west of the town and north of the tomb attributed to Åßaf Khån.45 Square in plan, the domed chamber is now entered from the west through a rectangular door, framed on the exterior with an arched niche which is partly bricked up and its details obscured. The original openings on the other three sides were each framed in a niche with an arch resting on engaged columns with vase-shaped bases and capitals, but that on the east is now blocked. Similar arched niches are reflected in the interior. The almost hemispherical dome rises over a drum standing on an octagonal transitional zone, which rests on squinches built into the corners, rather than over the walls. This technique of raising the dome is archaic and appears only in the early tombs, while the hemispherical dome is also an early form. The battered profile of the exterior walls, usually a hallmark of fourteenth-century Tughluq architecture, is belied in the interior by the engaged columns at the corners of the walls, semi-octagonal in plan and with tall bases, some bevelled at the corners and others decorated with arched forms in relief, closer in style to carvings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The structure has been converted to the office of the Water Department and no tomb remains. Nothing is known about the origin of the building and the apparently highranking personage buried there. Under the circumstances it may seem difficult to date the building, and if a later date were proposed, the fourteenth-century form – the dome, squinches and battered walls – would be enigmatic. However, a ruinous tomb in Bayana (B.31, No. 52) is built in much the same style and on the scale of this tomb, but of brick, so we can safely suggest it being of the Mughal period. The Nadbai example, therefore, in spite of its archaic appearance may also be datable to the sixteenth or seventeenth century. ASIR, XX, Calcutta, 1885, p. 78. Discussed with No. 48, Canopy B.27.

44 45

691

appendix iii

Plate III.50a  Nadbai, square domed chamber near the water tower, view from the south-west. The dressed red sandstone is now whitewashed. The present rectangular entrance is not original and its arched frame is obscured but can be discerned, while the southern arched niche supported by finely carved engaged columns is preserved without alteration.

Figure III.50  Nadbai, square domed chamber, plan and section/west elevation.

Plate III.50b  Nadbai, square domed chamber, interior looking south. The squinches built into the walls – rather than above the walls – follow an archaic tradition, but the bases of the pilasters are in the late sixteenth- or seventeenthcentury style.

692 BAYANA

Plate III.51a  Bayana town, exterior view of the standing north wall of the ruined Domed Chamber B.8.

51. Domed Chamber B.8, west of the Bayana to Bharatpur road (Figure III.51, Plates III.51a–b)  Also surviving is the north wall with an arched portal of what must have been an impressive tomb chamber; its finely carved stonework and highly ornamented façade bearing witness to its original tasteful and well-balanced design. As usual with the Bayana monuments, nothing is known about the building’s origin, and some in the locality even suggested that it might have been a gate, as it is next to the road at the northern point of the entry to the town. However, the archway, measuring only 1.96 m wide, is far too small for a town gate. The standing red and grey sandstone wall, 6.58 m long and 1.24 m thick, has a blue tile inlay in the niches above the entrance, while the spandrels are adorned with two highly ornamented roundels and a number of smaller arched niches are set above and at either side of the main arch. The engaged columns on the jambs of the arch and those at the corners of the building, all with vase-shaped bases, are truly Islamic in design – and typical of many buildings

693

appendix iii

Figure III.51  Bayana town, remaining wall of Domed Chamber, B.8, plan and northern elevation.

Plate III.51b  Remaining northern wall of Domed Chamber B.8, interior showing the transitional zone and the remains of a probable corner squinch. Some of the original plasterwork of the rubble stone walls remains. The pilasters with monolithic shafts supporting a lintel set in the wall can also be seen.

of Iran, Central Asia46 and, indeed, India47 – but under the arched portal the entrance itself is in the traditional Hindu style, with two pilasters with bracket capitals supporting a lintel. The combination of arches with trabeate openings One of the earliest examples can be seen in the twelfth-century mosque of Maghåk-i A††årÈ at Bukhara. See Galina A. Pugachenkova, A Museum in the Open (Tashkent, 1981), p. 40. Later examples are numerous, see ibid., pp. 68, 93, 96, 118, 127, 132. For photographs of the Maghåk-i A††årÈ, see Derek Hill and Oleg Grabar, Islamic Architecture and its Decorations (London, 1964), monochrome pls 4–6, and for other examples monochrome pls 41, 79, 166. The origin of the form seems to go back to pre-Islamic Iran when wooden columns were apparently set into actual bronze vessels, probably for protection against rot. A Sasanian representation of such columns is found on a bronze salver in the Staatliche Museen, Berlin. See Reuther, ‘Såsånian Architecture, (A) History’, II, p. 555. 47 See, for example, the jambs of the tomb of Ïltutmish and the AlåÈ Darwåza in Delhi in Page, An Historical Memoir on the Qutb, pl. 11 and 13–14, respectively. 46

694 BAYANA is not confined to Bayana but is characteristic of many northern Indian portals.48 The brackets are decorated with roundels and suspended fluted hemispherical adornments, which are very similar to those in Fathpur Sikri49 and in the Agra fort.50 However, they first appear in the LodÈ structures of Delhi and there are dated monuments in Bayana with similar motifs belonging to the LodÈ period, a date that may also be suggested for this building, although a later Mughal date cannot be ruled out. The interior of the chamber was originally plastered and the transitional zone and a corner structure, which must have been a squinch, survive. Nevertheless, the walls were reinforced by pilasters supporting lintels set into the walls, and although now fallen it appears that the squinches were probably supported by lintels set diagonally into the corners of the walls. The transitional zone itself is also reinforced by monolithic posts or pilasters set into the wall. Such ­reinforcement is not, of course, necessary and indicates that the Bayana builders, unfamiliar with the principles of squinched domes, incorporated the structural principles of a twelve-columned chatrÈ into the building to be on the safe side. 52. Square Domed Chamber B.31, Auhadiˉ Graveyard (Figure III.52, Plate ˙ III.52)  To the north-west of the ruined båolÈ in the graveyard, the remains of a square domed chamber in the traditional form but constructed with small-sized fired bricks of the Mughal period, make this tomb one of the latest datable monuments of the graveyard. A corner of the building is lost and the dome has fallen, but enough remains to display the original form, as shown in our drawings. Stone blocks were used for the lower part of the walls, with brick for the upper parts and dome, all plastered both on the exterior and interior. The dome, rather than being set above the walls on a transitional zone, stood on squinches built into the walls, a fashion associated with the older tomb chambers in India, but also seen in the chamber at Nadbai (No. 50) indicating that this style was current in the Bayana region as late as the Mughal period. The cement render of the true dome of Chamber B.31 had decorative segments or rib patterns on the exterior. Above the eaves ran a frieze of blue tiles, some still preserved, while the eave stones were fitted directly into the brickwork without the corbel supports one would expect for an early tomb, again pointing to a Mughal date.

For an early example, see the entrance to the compound of the tomb of Ghiyåth al-dÈn Tughluq in Wetzel, fig. 66; M. and N. H. Shokoohy, ‘The Tomb of Ghiyåth al-dÈn at Tughluqabad: Pisé Architecture of Afghanistan Translated into Stone in Delhi’, p. 213, pl. 22.6; Tughuqabad; p. 194, pl. 11.6. 49 Brown, Indian Architecture (Islamic Period), pls 70, 71. 50 Ibid., pl. 66. 48

appendix iii

Figure III.52  Bayana town, Au˙adÈ Graveyard, Square Tomb Chamber B.31. Left: plan and section A–A showing the building in its present condition; right: plan, section and south elevation showing the building in its original condition.

695

696 BAYANA

Plate III.52  Square Tomb Chamber B.31. Above: interior; below: exterior of the surviving walls and part of the dome. The lower parts are formed of stone blocks, while the upper parts and the true dome are of small-sized fired brick, characteristic of seventeenth- and eighteenthcentury Mughal architecture.

53. Tomb of Gulaˉ b Khaˉ n B.13 (Figure III.53, Plates III.53a–b)  Although the Mughal and post-Mughal architecture of Bayana is outside the aims of the present study, two major monuments datable to the Mughal period should be considered: a grand square domed chamber known locally as the tomb of Gulåb Khån or KålÈ Khån and the JhåjhrÈ (B.15, No. 54), both at the south of the town, ­apparently outside the old town walls. In spite of the attribution there are presently no ­tombstones in the tomb of Gulåb Khån, and nothing is known about the person whose title khan suggests that he was a nobleman rather than a religious personage. The tomb is a tall, handsome red sandstone structure set over a high platform, and on the exterior appears as two-tiered while the interior – as would be expected – is a single lofty space. Outside there are niches in two registers, and two sets of steps within the north-western piers giving access to the parapet of the zone of transition, where there were four small corner turrets, one of which remains. The two-tiered appearance on the exterior has been expressed by setting the eave stones, now mostly lost, at the lower tier rather than in the usual position under a frieze below the finely carved crenellations. Above the entrances on each façade in the transitional zone arched openings give extra light. The dome is raised on an octagonal base on the exterior at roof level and is topped by a tall finial, but on the interior the dome rises over the transitional zone, and although taking

697

appendix iii

Plate III.53a  Tomb of Gulåb Khån, from the south-east, showing the two-tiered appearance and high dome raised on the octagonal zone of transition.

Plate III.53b  Tomb of Gulåb Khån, interior showing the ribbed dome rising over the squinches.

Figure III.53  Bayana town, Tomb of Gulåb Khån or KålÈ Khån (B.13), plan and section/south-east elevation A­–A. The section of the inner shell of the dome is conjectural.

698 BAYANA exact measurements was not possible, the interior height of the dome appeared considerably less than that on the exterior, indicating two shells, as suggested in our section. It was a common practice to make the interior of a dome relatively low, to be in proportion with the internal space.51 However, because of the massive walls, for a harmonious proportion on the exterior the outer shell is raised higher. Although the double-shelled form was known in Iran and Central Asia at least since the twelfth century, in India the few known examples are datable to the Mughal period. Other features, including the tangential arches and arches with flattened tops on the blind interior niches, as well as the slim brackets of the eave stones, all indicate a Mughal origin for the building. 54. Jhaˉ jhriˉ B.15 (Figures III.54a–b, Plates III.54a–b)  South of the old town of Bayana, near the tomb of Gulåb Khån, stands the JhåjhrÈ, one of the finest buildings in Bayana.52 It is a single-storeyed square domed chamber with an entrance porch to the south, all built of red and yellow sandstone, with pierced stonework screens between the columns. Each screen is divided into six sections, all with different designs. The well-proportioned dome has a pronounced four-centred profile and is topped by a stone finial finely carved in the form of a lobed urn. The capitals of the columns and the brackets supporting the eave stones are all finely carved and decorated. These elements represent the traditional architecture of Bayana, but in the interior the building displays characteristics of a square domed chamber with the true dome supported by true arches, four of which are set diagonally at the corners of the wall, instead of squinches. Above the arches the dome is raised on a squat base, octagonal on the exterior and sixteen-sided on the interior. The marriage of the traditional trabeate forms and imported features of square domed chambers, already seen in the remains of the Domed Chamber B.8 (No. 51), is exploited to its best advantage in this building. Below the structure is a crypt, its flat ceiling supported by pilasters and four central columns. The roof of the crypt, over half a metre above ground, forms the floor of the plinth; apertures with pierced stone screens allow light into the crypt. Access to the crypt is via a 16 m long underground passage, which seems to have been made to prevent direct access by visitors to the graves, preserving their sanctity and privacy. There are five tombs but, as with other monuments of Bayana, nothing is known about the personages buried there. The style of the JhåjhrÈ does not correspond with that of the early buildings of Bayana but is similar to Mughal works, especially the underground crypt, characteristic of Mughal tombs and not a feature of LodÈ and Sayyid buildings.53 See the discussion on double-shelled domes and the shrine of Jahån PÈr (B.23, No. 28). The building was noticed by Cunningham, ASIR, XX, 1885, p. 78, but even at that time nothing was known of its origin and the identity of its silent occupants. 53 Positioning the graves in a crypt is a feature of Turkish tombs of Central Asia and appears first in the tombs of the early conquest, including Sul†ån GhårÈ and the tomb attributed to Ïltutmish. 51 52

699

appendix iii

Figure III.54a  Bayana town, JhåjhrÈ (B.15), ground plan and transverse section A–A, showing that while the crypt is a trabeate structure the chamber itself displays characteristics of a square domed chamber with the true dome supported by true arches, four of which are set diagonally at the corners of the wall, instead of squinches.

Figure III.54b  JhåjhrÈ, south elevation and plan of the crypt also showing its long underground entrance corridor.

Furthermore, the slim brackets supporting the eave stones again resemble those of the tomb of Akbar in Sikandra,54 and the carving of both the brackets and the open work of the screens is similar to that of the tomb of Itimåd al-daula in Agra.55 It should also be noted that crypts do not appear in every Mughal tomb, but only in those of persons of royal lineage and noblemen of high standing. The JhåjhrÈ may therefore have been built for a Mughal dignitary, probably from the time of Akbar or JahångÈr. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries under the increasing influence of Persian traditions, crypts for tomb chambers were abandoned in northern India and were only re-introduced by the Mughals. 54 Brown, Indian Architecture (Islamic Period), pl. 75, No. 2. 55 Ibid., pl. 79.

700 BAYANA

Plate III.54a  The JhåjhrÈ (B.15) from the south-east. The pilasters with bracket capitals and trabeate entrance porch are representative of the traditional architecture of Bayana.

Plate III.54b  The JhåjhrÈ, interior view of the crypt looking south towards the underground corridor. One of the simple graves located between the four central columns can be seen.

appendix iii

Late or post-Mughal Tombs In addition to the structures discussed, there are a few other tombs in Bayana which are not of considerable age or of great architectural merit, but which should be noted here to complete our record. 55. Sikandra, group of three domed chambers S.21–S.23 (Plate III.55) Among the late examples is the group of three decaying domed chambers, on a hillock at the far western end of Sikandra to the south of the fort. They differ in size, but all are constructed with rubble stone, smoothly finished with cement pointing, apparently in preparation for a plaster rendering, traces of which remain on the interiors and exteriors. The elongated arched entrances reach to just below the level of the roof parapets, while their true domes are raised over high drums, giving the buildings a certain elegance. All these features, particularly the four-centred profile of the domes, are associated with the late Mughal style, and as a whole give the structures something of a Central Asian appearance.

Plate III.55  Three square domed chambers (S.21–S.23) on the outskirts of the fields of Sikandra south of the fort.

701

702 BAYANA

Figure III.56  Sikandra, small domed chamber S.13, plan and section A–A.

Plate III.56  Sikandra, small domed chamber S.13 from the north. The building stands on a plinth and has kept its false dome. The only entrance, on the north-eastern side, is now partly damaged and has lost the lintel and the jambs.

56. Small domed chamber S.13 (Figure III.56, Plate III.56)  An example of a modest structure is in the gardens of Sikandra to the west of a båolÈ (S.14). This domed chamber, 3.45 m square, has corners of dressed red sandstone, but otherwise is roughly constructed of stone rubble and plastered over. It has a corbelled roof topped by a false dome with a four-centred Islamic profile. On the interior a small square niche in the qibla wall presumably served as a mi˙råb, but no tombstone remains in the building, which is now used as a shed. 57. Tomb of Shaikh Bahluˉ l, near East Gate of Fort, F.35 (Figure III.57, Plate III.57)  In Area E of the fort to the north of its eastern entrance is a tomb of some historical significance. It appears to belong to Shaikh BahlËl,56 an early Mughal Sufi shaikh, who, according to the Emperor JahångÈr57 was ‘an expert in the art of inviting people to the truthful names (i.e. converting Hindus to Islam) For an earlier report on this tomb, see Iqtidar Alam Khan, ‘New light on the history of two early Mughal monuments of Bayana’, pp. 81–2, figs 4–6, 8; Robert Skelton, ‘Sheikh Phul and the origins of Bundi painting’, Chhavi 2, Rai Krishnadasa Felicitation volume (Banaras, 1981), pp. 123–9. 57 JahångÈr nåma (Pers.), pp. 292–3; also see Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), II, pp. 42, 100; (tr.), II, pp. 66, 163. 56

703

appendix iii

Figure III.57  Bayana fort, the shrine of Shaikh BahlËl, locally known as PÈr PhËl, plan.

Plate III.57  Bayana fort, the shrine of Shaikh BahlËl or PÈr PhËl. Above: courtyard and the arched gateway set at the edge of the fortification walls, with some battlements still standing; below: view the from south-west of the courtyard showing the simple whitewashed tomb chamber at the north.

704 BAYANA and the Emperor HumåyËn had a special respect for him’. While HumåyËn was campaigning in Bengal he had left MÈrzå Hindål in Agra to administer royal affairs, but Hindål instead betrayed the emperor, declaring himself sovereign. In 1539, HumåyËn, on hearing the news, sent Shaikh BahlËl to conduct deliberations with Hindål, but the MÈrzå arrested the shaikh and executed him in front of Båbur’s garden on the banks of the Jumna River. One Mu˙ammad,58 HumåyËn’s bakhshÈ (tax collector and pay master) of Bayana, who was a follower of the shaikh, brought his body to Bayana and buried it in the fort. The tomb is located near Mu˙ammad’s airy pavilion, the Imårat-i bådgÈr (F.33, Plates 9.15–9.20), and is now known locally as the shrine of PÈr PhËl, venerated by the local Hindu population. The building is an unostentatious chamber with a semi-octagonal niche at the western end and a long open-fronted portico at the east, looking over the edge of the fort to the now ruined town of Sikandra. The open end of the portico was later walled up to make a room, but this secondary wall, erected between two pilasters and not bonded to the side walls, has now ­collapsed, as well as part of the roof. The main entrance to the platform on which the complex stands is via a gate at the south-eastern corner, adjacent to a tower, and gives onto a broad courtyard, the southern side of which has now partly fallen. The arched portal of the gate with its four-centred profile is characteristic of Mughal architecture, but the tomb itself is a simple flat-roofed structure supported by stone lintels resting on pilasters. It is not clear whether the tomb was constructed for the shaikh or if an earlier structure was adapted for his burial. This is likely, as only a few months after the death of the shaikh the region was taken over by ShÈr Shåh SËrÈ, who drove HumåyËn out of India. The semi-octagonal niche seems to be later than the chambers, and secondary columns inside have been added to support its roof. The tomb is in the form of a cenotaph with a flat top and a high plinth in two registers, but bears no historical inscription. 58. Tomb of Abuˉ Bakr Qandahaˉ riˉ, Auhadiˉ Graveyard, B.24 (Plate 2.1) Finally, ˙ we should consider the tomb of the locally well-known Muslim warrior AbË Bakr QandahårÈ or BË-Qandhår who supposedly took over the fort of Bayana at the time of the Muslim conquest. His tomb at present is marked by a simple modern tombstone standing without any canopy in the middle of the west boundary of the Au˙adÈ Graveyard, which in his honour also known as the AbË Qandahår Graveyard. The tomb is now surrounded by modern buildings including a mosque, all built since Partition, when many displaced Muslim families moved from other regions to Bayana. The tomb, however, was until the 1980s within a chamber with a portico at one side. The three arched openings of the portico stood on old columns and pilasters, but the structure was relatively late, probably early twentieth century, indicated by the European style semi-circular arches. According See also Chapter 2, nn. 271–4. Beveridge identifies this personage with Mu˙ammad Sul†ån, a nobleman of the court of Båbur. See Akbar nåma (tr.), I, p. 339.

58

appendix iii

to Cunningham,59 in 1882 the tomb consisted of two inscribed slabs from two separate tombs of later periods laid side by side on the ground of what was apparently an open enclosure surrounded by a brick wall. The tomb is still revered by the growing Muslim population and is perhaps their only important shrine, as memory of the identity of others has faded with the change of population at Partition.

ASIR, XX, 1885, p. 77.

59

705

Bibliography

Abbås Khån SarwånÈ, TårÈkh-i ShÈr ShåhÈ (TårÈkh-i-Sher ShåhÈ) (titled originally by the author Tu˙fa-yi Akbar ShåhÈ) (Pers.), Sayyid Muhammad Imam al-din (ed.), 2 vols (Dacca: University of Dacca, Pakistan, 1964), I, Persian text; II, English translation. ——TårÈkh-i ShÈr ShåhÈ (tr.), in Elliot, IV (London: 1872), chapter 32, ‘TårÈkh-i Sher ShåhÈ or Tuhfat-i Akbar ShåhÈ, of Abbås Khån, SarwånÈ’, pp. 301–433. (Shaikh) Abd al-Óaqq b. Saif al-dÈn Mu˙addith DihlawÈ, Akhbår al-akhyår fÈ asrår al-abrår (Delhi, ah 1332/1914). Abd’ullåh, TårÈkh-i DåwudÈ (TårÈkh-i-Daudi) (Pers.), Shaikh Abdur Rasheed (ed.) (Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University [1954], Persian text offset repr. with additional English introduction by Iqtidar Husain Siddiqi, 1969). ——TårÈkh-i DåwudÈ (TårÈkh-i-Daudi) (tr.), in Elliot, IV (London, 1872), chapter 33, ‘TårÈkh-i DåËdÈ, of Abdu-lla’, pp. 434–513. Abd’ullåh Mu˙ammad bin Omar al-MakkÈ, al-ÅßafÈ, UlughkhånÈ, An Arabic History of Gujarat, Ûafar ul-wålih bi MuΩaffar wa ålih (Ar.), ed. from unique and autograph copy in the Calcutta Madrasah, E. Dennison Ross (ed.), 2 vols (London: John Murray, Indian Texts Series I–II, 1910–21). Abd’ullåh b. al-Muqaffa, Kitåb KalÈla wa Dimna (Ar.) (Cairo: BËlåq, 1937). Abd’ul-Qadir, Muhammad, ‘The so-called ladies’ gallery in the early mosques of Bangladesh’, Journal of Varendra Research Museum VII (1981–2) (University of Rajshahi, 1985), pp. 161–72. Abd’ul-Qådir b. MulËk Shåh BadåwunÈ known as al-BadåonÈ, Muntakhab al-tawårÈkh (Pers.), 3 vols, Maulawi Ahmad Ali; Kabir al-dÈn Ahmad and William Nassau Lees (eds) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 51, 1968–9), I, 1868; II, 1864; III, 1869. ——Muntakhabu-t-tawårÈkh (tr.), 3 vols, I, George G. A. Ranking (ed., tr.); II, W. H. Lowe (tr.); III, T. W. Haig (tr.) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Biblioteca Indica, No. 97, 1884–1925). Abel, Félix-Marie, see Vincent, L.-H., E. J. H. Mackay, F.-M. Abel et al. (1923). AbÈ Abd’ullåh Mu˙ammad IsmåÈl b. IbråhÈm b. Bardizbah al-JufÈ (maulåhum) al-BukhårÈ, Ía˙È˙ al-BukhårÈ, 7 vols (Cairo: ah 1386–97/1966–77). (Imam) Abi’l-Óusain Muslim b. al-Óajjåj al-QushairÈ al-NÈsåbËrÈ, Sa˙È˙ Muslim, Muhammad Fuad Abd’ul-Baq­i (ed.), 5 vols (Beirut, 1978). AbË Abd’ullåh Mu˙ammad b. A˙mad al-MuqaddasÈ, A˙san al-taqåsÈm fÈ marifat al-aqålÈm (Ar.), Jan de Goeje (ed.) (Leiden, 1906). ——G. S. A. Ranking (tr.), Ahsanu-t-taqåsÈm fÈ Marifati-l-aqålim known as al-MuqaddasÈ (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Biblioteca Indica, No. 99, 1897). ——The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions: a Translation of A˙san al-taqåsÈm fÈ ma‘rifat al-aqålÈm (completed 375/985–6), Basil Anthony Collins (tr.), revised Muhammad Hamid al-Tai (Reading: Centre for Muslim Contribution to Civilization, Garnet Publishing, 1994). AbË Abd’ullåh Mu˙ammad b. Mu˙ammad al-IdrÈsÈ, Opus Geographicum (Ar.), Enrico Cerulli (ed.) (Naples/Rome, 1971). AbË-Bakr Mu˙ammad b. Jafar al-NirshakhÈ, TårÈkh-i Bukhårå (Pers.), Mudarris Razawi (ed.) (Tehran, hs 1351/1972). AbË-Bakr Mu˙ammad b. Jafar al-NirshakhÈ, TårÈkh-i Bukhårå (Pers.), Description topographique et

bibliography

historique de Boukhara par Mohammed Nerchakhy, Charles Schefer (ed.) (Paris: Publications de l’École des langues orientales vivantes, Series III, vol. XIII, Persian text, 1892). AbË Is˙åq IbråhÈm b. Mu˙ammad al-I߆akhrÈ, Al-masålik wa al-mamålik (Ar.) (Cairo, 1961). ——Masålik wa mamålik (Pers.), Iraj Afshar (ed.), (Tehran: Bungåh-i Tarjuma wa Nashr-i Kitåb, Persian Texts, Series 9, 1961). Abu’l-fa∂l Mu˙ammad b. Óusain Kåtib BaihaqÈ, Tarikhi MasËdi known as Tarikh-i Baihaqi (Pers.), Said Nafisi (ed.), 3 vols (Tehran, [1940] repr., n.d. c. 1970s). Abu’l-fa∂l AllamÈ FahhåmÈ b. Mubårak NågurÈ, Å Èn-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), H. Blochmann (ed.) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Biblioteca Indica, No. 58, 1872–7), I, 1872; II, 1877. ——Å Èn-i AkbarÈ (tr.): The Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazl-i-Allami, 3 vols, I. H. Blochmann (tr.); II and III, H. S. Jarrett (tr.) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 61, 1868–94); 2nd edn, A Gazetteer and Administrative Manual of Akbar’s Empire and Past History of India, corrected and annotated by Jadu-Nath Sarkar (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 270, II, 1949). ——Shaikh Abu’l-Fa∂l AllåmÈ, FahhåmÈ, b. (Shaikh) Mubårak NågËrÈ, Akbar nåma (Pers.), Maulvi Abdu’r-Rahim (ed.), 3 vols (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 79, 1877– 86), I, 1877; II, 1879; III, 1886. ——Abul-Fazl ibn Mubarak, called Allåmi, The Akbar Nama of Abu-l-Fazl: (History of the Reign of Akbar including an Account of His Predecessors), H. Beveridge (tr.), 3 vols (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 138, 1897–1939), I, 1897, II, 1902, III, 1939. Abu’l MaålÈ Naßr’ullåh MunshÈ, KalÈla wa Dimna, Mujtaba Minuwi (ed.) (Pers.) (Tehran, hs 1392/2013). AbË Sharaf Nåßi˙ b. Ûafar JurfådiqånÈ, Tarjuma-yi tårÈkh-i yamÈnÈ (Pers.), Jafar Shiår (Chear) (ed.) (Tehran, 1966). Acharya, Parasanna Kumar, Architecture of Manasara, 4 vols (London: Oxford University Press, 1934; repr. in 2 vols New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1980). Afshar, Iraj, see AbË Is˙åq IbråhÈm b. Mu˙ammad al-I߆akhrÈ ——Yådigårhå-yi Yazd, 3 vols (Tehran, hs 1354/1975). A˙mad b. Óusain b. AlÈ Kåtib, TårÈkh-i jadÈd-i Yazd (Tehran, 1966). (Imam) A˙mad b. Mu˙ammad b. Óanbal, known as Ibn Óanbal (164–241/780–855), Al-Musnad, Ahmad Muhammad Shakir (ed.), 13 vols (Cairo, 1949–55). A˙mad Råzi, for Haft IqlÈm, see addenda in AbË-Bakr Mu˙ammad b. Jafar al-NirshakhÈ, TårÈkh-i Bukhårå, in C. Schafer (ed.), Description topographique et historique de Boukhara par Mohammed Nerchakhy. A˙mad Yådgår, TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ, also known as TårÈkh-i salå†Èn-i Afåghina a History of the Sul†åns of Delhi from the Time of BahlËl LËdÈ (A.H. 855–894) to the Entry of Emperor Akbar into Delhi in A.H. 964 (Pers.), M. Hidayat Hosain (ed.) (Calcutta: Bibliotheca Indica, No. 257, 1939). ——TårÈkh-i ShåhÈ (tr.), in Elliot, V (London, 1873), chapter 34, ‘TårÈkh-i salå†Èn-i Afåghana, of Ahmad Yådgår’, pp. 1–66. Alfieri, Bianca Maria, photographs by Federico Borromeo, Islamic Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent (London/New York: Lawrence King and te Neues, 2000). Allen, Charles, The Buddha and Dr. Führer: an Archaeological Scandal (London: Haus Publishing, 2008). AmÈr Khusrau Dihlav­È, Khazåin al-futË˙ (Pers.), Syid Moinul Haq (ed.) (Aligarh, n.d. c. 1927). ——Khazåin al-futË˙ (tr.), in Elliot, III (London, 1871), appendix A, ‘Poems of AmÈr KhusrË’ (abstracts), pp. 523–67. Ananthalwar, M. A. and Alexander Rea (eds) and A. V. Thiagaraja Iyer (compiler), Indian Architecture, 3 vols (Madras: A.V. T. Ayer, 1926–8; repr. Delhi: India Book Gallery, 1980–1). Annual Progress Report of the Superintendent, Muhammadan and British Monuments, Northern Circle (ASINC) (Allahabad: United Provinces, Government Printing Press). Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy (ARIE). Annual Reports of the Archaeological Survey of India, Eastern Circle. Ara, M., see Yamamoto, T., M. Ara and T. Tsukinowa. Arberry, Arthur John, Fifty Poems of ÓåfiΩ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1947). ——The Koran Interpreted, 2 vols (London/New York: Allen & Unwin and Macmillan, 1955). Archaeological Survey of India Annual Reports (ASIAR). Archaeological Survey of India Reports (Cunningham series) (ASIR).

707

708 BAYANA BAYANA Asher, Catherine B., ‘Inventory of key monuments’, in George Michell (ed.), The Islamic Heritage of Bengal (Paris: UNESCO, 1984), pp. 37–140. ——The New Cambridge History of India, vol. I:4, Architecture of Mughal India (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992). Åthår-é Ïrån, annales du service archéologique de l’Ïrån. Åthår-i AkbarÈ (Agra: ah 1324/1906–7). Atkinson, James, Sketches in Afghanistan etc., from Sketches Taken during the Campaign of the Army of the Indus (London, 1842). Azarnush, Massoud, The Sasanian Manor House at HåjÈåbåd, Iran (Florence: Casa editrice le lettere, 1994). Båbur (emperor), The Båbur-nåma in English (Memoirs of Båbur), Translated from the Original Turki Text of Zahiru’d-dÈn Mu˙ammad Båbur Pådshåh GhåzÈ, Annette Suzannah Beveridge (tr.), 2 vols (London: [4 fasciculi: Farghana, 1912; Kabul, 1914; Hindustan, 1917; Preface, indices etc., 1921] Luzac, 1922). al-BadåonÈ, see Abd’ul-Qådir b. MulËk Shåh BadåwunÈ, known as al-BadåonÈ. BaihaqÈ, see Abu’l-fa∂l Mu˙ammad b. Óusain Kåtib BaihaqÈ. Baker, Patricia L. and Barbara Brend (eds), Shifting Sands, Reading Signs: Studies in Honour of Professor Géza Fehérvári (London: Forge Publications, distribution School of Oriental and African Studies, 2006). Balasubrahmanyam, S. R., Middle Chola Temples (Faridabad: Haryana, 1975). Balfour-Paul, Jenny, Indigo (London: British Museum Press, 1998). Ball, Warwick, ‘The towers of Ghur. A Ghurid “Maginot Line”?’ in W. Ball and L. Harrow (eds), Cairo to Kabul: Afghan and Islamic Studies Presented to Ralph Pinder-Wilson (London: Melisende, 2002), pp. 21–45. Banerji, R. D., Progress Report of the Archaeological Survey of India, Western Circle (1919), pp. 64–5, pls 22, 27. Bargoti, Rajeev, Bayana; a Concept of Historical Archaeology: the Pre-modern Urban Centre (Jaipur: Publication Scheme, 2003). BarnÈ, see Îiyå al-dÈn BarnÈ. Barraud, R. A., see Koch, E. and R. A. Barraud. Basu, P. C., see Mackay, E. J. H. Bayani-Wolpert, M., see Shokoohy, M. (1988). Beglar, J. D. and A. C. L. Carlleyle, Report for the Year 1871–72, ‘Delhi’ by J. D. Beglar, ‘Agra’ by A. C. L. Carlleyle, ASIR, IV (Calcutta, 1876). Beveridge, Annette Suzannah, see Båbur. Beveridge, H., see Abu’l-Fa∂l b. Mubårak NågËrÈ, called AllåmÈ. BÈdpåÈ, Kalila and Dimna: or the Fables of Bidpai, Wyndham Knatchbull (tr.) (Oxford, 1819). Blakiston, J. F., The Jami Masjid at Badaun and Other Buildings in the United Provinces (Calcutta: Memoirs of the ASI, No. 19, 1926). Blochmann, Henry, ‘Delmerick’s inscriptions from Óißår FÈrËza’, Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for April 1877. Boner, Alice (tr.), see Råmacandra Kaulåcåra. Borromeo, F., see Alfieri, B. M. and F. Borromeo. Bose, Melia Belli, ‘Ancestors of the Moon: Bhati mytho-history and memorial art at Bara Bagh, Jaisalmer’, Artibus Asiae LXXIV, ii (2014), pp. 241–55, figs 1–11. Brandreth, E. S., ‘Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for June 1848’, Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal XVII, i (1848) p. 553. Briggs, John, see Mu˙ammad Qåsim b. HindË Shåh, known as Firishta. Broughton, Thomas Duer, Letters from the Maratta Camp (London, 1892). Brown, Percy, Indian Architecture (Islamic Period) (Bombay: [1942], rev. edn, 7th repr. with additional illustrations, 1981). Browne, Kenneth, ‘Making of the City – Life line I – Bazaar route: Friday Mosque to the Maidan’; ‘Maidan: problem and remedy’, Architectural Review CLIX, 951 (special issue on Isfahan) (May 1976), pp. 259–83. al-BukhårÈ, see AbÈ Abd’ullåh Mu˙ammad IsmåÈl b. IbråhÈm b. Bardizbah. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Burgess, James, Report on the Antiquities of Kå†hiåwåd and Kachh (London: ASWI, 1876).

bibliography

——‘Sketch of archaeological research’, Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Extra Number, Centenary Memorial Volume (1905), pp. 131–48. ——The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad, Part I, A.D. 1412–1520 (London: ASI, New Imperial Series, vol. XXIV, ASWI, vol. VII, 1900). ——The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad, Part II, with Muslim and Hindu Remains in the Vicinity (London: ASI, New Imperial Series vol. XXXIII, ASWI, vol. VIII, 1905). Burgess, James and Henry Cousens, Architectural Antiquities of Northern Gujarat, more Especially of the District included in the Baroda State (London: ASI, New Imperial Series, vol. XXXII, ASWI, vol. IX, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1903). Burnell, A. C., see Yule, H. and A. C. Burnell. Burton-Page, John, ‘Mosques and tombs’, in George Michell and Snehal Shah (eds), Mediaeval Ahmadabad, Marg, XXXIX, iii (Bombay, 1988), pp. 30–119. ——‘MiΩalla’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edn (Leiden: Brill, 1990), VII, pp. 194–5. ——Indian Islamic Architecture: Forms and Typologies, Sites and Monuments, George Michell (ed.) (Handbook of Oriental Studies, Section Two, India, J. Bronkhorst (ed.), vol. 20) (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2008). Canby, Sheila R., The Golden Age of Persian Art, 1501–1722 (London: British Museum Press, 1999). Cantacuzino, Sherban, ‘Can Isfahan survive?’ Architectural Review CLIX, 951 (special issue on Isfahan) (May 1976), pp. 293–300. Carlleyle, A. C. L., see Beglar, J. D. and A. C. L. Carlleyle (1876). ——Report of a Tour in Eastern Rajputana in 1871–2 and 1872–3, ASIR, VI (Calcutta, 1878), pp. 40–77, pls 4–8. Chaghtai, M. A., ‘Some inscriptions from Jodhpur State, Rajputana’, EIM (1949–50), pp. 21–2. Collins, Basil Anthony, see AbË Abd’ullåh Mu˙ammad b. A˙mad al-MuqaddasÈ. Le Corbusier, Le Corbusier Sketchbooks 1950–1954, notes by Françoise de Franclieu, 2 vols (London: Thames & Hudson, 1981). Coste, Pascal Xavier, Monuments modernes de la Perse (Paris, 1867), reproduced in Kenneth Browne, ‘Maidan, problem and remedy’, Architectural Review CLIX, 951 (special issue on Isfahan) (May 1976), pp. 282–3. Cousens, Henry, BÈjåpËr and its Architectural Remains with an Historical Outline of the ‘Ådil ShåhÈ Dynasty (Bombay: ASI, Imperial Series, vol. XXXVII, 1916). ——Somnåtha and Other Mediaeval Temples in Kå†hiåwåd (Calcutta: ASI New Imperial Series, vol. XLV, 1931). Cousens, Henry, see also Burgess, James and Henry Cousens. Crane, H., see Welch, A. and H. Crane. Crooke, W., see Yule, H. Crowe, Sylvia et al., The Gardens of Mughal India: a History and Guide (London: Thames & Hudson, 1972). Cunningham, Alexander, Report of the Archaeological Surveyor to the Government of India, 1862–5: Four Reports Made During the Years 1862, 1863, 1864 and 1865, ASIR, II (Simla, 1871). ——Report of a Tour in the Gangetic Provinces 1875–76 and 1877–88, ASIR, XI (Calcutta, 1880). ——Report of a Tour in Bihar and Bengal, ASIR, XV (Calcutta, 1882), pp. 90–3. ——Report of a Tour in Eastern Rajputana in 1882–83, ASIR, XX (Calcutta, 1885), pp. 60–93, pls 13–19. ——Report of a Tour in the Panjåb and RåjpËthåna in 1883–4, ASIR, XXIII (Calcutta, 1887). Dehkhoda, Ali Akbar, Loghat-nåma (Encyclopedic Dictionary) (first published in 51 vols, hs 1325–51/1946–72), rev. edn, 14 vols, Mohammad Moin and Jafar Shahidi (eds) (Tehran: Tehran University, 1993–4). Desai, Z. A., see also Rahim, S. A. and Z. A. Desai (1966). Desai, Z. A., ‘Three inscriptions of the Auhadis’, EIAPS, 1961, pp. 59–63. ——‘Khalji and Tughluq inscriptions from Rajasthan’, EIAPS, 1967, pp. 1–24. ——‘The Chanderi inscription of Alåu’d-dÈn KhaljÈ’, EIAPS, 1968 (Calcutta, 1969), pp. 4–10. ——‘Inscriptions of the Khånzådas of Nagaur’, EIAPS, 1970, pp. 28–9. ——Published Muslim Inscriptions of Rajasthan (PMIR) (Jaipur: Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Rajasthan, 1971). ——‘The Jalor Èdgåh inscription of Qutbud-din Mubårak Shåh KhaljÈ’, EIAPS, 1972, pp. 12–19. Diez, Ernst, ‘Manara’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1st edn (Leiden: Brill, 1936), III, pp. 226–31.

709

710 BAYANA BAYANA ——‘The Architecture of the Islamic Period: (B) The Principles and Types’, in A. U. Pope (ed.), A Survey of Persian Art (London/Tokyo, 1977), III, pp. 916–29. Îiyå al-dÈn BarnÈ, TårÈkh-i FÈrËz ShåhÈ (Pers.), W. N. Lees, S. Ahmad Khan and Kabiru’d-Din (eds) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 33, 1862). ——(tr.), in Elliot, III (London, 1872), chapter 15, ‘TårÈkh-i FÈroz ShåhÈ, of Ziyåu-d dÈn, BarnÈ’, pp. 93–268. Dowson, J., see Elliot, H. M. and J. Dowson. Elliot, Henry Miers and John Dowson, The History of India as Told by its Own Historians: the Muhammadan Period, 8 vols (London, 1867–77). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1st edn, M. Th. Houtsma and A. J. Wensinck et al. (eds), 4 vols and supplement) (Leiden/London: E. J. Brill, 1851–1943). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New or 2nd edn, H. A. R. Gibb, C. E. Bosworth et al. (eds) (Leiden/New York: E. J. Brill, 1960–2004). The Encyclopaedia of Islam: Three, 3rd edn, Kate Fleet, Gudrun Krämer, et al. (eds) (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2011–). Epigraphia Indica, Arabic and Persian Supplement (EIAPS) (Calcutta). Epigraphia Indo-Moslemica (EIM). Fehérvári, Géza, Az iszlám müvészet története (Budapest, 1987). Fehérvári, Géza and Mehrdad Shokoohy, ‘Archaeological notes on Lashkari Bazar’, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes LXXII (1980), pp. 83–95. Fergusson, James, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, 1 vol. (London, 1st edn, 1876); James Burgess (ed.) (Indian Architecture) and Richard Phené Spiers (ed.) (Eastern Architecture), 2 vols (London, rev. edn, 1910). Firishta, see Mu˙ammad Qåsim b. HindË Shåh. FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq, FutË˙åt-i FÈrËz ShåhÈ, Shaikh Abdur Rashid (ed.) (Aligarh: Muslim University of Aligarh, 1954). ——FutË˙åt-i FÈrËz ShåhÈ (tr.), in Elliot, III (London, 1872), chapter 17, ‘Futu˙åt-i FÈroz ShåhÈ, of FÈroz Shåh Tughluq’, pp. 374–88. Fleet, J. F., ‘Sanskṛit and Old-Kanarese inscriptions’, Indian Antiquary, XIV (1885), No. CLI, ‘Byånå stone-inscription of the Adhiråja Vijaya. Samvat 1100’, pp. 8–12. ——‘Sripatha, the ancient Sanskrit name of Byana’, Indian Antiquary, XV (1886), p. 239. Flood, Finbarr Barry, ‘Between Ghazna and Delhi: Lahore and its lost manåra’, in W. Ball and L. Harrow (eds), Cairo to Kabul: Afghan and Islamic Studies Presented to Ralph Pinder-Wilson (London: Melisende, 2002), pp. 102–12, pls 10.1–10.6. ——‘Persianate trends in Sultanate architecture: the Great Mosque of Bada’un’, in Bernard O’Kane (ed.), The Iconography of Islamic Art: Studies in Honour of Robert Hillenbrand (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005) pp. 159–95. ——(ed.), Piety and Politics in the Early Indian Mosque (New Delhi/Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2008). ——Objects of Translation: Material Culture and Medieval ‘Hindu–Muslim’ Encounter (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009). Flynn, V. J. A., see Rizvi, S. A. A. and V. J. A. Flynn. Foucher, A., see Marshall, J. (1947). Fritz, John M. and George Michell, ‘Archaeology of the garden’, in Elizabeth B. Moynihan (ed.), The Moonlight Garden: New Discoveries at the Taj Mahal (Seattle and Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, University of Washington Press and Smithsonian Institution, 2000), pp. 79–93. Führer, Alois Anton and Edmund W. Smith, The Sharqi Architecture of Jaunpur, with Notes on Zafarabad, Sahet-Mahet and Other Places in the Northwestern Provinces and Oudh (Calcutta: ASI New Imperial Series, XI, 1889). Galdieri, Eugenio, ‘A hitherto unreported architectural complex at Ißfahan: the so-called “lesån al-arz”, preliminary report’, East and West XXIII (1973), pp. 249–64. ——Ißfahån: Mas©id-i Ğuma, 3 vols (vols I and II bound together) (Rome: Istituto Italiano per il medio ed estremo oriente (IsMEO), 1972–84), I, Photographs and Preliminary Report, 1972; II, Il periodo al-i BËyide – The Al-i BËyid Period, 1973; III, Research and Restoration Activities 1973–78, New Observations 1979–82, 1984. Gallop, Annabel Teh, Early Views of Indonesia: Drawings from the British Library (London, 1995).

bibliography

Garrick, H. B. W., Report of a Tour in the Punjab and Rajputana in 1883–84, ASIR, XXIII (Calcutta,1887). Gaube, Heinz, ‘Im Hinterland von Siraf: Das Tal von Galledar/Fal und seine Nachbargebiete’, Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran XIII (1980), pp. 149–66. Ghiyåth al-dÈn b. Humåm al-dÈn al-ÓusainÈ, known as Khwand MÈr, TårÈkh-i ˙abÈb al-siyar, Muhammad Dabir Siyaqi (ed.), 4 vols (Tehran: [hs 1333/1954] repr. hs 1353/1974). ——(tr.), in Elliot, IV (London, 1872), chapter 26, ‘HabÈbu-s Siyar, of KhondamÈr’, pp. 154–213. Godard, André, ‘Le Masdjed-é Djuma de NÈrÈz’, Åthår-é Ïrån, annales du service archéologique de l’Ïrån I (1936), pp. 163–72. ——‘Les anciennes mosquées de l’Iran’, Åthår-é Ïrån, I (1936), pp. 187–210. ——‘Historique du Masdjid-é Djuma d’Isfahån’, Åthår-é Ïrån I (1936), pp. 213–82. ——‘Ißfahån’, Åthår-é Ïrån II, i (1937), pp. 7–176. ——‘Les monuments du feu’, Åthår-é Ïrån, III, i (1938), pp. 73–80, and notes at the end of part ii of the volume. ——‘Les mußallås de Êuruk et de Meshhed’, Åthår-é Ïrån IV (1939), pp. 125–37. Godard, Yedda A., ‘Pièces datées de ceramique de Kåshån à décor lustre’, Åthår-i Ïrån II (1937), pp. 309–37. Golmohammadi, Javad, entry under ‘minbar, 2. Architectural features: the Arab, Persian and Turkish lands’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edn (Leiden: Brill, 1990), VII, pp. 75–9. Grabar, Oleg, see Hill, D. (1964). ——‘Ïwån’, Encyclopaedia of Islam. 2nd edn (Leiden: Brill, 1978), IV, pp. 287–9. Grube, Ernest J., see Sims, E. (2002). Guha, B. S., see Mackay, E. J. H. Haig, Thomas Wolseley (ed.), see Abd’ul-Qådir ibn-i-MulËk Shåh BadåwunÈ, known as al-BadåonÈ. ——(ed.), The Cambridge History of India, vol. III: Turks and Afghans (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1928). Halim, A., ‘Some minor dynasties of northern India during the 15th century’, Journal of Indian History XXVI, iii (December 1948), no. 78 (Trivandrum: University of Travancore, 1949), pp. 223–48. Haneda, Masashi and Toru Miura (eds), Islamic Urban Studies: Historical Review and Perspectives (London/New York: Kegan Paul, 1994). Harrow, Leonard, see Ball, W. and L. Harrow (eds). Hasan, Maulvi Zafar, A Guide to Nizåm-ud dÈn (Calcutta: Memoirs of the ASI, No. 10, 1922). Hasan, Maulvi Zafar (compiler) and J. A. Page et al. (eds), Monuments of Delhi, Lasting Splendour of the Great Mughals and Others, 4 vols, Annual Progress Report of the Superintendent, Muhammadan and British Monuments, Northern Circle (ASINC) (Allahabad: Government Printing Press, 1920; repr. New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 1997). Óasan NiΩåmÈ, (tr.), Elliot, II (London, 1869), chapter 7, ‘Tåju-l Maåsir, of Hasan NizåmÈ’, pp. 204–44. Hasan, Parween, ‘Sultanate mosques and continuity in Bengal architecture’, Muqarnas VI (1989), pp. 58–74. Hegewald, Julia A. B., Water Architecture in South Asia: a Study of Types, Developments and Meaning (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2002). Hemmy, A. S., see Mackay, E. J. H. Herrmann, Georgina, Monuments of Merv: Traditional Buildings of the Karakum, with contributions by Hugh Kennedy (London: Society of Antiquaries of London, 1999). Hill, Derek and Oleg Grabar, Islamic Architecture and its Decorations (London: Faber & Faber, 1964). Hillenbrand, Robert, Islamic Architecture: Form and Function (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1994). ——‘The Architecture of the Ghaznavids and Ghurids’, in Carole Hillenbrand (ed.), The Sultan’s Turret: Studies in Honour of Clifford Edmund Bosworth, II, Studies in Persian and Turkish Culture (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2000), pp. 124–206. Horovitz, Josef, ‘A list of the published mohammadan Inscriptions of India’ (HL) EIM, 1909–10, pp. 30–144. ——‘The inscriptions of Mu˙ammad b. Såm, QutbuddÈn Aibeg and Iltutmish’, EIM, 1911–12. Husain, Mahdi, ‘Six inscriptions of Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq Shah’, EIAPS, 1957–8, pp. 29–42. Husain, Maulvi Muhammad Ashraf, Record of all the Quranic and Non-historical Epigraphs on the Protected Monuments in the Delhi Province (Calcutta: Memoirs of the ASI, XLVII, 1936).

711

712 BAYANA BAYANA Huxley, Andrew, ‘Dr. Führer’s Wanderjahr: the early career of a Victorian archaeologist’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 3rd Series, XX, iv (2004), pp. 489–502. Ibn Ba††Ë†a, see Mu˙ammad b. Abd’ullåh, called Ibn Ba††Ë†a. Ibn Óanbal, see Imam A˙mad b. Mu˙ammad b. Óanbal. al-IdrÈsÈ, see AbË Abd’ullåh Mu˙ammad b. Mu˙ammad al-IdrÈsÈ. Imperial Gazetteer of India, The, new edn, 26 vols (Oxford, 1907–9), III, 1908. Irving, Robert Grant, Indian Summer: Lutyens, Baker and Imperial Delhi (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1981). al-I߆akhrÈ, see AbË Is˙åq IbråhÈm b. Mu˙ammad al-I߆akhrÈ. Jackson, Keith A., Views in Afghanistan, etc., from Sketches Taken during the Campaign of the Army of the Indus (London, 1842). Jafar b. Mu˙ammad JafarÈ, TårÈkh-i Yazd (Tehran, 1960). JahångÈr (emperor), see NËr al-dÈn Mu˙ammad JahångÈr GËrkånÈ. Jain-Neubauer, Jutta, The Stepwells of Gujarat in Art-Historical Perspective (New Delhi: Abhinav, 1981). (MÈr) Jamål al-dÈn Óusain b. Fakhr al-dÈn Óasan InjË ShÈråzÈ, Farhang-i JahångÈrÈ, Rahim Afifi (ed.), 3 vols (Mashhad: hs 1351/1972). Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Juneja, Monica (ed.), Architecture of Mediaeval India: Forms, Contexts, Histories (New Delhi: Permanent Black, 2001). Karapetian, Karapet, Ißfahån, New Julfa: le case degli Armeni, una raccolta di rilevamenti architettonici (The Houses of the Armenians: A Collection of Architectural Surveys) (Rome: Istituto Italiano per il medio ed estremo oriente (IsMEO) and Istituto Italiano di cultura di Tehran, 1974), III, i, ‘Restorations’. Kaul, Suvir (ed.), The Partitions of Memory: the Afterlife of the Division of India (New Delhi: Permanent Black, 2001). Khån, Åbid AlÈ, Memoirs of Gaur and Pandua, H. E. Stapleton (ed.) (Calcutta, 1931). Khan, Ahmad Nabi, Islamic Architecture of South Asia: Pakistan–India–Bangladesh (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2003). Khan, F. A., Banbhore: a Preliminary Report on the Recent Archaeological Excavations at Banbhore (Karachi: Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan [1960], 3rd rev. edn, 1969). Khan, Iqtidar Alam, ‘Pre-modern indigo vats of Bayana: a study of surviving structures’, Journal of Islamic Environmental Design, Rome (1986): pt. ii, pp. 92–8. ——‘New light on the history of two early Mughal monuments of Bayana’, Muqarnas VI (1989), pp. 75–82. Khan, Syud (Sayyid) Ahmad, Asar-oos-Sunadid (Åthår al-ßanådÈd) (Delhi, rev. 2nd edn, 1854). Khwand MÈr, see Ghiyåth al-dÈn b. Humåm al-dÈn al-HusainÈ, known as Khwand MÈr. Kiani, Mohammad Yusuf (ed.), Iranian Architecture of the Islamic Period, 2 vols (Tehran, 1987–9). Kimball, Fiske, ‘The Såsånian building at Dåmghån (Tepe Óißår)’, in A. U. Pope (ed.), A Survey of Persian Art (London/Tokyo, 1977), II, pp. 579–83. King, David A., ‘The sacred direction in Islam: a study of the interaction of religion and science in the middle ages’, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews X, iv (1985), pp. 315–28. ——‘ibla’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edn (Leiden/New York: Brill, 1986), V, pp. 82–8. Koch, Ebba and Richard André Barraud, The Complete Taj Mahal: and the Riverfront Gardens of Agra (London: Thames & Hudson, 2006). Krishna Menon, A. G., ‘Rethinking the Venice Charter: the Indian experience’, South Asian Studies X (1994), pp. 37–44. Kumar, Sunil, ‘Qutb and modern memory’, in Suvir Kaul (ed.), The Partitions of Memory: the Afterlife of the Division of India (New Delhi: Permanent Black, 2001), pp. 141–82. Kuraishi, M. H., see Page, J. A. (1937). Lambton, Ann Katherine Swynford, ‘anåt: 1. In Iran’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edn (Leiden: Brill, 1978), IV, pp. 528–32. Lowe, W. H., see Abd’ul-Qådir b. MulËk Shåh BadåwunÈ, known as al-BadåonÈ. Loytved, J. H., Konia, Inschriften der Seldschukidischen Bauten (Berlin, 1907), pp. 22–4. Mackay, Ernest John Henry, see Vincent, L.-H., E. J. Mackay, F.-M. Abel et al. (1923).

bibliography

Mackay, Ernest John Henry, A. S. Hemmy, B. S. Guha and P. C. Basu, Further Excavations at Mohenjo-daro, being an Official Account of Archaeological Excavations at Mohenjo-daro, Carried out by the Government of India between the years 1927 and 1931, 2 vols (New Delhi: Government of India Press, 1937–8), I, Text, 1938; II, Plates, 1937. Mamedov, Mukhammed and Ruslan Muradov, The Architecture of Turkmenistan: a Concise History (Moscow, 1998). ManjhË b. Akbar, see Sikandar b. Mu˙ammad. Map of Dholpur Region (Washington, DC: US Army Map Service, India and Pakistan Series, 1968), map No. NG43-8, scale 1:250,000. Marshak, B. I., see Sims, E. and B. I. Marshak (2002). Marshall, John, ‘The monuments of Muslim India’, in Wolseley Haig (ed.), The Cambridge History of India, vol. 3: Turks and Afghans (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1928), pp. 568–663, pls 1–51. ——Mohenjo-daro and Indus Civilization being an Official Account of Archaeological Excavations at Mohenjo-daro Carried out by the Government of India between the years 1922 and 1927, 3 vols (London: Arthur Probsthain, 1931), I and II, text; III, plates. Marshall, John and Alfred Foucher, with the texts of inscriptions ed., trans. and annotated by N. G. Majumdar, The Monuments of SånchÈ, 3 vols (Delhi, 1947). Martinelli, Antonio and George Michell, Princely Rajasthan: Rajput Palaces and Mansions (New York: Vendome Press, 2004). Meister, Michael W., ‘The two-and-a-half-day mosque’, Oriental Art XVIII, i (1972), pp. 57–63. ——‘Indian Islam’s Lotus Throne: Kaman and Khatu Kalan’, in F. B. Flood (ed.), Piety and Politics in the Early Indian Mosque (New Delhi/Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), pp. 253–62. Melikian-Chirvani, Souren A., ‘La plus ancienne mosquée de Balkh’, Arts Asiatiques XX (1969), pp. 3–20. Mensing, J. P., see Wensinck, A. J. and J. P. Mensing. Meshkati, Nosratollah, A List of the Historical Sites and Ancient Monuments of Iran, H. A. S. Pessyan (tr.) (Tehran: National Organization for the Protection of the Historical Monuments of Iran, 1974). Michell, George (ed.), The Islamic Heritage of Bengal (Paris: UNESCO, 1984). ——(ed.), Architecture of the Islamic World: its History and Meaning (London: Thames & Hudson, 1978). Michell, George, see Martinelli, Antonio and George Michell (2004). Michell, George and Snehal Shah (eds), Mediaeval Ahmadabad, Marg XXXIX, iii, Bombay, 1988. Minhåj-i Siråj JauzjånÈ, Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ, Abd’ul-Hai Habibi (ed.), 2 vols (bound together) (Tehran, 1984). ——Maulånå Minhåj-ud-dÈn AbË Umar i-Uthmån, Êabaqåt-i NåßirÈ: a General History of the Mu˙ammadan Dynasties of Asia including Hindustån from A.H. 194 (810 A.D.) to A.H. 658 (1260 A.D.) and the Irruption of the Infidel Mughals into Islåm, H. G. Raverty (tr.), 2 vols (London: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Biblioteca Indica, No. 78, 1881). Miura, T., see Haneda, M. and T. Miura. Monier-Williams, Monier, Sanskṛit-English Dictionary, Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages, new edn, Ernst Leumann and Carl Cappeller (eds) (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1899). Moynihan, Elizabeth B., Paradise as a Garden: in Persia and Mughal India (New York/London: George Braziller and Scholar Press: 1980). ——(ed.), The Moonlight Garden: New Discoveries at the Taj Mahal (Seattle and Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, University of Washington Press and Smithsonian Institution, 2000). Muhammad Ali, Maulana, The Holy Qu’ran Containing Arabic Text with English Translation and Commentary, 2nd edn (Lahore, Punjab, India: Ahmadiyya anjuman-i-ishåat-i-Islåm, 1934). Mu˙ammad b. Abd al-Jabbår al-UtbÈ, Al-tårÈkh al-yamÈnÈ (Arab.) in the margin of A˙mad b. AlÈ al-ManÈnÈ, Al-fat˙ al-wahabÈ alå tårÈkh AbÈ Naßr al-UtbÈ, 2 vols (Cairo: ah 1286/1869–70; repr. ah 1313/1895–6). ——Tarjuma-yi tårÈkh-i yamÈnÈ (Persian trans. of 603/1206–7 with additional information by AbË Sharaf Nåßi˙ b. Ûafar JurfådiqånÈ), Jafar Shiar (Chear) (ed.) (Tehran, 1966). ——The kitab-i yamini, Historical Memoirs of the AmÈr SabaktagÈn and the Sultån MahmËd of

713

714 BAYANA BAYANA Ghazna, Early Conquerors of Hindustan, and Founders of the Ghaznavide Dynasty, Translated from the Persian Version of the Contemporary Arab Chronicle of Al Utbi, James Reynolds (tr.) (London: Oriental Translation Fund, 1858). ——(tr. of Arabic text) in Elliot, II (London, 1869), chapter 2, ‘TårÈkh YamÈnÈ or Kitåbu-l YamÈnÈ, of al-UtbÈ’, pp. 14–52. Mu˙ammad b. Abd’ullåh, called Ibn Ba††Ë†a, Tu˙fat al-nuΩΩår fÈ gharåib al-amßår wa ajåib alasfår, known as Ra˙la (Ar.), Talal Harb (ed.) (Beirut, 1987). ——The Travels of Ibn Ba††Ë†a A.D. 1325–1354, 5 vols, I–III, H. A. R. Gibb (tr.), C. Defrémery and B. R. Sanguinetti (eds); IV, H. A. R. Gibb (tr.), completed by C. F. Beckingham (tr.); V index, A. D. H. Bivar (compiler) (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1958–2000), I, 1958; II, 1962; III, 1971; IV, 1994; V, 2000. Mu˙ammad b. Jafar b. JarÈr al-ÊabarÈ, TårÈkh al-rusul wa al-mulËk (Annales quos scripsit Abu Djafar Mohammed ibn Djarir at-Tabari), Michael Jan de Goeje (ed.) (Arabic text), 15 vols (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1879–1901). Mu˙ammad Óusain Khalaf TabrÈzÈ, Burhån-i Qå†i, 5 vols (V notes and addenda), Muhammad Muin (ed.) (Tehran, hs 1362/1983). Mu˙ammad Pådshåh, known as Shåd, Farhang-i Anandråj, Muhammad Dabir Siyaqi (ed.), 7 vols (Tehran, hs 1335/1956). Mu˙ammad Qåsim b. HindË Shåh, known as Firishta, Gulshan-i IbråhÈmÈ known as TårÈkh-i Firishta (Pers.), 2 vols (with addenda bound together) (Lucknow: Nevil Kishore, 1864). ——John Briggs (tr.), History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India till the year A.D. 1612 Translated from the Original Persian of Mahomed Kasim Ferishta, 4 vols (London, 1829). ——Tarikh-i-Ferishta: or History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India till the year A.D. 1612 by Mahomed Kasim Ferishta of Astrabad (Pers.), John Briggs and Khairat Ali Khan Mushtaq (eds), 2 vols (Bombay: Government College Press, 1831). Mu˙ammad Sharaf al-dÈn YazdÈ, Ûafar nåma (tr.), in Elliot, III, (London, 1871), chapter 19, ‘Ûafarnåma, of Sharafu-d dÈn, YazdÈ’, pp. 478–522. al-MuqaddasÈ, see AbË Abd’ullåh Mu˙ammad b. A˙mad al-MuqaddasÈ. Muradov, R., see Mamedov, M. and R. Muradov. (Shaikh) Mußli˙ al-dÈn SadÈ, Kulliyåt-i SadÈ (Pers.), Muhammad Ali Furughi (ed.) (Tehran, hs 1363/1974). Shaikh Mußlihu’d-dÈn SadÈ of ShÈråz, The Gulistan or Rose Garden, John T. Platts (tr.) (London, 1873). ——The Gulistån, or Rose-Garden, of Shekh Mußlihu’d-DÈn SådÈ of ShÈråz, Translated for the First Time into Prose and Verse, with an Introductory Preface, and a Life of the Author, from the Åtish Kadah, Edward B. Eastwick, Lutf Ali Beg Aka Khan, called Azur (trs) (Hertford: Steven Austin, 1852). Muslim, see Imam Abi’l-Óusain Muslim b. al-Óajjåj al-QushairÈ al-NÈsåbËrÈ. Naqvi, S. A. A., ‘Sul†ån GhårÈ, Delhi’, Ancient India, Bulletin of the Archaeological Survey of India III (January 1947), pp. 4–10, pls 1–12. ——The TËzuk-i-JahångÈrÈ or Memoirs of JahångÈr, Alexander Rogers (tr.), Henry Beveridge (ed.), 2 vols (London: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund, New Series, vols XIX and XXII), I, 1909; II, 1914. Nasir, A. H., see Yatim, O. M. and A. H. Nasir. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, Islamic Science: an Illustrated Study (London: World of Islam Festival, 1976). Nath, R., The Art of Chanderi: a Study of the 15th Century Monuments of Chanderi (New Delhi: Ambika Publications, 1979). (Khwåja) Ni’mat’ullåh b. Khwåja ÓabÈb’ullåh al-HirawÈ, TårÈkh-i Khån JahånÈ wa makhzan-i AfghånÈ (Pers.), Sayyid Muhammad Imam al-din (ed.), 2 vols (Dacca: I, Asiatic Society of Pakistan, No. 4, 1960; II, Asiatic Society of Pakistan, No. 10, 1962). ——(tr.), in Elliot, V (London, 1873), chapter 35, ‘Makhzan-i AfghånÈ and TårÈkh-i Khån Jahån LodÈ, of Niamatu-lla’, pp. 67–115. (Khwåja) NiΩåm al-dÈn A˙mad b. Mu˙ammad MuqÈm HirawÈ, Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (Pers.), 3 vols (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 223, 1927–35), I (1927) and II (1931), B. De (ed.); III, B. De and M. Hidayat Hosain (eds), 1935. ——Êabaqåt-i AkbarÈ (tr.), Brajendranath De (tr.), Beni Pradashad (ed.), 3 vols (vol. II in two parts)

bibliography

(Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 225, 1927–39), I, 1927; II, 1936; III, i­–ii, 1939. NËr al-dÈn Mu˙ammad JahångÈr GËrkånÈ (emperor), JahångÈr nåma or TËzuk-i JahångÈrÈ (Pers.), Muhammad Hashim (ed.) (Tehran, hs 1359/1980). O’Kane, Bernard (ed.), The Iconography of Islamic Art: Studies in Honour of Robert Hillenbrand (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005). Page, J. A. (ed.), see Hasan, M. Z. (1920). Page, J. A., Annual Progress Report of the Superintendent, Muhammadan and British Monuments, Northern Circle, for the Year ending 31st March 1916 (ASINC) (Allahabad, 1916). ——An Historical Memoir on the Qutb: Delhi (Calcutta: Memoirs of the ASI, No. 22, 1926). ——A Memoir on Kotla Firoz Shåh, Delhi, with a Translation of Sirat-i-Firozshahi, Mohammad Hamid Kuraishi (tr.) (Delhi: Memoirs of the ASI, No. 52, 1937). Pandit, Bhagwanlal Indraji, ‘Inscription from Kama or Kamavana’, Indian Antiquary X (1880), pp. 34–6. Parihar, Subhash, Mughal Monuments in the Punjab and Haryana (New Delhi: Inter-India Publications, 1985). ——Some Aspects of Indo-Islamic Architecture (New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1999). Petherbridge, Guy T., ‘Vernacular architecture: the house and society’, in G. Michell (ed.), Architecture of the Islamic World: its History and Meaning (London: Thames & Hudson, 1978). Petruccioli, Attilio, Fathpur Sikri: Città del sole e delle acque (Rome: Carucci, 1988). Phogat, S. R. (ed.), Inscriptions of Haryana (Kurukshetra: Vishal Publications, Sources of Haryana History Series, 1978). Pinder-Wilson, Ralph, Basil Gray et al., The Arts of Islam (London: Arts Council of Great Britain, Hayward Gallery Exhibition catalogue, 8 April–4 July 1976). Platts, John T., A Dictionary of UrdË, Classical HindÈ, and English, 5th edn (New York/London: H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1930). Pope, Arthur Upham (ed.), A Survey of Persian Art (first published in 6 vols, 1938–9, subsequently 14 vols, 1967, additional vols XV–XVI first published 1977) (London/Tokyo: Oxford University Press Meij Shobo, 1977). ——‘The Architecture of the Islamic Period, (L): The Safavid Period’, in A. U. Pope (ed.), A Survey of Persian Art (London/Tokyo, 1977), III, pp. 1165–225. ——‘The Architecture of the Islamic Period, Architectural Ornament’, in A. U. Pope (ed.), A Survey of Persian Art (London/Tokyo, 1977), III, pp. 1258–364. Porter, Venetia, ‘Three tombstones from Ûafår’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society I (1988), pp. 32–44. Prem Chand (Munshi), Majmoa Munshi Prem Chand: Afsanay (Urdu) (Lahore, 2002). ——Madan Gopal (tr.), The Best of Prem Chand (Delhi, 1977). Pribytkova, Anna Maksimovna, Stroitelnaya Kultura Srednei Asii v IX–XII vv (Architecture of Central Asia from the Ninth to Twelfth Century) (Moscow, 1973). Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1873). Progress Reports of the Archaeological Survey of India, Western Circle (1905, 1909, 1919). Pugachenkova, Galina A., Puti razvitiya arkhitektury yuzhnogo Turkmenistana pory rabovladeniya i feodalizma (Moscow: Nauka, Trudi Yuzhno-Turkmenistanskoi Arkheologicheskoi Kompleksoi Ekspedisti, 1958), IV. ——A Museum in the Open (Tashkent: Gafur Gulyam Art and Literature Publishing House, 1981). ——‘Les monuments peu connues de l’architecture médiévale de l’Afghanistan’, Afghanistan, XXI, i (1968), pp. 17–52. Rahim, S. A., ‘Nine Inscriptions of Akbar from Rajasthan’, EIAPS, 1969, pp. 49–58. Rahim, S. A. and Z. A. Desai, ‘Inscriptions of the Sultans of Målwa’, EIAPS, 1964 (1966), pp. 47–60. Rajputana and United Provinces, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Jaipur & Karauli States, Map No. 54/F/N.W., Scale 1in = 2 miles or 1:126,720 (Calcutta: Map Record and Issue Office, 1922–3). Rajputana Gazetteer, I (Calcutta, 1879). Råmacandra Kaulåcåra, √ilpa prakåªa, Mediaeval Orissan Sanskrit Text on Temple Architecture, Alice Boner and Sadåªiva Rath √armå (trs) (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1966). Ranking, G., see Abd’ul-Qådir ibn-i-MulËk Shåh BadåwunÈ, known as al-BadåonÈ. Ranking, G. S. A., see AbË Abd’ullåh Mu˙ammad b. A˙mad al-MuqaddasÈ. RazawÈ, Mudarris, see AbË-Bakr Mu˙ammad b. Jafar al-NirshakhÈ.

715

716 BAYANA BAYANA Rea, Alexander, see Ananthalwar, M. A., A. Rea and A. V. Thiagaraja Iyer. Reuther, Oscar, ‘Såsånian Architecture, (A) History’, in A. U. Pope (ed.), A Survey of Persian Art (London/Tokyo, 1977), II, pp. 493–578. Reynolds, James (tr.), see Mu˙ammad b. Abd al-Jabbår al-UtbÈ (1858). Rezavi, Syed Ali Nadeem, ‘The design of pre-modern indigo vats in North India: a study of seventeenth and eighteenth century indigo vats of Bayana and Kol indigo tracts’, Journal of the Asiatic Society (Bengal) LI, iii (2009), pp. 71–91, pls 1–3, figs on pp. 83–90. Richardson, Margaret (compiler), Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects (London: RIBA, 1973). (Shaikh) Rizq’ullåh Mush†åqÈ, Wåqiåt-i Mush†åqÈ (tr.), in Elliot, IV (London, 1872), appendix G, ‘Wåkiåt-i MushtåkÈ of Shaikh Rizku-lla MushtåkÈ’, pp. 534–57. Rizvi, Saiyid Athar Abbas and Vincent John Adams Flynn, Fat˙pur SÈkrÈ (Bombay: Taraporevala, 1975). Sarda, Har Bilas, Ajmer: Historical and Descriptive (Ajmer: Scottish Mission Industries Co., 1911). √armå, Sadåªiva Rath (tr.), see Råmacandra Kaulåcåra. Schefer, Charles, see AbË-Bakr Mu˙ammad b. Jafar al-NirshakhÈ. Schlumberger, Daniel, Lashkari Bazar une résidence royale ghaznévide et ghoride, Mémoires de la délégation archéologique française en Afghanistan, XVIII (Paris, 1978), vols IA, I B. Schoy, C., ‘ibla’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1st edn (Leiden: Brill, 1927), II, pp. 985–9. Schroeder, Eric, ‘The Architecture of the Islamic Period: (C) Standing Monuments of the First Period’, in A. U. Pope (ed.), A Survey of Persian Art (London/Tokyo, 1977), III, pp. 930–66. ——‘The Architecture of the Islamic Period: (F) The SeljËq Period’, in A. U. Pope (ed.), A Survey of Persian Art (London/Tokyo, 1977), III, pp. 981–1045. Shah, S., see Michell, G. and S. Shah (eds). Shams-i Siråj AfÈf, TårÈkh-i FÈrËz ShåhÈ (Pers.), Vilayat Husayn (ed.) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 119, 1891). ——(tr.), in Elliot, III (London, 1871), chapter 16, ‘Tarikh-i-Firoz ShahÈ of Shams-i Siråj AfÈf’, pp. 269–373. Sharma, Kanhaiya Lal, Chanderi 1990–1995/2 (Paris: Collège de France, Publications de l’Institut de Civilisation Indienne, Fascicule 68, de Boccard, 1999). Sharma, Sh. D. P., ‘The Auhadi and the Jalwani dynasties of Bayana’, Indian History Congress, 19th Session (Agra, 1956), pp. 434–44. Sharma, Y. D., Delhi and its Neighbourhood (New Delhi: ASI, 2nd edn [1974] repr. 1982). Shihåb al-dÈn Abu’l-Abbås A˙mad b. Ya˙yå, known as Ibn Fa∂l’ullåh al-UmarÈ, Waßf mamlikat al-hind wa al-sind (Bericht über Indien), Otto Spies (ed.) (Leipzig: Sammlung Orientalistischer Arbeiten, No. XIV, 1943) (part of the work titled Masålik al-abßår fÈ mamålik al-amßår). ——Masålik al-abßår fÈ mamålik al-amßår (tr.), in Elliot, III (London, 1871), appendix C: ‘Maså’liku-l Absår fÈ mamålik-l Amsår, of Shahåbu-d dÈn AbË-l Abbås Ahmad’, pp. 573–85. Shoaf Turner, Jane (ed.), The Grove Dictionary of Art, 34 vols (London/New York: Macmillan, 1996). Shokoohy, Mehrdad, ‘Two fire temples converted to mosques in Central Iran’, Acta Iranica XXIV (1985), pp. 545–72, figs 1–10, pls 23–37; trans. into Persian in the Iranian Journal of Archaeology and History V, ii (1991), pp. 67–81. ——Rajasthan I, Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum, Part IV, Persian Inscriptions down to the Safavid Period, vol. XLIX, India: State of Rajasthan (London: Lund Humphries, distribution: School of Oriental and African Studies, 1986). ——‘Az iszlám müvészet Indiában a korai iszlámtól a Nagy-Mughalok bukásáig’ (‘Indo-Muslim architecture from the Muslim conquest to the early Mughal period’), in Géza Fehérvári, Az iszlám müvészet története (Budapest: Képzo˝ mu˝  vészeti Kiadó cop., 1987), pp. 215–17, colour pls 182–95 and monochrome pls 161–84. ——Bhadreªvar: the Oldest Islamic Monuments in India (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1988) (with contributions by Natalie H. Shokoohy and Manijeh Bayani-Wolpert). ——Haryana I: the Column of Firuz Shah and Other Islamic Inscriptions from the District of Hisar, Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum, Part IV, Persian Inscriptions down to the Safavid Period, vol. XLVIII India: State of Haryana (London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 1988). ——‘Michael Mann, Hijri: a computer program to convert Hijri to Julian dates’, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies LV, ii (1992), pp. 328–9, review article. ——Muslim Architecture of South India: the Sultanate of Mabar and the Traditions of the

bibliography

Maritime Settlers on the Malabar and Coromandel Coasts (Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa (London: Routledge Curzon, 2003). ——‘The legacy of Islam in Somnath’, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, LXXV, ii (2012), pp. 297–335, figs 1–27. Shokoohy, Mehrdad and Natalie H. Shokoohy, ‘The architecture of Bahå al-dÈn Tughrul in the region of Bayana, Rajasthan’, Muqarnas IV (1987), pp. 114–32, figs 1–27; reprinted in Monica Juneja (ed.), Architecture of Mediaeval India: Forms, Contexts, Histories (New Delhi: Permanent Black, 2001), pp. 413–28, figs 1–11. ——Óißår-i FÈrËza, Sultanate and Early Mughal Architecture in the District of Hisar, India (London: Monographs on Art Archaeology and Architecture, 1988). ——Nagaur, Sultanate and Early Mughal History and Architecture of the District of Nagaur, India (London: Royal Asiatic Society Monograph XXVIII, distribution: Routledge, 1993). ——‘Indian Subcontinent, 11th–16th Century, (b) North India (Sultanates); (c) West (Gujarat and Nagaur)’, The Grove Dictionary of Art (London/New York, 1996), XV, pp. 338–51. ——‘Pragmatic city versus ideal city: Tughluqabad, Perso-Islamic planning and its effect on Indian towns’, Urban Design Studies V–VI (1999–2000), pp. 57–84, figs 5.1–5.28. ——‘Domestic dwellings in Muslim India: mediaeval house plans’ BAI, XIV ([2000] 2003), pp. 89–110, figs 1–21. ——‘The chatrÈ in Indian architecture: Persian wooden canopies materialised in stone’ BAI, XV ([2001] 2005), pp. 129–50, figs 1–26. ——‘The Tomb of Ghiyåth al-dÈn at Tughluqabad: pisé architecture of Afghanistan translated into stone in Delhi’, in W. Ball and L. Harrow (eds), Cairo to Kabul: Afghan and Islamic Studies Presented to Ralph Pinder-Wilson (London: Melisende, 2002), pp. 207–21, figs 22.1–22.10, pls 22.1–22.9. ——‘The island of Diu, its architecture and historical remains’, South Asian Studies XXVI, ii (2010), pp. 161–90, figs 1–40. ——‘A history of Bayana – Part 1: from the Muslim conquest to the end of the Tughluq period’, MHJ VII, ii (2004), pp. 279–324, figs 1–6. ——‘A history of Bayana – Part 2: from the rise of the Au˙adÈs to the early Mughal period (fifteenth– seventeenth centuries)’, MHJ VIII, ii (2005), pp. 323–400, figs 1–12. ——‘The Indian Èdgåh and its Persian prototype the namåzgåh or mußalla’, in Patricia L. Baker and Barbara Brend (eds), Sifting Sands, Reading Signs: Studies in Honour of Professor Géza Fehérvári (London: Forge Publications, distribution: School of Oriental and African Studies, 2006), pp. 105–19, figs 1–15, colour pls IXa and IXb. ——Tughluqabad: a Paradigm for Indo-Islamic Urban Planning and its Architectural Components (London: Araxus Books, Monograph of the Society of South Asian Studies, British Academy, 2007). ——‘The mosques of Bayana, Rajasthan, and the emergence of a prototype for the mosques of the Mughuls’, MHJ XIII, ii (2010), pp. 153–97, figs 1–21. ——‘Bayana’, Encyclopaedia of Islam: Three, 3rd edn (Leiden: Brill, 2017), pp. 47–52, figs 1–3. ——‘The Lady of Gold: Sikandar LodÈ’s mother (c. 837/1433–922/1516) and the tomb attributed to her at Dholpur, Rajasthan’, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies LXXXI, i (2018), pp. 83–102, figs 1–13. Shokoohy, Natalie H., ‘Au˙adÈ and LodÈ architecture of Bayana, Rajasthan (1400–1526)’, PhD thesis, London Metropolitan University, 2005. ——‘Waterworks of mediaeval Bayana, Rajasthan’, BAI XVIII ([2004] 2008), pp. 19–42, figs 1–17. Shuaib, Maulvi Muhammad, ‘Inscriptions from Palwal’, EIM (1911–12), pp. 1–3, pls IX, XXI, XXII. Sikandar b. Mu˙ammad, known as ManjhË b. Akbar, Miråt-i SikandarÈ (Pers.), S. C. Misra and M. L. Rahman (eds) (Baroda, 1961). Sims, Eleanor, Boris I. Marshak and Ernest J. Grube, Peerless Images: Persian Painting and its Sources (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002). Sivaramamurti, Calembur, The Chola Temples: TañjåvËr, Gaṅgaikoṇ∂achoḷpuram and Dåråsuram, 4th edn (New Delhi: ASI, [1960] 1984). Skelton, Robert, ‘Sheikh Phul and the origins of Bundi painting’, Chhavi 2, Rai Krishnadasa Felicitation Volume (Banaras: Bharat Kala Bhavan, 1981), pp. 123–9. Smith, Edmund W., The Moghul Architecture of Fathpur-Sikri, 4 vols (Allahabad: ASI New Imperial Series, XVIII; Archaeological Survey of Northern India, III, i–iv, 1894–8). Smith, Edmund W., see Führer, A. A. and E. W. Smith (1889).

717

718 BAYANA BAYANA Smith, M. B., ‘The wooden minbar in the Masdjid-i Djåmi, NåÈn’, Ars Islamica V (1938), pp. 21–2, figs 1–7. Sotoodeh, Manoochehr (ed.), ÓudËd al ålam min al-mashriq ilal-maghrib: compiled in 982–3 A.H. = 732 A.H. (Pers.) (Tehran: [1962] Kitab-khåna-yi tahËrÈ, Zabån wa farhang-i Iran, No. 17, repr. 1983). Steingass, Francis Joseph, The Student’s Arabic–English Dictionary: Companion Volume to the Author’s English–Arabic Dictionary (London: W. H. Allan, 1884). Steingass, Francis Joseph, John Richardson, Charles Wilkins and Francis Johnson, A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary, including the Arabic Words and Phrases to be Met with in Persian Literature (1st edn, London: Low [1892], new impression, Beirut: Librairie du Liban, 1970). Stewart, Mary L., Nålandå Mahåvihåra: a Study of an Indian Påla Period Buddhist Site and British Historical Archaeology, 1861–1938 (Oxford: BAR International Series, No. 529, 1989). Thiagaraja Iyer, A. V., see Ananthalwar, M. A., A. Rea and A. V. Thiagaraja Iyer. Tillotson, Giles Henry Rupert, The Rajput Palaces: the Development of an Architectural Style, 1450–1750 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1987). TÈmËr, MalfËΩåt-i TÈmËrÈ or TuzËk-i TÈmËrÈ (tr.), in Elliot, III (London, 1871), chapter 18, ‘MalfËΩåt-i TÈmËrÈ or TËzak-i TÈmËrÈ: the Autobiography of TÈmËr’, pp. 389–477. Tod, James, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or, the Central and Western Rajput States of India, William Crooke (ed.), 3 vols (London: Humphrey Milford, 1920). Transactions of the Archaeological Society, Agra, January–June 1875. Trivedi, K. K., ‘Innovation and change in indigo production in Bayana, Eastern Rajasthan’, Studies in History, X, i (1994). Tsukinowa, T., see Yamamoto, T., M. Ara and T. Tsukinowa. al-UmarÈ, see Shahåb al-dÈn Abu’l-Abbås A˙mad b. Ya˙yå, known as Ibn Fa∂l’ullåh al-UmarÈ. al-UtbÈ, see Mu˙ammad b. Abd al-Jabbår al-UtbÈ. Vats, Madho Sarup, Excavations at Harappå: Being an Account of Archaeological Excavations at Harappå Carried out Between the Years 1920–21 and 1933–34, 2 vols (Delhi: Bhartiya Publishing House, 1940), I, text; II, plates. Vincent, Louis-Hugues, Ernest John Henry Mackay, Félix-Marie Abel et al., Hébron: Le Haram elKhalil, sépulture des patriarches, 2 vols (Paris: Leroux, 1923), I, text; II, plates. Welch, Anthony, ‘A medieval center of learning in India: the Hauz Khas Madrasa in Delhi’, Muqarnas XIII (1996), pp. 165–90. Welch, Anthony and Howard Crane, ‘The Tughluqs: master builders of the Delhi sultanate’, Muqarnas I (1983), pp. 123–66. Welch, Stuart Cary, Royal Persian Manuscripts (London: Thames & Hudson, 1976). Wensinck, A. J. and J. P. Mensing et al., Concordance et indices de la tradition musulmane les six livres, le Musnad d’Al-DårimÈ, le Muwa††a de Målik, le Musnad de A˙mad ibn Óanbal, 8 vols (Leiden: E. J. Brill [2nd edn, 1962], repr. 1992). Wetzel, Friedrich, Islamische Grabbauten in Indien ([Leipzig, 1918] Osnabrück: Zeller, repr. 1970). Wink, André, ‘The idols of Hind’, in F. B. Flood (ed.), Piety and Politics in the Early Indian Mosque (New Delhi/New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), pp. 29–63. Ya˙yå b. A˙mad b. Abd’ullåh al-SihrindÈ, TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ of Ya˙yå b. A˙mad b. Abdullåh as-SihrindÈ, M. Hidayat Hosain (ed.) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bibliotheca Indica, No. 254, 1931). ——(tr.), in Elliot, IV (London, 1872), chapter 21, ‘TårÈkh-i Mubårak ShåhÈ of Yahyå bin Ahmad’, pp. 6–88. Ya˙ya’l-dÈn AbÈ ZakarrÈyå b. Sharaf al-NawwawÈ al-ShåfaÈ (631–76/1233–73), Shar˙-i Sa˙i˙ Muslim, Shaikh Khalil al-Mais (ed.), 19 vols (Beirut, 1987). Yamamoto, Tatsuro, Matsuo Ara and Tokifusa Tsukinowa, Delhi: Architectural Remains of the Delhi Sultanate Period, 3 vols (Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo, 1967–70), I, 1967; II, 1968; III, 1970. Yatim, Othman Mohd., Abdul Halim Nasir and Zainab Kassim, Epigrafi Islam terawal di nusantara (History of the Early Islamic Gravestones in Indonesian Archipelago) (Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, 1990). Yazdani, Ghulam., ‘Inscriptions of the KhaljÈ Sultans of Delhi and their contemporaries in Bengal’, EIM (1917–18), pp. 8–84, pls 1–24. ——‘Some unpublished inscriptions from the Jaipur State’, EIM (1923–4), pp. 15–24

bibliography

——Mandu the City of Joy (Oxford: printed for Dhar State, Oxford University Press, by J. Johnson, 1929). ——‘Inscription of Sul†ån Balban from Bayana, Bharatpur State’, EIM (1937–8), pp. 5–6, pl. 3a. ——Bidar, its History and Monuments (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1947). Yule, Henry and Arthur Coke Burnell, in William Crooke (ed.), Hobson–Jobson: a Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive (London: John Murray, 1903). Zajadacz-Hastenrath, Salome, ‘On the history of style of the tomb chattris in the Islamic architecture of Sind’, Central Asiatic Journal XLIV (2000), pp. 131–57.

719

Index

Abå Bakr JalwånÈ, 72 Abbasid (dynasty), 27, 165 ʿAbd al-Óaqq b. Saif al-dÈn DihlawÈ (Shaikh), 12, 350, 493 ʿAbd al-MajÈd Åßaf Khån, 688 ʿAbd al-Malik b. AbÈ Bakr BukhårÈ see MughÈth al-dÈn ʿAbd al-Qådir GÈlånÈ (Shaikh), 452 ʿAbd al-RashÈd b. Íådiq Mu˙ammad Khån, 596 ʿAbd al-RashÈd Saʿådat Khån see Saʿådat Khån ʿAbd’ullåh IdrËs Shrine in Gujarat, 111 ʿAbd’ullåh Mu˙ammad b. ʿUmar al-MakkÈ, 84 Abdul Qadir, Muhammad, 183 AbÈ ʿAbd’ullåh Mu˙ammad IsmåʿÈl al-BukhårÈ see al-BukhårÈ Åb-i BÈyåh, 34, 495 Abi’l-Fakhr Au˙ad al-dÈn KirmånÈ see Au˙adÈ KirmånÈ Abi’l Óusain Muslim b. Óajjåj see Muslim (Imam) AbË ʿAbd’ullåh Mu˙ammad b. A˙mad alMuqaddasÈ, 177–9, 199, 416 AbË ʿAbd’ullåh Mu˙ammad b. Mu˙ammad alIdrÈsÈ, 416 AbË Bakr b. A˙mad, 20 AbË Bakr b. Khallål (Shaikh), 416 AbË Bakr Mu˙ammad b. Jaʿfar al-NirshakhÈ see NirshakhÈ AbË Bakr Qandahår (or Qandhår, or BË Qandhår), 19–21, 106–7, 109–10, 704; see also Bayana edifices (B.24) AbË Is˙åq (Sahikh, Sultan of Fårs), 201 AbË Is˙åq IbråhÈm al-I߆akhrÈ see I߆akhrÈ Abu’l ʿAlåʾ (Shaikh), 493 Abu’l-fa∂l b. Mubårak NågurÈ, 52, 515 Abu’l-fa∂l Mu˙ammad b. Óusain BaihaqÈ, 16, 200, 206 Abu’l-fat˙ Ma˙mËd b. Ïltutmish, 209, 353, 368, 450 Abu’l-MaʿålÈ Naßr’ullåh MunshÈ, 495 AbË Qandahår Graveyard see Au˙adÈ Graveyard

AbËsha (AbËshah), 64 AbË Sharaf Nåßi˙ b. Ûafar JurfådiqånÈ see JurfådiqånÈ Abyåna, 365 Adalaj Wåv (in Ahmadabad), 367 Adam, 79 ʿÅdilåbåd, 122, 349, 535 ʿÅdil Khån b. ShÈr Shåh SËr, 89–91 ÅdÈna Masjid (in Pandua), 183, 366–7 ʿA∂ud al-dÈn AijÈ or ÏjÈ (Maulåna ʿAbd alRahmån), 201 ʿA∂ud (Azud) Fanåh Khusraw (Buyid Amir), 201 Afghan, Afghans, 43, 48, 67, 72, 75, 91, 97, 494, 521, 551–2 Afghanistan, 4, 14–15, 27, 49, 95, 175, 203, 207, 597, 606 ʿAfifi, R., 352 Afråsiyåb (legendary king of TËrånzamÈn), 581 Africa, African, 42, 174, 576 AfrÈdËn (FiraidËn, legendary king of Iran), 14 Agra, 28–30, 73–5, 77–80, 85, 88–9, 97–8, 108, 112, 129, 147, 157–8, 162, 272, 276, 290, 294, 298, 317, 320, 328, 361, 364, 371, 402, 405, 414, 438, 462, 484, 490–1, 495, 505, 515–17, 525, 535, 677–8, 685, 687, 694, 699, 704 Ahardu, 72 Ahmadabad, 129, 138, 181, 278, 366, 376, 391 A˙mad al-HirawÈ, 87 A˙mad b. ʿAlÈ al-ManÈnÈ, 167 A˙mad b. Óusain Kåtib, 202 A˙mad b. Khån-i Khånån, 76; see also ʿImåd b. Khån-i Khånån FarmulÈ A˙mad b. Mu˙ammad b. Óanbal (Imam) see Ibn Óanbal A˙mad Khån (Sayyid), 355 A˙mad Khån FarmulÈ, 75 A˙mad Khån JalwånÈ, 71–3 A˙mad Khån MÈwåtÈ, 68 A˙mad Khån SËr (Sikandar Shåh), 97 A˙mad RåzÈ, 36

721

INDEX

A˙mad Shåh (Gujarat Sultan), 111, 138, 181, 238, 366 A˙mad Shåh WalÈ (BahmanÈ Sultan), 451 Aihole, 338–9 Ajmer, 16, 20, 25, 28, 72, 89, 97, 129, 163, 165–7, 182, 184–5, 192–3, 287, 290, 353–4, 524, 545, 611 Akbar (Mughal emperor), 29, 31, 39, 76, 89, 92, 95–6, 98, 100, 217, 223, 227, 304, 317, 361, 402, 411, 462, 479, 485, 487, 490, 515–16, 532, 535, 594–7, 688, 699 AkbarÈ Masjid, Nagaur, 98 AkbarÈ Palace (in Agra fort), 535 Akhmedov, Rejeb, 450–1 ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn A˙san Shåh (Maʿbar Sultan), 48 ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn ʿÅlam Shåh Sayyid (Delhi Sultan), 67–9 ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn Bahman Shåh (Deccan Sultan), 48 ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn KhaljÈ (Delhi Sultan), 11, 29, 36–41, 43, 62, 117, 164, 216–18, 223, 233, 237, 279, 351, 368, 371, 434, 517, 541, 543, 545–6 ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn KirmånÈ (Sufi Shaikh), 210, 651 ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn MasʿËd (Delhi Sultan), 33 ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn NËr Tåj (Shaikh), 335, 651 ʿAlåʾ al-Mulk, 11 ʿAlåʾÈ b. Óasan (Shaikh, Mahdi), 51, 69, 92, 94–5, 97, 594 ʿAlåʾÈ Darwåza (in Delhi), 238, 693 ʿAlaʾÈ (ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn’s) Madrasa (in Delhi), 234, 434 ʿÅlam (ʿAlim) Khån b. Mujåhid Khån, 80, 82, 580–1 ʿÅlam Khån LodÈ, 88 Alap Khån, 57 Alfieri, B. M., 10, 118, 164 ʿAlÈ b. AbÈ Êålib (Imåm), 69, 607 Aligarh, 6, 45 ʿAlÈ Khån, 598 Allen, C., 11 Al-Tai, M. H., 178 Alwar, 55 Am · biyawålÈ Masjid (in Nagar–SikrÈ), 223, 517–20, 525, 527, 529, 543–4 AmÈr DËst see DËst b. IbråhÈm (AmÈr) AmÈr Khån Au˙adÈ, 57, 610 AmÈr Khusrau DihlavÈ, 35, 37, 39 Åmul, 200 A≥ahilavåda Pa††ana, 376 Ananthalwar, M. A., 105 Anatolia, Anatolian, 16, 210 Andor, 55 AnËshÈrwån, NaushÈrwån (Sasanian Emperor), 59, 583 Åqå Kamålå, 598–600 Åqå MÈrak (Sayyid Åqå Jalål al-dÈn MÈrak AlÓasanÈ), 346 ʿAqdå, 322, 344, 366 Arab, Arabs, 14–15, 23, 26–7, 165–6, 183–4, 195,

197, 199, 226, 241, 292, 341, 348, 352–3, 365, 416, 539, 543, 548, 551, 585, 592 Arabia, 94, 174 ʿArafa, 199 Åråmshåh (Delhi Sultan), 25 Arankal, 38 Arberry, A. J., 42, 174, 200, 561, 569, 579, 584, 589–90, 608, 618 Aṛha’i din kå Jhon∙pṛa mosque (Ajmer), 25, 163, 165–7, 175, 182, 190, 216, 219, 226, 287, 353–4, 365, 524, 545, 611 ArkalÈ Khån b. Jalål al-dÈn KhaljÈ, 11 Armenian, Armenians, 456 Arsalån Khån (governor of Bukhara), 198–9 Arsalån Khån KhwårazmÈ, 32–3, 34 Åßaf Khån’s tomb (in Nadbai), 650, 687–8, 690 Asher, C. B., 129, 183, 290, 303, 317, 320, 361, 366, 479 Ashraf (Sharaf) Khån JalwånÈ (Bayana Sultan), 72–4 Asqalån, 365 Atkinson, J., 287 Au, 1, 44 Aud, 29 Auda (Awadh), 11, 33 AudÈhÈ, 29 Au˙adÈ, Au˙adÈs, 2, 8–9, 49–51, 53–5, 57–8, 60, 62–72, 75, 80, 87–8, 95, 108–9, 111, 138–9, 221, 237, 242, 249–50, 253, 256, 259, 279, 295, 298–300, 303, 317, 320, 324, 417, 463, 469, 490–1, 529, 532, 560, 566, 568, 571–2, 603, 610, 612, 619, 627, 631, 666 Au˙adÈ Graveyard, 21, 67, 106–7, 109–11, 113, 254, 298, 335–6, 358–9, 383–4, 502, 555, 560, 572, 574, 587, 612–16, 627–30, 632, 636, 643, 648–50, 652–4, 656–7, 662, 664, 666–7, 681, 685–6, 690, 694–5, 704 Au˙adÈ Jåmiʿ (F.15a) see Bayana edifices Au˙adÈ (Au˙ad al-dÈn) KirmånÈ (Sufi Shaikh), 51, 95 Au˙ad Khån Au˙adÈ, 50, 53–9, 66–7, 71–2, 106–7, 112, 153, 293, 298, 300, 335, 534, 553–6, 564, 566, 569, 610, 630; see also Bayana edifices (B.37) Aul, 29, 44 AurangzÈb (Mughal Emperor), 104, 320, 451, 485, 598, 600 Awadh, 11, 209 Ayåz b. Isfandiyår, 25–6, 539 AʿΩam al-dÈn (Shaikh), 36, 71 AʿΩam HumåyËn, 494 Azarnush, M., 436 Azidahak (king of Medea), 14 Båbur (Mughal Emperor), 82–5, 87–90, 158, 328, 407, 462, 480, 490–1, 505–6, 591, 601, 624, 704

722 BAYANA Badakhshån, 69, 606 Badalgarh, 79 Badaon, 21, 69, 166, 211, 213, 213–15, 217 Badaon Gate (at SÈrÈ), 216 Badr al-dÈn Sunqur (Malik), 34, 35, 39, 210 Badr Miyån (Malik), 67–8, 275, 560–4, 618, 636–7 BådshåhÈ (PådshåhÈ) Masjid (in Lahore), 320 Bågh-i NÈlufar (Lotus Garden in Dholpur), 491 Bahåʾ al-dÈn Gushtasb, 47 Bahåʾ al-dÈn Êughrul, 21–3, 25–7, 31–2, 34, 80, 104–5, 166, 171–2, 183–4, 190, 192–3, 211, 213, 238, 267, 490, 521, 538–9 Bahådur (Gujarat Sultan), 88 BahlËl (Shaikh, or Shåh Phul), 88–9, 120, 123, 125, 158, 162, 702–4; see also Bayana edifices (F.35) BahlËl LodÈ (Delhi Sultan), 69, 71–5, 492–4, 497, 580, 583 BahmanÈ (dynasty), 48, 349, 451–2 Bahråm see Muʿizz al-dÈn Bahråm Bahusåwar, 29–30 Baiåna (Bayana), 114 Bai ÓarÈr Wåv (near Ahmadabad), 330, 376 BaihaqÈ see Abu’l-fa∂l Mu˙ammad b. Óusain BaihaqÈ Bajwåra, 29 Baker, H., 331 Baker, P. L., 3 Bakkar, 595 Balasubrahmanyam, S. R., 433 Balban (Delhi Sultan), 11, 25, 32, 34–5, 117, 233–4, 346, 372, 539, 541, 629 Balban’s tomb, 234 Balfour-Paul, J., 3 Balkh, 49, 88, 175 Balwant Singh, 100 Båmiyån, 14 Banaras, Binaras, 11, 16 Båñåsur, Banasur Kila, 7, 10 Banåwar, 29–30 Banbhore, 116 Bandhir Singh (Jåt Raja), 418 Banerji, R. D., 23 Baṛa Gunbad (in Delhi), 272, 285, 287 Bårå Khambå Mosque (in Hindaun), 598 Barambad, 98–100, 103, 108, 113, 293, 303–7, 333, 358, 376, 411–12, 477–8, 531, 596–7, 613, 617, 619–22, 656, 662, 671, 673–5 Baran (Barn), 11, 19, 51 Barana (Barba), 19 BaranÈ see BarnÈ Bårbak Shåh (of Jaunpur), 73 Bårbak Shåh b. BahlËl LodÈ, 493–4 Baṛe Kamar in Hindaun see ChatrÈ IV in Hindaun, 635

Baṛe Kamar in Sikandra (S.19) see under Bayana edifices Baṛe PÈr Íå˙ib Dargåh (in Nagaur), 98 Bargoti, R., 9, 372, 376 BårÈ (village), 17, 29–30 BaṛÈ BåʾolÈ (in Ladnun), 376 Bari Khatu see Khatu BarnÈ, Îiyåʾ al-dÈn, 11, 18, 29, 31, 34–6, 38–40, 42–3, 45, 47, 62, 82, 156, 216, 218, 236–7, 346, 350, 368 Barraud, R. A., 158 BasahÈ (site of later Agra), 79 Baseri, 490 Bas†åm, 14 Baswa, 84 Bayana edifices (B: town, F: fort, S: Sikandra): AbË Bakr Qandhår’s tomb (B.24), 21, 106–7, 109, 704 Area A, Fort, Citadel, 5, 115, 135–42 Area B, Fort, West Gate System (F.6), 5, 115, 142–4 Area C, Fort, Buffer area of West Gate, 5, 115, 144–8 Area D, Fort, Buffer area of East Gate, 5, 115–16, 126, 129–31 Area E, Fort, East Enclosure, 5, 115, 125–9 Area F, Fort, Buffer area of Citadel’s East Gate, 5, 115, 147 Area G, Fort, North Enclosure, 5, 115, 148–56 Area H, Fort, fields towards Mor Tålåb, 5, 115, 119 Area I, Sikandra see Sikandra (of Bayana) Area J, Fort, Buffer area of Citadel’s postern gate, 5, 115, 118, 132 Au˙adÈ Jåmiʿof the Fort (F.15a), 138, 141, 221, 242–50, 256, 263, 282, 298–9, 485 Au˙ad Khån’s tomb, ChatrÈ B.37, 56, 71, 106–7, 112, 298, 335, 534, 572, 627–32, 637, 649, 683 BåʾolÈ B.14 in Bayana, 394–5 BåʾolÈ B.34 in the Au˙adÈ Graveyard, Bayana, 106–7, 383–4, 649, 694 BåʾolÈ F.23 in the fort, 120, 127, 380–2, 389 BåʾolÈ of Khån-i Khånån (F.4), 17, 75–6, 118, 132, 144–5, 147, 291, 376, 396–402, 414, 417, 462, 479, 484, 509–10, 574–8, 583, 619 BåʾolÈ of NiΩåm Khån (B.44) in Bayana, 103, 334, 356–7, 376, 403–9, 411, 478–9, 660 BåʾolÈ S.14 in Sikandra, 103, 334, 408–11, 660, 702 Baṛe Kamar in Sikandra (S.19), 103, 348, 360–4, 632, 664, 684–5 Bazaar (F.40 in the fort), 119–20, 132, 149, 151–3, 320, 372 BhitarÈ BåharÈ Masjid (B.6), 106–7, 222–3, 537–8 Building F.13a and b, 132, 430–1, 442

723

INDEX

Building of red sandstone (F.3), 132, 144–5 Canopy B.22 in Bayana, 106–7, 648, 675 Canopy B.27 in Bayana, 291, 685–6, 690 Canopy B.32 in Bayana, 106–7, 110, 358, 649, 658, 661 Canopy F.30 in the fort, 619, 678, 680–2 Canopy F.31 in the fort, 357, 380, 645–6, 658–9 Canopy S.11 in Sikandra, 357, 646–8 Canopy S.12 in Sikandra, 688–9 Canopy (ChatrÈ) S.20 in Sikandra, 103, 683–4 ChatrÈ B.26 in Bayana, 106–7, 359, 654, 654–6 ChatrÈ B.28 (walled) in Bayana, 106–7, 357, 359, 631, 652–4, 654 ChatrÈ B.29 in Bayana, 106–7, 664–6, 675 ChatrÈ B.30 in Bayana, 106–7, 502, 630–2 ChatrÈ B.33 in Bayana, 106–7, 110, 613–14 ChatrÈ B.35 in Bayana, 106–7, 383–4, 662, 664 ChatrÈ B.36 in Bayana, 106–7, 664, 666–7 ChatrÈ B.38 in Bayana, 106–7, 614–16 ChatrÈ B.39 in Bayana, 106–7, 616–17 ChatrÈ B.41 in Bayana, 103, 234, 336, 638–9 ChatrÈ B.47 in Bayana, 103, 617–18, 662–3 ChatrÈ B.48 in Bayana, 103, 618, 662–3 ChatrÈ F.16 in the fort, 132, 290, 484, 634, 643, 654, 656, 675–8, 683 ChatrÈ F.29 in the fort, 120, 618–19 ChatrÈ F.32 in the fort, 120, 380, 658–9, 661 ChatrÈ F.34 in the fort, 120, 123, 162, 678, 679, 683 ChatrÈ S.1 in the Jåmiʿ of Sikandra, 270, 272, 278–9 ChatrÈ S.2 in Sikandra, 103, 660–2 ChatrÈ S.7 in Sikandra, 103, 476, 639–40, 642 ChatrÈ S.8 in Sikandra, 103, 108, 123, 476, 642–4, 648, 675 ChatrÈ S.9 in Sikandra, 103, 661–2 ChatrÈ S.17 in Sikandra, 103, 361, 632–5, 664–5, 681, 684 ChatrÈ S.18 in Sikandra, 103, 361, 664–5, 684 ChatrÈ S.24 in Sikandra, 103 ChatrÈ S.25 in Sikandra, 103 East Gate of Citadel (F.18), 5, 115, 120, 127–8, 131–7, 152, 159, 333–4, 418 East Gate of Area E (F.36), 120, 122–5, 147, 158, 162, 678, 702 Dam F.37, 120, 126, 380, 387 Dam F.38, 120, 126, 380, 387 FËlåd Mu˙ammad’s tomb (S.4), 69, 103, 603–8 Gate F.5, 132, 145–8, 151, 154, 159 Gate F.42 to Area G, 132, 151–2 Gate F.45, 120, 149, 151–2, 154, 159 Gate F.49, 132 gate (ruined) F.50, 131–2, 147 Gindoria (Kandaura) Well (B.18), 65–7, 102, 106–7, 374, 558–60, 619

Governor’s Mansion in Citadel (F.7), 109, 114, 119, 128–9, 132, 136, 138, 141–2, 147, 266, 334, 438, 462–9, 531 Gulåb Khån’s tomb (B.13), 10, 106–7, 365, 373, 394, 612, 656, 696–8 House B.10 in Bayana, 106–7, 426–30, 466 House B.20 (modern) on site of a mosque in Bayana, 106–7 House F.9 in the fort, 141, 264, 266, 420–4 House F.10 in the fort, 141, 266, 426–30, 466 House F.17 in the fort, 141, 126, 424–6 House F.19 in the fort, 120, 420–1 House F.20 in the fort, 120, 426, 456–9 House F.22 in the fort, 120, 431–4, 436, 438, 442, 456, 509 House F.24 in the fort, 120, 426, 442–5, 456 House F.25 in the fort, 120, 442–4, 456 House F.26 in the fort, 120, 442–5, 456 House F.27 in the fort, 120, 442–5, 447, 456 House F.28 in the fort, 120, 426, 442–3, 456 House S.26 in Sikandra, 103 ʿÏdgåh of Bayana (B.43), 23, 103–4, 111, 113, 183, 194–7, 209–13, 219, 234, 336, 375, 391, 404, 519, 524, 552, 638–9 ʿImårat-i BådgÈr (F.33), 89–90, 118, 120, 123, 125, 162, 290, 308, 461, 479–84, 488, 591, 675, 678, 683, 704 inscribed column (B.49), 85–7, 587–91; see also DËst b. IbråhÈm (AmÈr) Jahån PÈr’s shrine, ChatrÈ B.23, 106–7, 335, 656–8 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Bayana (modern) (B.9), 106–7, 239–2 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Sikandra (S.1), 103, 120, 157, 159, 161, 239, 267–79, 441, 466, 611, 637–8, 690 Jåt Mansion (B.5), 106–7, 462, 487–9 Jåt Mansions (F.14), 100, 132, 138, 418, 462, 485–7 Jåt Mosque (F.39), 120, 266–7 JhåjhrÈ (B.15), 10, 106–7, 291, 355, 365, 373, 394, 597, 612, 696, 698–700 Jhålar BåʾolÈ (B.45), 8, 32, 40, 103–4, 111–13, 221, 226, 233, 370, 375, 385–91, 406, 462, 472, 517, 539, 547–9, 593, 634 Khoja kå well (B.16), 106–7, 373, 394 Laʿl Darwåza in Bayana (B.19), 106–7, 108, 111, 593 Laʿl Darwåza in Sikandra (S.6), 103, 159, 476–9, 690 Låt (or Vishnu Varddhana Låt in fort) (F.15c), 132, 139–41, 242 minaret F.44 (unfinished) in North Enclosure, 132, 149, 151, 242, 320, 329 minaret of DåwËd Khån (F.15b), 8, 10, 49–50, 70–1, 80, 101, 116, 118, 127, 131, 138, 141, 150, 221, 242, 246, 249, 320–4, 564–72

724 BAYANA Bayana edifices (cont.) Monumental or Ceremonial Gateway (F.21), 120, 127–30, 308, 334, 465 Mosque B.17 in SaraijÈ Ma˙alla, 106–7, 280–2, 427 Mosque F.8 in the fort, 263–6, 424, 426, 466, 531 Mosque F.11 in the fort, 132, 138, 282–4 Mosque S.10 in Sikandra, 103, 287, 312–17 Mosque S.16 in Sikandra, 103, 287–90 MuftÈyËn kÈ Masjid (B.12), 106–7, 222, 250–3, 509 Mughal Mosque (S.15), 103, 287, 290–2 Pandisan (tomb or dargåh), ChatrÈ B.25, 636–7 PÈr Mastån Masjid or PahårÈ Masjid (B.46), 103, 260–3, 626 PÈr Mu߆afå’s tomb or PahårÈ Gunbad, Canopy B.7, 106–7, 360, 681–3 Platform B.42 in Bayana (probably Tughluq), 103, 234–8 Postern Gate F.41, 132, 151–2 Postern Gate F.43, 132, 147–8 Postern Gate F.48, 118, 132 ruins (B.4) north of Ukhå Minår Seasonal Reservoir F.47, 120, 149, 378–9 Shaikh BahlËl’s (or Shåh Phul’s) Tomb (F.35), 120, 123, 125, 158, 162, 702–4 Sikandra Reservoir, 162, 377–8 Sikandra town gate (S.3a), 120, 159–61 Sikandra unbuilt town gate (S.3b), 120 Square Domed Chamber B.31, 106–7, 694–6 Storehouse F.12, 132, 141–2 Structure B.8 (wall of a domed chamber), 106–7, 692–4, 698 Structure B.11 (a madrasa or khånaqåh), 106–7, 470–6, 601 Structure S.12 (square, walled on one side), 103, 688–9 Structure S.13 (domed chamber), 103, 702 Structure S.21 (domed chamber), 103, 701 Structure S.22 (domed chamber), 103, 701 Structure S.23 (domed chamber), 103, 701 TålakÈnÈ Masjid (B.21), 254–62, 298, 474, 509, 628 TaletÈ Darwåza (F.1), 119, 132, 147, 152–5, 159, 578 TaletÈ Masjid (F.2), 53–4, 120, 132, 147, 149, 152, 155, 237, 275, 293–303, 305, 307, 312, 314, 316–17, 332, 372–3, 417, 553–4 tower (bastion) F.46, 119–20, 148, 150 Ukhå MandÈr Mosque (B.1), 7–8, 18, 23, 28, 41, 45, 81, 103–7, 174–6, 183–93, 221, 223, 226–7, 229, 232, 238–9, 244, 267, 273, 298, 324, 238, 474, 521, 525 Ukhå Masjid (B.2), 7–8, 10, 40–2, 45, 103, 106–7, 184, 188–90, 192, 219, 221–2, 226–34, 238, 240–1, 244, 256, 260, 269, 273,

287, 308, 385–6, 389–90, 472, 474, 519, 545, 547, 549–50, 634, 643, 656 Ukhå Minår (B.3), 106–7, 184, 299, 320, 324–8, 405, 479, 582–4 BåyazÈd b. BahlËl LodÈ (Khwåja), 493 Bayqarå, Abu’l-ghåzÈ Óusain b. ManßËr Baiqarå (Timurid Sultan), 88, 346 Begampuri Masjid (in Delhi), 241 Beijing, 1, 45 Bengal, 25, 34, 88, 92, 97, 209, 303, 353, 366, 704 Bennet, L., 46 Berlin, 693 Beveridge, A. S., 84, 89, 704 Bharatpur, 3, 23, 28, 100, 108, 112, 118, 539, 687, 692 Bhaskar, 29–30 Bhayåna (early spelling of Bayana), 18–19, 22, 48 BhÈm, 29–30 BÈbÈ KhadÈja, 85, 358–9, 391, 490, 502, 586–7, 635, 666, 668, 671–3 BÈbÈ RåsËlÈ, 65, 391, 558, 668 BÈbÈ ZarrÈna (ZÈna, Zaina, Zeina, ZÈbå), 80, 491, 496–7, 578–9 BÈbÈ ZarrÈna’s tomb (in Dholpur), 490–1, 498–505 Bidar, 121–2, 156, 349, 451–5, 460 BÈdpåÈ, 495 Bihar, 48 Bijai Mandal (in Delhi), 59, 350–1 Bijapur, 389 Binaras see Banaras BÈr Khån Afghån, 48 BÈr Khån TurmatÈ, 48, 553 Blakiston, J. F., 166 Boner, Alice, 256 Borromeo, Federico, 10 Bose, Melia Belli, 355 Brandreth, E. S., 20 Brend, Barbara, 3 Briggs, J., 17, 63, 80, 491–2 BṛihadȪvara Temple (in Tanjore), 433 British, British Empire, 89, 100, 112, 330–1, 485, 533, 536 British Library, 347 Broughton, T. D., 129 Brown, P., 163–4, 234, 241, 272, 277, 317, 320, 479, 483, 694, 699 Browne, K., 343 Bukhara, 27, 40, 197–9, 672, 693 al-BukhårÈ, AbÈ or AbË Bakr see MughÈth al-dÈn (Qå∂È) BukhårÈ, KarÈm al-dÈn see KarÈm al-dÈn BukhårÈ (Qå∂È) al-BukhårÈ, AbÈ ʿAbd’ullåh Mu˙ammad IsmåʿÈl, 542, 572 Buland Darwåza, Ajmer, 129

725

INDEX

Buland Darwåza, Nagaur, 98, 129, 333 Bulandshahr, 19, 51 Bühler, G., 139 BË Qandhår see AbË Bakr Qandahår BË Qandhår Graveyard see Au˙adÈ Graveyard Burgess, J., 10–11, 129, 138, 163, 181, 238, 278, 330, 368, 376, 389, 391, 536 Burhån al-dÈn b. Siråj al-dÈn (Qå∂È), 85, 586–7, 671 Burhånpur, 688 Burnell, A. C., 101 Burton-Page, J., 111, 238, 278, 352, 368 Bust, 203, 206–7, 209, 211–12 Buzurg see MÈr Buzurg Cairo, 1, 45, 199–200 Calicut, 365, 534 Canby, S. R., 341 Canopy IX in Khanwa, 650, 686 Carlleyle, A. C. L., 7–8, 10, 17–19, 100, 113–14, 118, 120–1, 129, 139–41, 145, 153, 183, 187, 217, 267, 293, 321–4, 326, 361, 537 Central Asia, Central Asian, 15, 27, 35, 165, 174–6, 195, 258, 275, 299, 303, 366, 370, 434, 436, 448, 450, 460, 466, 533, 656, 658, 693, 698, 701 Chaghtai, M. A., 50, 218 Chahår DÈwån (in Hansi), 357, 644–5 Chahår Qu†b Khånaqåh (in Hansi), 72, 644 Chanbal River, 30, 491 Chand, Prem (Munshi), 194 Chånd BåurÈ (BåʾolÈ in Bijapur), 389 Chanderi, 45, 121, 352, 437–8, 440–2, 469 Chandwar (Chandawår, Chanwår, Jauwår), 28–30, 73 ChangÈz Khån, 35 Chanwår see Chandwar ChatrÈ I (BÈbÈ KhadÈja’s tomb in Hindaun), 635, 671–2 ChatrÈ II (in Hindaun), 666–8 ChatrÈ II (in Khanwa), 641–2, 668 ChatrÈ III (in Hindaun), 622–3, 635 ChatrÈ III (in Khanwa), 668–70 ChatrÈ IV (Baṛe Kamar in Hindaun), 635–6 ChatrÈ IV (in Khanwa), 624–5, 626, 668–9 ChatrÈ VII (in Khanwa), 627, 668, 670–1 ChatrÈ VIII (in Khanwa), 626–7, 654 ChatrÈ BR.2 (in Barambad), 103, 619–21 ChatrÈ BR.3 (in Barambad), 103, 358, 673–4 ChatrÈ BR.4 (in Barambad), 103, 621–2, 674 Chatta, 129 Chatsu, 98 ChaudharÈ Beg, 575–6 ChaukhandÈ, 334, 338 ChaurasÈ Khamba Mosque (in Kaman), 10, 23–4, 167–83, 185, 187, 190–3, 238, 334, 337, 353, 365, 367, 521, 525, 538

Chausath Khambå see ChaurasÈ Khamba Chaustaha see ChËsta Chear, Jaʿfar, 16, 167 Cherkas, 27 Chho†È Masjid (in Hisar), 287 China, 6, 15, 27–8, 43–4, 233, 583 Chirågh-i DihlÈ (neighbourhood in Delhi), 651 Chitor, 84, 114, 463, 688 Chor Darwåza (in Bayana fort), 553 Chor Minår (in Delhi), 216 Chunar, 361 ChËsta (Chaustaha), 29–30 Cochin, 635 Collins, B. A., 178, 199, 416 Combermere (Lord), 100 Cordoba, 1, 45, 233 Coste, P. X., 343 Cousens, H., 11, 238, 330, 376, 389 Crane, H., 59, 141, 236, 241, 350, 450 Crowe, S., 158 Ctesiphon (palace), 448–9 Cunningham, A., 7–13, 17–19, 23, 25, 31–2, 39–40, 42, 52–4, 57, 63, 92, 100, 104, 117, 139, 153, 161, 163, 166, 183, 213, 221–3, 226, 239, 250, 267–9, 293–4, 312, 316, 322, 324, 392, 469, 491, 495–7, 505, 510, 514, 537, 541, 545, 549, 551, 555, 559, 566, 577, 580, 592–3, 628, 690, 698, 705 Cyrus the Great, 14 Dabir Siyaqi, M., 16, 352 Dahår, 57 Îa˙˙åk (legendary Arab king), 14–15 Daibul, 116 Damascus, 177, 180 Damåwand, 14 Dåmghån Palace (in Iran), 449 Dåmghån Shåh (Maʿbar Sultan), 46 Darb-i Imåm (in Isfahan), 341–2 Dare (or KhålÈ) Masjid (in Khanwa), 505, 509–12, 531 Dargåh Masjid (in Khatu), 524 Dår Sarå, 349 DarwÈsh Mu˙ammad (Amir), 515 Daryå Khån JalwånÈ, 74 Daryå Khån Lau˙ånÈ, 91, 96, 591–4 Daryå Khån SarwånÈ, 74, 81 DastËr Khån’s Mosque (in Ahmadabad), 278 Daulatabad, 43, 47–8 Daulat Khån, 81 Daulat Khån Aujiyålå (or Ajiyåra), 96 Daulat Khån b. Daryå Khån, 96–7, 593–4 Daulat Khån FarmulÈ, 75 Daulat Khån’s tomb (in Maner), 361 DaulÈ District, 79 David (Biblical King), 548

726 BAYANA DåwËd Khån b. Mu˙ammad Khån Au˙adÈ, 50–1, 67–8, 70–2, 242, 275, 322–3, 564, 569, 571–2, 610, 637; see also Bayana edifices (F.15b) DåwËd Khån b. Shams Khån Au˙adÈ, 57, 610 Deccan, 1, 6, 48, 69, 84, 98, 215, 303, 597 Dehkhoda, A. A., 12, 42, 51, 197, 352, 439 Delhi, 1–3, 6, 15–16, 19, 22, 28, 31–6, 38, 40, 43–6, 47–55, 57–69, 71–3, 75, 78, 80, 82, 89, 109–12, 115–18, 122, 140–1, 156, 163–4, 166–7, 184–5, 192–3, 195, 209–11, 216–18, 220, 233–4, 236–8, 241, 272–3, 275–7, 279–80, 285, 287, 290, 293–4, 317, 319–20, 324, 330–1, 335–6, 338, 346–51, 353, 355, 357, 364, 371, 374, 376–7, 402, 416–17, 430, 433–4, 450, 462–3, 479, 482–3, 485, 492–5, 497, 519, 529, 534–6, 545, 603, 611–12, 631, 651–2, 673, 677, 684–5, 689–90, 693–4 Delhi Sultanate (Sultanate of Delhi), 2, 31, 34–5, 51, 54–5, 218, 529, 534 Desai, Z. A., 50, 219, 438, 555–6 Dhakira kå Ma˙al (near Sikandra of Agra), 361 Dhåndalpur, 376 Dhandora BåʾolÈ (in Dhandhawali), 392 Dholpur, 17, 28, 30, 77, 80, 102, 405, 490–1, 495, 497–8, 578–9, 596 DÈbålpËr, 51, 63 Diez, E., 165, 287 Dilåwar Khån GhËrÈ (Målwa Sultan), 438 DÈvgÈr (Daulatabad), 43 Îiyåʾ al-dÈn, Maulånå (Qå∂È), 36 Îiyåʾ al-dÈn BarnÈ see BarnÈ, Îiyåʾ al-dÈn domed chamber in Nadbai, 690–1 Dowson, J., 11–12 Du Åb (Miyån du Åb), 82, 459 Durgå Temple (in Aihole), 338–9 DËst b. IbråhÈm (AmÈr), 84–9, 106–7, 482, 585, 587–91; see also Bayana edifices (B.49) Egypt, 200, 233 Elam, 181 Elliot, H. M., 11–12, 16–17, 19, 22, 26, 35, 38, 41–3, 45–7, 51, 58, 62, 65, 67, 69, 72–5, 80, 89–92, 95–6, 237, 349, 416, 482, 492, 688 Europe, European, 3, 21, 370, 372, 533, 536, 704 FarÈd Ganj-i Shikkar (Sufi Shaikh), 72 Fårs, 201 Fatehabad, 140 Fathpur Sikri, 2–5, 13, 30, 39, 76, 89, 103, 147, 247, 298, 317–18, 402, 414, 430, 461–2, 484, 487, 490, 509, 515, 517, 542, 529, 535, 539, 617, 662, 685, 687, 694 Fatimid, 200, 386 FaujdårÈ Masjid (of Bayana), 222 Fehérvári, G., 10, 206 Fergusson, J., 163–4, 355, 433, 485

FiraidËn (legendary king of Iran) see AfrÈdËn Firdausi, 14 Firishta, Mu˙ammad Qåsim b. HindË Shåh, 17, 32, 49, 51–3, 55, 57–9, 61, 63–4, 66–7, 69, 72–6, 79–80, 84–5, 88–92, 95–7, 217, 491, 493–4, 610 FÈrËz (Malik, later FÈrËz Shåh Tughluq), 41, 46–9, 59, 140–1, 180–1, 183, 221, 234–7, 279, 345, 349, 355, 375, 482, 495, 553, 638 FÈrËzåbåd, 49, 279, 347, 450 FÈrËz Khån (of Nagaur), 50 FÈrËz Shåh KhaljÈ see Jalål al-dÈn FÈrËz Shåh FÈrËz Shåh’s Madrasa (at Såt Pul, Delhi), 236 FÈrËz Shåh’s Madrasa (in Óau∂ Khåß, Delhi), 236–7, 355, 402 FÈrËz Shåh’s Palace (in Hisar), 402, 450 Fleet, J. F., 18, 537 Flood, F. B., 10, 165, 167, 183–4, 215, 287, 353 Flynn, V. J. A., 4, 487 Foucher, A., 431 Fritz, J. M., 158 Führer, A. A., 11 FËlåd Mu˙ammad KhuråsånÈ (Sayyid), 69, 603–7; see also Bayana edifices (S.4) Furughi, M. A., 201 Galdieri, E., 165, 203–4, 206, 340 GålÈwar, KålÈwar see Gwalior Gallop, A. T., 334 GambhÈr River, 3, 103, 108, 111, 115, 156, 303, 371, 377, 618 Ganeª BåʾolÈ (in Nagaur), 376 Ganges River, 82 Garh, 4, 9, 17–18, 52, 82, 90–1, 580, 591–2 Garu∂a, 398, 577 Gauband, 22 Gaube, H., 334 Ghazna (Ghaznin), 16–17, 19, 20, 22, 25, 74, 139, 167, 179–80, 210, 287, 344–5 Ghaznavid, Ghaznavids, 16, 27, 42, 167, 175, 179, 200, 203, 206, 287 GhåzÈ Khån (Óaidar Mu˙ammad), 96–8 Ghiyåth al-dÈn b. Humåm al-dÈn see Khwand MÈr Ghiyåth al-dÈn Dåmghån Shåh see Dåmghån Shåh Ghiyåth al-dÈn Tughluq (Delhi Sultan), 43, 47, 349, 416, 430, 438, 535 Ghiyåth al-dÈn Tughluq’s tomb, 110–11, 629, 694 Ghiyåth b. Mu˙ammad (AmÈr), 71, 574 Ghiyåth Beg TihrånÈ see Iʿtimåd al-daula GhËr (region in Afghanistan), 14–15 Ghurid, Ghurids, 1, 15–16, 19–20, 27, 23, 165–6, 176, 181, 195, 199, 209, 215–16, 237–8, 687 Godard, A., 98, 165, 202–3, 207–9, 340–1, 448 Goeje, J. de, 26, 177

727

INDEX

Golmohammadi, J., 365 Grabar, O., 436, 693 Gray, B., 87 Growes, F. S., 10 Grube, E. J., 345 Gujarat, 45, 51–2, 67, 84, 88, 109, 111, 181–2, 218, 220–1, 238, 278, 294, 330, 334, 335, 368, 374, 376, 389, 406, 535, 611 Gumada Masjid (in A≥ahilavåda Pa††ana), 238 Gupta, Madan, 194 Gurg ʿAlÈ Shåh’s tomb, 98 Gurgaon (area south of Delhi), 112 Gwalior, 1, 6, 16–17, 21–2, 28, 33, 45, 49, 53, 55–7, 62–3, 75, 77, 80, 96–7, 294, 463, 485, 490–1, 495 Gwalior Fort and Palace, 54, 114, 463 Gyaur Kala (near Merv), 449 Habibi, A., 14 ÓåfiΩ, Shams al-dÈn Mu˙ammad, 200–1 ÓåfiΩ IbråhÈm, 87 Hagar, 555 Haibat Khån JalwånÈ, 73–4 Haibat Khån the Wolf Slayer, 74, 81 Óaidar Mu˙ammad see GhåzÈ Khån Óaidar Mu˙ammad Khån Åkhta BaigÈ, 98 ÓåjÈ Piyåda Mosque (in Balkh), 175 Óajjåj (Arab governor of Iran), 197 Halim, A., 10, 72 ÓamÈd (poet), 582–3 ÓamÈd al-dÈn ChishtÈ (Shaikh), 333 ÓamÈd al-dÈn MultånÈ (Qå∂È), 36 ÓanafÈ (Arab tribe), 26 Haneda, M., 104 Óanifa (in Arabia), 26 Hansi, 16, 72, 166, 180–1, 209, 287, 357, 643, 644 Harappå, 415 Harbison, R., 3 Hardinge, Charles, Lord of Penshurst, 331 Harijan BastÈ, 108 HårËniya, HårËn-i Wilåyat (in Isfahan), 341–2 Haryana, 15, 28, 330, 384 Óasan (Shaikh, father of the MahdÈ), 92 Hasan, M. Z., 59, 216, 279, 350, 629 Hasan, P., 183 Óasan GångË see ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn Bahman Shåh Óasan Khån (Governor of MÈwåt), 82, 84 Óasan MajzËb (Shaikh), 493 Óasan NiΩåmÈ, 17, 22 Hatkånat, 29, 31 Óau∂-i ʿAlåʾÈ (Óau∂-i Khåß in Delhi), 236–7, 277, 355, 371 Óau∂-i Mu߆afå Sar (in Naraina), 347 Óau∂-i ShamsÈ (in Delhi), 237, 371 Hawå Ma˙al see ʿImårat-i BådgÈr (Fathpur Sikri)

Haybat (Haibat) Khån’s mosque (in Gujarat), 111 Hazår UstËn, Hizår SutËn (palace in Delhi), 350 Hegewald, J. A. B., 374 Herat, 20, 87, 346 Herrmann, G., 449–50 Óijåz, 94 HÈlak, 29–30, 44 HÈlau, 1, 44 Hill, D., 693 Hillenbrand, R., 656 HÈmå (Hindu name of BÈbÈ ZarrÈna), 492 HÈmË, 97–8 Hindål (MÈrzå), 88–9, 704 Hindaun, 17, 29–30, 43, 48, 64–7, 85, 96–7, 100, 108, 131, 141, 147, 156, 217, 358–9, 375, 391–3, 490, 502, 551, 553, 556–8, 586–7, 598–9, 600, 613, 622–3, 627, 635–6, 639, 642, 666–8, 671–3 Hindu, Hindus, 1, 6–8, 11, 18, 22, 32, 35, 60, 62–3, 65–6, 69, 75, 77, 97, 100, 102, 104–5, 108, 115–16, 118, 139–40, 145, 154, 163, 209, 221–2, 233, 239, 244, 256, 279, 295, 321, 324, 330, 355, 376, 397–8, 415, 430–1, 444, 463, 467, 491–2, 533, 536, 576, 618, 622, 630, 633, 643, 693, 702, 704 HindËstån, Hindustan, 14, 17, 22, 36, 67 HÈrmand (Helmand) River, 27 Horovitz, J., 546 House (kËshk) at Gyaur Kala (near Merv), 449–51 House of Kamål Singh (in Chanderi), 437–40 House of Khwaja Petroª Veliganian (in Julfa, Isfahan), 456 House of Khwaja Voskan (in Julfa, Isfahan), 457 House near Chaklakhåna gate (in Tughluqabad), 435–6 House near Kirat Sagar (in Chanderi), 440–2 House near Yazd (in Iran), 448 House north of the town (in Tughluqabad), 444, 447 Hisar (Óißår-i FÈrËza), 84, 141, 153, 156, 182–3, 221, 236–7, 287, 349, 402, 430, 450, 462 Hulwån, 26 HumåyËn (Mughal Emperor), 84, 87–9, 97, 290, 461–2, 479–80, 483, 496–7, 591, 704 HumåyËn’s tomb (in Delhi), 462, 479 Husain, M. M. A., 116 Óusain b. ʿAlÈ (third Shi’ite Imam), 490, 506, 607, 624 Óusain Båyqarå or Baiqara (Khuråsån Sultan), 88 Al-Óusain shrine (in Asqalån), 365 ÓusainÈ (Shaikh), 80 Óusain Shåh SharqÈ (Jaunpur Sultan), 72 HËshang Shåh (Målwa Sultan), 57 Huxley, A., 11

728 BAYANA Ibn al-Haitham, 421 Ibn Ba††Ë†a, 1, 6, 18, 28, 32, 43, 45–7, 59, 62, 104, 116, 122, 140, 195, 210–11, 216, 232–4, 237, 246, 249, 349–52, 369, 334, 474, 482, 629 Ibn Fa∂l’ullåh al-ʿUmarÈ, 348–9, 416 Ibn Óanbal, 542 Ibn YËnus, 421 IbråhÈm AbË Bakr NushÈrwån Khalj, 35, 372, 539, 541 IbråhÈm Au˙adÈ or HirawÈ, 85, 87–8 IbråhÈm Khån’s Madrasa (in Kerman), 341 IbråhÈm Khån SËr (IbråhÈm Shåh), 97 IbråhÈm Shåh LodÈ (Delhi Sultan), 18, 74–5, 80–3, 285–6, 290, 294, 324, 326, 328, 404, 581, 583–4, 660 IbråhÈm Shåh SharqÈ (Jaunpur Sultan), 60 ʿÏdgåh Masjid (in Agra), 317–18 ʿÏdgåh Masjid (in Barambad) (BR.1), 98, 103, 293, 303–12, 314, 316–17, 333, 356, 596, 619, 621, 656 ʿÏdgåh of Badaon, 211, 213–15 ʿÏdgåh of Bayana (B.43) see Bayana edifices ʿÏdgåh of Delhi at SÈrÈ, 216 ʿÏdgåh of Hansi, 209 ʿÏdgåh of Jalor, 218–20 ʿÏdgåh of Nagaur, 194, 196 ʿÏdgåh of Palwal, 210 ʿÏdgåh of RåprÈ, 217, 219 ʿÏdgåh of ShåpËr Jåt (in Delhi), 216 ʿIjl (Arab tribe), 26 Ikhtiyår al-dÈn Mu˙ammad KhaljÈ (Sultan), 25 Ikhtiyår al-dÈn Qaråqush see Qaråqush Khån Ikhtiyår Khån’s tomb (in Chunar), 361 Ïltutmish (Sultan), 15, 25–6, 31–3, 117, 140, 164–6, 182, 184, 190, 209–11, 213, 233, 237, 353, 355, 368, 371, 450, 603, 689, 693, 698 Ïltutmish’s tomb, 110–11 ʿImåd (A˙mad) b. Khån–i Khånån FarmulÈ, 75, 576–7 ʿImåd FarmulÈ (Shaikh), 75–7 Imåmzåda A˙mad (in Isfahan), 343 ʿImårat-i BådgÈr (in Bayana fort) (F.33) see Bayana edifices ʿImårat-i BådgÈr (in Fathpur Sikri), 5, 89, 461, 484 ʿImårat-i Jahån namå (in Tughluqabad), 450, 482 ʿImårat-i Jahån namå (north of Delhi), 59 India, Indian, in most pages Indigo, 3, 101, 303, 372, 418, 506 Iqbål Khån, 49, 51–3, 237, 553 Iqbål Khån MallË, 49, 217 Ïraj (legendary king of Iran), 14 Iraq, 201, 490, 560, 624 Iråq (region in Iran), 14 Iran, 14–16, 26, 35, 87, 98, 165, 174–6, 195, 197, 201–4, 207–9, 233, 275, 322, 334, 340, 344–5, 348, 365–6, 370, 414, 434, 436, 448,

450, 456, 458, 460, 462, 466, 482–3, 496, 533–5, 566, 574, 590, 656, 693, 698 Iranian, 69, 177, 181, 199–200, 203, 206–7, 209, 213, 345, 367–8, 444, 458, 460, 534, 574 Irving, R. G., 330 ʿIså Khån LodÈ, 73, 494–5 ʿIså Khån NiyåzÈ, 91 ʿIså Khån’s mosque and tomb (in Delhi), 336 Ïsanpur Wåv (in Ahmadabad), 376 Isfahan, 98, 165, 203–7, 209, 212, 340–7, 456, 458, 655 Is˙åq MaghribÈ (Khwåja), 98 Islåm (IslÈm) Shåh SËrÈ (Delhi Sultan), 12, 18, 90–2, 94–7, 108, 336, 594 Islåmåbåd (fort of Garh), 18, 580 IsmåʿÈl (Safavid Shah of Iran), 341–2 IsmåʿÈlÈ Shi’ites, 374 I߆akhrÈ, AbË Is˙åq IbråhÈm, 27, 36 Itåwa, 29, 493–5 Iʿtimåd al-daula GhÈyath Beg TihrånÈ, 154, 361, 364, 699 Iyer, T., 105 ʿIzz al-dÈn Balban KashlË Khån, 34 ʿIzz al-dÈn BanatånÈ (Malik), 45 ʿIzz al-dÈn ZubairÈ (Imåm), 45 Jabal al-Ra˙mah (near Mecca), 199 Jabal-i Sang, 356 Jachchaw kÈ BåʾolÈ (in Hindaun), 375, 391–3, 635, 636 Jackson, K. A., 287 Jafarabad, 200 Jaʿfar b. Mu˙ammad JaʿfarÈ, 202 Jahån (Khwåja), 47, 61 JahångÈr (Mughal Emperor), 37, 57, 99–101, 182, 299, 361, 364, 391, 411, 413, 461, 482, 516, 553, 598, 688, 699 JahångÈrÈ Palace (in Agra fort), 535 JahångÈr’s tomb (in Lahore), 361, 688 Jahån namå palace see ʿImårat-i Jahån namå Jahånpanåh (palace in Delhi), 59, 350, 535 Jahån PÈr’s tomb see ChatrÈ B.23 Jahånshåh Åq QËyËnlË (Shah of Iran), 341 Jahåz KotÈ (in Hisar), 236 Jahåz Ma˙al (in Delhi), 673 Jain, Jains, 163, 221, 233, 244, 353, 430, 630, 643 Jain-Neubauer, J., 374 Jaipur, 84, 98, 157, 593 Jaisalmer, 98, 335 Jalål al-dÈn FÈrËz Shåh KhaljÈ (Sultan), 11, 35, 38, 234 Jalål al-dÈn Mu˙ammad BalkhÈ see RËmÈ Jalål al-dÈn WalwålajÈ (Qå∂È), 36 JalålÈ town, 6, 495 Jalål Khån FåruqÈ, 593 Jalål Khån JalwånÈ, 72 Jalål Khån of MÈwåt, 72

729

INDEX

Jålandar (Jalandar), 63 JalÈs Få†ima, 600 JalÈsar, 28–30, 73 Jalor, 195, 218–21, 611 JalwånÈ, JalwånÈs (clan), 71–4, 139 Jamåʿat khåna (mosque in Delhi), 279, 285 Jamål al-dÈn HånsawÈ (Sufi Shaikh), 72 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Agra, 290 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Ahmadabad, 181 Jåmiʿ Mosque of A˙mad Shåh (Ahmadabad’s old Jåmiʿ), 181 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Ajmer, 290 Jåmiʿ Mosque of ʿAqdå, 344–5 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Badaon, 166 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Bayana fort (F.15a) see Bayana edifices Jåmiʿ Mosque of Calicut, 365 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Delhi, 317, 319–20 Jåmiʿ Mosque of FÈrËzåbåd (in Delhi), 279 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Ghazna, 167, 179 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Hansi, 180–1 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Isfahan, 165, 204, 340–1, 345, 655 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Jalor see TËpkhåna Masjid Jåmiʿ Mosque of Kayalpatnam (Jåmiʿ al-KabÈr), 40 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Khanwa, 505, 512–14 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Mandu, 183 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Mirzå MaʿßËm (in Patna), 290 Jåmiʿ Mosque of NåʾÈn, 364–6 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Nagar-SikrÈ (Pathån Masjid), 521–5 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Qåʾin (in Birjand), 341 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Siddhapur, 238 Jåmiʿ Mosque of Sikandra (S.1) see Bayana edifices Jåmiʿ Mosque of Tughluqabad, 450 JamshÈd (legendary king of Iran), 14, 574, 583, 600 Jarrett, H. S., 28, 101 Jåts (Hindu clan), 30, 100, 118, 138, 141–3, 145, 147, 149, 153–5, 242, 329, 381, 394–5, 418, 489; see also Bayana edifices Jauhar (Fatimid Sultan of Egypt), 200 Jaunpur, 2, 11, 52, 60–1, 67, 69–70, 73, 77, 352, 570, 710 Jauwår see Chandwar Jethabhai MuljÈ’s Waw (near Ahmadabad), 330 JhåʾÈn, 35 Jhålar BåʾolÈ (B.45) see Bayana edifices Jiji Båbå Wåv (in Ahmadabad), 376 Jodh Bai Palace (Shabistån-i Iqbål in Fathpur Sikri), 487, 535 Jodhpur, 72 Julfå (neighbourhood in Isfahan), 456–8 Jumna River, 19, 30, 62–3, 73, 78, 82, 157–8, 371, 482, 704

JËnå (Malik, later Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq), 43; see also Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq Junaid Khån b. A˙mad Khån, 97 Juneja, M., 462 JurfådiqånÈ, AbË Sharaf Nåßi˙ b. Ûafar, 16, 19, 167, 179 Kaʿba, 555, 595 Kabul, 75 KåfËr (of the haramserai, Malik), 42 KåfËr (the wine-bearer), 44 KåfËr Hizår DÈnårÈ (Malik), 38–40, 42, 217, 351 KåfËr Muhr Dår (Malik), 40–3, 184, 217, 227, 233, 385, 391, 547–51 KåfËrÈ, MughÈth al-dÈn (Malik), 41–2 Kaiqubåd KhaljÈ (Delhi Sultan), 11, 603 Kalån or KålÈ Masjid (in Delhi), 241 Kålanjar, KalÈnjar, 33, 90 KalÈ Khån see Gulåb Khån KålpÈ, 60 KålpËr, 62 Kaman, 10, 23, 25–8, 35, 45, 167–9, 174, 181, 183–5, 187, 191–3, 273, 337, 353, 365–7, 372, 538–9 Kåmrån (MÈrza), 88 Kånkariyå Talåo (in Ahmadabad), 391 KanËj see QanËj Kapatwanj, Kapadvanj, 330, 389 Karapetian, K., 456–8 Karauli, 28, 715 Karbalå (in Iraq), 490, 506, 624 Karbalå Graveyard (in Khanwa), 490, 506, 624–7, 641, 650–1 Karbalå Masjid (in Khanwa), 490, 506–10, 512, 624, 626–7, 641, 650, 668, 670–1 KarÈm al-dÈn BukhårÈ (Qå∂È), 85, 586–7, 671 KarÈm al-Mulk Au˙adÈ, 53–5, 610 Kash (Kish), 27 Kåshån, 448 Kashgar, 27 Kashkathån, 27 Katwaria Sarai (neighbourhood in Delhi), 210 Kaul, S., 183 Kåva the Blacksmith, 14 Kayalpatnam, 40, 534 Kaykhusrau (legendary king of Iran), 581 Kazipara see Qå∂Èpara Kerala, 365 Khair al-dÈn (Malik), 65, 556–7 Khair al-dÈn Tu˙fa (Malik), 59–60 Khajuraho, 338–9 KhålÈ Masjid see Dare Masjid Khalj, KhaljÈ, KhaljÈs (dynasty, period, clan), 25, 35–6, 38, 40, 43, 104, 216–18, 220–1, 226, 229, 238, 273, 285, 328, 391, 408, 416, 517, 543, 551 Khan, A. A., 183, 303

730 BAYANA Khan, F. A., 116 Khan, I. A., 3, 101, 303, 461, 591, 702 Khan, Syud (Sayyid) Ahmad, 11, 59, 237, 336, 651 Khånaqåh of Chahår Qu†b (in Hansi), 72, 180 Khånaqåh of Ma˙bËb Sub˙ånÈ (in Bidar), 452, 455 Khånaqåh of Shåh Abu’l-Fai∂ (in Bidar), 452–3 Khånaqåh of Shåh ʿAlÈ Óusain (in Bidar), 452 Khånaqåh of Shåh WalÈ’ullåh (in Bidar), 452–4 Khånaqåh of Shaikh Mu˙È al-dÈn QådirÈ (in Bidar), 452 Khånaqåh of Shaikh Saʿd’ullåh (of Bayana), 594–6 Khanbaliq, 1 KhåndÈs (or Khåndesh), 98, 597 Khån-i Khånån’s BåʾolÈ (F.4) in the fort see Bayana edifices Khån-i Khånån (Akbar’s Vizier), 98, 100 Khån-i Khånån FarmulÈ, Mu˙ammad, 73–6, 145, 300, 397, 494–5, 574–8, 609 Khån-i Khånån FarmulÈ’s tomb, 689–90 Khån-i Jahån LodÈ, 67 KhånpËr Ma˙al (in Dholpur), 491 Khån Sarovar Wav (in Pattan, Gujarat), 330 Khånwå (Khanwa), 29–30, 84, 490, 505–7, 510–14, 530–1, 613, 624–7, 638, 641–2, 645, 650, 654, 668–71, 686 KhårÈ (neighbourhood in Hindaun), 598 Khatu (Bari Khatu), 25–6, 98, 164, 175, 190, 353–4, 524 KhatËnamar, KhatËnmar, 29–30 Khi∂r b. Daryå Khån (Khwåja), 91, 591–2 Khi∂r Khån Sayyid (Sultan of Delhi), 50–1, 53, 55, 64 KhirkÈ (neighbourhood in Delhi), 241, 651 KhirkÈ Masjid (in Delhi), 241 Khudåbåd, 338 Khuråsån, 4, 15–16, 20, 22, 26–7, 31, 35, 40, 49, 67–9, 87–8, 174–5, 233, 287, 561, 597, 603, 606, 672 KhuråsånÈ, KhËrasånÈs, 15, 22, 40, 67, 69, 179, 560 Khusrau, Khusraw (Sasanian emperor), 346–7, 495, 543 Khusrau Khån (Pretender), 43, 218–19 Khuzestan, 181 Khwaja ʿAlÈ Takiya, 598 Khwåja Jahån (Jaunpur Sultan), 47, 61 Khwand MÈr, 16, 51, 200–1 Khwårazmshåhs, 16 Khwåß Khån, 77, 91 Kiani, M. Y., 209 KÈlËgharÈ, 11, 38, 156, 535 Kimball, F., 449 King, D., A., 421 Kirat Sagar (in Chanderi), 440–1

Kirmån, 341, 656 Knatchbull, W., 495 Knights of St John, 346 Koch, E., 158 Koel, Koelo, Koil see Kuwil Konya, 356 Kotla FÈrËz Shåh (in Delhi), 141, 279, 450 Krishna (Hindu Diety), 7 Krishna Menon, A. G., 438 KËfa, 26 KËh-i Jinnat (in Khatu), 524 KËl see Kuwil KulåpËr, 47 Kumar, S., 183 Kumaun, 91 Kundånanda, son of Råma Haranarayana, 395 Kuraishi, M. H., 141 Kush, 27 Kushan, 27 KËshk-i Shikår, 495 Kuwar Pål, KË Pål (Raja), 22 Kuwil (KËl, Koel, Koelo, Koil), 6–7, 16, 28 Ladnun, 376 LådË Saråi (neighbourhood in Delhi), 68 Lahore, 16, 63, 68, 320, 361, 492 LakhnautÈ, 25, 34, 47 Lakshmi Narayan Temple see mosque at Palwal Lal Kot (Laʿl KËt), 115, 117 Laʿl Masjid (in Tijara), 277 Lambton, A. K. S., 370 LashkarÈ Båzår (Lashkargåh), 203, 206–7 Låt (Vishnu Varddhana Låt, F.15c) see Bayana edifices Låt ki Masjid (in Hisar), 140–1, 182–3, 221 Lisån al-ar∂ (old namåzgåh of Isfahan), 203–7, 209, 211–12 LodÈ, LodÈs (dynasty, clan, period), 5, 52, 74–5, 77, 80, 82, 88, 103, 111, 115, 118–20, 145–7, 153, 157, 159, 184, 250, 264, 267, 242, 275, 277, 279, 287, 290, 294, 298, 303, 312, 317, 402, 407, 411, 462–3, 476, 478–9, 491–4, 509, 532, 612, 619, 627, 635, 639, 650–1, 678, 684–5, 688–90, 694, 698 LodÈ Park (in Delhi), 272, 277 Lucknow, 69 Lutyens, E., 330–1 Maʿbar (modern Tamil Nadu), 39 Mackay, E. J. H., 415 Mådhava, 376 Madhya Pradesh, 438 Madura, 39 Maghåk-i ʿA††årÈ (in Bukhara), 693 Måh, 26 MahaulÈ, 29–30 Mahåwan, 28–9, 31, 33, 60, 85, 586–7, 671

731

INDEX

Mahdi see ʿAlåʾÈ b. Óasan (Shaikh) Ma˙mËd Baigara (Gujarat Sultan), 84 Ma˙mËd b. Ïltutmish (Nåßir al-dÈn), 209, 353, 368, 450 Ma˙mËd Óasan (Malik), 62–3, 68 Ma˙mËd KhaljÈ (Målwa Sultan), 66–7, 71 Ma˙mËd Khån LodÈ, 81 Ma˙mËd of Ghazna (Ghaznavid Sultan), 16, 19–20, 22, 74, 193, 179, 203, 206, 344–5 Ma˙mËd Qattål, 26 Ma˙mËd Shåh Tughluq (Delhi Sultan), 49–53 Makan (Shaikh-zåda), 17 Makli Hill (Pakistan), 338 Maldev (Raja), 72, 82, 89 Malik al-Tujjår see ÓamÈd al-dÈn MultånÈ MallË (MalË) see Iqbål Khån Målwa, 35, 52, 57, 66, 67, 438 Mamedov, M., 450 Manakdev (Raja), 77 Mandasur Fort, 84 Mandåwar (Mandaråyl), 29, 77 Mandor, 355, 438 Mandu, 67, 121, 183, 482 MandË Afghån, 43, 551–2 Maner, 361 Mangho PÈr (in Pakistan), 338 Mångrol, 376 MangËtala, 29–30 Al-ManßËra, 416 ManßËr b. NË˙ (Emir of Bukhara), 198–9 Margh (mountain), 14 Mårhara, 73 Marj Fort, 26 Marshak, B. I., 354 Marshall, J., 59, 163–4, 183, 241, 350, 415, 431, 539 Martinelli, A., 458 Maryam ZamånÈ, 100 Maryam ZamånÈ’s Bå’olÈ in Barambad (BR.5) 99, 103, 376, 411–14, 477–8, 597–8 Maryam ZamånÈ’s Tomb (in Sikandra of Agra), 361 Mårwår, 82 Mashhad, 207–9 Masjid-i ʿAlÈ (in Isfahan), 98 Masjid-i ʿAlÈ QulÈ Åqå (in Isfahan), 341 Masjid-i ÓakÈm (in Isfahan), 341 Masjid-i Mu˙ammd Jaʿfar (in Isfahan), 341 Masjid-i Mußallå (in Yazd), 202–3, 205, 207 Masjid-i Sayyid (in Isfahan), 341 MasʿËd (Ghaznavid Sultan), 200, 203, 206 Mathura, 19, 28–30, 33, 73–4, 78, 167 Maulånå Jalål al-dÈn see RËmÈ Mazår-i ShahÈdån (in Nagaur), 357, 644 Mazar-i Sharif, 597 Mecca, 44, 92, 100, 164, 182, 199, 421, 600, 634 Medea, 14

Mehrauli (neighbourhood in Delhi), 68, 355, 534, 673 Meister, M. W., 164, 167, 353 Melikian-Chirvani, S. A., 176 Mensing, J. P., 542 Merv (Marv), 449–51, 565 Meshkati, N., 341, 343 Mesopotamia, 14 Michell, G., 3, 13, 111, 158, 183, 419, 485 Middle East, 3, 105, 115, 126, 182, 234, 303, 340, 368, 372, 417, 436, 444, 458, 462, 689 Minarets of Ghazna, 287 Minhåj-i Siråj JauzjånÈ, 15, 18, 20–3, 25, 28, 31–4, 105, 213 Minuwi, M., 495 MÈr ʿAlÈ TabrÈzÈ, 87 MÈrån (Sayyid), 96–7 MÈr Buzurg b. Mu˙ammad MaʿßËm NåmÈ, 304, 597 MÈr Få∂il b. Åqå Kamålå, 600 MÈr Jamål al-dÈn Óusain b. Fakhr al-dÈn Óasan InjË ShÈråzÈ, 352 MÈrtha Region, 82, 495 MÈrut (Meerut) Region, 82 MithqålpaḷḷÈ (in Calicut), 365 Miura, T., 104 Miyån ʿAbd’ullåh NiyåzÈ (Shaikh), 92, 94–5 Miyån Bahuwa LauhånÈ, 95–6, 97 Miyån du Åb see Du Åb MÈwåt, 55, 60, 62–3, 66, 72, 82, 84, 91, 277, 529, 532, 534 MÈwåtiyun kÈ Masjid (in SikrÈ), 529–32 Modhera, 389 Mohenjo Daro, 415 MohËr, 334 Mongol, Mongols, 40, 88, 216, 233, 533 Morocco, Moroccan, 195, 233, 396 Mor Tålåb, 5, 115, 119–21, 162, 376–7 Moses, 583 Mosque of ʿAlåʾ al-dÈn (in Konya), 365 Mosque at Palwal, 166, 210, 224–5 Mosque of Damascus (Great Mosque), 177, 180 Mosque of MakhßËß Khan (in Hajipur), 290 Mosque of NiΩåm Khån (S.5 in Sikandra), 82, 103, 284–8, 290, 581 Moth kÈ Masjid (in Delhi), 277, 287 Moynihan, E. B., 158 Muʿåwiyah (Umayyad Caliph), 179 Muʾayid al-Mulk, 11 Mubårakåbåd, 63 Mubårak Khån, 17 Mubårak Khån Au˙adÈ, 55–7, 63, 64, 557 Mubårak Shåh KhaljÈ (Delhi Sultan), 26, 40–3, 80, 104, 217–20, 226–7, 547–8, 551 Mubårak Shåh KhaljÈ’s tomb (in Delhi), 474 Mubårak Shåh Sayyid (Delhi Sultan), 48, 56–8, 60–4, 68, 336, 580, 603

732 BAYANA Mubåriz (Malik), 60–1 MufÈd Khån ʿAqdåʾÈ, 70, 322, 556 MuftÈpara Ma˙alla (in Bayana), 107–8, 250 Mughal, Mughals, 2, 9–11, 13, 18, 29–30, 57, 67, 74–5, 82–4, 87–90, 93, 96–8, 100–1, 103, 108, 111, 119, 125, 129, 132, 146–7, 149, 153–8, 169, 171, 182, 195, 241, 250–1, 268, 277, 280, 290–2, 294, 296, 298–9, 317, 320, 330–1, 336, 348, 355–6, 360–1, 364–5, 368, 373, 381, 394, 396, 402, 407, 411, 413–14, 417–18, 421, 430, 450–1, 458, 461–4, 467, 472, 476, 478–80, 482–5, 487, 490–1, 497, 500–1, 505, 509, 515, 529, 532–3, 535–6, 590–1, 600–1, 612, 619, 627, 635, 650–1, 656–7, 671–3, 675, 677–8, 682, 685–8, 690, 694, 696, 698–9, 701–2, 704 MughÈth al-dÈn (Qå∂È), ʿAbd al-Malik b. AbÈ Bakr, 38–40, 104, 541, 543 MughÈth al-dÈn KåfËrÈ see KåfËrÈ, MughÈth aldÈn Mu˙åfiΩ Khån’s Mosque (in Ahmadabad), 278 Mu˙ammad (the Prophet), 44, 87, 95, 174, 320, 520, 542, 555, 572, 575, 583–4, 591–3, 599–600, 606–7 Muhammad Ali (Maulana), 561, 569, 584, 589–90, 608, 618 Mu˙ammad AmÈn DÈwåna, 100 Mu˙ammad Bakhtiyår KhaljÈ, 25 Mu˙ammad BakhshÈ, 89, 461, 479, 482, 704 Mu˙ammad b. ʿAbd al-Jabbår al-ʿUtbÈ see ʿUtbÈ Mu˙ammad b. FÈrËz Shåh (Sultan), 48–9 Mu˙ammad b. Jaʿfar b. JarÈr al-ÊabarÈ see ÊabarÈ Mu˙ammad b. Såm (Ghurid Sultan), 15–17, 20, 22, 25–6, 31, 33, 166, 181, 209, 687 Mu˙ammad b. Sunqur (Sanqar), 39, 545–6 Mu˙ammad b. Tughluq (Delhi Sultan), 25–6, 32, 43, 46–8, 59, 110–11, 180, 237, 349–51, 368, 416, 551–2 Mu˙ammad FarmulÈ (Shaikh), 75, 576–8 Mu˙ammad ÓåjÈ, 541 Mu˙ammad HirawÈ (AmÈr), 44 Mu˙ammad Óusain Khalaf TabrÈzÈ, 352, 436 Mu˙ammad JaunpËrÈ (Sayyid), 92 Mu˙ammad Khån (PÈr), 98, 100 Mu˙ammad Khån Au˙adÈ, 50, 57–63, 65–7, 74–5, 100, 102, 374, 529, 558–9, 561, 566, 569–71, 610 Mu˙ammad Khån FarmulÈ see Khån-i Khånån FarmulÈ Mu˙ammad MaʿßËm NåmÈ (MÈr), 98, 100, 304, 307, 596–8, 621 Mu˙ammad Pådishåh (known as Shåd), 352, 436 Mu˙ammad Qåsim b. HindË Shåh see Firishta Mu˙ammad Shåh ʿAdlÈ (Delhi Sultan), 90, 97 Mu˙ammad Shåh, ʿAlå al-dÈn see ʿAlå al-dÈn KhaljÈ

Mu˙ammad Shåh Sayyid (Delhi Sultan), 64, 67–8, 118, 336 Mu˙ammad Shåh SharqÈ (Jaunpur Sultan), 70, 118, 322, 570–1 Mu˙ammad Zamån b. BadÈʿ al-Zamån, 88 MuhtË (TimËr or Mu˙taf), 55, 554–5 Muʿin, M., 352, 436 MuʿÈn Khån Au˙adÈ, 50–1, 53–4, 57, 564, 569, 610 Muʿizz al-dÈn (Shaikh), 45 Muʿizz al-dÈn (Sikandar LodÈ’s courtier), 77 Muʿizz al-dÈn Bahråm b. Ïltutmish (Delhi Sultan), 33, 603 Muʿizz al-dÈn Kaiqubåd (Delhi Sultan), 11, 603 Mujåhid Khån (father of NiΩåm Khån), 18, 80–2, 103, 285, 294, 404, 580–4 Mujåhid Khån (of Nagaur), 50 MujÈr b. AbÈ Rajå (Malik), 44–8 Mukhånå, 376 Mukhtår Khån (Malik), 397, 575–6 Multan, Multån, 16, 25, 33–4, 50–1, 62–3, 416 Muʾmin the Poet, 81 Mumtåz Ma˙al, 688 Munirka (neighbourhood in Delhi), 210 Munjpur, 238 Muqbil, Muqbil KhånÈ (Malik), 59–60 Muradov, R., 450 Mußallå of Åzar Shahr, 209 Mußallå of Cairo, 199–200 Mußallå of Isfahan (Masjid-i Mußallå), 203–4, 209 Mußallå of Mashhad, 208–9 Mußallå of NåʾÈn, 209 Mußallå of Sabzewar, 209 Mußallå of Shiraz, 200–1 Mußallå of Êuruq, 207–9 Mußallå of ʿUrana (near Mecca), 199 Mußallå of Yazd, 202–3 MushkÈn Qalam, 37 Mushtåq, Khairat ʿAli Khan, 492 Muslim (Imam), 542, 572 Mu†åm Khån b. Mujåhid Khån, 404, 584 MuΩaffar b. Dåya (AmÈr), 44–4 NabÈ Qå∂È Mosque (in Nagaur), 40 Nadbai, 650, 687–8, 690–1, 694 Nafisi, S., 200 Nagar (near SikrÈ), 223, 490, 515, 518–19, 521–2, 524–6, 529, 531, 543 Nagaur, 16, 40, 50, 89, 98, 129, 194, 196, 333, 357, 375–6, 611, 644–5 NagÈna Masjid (in Agra), 320 Naharwåla (region in Gujarat), 21 Nahåwand (town in Iran), 26 NåʾÈk (or Nayak), 78 Najaf, 201 Nalanda, 431

733

INDEX

Namåzgåh of Åmul, 200 Namåzgåh of Bukhara (of Arsalån Khån), 198–9 Namåzgåh of Bukhara (of ManßËr b. NËh), 198–9 Namåzgåh of Bukhara (of Qutayba), 197 Namåzgåh of Bust, 203, 206, 209, 211–12 Namåzgåh of Delhi, 210–11 Namåzgåh of Isfahan see Lisån al-ar∂ Naqvi, S. A. A., 166, 209, 353 Naraina, 98, 347, 375 Narmadå, 10 Nasir, A. H., 334 Nåßir al-dÈn Ma˙mËd see Ma˙mËd b. Ïltutmish Nåßir al-dÈn Ma˙mËd (Delhi Sultan), 15, 33 Nåßir al-dÈn Qabåcha (Sultan of Sind), 25 Nasr, S. H., 370 Naßr’ullåh (Shaikh), 92 Nath, R., 438, 469 Nibhi, 490 NÈknåm, 575–7 Niʿmat’ullah (Sayyid), 80 NirshakhÈ, 26, 197 NiyåzÈ (Afghan clan), 91, 97 NiΩåm al-dÈn A˙mad (Khwåja), 156 NiΩåm al-dÈn Auliyå (Sufi Shaikh), 38, 279, 351, 368 NiΩåm al-Mulk sanctuary (in Isfahan), 204 NiΩåmÈ (NiΩåm al-dÈn AbË Mu˙ammad GanjawÈ), 347 NiΩåm Khån (later Sikandar LodÈ), 493 NiΩåm Khån b. Mujåhid Khån, 80–2, 84, 294, 299, 300, 312, 326, 328, 404–5, 407, 582–4 NiΩåm Khån’s Mosque see Mosque of NiΩåm Khån Nohåra, 8, 549; see also Ukhå Masjid NËr Jahån, 361, 364, 688 Nusayr b. Thaur, 26 Nußrat al-dÈn TåʾisÈ (Malik), 33 Nußrat Khån see Badr al-dÈn Sunqur Nußrat Shåh Tughluq (Delhi Sultan), 49 O’Kane, B., 215 Old Ku≥da (reservoir at Kapadvanj), 389 Page, J. A., 26, 59, 111, 115, 140–1, 166, 182, 211, 216, 234, 238, 338, 347, 350, 433–4, 450, 629, 689, 693 Pakistan, 338, 533 Palwal, 166, 210, 224–5 PalwalÈ Masjid (or RangrazËn kÈ Masjid of Hindaun), 65, 556–7 Pandit, B. I., 23 Pandua, 183, 366–7 PångarË, 334 PånÈpat, 63, 68, 74 Parihar, S., 462 Pathån (Afghan tribe), 521

Pathån Masjid, Jåmiʿ Mosque of Nagar-SikrÈ, 521–5 Pathayåmpuri, 18; see also √rÈpathå Patna, 91, 290 Pattan (town in Gujarat), 330 Persia, 14, 59, 89, 201, 233 Persian, Persians (arts, people, places), 15, 23, 26–7, 42, 87, 165–6, 174, 176, 197–9, 201, 203, 206, 211, 241, 258, 299, 330, 338, 340, 345–6, 350, 352, 364, 366, 474, 479, 487, 492, 495, 533, 539, 543, 548, 551, 581, 592, 606, 685, 699 Pessyan, H. A. S., 341 Petherbridge, G. T., 419 Petruccioli, A., 317, 478 Pinder-Wilson, R., 87 PÈr-i Zhinda PËsh (in Turbat-i Jåm), 341 PÈr Mastån Masjid see PaharÈ Masjid PÈr Mu߆afå’s tomb see Canopy B.7 Platts, J. T., 102, 201 Pope, A. U., 165, 287, 341, 365, 448–9 Porter, V., 334 Prahlåd Kun∂, 586–7, 666; see also Jachchaw kÈ BåʾolÈ Pribytkova, A. M., 656 Pugachenkova, G. A., 176, 450, 693 Punjab, 34, 55, 97, 492 Puråna Masjid (in Nagar-Sikri), 525–9, 531 PËråna Qilʿa (in Delhi), 483 PËya (site of later Agra), 79 QabËla, KabÈr (Malik), 46 Qadam RasËl (in Delhi), 364 Qadam SharÈf (in Delhi), 346–7 Qå∂È ki Rau∂a (in Pattan, Gujarat), 33 Qå∂Èpara (Kazipara) Ma˙alla (in Bayana), 39, 104, 107–8, 221–2, 239 Qådiriya (Sufi sect), 452 Qådir Khån (Delhi’s governor of KålpÈ), 60 Qå∂Èyun (Qå∂Èpara) kÈ Masjid, 39, 223, 542 Qalʿa Rai PithËrå (in Delhi), 68, 115, 117 QanåtÈ Masjid (in Khatu), 542 Qandahår (town in Afghanistan), 20; see also AbË Bakr Qandahår QanËj, KanËj, 16, 19, 33, 74, 167 Qarå Beg (Malik), 38 Qaråqush Khån (Malik), 33 QaßåʾÈ Ma˙alla (in Bayana), 280 Qåsim b. ʿUthmån (Sayyid), 598 Quilon, 334 Quraish clan, 44 Qutaiba b. Muslim, 197 Qu†b al-dÈn Aibak (Delhi Sultan), 16, 20–3, 25–6, 28, 117, 164, 166, 210, 213, 224–5, 534 Qu†b al-dÈn Bakhtiyår KåkÈ (Sufi Shaikh), 210 Qu†b al-dÈn Munawwar HånsawÈ (Sufi Shaikh), 180

734 BAYANA Qu†b-i ʿÅlam’s shrine in Gujarat, 111 Qu†b Khån, 74–5 Qu†b Minår (in Delhi), 26, 115, 219–20, 226, 287, 534 Qutluq Khån, 34 Quwwat al-Islåm Mosque (in Delhi), 68, 110, 115, 117, 140, 163–7, 175, 182, 187, 190, 211, 216, 233, 338, 365, 433, 434, 534, 611 Ra∂iya (Delhi Sultan), 33 Raemall son of Raja Maldev, 82 RafÈʿ al-dÈn Mu˙ammad (Qå∂È), 104 RafÈʿ al-dÈn ÍafawÈ (Sayyid), 82 Rahim, S. A., 438 Råipat, 539 Råi PithËrå, 22; see also Qalʿa Rai PithËrå Rajasthan, 6, 15, 28, 37, 66, 72, 89–90, 98, 128–9, 330, 336, 353, 355, 369, 371, 574, 376, 388–9, 416, 418, 442, 461, 463, 465, 485, 525, 535, 611, 684 RajhËhar, 29–30 Råj Ma˙al (Governor’s mansion in Chanderi), 438 Råjpat, 32 Råj Path (in New Dehi), 332 Rajput, Rajputs, 355, 485, 487 Rajputana, 688; see also Rajasthan Råmacandra Kaulåcåra, 256 Randhir Singh (Jåt Raja), 145 RangrazËn ki Masjid see PalwalÈ Masjid RånÈ SiparÈ’s Mosque (in Ahmadabad), 278 RånÈ Wåv (in A≥ahilavåda Pa††ana), 376 Ranking, G. S. A., 179 RanthanbËr, 39, 80, 89, 91 RånË (or RånËn), 64 RåprÈ (or ReparÈ, RauprÈ), 29–30, 216–20, 493 RashÈd al-dÈn, 345 Rashtrapati Bhavan (in New Delhi), 331 Raverty, H. G., 16, 20, 31 Razawi, M., 26–7, 198 Rea, A., 105 Red Fort (in Agra), 320, 414, 484, 535, 694 Reuther, O., 449, 693 Reynolds, J., 16, 167, 180 Rezavi, S. A. N., 303, 506 Richardson, M., 330 Rizq’ullåh MushtåqÈ, (Shaikh), 89 Rizvi, S. A. A., 4, 487 Royal Institute of British Architects, 330 RËdåba (legendary Persian princess), 346 Ruknabad, 200 RËmÈ, Jalål al-dÈn (Maulånå), 42 RËpmatÈ’s Pavilions (in Mandu), 482 Saʿådat Khån, 49 Sadholi Wåv (in Mångrol), 376 SaʿdÈ, Mußli˙ al-dÈn (Shaikh), 201

Íådiq Mu˙ammad Khån, 596 Íadr al-dÈn (Shaikh), 574 Íadr al-dÈn ʿÅrif, Sayyid (Qå∂È), 36 Saʿd’ullåh (Shaikh), 594–6 Safavid (dynasty), 89, 203, 205–6, 341–3, 414, 462 Íafdar Khån, 77 Íafdar Khån JalwånÈ, 74 SaʿÈd FarmulÈ (Shaikh), 75 Saif al-daula Óusain, 25 Sakiyat, 73 Íalå˙ al-dÈn DarwÈsh’s tomb (in Delhi), 651 SalÈm ChishtÈ (Shaikh), 92, 516, 546 SalÈm ChishtÈ (Shaikh) Mosque (Fathpur Sikri), 5, 317–18 SalÈm MÈrzå, 516; see also JahångÈr SalÈm Shåh see Islåm Shåh SËrÈ Salm (legendary Iranian prince), 14 SålËra (region), 82 Såmåna (region), 82 Samanid (dynasty), 26–7, 199 Samarqand, 27, 656 Såmarra, 204 SamatÈn (or SÈmtan), 198 Sambhar (or Sanbah, Sanbhal), 77, 593 SamrË, 43, 551–2 SanåʾÈ GhaznawÈ, 42 Sanjar (Seljuq Sultan), 199, 656 Sanåm, 34 Sanchi, 431 Sanga (Rånå), 82, 84, 89, 490, 505, 515, 624 √antipur, √antipura, 18 SarayjÈ (or Saraiji, SarråjÈ) Ma˙alla, 106–7, 280, 427 Sarda, H. B., 129, 353 Sarfaråz Khån, 95–6, 593 Sarheta, 55 Sarhind, Sihrind, 95, 492 √armå, S. R., 256 Sarmast Khån, 95–6 Sarwar al-Mulk, 63–4 Sasanian, Sasanians, 15, 26, 59, 346–7, 436, 448–9, 543, 583, 693 Sassaram, 336 Såt Pul (dam in Delhi), 236, 371, 651 Saurashtra, 20 Sawai Man Singh II (Maharaja), 157 Sayyid (dynasty, period, art), 53, 62, 67–8, 250, 279, 336, 462, 497, 603, 684, 689, 698 Sazåwul Khån, 96 Schefer, C., 27, 197–8 Schlumberger, D., 203, 206–7 Schoy, C., 420 Schroeder, E., 165, 287, 340, 656 Secretariat (of Delhi), 331–2 Seljuq, Seljuqs, 16, 27, 199, 205, 343, 365 Shabistån-i Iqbål (in Fathpur Sikri), 487, 535

735

INDEX

Shåhdarra (near Lahore), 361 ShåhÈ Masjid (in Khatu), 175, 353–5, 524 ShåhÈ Tålåb (in Dholpur), 491 Shåh Jaʿfar (of Mecca), 600 Shåh Jahån (Mughal emperor), 293, 317, 319–20, 462, 484, 491, 535, 598, 688 Shåhjahånåbåd, 319 Shåh Jahån’s palace (in Agra), 484 Shåh Najm al-Óaqq (tomb and mosque), 277, 279 Shåh Niʿmat’ullåh Rau∂a (in Hansi), 287 Shåh Phul see BahlËl (Shaikh) ShåhpËr Jåt (neighbourhood in Delhi), 216 Shaikh FarÈd’s tomb (in A≥ahilavåda Pa††ana), 238 Shaikh Jodh’s Masjid (in A≥ahilavåda Pa††ana), 238 Shakir, A. M., 542 Shams al-Auliyaʾ ÍiddÈqÈ, Au˙adÈ, 50–1, 69, 323, 561, 564, 569, 610 Shams al-daula Båbakr, 25 Shams al-Mulk (Malik), 63 ShamsÈ ʿÏdgåh see ʿÏdgåh of Badaon Shams-i Siråj ʿAfÈf, 6, 11, 19, 31, 46–8, 156, 180–1, 221, 450, 495 Shams Khån (Mujåhid Khån’s father), 82. 581 Shams Khån Au˙adÈ, 49–54, 57, 122, 610 Shams Khån NiyåzÈ, 91, 591–2 Shaqnån (or Shaghnån, Shaknån) (mountains), 14 Sharaf JalwånÈ (Sultan) see Ashraf Khån JalwånÈ Sharma, D. P., 10, 72, 74 Sharma, K. L., 121, 438 Sharma, Y. D., 483 SharqÈ (Sultanate), 2, 60–1, 63, 69, 71, 73, 572 Shihåb al-dÈn Abu’l ʿAbbas see Ibn Fa∂l’ullåh Shihåb al-dÈn A˙mad NÈshåpËrÈ, 98 Shi’ite, Shi’ites, 26, 51, 69, 92, 374, 490, 502, 506, 520, 607, 624 Shirgarh (fort in Dholpur), 491 ShÈrÈn (Sasanian empress), 346–7, 495 ShÈr Khån (Malik), 34–5 ShÈr Mandal (in Delhi), 483 ShÈr Shåh SËrÈ (Sultan), 72, 84, 88–91, 96, 336, 483, 491, 497, 592, 704 Shuʿaib, M. M., 166 Shujåʿ Khån, 96 ShËshtar, 181 SidhÈpål (Sidhi Påla), 64 Sihrind, Sirhind see Sarhind Sikandar b. Mu˙ammad ManjhË, 181 Sikandar b. Tåj al-Mulk Tu˙fa, 55 Sikandar LodÈ (Sultan), 1, 3, 17, 29, 72–7, 80, 119, 122, 125, 147, 154, 156–8, 160, 162, 239, 267, 279, 285, 312, 358, 361, 371, 397, 405, 417, 462, 490–7, 510, 575, 577–80, 584, 609, 611, 637, 651, 672

Sikandra (of Agra), 361, 371, 699 Sikandra (of Bayana), 75, 81–2, 89–90, 100, 102–3, 108, 111, 113, 115, 119–20, 122–3, 125, 133–4, 147, 149, 151, 155–62, 239, 241, 260, 266, 276, 279, 284–91, 293, 312–17, 326, 333–4, 348, 356–7, 360–3, 370, 372, 376–8, 405, 408–11, 462–3, 476–9, 488, 534, 537, 581, 603–4, 613, 632–4, 637, 639–40, 642–4, 646–8, 656, 660–2, 664–5, 681, 683–4, 688–90, 701–2, 704 Sikandra (of Bayana) edifices see Bayana edifices Sikri (SikrÈ, SÈkrÈ, village near Fathpur Sikri), 108, 490, 515–19, 522, 524–6, 529–32, 535, 543, 546 Silk Route, 27 Sims, E., 345 Sind, Sindh, 25, 34, 48, 51, 116, 334, 374, 416 SÈråf, 334, 416 SÈrÈ, 43, 49, 62, 117, 216–17, 371, 651 SirsatÈ (or Sirsa), 16, 22 Sistån, 36 Sivaramamurti, C., 433 Siwålik, 15, 28 SÈwankar-SÈwankarÈ, 29–30 Siyåwush (legendary king of Iran), 581 Skelton, R., 702 Smith, E. W., 11, 317, 487 Smith, M. B., 368 Smyrna, 346 Sohna, 277, 279 Solomon (Biblical King), 59, 548, 551, 592 Somnath, 16, 344 Sotoodeh, M., 14 South Asia, 12, 368 Southeast Asia, 368 √rÈpathå, √rÈpathågarh (pre-Islamic name of Bayana Fort), 18–19, 576–7 Staatliche Museum (in Berlin), 693 Stapleton Collection, 93 Stewart, M. L., 431 Stratton (Major), 687–8 Sulaimån b. Khån-i Khånån FarmulÈ, 76–7 Sul†ån al-TårikÈn see ÓamÈd al-dÈn ChishtÈ Sul†ån GhårÈ tomb (in Delhi), 166, 190, 209, 353, 368, 434, 450, 698 Sul†ånkËt, 22, 27, 33, 100, 104–5, 112, 192, 213, 223, 250 Sunni, Sunnis, 51, 490, 506 SËrÈ (dynasty, period, art), 91–2, 97, 336, 483, 592–4 SËrya (or Råma) Ku≥da (reservoir in Modhera), 389 Susa (Shusha), 181 Syria, 174, 179 Tabarhanda, 34 ÊabarÈ, 26

736 BAYANA TabrÈz, 209, 345–6 Tahangar, Tahangarh, Tahankar (Bayana Fort), 9, 16–22, 27, 31–2, 45, 52, 109, 113, 115–16, 553 Tåj al-dÈn Mu˙ammad BadakhshånÈ, 69, 606–7 Tåj al-Mulk Tu˙fa (Malik), 53, 55 Tåj BåurÈ (BåʾolÈ in Bijapur), 389 Tåj Ma˙al, 688 Tajikistan, 606 TåjpËra, 7 TålakÈnÈ Masjid (B.21) see Bayana edifices TaletÈ Darwåza (F.1) see Bayana edifices TaletÈ Masjid (F.2) see Bayana edifices Tamar (Taman) Mu˙ammad Afghån BaghlÈ, 43, 551–2 Tamerlane, 2; see also TÈmËr Tamil Nadu, 78 Tanjore, 443 Tantpur, 490 Tåtår Khån FarmulÈ, 75 Tåtår Khån LodÈ, 88 Tauda BhÈm, 29–30 Tehran, 14 Tepe Óißår Palace see Dåmghån Palace Thåkur Amrå Singh, 66, 558–9 Tijara, 55, 63, 227 Tilbat (Tilbut), 1, 44 Tillotson, G. H. R., 485 TÈmËr (GËrkånÈ AmÈr), 2, 43, 51–2, 482 TÈn Darwåza, Ahmadabad, 129 TÈn Darwåza, Nagaur, 129 TÈn Darwåza, Naraina, 98 Tirmiz (Tirmidh, Termez), 49, 597 Tod, J., 82, 84, 90, 100, 461, 463 Trivedi, K. K., 3 Tughluq, Tughluqs, 35, 47–50, 61–2, 68, 217, 220–1, 234, 237, 279, 298, 349, 371, 402, 450, 462, 476, 482, 690 Tughluqabad, 110, 121–2, 136, 138, 144, 156, 160, 237, 349, 371, 416–17, 434–6, 438, 440, 442, 444, 447, 450, 460, 482, 535 Tu˙fa, Khair al-dÈn, 59–60, 65, 556–7 Tu˙fa, Tåj al-Mulk, 53, 55 TËpkhåna Masjid (in Jalor), 218 TËr (legendary Iranian prince), 14 Turk, Turks, Turkish, 15, 23, 26–7, 36, 38, 43, 365, 533, 539, 543, 551, 698 Turkistan (TËrånzamÈn), 581 Turkmenistan, 4, 15 ʿUbaid the poet, 43 Udaipur, 74 Ukhå MandÈr Mosque (B.1) see Bayana edifices Ukhå Masjid (B.2) see Bayana edifices Ukhå Minår (B.3) see Bayana edifices Ukraine, 27 Uluq Khån (later Sultan Balban), 34

Uluq Khån Almås Beg, 39 ʿUmar Khån SarwånÈ, 73, 494 Utåwa, 63, 73 Al-ʿUtbÈ, 16, 19, 167, 179 Uzbekistan, 4, 15, 49, 597 Varaha Temple (in Khajuraho), 338–9 Varanasi see Banaras Varu≥a, 11, 19 Vats, M. S., 415 Verne, J., 46 Vethiyå Wåv (near Mukhånå), 376 Vijayamandargarh, Vijayamandar, Vijayagarh (Bayana Fort), 7, 16–19, 113–16, 576–7 Vincent, J. A., Flynn, 4 Vincent, L.-H., 365 Vishnu Varddhana VarÈkin (Raja), 139, 221, 242 Wå˙Èd Khån b. Mu˙ammad Khån Au˙adÈ, 66, 71, 610 WajÈh al-dÈn al-BayånÈ, 45 WalÈd b. ʿAbd al-Malak (Umayyad Caliph), 197 Walters Art Museum, 37, 83 Warangal, 38 WazÈråbad (near Delhi), 279 WazÈr Khån ka Gunbad (B.40), 103 WazÈrpËr, 29–30 Welch, A., 59, 141, 236, 241, 350, 450 Welch, S. C., 346 Wensinck, A. J., 542 Wetzel, F., 166, 330, 335–6, 355, 497, 651, 694 Wink, A., 167 WißålÈ (poet), 575–6, 583 Wright, J. C., 576 Ya˙yå b. A˙mad, 56–7 Ya˙ya’l-dÈn AbÈ ZakarrÈyå b. Sharaf alNawwawÈ al-ShåfaʿÈ, 542 Yamamoto, T., et al, 59, 166, 216, 234, 236–7, 241, 272, 277, 279, 285, 287, 330, 335–6, 346–7, 350, 355, 364, 371–2, 374, 479, 497, 629, 651, 673, 689 YamÈn al-daula Åßaf Khån, 688 Yatim, O. M., 334 Yazdani, G., 39–40, 42, 121, 183, 303, 349, 451–3, 482, 541, 545–6, 549, 600 YazdÈ (Mu˙ammad Sharaf al-dÈnʿAlÈ), 346, 482 Yule, H., 101 YËsuf Khån Au˙adÈ, 63–7, 72, 556–7, 610 YËsuf Khån JalwånÈ, 72 YËsuf Qattål’s shrine (in Delhi), 651 Ûafar Khån, 111 ÛahÈr al-dÈn (Maulånå), 644 ÛahÈr al-dÈn ZanjånÈ (Amir), 44 Zajadacz-Hastenrath, S., 335, 337

737

INDEX

Zål (legendary Persian hero), 346 Zamzam well (in Mecca), 372–3, 554 Zarang, 345

Zoroastrian, Zoroastrians, 198, 564 Zubair b. al-ʿAwåm, 45 ÛuhËr al-dÈn (PÈr), 98