GUJERAT.
CONTENTS.
Jumma Musjid and other Mosques at Ahmedabad--Tombs and Mosques at Sirkej
and Butwa--Buildings in the Provinces.
CHRONOLOGY.
Muzaffar Shah, a Rajput, appointed Viceroy A.D. 1391
Ahmed Shah, his grandson, founds Ahmedabad 1411
Mohammed Shah the Merciful 1443
Kutub Shah; war with Rana Khumbo 1454
Mahmúd Shah Begurra 1459
Muzaffar Shah II. 1511
Bahadur Shah murdered by Portuguese 1526
Muzaffar Shah III. 1561
Gujerat becomes a province of Akbar’s kingdom 1583
Of the various forms which the Saracenic architecture assumed in India,
that of Ahmedabad may probably be considered as the most elegant, as it
certainly is the most characteristic of all. No other form is so
essentially Indian, and no one tells its tale with the same unmistakable
distinctness.
As mentioned above, the Mahomedans, in the first century of the Hejira,
made a brilliant attempt to conquer Scinde and Gujerat, and apparently
succeeded; but the country was so populous, and its civilization so
great, that the invaders were absorbed, and soon disappeared from the
scene.
Mahmúd of Ghazni next overran the province, but left no permanent mark;
and even after the fall of Delhi (A.D. 1196) Gujerat maintained the
struggle for independence for nearly two centuries longer, till Feroze
Tugluck, in A.D. 1391, appointed Muzaffar, a converted Rajput, of the
Tak clan, to be his viceroy. This, however, was only on the eve of the
troubles caused by the invasion of Tamerlane, and, _mutato domino_,
Gujerat remained as independent as before.
The next two centuries--during which the Ahmed Shahi dynasty occupied
the throne--were spent in continual wars and struggles with their
refractory vassals and the neighbouring chiefs. On the whole, however,
their power may be said to have been gradually on the increase till the
death of Bahadur, A.D. 1536, but they never wholly subdued the
rebellious spirit of their subjects, and certainly never converted the
bulk of them to their faith. As a consequence of this, the principal
buildings with which this chapter is concerned are to be found in the
capital and its immediate proximity. Beyond that the Hindus followed
their old faith and built temples as before; though in such large cities
as Cambay or Baroach the Mahomedans, of course, possessed places of
worship, some of them of considerable importance, and generally made up
from pillars borrowed from Hindu buildings.
In Ahmedabad itself, however, the Hindu influence continued to be felt
throughout. Even the mosques are Hindu, or rather Jaina, in every
detail; only here and there an arch is inserted, not because it was
wanted constructively, but because it was a symbol of the faith, while
in their tombs and palaces even this is generally wanting. The truth of
the matter is, the Mahomedans had forced themselves upon the most
civilized and most essentially building race at that time in India, and
the Chalukyas conquered their conquerors, and forced them to adopt forms
and ornaments which were superior to any the invaders knew or could have
introduced. The result is a style which combines all the elegance and
finish of Jaina or Chalukyan art, with a certain largeness of conception
which the Hindu never quite attained, but which is characteristic of the
people who at this time were subjecting all India to their sway.
The first seat of the Mahomedan power was Anhilwarra, the old capital of
the Rajputs, and which, at the time it fell into their power, must have
been one of the most splendid cities of the East. Little now remains of
all its magnificence, if we may trust what is said by recent travellers
who have visited its deserted palaces. Ahmed, the second king, removed
the seat of power to a town called Kurnawutti, afterwards known as
Ahmedabad, from the name of its second founder, and which, with
characteristic activity, he set about adorning with splendid edifices.
Of these the principal was the Jumma Musjid, which, though not
remarkable for its size, is one of the most beautiful mosques in the
East. Its arrangement will be understood from the next plan (Woodcut No.
293). Its dimensions are 382 ft. by 258 ft. over all externally; the
mosque itself being 210 ft. by 95 ft., covering consequently about
20,000 sq. ft. Within the mosque itself are 260 pillars, supporting
fifteen domes arranged symmetrically, the centre three alone being
somewhat larger and considerably higher than the others. If the plan is
compared with that of the temple at Sadri (Woodcut No. 133), which was
being erected at the same time by Khumbo Rana within 160 miles of
Ahmedabad, it will afford a fair means of comparison between the Jaina
and Mahomedan arrangements of that day. The form of the pillars and the
details generally are practically the same in both buildings, the Hindu
being somewhat richer and more elaborate. In plan, the mosque looks
monotonous as compared with the temple; but this is redeemed, to some
extent, by the different heights of the domes, as shown in the elevation
(Woodcut No. 294), and by the elevation of each division being
studiously varied. My own feeling is in favour of the poetry of the
temple, but there is a sobriety about the plan of the mosque which,
after all, may be in better taste. Both plans, it need hardly be
remarked, are infinitely superior to the monotony of the southern halls
of 1000 pillars. The latter are remarkable for their size and the amount
of labour bestowed upon them, but it requires more than this to
constitute good architecture.
[Illustration: 293. Plan of Jumma Musjid, Ahmedabad. Scale 100 ft. to 1
in.]
[Illustration: 294. Elevation of the Jumma Musjid. Scale 50 ft. to 1
in.]
The general character of the elevation will be understood from the
woodcut No. 294, but unfortunately its minarets are gone. When
Forbes[514] drew it, they were still standing, and were celebrated in
Eastern story as the shaking minarets of Ahmedabad; an earthquake in
A.D. 1818 shook them too much, but there are several others still
standing in the city from which their form can easily be restored.
[Illustration: 295. Plan of the Queen’s Mosque, Mirzapore. Scale 50 ft.
to 1 in.]
[Illustration: 296. Elevation of the Queen’s Mosque, Mirzapore. Scale 50
ft. to 1 in.]
[Illustration: 297. Section of Diagram explanatory of the Mosques at
Ahmedabad.]
The plan and lateral extension of the Jumma Musjid are exceptional. The
usual form taken by the mosques at Ahmedabad was that of the Queen’s
Mosque at Mirzapore, and consists of three domes standing on twelve
pillars each, with the central part so raised as to admit light to the
interior. The mode in which this was effected will be understood from
the annexed diagram (Woodcut No. 297). The pillars which support the
central domes are twice as high as those of the side domes, and two rows
of dwarf columns stand on the roof to make up the height. In front of
these internally is a solid balustrade, which is generally most richly
ornamented by carving. Thus arranged, it will be perceived that the
necessary amount of light is introduced, as in the drum of a Byzantine
dome, but in a more artistic manner. The sun’s rays can never fall on
the floor, or even so low as the head of any one standing there. The
light is reflected from the external roof into the dome, and perfect
ventilation is obtained, with the most pleasing effect of illumination
without glare. In order further to guard against the last dreaded
contingency, in most of these mosques a screen of perforated stonework
was introduced between the outer dwarf columns. These screens were
frequently of the most exquisite beauty, and in consequence have very
generally been removed.
There are three or four mosques at Ahmedabad, built on the same pattern
as that last described, but as the style progressed it became more and
more Indian. The arches in front were frequently omitted, and only a
screen of columns appeared, supported by two minarets, one at each
angle. This system was carried to its greatest extent at Sirkej, about
five miles from the city. Mohammed Shah, in A.D. 1445, commenced
erecting a tomb (A on Woodcut No. 298) here, in honour of Ahmed Gunj
Buksh, the friend and adviser of his father. The style of these
buildings may be judged of from the woodcut (No. 299, page 532),
representing the pavilion of sixteen pillars in front of this tomb (I in
Woodcut No. 298). They are of the usual simple outline of the style--a
tall, square base; the shafts square, and with no ornament except a
countersinking on the angles, and crowned with a moderately projecting
bracket-capital. The building is roofed with nine small domes,
insignificant in themselves, but both internally and externally forming
as pleasing a mode of roofing as ever was applied to such a small
detached building of this class. The mosque (D) was completed in A.D.
1451, and Mahmúd Begurra added afterwards a tomb for himself (B) and one
for his wife Rajbaie (C). With their accompanying palaces and tombs
these make up one of the most important groups in the neighbourhood. The
whole are constructed without a single arch; all the pillars have the
usual bracket capitals of the Hindus, and all the domes are on the
horizontal principle. In the large tomb an attempt has been made to get
a larger dome than the usual octagonal arrangement would admit of, but
not quite successfully. The octagon does not accord with the
substructure, and either wider spaces ought to have been introduced or a
polygon of a greater number of sides employed. The mosque is the
perfection of elegant simplicity, and is an improvement on the plan of
the Jumma Musjid. There are five domes in a line, as there, but they are
placed nearer to one another, and though of greater diameter the width
of the whole is less, and they are only two ranges in depth. Except the
[Illustration: 298. Plan of Tombs and Mosque at Sirkej. (From a Sketch
by T. C. Hope, Esq.) Scale 100 Ft. to 1 in.
REFERENCES.
A. Tomb of Gunj Buksh.
B. Tomb of Mahmúd Begurra and his Sons.
C. Tomb of Beebee Rájbaie, his Queen.
D. The Mosque.
E. Covered Gateway.
F. Covered Hall overlooking the Tank.
G. Well and Fountain.
H. Portico leading to Terrace and Steps down to the Tank.
I. Pavilion.
J. Portions of the Steps surrounding the Tank.]
Mootee Musjid at Agra, to be described hereafter, there is no mosque in
India more remarkable for simple elegance than this.
[Illustration: 299. Pavilion in front of Tomb at Sirkej.]
[Illustration: 300. Mosque at Mooháfiz Khan. Scale 25 ft. to 1 in.]
Besides these larger mosques there are several smaller ones of great
beauty, of which two--those of Mooháfiz Khan and the Rani Sîpri--are
pre-eminent. The elevation of the first is by no means happy, but its
details are exquisite, and it retains its minarets, which is too seldom
the case. As will be seen from the woodcut, as well as from those of the
Jumma and Queen’s Mosques (Nos. 294, 296), the lower part of the
minarets is of pure Hindu architecture; all the bases at Ahmedabad are
neither more nor less than the perpendicular parts of the basement of
Hindu or Jaina temples elongated. Every form and every detail may be
found at Chandravati or Abu, except in one particular--on the angles of
all Hindu temples are niches containing images. This the Moslem could
not tolerate, so he filled them with tracery. We can follow the progress
of the development of this form, from the first rude attempt in the
Jumma Musjid, through all its stages to the exquisite patterns of the
Queen’s Mosque at Mirzapore. After a century’s experience they produced
forms which as architectural ornaments will, in their own class, stand
comparison with any employed in any age or in any part of the world; and
in doing this they invented a class of window-tracery in which they were
also unrivalled. The specimen below (Woodcut No. 301), from a window in
a desecrated mosque in the palace (the Bhudder) will convey an idea of
its elaborateness and grace. It would be difficult to excel the skill
with which the vegetable forms are conventionalised just to the extent
required for the purpose. The equal spacing also of the subject by the
three ordinary trees and four palms, takes it out of the category of
direct imitation of nature, and renders it sufficiently structural for
its situation; but perhaps the greatest skill is shown in the even
manner in which the pattern is spread over the whole surface. There are
some exquisite specimens of tracery in precious marbles at Agra and
Delhi, but none quite equal to this.
[Illustration: 301. Window in Bhudder at Ahmedabad. (From a Photograph
by Colonel Biggs.)]
Above the roof of the mosques the minarets are always round towers
slightly tapering, as in the mosque of Mooháfiz Khan (Woodcut No. 300),
relieved by galleries displaying great richness in the brackets which
support them as well as in the balustrades which protect them. The tower
always terminates in a conical top relieved by various disks. They are,
so far as I know, the only minarets belonging to mosques which surpass
those of Cairo in beauty of outline or richness of detail, excepting
those of the Rani Sîpri mosque, which are still more beautiful. Indeed,
that mosque is the most exquisite gem at Ahmedabad, both in plan and
detail. It is without arches, and every part is such as only a Hindu
queen could order, and only Hindu artists could carve.[515]
TOMBS.
[Illustration: 302. Tomb of Meer Abu Touráb. Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.]
Knowing the style, it would not be difficult to predicate the form of
the tombs. The simplest would be that of Abu Touráb; an octagonal dome
supported on twelve pillars, and this extended on every side, but always
remaining a square, and the entrances being in the centre of the faces.
The difference between this and the Jaina arrangement is that the latter
is diagonal (Woodcut No. 119), while these are square. The superiority
of the Hindu mode is apparent at a glance. Not, it is true, in so small
an arrangement as that last quoted, but in the tombs at Sirkej (Woodcut
No. 298), the effect is so monotonous as almost to become unpleasing.
With the Jains this never is the case, however numerous the pillars may
be.
[Illustration: 303. Plan and Elevation of Tomb of Syad Osmán. Scale 50
ft. to 1 in.]
Besides the monotony of the square plan, it was felt at Sirkej--as
already pointed out--that the octagonal dome fitted awkwardly on to its
supports. This was remedied, to a great extent, in the tomb of Syad
Osmán, built in A.D. 460 by Mahmúd Begurra. In this instance the base
of the dome is a dodecagon, and a very considerable amount of variety is
obtained by grouping the pillars in twos and fours, and by the different
spacing. In elevation the dome looks heavy for the substructure, but not
so in perspective; and when the screens were added to inclose the
central square, it was altogether the most successful sepulchral design
carried out in the pillared style at Ahmedabad.
Towards the end of their career, the architects of Ahmedabad evinced a
strong tendency to revert to the arched forms generally used by their
brethren in other countries. Mahmúd Begurra built himself a tomb near
Kaira, which is wholly in the arched style, and remains one of the most
splendid sepulchres in India.[516] He also erected at Butwa, near
Ahmedabad, a tomb over the grave of a saint, which is in every respect
in the same style. So little, however, were the builders accustomed to
arched forms, that, though the plan is judiciously disposed by placing
smaller arches outside the larger, so as to abut them, still all those
of the outer range have fallen down, and the whole is very much
crippled, while the tomb without arches, that stands within a few yards
of it, remains entire. The scale of the two, however (Plan No. 305),
reveals the secret of the preference accorded to the arch as a
constructive expedient. The larger piers, the wider spacing, the whole
dimensions, were on a grander scale than could be attained with beams
only, as the Hindus used them. As the Greeks and Romans employed these
features, any dimensions that were feasible with arches could be
attained by pillars; but the Hindus worked to a smaller modulus, and do
not seem to have known how to increase it. It must, however, be remarked
that they generally used pillars only in courts, where there was nothing
to compare them with but the spectator’s own height; and there the forms
employed by them were large enough. It was only when the Moslems came to
use them externally, and in conjunction with arches and other larger
features, that their diminutive scale became apparent.
It is perhaps the evidence of a declining age to find size becoming the
principal aim. But it is certainly one great and important ingredient in
architectural design, and so thought the later architects of Ahmedabad.
In their later mosques and buildings they attained greater dimensions,
but it was at the expense of all that renders their earlier style so
beautiful and so interesting.[517]
[Illustration: 304. Tomb of Kutub-ul-Alum, Butwa. Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.]
[Illustration: 305. Plans of Tombs of Kutub-ul-Alum and his Son, Butwa.
Scale about 50 ft. to 1 in.]
Besides the buildings of the classes above enumerated, there are several
smaller objects of art at Ahmedabad which are of extraordinary beauty.
Among these are several bowlees, or deep wells, with broad flights of
steps leading down to them, and ornamented with pillars and galleries to
as great an extent as some of the largest buildings above ground. It
requires a personal experience of the grateful coolness of a
subterranean apartment in a hot climate to appreciate such a class of
buildings, and in the rainy West we hardly know how valuable water may
become.
Another object of architectural beauty is found in the inflow and
outflow sluices of the great tanks which abound everywhere around the
city. Nowhere did the inhabitants of Ahmedabad show how essentially they
were an architectural people, as in these utilitarian works. It was a
necessity of their nature that every object should be made ornamental,
and their success was as great in these as in their mosques or palaces.
BUILDINGS IN THE PROVINCES.
In addition to the numerous edifices that adorn the capital, there are,
as hinted above, several in the provincial capitals that are well worthy
of notice. Among these the Jumma Musjid at Cambay is perhaps the most
splendid. It was erected in A.D. 1325, in the time of Mohammed Shah
Gori, and is only inferior to that of the capital in size. It measures
over all 200 ft. by 210 ft., and its internal court 120 ft. by 135 ft.
Except being somewhat smaller in scale, its plan and arrangements are
almost identical with those of the Altumsh Mosque (Woodcut No. 283) at
Ajmir: but, when it is looked into, it would be difficult to conceive
two buildings more essentially different than these two are. The screen
of arches at Cambay, only three in number, are plain even to baldness,
and low, in order to fit the dimensions of the Jaina pillars of the
interior. These latter are all borrowed from desecrated temples, and in
this instance certainly rearranged without much attention to congruity
or architectural effect. Still the effect is picturesque, and the parts
being employed for the purposes for which they were designed, there is
no offensive incongruity anywhere.
One of the most remarkable features in this mosque is the tomb, which
its founder, Imrar ben Ahmed Kajerani erected for himself. It is wholly
composed of Hindu remains, and is two storeys in height, and was crowned
with a dome 28 ft. in diameter. The parts, however--borrowed,
apparently, from different buildings--were so badly fitted together
that, after standing some three centuries, it fell in, and has since
remained a ruin, singularly picturesque in form and exquisite in detail,
but a monument of the folly of employing building materials for any
purpose but that for which they were designed.[518]
There is another mosque at Baroach, not unlike this one in design but
smaller, being only 135 ft. over all north and south, and it has--now,
at least--no courtyard; but some of its details, borrowed from Hindu
temples, are very beautiful.
There are also two very beautiful mosques at Dolka, a city twenty-two
miles south-west from Ahmedabad, almost identical in size and plan,
being each of them squares of about 150 ft., and the mosque-front
covered with five domes and the screen-wall with three arches each.[519]
[Illustration: 306. Plan of Tomb of Mahmúd Begurra, near Kaira. Scale 50
ft. to 1 in.]
[Illustration: 307. Tomb of Mahmúd Begurra, near Kaira. (From a
Photograph.)]
The most beautiful, however, of these provincial examples is the tomb at
Mahmúdabad, of its class one of the most beautiful in India (Woodcut No.
306). It was erected by the same Mahmúd Begurra, A.D. 1484, who erected
the tomb of Kutub-ul-Alum at Butwa, described above (Woodcut No. 304),
and is said to have been designed by the same architect. This is,
however, a far more successful example, and though small--it is only 94
ft. square, exclusive of the porch--there is a simplicity about its
plan, a solidity and balance of parts in the design, which is not always
found in these tombs, and has rarely, if ever, been surpassed in any
tomb in India. The details, too, are all elegant and appropriate, so
that it only wants somewhat increased dimensions to rank among the very
first of its class. Its constructive arrangements, too, are so perfect
that no alterations in them would be required, if the scale had been
very much increased.
The tomb itself is surrounded by a screen of perforated stonework, of
the very finest tracery, and with its double verandah aids in giving the
sepulchral chamber that seclusion and repose so indispensable in a
mausoleum.[520]