CHAP. III. LATER PATHAN STYLE. 215 1539, exhibit a stern simplicity of design, in marked contrast to the elaborate ornamentation with which they began. It is not clear whether this arose from any puritanical reaction against the quasi-Hinduism of the earlier examples, or from any political causes, the effect of which it is now difficult to trace : but, certain it is, that when that stern old warrior, Tughlaq Shah, A.D. 1321, founded the New Delhi, which still bears his name Tughlaqabad all his buildings are char- acterised by a severe simplicity, in marked contrast with those which his predecessors erected in the capital that overlooks the plain in which his citadel is situated. His tomb, which was finished at least, if not built, by his successor, instead of being situated in a garden, as is usually the case, stands by itself in a strongly-fortified citadel of its own, surrounded by an artificial lake. The sloping walls and almost Egyptian solidity of this mausoleum, combined with the bold and massive towers of the fortifications that surround it, form a model of a warrior's tomb hardly to be rivalled anywhere, and in singular contrast with the elegant and luxuriant garden-tombs of the more settled and peaceful dynasties that succeeded. The change, however, of most interest from a historical point of view is, that by the time of Tughlaq Shah's reign, the Moslims had worked themselves entirely free from Hindu influence. In his buildings all the arches are true arches ; all the details invented for the place where they are found. His tomb, in fact, would be as appropriate more so, indeed if found in the valley of the Nile than on the banks of the Jamna ; and from that time forward Muhammadan architecture in India was a new and complete style in itself, and developed according to the natural and inevitable sequences of true styles in all parts of the world. It is true, nevertheless, that in their tombs, as well as in their mosques, they frequently, to save themselves trouble, used Hindu materials when they were available, and often with the most picturesque effect. Many of these compound edifices are composed of four pillars only, surmounted by a small dome ; but frequently they adopt with the pillars the Jaina arrange- ment of twelve pillars, so placed as to support an octagonal framework, easily moulded into a circular basement for a dome. This, as before observed, is the arrangement of the tomb at Mylassa, and the formative idea of all that is beautiful in the plans of Jaina and northern Hindu buildings in India. One example must suffice to explain the effect of these buildings (Woodcut No. 378). It is at Sipri, about 70 miles south-south-west from Gawliar. At first sight the dome looks rather heavy for the substructure ; but the effect of the whole
