DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27192#0281
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INDIAN SARACENIC ARCHITECTURE.
Book VII.
CHAPTER VI.
MALWA.
CONTENTS.
Dhar—The Great Mosque at Mandu—'The Palaces.
CHRONOLOGY.
Sultan Dilawar Ghuri . . A. D. 1401
Sultan Hushang Ghuri. . ,, 1405
Muhammad Ghazni Khan . ,, 1434
Mahmud Shah I. Khalji,
cotemp. Rana Kumbha of
Chitor 1436
Sultan Ghiyas Shah Khalji . A.D. 1475
Sultan Nasir Shah . . ,, 1500
Sultan Mahmud II. . . ,,1510
Malwa incorporated with
Gujarat . . . . 1530
-annexed by Akbar . ,, 1569
The Ghuri dynasty of Mandu attained independence about the
same time as the Sharqis of Jaunpur,—Sultan Dilawar, who
governed the province of Malwa from A.D 1387, having assumed
the title of Shah in A.D. 1401. It is, however, to his successor
Hushang, that Mandu owes its greatness and all the finest of
its buildings. The state continued to prosper as one of the
independent Moslim principalities till A.D. 1530, when it was
incorporated with Gujarat, and was finally annexed to Akbar’s
dominion in A.D. 1569.
The original capital of the state was Dhar, an old Hindu
city, about 24 miles northward of Mandu, to which the seat of
government was transferred after it became independent.
Though an old and venerated city of the Hindus, Dhar contains
no evidence of its former greatness, except two mosques erected
wholly of Hindu remains. The principal of these, the Jami’
Masjid, has a courtyard measuring 102 ft. north and south, by
131 ft. in the other direction. The mosque itself is 119 ft. by 40
ft. 6 in., and its roof is supported by sixty-four pillars of Hindu
architecture, 12 ft. 6 in. in height, and all of them more or less
richly carved, and the three domes that adorn it are also of
purely Hindu form. The court is surrounded by an arcade
containing forty-four columns, 10 ft. in height, but equally rich in
carving. There is here no screen of arches, as at the Qutb or at
Ajmir. Internally nothing is visible but Hindu pillars, and,
INDIAN SARACENIC ARCHITECTURE.
Book VII.
CHAPTER VI.
MALWA.
CONTENTS.
Dhar—The Great Mosque at Mandu—'The Palaces.
CHRONOLOGY.
Sultan Dilawar Ghuri . . A. D. 1401
Sultan Hushang Ghuri. . ,, 1405
Muhammad Ghazni Khan . ,, 1434
Mahmud Shah I. Khalji,
cotemp. Rana Kumbha of
Chitor 1436
Sultan Ghiyas Shah Khalji . A.D. 1475
Sultan Nasir Shah . . ,, 1500
Sultan Mahmud II. . . ,,1510
Malwa incorporated with
Gujarat . . . . 1530
-annexed by Akbar . ,, 1569
The Ghuri dynasty of Mandu attained independence about the
same time as the Sharqis of Jaunpur,—Sultan Dilawar, who
governed the province of Malwa from A.D 1387, having assumed
the title of Shah in A.D. 1401. It is, however, to his successor
Hushang, that Mandu owes its greatness and all the finest of
its buildings. The state continued to prosper as one of the
independent Moslim principalities till A.D. 1530, when it was
incorporated with Gujarat, and was finally annexed to Akbar’s
dominion in A.D. 1569.
The original capital of the state was Dhar, an old Hindu
city, about 24 miles northward of Mandu, to which the seat of
government was transferred after it became independent.
Though an old and venerated city of the Hindus, Dhar contains
no evidence of its former greatness, except two mosques erected
wholly of Hindu remains. The principal of these, the Jami’
Masjid, has a courtyard measuring 102 ft. north and south, by
131 ft. in the other direction. The mosque itself is 119 ft. by 40
ft. 6 in., and its roof is supported by sixty-four pillars of Hindu
architecture, 12 ft. 6 in. in height, and all of them more or less
richly carved, and the three domes that adorn it are also of
purely Hindu form. The court is surrounded by an arcade
containing forty-four columns, 10 ft. in height, but equally rich in
carving. There is here no screen of arches, as at the Qutb or at
Ajmir. Internally nothing is visible but Hindu pillars, and,