History of India

Edited by A. V. Williams Jackson, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor of Indo-Iranian Languages in Columbia University

Volume 3 – Medieval India from the Mohammedan Conquest to the Reign of Akbar the Great

by Stanley Lane-Poole, M.A., Litt.D., M.R.I.A., Professor of Arabic at Trinity College, Dublin

1906

The Kutb Minar at Delhi

The famous Kutb Minar at Delhi is the tallest minaret in the world, and is a grand monument of Mohammedan art, dating from the time of Kutb-ad-din Aybek or his successor, Altamish, early in the thirteenth century. It is built of a reddish sandstone, capped with two bands of white marble, and rises two hundred and forty feet above the ground. The arabesque inscriptions around its base are particularly handsome.

Table of Contents

Introduction by the Editor

Preface by the Author

Chapter 1 – Mohammedan Invasion –the Arabs in Sind – 712 A.D.

Chapter 2 – The Idol-Breaker – Mahmud of Ghazni – 997–1030 A.D.

Chapter 3 – The Men of the Mountain – Ghazni and Ghor – 1030–1206 A.D.

Chapter 4 – The Slave Kings – the Turks in Delhi – 1206–1290 A.D.

Chapter 5 – First Deccan Conquests – Ala-ad-Din Khalji – 1280–1311 A.D.

Chapter 6 – Zenith of the Slave Dynasty – Mohammad Taghlak and Firoz Shah – 1321–1388 A.D.

Chapter 7 – Disintegration – Provincial Dynasties – 1388–1451 A.D.

Chapter 8 – The Coming of the Moghuls – The Emperor Babar – 1451–1530 A.D.

Chapter 9 – The Ebb of the Tide – Humayun – 1530–1536 A.D.

Appendix 1 – Firdausi’s Panegyric of Mahmud of Ghazni and his Satire on the Same Ruler

Appendix 2 – Chronological Summary

Appendix 3 – Mohammedan Dynasties

List of Illustrations

The Kutb Minar at Delhi – Arms of Sind – Jat Nobles – Scene in an Afghan Pass – The Fortress of Ghazni – The Fort at Peshawar – A Hindu Idol – The Sacred River at Jumna and Temples at Mathura – Old Afghan Armour – A Typical Turkman – A Garden at Lahore – Benares and the River Ganges – Kabulis – A Modern Afghan – A Column at Ghazni – Coin of Ghiyas-ad-Din showing spearman on elephant – Fort of Ajmir – Silver coin of Mohammad Ghori, struck at Ghazni, A.H. 596 (A.D. 1190) – The Kutb Minar at Delhi – Arabesque Carving around the Base of the Kutb Minar – Billon Coin of Yildiz – Polo in Ancient Persia – The Great Mosque of Ajmir, with inscription of Altamish – Silver Coin of Altamish – Tomb of Altamish at Delhi – Silver coin of Queen Raziya, struck at Lakhnauti – A Kibitka, or native hut in Turkistan – A Bhisti, or water carrier – An Indian Boat – Gold Coin of Balban, struck at Delhi, A.H. 672 (A.D. 1273–4) – The River Jumna at Mathura – Gold coin of Ala-ad-Din, struck at Delhi, A.H. 698 (A.D. 1208–9) – The Narbada River at Jabalpur – The Gateway of Ala-ad-Din in the Mosque at Delhi – A Street in the old Capital Ujjain – An Indian Court – The Gateway of Ala-ad-Din in the Mosque at Delhi – Doab Villagers – A Deccan Type – Indian Dancing Girls – Scene in Gwalior – Fort of Taghlakabad, at Delhi, enclosing Tomb of Taghlak Shah – Gold coin of Mohammad Taghlak, struck at Delhi, A.H. 726 (A.D. 1326) – Tomb at the Kutb Minar, Delhi – A Tomb at old Delhi – Brass money of Mohammad Taghlak, struck at Delhi, A.H. 731 (A.D. 1330–1) – An Ancient Gateway at Warangal – Low-caste Bengalis – Hindu Snake Charmers and Jugglers – A Mohammedan Woman – Tomb of Firoz Shah at Delhi – Gold Coin of Firoz Shah, A.H. 788 (A.D. 1386) – The Bala Hissar Gate, Kabul – Timur Lang, Tamerlane the Great – Indrapat, or Old Delhi – Golden Mosque at Gaur – Minar of Firoz II at Gaur (1488) – Carved Screen in the Sidi Sayid Mosque, Ahmadabad – Fort of Jaunpur, East Gate – Atala Devi Mosque at Jaunpur – Tomb of Mohammad Ghaus at Gwalior – Two Minars at Ahmadabad – Sultan Mahmud’s Tomb at Bijapur – Bihar Type – The Emperor Babar – Street Scene in Lahore – Architectural Detail of the Mosque at Old Delhi – Rajput Soldiers – The Gigantic Howitzer “Malik Maidan” – A Scene at Agra – Four Emperors: Babar, Humayun, Akbar, and Jahangir – Hindu and Mohammedan Building – River Bank, Lucknow – Tomb of Humayun near Delhi – Delhi Gate, Agra Fort – Silver Coin of Sher Shah, struck at Delhi, A.H. 947 (A.D. 1540–1)

This collection transcribed by Chris Gage
hosted by ibiblio Support Wikipedia