Note 180 — The Thirteenth New Year’s Feast

One of the greatest monuments of my father’s reign is this mosque and cemetery (rauẓa). Certainly they are exceedingly lofty and solid buildings. There is nothing like this mosque in any other country. It is all built of beautiful stone, and five lakhs of rupees were expended from the public treasury upon it. Qut̤bu-d-dīn K. Kokaltās͟h made the marble railing (maḥjar) round180 the cemetery, the flooring (fars͟h) of the dome and portico, and these are not included in the five lakhs. The mosque has two great gateways. The one181 towards the south is extremely lofty, and is very beautiful. The archway (pīs͟htāq) is 12 yards broad, 16 long, and 52 high. One must mount thirty-two steps to get to the top of it. The other gateway is smaller, and is towards the east. The length of the mosque from east to west, including the width of the walls, is 212 yards. Out of this, the Maqṣūra (the chancel) is 25½ yards, the middle is 15 yards by 15, the portico (pīs͟htāq) is 7 yards broad, 14 yards long, and 25 yards high. On each side of the large dome are two smaller domes 10 yards by 10. Then there is a veranda (aiwān) which is pillared. The breadth of the mosque from north to south is 172 yards. Round it are ninety verandas (aiwān) and eighty-four cells. The breadth of each cell is 4 yards,182 and the length 5 yards. The verandas are 7½ yards broad. The courtyard (ṣaḥn) of the mosque, exclusive of the maqṣūra, and the verandas, and the gates, is 169 yards long and 143 yards broad. Above the verandas, the gates, and the mosque, small domes have been constructed, and on the eves of anniversaries and on holy days lamps are placed in these, and they are enveloped in coloured183 cloths, so that they look like lamp-shades (?). Under the courtyard they have made a well, and they fill this with rainwater. As Fatḥpūr has little water, and what there is is bad, this well184 yields a sufficient supply for the whole year for the members of the family (of Salīm Chis͟htī) and for the dervishes who are the mujāwirs (caretakers) of the mosque. Opposite the great entrance and towards the north-north-east is the tomb of the S͟haik͟h. The middle dome is 7 yards, and round the dome is a portico of marble, and on the front side of this is a marble lattice. It is very beautiful. Opposite this tomb on the west, at a little distance, is another dome, in which are laid to rest the sons-in-law and sons of the S͟haik͟h, such as Qut̤bu-d-dīn K., Islām K., Muʿaz̤z̤am K.,185 and others, who were all connected with this family, and rose to the position of Amirs and to lofty rank. Accordingly, the circumstances of each have been recorded in their places. At present the son of Islām K., who is distinguished by the title of Ikrām K., is the lord of the prayer-carpet. The signs of auspiciousness are manifest in him; I am much inclined to cherish him.