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Description: | Photograph taken in the 1860s by John Henry Ravenshaw, one of 45 prints in the album 'Gaur: Its Ruins and Inscriptions'. Once known as Lakshmanavati or Lakhnauti, Gaur was an ancient capital of the rulers of Bengal. It came to prominence under the Buddhist Palas from the 8th century, and then prospered under the Hindu Senas from the 12th century. It fell to the Delhi Sultanate in the 13th century and later served as the capital for the independent Sultans of Bengal from the mid-14th to the 16th century, except for an interval between 1354 to 1442 when neighbouring Pandua was made capital. Gaur was relinquished to ruin and decay by the end of the 16th century. With its history as a provincial centre of Islamic culture, Gaur has the remnants of many monuments. This view looks along the façade of a tomb towards the arched entrance gateway. Tradition states that this late 17th century tomb is that of Fath Khan, a son of one of Aurangzeb's generals. The small, stucco-covered building is of brick and has three lintelled doorways with small arched niches flanking them. It displays the regional feature of a curved Bengali roof (do-chala) with down-turned eaves. The design eveolved for the quick dispersal of the heavy downpours of the region. This style of roof was adopted by Mughal architects in the 17th century and they integrated it into imperial buildings in other parts of India, particularly Rajasthan. | License: | http://www.bl.uk/services/copy/permission.html | Rights holder: | British Library | Source: | Collect Britain | Creator: | Ravenshaw, John Henry | Identifier: | http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/personal... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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