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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'. Pandua, near Gaur in the Malda district of Bengal, was a centre of provincial Islamic culture, reaching its apogee when it supplanted Gaur as capital of the Sultans of Bengal from 1342 till the beginning of the 15th century. The early 15th century Eklakhi Mausoleum in Pandua is thought to be that of Sultan Jalal al-din Muhammad Shah (ruled 1414-1432) and is the first building to reveal some of the characteristic features of later Sultanate architecture in Bengal. The exterior walls are slightly bowed and it displays the curved cornices of the roof derived from Bengali bamboo dwellings. It provided a model for much of the architecture that followed. The square brick tomb is massive, surmounted by a plain dome and decorated with carved brick. Each of its four sides is pierced with a stone portal derived from Hindu forms. The interior is crowned with a ribbed dome carried on eight squinches. There are three tombs within. This is a close view of a doorway, showing the surrounding decorative brickwork. | 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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