Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-28
TOMBs ABOUT DELHI
Ruins of Ancient Cities In
cumber the Plains.
THE ARM OF FAME
wRoUGHT-IRoN COLUMN ERECT
ED IN 800.
Other Monuments of Mohammedan
Victcries-The Hall of the Sixty
Four Pillars.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald.
DELHI, March I, 1904
Seven ancient ruined cities, representing
successive periods and dynasties from 2J0O
B. c. to 1900 A. D., incumber the plains
Immediately surrounding the city of Delhi,
within radius of eighteen or twenty miles,
and you cannot go in any direction with
out passing through the stupendous walls
of ancient Notifications and erumbling pal
aces temples, mosques and tombs. Tradi-
ton makes the original Delhi the political
and commercial rival of Babylon, Uneven,
Memphis and Thebes, but the modern town
dates from 1898. the commencement Of the
reign of the famous Mogul Shad Jehan, of
whom / have written so much.
About eleven miles from the city is a
group of splendid ruins, some of the most.
remarkable in the world, and celebrated
tower known as the Kutab-minar, one of
the most important architectural monu-
ments in India. You reach it by the Great
Trunk road of India. the most notable
thoroughfare in the empire, which has been
the highway from the mountains and north
ern provinces to the sacred River Ganges
from the beginning of time, and, notW1th-
standing it's construction of railroads, Is
today the great thoroughfare of Asia. If
folio wit will lead you through Turkestan
and Persia to Constantinople and Moscow.
Over this road came Tamerlane, the Tartar
Napoleon, with his victorious army, and
Alexander the Great, and it has been trod-
den by the feet of successive invaders for
twenty of thirty centuries. Today it leads
to the Kyber Pass, the only gateway be-
tween India and Afghanistan, where the
frontier is guarded by a tremendous force,
and no human being is allowed to go either
way without permits from the authorities
of both governments. Long caravans still
cross the desert of middle Asia, enter and
leave India through this pass and follow the
Grand Trunk road to the cities Of the
Ganges. 1t is always thronged with pill
grims and commerce; with trains of bullock
carts, caravans of camels and elephants,
and thousands of pedestrians pass every
milestone daily. kfplng describes them
and the road in KIM in more graphic Ian
guage than flows through my typewriter.
In the neighborhood of Delhi the Grand
Trunk road is like the Appian Way of
Rome, both sides being lined with the
mausoleums of kings warriors and saints in
various stages of decay and dilapidation.
And scattered among them are the ruins of
the palaces of supplanted dynasties which
appeared and vanished, arose and fell, one
after another, in smoke and blood; in the
clash of steel. the cries Of victory and
shreks of despair.
+. The Arm of Fame.
In the center of the court of the ancient
mosque of Kutbul Islam, which was orig
inally built for Hindu temple in the tenth
century, stands wrought-iron column, one
Of the most curious things in India. 1t
rises % feet inches above the ground, and
It's base, which is dubious, is riveted to
two stone slabs two feet below the. surface.
Its diameter at the base is 16 feet inches
and at the capital is II inches. 1t is mall
ieable forging of pure iron without alloy,
and 1855 specific gravity. According to the
estimates of engineers, 1t weighs about six
tons, and 1t is remarkable that the Hindus
at that age could forge a bar of iron larger
and heavier than was ever forged In Eu-
rope until very recent date. Its history
is deeply cut upon its surface in Sanskrit
letters. The inscription tells US that 1t Is
1.-THE Arm of Fame of Raja Dhava," who
subduced a nation named the Vahikas
land obtained. with his own arm undivided
sovereignty upon the earth for a long pc
Rod" No date is given, but the histo-
rians fix it's erection about the year 319 or
800 A D.
This is the oldest and the most unique of
all the many memorials in India, and has
been allowed to stand about /, 700 years I'M
disturbed. An old prophecy declared that
Hindu sovereigns would rule as long as
the column stood, and when the empire
was invaded in 1905 and Delhi became the
capital Of Mohammedan empire, It's con-
queror, Kuth-ud-Din (the Pole Star of the
FAITH. originally Turkish slave, defied
1t by allowing the pillar to remain, but he
converted the beautiful Hindu temple
which surrounded it into Moslem mosque
and ordered his muezzins to proclaim the
name of God and His prophet and to call
the faithful to prayer to pray around it.
This Hindu temple, which was converted
into mosque, is still unrivaled for it's gigan-
tic arches and for the graceful beauty of the
tracery which decorated it's walls Even
in ruins 1t Is magnificent structure, and
Lord Curzon is to be thanked for directing
its partial restoration at government ex-
pense. The architectural treasures of In
Ola are many, but there are none to spare.
and it is gratifying to find officials in au-
thcrity who appreciate the value of pre-
serving those that remain for the benefit of
architectural and historical students 1t is
a pity that the original Hindu carvings
npon the columns cannot be restored
There were originally not less than 200
columns, and each was richly ornamented
with peculiar Hindu decorative designs
Some of them in shadowy corners are still
almost perfect. but, unfortunately, those
which are most conspicuous were shame
fully defaced by the Mohammedan con-
querors, and we must'rely upon our mag
nations to picture them as they were in
their original beauty.
The walls of the building are of purpIisb
red sandstone, of very fine grain, almost as
fine as marble, and age and exposure seem
to have hardened It.
A Tower Of Victory.
In one corner OF the court Of this great
mosque rises the Kutab- Minar. a monu-
ment and tower of victory. 1t is supposed
to have been originally started by the Hin
dus and completed by their Mohammedan
conquerors. Another tower, called the
Alai- Minar, about 500 feet distant, remains
unfinished, and rises only eighty-seven feet
from the ground. Had 1t been finished as
intended, 1t would have been 500 feet high
or nearly as lofty as the Washington mon
ument. According to the inscription, 1t was
erected by Ala din Khiji who reigned from
1896 to 1916, and remains as II stood at his
death. For some reason his successor never
tried to complete it.
The Kutab-Minar. the completed tower
is not only notable structure and one OF
the most perfect In the world, second only
in height to the Washington monument
but 1t Is particularly notable for its geo.
rnetrical proportions. It's height. 2SS feet
Is exactly five times the diameter of its
base. 1t Is divided into five stories, each
tapering In perfect proportions and being
divided by projecting balconies or galleries
The fifst story. ninety-fiye feet in height
consists of twenty-four faces in the form OF
convex fiutings, alternately semi-circular
and rectangular. built of alternate courses
of marble and red sandstone. The second
story is fifty-one feet high and the projec-
"a