Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masterpieces Oe The Akchitecture Of Diffekent Nations.
Those to whom the German is familiar may also consult the fourth chapiter of the History of Architecture , by Stieglitz and may refer constantly to an historical , geographical , and political essay on the commerce of India , by a man of genius—Lieutenant-Colonel Legoux de Flaix . They will be convinced , by examination , of the difference of this kind of
architecture with that of the Egyptians , and of a certain analogy with that of the Arabians and Persians , whieh might induce one to believe that those people , in some of their constructions , had in their minds the monuments of India ¦ if an opinion may be thus formed from a more modern architecture of what was the ancient architecture of the Indians
, transmitted through the medium of that kind of tradition which obtains in the art of building . They will remark that the tombs of the Indian kings , engraved at London in the collection of Hodges , are very much in the form of the mosques at Cairo , and bear much affinity to the style of the Arabians .
Thc tomb of the Emjieror Akbar , who was born at Amicat , on the frontiers of Persia , in 1-541 , the 948 th year of the Hegira , is one of the most beautiful productions of the revival of Indian architecture . This prince encouraged the arts and the whole ofthe sciences during a reign of fifty-one years , and surpassed the glory and renown of all the princes of the house of Timourhe was son of the . Emperor
; Humaioun ; under his reign Moorish architecture then acquired all the perfection which is brilliantly conspicuous in thc superb monuments of India . The entrance to the tomb of this priuce , and the tomb itself , occupied twenty-two years in building . It is constructed , as far as regards the body of the edifice , of red granite and marble ; but the
minarets , soaring above its mass , are entirely of marble . The tomb of his father Humaioun , at Delhi , dates also from the reign of this emperor ; it is very celebrated for its grandeur and the beauty of the style of its architecture . The immense fortress of Agra , named Akbarahabad , as well as the palace ancl the mosque of Futtipoor-Sieriwere erected
, by this same emperor . These buildings seem to have fixed the style and the taste of Moorish architecture in Hindostan , - for the other modern edifices appear to bo a more or less close imitation of them .
Though the Taj Mehal , built by Shah Jehan , the grandson of Akbar , may be more perfect in the execution of the details , it is not superior to them for tastefulness of design , oi- for originality in the distribution of masses . Thc tomb of the Emperor Shore Shah , at Sasoram , in the kingdom of Eahar , near Patua , the capital of the country , is a dome
which in diameter is but sixteen feet less than St . Paul's in Loudon ; the Emperor Shore Shah had it built , and was buried in it in the year 95 :. of the Hegira , or 15-1-5 . It is situated in the midst of a great lake or reservoir , called in the country tanc , and with which there is a communication by a stone bridge , now iu ruins , but which was very elegant
in construction . Shore Shah , originally named Eoricl , and who was honoured , on account of his valour , by the title of Sheve Khan , which means "the Khan of Lions , " was the son of Hassin , of thc ancient race of the Patans or Aflghans , who came from G ' oor , in thc north-west of Hindostan ; he usurped thc fchroi ic of young J ' ellal Kanand drove Malm loud
, Lodi out of Bengal , of which he effected the entire conquest . Mention may also be made ofthe grottoes of Ambola and of Canara , one of which is situated seven , and the other forty miles , from Tainia .
THE AllCHITECTUUE OF THE PERSIANS . The kind of architecture of those ancient people—the inhabitants of Persia—is perhaps still more difficult to settle or to characterize than that of the Hindoos . It is known that they did not build temples , monuments which the solidity of their construction and reli gious respect transmit more surely and better preserved to generations that look back to the ruins of more ancient generations .
Masterpieces Oe The Akchitecture Of Diffekent Nations.
The Persians worshipped the sun ; they regarded the universe as its temple , ancl the highest mountains as the only altars where they could offer it sacrifices ; because , in ascending to the lofty summits of mountains they could see sooner and longer the beneficent beams of that star to which they addressed their invocations and their incense . The foundation ofthe empire of the Persians ( orig inally called Elamites
, and whose first kings , according to Persian authors , are the Pischdadians ) , as well as the foundation of Persepolis , dates from the year 3209 before the birth of Christ . Djemschid , who built that city , made his entry into it and established ' his empire there , as we are told in the History of Ancient Astronomy , on the very day when the sun piasses into the
constellation of the ram . They began the year on that day , and it became the epoch of the period that takes the solar year at three hundred and sixty-five clays aud a quarter . This Djemschid , a contemporary of Noah , must have been , as Bailly says , in his Letters on the Allantides , the chief of a colony that emigrated from an ancient ancl already well
informed people . The Persians had months of fourteen days , in common with the Hindoos ; their week was likewise seven days , a number equal to that oftlie planets ; and this same division of time is to be found among the Indians , the Chinese , and the Egyptians . The knowledge of these divisionswhich at
, the first glance seems to have no connection with architecture , is nevertheless far from useless to the artist and the dilettante of that art . It serves to make him understand , and often to explain to him the reason of certain divisions of masses and columns , and of the decorations with which their
edifices were adorned , such as symbols relating to astronomy , agriculture , and national history . It would bo therefore impossible clearly to understand aud form a just notion of the architecture of a nation , or to take any interest in it , without liaving some slight acquaintance with its religious creed , its history , and its usages . We learn from Eusebius , in . his " Commentaries on Zoroaster" that the ancient god of "
, the Magi of Persia , whose religious ceremonies took the name of macjia , was designated by the head of a sparrow ; they worshi-rped him by preserving a perpetual fire for sacrifices on au altar , in the midst of a round place , environed by u fosse ; they had no temple there ; they rendered no worshi p to the dead and to images . Ultimately they abandoned the
worship of this eternal and invisible god , to pay adoration to the sun , lire , the dead , and images , as had been done before them by the Egyptians , the Pho-iiiciaus , and the Chaldeans . Nothing is less demonstrated than that the ruins of a vast edifice , which may still be seen in Persia , at Tchilminar , in a jiosition in which the situation of Persepolis is believed to be recognized , are the remains of the ancient palace of the kings . It would require a very long dissertation to clear up this
problem , in which geography , history , and thc knowledge oftlie antiquary in architecture , must coincide to give positive proofs ; and tho limits of a mere descriptive notice do notallow entering into such a discussion . But in order that tho reader may see at a glance thc whole extent of the question , I will lay before him a short extract of what is to be found on the matter in the Supplement lo Bescarches on the Origin ,
Spirit , and Progress of the Arts of Greece ; mi the Ancient Monuments of India , Persia , etc ., by D'Haucarville , a work full of immense erudition . I make thc extract the more willingly from this source , because it reminds me every moment of thc brilliant and amiable qualities which distinguished this learned author , to whom we are also indebted
for an explanation of the Hamilton Vases . "All that noiv remains of the so much vaunted magnificence ot the ancient Persians , consists in the ruins of Ijut-Cane , about twenty miles from those ol Persepolis , and in the monuments of Nak-Schi-ltustan , situated two or three leagues from the latter . These are the most considerable and the most important of all to know , and the knowledge of them gives the whole information that can be acquired of the antiquity of this people . The Chevalier Chardin had the ruins of Tchilminar , at Persepolis , drawn by
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masterpieces Oe The Akchitecture Of Diffekent Nations.
Those to whom the German is familiar may also consult the fourth chapiter of the History of Architecture , by Stieglitz and may refer constantly to an historical , geographical , and political essay on the commerce of India , by a man of genius—Lieutenant-Colonel Legoux de Flaix . They will be convinced , by examination , of the difference of this kind of
architecture with that of the Egyptians , and of a certain analogy with that of the Arabians and Persians , whieh might induce one to believe that those people , in some of their constructions , had in their minds the monuments of India ¦ if an opinion may be thus formed from a more modern architecture of what was the ancient architecture of the Indians
, transmitted through the medium of that kind of tradition which obtains in the art of building . They will remark that the tombs of the Indian kings , engraved at London in the collection of Hodges , are very much in the form of the mosques at Cairo , and bear much affinity to the style of the Arabians .
Thc tomb of the Emjieror Akbar , who was born at Amicat , on the frontiers of Persia , in 1-541 , the 948 th year of the Hegira , is one of the most beautiful productions of the revival of Indian architecture . This prince encouraged the arts and the whole ofthe sciences during a reign of fifty-one years , and surpassed the glory and renown of all the princes of the house of Timourhe was son of the . Emperor
; Humaioun ; under his reign Moorish architecture then acquired all the perfection which is brilliantly conspicuous in thc superb monuments of India . The entrance to the tomb of this priuce , and the tomb itself , occupied twenty-two years in building . It is constructed , as far as regards the body of the edifice , of red granite and marble ; but the
minarets , soaring above its mass , are entirely of marble . The tomb of his father Humaioun , at Delhi , dates also from the reign of this emperor ; it is very celebrated for its grandeur and the beauty of the style of its architecture . The immense fortress of Agra , named Akbarahabad , as well as the palace ancl the mosque of Futtipoor-Sieriwere erected
, by this same emperor . These buildings seem to have fixed the style and the taste of Moorish architecture in Hindostan , - for the other modern edifices appear to bo a more or less close imitation of them .
Though the Taj Mehal , built by Shah Jehan , the grandson of Akbar , may be more perfect in the execution of the details , it is not superior to them for tastefulness of design , oi- for originality in the distribution of masses . Thc tomb of the Emperor Shore Shah , at Sasoram , in the kingdom of Eahar , near Patua , the capital of the country , is a dome
which in diameter is but sixteen feet less than St . Paul's in Loudon ; the Emperor Shore Shah had it built , and was buried in it in the year 95 :. of the Hegira , or 15-1-5 . It is situated in the midst of a great lake or reservoir , called in the country tanc , and with which there is a communication by a stone bridge , now iu ruins , but which was very elegant
in construction . Shore Shah , originally named Eoricl , and who was honoured , on account of his valour , by the title of Sheve Khan , which means "the Khan of Lions , " was the son of Hassin , of thc ancient race of the Patans or Aflghans , who came from G ' oor , in thc north-west of Hindostan ; he usurped thc fchroi ic of young J ' ellal Kanand drove Malm loud
, Lodi out of Bengal , of which he effected the entire conquest . Mention may also be made ofthe grottoes of Ambola and of Canara , one of which is situated seven , and the other forty miles , from Tainia .
THE AllCHITECTUUE OF THE PERSIANS . The kind of architecture of those ancient people—the inhabitants of Persia—is perhaps still more difficult to settle or to characterize than that of the Hindoos . It is known that they did not build temples , monuments which the solidity of their construction and reli gious respect transmit more surely and better preserved to generations that look back to the ruins of more ancient generations .
Masterpieces Oe The Akchitecture Of Diffekent Nations.
The Persians worshipped the sun ; they regarded the universe as its temple , ancl the highest mountains as the only altars where they could offer it sacrifices ; because , in ascending to the lofty summits of mountains they could see sooner and longer the beneficent beams of that star to which they addressed their invocations and their incense . The foundation ofthe empire of the Persians ( orig inally called Elamites
, and whose first kings , according to Persian authors , are the Pischdadians ) , as well as the foundation of Persepolis , dates from the year 3209 before the birth of Christ . Djemschid , who built that city , made his entry into it and established ' his empire there , as we are told in the History of Ancient Astronomy , on the very day when the sun piasses into the
constellation of the ram . They began the year on that day , and it became the epoch of the period that takes the solar year at three hundred and sixty-five clays aud a quarter . This Djemschid , a contemporary of Noah , must have been , as Bailly says , in his Letters on the Allantides , the chief of a colony that emigrated from an ancient ancl already well
informed people . The Persians had months of fourteen days , in common with the Hindoos ; their week was likewise seven days , a number equal to that oftlie planets ; and this same division of time is to be found among the Indians , the Chinese , and the Egyptians . The knowledge of these divisionswhich at
, the first glance seems to have no connection with architecture , is nevertheless far from useless to the artist and the dilettante of that art . It serves to make him understand , and often to explain to him the reason of certain divisions of masses and columns , and of the decorations with which their
edifices were adorned , such as symbols relating to astronomy , agriculture , and national history . It would bo therefore impossible clearly to understand aud form a just notion of the architecture of a nation , or to take any interest in it , without liaving some slight acquaintance with its religious creed , its history , and its usages . We learn from Eusebius , in . his " Commentaries on Zoroaster" that the ancient god of "
, the Magi of Persia , whose religious ceremonies took the name of macjia , was designated by the head of a sparrow ; they worshi-rped him by preserving a perpetual fire for sacrifices on au altar , in the midst of a round place , environed by u fosse ; they had no temple there ; they rendered no worshi p to the dead and to images . Ultimately they abandoned the
worship of this eternal and invisible god , to pay adoration to the sun , lire , the dead , and images , as had been done before them by the Egyptians , the Pho-iiiciaus , and the Chaldeans . Nothing is less demonstrated than that the ruins of a vast edifice , which may still be seen in Persia , at Tchilminar , in a jiosition in which the situation of Persepolis is believed to be recognized , are the remains of the ancient palace of the kings . It would require a very long dissertation to clear up this
problem , in which geography , history , and thc knowledge oftlie antiquary in architecture , must coincide to give positive proofs ; and tho limits of a mere descriptive notice do notallow entering into such a discussion . But in order that tho reader may see at a glance thc whole extent of the question , I will lay before him a short extract of what is to be found on the matter in the Supplement lo Bescarches on the Origin ,
Spirit , and Progress of the Arts of Greece ; mi the Ancient Monuments of India , Persia , etc ., by D'Haucarville , a work full of immense erudition . I make thc extract the more willingly from this source , because it reminds me every moment of thc brilliant and amiable qualities which distinguished this learned author , to whom we are also indebted
for an explanation of the Hamilton Vases . "All that noiv remains of the so much vaunted magnificence ot the ancient Persians , consists in the ruins of Ijut-Cane , about twenty miles from those ol Persepolis , and in the monuments of Nak-Schi-ltustan , situated two or three leagues from the latter . These are the most considerable and the most important of all to know , and the knowledge of them gives the whole information that can be acquired of the antiquity of this people . The Chevalier Chardin had the ruins of Tchilminar , at Persepolis , drawn by