The column was in its present condition
when the English conquered Delhi.
We mounted as far as the highest point, and a most charming view of
the whole remains of Delhi, the Jumna, and the unbounded plain,
opened itself here before us. The history of the people who once
ruled Hindostan may here be studied in the ruins of imperial towns,
lying one close beside the other. It was a great and imposing
prospect.
Many places where magnificent palaces and monuments formerly stood
are now cultivated fields. Wherever the ground is broken up,
fragments of ruins show themselves.
Opposite the tower or column of Kotab-Minar stands a similar
unfinished building, the base of which is considerably larger in
circumference than that of the finished one. It is supposed that
these two towers belonged to a magnificent mosque, {190} of which
some courts, gateways, columns, and walls still remain.
These few remains of the mosque are remarkable for the perfect
sculptures which covered the walls, gateways, etc., both outside and
inside. The entrance-gateway has a considerable height. The
columns in the courts are of Buddhist origin; the bell with long
chain is sculptured on them in relief.
In the fore-court of the mosque stands a metal column similar to
that at Allahabad, except that there is no lion upon its summit, and
its height is not more than thirty-six feet.
