Machine summary:
ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE" FOREWORD THE followingis the translation of a work entitled " The· Mosques of Samarkand Gour-i-Amir.
That king, after the tradition of the Deccan Muslim kines ordered the erection of his mausoleum in h:is life-time°during the very first year of his reign, which is noted inside the dome over the southern door of the build• ing.
Apart from the evidences of the names of the archi• tects of Central Asia who are responsible for introduc• ing into India the theory and style of Islamic architecture, if we examine the two buildings from the constructional point of view, we find in the Taj Mahal the same arrange• ment of the underground sepulchral vault as in the· Gour-i-Amfr (explained below).
The author affirms therein that after the death of Mirza Mohammad Sultan, which occurred ·soon after the battle of Angora in which this prince gave proof of valour, Tamerlane issued orders for the erection of a splendid mausoleum with cupola, in memory of the departed, beside the Madrasa built by the prince.
In fact, the first ofthese authors wrote, " Thursday the 30th October the king, (that is, Tamerlane) quitted his army in order to come to town and stayed at the house of the mosque which he had built as a resting place for the body of his grandson Mirza Mohammad Sultan.
below the Sheikh's tomb ; also into the same mausoleum was carried the body of Mirza Mohammad Sultan and placed beside the Sheikh- 1tis undoubtedly the domed mosque which is referred to.