Tughluq tombs

They look more like fortresses with walls surrounding them and have restrained decoration and embellishment compared to both earlier and later Indian Islamic tombs.

Features of Hindu influences on Tughlaq architecture include the flat lintel instead of pointed arch, pillars, windows with balconies and eaves and railings.

After his death, his successor Muhammad bin Tughlaq, moved back to Delhi and left Tughluqabad to gradually crumble and decay, although the tomb of Ghiyas remains there in a very well preserved condition.

The tomb was constructed in 1325 and is built of red sandstone and white marble, materials commonly used in Islamic structures at that time.

The architectural style of the tomb is inspired by the Khalji portal- Alai Darwaza- in the Qutb Minar complex.

This architectural style is similar to the sloping walls of the Hindola Mahal (Swing palace) in Mandu, Madhya Pradesh.

The Ghiyas tomb exhibits peculiar Hindu influences in the form of a kalassa (pinnacle) on top of the white marble dome and a redundant stone lintel installed just below the arch.

The stone lintel was installed either to ensure stability, to fit a rectangular timber door in the arched opening, or purely for aesthetic reasons, to continue the white marble band along the facade.

It was later given by his son Muhammad, to the followers of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, a renowned Sufi saint of Multan, Pakistan.

The mausoleum, built entirely of red brick, has the thick, sloping walls that characterise Tughluq architecture.

The lower walls form a high octagon whose corners are marked by round and tapering buttresses.

This meant he had to use simple design and cheap materials such as rubble and whitewashed plaster instead of the stone and marble combination.

[7][8][9] Firoz Shah's tomb is located in Hauz Khas (New Delhi), close to the tank built by Alauddin Khalji.

The archway of the entrance gate has a date engraved on it- 1507-08, the reign of Sikandar Lodi, which suggests that he may have had the tomb repaired.