Indian Antiquary Vol 50

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 54

48
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[ FEB., 1921
In these rather inconsistent premises I see indications of a somewhat mixed genealogy of the nakshatras. Perhaps I am slightly biassed by the consideration of the fact that researches intc early origins generally teach us that a pure genealogy for any notion or set of potions that have prevailed in some form or other for centuries is an almost unknown rarity. It is indisputable that the nakshatras have had connexiors with ritual, with constellations, and with the ecliptio—more or less independently; but we must be very cautious how we utilise any combinations of these connexions when we aim at establishing definite conclusions.
The one point that is definite has been ignored in the lengthy controversies that have taken place regarding the nakshatras. It relates to the evidence thet showe unmistakably that it was known that the constellations revolve with referenoe to the nakshatras. This I take to indicate a know ledge of precession, a knowledge that has sometimes been denied, so far as the early Hindu teachers are concerned ; and suggest for your consideration that if the nakshatra scheme were conceived as an ecliptic scale, analogous to the zodiac scale as used by western astronomers, a number of the controversial passages would be cleared up. This is a suggestion only, to which I am by no means wedded, but it is a hypothesis that ought to be considered when dealing with the vexed questions that have arisen in connexion with the nakshatras and Vedic chronology.
SOME NEWLY DISCOVERED TULUNIDE ORNAMENT.
BY CAPTAIN K A. C. CRESWELL, R.A.7.1 The well-known mosque of Abmad Ibn Talûn, one of the most beautiful in Cairo. possesses the additional advantage of being the oldest Muhammadan monument of certain date in Egypt. I exclude the mosque of 'Amr, as it has been repeatedly rebuilt, and only attained its present size in 212 H. (827). I also exclude the aqueduct of Ibn Tâlân, as it is not exactly dated. It therefore follows that the ornament of this mosque possesses a pre-eminent importance in the history of Muhammadan art. Its beautiful ornament, executed in the hardest stucco, is well known to students, and illustrations of the capitals of the engaged columns at the angles of the piers, and of the bands of ornament wbich decorate the arches and windows, are to be found in many books. The Aqueduct of Basâtîn, the only other existing Tülünide monument, does not bear any surface decoration, so the sum total of Pålänide ortament is to be found in this mosque, with the exception of a few small fragments which are occasionally brought to light in the rubbish mounds of Fustats and there was little reason for believing that any substantial addition would ever be made to it. I will now describe how and where the discovery was made.
The Mosque of Ibn Talán consists of an oper. courtyard (sahn) surrounded by arcades (riudg) five rows deep on the side of the sanctuary and two rows deep on the three other sides (F10. 1). The whole forms an almost exact square, which is itself bounded on three sides by a zidda or extension. These three ziádas are themselves enclosed by the outer
1 Reprinted from the Burlington Magazine, November, 1919. . a See P. Costo, L'Architecture arabe, ou Monuments du Caire, Plates IV and VI; Prisse d'Avesnes, L'Art arabe, tome I, Plates I-III ; Ebers (C)., Egypt; Corbet (E. K.), The Life and Works of Ahmad Ibn palan in the JRA8., 1891; Franz Pasha, Kairo, pp. 13 and 18 ; Gayet, Le Caire, pp. 43-45 ; etc.
3 Boe Hors Bey, Catalogue raisonnd du musée du Caire : Mrs. R. L. Devonshire, Rambles in Oairo, p. 80.