In Egypt and Syria the anti-caliphs of the Fatimid house, who came immediately from Africa, but ulti mately from Persia, had already transformed the 'Abbasid pillar mosque in stone (Hakim Mosque, Cairo, 996). The Ayyubids (II69–i 250) and Mamelukes (1 250–I 5 I 7) subsequently brought the iwan-and-dome mosque to preeminence, though with con siderable alterations. The inner courtyard became appreciably smaller; the great facades of the gateway and the iwan vanished, being incorporated in a closed block with simple facades of which the features were on a large scale, and this block contained the madrasa and other subsidiary spaces. The coloured brickwork was replaced by alternate courses of white and red freestone ; the ogee arches by pointed and lobar arches, frequently narrowed at the base, and often composed of artfully indented red and white keystones; and the foliate-patterned faience tiles by geometrical twined ornament in stucco and stone. Most of the monuments of this style are to be seen in Cairo (e.g., the "Tombs of the Caliphs," the mosques of Sultan Hassan [1362], Quait Bey, etc.), others at Aleppo, Damascus and elsewhere.
In Asia Minor, under the Seljuq and early Ottoman rulers, the inner courtyard was transformed into a central domed hall, and the iwdns into lateral aisles, as in most of the mosques of Konia, Isnik and Brussa. After the capture of Con stantinople (1453), this development, originally due entirely to the severity of the climate, was combined with Byzantine tradi tions, and gave birth, mainly through the agency of the archi tectural genius Sinan, to those immense domed mosques—such as the Mahmadiya (1463-71), the Sulaimaniya (1550-56), and others at Stamboul, the Salimiya (1512-20) at Adrianople, etc., which continued the plan of St. Sophia's (see ARCHITECTURE; By zantine and Romanesque Architecture). A hollow dome resting on four gigantic binding-vaults was enlarged by half-domes round its circumference, and these again by smaller half-domes inter secting them, thus reaching the greatest height and volume obtain able by a single hollow vault, and surpassing in loftiness even the dome of St. Peter's at Rome. However vast their proportions, these buildings presented an appearance of squatness, which had to be counterbalanced by slender, pencil-like minarets. The archi tectural forms are related to the Mameluke style in their detail, but faience tiles also were used for the decoration of the smaller surfaces; and in the 18th century the influence of the European rococo style made itself felt.
In India (see INDIAN ARCHI TECTURE) also the Persian iwan-and-dome mosque was the pre dominant type. But since the conquerors, being but few, were obliged to employ Indian masons, the Persian true vault was driven out by the Indian corbelled vault. In the earlier period the Persian ogee arches formed a mere facade in front of a mosque of the Arabian type, with Hindu pillars, purged of their heathenish figural plastic decoration, and maqsfira domes; the best are the mosques at Gujarat. In Delhi, apart from a few sultans' tombs like those of Iltutmysh and Mohammed Tughlaq, only parts of the Great Mosque, such as the Alai Darwaza (13th century) and the great minaret, the Qutb Minar, have been pre served ; the walls, often inclined, are noteworthy. Af ter the
buildings in the Hindu manner erected by the Emperor Akbar (1556-1605) at Fathpur-Sikri, Agra and Sikandra, the Persian influence becomes stronger under the later Mogul emperors Jahangir and Shahjahan in the 17th century. The Friday mosques with pillar-halls and very squat iweins as gatehouses, the mauso leums like the tomb of Humayun at Delhi and the marvelous Taj Mahal at Agra, are perfectly proportioned creations of the same type as the Persian vaulted sepulchres. The most usual material is white marble with coloured tarsia work, but red sandstone is also found. The principal architectural forms are the ogee arch, the lobar arch, and the Indian lotus dome ; chattris—small domes with projecting roofs, carried on pillars—are widely used as ornament.
The tendencies in the development of the mosque appear in every detail in secular architecture. Of the palaces of the caliphs at Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo, as of many others built in later times, we know only from descriptions. We are, however, acquainted with several of the country houses (badiya) of the tOmayyads in the desert to the east of the Dead sea, including Qusair `Amra with its vaulted baths adorned with frescoes in the later antique style. Another old Persian type (hira) is to be found at Mshatta, in the same region, and in Ukhaidir and the 'Abbasid residence at Samarr5. in Mesopotamia. They are rectangular castles, from whose entrance one proceeds through a number of anterooms to the hall of audience. Next come the prince's apartments and the harem; behind is a garden, and per haps soldiers' quarters on both sides. With the downfall of the eAbbasids, cities gradually assumed a type which, with its castles and its narrow, irregular streets, resembled mediaeval European towns. Fine examples of such fortresses in a style closely akin to the European are to be seen in the castles of Aleppo and Baalbek. The Alhambra, in Spain, is another such; the rooms of the castle are grouped in an irregular but very intimate style around courts and gardens, but—as in the Alcazar at Seville and in Moroccan palaces—are clearly divided into reception-rooms, harem and mashuar (offices) ; the decoration is extraordinarily rich and luxurious. Subsequently the plan of dividing the palace up into a system of courts and pavilions surrounded by gardens, as in the Safawid castles at Isfaham and the Old Sarai at Stam bul, was introduced from Persia; the living-rooms, small and adorned with frescoes (often erotic) and tiling, were grouped around one or more central iwiins. In India, at Delhi, Agra, Lahore and Gwalior, separate pavilions were built on the castle walls, with a view over the valley and the cool river on one side, and over arcaded gardens on the other. From these private apart ments access was gained through a small door to an open hall with a gallery, on which the ruler gave public audience; this hall (diwan-i 'amm), which was set apart for the grandees, was sur rounded by a courtyard where minor reviews were held, and to which the common folk were admitted. It was reached from the gate on the town side by a passage flanked by offices and shops, leading to an outer court with soldiers' quarters and a gateway with a bandstand (naggara khiina).