, and the inscriptions on them contain a
code of moral and religions precepts. They do not commemorate
conquests, although the Asoka pillar at Allahabad has been utilized
by later sovereigns for the recording of magniloquent inscriptions in
praise of their grandeur. The best-known of the Asoka pillars are the
two at Delhi, and the one at Allahabad. Many scholars have devoted
themselves to the study of the inscriptions of Asoka, which may be
said to form the foundation of authentic Indian history. The reader
interested in the subject should consult Senart, _Les Inscriptions de
Piyadasi_, t. I and II, Paris, 1881, 1886; V. A. Smith, _Asoka, the
Buddhist Emperor of India_, 2nd ed.. Oxford, 1909; and 'The
Monolithic Pillars or Columns of Asoka' (_Z.D.M.G._, 1911, pp. 221-
10). See also _E.H.I._, 3rd ed. (Oxford, 1914), chap. 6, 7, with
Bibliography. Certain of the Gupta emperors in the fifth century A.C.
also erected monolith pillars. Some of the pillars of the Gupta
period commemorate victories; others are merely religious monuments.

18. Fergusson thought the Kutb Minar superior to Giotto's campanile
at Florence in 'poetry of design and exquisite finish of detail'. He
also held it to excel its taller Egyptian rival, the minaret of the
mosque of Hasan at Cairo, in its nobler appearance, as well as in
design and finish. To sum up, he held the Delhi monument to surpass
any building of its class in the whole world. (_Hist. of Indian and
Eastern Architecture_, ed. 1910, vol. ii, p. 206.)

19. Fergusson (ibid.) was mistaken in supposing that the Kutb Minar
was intended for anything else than a _mazina_, or tower from which
the call to prayers should be proclaimed. It is that and nothing
else. Several examples of early mosques with only one _minar_ each
are known, at Koil and Bayana, in India, as well as at Ghazni and
Cairo. The unfinished _minar_ of Alauddin near the Kutb Minar was
intended for a distinct building, namely, his addition to the
original Kutb mosque. There was no 'other _minar_' connected with the
Kutb Minar.(Cunningham, _A.S.R._ iv (1874), p. ix.)

The current name of the Kutb Minar refers to the saint Khwaja Kutb-
ud-din of Ush, who lies near the tower, and not to Sultan Kutb-ud-din
Aibak or Ibak. The _minar_ was erected, about A.D. 1232, by Sultan
Shams-ud-din Iltutmish (V. A. Smith, 'Who Built the Kutb Minar?'
_East and West_, Bombay, Dec. 1907, pp. 1200-5; B. N. Munshi, _The
Kutb Minar, Delhi_, Bombay, 191