________________ Some Islamic Remains in Hajipur 383 ments aee in possession of Shah Vakil Ahmad Saheb. On the four corners of the roof rise four turrets. The wall enclosing the tombs is '2" thick. There is also a small dome and a Kalasa with lotus petals carved on it. Broken pieces of stones and bricks are lying in the heap in one part of the enclosure and there are also two big iron drums lying in an uncared for state. Outside the mausoleum but within the enclosure is an open mosque. Its veranda is 12 feet broad. In the walls there are nine arched recesses with niches on either side. On the two corners of the outer enclosing wall are two dome pillars showing the lotus petals on the top. Besides the Ciragadana muntioned above, there lies a small basalt slab containing an inscription of which the first two lines are in Arabic usually found in mosques. The other lines read as follows: : "Bana-i-Hazal Masjid al Aali Haji Chand Nawab-i-Shaista Khani. Katba-i-Muhammad Mukim-Ibn-Mir Syed Abdur Rasul, 1071 A. H." i. e., the founder of the grand mosque is Haji Chand, an omrah of Nawab Shaista Khan, the scribe is Md. Mukim son of Mir Syed Abur Rasool year 1071 A. H. - 1660 A. D. On either side of the main outer gateway which appears to have been doubly arched at some distance and probably at the corner of the whole structure, there is a massive piece of brick work, the upper portion of which seems to have been a big chamber pierced by three arched openings. But the arches no longer exist. A fair is held at the mausoleum on the occasion of Mohrram each year. A furlong across the road lies a beautiful building known as the Karbala. It lies within a big enclosure pierced by a high double storied brick built gateway with a big wooden gate bearing an inscription in Devanagari characters indicating that the wooden door was provided by a Hindu gentleman of Sarayyagunj, Muzaffarpur. There is a small gateway on the eastern side. In the centre of the enclosure there is a Karbala built on a raised platform and it is in a remarkably good state of preservation. The Karbala has got four turrets on each corner of the building. On the western side there is a big qanati Masjid with five arched recesses and a very big verandah. Adjacent to the mosque is a bigger and more imposing Idgah. Its verandah leads to two big halls, each of them having two small chambers on either side. The verandah and rooms are paved with large bricks. 1. It would be interesting to know that the mosque built by the same Haji Chand in 1056 A. H.-1641 A. D. is still extant in a. dilapidated condition in Mahalla Babuaganj, Patna City.
