Part One
TRANSOXANIA AND KHURASAN
(G. A. Pugachenkova)

Part Two
SOUTHERN CENTRAL ASIA
(A. H. Dani)

Part Three
EASTERN CENTRAL ASIA
(Liu Yingsheng)

The next historical stage is marked by the role of the Ghurid sultan, Shihb al-Din or Mu^cizz al-Din Muhammad. Starting from his capital city of Firuzkuh in Ghur, he introduced the new style of architecture borrowed from the Seljuqs and implanted in the capital city of Delhi, founded on the site of an older Hindu capital of the Tomara rulers, called Qal^ca-i Ra’i Pithaura, at Vishnupadagiri, presently called Mihrauli. The site of Firuzkuh is not identified for certain, but may be marked by the minaret at Jam in the valley of the Hari Rud, which was built by Ghiyth al-Din Muhammad b. Sm. The minaret displays unusual features, tapering like the minar at Kunya-Urgench, but it is octagonal in the first stage and becomes round in the two successive stages, with a six-arched circular arcade crowning the top. Each stage is topped by projecting corbelled balconies resting on stalactites. Each face of the first stage has elaborate ornamentation in moulded, buff-coloured brick relief, all contained within eight vertical panels. The upper portion contains an epigraphic band. Below the first balcony is a Kufic inscription in blue giving the name of the builder. Inside the minaret a double spiral staircase leads up to the first balcony, probably suggesting that one could ascend to this height and, if necessary, give the call to prayer. Unfortunately, the remains of a possibly adjacent mosque have not yet been traced.