महाराणा कुम्भा (हरविलास सारदा - मेवाड़ साम्राज्य के अद्वितीय विजेता, निर्माता व विद्वान्)

Maharana Kumbha. in the 186th verse of the Prasasti of the Jaya Sthambha took place on Magh Sud, 10th, Pushya Nakshatra V. S. 1505 (A.D. 1449).¹ As it took 6 years to complete the building from the third to the topmost storey it may fairly be inferred that the foundations of the Jaya Sthambha must have been laid 2 years before the completion of the second storey i.e. in 1440 A.D. Describing it, Mr. Fergusson says : “A pillar of victory like that of Trajan at Rome, but in infinitely better taste as an architec- tural object than the Roman example.”² Colonel James Tod³ thus describes it : “The only thing in India to compare with this is the Kootab Minar at Delhi, but though much higher, it is of a very inferior character. This column is one hundred and twenty feet in height; the breadth of each face at the base is thirty-five feet, and at the summit, immedi- ately under the cupola, seventeen feet and a half. It stands on an ample terrace, forty- ¹ Kirtisthambha (Tower of Victory) Inscription, V. 185, ² History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, page 253. ³ Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol. II., page 761. 140