The Mughal to Late Mughal Style (1628-1858) 5.1 Do you know
Description Image Source
The Mughal style reached its zenith during the reign of Shah Jahan (1628-1858) who was a great builder. He beautified the capital cities of Agra and Delhi with splendid palaces and magnificent monuments and also created numerous elegant buildings at Ajmer, Lahore, Srinagar and other places.
Shah Jahan’s is an age of marble buildings. With the change of building material, the technique of surface decoration took the form of artistic inlay of semi- precious and multi-coloured stones in marble, representing petals and curving tendrils of conventional flowers
The large group of Shah Jahan’s marble building in Agra Fort includes Diwan-i-Khas (1637) with its most graceful double columns carrying multifoil arches.
The MuthammanBurj remarkable for its chaste decoration of inlay and marble filigree work
Workmanship of the most perfect order marks the rich and gorgeous decorations in different styles, to wit, in pietra dura, low-relief marble carving in arabesques and flowers, and lustrous gold.
The magnificent Jami Masjid of Delhi, completed a little later (1656), is one of the most impressive mosques in India.
Another important mosque of this period is the Jami mosque at Agra constructed by Jahanara, the eldest daughter of Shah Jahan, in 1648.
The greatest architectural achievement of the period or rather of the whole range of Indo-Islamic architecture is the Dream in Marble, the Taj (1647-48) at Agra. Apart from its romantic appeal, the Taj is a masterpiece of architectural style in conception, treatment and execution, all alike.
The Taj Mahal has relegated to the background a little known and small but architecturally quite an impressive mosque, called FatehpuriMasjid (c. 1648), just outside the main entrance of its enclosure.
The most important architectural monument representing the Later Mughal style is the tomb of RabiaudDaurani, wife of Aurangzeb, built in about 1661 at Aurangabad in the Deccan.
The Badshahi Masjid of Lahore built in 1674 is of considerable architectural merit
Another mosque of note is the Moti Masjid in the Red Fort constructed by Aurangzeb in 1659-60. Constructed entirely of the best polished white marble, it is a small but chaste structure in which the delicacy of earlier craftmanship is retained and consists of a small open courtyard in front of the prayer-hall enclosed on three sides.
Of the other monuments built during this period, the mosque and tomb of Sardar Khan (1684) at Ahmadabad deserve mention here. Situated in a high-walled enclosure with an imposing dilapidated gateway these two fine edifices of modest dimensions represent a curious, but not an unhappy blending of the later Mughal and the Gujarat styles of Indo-Islamic architecture. The most striking feature of these buildings is their large and small Persian domes, uniformly pear-shaped and separated from their high circular bases of pleasing design, by elegant moulding.
5.2 Timeline
Timelines Image Description
1634 Wazir Khan’s mosque was constructed
1637 Shah Jahan’s mosque was built
1637 Diwan-i-Khas was built
1637 Caravan Sarai of Azam Khan was constructed
1647-48 Taj Mahal was constructed
1648 Fatehpuri masjid
1648 The buildings within the Red fort was completed
Jame mosque of Agra was completed by Jahanara 1648 Begum
1655 Moti masjid at Agra was built
1655 Lukochuri gateway at Gaur, Bengal was erected
Circa 1656 Jame mosque at Shahjahanabad completed
1659-60 Moti mosque at Red fort was constrcuted
Bibi ka Maqbara was constructed in memory of 1661 Rabia-ud-Durani
1674 Badshashi mosque at Lahore was built
1684 Pari Bibi’s tomb at Dacca was constructed
Mosque and tomb of Sardar Khan was erected in 1684 Ahmedabad
5.3 Glossary
Staring Related Term Definition Character Term
A Alcove A recess in the wall of a room or garden.
A term used to designate denaturalised vegetal ornament, but which now also includes other Islamic Arbesque ornament such as geometric, calligraphic and even figural. It is generally repetitious and fills the entire surface of the ornament. An arcade is a succession of arches, each counter- thrusting the next, supported by columns, piers, or a Arcaded covered walkway enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides.
Arcuate Shaped like a bow; curved
B Bulbous dome Bulbous dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the drum upon which they sit, and their height usually Onion dome exceeds their width. These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point. C Charbagh Charbagh or Chahar Bagh is a Persian and Islamic quadrilateral garden layout based on the four gardens of Paradise mentioned in the Qur'an. The quadrilateral
garden is divided by walkways or flowing water into four smaller parts. Mughals introduced these type of gardens in India Chhatri A domed kiosk built on pillars used extensively in Mughal architecture on the tops of palaces, mosques and tombs. In Mughal architecture a chatri was decorative, while in Hindu architecture, which is where it is derived from, it was used as a cenotaph.
D Daftar Khana Record room
Diwan-i-Aam Hall of audience
Diwan-i-Khas Hall of private audience
F Filigree work Filigree is a delicate kind of jewellery metalwork, usually of gold and silver, made with tiny beads or twisted threads, or both in combination
G Guldasta An ornamental pinnacle in the shape of flowers
Jami mosque Jamimosquerefers to the main mosque of a town, city or village, and is usually the place of gathering for Eid prayers and Friday prayers. These are sometimes called
Congregational mosques or Friday mosques.
M Mihmankhana Guest House Mehmankhana
Minar A tower or turret found specially in Indo-Islamic
architecture P Pendentive A curved triangle of vaulting formed by the intersection
of a dome with its supporting arches. Pietra dura Pictorial mosaic work using semi-precious stones,
typically for table tops and other furniture. S Squinch arch A squinch in architecture is a construction filling in the upper angles of a square room so as to form a base to receive an octagonal or spherical dome. T Trabeated In architecture, a post-and-lintel or trabeated system refers to the use of horizontal beams or lintels which are borne up by columns or posts. V Vault Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a
vault exert lateral thrust that requires a counter resistance.
5.4 Web links
Web links https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah_Jahan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah_Jahan_period_architecture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurangzeb http://www.indianetzone.com/41/mughal_architecture_during_aurangzeb.htm
5.5 Bibliography
Bibliography
Asher, Catherine B. The new Cambridge History of India: Architecture of Mughal India, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2008
Brown, Percy. Indian Architecture, Islamic Period.5th ed. D.B. Taraporevala, Mumbai, 1968
Desai, Ziyauddin A., Indo-Islammic Architecture, Vol.II, London, 1958
Koch, Ebba., Mughal Architecture: An Outline of its History and Development (1526-1858), Primus Books, New Delhi, 2014
Nath, R., History of Mughal Architecture, Vol. 1Abhinav Publishers, New Delhi, 1982
Nath, R, Indigenous Characteristics of Mughal Architecture, Indian History and Culture Society, New Delhi, 2004
Saraswati, Sarasi Kumar, Glimpses of Mughal Architecture, G. Wittenborn, California, 1953