Module II

ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE – PROVINCIAL - Architectural

Development of the provincial styles in regions of – Punjab,

Bengal, Gujarat, Deccan

Example of Punjab style – Tomb of shah Rukni Alam

Example of Bengal style – Chota sona masjid.Gaur

Example of Gujarat style – Jami masjid,Ahmedabad

Examples of Deccan style – Golgumbaz,Bijapur, & Charminar,

Hyderabad
BIJAPUR

The Adil Shahi or Bijapur Sultanate ruled the sultanate of Bijapur from 1490 to 1686.

The Adil Shahis were originally provincial rulers of the Bahmani Sultanate

With the breakup of the Bahmani state after 1518, Ismail Adil Shah established an

independent sultanate, one of the Five Deccan Sultanates that were the successors to

the Bahmani sultanate.

Bijapur was conquered by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1686, bringing the

sultanate and the dynasty to an end.

GOLGUMBAZ

• The Gol (round) Gumbaz (dome) is the Mausoleum of Muhammad Adil Shah (r. 1627-1656)
of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur.
• It is one of the biggest single chamber structures in the world and covers an area of 1,693
square meters
• The mausoleum is part of a complex that includes a mosque, a dharmshala (inn for travelers)
and other buildings related to the sovereign's mausoleum.
• Built of dark grey basalt and decorated plaster, the walls are 2.7m thick and 30.5 m in
height.
• The interior measures 41 m on each side.
• Each exterior face of the cube displays three great blind arches.
• The cornice rests on highly carved stone corbels that project about 3m from the wall.
• The cornice supports the parapet which has a row of arched openings and leaf-shaped
merlons.
The real tombs are located below in the basement and are accessed by a staircase under the

Western entrance.

The corner towers are divided into seven floors with a projecting cornice and a row of arched

openings marking each level.

Each tower is then capped by a majestic hemispheric dome with a ring of carved leaves around

the base.

The mausoleum is crowned by a massive dome.

At the base of the dome elegant carved petals cover the drum.

The exterior diameter is almost 44 m and reaches a height of 27.4 m. From a circular platform.

Total exterior height from ground level is 60 m.

• The dome rests on a unique pendentive system. It is a system of intersecting arches that was not

used anywhere else in India. The eight high pointed arches intersect in the interior of the cube at

regular intervals and on their points rests the high circular platform with an opening of 29.5m. In

diameter.

• The inner surface of the dome overlaps the edge of the circle by about 4m. So that part of the

weight falls on the intersecting arches that bear and neutralize any other exterior forces.

• The dome is built of horizontal courses of brick with a flat section at its crown. It is cemented with

lime and reaches a thickness of 3.5 m.. There are six openings at its base.

• Gallery around the base of the dome that hangs out about 3.54 m. It is accessed through the

winding staircase in the four towers. It is known as the whispering gallery because the sound

reflections from the dome allow the slightest of whisper can be heard even when standing cross the

dome from each other.

CHARMINAR AT HYDERABAD
 Built in 1591 CE, is a

monument and mosque

located in Hyderabad,

Telangana, India.

 The Charminar is situated

on the east bank of Musi

river.

 To the west lies the Laad

Bazaar, and to the

southwest lies the richly

ornamented granite

Makkah Masjid.
The Char Minar ("Four
Minarets") was built in 1591 AH
by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah
and is considered Hyderabad's
primary monument.
It is a square structure
standing at the intersection of
two streets leading to the four
quarters of the original city,
with an archway on each of its
sides.
The upper level has an
arcaded balcony and pierced
stone screen, with a mosque
on the western side.
Western-style clocks were
added to each face in 1899.
Each corner has a 48.77 m tall
minaret topped with domed
finials
Charminar was built at the center of the city, to commemorate the eradication of

plague", as Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah had prayed for the end of a plague that

was ravaging his city and vowed to build a Mosque at the very place where he

prayed. The Charminar was constructed in the year 1591 CE, to commemorate the

beginning of the second Islamic millennium year (1000 AH).

The event was celebrated far and wide in the Islamic world, thus Qutb Shah

founded the city of Hyderabad to celebrate the event and commemorate it with the

construction of this building

The Charminar was constructed in the intersection of the historical trade route that
connects the markets of Golconda with the port city of Masulipatnam
The Old City of Hyderabad was designed with Charminar as its centerpiece
The city was spread around the Charminar in four different quadrants and
chambers, seggregated according to the established settlements.
Towards the north of Charminar is the Char Kaman, or four gateways, constructed
in the cardinal directions.
Mir Momin Astarabadi, Qutb Shah's prime minister, played a leading role in
preparing the layout plan for the Charminar along with that of the new capital city,
Hyderabad.
Additional eminent architects from Persia were also invited to develop the city plan.
The structure itself was intended to serve as a Mosque and Madraasa. It is of Indo-
Islamic architecture style, incorporating Persian architectural elements.
The Charminar is a square structure with each side 20 m long, with four grand
arches each facing a fundamental point that open into four streets.
At each corner stands an exquisitely shaped minaret, 56 m high, with a double
balcony.
Each minaret is crowned by a bulbous dome with dainty petal-like designs at the
base.
Unlike the Taj Mahal's, Charminar's four fluted minarets are built into the main
structure. There are 149 winding steps to reach the upper floor. The structure is
also known for its profusion of stucco decorations and the arrangement of its
balustrades and balconies.
The structure is made of granite, limestone, mortar and pulverised marble.
A mosque is located at the western end of the open roof; remaining part of the roof
served as a court during the Qutb Shahi times. The actual mosque occupies the top
floor of the four-storey structure.
A vault which appears from inside like a dome supports two galleries within the
Charminar, one over another, and above those a terrace that serves as a roof,
bordered with a stone balcony. The main gallery has 45 covered prayer spaces with
a large open space in front to accommodate more people for Friday prayers.

The clock on the four cardinal directions was added in 1889. There is a vazu (water
cistern) in the middle, with a small fountain for ablution before offering prayer in the
Charminar Mosque.
The Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam
 It is located in Multan, in central Pakistan.
 It is the mausoleum of the Sufi saint Sheikh Rukn-ud-Din Abul Fateh.
 It is built between 1320 and 1324 CE by Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq ..
 It has three entrances, a western-facing Mihrab, and an original main entrance
on the southern axis that featured a small vestibule.
 It features buttresses in each of its 8 corners, and incorporates elements of
Tughluq military architecture.
 It is decorated with Multan-style tile work.
 It is a three-tiered structure.The first tier in the shape of an octagon is 15 metres
in diameter, and features walls 4 feet thick. It features bands of timber that create
a visual break in the exterior brickwork.
 It is buttressed by small minaret-shaped towers in each of its 8 corners that
provide support to the structure, and narrow as they rise and surpass the height
of the first tier.
A second octagon rests upon the first tier that features small domes in each of the
eight corners of the building. A third tier rests above the second, and is formed by a
dome of 15 metres in diameter. The entire structure is 35 metres tall,.with sloping
walls. The dome is capped by a structure similar to an amalaka found on Hindu
temples..
The mausoleum is built entirely of red brick, bounded with beams of shisham wood,
which have turned black over the centuries. The exterior is elaborately ornamented
with carved wooden panels, carved brick, string-courses and battlements.
Buttresses, turrets, and crenellations at the top of the shrine reflect the influence of
Tughluq military architecture on even non-military buildings.
The exterior is further embellished with regional-style tile-work in floral, arabesque,
and geometric motifs with dark blue, azure, and white tiles - all of which contrast the
deep red finely polished bricks. The white dome is decorated with blue tile-work
along its lower perimeter.
Choto Shona Mosque (Small Golden Mosque)
located in Chapai Nawabganj district of Bangladesh. The mosque was built during
the reign of Sultan Hussain Shah, between 1493 and 1519. The fifteen domes of the
mosque were once gilded, giving the mosque the name of Choto Shona Masjid
(Small Golden Mosque)
It is built of brick and stone.
It has its outside dimensions of 25.1 metres from north to south and 15.9 metres
from east to west.
All the four walls are veneered externally and to some extent also internally with
granite stone blocks. The four exterior angles of the building are strengthened with
polygonal towers, of which nine facets are visible. The cornices are curvilinear and
have stone gutters to drain off the rain water from the roof. There are five arched
doorways in the eastern facade and three each on the north and south walls.
Corresponding to the five archways in the east wall there are five semi-circular
Mihrabs inside the west wall.
The interior of the mosque, measuring 21.2 by 12.2 metres, is divided into three
aisles by two rows of stone pillars, four in each row.
A wide central nave has cut the aisles into halves, each half showing six equal
square units with a side of 3.5 m. The nave has three rectangular units, each
measuring 3.5 by 4.5 m.
The interior of the mosque has a total of fifteen units, of which the three rectangular
units are covered with chauchala vaults, and the remaining twelve square units each
by an inverted tumbler-shaped dome.
They are all carried on radiating arches springing from the free-standing stone pillars
and the engaged pilasters. Domes are supported on corbelled brick pendentives.
At the northwest corner of the mosque there is a royal gallery forming an upper floor,
The gallery has a Mihrab in front.
Stone carving, brick-setting, terracotta, gilding and glazed tiles were used in
decorating the building. The spandrels of arches and the spaces above the frames
are always dotted with rosettes.
The interior of the domes and vaults are decorated with terracottas. All the frontal
archways and those of the Mihrabs are cusped.
The most important ornamentation of the mosque is to be seen on the frontal
courtyard of the mosque.The ornamentation consists of mosaic roundels in blue and
white colours of variegated design.
Juma Masjid, Ahmedabad
Jama Masjid with minarets, drawn in 1809 by Robert Melville Grindlay
Jama Masjid (Friday Mosque) in Ahmedabad was built in 1424 during the reign of

Ahmed Shah I.

It is built with yellow sandstone. The mosque complex is centered on a large

rectangular courtyard 75 m long and 66 m wide. The court has three entrances, one

at the center of each side. The courtyard is lined with a colonnade on three sides,

the prayer hall occupies the fourth (east) side. In the center of the courtyard is a

rectangular basin for ablutions.The prayer room is also rectangular and covered by

four domes.

It has Indo-Saracenic architecture.Some of the central domes are carved like lotus

flowers, closely related to the typical domes of Jain temples; and some of the pillars

are carved with the form of a bell hanging on a chain, in reference to the bells that

often hang in Hindu temples.

The wide open courtyard, floored with white marble, is ringed by a colonnade

painted with giant Arabic calligraphy, and has a tank for ritual ablutions in the center.

While the two principal minarets flanking the main arched entranceway collapsed in

the 1819 earthquake, their lower portions still stand.

The main prayer hall has over 260 columns supporting the roof, with its 15 domes,

making a walk through the hall a beautiful maze of light and shadows. The Wall of

Prayer, the qibla is decorated. Pierced stone screens (the 'Jalis') are placed between

the two pillars of the central openings. The main entrance is framed by two columns,

the remains of two minarets (the 'shaking minarets') which were destroyed by the

earthquakes of 1819 and 1957.