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Mughal Architecture
Mughal Architecture
Mughal Architecture
Mughal gardens
• Mughal gardens are a group of gardens built by the Mughals in the Islamic
style of architecture.
• This style was influenced by Persian gardens and Timurid gardens.
• Significant use of rectilinear layouts are made within the walled enclosures.
• Some of the typical features include pools, fountains and canals inside the
gardens.
• The famous gardens are the:-
•Char Bagh gardens at Taj Mahal,
• Shalimar Gardens of Lahore, Delhi and Kashmir
• Pinjore Garden in Haryana.
Babur was very fond of gardens and laid out a few in the neighbourhood
of Agra and Lahore.
Only a few of the Mughal gardens have survived:
1. Nishat Bagh in Kashmir,
2. Shalimar garden at Lahore,
3. Pinjore garden in the foot-hills near Kalka
4. Arambagh (now called Ram Bagh) near Agra.
Babur:
For Babur, the most important aspect of architecture was regularity and
symmetry which he did not find in the buildings, in India.
Perhaps, his dissatisfaction was directed at the Lodi buildings which he
saw at Lahore, Delhi and Agra.
Standing structures attributed to him are mosques (built in 1526) at
Panipat and Sambhal and also in Ayodhya.
1) These structures possess no architectural merit.
2) They were adaptations of earlier buildings, and do not therefore give an
idea of his architectural concepts.
• Babur's secular works mainly comprise the laying of gardens and pavilions.
Garden of Dholpur: Only the excavated ruins of this garden are visible.
Ram Bagh and Zahra Bagh at Agra: have undergone many alterations.
In Baburnarna, he claims credit for some pavilions.
Humayun
Humayun's tomb:
This building is a landmark in the development the Mughal style of
architecture.
This structure was inspired by the Persian culture.
Constructed during Akbar reign (work began in 1564), under the
patronage of his widow Hamida Bano Begum.
• Architect: Mirak Mirza Ghiyas (a native of Persia).
Akbar
Like Babur, he not only had a fine aesthetic taste, but was personally
interested in the construction of building which he not only supervised,
but sometimes himself engaged in the work.
Persian tradition with which Humayun had become familiar during his
stay at the court of Shah Tahmasp.
1) The dome had a slightly constricted neck, and rose high in the sky.
2) It was derived, though not exactly copied from Timurid architecture.
3) It represents an Indian interpretation of a Persian conception.
4) The Persian features were the true double dome which had appeared in
India in the tomb of Sikandar Lodi, but had not fully matured. It had been
familiar in West Asia for long.
5) The double dome enabled a pleasing sky-line, and an interior roof in
keeping with the enclosure inside.
6) A second feature of Persian influence was the arrangement of the rooms
inside.
7) Instead of one enclosure, there were separate rooms in the corridors
linked by passages.
8) However, such an arrangement can be found in earlier, pre-Turkish
buildings.
9) The Indian feature was the entire building being placed in a formal garden
with a large gate.
10) However, such an arrangement can be found in earlier, pre-Turkish
buildings.
11)The Indian feature was the entire building being placed in a formal garden
with a large gate.
12) The dome was supported by slender minaraets which was a feature of
the Gujarat style of architecture.
13) Graceful kiosks (a small, separated pavilion open on some or all
sides)were a familiar feature in Rajasthan. The arches on all sides, and the
fine white inlay work added to the pleasing effect of the building.
Structural Form
Building Projects
Akbar's building projects can be divided into two main groups, each
representing a different phase.
• The first group comprised buildings of fort and a few palaces mainly at Agra,
Allahabad and Lahore.
Agra Fort:
One of the earliest building projects was the construction of a fort at
Agra.
The Agra Fort was started in 1565 and completed in eight years' time.
The Agra fort, with its massive battlements and crenalated walls, its
gates consisting of two octagonal towers of dressed red sandstone
linked to each other was the pattern of the forts which were built at
Lahore, Ajmer and Allahabad later by Akbar.
The Red Fort at Delhi built by Shah Jahan was also patterned on the
fort at Agra.
According to Abul Fazl, within the Agra fort, Akbar built "upward of five
hundred edifices of red stone in the fine style of Bengal and Gujarat."
Most of these buildings were demolished by Shah Jahan to make way
for his own style of buildings (white marble palaces).
Delhi Gate of the Agra fort and Jahangiri Mahal (inside the Agra Fort)
and Akbari Mahal are the only representative buildings of Akbar's reign.
Akbari Mahal was once known as the Bengali Mahal, owing its name to
the Bengali designs used in the Mahal.
Delhi Gate of Agra Fort probably represents Akbar's earliest
architectural effort.
It formed the principal entrance to the fort. The architecture of the gate
shows an originality. signifying the start of a new era in the building art
of India.
Jahangiri Mahal:
Built by Akbar.
Use of red sandstone.
It is a fine specimen of the fusion of the Hindu and Islamic building
designs.
Combination of beam and bracket used.
The roofs of these palaces were flat, and supported by exquisitely
carved pillars.
The palace is said to have been based on the Man Mandir in Gwaliyar
fort, and has many Rajasthani features, such as the heavy red sand
stone brackets and balconies, carved with peacock and serpent motifs.
The walls and staircase carry geese, flamingos and lotus carvings, as
also figures of mythical animals, such as winged dragons, half
elephants, birds etc.
The same style is manifested in the other palace-fortresses Lahore and
Allahabad.
Note:
Jami Masjid,
Buland Darwaza and
Tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti.
Jami Masjid:
The most magnificent building at Fatehpur Sikri is the Jama Masjid with
an interior courtyard of unusually large proportions.
It was one of the first buildings to come up in the Fatehpur Sikri complex
in 1571-72.
It uses the typical plan of a mosque-
1) a central courtyard.
2) arcades on three sides and
3) domed skyline.
Buland Darwaza:
Secular buildings:
One of the palaces within the haram complex is called the Jodha Bai
Palace.
It is the largest of these buildings.
It is massive and austere in character.
This palace may have housed the Emperor's Hindu wives.
This was a large palace with suites of rooms around a courtyard a
traditional design which continued in residential buildings till recent
times.
The bases, columns, and capitals are borrowed from the traditional type
of temple pillars.
It also has a chapel or puja room.
Panch Mahal:
Administrative buildings:
Entering the palace complex through a gate with three arches. called
Naubat Khan (Also known as Naqqar Khana meaning a drum house,
where musician used drums to announce the arrival of the Emperor):
With the royal karkhanas and the mint on the right, one reaches the vast
courtyard called diwan-i-am. Behind the diwan-i-am was building called
the diwan-i-khas and by its side the treasury meant mainly for precious
stones.
Diwan-i Khas:
Hall of Public Audience where the ruler meets the general public.
It is a spacious rectangular courtyard surrounded by colonnades.
Anup Talao:
In front of the Emperor's palace was the Anup Talao with a platform in
the centre.
It was a pool with a central platform and four bridges leading up to it.
This was the place where Akbar sometimes held philosophical debates
or organized musical parties.
It was to the double-storied palace to which some philosophers were
drawn up on cot from which a they discoursed.
At a corner of the Anup Talao is small square building of red sand stone
the walls of which are beautifully carved.
This is miscalled Turkish Sultana's house (Hujra-i-Anup Talao) for no
queen could have lived in such a public place.
New Features
Marble took the place of red sandstone (so it is called age of marble)
during period of Jahangir and Shah Jahan. This dictated
significantstylistic changes:
The arch adopted a distinctive form with foliated curves, usually with
nine cusps
Marble arcades of engrailed arches became a common feature.
The dome developed a bulbous form with stifled neck. Double domes
became very common.
Inlaid patterns in coloured stones became the dominant decorative
form.
In the buildings, from the latter half of the Jahangir's reign, a new
device of inlay decoration called pietra dura was adopted. In this
method, semi-precious stones such as lapis lazuli, onyx, jasper, Topaz
and cornelian were embedded in the marble in graceful foliations.
Jahangir
Jahangir was a much greater patron of the art of painting and he was
not a notable builder.
His love of flowers and animals as reflected in the miniature painting of
his period, made him a great lover of the art of laying out gardens rather
than building huge monuments.
Jahangir also built Mughal gardens: the Shalimar Gardens and Nishat
Bagh, in Kashmir, and their accompanying pavilions on the shore of Dal
Lake in Kashmir.
Under Jahangir the Hindu features became lesser in the style; his great
mosque at Lahore is in the Persian style, covered with enameled tiles.
At Agra, the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daula, which was completed in 1628,
was built entirely of white marble and covered in pietra dura mosaic.
He also built a monument to his pet deer, Hiran Minar in Sheikhupura,
Pakistan and due to his great love for his wife, after his death she went
on to build his mausoleum in Lahore.
Major Buildings
Shahjahan
The Red Fort, constructed by Shah Jahan, was built as the fortified
palace of Shahjahanabad. capital of Shah Jahan, in 1648.
Named for its massive enclosing walls of red sandstone Is a regular
rectangle.
There are two gate-ways-the Delhi and Lahore Gates.
Inside, there are several notable buildings: Diwan-i Aam, Diwan-I Khas
and Rang Mahal.
All of these buildings have floral decorations on the walls, columns and
piers.
It was also used for state functions The courtyard (mardana) behind it leads to
the imperial apartments
Rang Mahal:
Diwan-i-Khas:
1) Hall of Private Audience, constructed of white marble, inlaid with precious
stones.
2) François Bemier described seeing the jewelled Peacock Throne here
during the 17th century.
3) At either end of the hall, over the two outer arches, is an inscription by
Persian poet Amir Khusrou: "If heaven can be on the face of the earth it is
this, it is this, it is this. "
Moti Masjid:
Hammam:
Imperial baths, consisting of three domed rooms floured with white marble.
Shahi Bur:
Lahori Gate:
The Lahori Gate is the main gate to the Red Fort, named for its
orientation towards the city of Lahore.
Delhi Gate:
The Delhi Gate is the southern public gate, similar to the Lahori Gate
Nahr-i-Behisht (Stream of Paradise):
While the Red Fort is famous for the trellised scale of justice in the
Rang Mahal, architecturally the most impressive is the flat roofed
Diwan-i-Am where all the skills of the Hindu pillar maker have been
used to provide clear vistas from the throne. The multi-foialiated arches
give an effect of rippling water.
Mosque building reached its climax under Shah Jahan, the two most
noteworthy ones being
1) the Moti Masjid in the Agra fort, built like the Taj entirely in marble, and
2) the Jama Masjid at Delhi built in red sandstone. A lofty gate, tall slender
minarets, and a series of domes are a feature of the Jama Masjid.
The designer has also dispensed with the minarets. In their place,
chhatris have been used on all four comers of the prayer hall. (i.e no
minaret but 4 chhatri.)
An extended and larger version of the Jami Masjid at Fatehpur Sikri and
thus becomes the largest building of its kind in India.
Commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.
Construction began in 1650 and was completed in 1656.
The foundation of the historic Jama Masjid was laid on a hillock in
Shahjahanabad.
Building material used here is red sandstone +white marble.
It is built on a raised platform surrounded by arcades.
The flook of the mosque is covered with white and black marble
ornamented to imitate the Muslim prayer mat.
There are two smaller gateways in the middle of the norther and
southern wings.
Three bulbous domes in white marble.
The courtyard of the mosque can be reached from the east, north and
south by three flights of steps, all built of red sandstone.
The mosque faces west.
Its three sides are covered with open arched colonnades, each having a
lofty tower-like gateway in the center.
Two lofty minarets, 130 feet high, and containing 130 steps,
longitudinally striped with white marble and red sandstone, flank the
domes on either side.
Under the domes of the mosque, is a hall with seven arched entrances
facing the west and the walls of the mosque are covered with marble.
There is a prayer hall, with eleven arched entrances, of which the centre
arch is wide and lofty, and in the form of a massive gateway, with slim
minarets in each corner, with the usual octagonal pavilion surmounting
it.
The Taj Mahal, regarded as a jewel of the builder's art, brought together
in a pleasing manner all the architectural forms adopted by the Mughals
earlier so as to make them their own.
These included:
The plan of the complex is rectangle with high enclosure wall and a lofty
entrance gateway.
There was the half-dome portal at the entrance.
There are octagonal pavilions, six in all
To the west of this structure is a mosque with a replica on the east side
retaining the effect of symmetry.
A beautiful bulbous dome topped with an inverted lotus finial and a
metallic pinnacle.
1) Finial was originally made of gold but was replaced by a bronze one in late
19th century.
At the four corners of the platform rise four circular minarets capped
with pillared cupolas.
a) four slender, minarets linking the platform to the main Building.
Aurangzeb
Constructed in 1674.
This mosque is adjacent to the Lahore Fort and is the last in the series
of congregational mosques in red sandstone and is closely modeled on
the one Shah Jahan built at Shahjahanabad.
Vast court.
Free standing prayer hall.
Minarets at each comer of the hall.
building material: Red sandstone+ White marble.
The red sandstone of the walls contrasts with the white marble of the
domes and the subtle intarsia decoration.
Atop the prayer hell, three bulbous domes in white marble rise
beautifully.
Bibi Ka Maqbara.