Indian History Of

Art,Architecture,Culture

With the focus on mughals architecture

BY SUPRIYA.A
Prehistoric age in India:
(200000 BC to around 3500-2500BC )
The history of human settlements in India dates back to prehistoric
times that are marked by the stone age and iron age.
Prehistoric cultures in India has five parts – Paleolithic Period,
Mesolithic Period, Neolithic Period, Chalcolithic Period, and Iron Age.
The prehistoric age in India dates back to the start of the Stone age or
the Paleolithic age and then ends with the Iron age just before the Indus
valley civilization
Paintings found here can be divided into three categories: Man, Animal, and
Geometric symbols.
prehistoric cultural stage, or level of human development, characterized by the creation
and use of stone tools.
Indus Valley Civillization:
(3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, )
The Indus Valley Civilisation, also known Indus Civilisation
was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of
South Asia,
The Indus cities are noted for their urban planning, a
technical and political process concerned with the use of land
and design of the urban environment.
They are also noted for their baked brick houses, elaborate
drainage systems, water supply systems, and clusters of large,
nonresidential buildings.
Important innovations of this civilization include standardized weights and measures, seal
carving, and metallurgy with copper, bronze, lead, and tin.
The forms of art found from various sites of civilisation include sculptures, seals, pottery, gold
ornaments, terracotta figures, etc.
Vedic period:
( 1500 BC and 600 BC,)
The Vedic Age of Ancient India is the “heroic age” of ancient
Indian civilization.
It is also the formative period when the basic foundations of
Indian civilization were laid down. These include the
emergence of early Hinduism as the foundational religion of
India, and the social/religious phenomenon known as caste.
The Vedic period saw the emergence of a hierarchy of social
classes that would remain influential.
The society was divided into four social groups—Brahmanas,
Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.
The architecture of the Vedic period encompasses huts of
round and square shape and also some tower-like structures .
Buddhism and Jainism:
Jainism and Buddhism emerged as the most potent religious reform movements during
later Vedic period.
oth Jainism and Buddhism was founded in the 6th century BC, and they sprung out of the
same roots.
Buddhism and Jainism introduced the art of rock-cut caves .
Sculptures of Buddha and Bodhisattavas were built according to the Gandhara and
Mathura school of art.
Mauryan empire:
The Mauryan Empire formed around 321 B.C.E. and ended in 185 B.C.E.
The Maurya Empire's political unity and internal peace encouraged the expansion of
trade in India.
Mauryan army was the largest military force of its time.
The architecture was mostly made up of wood.
Pillars erected by Ashoka with inscriptions on them.
The important features of Mauryan architecture is Architecture: Stupas consist of a
cylindrical drum with a circular and a harmika and a chatra on the top.
Gupta empire:
They maintained an empire over northern and parts of central and
western India from the early 4th to the late 6th century CE.
The Gupta Dynasty promoted Hinduism, but supported Buddhist
and Jain cultures as well.
Gupta Buddhist art influenced East and Southeast Asia as trade
between regions increased.
The Gupta Empire became an important cultural center and
influenced nearby kingdoms and regions in Burma, Sri Lanka, and
Southeast Asia.
Gupta has been marked as an golden age because there were many
advances and inventions for india in the age of the Gupta empire,
the advancements were in Science, Tech, Engineering, art,
dialectics, laterature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion, and
philosophy.
Most prominent architectural marvels of Gupta period are temples.
Turkish Invasion:
Mohammed Ghazni was the first Turkish who invaded
India. He attacked India only for wealth. In guise of Jihad
he attacked India seventeen times between 1000 and 1027
AD. In 1001 A.D. he made his first invasion in India.
The Turk invasion led to the establishment of Muslim rule
over a large part of North India.
They introduced mehrab or arch, dome and minar in the
indigenous architecture.
The Turkish and mongolian invasions on India brought
drastic change in Indian culture.They brought together
the muslim setllers and their culture which mixed up with
Indian culture.
Islamic Invasion:
The Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent mainly took place from the 13th to 17th centuries.
Mughal paintings and architecture are part of the Indo-Islamic style.
Islamic Sculptures in India evolved by both the Persian art and the ancient Hindu art and sculpture. In
fact it was with the invasion of the Muslim and the emergence of Delhi Sultanates that the Islamic
sculpture and Islamic architecture came into vogue.
The Muslim patronage of music was largely effective in the north of India and has had a profound
influence on North Indian music.
Mughal textiles were woven in strands of richness and class.
Islam gave the concept of the "Unity of God" to India
British Invasion:
The British landed in India in Surat on August 24, 1608.
ajor economic impact of the British policies in India was the
introduction of a large number of commercial crops such as tea,
coffee, indigo, opium, cotton, jute, sugarcane and oilseed. Different
kinds of commercial crops were introduced with different
intentions.
Improvement of government in the native states. Security of life
and property. Services of educated administrators, who have
achieved these results. Materially: Loans for railways and irrigation.
Many old patrons of art became less wealthy and influential, and
Western art more ubiquitous as the British Empire established
schools of art in major cities.
During the British colonial period, European styles including
neoclassical, gothic revival, and baroque became prevalent across
India.
British Invasion:
The British landed in India in Surat on August 24, 1608.
ajor economic impact of the British policies in India was the
introduction of a large number of commercial crops such as tea,
coffee, indigo, opium, cotton, jute, sugarcane and oilseed. Different
kinds of commercial crops were introduced with different
intentions.
Improvement of government in the native states. Security of life
and property. Services of educated administrators, who have
achieved these results. Materially: Loans for railways and irrigation.
Many old patrons of art became less wealthy and influential, and
Western art more ubiquitous as the British Empire established
schools of art in major cities.
During the British colonial period, European styles including
neoclassical, gothic revival, and baroque became prevalent across
India.
Mughal Architecture:
Mughal architecture is the type of Indo-Islamic architecture developed by the Mughals in the 16th, 17th
and 18th centuries throughout the ever-changing extent of their empire in the Indian subcontinent.
It developed from the architectural styles of earlier Muslim dynasties in India and from Iranian and
Central Asian architectural traditions, particularly Timurid architecture.
Mughal buildings have a uniform pattern of structure and character, including large bulbous domes,
slender minarets at the corners, massive halls, large vaulted gateways, and delicate ornamentation;
examples of the style can be found in modern-day Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
The Mughal dynasty was established after the victory of Babur at Panipat in 1526. During his
five-year reign, Babur took considerable interest in erecting buildings, though few have
survived. His grandson Akbar built widely, and the style developed vigorously during his
reign.
Mughal architecture reached its zenith during the reign of Shah Jahan, who constructed Taj
Mahal, the Jama Masjid, the Shalimar Gardens of Lahore, the Wazir Khan Mosque, and who
renovated the Lahore Fort.
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal, a World Heritage Site was
built between 1630 and 1649 by the
emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife
Mumtaz Mahal .
Its construction took 22 years and required
22,000 laborers and 1,000 elephants, at a
cost of 32 million rupees.
It is a large, white marble structure
standing on a square plinth and consists of
a symmetrical building . The Taj Mahal at Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India is
Parchin kari, a method of decoration on a the most famous example of Mughal
large scale-inlaid work of jewels and Jali Architecture and one of India's most
work has been used to decorate the recognisable landmarks in general
structure.
Bibi Ka Maqbara
It was commissioned in 1660 by the
Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the
memory of his wife Dilras Banu Begum
and is considered to be a symbol of
Aurangzeb's conjugal fidelity.
It bears a striking resemblance to the
Taj Mahal, the mausoleum of
Aurangzeb's mother, Mumtaz Mahal.
Aurangzeb allocated only Rs. 700,000
for its construction Bibi Ka Maqbara is a tomb in Aurangabad,
The marble for this mausoleum was Maharashtra, which was built by Aurangzeb in
brought from mines near Jaipur. the memory of his wife, Dilras Banu Begum
Buland Darwaza
Buland Darwaza is the highest gateway
in the world and is an example of
Mughal architecture. It displays
sophistication and heights of
technology in Akbar's empire
The Buland Darwaza is made of red and
buff sandstone, decorated by white and
black marble and is higher than the
courtyard of the mosque.
The Buland Darwaza is symmetrical and
Buland Darwaza, Agra was built by Akbar the
is topped by large free-standing kiosks, Great to commemorate his victory.
which are the chhatris.
Badshahi Mosque
The Badshahi Mosque was constructed by
the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb between
1671 and 1673 and was the largest mosque in
the world from 1673 to 1986.
The mosque is an important example of
Mughal architecture, with an exterior that is
decorated with carved red sandstone with
marble inlay.
Aurangzeb had the mosque built in order to
commemorate his military campaigns Badshahi Mosque, in Lahore, Pakistan was the
against the Maratha king Chhatrapati largest mosque in the world for 313 years, and is
Shivaji. After only two years of construction, the last of the imperial mosques built by the
the mosque was opened in 1673. Mughals
Bibliography:
https://unacademy.com/content/railway-exam/study-material/history/prehistoric-age-in-india/
https://www.clearias.com/arts-indus-valley-civilization/
https://www.clearias.com/arts-indus-valley-civilization/
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/art-as-a-weapon-to-fight-british-rule/articleshow/48205481.cms
Empire of the Moghul -Book
Mughal Architecture-Book
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal_architecture