PROVINCIAL STYLE

Bengal (1300 AD- 1550 AD)

 Origin in Bengal

 Majority of the buildings are grouped within a tract of country

now comprising the Malda district of the province of Bengal.
Near the junction of 2rivers the Ganges and the Mahananda
was the strategic centre of this region.
 3 great cities have been traced
• Lakhnauti
• Seat of the 2 Hindu dynasties of Palas and Senas
• 2 capital cities of Mohammedan invaders Gaur and Pandua
Architectural Characteristics
 Islamic building art of Bengal can be divided into 3 phases:
• the period extending from the first conquest of the country and the while the
capital was at Gaur until it was moved to Pandua from 1200-1340AD
• from the date when the capital was established at Pandua until the bldg of
Eklakhi Tomb 1340-1430AD
• during the period from the date of re-transfer of the capital to Gaur, until the
country was acquired by Mughals 1442-1576AD
 first stage is illustrated by a group of bldgs but not at the capital. River port of
Bengal.
 River side of Tribeni(a settlement in the Hughli district) & at the Hamlet of Pandua
in the same locality, earliest examples of Muslim handiwork in Bengal can be seen.
 they established mainly at Tribeni & then pressed inland from the river.
 Principal Mosque at Pandua
 Ruined state
Was a very large structure
Walls & arches of bricks but its pillars are of basalt & evidently taken from
dismantled Hindu Temple
Model for Adina mosque
A landmark in the development of Muslim architecture in Bengal.

Tower of Victory:
 adjacent to the principal mosque is the tower of victory
Was erected by a muslim saint named Shah-Suri-ud-din to commemorate his
conquest of the Raja of Pandua towards 1340.
120ft high
Inelegant proportion of width in relation to ht.
 inspired by Qutub Minar- the faces and flanges with
which different stories are decorated.

Second stage in the evolution of bldg art in this style is

also represented by one example only
It is the largest & most imp muslim bldg in the whole
Bengal
 It was built by Sikander Shah then the ruler of Pandua it
was known as Adina Mosque which began in 1364
Second stage in the evolution of bldg art in this style
is also represented by one example only
It is the largest & most imp muslim bldg in the whole
Bengal
 It was built by Sikander Shah then the ruler of
Pandua it was known as Adina Mosque which began in
1364
Eklakhi Tomb Dakhil Darwaza