MUGHAL ARCHITECTURE HISTORY

MUGHAL MONUMENTS 

All the early Mughal rulers except Aurangzeb were great builders. With the coming of mugals, India architecture was greatly influenced by Persian styles. The Mughals constructed excellent mausoleums, mosques, forts, gardens and cities. The Mughal building show a uniform pattern both in structure and character. The main characteristic features of Mughal architecture are the bulbous domes, the slender minarets with cupolas at the four corners, large halls, massive vaulted gateways and delicate ornamentation.

The few mosques and palaces built by Babar and humayun are not of much architectural significance sher shah of the sur dynasty who ruled over the kingdom of the Mughal after driving humayun out of the country was not only a great administrator but a lover of art also. He built several forts, tombs and mosques. The monuments of sher shah are a continuation of the Lodi style. The mausoleums are octagonal in plan and have verandas around them, surmounted by huge domes. The verandas have three smaller domes on each side.

Purana Quila (old Fort), Delhi

Sher Shah built the Purana Quila in Delhi. Started by him, it was completed by humayun.

Built of red and buff sand-stone, it is ornamented with black and white marble and coloured tiles. A beautiful mosque inside the Quila with ornamental arches, decorative panels, geometrical designs and inscriptions is an example of the development of architecture and ornamentation during Sher Shah’s reign.

Sher Shah’s tomb, Sasaram(Bihar)

Sher Shah’s tomb at Sasaram in Bihar built in 1549 is in the centre of a large square tank

And rises at 46 meters high. It is a two storey construction on a terraced platform. The upper

Terrace has pillared domes and the two storeys above have a pillared kiosk at the four corners.

The base of the large central dome has thirty two sides. The tomb is decorated with coloured Tiles, very few of which remain now. Entrance to the tomb is through a domed structure.

Mughal architecture begins with Akbar who showed his passion for building by planning and constructing splendid edifices. During his reign Mughal architecture took on new forms.

Akbar made free use of both Hindu and Persian styles. The use of red sandstone inlaid with white marble and painted designs on walls and ceiling Are the salient-features of Akbar’s buildings. Akbar constructed numerous forts, towers places, mosques, mausoleums and gateways.

Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi

Humayun’s tomb was built by his widow Haji Begum in 1565A.D. in Delhi in 1569A.D. fourteen years after his death. The mausoleum stands in the centre of a square enclosed garden the garden is divided and sub-divide into squares, typical of Mughal gardens. The lofty double storeyed structure is built on a huge high platform terrace which has a row of callss with arched openings.

The central chamber is octagonal in shape and contains the tomb. Each side of mausoleum has a large arched alcove in the centre with smaller ones on either side. It has a high marble double dome in the centre and pillared kiodkd with an inlay of black, white and yellow marble it presents an imposing picture. Planned by a Persian architect and constructed by Indian workers, it is a combination of both Persian and Indian styles of architecture. Entrance to the mausoleum is through two double storeyed gateways.

 Agra Fort

Near the gardens of the Taj Mahal stands the important 16th-century Mughal monument known as the Red Fort of Agra. This powerful fortress of red sandstone encompasses, within its 2.5 km long enclosure walls, the imperial city of the Mughal rulers. It comprises many fairy tale palaces, such as the Jahangir Palace and the “Khas Mahal”, built by Shah Jahan; audience halls, such as the Diwan-i-Khas and two very beautiful mosques.

Fatehpur Sikri

Akbar’s greatest architectural achievement was the construction of Fatehpur Sikri, his Capital City near Agra. The construction preord of the walled city was started in 1569A.D. And completed in 1574A.D. contained some of the most beautiful buildings - both religious and secular which testify to the Emperor’s aim of achieving social, political and religious integration. The religious edifices worth mentioning are the Jami Masjid and salim Chisti’s Tomb. The tomb built in 1571A.D. in the corner of the mosque compound is a square marble chamber with a verandah. The cenotaph has an exquisitely designed lattice screen around it.

Jama Masjid, Delhi

Jama Masjid of Delhi is the larfwar mosque in India. The Jama Masjid stands across the road In front of the Red Fort. Built between 1644 - 1658, Jama Masjid is one of the last architectural Works of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The Spacious courtyard of the Jama Masjid holds thousands of faithful. Jama Masjid is located on a mound in the heart of the old city and projects beautifully into the Old Delhi skyline. Jama Masjid Mosque was built in red sandstone and marble by more than 5000 artisans. Originally called the Masjid-i-Jahan-Numa, or “Mosque commanding view of the world”, the jama Masjid stands at the centre of the erstwhile capital city of the Mughals, Shahjahanbad.

Red Fort, Delhi

In 1638 Shahjahan transferred his capital from Agra to Delhi and laid the foundations of Shahjahanabad, the seventh city of Delhi. It’s enclosed by a rubble stone wall, with bastions, gates and wickets at interval. Of its fourteen gates, the important ones are the Mori, Lahori, Ajmeri, Turkman, Kashmiri and Delhi gates, some of which have already been demolished. His famous citadel, the Lal-Qila, or the Red Fort, Lying at the town’s northern en on the right bank or the Yamuna and south of Salimgarh, was begun in 1639 and completed after nine years.

Taj Mahal, Agra

the Taj Mahal is the epitome of Mughal art and one of the most famous buildings in the world. Yet there have been few serious studies of it and no full analysis of its architecture and meaning. Ebba Koch, an important scholar, has been permitted to take measurements of the complex and has been working on the palaces an gardens of Shah Jaha for thirty years and on the Taj Mahal itself For a decade Taj Mahal was built in 22 years (1631-1653) with the order of Shah jahan and it was dedicated to Mumtaz Mahal (Arjuman Bano Begum), the wife of Shah. 20,000 workers labored and 32 crore rupees were spent during the construction of the monument and it was built according to Islamic architecture. It is one of the UNESCO world heritage site.