Important Questions: Rulers & Buildings

The Masjid e Jahan Numa, commonly known as the Jama Masjid of Delhi, is one of the largest mosques in India. It was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan between 1650 and 1656 at a cost of one million rupees, and was inaugurated by Imam Syed Abdul Ghafoor Shah Bukhari from Bukhara, present-day Uzbekistan.

Between the 8th and the 18th century, kings and their officers built the following kinds of structures:

- Safe, protected and grandiose places of rest in this world and in the next world, e.g. forts, palaces, garden residences and tombs.

- Structures meant for public activity, e.g. temples, mosques, tanks, wells, bazaars and caravanserais.

Trabeate' was a style of architecture in which roofs, doors and windows were made by placing a horizontal beam across two vertical columns. Between the eighth and thirteenth centuries the trabeate style was used in the construction of temples/mosques, tombs and in buildings attached to large stepped-wells.

It was widely believed that the rule of a just king would be an age of plenty when the heavens would not withhold rain. At the same time, making precious water available by constructing tanks and reservoirs was highly praised. Sultan Iltumish won universal respect for constructing a large reservoir just outside Delhi-i-Kuhna. It was called the Hauz-i-Sultani or the ‘King’s Reservoir’. 

The most unique aspect of planning during the Indus Valley civilization was the system of underground drainage. The main sewer, 1.5 meters deep and 91 cm across, connected to many north-south and east-west sewers. It was made from bricks smoothened and joined together seamlessly. The expert masonry kept the sewer watertight. Drops at regular intervals acted like an automatic cleaning device.

The first years of Shah Jahan, years in which he was known as Prince Khurram, saw the young man receive a refined and cultivated education. He studied a large number of disciplines and became a specialist in martial arts. He surprised his world by taking an interest in architecture. An anecdote is told that he himself built his quarters in the Fort of Kabul, but also by proposing various internal arrangements to the fort of Agra.

The correct answer is A as Akbar's architects turned to the tombs of his Central Asian ancestor, Timur. The central towering dome and the tall gateway (pishtaq) became important aspects of Mughal architecture, first visible in Humayun's tomb.

Humayun's tomb was built in the tradition known as the “eight paradises” or Hasht Bihisht, meaning a central hall surrounded by eight rooms. A central dome and a tall gateway called Pishtaq, a Persian influence became a part of Mughal Architecture.