Introduction & Architecture: Indo-Islamic Culture - UPSC

Indo-Islamic Culture

Introduction and Architecture 

• The interaction of the Turks with the Indians who held strong religious beliefs and had well-developed ideas of art, architecture and literature resulted, in the long run, in a rich development. 
• Significant effort at mutual understanding ultimately led to a process of assimilation in many fields, such as art and architecture, music, literature, and even in the fields of customs and ceremonies, rituals and religious beliefs.

Architecture

• There is evidence of the synthesis between the ancient Indian and Muslim techniques. 
• In India the culture of early Islam is best represented by the architecture of the period of the sultanate. 
• At first, from 1200 to 1246 A.D., the Turks seemed to find the Colonaded courts of the Jain temples ready-made, improvised mosques. They only

had to remove the existing structure in the middle and erect a new wall on the west, adorned with mieharabs pointing the way to Mecca. 

• There are two early mosques, the Quwwat-ul-Islam  mosque at Delhi and the Adhai-din-ka-Jhonpra at Ajmer, built mainly out of old Jain and Hindu temples. 
  Quwwat-ul-Islam
• Though retaining some of the characteristics of Hindu art the Turkish rulers brought with them new types of buildings such as mosques and domes which were new to the country. 
• They also brought with them an expert knowledge of the use of concrete and mortar. 
• One of the architectural masterpieces of the period is the Qutb-Minar, a tower 73.76 m. in height. It was planned by Qutb-ud-din and finished by Iltutmish. 

• The tomb of Iltutmish near the Qutb is smaller in perspective but a fine example of Indian work under Islamic patronage. 
•  From the time of Iltutmish the Islamic feature began to predominate and in the tomb of Balban the true arch appears, indicating the growing reaction against Hindu influences. 
• The two principal monuments of Ala-ud-din’s reign are the mosque he built on the Dargah of Nizamud-din Auliya and the Alai Darwaza at the Qutb Minar. 
• The decorative pendentives in this building introduce a fresh style of ornamentation on the older simple Turkish style. Also, the ‘true arch’ form is introduced here.
• The rugged simplicity of the Turks re-asserted itself later in the fortress called Tughlaqabad, constructed by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlain 1321 A.D. Muhammad-bin-Tughlabuilt the fortress of Adilabad and the city of Jahapanah in the suburbs of Delhi. There was great building activity under Feruz Shah Tughlaq. 
• But in Feruz Shah Kotla and in the masoleum at Hauz Khas, there is an economy of materials as well as simplicity due to a not too rich treasury. 
• The Lodi tombs are emphatically hard and bare, even more than the Tughlamasoleums. 
• Sher Shah’s tomb is the last of the series of Turkish burial places. It is more elaborate than the Tughlaor Lodi memorials, but is still quite rugged.

Provincial Architecture

• Of the provincial styles the most important were those of Gujarat, Malwa, Jaunpur and Bengal. 
• The ruggedness of Turko-Afghan architecture was mellowed in the Muslim provincial kingdom with local traditions. To the arched domes and radiating vaults of the mosques of the North, there were added cloisters that surrounded the courts. 
• The gallaries of the interior were elaborated with short square pillars, bracket capitals, horizontal archways and roofs of flat slabs in the manner of the Hindu and Jain temples.
• One of the greatest centres of building activity of the period was Jaunpur.
•  The earliest mosque at Jaunpur is distinguished by a number of carved pillars, which obviously taken from a temple. 
• The Atala Devi Masjid is the most brilliant specimen of the Jaunpur style. 
  Atala Devi Masjid
• The Jami Masjid in the same city (commenced by Ibrahim Shah Sharqi and finished under Husain Shah about 1470 A.D.) is an attempt at absorbing Middle Eastern and Egyptian influences. 
• Sita-ki-Rasoi near Jaunpur was a Jain temple converted into a mosque by Ibrahim Shah in 1406 A.D.
• In Bengal the principal building materials used were brick, timber, and stones. 
• The ruins of Gaur and Pandua contain many impressive buildings such as the Adina mosque, the Kadm Rasul mosque, the Chota Sona and Bara Sona masjid and others. 
• The Dakhil Darwaza is the most striking of the several gateways at Gaur.
• Jami Masjid is the most beautiful mosques of Gujarat. The great mosque built by Mahmud Begarha at Champaner is noted for its decorative beauty and is one of the finest of the Indian mosques. 
• Most of the Muslim buildings in Ahmadabad are, in style and detail, counterparts of the temples at Chandravati and Abu. 
• In Gujarat the synthesis of Hindu and Muslim tradition was almost perfect.