Test: Some Aspects of Indo-Islamic Architecture- 1 - Humanities/Arts MCQ

Islam came to India through Muslim merchants, traders, holy men, and conquerors over a passage of six hundred years.

Although Muslims had begun to construct in Sind, Gujarat, etc. by the eighth century CE, it was only in the early thirteenth century that large-scale building activity begun under the Delhi Sultanate, established after the Turkish conquest of northern India.

The certain techniques and embellishments were prevalent and popular in India before the introduction of the archuate form of construction, such as trabeation (brackets, pillars and lintels) to support a flat roof or a small shallow dome.

The arches needed to be constructed with voussoirs (series of interlocking blocks) and fitted with keystones.

A mix of many structural techniques, stylised shapes, and surface decorations came about through constant interventions of acceptance, rejection, or modification of architectural elements, and these architectural entities or categories showcasing multiple styles are known as Indo-Saracenic or Indo-Islamic architecture.

The study of Indo-Islamic architecture is conventionally categorised into the Imperial Style (Delhi Sultanate), the Provincial Style (Mandu, Gujarat, Bengal, and Jaunpur), the Mughal Style (Delhi, Agra, and Lahore) and the Deccani Style (Bijapur, Golconda).

The archuate form of construction was gradually introduced in India, which allowed arches to support the weight of domes. This was done using voussoirs, which are a series of interlocking blocks.

The mix of many structural techniques, stylised shapes, and surface decorations that came about through the constant interventions of acceptance, rejection or modification of architectural elements is known as Indo-Saracenic or Indo-Islamic architecture.

The architectural edifices in the Indian sub-continent, as elsewhere in the world, were constructed by wealthy people. They were, in descending order, rulers and nobles and their families, merchants, merchant guilds, rural elite and devotees of a cult.

In the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, tiles were also used to surface the walls and the domes. Popular colours were blue, turquoise, green, and yellow.

Jama Masjid is an architectural edifice constructed for daily prayers in Islam. It is a type of mosque that is used for congregational prayers on Fridays and on special occasions. The Jama Masjid is a hallmark of Islamic architecture, with its large central courtyard, domes, minarets, and arched entrances. The mosque is designed to accommodate a large number of worshippers, and it usually includes a prayer hall, ablution facilities, and a courtyard.

One of the architectural features of medieval India was the coming together of styles, techniques and decorations in public and private spaces of non-royal sections of the society.

Mandu is located sixty miles from Indore, at an elevation of over 2000 feet and overlooks the Malwa Plateau to the north and the Narmada valley to the south.

Mandu was associated with the romance of Sultan Baz Bahadur and Rani Rupmati during the Mughal period.

The Hindola Mahal in Mandu is the audience hall of the Sultan and the place where he showed himself to his subjects.