ASIF ANWAR
Faculty of Architecture and Ekistics, Jamia Millia Islamia University,
Abstract
Indo-Islamic architecture is the architecture of the Indian subcontinent produced for Islamic
patrons and purposes. Despite an earlier
Muslim presence in Sindh in modern
Pakistan, its main history begins when
Muhammad of Ghor made Delhi a Muslim capital in 1193. Both the Delhi Sultans and the Mughal
dynasty that succeeded them came from
Central Asia via Afghanistan, and were
used to a Central Asian style of Islamic
architecture that largely derived from Iran.
The
types and forms of large buildings required by
Muslim elites, with mosques and tombs much the most common, were very different from those
previously built in India. The exteriors
of both were very often topped by large
domes, and made extensive use of arches. Both of these features were hardly used in Hindu
temple architecture and other native Indian
styles. Both types of building essentially consisted of a single large
space under a high dome, and completely
avoided the figurative sculpture so
important to Hindu temples.
Islamic
buildings initially had to adapt the skills of a workforce trained in earlier Indian
traditions to their own designs. Unlike
most of the Islamic world, where brick
tended to predominate, India had highly skilled
builders very well used to producing stone masonry of extremely high
quality.[3] As well as the main style
developed in Delhi and later Mughal centres, a variety of regional styles grew up, especially where
there were local Muslim rulers. By the
Mughal period, generally agreed to
represent the peak of the style, aspects of Islamic style began to influence architecture made for
Hindus, with even temples using
scalloped arches, and later domes. This
was especially the case in palace architecture.
INTRODUCTION
The
medieval period saw great developments in the field of architecture in India. With the coming of
Muslims to India, many new features and
techniques came to be introduced in
buildings. The development of Muslim Style of Architecture of this period can be called the Indo-Islamic
Architecture or the Indian Architecture
influenced by Islamic Art. The Indo
Islamic style was neither strictly Islamic nor strictly Hindu. It was, in fact, a combination of Islamic
architecture elements to those of the Indian
architecture. The architecture of the
medieval Architecture period can be divided into two main categories - Architecture of the Delhi
Sultanate or the Imperial Style and the
Mughal. The Imperial Style developed
under the patronage of the Sultans of Delhi. The Mughal Architecture was a blend of the Islamic
Architecture of Central Asia and the
Hindu Architecture of India.
The
Delhi Sultanate was predominantly spread in and
around Delhi in North India and it gradually spread its rule across various
parts of the Indian subcontinent for over three
centuries starting from 1206 to 1526, particularly during the Tughlaq Dynasty. The rule of the sultanate
comprised of five successive dynasties
starting from the Mamluk Dynasty whose
founder in Delhi, Qutub al-Din Aibak, also the
founder of the Turkic dominion in north-western India, became the first sultan of Delhi. The three
of the other four successive dynasties
namely the Khilji Dynasty, the Tughlaq
Dynasty and the Sayyid Dynasty respectively were also of Turkish origin. The last dynasty of the Delhi
Sultanate was an Afghan Pashtun dynasty
called the Lodi Dynasty that was founded
by Bahlul Khan Lodi. The dynasty saw its fall
under the reign of Ibrahim Lodi after it faced defeat at the hands of Babur, the founder of the Mughal
Empire in 1526, which brought an end of
the Delhi Sultanate.
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Figure 1 Qutub minar |
The complex contains some iconic buildings, pre-eminent among them being the Minar itself, a victory tower erected by the Ghorid sultans around the start of the 13th century (Fig.1). Beside it is a partly ruined mosque, constructed from an astonishing assortment of temple fragments that, as described in an inscription on the mosque wall, came from 27 ‘idol temples’. The reason for the presence of these temples is that this was where the Rajput rulers of this part of India had built an important urban centre. It is known that a significant Rajput centre existed to the south of Mehrauli, the most visible remainder of which is the Suraj Kund tank. By the 11th century the local ruling family, the Tomars, had gained independent power in the area and had constructed a walled enclosure of 2.5 km circumference here, in what is now Mehrauli, a little to the north of the earlier settlement. This was expanded some time later to 3.5 km by a more substantial additional wall, which is still clearly visible in Sanjay Van to the west of the Qutb complex. Later still the Chauhans from Ajmer seized power from the Tomars and built a much larger extension, approximately quadrupling the size of the city. It seems, however, that the main centre of the city remained within the original Tomar city, where it is presumed the temples stood and, not far away, where a finely constructed tank was excavated in recent times.
2.Proportions
Presently, only some of the portions of the north and the south side walls retain the glazed tile work otherwise the other walls are being left out only with the plain surfaces as the tiles are being stripped out by the time. Here the façade of the north facing wall is shown below-
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Figure 3 View of the facade on the North-side Source: Self-clicked |
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Figure 2 Proportional plan and different levels of complex |
3.Patterns
The facades are being ornamented with the never ending varieties of the floral patterns contained within the Mihrab shaped frames of various shape as per the proportions. The symmetrical composition of the floral patterns of the martagon lily, crown imperial, tulips, etc intends to give a sense of movement for breaking out the subtleness and depicting the interest of the botany in Islamic architecture. The ever blooming vases are being used as the symbol of the immortality. The frames are bounded by the patterns driven out of the Persian artistic borders with the star shaped pattern in-between, outlining the Mughal styles complimenting the Persians’. The towers at the corners are decorated with the inverted lotus buds pattern in addition to the pinnacles. The centre of each wall contains a large scale Mihrab shaped pattern with the additional straight line running out inside it in the horizontal and vertical directions at regular intervals. The basic patterns being distributed on the side wall of the North are discussed below-
 |
Figure4 Figure 4 |
It
shows the interest of Islamic architecture in the ornamentation of repetitive never ending
varieties at regular intervals.
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Figure 6 Source: Self-sketched |
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| Persian element of ornamentation Source: Self-sketched |
All the patterns delineate the interest of the architect in botany which turns out in the illustration of the earthly life to complement the paradise setting of the garden. The depiction of various flowers like as the Lily, Tulips, etc blooming out of the vases suggests the immortality.
The ethereal Persian borders are being used to ornament the outlining of the panels suggesting the precise use of the patterns of the Persian embroidery and the influence of Persian forms in the Islamic architecture,
TOMB
OF ITEMAD-UD-DAULAH
The
tomb of Itemad-ud-Daulah stands as the majestic and gallant object of the
Persian influence in the Islamic
architecture, being the resting place of the Persian scholar and one of the prime exile Mirza Ghiyaz Begh
epithet as Itemad-Ud-Daulah by Shah
Jahan. Constructed(1622-28) by Nur Jahan
in the memory of her father. The architectural
aestheticism that is depicted here is of the Persian influence. It marks the transitional phase of the Mughal
architecture from the red sandstone to
the marble. This iconic structure is
also came to be known as the Baby Taj by some of the local guides as the inlay work being followed in
here is same as that of the Taj Mahal. In spite of being supersede by the
Taj the exuberance of the monument is in
its own, with the imperial symbolism of
the patterns on the facades. The undue
brilliance is being subdued. It does hold the
stratospheric position in the architecture of Islam.
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Figure 7 View of The Tomb of Itemad-Ud-Daulah / |
The jewel box in the paradise setting, Tomb of Itemad-Ud Daulah marks the development of the Mughals with the polychrome profuse ornamentation of the arabesque, the abstract geometries and the floral patterns links the feature of simplicity and delicacy with the refined aspect. The monument itself was designed to justify the Indo-Islamic architecture in its full maturities, like a fantastic picture. With the unprescendent lavishness in the design. The monument depicts the square plan with the corners being shamphered by the 4-octagnal towers and the absence of the domical element. The entries to the complex are from the west and to the main tomb, from the south. Being a square in plan, 21m by the sides resting on a red sandstone platform of 45.26m by the sides, it marks the starting of the new phase in Islamic architecture. The entrances to the outer tomb complexes are from all the 4-carnidal directions demarcated by the Pishtaqs. The facades are being composed of the horizontal borders and the vertical panels, 9 on the walls and 7 on the towers at the 4 corners and then 12 on the upper floor with the total no of panels being 76. The drawing of the plan of the Tomb depicting the panel distributions is being shown below
 |
Figure 8 / |
The
facades of the tomb are just identical from the three out of the four sides with the exceptions on the
south facing wall. According to the
Muslim orthodoxy the body must be buried
in the N-S direction with the face being turned
towards the west. Hence, the difference in the southern wall is because of the orientation of the feet of
the body in that direction. The study of
the proportions of 9 panels on the West
facing wall and 7 panels each on the two towers
adjoining the same wall is shown as-
 |
| Figure 9 |
The panels are being proportionately complimenting the distribution as per the total length. Being symmetrical at both the sides and equal in height the basic proportion of the heights of the panels as per the total height of the structure is 1:5 and the proportions as per the length are being shown below
Panels on the wall
Panel
no.1 - 1:60
Panel
no.2 - 1:12
Panel
no.3 - 1:17
Panel
no.4 - 1:20
Panel
no.5 - 1:11
Panel
no.6 - 1:20
Panel
no.7 - 1:17
Panel
no.8 - 1:12
Panel
no.9 - 1:60
The
panels on the towers being equal are having the
proportion as 1:60 as per the total length of the Tomb.
Each
proportionate panel as per the length is marked with the different pattern from the rest,
resulting into the never ending
varieties of the patterns, giving the tomb a paradise setting for the souls to rest on.
3.Patterns
The ornamentation of the tomb is marked by the use of the inlay stone work technique known as the Pietra Dura which involves the flat mural surface being entrusted and incised with the semi-precious stones like as the Lapis Lazuli, Jasper, Onyx, etc to create a sense of strikingly lively and the authentic depiction. The walls are being decorated with the elements of the Persian iconography. With the influence of the embroidery, the work of Persia is being executed to the marble with near perfection such that the structure stands out on its own with one of a kind. With the depiction of the Venistas theme (the idea of transitoriness of human life), the idea is to set a paradise type environment from the vocabulary of the floral patterns and the Arabesque, for the resting souls. The endless rhythematically repeated units on the exteriors, and the samber layout of the interiors mark the transitional stages from the earthly life. The walls are being ornamented with the running bands of borders containing the motifs of the creepers at the bottom and in between of the dado and the roof. The marble inlay and the vine trails recall the Persian embroidery. The Dado decoration is the key portion of the inlay work with the designs of similar flowers appearing on the same time on dados. The plinth area is marked with the patterns full of varieties of the honeysuckle, arabesque patterns and certain symbolic representations of the stars so as to create a repetitive imperceptible flow along with the other elemental features adding a sense of infinite to the tomb architecture with that of the illusion of movement. The varieties of the designs are being spread out on the facades in accordance with the horizontal and vertical patterns. The study of the patterns as per the panels of the west facing wall and their evolution is being shown as-
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| Figure 13/Star-based patterns on the walls/Source : Self clicked and self-sketched |
The
patterns at the walls and the fronts are basically being dominated by the basic hexagonal and
pentagonal forms. The other depiction
includes the use of 10 and 12-pointed
stars for creating the zeal by its endlessly rhythematically repeating patterns.
The
basic elements deciphered from the jail work followed on the panels numbered as `2,4,6,8 are as
follows -
 Figure 12/Layouts of the different jali patterns/Source: Self-sketched |
Thus, the majority of the jali work works on the repeated patterns of the honeysuckles along with the regular hexagonal patterns which captivates the interest adding flamboyance to the structure.
The
patterns being depicted on the plinth levels are all being driven out of the regular hexagonal forms in
different placements. They does follows
the basic forms as shown-
 | |||
|
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| Figure 14Layouts of the Patterns on the plinthSource: Self-sketched |
4.Colours
The
subtleness in the consecutive patterns of the arabesque and the floral is being
dispelled by the brilliance of the
different colours being used in the designing of the patterns. With the black and yellow being the main
colours to be used in the borders running
across the bottom, above of the plinth
and the dado along with the other shades of the various semi-precious stone the structure tends to
create a visual impact of earthly beauty
with the essence of the naturalistic
beauty for the aesthetism. The colours being in symphony of the terrestrial and the godly elements work
together so as to create a sense of
unity and purity justifying the two pillars of
Islam. The basic division and distribution creates an elusive tint of colours of lattices of exceptional
beauty. The leaf scrolls and other
motifs in addition to the variety of
geometrical patterns add the colours of immense significance to the polychromatic
structure.
The
variety of colours used in the patterns is as shown
 |
| Figure 17Patterns on the plinth of the structure |
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| Figure 16/ Colours distribution in the patterns at the towers/Source: Self-clicked |
CONCLUSION
The paper here discussed the basic design philosophy varieties of patterns in Islamic architecture during the rule of Mughals. And before them in india. It primarily focuses on their interest towards the nature and the impression of the Islamic teachings in the form of the verses and symbolism through the colours and patterns. The Islamic architecture thus follows the policy of ‘adopt and adapt’, claiming to be an eternal way of life rather than being limited to a certain era, place or time. The endless design opportunities resulting out of the balance between the modernity and the tradition marks the importance of the Islamic architecture in the contemporary world. The values thus surpassed the rest creating the way to invent even better new forms of Islamic architecture in contemporary world.
The
use of jali, is being prominent feature in the present day architecture too, as they serves the dual
purpose of being a functional elements with the perk of aesthetics. The contemporary works rather focuses on the
subtle but soothing plain facades which
in turns demarcate the absence of the
floral decorations and the arabesques patterns as they were used in the structure earlier, resulting
into the end of the Pietra dura
technique. But the various other features of
the Islamic architecture including the depiction of the nature in the works and the inclusion of the natural
things functionally into the structures
is being followed till date, embraced
with the latest design technologies but without
opposing the traditional building practices. Many contemporary designs, being the prime example
of the modern Islamic architecture are
based on the Islamic principles of
converting the natural shapes into the
geometrical.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I owe my sincere gratitude to my professor and guide Ar.sana zahra for giving me such an honour and oppourtunity to work on this paper. Further, I would like to thank my parents and my friends for providing me the moral support and boosting me up with the positivity which helps me out in accomplishing the research work.
REFERENCES
Printed
Book
1.
Michael barrey (1996). Colours and Symbolism in Islamic Architecture eight centuries of the
Tile-maker’s art. Thames and Hudson
2. Fredrick W. Brunce(2004). Islamic Tombs in India. D.K. printworld (P) Ltd., New Delhi
World
Wide Web Address
The
Tomb of I’temad ud-Daulah, Agra – Architecture, Decoration and Koranic.[online]. Available:
https://www.academia.edu/26352390/The_Tomb_of_Itimad_ud Daula_Agra_-
_Architecture_Decoration_and_Koranic_inscriptional_program
AUTHOR INFORMATION
ASIF ANWAR, Student, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Ekistics, Jamia Millia Islamia.
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