BSOAS: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (Cambridge University Press)

ISSN: 0041-977X EISSN: 1474-0699

Available by subscription from Cambridge Journals Online

EI3: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Third Edition (E. J. Brill, Leiden-Boston)
ISSN: 1873-9830
Available on the Encyclopaedia of Islam website, http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3

           Architectural Diversity in South Asian Islam (Natalie H. Shokoohy), Chapter 8
           in South Asian Islam, A Spectrum of Integration and Indigenization, Nasr M. Arif
           and Abbas Panakkal (eds), Routledge, Oxford – New York, 2024 pp. 187- 213 and
           figs. 8.1-8.15,ISBN 978-1-032-45170-1 (Hardback), 978-1-032-57475-2 (Paperback)
           978-1-003-43953-0 (e-Book)

     Indo-Muslim architecture is striking for its combination of techniques and styles, stemming from the association
     of the subcontinent with other lands through trade, invasion and settlement. The early maritime traders used
     indigenous beam and bracket methods and a restrained local ornamentation, employing Jain and Hindu
     craftsmen for their religious structures. The earliest surviving buildings of one of these trading communities are at Bhadreśvar, where an ancient Jain temple and centre of pilgrimage exists to this day. Bhadreśvar, on the coast of Kachchh (Kutch) in Gujarat, was once a magnificent ancient port. It was known to Ptolemy in the second century as Bardaxema and to al-Bīrūnī, writing in the eleventh century as Bhadra. The overseas traders dealt with the council of Jain merchants of the town, and a local Sanskrit chronicle mentions the Muslim community as “foreigners” of the Ismāʿīlī sect. The Jains gave the Muslims permission to build, and the most important Muslim building there is the shrine of Ibrāhīm, with its inscription of 554/1159-1160, the earliest date in situ on a monument in India. The environs of the shrine include two mosques: the Solahkhambī Masjid, and the Chhoṭī Masjid, all erected by local artisans.



The shrine consists of a square chamber with a corbelled dome, using the local technology, and on a plan which can be seen as a synthesis between Jain and Muslim architectural traditions. The miḥrāb, however, with its semi-circular plan and semi-circular arch, is in the style associated with Syria, Egypt and North Africa. A portico fronts the entrance featuring a flat ceiling decorated with a grid of squares with lotus patterns, which could be seen as a direct borrowing from temple architecture. The building, like all the Muslim buildings on the site, is constructed of large blocks of stone, a well-known method in India from ancient times, wiyh components including monolithic column shafts surmounted by brackets supporting lintels, roofed with flat slabs and corbelled domes.













                                   Bhadreśvar, Kachh, Gujarat, above: Shrine of Ibrahim, the earliest standing Muslim building in
                                   India. The concept of burial with a monument would have been unprecedented to the Jain host
                                   community. Below: the Chhoṭī Masjid, a small mosque built by Muslim maritime traders with the
                                   trabeate technology of a Jain or Hindu temple, but on a plan in accordance with the liturgical
                                   requirements of a mosque. The porches in front of both buildings can be seen as a borrowing
                                   from the concept of the maṇḍapa or open hall in front of a temple, and is a feature of the
                                   mosques of Indian littoral

                             South India: shared technology of tiered wooden structures over stone walls. Left: the Mithqālpaḷḷi, a mosque built by merchants at Calicut.
                             Right: Bhagavati Temple at Cochin (Kochi). In spite of a superficial resemblance, the mosque’s planning makes it permeable and open from
                             the outside (the additions in the foreground are modern) while the temple interior is exclusive sacred space and out of sight.



          Section of the west end of the Mithqālpaḷḷi showing its roof
          structure with an example of its ancient antecedents, an
          early fifth-century Buddhist wall painting from Cave 17 at
          Ajanta depicting the roof space of a timber structure,
          probably a monastery.




Travelling south, the architecture of the maritime traders in settlements all down the western and southern coasts of India again incorporates local building techniques and materials with the religious and social requirements of the traders. On the tropical coasts the traders would have found the main building material to be timber, and tiered structures the norm, from simple houses ‒ with the upper tiers providing airy lofts and at ground level patios protected from the sun and rain by deep overhanging eaves ‒ to elaborate multi-tiered temples.

The outer walls of the structures may be stone, but the joinery of the wooden superstructure employs pegs rather than nails and has ancient precedents and a wide geographic scope, being seen throughout South-East Asia and as far as China and Japan. The system used for laying beams and rafters is depicted in wall paintings in the Buddhist cave temples of Ajanta, and imitations of timberwork and joinery are also realised in the megalithic caves, although no actual timber structures of such an early period remain.

When it came to the conquerors of North India ‒ the Delhi Sultans ‒ the standing temples were objects of idolatry, but at the same time their stone elements were seen as instantly available building materials which could be taken down and reassembled into an approximation of the forms required. To demonstrate the establishment of the new power, the first act of dominance would be to demolish the towering temples, the symbol and centre of the old order, and build the place of worship for the new faith. A Muslim army’s key requirement was a place of prayer, and open areas known as namāzgāh, with a wall indicating the direction of Mecca would be set up ‒ large enough for the whole army ‒ some of which still survive. The sight of thousands of troops praying simultaneously would have been startling to the local population. The next move would be to build a mosque, as impressive, if not more so, than the standing temples.  The components of these buildings ‒ built on the trabeate system based on beams resting on columns ‒ were held together not by mortar, but by the downward pressure of the weight of the stone components: all these could be used to build mosques, adopting the same system, but on a new plan. Careful reassembly on an entirely different layout resulted in decorative schemes that retained indigenous floral and geometric carved patterns, but human and divine images were defaced, or the stones turned back to front to use the plain surface, although carvings of animals were sometimes retained.

  Ajmer, Rajasthan, Aṛha’i din kā Jhoṅpṛa, one of the first mosques built out
   of the spoil of demolished temples by the Ghurids as a sign of conquest
   in 588/1192­‒3. Left: interior, three column shafts are superimposed to   
   create a huge lofty hall, with a roof of slabs resting on lintels combined
   with reassembled corbelled domes, using the local building methods.

   Right: the free-standing purpose-built screen wall added by Īltutmish
   in c. 623/1225‒6 to give the mosque an outer appearance of the
   vaulted ivāns of Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia, the builders’
   homelands












  Numerous sultanate buildings have survived in Delhi and
  in North India, providing a clear picture of architectural
  developments of this era. The early sultans’ destruction
  of temples as a religious duty and the reuse of spolia as
  an act of symbolic appropriation is demonstrated in the
  mosque of Quwwat al-Islām in Delhi, built in 588/1192‒3.
  To the west, in Rajasthan, the mosque known as Aṛha’i    din kā Jhoṅpṛa – meaning “the hut built in two and a half days” alluding to its speedy construction – was erected the same year. Like the Delhi mosque Aṛha’i din kā Jhoṅpṛa is laid on an Arab-type plan with a vast courtyard surrounded by colonnades. The appearance of such mosques, while striking, must, however, have seemed alien to the builders, and in both cases a freestanding screen wall was added as a compromise to provide some resemblance to the vaulted ivāns and arcades of the Ghurid homelands, but still using horizontal layers of corbelled stone, rather than employing true arches.

In a temple city spectacular processions would have been the norm. A Hindu city would have the palace and temple at its core with the arrangement of the dwellings of the various castes complying to sacred diagrams, according to the hierarchy, sometimes in rings of fortified walls, which may have appeared impressive, but would trap the inhabitants if surrounded by besiegers. In a Muslim city the arrangement is pragmatic and defensive. The palace complex is within the fort, which is set at one side of the walled town. The main mosque for the Friday prayers would be in the centre of the town, linked to the palace by a processional route. Graveyards – unknown in Indian culture, where the dead were not buried, but cremated – were sited outside the walled cities and villages. The extant monuments of these newly configured Muslim cities include not only mosques, tombs, and open prayer grounds known as ʿīdgāh (or namāzgāh of an army, also used for ʿĪd and other celebrations by the whole town), but other new forms of structure such Sufi khānaqāhs, minarets and madrasas (theological colleges). The conquerors encountered mighty Hindu fortifications as well as walled cities, and the local systems for water resources. These they adapted for their own use, but in their secular buildings such as fortifications, dams, stepwells, reservoirs and canals they displayed new and radically different approaches to dealing with their needs, employing a combination of new and indigenous techniques and materials.


Water distribution and infrastructure were crucial for survival and prosperity, and we see examples of the ancient type of open reservoir lined with stone ‒ with steps leading down to the water table ‒ either adopted or built, An example is the Jhalār Bāʾolī of Bayana, built by Malik Kāfūr Ṣulṭānī, the governor of Bayana under Mubārak Shāh Khaljī (reg. 716‒20/1316‒20), for the use of the public and perhaps partly to serve the needs of the Khaljī army in camp, but walled against the desert environment and embellished by a shady colonnade running all around the tank, with a roof terrace and four corner pavilions accessible by stairways, all of which would have provide a pleasant retreat in the cool of the mornings and evenings. Even now in its ruinous state it provides a micro-climate and haven for indigenous and migrating birds.











                                                             The Jhalār Bāʾolī of Bayana, Rajasthan, dated 717/1318‒19 and built
                                                             as a multi-functional retreat for the population. The water is accessible
                                                             via the steps even when the water table is low in Summer, as in the
                                                             photograph. The building was vandalised in the riots at the time of
                                                             the Partition of India in 1947



   The tomb of Ghiyāth al-dīn Tughluq, Tughluqabad, Delhi. The tomb
   reinterprets pizé in stone: to create a monumental effect the structure
   is built with large blocks of red sandstone, with a string course and
   niches of white and black stone inlay. The dome, clad with marble, has
   a Muslim – Persian – profile, but is surmounted with an amalaka and
   kalasha, borrowed from ancient Indian architecture, adorning the temple
   śikharas and maṇḍapas as finials. The fine and well-proportioned design
   of the tomb contrasts with the robust appearance of the enclosure and
   the towering walls of the town and fort. The delicately fringed four-
   centred arches add a sense of lightness to the otherwise massive walls.







When the conqueror’s rule became established, the influx of settlers from the cultural centres of Iran and Central Asia led to a consolidation of techniques and materials, combining trabeate and arcuate styles. Features such as the pizé walls of the homeland were reinterpreted as massive battered dressed stone walls, with contrasting stone inlay and fine calligraphy designed by Muslim master craftsmen. By the time of the Tughluqs (780‒817/1320‒1414), visual demonstrations of dominance were put aside in favour of practical measures for the consolidation of power and production of wealth. The sultans built not just monuments to demonstrate their authority, but, as their predecessors had also done, whole new cities on virgin ground, but grander, better designed and with a particular eye to the climate. Outside Delhi, Ghiyāth al-dīn Tughluq (reg. 720-25/1320‒25) built – in less than the five short years before his untimely death – a new capital for himself, Tughluqabad. The city, set by an artificial lake to provide a micro-climate, included the Sultan’s tomb. The substantial stone chamber is set in its own fortified enclosure reached by a causeway across the lake. The tomb employed battered walls, not for defence, but to add to the impact of the monument.

Architecture took an entirely different turn with the invasion of Bābur (reg. 932-7/1526-30) and the establishment of the Mughal empire. A new vocabulary developed, first seen in the Tomb of Humāyūn at Delhi, with its Persian-style domes, the burial place in a crypt, and the whole set in the centre of a Persian type of garden (chahār bāgh) divided by watercourses reflecting the tomb. This type of garden, built for pleasure, usually had the pavilion at the far end. In India, for the gardens around Mughal tombs, the tomb is at the centre, except notably in the Tāj Maḥal, where the tomb is at the far end, with a view to the river Jumna and a wide expanse of gardens on the opposite bank. The emperor Akbar was greatly interested in religious debate and the unification of religious ideologies. Jesuits were invited to his court to expound their views.


The emperor also attached importance to the Sufi Shaikh Salīm Chishtī. While a lavish dwelling would be inappropriate for a mystic teacher, the emperor was able to express his veneration by building an unparalleled mosque in the shaikh’s honour, in the new capital, Fathpur Sikri. The Mosque of Shaikh Salīm, built mainly of the finest red sandstone, exemplifies the empire’s and Akbar’s own cultural roots, the prayer hall being formed of three interconnected halls. The central one is in the Persian style, and has a triple arched opening, with a high transitional zone made of tall squinches with four-centred arched profiles supporting a Persian-style dome decorated with cartouches. The central hall opens on the north and south sides to smaller rectangular halls, constructed according to traditional Indian architecture with monolithic columns, beams and brackets supporting flat roofs, and which in turn connect with two halls, smaller than the central one, and alluding in style to Anatolian architecture: the transitional zone of the ribbed domes being supported on pendentives.


The arcade surrounding the courtyard is once again in traditional Indian style, in the idiom of the early conquest mosques, though purpose built, with tall columns and brackets supporting the slabs of the flat ceiling, but with the façades being arched. In the central chamber, the miḥrāb, inlaid with stone decoration in restrained geometric patterns, unifies the whole composition.






Fathpur Sikri, Uttar Pradesh. The interior of the mosque built by Akbar in honour of Shaikh Salim Chishti in c. 979/1571–72. An architectural statement of empire, the interconnected prayer halls exemplify the architectural traditions of Iran, Anatolia and India itself.


The synthesis of architectural traditions continued throughout the Mughal period, and elements were adopted in Rajput architecture.  Later, at the time of the British, grand public buildings still drew from the traditions laid down in Mughal and Sultanate architecture giving Indian architecture its unmistakable appearance




          Muslim Epigraphy and Ornamentation: its Diversity in South Asian Culture, (Mehrdad Shokoohy)
          Chapter 9 in South Asian Islam, A Spectrum of Integration and Indigenization, Nasr M. Arif and
          Abbas Panakkal (eds), Routledge, Oxford – New York, 2024 pp. 187- 213 and figs. 9.1-9.16,
          ISBN 978-1-032-45170-1 (Hardback), 978-1-032-57475-2 (Paperback) 978-1-003-43953-0
          (e-Book)








    From the day Islam was introduced to India the Muslims brought with themselves the Word, in the form of the
    verses of the Quran, the Traditions of the Prophet and historical narratives. Muslims did not first arrive in India
    with the sword. They came as friendly merchants bringing gold in exchange for the wonders that India could
    offer ‒ from pearls and jewels to silk and fine muslin along with spices and other rarities. Welcomed by their
    Hindu and Jain hosts, by the nineth century the maritime traders had established settlements, recorded by the early Muslim geographers. Their twelfth century settlement in Bhadreśvar (Bhadreshwar) on the coast of Kutch, represents what the two cultures could offer each other. While the Muslims brought with themselves the concepts of egalitarianism in their places of worship – mosques and shrines – open to all, they also brought the art of presenting the word. The mid-twelfth Muslim remains at Bhadreśvar are set close to the main Jain temple, indicating a close relationship between the two communities, although they probably lived in separate quarters. In Bhadreśwar we see some of the earliest examples of the Kufic script in India, represented in a frieze in the Shrine of Ibrahim as well as on several tombstones of the same era.



















                            Bhadreśvar on the Gulf of Kutch, Gujarat. Above: Shrine of Ibrāhīm,
                            dated end of Dhi’l ḥijja 554 (11 January 1160), stone panels of the
                            portico, carved in the form of a wooden coffered ceiling, with a frieze
                            at the top of the wall bearing Quran II, 255 in a fine interlaced Kufic
                            script. Below: a tombstone bearing in fine Kufic a Quranic text, and
                            recording the death one Sumra son of Farhā[d]? in Jumādā I, 573
                            (October–November 1177). Only a small portion of the epitaph is
                            seen in the picture.






Such an integrated approach by the Muslim maritime traders was not restricted to a specific settlement but characteristic throughout the Indian littoral in subsequent periods. The merchant communities of South India incorporated Indian – religious Hindu – motifs freely in their early edifices, such as the fourteenth-century Mithqālpaḷḷi (rebuilt in 986–7/1578–9) in Calicut. An example is the vajramastaka, a common South Indian Hindu motif associated with protection from lightening, used on the eaves of the Greater Jāmiʿ mosque of Kayalpatnam (Jāmiʿ al-kabīr or Khuṭba Parriapaḷḷi), datable to 737/1336‒7, as well as on the Aḥmad Nainār Mosque, in the same town and dating from the same era, if not earlier. In this part of India the columns of the Muslim edifices adopt the elaborate details of Hindu decoration, apart from the representation of human figures.




Kayalpatnam, Tamil Nadu, Aḥmad Nainār mosque displaying the Hindu vajramastaka motif on the eaves.
To the right is a line drawing of the exterior projection of the miḥrāb, showing the same motif.

Calicut provides a good example of this synthesis. The Muchchandipaḷḷi is one of the oldest mosques to have survived the onslaught of the Portuguese and the present building dates from the fifteenth century. The additional portico in front of the entrance features an elaborate coffered ceiling supported by highly decorated beams, all carrying Quranic inscriptions, except on one of the beams which bears a historical text recording the construction of the portico by one ʿAbd’ul-Qādir ibn Ibrāhīm in the late seventeenth centuty. The inscription is in relief and the calligraphy, while not of exceptional quality, is decorated with a band of intricate carved ornamentation, typically Hindu. In the context of cultural connections the motifs are of interest in that they comply harmoniously with Muslim decorative parameters.











               Calicut, the Muchchandipaḷḷi. Above: detail of the dated
               inscription of the portico of the mosque. Below: the portico’s
               coffered ceiling decorated with complex lotus flowers, and below
               the inscriptions a register consisting of a series of vajramastaka 
               patterns intermitted with smaller vajramastakas flanked by lotus
               leaves. Below this register is a highly floriated wavy patten,
               common in Hindu ornament. The wood of the ceiling would
               originally have been oiled, or stained with subtle colours. The
               brightly coloured paint is modern.



The incorporation of Hindu, Jain and even Buddhist patterns is not confined to the edifices of the Muslim maritime settlers. This assimilation is evident from the very early period of the Muslim conquest of North India. In the twelfth century the political map of Iran and Central Asia was rapidly changing with the Turkish elements rising to power and eventually ending with the Mongol conquest a century later. Such changes led to the Ghurid conquest of Delhi at the end of the twelfth century, establishing Muslim power in North India, from the Punjab to Bengal.

   From the very early days the artisans were not inhibited about – or prejudiced
   against – learning, adopting and incorporating Hindu and Jain decorative elements
   into their designs and combining them with their own. So, in the screen wall of the
   Quwwat al Islām mosque in Delhi built in the late twelfth century and later extended
   in the thirteenth century, in front of the prayer hall we see the combination of a well-
   established traditional Muslim design with ancient Indian decorative motifs – Hindu
   and Jain – not side by side, but amalgamated and well-integrated.

   One would expect Muslim decorative and ornamental design to dominate, but the
   Hindu traditional designs were so deeply rooted in the arts of North India that they
   crept back into the architecture of Delhi. Taking the new gate built at the south of the
   Quwwat al-Islām by ʿAlāʾ al-dīn Khaljī (reg. 695–715/1296–1316) we see that the
   gate itself, in the form of a chamber, with three arches opening to the outside and
   one leading to the courtyard of the mosque, follows traditional Muslim architectural
   design of the Iranian world of the period, but executed in stone rather than brick.
   However, on the face of an outer arch we see a curious pattern that may at first
   seem like repetitions of a flower motif, common in Muslim designs, but when looked
   at carefully manifests itself as a swastika, one of the holiest Hindu symbols, repeated
   as a foliated pattern.















            Delhi, Quwwat al-Islām mosque. ʿAlāʾ al dīn Khaljī’s
            gate (dated 15 Shawwal 710/7 March 1311). Decorative
            carvings on the pier of the arch, displaying a Hindu patten
            of swastikas in the form of a field of repeating floral motifs.



The fourteenth century was a time for many innovations in North India, particularly under the patronage of Fīrūz Shāh Tughluq (reg. 752–90/1351–88), a learned man who designed buildings and cities. At this time a conscious synthesis of old Indian and Muslim art took place in architecture. A good example is the garden pavilion known as the Gūjarī Maḥal, apparently designed by Fīrūz Shāh to the north of the palace in the town of Hisar, also designed by the sultan and built under his personal supervision. While digging for the foundations of the palace some ancient Indian columns were uncovered, and Fīrūz Shāh made use of them in his royal mosque and in the garden pavilion, this time not as symbols of dominance, but simply for aesthetic reasons. On the interior of the Gūjarī Maḥal the pivotal elements are four ancient marble columns with fluted shafts, their elegant curved bases and capitals harmoniously supporting Islamic style arches and domes.

Outside the territory of Delhi sultanate, the culture of Muslim Bengal was quite different. As the furthermost north-east region of the Subcontinent, Bengal had an older tradition of its own, related to the Muslim maritime trade with South-East Asia and China. As far as the language of the Muslim inscriptions is concerned, in South India – Kerala and Tamil Nadu – the inscriptions, both religious and historic, are in Arabic. On the other, hand in the north, including the regions of Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and as far south as the Deccan, as well as in Pakistan, the historic epigraphs are in Persian, while Arabic is reserved for quotations from the Quran and the Traditions of the Prophet (ḥadīth). In Bengal too the language of the ruling sultans was Persian, but many of their historic inscriptions are in Arabic. Persian became widespread only after the Mughals took over the region. The calligraphy of the Bengal sultanate is also different from that of the other regions, being mostly in the form of an interlaced thulth with elongated strokes for letters such as alif (a), lām (l) and kāf (k).







 

Gaur, the site of the old capital of Bengal. Above: inscription of
Shams al-dīn Yūsuf Shāh (reg. 879‒866/1474‒81) not in situ
but now fixed on the gate of the Qadam Rasūl mosque and
recording in Arabic the construction of a mosque in 885/1480‒1.
The only Persian word, pādshāh (king) is Arabized and the
Persian letter p is substituted with the letter b. The epigraph
is in thulth, with elongated letters interlaced with horizontal
strokes of the letter kāf, and large-sized letter nūn (n). The
style of the inscription is characteristic of most of the pre-Mughal
inscriptions of Bengal. Below: Tantīpara Mosque (c. 1480). The
decoration of the arch of the central entrance, formed with
moulded bricks decorated with interlacing vines with rosettes,
is perhaps an expression of the Hindu concept of the Tree of
Life, but represented almost like patterns.

The inscriptions of Bengal are not meant to be decorative, but simply informative. Nevertheless, ornamental features can be seen in many of the edifices in the form of glazed tiles and moulded brick. Bengal, formed by the estuary of the Ganges, is rich in clay and the tradition of brick construction goes back to the Buddhist era. Decorative tilework in Bengal is not sophisticated, as in the fourteenth to fifteenth century Deccan or in Multan, but can be found in many buildings of Gaur. However, ornamental moulded bricks are widespread and can be seen on the exterior of the buildings for the corner towers and on the spandrels of arches as well as on the interior mainly on the miḥrābs and other niches. A good example is in the Tantipara Mosque depicting vine decoration and rosettes, but alluding to the Hindu concept of the Tree of Life.

   The assimilation of all aspects of the Indo-Muslim visual arts with older 
   indigenous traditions is perhaps best seen in Gujarat. The Gujarat architects,
   artisans and stone carvers incorporated the Jain and Hindu repertoire fully
   into their designs. The amalgamation of the Muslim and Indian traditions
   continued in the region unabated even after its conquest of the region at the
   end of the thirteenth century by the sultanate of Delhi and later under the
   independent Sultanate of Gujarat. Building out of temple spoil – exercised
   formerly in North India as a sign of dominance – in Gujarat gave way to
   constructing buildings in the same manner, but purposely designed,
   employing traditional Indian motifs: the patterns of diamonds, lotus and
   lotus leaves, serpentine scrolling patterns, miniature bas-reliefs of temples
   and numerous other configurations. A good example is the depiction of the
   design of the Tree of Life. We have noted an allusion to it in the arts of other
   regions, particularly Bengal, but in Gujarat it appears first in the traditional
   Indian form in the early mosques of the Sultanate of Gujarat, in the Grand
   Jāmiʿ of Ahmadabad built in 826/1423.

   Hindu motifs embellish all sultanate buildings of Gujarat, including the
   sophisticated reservoirs such as Adalaj Wāv, a structure built in VE 1558/
   1502 AD under the patronage of Sultan Maḥmūd Baigara (reg. 863‒917/
   1458–1511) for the use of his Hindu subjects. In this reservoir we see not
   only diamond patterns, hanging drops and rows of downward turned semi-
   circular lotus patterns with a border of pearls, common in almost all
   temples; above them are representations of a row of miniaturised North
   Indian temple towers (śikhara). The Adalaj Wāv is not the only structure
   built under the Muslim sultans for the majority population. The sultans
   allowed their courtiers to patronise the construction of temples, reservoirs
   and other Hindu or Jain edifices.

   Ahmadabad. Above: Sīdī Saʿīd or Sīdī Sayyid’s Mosque, pierced stone window depicting the Tree of  
   Life in a design with pure Muslim antecedents that might be found as a pattern for a textile or
   carpet. The carving is exquisite and the dark silhouette of the pierced stonework of the window
   creates a fascinating play of light and shade in the interior of the mosque. Below: Adalaj Wāv, a
   reservoir built by the permission of Sultan Maḥmūd Baigara for the use of his Hindu subjects and 
   adorned with Hindu ornamentation. Details of the balustrade of the underground platform.


In the late fifteenth and sixteenth century, the Muslim concepts of ornamentation gained strength gradually and familiar Muslim floral patterns began to appear in the carved decoration. From the early days of the Gujarat sultanate Muslim-style foliation can be found in the tombs of the wives of Aḥmad Shāh (reg. 813‒46/1410‒42), but later, foliation and floral motifs as well as Islamic geometric patterns appeared on many buildings. Most intriguing is the development of the representation of the Tree of Life. It began to lose the rigidity of the Hindu standard pattern, and became more realistic and foliated in design, as appears in many mosques and shrines. The tree eventually appears in its pure Islamic form on the pierced stone screens of the mosque of Sīdī Saʿīd (or Sīdī Sayyid). This mosque built in 978/1570‒1 is one of the latest edifices of the Sultanate period before the Mughal takeover of Gujarat.


Muslim art took a new turn in the sixteenth century when the Mughals invaded, creating a vast empire in North India, also wielding nominal power over the sultanates of the Deccan. Much has been written about Mughal art and their architectural heritage attracts visitors from all over the world. The Mughal inscriptions take many forms; apart from carving in relief they also created a large number of inscriptions in the form of inlay, often with coloured stone set in marble. This type of inscription was almost as long-lasting as those carved in relief, but created a smooth surface on the walls. They went even further, and, on the interiors, created inscriptions painted on the walls, often in gold, set within highly ornamented cartouches and other decoration. Their wall painting and inlay work merges together creating exquisite results. While the Persian influence was developing strong roots in the inscriptions and ornamentation of Mughal architecture, the technology of carving and inlay, particularly in marble, was Indian, even if not of ancient or Hindu origin. The best manifestation of it appears in the tomb of Iʿtimād al-daula, the Persian father-in-law of the Emperor Jahāngīr (reg. 1014–37/1605–27). As long as Iʿtimād al-daula was alive he virtually ran the Empire and when he died, his daughter, Nūr Jahān, the beloved wife of the Emperor, built a mausoleum for her father which is enriched on the exterior with marble inlay decorated entirely with Persian patterns similar to those which appear in Iranian wall paintings.
 

Mughal inscriptions and ornamentation at their zenith, during the reign of Shāh Jahān. Left: the lower shaft of a marble column and its base in the audience hall of the Emperor’s palace in the fort of Agra. The inlay is coloured stone as well as precious and semi-precious stones, creating a subtle, colourful and harmonious design. The small red stones are garnets and the light blue stone on the top of the centre of the base is turquoise. Other gemstones are also employed, including lapis lazuli. Right: view of one of the public rooms of Shāh Jahān’s palace in the Red Fort at Delhi. The flowing arabesque designs are similar to those seen in Agra, and derive from Persian ornamentation, but the lobed arches are characteristic of later Mughal architecture. In a cartouche above the arch is the first stanza of a Persian verse, with the other over the next arch not in the photograph, declaring: “If paradise could be on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this”. The inscription and many others of the period are in fine nastaʿlīq.

   Agra, the Taj Mahal, the mausoleum built by Shāh Jahān for his beloved queen and himself. Two panels
   decorated with flowering shrubs are apparently taken from similar European patterns, but executed in
   different materials. Above: detail from the mausoleum itself, with the plants carved in fine low relief in marble.
   Below: a similar design rendered in red sandstone for the mosque of the complex. The deep shade of the
   courser material contrasts with that of the tomb to set it to advantage. The panel from the mausoleum is
   bordered by an interlaced floral pattern inlaid in the same manner as those seen in the palaces of Shah Jahān
   while that of the mosque has a simple geometric zigzag border, as found in many earlier monuments.



   A generation later, at the time of the Emperor Shāh Jahān (reg. 1038–68/1628–57) a
   more subtle style of decoration developed which although it still had references to
   Iran, was entirely Indian. Inlaid marble continued to be favoured, often incorporating
   precious and semi-precious stones. The appearance was richer and grander than
   anything seen before, but simpler in general design. At the same time, in the palaces
   of Shāh Jahān, wall-painting and even painting of the ceilings became more elaborate,
   often incorporating gilding. From the early days of the Mughals the Portuguese had
   opened trade routes to India, South-East Asia and China, establishing small enclaves
   as their territories all along the Indian Ocean coasts. The Portuguese found friendly
   relations with the Mughal court expedient, and accepted, at least nominally, Mughal
   dominance. This relationship resulted in a flood of European artifacts, engravings,
   prints and drawings finding their way to the Mughal court and into the hands of the nobility. The effect of all this new material on Mughal art was great, and is seen particularly in later Mughal miniatures. Stone carvers and artisans were also influenced by the European images, for example in the depiction of flowering shrubs, which up to then had only been rendered in the Persian style. Delicately executed examples appear in the Taj Mahal, in the mausoleum itself as well as its associated structures.

India, throughout its history, has offered much to world culture, but has also been, and is still is, a melting pot of cultures. It has absorbed elements from civilizations beyond its boundaries – Arab, Persian and European – and integrated them into its own identity. To illustrate this, one should perhaps glance at the many details in the designs by Lutyens and Baker for the Secretariat at New Delhi, proudly displaying European, Hindu and Muslim elements – complete with Persian inscriptions – not side by side or in parallel, but in an amalgamation denoting the unification of diverse cultures.



Nagaur, Muslim history and art and architecture, EI3, Part 3, 2022, pp. 114-123, illustration 1-5



                                                                         Nagaur, the Buland Darwāza of the Khānaqāh al-Tārikīn (733/1332-3),
                                                                         view of the gateway from the south-west, outside the enclosure. The
                                                                         simple tomb of Shaykh Ḥamīd al-dīn Chishtī is within the enclosure.

Nagaur in the desert terrain of Central Rajasthan is associated with its celebrated townsman, Abū’l-Faḍl b. Mubārak, the author of the Āʾīn-i Akbarī and the Akbar-nāma, and also for its Sufi shaykhs of the Chishtī, Qādirī and Suhrawardī sects. Nagaur itself was one of the oldest Muslim strongholds in India, and its district included a number of historic towns such as Didwana, Khatu, Ladnun and Naraina, all preserving numerous sultanate monuments from the thirteenth century to the time of the establishment of the Mughal empire in the sixteenth century and displaying a distinctive local architectural style. Nagaur fort also retains later palaces of the Rajput period embellished with wall-paintings.


The foundation of  Nagaur goes back to the Ghaznavids, its fort being built by Muḥammad Bāhalīm (or Bahlīm), Multan’s Governor under Bahrām Shāh (1117-57). With the fall of the Ghaznavids Nagaur fell into the hands of the local Rajputs, but the Ghurid Muḥammad b. Sām (r. 1173-1206) took over the region in 588/1192-3, and his control was consolidated in 592/1195-6 by his commander (later Sultan) Quṭb al-dīn Aibak.
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